A car exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil, killing at least one person and injuring several more. Authorities say the blast was a deliberate act by criminal groups as police hunt for those responsible.
Published On 15 Oct 202515 Oct 2025
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When Jenny Lewis was born, her parents were part of Loves Way, a musical lounge act in Las Vegas. After they split up when she was 3 years old, she moved with her mom, her older sister and their babysitter (a female Elvis impersonator from Memphis, Tenn.) to the San Fernando Valley.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Lewis remained in the Valley for most of her life, with some sojurns to the Eastside of L.A., Nashville and New York. Now she’s firmly back in the Valley, except, of course, when she’s on tour.
Lewis is a former child actor (you may remember her from “Troop Beverly Hills” and “The Wizard”), but has spent her adulthood as a celebrated musician who has released five solo albums, including 2023’s “Joy’All.”
She recently reunited with her bandmates in Rilo Kiley, the indie rock group that captured millennial hearts in the early 2000s. They are currently touring the United States and will play two local shows at the Greek Theatre on Oct. 14 and 18. Calling from a hotel in Nashville, she details what she likes to do on Sundays when she’s back in L.A.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
8:36 a.m.: Caffeinate, let the dog sleep in
I tend to wake up almost every day at 8:36. When I look at the clock, nine times out of 10, it’s 8:36.
I have a cockapoo, Bobby Rhubarb, she’s 4 1/2, so my life kind of revolves around her. I actually wake up earlier than Bobby, who tends to loaf about in bed until 11 a.m. She gets her zoomies around midnight because she was raised on the road. The first year of her life, three months of it was spent opening for Harry Styles and living on a tour bus. She’s on tour schedule perpetually.
So I get up — I’m very quiet so as to not disturb her — and then I’ll make coffee. I love Canyon Coffee. It’s a single-origin organic roaster based in L.A., run by this really cute couple.
9:30 a.m.: Love to clean, clean to love
Sunday is my clean-the-house day. I’m a bit of a neat freak, and now that I live on my own, I can indulge my tendencies. It’s also really good exercise. I’m typically working out a couple days a week, but cleaning is an active thing to do and it’s very loving when you are lucky enough to own a home. You don’t really get to know a house until you get on your hands and knees and clean the floor.
11 a.m.: Open-hearted flea market-ing
The first Sunday of the month is the Pasadena City College Flea, second Sunday is the Rose Bowl, third is Long Beach and fourth is Topanga. I prefer the first and the fourth Sundays. I like the smaller fleas, and there are a couple of vendors that go to both PCC and Topanga that have amazing stuff. I have relationships with them where they’ll be like, “Oh, I pulled this with you in mind.”
Flea market vendors tell the history of where you are. These people are experts on old chimayos and Navajo blankets and Midcentury Modern furniture. If you stick around, you learn a lot about stuff that you never thought you needed to know about.
For me, the nature of thrifting and flea market-ing is based on an open heart and a generous spirit. I’m always donating and going through my closet and putting it back into the thrifting community. When I offload a bunch of stuff rather than sell it, I feel like I will be lucky at the flea market.
You can’t really go with any expectations; that’s not really how it works. I’ve been looking for the perfect fake leopard-skin coat for 20 years. I actually have a new song that has that as one of the lyrics. Maybe one day I’ll find it.
2:30 p.m.: Chinese food cravings
If this is a Pasadena day, it’s an opportunity to get Chinese food, which I crave on Sundays. I’ll sometimes go to Woon. It’s really close to where a lot of things burned down [in the Eaton fire], so it’s pretty cool to go there and support that spot.
It can be a little jammed on Sundays, so sometimes I’ll go to the Glendale Galleria — also jammed, but in a different way — and Din Tai Fung.
I always park on the top deck. You get a little sunshine. If you need to smoke a little doob, you can do that, or not. And you just walk right over the bridge into JCPenney, which I love walking through.
Din Tai Fung, there’s a hack if you’re by yourself, or if you’re two people: You can sit at the bar and not wait an hour. I’m gluten-free. Normally you would get dumplings, which look amazing and I want to eat them, but I can’t eat them. I’ll get the beef broth soup — it’s unbelievable — and some vegs. Depending on the day, sometimes they tell you the glass noodles are gluten-free and sometimes they tell you they’re not, so I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone who is celiac.
3:30 p.m.: Mall massage break
Out in the middle of the mall, near the Uniqlo, there’s the best 30-minute chair massage. It’s just incredible. And I’m a big mall massage aficionado.
I prefer it to a bougie massage. I would rather do a Thai-style massage where you have your clothes on or Chinese acupressure. Typically mall kiosks are Chinese acupressure. It is the best massage for what I’m looking for, which is something very strong and therapeutic.
I don’t need to go to the spa, especially when I’m on the road. Oftentimes, the bus will be at a Radisson on a day off and there’s a mall across the highway. I’ll always look for the massage at the mall, and it sets me straight.
I’ve written so many songs while getting a massage in the mall, because there’s always ambient music that you can’t totally make out. There’s something about that and the sound of people — it’s a very freeing frequency for me to write lyrics.
5 p.m.: Dinner provisions
I’m heading back to Mint Chip, which is the name of my house, to see Bobby. On Sundays, depending on what I had for lunch, we will do either burger night or grass-fed filet mignon night.
I’ll stop at Gelson’s, and they’ve got two grass-fed fillets that are relatively reasonable. I’ll get a baked potato or mashed potatoes, a salad, pick up a bottle of natural wine and then go home and make dinner for myself and Bobby.
I like things well-done, which no one likes to hear, but it’s the reality. If you’re my guest or my dog and you like things a little bit more rare, I’m happy to make it your way for you.
I’ve become a really good cook and I make a great martini. I make the Mint Chip Martini. I call it a maximalist martini because it’s extra dirty, olives and a twist. It disguises the alcohol. I just look at the vermouth — I don’t put it in the martini; I glance at it, and that’s enough vermouth.
I couldn’t do anything before the pandemic, so I really cherish that time of learning how to take care of myself.
8 p.m.: Cult classics
I have a projector set up in my living room that projects onto a white wall. I’ve been really into this app called Night Flight [Plus]. “Night Flight” was a cult late-night TV series [it originally ran on the USA Network from 1981 to 1988]. They played a lot of music videos, punk and heavy metal docs. Now they have this awesome streaming app, so you can watch these old episodes. Right now, there’s a movie called “Kin-Dza-Dza!” from 1986. I love that Soviet stuff. Music from that era is so weird and cool.
10 p.m.: Bedtime with crime
I’ll take Bobby out before bed and then we will go into the master bedroom. I will typically listen to an audiobook or a podcast and then it’s off to sleep.
I am a true crime enthusiast, so I’ve listened to all of them. As of late, I really enjoyed “Crooked City.” Also, “Up and Vanished: In the Midnight Sun” is great. I really like Payne Lindsey and all of his shows. There’s another great one called “Dead and Gone,” which is the crimes that happened in the surrounding areas of Grateful Dead shows. It’s like the full Grateful Dead history. I love the Dead, but I learned a lot about the Dead listening to that, and I was really just listening for the crime.
I’m considering a career shift into forensics. I mean, not really, but I’ve been to CrimeCon; I want to go to CrimeCamp. I’m obsessed. And again, this happened during the pandemic because there was never space for me to truly indulge my hobbies. I’m educating myself.
IKEA fans won’t have to wait much longer — the Swedish giant’s long-awaited new store will open its doors in just 48 hours.
The brand-new branch, located in Brighton’s Churchill Square Shopping Centre, takes over the former Debenhams site which has been empty since 2021.
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Shoppers will be able to step inside from 10am on Thursday, August 14 , to explore thousands of affordable homeware items, and tuck into the famous meatballs.
Spread across two floors and 6,695 square metres, the store will offer 2,600 products for immediate takeaway and access to the full 12,000-strong range via delivery or collection.
It’s the first full IKEA store in the city, meaning Brighton locals will no longer need to trek to Croydon or Southampton for the full shopping experience.
Bosses say the new shop has been created with the “city at its heart”, with displays inspired by local homes and Brighton’s seaside style.
Six roomsets have been co-created with residents, including ceramicists Adam Johnson and Dan Mackey, to show off colourful, space-saving ideas and a nod to the city’s famous beach huts.
Adam said: “We’ve always loved IKEA because it’s like an interiors disco – and what’s life without a little sparkle?”
The first floor houses a 100-seat Swedish Deli serving meatballs, plantballs and sweet treats, all with sweeping sea views.
The Swedish Food Market will sell ingredients and snacks to enjoy at home.
On the ground floor, bargain hunters can snap up pre-loved and discontinued items in the Re-shop & Re-use area.
There’s also a home planning hub where shoppers can get one-to-one help designing kitchens or bedroom storage.
Quick bites and drinks will be available at the Swedish Bite kiosk.
Market Manager Karina Gilpin said: “Our city centre location in Churchill Square means customers can conveniently drop in while out and about, to seek inspiration for their homes, browse our range, access our expert planning advice, or enjoy our delicious meatballs or plantballs.”
To celebrate the launch, the first 100 IKEA Family Members through the doors will get a blue FRAKTA bag with a mystery gift card worth between £1 and £1,000.
Brighton will be IKEA’s third city-centre store in the UK, following Oxford Street and Hammersmith in London.
The opening is part of the retailer’s push for smaller, high street-friendly locations, moving away from giant out-of-town warehouses.
The Churchill Square store will open 10am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays.
A quick way of figuring out if you have an Ikea store near you is by using the retailer’s locator tool on its website.
You just have to enter the town or city where you live, or your postcode and it will pull up the nearest site.
The same page has a helpful map showing where all of the 21 current stores are located.
Below we reveal the full list of Ikea stores in the UK:
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July 17 (UPI) — Several people are dead and an investigation is underway after a fire destroyed a five-story shopping mall in Iraq on Wednesday evening.
In a press release, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Thursday that 61 people died in the blaze, which occurred in a mall located in the city of Kut, in the province of Wasit.
The ministry reported that most of the victims “suffocated inside the bathrooms as a result of heavy smoke,” and that 14 were so badly burned they remain unidentified.
However, 45 people were also rescued from the fire by civil defense teams.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani announced Thursday that he has directed the Minister of the Interior, Abdul Amir al-Shammari, to form an investigation committee.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry then announced Thursday the committee has been formed to “investigate the real causes of the fire, and identify the locations of the defect and the responsibility accurately and transparently.”
The head of the Wasit security committee, Habib al-Badri, told the New York Times that the fire was caused by an electric malfunction, and that the situation was worsened by subpar building construction and an overwhelmed rescue service.
“There was a lack of emergency exits and emergency ladders and extinguishers,” al-Badri said. “And unfortunately, the province was not prepared for such an incident.”
Wasit Province Governor Mohammed al-Miyahi said Thursday that “we will not show leniency toward those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident, which is surrounded by suspicious circumstances.”
July 3 (UPI) — Two minors were charged Thursday in connection with a shooting at a shopping center in Georgia.
Police in Savannah have confirmed two juveniles have been charged with possession of a firearm under the age of 18, but no arrests have been made.
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones said in a press conference Thursday that she “is sending a specific message to each and every person involved in the shooting yesterday. We will find you, we will see you, we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gunfire broke out Wednesday at the Oglethorpe Mall around 5:45 p.m. The mall announced on its website Thursday that it will remain closed for the day, although select stores may be open. A related police investigation remains active at the mall.
The two people charged in the case are among three who have been hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Seven people were injured in total as a result of the incident.
Chatham Area Transit Authority bus service had been suspended to the mall but announced at approximately 11 a.m. EDT Thursday that service has been restored.
June 8 (UPI) — More than 1,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Sunday as part of WorldPride 2025 to protest what organizers called a “coordinated and systemic attack” on human rights.
The rally, which promotes LGBTQ+ visibility with events around the world and pushes back on an increasingly hostile attitude towards gay, lesbian and transgender people that organizers said has been stepped up under the Trump administration.
“Our fundamental freedoms — and our very democracy — are at risk,” a statement on the WorldPride website said. “And if we fail to recognize the urgency of this moment, we’ll only have ourselves to blame. Resist the marginalization and persecution of people just for being who they are.”
The Washington event, which saw marchers gather at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, is being hosted by DC’s Capital Pride Alliance, which is marking 50 years of celebrating Pride Month in the capital.
Marchers gathered near the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial waving rainbow colored Pride flags representing transgender and bisexual communities and held up signs that read “Proud and Gay,” “Trans rights are human rights,” and “Gender affirming care saved my life.”
The rally and march on the National Mall came a day after a march through the streets of Washington. The Sunday event is scheduled to conclude with a festival and concert.
Former vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris made an unannounced appearance at the Sunday event.
Hundreds of people gathered along the parade route, and marchers waved rainbow flags and balloons as they gathered along the steps and columns of the National City Christian Church.
June is Pride Month and is celebrated this year amid President Donald Trump‘s push to remove transgender members from the military and roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies at federal agencies and at universities that receive federal money.
June 6 (UPI) — The FBI derailed a plot by a teenager who had planned to detonate a bomb at a Washington state shopping mall and shoot people as they fled a movie theater in the building, law enforcement authorities announced Thursday.
The FBI arrested a juvenile male from Columbia County on May 22 on state charges after executing a search warrant on his residence, but did not release his name.
Officials say the teen had planned to carry out the attack at the Three Rivers Crossing in Kelso, Wash, about 50 miles north of Portland along Interstate 5. The mall includes a mix of national retailers such as JCPenney, Target and Safeway and local business, including Regal Cinemas, local media reported.
The FBI said the teen had a small map of the mall and written plans that show he planned to use a chlorine bomb to cause an explosion that would force movie-goers to run from the building when he planned to shoot them them take his own life, the FBI said in a statement.
“This plot is as serious as it gets,” Douglas Olson, special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office, said.
Olson said the agency received a tip on May 19 that someone had posted “detailed and imminent attack plans” to an online chat forum related to the mall attack. By the next day, agents had identified a suspect and executed a search warrant on his home in Columbia County.
Olson said the FBI found “annotated schematics,” the weapons the teen planned to use in the attack and the clothes he would wear, what he called “an alarming number of indicators” that suggested the teem planned to follow through on his plan.
Olson said the teen had pledged allegiance to online “nihilistic violent extremist groups and ideologies and that he had been planning the attack since early this year.
Multiple people were injured after a man shouting “free Palestine” tossed Molotov cocktails at a gathering in support of Israeli hostages in Colorado, authorities said.
Police said eight people were injured in the attack at the Pearl Street Mall, a popular outdoor space in Boulder, about 30 miles (48km) from Denver.
The FBI called it a suspected terror attack and said the suspect used a makeshift flamethrower, Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices.
Footage of the attack shows the suspect, who was shirtless, screaming at the group and had what appears to be Molotov cocktails in each hand when he was arrested.
The attack unfolded during a weekly scheduled demonstration put on by Run for Their Lives, a pro-Israeli group that that holds walks in the outdoor pedestrian mall in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Police got calls around 13:26 local time (20:26 BST) about a man with a weapon and people being set on fire, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said at a news conference.
Witnesses told authorities that the suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd, ” said Mark Michalek, who heads the FBI’s Denver office.
Redfearn added those devices included Molotov cocktails being tossed at the crowd.
He identified the suspect as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45.
Soliman is an Egyptian national, government officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
In 2022, Soliman arrived in California on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023, multiple sources have told CBS News. He had been living in Colorado Springs.
Officers who responded found multiple people injured, including those with burns.
Footage that appeared to be from the attack showed a chaotic scene: smoke filling the air, people running in multiple directions, spots of grass on fire and people injured on the ground.
Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.
In images and videos posted online, but not yet verified by the BBC, a man appearing to be the suspect is seen without a shirt and holding bottles with liquid with a piece of red cloth inside. He can be heard yelling at the crowd and appears to be advancing on them as some rush to flee.
As he screams, one woman is on the ground and appears injured. People surround her and one man pours water on her body.
Footage shows police rushing to the scene and arresting the suspect. Police say he was taken to the hospital with injuries.
“It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,” Mr Michalek said. “Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country.”
The attack is the second high-profile act of violence in the US in the last two weeks related to the conflict in Gaza.
A man who shouted “free Palestine” fatally shot two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC on 22 May. The incident happened at a networking event organised by a Jewish organisation.
Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser said that from what officials know the attack “appears to be hate crime given the group that was targeted”.
“People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” Weiser said in a statement on Sunday. “Hate has no place in Colorado.”
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said he was “shocked” by the incident and called the attack “pure antisemitism”.
“Shocked by the terrible antisemitic terror attack targeting Jews in Boulder, Colorado,” he wrote on X. “This is pure antisemitism, fueled by the blood libels spread in the media.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, similarly was saddened over the attack, calling it “terrorism” and asking for “concrete action” in response.
In a post on X, the ambassador said that Jewish protesters were brutally attacked”.
“Terrorism against Jews does not stop at the Gaza border – it is already burning the streets of America,” he said.
Police in Boulder, Colo., are investigating a ‘targeted terror attack’ near a suburban shopping mall where demonstrators were holding a peaceful pro-Israeli march in support of hostages held in Gaza. Photo courtesy of CBS Denver
June 1 (UPI) — Several people were injured in a mall shooting that police are calling a “target terror attack” in Boulder, Colo. Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel said. A suspect is in custody.
“Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available, Patel said, according his post on X.
The incident occurred just before 1:30p.m. MDT at Pearl St. Mall where a group was gathered in a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration, known as the Boulder Run for their Lives event.
The Anti Defamation League said it was aware of the attack.
“ADL is monitoring the situation in Colorado as we approach the holiday of Shavuot,” it said in a statement on Facebook.
Police responded to reports of a man wielding a weapon and that people were being set on fire, a statement on social media from the Boulder Police Department said. It said there were multiple burn victims on the scene.
Witnesses told local media that the suspect attacked victims with Molotov cocktails.
Police established an evacuation zone and directed people to avoid the area. Emergency medical crews transported several victims to local hospitals, some of whom sustained life-threatening injuries, police said.
Colo. Gov. Jared Polis called the incident a “heinous act of terror.”
“Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable,” he wrote on X. “While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation.”
Please check back for updates as this is a developing story.