The couple were notably absent from a crucial episode
One couple was absent from the final commitment ceremony(Image: Channel 4 )
The final stretch is nearly here for this year’s Married at First Sight UK couples, who tied the knot with complete strangers just weeks ago.
Recent episodes on E4 have shown some pairs flourishing as they’ve built connections, whilst others have endured emotional breakdowns, startling revelations and fierce rows.
With final vows looming, the remaining participants faced a crucial decision at Tuesday evening’s (November 4) final commitment ceremony about whether to remain in the experiment.
But in an unexpected twist, one couple failed to show up, prompting expert Mel Schilling to address the assembled group.
She said: “It’s been incredible to see all your journeys unfold with your time with us. This is the last time that you get to bring your marriage to the couch and share with us where you’re at at this pivotal stage in the experiment and make that final decision on whether to stay or leave”, reports OK!
“Before we begin, obviously you’ll all notice that Grace and Ashley are not with us today, they’ve had a rocky couple of weeks and as a result, felt they needed more time to reflect and they won’t be joining us today.”
The pair – who spent homestays week apart – had both been contemplating their future together, with Ashley removing his wedding band when audiences last saw him.
He admitted that he and Grace might be “too different”, whilst she became tearful and claimed she’d witnessed a side of Ashley that nobody else had seen. She also accused him of making her feel like she was the “problem” and that their marriage was “doomed”.
Grace referred back to earlier rows they’d had over Ashley wanting her to wear a dress for a particular dinner and offering to get her nails done, disputing the way she recalled those conversations.
“I would sit on that couch, hear him twisting things to be more positive and favourable to him, sometimes I take issue with him about something, and he’d be like, no I didn’t, and I’d be like, well how do I argue with you now?” she said.
“I felt really isolated,” she continued, becoming emotional as she spoke about her self-doubt and questioned whether she’d misunderstood their relationship.
“Why am I the only person that sees him this way? No, he is doing this, he wants me to feel apologetic, contrived, he wants to be begged for forgiveness so he can feel in control. It’s the self-doubt that’s getting me down,” she cried. “I’ve had enough.”
Meanwhile, Ashley confessed that he and Grace weren’t “in the best place”, adding: “We’ve both put so much into this, I don’t know what to do, every relationship takes compromise, but we’ve both compromised and now we’re at a stage where she’s now what I need and I’m not what she needs.
“I do have feelings for her, and I do care for her, but I need Grace to be a different person, and I feel like she needs me to be a different person.”
Taking off his wedding ring and expressing his feeling of being “out of options”, Ashley added: “I can’t physically do any more to prove to her who I am as a person.”
New York City’s mayoral candidates are making a final push Monday to get voters to the polls, as the race to lead America’s biggest city nears its finale.
Ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa have all spent the race’s final stretch campaigning at a frenetic pace across the city’s five boroughs as they make their case to succeed outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.
In recent days, Mamdani went dancing with seniors on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Cuomo dined in the Eastern European enclave of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, and Sliwa went to a mosque in the Bronx.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist who would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, jolted the political world when he defeated Cuomo in the primary with an energetic campaign focused on making the city a more affordable place to live.
As the race approaches the finish line, he’s continued to post viral social media videos and run a relentless ground game, while warning his progressive fan base not to become complacent and to send as many supporters to the polls as possible.
Cuomo is trying to make his return to political office after resigning as governor four years ago following a barrage of sexual harassment accusations that he denies. Now running as an independent, the 67-year-old has in recent days shifted to wooing Republican voters to bolster his centrist base, pitching himself as the only candidate who can stop Mamdani.
Sliwa, the creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group and a longtime fixture on New York’s airwaves, seeks to spoil both Democrats’ chances. He’s been heavily canvassing the streets and subways in his signature red beret to spread his message of public safety.
Early voting in the city ended Sunday, and election officials say more than 735,000 ballots were cast.
In last year’s general election, there were 1,089,328 early, in-person votes cast. But in the 2021 mayoral general election, only 169,879 in-person early voting ballots were cast.
With both teams vying for their first World Cup title, the pre-match talk was all about who could handle the occasion – India with the enormous amount of expectation, contrasted with whether South Africa could use the underdog tag in their favour.
With rain washing out any hopes of starting on time, it was inevitable the captain who won the toss would bowl first but the Navi Mumbai surface remained batter-friendly as it had been in India’s high-scoring semi-final against Australia, exemplified by Smriti Mandhana and Verma calmly cruising to 64-0 in the powerplay.
It was actually South Africa’s bowlers who appeared consumed by the occasion as they bowled too wide to the openers, who reeled off the boundaries with ease, before Mandhana was caught behind off Chloe Tryon and Verma chipped Ayabonga Khaka to mid-off.
The Proteas’ ground fielding was brilliant, but they were guilty of dropping five catches including a crucial drop by Anneke Bosch with Verma on 56, while Deepti was also put down on 35 and 37.
Verma was visibly distraught to miss out on a World Cup century but it was a staggering knock considering the lateness of her inclusion in the side and the magnitude of the game, and its attacking nature was invaluable in taking the pressure off the tournament’s poster girl, Mandhana.
Jemimah Rodrigues, the semi-final hero, fell for 24 two overs after Verma which gave South Africa a chance to regain control, but India showed impressive composure in keeping partnerships ticking over, anchored by Deepti, before Richa Ghosh’s dynamic 34 from 24 balls ensured they finished with a late flourish.
Though it required a record chase, there was a sense that India did not have enough to feel completely comfortable – only adding 69 in the final 10 overs for the loss of three wickets – with the context of India’s semi-final chase of 339.
Though Deepti’s all-round performances have been sensational all tournament, few would have predicted that Verma would also be her accomplice with the ball.
Alan Carr has fled the UK ahead of the final of The Celebrity Traitors, as he’s convinced he’s the ‘most hated man in the country’ after killing off his co-stars
Paul Robins News Editor and Mia O’Hare Senior Showbiz Reporter
17:39, 02 Nov 2025
Alan Carr has decided to leave the UK before the Celebrity Traitors final(Image: BBC)
Alan Carr has fled the country before The Celebrity Traitors finale, declaring: “I’m the most hated man in the UK.” The comedian brutally eliminated beloved actress Celia Imrie in full view during Thursday night’s episode, and revealed his backstabbing antics on the programme have left him deeply unpopular.
Nevertheless, the 49-year-old confesses he reckons his fellow celebrities are “thick” for failing to spot his obvious eliminations. Chatting whilst taking his nephew and niece to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, Alan said: “That’s why I’m in America.
“I’m the most hated man in the UK. I’ve had to come here to Orlando to get away from it all – everyone hates me. My Christmas card list is getting smaller and smaller.”, reports the Daily Star.
Yet he reckons his showbiz mates should have spotted his blatant murders – particularly as he struggles to hide his reactions. Speaking to Heart radio in Orlando, Alan – who also eliminated his mate Paloma Faith on the programme – added: “I’ve got loads of celebrity friends, but are they thick?
“I’m giggling when people are murdered. When they don’t come down for breakfast, I just stick cheese in my mouth.” He went on: “It’s stressful murdering every day… I’m getting a taste for it.”
Fellow Traitor Cat Burns, 25, confesses the spotlight is all “a bit mad” and revealed she is managing it by “mainly just staying at home”. Meanwhile, recently eliminated star Kate Garraway has backed Alan to triumph in the competition.
The Good Morning Britain host declared: “I think he’s going to win. I don’t know. I’m going to say it now.” She revealed that his strategy has been to burst into fits of laughter during loyalty challenges, particularly whilst playing a round where contestants had to share two truths and one falsehood.
She explained: “The flaw in the plan was everybody slightly flickered, their eyes changed so when you say ‘are you a mother of five’ they just go yes because they’re relaxed about that. But on every single one Alan looked guilty, even on the ones that were true.
“So therefore I think his thing is that he looks guilty and the more he mucks up and the more he sweats and the more he can’t get out loud ‘I’m a Faithful’, then the more it plays in to ‘Alan’s just being Alan’. And I think that’s going to be the genius.”
The Celebrity Traitors finale broadcasts on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One.
TORONTO — As soon as Blake Treinen entered for the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw dropped his guard and began to look around.
For the previous three hours, the future Hall of Fame pitcher had been locked in on the game, mentally preparing for a potential relief appearance from out in the bullpen.
But when that didn’t come, the 37-year-old Kershaw then let himself relax, took in the scene of an October night at Chavez Ravine, and soaked up the final moments of what was his final game ever at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s a weird thought, of like, ‘This is your last game ever there,’” said Kershaw, who announced last month he will retire at the end of this season. “And not a sad thought. Honestly, just a grateful thought. Just like, ‘Man, we spent a lot of great times here.’”
Win or lose in Games 6 and 7 of this World Series, Kershaw’s overall career will end this weekend at Rogers Centre in Toronto. But on Wednesday night, he closed the book on the ballpark he has called home for all 18 seasons of his illustrious MLB career.
Dodger Stadium is where Kershaw first made his big-league debut back in May 2008, as a highly anticipated left-handed prospect with a big curveball and quiet demeanor. It was the stage for his rise to stardom over the nearly two decades that followed, as he went on to capture three Cy Young Awards, 2014 National League MVP honors and a career 2.53 ERA that ranks as the best among pitchers with 1,000 innings in the live ball era.
It is where he experienced some of the most defining moments of his career, including a no-hitter in 2014 and his 3,000th strikeout earlier this year. It’s also where he suffered repeated October disappointments, none bigger than the back-to-back home runs he gave up in Game 5 of the 2019 National League Division Series.
In other words, it was always home for Kershaw, the place he would return to day after day, year after year, season after season — no matter the highs or lows, aches and pains, successes or failures.
“I just started thinking about it when the game ended,” said Kershaw, who elected to traverse the field to get back to the clubhouse after Wednesday’s game instead of the connected bullpen tunnel. “I was like, ‘Man, I might as well walk across this thing one more time.’”
About an hour later, Kershaw would linger on the field a little longer, joined for an impromptu gathering by his wife, Ellen; their four children; and other family and friends in attendance for his last home game.
“Ellen just texted after and was like, ‘Hey, we got a big crew,’” Kershaw said. “So I was, ‘Well, just go to the field. I’ll try to shower fast so we can hang out.’”
Television cameras caught Kershaw laughing as his kids ran the bases, tried to throw baseballs at a hovering drone and enjoyed a diamond that had become their own personal childhood playground over the years.
At one point, Kershaw posed with the Dodger Stadium grounds crew for a picture — standing on a mound they had manicured for all of his 228 career starts in the stadium.
“Honestly, it was awesome,” Kershaw said. “It was the perfect way to do it. Just have everybody out there, running around … It was unplanned, unprompted, but a great memory.”
Kershaw, of course, is hoping to add one more Dodger Stadium memory next week. If the team can reverse its three-games-to-two deficit in the World Series this weekend in Toronto, it would return to Chavez Ravine for a championship celebration.
If not, though, he’ll have a couple parting moments to cherish, from Wednesday’s postgame scene down on the field, to his final career Dodger Stadium outing back in Game 4 in which he stranded the bases loaded in the 12th for one of the biggest outs in his entire career.
“I’m super grateful with how that went, as opposed to the last time before that,” he quipped, having given up five runs in his only other Dodger Stadium appearance this postseason. “You can’t plan any of that stuff. Who knows if it ever works out. But yeah, to get that one last out was pretty cool.”
Celebrity Traitors viewers have taken to social media to point out that the show accidentally spoiled a huge detail about the final five mid-way through the penultimate episode
22:44, 30 Oct 2025Updated 22:55, 30 Oct 2025
Celebrity Traitors fans have spotted a massive editing error that gives away huge final detail
The final five of the Celebrity Traitors has been confirmed, with tonight’s penultimate episode revealing that Alan Carr, Cat Burns, Joe Marler, Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga have made it to next week’s finale. However, fans have spotted that the show already spoilt that detail mid-way through the episode.
Tonight’s episode saw the Traitors murder Celia Imrie in plain sight before the group banished Kate Garraway, leaving just five of them remaining. In between the exits, the final five plus Kate headed to their latest challenge, where they were tasked with dodging lasers to add money to the prize pot.
However, one eagle-eyed fan has spotted that the final five was actually spoiled in one shot mid-way through the episode. “Spoiler in the middle of episode 8,” they wrote on Reddit, alongside of a shot of Nick, Alan, Cat, Joe and David getting out of cars while back at the castle.
Just before, six of them had been seen travelling back in the classic black Celebrity Traitors cars – each of them wearing their own athleisure clothes. However, when the cars pull up outside the house, we see just the final five leaving the cars and they are all wearing long-sleeved green tops and black gilets.
It’s likely that the shot will have been taken from next week’s final episode – with the last five contestants taking part in one more challenge, which would explain the matching outfits and why only five of them are present.
During her exit, star Kate opened up about how life-changing Celebrity Traitors proved to be. She told her fellow castmates before leaving the show: “I’ve had a lot of years of being serious and very sad and you have all allowed me to play the most amazing game.
“But also you have allowed me to play and be silly and have fun. Every single one of you, I am going to take away an idea and a new kind of life.”
She then added: “I have and always have been totally myself. A Faithful.”
After the show, Kate said that she had “so much fun”. She added: “We were really into it and obviously we’re raising money for charity.
“Personally, I just felt genuinely lucky to be involved. Because, you know, it’s the first one. There’s been so much chat about it, and I never thought that I’d be included, so I was just like a wide-eyed kid in a candy shop for at least three days.”
Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Timothy West died last November and now his wife Prunella Scales has tragically passed away. The pair spoke fondly of one another in their final ever interview
11:40, 28 Oct 2025Updated 11:40, 28 Oct 2025
Timothy West and Prunella Scales in a BBC Breakfast interview in 2023(Image: BBC)
Prunella Scales and Timothy West spoke of their deep love for another in their final interview together. The EastEnders actor revealed that he had spotted a potential sign of his wife Prunella’s dementia years before her diagnosis was confirmed.
In November, it was confirmed that Timothy – known for his roles in shows like EastEnders – had died at the age of 90. Prunella’s death was announced today, just months after her husband’s sad passing.
In what is believed to be one of his last interviews, conducted in 2023, Timothy opened up about his wife Prunella’s battle with dementia. The couple appeared on BBC Breakfast for an interview together, in what would be their last appearance on TV.
Prunella, who is most recognised for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the classic sitcom Fawlty Towers, received her dementia diagnosis in 2014. However, Timothy suggested that he first noticed signs of the condition as early as 2001.
Reflecting on the moment he first observed his wife’s decline, he shared: “I came to see a play that Pru was doing in Greenwich. I went to see the first night and it was good, much enjoyed by the audience, and then I went to see it again a bit later on and I thought ‘Pru’s not … it’s strange. She’s not totally with it.'”
Despite these early signs, her official dementia diagnosis didn’t come until over a decade later. Timothy recalled: “We went to see a specialist who just said ‘I’m sorry this is just something that happens to you when you get older’. It’s not going to get any easier but you can cope with it. We manage.”
Despite the tough landscape they found themselves in, Prunella said: “I have got to know him better and better and better.”
Timothy added: “I know that things are going to change a little bit, but it has been a long time and we have managed pretty well really. I don’t think we ever think ‘oh no.'”
Prunella then shared: “I have been asked to live the rest of my life with somebody I respect very much and agree with a lot of things and argue with about a lot of things quite happily.”
During a chat with the BBC, which was conducted prior to the launch of Timothy’s book, he was questioned about his wife Prunella’s vascular dementia diagnosis. He said that “somehow” they have “coped” over the years.
“Pru doesn’t really think about it,” he added. Timothy and Pru have been husband and wife since 1963. The couple have two sons together, actors Samuel West and Joseph West. Their family also includes Timothy’s daughter Juliet West from a previous marriage.
Nathan Collins scored 22 points as England came through a testing final warm-up for the Wheelchair Rugby League Ashes to beat Queensland 72-60 on the Sunshine Coast.
Leeds Rhinos pivot Collins scored two tries and landed seven goals as Tom Coyd’s side had to come back from an early 12-6 deficit against competitive hosts.
Wheels of Steel winner Joe Coyd scored three of England’s 13 tries, and added a goal, as they followed up their 86-10 win over New South Wales in last Friday’s tour opener.
Mason Billington and Luis Domingos both scored twice, with one try each for Rob Hawkins, tour captain Lewis King, Seb Bechara and Finlay O’Neill. Wayne Boardman added a goal to the tally.
For Halifax Panthers youngster O’Neill it was a first international try, and he was watched by his father and grandmother, who have travelled from Yorkshire for the tour’s early stages.
Queensland included several players who are set to feature for Australia against England later this week, including Zac Schumacher, who scored five of their tries, and Bayley McKenna, who converted all nine of his goal attempts.
Dan Anstey and Adam Tannock scored twice for the hosts and Pete Arbuckle once, with their other goal coming from Jack Kruger.
England face a two-Test series against Australia on the Gold Coast, with the first match on Thursday and the second on Sunday.
The 28-year-old German recorded his 300th victory on hard courts with a comfortable victory over Musetti.
He played the key points well and made no mistake when serving out for the match after breaking the Italian fourth seed in the 11th game of the second set.
Since losing to Sinner at the Australian Open, Zverev has gone on to reach just two more finals, winning on clay in Munich in April and losing on the grass in Stuttgart in June.
That is in stark contrast to Sinner’s record, with the Italian world number two becoming the first man since Novak Djokovic in 2015-16 to appear in eight finals in successive seasons.
Sinner extended his winning streak on indoor hard courts to 20 matches and took his unbeaten record to 12 wins against Australian third seed De Minaur as he claimed a fourth consecutive straight-set victory at the ATP 500 tournament.
He was broken twice – once in each set – but battled his way through what he described as a “physical” encounter.
“I am happy how I handled it,” said the 2023 Vienna Open champion, who is aiming to secure a fourth title of the season after wins at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and China Open.
“I was a break up in the second and he broke me back. I tried to stay strong mentally so I am very happy about today’s performance and obviously to be in another final.”
Elsewhere, 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca reached the first ATP 500 final of his career with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 victory over unseeded Spanish player Jaume Munar at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
He will play another Spaniard – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – in the final after the eighth seed’s opponent Frenchman Ugo Humbert retired while trailing 7-6 (7-4) 3-1 in their semi-final.
Jake Jarman won gold at the the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships as Great Britain claimed a one-two finish in the men’s floor final.
Jarman, who took the bronze medal in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished top with a score of 14.866 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
His compatriot Luke Whitehouse followed closely behind to come second with 14.666 to secure his first medal at a World Championships, having won the past three European titles on floor.
Olympic champion Carlos Yulo of the Philippines rounded off the podium, taking bronze with 14.533.
Frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa faced off in the final debate of the New York City mayoral race on Wednesday, in a final push to woo voters before the November 4 vote.
But the attack lines they deployed against each other, and their defences, were mostly along predictable lines, as their track records, United States President Donald Trump and Israel’s war on Gaza dominated their clash at LaGuardia Community College in the borough of Queens.
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Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, maintains a sizeable lead in the polls, after surging to a surprise victory in the June primary on a platform of affordability: pushing free buses, rent freezes, and universal childcare, paid for, in part, by raising taxes that favour the wealthy.
Cuomo has sought to portray Mamdani’s promises – most of which would require buy-in from state lawmakers – as unrealistic and has repeatedly taken aim at the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist’s lack of experience in governing. The race has narrowed since the current mayor, Eric Adams, exited the race, leaving just Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliva in the contest.
Here were the top takeaways from the debate:
Experience versus the future
The night began with Cuomo and Mamdani hammering home the themes that have defined the final stretch of the race.
Cuomo called himself the candidate who “can get it done, not just talk about it”.
“He’s never run anything, managed anything. He’s never had a real job,” he said of Mamdani.
Mamdani called himself the “sole candidate running with a vision for the future of this city”.
“He is a desperate man lashing out because he knows that the one thing he’s always cared about, power, is now slipping away from him,” Mamdani said of Cuomo.
Later in the night, Sliwa took a swipe at both his opponents: “Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin, and Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City.”
Countering Trump
The US president has loomed large over the New York City mayoral race. Wednesday’s debate also came hours after immigration agents raided Manhattan’s Chinatown, an escalation of federal enforcement measures in America’s largest city.
Trump has pledged to deploy the National Guard and to cut federal funding to the city if Mamdani is elected. Cuomo, who shares many of the same donors as Trump, has seized on those threats to portray a win for his rival as dangerous for the city.
“[Trump] has said he’ll take over New York if Mamdani wins, and he will, because he has no respect for him. He [Trump] thinks he’s a kid, and he’s going to knock him [Mamdani] on his tuchus,” Cuomo said.
“I believe [Trump] wants Mamdani, that is his dream, because he will use him politically all across our country, and he will take over New York City,” he said. “Make no mistake, it will be President Trump and Mayor Trump.”
Mamdani called Cuomo “Donald Trump’s puppet”.
“You could turn on the TV any day of the week, and you will hear Donald Trump share that his pick for mayor is Andrew Cuomo, and he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor, not because it will be good for New Yorkers, but because it will be good for him,” he said.
Support for Palestine again looms large
Mamdani was again asked about his staunch support for Palestinian rights, which Cuomo has repeatedly decried, baselessly, as anti-Semitic.
Mamdani said he “will be the mayor who doesn’t just protect Jewish New Yorkers, but also celebrates and cherishes them”. He said Cuomo was using false claims of anti-Semitism to “score political points”.
Cuomo accused him of stoking “the flames of hatred against Jewish people”.
Sliwa falsely accused Mamdani of endorsing “global jihad”.
“That is not something that I have said and that continues to be ascribed to me,” Mamdani responded, “and frankly, I think much of it has to do with the fact that I am the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election.”
Mamdani announces pick for police commissioner
The leading candidate also broke some news during the debate, announcing he would ask current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on in her post if he wins.
That may upset some of Mamdani’s supporters, who could see the police chief, who is serving under current Mayor Adams, as out of step with the police reforms he has promised.
Tisch, whose family is worth billions, has championed increasing so-called “quality of life” enforcement that critics say disproportionately harms minority communities. She has also pushed to make some criminal laws stricter.
Cuomo grilled on sexual assault
Cuomo was repeatedly asked by his opponents about the sexual misconduct allegations from his employees that saw him leave his post as New York governor early in 2021.
Investigators with the state attorney general later found that Cuomo had “sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees”.
Cuomo has claimed the cases have been closed “legally”, but litigation in several cases continues.
During the debate, Mamdani revealed that one accuser, Charlotte Bennett, who Cuomo is currently suing for defamation, was in the audience.
“What do you say to the 13 women who you sexually harassed?” he asked Cuomo.
Cuomo pushed back, arguing that the sexual harassment cases have been dropped. “What you just said was a misstatement, which we’re accustomed to,” he responded to Mamdani.
Oct. 22 (UPI) — The top two candidates to become New York’s next mayor lashed out at one another Wednesday in their second and final general election debate two weeks before the election.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 67, is running as an independent after Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, 34, defeated him in the city’s Democratic Party primary.
In 2020, Mamdani, a Muslim, became the first Ugandan and South Asian man to serve in the state chamber. Cuomo was governor from 2011 until 2023, when he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations.
Also on stage was Guardian Angels founder and radio show host Curtis Sliwa, 71, who secured the Republican Party’s nomination and is vowing not to drop out of the race to close Cuomo’s gap.
During the 90-minute debate, they agreed on one issue: a federal crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Law Enforcement. But they disagreed how to best deal with President Donald Trump
Mamdani is polling as the favorite to win New York City’s mayoral election, which is scheduled for Nov. 4, but Cuomo has closed ground in recent polls, though Mamdani has a double-digit lead, according to CBS News. Early voting starts Saturday.
An AARP/Gotham Polling poll released on Monday shows Mamdani with 43.2%, followed by Cuomo at 28.9% and Sliwa at 19.4%. In a head-to-head race, Mamdani prevails 44.6% to 40.7% for Cuomo.
Trump would prefer Cuomo over Mamdani and has asked Sliwa to drop out.
“He has no respect for him,” Cuomo said about Trump, who has called his opponent a Communist. “He thinks he’s a kid and he’s going to knock him on his tuchus.”
Cuomo called Mamdani divisive and lacked experience. Mamdani responded that Cuomo was a “desperate man lashing out.”
Sliwa also noted Mamdani’s lack of experience, saying his resume could “fit on a cocktail napkin.” And he said that Cuomo has enough failures to “fill a library.”
Mandani’s experience was punctuated during an exchange on housing policy.
“The governor doesn’t build housing in New York City,” Cuomo said in response to a question.
“Not if it’s you,” Mamdani responded.
“I did things; you have never had a job,” Cuomo said, pointing toward Mamdani and drawing applause from the crowd. “There is no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for 8.5 million lives. You don’t know how to run a government.”
In describing his opponent’s limited experience, Cuomo said: “You don’t know how to handle an emergency, and you literally never proposed a bill on anything that you’re not talking about in your campaign.”
Mamdani said Cuomo was “creating his own facts.”
“We just had a former governor say in his own words that the city has been getting screwed by the state,” Mamdani said. “Who was leading the state? It was you, governor.”
Cuomo has referred to his opponent as “de Blasio lite” and “de Blasio 2.0.” Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, was the city’s mayor from 2014 until 2021 and has backed Mamdani.
Mamdani has not been endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Democrats of New York.
Mamdani’s opponents have accused him of promoting antisemitism.
“You’re the savior of the Jewish people? You won’t denounce ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ which means ‘Kill Jews,'” Cuomo said, noting that hundreds of rabbis had signed a letter criticizing him. “There’s unprecedented fear in New York.”
Mandani said: “I look forward to being a mayor for every single person that calls the city home. All 8.5 million New Yorkers, and that includes Jewish New Yorkers who may have concerns or opposition to the positions that I’ve shared about Israel and Palestine.”
He described his own Jewish family members, saying that members of the community were “scared.”
The debate at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center at LaGuardia Community College was moderated by Errol Lewis of NY1, Brian Lehrer of WNYC and Katie Honan of The City and aired live on Spectrum News’ NY1 and via streaming.
Cuomo favors city oversight of the New York City Transit’s budget, while Mamdani has advocated for revising how the city’s Department of Education approves contracts, WABC-TV reported.
Sliwa is running as a law-and-order candidate and on Wednesday morning said he is ending his conservative talk show on WABC Radio due to the station hosting Cuomo several times in recent weeks.
WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis and program host Sid Rosenberg each have advocated for Sliwa to end his campaign in favor of Cuomo, according to WABC-TV.
After the debate, Cuomo went to the New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden with Mayor Eric Adams, who lost in the Democratic primary and dropped out as an independent.
From the first time decades ago he was lampooned as a quirky upstart until now, the final stretch of his unprecedented fourth term as California’s governor, Jerry Brown has reveled in his reputation as a cheapskate.
“Nobody is tougher with a buck than I am,” he boasted during the 2010 campaign that sent him back to Sacramento.
Eight years later, Brown is poised to earn a place in the history books as the leader who helped right the ship of state. His mantra of measured spending could be a standard by which future governors are judged.
“We’re well positioned, but if the next governor doesn’t say ‘no’ at critical moments, things will get worse,” Brown said in an interview with The Times.
His promise of similar straight talk about California’s budget prevailed in the 2010 election, held in the shadow of financial collapse. The projected budget deficit he inherited — even after two years of cuts under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — stood at $27 billion.
All of which seemed a distant memory Wednesday as Brown signed a budget creating a $13.8-billion cash reserve, the largest in state history. “I think people in California can be proud that we’re making progress,” the 80-year old Democrat said standing beside legislative leaders — the oldest of whom was only 12 when Brown was first elected governor in 1974.
Gov. Jerry Brown displays a playing card with his dog, Sutter, on it during his State of the State speech in 2014. The cards, handed out to legislators, urged them to save — not spend — all of the growing tax revenues.
(Rich Pedroncelli / AP )
While supporters tout his record on combating climate change or raising the minimum wage, the through line of Brown’s second chance as governor has always been the budget, a topic that demanded a fiscal reckoning just days after he took office.
“What surprised me was how deep the deficit became during Schwarzenegger’s last few years,” he said. “We had to get in there and cut, and find some new revenue and work it out the best way we could.”
Brown’s first moves in 2011 were to cancel new cell phones and government vehicles for state workers, political symbolism not unlike the bland Plymouth sedan he chose in the 1970s from the state vehicle pool. By spring, he convinced lawmakers to cut $8.2 billion from programs like higher education, daytime elderly care services and doctor visits for the poor.
When substantive efforts to solve the rest of the problem stalled that June, the governor did something his predecessors had never done: He vetoed the budget ratified by lawmakers.
“For a decade, the can has been kicked down the road and debt has piled up,” Brown said as he signed the veto message. “California is facing a fiscal crisis, and very strong medicine must be taken.”
The veto was a shot across the bow to the Legislature. “It communicated very clearly that there was going to be a minimum standard for the legislative budget, and they just couldn’t slap anything together and put the name ‘budget’ on it,” Brown says now.
“We were frustrated,” remembers John A. Pérez, who was Assembly speaker at the time. “But it laid the foundation for what has become eight years of on-time, balanced budgets.”
Deeper cuts ultimately were made. Within months, ratings agencies moved California’s credit outlook to positive, the beginning of a trend that has driven down interest rates for government borrowing, one way the state has saved money.
He later turned his attention to the short-term obligations that piled up during the financial crisis, from raided school funds to Wall Street-backed deficit bonds. Branded by Brown as the state’s “wall of debt” and once towering at nearly $35 billion, today the balance is less than $5 billion.
“I tell my friends that Jerry Brown is one of the most fiscally conservative Democrats that I know,” said Connie Conway, a Tulare County Republican who served as Assembly GOP leader from 2010 to 2014. She recalls saying at one point that Brown “is the adult in the room because at least he’s admitting we have debt.”
Still, it was Republicans who handed Brown his first real budget setback in 2011, refusing to support a special statewide election to extend temporary taxes. The governor, never a back-slapping kind of politician, nonetheless mounted an intense charm offensive. He hosted private dinners for legislative Republicans where California wine flowed freely. He brought along his affable Corgi, Sutter, for visits. GOP lawmakers wouldn’t budge.
In hindsight, it was a lucky break. Special elections have historically had a disproportionately high turnout of conservative voters who likely would have rejected the plan. When Republicans balked, Brown and a coalition of business and labor leaders qualified a tax increase for the ballot in 2012, a presidential election year with strong turnout from Democrats.
Gov. Jerry Brown holds up a sign in support of Proposition 30 while visiting a San Diego school on Oct. 23, 2012, in San Diego. The ballot measure passed with 55% of the vote.
(Lenny Ignelzi / AP )
The resulting Proposition 30, a surcharge on the state’s sales tax and the incomes of wealthy taxpayers, provided revenue for six years — a more robust plan, Brown now says, than what he asked Republicans to support. “We’d have been right back in the soup” with the original plan, he said. “This way, we got a couple of more years.”
Brown campaigned hard for the ballot measure, shrewdly making it about the budget’s biggest beneficiary — schools — and about his own commitment to balancing the books. On election day, it passed with 55% of the vote.
“There’s no way in hell the voters would have approved those taxes if not for their faith in his fiscal stewardship,” Pérez said.
The taxes and California’s recovering economy have since produced historic tax windfalls. The state Department of Finance estimates the 2012 tax initiative and an extension approved by voters (but not explicitly endorsed by the governor) in 2016 has, to date, generated $50 billion in additional revenue.
Not that all of the modern Brown era has been all about less spending. State government spending has risen by 59% since 2011. Much of that has gone to K-12 schools, as required by law, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Healthcare spending, in particular, has more than doubled in seven years, to about $23 billion in general fund costs. California has fully embraced Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Brown has lashed out at efforts by President Trump to rescind the law.
The rush of revenue also has allowed for a substantial savings account. Brown and lawmakers crafted a robust rainy-day reserve fund, ratified by voters in 2014. “That’s the kind of collaboration you don’t often see between legislators and governors,” Pérez said.
Through lean and flush years alike, the governor’s job approval ratings remained strong. Liberal activists routinely criticized him for not doing more to help those in need, suggesting with an increasing frequency through the years that the scion of a prominent political family had never experienced those struggles first-hand.
Health and human services advocates hold a Los Angeles rally to protest Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget in 2014.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times )
“They’re always asking for more,” he said. “There’s no natural limit. There’s no predator for this species of budgetary activity, except the governor.”
Even critics acknowledged that Brown kept listening to advocacy groups. In 2016, he agreed to remove a provision in the state’s welfare assistance program, CalWORKs, that denied coverage to children born while their families were already receiving benefits. The ban had been in place for almost two decades.
“We came a long way,” said state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), the chair of the Senate’s budget committee and a vocal advocate for changing the welfare rule. From the beginning, she said, Brown’s advisers said it was about the cost, not the policy.
Mitchell recalled a flight from Los Angeles during which Brown, a voracious reader, spoke at length about a book that chronicled poverty around the world. “And I was able to say to him, ‘Yes, that chapter right there, that sounds like Central California,’ ” she said.
Likening income inequality to his celebrated efforts on climate change, Mitchell said she once told Brown, “By you just making it a priority, you’ve had worldwide impact. So have the same attitude about poverty.”
In recent years, Brown has agreed to expand childcare programs, Medi-Cal coverage for children regardless of immigration status and a state earned income tax credit for the working poor.
“His track record on issues of poverty, inequality and economic security adds up far better [over two terms] than it often looked in individual budget years,” said Chris Hoene, executive director of the nonprofit California Budget and Policy Center, which advocates for the working poor.
Looking beyond the one-year-at-a-time approach to state budgets may be an important legacy of the Brown administration. The governor pointed to recently adopted five-year plans as a way to get a better look at what’s over the horizon. “It gets people thinking about the inevitable consequences of the decisions in this budget,” he said.
It also may help break one of the more ignominious traditions of California governors: leaving a fiscal mess for the next person to clean up. It’s the kind of dilemma his father, the late Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, left Ronald Reagan in 1967 and he left the late George Deukmejian in 1983.
“The story is one of governors always hitting a wall and leaving a big, fat deficit,” he said. “I wanted to avoid that if I could.”
Olivia Moultrie scored both goals in the Portland Thorns’ 2-0 victory over Angel City in Los Angeles.
With the win, the Thorns (10-8-7) clinched a league-record ninth consecutive playoff appearance.
Angel City (7-12-6) was already eliminated from playoff contention prior to kickoff at BMO Stadium. ACFC’s last postseason appearance came in 2023.
Moultrie got the Thorns off to the perfect start in the 23rd minute. The 20-year-old switched the ball between her feet to buy a yard of space and then unleashed a shot into the top corner from 21 yards out to make it 1-0.
After Sara Doorsoun fouled Reilyn Turner in the box, Moultrie stepped up from the penalty spot and coolly converted to make it 2-0 in the 60th. It was her eighth goal of the season.
Christen Press came off the bench for Angel City in the 60th, with Ali Riley entering in the 82nd. Both veteran players received a standing ovation from the home fans on their final appearance at home in Los Angeles. The veteran duo are set to retire at the end of season.
LIMP Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers shared a final glimpse of his life just weeks before his sudden death aged 48.
The late star posted a picture of himself relaxing in the back of a limo during a trip to London.
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Rivers shared a final image of himself relaxing in a limo in London weeks before his deathCredit: InstagramRivers playing at Reading Festival earlier this summerCredit: Richard Isaac
The August 22 Instagram post, now flooded with tributes, showed the rocker leaning back in the plush seat, looking calm and content as he soaked up the moment in the UK capital.
“I hope everyone is having a great day. In London with my fav and and the LB Fam #limpbizkit #limpbizkitstyle #limpbizkitfamily #nothingbutlove,” Rivers captioned the photo.
The laid-back, joyful snapshot has now taken on heartbreaking new meaning after his death.
His bandmates confirmed the news in an emotional statement to fans.
They wrote: “In Loving Memory of Our Brother, Sam Rivers. Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat.
“Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”
They added: “From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.
“We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.
“He was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human. A true legend of legends. And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory. We love you, Sam.
“We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends. — Fred, Wes, John & DJ Lethal.”
DJ Lethal shared his own heartfelt message, writing: “We love you Sam rivers. Please respect the family’s privacy at this moment. Give Sam his flowers and play Sam rivers basslines all day! We are in shock.
“Rest in power my brother! You will live on through your music and the lives you helped save with your music, charity work and friendships. We are heartbroken enjoy every millisecond of life. It’s not guaranteed.”
Rivers, born in Jacksonville, Florida, co-founded Limp Bizkit in 1994 alongside frontman Fred Durst and drummer John Otto, later joined by guitarist Wes Borland and DJ Lethal.
Sam Rivers, Wes Borland, DJ Lethal and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit backstage at Grant Park in 2021Credit: GettyHis band members paid tribute to their “brother” on social media after he passed away on Saturday eveningCredit: Instagram
Together they reshaped late-’90s rock with hits like Break Stuff, My Way, Behind Blue Eyes and Take a Look Around, and their albums — including Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water — became era-defining records, with four going platinum or multi-platinum.
The band earned three Grammy nominations and a Billboard Music Award, cementing their status as one of the most influential rock acts of their generation.
He left Limp Bizkit in 2015 after being diagnosed with liver disease caused by excessive drinking, later revealing he underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 2017.
He rejoined the band in 2018 after recovering, continuing to perform with them until his death.
United Arab Emirates denied Japan and took the final place at next year’s men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket victory in the qualifier in Oman.
Japan could have reached their first major tournament with a victory but UAE held them to 116-9 and then chased their target in 12.1 overs.
It means UAE join Oman and Nepal in progressing from the Asia and East Asia-Pacific qualifier to the World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.
In addition to the two hosts getting automatic spots, England, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, United States and West Indies qualified courtesy of reaching the Super 8 stage of the 2024 edition held in the United States and West Indies.
Ireland, Pakistan and New Zealand qualified via the rankings while Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia and Zimbabwe came through their regional qualifying tournaments.
The tournament schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Japan beat Kuwait and Samoa earlier in their qualifying tournament which meant they would have progressed had they beaten UAE and overturned a net run-rate deficit.
They slumped to 58-8, however, with spinner Haider Ali taking 3-20, and only limped to their total thanks to 45 not out from Wataru Miyauchi.
Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem put on 70 for the first wicket of the chase and, despite the pair falling for 46 and 42 respectively, UAE, who played at the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups, eased to victory.
The Ivorians, who return to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014, went through the entire 10-game group campaign without conceding a goal, one of two nations on the continent to do so alongside Tunisia.
Ivory Coast and Senegal join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde and South Africa in booking their ticket to next year’s World Cup finals.
One more side – the winners of next month’s continental play-offs – could join that group if they emerge from an inter-confederation tournament in March next year.
Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria finished as the four best-ranked second-placed sides across the nine groups and one of those sides will have the chance to become Africa’s 10th representative at the expanded 48-team World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The Confederation of African Football is yet to announce a date for the play-off draw.
Nathan Aspinall threw two nine-dart finishes during the Players Championship 31 only to be blown away in the final – as Luke Littler suffered an early exit.
Aspinall, 34, produced perfect darts in a 6-4 victory over Irishman Steve Lennon in the second round, then repeated the feat in a 6-5 win over Germany’s Lukas Wenig in the last 16.
Englishman Aspinall had taken a 2-0 lead against Jermaine Wattimena of the Netherlands in the final in Wigan.
However, Wattimena reeled off eight legs on the bounce to clinically see off Aspinall and seal his second ranking title of the season.
The 18-year-old world champion is currently 67th in the Players Championship standings, external and has three events to secure his place in the top 64 to qualify for the finals.
Michael van Gerwen is also in danger of not qualifying after he was knocked out at the same stage with a 6-4 loss to Dom Taylor.
The Dutchman is 92nd in table and must now make the final in the Players Championship 32 on Wednesday to secure his spot because he is skipping the final two events because of a pre-booked holiday.
There are 34 Players Championship events across the year, with the competition’s finals held in Minehead from 21-23 November.
Former President Obama, speaking on stand-up comedian Marc Maron’s final podcast on Monday, said the Trump administration’s policies are a “test” of whether universities, businesses, law firms and voters — including Republicans — will take a stand for the nation’s founding principles and values.
“If you decide not to vote, that’s a consequence. If you are a Hispanic man and you’re frustrated about inflation, and so you decided, ah, you know what, all that rhetoric about Trump doesn’t matter. ‘I’m just mad about inflation,’” Obama said. “And now your sons are being stopped in L.A. because they look Latino and maybe without the ability to call anybody, might just be locked up, well, that’s a test.”
“It’d be great if we weren’t tested this way, but you know what? We probably need to be shaken out of our complacency,” he said.
Obama also criticized some Democrats’ messaging as he touched on significant issues facing Californians and discussed the state of the nation’s democracy, core convictions and the weakening of institutional norms.
After Los Angeles-based Maron joked, “We’ve annoyed the average American into fascism,” Obama responded, “You can’t just be a scold all the time.
“You can’t constantly lecture people without acknowledging that you’ve got some blind spots too, and that life’s messy,” Obama said in the interview, which recently took place in the former president’s Washington, D.C., office.
Faulting language used by some liberals as “holier than thou,” Obama argued that Democrats could remain true to their principles while respecting those with whom they disagreed.
“Saying, ‘Right, I’ve got some core convictions [and] beliefs that I’m not going to compromise. But I’m also not going to assert that I am so righteous and so pure and so insightful that there’s not the possibility that maybe I’m wrong on this, or that other people, if they don’t say things exactly the way I say them or see things exactly the way I do, that somehow they’re bad people,’” he said.
Obama’s remarks come as the Democratic Party faces a reckoning after losing the presidential election in 2024, in part because of declining support from the party’s base, notably minority voters.
Maron, a comedian and actor, launched his “WTF With Marc Maron” podcast and radio show in 2009. Interviews with guests such as actor Robin Williams, comedian Louis C.K., filmmaker Kevin Smith and “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels often took place at his Highland Park home.
Obama’s 2015 interview in Maron’s garage became the podcast’s most popular episode at the time — downloaded nearly 740,000 times in the first 24 hours after it was posted.
On Monday, the former president criticized institutions for capitulating to President Trump’s demands. His words come as USC leaders are debating whether to agree to a White House proposal to receive favorable access to federal funding if they align with Trump’s agenda.
“If you’re a university president, say, well, you know what? This will hurt if we lose some grant money in the federal government, but that’s what endowments are for,” Obama said. “Let’s see if we can ride this out, because what we’re not going to do is compromise our basic academic independence.”
