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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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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.

NEED TO KNOW

• Charles C. Stevenson Jr. has died

• The actor, best known for playing Smitty in Will & Grace, died at age 95 on Jan. 19, his son confirmed to Variety

• Stevenson was also known for performances in Men in Black, The Office and Ghost World

Charles C. Stevenson Jr., the actor who played beloved bartender Smitty inWill & Grace, has died. He was 95.

Stevenson died of natural causes in Camarillo, Calif., on Jan. 19, his son Scott later confirmed toVarietyon Thursday, Feb. 5.

His other notable roles included performances inSnow Buddies,Men in Black,The OfficeandGhost World, as well as a string of uncredited bit roles in other television shows and films.

"In his own words, his job was 'marrying or burying people,' " Scott toldVarietyin a statement, noting that his dad would also play priests and pastors. "As he told it, the panic-stricken director would invariably come to him to beg him to find a way to fill in unscripted space between 'We are gathered here together' (where he'd probably get his close-up) and the 'amen' at the end of the scene (where he usually wouldn't). Stevenson admitted that he got pretty good at that."

Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Stevenson was raised in Piedmont, California, served in the Navy during the Korean War and eventually left for Los Angeles at age 50 as he pursued a career in public service, perVariety.

His acting debut came in a 1982 episode ofVoyagers, before he spent the rest of the '80s taking on bit roles, many of which were uncredited, like inCheersandL.A. Law. In the '90s, Stevenson appeared inBaywatch,Everybody Loves Raymond,Family Matters,Ellenand 1997'sMen in Black(in which he played Agent Bee).

Of Stevenson's 100+ additional roles, he played Norman in 2001'sGhost World, a "mine shaft guy" inThe Office, Sheriff Ryan inSnow Buddiesand a few variations of an elderly man or grandfather inShameless,Curb Your EnthusiasmandMy Wife and Kids.

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OnWill & Grace, Smitty debuted in season 2's "Tea and a Total Lack of Sympathy" (played by another actor, before Stevenson took on the role). He was best known for his banter withMegan Mullally's Karen Walker, which sometimes involved him sharing family trauma.

Smitty would later return in the show's revival episodes, which ran for three additional seasons from 2017 to 2020.

Speaking withGold Derbyin 2018, Mullally recalled being "obsessed" with Stevenson's character, who she said "was always funny" — even when he had to say just "one line."

"They gave Charles/Smitty, they gave him more to do," Mullally said of the revival episodes. "They gave him more lines and jokes, and he freaking nailed every single thing they gave him. He nailed it."

She added, "The first time when we had a run-through for the writers and he came out with those lines, people were falling out of their chairs. They were like, 'We've been wasting this incredible resource. This guy is a comedic gem, and all these years we didn't know he was capable of so much more.' "

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Bad Bunny's residencyin San Juan last August hit Burgos-Matos like a wave of nostalgia, from the plena-style rhythm mixed with reggaeton and salsa filling "El Choli" coliseum to the pink casita and mountains built for the stage, bringing him back to his hometown of Aibonito, Puerto Rico.

"It just very honestly made me kind of realize, or even dream a little bit, about staying and not having to live again and go through this diaspora mourning, or this grief of always being in constant movement outside of the island," the 33-year-old said. "It's some sort of a gift that that Bad Bunny gave to Puerto Ricans."

Now,Bad Bunnyis bringing that same energy to one of the biggest global stages this weekend: theApple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. Bad Bunny has repeatedly centered Puerto Rico in his music and his career, including his latest album, "Debí Tirar Más Fotos," and his recent 31-date"No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí" residencyin San Juan that generated millions into the island's local economy.

Bad Bunny accepts the album of the year award for "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" onstage during the 68th Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny poses with the album of the year, best música urbana album and best global music performance awards during the 68th Grammy Awards.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs onstage during the first show of his 30-date (which ended up being 31 in total) concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny thanked his fans for "letting me sing in my home in front of my friends, my family and my people" on what was the final night of his residency in September 2025. "Thank you for that," he said. "I love you, thank you for being a part of this."

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> On top of his Puerto Rico residency, Bad Bunny was also juggling life as a Hollywood actor attending the premiere of "Caught Stealing" on Aug. 26, 2025, in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny starred alongside Austin Butler in the movie.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Earlier in summer 2025, Bad Bunny was spotted at Netflix's "Happy Gilmore 2" premiere on July 21, 2025, in New York City, which he starred alongside Adam Sandler.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny at the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2025. Bad Bunny gave a playful Puerto Rican twist to the Black dandy theme with a crisp espresso brown suit. He paired the custom-made Prada ensemble with a brimmed hat resembling a pava, a traditional straw hat made from leaves of the Puerto Rican hat palm.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 17, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 17, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 17, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> In February 2025, Bad Bunny attended "SNL50: The Anniversary Special" in New York City.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny performs during his Most Wanted Tour at the Kaseya Center in Miami on May 24, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny attends the Dior Homme Menswear spring/summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 21, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny performs at the Crypto.com Arena during his Most Wanted tour in Los Angeles, March 13, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />  Cardi B, Chencho Corleone, Ivy Queen and reggaeton duo Jowell y Randy." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> declaring Oct. 1 as the official Bad Bunny Day." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> two new wax figures at Orlando and New York's Madame Tussauds on April 19, 2022. The figure at Madame Tussauds New York is wearing the iconic all-silver look from the Grammy-winner's 2020 Super Bowl performance alongside Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and J Balvin, complete with the same silver jacket he wore. The wax figure in Orlando is wearing an outfit originally from his WWE Royal Rumble performance and is featured in his "Booker T" music video. For the figure, Bad Bunny donated his trenchcoat, vest, trousers, and pants." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bad Bunny is set to portray the title role in "El Muerto," making history as Marvel's first Latino lead in a live-action film. He calls the film the "perfect role" for him.

Before suiting up as the super-powered wrestler, the Puerto Rican rapper will make his big-screen acting debut in the neon-drenched "Bullet Train" (in theaters July 29), doing battle with Brad Pitt." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> April 2021 at WWE's WrestleMania 37. In this photo, taken Jan. 29, 2022, Bad Bunny jumped into the ring again during the Royal Rumble match at The Dome at America's Center." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 22nd Latin Grammy Awards. That night he took home the award for best rap/hip hop song for "Booker T" and best urban music album for "El Último Tour del Mundo."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Bad Bunny makes history at the Grammys. The Puerto Rican star's career in photos.

Bad Bunny accepts the album of the year award for "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" onstage during the 68th Grammy Awards on Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles

Bad Bunny, whose name isBenito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has hinted his performance will be about unity during the trailer for the halftime show, where he danced with people from various ages and from diverse backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities.

But it will also, undoubtedly, be about Puerto Rico.

"Benito speaks first and foremost to Puerto Ricans, and so he doesn't really care what other people think, and I think that's part of the formula for his success," said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bad Bunny leans into Puerto Rican pride

Over the past decade, Bad Bunny has skyrocketed to one of the world's biggest superstars, going from a local supermarket bagboy-turned-SoundCloud-rapper to themost streamed artist across the globe.

Through it all, he's leaned into his Puerto Ricanness.

Boricua slang like perreo (a type of dance linked to reggaeton music), janguear (to hang out) and bichiyal (a stylish woman) are sprinkled throughout many of Bad Bunny's songs. He's worn a pava, a traditional Puerto Rican straw hat, on red carpets and in the promo for the Super Bowl.

He highlighted the struggles Puerto Ricans experienced on the island following the devastating back-to-back hurricanes, including Hurricane Maria, in 2017, during adocumentary-style music videofor his hit, "El Apagon." He's highlighted the ongoing gentrification in Puerto Rico, including in his song "Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii" on his latest album.

"When you have a Puerto Rican, like Bad Bunny, appear on this massive platform, it is some sort of a reminder to viewers that Puerto Rico exists," Burgos-Matos said. "That Puerto Ricans are not just consumers of U.S. culture or passive participants of the U.S."

The rapper has also boostedtourism to the island. His residency last summer alone brought in estimates of$200 millionto more than$700 millionto Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny shines a light on Puerto Rico's history

But Boricuas in the United States and on the island are hoping that viewers of the halftime show will do more than just Google tickets to visit the island. Instead, some are hoping it will shine a light on the island's deep history – and its complicated relationship with the United States.

Burgos-Matos, who left Puerto Rico more than a decade ago to further his education and now has a doctorate, currently lives in the Bronx, "an extension of Puerto Rico," he said. His journey is one that many in the diaspora take.

Roughly 5.8 million Puerto Ricans live in the United States, according toPew Research Center. Another 3.2 million live on the island, which is a U.S. territory, according tothe U.S. Census Bureau.

"There is a lot of trauma that Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans have been enduring for the past years with, not only with the ongoing colonial status, but also the economic crisis, the mass migration, the unpayable debt," he said. "This…is a form of asserting some sort of cultural survival."

Mikey Cordero, an artist living in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a neighborhood in the island's capitol, said that Puerto Rico often "gets pushed to the side" politically and in media.

Specifically, Cordero hopes the performance will open a conversation about "colonization" and how laws in place, like the Jones Act, affect Puerto Rico's economy. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated U.S. territory, and has long been the subject of the debate on whether the island should become a state or an independent country.

"He's giving you breadcrumbs into the Puerto Rican experience," Cordero, 42, said. "I think if it brings more attention and more eyes on our story and our fight and our struggle – that's what I think even Bad Bunny wants – for you to like walk away with, to have that sense of prioritizing the Puerto Rican story."

'The more local Bad Bunny gets, the more universal he becomes'

Puerto Rico's story is a relatable one.

And some Boricuas anticipate that people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds won't feel excluded. Instead, they'll feel seen.

Meléndez-Badillo, who collaborated with Bad Bunny by writing historical narratives for videos for the artist's latest record, said the reggaeton superstar explores themes around displacement, gentrification, and longing for home.

"Those are things that people can connect with regardless if they're from Puerto Rico or not," he said. "Those are the things that people from the Global South have been dealing with for a long time."

Dámaris Otero-Torres, an associate professor at Rutgers Universitywho is teaching a class on the Puerto Rican star, said Bad Bunny's message in his music is universal and can create solidarity, even as he makes "sure that people understand the richness of Puerto Rico and all the things that it has to be, not only the U.S. and its community, but the world."

Him being chosen as an artist who sings and speaks almost entirely in Spanish is also a political act, Otero-Torres said, especially at a time in the United States where she says knowing another language is seen as a "liability."

"Why can't you open yourself to learn of the richness of the vastness of the culture? … The United States is an incredible melting pot," she said. "Speaking another language is not a liability. It enriches you. It allows you not only to understand other cultures, but to understand your own culture in deeper ways."

The more local Bad Bunny gets, the more universal he becomes, Otero-Torres, who is from the Río Piedras neighborhood in San Juan, recalled reading recently.

"I think that's true," she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Bad Bunny's halftime show – What it means for Puerto Rico