Hello Kitty and Bruno Mars return with exclusive merch, activations and more. (Courtesy Sanrio)
When Bruno Mars kicks off his The Romantic Tour in Las Vegas, he’ll have a special guest on hand: Hello Kitty.
A limited-edition pop-up shop with exclusive, limited-edition Hello Kitty X Bruno Mars merch will debut April 9 at a pop-up store at The Shoppes at Mandalay Place. The beloved character will also be appearing in different Vegas locations, including an April 11 meet-and-greet at one of the city’s Hello Kitty cafes.
The tour begins with two shows at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on April 10 and 11. But it’s not just fans in Las Vegas who will enjoy the experience: the pop-up with the merch will then travel to select tour stops, including Glendale, Arizona; Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Detroit; Chicago; and Toronto.
If a Bruno/Hello Kitty crossover seems somewhat random, it might be, but it’s not new. It’s actually Bruno’s second collab with the cartoon creature. In 2024, he launched a line of branded Hello Kittylimited-edition merch to celebrate his holiday residency at Park MGM Las Vegas, and a similar meet-and-greet at the Hello Kitty cafe at that hotel.
Gov’t Mule Kicking In Your Stall Tour (Courtesy of Gov’t Mule)
Gov’t Mule has revealed a new set of summer tour dates.
The Warren Haynes-led band has added 10 new summer headlining shows to their schedule, dubbed the Kicking In Your Stall Tour.
The new shows begin July 22 in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and run through Aug. 23 in Vail, Colorado. The dates fall between the band’s summer co-headlining tour with Joe Bonamassa.
An artist presale for tickets begins April 8 at 12 p.m. ET, with tickets going on sale to the general public April 10 at 12 p.m. ET.
But fans don’t have to wait until summer to see Gov’t Mule on the road. They launch a new spring tour on April 7 in Shipshewana, Indiana, which runs until May 1 in New Orleans. The spring shows include co-headlining dates with Larkin Poe.
A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.
A photo of Meryl Streep. (Brigitte Lacombe) | The book cover of ‘The Corrections.’ (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Meryl Streep’s next project is in the works.
Netflix has announced plans to make a limited series adaptation of the award-winning novel The Corrections. Streep is set to star as Enid in the small-screen version of the bestselling book by Jonathan Franzen.
American Fiction writer and director Cord Jefferson will helm the series from a script written and adapted by Franzen. Additionally, Jefferson and Streep will both executive produce the project.
The Corrections is described as a comedic and tragic portrait of a Midwestern family and three adult siblings who resist their mother’s wish for one last Christmas together, “each undone by the delusional ambitions that were supposed to save them from becoming their parents,” according to a description from Netflix.
The novel was published in 2001 and became a #1 New York Times bestseller. It follows older couple Enid and Alfred, as well as their children, Gary, Chip and Denise, during a tense holiday gathering.
There is currently no word on further casting or when audiences can expect to watch the show.
Noah Kahan recruited his fans to help reveal the track list for his new album, The Great Divide.
A select group of fans were sent special patches — the kind you sew onto your jacket — with the song titles on them. Each fan then posted their patch on social media, revealing one track at a time. You can see all the posts on the Instagram Story of one of Noah’s official sites, @kahanhq.
But if that’s too difficult, Noah has now organized all the song titles into a list on his website. Several tracks are songs he’s performed live in the past, such as “Deny Deny Deny,” “Haircut” and “Doors.”
There aren’t any features on the record — yet. After all, we’re talking about a guy who released a version of his last album, Stick Season, with guest stars ranging from Hozier and Gracie Abrams to Post Malone and Brandi Carlile, so who knows what he’ll do in the future?
On Noah’s website, you can enter for a chance to win a full set of The Great Divide patches. The album is out April 24.
Here’s the track list for The Great Divide: “End of August” “Doors” “American Cars” “Downfall” “Paid Time off” “The Great Divide” “Haircut” “Willing and Able” “Dashboard” “23” “Porch Light” “Deny Deny Deny” “Headed North” “We Go Way Back” “Spoiled” “All Them Horses” “Dan”
(L-R) Nancy Wilson and Ann Wilson of Heart perform during day 4 of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2024 at Fair Grounds Race Course on April 28, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Douglas Mason/WireImage)
Heart has been added to the 2026 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala, taking place May 8 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
The event celebrates recordings being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year, including Heart’s 1975 debut album, Dreamboat Annie.
Other additions to the lineup include George Clinton, celebrating the induction of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain; Lucinda Williams, whose album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is also being inducted; and Take 6.
They join previously announced performer Norah Jones, who will be honored at the event with the Ray Charles Architect of Sound Award.
Overall, nine albums and five songs have been chosen for induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year, including recordings from Janet Jackson, Radiohead, 2Pac and Nick Drake.
Released in September 1975, Dreamboat Annie was a top-10 hit for Heart, peaking at #7 on the Billboard 200. It features two songs that would go on to become Heart classics: “Magic Man,” which was their first top-10 single, and “Crazy on You,” a top-40 hit.
A ”For Sale” sign is outside a residential home in Oro Valley, Ariz., Dec.12, 2025. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since September as fallout from the Iran war ripples through financial markets, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.46%, continuing a weeks-long surge since the war began on Feb. 28, during which time mortgage rates have increased nearly half a percentage point.
Mortgage rates remain slightly lower than this time a year ago, when the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.64%.
The recent spike in borrowing costs risks further strain on U.S. households as they weather elevated gasoline prices.
The rise in mortgage rates owes to a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors fear a bout of inflation in response to the Middle East conflict.
High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans, since 10-year Treasury rates influence the rates offered for a variety of loans, including mortgages and credit cards.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, meaning the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.31%, about 0.35 percentage points higher than pre-war levels.
“Mortgage rates have risen as bond market yields have sought to price in the risk of higher inflation in the future,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, previously told ABC News.
Last week, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Bond yields eased in recent days as Trump signaled a possible off-ramp from the war with Iran.
Selena Gomez and David Henrie on the ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ set. (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is ready to cast one last spell.
Disney+ and Disney Channel have announced that the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff series will return for its final chapter this summer. Production on the new episodes starts next week.
Selena Gomez will make her directorial debut as she helms the premiere episode of this final chapter in the Russo family’s story. In addition to directing, Gomez will reprise her role of Alex Russo over the course of multiple episodes and continue executive producing.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place stars David Henrie as Justin Russo and Janice LeAnn Brown as the young wizard Billie. Alkaio Thiele, Max Matenko, Taylor Cora and Mimi Gianopulos also make up the main cast.
This final chapter of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is being billed as a special four-part event.
“Billie, still reeling from losing Alex at the end of season 2, discovers that the only way to rescue her mother is to reunite with her long-lost father,” according to an official description from Disney. “As her family bands together to find Alex, Billie realizes that their combined power is the only way the Russos can defeat the evil plaguing them.”
Disney Channel released a teaser for the new episodes on Thursday. The video features a moment from the emotional ending of season 2, with Billie and Alex embracing each other.
“Hold on tight for some news,” the video says, before announcing the upcoming new and final episodes.
Iraqi Shiite militia groups organize a military parade as part of the ‘World Quds Day’ events in Baghdad, Iraq, March 28, 2025. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials have issued a new warning to Americans still in Iraq, advising them to leave the country immediately as Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may “intend to conduct attacks” in central Baghdad.
“U.S. citizens should leave Iraq now,” said the alert issued on Thursday by the United States Embassy and Consulate in Iraq, which has previously issued warnings for Americans to leave the country due to security risks.
The new alert comes as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month.
The security alert also came just days after an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in broad daylight on a busy street in Baghdad, allegedly by an Iran-linked militia group.
“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the U.S. Embassy’s alert said.
The embassy’s statement added that Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist militias have already conducted “widespread attacks against U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”
The alert cautioned Americans to be aware that militia groups “may claim to be associated with the Iraqi government.”
“Terrorists may carry identification denoting their status as Iraqi government employees,” according to the alert.
In addition to U.S. citizens, terrorist militias might also target businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports and “other locations perceived to be associated with the United States,” according to the alert.
While telling U.S. citizens to leave the country immediately, U.S. officials also said the only escape routes out of Iraq are overland to Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey because the airspace is closed, preventing commercial airlines from flying out of Iraq.
“Local ground transportation options are functioning. Americans should depart now via one of these overland routes,” according to the alert.
For the time being, the U.S. Mission in Iraq remains open. But the alert advised Americans not to go there.
“Do not attempt to come to the Embassy in Baghdad or the Consulate General in Erbil in light of significant security risks,” the alert said.
The search for Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist originally from Wisconsin, continued on Thursday, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.
“We have no answer or explanation,” the interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday about Kittleson’s abduction.
In a security camera recording verified by ABC News and confirmed by Iraq’s interior ministry to show the moment Kittleson was kidnapped on Tuesday, the journalist is seen standing on a sidewalk as a silver car approaches before she is pushed towards the car, which then quickly speeds away.
One suspect alleged to be involved in the kidnapping was arrested when one of the cars fleeing the scene crashed and overturned, according to Iraq’s interior ministry. Kittleson had been forced into another car that got away.
Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs for the State Department, said in a statement on Wednesday that the suspect has ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift attend the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, March 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
Kylie Kelce is Not Gonna Lie: she’s sick and tired of people trying to milk her for information about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.
On the new episode of her podcast, Not Gonna Lie, Kylie, wife of Travis’ brother, Jason Kelce, announced, “I just want to say to literally everybody, I know it usually comes from a good place — not always — but quit asking me and my mother-in-law about upcoming nuptials.”
“Nobody’s f****** telling you anything,” she continued. “I don’t have any details. I don’t have any details. I don’t have any details. I have no details. I have none. … Stop f****** asking me. Stop f****** asking my mother-in-law.”
“TMZ, f****** being creeps in the f****** airport. Ew,” Kylie went on, referring to the fact that her mother-in-law, Donna Kelce, was recently pressed for information about the wedding at LAX.
“Here’s the deal,” Kylie said to the camera. “Even if I did have any information, I’m not f****** telling you. That’s private information, if I had it, private information between family. So, A and B, ‘C’ your way out. You see what I did there?”
“And while we’re talking about A and B and C and letters — TMZ, SMA. How about that? For anyone who’s confused about that, suck my a**.”
“Great, perfect. I feel like we appropriately nailed that,” Kylie concluded.
But then she went on say, “You know what? Keep f****** asking. You know what my answer’s gonna be? ‘I know nothing. Suck my a**.'”
Taylor and Travis haven’t confirmed any details about their wedding. There have been multiple reports that it’s going to be held June 13, as well as reports that it’s going to take place in Rhode Island. However, all of this is simply speculation.
J. Cole attends the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest at Staples Center on February 17, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
With his album The Fall-Off now in fans’ possession, J. Cole is nurturing another one of his loves. ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that Cole is making a return to basketball and will be playing for the Chinese Basketball Association.
“J. Cole has signed a contract to play in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Nanjing Monkey Kings,” he writes. “The multi-time Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum artist had committed to playing a few games for the Chinese team last year, and now follows through.”
Footage of Cole warming up with the team has also been posted on social media.
Cole, who is minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, has been open about his desire to play for the NBA. His professional run includes a few games as a member of the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022.
He’s set to go on tour in July in support of The Fall-Off.
