From The Hill
The Italian government on Friday imposed border checks with Spain in response to an influx of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta. The move will impact flights and maritime transport and temporarily suspends Spain’s Schengen border-free rights, an agreement that allows citizens of European member states to move…
WNBA star Brittney Griner has filed for divorce after eight years of marriage.
This post was originally published on NBC News.
Diane Keaton’s massive mansion has found a new owner … for a casual $23 million … TMZ has learned. Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … the sprawling 9,219-square-foot property went under contract on Friday — meaning they’ve found…
From TMZ.
This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup wasn’t perfect, but it was still pretty great. Legions of fans got to experience the US (and Canada, and Mexico), and Americans embraced visiting teams in turn. There was lots of extremely good football (soccer), and Cinderella teams like Cape Verde had a chance to shine.
Not even two weeks later, though, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is doing his best to kill the good vibes. He has a new proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity, attempting to capitalize on an enormously profitable tournament — with record revenue of about $15 billion in this year’s edition.
Specifically, his plan would create a new entity to run the World Cup, with FIFA the majority owner. Up to 21 percent of the company would be offered to private shareholders, in a major departure from FIFA’s current, ostensibly non-profit model.
And so far, nearly everyone hates it. Many of FIFA’s 211 member associations are in outright revolt; one of its six regional confederations, UEFA, which represents European football, has threatened to boycott FIFA events if the plan goes forward. “We will never lend this model our legitimacy,” UEFA wrote in a statement released Thursday.
UEFA is not the only governing body in football that has condemned Infantino’s plan to bring private money into the World Cup, though it has led the charge. Concacaf — which represents North and Central America, plus the Caribbean — and the Asian Football Confederation have also come out against the idea.
Collectively, they make up nearly two-thirds of FIFA’s member associations, which creates a real math problem for Infantino — the plan would require approval from a majority of FIFA members to take effect.
The intensity of the backlash has raised questions about Infantino’s future. As the Athletic reported on Thursday, he’s up for reelection as FIFA president in March, but he may no longer have an easy time of it. On Friday, FIFA’s chief operating officer described the proposal as “the project of one person” — Infantino — in a statement coming out against it.
For now, though, FIFA and Infantino say they plan to forge ahead with a “consultation period” for the plan. It sets up an even higher-stakes version of the battle over “hydration breaks” — which double as lucrative commercial breaks — that Roger Bennett, founder of the soccer podcast Men in Blazers, described to Vox in June.
“Ultimately,” Bennett told Vox, “the whole game of football is currently in a battle between its roots and the commercial imperative that comes from being as big as it is. … It is the last megaphone which is faintly audible around the world. And when you have something that big, it becomes deeply desirous to make as much money as you can out of it.”
➨ Bail on plans the right way. If you’re currently staring down a weekend engagement you’d rather not attend, Vox’s Allie Volpe has some pointers on canceling without injury or offense. For starters, you can only bail on casual events with someone you either know very well or not that well at all. And you should offer an honest excuse before attempting to reschedule.
Source: Vox.
At least two chartered flights carrying up to 150 greyhounds are set to fly to Australia’s eastern states, the BBC understands.
Source: BBC.
At least two chartered flights carrying up to 150 greyhounds are set to fly to Australia’s eastern states, the BBC understands.
Source: BBC.
SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points for Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 5 Episode 7. With only one episode to go for the series finale of the hit Starz crime drama Power Book II: Raising Kanan, there’s no doubt that there are plenty of bodies yet to be piled up. In last night’s episode—the […]
Source: Deadline.
After President Donald Trump announced Thursday what U.S. and Board of Peace officials described as a pathway to a potential agreement that would disarm Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, a senior White House official told MS NOW that public agreement from Israel is the next and final step to completing the deal.
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump said in a Thursday evening post on Truth Social. “This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.”
U.S. and Board of Peace officials, speaking to reporters on a call Thursday night, said the proposal outlines a “road map” and not a finalized agreement. Officials said the proposed framework describes a path to several goals: the full disarmament of Hamas, the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian-run government and the rebuilding of Gaza.
It remained unclear Friday whether Israel would officially accepted the terms, as Trump’s claims of a “historic agreement” on Thursday suggested. A senior White House official with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed Hamas’ acceptance of the deal to MS NOW, although the official said their agreement is entirely conditional on Israel’s withdrawal from the nearly 70% of Gaza it currently occupies.
According to The Associated Press, Hamas posted a statement to Telegram that said it would relinquish its weapons only after the establishment of a Palestinian state (a condition Israel’s current government has rejected). The group, according to the New York Times, also referred only to “heavy weapons,” while the framework released by the Board of Peace calls for armed Palestinian groups to surrender all weapons, with an exception for registered personal firearms.
Deep distrust between the two sides still lingers in the shadow of a vast death toll— an estimated 2,000 Israelis and more than 70,000 Palestinians — in more than two years of fighting since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
Although Israel participated in the negotiations, according to the White House official, the country has not publicly agreed to the framework or the terms of Hamas’ disarmament, which negotiators consider the next and final step in the deal, the official said.
A senior Hamas official told CNN that Hamas had reached an agreement with the Board of Peace to surrender its weapons so long as Israel adheres to the October ceasefire agreement and “an International Stabilization Force” is deployed to Gaza.
“The agreement is a package,” the official, Ghazi Hamad, told CNN. “We will not begin any weapons-related steps until Israel implements these commitments. Frankly, if Israel does not implement them, we will not proceed.”
The White House official told MS NOW that U.S.-allied Arab countries formed a coalition to pressure Hamas to accept the deal after eight months of negotiations. Hamas has also agreed to reveal the locations of all of its tunnels in Gaza, the officials said, referring to the vast underground network that facilitated militant operations and provided weapons storage during the war with Israel.
In exchange, Hamas will be granted full and complete amnesty, the official said. The technical committee propped up by the United Nations as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal will be in charge of governing the Gaza Strip in the coming months, the official added.
Approximately 5,000 soldiers from more than 13 countries, including Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia, and about 20,000 police officers will be deployed to Gaza to help oversee the disarmament, the official said.
Saudi Arabia, a founding member of the Board of Peace, praised the framework in a statement Friday in which it reaffirmed its support for implementing the U.N.-backed peace plan.
“The agreement should mark the beginning of a broader political process,” the statement said, adding that the plan should enable “peaceful coexistence between the State of Palestine and Israel on the basis of mutual recognition.”
The disarmament of Hamas has held up the U.S.-brokered peace plan, which has largely stalled since it was announced in October and the final hostages were freed. Disarmament has been a precondition for moving to the next phases of the plan, which include providing Board of Peace funds for the reconstruction and rebuilding of Gaza.
Under the proposal, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza would occur in phases under a timetable that has not yet been finalized, according to U.S. and Board of Peace officials. They also claimed that Israel would comply because it had already agreed to the 20-point plan — a multistep blueprint the Trump administration unveiled last September for ending the war in Gaza and establishing a postwar governing and security framework.
Officials said negotiators expect to refine the details of the disarmament implementation over the next several weeks, with progress beginning within one to two months. They estimated the full decommissioning of weapons in Gaza could take roughly 200 to 350 days, and said the timeline could be derailed if the steps described in the road map are not implemented.
“If Phase 1 gets blocked, then we don’t move to Phase 2,” one of the officials said. “It is based on phases and each phase needs to be verified and confirmed.”
Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the executive panel of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, helped to negotiate the deal, the White House official said. Blair worked quietly behind the scenes to “stand up” the short-term temporary governing body.
The officials also repeatedly tried to temper expectations on the outcome of the plan.
“It doesn’t mean we will achieve things,” one of the officials said. “It means we will have a chance to achieve things.”
Julia Jester contributed to this report.
This story has been updated to include Ghazi Hamad’s comment.
The post Trump announces Hamas disarmament ‘agreement,’ officials stress terms not final appeared first on MS NOW.
From MS Now.
The Met Costume Institute will dedicate its 2027 spring show to the work of legendary designer John Galliano.
Source: Vogue
“Alaskan Bush People” star Gabriel Brown and his wife, Raquell, have separated after seven years of marriage … TMZ has learned. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Raquell left Gabe sometime in the spring. Their relationship had been under…
From TMZ.
Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
This post was originally published on NBC News.
Raunchy comedy I Want Your Sex starring Olivia Wilde as an artsy dominatrix and Cooper Hoffman as her muse is spinning some R-rated counter programming to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Gregg Araki film from Magnolia Pictures, which world premiered at Sundance (see Deadline review), hits about 700 theaters. It’s Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh at […]
Source: Deadline.