GEAR JRNL

The Gist

• Kate Middleton has long been close with her younger sister, Pippa Middleton.

• During the Princess of Wales's cancer journey in 2024, Pippa made a notable appearance alongside her sister at Wimbledon in July of that year—only Kate's second public appearance of the year up to that point.

• In a new royal biography, it is revealed by Russell Myers that Pippa also played a role in writing the script for Kate's video where she announced her cancer diagnosis in March 2024.

Pippa Middletonand her older sisterKate Middletonare famously close—and Pippa was there for Kate during one of the most difficult times in her life, playing a pivotal role in helping the Princess of Wales during her cancer journey.

After being diagnosed with cancer in early 2024, the future queen announced her health news to the world on March 22 of that year. According to the new biographyWilliam and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story—out March 10 in the U.S.—Pippa helped Kate craft the speech she gave as she sat on a bench in the gardens of Windsor Castle, yellow daffodils blooming in the background. This detail—that Pippa helped Kate write her remarks—was previously unknown to the public before biographer Russell Myers shared it in his new book.

According to an excerpt of the book, when it came time to writing the speech, "Catherine's family rallied 'round, with her sister Pippa helping to write the script for the short video statement." The excerpt also said that Kate's speech that Friday was of utmost significance, with Myers writing, "Much like the announcement of the death of [Queen] Elizabeth II, it felt like an earthquake whose reverberations were felt around the world."

Beyond the speech, Pippa showed support to her older sister several other times throughout 2024, including joining her andPrincess Charlotteat Wimbledon in July—only Kate's second public appearance of the year up to that point—and, in December, attending Kate's "Together at Christmas" carol concert at Westminster Abbey.

Pippa previously toldTodayin 2014—in what was her first-ever television interview—that she and Kate "spend a lot of time together. We still do a lot together as a family. And I think that's really the heart for all of us is having a really close family that we can sort of be normal with each other, treat each other normally. And that's sort of kept us all, you know, affixed to the ground."

Pippa added that she and Kate "have a very normal, sisterly relationship," adding, "We're very close. And, you know, we support each other and get each other's opinions and things."

Of not just Pippa but also their brotherJames Middleton, a source toldThe Timesthat the Middleton siblings "are incredibly tight,"adding, "Pippa not only as a sister, but as a best friend she can confide in. They are extremely loyal to one another."

Of deciding to make her video announcement, Myers wrote that the Princess of Wales did so because "She had seen the positivity and warmth that had greeted the King [Charles] when he had been so open about his own diagnosis. More than that, though, the princess believed that her experience could benefit others in similar distressing circumstances."

"The days beforehand were filled with shock, but at that moment, it was genuinely as if the world stood still," a senior palace sourcetold Myers.

Pippa, along with James and their parents Carole and Michael Middleton, were regular fixtures at the Prince and Princess of Wales' home, Adelaide Cottage, during those difficult months, rallying around them with "quiet evening dinners" and "playdates to keep the children entertained" as Kate went through chemotherapy treatment. The future queen announced her chemotherapy had ended in September 2024, and in January 2025 shared that she is in remission.

Read the original article onInStyle

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Apple Martin is hitting back against rumors that she was expelled from a school for bullying

• The 21-year-old shared a statement on her Instagram Stories, saying that she's "not that type of person"

• Martin is the daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

Apple Martinis hitting back against rumors that she was expelled from a school for bullying.

In an Instagram comment reshared to herInstagram Stories, the 21-year-old daughter ofGwyneth PaltrowandChris Martinpushed back against rumors that she was expelled for bullying, saying that it was "just a quick little message from myself."

"Hi! I didn't wanna respond but this narrative is completely false and has gotten so out of hand," Apple wrote to an unnamed account. "I have never been expelled from any school, especially not for bullying anyone."

"I completely understand ppl not liking me and that is okay! The internet is a place where ppl can share their opinions," she continued. "But this rumor is completely untrue, I am not that type of person and anyone who is close to me knows that ❤️."

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Apple Martin/Instagram

Martin previously faced bullying rumorsin December 2024 when a video circulated of her appearing to crash a fellow debutante's photo shoot. However, the debutante in question, Aliénor Loppin de Montmort, told PEOPLE at the time, "[Apple's] genuinely the nicest girl ever! She really doesn't deserve an ounce of what she's getting."

She added, "She was the nicest girl ever towards not only me but all the debs!"

In a February interview withVogue, Martin shared that she'd changed her mind about her post-college plans and no longer wants to attend law school. Instead, she told the outlet she'dlike to follow in her famous mom's footsteps and act.

"I was in that rebellious 'I don't wanna be like my parents' type of phase," Martin, who majored in law, history and society, said of wanting to attend law school.

"I don't wanna be a singer," explained Martin, who noted she also likes to sing. "I like musical theater, but getting onstage by yourself to sing is so terrifying."

"I love dancing and I love acting," she continued. "My dream is to act."

gwynethpaltrow/Instagram

In October 2025, Martin spoke withThe Telegraphand opened up aboutbeing raised by two famous parents. A month after sharing the spotlight with Paltrow in aGapStudio campaign for the Fall/Winter 2025 collectionby Zac Posen, Martin said she "constantly remind myself how grateful I am to have these opportunities."

"I know this is not a normal way to grow up by any means," Martin said in an interview.

"But my parents did a really good job of instilling in me that I shouldn't be entitled to anything," continued Martin. "I have to work."

Read the original article onPeople

TUCSON, Ariz. — As theNancy Guthrie caseenters week three, investigators and the public are awaiting potentially pivotal DNA results tied to a glove recovered near the scene.

But according toretired FBI agent Jason Pack, even a major forensic development may not be the silver bullet many are expecting.

"From the perspective of an agent who's sat in that war room waiting on lab results, DNA is one of the most powerful tools we have, but it's also one of the most misunderstood by the public," Pack told Fox News Digital.

When investigators await DNA findings on a key piece of evidence, Pack said they are preparing for what he described as "three parallel realities."

Feds Double Nancy Guthrie Reward As Former Fbi Agents Suggest They're Seeking An Insider Tip

If theDNA matchesa known individual, Pack called that "obviously a significant investigative development" — but cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

Read On The Fox News App

"A match doesn't automatically equal guilt," he said. "It tells you that person's biological material came into contact with that item at some point. You still need to build the narrative around it. When? How? Is there an innocent explanation?"

He noted that any competent defense attorney would immediately scrutinize the chain of custody, potential contamination and the possibility of secondary transfer.

Former Fbi Agent Calls Holster Setup In Nancy Guthrie Case 'Incredibly Amateur And Unsafe'

"So a match accelerates your investigation," Pack explained. "It doesn't close it."

A mismatch, meaning the DNA belongs to someone not currently on investigators' radar, can be just as meaningful, he explained.

"Now you've potentially identified an unknown subject. You're running it through CODIS, you're looking at familial DNA possibilities, you're expanding your universe of suspects," Pack said.

Trump Comments On Why Fbi Has Not Yet Taken Over Nancy Guthrie Case, Whether Cartels Possibly Involved

Importantly, he noted, that development wouldn't necessarily dismantle an existing investigative theory.

"It doesn't mean your current theory is wrong. It means you have a new thread to pull."

The third possibility — inconclusive or degraded results — is often the most misunderstood outcome, Pack said.

Tmz Reports Second Letter Demanding Bitcoin In Exchange For Name Of Guthrie Kidnapper

Environmental exposure, mixture profiles, the material of the glove itself and low-copy-number DNA can all complicate testing, he added.

"An inconclusive finding doesn't exonerate anyone, and it doesn't implicate anyone," Pack said. "It simply means that particular piece of evidence can't speak as loudly as you'd hoped."

Pack cautioned against allowing a single piece of evidence to dominate public expectations.

Fbi Reveals New Suspect Details, Including Backpack, In Nancy Guthrie Disappearance; Doubles Reward To $100K

"I've worked investigations whereone piece of evidencebecame the public's obsession, and it created enormous pressure that didn't serve the case," he said.

Advertisement

While a glove recovered at or near a scene is significant, he noted such items can be transient.

"Gloves get dropped, discarded, blown around," Pack said. "The questions of when it was deposited and whether it's actually connected to the crime are just as important as whose DNA is on it."

Elite Fbi Video Unit That Worked Kohberger Case Spotted At Nancy Guthrie Home

Seasoned investigators, he added, never rely on one forensic result alone.

"DNA is one lane on a multi-lane highway," Pack said, pointing to digital forensics, cell tower data, witness canvasses, financial records,surveillance footageand behavioral analysis as parallel investigative tracks.

"The best cases are built on convergence — when multiple independent lines of evidence point in the same direction," he said. "You never want to be in a position where your entire case rises or falls on a single lab result."

Genealogy Company Exec Slams Pima Sheriff's 'Devastating' Move To Ship Nancy Guthrie Evidence To Florida Lab

As anticipation builds around the pending DNA findings, Pack offered a final note of restraint.

"While these DNA results may be the most anticipated development, they shouldn't be viewed as the most determinative one, regardless of what they show."

Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:

A $10 Walmart Gun Holster Could Help Identify Suspect In Nancy Guthrie Case

January 31, 2026

Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. — Family drops Nancy off at home

9:50 p.m. — Garage door closes (per authorities)

Click Here To Download The Fox News App

February 1, 2026

1:47 a.m. — Doorbell camera disconnects

2:12 a.m. — Security camera detects motion

2:28 a.m. — Pacemaker disconnects from phone application

11:56 a.m. — Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering

12:03 p.m. — 911 called

12:15 p.m. — Sheriff's deputies arrive at home

Original article source:Nancy Guthrie case: Ret. FBI agent says bureau preparing for 'parallel realities' while awaiting DNA results

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ‌is preparing ‌to remove race, ​gender identity, sexual orientation, and other ‌diversity ⁠factors from the criteria ⁠its board uses ​to ​evaluate ​potential candidates, ‌The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people ‌familiar ​with ​the ​matter.

Advertisement

Reuters could ‌not immediately verify the ​WSJ ​report.

(Reporting by Devika ​Nair ‌in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Sherry ​Jacob-Phillips)

BEIJING (AP) — People are marking the Lunar New Year on Tuesday with prayers, fireworks and festivities.

APTOPIX Hong Kong Lunar New Year

The activities ushered in the Year of the Horse, one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, succeeding the Year of the Snake.

The Lunar New Year is the most important annual holiday in China and some other East Asian nations and is celebrated outside the region, too.

Temple crowds at midnight in Hong Kong

Incense smoke wafted into the air at a temple in Hong Kong where people line up every year to make wishes for the new year at midnight.

Holding up a cluster of incense sticks, many bowed their heads several times before planting the sticks in containers placed in front of a temple hall.

Advertisement

Fireworks light up skies in Vietnam

Entertainers in Vietnam sang at an outdoor countdown event before multiple fireworks shows at several cities in the Southeast Asian nation, where the festival is called Tet.

Light shows lit up bridges and skyscrapers as the fireworks went off and crowds clapped in rhythm to live pop music performances.

Chinese street fairs in Moscow

People sampled Chinese cuisine from stalls and strolled along snowy streets decorated with red lanterns and dragons as two weeks of events got underway Monday at various venues in the Russian capital.

The third annual Lunar New Year celebration comes at at time of warming relations between China and Russia — ties that have frustrated many European governments because of the war in Ukraine.

A temple bell rings 108 times in Taiwan

The solemn peal of a temple bell rang out 108 times — an auspicious number — as people flocked to the Baoan Temple in Taipei on Tuesday morning.

They lit incense sticks, bowed their heads and left offerings of colorful flower bouquets on outdoor tables on the temple grounds in Taiwan's capital city.

One of the largest school districts in the nation is eyeing job cuts as it navigates falling enrollment, rising operational costs, expired COVID-19-era assistance and other challenges.

The Board of Education for the Los Angeles Unified School District could authorize district officials to issue potential layoff notices and move to eliminate certain positions as part of wider efforts to shore up savings in the coming fiscal years amid "dangerously high deficit levels" that total over $1 billion.

The board is expected to discuss the extreme measures Tuesday, Feb. 17.

LAUSD employs more than 83,000 people, including teachers, administrators, certificated support personnel and substitutes, according to June 2025 data. The prospect of layoffs isn't the only moving part in the overall picture: Labor unions have been in negotiations with the district related to wage increases to class sizes, and members of the United Teachers Los Angeles authorized the union to strike in late January.

The board had previously rescheduled Tuesday's meeting, a move that came off the heels of several unions, including UTLA, calling for the board not to vote on such a key matter in a meeting bloated by other agenda items. The unions instead suggested the board hold a meeting in early March so that officials would have a "more complete picture of Prop 98 funding" and so that people could have more time to understand the proposed cuts — cuts that labor unions said they hadn't been consulted about. Prop 98 guarantees a minimum level of funding for K-12 in the state.

Here's what to know about the job cuts for a district that serves hundreds of thousands of students in Southern California.

How many people could LAUSD lay off?

A board of education report reveals that "approximately 2,600 contract management employees and certificated administrators" could get a notice in mid-March. California requires that school districts alert such workers by March 15 that they may be laid off in the following school year, according to theCalifornia School Boards Association.

Also, 657 "central office and centrally-funded" positions have been identified for elimination, according to the report. That includes positions like 25 assistant area bus supervisors, 23 gardeners, over 200 IT-related positions, nearly 100 office technicians and more. In addition, several dozen positions are poised to see reduced hours.

However, just because an employee receives a notice doesn't mean they'll be laid off, and the report said these numbers aren't "representative of the final number of employees who will be laid off" in part due to changes in finances and staffing, including because of retirements, resignations and more.

The district must issue notices to a greater number of employees than the 657 positions identified to comply with education code requirements, the report said.

"In total this represents less than 1% of the total Los Angeles Unified workforce," according to the report.

LAUSD says job cuts need to be done at some point

LAUSD is up against a projected deficit of $877 million for fiscal year 2026-27 and $443 million for 2027-28, according to a December 2025 report. The board of education report said that, for a public education institution, it faces "dangerously high deficit levels" which suggest a "significant structural imbalance" as opposed to a "temporary dip."

A fiscal stabilization plan for LAUSD revealed in 2025 had included "central operations, non-school-based reductions" as part of multiple efforts intended to address its sizable deficit. Among the district's challenges: How it has previously offset deficit spending and revenue challenges in part due to declining enrollment and the loss of COVID-19 area funding, according to the report. Also in play is Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed budget, which won't be finalized until later this year, that shapes school districts' funding and in which several billions in funds could be unlocked, according to officials at a January board meeting.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at the January meeting that a reduction in force is often about cutting positions, "not necessarily people." But he acknowledged that it wasn't certain that could be avoided entirely in this instance.

The district spends 90% of its revenue on staff, according to officials in January.

Saman Bravo-Karimi, chief financial officer, said in January that delaying the reduction in force in the present means it'll only increase the number of reductions later.

"The reduction in force — given the size of our financial outlook, given what most districts are facing in the state and given the vast majority of our resources are, as they should be, spend on staff — it will need to be done at some point," Bravo-Karimi said.

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atpbarraza@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is LAUSD laying off staff? Breaking down proposed cuts

NEW YORK (AP) —Frederick Wiseman, the celebrated director of "Titicut Follies" and dozens of other documentaries whose in-depth, unadorned movies comprised a unique and revelatory history of American institutions, died Monday at age 96.

The death was announced in a joint statement from his family and from his production company, Zipporah Films. Additional details were not immediately available.

"He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and the countless filmmakers and audiences around the world whose lives and perspectives were shaped by his unique vision," the statement reads in part.

Among the world's most admired and influential filmmakers, Wiseman won an honorary Academy Award in 2016 and completed more than 35 documentaries, some several hours long. With subjects ranging from a suburban high school to a horse race track, his work aired on public television, screened at retrospectives, was spotlighted in festivals and praised by critics and fellow directors. Wiseman was in his mid-30s before he made his first full-length movie, but was soon ranked with — and sometimes above — such celebrated peers asD.A. PennebakerandRobert Drewfor helping to establish the modern documentary as a vital and surprising art form.

Starting with "High School" and the scandalous "Titicut Follies," he patented a seamless, affecting style, using a crew so tiny that Wiseman served as his own sound engineer. The results led to acclaim, amusement, head-shaking, finger-pointing and — with "Titicut Follies" — prolonged legal action.

"I don't set out to be confrontational, but I think sometimes the content of the movie runs against people's expectations and fantasies about the subject matter," Wiseman told Gawker in 2013.

Wiseman's vision was to make "as many films as possible about different aspects of American life," and he often gave his documentaries self-explanatory titles: "Hospital," "Public Housing," "Basic Training," "Boxing Gym." But he also dramatized how people functioned within those settings: an elderly welfare applicant begging for assistance, a military trainee complaining of harassment, a doctor trying to coax coherent answers out of a dazed heroin addict, sales clerks at Neiman Marcus rehearsing their smiles.

"The institution is also just an excuse to observe human behavior in somewhat defined conditions,"Wiseman told The Associated Press in 2020."The films are as much about that as they are about institutions."

The bitter and the sweet

For "Titicut Follies," which premiered in 1967, Wiseman visited the Massachusetts-based Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane. He amassed footage of nude men being baited by sadistic guards and one inmate being force-fed as he lies on a table, liquid pouring down a rubber hose shoved into his nose. The images were so appalling and embarrassing that state officials successfully restricted its release, giving the film exalted status among those determined to see it.

In "High School," released in 1968, Wiseman recorded daily life in a suburban Philadelphia school. He filmed a student being questioned about whether he has permission to make a phone call, an English teacher earnestly analyzing the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Dangling Conversation," an awkward sex education class in which boys are told the more active they are, the more insecure they must be.

"What we see in Fred Wiseman's documentary ... is so familiar and so extraordinarily evocative that a feeling of empathy with the students floods over us," The New Yorker's Pauline Kael wrote. "Wiseman extends our understanding of our common life the way novelists used to."

Wiseman made movies without narration, prerecorded soundtracks and title cards. But he disputed, forcefully, that he was part of the "cinema verite" movement of the 1960s and '70s, calling it a "pompous French term that has absolutely no meaning."

Oscar winnerErrol Morrisdubbed him "the undisputed king of misanthropic cinema," but Wiseman insisted that he was not a muckraker out to correct injustice. He saw himself as a subjective, but fair-minded and engaged observer who discovered through the work itself how he felt about a given project, combing through hundreds of hours of footage and unearthing a story — sometimes despairing, sometimes hopeful. For "High School II," he visited a school in East Harlem in the 1990s, and was impressed by the commitment of the teachers and administrators.

"I think it's as important to document kindness, civility and generosity of spirit as it is to show cruelty, banality and indifference," Wiseman said when he accepted his honorary Oscar.

He was as adventurous in his 80s and 90s as he was in his 30s, making "Crazy Horse" about the erotic Parisian dance revue, the 4-hour "At Berkeley," about the California state university, and the 2 1-2 hour "Monrovia, Indiana" about an aging rural community. Wiseman also had a long career in theater, staging plays by Samuel Beckett and William Luce among others and adapting his movie "Welfare" into an opera. In 2025, he had brief acting roles in two acclaimed movies — as a poet in"Jane Austen Wrecked My Life"and off-screen as a radio announcer in"Eephus."

Much of his own work was made through Zipporah, named for his wife, who died in 2021. They had two children.

The poetry of life

Wiseman was born in Boston, his father a prominent attorney, his mother an administrator at a children's psychiatric ward and a would-be actor who entertained her son with stories and imitations. His education was elite despite attending schools with Jewish quotas — Williams College and Yale Law School — and his real life experiences were invaluable for the movies he would end up making.

In the 1950s and early '60s, he worked in the Massachusetts attorney general's office, was a court reporter in Fort Benning, Georgia; and Philadelphia, a research associate at Brandeis University and a lecturer at Boston Law School. Drafted into the Army in 1955 and stationed in Paris, he picked up some practical film knowledge by shooting street scenes with a Super 8 camera.

"I reached the witching age of 30 and figured I better do something I liked,"Wiseman told the AP in 2016."It was just a few years after the technological developments that it made it possible to shoot synchronous sound ... so that opened up the world for filmmaking. And there were so many good subjects that hadn't been filmed, as there still are."

His new career began with narrative drama. He read William Miller's "The Cool World," a novel about young Blacks on the streets of Harlem, called up the author and acquired rights. Wiseman served as producer of the low-budget, 1964 adaptation that was directed by Shirley Clarke, and he became confident that he could handle a movie himself.

While teaching at Boston Law School, Wiseman organized class trips to the nearby Bridgewater facility. In 1965, he wrote to officials there, proposing a film — ultimately "Titicut Follies" — that would give the "audience factual material about a state prison but will also give an imaginative and poetic quality that will set it apart from the cliche documentary about crime and illness."

Around the time the movie was screened at the New York Film Festival, the state of Massachusetts sought an injunction, alleging that Wiseman had violated the prisoners' privacy. For more than 20 years, Wiseman was permitted to show "Titicut Follies" only in prescribed settings such as libraries and colleges. The ban was finally relaxed when Superior Court Judge Andrew Meyer in Boston first ruled that the documentary could be shown to the general public if faces were blurred, then, in 1991, lifted all restrictions.

"I have viewed the film and agree that it is a substantial and significant intrusion into the privacy of the inmates shown in the film," Meyer wrote in his initial opinion, in 1989. "However, I also regarded 'Titicut Follies' as an outstanding film, artistically and thoughtfully edited with great social and historical value.

"Another observation about the film: It is true."