President Donald Trump on Thursday said Iran must reach an agreement with the United States on curbing its’ nuclear program or risk “bad things” as addressed a meeting of his “Board of Peace” at which he touted his supposed progress in ending Israel’s war on Gaza.

The president laid out what appeared to be a new ten-day deadline for Tehran to avoid military action and said talks between American and Iranian officials have been “good.”

“Good talks are being had. It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal, otherwise bad things happen,” he said, adding that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon” and stressing that military action could come “over the next, probably 10 days” in the absence of an agreement.

Iran, Trump continued, “cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal.”

“Or if that doesn’t happen, I maybe can understand if it doesn’t happen … but bad things will happen if it doesn’t,” he said.

The president’s comments come days after talks in Geneva between Iranian representatives and his own envoys had ended without any sort of breakthrough as a massive number of American warplanes continue to assemble in the Middle East region.

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The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a panel made up of Trump appointees, has unanimously approved President Donald Trump‘s White House ballroom proposal.

At the panel’s January meeting, some commissioners questioned the lead architect about the “immense” design and scale of the project even as they broadly endorsed the Republican president’s vision for a ballroom roughly twice the size of the White House itself.

Trump’s decision in October to demolish the East Wing prompted a public outcry when it began without the independent reviews, congressional approval and public comment that are typical even for relatively minor modifications to historic buildings in Washington.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court to halt construction of the ballroom. A court decision in the case is pending.

The project is scheduled for additional discussion at a March 5 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by one of Trump’s top White House aides.

The commission has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.

The first new sport added to the Winter Olympics since snowboarding in 1998, skimo is rooted in the 19th Century, before lifts to take skiers up mountains had been invented.

So, how does it all work?

The sprint events consist of both an ascent and descent, with athletes sprinting uphill with skins on their skis to provide traction, navigating a diamond-shaped obstacle on their way up to a stairway in the mountain.

They then remove the skis, placing them in their backpack, and continue climbing on foot, before a further uphill section on skis.

Once they reach the top of the course, they remove the skins, and ski downhill to the finish line.

The average duration of a race is about three minutes.

The speed and format of the competition meant fans were quickly invested in the absorbing contest and generated a lively atmosphere.

BBC commentator Matt Chilton said: “The ski mountaineering event has been so well-received.

“Televisually, it is superb. For the [in person] fans, they can see everything from the grand stand. They don’t miss a moment watching the action directly and on the big screen.”

Similar to the summer Olympic sport of triathlon, the transitions are key to a successful race.

That is ultimately what let Harrop down as she struggled in the second transition, getting the skins caught instead of ripping them off in one clean motion.

Harrop has English parents and could have represented Team GB but opted to compete for France, where she was born and bred.

She had topped both her heat and semi-final and looked on course for gold in the final but, after the second transition, was trailing behind Fatton and could not catch up on the downhill segment.

“It means a lot. When I look back to when I started the sport, it wasn’t even on the (Olympic) programme,” Harrop, who started out as an Alpine skier, said.

“I had an Olympic dream when I was an Alpine skier, and then when I stopped, it was just game over. So now to be here on this stage is mad.

“The atmosphere is good. The slope itself isn’t super technical, but today they made the downhill a little bit more technical than usual, so that was fun.”

A mixed relay event will take place on Saturday, where one man and woman from each nation completes two laps of the course each with a race typically lasting 30-40 minutes.

Leicester, who appointed Gary Rowett as their new head coach on Wednesday, have yet to comment on their appeal.

But when the points deduction was announced, the club described it as “disproportionate”.

“While the commission’s findings significantly reduced the unprecedented scale of the sanction originally sought by the Premier League, the recommendation remains disproportionate and does not adequately reflect the mitigating factors presented, the importance of which cannot be overstated given the potential impact on our sporting ambitions this season,” the statement said.

Under PSR, Premier League clubs cannot lose more than £105m over three years but the figure is reduced by £22m for every season a club spends outside the top flight.

Leicester’s accounts for the period ending 30 June, 2024, showed a loss of £19.4m.

In their 2022-23 accounts, Leicester confirmed an £89.7m loss, while in the 12 months up to May 2022, they lost a club-record £92.5m.

Those figures do not take into account ‘add backs’ – costs such as building infrastructure and investing in women’s football that the Premier League and EFL view as in general interests of clubs.

An inquest has opened into the deaths of two men who were in a car that crashed into trees. Imran Hafiz, 33, and Jordan Moore, 27, both from Huntingdon, were involved in a single vehicle crash on the A1198 near Hilton just before 10.30pm on January 11.

The silver Volkswagen Golf left the road and crashed into trees. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquests into their deaths were opened on Thursday (February 19) by Coroner Simon Milburn at Peterborough Town Hall. A post-mortem carried out into Imran’s and Jordan’s death confirmed they both died of serious head injuries. An inquest date for both men has been adjourned until September 1, 2026, at the town hall.

The families of Jordan and Imran paid tribute to them after their deaths. Imran’s family said he was “charming, cheeky and mischievous”. They also said he “lived up to his name” and was the “brightest shining star” in their lives.

Imran was also a father of two. His family added: “Our lives will never be the same but we will always remember him with biggest smiles on our faces as that is what he would have wanted – until we meet again fly high our angel we love you more than words could ever express, a huge loss to our entire family.”

Jordan’s family said he will be “truly missed” and his absence left a “profound void” in his family’s lives. They added: “He was loved so deeply by so many, and his kindness, warmth, and spirit touched everyone who knew him.”

Jordan was also described as a “devoted son, cherished grandson, proud dad, fantastic partner and much-loved nephew and cousin”.

A meeting of the full council on Wednesday evening (February 18) confirmed bills will increase by 4.99 per cent from April, 2026.

The town hall agreed a two-year budget in February, 2025 which included £7.8m of savings proposals over two years.

This year’s budget does not contain any further cuts to spending or services, bosses say.

Some two per cent of the rise is ring-fenced to be spent on adult social care.

The meeting heard the increase in council tax would equate to around £1.19 per week for a typical Bolton household.

The proposed one-year budget for 2026/27 includes the use of £10.6m of reserves to balance the budget. This year’s budget also includes a three-year indicative savings target for 2027/28 to 2029/30 of £30m.

‘People want to seen an improvement to their local environment’

(Image: Henry Lisowski)

Proposing the budget council leader Nick Peel, said: “In this two year budget for growth, we are continuing to build back those priority areas in neighbourhood services that have previously been seriously damaged due to austerity.

“People want to see an improvement to their local environment and we are delivering that. “We funded a £2m investment programme into parks, play areas, recreational space and sports pitches in every part of our borough.

“This is the third year running with no cuts to highways budgets, neighbourhood services, street cleaning, parks and play areas and fly tip enforcement.

“Last February we invested £1.2m into new areas of service delivery in neighbourhood services. “This included employing new staff for the first time in years looking after cemeteries and our green spaces. And what a great job they are doing.”

Tories ask for 2.99 per cent increase

(Image: Newsquest)

The Conservative opposition proposed an budget amendment, which would have only led to a 2.99 per cent increase in bills.

They said it would largely be funded by spending an additional £1.7m of reserves and taking £1m from cash earmarked to be spent on children’s social care.

Tory leader Nadim Muslim said: “This year, we saw 70 per cent of residents disagree with proposals to increase council tax by 4.99 per cent each year.

“In fact, 43 per cent of residents believed there should be no increase whatsoever.

“But Bolton Labour have ignored what they think.

“The cost-of-living crisis, worsened by the damaging economic policies of the government resulting in lower growth, higher inflation, higher unemployment, and a higher deficit, are all contributing to the poor state of the UK economy. And Bolton does not remain immune to that.”

That amendment was defeated. The only other councillor outside the Conservative group in favour of it was the borough’s single Reform UK member, Sue Haworth.

How extra money will be spent in wards

The budget report also stated that one-off funds have been returned from Greater Manchester Waste, with Bolton to receive £1.35m.

How that to spend money was the focus of a budget amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats, which gained the support of the majority of councillors so was therefore added to the budget.

It means £500,000 will be divided to be spent on small projects by ward councillors, at £25,000 per ward

£212,000 is for cemetery access improvements with driveway resurfacing at Astley Bridge and Heaton cemeteries.

£506,510 will go on improvements to parks, play areas and open spaces throughout the borough.

The budget report noted an improvement in central government funding to the council.

It said: “The overall net impact of the December settlement is an improved funding position from that forecast in the budget report presented to council in February 2025.

“Although this is a welcome development, there remain significant pressures on the council’s finances and a programme of savings and efficiency measures will be required for future years.”

Ski mountaineering, or ‘skimo’, is making its Winter Olympics debut at the 2026 Games in Milan-Cortina.

Skimo is a sprint event consisting of three uphill elements and one downhill in the individual events, which combine skiing and running.

The first element in the men’s and women’s sprints sees athletes run uphill with skis on their boots through an obstacle course that includes two sets of diamonds that competitors have to negotiate around.

After that, athletes reach their first of three transition areas. They must take their skis off their feet and attach them to their backpacks, before sprinting up a set of stairs to the second transition area.

When reaching the second transition area, athletes will then put their skis back on and will ‘skin’ for around 10 to 20 meters to reach the final transition area – so called due to the fabric skins attached to the skis for grip on the surface.

From there, athletes will ski downhill in a race to the finish line. The whole course usually takes between three to four minutes to complete.

The mixed team relay sees teams of one man and one woman completing four alternate laps of the course, with two ascents and two descents per lap.

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.

King Charles has said “the law must take its course” following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office, with the Prince and Princess of Wales understood to support his statement

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The Prince and Princess of Wales have supported King Charles’ statement following the arrest of the disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Thursday morning (February 19).

Andrew is currently in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office at his temporary residence on the Sandringham Estate around 8am on his 66th birthday. Thames Valley Police, who led the operation, also confirmed that searches are being conducted at properties in Berkshire and Norfolk.

Following his younger brother’s arrest, King Charles broke his silence, stating “the law must take its course”. This sentiment is understood to be echoed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, according to the Press Association.

The former Duke has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Jeffrey Epstein but has faced increasing scrutiny over his relationship with the convicted paedophile whilst he was alive. On November 3, 2025, King Charles stripped Andrew of his HRH style and “Prince” title.

“I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office,” The King said in a written statement.

“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.

“In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.

“As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

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A police spokesperson at the scene confirmed that the search is ongoing within the property. Dog walkers and families are continuing to pass through the surrounding Windsor Great Park.

Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.”

It is vital that we maintain the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work alongside our partners to examine this alleged offence.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

The King has previously expressed his “profound concern” regarding allegations over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct, also saying he would “stand ready to support” the police, according to Buckingham Palace.