death

EXCLUSIVE: A beloved crime drama is set to return for a third season next week, with a host of “incredible” guest stars

Fans of Death in Paradise are being urged to watch a “cosy” crime drama with a distinctive premise.

Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood’s English-set mystery series, The Marlow Murder Club, follows three amateur detectives as they solve crimes in the tranquil riverside town of Marlow.

Judith Potts (Samantha Bond), a retired archaeologist, establishes a club alongside professional dog walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin) and vicar’s wife Becks Starling (Cara Horgan). Their discoveries eventually earn them positions as civilian advisers under Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew).

The trio are poised to return for a third series next week (March 18), which will be presented in a three-story structure, featuring an adaptation of Thorogood’s third Marlow novel, The Queen of Poisons.

Now firmly embedded within newly promoted DI Malik’s crime-solving operation, Judith, Suzie and Becks are back, applying their unorthodox techniques to a series of high-profile murders. However, it quickly becomes apparent to the amateur investigators that their enquiries may strike closer to home than ever before, reports the Express.

The synopsis reveals: “From the sudden death of the kindest man in Marlow, the town’s beloved Mayor, to a celebrity chef found dead at the launch of his cookbook with half the town in attendance, the team will be working under the watchful eye of the Marlow community.”

“They’ll also be called to an eerie manor house in the middle of nowhere, where they’ll face a case intrinsically linked to Becks’ past that could threaten the future of their roles as civilian advisors. Judith, Suzie and Becks will have to pull closer together than ever to catch these killers.”

Since launching in 2024, The Marlow Murder Club has established itself as a beloved staple amongst mystery fans. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, leading actress Jo Martin, who portrays Suzie, has shared her thoughts on why the programme connects with audiences so profoundly.

“People love murder, don’t ask me why. And the fact that this isn’t this gruesome, you know, dead women everywhere, mutilated. It’s a cosy crime drama, and it’s beautifully shot as well,” she explained.

“You can sit back and feel like [you’re having] a cup of drinking chocolate, you know? It’s like that. It’s like toasting some marshmallows and watching this. You’re in safe hands. It’s a great formula and it works.

“I think people have bought into the characters as well. And the fact that there aren’t many shows where you’ve got, you know, three, four women leading the show. We’re not the wife of, or the friend of, or the dead body – we are leading the show, and we’re all women of a particular age.”

Jo continued: “It’s intergenerational, which is always very interesting, you know… I think it’s wonderful.”

Alongside the returning main cast, series three will welcome an impressive array of guest stars throughout its six episodes. The stellar line-up includes Nigel Harman, Peter Davison, Jacqueline Boatswain, Sarah Alexander, Tony Gardner, Jason Merrells, Harry Enfield, Cherie Lunghi, Adrian Lukis, and Alastair Mackenzie.

Additionally, Hugh Quarshie reprises his role as Professor Darius Gifford, a prospective romantic interest for Judith.

Discussing the significance of embracing their guest performers, Jo explained: “If you’re coming on as a guest, it’s really hard to enter this family… [We want] to make [them feel] a part of it, so they can do their best work. So, yeah, we love it, welcoming new people.”

The actress also described her excitement upon meeting comedy icon Harry Enfield. She recalled: “We’ve had some great artists this season. It’s been amazing. I’m a huge fan of Harry Enfield… When he was on set, we’re all like, ‘Oh God, when can I ask for a selfie? When’s it going to be cool to get a selfie with Harry Enfield?’ Yeah, it’s incredible.”

With only two episodes remaining in the current series of Death in Paradise, audiences may be seeking a new series to satisfy their appetite. This “intriguing” programme that fans “watch on repeat every day” could prove the ideal escape into the realm of murder mysteries, minus the blood and violence.

The Marlow Murder Club returns to U and U&DRAMA on Wednesday, March 18 at 8pm

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website

It’s filled with thick exhaust fumes and lacking proper lighting or ventilation

The Anzob Tunnel in Tajikistan, Asia, also known as the “Tunnel of Death,” is regarded as the darkest and most treacherous tunnel on the planet. Situated on the M34 highway at an elevation of 2,700 metres in the Tajikistan mountains, the 5km tunnel lacks lighting or ventilation systems.

The pitch-black tunnel is shrouded in dense smoke, making breathing “hard and painful due to the thick mixture of exhaust gases”, according to specialists at Dangerous Roads.

The frightening underpass features massive potholes and lacks adequate lighting and ventilation, rendering it exceptionally hazardous.

The Anzob Tunnel links Dushanbe, the nation’s capital, and Khujand, the country’s second-largest city, and was constructed in 2006 to accommodate heavy traffic, reports the Express.

There are also no traffic signals to manage the thousands of vehicles passing through it daily; instead, just complete darkness.

The tunnel underwent partial renovation in 2018, with drainage systems installed and potholes repaired, but it still requires substantial improvement, according to specialists.

Dangerous Roads stated: “The tunnel is dark and dangerous with hardly any lights inside, and it’s suffocating as there’s no ventilation but one fan.”

“Locals have shared stories of a number of people dying inside it due to traffic jams that leave people trapped, where they succumbed to carbon monoxide. The poisonous air in the tunnel is barely shifted by one solitary fan somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, which gives some, but not sufficient, movement to the air.

“Expect huge, axle-snapping potholes threatening to swallow up the car, along with flooding that almost turns them into tunnel ponds. Your whole SUV can submerge if you drive in the wrong place.

“There are no road markings, so driving on the left or the right are optional, with the middle being the common choice.

“Halfway along the tunnel, water floods the road as a result of an engineering fault. Oncoming cars and trucks emerge in the darkness with headlights flashing for the other drivers to get out of their way.”

One visitor detailed their experience on Tripadvisor, writing: “We went through this tunnel twice with no ill effects other than fear!”

“The traffic was two-way, and the darkness and lack of ventilation were scary, but we survived. The drive was scenic and fabulous and well worth the risk.”

Death in Paradise fans shared complaints about the latest episode of the long-running drama

Fans of Death in Paradise issued the same complaint as the drama shifted its setting away from Saint Marie.

The 15th series of the enduring detective drama is currently being broadcast on BBC One, with DI Mervin Wilson (Don Gilet) continuing to investigate a series of enigmatic deaths in Saint Marie.

Shantol Jackson, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, and Élizabeth Bourgine also feature as Naomi Thomas, Sebastian Rose, and Catherine Bordey, respectively. This series has introduced a new sergeant named Mattie Fletcher (Catherine Garton), alongside an array of high-profile guest stars.

That’s not all, as Don Warrington made a notable return to the show as Selwyn Patterson this year, following the commissioner’s apparent departure at the conclusion of series 14.

Death in Paradise fans were less than thrilled when last week’s episode was pulled by the BBC due to live FA Cup coverage. The latest instalment aired on Monday (March 9) instead, with Selwyn and Naomi journeying to Antigua after Mervin landed himself in hot water, reports the Express.

At the start of the episode, Mervin stumbled upon a crime scene whilst searching for his brother, Solomon (Daniel Ward), in Antigua. Upon entering a secluded cabin, Mervin discovered a local businessman who had been shot. The detective was swiftly struck over the head by his brother, who promptly tied Mervin up.

Solomon and his accomplice Cheech McCarthy (Julian Rhind-Tutt) both insisted that the other was responsible for the crime, and they refused to release Mervin until each one had persuaded him of their version of events.

Elsewhere, Sterling Fox (Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge) made his comeback to the show, as Selwyn and Naomi launched their investigation into Mervin’s disappearance. “Why are you here, Mr Fox?” Selwyn questioned, to which Sterling revealed that he was given a job in Antigua as an officer in training.

Selwyn and Naomi’s frustration intensified as Sterling repeatedly obstructed their progress, before the trainee officer arrested the duo for “stealing” his vehicle.

However, BBC viewers weren’t impressed by the latest episode, as they believed that not much drama unfolded like the typically action-packed instalments.

“We’re only 15 minutes in and I already think this is the worst episode ever. Hope it picks up soon,” one viewer posted on X (formerly Twitter). Another commented: “Well this interesting. Any chance of anything happening anytime soon?” whilst a third questioned: “Is Mervin spending the entire episode tied to a chair?”

A fourth fan mirrored the feeling, saying: “This is awful,” with another likewise expressing: “Script writers I have soooooo many questions.”

Meanwhile, other viewers experienced a whirlwind of emotions as the drama played out, with one individual confessing: “Mervin about to have me bawling my eyes out at 9:36pm on a random Monday.”

Another fan penned: “I swear, if they don’t solve this soon then there’ll be another murder and we all know who the victim and perpetrators will be,” whilst a third chimed in: “Loving #DeathInParadise worth the wait.”

Death in Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website

FEW got on the wrong side of drug lord Pablo Escobar and lived to tell the tale – let alone survived him putting out a contract on their life.

But Godfather actor Gianni Russo, 82, is no ordinary bloke. He was employed by some of America’s most notorious Mafia kingpins and sensationally claimed Marilyn Monroe took his virginity. Now, he reveals the astonishing story of how he went from mob notoriety to Hollywood fame – and how he escaped death in the process.

The New Yorker’s blockbuster life began dramatically when he nearly died aged six from polio, only surviving thanks to an experimental vaccine trial that cured him but led to the deaths of half of the patients on the hospital ward.

After a lengthy five-year recovery, Russo started out selling ballpoint pens on the streets of New York aged 13.

It was here that he first crossed paths with Frank Costello, a mob boss from the Luciano crime family, who offered him work. 

This induction into the mob world would lead to him becoming pally with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Monroe and Al Pacino, as well as bagging acting roles including in the first two Godfather films, Rush Hour 2 and Red Dragon. 

And it was his portrayal of Carlo Rizzi, the abusive husband of Connie Corleone, in the first Godfather movie that would save his life in the unlikeliest fashion.

Surviving “King of Cocaine” Escobar’s wrath – after surrendering himself to the Colombian drug lord and being interrogated in a prison cell three floors underneath his mansion – was among Russo’s biggest feats.

Escobar had put a hit out on the actor after he shot dead Lorenzo Morales, a hitman from his Medellin Cartel, in a 1988 Las Vegas nightclub.

The fatal altercation came after Morales stabbed a woman he had taken to dinner at Russo’s venue and then slashed the Godfather star’s face with a broken champagne bottle.

Russo tells The Sun: “He spins around and goes for my throat. Fortunately I react, I was agile enough, but he cuts me on my jawline, which required 81 stitches, and I’m bleeding.

“I said, ‘Look what you did to my shirt.’ He cut me but I’m worried about my shirt. I just wanted to get my hand on my gun and as soon as I did, I put the gun at his forehead.

“I told him, ‘Now go out the door’. He said, ‘F*** you’. I shot him… The cops came and took me to the hospital.”

Russo wasn’t charged with the killing due to it being ruled a justifiable homicide by the Nevada District Attorney’s Office.

But he knew he was a wanted man when Morales was revealed to be part of the Medellin Cartel.

Despite knowing he was unlikely to return, Russo travelled to a church in Colombia to meet face-to-face with the drug lord – a meeting arranged by mobster John Gotti, head of New York’s Gambino crime family. 

Russo adds: “Understand one thing, Escobar believed in killing your pets, your children, your family, and you last. I wasn’t going to let that happen.” 

Seconds after greeting Escobar, he was hit from behind and woke up in the cartel lord’s famous “mansion prison”, which he had built to avoid extradition to the US for drug charges.

“I was strapped to a chair, the stench was unbelievable,” Russo says. 

“I thought I was hallucinating. [Escobar] had a book in his hands. The book was ‘Making Of The Godfather’. He said to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were Carlo in The Godfather? I loved that movie.’”

In a Hollywood-style twist, Escobar instructed his associate to clean-up Russo, treat his injuries and take him to his dining room, where the Colombian would later probe: ‘Why did you come here?’

Russo replied: ‘What would you have done if someone was going to kill your daughter? I had to come here. Kill me now and leave my family alone.’

He continues: “He walks towards me, I don’t know if he was going to cut off my head or what, but he kissed me. He said, ‘They don’t make men like us anymore. Go home, I’ll handle this’. 

“So, we sat down, had dinner, we talked, it was amazing. But he was a frightening man.”

Russo bagged his role in The Godfather after serving as a liaison between Paramount Studios and the Colombo crime family, who had threatened to stop the film’s production through their vice-like control over the unions.

He recalls petitioning crime boss Joe Colombo, who objected to the movie because it “basically identified every Italian as a gangster”, by telling him: “Listen, we can make a lot of money from this.” 

Eventually, Russo talked him around and was given the role of Carlo in the iconic 1972 movie “as my reward”.

Not everyone was happy he got the part, including Marlon Brando. The legendary star, who played Don Vito Corleone, was desperate to succeed in his “comeback film” and wanted everything to be perfect.

“When he found out that I wasn’t even an actor, he tried to get me fired,” Russo said. “I worked that out with him and we became friends.”

Similarly, Russo says co-star James Caan, who played Sonny Corleone, “hated me from day one” because of his corrupt connections. 

Caan also believed he lost out on the role of Michael Corleone to Al Pacino because of Russo and his mobster allies.

John Gotti rival

By the time Russo starred in The Godfather, he had already made a fortune from criminal activities.

He was sitting on an estimated £1.5million fortune, having worked as a ‘messenger’ for mafia families and run multiple crooked businesses including casinos.

Russo was taken under mobster Frank Costello’s wing out of respect for his Sicilian uncles, who had helped to send the Mafia crime families over to America and were hanged for their criminal activities.

He says being “given so much respect so early on” angered future Gambino crime boss Gotti, who was then a “hijacker, earning big money” and desperate to become a ‘made’ man.

Was I upset? No. I’d just had sex with America’s hottest movie star and sex symbol.

Gianni Russo

Russo’s biggest money-spinner was laundering “hundreds of millions of dollars” skimmed from casinos and other illegal businesses through the Vatican Bank with the help of a corrupt bishop in the 1970s.

Then came his big screen debut in The Godfather, which changed his life forever and was a film that “the mob loved”. 

Russo says: “The Godfather was my first film. I was young, I was making big money and with my ego, I wanted to become an actor.

“The movie premiere was like a dream come true for me because 10 years earlier I was selling ballpoint pens to people and now I was in the biggest movie ever in the world.”

‘Marilyn taught me everything’

Fame, coupled with Russo’s mob connections, led to a series of high-profile celebrity romances. He would go on to father 13 children with 10 different women.

He dated I Say A Little Prayer singer Dionne Warwick in the 1980s, the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and Cabaret star Liza Minnelli.

“I really like Liza, I couldn’t say anything bad about her, she’s just fun, enjoys life,” Russo said through laughter.

But perhaps his most famous dalliance came earlier with Marilyn Monroe, then 33, who he sensationally alleged took his virginity when he was 15. 

Gianna was working at a hair salon in New York and says the Some Like It Hot star always requested him to wash her hair. 

He claims one day Marilyn’s advisors invited him to her suite in the Waldorf Hotel and they bonked for the entire weekend, leaving him struggling to walk after . 

Russo recalled her standing in her messy room, which he compared to “like the set of a disaster movie”.

She was holding a flute of champagne, wearing just a towel which she promptly dropped and invited him to join her in the bath. 

“My heart was pounding,” he said. “Like an idiot, I covered my eyes, which made her laugh.

“I began undressing, praying I wouldn’t trip over my pants and fall on my ass, and then entered the tub. I’ll be ­honest, I had no idea what to do, or what she expected.

“We wound up in bed for the entire weekend, climbing out only when needed. It was my first ­experience of room service, and it added to the fantastic experience.”

The one issue was that Russo was just 15 years old – but the actor had no regrets, even boasting “she taught me everything I know” and he felt like “the luckiest boy alive”.

He said: “If it had happened today, I think she’d be arrested and my parents would have tried to get some cash out of it… Was I upset? No. I’d just had sex with America’s hottest movie star and sex symbol.”

Russo has lived a life few could imagine – he’s hung out with everyone from Pope John Paul II to Donald Trump.

He dubs himself “the Hollywood Godfather” but despite the title and his murky past, he insists: “I was never in the mob but I was around it and was friends with some of the big names.

“They (police) tried to tie me to the mob but I never got a traffic ticket let alone association.”

Russo has released multiple books and is currently touring the UK and Ireland as part of a one-man theatre show, which reveals all about his colourful life and how his film debut was a seismic moment for him. 

He adds: “The Godfather changed my life. I don’t know what my life would be without The Godfather. It’s still changing my life now.”

Russo Russo’s new book Mafia Secrets Untold Tales From The Hollywood Godfather is out now.  

The government in Havana has claimed that the 10 people on board the speedboat had planned to unleash terrorism in Cuba.

The government of Cuba has announced that a fifth person died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers off the island nation’s north coast.

The island’s Ministry of Interior said late on Thursday in a statement that Roberto Alvarez Avila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries.

It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialised medical care according to their health status”.

On February 26, authorities in Cuba said that Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops.

They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the United States who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.

“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban Interior Ministry said in its statement.

It added that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”.

Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects who were on the speedboat. The government also unveiled items it claimed to have found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.

Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but they said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast.

They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press news agency was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.

The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities.

The island’s economy was, until recently, largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation abducted and deposed former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Actress Sue Nicholls has played Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street for over 45 years

Coronation Street star Sue Nicholls has played Audrey Roberts for decades, and has become one of the soap’s most beloved characters.

Audrey made her debut on the cobbles back in 1979, where she was introduced as the mum of Gail Platt (Helen Worth).

The character has been involved in several huge storylines over the years, including her tumultuous love life, family drama, and mental health struggles. Audrey notably escaped serial killer Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), and was in a relationship with reformed con-man Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers), as well as battling with depression and alcoholism.

Audrey also got married to Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) in 1985, before his tragic death in 1999. Similar to her character, actor Sue has also been through her fair share of heartbreak, following the death of her co-star husband Mark Eden.

Mark was best known for his role as villain Alan Bradley in Corrie – a role he played from 1986 to 1989. Alan’s storyline began when he visited Weatherfield to reconcile with his long-lost daughter, Jenny (Sally Ann Matthews), following the death of her mother and his ex-wife Pat.

Alan soon moved in with Jenny and her foster mother, Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox), who he eventually fell in love with. However, the romantic bliss didn’t last very long.

Alan notably defrauded Rita by forging her signature to mortgage her house for his business, Weatherfield Security Systems. He was also abusive, and cheated on Rita with Gloria Todd (Sue Jenkins). The character’s villainous streak came to an end when he was fatally hit by a Blackpool tram while chasing Rita back in 1989.

Away from the cobbles, actor Sue claimed to have experienced love at first sight after meeting co-star Mark at a fashion party in 1983. The couple were married from 1993 until Mark’s death in 2021 at the age of 92. The actor had been living with Alzheimer’s disease “for some time”.

Tributes quickly flooded in for the beloved star, following his death. John Whiston, the former managing director of continuing drama and head of ITV Studios in the north, previously said in a statement: “We are all hugely saddened to hear of the death of Mark Eden.

“The character he played, Alan Bradley, made a real impact in the three years he was in the show, embarking on a reign of terror and clashing with just about every other character in Coronation Street. He was a consummate actor and played the role of psychotic villain to a tee, making the character both chilling and credible.

“The show owes Mark a great deal as he set the template for all the great villains to come, from Hillman to [Pat] Phelan to our latest baddie, Geoff Metcalfe. It’s a fantastic dramatic legacy. Our thoughts go out to Sue and their family and friends at this sad time.”

Audrey hasn’t been seen on screen in recent months, sparking serious concern from fans. The ITV soap offered an update on the beloved character last week.

During a recent episode (February 26), Audrey’s granddaughter, Sarah (Tina O’Brien), spoke to her mum on the phone, confirming that Audrey was on holiday. Fans will surely be devastated by the update, as they hope to see Audrey back in the salon soon.

Emmerdale airs weekday nights at 8pm on ITV1 and STV, and Coronation Street airs weekday nights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and STV as part of ITV’s new soap power hour scheduling pattern for Coronation Street and Emmerdale

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THE mother of Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows has pleaded for footage of her son’s death never to be aired.

Cameras were rolling when Meadows went overboard off the coast of Alaska last week.

The 25-year-old fell into the freezing waters of the Bering Sea while filming the long-running Discovery Channel series.

His body was recovered ten minutes later, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

His mother, Angela, told TMZ: “We don’t want to see any footage of the accident and do not want Discovery to air any of that footage or make money off of our son’s death.

“We hope they only air good things of Todd on that boat.”

FISHING TRAGEDY

Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows died after falling overboard into sea

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Instead, Angela said the family has requested footage of Todd crabbing so they can remember him doing what he loved.

The family is still waiting for a definitive answer about how he died, but Angela says she has been assured her son did not suffer in his final moments.

“We don’t want to put the blame on anyone, but someone has to take responsibility. We will have justice for Todd,” she added.

A spokesperson for the US Coast Guard said that on February 25, just after 5pm local time, officials were alerted that Meadows had gone overboard.

The alarm was raised by the fishing vessel Aleutian Lady, which reported he fell into the water about 170 miles north of Dutch Harbour, near Alaska.

Captain Rick Shelford confirmed the devastating loss in a Facebook post, calling February 25 “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”

“We lost our brother, Todd Meadows,” he wrote.

“Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away.

“His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always.”

Discovery Channel also released a statement: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Todd Meadows.

“This is a devastating loss, and our hearts are with his loved ones, his crewmates and the entire fishing community during this incredibly difficult time.

“Our hearts are broken in a way that words can’t fully express.”

Todd is survived by three sons, and a GoFundMe has been started to support them.

The Bering Sea – known for its shallow depth, volatile weather, and freezing temperatures – is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world.

The hazards of the job are well-known among those who work the waters.

Captain Sig Hansen has previously described facing “life-threatening situations” at sea.

“We’ve had events where the boat was icing down to the point where I thought there was no return, he told Fox News.

BBC Breakfast shared a heartbreaking story on Wednesday, as a guest broke down in tears

A BBC Breakfast star confirmed a sad death during the latest live show.

Wednesday’s (March 4) edition of the hit BBC programme was hosted by Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson, who updated viewers on the latest news from across the UK and around the world.

They were joined in the studio by Carol Kirkwood, who presented regular weather forecasts, while John Watson handled the sports segment. Meanwhile, Peter Ruddick shared highlights from the Chancellor’s recent spring statement.

Later in the show, Sally and Ben shared a heartbreaking story of a sub postmaster who was wrongfully convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. Tom Millward has now had his conviction quashed, eight years after his death.

Sally explained: “[He] was accused of stealing £5,000, convicted of false accounting, and forced to move his young family into a static caravan to live.”

Tom’s daughter, Isobel Saunders, emotionally spoke to reporter Debbie Tubby in a pre-recorded segment.

“Tom Millward’s daughter finally has the letter she’s been waiting for and campaigning for – The Ministry of Justice quashing her father’s conviction. But it’s been delivered all too late, eight years after he died from cancer,” Debbie said.

Tom died in 2018, just one year before the scandal reached a turning point. “He never got to see that he was innocent, and never got to know that other people would know that he was innocent,” Isobel said.

Reflecting on her dad’s change in behaviour after his conviction, Isobel continued: “I think there was a lot of internalised shame. He stopped talking, he just became very, very quiet to us and to the family as well.”

Tom tried balancing the books on the Post Office Horizon computer system by cashing in his life insurance and re-mortgaging their home.

After watching the hit ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Tom’s wife, Margaret, realised that her late spouse wasn’t the “only one” affected. She sadly passed away last year.

Isobel soon became emotional as she continued speaking about her father’s struggles. “Sorry,” she said, as she tried to compose herself.

She went on: “We had decided a little bit, sort of feeling-wise, that it probably was this that had happened, [but] it’s different to know. To have that confirmed by the Ministry of Justice really meant a lot.”

Isobel concluded: “I’m angry [at] the people at the top, who knew about it. Fair enough, honest mistake, fine. But once they knew and carried on, I think that’s the bit that makes me angry.”

In a statement, the Post Office chairman says he wants to make a “clear and unequivocal apology” to everyone affected by the scandal.

BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am

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BBC Breakfast was presented by Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson on Wednesday morning

The hosts of BBC Breakfast announced several tragic deaths during the latest live show.

Wednesday’s (March 4) episode of the hit morning programme was hosted by Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson, who updated viewers on the latest news from across the UK and around the world.

They were joined in the studio by Carol Kirkwood, who presented weather forecasts throughout the show, while Ben Thompson handled the sports segment. Meanwhile, Peter Ruddick shared updates after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her spring statement on Tuesday.

At the start of the programme, Sally and Ben shared further updates from the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran over the weekend. The UK government has since announced the first repatriation flights from Dubai.

In a pre-recorded segment, it was confirmed that the American military had named its first troops to be killed in the conflict. Six soldiers died when an “unmanned aircraft system” evaded air defences to hit a command centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on Sunday.

Four of the deceased, all US Army Reserve soldiers, were identified on Tuesday by the US military: Capt Cody Khork, 35, Sgt Noah Tietjens, 42, Sgt Nicole Amor, 39, and Sgt Declan Coady, 20.

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A cause of death has been determined for Martin Short’s daughter Katherine, who took her own life in February.

She died Feb. 23 from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s database, which listed her case under her legal name, Katherine Hartley.

Her death was confirmed by her family in a statement to The Times two days later.

“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” the family said. “The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”

The 42-year-old was the eldest of three children adopted by the “Only Murders in the Building” star and his wife, actor Nancy Dolman. Dolman died of ovarian cancer in 2010, 30 years after marrying her husband. Martin Short’s sons are Oliver and Henry.

Hartley, whose body was found at her Hollywood Hills home by L.A. County Fire Department paramedics, legally applied for a name change in 2012 because of her famous father’s public persona.

“My father is a public figure. I am a social worker. I am concerned about potential harassment from future patients resulting from my association with my father,” she wrote in her name-change application, which was filed in October 2012 and approved Jan. 25, 2013.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender studies from NYU in 2006, she followed up with a master’s in social work from USC in 2010, People reported. In addition to having a private practice, she worked part time at Amae Health, a Los Angeles clinic providing mental health and psychiatric care, the outlet said. Suicide attempts and ideation are among the conditions the clinic says it specializes in treating.

The death certificate for Katherine Elizabeth Hartley, which was obtained by TMZ, includes a field denoting how the injury occurred. It reads, “shot herself.” According to the outlet, a note was found at the scene.

Martin Short has been hit with horrible news multiple times in recent months. In addition to his daughter, Short’s longtime pal Catherine O’Hara died Jan. 30 after battling rectal cancer and friends Rob and Michelle Reiner were killed in December.

Times staff writer Malia Mendez contributed to this report.

Los Angeles County leaders are demanding the Sheriff’s Department ramp up safety measures within the jail system as inmate deaths continue to mount.

Ten people died inside L.A. County jails in the first two months of this year, putting the county on track for another record-setting year of in-custody deaths. Autopsies to determine causes for all the deaths are still pending.

County supervisors voted 4 to 0 on Tuesday on a motion, crafted by Supervisor Janice Hahn, requiring the Sheriff Department take a series of steps to reduce inmate deaths, including increasing access to the overdose reversal drug Naloxone, more closely monitoring cameras and beefing up safety checks.

“If we don’t address this now, we will see another record year of deaths in the County jails — a record we do not want to repeat,” the motion stated.

The death rate has eclipsed the pace of 2025, which saw nine deaths by the end of February. The year ended with 46 in-custody deaths, a jump from the 32 reported deaths in 2024.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstained from the vote, arguing the county could not address the death rate without building a new facility.

“We must be honest about the limitations of facilities that were never designed to house today’s population,” she said in a statement. “I have consistently called for a modern replacement facility focused on treatment and rehabilitation because that is where the real solution lies.”

Sheriff Robert Luna conceded this month that 2026 was “not off to a good start.” He framed the challenge as due partially to the fact that the county was booking people who were older and sicker than prior populations and needed more intensive care than could be offered by the jail system. Four in 5 people face a mental or physical health issue, the department said.

“Every time I get notified that someone in my care has passed away, it’s like a kick in the groin,” Luna said.

The department said in a statement that it has “taken aggressive action to prevent overdoses and violence,” but believes “no jail system can eliminate all risks when people enter custody already critically ill.”

The supervisors voted more than four years ago to shut down Men’s Central Jail, a downtown facility notorious for dangerous and deteriorating conditions, without building a replacement. Since then, inspectors continued to find a litany of problems inside the jail, including mildew and lack of food.

“The fact is that we need to close down Men’s Central,” said Peggy Lee Kennedy, one of several callers to the board meeting who urged the county to speed up the closure. “Why are all these people living there with major mental health issues instead of getting the help they really truly need?”

The county continues to face intense scrutiny from the state over the conditions inside the jail. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the Sheriff’s Department in September alleging that inmates “are forced to live in filthy cells with broken and overflowing toilets, infestations of rats and roaches, and no clean water for drinking or bathing.”

Bonta alleged inmates were barred from mental and medical care, leading to a “shocking rate of deaths inside the jails, many of which are caused by preventable circumstances, such as overdoses, suicides, or violence among incarcerated persons.”

Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed reporting.

There were tears (and cheers) for Catherine O’Hara. Rhea Seehorn explained “Pluribus,” or at least tried to. Harrison Ford was celebrated at the “half-point of his career.” And, because the show’s on Netflix, there were a few well-placed F-bombs, not including the swears muttered by the actors who didn’t win.

The 32nd Actor Awards — or the very first Actor Awards, since for the previous 31 years this ceremony has been known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards — went off without a hitch Sunday, and ended with a bang, scrambling a best picture race that felt settled after “One Battle After Another” won the top prize at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday.

There were TV awards presented too. But we pay attention to the Actor Awards because the show takes place while Oscar ballots are out and are, for the most part, a reliable precursor to the Academy Awards. How trustworthy will they be for the acting winners this year? Let’s take a look.

Cast in a motion picture

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Winner: “Sinners”

The past: The winner of this award has gone on to take the best picture Oscar in 15 of 30 years, making it basically a coin flip and easily the Actor Awards’ least trustworthy Oscar precursor. (The ensemble prize wasn’t awarded in 1994, the ceremony’s first year.) Oscar also-ran “Conclave” won last year, ending a three-year streak — “CODA,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Oppenheimer” — where the winner of the cast prize went on to take best picture.

Will history repeat itself? If “Sinners” had simply taken this award and nothing else, I would say “One Battle After Another” would still be the overwhelming favorite to win the best picture Oscar. But snagging this prize and Michael B. Jordan winning lead actor gives one pause, doesn’t it? Again, the cast award is not a reliable best picture precursor. A Ryan Coogler movie (“Black Panther”) won in 2019, but lost the Oscar to “Green Book.” And while “Sinners” did haul in a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations, “One Battle” wasn’t far behind with 13, just one shy of the previous record. It’s easy to get carried away with the way the room exploded when Samuel L. Jackson announced the winner, but “One Battle’s” Producers Guild win carries more weight. I’ll need a couple of days to sit with this.

Female actor in a leading role

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Winner: Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”

The past: SAG and the academy have matched 21 of 31 years. The last two years have seen the groups split, with Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) winning her second Oscar over SAG winner Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) in 2024 and Mikey Madison prevailing for “Anora” over Demi Moore, who won over SAG-AFTRA voters and earned a huge standing ovation when she took the stage for her gonzo comeback turn in the body horror movie “The Substance.”

Will history repeat itself? Buckley has been a lock for the lead actress Oscar since “Hamnet” premiered in September at the Telluride Film Festival, her searching, searing turn as the film’s grieving mother producing the kind of visceral reaction that guts audiences and wins awards. And, boy, has she won awards these last few months, taking pretty much everything save for the major critics groups. The naysayers decried the acting as overripe, sniffing instead of sniffling. Monsters. There’s no denying Buckley goes big with her emotions here, but the magic in her work also can be seen in a much-used still photo from “Hamnet,” the one where she’s resting her elbows on the Old Globe stage, hands clasped, face transfixed, heart opened. You know the shot. And you’re probably getting a little verklempt just thinking about it.

Male actor in a leading role

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Winner: Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”

The past: This category has been the most reliable indicator of Oscar victory, with SAG and the academy matching 24 of 31 times. There are exceptions, though, such as just last year when Adrien Brody won the Oscar for “The Brutalist,” prevailing over SAG winner Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”).

Will history repeat itself? Entering the month of February, it looked like Timothée Chalamet was a shoo-in for playing a talented, self-promoting ping-pong player in “Marty Supreme.” In fact, some know-it-all called this race more or less over just a week ago. (That was me.) Chalamet could still win. Maybe SAG-AFTRA voters didn’t want to give him the award again, just a year after they honored him for his lead turn in “A Complete Unknown.” Maybe SAG-AFTRA voters felt he was a bit, shall we say … “brash” in the way he marketed the movie and needed to be taken down a peg.

So now, entering March, it’s looking like “Marty Supreme” could be this year’s version of “The Irishman,” a film that earns a lot of nominations (in this case, nine) and comes away with nothing.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s big swing movie star turn in “Sinners,” playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack, was the best work of his career. That scream that Viola Davis let out when she opened the envelope spoke to the enthusiasm in the room both for the actor and the film. Momentum definitely seems to be on Jordan’s side right now.

Female actor in a supporting role

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Winner: Amy Madigan, “Weapons”

The past: The Actor Award winner has gone on to take an Oscar 23 of 31 times, including last year, when Zoe Saldaña won for “Emilia Pérez,” one of countless prizes she won that season. (Note: One of those 23 winners, “The Reader’s” Kate Winslet, was nominated for — and won — the 2009 Oscar for lead actress for that performance.)

Will history repeat itself? Who knows? This category has been all over the place, but as Madigan said in her speech, she’s been doing this a “long ass time” and there’s a lot of love for this 75-year-old acting great. Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”) took the Golden Globe, and Wunmi Mosaku (“Sinners”) won at the British Academy Film Awards. And the “they’re due” narrative doesn’t always play at the Oscars. (Just ask Demi Moore or Glenn Close.) Will a “One Battle” sweep carry both Taylor and Sean Penn? Or is there room for an outlier? It’s tempting to lean toward Madigan.

Male actor in a supporting role

Winner: Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”

The past: The SAG winner has gone on to win the Oscar 22 times in 31 years, including the last dozen, the longest streak of any category.

Will history repeat itself? Penn did not attend the Actor Awards, the only thing less surprising than this win. Coming on the heels of taking the supporting actor prize from BAFTA last weekend (Penn didn’t go to that ceremony either), it’s looking likely now that Penn will win his third Oscar. He’s barely campaigned and remains a divisive figure. But his menacing turn as the outrageous Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, a man given to zealotry and tight T-shirts, is the best work he has done in years. Will he go to the Oscars, if only to collect the trophy so he can give another statue to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky? We’ll soon see.

Explosions are being heard in Iran, Israel and across several Middle Eastern states after the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on Saturday.

Tehran has responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel and towards several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate.

Iran had previously warned that if it were attacked, it would respond by targeting US military facilities across the region, which it considers legitimate targets.

Which countries have been attacked?

Israel’s air force says it dropped more than 1,200 munitions across 24 of Iran’s 31 provinces over the past day in its joint attack with the US.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has launched attacks on 27 bases in the Middle East where US troops are deployed as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel.

So far, Iran has launched strikes across eight countries in the region: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Most of these attacks have been intercepted.

US military presence in the Middle East

The US has operated military bases in the Middle East for decades.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, across at least 19 locations in the region.

Of these, eight are permanent bases in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Middle East stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites.

The countries with the most US soldiers are Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These installations serve as critical hubs for US air and naval operations, regional logistics, intelligence gathering and force projection.

How many people have been killed or injured?

Below are the confirmed casualties across the 10 countries that have been subject to attacks as of Sunday at 13:40 GMT.

Due to the rapidly evolving situation, all figures may change as more information becomes available.

Iran – killed: 201, injured: 747

As of Sunday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society and official state-linked media have reported preliminary casualty figures of 201 people killed and at least 747 injured as rescue operations continue.

Since then, explosions continue to be heard across Iran with Israel saying it has carried out a large aerial attack on the “heart of the capital”.

The deadliest single incident occurred in the city of Minab in southeastern Iran, where a strike on an elementary girls school reportedly killed at least 148 people and injured 95. The attack occurred on Saturday, and the death toll has been climbing since.

Israel – killed: 9, injured: 121

On Sunday afternoon, an Iranian ballistic missile strike on central Israel’s Beit Shemesh killed eight people and injured about 20. Rescue workers are still combing through the rubble.

Late on Saturday, one woman in the Tel Aviv area was confirmed killed after being struck by falling shrapnel.

At least 121 others have been reported injured, at least one seriously.

At least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv were damaged in Iranian strikes on Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, citing the city government.

Bahrain – killed: 0, injured: 4

Iranian missiles targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain’s Juffair area.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior also confirmed that the country’s international airport was targeted with a drone, “resulting in material damage without loss of life”.

On Saturday night, several residential buildings in the capital, Manama, were struck by Iranian drones.

Government hospitals said four people were receiving treatment for shrapnel-related injuries.

Iraq – killed: 2, injured: 5

The US and Israel also targeted the Jurf al-Sakher base, also known as Jurf al-Nasr, in southern Iraq, which houses the Popular Mobilisation Forces, made up of mostly Shia fighters, and the Iran-supported Iraqi paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah.

Iraqi state media and sources within Kataib Hezbollah confirmed that two fighters were killed in the strikes and five were wounded.

In northern Iraq‘s semiautonomous Kurdish region, where the US is reported to still have troops, several powerful explosions were reported near the US consulate and international airport in Erbil.

Air defences intercepted the drone attacks on Saturday, according to reports.

Jordan – killed: 0, injured: 0

The Jordanian armed forces reported intercepting 49 drones and ballistic missiles that entered Jordanian airspace. While their fragments caused localised property damage, there have been no deaths or injuries within the kingdom.

Kuwait – killed: 1, injured: 32

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence says Ali al-Salem Air Base came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

A drone targeted Kuwait International Airport on Saturday, resulting in minor injuries to a number of employees and limited damage to the passenger building.

On Sunday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health said one person had been killed and 32 wounded.

Oman – killed: 0, injured: 5

On Sunday morning, the Oman News Agency, quoting a security source, said two drones had targeted the Duqm port, injuring one foreign worker.

Later, Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said a Palau-flagged oil tanker was ‌attacked about 5 nautical miles (9km) off Oman’s Musandam governorate, injuring four people.

Qatar – killed: 0, injured: 16

As of Sunday morning, the Qatari Ministry of Interior confirmed that the number of injured was at 16 people. Most injuries were reported to be from falling shrapnel and debris with one person seriously hurt.

The Qatari Ministry of Defence confirmed that two ballistic missiles struck the Al Udeid military base, where US forces are stationed, while a drone targeted an early warning radar installation.

Qatari air defence systems, in coordination with regional partners, successfully intercepted about 65 missiles and 12 drones over Qatari airspace, it said.

The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority suspended all air navigation indefinitely. Qatar Airways grounded all flights and advised passengers that updates will be provided on Monday by 9am (06:00 GMT).

All schools have moved to remote learning, and public gatherings for Ramadan have been suspended until further notice to ensure public safety.

Saudi Arabia – killed: 0, injured: 0

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Iranian attacks targeted both the capital, Riyadh, and Eastern Province, home to major oil infrastructure and the King Abdulaziz Air Base.

The kingdom has officially reported no casualties as of Sunday afternoon.

United Arab Emirates – killed: 3, injured: 58

As of Sunday afternoon, at least three people in the UAE were confirmed killed and 58 others wounded.

A Pakistani national was killed and seven people were injured when debris from intercepted missiles and drones fell on a residential area near Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that another individual, identified as an Asian national, was killed by falling shrapnel in a residential district of the capital.

Additionally, four airport staff at Dubai International Airport sustained injuries, and four people were injured at Palm Jumeirah after a fire in a building caused by falling debris.

As of Sunday afternoon, The UAE’s Defence Ministry says it detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152, and intercepted two cruise missiles.

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in West Hollywood, one day after the city was blanketed in a light coating of rain. The midday sun has only just begun to peek through the overcast sky.

Its beams are slightly more vivid through the large windows of the Edition, which sit at the edge of a secluded area of the hotel. Jamie Hewlett sits at a wooden table stirring a cappucino with a black straw.

“I mean, who drinks out of a straw when you get past the age of 10, right?” he says, jokingly. After 25 years of bouncing around the globe with Gorillaz, he’s still longing for a jet lag cure. Coffee can only do so much.

Leaning back in his chair, in a suave, all-beige outfit, he starts to grin while recounting his day in Los Angeles.

“We’ve been walking around the streets having a very rare morning off together. We bought some weed, which is always one of the most wonderful things about this state,” he recalls.

He also finds humor in L.A.’s obsession with driver-less food delivery.

“Every time we saw a post-bot driving down the road, we stopped and doffed our caps. … In the future, when robots take over and destroy us all, they’ll remember me for being nice to the post-bot!”

It’s been a long few weeks for Hewlett and bandmate Damon Albarn as they roll out the group’s latest endeavor, “The Mountain,” out Friday. Just one day prior, “House of Kong” opened at Rolling Greens in downtown L.A. The exhibition, initially intended as a Gorillaz 25th anniversary event, has landed on the West Coast.

“I think with this album, we were both quite happy with what we’ve done … and feeling like it was an honest, genuine adventure that was taken, and what we’ve given is something that we’re proud of,” Hewlett says.

He and Albarn are also artists at heart and in nature. It’s why Gorillaz continues to look and sound the way it does, and why the group is consistently pushing the agenda of how a nonexistent band can still resonate with a group of fans who are very much alive.

“The process, the research, the putting it together, the making of it is really fun, and the delivery of it is kind of like a mini death syndrome,” he says. “What you’re required to do is get straight on to the next thing, and you won’t have any time to waste thinking about the fact that the completion of that left you feeling numb, because then you’re excited about the next project.”

He adds that Albarn, similarly, is like a “kid in a sweet shop” when he’s making music: “The moment it’s finished, there’s no interest in discussing it.”

Even so, the album is undeniably their most intimate in recent history.

Perhaps it’s something to do with the experience of grief that the two lived through, losing their fathers only 10 days apart and just before a trip to India. Or maybe it’s a testament to the process behind “The Mountain,” which saw Hewlett and Albarn travel the country, spending more time together there than during previous album productions.

“It’s weird, because I’m born 10 days after Damon… the idea presented itself, and at that point we were going down that road, and there was no avoiding it… It wasn’t even necessarily going to be a Gorillaz project; ‘Let’s go together and see what happens.’ ”

“I completely fell in love with the place and got into their whole concept of death,” Hewlett says of India.

(Blair Brown)

Hewlett says the album was also inspired by his late mother-in-law, Amo, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and opted for Eastern medicine instead of chemo.

“She said, ‘No, I’m going to India.’ … She was into Ayurveda medicine and knew this doctor, and she spent three months in India [being treated]. When she came back, her cancer had gone. In France, they call her in for a checkup, and they give her a scan. They say, ‘Where’s your cancer gone?’ She said, ‘I’ve been in India,’ and they say, ‘We don’t believe in that.’ ”

It wouldn’t be until 2022 when Jamie visited India himself, under unfortunate circumstances. He was in Belgrade with Albarn shooting the second video from “Cracker Island” when he received a call from his brother-in-law, who said that Amo had just had a stroke.

“They said they saved her, but she went into a coma. I was on a plane to India as quickly as I could get a visa, which wasn’t easy at the Indian Embassy in London,” he said. “I spent eight weeks with my wife, Emma, in Jaipur, dealing with that, in a public hospital during a pneumonia epidemic… having that experience that was traumatic; it should have been a reason for me to never go back to India ever again.”

But during his time there, it became clear that being in the country had the opposite effect on him.

“I completely fell in love with the place and got into their whole concept of death. … We met a lot of families who became friends of ours because we were at the hospital every day,” he continued.

“A loved one who was dying, who was in tears because they knew they were going to die, but also there was a celebration about the fact that they were coming back,” he said. “Their understanding of the cycle of life is a lot more appealing to me.”

Shortly after, Hewlett returned to Europe and went straight to Albarn with an idea: “I said, ‘We have to go to India, it’s so amazing,’ and of all the places he’d been around the world, that was the place he still hadn’t been. So we decided to go.”

Albarn first visited India in May 2024 alongside Hewlett.

(Blair Brown)

“The Mountain” is, as expected, heavily doused with notions on the concept of death. Inevitably, the question arose: “How can we make an album about death that would leave the listener feeling optimistic?”

But Gorillaz has always been a group entwined with different, equally heavy topics. On “Plastic Beach,” they tackle the climate crisis and human extinction. The enchanting and rhythmic “Dirty Harry” also examines war and soldiers, with its single cover even giving a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.”

The tone Gorillaz achieved on “The Mountain” is an extension of that.

“The Happy Dictator,” released as the lead single in September, parodies megalomaniac Saparmurat Niyazov’s approach to governing in Turkmenistan. As Sparks produce stunning vocals, singing “I am the one to give you life again,” Gorillaz fictional frontman 2-D (voiced by Albarn) breaks in to pronounce, “No more bad news!”

Equally as enjoyable is “The God of Lying,” the third single released, featuring Idles. Joe Talbot hauntingly asks, “Do you love your blessed father? / Anoint by fear of death / Do you feel the lies creep on by? / As soft as baby’s breath.” It’s a bouncy song that could have been pulled straight out of the band’s self-titled debut, all the way back from 2001.

Even so, it feels criminal to compare it with the band’s earlier catalog, given that Hewlett and Albarn are artists in “perpetual motion.” This has resulted in some of their most sonically and visually impressive work — with styles and genres consistently shifting — but also asks the listener to be willing to evolve with them.

“I think art has to be an evolution,” Hewlett explains. “I know what David Hockney does at 88 years old, still smoking and drinking his red wine. He wakes up every day … and he does something new, and then the next day he does something new, and that promotes longevity. He’s never bored.”

Gorillaz’s exhibition in “House of Kong” seems to be contradictory in its existence, more or less serving as a retrospective from a band that not only doesn’t like to look in the rearview, but likely has it taped over altogether.

But it’s also an organic experience, teeming with originality, despite its familiar marketing as an “immersive experience.” It’s more comparable to something out of a Disney or Universal theme park than another gallery that merely projects video onto a wall.

“Down here at Kong, we are creating something that … only really existed in Jamie’s drawings and animations and in the minds of the fans of Gorillaz,” says Stephen Gallagher of Block9. He served as creative director on the project but has worked with the band since 2018 and previously collaborated with Banksy for his “The Walled Off Hotel” and “Dismaland.”

“I’d had this idea already: ‘What about if we built a film studio, and then you could do a backstage tour, and you’re seeing behind the scenes of the making of all of these music videos?’ ” he continued. “Then that evolved, and it became the ‘House of Kong.’ ”

As for why the exhibition landed in L.A. for its second showing, Hewlett compares the city to Shanghai when it was “still free and decadent and swinging.”

“I love L.A. … I love it. I’ve been coming here since I was 19 years old. … L.A. might be the last one [showing], to be honest,” he says. “All that stuff in the exhibition belongs to me; this is part of my lifelong collection of weird s—!”

“I’d love to get it back at some point,” he jokes.

Final Oscar voting began yesterday. How many of the nominated movies have you seen? Are you doing your due diligence in all the categories before the March 15 ceremony or, given the summer weather outside your window, might the mountains be calling?

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. It’s never too early for flip-flops, is it?

Testing out a new mandate

To vote for the Oscars, you have to watch all the nominated movies.

This may seem obvious. But until this year, the motion picture academy operated entirely on the honor system, strongly encouraging members to see everything before voting.

Now voters have to show their work — up to a point.

This year, academy members are required to certify through the group’s screening room portal that they have viewed all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in that category. Since nominations were announced in January, the academy has been emailing voters with updates on their progress, indicating where they’re cleared to vote and where they still have work to do.

One wrinkle, and it’s not a small one: Members can simply check a box indicating that they’ve watched a movie outside the academy’s platform. Perhaps they saw it at a festival, on a streaming platform other than the portal or the place God intended films to be seen — a movie theater.

Whether they actually did watch the movies is left to the honesty of the voter. It’s still an honor system, and members do not need to show movie stubs, tickets or receipts.

Talking with academy members, there seems to be a little wiggle room when it comes to having a clear conscience.

Take the voter who loved Ethan Hawke‘s lead turn as legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart in “Blue Moon,” but hated “Marty Supreme,” turning it off 20 minutes after starting it. Since the academy’s screening room counts a movie as watched only if it’s viewed in its entirety, this voter told me they planned on restarting “Marty Supreme” one night and running it on mute so he could vote in the lead actor category.

“I’d seen enough,” he said. “Watching [Timothée] Chalamet play another pingpong tournament wouldn’t make me change my mind.”

Other academy members told me they were OK marking the “watched” box next to a movie they hadn’t seen, provided they had viewed four of the category’s other nominees. By and large though, they were the outliers. Most voters said they were happy to abstain from voting in a category in which they hadn’t watched all the nominated work. (As academy members may not publicly state voting decisions or preferences, voters spoke on the condition of anonymity.)

“I don’t need to see another ‘Avatar’ movie,” a producers branch member said. “So I’m fine not voting for visual effects or costume design this year. Life is short.”

“I like the idea that I can abstain from categories without any guilt,” an Oscar-nominated writer noted, adding that she thought the new system has been “helpful, reminding me to watch things.”

To that effect, academy members have been receiving a flurry of emails and texts that would give off Big Brother vibes if it didn’t simply boil down to an admonition to watch “Frankenstein” so they could vote in the nine categories where Guillermo del Toro’s monster movie is nominated.

It really isn’t that big an ask, as in recent years the Oscars have become increasingly dominated by a smaller number of movies vacuuming up a greater share of the nominations. This year, the five movies earning the most recognition — “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another,” “Marty Supreme,” “Frankenstein” and “Hamnet” — hauled in 56 nominations.

If an Oscar voter viewed the 10 best picture nominees, they’d be eligible to mark their ballots in best picture and eight other categories — supporting actor, adapted screenplay, casting, cinematography, film editing, production design and original score. Add Hawke’s “Blue Moon” and that opens up lead actor. Make it a double feature with “It Was Just an Accident” and original screenplay becomes available.

“You don’t really need to be much more than a casual moviegoer to knock out most of your ballot,” an actors branch member told me, “except for things like animation and documentaries and the shorts. I don’t know how many people watch all of those.”

Nobody does, save for the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants counting the ballots. The question vexing both voters and the awards consultants paid to persuade them is how this new, formalized voting will affect the results. As Oscar winners are sometimes the movies that are the most-watched, might requiring voters to see all the nominated work boost less-publicized efforts?

“If ‘Sirât’ wins sound over ‘F1,’ then I think it’s a new ballgame,” one veteran campaigner said. “Right now, though, nobody knows.”

We will soon. In the meantime, with Oscar voting running through Thursday, some academy members tell me their weekend is booked.

“Three nights, three movies,” one voter said. “And then I’m watching ‘Bridgerton.’”

DENVER — Renee Good loved sparkles and laughter and any excuse for a celebration. She loved pretty much everyone she met, and was late for pretty much everything.

“She had this way of making you feel special and loved that I didn’t even understand … until we lost her,” Donna Ganger said Friday of her daughter, who was shot and killed by an immigration officer during the federal crackdown in Minneapolis.

She was “slow to anger, quick to love, quick to care,” said her father, Tim Ganger. “That’s the essence of who she was.”

Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed Jan. 7 as immigration agents surged through the Minneapolis area, sparking waves of protests. Her death and that of another U.S. citizen, Alex Pretti, weeks later in Minneapolis sparked outrage across the country and calls to rein in immigration enforcement.

In a wide-ranging interview in Colorado, where some of the family lives, Good’s parents and two of her brothers, Brent and Luke Ganger, talked to the AP about the joy Good found in life, their grief and their hopes that her death can bring about change in a deeply polarized nation.

“It’s going to be hard in the future,” Donna Ganger said. “It’s going to be kind of a constant pain.”

Settling in Minneapolis

Good, who graduated from college later in life, was volunteering in a local school district and working as a substitute teacher when she was killed, her parents said.

“She was working so hard to get her education, and then she was finally able to use it, and I could just tell how happy she was and how fulfilled,” Donna Ganger said.

Good, her 6-year-old son and her partner, Becca Good — the women were not legally married, according to a family lawyer, but referred to each other as wives — had only recently relocated to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Mo., settling on a quiet residential street in a tight-knit neighborhood known for its progressive activism.

In social media accounts, Renee Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” On Pinterest, a profile picture shows her smiling and holding a young child, alongside posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.

The family “settled very quickly into the community in Minneapolis,” said Donna Ganger, describing how the neighborhood had also welcomed the rest of the family when they came after the shooting. They see that as the result of the love that Good had showed her new neighbors.

“It was incredible to receive that back,” Luke Ganger said.

Donna Ganger held a stuffed toy owl as she spoke, a gift from her daughter, who knew how much she loved the birds. It had sparkles on its feet, a reminder of Good’s love for glitter.

At Good’s memorial service, a table of glitter had been set out for guests. Donna Ganger had put a piece on a lens of her glasses and it’s remained there.

“She just kind of sparkled all the way through,” said Donna Ganger. “I think of her and I look down and see my little sparkle.”

‘A very American blend’

The family is “a very American blend,” Luke Ganger said recently in testimony to Congress. “We vote differently, and we rarely completely agree on the finer details of what it means to be a citizen of this country.”

Yet “we have always treated each other with love and respect,” he said.

On Friday, the family didn’t want to discuss the specifics of their differences, but Donna Ganger said she’d long prayed for guidance: “Before all this happened, I said, ‘Make me a wise woman.’”

In the hours after Good’s death, Trump administration officials said she had been shot as she tried to drive her car into an immigration officer. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good had committed “an act of domestic terrorism.”

But as video evidence and other details of the confrontation emerged, and criticism of the crackdown began growing, administration comments softened.

President Trump said he’d been told that Tim Ganger had supported him.

“He was all for Trump, loved Trump. And, you know, it’s terrible,” he told reporters. “I hope he still feels that way.”

Tim Ganger declined to talk about his political affiliation or whether it had changed with his daughter’s killing.

“I think I’m just going to leave that go,” he said. “There’s so many other important things” to deal with now, he added.

But family members said they hoped their ability to get along would be an inspiration.

“Our purpose through this whole tragic, difficult, unbelievable time, is to have something good come out of this,” Tim Ganger said. “Otherwise the senselessness of this is overwhelming.”

Sadness echoed in Donna Ganger’s voice as she talked about navigating family differences.

“Sometimes I’m just silly, you know, and I joke with them and I’m goofy,” she said. “But I want to be able to talk about hard things — and that’s hard sometimes with your own family to talk about hard things that maybe you don’t agree on. And I don’t want there to be any hardships between us or hurt.

“But it’s important that we learn to be careful with our words, but share them in a deep way,” she said. “It’s really important.”

Family members spoke only in general ways about the change they’d like to see come from Good’s death.

“I think it’s evident that something is broken, right?” said Brent Ganger. “And when something is broken, you have to take a deep look to see what it is that can be changed and fixed in order for it to not happen again.”

The morning of the shooting

On the morning of the shooting, as immigration raids and protests were flaring across the city, Becca Good has said she and Renee stopped their car in the street to support neighbors during an immigration operation.

Video shows Renee Good in a maroon SUV blocking part of the road and repeatedly honking her horn.

Two immigration officers get out of a truck and one orders Good to open her door. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel as the officer says again, “Get out of the car.” Almost simultaneously, Becca Good, standing in the street shouts, “Drive, baby, drive!”

When Good begins pulling forward, an ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle — later identified as Jonathan Ross — pulls his weapon and fires at least two shots into the car, through the driver’s-side corner of the windshield and the driver’s window, killing Good.

Weeks later, Tim Ganger said he hoped the family’s tragedy would lead to change, though “I’m not even sure what that will look like.”

“But for something good, for people to stop and take a breath and take a look and have a dialog,” he said. “That’s the broader mission of what we want, for people to come together and take care of each other.”

The Justice Department has said it sees no basis to open a federal civil rights investigation into Good’s death, but the family has hired a law firm that is conducting its own investigation and exploring potential legal action.

Family members said no one from the federal government has contacted them about Good’s killing, and they are unsure whether anyone will be held accountable.

“All we can do is speak out and hope that our sincere words are enough to enact some kind of change,” Brent Ganger said.

Slevin and Sullivan write for the Associated Press and reported from Denver and Minneapolis, respectively.

Death in Paradise detective Mervin Wilson was kidnapped in a cliffhanger after travelling to Antigua to visit his brother Solomon

In the latest episode of Death in Paradise, Detective Mervin Wilson (portrayed by Don Gilet) revealed he was taking a temporary leave from Saint Marie.

After cracking another case with his team, Mervin decided to take his colleague Naomi Thomas’s (played by Shantol Jackson) advice and travel to Antigua to visit his brother, Solomon (Daniel Ward).

Mervin’s relationship with his brother got off on the wrong foot when Solomon raided his shack and nicked his belongings. Following this incident, Solomon returned to Antigua, leaving Mervin uncertain if they would ever cross paths again.

However, towards the end of Friday’s episode, Mervin informed Naomi that he wouldn’t be at work the next day as he was heading for Antigua.

“DS Thomas, I am just letting you know I won’t be coming in tomorrow,” Mervin announced over the phone, reports the Express.

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“I am actually taking your advice as it goes, I am going to see Sol. Yeah, well, I mean, I don’t even know if he wants to see me, but hey, what is the worst that could happen?”

Immediately after, Naomi rushed to inform her colleagues, expressing worry about the detective.

“Sir,” Naomi said urgently, to which the Commissioner (Don Warrington) responded, “DS Thomas, what is it?”

“I think something has happened to the inspector,” she added.

The episode ended on a cliffhanger, with Mervin bound and kidnapped by an unknown assailant – but who could be responsible?

“What the hell is going on?” The detective demanded as he attempted to escape.

As he glanced up, it seemed Mervin recognised who his abductor was as he raged, “You!”

Death in Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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Death in Paradise is set to welcome some very exciting guest stars on Friday’s episode including a The Crown actor

Death in Paradise series 15 launched earlier this year and in Friday’s episode five, the BBC show is set to welcome a The Crown star.

In an exclusive first look obtained by the Mirror, Friday’s episode will see a touring theatre company in town for their final performance of Shakespeare’s Tempest on one of Saint Marie’s pristine beaches.

It comes as a Death in Paradise star has shared their delight at returning to a beloved role on the BBC crime series, calling it “wonderful”.

During a raucous drinking scene, one of the leads keels over dead after drinking from a bottle of red wine. Later, tests worryingly reveal that the liquid contained a lethal quantity of cyanide.

However, in a confusing development, two other actors drank from the same bottle both before and after the victim yet emerged unscathed. So how on earth did only one person perish?

To solve the case, DI Mervin Wilson, played by Don Gilet, and his team must grapple with the grand egos of this ‘motley group of thespians’.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Mattie Fletcher, played by Catherine Garton, is troubled when one of the cast members pursues a very personal vendetta against her.

Also during the episode, Mervin is informed that his half-brother, Solomon, is set to inherit everything from their deceased mother and promptly sell it off.

Mervin is desperate to hold onto some kind of memento of her. However, Solomon will not return any of his calls and with time slipping away, Mervin may need to go to unexpected lengths to reach his brother.

In an exclusive first look clip, it sees one of the theatre members, Jez Gorman, pester Mattie. Jez is played by actor, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, who is best known for playing Mark Bolland in The Crown. Other roles include Sanditon, The Next Level, I Fought the Law, Industry, and film Me Before You.

Jez is waiting for Mattie after work as he offers her a drink, saying: “I thought I could help you wind down after a hard day’s policing the streets. I’ve got some beers, a picnic blanket, and thought we could find a quiet beach… get to know each other!”

However, Mattie is quick to say: “Mr Gorman, did we not already have this conversation?” to which Jez replies: “We did, yes, but I thought what was happening was you were on duty, you had your colleagues around you, and I think you were saying what you felt you had to say.

“Come on, I’m not on this island for very long, how often do you get to do this with someone like me? Let’s just have some fun!”

At first, it seems as though Mattie is accepting the drink as she sits down next to Jez and takes the bottle of beer.

However, in a hilarious twist, she soon pours the beer over him and says: “Actually, now that I think about it… I did say that I was going to meet my friend… what’s the time?”

After pouring her beer over Jez, she exclaims: “Oh, what a shame! I do have somewhere to be right now though… do not bother me again unless it’s related to the case, Mr Gorman, you understand? Good, enjoy the rest of your evening!”

Death in Paradise airs on Fridays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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D4vd is the “target” of a Los Angeles County criminal jury investigation into the death of a teenage girl. The singer’s star was on the rise, with a global tour in his future, before the discovery of the girl’s remains in the front trunk of his Tesla.

The singer, whose real name is David Burke, has been the subject of the probe since November, months after the dismembered body of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in the car after it was towed off a street in Hollywood.

According to a grand jury subpoena seeking to have Burke’s father, mother and brother testify in L.A., the musician is described as “Target David Burke,” who may have committed a criminal offense in California, “to wit: One count of Murder.”

The document was part of a legal challenge to the subpoenas filed by the singer’s family in Texas. The newly unsealed documents reveal that, when Los Angeles police opened up the Tesla trunk, they found “a black cadaver bag covered with insects and a strong odor of decay” inside. Investigators had been granted a search warrant to look in the vehicle Sept. 8 after a tow yard worker noticed a rotting smell emanating from the vehicle.

According to the document, detectives partially unzipped the bag and found “a decomposed head and torso.”

Criminalists and medical examiners then processed the body.

“Upon removing the cadaver bag from the front storage compartment, it was discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” the subpoenas noted. “A second black bag was discovered underneath the cadaver bag. Upon opening the second bag, the dismembered body parts were discovered.”

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman issued the subpoenas on Jan. 15, with Superior Court judge Craig Richman approving them.

The First Court of Appeals in Texas on Feb. 9 denied petitions from the three Burke family members to ignore the subpoenas.

Months have passed since the gruesome discovery of the remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Although the LAPD has publicly declined to characterize the girl’s death as a homicide, an LAPD detective referred to the case as a murder investigation in a court filing.

In November, prosecutors began presenting evidence to a grand jury, described at the time as an investigative grand jury, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with the media.

Since then, numerous witnesses have been called in to testify, among those, one of the musician’s managers. A friend of D4vd, Neo Langston, was arrested in Montana after ignoring a subpoena and was recently forced to return to L.A. to testify.

In a Texas appeals court footnote, the court refers specifically to the singer’s true name. The court states that the “underlying case” is “The People of the State of California v. David Burke,” pending in the 506th District Court of Waller County, Texas, with Judge Gary W. Chaney presiding. There is no public case with that name, but grand jury proceedings are confidential.

The singer’s father, Dawud, mother, Colleen, and brother, Caleb, reside in Texas, according to court records. Lawyers for the trio could not be reached for comment.

Detectives have spent months investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death, as well as her relationship with D4vd.

His Tesla sat abandoned on a street in the Hollywood Hills for several weeks — potentially months — before its removal.

Authorities uncovered Celeste’s body the day after her 15th birthday. Her family had previously reported her missing.

L.A. Police Capt. Scot Williams, who leads the Robbery-Homicide Division, said the girl had been “dead for at least several weeks.” Williams said the body had not been decapitated or frozen, as some news outlets have reported.

Detectives determined that the Tesla had been parked on Bluebird Avenue since late July — around the time D4vd began a national tour. The tour was canceled soon after the death investigation drew worldwide media attention.

Monterrey, Mexico – Portraits of the missing cover Guadalajara’s “Roundabout of the Disappeared”, a landmark renamed by families to highlight the state’s disappearance crisis.

On February 22, the streets surrounding the memorial and throughout the city stood empty after the Mexican army killed Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

In retaliation, cartel members set fire to buses and taxis, erecting a series of blockades that spread across 20 states.

The widespread unrest demonstrated the CJNG’s capacity for rapid coordination, fuelled by a ‘franchise’ model that allows smaller cells to operate under the cartel’s brand and vast financial network.

While the group’s economic reach extends into Europe and Asia, its power remains rooted in its paramilitary force. This structure relies on extortion, brutal violence and forced disappearances as its main tools to seize territory and control markets.

Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, consolidated one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations in part due to a unique franchise-based structure.

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the CJNG maintains a presence in every state of Mexico, with varying levels of influence, and operates in more than 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, and throughout the US. Its primary activity is the trafficking of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Raul Zepeda Gil, a teaching fellow in War Studies at King’s College London, notes that rather than following a “classic organisational pyramid”, the CJNG avoids a centralised financial network.

“Instead, profits can be distributed across many locations and groups simultaneously,” Zepeda told Al Jazeera.

Besides controlling key areas in western Mexico, the CJNG controls the Pacific Coast region, including the strategic ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, crucial for the import of synthetic precursor chemicals.

“Their most important activity is drug trafficking,” Zepeda said. “Chemical precursors that arrive from China reach Mexican ports and are then sent to the United States already in fentanyl form.”

The organisation also generates revenues through fuel theft, illegal mining, extortion, migrant smuggling and money laundering.

On February 19, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a timeshare fraud network led by the CJNG that targeted elderly Americans.

“Timeshare fraud in Mexico has plagued American victims for decades, costing them hundreds of millions of dollars while enriching criminal organisations such as CJNG,” the Treasury Department stated in a press release.

The CJNG’s extensive reach and rapid growth are made possible by a vast, powerful network that protects drug trafficking operations and ensures impunity, says Carlos Flores, an investigator at the Centre for Research and Higher Education in Social Anthropology (CIESAS). Flores argues that these “hegemonic power networks”, shadow networks of business leaders, politicians, and criminals, have reconfigured state institutions to serve their own interests.

“These same networks, which control and administer state institutions – including security institutions – focus their actions primarily against their competitors, while simultaneously allowing these other networks to consolidate their power,” he added.

The rise of a deadly paramilitary force

Forced disappearances and extortion are crucial for the CJNG’s control of the market, seeding fear that silences communities and facilitates forced recruitment. This ensures a steady supply of disposable labour while following the ‘no body, no crime’ logic that minimises the political and legal costs of their operations.

Homicides and forced disappearances have surged in Jalisco since the group emerged in 2010. The CJNG rose from the remnants of the Milenio Cartel, a subordinate partner of the Sinaloa Cartel based in Oseguera Cervantes’s home state of Michoacan. While across Mexico more than 130,000 people are missing, Jalisco currently ranks at the top with at least 16,000 reported cases, and collectives of families continue to uncover mass graves and what they describe as “extermination sites”.

Raul Servin, a member of the Guerreros Buscadores, a collective representing more than 400 families of the disappeared, told Al Jazeera that their searches frequently reveal human remains in varying states of decay and torture. They have found victims who were shot, hanged or killed with bladed weapons that were left inside the bodies, he said.

“It’s a sadness and helplessness we feel when we see each body these people leave behind,” said Servin, who has been searching for his son since 2018.

Beyond its financial power, the CJNG is notorious for its extensive arsenal of military-grade weaponry, including armed drones, rocket-propelled grenades, and firearms.

On February 22, more than 25 National Guard members were killed in Jalisco. In the past, the organisation has also carried out high-profile attacks against public officials.

Last year in February, US President Donald Trump designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a foreign terrorist organisation. In July, US prosecutors in Virginia unsealed an indictment against Petar Dimitrov Mirchev, a Bulgarian national accused of conspiring with East African associates to equip the CJNG with military-grade weaponry. The indictment states that Mirchev brokered these deals “despite knowing that the CJNG inflicts catastrophic suffering” to protect its prolific drug trafficking operations.

The indictment also revealed that the CJNG was attempting to buy surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft systems (ZU-23). Overall, Mirchev allegedly created a list of weaponry worth approximately $58m.

The paramilitary profile has allowed the CJNG to expand rapidly into rival territories and monopolise the market. Flores describes this training, deployment, and weaponry as being similar to an army, making them “practically uncontestable”.

“They operate under a different kind of logic,” Flores said. “They provide a kind of licence to [local] groups that associate with them. They fight their enemies and collaborate on trafficking in exchange for using the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a label.”

The CJNG adopted a level of brutality similar to Los Zetas, whose founders were elite Mexican special forces soldiers trained by the US and Israel. In its early days, the CJNG was known as the “Matazetas”, or Zetas Killers.

Servin and the Guerreros Buscadores have seen the results of this brutality firsthand. Locating the missing becomes more difficult as concealment tactics evolve, Servin said. Disappearances have become a powerful economic tool to control and exploit territory. Collectives often find bodies buried under layers of dirt and animal carcasses to throw off the scent, or even encased in concrete.

“They make us work harder than necessary. If they took his life, why not leave him where we can find him quickly?”

Zepeda says that the CJNG leveraged military-grade tactics to fill the void left by the government’s crackdown on other cartels carried out between 2008 and 2010. In 2009, the Beltran-Leyva Organisation – which had been at war with the Sinaloa Cartel since their 2008 split – was reeling from a series of high-profile arrests and killings.

The death of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, a key finance operator for the Sinaloa Cartel, at the hands of the military in 2010 further cleared the way for new criminal players. Oseguera Cervantes was working under Coronel before breaking away to form what would become the CJNG.

“If we could summarise the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, it’s a reinvention of Los Zetas, which took over all the territory that the other cartels defeated by the Mexican government had occupied,” Zepeda added.

This history serves as a warning of what may follow the death of Oseguera Cervantes. Zepeda pointed out that the drug trade is an incredibly dynamic market where “there will always be a group of people willing to take control”.

Flores warns that “decapitating the leadership” is insufficient if power networks, along with the CJNG’s criminal and operational structures, remain intact.

“Without dismantling the power networks, yesterday’s victory will become the cause of new violence tomorrow,” Flores said. “We’ve seen this approach many times before, and we know what it leads to: It solves neither the transnational drug problem nor creates conditions of greater stability for the Mexican population.”

Oliver “Power” Grant, the close Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who oversaw the group’s enormously popular Wu Wear fashion line, has died. He was 52.

Grant’s death was confirmed by social media posts from several Wu-Tang members including Method Man, who wrote “Paradise my Brother safe Travels!!” under a post of the two together.

“We couldn’t have done it without him,” GZA wrote in his own post. “Wu wouldn’t have come to fruition without Power. His passing is a profound loss to us all.”

The group members’ posts did not cite a cause of death. The news was first reported by outlets including Okayplayer and Hot 97.

Grant, a childhood friend of Wu-Tang co-founder RZA’s older brother, was a crucial figure in the sprawling New York hip-hop collective’s ascent. Though he was not a performing member of the group, he helped raise capital for early recording sessions and structured Wu-Tang’s finances and record deals — no small feat for a collective with such a vast archipelago of group and solo projects.

“We knew that if a brother got a deal for 150k, he could keep the majority of it, but it also would facilitate and help the other brothers,” he told Passion of the Weiss in 2011. “It was part of our core and movement for us to spread the money around and help brothers eat, without a project out. It was like we were trust fund babies.”

His work set a precedent for autonomy and creative control as hip-hop became a commercial juggernaut in the ’90s.

“Everything that we learned was hard knock life, you figure it out as you go along, and take cues from those that are actively doing things,” he said. “I wasn’t a rapper, but the thrill of being a part of going and where they went, it was the inspiration for how it ended up that lead us all to going back, soaking up what we’d absorbed and coming back with ‘Protect Ya Neck.’”

He was also the driving force behind Wu Wear, the group’s wildly popular fashion line that netted tens of millions in revenue and became a fixture of ’90s hip-hop iconography. The line was later revamped as Wu-Tang Brand, and relaunched as Wu Wear in 2017. He also had cameos as an actor alongside Method Man in the 1998 hip-hop classic “Belly” and 1999’s “Black and White,” and served as an executive producer for the group’s many LPs.