Indian IT professionals worried about 72-hour workweeks might soon face the opposite concern, as Bengaluru-based outsourcing giant Infosys has partnered with Anthropic to bring agentic AI to telecommunications companies and other regulated industries.
Anthropic and Infosys announced their collaboration plans on Tuesday, describing agentic AI as a core focus of their partnership. According to Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, the pair wants to combine their respective domain expertise to give businesses around the world a shot at actually getting some returns on their AI investments.
“Our collaboration with Anthropic marks a strategic leap toward advancing enterprise AI, enabling organizations to unlock value and become more intelligent, resilient, and responsible,” Parekh said in a canned statement.
The deal will primarily involve integrating Anthropic’s various Claude models and Claude Code with Infosys’ Topaz AI-powered business automation platform. According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Infosys engineers are already using Claude Code for some work, and the partnership between the pair will enable the outsourcing giant to extend its footprint into regulated industries.
“There’s a big gap between an AI model that works in a demo and one that works in a regulated industry—and if you want to close that gap, you need domain expertise,” Amodei said. “Infosys has exactly that kind of expertise.”
Just add Claude, we suppose.
Can embracing AI save the IT consulting industry?
The particular domains that Anthropic and Infosys intend to enter via their partnership, and the tasks they intend their new AI agents to perform, hint that a headcount bloodbath is on the horizon.
In the telecommunications space, the pair wants to use AI agents to modernize network operations, manage customers across their lifecycle with a provider, and “improve service delivery,” whatever that might mean. In the financial services space, Anthropic and Infosys want AI to detect and assess risk, take care of compliance reports, and “deliver more personalized customer interactions,” including through tailoring financial advice to a client’s full account history and current market conditions.
The pair also wants Claude AI to help Infosys customers in the manufacturing and engineering spaces to speed up product design and simulation, and handle more code in software development. They also want AI to take on an increased enterprise operations role by automating routine work, “like document summarization, status reporting, and review cycles.” Sounds like shorthand for letting AI do a lot of what humans used to.
News that Infosys is leaning further into AI won’t come as a surprise to El Reg readers – we reported last month that India’s four largest outsourcing firms, including Infosys, had effectively slammed the brakes on hiring, even as they talked up productivity gains from increased use of AI in their operations.
Infosys, which does business in 59 countries around the world, has been leaning into AI just like its competitors, slashing roles across the company while simultaneously opening up more roles for AI experts to further their application of the technology.
Infosys shares have plunged to their lowest level in years recently as investors have soured on IT consultancy firms in the face of competition from AI firms like Anthropic. That said, the announcement did bump shares up more than 4 percent on Tuesday, so perhaps a little bubble-blowing magic can reverse the tide. ®
Randa Abdel-Fattah to appear at Sydney writers’ festival
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear in two sessions at this year’s Sydney writers’ festival, part of a program of about 200 events.
Brooke Webb, the chief executive officer of the festival, and Ann Mossop, its artistic director, said in a joint statement Abdel-Fattah is a “significant Sydney writer with a new book that speaks to the here and now”.
Sydney is a highly diverse city, and the Festival aims to reflect the many and varied communities of writers and readers in its program. That commitment to breadth and representation sits alongside national and international voices across fiction and non-fiction.
A festival like ours, which holds freedom of expression as a core value, is not in the business of cancelling or censoring writers. We think a writers festival provides a rare and welcome opportunity for readers and writers to come together for nuanced conversations about complex and sometimes difficult topics.
Readers can make up their own minds about what they would like to attend. Without writers, there is no festival.
Webb and Mossop added that they respected some may hold different views, saying the festival is “always” in conversation with major stakeholders, including government.
The 2026 event will release its full program on 10 March.
Abdel-Fattah was disinvited from Adelaide writers’ week earlier this year, prompting resignations and the event’s cancellation. A replacement board apologised to Abdel-Fattah and invited her to participate in the 2027 writers’ week.
Hanson ‘not fit to lead’ a political party, Matt Canavan says
Tom McIlroy
Outspoken Nationals senator Matt Canavan has pushed back on Pauline Hanson’s increasingly inflammatory statements about Australian Muslims this week, saying she is not fit to lead a political party.
Hanson was on Sky News on Monday night, discussing the thwarted attempts by Australian women and children stuck in Syria to return home.
The One Nation leader said the group hated westerners, saying: “You know, you say, ‘oh, well, there’s good Muslims out there’. Well, I’m sorry, how can you … tell me there are good Muslims?”
Matt Canavan. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Speaking on Channel 9 this morning, Canavan called remarks by his fellow Queensland senator “totally un-Australian”.
“This statement from Pauline was divisive, inflammatory,” he said, going on:
Totally un-Australian, for someone to say that of all those Australians who are Muslim, there’s no good people among them.
Clearly, I think she went too far, and now she won’t apologise because she doesn’t do that … She’s not fit to lead a major political party with these types of ill-disciplined statements that she won’t correct that insult [to] hundreds of thousands of Australians.
On ABC radio, Hanson walked back some of the comments on Wednesday, saying a Muslim candidate had run for her party, but refused to apologise.
Are Lime bikes fit for purpose?
Would you trust your life to a bike that’s been dropped and left in the rain by a stranger?
There are thousands of share bikes scattered across Sydney right now, competing for your next ride. Guardian Australia’s Luca Ittimani met up with a bike mechanic and hit the streets to find out: are Sydney’s share ebikes actually fit for purpose?
Are Lime bikes fit for purpose? – video
Deaths in 50km/h zones surge as infrastructure group urges rethink of safety measures
Governments are being urged to bolster road safety measures as the number of deaths in local streets rise dramatically, AAP reports.
Roads Australia says an urgent review and more federal and state support for councils are needed as the nation veers away from achieving a key road toll target, echoing calls from road safety advocates.
More than 155 road deaths have been recorded in the first seven weeks of 2026, and in a report released on Wednesday, Roads Australia spotlighted fatalities on roads with 50 km/h speed limits, which have risen significantly in recent years.
A speed sign is seen in a school zone in Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP
More than 150 people were killed in those zones in 2025, almost 20% higher than the year prior.
Vulnerable road users were disproportionately affected, with pedestrian deaths up 13% year-on-year in 2025 and cyclist deaths up 32%.
The group, whose members include major road infrastructure players such as Downer, John Holland and Transurban, said the report showed a need to rethink how urban streets were designed and managed.
That included reducing some areas’ limits to 40 or 30 km/h.
Benita Kolovos
Byelection date set for Sam Groth’s seat in Victoria
A date has been set for the byelection sparked by the resignation of the former deputy Victorian Liberal leader Sam Groth.
The speaker, Maree Edwards, has confirmed writs have been issuedfor a 2 May byelection in the Mornington Peninsula seat of Nepean. Writs will be issued on 13 March, the electoral roll will close on 20 March and the final day for candidates to nominate is 10 April, Edwards said in a statement last night.
Groth, a former professional tennis player, had planned to quit politics at the November election amid party infighting, but brought his resignation forward to last week, triggering the byelection.
Sam Groth (left) and Victorian opposition leader Jess Wilson. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Nepean is considered a safe Liberal seat with a 6.4% margin, but challengers are circling: One Nation has confirmed it will field a candidate, and the Independents for Mornington Peninsula group is searching for a contender.
The Liberal’s state executive (formerly known as the administrative committee) will bypass a vote of the local branch to choose its candidate, citing a lack of time.
As we revealed on Monday, most of the executive is set to back the Mornington Peninsula mayor, Anthony Marsh, as Groth’s successor in a vote planned for 24 February, much to the anger of local branch members.
We’ve already heard from members of the branch this morning who want the executive to reconsider a local vote given a May byelection.
You can read more here:
Pauline Hanson says people ‘warming to our policies’ amid frustrations with two major parties
The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, was just interviewed on the ABC after a surge in popularity in recent polls.
Hanson said she believes the newfound support comes as people “don’t feel major political parties are really listening to them, so they’re looking for change”:
I think people are looking at our policies, what we want to do for the country and for people … People are warming to our policies and I am pleased to see that they want to vote for One Nation now because they don’t trust the two major political parties.
She said Barnaby Joyce, who recently defected to One Nation from the Nationals, has “enhanced” the party.
You don’t have a former deputy prime minister to come across to a party, with his credentials, and it doesn’t enhance the party.
People are drawn to Barnaby. He is just an average bloke out there fighting for the Australian people and he is so pleased to be on board with One Nation now.
Pauline Hanson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Shadow defence minister questions allowing Australians in Syria to return
James Paterson, the shadow defence minister, said the government has a duty to protect Australians at home amid discussion about 34 women and children stuck in Syria who are the wives and children of dead of jailed Islamic State fighters.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said yesterday the country would not facilitate or assist in repatriating the group, who were held for years without charge and were recently forced to return to a detention camp after being released by Kurdish forces.
Paterson told RN he had sympathy for children who were taken against their will. But he said Australia had to take the case of adults who may have joined Islamic State willingly “very seriously … even if they now regret their decision”:
The truth is, allowing people to return to Australia who left our country to join a reprehensible, violent terrorist organisation like Isis does pose a risk to Australians.
As the Guardian has reported, humanitarian groups and security analysts have argued against leaving IS-affiliated women and children in the Syrian camps.
James Paterson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Randa Abdel-Fattah to appear at Sydney writers’ festival
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear in two sessions at this year’s Sydney writers’ festival, part of a program of about 200 events.
Brooke Webb, the chief executive officer of the festival, and Ann Mossop, its artistic director, said in a joint statement Abdel-Fattah is a “significant Sydney writer with a new book that speaks to the here and now”.
Sydney is a highly diverse city, and the Festival aims to reflect the many and varied communities of writers and readers in its program. That commitment to breadth and representation sits alongside national and international voices across fiction and non-fiction.
A festival like ours, which holds freedom of expression as a core value, is not in the business of cancelling or censoring writers. We think a writers festival provides a rare and welcome opportunity for readers and writers to come together for nuanced conversations about complex and sometimes difficult topics.
Readers can make up their own minds about what they would like to attend. Without writers, there is no festival.
Webb and Mossop added that they respected some may hold different views, saying the festival is “always” in conversation with major stakeholders, including government.
The 2026 event will release its full program on 10 March.
Abdel-Fattah was disinvited from Adelaide writers’ week earlier this year, prompting resignations and the event’s cancellation. A replacement board apologised to Abdel-Fattah and invited her to participate in the 2027 writers’ week.
Man charged with murder after three stabbed in Sydney’s west, one fatally
A man has been charged with murder after a person died and two others were critically injured in Sydney’s west on Tuesday.
NSW police said emergency services were called to the suburb of Merrylands around 10am yesterday, where they were told a man had allegedly stabbed multiple people before leaving the area on foot. Upon arrival, paramedics treated a man, 38, who died at the scene.
Two others, a 47-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, were taken to hospital, where they remain in critical condition.
Police later arrested a man, 25, and allegedly recovered a knife nearby. The man was taken to Granville police station and charged with murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, with the intent to murder.
He was refused bail and will appear before court later today.
Could Tony Abbott be about to return to federal politics?
As the Liberals turns rightward under Angus Taylor’s leadership, the party is gripped by speculation that Tony Abbott is positioning himself to become its new federal president. Some even hope he could contest the Farrer byelection and return to parliament.
Either way, the former PM is “itching” to return to the fray, writes Dan Jervis-Bardy, and it seems his influence will only grow after the coup by his protege Taylor.
Read Dan’s analysis here about a possible comeback by one of the most polarising figures in Australian politics:
Good morning
Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s dive in and see what Wednesday holds.
Indonesian men convicted of illegally fishing in Australian waters acted out of ‘desperation’, lawyer says
An Indonesian boat crew caught illegally fishing in Australian waters have been handed suspended jail sentences after a trial in which lawyer argued they acted out of desperation to support their families, Australian Associated Press reports.
Six crew members arrested by border force officers in mangroves on the Australian mainland on 29 January pleaded guilty to illegal fishing when they appeared in the Darwin local court on Tuesday.
Indonesians Kasman, Syamsudin, Ramli, Adisianadna, Anton and Hasba, the oldest aged 60, were all charged with using a foreign boat to fish in the territorial seas of Australia.
Kasman, the master of the unseaworthy boat, which has been destroyed, was charged with an extra count of being in charge of a boat equipped for fishing within the Australian fishing zone.
The men’s lawyer, Lyma Nguyen, told judge David Woodroffe her clients were from poor island villages, many of their families deep in debt just to survive and their fishing venture was “born out of desperation”.
They also faced the prospect of having to reimburse the boat’s owner for the equivalent of $20,000 for the loss of the vessel, she said.
Wage growth expected to remain on hold
Wage growth is expected to remain on hold, despite large pockets of the workforce receiving a pay bump, Australian Associated Press reports.
Data for the December quarter will be released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with annual growth set to be steady at 3.4%.
Annual growth has been at 3.4% since the March quarter, despite a rise in quarterly figures.
Should the forecasts hold true, wages would be trending below inflation, which ticked up to 3.8% in the year to December.
The December quarter will take in a pay rise for aged care workers across Australia, which came into effect from October.
The increase in salary was the final stage of wage rises for the sector following a case lodged by the Health Services Union to the Fair Work Commission at the end of 2022.
Last quarter of 2025 saw record-breaking renewable energy added to grid
Petra Stock
Record-breaking amounts of new wind, solar and storage were added to Australia’s electricity grid in the final quarter of 2025, enough new renewables to power Brisbane 1.5 times over.
After a slower start, the year culminated in a rush, with nine wind and solar farms – 2.1GW in all – brought online in the final three months. The result outperformed all previous quarters, breaking the previous record of 1.3GW added in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Clean Energy Council’s latest quarterly investment report.
Four new utility-scale batteries were deployed in Q4 – totalling 1GW/2.3GWh – tripling the record set in the previous quarter (Q3 2025). The largest was Victoria’s Melbourne renewable energy hub with a size of 600MW/ 1,600MWh.
The CEC chief executive, Jackie Trad, described the result as an “Aussie first” that coincided with renewable energy supplying more than half of grid electricity for the first time.
The final quarter of last year saw many new renewables records broken. Sixty-three per cent of total renewable generation capacity that was switched on in 2025 was delivered in Q4.
The seasonal rush to close out on projects before years’ end, together with more political stability in the second half of 2025, ended the year on a stronger note than where it started. However, there is still much work to be done to accelerate future investment in large-scale generation.
Overall the year ended on a high, with 3.3GW of renewable energy brought online. That made 2025 the second largest year for new projects commissioned after 2021. More battery storage was added in 2025, than the previous eight years combined.
Clean Energy Council chief executive, Jackie Trad Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before Nick Visser steps up.
Record-breaking amounts of new wind, solar and storage were added to Australia’s electricity grid in the final quarter of 2025, enough new renewables to power Brisbane 1.5 times over. We’ll have more details in a moment.
Wage growth is expected to remain on hold at about 3.4% when the ABS releases figures for the December quarter later this morning. That means wage growth is running behind inflation – or to put it another way, real wages are falling. More to come.
The whole country is watching the Nancy Guthrie case. When the suspected kidnapping happened, I was curious. How long would it take me to find her home address and cell phone number on a people search site?
I then pasted her address into Zillow and saw photos of her home. I could match what I found to the video from a home tour done on the Today show. I could see the layout. The entry points. The windows. Where her furniture sat. Imagine if I was a criminal armed with that info.
Here’s the thing: I’m not some hacker. I used free websites anyone can access from their couch.
This is happening everywhere
In Scottsdale, Arizona, two teens dressed as delivery drivers forced their way into a couple’s home. They duct-taped and assaulted the homeowners, looking for $66 million in cryptocurrency. They got the victims’ home address from strangers on an encrypted app.
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023.(Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
In Delray Beach, Florida, a retired couple had their sliding glass door shattered by thieves. The attackers had their home address from leaked personal data. That crew went on to hit victims in multiple states.
Riverside, California, police confirmed detectives routinely find Zillow and Redfin searches on phones seized from arrested burglary suspects.
A former NYPD detective put it bluntly: today’s burglars can case your home from their chair with a cup of coffee and get better intel than they ever could sitting outside with binoculars.
Zillow’s database covers over 160 million homes. Listing photos often stay online long after a home is sold. That means photos of your home, taken when you listed it three, five, even 10 years ago, could still be sitting there right now showing every room, every door, every window and exactly where your security cameras are mounted.
Google Street View covers 10 million miles of road worldwide. Criminals use it to check out vehicles parked in driveways, scope backyards and plan escape routes. In some areas, police say thieves are even using drones to peer into windows and check for dogs.
Aerial drone shots of missing person Nancy Guthrie’s home on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona. Nancy Guthrie, mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie, is suspected of being abducted from her home earlier this week.(Fox Flight Team)
Anyone can type your name into a free people search site and get your home address in seconds. Then they plug it into Zillow and see your floor plan, entry points, window types and where the security cameras sit.
Unless you’re selling your home, take down your photos. Now.
Take it all down in 10 minutes
These steps can look a little different depending on your device, app version or browser. If it’s not exact, poke around. The option is there.
Zillow: Sign in at zillow.com. Click your profile icon > Your Home. Search your address, claim it, then go to Edit Facts and hide or delete the photos. Hit Save.
Redfin: Sign in at redfin.com. Go to Owner Dashboard. Select your home > Edit Photos > Hide listing photos > Save.
Realtor.com: Go to realtor.com/myhome. Claim your home, then select it under My Home > Remove Photos > Yes, Remove All Photos.
Google Street View: Open Google Maps on a computer. Search your address, drop into Street View, then click “Report a problem” (bottom right). Position the red box over your home. Under Request blurring, select “My home.” Submit. FYI, once it’s blurred, it’s permanent. Good.
A member of the Pima County sheriff’s office remains outside of Nancy Guthrie’s home, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026 in Tucson, Ariz.(Ty ONeil/AP Photo)
Pro tip: Ask your old listing agent to pull photos from the MLS. Once they’re gone from MLS, the feeder sites eventually follow.
Also, while you’re at it, search yourself on people search sites like Spokeo, WhitePages and BeenVerified. Most let you opt out. It takes some time per site, but it cuts off the first step criminals use to find you. Better bet is to sign up for Incogni, a sponsor of my national radio show and podcasts.
If you’re not selling, there’s zero reason for the internet to have a virtual tour of your home. Take it down today.
I guess you could say Zillow gives everyone an open house. Problem is, you never sent the invitations.
Know someone who bought a home in the last few years? Forward this. Their listing photos are probably still online and they have no idea. You can sign up for my 5-star rated newsletter at my website, Komando.com.
Copyright 2026, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Police are assessing information about private flights to and from Stansted airport following the publication of files relating to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It comes after the former prime minister Gordon Brown claimed the documents showed in “graphic detail” how Epstein was able to use the Essex-based hub to “fly in girls from Latvia, Lithuania and Russia”.
In an article for the New Statesman, Brown wrote that the Epstein files showed the financier’s jet making 90 flights to or from UK airports, including 15 after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.
He said Epstein “boasted” about how cheap the airport charges were in Stansted compared with Paris.
Brown said Stansted airport was where “women were transferred from one Epstein plane to another”, adding that “women arriving on private planes into Britain would not need British visas”.
He said it seemed as though authorities “never knew what was happening”, referring to evidence uncovered by the BBC which showed “incomplete flight logs, with unnamed passengers simply labelled as ‘female’”.
On Tuesday, an Essex police spokesperson said: “We are assessing the information that has emerged in relation to private flights into and out of Stansted Airport following the publication of the US DoJ (Department of Justice) Epstein files.”
A Stansted airport spokesperson said: “All private aircraft at London Stansted operate through independent Fixed Base Operators, which handle all aspects of private and corporate aviation in line with regulatory requirements.
“All immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving on private aircraft are carried out directly by Border Force.
“They use entirely independent terminals not operated by London Stansted and no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal.
“The airport does not manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft.”
In December, a BBC investigation found 87 flights linked to Epstein had arrived at or departed from UK airports between the early 1990s and 2018.
The statement from Essex police comes after the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said a national group had been set up to support UK police forces that are “assessing allegations” following the publication of the Epstein files, which can be accessed via whenyouareready.co.uk
A spokesperson for the NPCC said: “A national coordination group has been set up to support a small number of forces assessing allegations that have emerged following the publication of the US DoJ Epstein files.
“We continue to work collaboratively to assess the details being made public to allow us to understand any potential impact arising from the millions of documents that have been published.
“We continue to support our partners and contribute in any way we can to help secure justice for victims and survivors, and urge anyone who needs support to visit whenyouareready.co.uk.”
James Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly, quietly renewed their wedding vows during an intimate ceremony days before the actor’s death from colorectal cancer.
While speaking with People magazine, Kimberly, 44, revealed that she and Van Der Beek held a “simple and beautiful and moving” vow renewal ceremony attended by close family and friends with some joining via Zoom shortly before the late actor passed away on Feb. 11 at the age of 48.
“We decided two days beforehand and our friends got us new rings, filled our bedroom with flowers and candles and we renewed our vows from bed,” Kimberly said in the story that was published on Tuesday.
James Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly renewed their wedding vows shortly before his death. (Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Hulu)
Kimberly shared that their friend, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Poranguí, provided the “most beautiful music” for the ceremony, recalling that he played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” at the end of the ceremony.
James and Kimberly, (née Brook), first met while they were both vacationing in Israel in 2009. The couple tied the knot on August 1, 2010, during a small ceremony in Tel Aviv, Israel at the Kabbalah Centre near Dizengoff Square. They share six children together, including daughters Olivia, 15, Annabel, 12, Emilia, 9, and Gwendolyn, 7, and sons Joshua, 13, and Jeremiah, 4.
On their 13th anniversary in 2023, James shared an emotional tribute to Kimberly as he recalled their wedding day, writing, “13 years ago today we were told that the guy who had come to you in a dream and had given you a wedding date could marry us — that night — in the basement of the Kabbalah Centre in Tel Aviv… on what happened to be the exact date he’d given you in the dream.”
He continued, “We rushed to get ready, had a bunch of people we didn’t know (and a few we did) dance around us, got ambushed by Israeli paparazzi afterwards, then ate at an outdoor Lebanese dive with plastic tablecloths and chairs and amazing food… and we were off.”
“We’ve gone through success, tragedy, joy, stress, triumph, uncertainty, and through it all… these have been the best years of my life. Every moment. Because I have the BEST adventure partner. Our life is CRAZY right now. We might be crazier. And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he added. “I love you. I celebrate you. I honor you. Thank you for everything you are, and everything you bring out in the people lucky enough to be loved by you Much, much more to come.”
The “Dawson’s Creek” star revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in November 2024, more than a year before his death. He had first received his diagnosis in August 2023 but did not share it with the public until late 2024.
The “Dawson’s Creek” star passed away at the age of 48 after a battle with colorectal cancer. (Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)
On Feb. 11, Kimberly announced his death in a statement shared on James’ official Instagram account. “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning,” a statement read. “He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”
Shortly after the news broke, close friends of Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly, launched a GoFundMe in an effort to support the late actor’s wife and their children.
“Throughout [James’] illness, the family faced not only emotional challenges but also significant financial strain as they did everything possible to support James and provide for his care,” the GoFundMe page read.
Kimberly Brook (L), James Van Der Beek (R), and family at the 7th Annual Santa’s Secret Workshop benefiting LA Family Housing at Andaz on December 2, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer)
“In the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future. The costs of James’s medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They are working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time.”
“The support of friends, family, and the wider community will make a world of difference as they navigate the road ahead,” it concluded. “Your generosity will help cover essential living expenses, pay bills, and support the children’s education. Every donation, no matter the size, will help Kimberly and her family find hope and security as they rebuild their lives. Thank you for considering a gift to support them.”
Kimberly and James married in August 2010 and share six children. (Photo by Greg Doherty/WireImage)
On Feb. 13, the GoFundMe organizers shared they raised over $2 million, with donors including Zoe Saldaña, Derek Hough, Steven Spielberg and more friends from James’ star-studded circle.
“Your kindness has meant more than we can put into words. In the middle of deep grief, your support has been a light. It reminds us that love is real, that community is strong, and that James’s spirit continues to bring people together,” the page wrote.
Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to ashley.hume@fox.com and on Twitter: @ashleyhume
Vulnerabilities with high to critical severity ratings affecting popular Visual Studio Code (VSCode) extensions collectively downloaded more than 128 million times could be exploited to steal local files and execute code remotely.
The security issues impact Live Server (CVE-2025-65715), Code Runner (CVE-2025-65716), Markdown Preview Enhanced (CVE-2025-65717), and Microsoft Live Preview (no identifier assigned).
Researchers at application security company Ox Security discovered the flaws and tried to disclose them since June 2025. However, the researchers say that no maintainer responded.
Remote code execution in IDE
VSCode extensions are add-ons that expand the functionality of Microsoft’s integrated development environment (IDE). They can add language support, debugging tools, themes, and other functionality or customization options.
They run with significant access to the local development environment, including files, terminals, and network resources.
Ox Security published reports for each of the discovered flaws and warned that keeping the vulnerable extensions could expose the corporate environment to lateral movement, data exfiltration, and system takeover.
An attacker exploiting the CVE-2025-65717 critical vulnerability in the Live Server extension (over 72 million downloads on VSCode) can steal local files by directing the target to a malicious webpage.
The CVE-2025-65715 vulnerability in the Code Runner VSCode extension, with 37 million downloads, allows remote code execution by changing the extension’s configuration file. This could be achieved through tricking the target into pasting or applying a maliciously configuration snippet in the global settings.json file.
Rated with a high-severity score of 8.8, CVE-2025-65716 affects the Markdown Preview Enhanced (8.5 million downloads) and can be leveraged to execute JavaScript via maliciously crafted Markdown file.
Ox Security researchers discovered a one-click XSS vulnerability in versions of Microsoft Live Preview before 0.4.16. It can be exploited to access sensitive files on a developer’s machine. The extension has more than 11 million downloads on VSCode.
The flaws in the extensions also apply to Cursor and Windsurf, which are AI-powered VSCode-compatible alternative IDEs.
Ox Security’s report highlights that the risks associated with a threat actor leveraging the issues include pivoting on the network and stealing sensitive details like API keys and configuration files.
Developers are advised to avoid running localhost servers unless necessary, opening untrusted HTML while they’re running, and applying untrusted configurations or pasting snippets into settings.json.
Also, it is advisable to remove unnecessary extensions and only install those from reputable publishers, while monitoring for unexpected setting changes.
Modern IT infrastructure moves faster than manual workflows can handle.
In this new Tines guide, learn how your team can reduce hidden manual delays, improve reliability through automated response, and build and scale intelligent workflows on top of tools you already use.
Warner Bros Discovery, home to major franchises such as Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and DC Comics’ superheroes Batman and Superman, has rejected Paramount Skydance’s latest offer to buy the company amid a looming deal with the streaming giant Netflix.
On Tuesday, Warner Bros rejected Paramount’s $30 per share bid, but has remained open to additional offers, giving the parent company of CBS News seven days to come up with its “best and final offer”.
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“Our Board has not determined that your proposal is reasonably likely to result in a transaction that is superior to the Netflix merger,” Warner Bros chairman Samuel DiPiazza Jr and CEO David Zaslav said in a letter sent to the Paramount board on Tuesday.
Paramount is expected to offer a possible higher price of $31 per share, according to the letter.
Netflix would then be allowed to match the terms of the deal.
“We continue to recommend and remain fully committed to our transaction with Netflix,” DiPiazza Jr said.
Warner Bros shareholders are slated to vote on the Netflix bid on March 20.
Netflix issued a statement saying the deal has reached a milestone, with Warner Bros shareholders set to vote next month on the merger.
“While we are confident that our transaction provides superior value and certainty, we recognise the ongoing distraction for WBD stockholders and the broader entertainment industry caused by PSKY’s antics,” Netflix said, referring to Paramount Skydance.
Paramount has said the Warner Bros board “never meaningfully engaged” with them on six different offers that executives made in the 12 weeks before Warner Bros announced the merger agreement with Netflix on December 5.
“Time is running out for Paramount with this saga wrangling on, for way too long, which is in no one’s interest,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore told the Reuters news agency.
Regulatory hurdles
Both deals have faced significant hurdles in Washington, DC, amid concerns of industry consolidation and the impact it would have for consumers.
In the case of Paramount Skydance, this is driven by possible shifts in content. CEO David Ellison allegedly promised United States President Donald Trump “sweeping changes” to Warner Bros Discovery’s CNN, which Trump has long alleged is too critical of him, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
At the same time, CBS News, which is owned by Paramount, has made several moves that have been seen as efforts to appease the Trump administration. These include: appointing Bari Weiss, a conservative opinion writer with no television experience, to lead the storied broadcast network; appointing a former Trump appointee to oversee and address allegations of bias, and settling a lawsuit with Trump amid allegations that the network’s news magazine programme, 60 Minutes, doctored an interview with then-Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris.
On Monday, CBS late-night show host Stephen Colbert claimed that the network also barred him from airing an interview with Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico, who is currently running for the Democratic nomination to represent the state in the US Senate.
“Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert said on Monday’s broadcast of The Late Show.
The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission said last month that daytime and late-night television talk shows are no longer considered “bona fide” news programmes, exempt from equal time rules that require them to give airtime to the views of opposing candidates.
A merger between Warner Bros and Paramount “would also put CNN and CBS under the same parent company, along with dozens of additional TV stations, and that consolidation creates serious concerns about the types of content we will see in a more traditional TV format going forward,” Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project, an economic think tank, told Al Jazeera.
Paramount’s revised offer, which included a personal guarantee on $40bn in equity from Oracle founder Larry Ellison, father to Paramount’s CEO, was turned down in early January. Larry Ellison has been a long-time supporter of Trump.
Congressional leaders have raised concerns about both deals.
“With either merger, another corporation will have that increased control over what we see, what we hear and what news we consume,” Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said in a US Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing earlier this month.
“I will not be surprised if this gets thwarted,” Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who also chairs the committee, told the outlet Semafor in December.
The Writers Guild raised concerns about the Netflix deal in December, when the potential merger was originally announced.
“The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the guild said in a statement. “This merger must be blocked.”
“I think what I am seeing lost in the excitement around this bidding war and who is going to emerge victorious is that all of the parties seem to be vastly underestimating the regulatory risk,” Hepner said.
On Wall Street, Paramount Skydance stock is surging in midday trading. It is up 7.4 percent since the market opened. Netflix is also up slightly by 0.4 percent and Warner Bros Discovery is up 3.4 percent.
French Olympians Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron are pushing back on criticism surrounding their Winter Games gold.
A French judge’s controversial decision handed the French duo an edge over Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. French judge Jézabel Dabouis scored Beaudry and Cizeron nearly eight points higher than Chock and Bates, who ultimately settled for silver. Without Dabouis’ marks, the Americans would have earned the top podium spot.
As criticism mounted, Beaudry and Cizeron joined the growing chorus questioning how points were awarded.
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France skate after receiving their medals during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy.(Amber Searls/Imagn Images)
The French duo said they believed they deserved a higher score in their gold-medal performance at Milan Cortina. Beaudry and Cizeron argued their routine was more technically demanding than Team USA’s.
“We had the goal of winning by five to seven points, but we made a few mistakes that cost us three or four points,” Cizeron told the “Super Moscato Show on RMC.”
“Winning the gold after just one year of working together, that’s kind of an achievement.”
“It’s a mental battle to keep going and link the elements together, to get back into it and go for the points,” Cizeron added. “You have to cut off those negative thoughts that come in very quickly, and that’s where twenty years of experience come into play.”
Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of Team France compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance on day five of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy.(Luo Yunfei/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Cizeron concluded by highlighting what he and Beaudry lean on when moments like this arise. “I think that our friendship … allowed us to overcome all this pressure.”
“It is normal for there to be a range of scores given by different judges in any panel and a number of mechanisms are used to mitigate these variations,” the ISU said, adding it has “full confidence in the scores given and remain completely committed to fairness.”
Silver medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, gold medalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France, and bronze medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada pose during the 2026 Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics at the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Feb. 11, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Amber Searls/Imagn Images)
U.S. Figure Skating has declined to appeal the decision. However, Team USA’s Chock urged clearer scoring standards and tougher oversight of judges.
“Any time the public is confused by results, it does a disservice to our sport,” the American ice dancer said. “I think it’s hard to retain fans when it’s difficult to understand what is happening on the ice … People need to understand what they’re cheering for and be able to feel confident in the sport that they’re supporting.”
“We know how we felt on center ice after we skated. We felt like we delivered our absolute best performance that we could have. It was our Olympic moment. It felt like a winning skate to us, and that’s what we’re going to hold on to.
“I think it’s also important for the skaters, that the judges be vetted and reviewed to make sure that they are also putting out their best performance because there’s a lot on the line for the skaters when they’re out there giving it their all, and we deserve to have the judges also giving us their all and for it to be a fair and even playing field.”
Israel’s plans to claim parts of the occupied West Bank as ‘state property’ is raising concerns in neighbouring Jordan. Strategists warn that the move could be the final prelude to the ‘alternative homeland’ scenario,’ as Julide Ayger explains.
An autopsy was conducted Tuesday morning for a Christian Ohio mother of two who was found dead inside her home, as investigators continue to pursue what authorities describe as a complex homicide investigation.
The Tipp City Police Department confirmed that an autopsy was performed on 37-year-old Ashley Flynn. Results are pending, and investigators are actively following up on information and evidence obtained during the autopsy process, according to the department.
The substitute teacher was found dead early Monday after officers responded at about 2:30 a.m. to a reported burglary in progress in the family’s suburban neighborhood in Tipp City, Ohio. Police previously said she had been shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
In Tuesday’s update, authorities said investigators worked late into the night securing the scene and returned in the morning to continue collecting and identifying additional evidence.
Ashley and Caleb Flynn in an undated photo with their two children.(GoFundMe)
Following the early Monday morning burglary, authorities met with Flynn’s husband, 39-year-old Caleb Flynn, and the couple’s two children inside the residence.
The department said it is utilizing all available staff and resources and is working in collaboration with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Miami County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami County Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also providing investigative support.
Authorities acknowledged ongoing public concern about whether a suspect has been identified, sharing that investigators are continuing to review tips, process evidence and examine possible motives. As of Tuesday afternoon, no suspects had been identified by police.
Ashley Flynn, a Tipp City Schools substitute teacher and volleyball coach, was found dead in her Ohio home during a reported burglary. Police have launched a homicide investigation into her death.(Tipp City Schools)
Lifewise Academy announced on Facebook a time for the community to gather in prayer following Flynn’s death.
“We are heartbroken by the passing of our teacher, Ashley Flynn,” Lifewise Academy wrote. “We know God is close.”
Flynn was a substitute teacher for Tipp City Schools and a volleyball coach at Tippecanoe Middle School. The district described her as someone known for her warmth, kindness and positive impact on students.
“She was known for her beautiful smile, warmth, kindness and the positive impact she had on so many — both in and out of the classroom and on the court,” the school district said.
Christian Life Center in Butler Township also described Flynn as a beloved member of the church. In a statement, Pastor Jordan Hansen said she was “murdered in her home” and asked for prayers for her husband, two daughters and extended family.
“Ashley Flynn is with Jesus. Please pray for her husband and two daughters and extended family left behind. Please pray for [the] ongoing investigation. Please pray for God’s very presence to bring comfort to an unfathomable situation,” he said in a Facebook post. “We need Jesus and His grace in the ‘What now?'”
Anyone with information or video footage that may assist investigators is encouraged to contact the Tipp City Police Department at 937-667-3112 or the Miami County Communications Center at 937-440-9911.
