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NEW YORK — With the Pentagon’s press room largely cleared of mainstream reporters, conservative activist and presidential ally Laura Loomer says she has been granted a credential to work there.

Loomer has an influential social media presence and the ear of President Trump, frequently campaigning for the firings of government officials she deems insufficiently loyal to his administration. Some targets have been in the field of national security, including Dan Driscoll, secretary of the Army.

Pentagon officials did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday. The Washington Post first reported the news of her attaining credentials.

Virtually all Pentagon reporters for legacy media outlets walked out last month rather than agree to a new policy they say would restrict their ability to report news not given approval for release by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Several right-wing outlets have taken their place, although the banned journalists are continuing to work on stories related to the Pentagon.

“I’m excited to announce that after a year of breaking the most impactful stories that pertain to our national security and rooting out deceptive and disloyal bad actors” from the Defense Department, she was ready to join the press corps, Loomer said on X, formerly Twitter. She did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Earlier this year, she criticized Driscoll for publicly honoring a Medal of Honor recipient who had previously spoken at a Democratic National Convention. Separately, Driscoll rescinded the appointment of a former Biden administration official to teach at West Point after Loomer attacked him for it.

Although Trump later downplayed Loomer’s influence, the president last spring fired a handful of National Security Council officials after she had presented him with evidence of their supposed disloyalty.

Still, she’s been a polarizing force among some in the administration, wary of her influence, which has included riding on Air Force One with Trump. Although granted space in the Pentagon press room, Loomer has not received reporting credentials at the White House. Loomer has also been criticized for entertaining conspiracy theories and making anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim posts.

“There is no denying that my investigative reporting has had a massive impact on the landscape of personnel decisions within the Executive Branch, our intelligence agencies and the Pentagon,” Loomer wrote on X. “I look forward to covering the Pentagon and breaking more stories that impact our country and our national security.”

In her social media post, she also reached out to people to alert her to news through “the Loomered Tip Line, the most influential Tip Line in all of DC.”

Phil Stewart, a national security reporter for Reuters, noted on a social media post Tuesday that Hegseth’s new media policy would make reporters subject to having their access revoked for seeking out information from Defense Department personnel that had not been authorized for release.

However, Loomer’s appeal for tips did not explicitly target people who work at the Defense Department.

Bauder writes for the Associated Press.

Netflix fans do not have long left to wait for a brand new season of Squid Game: The Challenge.

Squid Game fans have just two days left until a brand new season of a high stakes reality game returns to Netflix screens.

Once again, 456 players will take on a series of brutal games in the hopes of winning a staggering $4.56 million cash prize for season two of Squid Game: The Challenge.

The hit Netflix reality show, based on the popular Korean thriller Squid Game, was a huge success when it first hit screens back in 2023. Another series was announced earlier this year, with it now being just days away.

Over three weeks, the players will go head to head in a number of gruelling games, both new and old, until there is only one contestant left.

Unlike the original phenomenon where players are killed if they lose, there will still be devastating impacts as contestant will miss out on winning the life-changing amount of money. Despite the full cast remaining under wraps, Netflix has already announced some huge names, including familiar faces from Selling Sunset and Big Brother.

Episode release schedule explained

Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 will return to screens on November 4. However, not all episodes will be released straight away.

Instead, fans will have to wait a week for different instalments for the three week run.

• On November 4, fans will be treated to four episodes as a group of brand new players are introduced to the game.
• November 11 will then see the next three episodes aired.
• But fans will have to wait until November 18 for the remaining episodes in the huge season finale.

Squid Game The Challenge games

With subtle nods to various games, executive producer Nicola Brown told Tudum: “Those little Easter eggs are important for both the viewers at home and the players.

“The first thing they do when they walk into the dorm is look at the walls and try to figure out what the new games might be.”

Here are some games fans can look forward to:

• The count – a brand new game that will determine how the competition continues
• Six-Legged Pentathlon – teams race head to head, with legs tied together with mini games thrown in
• Catch – a brand new game which games designer Ben Norman teases is not as simple as it sounds
• Mingle – players on a carousel must gather in groups consisting of a number called out and walk into an adjoining room
• Marbles – with the same rules as season 1 players again partner up and given a bag of marbles and 30 minutes
• Slides and Ladders – a new game that turns the familiar board game into something high stakes and “oversized”
• Circle of Trust – blindfolded at desks in a circle, the player who received a gift box must guess who gave it to them
• Finale game – Remains a mystery for now

Is there a season 3?

With season 2 just days away, Netflix has already geared up for another season of the hit reality show. Anyone wishing to take part can apply online for a chance to compete.

However, according to Tudum, there is another way to get on the show. Tudum hints: “Player recruitment for Season 3 is also now taking place through Squid Game: The Experience in both New York and London.

“Winners at the immersive, IRL experience will receive priority in the casting process, though this does not guarantee they will be selected to take part in Season 3.”

Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 premieres Tuesday, November 4 on Netflix.

The senior season being put together by quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo High can be described as nothing less than sensational.

In his latest performance on Thursday night against Los Alamitos, the Ohio State commit passed for a school-record 570 yards in a 76-49 victory. According to Mission Viejo’s official statistics, he completed 24 of 31 passes for 569 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.

He has led Mission Viejo (9-1) to wins over six teams that have been ranked in the state‘s top 25 going into the release of Sunday’s Southern Section playoff pairings. Mission Viejo will be part of the Division 1 playoffs that are expected to have an eight-team field.

Receiver Jack Junker was Fahey’s favorite target on Thursday, catching 10 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

On the season after 10 games, Fahey has completed 75% of his passes for 3,108 yards and 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He has turned in MVP performances for much of the 2025 season.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Oct. 28 (UPI) — With the impending loss of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program potentially causing low-income Americans and their families to go hungry, 25 states have filed suit to force the federal government to release funds for the program during the federal government shutdown.

Starting Saturday, SNAP benefits will not be distributed. The program gives food aid to 40 million Americans.

In past government shutdowns, the USDA used a contingency fund to pay out SNAP benefits. Last week, the President Donald Trump administration said it won’t be using contingency funds to pay for SNAP.

“We just can’t do it without the government being open,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Oct. 21. “By Nov. 1, we are very hopeful this government reopens and we can begin moving that money out. But right now, half the states are shut down on SNAP.”

The lawsuit said this has never happened before.

“Because of USDA’s actions, SNAP benefits will be delayed for the first time since the program’s inception. … Suspending SNAP benefits in these circumstances is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the lawsuit said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement on the suit:

“Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” James said.

“SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running. There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline. The federal government must do its job to protect families.”

On Fox News, Rollins was asked if the Agriculture well had truly run dry, CNBC reported.

“100% unequivocally, USDA does not have the $9.2 billion that it would require,” Rollins said.

“There’s not just pots of $9.2 billion sitting around. And what’s particularly rich about New York saying that, or California, or any of these other blue states that have filed the lawsuit to say, ‘Oh no, we’re going to go, you guys, USDA, go find the money,'” Rollins said.

The lawsuit alleges that the USDA has the money and won’t spend it. The plaintiffs are led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Minnesota. The states and the District of Columbia asked a judge to reply quickly to force the USDA to use the contingency funds for November.

On Tuesday, another Senate vote to reopen the government failed.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Trump administration is telling Colorado to stop importing gray wolves from Canada as part of the state’s efforts to restore the predators, a shift that could hinder plans for more reintroductions this winter.

The state has been releasing wolves west of the Continental Divide since 2023 after Colorado voters narrowly approved wolf reintroduction in 2020. About 30 wolves now roam mountainous regions of the state, and its management plan envisions potentially 200 or more wolves in the long term.

The program has been unpopular in rural areas, where some wolves have attacked livestock. Now, after two winters of releases during the Biden administration, wolf opponents appear to have found support from federal officials under President Trump.

Colorado wolves must come from Northern Rockies states, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik told Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis in a recent letter.

Colorado must “immediately cease and desist any and all efforts related to the capture, transport and/or release of gray wolves not obtained” from northern Rocky Mountain states, Nesvik wrote.

Most of those states — including the Yellowstone region states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where wolves from Canada were reintroduced in the 1990s — have said they don’t want to be part of Colorado’s reintroduction.

That could leave Colorado in a bind this winter. The state plans to relocate 10 to 15 wolves under an agreement with the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship in Canada, a statement by Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Luke Perkins said Friday.

The agreement was signed before the state got the Oct. 10 letter from Nesvik, according to Perkins. He said the state “continues to evaluate all options to support this year’s gray wolf releases” after getting “recent guidance” from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Though some of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have come from Oregon, wolves released most recently have come from British Columbia.

The issue now is whether the federal agency required that wolves must only come from northern U.S. Rocky Mountain states when it designated Colorado’s “experimental” population of reintroduced wolves.

A federal notice announcing the designation in 2023 referred to the northern Rockies region as merely the “preferred” source of wolves, not the required one.

Defenders of Wildlife attorney Lisa Saltzburg said in a statement that the Fish and Wildlife Service was “twisting language” by saying wolves can’t come from Canada or Alaska.

People in Colorado “should be proud of their state’s leadership in conservation and coexistence, and the wolf reintroduction program illustrates those values,” Saltzburg said.

The Colorado governor’s office and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are in touch with the U.S. Interior Department about the letter and evaluating “all options” to allow wolf releases this year, Gov. Jared Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said by email.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Garrett Peterson, whose voicemail said he wouldn’t be available until after the government shutdown ends, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

Gruver writes for the Associated Press.

CHICAGO — The detention by immigration authorities of a Chicago man whose 16-year-old daughter is undergoing treatment for advanced cancer is illegal, and he must be given a bond hearing by Oct. 31, a federal judge has ruled.

Attorneys for Ruben Torres Maldonado, 40, who was detained Oct. 18, have petitioned for his release as his deportation case goes through the system. While U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel said in an order Friday that Torres’ detention is illegal and violates his due process rights, he also said he could not order his immediate release.

“While sympathetic to the plight the petitioner’s daughter faces due to her health concerns, the court must act within the constraints of the relevant statutes, rules, and precedents,” the judge wrote Friday.

Torres’ attorney took the ruling as a win — for now.

“We’re pleased that the judge ruled in our favor in determining that ICE is illegally detaining Ruben. We will now turn the fight to immigration court so we can secure Ruben’s release on bond while he applies for permanent residence status,” his attorney, Kalman Resnick, said in a statement Friday night.

Torres, a painter and home renovator, was detained at a suburban Home Depot store. His daughter, Ofelia Torres, was diagnosed in December with a rare and aggressive form of soft-tissue cancer called metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Torres entered the U.S. in 2003, according to his lawyers. He and his partner, Sandibell Hidalgo, also have a 4-year-old son. The children are both U.S. citizens, according to court records.

“My dad, like many other fathers, is a hardworking person who wakes up early in the morning and goes to work without complaining, thinking about his family,” Ofelia said in a video posted on a GoFundMe page set up for her family. “I find it so unfair that hardworking immigrant families are being targeted just because they were not born here.”

The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Torres has been living illegally in the U.S. for years and has a history of driving offenses, including speeding and driving without a valid license and insurance.

“This is nothing more than a desperate Hail Mary attempt to keep a criminal illegal alien in our country,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The Trump administration is fighting for the rule of law and the American people.”

At a hearing Thursday, which Ofelia attended in a wheelchair, the family’s attorneys told the judge that she was released from the hospital just a day before her father’s arrest so that she could see family and friends. But since his arrest, she had been unable to continue treatment “because of the stress and disruption,” they said.

Federal prosecutor Craig Oswald told the court that the government did not want to release Torres because he didn’t cooperate during his arrest,

Several elected officials held a news conference Wednesday to protest Torres’ arrest. The Chicago area has been at the center of a major immigration crackdown dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began in early September.

Group of 27 Congress members call for release of Mohammed Ibrahim, 16, held in Israeli detention for eight months.

A group of United States lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to secure the release of a 16-year-old Palestinian American who has been held in Israeli detention centres for eight months.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, 27 members of the US Congress called for the release of Mohammed Ibrahim amid reports that he faces abusive conditions in detention.

“As we have been told repeatedly, ‘the Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad,’” the letter, signed by figures such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Von Hollen, states. “We share that view and urge you to fulfil this responsibility by engaging the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy.”

Mohammed’s detention, which has now lasted for more than eight months, has underscored the harsh conditions faced by Palestinians held in Israeli prisons with little legal recourse.

“His family has received updates from US embassy staff and former detainees who described his alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture as his court hearings continue to be routinely postponed,” the letter said.

Analysts and rights advocates also say the case is demonstrative of a general apathy towards the plight of Palestinian Americans by the US government, which is quick to offer support to Israeli Americans who find themselves in harm’s way but slow to respond to instances of violence or abuse against Palestinians with US citizenship.

“The contrast has been made clear: The US government simply does not care about Palestinians with US citizenship who are killed or unjustly detained by Israel,” Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

During his time in prison, Mohammed’s 20-year-old cousin, Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. US Ambassador Huckabee called for the Israeli government to “aggressively investigate” the murder, but no arrests have been made thus far, and Israeli settlers who carry out violent attacks against Palestinian communities rarely face consequences.

Musallet’s family have called for the Trump administration to launch its own independent investigation.

“Our government is not unaware of these cases. They are themselves complicit,” said Munayyer. “In many cases where Palestinian Americans have been killed, the government does nothing. This is not unique to the Trump administration.”

In testimony obtained by the rights group Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Mohammed said that he was beaten with rifle butts as he was being transported and has been held in a cold cell with inadequate food. DCIP states that he has lost a “considerable amount of weight” since his arrest in February.

Israeli authorities have alleged that Mohammed, 15 years old at the time of his initial detention, threw stones at Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. He has not had a trial and denies the charge, and the letter from US lawmakers states that “no evidence has been publicly provided to support this allegation”.

Charges of stone throwing are widely used by Israeli authorities against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli facilities are notorious for their mistreatment of detainees.

A DCIP investigation into the detention of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank found that about 75 percent described being subjected to physical violence following their arrest and that 85.5 percent were not informed of the reason for their arrest.

“The abuse and imprisonment of an American teenager by any other foreign power should be met with outrage and decisive action by our government,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement about the case.

“The Trump administration must be America and American citizens first, and secure the release of Mohammed Ibrahim from Israel immediately. This 16-year-old from Florida belongs at home, safe with his family – not in Israeli military prisons notorious for human rights abuses.”

Rapper Cardi B is willing to get “nasty” when it comes to defending her kids.

Following the release of her second full-length album “Am I the Drama?” in September, the “I Like It” singer publicly feuded with Nicki Minaj. Both rappers’ children were also pulled into the fracas.

In a recent interview with Paper magazine, Cardi B opened up about the combative exchange.

“This week I showed the world that I will get the most nasty about mine. I never had to get that nasty for my kids. But I did, and I really feel like a lioness,” she said. “This has been one of the moments I got tested the most about being a parent.”

The beef between music’s biggest female rappers has been an ongoing saga dating back to 2017. The most recent spat took place on X in late September, when Minaj belittled Cardi B’s record sales. The two proceeded to tear apart each other’s personal and professional lives.

Cardi B called out Minaj for feuding with her on X instead of celebrating her son’s birthday. Minaj called Cardi B’s 7-year-old daughter “ugly,” among other mean-spirited names, and started to question her son’s brain development. The spat ended with Cardi B asking to meet up with Minaj — they have not posted about each other since.

Cardi described her behavior as that of a “mother warrior” and explained the lengths she would go to protect her kin. The 33-year-old performer is currently pregnant with her fourth child, her first with New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The “WAP” performer shares three children — Kulture, Wave and Blossom — with rapper Offset.

“Am I the Drama?” is Cardi B’s first full-length project in seven years. The 23-track album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 and hit platinum 10 days after its initial release. Her debut, “Invasion of Privacy,” earned her a Grammy for rap album in 2019 and made her the first solo female artist to win in that category.

While doing press for her newest LP, Cardi B hasn’t strayed away from talking about parenthood. She told Paper that she aims to instill a hardworking mentality in her children.

“You have to hope that your kids have that work ethic in them, and I just pray that they do,” she said. “I don’t want one of them to feel they’re behind their siblings. You just got to work and not think too much. … Procrastination is what kills you. It’s what slows you. Don’t ask too much questions. Just go and f— do it.”

Dearest gentle reader, Lady Whistledown — voiced by Julie Andrews — is back.

Netflix released a trailer for the fourth season of “Bridgerton” on Monday, and the Ton’s resident gossip columnist promised to have all the delightful details. The teaser also revealed that the next chapter of the Regency-era romance will be released in two parts on Jan. 29 and Feb. 26.

The eight-episode season will follow Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) fairy tale-inspired romance. The beloved second-eldest sibling of the Bridgerton brood is is known for being commitment averse and uninterested in marriage, but, if the trailer is to be trusted, it seems a masked mystery woman he brushes past on a staircase might change that.

“With each passing season, one is known to experience plenty of ups and downs,” Whistledown says in the teaser footage. “So then we must ask ourselves, do we rise to the occasion? As always, time — and this author — will tell.”

Unbeknownst to Benedict, the mystery woman, also known as the Lady in Silver, is Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). According to Netflix’s in-house blog Tudum, the staircase encounter featured in the trailer is the first time the pair cross paths during Lady Bridgerton’s masquerade ball.

Benedict and Sophie’s romance is based on the events in “An Offer From a Gentleman,” the third book in Julia Quinn’s “Bridgerton” book series. Much like the wicked matriarch in “Cinderella,” Sophie’s stepmother (Katie Leung) is more concerned about her two daughters’ (Michelle Mao, Isabella Wei) societal debut and marriage prospects than whatever her stepdaughter is getting up to.

“Bridgerton” showrunner Jess Brownell previously told The Times that Benedict’s character arc “has a lot to do with being someone who is learning how to exist between society and and being unconventional.”

“Benedict [is] trying to figure out what his place is in the world and how to circumvent certain rules, which is something Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) [taught] him [in Season 3],” she said last year. “I think we will continue telling the story of his [sexual] fluidity going forward.”

The brief “Bridgerton” Season 4 teaser focuses solely on Benedict and Sophie. Those interested in updates about the state of Penelope’s writing career or what Francesca, John and Michaela Stirling have been up to since the end of the third season will have to keep waiting.

More than two decades after their peak, the music of Yellowcard is a pop punk message in a bottle. The note that washed ashore from a simpler time describes the image of a young, sharply-dressed band full of aspirations, thrashing on their instruments — violin included — in the echoey tomb of an underground parking garage in the music video for “Ocean Avenue” as the chorus kicks into overdrive.

“If I could find you now, things would get better, we could leave this town and run forever, let your waves crash down on me and take me away,” frontman Ryan Key sang ecstatically at the top of his lungs.

That hit song, the title track of 2003’s “Ocean Avenue,” created a tidal wave of success that changed the course of their career from struggling artists to a world-touring headliner and darlings of MTV’s Total Request Live.

“The first time it happened, we were really young,” Key said, gingerly grasping a spoon with his heavily tattooed hand while stirring a cup of hot tea. “We were quite literally a garage band one minute, and then we were playing on the MTV Video Music Awards and David Letterman and whatever else the next minute.”

It’s a moment that hasn’t escaped his memory 22 years later. Now, he and his bandmates — violinist Sean Mackin, bassist Josh Portman and guitarist Ryan Mendez — are far from the ocean but not too far from water as they look out at a sparkling pool from the window from a suite at the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino in Highland. A couple hours from now, the band will play a splashy pool party gig for 98.7 ALT FM. The set will include a raft of all the old hits, including “Ocean Avenue” of course, as well as their first new songs in almost a decade.

Before the release of the first singles for the new album, “Better Days,” it might’ve been easy to write off their 11th album as another release destined to be overshadowed by their early catalog. However, with the right amount of internal inspiration and outside help from Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, who produced and played all the drums on the album, the result was a batch of new songs that haven’t simply been washed out to sea. Quite the opposite, actually.

Prior to the album’s release, the title track “Better Days” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. This achievement came after a 22-year wait since their first appearance on the chart with the “Ocean Avenue” single “Way Away.” Key also notes that it’s the first time fans are using the band’s new music for their TikTok videos instead of “Ocean Avenue.”

“That’s crazy,” Key said. “Everyone is using ‘Better Days.’ I don’t think we’re alone in that. I think for bands in our scene, new music is getting a lot of love and a lot of attention again, and it’s amazing to see.”

It’s been about three years since the band reemerged to play a reunion set at RiotFest in Chicago, following their 2017 farewell show at the House of Blues in Anaheim. At the point they were ready to call it quits, the band was struggling to sell enough tickets to their shows to keep the dream alive. For Mackin, fatherhood forced him to also consider his family’s financial stability, prompting him to enter the corporate workforce as a sales rep and eventually becoming a service director for Toyota. At one point, he was responsible for managing 120 employees. “I just thought that was going to be what I was going to do to take care of my family for the next 20 years,” Mackin said.

After Yellowcard’s hiatus, Key continued playing music in several projects that distanced themselves from the pop punk sound — including recording solo work under his full name William Ryan Key, touring with bassist Portman at his side. Key also produced a post-rock electronic-heavy project called Jedha with Mendez, and the pair also does a lot of TV and film scoring work. For a long time, Key and his bandmates mourned the loss of what they had with Yellowcard. It was the most important thing in Key’s life, though he said he didn’t realize how much the band truly shaped him until it was over.

During their hiatus, band members took day jobs. One member managed 120 Toyota employees before the 2022 Riot Fest reunion reignited their passion.

(Joe Brady)

“Ungrateful is not the word to use about how I felt back then. It’s more like I didn’t have the tools to appreciate it, to feel gratitude and really let things happen and and stay in the moment and stay focused. Because I was so young, I was so insecure about my place, my role in all of it,” Key said.

But after some time away, the raucous 2022 Riot Fest reunion show relit the band’s fire in a way they hadn’t expected. They followed up with a 2023 EP “Childhood Eyes” that pushed the band to take things further with a new full album. Along with these plans came the stunning news that Barker would sign on to produce and play drums for them on the project. For a band that grew up idolizing Blink 182 and Barker specifically as the band’s red-hot engine behind the kit who spent the last 20 years evolving into a music mogul, it was a surreal experience.

“We look at him like a general. It was never lost that the best drummer of our generation is playing drums with us,” Mackin said. “We know him as Travis now, but man, this guy is just oozing talent — he’s doing all these amazing things and he doesn’t seem overrun by it, not distracted one bit. While we were recording, he was right there with us.”

Key says he was initially intimidated singing in front of Barker in the studio and had a few moments where negative, self-conscious thoughts were getting the better of him in the vocal booth during recording. Instead of getting annoyed, he says Barker helped ease his anxiety with a few simple words.

“Travis came into the booth, closed the door, put his hand on my shoulder, and he said, ‘You’re gonna do this as many times as you need to do it. I’m gonna be here the whole time.’” Barker was truly speaking from experience. He told Key at the time that he’d just recorded 87 rough takes of his parts on “Lonely Road,” his hit song with Jelly Roll and MGK. “That was a real crossroads for me,” Key said.

The aspect of the album that feels most akin to “Ocean Avenue” was that Barker never really allowed them to overthink anything when it came to songwriting, a skill the band had unwittingly mastered as kids back in the “Ocean Avenue” days by writing songs on the fly in the studio with little time to care about how a song might end up before they recorded it.

“There’s something about the way we did this record with Travis, where we would walk in and did it in a way we haven’t done in 20 plus years with him saying ‘We’re gonna write and record a song today,’” Key said. “ It was a return to that style of songwriting where you have to kind of get out of your comfort zone and just throw and go.”

The final product moves swiftly over 10 songs, the track list starts with a flurry of energy from the bombastic opening drums of “Better Days” that propel a song on inner reflection on the past. It moves on to the high-energy heartbreak of “Love Letters,” featuring Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. Avril Lavigne lends her soaring vocals to the unrequited love song “You Broke Me Too.” Songs like “City of Angels” and “Bedroom Posters” track episodes in Key’s life where his band’s hiatus took a negative toll on his outlook on life but also about looking for a way back to rediscovering himself. The album wraps with the acoustic lullaby “Big Blue Eyes,” which Keys wrote as a tribute to his son.

Though the songs on “Better Days” frequently wrestle with self-doubt and uncertainty, the response from fans has been surprisingly supportive, Key said.

“I cannot recall seeing this level of overwhelming positive feedback. People are just flipping out over these songs,” the frontman said. “The recording was such a whirlwind. When I listen to it, it’s still kind of like ‘When did I write that song?’ It happened so fast, and we made the record so fast, but I’m glad we just did it.” Despite the success, Key is hesitant to label the band comeback kids, “probably because we are officially passed kids label,” he said.

“Maybe it’s the return of the gentlemen?” Mackin joked.

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker produced the album, helping the band recapture the spontaneous energy that defined their 2003 breakthrough “Ocean Avenue.”

(Joe Brady)

Whatever they call themselves, coming back to the band after so many years of different experiences has made Yellowcard’s second shot at a career feel all the more rewarding.

“Because you feel like you know you’re capable of something other than being in this band, capable of connecting with your family in a way that you couldn’t when you were on the road all the time,” Mackin said. “There’s things that happened in that break that set us up for success as human beings, not just as creative people.”

For Key, it’s about taking all the lessons they’ve learned as a band and applying them to their future, realizing that the album’s title refers not just to the past behind them, but what lies ahead.

“This record needed to be the ultimate revival, the ultimate redemption song for our band,” Key said. “And so far it’s, it’s proven to be that.”

There have been conflicting reports on whether Israel would free the prominent Gaza medic as part of the truce agreement.

As Israeli and Palestinian captives return to their families as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the status of many prominent Palestinian detainees remains uncertain.

Among them is Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia, a hospital director in Gaza who was abducted by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has stayed in detention despite growing calls for his release and reports by his lawyer that he has been tortured in Israeli prison.

Many Palestinian rights supporters see Abu Safia as the embodiment of the resilience of Palestinian medics, as Israel systemically targeted Gaza’s health sector for more than two years.

It is unclear whether Abu Safia will be released as part of the ceasefire deal, which includes both Israelis held captive by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinians swept up in Gaza and imprisoned en masse by Israel, most without charge or trial.

But as of the end of Monday, the doctor has not been freed.

CNN reported over the weekend that Israel would not release Abu Safia, citing a source from Hamas. However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that Abu Safia was among five extra names added to the list of Palestinians from Gaza to be released.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International says that the hospital director has been held without charge or trial under an Israeli security law after being arrested by Israeli forces at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, where he continued to work as a paediatrician after his son was killed in an Israeli air strike.

“Not until 11 February 2025 did Israeli authorities allow Dr Abu Safiya to meet with a legal counsel,” the group said in a petition calling for his release. “In the latest visit by a lawyer to Ofer military prison in early July 2025, she reported that Dr Hussam and other detainees were subjected to assault and beatings.”

Amnesty International noted that Abu Safia had also lost significant weight during his detention.

Palestinian detainees and rights groups have reported torture, sexual violence and other abusive conditions in Israeli captivity during the two-year war on Gaza. Many of those released on Monday show signs of abuse and significant weight loss.

“As we speak, Husam Abu Safiya is subjected to severe torture,” a Palestinian detainee told Al Jazeera upon his release in Khan Younis in Gaza.

Calls have grown in recent days, after the ceasefire deal was finalised, for Abu Safia’s release.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has urged United States President Donald Trump to push Israel to abide by the ceasefire deal.

“We also call on the President to demand that Israel release Dr Hussam Abu Safiya and all other kidnapped medical professionals.”

UN expert Francesca Albanese suggested on Friday that the lack of pressure to release civilian captives reflects the shortcomings of the ceasefire plan, which was put forward by Trump.

“There cannot be peace without justice, human rights and dignity of ALL. Palestinian lives matter,” Albanese wrote on X.

Taylor Swift will be releasing not one but two projects around her record breaking Eras Tour.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is getting a behind-the-scenes docu-series that will give fans new insight into the “inner-workings that created the phenomenon”.

Last week marked the launch of the biggest album in history, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl with more than four million equivalent album units earned in the US.

But the 14 Grammy-winning artist isn’t slowing down with two projects in the works that will provide a whole new look at her iconic The Eras Tour which came to an end last year.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, The End of an Era is described as an “illuminating docu-series” that will give an “intimate look at Taylor’s life as her tour made headlines and thrilled fans around the world ”.

Not only will the series provide fans with “never-before-seen” content, it will also spotlight performers, family members and friends, including Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran and Gracie Abrams.

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Disney+ has announced that it will up its annual subscription by 10% on September 30. Until then, shoppers can still lock into its £89.90 annual plan, which works out less than 30p a day.

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era episode release schedule

Taylor Swift’s upcoming The End of an Era docu-series is going to debut on Friday, December 12, on Disney+.

Unfortunately, all six episodes are not going to be available to watch on this release date with just the first two dropping on December 12.

From then, two episodes are going to be released each week until the penultimate and final instalments are dropped on Boxing Day, Friday, December 26.

Here’s a full rundown of when Disney+ subscribers can expect Taylor Swift’s The End of an Era to come out:

Episodes One and Two: Friday, December 12

Episodes Three and Four: Friday, December 19

Episodes Five and Six: Boxing Day, Friday, December 26

A teaser trailer for the documentary has been released with the award-winning artist telling fans: “The Eras Tour wasn’t when all the pieces fell into place.

“This tour was just when every single one of us who had done so much work, pushing inch by inch, to where we all clicked together.”

The End of an Era docu-series won’t be the only project that Swifties can get excited about either.

It has also been confirmed that The Eras Tour: The Final Show, which will be the full concert film, is also going to be available from December 12.

The last concert on the tour took place in Vancouver and features the entire set of The Tortured Poets Department which was added to the tour following the album’s release in 2024.

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era debuts on Friday, December 12, on Disney+.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was booked into the Marion County, Ind., jail Sunday after being released from the hospital following treatment for stab wounds he received during an altercation with a truck driver.

Sanchez, 38, is facing multiple charges, including felony battery, for his altercation with 69-year-old Perry Tole, in which Sanchez was stabbed multiple times. Tole claimed he was defending himself from the former NFL star. Sanchez was released from jail following his booking Sunday.

Trump told Indianapolis media that he was “focused on his recovery,” and thanked medical professionals for saving his life.

“Right now, I’m just focused on recovery,” Sanchez said. “And I just wanted to thank the first responders, Eskenazi hospital … I just want to thank Dr. [Lindsey] Morrisey, the surgeon. I’m grateful for that. Sorry I can’t answer all your questions.”

Sanchez told reporters that he is recovering slowly and that “it is a long process.”

Tole has sued Sanchez and Fox Sports for his injuries that he said he received in the Oct. 4 incident in Indianapolis.

Local police said they would typically wait until Monday to handle cases that happen on the weekend, but “a high level of public interest” in Sanchez prompted them to take action on Sunday.

Oct. 10 (UPI) — The Bureau of Labor Statistics has called back employees to prepare the Consumer Price Index report.

The news of the callback was reported by the New York Times, CNBC and Axios. The CPI report is how the government and economists measure inflation.

The price data has already been collected, but it must be processed and analyzed. Employees called back are economists and IT specialists, an administration source familiar with the plan told the Times. Data collection will still be suspended, meaning next month’s report may be delayed if the government shutdown continues.

The report will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Oct. 24, CNBC reported. It was originally scheduled for Oct. 15.

The reason for the release of the new report is that federal law requires the Social Security Administration to adjust Social Security benefits annually based on inflation from the third quarter, and the adjustment must be published by Nov. 1.

But the delay could make it impossible for the administration to meet the deadline.

Other BLS reports, such as the nonfarm payrolls report, have not been released since the shutdown. That report was scheduled for Oct. 3.

Oct. 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a peace deal and hostage/prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is “very close,” and he might travel to the Middle East this weekend.

Earlier in the day, Trump’s lead negotiators, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, finished their first day of talks in Egypt with Israel, Hamas and other Arab partners, including Qatar, which has been a mediator.

Israel’s chief negotiator is Ron Dermer, who didn’t arrive at talks until Wednesday.

They are seeking to end the war that began in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, after the militant Hamas attacked Israel.

“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas. And it seems to be going well,” Trump said during a White House roundtable on Antifa, during which he was handed a note by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the latest information. “I may go there sometime toward the end of the week. We’ll see, but there’s a very good chance that negotiations are going along very well.’

Trump said he might leave for the Middle East as early as Saturday from Washington, D.C.

“We haven’t decided exactly,” Trump said. “I’ll be going to Egypt. Most likely. That’s where everybody is gathered right now, and we appreciate that very much, but I’ll be making the rounds as the expression goes.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi invited Trump to attend the signing ceremony.

Final details were still being worked out in the Red Sea town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

“With God’s help, may we have a happy holiday with good news,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told those gathered to mark the Day of Georgian Jewry in Israel.

On Sept. 29, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a 20-point peace plan. On Friday, Hamas reacted positively to the plan.

Hamas would disarm and end control of Gaza. The area, which at one time had about 2.2 million Palestinians, would be governed temporarily by international trustees overseen by the U.S. and Arab allies. Hundreds of thousands have fled from the Gaza Strip and more than 67,000 have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Hamas has opposed the oversight committee led by Trump, called a “Board of Peace.”

On Monday, Trump said Hamas has “agreed to very important things” during the negotiations.

The plan calls for an exchange of hostages by Hamas and prisoners by Israel within 72 hours of an agreement.

In Gaza, Israel believes there are 20 live hostages and 28 dead.

“We are very close to an agreement. What’s still pending is the list of prisoners [to be] exchanged,” a Hamas official told CNN.

Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security adviser, has been in touch with the negotiators.

“We’re getting very positive reports, as of an hour ago,” Rubio said as he left the Senate Republican lunch at the Capitol. “I feel optimistic that we’re going to get to a deal, hopefully, that hostages will be released — all the hostages. There’s good progress being made. But it all begins with all the hostages coming home. And I think we have to be optimistic, but there’s still some work to be done.”

With a deal near, Rubio canceled a trip to France to meet with other foreign ministers.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming “more and more catastrophic,” the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in the area told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade.

MOLLY-MAE Hague has announced the release date for series two of Behind It All – and it’s just days away.

After the first series scooped up an NTA for best authored documentary, fans have been early anticipating the next installment of the Love Island star’s show. 

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Now, Molly has revealed that series two will drop on October 18, as the trailer for the new series was released. 

She penned: “SURPRISE!!!… This is your 11 day countdown🎬 ‘Molly-Mae behind it all’ Series 2, Part 1 is coming to @primevideouk on the 18th of October (my favourite month of the year😭)… 

“I’m so excited for you all to see what’s been going on behind the scenes. Things have been crazy!!!”

The dramatic new trailer starts will Molly climbing onto her private jet, and sees the star juggle a busy working life with her two-year-old Bambi.

Fans and friends of the star flooded to the comments to share their excitement. 

Molly’s sister Zoe Hague wrote: “AHHH S*** HERE WE GO AGAIN” and Molly’s best pal Taylor said: “We go again!!!!!!!” followed by fire and heart emojis.

The first part of the Molly Mae: Behind It All documentary launched on Amazon Video on Friday, 17th January 2025.

Three episodes immediately landed with the new reality show’s arrival, each roughly 30 minutes long.

This was followed by a second batch of three episodes four months later.

NTAs 2025: Lineker’s shock win and Molly-Mae’s tears, backstage with some of this year’s winners

Prime were blown away by the ratings and were particularly thrilled by the huge numbers of young female viewers which Mollie, 26, brought to the streaming service.

A few months ago a TV insider said: “Molly-Mae: Behind it All was the most watched show by females in the UK in the hugely valuable 18 to 35 age group.

“That’s a crucial market for the streamer to tap into.

“Viewers were obviously hooked by the ups and downs of her relationship with Tommy, but also inspired by her juggling her love life with being a mother to their young daughter as well as running a business.

Inside Molly-Mae’s life

Take a look at the influencer, business owner and reality TV star’s journey to fame

“Prime is so keen to get it back on screen that production has already kicked off on the second season which will either drop later this year or early next year.”

NTA win

 This year, Molly-Mae’s show won an NTA – but it was a win that wasn’t without its backlash.

She beat out the likes of Amy Dowden‘s Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me which followed her cancer journey and Boyzone‘s Sky docuseries.

The late Rob Burrow also lost out for his piece, There’s Only One Rob Burrow, which documented his struggle with motor neurone disease.

She issued a statement on social media after a number of viewers complained about the National Television Awards result on social media.

Sharing a picture of herself on the stage, she then wrote: “Last night at the NTAs I shared a category with people whose stories will always be more powerful and inspirational than mine.

“I see that, I believe that and I want to acknowledge it again here.”

She continued: “It was only right to dedicate this award to the late Rob Burrow and his family and to the remarkable people in my category … this win belongs to them.”

However, even though the former reality star acknowledged that other nominees were ‘more powerful and inspirational,’ she thanked her fans for voting for her.

She added: “I’m so grateful for the recognition but even more grateful to have stood alongside such strength and inspiration. [White heart emoji]

“To everyone that voted … I am absolutely blown away. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

At the time of the ITV ceremony broadcast, Fans slammed the ceremony as they thought that ‘more worthy’ nominees should have gotten the gong.

Taking to X, one fan fumed: “Molly Mae winning an NTA over Rob Burrow or Amy Dowden is everything that is wrong with the world.”

A second stated: “If you want to know the state of tv these days… Molly Mae documentary beat Rob Burrow documentary. What wild times we live in.”

“All those wonderfully powerful documentaries and Molly Mae won!?” wrote a third.

While a fourth added: “Molly Mae winning an NTA over Rob Burrow really reminds me how much I hate society today. And the mid-speech dedication felt false and completely inappropriate. His family’s face said it all.”

Molly-Mae: Behind It All Series 2 (Episodes 1–3) launches exclusively on Prime Video on 18th October. Episodes 4-6 episodes will follow in early 2026. 

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SEOUL, Oct. 6 (UPI) — A Seoul court accepted the petition of Lee Jin-sook, the former head of the now-defunct Korean Communications Commission, to be released from detention on Saturday.

Lee was arrested on Thursday on charges of violating election law and breaching public neutrality. The allegations centered around her making partisan remarks on conservative YouTube channels and social media, which prosecutors said were aimed at obstructing the election of President Lee Jae Myung.

Police said that they executed the warrant after the head of the former broadcasting watchdog failed to respond to six summonses for questioning. Lee, however, claimed that the police had agreed on a scheduled appearance date and issued the summonses to build a justification for her arrest.

Her arrest occurred a day after the KCC was abolished as part of a politically contentious government reorganization, which automatically ended her term at the commission. Lee had been appointed to a three-year term in July 2024 by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his botched martial law attempt and removed from office in April.

Lee’s lawyers filed a petition requesting a judicial review of the lawfulness of her arrest, which the Seoul Southern District Court heard on Saturday. The court granted her request for release, with Chief Judge Kim Dong-hyun saying the arrest was “not justified at this stage.”

In the court’s decision, Judge Kim said that the investigation had already been conducted to a substantial extent and that the facts in the case were not in dispute, noting that Lee had promised to attend future hearings.

The court did not deny that the arrest may have had legal grounds, Kim added, and acknowledged that further investigation was necessary.

Lee was released from detention at Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul shortly after the ruling and placed the responsibility for her arrest on President Lee Jae Myung.

“The scene you are seeing implies that if you disobey the president, you too could end up in detention,” she said to reporters, as opposition People Power Party lawmakers and conservative supporters gathered outside the station.

“The judiciary has freed us from the handcuffs imposed by the police and prosecutors,” she added. “It gives me hope that democracy still exists in some corner of South Korea.”

Oct. 3 (UPI) — Hamas leaders say they will release all hostages, living and dead, but need more than three days to do so, which prompted President Donald Trump to urge Israel to stop bombing Gaza.

Hamas said it wants to enter into negotiations to end the war in Gaza that started when Hamas and its allies attacked, killed and kidnapped Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Hamas leaders in a Friday night statement said they agreed to “release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal,” according to the BBC.

Its leaders said they will need more than 72 hours to arrange the release of an estimated 48 hostages, of which only 20 are thought to be living.

Hamas did not say it accepts the peace plan proposed by Trump and others, though.

The president set a deadline for Hamas to agree to the peace plan that was negotiated with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu or face “all hell, like no one has ever seen before,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The 20-point peace plan was written by Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

The plan calls for an immediate end to fighting, the release within 72 hours of the 20 living hostages and the return of remains of those believed to be dead.

Hamas leaders said they are willing to “hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support,” as reported by NBC News.

After reviewing Hamas’ response, Trump said he believes the designated foreign terrorist organization is “ready for lasting peace,” The Times of Israel reported.

He also said it’s important for Israel to stop attacking Gaza to support the peace effort.

“Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly!” the president said in a Truth Social post on Friday evening.

“Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that,” he added. “We are already in discussions on details to be worked out.”

Trump said ending the war is about more than Gaza and is aimed at bringing peace to the entire Middle East.