A hidden network of underwater fibre optic cables could offer unprecedented new insights into the lives of some of the world’s most threatened and elusive sea creatures.

That’s the hope of researchers from the University of Washington, US, who have laid 1.25 miles of cable across Puget Sound, just south of the Canadian border, to eavesdrop on the region’s endangered southern resident orcas.

The technique, known as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), works by firing laser pulses through the fibre optic cables and analysing tiny disturbances caused by vibrations and sound. It’s already been used to monitor earthquakes and in recent years has proved adept in detecting marine mammals.

Now the University of Washington’s Dr Shima Abadi hopes to use DAS to track orcas by mapping the distinctive clicks they make as they hunt and navigate. If successful, the system could provide early warnings to ships to slow down or steer clear, reducing the risk of disturbing or injuring the whales. Scaled up, the approach could tap into the 870,000 miles of fibre optic cable criss-crossing the planet’s oceans.

“This innovative approach could be a break-through in conservation efforts and open new possibilities to expand analysis on a much larger temporal and spatial scale,” said Abadi.

Main image: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

US forces have boarded another sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean as part of efforts to target illicit oil tankers linked to Venezuela.

Military personnel boarded the Veronica III in a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding”, the Department of War said in a social media post on Sunday.

Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil for several years and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to transport the crude oil.

“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine – hoping to slip away,” the Department of War said on X.

“We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.

“No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this.”

Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to increase economic pressure on then-president Nicolás Maduro.

The next month, Maduro and his wife were abducted in a US military operation and taken to New York to stand trial.

Several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of the raid, including the Veronica III, that was boarded overnight.

“International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice,” the Department of War said.

“The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain.”

Video posted by the department shows US troops boarding the tanker.

Read more from Sky News:
Russia killed Alexei Navalny with dart frog poison, UK and allies say
Trump says Iran regime change would be the ‘best thing that could happen’

The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s website.

The Panama Maritime Authority said that the ship was no longer registered after its authorisation was cancelled in December 2024.

The Veronica III left Venezuela on 3 January, the same day as Maduro’s capture, with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil, TankerTrackers.com posted on X.

“Since 2023, she’s been involved with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil,” the organisation said.

Emails Sarah Ferguson sent to Jeffrey Epstein – even after his conviction for sex offences – depict her as needy and desperate, with repeated requests for cash

Sarah Ferguson has ‘gone to ground’ following the latest drop of Epstein files, with her daughters ‘mortified’ over the revelations.

Amongst millions of documents released by the US Department of Justice are threads of communication which appear to be between Jeffrey Epstein and the former Duchess of York. Fergie comes across as increasingly desperate in pleading emails to the convicted paedophile, chasing both his money and his support.

A humiliating email exchange, recently released by the DOJ, shows Sarah telling the disgraced financier that she “desperately” needed money – and even asks Epstein to give her a job.

“But why, I don’t understand, don’t you just get me to be your House Assistant. I am the most capable and desperately need the money,” the email, dated May 2010, reads, adding, “Please Jeffrey think about it.”

READ MORE: ‘I analysed two pictures of Sarah Ferguson – pitiful comparison is impossible to miss’READ MORE: Astonishing moment Sarah Ferguson walks out of TV interview resurfaces

In August that year she emailed him again, according to the Daily Mail, saying: “I am feeling very traumatised and alone. I am wanting to work for you at organising your houses.”

A month later, she said: ‘when are you going to employ me…. My friendship is steadfast to the end, even after the body is cold… Love you now and always… And I know you do tooo. [sic]’

The messages were sent after Epstein pleaded guilty and was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June 2008, but was let out five months early on July 22, 2009. Under the terms of his release Epstein was required to register as a sex offender.

It’s also claimed that while Epstein was on house arrest after he was released, Fergie travelled to his home with her girls in tow. At the time, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie would have been 20 and 19 respectively.

In another message from January 2010, Sarah fawned over Epstein, writing: “You are a legend. I really don’t have the words to describe my love, gratitude for your generosity and kindness. Xx I am at your service. Just marry me.”

In further correspondence, she thanked Jeffrey “for being the brother I have always wished for”, and also made a crude reference to her own daughter’s sex life.

There are also requests for money. In March 2011, Sarah admitted borrowing £15,000 from Epstein, but in an interview with the Evening Standard she said she made a “terrible, terrible error of judgment”, adding: “I abhor paedophilia”.

Emails appear to show, however, that the former Duchess repeatedly turned to Epstein for help as her business ventures failed. According to the latest file release, in one message from 2009 she told him: “I urgently need £20,000 for rent today. The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?”

Account transactions further show that Epstein also transferred $150,000 (£109,000) to Fergie following a share sale, wiring the cash to the former Duchess. (She is also said to have been bailed out by the late Queen in the past when the bank Coutts “demanded £500,000 within 14 days” .)

Advertisement

Sarah actually later apologised for her comments to the Evening Standard. Just one month after she disowned him, Sarah backtracked in an email to Epstein, calling him a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”.

“As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the P [pedophile] word about you,” she reportedly wrote. “I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”

A spokesperson for the ex duchess said at the time that Sarah backtracked to Epstein through fear, as he had “threatened” her with legal action.

Sarah has gone to ground in recent months – but her whereabouts were seemingly revealed last week. It emerged that she recently spent time in the French Alps before moving on to the United Arab Emirates – where her youngest daughter Eugenie was recently spotted, having travelled to Qatar for an art fair as part of her job with art dealer Hauser and Wirth.

Fergie is even said to be plotting a ‘comeback’ of sorts. It’s claimed that the disgraced Duchess is now brazenly scouting around for a new PR team as she plots her return – without Andrew – with the hopes of continuing to live in the Windsor area. Sources say she has told friends: “I need to get back to work. I need money.”

But it’s going to be incredibly difficult for Sarah to rebuild the life she once had, according to royal correspondent Jennie Bond. “If it is true that she still thinks she can make some sort of comeback, she is more deluded than I thought possible,” she told the Mirror.

“Her charities have deserted her, her publishers have pulped her latest book, and almost every day brings more revelations about her fawning and prolonged friendship with the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.

“Ferguson has made some spectacular comebacks before, and has even managed to get herself back into the family fold for royal social gatherings, such as Christmas at Sandringham. But to think she could come back from this latest disgrace – with her emails calling Epstein a legend and a supreme friend, even …perhaps jokingly…asking him to marry her, suggests she is away with the fairies.”

Representatives of Sarah Ferguson have been contacted for comment.

A gunman opened fire at the property on School House Road in Oldham

Pictures show multiple bullet holes in the window of a home in Oldham this morning following a shooting.

The shooting happened on School House Road yesterday (Sunday, February 15). A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said officers were initially called to reports of criminal damage at a property at around 1pm.

Police then discovered a gunman had opened fire at the home. No injuries were reported and an investigation is now underway.

Click here to prioritise Manchester news in Google from the MEN

This morning at least four bullet holes can be seen in the front window of the home. Forensic officers have been spotted taking pictures of the blasted window as they probe the scene.

A cordon remains in place on School House Road as officers carry out their investigation. A number of police vehicles are stationed on the scene.

A cordon is also in place on nearby Roundthorn Road, at the back of the property which appears to have been targeted. Police want to speak to any witnesses of the shooting, or anyone with CCTV or dash cam footage.

In a statement, a GMP spokesperson said: “At around 1pm yesterday (Sunday 15 February 2026), we were called to reports of criminal damage at an address on School House Road in Oldham. Officers attended the scene and confirmed that there had been a firearms discharge.

“A scene remains in place whilst we continue our enquiries and thankfully, no injuries have been reported. Investigations are ongoing.

“We are appealing for witnesses or any information about this incident – anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage that could assist our investigation should contact us on 101 quoting log 1397 of 15/02/2026.

“You can also report information via LiveChat on our website or through the independent charity Crimestoppers – anonymously – on 0800 555 111.”

An American who moved from a place where it’s “normal to spend senselessly on food” to the UK was blown away by the prices in Waitrose, but then they “went to Tesco”

An American who moved from a country where it is “normal to spend senselessly on food” to the UK has expressed her shock at the price of groceries in Tesco. Having “stared down a $13 (about £9.50) carton of eggs” in the US, Ashley Baker was so delighted by Waitrose’s UK prices that she called her mum to marvel at the cost of bin bags.

In comments that appear to highlight the cost-of-living gap with neighbours across the Atlantic, she described food shopping in Britain as “paradise” — until the excited shopper “went to Tesco”.

She claimed that unless they’d heard Lily Allen’s 2006 track, LDN, which mentions it, most Americans would not know the supermarket that offers a “similar bounty at two-thirds of the price”.

In a piece for The Times, Ashley said: “So when I spotted one on the Cromwell Road, I pulled over. It delivers a similar bounty at two-thirds of the price, along with a wider assortment of Little Moons mochi and all sorts of additional discounts for loyal Clubcard holders.

Advertisement

“And best of all: a free car park and a Waves Car Wash, where the lovely chaps have my junker looking like it’s fresh off the lot for £25. If pressed, I will declare that Kensington Gardens is my favourite place in London, but I think we all know that’s a bare-faced lie.

“When I’m really feeling evil, I like to blast my American group chats with pics from the produce aisle. Wonky carrots reduced to 43p. Brussels sprouts down to 85p. An entire sleeve of Jaffa Cakes for less than a Zone 1 ride on the Tube.”

Ashley amusingly noted that her friends had initially told her to “sod off”, but they have since stopped replying, leaving the writer fearing she may have “gone too far”.

It comes after another US expat in the UK shared a “culture shock” that left them “frustrated”.

Taking to Reddit last year, the unnamed person claimed there was a difference in how “closing time” operates between the two nations.

They wrote: “Something I’ve noticed living in the UK is how differently ‘closing time’ works. In the US, if a place says it closes at 9pm, you can usually walk in at 8:55 and still get served — ‘closing’ means that’s when they stop serving new customers.

“In the UK, closing time is when employees expect to be walking out the door to go home. Restaurants shut their kitchens an hour before the posted time, and grocery stores might even stop letting people in 20–30 minutes before closing.

“This caused some frustration my first year here: I’d walk into a café ten minutes before closing, hoping to grab a coffee, only to find the machine already turned off.”

They added that they might head out to buy milk or eggs shortly before a shop’s closing time, only to discover staff would not allow anybody in.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since he retook power in 2010.

The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Led by euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.

Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.

Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.

In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”

Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Other U.S. conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.

Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.

Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the U.S. leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.

Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.

Details of the civilian nuclear deal were not known ahead of Monday’s signing in Budapest.

During his White House visit in November, Orbán had agreed to U.S.-Hungary cooperation in the civil nuclear industry, including the purchase of compact nuclear reactors — known as small modular reactors or SMRs — and spent fuel storage.

Hungary signaled it was ready to support construction of up to 10 SMRs with a potential value of up to $20 billion. Orbán also said Hungary would enter a nuclear fuel deal with U.S.-based Westinghouse to supply nuclear fuel for Hungary’s Russian-built Paks I nuclear plant.

HONG KONG (AP) — World shares mostly advanced on Monday and gold declined. Japanese stocks dipped and several stock markets in Asia were closed or trading for a half-day ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2% to 24,958.01. Britain’s FTSE gained 0.3% to 10,479.47, while the CAC 40 in Paris also rose 0.3% to 8,333.81.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.2% to 56,806.41, after the government reported that Japan’s economy grew more slowly than economists had expected in the latest October-December quarter, at an annualized 0.2%.

The sluggish rate of growth increases the likelihood that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will press ahead with plans to revive the economy by raising government spending and cutting taxes, Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.

Trading was thin as stock markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed. The first day of the Lunar New Year this year falls on Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5% in its half-day session, closing at 26,705.94.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.2% to 8,937.10. India’s Sensex was up 0.4%.

U.S. futures edged higher. The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was also up 0.4%. U.S. stock markets are also closed on Presidents Day, a holiday.

On Friday, U.S. stocks calmed after a sharp drop earlier driven by worries about artificial intelligence disruptions across various industries which particularly hit software companies hard.

A report showing inflation cooled last month also helped steady the markets. The data suggesting U.S. price pressures may be easing offered more room for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1% to 6,836.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 49,500.93. The Nasdaq composite edged down 0.2% to 22,546.67.

Computer chipmaker Nvidia, the heaviest weight company on the S&P 500, was down 2.2% Friday. Technology company AppLovin rose 6.4% after losing almost a fifth of its value on Thursday, as investors focused on how AI could disrupt businesses of software and technology-related firms.

In other dealings early Monday, gold and silver prices fell. The price of gold was down 0.3% to $5,030.30 per ounce and the price of silver fell 1.2% to $77.05 an ounce.

Oil prices fell. U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 34 cents to $62.55 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was also 34 cents lower at $67.41 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar was at 153.33 Japanese yen, up from 152.64 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1867, down from $1.1872.

The date and time has been revealed and where you can see the eclipse

This year’s first solar eclipse is set to take place this week with the rare phenomenon will only be visible from certain locations on Earth. The event, famously dubbed a “ring of fire,” occurs when the Earth, Sun, and Moon reach perfect alignment.

During this process, the Moon passes directly between the sun and our planet, casting a distinct shadow and leaving only the outer edge of the Sun visible as a glowing celestial ring.

This rare astronomical event is due to take place on Tuesday, February 17, marking a major highlight for the 2026 lunar calendar. However, for those hoping to catch a glimpse, visibility remains the primary concern.

Whether the “ring of fire” will be visible from the UK depends on specific geographic pathways of the Moon’s shadow, with experts noting that only those in certain places will witness the alignment in its full glory.

The first solar eclipse will take place at 7.10am on Tuesday, February 17. However, the spectacle in the sky will only be visible in a handful of locations, according to National World.

The path of annularity – the path the solar eclipse will take and be visible from – will rise across western Antarctica and set off across the Davis Sea coast and the Southern Ocean.

This means that the upcoming solar eclipse will not be visible in the UK. According to Space.com, the following list is the locations where a partial solar eclipse will be visible from and the percentage of the sun’s disk which will be covered in each location:

• Heard and McDonald Islands, Australia – 88%
• French Southern and Antarctic Lands, France – 88%
• Mascarene Islands, Mauritius/France – 35%
• Port Louis, Mauritius – 32%
• Saint-Denis, Reunion, France – 31%
• Antananarivo, Madagascar – 20%
• Durban, South Africa – 16%
• Maputo, Mozambique – 13%
• Maseru, Lesotho – 11%
• Gaborone, Botswana – 4%
• Harare, Zimbabwe – 3%
• Ushuaia, Argentina – 3%

After Tuesday’s solar eclipse, there will be lunar eclipse on March 3-4. This will turn the moon a red shade in the sky, with the Earth instead passing in between the Moon and Sun and casting its shadow onto the Moon. Due to the reddish hue of the Moon during this phenomenon, a lunar eclipse is sometime referred to as a “Blood Moon”.

SYDNEY (AP) — A man accused of killing 15 people in a mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach appeared in court Monday for the first time since his release from the hospital.

Naveed Akram appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court via a video link from the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Center 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.

He did not enter pleas to the charges against him, including murder and committing a terrorist act. The brief court appearance focused on extending a gag order that suppresses the identities of victims and survivors of the attack who have not chosen to identify themselves publicly.

Defense lawyer Ben Archbold told reporters outside court that Akram was doing as well as could be expected and it was too early to indicate any intention of pleas.

Akram, 24, was wounded and his father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed in a gunbattle with police after the attack on a Hanukkah celebration at the beach Dec. 14.

The younger Akram is next scheduled to appear in court April 9.

The police investigation is one of three official inquiries examining Australia’s worst alleged terrorist attack and the nation’s worst mass shooting in 29 years.

One involves the interactions between law enforcement and intelligence agencies before the attack that was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.

A royal commission, the highest form of public inquiry, will investigate the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism generally as well as the circumstances of the Bondi shooting.