At least 13 people were killed and 17 wounded in an explosives attack in western Colombia on Saturday, a police source told Reuters, in violence authorities have blamed on dissidents of the FARC guerrilla group.
The attack took place on the Pan-American Highway in the El Tunel area of Cajibio municipality, about 35 km (22 miles) from Popayan, the capital of Cauca province, according to authorities.
Cauca Governor Octavio Guzman said on X the attack was one of several criminal actions reported in the province on Saturday.
&#8220;Cauca cannot continue to face this barbarity alone. We are facing a terrorist escalation that demands immediate responses. We demand forceful, sustained and effective action from the national government in the face of the grave public order crisis we are experiencing,&#8221; he added.
Presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party who is from Cauca, called the attack &#8220;terrorism&#8221; carried out by the dissident FARC faction, which rejected a 2016 peace deal.
&#8220;President Gustavo Petro&#8217;s government cannot continue minimizing the violence or dismantling the state,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We demand immediate action, full backing for our Armed Forces and police, and concrete results.&#8221;
Petro, a former rebel himself whose term as president is nearing an end, has pursued a &#8220;total peace&#8221; policy with guerrillas through negotiations and intermittent ceasefires.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Diego Ore; Editing by Alistair Bell, Rod Nickel)

Colombia

Explosives Attack In Colombia Kills Over A Dozen

Crime

Explosion

South America

World

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared an emergency on Friday for 91 counties in his state, where authorities are battling two major wildfires that have caused record property damage as more than 120 homes and other buildings have gone up in flames.
The Highway 82 and Pineland Road fires &#8211; one sparked by a party balloon, the other by a welder&#8217;s torch &#8211; are by far the fiercest among dozens of blazes ravaging the drought-stricken Georgia countryside and neighboring states of Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama in recent days.
No casualties were reported in Georgia, which has borne the brunt of the wildfires. But a volunteer firefighter died on Thursday evening after suffering an unspecified medical emergency while fighting a brush fire in northern Florida, according to various news media reports.
The conflagrations were primed by a confluence of climate extremes gripping the Southeast, authorities said.
Unusually sparse rainfall this spring following heavy vegetation growth in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene last fall has created a fuel bed of drought-parched timber and brush now posing the kind of wildfire hazards more typical for the Western United States in summer.
&#8220;We are in extreme drought conditions, and wildfire activity has already surpassed our five-year average,&#8221; Georgia Forestry Commission Director Johnny Sabo said in a video message posted online. &#8220;Right now conditions are so dry that even one small spark can quickly turn into a dangerous wildfire.&#8221;
As of Friday night, the Highway 82 and Pineland blazes had scorched more than 39,500 acres (16,000 hectares) combined, incinerating at least 122 homes and other structures, state forestry officials said. The tally of destruction marked the biggest property loss from a single fire event in Georgia&#8217;s history, the governor told a press conference.
Nearly 1,000 more homes remained threatened, he said.
Fires are scattered across Georgia, with the two biggest clustered in the southeast near the Florida border, roughly 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Atlanta, the state&#8217;s capital and largest city.
News footage of the fires showed walls of pine trees engulfed in flames, and Kemp described &#8220;fire that is burning to the top of trees and burning from one treetop to another.&#8221;
With firefighters and water-dropping aircraft struggling to halt the advance of the flames, crews were trying to protect homes still in harm&#8217;s way, Kemp said.
Teams had managed to carve containment lines around 10% of the perimeters of each of the two major fires, forestry officials said.
In a move aimed at hastening and consolidating Georgia&#8217;s disaster response, Kemp declared a state of emergency in 91 of Georgia&#8217;s 159 counties. Sabo announced a 30-day ban on the outdoor burning of refuse, agricultural waste or campfires in the same counties, the first such restriction in the state&#8217;s history.
The origin of the two biggest blazes illustrated how a small ignition source could touch off catastrophic fires.
Investigators determined that the Highway 82 blaze began on Monday, when an aluminum-coated balloon landed on a transmission line, triggering an electrical spark that ignited surrounding vegetation.
The Pineland Road fire, burning since April 18, was touched off by a stray spark from a welding operation that fell to the forest floor, authorities said.
Authorities said they expected extreme fire conditions to persist through the weekend, with gusty winds and little chance of rain in the forecast.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by William Mallard)

Firefighter

Stray Spark And Aluminum Balloon: Georgia Declares State Of Emergency As Wildfires Rage In South

Brian Kemp

Fire

Georgia

Natural Disaster

U.S.

The European Union will urge members to cut their dependence on Middle Eastern jet fuel and look into increasing imports from the U.S., in new guidelines expected next week, an official source told Reuters, as the Iran war disrupts global supply.
The plans, previously unreported and still being finalized, will put a greater focus on self-sufficiency and resilience via Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or synthetic fuels.
European airlines have warned of potential jet fuel shortages within weeks ‌as a result of the Iran war, which could disrupt the summer travel season. Europe is particularly vulnerable as it imports some 30% to 40% of its jet fuel, at least half of that from the Middle East.
The EU&#8217;s non-binding recommendations will emphasize the bloc&#8217;s limitations in increasing jet fuel output domestically and provide guidance on how to handle potential shortages, the source said.
The person asked not to be named because the discussions are ongoing and the draft is not yet finalized. A European Commission spokesperson confirmed plans to present a response to the energy crisis next week, including measures on jet fuels.
Availability of supply &#8220;remains the primary concern,&#8221; the Commission spokesperson said, adding that if supply remained snarled through the Strait of Hormuz, the EU could launch a possible coordinated release of jet fuel stocks.
Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, a key gateway for energy flows from the Gulf, after a ceasefire accord in Lebanon, though U.S. President Donald Trump said a naval blockade remains in place until a deal is sealed with Tehran.
The EU spokesperson said he hoped a resumption of safe passage through the Strait would last, but reflecting the ongoing uncertainty, added: &#8220;Let&#8217;s see.&#8221;
FLIGHT CANCELLATION THREAT GROWS
Flights in Europe could start to be cancelled from the end of May due to a lack of jet fuel, the International Air Transport Association&#8217;s director general Willie Walsh said on Friday. Airlines are cutting flights and grounding some planes.
The source familiar with the EU&#8217;s plans said the document would lay out guidance for airline handling issues in the case of fuel shortages such as losing airport slots due to cancellations and the EU&#8217;s anti-tankering rule, designed to prevent planes from loading extra fuel in cheap locations.
It will clarify whether a fuel shortage can be considered exceptional enough for airlines to avoid paying compensation for cancellations. The source added that the EU has decided airlines&#8217; calls for changes to or the suspension of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and SAF allowances were not justified.
The European Commission also plans to introduce EU-wide mapping of refining capacity for oil products and introduce measures &#8220;to ensure that existing refining capacity is fully utilized and ​maintained,&#8221; a draft proposal earlier seen by Reuters showed.
EUROPEAN IMPORTS OF U.S., NIGERIAN JET FUEL RISE
They will also look at the distribution logistics of increasing the use of U.S. Jet A fuel, traditionally seldom used in Europe because it has a higher freezing point than the European standard. Europe&#8217;s Jet A-1 is better suited to long‑haul, high‑altitude and cold‑temperature operations and is preferred by the military. Jet fuel imports from the U.S. and Nigeria rose sharply in April.
Some of Europe&#8217;s key hubs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany rely on the NATO-operated CEPS pipeline, which supplies European grade jet fuel. A spokesperson for NATO did not immediately reply to questions about the pipeline&#8217;s logistics.
Airlines are preparing for a potential supply crunch, with the International Energy Agency forecasting jet fuel shortages by June if the region can only replace half of the supplies it normally gets from the ​Middle East.
Some airports have warned of shortages within three weeks if the Strait of ‌Hormuz remains ⁠closed to fuel shipments. The European Commission is expected to warn jet fuel supply could remain limited even if the Strait of Hormuz is unblocked.
(Reporting by Julia Payne and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Elaine Hardcastle)

Airplane Fuel

Jet Fuel Crunch Looms: Europe Faces Flight Cuts As Iran War Drags On

Air Travel

Economy

Europe

Global Politics

Iran

Strait of Hormuz

Tesla is rolling out its robotaxis in Dallas and Houston, the electric vehicle maker said on Saturday, marking further expansion of its nascent service in the United States since its Austin, Texas, launch last year.
Tesla&#8217;s official robotaxi account on X announced the launch and posted two videos showing its best-selling Model Y SUVs running in the two cities with no human driver or monitor in the front seats.
It posted two map images outlining service boundaries, but did not disclose further details such as fleet size or pricing.
&#8220;Try Tesla Robotaxi in Dallas &amp; Houston!&#8221; CEO Elon Musk said reposting the X post.
Tesla&#8217;s move comes as the robotaxi business has regained momentum with Alphabet&#8217;s Waymo and Amazon&#8217;s Zoox speeding up expansion.
Expanding the robotaxi service and wider adoption of its full self-driving software, a version of which underpins the technology, is key to Tesla&#8217;s growth strategy as Musk has pivoted the company&#8217;s focus to artificial intelligence and robotics from EVs.
Much of the company&#8217;s $1.3 trillion valuation hinges on that bet.
Tesla first deployed a small group of self-driving taxis in an area of Austin with human safety monitors and other restrictions. The company has since widened the service area and started removing the monitors.
Last year, Tesla also started a ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area. Musk has promised to expand the robotaxi service rapidly in the U.S., but missed earlier predictions of its robotaxis operating widely in multiple U.S. metro areas by the end of 2025.
(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco Editing by Nick Zieminski, Rod Nickel)

Tesla Robotaxi

No Driver? No Problem! Tesla Launches Robotaxis In Two Major Cities

Dallas

Elon Musk

Houston

Tesla

Texas

MEXICO CITY, April 14 (Reuters) &#8211; The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a well-known human rights activist in Mexico who has for years levied charges of human rights abuses against the country&#8217;s Armed Forces, alleging he worked on behalf of a powerful drug cartel.
The U.S. Treasury Department accused Raymundo Ramos, president of the Committee for Human Rights of Nuevo Laredo, of &#8220;posing as a &#8216;human rights&#8217; activist&#8221; for more than a decade in order to fabricate false accusations against the Army and protect members of the powerful Cartel of the Northeast (CDN).
&#8220;On the CDN payroll, Ramos engages in these activities with the goal of boosting the public opinion of CDN and discrediting Mexican authorities’ law enforcement initiatives against the cartel,&#8221; the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Washington&#8217;s move blocks any assets Ramos might have in the United States and bars Americans from working with him.
Ramos did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment about the accusations. Based in Nuevo Laredo, an ultra-violent city in the state of Tamaulipas, bordering the United States, Ramos has long been one of the most high-profile human rights activists operating in the area.
In 2023, Ramos raised the alarm over alleged extrajudicial killings committed by the Armed Forces. A year earlier, he accused members of the Navy of forcibly disappearing civilians.
In both instances, Mexican authorities detained military officials and carried out investigations. It&#8217;s unclear whether the investigations resulted in formal charges or convictions.
The Mexican attorney general&#8217;s office did not respond to a request for comment about the accusations against Ramos or whether it is independently investigating him.
In 2020, the Mexican government targeted Ramos&#8217; phone with the Pegasus spyware program, according to Mexico’s Digital Rights Defense Network and the Toronto-based digital watchdog Citizen Lab. He was among hundreds of Mexican activists and journalists spied on by the government using the spyware, the groups said.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Díaz; Editing by Raúl Cortés, Emily Green and Sonali Paul)

FILE PHOTO: US alleges well-known Mexican human rights activist works for drug cartel

U.S. Says Prominent Human Rights Activist Works For Drug Cartel

A U.S. appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling, calling it an unnecessary and improper means for Congress to exercise its power to tax.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members.
They argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether as a hobby or for personal consumption including, in one instance, to create an apple-pie-vodka recipe.
The ban was part of a law passed during Reconstruction in July 1868, in part to thwart liquor tax evasion, and subjected violators to up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones said the ban actually reduced tax revenue by preventing distilling in the first place, unlike laws that regulated the manufacture and labeling of distilled spirits on which the government could collect taxes.
She also said that under the government&#8217;s logic, Congress could criminalize virtually any in-home activity that might escape notice from tax collectors, including remote work and home-based businesses.
&#8220;Without any limiting principle, the government’s theory would violate this court’s obligation to read the Constitution carefully to avoid creating a general federal authority akin to the police power,&#8221; Jones wrote.
The U.S. Department of Justice had no immediate comment. Another defendant, the Treasury Department&#8217;s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Devin Watkins, a lawyer representing the Hobby Distillers Association, in an interview called the ruling an important decision about the limits of federal power.
Andrew Grossman, who argued the nonprofit&#8217;s appeal, called the decision &#8220;an important victory for individual liberty&#8221; that lets the plaintiffs &#8220;pursue their passion to distill fine beverages in their homes.&#8221;
&#8220;I look forward to sampling their output,&#8221; he said.
The decision upheld a July 2024 ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas. He put his ruling on hold so the government could appeal.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Alcohol

From Felony To Freedom: A Century-Old Rule On Liquor Just Collapsed

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

Courts

Food

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called an emergency defence council meeting on Sunday after powerful explosives were found near a pipeline in Serbia that carries Russian gas to the country.
The incident prompted political scrutiny in Hungary at a sensitive time days before a national election, with Orban&#8217;s party trailing in opinion polls.
Orban said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, a close ally, had informed him by phone about the discovery outside the town of Kanjiza, near Hungary&#8217;s border with Serbia.
&#8220;Our units found an explosive of devastating power,&#8221; Vucic said in a post on Instagram. &#8220;I told PM Orban that we would keep him updated on the investigation.&#8221;
Officials in Budapest and Belgrade did not respond to requests for comment about the incident, which comes before pivotal elections on April 12 in Hungary where nationalist Orban is fighting to hold onto his more than 16-year grip on power.
A former Hungarian intelligence official told Reuters there had been discussions in Hungarian security circles over the past days about a precise plan for a &#8220;false-flag&#8221; operation impacting the pipeline in Serbia as part of an effort to influence the Hungarian vote.
Peter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party also raised doubts about the incident, saying it appeared aimed at boosting Orban&#8217;s electoral prospects.
&#8220;Several people have publicly indicated that something will &#8216;accidentally&#8217; happen at the gas pipeline in Serbia at Easter, a week before the Hungarian elections. And so it happened,&#8221; Magyar said in a statement.
PIVOTAL ELECTIONS
In a Facebook post after the defence council meeting, Orban suggested the incident related to an attempt to blow up the pipeline, which transports Russian gas through the Balkans to Central and Eastern Europe.
&#8220;According to information that we have&#8230;.there was an act of sabotage prepared,&#8221; Orban said after the meeting, adding that both countries have strengthened the protection of the pipeline.
Without directly blaming Ukraine for the incident in Serbia, Orban said &#8220;Ukraine has been for years trying to cut off Europe from Russian energy.&#8221;
&#8220;The Russian section of TurkStream is also under continuous military attack. Ukraine&#8217;s efforts pose a life-threatening danger to Hungary,&#8221; he added.
The head of Serbia&#8217;s Military Intelligence Agency, Djuro Jusic, said the explosives found on a section of pipeline linked to the Turkstream system, which carries Russian gas to Turkey and then to Central Europe, were produced in the United States.
&#8220;We had information that a person from a migrant community, with military training, will carry out a diversion on the gas infrastructure,&#8221; he told reporters in Belgrade. He did not give further details, but said authorities in Serbia were searching for that person.
Orban in February scaled up security around energy infrastructure in the country by dispatching troops after what he said were plans by Ukraine to disrupt the Hungarian energy system &#8211; charges Kyiv denied.
Ukraine&#8217;s foreign ministry strongly rejected what it said were attempts to link Kyiv to the explosives.
&#8220;Ukraine has nothing to do with this,&#8221; foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said on X. &#8220;Most probably, a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow&#8217;s heavy interference in Hungarian elections.&#8221;
Budapest has also been in a dispute with Ukraine over a halt in oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. Orban&#8217;s Fidesz party has sought to associate opposition leader Peter Magyar with Brussels and Ukraine, suggesting that voting for his Tisza party means voting for tanks and war.
Hungary is an outlier in the European Union for maintaining ties with Moscow, which voiced support for Hungary over Sunday&#8217;s incident and suggested that Ukraine was responsible.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also blamed Ukraine, writing on Facebook that &#8220;in the past few days and weeks, the Ukrainians organised an oil blockade against us, and then tried to put us under a total energy blockade &#8230; And now we have today&#8217;s incident.&#8221;
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Additional reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels and Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Helen Popper, William Maclean, Christina Fincher)

GettyImages-2267436846

Hungary Rattled By Russia Pipeline Scare As One Claim Gains Traction

Hungary

Russia

Ukraine

British police arrested a fourth person in connection with an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances, with the detention happening at a London court where three males already charged in the case were appearing, prosecutors said on Saturday.
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of torching four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola on March 23 while they were parked near a synagogue in the Golders Green area of north London.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident at the time as a &#8220;deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack.&#8221;
The SITE Intelligence ​website has said an Iran-aligned multinational militant collective called Islamic ​Movement of ⁠the People of the Right Hand had claimed responsibility for the incident.
It said the group had been behind similar fires in Europe.
Counter-terrorism officers are heading the investigation in Britain, but as yet the incident is not being treated as terrorism.
A prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service said police believe four people were involved in carrying out the attack itself, with a fourth individual being arrested on Saturday morning as part of an ongoing investigation.
The Metropolitan Police said the fourth suspect was a 19-year-old man who had been arrested by officers at the court while attending the hearing, after officers recognised him as being linked to the attack. He was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and taken into custody.
Three men have been charged with arson with intent to damage property and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. Two are British nationals, while the third holds dual British‑Pakistani citizenship.
All three were remanded in custody, with the 17‑year‑old ordered to be held in youth detention accommodation.
Hatzola is a not-for-profit volunteer emergency service that works alongside Britain&#8217;s National Health Service and primarily serves the Orthodox Jewish community.
The London Fire Brigade said explosions from cylinders on the vehicles shattered nearby windows, but no one was injured.
Attacks on Jewish people and Jewish targets have risen in Britain since the October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, according to police and community groups.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Joe Bavier and Toby Chopra)

U.K. Police Arrest Fourth Suspect Over Attack On Jewish Ambulances

Anti-Semitism

Radical Islam

Terrorism

U.K.

Louisiana police have charged a man with impaired driving after his car slammed into a crowd during a community parade on Saturday, injuring several people, some critically.
Louisiana State Police said they arrested Todd Landry, 57, and charged him with driving while impaired, 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring and careless operation following the incident in New Iberia, Louisiana.
He is also accused of having an open container with an alcoholic beverage in the vehicle.
The incident occurred during a Lao New Year celebration, the Louisiana State Police said in a statement.
&#8220;Multiple pedestrians&#8221; were struck by the vehicle as Landry drove it, police said.
Earlier, the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office said at least 15 people had been injured.
Landry showed signs of impairment, and a breath sample showed he had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.137%, police said. The legal BAC limit for drivers in most U.S. states is 0.08%.
Reuters could not determine if Landry had a lawyer.
Acadian Ambulance posted on social media that it transported 13 people to the hospital. Two of them were airlifted, the ambulance service wrote on X.
Organizers of the Louisiana Lao New Year Festival said on Facebook they were cancelling Saturday evening&#8217;s music concerts, as well as alcohol sales.
&#8220;We are profoundly saddened by the news of the incident near the festival grounds,&#8221; the organizers said on Facebook. &#8220;We are praying for the victims and for their families during this difficult time.&#8221;
The three-day festival held every Easter weekend includes live music, parades and other activities celebrating the Lao New Year.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Editing by Sergio Non, Matthew Lewis and Kevin Buckland)

Police lights

Over A Dozen Injured After Drunk Driver Plows Into Parade Crowd

Drunk Driving

Louisiana

After losing its bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s rich trove of characters and stories, Netflix is forging ahead with the challenging work of building culture-defining franchises on its own.
Chief Creative Officer Bela Bajaria said Netflix would keep investing in original ideas, and partner with established studios like MGM and Warner Bros, to try and produce movies and series that live on for years, in the vein of “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday” and “Bridgerton.”
“To me, that&#8217;s just continually the goal,” Bajaria said in an interview.
Yet the failed attempt to buy Warner Bros&#8217; storied movie studio and HBO highlighted a vulnerability for the relative Hollywood upstart, whose catalog of original films and series spans around a dozen years, compared with more than a century&#8217;s worth of stories and characters for Warner Bros, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures. Netflix was willing to make its biggest bet ever with $72 billion to shore up its library and augment its intellectual property with Harry Potter and “Game of Thrones,” because creating franchises has proven challenging.
Interviews with 16 current and former Netflix executives, industry leaders and agents illustrate a picture of the streaming giant whose strategy of making something for everyone, and serving many audiences all at once, is different from crafting a Taylor Sheridan-like universe of “Yellowstone” spin-offs that brings a built-in audience.
Even so, Netflix&#8217;s own prolific showrunner, Shonda Rhimes, has successfully adapted Julia Quinn&#8217;s &#8220;Bridgerton&#8221; novels into a series that&#8217;s entering its fifth season, a spinoff and a touring event set in the Regency-era London, dubbed &#8220;The Queen&#8217;s Ball.&#8221;
Franchises can be valuable for entertainment companies, because they are lower-risk investments that can bring in ancillary revenue through merchandise sales and in-person experiences. Recognizable characters and stories also stand out in a fragmented media landscape, grabbing a viewer&#8217;s attention in a time of myriad distractions.
Netflix announced its first major acquisition, the comic book publisher Millarworld, a day before Disney told investors in August 2017 that it would pull its movies from the streaming service to create a rival, later dubbed Disney+.
“Stranger Things” has been an unqualified success, producing a spin-off series, a stage play, and merchandise. Netflix points to other examples, such as the action-adventure film &#8220;Extraction,&#8221; starring Chris Hemsworth, that led to a sequel and a third installment in production, as well as a series starring acclaimed French actor Omar Sy. Its long-running dating show &#8220;Love Is Blind&#8221; has been remade for multiple global audiences, including versions centered in Brazil, France and Japan.
There have been pricey flops along the way to building its own franchises, like the reported $700 million deal to acquire rights to Roald Dahl’s catalog, which includes such beloved children’s stories as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The investment has yet to produce a major hit in five years &#8212; though Netflix will try again this year. It plans a Willy Wonka-inspired reality show called “Golden Ticket&#8221; in which competitors try to survive games and temptations on a set with a chocolate river.
Producing consistent hits that spawn new series helps to attract and retain subscribers and increase engagement, which grew by only 2% in the second half of 2025, according to media consultant Owl &amp; Co. Top-line growth has been slowing, with revenue expected to grow 13% this year, according to data from LSEG, compared to 16% in 2025, and its advertising sales represent only 3% of the total. YouTube’s ascendancy poses a competitive threat. YouTube and Disney, with its vault of iconic characters, have consistently beaten Netflix in share of television viewing since October 2024, according to Nielsen&#8217;s media distributor gauge, which measures broadcast and cable television viewing and streaming.
Complicating matters, Paramount Skydance is acquiring Warner Bros, which could reduce the number of suppliers of original shows.
Armed with a $2.8 billion windfall from the failed Warner Bros deal, Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters will continue to go it alone. Its coming releases include time-tested characters and stories, including a live-action “Scooby-Doo” series and a “Narnia” movie based on the C.S. Lewis books and directed by Greta Gerwig.
“The Electric State” offers one example of an expensive failure that illustrates the inherent risks in attempting to launch a sprawling Marvel-like cinematic universe.
Netflix snagged Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind the smashing success of Walt Disney’s Avengers movies and Netflix&#8217;s own &#8220;Extraction,&#8221; to adapt the critically acclaimed science-fiction novel, and cast “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown alongside Hollywood A-lister Chris Pratt as stars.
Critics savaged the $320 million film when it was released last year. Plans to more fully exploit the film &#8212; including a possible spin-off series and sequels &#8212; never materialized, according to two sources directly involved with the project who requested anonymity to protect their industry relationships.
“A lot of people have big movies that also are IP that don&#8217;t work,” said Netflix&#8217;s Bajaria. &#8220;We&#8217;re in the film and TV business, so a lot of things work, a lot of things don&#8217;t work.&#8221;
Other gambles &#8212; such as Netflix&#8217;s decision to greenlight &#8220;Squid Game,&#8221; a dystopian thriller from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk that others had passed on &#8212; paid off handsomely, creating a global juggernaut.
With the sheer volume of content, Netflix also has its share of surprises, like Sony Pictures Animation&#8217;s Oscar-winning animated film ”KPop Demon Hunters,” which last year became the most watched movie ever on the service.
When lightning strikes, it can rely on its unparalleled global distribution and sophisticated algorithm to stoke enthusiasm for a movie or series that viewers have begun to binge, helping to create cultural phenomena.
Netflix is treating &#8220;KPop Demon Hunters&#8221; as its next major franchise, with licensed toys and other merchandise from Mattel and Hasbro, themed “adult” meals from McDonald’s, a possible concert tour and a planned animated sequel.
But the success caught Netflix off guard, according to two sources. In fact, the company didn’t have licensed toys available to capitalize on the phenomenon during the holiday shopping season. Netflix has said in interviews that it approached toymakers and retailers a year or more ahead of the film&#8217;s release, but they were unwilling to take a risk on an untested property.
At a March 18 presentation in Los Angeles, Netflix showcased its 2026 lineup, which includes a fourth installment of “Bridgerton,”  a second season of “One Piece,” an adaptation of the long-running manga series, a live-action TV series based on the “Assassin’s Creed” video game franchise, and a reboot of “Little House on the Prairie.”
“We&#8217;re off to a strong start and feeling confident about the quality and consistency of our slate this year,” said Jinny Howe, vice president of original series at Netflix.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Jen Saba and Anna Driver)

Squid Game

Netflix Searches For Franchises After Losing Out On ‘Harry Potter’

Movies

Netflix

Warner Bros

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Bank of America agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by women who accused the bank of facilitating their sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, court records showed on Friday.
Lawyers for the bank and the women had told Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff this month they had reached a &#8220;settlement in principle,&#8221; but terms of the deal were not disclosed at the time.
&#8220;While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs,&#8221; a spokesperson for Bank of America said in a statement.
In a joint court filing, David Boies and Bradley Edwards, attorneys for the plaintiffs, said the settlement represented the best option for their clients &#8220;given that many Class Members suffered harm many years ago and are in need of financial relief now.&#8221;
The plaintiffs&#8217; lawyers may seek up to 30% of the settlement, or about $21.8 million, for legal fees, according to court records.
The settlement requires Rakoff&#8217;s approval. The judge scheduled a court hearing for Thursday to consider approving the deal.
The proposed class action, filed in October by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe, accused the second-largest U.S. bank of ignoring suspicious financial transactions related to Epstein despite a &#8220;plethora&#8221; of information about his crimes because it valued profit over protecting victims.
Bank of America has said Doe alleged merely that it provided routine services to people who at the time had no known links to Epstein, and that any suggestion that it was more deeply involved was &#8220;threadbare and meritless.&#8221;
Rakoff ruled in January that Bank of America must face Doe&#8217;s claims that it knowingly benefited from Epstein&#8217;s sex trafficking and obstructed enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Among the transactions Doe flagged were payments to Epstein by Apollo Global Management&#8217;s billionaire co-founder, Leon Black.
Black stepped down as Apollo&#8217;s chief executive in 2021 after a review by an outside law firm found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.
Black has denied wrongdoing and said he was unaware of Epstein&#8217;s criminal conduct.
Doe&#8217;s lawyers have also sued other alleged enablers of Epstein&#8217;s sex trafficking, and in 2023 reached settlements of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank on behalf of his accusers.
The lawyers are also appealing Rakoff&#8217;s dismissal in January of a similar lawsuit they brought against Bank of New York Mellon.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by New York City&#8217;s medical examiner.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)

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Another Major Bank Agrees To Dish Out Over $70M To Settle Epstein Lawsuit

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Absences among transportation security workers this weekend reached their highest since a partial government shutdown began five weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security said on Sunday, as immigration enforcement agents prepared to fill in for them at some of the busiest U.S. airports.
Nationwide, about 11.5% of Transportation Security Administration staff were absent on Saturday, DHS said, but that figure soared to 42.4% at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, 33.4% at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and 33.6% at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Overall, more than 9% of TSA employees have been absent from work over the past seven days, leading to lengthy lines for passengers trying to get to their gates, according to DHS.
To help fill the staffing gaps, hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deploy to airports starting on Monday, officials have said.
DHS said on Sunday it would not publicly share details about the ICE deployment, in order to preserve operational security. Sources briefed on the matter said the current plan calls for deploying ICE agents to 14 locations, although that figure may change.
Tens of thousands of airport security personnel have been working without pay for weeks while congressional Democrats and Republicans argue over a budget for DHS.
&#8220;Many TSA officers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars — forcing them to call out sick from work,&#8221; a DHS spokesperson said on Sunday.
Trump announced on Saturday that ICE agents would be sent to airports unless Democratic lawmakers agree to fund DHS. Democrats have criticized the department&#8217;s immigration operations and are demanding a change in rules.
For now, ICE agents will not be deployed in areas behind security checkpoints because they lack the specific clearance needed, the sources said.
Border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday that sending out immigration agents to bolster short-staffed TSA teams will speed up airport lines, but the union for TSA workers said that does not solve what they see as the underlying problem of pay.
In appearances on Sunday news shows, Homan and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued that ICE personnel can help with airport security screening, starting on Monday, even though they have not been specifically trained for it.
&#8220;When we deploy tomorrow, we&#8217;ll have a well thought-out plan to execute,&#8221; Homan said on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union&#8221; program.
Hundreds of TSA agents have simply resigned, according to their labor union and TSA.
&#8220;ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!&#8221; Trump wrote in a Sunday morning social media post.
Details of how ICE agents would help with the lines were scant, although Homan told CNN a plan would be in place by the end of the day &#8220;to move those lines along.&#8221;
Homan and Duffy, in separate interviews, had different ideas about how the ICE agents might be deployed. Homan said he doubted ICE agents would operate X-ray baggage and passenger screening machines because they did not have experience. Duffy, in contrast, said ICE agents &#8220;know how to pat people down, they know how to run the X-ray machines.&#8221;
The labor union representing TSA workers criticized Trump&#8217;s decision, saying their members spend months in training learning to detect explosives and weapons.
&#8220;Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,&#8221; Everett Kelley, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. &#8220;They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.&#8221;
Unlike TSA employees, ICE agents have continued to get paid by the government through a separate funding provision while lawmakers debate whether ICE funding should be tied to new rules and procedures.
Democrats have said new rules are needed after masked ICE agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in the streets of Minneapolis earlier this year. The two had come out to protest or observe Trump&#8217;s deportation surge in Minnesota.
Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat and the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, told CNN that his caucus is open to a separate funding agreement for TSA employees while lawmakers debate measures to &#8220;get ICE under control.&#8221; But there has been little movement on an actual deal so far, especially in the Senate.
&#8220;We have an obligation to not fund an agency that is acting this lawlessly,&#8221; Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; program.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, David Shepardson in Washington and Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Additional writing by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Aurora Ellis, Sergio Non and Edmund Klamann)

Why ICE Agents In Airports May Be Arriving Just In Time

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