Target is investing another $2 billion in its business this year to spruce up the store experience, remodel stores and invest in its workers as it tries to turn around a persistent sales malaise and reclaim its authority on style. The investment, announced Tuesday at its annual investor meeting at its headquarters in Minneapolis, comes as the discounter reported another quarter of declining sales and profits amid its struggles to regain its footing with customers who are going elsewhere for fashion, home and other needs. Tuesday’s report offered some hope for the business. The company delivered a better-than-expected annual profit outlook. It also said it believes net sales will grow every quarter this year. Target said comparable-store sales rose to start the current quarter.

A Detroit-area judge has erased a 1999 murder conviction after prosecutors acknowledged that a confession was coerced by a rogue police officer. George Calicut Jr. is out of a Michigan prison after more than 25 years in custody. He was serving a life sentence. The 56-year-old Calicut has long professed his innocence in the death of a Detroit woman and said he never saw his purported confession until trial. There were no eyewitnesses or physical evidence against him.

A jury in Georgia quickly convicted a man who gave his son a gun linked to the fatal shooting of two students and two teachers. Colin Gray is the latest U.S. parent taken to court for when a child is accused of gun violence. Prosecutors in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Virginia have extended responsibility beyond the shooters if they believe there's evidence that a parent contributed to the violence. Prosecutors in Georgia say Gray knew his son had mental health problems.

A Georgia man who gave his teenage son the gun he’s accused of using to kill two students and two teachers at a high school has been convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Colin Gray also was found guilty Tuesday of all other charges in the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, northeast of Atlanta. Gray is one of several parents prosecuted after their children were accused in fatal shootings. Prosecutors said Gray gave his son access to a gun and ammunition despite “sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger” other people.

The largest U.S. diplomatic drawdown in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War is creating an apparently unplanned for crisis for the Trump administration. The State Department has been forced to close several embassies to the public, shut down at least one consulate, order the departure of embassy staff and families from at least six nations and advise Americans in 14 countries to leave the region immediately. That's despite the war closing major airports and causing widespread flight cancellations. The State Department said Tuesday that it was securing military and charter flights for Americans who wish to leave the Middle East.” It's not clear whether any have been arranged.

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has fueled a disagreement between U.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Britain hasn't joined in the strikes on Iran and Trump said in an interview published in a British tabloid on Tuesday that the trans-Atlantic relationship is “not what it was.” Starmer initially blocked U.S. planes from using British bases for the first attacks that began on Saturday. He later allowed U.S. bombers to use bases in England and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to strike Iran's missile program. Starmer told lawmakers that "any U.K. actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan.”

Cities across the U.S. have been integrating video monitoring, GPS mapping and artificial intelligence into snow removal operations that once relied almost entirely on manual planning. Public trust seems to be rising as a result. Complaint calls in Syracuse, New York, have dropped by 30% under a new system that lets residents check how often their streets have been plowed. Some cities use GPS to find the nearest snowplow or allow supervisors to watch a video feed in real-time along with the driver. With U.S. cities and states spending upward of $4 billion each year on snow operations, new technology also helps assure the roads aren’t overplowed or oversalted.

Who says to beware the Ides of March? The upside of a prolonged Oscar race has meant some unexpected late drama. For months, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” sailed through awards season, picking up prize after prize. But the wins for “Sinners” and Michael B. Jordan at Sunday’s Actor Awards have given the Oscar race what Smoke or Stack might call fresh blood. An Academy Awards that had looked like a runaway might be a close call, after all.

Tens of thousands of people are stranded across the Middle East as the Iran war spreads throughout the region. They range from Romanian religious pilgrims to tourists and diplomats’ family members. Major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region. And airspace across the Gulf is closed. Some of the stranded travelers have been forced to seek shelter amid airstrikes. Others are marooned aboard cruise ships that can't sail through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. State Department has urged all Americans to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries. The U.S. State Department has also evacuated nonemergency personnel and families in six nations. It added the United Arab Emirates to its list on Tuesday.

Israel has sent troops into southern Lebanon and told residents of more than 80 villages to evacuate as the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group said it was ready for an “open war” with Israel in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Tuesday's development came after Hezbollah fired rockets and launched drones toward northern Israel the previous day. Israel retaliated with a wave of airstrikes that killed 40 people in Lebanon, including a Palestinian militant and a Hezbollah intelligence official in Beirut’s southern suburbs. A Hezbollah official, Mohamoud Komati, said Israel wanted a war and added: So let it be an open war.”

The principal songwriters of The Guess Who are set to tour the U.S. later this year for the first time in over two decades. Original guitarist Randy Bachman and singer-keyboardist Burton Cummings have already announced a Canadian tour this summer. They are adding more than 20 U.S. dates, starting June 25 in Minneapolis. The last time they toured the U.S. as The Guess Who was in 2001. A trademark dispute with former bandmates delayed their return, but a settlement was reached in September 2024. Bachman and Cummings promise a setlist of classic hits, aiming to honor the music and connect with fans.

Cadillac brings a new American team to the Formula 1 grid as the season opens in Australia. The team makes its racing debut this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The project started with Michael Andretti’s bid, but it now belongs to TWG Motorsports and General Motors. The group kept building the car and engine even after F1 first said no. Cadillac signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas to lead the effort. The team leases Ferrari engines until its General Motors engines are ready. Many expect early struggles, but Cadillac says it has come to win.