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British police said they are searching two properties linked toPeter Mandelsonas part of their investigation into misconduct in public office, following revelations about the former UK ambassador to the US' links to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Since the US Justice Department's latest release of materials related to Epstein,Mandelson has been accused of passing on market-sensitive government information that was of clear financial interest to Epstein in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

London's Metropolitan Police said Friday that its officers were carrying out search warrants at two addresses, one in the southern county of Wiltshire and one in Camden, a neighborhood in the north of the capital.

"The searches are related to an ongoing investigation into misconduct in public office offenses, involving a 72-year-old man," said Hayley Sewart, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Met.

Mandelson, 72, has not been arrested and enquiries are ongoing, she said.

Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday and quit the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain's parliament, on Wednesday.

CNN has been unable to contact Mandelson this week.

The Mandelson scandal has plunged Keir Starmer's government into crisis and raised questions about the prime minister's political judgment. Starmer appointed Mandelson as ambassador last year, despite his well-known friendship with Epstein, which continued after the financier was convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

Mandelson has offered scant comment to British media this week. Previously, he has said: "I want to say loudly and clearly that I was wrong to believe (Epstein) following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologize unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered."

Starmer fired Mandelson as ambassador in September, following a previous release of Epstein files which showed that Mandelson had penned a handwritten note for the financier's 50th birthday, describing him as "my best pal." A trove of emails reported by British media at the same time showed that Mandelson said he felt "hopeless and furious" after Epstein's conviction. Mandelson's sacking as ambassador marked the third time he had been removed from a senior role in government due to his ties to wealthy individuals.

The DOJ's latest release of Epstein files revealed that Mandelson – while serving as business secretary in the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown – appeared to leak sensitive UK government information to Epstein as the country considered a raft of policy measures to aid its recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.

Newly released emails from June 2009 showed that Mandelson forwarded Epstein a memo written for Brown, which advocated £20 billion of asset sales to help relieve Britain's debt burden and revealed Labour's tax policy plans.

Bank statements from the DOJ's latest release also appeared to show that Epstein paid a total of $75,000 into bank accounts linked to Mandelson between 2003 and 2004. Email exchanges also suggested that the financier may have sent £10,000 to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, now Mandelson's husband, to help fund his osteopathy course.

Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Starmer said the revelations about Mandelson were "beyond infuriating" and that the former ambassador had "lied repeatedly" about his relationship with Epstein. "Mandelson betrayed our country, our parliament, and our party," he said.

Starmer is under intense pressure to explain what the vetting process uncovered about Mandelson's ties to Epstein before his appointment as ambassador a year ago. Following a public outcry, the government has agreed to release documents surrounding Mandelson's appointment.

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There have been at least 733 confirmed measles cases reported across the nation, thelatest datafrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed Friday.

In just a few weeks, the United States reported four times as many cases than typically seen throughout an entire calendar year, the CDC said.

Before last year, which had a record breaking 2,276 cases, the U.S. averaged 180 cases annually since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

The record numbers come asSouth Carolinais dealing with the largest outbreak recorded in recent memory.

Other states that have reported cases and are dealing with ongoing outbreaks include Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Most of the outbreaks occurring across the country are in pockets of under-vaccinated or unvaccinated communities.

"Because it's such an infectious virus, whenever you see measles outbreaks, it in effect, highlights areas of the country or communities in which vaccination rates are low," Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the former head of the CDC's branch that tracks diseases including measles, told ABC News.

1 year since measles cases found in Texas, US still seeing surge of infections with elimination status at risk

The rate of kindergartners vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has fallen from 95% in 2019 to below 93% in 2025, CDC data shows. Herd immunity, a threshold for vaccination rates that slow a virus' ability to spread, is typically achieved at 95% vaccination rates, public health experts say.

"I think that this highlights that our defenses are down, especially in some parts of the country and in some communities where vaccination rates aren't high enough to stop measles outbreaks in their tracks," Daskalakis said.

Declining vaccination rates have left approximately 300,000 kindergarteners unprotected from measles infection.

The MMR vaccine is given in two doses, the initial shot given after the first year of life and the second shot given after the fourth year of life.

Low vaccination rates in communities may lead to further outbreaks and spread of the virus, potentially even putting those who are vaccinated at risk.

"If you have someone vaccinated for an infection and expose them to enough of that pathogen, you can overwhelm that immunity," Daskalakis said.

"The lowest hanging fruit strategy to end the measles outbreak is to increase rates of vaccination," he added.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. government wants a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from survivors and relatives of the victims ofMaine's deadliest mass shooting, who say the Army failed them by not intervening before the killings.

The familiesallege the government was negligentin failing to act on warning signs displayed by the shooter, an Army reservist.

Eighteen people were killed when the 40-year-old reservist opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston in October 2023. An independent commission appointed by Maine's governor later concluded that there were numerousopportunities for interventionby both Army officials and civilian law enforcement.

In a filing Thursday in Maine federal court, the government urged a judge to toss the lawsuit, saying the court lacks the authority to hear the case and that the families' claims don't meet the legal standard to move forward.

The lawsuit alleges that the Army was negligent when it failed to properly investigate the shooter's mental condition. But the government says the shooter was "solely responsible" for the attack and the government should not be held liable for his actions.

Attorneys for 100 survivors and victims' family members announced the filing of the lawsuit last year. They thenrefiled their lawsuitin September following a U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faulted the Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members.

"Unfortunately, the government's motion was predictable and expected. The government's motion is a lengthy denial of any legal responsibility for broken promises to protect the community it pledges to defend. We look forward to filing our response," said Travis Brennan and Ben Gideon, attorneys for the families, in a Friday statement.

The lawsuit faults the Army, U.S. Department of Defense and Keller Army Community Hospital for negligence, and names the U.S. government as the defendant. The lawsuit said the defendants failed to "respond to warning signs and an explicit threat to commit a mass shooting" by the shooter, Robert Card.

Card was found dead by suicide two days after the shootings.

The attorneys have said the Army did not act despite being aware of Card'smental health decline. Card's mental health spiral led to his hospitalization and left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, plaintiffs said. He even produced a "hit list" of those he wanted to attack, they said.

The Lewiston shootings led to new guns laws in Maine, a state with a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership. The laws promptedlegal actionon the part of gun rights advocates in the state and remain a contentious topic more than two years later.

Mike Conley Jr. is returning to Minnesota after a trade deadline pinball trip through the league.

After being traded twice and waived this week,the longtime NBA veteran is planning to return to the Timberwolvesas a free agent, according to ESPN. Conley and Minnesota are working out the timing of him re-signing with the team.

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Conley, 38, was first dealt this week from the Wolves to the Chicago Bulls as part ofa three-team tradethat sent Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić to the Detroit Pistons. Detroit also received a 2026 protected first-round swap with Minnesota. Also in the deal, Jaden Ivey went from the Pistons to the Bulls.

A day later, Conley was on his wayto the Charlotte Hornets with Coby Whitein exchange for Collin Sexton and three second-round picks. The Bulls also acquired Ousmane Dieng from Charlotte in a deal in which the Oklahoma City Thunder got Mason Plumlee.

Yet neither the Bulls nor Hornets intended to keep Conley and his $10.7 million salary for the 2025-26 campaign. He can be a free agent after the season.

[Get more Timberwolves news: Minnesota team feed]

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement says teams are not allowed to trade a player and then re-sign him if he's waived. However, Conley can return to Minnesota since he was traded a second time before he was let go.

Following the brief interruption to his stay, Conley will resume his fourth season with the Timberwolves. He returns to a Minnesota team thatadded Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillipsin another deadline deal that sent Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to Chicago.

Before being dealt, Conley was averaging 4.4 points, 2.9 assists and 1.8 rebounds while limited to 44 games with back spasms and tendinopathy in his right Achilles.

Overall, Conley has played 19 seasons in the NBA, 12 for the Memphis Grizzlies and four with the Utah Jazz. During his career, he has averaged 13.7 points and 5.6 assists while shooting 39% on 3-pointers.

Minnesota is 32-20 and in sixth place in the West.

TheSECannounced Thursday it's rich.Filthy, stinking rich.

Why this surprises anyone, I don't know.

But more to the flush with cash point: why in the world are the SEC presidents allowing the Big Ten presidents — and by proxy, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti —run the sport?

It's time for the SEC presidents to make a clear and unmistakable move: tell the Big Ten to join the 16-team playoff, or the SEC is walking away.

With or without the other eight FBS conferences.

Why would the SEC — which doled out aconference-record $1.03 billion in revenueto its 16 teams — sit around and allow the Big Ten to decide where the sport's postseason begins and ends, and how it is played? Especially considering nine of the 10 FBS conferences are in favor of a 16-team format.

The only conference that isn't? The Big Ten.

If exclusive television partner ESPN will pay the SEC a billion annually — and its only going to increase over the course of a media rights deal that ends in 2033 — what would ESPN pay for an SEC-only playoff? Or a playoff of nine FBS conferences?

It doesn't matter that the Big Ten has wonthe last three national titles, or that the SEC has clearly seen slippage among its marquee schools in the same span (we're looking at you, Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Florida).

Doesn't matter that three of the last four Heisman Trophy winners weren't from SEC schools, after six of the previous seven were.

NEW FRONT:Big Ten took title belt from SEC. TV ratings war might be next

NEW PATH:College football must avoid NFL and run CFP like business

The only thing that matters is the SEC is still the undisputed king of television ratings. The Big Ten has made great strides catching its sister super-conference in some areas, but still trails dramatically in television ratings.

The SEC had 12 of the top 23 most-watched teams in the regular season in 2025. The Big Ten had six.

Only South Carolina, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Arkansas weren't among the elite group of television draws.

Think about this: LSU, which fired its coach in October and won seven games in 2025, still was the 7th-most watched team in college football. Only Ohio State and Michigan from the Big Ten were higher.

The SEC, frankly, shouldn't allow anyone —  much less the Big Ten — make decisions about the future of a sport that essentially is on television life support without it.

The SEC could have its own playoff, and still outdraw anything the other conferences could cobble together. Better yet, the SEC could take the remaining eight FBS conferences and move to a 16-team playoff.

Then look at the Big Ten presidents and say you're welcome to join us. If not, good luck selling Iowa vs. Minnesota in the first round of your postseason party.

We'll be over here printing money.

Matt Hayesis the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at@MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:SEC should force 16-team CFP with television ratings leverage

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The NFL is challenging innovators to improve the facemask on football helmets to reduce concussions in the game.

The league announced on Friday at an innovation summit for the Super Bowl the next round in the HealthTECH Challenge series, a crowdsourced competition designed to accelerate the development of cutting-edge football helmets and new standards for player safety.

The challenge invites inventors, engineers, startups, academic teams and established companies to improve the impact protection and design of football helmets through improvements to how facemasks absorb and reduce the effects of contact on the field.

Most progress on helmet safety has come from improvements to the shell and padding, helping to reduce the overall rate of concussions. But this past season, 44% of in-game concussions resulted from impact to the player's facemask, up from 29% in 2015, according to data gathered by the NFL.

"The rapid rate of innovation in helmet technology reflects how research and data can directly improve the level of safety across football," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president overseeing player health and safety. "These challenges have raised the standard of equipment to help reduce concussions and mitigate the effects of head impacts. Recent efforts to improve shell impact technology have been incredibly fruitful, and now we look forward to evaluating this next wave of creative solutions to facemasks and other helmet components with the goal of further reducing injury."

Selected winners will receive up to $100,000 in aggregate funding, as well as expert development support to help move their concepts from the lab to the playing field.

AP NFL:https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Thousands of units of M&M's products are being recalled across more than a dozen states because their packaging does not include proper allergen warnings.

The recall wasannounced by the Food & Drug Administrationafter it emerged that more than 6,000 units had been repackaged by Beacon Promotions Inc. without advisories that they may contain milk, soy and peanuts.

It was first issued on January 26, and on Wednesday, the FDA classified the recall as Class II, meaning consuming the product could cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences."

However, the recall only affects consumers who may beallergic or sensitive to soy, peanuts or milk; the candies themselves are safe to eat, and those without allergies will not be affected by their consumption.

The M&M's in question were distributed in packaging that was labelled for promotional purposes,according to the FDA,and could contain any of the following promotional labels or packages:

Next Up; Smith Pro; Jaxport, Jacksonville Port Authority; Climax Molybdenum, A Freeport-McMoRan Company; University of Maryland, School of Public Policy; Liberty University Environmental Health & Safety; Subaru; Trinity Cyb3r; Candy Treats; JSE, Jordan & Skala Engineers; Dropbox DocSend; PP, Prosperity Promotions; Northwest Indian College Foundation; FES Branding Solutions; Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance Companies; merry maids Annual 26 Conference; BW, Best Western; Morgan Stanley; tufin; Compliments of Pioneer; A.D. Morgan, Construction Manager, Design Builder, General Contractor; Adobe; Xfinity; Fundermax Interiors; White Cup; Acadia Commercial; Aviagen; ORG Expo; and Make Your Mark.

The recalled repackaged M&M's Peanut candies can be identified by the "Make Your Mark" label with lot code M1823200 and a "best by" date of April 30, 2026.

Regular M&M's candies being recalled all have the lot code L450ARCLV03 with a "best by" date of December 1, 2025; the lot code L502FLHKP01 with a "best by" date of January 1, 2026; the lot code L523CMHKP01 with a "best by" date of June 30, 2026; or the lot code L537GMHKP01 with a "best by" date of September 1, 2026.

They were distributed in the following 20 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Anyone who has the products in question and is allergic to or sensitive to nuts, soy, or milk should throw them away. Those who are not allergic or sensitive can safely consume them.

HPG Brands, the parent company of Beacon Promotions Inc., did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how the labelling mix-up had occurred.