All About Tyra Banks' Son, York Banks Asla

Manny Carabel/Getty ; Tyra Banks/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

• Tyra Banks welcomed her son, York Banks Asla, in January 2016

• She shares York with ex-boyfriend Erik Asla

• Banks is raising her son in Australia

Tyra Banksmay be known as one of the world's most famous supermodels, but at home, she's just "Mom."

The formerAmerica's Next Top Modelhost welcomed her son, York Banks Asla, with her ex-boyfriend, photographer Erik Asla, in January 2016. While being a working mom can be difficult at times, the former model says York makes it "worth it."

"Coming home to him makes it all worth it," Banks told PEOPLE in September 2020. "If it's late, I'll get into bed and cuddle with him."

Since then, Banks, her son and her partner Louis Bélanger-Martin havemoved to Australia, where her ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream, operates. However, she keeps her son out of the spotlight, rarely posting photos with him.

Here's everything to know about Tyra Banks' son, York Banks Asla.

He was born in January 2016

Tyra Banks/Instagram

Banks and her then-boyfriend Asla welcomed York via surrogate in January 2016.

"As I gaze into the beautiful eyes of my son, I think about all the people who struggle with fertility or carrying a child and continue to pray for them every day," she told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement at the time. "My hopes and dreams are filled with well wishes that they get to feel what my little treasure, York Banks Asla, feels like in my arms."

The new mom also shared the happy news onInstagram, where she said York had her "fingers and big eyes and his daddy Erik's mouth and chin." Banks thanked the surrogate who carried York, calling her "the angel of a woman that carried our miracle baby boy for us."

In March 2018, Banks spoke to PEOPLE about her emotional fertility journey. She explained that she and Asla had tried in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments for a year, but none were successful.

Banks' mother,Carolyn London, added, "It hurt me so much to watch her struggle through that. She set up a nursery and in the bathroom she put a tile in the floor that said, 'Mommy Already Loves You.' And then she found out the IVF had failed. It ripped my heart out."

Banks and Asla ultimately decided to use a surrogate. "Everything that happened all got me to this," the model said. "It was meant to be."

He has three sisters

York's dad has three other daughters from previous relationships: Tatjana, Taylor and Tatum.

The photographer occasionally posts pictures and videos of his children on Instagram, including a since-deleted Instagram post of all the siblings posing together on Christmas.

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His grandma is helping raise him

In September 2020, Banks shared that her mother had moved in with her during the pandemic and was helping take care of York.

"My mom moved in with us and it feels like the most natural thing," she told PEOPLE. "Human beings are pack animals, so it's strength in numbers. And it is such a blessing."

But the supermodel's living situation wasn't always easy. "She gets on my nerves sometimes. She buys way too many groceries!" Banks added.

He speaks three languages

In March 2018, Banks told reporters at theAmerica's Got Talentpremiere that York, who was 2 years old at the time, already spoke three languages.

"He speaks Spanish, Norwegian and English," she said. "He's a smart one — but he's still crazy and damn near rolling on the floor and not listening to me most of the time!"

She also shared that York had a knack for recognizing colors. "My son is amazing with his colors. He has friends in his classes that are like 're-re-red' and my son is already up to silver and rose and rose gold," she said. "And he has been counting to 20 since he was 18 months. So he's really, really smart."

She doesn't want him to model

In a July 2017 interview onLate Night with Seth Meyers, Banks spoke about a picture she had posted of York that went viral on Instagram. In the picture, baby York is "smizing" — a term Banks popularized onAmerica's Next Top Model, meaning "smiling with your eyes."

"I do not want him to model, Lord," she said of her son potentially following in her footsteps. "But he had that thing. Look at him. He's like, 'Hellooo. I am smizing.' "

At the season 13 premiere ofAmerica's Got Talent, Banks doubled down on the sentiment that she doesn't necessarily want York to become a model.

"I wouldn't love for him to model, but I wouldn't tell him, 'Don't do it,' because then he'd do it more," she said. "I'm going to support what he wants and just hope it's not modeling! But if it is, I'll be telling him how to smize."

Banks rarely posts pictures of him

In the sameLate Nightinterview, Banks shared that she only posted York's "smizing" picture, which was his first full photo, because she wanted to get ahead of the paparazzi. Around the same time, Banks had taken York to the beach and the pair got caught by photographers. She assumed they had managed to get a shot of baby York.

"It wasn't so much that I was itching for the world to see him," she explained. "After they get the shot, I text his dad and I'm like, 'I've got to put this picture out before the paparazzi. I don't want them to make money off our child and have the first picture.' I wanted to beat them to the punch. So, I post the damn picture."

In the years since that first photo, Banks has continued to largely keep York off of her social media accounts.

Read the original article onPeople

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

All About Tyra Banks' Son, York Banks Asla

Manny Carabel/Getty ; Tyra Banks/Instagram NEED TO KNOW Tyra Banks welcomed her son, York Banks Asla, in Ja...

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Tiffany Ervin reveals her plan to manipulate Q's ego on “Survivor 50”

Robert Voets/CBS

They were the closest of allies… until they weren't.

Tiffany ErvinandQ Burdetteworked closely together at the start ofSurvivor 46to somehow survive being stuck on one Yanu, of the worst tribes ever. But an alliance forged out of shared perseverance was shattered at the merge when Q moved against Tiffany and told others about her immunity idol.

That led to a big blow up back at camp and an evenbiggerblow up at Tribal Council. In the end, the friction and drama got both players voted out of the game. And now they're back. So how will Tiffany handle Q if they end up on the same beach at some point onSurvivor 50(premiering Feb. 25 on CBS)? We asked the 35-year-old Tiffany exact that when we sat down in Fiji just days before filming began, and she got into her Q strategy as well as what else she needs to improve upon during her second outing, including "fact-checking everything."

Robert Voets/CBS

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me why you're going to winSurvivor 50, Tiffany.

TIFFANY ERVIN:I'm going to winSurvivor 50because I've spent the last two years thinking about everything I did wrong and how I could come back and make it right.

Give everyone the update what have you've been up to since you last playedSurvivor.

Since I last playedSurvivor, I've left the East Coast. I now live in L.A. I'm an East Coast girl at heart forever, but L.A.'s not been bad. It has been treating me well. The weather's nice. I'm still working on art. I've been producing videos for different media companies since I've been out there freelancing. I've been having a pretty good time.

Why come back and do this again?

Well, the money. That's the obvious answer, but I'm also here because the level of transformation that I feel like I went through after playingSurvivorthe first time, I feel like it can only double or have amazing ripple effects in my life if I do it again. I learned to trust myself a little bit more. I learned to lean on my own opinions versus relying on the opinions of others about what I should do, how I feel about myself. And more than anything, I kind of just want to prove to myself that I can do it again.

Robert Voets/CBS

How do you think the other contestants see you as a player?

That's a question I've been asking myself for quite some time. I don't really know how they see me, but if I had to guess, I would assume that they probably think that I'm a pretty smart player, pretty good strategically, if they watched my season.

But I think that they probably also think that I'm easy to read. They would more than likely think that I'm a person who's going to say what's on my mind 90 percent of the time. So I don't think there's a lot of confusion around how I navigate the game. I don't know how many people see me as a threat. I didn't win a lot of challenges when I was out there last time, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm hoping I'm underestimated. I'm actually banking on it.

What's your biggest weakness as a player?

I think my biggest weakness as a player, at least the last time I played, was not trusting my own intuition and leaning on others, sharing too much information and not double checking my sources. I looked back when I watched my season, and there are so many moments where I was fed information and I didn't question it. If I had questioned it or gone to the source three or four times throughout my season, I think things would've ended a lot differently for me. Now I'm fact-checking everything. I don't care. You don't want me to tell this person that they said my name? I'm asking anyway. I don't care.

Is it surreal being out here with some of these people?

It's absolutely surreal realizing that I'm about to be playing with the people that I've been watching since I started watchingSurvivor. It's so crazy to think about. I've been watchingOzzyandCiriefor years, and now to think I'm about to be competing against them, I am still trying to wrap my mind around it.

Tell me who the people you're really excited to work with.

I'm really excited to work withChristianand I'm really excited to work withMike White.

Why Christian and Mike White?

Well, Mike White, I'm more excited to just kind of kiki with him. He's funny. I feel like our personalities would gel really well and I think he would just be really fun to play with. Christian, I would love to pick his brain watching how his mind works mathematically. That's not a place where I'm super strong, but I think that it would be very interesting to work with him. I feel like I could learn a lot from him. I would love to work with Cirie. She's Cirie! I don't even know how else to say it. I'm a little weary of Ozzy.

Robert Voets/CBS

Ozzy has this larger-than-life reputation when it comes toSurvivorfor being this crazy challenge beast. And obviously that's going to be one of his strengths out here, assuming that he plays the way he played previously. But his social game, I'm weary because Ozzy just seems like a person who could kind of flip flop and go back and forth and change his mind a lot. And he also seems like a person who might want to stick with old-school players and not really be open to working with new-school players. He has something to prove.

That old-school versus new-school thing happened onWinners at War. Do you think that's going to happen again?

Winners at Waris kind of all I have to go on right now. There hasn't been a returning season since fricking 2016, so I do think that naturally that's going to happen. And I think that if people want it to change, they're going to have to actually put in the work to bridge the gap between old-school and new-school.

Dalton Ross

Let's talk about your season. There's three of you out here. Does that help you or hurt you in this game?

Well, considering the people that I'm out here with, it does not help me. It hurts me tremendously. These aren't people that I was super strong allies with during my season. One of was my number one ally and then turned on me. So that is something that has been hanging over my head. And thenCharlie, I thought we were cool, and then he wrote my name down, so it hurts because we're going to be perceived as a trio, but then at the same time, these aren't people that I even really am sure I'm going to work with out here.

How much pre-gaming did you do with other players? Everyone knows it happens.

If I'm being totally honest, the only person I spoke to pre-game was Q. I did not exchange words with anybody before coming out here other than Q. But that's because Q and I are actually real-life friends. So crazy to think about. We're like arch nemeses on TV, but we're real friends. We FaceTime all the time. I'll be on FaceTime with his son. I know his wife.

We're cool, but I cannot depend on that because the first time we played the game, we were so cool and he turned into a ticking time bomb. So I'm not putting any faith in the fact that just because we're friends in real life, it's going to translate out here.

You know what a chaotic element he is, and chaotic elements are very dangerous. So how do you want to handle him the second time around?

My plan to handle Q is to take the opposite approach of what I did last time. I think the reason Q and I have so much friction when it comes to competition is because we're alike in a lot of ways. We have a lot of alpha energy, both of us.

But I think this time, even though it goes against every fiber in my being, I'm going to seemingly take the backseat and allow Q to believe that he's driving the car. I think that the best tool that I have at my disposal out here is Q's ego, and if I learn how to manipulate that to my will, then I can do whatever I want.

Wait, does Q have an ego?

Oh, please. Q's ego is big enough to fly us all home. Please!

What about Charlie? What's your relationship been off the island?

Honestly, Charlie and I are cool too. I don't have really any bad blood with anybody from my season. I told myself as soon as I got back to Ponderosa, I was leaving everything out there on the island. Charlie and I are cool. We text every now and again. No beef. We don't talk as often as Q and I do, but we're cool too. But that doesn't mean it's going to translate out here. Charlie's a very shrewd player. He's smart, he's sneaky, and I thought he had my back last time and there wasn't even an inkling that he didn't. So I'm putting in less faith in Charlie than I am in Q.

What about these two 49 people? You all haven't even seen their season.

I think the best approach to unknown is to go in head first. You got to figure out who they are, what makes them tick, what are they driven by? Are they good allies? Are there things that they do? Do they have quirks that you could kind of pin on them to make other people or dislike them? At the end of it, you got to get to know who they are before you make any assumptions because the easy thing is to be like, "Let's just get the new people out we don't know." But at the end of the day, they could be valuable tools to my game.

Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for Entertainment Weekly'sfree Survivor Weekly newsletterto have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox.

OtherSurvivor 50deep dive player interviews:•Survivor 50star Ozzy Lusth opens up about hitting 'rock bottom of my life'•Survivor 50star Aubry Bracco opens up about the 'freedom when you fall from grace'•Colby Donaldson reacts to playingSurvivorfor the first time without Jerri•Angelina Keeley refused to doSurvivor 50unless they gave her a jacket•Survivor 50's Coach goes deep on evolving from an 'arrogant ass' into the… Tide Walker?•Survivor 50star Jenna Lewis-Dougherty is 'here to f--- you over in every way, shape, or form'•Cirie Fields says winningThe Traitorsdoes not take sting out ofSurvivorloses•Mike White on how he is handlingSurvivor 50castmastes angling forWhite Lotuscameos•Chrissy Hofbeck opens up about controversial season 35 finish and being bashed by previous cast•Rick Devens explains why he is a lunatic that wants to play with other lunatics•Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick wants to prove that 'mom really is a badass'•Christian Hubicki wanted to tell Survivor 50 pre-gamers to 'f--- off'•Genevieve Mushaluk on why watchingSurvivor 50will be more terrifying than playing it•Dee Valladares welcomes being one ofSurvivor 50's biggest threats: 'I want them to come for me'•Q Burdette reveals ridiculous things he did to prep forSurvivor 50•Kamilla Karthigesu feared she would be cut fromSurvivor 50for pregaming•Emily Flippen says 'If I winSurvivor, something crazy has happened'•Jonathan Young shares theSurvivorlessons Boston Rob gave him before season 50

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Tiffany Ervin reveals her plan to manipulate Q's ego on “Survivor 50”

Robert Voets/CBS They were the closest of allies… until they weren't. Tiffany ErvinandQ Burdetteworked closely together at the start...

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Film Independent Spirit Awards 2026: See full winners list

Kevin Winter/Getty

The 2026Film Independent Spirit Awards, celebrating the best indie films and television series of the last year, have been announced.

Sunday's 41st annual ceremony, hosted bySaturday Night LivealumEgo Nwodim, traded in its usual beachfront venue at the Santa Monica Pier for Los Angeles' Hollywood Palladium, due to renovations.

Netflix filmTrain Dreamstook the top award, as well as Best Director and Best Cinematography. To be eligible for the Spirit Awards, a movie's budgetcannot exceed $30 millionafter tax incentives. Recent top winners that have aligned with the Oscars' Best Picture victors includeNomadland,Everything Everywhere All at Once, andAnora.

In the television categories, Emmys and Golden Globes darlingAdolescenceswept the awards, winning in each of the four categories in which it was nominated.

Two awards were already revealed prior to the ceremony, withThe Long Walkwinning the Robert Altman Award, including honors for director Francis Lawrence and starsJudy Greer,Mark Hamill,Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Wareing; and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series, going toJason Momoa'sChief of War,also starring Charlie Brumbly, Luciane Buchanan, Cliff Curtis, Brandon Finn, Moses Goods, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Benjamin Hoetjes, Siua Ikale'o, Keala Kahuanui-Paleka, Mainei Kinimaka, Kaina Makua, Temuera Morrison, Te Kohe Tuhaka, and James Udom.

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

See the full list of winners for the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards below.

2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards winners

Movies

Courtesy of Netflix

Best Feature

Peter Hujar's DayThe PlagueSorry, BabyWINNER:Train DreamsTwinless

Best Director

WINNER: Clint Bentley,Train DreamsMary Bronstein,If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouLloyd Lee Choi,Lucky LuIra Sachs,Peter Hujar's DayEva Victor,Sorry, Baby

Best First Feature

Blue Sun PalaceDust BunnyEast of WallWINNER:LurkerOne of Them Days

Best Lead Performance

Everett Blunck,The PlagueWINNER: Rose Byrne,If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouKathleen Chalfant,Familiar TouchChang Chen,Lucky LuJoel Edgerton,Train DreamsDylan O'Brien,TwinlessKeke Palmer,One of Them DaysThéodore Pellerin,LurkerTessa Thompson,HeddaBen Whishaw,Peter Hujar's Day

Best Supporting Performance

WINNER: Naomi Ackie,Sorry, BabyZoey Deutch,Nouvelle VagueKirsten Dunst,RoofmanRebecca Hall,Peter Hujar's DayNina Hoss,HeddaJane Levy,A Little PrayerArchie Madekwe,LurkerKali Reis,RebuildingJacob Tremblay,SovereignHaipeng Xu,Blue Sun Palace

Best Breakthrough Performance

Liz Larsen,The BaltimoronsWINNER: Kayo Martin,The PlagueMisha Osherovich,She's the HeSZA,One of Them DaysTabatha Zimiga,East of Wall

Best Screenplay

A Little PrayerWINNER:Sorry, BabySovereignSplitsvilleTwinless

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Best First Screenplay

Blue Sun PalaceFriendshipWINNER:LurkerOne of Them DaysOuterlands

Best Cinematography

Blue Sun PalaceDust BunnyPeter Hujar's DayWINNER:Train DreamsWarfare

Best Editing

EephusGood BoySplitsvilleWINNER:The Testament of Ann LeeWarfare

Best Documentary

Come See Me in the Good LightEndless CookieMy Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in MoscowWINNER:The Perfect NeighborThe Tale of Silyan

Best International Film

All That's Left of YouOn Becoming a Guinea FowlA PoetWINNER:The Secret AgentSirāt

Robert Altman Award

WINNER: The cast, casting director, and director ofThe Long Walk

Someone to Watch Award

WINNER: Tatti RibeiroNeo SoraAnnapurna Sriram

Truer Than Fiction Award

Tony BennaWINNER: Rajee SamarasingheBrittany Shyne

John Cassavetes Award

The BaltimoronsBoys Go to JupiterEephusWINNER:Esta IslaFamiliar Touch

Producers Award

Emma HannawayLuca IntiliWINNER: Tony Yang

Television

Courtesy of Netflix

Best New Scripted Series

WINNER:AdolescenceCommon Side EffectsForeverMr. LovermanNorth of North

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series

Citizen NationHurricane Katrina: Race Against TimeWINNER:Pee-Wee As HimselfSeen & Heard: The History of Black TelevisionVow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

Sydney Chandler,Alien: EarthWINNER: Stephen Graham,AdolescenceEthan Hawke,The LowdownLennie James,Mr. LovermanAnna Lambe,North of NorthLola Petticrew,Say NothingSeth Rogen,The StudioLovie Simone,ForeverMichelle Williams,Dying for SexNoah Wyle,The Pitt

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

Ariyon Bakare,Mr. LovermanBabou Ceesay,Alien: EarthSharon D. Clarke,Mr. LovermanTaylor Dearden,The PittWINNER: Erin Doherty,AdolescenceStephen McKinley Henderson,A Man on the InsidePoorna Jagannathan,Deli BoysXosha Roquemore,ForeverJenny Slate,Dying for SexBen Whishaw,Black Doves

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

Asif Ali,Deli BoysWally Baram,OvercompensatingWINNER: Owen Cooper,AdolescenceMichael Cooper Jr.,ForeverErnest Kingsley Junior,Washington Black

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

WINNER:Chief of War

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Film Independent Spirit Awards 2026: See full winners list

Kevin Winter/Getty The 2026Film Independent Spirit Awards, celebrating the best indie films and television s...

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Iran meets UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva ahead of a second round of US talks

GENEVA (AP) — Iran's top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday, ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said he would also meet with Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi of Oman, which is hosting the U.S.-Iran talks in Geneva on Tuesday.

"I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal," Araghchi wrote on X. "What is not on the table: submission before threats."

As U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an additional aircraft carrier to the region, Iran on Monday launched a second naval drill in weeks, state TV reported. It said the drill would test Iran's intelligence and operational capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Iran's drills take place against the US military buildup

Just before the talks, Iran announced its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard started the drill early Monday morning in the waterways that arecrucial international trade routesthrough which20% of the world's oil passes.

Separately, EOS Risk Group said sailors passing through the region received by radio a warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, likely would see a live-fire drill Tuesday. Iranian state TV did not mention the live fire drill.

This is the second time in recent weeks sailors have received warning about an Iranian live fire drill. During the previous exercise, announced at the end of January, the U.S. military's Central Command issued a strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard. While acknowledging Iran's "right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters," it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels.

On Feb. 4,tensions between the Iranian and U.S. naviesrose further after a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approachingthe aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincolnin the Arabian Sea. Iran also harassed a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military reported.

Iran open to compromise in exchange for sanctions relief

On Sunday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran could be open to compromise on the nuclear issue, but is looking for an easing of international sanctions led by the United States.

"The ball is in America's court. They have to prove they want to have a deal with us," Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC. "If we see a sincerity on their part, I am sure that we will be on a road to have an agreement."

"We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program provided that they are also ready to talk about the sanctions," he added.

Oman hosted a first round ofindirect talksbetween the U.S. and Iran on Feb. 6.

Similar talks last year between the U.S. and Iran about Iran's nuclear program broke down after Israel launched what became a12-day war on Iran, that included theU.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

TheU.S. is also hosting talksbetween envoys from Russia and Ukrainein Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of theall-out Russian invasion of its neighbor.

US keeps military pressure high

Trump initially threatened to take military action overIran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protestslast month, but then shifted to a pressure campaign in recent weeks to try to get Tehran to makea deal over its nuclear program.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Budapest, reiterated on Monday that the U.S. hopes to achieve a deal with Iran, despite the difficulties. "I'm not going to prejudge these talks," Rubio said. "The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things."

Trump said Friday the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to joinother military assetsthe U.S. has built up in the region. He also said a change in power in Iran "would be the best thing that could happen."

Iran has said if the U.S. attacks, it will respond with an attack of its own.

The Trump administration has maintained that Iran can have no uranium enrichment under any deal. Tehran says it won't agree to that.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, its officialsincreasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

The direct meeting with Grossi is a significant step after Iransuspended all cooperation with the IAEAfollowing the June war with Israel. The two also met briefly on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September. The IAEA saidit has been unable to verify the statusof Iran's near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since the war. Iran has allowed IAEA some access to sites that were not damaged, but has not allowed inspectors to visit other sites.

Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program,Grossi previously told The Associated Press.He added that it doesn't mean that Iran has such a weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to Washington last week to urge Trump to ensure that any deal to include steps to neutralizeIran's ballistic missile programand end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Liechtenstein reported from Vienna. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Matthew Lee in Budapest, Hungary contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage fromthe Carnegie Corporation of New YorkandOutrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Iran meets UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva ahead of a second round of US talks

GENEVA (AP) — Iran's top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday, ahead of a second...

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Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

Brooklyn Beckham was still reeling with love for his wife one day after Cupid shot his arrow.

David and Victoria Beckham'soldest son admitted he was the "luckiest person in the world" in a kissing snap with Nicola Peltz shared on social media Sunday.

The Internet was set alight with Brooklyn's innocent public display of affection weeks after the budding chefaired his family dramain a manifesto posted online.

Brooklyn, 26, showed off his arsenal of artwork in the black-and-white photo where he kissed his bride.

Gordon Ramsay Denies Brooklyn Beckham's Wedding Dance Allegations Against Victoria Beckham

"Happy Valentine's Day baby," Brooklyn wrote. "I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to call you my valentines every year x I love you more than you know and I will forever protect and love you x."

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Cruz Beckham's Nostalgic Post Ignites Social Frenzy Amid Brooklyn Family Feud: 'Did You Contact His Lawyer'

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Social media users raised questions about the post, and had a few notes for Brooklyn.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is weird?" one user asked, while another offered, "First of all, use seasonings in your cooking. Secondly, call your parents."

One fan simply asked, "Didn't youguys want privacy?" One user noted, "A woman who pulls you away from your family root does not love you."

"Only a day late, daddy must've taken his Rolex back," another follower said.

One fan advocated for the couple, and encouraged users to remember the joys of innocent affection.

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"They are young they are in love leave them alone! Young love is indestructible don't you all remember yours," they wrote.

Last month, Brooklyn became the center of the storm and confirmed a longstanding war within his family in a lengthy statementshared on social mediawhere he explained how his parents "controlled narratives" throughout his life in an attempt "to preserve" a functioning family facade.

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Prior to the bombshell statement, the 26-year-old photographer reportedly sent his parents alegal "desist" letter,informing them they could only speak to him and his wife via lawyers. The Sun reported that the letter instructed his parents not to mention him or his wife on social media.

In his January social media post, Brooklyn made accusations that his parents had tried to sabotage his marriage to claims that Victoria canceled making Peltz's wedding dress at the "eleventh hour."

"My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else," Brooklyn stated in the public rant shared on Instagram Jan. 19. "Brand Beckham comes first."

"My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation. All we want peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family," Brooklyn's lengthy statement concluded.

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In addition to Brooklyn, 26, the former Spice Girls member and her husband, David Beckham, are also parents to sons Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 20, and daughter Harper, 14, all of whom Brooklyn has blocked on social media.

Original article source:Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

Brooklyn Beckham was still reeling with love for his wife one day after Cupid shot his arrow. David and Victor...

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Billy Joel's 'Chick Song' That Got The Seal of Approval From This Legendary '70s Female Rocker

Billy Joelwas at a pivotal moment while recording his iconic albumThe Stranger, and it took the encouragement of a legendary '70s female rocker to include what would become one of the LP's most beloved songs.

In a 2008 interview withMassLive, Joel shared how the fate of "Just The Way You Are" hung in the balance until two famous female singers,Linda RonstadtandPhoebe Snow, gave the song their overwhelming stamp of approval. Their input convinced Joel the tune was worth taking a chance on.

"We just went in to make as good a record as we could. I didn't think at the time it was going to be a big commercial hit," Joel said ofThe Stranger. "Just The Way You Are" was written for his first wife, manager, and muse,Elizabeth Webber.

"I don't really know what's going to be a big commercial hit. We almost left 'Just The Way You Are' off the album because we really didn't like it that much. But some girls talked us into leaving it on."

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He explained that the "girls" were Snow and Ronstadt, who heard the track and said, "'You guys are crazy, you've gotta keep that on the album.' We said 'Yeah? Well, ok.'"

Joel added, "I guess girls like that song. It's a chick song."

"Before we went in to recordThe Stranger, I think I had 'Just The Way You Are,' but we did not have the right drum pattern for it. I think we had it as a cha-cha, which made us hate the song right off the bat."

Joel worried the song was too sentimental and feared it would stick out from the rest of the album. However, the LP's producerPhil Ramoneinsisted it was a must-have. To prove his point, he invited Ronstadt and Snow into the studio to listen to the song and sway Joel's opinion of the tune.

The Strangerwould go on to become Billy Joel's best-selling album. It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, with sales over 10M albums.

PerBillboard, the LP spawned four Top 40 hits: "Just the Way You Are" (No. 3), "Movin' Out" (No. 17), "She's Always a Woman" (No. 17), and "Only the Good Die Young" (No. 24).

This story was originally published byParadeon Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Billy Joel's 'Chick Song' That Got The Seal of Approval From This Legendary '70s Female Rocker

Billy Joelwas at a pivotal moment while recording his iconic albumThe Stranger, and it took the encouragement of a legen...

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Chinese fine dining slices through America's takeout-food stereotypes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Taiwan-born chef George Chen, whose family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, remembers vividly how his school lunch of braised pork and Chinese sauerkraut between two pieces of bread was looked at by his classmates.

Chinese American Fine Dining

"'Oh, God, what are you eating? That's gross,'" Chen recalled during a recent busy lunch hour at his San Francisco restaurant and bar, China Live, on the edge ofthe nation's oldest Chinatown. "And now everybody wants the braised pork and Chinese sauerkraut. Hopefully, perception of Chinese (food) has now come a long ways."

The immigrant kid who felt like he had to hide his food has built a reputation for serving Chinese fine dining in the Bay Area. At China Live, Chen is like a circus ringmaster overseeing a dumpling-making station, a stone oven roasting Peking ducks, a noodle station and a dessert station churning sesame soft serve.

With all this, he hopes to one day revive his upstairs restaurant, Eight Tables, where course-by-course dinners ranged from $88-$188. In addition, he and his wife Cindy Wong-Chen are getting ready to launch a similar concept, Asia Live, in Santa Clara.

The Chens aren't the only ones elevating Chinese cuisine. They're within walking distance of the equally established Empress by Boon, Mister Jiu's, and the newer Four Kings.

Upscale Chinese American restaurants, from San Francisco to New York City, have sprung up in recent years, garnering buzz with their refined tasting menus that soar far beyond Chinese takeout-food staples. Many will put special spins on traditionalLunar New Yeardishes for the Year of the Fire Horse, which starts Tuesday. Doing creative deconstructions of Chinese foods is part of their culinary hallmark, as many chefs are hungry to showcase their own culture.

But in an industry where diners rarely question high prices of French haute cuisine or Japanese omakase, Chinese restaurateurs often contend with resistance in getting customers to pay fine-dining tabs. Still, these owners and chefs insist their food, labor and cooking techniques are just as worthy.

"Why shouldn't I?" says Chen about his prices. "Just because we're in Chinatown? Or just because people's perception of Chinese food is that it's only good if it's cheap? It's not true."

Being a Chinese chef who gets to cook Chinese

Since husband and wife Bolun and Linette Yao opened Yingtao, named for Bolun's grandmother, in New York's Hell's Kitchen in 2023, they have been up-front about their mission: "contemporary" Chinese food as an elegant dining concept. Their Michelin-starred restaurant offers a $150 chef's tasting menu.

"We are trying to break this bias, this boundary of people who only think about like Sichuan food, Cantonese food, the takeout box," said Bolun Yao, who has nothing but respect for casual Chinese takeout restaurants.

After earning a master's degree in food studies at New York University, Yao knew he wanted "to build a bridge between traditional Chinese and the fine dining scene that New York people are familiar with."

Emily Yuen, who was a James Beard Award semifinalist last year for her Japanese American fare at Brooklyn's Lingo, is helping Yao achieve his goal as Yingtao's new executive chef. For Yuen, a Chinese Canadian whose culinary education emphasized French cooking, the importance of representation — from who's in the kitchen to what's on the plate — has always stayed with her.

"I want go back to like, who I am, and kind of explore that," Yuen said. "I was really like struck by his (Bolun's) mission statement and it just really struck a chord with me of wanting to elevate Chinese culture and Chinese food."

She is eager to play around with typical recipes like the Cantonese custard egg tart, "dan tat," with a savory makeover with caviar and quail eggs. "Egg on egg on egg," Yuen said.

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Similarly, Ho Chee Boon, the Michelin-starred chef who transformed the long-dormant Empress of China in San Francisco into Empress by Boon in 2021, is pushing for Chinese cuisine to be considered fine dining in the U.S. The Malaysia-born restauranteur was accustomed to seeing high-end Cantonese food in China and India.

"I try to do something for the Cantonese cuisine and for the culture as well, for the young people and to know about and for other people to know about it," said Boon, who has opened a chain of his Cantonese Hakkasan restaurants from Dubai to Mumbai and in the U.S.

"We can try to something better here," he said, "and let people come back to Chinatown."

Chinese food's stigmatized US history

Chinese culture and food has had its ups and downs when it comes to its reception in the West. More than 200 years ago, Europe highly desired Chinese silks, ceramics and tea, said Krishnendu Ray, director of NYU's food studies PhD program.

China's defeat by the British in the 19th century Opium Wars led to a view of China "as a poor country," Ray said. Racist myths that Chinese people and their cuisine were strange and dirty persisted when Chinese railroad laborers came to the U.S. and were segregated to enclaves.

Even today,Asian American restaurants have been impacted by tired stereotypes.

Ray says the rise in an "ethnic" food's prestige tends to correlate with its country of origin rising in economic power. In Michelin's New York City guides — which highlight between 300 and 400 restaurants — Ray found the percentage of Chinese regional cuisine went from 3% to 7% of mentions between 2006 and 2024.

"I think it's wonderful that there are these restaurants now" in Chinatown, said Luke Tsai, food editor for the San Francisco Bay Area PBS station KQED. "It's fine also if you don't think it is worth it. But at the same time, I'm really glad that these restaurants exist."

Don't call it 'fusion'

Many Chinese chefs want to make it clear they are not serving fusion, or food tinged with Asian influences. Their food is "more East to West rather than West to East," said Chen, of China Live. Yuen, of Yingtao, agrees that kind of characterization puts the "fusion" in confusion.

"I think fusion food is in a lot of those places where it's dimly lit with the trendy cocktails," Yuen said. "What we're trying to do is just Chinese."

What also matters to these chefs is incorporating Chinese cooking techniques and not defaulting to European ones. At Empress by Boon, chef Boon and his staff maintain four wok stations with woks shipped from Hong Kong.

"We want to do exactly everything the same operation," Boon said. "We want to keep the traditional, but we can look in a modern way."

Chen takes pride in having an open kitchen where customers can see woks and clay pots being utilized. They represent techniques from various regions of China.

"You actually look at the greater culinary disciplines of China and because you have the space, you can showcase the cuisine," Chen said. "I think that's really served us well."

byAndy Corry

in

February 16, 2026

Chinese fine dining slices through America's takeout-food stereotypes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Taiwan-born chef George Chen, whose family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, remembers vividly how...

Read More