Avalanche in Sierra Nevada killed at least eight people, including six who frequently went on ski trips together Six of the eight people who died after a major avalanche swept through the Castle Peak area of the Sierra Nevada this week have been identified, according to multiple reports. The identified victims – Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt – were part of a close-knit group who frequently went on ski trips together, a spokesperson for the families told the San Francisco Chronicle. The women and their families “cherished time together in the mountains”, the spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Shawn DeRemer, husband of Lori Chavez-DeRemer, reportedly accused by at least two female staff members The husband of Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Donald Trump’s labor secretary, has reportedly been barred from the labor department’s headquarters in Washington after at least two female staff members accused him of sexually assaulting them, the New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The allegations against Shawn DeRemer come as Chavez-DeRemer is under fire over allegations of misconduct. Continue reading...

Dane died on Thursday afternoon, 10 months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a type of motor neurone disease Eric Dane, an actor in hit shows Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy, has died aged 53, less than a year after he publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Dane died on Thursday afternoon, his representatives announced in a statement. He first revealed in April that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a type of motor neurone disease. Continue reading...

Visit was ostensibly to promote economy, but US president focused on repeated, unverified claims of voter fraud Donald Trump forcefully defended his tariffs on Thursday, claiming “tariffs are my favorite word in the dictionary” and promoting their use to empower American manufacturing at an event in north-west Georgia. “Without tariffs, this country would be in so much trouble right now,” Trump said during his remarks at Coosa Steel Corporation, a steel-processing and distribution firm in Rome, Georgia. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Anthony Albanese says arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after life of ‘absolute privilege’ will be watched closely in Australia Anthony Albanese has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace”, but says the latest crisis facing the British royal family won’t prompt another referendum on Australia becoming a republic. Andrew, the brother of King Charles III, was arrested overnight on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Continue reading...

The court in Innsbruck handed Thomas P a five-month suspended prison sentence and a €9,400 fine over death of woman named as Kerstin G An Austrian court has found a 37-year-old amateur mountaineer guilty of manslaughter over his girlfriend’s death near Austria’s highest summit, after he left her to fetch help when she could not go on. The case is unusual because while climbing accidents are common, prosecutions over them are rare. Continue reading...

European Council president António Costa stops short of setting a date, but says we ‘cannot lose the momentum.’ What we know on day 1,458 The European Union is eager to begin Ukraine’s EU membership talks “as soon as possible”, European Council president António Costa has said, although he stopped short of setting a date. The US plan for an end to the war in Ukraine calls for Kyiv’s EU accession by January 2027, though experts generally consider that date highly unrealistic. “I cannot say if it’s in 2027 or even in 2026 or later, but what is important is we cannot lose the momentum,” Costa told reporters during a visit to Oslo. The Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine is operating on its sole remaining outside power line after losing a backup line more than a week ago, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday. In a statement, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the Ferrosplavna-1 electric line went down on 10 February “reportedly as a result of military activity”. The plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, was now operating with outside power only from the Dniprovska power line, he said. More than 1,000 Kenyans have been lured to fight for Russia in its war with Ukraine, according to an intelligence report to the Kenyan parliament that highlights the scale of a Russian operation taking African men to the frontline. The majority leader of Kenya’s national assembly, Kimani Ichung’wah, said “rogue recruitment agencies and individuals in Kenya” were continuing to send Kenyan nationals to fight in the conflict. The figure of more than 1,000 individuals is a significant increase on the number given in a statement by Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry in November, which said that more than 200 Kenyans had travelled to fight in the war. Poland’s defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has told the AFP news agency that European allies – especially Italy, France and Spain – need to invest more in their defence spending. “The more Europe invests, the more seriously and respectfully America will treat us in these areas,” he said. Poland, which borders Russia and its close ally Belarus, has heavily ramped up its defence spending since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Sweden has announced 12.9bn kronor ($1.4bn) in military aid for Ukraine, focused primarily on air defence capabilities. Defence minister Pal Jonson said that the military aid package was “the third largest so far that Sweden has delivered to Ukraine.” Belarus, a close ally of Russia rarely invited to international gatherings, has said it had intended to attend the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, but failed to receive the necessary visas. Belarus has long been subject to western sanctions over its human rights record and measures were intensified after president Alexander Lukashenko allowed his country’s territory to be used for Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Foreign minister Maxim Ryzhenkov had been due to attend the meeting in Washington, his ministry said, adding “what kind of peace and what kind of sequence of steps are we talking about if the organisers cannot even complete basic formalities for us to take part?” Continue reading...

LA County says the gaming company does not carry out adequate moderation and its age-verification systems are not fit for purpose, which Roblox denies Officials in Los Angeles have said they are suing Roblox, alleging the popular online platform exposes children to sexual content, exploitation and online predators. In a lawsuit, Los Angeles County said the company does not carry out adequate moderation and its age-verification systems are not fit for purpose. Continue reading...

Tottenham’s Tudor age begins with a north London derby, Guardiola ponders Haaland’s role and Wirtz has a chance to flummox Forest Aston Villa, third in the Premier League, chasing Champions League qualification and the Europa League title, will be expected to beat Leeds on home soil. But Unai Emery’s side have struggled of late in games where the pressure is on and the onus is upon them to be the aggressor. After exiting the FA Cup to Newcastle, Marco Bizot’s moment of madness all but ending their hopes of reaching the fifth round, it is back to league duty. They eked out an ugly win over Brighton, just the kind of result they would be happy with this weekend, but recently they also lost at home to 10-man Brentford and to Everton. Before that they drew at lowly Crystal Palace, though Oliver Glasner’s side have been a bogey team for Villa. This week Bizot apologised for his rush of blood. Which Villa will turn up against Leeds? Ben Fisher Aston Villa v Leeds, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT) Brentford v Brighton, Saturday 3pm Chelsea v Burnley, Saturday 3pm West Ham v Bournemouth, Saturday 5.30pm Continue reading...

F1 chief executive ‘is listening to drivers’ complaints’ He admits the rules could change if racing isn’t exciting Stefano Domenicali, the chief executive of Formula One, has issued an urgent plea for calm after the damning driver criticism of the sport’s new regulations that has emerged during pre-season testing. But the Italian conceded that F1 is prepared to intervene and enforce changes should the racing prove disappointing. There has been a clamour of discontent over how the new regulations will play out, particularly the role of energy management rather than driving flat-out. Not least from the four-time champion Max Verstappen, who dismissed the new rules as being “anti-racing” and insinuated that he might leave F1 if he no longer enjoyed driving the new cars. Continue reading...

This documentary looks at the 2005 slaying of the majestic head of two lion prides in Zimbabwe, by a trophy-hunting American dentist. Sadly it raises more questions than it answers There are a lot of unanswered – possibly unanswerable – questions in the air at the moment. Questions such as what prompts a husband to drug his wife and, for a decade, invite strange men over to his house to rape her while she lies unconscious in the marital bed? Or: what kind of a person do you have to be to hang around with a convicted child sexual offender and billionaire who is exercising his perversions in plain sight, even if you are not yourself fully involved with said perversions? Or: if a year into a presidency you already have citizens being killed in the street by uniformed thugs barely a notch above a militia, what happens next? It’s almost a relief to have to turn away and consider for a moment an older, slightly smaller question; namely, what makes someone want to kill an animal for sport? Not for food, not in defence of a home or family or livestock, just for fun. Just to be able to say they did it and take a picture with the corpse to prove it. Continue reading...

Virginia governor is seen as a model for the party to win back power in midterm elections Virginia’s governor Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, elevating a pragmatic voice whose affordability-focused gubernatorial campaign is seen as a model for the party to win back power in the November midterm elections. The Democratic rebuttal will immediately follow Trump’s address to Congress on 24 February. Spanberger, a former undercover CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year, resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican. She won the race by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families. Shrai Popat contributed reporting Continue reading...

US citizen George Retes was held without access to family, an attorney, or information about the charges against him An army veteran detained by federal immigration agents in southern California during his work commute in July has filed a lawsuit against the federal government. According to the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday with the help of the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, George Retes was held in a detention center for three days without access to his family, an attorney, or any information about the charges against him, in what the suit argues was an unconstitutional detention. Continue reading...

Jeffrey Damnit says actor punched him and second man on Tuesday, calling both ‘faggot’ repeatedly One of the men whom Shia LaBeouf allegedly battered and insulted with a homophobic slur on Mardi Gras morning in New Orleans on Tuesday, leading to his arrest, would like to see the actor face hate crime charges. Jeffrey Damnit, who dresses in drag and was in makeup at the time of the encounter with LaBeouf, said on Thursday that the behavior attributed to the Transformers film franchise star was “a complete slap in the face to any alternative-culture person”. Continue reading...

Guardian review of US justice department files reveals Epstein interacted with six CBP officers. The officer investigated denied any knowledge of trafficking underage girls Federal investigators examined Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer who worked at the St Thomas airport to which Epstein regularly flew on his private planes before traveling by boat or helicopter to his private island, newly released documents reveal. As part of that investigation, which did not result in any charges, investigators also issued subpoenas related to three additional CBP officers working at the Cyril E King Airport (STT) on St Thomas, documents show. The Guardian also identified two other CBP officers on St Thomas and in Florida who were in contact with Epstein, based on emails and text messages between Epstein, his staff and the officers. It does not appear the FBI ever investigated those two officers. Continue reading...

20-year-old delivers near-flawless free skate Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai win silver and bronze Alysa Liu completed a stunning comeback to competitive figure skating by winning the first Olympic women’s figure skating gold medal for the United States in 24 years on Thursday night. The 20-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly four years ago uncertain if she’d ever return, delivered a career-best long program to overtake Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. Skating in a shimmering gold dress to Donna Summer’s MacArthur Park Suite, Liu cleanly landed all seven of her triple jumps, including three in combination, and drew a standing ovation before finishing with 226.79 points overall. Continue reading...

Government plans legislation giving landowners and tenants rights to cull deer to protect crops and property It will be much easier to shoot deer in England under government plans that aim to curb the damage the animals are doing to the country’s woodlands. Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, plans to bring forward new legislation to give landowners and tenants legal rights to shoot deer to protect crops and property. Continue reading...

Olympic champion breaks indoor 800m mark in France In great form for world indoor championships in March Britain’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has obliterated the world indoor 800m record, which has stood since 2002, by nearly a second in a stunning performance in Liévin. Hodgkinson had made no secret that she believed the record of 1min 55.82sec, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on the same day Hodgkinson was born – 3 March 2002 – was there for the taking after a prep race at the British championships last week. Continue reading...

Attorney general JB McCuskey, a Republican, calls case the first of its kind by a government agency against company West Virginia’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing Apple of allowing its iCloud service to become a vehicle for distributing child sexual abuse material. The state alleges that the company facilitated the spread of child sexual abuse material by declining to deploy tools that scan photos and videos and detect such material in iCloud users’ collections. Continue reading...

It is just as well Martin O’Neill wanted no celebration of his 1,000th game in professional management. Stuttgart used the occasion of their visit to Glasgow to demonstrate the chasm between themselves and Celtic. Men against Bhoys. Next week’s return leg in this Europa League playoff feels a formality. O’Neill’s selection in Germany will be intriguing, given lingering battles on the domestic front. Celtic’s on field regression is the most stark of things, given a year ago they were frightening Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Continue reading...

‘Make America Safe Again’ banner put up in striking symbol of president’s control over top US law-enforcement agency A large banner featuring Donald Trump’s face was hung on the exterior of justice department headquarters on Thursday in a physical display of the president’s efforts to exert power over the law enforcement agency that once investigated him. While Trump banners have been hung outside other agencies across Washington, the decision to place one on the storied justice department building amounted to a striking symbol of the erosion of the department’s tradition of independence from White House control. Continue reading...

Hollywood scion and talent agent exchanged sexual emails with Epstein associate Casey Wasserman was born into Hollywood royalty, and for much of his life – until the release of the Epstein files brought his world crashing down – he appeared as formidable and untouchable as the entertainment industry moguls of old. He wasn’t just the man charged with organizing the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles – a position he still holds, despite widespread calls for his resignation. He was a consummate power broker, someone who controlled the careers of prominent musicians, actors and athletes through the talent agency named after him, cultivated relationships in local and national politics, raised money for key election contests, endowed civic buildings and, through his family wealth, gave lavishly to social causes. Continue reading...

Jess Park provided a timely demonstration of her qualities as her superb, long-range goal capped off a confident individual performance that helped Manchester United progress to the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals with a resounding win over Atlético Madrid. The German champions, Bayern Munich, will be Marc Skinner’s team’s quarter-final opponents, between 23 March and 1 April, with United reaching the last eight for the first time. That significant landmark for the club was fittingly accompanied by a special goal from Park, whose curling strike completed a 5-0 aggregate victory and boosted her chances of starting for England in March. Continue reading...

Men’s team edge tense semi-final battle 8-5 They go for gold in Saturday’s final against Canada Great Britain’s men’s team will play for the curling gold night against Canada, after they beat ­Switzerland 8-5 in an ­extraordinarily tense semi-final. The GB quartet, who only scraped through the round-robin stage because the Italians lost to the Swiss earlier in the day, had promised that they would be an entirely different proposition if they got to the knockout rounds and they were as good as their word. The Swiss had won all nine games they had played coming into this semi-final, but were soundly beaten by Bruce Mouat and his team of Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie. Continue reading...

Hull KR 30-24 Brisbane Broncos Rovers add World Club Challenge to last year’s treble Hull KR are champions of the rugby league world for the first time in their history, after holding off a late rally from the NRL premiers Brisbane Broncos to win a first World Club Challenge. Bottom of Super League as recently as 2020 and on the brink of financial ruin at the turn of the century, Rovers have emerged as one of the sport’s leading sides in recent years, culminating in an historic treble last year, their first major trophies for 40 years. Continue reading...