Suzanne Rogers, who has spent more than five decades as a cast member on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” has enviable endurance. This past summer, she learned she was even stronger than she’d thought.
For six weeks between June and July, Rogers, 82, underwent treatment for Stage II colorectal cancer, she told TV Insider in an interview published Thursday. The actor said she was diagnosed with the disease earlier this year after consulting a doctor about a nagging feeling that something “wasn’t quite right” with her body.
Colorectal cancer is a term for cancer originating in the colon or rectum. Chances of occurrence increase with age, and experts recommend regular screenings for those age 45 and above, continuing until at least age 75.
Rogers suspected her health issues might be serious when her doctor told her he would like to do a slew of tests, including a colonoscopy, MRI and PET scan. Still, when he confirmed the bad news, the Daytime Emmy winner — who already did routine colonoscopies — couldn’t believe it.
“I think I was in shock for several days because I take pretty good care of myself,” she told TV Insider. Fortunately, her doctor said, “It’s a good thing you caught it in time.”
After wrapping on “Days” in June, Rogers began daily radiation and chemotherapy treatments. She said the intense regimen made her treasure her weekends “because I didn’t have to go to and see a doctor. I was so tired of seeing doctors.”
Luckily, the Peacock soap happened to be on hiatus at the time, so Rogers had no trouble making her appointments. On top of that, her onscreen daughter Linsey Godfrey, who herself battled Hodgkin‘s lymphoma as a teenager, was able to accompany her on treatment visits, which made the ordeal less daunting.
“We really feel like a family,” Rogers said, adding that other cast and crew members regularly called to check in on her, and the “Days” producers never rushed her recovery.
“They all said, ‘Don’t worry about a thing, take care of yourself, get yourself well. That’s the most important thing. We are here,’ ” Rogers said. As the actor heads back to the “Days” set next week, she said she is “feeling really good,” albeit nervous that lingering fatigue might hold her back.
“That’s the only anxiousness I feel. It’s not because of my illness, let’s put it that way,” she said. When she does return to the screen, Rogers will still be sporting her famous ginger mane, as she didn’t lose her hair during chemo.
“Days of Our Lives” premiered on NBC in 1965 and is currently airing Season 61 on Peacock. In July, the classic daytime drama announced it had been renewed for a 62nd and 63rd season on the streaming service.
Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza are facing danger from unexploded ordnance, with at least 53 people killed and hundreds injured by explosives.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery are crippling Gaza City’s efforts to clear debris and rebuild critical infrastructure, the city’s mayor says, as tens of thousands of tonnes of unexploded Israeli bombs threaten lives across the Gaza Strip.
In a Sunday news conference, Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj said Gaza City requires at least 250 heavy vehicles and 1,000 tonnes of cement to maintain water networks and construct wells.
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Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from az-Zawayda in Gaza, said only six trucks had entered the territory.
At least 9,000 Palestinians remain buried under the rubble. But the new equipment is being prioritised for recovering the remains of Israeli captives, rather than assisting Palestinians in locating their loved ones still trapped beneath rubble.
“Palestinians say they know there won’t be any developments in the ceasefire until the bodies of all the Israeli captives are returned,” Khoudary said.
Footage circulating on social media showed Red Cross vehicles arriving after meetings with Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, to guide them to the location of an Israeli captive in southern Rafah.
An Israeli government spokesperson said that to search for captives’ remains, the Red Cross and Egyptian teams have been permitted beyond the ceasefire’s “yellow line”, which allows Israel to retain control over 58 percent of the besieged enclave.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, said Israel spent two weeks insisting that Hamas knew the locations of all the captives’ bodies.
“Two weeks into that, Israel has now allowed Egyptian teams and heavy machinery to enter the Gaza Strip to assist in the mammoth task of removing debris, of trying to get to the tunnels or underneath the homes or structures that the captives were held in and killed in,” she said.
Odeh added that Hamas had been unable to access a tunnel for two weeks due to the damage caused by Israeli bombing. “That change of policy is coming without explanation from Israel,” she said, noting that the Red Cross and Hamas have also been allowed to help locate potential burial sites under the rubble.
Netanyahu: ‘We control Gaza’
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to reassert political authority at home, saying that Israel controls which foreign forces may operate in Gaza.
“We control our own security, and we have made clear to international forces that Israel will decide which forces are unacceptable to us – and that is how we act and will continue to act,” he said. “This is, of course, accepted by the United States, as its most senior representatives expressed in recent days.”
Odeh explained that Netanyahu’s statements are intended to reassure the far-right base in Israel, which thinks he’s no longer calling the shots.
Those currently overseeing the ceasefire do not appear to be Israeli soldiers or army leadership, she explained, with Washington “requesting that Israel notify it ahead of time of any attack that Israel might be planning to conduct inside Gaza”.
Odeh noted that Israel’s insistence on controlling which foreign actors operate in Gaza – combined with the limited access for reconstruction – underscores a broader strategy to maintain political support at home.
Unexploded bombs a threat
Reconstruction in Gaza faces further obstacles from unexploded ordnance. Nicholas Torbet, Middle East director at HALO Trust in the United Kingdom, said Gaza is “essentially one giant city” where every part has been struck by explosives.
“Some munitions are designed to linger, but what we’re concerned about in Gaza is ordnance that is expected to explode upon impact but hasn’t,” he told Al Jazeera.
Torbet said clearing explosives is slowing the reconstruction process. His teams plan to work directly within communities to safely remove bombs rather than marking off large areas indefinitely. “The best way to dispose of a bomb is to use a small amount of explosives to blow it up,” he explained.
Torbet added that the necessary equipment is relatively simple and can be transported in small vehicles or by hand, and progress is beginning to take place.
The scale of explosives dropped by Israel has left Gaza littered with deadly remnants.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, told Al Jazeera that Israel dropped at least 200,000 tonnes of explosives on the territory, with roughly 70,000 tonnes failing to detonate.
Yahya Shorbasi, who was injured by an unexploded ordnance along with his six-year-old twin sister Nabila, lies on a bed at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Saturday, October 25, 2025 [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP]
Children have been particularly affected, often mistaking bombs for toys. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili reported the case of seven-year-old Yahya Shorbasi and his sister Nabila, who were playing outside when they found what appeared to be a toy.
“They found a regular children’s toy – just an ordinary one. The girl was holding it. Then the boy took it and started tapping it with a coin. Suddenly, we heard the sound of an explosion. It went off in their hands,” their mother Latifa Shorbasi told Al Jazeera.
Yahya’s right arm had to be amputated, while Nabila remains in intensive care.
Dr Harriet, an emergency doctor at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, described the situation as “a public health catastrophe waiting to unfold”. She said children are being injured by items that look harmless – toys, cans, or debris – but are actually live explosives.
United Nations Mine Action Service head Luke David Irving said 328 people have already been killed or injured by unexploded ordnance since October 2023.
Tens of thousands of tonnes of bombs, including landmines, mortar rounds, and large bombs capable of flattening concrete buildings, remain buried across Gaza. Basal said clearing the explosives could take years and require millions of dollars.
For Palestinians, the situation is a race against time. Al Jazeera’s Khoudary said civilians are pressing for faster progress: “They want reconstruction, they want freedom of movement, and they want to see and feel that the ceasefire is going to make it.”
Like with cigarettes, la migra should come with a warning label: Proximity to ICE could be hazardous for your health.
From Los Angeles to Chicago, Portlandand New York, the evidence is ample enough that wherever Trump sends in the immigration agency, people get hurt. And not just protesters and immigrants.
That includes 13 police officers tear-gassed in Chicago earlier this month. And, now, a U.S. marshal.
Federal agents boxed in the Toyota Camry of local TikToker Carlitos Ricardo Parias — better known to his hundreds of thousands of followers as Richard LA. As Parias allegedly tried to rev his way out of the trap, an ICE agent opened fire. One bullet hit the 44-year-old Mexican immigrant — and another ricocheted into the hand of a deputy U.S. marshal.
Neither suffered life-threatening injuries, but it’s easy to imagine that things could have easily turned out worse. Such is the chaos that Trump has caused by unleashing shock troops into U.S. cities.
Rather than take responsibility and apologize for an incident that could’ve easily been lethal, Team Trump went into their default spin mode of blaming everyone but themselves.
Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the shooting was “the consequences of conduct and rhetoric by sanctuary politicians and activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest.”
Acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli chimed in on social media soon after: “I urge California public officials to moderate their rhetoric toward federal law enforcement. Encouraging resistance to federal agents can lead to deadly consequences.” Hours later, he called Times reporter James Queally “an absolute joke, not a journalist” because my colleague noted it’s standard practice by most American law enforcement agencies to not shoot at moving vehicles. One reason is that it increases the chance of so-called friendly fire.
Federal authorities accuse Parias of ramming his car into agents’ vehicles after they boxed him in. He is being charged with assault on a federal officer.
Time, and hopefully, evidence, will show what happened — and very important, what led to what happened.
The Trump administration keeps claiming that the public anger against its immigration actions is making the job more dangerous for la migra and their sister agencies. McLaughlin and her boss, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, keep saying there’s been a 1,000% increase in assaults on immigration agents this year like an incantation. Instead of offering concrete figures, they use the supposed stat as a shield against allegations ICE tactics are going too far and as a weapon to excuse the very brutality ICE claims it doesn’t practice.
Well, even if what they say is true, there’s only one side that’s making the job more dangerous for la migra and others during raids:
La migra.
It turns out that if you send in phalanxes of largely masked federal agents to bully and intimidate people in American cities, Americans tend not to take kindly to it.
Who knew?
Gregory Bovino, center, of U.S. Border Patrol, marches with federal agents to the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on Aug. 14.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
We’re about to enter the sixth month of Trump’s plan to rid the country of undocumented immigrants. Sycophants are bragging that he’s doing the job, but they’re not caring to look at the mess left in its wake that’s becoming more and more perilous for everyone involved. They insist that those who are executing and planning raids are professionals, but professionals don’t make constant pendejos out of themselves.
Professionals don’t bring squadrons to chase after tamale ladies or day laborers, or stage flashy raids of apartments and parks that accomplish little else than footage for propaganda videos. They don’t go into neighborhoods with intimidation on their mind and ready to rough up anyone who gets in their way.
A ProPublica investigation showed that ICE has detained at least 170 U.S. citizens this year, many whom offered proof that they were in this country legally as la migra cuffed them and hauled them off to detention centers.
Professionals don’t lie like there’s a bonus attached to it — but that’s what Trump’s deportation Leviathan keeps doing. In September, McLaughlin put out a news release arguing that the shooting death of 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González in Chicago by an ICE agent was justified because he was dragged a “significant distance” and suffered serious injuries. Yet body cam footage of local police who showed up to the scene captured the two ICE agents involved in the incident describing their injuries as “nothing major.”
Closer to home, a federal jury in Los Angeles last month acquitted an activist of striking a Border Patrol agent after federal public defender Cuauhtémoc Ortega screened footage that contradicted the government’s case and poked holes in the testimony of Border Patrol staff and supervisors. Last week, ICE agents detained Oxnard activist Leonardo Martinez after a collision between their Jeep and his truck. McLaughlin initially blamed the incident on an “agitator group … engaged in recording and verbal harassment,” but footage first published by L.A. Taco showed that la migra trailed Martinez and then crashed into him twice — not the other way around.
Professionals don’t host social media accounts that regularly spew memes that paint the picture of an American homeland where white makes right and everyone else must be eliminated, like the Department of Homeland Security does. A recent post featured medieval knights wearing chain mail and helmets and wielding longswords as they encircle the slogan “The Enemies are at the Gates” above ICE’s job listing website.
The Trump administration has normalized racism and has turned cruelty into a virtue — then its mouthpieces gasp in mock horror when people resist its officially sanctioned jackbootery.
This evil buffoonery comes straight from a president who reacted to the millions of Americans who protested this weekend at No Kings rallies by posting on social media an AI-generated video of him wearing a crown and dropping feces on his critics from a jet fighter. And yet McLaughlin, Noem and other Trump bobbleheads have the gall to question why politicians decry la migra while regular people follow and film them during raids when not shouting obscenities and taunts at them?
Meanwhile, ICE is currently on a hiring spree thanks to Trump’s Bloated Beastly Bill and and has cut its training program from six months to 48 days, according to The Atlantic. It’s a desperate and potentially reckless recruitment drive.
And if you think rapidly piling more people into a clown car is going to produce less clown-like behavior by ICE on the streets of American cities, boy do I have news for you.
The popstar was absent from Mel’s happy day at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday, which saw Emma Bunton, 49, the sole other girl group member in attendance.
The Wannabe singer stunned in a gown adorned with dazzling pearl detail around the collar and sleeves and a long flowing veil as she stepped out of the iconic venue.
She uploaded a snap showing the happy couple together with the words: “So so happy for you both and beyond gutted I couldn’t be there.
“Excited to celebrate with you really soon. Yipee!”
In her next slide, Mel showcased a snap of her performing in Stockholm, Sweden.
She added the words: “Bit of a soggy one last night.”
Mel shows off her musclesCredit: ErotemeThe toned Spice Girl, 51, wore a leotard and red boots to help launch her new musicCredit: Unknown
The KnuckleHeadz may just be the thing to save America’s youth. They’re categorized too neatly as a punk band from Whittier, but they’re actually a movement: Southern California’s most raucous self-help program and hardcore band. The members are built like dockworkers and dressed like a deleted scene from “The Warriors”: black-and-green leather vests with a spiky-haired skull back patch. They are also the driving force behind the Punk Rock Fight Club, a Southern California-based organization dedicated to improving young men’s lives through fitness and structure. The rules are as strict as they are simple, and in this topsy-turvy world, truly radical: no hard drugs, no crime, no racists, no abusers. Respect yourself, your brothers and your community.
The KnuckleHeadz achieved a moment of internet fame after hosting a completely unsanctioned show in an unsuspecting McDonald’s for a hundred people. The viral clip of the show is the convenient entry point, but it sells short what the gentlemen have built. Onstage, the KnuckleHeadz are all sweat and spectacle: profanity-laced breakdowns, fans crowd surfing on boogie boards riding a human tide, and the green-and-black army in the pit pulling strangers upright. The absurdity of a fast-food slam pit, bodies and burgers briefly airborne — suggests anarchy. Look closer and you see choreography: Men catching falls, clearing space and enforcing a code. Punk has always promised salvation by noise. The KnuckleHeadz add a footnote: Salvation requires reps, rules and someone mean enough to care. Offstage, they run an infrastructure for staying alive.
The KnuckleHeadz in Whittier
(Dick Slaughter)
Founded in June 2021 by frontman Thomas Telles of Whittier, better known as Knucklehead Tom, and with the help of guitarist and tattooer Steven Arceo, aka Saus, of El Monte, the Punk Rock Fight Club (PRFC) has grown in a few years to six chapters and more than 200 members across Southern California. What started as a tight circle around a band hardened into a movement: discipline for kids who never got it, structure for men who need it, and a community without substance abuse . Prospects earn their way through mornings, sweat and commitment before they’re trusted with the skull back patch. The rules read like a brick wall and function like a doorway.
“I started the club because I wanted to do good in the scene,” Knucklehead Tom said “I wanted to create a tribe where we all supported each other, a family for people from all walks of life, especially those who came from broken homes. I wanted people to know they have somewhere to go and a family they can count on.”
Knucklehead Tom of The KnuckleHeadz puts his mic in to the crowd while performing with the band from Whittier.
(Dick Slaughter)
I first ran into the KnuckleHeadz and a few club members by accident three years ago in a London train station en route to the Rebellion Punk Rock Music Festival in Blackpool, a yearly event featuring more than 300 veteran and emerging bands. They were impossible to miss — part wolf pack, part brotherhood, pure energy. That year the KnuckleHeadz struck a chord with me, not just through their all-in, no-holds-barred performances, but also through their message, their obvious love for one another and their mission to better their community. Since then, I have taken a hard look inside both the band and the club; I visited their gym and attended many of their shows. I have met and talked with families and those the KnuckleHeadz and the club have helped. They have indeed, in many cases, worked miracles. But the guys don’t call them miracles. They call it Tuesday.
“Since we founded Punk Rock Fight Club, we paved way for what we knew was the movement and lifestyle many people in our scene needed,” Arceo said. “We’ve changed so many lives and with that our lives changed as well. We made a family built on brotherhood, loyalty with the camaraderie that can only be achieved through martial arts and punk rock. That’s something many of us grew up without. So to be able to bring this into the world is worth every sacrifice. We’re going on five years strong and will keep going till the day we die.”
The band’s ascent mirrors the spread of the club: a steady climb from underground slots to punk’s biggest stages. They earned a place on the final NOFX show and graduated from Rebellion’s side stage to the festival’s main stage. They’ve organized benefits for causes that don’t trend and for people who can’t afford to be causes. The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas recently added a piece of PRFC memorabilia, one of the club’s cuts — a leather vest with the skull back patch — to its collection, a true museum piece that still smells faintly of sweat. Next, KnuckleHeadz prepare for a U.S. run with punk legends GBH, the sort of tour that turns rumor into résumé.
Saus, co-founder of the KnuckleHeadz, wearing the band’s signature vest.
The Whittier dojo, KnuckleHead Martial Arts, is where the KnuckleHeadz code gets practical. It’s where guys run martial arts drills and where the mats serve double duty as community center flooring. During the band’s “F Cancer” benefit for 17-year-old Cesar “Little Cesar” Lopez II, the driveway became an impromptu slam pit. Inside, kids tumbled on the mats while guitars shook the walls. Families brought food, local businesses donated services, and more than $6,000 went toward treatments. In the carnival-like atmosphere outside, Little Cesar grinned and hyped the pit from the sideline, proving that joy, like violence, can be contagious.
One member, Bernard Schindler, 55, of La Mirada, came in after a life of ricochets: rehab, prison, relapse, repeat. The club gave him a schedule first and a future second, and now with the support of the club, he’s been clean and sober for more than two years.
Saus performing with the KnuckleHeadz during a Punk Rock Fight Club benefit show outside the KnuckleHeadz gym in Whittier.
(Dick Slaughter)
“Tom and the Punk Rock Fight Club completely turned my life around,” Schindler said. “It gave me purpose, discipline and a new family of brothers that push me to be better. I went from being a broken down drug addict to the healthiest I’ve ever been mentally, physically and emotionally in the 55 years I’ve been alive.”
Since getting involved with the KnuckleHeadz nearly three years ago, Schindler says he’s gotten closer to his family, including his three sons and his girlfriend, in addition to staying sober. “I can honestly say that I couldn’t have done it without Tom and our God-given club, the Punk Rock Fight Club,” he said.
The bassist known as Knucklehead Randy performs while riding on the shoulders of a fellow club member at a benefit show in Whittier.
(Dick Slaughter)
The PRFC trophy case is full of medals and awards, sure, but the real accomplishments are much quieter and miraculous. There are pay stubs where rap sheets used to be, text threads that start with the question “You good?” at 3:17 a.m., and apartment keys handed over when a kid can’t go home.
Hip-hop synth-punk artist N8NOFACE, now a fixture on lineups from the annual L.A. festival Cruel World tours with Limp Bizkit and Corey Feldman, calls Tom “my brother” and credits that code with keeping him aligned. “I was getting clean, and I’ve always believed that if you follow the right people, it helps you stay on your path,” N8 says. “Tom was about health, about not getting all messed up, about being a fighter and a warrior and taking care of your body first. To find that in punk was very different.”
When asked about his hopes for the future of the band, Tom says, “I just want to keep having fun. We love doing it and are grateful for all the love and support.“ The band is currently playing shows across SoCal with gutter punk legends GBH, including a show Friday at the Ventura Music Hall.
“With the club, I want to keep changing lives. It makes me happy to know that my son Nieko has an army of goodhearted uncles if anything were to happen to me. The righteous men in this club make me so proud.”
That’s the trick. That’s the point. In the noise between those truths, a lot of young men hear something they’ve never believed before: a future they’re allowed to keep.
Slaughter is a photographer and writer who has covered music and culture for countless outlets, including the OC Weekly and L.A. Times. He is a founding member of In Spite Magazine.
THE son of Dame Deborah James has honoured her “amazing” legacy by following in her fundraising footsteps.
Hugo Bowen ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon at the weekend, smashing his target to raise £3,000 for her Bowelbabe Fund, in true Dame Debs style.
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Deborah, pictured with her husband Seb, Hugo and daughter Eloise, received her damehood from Prince William before she died of bowel cancer in June 2022, aged 40Credit: Graham Prentice
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Dame Deborah’s son, Hugo Bowen, ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in memory of his inspirational mum, raising more than £4,300 for her Bowelbabe FundCredit: Supplied
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Hugo told The Sun running was something he and his mum loved to do togetherCredit: Deborah James
The 18-year-old told The Sun: “Running was something Mum and I used to do when I was younger, we often did park runs and I think I spurred her on to run a little faster.
“It was amazing, there was so much support along the route, which really helped motivate me to run harder and faster than I would have.
“It meant so much to be able to run in memory of her, and the amazing change she has inspired.”
Reflecting on the advice his running-obsessed mum would’ve given before the race, he added: “She would definitely have told me to make sure I had had a poo.
READ MORE ON DEBORAH JAMES
“And to ‘go smash it’, which I probably did a bit too much at the start, so I was super tired towards the end.”
In the last weeks of her life, the Sun columnist launched her Bowelbabe Fund, aiming to raise £250,000 to help fund research into the disease to help prevent “any future Deborahs”, and give cancer patients the hope of new and better treatments.
So far, the Fund has supported more than 11 different projects, including a state-of-the-art interventional radiology machine at The Royal Marsden hospital where Deborah was treated.
Other scientific studies that have received a contribution from the Fund include one that is investigating personalised medicine for patients with bowel cancer, a cause Dame Debs was very passionate about.
The King went on to quote Debs parting message to her followers before she died: “Find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope.”
“I’m honestly so proud of Mum and everything the Fund has done to help others,” Hugo added.
“I remember when she set it up she had a target of £250,000 and now we are at over £18million raised – it is beyond what any of us could’ve imagined.
“It’s such a beautiful legacy for my Mum and the research it is funding will save so many lives.”
Inspired by his mum, Hugo has already added another £4,300 to the Fund’s total, and thanked all those who have supported him so far.
“Everyone has been so supportive, I thought £3,000 would be a really difficult target to hit but we’ve smashed it and I’m so happy and honestly so surprised,” he added.
“I’m really grateful to everyone that has donated.”
Hugo was just the latest in the family to take on a running challenge, with Debs’ brother Ben and sister Sarah taking on the London Marathon this year – Sarah wearing the same poo emoji costume her sister was often seeing running in.
Sun columnist Deborah was 35 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2016, and survived five and a half yearsCredit: Stewart Williams
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Hugo and his sister Eloise would often join their mum at Park Runs or the annual CRUK Race For LifeCredit: Supplied
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Deborah was an avid runner, and throughout her treatment would run to The Royal Marsden Hospital to collect test and scan results, to prove to herself that her body could still do itCredit: Instagram
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Dame Debs with her childrenCredit: Instagram
The signs of bowel cancer you need to know – remember BOWEL
B:Bleeding
There are several possible causes of bleeding from your bottom, of blood in your poo.
Bright red blood could come from swollen blood vessels, haemorrhoids or piles, in your back passage.
Dark red or black blood could come from your bowel or stomach.
Blood in your stools is one of the key signs of bowel cancer, so it’s important to mention it to your doctor so they can investigate.
2. O: Obvious change in loo habits
It’s important to tell your GP if you have noticed any changes in your bowel habits, that lasts three weeks or longer.
It’s especially important if you have also noticed signs of blood in your poo.
You might notice you need to go to the loo more often, you might have looser stools or feel like you’re not going enough or fully emptying your bowels.
Don’t be embarrassed, your GP will have heard a lot worse! Speak up and get it checked.
3. W: Weight loss
This is less common than the other symptoms, but an important one to be aware of. If you’ve lost weight and don’t really know why, it’s worth mentioning to your GP.
You may not feel like eating, feel sick, bloated and not hungry.
4. E: Extreme tiredness
Bowel cancer that causes bleeding can cause a lack of iron in the body – anaemia. If you develop anaemia you’re likely to feel tired and your skin might look pale.
5. L: Lump or pain
As with lots of other forms of cancer, a lump or pain can be a sign of bowel cancer.
It’s most likely you’ll notice a pain or lump in your stomach or back passage.
See your GP if it doesn’t go away, or if it affects how you eat or sleep
A MAN lived with a transplanted pig liver for more than a month in the most successful operation of its kind, scientists say.
The terminally ill 71-year-old received the genetically modified organ in Anhui, China, last year.
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Chinese doctors transplanted a gene-edited liver from a micropig (stock image)Credit: Alamy
It then functioned normally for 38 days – five weeks – before having to be removed due to blood clotting, a complication from the op.
The patient was the first living person to have the procedure and survived for 171 days, about six months, afterwards.
He had run out of treatment options for liver cancer and scarring caused by hepatitis B, and died from internal bleeding months after the transplant was removed.
His survival is not as long as the record for a patient with a pig’s kidney, at six months and counting.
Scientists have also experimented with transplanting a lung into a brain-dead patient.
A new era has started
Dr Heiner WedemeyerThe Journal of Hepatology
Surgeon and study author Dr Beicheng Sun, from Anhui Medical University, said: “This case proves that a genetically engineered pig liver can function in a human for an extended period.
“It is a pivotal step forward, demonstrating both the promise and the remaining hurdles.”
Scientists hope that organs from pigs could be used to save people at risk of dying on transplant waiting lists.
They are similar in size to human body parts and gene editing can cut the risk of the immune system rejecting them.
Writing in the Journal of Hepatology, Dr Sun said more experiments are needed to perfect the procedure.
Dr Heiner Wedemeyer, editor of the journal, said: “A new era of transplant has started.”
HOW TO BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR
JUST over 4,500 people received an organ transplant in 2023 from 2,387 donors – but more than 400 people per year die waiting because there are not enough donors.
NHS Blood and Transplant says: “Only one per cent of people who die in the UK every year die in the right circumstances and in the right location to be eligible for their organs to be used to save someone’s life.
“That is why we need as large a pool of people as possible.”
The law has changed so all adults are “opt-out” organ donors, meaning hospitals can use their organs unless they told the NHS they did not want to be a donor, or their family says no after they die.
Six in 10 families refuse to let doctors use their loved one’s organs.
Israeli tanks are advancing in Tal al-Hawa, Sabra and other neighbourhoods of Gaza City in their ground invasion.
Published On 28 Sep 202528 Sep 2025
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Hamas has issued what it calls a “warning” that the lives of two captives held in Gaza City are in danger as Israeli tanks push deeper inside several neighbourhoods of the besieged urban centre, where tens of thousands of Palestinians are trapped by Israel’s ground invasion and bombardment.
The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, said on Sunday that contact has been lost with fighters holding Omri Miran and Matan Angrest after “brutal military operations and violent targeting in the Sabra and Tal al-Hawa neighbourhoods during the last 48 hours”.
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“The lives of the two captives are in real danger, and the occupation forces must immediately withdraw to the south of Road 8 and halt aerial sorties for 24 hours starting from 18:00 this evening (15:00 GMT), until an attempt is made to extract the two prisoners,” it said.
Hamas released a “farewell picture” of captives in Gaza this month in another attempt to stop the Israeli army as it systematically destroys Gaza City and displaces hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians once again.
Israel said 48 captives remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive. But the country has refused to stop the war despite being increasingly accused of committing genocide and as Israeli families call and protest for a comprehensive deal to end the war and bring back all captives.
Their pleas have not been heeded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, and relatives and supporters are blaming the government for their prolonged captivity.
The political wing of Hamas said in a statement earlier on Sunday that the group has not received any new ceasefire or peace proposals from mediators Qatar and Egypt, even as United States President Donald Trump continues to predict an imminent ceasefire, which he has done several times in recent weeks.
The group confirmed that negotiations remain halted after Israel tried to assassinate top Hamas leaders in Doha on September 9 as they gathered to review a new ceasefire proposal presented by Trump.
But Hamas said it is “ready to study any proposal from the brother mediators with positivity and responsibility, in a manner that preserves the national rights of our people”.
Far-right Israeli ministers said on Sunday that they oppose a 21-point plan presented by Trump and any other deal that would put an end to the war before eliminating Hamas.
In a post on X, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “Mr. Prime Minister, you have no mandate to end the war without a decisive defeat of Hamas.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would “never agree to a Palestinian state – even if it is difficult, even if it has a price, and even if it takes time”.
More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war in October 2023, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
Dozens more Palestinians were killed in air strikes and shelling or while seeking aid on Sunday, including a child in a bombardment of the Sabra neighbourhood. Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city reported an infant died due to malnutrition and inadequate medical treatment.
Israeli tanks are also inching closer towards the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which used to be the largest medical complex in Gaza but now lies mostly in ruins after several previous Israeli sieges.
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of the hospital, said on Sunday that his team is committed to keeping the facility running as long as possible as patients and displaced people are sheltering there.
REALITY TV stars Jack Fincham and Aaron Chalmers fought each other in a dramatic bare knuckle fight last night.
The pair – who both have a colourful roster of exes – went head to head in a huge reality super fight and it was was Aaron who came out on top, stopping Jack in round two.
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The former Geordie Shore star took on ex-Love Islander Jack FinchamCredit: Instagram / @finchamboxing
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Aaron stopped Jack in round twoCredit: Instagram / @finchamboxing
Jack, 34 – who hasn’t fought since a 2022 exhibition bout against Anthony Taylor – found fame in 2019 on ITV2dating show Love Island.
However, Aaron dismissed the claims, and told The Sun’s Bizarre column: “Apparently I spat food at Lauren. 1. I am not a tramp 2. If I spat food at her she would knock us out and 3. I wouldn’t waste food.”
NICOLE BASS
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Geordie Shore’s Aaron found brief love with Lewis Bloor’s ex Nicole BassCredit: Instagram
The man magnet has allegedly had sex with at least thirteen Premier League footballers thought to include Mario Balotelli.
Frisky pair Jenny and Aaron shot to the bedroom quickly after meeting – mainly to wind up their exes.
He told the camera: “I’ve got the keys to the penthouse. I wanna sh*g Jenny and I couldn’t give a f**k if that hurts Becca. Let’s get some f**king action going.”
Despite Jenny and Aaron’s on-air bonk on EOTB, they are just pals.
CHANTELLE CONNELLY
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Geordie Shore stars Chantelle and Aaron got matching tattoos after one dateCredit: Flynet Pictures
Geordie Shore star Chantelle and Aaron immediately struck up a connection when she joined the cast in 2016.
They first got together in 2019 and moved into their first home together back in May 2024.
The pair have repeatedly split and got back together during the course of their two-year relationship, but this time they were said to be at loggerheads.
The pair were locked in an ongoing feud overChloe’s decision to continue making money from OnlyFans.
The Essex-based beauty caught Aaron’s eye with her sexy Instagram pics and the pair’s relationship blossomed online and they were thought to be Maldives-bound.
However, by May, he was seen getting frisky with old flame Marnie, suggesting their romance was dead in the water/Indian Ocean.
EDDIE Hearn and his wife are allegedly living separate lives with the boxing promoter moving “abroad” and recently being spotted without his wedding ring.
Viewers were also quick to point out the boxing promoter’s wife’s absence from his recent tell-all Netflixdocumentary.
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Eddie Hearn, 46, pictured with his wife ChloeCredit: Splash News
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Hearn’s documentary has recently hit Netflix screensCredit: Getty
Although the couple remain married, their relationship has grown increasingly distant, reports Mail Online.
Eddie, 46, now spends most of his time in his luxurious Monaco home, while former beautician, Chloe, resides at the Hearn family’s estate in Ingatestone, Essex.
While Eddie resides in sunny Monaco for six months of the year, reportedly due to tax reasons, his wife occupies a smaller property away from the main house on the grand estate.
It is believed that the pair’s two teenage children travel between the two residences, regularly paying visits to their father.
However, beyond living in separate countries, the chairman of Matchroom sport also appears to not be wearing his ring in his new Netflix tell-all documentary.
The new show has captivated audience as it follows the famous father-son duo in their bid to take their heavyweight sports promotion company to the next level.
Yet, viewers were quick to spot both the absence of his wife of 13 years and a wedding band on his finger.
Eddie, who represents stars including Anthony Joshua and Canelo Alvarez, doesn’t appear to wear the band in the show or in the publicity photos taken ahead of its release.
Due to not being seen in public for months, whether or not Chloe is wearing her ring remains unknown.
The sports promoter’s wife has only been spotted once this year on March 31 when she resigned as a director from Matchroom’s charity foundation.
Late Ghanaian boxer Ernest Akushey works out with trainer
The following day, Eddie filed papers with Companies House confirming his relocation to Monaco.
However, despite this, friends of the pair reportedly remain adamant that the marriage remains robust and they are still very much together.
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Hearn pictured with boxing legend Anthony JoshuaCredit: Instagram @eddiehearn
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The promoter is chairman of Matchroom SportCredit: Getty
A spokesperson for the couple said: “Rumours around the status of Eddie and Chloe’s marriage are untrue. They are still very much together.”
A source close to the family confirmed this, adding: “Eddie and Chloe may spend a lot of time apart but that’s down to the differing demands on them for business and family reasons – and they remain very much together.”
Another friend echoed these statements, explaining that the couple do lead increasingly separate lives, however, they remain strong as a couple and have no plans to change that.
The friend said that they are very different people with very different demands, as he fronts a huge business, while she is the primary carer to their girls.
Another source close to the Hearn’s also said that Eddie and Chloe are made for each other, adding that they have a modern relationship.
Prior to choosing to live in separate homes, the couple has always remained confident about their differences.
In a 2015 joint interview at Chloe’s Brentwood beauty salon, she described being married to Eddie as meaning in practice, learning to do everything on your own.
Eddie then chimed in, describing her as a boxing widow.
Eddie also recently shared a post to Instagram of him being welcomed to Kamani Living, a luxury real estate company based in Dubai.
This could suggest that the promoter is looking to make more investments in the Middle East.
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Eddie recently shared a post to instagram as he welcomed to Kamani Living, a Dubai-based luxury real estate companyCredit: kamaniliving / instagram
For many, Omara Portuondo is best known for her participation in the Buena Vista Social Club; but the nonagenarian has lived many lives before and after the formation of the internationally recognized Cuban group. The new PBS documentary, “Omara: Cuba’s Legendary Diva,” looks to reexamine and capture the beauty and the chaos of these other many lives.
Directed by Hugo Perez, the feature — which premieres Sept. 26 on your local PBS channel — tells Portuondo’s personal history not only through the lens of her Afro-Cuban heritage but also through the prism of a woman confronting the realities of Cuba’s longstanding political strife.
“It immediately occurred to me that I was being given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work with a great artist in the twilight of their career — imagine taking a time machine and going back in time to work with Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday in their later years,” Perez said in a press release.
“When we began, Omara was in her late eighties, and still touring extensively around the world. Yet despite the fact that she was still selling out venues across the globe, she was confronting ageism from promoters and journalists who only wanted to write about her ‘final tour.’ I felt that there was an opportunity not just to create a portrait of an iconic artist but to document how she responded to age bias with verve and panache and not just a little sauciness. Never count a Cuban woman down and out.”
Born into a mixed-race family in Havana on Oct. 29, 1930, at a time when such relationships were considered taboo, Portuondo began gracing the stage at age 17 by joining the dance group of the famed Tropicana Club. As a member of Cuarteto d’Aida in the 1950s, she sang alongside Nat King Cole and toured the U.S. while also recording albums. From the late 1960s through the 1980s, Portuondo found continued success as a solo act and even ventured into the world of film and television.
Ever involved in the political events of the moment, she never shied away from performing songs dedicated to revolutionaries like Che Guevara. In 1974, the singer recorded an album dedicated to the U.S.-ousted Chilean socialist president Salvador Allende.
In the mid-1990s, Portuondo began traveling the world with the renowned Cuban musical ensemble, the Buena Vista Social Club. The band’s fame skyrocketed in 1999 after German filmmaker Wim Wenders made a documentary about the musicians titled “Buena Vista Social Club” that received numerous awards and was nominated for an Academy Award. At the heart of the film were moments when Portuondo’s talents jumped off the screen and worldwide audiences could see the power and history behind her artistry.
The story of the Buena Vista Social Club was turned into an eponymous musical in 2023, with Portuondo featured as one of the main characters. After the musical hit Broadway in 2025, Natalie Venetia Belcon — who portrayed Portuondo as part of the show’s original Broadway cast — won the Tony for featured actress in a musical at this year’s awards.
While, for many, Portuondo’s impact and star power emanates from all things Buena Vista Social Club, the new documentary spotlights how Portuondo has not slowed down her hustle at her advanced age as she continues touring worldwide. Included in the movie are interviews with musicians from across the globe, like Diego el Cigala, Roberto Fonseca and Arturo O’Farrill.
The film also captures some of Portuondo’s more recent performances, which reveal new depths of the singer’s soulfulness and power.
“I also wanted to make a film that would show her in performance today, spotlighting songs that would help carry us through the story of her life,” the movie’s director said. “When she sings about love, Omara plumbs the depths of heartbreak, and I could not imagine telling her story without seeing her singing these great songs.”
When I was in high school in the 1990s, I worked the box office at Tucson’s sole art house, the Loft Cinema. My favorite shift was Saturday night when a parade of true characters began lining up for the weekly midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The shadow cast arrived before the audience, a ragtag group of aspiring and established actors and fans, costumes in hand. They’d decamp in the bathrooms on either side of the lobby without regard for who was in the women’s or men’s, and proceed to cake on makeup and rib each other in delightfully uncouth terms.
The actors would wait by the theater doors to make their appointed entrances beneath the screen after the film began, and soon the theater was a sweaty mess of wild hair, dripping foundation, torn fishnet stockings, smeared lipstick, thrown popcorn, spilled soda and ribald song and dance.
There was no doubt in my 16-year-old mind that this was underground musical theater at its finest. At that time — when one of my best friends was struggling with how to come out as gay, fearing fierce social backlash — the topsy-turvy sexuality of the show, with its outlandish, cross-dressing lead, felt deliciously subversive. This was not “Grease” or “Godspell,” it had more in common with the stage shows in “Cabaret.”
Week after week, the same shadow cast arrived, treating the show as its professional run. If someone was out sick, an eager understudy would step in. This was one small art theater in Tucson. The “Rocky Horror” phenomenon, with its live shadow casts, has been ongoing around the world for decades now. That means thousands of shadow casts in thousands of cities beneath thousands of screens — each engaging in their own form of participatory community theater.
As the film honors its 50th anniversary this year with special engagements and talks across the country (see below for an Academy Museum screening), star Tim Curry is being celebrated for breaking boundaries with his onscreen portrayal of the eccentric, cross-dressing scientist Frank-N-Furter. But it’s important to remember that the show began as a stage musical in London in 1973 — with Curry originating his role upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre. The musical then moved to L.A.’s Roxy Theatre for an electric yearlong run.
“Rocky Horror” is now known as as the longest continuous theatrical release in cinema history. But thanks to the talent and dedication of its legions of shadow casts — it just might be the longest continuous piece of live musical theater too.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt, inviting you to do the Time Warp. Here’s this week’s round-up of arts and culture news.
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Wei Wang and Max Cauthorn in Liam’s Scarlett’s ballet “Frankenstein.”
(Erik Tomasson)
Frankenstein San Francisco Ballet brings Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic horror story to life in a three-act production of British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein.” The ballet originally premiered at the Royal Ballet in 2016 and has gone on to become a modern classic with a score by Lowell Liebermann and stage design by critically acclaimed ballet and opera artist John MacFarlane. – Mark Swed 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 3; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4;and 1 p.m. Oct. 5. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org
Brittany Adebumola, left, and Dominique Thorne in a New York production of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” in 2023.
(Matthew Murphy)
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Playwright Jocelyn Bioh (“School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play”) captures the camaraderie and competitiveness, solidarity and rivalry of workplace relations in this entertaining comedy about the African immigrant employees of a Harlem hair salon earning their daily bread as they work their fingers — and mouths! — to exhaustion. The play is wildly amusing, but Bioh isn’t just kidding around. By familiarizing us with the workday rhythms of these flamboyant women, she makes us feel all the more acutely the threats that accompany their marginal status in a not-always-welcoming America. Whitney White, who directed the impeccably acted Broadway premiere, helms this much-praised co-production. — Charles McNulty Wednesday through Nov. 9. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
Laufey performs Driday and Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Laufey This young pop-jazz singer from Iceland shot a concert movie last year at the Hollywood Bowl; now she’s doubling down with two adopted-hometown shows at Crypto.com Arena just as her album “A Matter of Time” is garnering substantial Grammy buzz. — Mikael Wood 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Crypto.com Arena, 1111 S. Figueroa St., downtown L.A. cryptoarena.com
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
“Something Else No. 61,” 2020, by Edith Baumann. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches.
(Alan Shaffer)
🎨 Acts of Surface A three-artist show featuring works by Edith Baumann, Chip Barrett and Vincent Enrique Hernandez that explore the literal and emotional facets of surface as a repository for memory, transformation and abstraction. Noon-5 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Friday or by appointment, through Oct. 23. 7811 Gallery, 7811 Melrose Ave. 7811gallery.com
📷 Corita Kent: The Sorcery of Images A trove of more than 15,000 35mm slides from the archive of the activist nun offers a peek into her artistic practice, her life as a teacher at Immaculate Heart College and the world she lived in between 1955 and 1968. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through Jan. 24. Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd. marcianoartfoundation.org
🎤 Tate McRae The main pop girls have been expanding their portfolios of late. After showing off a limber pop sound on 2023’s “Think Later” that made full use of her dance gifts, McRae proved her staying power with this year’s “So Close to What,” which topped the Billboard 200 by pulling from a rich seam of Y2K R&B and club jams. Yet she scored her first No. 1 single with the Morgan Wallen collab “What I Want.” Whatever you think of Wallen — and McRae’s young, queer fan base had thoughts — the song showed that McRae’s Alberta roots could drop right into a pop-country setting. (August Brown) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Nov. 8. Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. thekiaforum.com
🎭 Parallel Process Writer-director David Kohner Zuckerman’s drama stars Alan McRae and Tom Jenkins as brothers facing down a 50-year divide over the Vietnam War. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 2 (except Oct. 26). Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. parallelprocesstheplay.com
🎞️ The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shiver with anticipation as star Tim Curry, producer Lou Adler and a shadow cast performance alongside a 4k screening of the movie mark 50 years of delectable decadence. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
🎼 🎹 Daniil Trifonov One of the most impressive pianists of his generation, the 34-year-old Daniil Trifonov, who starred in a Rachmaninoff week with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in August, opens the Soka Performing Arts fall series at Soka University in Aliso Viejo with a recital program that features seldom heard solo piano works by three early 20th century Russian composers — Taneyev, Prokofiev and Myaskovsky — along with a Schumann sonata. In the meantime, Deutsche Grammophon recently released a stunning new Trifonov recording of overlooked, intimate solo piano works by Tchaikovsky. (Mark Swed) 8 p.m. Friday. Soka University Concert Hall, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo. soka.edu 7 p.m. Wednesday. UC Santa Barbara, Campbell Hall, campuscalendar.ucsb.edu
SATURDAY 🎭 Anthropology Prolific and popular playwright Lauren Gunderson gravitates toward brainy subjects. Here, she delves into a fraught philosophical question: Can AI substitute for the human comfort we need, or are we only hastening the demise of our species by depending on digital simulations of people who actually care about us? John Perrin Flynn directs the North American premiere of a play by a dramatist whose work (“I and You,” “The Book of Will”) is as thought-provoking as it is emotionally resonant. (Charles McNulty) Through Nov. 9, check specific dates. Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave. roguemachinetheatre.org
🎞️ Dazed and Confused Vidiots’ third annual celebration of Richard Linklater’s 1993 coming-of-age classic includes screenings, a takeover of the Microcinema with games on freeplay, a unique commemorative T-shirt, giveaways, food and drinks, all-vinyl DJ sets from KCRW’s Dan Wilcox and Wyldeflower and more. Close out the festivities with the period-appropriate 1976 Led Zeppelin concert film “The Song Remains the Same” at 9:30 p.m. 3 and 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
🎭 Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol The artistic collective’s “Centroamérica” tells the story of a Nicaraguan woman on the run from Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, exploring history and the present to discover the region’s diversity, conflict and resilience. 8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Installation view, “Echoes,” at 839.
(Vanessa Wallace Gonzales/839)
🎨 Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales “Echoes,” a solo exhibition by the multiracial Black and Mexican artist originally from Southern California, now based in New York, features cyanotypes, sculptural vessels and a multimedia installation in a hybrid home/gallery. Noon-6 p.m. Saturday or by appointment, through Oct. 18. 839 Gallery, 839 N. Cherokee Ave. 839gallery.com
🎼 Quintessential Classical The Colburn Orchestra opens its season with conductor Nicholas McGegan, clarinetist Minkyung Chu and masterworks from Bach, Haydn and Mozart. 7 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
TUESDAY
“The Buddhist Deities Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi,” Tibet, circa 15th century; pigments on cotton.
🎨 Realms of the Dharma Gallery Tour LACMA conservator Soko Furuhata and curator Stephen Little discuss preservation and highlights from the exhibition of pan-Asian Buddhist art created across centuries. 7-8:30 p.m. LACMA, Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Writer Roxane Gay is the guest Tuesday at Oxy Live!
(David Butow / For the Times)
📘 Oxy Live! Occidental College’s speaker series kicks off a new season with a new host, artist Alexandra Grant, and bestselling author and feminist icon Roxane Gay. Future guests include Taylor Mac and Robin Coste Lewis. 7 p.m. Occidental college Thorne Hall, 1600 Campus Road. oxy.edu
WEDNESDAY
Alex Hernandez, left, and Marlon Alexander Vargas rehearse for “Littleboy/Littleman” at the Geffen Playhouse.
(Jeff Lorch)
🎭 Littleboy/Littleman Nicaraguan brothers have different ideas about the American dream in the world premiere of playwright Rudi Goblen’s drama, which mixes poetry, live music and ritual. Alex Hernandez and Marlon Alexander Vargas star for director Nancy Medina. Through Nov. 2. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Westwood. geffenplayhouse.org
THURSDAY 🎼 The Rite of Spring with Dudamel In an online note, the conductor writes, “if the LA Phil has a signature piece, it’s The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky shocked the world when it was first performed more than a century ago, and even today, it still feels bold, modern, and full of energy — just like this orchestra.” The evening also includes John Adams’ “Frenzy” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.” 8 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 4; 2 p.m. Oct. 5. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Ken Gonzales-Day, “The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park (Lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, San Jose, 1933),” 2006, digital print on vinyl
(USC Fisher Museum of Art)
Times art critic Christopher Knight reviewed “Ken Gonzales-Day: History’s ‘Nevermade’,” a poignant retrospective at USC’s Fisher Museum of Art. The show features a mural-sized photograph titled, “The Wonder Gaze, St. James Park (Lynching of Thomas Thurmond and John Holmes, San Jose, 1933),” which shows the scene beneath a tree used to lynch two men accused (but not convicted) of kidnapping and murder. To create the image, Gonzales-Day photographed the original photo of the brutal scene and digitally removed the ropes and the victims, leaving only a bare tree and the many humans milling about beneath it. “What’s left is a spectral scene, ghosted by the limitations of old black-and-white photographic technology and further heightened by the uneven glow generated by the camera’s flashbulb. The mob has become the subject,” Knight writes.
A trio of vibrant 99-seat theaters are in the spotlight of Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s newest column, which features reviews of Tennessee Williams’ “The Night of the Iguana” at Boston Court; the West Coast premiere of Brian Quijada’s play, “Fly Me to the Sun,” at the Fountain Theatre; and Rogue Machine Theatre’s world premiere production of “Adolescent Salvation” by Tim Venable. McNulty was particularly taken by the fine production of the not-often-revived “Night of the Iguana,” writing, “Williams is the humane, humorously defiant playwright we need when authoritarianism is on the march.”
Earlier this week, I got to spend the morning in the company of artist Jeff Koons as he arrived at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to install the celebratory first planting of a diminutive succulent in his monumental topiary sculpture, “Split-Rocker,” which is set to anchor the east side of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries when it opens in April of next year. LACMA CEO and Director Michael Govan was also on hand, and the two men walked into the not-yet-finished building to regard the sculpture from the floor-to-ceiling windows above. “It’s an outdoor sculpture and indoor sculpture,” Govan said.
Museums across the country are feeling the chill from the Trump administration’s push against DEI, as well as its pressure campaign against the Smithsonian Institute for what it calls “divisive, race-centered ideology.” This hasn’t stopped the Getty from continuing to ramp up a growing slate of programs and grants aimed at preserving and strengthening Black arts and cultural heritage in Los Angeles and across the country. I spoke with a variety of curators, researchers and administrators at Getty about the institution’s efforts.
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A statue depicting President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands is seen near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23 in Washington, DC. A plaque below the figures states “In Honor of Friendship Month.”
(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
A 12-foot-tall statue showing President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands while engaged in a gleeful dance was removed from the National Mall earlier this week — a day after it was first erected there. The statue, created by an anonymous group that received a permit to place it on the mall, was titled “Best Friends Forever” and featured a plaque that read, “We celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” The National Park Service removed the sculpture before it was scheduled to be taken down, saying it was “not compliant with the permit issued.”
LA Opera is staging its annual free simulcast on Saturday — this time for “West Side Story.” Per usual, one simulcast will take place on the Santa Monica Pier (bring a blanket, it will get chilly), but for the first time, a second simulcast will take place at Loma Alta Park in Altadena. The community event comes as fire recovery efforts continue, and excitement is building with a variety of local performers and vendors expected to take part in pre-show events, including “the Jets” from JPL.
George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, which awards fellowships to artists and curators worldwide, is being targeted by President Trump’s Justice Department as part of Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he calls the “radical left.”
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Take a break from doomscrolling to read this delightful story by Deborah Netburn about how a shoemaker in East L.A. ended up with shoe forms for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
LOCALS in “Britain’s most dangerous” say it has become overrun with knife-wielding kids who are making their lives hell.
In a children’s playground at 2pm on a weekday afternoon, two masked drug dealers bear down on our photographer, spitting threats.
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A hooded young man approached our photographer at Ayresome Gardens childrens play areaCredit: North News & Pictures Ltd
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The remains of a trolley and fire outside homes in the Hemlington area of MiddlesbroughCredit: NNP
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Middlesbrough town centre – where crime is on the riseCredit: North News & Pictures Ltd
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The two young men questioned what our reporter for was doingCredit: North News & Pictures Ltd
The two young men had seen him taking pictures in the town centre park and wanted to make sure they didn’t appear in them, one putting on a balaclava and the second pulling up the hood of his jacket.
After threatening to smash up his equipment, one of them explained the reason they were there.
“We’re here to f*** up your society by selling drugs to the white boys,” he snarls.
It’s an alarming – but perhaps not surprising – welcome to Middlesbrough, the Teesside town which now has the unenviable status of “Britain’s most dangerous”.
New Home Office statistics reveal that the town suffered 158 crimes per 1,000 people – or to put it another way, one person in six was the victim of crime in the past year.
The Community Safety Partnership stats show Middlesbrough was eclipsed only by Westminster (423 crimes per 1,000) and Camden (195) – although both have much higher populations.
After encountering the town centre drug dealers, The Sun went to the crime-plagued Hemlington estate on the south western edge of the town to speak to locals.
The hot topic of the day was the suspension of bus routes to some parts of the estate due to stone and brick attacks by children aged as young as 10.
And another community facility, the Cleveland Huntsman pub, had just had its licence revoked after a man was allegedly stabbed and slashed in an altercation following a spate of criminal damage at the premises.
A number of knife-related cases from recent months are heading through the courts, including the murder of 28-year-old Jordan Hogg.
Our once-booming town has become a benefits sinkhole where HALF of adults are out of work & bored, feral kids set homes alight with fireworks
Four men and two youths deny stabbing him to death in the bleak Fonteyn Court.
It was also on Fonteyn Court that a 19-year-old man was stabbed on August 11 at 5.20pm – and within five minutes a 21-year-old man suffered the same fate on nearby Dalwood Court.
There was a weary acceptance from locals.
“It’s sickening but at the same time it’s just bog standard,” says one elderly woman who stops to chat on Fonteyn Court.
The kids are carrying knives before they’ve left primary school and they learn from the older lads how to use them, the number of stabbings is out of control.
Resident in Fonteyn Court
“The kids are carrying knives before they’ve left primary school and they learn from the older lads how to use them, the number of stabbings is out of control.
“I’d say we need more bobbies, but they have no respect for authority. I mean, just look around you.”
She has a point. The street is split around 50/50 between occupied and boarded up houses. Disconcertingly, voices can be heard coming from behind some of the green shutters.
Mattresses are dumped on pavements and the remains of torched wheelie bins, sofas and shopping trolleys litter the deserted green areas where children might once have played.
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Discarded mattresses in Fonteyn Court, Hemlington, an area which is a crime hotspot in the townCredit: NNP
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Residents say kids are carrying knives before they’ve left primaryCredit: NNP
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Many locals are worried to leave their homes in parts of the townCredit: NNP
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The one rare sign of cheer is that someone has placed a giant paddling pool at the centre of a grassy areaCredit: NNP
The one rare sign of cheer is that someone has placed a giant paddling pool at the centre of a grassy area, a hosepipe leading through the back gate of a neighbouring house.
People are loath to speak publicly for fear of reprisals, but one shopkeeper tells us “feral” kids are at the centre of the problems.
“You can see them lining up at the side of the road to bomb the buses with bricks,” he says.
“Some of them are tiny little kids, screaming and swearing as they chuck stones.”
Police travelling undercover on buses
The situation became so bad that officers from Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Policing Team travelled undercover on buses in the area, leading to the arrest of a 10-year-old boy on suspicion of four counts of criminal damage and three counts of causing danger to road users.
He was later referred to the Youth Offending Team while another boy aged 14 was identified and dealt with for separate offences.
Middlesbrough Council identified a further 10 kids involved in nuisance behaviour, with home visits and “diversionary activity referrals” doles out to their parents.
Acting Inspector Des Horton, from Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This operation not only helps us to identify those involved in these incidents, but also allows us to build up intelligence and provide reassurance to the drivers of the buses that are being targeted.”
In an unconnected incident, two teenagers have been charged with attempted murder after a 17-year-old was stabbed in the estate’s Phoenix Park in May.
And on August 14, a dozen police vehicles swarmed the estate after a police officer was injured as he responded to reports of a man in possession of a knife.
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A hooded youth in Ayresome Gardens childrens play areaCredit: NNP
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Rubbish bags piled up outside homesCredit: NNP
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Wailan Lau says the number of stabbings are ‘completely out of control’Credit: NNP
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John Clark, 85, worries for young members of his family living in the townCredit: NNP
An arrest was made following a five-hour stand-off in which cups, bricks and chairs were hurled in the direction of emergency workers.
Chinese takeaway owner Wailan Lau, 48, has lived in Hemlington for the past 25 years.
He told The Sun: “It has got worse and worse over the years, the number of stabbings we see now is completely out of control, it never used to be like this.
“Where I live is fine, I have the same neighbours I have had for years and it is a proper community, everyone looks out for each other.
“But some parts of the estate are just dangerous, so much so that buses and taxis will not go down those streets.
“A lot of the problems we face are down to drugs and in a lot of cases it is drug dealers fighting drug dealers, but sometimes innocent people get caught up in that, which is scary.
“Kids seem to carry knives all the time and the ones who do are getting younger.
“It’s sad to see this town become one of the worst places in the country for crime because it’s a good place full of good people, unfortunately parts of it have become dangerous.”
Asked whether he knew anyone who had recently been a victim of crime, 17-year-old Harvey Wilson initially shook his head and then suddenly remembered: “Oh yeah, I was held at knifepoint.”
The casual way he recounts a terrifying encounter is chilling.
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Harvey Wilson, 17, described how he’d been robbed at knifepointCredit: NNP
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Certain crimes continue to rise in MiddlesbroughCredit: NNP
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A sign warning customers to ‘please remove hoods when entering shop’Credit: NNP
Harvey, who hopes to become a carpet fitter when he finishes his studies, said: “I’d just gone for a walk near Albert Park in the town and two lads stopped me and pulled a knife.
“Thankfully I’d left my phone at home and didn’t have any money so they just walked away.
“I’ve been able to forget it pretty quickly but I suppose it is quite scary how many people carry knives. I never would but people do.
“There are areas where you know not to go and if you keep yourself to yourself you probably won’t get any trouble, it’s the people who try to make a name for themselves who end up getting hurt.
“If your name gets known you’ll end up getting hurt.”
Things are getting worse and there are way too many young kids getting killed and injured with knives or getting involved with drugs.
John Clark, 82Middlesbrough resident
In the Parkway Centre, just outside Hemlington, John Clark, 82, reflects on the change in his home town over the course of his lifetime.
He started his working life as a hand rammer making sand castings at steel foundry on the river Tees.
John said: “That was my life, working in steel works and foundries and all of that has gone, there’s nothing left of the industry that built the town and that’s a big part of its problems.
“When I was a kid we had prospects and there was work to pay us a wage and keep us occupied, now the young people have nothing.”
He nods down at his young grandson in the buggy he’s leaning on and says: “I don’t worry for myself when I go about in Middlesbrough but I worry for him and younger members of the family.
“Things are getting worse and there are way too many young kids getting killed and injured with knives or getting involved with drugs.
“The brand new sports shop near us got ram raided the other night as soon as it opened by people in flatbed trucks. The place was left in a right mess and he lost all his new stock.”
Rebecca Green, 40, agreed that poverty plays a part in MIddlesbrough’s crime epidemic.
She said: “We live in a part of the world that has high levels of deprivation and that feeds the crime rate, when people are struggling to live they do desperate things.”
Student Shay Thorpe, 18, hopes to be a social worker.
“I’d move away if I could,” she says. “Even though I have always lived here, there are some parts of the town that I wouldn’t go.
“The town centre is scary and you can see from looking round that there’s a major drug problem there.”
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Shay Thorpe, 18, says she would move away if she couldCredit: NNP
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Shuttered up shops in Middlesbrough town centreCredit: NNP
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A person speaks to cops outside Poundland in the town centreCredit: North News & Pictures Ltd
DELIVEROO drivers could provide life-saving treatment to people suffering cardiac arrest, a new study suggests.
Deploying defibrillators to the public via food-delivery services like Uber Eats, could save lives, scientists from Taiwan believe.
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Deliveroo-style scooters could save lives by getting defibrillators to people faster than ambulancesCredit: Alamy
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Defibrillators are often too far away when someone needs them mostCredit: Getty
More than 30,000 Brits each year suffer a cardiac arrest when their heart suddenly stops beating.
It can be caused by an irregular heart rhythm or other heart disease, but often strikes without warning.
Breathing stops and the person becomes unconscious, with the lack of oxygenated blood to their organs leading to death.
Giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) straight away can be the difference between life and death.
The technique involves pressing hard and fast in the centre of the chest to manually pump blood around the body until help arrives.
The most effective treatment is a defibrillator, a device that gives the heart an electric shock to try and restart it.
Fewer than one in ten survive a cardiac arrest outside hospital because every minute without a defibrillator slashes their odds.
Experts warn too many victims die because the machines are out of reach and ambulances take too long to arrive.
Lead investigator Kuan-Chen Chin, from the National Taiwan University Hospital, said: “Each minute of delay in defibrillation reduces the survival rate by 7-10 per cent.
How to perform CPR on an adult
“Our approach leverages an existing, widespread urban workforce to address a well-known weak link in the chain of survival.”
For the new study, researchers ran simulations comparing ambulance response times of six to seven minutes against delivery scooters carrying defibrillators.
Defibrillators arrived around three minutes faster, cutting delays by nearly half, they found.
Even if just ten per cent of riders joined in, more than 60 per cent of cardiac arrests were successfully attended.
During rush hours, only 13 per cent of riders needed to respond to cover 80 per cent of cases.
Writing in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Dr Jen-Tang Sun, of Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, added: “We were encouraged to see that even low response rates might yield meaningful time savings, and that the model appeared effective during off-peak hours despite reduced availability.”
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Call 911 or emergency medical services for these symptoms
How to respond to cardiac arrest
A cardiac arrest is an emergency.
If you’re with someone who’s having a cardiac arrest, call 999, start CPR and use a defibrillator if there’s one nearby.
Follow instructions from the 999 operator until emergency services take over.
Starting immediate CPR is vital as it keeps blood and oxygen moving to the brain and around the body.
A defibrillator will then deliver a controlled electric shock to try and get the heart beating normally again.
Public access defibrillators are often in places like train stations and shopping centres.
Anyone can use one and you don’t need training to do so.
