Liverpool is ready to stage the 2022 Commonwealth Games if Durban withdraws because of financial pressures. Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday that the government might scrap Durban 2022 due to the cost of staging the multi-sport event.

Closely supported by the U.S.-led international coalition, Iraqi forces secured a series of cautious advances on Thursday, pushing into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, where they took control of the runway.

A statement released by the militant group said a fighter it identified as Abu Zakariya al-Britani was behind a truck attack near Mosul on Sunday. It included a photograph of the alleged bomber. However, NBC News has been unable to verify whether the attack actually occurred.

A trace of radioactive Iodine-131 of unknown origin was in January detected over large areas in Europe. Since the isotope has a half-life of only eight days, the detection is a proof of a rather recent release. Where the radioactivity is coming from is still a mystery.

President Donald Trump attacked the US media again Thursday at his first solo press conference, dismissing news outlets as dishonest. Trump said the US news media serve special interests and people profiting off what he called "a very, very obviously broken system."

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The fourth week of Donald Trump’s presidency has been tumultuous, with his top national security official being forced out due to scandal, reports that members of his campaign staff and associates had contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials last year, and various factions of his White House apparently knifing each other in the press. Meanwhile, an initial flurry of new policy actions has slowed to a crawl, his major immigration order remains blocked in the courts, and a significant legislative achievement remains far away.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis reiterates President Donald Trump’s NATO policy, signaling that allies should pay up if they want American support. Trump has been a staunch critic of US alliances, including with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, arguing that other members are not paying their fair share for the alliance while some of them are the ones causing most of the trouble for the bloc.