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• During a heated Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand directly challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over rising Iran war costs, specifically questioning reports of a potential $200 billion additional spending request. • Gillibrand pressed Hegseth on the lack of evidence that military operations have made Americans safer, arguing the massive spending burden conflicts with domestic economic pressures and inflation affecting citizens. • Hegseth defended the campaign as a necessary and "defined mission" with strategic objectives, comparing it to long-term conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting growing Washington tension over war costs and direction.

Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick, among others, have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro Reform UK’s leading figures have repeatedly promoted a new pothole-fixing machine by the construction company JCB, while the party received £200,000 from the British digger maker, the Guardian can reveal.Several Reform politicians including Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick, Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro machine. Continue reading...

Several decades after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death, a man named Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ.

Jay Bryant’s admission came more than two decades after the rapper’s killing, but he didn’t name others involvedSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxNearly a quarter century after rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot to death, a man admitted in court Monday to a role in a killing that stymied investigators for decades.Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell. Continue reading...

Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”.Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS. Continue reading...

Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversaryOver its two centuries, acclaimed writers and artists have found inspiration at London zoo, from Edwin Landseer’s Trafalgar Square lions, to AA Milne’s naming “Winnie” after resident bear Winnipeg, and Sylvia Plath’s poem Zoo Keeper’s Wife.Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, who would become poet laureate, worked at the zoo briefly as a dish washer, an experience said to have helped fuel his inspiration for The Thought-Fox. Continue reading...

• Amazon Prime Video approved a 10-season fantasy series adaptation of Rachel Vincent's bestselling novel "The Fractured Crown" with a reported $200 million production budget. • The series stars Saoirse Ronan as the lead character and begins filming in New Zealand in September 2026, with the first season expected in 2027. • This investment positions Amazon as a major competitor to HBO's "Game of Thrones" legacy, with showrunner Beau Willimon ("House of Cards") overseeing the adaptation.