Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and US resident, appeared before a federal appeals court in Philadelphia as Trump administration lawyers push to deport him. His case, tied to campus activism at Columbia University, has become a test of free speech and political dissent rights.
Netanyahu’s office says he will appoint the deputy head of the National Security Council, Gil Reich, as acting head.
Published On 21 Oct 202521 Oct 2025
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Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi says he has been fired by Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister’s office said Gil Reich would be appointed as acting head of the National Security Council (NSC).
“Prime Minister Netanyahu informed me today of his intention to appoint a new head of the National Security Council,” Hanegbi said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “In light of this, my term as national security adviser and head of the National Security Council ends today.”
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Shortly afterwards, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that Netanyahu will appoint deputy head of the National Security Council, Gil Reich, as acting head of the council.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks Tzachi Hanegbi for his service as head of the National Security Council for the past 3 years, and wishes him great success in his future endeavors and good health,” it added.
Hanegbi’s departure had been widely anticipated amid weeks of speculation in Israel over growing divisions between the two officials over Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israeli media reported there were long-running tensions over Hanegbi’s opposition to a full military takeover of Gaza City and his support for pursuing a partial deal with Hamas.
In his statement, Hanegbi also called for a “thorough investigation” of the failures leading to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, admitting he shares responsibility.
“The terrible failure … must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the appropriate lessons are learned and to help restore the trust that has been shattered,” he wrote.
Netanyahu’s government has yet to set up a commission to investigate the matter, with Israel’s opposition accusing him of stalling the process.
Former Israeli army chief turned opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot criticised the firing, writing on X that it “is an expression of the continued evasion of responsibility by all Cabinet members and the Prime Minister of the October 7 debacle – in order to replace them with yes-men.”
A veteran Likud politician and longtime Netanyahu ally, Hanegbi was appointed national security adviser in 2023. He has held multiple ministerial roles, including in public security, intelligence, and regional cooperation.
Balvinder Sopal has opened up about ending up in the bottom two on Strictly Come Dancing two weeks in a row
EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal has spoken candidly about landing in the dance off on Strictly Come Dancing for two consecutive weeks, confessing she felt “crushed” following the most recent results programme.
The soap star joined her dancing partner Julian Callion on Tuesday’s (21 October) edition of It Takes Two, where they discussed the tense dance off with presenter Fleur East.
“My heart just sank. I felt quite disappointed. I thought we’d done enough to come back after the week previous, where we were were again, bottom two,” Balvinder admitted. “Yeah, I was crushed.”
Fleur, a former Strictly contestant from 2022, expressed empathy with Balvinder’s situation, remarking: “Yeah, it is such a crushing feeling.”
Julian, making his debut as a professional on the programme, explained how he comforted Balvinder when the results were announced, reports Wales Online.
“To be honest, I didn’t really say much because we’d actually just been in there seven days ago. I think in those situations where it’s high pressure, it’s high stress, sometimes the more you say and the more you try to think, the worse it is,” Julian said.
He added: “I definitely don’t think we were there based on dance ability or anything.”
The pair went head to head with rugby star Chris Robshaw and his partner Nadiya Bychkova in the elimination showdown, with both couples having garnered the fewest public votes.
The judges voted to save Balvinder, with Craig Revel Horwood having the deciding vote on the night, following a new rule which stops head judge Shirley Ballas having the deciding vote every single week.
“The new rules meant that Craig saved you. How did that feel?” Fleur asked Balvinder, who plays Suki Panesar in BBC One’s EastEnders.
The actress issued a heartfelt message to Craig, who is known for his harsh criticism and low scores on the BBC show, after he saved her due to her “quality” and “technical ability”.
“Oh, I mean, I am so grateful to Craig, actually,” Balvinder said. “And, he’s one of the scariest judges, I think. But, Sunday night, he saved us and I can’t thank him enough.”
It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two at 6.30pm. Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday on BBC One and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Oct. 21 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Melissa has begun churning in the Caribbean and is moving toward Haiti, to possibly become a hurricane.
In its 2 p.m. EDT update, the National Hurricane Center said Melissa was about 300 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and is moving west at 14 mph.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the southern coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince, and for Jamaica. Those elsewhere in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba should monitor the progress of Melissa, the NHC said.
A decrease in speed and a gradual turn to the northwest and north is expected in the next few days, the NHC said. Melissa is expected to approach southwestern Haiti and Jamaica later this week, bringing heavy rains.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic can expect 5 to 10 inches through Friday, NHC said. More heavy rainfall is possible after Friday, but forecasters aren’t confident of predictions because of the uncertainty of Melissa’s speed and direction. Areas of significant flash flooding and mudslides are possible.
Over Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica rainfall of 1 to 3 inches is expected through Friday. Flash and urban flooding will be possible across Puerto Rico through at least Friday.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean. This season has seen few storms, which has warmed the Caribbean Sea. Now, the warm water is fuel for stronger, more dangerous storms.
Warning: The following article contains details about suicide which some may find distressing
Cerys Lupton-Jones pauses between two doorways.
One door leads into a side room in the Manchester mental health unit where she’s a patient. The other leads into a toilet.
The 22-year-old had tried to end her life just 20 minutes earlier – but no staff are seen on the CCTV footage from inside the unit.
She hesitates for about 30 seconds, walking backwards and forwards. Then she enters the toilet and shuts the door.
The next time she is seen on the footage, doctors and nurses are fighting to resuscitate her.
Cerys dies five days later, on 18 May 2022.
A coroner has concluded that some of the care Cerys was given at Park House, which was run by the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, was a “shambles”.
Staff were meant to be checking on her every 15 minutes.
But the last recorded observation – at 15:00 – had been falsified, saying she had been seen in a corridor. CCTV shows at that point, Cerys was already in the toilet where she would fatally harm herself.
A staff member who was supposed to be looking after her has now admitted to falsifying these records.
Zak Golombeck, coroner for Manchester, said that if someone had stayed with her after the earlier attempt to take her life, what followed may never have happened. He said neglect was likely to have contributed to her death.
Campaigners are calling for an inquiry into the number of deaths at the mental health trust and believe the services are in crisis.
Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust said it “failed her that day, and we are so very sorry that we did not do more”.
Family handout
Cerys was a patient at Park House, which was run by the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Cerys’s parents, Rebecca Lupton and Dave Jones, describe their daughter as a loving young woman who would do anything for her friends. She was studying to be a nurse and was months away from completing her degree, with a job lined up.
She was autistic and had also struggled with her mental health since her teens.
Her family, who lived miles away in Sussex, say the pandemic and the reduction in community mental health support exacerbated Cerys’s problems.
The inquest was told Cerys had tried to take her life in the days running up to her death, spending time in A&E.
She was then readmitted to Park House and put on one-to-one observations for a short time. Later, she was supposed to be checked by staff every 15 minutes.
The inquest heard how, at about 14:35 on 13 May 2022, Cerys was found in a toilet by Mohammed Rafiq, a health support worker who had been assigned to check on her. Cerys had tried to hang herself.
Rebecca Lupton and Dave Jones describe Cerys as a loving young woman
Mr Rafiq and the duty nurse, Thaiba Talib, intervened.
However, the inquest heard the 15-minute observations were not then increased and staff had no proper conversation with her.
The nurse told the inquest she did not believe Cerys meant to seriously harm herself.
She told the coroner she chose not to increase observations on Cerys because she did not want her to feel punished, as she did not like being under observation.
When asked by the coroner if she should have gone with Cerys to her room after the incident and check she was safe, Ms Talib answered: “In hindsight, yes.”
Damning CCTV from inside the unit was described minute by minute in court.
It showed Cerys going into the ward garden at 14:42. The observation record, which says at 14:45 she was in her bedspace, was described by the coroner as “not accurate”.
At 14:54, Cerys walked into another toilet on the ward and closed the door.
Yet Mr Rafiq told the coroner he remembered seeing Cerys at 14:57. He wrote in the observation notes that he had seen her at 15:00 “along the corridor, looking flat-faced”. He then went on a break. In reality, Cerys was still in the toilet.
The coroner told Mr Rafiq that his recollections were wrong, and that he had “falsified” the observation records. Mr Rafiq responded: “I’m afraid so”.
Mr Rafiq said other staff had shown him how to record observations every 15 minutes, even if he hadn’t done them at that time. “That’s how they did it and that’s how I did it”, he told the court.
A new support worker took over the observations at 15:00. There was no verbal handover and, according to Mr Rafiq’s notes, Cerys had just been seen.
The CCTV shows the new support worker checking on other patients. At 15:15 she looked for Cerys.
She could be seen becoming increasingly desperate as she searched the communal areas and ran along the corridor.
At 15:19, she tried the door to the toilet, using a master key to unlock it. She found Cerys inside and immediately raised the alarm.
By that point, 25 minutes had passed since Cerys went into the toilet. She died in hospital on 18 May, five days later.
The coroner said there was a gross failure by Ms Talib to provide “basic medical attention to a person in a dependent position”.
He also found there was a culture of falsifying records on the ward.
The coroner said it was not clear what Cerys’s intention had been. In a narrative conclusion, he recorded that neglect had contributed to her death.
“Cerys was a wonderful, wonderful young person”, her mother Rebecca Lupton said
“I knew it was bad,” Cerys’s mother Rebecca told the BBC, “but listening to the evidence highlighted quite how poor the care was.”
Her father, Dave, says when Cerys was sectioned and taken to the hospital at the start of 2022, they believed it would keep her safe and help her get better. “In fact, it just made everything worse,” he says. “It was the wrong environment.”
“Cerys was a wonderful, wonderful young person. We feel that she would be here today if she’d been given better care by Manchester Mental Health Trust,” Rebecca said outside court, after the coroner gave his conclusion.
Dave described the disbelief and anger as difficult to put into words. “We need more funding for mental health services, more staff, better training and much better oversight.”
Immy Swithern was a patient at the same time as Cerys. They became close friends. She says they tried to make the best out of a bad situation and would talk all day.
She also claims some staff regularly failed to carry out 15-minute safety checks, so they tried to look out for each other.
“I was there to get better, and I was there to have help with that,” she says. “Instead, I was constantly checking on people. On that ward, I think that is the most scared I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Park House mental health unit has since closed. It was replaced by a new £105.9m hospital in November 2024.
The NHS trust said it had “significantly improved” its provision of care and it was grateful to the coroner for “acknowledging the work that has been done to prevent something of this nature from happening again”.
But campaigners claim mental health services in Manchester are in crisis.
Responding to Tuesday’s inquest verdict, the Communities for Holistic, Accessible and Rights-based Mental Health (CHARM) group, says: “It is devastating to hear of yet another young person losing their life as a result of neglect and poor care.”
The group says it is due to meet Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham this week to call for a statutory inquiry into the deaths and the financial crisis in the city’s mental health services.
In October 2022, five months after Cerys death, an undercover BBC panorama programme exposed bullying and the mistreatment of patients at the medium secure Edenfield centre, which was also run by GMMH.
As a result, an independent review was commissioned by the NHS and published in 2024.
It found a “closed culture” at GMMH. It also raised concerns about the number of deaths by ligature.
In 2022, 19 people took their own lives by hanging on mental health units in the UK, five were GMMH patients, the trust itself said that meant it had 26% of all such deaths in the whole country.
If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support in the UK are available at BBC Action Line.
Fleetwood Mac from left: John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and Lindsey BuckinghamCredit: GettyFleetwood Mac’s album RumoursCredit: Alamy
But I’ve been told that there are serious discussions behind the scenes about a series of projects involving all of the remaining members to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their album Rumours, which is among the best-selling and most critically acclaimed records of all time.
At the centre of the plans is said to be Mick Fleetwood, who is leading peace talks between former couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, as well as John McVie.
A one-off show, a TV special and a documentary about the making of Rumours are among options being discussed for the 2027 milestone.
And Warner Records is also preparing a special re-release of the album featuring unheard material from the original studio sessions.
A source close to Mick in the US said: “Fleetwood Mac are discussing new projects and how to mark Rumours’ big 5-0. For certain there is a special edition version of the album coming, which the band and label have been secretly looking at.
“But also there is a significant hope that it is time for the definitive documentary on all the chaos in the studio that created the magic on record.
“John and Christine were divorcing and she was dating their lighting guy. Stevie and Lindsey were over just before she and Mick enjoyed a brief fling. And drugs and booze were everywhere.
“The desire is for everyone to sit down and present their side of events on screen.
“And then of course comes the potential for a stage reunion and concert. That is the goal from Mick.
“Stevie has said it would not feel right being on stage without Christine, but also she and Lindsey are on a healing journey right now, which could be the path to a new show.
“However there is a desire to pay tribute to Christine in some way and a live show around Rumours seems a very fitting way.
“The gig would fill a stadium dozens of times because of the love they command.
“But unless some major shift happens, a tour is unlikely at this stage.”
Aaron Bay-Schuck, co-chairman and CEO of Warner Records confirmed at LA’s City of Hope gala that “some very special” music leftover from the making of Rumours had been found.
He said: “We will do everything in our power to respect that anniversary as long as they’ll let us.”
Last month, Stevie and Lindsey suggested relations had thawed when they reissued their 1973 Buckingham Nicks album.
And in March, Mick admitted: “I always have a fantasy that [Stevie] and Lindsey would pal up a bit more and just say everything’s OK for them both.”
They are beloved by an entirely new generation now thanks to social media, so there will be millions around the globe hoping they can patch things up for one last hurrah.
Aaron Bay-Schuck was at City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala to celebrate co-chairman and Warner Records COO Tom Corson, who was honoured at the event.
It is the centrepiece of the music, film and entertainment industry’s annual philanthropic campaign and raised nearly $6million.
US Vice President JD Vance says, one week into the Gaza ceasefire, he has “great optimism” the peace deal will hold. He declined to set a deadline for Hamas to disarm. Vance was speaking at a newly established centre in Israel for civilian and military cooperation.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Singapore today launched the first of its drone motherships, or Multi-Role Combat Vessels (MRCV). The largest and most complex ship in the Republic of Singapore Navy, the Victory is the first of a planned six of these vessels. These will replace the existing Victory class missile corvettes, which entered service in 1989, and they will form the cornerstone of the navy’s fleet modernization effort.
A rendering of the MRCV Victory. RSN
The Victory was launched at ST Engineering’s Benoi shipyard in Singapore, where it was formally christened by Mrs Chan, the wife of the country’s minister for defense, Chan Chun Sing.
Unusually, and somewhat confusingly, as well as the same name, the new warship carries the same pennant number, 88, as the lead ship of the Victory class MCVs.
Mrs Chan formally christened the new ship by breaking a bottle of champagne against the hull. RSN Navy Media 1
Now that the vessel is in the water, it will move to the Gul Yard for further outfitting, integration, and sea trials. It will then be formally commissioned. The six MRCVs are planned to be delivered progressively from 2028 onward.
As a drone mothership, the MRCV is designed to support operations by uncrewed aerial, surface, and underwater systems.
At the same time, the MRCV is built according to a modular principle, so it can be more easily adapted in the future to accommodate other missions.
Mr and Mrs Chan, together with senior defense officials, are briefed on the ship’s capabilities during their tour on board Victory. RSN
The vessel was also built remarkably quickly, with just 12 months between keel laying and launch. This was aided by 3D modelling and digital twinning in the design phase. This meant that the MRCV could be ‘tested’ in a virtual environment and refined before actual construction began, without the need for costly and time-consuming physical prototypes. Additional design input was also provided by Denmark and Sweden, both of which submitted proposals that were fed into the program at an early stage.
This model seen recently at DSTA, with the person for scale, gives you an idea of the vessel’s size. It will be the largest surface combatant to be operated by Singapore. pic.twitter.com/nniOyZl74M
The MRCV has a fully loaded displacement of around 8,300 tons and is 492 feet long. In comparison, the Formidable class frigates displace 3,150 tons and are 376 feet 8 inches long, while the previous Victory class missile corvettes, which the MRCVs will replace, displace just 586 tons and are 203 feet 5 inches long.
Republic of Singapore Navy Victory class corvette RSS Valiant. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Colemanberry/Released Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Colemanberry
Using integrated full electric propulsion (IFEP), which combines diesel engines with electric motors, the MRCV has a top speed in excess of 22 knots. In this IFEP arrangement, the diesel engines generate electricity, which is then used for both propulsion and to power other services and subsystems.
Missile armament includes MBDA Aster B1 NT long-range and VL MICA NG short-/medium-range surface-to-air missiles, which provide very significant air defense coverage, including the ability to engage certain ballistic missile targets. For anti-surface warfare, the boats will be armed with ST Engineering/IAI Blue Spear anti-ship missiles.
Electronics include the Thales SeaFire multifunction active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, Safran PASEO XLR electro-optical/infrared system, and Safran NGDS decoy launchers.
As launched, the Victory notably lacks its mast, this being an integrated item that will be provided by Saab Kockums. Mounting the four AESA antennas for the SeaFire radar and other sensors, the mast will be made from carbon-fiber composite material.
The center section of the hull and superstructure includes the mission bay, with space for eight modular containers. This allows the ship to be quickly configured for a wide range of missions within short periods of time. While the Singaporean Ministry of Defense specifically mentions a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) module, various other combat-related configurations would be possible.
In terms of drone operations, the flight deck at the rear can accommodate multiple uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) or a single medium-lift helicopter, like the Super Puma. Uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) and uncrewed underwater vessels (USVs) are handled by a launch and recovery system that includes a side-mounted crane and a ramp at the stern. The stern ramp can also be used to launch and recover (crewed) rigid-hulled inflatable boats.
The exact types of drones to be fielded on the vessels are unclear. Singapore already operates the Maritime Security Unmanned Surface Vessel (MARSEC USV), but is also investing in new systems to supplement or replace these.
A video shows Singaporean MARSEC USVs during an exercise:
Renderings of the MRCV also appear to show it operating Veloce 60 (V60) UAVs, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone manufactured by ST Engineering and already used by the Republic of Singapore Navy for surveillance. Again, additional and more capable UAVs are eventually likely to be fielded aboard the MRCVs.
We spoke to Roy Choo, a defense journalist and TWZ contributor, for his take on the MRCVs:
“The MRCVs highlight Singapore’s drive to develop unmanned systems across all domains as a force multiplier. In the maritime domain alone, the RSN has already operationalized its Maritime Security USVs, which began patrolling the city-state’s busy waterways earlier this year. The RSN is also progressing towards developing a new fleet of USVs and AUVs for mine countermeasure operations from 2027. To complement the four P-8A Poseidon aircraft it recently acquired, Singapore may also consider procuring a long-range maritime surveillance UAS. In the longer term, its S-70B Seahawks — the majority of which are now 20 years old — could potentially be partially or fully replaced by VTOL rotary-wing UAS.”
Using drones of different types, the MRCV will be able to conduct a wider variety of missions over a larger area than a more traditional warship, something that would otherwise require multiple crewed vessels to achieve. The drones will expand the vessel’s reach both in terms of surveillance and potentially also launch strikes.
Even without the force-multiplying effects of the drones, the MRCV is a more capable ship than anything previously operated by the Republic of Singapore Navy. Its operational range of more than 7,000 nautical miles is double that of the service’s Formidable class frigates, currently its main surface combatants. The MRCV also has an endurance of more than 21 days before needing to be refueled or resupplied.
The Republic of Singapore Navy Formidable class frigate RSS Supreme leads the Victory class corvette RSS Valiant, and the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Sampson in the South China Sea. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Colemanberry/Released Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Colemanberry
This performance is enabled by a very small crew, something that is standard for the Republic of Singapore, bearing in mind the country’s small population — at six million, this is smaller than that of the state of Missouri.
High levels of automation mean that each MRCV can be operated by fewer than 100 sailors. Whereas the bridge of a typical Republic of Singapore warship might otherwise be operated by five crew members, in the MRCV, this is reduced to two, with one rather than four crew members required to man the engineering control center.
An official slide from March 2025, presenting Singaporean defense procurement plans.MINDEF
The most important mission for the new MRCVs will be to safeguard the country’s sea lines of communication (SLOC). Singapore is almost uniquely reliant on the maritime trade that crisscrosses these major maritime routes.
“In the past, the role of the navy was perhaps only to defend our near shores,” Minister for Defense Chan said at today’s launch. “But Singapore’s strategic lines of communications extend much further today, and new capabilities are needed to work together as an integrated Singaporean Armed Force to secure and defend these.”
Singapore’s two vital SLOCs comprise one that passes through the heavily disputed South China Sea, and the other through the Strait of Malacca.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its national territory and is meanwhile busily expanding its efforts to bolster that position, including the construction of a constellation of man-made island military outposts in the region.
An annotated satellite image showing China’s man-made military outpost in Gaven Reefs, in the Spratly Islands chain, in the South China Sea. U.S. Department of Defense
Singapore doesn’t make any claim itself to any portion of the South China Sea, has generally good relations with Beijing, and has repeatedly called for a resolution to the current disputes through regional and international organizations.
However, it is acutely aware of its economic vulnerability in the face of rising tensions in the South China Sea as China makes increasingly forceful moves to assert its claims in the region.
China is preparing for potential contingencies in the South China Sea through the continued expansion of its anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities in the region, with the construction of man-made islets being one of the most notable expressions of this. Many of these islets already equipped with, or are suitable to accommodate, long-range surface-to-air missiles, shore-based anti-ship defenses, and even H-6 bombers that would present a significant challenge to any potential opponent in a crisis.
At the same time, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is in the midst of unprecedented growth and modernization and is introducing increasingly capable surface ships and submarines, which are now ranging further afield.
Singapore’s MRCVs, with their long endurance extended further by their organic drone capabilities, will be highly relevant in the context.
The capabilities of the new vessels will also come into play in littoral areas closer to home, in particular the Malacca Strait, which could easily become a chokepoint in any wider regional crisis.
More broadly, six new MRCVs are part of a process of overhauling Singapore’s maritime capabilities.
The ongoing upgrade of Singapore’s naval capabilities also includes an upgrade of the Formidable class frigates and two additional Type 218SG submarines in addition to the previous four. Earlier this year, Singapore confirmed its selection of the Boeing P-8A Poseidon as its next maritime patrol aircraft, which will also provide a significant capability boost.
Chan also described the future challenges in securing these SLOCs as being more multifaceted, more difficult, and more dangerous, while rapidly evolving threats mean that it’s vital that the MRCVs can be updated accordingly, via their modular design.
“No ship will be able to anticipate … the operational needs for the next 30 years,” Chan said. “What we need is a ship that can keep evolving with our operational requirements.”
The speed with which Singapore is pursuing its Multi-Role Combat Vessel program underlines the high priority assigned to it. While navies around the world are increasingly looking at harnessing the capabilities offered by drones, Singapore’s drone motherships are very much a signal of intent as it continues to upgrade its navy to better meet potential new threats.
Warner Bros. Discovery has officially acknowledged the company is up for sale, marking the third time in a decade that its storied assets have been on the auction block.
The company’s board announced Tuesday that it has initiated “a review of strategic alternatives … in light of unsolicited interest the Company has received from multiple parties for both the entire company and Warner Bros.”
The Ellison family, which owns Paramount, started the bidding late last month. With financial backing from his father, Larry Ellison, David Ellison is looking to build an entertainment juggernaut. The family and RedBird Capital Partners finalized their takeover of Paramount in August, and has since made at least one offer for its rival. Paramount wants to buy the entire company, including its basic cable channels that include CNN, TNT, Food Network and HGTV.
Warner Bros. Discovery stock soared 11% Tuesday to more than $20 a share, valuing the company at $50 billion. That’s the highest level since Discovery swallowed the larger WarnerMedia in April 2022.
The company did not disclose the other entities that have expressed interest in buying the company as a whole, or its stable of assets, including premium cable channel HBO, the HBO Max streaming service and the legendary Warner Bros. film and television studio and its campus in Burbank.
“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market,” Chief Executive David Zaslav said in a statement announcing the strategic review.
“After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” he said.
The company last summer unveiled its intention to split into two separate publicly traded entities — an arrangement that most observers saw as the unofficial kickoff of the company’s sale.
That separation process will continue, Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday.
The company intended to create two stand-alone entities. One would include the Warner Bros. studio and its expansive library of shows and movies, as well as the HBO Max streaming service. Zaslav was planning to run that enterprise.
The second company, Discovery Global, would comprise the basic cable channels and international operations. Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels would lead that operation.
“We view this as a move to initiate the entire bidding process now, for all bidders, even though not every bidder may be interested in all of WBD,” Raymond James analysts Ric Prentiss and Brent Penter wrote in a Tuesday note to investors.
“WBD is telling other bidders they can bid now instead of waiting for the split, or perhaps they even need to bid now since waiting may prove to be too late,” the analysts said.
Warner Bros. Discovery board intends to “evaluate a broad range of strategic options,” including “an alternative separation structure that would enable a merger of Warner Bros. and spin-off of Discovery Global to our shareholders,” it said in a statement.
“Our decision to initiate this review underscores the Board’s commitment to considering all opportunities to determine the best value for our shareholders,” Warner Bros. Discovery Chair Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr., said in the statement. “We continue to believe that our planned separation to create two distinct, leading media companies will create compelling value. That said, we determined taking these actions to broaden our scope is in the best interest of shareholders.”
The company did not set a deadline or timetable for the strategic alternatives review, although it had previously said the separation into two distinct companies — Warner Bros. and Discovery Global — would be complete by April.
TD Cowen media analyst Doug Creutz indicated Tuesday’s announcement was simply a formality because investors were well aware the company was in play.
“We continue to think a transaction with [Paramount] … is reasonably likely; we are more skeptical that other, more attractive bidders will emerge,” Creutz wrote.
The announcement hit as Warner Bros. Discovery employees already are nervous about the process and the proposed Ellison takeover, which observers believe would spark a massive consolidation and the elimination of hundreds more jobs.
Some already were suffering from deal fatigue as many are veterans of the company’s two previous sales.
In October 2016, the company, then known as Time Warner Inc., announced its sale to phone giant AT&T. President Trump, who was first elected the following month, strenuously objected to the merger. The government challenged the union, and it took nearly two years to win federal approval. The AT&T years were turbulent. The company restructured, then spent billions to build the HBO Max streaming service.
After three years, AT&T threw in the towel after lining up Zaslav, who had long managed the much smaller Discovery. The April 2022 sale to Discovery burdened the company with more than $50 billion in debt.
Since then, Zaslav and his team have tried to streamline the operations, leading to thousands of layoffs. The company’s debt now hovers around $35 billion.
Allen & Company, J.P. Morgan and Evercore have been retained as financial advisors to Warner Bros. Discovery. Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP are serving as legal counsel.
Oct. 21 (UPI) — A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump was again arrested following an alleged threat to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Christopher P. Moynihan, 34, was arrested over the weekend by New York State Police after he allegedly sent text messages on Friday to an unidentified associate in which he threatened the life of Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan was quoted in a legal complaint filed by prosecutors in Duchess County.
Jeffries, 55, gave remarks Monday in Manhattan at the Economic Club of New York.
On Sunday, Moynihan was charged with a class D felony of making a terroristic threat.
“Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill (Jeffries) for the future,” he wrote.
Moynihan was arraigned in Clinton, a Hudson Valley town some 50 miles east of Syracuse, and remanded to a Duchess County facility “in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, a $30,000 bond, or an $80,000 partially secured bond,” according to state police.
He pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges and declared guilty in August 2022 of obstructing an official government proceeding on Jan. 6, 2021 after Trump’s false declaration that he won the 2020 election.
Moynihan, said to be among the first to breach Capitol police barricades to enter the building, is one in a string of Trump-pardoned convicted criminals to later be re-arrested on newer charges.
According to court records, Moynihan has a long history of drug use and petty crimes.
In February 2022, Moynihan was sentenced 21 months in jail until pardoned by Trump along with nearly 1,600 Capitol rioters almost immediately after Trump reassumed office.
Moynihan’s investigation was initiated via the FBI part of a growing trend of threats against U.S. lawmakers.
Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police said last month the number of threat investigations this year rose past 14,000, which was higher than the total number of cases in 2024.
After the U.S.–Russia summit between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest this October, diplomatic attention swiftly shifted eastward to a region where Trump once scripted some of his most dramatic foreign policy moments. In Washington, Seoul, and even Pyongyang, speculation is mounting about the possible revival of a U.S.–North Korea summit.
Although there has been no official confirmation, the idea of a US-North Korea summit being brought back to the table reflects a notable shift in the diplomatic direction of the Trump 2.0 administration. After making initial strides in Gaza and Ukraine, Washington appears to be shifting its pivot to Northeast Asia, a region that was a symbol of Trump’s diplomatic breakthrough in his first term in 2018.
Trump’s diplomatic instinct
Diplomacy under Trump has always been intensely personal. His style relies less on institutions or multilateral mechanisms and more on leader-to-leader engagement, what some in Washington describe as “summit diplomacy.”
For Trump, a renewed meeting with Kim Jong Un could serve two political purposes. First, it would remind the world that it is Trump, not Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin, who remains at the center of managing the world’s flashpoints. Second, it would demonstrate his unique ability to “talk to the untouchables,” those seen as beyond the reach of traditional diplomacy.
Trump doesn’t necessarily need an agreement to declare victory. What he needs is a story, one that projects confidence, leadership, and America’s capacity to command global attention. The Korean Peninsula remains the perfect stage for that story to unfold.
America’s strategic calculus
Beyond the spectacle, Washington’s calculus is deeply strategic. Trump’s contemplation of reopening dialogue with Kim is less about denuclearization per se and more about repositioning U.S. influence within two intersecting triangles of power: U.S.–China–Russia and U.S.–Japan–South Korea.
By reaching out directly to Kim, Trump could dilute the dual leverage that Moscow and Beijing currently exert over Pyongyang. Both powers have increasingly treated North Korea as a tactical card in their broader geopolitical standoff with the United States. A Trump–Kim channel could, at least temporarily, limit that dependency, allowing Washington to reassert itself as an independent broker on the Peninsula.
At the same time, reviving engagement with Pyongyang could help reboot the stalled trilateral coordination between Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul. For the U.S., this is not only about deterring the North but also about reaffirming its leadership at a time when East Asia’s security architecture is under strain from renewed great-power rivalry.
Pyongyang’s position: bargaining from strength
From Pyongyang’s perspective, the motivation to reopen a “high-level dialogue” is equally clear. Negotiating with Washington offers a path, however narrow, toward easing economic isolation or securing limited political concessions.
A statement from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry in October 2025 captured this tone of calibrated openness. “There is no reason to avoid dialogue with the United States, as long as it proceeds with mutual respect.” Behind this carefully crafted language lies a familiar tactic: engage only when leverage is high.
Unlike in 2019, Pyongyang is no longer fully isolated. Its deepening military cooperation with Russia, particularly since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, has yielded tangible benefits, from battlefield experience to access to advanced military technology. Meanwhile, China continues to view North Korea as an indispensable strategic buffer in its rivalry with the United States.
Most importantly, North Korea’s nuclear deterrence capability has grown substantially. The October 11 military parade unveiled the new Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, symbolizing both technological progress and political confidence. The reactivation of the Yongbyon nuclear complex further signals that Pyongyang now approaches negotiations not from weakness, but from perceived strength.
As Pyongyang frames these moves as “necessary deterrence measures,” they also function as a form of crisis manufacturing, a deliberate escalation designed to increase bargaining value. For Trump, whose instincts favor transactional, hard-nosed diplomacy, this is a game he believes he can play and win.
Yet, the road to a new U.S.–North Korea summit remains fraught with risks. Washington harbors no illusion about the prospects of full denuclearization, while Pyongyang remains unwilling to trade its strategic assets for what it sees as reversible or symbolic commitments.
The question for Trump 2.0 is no longer whether to meet or not to meet Kim Jong Un, but rather, why meet, and what follows afterward?
If Trump manages to sustain dialogue with both Putin and Kim, he could reposition the United States as a balancer in an international order increasingly defined by overlapping rivalries rather than clear blocs. But if his efforts falter, Washington risks ceding ground to Moscow and Beijing, both of which are expanding their influence through direct engagement with Pyongyang.
A new kind of summit
If another Trump–Kim summit materializes in the coming months, it will not be a replay of Singapore 2018 or Hanoi 2019. This time, the performance will likely be more pragmatic, less idealistic, and perhaps even more calculated. Both leaders now understand the limits of what diplomacy can achieve and also the power of what a meeting alone can symbolize.
In a region where every gesture carries strategic weight, even the act of “showing up” becomes a message in itself. For Trump, that message would be simple but powerful: that the U.S. still holds the initiative, not through coercion, but through presence.
And for Kim Jong Un, it would reaffirm that Pyongyang, once again, cannot be ignored.
Whether or not the summit happens, Trump’s renewed focus on the Korean Peninsula reveals something deeper about his worldview. In an era where global power is contested on multiple fronts, symbolic diplomacy—the art of turning visibility into leverage—has become a strategic tool in its own right.
The question is not whether Trump and Kim can achieve a breakthrough. It is whether both can once again use each other to tell the stories they need: one of restored American dominance and one of North Korean resilience.
Either way, the stage is set. The spotlight, once more, is on the Peninsula.
‘I previously said there was something we’re not seeing between Julia-Ruth and Divarni, and it turns out their secrets and sex are being held from the group, too’
17:18, 21 Oct 2025Updated 17:18, 21 Oct 2025
Zara Woodcock is a London-based reporter from Thailand and England and works as a Showbiz Reporter for The Mirror. She lived in Saudi Arabia before moving to the UK to study for a BA and MA in Journalism at Kingston University, London. Zara joined Reach in 2021 and loves writing about all things celebrity, movies and music. She spends too much time watching horror movies and reality television. You can contact Zara at [email protected]
MAFS icon Emma Barnes: ‘Julia-Ruth might be using sex with Divarni to stay on television’(Image: Getty Images)
I’m starting to feel like I should disregard everything I say about most of the couples in this experiment, because the twists and turns of Married at First Sight are never-ending! This week, we saw the drama unfolding between Julia-Ruth and Divarni, Maeve and Joe, and Grace and Ashley over a steamy spa day and a dinner party where the heat was SERVED, even though the actual food is cold.
Last week, I said there was something we’re not seeing between Julia-Ruth and Divarni, and it turns out the secrets and sex are being held from the group, too.
Julia-Ruth feels like, instead of owning up that she’s just not into Divarni, she’s using sex to stay in the experiment (or on TV) for longevity. This programme is about authenticity, real people, real highs and lows of relationships, so you can smell “the extra 15 minutes of screen time” that Keye voiced at the dinner party a mile off.
I predict we’ll see a “stay” from this couple at the commitment ceremony to solidify that they just want another week on the telly.
A quick follower count shows the popularity of the cast plain as day – the audience likes Leah, Ashley, and Maeve the most. These are all relatable, day-to-day cast members who deserve the world for coming in and being true to themselves.
I think that was mine and Kristina’s story, too. I genuinely went into the experiment expecting a great story to tell in the pub for the rest of my life; anything and everything else that has come my way is a fabulous bonus. I genuinely think these three would say the same.
Haven’t we seen a turnaround for the girls?! I said on Saturday that Leigh and Leah have no chance, but I’ve completely changed my mind in two nights, and I’m proud of them.
I met Leigh a couple of weeks into the show and remember saying to her, “My gosh, you can smile in real life!” She was lovely, we had a laugh, and I’m glad we’re seeing her warm up on screen.
I’m also glad her resting bitch face hasn’t moved, the edit have obviously had a play with that at the beginning but remind me not to get on the wrong side of that stare!
So, onto the retreat, one of my favourite memories of the show, clambering onto the coach like a school trip.
With Leah’s dresses getting bigger by the week, let’s hope she’ll fit the next one through the sliding doors at the dinner party, and let’s hope the retreat serves drama, a wife swap and gives Leisha some more memes to make because they’re killing me on TikTok!
Body finds that chatbots provide biased advice, including by leading voters to the hard-right Party for Freedom.
Published On 21 Oct 202521 Oct 2025
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The Netherlands’s data protection watchdog has cautioned citizens against consulting with artificial intelligence on how to vote, warning that popular chatbots provide a “highly distorted and polarised view” of politics.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority said on Tuesday that an increasing number of voters were using AI to help decide who to vote for, despite the models offering “unreliable and clearly biased” advice.
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The watchdog issued the warning as it released the results of tests conducted on four popular chatbots – ChatGPT, Gemini, Mistral, and Grok – in the run-up to parliamentary elections on October 29.
The research found that the chatbots more often recommended parties on the fringes of the political spectrum when asked to identify the three choices that best matched the policy preferences of 1,500 fictitious voter profiles.
In more than half of cases, the AI models identified the hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV) or left-wing Green Left-Labour Party as the top choice, the watchdog said.
Parties closer to the political middle ground – such as the right-leaning People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and the centre-left Democrats 66 – were recommended much less often, according to the watchdog.
Meanwhile, some groupings, including the conservative Christian Democratic Appeal and left-leaning Denk, were “almost never suggested”.
Monique Verdier, deputy chair of the authority, said that voters who turned to AI risked being encouraged to vote for parties that do not align with their preferences.
“This directly impacts a cornerstone of democracy: the integrity of free and fair elections. We therefore urge voters not to use AI chatbots for voting advice because their operation is neither transparent nor verifiable,” Verdier said in a statement.
“Additionally, we call on chatbot providers to prevent their systems from being used as voting guides.”
The October 29 election comes after the PVV, led by anti-immigration firebrand Geert Wilders, pulled its support for the government after its coalition partners refused to back a 10-point plan to radically curtail immigration.
Wilders’s PPV, which scored one of the biggest upsets in Dutch political history by winning the most seats in the 2023 election, has consistently led opinion polls before next week’s vote.
While the PPV is on track to win the most seats for a second straight election, it is all but certain to fall far short of a parliamentary majority.
The other major parties in the Netherlands, which has been governed by coalition governments without interruption since the 1940s, have all ruled out supporting the PPV in power.
VIRGIN Radio Breakfast Show host Chris Evans has revealed the hit TV programme he turned down presenting.
The broadcaster was speaking with The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant on today’s show when Noel Edmonds cropped up in the conversation.
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Chris Evans revealed the popular gameshow he turned down hostingCredit: Virgin Radio UKStephen Merchant recalled his early career at the BBCCredit: Virgin Radio UK
Stephen explained: “One of the first times I got a little bit starstruck is I first joined the BBC as a trainee and I was walking around the doughnut at the BBC and coming the other way, Noel Edmonds.
“I think he might have had Cuban heels on, I’m not sure. He had an attaché case. I thought, ‘What are the ideas in there? I bet there’s some quality in there. I bet there’s a Blobby spin-off’. I was a massive Edmonds fan.”
The comedy writer and actor then praised Edmonds’ ability to make long-running gameshow Deal or No Deal a national TV institution.
He said: “That guy, the fact that you could keep that going day in, day out of people opening boxes. I mean, only Edmonds could do it. It’s extraordinary.”
Chris then revealed the show could have been very different if he’d agreed to present it.
“I was offered that show,” he said Chris. “Thank God I turned it down.”
When Stephen responded, “you’re extraordinary,” Chris quickly clarified that he wasn’t blowing his own trumpet, rather making the point that fate intervened and everything worked out as it should.
Chris explained that production company Endemol offered him the job without the need for an audition or pilot episode, but the former TFI Friday host never entertained it.
He said a DVD of the format lay on his coffee table “for ages” and remained unwatched.
“I wasn’t interested,” said Chris. “No, not for a second. It’s not what I do and Noel did it, it brought him back and he’s one of my heroes. It’s a genius show anyway.”
The pair then laughed about Noel turning the act of opening a box containing a mystery amount of money into a spiritual process that tapped into each contestant’s intuition.
Noel hosted the programme for 11 years between 2005 and 2016 before it was shelved by Channel 4.
The format barely changed in that time with 22 contestants all given a red box, containing an unknown some between 1p and £250,000 in value, at random.
A chosen player then has to select which of their co-stars’ boxes they want to open, hopeful of avoiding big money sums as they go
At intervals, the banker makes the player an offer for their box, which they can decide to take in exchange for their sum or play on until the very end where they will walk away with the mystery amount they were originally allocated.
The programme made a comeback in 2023 on UTV with Stephen Mulhern at the helm.
Listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with The National Lottery on Virgin Radio UK, weekdays from 6:30am
Noel Edmonds revitalised his career with Deal or No DealCredit: Channel 4
Rescuers and firefighters operate at the scene after the Glória Funicular cable railway derailed in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 3. A preliminary report on the crash found a non-compliant steel cable snapped before the crash. File Photo by Miguel A. Lopes/EPA
Oct. 21 (UPI) — A preliminary report released Tuesday about last month’s deadly crash of one of Lisbon’s famed funiculars found that an unapproved underground cable snapped just before the incident.
The Sept. 3 crash of the Elevador da Glória, a 111-year-old two-car funicular that operates the sloping streets of Portugal’s capital, killed 16 people after one of the cars broke free and crashed into a building along the route. More than a dozen other people were injured in the incident.
The preliminary report by Portugal’s Air and Rail Accident Investigations Bureau found that the cause of the crash was an underground cable that snapped, allowing the car at the top of the hill to break free.
Though the cable had a minimum breaking load within the safety parameters of the Glória Funicular, the investigators found the cable was not in compliance with specifications by the city’s transport operator, CCFL.
The haulage cable ran between the two cars and acted as a counterweight between them as one descended the hill and the other ascended from the opposite direction.
The cable broke seconds after the two cars began their 54th trips of the day. While the bottom car abruptly stopped and remained largely in place at the bottom of the hill, the top car lost power and began to increase speed down the hill. According to investigators, the brakeman of the top car attempted to engage the pneumatic brake system, and when that didn’t work, he tried to use the manual brake.
While the brakeman’s maneuvers caused a slight decrease in acceleration, the car was still steadily increasing its speed down the hill. It successfully negotiated the first slight curve in the track, but derailed at the next, sharper bend in the track.
The car then slammed into a building along the route.
Investigators said the haulage cable — multiple strands of twisted steel — showed various breaks in the smaller metal strands that happened at different times.
“The failure occurred progressively over time and involved multiple fracture types,” the report said.
Workers installed the cable between Aug. 26, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2024, as part of what the bureau described as an intermediate repair of the Glória Funicular. This type of cable is commonly used in funiculars, the report said.
However, the manufacturer of the cable said it could not be used with a swivel, a rotating part on the cars that attached them to the cables.
“At this time, it cannot be said whether the use of this type of non-compliant cable intervened, or what intervention it had, in the rupture,” the report said. “And it is certain for the investigation that there were other factors that had to intervene.”
Since the crash, the head of Lisbon’s public transport has been fired and though Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas faced accusations he failed in his oversight of the funiculars, he won re-election Oct. 12, according to the BBC.
He told SIC television the results of the report released Monday “reaffirms that the unfortunate tragedy … was due to technical and not political causes.”
Small screen giant Netflix has once again turned to the big screen, this time with the release of its latest buzzy film, “Frankenstein.”
Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, the film opened last weekend with a limited release in 10 theaters in Los Angeles, New York and a few other cities, and will expand to more sites for a total theatrical run of three weeks. The film stars Oscar Isaac as the titular egomaniacal scientist and Jacob Elordi as the Creature (who, contrary to popular belief, is not named Frankenstein — you can thank my English major for that tidbit).
The film is getting some awards attention, particularly for the performance of the prosthetics-and-makeup-laden Elordi, and notched a solid 86% approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. As of Sunday afternoon, Del Toro posted that the film had sold out at least 57 screenings. “Frankenstein” will debut on the streamer on Nov. 7.
Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is just the latest in a long line of adaptations of the classic 1818 novel by Mary Shelley. From the first silent film short in 1910 to Boris Karloff’s famed turn as the monster in 1931 and the Kenneth Branagh-directed movie in 1994 that starred Robert De Niro as the creature (Branagh played Frankenstein and Helena Bonham Carter was Elizabeth Lavenza), the classic horror story has proved ripe for filmmakers’ commentary on humanity, science and nature.
In fact, “Frankenstein” has been a lifelong passion project for Del Toro, who has made an award-winning career out of analyzing and depicting monsters, from 2006’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” to 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”
For Netflix, it’s a reminder of why film remains an important, if unlikely, part of the streamer’s strategy.
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It’s no secret that Netflix has built its reputation — and its streaming prowess — on the strength of its series, from “Orange Is the New Black” to “Stranger Things” and “Bridgerton.” After all, popular episodic shows keep viewers on the platform, rack up hours of engagement and help draw new subscribers to the service.
The Los Gatos, Calif., company’s embrace of movie theaters may seem surprising given its longstanding testy relationship with movie theater exhibitors and their distribution strategy.
In fact, Netflix has also long said its main goal is to offer subscribers first-run movies on its platform, directly undermining the traditional 90-day “window” between a film’s release in theaters and when it appears in the home.
Earlier this year, Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos poured salt on the wound when he called the theatrical business “outdated,” at a time when many chains are struggling to fill seats to pre-pandemic levels.
Yet, theaters are still important to Netflix, which releases about 30 films annually in cinemas.
One reason: the allure of Oscar glory.
For the last few years, Netflix has submitted dozens of movies for awards-qualifying runs.
It’s typical for those films to be in cinemas for about two to three weeks before showing up on the platform. (Sometimes, those theatrical showings are for marketing purposes, like the recent “KPop Demon Hunters” singalong screenings.)
Netflix has won numerous Academy Awards over the years, ranging from animated feature (Del Toro’s “Pinocchio” in 2023), supporting actress (Laura Dern for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez” in 2025) and director (Alfonso Cuarón in 2019 for “Roma” and Jane Campion in 2022 for “The Power of the Dog”).
Best picture, however, has continued to elude the company.
Theatrical releases also help the streamer to attract filmmakers and build relations with key talent. For instance, Netflix’s upcoming “Narnia” film from Greta Gerwig will get a two-week Imax run next year. Netflix previously ran Del Toro’s well-received horror anthology series “Cabinet of Curiosities.”
And while serial narratives may reign supreme, to maintain subscribers, you need other kinds of content to keep it fresh. That’s where movies (and live events) come into play.
As consumers decide which streaming services they can’t live without, a platform that has a little bit of everything has an advantage.
“Having a good mix of movies and serial content is really important,” says Alicia Reese, senior vice president of equity research in media and entertainment at Wedbush Securities. “A lot of people use this as their one and only subscription.”
In other fronts, is the fight over OpenAI’s new Sora 2 dying down? Maybe not, but there are signs of easing tensions.
On Monday, United Talent Agency, SAG-AFTRA, Creative Artists Agency, Assn. of Talent Agents, actor Bryan Cranston and OpenAI released a joint statement noting that Cranston’s voice and likeness was able to be generated “in some outputs” without consent or compensation when the tool was launched two weeks ago in a limited release.
“While from the start it was OpenAI’s policy to require opt-in for the use of voice and likeness, OpenAI expressed regret for these unintentional generations,” the statement said. “OpenAI has strengthened guardrails around replication of voice and likeness when individuals do not opt-in.”
Cranston, who brought the issue to SAG-AFTRA’s attention, said he was “grateful” to OpenAI for improving its policies and “hope that they and all of the companies involved in this work, respect our personal and professional right to manage replication of our voice and likeness.”
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NBC News sent termination notices to 150 staffers last week, as the network struggles with declining TV ratings and ad revenue. Layoffs have been prevalent throughout the media landscape this year, but have been felt especially hard at broadcast news outlets, as audiences increasingly migrate to streaming platforms and cut the cord.
In addition to these issues, my colleague Stephen Battaglio reported that the NBC News layoffs were also attributed to the spin-off of cable networks MSNBC and CNBC. NBC News now no longer shares resources with those outlets, which will become part of a new company called Versant.
Affected employees were encouraged to apply for 140 open positions throughout the news group.
Finally …
I had to do it. With the Dodgers returning to the World Series, my colleague Jack Harris looks at the team’s season this year and how they fought through multiple injuries on the roster to eventually turn the ship around.
EuroLeague said the decision to allow Israeli clubs to play home games was in response to the October 10 ceasefire agreement.
Published On 21 Oct 202521 Oct 2025
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Basketball’s top European competitions are set to become the first to return to Israel since the October 7, 2023 attacks, after clubs agreed on Tuesday to resume EuroLeague and EuroCup games in the country from December 1, following recent ceasefire and peace initiatives in the region, the organisation said.
Games involving Israeli teams have been held at neutral venues since October 2023 due to the conflict in Gaza.
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Six-time champions Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv are the Israeli clubs in this season’s EuroLeague, while Hapoel Jerusalem play in the EuroCup.
Maccabi have been playing their home games in Belgrade, Serbia, where they host Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Hapoel Tel Aviv have made their home in Sofia, Bulgaria, where their next home game is on October 29 against Partizan Belgrade.
“After thoughtful deliberation, ECA clubs agreed on the proposal to set December 1, 2025, as the date for games to resume in Israel. Until then, Euroleague Basketball will continue to carefully monitor developments, stay in close contact with local and foreign authorities, visiting teams, and all relevant organisations,” EuroLeague Basketball said in a statement.
“Euroleague Basketball and its participating clubs welcome the recent peace plan with optimism and hope. The organisation reaffirms its belief in the power of basketball to bring people and communities together, and its commitment to contributing to peace through the shared values of sport, respect, and unity.”
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeated breaches of the ceasefire since it was formally agreed upon eight days ago, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning captives’ bodies, bringing in aid and opening borders.
