By ANDREW DALTON, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nick Reiner may finally enter a plea Monday in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, after two previous court hearings that brought some drama but little practical progress in the case.

Reiner is set to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for his arraignment on two counts of first-degree murder with his new attorney Kimberly Greene, a public defender.

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Reiner, 32, the third of Rob Reiner’s four children, has been held without bail since his arrest hours after the actor-director and his wife of 36 years were found dead with stab wounds on Dec. 14 at their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

Reiner’s previous attorney, the high-profile private lawyer Alan Jackson, had to quit the case at the previous hearing in January because of what he called circumstances beyond his and his client’s control. He said legal ethics would not allow him to say why, but in parting he adamantly declared outside the courthouse that “pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.”

Jackson did not elaborate but said the conclusion came after weeks of intensive investigation before his team had to hand the case off. He said he wanted to push back against false reporting on the case.

It’s not clear who hired Jackson to represent Reiner or who was paying the bill. Generally, defendants use public defenders when they can’t afford a private attorney.

Reiner is expected to plead not guilty, as is common for criminal defendants at this stage of the case, whatever their longer-term plan might be.

Reiner wore a suicide prevention smock at his initial court appearance in December but appeared without it at the hearing in January.

FILE – Rob Reiner, right, and wife Michele Singer Reiner attend the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” the LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings. Authorities said they were killed hours before the bodies were discovered. A court order has prevented the release of more details. Authorities have said nothing about possible motives.

Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty for Nick Reiner, who is eligible for it under the charges.

Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally… ,” during whose production he met photographer Michele Singer and married her soon after.

By AREF TUFAHA and MELANIE LIDMAN

TELL, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers vandalized a mosque in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Monday, spray-painting offensive phrases and setting a fire, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs Ministry.

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Worshippers coming for the first prayers of the day found the damage and a still smoldering fire, which spewed black smoke across the entrance of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in the town of Tell, near Nablus, and stained the ornate doorway.

“I was shocked when I opened the door,” said Munir Ramdan, who lives near the mosque. “The fire had been burning here in the area, the glass was broken here, and the door was broken.”

Security camera footage shows two people walking towards the mosque carrying gasoline and a can of spray paint, and running away a few minutes later, Ramdan said.

The Religious Affairs Ministry said that settlers vandalized or attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank last year. The incident came as Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan.

“The provocation is directed especially at the person who is fasting, because you are fasting and entering a month of mercy and forgiveness from God,” said Salem Ishtayeh, a resident of Tell. “So they like to provoke you with words — it’s not that they are attacking you personally, they are attacking your religion, the Islamic faith.”

People stand in front of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque following, according to Palestinian authorities, an attack by Israeli settlers on the West Bank village of Tell, near Nablus, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

The Israeli military and police said that they responded to the incident and were searching for suspects. The military said that it “strongly condemns” harm done to religious institutions.

Palestinians and rights groups say that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers or hold them accountable for violence.

There has been a recent surge in violence from settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. Last week, settlers killed a 19-year-old Palestinian-American man, Nasrallah Abu Siyam.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

By SAM McNEIL and SYLVIE CORBET

BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany, France and other European countries vowed their unwavering support for Ukraine on Monday as their diplomats scrambled to finalize new sanctions on Russia and a massive new loan for Kyiv ahead of the fourth anniversary of a war that has left an estimated 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead, wounded or missing.

They also struggled once again to persuade Hungary to support the latest EU efforts to help Ukraine and to make Russia pay an economic price for the all-out war that it launched against its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and which shows no signs of ending.

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Hungary, seen as the most pro-Russian member of the EU, threatened on the weekend to veto both the sanctions and a major loan meant to help Kyiv meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked what he called “four monstrous years of war” at a pro-Ukrainian event in Berlin on Monday.

“I appeal again to our European partners — do not let up in your support, in our common support, for Ukraine,” Merz said. “We are standing at a crossroads that could decide on the well-being of our whole continent.”

“No one can say today whether the weapons will fall silent in Ukraine in six weeks, in six months or even later,” Merz said. “But we are working for them to fall silent as quickly as possible.”

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “our determination to continue supporting Ukraine is unwavering.” He met with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, another staunch supporter of Ukraine who urged European allies to raise the costs on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

EU diplomats grapple with Hungary’s objections

Many EU leaders had hoped to move forward on the sanctions and loan before the anniversary of the war’s start Tuesday.

But EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the foreign ministers of the EU’s 27 member states meeting in Brussels would likely not agree Monday on the 20th package of sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet and energy revenues.

Hungary on the weekend threatened to block the sanctions and to obstruct a $106 billion loan for Ukraine which it had previously agreed to, saying it would stand firm until Russian oil deliveries to Hungary resume.

Russian oil shipments to both Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks that damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán doubled down Monday on an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine is deliberately holding back shipments of Russian oil, and accused Kyiv of seeking to topple his government. He referred to the oil supply disruptions as a “Ukrainian oil blockade” led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“No one has the right to put our energy security at risk,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said as he sparred with journalists in Brussels ahead of the meeting.

Nearly every country in Europe has significantly reduced or entirely ceased Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine. Yet Hungary and Slovakia, both EU and NATO members, have maintained and even increased supplies of Russian oil and gas, and received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Raising the pressure on Russia

Some European leaders stressed that the most effective way to get Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine is to raise the cost to Russia of continuing the war.

“This war will only end when Russia no longer sees any sense in continuing it; when Russia can no longer expect more territorial gains; when Russia’s costs for this madness have simply become too high,” Merz said. “We must dry up Moscow’s war financing.”

In Paris, Finland’s leader argued that Russia’s war in Ukraine was a “strategic failure” as he made the case for ratcheting up pressure on Putin.

“It is also a military failure — he is now losing many soldiers — and, on top of that, it is an economic failure,” Stubb said, speaking in French. “Putin is not winning this war, but he cannot make peace.”

The EU has already sent Ukraine $229.8 billion in financial assistance while at the same time squeezing Russia’s key energy exports.

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Hungary’s looming election hangs over EU talks

Facing a crucial election in less than two months, Orbán has launched an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign and accused the opposition Tisza party, which leads in most polls, of conspiring with the EU and Ukraine to install what he called Monday a “pro-Ukraine government aligned with Brussels and Kyiv.”

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he believed Hungary’s veto threat could really be about Orbán’s fierce fight to hold onto power.

Orbán, the EU’s longest-serving leader, will face off in April against the greatest challenge to his power since he took office in 2010.

“I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,” Sikorski said in Brussels. “The ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And then it is now trying to exploit that in the general election. It’s quite shocking.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Hungary had already agreed in December to the EU loan, and it is unclear how it can backtrack now.

“We must release that. We must find an agreement between the member states because Ukraine needs this money heavily,” said Margus Tsahkna, the foreign minister of Estonia, which on Tuesday will celebrate the 108th anniversary of its independence from then-Soviet Russia in 1918.

Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Caribbean country of St. Kitts and Nevis this week to reassert the Trump administration’s interests in the Western Hemisphere just a month after the U.S. military operation that removed then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power.

With the eyes of much of the world on the U.S military buildup in the Middle East and President Donald Trump’s threats to attack Iran, Rubio will make a one-day visit to St. Kitts on Wednesday to participate in a summit of leaders from the Caribbean Community, the State Department said.

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Rubio has long championed a greater U.S. role in the Western Hemisphere and aims to keep it in focus even as Trump’s Republican administration has now shifted its top foreign policy priority to Iran, around which American forces are now massing in even larger numbers than in the run-up to the Jan. 3 Venezuela operation that captured and deposed Maduro.

Maduro has been accused in a U.S. court of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. and has pleaded not guilty.

Trump’s action against Maduro coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration have proven a concern for many in the region although they have also won support from some smaller states.

Trump, Rubio and others have likened the administration’s Western Hemisphere strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout in what they consider to be “America’s backyard.”

Trump has said his ouster of Maduro, military strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seizures of sanctioned oil tankers and tightened embargo of Cuba are key parts of a Trump corollary to the 19th-century policy that he refers to as the “Donroe Doctrine.”

In numerous group and bilateral meetings at the CARICOM meeting, Rubio intends to discuss ways to promote regional security and stability, trade and economic growth, the State Department said in a statement on Monday.

“During his visit, the Secretary will reaffirm the United States’ commitment to working with CARICOM member states to enhance stability and prosperity in our hemisphere,” it said.