Shake Shack said inclement weather in some of its most heavily penetrated markets hurt sales during the recent quarter, resulting in lower than expected revenue.
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Shake Shack’s Quarterly Sales Hurt by Inclement Weather
College basketball coaching changes: Menzies out at Kansas City at end of season
Less than two weeks into 2026, college basketball has its first coaching change of the calendar year.
Kansas City announced Monday that fourth-year coach Marvin Menzies will not be retained at season’s end. School athletic director Brandon Martin said the search for Menzies’ replacement will “commence immediately,” even while Menzies coaches out the rest of this season. Kansas City is 4-14 and a member of the Summit League.
Kansas City (which previously went by UMKC) turned some heads when it severed ties with Billy Donlon in 2021-22 after a 19-12 season. The Roos haven’t been as good since.
Menzies — who previously had success at New Mexico State, where he took that program to five NCAA Tournaments in the 2010s — is 44-71 with Kansas City. The job is among the tougher ones among all mid-majors in the Midwest. The Roos are 1-3 in the Summit League and are 337th at KenPom.com. It’s pacing to be the worst season in school history.
It is uncommon for a school to announce a firing this early, but these kinds of decisions often are made privately well before they’re announced publicly. Now Kansas City has a head start (at least outwardly) on the dozens of other mid-majors that will inevitably open in February and March.
The coaching carousel isn’t expected to be as volatile in 2026 as it was in 2025, when there were 56 changes, but there won’t be a clearer picture on the landscape until we get to March.
Aldi planning to open 180 new supermarkets in 31 states. Where will they be?
No Aldi nearby? That may change next year.
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Cyprus president’s top aide quits after online video alleging government corruption
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A top aide to Cyprus’ president resigned on Monday after an online video was posted recently, strongly suggesting that he and others used their close ties to the leader to earn favors for would-be investors in exchange for cash.
President Nikos Christodoulides said in a written statement that he has accepted the resignation of Charalambos Charalambous — the director of his presidential office and brother-in-law — in what he called an act of “self-confidence and trust” that the allegations are untrue.
“The departure of Mr. Charalambous, who is distinguished by his work ethic, character and integrity, constitutes a loss of a valuable aide during our great effort to upgrade our country,” Christodoulides said.
Charalambous had earlier posted on Facebook that he would never allow his job in government to be “converted into a tool of manipulation to harm the Cyprus Republic and the President.” He called his appearance in the video a product of “deliberate distortions” and of “selective editing” aimed at manufacturing false and misleading conclusions.
The video posted on social media last week features Charalambous, a former energy minister and the chief executive of a major construction company boasting about their close relationship to the president and securing foreign investments as if to suggest influence peddling.
It also claims that Christodoulides exceeded a 1 million-euro ($1.16 million) campaign funding cap by taking off-the-books cash donations for his 2023 presidential run.
The most damning allegation is that the Cypriot government would work to block EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs in exchange for corporate cash.
Cypriot authorities had called the video a malicious disinformation attack bearing “all the hallmarks” of previous Russian campaigns against other countries. An initial Cyprus Security Services analysis said the 8½-minute video exhibits “the characteristics of organized Russian disinformation campaigns” known as Doppelganger similar to a 2021 Russian online operation against other EU countries, the U.S. and Israel.
The video surfaced a week after Cyprus — a staunch supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — assumed the EU’s rotating presidency, rousing suspicions among Cypriot officials about its intentions.
Christodoulides on Monday said that the 27-nation bloc had warned the Cypriot government that it could be the target of such “hybrid” attacks during its EU presidency. He said that EU members and other third countries are assisting Cypriot authorities in their investigation into the video.
Despite this, opposition parties were scathing in their criticism of the president and his government, saying the video has reenlivened past allegations of rife government corruption.
AUSTIN ARCHEY On LORNA SHORE: “I Wouldn’t Even Call Us Deathcore Anymore”
Lorna Shore have spent the last few years at the center of modern extreme metal’s conversations about genre and what deathcore even means in the modern day. Now, drummer Austin Archey is addressing that debate head-on.
Speaking on the Brutality Podcast (as transcribed by Metal Injection), Archey reflected on Lorna Shore‘s evolution, the backlash they’ve faced from genre purists, and why he believes the band may have unintentionally sparked a wider deathcore revival — even as they’ve moved beyond the label themselves.
Before diving into genre lines, Archey made it clear where his heart is: with the scene itself. “Number one, I’m the biggest fan and advocate for this movement and scene and people and kids,” he said. “Even if you’re older and you want to come back — if you want to play deathcore and you’re fifty, let’s go. Let’s rock. Any age welcome.”
Archey acknowledged the criticism Lorna Shore have faced from some corners of the scene, particularly accusations that the band isn’t “real” deathcore anymore. “I always think about where people shit on us, like ‘they’re not deathcore,’ because we’ve kind of rattled the boat a little bit of what deathcore could be,” he said.
Rather than pushing back defensively, Archey embraced the idea — and went further. “I wouldn’t even call us deathcore anymore,” he admitted. “We have deathcore roots, but we are a metal band, and we are an extreme metal band at this rate.”
As Lorna Shore‘s sound has expanded to incorporate symphonic elements, blackened textures, and a more cinematic scope, the band has increasingly existed outside traditional genre boxes. And according to Archey, that friction may have had an unexpected upside.
Archey suggested that the constant debate over Lorna Shore’s classification may have actually driven listeners back toward classic deathcore — reigniting interest in the very sound critics felt the band had abandoned. “Because people were labeling us deathcore so much, and then the ‘that’s not real deathcore, this is real deathcore’ discussion came up, people started to tune into what real deathcore was,” he said.
Rather than resenting the criticism, Archey sees Lorna Shore‘s role as a kind of catalyst — even if that meant taking some heat along the way. “If we were the martyr on the sword for the MySpace deathcore revival because people wanted real deathcore,” he said, “guess what? So did I.”
Though more importantly, Archey seems at peace with the band’s present and future — wherever it leads. “I’m in a very good place in life with everything going on,” Archey added. “And again, where our sound evolves, who knows? We could get sick of whatever and just write heavy stuff one day and just be sick of it. Who knows?”
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Mercedes-Benz Car Sales Fell 9% in 2025 Amid Challenging Market
Both its largest market, China, and the U.S. registered hefty drops in sales.
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Husband charged in double homicide after affair with au pair on trial in Virginia
Nearly eight months after Brendan Banfield’s wife and a stranger were killed in the Banfields’ Virginia home in February 2023, police returned to the scene of the killings.They entered the home and went to the bedroom where Christine Banfield was fatally stabbed. There, on the bedside table, investigators found a framed photo of Brendan smiling with another woman – the family’s au pair, according to court records.Brendan Banfield now faces a double-murder trial, with jury selection scheduled Monday, as prosecutors allege he plotted with the au pair to kill his wife and another man. Prosecutors say that man had been lured to the home to frame him for Christine’s death – and to make his own killing appear to be an act of self-defense.Banfield – a former IRS agent, according to WUSA – has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and a firearm offense in the fatal stabbing of his wife and the fatal shooting of Joseph Ryan.Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield and the family’s Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, were having an extramarital affair and carried out the plan together. The plot features allegations of sexual role play, trips to the gun range and false 911 calls, all in an attempt to kill Banfield’s wife and frame Ryan, according to prosecutors.Peres Magalhães was initially charged with murder and has since pleaded guilty to a lesser count of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Ryan.She has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a recommendation that she be sentenced to time served, according to the plea agreement. She is likely to be the star witness in Banfield’s murder trial.The trial is expected to last about four weeks.Banfield has been held without bond since his arrest, according to police. He faces up to life in prison on the murder charges.Allegations to face juryThe case began with calls to 911 from within the Banfields’ Herndon, Virginia, home on February 24, 2023. In one call, Banfield told dispatchers he’d shot a man who stabbed his wife, according to police. There was no forced entry at the home.In an upstairs bedroom, police found Christine Banfield, 37, with stab wounds and Ryan, 39, dead of gunshot wounds nearby. She was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis.Peres Magalhães, 25, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and a firearm offense in October 2023 and has been in custody since her arrest.When police searched the home, they found a framed photo of Banfield and Peres Magalhães smiling together on his bedside table.A year later, in October 2024, court records show Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. At a plea hearing, prosecutors read aloud a statement laying out the key allegations in the case.As they alleged, Peres Magalhães began working as an au pair for the couple in late 2021, and in August 2022, she and Brendan Banfield began an extra-marital relationship.“In the fall of 2022, Brendan Banfield expressed to Peres Magalhães his desire to be rid of his wife and soon thereafter began planning to kill his wife as well as, ultimately, Joseph Ryan, the victim in this case,” prosecutors said.Banfield set up an account on a sexual fetish site, began communicating with Ryan and lured him to the Banfield home, prosecutors said. Ryan “likely believed” he was meeting Christine Banfield for a consensual sexual encounter involving “violent sexual role play” with a knife, prosecutors said.Banfield directed Peres Magalhães to talk with Ryan in a phone call to confirm details, according to prosecutors. She expressed hesitation with the plan at various points, prosecutors said, but “he insisted it was too late for her to back out.”Banfield taught the au pair how to fire a gun at a local gun range in the fall and winter of 2022, prosecutors said.As part of their plan, when Ryan came to the home, Peres Magalhães called Banfield to report that a strange man was at the house, and Banfield was waiting at a nearby McDonald’s so he could return to the home quickly, prosecutors said.He and Peres Magalhães put his child in the basement and then went upstairs to the Banfields’ bedroom, with Brendan Banfield holding his service weapon and the au pair holding a firearm he had purchased a month earlier, according to prosecutors.“The two entered the bedroom, and Joseph Ryan was holding Christine Banfield down,” prosecutors said. “Brendan Banfield called out, ‘Police officer,’ and then shot Joseph Ryan in the head, and Ryan fell away from Christine Banfield.”Peres Magalhães called 911 but ended the call at Banfield’s direction, prosecutors said.Banfield stabbed his wife, according to prosecutors. Peres Magalhães saw Ryan still moving and shot him, prosecutors said.The au pair then called 911 again, and they reported the killings as if Ryan was an intruder who had stabbed Banfield’s wife, according to prosecutors.‘There was a lot more to what met the eye’Banfield was indicted on murder charges in September 2024. The indictment alleges he “willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation” killed his wife and Ryan.“I knew, I suspected, I had a feeling that there was a lot more to what met the eye that morning,” Chief Davis said. “And certainly it has taken a road, 570 days later, where we are finally in a position to announce that two persons are being charged and held responsible and introduced to our criminal justice system for these two murders.”Weeks later, Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to the lesser charge for shooting and killing Ryan, according to prosecutors.“Today’s agreement marks a significant step forward in this case, and it is an important development in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said of the au pair’s guilty plea.In addition, Banfield was indicted on a count of felony child abuse and neglect and felony child cruelty related to the killings in December 2024. His daughter, who was 4 at the time, was present at the scene, according to prosecutors.
Nearly eight months after Brendan Banfield’s wife and a stranger were killed in the Banfields’ Virginia home in February 2023, police returned to the scene of the killings.
They entered the home and went to the bedroom where Christine Banfield was fatally stabbed. There, on the bedside table, investigators found a framed photo of Brendan smiling with another woman – the family’s au pair, according to court records.
Brendan Banfield now faces a double-murder trial, with jury selection scheduled Monday, as prosecutors allege he plotted with the au pair to kill his wife and another man. Prosecutors say that man had been lured to the home to frame him for Christine’s death – and to make his own killing appear to be an act of self-defense.
Banfield – a former IRS agent, according to WUSA – has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and a firearm offense in the fatal stabbing of his wife and the fatal shooting of Joseph Ryan.
Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield and the family’s Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, were having an extramarital affair and carried out the plan together. The plot features allegations of sexual role play, trips to the gun range and false 911 calls, all in an attempt to kill Banfield’s wife and frame Ryan, according to prosecutors.
Peres Magalhães was initially charged with murder and has since pleaded guilty to a lesser count of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Ryan.
She has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a recommendation that she be sentenced to time served, according to the plea agreement. She is likely to be the star witness in Banfield’s murder trial.
The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
Banfield has been held without bond since his arrest, according to police. He faces up to life in prison on the murder charges.
Allegations to face jury
The case began with calls to 911 from within the Banfields’ Herndon, Virginia, home on February 24, 2023. In one call, Banfield told dispatchers he’d shot a man who stabbed his wife, according to police. There was no forced entry at the home.
In an upstairs bedroom, police found Christine Banfield, 37, with stab wounds and Ryan, 39, dead of gunshot wounds nearby. She was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis.
Peres Magalhães, 25, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and a firearm offense in October 2023 and has been in custody since her arrest.
When police searched the home, they found a framed photo of Banfield and Peres Magalhães smiling together on his bedside table.
A year later, in October 2024, court records show Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. At a plea hearing, prosecutors read aloud a statement laying out the key allegations in the case.
As they alleged, Peres Magalhães began working as an au pair for the couple in late 2021, and in August 2022, she and Brendan Banfield began an extra-marital relationship.
“In the fall of 2022, Brendan Banfield expressed to Peres Magalhães his desire to be rid of his wife and soon thereafter began planning to kill his wife as well as, ultimately, Joseph Ryan, the victim in this case,” prosecutors said.
Banfield set up an account on a sexual fetish site, began communicating with Ryan and lured him to the Banfield home, prosecutors said. Ryan “likely believed” he was meeting Christine Banfield for a consensual sexual encounter involving “violent sexual role play” with a knife, prosecutors said.
Banfield directed Peres Magalhães to talk with Ryan in a phone call to confirm details, according to prosecutors. She expressed hesitation with the plan at various points, prosecutors said, but “he insisted it was too late for her to back out.”
Banfield taught the au pair how to fire a gun at a local gun range in the fall and winter of 2022, prosecutors said.
As part of their plan, when Ryan came to the home, Peres Magalhães called Banfield to report that a strange man was at the house, and Banfield was waiting at a nearby McDonald’s so he could return to the home quickly, prosecutors said.
He and Peres Magalhães put his child in the basement and then went upstairs to the Banfields’ bedroom, with Brendan Banfield holding his service weapon and the au pair holding a firearm he had purchased a month earlier, according to prosecutors.
“The two entered the bedroom, and Joseph Ryan was holding Christine Banfield down,” prosecutors said. “Brendan Banfield called out, ‘Police officer,’ and then shot Joseph Ryan in the head, and Ryan fell away from Christine Banfield.”
Peres Magalhães called 911 but ended the call at Banfield’s direction, prosecutors said.
Banfield stabbed his wife, according to prosecutors. Peres Magalhães saw Ryan still moving and shot him, prosecutors said.
The au pair then called 911 again, and they reported the killings as if Ryan was an intruder who had stabbed Banfield’s wife, according to prosecutors.
‘There was a lot more to what met the eye’
Banfield was indicted on murder charges in September 2024. The indictment alleges he “willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation” killed his wife and Ryan.
“I knew, I suspected, I had a feeling that there was a lot more to what met the eye that morning,” Chief Davis said. “And certainly it has taken a road, 570 days later, where we are finally in a position to announce that two persons are being charged and held responsible and introduced to our criminal justice system for these two murders.”
Weeks later, Peres Magalhães pleaded guilty to the lesser charge for shooting and killing Ryan, according to prosecutors.
“Today’s agreement marks a significant step forward in this case, and it is an important development in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said of the au pair’s guilty plea.
In addition, Banfield was indicted on a count of felony child abuse and neglect and felony child cruelty related to the killings in December 2024. His daughter, who was 4 at the time, was present at the scene, according to prosecutors.
Sen. Mark Kelly sues Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over efforts to reduce his military retirement rank
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., filed a lawsuit Monday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon, charging their effort to censure and demote him is “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
Hegseth said last week that the Pentagon was taking steps to downgrade Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay because of his “seditious statements” — a reference to a video he and other retired service members released that urged members of the military not to comply with illegal orders.
The suit charges Hegseth’s actions violate Kelly’s First Amendment rights, as well as the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, which grants immunity to lawmakers for official acts.
“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” says the suit, which seeks a court order declaring Hegseth’s actions to be unlawful.
“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable,” Kelly said in a statement. “His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Miranda Lambert to Perform at the 2026 Daytona 500
Before NASCAR fans hear “Drivers, start your engines” at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 15 for the Daytona 500, they’ll hear Miranda Lambert.
The news was announced during the NFL playoff game between the Eagles and 49ers on Jan. 11 on Fox. Lambert will be part of NASCAR’s 2026 Daytona 500 festivities, performing at the pre-race concert.
Daytona International Speedway President Frank Kelleher said in a statement, “To have this level of talent, with an artist such as Miranda Lambert performing our pre-race concert, adds an incredible amount of energy for the 68th running of the Daytona 500.”
You got that right, Frank. Adding Lambert feels like the perfect choice — she has plenty of songs in her catalog that are guaranteed to fire up an already amped-up crowd of racing fans.
Why Is the Daytona 500 So Popular?
Each year, NASCAR kicks off its season with the famed Daytona 500 in — you guessed it — Daytona, Fla. It’s considered the most important and historic race of the year, and 2026 will mark the 68th running of the event.
Kelleher added, “Her powerhouse vocals and passion for music are the perfect mix to represent the prestige of this event. Get ready for the thunder of country music before we wave the green flag and engines roar to kick off the 2026 season.”
Where to Watch the 68th Daytona 500
The 68th running of the Daytona 500 will air on Fox. Check your local listings for exact broadcast times.
Lambert has certainly been busy over the past two decades.
20 Things Miranda Lambert Has Done in the Last 20 Years
Miranda Lambert has been a busy woman since her debut studio album Kerosene arrived in 2005. In addition to several more albums and tours, the country singer scratched her entrepreneurial itch by starting a line of clothing and opening a bar.
She’s also continued to wear her heart on her sleeve with her MuttNation Foundation, which is dedicated to helping animals. These are just a few of the things Lambert has done, both personally and professionally, in the last 20 years.
Gallery Credit: Jess
30 Photos of Miranda Lambert Young
Miranda Lambert has been a force in country music since 2005, when her major label debut album, Kerosene, went Platinum. Since then, she was won multiple ACM and CMA awards, along with three Grammys! She continues to put out new music, with her latest album, Palomino, being released in 2022.