NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — People leaned out of wrought iron balconies, hollering the iconic phrase “Throw me something, Mister” as a massive Mardi Gras parade rolled down New Orleans’ historic St. Charles Avenue on Tuesday.

Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, marks the climax and end of the weekslong Carnival season and a final chance for indulgence, feasting and revelry before the Christian Lent period of sacrifice and reflection. The joyous goodbye to Carnival always falls the day before Ash Wednesday.

In Louisiana’s most populous city, which is world-famous for its Mardi Gras bash, people donned green, gold and purple outfits, with some opting for an abundance of sequins and others showing off homemade costumes.

The revelers began lining the streets as the sun rose. They set up chairs, coolers, grills and ladders — offering a higher vantage point.

As marching bands and floats filled with women wearing massive feathered headdresses passed by, the music echoing through the city streets, people danced and cheered. Others sipped drinks, with many opting for adult concoctions on the day of celebration rather than the usual morning coffee.

Each parade has its signature “throws” — trinkets that include plastic beads, candy, doubloons, stuffed animals, cups and toys. Hand-decorated coconuts are the coveted item from Zulu, a massive parade named after the largest ethnic group in South Africa.

As a man, dressed like a crawfish — including red fabric claws for hands — caught one of the coconuts, he waved it around, the gold glitter on the husk glistening in the sun.

Sue Mennino was dressed in a white Egyptian-inspired costume, complete with a gold headpiece and translucent cape. Her face was embellished with glitter and electric blue eyeshadow.

“The world will be here tomorrow, but today is a day off and a time to party,” Mennino said.

The party isn’t solely confined to the parade route. Throughout the French Quarter, people celebrated in the streets, on balconies and on the front porches of shotgun-style homes.

One impromptu parade was led by a man playing a washboard instrument and dressed as a blue alligator — his paper-mache tail dragging along the street, unintentionally sweeping up stray beads with it. A brass band played “The Saints” as people danced.

In Jackson Square, the costumed masses included a man painted from head to toe as a zebra, a group cosplaying as Hungry Hungry Hippos from the tabletop game and a diver wearing an antique brass and copper helmet.

“The people are the best part,” said Martha Archer, who was dressed as Madame Leota, the disembodied medium whose head appears within a crystal ball in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney amusement parks.

Archer’s face was painted blue and her outfit was a makeshift table that came up to her neck — giving the appearance that she was indeed a floating head.

“Everybody is just so happy,” she explained.

The good times will roll not just in New Orleans but across the state, from exclusive balls to the Cajun French tradition of the Courir de Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday Run — a rural event in Central Louisiana featuring costumed participants performing, begging for ingredients and chasing live chickens to be cooked in a communal gumbo.

Parades are also held in other Gulf Coast cities such as Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, and there are other world-renowned celebrations in Brazil and Europe.

One of the quirkiest is an international Pancake Day competition pitting the women of Liberal, Kansas, against the women of Olney, England. Pancakes are used because they were thought to be a good way for Christians to consume the fat they were supposed to give up during the 40 days before Easter.

Contestants must carry a pancake in a frying pan and flip the pancake at the beginning and end of the 415-yard (380-meter) race.

A yellow weather warning for snow comes into force on Wednesday afternoon, but we’re likely to see some snowfall before then

The Met Office has issued a weather warning for snow with forecasters cautioning that significant disruption could affect substantial parts of Wales on Wednesday and overnight into Thursday. The yellow warning predicts that a spell of rain and snow may cause disruption across most of the country for 14 hours.

Meteorologists have highlighted the possibility of settling snow, especially across higher ground. The warning – which will be in place between 4pm on Wednesday and 6am on Thursday – covers Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen and Wrexham.

Snow accumulations of 2-5cm could develop relatively widely across locations above 150-200 metres, with potentially 10-15cm above 250-300 metres throughout parts of mid and south-east Wales. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.

Lighter accumulations, generally under 2cm, may occur at lower elevations, particularly from late Wednesday evening into the early hours of Thursday.

Strong easterly to north-easterly winds are anticipated alongside the snowy weather, potentially worsening conditions in certain locations, especially on roads.

According to the Met Office, Wednesday could see 2-5 cm of snow accumulate quite widely above 150-200 metres, with perhaps as much as 10-15 cm above 250-300 metres in mid and southeast Wales.

Below are the latest Met Office maps showing when and where it is likely to snow on Wednesday and Thursday:

Wednesday – 1am

Wednesday – 6am

Wednesday – 9am

Wednesday – 12pm

Wednesday – 3pm

Wednesday – 6pm

Wednesday – 10pm

Thursday – 6am

Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Steven Keates explained the outlook: “On Wednesday, weather fronts are expected to move in from the Atlantic into some western, southern and central areas of the UK.

“As they bump into the cold air already in place, we are likely to see some snow developing, although there is still some uncertainty around the details.

“Initially, we may see some snow over the highest parts of southern England, such as Dartmoor, but the main chance of snow will be across higher parts of the Midlands and mid and southeast Wales.

“Above 150 to 200 metres, 2–5 cm of snow may accumulate, with a few places -most likely above 300 metres -possibly seeing 10 cm or more.

“Temperatures will be around 3 to 5 °C for much of the UK on Wednesday.”

Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here. We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice.

The DWP has confirmed it will be sending letters to pensioners in April 2026 to inform them about tax code changes for Winter Fuel Payment repayments

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced it will be sending letters to pensioners who must repay their Winter Fuel Payment later this year.

The welfare department has confirmed that it will soon be contacting pensioners who are due to have their tax code altered in order to return the money. The government distributed payments of up to £300 to pensioner households during the winter months, but anyone with an income exceeding the £35,000 threshold will need to return the money to HMRC.

From November last year, Winter Fuel Payments were issued to those born before 22 September 1959, unless they had chosen not to receive the payment, to assist them with living costs. However, only pensioners with an income below £35,000 are eligible to retain it.

From April, HMRC will begin recouping the money from those who exceed the income threshold, reports the Manchester Evening News.

There are two methods by which the tax department will reclaim the cash, depending on how tax is typically paid. For pensioners who pay tax through PAYE, HMRC will collect payment for the 2025 to 2026 tax year by adjusting their tax code for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

This will result in paying more tax each month to repay the full payment. For instance, for a typical payment of £200, you would pay approximately £17 per month extra in tax from April.

The government has now confirmed that these pensioners can expect a letter or email outlining the tax code change in April.

On the GOV.UK website, the DWP said in an update: “In April 2026, you’ll get a letter or an email notification to tell you that we’ve changed your tax code to take back your Winter Fuel Payment. This will show as an underpayment. Any tax code letter or notification before this will not include this change.”

The second way HMRC can collect take back the Winter Fuel Payment is through a self assessment tax return. For pensioners who do a self assessment tax return, the payment will need to be included.

For those who file online, the payment will be automatically included.

HMRC calculates income individually rather than as a household. That means that if your total personal income is above £35,000, you will have to return the money, however if you live in a household with someone who earns less than this amount they will still receive the payment.

For example, if you earn £36,000 and your partner earns £22,000, HMRC will take back your payment, but your partner will keep their payment.

YouTube has announced that all of its platforms are “are back to normal” after more than a quarter million users reported issues accessing the social media site.

More than 250,000 users reported issues accessing YouTube on Tuesday evening, according to the unofficial, crowd-sourced site Downdetector. The most reported problem was users saying they had issues using the YouTube app.

The video service’s homepage returned an error message when an Independent reporter tried to use it, though individual videos appeared to still be loading and playing properly.

Around 10 p.m. Eastern time, YouTube confirmed the “issue has been fixed” across its platforms.

“The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved and all of our platforms (YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids, and TV) are back to normal! We really appreciate you bearing with us while we sorted this out,” a statement on the YouTube help page reads.

Before the fix was announced, YouTube also said it was working to resolve a “small number of reports that some people are unable to login to YouTube TV.”

“This is related to the broader issue across YouTube, and we’re also working on a fix here,” YouTube said.

YouTube initially confirmed the outage in a post on X: “If you’re having trouble accessing YouTube right now, you’re not alone.”

“Looks like YouTube isn’t working properly,” Indiana-based journalist Hannah Adamson wrote on X. “I can still access saved and recently viewed videos, but nothing on the home page loads. Seeing a lot of people on X saying YouTube isn’t working for them either.”

The issues on YouTube quickly inspired jokes online.

A YouTube gaming creator ParrotMode wrote on X that YouTubers were now “writing 45 minute scripts about The Great YouTube Outage of 2026.”

Young U.S. voters are starting to turn on President Donald Trump over concerns about his economic agenda, a new report reveals.

Trump saw a surge of support from Generation Z voters (born between 1997 and 2012) during the last presidential election. But now, young Americans are abandoning Trump “faster than any other voting bloc,” according to a new report in The Atlantic by Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark.

Longwell, who runs weekly focus groups with voters, reports that many young Trump voters initially backed him over his economic promises. As Trump enters his second year back in the White House, some young voters have said they’re disappointed and concerned about the economy, according to Longwell.

Kim, a Gen-Z Trump voter from Virginia identified only by her first name, said during a January focus group: “There are things that are very disappointing and very rough right now.”

Lizabel, a Florida resident whose last name was also withheld, reportedly said “things are pretty chaotic lately.”

“You just see all this stuff on the news, and you see a lot of people are struggling to find jobs. A lot of people are feeling kind of pessimistic about what things are going on,” she added.

Sam, a voter from Minnesota, also cited concerns about “affordability” and the “unemployment rate for youth,” Longwell reports.

When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Kush Desai touted Trump’s economic policies.

“In just one year, President Trump’s policies have cooled inflation, raised real wages, accelerated GDP growth, and slashed the prices of prescription drugs and gasoline. Americans can rest assured that, as these policies continue taking effect, the best is yet to come,” Desai told The Independent.

A Wall Street Journal poll published last month found that two-thirds of voters ages 18-29 disapprove of the president’s priorities. The survey also revealed that nearly half of voters under 30 said they would back a Democratic candidate if the 2026 midterm elections were held today, while 43 percent said they’d choose a Republican.

A poll conducted this month by Economist/YouGov found that 25 percent of U.S. adults ages 18-29 approve of the way Trump is handling his job, while 67 percent disapprove. This marks a significant change from the results of a February 2025 Economist/YouGov poll, which found 50 percent of U.S. adults under 30 approved of Trump and 42 percent disapproved.

This comes as Trump braces for the 2026 midterm elections.

Historical trends show that the president’s party typically loses seats in a midterm election, which could mean trouble for Republicans, who are currently in the majority in both chambers of Congress.

While midterm elections are still months away, recent surveys have shown that Democrats running for Congress currently have a modest advantage, according to The New York Times’ polling aggregator.

Dr Adrian James, NHS England’s national medical director for mental health and neurodiversity, said: “While it’s encouraging that thousands more people facing mental health conditions are accessing NHS support than before the pandemic, we know that millions more could benefit from vital NHS Talking Therapies.

The lowest temperatures first thing are expected across parts of eastern Scotland. Whist Tuesday saw lows in the Highlands down to -7.2C (19F), Wednesday morning could be even colder at around -8C (18F) or -9C (16F).

However, a sub-zero start to the day is also expected in many other areas including central and northern England, north Wales and Northern Ireland.

Many places will be dry first thing, but the weather is set to turn much more unsettled during the day. Low pressure approaching from the south-west will bring rain initially to Northern Ireland in the early morning, which will then spread into western parts of England and Wales.

As the rain bumps into cold air, it will increasingly turn to sleet and snow across Wales and later on into parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and the West Midlands.

There could be around 2-5cm of snow fairly widely, and up to 10-15cm over the highest ground in Wales, Herefordshire and Shropshire. This is likely to lead to some travel disruption and potential power cuts.

The more widespread UKHSA cold alert, external covers all of England except for London and the South East.

This warns of the risk of minor impacts on health and social care services. Vulnerable people in particular may be affected by this spell of colder weather, with increased use of healthcare services and an increased risk to life.

Organised by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the trade body for the UK’s music industry, in partnership with Newcastle City Council, the award show will take place on October 22 and will also feature a number of live performances from the shortlisted artist before announcing the overall winner.

The prize entitles any ticket holder in the BL2 3FT postcode, which covers the street, to £1,000.

Dearncamme Close won alongside the residents of 19 other postcodes nationwide.

Subscriptions to the postcode lottery support a range of charities across the UK.

The People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, with each one having one draw a month.

The lottery supports “a wide range of charities and good causes across Britain and around the world”.

The organisation has provided more than £1.1 billion in funding to date, which is helping thousands of organisations and projects

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democrats hope to rein in the power of federal immigration officers in Minnesota as the state’s legislative session gets underway Tuesday, while Republicans will focus on combatting fraud in taxpayer-funded programs that President Donald Trump cited to justify the recent immigration enforcement surge.

While White House border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that more than 1,000 officers have left the Twin Cities area, and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead, the aftermath will continue to reverberate at the state Capitol during the session, which runs through May.

Close divisions will require compromise

It’s unclear whether any significant changes can pass the closely divided Legislature. The House is tied with a Republican speaker, while Democrats hold only a one-vote majority in the Senate. So nothing can pass without bipartisan support. And it’s an election year, with all 201 legislative seats on the ballot. House Speaker Lisa Demuth is among the GOP candidates running for governor and has expressed hope she will win Trump’s endorsement. All of that could make compromise difficult.

“There are definitely going to be priorities on both sides of the aisle. … But when it comes right down to it, we need to have bipartisan votes to move bills through the committees and get the work done for Minnesotans,” Demuth told reporters Monday.

Capitol security is tighter this session following the assassination of Democratic former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband last summer. All visitors now undergo weapons screening.

Democrats propose restrictions on ICE

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz last week proposed a $10 million package of relief for small businesses that lost customers and workers during the surge, and more aid proposals could be coming.

Just ahead of the session, House and Senate Democrats unveiled 11 bills to counter what they consider some of the worst excesses by federal immigration officers during the surge.

They’re meant to keep federal officers away from schools, childcare centers, hospitals and colleges. They would also ban federal agents from wearing face masks, while requiring them to display visible identification. They would also require that federal authorities allow state investigators to participate in investigations of shootings by federal agents, such as the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The state remains frozen out of those cases. The FBI officially notified the state Monday that it won’t share information or evidence from its investigation into Pretti’s death.

The top House Democrat, Zack Stephenson, said they don’t expect support from Republican leaders, but they’re hoping some GOP lawmakers will break with their party.

“What we’ve seen these last six weeks has been so exceptional, so damaging, that I don’t know how you can be human and not respond to it,” Stephenson said. “But even if it’s not that, we also know it’s an election year and voters are watching, and voters will hold people accountable if they don’t stand up to this administration.”

Stephenson also acknowledged that any restrictions the state tries to impose on federal law enforcement are likely to be challenged in court.

“But some things are worth fighting for,” Stephenson added. “And if we’re not going to fight for this, what are we doing here?”

Republicans seek to shift focus to fighting fraud

Republicans have expressed little enthusiasm for taking on federal authorities and hope to shift the focus to fighting fraud.

“Minnesotans want our state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” said Rep. Harry Niska, the No. 2 House Republican.

One of the top GOP anti-fraud priorities is legislation to create an independent Office of Inspector General to investigate and prevent the misuse of public funds. The Senate passed a similar proposal last year on a bipartisan 60-7 vote. House Democratic leaders blocked a vote at the end of the session, but the proposal remains alive this year.

Republicans also want to require more accountability for agencies and officials who let fraud happen on their watch.

Journalist and activist plead not guilty in church protest case

The final two of the nine people charged for their alleged roles in a protest that disrupted a Sunday service at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul, where an ICE official served as a pastor, have pleaded not guilty.

Minnesota-based independent journalist Georgia Fort and Trahern Crews, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, entered their pleas during a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko. Other defendants pleading not guilty to civil rights charges at previous arraignments included former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon.

Fort told reporters and a crowd of supporters afterward that she was exercising her freedom of the press to cover the story of the protest at Cities Church on Jan. 18 while centering the voices of people who otherwise would not be heard.

“As a journalist who is from Minnesota, this case doesn’t just leave me fighting for my freedom, it is the government trying to muzzle me, to make me unable to report on one of the most historic cases, not just in our state, but in our country,” Fort said.