WILMINGTON, Del. — The first husband of former First Lady Jill Biden has been charged in the killing of his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release Tuesday.
William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975.
Caroline Harrison, the Delaware attorney general’s spokesperson, confirmed in a phone call that Stevenson is the former husband of Jill Biden.
Jill Biden declined to comment, according to an emailed response from a spokesperson at the former president and first lady’s office.
Stevenson remains in jail after failing to post $500,000 bail after his arrest Monday on first-degree murder charges. He is charged with killing Linda Stevenson, 64, on Dec. 28.
Police were called to the home for a reported domestic dispute after 11 p.m. and found a woman unresponsive in the living room, according to a prior news release. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful.
She ran a bookkeeping business and was described as a family-oriented mother and grandmother and a Philadelphia Eagles fan, according to her obituary, which does not mention her husband.
Stevenson was charged in a grand jury indictment after a weekslong investigation by detectives in the Delaware Department of Justice.
It was not immediately clear if Stevenson has a lawyer. He founded a popular music venue in Newark called the Stone Balloon in the early 1970s.
Jill Biden married U.S. Sen. Joe Biden in 1977. He served as U.S. president from January 2021 to January 2025.
James Harden has played a key role in helping the Clippers become one of the NBA’s hottest teams over the last six weeks despite a disastrous start to their season. He may not be around, however, to see how the rest of the season unfolds.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Harden and the Clippers working to find a suitable deal that would send him to another team by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Many of those reports mention a possible trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, swapping Harden in exchange for guard Darius Garland. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated described discussions between the two teams as “advanced.”
The Clippers play the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Harden, 36, had 25 points and nine assists in 34 minutes during the Clippers’ 122-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday but has not played in the team’s two games since. The Clippers have attributed Harden’s absence to personal reasons.
After the game, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard told Joey Linn of Linn Sports media he was surprised by the Harden reports.
“I respect his decision or whoever’s decision it is, and that’s it,” Leonard said. “I mean, he’s still gonna be my boy and, you know, I trust the front office.”
Clippers forward John Collins called the news “shocking.” Asked by Linn if he would be disappointed to see Harden leave at this point in the season, Collins answered, “Hell yeah.”
Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reports that Harden initiated the trade talks and “the Clippers were stunned to find out about him wanting out.” The two sides have been discussing a possible parting for weeks, according to Siegel.
Harden is an 11-time All-Star who was named the league MVP in 2018. He has played for five teams, including the Clippers since 2023, and is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds in his 17th NBA season.
Garland is a 26-year-old two-time All Star who has averaged 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists during his seven NBA seasons. His contract expires in the summer of 2028. He has not played since Jan. 14 because of a Grade 1 sprain of his right big toe.
The Clippers were 6-21 after a 122-101 loss to Oklahoma City on Dec. 18. Since then, however, they have won 17 of 22 games to pull into a potential play-in spot (ninth place) in the Western Conference playoff standings.
Lue was asked Monday if Harden was someone he would like to continue to have on the team for a possible playoff run and beyond.
“Who wouldn’t want to have James Harden?” Lue said.
Sudanese military officials say they’ve broken through a siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group of the South Kordofan capital of Kadugli. It’s the military’s second major advance in the Kordofan region in less than a week.
Tehran, Iran – Several of Iran’s former leaders, including some who are currently imprisoned or under house arrest, have released damning statements over the killing of thousands during nationwide protests, garnering threats from hardliners.
The Iranian government claims that 3,117 people were killed during the antiestablishment protests. The government has rejected claims by the United Nations and international human rights organisations that state forces were behind the killings, which were mostly carried out on the nights of January 8 and 9.
“After years of ever-escalating repression, this is a catastrophe that will be remembered for decades, if not for centuries,” wrote Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former reformist presidential candidate who has been under house arrest since the aftermath of the Green Movement of 2009.
“How many ways must people say that they do not want this system and do not believe your lies? Enough. The game is over.”
Mousavi told state forces to “put down your guns and step aside from power so that the nation itself can bring this land to freedom and prosperity”, and stressed that this must be done without foreign intervention amid the shadow of another war with the US and Israel.
He said that Iran is need of a constitutional referendum and a peaceful, democratic transition of power.
A group of 400 activists, including figures from inside and outside the country, backed Mousavi’s statement.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent jailed former reformist politician, said that he wants Iran to “move beyond the wretched conditions that the guardianship of Islamic jurists and the failed rule of the clergy have imposed on the Iranian nation”.
In a short statement from prison last week, he said this would be contingent upon the “resistance, wisdom, and responsible action of all citizens and political actors” and called for an independent fact-finding mission to uncover the true aspects of “atrocities” committed against protesters last month.
‘Major reforms’
Other former heavyweights have heavily criticised Iran’s current course, but have avoided calling for the effective removal of the Islamic Republic from power.
Former President Hassan Rouhani, who many believe is eyeing a potential future return to power, last week gathered his ex-ministers and insiders for a recorded speech, and called for “major reforms, not small reforms”.
He acknowledged that Iranians have been protesting for a variety of reasons over the past four decades, and insisted the state must listen to them if it wants to survive, but did not mention the internet blackout and killing of protesters during his tenure in November 2019.
Rouhani added that the establishment must hold public votes on major topics, including foreign policy and the ailing economy, in order to avoid further nationwide protests and prevent the population from looking to foreign powers for help.
Mohammad Khatami, the reformist cleric who was president from 1997 to 2005, adopted a softer tone and said violence derailed protests that could have helped “expand dialogue to improve the country’s affairs”.
He wrote in a statement that Iran must “return to a forgotten republicanism, and an Islamism that embraces republicanism in all its dimensions and requirements, placing development together with justice at the core of both foreign and domestic policy”.
Mehdi Karroubi, another senior reformist cleric who had his house arrest lifted less than a year ago after 15 years, called the protest killings “a crime whose dimensions language and pen are incapable of conveying” and said the establishment is responsible.
“The wretched state of Iran today is the direct result of Mr. Khamenei’s destructive domestic and international interventions and policies,” he wrote, in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been in absolute power for nearly 37 years.
Karroubi noted one prominent example as the 86-year-old leader’s “insistence on the costly and futile nuclear project and the heavy consequences of sanctions over the past two decades for the country and its people”.
Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013 [File: Frank Franklin II/AP Photo]
Political prisoners rearrested
Three prominent Iranian former political prisoners were arrested and taken to prison by security forces once again last week.
The Fars news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the reason for the arrests of Mehdi Mahmoudian, Abdollah Momeni, and Vida Rabbani was that they had sneaked out Mir Hossein Mousavi’s statement from his house arrest.
Mahmoudian is a journalist and activist, and co-writer of the Oscar-nominated political drama movie, It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Momeni and Rabani are also political activists who have previously been arrested by the Iranian establishment multiple times.
The three were among 17 human rights defenders, filmmakers and civil society activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi and internationally recognised lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who co-signed a statement last week that put the blame for the protest killings on the supreme leader and the theocratic establishment.
“The mass killing of justice seekers who courageously protested this illegitimate system was an organised state crime against humanity,” they wrote, condemning the firing on civilians, the attacks on the wounded, and the denial of medical care as “acts against Iran’s security and betrayal of the homeland”.
The activists called for holding a referendum and constituent assembly to allow Iranians to democratically decide their political future.
Hardliners incensed
In hardline-dominated circles and among their affiliated media, the mood has been entirely different.
On Sunday, lawmakers in parliament donned the uniforms of the IRGC, which was last week designated a “terrorist” organisation by the European Union.
They chanted “Death to America” and promised they would seek out European military attaches working at embassies in Tehran to expel them as “terrorists”.
Nasrollah Pejmanfar, a cleric who represents northeast Mashhad in the parliament, told a public session of parliament on Sunday that former President Rouhani must be hanged for favouring engagement with the West, echoing a demand also made by other hardline peers in recent years.
“Today is the time for the ‘major reform’, which is arresting and executing you,” he said, addressing Rouhani.
Amirhossein Sabeti, another firebrand lawmaker, condemned the government of President Masoud Pezeshkian – but not Khamenei or the establishment – for proceeding with mediated talks with the US.
“Today, the people of Iran are waiting for a pre-emptive attack on Israel and US bases in the region, not talks from a position of weakness,” he claimed.
A Love Actually actress looks worlds away from her iconic character in this ‘must watch’ thriller fans couldn’t get enough of
Where’s Wanda? is available to binge watch right now (Image: Apple TV+)
A Love Actually actress is completely unrecognisable in a “extraordinary” thriller that left fans on the edge of their seats.
German actress Heike Makatsch is best remembered for her portrayal of Mia, the flirtatious secretary who tempted her boss Harry (Alan Rickman) in the 2003 festive film.
Though the romcom is hugely iconic, its 65% Rotten Tomatoes score pales in comparison to Heike’s perfectly-rated 2024 show, Where’s Wanda?
Currently streaming on Apple TV+, the dark comedy follows desperate parents Dedo (Axel Stein) and Carlotta Klatt (Heike) as they search for their missing daughter Wanda, months after her disappearance.
Frustrated by the police’s inability to find her, the couple take matters into their own hands and begin spying on their neighbours to find answers.
Love Actually fans may take a minute to recognise Heike in the drama as she ditches her dark bob for long blonde hair.
The Apple TV drama quickly won over critics upon its debut, earning a stellar 100% score from seven reviews. Casual viewers were equally impressed, though they awarded it a less generous 68% rating.
One fan shared a glowing review, penning: “I was overwhelmingly pleased. It was genuinely funny, aesthetically gorgeous, stupendously well acted, and decidedly fresh, making a story that I don’t think has ever been told before. 11/10 well worth a watch.”
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A second agreed, praising: “This show is such a delight! I have never seen such an extraordinary mixture of genres that throws you from one corner of laughter to the other corner of crying and then also exciting puzzle-piecing. A must watch for armchair detectives!”
Someone else described it as a “fantastic,” while a fourth raved: “I really enjoyed the unexpected curveballs, dark humour and loveable characters to us unlike other shows. At times I was giggling my head off while other times I was at the edge of my seat.
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“The end makes me hope that there will be a season 2. Don’t leave us hanging please!!”
Fortunately, the German drama has been renewed for a second season, which is set to feature another eight episodes.
A CANNY businesswoman faced with a nightmare train journey from London to Newcastle costing more than £100 flew instead for £30 cheaper — via Italy.
Victoria Williams, 42, had visited friends in the capital.
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Victoria Williams flew from London to Newcastle via Milan as it was £30 cheaper than a train ticketCredit: NNP
But what should have been a three-hour rail trip home on Sunday was hit by engineering works.
The £110 trek from Kings Cross to Newcastle involved two changes, including a bus replacement, and would take five hours.
Victoria spotted a Ryanair flight from Stansted to Milan, and then Milan to Newcastle, for a total of just £74 — despite travelling 1,400 miles instead of 240.
She took off at 2pm and arrived at Milan Bergamo two-and-a-half hours later.
A top Los Angeles politician said Tuesday that LA 2028 Olympics committee chair Casey Wasserman should resign following revelations about racy emails he exchanged with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down,” said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who along with other L.A. politicians is working with the LA28 Olympics organizing committee on planning of the Games.
“Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028,” said Hahn, who represents an area of south Los Angeles County that includes coastal neighborhoods.
A representative for Wasserman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wasserman and other top officials with LA 2028, which is in charge of paying for and planning the Games, are in Italy for meetings ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Hahn’s comments follow the release of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released last week by the Justice Department that include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Wasserman and Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner.
In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes to Maxwell about wanting to book a massage and wanting to see her in a tight leather outfit.
She offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In a statement released Saturday, Wasserman said he regretted his correspondence with Maxwell, which he said occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”
“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them,” he said in the statement.
The Daily Mail in 2024 published an extensive story on Wasserman’s alleged affairs during his marriage with Laura Ziffren, whom he divorced. He denied the accusations.
LIV Golf has hit out at what it calls an “unprecedented” ruling that will see only the top 10 finishers at its events awarded world ranking points.
The Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) board revealed on Tuesday its decision to award LIV players points for the first time.
However, while the Saudi Arabia-funded circuit, which starts its fifth season in Riyadh this week, has called the news a “long-overdue moment of recognition”, it is unhappy at the limits put on the rankings points for its 57-man fields.
In all 24 other men’s professional golf tours that are part of the OWGR, all players who make the cut earn points.
In a statement, LIV said “this outcome is unprecedented”, adding “no other competitive tour or league in OWGR history has been subjected to such a restriction”.
“Under these rules, a player finishing 11th in a LIV Golf event is treated the same as a player finishing 57th. Limiting points to only the top 10 finishers disproportionately harms players who consistently perform at a high level but finish just outside that threshold.”
In its statement, the OWGR board said it was awarding points to LIV “in an effort to reflect the changing landscape of the men’s professional game”.
However, it added that the points were being restricted to the top 10 finishers because it “recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out by OWGR”.
The size of a LIV field, at 57, is well below the 75 set out in OWGR ranking criteria, while the lack of a cut was also a contributing factor.
LIV is evolving though, with each of its 14 events in 2026 being played over 72 holes, up from 54 in previous years.
“We expect this is merely a first step toward a structure that fully and fairly serves the players, the fans and the future of the sport,” added LIV in its statement.
“We entered this process in good faith and will continue to advocate for a ranking system that reflects performance over affiliation.
“The game deserves transparency. The fans deserve credibility. And the players deserve a system that treats them equally.”
Walmart has reached a $1 trillion market valuation, a first for the big-box retailer.
The company’s shares hit a high on Tuesday morning trade as the stock continues to soar on the news of a new CEO and looming trade negotiations with India, where the Arkansas-based company maintains a large presence both in supply chain and domestic markets within India. The stock was up 2.1 percent from the market open in midday trading.
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Walmart, which has 11,000 stores in 19 countries, joins a slate of nine corporate giants in the so-called trillion dollar club, including Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft, among others. Amazon is the only other retailer that has broken the barrier and is now valued at $2.6 trillion.
Trade deal bump
On Monday, United States President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India that would slash tariffs to 18 percent from 50 percent and that impacts Walmart, which has strategically shifted supply chain operations to India and away from China.
On Tuesday, in an interview with CNBC, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the White House is still ironing out the details of the deal, but that still hasn’t slowed Walmart’s stock from popping on the looming deal.
“We have an announcement of an India deal, but still no timeline about when it comes into effect and whether the secondary tariffs, the 25 percent linked to India’s purchase of Russian oil, when those would be removed, so I think there’s still a lot of questions,” economist Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights, told Al Jazeera.
While there are limited details on the specifics of the deal, markets are responding to tariffs likely to come down.
“Markets are, of course, forward-looking. I think this sort of reinforces a view in the marketplace that incremental tariffs will be less this year,” Ziemba said.
The big box retailer jumped from 2 percent of its global exports coming from India in 2018 to 25 percent in 2023, according to a Reuters review of import data in 2023. Walmart hopes to source $10bn in goods from India by next year.
At the time, the company also decreased its percentage of goods from China to 60 percent from 80 percent.
Walmart did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), a lobby for exporters, said the cut in US tariffs will significantly boost Indian exports, including textiles and apparel, putting them on par with Asian peers, such as Vietnam and Bangladesh.
According to data from ImportYeti, a platform that tracks import contracts for major companies, Walmart’s biggest import areas are in home fabrics, apparel and toys.
“Those are the products facing the highest tariffs, while consumer electronics and other categories have largely been shielded. If the India–US deal becomes a reality, it would put tariffs on Indian goods entering the US at roughly the same level as those from Southeast Asia, making that supply-chain realignment more attractive. You also highlight the importance of the Indian market,” Ziemba added.
While the trade deal is in focus, Walmart has also invested significantly in India domestically, as well, and holds an 80 percent stake in India’s e-commerce giant Flipkart.
C-suite changes
The surge also comes concurrently with a shake-up in the C-suite. On Monday, John Furner took over as Walmart’s chief executive, succeeding longtime CEO Doug McMillion who announced his retirement late last year.
Furner, who started at the company in a job stocking shelves, has climbed up the ladder. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Walmart US, where he focused on key initiatives driving growth, including curbside pick-up. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of Sam’s Club, Walmart’s wholesale chain.
Furner’s appointment comes as the company grows as an e-commerce giant and intends to double down in AI tech, healthcare services, e-commerce, and hybrid options with its brick-and-mortar footprint.
“As AI rapidly reshapes retail, we are centralizing our platforms to accelerate shared capabilities, freeing up our operating segments to be more focused on and closer to our customers and members,” Walmart said in a statement last month.
“Walmart is masterful at brick-and-mortar retail and remains highly competitive with Amazon. I love that because it shows consumerism is still alive and well. Five years ago, the narrative was the fall of the mall and the decline of retail. This confirms the opposite. Walmart also has a clear strategy for retaining consumers and managing the customer experience,” Brett Rose, CEO and founder of United National Consumer Suppliers (UNCS), a distributor that focuses on excess inventories, which it provides to more budget-friendly retailers, told Al Jazeera.
The tech-centric focus comes as e-commerce has grown for the company, which reported a 28 percent jump in e-commerce sales compared with the previous quarter. Walmart is slated to release its next earnings report on February 19.
“What you need to look at is that Walmart has successfully become a marketplace, not as big as Amazon, but big enough to give it a run for its money,” said Rose.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son has pleaded not guilty to four rape charges as his trial opens in Oslo. Marius Borg Hoiby faces 38 counts, including assault and domestic violence, in a case that has shaken Norway’s royal family.
Last Tuesday, Philip Glass withdrew the delayed premiere in June of his latest symphony, No. 15. Originally meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2022, it is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, but the composer decided the values of the current Kennedy Center were “in direct conflict to the message of the symphony,” which is inspired by Lincoln’s 1838 Lyceum Address.
In rebuke to Glass, Kennedy Center spokesperson Roma Daravi’s quick response was: “We have no place for politics in the arts.”
Two nights later, the chairman of the Kennedy Center board (who also happens to be president of the United States) hosted at the “no place for politics” center a bevy of Republican politicians and donors for the gala premiere of “Melania,” a documentary about and produced by his wife, the first lady.
Three days after that, the president, with no warning to Congress (which administers the Kennedy Center), center staff or the public, announced on his social media platform that he would close the facility July 4 for two years to undertake a major renovation. This may get the center off the hook for putting together a new season, what with all its departures (voluntary and not) of competent artistic directors, but it also means the center’s one remaining major institution, and its crown jewel, the National Symphony, is suddenly homeless.
The fact is, the Kennedy Center has always been political. The same goes for orchestras. And Lincoln’s seeming role as a symphonic football is nothing new, either.
But political doesn’t — or, at least, once didn’t — necessarily imply partisan. In March 1981, two months into his presidency, Ronald Reagan turned up at the Kennedy Center for the premiere of a new production of Lillian Hellman‘s “The Little Foxes,” and was photographed happily congratulating a smiling Elizabeth Taylor backstage. Also present was the gruff playwright.
Hellman, who had been a member of the Communist Party and was called up in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, and Reagan, an avid anti-Communist, couldn’t have had much use for each other politically. But there they were, soaking up art and glamour (if maybe not in that order) together. It was also in 1952 and thanks to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s Communist witch hunts that the first inklings of a national performing arts center in Washington, D.C. developed.
Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” for speaker and orchestra, written in 1942 in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack, had been slated for a performance at Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1952. Complaints about Copland’s leftist leanings pressured Eisenhower to cancel the performance, but left inklings in Ike’s mind that the nation needed a performing arts center in Washington, D.C. In 1955, he instituted a District of Columbia Auditorium Commission and that led to the National Cultural Center Act of 1958.
Bipartisan support became a no-brainer. Kennedy was an enthusiast and, in his presidency, both First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower worked together to support the cultural center. In 1963, just days before his assassination, JFK hosted a White House fundraiser for the center. A year later, President Lyndon B. Johnson broke ground for what was to become “a living memorial to John F. Kennedy” with the gold-plated spade that President Taft had used for the Lincoln Memorial.
President Lyndon B. Johnson lifts a shovel full of dirt during ground-breaking ceremonies for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964 while members of the Kennedy family look on.
(Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)
The Kennedy Center proved political from Day 1. Leonard Bernstein was commissioned to write a theatrical piece for the center’s opening in 1971, which turned out to be an irreverent “Mass” — musically, liturgically, culturally and, most assuredly, politically. Most of all it was an unmistakably protest against the Vietnam War. In his own protest, President Nixon stayed home.
“Mass” was ridiculed by critics and sophisticates. And so was the Kennedy Center in its monstrosity. But the composition ultimately came to be seen as a precursor of musical Postmodernism and possibly Bernstein’s greatest work, a monument in its own right. The Brutalist monumentalism of the Kennedy Center also grew over time to be loved, increasingly bringing cachet to a diverse nation’s artistic needs.
All of that has, however, been called into question by a new administration noisily remaking the center as partisan and politicizing even renovation and Lincoln.
You don’t take on renovation of a single concert hall overnight, let alone an entire performance center with several theaters, including a major concert hall and opera house. This requires architects and acousticians deeply schooled in theaters, and each has its own acoustical needs. You touch anything, and it will affect the sound. Both the opera house and concert hall could use acoustical work, but that is a very big deal. If this sudden renovation comes as a surprise to staff, that means there have been no consultations, no proposals, no models, no feedback. Best to add to the budget some hundreds of millions of dollars to fix mistakes.
Before even considering anything else, a space has to be found for the National Symphony. It is possible to create temporary structures or renovate existing buildings into acoustical wonders, as architect Frank Gehry and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota have proved. In Munich, the temporary Isarphilharmonie, which has Toyota acoustics, is so successful that some are saying the city doesn’t need a new concert hall after all.
So, given the timing of this precipitous announcement, it is hard to believe that something isn’t also going on with attitudes toward Lincoln and Glass’ displeasure with the Kennedy Center administration. For what it’s worth, Presidents Ford, Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Obama have all narrated Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.”
Lincoln has been central to Glass’ work for more than four decades. The composer first used Lincoln in Act V (known as “The Rome Section”) of Robert Wilson’s 12-hour opera, “the CIVIL warS: a tree is best measured when it is down” (a prescient title for current Kennedy Center thinking), which had been intended for the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in L.A. but was never produced here for lack of funds.
Lincoln shows up in Glass’ 2007 opera, “Appomattox,” commissioned by San Francisco Opera and later revised and expanded for Washington National Opera in 2015. The opera offers a look at how the Civil War ended with high-minded statesmanship. The first act of Glass’ 2013 opera, “The Perfect American,” about the last days of Walt Disney, ends with a flashback of Walt, who idolized Lincoln, visiting Disneyland and getting into an argument about slavery with the animatronic Lincoln, which gets so worked up it attacks Walt.
Politics are rarely far away from orchestral or operatic life. At a recent appearance of the Chicago Symphony at the Soraya, Italian conductor Riccardo Muti followed an impressively grand performance of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony by telling the audience how the arts keep us honest and played as an encore the overture to Verdi’s “Nabucco,” as an example of how an opera could motivate public support for Garibaldi’s nationalist movement. Garibaldi also makes an appearance with Lincoln in the Glass/Wilson “Rome Section.”
A few days later at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the thrilling Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería from Mexico City revealed an inspiring model of Latin American cooperation. On the program was Cuban composer Paquito D’Rivera’s “Concerto Venezolano,” featuring the fearless improvising Venezuelan trumpet soloist Pacho Flores. The concerto also featured solos on the Venezuelan cuatro by Héctor Molina, but his name was only announced last minute, due to current travel uncertainty.
One of the greatest recordings of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, his grab-you-by-the-gut answer to Stalin and celebration of Russia, is by the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, recorded in 1994 at the Kennedy Center. Stalin saw the symphony as his deification. Rostropovich exuded, in the Kennedy Center aura, the expression of an overwhelmingly triumphant celebration of the end of the Soviet repression. You can take the symphony and the opera out of the Kennedy Center, but you can’t take the essence of the Kennedy Center, the living memorial to the ideal of something larger than political ego, out of the symphony and opera.
The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries should be implemented without delay, Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña told Euronews. He warned that stalling the agreement would be a “mistake” amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The free trade pact was signed last month by the EU and Mercosur members Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. However, its full ratification by the EU has been frozen after MEPs referred the agreement to the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
“We already presented the agreement to the Congress of the Paraguayan Nation last week, and we understand that the European Union has the legal tools to implement it temporarily,” Peña said on Euronews’s flagship interview programme The Europe Conversation.
“We are working to make this happen, and we want Paraguay to be the first country to implement it.” The country currently holds the rotating pro tempore presidency of Mercosur.
Despite the judicial review, the European Commission has the prerogative to provisionally apply the deal once one or more Mercosur countries complete national ratification. While Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Nordics are pushing for the next phase, the Commission currently says no decision has yet been made.
‘Opposition rooted in ignorance’
The agreement would create a vast EU–Latin America free-trade zone, slashing tariffs on goods and services. But resistance in Europe remains fierce, with farmers and several capitals, led by Paris, warning of unfair competition from Mercosur imports.
Peña said that European opposition to the deal was rooted in “ignorance” and an outdated and stereotypical view of Latin America.
“Our countries have changed tremendously. They have developed. Human capital has grown,” Peña said. “Europe has to rediscover Latin America.”
In the interview, Peña warned that rejecting the deal would amount to a strategic blunder, as Europe can no longer rely on the United States as its default trade partner due to President Donald Trump’s unpredictable policies.
“If (MEPs) ultimately prefer not to integrate themselves into (new) markets and instead choose to retain their old alliances that today no longer work, it would certainly be a mistake,” he said.
Still, Peña credited Trump with giving the deal “the final push” after 25 years of talks.
“The world was in a state of drowsiness,” he said. “We weren’t moving, and he came along to move us all. He came to challenge what we thought was stable, and that pushed us to leave our comfort zone.”
According to Peña, one of the EU-Mercosur deal’s key advantages is its potential to counter China’s growing presence in the region and dominance of rare earth supplies.
“Europe is losing an enormous opportunity there, because if there is a region that can compete globally, it is Latin America. We have young talent, a predominantly young population, a population (of people who are) already digital natives,” he said.
“We have that tremendous abundance of natural resources, not only food that grows above the ground, but also minerals that are below the earth, which are so critical to this new technological wave. Our region has absolutely everything that Europe and the world need.”
MILAN — A partial knee replacement in her right leg wasn’t enough to stop Lindsey Vonn from pursuing her Olympic comeback. Neither will a recent left torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Vonn revealed Tuesday she suffered a completely ruptured ACL in a crash last week but remains focused on racing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“If my knee is not stable, I can’t compete and at the moment, it is stable and it is strong,” Vonn said during a virtual news conference from Cortina d’Ampezzo. “… So far so good but we have to take it day by day. But if it remains the way it is now, I think I’m pretty solid.”
The 41-year-old Vonn said she skied Tuesday to test her knee. She is not in any pain and the swelling has gone down, but with bone bruising and additional meniscus damage, she still has to tackle full-speed downhill training runs beginning on Thursday before the downhill competition starts Sunday.
Vonn, who also has hopes to race in the super-G and the team event, said her “intention is to race everything.”
“I am not letting this slip through my fingers,” she said. “I’m going to do it, end of story. I’m not letting myself go down that path. I’m not crying. My head is high, I’m standing tall and I’m going to do my best, whatever the result is.”
Vonn is no stranger to knee injuries. She retired from the sport in 2019 and underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024. Since announcing her comeback in November 2024, Vonn has already defied expectations by becoming the oldest skier to win a World Cup race when she won at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December and by making the Olympic team seven years after her retirement.
“I think if anyone can do it, it’s Lindsey,” U.S. teammate Bella Wright said of competing with a torn ACL. “I think we all know how strong of a skier she is, but I think that her mental game is what makes Lindsey Lindsey.”
Vonn was racing at a World Cup event Jan. 30 at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, when she lost control while attempting to land a jump. She slid into the safety netting and was later airlifted to a hospital. While a torn ACL typically sends athletes straight to the operating room, Vonn said surgery was not a discussion.
“The Olympics are the only thing that I’m thinking about,” Vonn said.
Despite the crash occurring so close to the Games, Vonn said her knee feels better now than when she has battled other injuries, including in 2019 when she competed at the world championships without a lateral collateral ligament and three tibial plateau fractures. She still won the bronze medal.
“I know what my chances [at the Olympics] were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today,” Vonn said, “but I know there’s still a chance and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
Enrique Lores will be the new chief executive officer of digital payments processor PayPal Holdings Inc., and David Dorman its new board chairman, PayPal announced on Tuesday. File Photo by Andrew Gombert/EPA
Feb. 3 (UPI) — Enrique Lores will be the new chief executive officer of PayPal Holdings Inc., and David Dorman is the digital payment processor’s new independent board chairman, the company announced Tuesday.
Lores previously was the tech firm’s chairman and served on the independent board for five years, and he replaces Alex Chriss as its chief executive officer, PayPal announced.
Lores won’t immediately take the reins as PayPal’s top executive. Instead, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Jamie Miller will serve as interim chief executive until Lores is ready to take the helm.
While Lores won’t immediately become PayPal’s chief executive, Dorman immediately becomes chairman of its independent board.
“Enrique is widely recognized as a visionary leader who prioritizes customer-centric innovation with demonstrable impact,” Dorman said.
“His strong track record leading complex transformations and disciplined execution on a global basis will ensure PayPal maintains its leadership of the dynamic payments industry now and into the future,” Dorman said of Lopes.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the board and supporting Enrique as he takes on the CEO role,” he added.
“We will further strengthen the culture of innovation necessary to deliver long-term transformation and balance this with near-term delivery, executing with greater speed and precision and holding ourselves accountable for consistent delivery quarter on quarter to further assert PayPal’s industry leadership position,” Lores said.
“The payments industry is changing faster than ever, driven by new technologies, evolving regulations, an increasingly competitive landscape and the rapid acceleration of AI that is reshaping commerce daily,” he explained.
“PayPal sits at the center of this change, and I look forward to leading the team to accelerate the delivery of new innovations and to shape the future of digital payments and commerce,” Lores said.
PayPal’s board of directors evaluated Lores’ qualifications for the new position before appointing him as the new chief executive.
PayPal officials said the change is needed to enable the company to better address industry-wide changes and competition.
Lores has more than 30 years of technology and commercial experience and “is widely recognized as a visionary leader who prioritizes customer-centric innovation with demonstrable impact,” Dorman said.
“His strong track record leading complex transformations and disciplined execution on a global basis will ensure PayPal maintains its leadership of the dynamic payments industry now and into the future,” he added.
PayPal’s board said the company’s future success will be as a global services provider whose strengths are its consumer, merchant and partner relationships.
The chief executive position opened when Chriss vacated the position after 2.5 years.
US president wages maximum pressure campaign on Cuba’s already faltering economy.
Cubans are cooking on charcoal and facing worsening power blackouts after the US cut the island off of Venezuelan oil exports. US President Donald Trump promised Cuba will “fail” soon and threatened tariffs on any nations doing business with the island. Can Cuba’s communist government survive the latest US push for regime change?
In this episode:
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah and Melanie Marich with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Chloe K. Li, Tuleen Barakat, Maya Hamadeh, and our host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.
Our engagement producers are Adam Abou-Gad, Vienna Maglio, and Munera AlDosari. Andrew Greiner is lead of audience engagement.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
HE has more than two decades of hits under his belt and worked with everyone from Amy Winehouse and Dua Lipa to Adele and Miley Cyrus.
Now I can exclusively reveal Mark Ronson will get his flowers at the Brit Awards later this month, as he will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music award.
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Superstar DJ Mark Ronson will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music awardCredit: Getty
And, in even more good news for viewers, Mark will also take to the stage for a performance at the ceremony, being held at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena on February 28.
The superstar DJ, producer and songwriter said: “This is the most meaningful honour of my career.
“I think of the times I’ve watched artists I revere accept this same award.
“The idea that I’m now standing in that lineage feels impossible.
“I left England as a kid, but this country runs through everything I’ve made.
“The UK artists I’ve worked with — their brilliance and refusal to compromise — shaped not just my work but how I understand what music should do.
“And more than anything, it’s the crowds here who’ve sustained and showed up for me.
“The fans, the festival crowds, the record buyers and streamers — the love has always been overwhelming. I’m beyond grateful for all of it.”
The gong is richly deserved for Mark, who has helped guide some of my favourite artists to superstardom.
It is a poignant year to receive the award, as it marks 20 years since Mark produced Amy’s Back To Black album, which is widely considered one of the greatest records of all time.
Details about his performance are being kept under lock and key, but I imagine he will be treating us to a medley of his hits including the Bruno Mars classic Uptown Funk and Miley Cyrus’ Nothing Breaks Like A Heart.
He joins a stellar list of performers, with Harry Styles, Olivia Dean and Wolf Alice already announced. In receiving the gong, Mark is following in the footsteps of other British favourites including Sir Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams and Blur.
Jack Whitehall is returning to host the biggest night in UK music for the sixth time.
And I am expecting my story about Maura Higgins’ kiss with married McFly singer Danny Jones at last year’s Universal Music after-party to feature heavily in his jokes.
Bring it on.
Nicole strikes a blue note
Nicole Scherzinger wore a stunning blue gown to the Love Life: West End Unites Against Cancer eventCredit: Getty
NICOLE SCHERZINGER looked belting in blue after performing at a charity concert.
She wore this stunning gown to the Love Life: West End Unites Against Cancer event at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane just as I revealed her ex Lewis Hamilton, who she dated from 2007 to 2015, is secretly seeing Kim Kardashian.
Nicole is now engaged to former rugby union player Thom Evans – but I won’t be surprised if this gives her a nudge to get on with her wedding planning.
Ben and Benson’s goalden gags
BEN STILLER and Benson Boone play brothers who can’t stop fighting in a new ad.
In the guise of an Eighties Europop duo, the pair argue after comedian Ben tries and fails to copy Benson’s famous backflips.
Ben Stiller and Benson Boone appear together in an advert for InstacartCredit: YouTube/@advaultBen confuses American football with soccerCredit: YouTube/@advaultBen and Benson play brothers who can’t stop fighting in the new adCredit: YouTube/@advault
He says: “We are excited to sing for you in this football game. Hopefully many, many goals.”
Singer Benson corrects him: “This is a different football – they touch down,” prompting yet more bickering.
Their double act is for online grocery service Instacart’s ad, which will air during the US sporting event on Sunday.
I feel like they need a whole film together.
Kooks show on Sail soon
Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, who are set to play at the Old Royal Naval College in GreenwichCredit: Getty
THE KOOKS will play a huge show at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, South East London, on July 31 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their incredible album Inside In/Inside Out.
It comes as Luke Pritchard releases a live version of his brilliant 2014 tune See Me Now, which he wrote for his musician dad Bob, who died when he was three.
The new version was recorded at London’s O2 Arena last year, with Luke, telling me: “I didn’t think I would be able to finish the song.
“I just thought how much that this would blow my dad’s mind – that I played the song to that many people in London, you know.”
Bob, who once supported The Rolling Stones on tour, helped Luke first pick up a mic, with the star explaining: “My mum dropped off a load of tapes of me and my dad that I’d never seen.
“He was teaching me to use a microphone, play guitar, pose like a rock star, all when I was three.”
Tickets for the show go on sale at noon on Monday.
I’ll see you there.
Queue up for a cub sandwich
WHEN it comes to weird things famous people have consumed, Ozzy Osbourne once munched the head off of a bat while Dua Lipa likes necking Diet Coke mixed with pickle and jalapeno juice.
Now Blur’s Graham Coxon has joined those at the top of the list after admitting he once tried bear.
The guitarist appears alongside singer Rose Dougall on chef Gizzi Erksine’s new music and food YouTube series Messy Lunch.
The show, which launched this week, saw Graham and Rose chatting about their most memorable meals, with Graham saying: “If you’re interested in a bit of bear, we’ve got some bear in. Bear lumps.”
I dread to think…
Molotovs’ No1 battle
Punk rock siblings Matt and Issey CartlidgeCredit: GettyLily Allen is battling The Molotovs for No1 album spotCredit: Alamy
THE MOLOTOVS have thrown down the gauntlet to Lily Allen as they battle her for the No1 album spot this Friday, warning: “We’re coming for you.”
Punk rock siblings Matt and Issey Cartlidge, who make up one of the most exciting and disruptive new bands I’ve seen in years, are at No2 in the midweek charts with their debut record Wasted On Youth.
Meanwhile, Lily has shot up to the No1 spot with West End Girl, after she released physical copies of the record for the first time.
The race is tight, and in an exclusive chat, Matt told me: “Watch out silly Lily, we’re coming for you.
“We’d love to beat you. We wish you all the best but f***ing, come on! We’ll have you!”
Issey adds: “Battling with Lily Allen proves bands are coming back. People still have an appetite for our music.”
Lily, right, is more than happy to hand over the mantle and, on Monday night, issued a public statement to the siblings, writing on Instagram: “It’s all love baby, I hope you win the war.”
Matt and Issey have worked tirelessly to get their album heard and have played 600 live shows to date, while simultaneously championing grassroots venues.
Their campaigning, alongside the Sex Pistols and Frank Carter, helped save the iconic Bush Hall in West London, after a fundraising drive brought in £45,000.
Issey adds: “We’re now ambassadors for the Music Venue Trust too. The 30-date tour we’re on now has been in small, grassroots venues – we wanted to champion them.
“These venues and institutions are so important.”
The pair will support their pal Yungblud on his UK arena tour in April, before they embark on their own 13-date tour across the UK in September, taking in venues including London’s 2,300-capacity O2 Forum Kentish Town.
Matt said: “It’s a big step up. We’ve always had the same level of confidence, we’re just getting bigger.”
The Molotovs deserve a No1 for Wasted On Youth – it is fantastic.
CAUGHT LIVE
Suede @ Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone
★★★★☆
Brett Anderson of Suede as the band kick off their UK tourCredit: Getty
SUEDE kicked off their sold-out UK tour in blistering form over the weekend, promoting latest album Antidepressants which topped The Sun’s album poll in December.
Brett Anderson teased us fans by inviting us into their world, before warning: “It’s not very nice and full of barbed wire.”
But in reality, the set is packed with new tunes and a sprinkling of classics from the Nineties, with Brett’s voice stronger than ever as he treats us to an off-mic a capella tear jerker among the thundering hits.
With 14 of the 21 songs coming from their post- 2010 comeback albums, it’s proof that being the self-dubbed “anti-nostalgia band” is a pretty perfect world after all.
THIS Sunday Bad Bunny will take to the stage for what I imagine will be an epic Super Bowl half-time show.
But before that, rapper Lil Wayne will also have his own half-time show . . . virtually, at least. The five-time Grammy winner is set to perform his 2008 hit A Milli on mobile game Clash Royale on Friday.
Lil Wayne said: “Music, sports, and gaming all in one place – y’all know how much I love being at the centre of the culture. I’m turning the Clash Royale Arena into the most lit concert of the week.
“Tap in on February 6 to see what we got in store for y’all.”
CHAPPELL ROAN has defended the “nipple ring” Thierry Mugler dress she wore to the Grammys on Sunday, insisting she had no idea it would cause controversy.
Sharing images on Instagram of the frock, which had fabric hanging from prosthetic pierced nipples, the singer wrote: “Giggling because I don’t even think this is THAT outrageous of an outfit.
“The look is actually so awesome and weird. I recommend just exercising your free will – it’s really fun and silly.”
I am pleased to see Chappell can laugh about it.
Every red carpet could do with a bit more silliness in these troubled times.
WIN: Tickets to Eurovision live tour
BREAK out the bunting and dig out your kookiest outfits because Eurovision is coming to London – and I’ve got five pairs of tickets to give away.
The annual song contest has announced its first official tour, to celebrate its 70th anniversary, and you could be at the opening night at London’s O2 Arena, before it heads across Europe.
Katrina, who won for the UK in 1997, is on the line-up alongside a load of other memorable acts from over the years including Johnny Logan, Guy Sebastian, Finnish heavy metal winners Lordi and Ukrainian comedian Verka Serduchka, who dressed up as a glitterball and finished second in 2007.
There will also be ten of this year’s finalists on the bill, who will be announced closer to the time.
The show will take place on June 15, giving you a whole month to learn all the songs following the final in Vienna on May 16.
To be in with the chance of winning one of five pairs of category one tickets, head to thesun.co.uk/eurovisiontour.
The competition will close at 23.59pm on February 18, 2026.
If you aren’t one of our lucky winners selected at random, tickets will go on sale at 9am on Friday at eurovision.com/tour.
T&CS: 18+ UK residents only (exc. NI, IoM & CI).
Online access required. Contest closes February 18. For full T&Cs, see thesun.co.uk.
IBIS Brighton is a modern, seaside hotel that is just a 10 minute walk from the beach.
Here’s everything you need to know – from room rates to dining options at the hotel’s restaurant.
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ibis Brighton is a great affordable stop to visit the seaside townCredit: booking.comThe rooms are simple but spaciousCredit: booking.com
Where is the Ibis Brighton?
A big selling point of this one is its location.
It’s only a two-minute walk from the railway station, so no arduous lugging of luggage or need for a cab.
Plus, Brighton‘s famous Lanes, Royal Pavilion and Churchill Square shopping centre are just five minutes’ walk away, and it is a ten-minute stroll to the seafront.
What is the hotel like?
You know what you’re getting with Ibis – a clean, minimalist, modern and affordable hotel, all decorated in its trademark red and black.
Free croissants at reception were a nice touch and the staff were helpful and welcoming.
Parking is not provided but there is an NCP car park nearby.
What are the rooms like?
At this 140-room, tenfloor hotel, there is a simple choice of single or double/twin rooms.
We stayed in a top-floor double, which had a great view of the city.
It came with a very generously sized bathroom, with walk-in shower and complimentary toiletries.
Our room also had a flatscreen TV, coffee and tea-making facilities, and free wifi.
Double rooms start from £64.
What is there to eat or drink there?
The restaurant offers classic fare including chicken and chips, pizzas and curries, which were very tasty.
But if you want something more elaborate, you are spoilt for choice in Brighton – from modern Mediterranean eatery Burnt Orange and top gastropub The Ginger Pig, to champagne-and-oysters bar Riddle & Finns.
Plus, the city is a great place for vegans and vegetarians, with Terre A Terre and Food For Friends delivering imaginative and beautifully presented dishes.
What else is there to do at the hotel?
This Ibis branch has a funky and colourful modern reception area, which was designed with the help of a local artist and showcases images created by emerging Brighton talent.
Definitely a place to go back to – it was perfect for a budget city break.
A host of pubs, bars and restaurants are within easy reach, too, so you are right in the heart of the action from the moment you leave the hotel.
Is the hotel family friendly?
Yes, there are plenty of family rooms available.
Is the hotel accessible?
Yes, there are some accessible and wheelchair rooms available.
Looking for a place to stay? For more hotel inspiration click here.
Breakfast is limited but a great affordable optionCredit: booking.com
“In 2008, my wife, my then-7-year-year-old daughter and I were going to take Amtrak from Los Angeles to Chicago, but the Amtrak booking agent screwed the reservations up so badly that we instead decided to take a train from Montreal to Vancouver.
There was some poignancy to this, as my grandmother was a picture bride from Greece. She had grown up on a small Dodecanese island and crossed the Atlantic in the 1920s. For the last leg of her journey, she took a train from Montreal to meet my grandfather (for the first time) in Vancouver. They met on a Saturday and married on a Monday in a Russian Orthodox Church. Experiencing the same journey that my grandmother had taken seemed like a good vacation hook.
Montreal was our point of departure, an enchanting city with fantastic food and charming denizens. After a few days we headed out to Toronto on a commuter-style train. It was perfectly adequate, but not particularly enchanting, and certainly not what my grandmother would have traveled on.
In Toronto, my daughter and I had afternoon tea at the Fairmont Royal York across from the train station, where we embarked on a more picturesque excursion.
We had a triple compartment. It was located in a stainless-steel streamlined car that was built in the 1950s, spot on for our little family of Midcentury Modern enthusiasts. We saw the train snake through Ontario forests, felt it rumble along Canada’s midwestern plains and then head up through the spectacular Canadian Rockies. There were plenty of bear, elk and other wildlife sightings along the way. We ate surprisingly good food like trout and pork chops for dinner. At night we watched train movies like “Murder on the Orient Express.”
We got off in Jasper, the Yellowstone of Canada, filled with glaciers, craggy mountains, waterfalls, rivers and spectacular vistas. We took bike and horseback rides. When I admonished my 7 year-old for complaining too much during a particularly wonderful excursion, she retorted, “Daddy, complaining is my passion!”
After a few days we got back on the train and headed to Vancouver. This was another scenic parade of mountains, rivers and forests.
In Stanley Park I pondered my grandmother’s voyage. Our trip was one of leisure. Hers was a life decision to escape the bleak prospects of an island girl.”
Though we’re solidly into 2026, a trend has emerged on social media: Reminiscing on the year 2016.
Through throwback posts, people have been traveling back to the year when dog and flower crown Snapchat filters, Instagram eyebrows, the mannequin challenge and the Chainsmokers were everywhere.
But why, you may ask? On social media, 2016 is remembered as the last carefree era, a time when people posted whatever they wanted without overthinking it, when folks actually danced at parties instead of pointing their phones at the DJ booth to “capture content.”
2016 also brought many cultural milestones to L.A., from Kobe’s final game to the rise of selfie culture to all things Issa Rae. In the spirit of nostalgia, we’ve rounded up 16 moments that bring us back to that time. So let’s crank up Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album and take a ride down memory lane, shall we?
WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to carry out President Trump’s “play call” for funding the government will be put to the test on Tuesday as the House votes on a bill to end the partial shutdown.
Johnson will need near-unanimous support from his Republican conference to proceed to a final vote, but he and other GOP leaders sounded confident during a Tuesday morning press conference that they will succeed. Johnson can afford to lose only one Republican on party line votes with perfect attendance, but some lawmakers had threatened to tank the effort if their priorities are not included. Trump weighed in with a social media post, telling them, “There can be NO CHANGES at this time.”
“We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential changes for the agency that enforces the nation’s immigration laws — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“The Republicans are going to do the responsible thing,” Johnson said.
Running Trump’s ‘play call’
The House had previously approved a final package of spending bills for this fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but the Senate broke up that package so that more negotiations could take place for the Homeland Security funding bill. Democrats are demanding changes in response to events in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were shot and killed by federal agents.
Johnson said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” it was Trump’s “play call to do it this way. He had already conceded he wants to turn down the volume, so to speak.” But GOP leaders sounded as if they still had work to do in convincing the rank-and-file to join them as House lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday after a week back in their congressional districts.
“We always work till the midnight hour to get the votes,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “You never start the process with everybody on board. You work through it, and you could say that about every major bill we’ve passed.”
The funding package passed the Senate on Friday. Trump says he’ll sign it immediately if it passes the House. Some Democrats are expected to vote for the final bill but not for the initial procedural measure setting the terms for the House debate, making it the tougher test for Johnson and the White House.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has made clear that Democrats wouldn’t help Republicans out of their procedural jam, even though Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer helped negotiate the funding bill.
Jeffries, of New York, noted that the procedural vote covers a variety of issues that most Democrats oppose, including resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
“If they have some massive mandate,” Jeffries said of Republicans, “then go pass your rule, which includes toxic bills that we don’t support.”
Key differences from the last shutdown
The path to the current partial shutdown differs from the fall impasse, which affected more agencies and lasted a record 43 days.
Then, the debate was over extending temporary coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for those who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were unsuccessful in getting those subsidies included as part of a package to end the shutdown.
Congress has made important progress since then, passing six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal agencies and programs. That includes important programs such as nutrition assistance and fully operating national parks and historic sites. They are funded through Sept. 30.
But the remaining unpassed bills represent roughly three-quarters of federal spending, including the Defense Department. Service members and federal workers could miss paychecks depending upon the length of the current funding lapse.
Voting bill becomes last-minute obstacle
Some House Republicans have demanded that the funding package include legislation requiring voters to show proof of citizenship before they are eligible to participate in elections. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had said the legislation, known as the SAVE Act, must be included in the appropriations package.
But Luna appeared to drop her objections late Monday, writing on social media that she had spoken with Trump about a “pathway forward” for the voting bill in the Senate that would keep the government open. Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., met with Trump at the White House.
The Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank focused on democracy and voting rights issues, said the voting bill’s passage would mean that Americans would need to produce a passport or birth certificate to register to vote and that at least 21 million voters lack ready access to those papers.
“If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown,” said Schumer, of New York. “Let’s be clear, the SAVE Act is not about securing our elections. It is about suppressing voters.”
Johnson, of Louisiana, has operated with a thin majority throughout his tenure as speaker. But with Saturday’s special election in Texas, the Republican majority stands at a threadbare 218-214, shrinking the GOP’s ability to withstand defections.
Freking writes for the Associated Press. AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren and writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Team owner Robert Kraft also failed to receive enough votes to be included in the Class of 2026, according to multiple media outlets. The inductees will be announced Thursday night at the NFL Honors ceremony in San Francisco.
Kraft was among the many people who expressed disbelief last week when the news surfaced that Belichick, who coached the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories and nine appearances in the NFL’s championship game, would not be entering the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
“Whatever perceptions may exist about any personal differences between Bill and me, I strongly believe Bill Belichick’s record and body of work speak for themselves,” Kraft said in a statement.
“He is the greatest coach of all time,” he added, “and he unequivocally deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.”
Belichick and Kraft were part of a pool of candidates separate from that of the modern-era players. Belichick was this year’s finalist in the coaches category, while Kraft was the finalist in the contributors category. Three former players — Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood — were selected as finalists in the seniors category.
The 50 members of the Hall’s selection committee were allowed to vote for up to three of those five finalists. A maximum of three of those finalists can make it into the Hall by receiving at least 80% of the votes. If none of them gets 80%, then the person receiving the most votes makes the cut.
Kraft was first nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and was a finalist for the first time this year. He has made it to the Super Bowl 11 times since buying the Patriots in 1994, more than any team owner in NFL history.
While Kraft may not have his name announced as a Hall of Famer this week, he could be getting a pretty decent consolation prize days later — if coach Mike Vrabel, quarterback Drake Maye and the rest of the current Patriots bring home the Lombardi Trophy by beating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
