Month: October 2026

US president’s executive order comes two days before sanctions deadline and a week after diesel deal with Putin.

US President Donald Trump has put on hold a sweeping package of sanctions on Russia that he signed into law last month, telling Congress the pause is in the national interest.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday, two days before a deadline in the law that would put the sanctions into effect.

The law – named after Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who died unexpectedly in July after returning from Ukraine – had passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate by large margins. The bipartisan legislation was drafted by Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

It sought to starve Moscow of money for the war by sanctioning Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers carrying its energy.

It also directed Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five biggest importers of Russian oil or gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15 percent of Russia’s natural gas exports and are taking steps to cut them.

Diesel deal and criticism

The decision to suspend the sanctions comes a week after Trump said the US had signed a deal to buy diesel from Russia to try to lower global fuel prices.

Both Republicans and Democrats, criticising the deal, said it would help Russia’s war effort without affecting fuel prices.

Democratic Representative Don Beyer said he and others had “warned” that Trump might do this, in reference to Trump’s deal with Moscow.

Beyer called on Congress to “fix this flawed law to stop Trump from capitulating to Putin and ensure that it truly supports Ukraine”.

Trump has also increasingly criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lately for failing to reach a deal with Russia.

As Republicans try to keep control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections, an AP-NORC poll released on October 1 found Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices among several other domestic policy issues.

The heart of Screenland is cozying up to artificial intelligence.

The open space in Culver Steps typically hosts community events and movie nights. But on Wednesday, it turned into a job fair for companies looking to hire talent for AI studios.

Companies showed off their life-like AI videos, urging emerging talent — and out-of-work creatives — to join them as they worked to reinvent traditional filmmaking.

“It’s a great breeding ground for this new filmmaking,” Dave Clark, cofounder of AI film production studio Promise, said about Culver City. “To the independent filmmakers here, it’s time to take back power.”

The event was part of LA Tech Week, a citywide event organized by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Culver City is already home to big names in Hollywood and technology like Amazon MGM Studios, TikTok, Apple, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Recently, a growing cluster of AI studios, including Promise, TrueShort, Native Foreign, and PhantomX, are expanding in the neighborhood.

Luma AI, a $4-billion Palo Alto startup that makes generative AI video software, opened a facility in Culver City last year. The company’s Dream Lab occupies a 7,000 square feet space and employs a team of 13.

“Culver City is the future of AI and filmmaking,” Caroline Ingeborn, Luma AI’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.

The companies said they are drawn by the legacy studios they hope to rival. The fact that space is available and affordable thanks to the general decline of the entertainment business in L.A. also helps.

Proponents of AI see it as an antidote to high production costs and say it allows creatives to make films that otherwise would never be made. However, many in Hollywood, its unions, and the public at large are suspicious of the surge in AI use, worried it is stealing the work of human creatives and taking people’s jobs.

The new wave of AI filmmakers have accepted the rise of AI as inevitable, and are forging ahead, increasingly in Culver City.

The city is not opposed to it.

“We’re a hub for the creative economy that is continuing to evolve,” said Adam Troy, Culver City assistant city manager, in a statement. “We look forward to what’s next in the space and what businesses see their future here in Culver City.”

TrueShort moved into Culver City last month, taking over most of a 5,000-square-foot office space near Amazon’s studio. The AI studio has raised $17 million and employs about 45 people. Around 75% of them are creatives: filmmakers, editors, sound designers and composers.

Its streaming app hosts short-form true crime audio and video shows that are fully AI-generated. On average, a 10-minute episode costs about $10,000 to make and takes about 10 days to go from idea to release.

“The next Netflix or the next Disney is going to come out of AI this time,” said Nate Tepper, cofounder of TrueShort. “And, in a way, it kind of needs to be a startup because the big incumbents are not going to move as fast. They’re going to be afraid of backlash.”

The company outgrew its Santa Monica office and is now located near Culver Theater.

“It is cool being next to the other bigger lots like Sony and Amazon, only because it’s inspiring,” Tepper said. “We want the lot. We want to become the big studio.”

Culver City-based creative studio Native Foreign makes AI commercials for brands that are more open than Hollywood about AI use. It has done ads for Virgin and Toys R Us.

It made one of the first AI-animated shorts, “Critterz,” using OpenAI’s software and planned to help make a movie based on it, but OpenAI pulled out of the project and canceled its video-making AI model.

“We don’t have the kind of opportunities that maybe some huge huge studios and companies have, so we are able to bag above our weight with these tools,” Nik Kleverov, co-founder of the company, said on a panel at LA Tech Week.

Google-backed Promise is another Culver City-adjacent AI studio that’s a proponent of hybrid productions, where human actors work with AI specialists. The company uses AI to generate backgrounds, visual effects, and synthetic humans for its slate of films, but a lot of the performances are shot on soundstages across L.A. using actors.

In late 2024, the studio acquired Curious Refuge, an online AI school that teaches traditional artists and newbies to use generative AI tools for filmmaking. Promise moved close to Culver from Venice in June.

Excitement about AI grows even as the industry puts up guardrails to contain it. The actors’ guild SAG-AFTRA has secured special protection against fully synthetic performers in the union contract signed this year.

However, some Hollywood veterans point out that the industry has fought over technology before. Alex Cancado, who spent years in visual effects and has worked on over 80 movies, now works in the AI Studios division of Amazon MGM Studios.

Pitching the crowd of creatives on Wednesday, he said the transition from practical effects to computer graphics was equally fraught.

“It was a challenge getting CG to be accepted by directors and producers,” Cancado said.

Much of the buzz around AI use for big productions started with a conference in Culver City called “AI on the Lot,” which started in 2023. It has since grown to thousands of attendees.

The organization also sponsored the job fair on Culver Steps and a networking happy hour for media AI companies in Culver City. It estimates that AI media companies with $2 billion in backing have converged on the city.

Mike Gioia, a founder of AI on the Lot, attends City Hall meetings and is trying to build momentum around the concept of a “Culver cluster” — bringing more companies and individuals working in AI to the neighborhood.

“We want to make Culver City the capital of AI media,” said Gioia.

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

(Games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

DIVISION 2

Los Osos at Newport Harbor

Redondo Union at Crean Lutheran

San Juan Hills at Mayfield

Corona Centennial at Bishop Montgomery

Eastvale Roosevelt at Orange Lutheran

Palos Verdes at Murrieta Valley

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at West Ranch

Campbell Hall at Long Beach Poly

DIVISION 4

Trabuco Hills at Portola

Summit at Burbank Burroughs

North Torrance at El Dorado

Whitney at Yorba Linda

Santa Monica at Arcadia

San Marino at Notre Dame Academy

Ventura at Oak Hills

Tesoro at Vista Murrieta

Village Christian at Ayala

Ontario Christian at Santa Barbara

Laguna Beach at Rancho Cucamonga

San Dimas at Hemet

La Palma Kennedy at Glendora

Xavier Prep at Royal

Chadwick at Bonita

Linfield Christian at Chino Hills

DIVISION 6

Laguna Hills at Alta Loma

Granite Hills at Villa Park

Torrance at Dos Pueblos

Bishop Diego at Temescal Canyon

Le Lycee at Temecula Prep

Woodbridge at St. Bonaventure

Rowland at Capistrano Valley Christian

Loma Linda Academy at Ridgecrest Burroughs

Oxford Academy at Castaic

Santa Fe at Rancho Christian

Palm Springs at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel

Norte Vista at Rim of the World

Schurr at Holy Martyrs

Mayfair at Norwalk

Oxnard at Yucaipa

Covina at Lakewood

DIVISION 8

Montclair at Samueli Academy

Bellflower at Bolsa Grande

San Gorgonio at Oxnard Pacifica

El Rancho at San Gabriel Academy

Western at San Jacinto Valley

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy at Fairmont Prep

Colony at Burbank

University Prep at Riverside Prep

Lancaster Desert Christian at Garden Grove Pacifica

Westminster La Quinta at Lighthouse Christian

Jurupa Valley at Kaiser

Orange Vista at Rio Mesa

Ramona at Big Bear

Geffen Academy at Pomona Catholic

Artesia at Century

West Valley at Bell Gardens

DIVISION 10

Perris at Leuzinger

Glendale at California School for the Deaf Riverside

Orange at Beacon Hill

Avalon at Canyon Springs

Orange County Classical Academy at Indian Springs

Compton at Adelanto

Anza Hamilton at Chaffey

Bassett at New Roads

Westmark at La Quinta

Miller at Glendale Adventist

Loara at Montebello

Rosemead at Redlands Adventist

Cathedral City at Lancaster

Dominguez at Ganesha

River Springs at Cornerstone Christian

Santa Ana Valley at St. Mary’s Academy

Note: Second Round (Divisions 4, 6, 8, 10) Thurs., Oct. 22; Quarterfinals (Divisions 2, 4, 6, 8 10) Tues., Oct. 27 at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Sat., Oct. 31 at higher seeds; Finals Nov. 6 or 7 at TBA.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

First Round

DIVISION 1

Pool A

#8 Harvard-Westlake at #1 Mater Dei

#5 Santa Margarita at #4 Oaks Christian

Pool B

#7 Marymount at #2 Sierra Canyon

#6 Los Alamitos at #3 Mira Costa

Note: Open Division second round pool play Tues., Oct. 27; Third round pool play Sat., Oct. 31. Finals Sat., Nov. 7 at Cerritos College.

DIVISION 3

Cerritos at Sunny Hills

Oak Park at Santa Ana Foothill

Chaminade at Cerritos Valley Christian

Alemany at Beckman

Corona Santiago at Newbury Park

Redlands at Rosary

Murrieta Mesa at Etiwanda

Saugus at Thousand Oaks

Claremont at Corona del Mar

Flintridge Prep at Millikan

Bishop Amat at St. Margaret’s

La Salle at Huntington Beach

Chaparral at Crescenta Valley

Crossroads at La Canada

Lakewood St. Joseph at Marina

Aliso Niguel at Windward

DIVISION 5

West Torrance at Marlborough

Liberty at Academy of Academic Excellence

Hesperia Christian at Peninsula

Moorpark at Canyon Country Canyon

Troy at El Toro

Western Christian at Valencia

Culver City at San Jacinto

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian at St. Anthony

Southlands Christian at Viewpoint

Westridge at Arrowhead Christian

Irvine at Beaumont

Gahr at Paraclete

Maranatha at Sultana

Burbank Providence at La Serna

Quartz Hill at Temple City

Palm Desert at Capistrano Valley

DIVISION 7

CAMS at Pasadena

Immaculate Heart at Tustin

Brea Olinda at Laguna Blanca

Chino at Sacred Heart Los Angeles

South Hills at Placentia Valencia

Trinity Classical Academy at Nordhoff

Highland at Barstow

Webb at Mary Star of the Sea

Eisenhower at Pasadena Marshall

Whittier at Beverly Hills

Rialto at Vistamar

Northview at Calvary Baptist

Indio at Fullerton

Tahquitz at Buckley

Rio Hondo Prep at Arlington

St. Genevieve at Foothill Tech

DIVISION 9

Santa Paula at Rancho Mirage

Canoga Park AGBU at Saddleback

Cobalt at San Jacinto Valley Academy

Anaheim at St. Monica Academy

Carter at Nogales

Carpinteria at Santa Rosa Academy

Vasquez at Westminster

Azusa at Moreno Valley

St. Jeane de Lestonnac at Santa Clarita Christian

Jurupa Hills at Sierra Vista

Victor Valley at Desert Christian Academy

Wildwood at Hillcrest

Excelsior Charter at Buena Park

Milken Community at Eastside

California at Garden Grove

Twentynine Palms at Shadow Hills

DIVISION 11

Grove at Compton Early College

Ambassador Christian at El Monte Arroyo

Rubidoux at Mesrobian

Animo Leadership at Ramona

Long Beach First Baptist at La Sierra Academy

Thacher at Pacific Lutheran

Grace at Shalhevet

New Covenant at Newport Christian

Oak Grove at Tarbut V’ Torah

Cal Lutheran at Workman

EF Academy at Santa Clara

Desert Chapel at Lynwood

Norton Science Academy at Newbury Park Adventist

Liberty Christian at Joshua Springs

River Springs at Downey Calvary Chapel

Riverside Bethel Christian at Silver Valley

Note: Second round (Divisions 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) Sat., Oct. 24; Quarterfinals (Divisions 3, 5, 7, 9) Wed., Oct. 28; Semifinals (all divisions) Oct. 31; Finals (all divisions) Sat., Nov. 7 at TBA.

The fast-spreading Norte Fire in Orange County is fuelled by intense warm winds and unseasonably high temperatures.

A fast-spreading wildfire in Orange County, in Southern California, has engulfed several coastal properties and prompted widespread evacuation orders.

The Orange County Fire Authority said on Friday that the Norte Fire had scorched about 188 hectares (465 acres), with the state’s Cal Fire agency putting it at about 231 hectares (570 acres) by the evening, and that at least six homes had been damaged or destroyed in the San Juan Capistrano area.

The fire authority said firefighters were “aggressively attacking the fire from the ground and air” and issued pleas for people to stay clear of the area.

Unseasonably high temperatures and low humidity are fuelling the rapid growth of the fire, the AFP news agency reported.

The Norte Fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente on Friday and moved to the city of San Juan Capistrano, with some 6,000 homes and 16,000 residents under evacuation orders by the evening. An evacuation shelter has opened in each city while helicopters attempt to douse the flames.

Intense warm winds

The Norte Fire is one of several in the region driven by Santa Ana winds, intense warm gusts that blow from the southwest US interior towards the California coast.

The Santa Ana winds typically arrive in the autumn, right when Southern California’s vegetation is at its driest after a long, rainless summer, according to The Weather Channel.

Forecasters said winds blew at between 55km/h and 90km/h (35mph and 55mph) within coastal areas.

The strongest winds were expected through Friday, but the high heat and low humidity conditions that contribute to the growth of the fire are expected to last through Saturday night.

Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County were left without power as authorities attempted to lessen the possibility of electrical sparks that the heavy wind gusts could carry.

Other ongoing fires

California firefighters were also busy battling the Bryson Fire, which broke out on the outskirts of the Malibu beach community in Los Angeles County on Thursday. As of Friday, the fire had burned about 59 hectares (147 acres) and was 17 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

The Henderson Fire was 20 percent contained and had burned 842 hectares (2,080 acres) in San Diego County by Friday, Cal Fire said. The blaze impacted Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and prompted freeway closures.

There is now a six day wait to find out if Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall has been murdered – or if the Traitors failed.

Celebrity Traitors fans now have a tense wait to discover whether Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall will seal their own fate by yawning in the castle – or if the turret trio will fail their challenge to kill in plain sight.

In the UK game, the Traitors have never faltered at this before, but it has happened in international versions including in Denmark and Canada, when it was felt too many people were present to carry out the task – set by producers – without being caught.

If Maya Jama, James Acaster and Kenny Ojuederie do fail, their punishment would come in the form of a missed murder, meaning everyone arrives at breakfast the following morning and wonders what happened.

Jerry, 70, did say she was feeling tired during last night’s programme but did not respond to the many yawns made by Maya and James, which normally prompt a copycat response.

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If Ross succumbs, it could be seen as a fitting end to his time in the castle after he spent the whole of the first day convinced he’d been murdered in plain sight by first Bella Ramsey and then Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

Jerry – voted as the player whose head was most in the clouds during the latest mission – would be greatly missed for her eccentric ways, while Ross’s huge contribution to the missions would also be a sad loss for the whole team.

In last night’s show the ex-EastEnder, 62, said he felt angry with the Traitors for repeatedly setting him up and making the other Faithful feel suspicious of him.

But this time he and Jerry have been selected entirely at random, in the same way that Paloma Faith became Alan Carr’s first kill last year, even though she was one of his best pals.

The challenge, which left all three of the Traitors feeling the pressure, was to get any of the Faithful to yawn in a specific room after spraying some “deadly sleeping powder” from a perfume bottle, which would be breathed in.

Reading out the instructions in disbelief, comedian James said: “To seal the murder you must then say, ’Am I boring you?’ – followed by the victim’s name. I can’t believe this.” Viewers won’t discover the outcome until next Thursday’s episode at 8pm on BBC1.

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CLEVELAND — Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians was postponed because of rain Friday night.

Major League Baseball was hoping there would be a three-hour window of dry weather to get the game in, but the showers never let up.

“It never cleared out the way they were hoping. It started to get later in the hour, and MLB and I think both clubs did everything they could to try to get it in,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Made the most sense, like, at this point and this hour, with no guarantee that there wasn’t another band coming.”

The teams will resume their playoff series Saturday at 5 p.m. PT, with Game 5 also at Progressive Field on Sunday at 2 p.m., and Game 6, if necessary, on Monday at 5 p.m. in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“We knew how many days ago that today was going to be a challenge. Numerous weather calls, numerous back and forths, and ultimately MLB decided we needed to wait it out,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Obviously it’s an important game, and we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to play the games when they’re scheduled. But MLB ultimately decided to wait this one out.”

It is the first time an ALCS game has been postponed since 2019, when the New York Yankees were hosting the Houston Astros.

The Guardians have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Petey Halpin’s two-run homer propelled them to a 3-2 victory in Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.

Both teams will stick with their scheduled Game 4 starters from Friday. Cleveland will go with a bullpen game, with Shawn Armstrong being the opener. Nick Martinez will pitch for Tampa Bay.

It will be Armstrong’s fifth appearance this postseason. The right-hander has allowed only one hit in 5⅓ innings with five strikeouts.

Armstrong thought his season was done in late July when he strained a calf muscle, but he returned during the final week of the regular season.

Armstrong was drafted by Cleveland in the 18th round in 2011 and made his big league debut four years later. He was traded to Seattle in 2017 and spent time with four other organizations, including Tampa Bay, before signing with the Guardians this season.

“I think I said it to [Erik] Sabrowski, whenever we were standing in the outfield in Game 2 in Tampa — obviously I played here, I got drafted here, coming back here and being able to be in this situation is — words can’t describe it,” Armstrong said before Game 3 on Thursday.

Martinez started Game 3 of the division series against the New York Yankees. He went 3⅔ innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. The right-hander was 15-6 during the regular season and ranked sixth in the AL with a 3.10 ERA. He was third in the AL with 26 starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer.

“It’s just like my starts throughout the year; it’s going to be a dogfight going in, just to see how many outs I can get for this team. It’s important,” he said Thursday.

The teams might have to play the final four games of the series without a day off, culminating in a potential Game 7 on Tuesday. That could be welcome news for the Milwaukee Brewers, who have a week off before they open the World Series at home on Oct. 23 against the Cleveland-Tampa Bay winner.

Milwaukee is in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1982 after completing a four-game sweep of the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers in the NL Championship Series on Thursday night.

“We’ve got four games in a row. We have an opportunity to win some games and move on. And that’s all we’re focused on,” Vogt said.

Reedy writes for the Associated Press.

Data show a 42 percent drop in forest clearance from a year earlier, giving Lula a boost before the election run-off.

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to official figures that give a boost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva days before a presidential run-off.

Brazil’s space research agency, Inpe, said on Friday that 3,335 square kilometres (1,288 square miles) of forest were cleared in the 12 months through July, about 42 percent less than the year before.

The previous record low was 4,571 sq km (1,765 sq miles) in 2011-12, while annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 sq km (nearly 11,600 sq miles) in the mid-1990s, according to Inpe’s Prodes satellite programme, which measures from August to July because cloud cover is lower in mid-year.

“It’s an absolutely stratospheric drop…it’s like a dream,” Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said at a news conference in Brasilia.

Marcio Astrini of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima called the figures “a historic achievement” and said they show that “with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions”.

President Lula wrote on X: “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.”

Lula took office in 2023 pledging to end illegal deforestation by 2030, after clearing soared to a 15-year high under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon lost about 11,600 sq km (about 4,480 sq miles) a year on average during Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 term, almost 60 percent more than in the previous four years.

Deforestation has fallen every year since 2022 and is down 71.2 percent over four years. The AFP news agency attributes the drop to greater monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging.

Lula faces Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in the election run-off on October 25, with polls showing them neck and neck.

Flavio pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, focus enforcement on organised crime rather than extractive workers and small farmers, and end “illegal deforestation” by 2029.

He has also praised his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for coup plotting, for opposing what he calls a “radical environmental agenda”.

Deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, south of the Amazon, also fell by about 24 percent, to 5,517 sq km (2,130 sq miles), the lowest since records began in 2001.

Riot police clash with protesters for fourth day, as young Albanians protest corruption and poor university conditions

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has blamed “foreign hands” for the increasingly violent student-led protests that are calling on him to resign.

Riot police clashed with protesters outside the education ministry for the fourth day in a row, as thousands of young Albanians marched through the capital, Tirana, on Friday to protest government corruption and poor university conditions.

“This is not a student phenomenon,” Rama said in a video address on Friday. He said there were “foreign hands that do not wish for Albania to be at peace”.

Rama insisted that the protest had “absolutely nothing to do with the hardships, problems or legitimate aspirations of anyone who desires a better life”.

Police officers used water cannon and tear gas as demonstrators hurled rocks.

The protests have spread beyond the capital to Elbasan, Shkodra and Korca, where demonstrators broke windows and set fire to rubbish bins, local media reported.

The ongoing escalation follows months of mostly peaceful demonstrations, originally sparked by the sale of part of Albania’s coastline to a luxury resort development linked to Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Days of unrest have increasingly targeted banks and government buildings. Protesters hurled bricks and concrete blocks at the education ministry on Tuesday. They also set fire to several buildings across the city, including the prime minister’s office, the finance and justice ministry buildings and branches of several banks.

According to a police statement, 160 people were detained over alleged acts of violence on Thursday evening.

The EU question

Demonstrators are demanding Rama’s resignation, as well as electoral and education reforms.

The prime minister, whose government denies corruption, said he would be ready to discuss rising education costs but rejected the calls to resign.

He said on Thursday, “My responsibility is to listen, address legitimate concerns and keep Albania moving forward.”

His dismissal “would be a betrayal of the Albanians who gave me a strong mandate to complete negotiations on European Union membership”, he added.

Corruption scandals have complicated Albania’s efforts to join the EU. Analysts say the country is a hub for gangs seeking to launder money from drugs and weapons trafficking.

Rama won a fourth term last year on promises to take Albania into the EU, aiming for membership as early as 2028.

Joe Lycett was voted off after telling the Faithful he was desperate to become a Traitor, admitting afterwards ‘I’ve done this to myself’

Banished Faithful Joe Lycett was so desperate for a green cloak that after being voted out of The Celebrity Traitors he called for a rule change allowing dumped players to return as baddies.

His exit last night came after he loudly proclaimed he wanted to be recruited into the turret – which didn’t happen – but nobody believed him when he truthfully announced his disappointment the next morning.

“I’d like to motivate the Traitors to find an unknown clause in the contract that can bring back a Faithful that’s been banished to recruit because I’m there if they want me,” he laughed.

The comedian, 38, received 11 of the 14 votes after what seemed like a big slip-up at the round table in which he said that if he went, the Traitors would need to recruit again. Afterwards he acknowledged that he only had himself to blame. “I sort of didn’t play being a Faithful or a Traitor right. I tried to straddle both, and I was being greedy and I was rightly punished for it.

“I’m a silly billy – it was a combination of me begging for recruitment and then the Faithful being thick as mince. I concede I’ve done this very much to myself, but I was too hungry to be recruited. And you know, if being passionate is a crime, then banish me from the castle.”

Joe, who was instrumental in exposing Richard E Grant as a Traitor by asking him what he was on the first day, said the experience of being kept separate from friends and family during filming had been enjoyable. Asked to explain what he’d learned about himself by taking part in the game, he said: “The word that comes to mind for this whole experience is gratitude. It’s made me really grateful for my life. I’m really grateful that I am in a position that I get to experience this, because I’m famous enough to be in the mix. I loved having my phone taken away from me, and I’m really grateful for the fact that I have a lovely life to miss.”

Admitting that the game was sometimes “infuriating”, but also “joyous and thrilling”, Joe said he thinks the most likely winner is Romesh Ranganathan. “I think Romesh is a front runner,” he said. “I think he’s kind of unreadable but may get heat just on that basis. Then I think there could be a real curve ball, like Jerry or Joanne, someone who’s playing it in a way that’s out there.”

But he said it was hard to stick to strategies when you were inside the castle. “I’ve gone to Round Tables not knowing who I was going to vote for, and I don’t know who’s a Traitor – any of them could win at this stage.”

Miranda Hart formed such a close bond with Joe during their time filming together that she wept when he left – having refused to put his name on her slate and writing Ross instead. During the programme she explained: “Three or four years ago, due to illness, I thought that I might not ever have a gentle walk around a park again. Now I find myself on a Scottish Highland wheelbarrowing along a very large head. It’s really exciting.”

Miranda, 53, has been suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome for many years, which she believes was caused by having Lyme disease as a teenager. Having recently recovered enough to sign up for the programme, she has joined in with the missions wholeheartedly. In last night’s effort she grew tired carrying the statue parts at one point so swapped to transport a giant head in a wheelbarrow towards the plinth where it could be erected on top of its body, earning money for the prize pot. The current fund stands at £46,000, after the players successfully constructed five out of the six statues.

The comedy star tearfully told James Acaster that having fun outside with Joe had made her feel the happiest she’d felt in a long time. “I can’t believe how emotional I’m getting,” she said, as the floodgates opened. “Connection and laughter and joy are bigger than this game and to meet someone and to just play and laugh, it’s all us humans need.”

The good news is that she is proving so popular in the castle that many fans are calling for a return of her BBC sitcom Miranda, which last aired with a Christmas special in 2015. Another suggestion is that she stars in a different show. “A Miranda detective series like Jonathan Creek would be… such fun!” one fan said.

Joe felt that he would miss her too. “Miranda is someone that I’ve met briefly in the past and I’ve always loved. I’m really pleased that I got a chance to play with her, do some sort of an improv, essentially, and kind of mess about. I got very close with her.”

He said that – against his expectations – he’d got on well with everyone. “I really, really liked them all – and didn’t expect to when I saw the lineup. I thought, well, there’s going to be some people I’m going to find difficult, or are divas or whatever. And the reality was completely different.”

Joe’s high point came right at the start when he asked the question that sparked Richard E Grant’s astonishing outburst. The comic said he was glad he hadn’t been persuaded to ignore it. “I know lots of people tried to steer me away from it, but I was like, there’s no game around that, he absolutely meant it when he said it to me. God knows what was going through his head. It was an absolutely superb, classic, Richard E. Grant way of responding to this game. It’s one of the most iconic performances I’ve ever seen.”

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Canada fight back to beat England 24-21 in Toronto in the opening match of the WXV Global Series, with Shoshanah Seumanutafa’s 77th-minute try ending the Red Roses’ unbeaten run, stretching back to the 2022 Rugby World Cup final.

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At least 11 people believed to still be missing, with rescue operations underway.

The US coastguard has said it rescued 16 people from the Pacific Ocean after a boat sank off Mexico’s Baja coast.

The coastguard said on Friday it responded to a Mayday call reporting that a boat was sinking. The search is ongoing for 11 people believed to be still missing.

The boat went down about 225km (140 miles) west of Ensenada, Mexico.

A rescue helicopter reached the site about two hours after someone on the boat transmitted the Mayday call at about 1am (08:00 GMT) on Friday, said coastguard Lieutenant Santiago Tamburini.

It took about 90 minutes for the coastguard crew, which included a rescue swimmer, to pull the 16 people from the water, Tamburini said.

The people rescued were Mexican nationals, according to the Mexican consulate.

One survivor was being treated for a suspected shark bite and two were in critical condition, authorities said.

The rescued were flown by helicopter to San Diego, California, and transported to hospitals. The Mexican consulate in San Diego said it offered consular assistance.

The coastguard and US Navy are continuing to search the area with two helicopters, a fixed-wing plane, a cutter and a navy combat ship.

The boat sank in an area frequented by smugglers transporting migrants to the US. It is also popular with fishing and leisure boats.

Details about the boat’s origin, destination and what it was doing are not clear. No vessel, only debris, was found, and it was unclear what type of boat was involved, the coastguard said.

“Boats in that area can be for fishing, leisure, personal recreation. We just don’t know what they were doing out there. We all know it’s a suspected smuggling route,” Tamburini said.

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been relocated to a new prison, following reports of lavish prison perks and a head injury that saw him hospitalized.

The 56-year-old was transferred on Friday from FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey to FCI Allenwood, a low-security prison in Pennsylvania, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed with The Times.

Combs’ representatives welcomed the change.

“We appreciate the Bureau of Prisons taking the safety and security of Sean and everyone involved seriously,” Combs’ spokesperson said in an email to The Times on Friday. “His transfer from one low-security facility to another is an important distinction, and while we cannot speak to the BOP’s specific reasons for the move, it is consistent with a decision made with safety and security in mind. We are grateful for the attention being given to his well-being and hope he can continue serving his time without unnecessary disruption.”

Although the Bureau of Prisons is not at liberty to disclose the reasons for the transfer, it has been a hectic series of weeks for the disgraced music mogul, who was convicted in July 2025 of transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances known as “freak-offs” and sentenced to 50 months in prison in October that year.

During his time at FCI Fort Dix, Combs was reportedly living a pampered lifestyle behind bars. Combs paid inmates to clean and cook special meals for him, including curry chicken, pizza and empanadas, and that the hip-hop artist also received Chinese-style massages, four sources told NBC News. They also reported that the hip-hop and R&B music producer obtained a contraband phone, had access to a “jailbroken” tablet and had smuggled an illegal stash of alcohol.

To pay for the labor, individuals outside of the prison were allegedly paying thousands of dollars into the commissary accounts of those serving the “Bad Boy for Life” rapper, the sources claimed.

Reports of his posh prison life emerged on Sept. 29, just as news of Diddy’s shortened prison stint made headlines. His release date had moved up to Jan. 21, 2028, a September search of the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database showed. Following the prison perk allegations against the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer, however, an updated search on the database revealed that his release was pushed to March 2, 2028.

Combs also was reportedly placed in solitary confinement on Sept. 30 shortly following the report of his prison perks. The producer remained in the special unit as late as Oct. 8.

But extra solitary time in the slammer wasn’t the last blow for the singer: Combs was rushed to the hospital Oct. 10 with a non-life-threatening head injury. Despite reports that Combs sustained the injury in a retaliatory attack by another inmate, a Federal Bureau of Prisons representative said that the reported fight is “false and did not happen,” according to Page Six.

Edinburgh: Piers O’Conor, Malelili Satala, Matt Currie, Mosese Tuipulotu, Darcy Graham, James Grayson, Hector Patterson; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Callum Hunter-Hill, Glen Young, Tom Currie, Freddy Douglas, Magnus Bradbury.

Replacements: Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Jamie Stewart, Paul Hill, Grant Gilchrist, Euan McVie, Conor McAlpine, Geordie Gwynn, Rory McHaffie.

Toulon: Melvyn Jaminet, Seta Tuicuvu, Antoine Frisch, Jeremy Sinzelle, Apete Narogo, Mateo Garcia, Ben White; Jean-Baptiste Gros, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Beka Gigashvili, Swan Rebbadj, Corentin Mezou, Zach Mercer, Estaban Abadie, Patrick Tuifua.

Replacements: Teddy Baubigny, Samuel Jean-Christophe, Owen Sorhaindo, Luciano Asevedo, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Quere Karaba, Baptiste Serin, Luka Keletaona.

Referee: Ben Breakspear

A teacher fought the teenage shooter and a parent shot him dead, police say on Friday, a day after four people were killed.

The 16-year-old who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in the US state of Oregon was a former special-needs student at the school, police and school officials have said.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz identified the attacker on Friday, a day after the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, as Griffin J. John II.

He said the teenager attacked a classroom of special-needs students, where all the victims were shot.

Steven Cook, superintendent of Bend-La Pine Schools, said John was not enrolled in the local public school system at the time.

“That classroom was a special needs classroom, and the suspect was a special needs student in that school,” Cook told a news conference.

Krantz said John shot his way through locked doors with a 12-gauge shotgun, firing as many as 15 shots, and had about 44 rounds left when he was killed. Police are still trying to determine how he obtained the gun.

Under Oregon law, a minor may possess a shotgun if provided by a parent or with a parent’s consent.

The shooter’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, separately told reporters outside her apartment: “I’m so sorry, I wish I could have done something.”

A teacher threw her phone at the gunman, then tackled and fought him, likely saving lives, Krantz said, calling her actions “heroic”. She was not injured.

A 36-year-old father, Kaylub Giamanco, who has two children at the school, then followed the gunman inside and shot him dead minutes after the first 911 call.

US President Donald Trump called Giamanco a “great hero”. “It’s a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” Trump said.

The children killed were aged five, eight and 11, and the teacher was Meghan Lambert, 25, police said.

A seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to hospital in critical condition.

The shooting is the 28th mass killing in the US this year, according to a database by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

The Gun Violence Archive in the US has documented 369 mass shootings in 2026, defined as incidents in which four or more people are shot.

The Everytown for Gun Safety group has counted at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds this year, with 34 deaths.

Selma Blair’s team has released a lengthy statement regarding the actor’s recent arrest following an incident while aboard a flight.

“Selma Blair experienced a medical emergency on the flight,” said the statement provided to People on Friday. “There was no attempt to open the door of the aircraft. Selma did not intend to harm anyone.”

The statement is intended to “correct the record on a few points already in public circulation” regarding Blair’s alleged violent conduct aboard a Delta Airlines flight. The Times has reached out to Blair’s reps for comment.

The “Cruel Intentions” star was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport late Sunday after an alleged altercation with staff during a flight from Los Angeles. Upon landing, Blair, 54, was taken into custody, then transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. In addition to her alleged actions aboard the flight, the “Legally Blonde” star has been accused of kicking a Port Authority Police Department officer as she was being transported to the hospital, as well as kicking a nurse.

“Since Sunday night, the public account of what happened to Selma aboard a flight to New York has been built almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline,” Blair’s spokesperson said in the Friday statement to People.

The spokesperson called out the lack of “fair reporting” around the situation, adding that they are grateful for the “handful of journalists [who] have taken the time to report on Selma as a human being rather than a headline.”

Blair was charged with two counts of second-degree assault on Monday for her alleged actions involving the police officer and nurse. Blair pleaded not guilty to the charges. At the hearing, her attorney, Shawn Barnes, reportedly told the judge that “this was not an intentional assault” and that the actor had “missed several doses of … a powerful medication that controls severe neurological symptoms,” per the New York Post.

Blair lives with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disorder and autoimmune disease, which she has been open about since 2018.

The statement also addressed Blair’s medical condition — denouncing any who suggest the actor does not have multiple sclerosis — how and why she travels with a service dog, her activism and her busy schedule as an actor and entrepreneur.

“Selma had never been arrested before Sunday night,” the statement said. “There is much more to this story than has been reported, and we ask to consider the entirety of the facts before rushing to judgment, whether in the courtroom or in the court of public opinion.”

Dragons: De Beer; Dyer, Inisi, Owen, Rosser; J Lloyd, Hope; R Jones, Coghlan, O James, Langton-Cryer, Carter (capt), Lewis-Hughes, Beddall, Keddie.

Replacements: Dee, W Jones, Lewis, Screech, Minto, R Williams, F Paea, Tuitavuki.

Perpignan: Tedder; Toganiyadrava, Reece, de la Fuente (capt), Granell; McIntyre, McGrath; Boyer-Gallardo, Malolo, Riccioni, Chinarro, Tanguy, J van Tonder, Coulon, Dvali.

Replacements: Lotrian, Tetrashvili, Amituanai, Velarte, Taty, Tuilagi, Aucagne, Mascarenc.

Referee: Hanru van Rooyen (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Alex Thomas (England), Hamish Grant (England)

TMO: David Rose (England).

The UK Foreign Office says it advises against “all but essential travel” to Saudi Arabia, after attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on the country.