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Lead Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 23 February circulated an unclassified cable directing U.S. chiefs of mission in the Middle East to refrain from public statements, interviews or social media activity that might inflame regional audiences or complicate U.S. policy. The memo came amid last-ditch negotiations in Geneva between U.S. envoys and Iranian representatives … Read more

Paramount has engaged screenwriter Max Landis to develop a treatment for a feature adaptation of the Hasbro brand G.I. Joe, while separately commissioning Danny McBride to write a different draft, sources say. The dual-track development is intended to give the studio multiple creative routes for a major franchise property; one studio source described the two … Read more

Facing a unexpectedly difficult campaign at home, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delayed approval of a critical European Union loan for Ukraine and opposed a 20th package of sanctions, turning what Brussels hoped would be a show of solidarity into a public rupture. The objection came as the EU moved to approve a €90 billion … Read more

Lead: On February 18, 2026, Radiohead publicly condemned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s use of a choral version of the band’s song ‘Let Down’ in a social-media video posted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The group said the use was unauthorized and demanded the video be taken down, delivering an expletive-laced rebuke … Read more

Anthropic has publicly rejected a Pentagon demand to remove limits on how the company’s AI model Claude can be used, setting up a confrontation that reached a Friday 5:01 p.m. ET deadline in Washington. The company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said his team cannot in good conscience accept contract language that would allow safeguards to be … Read more

Feb. 27, 2026 Lead Two transgender residents of Kansas asked a state court on Friday to block a newly enacted law that, as of Thursday, retroactively invalidates driver’s licenses and altered birth certificates whose gender markers do not match sex at birth. The plaintiffs, suing under pseudonyms, seek a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction … Read more

Lead: The 2025–26 Champions League bracket is set after the round-of-16 draw on Feb. 27, 2026, laying out two distinct routes to the final in Budapest’s Puskás Arena at the end of May. First-leg ties are scheduled for March 10–11, with return legs on March 17–18. The draw places heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Manchester … Read more

A Columbia University student detained earlier Thursday was released after Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters he had raised the case with President Donald Trump during an unscheduled meeting and Trump said she would be freed “imminently.” Ellie Aghayeva posted that afternoon she was in a car heading home and that she was “safe and OK” … Read more

Updated Feb. 27, 2026 Netflix announced on Thursday that it will not match Paramount Skydance’s latest all-cash proposal for Warner Bros. Discovery, effectively ending Netflix’s pursuit of a deal it had agreed to in December. Netflix had negotiated to buy part of Warner Bros. Discovery at $27.75 a share — an $82.7 billion valuation — … Read more

Lead: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel on Monday and Tuesday next week amid rising U.S.-Iran tensions after nuclear negotiations in Geneva failed to produce a breakthrough on Thursday. President Donald Trump said Friday he is “not happy” with the talks and warned that Iran “cannot have nuclear weapons,” while U.S. … Read more

Lead On Friday, NASA announced a sudden revision to the Artemis timeline: it will insert an extra crewed test flight in low-Earth orbit before attempting a lunar landing. The mission formerly called Artemis III will now serve as a crewed docking test with a prototype lunar lander in 2027, while a moon touchdown is being … Read more

Sky-watchers worldwide have a chance to observe six planets visible in the sky on Saturday, weather permitting, NASA says. The event — often called a planetary parade — is caused by the relative positions of the planets along their orbits around the Sun, a Marshall Space Flight Center planetary scientist explained. Mercury, Venus, Saturn and … Read more

Lead Carson Beck told reporters he would be thrilled if the Cleveland Browns used a pick on him after meeting with the team this offseason. Beck, who spent three seasons working under new Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken at Georgia, completed a formal interview with Cleveland and said the relationship with Monken makes the Browns … Read more

Lead Former US president Bill Clinton testified behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee on his past interactions with financier Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday in Chappaqua, New York. Lawmakers from both parties pressed him about documented flights and contacts as the committee seeks clarity on Epstein’s network. Clinton said he “saw nothing, did nothing … Read more

Lead: On 27 February 2026, Paramount Skydance emerged as the winning bidder for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) after Netflix withdrew its $83bn offer, prompting alarm among staff at CBS News and CNN. Employees at both newsrooms are worried about large-scale layoffs, the consolidation of duplicated services and potential editorial shifts if regulators and shareholders approve … Read more