William Shatner speaks onstage at 2025 Dragon Con at Hilton Atlanta on August 30, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
William Shatner will boldly go where many metalheads have gone before, albeit probably not many pushing 100.
The 94-year-old Star Trek legend is set to release a metal album, featuring his take on songs by iconic bands including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
“Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud,” Shatner says in a statement. “This album is a gathering of forces—each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”
“I’ve spent a lifetime exploring in both reality and fiction,” the Captain Kirk actor continues. “Now I am stepping out into the unknown once again with my new project in heavy metal. I am covering Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden as well as a number of new songs written by my team. The whole project is destined for this year. I hope you will join me in the exploration.”
The title and release date of the album has yet to be revealed. It will feature Black Label Society frontman and longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who personally gifted Shatner a guitar, alongside a full list of guests to be announced.
After months of teases from guitarist Brian May, Queen has finally revealed details of the upcoming reissue of their sophomore album, Queen II.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band is set to celebrate the record with the release of a remixed, remastered and expanded five-CD + two-LP collector’s edition box set, dropping March 27.
The set includes a 2026 mix of the album, as well as a whole host of bonus material, including previously unheard outtakes and demos, live tracks, radio sessions and what’s described as “intimate fly-on-the-wall audio of Queen in the recording studio.” The set also features a 112-page book with previously unseen photos, handwritten lyrics, the band’s memories of writing and recording the album and more.
“Queen II was the single biggest leap we ever made,” says May of the record, which was originally released in March 1974. “That’s when we really started making music the way we wanted to, rather than the way we were being pushed into recording it.”
“With Queen II, I couldn’t believe how much work we put into it,” drummer Roger Taylor adds. “I think we felt we were evolving our own sound. We were pioneering this sort of multitracking thing. It gave you a tremendous pallet, massive choral effects with just three of us singing.”
In addition to Queen II Collector’s Edition, the reissue will be released as a two-CD deluxe edition and on one-LP vinyl. All formats are available for preorder now.
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger released his debut solo album, She’s The Boss.
The album was produced by Jagger, Nile Rodgers and others, and featured contributions from The Who’s Pete Townshend, guitarist Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and Sly and Robbie.
It later caused some friction between Jagger and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who felt Jagger’s priority should be the band.
She’s The Boss peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album’s lead single “Just Another Night,” which featured Beck on guitar, went on to peak at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock charts. The follow-up single, “Lucky in Love,” was a top-40 hit.
Jagger went on to release three more solo albums, his last being 2001’s Goddess in the Doorway.
In this handout provided by the U.S. Navy, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), F/A-18E/F Super Hornets assigned to Strike Fighter Squadrons 31, 37, 87, and 213 from embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight, and a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress operate as a joint, multi-domain force, November 13, 2025. (Photo by Paige Brown/US Navy via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A second American aircraft carrier — the USS Gerald R. Ford — is heading toward the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, accompanied by destroyers and aircraft being redeployed from missions in the Caribbean region, a U.S. official told ABC News.
As negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program continue, American aircraft carriers are at the forefront of a major U.S. military buildup in the Middle East. The Ford is expected to join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the region, the latter having arrived there late last month.
The Ford briefly transmitted its location off the coast of Morocco on Wednesday as it approached the Mediterranean Sea, according to data from the MarineTraffic website. The carrier’s location was visible for around two hours.
Also visible on the FlightRadar24 website on Wednesday were two C-2A Greyhound aircraft, which in recent months have been operating off the carrier. The aircraft transmitted their locations off the coast of Portugal, around 230 miles from the Ford’s position.
The Ford is being accompanied by four destroyers as it sails east toward the Middle East.
Three of the destroyers are part of the Ford’s carrier strike group that have accompanied the carrier since it first deployed in June, the fourth destroyer had previously been a part of President Donald Trump’s administration’s surge of military forces in the Caribbean, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News.
Each of the destroyers is armed with air defense systems that can shoot down incoming missiles and drones, plus Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be used to strike targets up to 1,000 miles away.
F-35 stealth fighter jets are among the U.S. assets heading toward the Middle East, including some that had been deployed to Puerto Rico ahead of the U.S. operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
A spokesman for the Vermont National Guard confirmed to ABC News that the 158th Fighter Wing received a change in mission from U.S. Southern Command — which oversees operations in the Caribbean, Central and South America — but did not disclose their new deployment area.
In late January, online flight trackers noted a dozen F-35 fighters taking off from Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico and landing on the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic, on their way to the Middle East.
Key Iranian nuclear personnel and facilities were targeted by Israeli and American forces during an intense 12-day conflict in June. But the strikes failed to resolve long-standing U.S. and Israeli grievances related to Tehran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missile arsenal and its support for regional proxy groups.
U.S. and Iranian representatives met in Geneva, Switzerland, this week for talks regarding a possible deal related to Tehran’s nuclear program and its enrichment of uranium. Trump has demanded that Iran commit to “zero enrichment,” a proposal rejected by Iranian officials.
U.S. officials briefed on the negotiations said Iran indicated a willingness to suspend its nuclear enrichment for a certain amount of time, anywhere from one to five years.
The U.S. is also weighing lifting financial and banking sanctions and the embargo on its oil sales, according to a U.S. official.
Following the talks in Geneva, Iran is expected to submit a written proposal aimed at resolving the tensions, a senior U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday. It is unclear when the written proposal will be submitted to the U.S.
On Tuesday, a White House official said Iran would provide detailed proposals to address “some of the open gaps in our positions” in the next two weeks.
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
Sony Pictures Animation has shifted the release date for its upcoming film BUDS. The original comedy film, for which the studio has not released a description, will now premiere in theaters on Dec. 22, 2027, instead of its previous date of March 12, 2027. Sony says this change is due to the box office success of its latest release, GOAT, as they want to position BUDS at the lucrative winter holiday moviegoing season …
Apple TV has released the trailer for its new psychological thriller Imperfect Women. Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss star in and executive produce the eight-episode series, which premieres its first two episodes on March 18. New episodes will debut weekly on Wednesdays through April 29 …
You can see the late James Van Der Beek act in one of his final roles in the trailer for the upcoming thriller film The Gates. Lionsgate has released the trailer for the upcoming film, which arrives in theaters on March 13. The movie follows three college students on a road trip gone wrong who find themselves trapped in a small gated community after they witness a murder …
Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends the traditional Easter Sunday Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on April 20, 2025 in Windsor, England. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — formerly known as Prince Andrew and the younger brother of King Charles III — was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
In a statement, Thames Valley Police said they had “arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.”
“The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance,” the statement said.
Photos from Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate in eastern England showed what appeared to be police officers arriving in several unmarked vehicles. Thursday marks Andrew’s 66th birthday.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Charles said, “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.”
“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” Charles added.
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
Andrew’s arrest on Thursday follows the emergence of documents detailing communication between Andrew and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Several emails released by the U.S. Justice Department showed Epstein’s correspondence with a Andrew’s aide David Stern and suggest the royal may have planned to use his role as a special U.K. representative for trade and investment to further his own business interests.
The emails in question date back to 2010. Andrew served as a British trade envoy from 2001 until 2011, when Buckingham Palace announced that he would give up the role following criticism over his friendship with controversial figures, including Epstein.
Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing with respect to Epstein.
Thames Valley Police told ABC News last week that they were assessing reports of Andrew’s alleged misconduct in office as trade envoy.
“We can confirm receipt of this report and are assessing the information in line with our established procedures,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said in a statement on Feb. 9.
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, attends a hearing for his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(SEOUL)– The Seoul Central District Court sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison Thursday.
The court found him guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court ruled that Yoon’s central offense was mobilizing military and police forces to seize control of the National Assembly and detain key political figures.
“The deployment of martial law troops to the National Assembly during the state of emergency constitutes ‘rioting,’ a key legal element required to establish the crime of insurrection,” presiding judge Ji Gui-yeon said Thursday. Ji said declaring martial law can constitute insurrection if intended to obstruct or paralyze constitutional institutions.
The court acknowledged political tensions between Yoon’s administration and the opposition-controlled legislature. However, it said those circumstances did not justify declaring martial law under the constitution.
Judges also said Yoon showed no remorse or acknowledgment of wrongdoing during the proceedings, which they considered in determining his sentence.
Yoon’s attorneys criticized the ruling as “a mere formality for a predetermined conclusion.”
“Watching the rule of law collapse in reality, I question whether I should even pursue an appeal or continue participating in these criminal proceedings,” Yoon’s attorney, Yoon Gab-geun, told reporters after the ruling. “The truth will be revealed in the court of history.”
Yoon was taken into custody immediately after the ruling and transferred to the Seoul Detention Center. He will remain there unless the court grants release pending appeal.
If Yoon appeals, the case will move to the Seoul High Court, which can review legal interpretations and factual findings. A final appeal could be filed with the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing Yoon’s actions posed a grave threat to the constitutional order.
Thursday’s ruling addressed only the insurrection charge. Other criminal cases tied to the December 2024 martial law declaration, including abuse of power and obstruction of official duty, remain pending.
In a separate case last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing his arrest, the first criminal conviction tied to the crisis.
“Yoon’s sentencing does not represent a national catharsis since most Koreans have already emotionally moved on from the former president,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told ABC News. “Nor does this televised verdict mark closure because many cases and appeals related to Yoon’s martial law debacle have yet to be fully adjudicated.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends the executive order signing ceremony to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Texas appeals court will hear arguments on Thursday in a civil lawsuit brought against a woman accused by the state of illegally providing abortions in the Houston area.
Maria Margarita Rojas allegedly provided abortions in violation of the state’s abortion ban and was practicing medicine without a license at a network of clinics in northwestern Houston, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last year, a lower court in Waller County issued an injunction against Rojas and the three clinics at which she worked, causing them to shut down.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is currently asking the appellate court to reverse that decision.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also accused Rojas of violating the state’s abortion ban and charged her with a first-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
“[Paxton] is accusing our client of basically operating abortion clinics, which the problem is that the allegations just aren’t true and we think that the state completely failed to prove or show that any abortions were happening or that any unlawful practice was happening at the clinics,” Marc Herron, interim associate director of litigation with the CRR, who is representing Rojas in the civil case, told ABC News.
ABC News has also reached out to the attorney representing Rojas in the criminal case.
Herron said the case against Rojas is significant because it marks the first time a provider has been criminally charged in Texas for violating the state’s abortion ban.
He accused Paxton’s office of conducting a “shoddy” investigation and said Rojas was using the abortion drug misoprostol to provide miscarriage care.
In January 2025, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, alleging that two abortions were performed at one of Rojas’ clinics, according to the appellate brief.
The Medicaid Fraud Division within Paxton’s office began investigating, with one investigator claiming to find a pill bottle of the drug misoprostol, according to the complaint. While misoprostol can be used as part of a two-drug combination to induce an abortion, it is also used to treat first-trimester miscarriages.
In filing an appeal, Rojas’ attorneys argued that mifepristone, the drug given with misoprostol to induce an abortion, was never found by investigators, nor were tools found that would be used in a surgical abortion.
They also alleged the state investigators had no “medical training or expertise” to know what misoprostol could be used for and did not consult with a medical expert during the investigation.
Herron said the effects of the investigation and of the charges have been devastating on Rojas.
“I think this is a politically motivated case and the effect has been to completely upend my client’s life,” Herron said. “She was arrested twice. She was held in jail for 10 days and had to post this exorbitant $1.4 million bond. She’s now out, but she’s got to wear an ankle monitor. There are extreme restrictions on her travel. Her midwifery license has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, which could take years.”
He added that the proceedings have also affected the predominantly Spanish-speaking, low-income, uninsured patients who relied on care from Rojas and her clinics.
“People who relied on Mrs. Rojas for midwifery care — she delivered babies,” Herron said. “She was a caring, devoted midwife who delivered babies and provided care to her patients, and now her patients can’t turn to her. So this has been devastating.”
According to a press release last year from Paxton, Rojas is a midwife known as “Dr. Maria.” She allegedly owned and operated multiple clinics, including Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring — all in the northwest Houston area.
Rojas is accused of performing “illegal abortion procedures” in her clinics, which allegedly violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act, the attorney general’s office said.
Abortions are banned in Texas except in limited, exception cases if the woman has a life-threatening condition or is at risk of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
In the limited exceptions when abortion is allowed, patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health
Paxton’s office did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment
In an aerial view, Nancy Guthrie’s residence is seen on February 17, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Authorities said they’re looking into using genetic genealogy in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s mysterious abduction, and an expert says the cutting-edge technique could be the key.
While authorities may find Guthrie’s kidnapper through other avenues of investigation, “if they don’t, investigative genetic genealogy definitely will,” genetic genealogist CeCe Moore told ABC News.
Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of Feb. 1 by an unknown suspect.
The FBI ran DNA from a glove found during a roadside search through the national criminal database known as CODIS, but did not get a match to any of the roughly 22 million samples in the database, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
That glove — which was found about 2 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s house — also did not match DNA found at her property, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Moore, a former ABC News contributor, said, “I think we have to exercise a lot of caution in putting too much emphasis on” the glove.
“If it had had Nancy’s DNA, or had matched the DNA at the crime scene, obviously that would be different. But with it being found at such a distance, I always was a little hesitant to get too hopeful about that,” she said. “I think the DNA found at the home is far more compelling.”
While the DNA found at Nancy Guthrie’s property is still being analyzed, the sheriff’s department said on Tuesday that investigators are “looking into additional investigative genetic genealogy options for DNA evidence to check for matches.”
Genetic genealogy takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind and identifies the suspect by tracing the family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. Genetic genealogy has been used to solve hundreds of cases since it was first implemented in the 2018 arrest of the “Golden State Killer,” a cold case that had stumped California law enforcement for decades.
“Just like in the hundreds of cases where we’ve been able to identify a violent criminal that couldn’t be found any other way, genetic genealogy has the power to do so through reverse engineering this individual’s family tree based on his DNA alone,” Moore said. “When you have this person’s DNA, you have so much information about their family tree at your fingertips. And so you can piece that tree back together … you just have to spend the time to look at all that information and sort through it.”
“So genetic genealogy often steps in and is successful when all the other leads have been exhausted,” she said.
In the Guthrie case, investigators “were very smart to start [pursuing genetic genealogy] early, and not wait for all those other leads to be exhausted,” Moore said. “Because if he’s not identified any other way, investigative genetic genealogy will definitely be the key — it’s really just a matter of time.”
And when it comes to that timeframe, Moore said, there are two factors: “the population group from which the person of interest descends — and luck.”
“Sometimes you just get lucky and somebody has a close relative in these very small databases,” Moore said.
“If the population group is one that’s not well represented, then that can make it extremely difficult. If the person has deep roots in the United States and primarily Northwest European ancestry, they may be identified in a matter of minutes or hours, because that’s the population group that’s best represented, and it’s also the one that we have the most information about being here in the United States,” she said. “If someone’s born in another country, or even as far back as their great-grandparents were immigrants, there’s far less representation in the databases that we’re able to use, and it’s also more difficult to work with records outside of the U.S.”
In the Guthrie case, law enforcement sources told ABC News on Wednesday that the FBI has reached out to Mexican authorities. There’s no evidence Nancy Guthrie was taken to Mexico, but it’s an avenue investigators are exploring given Tucson’s proximity to the border, the sources said.
If the Guthrie suspect’s parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were born in Mexico, Moore said, “it will likely take longer.”
Moore said she predicts the genetic genealogy process in the Guthrie case “won’t take more than weeks, maybe months.”
“I have worked on cases for years. However, I don’t think this case will take that long because of the large amount of resources being dedicated to it. I would suspect the FBI genetic genealogy team would be brought in if it takes too long, and they have 200 agents,” she said.
Moore also noted that investigative genetic genealogy can be slowed due to law enforcement’s limited access to DNA profiles.
“There are over 50 million people who have taken direct-to-consumer DNA tests, but most of them are in the three largest databases, and those companies have barred law enforcement from using their databases for these purposes,” Moore said. Currently, law enforcement is limited to accessing three smaller databases, which combined have about 2 million DNA profiles, she said.
“I do expect that if [the Guthrie suspect] is not identified soon, then law enforcement very likely will serve a warrant on those bigger databases” to try to request access, she said.
(TRUCKEE, Calif.) — The group of skiers involved in the deadly avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains on Tuesday includes parents, mostly mothers, of students at a local school and ski academy, according to a source involved in the search and rescue effort and a statement from the school.
“Multiple members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community and others with strong connections to Sugar Bowl, Donner Summit, and the backcountry community died in an avalanche on Tuesday, February 17, 2026,” a statement from the school said.
Sugar Bowl Academy is a private independent school boarding and day school designed for competitive skiers.
A source involved in the search and rescue effort on the scene told ABC News that most of both the deceased and surviving victims of the avalanche are parents connected to the school.
The parents’ kids are on a winter break from school, according to sources familiar.
Authorities have not publicly identified any of the victims.
Emergency responders “are still working to recover all of the victims and are not at this time sharing the personal details of the victims and the survivors out of respect for the families affected,” the school said in the statement. “Sugar Bowl Academy is similarly not sharing the names of the victims and survivors out of respect for the families affected.”
The statement went on to say, “Sugar Bowl Academy is focused on supporting its athletes, students, staff, and families through this tragedy. Most importantly, the Sugar Bowl Academy community will continue to be there in the months and years ahead for the families that have lost loved ones.”
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said earlier Wednesday that 15 people were part of the group of skiers who were caught in the avalanche on Tuesday at the end of a three-day guided trip.
Eight people are confirmed dead and one other person is still missing, but presumed dead, the sheriff’s office said. Of the dead and missing, seven are women and two are men.
Six people survived the avalanche — four men and two women — and were rescued by crews after sheltering under a tarp for hours amid “highly dangerous” conditions, authorities said.
The tragedy is the deadliest U.S. avalanche in 45 years, second only to an avalanche that killed 11 people on Washington’s Mt. Rainer in 1981.
A spokesperson for Nevada County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
