Britney Spears attends Sony Pictures’ ‘Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood’ LA premiere, July 22, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
Britney Spears was arrested in California on Wednesday night, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Office records.
Records indicate she was released early Thursday morning. The reason for the arrest was not immediately available.
The arresting agency was the California Highway Patrol, records state.
Britney is slated to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on May 4, 2026, according to the records.
A representative for Britney tells ABC News, “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable. Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life. Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.”
“Her boys are going to be spending time with her,” the rep added. “Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”
ABC News has reached out to California Highway Patrol and Britney’s representative for more information.
Ventura County is a coastal region in Southern California, which shares a border with Los Angeles to the southwest.
Sevendust has premiered a new song called “Unbreakable,” a track off the band’s upcoming album, One.
“‘Unbreakable’ showcases the band’s signature balance of thunderous riffs, soaring hooks, and deeply personal lyricism—elements that have defined their career and earned them one of the most loyal fanbases in heavy music,” a press release reads.
You can watch the “Unbreakable” video streaming now on YouTube.
“Unbreakable” is the second song to be released off One, following lead single “Is This the Real You.” The album will arrive in full on May 1.
Sevendust will launch a U.S. tour in April. The trek includes dates opening for Alter Bridge.
Hozier made an appearance Wednesday on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform the song “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
The “Take Me to Church” artist sang the Beatles classic, which has famously been covered by Joe Cocker, alongside the band Lake Street Dive. You can watch the performance streaming now on YouTube.
Hozier previously covered “With a Little Help from My Friends” at the 2017 Longitude Festival alongside Mumford & Sons.
Speaking of Mumford & Sons, Hozier just joined the “Little Lion Man” outfit over the weekend at Saturday Night Live to perform their collaborative single, “Rubber Band Man.”
“It’s such a privilege and a joy to experience moments like this, not to mention experiencing it with people and artists you love and admire,” Hozier wrote in reflecting on the SNL performance.
Up next, Hozier will be performing at the 2026 Love Rocks NYC benefit concert, taking place Thursday. Those not attending the show in person in New York City can stream it live online via Veeps.
Nearly a year after June Osborn’s story in The Handmaid’s Tale series reached its conclusion, a new chapter of Gilead’s story will be told in The Testaments, a series also based on Margaret Atwood’s book of the same name.
The trailer introduces audiences to Agnes McKenzie (Chase Infiniti), who sets the scene: A dollhouse mirroring what it’s like in Gilead, the fictional totalitarian theocratic regime that was introduced in The Handmaid’s Tale, which has replaced the United States and is structured around strict gender roles and religion.
“Some dolls were always busy,” Infiniti begins. “Others were always doing the important work. There is a little girl doll, that’s me.”
As clips of Infiniti in purple uniform appear with other girls in purple uniform, she says, “Back then, we still believed in this world.”
“I guess it’s easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters,” Infiniti adds as a clip of her and her friends appear to be introduced to the atrocities of Gilead for the first time.
According to a synopsis, The Testaments serves as an “evolution of The Handmaid’s Tale.” It’s a coming-of-age story following the young women as they navigate the halls of Aunt Lydia’s (Ann Dowd) preparatory school for future wives.
The show also stars Lucy Halliday, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti and Mabel Li.
Atwood’s book, which was released in 2019, served as a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale and was set 15 years after June’s story.
Elisabeth Moss, who portrayed June Osborne/Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, serves as a co-executive producer with showrunner Bruce Miller.
A view of destruction after the Israeli military launches airstrikes on the Dahieh district in Beirut, Lebanon on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(BEIRUT) — Israeli strikes continued to bombard Lebanon’s capital on Thursday morning, as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran widens, further embroiling Iran’s proxy force in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
The Israeli military issued a number of evacuation warnings for parts of Beirut and huge swathes of southern Lebanon prior to the latest attacks on Wednesday, where it has struck hundreds of targets throughout the country since Monday, according to statements by Israel.
The Israeli military on Thursday afternoon expanded its warning to residents of the densely populated southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, ordering them to leave immediately ahead of planned strikes. The notice from the Israel Defense Forces, which lists four neighborhoods, is effectively a forced evacuation of the entire Dahiyeh area on the outskirts of Beirut, which has long been a Hezbollah stronghold but is also a major residential and commercial hub — home to many civilians.
More than 300,000 people have evacuated southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.
The IDF said heading south is “strictly prohibited” and any movement south “could endanger your lives.”
At least 77 people have been killed and 527 others wounded since Israel resumed strikes on Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Anyone south of the Litani River in Lebanon is being told by the IDF to abandon their homes and evacuate north. The order is raising concerns among some residents that this could mean a significant incursion once again from IDF forces moving into southern Lebanon in the coming days and weeks.
Tens of thousands have already fled from parts of Southern Lebanon and from other Hezbollah strongholds to points to the north of the country, according to local reports.
The strikes on Beirut on Wednesday were concentrated on the densely populated southern suburb, Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, according to local reports.
In Hazmieh, another southern neighborhood of Beirut, the Comfort Hotel was struck without warning before dawn Wednesday, a local council member told ABC News, confirming reports from Lebanese state media. Hazmieh is a Christian neighborhood not under Hezbollah control with foreign embassies scattered nearby and the Lebanese Presidential Palace a quarter mile away from the hotel.
Officials in Lebanon think Israeli targeting neighborhoods like Hamiyeh could show an emboldened strategy — the gloves are off.
Israeli officials said on Wednesday that Hezbollah continues to act in concert with Iran.
Israeli forces had been striking targets periodically in October and November in southern Lebanon that they say are associated with Hezbollah after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in Gaza.
Ahead of the attack on Iran, Israel launched strikes against targets in Baalbek, east Lebanon, in February, saying it killed “several” members of Hezbollah’s missile unit in three different locations.
This week’s strikes were the first time Israel struck Beirut, in central Lebanon, since June 2025.
The Israeli military warned Tuesday that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price” after the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel overnight Monday into Tuesday.
Immediately after the rocket fire, the IDF “launched a large-scale attack against Hezbollah terrorist targets throughout Lebanon, including Beirut,” according to IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.
“We attacked dozens of the organization’s headquarters and launch sites,” Defrin said. “We attacked senior commanders. Some of the last surviving senior veterans of this organization. We are currently examining the results of the attack.”
Defrin noted that “forces are deployed along the border in front and are prepared to continue the defense and attack as long as they require.”
When asked whether the IDF is preparing for a ground maneuver in Lebanon, Defrin said the troops are “well prepared.”
“We have mobilized close to 100,000 men,” he added. “Dozens of battalions, divisions and brigades are prepared in the defense on the northern border. Prepared for all possibilities. In defense and in attack. All possibilities are on the table. We are conducting situation assessments and all possibilities are on the table.”
The deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qamati, warned Tuesday that Israel “wanted an open war … so let it be an open war.”
“The enemy wanted an open war, which he has not stopped since the ceasefire agreement decision, so let it be an open war,” Qamati said in a statement.
The IDF said it struck an underground Hezbollah weapon storage facility and additional command centers in Beirut in its latest wave of strikes. The IDF claimed its targets included an underground weapon storage facility, additional command centers and a site used by Hezbollah for terrorist attacks, intelligence gathering and for propaganda.
BTS, ‘THE COMBACK LIVE | ARIRANG’ (Courtesy Netflix)
The trailer for BTS’ THE COMEBACK LIVE has arrived, previewing the March 21 premiere of their live Netflix special.
“We promised our fans that we’d be back,” says group member RM in the trailer, which starts with fans expressing their dismay about the group going on hiatus. It shows all seven members of the group standing — individually and collectively — in front of the historic landmark in Seoul, South Korea, where they’ll be performing live.
Another member says in a voiceover, “Seven together, we can do anything. Keep swimming” — presumably in reference to “SWIM,” the first single from their new album, ARIRANG.
The Netflix special, which will document BTS’ first full concert as a group since 2022, will be directed by Hamish Hamilton, who directed Bad Bunny’s halftime show and the 2026 Grammys. You can watch it at 7 a.m. ET on March 21, the day after ARIRANG drops.
On March 27, Netflix will stream a documentary about the making of ARIRANG titled BTS: THE RETURN.
Meanwhile, Diplo, who executive-produced the album and personally produced five tracks, says in a statement that the album “takes Korean music into the future.”
The producer, who signed onto the project back in 2024, adds, “The early references were trip hop and old-school hip hop. … [T]he goal was to let BTS’ creativity shine and let them speak their stories as grown men — to show evolution, depth, and perspective.”
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A Democratic senator says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In her appearance before the committee on Tuesday, Noem was asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether her adviser Corey Lewandowski, who is serving as a special government employee, has any role in approving DHS contracts, and she said no.
“Evidence suggests that your testimony was false. Internal DHS records show that Mr. Lewandowski has personally approved contracts at DHS, including, but not limited to, a multimillion-dollar contract,” according to a letter Blumenthal sent to Noem on Wednesday. “And current and former DHS employees have stated that Mr. Lewandowski’s signature is a green light for money to be transmitted to contractors.”
Blumenthal sent the letter on Wednesday night, after Noem’s testimony in front the House Committee.
In a follow-up appearance before a House committee on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked Noem if she would like to correct her answer from Tuesday.
“What I would say is that he is an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security,” she said.
Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski is Noem’s de facto chief of staff, despite having a 130-day cap on being able to work at the department, due to his status as a special government employee.
According to multiple sources, Lewandowski and Noem both approve contracts and “nothing” gets to the secretary without Lewandowski’s approval.
Oftentimes, Lewandowski travels with the secretary to her public events, and on multiple occasions ABC News has seen Lewandowski behind the scenes at events the secretary is speaking at.
When asked by two Democratic representatives if the two were romantically linked, Noem did not deny it and instead called the two Democratic members’ line of questioning “garbage.”
Lewandowski and Noem have both previously denied any romantic relationship. Both are married to other people.
The department didn’t immediately respond to the letter, or about Lewandowski’s role at DHS.
We now know when season 2 of The Four Seasons will make its Netflix debut. The eight-episode second season will premiere to the streamer on May 28. First-look photos of the upcoming season have also been released. They show off cast members Tina Fey, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, Erika Henningsen and Colman Domingo …
Did you miss Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 when it was in theaters? Don’t fret, as it’s heading to Peacock for its streaming debut on April 3. The sequel film stars Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio and Matthew Lillard …
The promo for Ryan Gosling’s upcoming hosting gig on Saturday Night Live has arrived. It finds Gosling strutting around Studio 8H wearing a five-timers club robe, a gift given to people who have hosted SNL five times. The only issue? Gosling is about to host the late-night comedy sketch program for the fourth time. The promo finds Gosling getting into a kerfuffle with cast member Mikey Day about the mix-up. “I’m sure someone’s made this mistake before,” Gosling says, before Day retorts, “Never once.” Gosling hosts the March 7 episode alongside musical guest Gorillaz …
(INDIANAPOLIS) — If all politics is local, as the old saying goes, a pair of identical twins in Indiana proves that those local politics often start as a family affair — and don’t have to become uncivil.
Nick and Nathan Roberts may look exactly alike, but the 25-year-old brothers and members of the next generation of America’s civic leaders are anything but identical when it comes to their politics.
“From the time we were younger, he ended up in more right wing circles on the internet,” Nick said of his brother in an interview with ABC News Live PRIME. “I was in more of just more liberal circles. I don’t know what happened.”
They still live together with their grandparents, sharing a love of dogs, books and desire to travel the world. But that’s where the similarities end.
Nick Roberts, a diehard Democrat, is an Indianapolis city-county councilor and one of the youngest elected officials in the country.
Nathan Roberts, who identifies as a MAGA Republican, founded an Indiana political advocacy group last year and is a state organizer for Turning Point, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk.
“Our dad was conservative and our mom was liberal,” Nathan Roberts said. “I guess those are good examples of our family being divided.”
The Roberts twins, both college dropouts, are also Gen Z political outliers. More American twentysomethings identify as independents than any other group of adults, according to Gallup. Roughly one in four identify as Democrats, even fewer as Republicans.
“If you want to make a difference, you have to be involved,” said Nick Roberts. “And it’s easy, I think, to throw your hands up and say, ‘Well, I’m an independent. I hate both parties.’ But if you actually want to be engaged in the process, you have to kind of pick a side.”
“I think a lot of people go independent because it’s kind of like a sign of, like purity, like I’m above the thing,” added Nathan Roberts, “but really, it’s just like you not having much of a voice. I sort of understand and respect what people do when they go independent, I just don’t think it’s the right strategy.”
The twins got engaged in politics as Donald Trump rode down the escalator in Manhattan in 2015, launching his first presidential campaign. In 2020, they participated in their first campaigns and later supported rival candidates for president in 2024.
They say they agree on support for public safety, veterans issues and even protecting the environment. Their sharpest disagreement: immigration.
“I support law enforcement, but there’s come a point where, you know, we are nation immigrants,” said Nick Roberts. “Everybody came from immigrants at one point or another, and we have to do it humanely with laws, but not where we’re treating people inhumanely like we’ve seen over the last few months.”
Nathan Roberts rejects the view of an American “melting pot.”
“‘Nation of immigrants’ — those terms didn’t, none of them even existed until post-1900. You never heard George Washington saying America is a nation of immigrants,” he said.
On 95% of the issues, they sharply disagree and are dug in. When President Trump demanded Indiana redraw its election map to help Republicans in November, the twins even testified against each other in the statehouse.
Still, in what some see as a lesson for the country, the Roberts twins insist they manage never to get angry or unloving with each other.
“He’s very intelligent, and I love the fact he gets involved. You have all these people giving their opinions about stuff on the internet, but none of them lift a finger, besides maybe voting,” Nathan Roberts said of his brother. “He’s somebody who shows up to stuff.”
Nick Roberts said behind the “provocative” rhetoric, Nathan Roberts is reasoned and informed. “Though he pretends to be like a very inflammatory guy on social media,” he said, “I think he is very well-read on history and knows a lot of his stuff and the law, especially immigration.”
With no desire for higher political office for now, the Roberts twins say they’re just content to be councilor and constituent, as brothers, modeling civility and love despite the deepest political differences.
“Believe it or not, he’s actually not one of my most demanding constituents,” Nick Roberts said of Nathan Roberts with a chuckle.
“There’s been a time when I’m like, you know, you could change that, like, traffic sign to be slightly better and there wouldn’t be such a traffic jam at that place at 5pm,” Nathan Roberts quipped with a smile, “and he would be like that would be a good idea.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt displays steps for U.S. citizens in the Middle East to take following U.S. strikes on Iran as she speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The State Department announced on Wednesday that a charter flight for American citizens stuck in the Middle East was en route to the United States — days after the war with Iran left thousands of American travelers stranded as combat operations led to the closure of airspace around the region.
The department said the flight is “part of our ongoing efforts to assist Americans return home” and said additional flights will be departing from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The move comes as hundreds of thousands of Americans stranded across the Middle East are trying to leave the region, faced with canceled flights and other travel disruptions.
Chris Elliott, a pastor from Lexington, North Carolina, told ABC News that he and his family were stranded while visiting sites in Jerusalem. He said they ended up in a bomb shelter as sirens sounded and incoming missiles were intercepted.
“We want Americans to be on American soil right now,” Elliott said.
Eliott’s daughter, Riley, said it’s been frustrating and frightening to be forced to shelter in place since the joint U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran began on Saturday.
“The scariest for me was trying to go to bed at night and then being woken up by the sounds of sirens,” Riley Elliott told ABC News.
The U.S. State Department issued an advisory on Monday, three days into the military operation, urging Americans to immediately leave 14 countries in the region via commercial flights, but stranded U.S. citizens have said that’s become extremely difficult, given the significant disruptions to air travel.
The Trump administration is facing some criticism for apparently not having a plan in place to get American citizens out of harm’s way ahead of the joint operation.
Responding to a question on Tuesday from ABC News about why so many Americans became stuck in the Middle East absent any advance warning of the attack on Iran, President Donald Trump said, “Well, because it happened all very quickly.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Wednesday press briefing that the U.S. did communicate the danger of traveling to the region.
“There was many signs, put out by the State Department,” Leavitt said. “The secretary of state issued level four travel advisories dating back to January for many of these countries in the region,” adding that they were “advising extreme caution and do not travel alerts to Americans in the region.”
However, a review of travel advisories issued by the State Department indicates that prior to the start of the conflict, of the the 14 countries American travelers were later urged to depart, eight of them were only listed at a Level 1 or Level 2 — meaning to exercise normal precautions or increased caution.
Leavitt also claimed that since the start of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, over 17,500 Americans “have safely returned home from the Middle East, with over 8,500 American citizens returning home to the United States just yesterday alone.”
Multiple U.S. embassies in the region, including some that have been attacked, have said they are unable to help citizens trying to leave.
“Our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terroristic regime,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday in Washington.
Asked if there were plans in place to evacuate Americans before the attack took place, Rubio said, “That’s the plan we’re trying to carry out.”
“The problem is, or the challenge we are facing, is airspace closures,” Rubio said, adding that some airports were closed after being hit in strikes. “So, that’s a challenge, but rest assured, we are confident that we are going to be able to assist every American.”
Odies Turner, a private chef from South Carolina, told ABC News that he’s been stuck in his hotel in Doha, Qatar, since the military operation began. He said the unexpected experience of being in a war has left him “frustrated, anxious” and feeling helpless.
“How do you expect us to leave a country where the airspace is closed? People are really stranded here,” Turner said in a self-video recorded on Tuesday. “I really don’t know what to do. I’ve reached out to the embassy, consulate and airlines. There’s no information on when I will get back home. It’s a mess.”
American Lisa Butler said the military conflict left her and her family, who were part of a large travel group, stranded in Abu Dhabi before they were evacuated to Dubai.
“We were standing … outside of this beautiful mosque, looking up in the sky and seeing these missiles that have been intercepted,” Butler told ABC News about how she and her family learned while in Abu Dhabi that they were vulnerable to a major military conflict breaking out in the region.
Oliver Sims, an American from Texas, told ABC News that he has been stuck in Qatar.
“I was just a few minutes ago, listening to some explosions that are going off above my head,” Sims said. “And, you know, I know that officials have said use commercial means, but there are really no commercial means here for us to use. So it’s really difficult to try and figure out a way out.”
Asked to describe conditions in Qatar, Sims said that he has been awakened at night by “extremely loud explosions” that shook the windows of his hotel room.
“I looked out my window and I saw a bunch of debris that was raining down outside of my hotel window,” Sims said. “And it’s very jarring, too, because it’s not just how loud it is, just how it actually physically shakes you. The rumbling is really, really just as violent.”
