Elaf fund will finance projects with buy-in from Saudi investors committing $2bn for two airports in Aleppo city.
Published On 7 Feb 20267 Feb 2026
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Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a major investment package spanning aviation, energy, real estate and telecommunications as Damascus’s new leadership seeks to rebuild after a devastating 14-year civil war.
Syrian Investment Authority chief Talal al-Hilali announced a swath of deals on Saturday, including the development of a new international airport in Aleppo, the launch of a low-cost Syrian-Saudi airline, and a telecommunications project called SilkLink aimed at turning the country into a regional hub.
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Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of Syria’s new leaders, who took power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with this latest deal marking the biggest investment since the United States lifted sanctions on the country in December.
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said the newly launched Elaf fund, which aims to finance large-scale projects with participation from Saudi private-sector investors, would commit $2bn (7.5 billion Saudi riyals) to develop two airports in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Rebuilding Syria’s economy
Abdulsalam Haykal, Syria’s minister of communications and information technology, said his country will see nearly $1bn in investment in the telecommunications sector, with plans to lay thousands of kilometres of cable to boost connectivity between Asia and Europe.
Saudi budget carrier Flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced they signed an agreement to establish a new airline called “Flynas Syria”, which would be 51 percent owned by the Syrian side and is slated to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Syria’s Ministry of Energy also signed a water agreement with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, which is known for running projects in power generation and desalinated water production plants in the Middle East and beyond.
Al-Hilali said the agreements targeted “vital sectors that impact people’s lives and form essential pillars for rebuilding the Syrian economy”.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, commended the Saudi-Syrian deal on X. “Strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure, and telecommunications will contribute meaningfully to Syria’s reconstruction efforts,” he said.
But Benjamin Feve, senior research analyst at Karam Shaar advisory, sounded a more cautious note, saying the deals mattered “far more as a political signal than as an economic game changer” in the short term.
The government has faced criticism over the past year for making broad development promises based on written pledges with foreign investors, many of which have yet to be converted into binding contracts.
Journalist Chris Hedges speaks to Marc Lamont Hill on Trump’s first year and the future of US democracy.
One year into Donald Trump’s return to office, a wave of hardline actions – from volatile ICE raids to growing concern over political pressure on the media – has raised alarm about the expansion of the president’s power.
Then with US midterms approaching, attention is turning to whether there is any meaningful challenge to Republican grip on Congress.
So what happens next?
This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with journalist and author Chris Hedges about Trump’s second presidency and whether US democracy is on the decline.
Currently nominated for multiple Oscars, Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” traces how the immeasurable sorrow of losing a child fueled William Shakespeare to write “Hamlet” as a literary effigy to loss. That revered text, which has inspired countless adaptations (“The Lion King” among them), takes on a new form in the hands of Japanese animation master Mamoru Hosoda for his latest fantastical epic, “Scarlet.”
In a career of animated features with thematic heft and deep emotional impact, “Scarlet” may be the director’s most sobering and intense effort to date, not only given the severity of the violence on display, but because it advocates for the sometimes-impossible task of forgiving one’s foes, even when they show no remorse. Here, what’s at stake is one’s very soul. What remains is Hosoda’s investment in parent-child relationships, a recurring subject for him, always explored with compassion for both parties: the child in need of guidance and the parent struggling to be a beacon.
Gender-swapping the play, Hosoda once again centers a heroine (he seems to prefer female protagonists). The 16th century eponymous Danish princess (voiced by Mana Ashida) loses her father, King Amleth (Masachika Ichimura), to a gruesome betrayal. Her unscrupulous, power-hungry uncle Claudius (Kôji Yakusho) murders his own brother to become king. But in his final moments, as Scarlet watches, Amleth pleads a request she cannot hear. Avenging her fallen father — and finding out what he asked for before dying — becomes the young woman’s sole purpose going forward. Rage consumes her.
Hosoda’s body of work consists almost exclusively of movies that take place on two distinct planes, whether those be reality and a digital world (“Summer Wars,”“Belle”) or reality and a magical realm (“Mirai,”“The Boy and the Beast”). “Scarlet” is no different in that regard.
This time, however, he explores an afterlife with its own set of rules. Sensing Scarlet’s resolve to destroy him, Claudius poisons her. Scarlet wakes up in the Otherworld, an endless, arid landscape with an ocean for sky where a dragon roams. The deceased from the past and the present convene here. That’s how Scarlet and Hijiri (Masaki Okada), a paramedic from our present who refuses to believe he’s died, can exist in the same timeline. This purgatory essentially mirrors life: There’s conflict and suffering and if you die again here, you vanish into darkness forever. The goal is to ascend to the Infinite Land, a stand-in for heaven. But Scarlet cares not for eternal peace. She learns that Claudius is here and embarks on a trek to find him and kill him for good.
Hosoda doesn’t dwell on the differences between Scarlet and Hijiri’s realities back in the land of living. Instead, he zeroes in on their clashing worldviews. While Scarlet doesn’t think twice about slaughtering anyone who gets in her way, Hijiri protects life at all costs, so much that one can understand Scarlet’s frustration with him. After a brutal fight, for example, Hijiri bandages her enemies’ wounds with as much care as he does hers.
Multiple battles with Claudius’ henchmen pepper Scarlet and Hijiri’s journey, as does an encounter with the United Nations of this place: a group of wandering nomads from around the world who’ve come together for companionship. Even after death, Hosoda suggests, all people truly hope for is a shoulder to cry on and someone to share their burdens with.
For “Scarlet,” Hosoda ventures into uncharted aesthetic territory. When the narrative is in the Otherworld, fans will immediately notice the look differs from his previous creations. And that’s because Hosoda has opted for photorealistic, computer-generated animation in those sections. The early scenes in Scarlet’s time period are conceived using the more traditional hand-drawn technique.
Still, the characters in the Otherworld, created in CGI, retain qualities of hand-drawn animation, making one hyperaware of the relationship between the figure’s movement and the environment. The mix of visual approaches shocks the eye at first, though it comes to seem fitting.
If probed too closely, Hosoda’s high-concept interpretation of life after death may raise more questions than it can answer (have all of history’s villains been killed in the Otherworld?). But despite any narrative quibbles, the movie deserves praise for its genuine call for compassion. Scarlet’s final encounter with Claudius radiates with the complicated poignancy expected of real, difficult catharsis.
Admittedly, the film’s resolution feels naïve. Scarlet’s good intentions to end wars by way of sheer determination to do what’s right might prove insubstantial in practice. In that regard, “Scarlet” is the prayer of a director who fervently wants to believe in kindness (even for those who don’t deserve it) as the one true road to healing. That’s a tall order these days, especially in this country, but it’s hard to fault Hosoda for the sincere reminder of what could be.
Representatives for Ukraine and Russia might meet in the United States in February to negotiate an end to the war and continued aerial attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure after U.S. officials suggested a June deadline for peace. Photo by EPA/State Emergency Service
Feb. 7 (UPI) — Representatives for Ukraine and Russia might meet in the United States in February after U.S. officials suggested a non-binding June deadline to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the proposed June deadline on Saturday and said the United States has invited Russia and Ukraine to meet very soon.
“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams — Ukraine and Russia — meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week,” Zelensky told the BBC and other news outlets.
“We confirmed our participation,” he added, but Russia has not responded to the offer or proposed June deadline.
“They say they want everything done by June, and they will do everything to end the war,” Zelensky said, as reported by CNN.
U.S. officials “want a clear schedule of events,” the Ukrainian president said. “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline.”
Russian forces have continued their aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, which have caused power blackouts during the cold winter months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the entire Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
Ukrainian forces hold about a fourth of the region, which bridged the gap between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian forces occupied in 2014.
U.S. and Russian officials have not commented on the proposed bilateral meeting in the United States, and Zelensky said talks between U.S. and Russian officials might lead to demands that he would reject.
“Ukraine will not support even potential agreements about [Ukraine] that are made without us,” he said.
If any peace agreement is made, it would have to be approved via a referendum in Ukraine, which could take several months to complete.
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice Headquarters on Friday. Justice Department officials have announced that the FBI has arrested Zubayr al-Bakoush, a suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Princess Andre has shared that filming has wrapped on the second series of her ITV2 reality show The Princess Diaries, with the series expected to return in spring
Princess has given an update on her reality show
Princess Andre has delivered a significant announcement regarding the future of her ITV2 reality programme. The 18-year-old followed in her famous parents’ footsteps by landing her own ITV series last summer.
Princess has now provided an exciting development on the programme, called The Princess Diaries, after it was confirmed for a second run following strong viewing figures.
Princess wrote: “Last day of filming.” The programme is anticipated to return to television screens during the spring months. Her announcement follows her parents releasing an unusual joint statement in which they detailed their commitment to cease making disparaging remarks about each other online.
Peter and Katie established a legal arrangement whereby both promised to end their public criticism of one another following numerous acrimonious public disputes – an uncommon ceasefire for the frequently feuding former couple.
The Sun learned that Katie had spent months declining Peter’s persistent efforts to broker peace. Sources suggest their children, Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, are the motivation behind her ultimate decision to accept her former husband’s An insider revealed: “Pete’s team have been begging Katie to end this for good for months.”
As far back as November, they were calling Katie and her family to try to end the row. “She was resolute, she wouldn’t make peace with him. It was the children who made her realise she needed to draw a line in the sand. Katie has done this for them.”
Taking to Instagram, they both posted: “Katie Price and Peter Andre have decided to close the door on the past and move forward into a new chapter with positivity and respect. We are both focused on creating a calm and supportive environment for our children.
“We have reached a mutual agreement, both legally and personally confirming that neither of us will speak negatively about the other going forward. This decision reflects a shared commitment to our family and stability.”
The statement continued: “We want to stand united for our children. We are hoping this is a start of a positive relationship. We ask for understanding and support from both the media and the public as we move ahead.”
The unusual move comes just after Katie exploded at her former husband on her weekly podcast, accusing him of keeping her away from their daughter Princess as she launched her own reality TV show and making her look like the ‘baddie’.
Peter hit back by saying he had tried to stay silent for ‘sixteen years’ to ignore ‘repeated lies from my ex-wife and her family’. “That ends today,” he fumed.
Feb. 6 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed 50,000 points for the first time in its history as most blue-chip stocks gained during trading Friday.
The Dow set a new record of 50,115.67 after posting an average gain of 1,207 points and 2.4%, while 28 of 30 blue-chip stocks rose in value during the day’s trading.
The Dow’s record day caused it to post a 2.5% gain for the week.
NVIDIA led the charge with a 7.87% gain while closing at 185.41 after rising 13.53 in value, and Caterpillar posted a 7.04% gain after rising 47.74 in value and closing 726.2.
Investors credited the nation’s economy and significant corporate earnings with spurring the day’s gains after overcoming an emotionally driven selloff earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Emotional deleveraging selloffs, such as this week, are unnerving,” Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, told the news outlet.
Despite the earlier selloff, Hackett said the “macro and earnings environment remain encouraging.”
In addition to the Dow gains on Friday, investors spurred a 1.97% gain for the S&P 500, which rose 133.90 points and closed at 6,932.30.
The Nasdaq Composite also posted a significant gain by rising 2.18% and 490.63 points to close at 23,031.21 for the day.
Despite the gains on Friday, the S&P 500 was down a slight 0.1% and the Nasdaq 1.8% for the week.
Investments by tech firms in artificial intelligence generally fueled the day’s gains.
“We’re in a gold rush right now with AI,” Falcon Wealth Planning founder Gabriel Shahin told CNBC.
“You have the investment that Google is making, Nvidia is making, that Meta is making [and] that Amazon is making,” Shanin said. “There is money that will be deployed.”
He said investors are moving away from growth stocks and favoring those that provide value amid a “great recalibration.”
India recover from 77-6 as captain Suryakumar Yadav hits an unbeaten 84 in 29-run World Cup win against United States.
Published On 7 Feb 20267 Feb 2026
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India captain Suryakumar Yadav led by example as the tournament co-hosts began their Twenty20 World Cup title defence with a 29-run victory against the United States in a group A contest on Saturday.
India recovered from a dire 77-6 to post a decent 161-9 with Suryakumar hitting a scintillating 84 not out off 49 balls.
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The US managed 132-8 in reply, putting up a decent fight but never really coming close to chasing down the target.
Earlier, the predominantly Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium probably expected sixes and fours to rain down after US captain Monank Patel elected to field.
Instead, it was a long procession of India’s top-order batters returning to the pavilion after a spectacular meltdown of the world’s top-ranked T20 team.
Opener Abhishek Sharma, currently the world’s number one T20 batter, fell for a first-ball duck in perhaps an inkling of what was in store for the home side.
The real nightmare unfolded in the final Powerplay over when Shadley van Schalkwyk claimed three wickets in five deliveries to leave India reeling on 46-4.
Ishan Kishan (20) and Tilak Varma (25) could not convert their starts, while Shivam Dube departed with a golden duck against his name in that eventful over from van Schalkwyk.
It could easily have been worse, but bowler Shubham Ranjane could not hold onto a return catch from Suryakumar when the batter was on 15.
Wickets kept tumbling at the other end though.
Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel perished trying to swing their way out of trouble.
Suryakumar responded to the crisis with a captain’s knock as he raced to a 36-ball fifty before plundering 21 runs from the final over from Saurabh Netravalkar.
India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah missed the match due to illness, and they were also forced into replacing Harshit Rana, who was ruled out of the tournament barely 24 hours before their opening match with a thigh injury.
Mohammed Siraj (3-29) vindicated his last-minute inclusion as Rana’s replacement with a two-wicket burst, while Arshdeep Singh also tasted success as they reduced the US to 31-3 in the six Powerplay overs.
Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37) and Milind Kumar (34) defied India for a while with a 58-run stand, but once the partnership ended, India were firmly in charge.
In Colombo, the Netherlands nearly pulled off a major upset before Faheem Ashraf’s breezy cameo secured Pakistan’s nervy three-wicket win with three balls to spare in another group A contest.
In a group C match in Kolkata, West Indies fast bowler Romario Shepherd claimed four wickets in five balls, including a hat-trick, as the twice champions thumped Scotland by 35 runs.
Clare Balding met wife Alice Arnold when they both worked at the BBC in the 1990s, admitting she had one major question she wanted to ask in the early days of their relationship
Clare Balding revealed she had a major question for her wife Alice Arnold when they began dating
Their relationship blossomed and in 2006 they entered into a civil partnership together, later marrying in 2015, when same-sex marriage was legalised. And while the pair have now been together for over 26 years, Clare says there was one thing that could have been a deal-breaker.
Speaking on the Bookshelfie podcast, she said: “When Alice and I first got together my big question, ahead of everything, was, ‘Can we get a dog?’ It’s really important. Twenty four years later I’m glad she said, ‘Yes, we can get a dog’.”
Podcast host Yomi Adegoke, added: “You need to lay that groundwork because if the answers are not aligned, this is not going to work.”
Alice has previously admitted that allowing her wife to have a dog was one of the “original commitments” she made during the early stage of their relationship. In Clare’s book, Isle of Dogs, former Radio 4 announcer Alice said she would “never go back” on the pledge.
Clare admits she was left with a “dog-shaped hole” in her heart in 2020 after her much-loved Tibetan terrier Archie had to be put to sleep. While she says it was the “best decision” for the dog, she admits she “thinks about him everyday”.
After Archie’s death, Clare felt compelled to continue walking his favourite routes around Chiswick, London, to honour his memory.
Speaking to The Times, Clare said: “After Archie died in 2020 I wanted to walk his favourite route repeatedly to remember him, which seems a rather masochistic thing to do, and it was so painful because we kept seeing dogs we knew, and I’d stop to say hello before bursting into tears. We cried a heck of a lot, but slowly it became easier.”
Clare hopes that she and Alice will swap London for the countryside eventually so they can welcome a new dog into their lives. Clare explained: “We’re looking to move out of London, and one of the main reasons for that is to have a bit more space and protection from the road so it’s a good environment for a dog.
“As soon as we’re settled, it’s our plan – probably next spring. I smile at the thought of having a dog back in our lives.”
Clare previously revealed to MailOnline that she yearns for “everything a dog brings” to her life, from the icy winter strolls to the “enthusiastic greeting” Archie would offer her upon returning home from work.
She describes Archie as the “perfect dog” because he didn’t moult, which mattered greatly to Alice, who suffers from dog allergies. Clare, who hosts Crufts on Channel 4, explained: “Tibetan terriers are small enough to pick up but strong enough to go on long walks.
“They are intelligent, loyal and full of character. They are good guard dogs but don’t yap without cause.”
Clare will be presenting the coverage of the Winter Olympics on BBC Two between 6pm and 10pm tonight (February 7). It will feature the final run of the men’s singles luge, the ski jumping medal ceremony, and the big air run of the men’s snowboarding among others.
A proposed new consensus between sports leaders across the globe about gender policy would be a first uniform criteria.
Published On 7 Feb 20267 Feb 2026
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Global sports leaders have reached consensus on a new set of eligibility criteria for transgender athletes, with the new policy expected to be announced within the first half of this year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Saturday.
It would be the first uniform policy adopted by the IOC and international sports federations, applying to major events in dozens of sports, including the Games and world championships. Currently, federations have their own rules, which can vary.
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Details of the new policy are unclear, but it is expected to severely restrict the participation of transgender athletes who compete in women’s categories if they have undergone full male puberty before any subsequent medical transition.
The IOC, under its first female president, Kirsty Coventry, took the lead in June, opting for a uniform approach.
“Protecting the female category is one of the key reforms she wants to bring in,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Saturday.
“I would say it is going to happen shortly, within the next few months.
“It has been out to consultation phase and we had the ‘pause and reflect’ (period) on it,” Adams said. “Generally speaking, there is consensus within the sporting movement. I think you will have a new policy in the first half of this year. Don’t hold me to it, but that is roughly the timescale.”
In September, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, made up of experts as well as representatives of international federations, to look into how best to protect the female category in sport.
Before Coventry’s decision, the IOC had long baulked at any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines. Under current rules, still in force, transgender athletes are eligible to take part in the Olympics once cleared by their respective federations.
Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Currently, for example, World Aquatics allows transgender athletes who have transitioned before the age of 12 to compete. World Rugby bans all transgender athletes from elite-level competitions.
United States President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in school, college and pro events in the female category in the US, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Trump, who signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games.
The Super Bowl, the biggest event in American football, is set for Sunday with the Seattle Seahawks facing the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The massive sporting event is set to energise fans in both cities and will send thousands this year to the San Francisco Bay Area. Those unable to make the trip are still expected to spend heavily on food, drinks and watch parties across the United States.
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Historically, the Super Bowl has been a major economic boon for host cities. For the Bay Area, the event is part of a stretch of three major sporting spectacles lifting the regional economy.
A local boost?
In 2024, the Bay Area Host Committee commissioned a report forecasting the economic impact of the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, the 2026 Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup, all taking place in the region. The report estimated that Sunday’s game alone would generate between $370m and $630m in economic output for the Bay Area.
Last year’s Super Bowl was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. State officials reported the event brought in 115,000 visitors who spent $658m in the city.
For consumers, Bank of America estimates a 77 percent jump in spending near the stadium. A study analysing spending patterns from Super Bowl games between 2017 and 2025 found that, on game day, spending surged in the postal code closest to the stadium, with the biggest surge in food and parking costs.
Hosting the game does come with its own expenses for cities.
In the case of Santa Clara, it is small compared with the forecasted output. Last year, it was projected the city would cost them $6.3m, which includes training personnel for the influx of visitors and other logistical needs. However, other games have cost municipalities much more. When Atlanta hosted the Super Bowl in 2019, it cost the city an estimated $46m.
In 2023, the day after the game, which was played in Glendale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, was the single busiest at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport in its history, with more than 200,000 passengers passing through the airport, which is a hub for American Airlines and where budget carriers Southwest Airlines and Frontier maintain a large presence.
Other cities have used major sporting events to kick off large-scale infrastructure projects. In 2004 – ahead of the Super Bowl in Houston, Texas – METRO, the city’s transit authority, launched its first light rail line just a month before the game. The line, now one of three in the system, runs from downtown Houston to the city’s football stadium.
Prior to its launch, Houston was the only major metropolitan city in the US without a rail system.
But not all infrastructure projects paid off. Las Vegas built Allegiant Stadium in the neighbouring suburb of Paradise when the city acquired the Raiders football team from Oakland during the 2020 season. A year later, in 2021, Las Vegas won the bid to host the 2024 Super Bowl. The stadium cost $1.9bn. Nearly $750m came from hotel taxes, but the rest was shouldered by local taxpayers.
“The economic benefits are relatively short-term, not just in duration, but also in scope. They’re limited to certain industries and specific locations,” Michael Edwards, a professor of sport management at North Carolina State University, told Al Jazeera.
“The NFL [National Football League] often uses the Super Bowl as a carrot to encourage cities to invest taxpayer money in new stadiums. You’re seeing that dynamic play out in places like Chicago and Cleveland, where officials are considering domed stadiums. Part of that push is almost certainly driven by the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl, which the league dangles as an incentive,” Edwards said.
Food spending
For those who can’t make it to the game itself, there is still a surge in Americans heading to bars and restaurants to watch the game or spending money throwing a watch party.
The National Retail Federation, which has been tracking Super Bowl spending for the last decade, expects that Americans will spend a record $20.2bn, or $94.77 per person, on the big game with 79 percent of that on food.
Spending has skyrocketed since 2021 when consumers spent $13.9bn, or $74.55 per person. However, that dropped from $17.2bn in 2020 when the Super Bowl happened about a month before the COVID-19 lockdowns in the US began.
For those hosting a Super Bowl watch party at home, it will cost more than last year to stock up on the quintessential game-day foods. Wells Fargo estimates that hosting 10 people will cost about $140 per person, up from $138 last year.
Chicken wings, a staple for football fans, are a bright spot for wallets; prices are down 2.8 percent compared with this time last year. Potato chip prices are flat, but dips like salsa have jumped 1.7 percent.
Healthier options are getting more expensive as well for those opting for a veggie platter. Cherry tomatoes are up 2 percent, celery has risen 2.6 percent, and both broccoli and cauliflower are up 4 percent. Beer prices are also climbing, up 1.3 percent from a year ago.
Advertising hits records
The Super Bowl is airing on NBC with the network getting a boost in advertising spending for the big game. NBC sold out of advertising spots for the Super Bowl in September for a record $10m on average for a 30-second spot – up from $8m on average last year when the games aired on Fox.
NBC also benefits from a collection of sporting events all taking part in February that drive up advertising revenue, including from the Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony is on Friday and will run until February 22. NBC has exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics in the US.
“With the resurgence of the Olympic movement, our strongest Sports Upfront in history, the early sell-out of Super Bowl LX, and the remarkable return of the NBA, NBCUniversal has solidified itself as a sports powerhouse, and brands have taken notice,” Mark Marshall, chairman of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships, said in a release.
The last time the games were in the same year, back in 2024, the two events were the most-watched events on linear television.
On Wall Street, the looming sporting events set to air on NBC have sent parent company Comcast’s stock surging up more than 4 percent over the past five days.
With his six-volume magnum opus “My Struggle,” Karl Ove Knausgaard became one of Europe’s most acclaimed contemporary novelists.
At once epic and intimate in scope, the books used the raw material of Knausgaard’s life to answer questions about male identity, the obligations of fatherhood and marriage, and what it takes to become a serious artist. In his new novel, “The School of Night,” Knausgaard further explores the mysteries of artistic greatness, using as his template Christopher Marlowe’s 16th century play “Doctor Faustus.” Knausgaard sets his story in mid-1980s London, where two aspiring photographers named Kristian and Hans try to find their footing in the art world.
I spoke to the Norwegian writer about the devil, photography and Radiohead.
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Your novel’s plot and characters are based on Christopher Marlowe’s 16th century play “Doctor Faustus,” which is about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. Was this something you’ve been thinking about for a while?
I read Thomas Mann’s novel “Doctor Faustus” when I was 19 and it made a big impression on me. It’s been with me ever since then. The devil theme has hovered over some novels I’ve written, so it remained, and then I wanted to set this novel in London, where I now live, and where Marlowe was murdered. I wanted all of this in the background, but I didn’t know how to use it. That came during the writing.
The two young artists in “The School of Night” are photographers, an art form that has long been associated with the occult and summoning the unseen world. One thinks of the spirit photography trend of the 19th century in England.
I wrote about the first photograph in the novel, shot by Daguerre in 1848. I have it on my wall in my office. It’s a Paris street, which I find very unsettling and spooky, because even though it’s daytime there are no people on the street because the exposure was too slow to capture them. There’s just this lone figure, in the center of the frame who looks like the devil. I find it intriguing that the devil might have been present when the first photograph was taken.
Karl Ove Knausgaard, one of Europe’s most acclaimed contemporary novelists, sets his newest novel, “The School of Night,” in mid-1980s London.
(Solve Sundsbo for D2)
I think one of the reasons for the enduring appeal of the Faust legend is, if given the chance, most people would sell their souls for success, especially artists.
I think you’re right. And it is also a way of explaining something that is really mysterious, how a kind of normal, maybe even mediocre person could achieve something great overnight. When I was 19, I could have cut off my left arm to just have a book published. And when I wrote “My Struggle,” I was so frustrated in my writing, I was willing to go to extremes, to just make something happen. And then I didn’t think much about that when I wrote “The School of Night.” But it’s all kind of obvious to me afterwards that I use that feeling of doing something I really shouldn’t, and I could have stopped, but I still did it.
To your point: Kristian, your protagonist, has an artistic breakthrough when he photographs a dead cat that he has boiled. I guess my question is: A boiled cat?
Oh, that’s just due to the way I write. I never know what’s going to happen in a book. He’s starting to think about inner structures that keep up life somehow. And then, he thinks, how could he take photos of that? Well, maybe a cat. And then you have to practically get a cat. And then it’s like 25 pages of me describing how to boil a cat. I never planned it, you know.
Do you not outline your novels beforehand?
No, never, I’ve never done that. I do really try to be present and see what happens there. And then there will always be consequences of the choices you make, and that will eventually be the novel. And in this case, the character is different from me, so his choices will be different, and that creates a different trajectory, really.
Your characters are music obsessives in ways that only men in their 20s can be: curating their record collections, and so on.
When I was young, music really meant almost everything to me. When I was 15, I went to a local newspaper and asked to review records for them. And I had my own radio show. I’m not obsessed anymore, but I did see Radiohead at the O2 Arena recently. They are the last band I really wanted to see, and it was absolutely fantastic. I had tears running down my cheeks.
(This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
📰 The Week(s) in Books
George Saunders’ new novel might be the dark humor read you need right now, writes Robert Allen Papinchak.
(Los Angeles Times photo illustration; cover from Riverhead Books)
George Saunders has published a new novel called “Vigil,” and Robert Allen Papinchak is besotted by it, calling it a “virtuoso achievement, an immersive experience for the reader.”
Nathan Smith had a Zoom chat with author Martha Ackmann about her new Dolly Parton biography, “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool,” and got the lowdown on how Parton’s fixation with over-the-top wigs began. “Her promotions man happened to be dating an actress who had a big part in the television series ‘Mr. Ed,’ ” Ackmann tells Smith. “This actress took her around, showed her L.A. and they went to the Max Factor store and tried on wigs.”
In an excerpt from this new book, “Football,”Chuck Klosterman makes a case for America’s favorite sport as best viewed in the privacy of our living rooms. “It’s not just that you can see a game better when you watch it on television,” he writes. “Television is the only way you can see it at all.”
Finally, Bethanne Patrick gives us the lowdown on the must-read books of February.
📖 Bookstore Faves
Fear not, grown-ups: Our kids are not digital zombies just yet. In fact, children’s bookstores are thriving in Los Angeles. Children’s Book World is the largest independent bookstore of its kind in the city, with over 80,000 titles for sale. The store is a wonderland of printed matter for kids, with readings, book clubs and even musical performances. I spoke with the store’s manager Brien Lopez to get the lowdown on what our kids are reading.
What’s selling right now?
T.Z. Layton’s “The Academy” series, which is about a global soccer competition for tweens, is one of our best sellers. This series has lots of boys who were not avid readers becoming strong fiction readers because they are about a subject they love and they are really fun reads.
What kind of YA books are popular right now?
For our particular store we sell lots of sunshine romance particularly targeted to new teens like Lynn Painter’s books, as well as both mysteries and suspense thrillers like Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ “Inheritance Games” series. Dystopian sci fi is also popular, like Soyoung Park’s “Snowglobe” duology.
Who are the popular authors?
We just had a 2,000-person event with Dav Pilkey for his new “Dog Man” book and how he gets kids excited about books and reading just can’t be underestimated. We also had big events with beloved authors Katherine Applegate, Stuart Gibbs and Max Brallier. Middle grade fiction and graphic novels are very popular at our store.
Are kids still interested in books, despite all the distractions in their lives?
Kids definitely are interested in books if they are allowed to read about subjects they enjoy and books they love. The moment you tell a child there is a good book versus a bad book to read you have stopped that kid’s reading journey in its tracks. Let kids read the books they love and they will do it for a lifetime.
Who: England vs Nepal What: 2026 ICC T20 World Cup Where:Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India When: Sunday, February 8, at 3pm (09:30 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 06:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.
England are undoubtedly among the frontrunners to lift the T20 World Cup title, but, unlike years gone by, they do not start as one of the red-hot favourites.
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Despite his undoubted ability with the bat, questions surround the captaincy of Harry Brook, while English cricket as a whole is licking its wounds following recent woes – including the Ashes humiliation in Australia.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at their open against Nepal.
What have England said about the pressure on Brooks?
All-rounder Will Jacks said on Friday that under-fire England T20 captain Harry Brook had “100 percent” support from the players after going through a “tough time”.
The 26-year-old Brook, in charge at a global tournament for the first time, has recently been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
He had to apologise last month for being involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer during England’s white ball tour of New Zealand last year, something that had been a “terrible mistake”.
Jacks has been close to Brook since they were roommates with England Under-19s.
“Obviously, it’s been a tough time, and that’s been well documented in the media,” Jacks told reporters before team training in Mumbai on the eve of the tournament.
“I wasn’t actually in New Zealand, so I didn’t know anything about it.
“He’s obviously made the wrong decision, but he’s accepted that. He’s obviously making amends on the pitch, and we all back him 100 percent.”
Brook, a richly gifted run-scorer, has an early chance to shift the focus back onto his batting in England’s opening match against Nepal in Mumbai on Sunday.
“He wants his cricket to do the talking,” said Jacks.
(Al Jazeera]
What is England and Brook’s T20 form before the World Cup?
England come into the World Cup in good form in T20, heartened by a 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka – one of the tournament co-hosts – this week.
In the preceding ODI series against the same opposition, the explosive Brook bludgeoned 136 off just 66 balls.
“It’s not so much we are taking momentum from that, but team unity, feeling strong within ourselves,” said Jacks.
“We have been performing well over the last 12 months, since Harry’s become captain, and we’re very happy with that.
“What we did in the last few weeks in Sri Lanka is another stepping stone.”
Who else is in England and Nepal’s group?
England are expected to make the Super Eight stage from a Group C that also features two-time winners West Indies, debutants Italy and Scotland.
“We come into here full of confidence and belief that we can go a long way in this tournament.
“But that doesn’t guarantee us anything. We know that there’s amazing teams in this World Cup.”
“India, on home soil, I think everyone knows who’s favourites.”
What is England’s T20 World Cup record?
England are the joint-record winners of the T20 World Cup with two trophy lifts to their name, alongside West Indies and holders India.
Paul Collingwood captained the English to the third edition of the competition, before Jos Buttler’s side sealed their second win in 2022.
[Al Jazeera]
What is Nepal’s T20 World Cup record?
Nepal made their debut at the 2014 edition of the competition, but had to wait until the West Indies and US co-hosted tournament in 2024 to make a second appearance.
On both occasions, the Nepalese were eliminated at the first stage, with 12th- and 17th-placed rankings.
Salt passed fit for England’s opener
Hard-hitting batsman Phil Salt was passed fit as England named their team on Saturday for their first match in the T20 World Cup.
He will open the batting alongside wicketkeeper Jos Buttler against Nepal at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday in Group C.
Salt missed Tuesday’s third T20 against Sri Lanka with a back spasm, but trained successfully on Friday and will take his place at the top of the order.
Tom Banton, fresh from a sparkling 54 off 33 balls against Sri Lanka five days ago, is preferred to Ben Duckett and will bat at number four.
Left-arm fast bowler Luke Wood gets the nod ahead of Jamie Overton and joins express man Jofra Archer and Sam Curran in the seam attack.
England have opted to have four spinners at their disposal, with spearheads Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson backed up by all-rounders Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks.
England’s starting lineup
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood
England squad
Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt (captain), Josh Tongue, Luke Wood
Kina dauke da ciki na watanni tara, ba takalmi a ƙafa, kina gudu cikin ƙaya, kura da tsoro.
Kusan shekaru goma, Ya Busam Ali ta shafe tana rayuwa a matsayin yar gudun hijira, tana tafiya me nisa a kowace kakar noma zuwa gonakin da ‘yan ta’adda ke iko da su, domin kawai ta kula da kanta da ‘ya’yanta.
Wannan shirin na #BirbishinRikici ya bi labarin yadda ta tsira, juriyarta, da ƙarfin zuciyar da ke tura ta ci gaba da tafiya duk da ƙalubalen da ke gabanta.
California’s ticketing industry could be undergoing some major changes.
On Thursday, state Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) introduced a new bill, the California Fans First Act, that would impose price caps on tickets sold in the resale market, limiting prices to no more than 10% above the ticket’s face value.
By making it illegal to sell overly expensive tickets, AB 1720 is aimed at making resale tickets more affordable for fans. If the legislation becomes law, it would apply only to shows in California and exclude tickets to sporting events.
AB 1720 was introduced weeks after a similar bill, AB 1349, reached the California Senate. The latter aims to ban speculative ticket sales (tickets that resellers don’t yet possess) in the state. If enacted, the proposed legislation would require sellers to have event tickets in their possession before listing them for sale and would raise the maximum civil penalty for each violation from $2,500 to $10,000.
Both bills aim to better regulate the state’s resale ticketing market.
Over the last several years, high ticket prices have been a recurring complaint among concertgoers. Rising demand for tickets has spurred a secondary resale marketplace for all kinds of high-profile live events, including music tours and sports games, making it harder to get tickets on the primary market.
Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation have been at the center of this issue for years, as the major ticketing vendor sells around 80% of tickets through its website. The company is currently facing lawsuits from both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, alleging monopolistic practices and illegal ticket vendor practices.
“We’re trying to convince the federal government and state governments to get on the same page of recognizing where the problem is, which is overwhelmingly in the resale industry, and trying to do something about it,” said Dan Wall, Live Nation’s vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, in a previous interview with The Times.
In a statement, Live Nation said it supports “efforts to protect concert fans and artists” and that the latest bill “targets a core problem in live music: predatory resale sites.”
Similar legislation has been popping up nationwide and around the world — the U.K. recently announced plans to ban the resale of tickets for prices higher than their face value.
A resale cap was successfully passed in Maine last year, with tickets only allowed to be sold at 110% of the ticket’s original price. Other states like New York, Vermont, Washington and Tennessee are also considering ticketing regulations.
Some critics see this surge of ticketing legislation as a way to distract from Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s legal troubles and single out the resale market.
Diana Moss, the director of competition policy at the Progressive Policy Institute, said that by capping resale ticket prices, AB 1720 “puts consumers last, not first.”
“It buys into the false narrative that the secondary market is to blame for all problems in ticketing, deflecting attention from the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly,” said Moss in a statement to The Times. “Caps will decimate resale, the only market with competition, and hand Live Nation even more power to jack up ticket fees.”
1 of 2 | Restaurants line a street in Seoul’s Hyoja-dong neighborhood, with signs offering discounts for Blue House staff posted outside shops. Photo by Asia Today
Feb. 5 (Asia Today) — Merchants in Seoul’s Hyoja-dong neighborhood say the long-anticipated economic boost from President Lee Jae-myung’s return to the Blue House has failed to materialize, while commercial areas around the former presidential office in Yongsan continue to struggle.
Restaurants near the Blue House, once hopeful that an influx of staff and visitors would revive lunchtime demand, report thinning crowds and declining sales.
“Business is slow these days,” said Kim Kwang-jae, 64, who runs a Korean restaurant in Hyoja-dong, Jongno District. Despite offering discounted meals to Blue House staff and police officers, Kim said daily customer numbers hover around 70, far below expectations.
When the Blue House was open to the public, his restaurant served about 150 customers a day, providing a brief lifeline to nearby eateries and market stalls. That traffic evaporated after public access was suspended last August, merchants said.
Hope briefly returned after President Lee announced plans to resume work at the Blue House. On Jan. 29, he instructed staff to eat outside the compound every Wednesday in an effort to support local businesses. Wednesday marked the first day after the directive took effect.
The scene on the ground, however, told a different story.
Jeon Sun-myeong, owner of a dumpling shop in nearby Tongin Market, said customer numbers have fallen since the return to the Blue House. “I can’t even prepare dumplings in advance anymore,” she said, noting that the impact is especially severe for low-margin, high-volume businesses.
An official from the Tongin Market Merchants’ Association said frequent protests near the Blue House have further reduced foot traffic. Demonstrators occupying roads near market entrances have discouraged visitors, the official said, adding that declining orders are also hurting suppliers who provide ingredients to nearby restaurants.
A similar downturn is unfolding in Yongsan, which had benefited from increased activity after the presidential office moved there in 2022.
Around lunchtime in the Hangang-ro area, restaurant-lined alleys stood largely empty, with rows of mourning wreaths protesting the government’s Jan. 29 housing supply measures adding to the somber atmosphere.
“Our customers were mostly office workers,” said Jin Seon-il, 64, who has operated a knife-cut noodle restaurant in the area for 23 years. “Since the office moved back to the Blue House, the drop in lunchtime customers has been immediate.”
While nearby Yongridan-gil remains popular with younger crowds, Jin said most visitors favor cafes and bars over traditional eateries. “Rents rose during the presidential office era, but customers are gone,” he said.
Shin Deok-soon, 67, who runs a gamjatang restaurant, said she relocated to Yongsan three years ago to capture lunchtime demand tied to the presidential office. After Lee’s return announcement, she said sales steadily declined, forcing her to lay off all employees at the start of this year and raise menu prices.
A local real estate agent said commercial rents in Yongsan surged two to three times following the presidential office relocation and have yet to come down. “With rents staying high and sales falling, more shops are closing,” he said.
Office worker Kim Min-gyu, 27, said several once-popular eateries have already shut down. “A year ago, you had to line up at lunch,” he said. “Now you can walk right in.”
The Yongsan Small Business Association has urged lawmakers to adopt measures to revive the area. An association official said rising rents and falling foot traffic are placing severe strain on merchants and called for practical steps to ease rent burdens and draw customers back.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) laid out broad requirements for what it referred to as a Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS). DIU’s central focus is on leveraging new and improved commercial-off-the-shelf technologies to help meet U.S. military needs.
“The Department of War (DoW) faces a robotic mass challenge: current methods for deploying and sustaining unmanned aerial systems (UAS) rely on direct human interaction to launch, recover, and refit each system,” the CADDS notice explains. “This 1:1 operator-to-aircraft model limits deployment speed and scale while exposing operators to unnecessary risks.”
A sniper assigned to the Washington National Guard’s 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team prepares to launch a quadcopter-type drone. US Army/Staff Sgt. Adeline Witherspoon
The “problem” to solve then is that “the DoW requires the ability to deploy large quantities of UAS rapidly, while minimizing the risk and burden to human operators executing kinetic and non-kinetic UAS operations in contested environments,” it adds.
To that end, “DOW seeks innovative solutions that enable the storage, rapid deployment, and management of multi-agent systems to provide either persistent UAS coverage over extended periods or massed effects within a single geographic region and time,” per DIU. It needs to be “employable from land and maritime platforms, in both day and night conditions, and during inclement weather.”
These have to be “designs [that] can be transported by military or commercial vehicles (land, sea, air)” and that “can be quickly positioned and made operational with minimal handling or setup.” They also have to be able to provide “automated functions for drone storage, launching, recovering, and refitting within the containerized platform; the intent is for the system to exist in a dormant state for a period of time and launch UAS upon command.”
DIU does not name any particular drones that the CADDS has to be able to accommodate or say how many UASs a single launcher should be able to hold. The notice does say the system will need to support “homogeneous and heterogeneous mixes of Government-directed UAS.”
The launch system also has to be capable of being set up and broken back down in a time frame measured in minutes and have a small operational footprint. “Ideally, the system should require a crew of no more than 2 personnel,” per DIU.
Another example of the “1:1 operator-to-aircraft model” that DIU says it wants to help get away from using CADDS. US Army
When it comes to the “autonomous” element of the launch system, DIU says it needs to support “both operator-on-the-loop and operator-in-the-loop decision-making processes.”
The market space for containerized launchers for various payloads, and for use on land and at sea, has been steadily growing globally in recent years. There has already been a further trend in the development of such systems for launching loitering munitions and other uncrewed aerial systems, or the adaptation of existing designs to be able to do so.
As one example, in the past year or so, Northrop Grumman has begun touting the ability of what it is currently calling the Modular Payload System (MPS) to launch drones, as seen in the computer-generated video below. TWZ was first to report on the development of that system all the way back in 2018, when it was being presented solely as a way to surface-launch variants of the AGM-88 anti-radiation missile. MPS is also now being pitched as a launcher for the Advanced Reactive Strike Missile (AReS), a surface-to-surface missile derived from the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) and its Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) cousin.
Modular Payload System: Launching from Land or Sea
Last year, another concept for a containerized launcher capable of holding up to 48 drones at once also emerged from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Back in 2024, Germany’s Rheinmetall and UVision in Israel had also unveiled two very similar designs, specifically for launching members of the latter company’s Hero series of loitering munitions.
A rendering of UVision’s containerized launch system loaded on a truck. UVision
However, many of these systems are focused squarely on the launch aspect and lack the recovery and refit capabilities that DIU has outlined for CADDS. Chinese drone firm DJI and others in the commercial space are increasingly offering container-like ‘docks,’ but which are often designed to accommodate just one uncrewed aerial system at a time.
What is particularly interesting here is how many of the stated CADDS requirements actually sound very similar, at least in very broad strokes, to a containerized system capable of launching, recovering, and recharging thousands of small, electrically-powered quadcopter-type drones at the touch of a button that the Chinese company DAMODA rolled out last year. That launcher, dubbed the Automated Drone Swarm Container System, is for drone light shows for entertainment purposes rather than military use.
Behind the Scenes of DAMODA Automated Drone Swarm Container System.✨
China just dropped a new level of drone swarm tech | One-click auto-deploy of thousands | by DAMODA
It is worth reiterating that DAMODA’s Automated Drone Swarm Container System, at least as it exists now, is clearly designed for entertainment industry use first and foremost. Though the company’s drone light show routines are certainly visually impressive and often go viral on social media, they are pre-scripted and conducted in a very localized fashion. What the company is offering is not a drone swarm capable of performing various military-minded tasks in a highly autonomous manner at appreciable ranges from its launch point.
At the same time, large-scale drone light shows put on by DAMODA (and a growing number of other companies), do highlight, on a broad level, the already highly problematic threats posed by swarms. The new Automated Drone Swarm Container System underscores the additional danger of these same threats hiding in plain sight. The steady proliferation of advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially when it comes to dynamic targeting, will only create additional challenges, as TWZ has explored in detail in this past feature.
Even in an overt operational context, readily deployable containerized systems capable of acting as hubs for drone operations across a broad area with limited manpower requirements could offer a major boost in capability and capacity. Ships, trucks, and aircraft, which could themselves be uncrewed, could be used to bring them to and from forward locations, even in remote areas. If they can support a “heterogeneous mix” of uncrewed aerial systems, a single container could be used to support a wide array of mission requirements, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, kinetic strikes, and/or communications signal relay.
An inherent benefit of a drone swarm, in general, is that each individual component does not have to be configured to perform all of the desired tasks. This creates additional flexibility and resilience to threats, since the loss of any particular drone does not necessarily preclude the swarm from continuing its assigned missions. There are tangential design and cost benefits for the drones themselves, since they can be configured to carry only the systems required for their particular mission demands.
Army Aviation Launches Autonomous Pack Hunters
TWZpreviously laid out a detailed case for the many benefits that could come along with loading containers packed with swarms of drones onto U.S. Navy ships. Many of those arguments are just as relevant when talking about systems designed to be employed on land. Containerized systems are often readily adaptable to both ground-based and maritime applications, to begin with.
Drone swarms are only set to become more capable as advancements in autonomy, especially automated target recognition, continue to progress, driven by parallel developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as you can read more about here. Future highly autonomous swarms will be able to execute various mission sets even more efficiently and in ways that compound challenges for defenders. Massed drone attacks with limited autonomy already have an inherent capacity to just overwhelm enemy defenses. In turn, electronic warfare systems and high-power microwave directed energy weapons have steadily emerged as some of the most capable options available to tackle swarms, but have their own limitations. Even powerful microwave systems have very short ranges and are directional in nature, and electronic warfare systems may simply not work at all against autonomous drones.
In terms of what DIU is now looking at for CADDS, the stated requirements are broad. It remains to be seen what options might be submitted, let alone considered for actual operational U.S. military use.
Still, DIU has laid out a real emerging capability gap amid the current push to field various tiers of drones to a degree never before seen across America’s armed forces, which counterinsurgency launch systems look well-positioned to fill.
Bethany Cosentino, the solo artist and co-founder of the rock band Best Coast, posted an open letter castigating her booking agency Wasserman Music over its founder’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and relationship with convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Agency founder Casey Wasserman — also the head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee — was included in a recently released tranche of federal documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. While Wasserman was long known to have have flown with his then-wife Laura on Epstein’s plane with the disgraced financier, these new documents included sexually suggestive messages between Wasserman and Maxwell, Epstein’s consigliere who is serving a lengthy sentence in federal prison for child sex trafficking.
In a statement to the Hollywod Reporter, Wasserman said, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, 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.”
Meanwhile, Cosentino, a Wasserman client since 2021, wrote in a letter posted to social media that her agency head’s response to the backlash was “not enough… Regret without accountability is just damage control.”
“We are tired of learning, over and over, that men who control access, resources, money and so-called safety in our industry are given endless grace,” Cosentino wrote. “We are tired of being asked to treat proximity to something horrific as an unfortunate situation we should simply move past — especially when the person involved still holds all the power.”
“This letter is my public refusal to accept that this is ‘just how things are,’” she continued.
Cosentino specified that she is “In the Sam Hunt business,” referring to her longtime agent. “I am not in the Wasserman business. I have asked to remove my name and the band’s name from the company site. The position Casey Wasserman has put his agents in is inexcusable. This is a call for him to step down and a change of business name be imminent.”
In the messages between Wasserman and Maxwell, Maxwell said she “thought of [Wasserman] at inappropriate moments,” to which Wasserman answered “I think of you all the time… So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit? I am in NY tonight, youre not, what am I to do? Xoxo cw”
Later, Wasserman wrote “I thought we would start at that place that you know of, and then continue the massage concept into your bed…and then again in the morning…not sure if or when we would stop.” She responded: “Umm – all that rubbing – are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild -I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”
Wasserman Music is a leading talent agency, representing top acts like Chappell Roan and Kendrick Lamar. Previously, Billie Eilish left Wasserman after reports surfaced of separate incidents of alleged sexual misconduct from Wasserman.
Local politicians have called for Wasserman to back away from the Olympics committee. “I think Casey Wasserman needs to step down,” said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028.”
Feb. 6 (UPI) — The FBI and local authorities are examining a new message received about missing Tucson, Ariz., senior citizen Nancy Guthrie, 84, to determine its authenticity.
Tucson-based television station KOLD reported that it received the new message on Friday morning and forwarded it to investigators.
The message’s contents have not been revealed, and KOLD said the sender’s IP address differs from the one used when a ransom note was sent to the television station on Monday evening.
The sender likely is using a secure server to hide its IP address, and the new note includes information that the sender thinks will help to prove it is authentic, the television station reported.
Federal and local investigators confirmed receiving the new message.
“The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department are aware of a new message regarding Nancy Guthrie. Investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity.
“The PCSD said everyone is still asked to call 88-CRIME or 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information, photos or videos connected to the case. The FBI said a $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie or an arrest in the case.”
President Donald Trump early Friday evening suggested the Department of Justice or the FBI soon might release “definitive” information regarding the case.
“We have some things that will maybe come out reasonably soon,” he told media while traveling on Air Force One.
“A lot of things have happened with regard to that horrible situation in the last couple of hours,” he said, adding that some “very strong clues” might lead to
Guthrie is the mother of Savannah Guthrie, who co-anchors NBC’s morning news show Today.
Investigators said she likely was abducted from her Tucson home early Sunday morning and are treating a prior ransom note that was sent to multiple news outlets as authentic due to the detailed information that matches what was found at her home.
Investigators also confirmed that blood found near her home’s entrance is Guthrie’s.
They have not received any proof of life regarding her condition, but they are working on the assumption that she is alive until proven otherwise, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters on Thursday.
He said three ransom notes had been received by different people, but two are fakes, while the third appears to be genuine.
The alleged author of one of the fake ransom notes, Derrick Callella, 42, was arrested and on Friday was charged with making a false ransom threat in the U.S. District Court of Central California.
He was released from custody after posting a $20,000 bond.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that the steadfastness of Palestinians in Gaza despite genocide, shows ‘the failure of Israel’. Barghouti is at the Al Jazeera Forum, an event focusing on geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.
Three-time Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny will headline the Super Bowl LX halftime show.
It will be Bad Bunny’s second Super Bowl halftime show performance after he made a guest appearance with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira during the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown,” Bad Bunny — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — said in a statement, noting that “this is for my people, my culture and our history.”
Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which has partnered with the NFL on halftime shows since 2019, will again produce the show.
Most Super Bowl halftime shows include special guest artists, but no one has been officially confirmed by Roc Nation or the NFL.
Talks between Iran and the US held in Oman on Friday have been described as ‘positive’ by officials. Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem asked people in Tehran whether they were optimistic.
