Ex-Mail on Sunday editor denies misleading inquiry over private investigator

Peter Wright confronted in high court over evidence on newspaper’s relationship with convicted investigator

The former editor of the Mail on Sunday has denied claims he misled the Leveson inquiry into press standards over the newspaper’s involvement with corrupt private investigators.

Appearing at the high court, Peter Wright, who edited the Sunday newspaper from 1998 to 2012, said some of the allegations aimed at the title – which include landline tapping and bugging – were “just incredible”.

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US evacuates staff from Lebanon embassy amid tensions with Iran

US state department official says it’s ‘prudent’ to reduce their footprint to essential personnel

Washington has evacuated dozens of non-essential personnel from its embassy in Lebanon as US ships and warplanes have been positioned in the region for a potential strike against Iran in the coming days.

The diplomatic drawdown followed reports that dozens of US personnel had been evacuated through Lebanon’s Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport to protect them from a possible Iranian counterattack if tensions between the US and Iran escalate into war. Roughly 30-50 US embassy personnel have left the country, estimates suggest.

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Nancy Pelosi-palooza: Democrats praise lawmaker’s career at California convention

Officials at California Democratic convention celebrated the former House speaker’s advocacy as she prepares to retire

It was a “Nancy Pelosi-palooza” in San Francisco over the weekend, as thousands of California Democrats gathered in her beloved city by the bay, a place the former speaker of the House has represented in Congress for nearly four decades. They were there to attend the state party’s annual convention – but with Pelosi retiring at the end of the term, it was also a days-long celebration of a woman many Democrats regard as a living legend.

A video salute during the general session charted her rise from a stay-at-home mom to the US House of Representatives, where she shattered the marble ceiling and became the first – and to this day only – woman to wield the speaker’s gavel. Tote bags were emblazoned with her silhouette in every color of the rainbow – a nod to her trailblazing advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. It also included one of her favorite aphorisms: “We don’t agonize, we organize.”

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GoFundMe for actor Eric Dane’s family raises more than $415,000 after his death

Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria actor died on Thursday less than a year after he publicly revealed ALS diagnosis

A GoFundMe campaign meant to provide financial support for the widow and daughters of Eric Dane after the actor’s recent death had raised more than $415,000 as of Monday.

The fundraising platform over the weekend had temporarily paused the “In Honor of Eric Dane” campaign while it underwent a standard review. But by Monday, GoFundMe said it had verified the effort and listed the Grey’s Anatomy star’s family as the beneficiary.

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Homeland security reverses course on TSA PreCheck suspension

DHS official reportedly says Global Entry program would remain halted amid partial government shutdown

The Department of Homeland Security partially reversed course Sunday morning on an order that had suspended the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry airport security programs as a result of staffing shortages caused by the partial government shutdown.

“TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” the Transportation Security Administration said in a social media post. “As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly.”

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

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US group allegedly ran fake law firm and court proceedings to scam immigrants

Federal prosecutors have arraigned four people in New Jersey, with a fifth at large in Colombia

Four people were arraigned on Saturday in New Jersey for allegedly posing as immigration attorneys and officials to scam immigrants, the justice department said.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, who announced the arrests on Friday, said the group pretended to run a law firm, and staged fake court proceedings, in an elaborate scheme to defraud people seeking legal help for their immigration cases.

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Giant tortoises return to Galápagos island after nearly 200 years

The native species was driven to extinction by sailors in the 1800s. Now, 158 juvenile giant tortoises have been reintroduced to the island.

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Nasa to launch historic Artemis II moon mission on 6 March after delays

Administrator Jared Isaacman cites ‘major progress’ since earlier discovery of liquid hydrogen leaking from rocket

Nasa said on Friday it was planning to launch its delayed Artemis II moon mission on 6 March after successfully completing a fueling test that had caused it to stand down earlier this month.

Jared Isaacman, the space agency’s newly confirmed administrator, cited “major progress” since the original so-called wet dress rehearsal in which engineers discovered liquid hydrogen leaking from the space launch system (SLS) rocket on its Florida launchpad at Cape Canaveral.

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US build-up of warships and fighter jets tracked near Iran

A second US aircraft carrier appears to be heading towards the Middle East, as Washington puts pressure on Iran.

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Women in California prison accuse staff cook of rape and urge criminal charges

Exclusive: After investigators concluded an abuse incident occurred, women speak out for first time – ‘I was so scared to tell anybody’

Two women incarcerated in a California prison are calling for the prosecution of a staff cook who they say sexually assaulted them.

The women say Marcus Johnson, a former supervisory cook at the California Institution for Women (CIW), raped them in 2020 while they were working for him in kitchen jobs. The women, who were making under 40 cents an hour, said in federal civil complaints he threatened disciplinary action if they reported him.

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