News Desk

Less than two months after being sued by two former housekeepers, Kylie Jenner has been hit with a third workplace lawsuit. The beauty mogul’s former private chef alleges a grueling workload led to her miscarriage.

Filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the complaint alleges the woman routinely worked 11- to 12-hour shifts, five days a week, and was assigned physically demanding tasks despite alerting supervisors to her high-risk pregnancy.

A representative for Jenner did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

According to the filing, reviewed by The Times, the woman was told she was selected to work as Jenner’s private chef around Thanksgiving 2024. In early December 2024, the woman claims she informed her supervisors, also named as defendants, that she was three months pregnant and “required reasonable accommodations to protect her health and pregnancy.”

On New Year’s Eve in 2024, supervisors who had allegedly been hostile with the former chef directed her to “lift and transport heavy food items across the street and uphill without assistance,” the documents say.

As a result of the physical exertion, the former chef claims that she “became dizzy, began choking and gasping for air, and required assistance from security personnel, who intervened by providing water and aid.”

Around Feb. 1, 2025, the then-chef, five months’ pregnant at the time, was assigned to work Jenner’s child’s birthday event in Palm Springs, where she wasn’t provided “adequate support” despite the scale and demands of the party, according to the lawsuit. The former chef claims that when she asked for help and expressed concern over the workload, she was ignored by supervisors.

“Due to exhaustion and overwhelming physical strain, [she] broke down emotionally in the bathroom during the event,” reads the suit. “That evening, [she] experienced extreme physical exhaustion and heaviness throughout her body as a result of the prolonged and intense workload.”

The next morning, while the former chef was still in Palm Springs, the filing states that she awoke experiencing severe hemorrhaging and drove herself to the emergency room. “At the hospital, [she] was informed that there was no detectable heartbeat and that she had lost her unborn child.”

According to the former chef, she informed her supervisors of the miscarriage and medical emergency and, in the following days, was “falsely accused of leaving the kitchen and refrigerator in disarray following the Palm Springs event,” the lawsuit states.

The court documents claim that the former chef suffered severe hemorrhaging again on Feb. 8 and collapsed in her bathroom. The filing states that after the miscarriage she suffered severe depression and emotional distress, and claims that a supervisor reprimanded her, saying, “Stop it, just stop it. You are upsetting Kylie. You are making her depressed.”

“Celebrity status does not exempt anyone from California’s employment laws. We look forward to presenting the evidence in court and allowing the facts to speak for themselves,” attorney Della Shaker told The Times.

The former chef is seeking an unspecified amount of damages and claims that in addition to suffering accommodation failures, pregnancy discrimination and harassment, she was misclassified as an independent contractor, did not get paid on time or for the appropriate hours she worked, and was wrongfully terminated.

After being let go, the former chef claims that she sent a formal written complaint to co-defendant Tri Star detailing the alleged discrimination, harassment and wage theft. The lawsuit states that on May 22, 2025, the management team sent her an email offering a settlement and release agreement (essentially offering her money to sign away her right to sue).

The legal filing follows two lawsuits brought by former housekeepers of the embattled reality star. Less than two weeks after one woman on Jenner’s cleaning staff sued her, claiming her co-workers harassed and discriminated against her, another housekeeper came forward with allegations claiming the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star didn’t intervene while she suffered abuse from fellow staff, despite the housekeeper slipping the reality star a letter pleading for help.

Shaker also represents Angelica Hernandez Vasquez, who filed the suit against Jenner on April 17, and Juana Delgado Soto, who filed her lawsuit on April 29.

US President Donald Trump has made his first comment on the UK’s likely next leader describing Andy Burnham as ‘extremely liberal’. He also declared that Britain is ‘dying’ and urged greater oil drilling in the North Sea. The comments came after Keir Starmer announced plans to step down, with Burnham the only candidate to succeed him.

Three Brazilians with a combined age of 316 have been recognised as the world’s longest-living trio of sisters. Researchers are studying their DNA to better understand the genetic factors behind healthy aging and exceptional genetic longevity.

Chris Appleton could be about to count on the support of pal Kim Kardashian from the Strictly stands as he gets ready to take on the BBC dance competition

Kim Kardashian could be set for a part in Strictly Come Dancing after playing a key role in Chris Appleton’s sign-up, according to reports. The reality TV star is said to have been a big player in making the celebrity stylist join the current roster of celebs hitting the dance floor.

The hairstylist was the fourth star announced for the upcoming series after Lacey Turner, Dani Dyer and Delta Goodrem. And he is set to get the support from some of his high profile clients, which have included Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, Sofía Vergara, Ariana Grande, and Katy Perry.

And it’s the Kardashians star who is said to have helped him bag the gig in the first place. A source said: “Kim’s most important advice to him was simple: before you launch a brand or product, make people feel like they know you, are invested in your life, in you.”

It comes as Chris reportedly wants a little more in life, namely, his own brand of hair products. And Kim sees the reality contest as the perfect way to introduce him to the British public.

The source went on to tell The Sun: “It was Kim who pushed him toward Strictly – he’s had a lot of reality TV show invites in the US.

“He was initially very hesitant to put himself out there as a ‘star’ but Kim argued that a successful run on the show would do more for his brand than a year of PR campaigns and huge ad budgets.”

They added: “Being in the Strictly spotlight makes him a household name in the UK, gets him into every room and red carpet event that matters in London, and builds the kind of public warmth that no advertising budget can manufacture – and that’s exactly the diving board you want to launch a brand from.”

And it’s claimed if Chris ventures into the later stages of the competition then Kim could come to the UK to support him from the crowd. The source said Kim has given Chris “free rein” to discuss their friendship too.

After he was announced as a Strictly contestant, Chris said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Strictly Come Dancing and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new.

“I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story – and I can’t wait to get started.”

Chris grew up in Leicester, but he now lives in Los Angeles. But it’s said the UK will always be home to the star and he will be using the contest to be closer to home.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

Mateo Chavez opened the scoring in the 55th minute, and Julian Quinones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st.

Mateo Chavez and Julian Quinones scored goals in the span of six minutes early in the second half, and Mexico beat Czechia 3-0 to win all three of its World Cup group-stage matches for the first time.

The 22-year-old Chavez, in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute, and Quinones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in second-half stoppage time on Wednesday night.

Mexico’s previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, achieved in 1986 and 2002, both featuring Javier Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri’s coach.

Already the winner of Group A, Mexico will play again at Azteca Stadium on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against an opponent to be determined.

Czechia were eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.

The match included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora became the youngest Mexico player to start in a World Cup at age 17.

And 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa entered in the 77th minute, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the only players to appear in six World Cups.

Homophobic chant returns in Azteca Stadium

Fans at the game chanted a slur that has previously led to fines and other sanctions against Mexico’s Football Federation.

The slur, which literally means “male prostitute” in Spanish, could be heard at the Azteca Stadium towards the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The chant has cost Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines levied by FIFA. It rose to popularity roughly 25 years ago and is used to intimidate goalkeepers when they take goal kicks.

It went viral in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and was heard again in Russia during the 2018 World Cup, and then again four years later in Qatar. It has persisted despite attempts by the Mexican Football Federation to stop it.

Thousands gathered in Tehran on the eve of Ashura, the first since the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Mourners carried flags, banners and images of Khamenei as Iran prepared to commemorate one of the most significant events in the Shia calendar.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 529 artists and executives to join its membership Wednesday, including actors Jenna Ortega, Teyana Taylor, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth and Josh O’Connor and filmmakers Benny and Josh Safdie, as the organization continues to reshape the body that votes on the Oscars.

If all invitees accept, the academy’s voting membership will grow to 10,338 members, up from roughly 6,000 a decade ago, as the organization continues to expand its ranks and broaden its international reach. Overall membership, including emeritus members who no longer vote, will rise to 11,319.

The academy’s expansion accelerated after the 2015 #OscarsSoWhite controversy, which drew attention to the organization’s overwhelmingly white and male membership and prompted a sustained effort to recruit more women, people of color and international filmmakers. The academy met its initial post-#OscarsSoWhite diversity targets several years ago but has continued to expand and internationalize its membership.

The latest class includes 95 Oscar nominees, 21 Oscar winners and three recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards.

“We are delighted to invite this remarkable group of film artists and professionals from around the world to join the Academy,” academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a joint statement. “Through their commitment to filmmaking, this year’s exceptionally talented class has made significant contributions to our global movie industry.”

The academy said 42% of this year’s invitees are women, 56% are from underrepresented communities and 53% are from 60 countries and territories outside the United States. Last year’s class was 41% women, 45% from underrepresented ethnic or racial communities and 55% international.

Across the academy’s overall membership, 36% are women, 25% come from underrepresented communities and 22% are international, according to the organization.

Other notable invitees include actors Jon Bernthal, Julia Garner, Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Ramos, Jemaine Clement, Jenny Slate and Simu Liu; singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles; documentary filmmaker Andrew Jarecki (“Capturing the Friedmans”); and director Zach Cregger (“Weapons”).

Nine individuals, including filmmakers Benny Safdie (“The Smashing Machine”) and Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”), received invitations from multiple branches and must choose one upon accepting membership.

Membership in the academy is by sponsorship rather than application. Oscar nominees are automatically considered for membership in the year they are nominated, while branch executive committees review additional candidates before recommendations are approved by the academy’s Board of Governors.

The latest class is five names fewer than last year’s group of 534 invitees. The academy’s largest-ever class came in 2018, when it invited 928 new members as part of a broader effort to diversify its ranks.

The 99th Oscars will take place March 14, 2027, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

June 24 (UPI) — Two major earthquakes — magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 — hit near the Venezuela capital of Caracas on Wednesday evening, collapsing buildings and bringing people flooding into the streets.

The first quake hit at 6:04 p.m. local time, BBC News reported, with the second less than a minute later. June 24 is a holiday in Venezuela, and more people than usual were at home instead of on an evening commute.

The earthquakes’ center was about 17 miles northwest of Montalbán, home to some of the country’s largest refineries, CNN said.

The U.S. Geological Survey has reported that high casualties and widespread damage are likely, saying that there is a 44% chance that fatalities will exceed 10,000 and a 30% chance that they will exceed 100,000. The USGS said aftershocks may still occur.

Venezuela’s interior minister has asked people to leave their homes, citing damaged buildings and concerns about gas leaks. Companies cut gas lines to some areas as a precaution, Minister Diosdado Cabello said, BBC News reported.

The Ministry of Communication and Information in Venezuela said security forces have been deployed around the country because of the risk of building collapses.

NATO chief Mark Rutte visited the White House to ease tensions with US President Trump ahead of next month’s NATO summit. Trump has said NATO isn’t doing enough, ordering a review of US forces in Europe after saying allies did not support the US war on Iran.

Sony Pictures will invest $100 million and take a minority stake in virtual reality venue operator Cosm, as the studio continues to build a business in communal experiences.

As part of the investment, Sony Pictures Chief Executive Ravi Ahuja will also join Cosm’s board of directors, the studio said Wednesday. The size of Sony’s minority stake was not disclosed.

The El Segundo-based Cosm currently operates three venues — one at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, and the others in Dallas and Atlanta. The company plans to open additional venues in Detroit and Cleveland.

Cosm bills itself as a “shared reality venue,” and its facilities center around a massive, wraparound screen that is intended to envelop viewers with additional digital effects. The company has largely focused on sports, though it has also shown Cirque du Soleil shows and done several collaborations with Warner Bros., including recent screenings of 2001’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary.

“Cosm sits at the intersection of several trends shaping the future of entertainment,” Ahuja said in a statement. “We’ve followed Cosm since before launch and have been impressed with the quality of the experience and the enthusiasm it’s generating with audiences.”

The investment is Sony’s latest venture into experiential entertainment. In 2024, the Culver City-based studio acquired dine-in theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

June 24 (UPI) — Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration Wednesday of seeking to push through a multimillion-dollar arms deal with Turkey by bypassing congressional review, the latest executive action critics say usurps the lawmakers’ authority.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was informed by the Trump administration late Tuesday that it would bypass congressional review of an arms sale to Turkey worth more than $700 million.

“The State Department did not even attempt to justify its decision,” Meeks said in a statement.

“It did not invoke any emergency authority, did not present a written rationale and for months refused to make a good-faith effort to brief me on implications of the sale for the U.S.-Turkey relationship, Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian S-400 system and other regional security concerns,” he continued.

“It simply informed my office that it would immediately proceed with a formal notification of the sale.”

Turkey is a U.S. ally and NATO member with a robust defense industry. However, it’s led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an increasingly authoritarian leader who has maintained ties with Russia and whose government uses the Kremlin’s S-400 Triumph missile defense system.

The United States and NATO opposed Turkey’s adoption of the S-200 system, and Washington removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter program in 2019 during Trump’s first administration.

Meeks called the decision to bypass congressional review “yet another deeply troubling example of this administration’s open contempt for Congress’ oversight authority.

“There can be no pretense that this was urgent or unavoidable,” he said, stating the items will not be delivered to Turkey for years.

“This was a deliberate choice to shut Congress out and to treat legitimate oversight as an inconvenience to be brushed aside.”

Trump is scheduled to visit Turkey early next month. During a White House press conference alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday, he praised Erdogan as “a great friend.”

Erdogan is known to be seeking to acquire U.S.-made fighter jets, including the F-35. Asked if he was planning to announce a potential deal when he visits Ankara, Trump replied: “I’m going to probably do something that’s going to make him very happy.”

It was unclear if jets were part of the arms deal.

UPI has contacted the State Department for comment and to detail the contents of the sale.

Democrats and other critics of President Donald Trump have repeatedly accused his administration of bypassing Congress through executive orders and unilateral decisions, particularly in its use of the military.

The Trump administration has faced staunch criticism from opponents for launching a war against Iran in late February without congressional authorization. Democrats have frequently argued that the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war.

Democrats have also criticized the administration’s use of the military to attack suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Pacific and Caribbean without congressional authorization.

The UK has experienced its hottest June day on record after temperatures soared to 36.1C (97F) in Gosport, Hampshire, on Wednesday afternoon.

Hundreds of schools shut across England and Wales and transport has also been disrupted, with train passengers advised to avoid all non-essential travel.

The heatwave is forecast to continue into Friday, with a further high of about 38C possible, the Met Office said.

A red extreme heat warning issued by the Met Office across parts of south and central England and south Wales remains in place until 23:59 BST on Thursday.

Wednesday’s high came between 15:00 and 16:00, breaking the previous June record of 35.6C recorded in Southampton in 1976 and Camden in 1957.

This new record is described as “provisional” by the Met Office, which now has to conduct checks to ensure the measurement is reliable.

The next highest temperatures of the day were all recorded in southern England, including Wisley, Surrey, on 36C, Wiggonholt, West Sussex, on 35.9C, and Charlwood, Surrey, on 35.7C. And Wales had its hottest day of the year so far, with a high of 33.3C at Cardiff Bute Park.

A searing European heatwave continues to cause deaths and disruption, with France recording its hottest day since records began in 1947, and the temperature in Paris and other areas above 40C.

Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) can swill an entire sorority’s supply of booze. As a Kryptonian, her hangovers are instantly cured by a yellow sun. And so director Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl” follows a trail of empty beer bottles to find Superman’s lonely younger cousin marking her birthday on a solo interstellar bender, pounding shots alongside her dog, Krypto.

Unlike sweet-natured Kal-El (David Corenswet), a.k.a. Clark Kent, who escaped Krypton as a baby, this traumatized 20-something bore witness to their home planet’s long and painful extinction. Playing grief like the sandblasted absence of emotion, Alcock’s Supergirl isn’t in the mood for Metropolis do-gooding. She prefers slumming it at extraterrestrial honky-tonks with suitors who look like armadillo-plated slugs. She’s most visibly depressed when she tries to convince herself she’s having fun.

Who doesn’t want to go on a “Star Wars” cantina crawl? The opening stretch of “Supergirl” is great — Alcock even passes out on a toilet with aplomb. Briefly we hope that Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira are shaking up the superhero format like a bottle of gas-station champagne. I’d love to see Alcock’s heroine in a grotty, silly “Animal House”-style comedy, out-drinking a galaxy of alien squids. But the limits of Hollywood’s imagination squeeze Supergirl to stop partying and start doing some regular old rescuing. Sigh. Someone’s gotta save franchise movies from themselves.

As usual, there’s a tyke in trouble: 13-year-old Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a fellow orphan with a ramrod disposition and a tidy brunet braid that gives away that her character is modeled on Hailee Steinfeld’s vengeful teenager in “True Grit.” Ruthye wants to hunt and kill the creep who murdered her family. Unlike Supergirl, the child thinks it’s healthier to exorcise — not imbibe — one’s heartache. The duo visit an Epstein-island-like planet of kidnapped breeding women where, in one of the script’s subtler sick horrors, the locals imply that pubescent Ruthye is more valuable than aged 23-year-old Supergirl. (Although some of the caged extras appear to be as ancient as 30.) It’s yet another swiped idea, this one from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” for a minor story beat that’s unnecessary. Still, Alcock reacts with exactly the right note of disdain: “Cool,” she croaks. ‘Nuff said.

They’ve come to this cesspool to find the villainous Krem, an unrecognizably vile Matthias Schoenaerts with a mug that’s been pierced all over like he face-planted into a pile of thumbtacks. His biker-scumbag-times-infinity prosthetic design is fantastic, but what makes it genius is that the makeup team allowed a couple of metal studs to fall off Krem’s forehead before his first close-up. You know, for that lived-in barbarian sex trafficker look.

As Ruthye, Ridley’s crisp British elocution is the cleanest thing in the movie, which is shot by Rob Hardy in shades of mustard smog and latrine brown. Neither Supergirl as a babysitter nor Gillespie as a storyteller let the kid carry her share of the action, but I suspect Ridley has the talent for it. She seizes her small opportunities to impress in the film’s second half. Spitting on a baddie, her righteous loogie stings like a moral disinfectant.

Meanwhile, Jason Momoa swaggers into the fray from the cover of an ’80s hard-rock album with Kiss’ makeup, Manowar’s muscles and Meatloaf’s motorcycle. His character, a blue-skinned bounty hunter, only tangentially slots into the plot. Really, Momoa’s massive presence is here to prove that James Gunn was serious when he announced he was hard-resetting DC Comics’ film canon up to 2023’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.” Momoa as Aquaman is dead. Long live Momoa as Whoever This Guy Is.

Gillespie likes to champion difficult women, from Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya” to the Dalmatian-skinning Disney villain of “Cruella.” Yet as his budgets have mounted, so has the pressure to make his problematic ladies popular with a mass audience. “Supergirl” feels anxious to entertain. The jokes all have the same sense of snarky humor, no matter what species is cracking them. One scene even has a comic slow clap that, in my theater, didn’t get a reaction. The camera and cutting pace refuse to relax. Major set-piece action shots are impossible to follow. You can’t squint past the distracting lens flares.

Alcock’s wildling Supergirl is the one reason to see the film. As in her too-brief role on the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” and her rollicking cameo at the end of 2025’s “Superman,” the Australian actor is a striking combination of grounded conviction and otherworldly essence, the ideal one-two for a character who plays anti-gravity fetch with her dog. Floating weightless in the stars, her hair unbrushed and bathrobe-like jacket shrugged on, she makes the impossible look casual. (Supergirl’s iconic red-and-blue minidress is so not her style.)

Alas, Krypto the pup is sidelined early on with a whimper, both from him and us. Maybe he’ll get more screen time when the digital animators figure out how to make him look more realistic. (Between the mutt’s anime eyes and that gawky-phony deer in “Disclosure Day,” are CGI creatures getting worse?)

Grief tethers Supergirl to Ruthye, even though they disagree on how to handle it, and it also seems to repel her from Corenswet’s dopey, innocent Clark Kent. There’s rich irony in the personality contrast between the cousins. Her Kryptonian parents raised her to help humanity; his parents intended their son to rule it. But due to twists of fate, she’s the miserable, maladjusted one. The movie has no time to mine the psychology underneath their clash, let alone summon a sniffle for the other pitiful characters who die during this escapade. Perhaps it’s holding that tension back for a sequel, but I’d rather invest in the characters now.

A flashback to Supergirl’s first touchdown on Earth has the awkwardness of a study-abroad student realizing she doesn’t like her host country at all. Despite our planet seeming to have enforced its monoculture on outer space — an extraterrestrial dive bar band even does “The Girl From Ipanema” — Supergirl appreciates little of it besides some product-placement dog treats and, in a forced touch, the pop music on her headphones as well as crammed into the soundtrack next to Claudia Sarne’s gravelly score. I’ll accept this degenerate Supergirl sporting a retro Blondie shirt, but not her willingly choosing to listen to mopey contemporary Earth jams like Rilo Kiley and a twee cover of Jimmy Eat World over, say, Kryptonian death metal.

Still, the production design has imaginatively askew takes on the mundane: gridded jail cells, plodding space buses, clumsy oxygen suits that shimmy on with a satisfying squeak. When Supergirl makes a pit stop at a celestial convenience store, she samples a snack that I’m forced to call poop-corn. If “Supergirl” sells enough of it, hopefully Alcock can rampage again in a more confident sequel that truly cuts loose.

Despite bowing out without a point in their first World Cup since 1974, Haiti twice led against 2022 semifinalists Morocco.

Morocco twice overcame the shock of conceding to Haiti to win a World Cup thriller 4-2 in Atlanta, but missed out on the top spot in Group C to Brazil.

Haiti bowed out with their first World Cup goals in 52 years, as a Yassine Bounou own goal and Wilson Isidor’s stunning strike twice gave them the lead on Wednesday.

Achraf Hakimi and Ismael Saibari, with his third goal in as many games at the World Cup, levelled before half-time.

Soufiane Rahimi was nearly brought to tears when the 30-year-old’s deflected effort found the top corner to give Morocco the lead, before Gessime Yassine rounded off the scoring.

But Morocco missed out on the top spot in the group to Brazil on goal difference, meaning they will head to Monterrey for a likely meeting against the Netherlands or Japan on Monday.

Despite bowing out without a point, Haiti’s performances at their first World Cup since 1974 have done a nation gripped by poverty proud.

Les Grenadiers were already eliminated after losing to Scotland and Brazil, but the thousands of Haitian expats in the stands in Atlanta were undeterred as every attack was met with deafening cheers.

Morocco boss Mohamed Ouahbi made four changes to the side that had impressed in holding Brazil and beating Scotland in their opening two games, and the Atlas Lions started sloppily.

Haiti’s long wait for a goal on the global stage was ended after just 10 minutes, when Jean-Kevin Duverne got to the byline, and Lenny Joseph flicked the resulting cross into the net via a deflection off Bounou.

Hakimi has continued to captain Morocco despite learning mid-tournament that he is to face a trial on rape charges in France.

The reigning African footballer of the year stormed forward from right-back at every opportunity and was in the right place to equalise on 39 minutes.

In his final game for Haiti, 38-year-old goalkeeper Johny Placide could only parry Bilal El Khannouss’s strike, and Hakimi had a simple task to force the ball over the line.

Within four minutes, though, Haiti had restored their lead in far more spectacular fashion.

Sunderland striker Isidor pounced on a loose ball and let fly from outside the area with a shot that arrowed into the top corner.

Hakimi and Ouahbi were visibly angered by conceding for a second time, but the 2022 World Cup semifinalists responded before half-time.

Saibari stroked home his third goal of the tournament with a cool finish from Hakimi’s low cross.

Brahim Diaz nearly gave Morocco a half-time lead when his curling effort shaved the post to end a thrilling first half.

With Brazil cruising to victory over Scotland in Miami, Morocco knew that only a comprehensive victory would secure them the top spot in Group C.

Ouahbi began turning his attention to the last 32, as Bayern Munich-bound Saibari and Real Madrid’s Diaz were replaced with more than 20 minutes remaining.

But two of his substitutes came on to win the game for Morocco.

Rahimi’s powerful strike from a corner flew into the top corner via a deflection off a desperate Haiti defender.

He then turned provider by robbing possession on the Haiti byline and crossing for Yassine to roll into an empty net.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Venezuela near the city of Moron, followed by a stronger magnitude 7.5 quake in the same area.

Richard Montoya of Culture Clash doesn’t mince words when it comes to politics, current events or the state of mainstream Hollywood. But he does sugarcoat his technological limitations as a 67-year-old comic in the dreaded age of video calls with a punchy Chicano twist.

“I’m a low-tech Aztec,” he writes via email when requesting a Zoom link to our Monday interview.

Culture Clash — which includes members Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Sigüenza — arrived on the scene as a guerrilla sketch theater group from the San Francisco Mission District in 1984. By that time, the Chicano movement had reached its peak, thanks to the United Farm Workers labor movement, as well as student activist organizations like Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), which advocated for Chicano unity, political empowerment and educational access.

Luis Valdez, founder of El Teatro Campesino — who began putting on social justice-oriented plays for the striking Delano farmworkers in 1965 — backed the slapstick satire troupe, considering the trio “the cutting edge of fresh, new Latino comic genius.”

Culture Clash stood out in a time when Chicanos became more vocal and visible — and its members challenged an entertainment industry that has historically lacked Latino representation. Between 1993 and 1996, Culture Clash hosted its own self-titled TV show on the syndicated Fox network. The show, which was filmed at the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, is widely considered the first Latino sketch comedy to air on American television.

Throughout the last four decades, Culture Clash has parodied nearly every prominent Latino figure in history, including Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo, Ritchie Valens, Rita Moreno, Edward James Olmos and others. Its members have mocked hard-shell cholos and gangsters, often by placing them in funny scenarios. For instance, take this clip, in which the trio take on cholo characters and reimagine what it would be like to surf on the Southern California shore.

But they’ve also taken on more serious topics in their classic “Chavez Ravine” play, which looks into one of the darkest chapters in L.A. history: the forceful removal and displacement of families, mostly Mexican, in the 1950s under eminent domain. Recently Montoya attended a live reading adapted by Somos El Teatro, led by Xolo Maridueña, Mariana da Silva and Angel Villalobos at Elysian Park.

“It gives us so much life that people are finding the issues of swindlers, whether it’s gentrification, the taking over of settlements,” says Montoya. “The generational trauma of losing your home in L.A. has never gone away.”

But not every Culture Clash joke or skit has been safe from criticism. Montoya still remembers how a conservative pundit chastised the group for using light humor to discuss the 1992 riots, when LAPD officers were acquitted for using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King.

“By looking at it and treating it as dynamite, exploding it and then by bringing some levity and a whole lot of seriousness to the Rodney King matter allows us a moment, a fraction of time to look at the issues a little bit differently,” says Montoya. “That laugh allows us a moment to examine it differently.”

On June 27, Culture Clash will return to Grand Performances, a free summer concert series at California Plaza in downtown L.A., with comedic sketches colored by political and social satire. The show, titled “American Payasos! Culture Clash’s End Times Cabaret” will be co-presented with De Los.

While their 40-year-plus legacy might merit a show reminiscent of old goofball skits — like their early 1989 show “The Mission” that poked fun at the problematic Spanish Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra — this will not be an “oldies but goodies show,” as Montoya put it. “We are highly pissed off about a lot of stuff right now.”

“ We’re thinking a lot about the Mexican American patriarchy, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and it’s time to address some of these things,” says Montoya. “ We want to look at the service workers of Los Angeles, the people that sell cotton candy in MacArthur Park, the people that sell ice cream in Echo Park and the people working the World Cup.”

For the veteran comic, son of the late Chicano poet Jose Montoya, it is also impossible to ignore the immigration enforcement raids that have rattled Los Angeles communities in recent years.

“This is a very strange moment for satirists,” says Montoya. “We have a responsibility to use those tools to say what’s going on in our city and country and provide these moments where we can do a little bit closer examination because the people in power aren’t telling us what’s going on.”

In the last five years, Montoya has fiddled around with digital media, creating sporadic videos featuring old clips of the troupe, as well as videos of Latino media, to connect with technologically diverse audiences of all ages. (One example is a video calling on people to get out the vote, that features clips of Speedy Gonzales and honors political figures like Huerta.)

Although Montoya believes Culture Clash is nearing the end of its career, there’s a question lingering inside his mind: What does a graceful exit look like for a group like Culture Clash, which has never been fully integrated into mainstream Hollywood and still left such a profound legacy in the world of Latino entertainment?

The answer to that might still be unknown, but like any Culture Clash project, it will likely be wickedly satirical and punchy. Says Montoya: “We’re ready to go out with a huge, loud bang that can say something against the power structure.”

Culture Clash will take center stage on June 27 at Grand Performances, in partnership with De Los. Also performing is the retro cumbia-quebradita musician É Arenas (bassist of Chicano Batman), the cumbia-fusion, luchador-masked cumbia group La Nueva Ola de Cumbia, as well as DJ Dali.

June 24 (Asia Today) — Economic benefits are emerging as a potential deciding factor in Canada’s competition to acquire a new submarine fleet, with South Korea promoting a broad industrial cooperation package to counter a larger economic-impact proposal from Germany.

Canada is preparing to select a preferred bidder for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, a program worth as much as 60 trillion won ($39.2 billion).

German shipbuilder TKMS and South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean are the two qualified suppliers remaining in the competition.

Canadian Secretary of State for Defense Procurement Stephen Fuhr said this week that both proposals meet the Royal Canadian Navy’s requirements, according to industry officials.

With the technical assessment effectively completed, the economic and industrial benefits offered by each bidder could become increasingly important in the final evaluation.

Based on publicly disclosed projections, TKMS appears to have proposed the larger economic contribution.

The German company said its proposal could generate 160 billion Canadian dollars in economic activity and add 86 billion Canadian dollars to Canada’s gross domestic product over the life of the program.

It also projected employment totaling more than 650,000 job-years.

Hanwha Ocean said South Korea’s proposal could support more than 22,500 Canadian jobs annually, equivalent to more than 400,000 job-years, and generate approximately 94.1 billion Canadian dollars in cumulative GDP contributions.

Industry officials said the scale and feasibility of the proposed partnerships may be more important than a direct comparison of headline figures.

Hanwha Ocean has established partnerships with more than 100 Canadian companies, universities and other organizations.

HD Hyundai Group has proposed several billion dollars in cooperation across the energy, commercial shipbuilding and naval sectors.

Hyundai Motor Group is also supporting the broader South Korean proposal through Project Beaver, an initiative intended to establish a hydrogen mobility ecosystem in Canada.

The effort is part of a government-backed package that seeks to position South Korea as a long-term industrial and security partner rather than simply a submarine supplier.

Germany is also offering substantial government and industrial support.

TKMS has emphasized its cooperation with Norway, which is jointly developing and acquiring Type 212CD submarines with Germany.

Norway has offered to share experience involving submarine design and maintenance, repair and overhaul systems.

The German proposal also highlights the benefits of integrating Canada into an existing supply and support network among North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.

Sustainment carries greatest weight

Canada’s evaluation structure places the greatest emphasis on the ability to support the submarines throughout their operational lives.

Sustainment accounts for 50% of the assessment, while the submarine platform itself represents 20%.

Financial considerations account for 15%, with strategic and economic partnerships making up the remaining 15%.

The weighting indicates that Canada’s primary concern is not simply acquiring advanced submarines but ensuring that it can operate and maintain them reliably for several decades.

Some industry observers have cautioned that excessive attention to economic projections could distract from the program’s core defense objectives.

Both South Korea and Germany have proposed major investments, local partnerships and job-creation plans.

Critics say an escalating competition over economic promises could transform a military procurement decision into a broader contest for foreign investment.

The figures presented by the bidders are also based on different assumptions, industries and time periods, making direct comparisons difficult.

The projected employment numbers may include jobs supported for multiple years rather than distinct permanent positions.

“The technological capabilities, delivery competitiveness and industrial cooperation package offered by South Korean shipbuilders are clear strengths,” a South Korean shipbuilding industry official said.

“Both countries are making an all-out effort, so it remains difficult to predict the outcome before the final decision.”

South Korea stresses delivery and industrial ties

Hanwha Ocean is offering a Canadian version of its KSS-III submarine, a platform developed for and operated by the South Korean Navy.

South Korea has emphasized its shipbuilding capacity and ability to deliver vessels within Canada’s accelerated timetable.

The proposal also includes Canadian participation in construction, maintenance, technology development and supply chains extending beyond the submarine program.

South Korean companies have pursued cooperation with Canadian businesses in steel, automotive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, aerospace, energy and critical minerals.

The package is intended to demonstrate that selecting Hanwha Ocean would produce economic benefits across multiple regions and industries in Canada.

TKMS, meanwhile, is offering a submarine supported by the German and Norwegian governments and an established European defense network.

Its proposal stresses operational compatibility with NATO allies, shared training and access to a multinational submarine supply chain.

Canada is expected to announce its preferred approach between late June and early July. Industry officials said a decision could come as early as this week.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260624010008524

Stephanie says she has also started sprinkling her seven-year-old daughter’s bed sheet with water and putting it in the freezer for about half an hour before bedtime – long enough for it to be cool for falling asleep on, but not long enough for it to actually freeze.

Gordon Cooper, 73, from High Wycombe, told BBC Your Voice that he hangs a wet bath towel in his bedroom and places his fan nearby to help cool down the room.

Others have been changing where they sleep to escape the stifling heat.

During the last heatwave, Anabelle Holschuh, 30, found it so hard to sleep in her attic bedroom that she picked up a blanket and cushion and slept on the floor in the hallway.

This time round, Anabelle, who lives in London, is sleeping on her living room sofa, which is north-facing and in a room with tall ceilings and an electric fan. “Last night I slept fairly well on the sofa, so no need to wander further downstairs to the hallway,” she says.

BECKY Hill has hit back at the crowd that booed her during her surprise festival set as she addressed a viral video.

The pop star, 32, was treated badly at the weekend after she vowed to play only new songs at her secret set at TRNSMT. 

Speaking about the viral video that showed the crowd, she has now said: “Getting booed is not nice.

“I haven’t found a single one of these easy, it’s really upsetting.

“Because I love this job and that’s not making me love it as much as I usually do.”

Speaking directly to the camera she added: “I wanted to bring a new and exclusive thirty minute set of brand new music to a festival crowd unannouced.

AWAY FROM HOLMES

Eamonn Holmes’ future on TV revealed after suffering stroke

HUG UP ON YOU

Madonna & Charli XCX END feud with hug weeks after ‘dancefloor is dead’ swipe

“I thought it would be a great opportunity to play the new music I’ve been working so hard on.

“And I personally love so much.”

She then thanked the team at the festival for giving her that stage and also the crowd of people who you stayed and danced with her right until the very end.

She added: “It was amazing to have such a captive audience who wanted to hear the new stuff too.

“I said on stage how difficult it is to transition into a new single, and new music and new albums.

“And all this conversation online is exactly what I meant.

“I’m not a jukebox, I’m an artist and the tickets at TRNSMT were not sold with my name as part of the line-up.

“And I wanted to do something new, artistically driven.”

Becky explained that she doesn’t normally get the opportunity to do that much in her career.

She added: “But trust me when my name is on the poster I will always sing the tunes that people know and love.”

“I feel really grateful to have those records in my catalogue,” she explained.

The singer concluded that in order to have a long career she needed to have new music and thanked those that stayed to listen to her.

The pop star has no shortage of hits to choose from, with 19 top 40 singles, six top 10s and a number one to her name.

Becky played her new track Daddy’s Range Rover at TRANSMT which hits out at Jack Whitehall for mocking her when he hosted last year’s Brit Awards.

The pair have since buried the hatchet and Jack admitted he apologised to Becky for calling her “Wetherspoons Whitney”. 

Addressing her fans while performing earlier this year, she said: “I’ve had enough of all this s*** so I wrote about it.

June 24 (UPI) — The U.S. Justice Department announced charges Wednesday for 12 people it said used drones in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs, weapons and other items into multiple prisons.

The department said the conspiracy affected 10 federal prisons in eight states, including Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, WAPT-TV reported.

U.S. Attorney William Keyes said the operation was based at a former daycare in Macon, Ga., and used multiple drones to deliver contraband to prisons by night.

Keyes said the indictment “charges the most sophisticated and sprawling criminal enterprise using drones to introduce contraband into the federal prison system ever charged by the Department of Justice,” CNN reported.

The drone deliveries allegedly took place between September 2023 and May 2026. Charges say the group used six drones to deliver contraband at least 38 times. This contraband included methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine,other illegal drugs, tobacco, blades and cell phones.

The prosecutors said that people inside the prisons used phones to help guide the drone pilots. Prison authorities found some, but not all, of the drops, the indictment said.

“The allegations outlined in this indictment describe a coordinated criminal effort involving heavy payload drones to introduce dangerous contraband into federal prisons across multiple states,” William Marshall III, director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, said Wednesday, CNN reported. “Activity of this nature threatens the safety of everyone who lives and works inside our facilities and will not be tolerated.”

The bureau used drone detection systems to uncover the conspiracy, representatives said. A grand jury in Georgia handed down the indictment on charges including drug and firearms distribution on June 10.

Earlier in 2026, a group of state attorneys general launched a combined effort to combat the use of drones to deliver prison contraband.

The California Science Center (CSC) in Los Angeles gave a sneak peek today of its long-awaited, much anticipated attraction — the towering Space Shuttle Endeavour in its ‘full stack’ configuration. The spacecraft was the last of five orbiters ever built and the most advanced. After a long wait, the public will soon be able to view it in all its glory inside its purpose-built permanent display building.

Endeavour is the centerpiece of The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. It is a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the museum and will be “the only place in the world to see a complete, authentic space shuttle system, displayed in a 20-story launch position,” CSC said in a media release on Wednesday.

The exhibit is set to open on Nov. 13, 2026.

Endeavor was born out of the tragic loss of Challenger on January 28, 1986.  NASA had to figure out how to replace the doomed orbiter. It looked at several options.

Feb. 1, 2003: Space shuttle Columbia disaster

The first shuttle, Enterprise, was built as a developmental test vehicle and made its first independent flight from the back of the converted 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) on Aug. 12, 1977. Enterprise was also used for fit checks on the launch pad and many other engineering and testing activities, but it was not built to fly into space. Although it was available for modification and could feasibly be altered for full duty, NASA decided converting it for orbital work was not the best move. Instead, the all new orbiter that would be named Endeavor was authorized for construction in 1987.

Endeavour lifted off on its maiden voyage on May 7, 1992, and flew 25 times, with its final flight coming in May 2011. As the last of its breed, it incorporated new features and upgrades, including being the first shuttle to carry a Station-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS), according to Space.com. Endeavour also had “the first fully activated Advanced Health Management System to watch over the shuttle’s three main engines during launch, as well as a three-string global positioning system (GPS) for pinpoint navigation during landings,” the publication added. In addition, the last of the orbiters was built with the most advanced avionics, with glass displays, when it entered service.

Space Shuttle Enterprise – Free flight Test – ABC News – 8/12/1977

During its time in space, Endeavour performed a variety of tasks, including helping to construct and sustain the International Space Station. Throughout its career, it spent 299 days in space, orbiting the Earth nearly 4,700 times and logging close to 123 million miles, according to NASA.

“Among Endeavour’s missions was the first to include four spacewalks, and then the first to include five,” the space agency added. “Its STS-67 mission set a length record almost two full days longer than any shuttle mission before it. Its airlock is the only one to have seen three spacewalkers exit through it for a single spacewalk. And in its cargo bay, the first two pieces of the International Space Station were joined together.”

It also flew the first mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

During an 11-day mission in 2000, the astronauts “used the radar instruments in Endeavour’s payload bay to obtain elevation data on a near global scale,” NASA noted about the mission with a military connection. “The data produced the most complete, high-resolution digital elevation model of the Earth. The SRTM comprised a cooperative effort among NASA with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, managing the project, the Department of Defense’s National Imagery and Mapping Agency [now the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency], the German space agency, and the Italian space agency. Prior to SRTM, scientists had a more detailed topographic map of Venus than of the Earth, thanks to the Magellan radar mapping mission.”

Endeavour, like the rest of the orbiters, always captured the public’s imagination. In December 2008 the spacecraft made its voyage back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida after landing at Edwards AFB. A photo of that trip, taken from an F/A-18B Hornet flying overhead, was once described by TWZ as “Arguably The Most Spectacular Photo Of NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Ever.” You can read more about that picture and the flight in our story from the time here.

On September 21^st, 2012, NASA delivered Endeavour to Los Angeles, noted AmericaSpace.com. “Over the course of four days in October, the orbiter gradually crept her way through the city’s narrow streets.” The move captured a huge amount of attention.

While plans had been in the works for a while to house Endeavour in a purpose-built exhibit, a major issue developed.

“An earthquake-resistant building large enough to house a 184-foot-tall Shuttle stack had a staggering cost estimate of $400 million,” AmericaSpace.com explained. “The California Science Center was unable to raise enough money to build the facility prior to Endeavour’s arrival. The museum still needed to protect the orbiter from the elements, so it built a metal hangar to temporarily house the spacecraft. The more aspirational exhibit would be conducted at a later date.”

That later date will be in November, as we noted earlier. 

Space shuttle Endeavour’s trek across LA: Timelapse

The CSC is one of four locations where the surviving shuttle fleet is being displayed.

Shuttle Atlantis is located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and Enterprise at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. While each display is unique, and Kennedy Space Center’s is very dramatic, showing the orbiter as it would look in orbit, nothing compares to how CSC is displaying the full Shuttle Launch System (SLS) with its boosters and fuel tank in the vertical orientation, looking like it’s about to blast off one more time.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

The Owens family curse strikes again — and this time it’s here for the next generation.

In the new trailer for “Practical Magic 2,” released Wednesday, Sally’s (Sandra Bullock) daughter Kylie (Joey King) learns about her family’s legacy and curse after her paramour is involved in an accident.

“It’s true, we’re witches and the curse is real,” Sally tells a tearful Kylie, who along with her sister (Maisie Williams) grew up being told stories where everyone who fell in love died. But the siblings didn’t believe they were actually cursed.

“I will never trust you again,” Kylie responds.

Directed by Susanne Bier, the sequel of 1998’s “Practical Magic” will follow Sally and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) as they chase after Kylie who has set off to “fix the curse,” which will put her on a dark path. Along the way, the sisters encounter a mysterious “scholar of the craft” played by Lee Pace.

The trailer also offers a glimpse into Sally and Gillian’s present lives — with the latter teasing the former’s apparent lack of love life. It seems Sally is uninterested in tempting the fates since for generations those who have fallen in love with members of the Owens family have been cursed to die. Even after things take a turn with the tragic accident, it’s clear that their sisterly bond remains strong. While Sally seems worried about her daughters inheriting her powers, the clip also hints that there might be some happier times ahead.

Also returning for the sequel are Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing, who play Sally and Gilly’s aunts Jet and Franny Owens. In the original film, Jet and Fran are the witchy, eccentric aunts who took in their nieces after their parents died. The “Practical Magic 2” cast also includes Xolo Maridueña, who plays Kylie’s seemingly ill-fated love interest, and Solly McLeod.

Written by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel, “Practical Magic 2” is based on the 2021 novel “The Book of Magic,” the fourth and final installment of author Alice Hoffman’s “Practical Magic” series.

“Practical Magic 2” will hit theaters Sept. 11.