Reports from late February 2025 say Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis announced the arrival of a son, Seldon Lycurgus, which media outlets reported as Musk's 14th child.

Coverage of 'uncensored' AI models—open-source or jailbroken LLMs that remove safety filters—highlighting rapid spread, jailbreak techniques, criminal misuse, and policy/security concerns.

Developers and outlets report sightings of model IDs and leaks suggesting Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 5 (codename “Fennec”) surfaced in early February 2026, indicating imminent release.

France has rejected the EU–Mercosur trade agreement in its current form and has pushed to delay signing and votes, demanding stronger safeguards for French farmers, mirror/reciprocity clauses on production and tighter import controls. Paris has urged more robust safeguard mechanisms and alignment of environmental and sanitary standards before authorising the pact.

The Department of Justice's phased release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (deadline Dec 19, 2025) has drawn bipartisan criticism for heavy redactions, missing or altered files, and alleged handling problems. Lawmakers, journalists and advocates have raised concerns about omitted names, recoverable blacked-out text, exposed images, and potential tampering; congressional and DOJ reviews and audits have followed.

Multiple major outlets report that President Xi Jinping has removed and is investigating several senior People’s Liberation Army leaders — including one or more vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission — in a high-profile anti-corruption and loyalty purge. Analysts view the actions as both a consolidation of Xi’s authority over the PLA and a risky shrinking of independent military counsel, with implications for China’s civil-military balance and regional security dynamics.

On January 30, 2026 the U.S. Department of Justice published the largest single release of records related to Jeffrey Epstein — more than 3 million pages, roughly 2,000 videos and about 180,000 images — as part of compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The release includes investigative records from multiple cases, extensive redactions to protect victims, and material that has prompted political and public scrutiny of named figures. Coverage emphasizes the scale of the release, DOJ statements about redactions and withheld privileged material, and differing reactions from outlets and public figures.

The European Commission has proposed the Digital Networks Act (DNA) to update and harmonise EU telecom and connectivity rules, aiming to accelerate fibre and 5G rollout, simplify cross‑border operations, and strengthen resilience and cybersecurity. The proposal (presented 21 January 2026) has drawn praise for ambition and criticism from telecom groups and several member states over scope, spectrum control, and potential regulatory effects.

Reports and expert commentary (Jan 2026) say the Taliban issued a new Criminal Procedure Regulation that: codifies class-based punishments, uses the term translated as “slave/ghulam” in ways critics say legalise servitude, delegates discretionary punishments to husbands/masters, and further curtails women’s rights. The regulation has prompted widespread alarm from rights groups and analysis arguing it violates international law; some analysts urge careful reading of the original Pashto text.