The surviving members of Led Zeppelin – Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones – reunited for their first concert together in 19 years, the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at London’s O2 Arena. They were backed by Jason Bonham, son of their late drummer, John Bonnham.
The band headlined the show with a 16-song set that included such songs as “Ramble On,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “The Song Remains The Same,” “Kashmir,” “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock and Roll.”
It was the third time they reunited since their breakup in 1980 and the last time that the surviving members performed together on stage.
Celebration Day, a concert film documenting the performance, was released in October 2012; highlights aired on the BBC that December.
View of the Cour Napoleon, a historic courtyard in the Louvre Museum and the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France on November 12th, 2025. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(PARIS and LONDON) — Nobody was monitoring the live feed.
As masked men hacked a hole in a window at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October, a security camera inside the gallery was picking up the spot where they were working, Noel Corbin, the head of France’s inspectorate general of culture told the country’s Senate at a hearing on Wednesday.
As men clambered into the world-famous museum, nobody was actively monitoring that specific feed, legislators were told. And, even as the robbers collected their loot — allegedly stealing French crown jewels worth some $102 million — the security staff at a bank of screens weren’t yet focused on the camera catching the robbery, Corbin said.
The camera’s zoom wasn’t “activated” until 9:38 a.m., about four minutes after the robbery began, the Senate was told. By then, the blink-and-you-miss-it robbery was all but over.
The Senate was told on Wednesday that there had been “insufficient screens” in the security guard’s control room to simultaneously view images from all the cameras in the museum.
While the live video feed from one the Apollo Gallery appeared to have been transmitted during the robbery, it wasn’t immediately clear why it wasn’t among those being monitored remotely by a live person. Another camera near the scene wasn’t working that day, Corbin said.
The latest details on apparent faults in security at the world’s most-visited museum came as the French government and law enforcement sought through a sprawling investigation to understand how those alleged lapses in procedure and equipment may have worked in favor of the robbers.
The robbery suspects fled on motorbikes, police said at the time of the heist. At least seven people have since been arrested, five of whom have been formally charged in connection to the heist, French officials said. But the irreplaceable jewels taken during the Sunday morning heist have not yet been recovered.
The Senate on Wednesday heard new details on what appeared to have happened during the heist, including that there had been “insufficient screens.” That lack of screens had been highlighted in a security audit carried out earlier in the year, one of five such audits that had been carried out in the last decade, the watchdog said.
One of those audits, the one carried out in 2019 by a private auditor, had specifically focused on the Apollo Gallery, the watchdog said, adding that another in 2015 had focused on the museum’s computer systems.
The Senate was told that the findings of those audits included details about security cameras, some of which were described as “obsolete.” It was not immediately clear if the camera faced at the window in the Apollo Gallery was characterized as such.
As the robbery unfolded, the Senate heard on Wednesday, members of a private Securitas security team arrived outside the museum quickly enough that they may have stopped the robbers from lighting their vehicle — a moving ladder — on fire, thus apparently saving crucial evidence that’s led to arrests.
But if they had arrived at least 30 seconds earlier they could have stopped the robbers from escaping, the Senate was told, with the watchdog adding that a quicker viewing of the live feed from the internal security camera might have made the difference.
Heavy rain fall (Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An atmospheric river event has been slamming the Pacific Northwest with rain, and the flood threat is far from over.
In the last two days, 2 to 4 inches of rain fell at lower elevations and 4 to 10 inches was recorded at higher elevations across western Washington and Oregon.
On Wednesday, the rain will focus on hard-hit Washington, inundating the state with nearly constant rainfall. Four to 8 inches is forecast in higher elevations and 2 to 4 inches is expected in lower elevations.
Record flooding is forecast for some rivers, especially the Skagit River at Mount Vernon and Concrete, Washington, which could swell 3 to 5 feet above record levels.
The rain will continue in Washington on Thursday, but it will be much lighter. However, levees will be challenged starting Thursday afternoon.
Central and northern Idaho will also get heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday, which may lead to flooding.
Meanwhile, more winter storms are ahead for the Midwest and Northeast.
A storm that dumped snow in Minneapolis and Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday will move through the Great Lakes and the Northeast on Wednesday, bringing snow to higher elevations and rain to lower elevations. Three to 6 inches of snow is forecast for some areas in upstate New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.
The next winter storm will move into the Midwest on Wednesday night, bringing 3 to 6 inches of snow from Iowa to Kentucky on Thursday.
Diana Ross on ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026′ (Courtesy DCP)
Diana Ross has made her New Year’s plans.
The 81-year-old singing icon has been announced as the 2026 headliner for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, where she’ll perform live in New York’s Times Square.
“Together we begin a new year,” Ross says. “Let’s embrace a new beginning, new opportunities, new joy — a celebration of love, where we all come together as we begin 2026.”
Ross joins a huge lineup of already announced performers, including Mariah Carey, Chappell Roan, Charlie Puth, Chance the Rapper, Rick Springfield, Busta Rhymes, T.I. & Wyclef Jean, Demi Lovato, Pitbull, Lil Jon, 4 NonBlondes and more.
The ABC special airs on Dec. 31 starting at 8 p.m. ET. In addition to the Times Square broadcast, it will feature performances from Las Vegas, Chicago and Puerto Rico. More than 85 songs will be performed before the show wraps up at 4 a.m. ET. It will also air the next day on Hulu.
Jacob Lee Bard, 48, is accused of shooting and killing a person on the Kentucky State University campus on Dec. 9, 2025. (Franklin County Jail)
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) —One student is dead and another critically injured in a shooting Tuesday at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, according to police.
A suspect in the shooting, who is not a student at the university, is in custody, police said in a press release, identifying him as Jacob Lee Bard, 48, of Evansville, Indiana.
He has been booked into jail on charges of murder and first-degree assault.
Preliminary information indicates the shooting was caused by a personal dispute and was not a random active shooter situation, an official briefed on the situation told ABC News.
“This was not a mass shooting or a random incident based on what I’ve been told, and the suspected shooter is already in custody,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a video message. “That means that while this was scary, there is no ongoing threat and I believe our families are safe.”
The Frankfort Police Department said it responded to an incident on the school’s campus Tuesday afternoon “regarding an active aggressor.”
The shooting occurred near Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall, a residence hall on the south side of the campus, according to the school.
Two Kentucky State University students were shot in the incident, authorities said. One has since died while the other was transported to a hospital in stable but critical condition, Frankfort police said.
“At this time, there is no ongoing threat to the campus community,” the school said in a statement to students.
The investigation is ongoing. The university said it is working closely with local and state law enforcement.
All classes and activities at the campus, which is located approximately 25 miles northwest of Lexington, have been canceled for the rest of the week, school officials said.
“Today, indeed, was a senseless tragedy,” Kentucky State University President Koffi Akakpo said at a press briefing on Tuesday. “We’re mourning the loss of one of our students.”
Beshear urged people to pray for those affected and “for a world where these things don’t happen.”
“I’ll keep trying to build a Kentucky that we don’t see arguments ended in violence,” he said.
James Cameron and Billie Eilish on the set of ‘BILLIE EILISH – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D)’ (Henry Hwu)
A new trailer has been released for BILLIE EILISH – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D), the singer’s upcoming immersive movie collaboration with Titanic director James Cameron.
In the non-3D trailer, which is mostly set to Billie’s song “The Greatest,” we see her behind-the-scenes and onstage during her recently completed tour, and working with Cameron, who says, “No one’s shot a concert film on this scale before.”
He adds, “We’re using tech that’s never been used before,” to which Billie replies, “Can’t wait!”
The words “She changed music. He changed movies. Together, they’ll reinvent the concert experience.” flash onscreen as we see more scenes of Billie on and offstage. She cries at a sweet note her brother FINNEAS sends her, grins as he joins her onstage, and laughs backstage at how tired she is.
In the last scene, Billie is seen petting various dogs and explaining, “Tour is so brutal, I like to have a puppy room to go chill in.” “I’ll be doing this on my next movie for sure,” jokes Cameron.
BILLIE EILISH – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: THE TOUR (LIVE IN 3D) arrives in theaters March 20. You can sign up now for early access to tickets, or purchase a “friends and family” gift card at Billie’s webstore that you can use to buy the tickets — it’ll arrive in time for the holidays.
Taylor Swift, ‘The End of an Era’ docuseries (Courtesy Disney+)
What was Taylor Swift‘s goal in putting together the Eras Tour? “Every single night, we’re going to do everything in our power to blow your mind.”
That’s what Taylor says in a special first look at the series premiere of her upcoming The End of an Era docuseries. The teaser aired Wednesday exclusively on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“We have done something that no one has ever done,” Taylor says in the teaser.
“Executing a tour of this size is mind-boggling. How do we do this?” Taylor’s mom Andrea Swift continues.
Taylor then calls the Eras tour “the biggest challenge that any of us have ever done.”
We then see scenes of Taylor rehearsing The Tortured Poets Department segment of the concert, which she added a little more than a year after the tour launched. She says in a voiceover, “We had to be all hands on deck to put in a new era into the show.”
Kam Saunders, one of Taylor’s dancers notes, “This feels like my Super Bowl.”
“Bringing out special guests is something I really enjoy,” Taylor says, as we see her rehearsing with Ed Sheeran and welcoming Florence Welch to the stage.
The first two episodes of The End of an Era, which goes behind the scenes of Taylor’s record-breaking Eras Tour from 2023 to 2024, will begin streaming Dec. 12 on Disney+, a day before her 36th birthday. Two more episodes will be released every week until the six-episode series is completed.
Ego Nwodim has been tapped to host the 41st Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Saturday Night Live alum will host the awards show on Feb. 15, 2026. “No stage celebrates the incredible work of these visionary artists and independent creators everywhere quite like the Spirit Awards,” Nwodim said in a statement. “I can’t wait to join Film Independent for an afternoon of fun, laughs and a few surprises.” …
Sigourney Weaver is in talks to join a new action franchise. Deadline reports the actress is in conversations to join the upcoming Tomb Raider series at Prime Video. The show will star Sophie Turner as Lara Croft, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge will write and executive produce …
We now know who will joinKim Kardashian in the upcoming Netflix ensemble comedy The Fifth Wheel. NikkiGlaser, Brenda Song and Fortune Feimster are set to star in the upcoming film that follows a disastrous group trip to Las Vegas. Kardashian will also produce the film, which will be directed by Eva Longoria, and written by Paula Pell and Janine Brito …
(WASHINGTON) — More than 20 years ago, the Supreme Court outlawed the execution of intellectually disabled people convicted of capital crimes as “cruel and unusual” punishment forbidden by the Eighth Amendment.
In a major case from Alabama before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the justices are asked to clarify who qualifies as “intellectually disabled” and what role intelligence quotient — also known as IQ — test scores play in making the determination.
Joseph Clifton Smith, an Alabama man who brought the case, confessed to a 1997 murder during a robbery, but challenged his death sentence on grounds he has had “substantially subaverage intellectual functioning” since a young age.
Smith has taken five separate IQ tests over nearly 40 years, scoring 75 in 1979, 74 in 1982, 72 in 1998, 78 in 2014 and 74 in 2017.
People below 70 are generally considered to have an intellectual disability, but major American medical groups urge a holistic assessment that also looks at social and practical skills.
The groups note that standardized test scores alone should not be conclusive. Smith’s score of 72, for example, could be 69 when factoring the 3-point margin of error.
“Intellectual disability diagnoses based solely on IQ test scores are faulty and invalid,” attorneys for the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association told the court in a legal brief. “But IQ test scores remain relevant; IQ tests are a scientifically valid means to ascertain estimates of an individual’s intellectual ability. The key is to understand both the value of IQ tests and their limits.”
Smith, who allegedly suffered physical and verbal abuse as a child, consistently functioned two grade-levels below his placement in school, according to court documents. Smith’s school classified him as “Educable Mentally Retarded” in 7th grade before he eventually dropped out.
Two lower federal courts ruled that a holistic analysis of Smith’s IQ scores and other evidence, including his behavioral history and school records, proved he is intellectually disabled and should spend life behind bars rather than face execution.
Alabama wants the justices to toss out that assessment.
“Joseph Smith is not intellectually disabled, and the Eighth Amendment does not override the death sentence he earned for murdering Durk Van Dam,” the state argued in its brief to the court. “Whether and how to weigh multiple IQ scores is left to state discretion.”
The state says intellectual disability can only be proven by an IQ score of 70 or less by a preponderance of the evidence.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the case will determine whether Smith lives or dies.
More broadly, the ruling could determine how many other borderline intellectually disabled people on death row could be able to convert their death sentences into life behind bars.
By one estimate, as many as 20% of the 2,100 people on death row in the U.S. may have some degree of intellectual disability, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
A ruling in the case — Hamm v. Smith — is expected by the end of June 2026.
The Federal Reserve logo is visible on the William McChesney Martin Jr. Building on December 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest adjustment of interest rates on Wednesday, potentially slashing borrowing costs for the third time this year in an effort to boost sluggish hiring.
Top officials at the Federal Reserve have displayed a rare degree of public disagreement over a possible interest rate cut. Inflation has picked up in recent months alongside the hiring slowdown, posing a risk of an economic double-whammy known as “stagflation.”
The Fed is stuck in a bind, since the central bank must balance a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment. To address pressure on both of its goals, the Fed primarily holds a single tool: interest rates.
If the Fed holds interest rates steady as a means of protecting against tariff-induced inflation, it risks a deeper slowdown of the labor market. On the other hand, if the Fed lowers rates to stimulate the economy in the face of a hiring slowdown, it threatens to boost spending and worsen inflation.
“We have one tool,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., in October. “You can’t address both of those at once.”
Lately, sentiment shifted in favor of a rate cut as some influential central bankers voiced openness toward the move, futures markets showed.
The chances of a quarter-point interest rate cut stand at about 87%, surging from a level as low as 30% last month, according to CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
The prospects appeared to move in response to a murky jobs report and public statements from two allies of Powell on the committee charged with setting rates.
Last month, a jobs report for September sent mixed signals about the labor market. Employers added far more workers than expected in September, though hiring fell short of a breakneck clip. Meanwhile the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%, a low figure by historical standards but the highest recorded since October 2021.
New York Fed President John Williams, who is often in lockstep with Powell, days later voiced openness toward a rate cut, telling reporters he still saw “room for a further adjustment in the near term.”
Soon afterward, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daley took a similar position, telling reporters she sees room “for a further adjustment in the near term.” Daley, who isn’t voting on interest rates this year, is widely viewed as a supporter of Powell.
A quarter-point interest rate cut would reduce the Fed’s benchmark rate to a level between 3.5% and 3.75%.
That figure would mark a significant pullback from a peak in 2023. At the outset of the pandemic, interest rates stood at 0%.
Still, a reduction of interest rates could offer some relief for mortgage and credit card borrowers. Savers, however, stand to lose income as interest rates decline for accounts held at banks.
