Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris died aged 86, his family announced on Instagram. In their statement, his family said they prefer to keep the circumstances private, but described Norris’ loss as “sudden”.

They went on to say, “We know many of you had heard about his recent hospitalisation, and we are truly grateful for the prayers and support you sent his way”. The Hollywood action star died “at peace” surrounded by his family.

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Joe Kent, who served as President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism chief, has pushed back against reports that he is under FBI investigation, insisting he “did nothing wrong” and denouncing the alleged probe as a “sideshow.”

Kent resigned as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday over his staunch opposition to the war in Iran, which he claimed Trump had been deceived into starting. The next day, multiple news outlets reported that the FBI had opened an investigation into Kent over allegations he inappropriately shared classified material.

“As for the leak allegations, I’m not concerned because I know I did nothing wrong,” Kent told Megyn Kelly, a popular conservative podcaster, in an interview released on Friday.

“Of course, I am concerned because we’ve all seen the FBI and the full weight of the government come down on individuals who speak out,” he added. “So that has me a little concerned but I know the truth and the facts are on my side.”

Kelly, one of several right‑wing media figures to speak out against the war, noted that Trump and his allies have relentlessly attacked Kent, branding him as weak and even accusing him of treason. She asked whether the fallout from his resignation had angered him.

“It does anger me,” he said. “But it’s all just to be expected. I knew this was going to happen. I know their playbook.”

He also insinuated that the bureau’s investigation may not even be real.

“If there truly was an FBI investigation — and who knows maybe there will be — then there would be a process and a procedure for that. They would actually formally come to me, and if they were still collecting information they most certainly wouldn’t leak it,” Kent said.

When reached for comment by The Independent, an FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the probe.

“I feel very confident in what I’m doing right now,” Kent added. “I think I have a mission, and I think it is to do everything I can to stop this war. To me I kind of view everything else as a sideshow.”

Kent’s interview with Kelly is among several media appearances he has made since posting his resignation letter to X on Tuesday morning, which quickly went viral and drew more than 100 million views.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

The 20-year Army veteran — whose Navy officer wife died while serving in Syria — added that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people.”

Kent expanded on his decision to leave the administration in an interview with Tucker Carlson released on Wednesday. He told Carlson that the Israelis “drove the decision” to go to war and that Iran was not on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb.

He also claimed that, during his tenure, he was blocked from investigating the September assassination of Charlie Kirk, which he insinuated may have been carried out by foreign actors.

The White House — which was reportedly caught off guard by Kent’s sudden departure — has dismissed his decision as inconsequential.

Trump said he “realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out” after reading his resignation letter on Tuesday. The president also characterized Kent as “weak on security.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the episode “laughable” and took issue with the ex-counterrorism chief’s claim that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” Leavitt wrote on X.

Recent polls show that a majority of Americans are opposed to the war in Iran, which has now entered its third week.

Tributes have been paid to martial arts icon and action movie star Chuck Norris, who has died aged 86.

The Hollywood actor was remembered by US President Donald Trump, as well as a host of celebrities and his own family, who called him a “warrior” with a heart “full of love”.

Norris saw a resurgence in popularity after an early internet meme – consisting of jokes presented as “facts” exaggerating his strength and abilities – propelled him to online fame in the mid-2000s.

Born in Oklahoma in 1940, Norris joined the US Air Force in his late teens and began training in martial arts while stationed in South Korea, eventually earning a black belt and becoming a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion.

After transitioning into acting, Norris landed his breakthrough role in The Way of the Dragon in 1972 opposite Bruce Lee, before going on to star in more than 20 movies, including Missing in Action and The Delta Force.

His role in long-running TV series Walker, Texas Ranger cemented his fame.

Norris’s family shared the news of the actor’s “sudden passing” just days after his 86th birthday on Friday, describing him as “the heart of our family” who lived with “faith, purpose and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved”.

“While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace,” his family said.

The US president joined in the tributes to the movie star, telling reporters outside the White House that Norris was a “great guy” and “tough cookie”.

“You didn’t want to fight him, I’ll tell you,” Trump said.

Norris’s daughter, Danielle, said: “He may have a warrior exterior, but his heart was so full of love and I’m so grateful that is something he and my mom passed down to me.”

One of his grandchildren, Greta, paid a tribute to the actor in a post on Instagram that referenced the “Chuck Norris facts” genre of internet joke that played on Norris’s persona as a tough guy and invincible fighter.

“You all knew Chuck Norris as the man that counted to infinity twice, the man who got bit by a cobra and the cobra died,” she said.

“He was the man that would not do a push-up but would push the earth down.

“Chuck Norris was known for many amazing things, but what I am most proud of is I got to know him as my Papa.”

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Action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren paid tribute to Norris, who they all starred alongside in The Expendables 2 in 2012.

In his final Facebook post shared on 10 March to mark his birthday, Norris said: “I don’t age. I level up.”

“I’m grateful for another year, good health and the chance to keep doing what I love,” he added.

Political conservative and meme legend

Shortly after an appearance in the 2004 film Dodgeball, Norris became the focus of an early viral internet meme that would propel him to a new level of fame.

The format of the joke presented wildly hyperbolic statements about his strength and prowess as facts, such as “Chuck Norris had a staring contest with the sun – and won”.

Another one reads: “The flu gets a Chuck Norris shot every year”.

Norris has also been outspoken about his conservative views, including support for gun rights.

He endorsed Donald Trump for his first presidential run in 2016.

Norris is survived by his wife Gena O’Kelley, five children and 13 grandchildren.

​​Haven Leisure’s proposal to build a jump tower where people can jump from a platform with a soft landing and climbing wall at its Blue Dolphin Holiday park in Filey has been given the go-ahead by North Yorkshire Council (NYC).

​The scheme will involve associated ground works and will be located to the south of an existing facilities building and to the west of an existing owners’ lounge.

No objections were made by members of the public or Gristhorpe Parish Council.

​Officers considered whether the proposal would have a negative visual impact on the area but concluded that it was “unlikely to be readily distinguishable or be unduly prominent in long views of the holiday park”.

​Haven Leisure said that the jump tower and climbing wall will not be floodlit and will only be operational during daylight hours.

​​“The site currently houses a climbing wall set over bark chipping with a fence and grassland. This activity area is used regularly by guests only during the opening times of the park,” according to submitted proposals.

NYC noted that the development is located in the developed part of the holiday park and that the jump tower “would be visible from the road but would be viewed against the backdrop of the existing metal-clad buildings”.

Officers added: “The proposal is slightly taller than the adjacent building but is not considered to result in harm.

“The proposed development would be viewed within the context of the holiday park and is not considered to result in undue harm to the immediate context or setting when travelling along The Marr or Bowes Lane.”

The application was approved by North Yorkshire Council, subject to conditions.

Has President Trump just given the biggest indication yet that he’s done with this war in Iran?

There’ve been a flurry of overnight developments.

The caveat, up front, is that this is a president who changes his mind and has delivered very mixed messages in recent weeks. He also sees real value in saying one thing and doing the opposite. He bluffs.

That said, his language is more definitive than before. It feels more than ever like an “off-ramp” from his “Iran excursion” as he calls it.

Iran war latest: Trump considers ‘winding down’ Iran war

First, on the White House south lawn, he told us: “Oh, I think we’ve won. We’ve knocked out their navy, their air force. We’ve knocked out their anti-aircraft. We’ve knocked out everything. We’re roaming free.”

He followed that with: “We want victory… and that’s what we’ve got.”

As ever the messaging was somewhat mixed. “Well, look,” he said: “… I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You know, you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”

But then an hour later, from the air, on Air Force One he delivered the clearest indication yet, via his Truth Social account, that he’s keen to wind down the conflict.

Does he really think he’s achieved all the war aims, or is he now properly spooked by the global economic consequences the war has caused?

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Iran war day 21: Videos from the ground

List of accomplishments

On Truth Social he said: “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran.”

Then he lists the accomplishments as he sees them:

“(1) Completely degrading Iranian Missile Capability, Launchers, and everything else pertaining to them.

“(2) Destroying Iran’s Defense Industrial Base.

“(3) Eliminating their Navy and Air Force, including Anti Aircraft Weaponry.

“(4) Never allowing Iran to get even close to Nuclear Capability, and always being in a position where the U.S.A. can quickly and powerfully react to such a situation, should it take place.

“(5) Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others.”

I’ll get to his kicker for his allies in a moment but a thought on those points above first.

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UK ‘should have acted a lot faster’ says Trump

The nuclear material is still in Iran

The first three points amount to the comprehensive destruction of Iran’s military – that may well be accurate given how intense the American and Israeli bombing has been over three weeks.

But point four – “Iran is now not even close to nuclear capability”?

Well it’s almost certainly been knocked back years, but the nuclear material – near weapons grade, remember – that’s still somewhere in Iran.

And, of course, for now at least the regime remains in place: more defiant, more aggrieved, more intent on revenge.

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Supreme leader issues new statement

Danger of retaliation is huge

The danger of low-level, prolonged, dangerous and disruptive asymmetrical retaliation is huge. The Iranian regime, as President Trump reminds us, was the global sponsor and exporter of terror. Its sleeper cells are sophisticated. It’s a huge challenge for intelligence agencies.

Finally – the kicker in his statement.

“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it – The United States does not! If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated.”

Put simply – he’s saying: “Sorry folks – not America’s problem. We broke the global energy market. You need to fix it.”

He adds that it will be easy to fix. No one else anywhere is claiming that, by the way.

So what next? Well, let’s see how what’s left of the Iranian government responds to this apparent shift by President Trump.

Remember too that this is a president who shifts, changes, and contradicts his own statements all the time.

To underline that, thousands more American troops are already on the way to the region.

Don’t take anything for certain.

President Donald Trump adores the sound of the ongoing renovations at the White House, but the same cannot be said for first lady Melania Trump, the president told reporters on Friday.

“It makes me happy,” he said of hearing the project take shape. “My wife doesn’t love it,” he added.

The Independent has contacted the first lady’s office for comment.

Heavy machinery has been active on the White House grounds since October, when the president unilaterally began construction on his planned $400 million ballroom complex.

That’s music to the former real estate developer’s ears.

“I love the sound of concrete,” Trump added on Friday. “I love the sound of pile drivers.”

To build the 22,000-square-foot ballroom, the president demolished the East Wing, the site of the first lady’s offices.

“She loved her little tiny office,” the president told Fox News in November, though he added that Melania thinks the new designs for the East Wing are “great.”

Privately, the first lady has reportedly sought to distance herself from the renovation.

She has expressed concern about the East Wing teardown and has told associates it wasn’t her project, The Wall Street Journal reported last year, citing unnamed administration officials.

The privately-funded ballroom build-out has generated widespread criticism from architects, preservation groups and members of the public, who sent in thousands of negative comments before a National Capital Planning Commission meeting about the project earlier this month.

The commission, chaired by a Trump ally, has a final vote on the ballroom project scheduled for April 2.

The project continues to face legal scrutiny.

While hearing a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a federal judge this week accused the administration of offering “shifting” justifications for what gave it the authority to begin the renovation project without consulting Congress or federal planning bodies.

The Justice Department claims the president already has authority under federal law to make improvements and alterations at the White House, reasoning that Washington, D.C., federal Judge Richard Leon appeared to doubt.

Calling the new compound a mere alteration of the White House “takes some brazen interpretation of the laws of vocabulary,” he reportedly said.

The ballroom project could also face legal challenges due to the officials that Trump has appointed to the National Capital Planning Commission, who lack the required experience in city or regional planning to serve on the body, according to some watchdog groups.

“Those appointments were not just a crude political power play,” Jon Golinger of the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen told commissioners at a meeting earlier this month. “They were unlawful, and they destroy the credibility of the vote on this project if those individuals vote for it.”

As the fate of the East Wing hangs in the balance, Trump allies are reportedly pushing to alter other elements of the White House design.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr., a Trump appointee who chairs the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which reviews public projects in the capital, told The Washington Post he is proposing to replace the columns on the north facade of the White House.

“Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and that’s what our other two branches of government have,” he told the paper.

“Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me,” he added, noting he hadn’t discussed the idea yet with the president.

In a rare check on the administration’s ever-expanding construction agenda, the Commission of Fine Arts recently delayed a vote on a new screening center development for White House visitors, reportedly as commissioners sought substantial design changes because the proposal called for too large of a building.

Chronic pain has long been known to be associated with depression.

Among adults with chronic pain, around 40% exhibit clinical symptoms of depression. But why is it that only some people with chronic pain develop depression?

Researchers have long been wondering why this happens – and what goes on in the brain. If we can answer this question, we may be able to prevent depression from developing.

Our recent article, published in Science, suggests the answer to this question does indeed lie in the brain.

To conduct our study, we analysed neuroimaging brain scans from 14,462 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. We compared the following groups of participants: people with chronic pain for at least seven years who did not have symptoms of depression, and people with chronic pain who also developed depressive symptoms.

For the latter, the depressive symptoms were present either for the entire seven-year period, or they developed after two years or four years. This enabled an analysis of the development of depression associated with chronic pain, using brain imaging.

These neuroimaging analyses revealed something surprising was taking place in the brain – specifically in a structure called the hippocampus. The hippocampus has important functions in learning and memory.

In the participants who reported chronic pain without depressive symptoms, they showed modest increases in hippocampal volume and improved memory performance. This is consistent with the brain attempting to cope with the stress of the pain.

In contrast, people experiencing both chronic pain and depression exhibited reduced hippocampal volume and impaired cognitive performance. Further analyses of these scans suggested these changes developed progressively over time. This indicates that the hippocampus may initially adapt to persistent pain, but it gradually becomes vulnerable when pain continues over long periods.

Importantly, similar patterns were observed across multiple categories of chronic pain – including back, stomach, knee and hip pain, as well as headaches. This suggests that the findings were not specific to a single type of chronic pain condition.

We then studied how these brain changes unfolded in people with chronic pain by using rodent animal models. This research found that in animals there was a similar sequence of changes in the volume of the hippocampus, accompanied by increased neural activity. Moderate improvements in cognitive functioning occurred initially, but this was then followed by anxiety-like behaviour, which later transitioned to depressive-like symptoms and poorer memory.

The hippocampus has long been known to be involved in emotional memories and is highly susceptible to chronic stress. The hippocampus’s plasticity (the ability to form new nerve cells) is known to be involved in coping with chronic stress.

Chronic stress has also been implicated in exacerbating apoptosis (nerve cell death) and suppressing adult neurogenesis – the process of producing new nerve cells in the hippocampus.

We found that a region of the hippocampus known as the dentate gyrus – one of the few areas where new brain cells continue to form in adulthood – emerged as the critical regulatory hub and the pivot for the transition from chronic pain to depression.

Early in the pain process, newly generated neurons in the dentate gyrus showed increased activity – suggesting the brain initially mounts a protective response to persistent pain. Over time, however, immune cells, known as microglia, became abnormally activated and disrupted normal neural signalling in the hippocampus.

This abnormal microglial activation appeared to mark the tipping point at which the brain’s initially protective response to pain began to fail.

Importantly, an antibiotic treatment, minocycline, suppressed abnormal microglial activation and reduced depression-like behaviour in the animal models. This treatment also preserved the structure of the hippocampus and cognitive function.

Treating pain and depression

Our findings suggest that a treatment such as minocycline could help prevent depression in people living with persistent pain — particularly if treatment is introduced early.

Of course, other psychosocial, socio-economic and genetic factors play a role in the perception of pain. Therefore, it’s likely that in some people these factors will exacerbate chronic stress and the experience of pain.

However, there are other evidence-based ways to reduce the risk of depression. In another collaborative study between Fudan University and the University of Cambridge, it was shown that seven healthy lifestyle factors, including good sleep, exercise and diet, could reduce the risk of depression by 57%. Importantly, these lifestyle factors were also associated with increased hippocampal volume, consistent with our new study.

Mindfulness training may be another strategy. This focuses on being present in the moment and minimising distraction from competing thoughts and memories. The practice is shown to improve working memory and increase hippocampal density.

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A recent review showed that mindfulness meditation experts have increased brain grey matter, including the hippocampus. Mindfulness meditation training was also shown to lead to increased hippocampal volume.

Mindfulness practice has also been found to be beneficial for improving quality of life – not only when coping with chronic pain – and for reducing symptoms of stress and depression.

Our discovery has answered an important question that has long puzzled researchers. We showed the key role the brain’s hippocampus plays in why some chronic pain sufferers develop depression. This discovery also points to potential treatments that may prevent depression in people with chronic pain.

The brain’s coping mechanisms that we discovered may also apply more generally to other conditions where the brain has to cope with chronic stress – such as in psychological trauma.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed that the man was conscious they arrived at the scene and subsequently taken to hospital.

A spokesperson for GMFRS said: “Just before 6.40pm this evening (Thursday 20 March), fire crews were called to reports of a person being struck by a train near Daisy Hill railway station in Westhoughton.

“One engine from Atherton Community Fire Station and the Technical Rescue Unit from Leigh, quickly attended the scene alongside colleagues from the British Transport Police, North West Ambulance Service and Network Rail.

“One man was conscious and breathing when crews arrived and has been taken to Salford Royal Hospital for further treatment.

“Firefighters remained in attendance for around three hours.”

Trains between Wigan and Salford have been cancelled, with disruptions expected to last until 9pm.

British Transport Police and the North West Ambulance Service have been contacted for comment.

Manchester United were left furious about “astonishing” and “baffling” refereeing decisions as two penalties were awarded and one was not in their thrilling 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.

Harry Maguire’s special day – following his England recall – was spoiled by his sending off at Vitality Stadium, but it was the performance of the officials that had United fuming.

Maguire, who will return to the England squad for the first time in almost two years for upcoming friendlies with Uruguay and Japan, was sent off for pulling back Evanilson inside the box as Manchester United led 2-1 with 10 minutes to go.

Junior Kroupi subsequently scored the penalty but the decision not to award Manchester United an earlier spot-kick left interim manager Michael Carrick furious – especially after his side had been awarded a penalty for what he deemed to be a similar challenge earlier in the match.

The penalty the visitors were not given came when Amad Diallo appeared to be pulled back inside the box by Adrien Truffert, with Manchester United leading 1-0 after Bruno Fernandes’ penalty.

Carrick, who described the decisions made as “baffling”, said: “My first [thought] is he definitely got one of them wrong, because he’s given one penalty for the same thing that he’s not given one as a two-armed grab.

“So the Matheus Cunha one, he gives, the second one on Amad he doesn’t, which is, I think, almost identical, really, two hands on someone in the box, and they go over and they’re in control of the ball.

“Massive moment and I don’t understand how you can give one and not the other – it’s crazy. It’s as obvious as you can get.

“It’s clear, if that’s what he believes is a penalty to start with then the second one has to be. I don’t understand how you can’t give that. And then the goal and after that it was chaos. It’s astonishing.”

Manchester United captain Fernandes, meanwhile, felt that if Bournemouth‘s penalty was given for a foul by Maguire, then so should one for the Diallo incident.

“I think we could have gone 2-0 up, and then we ended up conceding a goal, not getting a penalty and then we get a penalty against, where more or less it’s the same situation as Amad,” he said.

“One is awarded as a penalty, the other one not. I know it’s difficult for the referee to give two penalties in the same game for the same team but what I don’t understand is why VAR doesn’t get involved in that situation.”