Health news today swung between political spectacle and medical promise. In Washington, Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment at a combative Senate hearing on the U.S. COVID response and the virus’s origins, turning a long-running political feud into a fresh flashpoint over accountability, research funding and pandemic decision-making. Elsewhere, the courts and public life intersected in very different ways: in Britain, Amy Winehouse’s father was ordered to pay nearly £1 million in legal costs after failing in his challenge over the auction of the late singer’s belongings, while tributes poured in for veteran actor Tom Chadbon, remembered for roles from Doctor Who to Game of Thrones, who has died at 80. In Lebanon, prosecutors were pressed to investigate banker Antoun Sehnaoui over an alleged meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. And in Australia, a rare note of optimism: a new Alzheimer’s blood test promises results in just 18 minutes, raising hopes for earlier diagnosis.