released

Kevin Rideout, a pilot with the evangelical missionary agency SIM International, was abducted in the capital, Niamey, on October 21, 2025.

An American missionary kidnapped in Niger last year has been released after more than nine months in captivity and is now in the care of United States officials, according to his organisation.

Kevin Rideout, a pilot with the evangelical missionary agency SIM International, was abducted in the capital, Niamey, on October 21 by three armed men while heading towards the airport.

“We are grateful to confirm that our good friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released after over nine months in captivity,” SIM said on Friday, adding that he was in good health and would soon be reunited with his family.

The Reuters news agency, citing The New York Times, reported that Rideout was travelling to the US accompanied by FBI officials. Details of how and where Rideout was released remain unclear, as does the identity of the group that held him during the final stages of his captivity.

After his abduction, the kidnappers were believed to have travelled towards Niger’s western Tillaberi region, where armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) operate. Reuters reported in March that Rideout was believed to be held in neighbouring Mali by al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).

Niger and its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso have struggled with armed groups across the Sahel for years.

The US withdrew its troops from Niger after the military seized power in a 2023 coup, while Niger’s authorities have since strengthened security and diplomatic ties with Russia.

Aug. 1 (UPI) — Two ransom notes sent by people claiming to be the kidnappers of Nancy Guthrie were released Friday by local police in hopes of generating new leads.

The second note, which was sent Feb. 6, told the Guthrie family that Nancy Guthrie died soon after she was kidnapped.

“We believe it was heart related,” the note said. “She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.”

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was the mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie. She was kidnapped from her home near Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 1. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department marked six months since the kidnapping on Thursday and reiterated that the investigation is ongoing.

The family posted a new plea on Instagram Saturday.

“This is our beautiful Mom. Six months ago, someone took her out of her bed in the dead of night. We have lived every moment, every breath and every heartbeat in agony and despair ever since,” the post said. “Every day, we wake up and try to be strong and go on — because that’s what our joyful and resilient Mom taught us to do. But make no mistake — our hearts are in ruins.”

The post asks that people review the letters for possible recognition.

“We are begging for help. We are desperate. We need someone to come forward. Someone knows something. Someone suspects something. Someone recognizes the writing in the ransom demand notes. Someone has noticed something different, strange, troubling or just unusual — perhaps with someone they deeply love. … There is a way to end this situation and do the right thing. Please. Bring her home,” the post said.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department posted the emailed ransom notes on X for the public to view, as well as a list of behaviors that could signal involvement.

The first note, which was sent on Feb. 2 to a local news outlet, noted that there was a white smartwatch on the floor at the foot of her bed, and that the backyard floodlight had been destroyed. It demanded $4 million in bitcoin by Feb. 5.

“Do not play games, law enforcement will not be able to help you,” the note threatened.

In July, a California man pleaded guilty to sending phony ransom notes to the Guthrie family to harass them.

The former president and his wife were sentenced to 15 years last year after being convicted of money laundering.

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been released from prison after the country’s Constitutional Court overturned his 15-year prison sentence for a case linked to a globe-spanning corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Humala was serving his sentence at a special detention facility in eastern Lima that houses several of Peru’s jailed former leaders. The 64-year-old and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were found guilty last year of money laundering for receiving illegal contributions from Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, and the Venezuelan government in two presidential campaigns.

Heredia subsequently received asylum in Brazil.

“It has been decided to declare the entire criminal proceedings against Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso null and void,” read the Constitutional Court ruling dated July 15 and published on Thursday.

Humala, a former army officer who led the country from 2011 to 2016, was the first Peruvian ex-leader to face trial in the Odebrecht corruption scandal, which has also tainted three other former presidents.

He had filed a habeas corpus petition – a legal request asking the court to examine whether he had been unlawfully imprisoned – which the Constitutional Court declared to be “well-founded” because it found that he had been convicted for conduct that was not legally defined as money laundering when the campaign contributions were received.

The former president’s lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said that his side has received the judgement “with considerable satisfaction”.

In 2016, Odebrecht agreed to pay $3.5bn in penalties after having spent $788m in bribes to foreign leaders and government officials in order to win infrastructure projects across Latin America.

Odebrecht admitted to having paid at least $29m in bribes to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014.

POP superstar George Michael’s estate is suing his former best pal over footage from the recording of a lost album.

Andros Georgiou, 63, faces court for charging fans to watch scenes which he recorded of the ex-Wham! star.

George’s former best friend said he would be “turning in his grave” after the pop singer’s estate sued him over video footage of a secret unreleased album.

The Wham! star’s lawyers are taking Andros to court after he released almost 90 minutes of unseen footage shot in 1992 and 1993.

Andros launched a website last month charging fans to watch the film Trojan Souls — The Greatest Album That Was Never Made.

The record was to feature Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Janet Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Bryan Ferry, Seal and Sade.

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But the legal team from George’s estate has now lodged a case against him at London’s Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court, claiming its rights have been breached.

Furious Andros, 63, said the legal claim was “a case of sheer greed”.

On George, he said: “Yes, we fell out, but we loved and cared for each other deeply, and I find the baseless claims and the constant attempts to erase me from history both disrespectful and, frankly, a bit desperate.

“The film belongs to me.

“Trojan Souls belongs to me.

“They’ve opened Pandora’s Box.

“They won’t want me on the stand.

“I know way too much.

“Bring it on.”

Andros’s film shows the making of tracks for Trojan Souls: The Voice of Reason, a collaboration album with global superstars.

Pop fans are being asked to pay £4.99 for 48 hours of access to the 90-minute video online.

Tribe Media is also selling £19.99 VIP tiers, promising access to never-before-heard recordings of George’s unreleased songs from the record.

Andros shot the video using a camcorder given to him by Sony while they were in Japan on George’s Faith tour.

Andros said: “First and foremost — my brother in arms, my best friend, George Michael to you, Yog to me — would turn in his grave knowing what Russells (the estate’s lawyers) are attempting — and spending his money to do it.”

He went on: “It is well known Yog and I were working on Trojan Souls through my record label, Hardback Records.

“The film I have released was shot by me, with Yog’s full approval.

“This was a home video leaked over 30 years ago.

“It kept resurfacing on YouTube.

“So I decided, if you can’t beat them, put the film out myself, since others were already profiting from my home video.”

The legal case lists Andros and Tribe Media, the production house distributing the film.

The claimants are Robobuild Limited and Big Geoff Overseas Limited, the holding companies George used to manage royalties and world tours.

Andros and George were estranged before the star’s death on Christmas Day, 2016, but had been planning to reconcile.

They fell out after George’s arrest in an LA public toilet in 1998.

But Andros had spoken to his pal on the phone in the final weeks of his life.

The pair had a close friendship for decades after their fathers moved to the UK from Cyprus together in 1953.

Most of the one-hour 24-minute film shows George playing the piano, performing vocals with backing singers, grabbing a bass and talking to producers about his track list in an LA studio.

George lost interest in the album when his then-partner Anselmo Feleppa’s health declined.

Anselmo, who suffered from Aids, died in March 1993.

George never completed the album.

It can take up to two years for a case at the court to reach trial.

Lawyers for George Michael’s estate were asked to comment.

DENVER — Tina Peters, the former clerk convicted of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by President Trump, was released from prison Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.

Peters’ release was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The state agency said it would have no more information about the 70-year-old inmate. Her sentence was shortened by Gov. Jared Polis last month after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state.

Peters served less than a quarter of her nine-year sentence.

Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election. She snuck in an outside computer expert affiliated with My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell — who himself denied that Trump lost the White House in 2020 — and the person copied the county’s Dominion Voting Systems computer server as it was updated in 2021.

Peters then joined Lindell onstage at a “cybersymposium” that promised to reveal proof that the election was rigged. Video and photos of the computer system upgrade, including passwords, were posted online. The move stoked false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Trump.

Peters was convicted in 2024 of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and other crimes by jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump. An appeals court upheld her conviction in April, but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.

Trump had championed Peters’ case, but because she was convicted under state law, he did not have the power to pardon her. Instead, the president pressured Polis to do so, lambasting him on social media and disinviting him to a White House meeting with other governors. The Trump administration also announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocated the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.

Polis commuted Peters’ sentence on May 15. In a letter, he wrote that although Peters was convicted of serious crimes and deserved to spend time in prison, the sentence was “extremely unusual and lengthy” for a first-time non-violent offender.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, called the move a “dark day for democracy” and said it amounted to ”selling out our state’s justice system for Trump.”

Rivals fans have been left unimpressed as it has been rumoured that part 2 of the beloved series is set to be released in ‘late 2026’ with Disney refusing to confirm release

TV hit Rivals has come under fire from fans as the the last scheduled mid-season finale episode is set to be released next week, and Disney+ has yet to confirm when the next six episodes will be streaming.

The first three episodes of the series were launched on May 15, with a new episode released every Friday in the weeks following, with the sixth episode in part one slated for June 5.

However, Disney+ has yet to reveal when the final six episodes of the 12 episode series is set to be released, and multiple outlets have referenced a ‘late 2026’ release date and an October air date. Fans have been less than impressed by these rumours and can’t quite believe they may have to wait months to see more drama unfold in Rutshire.

“Finally starting season 2 of #Rivals , which I heard has been split into 2 parts?? And the other half doesn’t come out until October?? Does Hulu think it’s Netflix now?,” said one fan on X.

“Rivals release schedule is terrible. they’re gonna kill the momentum of the show and I doubt they will do a lot of promo during the break. I would rather wait for a late summer release instead of waiting for 6 months between the two parts,” said another.

“I’m always against bullying but I may need to make an exception for Hulu and Disney+ because having a 5 month break between part 1 and 2 of the new season of rivals should be illegal. like wtf were they thinking? and honestly why kill the momentum like that?,” said another fan.

The Mirror approached Disney for comment on the release dates and was informed that they don’t currently have an update about the release date of part two.

As part of SXSW David Tennant and Claire Rushbrook are set to appear at a screening of the finale of part one season two in London, further adding to speculation that this will be a big mid-season finale and fans may be waiting for some time for part two.

While many viewers are frustrated, some have speculated that there is a deeper meaning behind the long wait, and feel as though this is like getting two seasons for the price of one.

“I’m going to be crashing out daily but I fully expected season two to be out in October anyway so it really is an extra treat to have some eps now!! from the sounds of it they’ve set ep6 up to be a proper mid season finale and I’m so sat for it,” said one fan on X.

“The rivals break is gonna be rough but considering they did a 10 month shoot, announced the premiere date before wrapping, AND we got episodes way before we all thought we would..i feel like they have their reasons for it (it’ll be torture but i know all about waiting),” said another.

“My unpopular opinion is that people are massively overreacting about the rivals season split. wdym people won’t care? it ended on a cliffhanger last time and we were gagging for s2. 12 episodes is a lot for a british show — it’s like getting two seasons in a year!” said another.

For now, it’s unclear when part two of the beloved series will be released, but fans can be sure to expect something explosive and tantalising given the positive reaction to the series so far. Rotten Tomatoes has given season two a 100% approval rating so far, with fans completely hooked on the sexy Cotswolds drama.

Rivals is streaming now on Disney+