Controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have landed in Florida, after Romanian officials announced that court restrictions prohibiting them from leaving Romania while awaiting trial were lifted.
The pair were traveling aboard a private jet after being allowed to leave Romania, according to a source close to the brothers.
Their spokesperson shared a live feed of the plane arriving in Fort Lauderdale late Thursday morning.
In this file photo, Andrew Tate waves as he exits the Bucharest Tribunal with his brother Tristan, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. Vadim Ghirda/AP
The Tates are accused of human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group with the goal of sexually exploiting women in two cases in Romania. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. Separate allegations of money laundering are also under investigation. The Tates have denied the allegations.
Upon leaving the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, Andrew Tate said he believed he and his brother are “largely misunderstood.”
“We’ve yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet, ever,” Andrew Tate said.
He said their case in Romania was “dismissed” in December 2024 and, because they have no active indictment in court, the prosecutor “recently decided” to let them return to the U.S.
However, the charges against the Tates remain in force, and they will be expected to return to Romania for court appearances, according to a statement from Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, or DIICOT. The agency warned that failure to observe the remaining judicial restrictions could result in harsher restrictions being instated.
The brothers had been confined to Romania since late 2022 when they were arrested on allegations of human trafficking, sexual abuse, money laundering and forming an organized criminal group. They were charged in 2023. A second case began last year on similar charges involving more women.
In December 2024, a Bucharest court ruled that the first case against the Tates and their two female associates couldn’t proceed to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities and sent it back to prosecutors. The charges were not dropped. The second human trafficking case against the brothers in Romania is also still ongoing.
The Tates’ departure follows reports that Trump administration officials had lobbied Romania to lift a travel ban on them while they are awaiting trial.
President Donald Trump told reporters he wasn’t aware the brothers had left Romania for the U.S. when asked Thursday if his administration pressured the Romanian government to release them.
“I didn’t know anything about it,” he told reporters while in the Oval Office with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We’ll check it out, we’ll let you know,” Trump added.
A lawyer for an American woman who is one of the key alleged victims in the Romanian criminal case against Andrew Tate condemned the Trump administration after he was allowed to leave Romania.
“It seems clear the U.S. intervened in Romania to assist the Tate brothers who are being prosecuted for sex trafficking over 35 women including minors,” Dani Pinter, senior vice president at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a statement. “This is a slap in the face to all the victims of the Tate brothers especially the U.S. victim who is not being protected by her country.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his office had no involvement in the case and found out through the media that the brothers were traveling to Florida.
“But the reality is, no, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air,” he said when asked by a reporter at an unrelated press conference on Thursday if Andrew Tate is welcome in Florida.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he directed his office earlier Thursday to work with state law enforcement to conduct a “preliminary inquiry” into the Tate brothers.
“Florida has zero tolerance for human trafficking and violence against women,” he said in a statement on X. “If any of these alleged crimes trigger Florida jurisdiction, we will hold them accountable.”
There is currently an arrest warrant against the Tates on allegations of sexual assault and human trafficking out of the United Kingdom. Last year, a Romanian court approved their extradition to the U.K. once their Romanian cases concluded.
A lawyer for four British women who have accused Andrew Tate of rape and coercing them have urged the U.K. government to intervene to ensure he is still prosecuted in Britain.
Gene Hackman & Betsy Arakawa during 1996 premiere of “The Chamber” in LA Getty
Gene Hackman‘s death has raised enough suspicion among the Santa Fe police that they have obtained a search warrant for the Oscar winner’s home after the nonagenarian, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their dogs were found dead last night.
“At this time; the manner and cause of death pertaining to Eugene ‘Gene’ Allen Hackman and Betsy Arakawa passing is unknown,” said Santa Fe Sheriff’s department Det. Roy Arndt late Wednesday night in an affidavit submitted to a state judge just hours after the bodies were discovered in the couple’s longtime New Mexico home.
“Affiant believes that the circumstances surrounding the death of the two deceased individuals to be suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation because the reporting party found the front door of the residence unsecured and opened, deputies observed a healthy dog running loose on the property, another healthy dog near the deceased female, a deceased dog laying 10-15 feet from the deceased female in a closet of the bathroom, the heater being moved, the pill bottle being opened and pills scattered next to the female, the male decedent being located in a separate room of the residence, and no obvious signs of a gas leak,” the document adds.
Two men who worked on Hackman’s property reported the decomposed bodies in the home on Wednesday. The 30-year long married couple had not been seen for a few weeks, sources say.
There are no indications of a home invasion or anything like that, sources tell me, but the cops do believe more is going on than first assumed. At point strongly implied in the affidavit when Det. Arndt says: “There are no immediate signs or indications of blunt force trauma. However, Affiant is seeking to seize any blunt force objects in the event there is any indication of blunt force trauma once the Office of Medical Investigations arrives on scene; and conducts their initial field investigation and possible cause of death.”
The affidavit was approved almost immediately by Magistrate Court Judge John Rysanek at 9:30 pm local time.
In the authorization, the judge wrote:
“YOUR ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to search forthwith the person of place described in the Affidavit between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., unless I have specifically authorized a night-time search. For the person or property described in the Affidavit. Serving this warrant with a copy of the Affidavit, and making the search and if the person or property to be found there, to seize the person or the property and hold for safekeeping until further order of this court.
You are further directed to prepare a written inventory of any person of property seized. You are further directed to file the return and written inventory with the Court promptly after its execution”.
While not revealing any details, the Santa Fe Coroner’s office has said that cause of death would be determined in the next month or so. The Sheriff’s department will be providing more information of the death of the 95-year old Hackman and the 63-year-old Arakawa later Thursday, Deadline has been told.
These latest developments are a dramatic shift from initial statements from the Sheriff’s department last night.
“On February 26, 2025 at approximately 1:45 p.m., Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, 95 and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 64, and a dog were found deceased,” they said. “Foul play is not suspected as a factor in those deaths at this time however exact cause of death has not been determined. This is an active and ongoing investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.”
Out of the public eye for the last two decades, Hackman won Oscars for The French Connection (1971) and Clint Eastwood‘s Unforgiven (1992), and was Oscar-nominated for roles in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), I Never Sang for My Father (1970), and Mississippi Burning (1988).
Admired and respected among his peers, as well as a loved by audiences, Hackman had a wide range. He played arch-villian Lex Luthor in Superman (1978) and its sequel Superman II a far departure from Popeye Doyle. Along with the iconic Hoosiers (1986), Hackman also starred in the likes of Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed The Conversation (1974, the sequel by any other name Enemy of the State (1998) with Will Smith. Additionally, giving a masterclass in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and going head-to-head with Denzel Washington in Crimson Tide (1995), Hackman starred in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Scarecrow (1972), ), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Under Fire (1983), Power (1986), Loose Cannons (1990), The Firm (1993), The Quick and the Dead (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Behind Enemy Lines (2001), and Runaway Jury (2003). His last on-screen appearance was in 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport.
Newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to dismiss a rare measles outbreak that has killed a child in Texas and sickened more than 120 people.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listens as President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Pool via AP)
“It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” the controversial politician said during Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Kennedy then went on to incorrectly state that two people have died from the outbreak, when multiple officials had only confirmed one death as of Wednesday. He also said the majority of hospitalizations have been “mainly for quarantine,” which health officials have also denied.
“We don’t hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes,” Dr. Lara Johnson, the chief medical officer at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, said at a Wednesday press conference. She added that most of the patients hospitalized for measles have suffered from trouble breathing, some have required intensive care and none of them were vaccinated against the disease.
The child who died in Texas was also unvaccinated, officials said Wednesday. The school-aged child, who was not identified further, was the first person in the U.S. to die from the measles since 2015. Prior to that, the last death was in 2003, according to NBC News.
The CDC has thanked the widespread use of the measles vaccine for essentially eliminating the disease since 2000. However, cases of the measles have been growing in recent years as vaccine hesitancy has increased over time.
Vladimir Putin is planning to invade at least three European nations by the end of 2030, a projection by Ukraine shows (Picture: Metro)
The name alone carries a sinister weight – Eurussian Empire – an alliance of two once historically opposing forces, Europe and Russia.
This new world order sounds like inconceivable fiction, but it is predicted to materialise on the continent by 2030.
Possible History, a new project by United24, a Ukrainian initiative launched by Volodymyr Zelensky, is offering a glimpse into a future where Vladimir Putin gets what he wants.
Released as a warning on the third anniversary of his full-scale invasion, it reflects Donald Trump’s bromance with the authoritarian leader and the US rehabilitation of Russia.
It also comes on the exact date as the US sided with Russia, North Korea and Belarus to vote against a UN resolution to condemn the war.
What has already started as whispered negotiations between Russia and the US for a ceasefire ends in Ukraine being forced into making territorial concessions, without future security guarantees or Nato membership.
This is all expected to happen in the next three months, United24 projects, setting off a chain of irreparable reactions.
May 2025: sanctions on Russia’s RT dropped
By May, sanctions on Russian media channel RT would be lifted, allowing the Kremlin’s propaganda to flow into Europe unchecked.
During the Biden presidency, the US accused RT of ‘covert’ intelligence activities and introduced a plethora of sanctions against Russian media.
‘Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in the US elections,’ the then US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in September.
July 2025: Russian war drills near Nato borders
In July, Russia is set to hold military drills on the territory of its biggest ally, Belarus, on the border with Nato members Poland and Lithuania.
A joint exercise between the two nations was announced last week, set to begin in September.
It is part of efforts by the two neighbours to expand their military ties amid the fighting in Ukraine.
Zelensky said earlier this month that a Russian military buildup in Belarus, which borders Nato members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, could set the stage for a potential attack.
But Russia has repeatedly denied allegations that it could invade any Nato members.
Valery Revenko, a Belarusian defence official, said that Belarus is open for mutual military inspections with Poland 50 miles deep into each other’s territory – something he said would signal Poland’s intention to pursue ‘good neighbourly ties.’
‘If Poland rejects or ignores such action, we will have a different opinion,’ he warned.
October 2026: Russian invasion of Moldova
Jumping forward to October 2026, Russia is projected to invade Moldova – through the puppet government of Transnistria – deploying North Korean soldiers.
Fears have long been stoked that Putin was preparing for another landgrab in Europe, turning his eyes on the sliver of breakaway land in the south of Moldova.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian elites have repeatedly called on Moldova to avoid Western influence, referring to the autonomous region as ‘the next Ukraine.’
Almost a year after the capture of Moldova, in July 2027, Europe is set to go dark without Internet connection after vital undersea cables are cut.
Similar ruptures have been rattling European security officials in recent months, but investigations are yet to determine if they were due to Russian sabotage or were maritime accidents.
May 2029: Putin opens military bases in Nato
By May 2029, the pro-Russian governments of Slovakia and Hungary are projected to sign agreements to host multiple Russian military bases on their territory as part of secret security deals.
Hungary’s gradual turn to Russia can be traced back to November 2010, when the newly elected prime minister Viktor Orbán made his first visit to Moscow.
Since then, it has gone from strength to strength, with Hungary refusing to join the EU sanctions against Russia, making Europeans more and more fearful of the Kremlin’s sprawling influence.
December 2029: Conscription reinstated
That same year, in December, both governments of the Netherlands and Germany are expected to abolish voluntary army recruitment and reinstate conscription.
Military service – with varying aspects – is already in force in nine countries: Cyprus, Greece, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.
But Russia’s imperialistic thirst has forced most European nations – Britain included – to rethink its stance.
May 2030: Defence spend exceeds healthcare
This will also result in defence spending exceeding healthcare costs in the EU, United24 projects.
By May 2030, at least 76% of EU social benefits are set to be cut in favour of financing the defence sector.
While Europe is far away from such measures, Sir Keir Starmer has already promised to boost defence amid the threat from Russia.
September 2030: Invasion of Finland and Poland
The projection for the ‘Eurussian Empire’ ends three months later, in September 2030, when Putin is supposed to announce a ‘special military operation’ on Nato.
Russian forces are witnessed crossing the borders of Finland and Poland less than a decade after invading Ukraine.
United24 conducted the project with the help of studies from Estonia and Denmark ahead of the three-year anniversary. of the war.
James Cameron is sickened by Donald Trump‘s re-election and is happy his New Zealand citizenship is “imminent.” The Oscar-winning director appeared on “The F—ing News” podcast (via The Daily Beast) and was asked about his response to Trump becoming U.S. president again, to which Cameron responded: “I think it’s horrific, I think it’s horrifying.”
“I see a turn away from everything decent,” Cameron said. “America doesn’t stand for anything if it doesn’t stand for what it has historically stood for. It becomes a hollow idea, and I think they’re hollowing it out as fast as they can for their own benefit.”
While Cameron visits the U.S. frequently, he spends the majority of his time in New Zealand. It’s there where Cameron has been filming and working on the “Avatar” franchise for more than a decade and counting. Given that “we are all in this together globally,” Cameron said he’s unsure “if I feel any safer here.”
“But I certainly feel like I don’t have to read about it on the front page every single day. And it’s just sickening,” Cameron added. “There’s something nice about the New Zealand outlets — at least they’ll put it on page three. I just don’t want to see that guy’s face any more on the front page of the paper. It’s inescapable there, it’s like watching a car crash over and over and over.”
As for his impending New Zealand citizenship, Cameron said it “means a lot” and “it’s something I’ve worked toward, something I’ve had to sacrifice for.”
“If you’re going to uproot your family and move somewhere, you have to invest, you have to be part of it, you have to earn standing,” the director said. “I just think you’ve got to earn your right to be in a place… There’s an innate respect and a demand for respect [here]. Everybody has this kind of equal status in terms of person-hood. And I love that – that’s what I wanted my kids to experience.”
As economic pressures mount and social tensions rise, many Americans are setting their sights beyond U.S. borders for a better quality of life
In the shadow of rising housing costs, healthcare concerns, and growing social divisions, a striking number of Americans are considering a future outside the United States. According to a recent survey, 17% of American adults want to move internationally within the next five years, potentially signaling a significant shift in the country’s population.
The survey, conducted by Talker Research, found that 5% of Americans plan to take actual steps toward living abroad in the next few years, while 2% have already started the process of moving to another country.
Millennials Lead the Way
Millennials emerged as the group most eager to move internationally, with a quarter (25%) wanting to relocate abroad – higher than any other generation surveyed.
This trend likely reflects the unique challenges faced by millennials, who have experienced multiple economic downturns, rising student debt, and increasingly unaffordable housing throughout their adult lives.
Regionally, Midwesterners (18%) showed slightly more interest in moving abroad than Americans in the Southwest, West, Southeast, and Northeast (all at 16%).
For many Americans, the desire to live abroad isn’t just a reaction to current problems. The survey found that more than four in ten respondents (44%) have always wanted to experience life in another country, suggesting that for many, this represents a long-held dream rather than just an escape plan.
Top Destinations: Canada Leads the Way
When asked about preferred destinations, Canada emerged as the clear frontrunner, with 19% of potential expatriates naming it as their top choice. The appeal of America’s northern neighbor appears to be multifaceted, with respondents citing Canada’s high-quality healthcare (41%), its diverse landscape offering ample opportunities for exploration and recreation (28%), and the nation’s practical approach to work-life balance (21%) as primary attractions.
Italy secured the second position on the list of desired destinations, capturing the interest of 11% of respondents. The Mediterranean nation’s renowned cuisine ranked as its most compelling feature (68%), followed closely by its rich culture and warm people (66%). Italy’s breathtaking scenery and varied terrain also factored significantly in its appeal (40%).
England rounded out the top three destinations (10%), with potential American expatriates drawn to its culture and distinctive way of life (66%), rich historical heritage (49%), diverse landscapes (25%), and quality healthcare system (21%).
Other countries that registered significant interest among survey participants included Australia (10%), Ireland (8%), France (6%), Switzerland (5%), Costa Rica (5%), Scotland (4%), and Germany (4%). This diverse list spans multiple continents and cultural spheres, indicating that Americans’ international aspirations are global in scope rather than limited to specific regions.
Why Americans Want to Leave
The survey examined the key reasons driving Americans to consider moving abroad. The findings show significant concerns about both American society and the challenges of building financial security.
Almost seven in ten respondents (69%) worried about the direction the United States is heading, while a majority (65%) described American society as having become “toxic.”
Money worries were a major factor. More than half of respondents (54%) said living in the U.S. is no longer affordable, while 55% believed the gap between rich and poor limits their opportunities. Nearly four in ten (39%) thought improving their finances and quality of life would be easier in another country.
Work-life balance was another concern, with 57% of respondents calling America’s approach inadequate. Even more troubling were views on essential systems, with strong majorities agreeing that American healthcare (65%) and education (66%) systems are broken.
These negative views have changed how many see life in America compared to other countries, with 40% saying living in the U.S. is no longer enjoyable or preferable to other nations.
Expert Perspectives
Experts commenting on the survey emphasized the importance of younger generations’ openness to living abroad. “Younger generations, in particular, are driving this trend,” says Clint Kreider, a licensed marriage and family therapist at Still Water Wellness Group. “Raised in the shadow of the 2008 recession and pandemic-era instability, they’ve inherited skepticism toward traditional pathways to stability. Social media amplifies this by showcasing alternatives — countries with robust safety nets, affordable education or mandated vacation time.”
Kreider described a pattern he sees in his therapy practice: “In my therapy practice, I’ve witnessed clients grappling with what I call ‘invisible attrition’: a sense that no matter how hard they work, systemic barriers (skyrocketing healthcare costs, stagnant wages and unrelenting hustle culture) erode their ability to thrive.”
Max Shak, founder and chief executive officer of Zapiy, linked these trends to changing ideas about success. “Many professionals, especially younger generations, are questioning whether the traditional ‘American Dream‘ is still attainable. Skyrocketing housing costs, student debt and healthcare expenses have made it harder for people to feel financially secure in the U.S.”
Shak added: “In contrast, many countries offer more affordable living, universal healthcare and better work-life balance, making the idea of relocating incredibly appealing. Ultimately, this openness to moving abroad reflects a larger shift — people are prioritizing quality of life over traditional career paths and seeking environments that better align with their personal and financial well-being.”
For the 17% of Americans contemplating international relocation, the decision involves complex calculations balancing career opportunities, healthcare access, education systems, cultural amenities, and social environments. The specificity of their destination preferences – from Canada’s healthcare system to Italy’s culinary traditions – indicates thoughtful consideration rather than mere escapism.
How America Would Be Impacted
If the survey’s findings translate into actual migration patterns, the implications could be significant. The potential movement of even a small percentage of the U.S. population to international destinations would represent millions of Americans establishing new lives abroad.
Such movement could affect domestic labor markets, particularly if those departing represent disproportionate numbers of specific professions or skill sets. It could also influence political dynamics, both by changing the composition of the domestic electorate and by creating more internationally distributed American communities with ties to multiple nations.
From a global perspective, increased American migration to countries like Canada, Italy, and England could strengthen cultural and economic ties between these nations and the United States, potentially fostering new transnational communities and networks.
The survey also highlights the practical challenges involved in international migration, from visa requirements and employment considerations to the emotional complexity of leaving behind family, friends, and familiar surroundings. For many Americans, the idea of living abroad may simply remain an appealing but unrealized dream rather than an imminent reality.
A child in West Texas has died of measles, state health officials said on Wednesday, the first reported U.S. death from the highly contagious disease in a decade, as a Texas outbreak has grown from a handful of cases to more than 130 across two states.
The child, who was not vaccinated against the disease, died overnight in a children’s hospital, the Texas health department said in a statement.
“We have had so many kids coming in and then obviously we were not prepared, probably, so early in what we are seeing to have a death,” said Amy Thompson, CEO of Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, where the child died in what officials said was the fourth week of the measles outbreak.
During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine critic who was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services earlier this month, said two people had died in the Texas outbreak. His Department of Health and Human Services later corrected Kennedy, confirming one death.
At least 124 people were known to be infected in West Texas since early February, all but five of them unvaccinated and most of them children, Texas health officials said.
An additional nine cases were announced on Tuesday in eastern New Mexico, near the Texas state line where the outbreak has spread to about 10 counties, Texas health officials said.
Patients have displayed symptoms such as high fever, red watery eyes, nasal congestion, cough and a rash that begins on the face, said Lara Johnson, chief medical officer at the Lubbock hospital. Children have been treated with supplemental oxygen and high-flow oxygen, medication for high fever and IV fluids, she said.
New Mexico’s health department has warned that “because measles is so contagious, additional cases are likely to occur.”
The U.S. death rate from measles, which spreads through the air by respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, is 1 to 3 deaths out of every 1,000 reported cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last U.S. measles death was in 2015, according to the CDC.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Health Services was not available to Reuters for comment, but the agency said in a press release that 18 people were hospitalized with the disease.
The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.
Amy Thompson speaks during a press conference at Covenant Health Services after an unvaccinated child infected with measles died, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Annie Rice Purchase Licensing Rights
Kennedy was appointed to lead HHS after overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and some members of Congress, and has pledged to protect existing vaccination programs. Last week, he told agency workers he planned to investigate the childhood vaccination schedule, among other things.
‘A BAD ILLNESS’
Lara Anton, a Texas health department spokesperson, told a local ABC affiliate that the ongoing outbreak has hit mostly small children and teenagers, and that the cases were originally concentrated in a “close-knit, under-vaccinated” rural Mennonite community in Gaines County, where children are largely home-schooled.
“It’s all a personal choice, and you can do whatever you want. It’s just that the community doesn’t go and get regular healthcare,” Anton told ABC.
At this time, it is unclear how the first person was exposed, and there is no indication that any early patients traveled outside the United States, Anton told multiple media.
“This will accelerate for a while,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, and a frequent target of the anti-vaccine campaign.
“It’s a bad illness,” he said, noting that about 20 percent of cases are hospitalized. “Unfortunately, Texas is the epicenter of it because of our very aggressive anti-vaccine movement,” he said.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no continuous transmission of the disease for a year.
In recent years, federal health officials have attributed some outbreaks to parents refusing to vaccinate their children, Reuters previously reported.
In 2024, there were 285 cases of the disease in the U.S. from 16 outbreaks, up from 59 cases from four outbreaks in 2023.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday raised hopes for another month-long pause on steep new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, saying they could take effect on April 2, and floated a 25% “reciprocal” tariff on European cars and other goods.
A White House official, however, said Trump’s previous March 4 deadline for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods remained in effect “as of this moment,” pending his review of Mexican and Canadian actions to secure their borders and halt the flow of migrants and the opioid fentanyl into the U.S.
Trump sowed confusion during his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when he was asked about the timing for the start of the duties for Canada and Mexico and replied that it would be April 2.
“I have to tell you that, you know, on April 2, I was going to do it on April 1,” Trump said. “But I’m a little bit superstitious, I made it April 2, the tariffs go on. Not all of them but a lot of them.”
Trump’s comments prompted jumps in the value of the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso versus the greenback.
Canadian Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters that Canada would wait for signed executive orders from Trump before reacting.
“Our mission is still to avoid the tariffs, extend the suspension if we need to,” Champagne said. “We are prepared – there will be a targeted, strategic but a firm response” if Trump imposes tariffs.
Mexico’s Economy Ministry declined to comment on Trump’s remarks, but said Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard will meet on Thursday with newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday.
Lutnick told the cabinet meeting that the fentanyl-related actions were paused for 30 days but referred to “overall” tariffs on April 2. He did not specify whether the March 4 deadline remained in effect.
“So the big transaction is April 2, but the fentanyl-related things, we’re working hard on the border,” Lutnick said. “At the end of that 30 days, they have to prove to the president that they’ve satisfied him in that regard. If they have, he’ll give them a pause, or he won’t.”
EU TARIFF RATE
Trump has targeted early April for imposing reciprocal tariffs matching import duty rates of other countries and offseting their other restrictions. His trade advisers consider European countries’ value added taxes to be akin to a tariff.
Trump, asked whether he has decided on a tariff rate for goods from the European Union, replied: “We have made a decision, and we’ll be announcing it very soon, and it’ll be 25%, generally speaking, and that’ll be on cars, and all of the things.”
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Purchase Licensing Rights
He said the EU is a “different case” from Canada and takes advantage of the U.S. in different ways.
“They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept, essentially our farm products,” Trump said, adding that the EU was formed “in order to screw the United States.”
A European Commission spokesperson said the EU “will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade,” including for tariffs that challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies.
“The European Union is the world’s largest free market. And it has been a boon for the United States,” the spokesperson said.
Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, was planning to meet with U.S. lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday, but not with any Trump administration officials.
NEW USTR CONFIRMED
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 56-43 to confirm Greer as U.S. Trade Representative, putting a veteran of the Republican president’s first-term trade wars fully on the job.
Greer, who served as chief of staff to former USTR Robert Lighthizer, won the support of five Democrats, including both senators from Michigan, the center of the U.S. auto industry.
Trade groups welcomed Greer’s confirmation, lauding his commitment to consulting with industry and standing up for U.S. businesses, farmers and workers. “We share Ambassador Greer’s desire for an active and pragmatic trade policy that creates U.S. jobs and more resilient supply chains,” said Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.
Greer told senators during his Senate confirmation hearing that he wanted to quickly renegotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade to ensure China does not use it as a back door to the U.S. market to avoid other tariffs.
“Right out of the gate, I expect that we’ll be taking a second look at the USMCA,” Greer said.
Asked what changes he would like to see in the pact, Greer zeroed in on further tightening automotive content rules.
Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages while it waited for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return, in an overnight exchange marking the final swap as part of a fragile truce in Gaza.
The ceasefire came into effect on January 19 and has largely held, despite numerous setbacks. But its first phase is due to end this week and the fate of its next phase, which aims to end the war, remains unclear.
Hamas said on Thursday that it was ready to start talks on the second phase, and that the only way remaining hostages would be freed is through commitment to the ceasefire.
After days of impasse, Egyptian mediators on Wednesday secured the handover of the bodies of the final four hostages in the deal’s first phase, for 620 Palestinians either detained by Israeli forces in Gaza or jailed in Israel.
Israel had refused to release prisoners on Saturday after Hamas handed over six hostages in a staged ceremony.
Hamas had been displaying living hostages and coffins carrying hostage remains on stage in front of a crowd in Gaza before handing them over, to sharp criticism including from the United Nations.
The final handover did not include such a ceremony.
Israel received coffins carrying the remains of the four hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in the early hours of Thursday.
Hamas had previously identified the bodies as those of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur, all of whom were abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack from their kibbutz homes near Gaza.
The bodies were undergoing initial identification in Israeli territory and official notice would be given to the hostages’ families once the process is complete, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The handover agreement had also been held up previously after Hamas handed over the remains of an unidentified Palestinian woman instead of Shiri Bibas, before delivering the correct body the next day. The unidentified woman’s body was sent back to a Gaza hospital on Thursday, medics said.
A full forensic examination to determine cause of death for the final four bodies returned to Israel will come later, according to the Israeli health ministry.
A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled Purchase Licensing Rights
Around 30 hostages have been killed in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Some were slain by their captors and some were killed in Israel’s offences.
FREED PALESTINIAN DETAINEES
The Palestinian detainees due to be released include 445 men and 24 women and minors arrested in Gaza, as well as 151 prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, according to a Hamas source.
A bus carrying a handful of the released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and arrived in the Palestinian city of Ramallah shortly after, live footage showed.
The group got off the bus to cheers from hundreds congregated outside, with some of the released men – clad in green jackets and keffiyehs – hoisted aloft by the crowd.
Released prisoner Bilal Yassin, 42, told Reuters he had been in Israeli detention for 20 years. The West Bank native said he had faced oppression and poor conditions the entire time.
“Our sacrifices and imprisonment were not in vain,” Yassin said. “We had confidence in the (Palestinian) resistance.”
Nearly 100 more Palestinian prisoners were handed over to Egypt, where they will stay until another country accepts them, according to a Hamas source and Egyptian media.
Ambulances later arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, early on Thursday transporting freed Palestinians, who are set to undergo medical examination.
In total, 580 prisoners and detainees will be freed in Gaza, according to Hamas. Buses escorted by the Red Cross are expected to arrive in coming hours.
The first phase of the ceasefire included the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages in total for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some positions in Gaza as well as an influx of aid.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks at event ahead of the COMPUTEX forum, in Taipei, Taiwan June 2, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Nvidia’s (NVDA.O) strong growth forecast for the first quarter on Wednesday signaled that booming demand for its artificial intelligence chips was intact, and the company said orders for its new Blackwell semiconductors were “amazing.”
The company’s forecast helps allay doubts around a slowdown in spending on its hardware that emerged last month, following Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s claims that it had developed AI models rivaling Western counterparts at a fraction of their cost.
Its shares rose, before declining slightly in choppy extended trading, after closing up 3.7% in regular trading. Nvidia is the biggest beneficiary of a rally in AI-linked stocks, with its shares up more than 400% over the last two years.
CEO Jensen Huang struck an optimistic note saying “AI is advancing at light speed,” and that “demand for Blackwell is amazing,” in commentary that should bode well for AI-related stocks that have taken a hit in the past week.
“We’ve successfully ramped up the massive-scale production of Blackwell AI supercomputers, achieving billions of dollars in sales in its first quarter,” he said.
Nvidia is undergoing a critical product transition as it moves to a new chip architecture called Blackwell, shifting from selling individual chips to full AI computing systems that integrate graphic chips, processors and networking equipment.
The Santa Clara, California-based company generated $11 billion of revenue from Blackwell-related products in the fourth quarter, roughly 50% of the company’s overall data center revenue.
The company expects total revenue of $43 billion, plus or minus 2% for the first quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $41.78 billion, according to LSEG.
“Unlike previous quarters, there was heightened skepticism going into this report due to concerns about DeepSeek’s efficient model and questions surrounding the Blackwell rollout,” said eMarketer analyst Jacob Bourne. “But the results have removed the doubts.”
The Blackwell ramp-up has been complicated and costly, weighing on the company’s margins, however.
Nvidia on Wednesday forecast first-quarter gross margin slightly below expectations – it will sink to 71%, below the 72.2% forecast by Wall Street, according to data compiled by LSEG. Still, Nvidia’s Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said on a conference call that Nvidia would return to the mid-70% gross margin range later in the fiscal year as it further increased production of its Blackwell chips, lowering costs.
The AI rally lost some of its steam last month after DeepSeek’s sudden rise, resulting in Nvidia losing $593 billion in market value, the largest one-day loss for any U.S. company. Investors questioned whether demand for AI chips was sustainable and the enormous capital expenses promised by large U.S. tech companies including Microsoft (MSFT.O).
Microsoft has earmarked $80 billion for AI in its current fiscal year, while Meta Platforms (META.O) has pledged as much as $65 billion.
A recent brokerage report suggested that Microsoft has scrapped leases for sizable U.S. data center capacity, suggesting potential oversupply. But Reuters reported on Monday that Chinese companies are ramping up orders for Nvidia’s H20 AI chip due to booming demand for DeepSeek’s low-cost AI model.
“Despite the breakthroughs from DeepSeek, Nvidia’s momentum with Hyperscalers seems to continue,” Third Bridge analyst Lucas Keh said, referring to large cloud-computing companies.
In more positive news for Nvidia, CFO Kress said the Stargate data center project announced last month by U.S. President Donald Trump will use Nvidia’s Spectrum X ethernet for networking. The ethernet products are included in the company’s data center segment.
Nvidia reported adjusted per-share profit of 89 cents, compared with estimates of 84 cents a share. Revenue for the fourth quarter grew 78% to $39.3 billion, beating estimates of $38.04 billion.
Former workers and victims of scam centres are now stuck in makeshift camps, uncertain what happens next
“I swear to God I need help,” said the man quietly on the other end of the line.
The Ethiopian, who calls himself Mike, said he is being held with 450 others in a building inside Myanmar, along the country’s border with Thailand.
They are among the thousands of people who have been freed from the notorious scam compounds that have thrived on the border for years, in what appears to be the toughest action so far against the industry along the Thai-Myanmar border.
But many of them are now stranded in Myanmar in makeshift camps because the process of assessing them and arranging flights back to their own countries is so slow.
The armed militia groups who are holding them have a very limited capacity to support so many people – more than 7,000. One of them has said they have stopped freeing people from the compounds because they are not being moved to Thailand fast enough.
The BBC understands that conditions in the camps are unsanitary, food barely sufficient, and many of the freed workers, like Mike, are in poor health. He is suffering from panic attacks, after working for a year in a scam centre where he was routinely beaten.
He told us they got two very basic meals a day, there were only two toilets for 450 people, who he said were now relieving themselves wherever they could.
Mike described being invited a year ago to take up what he was promised would be a good job, in Thailand, requiring only good English language and typing skills.
Instead he found himself subjected to a brutal regime, forced to work long hours every day to meet the target for defrauding people online set by his Chinese bosses.
“It was the worst experience of my life. Of course I was beaten. But believe me I have seen a lot worse done to other people.”
Mike is one of an estimated 100,000 people who are believed to have been lured to work in the scam operations along the Thai-Myanmar border, most of them run by Chinese fraud and gambling operatives who have taken advantage of the lawlessness in this part of Myanmar.
Despite horrifying accounts of abuse from those who escaped in the past, thousands still come from parts of the world where good jobs are scarce, enticed by promises of good money.
China, where many of the scam victims come from, has acted to shut down scam operations along its own border with Myanmar, but until this year neither China nor Thailand had done much about the Thai-Myanmar border.
Ariyan, a young man from Bangladesh, has come back to Thailand to try to help 17 friends who are still there. He said he made a promise to himself to do this after his own gruelling escape from one of the most notorious scam centres last October.
He showed us a brief, shaky video of the compound, still under construction in a remote, forested valley, where he was held, and remembers the terrible treatment he and his friends suffered at the hands of their Chinese boss.
“They gave us a target every week, $5,000. If not, they gave us two electric shocks. Or they put us in a dark room, with no windows. But if we earned a lot of money, they were very happy with us.”
Ariyan had to approach men in the Middle East and lure them into transferring funds to fictitious investments. Using AI, the scammers made him appear on the screen to be an attractive young woman, altering his voice as well.
He says he hated doing it. He remembers one man who was willing to sell his wife’s jewellery to fund the fraudulent investment, and wishing he could warn him. But he said the bosses monitored all their calls.
The release of the scam workers started more than two weeks ago after Thailand, under pressure from China and some of its own politicians, cut power and telecommunications links to the compounds on the border.
It limited banking access to the scam bosses and issued arrest warrants for some of the militia leaders who had been protecting the business.
That hit the business, but it also hit the ordinary Karen people who live nearby even harder, putting pressure on the militia commanders to show willingness in ending the abuses in the scam centres. They began helping those trying to escape, and completely evacuating some compounds.
The camp Mike is housed in is now being guarded by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, DKBA, a breakaway insurgent faction of the ethnic Karen community.
Until recently, it was protecting the many scam compounds which have sprung up in its territory. You can see them easily as you drive along the Moei River which divides the two countries – unlikely expanses of new buildings over in war-torn Karen State contrasting with the rural landscape on the Thai side of the border.
Thailand insists it is moving as fast as it can to process the former scam workers and get them home.
A group of 260 freed workers were brought over the Moei River on a raft earlier this month. And around 621 Chinese nationals were flown straight back to China with a police escort on chartered planes. Otherwise, the movement of freed workers to Thailand seems to have stalled.
The problem is that they are from many different countries, some of which are doing little to help get their people home. Around 130 of the first 260 who came over are from Ethiopia, which does not have an embassy in Bangkok.
The BBC has been told that some other African countries will only fly their people home if someone else pays. Most of the freed workers have nothing; even their passports were withheld by the compound bosses.
Thailand fears bringing over thousands of people it will then have to look after indefinitely. It also wants to screen them to find out which are genuine victims of human trafficking and which may have committed criminal acts, but does not have the capacity to do this with such a large group of people.
Different ministries and agencies, including the army, are involved in managing this problem, and have to agree who does what. It does not help that several senior police and immigration officers have been transferred over their alleged involvement in the scam business.
“If this issue is not resolved, then we will not stop working on it – we must work seriously,” said Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday in Bangkok. But she was referring to the wider problem of the scam business, not the growing humanitarian crisis among the freed workers.
“Unfortunately, it seems we’re in a bit of a standstill,” says Judah Tana, an Australian who runs an NGO which has for years been helping the victims of trafficking in the scam centres.
“We are hearing distressing information about the lack of sanitation and toilets. Many of the 260 who already came were screened for TB and tested positive. We are hearing from those who are still inside that people are coughing up blood. They are very happy that they have been liberated from the scam compounds, but our worry is that we’re not engaging fast enough.”
Thailand now seems ready to bring over one group of 94 Indonesians, as their embassy has been pushing for their release for several days and has booked flights to Indonesia for them.
An aerial view of Iron Age graves in Mayiladumparai in Tamil Nadu
For over 20 years, archaeologists in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu have been unearthing clues to the region’s ancient past.
Their digs have uncovered early scripts that rewrite literacy timelines, mapped maritime trade routes connecting India to the world and revealed advanced urban settlements – reinforcing the state’s role as a cradle of early civilisation and global commerce.
Now they’ve also uncovered something even older – evidence of what could be the earliest making and use of iron. Present-day Turkey is one of the earliest known regions where iron was mined, extracted and forged on a significant scale around the 13th Century BC.
Archaeologists have discovered iron objects at six sites in Tamil Nadu, dating back to 2,953–3,345 BCE, or between 5,000 to 5,400 years old. This suggests that the process of extracting, smelting, forging and shaping iron to create tools, weapons and other objects may have developed independently in the Indian subcontinent.
“The discovery is of such a great importance that it will take some more time before its implications sink in,” says Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, a professor of South Asian archaeology at Cambridge University.
The latest findings from Adichchanallur, Sivagalai, Mayiladumparai, Kilnamandi, Mangadu and Thelunganur sites have made local headlines such as “Did the Iron Age Begin in Tamil Nadu?” The age marks a period when societies began using and producing iron widely, making tools, weapons and infrastructure.
Parth R Chauhan, a professor of archaeology at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (ISSER), urges caution before drawing broad conclusions. He believes that iron technology likely emerged “independently in multiple regions”.
Also, the “earliest evidence remains uncertain because many regions of the world have not been properly researched or archaeological evidence is known but has not been dated properly”.
If the Tamil Nadu discovery is further validated through rigorous academic study, “it would certainly rank amongst the world’s earliest records”, Mr Chauhan says. Oishi Roy, an archaeologist at ISSER, adds that the find “suggests parallel developments [in iron production] across different parts of the world”.
Early iron came in two forms – meteoritic and smelted. Smelted iron, extracted from ore, marked the true beginning of iron technology with mass production. The earliest known iron artefacts – nine tubular beads – were made from meteoritic iron, which comes from fallen meteorites.
Identifying iron-bearing rocks is the first challenge. Once located, these ores must be smelted in a furnace at extremely high temperatures to extract the metal. Without this process, raw iron remains locked within the rock. After extraction, skilled ironsmiths shape the metal into tools and implements, marking a crucial step in early ironworking.
Most sites in Tamil Nadu where iron has been found are ancient habitation areas near present-day villages. Archaeologists K Rajan and R Sivanantham say that excavators have so far explored a fraction of over 3,000 identified Iron Age graves containing sarcophagi (stone coffins) and a wealth of iron artefacts. In the process, they uncovered hoe-spades, spears, knives, arrowheads, chisels, axes and swords made of iron.
At burials excavated at one site, over 85 iron objects – knives, arrowhead, rings, chisels, axes and swords – were found inside and outside burial urns. More than 20 key samples were robustly dated in five labs worldwide, confirming their antiquity.
Some finds are particularly striking.
Historian Osmund Bopearachchi of the Paris-based French National Centre for Scientific Research highlights a key discovery – an iron sword from a burial site, made of ultra-high-carbon steel and dating to 13th–15th Century BC.
This advanced steel, a direct evolution of Iron Age metallurgy, required sophisticated knowledge and precise high-temperature processes.
“We know that the first signs of real steel production date back to the 13th Century BC in present-day Turkey. The radiometric dates seem to prove that the Tamil Nadu samples are earlier,” he said. Ms Roy adds that the early steel in Tamil Nadu indicates the people there “were iron makers, not just users – a technologically advanced community evolving over time”.
Also, in a site called Kodumanal, excavators found a furnace, pointing to an advanced iron-making community.
The furnace area stood out with its white discolouration, likely from extreme heat. Nearby, excavators found iron slag – some of it fused to the furnace wall – hinting at advanced metalworking techniques. Clearly the people at the site were not just using iron, but actively producing and processing it.
To be sure, the Tamil Nadu excavations are not the first in India to uncover iron. At least 27 sites across eight states have revealed evidence of early iron use, some dating back 4,200 years. The latest Tamil Nadu digs pushes back the antiquity of Indian iron by another 400 years,” archaeologist Rajan, who has co-authored a paper on the subject, told me.
“The Iron Age is a technological shift, not a single-origin event – it develops in multiple places independently,” says Ms Roy, noting earlier discoveries in eastern, western and northern India.
“What’s clear now,” she adds, “is that indigenous iron technology developed early in the Indian subcontinent.”
Pamela Anderson has had her fair share of ups and down over her career.
So that might explain why she’s so stoic about missing out on an Oscar nomination for her role in The Last Showgirl.
“The win is the work,” the Canadian actress told BBC News.
“You couldn’t have told me I’d be here a decade ago, so this is very exciting for me, to even be in the conversation.”
Anderson, 57, did manage to score nominations at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for her part in Gia Coppola’s film about a fading Las Vegas dancer.
But she is not in the running for the Academy Awards, which take place this Sunday in Los Angeles.
“I just wish everybody well,” she said.
“I think anybody, any actor, realises that all of this is about having another chance to be able to perform and share your talent with the world.”
Anderson rose to prominence on the 1990s TV series Baywatch.
The lifeguard drama became the most-watched television show in the world at the time, and it’s still the role she’s best known for.
But in the three decades since she first ran along the California beaches, fans and critics have become acquainted with different parts of Anderson’s life story including Playboy covers, a leaked sex tape and many marriages.
In 2022, Hulu series Pam & Tommy told the story of how Anderson and now ex-husband Tommy Lee’s sex tape was stolen and illegally distributed in the mid-90s.
Anderson later criticised the series in an interview with Variety, describing it as “shocking” and calling for the people behind it to apologise to her.
Pam & Tommy: Lily James ‘a triumph’ as Pamela Anderson
Now, she’s starring in a new film which is also about second chances.
In The Last Showgirl, the lead character Shelly, played by Anderson, must plan for her future after her show abruptly closes.
Plenty of critics have drawn parallels with Anderson’s own life in the spotlight, and she doesn’t dispute this.
“I think that’s what drew me to the project, that it was so relatable on so many levels,” Anderson said of the film.
She added that its central theme, of struggling to make your career work as a woman in later middle age, was something “many generations of women” had faced.
In the film, Shelly is portrayed as having a strained relationship with her daughter Hannah.
Shelly’s career as a showgirl means she often works late, causing her to miss important moments like bedtime with Hannah.
That, too, is something that Anderson says she can relate to.
Pamela Anderson memoir bares soul on fame and heartbreak
She shares two sons, Brandon Thomas, 28, and Dylan Jagger, 27, with her ex-husband, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee.
She said that for all working mums, there’s “no proper way” to be a parent while also following your dreams and pursuing your career.
“So this movie is, I think, in a very vulnerable space.
“And it was an interesting role to play with all her imperfections and selfishness and selflessness. And it was a lot of layers and nuances to the character that I could really relate to.”
The Last Showgirl has received a mixed reception from critics, though most have praised Anderson’s performance.
The New York Times called it “sensitive and beguiling” and described Anderson as “dazzling”. But the Guardian awarded it just one star, calling it “a big disappointment”.
Many have also described the role as Anderson’s “comeback”. She doesn’t reject the term, but says she prefers to see it as “a new chapter”.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the craft of acting,” she said. “[But] my personal life kind of took me off course, and I raised two beautiful boys.”
She’s not the only actress to be back in the spotlight this season.
Demi Moore is nominated for best actress at the Oscars for her role in The Substance, a body horror which has revitalised her career.
“I’m really happy for Demi,” Anderson said. “I think she’s earned her place. And you have to earn it. You have to fight for it.”
With so many strong female protagonists in this year’s films, I’m curious what Anderson now thinks of Baywatch.
The show has long been criticised for its portrayal of its female characters, who, many argued, were sexualised and denied meaningful plot lines.
“I didn’t see it like that at all. I thought it was quite innocent and wholesome and, and fun to watch,” she said.
“I always felt like I was surrounded by such incredible people, lifeguards that were also firemen or firewomen. It was really, really, empowering.”
Ditching the makeup
Anderson has always been seen to embody a look that rose to prominence in the 90s – skinny, blonde, and enhanced by plastic surgery.
But in recent years, she has been sporting a “no-makeup” look, choosing instead to embrace her natural appearance.
“My beauty routine is rest. And so that’s more important to me these days,” she told me.
She said it’s not that she’s against makeup, but more that she thinks “there’s a time and a place” for it.
President Donald Trump has unveiled plans for selling a “gold card” visa for $5m (£3.9) that will offer wealthy buyers permanent residency in the US and a path to citizenship.
At the first cabinet meeting of his current term, Trump told reporters that the visas would function similarly to green cards, which allow immigrants of varying incomes to live and work permanently in the US, but would go to “high-level people”.
“The people that can pay $5m, they’re going to create jobs,” Trump said. “It’s going to sell like crazy. It’s a bargain.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, also at the meeting, said the gold visas would replace the current visa programme for foreign investors, but offered few details.
Dozens of countries around the world offer some sort of citizenship by investment programme, including several in Europe, like Portugal, which gives “golden visas”, or permanent residency for foreigners who invest €500,000 ($524,000) into a qualifying fund.
Trump said companies would use the golden visa programme to hire non-citizens to work for them in the US.
“We have to be able to get people in the country, and we want people that are productive people,” Trump said.
Typically, green card holders in the US can apply for citizenship after five years.
Trump suggested revenue from the high-priced visas could be used to pay off US debt.
Lutnick said that the initiative will replace the EB-5 visa, which gives permanent residency to some foreigners who invest around $1m and create at least 10 full-time jobs in the US.
Saying the EB-5 programme was “poorly overseen and poorly executed”, Lutnick said the golden visas would be an improvement.
“We’re going to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens,” Lutnick said of future gold card applicants.
For transgender students involved in a very special project at a culinary school in Pakistan, there is more to a class than just learning the art of cooking.
Neha Malik used to dance at parties and weddings for a living and was, occasionally, a sex worker. Since January, she has been enrolled in a new course for the trans community at the Culinary & Hotel Institute of Pakistan.
The free six-month program in the city of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, welcomed its first group of 25 trans students in January; the second group of 25 began training on Feb. 1.
Now, Malik, 31, dreams of working as a chef in Dubai, the futuristic, skyscraper-studded city in the United Arab Emirates.
She never misses a class. “I am so absorbed in learning that I don’t have time to dance anymore,” she added.
Many Pakistanis have entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality, and trans people are often considered outcasts in the conservative Muslim-majority country. Some are forced into begging, dancing and even prostitution to earn money. They also live in fear of attacks.
The U.N. development agency said last year that the majority of trans people in Pakistan reported experiencing violence or abuse and that most reported being denied employment opportunities because of their gender identity. Just 7% were employed in formal sectors, the UNDP added.
Trans women in public office and the media have raised awareness about a marginalized and misunderstood community, and overall, the community has seen some progress in the protection of their rights.
Supreme Court rulings allow them to self-identify as a third gender, neither male nor female, and have underscored they have the same rights as all Pakistani citizens.
Last year, Lahore got its first ride-sharing service for trans people and women in an effort to protect them from discrimination and harassment, and in 2022 Pakistan launched a hotline for trans people.
“Society usually looks down on us,” said Malik. “We have to change this mindset. Now, people come up to me and ask what I do when they see me in a chef’s coat and hat.”
Since classes started, students file into the Lahore culinary school with backpacks and beaming smiles, swapping their colorful clothes for white uniforms.
However, it’s a struggle. They each get a monthly stipend of 8,000 rupees, around $26 — nowhere near enough to live on as a student.
“How can we survive on that when my rent is 15,000 rupees?” said 26-year-old Zoya Khan. Her utility bills swallow up most of it, she said.
So she performs at a few events a month.
“I used to earn a decent amount (from dancing), I won’t lie,” she added. But “there was no respect in it.”
“Why do we come here? It’s because we see hope,” said Khan, who wants to start her own business after graduating — a roadside cafe.
Nadia Shehzad, the institute’s chief executive, said the project will help the trans community, a “rejected and ignored sector of society” get equal recognition.
The school is trying to get government officials to help the aspiring chefs with visas to go abroad for work, Shehzad said. There are also talks with local hotels and restaurants about jobs once the students graduate — with wages of up to 30,000 rupees, or about $107.
The zombie apocalypse is now, according to Italian denim brand Diesel, which sent models onto a heavily graffiti-ed runway with unsettling milky gazes and spray-painted smiles.
Revealing silhouettes set the tone for the Fall-Winter 2025-26 co-ed collection premiered Wednesday on the second day of Milan Fashion Week. Mini skirts were little more than peplums, requiring leggings or matching panties. Men wore cheekily low-rise jeans.
Diesel has become a must-see of fashion week, in part due to its textile innovations. A silicone fisherman-pattern V-neck featured realistic chest hair detailing. Denim was treated to a reflective sheen, while jersey seemed to dissolve.
Donald Trump has shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appears to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.
The footage, which the 78-year-old shared without comment, shows the war-ravaged territory before a caption appears: “Gaza 2025… What’s Next?”
It then goes on to show the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying.
Pic: TruthSocial/@donaldtrump
It includes a “Trump Gaza” tower and a gigantic, golden statue of the US president – with miniature versions on sale in a souvenir gift shop.
A child is also shown walking in a street, holding a huge, golden balloon of the president’s head.
The video also features the world leader dancing with a scantily clad belly dancer in a bar – and sunbathing and sipping cocktails by a hotel resort pool with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Elon Musk appears in the footage several times – sitting on a beach eating humous with flatbreads as bearded belly dancers perform on the sand.
The billionaire boss of X, Tesla and SpaceX – who also leads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which has been tasked with cutting government spending – is also shown throwing dollar bills in the air for people.
A song written for the video also plays in the background.
The lyrics go: “Donald’s coming to set you free, bringing the light for all to see, no more tunnels, no more fear: Trump Gaza’s finally here.
“Trump Gaza’s shining bright, golden future, a brand new life.
“Feast and dance the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one.”
Sky News has established the video was first shared online in early February by accounts with no apparent connection to the White House.
Mr Trump announced his plan – for when the war between Israel and Hamas ends – earlier this year.
It includes relocating two million Gazans to neighbouring Arab countries and developing the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
He described Gaza as a “demolition site” where “virtually every building is down”.
Laying out his idea of what would happen beyond an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, he proposed: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.”
He said America would be “responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site”, before it would “get rid of the destroyed buildings”, and “level it out”.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs,” he added.
The White House described the proposal as “out-of-the-box” and “visionary” – but it was condemned as the effective “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians from Gaza.
Hamas described the proposals as “ridiculous and absurd” in a statement from one of its officials.
Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, which as fellow Arab nations support the Palestinian cause, also rejected Mr Trump’s plan.
Speaking to Sky News’ US correspondent Mark Stone, Gaza resident Oday Basheer said in response to the video: “It was disturbing to watch… it was disturbing from the moment that Trump announced that he was going to enter Gaza and take it and invest in it.
“Today, both sides (Hamas and Israel) are still fighting and we are not reaching any solution that satisfies everyone.”
Mr Basheer said that he fears Gaza will be destroyed and everyone who lives there will be forced to leave.
He added: “This is terrifying, we still don’t [know] if we are going to stay here or not… we don’t know what’s happening tomorrow.
“This is terrifying and this is terrible.”
Meanwhile, there was a mixed reaction to the video in the comments section below it.
One person wrote: “I don’t think that’s funny or cool. Sorry. Am I missing something??? I hope it’s a joke a bad joke..”
“I hate this. I love our president, but this is horrible,” said another.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started three years agoImage: Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP/picture alliance
British PM plans talks on US and Ukraine
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed he will host leaders of Italy, Germany, Poland and other allies on Sunday to discuss their response to Trump’s push for peace in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to attend.
The Trump administration is stepping back from supporting Ukraine. The US president said the responsibility to ensure long-term security for the country lies within Europe.
Sunday’s meeting will come shortly after Starmer returns from his visit to the White House on Thursday.
The British leader flew to Washington after announcing an increase in the defense budget in the hope to maintain close ties between the two nations.
Behind-the-scenes talks on mineral deal will continue, Ukrainian economist says
US President Donald Trump announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would visit Washington on Friday to sign an agreement on rare earths and other critical minerals. However, Trump also said the United States would not provide security guarantees to Ukraine and that it was up to Europe to protect Ukraine’s security.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, former Ukrainian minister of economic development and current president of the Kyiv School of Economics, told DW that the entire deal is to be developed and the bargaining behind the doors will continue.
“What we have seen in the last week or two is that the public posturing and political theater on both sides and specifically by the Trump administration has been decoupled by what is actually in the deal,” Mylovanov said.
He said Trump points out that the deal will pay back the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been given to Ukraine in support, while Zelensky has said several times that it’s a red line for him.
“So they continue to give different public statements to different relative audiences, their domestic audiences, while in the deal there is nothing about this $500 billion paying back and so on forth,” Mylovanov said. “The disagreements are clear. The ability to compromise is also clear, but it’s not going to be an easy walk.
“I would have liked to live in a different world in which the US doesn’t try to disengage from being a military supporter of Europe and Ukraine. But we are not in that world. So to keep a relationship with the US, to have some language and some support that is already a win,” Mylovanov said.
Zelenskyy stresses ‘security guarantees’ ahead of US visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated that security guarantees are crucial ahead of talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday on a natural resources deal.
“The agreement with America. Support for our state and people. Guarantees of peace and security — this is the key to ensuring that Russia will no longer destroy the lives of other nations,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address.
“For me, and for all of us in the world, it is crucial that America’s assistance is not stopped. Strength is essential on the path to peace,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader’s video was released shortly after Trump confirmed that Zelenskiy would visit Washington on Friday to sign the deal on rare earths and other issues, but suggested that the United States would not provide extensive security guarantees.
India’s Prime Minister Modi (left) and Brazil’s Lula are the architects of the realignment between the two countriesImage: Eraldo Peres/AP Photo/picture alliance
Earlier this month, Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant Petrobras couldn’t have found a bigger event to unveil a major new customer. At the Brazil Energy Forum in Rio de Janeiro, the company’s director of logistics, commercialization and markets, Claudio Romeo Schlosser, said an agreement had been reached with India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation for the delivery of 6 million barrels of oil annually between 2025 and 2026.
“We are expanding our international customer base. Until now, it has been heavily concentrated on China,” Schlosser said in Rio, before traveling to India 10 days later where the deal was finalized and signed on February 12.
Bharat Petroleum, which is owned by the Indian state, is the world’s third-largest importer of oil, securing most of India’s oil supply — roughly 85% of which was imported from other countries last year. The deal will be a massive boost to Petrobras’ exports to India, currently only about 4%.
Petrobras signed the deal with Bharat in the hope of expanding exports to India to 24 million barrels per year, Schlosser said.
The deal comes as India and Brazil are seeking to intensify their economic ties as members of the BRICS group of nations, which also includes Russia, China and South Africa.
Latin America’s pivot to diversifying trade
With the oil agreement, the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also wants to highlight the growing importance of India for Brazil’s foreign trade, after recently rejecting a chance to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Rising geopolitical tensions make India an attractive partner for many countries in Latin America as it is perceived as independent and largely neutral in the power struggles between the US, China and Russia.
And India, too, is seeking new economic ties as part of its geopolitical realignment that includes expanding its presence in Latin American countries.
Similar developments are taking place in Argentina, where state-owned oil company YPF signed a deal with three Indian firms in January to export up to 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually. The agreement also covers cooperation in lithium, critical minerals, and hydrocarbon exploration and production, YPF said in a statement announcing the deal.
YPF CEO Horacio Marin sees the Asian market as being key to Argentina’s energy expansion plans. “We are convinced that the country has an opportunity to become an energy exporter and achieve the objective sought by the entire industry to generate revenues of $30 billion over the next 10 years,” said Marin.
In pursuit of ‘strategic autonomy’
Sabrina Olivera from the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI) said India’s foreign policy had traditionally been characterized by “non-alignment” but was now evolving into what is now known as “strategic autonomy.”
“This means that India maintains relationships with as many players as possible without committing to alliances,” Olivera, the coordinator of CARI’s South Asia working group, told DW.
Now India is present at the negotiation table for all global issues, but it is not bound by military commitments.
Latin America holds significant growth potential for India, Olivera added, even though the country is less present in the region compared with, for example, the US, China, or the EU.
Olivera pointed to recent supplies of medical aid that India sent to Cuba following a devastating hurricane, saying that this strategy of forging closer political, economic, and cultural ties was well received across the Caribbean region.
And in Chile, which is known for its mineral wealth, she added, India’s ambassador to the country, Abhilasha Joshi, recently stated that the country was a “gateway to the rest of Latin America.”
India trusted as the world’s biggest democracy
India’s push into Latin America began two years ago with a widely noted visit by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Panama — the first in six decades of bilateral relations.
“Since Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi took office, our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean have taken a new direction,” Jaishankar said at the time, marking a shift toward greater Indian engagement in the region.
According to the Uruguay-based portal Dialogo Politico, trade between India and Latin America totaled $40 billion (€38.8 billion) in 2023. The region’s top trade partners with India are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru.
Gabbard said over 100 intelligence officers took part in an inappropriate chat, which she called an egregious violation of trust. Latin Times
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), announced on Tuesday that over 100 intelligence officers from 15 different agencies will be dismissed for engaging in inappropriate discussions on a government chat platform.
The National Security Agency (NSA) administered the chat tool, which was designed for secure conversations about sensitive national security matters. However, according to intelligence officials, some employees misused it for sexually explicit discussions and conversations surrounding gender transition surgery, reported CNN.
The chats, which violated established professional conduct, were made public by conservative activist Christopher Rufo on Monday. Rufo, a contributor to City Journal, disclosed transcripts of the inappropriate exchanges.
Appearing on Fox News Tuesday evening, Gabbard explained that she had directed the termination of these employees and the revocation of their security clearances. She condemned the behavior as a serious breach of trust and professionalism, stating that it violated “basic rules and standards” of workplace conduct.
“There are over 100 people from across the intelligence community that contributed to and participated in what is really just an egregious violation of trust,” Gabbard said. “I put out a directive today that they will all be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked. They were brazen in using an NSA platform intended for professional use to conduct this kind of really, really horrific behavior.”
DNI spokesperson Alexa Henning confirmed, on X, that intelligence agencies have been ordered to identify and terminate those involved in the explicit discussions by Friday.
The DNI sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the NSA’s “obscene, pornographic, and sexually explicit” chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances.
A senior administration official stated that many members of the intelligence community had been reaching out to Gabbard over the issue.
Earlier on Tuesday, the NSA acknowledged the inappropriate nature of the posts and confirmed that investigations were underway. The agency stated it was aware of the posts that “appear to show inappropriate discussions” involving its personnel and vowed to hold those responsible accountable.
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrived at the White House earlier this month. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Donald Trump was under fire after he posted an AI-generated video depicting what was labeled “Trump Gaza,” which featured the war-torn region transformed into a city with colorful skyscrapers and showered with money by Elon Musk.
The video, which Trump shared on his Truth Social platform late Tuesday, featured the “Trump Gaza” song that said, “Trump Gaza’s shining bright, golden future, a brand new light.”
While the U.S. president did not caption the video, his sharing of the clip has drawn sharp criticism from users on X, who believe it is an inappropriate move.
In the video, Musk was depicted smiling and enjoying local food by the beach. He was also seen partying with people by the shore, with wads of cash falling from the sky.
A gold-decked hotel named “Trump Gaza” is also seen in the video, as well as a young boy holding up a golden balloon shaped into Trump’s face.
Trump just posted a video on his official account where Gaza is renamed “Trump Gaza” with the following images: pic.twitter.com/bG1npskt3m
At one point in the video, Trump was depicted as sunbathing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by a hotel pool. The two are shown as having drinks before the video pans to a different scene.
As soon as clips of the video were re-posted on Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter), people started questioning Trump for posting on the sensitive topic.
Aside from Musk and Netanyahu’s special features in the AI-envisioned “Trump Gaza,” there’s also a massive statue of the U.S. president in what appears to be a plaza, as well as a store where mini Trump statues are put up for sale.
X users enraged over the post
Many users were focused on the “bearded ladies dancing” on the video, but others pinpointed the real issue, which was Trump’s motives for seeking to “transform” the Gaza Strip.
Political commentator Kyle Kulinski called out the president for posting a “deranged” video that “glorified the genocide in Palestine.”
Trump posted a deranged AI snuff film glorifying the genocide in Palestine with the US stealing Gaza and colonizing it with Trump statues and hotels. pic.twitter.com/QgH2Nogofr
— Secular Talk (KyleKulinskiShow@bsky.social) (@KyleKulinski) February 26, 2025
“Yet another grift at the expense of the Palestinians. I’m sick to my stomach,” said one user.
One user said it was “disgusting,” while another called it “heartless,” and one said it was “gross to use AI like that,” calling on the Democratic Party to “stand against this.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar called the move “complete bats**t lunacy,” while another X user said it was “unbelievable” that the president of the United States would post such things.
As of early Wednesday, the video has been pinned to the top of Trump’s Truth Social timeline.
In late January 2024, Barbara Broccoli attended a performance of her stage musical “Buena Vista Social Club” at the Atlantic Theater in New York. The longtime James Bond producer and gatekeeper was joined by three top Amazon MGM Studios executives — Jennifer Salke, Courtenay Valenti and Julie Rapaport — for a night that also included dinner and shop talk. For months, Salke’s boss, Mike Hopkins, had spearheaded discussions with Broccoli about Bond’s future at Amazon. The purpose of the night’s tête-à-tête was for Salke to make Broccoli comfortable with the studio’s loose plans for the first Bond movie since Amazon acquired MGM in 2022 for $8.5 billion. But sources say Broccoli left the meeting uninspired by Salke, a longtime TV executive, and returned to her home in London. Shortly after, talks began for the siblings to relinquish creative control of what is viewed as the last untapped mega-brand, one comparable to Lucasfilm, Marvel and DC. (Amazon declined comment. Eon did not respond to a request for comment.)
Following a year of fraught negotiations, Amazon will soon have a full grip on the franchise that has spawned 25 films about Agent 007 but whose TV, licensing, spinoff and interconnected cinematic universe potential remains unmined. (The deal needs regulatory approval in the U.S. and U.K., which is expected sometime this year.) Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos, who signed off on the complex transaction that sees Broccoli and her half-brother, Michael Wilson, retaining a financial stake in the property, is keenly interested in how the tech giant can bring Bond into the digital age.
“If you own a Ferrari but don’t control where or if it goes, it’s frustrating,” says former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price. “The Broccolis have provided the best example in Hollywood history of managing a character. But in today’s complex landscape, it makes sense for Amazon to get in the driver’s seat and control their own destiny.”
For years, Broccoli and Wilson resisted the siren call to fully exploit the property that is based on Ian Fleming’s spy novels across multiple platforms and sometimes didn’t see eye-to-eye with each other, according to insiders. But their move to limit the exposure of the man with a license to kill may have proved prudent, considering that the ubiquity of über-brands like Disney’s Marvel and Lucasfilm sparked audience fatigue and prompted a pullback on output. (Longtime Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy will step down this year, with that franchise — like Bond — entering a new era.)
But some say Broccoli was too cautious and exerted outsize control — to the detriment of Bond. Sources say Christopher Nolan expressed interest in directing a Bond movie following the release of “Tenet.” But Broccoli made clear that no director would have final cut while Bond was under her purview. Nolan, a final-cut director, wound up making “Oppenheimer” as his follow-up to “Tenet,” with that film earning nearly $1 billion at the global box office and winning the best picture Oscar. (Decades earlier, Steven Spielberg wanted to make a Bond movie following “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” but was blocked by Broccoli’s father, the late Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, because he was too inexperienced.)
Still, there’s a reason the Broccolis held the reins tightly. Bond is and will continue to be a tricky needle to thread. He was created at the height of the Cold War, long before gender equality was a mantra. Yet modernizing the martini-loving lothario too much poses its own issues.
“There’s something so special and unique about Bond, and you can’t just strip him of the things that make him so debonair and cram five projects into production right now and not totally destroy everything about the property,” says Peter Newman, head of the MBA/MFA graduate dual degree program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. “And if you make Bond more politically correct, you’re going to have a lot of pushback.”
Industry observers have more confidence in Amazon’s ability to bring forth a high-quality Bond film than a TV series. The TV division has found success with fantasy dramas “The Boys” and “Fallout,” but it has struggled to generate much Emmy or zeitgeist traction with its shows. The studio gambled on a pricey “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series that never lived up to its potential as one of the most coveted pieces of intellectual property in Hollywood. And even Amazon — one of the most well-capitalized corporations in the world — can’t afford another spy show like “Citadel,” which is considered one of the most expensive TV series ever made, with Season 1’s six episodes costing $300 million.
“You have to make a realistic assessment of your team’s capabilities and what are their strengths and what are their weaknesses, and [a Bond TV series] plays right into their weaknesses,” says one industryite.
Sources familiar with Amazon’s next steps on Bond say a film is still the top priority, and the studio will look first to attach a producer in the vein of David Heyman, who shepherded the “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” films with a cohesive vision.
As for Broccoli, she’s still creatively tied to Amazon and has a strong working relationship with Valenti and Rapaport. The studio is in active development on a “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” remake that Broccoli is producing.
Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, speaks during the 2024 New York Times annual DealBook summit, in New York City. Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that the paper’s opinion editor has “decided to step away” as the section takes a new direction focusing on “personal liberties and free markets.”
Bezos, the founder of Amazon, announced the changes on X.
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” he wrote. “We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:
I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too…
Bezos explained that today the internet covers the task that newspaper opinion sections once did — covering opinions on all views.
Bezos said he offered David Shipley, the paper’s opinion editor, the opportunity to stay at the helm under this new editorial direction, but he declined.
Shipley had helmed the section since 2022.
“I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes’ then it had to be ‘no.’ After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction,” Bezos said.
Bezos explained a reason for the change in direction, saying: “A big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.”
“I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void,” he added.
The Washington Post — and Bezos — clashed with President Donald Trump over the paper’s coverage during Trump’s first term. Trump repeatedly took aim at Bezos and threatened antitrust action against Amazon. In Trump’s still-young second term, however, Bezos has appeared to have taken a different tack, even attending the president’s inauguration along with other affluent tech titans.
TAIWAN has mobilised its sea, air and land forces in response to a surprise Chinese military invasion drill.
China deployed 32 aircraft alongside its warships and announced “live-fire exercises” just off the island’s coast.
The shocking military drill was conducted just a few miles off the island’s coast near Kaohsiung and Pingtung – where Taiwan has naval and air bases.
Taiwan’s military responded by sending sea, air and land forces to “monitor, alert and respond appropriately”, the country’s defence ministry said.
It added: “This move not only caused a high degree of danger to the safety of international flights and vessels at sea but is also a blatant provocation to regional security and stability.”
China has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty over the island, which Taipei rejects.
Just days ago, China launched shock war drills near Australia and New Zealand – forcing flights to dramatically divert.
The unusual appearance of Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea sparked fears, putting the area on high alert.
Airlines like Emirates, Qantas, and Air New Zealand flights reported changing their flight paths over the Tasman Sea.
China’s potential live-fire drills were a shock to Australian authorities who reportedly only learned about these exercises from surprised commercial pilots, Defense Minister Richard Marles revealed on Friday.
The drills come after Taiwan seized a Chinese-crewed cargo ship on Tuesday suspected of severing a subsea telecoms cable serving Taiwan’s Penghu island group.
There is growing concern in Taiwan over the security of its cables after a Chinese-owned cargo ship was suspected of cutting one northeast of the island this year.
SHOW OF STRENGTH
This has not been China’s first shock military exercise on the waters.
Xi Jinping’s military has increased its naval presence around its neighbours too.
China’s President issued a brutal New Year warning to Taiwan as the nation continues its war games against the self-ruled province.
Bringing the self-governed province back in line with mainland China has been a goal of Xi’s for a long time and recent military activity has shown that China is ready to take it back by force.
A swarm of fighter jets and warships were launched to circle and intimidate the island in October 2024.
A damaged deep-sea cable, off the coast of Taiwan in January, launched fears of potential Chinese sabotage.
A telecommunications cable was reportedly damaged near Yehliu, New Taipei City.
Officials believed the cable was cut near the busy port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast.
A Colombian man has been arrested while boarding a flight from Cartagena to Amsterdam after police found cocaine stashed under his toupee.
The 40-year-old man was taken into custody last week at Rafael Nunez International Airport on suspicion of drug trafficking, manufacturing and carrying narcotic substances.
Authorities said he was found with 19 cocaine capsules valued at more than $10,000 hidden under his wig. He was caught after being screened through a scanner at the Colombian airport.
Video footage of the arrest showed officers cutting off the toupee from the man’s head, with several small packages of cocaine seen attached to the inside of the wig.
Video showed officers cutting off the wig ( Image: Policia de Colombia)
Authorities said they seized 220 grams of cocaine.
Metropolitan Police of Cartagena Commander Gelver Yecid Pena Araque said over 450 people have been arrested so far this year for drug trafficking.
He added that over 115 kilos of hallucinogens have been seized, including marijuana and cocaine.
“We are giving forceful blows against these criminal structures that not only dispute the local drug trafficking, but also generate different violent acts and other types of crimes that alter tranquility and coexistence,” he said.
Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39.
Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where officers found Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.
Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.
“The family requests privacy for their loss,” Trachtenberg’s representative, Gary Mantoosh, said in a statement Wednesday.
Trachtenberg was 8 when she began playing Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” from 1994 to 1996 and then starred in the title role in the film adaptations of “Harriet the Spy” and “Inspector Gadget,” opposite Matthew Broderick.
“Michelle comes off as genuine because she really is a genuine kid. Everyone can identify with her,” said Debby Beece, president of Nickelodeon Movies in 1996.
In 2000 Trachtenberg joined the cast of “Buffy,” playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.
Trachtenberg thanked Gellar for speaking out against Joss Whedon in 2021, following abuse allegations made against the “Buffy” showrunner. “I am brave enough now as a 35-year-old woman to repost this,” she wrote on social media, and alluded to “his not appropriate behavior” she experienced as a teenage actor.
In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s “Truth or Scare.” Trachtenberg went on to recurring roles on “Six Feet Under,” “Weeds” and “Gossip Girl,” where she played the gang’s scheming nemesis, Georgina Sparks.
For her fan-favorite role, she was nominated as a TV villain at the Teen Choice Award in 2012. “It’s definitely a lot more fun than playing the good girl,” she told Seventeen in 2009. I love the reaction you get. I never understood why some actors don’t want to play villains or evil characters.”
She was one of the original series’ stars to return for a pair of guest appearances in the 2021 “Gossip Girl” revival.
Blake Lively on Instagram on Tuesday honored her “Gossip Girl” co-star: “The world lost a deeply sensitive and good person in Michelle. May her work and her huge heart be remembered by those who were lucky enough to experience her fire.”
As if to cement herself in millennial culture, Trachtenberg made a cameo in Fall Out Boy’s music video for the “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” alongside Seth Green.
Hollywood took to social media to mourn one of their own, one who had made the transition from kid star to teen queen to adult actor. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” co-star David Boreanaz said on Instagram it was “so very sad.. horrible news.” Melissa Gilbert, who starred with Trachtenberg in the 1996 film “A Holiday for Love,” wrote on Instagram: “My heart aches for your family and all those who loved you so.”
Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in her “Harriet the Spy” debut, said her death was “heartbreaking:” “I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.” Glee star Chris Colfer remembered her this way: “Michelle was the absolute sweetest and one of the most supportive people I knew,” he wrote.
Trachtenberg’s later credits included “Ice Princess” in 2005, playing a math prodigy and aspiring figure skater. The AP said it had “a good, though feeble, heart and the best of intentions” and said Trachtenberg was “mining the same nervous twitter from her kid-sister days on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’”
The New York City-born Trachtenberg also appeared in the 2004 teen sex comedy “EuroTrip,” she co-starred with Zac Efron and Leslie Mann in 2009’s “17 Again” and played a murderous stalker and abductor on an episode of “Criminal Minds.”
Ashley St. Clair slammed Elon Musk as an absent father after she filed a paternity lawsuit against the tech billionaire and requested full custody of their alleged child.
“This has never been about money for Ashley,” a spokesperson for the “Elephants Are Not Birds (Freedom Island)” author told People Tuesday.
“This is about protecting the best interests of Ashley and Elon’s child from a man who can’t be counted on to even communicate, much less act consistently in the role of a father.”
“This has never been about money for Ashley,” her rep told People on Tuesday. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Reps for Musk, 53, weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.
According to court documents obtained by Page Six on Friday, St. Clair filed a lawsuit against the Tesla CEO and alleged they started seeing each other in May 2023.
The 26-year-old claimed they had intercourse around Jan. 2, 2024, which is when she assumes her son was conceived.
St. Clair wrote in the filing that she was certain Musk was the child’s father saying she “did not have sexual intercourse with any other male during the time.”
She also requested the SpaceX CEO undergo DNA testing.
In the documents, St. Clair provided several alleged screenshot messages between herself and Musk, including a text exchange of the latter saying he was looking forward to seeing her and the baby.
She also alleged Musk told her in November 2024, “I want to knock you up again,” and told her as recent as Feb. 2, “Well, we do have a legion of kids to make.”
“I am the only parent to make decisions for R.S.C. I schedule and take him to all his medical appointments,” St. Clair wrote in the filing.
“I am the only parent who cares for him on a daily basis. I feed him, bathe him and ensure that all his physical and emotional needs are met.”
Zeya says the money he received was enough to pay off his debts and buy some land
“I just wanted to own a house and pay off my debts – that’s why I decided to sell my kidney,” says Zeya, a farm worker in Myanmar.
Prices had soared after a military coup in 2021 triggered civil war. He could barely feed his young family and was badly in debt.
They all lived in his mother-in-law’s house, in a village where thatched houses lined dirt roads, a few hours’ drive from the country’s largest city, Yangon.
Zeya, whose name has been changed to conceal his identity, knew of local people who had sold one of their kidneys. “They looked healthy to me,” he says. So he started asking around.
He is one of eight people in the area who told BBC Burmese they had sold a kidney by travelling to India.
Illegal organ trading is a problem across Asia, and Zeya’s story gives an insight into how it takes place.
Arranging the deal
Buying or selling human organs is illegal in both Myanmar and India, but Zeya says he soon found a man he describes as a “broker”.
He says the man arranged medical tests and, a few weeks later, told him a potential recipient – a Burmese woman – had been found, and that both of them could travel to India for the surgery.
In India, if the donor and recipient are not close relatives, they must demonstrate that the motive is altruistic and explain the relationship between them.
Zeya says the broker forged a document, which every household in Myanmar must have, listing the details of family members.
“The broker put my name in the recipient’s family tree,” he explains.
He says the broker made it appear as if he was donating to someone he was related to by marriage: “Someone who is not a blood relative, but a distant relative”.
Then, he says, the broker took him to meet the recipient in Yangon. There, he says a man who introduced himself as a doctor completed more paperwork and warned Zeya he would have to pay a substantial fee if he backed out.
The BBC contacted this man afterwards, who said his role was to check whether a patient was fit to undergo the procedure, not to check the relationship between donor and recipient.
Zeya says he was told he would receive 7.5m Myanmar kyats. This has been worth somewhere between $1,700 and $2,700 over the past couple of years – the unofficial exchange rate has fluctuated since the coup.
He says he flew to northern India for the operation and it took place in a large hospital.
All transplants involving foreign nationals in India must be approved by a panel called an authorisation committee, established either by the hospital or by local government.
Zeya says he was interviewed, via a translator, by about four people.
“They asked me if I was willingly donating my kidney to her, not by force,” he says.
He says he explained the recipient was a relative and the transplant was approved.
Zeya remembers the doctors administering the anaesthetic before he lost consciousness.
“There were no big issues after the surgery, except that I couldn’t move without pain,” he says, adding that he stayed in hospital for a week afterwards.
‘Fake mum’
Another donor, Myo Win – also not his real name – told the BBC he too had pretended to be related to a stranger.
“The broker gave me a piece of paper, and I had to memorise what was written on it,” he says, adding that he was told to say the recipient was married to one of his relatives.
“The person assessing my case also called my mum, but the broker arranged a fake mum for the call,” he says. He adds that the person who answered the call confirmed he was donating his kidney to a relative with her permission.
Myo Win says he was offered the same amount of money as Zeya, but that it was described as a “charitable donation”, and he had to pay the broker about 10% of the amount.
Both men say they were given a third of the money up front. Myo Win says this was in his thoughts as he entered the operating theatre: “I made up my mind that I had to do it because I had already taken their money.”
He adds that he “chose this desperate way” as he was struggling with debt and medical bills for his wife.
Unemployment rates have climbed in Myanmar since the coup – the war has ravaged the economy and sent foreign investors fleeing. In 2017, a quarter of the population were living in poverty – but by 2023, this had risen to half, according to the UN’s development agency, UNDP.
Myo Win says the broker did not tell him selling his kidney was illegal. “I wouldn’t have done it if he did. I am afraid of ending up in prison,” he says.
The BBC is not naming any of organisations or individuals involved in order to protect the anonymity and safety of the interviewees.
However, another man in Myanmar, also speaking anonymously, told the BBC he had helped about 10 people buy or sell kidneys via surgery in India.
He said he referred people to an “agency” in Mandalay in central Myanmar, which he said made arrangements.
“But don’t worry about donors,” he said. “We have a list of donors who are queuing up to donate their kidneys.”
He too said documents were faked to label strangers as related by marriage. When asked whether he received money for his help, he did not answer.
Arrests in India
Organ transplants have increased by more than 50% worldwide since 2010, with about 150,000 carried out annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But it says the supply of organs meets only about 10% of global need.
Trading in human body parts is illegal in nearly all countries and is hard to measure. In 2007, the WHO estimated that 5-10% of transplanted organs came from the black market, but the figure may be higher.
Illegal kidney sales driven by poverty have been documented in recent years across Asia, including in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.
India has long been a hub for medical tourism and concern there about kidney sales has been rising, following accounts in media reports and a recent police investigation.
Last July, Indian police said they had arrested seven people in connection with an alleged kidney racket, including an Indian doctor and her assistant.
Police allege the group arranged for poor Bangladeshis to sell their kidneys, using forged documents to secure approval for the transplants.
Dr Vijaya Rajakumari, who had been working at the prestigious Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, is alleged to have carried out the operations as a visiting consultant at a different hospital, Yatharth, a few kilometres away.
Her lawyer told the BBC the allegations “are entirely baseless and without evidence”, that she only carried out surgeries approved by authorisation committees and always acted in accordance with the law. According to her bail order, she is not accused of preparing forged documents.
Yatharth Hospital told the BBC all its cases, including those managed by visiting consultants, “are subject to our robust protocols to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards”.
“We have further enhanced our processes to prevent any such occurrences in the future,” the hospital said.
After her arrest, Apollo Hospitals said Dr Rajakumari was a freelance consultant engaged on a fee-for-service basis and it had discontinued all clinical engagements with her.
Dr Rajakumari has not been charged in court.
‘No regrets’
Last April, a senior health ministry official wrote to Indian states warning of a “surge” in transplants involving foreigners and calling for better monitoring.
Under Indian law, foreign nationals who wish to donate or receive organs must have their documents, including those showing the relationship between donor and recipient, verified by their own country’s embassy in India.
The BBC contacted India’s heath ministry and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization, as well as Myanmar’s military government for comment, but has received no response.
A public health campaigner in Myanmar, Dr Thurein Hlaing Win, said: “Law enforcement is not effective.”
He added that potential donors need to be aware of the risks, including of bleeding during surgery and damage to other organs, adding that proper follow-up care is needed.
The BBC last heard from Zeya several months after his surgery.
“I was able to settle my debts and bought a plot of land,” he said.
But he said he couldn’t afford to build a house and had not been able to construct one while recovering from the surgery. He said he had been suffering from back pain.
“I have to restart working soon. If the side effects strike again, I have to deal with it. I have no regrets about it,” he added.
He said he stayed in touch with the recipient for a while, and she had told him she was in good health with his kidney.
From ceiling fans to jewellery, branded goods are capturing a bigger share of the Indian market
India is home to 1.4 billion people but around a billion lack money to spend on any discretionary goods or services, a new report estimates.
The country’s consuming class, effectively the potential market for start-ups or business owners, is only about as big as Mexico, 130-140 million people, according to the report from Blume Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Another 300 million are “emerging” or “aspirant” consumers but they are reluctant spenders who have only just begun to open their purse strings, as click-of-a-button digital payments make it easy to transact.
What is more, the consuming class in Asia’s third largest economy is not “widening” as much as it is “deepening”, according to the report. That basically means India’s wealthy population is not really growing in numbers, even though those who are already rich are getting even wealthier.
All of this is shaping the country’s consumer market in distinct ways, particularly accelerating the trend of “premiumisation” where brands drive growth by doubling down on expensive, upgraded products catering to the wealthy, rather than focusing on mass-market offerings.
This is evident in zooming sales of ultra-luxury gated housing and premium phones, even as their lower-end variants struggle. Affordable homes now constitute just 18% of India’s overall market compared with 40% five years ago. Branded goods are also capturing a bigger share of the market. And the “experience economy” is booming, with expensive tickets for concerts by international artists like Coldplay and Ed Sheeran selling like hot cakes.
Why global stars like Coldplay and Ed Sheeran are hitting India
Companies that have adapted to these shifts have thrived, Sajith Pai, one of the report’s authors, told the BBC. “Those who are too focused at the mass end or have a product mix that doesn’t have exposure to the premium end have lost market share.”
The report’s findings bolster the long-held view that India’s post-pandemic recovery has been K-shaped – where the rich have got richer, while the poor have lost purchasing power.
In fact, this has been a long-term structural trend that began even before the pandemic. India has been getting increasingly more unequal, with the top 10% of Indians now holding 57.7% of national income compared with 34% in 1990. The bottom half have seen their share of national income fall from 22.2% to 15%.
The latest consumption slump, however, has deepened amid not just a destruction in purchasing power, but also a precipitous drop in financial savings and surging indebtedness among the masses.
The country’s central bank has also cracked down on easy unsecured lending that propped up demand after the Covid pandemic.
Much of the consumption spending of the “emerging” or “aspirant” class of Indians was led by such borrowing and “turning off that tap will definitely have some impact on consumption”, says Pai.
In the short run, two things are expected to help boost spending – a pick-up in rural demand on the back of a record harvest and a $12 billion tax give-away in the recently concluded budget. It will not be “dramatic” but could boost India’s GDP – largely driven by consumption – by over half a percent, says Pai.
But major longer-term headwinds remain.
India’s middle class – which has been a major engine for consumer demand – is being squeezed out, with wages pretty much staying flat, according to data compiled by Marcellus Investment Managers.
“The middle 50% of India’s tax-paying population has seen its income stagnate in absolute terms over the past decade. This implies a halving of income in real terms [adjusted for inflation],” says the report, published in January.
“This financial hammering has decimated the middle class’s savings – the RBI [Reserve Bank of India] has repeatedly highlighted that net financial savings of Indian households are approaching a 50-year low. This pounding suggests that products and services associated with middle-class household spending are likely to face a rough time in the years ahead,” it adds.
The Marcellus report also points out that white-collar urban jobs are becoming harder to come by as artificial intelligence automates clerical, secretarial and other routine work. “The number of supervisors employed in manufacturing units [as a percentage of all employed] in India has gone down significantly,” it adds.
The government’s recent economic survey has flagged these concerns as well.
It says labour displacement as a result of these technological advancements is of particular concern for a mainly services-driven economy like India, where a significant share of the IT workforce is employed in low value-added services sectors that are most prone to disruption.
DONALD Trump wants to begin selling gold card visas for $5million to foreigners who want to move to America and create jobs.
The US president on Tuesday said the immigration programme, which he said was legal, could start in as little as two weeks.
Donald Trump said he wants to sell gold cards to foreigners wanting to move to the USCredit: Reuters
He added it is possible Russian oligarchs could qualify for the gold cards, which were branded as “somewhat like a green card, but at a higher level of sophistication”.
Trump said in the Oval Office: “We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you Green Card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship.
“Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.
“They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people.
“And we think it’s going to be extremely successful and never been done before.”
Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce, explained that the Trump administration intends to end the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and “replace it with the Trump gold card.”
The EB-5 program grants investors the opportunity to apply for permanent U.S. residence if they “make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States” and intend to generate or sustain 10 permanent full-time jobs.
Lutnick described the EB-5 program as “full of nonsense, make-believe and fraud,” adding, “It was a way to get a green card that was low priced.”
Once vetted, gold card holders “can invest in America and we can use that money to reduce our deficit,” he said.
The president projected that the gold card will attract “very high level people” who contribute to job creation.
With these cards, “you’re getting big taxpayers, big job producers, and we’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that,” Trump said.
The US currently offers a range of visas for foreigners who want to live and work in the country, each with its own set of requirements and limitations.
For those seeking long-term residency, the Green Card application process can be rigorous and time-consuming, often taking years.
It’s unclear, however, how long a ‘Gold Card’ would take to obtain and what additional measures – other than financial – would be needed to qualify.
It comes after Trump sacked a whopping 2,000 workers and put thousands more on leave in the latest USAID chaos.
Just a day earlier, Tesla tycoon and DOGE leader Elon Musk sent a stern warning to all federal employees saying they must reveal exactly what they “got done last week” or resign.
Trump has long vowed to gut what he calls a bloated federal workforce hampering America’s economy.
He set up a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — led by Musk — and tasked him with slashing regulations, cutting spending, and reducing government jobs.
Now Trump’s administration said it was placing all but a mere handful of USAID workers worldwide on paid administrative leave and eliminating around 2,000 of those positions in the US.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in New York in September last year. Pic: Reuters
Ukraine has agreed terms with the United States on a crucial minerals deal, a Ukrainian government source has told Sky News.
There has been no confirmation from the US side yet but Donald Trump said on Monday evening that his Ukrainian counterpart “would like to sign the minerals deal with me”.
The accord, once signed, could unlock a new long-term partnership between Kyiv and Mr Trump’s White House after weeks of increasingly tense exchanges.
The source said there was a plan for the document to be signed “very soon”.
This could even be during a face-to-face meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump.
The US president told reporters on Tuesday evening that his Ukrainian counterpart is “coming to visit on Friday”.
He added: “We have pretty much negotiated our deal on rare earths.”
A Ukrainian government source has also said Mr Zelenskyy will meet with Mr Trump in Washington on Friday and that the meeting was proposed by the American side.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have said Kyiv has agreed a framework for an economic deal with the US which will see them trade rights to rare minerals in exchange for continued aid.
The deal sets out the terms to create a new fund to invest in Ukraine’s minerals, rare earth materials and other valuable natural resources.
It no longer contains an initial demand by the United States for a right to $500bn (£394bn) in potential revenue from the resources.
Mr Zelenskyy had previously described such a high price as not being a “serious” conversation.
Mr Trump, however, views the minerals transaction with Ukraine as a fair way to recoup the billions of dollars that the US has given Kyiv – via weapons and financial support – to assist the armed forces in their fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion over the past three years.
The document also does not provide a commitment from Washington to give security guarantees to Ukraine in the wake of any ceasefire deal with Vladimir Putin – something that Kyiv desperately needs and has been asking for.
More granular details about the new partnership are expected to be fleshed out in coming discussions.
The two sides have “agreed on a framework agreement on how to create a fund that will be filled with a share of minerals” and other natural resources, the government source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This is a political step to ensure that resource revenues are used for the security and reconstruction of Ukraine.”
The fund would comprise US money that would be invested in Ukrainian natural resources, with profits shared between Washington and Kyiv, it is understood.
The Financial Times first reported on the agreement being reached. It said the final version of the deal was dated 24 February.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the newspaper on Tuesday.
The development comes after Mr Trump shocked European leaders last week by calling Mr Zelenskyy a “dictator with no elections”.
He added that the Ukrainian president “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left” after Mr Zelenskyy had accused him of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space”.
French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Washington to meet with Mr Trump on Monday for talks on Ukraine amid fragile relations between the US and Europe.
Meeting in the White House on the third anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the French president said he and Mr Trump “made substantive steps forward during our discussions”.
It comes as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer prepares to meet with Mr Trump at the White House on Thursday.
A SOUTHWEST plane and a private jet have narrowly avoided a crash in the latest air emergency to plague the United States.
Harrowing video captured the close call on a runway at the Chicago Midway Airport on Tuesday and the pilot’s stunned reaction.
Airport footage showed how close the planes came to catastropheCredit: Chicago Midway Airport
The emergency unfolded as a Southwest plane prepared to land at the airport in Illinois at around 8:50 am local time.
As the passenger plane descended toward the runway, the private jet slowly moved across its travel path.
At the last minute, Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 abandoned its effort to land and veered back up into the air, narrowly avoiding the private plane, a Bombardier Challenger 350.
“How’d that happen?” a pilot was heard asking in audio from an air traffic control tower at the airport.
The Southwest plane was coming from Omaha, Nebraska, while the private jet was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to FlightRadar24.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was the private jet that caused the near-disaster.
“The crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 initiated a go-around when a business jet entered the runway without authorization at Chicago Midway Airport,” the agency said in a statement.
“The FAA is investigating the incident.”
The National Transportation Safety Board called the close call a “runway incursion.”
The agency wrote, “NTSB is investigating Tuesday’s runway incursion that occurred when a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 initiated a go-around after a business jet entered the same runway at Chicago Midway International Airport.”
Southwest said its crew followed safety procedures, and the flight landed without incident.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees,” the company said.
The near-miss caused a flurry of concern online as social media users shared their shock over the close call.
“That could have been a tragic disaster. Somebody needs to be fired,” one X user wrote.
“This is getting out of hand,” another noted.
PLANE CRASHES & MISHAPS
It comes a day after Delta passengers had to evacuate on an emergency slide during a scary landing at an airport in Atlanta.
All 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants were forced to escape the plane as smoke filled the cabin shortly after take-off.
No one was hurt in the ordeal.
Just a week earlier, another Delta plane flipped on a runway in Toronto and erupted into flames.
Miraculously, no one was killed in the terrifying crash.
Recent ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A number of recent plane crashes in the US have left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.””While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.”When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”The short period Matzus is referring to is just a matter of three weeks. The recent aviation mishaps include:January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport and killed 67 peopleJanuary 31 – An air ambulance carrying a six-year-old girl and her mom crashed onto a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in totalFebruary 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injuredFebruary 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed and killed all 10 people on boardFebruary 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided into another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four othersFebruary 17 – A Delta plane crashed onto the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people.
The close calls are part of a disturbing trend of recent plane emergencies.
On January 29, a military helicopter and an American Airlines plane collided mid-air over the Potomac River at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people.
Just days later, an air ambulance crashed onto a Philadelphia street, killing seven people.
On February 6, a commuter plane heading to Nome, Alaska, crashed, killing all 10 onboard.
An expert told The U.S. Sun the apparent uptick in crashes is the result of “random clustering.”
“Naturally, recent plane crashes such as the Delta plane flipping on landing in Toronto and the midair collision at Reagan National in DC, have raised public awareness and concerns about the safety of flying,” Jason Matzus, an attorney at Matzus Law, said.
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period.”
He and other aviation experts have stressed that air travel is still extremely safe.
“Air travel is statistically the safest form of travel and the spate of recent crashes isn’t necessarily indicative of an actual increase in frequency of plane crashes,” Matzus said.
The US President says the card would offer residency and a path to citizenship and attract ‘wealthy people.’
Trump said the programme is set to begin in about two weeksImage: Yuri Gripas/Pool via CNP/AdMedia/picture alliance
Trump said the programme is set to begin in about two weeksImage: Yuri Gripas/Pool via CNP/AdMedia/picture alliance
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed plans to sell new “gold card” US residency permits at $5 million (€4.8 million) a pop, replacing a 35-year-old visa for investors.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Speaking about the target audience, Trump said: “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful.”
The Trump ‘gold card’
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that the new permit — dubbed the ‘Trump Gold Card’ by reporters — would replace the EB-5 visas in two weeks.
Created in 1990 by Congress, the EB-5 visas aimed at generating foreign investment and were made available to people who would spend $1 million on a US company that employs at least 10 people.
Lutnick said the gold card was ultimately a green card or a permanent residency card, which raised investors’ entry price in the US. He said it would do away with fraud and “nonsense” that plagues the EB-5 program, eventually leading to citizenship.
Some 8000 people have used the EB-5 visa to enter the US in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2022, according to government immigration data.
In 2021, a Congressional Research Service report said that the program posed a risk of fraud.
Skywatchers are in for a treat this week as seven planets – Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn will all be briefly visible in the evening sky.
This phenomenon, known as a ‘planetary parade’ is a rare sight, and it will be the last time seven planets can be seen simultaneously so well until 2040.
The best chance to see as many planets as possible will be just after sunset on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Four of the planets – Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars – will be visible to the naked eye. Saturn will be harder to see because it will be low in the horizon. You will need a telescope to spot the other two planets – Uranus and Neptune.
How an artist imagines the planets in our solar system lined up in a row – of course it isn’t quite that straightforward
A good view of the horizon and clear skies will offer the best chance of spotting them all. However, the window to see all seven planets will be very brief.
Dr Edward Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich said: “There’s a rare opportunity to have seven planets in essentially a convenient place for you to look for them.”
As the sun sets, Saturn and Mercury will also be setting, making them particularly difficult to see.
“You really only have a few minutes after sunset to catch them before they drop below the horizon. After that, you’ll still be able to see Venus, Jupiter, and Mars clearly for a much longer time,” Dr Bloomer added.
The planets in our solar system orbit the Sun within roughly the same flat plane as the Earth.
As they orbit at different speeds and distances from the Sun, there are moments when they appear to line up from Earth’s perspective creating a spectacular visual display, although the planets remain separated by vast distances in space.
Venus and Jupiter will be the easiest to spot due to their brightness, while Mars will have a distinct reddish hue.
“Uranus is technically visible with the naked eye, but you’d need perfect eyesight and ideal conditions,” Dr Bloomer explains.
To improve your chances of seeing as many planets as possible, Dr Bloomer advises heading to a location with a clear view of the horizon and minimal light pollution.
“If you just pop out of your kitchen into your back garden, you will take time to adjust to the light levels. Give it a bit of time – your eyes take about half an hour to fully adjust,” said Dr Bloomer.
“Avoid looking at your phone, get comfortable, and ensure you have an unobstructed view of the horizon.”
While this is an exciting opportunity, Dr Bloomer encourages people to make a habit of gazing at the night sky.
“See how things change,” he said, adding that observing the heavens is “a chance to witness the ongoing mechanics of the solar system at work.”
Ashley St. Clair boasted that she had Elon Musk “wrapped around her finger” and could get him to “retweet anything” while promising fellow conservatives access to the world’s richest man, multiple sources told The Post.
But when asked to use her paramour to help boost a right-wing cause last year, St. Clair failed to do so and then ghosted the party who made the request, the sources said.
Conservative insiders who have known St. Clair, 26, for years claim that she rose to prominence on the backs of fellow members of the movement — before casting her erstwhile friends aside in an attempt to become Musk’s “permanent side piece,” as one source put it.
“You could never necessarily trust her because you might not be doing what she could monetize or what she could sensationalize in order to make her own star rise,” said a source who has known St. Clair since 2017. “She’s always kind of wanted to be a kept woman, as far as I can see — she was always chasing that.”
“You could never necessarily trust her because you might not be doing what she could monetize or what she could sensationalize in order to make her own star rise,” said one conservative insider who has known St. Clair since 2017. Michael Nagle for NY Post
“Movements are never about one individual,” the source added. “She just kind of tagged along with it. I don’t know if she’s even rooted in a conservative type of philosophy. I think it’s just what made her money.”
After her affair with Musk began in 2023, St. Clair — who has 1.1 million followers on X, and whose posts regularly rack up more than 1 million views — offered to help conservative messages gain a wider audience, according to a second source familiar with her proposition.
The upstart social media maven had gotten the Tesla and SpaceX boss to interact with several of her posts over the course of that year — including a simple “wow” in response to a December 2023 viral video that showed St. Clair accusing Delta Air Lines of flying recently detained illegal migrants from Arizona to New York.
Early in 2024, the second source told The Post, they engaged with St. Clair on behalf of a third party about performing a similar stunt. At the time, this person said, St. Clair was openly bragging about her closeness to Musk.
However, the source said, St. Clair never undertook the job, claiming in a text conversation seen by The Post that she had to go to Europe instead. She also refused to meet with the third party who requested the message boost.
“People have discussions, and they don’t result in a deal,” a rep for St. Clair said when approached for comment by The Post. “But you want to write about that as though it’s some kind of wrongdoing, which is absolute nonsense.”
The incident occurred after St. Clair claims she conceived Musk’s 13th child during a January 2024 trip to St. Barths.
This past Friday, St. Clair revealed that fact when filing two petitions in Manhattan Supreme Court to legally declare Musk the father of her child and gain sole custody of her 5-month-old son. The billionaire has not publicly acknowledged paternity of the child.
The revelations prompted MAGA influencers to release purported text messages from May 2023 in which St. Clair talked about wanting to “seduce elon [sic]” and bear his “rocket babies.”
“Whoa!” Musk replied to influencer Isabella Moody’s X post with millions of views exposing the communications.
St. Clair burst onto the right-wing influencer scene in 2019, when she confronted lefty protesters who raised a Mexican flag at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Aurora, Colo. She later made headlines again for being physically assaulted at a December 2019 rally in Colorado Springs calling for the 45th president’s impeachment.
“She was very opportunistic, she was very eager,” the first source recalled of St. Clair’s salad days, “and that to me said, ‘Is she really in this for the right reasons?’”
Since St. Clair came forward as the mother of Musk’s child in a Valentine’s Day X post, MAGA loyalists have called into question her conservative commitments on everything from securing America’s borders to fighting back against feminism to embracing child-rearing and family values.
“[She would embrace] whatever issue was the issue du jour,” the first source added.
St. Clair was part of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA and was briefly a brand ambassador until a photo of her appearing with white nationalist and antisemitic content creator Nick Fuentes — as well as far-right conspiracy theorists Jacob Wohl and Ali Alexander — led to her firing in October 2019.
She later authored the 2021 children’s book “Elephants Are Not Birds,” first published by a conservative imprint, that she said she put out as a provocative response to growing transgender acceptance.
“She’s got a wit about her too,” the first source said of St. Clair. “She’s a smart woman.”
While writing for the Babylon Bee, a satirical conservative website, in the early 2020s, St. Clair was thrust into the center of a raging debate over free speech and cancellation, which eventually led to a fateful rendezvous with the tech billionaire.
Prior to Musk taking over X, the Bee had been banned from Twitter — as it was then known — for posting a joke about a transgender public health official in the Biden administration. St. Clair met Musk at the app’s HQ in San Francisco after he took over in a $44 billion transaction finalized in late 2022.
The initial May 2023 meeting was followed by a romantic getaway in Providence, Rhode Island, according to St. Clair.
By 2024, St. Clair was claiming in right-wing influencer circles that Musk was looping her in on content moderating decisions on X, a third source with direct knowledge of the conversations told The Post.
Around the same time, she was believed to be a growing “liability” by “major conservative influencers,” according to the second source.
The Post has reached out to representatives for Musk and X for comment.
St. Clair previously told The Post that Musk, 53, has already paid for a security detail and put her up in a glitzy apartment in Manhattan’s Financial District — where two-bedroom units are rented out for almost $40,000 a month, per StreetEasy — but refuses to acknowledge the alleged love child she bore last September.
A MYSTERIOUS apparent bruise was spotted on Donald Trump’s hand after he had a series of handshake jousts with Emmanuel Macron.
Trump was photographed with a large dark mark on the back of his right hand as he sat opposite Macron at the White House.
The two Presidents shared a handshake as they met outside The White HouseCredit: Alamy
The duo’s first hearty encounter happened outside The White House during the French President’s visit for talks over Ukraine.
The two leaders rekindled their bromance as they shared a lengthy handshake, hugged and laughed – despite their disagreements.
Macron and Trump – famous for their long and firm shakes – then shook hands again as they appeared in front of reporters.
But a close-up photo of the gripping handshake of the two leaders shows what appears to be a large bruise on the Republican’s hand.
The picture sparked frenzied speculation on social media.
It remains unclear how the US President got the apparent bruise – and while it seems implausible that Macron’s grip could have caused the injury, the two have famously loved giving each other intense handshakes.
Famously Macron left pasty indents on the US President’s hand back at the G7 Summit in 2019.
Trump’s discoloured hand was spotted as the Republican and the French President shook hands as they sat at the Oval Office.
And it came after they shared an intense 12-second handshake outside the White House.
They then shook hand again in jest in front of reporters.
And another unncomfortable handshake happened around 90 minutes later during a press conference.
The duo has a long history of public displays of affection – with a 29-second handshake going viral in the past.
Their legendary handshake was in Brussels in 2017 – the year they both started their first presidential terms- was so intense it left Trump’s hand with white finger marks.
During their meeting, Trump was then seen tapping Macron’s arm as he shared a tale about a meeting in Paris with the French President seen gripping Trump’s hand as he laughed.
The meeting of the two leaders came amid growing tensions as the US sided with Russia in a UN vote on a resolution demanding that Putin’s troops leave Ukraine.
The French leader grimaced after Trump incorrectly suggested European assistance to Ukraine would be in the form of loans.
Macron interrupted his 78-year-old counterpart and corrected him: “No, in fact, to be frank.
“We paid 60 per cent of the total effort and it was — like the US — loans, guarantees, grants.”
Trump smirked and said after Macron spoke: “If you believe that, it’s ok with me.”
Macron added: “Europe is willing to step up to be a stronger partner, to do more on defence and security on this continent, as well as to be a reliable partner.”
Trump repeated that the war in Ukraine would “never have happened if I was President”.
But he also made a stern warning that any overspill could have a devastating outcome if a peace deal isn’t secured.
He said: “There will be a point where it is not going to stop at those two countries.
“Already there is such involvement from other countries and it could really lead to a very big war, World War III, and we are not gonna let that happen either.”
Trump added: “It’s time to restore peace and I think we’re going to do it.
“We have had some great conversations, including with Russia.”
In response, the French leader cautioned that it’s crucial that any potential agreement with Moscow does not amount to surrender for Ukraine.
He said: “This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine or a ceasefire without guarantees, it must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affect it.
“It is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for Ukraine and for the entire region.
“For Europeans this is an existential issue.”
Macron made it clear that Ukraine’s future should be prioritised and that the US and Europe need to “shoulder” responsibilities.
He said: “This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine or a ceasefire without guarantees, it must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affect it.
“It is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for Ukraine and for the entire region.”
A couple on a long-haul flight were horrified when the woman next to them died suddenly – and they were forced to sit next to her corpse for the rest of the journey.
Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were flying from Melbourne, Australia to their dream holiday in Venice, Italy, when the woman collapsed in the aisle shortly after going to the toilet.
The Qatar Airways cabin crew tried their best to save her, but she couldn’t be revived.
But they were further traumatised after being forced to sit next to the corpse for the remaining four hours of their flight transfer in Doha – and the couple say nobody from the airline has contacted them after their ordeal.
For Jennifer, a nervous flyer, the entire ordeal was horrifying, the couple told 9 Now – and it was another passenger who invited Jennifer to sit with her after cabin staff failed to offer to relocate them further away from the body, they claim.
Mitchell explained: ‘Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch.
Mitchell and Jennifer were not moved away from the corpse by cabin crew (Picture: 9 Now)
‘They went to try and move her, they brought this chair down… and they put her in the chair and tried to wheel her up towards business class.
‘But she was quite a large lady, and they couldn’t get her through the aisle.’
Cabin crew wrapped the body in blankets and left her on a seat, asking Mitchell and Jennifer to move along the row to make space.
Mitchell said the crew took the blankets off the body to inspect it while they were still sat nearby, meaning he saw the dead woman’s face.
Then, the couple were forced to wait after the plane arrived in Doha as police and paramedics boarded.
‘I can’t believe they told us to stay… it wasn’t nice,’ he said.
‘They have a duty of care towards their customers as well as their staff, we should be contacted to make sure, do you need some support, do you need some counselling?
‘I don’t really know how I feel and would like to speak to somebody to make sure I’m alright.’
The entire ordeal has soured what was the couple’s dream holiday to Italy.
‘When my husband turned around and said, “move, move”, I was pretty shocked and I said, “are they going to put her there?”,’ Jennifer said.
‘I’m trying to make the best of a pretty hard situation, but, you know, we’re on holidays so we’re really trying to have a good time.’
Qatar Airways and Qantas, which the couple used to book their flights, have since said they are looking into the incident.
‘Ms Colin booked tickets through Qantas and travelled with Qatar Airways, a fellow Oneworld Alliance carrier,’ a Qantas spokesperson said.
‘The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways.’
A Qatar Airways spokesperson said: ‘First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight.
‘Anora’ and ‘Conclave’ lead ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Brutalist’ in a math model forecasting Oscar best picture winners. Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection; Netflix/Courtesy Everett CollectionFocus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
Every Oscar season is special for me, but this one takes on a new dimension. After 14 years of predicting the Academy Awards with only data and statistics, this happens to mark the first Oscar season I got to enjoy as a new dad.
Was it my best parenting decision that the very first movie I exposed my baby to was The Substance? Perhaps not! Happily, at just five months old, he slept soundly on my lap through the whole thing and came out none the wiser. And even if he’s not quite at the age where we can discuss the film together afterwards, I feel a whole new excitement for watching future cinema and rewatching old classics.
But that’s all years down the road. In the here and now, we’ve got an Oscar race to predict! My model includes industry awards, which other categories a film is nominated in, critics scores, betting markets, and other miscellaneous data. In each category, the model determines how correlated the predictor has been with the Oscars in the past — with gradually less reliance on older years, due to the changing makeup of voting bodies — and that leads to a series of weights which are then applied to this year’s Oscar data and nominees list.
The purpose of including the betting markets is to try and capture any factors — such as late-breaking news — that might be on Oscar voters’ minds but not already accounted for by the voters from earlier award shows. In almost all cases, the betting odds merely confirm what the rest of the model already knew. But every now and then, in a particularly tight race, these markets can sway the model enough to flip who the favorite is.
When all is said and done, we arrive at a series of probabilities, one for each nominee, on their chances of winning the race. And in an Oscar season as topsy-turvy as this one, that’s all any nominee has: a chance. Probabilities provide no guarantees.
Best Picture
In the main event, the math says that Anora is just barely ahead of a coin flip’s chance to win best picture. That’s perhaps a bit higher than some might suspect. Yes, it’s partly due to a string of impressive wins for Anora, including a mega-weekend of Critics Choice, Producers Guild, and Directors Guild honors.
But it’s as much about the flaws in the other films’ Oscar resumes: Conclave reached second place by virtue of BAFTA and SAG wins, but would need to become the 7th film in 97 years to win without a directing nomination. The Brutalist won the Golden Globe for best drama, but would need to become the first best picture winner ever to overcome a lack of both a SAG ensemble and Eddie nomination. Emilia Pérez took the other top Golden Globe honor, but is understandably getting crushed in the betting markets, one factor in this model. A Complete Unknown got plenty of nominations but never won a significant best picture award all season long.
Best Director
Sean Baker (Anora) and Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) are neck-and-neck, having each won a healthy dose of honors for their direction throughout awards season. But not all wins are created equal. In particular, the Directors Guild’s predictions of best director enjoy a stronger track record than any other predictor in any category: only three DGA winners in the last half-century were nominated at the Oscars but lost. That slightly tips the scales towards DGA winner Baker, but with a hefty dose of uncertainty.
Best Actor
At the 11th hour, the Screen Actors Guild made this a race. Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) appeared to be comfortably on his way to a second Oscar win. Then Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown) finally got that major win he’d been looking for on Sunday night. The model still prefers Brody, but this contest suddenly has genuine upset potential.
Best Actress
Best actress is neither an open-and-shut case nor a true neck-and-neck race. Demi Moore (The Substance) and Mikey Madison (Anora) went head-to-head at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and Screen Actors Guild, and Moore swept all three. That’s enough for the model to call her the favorite, albeit less than any of the other acting frontrunners, but still at a respectable 52 percent. Madison’s signature win, the BAFTA honor, vaults her into second place at 22 percent. Looking for a bolder choice in your Oscar pool? Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) is hardly out of this event at 14 percent.
Best Supporting Actor
Unlike the lead acting categories, this year’s supporting categories are more straightforward. Yes, it’s always possible to see an upset: 87.7 percent is not 100 percent! But make no mistake about it, Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) dominated awards season and is a strong frontrunner to cap it off with an Oscar.
Best Supporting Actress
There’s a theory out there that the controversy surrounding Karla Sofía Gascón could drag down her Emilia Pérez co-star, Zoe Saldaña. Tell that to the voters of the BAFTAs and the Screen Actors Guild, not to mention earlier award shows like the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. There are limits to what a mathematical model can bake in, but based on the data it does have, Saldaña has an almost a 9-in-10 chance to take this trophy.
Best Original Screenplay
Sean Baker’s script for Anora is a popular pick here, but at just 40.5 percent to win, there’s a 3-in-5 chance we see an upset. Anora’s strongest point on the resume is a Writers Guild win over A Real Pain, coming at a ceremony in which the other three Oscar competitors were ineligible. Throw in a Critics Choice win for The Substance, a BAFTA win for A Real Pain, and the Golden Globes honoring a script on the adapted side instead, and it all makes for one of the year’s most nail-biting races.
Best Adapted Screenplay
In recent years, the Academy loves honoring directors in the screenplay category. It’s been 14 years since the last original screenplay winner that didn’t include the film’s director among the list of nominated scribes, and 7 years on the adapted screenplay side. At least in the adapted race, that streak might finally come to an end, thanks to Peter Straughan’s thrilling adaptation of Robert Harris’ novel Conclave.
Best Animated Feature
Chris Sanders (The Wild Robot) earned his fourth nomination in this category, tied for the most all-time, but is still looking for his first win. The math gives him just above a coin toss’ chance to do so at 55 percent. But don’t count out Flow – which joined Flee as the only movies in history nominated for animated feature and international feature – or BAFTA winner Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
Best Documentary Feature
This category has relatively few reliable predictors compared to the others on the list. Making matters more difficult, many of the predictors we do have opted for titles like Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper, which were left off the Academy’s top five. What we’re left with is a category where every nominee is above 1-in-10 to win, but no nominee reaches 1-in-3.
Best International Feature
What a race this has been. On paper, Emilia Pérez stormed out to a big lead, fueled by its 13 nominations that eclipsed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s and Roma’s record of 10 nominations for an international film. But then the controversies started: First and foremost were Karla Sofía Gascón’s tweets, but also the sharply diverging opinions between critics (72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (16 percent). In the first year in Oscar history with two best picture contenders in this field, that might be enough for I’m Still Here to come from behind, even if it’s difficult for the model to fully account for this narrative.
Best Production Design
Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales are a combined 0-for-8 at prior Oscar ceremonies, but this might just be their year, thanks to their visually stunning recreation of Oz for Wicked. The math is higher than most on Nosferatu due in large part to its win at the Art Directors Guild Awards in the period film category, but given that Wicked took the fantasy trophy and a host of other awards season honors, it’s still the movie to beat.
Best Cinematography
Best cinematography may be a much closer race than some are giving it credit for. The Brutalist’s BAFTA honor and the betting markets barely put it into first place, but plenty of critic honors leaned towards Nosferatu, which is a significantly stronger contender than you’d glean from the relative lack of people predicting it to win. Dune already won this race for its first installment and could still do so again, while Maria won the American Society of Cinematographers on Sunday night, so upset possibilities abound.
Best Film Editing
This has all the ingredients of a confounding category to those of us in the Oscar predictions business. Challengers claimed multiple precursor awards without getting an Oscar nomination. The American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Awards were understandably delayed until after the Academy Awards due to the fires in L.A. Three of the strongest best picture contenders seem to be in the top three here as well. Ultimately, the math weakly points towards BAFTA winner Conclave, as no BAFTA winner nominated in this category has lost the Oscar since Vice (2018).
Alleged shooter Luigi Manigone at a court hearing (Image: Getty Images)
Alleged killer Luigi Manigone is said to be begging his fans to stop bombarding him with photos while he awaits his trial in a Brooklyn federal prison.
According to a statement on the Maryland native’s legal defense fund, the alleged killer cannot keep up with the amount of photos being sent to him.
“Luigi is allowed to receive photos via Shutterfly and FreePrints in accordance with mail procedures while in custody,” a message in the FAQ section reads.“ Due to the volume of photos, they could take longer than usual to be screened and shared.
“Luigi appreciates the photos that are sent and kindly asks that people send no more than five photos at a time,” the update continued. “Please note that every photo that is received is screened and reviewed by law enforcement.”
The 26-year-old is currently being held on charges in relation to the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was killed on December 4th in New York City while making his way to a shareholder meeting. The website, which is dedicated to updates in Mangione’s case, also points fans to a donation site to help raise money for his defense fund.
As of Tuesday, the fund has raised $616,309. “I am overwhelmed by – and grateful for – everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,” a statement by Mangione on the site reads.
“Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe,” he adds. “While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to write. I look forward to hearing more in the future.”
The man’s plea for a limit in letters comes after an appearance in court last week where Mangione was spotted wearing a bulletproof vest and a green cardigan over a button-down shirt. He didn’t give a statement. It was reported that as he appeared, several protesters calling for his freedom chanted out, “Free Luigi.” He faces murder and terror charges in his New York state case. He appeared clean-shaven, though his hair was slightly longer, and he appeared to be about the same weight as he had been the last time he was seen in public.
S Jaishankar has sent out a word of caution to Bangladesh over its hostile behaviour lately and said that Dhaka has to decide on the kind of relationship it wants with New Delhi.
EAM Dr S Jaishankar cautions Bangladesh over hostile behaviour (Reuters Image)
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has cautioned Bangladesh against “blaming India for everything” that goes wrong in the country and said Dhaka has to decide on the kind of relationship it wants to share with New Delhi.
His remarks came days after he met Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain in Muscat.
Jaishankar Calls Out Bangladesh’s Duplicity
Speaking at a public function, Jaishankar also advised the leaders of the interim government in Bangladesh to refrain from making “ridiculous” claims against India. His remarks come at a time when Dhaka has shown growing hostility towards India, since the exit of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
Pointing out the duplicity on Bangladesh’s part, the EAM said that Dhaka cannot talk about having good relations with New Delhi in one breath and blame India for every wrong thing in the country in the other.
“If every day someone in the interim government stands up and blames India for everything – some of those things if you look at the reports, are absolutely ridiculous. You cannot, on the one hand, say ‘I would now like to have good relations with you, but I wake up every morning and blame you for everything that goes wrong.’ It is a decision that they must make,” Jaishankar said.
Reminding Bangladesh of the “special history” it shares with India, the EAM said that the leaders in the country must “make up their minds” on “what kind of relationship they want to have with New Delhi, going forward”.
Jaishankar Expresses Concerns Over State Of Minorities In Bangladesh
The Minister flagged the communal attacks on the religious minorities in the neighbouring country and explained how it impacts bilateral talks.
“There are two aspects to the problem that our bilateral ties are facing – the first being communal attacks on minorities. What is very troubling for India is the spate of attacks on minorities. It obviously is something that impacts our thinking. It is something we have to speak up about, which we have done,” Jaishankar said.\
He said that the second aspect is their domestic politics “which you can agree with or disagree with, but at the end of the day, we are their neighbour, and they have to make up their mind on their outlook towards us”.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives to begin serving her prison sentence for defrauding investors in the failed blood-testing startup, at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, U.S. May 30, 2023. REUTERS/Go Nakamura/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A U.S. court upheld the convictions of Theranos’ founder Elizabeth Holmes and President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani on Monday, on charges of defrauding investors in the failed blood testing startup once valued at $9 billion.
A three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected claims of legal errors at their separate trials held in 2022.
French ex-surgeon Joel Le Scouarnec, accused of rape and sexual assault against hundreds of children over several decades, is seen during his trial in this courtroom sketch at the courthouse in Vannes, France, February 24, 2025. REUTERS/ZZIIGG Purchase Licensing Rights
A retired surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anesthetic, told the opening of his trial in western France on Monday that he had committed “despicable” acts.
Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, faces charges of aggravated rape and sexual assault against 299 victims, most of them children at the time, in a case that raises uncomfortable questions for France’s publicly run healthcare system, victims and rights groups say.
Wearing a black jacket and glasses, he spoke in a steady voice to confirm his name, date of birth and other personal information in the small provincial court room. A number of his alleged victims followed proceedings from a nearby building.
“I have committed despicable acts,” Le Scouarnec told the court. “I’m aware that the harm I’ve caused is beyond repair.”
“I owe it to all these people and their loved ones to admit my actions and their consequences, which they’ve endured and will keep having to endure all their lives.”
In what is considered France’s worst case of pedocriminality to go to trial, Le Scouarnec’s alleged abuse of patients spanned 25 years, from 1989 to 2014.
The trial comes at a time of reckoning around sex crimes in France after the conviction of Dominique Pelicot, who was found guilty in December of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men over to their home to rape her.
Already serving jail time for earlier rape convictions, Le Scouarnec faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty. The two sentences would run concurrently.
“My clients don’t expect anything from Le Scouarnec. In France, whether you rape one child or 300, it’s the same sentence,” Marie Grimaud, a lawyer representing some of Le Scouarnec’s alleged victims, told reporters before the hearing.
“My clients are only hoping to find some dignity, humanity and consideration from the justice system.”
SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN
Le Scouarnec has been convicted of sex crimes on two previous occasions.
He was handed a suspended four-month jail sentence for possessing child pornography in 2005, but managed to secure a job as a surgeon at a public hospital in Quimperle, western France, the following year.
He continued to work in public hospitals until his re-arrest in 2017 on suspicion of raping his 6-year-old neighbour. Police discovered electronic diaries that appeared to detail his sexual assaults on scores of patients in hospitals across the region.
In 2020, Le Scouarnec was convicted of the rape and sexual assault of his child neighbour, as well as two of his nieces and a 4-year-old patient, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Further investigations into the alleged victims logged on his files led prosecutors to later charge Le Scouarnec with the aggravated rape and sexual assault of 299 people.
Francois, a plaintiff in the case and who was 12 when Le Scouarnec allegedly abused him, said he felt betrayed by the authorities.
“Why did nobody stop this surgeon from working with children?” said Francois, who asked to be identified only by this name.
According to court documents, some members of staff at the health ministry were aware of the 2005 conviction. The ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Canada’s Liberal Party leadership candidates, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, former House leader Karina Gould and former Liberal MP Frank Baylis stand next to each other before participating in a French language debate ahead of the March 9 vote to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,… Purchase Licensing Rights
The leading candidates vying to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent considerable time during a televised debate on Monday discussing the need to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The next election must be held by October 20 this year and until recently the official opposition Conservatives looked set for an easy win after more than nine years of Liberal rule.
But the race now is much closer, thanks to Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on all imports from Canada.
“Trump represents the biggest threat to Canada since World War Two,” former finance minister Chrystia Freeland said during a two-hour French-language debate between the four candidates.
Freeland, who helped negotiate the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade deal during the first Trump administration, said the president at that point had vowed to wage economic war against Canada.
“But this time Trump’s threats are worse – he wants to make Canada the 51st state,” she added. Canada sends 75% of its goods and services exports to the United States and would be plunged into a recession if the tariffs persisted.
Ex-central banker Mark Carney, who polls indicate is the front-runner, said Trump would never succeed in making good his threat to make Canada a part of the United States.
“At this moment Canada is facing the worst crisis of our lives … I know how to handle crises,” he said. Carney headed the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial meltdown and then the Bank of England during the Brexit vote.
Carney and Freeland both say Canada needs to respond robustly to any Trump tariffs.
Freeland’s resignation last December after nine years in cabinet triggered a crisis that eventually forced Trudeau to announce last month that he would step down. The new leader will be named on March 9.
Migrant barber Mohammad Azmouz works at a barber shop in the Neukoelln neighbourhood, in Berlin, Germany, February 24, 2025. REUTERS/Elena Rodriguez Purchase Licensing Rights
Mohammad Azmouz, a Syrian barber living in Berlin, said casting his first ever vote on Sunday at the age of 57 was an indescribable feeling.
But a historic rise in support for Germany’s anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has left him anxious about his future.
“Why this hatred? We work, and we established ourselves. We are not a burden on society, so why this hatred? We love the German people,” Azmouz said.
Germany’s asylum policy was one of the biggest topics in this year’s election, pushing the conservatives and the AfD to win first and second place, respectively.
Worried about an increasingly hostile atmosphere, and the cost of living, Azmouz gave his vote to the far-left Die Linke party, which ran a campaign promoting social justice and promising more support for low-income households.
“We now miss the days when Mrs. Merkel was in charge of the government,” he said, referring to long-time chancellor Angela Merkel. “Now everything is expensive … It feels like one is running and running without ever catching up.”
Amid an economic downturn, Germans with an immigrant background are more worried about their finances than the rest of the population. A recent DeZIM study found that 63.4% of migrants share this concern, compared with 46.7% of non-migrants.
Germany’s settled migrant population has never been higher. More than seven million Germans with an immigrant background were eligible to vote in this election, hundreds of thousands of them former refugees.
Others said they shared similar concerns about the state of the economy, but not all were looking to the left.
For Mohammed, a Jordanian barber who is not a voting citizen, the rise of the AfD is an opportunity to shake things up in the country. He also believes Germany has the right to protect its borders and population.
German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz reacts after the exit poll results are announced for the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth Purchase Licensing Rights
Germany’s election winner Friedrich Merz warned the United States on Monday against turning its back on allies but also urged Europeans to build up their own defence capabilities, saying it was now “five minutes to midnight for Europe”.
His comments underscored the turmoil engulfing the transatlantic alliance since the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump and fears he could strike a deal with Russia over Ukraine while Kyiv and Europe just watch from the sidelines.
Merz’s conservatives are looking to quickly form a government after winning a national election on Sunday but face tricky coalition talks and the prospect of an obstructive parliament after far-right and far-left parties surged.
Time is pressing for Europe’s ailing largest economy. German businesses are demanding help to remain globally competitive, society is split over migration and the new government must also deal with a confrontational Trump administration threatening tariffs as well as a hostile Russia and an assertive China.
“And what we also see with the greatest concern, of course, is the attempt (by Trump) to make a deal with Russia on Ukraine over the heads of the Europeans, over the heads of Ukraine,” Merz told a press conference.
“It will come as no surprise to you when I say that this is unacceptable both for Ukraine and for Europe,” Merz said, adding it would be difficult if those who put “America First” actually made their motto “America Alone”.
His conservative bloc wants to ally with Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), who came in third, after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place.
But Merz’s bid for an alliance with the SPD comes after a bruising campaign that highlighted deep policy divisions, in particular over migration. The SPD, smarting from its worst post-war result, may set a high price for any deal.
The AfD and the radical Left Party jointly secured one third of seats in the new parliament, enough to block constitutional changes needed to loosen state borrowing limits – changes that some economists say are crucial to revive the flagging economy.
DEBT BRAKE
Merz said he was in talks with other parties to reform the debt brake that restricts borrowing, even before the new parliament is officially sworn in. He would also sound out allies about creating another special off-budget fund to raise defence spending.
However, a resurgent Left party and the AfD may wield a blocking minority in parliament that could stymie any increase in defence spending needed to shore up European security.
The Left said on Monday it wants more borrowing but its support will hinge on the cash not being used for rearmament. Both the AfD and the Left oppose military aid to Ukraine.
“Friedrich Merz must brace himself now,” said Left co-leader Jan van Aken.
Hitherto known as an Atlanticist, Merz again on Monday questioned the reliability of the United States as an ally, adding: “This really is five minutes to midnight for Europe.”
On Sunday Merz had criticised what he called “outrageous” comments from the Trump administration during the election campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Moscow.
He also warned Washington not to create divisions by offering preferential tariffs to some European Union members.
In another bold move on Monday, Merz invited Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Germany in defiance of an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc took first place in Sunday’s election with 28.5% – their second worst result of the postwar era – while the AfD won 20.8%, its best ever result, according to provisional results.
However, mainstream parties rule out working with the AfD, a party which is monitored by German security services on suspicion of extremism but has been endorsed by U.S. figures including billionaire Elon Musk.
Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab said on Monday it would spend $500 billion in U.S. investments in the next four years that will include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers and add about 20,000 research and development jobs across the country in that time.
An Apple logo is pictured in an Apple store in Paris, France September 17, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
That $500 billion in expected spending includes everything from purchases from U.S. suppliers to U.S. filming of television shows and movies for its Apple TV+ service. The company declined to say how much of the figure it was already planning to spend with its U.S. supply base, which includes firms such as Corning (GLW.N), opens new tab that makes glass for iPhones in Kentucky.
The move comes after media reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook met President Donald Trump last week. Many of Apple’s products that are assembled in China could face 10% tariffs imposed by Trump earlier this month, though the iPhone maker had secured some waivers from China tariffs during the first Trump administration.
“This pledge represents a political gesture towards the Trump administration,” said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson, who estimated Apple has already committed to spend more than $150 billion per year in the United States, including cost of goods sold and capital expenditure.
“Even without growing that spend very much, they would only need 3 to 4 years to meet their obligation.”
Apple made a similar announcement about its U.S. spending plans in 2018, during the first Trump administration, when it said its new and ongoing investments would contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over five years.
The company’s shares were up 1.2%.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, thanked Apple and Cook, saying the move reflected the company’s faith in his administration.
Most of Apple’s consumer products are assembled outside the U.S., though many of Apple components are still made there, including chips from Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab, Skyworks Solutions (SWKS.O), opens new tab and Qorvo (QRVO.O), opens new tab.
Apple said it last month started mass producing chips of its own design at an Arizona factory owned by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW)
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron displayed stark differences on Monday in their approach to Ukraine, exposing a divide between the United States and Europe over Trump’s bid for a quick ceasefire deal with Russia.
During a day of talks between the two leaders, Trump and Macron showed a friendly rapport based on years of good ties. But Macron made clear he disagreed with Trump on some key issues as they marked three years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Purchase Licensing Rights
Trump refused to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a dictator, after calling Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a dictator last week. Macron said it was clear that Russia “is the aggressor” in the conflict, a topic Trump wavered on last week.
“President Putin violated the peace,” Macron said at a joint press conference with Trump.
Trump expressed a desire for a ceasefire as soon as possible and said he was trying to arrange one between Ukraine and Russia. He said he could go to Moscow to meet Putin once a deal is reached.
Macron, on the other hand, urged a more deliberate approach, starting with a truce and then a peace deal that includes security guarantees.
“We want peace, he wants peace. We want peace swiftly, but we don’t want an agreement that is weak,” Macron told reporters.
Any peace deal, he said, must be “assessed, checked and verified.”
The two leaders did agree, however, on the deployment of European peacekeeping forces once a peace deal is eventually reached.
“They would not be along the front lines. They would not be part of any conflict. They would be there to ensure that the peace is respected,” Macron said earlier in the Oval Office with Trump.
Alec Baldwin lost his cool when an ambush comedian heckled him on the street over the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, driving the actor to threaten, “If this camera wasn’t here, I’d snap your f—ing neck in half and break your f—ing neck right here.”
Baldwin’s reaction was captured in a video uploaded to social media on Monday by comedian Jason Scoop, who hassled the actor while in character as Donald Trump.
“It’s your favorite president,” Scoop says in the clip, cornering Baldwin as he loads his belongings into the trunk of a vehicle—and alluding to his stint playing the current president on Saturday Night Live. “Look, Alec, I will offer you a total pardon, because I want to be friends, right? I want to be friends. I will give you a total pardon for murdering that woman if you kiss the ring,”
Scoop continues, shoving his ring finger at Baldwin, “Kiss the ring, Alec.”
Baldwin ignores him for much of the video, but Scoop continues to egg him on. “Alec, if you don’t want that pardon for murdering that woman in cold blood, you can call it first degree, you can call it whatever you want, but it was not good. She’s looking down on me right now, smiling, happy. ‘Thank you for confronting the man who took me out, who killed me.’”
That’s when Baldwin has clearly had enough.
“You got a camera on me here?” Baldwin says, turning to the man and telling him to look him in the eye. “You realize my kids live in this building? I want you to know something. I want you to be real careful. If this camera wasn’t here, I’d snap your f—ing neck in half and break your f—ing neck right here. You know that, don’t you?”
As the influencer refuses to break character, Baldwin insists that he get lost. “I want you to get out of here,” he says, before he decides to “shove that camera up your a–.”
The Daily Beast reached out to multiple representatives for Baldwin for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
If he had gotten physical, it wouldn’t be the first time Baldwin had done so with paparazzi or others confronting him on the street. In 2012, he was accused of punching a photographer outside the Marriage License Bureau just after tying the knot with wife Hilaria Baldwin. In 2018, he got into a legal back and forth that ended with a settlement after a New York man claimed Baldwin punched him in a dispute over a parking spot.
TERRIFIED Delta Air Lines passengers had to evacuate a plane by emergency slide during a scary landing at an airport in Atlanta.
The Boeing 717-200 was going to Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina when smoke suddenly filled the plane cabin.
The Delta flight was en route from Atlanta to South Carolina when it had to turn around.
When it landed, all 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants were forced to escape the aircraft using the emergency exit slides.
Shocking photos showed passengers standing on the left wing of the plane clutching their belongings as they tried to get to safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration said, “Delta Air Lines Flight 876 returned safely to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 9 am local time on Monday, February 24, after the crew reported possible smoke in the flight deck.”
Crew members reported the smoke shortly after takeoff, with an emergency declared to get priority handling from air traffic control.
A Delta spokesperson told The Sun: “The flight crew followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience.”
Footage showed passengers using their clothes to cover their faces as the terrifying haze filled the cabin.
The airline said teams brought customers to the terminal via ground transportation and were working to get them rebooked on other flights.
The incident had a “moderate impact to operations,” an air spokesperson told ABC News.
Travelers are on high alert when it comes to flying after a series of concerning plane crashes and mishaps.
Just over a week ago, a Delta plane from Minneapolis crashed and flipped before erupting into flames at Toronto Pearson Airport.
PLANE PANIC IN TORONTO
Panicked passengers were forced to crawl along the ceiling after the jet slammed into the icy runway in the near-disaster.
No one was killed as smoke surrounded the jet in the aftermath of the terrifying scene.
A passenger named John Nelson shared a video from the scary scene on Facebook on Monday.
“We just landed,” he said in a video showing the aircraft upside down.
“Our plane crashed, it’s upside down. The fire department is on site.
“Most people appear to be OK. We’re all getting off, [there’s] some smoke going on.”
Fellow passenger Peter Koukov told CNN they were “upside down hanging like bats” in the horror crash.
The fire department was shown spraying fire retardant on the plane.
“Several customers with injuries were transported to area hospitals. Our primary focus is taking care of those impacted,” Delta said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
The airline confirmed the Toronto airport, YYZ, was closed “shortly after the incident occurred.”
“Delta is working to connect with customers traveling from, to or through YYZ who should also monitor the status of their flight via the Fly Delta app.”
DISTURBING TREND
More mid-air panic came this weekend when a flight that took off from JFK Airport in New York City had to make a U-turn.
It was on the way to New Delhi, India, but was grounded in Rome due to a “possible security issue” that turned out to be a bomb threat.
The emergency onboard the American Airlines flight was eventually found to be a false alarm.
Italian law enforcement checked and cleared the aircraft to re-depart, according to American Airlines.
KANYE West’s first paid screening for wife Bianca Censori’s film was chaotic as fans were made to wait hours before she made a bizarre appearance as a performance artist.
Kanye, 47, and Bianca, 30, reportedly both reached out to divorce attorneys earlier this month amid rumors of a split.
Many onlookers believed that the woman taking part was a Bianca Censori lookalike amid divorce rumorsCredit: The U.S. Sun
But they appeared to still be together at their second art event at a warehouse in Los Angeles on Sunday evening.
The U.S. Sun can confirm Kanye was selling $100 tickets for the screening of Bianca’s first feature-length film, which was produced by the rapper and shot in Japan.
It came after an earlier premiere saw hundreds of people line up outside the venue in Koreatown on Saturday night.
But the first paid event was a different story, as Kanye advertised three different screenings at 6 pm, 8 pm, and 10 pm, and nothing went to plan.
Sources said the doors didn’t open until 8 pm and the film didn’t start until after 10 pm.
It was hours before the venue was even half full, and the VIP area was still being constructed with workers banging and walking around with ladders.
Only around 250 people appeared to have attended the event in total.
One onlooker said: “It was so unorganized and none of us knew what was going on, or whether the movie would ever play.
‘EMPTY VIP’
“The first half was deafeningly loud and the ground was shaking in the venue, it was almost unbearable.
“There was no clapping when it finished and it wasn’t that impressive, even though the imagery was great.
“Everyone was then ushered to the side of the venue for Bianca’s performance piece on the floor, but it was so dark most people didn’t think it was even her.
“She was dressed like a nurse or a nun, nobody was sure, in a white headband, a long white dress with a high stiff collar, and white heels.
“Bianca was sitting on the side of a vintage bed only blinking for about 10 minutes before Kanye whispered to a security guard who went over to her.
“He then whispered in her ear and she stood up and slowly began making the bed.”
Bianca then stood by the bed for a long time and some fans were seen leaving the venue early, the source added.
She was then ushered backstage and the film began again on a large screen as many of the attendees headed out.
Another onlooker said, “Visually it was great but the event planning was not, it was a bit of a mess.”
Bianca is seen in several different scenes of the film, including one segment where she cuts her hair.
She also appears almost naked in another clip wearing a tiny thong as she slowly writhes around on the floor.
Bianca is not believed to have spoken to any fans at the event and kept very low-key, while Kanye agreed to sign some autographs.
He even drew a swastika on the back of a vinyl record for one die-hard following his Nazi rants on X.
The VIP area at the event was only a small free bar with around 20 people mingling around.
An eyewitness said Kanye was seen standing by alone and eating takeout before heading to the car.
He had been seen floating through the crowd on the odd occasion dressed in a jacket that had the word ‘Security’ written on the back.
The U.S. Sun understands Kanye and Bianca arrived in a dark SUV which was backed into the VIP area and she spent the majority of the time in the car out of sight.
At the premiere on Saturday, Bianca was completely covered up in a black robe and shroud covering her body and face.
Kanye later boasted about the project on Instagram, deleting everything from his page apart from the poster, which sees Bianca lying naked on the floor with her back to the camera.
He wrote alongside it: “I’M SO PROUD OF MY WIFE FOR STARRING IN HER FIRST FEATURE FILM SHOT IN JAPAN DIRECTED BY VANESSA BEECROFT PRODUCED BY ME.”
The united front came just days after it was reported that the pair were headed for divorce and Kanye went on a bizarre hate-filled rant on X and Instagram.
During his frenzy, Ye claimed to “love Hitler” and labeled himself a Nazi after his previous anti-semitic rants.
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has given a chilling World War Three warning to Europe over the Russian-Ukraine peace plans following “productive” talks with Emmanuel Macron.
The Republican and French President shared a tense, 10-second handshake outside the White House as uncertainty looms regarding the future of transatlantic relations.
US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron look at each otherCredit: Reuters
France’s President Macron became the first European leader to visit the White House since Trump returned to office, on the day marking the third anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference with “friend” Macron, Trump repeated that the war in Ukraine would “never have happened if I was President”.
But he also made a stern warning that any overspill could have a devastating outcome if a peace deal isn’t secured.
He said: “There will be a point where it is not going to stop at those two countries.
“Already there is such involvement from other countries and it could really lead to a very big war, World War III, and we are not gonna let that happen either.”
Trump added: “It’s time to restore peace and I think we’re going to do it.
“We have had some great conversations, including with Russia.”
The Republican said the focus is now “achieving a ceasefire as soon as possible, and ultimately a permanent peace”.
He also turned to the funding of the war, arguing that the “cost and burden” is not to come just from the US.
Trump said: “I’m also pleased that Macron agrees that the cost and burden of securing the peace must be borne by the nations of Europe, not alone by the US, and Europe must take that central role in ensuring long-term security of Ukraine, which they want to do.”
He added that the US has handed over more aid to Ukraine than any other nation – with a “big difference” between the total spent by Europe and America.
Trump also believes that Russia is going “all-out” to make sure the war ends and said Putin “has no problem” with European peacekeepers.
Meanwhile Macron echoed Trump’s words of the talks marking “substantive steps” – but made it clear that Ukraine’s future should be prioritised and that the US and Europe need to “shoulder” responsibilities.
He said: “This peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine or a ceasefire without guarantees, it must allow for Ukrainian sovereignty and allow Ukraine to negotiate with other stakeholders regarding the issues that affect it.
“It is also a country in which we need to shoulder our responsibilities so that we ensure security and stability for Ukraine and for the entire region.
“For Europeans this is an existential issue.”
And on the prospect of European troops being used as peacemakers in Ukraine, Macron clarified that troops “would not be on the front line, but mark a presence in Ukraine as a guarantee”.
The French leader grimaced after Trump incorrectly suggested European assistance to Ukraine would be in the form of loans.
Macron said: “Europe is willing to step up to be a stronger partner, to do more on defence and security on this continent, as well as to be a reliable partner.”
He added that there is “good reason” to re-engage with Putin, but “being strong and having deterrence capabilities is the only way” to ensure an agreement is “respected”.
Macron said that his aim is to “try to get something first which can be assessed, checked and verified” and “ensure that we build sufficient guarantees in the short-run”.
The French president added: “This is where we are ready to be engaged.
“A lot of my European colleagues are ready to be engaged.
Wrong, Donald
The Sun Says…DONALD Trump’s smearing of the Ukraine regime as scam artists who provoked a war using US taxpayers’ money is a rant beneath the dignity of his office.Almost nothing in it is true.It reads like a post on a forum for conspiracy theorists. It is an unprecedentedly shocking statement from the President of the United States.Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his imperialist ambitions, nor his denial of his neighbour’s right to exist as a sovereign, free country.He invaded Ukraine, butchered and raped its people, stole its children and bombed its cities.President Zelensky — far from duping anyone or inviting the conflict, far from being a “dictator without elections” — has been a heroic wartime leader who needs Western aid to overcome staggering odds.The idea he is riding a “gravy train” is laughable. And his people, with whom he remains highly popular whatever Trump claims, have resisted conquest with immense bravery.It is troubling and short-sighted in the extreme for the so-called leader of the free world to have no interest in a war raging in Europe because he is separated from it by the Atlantic.America is not a business where Trump, as CEO, has no task except to slash costs and maximise profits. It is the most powerful democracy on Earth with global responsibilities and — let’s be frank — a duty to discern right from wrong with absolute moral clarity.Others in the White House should urgently point this out.
“We do need this American back-up because this is part of the credibility of the security guarantees and this is our collective deterrence capacity.”
As the two leaders have been speaking, Putin said Russia is prepared to discuss the possibility of cutting defence budgets with the US.
He proposed cutting spending by 50 per cent – adding that it would be a “good idea”.
Mad Vlad also discussed the war in Ukraine and said Trump looks to improve the “political situation,” but added that the attempt benefits Ukraine more than it does Russia.
He also slammed current European leaders, saying they are “committed to the Kyiv regime” and cannot “shift” away from this without receiving backlash.
Putin also blamed Zelensky for “preventing” peace in Ukraine which the US looks to achieve “as quickly as possible”.
He added that the Ukrainian president had “driven himself into a dead end by banning himself from negotiations with Russia”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Zelensky has said they “hope that we can finish this war this year”.
Zelensky was speaking at a summit of European leaders, as well as Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, who were in Kyiv to show their support on the third anniversary of the illegal invasion.
Speaking at a news conference, the Ukrainian President added that the war had been “very difficult” on the nation and warned that Ukraine needed security guarantees to prevent Moscow returning.
He suggested that an EU and Nato membership would aid this fear.
Prior to the news conference, Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end Russia’s war there – and that the war could “end within weeks”.
“Yeah, he will accept it,” Trump said. “I have asked him that question. Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for World War.”
Trump described the highly anticipated revenue-sharing agreement with Ukraine as “very close” in answering questions from reporters as he and Macron met were pictured laughing in the Oval Office.
“It looks like we’re getting very close,” Trump told reporters at the start of his bilateral meeting with Macron.
He added that Volodymyr Zelensky could potentially visit Washington this week or next to sign the deal.
Trump, however, did not say whether the emerging deal would include American security guarantees.
“Europe is going to make sure nothing happens,” he said.
Upon being asked whether Ukraine should give up territory as part of an agreement, Trump vaguely replied: “We’ll see.
“It’s a negotiation that’s just starting.”
The Republican also refused to call his pal Putin a dictator, having previously used the word to describe Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He said: “I don’t use those words lightly, we’ll see how it all works out.”
The pair had started the day participating in a virtual meeting with other leaders of the Group of Seven economies – holding crunch talks about the war.
The US President took to his social media platform Truth Social to share how the talks went – adding his conventional brag that the war “would have never started if I was President”.
He said in the post: “Today, President Emmanuel Macron of France joined me in the Oval Office to speak to the G7 Summit.
“The meeting was convened by Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, the current chair of G7, to acknowledge the Third Anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine War – Which would have never started if I was President.
“Everyone expressed their goal of seeing the War end, and I emphasized the importance of the vital ‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal’ between the United States and Ukraine, which we hope will be signed very soon!
“This deal, which is an ‘Economic Partnership,’ will ensure the American people recoup the Tens of Billions of Dollars and Military Equipment sent to Ukraine, while also helping Ukraine’s economy grow as this Brutal and Savage War comes to an end.”
The President added that, at the same time, he is in “serious discussions” with Vladimir Putin regarding the ending of the war, as well as “major Economic Development transactions” that will take place between the two countries.
He finished the post: “Talks are proceeding very well!”
The US failed on Monday to get the UN General Assembly to approve its resolution seeking to end the war – without mentioning Russian aggression.
The draft resolution was amended after European nations said that it should be made clear that Russia invaded the country in violation of the UN Charter.
The vote in the 193-nation world body on the amended US resolution was 93-8 with 73 abstentions
Ukraine voted yes, the US abstained and Russia voted no.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Macron agreed to both discuss showing “united leadership in support of Ukraine”.
Both Starmer and Macron went over Russia’s “barbaric full-scale invasion” and there were reportedly talks of placing Ukraine in the centre of negotiations.
Starmer shared his commitment to support Ukraine and it was said the UK and Europe must be united against “Russian aggression.”
A press release posted on Gov.uk revealed more discussions in the US would take place within the coming week.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister spoke with President Macron this afternoon.
“They began by discussing the third anniversary of Russia’s barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is a stark reminder that we must all work together to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position at this crucial moment for global security.
The AfD has traditionally been close to Russia, but more recently it has received support from the United StatesImage: Julian Stratenschulte/dpa/picture alliance
Fears, doomsday scenarios and conspiracy theories are the lifeblood of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
When it became clear on election night (February 23, 2025) that the far-right party would achieve a historic victory in the federal elections, but with their result of just over 20% would come in in second rather than first playe, the comment sections on social media went into overdrive: “Election fraud!”, “Good night, Germany!”, “We’re all going to die”, “Last resort: Trump!”.
AfD supporters believe that Germany, the world’s third-largest economy, is on the brink and has been for years, if not decades. To bring about change, they are calling for Trump-style “Germany first” policymaking.
Donald Trump, the AfD and conspiracy theorists
Jürgen Elsässer is an ardent supporter of US President Donald Trump. He is also a fervent conspiracy theorist. Elsässer used to be a left-wing extremist. Today, he is an extreme right-wing media entrepreneur and influential AfD campaign supporter with his publishing house Compact.
Efforts to ban Compact are currently underway in the German courts. It disseminates “antisemitic, racist, anti-minority, historical revisionism and conspiracy theory content,” according to Germany’s Interior Ministry. The AfD’s candidate for chancellor and co-chair of the party Alice Weidel has called the move to ban the publication a “serious blow to the freedom of the press.”
On election Sunday, Elsässer hosted a three-hour live broadcast on YouTube channel Compact TV which has over 475,000 subscribers. According to Elsässer, war is coming to Germany and Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and likely next chancellor, is responsible.
During the live broadcast, Elsässer proffered a solution for Germany: “Perhaps we need a temporary occupation by the peace powers, the US and Russia.” A former AfD member of the Bundestag seconded the proposal, elaborating that the so-called enemy state clause from World War II is still applicable because it allows the former victorious powers, Russia and the US, “to intervene politically and militarily in Germany without a UN Security Council resolution if they are convinced that the political situation is becoming unstable.”
Common friends, common enemies
Today’s far right see Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as the saviors of the German nation. And even if the talk of a two-front war and myriad conspiracy theories bear little relationship to reality, the resonance of such narratives can have an impact on the real world. As the 2025 federal elections have shown, many people in Germany have fears and anxieties about the future, and that includes the prospect of war.
The day after the election, Weidel talked up cooperation with the US, Russia and China who she referred to as “partners.” With her new contacts to the Trump administration Elon Musk and US Vice President JD Vance, both of whom supported her election campaign, Weidel suggested the AfD could simply bypass any future German government on foreign policy. “We are the point of contact for our negotiating partners on the international stage,” she explained confidently.
Although the AfD will likely be shut out of any coalition government, foreign policy pressure from within could still pose a challenge for the future chancellor. “The Trump administration has no interest in maintaining Europe as a strong player. Their approach seems to be that supporting radical nationalists weakens the European Union,” Boris Vormann, a political scientist at Bard College Berlin, told DW.
Given what Vormann calls its “ideological proximity” to the Trump administration, the AfD could well become an instrument for the US to undermine the authority of the German government. “There is a common understanding of what is wrong with society, for example, a rejection of wokeness and support for a traditional family image and conservative values,” Vormann said.
And like Donald Trump, the AfD has a certain admiration for Vladimir Putin and Russia. “Today it is a country that is not only associated with negative connotations, but one or two people also hope that it could be the champion of a world of free and sovereign states without hegemonic influence,” enthused Björn Höcke, one of the most influential AfD politicians, in an interview in January 2023.
The fact that Putin is waging a bloody war of aggression in Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people is not an issue for the AfD. Nor is the fact that the Trump administration is running roughshod over the rule of law. The AfD wants to present itself as an equally powerful force on the world stage. Should the conflicts between Europe and the US or Russia escalate, they hope to position themselves as a viable alternative on foreign policy.
The leaders of the CSU and CDU parties, Markus Söder (left) and Friedrich Merz (center), celebrated their election victory on Sunday nightImage: Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture alliance
Winning the most votes and providing Germany’s next chancellor — the conservative Union of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) has achieved this goal. “We won the 2025 federal election,” enthused Friedrich Merz, CDU leader and the Union’s chancellor candidate, on election night in Berlin.
The celebrations at party headquarters were muted, however. The conservatives had expected a much better result: “30% plus X,” as they said on the campaign trail.
In the end, they secured about 28% of the vote — not enough to govern alone under Germany’s electoral system. The CDU/CSU will need to find coalition partners to form the required majority.
Looking purely at the numbers, the second-place Alternative for Germany (AfD) could be an option. One in five German voters chose the populist party, parts of which are considered right-wing extremist.
“We have doubled! They wanted to halve us, but the opposite has happened,” triumphed AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on Sunday, after the results were revealed. According to Weidel, the CDU and CSU would only be able to fulfill their election promises, such as ending irregular migration, by working with the AfD.
However, during the election campaign, the CDU/CSU categorically ruled out forming a coalition government with the AfD. “We have fundamental differences of opinion, for example in foreign policy, in security policy, in many other areas, on the topics of Europe, NATO and the euro currency,” reiterated Merz on Sunday.
“You can hold out your hand as much as you like,” he told Weidel, who in turn threatened that, as the largest opposition force, the AfD would put pressure on the government. “We will hound the others, so they make sensible policies for our country,” she said.
Merz promises change
The main topic during the campaign, apart from the weak economy, was asylum policy. “You can sense the uncertainty among Germans,” is how CSU head Markus Söder analyzed the success of the AfD. People were not sure that the CDU/CSU would really implement their promises. That’s why many voters had “wound up” with the AfD, Söder said, adding: “We will do everything we can to organize a change of direction in Germany.”
The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and environmentalist Greens are potential coalition partners. Both parties, which were in the previous government, must first cope with their losses. The SPD was hit hard — suffering its worst election result since 1890 with about 16% of the vote.
“That is a bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party,” conceded Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who remains in the role until the new government takes over. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke of a “devastating, catastrophic result.”
Chancellor Scholz, SPD punished by voters
Scholz is the only German chancellor not to be reelected in the past five decades. His coalition of the SPD, Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) had ruled for less than three years when it collapsed in early November 2024 over budget disputes. Scholz has already announced that he does not want a ministerial role if the SPD is part of the new government.
It wasn’t only the SPD that was punished by voters. The FDP lost drastically, failing to clear the so-called “5% hurdle” of voter support — meaning they will not be represented in the next Bundestag parliament. FDP leader Christian Lindner announced his retirement from politics following the defeat.
The Greens managed to contain their losses. The party’s top candidate, Robert Habeck, spoke of a “respectable election result,” saying: “We were not so severely punished, but we wanted more, and we have not achieved that.” If the CDU/CSU needed the Greens to form a coalition, his party was ready to talk, Habeck said.
Left Party secures its place in Bundestag
The Union had already ruled out a coalition with the socialist Left Party . After the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) split from the Left in early 2024, support for the Left Party had dwindled to 3 % in the polls. However, the Left Party made an unexpected comeback on Sunday; with more than 8% of the vote, it was the surprise winner among the smaller parties.
No matter how complicated the coalition negotiations become, Germany’s future government faces enormous challenges. In view of the many pressing issues, the process of forming a government must be quick, said Merz on the evening of his election victory. “The world is not waiting for us, nor is it waiting for lengthy coalition talks and negotiations,” he said.
Germany must quickly become ready for action again, “so we can again be present in Europe and the world perceives that Germany is governed reliably.” According to the CDU, this could be more successful if the coalition agreement were designed more like a “framework” rather than hashed out in detail.
Germany faces biggest economic crisis since reunification
Merz favors economic growth, and has called for cuts to social services. The biggest challenge for the new government is financing its future budgets. Tax revenue is no longer enough to pay for all upcoming government tasks. Growing military spending, restoring broken infrastructure, transforming the country to be climate friendly — all of this will gobble up billions of euros. This comes at a time when Germany is in the midst of its biggest economic crisis since reunification in 1990.
This federal election was the first since Russia’s major offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the German government has allocated about €28 billion ($29 billion) to military support for Ukraine. This has made Germany the second-biggest supporter of the Kyiv government after the US.
But conditions have changed since US President Donald Trump took office for a second time in January, and the new US government has turned its back on Europe. Further help for Ukraine is primarily a job for the Europeans, according to Washington. From now on, Europe must also take greater responsibility for its own defense capability.
There are many benefits of sleeping next to a partner each night, from better quality rest to a closer bond. However, your avoidant ex or that one-night stand probably won’t guarantee a good night’s rest.
According to Dr. Thomas Michael Kilkenny, director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, “Sleeping in pairs can enhance physical and emotional security.”
Sleeping With a Partner Has Many Benefits—But Your Toxic Situationship Doesn’t Count
“Studies using brain waves showed significantly increased sleep durations when co-sleeping,” Kilkenny told The Post. “The subjects also felt significantly more relaxed after having slept with their partner.”
However, this is really only the case for couples who have a foundation of emotional connection.
On the other hand, “People who slept in the same bed who were not emotional[ly] or socially attached to each other did not demonstrate any of these synchronization patterns,” Kilkenny explained.
So, I hate to break it to you…but if you’re bringing a stranger home from the bar for the night, you likely won’t miraculously get a better night’s rest just because you’re sleeping next to another human. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s any judgment for doing so—you do you!
But to experience the pros of co-sleeping with a partner, you’ll likely—at the very least—need some sort of prior healthy attachment to them.
And the better your connection is, the more in-tune you’ll become during your sleep, according to Kilkenny.
“Data shows that the heart rhythms of co-sleeping individuals gradually change over the night as a result of the interaction with each other,” Kilkenny continued.
Meghan Markle has been dropped by WME, multiple sources tell Page Six, after months of speculation about her relationship with the top Hollywood agency.
But the agency denies it has given the star the royal flush and says it’s still working with her.
We’re told that the Duchess of Sussex has not held any meetings with the agency’s uber powerbroker Ari Emanuel since January last year — though she is believed to have met with her day-to-day agents.
An industry insider said Markle, 43, was let go because she was “too demanding” and “difficult to work with.”
Meghan Markle has been “dropped” by WME, multiple sources tell Page Six. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
It is unclear exactly when she was dropped, though WME insists they are still working with her.
“WME continues to represent Meghan and Archewell,” said a rep.
Indeed, sources said the agency is still working on some of her projects for Archewell, the foundation she runs with her husband, Prince Harry.
In addition to this, we hear that Markle had an outburst in January 2024, right after the holidays, when the Duchess demanded a meeting “and expected decks and plans,” though it’s unclear if this was for herself or Archewell.
This led to a dispute and “Ari was done with her,” says the insider. The incident was confirmed by another source.
The news comes as the mom-of-two prepares to launch her new Netflix lifestyle show, “With Love, Meghan,” next Tuesday.
Markle had only been with the top agency since April 2023 and was being looked after personally by WME big hitters Brad Slater, who reps Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Jill Smoller, who represents the former “Suits” star’s longtime friend, tennis champ Serena Williams.
But, another Hollywood source told us, “I don’t know what those projects are, but WME is definitely not working on Meghan’s personal business.”
Markle has been busy relaunching herself on Instagram in time for her Netflix show.
However, she was recently forced to rebrand her lifestyle business to “As Ever” after a series of trademark setbacks for “American Riviera Orchard.”
As Page Six revealed this weekend, the products – which Markle confirmed would include her heavily promoted jam — won’t be ready for sale for months after her show debuts.
She is working on the product line alongside Netflix.
Markle and Prince Harry have had a hard time keeping their team together with former employees dating back to their time in London dubbing themselves the “Sussex Survivors Club.”
Buckingham Palace previously made an inquiry to bullying claims leveled at Markle, though they never released the findings.
Although Markle denied this, her former press secretary, Jason Knauf, told “60 Minutes Australia” over the weekend that he stands by the allegations he made against the former royal in 2018.
America’s acting UN envoy, Dorothy Camille Shea, voting at the UN Security Council
The US has twice sided with Russia in votes at the UN to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the Trump administration’s change of stance on the war.
First the two countries opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which was passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Then they backed a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an end to the conflict but containing no criticism of Russia.
The Security Council resolution was passed but two key US allies, the UK and France, abstained in the vote after their attempts to amend the wording were vetoed.
The competing resolutions were tabled as French President Emmanuel Macron visited President Donald Trump at the White House in an attempt to address their sharp differences over the war.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will likewise visit the new American leader.
Trump’s White House has upended the transatlantic alliance, currying favour with Moscow and casting doubt on America’s long-term commitment to European security.
That rift was laid bare on the floor of the 193-member UNGA on Monday as US diplomats pushed their limited resolution mourning the loss of life during the “Russia-Ukraine conflict” and calling for a swift end to it.
European diplomats tabled a more detailed text, blaming Russia for its full-scale invasion, and supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We need to reconfirm that the aggression should be condemned and discredited, not rewarded,” said Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa.
UNGA members backed the European resolution by 93 votes but, extraordinarily, the US did not abstain but actually voted against it, along with Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and 11 other states, with 65 abstentions.
The UNGA also passed the US resolution but only after it was amended to include language supporting Ukraine, which led to the US abstaining.
At the much more powerful UN Security Council, which has 15 members, the unamended US resolution was passed by 10 votes, with the UK, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia abstaining.
Starbucks is cutting 1,100 jobs and simplifying its menu in the US as it tries to improve flagging business in its home market.
The first items to get the axe include the Royal English Breakfast Latte, White Hot Chocolate and several kinds of blended frappuccinos.
But Starbucks said more offerings would be cut, as it aims to shrink its menu by nearly a third over the next year, hoping to reduce wait times and improve quality and consistency.
The company has been wrestling with a sustained fall in sales since last year, which has been particularly pronounced in the US.
Chief executive Brian Niccol, who previously headed the Mexican food chain Chipotle, was brought into Starbucks last year to help turn the business around.
He has said he wants to see the company return to its roots as a coffee house.
The drinks set for the chopping block “weren’t commonly purchased, can be complex to make, or are like other beverages on our menu”, Starbucks said. The changes are due to go into effect on 4 March.
“We’re simplifying our menu to focus on fewer, more popular items, executed with excellence,” the company said on Monday.
“This will make way for innovation, help reduce wait times, improve quality and consistency, and align with our core identity as a coffee company.”
The job cuts announced on Monday are focused on corporate “support partner” roles and will not affect jobs or investments at stores, the company said.
The company said it would inform staff affected by the decisions by mid-day on Tuesday. It is also eliminating “several hundred” open and unfilled positions.
“Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration,” Mr Niccol wrote in the announcement.
Friedrich Merz’s conservatives have won, but Germany’s 2025 election has thrown up some important and fascinating stories that reveal a country in flux.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has doubled its support in just four years to 20.8%, and has spread out from its support base in the east to become the second biggest political force in parliament.
Meanwhile, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD had its worst performance in decades, only securing 16.4% of the vote.
Here are five key takeaways.
AfD dominant in east, spreading to the west
Look at an election results map of Germany, and you could almost have travelled back in time to the Cold War, when an iron curtain divided communist East Germany from the west.
In the east it’s a swathe of AfD light blue, apart from pockets like Berlin and half of Leipzig. In the west the vast majority has turned conservative black, especially in Bavaria where Merz’s conservative sister party, the CSU, dominates the landscape.
But the AfD is spreading in the west too, and political loyalty to the old mainstream parties has gone.
For one in five Germans it has become normalised. “They’re just normal people,” said one young man of immigrant origin in Duisburg, a city in western Germany’s old industrial heartland.
Even though it came second, the AfD is blocked from being part of the next government because of a “firewall” – or Brandmauer – operated by Germany’s main parties, who do not co-operate with any party seen as extremist since the end of World War Two.
The AfD’s leader Alice Weidel insists it is a libertarian, conservative movement, not racist. Its big increase in public support has coincided with a series of deadly attacks in the past nine months, all allegedly by immigrants.
The AfD has embraced a highly controversial policy called “remigration”, which it defines as deporting migrants who have committed crimes. But the term can also refer to the mass deportation of migrants and their descendants.
In May 2024 a German court rejected an AfD appeal against a ruling classifying it as a suspected far-right extremist organisation. Judges found that the AfD had “positions that disparage the democratic order and are incompatible with the principle of democracy”.
In three German states in the east – Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony – domestic intelligence has designated the AfD as right-wing extremist.
A leading AfD figure in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has twice been convicted of using a banned Nazi slogan “Alles für Deutschland” – everything for Germany. Alice Weidel supporters have chanted her name during the election campaign, using the phrase “Alice für Deutschland”.
Germans voted in biggest turnout for 40 years
Not since 1987 has turnout been as high as 82.5% in a German election, and that was three years before reunification of east and west.
Four years ago it was 76.6%.
Put simply, more than four in every five of Germany’s 59.2 million voters turned out.
It reflects just how energised Germans have been by this election, which comes at a pivotal moment for their country. There were nine TV debates in the final stretch of the campaign, but that reflected the broad interest of the audience.
All over for leaders of collapsed government
The three-party government of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz fell apart at the end of last year, and within 24 hours of Sunday’s election, all three leaders have said they’re leaving the front line of politics.
The leader of the economic liberals, the FDP, was first. Christian Lindner has led his party for 11 years. But it failed to get any MPs elected and Lindner has said he’s leaving politics after 25 years.
It was Lindner’s refusal to compromise on debt rules that first brought the government down, and then sent his party into the wilderness.
Although Scholz will remain as chancellor until the next government is formed, he won’t be taking part in coalition talks and will be leaving frontline politics.
Greens Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck is also leaving frontline politics after his party fell below 12% in the election.
TikTok generation hauls Left back from dead
Until a few weeks ago, the Left party looked doomed when one of its leading lights, Sahra Wagenknecht, went off and founded her own, more populist, party with eight other MPs.
Wagenknecht’s popularity soared for a while as head of her BSW party, but ultimately fell just below the 5% threshold for getting into parliament.
The story was very different for the Left (Die Linke), which came back from the dead with an inspired social medial campaign.
Heidi Reichinnek, Die Linke’s co-chair, went viral after she gave a speech enthusiastically defending the firewall against the AfD.
She now has 580,000 followers on TikTok and her post has attracted seven million views.
Screens at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were apparently hacked today, displaying the message: “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING” while an AI video of president Donald Trump sucking the toes of Elon Musk played in the background.
Videos of the hacked screens were posted on Monday morning to social media. It is not known who was behind the hack. This comes after the Trump administration proposed cutting half of federal workers at the nation’s housing agency.
The cuts targeted employees who support disaster recovery, rental subsidies, discrimination investigations and first-time homebuyers, according to two documents obtained by The Associated Press.
During a joint interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this month Trump appeared to jokingly refer to Musk as “President Musk” ( Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
More than a dozen programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s portfolio would be affected by the loss of some 4,000 positions detailed in the documents.
On Thursday HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett said the leaked documents “should not be taken as final” as staffing is evaluated throughout the agency. The documents, which aren’t clearly dated but were circulated this week, include total staffing numbers, expected resignations, as well as a projected “Day 120 Headcount” and reduction percentage of staff at individual HUD offices.
The caption refers to Trump’s self-proclaimed “king” status in a Truth Social post last week. The president boasted about having “saved” New York, and controversially referred to himself as a king.
“Congestion pricing is dead. Manhattan, and all of New York, is saved. Long live the King!” he wrote.
But the “real king” line insinuates that Musk is actually in charge. During a joint interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this month Trump appeared to jokingly refer to Musk as “President Musk” while speaking about his claims the media is trying to create tension between him and the world’s richest man.
“Actually Elon called me and said ‘You know they’re trying to drive us apart,’ I said absolutely,” Trump said. “They said, we have breaking news Donald Trump has ceded control of the presidency to Elon Musk. President Musk will be attending a cabinet meeting tonight at 8 o’clock.”
Musk’s DOGE has led sweeping cuts to key government agencies over the last several weeks, with many opponents claiming the mass firings of federal employees and withholding of congressionally allocated funds is illegal. Several of Musk’s efforts and Trump’s executive orders surrounding DOGE have been blocked by federal judges, including DOGE’s access to sensitive treasury department records.
Trump was reportedly left bewildered by the wild antics of ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk, according to a new book from renowned author Michael Wolff. In Wolff’s new book ‘All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America’, the author reveals a scene that left Trump shaking his head in disbelief. Musk, wearing a black “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat and an untucked T-shirt, bounced around the stage while exposing his stomach.
Responses to the Elon Musk-directed email to government employees about what work they had accomplished in the last week are expected to be fed into an artificial intelligence system to determine whether those jobs are necessary, according to three sources with knowledge of the system.
The information will go into an LLM (Large Language Model), an advanced AI system that looks at huge amounts of text data to understand, generate and process human language, the sources said. The AI system will determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical or not.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management emails were sent to federal workers on Saturday, shortly after Musk wrote in a post on X that “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
The OPM email did not mention the resignation threat, but said: “Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager. Please do not send any classified information, links, or attachments. Deadline is this Monday at 11:59pm EST.”
The reason the email requested no links or attachments was because of the plan to send the information to the AI system, the sources said.
A request for comment from OPM as to whether humans will be involved in reviewing the responses was not answered immediately. The White House declined to comment.
After the deadline for employees to reply to the email had passed late Monday, OPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding how many workers replied and how many were required to do so.
In an email to its workforce earlier Monday, the Justice Department said that during a meeting with the interagency Chief Human Capital Officers Council, OPM informed agencies that employee responses to the email are voluntary. OPM also clarified that despite what Musk had posted, not responding to the email does not equate to a resignation, the email said.
Musk complained about backlash to the directive on his social media platform late Monday.
“The email request was utterly trivial, as the standard for passing the test was to type some words and press send! Yet so many failed even that inane test, urged on in some cases by their managers. Have you ever witnessed such INCOMPETENCE and CONTEMPT for how YOUR TAXES are being spent?” he wrote.
In a subsequent tweet, he seemed to indicate that a second email could be sent to government workers who don’t respond to the first one.
“Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the post.
The initial directive has faced pushback from unions, workers and even some agencies since it was sent, but the effort was praised by President Donald Trump earlier Monday.
“I thought it was great,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he was meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We have people that don’t show up to work and nobody even knows if they work for the government, so by asking the question ‘tell us what you did this week,’ what he’s doing is saying are you actually working. And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired,” he said, claiming without providing evidence that “a lot of people are not answering because they don’t even exist.”
“There was a lot of genius in sending it,” Trump said. “If people don’t respond, it’s very possible that there is no such person or they’re not working.”
A coalition of unions and groups that have been fighting the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of probationary workers charge the effort was unlawful. They amended their lawsuit against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management over the weekend to add a claim involving the OPM email directing workers to justify their workweek.
The lawsuit charges that the administration didn’t follow proper procedure for such an order and should be voided by a judge.
“The mass firings ordered by OPM are illegal and betray the trust of countless federal employees. The patronizing demand that federal workers still on the job have to justify themselves by enumerating five accomplishments just adds insult to injury. That too is against the law,” lawyer Norm Eisen said in a statement on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Musk has been tasked by Trump with reducing the size of the government, and the email is seen as part of his push to reduce the federal workforce by as much as 10%.
Some agencies, including ones led by close Trump allies, had told their employees to ignore the directive.
Justice Department employees were informed earlier Monday that they did not need to respond to the message, according to emails seen by NBC News. “Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department’s work, DOJ employees do not need to respond to the email from OPM. If you have already responded to this email, no further action is needed,” read one email sent by Assistant Attorney General for Administration Jolene Ann Lauria.
FBI Director Kash Patel instructed employees over the weekend to “pause any responses” to the email, and said his agency would do its own review. Employees of the State Department, the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Department, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence were also told not to respond to the email.
The Department of Agriculture also sent out an unsigned email to employees informing them that any response to the email “is voluntary and not required.”
The email was also sent to an unknown amount of judicial branch employees, including judges and court staffers. Spokespeople for federal courts in Manhattan and the Northern District of Illinois confirmed to NBC News that “some” people had gotten the message.
Julie Hodek, a spokesperson for the Northern District of Illinois, also confirmed the email and said the court’s chief judge and clerk “communicated with the staff that as we are judiciary employees, our policies and procedures are governed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and our local court HR handbooks.”
A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York said personnel there had been directed not to respond to the email.
Managers within the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday sent employees model responses to the email to make it easier for them.
“As empathy for their staff, they sent examples,” said one agency employee who shared two of the managers’ own responses with NBC News. The employee asked NBC not to publish the managers’ responses in full out of fear of reprisal.
Officials at the Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services directed employees to respond by the deadline. HHS informed employees of OPM’s changed guidance later on Monday, and warned that whatever information they choose to share may “be read by malign foreign actors.”
An email sent to Department of Transportation employees and obtained by NBC News instructed them to respond to OPM’s weekend email asking for five bullet points of their work. The message also asked employees to exclude any classified info from their responses. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy embraced the challenge himself in a post on social media.
Musk appears to be following the same playbook he used when he bought Twitter, which he renamed X.
Musk began his tenure there with massive layoffs, asking employees to commit to “Extremely hardcore” work in an email titled “A Fork in the Road” or be fired. The email subject line is the same as the email sent out to federal employees by the Office of Personnel Management offering buyouts in January. About 75,000 federal employees took the deal.
Twitter employees who stayed were then asked to print out pages of code they’d written from the last month and prepare to present the work to Musk personally. The code reviews reportedly were abandoned, and instead, managers were asked to rank their employees, according to The Verge.
Musk and DOGE’s access to government data and information has become a central point of friction between the group and its critics. In at least 11 lawsuits, plaintiffs have argued that DOGE has flouted laws and rules around data and privacy. Some of the lawsuits have referenced allegations that DOGE is using artificial intelligence to analyze and process government data. The Washington Post reported in February that DOGE was using artificial intelligence to analyze spending at the Education Department, citing two people familiar with the project.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday touted Musk’s work in remarks that seemed to confirm the AI reports.
“Elon has cracked the code. He is now inside the agencies. He’s created these algorithms that are constantly crawling through the data. And as he told me in his office, the data doesn’t lie. We’re going to be able to get the information. We’re going to be able to transform the way the federal government works at the end of this, and that is a very exciting prospect. It is truly a revolutionary moment for the nation,” Johnson said at an event in Washington.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, had some harsh words for the way DOGE was operating, calling the email sent to federal workers “intimidation,” and saying that she’s hearing from federal workers who are being “treated with a level of disregard to their service and to their tenure.”
“Just a little bit of humanity and dignity to the process, I think, is what many of the Alaskan federal employees are asking for, and I don’t think that that’s asking for too much,” Murkowski said.
DOGE’s work has led to criticism and instances of workers having to be rehired after they were removed from essential jobs. On Monday, two people familiar with the matter said the administration was reinstating some employees in the Food and Drug Administration’s medical devices division after dozens were laid off as part of DOGE’s cost-cutting initiative.
The medical devices division is responsible for approving and monitoring the safety of a range of products, from X-ray machines to surgical implants. The layoffs took place earlier this month, and included physicians and cybersecurity experts.
Some of those employees received phone calls or emails over the weekend informing them that their termination had been rescinded. It’s unclear how many employees were offered their jobs back, or how many would ultimately return.
The French President was left perching on the end of a desk (Image: Getty )
French President Emmanuel Macron appeared in humiliating scenes today during a live video meeting of G7 leaders to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
In awkward footage shared with global leaders, the premiere of France appeared perched on the edge of a desk next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House.
The 47-year-old looked ill-at-ease with the seating arrangement, which saw him sat to the right of Mr Trump who himself was positioned in the centre of the desk in a large comfortable-looking leather chair.
To Mr Trump’s left, his vice-president JD Vance sat with a nonchalant wide-legged stance with a long red tie passing below his navel.
Earlier it was reported the US President did not greet his French counterpart when Mr Macron arrived at the White House in Washington, instead leaving the greeting to his Chief of Protocol, Monica Crowley.
Macron and Trump also clashed as they discussed the war in Ukraine. The French President challenged his US counterpart over his demands for Ukraine to hand over £400bn’s worth of minerals.
Mr Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could sign the deal as early as next week.
Downing Street will no doubt be watching closely how Mr Macron was received by the Trump administration who have been at odds with European allies after an apparent warming of relations from Washington towards Moscow in recent days.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to fly to the US on Thursday for talks at the White House.
Mr Trump sparked anger and public rebuke from fellow Western leaders after he recently branded the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator”.
Mr Zelensky, who was on the video call with G7 leaders from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, had said Mr Trump lived in a “disinformation space”.
President Macron had said he intended to tell Mr Trump it was in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to show weakness to Putin during US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
He also suggested he’ll make the case that how Trump handles Putin could have enormous ramifications for US dealings with China, the United States’ most significant economic and military competitor.
Taking to social media after a serioes of White House statements slamming Ukraine, Mr Macron said: “You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin. It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest.
“How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?’”
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
The US voted against a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine on the third anniversary of the conflict Monday, siding instead with Moscow on the largely symbolic show of support for Kyiv.
The resolution passed with 93 votes in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstentions. Kyiv’s European allies led the push to pass the Ukraine-backed resolution.
The vote reflected the growing schism between Europe and the US: Bloc officials rallied in Kyiv around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying the war remained “the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future.” The bloc also pledged €3.5 billion in new aid.
Not is kYiv was French President Emmanuel Macron, who was instead in Washington, DC to meet US President Donald Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will also visit the White House this week, as both leaders try to ensure Ukraine and Europe are included in any further peace talks following Trump’s sudden rapprochement with Moscow.
Russia has an opportunity to split the West
The Trump administration has opened up fresh possibilities for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, including a potential US NATO exit, something Donald Trump has long advocated for, an analyst told The New York Times: “[Putin] sees real opportunity…to sideline the US not just from Ukraine but from Europe.” It is possible that Washington’s pivot is a strategic move to drive Moscow and Beijing apart, but it has instead “split the West, while Russia aligns with the US and China simultaneously,” an international policy expert told The Wall Street Journal. Putin, who on Monday held a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, wants to keep Beijing on side because a future US administration could swing against Russia, while the reign of China’s ruling party is indefinite, another expert noted.
Trump’s revisionism could backfire among conservatives
Donald Trump’s sudden warming toward Russia conflicts with America’s long-standing global outlook and future interests, analysts warned. Trump’s attacks on Zelenskyy and willingness to revise the war’s history have opened a rift in Republican circles, particularly among more traditional conservatives, NBC News reported. Right-wing media, including commentators Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, and the New York Post also pushed back on Trump’s narrative. Still, the lack of Republican lawmakers willing to directly criticize the president has also been notable, The Washington Post wrote: “I think he’s negotiating, as he often does, out loud,” one Senate Republican said.
Roberta Flack, the fearless singer and pianist who made Grammy history with the sublime No. 1 hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” died Monday in New York. She was 88.
“We are heartbroken that the glorious Roberta Flack passed away this morning,” according to a statement from her rep. “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.”
In November 2022, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. In 2016, she suffered a stroke, and she retired from performing two years later.
The North Carolina native and accomplished classical pianist became the first artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year in consecutive years with the haunting “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973 and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” in ’74. (U2 and Billie Eilish duplicated the feat in 2001-02 and 2020-21, respectively.)
After working as a teacher and moonlighting as a nightclub singer in Washington, D.C., Flack was signed by Atlantic Records and in 1969 released her debut album, First Take, followed a year later by Chapter Two. The albums did not create much of a stir.
However, when Clint Eastwood employed “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” for his touching nature walk and love scene with Donna Mills in the otherwise chaotic Play Misty for Me (1971), it was released as a single in February 1972 and rocketed to No. 1, spending six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. (Eastwood paid $1,000 for the rights to the song, producer Joel Dorn says in the 2022 documentary Roberta.)
She received a second Grammy in 1973 for “Where Is the Love,” her duet with her college friend and frequent collaborator, the late Donny Hathaway. That song made it as high as No. 5.
“Killing Me Softly,” which also earned Flack a Grammy for best pop vocal performance, was No. 1 for five weeks in 1973. She topped the charts again in ’74 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” which netted her three of her 14 career Grammy nominations.
She received a long-overdue Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
“I always say that ‘love is a song’ — meaning that music reaches beyond age, race, nationality and religion to touch our hearts,” she wrote in a 2020 email to NPR’s Ann Powers, who described the artist as “an interpreter as bold and discerning as her role models Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra.”
Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born on Feb. 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Her father, Laron, worked as a draftsman for the Veterans Administration, and her mother, Irene, was a church organist.
Flack took classical piano lessons — at 13, she played the complete score of Handel’s “Messiah” for her church choir — attended Stevens Elementary School in Washington and Hoffman-Boston High School in Arlington and won a full musical scholarship to Howard University when she was 15.
As a child, she created an alter ego, Rubina Flake, a renowned concert artist who dazzled crowds at Carnegie Hall and, Powers said, “helped Roberta endure the indignities faced by gifted Black children in the South.”
At 19, she left graduate school at Howard when her father died and went to work as an English teacher in Farmville, North Carolina, and Washington. She gave music lessons on the side and performed at nightclubs including the Capitol Hill hotspot Mr. Henry’s, where she was discovered by jazz great Les McCann in 1968 and signed by Atlantic.
“Her voice touched, tapped, trapped and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known,” McCann wrote in the liner notes for First Take. “I laughed, cried and screamed for more … she alone had the voice.”
She was 32 when she arrived in New York knowing 600 songs to spend just 10 hours recording her inaugural album, which contained “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” — written in 1957 by British singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl and first recorded by his wife, Peggy Seeger — and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.”
In a 2012 interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Flack described talking with Eastwood, who had heard “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” on the radio while driving to work one day:
“I’m in my house in Virginia. My mom was living with me at the time. The phone rings and she says, ‘Roberta, it’s Clint Eastwood.’ I thought somebody was playing a joke,” she recalled.
“He really surprised me. I didn’t faint but I came pretty close because I mean, this was a big thing. The conversation went like this (imitates Eastwood’s voice): ‘I’d like to use your song in this movie I’m doing. It’s called Play Misty for Me. It’s about a disc jockey, and it has a lot of music in it. I’d use it in the only part of the movie where there’s absolute love.’
“I said OK. We discussed the money. Of course I was shocked. I gulped and said OK. He said, ‘Anything else?’ And I said, ‘I want to do it over again. It’s too slow.’ He said, ‘No, it’s not.’”
(Flack later recorded “This Side of Forever,” which played over the closing credits of Eastwood’s 1983 Dirty Harry film, Sudden Impact.)
After releasing the albums Quiet Fire in 1971 and Robert Flack and Donny Hathaway in 1972, she recorded Killing Me Softly in 1973. (The title track was co-written and originally recorded by Lori Lieberman, who penned it after attending a Don McLean concert. Flack heard it for the first time when it was offered as part of the in-flight entertainment options on a cross-country flight.)
She followed with 1975’s Feel Like Makin’ Love — its title tune was another Record of the Year nominee and made her the first female vocalist since 1940 to top the chart in three consecutive years — and 1977’s Blue Lights in the Basement, which included the No. 2 hit “The Closer I Get to You,” another wonderful duet with Hathaway.
After Hathaway died by suicide in 1979 — he and Flack had been in the studio earlier that day — she toured with Peabo Bryson, and they had a Top 20 song in 1983 with “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love.” Another duet, “Set the Night to Music,” with Maxi Priest, reached No. 6 in 1991. She also championed and recorded often with Luther Vandross.
Her last album was 2012’s Let It Be Roberta: Roberta Flack Sings the Beatles. Many of her LPs she produced as Rubina Flake.
For television and film, Flack also performed “Together Through the Years,” the theme for the 1986-91 NBC-CBS series Valerie/The Hogan Family; sang in the choir for The Wiz (1978); and contributed songs to the Richard Pryor movie Bustin’ Loose (1981).
She was married to bassist Steve Novosel from 1965 until their 1972 divorce. In the ’80s, she lived in The Dakota in New York where her next-door neighbors were John Lennon and Yoko Ono; their son, Sean Lennon, called her “Aunt Roberta.”
Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who leaped onto the back of President John F. Kennedy’s limousine after the president was shot, then was forced to retire early because he remained haunted by memories of the assassination, has died. He was 93.
Hill died Friday at his home in Belvedere, California, according to his publisher, Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. A cause of death was not given.
Although few may recognize his name, the footage of Hill, captured on Abraham Zapruder’s chilling home movie of the assassination, provided some of the most indelible images of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
Hill received Secret Service awards and was promoted for his actions that day, but for decades blamed himself for Kennedy’s death, saying he didn’t react quickly enough and would gladly have given his life to save the president.
“If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess,” a weeping Hill told Mike Wallace on CBS’ 60 Minutes in 1975, shortly after he retired at age 43 at the urging of his doctors. “And I’ll live with that to my grave.”
It was only in recent years that Hill said he was able to finally start putting the assassination behind him and accept what happened.
On the day of the assassination, Hill was assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and was riding on the left running board of the follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dealey Plaza.
Hill told the Warren Commission that he reacted after hearing a shot and seeing the president slump in his seat. The president was struck by a fatal headshot before Hill was able to make it to the limousine.
Zapruder’s film captured Hill as he leaped from the Secret Service car, grabbed a handle on the limousine’s trunk and pulled himself onto it as the driver accelerated. He forced Mrs. Kennedy, who had crawled onto the trunk, back into her seat as the limousine sped off.
Hill later became the agent in charge of the White House protective detail and eventually an assistant director of the Secret Service, retiring because of what he characterized as deep depression and recurring memories of the assassination.
The 1993 Clint Eastwood thriller “In the Line of Fire,” about a former Secret Service agent scarred by the JFK assassination, was inspired in part by Hill.
Hill was born in 1932 and grew up in Washburn, North Dakota. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, served in the Army and worked as a railroad agent before joining the Secret Service in 1958. He worked in the agency’s Denver office for about a year, before joining the elite group of agents assigned to protect the president and first family.
Since his retirement, Hill has spoken publicly about the assassination only a handful of times, but the most poignant was his 1975 interview with Wallace, during which Hill broke down several times.
“If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn’t be here today,” Hill said.
“You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?” Wallace asked.
“The third shot, yes, sir,” Hill said.
“And that would have been all right with you?”
“That would have been fine with me,” Hill responded.
In his 2005 memoir, “Between You and Me,” Wallace recalled his interview with Hill as one of the most moving of his career.
In 2006, Wallace and Hill reunited on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” where Hill credited that first 60 Minutes interview with helping him finally start the healing process.
Steve Bannon makes a hand gesture at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., February 22, 2025. (via YouTube)
Nazi—excuse me, Roman—salutes have become all the rage on the American right.
It started with Elon Musk, on the day of Trump’s inauguration. Musk was onstage in Washington, D.C., winding up the end of his speech, and claimed the arm gesture was simply the physical expression of his subsequent statement that “my heart goes out to you.”
Musk’s most strident critics saw it as something more sinister. Most ordinary people, including the Anti-Defamation League, gave it a pass.
Then a local GOP official in Pennsylvania lost her job for recreating Musk’s gesture in a TikTok video. Finally, from the CPAC stage over the last few days, we’ve had two more: Steve Bannon, and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui. Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally in France—a country where the use of Nazi imagery and slogans is punished by law—pulled out of the conference as a result.
What exactly is going on here? The standard answer is trolling. This is plausible in light of the alternative explanation, which is that they all really mean it and figures like Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid have been right since 2016 in asserting that MAGA is a fascist movement.
Say what you will about these men: None of them proclaims a Hitlerian worldview. Not too long ago, Steve Bannon was taking a page out of Al Sharpton’s book and denouncing Silicon Valley bosses for not hiring enough blacks and Hispanics, which would make his brand of Nazism quite peculiar. Elon Musk has time and again pledged support for the Jewish people. He visited Israel in late 2023 and wore dog tags given to him by the father of an Israeli hostage in Gaza. Later, he went to Auschwitz with Ben Shapiro.
But it’s too easy to say that these people are simply trolling and leave it at that. A good troll—and as someone who has done quite a bit of trolling myself, I have a deep appreciation for the art form—makes an underlying point, stimulates thought, provokes serious discussion and, best-case scenario, is open to interpretation. Worst-case scenario, it confuses the weaponization of taboos for the taboos themselves, and instead of resisting their weaponization, winds up denying their original purpose.
Nazi salutes are therefore deeply offensive to me on two levels. I abhor the underlying ideology such gestures represent. But also I think they’re incredibly lazy—the cheapest imaginable way to get a rise out of people.
Co-leaders of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla react to the first exit polls of the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben Purchase Licensing Rights
For the first time since the Second World War, a far-right party has come second in a German national election, a result that will keep it outside government but make it a fearsome opponent of the ruling parties.
The Alternative for Germany, which has morphed since it was founded in 2013 from a party of libertarian economists to an anti-immigration, pro-Russia group, is forecast to have won the backing of one-in-five Germans.
The AfD has little chance of joining the government as the other parties maintain a “fire wall” to keep it out of office, but leader Alice Weidel implied in her victory speech that it was only a matter of time before that changed.
“Our hand remains outstretched to form a government,” she told supporters, adding that it would be tantamount to “electoral fraud” if the first-placed conservatives chose to govern with left-wing parties rather than them.
If that happened, she said, “next time we’ll come first.”
Weidel, the leader of a nativist party that preaches traditional family values while raising her children with a Swiss-based woman of Sri Lankan background, said the AfD was now “a mainstream party”.
Once internationally isolated, it now has an ally in the White House, where Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, regularly posts his support.
“It’s the most amazing feeling. I’ve been here since its founding and to see it on 20% is amazing. We’ll be kept out of coalition, but as you can see, the conservatives are taking all of our positions,” said Gilbert Kalb, an AfD member celebrating at the party’s headquarters.
If cheers were slightly muted, that was because, although its vote share doubled since 2021, the result fell short of the more optimistic expectations.
Traditionally a pensioners’ party, the AfD made inroads among the young, many of whom have experienced years of sluggish economic growth. Exit poll data indicated 22% of 25-to-34-year-olds voted for the party, compared to 10% of those aged 70 and over.
Ahead of the result, young men in close-fitting suits milled around at the headquarters, drinking beer and eating bratwurst.
The AfD has undergone successive waves of radicalisation since its founding and is today under surveillance by security services as an anti-democratic threat to Germany’s constitutional order.
Policies include drastically restricting migration, disbanding the European Union and dropping support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
One leading figure is regional boss Bjoern Hoecke, twice convicted for shouting slogans of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis. Honorary chairman Alexander Gauland has described the Nazis’ genocide of Europe’s Jews as a lone stain that could not disfigure the glorious sweep of German history.
It became the largest party in Hoecke’s home state of Thuringia last year, and did sufficiently well elsewhere that only improbable and tricky coalitions of centre-right and far left could keep them out of office.
Even outside government it reshaped debate away from the “welcome culture” under which former Chancellor Angela Merkel let a million refugees settle in 2015, with all mainstream parties now pledging to tighten immigration controls.
STILL ISOLATED?
Forecasts suggest it will have 23% of seats in parliament, just under the number needed to set up parliamentary committees of inquiry that can summon witnesses and set the news agenda.
In a sign of quite how far outside Europe’s mainstream it is, other far right parties, including Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, have refused to work with a party that reminds many Europeans of Germany’s Nazi past.
Some legislators nurture close ties with Russia and China: one European Parliament member, Petr Bystron is under investigation for taking payment from a Russian-backed disinformation outlet. Another, Maximilian Krah, was suspended after prosecutors said one of his assistants was spying for China.
There are still formidable barriers in its way: its headquarters, next to an African restaurant on a side street in a distant suburb, is far removed from the other parties’ imposing central offices because the stigma surrounding the party is so great that no landlord agreed to let to them.
But there are signs its political isolation is crumbling: Weidel received an invitation to Budapest to see Viktor Orban, who praised her as a “brave woman” after she lambasted a journalist for describing her party as far-right.
Other populists such as Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Dutch anti-Islam nationalist Geert Wilders offered congratulations on Sunday.
A year ago, the party seemed to be at a low ebb, buffeted by revelations by investigative journalists that several of its most senior members had met at a secret conference outside Berlin to discuss “remigration” – the deportation of non-ethnic German holders of German citizenship.
Papal thriller “Conclave” claimed the top prize on Sunday at Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan made him the surprise best actor winner, at the last major honors ahead of next weekend’s Oscars.
The “Conclave” cast of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini won best movie ensemble at the SAG Awards, a red-carpet ceremony that streamed live on Netflix (NFLX.O). The film tells the story of the secret maneuvering at the Vatican during the selection of a fictional pope.
Fiennes spoke on behalf of the cast about the need for supportive communities, in filmmaking and in life, as he accepted the SAG trophy on stage in downtown Los Angeles.
“We do recognize the supreme importance of (community) in our work and in the world,” Fiennes said. “That’s what we’re celebrating tonight.”
“Conclave” was feted as the real-life pope, 88-year-old Pope Francis, remained in critical condition with double pneumonia. Italian actress Rossellini wished him well during and after the ceremony.
“We are very, very worried for our pope,” she told reporters after the SAG event. “We love this pope.”
The “Conclave” win signaled the movie could take the prestigious best picture trophy at the Academy Awards on March 2. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union pick the SAG winners, and actors form the largest voting body for the Oscars.
But the race for best picture at the Oscars is unusually murky this year.
While “Conclave” also captured the top prize at the Britain’s BAFTA awards, the big trophies from Hollywood producers and directors went to “Anora,” a drama about a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
Chalamet scored the SAG award for best movie actor for playing a young Dylan as he arrives in New York to try to make it in music in “A Complete Unknown.”
John Lithgow, Ralph Fiennes, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini pose with the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for “Conclave” at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Purchase Licensing Rights
The outcome was an upset over Adrien Brody, who landed several acting trophies earlier in the season for playing an immigrant and architect in “The Brutalist.”
The 29-year-old Chalamet said he “poured everything I had” into his portrayal of Dylan.
“The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet said. “I want to be one of the greats.”
Demi Moore was honored as best movie actress for her role as a fading celebrity seeking a fountain of youth in “The Substance.” The actress recalled getting her SAG union card in 1978 at age 15.
“It changed my life because it gave me meaning, it gave me purpose and it gave me direction,” she said. “I was a kid on my own who had no blueprint for life.”
The supporting movie actor and actress trophies went to Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain” and Zoe Saldana for “Emilia Perez.”
In television honors, the cast of FX’s “Shogun,” a tale of political machinations in imperial Japan, was named best ensemble in a drama. “Only Murders in the Building” won best ensemble in a comedy series for stars including Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin.
“Wait, we never win. This is so weird,” a surprised Gomez said. “Marty and Steve aren’t here because, you know, they don’t really care,” she added, drawing laughter from the crowd.
An American flag and USAID flag fly outside the USAID building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
President Donald Trump’s administration said on Sunday it was placing all personnel at the foreign assistance agency USAID, except leaders and critical staff, on paid administrative leave and eliminating 1,600 positions in the United States.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has led an effort to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main delivery mechanism for American foreign assistance and a critical tool of U.S. “soft power” for winning influence abroad.
“I regret to inform you that you are affected by a Reduction in Force action,” said an email sent to one of the workers being fired that was reviewed by Reuters. Those who got the note will be let go from federal service effective April 24, the email said.
USAID said on its website that just before midnight on Sunday U.S. Eastern Time, all direct hires except essential workers will be put on leave and 1,600 USAID personnel in the U.S. would be cut.
An earlier notice sent to staff and reviewed by Reuters said about 2,000 U.S. positions would be eliminated.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to put thousands of USAID workers on leave, a setback for government employee unions that are suing over what they have called an effort to dismantle it.
Two former senior USAID officials estimated that a majority of some 4,600 USAID personnel, career U.S. Civil Service and Foreign Service staffers, would be placed on administrative leave.
“This administration and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio are shortsighted in cutting into the expertise and unique crisis response capacity of the U.S.,” said Marcia Wong, one of the former officials. “When disease outbreaks occur, populations displaced, these USAID experts are on the ground and first deployed to help stabilize and provide aid.”
Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on January 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
The administration has approved exceptions to the freeze totaling $5.3 billion, mostly for security and counter-narcotics programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters that included limited humanitarian relief.
The American Airlines flight was unexpectedly diverted to Rome on Sunday(Representational)
An Indian-origin man has claimed that he was left stranded in Rome after his flight was rerouted due to a security issue. The flight from New York to New Delhi was abruptly diverted to Rome on Sunday due to a reported ‘security issue’, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
X user Lucky Chawla took to social media to share a post seeking help from American Airlines after his flight was diverted and his bags went missing.
“AA292 getting rerouted due to a bomb threat has left me stranded at a Rome hotel—my checked bags are at the airport. Crew & ground staff were amazing, but I’m extremely stressed—I urgently need my bags to rebook my trip. Unable to get any help. Please help,” he wrote in his message.
@AmericanAir AA292 getting rerouted due to a bomb threat has left me stranded at a Rome hotel—my checked bags are at the airport. Crew & ground staff were amazing, but I’m extremely stressed—I urgently need my bags to rebook my trip. Unable to get any help. Please help #aa292
American Airlines replied to his post and apologised, assuring him of help. “We’re sorry to hear you were unable to get your bag. We’ve reached out to our team in FCO to see if we can you additional information,” the response read.
What happend to flight AA292?
The American Airlines flight AA292 departed from New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport and was headed to New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday when diversion occurred.
The plane landed safely at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome at 5:30 pm after the crew raised security concerns, an AFP report said, quoting the FAA.
The US aviation authority did not disclose the nature of the security issue but news agency Reuters quoting sources and the Flight Emergency Site reported that the flight was diverted due to an alleged bomb threat.
The opposition conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won a lackluster victory in Germany’s election Sunday and Alternative for Germany doubled its support in the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats after what he called “a bitter election result.” Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.
Merz said he hopes to put a coalition government together by Easter. But that’s likely to be challenging.
The election took place seven months earlier than planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates.
The campaign was dominated by worries about the yearslong stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and pressure to curb migration — something that caused friction after Merz pushed hard in recent weeks for a tougher approach. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.
Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the U.S. It will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign and trade policy.
The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Merz’s Union bloc around 28.5% and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, about 20.5% — roughly double its result from 2021.
They put support for Scholz’s Social Democrats at just over 16%, far lower than in the last election and below their previous post-war low of 20.5% from 2017. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government, were on about 12%.
Out of three smaller parties, one — the hard-left Left Party — strengthened its position, winning up to 9% of the vote after a remarkable comeback. The pro-business Free Democrats, who were the third party in the collapsed government, looked likely to lose their seats in parliament with about 4.5%. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW, was hovering around the 5% threshold needed to win seats.
A difficult task for the winner
Whether Merz will have a majority to form a coalition with Scholz’s Social Democrats or need a second partner too, which would realistically have to be the Greens, will depend on whether the BSW gets into parliament. The conservative leader said that “the most important thing is to reestablish a viable government in Germany as quickly as possible.”
“I am aware of the responsibility,” Merz said. “I am also aware of the scale of the task that now lies ahead of us. I approach it with the utmost respect, and I know that it will not be easy.”
“The world out there isn’t waiting for us, and it isn’t waiting for long-drawn-out coalition talks and negotiations,” he told cheering supporters.
The Greens’ candidate for chancellor, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, said that Merz would do well to moderate his tone after a hard-fought campaign.
“We have seen the center is weakened overall, and everyone should look at themselves and ask whether they didn’t contribute to that,” said Habeck. “Now he must see that he acts like a chancellor.”
The Greens were the party that suffered least from participating in Scholz’s unpopular government. The Social Democrats’ general secretary, Matthias Miersch, suggested that their defeat was no surprise — “this election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks.”
A delighted far-right party doesn’t have a partner
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told cheering supporters that “we have achieved something historic today.”
“We are now the political center and we have left the fringes behind us,” he said. The party’s strongest previous showing was 12.6% in 2017, when it first entered the national parliament.
The party’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said it is “open for coalition negotiations” with Merz’s party, and that “otherwise, no change of policy is possible in Germany.” Merz has repeatedly ruled out working with AfD, as have other mainstream parties — and did so again in a televised post-election exchange with Weidel and other leaders.
Weidel suggested AfD wouldn’t have to make many concessions to secure a theoretical coalition, arguing that the Union largely copied its program and deriding its “Pyrrhic victory.”
“It won’t be able to implement it with left-wing parties,” she said. If Merz ends up forming an alliance with the Social Democrats and Greens, “it will be an unstable government that doesn’t last four years, there will be an interim Chancellor Friedrich Merz and in the coming years we will overtake the Union.”
In her desperate search for answers over her son Valentin’s death, Elena even turned to Vladimir Putin.
She wrote to the Russian president demanding an explanation as to why an 18-year-old conscript was involved in combat.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin promised that conscripts wouldn’t be sent to war. But in Valentin’s case, the war came to him.
Valentin, 18, died nearly a year into his military service
He had been deployed to the Kursk region as part of his military service and stationed on the border.
But it was there that Ukrainian forces launched their cross-border incursion in August and one month after it began, Valentin was killed after receiving a shrapnel wound to the head.
“It should be specially trained people there, not children,” Elena says.
“They were taken from home, from a mother’s nest, and brought to some unknown place, where there is shooting.
“What kind of warrior is he? He’s not a warrior.”
Like other fallen soldiers, Russia views Valentin as a hero, but that’s no comfort to Elena. All she has are questions, which she wasn’t afraid to put to Mr Putin directly.
“The most important question was: ‘What were our children doing there?’ But I didn’t get any response,” she says.
“At that moment I just wanted to take the whole world and turn it upside down.
“Whoever says they are obligated for military service, what do they owe? What did my son take from the Motherland to pay a debt with his life?”
Valentin was a few weeks short of his 19th birthday when he died, and nearly a year into his military service. Elena didn’t want him to sign on so soon – head boy at school, he could have deferred conscription until after further study – but she says he was excited to serve and insisted.
Pictures of him in his parade uniform are everywhere in her apartment in Rybinsk, a town 160 miles northeast of Moscow. His blue beret is perched on a shelf. And Elena still hopes that one day he’ll walk through the door.
“I still wait for him to come back home, even though I saw his body. I still can’t believe it,” she says, tears running down her face.
“Sometimes I sit and think who my grandchildren could have been. It’s impossible to live like this. It’s not life.”
Russia doesn’t publish its casualty figures but the UK estimates that more than 750,000 Russian troops have either been killed or wounded in the three years since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion began.
Valentin is buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of Rybinsk – a 20-minute bus ride for Elena. There are dozens and dozens of military graves there, each one marked with flags. The grave next to Valentin is for a serviceman killed on the same day as him.
Ukraine’s president has said he would step down in return for peace and NATO membership for his country.
“If [it means] peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference.
“I can exchange this for NATO [membership], if that condition is there, immediately,” he added.
Donald Trump has previously said Ukraine is unlikely to become a NATO ally and membership is a red line for Russia.
Mr Zelenskyy’s comment appeared to be a response to Mr Trump recently calling him a “dictator” as Ukraine hadn’t held fresh elections – despite laws prohibiting it during wartime
During a wide-ranging conference in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy also said talks on a minerals deal with the US were moving forward, adding “all is OK”, despite concerns of a stalemate in negotiations.
President Trump said on Saturday a deal was “pretty close” and he was determined to get payback for billions of dollars of aid provided to Ukraine.
Ukraine wants the deal to include robust security guarantees over any future peace settlement with Russia.
Mr Zelenskyy also told Sky’s Deborah Hayes that next week’s visits to Washington by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron were vital.
He said Europe had to be “at the table” when a peace deal is negotiated.
“Who will represent Europe – I can’t tell you now exactly,” he said.
“But I think one person will represent the EU. And of course, the UK has to be at the table, if we speak, for example, about security guarantees.”
The UK prime minister has said he’s prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.
Mr Zelenskyy said more than 260 drones were fired at Ukraine overnight. Pic: Reuters
‘Biggest drone attack of war’
The Ukrainian leader was speaking after his country was hit overnight with what he called the biggest drone attack since the war started.
Mr Zelenskyy condemned Russia for the “aerial terror” – a day before the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“Every day, our people stand against aerial terror,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
“On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale war, Russia launched 267 attack drones against Ukraine – the largest attack since Iranian drones began striking Ukrainian cities and villages.”
A total of 138 of the drones were shot down and another 119 disappeared from radars after being jammed by electronic warfare, Ukraine’s air force said.
Damage was reported across five regions.
Mr Zelenskyy said nearly 1,150 drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles had been launched at Ukraine in the past week.
He thanked those operating air defences and called on allies to stand united to secure a “just and lasting peace”.
“This is achievable through the unity of all partners – we need the strength of all of Europe, the strength of America, the strength of everyone who seeks lasting peace,” he said.
It comes amid concerns over Mr Trump’s recent war of words with Mr Zelenskyy and his false claim that Ukraine had started the war.
At a conservative conference on Saturday, Mr Trump – who alarmed Europe and Ukraine by holding a recent call with Vladimir Putin – repeated his optimism that a peace deal is possible under his watch.
Alice Weidel is the AfD candidate for chancellor. Pic: AP
Alice Weidel may not be the person you would imagine at the top of Germany’s far-right political movement.
She’s gay with a Sri Lankan partner, the film-maker Sarah Bossard. And Ms Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of a party that obsesses about its love for Germany, is not even a full-time resident of the country.
Instead, she splits her time between Berlin and Switzerland, along with her partner and their two sons.
What’s more, she’s a West German at the top of the AfD, which is, and has always been, far stronger in East Germany.
In a party that is often accused of harbouring extremists, Ms Weidel, it is said, is the AfD’s key to reaching Germans from three crucial areas – the middle classes, the politically unsure, and the country’s West.
But it would be wrong to consider her a moderate. She may have joined the AfD because of its economic policies, but she has enthusiastically endorsed the party’s move to focus more on migration and German nationalism.
Immigrants, she once said, were made up of “burqas, girls in headscarves, knife-wielding men on government benefits and other good-for-nothing people”. It was a phrase that earned her censure from rivals in the centre, and respect from those on the right who see migration as a national threat.
As a speaker, she is strident, radical and unapologetic. She describes herself as a “liberal conservative” but, when I saw her speak at her party conference earlier this year, she demanded the “large scale repatriation of foreigners” – a policy once seen as toxic, but now spelt out by her in syllables – “re-mi-gra-tion”, Ms Weidel said, emphatically, to the sound of cheers.
Ms Weidel, a gay parent, has endorsed the definition of a family as being specifically mother, father and children. She says legalising gay marriage is unimportant.
She has claimed that Germany is the real victim of the war in Ukraine, due to the economic damage it has, and will, suffer. The war, she said, “is not our issue at all” and claims that, when it ends, Ukraine should be held to account.
Ms Weidel was born in Gutersloh, a town of around 100,000 people roughly halfway between Dortmund and Hanover, where she said she was repeatedly insulted and abused by immigrants from the Middle East.
She studied in Germany’s east, in Bayreuth, then worked for Goldman Sachs and the Bank of China, spending six years living in China.
She is a fan of economic liberalism – declaring Margaret Thatcher to be her role model, and championing, for example, low taxes and the abolition of inheritance tax. Only recently, grudgingly, has she accepted it is no longer practical for Germany to stop using the Euro as its currency, but her Euroscepticism remains.
The past of her country and her own family sit over her role as the AfD’s leader. Ms Weidel’s grandfather, Hans Weidel, was a Nazi judge, appointed by Adolf Hitler, a fact of which she claims to have been oblivious until researchers revealed it to her.
During a live chat with Elon Musk, since viewed millions of times online, she claimed the Nazis were “not right-wing” and said Hitler was “a communist, socialist guy”. In fact, Hitler loathed communists and socialists; they were some of the first people sent to concentration camps.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“Who else could start a beauty revolution with her mugshot?” That’s how Julia Louis-Dreyfus introduced the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement winner Jane Fonda during Sunday night’s telecast.
The Oscar-winning actress, whose career has been a political lightning rod, then took the stage to deliver a call to arms for a movement—a movement, one would presume, against the current Trump administration and its firehose of edicts.
When listing all of Fonda’s career achievements, Louis-Dreyfus highlighted that beyond her trophy wins was her “spot on Richard Nixon’s enemies list.”
“I consider that the ultimate trophy,” Louis-Dreyfus said, likely referring to Fonda’s controversial political stances in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Accepting her trophy, Fonda joked about her longevity. “Probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in action movies,” she said.
Empathy is not weak or “woke.” And, by the way, “woke” just means you give a damn about other people.”
The rest of her speech was a rally cry. She joked about how characters are often misinterpreted. The men she rose up against on film, she said, are often called, “losers or p—ies.”
She specifically praised Sebastian Stan, who plays Donald Trump in his Oscar-nominated performance in The Apprentice. She called on viewers to understand people—and then rally against them.
“Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke. And by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people,” Fonda said to huge applause. “A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way. And even if they are of different persuasion we need to call upon our empathy and listen with our hearts and welcome them into our tent. Because we are going to need a big tent to resist successfully what is coming at us.”
She then recalled her film career beginning in 1958 at the tail end of McCarthyism, remarking that “Hollywood resisted,” before tying everything back to current politics and how film creates empathy.
”Have any of you watched a documentary about one of our movements, like apartheid or the civil rights movement or Stonewall and asked yourself, ‘would you have been brave enough to walk a bridge?’ Or ‘would you have been able to take the hoses and the batons and the dogs?’ We don’t have to wonder anymore because we are in our documentary moment. This is it. And it’s not a rehearsal. This is it.”
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Kieran Culkin took an unprompted shot at fellow nominee Adrien Brody at Sunday’s Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Awards while accepting his statue for supporting actor, which he won for 2024’s A Real Pain. “Thank you for this incredibly heavy award. I don’t think there’s any way anyone can hold this for 45 seconds… which is the allotted time, Adrien Brody!” Culkin jabbed before walking it back seconds later: “There was no reason to take that shot. I love you, it’s a joke.” Brody was nominated for SAG’s Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role for his part in The Brutalist. He has already won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award this year for his performance in the historical Holocaust epic. Culkin need not worry that his freewheeling and at times awkward speech might turn off Oscars voters, as voting for this year’s Academy Awards has already closed.
THIS is the terrifying moment two fighter jets escort an American Airlines flight after a mid-air bomb threat was received.
The flight that took off from JFK Airport in New York City to New Delhi, India, made a U-turn and had to be grounded in Rome due to a “possible security issue,” the airline said.
An American Airlines flight being escorted by an Eurofighter from the Italian Air ForceCredit: AFP
American Airlines confirmed Flight 292’s ordeal on Sunday, where the plane was flying near Turkmenistan when a bomb threat was received.
Footage captured of the gargantuan jet shows it flying between two fighter jets before landing at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
In another clip, a group of people are stood watching in horror as the aircraft landed on the airport runway – with the fighter jets following closely behind.
The jet had departed at around 8:30pm on Saturday and was travelling over the Caspian Sea when the airline chillingly warned the crew of a bomb threat, sources claim.
It was eventually grounded in Rome, Italy, around three hours after departure time due to a bomb threat that was received by email, ABC reports.
The terrifying concern was later determined as being “non-credible,” the airline said.
A senior official told ABC that Indian authorities requested the aircraft be checked prior to landing in New Delhi.
Spokesperson for the airport Francesco Garibaldi didn’t give the specific reason for the diversion but said that security checks would be performed as soon as all the passengers and crew got off the aircraft.
Italian law enforcement checked and cleared the aircraft to re-depart, according to American Airlines.
And passengers are to stay overnight so the crew can rest before they head off to New Delhi on Monday.
One passenger who was onboard the flight during the incident, Yash Raj, said on X that everyone “safely deboarded the aircraft”.
He said: “Huge credit to the cabin crew for handling the situation so well.
“Everyone in the aircraft was calm.”
American Airlines said: “Safety and security are our top priorities and we thank our customers for their understanding.
“We are working closely with local authorities and will provide updates as the situation develops.”
American Airlines is still reeling from when its jet collided with a helicopter over Washington DC – despite it being a clear night.
A catalogue of errors, including staffing issues and the use of the wrong flight path, could be to blame for the crash
“Conclave,” a thriller about the election of a new pope, triumphed at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, winning the top prize for best motion picture cast. “Shōgun,” an epic look at feudal Japan, and “Only Murders in the Building,” a mystery satire, won the TV ensemble prizes in the drama and comedy categories.
It was a night filled with tributes to Los Angeles, which is recovering from the devastation caused by this year’s wildfires. “The city and the people in it have been put through the wringer,” Kristen Bell, the show’s host said, before introducing tables of first responders. “There is no way to properly express our gratitude to all of you,” she added.
The ceremony also had contended with technical glitches. At one point, a pre-recorded announcement interrupted Jane Fonda’s lifetime achievement award acceptance speech, and several presenters, such as Andrew Scott and Adam Brody, had to deal with finicky microphones.
“Shōgun” led the TV categories with four wins, picking up best lead and lead actress in a drama series for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, who play a conniving warlord and his trusted interpreter, as well as a prize for its stunts. Both the show and its stars have dominated awards season, earning top honors at the Golden Globes and the Emmys. “I feel like I’m in a dream of dreams,” Sanada said, fighting back tears.
The film awards spread the wealth, as no movie earned more than a single prize. “Conclave’s” victory comes during an unusually tumultuous awards season, one that’s seen early frontrunners like “Emilia Pérez” derailed by controversies. “Anora,” which lost the ensemble prize to “Conclave,” won the Directors Guild and Producers Guild honors, making it the favorite to be named best picture at the Oscars. However, “Conclave’s” victory at SAG, along with its win last week at the BAFTAs, signals it could ultimately triumph at the Academy Awards.
Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”) and Demi Moore (“The Substance”) captured the leading actor and actress trophies. Chalamet transformed into a folk era Bob Dylan, while Moore played an actress and fitness guru fired by misogynistic higher ups for the sin of being middle aged.
“We’re in a subjective business but the truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet, who won over the heavily favored Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), said. “I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day, Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis, as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there.”
“The Substance” has marked a remarkable career comeback for Moore, who spent years in the Hollywood wilderness, a victim of the ageism and sexism that her film depicts. “That little girl who didn’t believe in herself,” Moore said, growing visibly overwhelmed. “The words are kind of beyond me, so I’m just gonna have to say thank you.”
Jean Smart won best actress in a comedy series for the third time for playing a legendary stand-up comic in “Hacks,” while Martin Short picked up best actor in a comedy series for his role as a Broadway producer in “Only Murders in the Building.” Neither performer attended the show — Smart was shooting a project and Short was sick.
“A Real Pain’s” Kieran Culkin, a previous SAG nominee for his turn as an acerbic corporate princeling on “Succession,” won best supporting actor playing a motormouthed young man on a trip to Poland. “It is funny that the heaviest of all awards is the one that’s given by actors,” Culkin quipped while gesturing to his hefty statue. “It’s like, you know, us, what we do means so much.”
Zoe Saldaña was crowned best supporting actress for her performance as a lawyer for a cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery in “Emilia Pérez.” “I believe that everybody has the right to be who they are,” she said. “‘Emilia Perez’ is about truth and it is about love.”
Jessica Gunning, who portrayed a stalker in “Baby Reindeer,” earned best actress in a TV movie or limited series. Colin Farrell, who played the deranged crime boss at the center of “The Penguin,” was named best actor in a TV movie or limited series. He paid tribute to his chosen profession. “It’s play time,” he said. “You don’t get to fully grow up. You get to kind of keep the dream of a child alive, to try to figure out what it is to be human.”
This year’s awards were handed out at a time of political upheaval, one that has seen Donald Trump, who most people in the SAG awards audience oppose, return to power. Hollywood’s corporate leadership, fearful of getting on the wrong side of the White House, has been more muted since Trump was sworn in as president. But Fonda, as famous for her activism as she is for her performances in films like “Klute” and “9 to 5,” used her moment on stage to urge her fellow performers not to stay silent.
“This is big time serious folks, so let’s be brave,” Fonda said. “This is a good time for a little Norma Rae or Karen Silkwood or Tom Joad. We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to protect an inspiring vision of the future.”
Beyond offering an endorsement of the kind of liberal politics currently under attack, the broadcast’s theme was one of regional pride. Along with tributes to Los Angeles, there was also a montage of films and shows — from “Chinatown” to “Baywatch” — that were shot in the city, highlighting its beauty and iconography. Though still the entertainment industry’s capital, shooting in Los Angeles has become a rarer occurrence, as productions have fled to places like Georgia and the United Kingdom that offer tax incentives. In the wake of the fires, some have advocated for more movies and series to be filmed in the city to help reinvigorate the economy.
The SAG Awards were shown live on Netflix for the second year in a row. It was the second time Bell, the star of the streaming service’s rom-com “Nobody Wants This,” served as emcee, having previously overseen the broadcast in 2018 back when it was on cable.
See the full list of winners below.
“Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Demi Moore, “The Substance”
Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl”
Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“Only Murders in the Building”
“Abbott Elementary”
“The Bear”
“Hacks”
“Shrinking”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Shōgun”
“Bridgerton”
“The Day Of The Jackal”
“The Diplomat”
“Slow Horses”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Last Showgirl”
Danielle Deadwyler, “The Piano Lesson”
Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”
Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story”
Richard Gadd, “Baby Reindeer”
Kevin Kline, “Disclaimer”
Andrew Scott, “Ripley”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”
Kathy Bates, “The Great Lillian Hall”
Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer”
Jodie Foster, “True Detective: Night Country”
Lily Gladstone, “Under The Bridge”
Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Martin Short, “Only Murders In The Building”
Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”
Ted Danson, “A Man On The Inside”
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun”
Tadanobu Asano, “Shōgun”
Jeff Bridges, “The Old Man”
Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Day Of The Jackal”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Anna Sawai, “Shōgun”
Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
Nicola Coughlan, “Bridgerton”
Allison Janney, “The Diplomat”
Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”
A British couple in their seventies have been arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were returning to their home in Bamiyan on 1 February when they were detained.
The couple have been running training projects in Afghanistan for 18 years and their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks.
It is not known exactly what the couple were arrested for but projects run by them include one training mothers and children, which had apparently been approved by the local authorities despite a ban by the Taliban on women working and on education for girls older than the age of 12.
The couple, who originally met at the University of Bath, married in Kabul in 1970. Since 2009 they have been running training projects in five schools in Kabul and one project in Bamiyan training mothers and children.
While the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 saw most of their staff leave – along with most westerners – Mr and Mrs Reynolds insisted on staying put.
After their arrest, the couple were initially able to keep in touch with their four children by text message. The family knew that their parents were being held by the interior ministry and were assured by them that they were “fine”.
Three days later, however, the texts stopped. The children have heard nothing since.
Ms Entwistle, who lives in Daventry, Northamptonshire, told the BBC: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped, and they were taken into custody.
“We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”
She told the Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need.
“They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”
Their daughter told the Times: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and [he] needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”
The couple were arrested alongside their American friend Faye Hall and a translator from their business, the PA news agency reported quoting an employee.
The employee, who described the pair as “the most honourable people I have ever met”, said Mr Reynolds had been denied access to heart medication and his condition was “not good”.
Ms Entwistle and her three siblings have written a letter to the Taliban, pleading with them to release their parents.
“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they wrote. “They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”
“We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations. However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.”
The Foreign Office is aware two British nationals have been detained in Afghanistan. But assistance is limited by the fact that the UK does not recognise the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.
Pope Francis, battling double pneumonia, remains in a critical condition for a second day running and has shown an “initial, slight insufficiency” in his kidney function, the Vatican said on Sunday.
The prognosis for the 88-year-old pope, who required a transfusion of two units of blood on Saturday after experiencing a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis,” remains “guarded”, according to the latest medical update.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14. The Vatican first described his condition as critical on Saturday.
“The condition of the Holy Father remains critical; however, since last night he has not experienced further respiratory crises,” the Vatican said on Sunday.
Blood tests also indicated “an initial, slight renal insufficiency, which is currently under control,” it said, referring to the functioning of the kidneys, which filter waste products in the blood.
“The complexity of the clinical picture, and the necessary wait for the pharmacological therapies to show some effect, require that the prognosis remains guarded,” said the statement.
The statement described the pope as “alert and well-oriented” and said he was receiving “high-flow oxygen therapy” through a tube under his nose.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has described the pope’s infection as “complex”, saying it is being caused by two or more microorganisms.
Francis, who has been pope since 2013, has suffered bouts of ill health in the past two years. He is particularly prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
The Vatican said on Saturday the pope had needed the blood transfusions because tests showed he had a low platelet count, which is associated with anaemia. Platelets are cell fragments in the blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding.
On Sunday, the Vatican said the transfusion had shown benefit and resulted in an increase in the pope’s levels of haemoglobin, a protein that helps carry oxygen in the body.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella presides over Sunday’s mass instead of Pope Francis. The Vatican, February 23, 2025. Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
It also said his platelet levels had remained stable.
PILGRIMS PRAY FOR POPE
Near the Vatican, pilgrims expressed concern for the pope.
“I am very, very sad,” said Elvira Romana, from Italy. “I don’t know how you can continue normally at this moment.”
Matteo Licari, from Sardinia, said he was “extremely worried”. “Let’s hope he can keep living,” said Licari. “We are waiting for him to come back here.”
Outside Gemelli hospital, people gathered to pray near a statue of the late Pope John Paul II, who was treated at the facility many times during his long papacy.
People left flowers and notes for Francis, and lit candles at the base of the late pope’s memorial.
In a written message for his usual Sunday prayer in St. Peter’s Square, which the pope was unable to read out for a second consecutive week, Francis said he was continuing “confidently” with his treatment in hospital. He thanked his doctors and people who have sent him messages of support.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, a senior Vatican official, told participants at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning they should make their prayers for Francis “stronger and more intense”.
The Diocese of Rome, which the pope leads, held a special Mass on Sunday evening to pray for Francis, so that he will have “the strength necessary to get through this moment of trial”.
On Friday, two of his doctors said the pope was highly vulnerable because of his age and general frailty.
The study was led by Shi Zhengli, Chinese virologist from the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where the Covid-19 was alleged to have emanated from.
A Chinese team of virologists have found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19. Credit: Reuters photo
Beijing: A Chinese team of virologists have found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19, a media report said.
The study was led by Shi Zhengli, Chinese virologist from the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where the Covid-19 was alleged to have emanated from.
Shi, who is known as the Bat Woman for her research on viruses from the Bats, as well as the Chinese government deny that the virus was leaked from the Wuhan lab.
The latest discovery is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong.
The new virus comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported.
The virus is able to bind to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, to infect cells.
“We report the discovery and isolation of a distinct lineage (lineage 2) of HKU5-CoV, which can utilise not only bat ACE2 but also human ACE2 and various mammalian ACE2 orthologs [– genes found in different species with a common origin],” the team of virologists headed by Shi wrote in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell on Tuesday, according to the Post report.
The researchers found that when the virus was isolated from bat samples it could infect human cells as well as artificially grown masses of cell or tissue that resembled miniaturised respiratory or intestinal organs.
Warren Buffett, Omaha, Nebraska, May 4, 2019. REUTERS/Scott Morgan Purchase Licensing Rights
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) on Saturday reported record annual profits and boosting its cash stake to $334.2 billion, as Warren Buffett used his annual shareholder letter to caution Washington to spend money wisely and take care of those who get the “short straws in life.”
Buffett’s admonition came as many investors worry U.S. lawmakers won’t rein in soaring fiscal deficits, and could make them worse by extending tax cuts backed by President Donald Trump.
The 94-year-old Buffett, the world’s sixth-richest person and arguably its most famous investor, also acknowledged his advanced age, telling shareholders he uses a cane and will spend less time fielding their questions at Berkshire’s annual meeting on May 3.
He nonetheless assured shareholders they would be in good hands after he turns over the conglomerate’s reins to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, saying the 62-year-old Abel has “vividly shown his ability” to deploy capital.
“It won’t be long” before Abel takes over, Buffett said.
Buffett’s letter was accompanied by Berkshire’s annual report, where it reported a third straight record annual operating profit, rising 27% to $47.44 billion.
Quarterly operating profit rose 71% to $14.53 billion, also a record, and which analysts viewed as solid.
Net income for the full year totaled $89 billion, including gains from Berkshire’s common stock investments such as Apple (AAPL.O) and American Express (AXP.N)
Berkshire’s cash stake reflected high business valuations and nine straight quarters of selling more stocks than it bought. The selling included Apple, which remained its largest stock investment.
“Often, nothing looks compelling; very infrequently we find ourselves knee-deep in opportunities,” Buffett wrote.
‘FISCAL FOLLY’
This year is Buffett’s 60th at the helm of Berkshire, which he transformed from a failing textile company into a $1.03 trillion conglomerate with dozens of businesses in insurance, railroad, energy, industrial, retail and other sectors.
“Berkshire’s activities now impact all corners of our country. And we are not finished,” Buffett said.
Buffett said Berkshire will continue preferring equities, primarily U.S. stocks, over cash, even as it resists paying a dividend to shareholders, which it has not done since 1967.
He said reinvesting in Berkshire is one reason the Omaha, Nebraska-based company paid $26.8 billion of federal taxes last year, 5% of all payments by corporate America. Buffett himself is worth $149.5 billion, Forbes magazine said,
But he also sent a cautionary message to Washington, lamenting how capitalism “has its faults and abuses–in certain respects more egregious now than ever,” with malfeasance by “scoundrels and promoters” in full force.
He urged lawmakers to help preserve a stable U.S. dollar, saying “fiscal folly” can destroy the value of paper money and the country has at times “come close to the edge.”
Buffett said long-term success of Berkshire and the American economy, which he called the “American miracle,” has depended on people’s ability to participate.
That, he said, is something Uncle Sam can encourage, or take away.
“Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better,” Buffett wrote, addressing the government.
“And never forget that we need you to maintain a stable currency and that result requires both wisdom and vigilance on your part,” he added.
Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research who rates Berkshire “hold,” said: “Talking about the business of America being messy was his way of addressing the political landscape and its impact on the macroeconomic environment. He is warning Washington: Be careful where you tread.”
People walk past an election campaign poster of Friedrich Merz, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party candidate for chancellor, the day before the parliamentary election, in Potsdam, Germany, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen Purchase Licensing Rights
Germans were voting in a national election on Sunday that is expected to restore power to Friedrich Merz’s conservatives while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is forecast to achieve its best result yet in Europe’s ailing economic powerhouse.
Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc has consistently led polls but is unlikely to win a majority given Germany’s fragmented political landscape, forcing it to sound out coalition partners.
Those negotiations are expected to be tricky after a campaign that exposed sharp divisions over migration and how to deal with the AfD in a country where far-right politics carries a particularly strong stigma because of its Nazi past.
That could leave unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying urgently needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two consecutive years of contraction and as companies struggle against global rivals.
It would also create a leadership vacuum in the heart of Europe even as it deals with a host of challenges, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of a trade war and attempts to fast-track a ceasefire deal for Ukraine without European involvement.
Germany, which has an export-oriented economy and has long relied on the U.S. for its security, is particularly vulnerable.
Germans are more pessimistic about their living standards now than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008. The percentage who say their situation is improving dropped sharply from 42% in 2023 to 27% last year, according to pollster Gallup.
Attitudes towards migration have also hardened in a profound shift in German public sentiment since its “Refugees Welcome” culture during Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis.
Polls opened at 0800 local time (0700 GMT) and will close at 1800 (1700 GMT) when vote counting will start and exit polls will be released. About 60 million people in Germany are eligible to vote.
MUSK WEIGHS IN
Sunday’s election follows the collapse last November of Scholz’s coalition of his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and pro-market Free Democrats (FDP) in a row over budget spending.
The SPD is heading for its worst result since World War Two.
The election campaign has been dominated by fierce exchanges over the perception that irregular immigration is out of control, fueled by a series of attacks in which the suspected perpetrators were of migrant origin.
A Syrian refugee was arrested over the stabbing of a tourist at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial on Friday. Prosecutors said he had been planning “to kill Jews”.
The campaign has also been overshadowed by the unusually forceful show of solidarity by members of the Trump administration – including Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk – for the anti-migrant AfD and broadsides against European leaders.
The 12-year-old AfD is on track to take second place for the first time in a national election.
“I’m completely disappointed in politics, so maybe an alternative would be better,” said retired Berlin bookkeeper Ludmila Ballhorn. The 76 year old, who plans to vote AfD, said she was struggling to live on her pension of 800 euros. “Rents and all other costs have soared,” she added.
The AfD, however, is unlikely to govern for now because all mainstream parties have ruled out working with the party, though some analysts believe it could pave the way for an AfD win in 2029.
The strength of the AfD, along with a small but significant vote share for the far-left and the decline of Germany’s big-tent parties, is increasingly complicating the formation of coalitions and governance.
COALITION OPTIONS
EU allies are cautiously hopeful the elections might deliver a more coherent government able to drive forward policy at home and in the bloc.
Some also hope Merz will reform the “debt brake” constitutional mechanism that limits government borrowing and that critics say has strangled new investment.
The most likely outcome of the election, say analysts, is a tie-up of Merz’s conservative bloc of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) with the SPD, which is polling in third place in another uneasy “grand coalition”.
Polls, however, suggest another three-way coalition may be necessary if several small parties make the 5% threshold to enter parliament, complicating talks.
Cycling rates in Paris have soared in recent years. But the death of 27-year-old Paul Varry – who was allegedly run over by a driver – has exposed a darker side to Paris’s cycling revolution.
“This was not an accident,” Paul’s colleague Corentin believes.
We’re standing on the edge of a bike lane on Boulevard Malesherbes, steps away from the place where Paul was crushed by an SUV on 15 October 2024.
The moments preceding his death are subject to a criminal investigation.
Paul was cycling home from work. The cycle path is separated from the road by a slightly raised curb.
According to witnesses and CCTV, the driver of the SUV began driving in the bike lane. Prosecutors say the driver ran over Paul’s foot. Paul banged his fist on the bonnet.
The motorist reversed at first, but then allegedly drove towards the 27-year-old. An autopsy confirmed “the marks of the vehicle crossing his body”.
The 52-year-old driver has been charged with murder. His lawyer says he may have lost control of the vehicle in a stressful situation that he was trying to get out of.
At a hearing attended by news agency AFP, he broke into tears and said “I’m sorry for what happened. I never meant to run him over.”
Paris has seen a surge in cycling as part of a broader transformation spearheaded by Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Over the last decade, the city has invested €400m (£331m) in cycling infrastructure, creating more than 1,000 kilometres of bike lanes.
According to a recent study, cycling now makes up more than 11% of trips within Paris, compared to just 4% by car. Walking is still the most popular way of getting around – accounting for 53% of journeys, followed by public transport (30%).
But despite the investment, cycling in Paris still feels precarious.
Bike lanes are patchy, lack uniformity and often don’t have designated traffic lights. The rules surrounding right of way aren’t always clear and are often flouted, making it difficult for cyclists to safely navigate.
Paul Varry’s death was extreme, but it resonated and has become a symbol of the daily struggle for space on the streets of Paris.
His mother, Nathalie Tison, remembers her son as a carefree spirit who embraced the freedom of cycling. “He was a very happy and very bubbly person, he had a lovely sense of humour and was always very gentle with the people around him. It’s such an injustice because he didn’t deserve at all what happened.”
She told me she had always been concerned about the dangers of her son riding in Paris, where she detected a sense of entitlement among some drivers.
“Drivers can be super aggressive – nothing can get in their way,” she said. “For some, the car is an extension of their virility and if anyone touches their car… it’s taken as a personal attack.
“I was afraid for him.”
Paul understood these risks, and was an active member of the cycling group Paris en Selle – Paris in the Saddle. He campaigned for more segregated space for bicycles and safer junctions.
Advocates hope the progress made in Paris will continue.
Rémi Féraud, a socialist senator and Anne Hidalgo’s top choice for future mayor, doesn’t dream of a car-free future, “because there are Parisians who have cars”.
“But by reducing space for the car, we reserve it for those who really need to come by car,” he says. “We want a city that is 100% cyclable… It is an offer of freedom.”
Carving out more street space for cyclists has involved restricting space for cars. The number of parking spaces in Paris have been slashed by a half and certain vehicles have been banned from driving through the city.
Some drivers, particularly those from the suburbs, feel that the city’s car reduction policies have made their lives more difficult.
“Driving in Paris is like going to war,” says Shamy, a reserved 24-year-old midwife. “There are no rules.” I’m sitting in his car as he straddles a cycle path – he can’t reverse because people are walking there and in front of us cars are bumper to bumper.
What does he do if there’s a confrontation with a cyclist? “I just say sorry.”
Shamy lets me out as we approach a zone in the city centre where through-traffic has been outlawed – one of several measures that has drawn anger from business owners.
Patrick Aboukrat, who owns a fashion boutique in the Marais shopping district, has launched a lawsuit with other members of Comité Marais Paris, the business association he leads, to try to roll back some of the new rules.
He says they’re losing customers and that some were planning on selling up. “When young people say they want to open a shop, I say ‘open a shop in the suburbs, go outside of Paris.’
“We do understand the need to have fewer cars in the centre. I say to the Mayor we want to work together, to change the plan. But they don’t listen. It’s ideological. ”
But Féraud, the senator, instead suggests the rise in online shopping is to blame.
According to polls, most of those who live within the main Paris ring road – of whom only 30% own a car – don’t mind the traffic-limiting measures.
Those on the outskirts tend to drive more, but they are not eligible to vote for the Paris mayor or influence its traffic polices.
Alexandra Legendre, who represents a motorists lobby group – the Drivers’ Defence League – says “no one [drives] for pleasure in Paris, it’s hell.” She feels authorities have prioritised cyclists at the expense of everyone else.
She accuses politicians of being blinkered by a desire to transform Paris into a cyclists’ paradise – ignoring road safety. She insists car drivers can’t be treated as “the only bad guys”.
There’s a consensus that Paul Varry’s death was a tragedy, but Ms Legendre doesn’t think it had anything to do with him being a cyclist.
Paris is navigating the challenges of its cycling revolution as European capitals are under pressure to curb transport-related carbon emissions. The EU’s green deal aims to achieve a 90% reduction in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Corentin, Paul’s colleague, points out that while Paris is still far from perfect, the infrastructure has improved significantly, making it easier and safer than ever to enjoy the view.
“We are in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and there is no better way to see it than by bike.”
The constant stream of cyclists buzzing down Rue de Rivoli – which was a major highway until 2020 – suggests that the shift towards bike-friendly urban spaces is irreversible.
AI-generated videos of the black plague and the eruption of Vesuvius have been going viral on TikTok
Imagine waking up in Rome 2,000 years ago, on the Nile in ancient Egypt or on the streets of London during the Black Death in the 1300s – complete with realistic sights, sounds and daily struggles.
In recent weeks, AI-generated videos showing the points of view of people waking up in different historical time periods have gone viral on TikTok.
Dan and Hogne are the creators behind two of the accounts – POV Lab and Time Traveller POV.
Dan, based in the UK, tells the BBC he creates these videos as the “idea of seeing the past through a first-person perspective felt like a unique way to bring history to life”.
Hogne, a 27-year-old from Norway, adds that his videos are teaching people “about cool parts of history and helping them learn something new”.
Despite the videos offering millions a window into history, a number of historians have shared concerns about the accuracy of the content and whether AI can truly resurrect the past, or are we just seeing a polished, modernised version of history designed for engagement?
Murky and misty streets, coughing townsfolk, and the distant toll of a plague doctor’s bell all feature in Hogne’s most-watched video, which has racked up 53 million views.
It has sparked fascination among many, but historian Dr Amy Boyington describes the medieval-themed video as “amateurish” and “evocative and sensational” rather than historically accurate.
“It looks like something from a video game as it shows a world that is meant to look real but is actually fake.”
She points out inaccuracies like the depiction of houses with large glazed windows and a train track running through the town which wouldn’t have existed in the 1300s.
Historian and archaeologist Dr Hannah Platts has also noticed significant inaccuracies in a video depicting the eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii.
“Due to Pliny the Younger’s eyewitness account of the eruption, we know that it didn’t start with lava spewing everywhere so to not use that wealth of historical information available to us feels cheap and lazy.”
She also spots smaller mistakes – stemmed wine glasses and pepper mills didn’t exist and people would be reclining while eating not sitting on dining chairs.
“The bread roll in the video is a modern loaf and given we actually have carbonised loaves from the time it’s a real shame the person making the video didn’t do some research and include that.”
Dan, who created the video of Pompeii, says he recognises a lots of details in his videos are historically inaccurate.
“AI-generated content isn’t perfect, and while I strive for accuracy, these videos are more about evoking the feeling of a time period rather than being a 100% factual recreation.
“They’re more like artistic interpretations rather than strict documentaries.”
‘Manipulate history’
But, Dr Boyington worries about the impact that these artistic interpretations can have on rewriting history.
“It can be quite dangerous as people could manipulate history – for example, someone could create an AI-generated video that backs up holocaust deniers.”
While most people will know that the content of the video isn’t real, the concern is for “young people who will learn about a historical time period for the first time through these videos”.
Dan rejects these claims and says his videos “are not meant to be taken as pure historical fact”.
“I encourage viewers to research history themselves if they’re interested. I see these videos as a way to spark curiosity about the past rather than replace real historical education.”
Hogne says he feels “a responsibility” in creating these videos and has been focusing on trying to make the videos as accurate as possible, “especially now that so many millions of people are watching them”.
Dr Platts worries about misinformation spreading unchecked, noting that some viewers in the comments seemed unaware that the AI-generated videos were not based on historical facts.
“We see lots of students now using AI, and what’s problematic is if they see something like this and then it’s echoed back to us as if it’s fact.”
Dan says he ensures all his videos are labelled as AI-created, while Hogne says that misinformation has existed long before AI and “people have to think critically about everything they are watching”.
‘Can have immense benefits’
All the historians the BBC spoke to agree that there are merits to Dan and Hogne’s videos.
Dr Boyington says they can act as a “gateway into history and can inspire someone to do their own research”, while a professor of Egyptology, Elizabeth Frood, says that “if done accurately and reliably then this is of immense benefit to the public as it raises interest and awareness of history”.
Barbara Keys, a professor of US history at Durham University, took a look at an AI-generated video of someone working at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on 6 April 1986, the day the reactor exploded.
While she sees the potential merits in these videos, she calls the clip a “black box” as there’s no source information or transparency about what information was fed to the AI programme.
She says a concerning inaccuracy in the video is that the retractor is based on images from after the disaster rather than before.
“This makes people think that Soviet technology was really bad when actually it was very sophisticated.”
She thinks the viral nature of these videos is less about their historical content and more about the public’s fascination with AI itself.
“There’s nothing very interesting in the video, and it doesn’t give you any information about the accident or what happened after, so the interest must be able what AI can do.”
Prof Frood has concerns that the videos haven’t been created accurately or reliably and emphasises that historical reconstructions should be based on extensive research and verifiable sources.
“We need to be critical of this video as we know nothing about its source or what information was fed to the AI in order for this video to be created.”
She is commenting specifically on a video about being a child in Egypt in 1250 BC.
The first thing that struck her was how the videos tend to “homogenise complex ancient worlds.”
“Egypt spans thousands of years, and people might not realise that this is just one snapshot,” she explains.
Overall she says the video seemed “poorly researched” and pointed out an instance where a teacher in a school scene is reading the hieroglyphs backward when they should be read from right to left.
Hogne, who created the video, says he recognises that there are historical inaccuracies in his videos and that’s because “AI can make a lot of errors but in the future the tools will get better”.
“I try and spot them where I can but I am not a history expert so I don’t always see the error, especially when it’s something small,” he adds.
Asked about the lack of transparency in source material, Hogne says in the future he might consider adding links to where he got his information from.
“It would be cool to make it totally accurate using the right sources, but it’s just me on my own making these videos and it takes eight hours to make each one.”
US President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (AP)
US President Donald Trump doubled down on his stance on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by bringing up the alleged USAID funding to India for the fourth time in a row, saying New Delhi “does not need the money”.
The row erupted after the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) declared its latest move to reduce expenditures by cancelling millions of dollars in funding for various countries, including the $21 million allocated for enhancing “voter turnout in India.”
Speaking on the money given to India for its elections, Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “Why the hell? Why don’t we go back to old paper ballots and let them help us with our elections? They don’t need money.”
“We’re giving money to India for elections, well they don’t need money. They take advantage of us. They are one of the highest tariffs nations in the world. They have a 200 per cent tariff and then we give them a lot of money for elections,” he added.
Since before the US presidential elections last year, Trump has complained about India’s high tariffs and called it a “very big abuser” of trade. He introduced reciprocal tariffs on all imports shortly before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, highlighting that “India has more tariffs than nearly any other country”.
‘Ended Left-Wing Scam’: Trump On USAID
During his speech at CPAC on Saturday, Trump referred to USAID as a “left-wing scam” and said, “The agency’s name has been removed from its former building and that space will now house agents from Customs and Border Patrol.”
This came as a federal judge allowed Trump to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job in the United States and around the world. US District rejected pleas to keep his temporary stay on the government’s plan to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts.
President Donald Trump and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, calling its programs out of line with the president’s agenda and asserting without evidence that its work is wasteful.
India Expresses Concern Over USAID Row
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday addressed Trump’s claims on USAID funding for India, calling them “worrisome” and that the agency was allowed in good faith, not for activities in bad faith.
“It’s worrisome, and if there’s something to it, then the country should know who the people are involved in it,” he said at an event.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) previously called the accusations “deeply troubling” and led to concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs. “Relevant departments and agencies are looking into this matter. It would be premature to make a public comment at this stage,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday.
On Friday, Trump repeated his claim that $21 million was given to India for “voter turnout”, contradicting a report that claimed that the funding was actually meant for Bangladesh. This led to another war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in India.
An Indian Express report claimed that a $21 million USAID grant was allocated in 2022 for Bangladesh, not India. The Congress, waving the report, dismissed the BJP’s charge of alleged foreign interference in India’s electoral process.
American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, The Documentary That Analyses The Trial Of The Century |
When Netflix announced the release of its documentary, American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson, I thought to myself, how is it even possible to make yet another documentary on this topic, especially after the hugely successful dramatized version The People Vs O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (Network: FX), starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, and O.J.: Made in America, the documentary? However, I came away from the 4-part series surprised that the makers managed to bring to light various factors which hadn’t been dissected in the other shows, especially the shocking number of evidences that weren’t part of the trial, and testimonies from new witnesses and those involved.
About the case
In 1995, former legendary NFL player and actor O.J. Simpson was on trial for the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Nicole and Ron were found stabbed to death outside her Brentwood condominium, with Nicole’s head almost severed from her body, outside Brown’s condo in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. The televised trial, which carried on for 8 months, lasted from January 24 to October 3, 1995.
The murder trial came at a very sensitive time, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots. On March 3, 1991, an unarmed black motorist, Rodney King, was brutally assaulted by several white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers—an incident which was captured on a video camera by a bystander. Footage of the assault was broadcast all over the world in just a few days. Three of the four accused were acquitted, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge for the fourth. Within a few hours of the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles riots began. The six-day riots left 63 people dead, over 7,000 arrested, and caused approximately $1 billion in damage. This whole verdict added a very strong racial aspect to the Simpson case.
The Case:
Simpson hired what was nicknamed by the media the ‘Dream Team,’ comprising Robert Shapiro, Johnnie Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, and Robert Kardashian. Yes, the same Kardashian who is the father of the infamous reality TV stars Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, and Rob. Despite incriminating DNA evidence, his team managed to convince the jury that the evidence had been tampered with, especially since one of the officers on the case had been proven to use racial slurs in previous investigations.
In popular culture, the case and Simpson have been parodied in episodes of cult sitcoms such as The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Seinfeld, and Saturday Night Live.
Aftermath:
Interestingly, on October 3, 2008, exactly 13 years after he was acquitted of the murders, Simpson was found guilty of 12 charges in a robbery case. Immediately after the verdict was read, Simpson, who had been free on bail prior to this point, was handcuffed and sentenced to 33 years in prison. He was granted parole on July 20, 2017. Ironically, the robbery case involved Simpson stealing his own memorabilia from a sports dealer at gunpoint. Simpson passed away last year in April.
Miss Tammie Ong (pictured) is diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions that affect her digestive and nervous systems. (Photo: CNA/Lauren Chian)
For years, Miss Tammie Ong had imagined herself in a white coat with a stethoscope, working as a paediatrician and helping young patients the way that she had seen doctors do on television.
Then in 2021 when she was 17, she was the one who ended up on a hospital bed needing medical treatment.
She had gone to sleep one night as usual but by morning, she woke up feeling inexplicably unwell, experiencing a bout of severe headaches and vomiting several times.
After she went to multiple hospitals and did various tests, they revealed that she had several rare, incurable conditions that would change the course of her life.
One of them is gastrointestinal dysmotility, meaning there is a problem with her digestive system – the muscles and nerves in the gastrointestinal tract that moves food along are not working as they should.
A gastrostomy tube now delivers essential nutrients to her body, replacing meals she can no longer eat.
Another condition that affects her is dysautonomia, which disrupts her autonomic nervous system, affecting vital functions such as blood pressure and heart rate.
Both conditions leave her constantly fatigued and in pain.
Her doctors told her that she may never get better.
Just before I met her on a warm February afternoon at her family home in the west of Singapore, I was slightly worried about how the interview would go with someone who was not in the best physical state.
However, from the moment she greeted me at the door, I knew Miss Ong would come up with the energy to power through our interview.
She ushered me into the living room, brought out chilled drinks, adjusted the air-conditioner right away for this perspiring journalist and for the first 30 minutes, peppered me with questions about my day-to-day job, her curiosity turning the interview on its head.
She was a picture of youthful exuberance and I learnt that before she fell ill, she loved to dance.
Everything about her presence suggested she was thriving – until she reminded me that she wasn’t.
“Having these conditions really engulfs your life. It’s consuming, and it feels like I have no break from it,” Miss Ong said.
“I’m always very tired, always very weak, and the pain gets worse over time.”
Her bedtime routine alone is an ordeal: She has to administer a series of intravenous nutrition and medications through a central line – a tube connected into a large vein in the heart – before preparing the various medicines she needs to use for the next day.
It takes four hours before she can call it a night and even then, sleep is elusive. The pain often makes it hard for her to doze off.
Every morning, she wakes up to yet another round of time-consuming yet essential medical tasks.
Leaving the house requires double the preparation: She has to tape the central line, pack the medicines that she is required to take mid-day and charge her wheelchair battery to ensure that it does not run out, among other things.
“The doctors cannot pinpoint what’s causing all the pain, but they know roughly it’s because of my condition and that it will continue to progress,” she said.
For the first time during the interview, her shoulders dropped slightly as she talked about how her pain shadows her everywhere she goes.
“We’ve exhausted almost every option and there isn’t any extra treatment.”
RELENTLESS IN HER PURSUITS
All afternoon, Miss Ong – who will turn 21 in April – spoke candidly and patiently when describing the symptoms she experienced on a daily basis.
It was a heavy subject, but there was a lighthearted mood in the spotless dining room where we sat.
When she spoke, there was an inherent air of optimism and determination in her voice.
I recalled some of that vibe in her TikTok videos, where she shows snippets of her life with her own brand of quirk and humour.
Long before the debilitating illnesses tightened its grip on her, Miss Ong had already harboured dreams of going to medical school.
So determined was she to pursue this dream as a 16-year-old, she made a decision few teenagers would: She deleted all her social media applications on her mobile devices and computer six months before her N-Level examinations, shutting out distractions to focus entirely on her studies.
“Back then, my average daily screen time was just 30 minutes,” she said, laughing.
Her sacrifice paid off. She graduated top of her 2020 cohort at Kranji Secondary School and was admitted into Singapore Polytechnic’s biomedical science diploma course in 2021.
That was the year her body crumbled and encroached upon her plans before she even got going.
In the four years since her admission to the polytechnic, Miss Ong has completed just one semester of studies, her condition keeping her largely confined at home or in the hospital.
She last attended lessons at the polytechnic two years ago. Even then, Miss Ong has refused to stop learning.
At the start of 2023, she set her sights on Harvard Medical School’s three-month online fundamentals course in immunology.
In her application essay, she described how her life had changed overnight: “One moment, I was out dining with friends and, the next thing I knew, I was setting up tube feeds and relying on total parenteral nutrition (tube feeding through a vein) to survive.
“I felt overwhelmed and struggled with my condition, but later found strength and saw this as a calling to understand more about myself and children or young persons with rare disorders.”
She completed the course in March that year.
Just a few months later, an opportunity arose – an attachment at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where she would shadow a team of general surgeons.
For a couple of years after she fell sick, she had been the one lying on hospital beds, enduring countless procedures.
Then, for the first time, there she was standing on the other side, observing the operations with a newfound understanding. And it rejuvenated her.
“It was really fun. I got to sit in on almost all of the procedures,” she said with a chirp in her voice.
“I went through some of these surgeries as a patient myself and just being on the other side was so interesting, because you finally see how everything works.”
“THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY”
Just as she was gaining momentum, her body betrayed her once again.
In the later half of 2023, she was diagnosed with pancreatitis, an excruciating condition of the pancreas that left her unable to walk and in constant pain.
Then, in the span of a few months, she battled three separate bouts of sepsis – a life-threatening complication where bacteria enters the bloodstream and the body has an extreme response to infection.
Each time, she found herself back in the very hospital wards where she had hoped to work one day.
I asked if she had moved on completely from the idea of becoming a doctor.
She hesitated, then glanced back briefly at the intravenous drip stand she uses twice a day in the living room a few paces away.
“It’s not impossible,” she finally said. “But it’s really tiring. You’re like your own nurse and yet, you still have to study (for many years to come).”
Throughout it all, Miss Ong has also faced the deeply personal struggle of her body’s newfound limitations.
A video she posted on TikTok last month showed her crestfallen and in tears while she folded and kept the ballet clothes that had been sitting idle in her wardrobe for years, to the soundtrack of an emotional ballad in the background.
Dancing was once an integral part of her life, an avenue for her to express herself, and the sight of her unworn leotards was a constant reminder of the freedom she used to have.
Miss Ong, who started ballet dancing at four years old, said: “I put off keeping them aside because I always thought that I could always go back to dance. I just never imagined that I can’t.”
As for her TikTok videos, she said: “The reason I post these videos is to encourage people, because people often take for granted what they can do.”
Then she emphasised her point. “This,” she said while gesturing at herself in a somewhat self-deprecating manner, “can happen to anybody.”
A VOICE FOR OTHER SUFFERERS
Initially, the clips she made for the video-sharing platform was just a way for her to process her emotions.
Then, when strangers began reaching out – some battling illnesses of their own, others simply moved by her resilience – she realised that her voice carried weight.
If she cannot heal people in a hospital, she decided that she would help do so in another way, by giving a voice to sufferers going through all kinds of pain like she was.
Since 2021, Miss Ong has been posting educational and day-in-the-life videos on TikTok, documenting the pain she endures and the treatments she undergoes daily.
Her raw honesty struck a chord with many viewers and today, more than 200,000 people follow her on the account.
Miss Ong put across to me that what she shared was not just about her. It was also to bring to people’s mind that there is a broader community of chronically ill individuals among us who often feel unseen – or in some cases, the subject of unwanted attention.
“When I’m outside, people often outright stare at me, wondering what this tube up my nose is,” she said.
“People squeeze into lifts and refuse to give way even when I’m in a wheelchair … Singapore can be a much kinder society.”
Miss Ong wants not just to raise awareness of the plight of people whose health batters them daily, but to take action as well.
Over the years, she has launched fundraisers for causes close to her heart, rallying her online community to support patients with chronic illnesses.
To date, she has raised S$23,000 for non-profit organisations such as Make-A-Wish and the Rare Disorder Society of Singapore.
As she had pointed out to me repeatedly all afternoon, the treatments for her illnesses do not come cheap at all. The medicine and hospital visits are thankfully covered by insurance, but the medical equipment she needs every month – such as the infusion pump that delivers saline and nutrients through out her body – are not.
One of her goals is to monetise her videos on social media to achieve financial independence for her own future.
Recounting another event where she spread awareness, she said that she left the hospital a week after admission, which was at the tail end of 2023. This was to deliver a TED Talk at Nanyang Technology University, on living life as a chronically ill teenager. She checked herself right back into the hospital ward after that.
“There were six speakers that day,” she recalled. TED, short for “technology, entertainment and design”, is a nonprofit dedicated to sharing ideas and knowledge as well as performances with a global audience through short speeches and presentations called TED Talks.
I asked if she felt nervous or intimidated at the event and she chided me in jest for stating the obvious.
“I was the youngest and the rest of them were professors!”
Those 15 minutes, though, were a lifelong dream, she said, and she is incredibly proud of having achieved it despite having some minor hiccups during the speech.
A promotional poster of the event is kept in her home, though not hung up as a memento.
What was on display around the cosy apartment, however, were framed family photographs covering almost every wall.
I had asked if it was possible to speak with either her parents or her two older siblings who live with her.
She said that she has a tight-knit relationship with her family but preferred to keep the other aspects of her life at home private.
What was important, Miss Ong said, was that on especially tough days, she knew that the support system she had at home was a strong and sturdy one.
“This experience made me realise that there’s nobody more important than your family and friends. They have supported me throughout and for that, I’m very, very thankful.”
FACING THE INEVITABLE
I hesitated before asking if her doctors had given her any indication of how long she might live. It was a question I had never posed to anyone with a debilitating illness.
Her response was a quiet acceptance that there was no clear answer to this question.
“Of course, we’re scared. I’m scared. I don’t want to die,” she said, before letting out a slight chuckle.
“If I have a dream now, it’s that I still hope to be cured.”
When I asked if she would prefer to know a definite prognosis, her answer was surprising.
A slight smile played on her lips as she shrugged.
“I actually prefer not to know,” she said. “If you know, you would live your life differently. But life is better when it’s spontaneous.”
Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection, the Vatican said.
The 88-year-old pope, who remains conscious, received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.
“The Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical, therefore, as explained yesterday (Friday), the pope is not out of danger,” the statement said. It was the first time “critical” had been used in a written statement to describe Francis’ condition since he was hospitalized Feb. 14.
The statement also said that the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday.” Doctors declined to offer a prognosis, saying it was “reserved.”
Doctors have said Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.
Doctors warn of the possible onset of sepsis
They have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.
Saturday’s blood tests showed that he had developed a low platelet count, a condition called platelopenia or thrombocytopenia. Platelets are cell-like fragments that circulate in the blood that help form blood clots to stop bleeding or help wounds heal. Low platelet counts can be caused by a number of things, including side effects from medicines or infections, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Francis, who has chronic lung disease and is prone to bronchitis in winter, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.
Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it. Saturday’s update marked the first time the Vatican has referred to Francis suffering an “asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows.”
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, said Friday the biggest threat facing Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass into the bloodstream, causing sepsis. Sepsis can lead to organ failure and death.
“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri told a news conference Friday at Gemelli. “The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want,” he said as he tapped the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.”
“He knows he’s in danger,” Alfieri added. “And he told us to convey that.”
Vatican hierarchy tamps down speculation Francis might resign
Meanwhile, the Vatican hierarchy went on the defensive to tamp down rumors and speculation that Francis might decide to resign. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated. Francis has said that he has written a letter of resignation that would be invoked if he were medically incapable of making such a decision. The pope remains fully conscious, alert, eating and working.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, gave a rare interview to Corriere della Sera to respond to speculation and rumors about a possible resignation. It came after the Vatican issued an unusual and official denial of an Italian media report that said Parolin and the pope’s chief canonist had visited Francis in the hospital in secret. Given the canonical requirements to make a resignation legitimate, the implications of such a meeting were significant, but the Vatican flat-out denied that any such meeting occurred.
Parolin said such speculation seemed “useless” when what really mattered was the health of Francis, his recovery and return to the Vatican.
“On the other hand, I think it is quite normal that in these situations uncontrolled rumors can spread or some misplaced comment is uttered. It is certainly not the first time it has happened,” Parolin was quoted as saying. “However, I don’t think there is any particular movement, and so far I haven’t heard anything like that.”
White House is ‘praying for the pope’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturday that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the pope’s condition and was working on his own statement that will be released later.
“We’re praying for the pope,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on first- and fifth-amendment grounds. The AP says Leavitt and two others are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Deacons, meanwhile, were gathering at the Vatican for their special Holy Year weekend. Francis got sick at the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism. This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated deacons, a ministry in the church that precedes ordination to the priesthood.
Canadians are cancelling their American vacations en masse — as the next front in the US-Canada trade war is being fought at airports, gas stations and gift shops, The Post Has learned.
Both air and land travel have been impacted, as the US northern neighbors protest the impact of tariffs on their country’s economy — an offensive that could cost the American economy $2.1 billion and 14,000 jobs, the US Travel Association has estimated.
Though no decisions have been announced yet, the main Canadian airlines are all considering cutting trips to the US this spring. Backcountry Media – stock.adobe.com
Carlo Tarini from Montreal traded his family’s April vacation to New York City for the Bahamas instead.
“We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore,” Tarini told The Post, adding that the US is wiped off the map for the next four years as far as his family’s travels are concerned.
For Tarini, what did it was US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, and the impact it’s already had on the country’s economy – the Canadian dollar tumbled to a two-decade low after the announcement, before going back up only slightly at the news of a 30-day reprieve.
“He’s threatening our economy,” said Tarini. “It’s a family decision and we’re sticking with it.”
Quebec’s Minister of Education has even urged 10th graders — who plan annual sojourns from Montreal to the Big Apple — to rethink their plans.
“We are all on the front lines,” Bernard Drainville said earlier this month at Quebec’s National Assembly.
Schools in Quebec – and also in Manitoba – have since traded in trips to the Empire State for the city of Toronto.
In a letter to parents, Nancy Paquet, general secretary of the Monts-et-Marées school service center, cited “decisions by the US government which could have a significant impact on the parents’ employment,” as the reason, referring to jobs that would be lost if the tariffs get the go-ahead.
For others, it’s the sheer insult of the jokes around Canada being the 51st American state.
“With each passing day of more annexation threats, our family decided we have to cancel our March break Florida trip,” wrote a self-described “angry Canuck” and mother of four in a Reddit group where Canadians trade tales of US boycott.
The travel rebellion is already having an impact.
Canadian airlines are considering cutting down on their flights to the US this spring in the face of a decreasing demand of around 25%, according to WestJet.
And the number of Canadians returning from the US by car has fallen by about 15,000 in January, the first drop since the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.
Florida is one state that’s sure to feel the pain – it’s a darling of Canadian travelers, with many retirees – “snowbirds” as they’re known, spending the winters in the Sunshine State. The Fort Lauderdale area especially is flush with Canadians, with many returning to the same spots winter after winter. This year the area had been expecting between 1.3 and 1.5 million Canadian visitors, spending $950-975 million dollars.
“Canadian snowbirds are just part of the fabric of this community all winter long, and have been for decades – at least 50 years,” Stacy Ritter, CEO of Visit Lauderdale, told The Post.
Ritter said she’s already been fielding emails from regulars who explained why they’re not coming back.
It felt like a “gut punch” lamented Ritter. “It makes me want to cry.”
North of the 49th parallel, the owner of Maple Leaf Tours, who sells packaged group travel, told The Post an “alarming” number of vacationers cancelled US tours this year.
“It’s taken a turn for the worse across the industry,” said Kristine Geary.
She estimates US cancellations at 40%, and her losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I’ve never seen this,” said Geary, whose family has owned the business for more than 30 years.
Americans, meanwhile, haven’t been boycotting Canadian travel.
In January, the number of US travelers to Canada by car was 707,000, up more than 23% from the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada data.
Israeli hostages Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert were released by Hamas on Saturday. Pic: Reuters
The release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners planned for Saturday has been postponed “until the release of the next hostages is secured without humiliating ceremonies”, Israel has said.
In a statement early on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of “repeated violations” as it lashed out at “disgraceful ceremonies” during the handover of Israeli captives in Gaza.
The Israeli PM’s office said: “In light of the repeated and ongoing violations by Hamas – including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour the dignity of our abductees and the cynical use of captives for propaganda purposes – it has been decided to postpone the release of the terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next group of abductees is secured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”
The statement came as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left the open gates of Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, only to turn around and go back in.
The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners had been delayed for several hours and was meant to happen after six Israeli hostages were released on Saturday.
Five of the six captives were escorted by masked, armed militants in front of crowds – displays that the United Nations and others have criticised as cruel after previous handovers.
The final hostage was released to the Red Cross in private.
The Gaza ceasefire deal continues to hold, despite tensions rising earlier in the week when Hamas initially handed over the body of an unidentified Palestinian woman instead of Israeli mother-of-two Shiri Bibas.
The hostage-prisoner exchange earmarked for Saturday was supposed to be the last for the first phase of the ceasefire.
Israel had been expected to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including a man who has been detained for more than 40 years, and many more given life sentences.
However, as night fell across the region, they remained behind bars, with Hamas claiming their release had been delayed because some of them had been “assaulted”.
An Israeli spokesperson has denied the assaults and said the Red Cross were present at the prison.
Who are the freed Israeli hostages?
The first two hostages released on Saturday were Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu.
Mr Shoham, 40, was visiting his wife’s family in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas militants stormed into the community during the October 7 attacks in 2023.
His wife, two young children and three other relatives were also abducted, but they were freed in an exchange in November 2023.
Mr Mengistu, a 39-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since he entered the territory on his own in 2014.
Watching the moment he was freed on TV, his family broke out in song as he walked free for the first time in more than a decade.
Later on Saturday, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
Mr Shem Tov, 22, was taken during the October 7 attacks on the Nova music festival.
The computer programmer had shared his live location with his family, who eventually noticed he was headed towards Gaza and contact with him was lost.
Mr Cohen, 27, was also taken from the Nova festival, alongside his fiancee.
Released hostages have said that he was kept in chains and deprived of food and sunlight during his time in captivity, according to reports.
Mr Wenkert, 23, was taken from Nova. He suffers from colitis and requires special medical care, it has been reported.
Finally, Hisham al Sayed, 28, was handed over in a private ceremony.
The Bedouin-Israeli, from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, has been a captive since he crossed into Gaza in 2015.
Who were the Palestinian prisoners due to be released?
More than 600 Palestinian prisoners had been set to be released on Saturday.
According to the prisons office, which is run by Hamas, they included 50 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 described as having “high” sentences, 47 prisoners from the “Wafa al Ahrar” 2011 prisoner exchange deal who had since been re-arrested, and 445 who were arrested after 7 October attacks.
The “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal was the 2011 prisoner exchange agreement that saw the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 Palestinian prisoners.
Among the most high-profile Palestinians who had been set to be released was Nael Barghouti – the longest-serving prisoner, who has been inside for 43 years.
Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/Supreme Court of the State of New York
MAGA influencer Ashely St. Clair claims in a new legal filing that Elon Musk acknowledged being her baby’s father by texting her, “I want to knock you up again.”
Musk has so far refused to directly address St. Clair’s claims since she publicly broke the baby news last week, but he has made several indirect posts about the situation on X.
Now, St. Clair has sued the DOGE director for sole legal custody, slamming him as an absentee father in the process, People reported.
In the petition filed with the New York Supreme Court on Friday, St. Clair says that Musk was not present at the infant’s birth in September and has only met him three times.
Moreover, St. Clair alleges that the tech billionaire “has had no involvement in his care and upbringing,” according to the petition. St. Clair also said that Musk has not seen the child since Nov. 30, 2024, when they spent 30 minutes together.
In total, Musk has spent three and a half hours with his son, who is identified as “R.S.C,” according to St. Clair’s petition.
The filing also reveals intimate details about St. Clair and Musk’s romantic relationship.
St. Clair, a 26-year-old right-wing columnist, says that she and Musk became romantically involved in May 2023 and their child was conceived in January 2024.
In the court filing, St. Clair says that Musk previously affirmed being her baby’s father as he expressed concerns about his safety in text messages.
“If I make a mistake on security, [R.S.C.] will never know his father,” Musk allegedly wrote.
In addition to texting St. Clair, ”I want to knock you up again,” the filing alleges Musk also declared that they have “a legion of kids to make.”
She included screenshots of the messages in the filing, and St. Clair’s petition asks the court to order Musk to address the paternity claim.
St. Clair’s representative, Brian Glickich, told People that St. Clair “has made every effort to collaborate with Mr. Musk before taking this step. She has no further comment on the contents of the petitions, which speak for themselves.”
Musk’s lawyer did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the claims made in the petition.
NORTH Korean cyber criminals are feared to have carried out the “worst hack in history” after a $1.19billion crypto heist was uncovered. Hackers were able to gain control of an Ethereum wallet and rip all of its contents in a shock theft.
The Dubai-based Bybit exchange confirmed the record-breaking crypto theft.
Fraudsters were able to access the £1billion wallet and transfer the contents to an unidentified address.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence have now accused North Korea’s Lazarus Group of being behind the hack.
The firm posted on social media that one of their trusted online sleuths gave them “definitive proof” that the attackers were from the infamous North Korean hacker group.
Despite Arkham’s claims, the perpetrators are yet to be confirmed.
The CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, shared a statement on X after the costly incident.
He said: “Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered, all of clients assets are 1 to 1 backed, we can cover the loss.”
The CEO described this crime as “the worst hack in history”.
Zhou said his company received more than 350,000 withdrawal requests following the strike.
He said: “ALL withdraws have been processed.”
Bybit added that it had reported the crime to the police and said it was working “quickly and extensively” to find the criminals.
The company added: “We have fortunately worked quickly and extensively with on-chain analytics providers to identify and demix the implicated addresses.”
Bybit, founded in 2018, holds a staggering £15billion in assets and offers users various cryptocurrencies.
This £1billion attack caused the value of Ethereum to drop by about four per cent on Friday.
North Korea stole an estimated $800 million in crypto back in 2024, according to Redbord.
In 2022, it stole an estimated $1.7 billion in crypto, according to threat intelligence platform Recorded Future.
Other major cryptocurrency attacks in the past have seen hundreds of millions of pounds taken from people’s online wallets.
A whopping £32million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from a Binance exchange in 2019.
The platform said hackers ran off with over 7,000 bitcoin and carried out a “large scale security breach”.
French prosecutors said the suspect launched the attack by going after local police officersImage: JF Frey/L’Alsace/dpa/MAXPPP/picture alliance
A knife attack in in the eastern city of Mulhouse, France left one passerby dead and three police officers wounded. The suspect, a 37-year old Algerian man, was arrested and is currently in custody.
President Emmanuel Macron described the incident as an “Islamist terror act.” Macron said the “solidarity of the nation” was with the attack victim and his family.
The attack in Mulhouse took place near a covered canal-side market. A 69-year-old Portuguese man was killed, officials said. He was a civilian passerby who tried to intervene.
France’s anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT) said local police officers were the suspect’s first target. He allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) during the incident.
PNAT said it is now investigating the attack as both murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
Suspect was on terror watchlist
Prosecutors said that the suspect was on a terrorism prevention watchlist.
The watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing radicalization. It was launched following the deadly 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket.
“Horror has seized our city,” Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but “this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary.”
French interior minister castigates Algeria over the attack
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau traveled to Mulhouse later on Saturday and visited a fire station.
Retailleau told the TF1 television channel that the Algerian suspect was supposed to return to Algeria, but the Algerian government wouldn’t take him back. Retailleau claimed that France tried to send back the suspect 10 times, but the Algerian government wouldn’t budge on the issue.
The French interior minister blamed migration and “Islamist terrorism” for the attack. The suspect, he said, came to France in 2014 and was later convicted of glorifying terrorism.
What is covered by freedom of expression in Germany?Image: Michael Bihlmayer/CHROMORANGE/picture alliance
Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Article 5 of the Basic Law, the German constitution, which also makes clear that this freedom has limits in order to, for example, to protect young people, privacy or personal honor.
The protection of personal honor plays a particularly important role in the German legal system, said lawyer Ralf Poscher, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg. “This originates from the time in history when notions of honor were even more important. They were then embraced by the middle classes too, and were incorporated into our legal system.”
Is libel allowed?
It is a criminal offense in Germany to insult others, and it is also illegal to spread lies that demean others. That means freedom of speech is much more restricted in Germany than, for example, in the US, says Nadine Strossen, a professor at New York Law School. A former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Strossen is known as a strong advocate for free speech.
“The United States First Amendment law, which is our constitutional provision that protects free speech, is one of the strongest, I think it’s fair to say it’s the most speech protective national law in the world,” says Strossen. The First Amendment prohibits laws that restrict free speech.
This also means that insults and defamatory lies are largely covered by free speech. “So if you think the message is hateful, or you think the message is extremist, or you think the message is advocating violence: Whatever negative content the message has, that alone is never going to be enough to justify suppressing it in our country.”
Denying the Holocaust is illegal
Strossen’s father survived the Buchenwald concentration camp. Nonetheless, she believes that it should also be legal to deny the Holocaust. In Germany, on the other hand, it is a criminal offense to publicly deny the Nazi genocide.
This falls under what is known as “incitement to hatred.” Anyone who incites hatred or violence against certain ethnic, religious, or national groups can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Expressing your political opinion is allowed as long as it is not hate speech, says legal expert Poscher. “Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly protect all kinds of opinions. Even those at the extreme ends of the political spectrum.”
This is why, for example, right-wing extremist groups are allowed to hold demonstrations in Germany. “Of course, they are not allowed to cross the line when it comes to intimidation, insults, degradation, and the like, but they are certainly allowed to spread ideas that are not in line with the constitution.”
Only when those deemed as enemies of the constitution become organized in such a way that they pose a threat to democracy may the state intervene. In this case, associations and parties may also be banned. Known as ‘defensive’ democracy, the objective is to prevent Germany from becoming a dictatorship again, as it was during the Nazi era.
Is it better to ignore than to ban?
Strossen believes that all of this is well-intentioned. However, she says it would not get any closer to the goal of protecting human dignity. “I think that paternalistic approach is actually not only denying individual liberty but it is ultimately ineffective,” she said. “History shows that the best way to get attention for your message is to hope that somebody protests it and tries to shut it down.”
“A very troubling vector is the rise of the AfD,” says Strossen, referring to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which has doubled in support over the last three years. “Many analysts say this is happening not despite efforts to punish hateful expression, including by leaders of that party, but precisely because of it. That increases the attention, that increases the sympathy, that increases suspicion and distrust of the mainstream parties.” Strossen believes that this is why it is better to ignore hate and agitation than to ban them. False claims can be refuted, she says.
The debates about the limits of freedom of expression have intensified since the rise of social media. It has become possible for anyone to publicly express their opinion — even if that means spreading hate and agitation.
According to a study sponsored by Germany’s Family Ministry, almost one in two people in Germany have been verbally abused online. A quarter of respondents said they have been subjected to physical violence and 13% to sexualized violence. Of those surveyed, 55% said they were less likely to take part in discussions as a result.
Julianne Moore’s 2007 book was put under review by the Trump administration
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore wrote she was “deeply saddened” by the Trump administration’s decision to put her 2007 children’s book “Freckleface Strawberry” under review and removing it from schools serving the children of US military personnel and civilian defense employees.
The book tells the tale of a red-headed youngster who hates her freckles but eventually learns to love them — as well as the differences of others. According to The Guardian, the Department of Defense circulated a memo stating that all library books “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics” were being looked into, and that a “small number” of said books were being held for “further review” as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“It is a book I wrote for my children and for other kids to remind them that we all struggle, but are united by our humanity and our community” the Oscar-winner wrote in her social media post. “I am truly saddened and never thought I would see this in a country where freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right.”
Many in the world of arts and humanities fear that a climate of censorship is impending — and it’s far from the only concern.
‘Assault on free expression’
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that mandated all federal agencies end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The move was felt in the arts scene, namely in several dozen major museums that receive federal funding, including the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art. These institutions were left to determine whether their programs fit with the new directives that consider diversity efforts to be discriminatory. The National Gallery of Art already announced it would close its Office of Belonging and Inclusion.
“The DEI assault of the Trump administration and… censorship of activities that in any way touch on race is upon us. And it’s very incoherent because there’s no clear guideline for what it means to be racially biased when in fact you’re simply trying to redress grievances of the past,” says Maxwell Anderson, a former museum curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and director of the Whitney Museum. “So there’s a kind of free-floating assault on free expression.”
Anderson, who now runs the foundation Souls Grown Deep, which supports Black artists in the southern US, says he and other equality-driven organisations are keeping a close eye on the maneuvers of the new administration.
“Because it seems that it’s now becoming illegal in the United States to talk about the history of race,” Anderson said. “This kind of erasure is so reminiscent of the fascist movements in the ’30s, so for us in the US, it’s shocking. We all assumed that if Trump was elected, it would be a devastating blow to culture, but we didn’t know how deep it would cut.”
Federal support for the arts gets the ax
During his first term in office, Trump dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a historically non-partisan group established by Republican president Ronald Reagan on “the fundamental belief that creativity, diversity, and democracy are intrinsically bound, and that the arts and the humanities can be a powerful force for social change.”
The committee has brought together prominent artists, academics and museum professionals to advise on cultural policy. In the past, it has included members such as Frank Sinatra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others.
In 2017, President Trump banned the group after 17 members resigned over his response to the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Joe Biden reinstated the group in 2022, citing the importance of arts and humanities. Then in January, Trump dissolved the group once again in a series of executive orders aimed at rolling back the previous administration’s policies on art and culture and historical commemoration.
Already, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide, cut its FY26 Challenge America grants, which gave millions in federal funding to small arts organizations that extended outreach to underserved communities in the US. The organization announced that funds and manpower would now go towards the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — which along with the creation of a new national sculpture garden, is one of the president’s planned projects.
Kennedy Center takeover
Yet almost ironically, President Trump recently came to the helm of one of the largest performing arts institutions in the US: The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The president orchestrated a veritable takeover of the cultural enterprise that — uniquely — is part of the US government. It hosts more than 2,000 performances a year across artistic disciplines and is home to the National Sympony Orchestra and the National Opera.
President Trump fired many of the previous board members, replacing them with hand-picked allies, including Second Lady Usha Vance, his advisor Dan Scavino and his chief of staff Susie Wiles, among others. They, in turn, elected him chairperson.
President Trump said he wants the institution to move away from “woke culture,” writing on social media that there would be “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA – ONLY THE BEST.”
A number of artists have since cancelled upcoming performances out of protest at the takeover — as well as eyebrow-raising program changes that occurred at the same time but supposedly have nothing to do with it. “Finn,” a children’s musical, about a young shark who realizes he relates more to smaller fish than other sharks, was canceled. The National Symphony Orchestra concert titled “A Peacock Among Pigeons” which was described as a “celebration of love, diversity, and the vibrant spirit of the LGBTQ+ community” was also postponed indefinitely shortly after the regime change on the board.
President Donald Trump called for head of DOGE, Elon Musk, to “get more aggressive.” Saul Loeb/Getty Images
President Donald Trump praised Elon Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but encouraged him to “get more aggressive.”
“ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning. “REMEMBER, WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE, BUT ULTIMATELY, TO MAKE GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. MAGA!”
Musk, who was appointed to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has spearheaded an initiative to downsize the federal workforce. Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, DOGE has implemented a 10% reduction in government employees, cutting more than 77,000 positions through a buyout program. The department claims these cuts have saved over $55 billion.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO recently addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where he wielded a chainsaw before sharing his lighthearted approach to his recent work in the public sector. “We are trying to get good things done,” he said, wearing sunglasses for the entirety of his thirty minutes on stage. “Ultimately, have a good time doing it and have a sense of humor.”
Despite the administration’s praise for Musk’s efforts, the scope of the layoffs has drawn criticism, as has the DOGE team’s unprecedented access to and authority over government systems.
The chaotic manner with which the decisions are carried out has also faced scrutiny. Some workers were fired and brought back, only to be fired again. Federal workers in probationary periods—who can be dismissed without cause—have been among the hardest hit, with the Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH, and IRS seeing significant cuts.
The Trump administration sent emails on Saturday evening to U.S. federal government employees telling them to detail their work accomplishments from the previous week by Monday night or risk losing their jobs.
The emails came shortly after Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, posted on the social media site X that not responding to the email request would be viewed as a resignation.
“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Musk issued his post just hours after President Donald Trump posted on his own social media network, Truth Social, that DOGE should get more aggressive in its attempts to downsize and reshape the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce.
As of Saturday evening, emails were sent to employees across federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”
The email, seen by Reuters, asks employees to reply with five bullet points summarizing “what you accomplished at work last week,” and to copy their managers.
It was sent from a human resources address from the Office of Personnel Management, and gives employees until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday to respond.
It is unclear what legal basis Musk has to terminate federal workers if they fail to respond to his request and what would happen to employees that cannot detail confidential work.
Some federal judiciary employees received the email on Saturday from OPM, even though the court system is not part of the executive branch, people familiar with the matter said. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary’s administrative arm, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also received the email, according to people with knowledge of the matter. However, most agency staff had been ordered not to perform any tasks since early this month, creating a conundrum. The agency is also under temporary court order not to resume mass firings pending the outcome of legal proceedings.
A spokesperson for DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
UNION PROMISES FIGHT
The AFGE, the union representing federal employees, said in a statement it will challenge any “unlawful terminations.”
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” said Everett Kelley, the AFGE’s president.
The Trump administration’s fast-paced and controversial process to reduce government spending by shrinking the federal workforce spearheaded by Musk and his young aides at the cost-cutting DOGE has led to haphazard firings that resulted in numerous mistakes and forced several agencies to quickly rehire vital employees, such as those working on nuclear safety, defense and power generation.
The first wave of job cuts has targeted workers who are easier to fire, such as probationary employees on the job for less than two years or those who have started new roles within an agency.
The indiscriminate firings have led to DOGE terminating people whose jobs are not funded by taxpayers and have begun to anger people across the country who are concerned about a loss of services and the impact of federal job losses on local economies.
Trump has repeatedly talked about Musk as the functional leader of DOGE, which is not a cabinet-level department, but the White House said in a court filing this month that Musk had no authority over DOGE and was not an employee of the program.
Some federal agencies sent follow-up emails to employees advising staff not to respond to the email over the weekend as they assess its validity and devise a protocol for responding to the message.
“To be clear, this is irregular, unexpected and warrants further validation by management,” said one email sent to NOAA employees and seen by Reuters.
The Executive Office for United States Attorneys also sent an email, seen by Reuters, to employees, advising them to wait to respond until they verify the validity of the emails.
Some federal employees, already on edge after two weeks of mass firings, expressed outrage after receiving the email.
A view shows the Holocaust Memorial after a suspected knife attack, according to local media, in Berlin, Germany, February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Purchase Licensing Rights
German police arrested a suspect in the stabbing on Friday evening at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that seriously injured a man two days before a watershed national election.
Berlin’s police department gave no details on the identity of the suspect or his possible motive.
“Our forces have detained a suspect in the vicinity of the crime scene,” city police posted on X. “Investigations continue.”
Video of the scene showed emergency vehicles and heavily armoured police lined along one side of the memorial site, a vast field of grey concrete pillars where the attack took place. The memorial is across a street from the U.S. Embassy.
The victim “was so seriously injured that he had to be taken by the fire brigade to hospital for emergency treatment,” police spokesperson Florian Nath said.
The attack occurred around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). The victim’s life was not in danger and he was being prepared for surgery, Nath added. Police were collecting forensic material at the site, he said.
The monument, one of the German capital’s most sacred sites, commemorates the 6 million Jews murdered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis during World War Two, one of the darkest episodes in human history and a continuing focus of German historical atonement.
An eyewitness told local broadcaster RBB24 that the two men had appeared to approach each other before the victim was suddenly stabbed. Specialist fire brigade officers were offering trauma counselling to the witnesses, police said.
The area surrounding the monument, a 1.9 hectare (4.7 acres) site in the heart of the city, was sealed off.
The national election campaign, in which polls suggest a far-right party could come in second place for the first time in nine decades, has been marred by a series of high-profile attacks.
One of those was a stabbing in which two were killed, including a toddler that was blamed on an Afghan immigrant. That prompted a fraught debate on immigration and demands from the front-runner conservatives for the border to be closed.
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown speaks during annual Memorial Day in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., May 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. military leadership.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.
The president will also replace the head of the U.S. Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the air force vice chief of staff, the Pentagon said. He is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, critical positions that ensure enforcement of military justice.
Trump’s decision sets off a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which was already bracing for mass firings of civilian staff, a dramatic overhaul of its budget and a shift in military deployments under Trump’s new America First foreign policy.
While the Pentagon’s civilian leadership changes from one administration to the next, the uniformed members of the U.S. armed forces are meant to be apolitical, carrying out the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations.
Brown, the second Black officer to become the president’s top uniformed military adviser, was serving a four-year term meant to end in September 2027.
A U.S. official said Brown was relieved with immediate effect, before the Senate confirms his successor.
Reuters in November was first to report that the incoming Trump administration planned a sweeping shakeup of the top brass, with firings including Brown.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the decision by Trump, a Republican.
“Firing uniformed leaders as a type of political loyalty test, or for reasons relating to diversity and gender that have nothing to do with performance, erodes the trust and professionalism that our servicemembers require to achieve their missions,” said Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the firings were “un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our troops and our national security.”
“This is the definition of politicizing our military,” he said.
‘WOKE’ GENERALS
During last year’s presidential campaign, Trump spoke of firing “woke” generals and those responsible for the troubled 2021 pullout from Afghanistan. But on Friday, the president did not explain his decision to replace Brown.
“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Trump wrote.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been skeptical of Brown before taking the helm of the Pentagon with a broad agenda that includes eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military.
In his most recent book, Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and military veteran, asked whether Brown would have gotten the job if he were not Black.
“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” he wrote in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
Brown, a former fighter pilot who has held commands in the Middle East and Asia, recounted experiencing discrimination in the military in an emotional video posted online after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, which sparked nationwide protests for racial justice.
Brown was on official travel when Trump made the announcement. Hours before Trump’s announcement, Brown’s official X account had posted images of him meeting troops on the U.S. border with Mexico, deployed in support of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Border Security has always been critical to the defense of our homeland. As we navigate unprecedented security challenges… we will ensure our troops at the border have everything they need,” Brown posted.
A spokesperson for Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WOMEN LEADERS FIRED
Franchetti was the first woman to command the U.S. Navy.
Her 2023 nomination by then-President Joe Biden had been a surprise. Pentagon officials had widely expected the nomination to go to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who at the time led the navy in the Pacific. Paparo was instead promoted to lead the U.S. military’s Indo Pacific Command.
On his first day in office, Trump fired Admiral Linda Fagan as head of the U.S. Coast Guard. She had been its first female commanding officer.
Last month, Trump’s Pentagon lashed out Mark Milley, a retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by revoking his personal security detail and security clearance. It also removed his portrait from the walls of the Pentagon.
An illustration provides a 3D graphical representation of a spherical-shaped, measles virus particle studded with glycoprotein tubercles in this handout image obtained by Reuters April 9, 2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported that measles cases so far this year had jumped to 93 from 14 a week ago, mainly driven by an outbreak in Texas.
An outbreak in Gaines County, Texas, where cases have now risen to 57 from 22 on February 11, has raised concerns over its spread to other parts of the state. Texas reported 90 cases overall as of Friday.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reiterated from last week that more cases of the highly contagious disease were likely to surface due to an outbreak in Gaines County.
The CDC said cases were reported from Alaska, California, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Rhode Island and Texas.
It added that 95% of the cases were in individuals who either had not been vaccinated or had an unknown status, with 4% of the total patients receiving one dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and none getting the two doses the agency recommends.
Out of all the cases in the country, 28 were in children below the age of two, and 48 were in individuals between five and 19 years old.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no continuous transmission of the disease for a year. The virus can spread via travelers from countries where measles is common.
The CDC said there have been three outbreaks reported in 2025. For comparison, there were 16 outbreaks during 2024, with a total 285 cases reported.
In recent years, federal health officials have attributed some outbreaks to parents refusing to vaccinate children.
