England’s Jofra Archer gets two wickets in three balls, removing Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green, in the first over after lunch as Australia fall to 94-4 on day one of the third Ashes Test in Adelaide.

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Dec. 16 (UPI) — A suspect identified as Micah James Legnon has been arrested by agents from the FBI’s New Iberia office for allegedly planning an attack on federal agents.

Legnon, 29, was a member of the Turtle Island Liberation Front and had communicated with four members who were charged with allegedly planning a series of New Year’s Eve terrorist attacks in the Greater Los Angeles area on Monday, WDSU reported.

He is a resident of New Iberia and was arrested on Friday while driving to New Orleans after FBI agents saw him loading a military-style rifle and body armor into his vehicle and telling others in a Signal chat group that he was traveling to New Orleans.

New Iberia is located about 120 miles west of New Orleans, and Legnon allegedly shared a video that showed multiple firearms, gas canisters and body armor before leaving on Friday.

In that post, Legnon said he was “On my way to NOLA now, be there in about two hours,” but the FBI arrested him while driving east on U.S. Highway 90, according to WWL-TV.

In a Dec. 4 post, Legnon shared a Facebook post showing Customs and Border Protection agents arresting someone and said he wanted to “recreate Waco, Texas,” on the federal officers while referencing the 1993 federal siege on the Branch Davidians compound there.

He is a former Marine who was trained in combat and a self-professed satanist who used the alias “Black Witch” in group chats with four suspects accused of targeting locations throughout California.

Federal prosecutors filed a federal complaint against Legnon and asked the magistrate judge to seal it and related records due to an ongoing investigation.

They asked that it be unsealed on Tuesday, which is a day after the four suspects accused of planning the California terror attacks were charged with related crimes.

The FBI said Legnon had been communicating with the four suspects in California before the arrests were made and charges filed in the respective cases.

The Turtle Island Liberation Front is a far-left, anti-government, anti-capitalist and pro-Palestinian group, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The pretty market town was crowned Best Place to Live in the country in 2012 and won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times, yet few tourists make it there

The UK is home to some truly stunning villages and towns. From cobbled streets winding through rolling countryside to clifftop whitewashed hamlets and fairy-tale cottages scattered across the landscape, Britain has it all.

But travel just a bit further afield, and you’ll discover places that could easily rival – or even outshine – the best of what Britain has to offer. Westport in County Mayo, Ireland, is one such gem. Getting there couldn’t be easier, with Ryanair, British Airways, and Aer Lingus all flying into Knock, the closest airport to Westport. From there, it’s just an hour’s drive west to this coastal Heritage Town.

The journey itself is a treat, with the scenery becoming increasingly dramatic as you near the Atlantic and the mountains loom larger. Croagh Patrick, known as Ireland’s “Holy Mountain,” sits just five miles from town, its distinctive cone-shaped peak dominating the skyline above Clew Bay.

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The mountain draws both pilgrims and tourists alike. Every year on the last Sunday in July, worshippers make the gruelling climb to the summit, where they visit a chapel, attend Mass, and often perform acts of devotion – some even tackling the ascent barefoot or on their knees.

If that sounds a bit too intense for a relaxing break, don’t worry – there’s plenty to keep you entertained in the town itself. Westport boasts a beautiful Georgian town centre, while stone bridges span the tree-lined paths that run alongside the River Carrowbeg.

The town is remarkably pristine, offering an exceptional quality of life. Westport has triumphed in the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times – in 2001, 2006, and 2008 – and was named Best Place to Live in Ireland by The Irish Times in 2012.

It comes as no surprise that Westport is home to a wealth of outstanding pubs. Venues like Matt Molloy’s, MacBride’s, Porter House, and JJ O’Malley’s are all reliable choices and regularly feature traditional Irish bands in the evenings.

When the weather’s nice, tourists can wander along the Quay before making their way to The Point. “This is a fabulous place to meet locals on a nice day as they swim in the shallow waters of Clew Bay. I sat at a table and laughed as they chatted with each other, calling to friends who were not in the water. It was a kick to be a fly on the wall and witness friends and neighbours giving each other a hard time and laughing and gossiping,” notes travel blogger Wander Your Way.

Many tourists staying in Westport opt to explore destinations beyond the town centre, immersing themselves in the dramatic beauty of the countryside. A popular local saying in Clew Bay claims there’s “an island for every day of the year.”

In reality, there are roughly 120 designated islands, alongside countless smaller submerged limestone drumlins that appear when the tide goes out.

Clare Island is the largest of the true islands, its majestic silhouette looming on the horizon like a giant humpback whale. The short ferry crossing from Roonagh Pier is essential for visitors, providing spectacular walks and vistas. Clare attracts birdwatchers in their droves, who come to spot kittiwakes, fulmars, peregrines, guillemots, and the most charming of all – puffins.

For those prepared to travel further offshore, Inishturk beckons, billed as a “little piece of paradise,” according to the local tourism authority. Must-sees include the golden sands of Tra na nUan and Curraun, Ireland’s sole offshore-island natural lagoon, dramatic sea cliffs, and uncommon wild flora.

Westport is a treasure that’s difficult to fault, commonly considered a combination of Ireland’s best natural attractions with welcoming culture and streets that remain pleasantly uncrowded.

“I am a huge fan of Westport and County Mayo, perhaps because my wife’s cousin owns the Clew Bay Hotel and Madden’s Restaurant. I highly recommend both. Renting bikes in Westport and riding the Great Western Greenway is fantastic, love it. It’s a charming little town with excellent restaurants and pubs,” one devotee recently posted on Reddit. Another person enthused: “I second Westport! My wife and I had our honeymoon there (years ago, and in Clew Bay Hotel too! ) and frequently return. The people in the restaurants, bars, and shops are all so welcoming. If you’re not a fan of the pubs (and the music), there are plenty of interesting and easily accessible walks and cycle paths nearby. Can’t wait to go back!”.

A third observer noted: “It really does seem magical out there, lots of outdoor activities and seems less busy with tourists.”

The U.S. Air Force has confirmed it is buying two Boeing 747-8 airliners from German flag carrier Lufthansa. The jets will be used for training and as sources of spare parts as part of a larger effort to try to accelerate the entry into service of two new VC-25B Air Force One aircraft. This follows the service’s recent announcement that it now hopes to have the first VC-25B in hand by mid-2028, a slight improvement in the still much-delayed delivery timeline for the aircraft.

“As part of the presidential airlift acceleration efforts, the Air Force is procuring two aircraft to support training and spares for the 747-8 fleet,” Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokesperson, told TWZ in a statement. “Given [that] the 747-8i is no longer in active production, and is a very different aircraft than the 747-200, it is important for the Air Force to establish an overall training and sustainment strategy for the future Air Force 747-8i fleet.”

The Air Force’s two existing VC-25A Air Force One jets are based on the 747-200, a type that has become increasingly difficult to operate and maintain in recent years. The last 200-series model rolled off Boeing’s production line in 1991. This version is also the basis for the service’s four E-4B Nightwatch ‘doomsday plane’ flying command posts, which are in the process of being separately replaced with E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) jets converted from newer 747-8s.

Furthermore, Boeing shuttered the 747 line entirely in 2022. Lufthansa, Korean Air, and Air China are the only airlines that still use 747s of any kind for scheduled passenger flights. A number of other commercial operators continue to fly freighter versions, and a number of specially configured 747s also remain in VIP fleets globally.

“The Air Force is procuring the two aircraft for a total of $400M. We expect the first aircraft to arrive early next year. The second is expected to be delivered before the end of the year,” Stefanek, the Air Force spokesperson, added, though the reasons for the reverse order in delivery of the jets are not clear. She further clarified that one of the aircraft will fly and be used for training purposes, at least initially. The other aircraft will be utilized as a source of spare parts from the start. Air Force One pilot and flight engineer training has previously been contracted out.

Unconfirmed reports that Lufthansa was selling two 747-8s to the Air Force first emerged last week. The aircraft in question reportedly have the registrations D-ABYD and D-ABYG, which have been flying for the German airline since August 2021 and March 2013, respectively. There had been no prior indications that Lufthansa was looking to divest any part of its 747 fleet, and it is unclear how long this deal has been in the works.

“To be clear,  Boeing continues to modify two 747-8i aircraft for the VC-25B program, the first of which is expected to deliver in mid-2028,” Stefanek stressed. “The two aircraft mentioned above are additional aircraft to be used for training and spares.”

As mentioned, the VC-25B program has repeatedly faced delays due to technical and other issues. Earlier this year, the White House confirmed the first of these aircraft was not expected to arrive until sometime in 2029 at the earliest, representing a new schedule slip. The Air Force had originally hoped to take delivery of the first jet in December 2024.

Pushing the timeline to the left to 2028 would notably give President Donald Trump a better chance of flying in one of the VC-25Bs before the end of his second term. Trump has been particularly outspoken and active in regards to the program since before his first term. In December 2016, as president-elect, he had publicly called for the purchase of the two new Air Force One jets to be cancelled. Trump subsequently became a supporter of the program after claiming to have single-handedly been responsible for slashing the cost of the aircraft, though this remains debatable.

He has, however, continued to be critical of the progress, or lack thereof, on the new VC-25Bs. This is said to have contributed to the acquisition of a highly-modified ex-Qatari VVIP 747-8i aircraft earlier this year, ostensibly as a gift from that country to the United States. The process of converting that jet into an ‘interim’ Air Force One, reportedly helmed by L3Harris, began in September. The Air Force has said previously that it expects the conversion to cost less than $400 million. TWZ has previously questioned the feasibility of this plan in detail, given the strenuous operational and other requirements the jet will have to meet to truly serve in the Air Force One role.

With the ex-Qatari jet and the two 747s from Lufthansa, the plans around the future VC-25B fleet have ballooned from two aircraft to five, four of which will be flyable. This also reflects a broader trend under the Trump administration to expand U.S. government executive aircraft operations.

Separate from the VC-25B program, the Air Force’s acquisition of the two 747-8s from Lufthansa highlights broader potential challenges for operating any aircraft based on this design, also including the E-4Cs, as time goes on. It is worth noting here that with no new 747s in production, at least the initial tranche of E-4Cs are being converted from ex-Korean Air jets. Many more 747-200-series jets were made than -8 versions, as well.

Ensuring there is a sufficient logistical base to support the VC-25B and E-4C fleets will be critical going forward, and the secondary market looks set to continue playing an important role.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Another physician who played a role in providing ketamine to Matthew Perry weeks before the actor’s overdose death was sentenced to eight months of house arrest by a federal judge Friday.

Mark Chavez, a former doctor, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine last October. In his plea agreement, Chavez acknowledged that he and Salvador Plasencia — an ex-doctor sentenced to nearly three years in prison earlier this month — colluded to deceive medical ketamine suppliers and illegally distribute the drug to Perry for profit.

Chavez, 54, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his house arrest and must perform 300 hours of community service.

Chavez was one of five individuals charged last year for their alleged roles in Perry’s October 2023 death. The others include Perry’s acquaintance Erik Fleming, personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, and Jasveen Sangha, a North Hollywood woman allegedly known as the “Ketamine Queen.” All have pleaded guilty to federal charges and await sentencing in the coming months.

During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett brought up concerns about sentencing disparities between Chavez and Plasencia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello argued that the government’s recommended sentence of six months of house arrest was due to Chavez’s cooperation with investigators.

“As doctors, their conduct was egregious,” Yanniello said. “The difference was what they did when they got caught.”

Before charges were brought against the five alleged distributors, Chavez surrendered his medical license and sought a plea deal with the government.

According to an indictment, Plasencia contacted Chavez to purchase ketamine after learning Perry was interested in depression-related treatments in September 2023. Chavez then supplied Plasencia with ketamine vials and orally transmitted “lozenges” that were fraudulently obtained under another patient’s prescription, his plea agreement said.

“If today goes well we may have repeat business,” Plasencia texted Chavez less than a month before Perry’s death.

“Let’s do everything we can to make it happen,” Chavez responded, court records show.

Chavez had faced a potential maximum of 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors argued that Chavez improperly obtained authorization from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe and administer medical ketamine.

Chavez purchased 22 vials of liquid ketamine, ketamine lozenges and other medical supplies from wholesale distributors to provide to Plasencia, who would personally deliver them to Perry, the judge said before her ruling.

During his Dec. 3 sentencing hearing, a federal judge castigated Plasencia for his medical malpractice and for teaching Perry’s personal assistant to administer the drug at the actor’s Pacific Palisades home. Chavez never met with Perry in person, but allowed Plasencia to continue the treatments despite knowing that Plasencia had “little” experience with ketamine treatments, according to his plea agreement.

According to the plea agreement, Chavez called Plasencia on the day of Perry’s death to inquire whether he believed they distributed drugs that may have killed him. Prosecutors said that ketamine was not supplied by the physicians.

Chavez offered a brief apology immediately before his sentencing.

“As a doctor, I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to help people’s lives, but I’ve also had to deal with the tragedies,” Chavez said. “My heart goes out to the Perry family.”

Chavez’s attorney said that he would reside in Mexico with his father after serving his sentence.

WASHINGTON — A Minneapolis jury’s conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd has reignited debate about what policing should look like in the United States.

In the weeks following Floyd’s death and the ensuing outrage that caused millions of Americans to pour into the streets to protest in the midst of a pandemic, Congress promised fundamental change to policing.

There was legislation to standardize training across the country, to keep problem officers from moving between departments without their records following them, to ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

But Congress failed to reach an agreement that could pass both the House and Senate and attention moved to other things.

Negotiations for a bipartisan deal on police reform continue informally on Capitol Hill, and the lead House sponsor, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that she is hopeful because those involved are “very sincere, and it’s a bipartisan group.”

Bass is working with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.). She told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that she is optimistic they will reach an agreement and get a bill to President Biden’s desk in the coming months.

“I believe that we want to make something happen,” Bass said.

Last month the House passed Bass’ George Floyd Justice in Policing Act by a 220-212 vote, with no Republican support and two Democrats voting no.

The legislation, which would ban chokeholds, end “qualified immunity” for law enforcement officers and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability, passed the House last summer but was not considered by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Democrats in turn blocked consideration of a Republican policing reform bill proposed by Scott last summer, saying though it was similar to their proposal in some ways, it did not go far enough because it did not modify so-called qualified immunity for police officers, which has made it harder for victims of brutality to file civil lawsuits over excessive force, or make it easier to prosecute police officers for criminal behavior.

Even now that Democrats control the Senate, hurdles remain for passing policing reform out of the Senate, where most legislation faces a 60-vote threshold, Bass said.

“It’s one thing to pass legislation in the House; it’s a super hurdle to get it passed in the Senate,” Bass said in the CNN interview. “But we are working.”

It’s going to be cold, and it could be raining on Thursday night in Seattle.

Not exactly ideal conditions for any receiver, let alone a near-33-year-old with a hamstring injury.

So while it seems doubtful that the Rams would let Davante Adams risk suffering more damage against the Seattle Seahawks, that did not stop coach Sean McVay on Tuesday from engaging in some gamesmanship.

McVay told reporters that a determination about Adams’ status would not be made until game time.

“He’s as tough as it gets,” McVay said during a videoconference with reporters, “and so want to be able to kind of see what it looks like with the time that we have.”

The Rams, of course, could use Adams, a future hall of famer who leads the NFL with 14 touchdown catches.

But that scenario appeared to evaporate when the 12th-year pro left Sunday’s victory over the Detroit Lions after he clutched his left hamstring and fell to the turf while running a route.

Adams had been nursing a hamstring issue for weeks. If he plays on Thursday he could risk aggravating the injury. And the Rams, who have already clinched a playoff spot, still have games left against the Atlanta Falcons and the Arizona Cardinals.

Adams’ situation could not have come to a head at a worse time for the Rams.

The game against the Seahawks is the biggest of the season for both teams.

The Rams and Seahawks both have 11-3 records. But the Rams, the current top-seeded team in the NFC, hold the tiebreaker because of their 21-19 victory over the Seahawks on Nov. 16 at SoFi Stadium.

Adams, who turns 33 next week, has 60 catches for 789 yards.

Rookie Konata Mumpfield, a seventh-round draft pick from Pittsburgh, could be called on to fill Adams’ role in an offense that features star receiver Puka Nacua.

Mumpfield played 32 of 72 offensive snaps against the Lions. He has five catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford said that if Mumpfield had an expanded role against the Seahawks, he would have a “ton of trust and confidence,” in the rookie.

McVay noted that the Rams also have receivers Tutu Atwell, Xavier Smith and Jordan Whittington available.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys that have played meaningful football that know all the spots,” McVay said.

Defensive lineman Braden Fiske suffered an ankle injury against the Lions, and his status also will not be determined until game time, McVay said.

Etc.

McVay and wife Veronika on Monday welcomed their second son, Christian Alexander McVay. “Mom and baby are doing good, so what a blessing,” McVay said, “and what a crazy week to be playing on a Thursday.”…. Tight end Tyler Higbee and offensive lineman Rob Havenstein are eligible to be activated from injured reserve, but McVay said that would not happen because of the short turnaround. “Just because you don’t really get a chance for any of the prep and the things that I think are in alignment with putting guys in a position to have successful outcomes,” he said. “We’ll see where they’re at once we get past this one.”

BREAKINGBREAKING,

The order comes a week after the US military seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

United States President Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all US-sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump said.

“Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” he said.

Trump’s comments come a week after US forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela and as Washington has ordered a huge build-up of US military forces off the Venezuelan coast in an operation said to target drug smuggling.

The US military has killed at least 90 people since September in attacks on dozens of vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, in what international law experts have criticised as extrajudicial killings.

Washington claimed the vessels were involved in drug trafficking but has provided no evidence to support its allegations.

Caracas has long said the deployment of US forces to the region was aimed at allowing “external powers to rob Venezuela’s immeasurable oil and gas wealth“.

Despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela has faced severe restrictions on its exports in recent years under US sanctions first imposed during the first Trump presidency.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow shortly.

As Afghanistan reevaluates its economic geography in light of the deteriorating relations with Pakistan, India has become a major option for Kabul in its quest for diverse trade routes. The recent top-level meetings between the Taliban and the Indian government indicate a desire on the part of the former to diminish their reliance on the Pakistani transit corridors and to gain more strategic independence. However, India’s role is more a matter of political calculation than of geographical convenience. Afghanistan has no direct land route to India, and therefore its trade with India is expensive routes via Iran with limited air corridors, making it very difficult for a sanctions-hit and cash-strapped economy to scale up. Although the engagement with New Delhi gives the Afghan government the chance to send diplomatic signals and obtain very limited economic relief, it also poses the question of whether India is going to be a long-term trading partner or merely a geopolitical counterweight in Kabul’s broader regional strategy.

Taliban officials have begun signalling a recalibration of economic policy. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar publicly urged Afghan traders to explore alternative transit corridors, accusing Pakistan of using border closures as a tool of political pressure. Shortly thereafter, Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Afghanistan, had an official visit to New Delhi on 19 November 2025 for official discussions aimed at increasing bilateral trade, enhancing the mechanisms for import and export and finding out different ways for Afghan businesses to trade. This visit comes after the Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi’s trip to India in October that lasted for eight days, which was his first trip to India, for which he was granted a temporary UN sanctions exemption, even though India has not yet recognized the Taliban government.

Over the past two decades, the Taliban’s propaganda has been persistently depicting India as a Hindu “kafir” state that is supporting the “anti-Islam” forces in Kabul, making Indian diplomats look like enemies and Indian consulates like secret intelligence stations working against Afghanistan and Pakistan. The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas was declared as a holy war against the “un-Islamic idols” and the whole Buddhist-Hindu civilization, which was a clear indication of the Emirate’s hardline ideological approach. However, this narrative has changed for political and economic reasons.

Moreover, the Taliban, having once described the Indian state as their ideological enemy, are now actively courting India, even sending their foreign minister and commerce minister to New Delhi to get access to trade routes and investment in infrastructure. However, the newly established open channels of communication between the two parties are indicative of a major pragmatism shift, wherein the former rhetoric of enmity and ideological purity has been replaced by the language of using one another in business transactions, thus, signaling the willingness of Afghanistan to retrieve economic lifelines and gain a strategic position in a region.

Historically, Taliban’s official communications are filled with references to Islamic unity, historical connections, and the values of Muslim brotherhood in its relationship with Pakistan. However, when relations with Islamabad were strained over the Tehrik-i-Taliban support, as well as border management and refugees; the Emirate quickly turned to engagement with other regional states instead of reconciliation with its closest Muslim neighbor. This selective realism reveals a definite order of priorities; Afghanistan is ignoring Pakistan’s main security issues but is ready to do anything for a state that is Hindu-majority and can offer trade routes, investment, and international legitimacy.

This transactional approach is not only limited to regional politics but also encompasses the global economic system. The Taliban constantly criticized “Western economic slavery“, interest-based financial systems and considering themselves as an ideological alternative to the West. Nowadays, the Taliban are lobbying India who is heavily involved in the Western capital markets and global financial networks positively to get banking access, reconstruction projects, and investments. The ideological rigidity at home is sharply contrasted with the foreign policy flexibility; those states which were once labelled as anti-Islamic are now being courted for material and political gains.

The Taliban’s selective pragmatism is also evident in the territorial and security sensitive issues. On one hand, they keep on challenging the issue of the Durand Line with Pakistan, an internationally recognized border between both states, while on the other hand, they are quite liberal with India. Likewise, in the past, Taliban-associated clerics and militants celebrated jihad in Kashmir, denounced Indian government actions toward Muslims there and such discourse got muted during visits to Delhi. It is very clear that economic and diplomatic goals are prioritized over ideological or sectarian consistency.

Afghanistan’s trade pivot underscores the delicate balance between ambition and structural reality. While the Taliban’s efforts to diversify transit routes reflect a desire for economic autonomy and greater regional leverage, geographic constraints, limited infrastructure, and entrenched economic patterns impose severe limitations. Engagement with India offers symbolic and partial relief, yet Pakistan remains the linchpin of Afghan commerce, providing the fastest and most cost-effective access to global markets. The Emirate’s strategy is as much a political signal-demonstrating flexibility, pragmatism, and a quest for de facto recognition as it is an economic maneuver. Ultimately, Afghanistan’s “strategic heart of Asia” narrative will be tested not by intent but by its capacity to reconcile aspiration with the unyielding realities of terrain, logistics, and regional interdependence.

Coronation Street viewers blasted one character’s sudden exit storyline as they struggled to believe it could happen and labelled the whole thing as a ‘disaster’

Coronation Street fans described Tuesday’s episode as a “disaster” after Dee Dee Bailey announced her plans to leave. The lawyer, who has been played by Channique Sterling-Brown, 28, since 2022, decided on the latest episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap that it was time to move on from the Weatherfield backstreet.

The programme normally airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but there was a slight schedule change owing to ITV’s upcoming coverage of the the Carabao Cup. It has been known for some time know that Dee Dee was set to leave the show, and in newest episode, she revealed she had been offered a new job – but there was a catch.

At first, she was hesitant to tell her father Ed about it, but over a celebratory lunch with him and her brothers at the Bistro, she revealed that it was in Singapore.

Fans will know that Dee Dee is mother to baby Laila, who was born in March, but there had been a lot of back-and-forth over whether her brother James would take on the guardianship. Once James realised what this meant, he raged: “A creche in Singapore, 24/7? You really think that’s in her best interests? What do they even speak out there?”

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Pleading her case, Dee Dee said: “I have agonised over this. And yes, it’s the right thing for me, but I’m sorry, it is also the best thing for Laila. A job where I can make a difference!” James raged: “I was there for you. I was there for Laila. I provided a solution. This was your idea! This was always, always going to happen.”

He then told his sister that she had “timed” everything to make sure things turned out this way and when he and Michael were in the pub later on, things had still not calmed down. When Dee Dee walked in, she offered to buy James a drink but he refused. He then headed into the pub toilets where he burst into tears, and text on/off lover Carl Webster to see if he wanted to meet up.

As details of Dee Dee’s exit plans came to light, fans took to social media to share their reaction. One wrote: “Losing Dee Dee but keeping the rest of the Baileys is such a disaster,” whilst another said: “So Dee dee has been a solicitor in New York Wethersfield and now Singapore. Where next Seaham Harbour?”

A third added: “I like Dee Dee but I wish this new job was a bit more believable. She is going to Singapore alone, no support, with a baby. If she took a job near her ‘gone to look after her aunt and never seen again mother’, I could believe it,” and a fourth wrote: “Dee Dee never spends any time with her kid now when she’s surrounded by family, so she’ll probably never see her in Singapore. She’ll be fobbed off to a nursery or nanny.”

Actress Channique, 28, announced her departure to The Mirror and other press, explaining for the first time her reasons for stepping down from the role. Channique said it felt like the right time “to be brave” and try new roles, as she got tearful in her exit chat.

Becoming emotional, she revealed she would miss her character, as she explained her decision that she made months ago. She said: “I made the decision in spring, and it wasn’t a rash decision. You know, I really took a couple of months from being offered my next year contract to actually even respond.

“I felt really torn, but I really just had, you know, the sense that it just felt like the time. I feel like I’ve been so privileged, and I’ve got to tell some great stories, and it’s been so wonderful. And obviously I’m very led by my faith as well.

“So I just really took my time over it and prayed into it. And I think, yeah, I found a real sense that I had done what I’d come to do, if that makes sense, not that I ever knew exactly what it was, but it just felt like I had achieved what I was sent here to do, so it was time to be brave.”

She told us: “I think Dee-Dee has changed a lot. She’s been through a lot. She was so ditsy and all this stuff when she came. But I think she very quickly, like we saw her heart with her being with Paul a lot, and we saw her strength standing up to Adam.

“We saw her, you know, soft side with all the stuff with her dad and the gambling. So I think, you know, she, she still has all those things. I think she’s definitely, obviously a bit worse for wear.

“But I think she’s finding her way back to herself at the minute. I think that’s really lovely, where we see her on screen. She’s finding some happiness. She’s finding herself again. And I think that’s life, isn’t it? You obviously change and things shape you, but it’s how many times you get back up? That’s what counts.”

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A coalition of Eaton fire survivors and community groups called on Southern California Edison on Tuesday to provide immediate housing assistance to the thousands of people who lost their homes in the Jan. 7 wildfire.

The coalition says an increasing number of Altadena residents are running out of insurance coverage that had been paying for their housing since they were displaced by the fire. Thousands of other residents had no insurance.

“When a company’s fire destroys or contaminates homes, that company has a responsibility to keep families housed until they can get back home,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, one of the coalition members asking Edison for emergency assistance of up to $200,000 for each family.

At the coalition’s press conference, Altadena residents spoke of trying to find a place to live after the Jan. 7 fire that killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes, apartments and other structures. Thousands of other homes were damaged by smoke and ash.

Gabriel Gonzalez, center, an Eaton Fire survivor, shown with Joy Chen, Executive Director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network (EFSN), left, and other survivors at a press conference in Altadena. They urged Southern California Edison to provide urgent housing relief to keep Eaton Fire families housed this winter.

(Gary Coronado/For The Times)

Gabriel Gonzalez said he had been living in his car for most of the last year.

Before the fire, Gonzalez had a successful plumbing company with six employees, he said. He had moved into an apartment in Altadena just a month before the fire and lost $80,000 worth of tools when the building was destroyed.

His insurance did not cover the loss, Gonzalez said, and he lost his business.

Edison is now offering to directly pay fire victims for their losses if they give up their right to file a lawsuit against the utility.

But members of the coalition say Edison’s program is forcing victims who are most desperate for financial support to give up their legal right to fair compensation.

Andrew Wessels, Strategy Director for the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, speaks about Edison’s Wildfire Recovery Compensation Plan (WRCP).

(Gary Coronado/For The Times)

“If families are pushed to give up what they are owed just to survive, the recovery will never have the funds required to rebuild homes, restore livelihoods or stabilize the community,” said Andrew Wessels. He said he and his family had lived in 12 different places since the fire left ash contaminated with lead on and in their home.

In an interview Tuesday, Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility’s parent company, said the company would not provide money to victims without them agreeing to drop any litigation against the company for the fire.

“I can’t even pretend to understand the challenges victims are going through,” Pizarro said.

He said the company created its Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program to get money to victims much faster than if they filed a lawsuit and waited for a settlement.

“We want to help the community rebuild as quickly as possible,” he said.

Pizarro said Edison made its first payment to a victim within 45 days of the compensation program launching on Oct. 29. So far, he said, the company has received more than 1,500 claims.

Edison created the compensation program even though the official investigation into the cause of the fire hasn’t been released.

The company has said a leading theory is that its century-old transmission line in Eaton Canyon, which it last used in 1971, briefly became energized from the live lines running parallel to it, sparking the fire.

The program offers to reimburse victims for their losses and provides additional sums for pain and suffering. It also gives victims a bonus for agreeing to settle their claim outside of court.

Pizarro said the program is voluntary and if victims don’t like the offer they receive from Edison, they can continue their claims in court.

Edison has told its investors that it believes it will be reimbursed for all of its payments to victims and lawsuit settlements by $1 billion in customer-paid insurance and a $21 billion state wildfire fund.

Zaire Calvin, of Altadena, a survivor who has lost his home and other properties, speaks.

(Gary Coronado/For The Times)

Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers created the wildfire fund in 2019 to protect utilities from bankruptcy if their electric wires cause a disastrous wildfire.

State officials say the fund could be wiped out by Eaton fire damages. While the first $21 billion was contributed half by customers of the state’s three biggest for-profit utilities and half by the companies’ shareholders, any additional damage claims from the Jan. 7 fire will be paid by Edison customers, according to legislation passed in September.

Some Altadena residents say Edison’s compensation program doesn’t pay them fully for their losses.

Damon Blount said that he and his wife had just renovated their home before it was destroyed in the fire. They don’t believe Edison’s offer would be enough to cover that work.

Blount said he “felt betrayed” by the utility.

“They literally took everything away from us,” Blount said. “Do the right thing, Edison. We want to be home.”

At the press conference, fire victims pointed out that Edison reported nearly $1.3 billion in profits last year, up from $1.2 billion in 2023.

Last week, Edison International said it was increasing the dividend it pays to its shareholders by 6% because of its strong financial performance.

“Their stock is rising,” said Zaire Calvin, one of the Altadena residents calling on Edison for emergency relief. Calvin lost his home and his sister died in the fire. “They will not pay a penny when this is over.”

Dec. 16 (UPI) — Officials are warning that conditions could worsen parts of Washington state already reeling from deadly flash flooding as a blizzard conditions approach amid evacuations and warnings of further flooding.

At least one person has been reported dead after the body of a 33-year-old male was recovered from a vehicle that was completely submerged in water at 1:30 a.m. PST on Tuesday in Snohomish County, ABC News reported.

“The vehicle left the roadway and entered a lower farmland/ditch area containing approximately 6 feet of water,” officials with Snohomish County Fire District 4 said in a prepared statement.

“Upon arrival, deputies located the vehicle in the water,” they said. “Fire rescue swimmers made contact with the vehicle and removed the driver from the car.”

The motorist had driven past road closure signs warning drivers of localized flooding and was pronounced dead at the scene after first responders attempted lifesaving treatment.

Two levees were breached as strong rainstorms passed through the Pacific Northwest in recent days. Weather conditions are now expected to take a turn for the worse.

The National Weather Service has issued wind and blizzard warnings in the same areas impacted by flash flooding.

Heavy rainfall is predicted to continue into Tuesday night before changing to snow after 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

Outdoor temperatures are expected to fall to 24 degrees, with a west wind of 28 mph creating a wind chill of between 7 and 17 degrees, according to the NWS.

Snow could be heavy at times on Wednesday and Thursday, with between 8 and 12 inches possible by Wednesday night and wind gusts of up to 49 mph on Wednesday. That’s on top of possibly between 4 and 8 inches of snowfall on Thursday and wind gusts of up to 31 mph.

Snow is expected through the next seven days, with lows in the low 20s and highs near 32 degrees.

The wind and blizzard warnings come as major flooding is possible on Wednesday morning along the Skagit River and potentially cresting on Thursday morning in Mount Vernon, the Seattle Times reported.

An estimated 2,100 residents of Pacific in the state’s King County are subject to an evacuation warning telling them to leave now due to a levee failure on the White River.

Highway 2 also could stay closed until further notice, while Highway 167 remained closed between Auburn and Kent, two small cities south of Seattle, on Tuesday morning.

Protesters called on President Pellegrini, usually an ally of Prime Minister Fico, to veto the changes.

Thousands of people have rallied across Slovakia to protest against changes to the judicial system that opposition politicians and critics say are destroying the rule of law, Slovak media reported.

Protesters filled much of a central square in the capital of Bratislava, and there were protests in eight other cities on Tuesday.

The biggest opposition party, Progressive Slovakia, called the protest after Prime Minister Robert Fico‘s leftist-nationalist government pushed legislative changes through parliament last week that dismantle the whistleblower protection agency and change the way the state deals with crown witnesses.

“They took a chainsaw to the rule of law,” Michal Simecka, the leader of Progressive Slovakia, told the crowd in Bratislava, according to a live video that streamed online.

“Slovakia is the only country where the government approves laws to make life easier for criminals and mafia,” he also said.

People carried Slovak and European Union flags as well as placards with slogans, such as “Fico’s government is helping Mafia”, and chanted “Enough of Fico” and “Shame!”

Fico’s critics claim that, under his government, Slovakia is following Hungary’s lead under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Fico’s administration argues that the old whistleblower agency was politically abused. The administration has also weakened criminal codes for financial crimes, revamped the public broadcaster and pushed constitutional changes asserting national sovereignty over some EU laws, which has raised European Commission scrutiny.

Fico’s government has faced several large protests since coming to power in 2023. Tuesday’s rally was one of the biggest since last February, when tens of thousands demonstrated against what critics say is an increasingly pro-Russian foreign policy.

A fan has been left stunned after they spotted an Oscar-nominated actor alongside his huge popstar girlfriend at a London pub.

The pair were filmed in a busy boozer playing cards and ordering drinks, going seemingly unnoticed by the other punters around them.

The VIP guests, were none other than actor Paul Mescal and his popstar girlfriend Gracie Abrams, who were sat in the middle of a busy North London pub. 

In a video uploaded to TikTok the pair can be seen playing cards on a table together, in the beer garden of The Canonbury Tavern at night.

Paul looked inconspicuous in a cap whilst ordering drinks for the pair inside at the bar.

The fan took pics of the star as he ordered seemingly going unnoticed by the other punters around him.

PAUL SUPPORT

Gracie Abrams snogs and parties with Paul Mescal until 3am after Glasto set

heating up

Paul Mescal spotted on date with Gracie Abrams ahead of her Glastonbury set 

The eagle-eyed fan captioned the video: “Paul Mescal & Gracie Abrams playing cards in Canonbury.”

In the second clip which showed the pics of the A-lister at the bar, she wrote: “Part two of seeing Paul Mescal, Got to keep one of the cards they were playing with.”

Fans flocked to the comments in disbelief over the pair’s unexpected appearance, one user penned: “NO WAY.”

A second added: “Is that really them ??? when was this omg.”

A worker of the pub revealed that she’s even served the star before, they wrote: “ I work at this pub and I’ve served him before (crying laughing emoji).”

The couple were first linked in June 2024 when they were snapped having a romantic dinner date at celebrity haunt BRAT Restaurant in London. 

They were spotted again this year having picnics and drinks in a park in June, before they were snapped getting close at Glastonbury ahead of Gracie’s set, that same month.

It comes after Oscar-nominated actor Paul was ordered to lose some muscle and put on some fat for his next big role.

Paul will be playing Sir Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopic – and The Sun revealed that the hunky Gladiator II star has been told to go on a Normal People diet.

An insider said: “Obviously there weren’t really gyms around in the Sixties. 

“The Beatles weren’t dead-lifting between gigs. 

“Macca was always pretty lean and flexible — he has always been really into yoga — but this is a very different aesthetic to that of a burly gladiator, and Paul has been keeping his body pretty ripped, even after filming stopped.

“Sir Paul McCartney is also famously a vegetarian, whereas Paul mainly lives on a high protein steak, chicken and eggs diet. 

“There also weren’t whey protein shakes back in the Beatles’ day.”

Sarah typically works on Christmas Day. She has devoted countless Christmases to caring for newborns on the same emergency neonatal unit where her own baby was born prematurely this year

This is the heartwarming moment Sarah Alcock found out that her husband had nominated her for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.

Christmas for the 35-year-old doesn’t tend to be spent tucking into a roast, opening presents and relaxing with the family.

In fact, Sarah typically works on Christmas Day. The Oakwood, Derby mum has missed out on many a festive day at home due to work nursing shifts at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where her own baby was born prematurely this year.

Born at just 25 weeks, weighing 1lb 12oz, the eight-month-old will be celebrating her first Christmas this year, but with staffing pressures mounting, she has volunteered to step in again to help her fellow colleagues out.

READ MORE: UK to Germany direct train will make Christmas market trips ‘one step closer’READ MORE: Majorca’s new tourist rules including beach games ban – what you need to know

Her husband, Dave, a marketing manager, from Oakwood, Derby, wanted to recognise how hard Sarah works, so he nominated her to win a break with easyJet.

“She’s a hero. Her work doesn’t stop just because it’s Christmas, so she has to go there regardless of the date,” he explained.

Alongside Sarah, NHS nurse Nicky Starkowitz and care home manager Niccii Gillett, who also selflessly work every Christmas, were gifted holidays as part of a campaign by tour operator easyJet Holidays to recognise the UK’s hidden heroes.

Nicky faced a breast cancer diagnosis in August this year and tragically, her four-year-old son Raffi was also diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain cancer in March. Her husband Neil said: “With everything going on this year we haven’t managed to get away or get the opportunity to do anything as a family together.”

Nicky added that “just to go away somewhere, as a family, and have time away together would be so nice”.

The holidays are a special easyJet Holidays escape, to give recognised key workers quality time with friends and family in the sunshine. They have been gifted to Christmas heroes after new research by easyJet Holidays found over 10 million Brits will be spending time apart from their families due to work commitments this year.

Nearly a third (28%) of key workers also feel that they haven’t taken a proper break in the past year, with nearly a quarter (22%) not likely to have a choice over whether they can work on Christmas Day or not.

Matt Callaghan, Chief Operating Officer at easyJet Holidays, said: “At Christmas especially, we’re reminded how many people quietly put others first, often sacrificing precious time with their own families. Our key workers do this year after year, and our communities simply wouldn’t function without them.

“This is easyJet holidays’ way of saying thank you – giving a few of these Christmas heroes the chance to properly step away, rest, and spend quality time together, whether that’s in the sunshine or exploring a new city. It’s about recognising the people who give so much, especially at this time of year.”

The easyJet Holidays poll uncovered the professions we feel most grateful for at Christmas, with nurses, paramedics, care workers and delivery drivers among them.

Just under a quarter (23%) of Brits say they leave out a gift for the postal workers at Christmas, while over a fifth (22%) say they do the same for binmen.

Six in ten also say Christmas makes them feel more generous towards others, with 51% saying they compliment others more during the festive period, while more than three in ten (31%) check in with their neighbours.

Top 10 professions Brits feel most grateful for at Christmas:

1. Nurses (46%)
2. Paramedics (39%)
3. Doctors (38%)
4. Care workers (29%)
5. Firefighters (27%)
6. Police officers (23%)
7. Delivery drivers (22%)
8. Retail staff (20%)
9. Postal workers (17%)
10. Hospitality (16%)

Professional wrestling legend Mick Foley announced Tuesday that he is “parting ways with WWE” because of the organization’s ties with fellow WWE Hall of Fame inductee President Trump.

“While I have been concerned about WWE‘s close relationship with Donald Trump for several months — especially in light of his administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and pretty much anyone who “looks like an immigrant”) — reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me,” Foley, 60, wrote Tuesday on Instagram.

“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy. Last night, I informed @WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.

“Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June.”

WWE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.

Following the killings of Hollywood icon Reiner and wife Michele Singer Reiner, Trump wrote on social media that the couple died “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”

Trump added of Reiner, who had campaigned for liberal causes: “He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!”

Nick Reiner, 32, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his parents. Trump’s comments have drawn bipartisan backlash.

Foley won the WWF (as the company was then known) championship three times in the late 1990s in his Mankind persona. He has also won eight WWF tag team titles and also has wrestled as Cactus Jack, Dude Love and under his own name. He retired from the ring in 2012 but has appeared in various roles for the league since then.

Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. So was Trump, as a celebrity inductee.

A longtime pro wrestling fan, Trump has hosted WWE events and has been an active participant, both in and out of the ring, in a number of storylines. Late last year, Trump named Linda McMahon — the former longtime WWE chief executive and president whose husband, Vince McMahon, is the company’s founder — as secretary of Education for his second term.

A Canadian lawmaker who was denied entry to the occupied West Bank, alongside fellow politicians and civil society leaders, has dismissed Israel’s claims that the delegation posed a threat to public safety.

Jenny Kwan, a Canadian MP with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), questioned whether Canada’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state earlier this year contributed to Israel’s decision to block the group.

“How is it that members of parliament are a public safety concern?” she said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “How is it that civil society organisations who are doing humanitarian work… [are] a security concern?”

Kwan and five other MPs were among 30 Canadian delegates denied entry to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday after Israel deemed them a risk to public safety.

The delegation, organised by nonprofit group The Canadian-Muslim Vote, was turned back to Jordan at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing, which connects Jordan with the West Bank and is controlled by Israel on the Palestinian side, after an hours-long security check.

Kwan said another female MP in the group was “manhandled” by Israeli border agents while attempting to keep an eye on a delegate who was being taken for additional interrogation.

“She was shoved – not once, not twice, but multiple times – by border agents there,” Kwan said. “A member of parliament was handled in that way – If you were just an everyday person, what else could have happened?”

The delegates had been expected to meet with Palestinian community members to discuss daily realities in the West Bank, where residents have faced a surge in Israeli military and settler violence.

They were also planning to meet with Jewish families affected by the conflict, said Kwan, who described the three-day trip as a fact-finding mission.

“I reject the notion that that is a public safety concern,” she said of the delegation’s mission.

Lack of information

Global Affairs Canada, the country’s Foreign Ministry, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s questions about the incident.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Tuesday afternoon that the ministry was in contact with the delegation and had “expressed Canada’s objections regarding the mistreatment of these Canadians while attempting to cross”.

The Israeli military did not respond to Al Jazeera’s repeated requests for comment.

In a statement to Canada’s public broadcaster CBC News, the Israeli military agency that oversees affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory, COGAT, said the Canadian delegates were turned back because they arrived “without prior coordination”.

COGAT also said the group’s members were “denied for security reasons”.

But the delegates said they had applied for, and received, Israel Electronic Travel Authorization permits before they reached the crossing. Kwan also said the Canadian government informed Israel ahead of time of the delegation’s plans.

“I’m not quite sure exactly what kind of coordination is required,” Kwan told Al Jazeera.

“We followed every step that we’re supposed to follow, so I’m not quite sure exactly what they mean or what they’re referring to.”

Canada-Israel ties

Canada, a longstanding supporter of Israel, faced the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after it joined several European allies in recognising an independent Palestinian state in September.

“Israel will not allow you to shove a terror state down our throats,” Netanyahu said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

The recognition came after months of mass protests in Canada and other Western countries demanding an end to Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 people since October 2023.

Rights advocates also called for action to stem a surge in deadly Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Against that backdrop, members of the Canadian delegation questioned whether their entry refusal was part of an Israeli effort to prevent people from witnessing what is happening on the ground in the Palestinian territory.

“‘What are they trying to hide?’ is the question that comes to mind,” Fawad Kalsi, the CEO of the relief group Penny Appeal Canada and one of the delegates, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

Kwan, the Canadian MP, raised a similar question, saying, “If people cannot witness” what is happening on the ground in the West Bank, “then misinformation and disinformation will continue”.

She added that she also saw foreign doctors being turned back to Jordan at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing as they tried to bring medicine and baby formula into the West Bank.

“If we as members of parliament could face denial of entry,” she said, “imagine what is going on on the ground with other people, and the difficulties that they face, that we do not know about.”

US adds five Arab and African countries to travel ban list as right-wing politicians intensify Islamophobic rhetoric.

United States President Donald Trump has added five countries to the list of nations whose citizens are banned from entering the US, including Palestine and Syria.

The White House announced the expansion of the ban on Tuesday, as it intensifies its crackdown on immigration.

Tuesday’s order imposed a travel ban on six new countries – Palestine, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria – in addition to the 12 initially made public in June.

The decree did not refer to Palestine, which Washington does not recognise as a state, by name or even as the occupied Palestinian territory.

Instead, it describes the Palestine category as “Palestinian Authority Documents” and refers to Palestinians as “individuals attempting to travel on PA-issued or endorsed travel documents”.

The decision comes weeks after Trump declared a “permanent pause” on migration from what he called “all Third World Countries” in response to the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, DC.

“Several US-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens. Also, the recent war in these areas likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities,” the White House said.

“In light of these factors, and considering the weak or nonexistent control exercised over these areas by the PA, individuals attempting to travel on PA-issued or endorsed travel documents cannot currently be properly vetted and approved for entry into the United States.”

Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, slammed the ban, accusing Trump and his top aide Stephen Miller of pushing to alter the demographics of the country.

“This administration’s racist cruelty knows no limits, expanding their travel ban to include even more African and Muslim-majority countries, even Palestinians fleeing a genocide,” she said in a social media post.

The move to ban Palestinians from entering the US comes as Israel continues its daily deadly attacks in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlers have killed at least two US citizens this year.

Meanwhile, the ban on Syrians coincides with rapprochement between Washington and Damascus after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House in November.

“While the country is working to address its security challenges in close coordination with the United States, Syria still lacks an adequate central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures,” the White House said.

On Thursday, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard cited the mass shooting that killed 15 people at a Jewish festival in Australia to laud Trump’s immigration restrictions.

“Islamists and Islamism is the greatest threat to the freedom, security, and prosperity of the United States and the entire world. It is probably too late for Europe – and maybe Australia,” she wrote on X.

“It is not too late for the United States of America. But it soon will be. Thankfully, President Trump has prioritized securing our borders and deporting known and suspected terrorists, and stopping mass, unvetted migration that puts Americans at risk.”

Trump’s Republican allies have been increasingly using Islamophobic rhetoric, and calling for Muslims to be blocked from entering the country.

On Sunday, Senator Tommy Tuberville called Islam a “cult”, baselessly accusing Muslims of aiming to “conquer” the West.

“Stop worrying about offending the pearl clutchers,” he wrote in a social media post. “We’ve got to SEND THEM HOME NOW or we’ll become the United Caliphate of America.”

When Trump first ran for president in 2015, he called for a complete ban on Muslims entering the US, and when he started his first term, he imposed a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries.

Throughout 2025, De Los has championed the rise of the Latino artists from their respective musical silos and into the broader global pop stratosphere. The 2026 Super Bowl halftime show headliner Bad Bunny and Inland Empire corrido kings Fuerza Regida scaled new commercial and cultural heights this year, as emerging acts like Silvana Estrada, Ela Minus and Netón Vega took exciting new detours in their sounds.

De Los recently did a team huddle to determine our personal best releases of 2025 — this is no garden variety Latin genre list, but a highlight reel of our favorite works by artists from Latin America and the diaspora.

10. Cazzu, “Latinaje”
Reeling from a romantic disappointment of mythological proportions and the lackluster reception of her previous album, Argentine trap queen Cazzu fired back with a maximalist travelogue that draws from salsa and cumbia, Argentine folk and electro-pop. Cazzu hails from the province of Jujuy, miles away from the musical snobbery that plagues much of Buenos Aires, and her genuine investment in a pan-Latino idiom is contagious. A sumptuous corrido tumbado about a red dress that went viral (“Dolce”) and an Andean-flavored ode to her daughter (“Inti”) are the emotional cornerstones of an album that refuses to harbor resentment and instead chooses to embrace plurality. Her absence from the main categories in this year’s Latin Grammys was nothing short of criminal. —Ernesto Lechner

9. Netón Vega, “Mi Vida Mi Muerte”
As one of música mexicana’s most in-demand songwriters, Netón Vega has crafted hits for every big crossover artist, from Xavi to Peso Pluma. Naturally, it’s about time that he delivered a full-length project of his own. Vega’s debut album, “Mi Vida Mi Muerte,” takes stock of the current sound of corridos tumbados and pushes it to its limits alongside the very collaborators that he helped top the charts. Vega’s chameleonic qualities as a songwriter allow him to bend the rules of what counts as “Mexican” music, and over 21 songs, he establishes that his vision includes Californian G-funk, blissed-out boom bap and even Caribbean reggaeton. Vega sounds equally as comfortable on the radio smash “Loco” as he does wailing over a bajo sexto, proving that the future of corridos, with him at the helm, can be more expansive than ever before. —Reanna Cruz

8. Juana Aguirre, “Anónimo”
If the music business thing doesn’t quite pan out for Juana Aguirre, Argentina’s newly anointed resident genius could find success as a film director — such is the palpable cinematic gravity of “Anónimo,” a stark masterpiece of digital mood conjuring. Aguirre builds her tracks slowly, armed with an unerring instinct for beauty and a ruthless, try-and-discard methodology. The results are childlike at times — parts of “La Noche” and “Lo_Divino” sound like nursery rhymes — while the nakedness of “Volvieron” brims with a solemn, ageless kind of grace. Her sonic spectrum is panoramic, from esoteric folktronica murmurs and camouflaged industrial noise to the cosmic stillness of “Un Nombre Propio” and the ritualistic piano of “Las Ramas.” Until “Anónimo,” the Argentine avant-garde had never sounded so intoxicatingly sensuous. —E.L.

7. Adrian Quesada, “Boleros Psicodélicos II”
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, multi-instrumentalist and producer Adrian Quesada enlisted some of the most enthralling vocalists in Latin music to record “Boleros Psicodélicos,” a love letter to Latin American psychedelic ballads from the ’60s and ’70s. The album, which featured original compositions alongside kaleidoscopic covers of the genre, was hailed as an instant classic after its 2022 release. Three years later, Quesada improved upon the winning formula by actually being in the same room as his collaborators — the first album was made in isolation. “There’s a little bit more life, energy to some of the songs,” Quesada told De Los of “Boleros Psicodélicos II.” That vibrancy is certainly felt in tracks like “Bravo” — Puerto Rican singer iLe’s voice is laced with plenty of venom to do justice to Luis Demetrio’s spiteful lyrics (“Te odio tanto / Que yo misma me espanto / De mi forma de odiar”) — and “Primos,” which has Quesada pair up with guitar vibemasters Hermanos Gutiérrez for the album’s only instrumental track. Here’s hoping that we get another installment of this brilliant series three years from now. —Fidel Martinez

6. Nick León, “A Tropical Entropy”
Hailing from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., just a hop, skip and a jump north of Miami, the electronic mixmaster Nick León broke through a busy pop music landscape this year as a producer with a distinctly Floridian point of view. In his latest album, “A Tropical Entropy” — the title harks back to a phrase from Joan Didion’s 1987 book, “Miami” — León crafted his moody “beach noir” sound by blanketing his dynamic assemblages of dembow, dancehall and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms with a foamy, oceanic ambience that flows and hisses throughout the record. Featuring the vocal talents of Ela Minus (“Ghost Orchid”), Erika De Casier (“Bikini”) and Esty (“Millennium Freak” with Mediopicky), it’s an audible feast for club kids whose afters entail collapsing on the sand and watching dolphins traverse the horizon at sunrise. —Suzy Exposito

5. Not For Radio, “Melt”
Released in October, “Melt” is the frosty solo album by María Zardoya, lead singer of Grammy-nominated L.A. band the Marías, who wrote and recorded 10 of her most soul-baring songs yet during a haunted winter sabbatical in the Catskills. Imbued with brooding elements of chamber pop à la Beach House, Broadcast and the Carpenters, there is much enchantment to be found in the details of Zardoya’s electric drama; like how the warm fuzz of an organ meets frosty chimes on opening track “Puddles,” or in the restless, skittish pulse of “Swan.” Zardoya’s yearning for a love lost crescendoes, and is most devastating, in the piano ballad “Back to You”; but it seems as though even her darkest, most melancholic moments are touched by the fae. —S.E.

4. Isabella Lovestory, “Vanity”
With 2022’s “Amor Hardcore,” Isabella Lovestory established herself as a neoperreo princess — the Ivy Queen for the Instagram era. The Honduran pop star’s follow-up album “Vanity” takes a different approach, trading sleazy sexcapades for campy vulnerability. As in her name, Lovestory is inherently a storyteller. Her lyrics are pulled from half-remembered dreams, speaking of herself in immersive, surreal contradiction. She’s a perfume bottle made of foam, or a strawberry made of metal. It’s a deceptively saccharine world, one that she sees as, in her words, a “poisonous lollipop.” And when the production falls somewhere between RedOne productions and Plan B deep cuts, that world becomes a post-cultural, hazy pop dystopia of both the past and a far-off, distant future. —R.C.

3. Fuerza Regida “111XPantia”
In summer 2024, while promoting the band’s previous album, “Pero No Te Enamores,” Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz assured me that the San Bernardino quintet was not abandoning the sound that made it one of the biggest acts in the música mexicana space. Simply put, JOP was scratching a creative itch by flirting with Jersey club, drill and house music. True to his word, the charchetas and tololoche are now back and on full display in “111xPantia.” Yet the band’s 9th studio album is by no means a rehash of their past work; Fuerza Regida is as experimental as ever, whether by incorporating a banjo on “Peliculeando” (what’s next, a collab with Mumford & Sons?) or sampling Nino Rota’s iconic theme song on “GodFather” (given the focus on excess, the lyrics are more Tony Montana than Michael Corleone). This year, JOP & Co. set a new benchmark for the ever-evolving genre, all while becoming the biggest band in the world; Fuerza Regida was notably the only non-solo act to crack Spotify’s end-of-year top global artist list. —F.M.

2. Silvana Estrada, “Vendrán Suaves Lluvias”
Estrada’s second full-length album is a musical masterclass in maintaining serenity through loss. With her head held high, the Latin Grammy-winning Mexican singer-songwriter soldiered through an extended period of grief to write “Vendrán Suaves Lluvias,” including a harrowing heartbreak and the shocking murder of a friend. The bones of songs like “Como Un Pájaro” and “Un Rayo de Luz” are folk ballads, which she initially wrote using her trusty cuatro; but with the mighty backing of an orchestra, Estrada’s compositions swell with a symphonic grandeur that bolster the songbird’s more empowered and optimistic stance in the face of disappointment. “¿Cuál еra la idea de aventartе sin dejarte caer? Qué manera tan desoladora de querer,” she sings with an arid, jazzy inflection on “Dime” — a plea to a half-hearted lover who cowers at the force of her integrity. —S.E.

1. Bad Bunny, “Debí Tirar Mas Fotós”
“Debí Tirar Mas Fotós” has managed to dominate conversation all year — from its No. 1 debut in January to this summer’s blockbuster residency and subsequent world tour. Much has been said already about Bad Bunny’s magnum opus; the album is a generation-spanning, full-throated celebration of boricua resilience, and simultaneously a pointed warning about the ongoing neocolonization of La Isla del Encanto. But perhaps, in the spirit of its title, its best function is as a series of timeless musical snapshots: There’s the sweeping voice of the jíbaro calling down from the mountains on “Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii.” Sweat from rum-soaked nights in Brickell and La Placita lingers on “Voy a LLevarte Pa PR” and “Eoo.” Hands fold together on “Weltita” as waves ebb and flow, and the warmth of a grandparent’s final forehead kiss lingers on “DTMF.” It’s a record that is designed to be intimately understood by Latinos, with Bad Bunny’s personal ethos of Puerto Rican independence managing to build a bridge between the island and those displaced from it. And with Benito’s Super Bowl victory lap right around the corner, “Debí Tirar Mas Fotós” is poised to dominate not just 2025, but the coming months as well, cementing him as — to paraphrase “Nuevayol” — el rey de pop, reggaetón y dembow.

Honorable mentions:

Reanna’s pick: Corridos Ketamina, “Corridos Ketamina”
There’s one night at the start of every Los Angeles autumn when you can begin to feel the chill of loneliness in the air. When I heard “V-Neno,” the opening track on Corridos Ketamina’s self-titled debut EP, I was taken back to the first time I felt it: walking around at 3 AM alone and moody as hell. The 14-minute EP is like if Lil Peep and Lil Tracy went down to Sinaloa for the weekend. Triple-tracked vocals drenched in reverb drift over sluggish guitar loops, all struggling to claw out of the K-hole. Yes, technically Corridos Ketamina are making narcocorridos (what you see is what you get: in an interview with the Fader, they put it simply, “Let’s make the first corrido about doing K”), but there’s something still warm and inviting at the core of these seven songs. Maybe it’s the familiar blend of emo, rap, shoegaze and corridos — or it’s the fact that this is a record that could only come out of Los Angeles, born out of late nights on empty freeways and in seedy apartments. —R.C.

Ernesto’s pick: Amor Elefante, “Amigas”
I dare you not to smile when you listen to “Hipnótico,” the synth-pop fantasia that kicks off “Amigas,” a welcome return to action for Buenos Aires quartet Amor Elefante. The band moves in the fertile periphery where sunshine pop meets dream rock, channeling the Police on the reggae vibe of “Universal Hit” and diving into Cocteau Twins ether on “La Vuelta.” If anything, “Amigas” illustrates the band’s bloom as composers of potential singles: drummer Rocío Fernández goes funky on the folk-driven “La Vuelta,” while keyboardist Inés Copertino flexes her disco diva status on the outro line to “Foto de una Coreografía.” In lead singer Rocío Bernardiner, Amor boasts one of South America’s most radiant voices. —E.L.

Suzy’s pick: Ela Minus, “Día”
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, and now based in Brooklyn, electronic artist-producer Gabriela Jimeno, or Ela Minus, first bonded with beats as a tween drummer in a hardcore band. That rugged punk rock intensity would later unify the vast, synth-laden sprawl that is her second album, “Día”: a chronicle of her displacement during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent ego death. She lets her listeners in with the vulnerable yet galvanizing dance track “I Want to Be Better,” which she has described as her “only love song” — but icily calls for the world’s end on the Latin Grammy-nominated club cut “QQQQ,” and rejects the parasocial worship of pop stars in “Idols,” chanting: “Chasing after phantoms / Bowing down to someone else’s idols.” Indeed — how embarrassing! —S.E.

Fidel’s pick: Cuco, “Ridin’”
Hawthorne’s own Cuco (real name Omar Banos) tapped into the soundtrack of Southern California’s lowrider culture — soul and R&B — to make “Ridin’” one of the best neo-Chicano soul albums in recent years. Tracks like “My 45” and “ICNBYH” (“I Could Never Break Your Heart”) are perfect accompaniments for slow drives down Whittier Boulevard. “Para Ti,” the only Spanish song on the LP, sounds like it could come out of one of your abuelo’s bolero albums. —F.M.

When word came of Rob Reiner’s senseless death, America fell into familiar rites of mourning and remembrance. A waterfall of tributes poured in from the twin worlds — Hollywood and politics — that the actor, director and liberal activist inhabited.

Through the shock and haze, before all but the sketchiest details were known, President Trump weighed in as well, driving by his diarrhetic compulsion to muse on just about every passing event, as though he was elected not to govern but to serve as America’s commentator in chief.

Trump’s response, fairly shimmying on Reiner’s grave as he wrongly attributed his death to an act of political vengeance, managed to plumb new depths of heartlessness and cruelty; more than a decade into his acrid emergence as a political force, the president still manages to stoop to surprise.

But as vile and tasteless as Trump’s self-pitying statement was — Reiner, he averred, was a victim of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and, essentially, got what he deserved — it also pointed out a singular truism of his vengeful residency in the Oval Office.

In recent decades, the nation has had a president who lied and deceived to cover up his personal vices. Another who plunged the country into a costly and needless war. A third whose willfulness and vanity led him to overstay his time, hurting his party and America as well.

Still, each acted as though he was a president of all the people, not just those who voted him into office, contributed lavishly to his campaign or blindly cheered his every move, however reckless or ill-considered.

As Trump has repeatedly made clear, he sees the world in black-and-white, red-versus-blue, us-versus-them.

There are the states he carried that deserve federal funding. The voters whose support entitles them to food aid and other benefits. The sycophants bestowed with medals and presidential commendations.

And then there are his critics and political opponents — those he proudly and admittedly hates — whose suffering and even demise he openly savors.

When Charlie Kirk was killed, Trump ordered flags be flown at half-staff. He flew to Arizona to headline his memorial service. His vice president, JD Vance, suggested people should be fired for showing any disrespect toward the late conservative provocateur.

By noteworthy contrast, when a gunman killed Minnesota’s Democratic former House speaker, Melissa Hortman, Trump couldn’t be bothered with even a simple act of grace. Asked if he’d called to offer his condolences to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a personal friend of Hortman, Trump responded, “Why waste time?”

This is not normal, much less humane.

This is not politics as usual, or someone rewarding allies and seeking to disadvantage the political opposition, as all presidents have done. This is the nation’s chief executive using the immense powers of his office and the world’s largest, most resonant megaphone to deliver retribution, ruin people’s lives, inflict misery — and revel in the pain.

There were the usual denunciations of Trump’s callous and contemptuous response to Reiner’s stabbing death.

“I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States,” said Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring rather than seeking reelection in 2026. (Which may be why he was so candid and spoke so bracingly.)

But this time, the criticisms did not just come from the typical anti-Trump chorus, or heterodox Republicans like Bacon and MAGA-stalwart-turned-taunter Marjorie Taylor Greene. Even some of the president’s longest and loudest advocates felt compelled to speak out.

“This is a dreadful thing to say about a man who just got murdered by his troubled son,” British broadcaster Piers Morgan posted on X. “Delete it, Mr. President.”

More telling, though, was the response from the Republican Party’s leadership.

“I don’t have much more to say about it, other than it’s a tragedy, and my sympathies and prayers go out to the Reiner family and to their friends,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN when asked about Trump’s response. House Speaker Mike Johnson responded in a similarly nonresponsive vein.

Clearly, the see-and-hear-no-evil impulse remains strong in the upper echelons of the GOP — at least until more election returns show the price Republicans are paying as Trump keeps putting personal vendettas ahead of voters’ personal finances.

One of the enduring reasons supporters say they back the president is Trump’s supposed honesty. (Never mind the many voluminously documented lies he has told on a near-constant basis.)

Honesty, in this sense, means saying things that a more temperate and careful politician would never utter, and it’s an odd thing to condone in the nation’s foremost leader. Those with even a modicum of caring and compassion, who would never tell a friend they’re ugly or call a neighbor stupid — and who expect the same respect and decency in return — routinely ignore or explain away such casual cruelty when it comes from this president.

Those who insist Trump can do no wrong, who defend his every foul utterance or engage in but-what-about relativism to minimize the import, need not remain in his constant thrall.

When Trump steps so egregiously over a line, when his malice is so extravagant and spitefulness so manifest — as it was when he mocked Reiner in death — then, even the most fervent of the president’s backers should call him out.

Do it, and reclaim a little piece of your humanity.