WASHINGTON — Rep. Robert Garcia and his team faced a monumental task on Nov. 5: Sift through more than 20,000 documents obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein in search for something that would shed more light into President Trump’s relationship with the now-deceased convicted sex offender.
After six tedious days combing through the records, Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and four staff members identified three emails that would go on to ignite a political firestorm.
In the emails, Epstein wrote that Trump had “spent hours” at the late financier’s house with one of his victims and that he “knew about the girls,” suggesting the president knew more about Epstein’s abuse than he had previously acknowledged. The estate released the emails to the committee after receiving a subpoena.
“We thought [the emails] really raised questions about the relationship between the president and Jeffrey Epstein,” Garcia said in an interview last week. “We knew we had to get those out as soon as possible.”
Garcia’s plan to release the emails quickly thrust the second-term Democrat into the national spotlight, elevating his profile as a chief antagonist of Trump on a issue that has dogged the president since his first term. It also increased the pressure on the White House to release its investigative Epstein files.
The assertions in Epstein’s emails about Trump’s involvement or awareness of Epstein’s illicit acts have not been corroborated and the White House has denied the veracity of those accounts.
The White House accused Democrats of “selectively” leaking emails to create a “fake narrative to smear President Trump,” adding that Democrats redacted the name of one of the victims, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April and had previously said she had not witnessed Trump participating in abuse at Epstein’s house.
The email disclosures on Nov. 12 prompted Republicans on the committee to publish the full cache of records just hours later. At the same time, Democrats — joined by a handful of Republicans — were on the verge of forcing a House vote to compel the Justice Department to release its Epstein files. Days later, Trump urged GOP lawmakers to back the bill he had long resisted, and he ultimately signed it into law.
“If we hadn’t released the initial emails, Republicans would likely have released nothing,” Garcia said. “They never release anything until we push them and we bring pressure from the public.”
Garcia said Democrats were prepared to publish the full set themselves — but incrementally over the course of the week, arguing that such a release needed to be done carefully to protect victims’ privacy.
Republicans on the committee have criticized the minority party’s approach, arguing that it focuses on sensationalizing select pieces of information to damage Trump and politicizing the Epstein investigation.
“The most dangerous place in D.C. is between Robert Garcia and a cable news camera,” Republican strategist Matthew Gorman said. “This is simply a ploy for him to draw more attention to himself, and he’s using this issue to do it.”
‘Sometimes you gotta punch back harder’
Garcia’s allies view the 47-year-old’s rise as both foreseeable and reflective of his past.
Born in Peru, Garcia immigrated to the United States as a young child and became a citizen in his early 20s. He later became Long Beach’s first Latino and first openly gay mayor before arriving in Washington — where he is now one of the youngest to ever serve as the ranking member of the main investigative panel in the House.
Five months into the role, Garcia says he remains in disbelief that he is in the position that has been held by people like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), whom he considers one of his “heroes.”
“To be in a place where I’m doing the job that he was in when I got to Congress a couple of years ago is not something that I expected,” Garcia said. “I want to contribute back as best I can, and take on this corruption, take on what is happening with the Jeffrey Epstein case and holding the administration accountable.”
The oversight committee is one of the House’s most high-profile panels and its chair, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, has broad subpoena power. Comer, a staunch Trump ally, has been leading a review of the government’s investigation into Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comer has subpoenaed both the Epstein estate and the Justice Department.
Comer declined to be interviewed for this article, as did other House Republicans. But Comer told Politico last week that he was “done with Garcia” and that the Democrat had “burned his bridges with this.”
“He just needs to do TikTok videos or something. … He’s not a serious investigator. He’s like a TikTok video kind of guy,” Comer said.
Garcia responded to Comer’s comments with a reference to the movie “Mean Girls.”
“Why’s he so obsessed with me?” he said Wednesday in an Instagram post — an example of how Garcia often uses pop culture to communicate to a more general audience.
Garcia says his tactics are motivated by an allergy to bullies.
“I grew up as an immigrant kid. … I know what it is like to be on the other side of the bully,” he said. “If the bully is going to punch or cause harm to you or others that you care about, you have to punch back. Sometimes you gotta punch back harder.”
Democrats credit Garcia for pushing Comer to act. In July, a Republican-led subcommittee passed a Democrat-led motion to subpoena the Justice Department’s Epstein documents — a move that ultimately prompted Comer to issue his subpoenas.
Rep. Robert Garcia speaks at a ceremonial swearing-in event in Long Beach in August to commemorate his new role as ranking member of the House oversight committee.
(Jonathan Alcorn / For The Times)
Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, said the vote “began knocking over the dominoes” that eventually led to the public seeing a copy of Epstein’s “50th birthday book,” which includes Trump’s name, as well as the three emails linking Trump to Epstein.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), a member of the oversight committee, praised Garcia for securing bipartisan support to secure documents and pushing records out to the public. Khanna, who led the push to force a vote on the House floor to demand the Justice Department release the Epstein files, also co-wrote a letter with Garcia to Epstein’s estate requesting an unredacted copy of the birthday book.
Attorneys for the estate said that they would cooperate, but that they required a subpoena to release materials due to privacy concerns. Khanna said he believes the letter set in motion the push that ultimately led Comer to subpoena the estate.
“I think the way he has worked with Comer to make sure a lot of the investigation has been bipartisan, has been effective,” Khanna said in an interview.
A ‘dynamic’ approach to oversight
Garcia — who is known to use social media and pop culture to amplify his message — has folded those communication tactics into his role on the oversight committee.
The day the emails were released, Garcia promoted them in social media posts and videos and gave multiple interviews. The congressman — a self-described Bravo fan — is scheduled to appear this week on the cable channel’s “What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) told The Times that Garcia’s “dynamic” leadership approach is creating new ways to communicate to a younger generation about the work Congress is doing.
“He seems to thrive on it, and that’s a joy to behold,” the former speaker said. “He is young, but has brought members along and the public along as to what the challenge is.”
Rep. Robert Garcia speaks with Mayor Karen Bass at a congressional field hearing at the Metropolitan Water District on Monday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Republicans on the committee have accused Garcia and Democrats of intentionally using the Epstein investigation to generate a false narrative against Trump — criticism that Democrats see as Garcia being willing to “fight fire with fire.”
Sen. Adam Schiff, who served on the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Garcia’s push to seek records “outside of traditional channels,” including the Epstein estate, helped drive a “public narrative that broke through.”
“Under such a lawless and corrupt administration, we need talented and creative leaders to do oversight work, expose the malfeasance to the public and break through in a fractured media environment, and Congressman Garcia has proven adept at all three,” Schiff said.
Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump administration appointee, said Garcia’s strategy could backfire if or when all the information on the Epstein investigation comes out.
“I believe that they’ve sprung Pandora’s box with a whole bunch of conspiracy theories, fake memes and news that the left is fully embracing and that may not actually be real,” he said.
As more records from Epstein’s estate are expected to come to light in the coming weeks, Garcia says he is committed to exposing wrongdoing from anyone, regardless of party. The documents have already shown Epstein’s links to prominent Democrats.
The records have also shown links to major banks, a thread Garcia says he believes could be central in understanding Epstein’s plea deal negotiated by a prosecutor who served in Trump’s Cabinet during his first term.
“I am not interested in protecting anybody,” he said. “I’m interested in justice for the survivors.”
US president says second National Guard member is ‘fighting for his life’ after the attack a day earlier in Washington, DC.
Published On 28 Nov 202528 Nov 2025
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United States President Donald Trump said that one of the two National Guard troops shot a day earlier near the White House has died, while the other soldier is “fighting for his life”.
Trump said on Thursday evening that West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom died from wounds following the double shooting on Wednesday, a short distance from the White House.
The president hailed Beckstrom as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person” and said the second member of the National Guard targeted in the gun attack was critical.
“He’s in very bad shape,” Trump said as he addressed troops in a video call to mark the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon.
Watch: How the shooting of two National Guard members unfolded
Two National Guard soldiers are critically injured after being gunned down in Washington DC, less than two blocks from the White House, in what the city’s mayor called a “targeted shooting”.
Police said a lone suspect opened fire on two National Guard members from West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon, before being subdued by other National Guard nearby who had heard the gunfire.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida at the time, said the alleged gunman was an Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021.
He vowed that his administration would ensure the suspect “pays the steepest possible price” for the “act of terror”.
Getty Images
Multiple law enforcement sources earlier identified the alleged gunman to the BBC’s US partner CBS as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national.
“We must now re-examine every alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under [former President Joe] Biden,” said Trump in a live address on Wednesday night.
A statement from Joint Task Force DC, which is overseeing the National Guard deployments to the nation’s capital, said the attack took place at around 14:15 EST (17:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the Farragut Square Metro Station.
The soldiers were on a high-visibility patrol near the corner of 17th and I streets, a busy lunch spot for office workers.
FBI Director Kash Patel – whose agency is leading the investigation – told a news conference the soldiers were “brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence”.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Jeff Carroll said the suspect “came around the corner” and “immediately started firing a firearm”.
He said the soldiers had been “ambushed”.
Other National Guard members nearby heard the gunfire and responded, he said.
“They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect, after he had been shot, on the ground until law enforcement got there within moments,” Carroll said.
The suspect was shot four times, law enforcement sources told CBS.
It is unclear what weapon was used in the assault. Nor was a motive immediately clear.
The suspect was not co-operating with authorities, law enforcement sources told CBS on Wednesday night.
President Trump – who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach – vowed to punish the attacker.
“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded, but regardless, will pay a very steep price,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement,” he added.
US Vice-President JD Vance, who was addressing troops in Kentucky at the time of the attack, urged “everybody who’s a person of faith” to pray for the victims.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said in a post on X that both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries.
But he soon posted a second statement that cited “conflicting reports” about their condition. He issued another statement later calling the at
The attack prompted the White House to briefly go into lockdown and a temporary flight stoppage at the city’s main airport on the eve of Thanksgiving.
Flights through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport were briefly grounded after the attack, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At the scene, glass from a bus stop lay shattered on the pavement.
The intersection was full of police cars, armed security personnel and National Guard troops.
Watch: Trump calls for 500 more guardsmen in DC after shooting, says Hegseth
One witness told the BBC he heard two gunshots, followed by three more.
People ran in panic, some trying to take shelter in a liquor store.
Another witness who was in his car close to the metro station showed the BBC footage he took of the two soldiers lying on the street in their uniforms while being treated by medics.
A third person, apparently the alleged gunman, was also on the pavement being treated.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president had asked him to send 500 more National Guard members to Washington DC, following the attack.
“This will only stiffen our resolve to ensure that we make Washington DC safe and beautiful,” the Pentagon chief said.
There are currently nearly 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington DC.
The force includes contingents from the District of Columbia as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama.
They are a reservist force that can be activated to serve as military troops, but have limited power as they cannot enforce the law or make arrests.
The National Guard were deployed to Washington DC in August to tackle what Trump called “out of control” crime.
EPA
Overall crime in the nation’s capital has fallen since the force was sent, though it’s unclear how much of the decline can be credited to the presence of the troops on the streets.
Washington DC police figures show 62 homicides (a category that includes murder) between 25 May and 25 November this year.
That compares with 107 homicides recorded in the same period last year.
Nearly 6,500 offences have been recorded by police since 12 August, down from about 9,500 in the same period in 2024.
Trump, a Republican, has sent the National Guard to Democratic-led US cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Memphis.
He argues the deployments were needed to tackle crime, but opponents legally challenged the moves, accusing the White House of overreach.
Spartacus has been missing from our screens for 12 years but now a new bloody era is on the horizon
Spartacus: House of Ashur is on the way, breathing new life into the unforgettable violent period drama.
The long-awaited series is going to be set in an unfamiliar world as not only does cunning Ashur (played by Nick Tarabay) survive his horrific series three death, he thrives.
Brought to life on MGM+ and Starz in the US, Spartacus: House of Ashur comes 12 years after the original Spartacus series came to an end.
As the wait is almost over for the iconic show to return, here’s everything there is to know about watching Spartacus: House of Ashur.
When will Spartacus: House of Ashur premiere?
There is just a matter of days left before the drama’s big debut with Spartacus: House of Ashur starting on Friday, December 5, on Starz in the US and Saturday, December 6 on MGM+ in the UK.
Those in the UK can get access to MGM+, which also features the Power franchise and Outlander, via an add-on subscription within Prime Video
The show’s confirmed release has been a long time coming with news of the spin-off first being announced back in 2023.
Spartacus: House of Ashur episode count and release schedule
Spartacus: House of Ashur is going to consist of 10 episodes with only the first two instalments dropping on December 5 and December 6. From this point on, a single episode is going to be released on the same days every week, continuing to bring this epic story to life.
And as long as there are no delays to the schedule, this means that the grand finale is going to be out on Friday, January 30, in the US and Saturday, January 31, in the UK. But fans are going to have to stay tuned in to find out how it all plays out.
Spartacus: House of Ashur cast
Actor Nick Tarabay will be reprising his devious role of Ashur from the original Spartacus series for his own spin-off House of Ashur. As this is an alternate reality, he will be joined by an abundance of new faces including Outlander icon Graham McTavis as Korris.
Other new cast members include Tenika Davis as Achillia, Jamaica Vaughn as Hilara, Ivana Baquero as Messia and Jordi Webber as Tarchon.
The only other original star to briefly join Tarabay in House of Ashur is actress Lucy Lawless as Lucretia. An early released clip has teased her appearing in the underworld where she once again comes face to face with Ashur.
Julius Caesar will be portrayed by actor Jackson Gallagher, a role which had previously been taken on by actor Todd Lascance. It was planned that Lascance would reprise the role but wasn’t able to due to scheduling conflicts with NCIS Sydney.
What is Spartacus: House of Ashur about?
As previously mentioned, Spartacus: House of Ashur is a spin-off from the original Spartacus drama which will be set in an alternate reality. It delves into what could have happened if Ashur hadn’t been decapitated on Mount Vesuvius 12 years ago.
Instead, Ashur has been gifted the gladiator school which had once been owned by Batiatus (John Hannah) as a reward for helping the Romans kill Spartacus and ending the slave rebellion. While Ashur may have been given all that he desired, will he truly be happy with his second chance?
Spartacus: House of Ashur will premiere on Friday, December 5, on Starz in the US and Saturday, December 6, on MGM+ in the UK.
Pressure over antisemitism allegations against the Berkeley school system intensified Monday with the launch of what members of Congress called a “nationwide investigation of antisemitism in K-12 schools.”
The first three districts to fall under scrutiny of the House Committee on Education and Workforce are the Berkeley Unified School District, Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and the School District of Philadelphia.
“The Committee is deeply concerned” that Berkeley Unified is “failing to uphold its obligations” to “end any harassment, eliminate any hostile environment and its effects and prevent any harassment from recurring.”
In a letter sent Monday to Berkeley Unified, the committee cited “numerous press and whistleblower reports” alleging that since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel, “Jewish and Israeli students have allegedly been regularly bullied and harassed.”
Letters to the three school districts were signed by Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich). The letter to Berkeley Unified also was signed by Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chair Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin).
In addition to recounting allegations, the letters seek information, including:
A chart of all complaints made against students, faculty or staff related to potential antisemitic incidents.
All documents relating to walkouts, demonstrations, toolkits, workshops, curricula, course materials, speakers and more referring to Jews, Judaism, Israel, Palestine, Zionism or antisemitism.
All documents related to contracts or agreements that refer to Jews, Judaism, Israel, Palestine, Zionism or antisemitism.
In a statement the district characterized the allegations as past incidents that had been dealt with.
“Today’s letter from the U.S. House Committee on Education concerns allegations raised almost 18 months ago,” the statement said. “The information sought in the current letter from the Committee concerns those old allegations. The District will, of course, respond appropriately to the Committee’s letter. Our commitment to the safety and well-being of all students in BUSD is unwavering.”
In May 2024, Supt. Enikia Ford Morthel testified in Congress about allegations of antisemitism.
At the time, Ford Morthel said her district had received formal complaints of antisemitism stemming from nine incidents and stressed that district leaders responded quickly to the accusations and launched investigations.
“Our babies sometimes say hurtful things,” she said. “We are mindful that all kids make mistakes. We know that our staff are not immune to missteps either, and we don’t ignore them when they occur,” Ford Morthel said. “However, antisemitism is not pervasive in Berkeley Unified School District.”
It’s difficult to determine from the letter the extent to which the allegations take in new incidents.
One of the most stark allegations is that officials permitted a rally in which some students shouted, “Kill the Jews.” Published reports indicate that such an incident was alleged to have occurred Oct. 18, 2023, more than two years ago.
This week’s letter does not contain dates of incidents, while alluding to an alleged inadequate district response.
In February of 2024, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that Berkeley public schools ignored reports of bullying and harassment of Jewish students on the basis of their ethnicity, shared ancestry and national origin. District leaders, it alleged, “knowingly allowed” classrooms and schoolyards to become a “viciously hostile” environment.
That investigation was opened under the Biden administration and it remains active under the Trump administration, which has made alleged antisemitism a highlighted target of the federal enforcement — accompanied by the threat of fines and withdrawal of federal funding.
Berkeley Unified also faces an active U.S. Education Department probe alleging “severe and pervasive anti-Palestinian racism” affecting Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students. This complaint was filed in 2024 by the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The allegations included that Arab and Muslim students “were taunted as ‘terrorists’ after teachers in class taught lessons referencing ‘terrorism.’”
A Philadelphia school district spokesperson said Monday that it was district policy not to comment on an active investigation.
Officials in Virginia pledged cooperation with the congressional inquiry.
In a statement, Fairfax County school officials noted the request for “information about potential antisemitic incidents occurring … since 2022.” The school system “intends to fully cooperate with Congressman Walberg’s inquiry” and “continues to partner with all families to provide a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff members.”
For decades, the Stahl House in the Hollywood Hills has been a rarity — a globally known icon of Midcentury Modernism and Los Angeles glamour, still in the hands of the family who commissioned it in 1960. But now it’s for sale.
The asking price is $25 million, which might seem a startling figure for a two-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home on a snug lot. But that figure might not surprise lovers of modernist architecture who know it as Case Study House #22.
It was designed for the Stahl family by architect Pierre Koenig, captured on black-and-white film by photographer Julius Shulman and has been admired worldwide ever since.
The Architect’s Newspaper called it “one of the world’s most famous buildings.” Los Angeles magazine called Shulman’s image “perhaps the most famous picture ever taken of Los Angeles.”
“There are no comps for the Stahl house. It’s incomparable,” said William Baker, architecture director for the real estate firm the Agency Beverly Hills. The home was included in the company’s fall catalog Nov. 12.
By Friday afternoon, Baker said, he had received hundreds of inquiring calls. In considering offers, Baker said, the family is open to individuals or institutions — “someone who’s going to understand it, honor the house and the story about it.”
The Stahls purchased the lot in 1954 for $13,500 and enlisted Koenig to design the house after other architects were daunted by the slope of the lot. Koenig’s solution was a cantilevered L-shaped structure with walls of steel and glass, a pool and a free-standing stone-faced fireplace between the living and dining areas.
The second bedroom can only be accessed through the primary bedroom — “an efficient use of space” for a family of five, Baker said. The Stahl family has said the home cost $37,500 to build.
Shortly after the home’s completion, photographer Julius Shulman made a black-and-white photograph that became emblematic of the era. It shows the home at night, with two young women sitting inside in a cantilevered corner, its floor-to-ceiling windows revealing the lights of the L.A. Basin glittering in the background.
To bring up the lights, Shulman later told Los Angeles magazine, he used a seven-minute exposure. The resulting image, along with others Shulman made of the house, is now owned by the Getty Research Institute.
In years since, the home has served as a filming location for many TV and film productions, including the 1968 pilot episode of “Columbo” and the movies “Galaxy Quest” (1999) and “Nurse Betty” (2000).
“This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves,” the Stahl family announced on its website. Bruce and Shari Stahl, the surviving children of original owners Buck and Carlotta Stahl, added, “[O]ur tour program will continue unchanged for the time being, and we will provide ample notice before any adjustments are made.”
For the last 17 years, the house has been open for tours, most recently on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, starting at $60 per adult during the day, $90 in the evening, with advance booking required and tight limits on photography. However, the Stahl website indicates all tours are sold out through the end of February.
The real estate listing notes that the home is “a protected landmark and the only Case Study House with original family ownership.”
In nominating it for the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, Amanda Stewart of the Los Angeles Conservancy called it “perhaps the most iconic house constructed in the Case Study House Program.” That program, sponsored by John Entenza’s Arts & Architecture magazine from 1945 to 1966, yielded 25 completed homes, today considered top exemplars of Midcentury home design.
“There’s not a lot of these Case Study houses left. I think there are 19 now,” Baker said. (Baker also said he had recently handled the sale of Case Study House #10 in Pasadena to a buyer who lost a home in January’s Pacific Palisades fire.)
The Stahl home stands on Woods Drive just north of West Hollywood’s city limit, about a quarter of a mile from Chateau Marmont.
Many architecturally important Southern California Modern homes have landed in the hands of institutions, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House (1921), owned by the city of Los Angeles; the Schindler House (1922), owned by the Friends of the Schindler House and operated by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture; and the Eames House (1949), owned by the nonprofit Eames Foundation. The Sheats-Goldstein Residence, designed by John Lautner in 1961-63 and renovated by Lautner in the 1990s, has been promised by owner James Goldstein to the L.A. County Museum of Art.
WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers Tuesday morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not expect the level of Ukrainian resistance to his invasion, nor the level and speed of sanctions imposed by countries around the world.
“Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate, essentially doubling down,” she said.
The comments from Haines and other intelligence officials came in an unusually candid public hearing with members of the House Intelligence Committee. The hearing was expected to focus on the intelligence community’s annual global threat assessment, but it was instead largely dominated by questions about Russia’s two-week-old invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. The House panel will get a classified assessment in the afternoon.
Haines said Putin likely expected the conflict to last a matter of days at most and predicted Russia will be hard pressed to hold any ground it gains.
“We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose, but what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time given the significant costs he is incurring,” she said.
CIA Director William Burns agreed, saying Putin initially believed Ukraine was weakened and easily intimidated, and that the Russian leader had modernized his military to the point of ensuring a quick victory. Burns added that Putin had been confident early on that he had sanction-proofed his economy, and that the Europeans were too distracted to pay much attention to the invasion.
“He’s been proven wrong on every count,” Burns said.
Still, Burns said the invasion is a “matter of deep personal conviction” for Putin.
“He has been stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years,” Burns said.
Putin’s plan was premised on seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign, Burns said, and he is getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress.
“He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said. “He has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.”
At this point, Burns said he cannot see how Putin can stand up a puppet regime in the face of massive opposition from the Ukrainian people, warning there is an “ugly next few weeks” ahead.
Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 Russian soldiers have died in the less than two weeks since the invasion began, a number that far exceeds what the Russian government has acknowledged. For context, the United States suffered more than 7,000 military deaths over two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Berrier said Russia appears to be attempting to cut off food and water to Kyiv as a strategy.
“It will become somewhat desperate in I would say 10 days to two weeks,” he said.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) told reporters after the hearing that as Putin doubles down on Ukraine, it remains difficult to see how the conflict ends.
“What’s the offramp? I think what we can do is just to continue to escalate the price that he and Russia have to pay for this,” Schiff said. “I think until he feels that his own regime is at risk, it’s hard to see him looking for an exit ramp.”
Congressional lawmakers are debating how much additional aid to send to Ukraine, and what additional economic measures to take against Russia, which is already seeing unprecedented sanctions on its financial systems, top leaders and businesses. On Tuesday, President Biden announced a ban on the import of Russian oil and energy products into the United States.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called for some $12 billion in aid, and urged passage this week, saying it “will provide both humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine: funding for refugees, medical supplies, emergency food supplies, as well as funding to support weapons transfers into Ukraine, and help for our eastern flank NATO allies.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has said Congress is looking to pass $10 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as part of a larger government funding measure. A vote could occur as soon as today.
The incoming NYC mayor says he still believes the US president is a fascist, two days after they had a friendly meeting.
Published On 23 Nov 202523 Nov 2025
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New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he still believes United States President Donald Trump is a fascist, despite a surprisingly warm meeting between the two politically polarised men at the White House this week.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past; I say it today,” Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, said about the Republican president in an interview aired on NBC News on Sunday.
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Mamdani’s comments came two days after he met with Trump, setting aside months of mutual recriminations and promising to cooperate on the city’s future.
Trump, who grew up in New York, called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post following the incoming mayor’s election victory, and Mamdani has said Trump was attacking democracy.
During their meeting, Trump, who had previously suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported, even came to his rescue as the two addressed reporters at the White House.
When a journalist asked Mamdani if he continued to view Trump as a fascist, the president stepped in.
“That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier,” Trump told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
Mamdani elaborated his stand further in the NBC interview.
“[What] I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that have brought us to this moment,” he said.
“I found the meeting that I had with the president a productive one and a meeting that came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran: the cost of housing, cost of childcare, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities.”
After threatening to cut federal funding to the US’s biggest city and to send in the US National Guard, Trump praised Mamdani’s historic election win during their meeting, saying he could do a “great job”.
“We’ve just had a great … very productive meeting. We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” he said later. “We are going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on the CNN news programme State of the Union that Trump wants to work with everybody who cares about the future of the American people.
“We’re at times disagreeing about policies,” Hassett said, “but I think that the objective of making life better for everybody is something that a lot of people share on the Democratic and Republican side.”
Nov. 22 (UPI) — A Democrat and a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives have co-sponsored a resolution that calls for raising the number of votes needed to censure a colleague from a majority to 60% as a way to force “bipartisan support.”
The two-page resolution introduced by Democrat Don Beyer of Virginia and Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska on Friday comes amid efforts to censure three House members in an escalating numbers of members looking to take action against one another.
“The process of censures and disciplinary measures in the House is broken, and all of us know it,” Beyer said in a joint press release with Bacon announcing the legislation.
“These measures were historically reserved for rare and exceptional cases after a lengthy process that allowed time for investigations and due process, but that precedent has deteriorated,” he said. “Our resolution would break the cycle of censures to help return focus in the House to solving problems for the American people.”
The effort, the duo told colleagues in a letter on Thursday, would fix the problem and raise the level of sanity in the chamber, the New York Times reported.
“A U.S. House ruled by mob mentality cannot function. The institution and American people deserve better than what we’ve seen this week. The vast middle must stand up to the extremes and put commonsense safeguards in place,” Bacon said in the release.
The bill already had 29 sponsors by Friday afternoon, Roll Call reported.
“It has become a political tactic, rather than an action to protect the reputation of the House,” Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who in past years served as the majority and minority leader, told the Times. “If it becomes common, it will lose its prophylactic effect.”
Since 1832, the House has censured members 25 times and issued reprimands 11 times — and censured members just six times in the 21st century, according to NBC News.
Bacon and Beyer noted in the press release that most censures in history have come “after lengthy ethics investigations that established criminal activity or serious misconduct.”
Expulsion from Congress requires two-thirds approval, with 16 members of the House and five members of the Senate having been ejected from office, according to Congressional records. The vast majority — 17 — got the boot during the Civil War for backing the Confederacy.
The most recent expulsion was former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who was later convicted in federal court, although President Donald Trump commuted his sentence after he had served three months in prison.
“The proliferation of resolutions to punish our fellow Members with censure, disapproval or the revocation of committee assignments has become unsustainable, to the point that they now impair our ability to work together to address serious issues. I fear this is inflicting lasting damage on this institution,” Beyer said Friday.
Just this week, there has been a raft of censure efforts introduced in the House, some successful and some not.
On Tuesday, the House rebuked Rep. Jesus Garcia, a Democrat serving Illinois, for hand-selecting his successor after announcing his retirement after the filing deadline for the Democratic primary.
Also on Tuesday, the House voted against censuring Stacey Plaskett, the U.S. delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, amid revelations that she received information via text from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., filed a resolution to censure Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who has been accused of financial misconduct and domestic abuse. In that case, the House voted to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., also threatened to censure, and then expel, fellow Floridian, Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick after she was indicted this week for allegedly stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds.
President Donald Trump meets with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Friday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
I was a bit skeptical when an emailer suggested touring Torrance as a way to appreciate this South Bay hidden gem. As a San Gabriel Valley product, I’ve enjoyed excursions to the iconic Rose Bowl or the historic San Gabriel Mission.
But Torrance? Really?
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I’m a fan of the divine paradise cakes baked at two King’s Hawaiian locations in Torrance and am aware that Compton-based hip hop group N.W.A recorded “F— tha Police” in a city music studio.
Yes, that’s all fine and notable, but is this city of 140,000 actually tour worthy?
Debbie Hays, a resident and Torrance Historical Society docent, was up to the challenge of proving it certainly was when we met for a tour this week.
History meets Hollywood
We started at the Torrance Historical Society. Inside, visitors receive a quick lesson about the city’s creation, from a Spanish land grant to its founding by financial broker Jared Sidney Torrance in 1912.
A good portion of the talk centers on one of the city’s heroes, Louis Zamperini, known as the “Torrance Tornado.”
The Olympic and USC star, who competed in the famed 1936 Games, was a larger-than-life pillar captured in book and film, the latter the 2014 movie “Unbroken.”
“Louis was a bit of a misfit in his early days and his story is one of redemption and finding his purpose,” Hays said. “It started with track and of course he’s most known about his role in the war.”
“No other place in the world has more information and pieces of history tied to Louis than we do,” Hays says.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Zamperini was a U.S. Army Air Force bombardier in 1943 when his B-24 Liberator went down in the Pacific on May 27 with 10 additional crew members.
Zamperini floated on a life raft for 47 days, battling sharks and hunger before being picked up by a Japanese patrol boat.
He was tortured for two years before he was finally freed.
Hays showed off heirlooms, trophies and files donated by the Zamperini family, including more than 60 pounds of notes and awards, used in production of the movie.
“No other place in the world has more information and pieces of history tied to Louis than we do,” Hays said.
The ‘Ramen Capital of Southern California’
One of the more surprising details about Hays’ tour was the number of excursions the city offers.
You can take one of several self-guided tours of the city’s dozen or so microbreweries and craft beer tasting sites that highlight a burgeoning craft industry.
The most delectable tour, however, may be shown on the city’s Ramen Trail map, which declares Torrance the “Ramen Capital of Southern California.”
As for locales, the film and television map tour denotes more than 200 locations where movies like “Scarface,” “Boogie Nights” and “Horrible Bosses” and television sitcoms like “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Barry” were filmed.
“We aren’t Hollywood, but we have many spots worth visiting,” Hays said. “All they’re all relatively close together.”
The Buffy home
One of her most popular excursions is the Fall Tour of Old Torrance, held annually in October.
Hays offers architectural and historic showings of Tudor, Mission and Spanish Colonial revival homes often butting up against each other. Most homes are over 100 years old.
“It’s a very eclectic tour that you don’t see every day in every town,” Hays said. “We’re not a cookie-cutter neighborhood.”
Yet, it’s the No. 4 spot on that tour, a 1914 Craftsman-style home at 1313 Cota Ave., that draws a pilgrimage year round.
The 2,296-square-foot home is forever known as “the Buffy home,” where the popular television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was filmed.
The four bedroom, two bathroom home served as the home of main character Buffy Summers, played by actress Sarah Michelle Gellar.
“I’ve led private tours to the home, with sometimes as many as 80 people,” Hays said. “Fans come to the house, they cry, they take pictures, they hug the tree. They love it.”
Paradise cakes, ramen noodles, craft beer and Zamperini memorabilia. You don’t have to love Buffy to appreciate Torrance.
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Nov. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, from different political spectrums, found common ground while meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Trump and Mamdani met for a half hour in the Oval Office before fielding questions from reporters for another 30 minutes, during which the president said that they have more shared priorities than expected, including cost of living, housing and crime.
“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said from his desk as Mandani stood next to him.
“I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again,” he added. “I’ll really be cheering for him.”
Trump, whose legal residence now is in Palm Beach, Fla., said he would feel “very, very comfortable being in New York” with Mamdani as mayor.
The president said he “OK” with some New Yorkers voting for both of them.
Mamdani said his motivation for meeting with the president is to “leave no stone unturned” in his effort to make New York City more affordable for its residents.
“I have many disagreements with the president,” Mamdani said, but called it his “opportunity to make my case.”
“We should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” Mamdani added.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said when asked about cutting federal funding as he has previously mentioned.
Trump said he is fine with Mamdani referring to him as a fascist.
Mamdani affirmed he is a democratic socialist when asked by a reporter while in the Oval Office though Trump previously called him a “communist,” CNN reported.
The president said the meeting between the two was “really good, very productive” and that they both “want this city of ours that we both love to do very well.”
Trump was born and raised in New York City, and said he and Mamdani talked about making housing more accessible and lowering food prices.
“I think you’re going to have a really great mayor,” Trump said of Mamdani. “The better he does, the happier I am.”
Mamdani is likely to “surprise some conservative people” and “some very liberal people,” he added.
The mayor-elect likewise said the meeting between the two was productive.
“We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries, [and] we spoke about utilities,” Mamdani told reporters. “We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.”
He said he “appreciated the time with the president” and “I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”
Mamdani is scheduled to be sworn in as New York City’s mayor shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.
President Donald Trump meets with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Friday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
The leaders of the UK, France and Germany met Zelensky in Kyiv earlier this year
Ukraine’s allies will seek to “strengthen” a US plan to end the war with Russia when they meet at the G20 summit in South Africa, UK PM Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The summit begins a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukraine faced “one of the most difficult moments in our history” over pressure to accept the plan – leaked details of which have been seen as favourable to Moscow.
Zelensky held phone talks with Sir Keir and the leaders of France and Germany on Friday. Afterwards, the PM said Ukraine’s “friends and partners” remained committed to securing a “lasting peace once and for all”.
Neither US President Donald Trump nor Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending the G20.
The widely leaked US peace plan includes proposals that Kyiv had previously ruled out, including ceding eastern areas it currently controls.
Washington has been pressing Kyiv to accept and sent senior Pentagon officials to the Ukraine earlier this week to discuss the proposals.
But there is nervousness in Europe over what has been perceived as a set of terms heavily slanted in Moscow’s favour. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the prospect of it being adopted a “very dangerous moment”.
According to news agency Reuters, she told reporters: “We all want this war to end, but how it ends matters. Russia has no legal right whatsoever to any concessions from the country it invaded, ultimately the terms of any agreement are for Ukraine to decide.”
Ahead of the talks at the G20, Sir Keir said gathered leaders would “discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of President Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
He continued: “Not a day has passed in this war where Ukraine hasn’t called for Russia to end its illegal invasion, roll back its tanks and lay down its guns.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage.
“That is why we must all work together, with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all.”
As part of the White House’s plan, Ukraine would be obliged to cut the size of its army and pledge not to join the Nato military alliance, a long-held Kremlin demand.
Trump warned on Friday that Ukraine would lose more territory to Russia “in a short amount of time” and that Zelensky “is going to have to approve” the plan.
The US president said he had given Ukraine until Thursday to agree to the plan – Thanksgiving in the US – which he described as an “appropriate” deadline.
Russian troops have been making slow advances along the vast front line, despite reported heavy losses.
Ukraine relies on deliveries of US-manufactured advances weaponry to arms its forces, including air defence systems.
Kyiv has also been dependent on intelligence provided by Washington since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During a meeting with his security cabinet on Friday, Putin confirmed the US had presented its proposed peace plan, and said it could be the “basis” for a settlement – though added detailed talks on its terms had not yet been held in the Kremlin.
He said Russia was willing to “show flexibility” but was also prepared to fight on.
In a 10-minute address in front of the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky warned that Ukraine would face “a lot of pressure… to weaken us, to divide us”.
“We’re not making loud statements,” he went on, “we’ll be calmly working with America and all the partners… offering alternatives” to the proposed peace plan.
Zelensky has had to strike a careful balance between Kyiv’s interests and maintaining cordial ties with Trump, with whom he had a public falling out with at the White House earlier this year and who has appeared at times frustrated at the lack of progress in peace talks.
His reaction to the US plan has been measuredly worded – though he did admit on Friday that Ukraine “might face a very difficult choice: either losing dignity, or risk losing a key partner”.
The White House has pushed back on claims that Ukraine was frozen out of the drafting of the proposal.
An unnamed US official told CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, that the plan was drawn up “immediately” following discussions with Ukraine’s top security official Rustem Umerov, who agreed to the majority of it.
EPA
A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil this week killed at least 31 people
The leaked draft proposes Ukrainian troops’ withdrawal from the part of the eastern Donetsk region that they currently control, giving Russia de facto control of Donetsk, as well as the neighbouring Luhansk region and the southern Crimea peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
Russia currently controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Kyiv would receive “reliable security guarantees”, the plan says, though no details have been given.
The document says “it is expected” that Russia will not invade its neighbours and that Nato will not expand further.
The draft also suggests Russia will be “reintegrated into the global economy”, through the lifting of sanctions and by inviting Russia to rejoin the G7 group of the world’s most powerful countries – making it the G8 again.
Nov. 21 (UPI) — A U.S. Supreme Court justice on Friday night at least temporarily paused a lower court’s decision to throw out Texas’ new congressional map to potentially add five House seats for Republicans.
Justie Samuel Alito, chosen to decide on emergency appeals in the state, granted the request, writing it “is hereby administratively stayed” with a response to the application to be filed by 5 p.m. Monday.
So, this puts the block on hold until the full court decides.
Earlier Friday, state lawyers formally asked for an emergency stay to allow the map borders that were approved this summer by the legislature.
On Tuesday, a three-member panel in the U.S. District Court of Western Texas threw out the mapsin a 2-1 vote.
President Donald Trump had urged Texas to change the maps to favor Republicans.
After the state filed its appeal, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a news release: “Texas engaged in partisan redistricting solely to secure more Republican seats in Congress and thereby better represent our state and Texans. For years, Democrats have aggressively gerrymandered their states and only cry foul and hurl baseless ‘racism’ accusations because they are losing.”
He described the legislation signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in August as Texas’ “Big Beautiful Map.”
The state had asked the high court by Monday night to decide on pausing the lower court ruling.
The lower court’s decision caused “chaos” for the election, the state said.
“Campaigning had already begun, candidates had already gathered signatures and filed applications to appear on the ballot under the 2025 map, and early voting for the March 3, 2026, primary was only 91 days away,” Texas officials told the Supreme Court.
Those seeking to run for House seats must declare their candidacy by Dec. 8.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, appointed by President Trump in his first term, and David Guaderrama, appointed by President Obama, threw out the maps.
Circuit Court Judge Jerry Smith, nominated by President Ronald Reagan, dissented, writing: “In my 37 years on the federal bench, this is the most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered in a case in which I have been involved.
“If, however, there were a Nobel prize for fiction, Judge Brown’s opinion would be a prime candidate.”
In the 107 pages, he mentioned billionaire George Soros, a donor for Democrats, 17 times.
Brown, writing the majority opinion, directed the state to correct four districts because they were illegal racial gerrymanders.
Brown focused on how the new map would affect the racial makeup of Texas’ congressional districts.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” Brown wrote. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map.”
But Texas disagreed, saying: politics, not race, drove the new maps.
“This summer, the Texas Legislature did what legislatures do: politics,” the state told the high court.
Texas said the lower court ruling “erroneously rests on speculation and inferences of bad faith.” And it said the state GOP’s chief mapmaker worked with data on partisanship rather than race.
After the decision, Paxton wrote in a post on X that he would appeal the order to the U.S. Supreme Court. He added that he expects the Supreme Court to “uphold Texas’ sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting.”
Republicans now hold 25 of Texas’ 38 House seats.
Missouri and North Carolina approved a new map that could create another Republican-leaning district in each state.
Unlike those Republican-dominant states, California voters approved the new map that potentially can add five Democratic seats. Proposition 50 was approved by a 64.4-35.6%. The breakdown now is 43 Democrats and nine Republicans.
Other states are considering changes.
The U.S. House party breakdown is 219 Republicans, 213 Democrats and three vacancies. On Thursday, Democrat Mikie Sherill resigned her seat because she was elected New Jersey’s governor earlier this month.
The right-wing leader has sought to appeal his 27-year sentence for allegedly fomenting a coup after his 2022 defeat.
Published On 21 Nov 202521 Nov 2025
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Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to serve his 27-year sentence under house arrest, citing health concerns.
According to a document reviewed by the Reuters news agency on Friday, Bolsonaro’s lawyers said the 70-year-old former president’s recurring intestinal issues would make imprisonment life-threatening.
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He had been stabbed in the stomach while campaigning in the state of Minas Gerais in 2018.
“It is certain that keeping the petitioner in a prison environment would pose a concrete and immediate risk to his physical integrity and even his life,” the document said. It asked for house arrest on humanitarian grounds.
In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison by a five-judge panel from Brazil’s Supreme Court. He was convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The former right-wing leader has already been under house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case, in which he allegedly courted United States interference to halt the criminal proceedings against him.
Court sources said Bolsonaro’s arrest appeared imminent after the Supreme Court panel earlier this month unanimously rejected an appeal filed by the former president’s legal team.
His lawyers said they would file a new appeal, but they argued that, if it is also rejected, Bolsonaro should begin serving his sentence under house arrest once all appeals are exhausted.
They noted that, earlier this year, the top court let 76-year-old former President Fernando Collor de Mello serve house arrest due to his age and health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, after he was sentenced to almost nine years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges.
Recent medical tests on Bolsonaro show that “a serious or sudden illness is not a question of ‘if’, but of ‘when’,” his legal team said.
One of Bolsonaro’s sons, Carlos, said on Friday that the former president was facing severe hiccups and vomiting constantly. “I’ve never seen him like this,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, was convicted of five crimes, including participating in an armed criminal organisation, attempting to violently abolish democracy and organising a coup.
On Friday, the former president made a brief appearance in the doorway of his house while receiving a visit from federal lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira.
Kevin Spacey is reportedly homeless after facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
The “House of Cards” actor told the Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday that he is currently “living in hotels [and] living in Airbnbs” near wherever he can find work because his current financial situation is “not great.”
“I literally have no home, that’s what I’m attempting to explain,” Spacey said.
The actor, who used to live in Baltimore, said he lost his house “because the costs over these last seven years have been astronomical.”
“I’ve had very little coming in and everything going out,” Spacey said. But “[y]ou get through it. In weird ways, I feel I’m back to where I first started, which is I just went where the work was. Everything is in storage, and I hope at some point, if things continue to improve, that I’ll be able to decide where I want to settle down again.”
Spacey swiftly fell from grace in 2017 after actor Anthony Rapp alleged that the two-time Oscar winner had made sexual advances toward him in the 1980s when he was a teenager. Additional accusations of sexual misconduct or assault by more than 30 men followed. Spacey has denied all allegations, and the various lawsuits that stemmed from them ended up being dropped, dismissed, or resulted in his acquittal.
Spacey previously addressed his mounting debt in a 2024 interview with Piers Morgan. After admitting that he was unable to pay the bills that he owed, he said he had considered filing for bankruptcy but had so far “managed to sort of dodge it.” He also revealed that his Baltimore home was facing foreclosure and would be “sold at auction.”
The actor has since attempted to make a comeback. In 2021, he landed his first acting job since the misconduct allegations: an Italian indie movie. He has appeared in other projects, including on stage.
While Spacey has yet to return to Hollywood, he remains hopeful about his future.
“We are in touch with some extremely powerful people who want to put me back to work,” he told the Telegraph. “And that will happen in its right time. But I will also say what I think the industry seems to be waiting for is to be given permission — by someone who is in some position of enormous respect and authority.”
Nov. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st,” Trump said in the brief statement.
Mamdani was elected mayor Nov. 4, besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, historically a Democrat who ran as an independent with Trump’s endorsement, after losing the Democratic nomination to Mamdani.
Trump has been a vocal critic of Mamdani, and warned ahead of the election that if Mamdani won he would throttle federal funding to the city, calling him a “Communist Lunatic” who is “going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great city.”
Trump also threatened to arrest Mamdani if he interfered with his federal immigration crackdown in New York City.
During the campaign, Mamdani positioned himself as someone who would stand up to Trump. A self-described social democrat, Mamdani has warned Trump against threatening to impose punitive measures against the city.
In his victory speech, Mamdani addressed Trump directly: “Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed in a statement that the meeting had been scheduled.
“As is customary for an incoming mayoral administration, the Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over 1 million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago,” Pekec said.
In a Wednesday night interview with MS NOW, Mamdani said they did “reach out” to the White House to speak with Trump about fulfilling the campaign pledges he made to New Yorkers.
“I want to just speak plainly to the president about what it means to actually stand up for new Yorkers and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to afford this city,” he said.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the White House was working on arranging a meeting with Mamdani.
“We’ll work something out,” Trump said. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”
An Indiana lawmaker who has yet to make a decision on whether to back President Trump’s push to have Republicans redraw the state’s congressional boundaries was the victim of a swatting call that brought sheriff’s deputies to his home.
The call, in which someone reported a fake emergency at the Terre Haute home of state Sen. Greg Goode on Sunday, came hours after Trump criticized Indiana lawmakers for not moving forward with the plan and singled out Goode and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray. Trump has been trying to persuade Republican-led states across the country to aggressively redraw their congressional maps to help the GOP hold the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections.
Deputies were sent to Goode’s home after receiving an email “advising harm had been done to persons inside a home,” according to a statement from the Vigo County Sheriff’s Office.
“All persons were secure, safe, and unharmed. Investigation showed that this was a prank or false email (also known as ‘swatting’),” the statement said. The incident is under investigation.
Goode, a Republican, wrote on social media that the responding deputies were “under the impression of a domestic violence emergency.” He thanked the deputies for acting professionally.
“While this entire incident is unfortunate and reflective of the volatile nature of our current political environment, I give thanks to God that my family and I are ok,” Goode wrote.
Trump singled out Goode and Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray while demanding that Republicans move forward with a redistricting plan for Indiana. Republicans already hold a 7-2 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.
“Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,’ and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House, a VERY BIG DEAL!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Bray, the Republican leader of Indiana’s Senate, announced Friday that his chamber will no longer meet to vote on redistricting, citing a lack of support from his members even after pressure from the White House. Vice President JD Vance has visited multiple times to make the case.
Goode, a Republican member of the Senate, has not publicly stated his position on redistricting and says he will not make a decision without seeing a map and legislation introduced for lawmakers’ review.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The goal of swatting is to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to respond to an address by making bogus claims of violence happening inside.
Democrats need to gain just three seats to win control of the House next year, leading to Trump’s strong-arming of GOP-controlled states. Legislatures or commissions in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have adopted new maps to boost Republicans’ odds, while California and Virginia are poised to counter Trump’s push and redraw their own maps to benefit Democrats.
Trump thanks Ronaldo as football superstar makes surprise appearance alongside Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the surprise guests at a lavish White House dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump for the visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The famous footballer was among the last guests to be seated before Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, took his place at the table on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know about his presence at the White House:
Why did Ronaldo attend the White House dinner?
Ronaldo plays for the Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr after signing with them following the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
He spent two decades playing for European clubs and signed a two-year extension in June with Al Nassr. The 40-year-old has indicated he is ready to hang up his boots soon, making Saudi Arabia the last stop in his glittering career.
Over four seasons with Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 83 goals with 17 assists in 84 starts.
Since his 2023 signing for the Riyadh-based club – majority owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that the crown prince chairs – Ronaldo has been the face of the Saudi league and has featured in promotional videos for the Saudi Tourism Authority.
In a recent interview, Ronaldo referred to MBS as “our boss [in Saudi Arabia]”.
Ronaldo was seated near the front of the East Room, not far from where the president and crown prince gave remarks to officials from both nations, along with major business leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla founder Elon Musk.
Trump, in his speech, made a point of recognising Ronaldo, who he said he introduced to his teenage son.
Trump thanked the athlete for attending. He said that his youngest son, Barron, is a “big fan” of Ronaldo and the 19-year-old was impressed that he got to meet the player.
“I think he respects his father a little bit more now, just the fact that I introduced you,” the president said.
What has Ronaldo said about Trump?
Ronaldo has recently said that Trump is “one of the guys who can help change the world”.
“[Trump is] one of the guys I want to meet. I think he can make things happen, and I like people like that,” the football icon said in an interview with media host Piers Morgan.
However, Ronaldo was quick to boast that he was more famous than Trump.
“People know me more than him. In the world, nobody’s more famous than me.”
No, but FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has previously featured at events with Trump, was also among the guests.
Infantino was making another appearance at the White House ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which the US is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, after meeting Trump at his residence two days earlier.
The FIFA chief will also be present when the US hosts the draw for the World Cup on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, where Trump is likely to oversee the event.
Will Ronaldo play in the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the US?
Ronaldo said earlier this month that the next World Cup will be his last.
He hasn’t played in the US since August of 2014, when he was a substitute for Real Madrid in their exhibition match against Manchester United in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
US President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the White House, declaring the Kingdom a major non-NATO ally and signaling a push to deepen US-Saudi ties. Here’s what we know about what they agreed on.
