(NEW YORK) — A dangerous and unprecedented heat wave is hitting the West, with temperatures reaching 25-to-40 degrees above normal across the region.
A dozen cities recorded all-time record March temperatures on Wednesday, including 105 degrees in Palm Springs, California; 102 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona; and 94 degrees in Las Vegas.
Heat alerts are in place for 40 million Americans in the West through the weekend.
With temperatures expected to reach between 96 and 109 degrees for a widespread area over multiple days — and during a time of high tourism to the Desert Southwest — the heat may turn deadly.
The heat will spread east through the week. By Friday, the record highs may reach Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, and by Sunday, daily record highs could stretch from Los Angeles to Memphis, Tennessee.
The heat and dry weather could also increase the risk of wildfires. Red flag warnings are in place for parts of Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, where wind gusts could reach 30 to 45 mph.
Extreme heat is considered the deadliest weather-related hazard in the U.S., according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment. About 2,000 Americans die each year on average from extreme heat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Click here for what to know about staying safe in the heat.
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) arrives to testify during a confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be the secretary of Homeland Security narrowly cleared a committee vote Thursday morning with the help of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, teeing up the Oklahoma Republican’s nomination for a final vote on the Senate floor as soon as next week.
Mullin’s nomination advanced out of Senate Homeland Security Committee by a vote of 8-7. He needed a simple majority of votes to clear the committee.
After a series of contentious exchanges during Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Rand Paul, the committee’s chairman, ultimately cast a vote against Mullin in committee on Thursday. Fetterman was the only Democrat to cast a vote in his favor.
Fetterman’s vote proved to be critical for Mullin as Republicans only hold a one seat majority on the committee. Paul’s objection meant that at least one Democrat would be necessary to push Mullin over the line.
After the vote, Fetterman said he approached the Mullin vote with an “open mind.”
“We need a leader at DHS. We must reopen DHS. My AYE is rooted in a strong committed, constructive working relationship with Senator Mullin for our nation’s security,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X.
Mullin’s hearing came weeks after President Donald Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, following her handling of the Minneapolis immigration enforcement and criticism that she used $220 million in taxpayer money for an ad campaign.
Mullin’s nomination will head to the Senate floor where he’ll need a simple majority of votes to be confirmed. He is expected to be approved by the chamber when he comes up for a final vote.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
“An Ending in Itself” single artwork. (Rise Records)
Sleeping with Sirens has premiered a new single called “An Ending in Itself.”
“‘An Ending in Itself’ is the band returning to form, getting back in a room together, creating without expectation, which is why we started doing this in the first place,” frontman Kellin Quinn tells Kerrang! “I haven’t felt this way about our music since [the 2011 album] Let’s Cheers to This. Oddly enough this feels more like a beginning than an end…”
You can watch the video for “An Ending in Itself” streaming now on YouTube.
“An Ending in Itself” follows Sleeping with Sirens’ 2022 album, Complete Collapse.
You can catch Sleeping with Sirens live at a number of upcoming festivals, including Welcome to Rockville, Inkcarceration, Louder than Life, Aftershock and select Warped Tour dates.
Queen and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers performed together at Nelson Mandela’s 46664 charity concert in George, South Africa.
While the two acts had previously collaborated for Queen’s October 2004 induction into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame, the Mandela concert marked the public debut of what was dubbed Queen + Paul Rodgers.
They performed Queen classics “We Are The Champions,” “We Will Rock You,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love and “Radio Gaga,” as well as the Bad Company tracks “Can’t Get Enough,” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” as well as “All Right Now,” by Rodgers’ former band, Free.
That same year, Queen + Paul Rodgers launched a world tour, which hit North America in 2006.
Queen released one album with Rodgers, The Cosmos Rocks, in 2008, followed by the Rock The Cosmos tour.
The collaboration between Queen and Rodgers ended in 2009, when Rodgers left to reunite with Bad Company.
Lorde performs during day three of Glastonbury festival 2025 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 27, 2025 in Glastonbury, England. (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
Lorde and Universal are no longer on each other’s “Team.”
The “Royals” artist has revealed in a voice memo to fans, as captured by the fan account @lordecontent, that her contract with her long term label has come to an end.
“I have been in that contract for a very, very long time, in some form of that contract since I was 12-years-old, when I signed my first development deal with Universal,” the now 29-year-old Lorde says.
Lorde adds that she had an “amazing experience” with Universal but notes, “The truth is a 12-year-old girl pre-signed her, pre-sold her creative output before she knew what it would be like and before she knew what she was signing away.”
“I’m sure I’ll have a deal again, could well be with Universal,” Lorde continues. “But I knew that I needed to take a second to have nothing being bought or sold that comes from me.”
Lorde released four albums with Universal: 2013’s Pure Heroine, 2017’s Melodrama, 2021’s Solar Power and 2025’s Virgin.
Billy Corgan performs at Madame ZuZu’s on August 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Mireya Acierto/Getty Images)
Billy Corgan has been named to the board of directors of Chicago’s Lyric opera house.
“Thank you to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the great honour and distinction of being invited to join Lyric’s Board of Directors,” the Smashing Pumpkins frontman writes in an Instagram post. “I personally aim to make the Lyric, our great opera house of Chicago, the most exciting and dynamic opera house in the world.”
Corgan previously performed at the Lyric in 2025 with a series of shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Pumpkins album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. In a video accompanying his post, Corgan calls his shows at the Lyric “one of the most exciting moments of my life.”
Also in the video, Corgan mentions a “fine young actor” who “sort of attacked the arts obliquely, saying nobody cared,” presumably referring to Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments about the opera and ballet.
“But if want to be part of the change, if you want to be part of the restoration of the arts in America, then you have to lean in, and of course you have to support,” Corgan says.
Taylor Swift and Vince Gill perform at the Country Music Hall Of Fame Museum’s “All For The Hall” at Club Nokia on Sept. 23, 2010 in Los Angeles. (John Shearer/WireImage)
Taylor Swift will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June, and she’s got five years to go before she’s eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On Friday, her name just may come up as an inductee for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and she’s been heartily endorsed by one legend who’s already in there.
On the Rolling Stone Nashville Now podcast, Hall of Famer Vince Gill says, “I think they’ll put her in there. Why wouldn’t you?” Vince, who also performs with the Eagles, says that Taylor is one of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s biggest donors
“I’m crazy about her. I fully support that,” he adds.
Taylor, of course, was a country music superstar before she went full-on pop star with her album 1989. When this year’s inductees are announced, Taylor may appear in the “Modern Era” category because artists become eligible “twenty years after they first achieved national prominence,” according to the website. Her self-titled debut album, featuring the hit “Tim McGraw,” was released in 2006.
If Taylor does get inducted, she’d be the youngest person ever to get in. At age 36, she’s more than a decade younger than the youngest Hall of Famers Johnny Cash and Eddy Arnold, who were both 48 at the time of their inductions.
U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) arrives to testify during a confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be the secretary of Homeland Security narrowly cleared a committee vote Thursday morning with the help of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, teeing the Oklahoma Republican’s nomination up for a final vote on the Senate floor as soon as next week.
Mullin’s nomination advanced out of committee by a vote of 8-7. He needed a simple majority of votes to clear the committee.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Lord of the Flies now has a release date. All four episodes of the series from Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne will arrive to the streamer on May 4. According to the show’s logline, “Innocence descends into savagery when a group of English schoolboys become desert island castaways in the first television adaptation of William Golding’s landmark dystopian classic.” Winston Sawyers stars as Ralph, Lox Pratt stars as Jack, David McKenna stars as Piggy and Ike Talbut stars as Simon in a show that includes an ensemble of more than 30 boys …
Peacock has shared the release date for its upcoming, star-studded series The Five Star Weekend. The show, which stars Jennifer Garner, D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane and Timothy Olyphant, arrives to the platform on July 16. It follows a celebrated chef who suffers a devastating loss and hosts a weekend away in Nantucket in an effort to move forward with her life …
The Game of Life is coming to the big screen. Deadline reports that a film based on the popular board game is being developed by Amazon MGM Studios, Chernin Entertainment and Hasbro. According to the outlet, Sean Anders will direct the movie from a script by Allan Loeb …
A picture of Qatar Energy’s operating facilities on March 3, 2026 in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. Qatar Energy announced a complete halt to liquefied natural gas (LNG) production at its Ras Laffan and Mesaieed facilities on March 2, 2026, after Iranian attacks targeted energy facilities. (Photo by Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Iranian attacks on significant energy infrastructure and refineries in several Gulf countries pushed oil and gas prices higher in volatile trading on Thursday.
Brent crude oil prices, a benchmark for global trading, climbed by about 6%, hitting $116 per barrel for contracts to purchase oil in May.
The benchmark for European gas also surged by about 15% after Iran on Wednesday released retaliatory strikes targeting energy sites in several Gulf countries.
An Iranian drone struck a Saudi Aramco refinery in Yanbu, on the Red Sea, on Thursday, according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense, which said the extent of the damage was being assessed. That refinery is a joint venture between Aramco and the U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp.
Kuwait also on Thursday said its Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery, which is run by the state-owned National Petroleum Company, had been struck by a drone. There was a “limited” fire at the facility, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
Qatari authorities said on Wednesday that Iranian ballistic missile attacks caused fires and “extensive damage” at the Ras Laffan terminal, which carries about one-fifth of the global supply of liquid natural gas. Qatar Energy, which runs the terminal, has said on March 2 that it would bring liquefied natural gas production at Ras Laffan to a halt.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had issued warnings for several Gulf energy production sites, including the refinery in Yanbu, after Wednesday’s Israeli strikes on the South Pars Gas Field, the largest in Iran.
Those attacks added uncertainty to a market already on edge, as the overall conflict and the near-closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz by Iran has sent key energy prices higher.
The Dutch Title Transfer Facility, which is widely seen as the European benchmark for natural gas, saw forward-looking contracts for next month climb about 15% in midmorning trading on Thursday. Trading was volatile, and those contracts had registered intraday gains as high as about 30% in morning trading.
Since the conflict began on Feb. 28, with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Tehran, the TTF benchmark’s rate has about doubled. Intraday prices on Thursday hovered above about 60 euro per MWh, while those LNG contracts had traded below 30 euro per MWh between mid-November and mid-January.
Brent crude had been trading prior to the conflict near $70 a barrel. Prices has previously peaked at about $120 a barrel on March 9.
