AN AUSSIE superfan who lunged at Ariana Grande on the red carpet has been kicked out of Singapore and banned from returning to the country for life.
Johnson Wen, 26, was jailed for nine days for being a public nuisance and has now been officially “barred from re-entering Singapore”, the country’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority confirmed.
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Johnson Wen accosted the star at the premiere of Wicked: For GoodCredit: Reuters
Her co-star Cynthia Erivo immediately rushed in and physically wrestled him away.
The prankster has a history of disrupting concerts and celebrity appearances, including jumping on stage at Katy Perry’sSydney concert in June.
Fans online accused Wen of re-traumatising Grande, who has spoken about suffering PTSD after the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, which killed 22 concertgoers and injured hundreds more.
The court heard Wen had tried twice to force his way into the premiere.
After being removed the first time, he made a second attempt to jump the barricades before security pinned him to the ground.
He later posted bizarre videos thanking Grande “for letting him on the carpet” and declaring he was “free”, only to be arrested the next day.
Wen pleaded guilty to the public-nuisance charge.
Judge Christopher Goh said Wen was “attention seeking” and foolish to believe he wouldn’t face consequences.
Grande has not commented, but Erivo later told NBC she stepped in instinctively: “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe … You never know with those things.”
Ariana Grande appeared shaken by the incidentCredit: GettyWen was locked up for nine days and has been described a ‘serial intruder’Credit: Instagram / @pyjamamann
Kat Smith, an American who has spent years travelling the world, has highlighted the underrated place that she loves the most and which she keeps coming back to
Kat Smith has made Trieste her home
A seasoned traveller who has visited almost every corner of Italy has chosen an often overlooked one to be her home.
Kat Smith has be travelling the world for the past 13 years, putting down roots for short periods before moving on. The one place that has captured the American globetrotter’s heart, and where she has been living for the past two and a half years, is one that rarely receives much attention from tourists. Although that does seem to be changing.
Trieste saw its overnight stays more than double from around 700,000 in 2021 to 1.5 million in 2024, a significant increase driven by a growing number of tourists visiting the city. That compares to 29 million overnight stays in Rome last year.
“I’ve traveled Italy extensively, going to at least one new place every month since moving here in August 2023. Some cities, like Naples, Rome, and Venice, I’ve found myself returning to again and again, but I always make time to explore a new corner of Italy. I’ve traveled from the southern tip of Puglia to the northern border with Austria, making plenty of stops throughout the country and even to Sardinia,” Kat, co-founder of Mamma Mia Indeed, told the Mirror.
“One of my favorite cities is Trieste. Although still relatively unknown outside of Italy, Trieste is slowly starting to come out of its shell and get the recognition it deserves.”
Here are some of the reasons why she loves the north-eastern coastal city so much.
“From the architecture to the food and even the local dialect, Trieste is like nowhere else in Italy. Here, you’ll feel closer to Vienna than to Rome when wandering the streets, particularly in the center around Piazza Unità or down grandiose Via Carducci. Sacher cakes sit in bakeries side-by-side with your typical croissants (called “brioche” here), and goulash often accompanies pasta on menus. Given the proximity to the border, road signs tend to be in both Italian and Slovenian, especially true as you explore the hillside surrounding the city center.”
It has a strong sense of identity
“When speaking with locals, especially the older generation, they tend to stress that they’re Triestino first, Italian second, paying homage to those few years after WW2 that Trieste was actually independently recognized as the Free State of Trieste. While not all are itching for those days like some are, they’re proud of their unique culture. A short anecdote to emphasis this unique history comes from my neighbor, a man in his late 70s. All born in the same area we now know as Trieste, his parents were born under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his parents-in-law in the Kingdom of Italy, him in the Free Territory of Trieste, and his wife in Italy. Although much of Italy shares a unique history and moments in time when it was independent, few have such drastic changes within the last 100 years.”
It’s a city on the water
“Trieste is built around the water, which is something I truly love about living here. Regardless of the season, you’ll find people flocking to the sea or to the coast for the daily ritual of watching the sunset over the Adriatic. It feels as though everyone who lives here is drawn to the water one way or another. Many of our neighbors own sailboats, and friends often call to walk along Barcolana (Trieste’s “beach”) for an aperitivo. We’ve also started rowing most mornings in the sea with a group of locals. The public transportation even stretches past the shore with the ferry being the best way to get around the coastline and even across in the bay in the summer. There’s nothing quite like swapping the bus for a boat, especially once you’ve gotten your first glimpse of Trieste from the water.”
It’s cut off
“Situated on the border with Slovenia, it’s just about as far away from the rest of Italy as you can get, with most towns in Slovenia and even northern Croatia a closer trip. The architecture looks more Austrian than Venetian or Roman, paying homage to the centuries spent as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today it’s a coastal city bursting with a unique culture and plenty of places to catch the sunset over the Adriatic while you enjoy your aperitivo. In the summer, you can take the public ferry around the coast, visiting smaller towns and seeing the iconic Miramare Castle from the sea. The Osmiza culture comes alive in the summer and spring, with numerous farm-to-table “restaurants” opening their doors with fresh meats, cheeses, and wines. In the winter, the city’s main square, Piazza Unità, gets into the holiday spirit, filling itself with Christmas trees and lights.”
Suranne Jones’ hit TV show Doctor Foster will reportedly be returning to screens after an almost decade-long break, according to TV insiders
In Doctor Foster, Bertie Carvel plays cheating husband Simon with Suranne Jones as his vengeful wife(Image: Drama Republic 2015)
Suranne Jones is set to bring back her best-ever TV character after an eight-year break.
The former Coronation Street star will reprise the lead role of Gemma Foster in the BBC One drama Doctor Foster. The award-winning series saw Suranne play a scorned GP who takes revenge on her cheating husband, played by Bertie Carvel.
According to a report, Suranne and the team feel there is “unfinished business” for the character. Filming is reportedly due to start next year, with a view to it potentially airing at the end of 2026 or early 2027.
A TV insider said: “There was always a sense of unfinished business with Doctor Foster as the storyline could easily roll on and on.”
“It went out on a massive high, too, with around eight million tuning in every week to watch the drama unfold between the three lead characters,” they added to The Sun.
More than 10 million people tuned in to see the finale of Doctor Foster’s first series in October 2015. It won multiple awards including the best actress Bafta for Suranne Jones.
The second series did similarly well and the finale was watched by an average of 7.2 million viewers, according to overnight figures. But the ending did split viewers as Gemma Foster and her ex-husband fought over their son Tom.
Speaking about the series in 2017, Suranne admitted it could be “uncomfortable” viewing at times but says the show has a ” weird, sexy edge to it. We all know what it feels like to be in a room with an ex-partner,” she goes on.
“Everybody has had a relationship, everyone has had exes, everybody has been in difficult circumstances. I’m sure myself and Bertie have had those thoughts and feelings; otherwise we wouldn’t be able to draw on them.
“But at the same time, with the style of writing and the style of the programme, you’re able to go further.
“It has a fantastical edge as well as being deep-rooted in naturalism. It also has an exaggerated way of showing how far you could go if you really wanted to.”
The Mirror approached the BBC about reports of a third series Doctor Foster but were told there would be no immediate comment.
“The border has really changed over the last few years and that work is picking up pace. Public expectations have changed and technology has changed,” Douglas added.
“We now have AI facial recognition, the use of biometric identifiers in parallel with the more traditional forms of identification, like visas and passports.”
Douglas explained that Border Force wanted to make use of the existing 270 e-gates at airports and ports around the country by fitting them with the new technology.
“It’s our intention that almost everybody will go through an e-gate of one description or another,” Douglas said.
“The Manchester pilot has shown that we can actually reduce transaction times considerably as well.”
He did warn that while this was a huge leap in technological advancement and would reduce waiting times, there was “something important about the ‘theatre’ of the border.”
Douglas said passengers should still expect to feel a sense of a border and scrutiny when entering the UK and when “they’re stopped it’s a moment they know they’re being checked.”
The UK is not the only country to introduce facial recognition technology at airports with the United Arab Emirates allowing passengers from 50 countries to enter using it.
Australia and the US were also considering trialling the software.
The Sun contacted Border Force for comment.
Facial recognition technology was also being considered at ports which would remove the need to even step out of your car to go through passport control.
The technologywill be used at ports to match their faces with passport and car details already logged in government databases.
The cameras, which are being trialled at four ports since November 2024 – are designed to cut queues that build up during busyholiday periods.
Only “passengers of interest” highlighted as a risk because of intelligence, safeguarding concerns or questions over their identity will have to undergo manual checks by aBorder Forceofficer on arrival.
Phil Douglas is the Director General of Border Force at the Home OfficeCredit: Gov.uk
While Birmingham is an important industrial and cultural centre, and the UK’s second-largest city with a population of around 1.2 million.
The proposed plans are on track to deliver up to 130 extra train services each week, which would provide around two million additional passenger seats a year.
Andy Clark, rail programme lead at Midlands Connect, said: “This would be a real boost for passengers.”
The first phase of the scheme is also expected to create nearly 13,000 jobs nationwide.
Swindon North MP Will Stone welcomed the development, saying it would boost the local economy and reconnect communities that have long relied on slower, indirect services.
Currently, there are no direct services between Swindon and Birmingham, meaning passengers must change at Cheltenham, Gloucester, or Reading stations.
The revived route would re-establish a direct connection between the two cities.
Mr Stone said: “It’s fantastic that Swindon could be benefiting from the Midlands Rail hub expansion.
“We’re a town built on connection via the railways, and so it’s great to see Swindon getting an hourly service between a fellow industrial town like Birmingham.”
Once home to the Great Western Railway works, Swindon has a proud railway heritage that shaped the town’s identity.
The project has secured government backing following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending review and forms part of the government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy.
Mr Stone added: “Innovative projects like the Midlands Rail hub prove that investments in our railways, fully funded by the Chancellor, are transformative for communities, bringing new jobs and skills to areas across the country.”
TheSan Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale has left Mayport, Florida, and is returning to the Caribbean to rejoin the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a U.S. official confirmed to The War Zone Monday morning. The vessel left on Sunday and is now south of Miami in the Straits of Florida, according to an online ship tracker. It will provide additional air and troop support once it arrives on station. San Antonio class ships can launch and land two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft or up to four AH-1Z, UH-1Y or MH-60 helicopters at once. In addition, they can carry Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft or other landing craft and boats in their well deck, and can transport up to 800 Marines.
The San Antonio class amphibious transport dock USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) is on its way back to the Caribbean to rejoin the ongoing enhanced counter-narcotics mission. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Savannah L. Hardesty) Petty Officer 2nd Class Savannah Hardesty
The Fort Lauderdale is set to rejoin a flotilla of at least eight other surface warships plus a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine arrayed for an enhanced counter-narcotics mission also aimed, at least partially, at Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro. The Henry J. Kaiser class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha is in the region as well, the Navy official told us. In addition, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and one of its escort ships, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, are currently in the western Mediterranean Sea, heading toward the Caribbean, a U.S. Navy official told The War Zone. It could take as long as another week for those ships to arrive in the Caribbean, the official added.
🔎🇺🇸Final Alignment: CSG 12 Appears almost Ready for Southcom Pivot
The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) remains visually unescorted in the Central Mediterranean (Nov 1). This could be a calculated tactical decision to facilitate the nearby replenishment of a key escort.
The MV Ocean Trader – a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship modified to carry special operators and their gear – has also appeared in several places around the Caribbean in recent weeks. Navy officials and U.S. Special Operations Command have declined to comment on this vessel. The ship, which TWZ first reported on back in 2016, has been something of a ghost since entering service, popping up in hot spots around the globe.
There is also an increasing buildup on the land. Reuters noted that the U.S. is continuing to make improvements at the former Roosevelt Roads Navy base for use by combat and cargo aircraft. Since August, the facility has been used as a central logistics hub, with frequent landings by airlifters and by aircraft from the 22nd MEU as well. The new additions include Mobile Aircraft Arresting Systems for stopping incoming fast jets. As we have reported in the past, Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighters are already operating from there and the MAAS can help support I fighters during emergencies. The incoming USS Gerald R. Ford’s air wing, for instance, could use the base as a divert location.
The military has also set up 20 tents at the installation.
📍José Aponte de la Torre Airport, #UnitedStates (🇺🇸)
Recent @Reuters photos from José Aponte de la Torre Airport viewing the ongoing C-17A Globemaster III logistics operations unloading cargo at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. pic.twitter.com/mgpPjJxwOu
Satellite images show construction of an ammunition storage facility at the airport at Rafael Hernandez Airport, the second-busiest civilian airport in Puerto Rico.
Reuters also found significant changes at Rafael Hernandez Airport. The US military has moved in communications gear and a mobile air traffic control tower. Satellite images show construction of an ammunition storage facility at the airport -Reuters pic.twitter.com/L3lRCwr3kU
Beyond Puerto Rico, the U.S. has set up a new radar system at an airport in St. Croix.
A AN/TPS-75, which acts as the primary land-based tactical air defense radar for the U.S. Air Force, seen deployed late last month at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on the Island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, just to the southeast of Puerto Rico and roughly 450 miles to the… pic.twitter.com/eaC3vEybgU
Despite the buildup, the Trump administration’s goal remains unclear. In an interview on Sunday with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, President Donald Trump offered a mixed message about his plans for Venezuela.
Asked if the U.S. was going to war with the South American nation, Trump answered, “I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they’ve been treating us very badly, not only on drugs – they’ve dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country that we didn’t want, people from prisons – they emptied their prisons into our country.”
Later in the interview, the president was asked if “Maduro’s days as president are numbered.”
“I would say ‘yeah. I think so, yeah,” Trump responded. The American leader, however, declined to offer any details about what that meant.
“I’m not gonna tell you what I’m gonna do with Venezuela, if I was gonna do it or if I wasn’t going to do it,” he explained when queried about whether he will order land attacks in Venezuela.
As for why the Ford carrier strike group is heading toward the Caribbean, Trump explained, “it’s gotta be somewhere. It’s a big one.”
Moscow “resolutely condemns the use of excessive military force” by the U.S. in the Caribbean,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding that Russia fully supports the Venezuelan government in its efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and maintain the region as a “zone of peace.”
Amid the growing tensions, Russian aircraft have landed in Venezuela. potentially with military supplies, Defense News reported last week.
A russian Il-76 landed in Venezuela following Maduro’s appeal to the russian Federation for military assistance, – Defense News.
These aircraft were previously used to transport weapons, military equipment, and even russian mercenaries. pic.twitter.com/M6cC7Srwz8
Meanwhile, as Trump maintains a level of strategic ambiguity about his objectives toward Maduro, the U.S “has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send American troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels,” NBC News reported Monday morning. That possibility and how it could happen were subjects we examined in great detail back in February, which you can read about here.
While no deployments are imminent, training for such a mission is already underway, the network added.
“The U.S. troops, many of whom would be from Joint Special Operations Command, would operate under the authority of the U.S. intelligence community, known as Title 50 status,” NBC posited, citing two anonymous U.S. officials. ”They said officers from the CIA also would participate.”
These operations would have U.S. troops in Mexico “mainly use drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel members and leaders,” the report continued. “Some of the drones that special forces would use require operators to be on the ground to use them effectively and safely, the officials said.”
As we have previously wrote, such an operation would be precedent-setting. While U.S. troops like Green Berets from the 7th Special Forces Group routinely work with Mexican forces, training them to hit cartels and serving as observers on raids, there has yet to be a known U.S. military kinetic action inside Mexico.
The most famous example of a covert strike using U.S. troops under Title 50 authority was the 2011 Navy SEAL attack on al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, but what NBC is describing is a much more sustained operation with increased risks, a former White House official under the first Trump administration told us.
“This seems like more of a campaign,” Javed Ali, who worked in the National Security Council’s (NSC) counterterrorism unit during the first Trump administration, explained. “What the administration is trying to achieve under Title 50 is ostensibly to use military force, but covertly. But in this day of social media, it is harder to not have that revealed. They lose the element of surprise.”
Ali raised an additional concern. Would the cartels, who already have operatives in the United States, strike back if they were attacked in Mexico?
“The enemy gets a vote,” Ali suggested. “Would the cartels be so bold to actually conduct attacks inside the United States is an open question. If a cartel lab gets blown up or cartel leaders are killed in drone strikes, how would they respond? Inside the government, I would have to think they are looking at all those contingencies.”
Still, even with these risks, it seems clear the Trump is willing to go further than his predecessors in hopes of significantly reducing the flow of narcotics into the United States. Public support for such actions will likely be dictated by losses of American troops — if any — in the process, should such operations move forward. It’s also not clear where the Mexican government stands on this issue at this time.
It is unknown exactly what the Trump administration will do when it comes to countering cartels and taking on Maduro. However, while U.S. strikes against the Venezuelan cartels have been limited to attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats, the possibility exists that America could soon find itself conducting kinetic strikes on two fronts in its own backyard.
Update: 5:03 PM Eastern –
The Navy provided us with some context about why the Fort Lauderdale was in Mayport.
“The USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) returned to Naval Station Mayport from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2, 2025, for a mid-deployment voyage repair (MDVR) and maintenance period. NS Mayport’s facilities offered the most expedient option with the best infrastructure, maintenance, repair, and logistical support for the maintenance period.
A Mid-Deployment voyage repair (MDVR) is a period, roughly halfway through a ship’s deployment, where necessary and preventative maintenance and repairs are made. This MDVR allowed Fort Lauderdale to conduct vital maintenance to the ship with the support of in-port services.
In-port maintenance and logistical support enable the ship to correct and maintain materiel readiness, warfighter readiness, and sustainability.”
