The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense on Sunday for the first time transported a small nuclear reactor on a cargo plane from California to Utah to demonstrate the potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. The agencies partnered with California-based Valar Atomics to fly one of the company’s Ward microreactors on a C-17 aircraft — without nuclear fuel — to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey were on the C-17 flight with the reactor and its components, and hailed the event as a breakthrough for U.S. nuclear energy and military logistics. “This gets us closer to deploy nuclear power when and where it is needed to give our nation’s warfighters the tools to win in battle,” Duffey said. President Donald Trump’s administration sees small nuclear reactors as one of several ways to expand U.S. energy production. Trump last May issued four executive orders aimed at boosting domestic nuclear deployment to meet growing demand for energy for national security and competitive AI advancements. The Energy Department in December issued two grants to help accelerate development of small modular reactors. Proponents of microreactors also have touted them as energy sources that can be sent to far-flung and remote places, offering an alternative to diesel generators which require frequent deliveries of fuel. But skeptics have argued that the industry has not proven that small nuclear reactors can generate power for a reasonable price. “There is no business case for microreactors, which — even if they work as designed — will produce electricity at a far higher cost than large nuclear reactors, not to mention renewables like wind or solar,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. The Energy Department plans to have three microreactors reach “criticality” — when a nuclear reaction can sustain itself — by July 4, Wright said. The microreactor in Sunday’s event, a little larger than a minivan, can generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, according to Valar CEO Isaiah Taylor. It will start operating in July at 100 kilowatts and peak at 250 kilowatts this year before ramping up to full capacity, he said. Valar hopes to start selling power on a test basis in 2027 and become fully commercial in 2028. Although private industry funds its own development of nuclear technology, it also needs the federal government “doing some enabling actions to allow fuel fabrication here and uranium enrichment here,” he said. Fuel for Valar’s reactor will be transported from the Nevada National Security site to the San Rafael facility, Wright told reporters. However, even small generators result in a significant amount of radioactive waste, Lyman said. Other experts have said designers are not compelled to consider waste at inception, beyond a plan for how it will be managed. Although disposal of nuclear waste remains an unresolved issue, the Energy Department is in talks with a few states, including Utah, to host sites that could reprocess fuel or handle permanent disposal, Wright said. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Sergio Non and Lincoln Feast.)

Actor Ted Levine apologized recently for his iconic turn as cross-dressing serial killer Jame Gumb in the 1991  horror classic “The Silence of the Lambs,” saying that it was “f*cking wrong” that the film had “vilified” the apparent gender confusion of his character. Levine told The Hollywood Reporter that his intent had always been to play Gumb — nicknamed “Buffalo Bill” — as a “f*cked-up heterosexual man” despite the fact that the character dresses in women’s clothing, wears makeup, and skins his female victims in an effort to make himself a suit of female flesh. “There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up too well,” he said. “We all know more, and I’m a lot wiser about transgender issues. There are some lines in that script and movie that are unfortunate.” Levine said that when they were making the film — based on the 1988 Thomas Harris novel by the same title — he had not been particularly concerned, but that “over time and having gotten aware and worked with trans folks, and understanding a bit more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender — it’s unfortunate that the film vilified that, and it’s f*cking wrong. And you can quote me on that.” “I didn’t play him as being gay or trans. I think he was just a f*cked-up heterosexual man. That’s what I was doing,” Levine explained. Director Jonathan Demme offered a similar take on Buffalo Bill’s motivations, arguing during a 2014 interview that the character was drowning in self-loathing and that turning himself into a woman was a means of escape from who he was rather than an effort to become something he specifically wanted to be. “He didn’t wish to be another gender. He didn’t really have a sexual preference. He loathed himself — he wanted to transform himself so that there was no sense of him in the ‘new’ him [and] becoming a woman … that was his method of doing it.” “We were really loyal to the book. As we made the film, there was just no question in our minds that Buffalo Bill was a completely aberrant personality — that he wasn’t gay or trans,” producer Edward Saxon added. “He was sick. To that extent, we missed it. From my point of view, we weren’t sensitive enough to the legacy of a lot of stereotypes and their ability to harm.” “There’s regret, but it didn’t come from any place of malice. It actually came from a place of seeing this guy. We all had dear friends and family who were gay. We thought it would just be very clear that Buffalo Bill adapts different things from society, from a place of an incredibly sick pathology,” he continued. Despite the confusion surrounding Buffalo Bill, “The Silence of the Lambs” became the third film in Academy history to sweep all five major awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Demme), and Best Screenplay (adapted). The other two films to do so were “It Happened One Night” (1934) and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975).

About 100 U.S. military personnel have arrived in Nigeria as Washington scales up an operation to target Islamist insurgents, a Nigerian defence spokesperson said. U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest. Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims. The U.S. carried out strikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in December, and a small U.S. military team has been operating on the ground to boost Nigeria’s intelligence capabilities. In recent days, several planes carrying U.S. troops and equipment have headed to Nigeria’s northern states, according to flight tracking data reviewed by Reuters. Major General Samaila Uba, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Defense Headquarters, said the troops would train and advise local forces, but not take part in combat. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s military said it expected around 200 more U.S. troops. Presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said Nigeria needed “massive support from the U.S. government” in terms of fighter jets and munitions, but declined to give numbers or a timeframe. Nigeria’s 240 million people are evenly split between Christians mainly in the south and Muslims mainly in the north. It acknowledges serious security problems, including from Islamist fighters, but denies that Christians face widespread or systematic persecution. (Reporting by Jessica Donati, and MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Kevin Liffey)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got into a heated spat with Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Clinton and Macinka, a right-leaning populist, disagreed on a number off issues — but the trouble really began when Clinton accused President Donald Trump of effectively conspiring with Russian President Vladimir Putin to exploit Ukraine. “I think that the effort to force Ukraine into a surrender deal with Putin is shameful. I think that the effort that Putin and Trump are making to profit off the misery and death of the Ukrainian people is a historic error, and corrupt to the nth degree,” she said, adding, “I believe Ukraine is fighting for our democracy and our values of freedom and civilization on the front lines, losing thousands of people, and having their country destroyed by one man’s mania to control them, and I think Trump either doesn’t understand or could care less about that suffering.” Macinka, when asked whether he would agree with Clinton’s assessment, turned to the former Secretary of State and said, “I think you really don’t like him.” WATCH: REALITY CZECH: Hillary Clinton clashes with Czech Deputy PM Petr Macinka after he says President Trump reacted to policies that went “too far.” MACINKA: “We saw the woke revolution. I don’t agree with the gender revolution, the climate alarmism…” CLINTON: “Which gender? Women… pic.twitter.com/bCCYKXqvWa — Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2026 Clinton gave no argument to that: “That is absolutely true. Not only do I not like him, I don’t like him because of what he’s doing to the United States, and the world, and I think you should take a hard look at it if you think there is something good that will come out of it.” Macinka defended Trump then, arguing that he was only attempting to push back against policies that the people believed had gone too far to the Left — “too far from regular people, too far from reality.” “We saw the cancel culture, we saw the woke revolution, I don’t agree with the gender revolution, the climate alarmism,” Macinka offered examples when asked, but then Clinton interrupted him. “Which gender revolution? Women having their rights?” Clinton asked, apparently misunderstanding his comment. Macinka explained that he was not talking about women’s rights, but radical gender ideology, replying, “I think there are two genders.” Clinton once again attempted to commandeer the narrative: “How about half of us, can we have our rights?” Macinka was undeterred, however, and continued, “Some of us think there is more than two genders. I think there is male and female, and the rest, probably, is a social construct. This is something that went too far.” “But does that justify selling out the people of Ukraine who are on the front lines dying to save their freedom and their two genders, if that’s what you’re worried about?” Clinton tried once more. “Can I please finish my point? I’m sorry that it makes you nervous‚” Macinka shot back. Clinton protested, “It doesn’t make me nervous, it makes me very, very, unhappy.”

Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall died on Sunday, a Facebook post from his wife confirmed on Monday. He was 95 years old. Luciana Duvall, 54, an Argentine actress and director who has been married to the actor since 2005, shared the news in a post including a photo of them in days past. “Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” she wrote in a statement. “To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” she continued. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.” After a short attempt at the military life, Duvall made a go at acting — and eventually became friends with a few others who were also struggling to break into the business around the same time — Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and James Caan. Duvall won the coveted Best Actor Oscar in 1984 for “Tender Mercies,” and was nominated in the same category for 1980’s “The Great Santini” and for “The Apostle” in 1997. He was nominated for Academy Awards for supporting roles in 2014’s “The Judge,” 1998’s “A Civil Action,” 1979’s “Apocalypse Now,” and 1972’s “The Godfather.” Duvall’s acting career ran for well over half a century, from episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” in the early 1960s to “The Pale Blue Eye” in 2022, that latter of which also featured a cameo from Senator John Fetterman (D-PA). His first big-screen role was the reclusive Boo Radley in the 1962 film “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Although he tried to keep his distance from politics in more recent years, Duvall was well-known in Hollywood for his conservative views. A lifelong Republican, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush in 2005.