In this Jan. 30, 2026, file photo, Cities Church is shown in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) — Thirty more people have been charged in connection with an incident last month in which anti-ICE protesters disrupted a service at a Minnesota church, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday.
“At my direction, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, with more to come throughout the day,” Bondi said in a post on X after a superseding indictment in the case was unsealed. “YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP. If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you.”
The Justice Department had previously charged nine others, including former CNN journalist Don Lemon, for their alleged roles in the incident. Lemon and several others pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges earlier this month.
The incident unfolded on Jan. 18, when protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul. The protesters said one of the pastors is the acting field director of the St. Paul ICE field office. Protesters were heard chanting “Justice for Renee Good” inside the church, referencing the woman fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis in early January.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Billy Idol at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Billy Idol received his second nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Wednesday. His first came last year, and he doesn’t sound too bent out of shape that he didn’t get in the first time around.
“I started to realize you don’t always get in on your first time; that’s quite unusual, I think,” Idol tells Billboard. “It’s a process, and I can see why.”
He notes, “There’s quite a large number of people involved in deciding who gets in. It’s no guarantee.”
And it certainly sounds like Idol is excited to get another chance at the Rock Hall.
“It’s fantastic. It’s really exciting. It would be incredible this year,” says Idol, who got his start in 1976 in the band Generation X. “This is 50 years ago when I started so it would be really incredible. It would cap off an amazing 50 years.”
Looking at fellow nominees like INXS, The Black Crowes, Joy Division/New Order and Oasis, Idol says, “[W]hoever gets in will be a fantastic class.”
“We were all kind of making our way towards really doing this forever,” he says. “It’s a serious thing we all believed in, that we really wanted to see where our generation would take music.” He adds, “I think with the punk and then the music in the [’80s], we really did establish what the sound of the [’80s] would be — and beyond.”
Billy Idol’s life and career are the subject of the new documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which is in theaters now.
Rep. Valerie Foushee speaks to a small crowd before President Joe Biden during a visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, as he kicks off his Investing in America Tour, March 28, 2023, in Durham, N.C. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — As the first primaries in the 2026 midterm elections kick off on Tuesday, Democrats once again are dealing with divides in their party, including over generational change and immigration enforcement, in contests where progressives are taking on incumbents.
One of these faceoffs is set for Tuesday in North Carolina. Nida Allam, 32, vice chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, is mounting a primary challenge from the left to Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee, 69. Allam previously lost to Foushee in the 2022 primary in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District.
“We have an opportunity to push and champion not just Trump and the right-wing administration, but also our own party; that this seat could be the most powerful tool for progressives and Democrats in the South, but it’s only as powerful as the person sitting in that seat,” Allam told ABC News in an interview.
Allam has the support of progressive stalwart independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who campaigned for her in mid-February and told supporters at a rally, “At a moment when the oligarchs are tightening their grip on our society, we need leaders like Nida, leaders who answer to working families and not the billionaire class.”
Foushee, in a statement to ABC News, pushed back on Allam’s claims that she is not progressive or present enough, pointing to her endorsement by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and to securing millions for the district.
“My opponent’s claim that I have been absent from my role with zero ability to describe what more she would have done in Congress under the Republican majority demonstrates that she is trying to apply for a job that she does not understand,” Foushee wrote.
Similar primary rumbles are set to play out over the coming months, including in Colorado’s June 30 primaries. Melat Kiros, 28, a Ph.D student and barista, is running against longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette, 68, who has represented the state’s 1st Congressional District since 1997.
Kiros previously worked for a law firm and wrote an open letter in 2023 criticizing how law firms were responding in 2023 to pro-Palestinian protests. “I was asked to take the letter down. I said no, and then I was fired,” Kiros said. (The firm, Sidley Austin, did not reply to a request for comment from ABC News.)
Kiros says she draws a direct contrast with DeGette on the U.S.-Israel relationship and that DeGette’s opposition to further offensive aid to Israel does not go far enough.
The debate surrounding U.S. support for Israel, or whether Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, has sometimes been cast as a divide between younger and older Democrats. (Israel strongly disputes the allegations of committing genocide in Gaza and has said it took care to avoid civilian casualties during its military campaign against Hamas.)
Kiros believes the divide is more complicated than a generational one, but said young people “are seeing on our phones a genocide happening in real time … and want to see representatives who are committed to actually holding Israel accountable and ending this genocide.”
DeGette’s campaign did not provide comment or respond to a request for an interview when contacted by ABC News. She told NBC News in December more broadly, “We must defend our democracy against Donald Trump and work to solve our problems with dignity, justice, and a future grounded in compassion, not cruelty.”
Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, says the divide among Democrats over support for Israel — or even how to refer to its actions — reflects a “broader debate within the party about both Israel, but also America’s role in the world and what it should stand for … it’s a moment of flux in that way for the Democratic Party.”
“The moderates are in a tough spot,” he added, as moderates may oppose policies by Israel’s leadership but disagree with the claim that Israel was committing a genocide and feel Israel had the right to defend itself. “It’s a bit harder to message or navigate the complexities of the issue.”
Another flashpoint in some of these primaries is the future of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), especially in the wake of the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis last month.
Jonathan Paz, a 32-year-old former city council member from the Boston suburb of Waltham, is mounting a primary challenge to Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, 62, who currently serves as the House Minority Whip — the second-most powerful Democrat in the House.
Paz told ABC News, “She seems determined to write strongly worded letters. I’m calling to disband ICE and cut all their funding … [people] don’t want that empty rhetoric. They want to dismantle this agency because they want to see the violence stop.”
He added that he feels Clark did not do her job as whip — the whip works to get party members aligned on how to vote — given that 21 House Democrats voted for continuing Department of Homeland Security funding as part of ending a partial government shutdown.
Clark has called for guardrails and restrictions on ICE, and urged voting against the appropriations bill with DHS funding; she also said in early February that she was denied access to an ICE facility in her district while trying to conduct oversight.
“Katherine is doing the work to hold ICE and the Administration accountable and end its reign of terror in our neighborhoods,” Clark’s reelection campaign said in a statement to ABC News.
The progressive challengers more broadly lay bare another ongoing debate within the Democratic Party: whether the party should stand behind incumbents or usher in a new generation of younger and potentially more progressive lawmakers.
“What the voters in this country are fed up with is the corruption of this political system that continues to reward and profit billionaires at the expense of everyone else,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director at the progressive group Justice Democrats, told ABC News.
The group recently unveiled a slate of 12 primary endorsements, including Allam and Kiros.
But others within the Democratic ecosystem have cautioned against reading too much into the progressive versus moderate primary challenges.
David de la Fuente, deputy director for politics and research at the centrist group Third Way, told ABC News he would point to how those challenges are happening often in safely blue districts, not competitive toss-up seats.
He also argued against conflating generational change with an ideological shift to the left.
“Young candidates, whether they’re moderate or progressive, are representing change and a generational shift. That is a tale as old as time,” he said.
Mumford & Sons’ new album, Prizefighter, knocked out the competition to debut at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart.
Prizefighter gives the “Little Lion Man” outfit their second #1 in their home country in less than a year, after their last album, Rushmere, also debuted atop the Official Albums Chart after it was released in March 2025.
“Two UK No.1 albums in a year is something we never dreamed of,” Mumford & Sons say. “This one means a lot to us, and we can’t thank you enough. Keep prizefighting.”
Overall, Prizefighter marks Mumford & Sons’ fourth #1 across the pond, along with Rushmere, 2012’s Babel and 2015’s Wilder Mind.
Mumford & Sons can celebrate their latest chart achievement with their performance on Saturday Night Live on Saturday. They’ll launch a North American tour in June.
“So, you pick a place and I’ll pick a time/ Under the stars or the city lights/ What are you doing for the rest of your life?/ Oh sorry, I meant tonight,” she sings on the just-released new addition.
Currently on her 9 Cities. 9 Days fan-focused promotional tour, Megan’s booked for a return appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, where she’ll play a surprise cut from Cloud 9.
She played “No Caller ID” on the NBC late-night staple in 2024.
Power Ballad, the new movie starring Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd, will have its premiere Sunday on the closing night of the Dublin International Film Festival. Why there? Because the story is mostly set in Ireland and the film’s writer, director and producer, John Carney, is Irish.
According to the film’s official synopsis, Nick plays a “fading boy band star” named Danny, who meets Paul’s character, Rick, a “past-his-prime wedding singer,” during a gig. But after Danny turns one of Rick’s songs into his comeback hit, Rick is determined to get the “recognition he believes he deserves” from it.
The movie is described as a “feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition.”
Power Ballad hits theaters June 5.
Nick will appear in another movie due to be released this year: the as-yet-untitled sequel to Jumanji: The Next Level. And in June he’s expected to begin filming another movie called Bodyman, about a bodyguard who stands to inherit his billionaire employer’s company, much to the dismay of the billionaire’s children.
Ryan Coogler attends the 17th Annual AAFCA Awards at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on February 08, 2026, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
The 57th NAACP Image Awards celebration continued Thursday night with the Creative Honors event, recognizing “25 categories across film, television, documentaries, and acting,” according to a press release, and the “voices and talent” behind each.
Ryan Coogler won both outstanding writing and outstanding directing in a motion picture for Sinners, which featured the winners of the outstanding supporting actor and actress in a motion picture categories, Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku.
ABC’s Abbott Elementary took home outstanding comedy series, with Janelle James picking up outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series and William Stanford Davis securing the win for the male equivalent of the award.
Netflix got a few Ws via Taraji P. Henson’s win as outstanding actress in a limited television (series, special, or movie) for Straw, the outstanding limited television (series, special, or movie) of the year. Tyler Lepley won outstanding actress in a limited television (series, special, or movie) for his work in Ruth & Boaz, and Caleb McLaughlin was named outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his work on Stranger Things.
Other winners of the night included Reasonable Doubt — this year’s outstanding drama series; Cedric The Entertainer, who won outstanding actor in a comedy series for The Neighborhood; and The Jennifer Hudson Show, which was named outstanding talk series.
The NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors, which was hosted by KevOnStage and Angel Laketa Moore, also featured Jane Handcock and BJ The Chicago Kid paying tribute to the late Angie Stone and D’Angelo.
The 57th NAACP Image Awards will air live Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on BET and CBS.
Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Zacky Vengeance has announced his debut solo album under his birth name, Zachary Baker.
The record is called Dark Horse and is due out April 3. It includes the previously released title track; a second cut, titled “Lighthouse,” is out now.
“Driven by [Baker’s] restless spirit and the outlaw heroes that inspired him, listeners will find a raw sermon of honesty,” a press release reads. “Dark Horse blends poignant storytelling with Americana influences, signaling a striking evolution from his hard rock background into a songwriter stepping fully into his own.”
Avenged Sevenfold’s most recent album is 2023’s Life Is but a Dream…, and they put out a new single, “Magic,” in 2025. They’ll launch a U.S. tour with Good Charlotte in July.
Here’s the Dark Horse track list: “Dark Horse” “Misfit Hearts” “Unlikely Cowboy” “I’ll Stop Pretending” “Before I Go” “Lighthouse” “The Storm” “Long Highway” “Star Crossed” “Someday” “Fireflies”
Bryan Adams speaks at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, November, 2025 (Disney/Frank Micelotta)
Bryan Adams has announced dates for a new European tour.
The rocker is set to bring his Roll With The Punches tour to arenas in Europe this fall and winter, with the tour launching Sept. 27 in Riga, Latvia.
The tour will make stops in more than a dozen countries, including Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, before wrapping Dec. 19 in Athens, Greece.
A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at BryanAdams.com.
Adams is touring in support of his most recent album, Roll With the Punches, which he released in August. He is set to play in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Saturday. He also has dates booked in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa.
Adams will return to the U.S. for a series of acoustic shows at the Encore Theatre at the Wyn in Las Vegas, starting June 3.
In other Adams news … the rocker has released another acoustic Friday performance to YouTube. The latest is a stripped-down version of the Roll With the Punches track “Two Arms to Hold You.”
Howard Lutnick, US commerce secretary during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice overnight restored a photo purportedly showing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick visiting the private island of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to its trove of publicly released documents.
On Thursday, a Department of Justice official acknowledged the photo was taken down as part of a “batch of files that were flagged for nudity” following the recent release of Epstein files.
The image itself did not contain nudity, and the restored version of the photo did not contain any new redactions.
“The batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis. No files are being deleted,” the official said.
Some photos on the Department of Justice’s website are batched together into a single document, and the DOJ has said they are pulling documents on a rolling basis to make necessary redactions, such as for nudity or personally identifiable information.
The previously removed photo appears to show Epstein, Lutnick — dressed in a blue shirt and white shorts — and three other individuals near the southwest corner of Little Saint James, the private island owned by Epstein in the United States Virgin Islands.
The Commerce Department and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Justice appears to have withdrawn the image from its public archive of Epstein documents sometime earlier this month, according to a saved version on the nonprofit site Wayback Machine. The removal prompted criticism from lawmakers including Representatives Ted Lieu, Thomas Massie, and Jimmy Gomez.
“Dear @AGPamBondi: Why are you covering up this picture of Epstein’s friend Lutnick?” Lieu wrote on X. “And are you really so stupid you think deleting a picture after you’ve posted it on the internet will make it go away?”
Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this month. Lutnick acknowledged that he visited Epstein’s island with his family during a vacation, though he initially claimed he distanced himself from Epstein in 2005.
Emails released by the Department of Justice earlier this month showed Lutnick’s wife coordinating with Epstein’s assistant to visit the island for lunch in December 2012.
“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies,” Lutnick told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, who broke from his party to push for the release of the Epstein files, called on the Department of Justice on Thursday to explain why the image was removed.
“I’m sure there’s a good reason for this. DOJ needs to tell Congress who pulled this file down so we can ask them,” Massie wrote on X.
