5 Big News Stories Overnight - Tuesday, February 24, 2026

United Kingdom: Police in Britain Arrest Former Ambassador Mandelson in Probe into Epstein Ties

The Guardian reports:

Peter Mandelson has been arrested by detectives investigating claims he committed misconduct in public office during his friendship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Video footage showed the former British ambassador to the US being driven away in an unmarked police car for questioning shortly after being escorted from his London home by plainclothes officers.

The Metropolitan police have been investigating allegations that he leaked Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information to the disgraced US financier during his time as business secretary. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing.

France: France Curtails US Ambassador Kushner's Government Access After He Fails to Obey Summons

France 24 reports:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ambassador Kushner is the father of President Trump's son-in-law, Jared. Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020.

France's top diplomat Monday requested that US Ambassador Charles Kushner no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government after he skipped a meeting to discuss comments by the administration of US President Donald Trump over the fatal beating of a far-right activist. 

"In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honour of representing one's country, [Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot] has requested that he no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government," the ministry stated.

Kushner will no longer have access to government ministers but would be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have certain "exchanges" with officials, the ministry said.

PHOTO: GoLocal

U.S.: Dow Plummets, It May Have Been Caused By One AI Warning

Wall Street Journal reports:

Is AI bullish for the economy, or bearish? Maybe it's so bullish that it becomes bearish.

That's the conceit of a viral Substack post from Citrini Research painting a dark portrait of a future scenario in which AI inspires a race to the bottom in white-collar knowledge work.

The post "isn’t bear porn or AI doomer fan-fiction," Citrini writes. Even so, shares in many of the companies mentioned by name in the post fell sharply Monday: Visa, Mastercard, DoorDash, ServiceNow and Blackstone among them.

Starting in software, the scenario goes, technological disruption hits e-commerce, payment processors and more. Financial fallout snowballs across the private credit and insurance industries. Surging white-collar unemployment fuels mortgage defaults in previously high-flying housing markets. The economy suffers.

U.S.: Peter Attia Out at CBS News After Epstein Files Correspondence Disclosures 

An Exclusive Story by the Hollywood Reporter:

Longevity guru Dr. Peter Attia is stepping aside as a contributor to CBS News, after correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein and the researcher and health media personality came to light in the release of the Epstein Files from the Department of Justice.

CBS News staff were informed of the decision Monday in a note from the network’s booking department, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Attia told CBS that he would be resigning effective immediately.

Attia was one of a number of high-profile contributors that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her planned overhaul of the network news division, seeking to bring more voices into CBS’ linear and digital coverage.

Ukraine: Ukrainian Drones Blow Up Key Druzhba Oil Pipeline Site in Russia, Defying Budapest

Kyiv Post reports:

Kyiv responded to Budapest’s threats to block a €90 billion EU loan and cut off electricity to Ukraine until oil transit through Russia’s Druzhba pipeline resumes on Monday – by blowing up a critical section of the pipeline deep in Russia. 

In the early hours of Monday morning, Ukrainian long-range kamikaze drones pummeled the Kaleykino oil pumping station near the town of Almetyevsk in Russia’s Tatarstan region, setting it ablaze and shutting down the operation of a critical transit node in the Druzhba pipeline system – the main artery for Russian crude oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia. 

The 35-plus aircraft strike package launched by operators from Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) flew through roughly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of Russian air space to score multiple hits on pump lines and crude oil storage reservoirs at the Transneft-operated facility, and ignite fires which caused black smoke to billow hundreds of meters into the sky.