Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Rep Issues Statement on ‘Deranged’ Theories from British Biographer

THE RUNDOWN

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's relationship was dissected in a new book from biographer Tom Bower.

• A representative for the couple responded to Bower's claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

• It was a rare statement from Meghan and Harry on negative attention.

Meghan MarkleandPrince Harryhave responded through their spokesperson to an excerpt of a new book published inThe Timeson March 13 from author Tom Bower. Bower'snewest biography,Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family, focuses on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in some chapters, including the newly published article.

In their statement, the couple's rep criticized Bower's fixation on the Sussexes, saying his work foments "deranged conspiracy."

"Mr. Bower's commentary has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation," the spokesperson toldPeople. "This is someone who has publicly stated, 'the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life,' language that speaks for itself."

They continued, "He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met. Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him."

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Bower's 2022 bookRevengealso focused on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they retired from their lives as working members of the royal family, heading to live in Montecito, California.

In Bower's newest work, he criticizes Harry's international sporting competition for injured and sick service members,Invictus Games, questioning the legitimacy of some participants. A spokesperson for the Invictus Games Foundation also shared a statement, saying, "It is disappointing to seeThe Timesgive prominence to commentary that appears driven by a long-established agenda rather than a genuine understanding of the Invictus Games and the community it supports."

They continued to say that Bower's implications are "deeply disrespectful to the men and women the Games were created for."

"The focus should remain where it belongs—on the courage, recovery and camaraderie of those who have served," the statement concluded.

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byAlex Forten

in

March 14, 2026

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Rep Issues Statement on ‘Deranged’ Theories from British Biographer

THE RUNDOWN Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's relationship was dissected in a new book from biographer Tom ...

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Steven Spielberg shades Timothée Chalamet's ballet and opera remarks at SXSW

Steven Spielbergis weighing in on theTimothée Chalametdiscourse.

TheE.T. the Extra-Terrestrialfilmmaker made a subtle jab at theCall Me By Your Nameactor during a broader conversation about the theatrical experience withThe Big Picture's Sean Fennessy atSXSWon Friday.

"Netflixis a great company to work with, but the real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark space," Spielberg said. "It happens in movies. It happens at concerts. And it happens in ballet and opera!"

TheLincolndirector's comments prompted cheers from the crowd, who undoubtedly recognized that last statement as a response to Chalamet's recent comments about the performing arts.

During a CNN/Varietytown hall conversation withMatthew McConaugheylast month, Chalamet discussed the possibility of theatrical filmgoing become a more niche form of entertainment that is constantly on the brink of collapse.

"I've done it myself — go on a talk show and go, 'Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta keep this genre alive,'" he said. "And another part of me feels like, if people wanna see it, likeBarbie, likeOppenheimer, they're gonna go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it."

Chalamet continued, "And I don't wanna be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive,' even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore."

Though theDunestar's comments seemed to primarily stem from concern about the mainstream appeal and financial longevity of moviegoing, skeptics saw Chalamet's remarks as a dig at the value and quality of the performing arts, prompting backlash from ballet and opera performers as well as appreciators of both disciplines.

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One such responder was legendary dancerMisty Copeland, who was part of theMarty Supremepromotional campaign that saw numerous celebrities wear specialty jackets with the film's title emblazoned on the front.

"First I have to say that it's very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promotingMarty Supremewith respect to my art form," Copelandsaid. "But I think that it's important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that's not 'popular' and a part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have enduring relevance in culture."

Others who have responded to Chalamet's comments include theMetropolitan Opera,Nathan Lane,Jeopardy,Bradley Whitford,Karla Sofia Gascón, andDoja Cat(who laterretracted her criticism).

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

Elsewhere in the SXSW conversation, Spielbergrevealed that his next directorial project will be a Western. "It's gonna have horses," he promised. "There will be guns."

However, Spielberg noted that his Western will be pointedly distinct from earlier examples of the genre."There'll be no tropes, I can just tell you that," he said. "There are gonna be no stereotypes, no tropes."

Reporting by Tiffany Kelly and Selena Schorken.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAlex Forten

in

March 14, 2026

Steven Spielberg shades Timothée Chalamet's ballet and opera remarks at SXSW

Steven Spielbergis weighing in on theTimothée Chalametdiscourse. TheE.T. the Extra-Terrestrialfilmmaker made a...

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Russian strike on the Kyiv region kills 4, with peace talks stalled

KYIV, Ukraine — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 15 overnight into Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration for the Ukrainian capital.

Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a social media post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyysaid the main target for the overnight strikes was "the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region." He said Russia launched around 430 drones of various types during the night, as well as 68 missiles.

Russia's Defense Ministryon Saturday said the nighttime strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities serving Ukraine's armed forces, as well as military airfields.

The strikes came days after the U.S. postponedpeace talks between Russia and Ukrainescheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.

As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no action to support its ally. Moscow's failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ouster of formerSyrian ruler Bashar al-Assadand January's U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leaderNicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence — but the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.

Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope that the Mideast war will detract attention from Ukraine and deplete Western arsenals.

Zelenskyy on Saturday called on Kyiv's Western partners to pay "one hundred percent attention" to the need to boost the production of air defense missiles.

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"Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine," he said in a post on social media.

"We must be fully aware of the real level of the threat and prepare accordingly, namely: in Europe, we need to develop the production of air defense missiles — especially those capable of countering ballistic threats — as well as all other systems necessary to truly protect lives," he said.

Kyiv is also awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Ukraine last year, Zelenskyy said Thursday, as countries scramble to modernize their air defenses afterthe Iran war exposed shortcomings.

Also on Thursday, Zelenskyy criticized the 30-day U.S. waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the war in the Middle East, saying it is "not the right decision" and won't help bring a stop to Russia's more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

"This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war," Zelenskyy said. "This certainly does not help peace."

Overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery and port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, local Russian officials reported.

Krasnodar authorities said three people were hurt in a strike on Port Kavkaz, a port opposite Crimea used to ship liquefied natural gas and grains. A service vessel and pier infrastructure were damaged, they said in a social media post. One person was hospitalized, they added in a separate post later.

Falling drone debris also sparked a fire at the region's Afipsky oil refinery, authorities said in a separate Telegram post. They said no one was hurt, but did not immediately comment on damage.

Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed front-line progress, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow's forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insisting Russia's invasion of its neighbor is making progress.

byAlex Forten

in

March 14, 2026

Russian strike on the Kyiv region kills 4, with peace talks stalled

KYIV, Ukraine — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 1...

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Loyer scores 19 points as No. 18 Purdue beats No. 11 Nebraska 74-58 in Big Ten tourney

CHICAGO (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 19 points, Braden Smith collected 10 more assists and No. 18 Purdue beat No. 11 Nebraska 74-58 on Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

B10 Nebraska Purdue Basketball

C.J. Cox and Oscar Cluff each had 12 points for the Boilermakers, and Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Smith set a Big Ten Tournament record and matched a career high with 16 assists in an81-68 victoryover Northwestern on Thursday. The senior guard needs 22 more assists to break Bobby Hurley's NCAA record of 1,076 in 140 games for Duke from 1989-93.

Purdue (25-8) advanced to the Big Ten semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years, bouncing back nicely after closing the regular season with four losses in six games. It will play UCLA on Saturday after the surprising Bruins held off No. 8 Michigan State for an 88-84 win.

Pryce Sandford scored 15 points forNebraska, which dropped to 6-14 all-time in the Big Ten tourney. Rienk Mast finished with 11.

Nebraska (26-6) went 10 for 31 from 3-point range and 12 for 25 from inside the arc.

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The Cornhuskers trailed 48-30 with 17 minutes left, but they trimmed the deficit to 58-50 on Cale Jacobsen's driving layup with 6:53 remaining.

The Boilermakers responded with a 14-2 run, capped by Loyer's 3 and a dunk by Cluff with 3:26 to go. Cox also connected from long range during the decisive stretch.

Purdue beat Nebraska80-77in overtime in their regular-season meeting on Feb. 10. Kaufman-Renn grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in the victory, helping the Boilermakers to a 54-37 advantage on the glass.

Purdue enjoyed a 37-29 rebounding advantage this time around, and outscored Nebraska 26-18 in the paint.

Up next

Purdue lost69-67at UCLA on Jan. 20, snapping a nine-game win streak for the Boilermakers.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphere. AP college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

byAlex Forten

in

March 14, 2026

Loyer scores 19 points as No. 18 Purdue beats No. 11 Nebraska 74-58 in Big Ten tourney

CHICAGO (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 19 points, Braden Smith collected 10 more assists and No. 18 Purdue beat No. 11 Nebr...

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DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

Three Washington, D.C.-area airports have reopened after a shutdown prompted by an overheated circuit board that created a troublesome "strong odor," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced late on March 13.

"The ground stop is over and operations have resumed," Duffy said in a statement about four hours after announcing the shutdown. "Firefighters from Fauquier County and Prince William County confirm there is no danger to air traffic controllers, and they are returning to the Potomac TRACON. The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that overheated, and it was replaced."

TRACON stands for Terminal Radar Approach Control, aU.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilitywhere controllers manage aircraft within a 30 to 50-mile radius of an airport. The Potomac TRACON facility is in Northern Virginia.

The brief ground stop impacted the three major airports surrounding the nation's capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Richmond International Airport was also shut down.

Duffy announced the closures around 5:20 p.m. local time in a statement suggesting the strange smell put a halt to flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration "is working to address the source of a strong odor coming from Potomac TRACON that is impacting operations at the three airports," said Duffy, without addressing why the Richmond airport was also included.

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Travelers face flight delays amid FAA staff shortages, government shutdown

Airports involved in ground stops warned travelers to "expect residual delays" as a result.

"Airlines are once again resuming regular operations and preparing departures. Expect residual delays this evening," Baltimore-Washington airport officials said in a statement. "We appreciate the patience of passengers impacted by the delays."

Officials at Reagan told flyers to expect "significant delays" for the rest of Friday evening.

The series of shutdowns around Washington come as there are increased fears of potential terrorist attacks amid the war on Iran and amid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

On March 12, a man who lost family in Lebanon to bombings amid the war attempted to carry out a massive attack on a synagogue in Michigan. Temple security fatally shot the man after he rammed his car into the building.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

byAlex Forten

in

March 13, 2026

DC-area airports reopen after 'strong odor' caused shutdown

Three Washington, D.C.-area airports have reopened after a shutdown prompted by an overheated circuit board that created ...

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US judge revives union contract for 320,000 workers at veterans' agency

By Daniel Wiessner

March 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday reinstated a union bargaining agreement covering 320,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that the agency had canceled to carry ‌out an order from President Donald Trump.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, ‌Rhode Island, is among the most significant so far in a series of lawsuits stemming from Trump's 2025 executive order stripping most of the ​federal workforce of the ability to collectively bargain.

DuBose agreed with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers, that the VA canceled its bargaining agreement in August as retaliation for the union's opposition to Trump administration labor policies.

VA CITED NATIONAL SECURITY ROLE

In court filings, the VA claimed Trump properly exempted the agency from collective ‌bargaining because of the role it plays ⁠in maintaining national security - namely, as "the primary backup" for healthcare services required by the military during a war or national emergency.

But DuBose said the VA had provided no evidence that ⁠national security had motivated the decision to cancel the union contract, and reinstated it pending the outcome of the union's lawsuit.

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"There is zero indication from the Defendants that the termination decision would have been made or implemented without the retaliatory motive," ​wrote ​DuBose, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden.

The VA ​did not immediately respond to a request for ‌comment. The agency operates a sprawling network of hospitals and other medical facilities for veterans and has more than 400,000 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the federal government.

AFGE President Everett Kelley said the VA singled out the union for retaliation because of its opposition to cuts and other changes that the union claimed would harm veterans.

"Today's ruling holds this administration accountable and makes clear: no one can retaliate against workers for standing ‌up for their rights," Kelley said in a statement.

Trump's executive order ​exempted the VA and more than a dozen other federal agencies ​from obligations to bargain with unions. They include ​the departments of Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, and Health and Human Services.

The order applies to ‌agencies that, according to Trump, "have as a primary ​function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or ​national security work." It significantly expanded an existing exception for workers with duties implicating national security, such as federal law enforcement agents.

Trump's order has been challenged in at least three lawsuits, while unions have filed ​many more challenges to individual agencies ‌canceling bargaining agreements. Last month, a federal appeals court in San Francisco rejected a bid by AFGE ​and other unions to block Trump's order while their case proceeds.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in ​Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Rod Nickel)

byAlex Forten

in

March 13, 2026

US judge revives union contract for 320,000 workers at veterans' agency

By Daniel Wiessner March 13 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday reinstated a union bargaining agreement cove...

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Another Severe Weather Outbreak With Damaging Winds, A Few Tornadoes In Midwest, South, East Sunday and Monday

Yet another severe weather outbreak is forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East Sunday into Monday with a threat of widespread damaging winds and a few tornadoes from Texas to the East Coast.

No, this isn't the movie "Groundhog Day." For the third time this month, a rash of severe thunderstorms is in the forecast, affecting some areas that have been hit repeatedly by severe weather in one or both of the previous outbreaks fromMarch 5-8andMarch 10-12.

This latest severe outbreak will happen on the warm side of an upper Midwest blizzard, named Winter Storm Iona by The Weather Channel.

(FORECAST:Upper Midwest Blizzard This Weekend Into Monday)

Sunday

Sunday morning, at least a few severe thunderstorms could flare up on the western and northern parts of the severe area shown below.

By Sunday afternoon, severe thunderstorms will become numerous from parts of the Midwest to the South, taking the form ofa squall line, a long line of severe thunderstorms. Some embedded tornadoes and damaging winds are increasingly likely. A locally higher threat exists from Evansville, Indiana, to Memphis.

Sunday night, this squall line will then surge east across the Ohio Valley, lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley through the easternmost areas covered in severe threat in the map below.

Monday

As the cold front from the intense Great Lakes low surges east, thunderstorms with damaging winds will likely be widespread Monday across much of the East, from north Florida to the Northeast.

For now, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has highlighted the area with the highest chance of severe weather from parts of the mid-Atlantic states to the Carolinas.

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However, this damaging wind threat could extend through the Appalachians and entire Northeast from Monday morning through Monday night. It could accompany the squall line in the Northeast even if that section of the squall line is just a band of heavy rain without lightning.

Even a few tornadoes are possible Monday, either embedded in the squall line, or in any discrete rotating thunderstorms that could flare up ahead of the line.

Power outages and tree damage could be widespread in the East Monday and Monday night.

Prepare Now

- Prepare for a possible power outage,especially if it's forecast to turn coldafter the storm.

- Have multiple ways of receiving official National Weather Service watches and warnings including viasmartphoneandNOAA weather radio. Make sure alerts are enabled so you can be awakened, if sleeping.

- Know where to seek shelter when a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued. If you live in a manufactured home, a community storm shelter, a nearby home or other substantial building is the safest choice.

- Move to shelter immediately when a warning is issued. Don't waste precious seconds looking out the window.

-Take severe thunderstorm warnings as seriouslyas tornado warnings. Winds over 60 mph are capable of downing trees on vehicles, homes and buildings,an underrated dangerin high wind events.

(MORE:14 Severe Weather Safety Tips)

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.

byAlex Forten

in

March 13, 2026

Another Severe Weather Outbreak With Damaging Winds, A Few Tornadoes In Midwest, South, East Sunday and Monday

Yet another severe weather outbreak is forecast in parts of the South, Midwest and East Sunday into Monday with a thre...

Read More