George Michael’s debut solo album, Faith,is getting reissued on vinyl for the first time in more than a decade.
The album will be released on Feb. 20 in several limited-edition variants, including red and black marble vinyl, picture disc, one-LP and two-LP vinyls, as well as audio Blu-ray.
Originally released in 1987, Faith hit #1 in over 100 countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. It contained four #1 singles — “Faith,” “Father Figure,” “One More Try” and “Monkey” — making Michael the only British male solo artist to have four #1 singles from one album. It also included the iconic tune “I Want Your Sex,” which peaked at #2 in the U.S.
Faith earned George Michael a Grammy for album of the year and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.
Head coach Sherrone Moore of the Michigan Wolverines reacts against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
(ANN ARBOR, Mich) — The University of Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore after the school said an investigation found “credible evidence” he was in an “inappropriate relationship” with a staff member, school officials said.
“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of University policy, and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement Wednesday.
Police in the Pittsfield Township area responded to a call on Wednesday, saying a suspect “was taken into custody” on allegations of assault. The incident “does not appear to be random in nature,” police noted.
Pittsfield authorities do not name Moore and no charges have been filed. According to court records, Moore is currently in custody at the Washtenaw County Jail.
Moore, 39, spent two seasons as Michigan’s coach, after serving as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Biff Poggi has since been named interim coach.
Michigan went 9-3 this season and finished 18th in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Overall, Moore went 18-8 as the team’s coach after replacing Jim Harbaugh.
In this photo illustration, a silhouetted individual is seen holding a mobile phone with a Sora of ChatGPT OpenAI logo displayed in the background. (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced plans to invest $1 billion in artificial intelligence company OpenAI, in a deal that will grant the company access to copyrighted characters from “Star Wars,” Marvel and other properties for users of AI short-form video generator Sora.
“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement on Thursday.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
2026 Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival lineup poster. (Courtesy of Live Nation)
Creed has announced the 2026 edition of the band’s Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival.
The two-day event takes place July 18-19 in Tinley Park, Illinois. The “Higher” rockers themselves will headline the bill alongside Limp Bizkit.
The lineup also includes Bush, Mammoth, Cypress Hill, Sevendust, Kittie, Puddle of Mudd, Sleep Theory and Hoobastank, among others.
Presales begin Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. CT, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. CT. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit Summerof99Festival.com.
Along with the Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival, there’s also the Creed-headlined Summer of ’99 and Beyond Cruise, which sets sail in April. That lineup also includes Daughtry, Collective Soul, Filter, Living Colour and Black Stone Cherry, among others.
The Pentagon, heaquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen from the air on February 8, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A report prepared by Democratic members of Congress says the Pentagon has diverted at least $2 billion of its own funds to support the Trump administration’s immigration operations, negatively impacting what they say is the U.S. military’s readiness.
Separately, a response from Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to questions posed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that was shared with ABC News disclosed that two major military exercises were canceled this year and a third was scaled back as a result of the deployment of military forces to immigration operations.
Caine said that both the “Vibrant Response” exercise scheduled for April and May, as well as a rotation by the 10th Mountain Division at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, over the summer were canceled because of the deployment.
The large-scale national “Ardent Sentry” exercise in March that U.S. Northern Command uses to train responses to chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear incidents was also “Descoped” according to Caine’s response.
In a statement to ABC News about the report, the Pentagon said with a $1 trillion budget it’s able to carry out multiple missions simultaneously.
Compiled from open source information and reprogramming requests made by the Pentagon to Congress, the review of Pentagon border funding by Democrats in Congress found that $1.3 billion of that amount had been diverted to pay for the deployment of troops and resources to the Southwest border with Mexico.
The report cited a Pentagon request to Congress in late May to reprogram $200 million in funds approved for worldwide military construction projects to construct a 30-foot-high steel bollard barrier along a 20-mile stretch of the border near Yuma, Arizona.
The diverted funds were originally slated to pay for the construction of new military facilities, including military housing, and two elementary schools run by the DOD’s Education Activity (DODEA) at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Stuttgart, Germany.
The deployment of active duty forces to the Southwest Border began in January shortly after the start of President Donald Trump’s second term with more than 7,000 personnel assigned to support federal law enforcement agencies operating along the border.
Since April, the Trump administration has designated military zones covering large swaths of the border where U.S. forces have the authority to temporarily detain any migrants trespassing what are now considered to be extensions of military bases.
On Wednesday, the Interior Department announced that a fourth National Defense Area had been established along California’s border with Mexico. Previous NDA designations stretched along the border in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
The Democrats’ review found that the high-profile deployment of federalized National Guard and active-duty troops to Los Angeles; Chicago; Portland, Oregon; and Memphis, Tennessee, has cost at least $258 million.
At least $420 million was diverted to assist with the detention of immigrants at military bases in the United States as well as overseas bases at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, according to the report.
The review found that least $40.3 million has been spent on paying for the U.S. military flights used to deport and transport migrants back to their home countries instead of using the cheaper flights contracted by the Department of Homeland Security.
“This is a baffling waste of military resources considering the appropriation of $170 billion to DHS to fund immigration enforcement earlier this year,” said the report. It added that the information used to compile the report indicated that “the vast majority of these funds have not been reimbursed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to date.”
“We are particularly concerned that DHS may not be reimbursing DoD for these funds,” a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a letter that included a copy of the report. “Allowing DHS to continue to pick DoD’s pockets puts our military readiness at risk.”
The Pentagon’s press secretary said in a statement that because of its large annual budget the Department is able to carry out a variety of operations.
“The Pentagon, which operates on an annual budget of nearly $1 Trillion is able to execute on many missions at the same time, including operations with DHS, improvements for DODEA, and facility constructions across the country and the world,” said Kingsley Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary.
“Many additional priorities have been funded thanks to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill,” she added, referring to President Donald Trump’s signature tax and policy bill approved by Congress over the summer. “Spending allocated money on one mission does not mean other missions become depleted.”
The report was released by Warren and Rep. James Garamendi, D-Calif., who criticized the Trump administration for what they said was an unnecessary diversion of funds at the expense of military readiness.
In a statement Warren criticized Hegseth and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for “using the defense budget as a slush fund for political stunts.”
“It’s an insult to our service members that Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem are using the defense budget as a slush fund for political stunts,” Warren said in a statement. “Stripping military resources to promote a wasteful political agenda doesn’t make our military stronger or Americans safer.”
In a separate statement, Garamendi said: “Diverting over $2 billion in funds siphons money away from training, modernization, and maintenance: core investments that should support military families and prepare our forces to fight and win.”
On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing with top Pentagon officials including Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, to discuss the deployment of federalized National Guardsmen to several U.S. cities.
The hearing is expected to touch on the legality of the deployments and whether they were necessary.
Luigi Mangione (L) appears with his lawyers for a suppression of evidence hearing in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan Criminal Court on December 8, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Yenesel – Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione returns to court in New York City Thursday for a sixth day of a hearing to determine what evidence will, or will not, be used against him when he goes on trial on charges of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last December.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are expected to call supervisory police officers present at the Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s where Mangione was apprehended after customers thought they recognized the suspect wanted in New York due to his distinctive eyebrows.
The supervisors, a sergeant and two corporals, briefly were overheard on body camera footage debating whether officers needed a warrant to conduct more than a cursory search of Mangione’s backpack, from which police were seen on the footage retrieving the alleged murder weapon, writings, and a note that prosecutors said mentioned “escape routes”
Defense attorneys say the lack of a warrant made the search and seizure illegal, and they are seeking to preclude the contents of the bag.
They also argue officers were too late reading Mangione his Miranda rights and continued to pepper him with questions after he indicated he preferred to remain silent.
The officers have testified that they lawfully searched Mangione’s backpack pursuant to his arrest for showing them a fake ID, and said they were legitimately concerned Mangione may have had a weapon or explosive.
The officers also testified their questions to Mangione’s about his fake ID and whether his bag contained anything harmful were appropriate under the circumstances.
Prosecutors are expected to rest next week. Judge Gregory Carro is expected to issue a written decision about the evidence sometime in January.
David Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Skydance Corp., center, outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Paramount launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery this week, just days after Netflix struck a deal to acquire the legacy media company.
The rival multi-billion dollar efforts to purchase streaming platform HBO Max and movie studio Warner Bros., among other assets, could upend the media industry and shape content viewed by hundreds of millions of people.
For now, the outcome remains highly uncertain. Any acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would likely be reviewed by the Trump administration, which could move to block a proposed merger over anti-monopoly concerns, according to antitrust experts from Vanderbilt University, the University of Tennessee and the Cardozo Law School.
The government approval process could take anywhere from several months to more than a year, the experts said.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Here’s what to know about the government hurdles faced by a potential blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros:
What government hurdles await a bid from Netflix or Paramount?
Streaming giant Netflix appeared to win the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery last week, when the two firms announced a merger. Within days, however, Paramount launched a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, meaning Paramount plans to appeal to shareholders in an effort to overcome the wishes of management.
The $108 billion bid from Paramount encompasses the HBO Max streaming service, the Warner Bros. film production company and cable channels such as CNN. Netflix established its agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery at a lower price of $83 billion, though the Netflix offer excluded the cable channels.
Ultimately, the prevailing bid for Warner Bros. Discovery — whether from Paramount or Netflix — will likely face scrutiny from the Trump administration that could doom the proposal if agency officials consider the newly created company in violation of anti-monopoly law, experts said.
An antitrust review of the merger would draw on a standard established in the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, some experts said. The law prohibits mergers in which “the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.”
As part of its assessment, Trump officials would examine the market share of the newly created company, especially with regard to whether it could result in higher prices for consumers or reduced fees for creators selling content to media companies, Maurice Stucke, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, told ABC News.
An antitrust review could also focus on the potential impact on content distributors, such as movie theaters, Stucke noted.
“It’s not just a question of higher prices,” Stucke said. “It could be less content, less choice, less innovation and a decrease in quality — all of those could be a concern.”
If the Trump administration considers a potential merger illegal, a federal agency could seek a settlement under terms that would assuage government concerns.
Typically, the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice (DOJ) are tasked with settlement negotiations or legal action tied to antitrust concerns.
In June, for instance, the DOJ announced a settlement agreement that permitted Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, a digital infrastructure firm. The settlement requires HPE to divest a part of its business and license Juniper Network’s critical software to competitors, the DOJ said.
If a settlement between the government and the firm cannot be reached, the Trump administration may move to sue the company in an effort to block the merger. A lawsuit would present a task for the Trump administration, Stucke said: “How do you prove this in court?”
The potential merger could also receive scrutiny from state-level regulators or the European Union.
How may regulators weigh a bid from Netflix or Paramount?
Proposals from Netflix or Paramount could each raise antitrust concerns, but for slightly different reasons, some experts said.
Netflix is the most popular streaming service, boasting 300 million subscribers worldwide as of late 2024, the most recent time for which data is available. The company accounts for 46% of mobile app monthly active users in global streaming, according to a CNBC analysis of data from intelligence firm Sensor Tower. After acquiring HBO Max, that share of app users would rise to 60%, CNBC said.
“Netflix has studios and a big chunk of streaming,” Sam Weinstein, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law who focuses on antitrust, told ABC News. “If you think that’s a market, they might have a big enough chunk that they can raise prices to impact streamers.”
“On the other hand, they’re a big buyer of projects. Creators might think, ‘Well now there’s one less studio to bid on my work,” he added.
Netflix may seek a broad definition of the market that includes consumers of online video, such as YouTube and short-form social media content, rather than merely traditional streaming, according to Weinstein.
“In that larger market, Netflix has a much smaller share,” Weinstein said.
Speaking to reporters on an earrings call on Friday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos voiced confidence about government approval of the merger.
“This deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, it’s pro-creator, it’s pro-growth,” Sarandos said, adding that the firm would “work really closely with all the appropriate governments and regulators.”
Paramount+ counts a smaller streaming audience than Netflix, recording about 79.1 million subscribers in September 2025, or less than a third of the audience of Netflix. The comparatively small market share for streaming could lessen concern among regulators about the potential to push up prices for consumers, some experts said.
Still, Paramount boasts a movie studio of its own, Paramount Pictures, presenting a risk of decreased competition for content production in the event of a potential merger, Rebecca Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, told ABC News. In turn, TV shows or movies could command lower prices for creators, while actors or other workers could lose out on pay, she noted.
“At this moment, you can approach either Warner or Paramount as competitive studios,” Allensworth said. “This will take away one of those options.”
Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison addressed antitrust concerns, saying the offer from Paramount compares favorably to the one from Netflix when considered through the lens of preserving a competitive industry.
“What we’re creating by putting these two companies together is a real competitor to Netflix, a real competitor to Amazon, a real competitor to Disney — not something that is so anti-competitive,” Ellison said.
Could the Trump administration take into account issues unrelated to competition?
The Trump administration may retain leeway to consider issues unrelated to competition, including potential agreements surrounding coverage at new outlets such as Warner Bros. Discovery-owned CNN, some experts said, noting the murky nature of antitrust law.
“A speeding violation or murder is fairly clear cut,” Stucke said. “With bringing an antitrust claim, there’s a lot of discretion.”
Trump, a frequent critic of major news outlets including CNN, told reporters on Sunday that he would “be involved” in the decision on a potential Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Trump’s willingness to take a direct role in deal evaluation departs from standard practice in which the president has sought to distance himself from antitrust reviews, Weinstein noted.
“The norm is that the White House wouldn’t get involved — that definitely isn’t happening here,” he said.
Speaking on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center honors on Sunday, Trump raised antitrust concerns about a potential Netflix acquisition, saying the deal “could be a problem” due to the market share of the new firm.
The circumstances afford the Trump administration leverage to extract potential concessions from a buyer like Netflix or Paramount, since in each case the purchase presents legitimate antitrust issues, granting Trump an opportunity to exercise robust oversight of the merger while seeking a favorable settlement, Allensworth said.
“Because antitrust law would likely find at least serious problems with the merger, Trump can make that all go away on terms that he agrees to,” Allensworth added.
Weinstein agreed, suggesting that their may be a court-enforceable agreement.
“It’s entirely possible you might have a consent decree with conditions that are non-competitive,” Weinstein said.
As part of a process seeking Federal Communications Commission approval for its $8 billion acquisition of Paramount earlier this year, Skydance agreed to a series of concessions that appeared to align with the views of the Trump administration, including agreements to forego implementation of diversity, equity or inclusion programs and appoint an ombudsman.
In a statement when the acquisition was approved in July, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the changes aimed to improve public trust in mainstream news outlets like CBS.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”
Experts underscored the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of a potential review of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
“If it’s a straight-up merger under antitrust guidelines, that’s one thing,” Weinstein said. “If you can win favor of the administration by making promises, that makes the deal unpredictable.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine president, during a meeting at Downing Street in London, UK, on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down at least 287 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday morning, soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previewed more meetings with foreign partners regarding a possible peace deal.
Forty of the drones were shot down over the Moscow region, 32 of which the Defense Ministry said were “flying toward Moscow.”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in posts to Telegram that emergency services had been dispatched to several sites where falling drone debris was reported.
A spokesperson for Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s federal air transport agency, said in posts to Telegram that temporary flight restrictions were introduced at all four of Moscow’s airports.
The latest exchanges came soon after Zelenskyy said his negotiating team was “finalizing work on the 20 points of a fundamental document that could define the parameters for ending the war.”
Zelenskyy was referring to the 20-point peace settlement proposal that Ukrainian, U.S. and European leaders have been working on for several weeks.
A Ukrainian official close to the peace talks told ABC News on Thursday morning that Ukraine had handed the U.S. a revised 20-point peace plan.
The official noted that the revised plan contains “some new ideas” regarding territories and control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
“This is not a new version, it is the same 20 points, only some of them have been slightly rethought,” the official said.
Ukrainian and American negotiating teams are expected to hold online consultations on Thursday regarding the peace plan, but the main topic will be security guarantees, not the revised points of the plan.
“Right now, there are three documents: the basic 20 points, the security guarantees and the document on the economy and reconstruction,” the Ukrainian official told ABC News. “Yesterday, we discussed the economy, today the guarantees.”
Russia continued its long-range strike campaign on Ukraine overnight.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 151 drones and three missiles into the country on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, of which 83 drones and two missiles were shot down. Impacts of one missile and 63 drones were reported across 34 locations, the air force said.
Zelenskyy said in a Wednesday social media post that a meeting with the “Coalition of the Willing” — a group of mostly European leaders backing Ukraine — was planned for Thursday.
“Ukraine is working swiftly; every visit and every negotiation we conduct always yields practical results for our defense and for our resilience,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Warner Bros. has shared a first look at its upcoming Supergirl film. The teaser, which debuted on Wednesday, announces that a longer trailer will release on Thursday. Milly Alcock stars as the titular cape-wearing superhero in the new movie, which is directed by Craig Gillespie. The upcoming movie flies into theaters on June 26, 2026 …
We now know when The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 will debut on Netflix. The hit drama series returns with 10 new episodes on Feb. 5, 2026. It will bring Mickey his most challenging case yet — his own …
Jeff Garcia, known for providing the voice of Sheen Estevez in the Nickelodeon series Jimmy Neutron, died at age 50 on Wednesday. His son Joseph Garcia confirmed the news to Instagram. “With a very heavy heart, I would like to inform everybody that my father, Jeff Garcia, has passed away. My father was a unique soul. He was unapologetically himself and I will always admire the love, compassion, and drive that he had,” the tribute reads …
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan leaves the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse on May 15, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(MILWAUKEE) — Jury selection is set to begin on Thursday in the federal trial of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who is accused of concealing an undocumented man to prevent his arrest by immigration authorities.
The court has scheduled jury selection over two days, with the trial set to begin on Monday in Milwaukee.
Prosecutors have told the court they expect to have 25 to 28 witnesses.
Dugan was arrested in April and charged in a two-count federal indictment alleging obstruction of official Department of Homeland Security removal proceedings and knowingly concealing the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, from immigration authorities.
According to federal prosecutors, Dugan encountered federal agents who were at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court on April 18 to arrest Flores-Ruiz, who was appearing in her courtroom on a battery charge.
Prosecutors say that after speaking to the agents, Dugan directed them to the chief judge’s office down the hall and then sent Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a non-public door in an alleged attempt, authorities claim, to help him evade arrest on immigration violations.
Dugan has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Her lawyers have called her arrest “virtually unprecedented” and sought to dismiss the case, arguing she has judicial immunity for official acts and her prosecution is unconstitutional. Judge Lynn Adelman denied the motion, finding that there was “no basis for granting immunity simply because some of the allegations in the indictment describe conduct that could be considered ‘part of a judge’s job.'”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Dugan in the wake of her arrest, stating in an order that it found it was “in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”
Flores-Ruiz, a native of Mexico, was later arrested and charged with unlawful reentry into the U.S.
He was sentenced to time served earlier this month after pleading guilty to the charge, federal court records show. DHS said last month he had been deported.
