Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his side “had a point to prove” following back-to-back defeats and praises his side’s reaction, as Kai Havertz’s stoppage-time winner secures a first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting.
MATCH REPORT: Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal
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April 7 (UPI) — Bill Gates is expected to give testimony to the House Oversight Committee in its investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Microsoft co-founder’s representative said Tuesday.
Gates will appear for a transcribed interview June 10, unnamed sources familiar with the arrangement told Politico, CNBC and CBS News.
A representative for Gates told Politico he “welcomes” the testimony.
“While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work,” the representative said.
Gates’ relationship with the late Epstein has drawn scrutiny after documents released by the Justice Department included email drafts by Epstein implicating Gates. In the drafts, Epstein claims he arranged sexual encounters for Gates.
Gates has denied that Epstein arranged such encounters and said he interacted with Epstein only on philanthropic discussions. He said he also never traveled to Epstein’s island, Little St. James, and “never met any women.”
“Little House on the Prairie” alumna Melissa Gilbert remains steadfast in her support for husband Timothy Busfield, the Emmy-winning actor who has been embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal since earlier this year.
Gilbert, in her first sit-down interview since Busfield’s indictment in February, told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos she trusts her husband “with my children’s lives, my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews” and said she expects the “Thirtysomething” star will be exonerated at trial next year.
“Believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison,” she said in part of the interview that aired Monday on “Good Morning America.”
In February, a New Mexico grand jury indicted 68-year-old Busfield on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child. A month prior, New Mexico officials accused Busfield of of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his time as an actor, director and producer on the Fox crime drama “The Cleaning Lady.”
One child actor alleged that Busfield had first touched his “private areas” multiple times on set when he was 7, according to the complaint. He said Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times when he was 8. The affidavit also detailed a police interview with Busfield in which he suggested that the boys’ mother might have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her kids back for the final season.”
Busfield turned himself in to law enforcement days after the warrant was issued and denied the accusations. He was jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque but was released on his own recognizance Jan. 20.
For Gilbert, 61, the allegations and ensuing chain of events have been “hell.” Recent months have brought “the most traumatizing experiences of our lives,” she told Stephanopoulos, adding, “Our life as we knew it is done.”
The couple married in 2013. “The West Wing” actor Busfield has three adult children from two previous marriages and is the stepfather to Gilbert’s two adult sons from her two previous marriages. When the allegations first surfaced, a publicist for Gilbert said the actor would not comment on her husband’s case, denounced “any purported statements” and said that Gilbert was focused on caring for her and Busfield’s family.
During the Monday interview Gilbert said she and her husband are “grieving what we had: all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects.” She said her husband has become persona non grata — “canceled,” in her words — and that the allegations will continue to cast a shade over his career “even if he’s exonerated.” Busfield’s lawyer Larry Stein and Gilbert both told Stephanopoulos they are confident that will be the case.
When asked what justice for her husband might look like, Gilbert replied: “Exoneration and apology. Free him from this cloud.”
Elsewhere in the interview, attorney Stein doubled down on his belief that the child actors and their parents are “absolutely” making false allegations against Busfield. The actors’ parents did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Gilbert also told Stephanopoulos that before she married Busfield, she was aware he had been accused of sexual harassment twice by different women, once in 1994 and another time in 2012. Those two cases were mentioned in the January complaint against Busfield.
“I didn’t go into my relationship with him blind. I am neither naive nor am I complicit,” she said, adding she and her husband discussed those claims. “I heard his side of the story which no one has ever heard which is the truth. And when the time is right, and that is not now, Tim will tell the truth of all of these past allegations when he needs to.”
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlines Washington’s position on Iran, saying US objectives will be achieved ‘within weeks, not months’. Rubio says talks are taking place between parties inside Iran and the United States, mainly through intermediaries, while warning that the Strait of Hormuz ‘will be opened one way or another’ after the military operation ends. He also says Iran must take concrete steps to abandon any ambition to acquire nuclear weapons.
Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that talks with Iran are under way through intermediaries and that Washington will continue its military campaign until Tehran abandons its nuclear and missile programmes.
He warned on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz will be kept open “one way or another” and that US war objectives could be achieved “in weeks, not months”.
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He also said the United States would welcome political change in Iran if the opportunity arose, but said it was not an official objective. Rubio criticised some NATO allies for refusing US access to bases during the war, and said Washington is closely watching developments in Cuba and Venezuela.
Here are the key takeaways from Rubio’s exclusive interview with Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra:
Much of the communication between Tehran and Washington is indirect and through intermediaries, but Rubio insisted that it is ongoing.
He said there are “messages and some direct talks going on between some inside of Iran and the United States, primarily through intermediaries”, adding that the US president “always prefers diplomacy, always prefers an outcome”.
His comments come as US President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric on social media, threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure if a ceasefire is not reached soon, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington.
“Taken together, Rubio’s statements and Trump’s posts suggest the US is pursuing a dual-track approach: keeping diplomatic channels open through intermediaries while simultaneously increasing military and economic pressure on Iran,” she said.
Rubio said Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions and stop producing missiles and drones that can threaten countries across the Gulf region, and insisted “The Iranian regime can never have nuclear weapons.”
He said Iran’s missile programme poses a direct threat to countries across the Gulf, and claimed “These short-range missiles that they’re launching, they only have one purpose, and that is to attack Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain.”
Rubio said Iran could pursue civilian nuclear energy, but not in a way that would allow it to quickly develop a nuclear weapon.
“What they cannot have is a system that allows them to quickly weaponise it,” he said. “They have to abandon all these weapon programmes and all their nuclear ambitions.”
However, Hassan Ahmadian, an assistant professor at the University of Tehran, questioned the narrative that Iran poses an offensive threat in the region.
“When was the last time Iran attacked its neighbours over three centuries?” Ahmadian asked, arguing that Iran’s military strategy is shaped by deterrence in an asymmetric conflict.
“Why is it doing this now? Because it’s the underdog in an asymmetric war that it wants to shield itself by expanding.”
Ahmadian added that Iran has been a central focus of US policy for years.
“With the break of two wars in less than a year, we have experienced, Iran has been on the table in different US administrations – all options are on the table,” he said.
Rubio said the US would not accept Iran claiming sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and warned that the waterway would remain open regardless of Iran’s actions.
“Not only is the sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz not acceptable to us, it won’t be acceptable to the world.”
“It sets an incredible precedent … nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own.”
“The Strait of Hormuz will be open … It will be open one way or another,” he said, adding that otherwise, Iran would “face real consequences” from the US and other countries.
Iranian analysts suggested the closure of the strait is a temporary wartime measure and could be reversed once the conflict ends.
“It’s opened partially,” Ahmadian said, adding “I think there is no Iranian interest to not open it beyond the war.”
“It’s an asymmetric way of putting pressure on Americans, just as they are bombing Iran, and so after the war there would be no need,” Ahmadian explained. “There will be an arrangement, according to the Iranians, with the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries to reopen it and see how things are managed.”
Rubio said the US military campaign is progressing quickly and outlined the military objectives Washington is trying to achieve.
“Those objectives are the destruction of their air force, which has been achieved, the destruction of their navy, which has largely been achieved.”
“A significant reduction in the number of missile launchers… and we are going to destroy the factories that make those missiles and those drones.”
“We are well on our way or ahead of schedule.”
“We will achieve them in weeks, not months.”
“That’s a matter of weeks. I’m not going to tell you exactly how many weeks, but a matter of weeks, not months.”
Asked by Al Jazeera about his thoughts on Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Rubio said his status remains unclear.
“We don’t even know he’s in power. I know they say he’s in power. No one has seen him. No one has heard from him,” Rubio said.
“It’s very opaque right now. It’s not quite clear how decisions are being made inside of Iran.”
The US secretary of state suggested the US would welcome political change in Iran, though he said it was not the official objective of the military operation.
“We would always welcome a scenario in which Iran was led by people that had a different view of the future,” Rubio said. “If that opportunity presents itself, we’re going to take it.”
He said the Iranian people “deserve better leadership” and indicated Washington would not oppose a change in government if it occurred.
“Do we think the people of Iran deserve better leadership than what they’ve gotten from the clerical regime? One hundred percent,” Rubio said. “Would we be heartbroken if there was a change in leadership? Absolutely not.”
He also suggested the US would be willing to play a role if political change became possible.
“If there’s something we could do to facilitate that, would we be interested in participating? Of course.”
However, analysts said Washington’s position on regime change appears to have shifted over time.
“Originally bringing down the government was the goal; there has been a constant drawdown from that,” Paul Musgrave, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera.
“And now we have President Donald Trump on Truth Social saying he is negotiating with elements of what could become a new regime, so there is a lot of confusion here, but it is no longer the number one goal. It’s not something they are laying out,” he noted.
Rubio said some NATO countries denied the US use of airspace and bases during the conflict and suggested Washington may need to reassess the alliance after the war.
“We have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of their bases.”
“And so you ask yourself, well, what is in it for the United States?”
“If NATO is just about us defending Europe from attack, but them denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement.”
“All of that is going to have to be re-examined.”
The “Harry Potter” team did not need a divination expert to know its cast would encounter some “unpleasant and aggressive behavior.”
HBO boss Casey Bloys told multiple outlets this week that the network had taken precautions anticipating the vitriol the “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” actors would face. Ghanian-English actor Paapa Essiedu recently spoke out about the racist abuse and death threats he has received since the announcement that he had been cast as potions professor Severus Snape.
“With all actors on any kind of big IP shows — and this is obviously one of those where you’ve got, you know, passionate fans, people with a lot of opinions — it can get scary in places,” Bloys told Variety in an interview published Tuesday. “So for any show like that, we anticipated it and tried to have training, you know, best practices in terms of social media and how to handle it. And obviously we’ve got a serious security team.”
Essiedu, who is portraying the enigmatic but ultimately heroic Hogwarts professor first brought to life by Alan Rickman in the original “Harry Potter” films, has opened up about the racist abuse he has received from those who believe a Black man should not be playing the fictional wizard.
“I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’” he said in an interview with the Times of London. “The reality is that if I look at Instagram, I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’”
“[N]obody should have to encounter this for doing their job … And I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t affect me emotionally,” Essiedu added.
This is not the first time that fans of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World novels expressed outrage over the casting of a Black actor in an adaptation. There was a similar outcry in 2016 when Noma Dumezweni was cast to play Hermione Granger in the original London production of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
It’s also not a situation unique to “Harry Potter.” Racist vitriol has been hurled toward actors in other genre franchises, including fantasy shows such as “House of the Dragon” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” as well as those involved in “Star Wars” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Bloys also told Deadline in an interview published Wednesday that they had “anticipated there would be a lot of interest in all of [the actors], and interest can tip over into more unpleasant and aggressive behavior.”
“We talked to them about what to expect, what to expect on social media and how we handle it, but any kind of security that’s needed is an unfortunate aspect of doing IP shows,” he said. “We just try to be mindful and monitor it.”
Essiedu also told the Times of London that “the [racist] abuse fuels” him.
“[It] makes me more passionate about making this character my own, because I think of how I felt as a kid,” he said. “I would imagine myself at Hogwarts on broomsticks, and the idea that a kid like me can see themselves represented in that world? That’s motivation to not be intimidated by someone saying they’d rather I died instead of doing work I’m going to be really proud of.”
It was no surprise when Joe Kent showed up on Tucker Carlson’s podcast a day after quitting his counterterrorism job in President Trump’s administration. Here was a top official who resigned to protest the war with Iran turning to right-wing media’s leading critic of the conflict.
“The Israelis drove the decision to take this action,” Kent said in Wednesday’s interview.
But before long, the conversation moved in a different direction as Kent nodded to conspiracy theories that pro-Israel forces were behind the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I’m saying there are unanswered questions,” Kent said.
The conversation encapsulated two schisms within the Republican Party and the right-wing media system, both of which have reached high into the national security establishment of the Trump administration.
There’s a foreign policy debate over the wisdom of Trump’s war with Iran and the future of the United States’ longstanding alliance with Israel.
But there also are fears that the focus on Israel is the leading edge of an antisemitic fringe that has gained ground by portraying Jews as shadowy manipulators, echoing some of history’s most hateful tropes.
At the center of both issues is Carlson, a former Fox News host who remains influential among conservatives. He was previously denounced for hosting Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and antisemite, on his podcast last year. During the interview, Fuentes complained about “organized Jewry in America.”
On Wednesday, Carlson was sharply critical about Israel, saying “its lobbying in the United States pressured the president.”
Matt Brooks, president of the Republican Jewish Coalition, described Kent’s appearance on Carlson’s podcast as “part of an ongoing problem.”
He noted that his group opposed Kent’s nomination as director of the National Counterterrorism Center because of ties to right-wing extremism. Trump ignored those concerns even though, as he said after Kent’s resignation, “I always thought he was weak on security” and “I didn’t know him well.”
Kent’s resignation letter trafficked in antisemitic conspiracy theories while raising concerns about the war with Iran.
He blamed “high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media” for encouraging conflict. Indeed, Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Trump to join forces in an attack on Iran.
But Kent also went further, saying it’s “the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war.” He also said his wife, a Navy cryptologist who was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria, died “in a war manufactured by Israel.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, described the letter as “virulent antisemitism.” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, said “scapegoating Israel isn’t just a tired antisemitic trope — it’s anti-American.”
Kent has previously rejected all forms of “racism and bigotry.”
Trump has said nothing about Kent’s remarks on Israel. He previously disputed the idea that Israel pushed him toward war, saying, “I might have forced their hand.”
Questions about Israeli influence are not unique to right-wing circles. Progressives have also faced accusations of antisemitism for their response to the war in Gaza, which began with an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
But it’s been a widening fault line within the Republican Party, which has been a bedrock of support for Israel over the years. Conservatives are still reckoning with the fallout from Carlson’s interview with Fuentes.
For example, board members and other staff members resigned from the Heritage Foundation after the think tank’s president defended Carlson.
Trump tried to sidestep the issue, declining to criticize Fuentes and praising Carlson for having “said good things about me over the years.” The president previously dined with Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., between his two terms, and Carlson has continued to visit the White House.
Mort Klein, president of the conservative Jewish group the Zionist Organization of America, said Wednesday that he supports Trump but “I’d like him to do more” about antisemitism.
“I want him to be stronger on those issues,” Klein said.
Carlson has said that he is not antisemitic. But he has said that anti-Jewish hate is less pervasive in society than bias against white people and that some Christian politicians who were fervent supporters of Israel were guilty of heresy.
The Iran war is poised to continue fracturing right-wing media.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, called Carlson’s Fuentes interview “an act of moral imbecility” and accused the host of misleading his audience with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.
He’s also feuded with Candace Owens, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Dennis Prager, a conservative commentator, wrote in an open letter to Owens that “I cannot think of anyone in public life engendering as much suspicion of Jews, Zionism and Israel as you.”
Megyn Kelly, like Carlson a former Fox News Channel anchor now helming her own independent media empire, said the war was sold to the American people by “Israel firsters, like Mark Levin.” Levin, a radio and Fox personality, has been among Trump’s most fervent supporters of the war.
Levin, for his part, called Kelly an “emotionally unhinged, lewd and petulant wreck.”
It promises to continue.
Levin posted on social media an invitation to Kent to appear on his show in the coming days.
“Sure,” Kent replied. “Let’s go.”
Beaumont and Bauder write for the Associated Press.
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick praises the “great” connection between Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes, after the duo combined for the opening goal in their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa
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Chelsea manager Liam Rosenoir says his team’s huddle in the centre circle of the pitch is a “show of respect” to each other rather than to annoy the opposition, after referee Paul Tierney disrupts the pre-match ritual in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle.
MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle
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Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler believes his side “controlled the game” in a “deserved” win as they beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to move up to 10th in the Premier League.
MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Sunderland 0-1 Brighton
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Iranian state TV video shows the Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i speaking to a reporter when a blast, described by officials as an Israeli strike, hit near the al-Quds Day rally in Tehran. Despite the explosion, he continued marching with crowds taking part in the annual pro-Palestinian demonstration.
Published On 13 Mar 202613 Mar 2026
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