video

WASHINGTON — A night devoted to celebrating the 1st Amendment and journalism turned into a breaking story of its own.

The attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday took cover under the tables in the Washington Hilton ballroom when they heard gunshots outside, which led to the evacuation of President Trump and many of his Cabinet officials at the gala.

But instinct kicked in swiftly, and many of the journalists in the crowd of 2,600 people were using their phones to capture video. Uploading pictures to social media was a challenge as the internet coverage in the ballroom was poor, but they would eventually provide a detailed chronicle of the night.

“I reached for my phone as soon as I could and started shooting video to capture as much of the moment as I could,” said Sara Cook, a CBS News producer and press association board member seated on the dais near the president, First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who were hustled out while a SWAT team swarmed the stage.

“I could hear Secret Service officers saying, ‘Where is it coming from?’” Cook said. “They seemed to be quite confused onstage about exactly what was happening, where the threat was coming from and if there still was a threat.”

Authorities identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance. He was apprehended after rushing a security checkpoint one floor above the ballroom. Law enforcement officials said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.

After guests were told the evening program would not proceed, many of the TV anchors and correspondents in the crowd headed to their Washington studios. Many didn’t wait. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who was returning from a restroom on the floor where the incident occurred, delivered an eyewitness account from the Hilton lobby using a Webex app on a smartphone.

There was at least one fog-of-war moment as well. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins reported on air that the armed suspect was killed by the Secret Service, attributing it to security for Education Secretary Linda McMahon. She had to correct the report after Fox News said Allen was alive and detained by agents.

“CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Doukopil and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss walked several blocks from the Hilton to waiting vehicles that took them to the network’s offices and studios on M Street. (Weiss granted a reporter’s request to go behind the scenes to observe the news-gathering operation.)

Matt Gutman, Nancy Cordes, Tony Dokoupil and Bari Weiss at the CBS News Washington bureau on April 25, 2026.

When Doukopil and Weiss arrived at the bureau, CBS News national correspondent Matt Gutman and Nancy Cordes, chief White House correspondent, were already on the air with a special report, showing video shot by its journalists in the ballroom.

Doukopil joined his colleagues, all still dressed in formal wear, and took over the coverage. The newsroom soon filled with executives and producers arriving from the Hilton, several dressed in long gowns and carrying their high-heeled shoes.

CBS News President Tom Cibrowski stood over a large multiview screen, monitoring his network’s broadcast alongside the competition.

When Cibrowski was on the floor of the ballroom when the commotion began, he texted his family to let them know he was OK. He then called David Reiter, the executive producer of special events for CBS News, to alert him that they would be breaking into regular programming on the network, a rarity lately with so many 24-hour news sources available.

Reiter left his seat at a Broadway show and headed to the CBS News studios on the west side of Manhattan to get the feed on the air.

Weiss walked over to the Washington set and consulted with Doukopil, Cordes and Gutman during a break, providing a bipartisan list of government officials and activists who were subjected to politically motivated violence in recent years. She settled in at a workspace to turn out a memo to staff, acknowledging the rapid work of getting its images from inside the ballroom on the air.

“This is what we do,” wrote Weiss, a digital entrepreneur who has dealt with criticism over her lack of experience in TV news since taking on her high-profile role in October. “Most importantly, we are thankful that everyone is safe.”

Later, she led a lengthy meeting to plan further coverage, which included Norah O’Donnell interviewing Trump for Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes.”

After Doukopil finished his special report, he was off to prepare a segment to air on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“It’s very strange to go from drinking wine to drinking coffee,” Dokoupil said as he departed the set.

Every journalist in the ballroom left with a story.

Tom Llamas, anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” was seated next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio when Secret Service agents pulled Rubio and his wife away as White House officials were evacuated. Llamas had to alert the agents that another, less high-profile Cabinet member, Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, and his wife were at the table as well.

Llamas made his way from the hotel to the NBC News bureau with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and veteran Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell. The anchor took over the network’s special report and felt compelled to explain his attire.

“NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas reports on the shooting at the dinner on April 25, 2026.

“It is unusual to come on the air in a tuxedo, but this is a very unusual night,” he told viewers.

Llamas praised the performance of his peers who have seen the image of their profession take a beating in recent years.

“There was a while there, we did not know what was going on,” he said. “For all the crap that is written about our industry, I saw people jump into action immediately, and it was incredible. I was proud of all my colleagues.”

The canceled dinner created a predicament for MS NOW and NBC News, which both planned lavish after-parties late Saturday evening. Many of the big-name on-air talent stars and executives expected to attend were working on the story.

After a half-hour of deliberations, both networks decided their parties would go on. But planned stunts for the MS NOW soiree at DuPont Underground — such as a performance by a university drum line — were scrapped.

NBC’s event at the home of the French ambassador was billed as “The After Party.” A text message told attendees to expect a more subdued affair described as “a gathering for people who wanted to convene, eat and drink and be with community.”

Privately, one network executive explained why the festivities moved forward. “Nobody died,” he said.

Videos and other imagery bearing witness to the awesome destructive power of nuclear detonations remain some of the most enduring legacies of the Cold War. But of the more than 2,000 nuclear weapons tests that have been carried out since 1945, only very, very few have involved a live weapon dropped from a fighter-bomber.

A nuclear strike performed by the Su-7

At least one such test took place in the Soviet Union, however. On his X account, Sam Wise, an aviation analyst at Janes, brought our attention to footage that purportedly shows that test, or at least portions of it.

The test in question was especially notable in that it involved a free-fall tactical nuclear bomb that was delivered by a crewed fighter-bomber, specifically a Su-7 Fitter attack jet, in an end-to-end test.

Of those 2,000-plus nuclear tests, only a small fraction involved bombs dropped from aircraft of any kind — roughly 200 to 250 according to records compiled by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Those tests almost always involved bombers, aircraft with multiple engines, several crew members, and, often, dedicated to delivering nuclear weapons.

The vast majority of nuclear tests were conducted underground, at sea, or on land. In the latter case, the devices were typically detonated from an elevated position, either atop a tower or suspended from a balloon. This better replicated the conditions of a typical nuclear detonation, with the weapon engineered to explode in an air burst above the ground, for maximum effect.

One reason for the relative scarcity of air-dropped nuclear bomb tests was the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which pushed testing underground.

At the same time, dropping a live nuclear weapon from a crewed aircraft brings additional risks for relatively little benefit.

At the beginning of the nuclear age, air-dropped tests were useful to prove that bombs could be delivered, but they were inefficient in terms of scientific measurement and riskier to conduct from a safety point of view. Dropping a nuclear device from an aircraft adds variables (altitude, speed, trajectory) that complicate measurements. If something goes wrong, you risk losing a plane, or worse, an accidental detonation or contamination spread.

Based on the available information, it appears that the U.S. military never tested a live tactical nuclear bomb dropped by a tactical combat jet, despite the very many platforms, both Air Force and Navy, that were cleared to carry them operationally.

It should be noted that the U.S. Air Force did detonate one tactical nuclear weapon after launch from a fighter. However, this involved an air-to-air rocket, the nuclear-tipped Genie, which was fired on this occasion from an F-89 interceptor, in 1957’s Operation Plumbbob John.

Project Genie : Air-to-air rocket nuclear testing

France does appear to have conducted a live test of an air-dropped tactical nuclear bomb, with an AN52 dropped from a Jaguar attack jet in August 1972, to help prove that weapon for service.

Returning to the Soviet Union, on August 27, 1962, pilot Lt. Col. A. I. Shein took off in a single-seat Su-7B, with a live 244N nuclear bomb carried on the centerline station below the fuselage. He then headed for the Semipalatinsk test site on the Soviet steppe. Also known as “The Polygon,” the Semipalatinsk range was the main test site for Soviet nuclear weapons. It is in the Abai region, in what is now Kazakhstan.

Shein put the jet into a climb at an angle of around 45 degrees. This was an ‘over-the-shoulder’ toss maneuver, typical for fighter-bombers of this era. This involved the attacking aircraft pulling upward before releasing its bomb to compensate for the weapon’s gravity drop in flight. The result would put the weapon on the target, without the aircraft having to pass over it. Instead, the jet would complete a half roll and (hopefully) avoid the blast effects so it could escape. The launch maneuver sequence, as shown in the video, is apparently simulated, or at the least, heavily edited.

Shein later recalled:

“I take off, the excitement subsides, I enter the combat course, and make an approach. Everything is normal, I make an approach for a combat release, bring the aircraft into a nose-up attitude, and monitor the G-forces. After four seconds, I hear a signal, then a second, a short third, and I press the ‘release’ trigger. The green light goes out, indicating the release has been completed. The bomb’s release is felt by the shaking of the aircraft. I continue the nose-up attitude. For control, I note the release angle; it is almost constant and equal to 44–50 degrees. After passing the top point, I then descend at a 50-60 degree angle, perform a half-roll, increase engine speed and, consequently, aircraft speed, descend to the lowest possible altitude, and try to get as far and as quickly as possible from the target.”

This method required a bomb computer to calculate the release point. For the U.S. Air Force, this was the Low Altitude Bombing System, or LABS, while the Su-7 was fitted with the equivalent PBK-1 device, a separate box that was added to the left side of the instrument panel. In this context, PBK denoted Pritsel dliya Bombometaniya s Kabrirovaniya, or toss-bombing sight.

A video shows a U.S. Air Force B-47 bomber flying the LABS maneuver:

Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Low Altitude Bombing System) LABS Maneuver

After release from the Su-7, the bomb exploded at an altitude of around 800 feet, at the coordinates of 50.4°N and 77.8°E. The detonation had a yield of 11 kilotons.

As for the Su-7, this was the Soviet Union’s first-generation supersonic attack jet. It was rapidly equipping fighter-bomber regiments, and nuclear strike would become one of its most important duties.

The streamlined 244N was the first mass-produced Soviet tactical nuclear bomb specifically intended for carriage by supersonic jets.

A photo showing the earlier, non-streamlined RDS-4 tactical free-fall bomb:

RDS-4 “Tatyana” was a Soviet atomic bomb that was first tested with a yield of 27 kilotons at Semipalatinsk Test Site, on August 23, 1953. The Soviet Union’s first mass-produced tactical nuclear weapon. pic.twitter.com/c7xdODw0tZ

— NUKES (@atomicarchive) August 24, 2023

At this point, it should be noted that there is a possibility that the video shows not the 244N, but an IAB-500, a so-called ‘imitation bomb’ that replicated the shape, dimensions, weight and flight characteristics of the nuclear device. Filled with a mixture of liquid petroleum and white phosphorus, it also produced a large fireball that subsequently turned into a mushroom cloud.

With that in mind, the video could at least show portions of an IAB-500 test, although the location and the original voiceover point squarely to the 1962 Semipalatinsk test. The apparent installation of a camera pod below the Su-7’s wing, to record the detonation, also suggests a nuclear test rather than training.

Regardless, the 244N was successfully tested and was put into operational service in several variants, including with different yields up to a maximum of 30 kilotons. Most of these bombs were deployed by Soviet units stationed close to what would have been the front line in the event of a confrontation with NATO: in East Germany, Hungary, and Poland.

Starting in 1967, Western intelligence began to note training activities involving nuclear weapons at Soviet airbases in East Germany, including Su-7s taking part in LABS-type maneuvers.

In one of its reports from 1967, the U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) noted that its staff identified Su-7s from Grossenhain Air Base performing at least four LABS practice delivery runs on October 7 of that year.

“The aircraft passed over the airfield at approximately 2,000 feet, pulled up into vertical climb to 3,500 feet, pitched over, flew inverted for several seconds, then rolled over again departing to the west.”

Two days later, the USMLM reported “A very active program of local navigational, touch-and-go landings, LABS maneuvers, and possible range activity flown by Grossenhain-based Fitter and [two-seat Su-7] Moujik” aircraft.

Air-dropped tactical nuclear weapons still play a significant role in Russia’s military strategy, as evidenced by recent moves to station tactical devices in Belarus. Many Russian combat aircraft have variants capable of carrying nuclear bombs, and most Russian air-launched missiles weighing over around 1,000 pounds have the option of a nuclear warhead.

Russia really wants West to see they’re doing a tac nuke exercise. After several exercise videos they put the head of the 12 GUMO in front of a Belarusian Su-25 (possibly at Lida air base) loaded with what is said to be “training nuclear ammunition.” https://t.co/h9rHp2qvGv pic.twitter.com/sTzAqSNd9f

— Hans Kristensen (also on Bluesky) (@nukestrat) June 13, 2024

Starting in the 1960s, the 244N was superseded by a modernized development of the same weapon, the 10-kiloton RN-24, as well as the one-kiloton RN-28. These were carried, among others, by the MiG-21 and Su-7.

These bombs were followed in the 1980s followed by the RN-40 and RN-41, carried by the MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-29, Su-17, Su-24, and Su-27.

To this day, the IAB-500 also remains in use to train combat jet pilots in nuclear bomb delivery. Alongside it, although much less known, and barely ever seen, are tactical nuclear bombs, the descendants of the 244N that was proven in a unique test back in 1962.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Israel has violated the so-called Gaza “ceasefire” more than 2,400 times in the more than six months since the agreement was reached. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami gives an overview of the deteriorating situation.

Iran’s revolutionary guard has released a video said to show its forces seizing a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The container ship was one of two captured by Iran on Wednesday.

A group of hikers were forced to flee as Guatemala’s Santiaguito Volcano erupted, throwing rocks into the air around them. Santiaguito is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, featuring frequent, often daily, explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows.

The Department of War has released a video it says shows US forces boarding a sanctioned tanker in the Asia Pacific region as part of their efforts to disrupt vessels providing support to Iran.

New video from the US military is said to show an operation by its forces to seize an Iranian-flagged ship which attempted to bypass the US blockade of Iranian ports. The US says the cargo ship Touska was linked to a sanctioned company, while Iran condemned the move as ‘piracy’ and a violation of the ceasefire.

Alex Cooper just asked Alix Earle what many extremely online people are wondering: “What’s the beef?”

Rumors of a feud between Cooper, the 31-year-old host of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and Earle, the 25-year-old mega-famous influencer, have been circulating for some time, but this week Cooper addressed the conflict online in a video that invited Earle to finally air out the dirty laundry.

Cooper said in a TikTok video Monday that she was embarrassed responding to the internet-fueled drama, but after being inundated with tags, comments and direct messages, she decided making a statement was long overdue.

“Alix Earle, hey girl, the passive-aggressive reposts and the likes and the commenting on things. I gotta call you out here,” Cooper said. “You’re gonna need to get specific and just say what you gotta say about me. There’s no NDA, no one is stopping you. Stop hiding behind other people, and just say it yourself. What’s the beef?”

Cooper continued that she was tired of waking up and seeing Earle using “fake drama to distract” and that she’s not interested in participating. “I know what happened, and so do you,” she said. “So talk, unless the fake narrative that you’re creating happens to be way more interesting than the truth, I have nothing to hide when it comes to you and me.”

While the cryptic video confirmed the beef, Cooper still didn’t offer any explanation as to what initially caused the turmoil between them. But thanks to internet culture, there are theories, and receipts to back them. The ball is now in Earle’s court.

August 2023

Cooper launched the Unwell Network, a Gen-Z-focused media company spotlighting “unique voices that embrace social challenges and personal insecurities through honest conversation.” One of the first big names to sign with Unwell was Earle, who, according to Cooper at the time, has a unique presence that captivates audiences.

“I feel honored to be at a place in my career where I can pass along knowledge and advice for a new generation of creators to flourish,” Cooper said in a statement.

February 2025

Online speculation that there may be a feud between Cooper and Earle picked up when Earle didn’t attend Unwell’s Super Bowl party in New Orleans, even though she was reportedly in the Big Easy at the time with her friends and then-boyfriend, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Braxton Berrios.

February 2025

Weeks after Earle was MIA at Unwell’s Super Bowl shindig, Variety reported that the production company dropped Earle’s “Hot Mess” podcast. Sources told Variety that SiriusXM would no longer sell ads for Earle’s show and that the Unwell Network renounced all rights to “Hot Mess” so that Earle would be able to “freely explore future opportunities.”

A few days after news dropped that “Hot Mess” was nixed, Earle posted a TikTok update responding to the chatter online about her work saying she also had “no idea what’s going on.”

March 2025

Earle posted an update to TikTok regarding the future of “Hot Mess.”

“I have to put a pause on podcasting right now for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Don’t really want to get into the details of it all, and I kind of can’t get into the details of it all right now, but I’ve loved it so, so much, and I’m really proud of what I built with the podcast.” Earle added that she would be pivoting to vlogging for the foreseeable future.

May 2025

The Wall Street Journal published a feature on Earle, writing that the relationship between the influencer and her podcast network had unraveled. Earle told the outlet, “That was, behind the scenes, a little bit of a hot mess.”

“We have plans to bring things back, elevate things,” she said of the show. “It might look a little different, but I’m excited to see what we do with it.”

August 2025

Earle seems to be in the mood for revenge. “My Co–Star told me that I can start…today. I mean, is this my time that I’ve been waiting for to go? I have so much information. We could go,” she said, referring to her horoscope, in a TikTok video as she sipped an iced coffee. “I think I’m losing my mind … but I wake up every day, and I’m like, ‘What should I do, Co-Star?’ And today, it’s like, ‘Revenge. Let’s go get ’em.’”

In the comment section, one fan replied to egg on the content creator, “Yes, tell us what happened with Alex Cooper thank you.”

Earle quipped back, “How much time do you have?”

October 2025

Cooper returns the slight with an Instagram post promoting an Unwell event in Las Vegas that seemingly mocked Earle’s performance on “Dancing With the Stars” by using the same song — “Circus” by Britney Spears — and including a caption that began, “How much time do you have? Cause we could go all night … “

April 2026

Earle reposts a TikTok video that likens Cooper to the grim reaper. The post describes Cooper as an ambulance chaser who preys on people who have just gone through a horrific accident so she can get the exclusive.

April 2026

Cooper catches wind of Earle’s repost and finally addresses the beef in the aforementioned TikTok, telling Earle to “Just say it yourself. What’s the beef?” Earle responded by reposting Cooper’s video with the comment, “Okay on it!!”

Since Earle and Cooper took their fight to the internet streets this week, speculation has flooded social media. Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports who first put “Call Her Daddy” on the map in 2018, also weighed in.

On Monday’s episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, Portnoy, who knows the feuding women well, said that while there have been rumors of jealousy between the women, he thinks the feud stems from conflicting business interests and contract disputes.

“I think people know this about Alex Cooper at this point — she’s a savage,” he said. “She’s a businesswoman, boss lady, savage.”

But will prying eyes across the interwebs ever learn the whole story? It’s anyone’s guess.

Saudi Arabia has ordered schools to close after severe flooding swept through parts of the country. Heavy rain swamped roads around Riyadh and in the Al Ahsa governorate.

“How you feeling, Sabrinawood?” Sabrina Carpenter asked as she gazed out at the tens of thousands of fans she’d gathered into a makeshift city Friday night. “I can’t believe I’m headlining Coachella.

“I mean, I can a little bit.”

Indeed, when Carpenter made her Coachella debut in 2024, the Disney kid turned pop icon vowed that the next time she played the desert festival, her name would be atop the bill.

She returned as promised this weekend as one of music’s biggest acts, with two No. 1 singles and a pair of Grammy-nominated albums under her belt and a story to tell about her rise to stardom.

Heading into Coachella, I’d wondered whether Carpenter, 26, would simply play the same show she’d already brought several times to L.A. (as recently as November) on tour behind 2025’s “Short n’ Sweet” and last year’s “Man’s Best Friend.”

To her credit, though, she created a whole new production, which began with a video in which Carpenter is pulled over by a police offer played by the actor Sam Elliott as she drives toward a new life in Hollywood. In the video, Elliott lets her go, after which she turned up in the flesh at Coachella to strut down a Walk of Fame situation and end up onstage in a detailed simulacrum of the Hollywood Hills.

The first half of the show featured a bunch of songs from the singer’s last two LPs — she sang “Please Please Please” in a mock-up of a recording-studio vocal booth, while “When Did You Get Hot?” sounded like En Vogue’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” — as well as an oldie in “Because I Liked a Boy.”

Sabrina Carpenter performs at Coachella on Friday, April 12, 2024.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

Then came a very long appearance by Susan Sarandon, who delivered a monologue about … the trauma of childhood celebrity? Honestly, it was hard to tell — a bit of a miscalculation on Carpenter’s part, as though she’d assumed that everyone at Coachella wanted to hear her deepest (if vaguest) thoughts about the pain of growing up in the Mouse House.

“She better come out in an amazing outfit,” one woman next to me said of Carpenter as Sarandon continued to extend the singer’s costume change.

Once Carpenter was back — wearing leggings and a blue sweater — she did “Go Go Juice” and “Sugar Talking” in a sort of dance-studio setting then interpolated a bit of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana (At the Copa)” into “Feather” before Will Ferrell appeared as an irritated stage tech moaning and groaning about the demands of Carpenter’s show. (Again: kind of a fail.)

Yet she finished strong with speedy versions of “Juno,” “Espresso” and “Goodbye” into “Tears,” which got an elaborate water show that proved Carpenter can provide the right amount of razzle-dazzle when she wants to.

SACRAMENTO — The fallout over sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell grew Saturday as his fellow gubernatorial candidates faced a new race and Democrats were forced into a rapid test of how they respond to accusations of sexual misconduct.

Within hours of the accusations against Swalwell being made public, the Northern California congressman’s campaign began to unravel and a chorus of top Democrats urged him to drop out. Staff members resigned, his fundraising website went offline and allies moved quickly to distance themselves from a candidate who had been gaining momentum as a front-runner in the race to lead the Golden State.

The repercussions extended beyond Swalwell’s campaign for governor. The Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Swalwell by a former staffer and issued a statement Saturday that urged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted a video on X saying that she plans to force a House vote next week to expel Swalwell.

Swalwell has denied the allegations, calling them “flat [out] false.”

The upheaval has created an opening for lesser-known contenders to gain traction just as voters are beginning to turn their attention to the race — a spotlight now intensified by the controversy.

The speed and severity of the response underscores how quickly political support can erode — and reflects a broader shift in how such allegations are handled in the post-#MeToo era, which has been intensified by the scrutiny surrounding the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Ask any woman staffer over the age of 45 what her experience was like, and this was a fairly prevalent sort of situation,” said Elizabeth Ashford, a veteran Democratic strategist. “It was allowed. I really think it shows a lot of growth on the part of political professionalism, that these things are taken seriously.”

As of Saturday afternoon, Swalwell ignored calls to drop out of the race and resign from Congress, even as outrage and criticism swelled. A Bay Area fundraiser was canceled and major institutional backers abandoned the campaign. The California Labor Federation withdrew its endorsement, SEIU California rescinded its backing and urged Swalwell to exit the race, and the California Police Chiefs Assn. suspended its support.

Speculation swirled Saturday about Swalwell’s whereabouts after the congressman announced that he intended to spend time with his wife.

A man who opened the door of Swalwell’s rental home in Livermore early Saturday refused to talk to a Times reporter. Swalwell has claimed that he rents space in the one-story house, located on a quiet cul-de-sac. He also owns a home in Washington, D.C., but no one inside responded when a reporter rang Saturday.

Livermore residents couldn’t escape news of the scandal. “Swalwell faces assault claims,” read the front page of the East Bay Times, stacked up at the Lucky grocery story around the corner from Swalwell’s rental home.

The most serious allegation against Swalwell is from a woman who worked for the congressman who said their relationship was at times consensual, but that he sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to consent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Three other women have also accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including sending unsolicited nude photos, according to CNN.

The allegations prompted several members of his campaign to abruptly walk away from their jobs. One senior campaign staffer said they resigned after hearing the seriousness of the allegations, adding that they didn’t want to be put in a position where they were using their own credibility to defend Swalwell.

Former staffers in Swalwell’s congressional office traded messages in group texts after the news reports, with many expressing shock and horror at the allegations, according to two former employees.

A group of senior staff in Swalwell’s congressional office and campaign said in a statement Saturday that they “stand with our former colleague and the other women who have come forward” and that others “should stand with them, too.”

Kyle Alagood, an attorney who worked for Swalwell’s congressional office and his short-lived presidential campaign, told The Times he was “disgusted and pissed off.”

“I pray he has the decency to resign for the sake of his wife and kids,” said Alagood, adding that Swalwell must also “face the full legal consequences of his actions.”

Rob Stutzman, a longtime GOP strategist, said the impact of Swalwell’s political advisers quitting and his endorsements being yanked has sunk his chances in the governor’s race whether he stays in or not.

Stutzman advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2003 recall when The Times reported allegations of inappropriate behavior with women during his bodybuilding and film career. Stutzman said the severity of the allegations against Swalwell makes the situation very different from that involving Schwarzenegger, who didn’t lose endorsements.

“If this had been the circumstances … I would have quit,” Stutzman said. “They’re just not the same.”

While Swalwell’s political future hangs in the balance, political insiders are closely watching who will be the beneficiary of the chaos. There are eight Democrats running: billionaire Tom Steyer, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, state schools Supt. Tony Thurmond, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Controller Betty Yee and Swalwell. There are two GOP candidates: Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

Loyola Marymount University law professor Jessica Levinson said that with key endorsements, such as labor, now back up for grabs, anyone can jump to the front of the pack. She said the safest bet on who will gain an advantage is Porter and Steyer, who with Swalwell have been the top candidates in recent opinion polls.

“But, I think this is a race where there is no heir apparent,” Levinson said. “You can’t rule out surprises anymore in this race.”

Paul Mitchell, a veteran Democratic strategist, agreed that the upheaval benefits Porter and Steyer, adding that Swalwell’s chances have been reduced to zero.

“First off, I think that staying in the race is not tenable,” Mitchell said. “And so if he does drop out of the race, what it means is that you’re going to have a lot of progressive voters looking for somebody else to go to and the primary beneficiaries should be Porter and Steyer right now, because they’re the other two that are in that kind of first tier of Democratic candidates that have been splitting up that progressive base.”

Allegations of inappropriate behavior by Swalwell had circulated for weeks on social media and in political circles. Once the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN posted stories with details from women accusing Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including rape, the swift rebuke was likened by one political strategist to a bomb detonating.

Those media outlets reported that the staff member accusing Swalwell of rape was 21 when she began working for him in 2019 in his Castro Valley district office. She said Swalwell, who is nearly two decades older, quickly began sending her messages and then nude pictures on Snapchat, a platform in which messages and images disappear after being viewed.

She said that in September 2019 she had drinks with the congressman, blacked out and could tell she had had intercourse when she woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed, according to the report. In a separate encounter years later, she said he forced himself on her while she was too intoxicated to consent and despite her protests.

She said she did not report the incidents to police, citing fears she would not be believed and concerns about professional repercussions.

Another woman who began messaging with Swalwell about her interest in Democratic politics last year said she met him for drinks and that she was attempting to fend off his advances without hurting potential job opportunities when she began feeling “really fuzzy” and intoxicated, according to CNN. She told the outlet that she ended up in Swalwell’s hotel room without a memory of how she got there.

Social media creator Ally Sammarco said Swalwell sent her unsolicited nude pictures in 2021, when she was 24 years old. Another woman in her 20s, who works in marketing, said the congressman sent her unsolicited videos of his penis.

Swalwell, who is married with three young children, posted a video on Instagram on Friday in which he called the accusations of inappropriate behavior “flat [out] false,” while also acknowledging unspecified poor behavior.

“I don’t suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I am a saint,” he said in the video. “I’ve certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her I apologize deeply for putting her in this position.”

Elias Dabaie, an attorney representing Swalwell, sent cease-and-desist letters to at least two people demanding that they stop accusing the congressman of sexual assault, according to CNN. Dabaie was asked by CNN whether the congressman’s comments can be construed as acknowledging that he cheated on his wife, while denying doing anything illegal.

“I’m not going to get into the details of that,” Dabaie said.

Times staff writers Melody Peterson and Gavin Quinton contributed to this report.

US Vice President JD Vance and officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have met Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad ahead of possible direct talks with Iran. If confirmed, they would be the highest-level in-person talks between the US and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

US Vice President JD Vance has landed in Pakistan for talks with Iranian officials on a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

MIAMI — President Trump shared video of a deadly attack allegedly by a Haitian immigrant accused of bludgeoning a woman with a hammer at a Florida gas station, portraying the killing as justification for his administration’s mass deportation agenda.

Rolbert Joachin, 40, was arrested and charged with killing a woman on April 2 in Fort Myers, about 160 miles northwest of Miami. Authorities said the man was from Haiti and arrived in the U.S. in 2022. The woman who was killed was identified as a 51-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh and a mother of two adult daughters.

Trump, who posted the video late Thursday to his Truth Social account, has often sought to portray immigrants as bringing crime to the U.S., and the video emerging from the Florida attack presented him with a new, particularly graphic opportunity to do so. Trump also often paints Democrats and his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, as allowing in immigrants who posed a criminal or national security threat to the U.S.

Critics say the president unjustly paints all immigrants as criminals in an effort to bolster his immigration agenda, when studies have found that people living in the U.S. illegally are less likely than native-born Americans to have been arrested for violent, drug and property crimes.

“The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see,” Trump said in his post, describing the man as an “animal.”

Graphic video captured woman’s killing

The woman who was killed was working as a clerk at the convenience store of the gas station, according to court documents. The killing happened outside the store and the man was arrested the same day.

In security camera footage of her killing posted on the Department of Homeland Security’s X feed, the man can be seen repeatedly slamming the hammer into a black vehicle parked in front of the gas station. Eventually a woman in black pants and a pink shirt comes out and appears to question him.

The man, wearing a yellow shirt and black shorts, walks up to the woman and immediately swings the hammer at her head. The woman falls down on the sidewalk in front of the gas station’s front doors. The man attacks the woman with the hammer multiple times before stepping over her unmoving body and walking away, out of the frame of the camera.

The victim was later identified in a police report as Nilufa Easmin, 51. A GoFundMe started by Samir Bahadur Syed, the President of the Bangladesh Association of Southwest Florida, described her as a “devoted mother who worked tirelessly to provide for her two young daughters.”

Syed said that Easmin arrived in the United States about three decades ago and resided in Miami and Palm Beach before moving to Florida’s west coast. She was a single mother, and her two daughters — one 23 years old and the other about 26 — were born in the U.S., Syed told the Associated Press.

He added that Easmin had been working at the convenience store for nearly five months and that she also held another job.

Fort Myers police said they responded to a report of a woman being hit with a hammer at a Chevron gas station. When officers arrived they found a woman on the ground with blood around her head and multiple cuts.

Officers later located Joachin walking on the street and took him into custody. The police said he has confessed. He was charged with murder and property damage and appeared in court on Wednesday. His arraignment is set for May 4.

An email message sent to the public defender listed in court records as Joachin’s lawyer seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Trump administration criticizes temporary deportation protections

Trump blamed Biden for granting the man temporary protection to stay in the U.S.

Kelly Walker, acting field office director for ICE enforcement and removal operations for the Miami field office, said during a news conference Friday that Joachin arrived in a “water vessel” near Key West, Fla., in August 2022. He was arrested and given Temporary Protected Status in 2023. That status was revoked this week, Walker said.

The Trump administration has harshly criticized the use of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which can be granted by an administration to citizens of a country going through turmoil or strife. Immigrants who qualify are allowed to stay in the U.S. and work for a temporary period, although Republican critics contend that the Biden administration misused its TPS authorities to broadly allow hundreds of thousands of people to stay in the country.

There are several lawsuits at the federal courts challenging Trump’s efforts to terminate TPS for more than one million people, including 350,000 Haitians. In March, a federal appeals court sided with a lower judge’s ruling against the end of temporary status for Haiti and the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 29.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration have often highlighted crimes committed by immigrants and created a website where one can look up people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the crimes they’ve committed in the U.S.

The administration often highlights “Angel Families” who have lost family members to crimes committed by immigrants.

On Thursday, ICE held an event marking the one-year anniversary of the reopening of an office dedicated to assisting those families, including emotional testimony from some of the surviving family members.

Salomon, Bellisle and Santana write for the Associated Press. Bellisle reported from Seattle and Santana from Washington.

THE ROLLING STONES continue to champion new talent, this time signing up Marty Supreme actress Odessa A’Zion for their next video.

The wise old rockers previously cast Sydney Sweeney in the vid to accompany 2023 comeback single Angry.

Now they are hoping to repeat that success, as I can reveal they have got one of Gen Z’s buzziest names on board.

Odessa filmed the visuals during a hushed-up two-day shoot at Battersea Arts Centre in South London last week.

I’m told loads of extras of all ages and styles were brought in to reflect the Stones over the years.

A music industry insider said: “The video represents the Stones through the ages. There’s a lot going on. They brought in lots of extras to represent subcultures and sonic histories.

HOPES DASHED

90s boyband’s reunion plans collapse as stars fail to agree details for gigs

BRIT POP

Madonna lining up superstar singer for comeback appearance on new album

“The idea is it blends everything from blues souls and punk kids with old school rockers and Northern Soul dancers.

“Then there’s a load of glam rock attitude and DIY chaos to echo the legacy of the Stones.

“Odessa is at the centre of it all.

“The video should look really impressive when it’s all tied together.”

The return of the Stones has been talked about for a while, but there isn’t long left to wait at all.

The band is expected to drop a new song today, as I revealed on Wednesday.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood have been teasing their return under the pseudonym The Cockroaches.

They are coming back with their 25th album, believed to be titled Foreign Tongues, which is largely being touted as their final record together.

It is a follow-up to their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds, with the tracks mainly being written and recorded during the same sessions.

Unfortunately for their fans, I’ve been told there are no immediate plans for the band to hit the road again just yet.

But I live in hope the band will rethink that — when they see just how many people snap up this new album when it drops later in the year.

Zara up to finny business

ZARA LARSSON is por-poised for action as she lifts a dummy dolphin over her head.

She dazzled in a sequined skirt split to the waist and a tiny bikini top while fronting Spanish label Desigual’s Life’s A Beach campaign.

Zara has signed a major deal with the clothing brand for a new range inspired by her Y2K look.

Meanwhile, her US tour ends tomorrow in Houston, Texas – then she’ll focus on a deluxe version of her 2025 album Midnight Sun, due out next month.

Zara has remixed tracks with female collaborators. Tyga, Madison Beer and Jade are among stars expected to be involved.

The record originally peaked at No36, but with Zara enjoying a popularity surge, I predict a massive leap up the charts.

Derm’s so Keane on his main man

DERMOT KENNEDY has a surprising role model in his music career – football great Roy Keane.

His inspiration during gigs is the memory of Man United hero Keane playing against Juventus in 1999.

Despite being yellow-carded, the captain put in a blistering performance that took them to the Champions League final.

Dermot whose album The Weight Of The Woods became his third No1 last night, said of Roy: “If you ask about the way I sing, it’s purely him.

“He has a thing in his book where, when he was younger trying to get spotted, he would play a match to 100 or 200 people, and he developed the skill of creating the atmosphere in his head.

“I think I have that in music. If I play to ten people, I will rip it because I don’t care how many people are there.”

Dermot also shares a love of football with Roy once playing for Dublin’s Crumlin United.

He said: “I’m a far better person when I’m playing football regularly. Whatever feeling everyone thinks I get from music, I get it from football. It’s the one time my mind is clear.”

But Dermot has another reason to be inspired after his wife Aisling Finnegan gave birth to their daughter.

Asked how long they have been together, he told the And The Writer Is . . .  podcast: “I would have been eight years old.

“We went to school together. What age did I know? Early twenties, probably.”

Michaela in a flap

MICHAELA COEL looks amazing despite her suit falling apart at the seams as she steps out in New York.

The actress, whose outfit had several flappy features, recently admitted she didn’t love appearing in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in which she played warrior Aneka.

She said: “I really don’t think I was ready for that world of green screen acting. I don’t know how to do that.”

Maybe she’s struggling with new styles.

Nineties exhibition shines the spotlight on Scary’s catsuit

THE famous leopard-print catsuit Mel B wore when the Spice Girls performed at the Brit Awards in 1997 is going on display.

Former Bizarre editor Dominic MOhan has curated the exhibition, 1996: 30 Years On, and managed to get hold of the catsuit which was worn to perform their debut hit Wannabe.

Mel said: “It was all a crazy Nineties whirlwind but, in my leopard print, I knew I could take on anything. This outfit is sexy, naughty and bold, which pretty much sums me and the Nineties up.”

Also on display will be Emma Bunton’s dress from the same performance, Geri Halliwell’s Union Jack boots and a signed Liam Gallagher‘s tambourine.

It opens on Thursday at the Barbican Music Library in London and runs until September 19.

Dom will be launching his four-part show Cool Britannia on Virgin Radio tomorrow from 6pm.

OLIVIA DEAN is obsessed with Love Island.

She said: “I just watched Love Island All Stars and, oh my god, what amazing television that was.

“Thank you everybody involved for that. It really got me through the last couple of months and I loved it. No notes. Can’t wait for the next season.”

She also had a message for its host: “Maya Jama, I love you.”

Even pop’s busiest acts can’t resist a bit of villa drama.

Masterclass by B-Side Boys as jangling Mars Attacks

THERE aren’t many acts that can pull off five sell- out shows by promising only B sides, album tracks and no hits.

But the Pet Shop Boys did, without breaking a sweat.

I’d happily listen to Neil Tennant sing the back of a crisp packet, but he and Chris Lowe had something more special in store here in Camden, North London.

They whipped out guest Johnny Marr early on, who added some excellent guitar jangling on Up Against it from 1996 and 2003’s I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today.

They might be synthpop’s finest duo, but they can rock out too. With a back catalogue spanning more than 40 years, you can forgive Neil for needing lyrics printed out for the more obscure numbers, and being overjoyed at a stool, joking: “Ooh, I can sit down now, like Westlife.”

They finished by teasing the launch of their upcoming musical, Naked, performing a song from it called I Dream Of A Better Tomorrow.

Right now, that’s a mantra we can all get behind.

Video shows an explosion in the sky above Erbil, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, in a suspected drone interception following reports of an unidentified aircraft flying over the city. Earlier, Kuwait reported a drone attack. The IRGC insists Iran has not launched anything during the ceasefire.

TORONTO — Freddie Freeman ignored the first call from the unknown number.

Then four text messages in a row came from someone claiming to be Ryan Reynolds, the Canadian-American actor.

“I don’t know if I believe this,” Freeman recounted Wednesday on the Rogers Centre field before the Dodgers’ series finale against the Blue Jays. “So I did a little digging.”

Through backchannels, he confirmed it was indeed Reynolds reaching out. So they set up a call, and Reynolds pitched Freeman on participating in the annual holiday video for SickKids Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Toronto children’s hospital.

Spoiler alert: Freeman agreed, and it went viral.

“It was special,” Freeman said. “Got to meet [a few of the kids], know their stories, and then obviously, hopefully raise a lot of funds.”

Freeman was the perfect candidate. The son of two Canadians, the Dodgers first baseman has represented the country playing for the national team. And he’s long supported children’s healthcare.

Though Freeman was a healthy child, he spent a lot of time in the hospital with his mom, Rosemary, who died from melanoma when he was 10 years old.

While playing for the Braves, Freeman got involved with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, hosting an annual “Freddie and Friends” fundraising lunch. And in recent years, his connection to children’s healthcare has become even more personal. In 2024, Freeman’s son, Maximus, then 3, was hospitalized with a severe case of a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome.

“Watching my mom go through her things, and living in hospitals, and having Max get sick, and knowing how important hospitals are for kids, and for people that work there — it’s not just the doctors, but there’s so many different other teams inside of a hospital that are working,” Freeman said. “So when you can help raise funds in a kind of a fun way, I jumped at it.”

The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman looks on with his wife, Chelsea, and sons before a game against the Braves on April 18, 2022.

(Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It came together around Thanksgiving, just weeks removed from the Dodgers’ World Series win over the Blue Jays in a back-and-forth Game 7 in Toronto. So, of course, the video would play off of that.

“Ryan is so hilarious and fun,” Freeman said. “We had a great time. And it came out really good.”

The video opens with an introduction from Reynolds, who says that so many Canadians had offered to co-star in the annual video that there was a wait list. And it just so happened that this year, it was Freeman’s turn.

Cut to a hospital set, with a healthcare provider and three kids, one wearing a Blue Jays hat and another a team sweatshirt. In walks Freeman, to a chilling reception.

The kids pummel Freeman with insults and boos. And he even dodges what appears to be a teddy bear, before giving them a dejected nod and walking out.

Reynolds reappears.

“I asked him in March,” he says. “What are the odds?”

Of course, that’s not exactly how it happened.

The whole thing was shot in Southern California, Freeman said. The kids got a break from the Toronto winter, and were flown out with their families for filming. Freeman got to meet their parents.

“Those kids were actually the real kids in the hospital, and were doing better, and that’s what made it so fun,” Freeman said.

They were real Blue Jays fans. One of the kids had his prosthetic eye customized with the team logo. But they were also Canadian.

“They were always saying sorry after they said something mean to me,” Freeman said with a laugh.

The digs that made the final cut included: “You suck,” “You ruined everything,” and “Go back to your sunshine and traffic, you hoser.”

They were far more biting than the reception Freeman got at the Rogers Centre this week. Sure, the Dodgers got booed. But Freeman said on deck, he heard fans telling him to come home.

“Canada, everyone knows it’s very special to me,” Freeman said. “Every time I come here, I feel a little closer to my mom.”

She used to work in downtown Toronto, not far from the Rogers Centre. His dad would come meet her as she got off work. For Freeman, it’s a city of stories and memories.

Even in Game 1 of the World Series, Canadian fans cheered for him.

“I love it,” Freeman said of returning to Toronto. “Canadians are too nice. I don’t think they can be actually mean.”

That only happens in children’s hospital fundraising videos.

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Before Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin spent Tuesday afternoon supporting Democratic congressional candidates in Iowa, she was picking the brains of a table of President Trump’s voters.

Slotkin, a potential Democratic 2028 presidential contender, peppered five Iowa voters with questions about divisiveness in U.S. politics and issues affecting their communities. She also wanted to know what the voters would look for if they could “build a candidate in a test tube” and why they chose Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

“What would have gotten you to actually consider a Democrat?” Slotkin asked as the discussion winded down.

She hadn’t told them yet she was one.

The conversation was one of many Slotkin is having ahead of this fall’s crucial midterm elections. They are a way for the Midwestern Democrat to hear what it might take for the party to win back parts of the country like Iowa, which swung from backing President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 to Trump in the last three elections.

Slotkin on Tuesday described a Democratic Party that has forgotten about the middle of the country, has spent too much time rehashing old fights and lacks coordination in delivering a strong counter to Trump.

“I’m pretty clear-eyed about the problems,” Slotkin told The Associated Press in an interview. “I’m interested in being a part of the next generation who’s going to rehab the Democratic brand.”

Slotkin’s sit down with Trump voters in Iowa Tuesday, and a town hall in Ohio Wednesday, was organized by a PAC dedicated to reshaping the party, Majority Democrats. But for Slotkin, the stops in red and purple states also are opportunities for the former CIA analyst to introduce herself to voters outside her home state, many of whom — like those gathered for Tuesday’s lunch — don’t know who she is or what she stands for.

Slotkin was elected to the Senate in 2024 after serving three terms in the U.S. House. She was among six Democrats in Congress with military or national security backgrounds who in a video last year urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders.” Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition punishable by death, and the video prompted a Justice Department investigation.

Slotkin said Tuesday that they made the video “for moments exactly like this,” shortly before Trump paused for two weeks his threat to take out Iran’s “whole civilization.”

Democrats want to flip House seats in Iowa

Later Tuesday, Slotkin’s schedule included headlining a fundraiser and a county party dinner. She also held a health care-focused town hall with Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat looking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn in one of the most competitive House seats in the country.

She shared some of the same themes to the friendly faces in Des Moines as she did earlier with the Trump voters, lamenting that politics is so divisive and describing the bipartisan disappointment over the health care system that she hears across the country.

But she put a finer point on her own views to the Democratic audiences, saying that the U.S. needs a public health insurance option for people of any age and giving advice on how to convince voters that supporting a Democrat is in their best interest.

“I want to win in November,” Slotkin told an applauding audience. “That means being honest about where the Democratic Party needs to go.”

“The debate is not between progressive and moderate,” she said. “It’s fight or flight.”

Slotkin shies away from answer on 2028

Visiting Iowa used to hold more obvious significance for Democrats before the party shook up the early presidential nominating calendar last cycle, bumping Iowa from its place as the first state to weigh in on the nominations. The state party in 2024 did away with the traditional, quirky caucuses that have historically been the first contest for both parties.

Now Iowa Democrats are among those pitching their state should go first in 2028; Michigan is also vying for the first Midwest slot. But it’s still months before the Democratic National Committee will decide the order.

Slotkin is one of many prominent Democrats eyeing a potential 2028 run that have been visiting swing states and those that have traditionally been important in the nominating process.

“I’m not announcing anything,” Slotkin said Tuesday, and even joked about Iowa and Michigan’s “cage match” for the early position.

The ambition didn’t get past Ed Klavins, a Trump voter who participated in the focus group.

“She’s trying to figure out what she can do differently to have a better chance of getting reelected and maybe higher office,” said Klavins, a retiree from Urbandale, Iowa, who didn’t know Slotkin was the guest for Tuesday’s focus group lunch and said he was paid $200, plus lunch, to be there.

Klavins wants politicians on both sides of the aisle that challenge their party’s status quo. He told Slotkin that he wants a candidate who doesn’t pander to what they think voters want. He voted for Trump and thinks he’s succeeding in putting national security first, like closing the U.S.-Mexico border and eliminating the threat Iran poses to national security.

But Slotkin showing up to listen “makes her a little more genuine in my eyes,” he said. “I like her.”

Fingerhut writes for the Associated Press.

SIR Lewis Hamilton has taken his relationship with Kim Kardashian up a gear — going Instagram official.

The Formula 1 great took his girlfriend for a spin in a Ferrari in Tokyo and shared a video of it on social media.

It showed the reality star grinning in the passenger seat.

After drifting down a road and spinning, he brought the car to a stop and Kim, said: “That’s insane.”

She flew out to Asia to be with him at the end of last month for the Japanese Grand Prix, but did not attend the race itself.

The Sun first told in February how Brit Lewis, 41, had struck up a romance with The Kardashians star, 45, with the couple spending a weekend at Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds.

READ MORE ON KIM KARDASHIAN

Beauty buzz

Olivia Attwood copies Kim Kardashian as she undergoes stem cell treatment

KARD TO BELIEVE

I know exactly why fans are outraged by Lewis Hamilton’s romance with Kim

They have since been seen together in Paris and the US, but this is the first time either has publicly posted about the other on social media.

Kim, who was four kids with disgraced rapper Kanye West, 48 — who she was married to from 2014 to 2022 — said last October she could not imagine herself dating another famous man.

She told a podcast that the person “would have to be someone super- special” for her to start another relationship.

Kim explained: “I don’t know if I have the energy or whether I’ve met the right person that I would want to blend my family with.”

On whether she might date another musician or athlete, she added: “Neither. We’re going, like, lawyers and longevity scientists who would give me all their secrets.”

After splitting from Kanye, she dated comedian Pete Davidson and then NFL player Odell Beckham Jr until things fizzled out in April 2024.

Lewis has not had a serious relationship since he split from Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger in 2015 after almost eight years.

The driver is currently fourth in the F1 standings behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc — and hit out at those who criticised his recent performances.

Seven-time champ Lewis said: “When you have difficult years, there are lots of questions.

“It felt great to come into this season and start off strong, to be able to show that I still have what it takes to be able to compete at the front.”

Video captured the moment of a direct hit by an Iranian missile on a residential building in Israel’s Haifa. Multiple injuries were reported and some people are feared trapped under the rubble of the partially collapsed structure.

You know the political silly season is upon us when campaigns start to make fools of themselves trying to court Latino voters.

In the Los Angeles mayoral race, that moment kicked off last week.

On Friday, a social media account called Latinos Por Pratt released an AI-animated music video praising the mayoral candidate and former reality television star Spencer Pratt. It starts with a fit, sunglasses-wearing Pratt rolling a trash bin brimming with detritus and Mayor Karen Bass past a crowd of cheering Angelenos. The Hollywood sign looms in the background as the title “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” flashes on the screen — Spencer, Take Out Trashy Karen, with “Bassura” a play on the mayor’s last name and the Spanish word for “trash.”

Cut to scenes of Bass playing tourist on her infamous trip to Ghana while the Palisades burn. Splice in Pratt dancing with his wife, Heidi Montag, onstage at a street party where onlookers wave a Mexican and a U.S. flag. And because L.A.’s Latino majority is overwhelmingly of Mexican descent, the thing was anchored by a peppy accordion, dramatic guitar plucks and a bold tuba, right? Right?

Uh, no.

Lyrics such as “Latinos for Pratt we’re singing / Because we’re tired of this dirty beat” play over brassy salsa rhythms that are more Miami and Cuban than L.A., where Latinos are mostly of Mexican and Central American heritage and the soundtrack of the city — corridos tumbados, cumbias, Latin rock and pop — reflect that.

That didn’t stop clueless, mostly non-Latino Pratt fanboys and fangirls from going gaga over it online. Nor did it stop Bass from joining in the we-need-Latino-voters fiesta.

Soon after the video was released, a group called Latinos Con Bass brought out big-name speakers to Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights — state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights head Angélica Salas, Service Employees International Union California President David Huerta — so they could pledge support for the incumbent with all the dutifulness of doctors reminding people to take their flu shot. Bass greeted the crowd with a peppy “¡Sí se puede!” — the standard Latino politico rallying cry for decades but one that’s not so kosher right now given its association with César Chávez, the legendary labor leader whom a New York Times investigation recently revealed to have sexually assaulted teenage girls.

Latinos Con Bass came off as a bunch of establishment types sticking up for one of their own instead of anything organic. But at least we know the track record of those involved. Latinos Por Pratt seems to be just one guy: Adrian E. Alvarez, a Cuban American whose online profile says he splits his time between the Miami area and L.A. If the lawyer by trade — who didn’t respond to numerous requests for comment — was really serious about winning Latino votes for his guy, he would’ve commissioned a corrido instead of a salsa tune. The Mexican ballad form has been trotted out by Angelenos for decades for everything from the tragic deaths of Robert F. Kennedy and Kobe Bryant and his daughter to the capture of sundry narco lords.

Those songwriters got it. Alvarez’s diss track doesn’t. And his use of Cuban Spanish on social media to promote it — carajo, fajame, mi gente — in place of Mexican Spanish equivalents such as güey, éntrale and raza sounds like a guy who doesn’t know South L.A. from South Beach.

But to dismiss “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” as an inauthentic joke is to miss what it says about this political moment. In a year when Latinos nationwide will make or break the Democrats’ effort to win back Congress, they’ll play an even more crucial role in L.A.’s mayoral race.

And it’s the Bass campaign that needs Latinos more than any of her opponents — because there’s no guarantee she’ll get them.

Then-L.A. mayoral candidate Karen Bass, center, is flanked by pioneering farm labor leader Dolores Huerta, left, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, right, during a 2022 campaign event in Mariachi Plaza.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released last month and co-sponsored by The Times revealed that 56% of likely voters view the mayor unfavorably, the only candidate to have a majority of those surveyed look negatively on her. She’s the top choice among Latinos — 29%, compared with Pratt’s 16%. But 27% of Latinos remain undecided about whom they want as mayor, the highest percentage of any ethnic group.

Pratt has some name recognition among Latinos as a C-list celebrity, but he’s also a registered Republican who thinks L.A. should coordinate with the Trump administration’s deportation leviathan, a position that’s as popular among Angelenos as rooting for the San Diego Padres. That obviously presents an opportunity for Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who’s running for mayor to the left of Bass — if she can smartly seize it. But Raman represents a district with one of the lowest Latino populations in the city and has yet to make a name for herself across town — no wonder the Berkeley poll found just 9% of Latinos favored her, trailing even Presbyterian pastor Rae Huang.

Those shortcomings should give Bass — whose children are Mexican American and who has worked alongside Latino L.A.’s political establishment for nearly her entire political career — an advantage among Latinos. But all that star wattage didn’t win her the Latino vote four years ago against Rick Caruso. And L.A.’s biggest problems during the mayor’s first term — homelessness, beat-up streets, busted streetlights, President Trump’s immigration deluge — unduly affected the Latino areas of L.A. Even the inferno that engulfed the Palisades led to the loss of thousands of jobs for the nannies, house cleaners and gardeners that kept the neighborhood as pristine as it was.

Bass’ campaign will trumpet all of her supposed accomplishments and trot out endorsements as it did at the Plaza de la Raza event, but she lost the narrative of a healthy L.A. a long time ago.

Pratt — who doesn’t seem to know Los Angeles besides the Westside and television studios — will have to do far more than Bass and Raman to attract Latinos. But by repeatedly referring to the mayor as “Karen Bassura” — a juvenile, obvious insult that nevertheless sticks once you hear it — he’s at least making Spanish a far more constant part of his campaign than his rivals. And Alvarez’s music video, as silly and un-L.A. as it is, speaks to an enthusiasm among at least one Latino Pratt supporter that will most likely remain catchier and more inspired than anything the Bass and Raman campaigns come up with.

That reality seems to have already made Bass blink. She responded to “Spencer, Saca La Bassura” on social media a few days later with a photo of people at her Plaza de la Raza rally holding “Latinos Con Bass” signs with the caption “Latinos Con Bass > Ai Latinos.” It was meant as a political flex but came off as insecure posturing. Meanwhile, Latinos Por Pratt just released a teaser for another video, this time featuring Pratt as Batman carting out a clown-faced Bass and Raman as the villainous Two-Face.

Playing, again, to salsa. That’s weak sauce. Can someone try to really get Latino L.A.?

I promise: Sí se puede.

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge.

The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn’t clear if Woods was referring to President Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.

Shortly after the golfer’s March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.

The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.

Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.

“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.

In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday.

(Associated Press)

Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI.”

“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.

“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.

After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.

“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.

In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.

At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.

Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.

During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.

Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday in image from video provided by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

(Associated Press)

Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.

“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.

Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.

His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.

Rico writes for the Associated Press.