leaving

Jan. 9 (UPI) — The United States on Friday seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as it works to control Venezuela’s oil, military officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marines captured the Olina overnight, officials said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that the ship was “suspected of carrying embargoed oil” and had tried “to evade U.S. forces” as it left Venezuela.

The U.S. Southern Command posted on X that it’s “unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.”

“In a pre-dawn action, Marines and Sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford and apprehended Motor/Tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea without incident,” the post said.

The operation was part of Joint Task Force Southern Spear.

The Coast Guard is planning to boost its ability to inspect and repair seized foreign tankers, The Washington Post reported, signaling that it will continue to seize the tankers. Many of the tankers are in too poor condition to be accepted by U.S. ports.

The Coast Guard sent out an internal call for personnel to increase its teams of inspectors to visit seized tankers, assess them and fix safety concerns before they come to U.S. ports, The Post reported. The message does not say how many people it needs, but it does say that those eligible must be “capable of offshore boardings and long hours aboard the vessel.”

“These vessels are stateless and beyond substandard,” the Coast Guard said in its internal message.

Since President Donald Trump declared a “complete blockade” of Venezuelan oil exports in December, the Coast Guard has taken at least four ships.

In mid-December, the U.S. seized an oil tanker called The Skipper. It is held offshore near the Port of Galveston, Texas. On Wednesday, the U.S. seized the Bella-1 in the North Atlantic after pursuing the ship for weeks. It also seized the Sophia in the Caribbean.

On Friday, the Kremlin thanked Washington for agreeing to release two of the Bella-1’s Russian crew members.

“In response to our appeal, U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to release two Russian citizens from among the crew of the tanker Marinera, who had previously been detained by the American side during an operation in the North Atlantic,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram. “We welcome this decision and express our gratitude to the U.S. leadership.”

“Ghost fleets” like the Bella-1 operate with false paperwork or flags. They ship sanctioned oil to China and other destinations. The U.S. government has said the oil sales fund narco-terrorism.

Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Post there are hundreds of these ships and are often in bad shape. If they don’t meet safety standards or risk a spill, they are denied entry to a U.S. port.

“They tend to be at the end of their service life — old, in poor condition,” Cancian said.

In what might be the most decisive critique yet of President Trump’s remake of the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera’s board approved a resolution on Friday to leave the venue it has occupied since 1971.

“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the company said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Roma Daravi, Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, described the relationship with Washington National Opera as “financially challenging.”

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship,” Daravi said in a statement. “We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”

Kennedy Center President Ambassador Richard Grenell tweeted that the call was made by the Kennedy Center, writing that its leadership had “approached the Opera leadership last year with this idea and they began to be open to it.”

“Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety,” Grenell wrote. “We have spent millions of dollars to support the Washington Opera’s exclusivity and yet they were still millions of dollars in the hole – and getting worse.”

WNO’s decision to vacate the Kennedy Center’s 2,364-seat Opera House comes amid a wave of artist cancellations that came after the venue’s board voted to rename the center the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. New signage featuring Trump’s name went up on the building’s exterior just days after the vote while debate raged over whether an official name change could be made without congressional approval.

That same day, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) — an ex officio member of the board — wrote on social media that the vote was not unanimous and that she and others who might have voiced their dissent were muted on the call.

Grenell countered that ex officio members don’t get a vote.

Cancellations soon began to mount — as did Kennedy Center‘s rebukes against the artists who chose not to appear. Jazz drummer Chuck Redd pulled out of his annual Christmas Eve concert; jazz supergroup the Cookers nixed New Year’s Eve shows; New York-based Doug Varone and Dancers dropped out of April performances; and Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck wrote on social media that he would no longer play at the venue in February.

WNO’s departure, however, represents a new level of artist defection. The company’s name is synonymous with the Kennedy Center and it has served as an artistic center of gravity for the complex since the building first opened.

Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia – Rahmadani and her nine-year-old son Dimas lost their home when catastrophic flooding ravaged their rented residence in Aceh Tamiang, located in Indonesia’s eastern Aceh province.

Initially seeking refuge on a roadside immediately following the disaster, they relocated to a tent just metres from their ruined house three weeks later.

The devastating floods in December killed at least 1,170 people across North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh provinces. Weeks after the disaster, numerous displaced victims continue to shelter in temporary tents.

Aceh province suffered the most severe impact, with Aceh Tamiang among the regions hit hardest.

For Rahmadani, her son’s health remains her primary concern. Dimas, who sustained an injury as an infant, is unable to walk or speak.

“Before the floods, we always took him to the doctor, and he was well cared for, so he was healthy. After the floods, we could not go to see a doctor. Even if there is assistance, it is just food aid,” she said.

“His head is swollen, so he needs to take medication and vitamins. The medication isn’t expensive, but now we don’t have any money. My child is in pain, but I can only put him in a sling while I try to earn some money.”

ADAM Peaty’s mum has U-turned on her decision to gatecrash his wedding to Holly Ramsay.

The Olympian uninvited his mother Caroline Peaty and the rest of his relatives from their big day after a family fallout.

Distraught Caroline had been intent on travelling to the lavish ceremony in Bath tomorrow despite being snubbed.

However, the swimming star’s mum has backed down, with a family member telling The Sun: “She will not be there because it would be too sad and she don’t want to spoil his big day.”

The change of heart comes as Holly Ramsay and her family were spotted leaving their £7.5m mansion to travel to the wedding venue.

Dad-of-one Adam, 30, and Holly, 25, are due to wed at Bath Abbey in Somerset on Saturday, December 27.

COUNT DOWN

Holly Ramsay celebrates last Xmas as a Miss as she prepares to marry Adam Peaty

MISSING YOU

Adam Peaty’s mum shares Christmas heartbreak after being uninvited from wedding

Caroline had previously insisted: “I will be there and I will watch from the street.”

But she changed her mind after her devoted husband Mark made her see sense, telling her it would be “too upsetting’ to be there.”

Around 200 people are set to attend Adam’s wedding including Holly’s chef dad Gordon and their close friends David and Victoria Beckham.

But there won’t be any surprises from unwanted guests.

Sources say the couple have booked Bath Abbey “all-day” and tourists will also be stopped from entering the landmark.

A security team is also set to patrol to stop people trying to take pictures of the couple.

As Celia and Ray’s plans for April become clear, Emmerdale teases a sad twist for the teenager and a gunshot drives fans to fear the worst for two of the soap’s most beloved characters

A horrifying twist leaves April Windsor’s future uncertain on Emmerdale in the Christmas Eve episode, as fans are left fearing the worst for two more beloved characters.

For months, fans have watched as crime duo Celia (Jaye Griffiths) and Ray (Ray Absolom) have manipulated troubled teen April (Amelia Flanagan) into working for their drug ring and prostitution network.

Though April seemed to have gained some distance from the pair in recent weeks, tonight’s episode saw Celia issue a terrifying ultimatum.

The criminal mastermind met April in a cafe, where the youngster said she would start working for Celia again if she stopped blackmailing her father, Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnok) ,alone.

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But Celia had other ideas. She told April that she and Ray would be leaving the Dales soon to start up their business somewhere new – and that April would have to come with them, or else.

Celia told April she would need her answer by the end of the following day. When April pointed out this was Christmas, Celia, the village’s resident Scrooge, said: “What difference does that make?”

April is not the only character fans fear will be leaving the soap. Elsewhere in tonight’s episode, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) and Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) were left fearing for their lives after Kev Townsend (Chris Coghill) took a shot at them… literally.

Evil Kev, who fans have deemed as “psychotic”, has been stalking the couple and is clearly not over Rob choosing to be with Aaron instead of him. While Rob and Aaron were busy affirming their love for each other, Kev ruined the happy moment by aiming a rifle at them from the shadows. Thankfully, he hit a post behind Rob rather than either of the love birds.

Though the police said it must have been poachers, Rob and Aaron knew the truth, especially after they received an envelope with Kev’s wedding ring and a bullet inside it.

Fans were horrified by the danger Rob and Aaron are in and quickly argued the villainous character had lost his mind. One wrote online in all capitals: “Kev U f***ing nutter.” Another added: “Kev is a psycho he needs locking up.”

A third said that they hoped this would show Rob just how “psychotic” Kev was: “Hopefully our boy has realised now there is no reasoning with this crazy psychotic idiot and it’s time to fight back!”

Another felt Kev was now beyond saving. “I can’t see how they can redeem Kev after this…he’s attacked them with a sword, shot at them and that’s just for starters. I really can’t see how ED could keep him after all this.”

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The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special is airing on Christmas Eve on ITV

Bradley Walsh is left gobsmacked after one star banks a ‘rare’ amount of cash on The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special.

The festive episode airs on Christmas Eve and sees comedian Lucy Porter, Countdown host Colin Murray, Strictly Come Dancing vocalist Tommy Blaize, and actor and comedian Asim Chaudhry take on five Chasers, who are dressed in festive costumes.

In an exclusive clip obtained by The Mirror, it sees Lucy, 52, impress during the cash builder round. At the start of the round, it sees host Bradley, 65, say: “Now, you and I, we’ve known each other a long while. You love quizzing, don’t you?”

To which Lucy admits: “I do, I do. My dad used to, when I was a kid, if we had dinner, you didn’t get pudding unless you could answer a quiz question.

“So, every time I would answer a question, he’d need to give me a slice of Viennetta or an Arctic roll!”

Lucy then gets stuck into the cash builder round, where each correct answer is worth £1,000. In the 60 seconds, Lucy is able to correctly answer ten questions, earning an incredible £10,000.

After the impressive cash builder round, the audience and Lucy’s fellow teammates erupt into cheers.

Meanwhile, host Bradley says: “Well that was very, very rare that we get five figures in a cash builder. Ten grand, congratulations, time to face a Chaser!”

Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan, and Darragh Ennis will all appear on the special festive instalment of the ITV quiz show.

The fancy dress theme this year is Christmas Lunch. The Beast is a Christmas Pudding, The Vixen is a Brussels sprout, The Menace is a Pig in Blanket, The Sinnerman is a Turkey and the The Governess is a Christmas Cracker.

Anne looks glamorous has ever in a blonde curly wig with a glitzy red ballgown for the special occasion where the others don eye-catching costumes to get into character.

The Chase Christmas Special airs on Wednesday 24 December at 5.55pm on ITV1.

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Bowen Yang, a fan-favorite cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” is leaving the series after this week’s episode.

Representatives for Yang and “Saturday Night Live” did not comment on the move Friday. However, on Saturday, he confirmed his upcoming departure via a post on his Instagram account. “i loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people. i was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwile,” he wrote. “i’m grateful for every minute of my time there.”

Yang also thanked Ariana Grande, this week’s host and his “Wicked” co-star,” for “sending me off in the dreamiest way I could imagine.” The pair, alongside musical guest Cher, were seen in promos for Saturday’s episode.

There has been recent speculation about whether Yang would finish the current season of the show. He has appeared on “SNL” since Season 45 after a year of working on the writing staff.

Yang took on a variety of roles in the NBC sketch comedy series, including impersonating Vice President J.D. Vance, Fran Lebowitz and pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng. Yang received his fifth Emmy nomination for his work on “SNL’s” historic 50th season.

Outside of “SNL,” Yang has appeared in several other projects recently. He co-hosts the popular podcast “Las Culturistas,” with fellow comedian Matt Rogers, and their seminal Las Culturistas Culture Awards was televised for the first time this year, airing on Bravo and streaming on Peacock. Yang also appeared in the “Wicked” film and its recent sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” and has starred in several other feature films, including “The Wedding Banquet,” “Fire Island” and “Dicks the Musical.”

In early December, Yang confirmed he and Rogers would be co-writing and starring in an untitled comedy for Searchlight Pictures. The movie will reportedly follow two Americans who fly across the world to try to get into the exclusive Berghain nightclub in Berlin.

Yang is not the first “Saturday Night Live” cast member to leave midseason — he joins the company of past “SNL” greats like Cecily Strong, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler and a handful of others who exited the show outside of the traditional period for departures while the show is on summer hiatus.

Prior to the start of Season 51, NBC and executive producer Lorne Michaels made some major cast changes, adding five featured players after a series of departures. Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim exited the series before the season premiere in October.

Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska joined the cast for the current season. Marshall was previously on the “SNL” writing staff and is known for his on-camera appearances as a part of the Please Don’t Destroy comedy trio.

The 51st season of “Saturday Night Live” will continue in early 2026 and run through the end of the television season in May.

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are leaving Strictly Come Dancing the 2025 series draws to a close

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s “true feelings: about leaving Strictly Come Dancing might have been uncovered.

The beloved hosting duo shocked fans back in October when they announced that they would be stepping down from the programme at the end of the current series.

They have fronted the BBC programme together since 2014, with Claudia replacing Sir Bruce Forsyth, who presented the original series with Tess from 2004.

Tess previously took to Instagram to share a statement, and was showered in support from fans and friends alike. She wrote: “After 21 unforgettable years, the time has come to say goodbye to Strictly Come Dancing.”

The star added: “This isn’t a goodbye to glitter, sequins, or Saturday night sparkle (I could never say goodbye to those!). Strictly will forever hold a special place in my heart – but it does feel like the right time to hand over the reins.”

Tess and Claudia will present their last live show tonight (Saturday, December 20), as Strictly returns to screens for this year’s grand final. The pair will then appear on the show’s festive special on Christmas Day, where they will take part in a memorable performance.

Now, a body language expert has examined Tess and Claudia’s recent TV appearances and pointed to subtle gestures that hint at unease behind the scenes.

Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, Darren Stanton explained that the pair’s body language suggests that they are nervous ahead of their Strictly exit.

“What stands out for me when I watch Tess and Claudia discuss their departure in interviews is how their posture, voices, and micro-expressions always soften more than usual. It’s clear they are masking a good deal of emotion beneath a very controlled surface. From a body-language perspective, it doesn’t read like a light or casual decision,” he said.

“There are clear signs of nerves from both of them about the future, visible in subtle cues such as lip biting, the way they look at each other, and how they turn toward one another when discussing their departure, almost as if they are operating as a single unit.

“It doesn’t seem to be apprehension about the future itself, but about the difficulty of leaving something familiar.

“Tess, who has been part of the show for a long time, shows small gestures and micro expressions of nerves, like wringing her hands. Claudia shows similar gestures, proving that they both feel the impact of leaving the show.”

Since the announcement of Tess and Claudia’s exits, speculation has been swirling over who could step into their shoes, with Zoe Ball, Janette Manrara, Fleur East and Rylan Clark all in the running.

Tonight, Karen Carney, Amber Davies and George Clarke will battle it out for the chance to lift this year’s Glitterball Trophy. They will each perform three dances in the hopes of impressing the judges and voting public. These include a Showdance, Judges’ Choice, and their favourite routine from the series.

Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

Washington, DC – For the past two years, weekdays for Susanna have meant thumbing through picture books, organising cubby holes and leading classroom choruses of songs.

But her work as a pre-school teacher came to a screeching halt in October, when she found out her application to renew her work permit had been denied.

Susanna, who uses a pseudonym in this article for fear of reprisals, is one of the nearly 10 percent of teachers in the United States who are immigrants.

But while the US has increasingly looked abroad to fill teacher shortages, some foreign-born teachers say the deportation push under President Donald Trump has threatened their livelihoods — and risks traumatising their students.

Susanna, an asylum applicant who fled violence in Guatemala nearly a decade ago, said that losing her permit meant she had to stop working immediately.

She recalls breaking the news to her students, some of whom are only three years old. Many were too young to understand.

“In one week, I lost everything,” Susanna told Al Jazeera in Spanish. “When I told the kids goodbye, they asked me why, and I told them, ‘I can only tell you goodbye.’ There were kids that hugged me, and it hurt my heart a lot.”

Looking abroad for teachers

Estimates vary as to how many foreign-born teachers currently work in the US. But one 2019 report from George Mason University found that there were 857,200 immigrants among the country’s 8.1 million teachers, in roles ranging from pre-school to university.

For the 2023-2024 school year alone, the US government brought 6,716 full-time teachers to the country on temporary exchange visas to fill openings in pre-kindergarten, primary and secondary school education.

Many hailed from the Philippines, as well as countries like Jamaica, Spain and Colombia.

The uncertainty for immigrants under Trump’s second term, however, has proven disruptive to schools that rely heavily on foreign-born teachers.

That is the case for the pre-school where Susanna worked, CommuniKids, which offers language immersion programmes in Washington, DC.

Cofounder and president Raul Echevarría estimates that immigrants — both citizens and non-citizens working with legal authorisation — comprise about 90 percent of CommuniKids’s staff.

But Echevarría told Al Jazeera that the push to rescind legal pathways to immigration has jeopardised the employment of several faculty members.

Five other teachers at the school have seen their ability to work affected by changes to the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programme.

All five, Echevarría explained, were originally from Venezuela. But in October, the Trump administration ended TPS status for more than 350,000 Venezuelan citizens, including the teachers at CommuniKids.

Their authorisation to work legally in the US will expire on October 2, 2026, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

“These teachers lost their ability to make a living,” Echevarria said, noting that his school requires educators with expertise in languages like Spanish, French and Mandarin.

‘Strong bonds’

For the schools themselves, the losses can be devastating. Every state in the US has reported teacher shortages to the federal government.

But advocates say the high stress and low pay of education make teachers difficult to recruit and keep.

That leads some states to look abroad for education workers. In North Carolina, for example, 1,063 foreign nationals worked full-time as grade-school teachers on temporary J-1 visas during the 2023-2024 school year.

The top destinations for such recruits were all southern states: North Carolina was followed by Florida with 996 teachers on J-1 visas, and Texas with 761.

But Echevarria said some of the biggest impacts of the deportation drive are felt by the students themselves.

“Our students develop strong bonds with their teachers, and all of a sudden, overnight, they lost their teachers,” said Echevarría.

“Their number one superpower”, he added, “is their ability to empathise and to create strong, effective bonds with people from any background”.

But when those bonds are broken, there can be mental health consequences and setbacks for educational achievement, particularly among younger children.

A 2024 study published by the American Educational Research Association found that, when teachers leave midyear, children’s language development takes a measurable hit.

In other words, the loss of a familiar teacher — someone who knows their routines, strengths and fears — can quietly stall a child’s progress. The consequences extend to a child’s sense of self and stability.

Mental health consequences

For parents like Michelle Howell, whose child attends CommuniKids, the loss of teachers has also made the classroom environment feel fragile.

“The teachers there aren’t just teachers for these young kids,” Howell said of CommuniKids. “They’re like extended family.

“They hug them, they hold them, they do the things a parent would do. When those people disappear, it’s not just hard for the kids. It’s hard for everyone.”

Howell, who is Chinese American, said the sudden disappearances reminded her of her own family’s history.

“I used to read about things like this happening in China, the place my family left to find safety,” she said. “It’s very disturbing to know that what we ran from back then is our reality now. People disappear.”

School psychologist Maria C, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her work in the Texas public school system, has noticed the children she works with struggling with instability caused by the deportation push.

The disappearance of a loved one or mentor — say, a favourite teacher — could flood a child’s body with cortisol, the hormone meant to protect them in moments of danger, she explained.

But when that stress becomes chronic, the same hormone starts to hurt more than it helps. It interferes with memory, attention and emotional regulation.

“For some, it looks like anxiety. For others, it’s depression or sudden outbursts,” Maria said. “They’re in fight-or-flight mode all day.”

She added that selective mutism, an anxiety disorder, is on the rise among the children she sees, who range in age from five to 12.

“It used to be rare, maybe one case per school,” she said. “Now I see it constantly. It’s a quiet symptom of fear.”

Preparing for the worst

Back at CommuniKids, Echevarría explained that he and other staff members have put together contingency plans, just in case immigration enforcement arrives at the pre-school.

The aim, he said, is to make both employees and students feel safer coming to class.

“We put those steps in writing because we wanted our staff to know they’re not alone,” he said. “We have attorneys on call. We’re partners with local police. But above all, our job is to protect our children.”

But as an added precaution, teachers are advised to carry their passports or work permits with them.

Even Echevarría, a US citizen born in Virginia, said he carries his passport wherever he goes. The fear of deportation has a way of lingering.

“I’m bilingual and of Hispanic descent,” he said. “Given how things are, I want to be able to prove I’m a citizen if anyone ever questions it.”