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NEED TO KNOW

• Franco Nero shared sage advice from wife Vanessa Redgrave that he credits with helping him find success and longevity throughout his acting career

• Nero and Redgrave first met and fell in love in the late 1960s; they share son Carlo Gabriel Nero, 56, but separated and then reunited as a couple in the 2000s

• Nero is receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, Feb. 12

Franco Nero is sharing words of wisdom he received from his wifeVanessa Redgrave.

Nero, 84, reflected on his legendary acting career and more than 20 years of marriage with Redgrave, 89, as he spoke withVarietyon Thursday, Feb. 12 before he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Nero andOscar winnerRedgrave married in 2006, but their romance dates back to the 1960s. The pair share son Carlo Gabriel Nero, 56.

"I am absolutely convinced that the longevity of my career is also due to a profound lesson I learned from Vanessa: determination. She used to repeat it to me often," Nero toldVariety, while looking back on an acting career that began with Italian movies like 1962'sPelle villa.

"Beyond being the woman of my life, she is the most prestigious living actress — Vanessa is determination personified," he added. "For this reason, my artistic longevity and my relationship with Vanessa, dating back to the time ofCamelotare deeply connected."

Franziska Krug/Getty

Nero and Redgrave first met when they costarred in the 1967 musicalCamelot, which released one year after Nero himself broke out with his iconic role in the 1966 Spaghetti Western movieDjango. Nero portrayed King Arthur's (Richard Harris) friend-turned-enemy Sir Lancelot, while Redgrave played Arthur's wife (and Lancelot's secret lover) Guinevere.

The pair separated some time after welcoming their son Carlo. Redgrave was already a mother to daughters Natasha Richardson, who died in 2009 at 45, and Joely Richardson, 61, with her late ex-husband Tony Richardson. Franco became their stepfather after he and Redgrave married in 2006.

As Nero and Redgravetold PEOPLE in 2010, they revived their friendship in the 1990s and subsequently fell in love again, which Redgrave said "happened naturally."

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

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"When you rediscover love, it's even stronger. It's not physical anymore, it's something deep," Nero added at the time.

Following their romantic reunion, Nero and Redgrave costarred in movies like 2010'sLetters to Julietand a 2025 movie directed by Carlo titledThe Estate, which premiered at the Torino Film Festival in Nero's native Italy in November. Redgrave also starred in their son Carlo's 2004 movieThe Feveralongside Joely. It is unclear whenThe Estatemay release in U.S. theaters.

Read the original article onPeople

Lucy & Desi: The Love Letters; Bettmann Archive/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• A new book is unearthing never-before-seen love letters between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

• The book, written by their daughter Lucie, shares letters exchanged while Arnaz was serving in the Army during World War II

• As Lucie tells people, "they're really incredible historic documents"

A book is shining a light on the early years ofLucille BallandDesi Arnaz's marriage — which took place as Arnaz was serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

The letters the couple wrote one another have been compiled and published in a book —Lucy & Desi: The Love Letters— by their daughter, Lucie Arnaz.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Lucie shares how many of the letters were sent while her father was stationed at Camp Anza, a U.S. Army staging area outside Los Angeles.

"Sometimes he only had a pencil [or] she'd have to get him stationary, and then there would be hers back to him on her stationery, which are these pretty little blue things and then on the back is their Devonshire address and all, and I just thought, 'Oh my God, they're relics,' you know, they're really incredible historic documents, really," Lucie tells PEOPLE.

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.

The letters reflect both the burgeoning relationship — one rife with jealousy — but also the time itself.

"They were love letters and they were jealousy letters, and 'I miss you' and 'What are you doing?' and 'Why aren't you calling me?' " Lucie says, adding: "But forget just being newlyweds and being separated — there's a war on, you know, and all the stuff that you couldn't get and couldn't do."

Among those items that were hard to procure at the time were household appliances — like a refrigerator, which Desi's mom, Dolores de Acha, an heiress to a rum fortune who lost her wealth in the Cuban revolution, wanted during the war.

"It's hilarious because [Dolores] was raised in Cuba and she was very wealthy until they lost everything in the revolution, and she was still kind of the grand dame, very spoiled, 'You gotta take care of me, even if you don't have any money, I don't care,' " Lucie remembered. "And my mother was trying to get [Dolores] a new refrigerator because her refrigerator was on the fritz."

Lucie continues: "And you know how hard it is to get anything right now in the war — everything is rationed [but] she insists on a new refrigerator."

In one letter, Lucille writes to her husband about how she traveled all over town looking for a new fridge, couldn't find one, until a friend stepped in and found one that was just the right size.

"And she writes in the letter, 'And so we traveled down there to pick it up and she said it's the wrong color,' " laughs Lucie of her mother's letter to her father.

The antics of Desi's mother came up in other letters, too — like one penned in 1943 from Lucille to Desi.

Lucy & Desi: The Love Letters

"You hate me when I tell you anything at all about your Mother—but God Desi—when my Mother drives me batty I talk about it to you so I don't know why you think your Mom is perfect," Lucille writes. "They all of them have their wonderful moments But believe me—when you are not around—Your Mother disappears. With me anyway. And of course the way she continues to ignore Des is anything but pleasant—or congenialness provoking. So much for all that—I'll try to keep her satisfied but believe me it isn't a cinch job—it's a 24 hour duty. She's dissatisfied with everything the painters have done—they are her painters so I'm glad of that!"

More than anything, Lucie says, the letters demonstrate a moment both in history and in the lives of a couple newly in love.

"They got married very spontaneously and their marriage was brand new and boom: the war happened," she says.

The couple's well-documented tumultuous relationship was marked by Desi's struggles with alcohol and reported affairs. They once filed for divorce in 1944 (albeit so briefly that the breakup was invalidated by a judge) and eventually ended the relationship officially in 1960.

Archive Photos/Getty

At the time of Desi's Army service, Lucie says, her mother was acting in movies "with all these gorgeous, handsome leading men," while her father was writing tales of his own about dinners with debutantes.

"It wasn't easy on their relationship for sure," Lucie says. "And you get to see all of that and how they had to learn to trust one another and, and, you know, they did and they didn't really."

The most incredible part of the letters, Lucie adds, is that her parents kept them at all — despite their divorce and subsequent remarriages (Ball to comedian Gary Morton in 1961 and Arnaz to Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963).

"Thee most surprising thing is that they still existed years later — that both sets of them existed," Lucie tells PEOPLE. "It's not she just that she kept the letters that he sent her, but he had kept all the letters that she sent him."

She continues: "You can just imagine she put them in a drawer somewhere, and she never got rid of them, which is really incredible to me, cause I always think, OK, horrible divorce, you're married to somebody else at some point, don't you go through your drawers and go, 'I don't need these anymore.' It was interesting to me that she kept them."

Read the original article onPeople

Luke M. Perez, an assistant professor affiliated with Ohio State's Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, was placed on administrative leave Feb. 10 "pending a full OSUPD investigation and thorough review of the facts," OSU spokesperson Ben Johnson said in a statement obtained by the Columbus Dispatch – a part of the USA TODAY Network.

The altercation took place following a "Profiles in American Leadership" class taught by Perez on Feb. 9. Gee was a guest lecturer during the class and took questions in the hallway from D.J. Byrnes, a Columbus area left-leaning independent journalist who authors the newsletter "The Rooster."

The interview included questions about his role in theDr. Richard Strauss sexual abuse case,Jeffrey Epsteinand his decision to privatize the university's parking lots.

After their interview, an unnamed cameraman – who Byrnes said inhis Feb. 10 newsletterdoes not work for him but was with him as "two independent creators working in concert" – attempted to ask Gee a question.

Perez stepped in front of the cameraman to block his path. The cameraman took a step back and did not touch Perez,video recorded of the incidentshows. Within seconds, Perez smacked a cellphone out of the man's hand, swung at his head and tackled him to the ground.

Perez stood over the cameraman and said, "I told you not to put that in my face." As the man stood up, Perez said that the cameraman put hands on him and "shoved that camera in my face."

Byrnes and the cameraman filed a police report with Ohio State's police department, which The Dispatch has requested. He called the incident " brutal and disgusting to witness" in an email to USA TODAY.

"Lucas Perez is a disgrace to my alma mater" Byrnes said. "He would go down in history as one of the most shambolic employee in Buckeye history, if not for Leslie Wexner's decades-long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein."

Perez directed media requests from The Dispatch to university spokespersons.

Epstein files:'Billionaire benefactor' Les Wexner subpoenaed in House probe

Video of incident draws outrage

Ohio State's American Association of University Professors chapter said in a statement that the incident seemingly runs contrary to the Chase Center's stated mission.

"This assault — and the embarrassing actions around it — make it clear these centers aren't really about encouraging civil discourse and intellectual diversity. AAUP-OSU is in favor of free speech for everyone on campus, not just for the ideas that politicians want to promote," the statement read.

The Chase Center was mandated by the state General Assembly in 2023. Senate Bill 117 created new independent academic centers at five state public universities, including Ohio State,to promote "intellectual diversity."

Chase Center Executive Director Lee Strang previously said the center offers university-wide programming related to thevalues of free speech and civil discoursein addition to offering courses related to civic thought and leadership.

Local officials raise the Pride flag on a temporary flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City Feb. 12, 2026. Thousands gathered at the monument to see the flag raised after President Donald Trump had ordered the flag to be removed earlier in the week.

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See photos as Pride flag returns to its place above Stonewall Monument

Local officials raise the Pride flag on a temporary flagpole at theStonewall National Monumentin New York City Feb. 12, 2026. Thousands gathered at the monument to see the flag raised after President Donald Trump had ordered the flag to be removed earlier in the week.

"Ohio's Republican-gerrymandered state legislature mandated lightweight conservative thinking within our beautiful public universities," Byrnes said in the email. "In essence, this saga was a perfect example of what 'freedom of speech' means to Republicans."

Ohio state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, described Perez's conduct as "a truly cowardly act attacking someone with both hands full" and called on individuals to protect journalists' First Amendment rights to free speech.

"What is ironic is that The Chase Center, of which the assaulting faculty member works for, claims to be a 'Center for Civics, Culture, and Society that cultivates a free society through open inquiry and excellent scholarship,' Their words, not mine," DeMora said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ohio State professor suspended, video shows him tackling cameraman

Feb 12 (Reuters) - White House border czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to end an immigration-enforcement surge in Minnesota, drawing down thousands of federal agents whose presence provoked tumultuous protests for weeks.

Here's a timeline of events ‌in the operation:

December 1, 2025: The federal government launches Operation Metro Surge "to significantly increase 'at-large' arrests of illegal aliens in the Twin Cities metropolitan area." ‌The move comes after attacks by Trump and other federal officials on Minnesota's Somali community, which they accuse of fraud involving millions of federal dollars intended for social services. Operation Metro Surge will ultimately send ​nearly 3,000 additional federal officers and agents to the Twin Cities.

December 18: Minneapolis police chief criticizes federal immigration officers for dragging a woman through a snowy city street and waving a firearm at onlookers, some of whom were recording the scene. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says in a statement that agents arrested two U.S. citizens for assaulting federal officers.

January 7: Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had been observing ICE operations is shot dead in her car by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, setting ‌off protests and a sharp debate about her killing. State ⁠investigators say they are shut out of the federal inquiry into the shooting.

January 8: As protests over the shooting of Good reverberate across Minnesota and the U.S., a U.S. border agent shoots and wounds two people in Portland, Oregon, while conducting a ⁠vehicle stop.

January 11: Tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of Minneapolis and other U.S. cities as part of more than 1,000 rallies organized to protest the Trump administration's deportation drive.

January 12: Minnesota sues the Trump administration in an effort to block the surge of immigration-enforcement officers, accusing the Republican administration of racially profiling its citizens and of ​targeting ​Minnesota because of its Democratic leanings. Democratic stronghold Illinois, where an immigration crackdown named "Operation Midway Blitz" ​began in 2025, files a similar lawsuit.

January 13: At least ‌a dozen federal prosecutors indicate plans to leave the U.S. Justice Department over the Trump administration's handling of Good's shooting and other civil rights cases.

January 16: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey accuse Trump of weaponizing the Justice Department against his enemies after it is reported that the agency has opened a criminal investigation into them and other state officials over an alleged conspiracy to impede immigration agents.

January 20: ICE agents detain five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Ecuadoreans who both entered the U.S. legally as asylum applicants, as they arrive home from preschool. Both are taken to a family detention facility in Texas. ICE agents apprehend ‌three other students from Conejo Ramos' school district in the same week.

January 22: Federal agents arrest ​three Minnesotans who took part in a demonstration inside a church against a pastor they say ​has a leadership role with ICE. Eventually nine people, including former CNN ​host Don Lemon who had been covering the protest, will face federal charges of violating religious rights in connection with the ‌demonstration, alarming First Amendment proponents.

January 24: Federal immigration officers fatally shoot ​Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse trying to ​help other protesters. Video of the encounter verified by Reuters shows Pretti holding a cellphone as he was wrestled to the ground by agents, and an officer removing a gun from Pretti's body shortly before the first shots were fired.

January 26: The Trump administration confirms that Homan is taking over ​Operation Metro Surge from Gregory Bovino, a top U.S. ‌Border Patrol official who has drawn heavy criticism from Democrats and civil liberties proponents. After a private phone call, Trump and Walz signal a ​thaw in their relationship and a mutual effort to defuse tensions.

February 4: The Trump administration withdraws some 700 federal immigration-enforcement agents from ​Minnesota, leaving about 2,000 agents in place.

(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said Marimar Martinez, a 31-year-old Montessori school teacher, on Oct. 4 followed federal Border Patrol agents, blocked them, and rammed her vehicle into them before Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot her five times.

But video evidence, investigative reports and messages released Feb. 10 by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago tell a different story.

Footage from an officer's body camera and surveillance video do not show agents boxed in or Martinez ramming them as she and other demonstrators followed federal agents to alert neighbors to their presence.

"Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles,"DHS said in a statementafter the shooting. "The woman, Marimar Martinez, driving one of the vehicles, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon."

Martinez is a legal gun owner with a concealed-carry permit who had her pistol holstered in her purse during the shooting.

"The question at the end of this is why, knowing the truth, would our own government continue to lie about who this woman is and what happened?" Chris Parente, Martinez's lawyer and a former federal prosecutor, told USA TODAY.

At the government's request, a federal judge on Nov. 20 alreadydismissed the criminal casefor assault with a deadly weapon against Martinez, an American citizen from Chicago who is Latina. The incident occurred during the Trump administration's"Operation Midway Blitz"that surged immigration agents in and around Chicago.

Activists protest outside of an immigrant processing and detention center on Oct. 2, 2025 in Broadview, Ill.

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Chicago protests push back against increased federal immigration raids

Martinez's lawyers are now pursuing legal action for damages from the shooting, which has left Martinez in pain and unable to close her hand or cross her legs months later. The incident is among a growing list ofviolent encounters with federal immigration agents.

In response to emailed questions, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol, said Exum was placed on administrative leave, consistent with policy. The agency referred questions to the Department of Justice, which has not responded to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs,previously said on Xofficers had been rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars, and Martinez rammed the officers while armed with a semiautomatic weapon.

What the footage shows

The body camera footage, released in agreement with federal officials, shows the moments leading up to the shooting on a Saturday morning on Chicago's South Side.

Inside agents' Chevy Tahoe, one agent had their body camera on before Exum shot Martinez. Exum, whoreportedly described himself in courtas a firearms instructor, didn't turn his body camera on before the shooting.

Exum can be seen in the video driving as protesters honk their horns. The agent wearing the body camera is seated in the back seat and has his finger on the trigger of an assault rifle while another agent also in the back seat, behind Exum, has his handgun drawn.

An agent can be heard saying "Do something, (expletive)."

"Alright, it's time to get aggressive and get the (expletive) out, cause they're trying to box us in," an agent says.

Exum then steers the wheel sharply left.

"Be advised we've been struck, we've been struck," the agent wearing the body camera says into a radio.

Exum has his pistol in his right hand as he stops the car. He quickly opens his door and fires his weapon. Martinez, shot five times, drove away, then stopped to call 911 and was taken to a local hospital.

In released encrypted messages,Exum bragged about firing five roundsinto the windshield and being unharmed. Officials have said Martinez was driving toward him.

But Parente said bullet holes showed Exum fired as Martinez moved away from Exum's vehicle. Martinez's Nissan Rogue had three bullet holes into the passenger side windshield, followed by a fourth bullet from the side, shattering the passenger window. Another bullet appears to have been shot from behind, striking the passenger seat from behind. Parente said this violated Border Patrol's use of force policy for shooting at fleeing vehicles.

Previously released encrypted messages from a group called "Posse Chat" showedExum on Oct. 7saying "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys."

Messages from fellow agents appeared to celebrate the shooting.

"Good shootin. lol," a message said. Exum responded "Gracias senior," an apparent reference to "señor," Spanish for "sir."

Exum also sent a screenshot of a text exchange, in which a message said, "You are a legend among agents you better (expletive) know that."

"Beers on me when I see you at training," a second message said.

Approximately four hours after the shooting, Exum received an email fromGregory Bovino, the high-profile Border Patrol chief patrol agent who has been dispatched by the administration to surges in several cities.

Bovino praised Exum, who is normally stationed in Maine along the Canadian border. Bovino offered to extend retirement beyond 57, his second extension.

"In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!" Bovino wrote, instructing another official to have staff work with Exum "to accomplish this most illustrative endeavor. Thank you."

In the "Posse Chat," Exum said he was supported "big time" by federal leaders.

He cited Bovino, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks, DHS SecretaryKristi Noemand "El Jefe himself… according to Bovino."

"El Jefe" means "the boss" in Spanish.

On Feb. 3, Martinez testified in a U.S. Senate hearing on use of force by DHS. She provided testimony alongside the brothers of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

On Feb. 12, theSenate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs held a hearing with DHS officialsto examine tactics leading up to federal agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti, 37, on Jan. 24 also in Minneapolis. Like Chicago, Minneapolis has seen a surge of immigration enforcement and protests in response.

Contributing: Michael Loria, Reuters

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Bodycam contradicts DHS story of Border Patrol shooting Chicago woman

During a performance by the group at the Las Vegas Sphere, AJ McLean floated the idea to the crowd on hand.

"What do you guys think? Backstreet Boys: 2027 Super Bowl halftime,"McLean said.

It wasn't entirely clear whether McLean was joking, but his suggestion was unsurprisingly met with a chorus of cheers from the crowd on hand. That prompted him to continue pitching the possibility.

"Let's make it happen then," McLean said. "I mean, you know, why not, right? Why not? It's in L.A. It's right down the street. Let's go."

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The Backstreet Boys have performed at the Super Bowl before, but they have never headlined the halftime show. The quintet was offered an opportunity to do so at Super Bowl 35 between theBaltimore RavensandNew York Giantsin 2001, but they instead opted to sing the national anthem, asNick Carter told Entertainment Tonight in 2021.

NSYNC and Aerosmith instead combined to headline the halftime show that year, which also featured appearances by Mary J. Blige, Britney Spears and Nelly.

EXCLUSIVE:The Backstreet Boys in the studio for new Super Bowl ad

Any Backstreet Boys fans will have to wait a while to see if the NFL listens to the group's plea. The league typically doesn't announce its Super Bowl halftime entertainment until its regular season begins.

Last year, Bad Bunny was revealed to be the Super Bowl 60 halftime performer on Sept. 28, 2025.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Backstreet Boys campaign to perform Super Bowl 61 halftime show