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Dolly Parton’s manager reportedly embroiled in feud with the late singer’s nephew

Dolly Parton’s estate has reportedly accused the late singer’s nephew of extortion and threats against staff.

On Tuesday, Parton’s estate, She’s Alive, LLC, requested a restraining order against Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver, court records show. The request came after he was fired from his job as head of security, as TMZ reported.

She’s Alive is run by Parton’s former manager Danny Nozell.

The New York Times reviewed court records containing allegations that Seaver began making demands shortly before Parton died. The demands grew into more serious threats, according to the records the news outlet cited, which the plaintiffs saw as an attempt to obtain money from the Parton estate.

Here’s what to know.

Who is Bryan Seaver?

Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver, shared the news of his aunt’s death in a video posted to her Instagram account on Aug. 25.

In the video, Seaver, standing in front of a black background, introduces himself as the the son of Dolly’s sister Cassie Parton and says he is representing the Parton and Owens family in announcing his aunt’s death. The Owens are the maternal side of the country star’s family.

“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he says in the video.

Seaver adds that he followed in his father Larry’s footsteps in becoming Parton’s head of security, a post he held for more than 20 years.

Seaver and his company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC, are the defendants in the lawsuit. They were reportedly terminated about three weeks after the country icon’s death.

Seaver did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

According to the New York Times’ reporting on the court records, the restraining order request, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court in Nashville, sought to keep Seaver away from Parton’s properties and staff.

Who is Danny Nozell?

Nozell was Parton’s longtime manager. He has claimed credit for helping revive Parton’s international touring career.

He told The Times last month that Parton “worked up until the day she died” on multiple projects.

“She loved seeing her dreams come to life, and loved knowing her work brought people joy,” Nozell said in the statement. “Ever the planner, Dolly worked with the team that she handpicked, for the past several years to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.”

Nozell’s website described his work with Parton as “arguably his most notable achievements.”

What are the allegations?

The court records, according to the New York Times, include allegations that Seaver sent a profane threat to a Dollywood business partner, and that, separately, he referred to himself as a “killer” and “not an entertainment person” while corresponding with one of Parton’s longtime lawyers.

According to TMZ, Seaver and his team said in a statement that they were “dismayed by the … unexplained actions” following Parton’s death and “[w]e remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith and with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much.”

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Super Macklemore 64: Video game mocks Sheeran concert controversy | Entertainment

In Super Macklemore 64, players are chased by a giant Ed Sheeran, dodge tiny billionaire Robert Krafts and summon musicians to chant “Free Palestine”. Creator Jonathan Mann says it highlights the “absurdity” of Macklemore being dropped from Sheeran’s concerts and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

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Kelela on ‘New Avatar,’ her tour and dismantling ‘sonic racism’

We’re hunkered down in a dark stairwell on the side of a hotel facing a busy street in Hollywood. To passersby, we could easily be mistaken for two teenagers hiding in the shadows. In reality, I’m sitting with Kelela, the electronic R&B architect whose uncompromising vision has quietly reshaped the contours of alternative music.

Dressed in oversize sunglasses, an acid-washed tee, light blue jeans, checkered Vans and a vibrant auburn-colored French bob with micro bangs, she effortlessly rolls a joint with long ombre nails that mimic smoke and fire. She slips it between her lips and flicks a lighter stamped with a single word: Gotham.

Performing artist Kelela smoking outside of the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Her lighter choice is pure coincidence, she says, but it fits the apocalyptic visual universe she’s built for “New Avatar,” her dark, guitar-heavy third album that merges her early D.C. indie roots with shoegaze, grunge, futuristic club music and R&B. Produced almost exclusively by Oscar Scheller — who has crafted tracks for PinkPantheress and Lily Allen — the 12-track project finds Kelela chasing intimacy, desire and emotional refuge in the midst of an increasingly chaotic world. From the color-inverted cover art to her icy white hair and bleached brows in the video for “idea 1” — a song that draws inspiration from Octavia Butler’s 1993 sci-fi classic “Parable of the Sower” — the world-building is unmistakable.

“I used it to describe the context … of these stories on the record,” Kelela explains about the Gotham visual concept. “It’s a basic reference, but it feels like it applies. It’s the context for people needing to be saved and everything being f— on some level, but there still being hope.”

Just a few miles from the Hollywood stairwell where we’re sitting, Kelela will translate her genre-flexing record for the stage at the Wiltern during two back-to-back shows on Sept. 21 and 22.

Although she’s a New Yorker now, Los Angeles plays a crucial role in her musical journey. In 2010, the Ethiopian American singer-songwriter moved to Venice to work as a nanny before taking a gig as a solar panel telemarketer — a job she picked to avoid moving back home but unexpectedly excelled at.

“I’ve sold solar power to hundreds of people in the L.A. area,” she quips. “I would level with people. I didn’t sound like a salesperson because I can’t sell something that doesn’t make sense.”

Performing artist Kelela posing for portraits at the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The job funded her first solo apartment in MacArthur Park, but an insurance payout from a totaled car ultimately gave her the financial runway to leave sales behind and focus solely on music. That freedom manifested into her debut mixtape “Cut 4 Me,” featuring fan favorites like “Send Me Out” and “Bank Head.”

“It’s a very L.A. story,” she says with a laugh.

More than 10 years after the breakthrough record, Kelela returned to L.A. to record “New Avatar” with Scheller at his home studio in Silver Lake.

During their first session, she played him “Outta Time,” a track featuring British singer-producer A.K. Paul (Jai Paul’s brother) that she’d been holding onto for a decade until she was ready to make her first guitar-centered album. She also showed Scheller her “white bag” playlist — a collection of indie, rock and alternative tracks she loved as a teenager, from Incubus to Deftones to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He understood the assignment and by the end of their session, they walked away with two songs: the lead single “Idea 1” and the sensual, U.K. garage-infused “Don’t Piss Me Off.”

“I had a sketch and I think that felt very magical,” Kelela says.

Their natural flow was part of the reason why Kelela was able to release “New Avatar” sooner than previous albums. It arrives just three years after its predecessor, “Raven.”

Kelela at the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills on Aug. 14.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

But leaning into her “white bag” wasn’t just about nostalgia. It’s a return for the artist who was once the frontwoman of indie rockers Dizzy Spells and was rocking out with her then-boyfriend, guitarist Tosin Abasi (of Animals as Leaders). It’s also a direct confrontation with the industry’s racialized genre boxes — a phenomenon Kelela identifies as “sonic racism.”

“It’s designed to keep us apart, to keep us out,” she says, “and I think clocking that is really important.”

She points to the unspoken kinship that forms when Black fans who love heavier guitar music find each other in white-dominated crowds.

“When they meet it’s a different type of bond through the music — like ‘I’ve always felt on the outside,’ but also ‘We are so inside,’” she says. “That catharsis is another feeling and I knew so much of my audience had an experience with this music, but maybe had to compartmentalize and be on the outside in order to enjoy it.” With “New Avatar,” she wanted to “dismantle and disrupt” that dissonance without abandoning her R&B roots, she says.

Kelela at the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

That philosophy echoes through the record’s lyricism. Where 2023’s “Raven,” a rave-inspired, post-pandemic offering that ruminated on the times and being firm in your boundaries, “New Avatar” is its older sister who is a bit more wise and speaks with even sharper conviction.

“We need space to feel over it,” she says, “and to not be considered Debbie Downers. That’s basically the role that Black women have been sort of relegated to — to be truth tellers. Then everyone’s like ‘Ugh, come on…’ But it’s like we’re laughing all the time. I’m so happy. I’m not unhappy.”

She adds, “The key is not rooted in escapism. The key is rooted in being honest about what you saw, and that’s kind of the tradition that I’d want my work to live in.”

On “Point Blank,” Kelela explores the emotional labor for a woman in a one-sided relationship: “By now, I hope you see/That bullet set me free/And the more I pour, the more you reap/And I’m too spent too weep.” As the title implies, “Don’t Piss Me Off” sees a woman losing her patience with a lover: “Know you want me/Tell me I’m wrong/Takin’ all night/Don’t piss me off.” But by the album’s closer “If We Meet Again,” she cuts ties entirely: “If we ever amend/Nevermind, over and out.”

“A lot of the songs are like “Y’all ain’t s—,’” she says laughing, “But I try to say it in an artful way.”

Two bright spots on the album arrive in the final act: the dream pop-infused “New Life Forms” featuring Fousheé and “The Bridge,” a song about yearning with PinkPantheress, who returned the favor after Kelela appeared on her track “Bury Me.” Directed by Yasser Abubeker, “The Bridge” music video features a memorable, sultry dance number between the two singers — a sequence Kelela encouraged fans to learn before her shows.

“I cried the first time that Yasser sent me the edit,” she says. “It’s like a love letter to Black queer culture, our intimacy. It’s so sexy without me and her having an overt love interest. It just feels so implied in this smart way.”

The day before we met in Hollywood, Kelela gave an intimate live performance for Spotify. Backed by an all-Black femme band featuring a string quartet, guitar, bass and backup vocals, she performed “Idea 1” and a cover of Incubus’ “Mexico” — a rendition that earned her praise on social media from Incubus’ frontman, Brandon Boyd, himself.

“It’s a really important image,” says Kelela about the video. “In addition to it sounding exquisite, I’m not gonna lie, it also tore visually and symbolically.”

She’ll also be backed by a full band during her “New Avatar Live” tour, which she envisions as a high-energy rave that could break into a mosh pit at any moment.

Kelela at the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills in Beverly Hills

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s another medium for me to be able to articulate or dismantle those constructs around what makes sense together,” Kelela says. “It’s going to be first and foremost — like any record or anything that I do — cathartic for me.”

She continues, “So I’m going to be living my best f— life and through that I know I will give a good show because it just excites me. It’s a dream come true to be able to pull these things together.”



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Video: Influencers accused of exploiting Nepal flood survivors | Floods

‘Aid influencers’ are being accused of exploiting Nepal flood victims to boost social media followers, as organisations explore new ways to raise awareness and funds for relief efforts. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports.

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Arch Manning apologizes to Holly Rowe for laughing at AI slap video

Texas quarterback Arch Manning has apologized for his public reaction to a video that was altered by AI to show Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe and knocking her to the ground.

Talking to reporters on Monday, Manning brought up the video, then laughed about it and called it “a good one” and “hilarious.”

The next day, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning posted an apology on his Instagram Story.

“In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video,” Manning wrote. “There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that.

“I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.”

Rowe posted Manning’s apology on X and indicated she’s not holding a grudge.

“Thank you Arch. I appreciate our conversation about this — which will remain private,” Rowe wrote. “Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.”

On Saturday, Manning rallied the then-No. 4 Longhorns from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat top-ranked Ohio State 24-23. In the real video of Rowe attempting to interview Sarkisian, the coach yelled a few Texas cheers before rushing away from the veteran sideline reporter to join his team’s celebration.



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Houthi-run TV releases video of abandoned Mocha airport | Houthis

Houthi-run TV has aired drone video of Yemen’s Mocha International Airport, empty and abandoned after the Iran-backed group took control of the city. The Houthi capture of the Red Sea coast puts a key global trade route at risk.

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Arab News | Video shows Israeli troops shooting Palestinian in West Bank settler stand-off

Israeli troops opened fire Saturday at a group of Palestinians who did not appear to be posing a threat in the occupied West Bank, wounding one man, according to video obtained by The Associated Press.

The video, shot by an eyewitness, showed the man falling to the ground near the Palestinian village of Faqqua, north of the West Bank.

At least 14 shots in total were fired during the duration of the video. They continued as several men rushed to move the injured man to safety before setting him down and tying a tourniquet around his leg in an apparent attempt to stop the bleeding.

Mahmoud Shahin, a resident of the village, said the Palestinians had rushed to the area after receiving reports that Israeli settlers had arrived there with a flock of sheep. He said Israeli soldiers then came and began firing in the air and toward the Palestinians.

He added that the wounded man was undergoing surgery at a hospital in Jenin.

Israel’s military said the video was authentic and confirmed its forces had fired toward the Palestinians, wounding one man, and said commanders would review the incident.

Under the ultranationalist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, settler violence in the West Bank has surged. The international community largely considers Israeli settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace.

Over 700,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians as parts of a future state.



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Judge Judy retiring from TV, passing gavel to son Adam Levy

Judy Judge is hanging up her robe.

Nearly 30 years after Judy Sheindlin launched a career that made her TV’s most widely recognized judge — first on the syndicated small claims series “Judge Judy,” which premiered in 1996 and ran for 25 seasons; then on Amazon Prime’s streaming show “Judy Justice” starting in 2021 — she’s passing her gavel to a fitting successor: her son, Judge Adam Levy.

The 83-year-old Sheindlin told People magazine that when “Judy Justice” wraps in October, she’s moving away from on-camera work to focus on other endeavors, including afternoon naps and developing the animated series “Judyverse” based on the “Baby Judge Judy” videos circulating social media.

Created with AI, the videos feature a toddler version of Judge Judy overseeing cases with her signature New York accent and no-nonsense barbs.

“I don’t want to do hair and makeup anymore, but I still want my message to get out there,” she told the outlet.

Sheindlin will also produce her son’s syndicated court TV show, “Adam’s Law,” which debuts Monday.

“There aren’t a lot of people who can carry a half-hour on their own, unscripted,” Sheindlin continued, adding that Levy has what it takes.

The 58-year-old earned his law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1992. This isn’t his first foray into TV, as he joined a panel of judges on Prime’s “Tribunal Justice” in 2023. After three seasons, Sheindlin said he’s ready for his close-up.

On Sept. 22, CBS will air a 30th anniversary special looking back on Sheindlin’s career, “Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable.”

“I don’t think that I’ve ever been this content before,” she told People of entering the next era of her life. “I don’t have to prove anything else. I did it.”

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Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at a New York factory

The sprawling snack-food factory in upstate New York appeared to be closed when a small army of immigration officers arrived after 9 a.m. Following a brief discussion of whether to force their way inside, a manager opened the front door.

Over the next several hours, body cameras were running as federal authorities from several agencies made 57 arrests, debated which files to seize and when to release employees who were U.S. citizens. They also searched for anyone in hiding.

The footage from September 2025 shows the raid at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato, N.Y., town of 2,500 people east of Syracuse, and offers a rare glimpse inside a workplace immigration sweep. The Associated Press analyzed the video, which was part of a lawsuit filed Thursday that accuses authorities of overstepping their search warrants.

The officers ordered a manager to announce their presence over loudspeakers while they entered the building and caught employees on the production line, in the warehouse and a few in the bathroom. Officers covered all exits while others swept the interior, including homing in on locked doors.

Male officers encountered a locked bathroom and began shouting instructions in broken Spanish at female employees through the door, demanding that they come out. After about 10 seconds, officers broke through the door.

One woman was outside of a stall and another in the stall. A male officer peered through a locked stall door, and his body cam video revealed a woman sitting on the toilet.

“Miss, pull up your pants. Come out of the bathroom,” he told her.

“You have to wait. I can’t come out like this, naked!” she replied.

Investigators interviewed the general manager and said they were looking into hiring practices and potential fraudulent documents. Inside and outside the building, officers checked every office, storage room and hallway for anyone who was hiding.

Employees were lined up and separated into groups of U.S. citizens and potential noncitizens. Officers asked for their immigration status, requested documents and posed questions about their entry into the U.S. Some employees were pregnant.

Some were parents and expressed concern for their children at home. Others said they would not answer questions without first speaking to their attorneys, and officers told them they would be arrested.

One employee refused to answer questions. “Will you let me talk to my attorney?” she asked the officer. He raised his voice and continued asking about her immigration status.

U.S. citizens were asked for personal information, including their phone numbers and addresses before they were allowed to leave.

A Border Patrol agent who spoke to another official wearing a camera used disparaging language about children from other countries when recounting his experience working at a South Texas immigrant detention center. He said President Biden’s administration allowed millions of people to enter the United States from countries where children are treated “differently” than they are by American parents.

“In other countries, kids are more of a commodity or it’s more of like, I’m going to put it in those terms. It’s more like an animal, right? It’s not prized the way that we do it,” he said.

“There’s countries like Brazil and other places where they’re literal street rats at a very young age who commit crimes, and then they come here. I don’t know if you have kids, but they’ll eat our kids for breakfast.”

The Homeland Security Department said Friday that it executed a criminal search warrant at the plant as part of an investigation that is still open. Its statement did not address the contents of the video or the merits of the lawsuit.

Not all officers wore body cameras, but those who did often indicated to other officers that they were recording before they initiated a conversation.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit is responsible for workplace raids, which have been relatively few and low-key compared with ICE’s removal unit, which arrests people in the street, at homes and in public and also manages detention centers. The Trump administration’s largest workplace raid was last year at a Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Georgia. It resulted in nearly 500 arrests and fueled diplomatic tension with South Korea.

The lawsuit against Homeland Security claims federal officers exceeded the authority of their warrants and violated workers’ constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizure.

“There were no arrest warrants,” said Perry Grossman, a supervising attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit with the Worker Justice Center of New York.

“There was no suspicion that individual workers had committed crimes. And they seized easily 100 people for nonconsensual questioning. They arrested 57. Out of those 57 people, criminal charges were brought against only five. And the most serious charge was unlawful reentry.”

Grossman said one employee got her charges dismissed after contending in a lawsuit that her 4th Amendment rights were violated. He said he was not aware of any charges or indictments against the employers.

Officers detained about 60 people and deported some employees, including two plaintiffs who are part of Thursday’s lawsuit. One plaintiff has since been allowed to reenter the country. Attorneys for the second deported plaintiff are seeking his return.

Law enforcement agencies have come under criticism for not using body cameras and for refusing to release footage when they do. ICE, in particular, has been scrutinized after a $75-billion infusion from Congress and an expanding street presence that has led to three fatal shootings this year.

ICE’s own rules on releasing video are unclear. Its policy calls for expedited release of footage after a serious injury or death in custody when doing so is determined to be in the “ best interests of the agency.”

The Trump administration has repeatedly promised to equip ICE field agents with body cameras, as required by Congress. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last week that the agency was “on track” to do so by the end of September.

Gonzalez and Vancleave write for the Associated Press.

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Pro-Israel Democrat John Fetterman makes video appearance at GOP convention | Politics News

Pennsylvania senator who has clashed with party over Israel support says he will reject ‘the extremes and socialism’.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat who has distanced himself from his party, has appeared in a video recording on the first day of the Republican Party’s two-day midterm convention in the United States.

The video on Wednesday was a surprise for those who attended the conservative gathering in Dallas, Texas, where President Donald Trump is seeking to galvanise support ahead of the November elections.

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“Yes, I’m Senator John Fetterman, Pennsylvania. Yes, I’m a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a common-sense Democrat,” Fetterman said as he introduced his Republican colleague, Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.

Fetterman, a 57-year-old first-term senator, has cast himself as an outsider within the Democratic Party.

He has offered outspoken support for Israel and the war on Iran, even as voters and progressive voices in his party criticise those elements of US foreign policy.

“I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life,” Fetterman said in the video clip.

But his appearance at the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention is likely to exacerbate criticism from his Democratic colleagues.

US Representative Brendan Boyle, another Pennsylvania Democrat, has repeatedly questioned Fetterman’s party allegiance, as well as his commitment to public service. He renewed that sentiment after Wednesday’s video aired.

“A year ago I labeled John Fetterman ‘Trump’s favorite Democrat.’ Tonight, he yet again proves why,” Boyle wrote on social media.

Fetterman has also faced questions about his fitness for office following a series of reports that detail his apparent lack of enthusiasm for his Senate responsibilities.

A recent Wall Street Journal article found that the senator had cancelled meetings with constituents.

In one case, The Wall Street Journal said he skipped a June meeting with injured military veterans, citing illness, only to show up later for a Fox News interview about Israel and its joint war with the US on Iran.

His approval rating is now higher among Republicans in Pennsylvania than among members of his own party.

Last month, a poll from The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer suggested that 73 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans approved of Fetterman’s performance, up from 25 percent in 2024.

Meanwhile, Democratic support in the state had slid dramatically over the last two years, slipping from 74 percent to 22 percent. Some 63 percent of Democratic respondents held an unfavourable view of him.

While Fetterman has depicted himself as a maverick within the Democratic Party, he has denied that he would switch parties to become a Republican.

“I’m not going to be a Republican, but I’m going to be a Democrat that’s going to have a conversation with whoever is playing it straight,” he said in a recent interview with Fox News.

Still, speculation about Fetterman’s party credentials has continued as the midterms near.

The election on November 3 will decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.

Republicans currently hold a small majority in the House of Representatives and Senate, but they could face a setback at the polls as voters express frustration over cost of living issues and Trump’s deepening unpopularity.

Still, reclaiming the Senate especially could be an uphill climb for Democrats. Only a third of Senate seats are up for re-election this year, compared with all 435 House seats.

Fetterman is not up for re-election until 2028.

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Blizzard video game workers ratify union contracts

Workers at “World of Warcraft” video game developer Blizzard Entertainment have ratified union contracts after two years of bargaining.

The ratification vote means all union-represented Blizzard employees — nearly 1,900 people across all units in the company’s games teams and shared services — will have the same contract language in their respective departments, the union said Wednesday.

Blizzard quality assurance workers in Albany and Austin were the first to unionize in 2022, followed by “World of Warcraft” employees in 2024. Last year, workers on the “Overwatch,” “Diablo,” “Hearthstone” and Warcraft Rumble” games teams, as well as the story and franchise development and platform technology units unionized.

“This contract marks the beginning of a new era at Blizzard Entertainment, but it doesn’t stop with us,” “Overwatch” bargaining committee member and quality analyst Simon Hedrick said in a statement. “I believe that the positive change we have won will ripple out and help make the games industry as a whole a better place for workers and players alike.”

The Blizzard contracts include wage increases and a hybrid work week of three days in the office, among other provisions, the union said. The contracts also require Blizzard to discuss and bargain over the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

“We appreciate the dedication and engagement of our represented employees and the bargaining committees throughout this process, as well as every Blizzard employee whose work continued alongside it,” Johanna Faries, Blizzard’s president, said in a statement. “The ratification of these agreements marks a significant milestone and reflects our shared commitment to continuing to work together in support of our teams and our players.”

Blizzard is a subsidiary of Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard. The company was acquired by tech giant Microsoft Corp. in 2023.

In July, Microsoft said it would cut 3,200 jobs in its video game division, or about 20% of that staff, over the next year as the gaming industry continues to face a flagging landscape. The layoffs were part of a larger cost-cutting effort at Microsoft, which is laying off about 2% of its workforce in total.

Blizzard’s union said the planned layoffs, as well as job cuts throughout the video game industry, were a major issue during contract negotiations.

One of the provisions in the Blizzard contracts gives laid-off workers the right to be “recalled” into open jobs across Blizzard’s bargaining units for 14 months after the announcement of their layoff.

“This contract secures a lot of what people already love about working here while adding strong protections around layoffs, job security and remote work,” Daniel Weltz, platform and technology bargaining committee member and principal software engineer, said in a statement. “Blizzard helped shape the gaming industry, and I’m proud that this contract allows us to continue setting new standards for this work.”

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Ben Shelton forgets girlfriend Trinity Rodman after marathon match

Ben Shelton messed up.

Sure, the U.S. tennis star advanced to his second U.S. Open semifinal in epic fashion, knocking off defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set marathon that did not end until 3:33 a.m. ET Wednesday.

It was during his on-court interview afterward, however, that Shelton committed a bit of a faux pas while discussing the match that ended later than any other in tournament history.

“I’m just hoping that my best friend and my sister over there don’t have to be at work at 6 a.m. in three hours,” Shelton said following the 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory. “It’d be huge from their employers to let them have the day off today.”

Shelton certainly didn’t have to give a shout out to two of his loved ones for hanging in there for the entire 4 hours 28 minutes … but since he did, there’s one other person Shelton probably should have mentioned as well: soccer star Trinity Rodman, who also was sitting courtside throughout the match. TV cameras showed her laughing and apparently saying, “What about me?”

Shelton and Rodman have been dating for more than a year, after going Instagram official in May 2025. They are seen in the stands at each other’s sporting events when their schedules allow.

For the record, Rodman apparently did have to work hours later. The U.S. national team and Washington Spirit player posted a video later Wednesday morning on TikTok that showed her inside a gym with the caption, “Yes, I’m at training now.”

She doesn’t seem to hold a grudge over her boyfriend’s omission, though. Rodman posted a video on her Instagram Story of the match’s aftermath, with the caption, “The moment belongs to Shelton!”

And Shelton actually did include Rodman in that moment, with the two of them making eye contact and flashing his signature “dialed-in” hand motion to each other as he celebrated.

Rodman’s schedule with the Spirit hasn’t allowed her to attend all of Shelton’s matches at Flushing Meadows, but she has been to at least three. For his Round 2 victory against Hubert Hurkacz, Rodman wore a black crop top that read, “I ❤️ my boyfriend.”

For the quarterfinal, Rodman carried a Shelton figurine, possibly as a good luck charm.

Shelton will face fellow U.S. player Frances Tiafoe in Friday’s semifinals.



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Oasis tease new tour location with cryptic video as fans recognise backdrop

ROCKERS Liam and Noel Gallagher have teased yet another tour location in a cryptic new video – and fans are convinced they’ve guessed it.

But, can you guess where too?

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Oasis have teased yet another tour location on X in a cryptic 14-second clip Credit: X
UK Premiere of ‘Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger' at Cineworld Leicester Square, London
Rockers Noel and Liam Gallagher put their bitter feud behind them in 2024 and reformed Oasis Credit: Getty

The legendary band, Oasis, reformed in 2024 after the long-feuding brothers split up in 2009.

Over the past few weeks, Liam and Noel, 59, have dropped a string of cryptic videos, leaving fans scratching their heads.

The clips have confirmed another tour is coming in 2027 and left viewers scrambling to decode the gig locations after their reunion success last year.

Taking to X, the brothers shared a short clip of a European-looking side street.

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Oasis teaser video ‘confirms’ tour location with cheeky nod group’s history

Two girls on a red Vespa then come zooming down the alley and it’s once again left silent.

Of course, fans immediately began dissecting the video in the comments and most came to the same conclusion – Rome.

One fan wrote: ” Rome. The area looks like Trastevere. Other clues: Red scooter and yellow headlight = AS Roma colours.

“Rider 1 in light blue & blue helmet = Lazio colours. Rider 2 in the Italian flag helmet.”

Sharing a snap that looked very similar to the video location, another fan said: “Stayed in Trastevere in Rome last week and it looks like the same area.”

A third fan added: “Pretty sure I’ve walked down that exact street in Rome.”

Just yesterday, Liam, 53 and Noel, teased another upcoming tour location with a subtle nod to a moment that happened around the group’s original split.

In the clip, a man wearing a leather jacket took out a plum from a paper bag and began eating it.

Soon after this, he lobbed the plum away somewhere off camera, into the distance.

It cheekily references Noel previously telling how – during a heated 2009 argument at the Rock en Seine Festival in Paris the time of his Oasis departure – Liam threw a plum at him.

Fans were convinced the clip hinted at a France tour date – with references to “Rock en Seine” and “Au Marché” visible.

Back in June, The Sun exclusively revealed that Oasis will returning to the stage next year with a record-breaking run of six concerts at Knebworth and a 12-date residency at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

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With AI memes, Trump promotes mythical version of himself as challenges stack up ahead of midterms

In the real world, President Trump is struggling to stop inflation, rout the Iranian government and restore American manufacturing with tariffs.

However, it’s a different story in the fantastical vision that he shares with supporters on social media. Over Labor Day weekend, Trump and the White House unleashed an extraordinarily heavy torrent of memes that portrayed the president as singularly powerful.

One video depicted Trump as a superhero wielding Green Lantern’s ring to effortlessly build a wall to keep out migrants and erect a slew of busy factories. Another post showed him in a U.S. hockey uniform looming over Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as Carney cowered on the ice. And another had Trump on a military ship as it bombarded an enemy fleet.

Trump’s allure has always relied on a mythical version of himself, from “The Apprentice” to the White House, but the gap between meme and reality has become glaringly stark ahead of the midterm elections. Most U.S. adults are unhappy with Trump’s handling of the economy and say the Iran war hasn’t been worth it, but Trump has responded with outlandish images of himself as unstoppable and omnipotent.

Memes risk sidestepping reality

Some of the pictures are generated with artificial intelligence, and the administration has previously defended the memes as funny and their critics as humorless. Yet the stakes right now are serious for congressional Republicans who have tied their own fate to a president with low approval numbers. Trump’s party will put him center stage at an unusual midterm convention on Wednesday and Thursday in Dallas in hopes of stoking voters’ enthusiasm.

Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, said that Trump’s social media posts can energize his base of “Make America Great Again” followers, although the tradeoff is that he’s not talking about how to fix inflation.

The voters who are likely to determine control of Congress in the midterms “are not going to be won over with memes,” Madden said. “The affordability voter is driving this election cycle and the issues they care about are anchored in the economy.”

The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment. Trump sometimes plucks memes from a sprawling ecosystem of online conservative supporters, and sometimes his government staff produces them as part of their official messaging. Recently they created a series of old-school video games, such as a “Tetris” knockoff called “Build the Wall.”

“The memes will continue,” Kaelan Dorr, a member of the White House communications team, recently posted on social media. “The winning will continue.”

Aging presidents promote vitality online

The problem for Trump is that voters have other images they’re using to define him. Drivers can spot through their windshields that gasoline is averaging $4.15 a gallon, up nearly 30% from a year ago because of the Iran war. And social media is inundated with questions about the 80-year-old president’s health and vitality, spurred by pictures of his bruised hands or video clips of him appearing to fall asleep in meetings.

White House officials have said the bruising is caused by “frequent handshaking” and Trump’s aspirin regimen, and they’ve denied that he’s dozed off.

Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, is three years older and faced relentless scrutiny about his age while in office. His White House came to embrace a meme version of Biden with lasers for eyes, suggesting that he was powerful and focused rather than infirm.

Andrew Bates, who was a deputy press secretary for Biden, said that Trump’s memes seem to be about avoiding the actual responsibilities of governing. He said they risk angering voters who see Trump as more focused on redecorating the White House than bringing the Iran war to a successful end.

“When a president who ran on bringing gas prices under $2 a gallon is now saying, ‘You’re at four dollars, it’s OK,’ it unfortunately makes sense that he’s also posting fever dreams,” Bates said.

Some memes have caused trouble

The memes have occasionally gotten Trump into trouble. He posted an image of himself as Jesus in April, which caused a degree of consternation among some supporters. The president later claimed he thought the image showed him as a medical doctor — albeit a doctor in Biblical robes with light emanating from his hands.

In February, his account posted a racist video of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as primates, which he deleted after a backlash.

Last October, Trump shared a video of him in a fighter jet dumping feces on Americans who were protesting his policies.

What the memes have not done so far is boost his wider approval ratings. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of how he is handling the job of being president, according to a July AP-NORC poll.

But the polling also hits at a reason why he might be sending the memes to rally his core supporters. Just 15% of U.S. adults strongly approve of his presidency, the poll found, a slight decline from 22% shortly after he took office.

Boak writes for the Associated Press.

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Nine Howard Stern Show staffers marked safe from layoffs as they return to air in new video ahead of season premiere

A SLEW of Howard Stern Show staffers have been marked safe from the rounds of layoffs that concluded over the summer.

In a new video posted to the show’s official Instagram page, at least nine employees were revealed to still be working for Stern.

Howard Stern will return to his SiriusXM show for a new episode on September 14 Credit: The Howard Stern Show
Associate director Sam Greenwood will return to the show after the layoffs Credit: Instagram/sternshow

Executive producer Gary Dell’Abate, also known by his nickname Baba Booey, greeted fans from his office in Stern’s SiriusXM studios before colleagues began to imitate his signature voice.

Producer Jason Kaplan then chimed in with his impression, along with associate director Sam Greenwood.

Richard Christy, JD Harmeyer, Steve Nowicki, Will Murray, Mike Pearlman and Sal Governale also gave their takes on Dell’Abate.

Will Murray imitated Baba Booey in a video ahead of the new Stern Show season Credit: Instagram/sternshow
Sal Governale chimed in with his own imitation Credit: Instagram/sternshow

Sadly, at least 50 Stern Show employees were laid off in two rounds of layoffs this year, including the last cut in July.

OUT OF HIS LEAGUE

Howard Stern Show segment CANCELED after shock jock’s mass layoffs

On-air talent Memet Walker, Benjy Bronk, Jonathan Blitt, Mike Trainor and Rahsaan Rogers were among those let go from the team.

The cuts come with many changes at the Stern Show, including the shock jock downsizing to just one show a week.

SiriusXM archival channel Howard 101 was dropped, and taken over by Stern’s rival Andy Cohen. (Just Howard 100 remains.)

In addition, segments like The Stern Show’s Fantasy Football League will not return this season.

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JD Harmeyer is also still employed by Stern Credit: Instagram/sternshow
Jason Kaplan will also be back on September 14 Credit: Instagram/sternshow

“The Stern Show Fantasy Football League is defunct…it’s done,” the league’s commissioner Michael Rapaport announced last week.

The league had been held for the past 18 years, and the source of major friction between staffers each fall.

The reclusive Stern has remained silent about the layoffs and changes, though he will return to air on September 14.

Stern is thought to have remained hunkered down on his Hamptons compound, making just a rare appearance at John Mayer’s concert in Amagansett in August.

The King of all Media re-signed a three-year deal with SiriusXM in December, after heated negotiations and rampant rumors the show would be canceled once and for all after 20 years at the streamer.

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New Oasis teaser video ‘confirms’ latest tour location with cheeky nod to moment that caused band to split

A NEW teaser video from Oasis ‘confirms’ an upcoming tour location – with a subtle nod to a moment that happened around the group’s original split.

The legendary rock band – led by brothers Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher – reformed in 2024 after breaking up in 2009.

Oasis fans think they’ve sussed out an upcoming tour location after the band posted a new teaser clip online Credit: X/@oasis
The clip in question features a reference to a famous moment between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher Credit: Getty

It saw the pair overcome their 15-year feud as they embarked on a reunion tour in summer 2025.

The band have now posted a cryptic clip online, with fans certain they sussed out an upcoming tour location.

Fans were convinced the clip hinted at a France tour date – with references to “Rock en Seine” and “Au Marché” visible.

One person commented: “A French date for next year’s tour I see! Possibly for the 7th of July?? Interesting…”

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Oasis tease another huge gig with cryptic post that throws back to chaotic tour

Oasis originally split in 2009, before reuniting in 2024 Credit: Getty
The band have since been going from strength to strength Credit: Alamy

Another added: “Hey Oasis, you owe me a gig in Paris!!! I was there that night in 2009. F*****g night. So VIVE LA FRANCE!!”

In addition to this, the video also includes a reference to an infamous moment in Oasis history.

A viewer remarked: “Please tell me that was a plum he threw. Genius.”

While a second person said: “OMG ITS LIAM THROWING A PLUM AT NOEL !!!!!”

In the clip, a man wearing a leather jacket took out a plum from a paper bag and began eating it.

Soon after this, he lobbed the plum away somewhere off camera, into the distance.

It references Noel previously telling how – during a heated 2009 argument at the Rock en Seine Festival in Paris the time of his Oasis departure – Liam threw a plum at him.

In 2011, he said at a press conference for solo album Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds: “He storms out of the dressing room and on the way out, he picked up a plum and threw it across the dressing room and it smashes against the wall.”

Noel added: “Part of me wishes it did end like that – “plum throws plum.”

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Kamala Harris’ appearance on a kids’ YouTube show backfires

It should have been the safest of political appearances — a group of kids gushing about their love of science and space exploration with Vice President Kamala Harris.

But for Harris, it became a controversy.

The children, it turned out, were paid actors. And the video, filmed on location at the White House and the vice president’s official residence at the Naval Observatory, was promoted on NASA’s YouTube Channel and Harris’ Twitter account last week without making that clear.

The fallout over the video, produced for YouTube’s original programming platform, is the second in recent weeks where a seemingly innocuous appearance by Harris has become modestly troublesome.

Late last month, Harris generated more serious consternation and criticism from pro-Israel Democrats and media for not pushing back when a student at a classroom encounter at George Mason University in Virginia accused Israel of “ethnic genocide.” Harris spent the next several days clarifying her longstanding support for Israel and reaching out to pro-Israel organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League.

Such stumbles have been featured extensively in conservative media, where Harris is a regular target. But they also reinforce concerns among Democrats that Harris has not yet found her political footing since taking office amid high expectations. The presumed front-runner to succeed President Biden on the Democratic ticket in 2024 or 2028, Harris recently enlisted two veteran Democrats to help stabilize her communications efforts.

Harris’ office and NASA would not discuss the decision-making process that led to her participation in the YouTube Original or the administration’s marketing of the special, which was produced by a Canada-based company called Sinking Ship Entertainment.

Harris’s office did not select the children who participated in the YouTube Originals special, a White House official said. A YouTube spokesperson said that “the casting process for this show was no different from typical unscripted kids’ shows across other networks and streaming platforms.”

The special debuted during World Space Week. It features NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough giving five children the clues for a scavenger hunt that takes them to the U.S. Naval Observatory, where they not-so casually run into Harris, who welcomes them onto the porch of the vice presidential residence.

While sitting in a white chair alongside the children, Harris reminisces about going to the lab with her scientist mother during her childhood and says she is excited to chair the National Space Council. She offers advice to the children about showing their true selves.

“Never let anybody tell you who you are,” she tells them. “You tell them who you are.”

Like many online productions, the special has the feel of something between a kids’-oriented news segment and a scripted show. The children, who introduce themselves with their hometowns, act surprised and excited as they meet the real-life astronaut and the vice president.

Earlier this week, one of the children who appeared in the video described in detail his audition process to KSBW TV in Salinas, which sparked mockery online and news coverage. Harris’ appearance drew especially sharp critiques in conservative news outlets. Fox News, in its coverage, has tried to draw a comparison to the criticism unleashed on former President Trump after his 2015 campaign launch in which he paid people to act like supporters.

Appearing as a guest on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, commentator Candace Owens falsely told viewers that Harris paid children to appear in the special.

White House officials have a long history of appearing as themselves in scripted shows, often with children. First Lady Nancy Reagan promoted her anti-drug message on the popular 1980s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” and then-President Obama participated in a televised sketch alongside comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The difference this time was that the show’s format was ambiguous, and its presentation and promotion by Harris and NASA led commentators to believe it had been produced by the government.

Communications consultants said the vice president’s staff should have more thoroughly vetted the program and ensured it was clearly labeled as a reality show with paid actors when the U.S. government promoted it.

Ultimately, Harris’ staff let her down, they said.

“The vice president and the president can’t do their own vetting on things like this,” said Kevin Madden, who served in senior communications roles for Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Madden added that Harris should not have participated in the program with paid actors, especially “in an era where there is a very high quotient of fake news and misinformation, you have to expect this kind of scrutiny.”

“The criticism [here] becomes warranted,” he said.



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Arab News | Iran arrests alleged opposition supporters after video circulates

Tehran: Iranian authorities have arrested a number of people accused of appearing in a rare video waving the flag of an outlawed opposition group, state television said Sunday.

Videos circulating online in recent days showed individuals riding motorbikes on empty streets in Iran while waving the white-and-red banner of the banned People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK).

On Sunday, state television said authorities had identified and arrested “all the individuals who appeared in this clip” and that they were “associated” with MEK, without specifying how many.

It said the motorcade had been travelling near the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, but it was not clear when the footage was recorded.

Founded in the 1960s in opposition to Iran’s then Western-backed shah, the MEK was outlawed after the 1979 Islamic revolution and later fought alongside Saddam Hussein’s forces during the Iran-Iraq war.

The group has for decades advocated regime change in Iran from abroad, while Tehran has accused its members of cooperating with its arch-enemy, Israel.

Iran has been at war with the United States since February 28, when US-Israeli strikes killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with senior military officials.

Iran retaliated with attacks across the region as the conflict spread.



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Video: Workers rescued from hydro tunnel nine days after Nepal flooding | Floods

Two workers have been pulled alive from a hydropower tunnel nine days after deadly flash flooding hit Nepal. Rescuers say hundreds more are trapped in dozens of hydropower projects buried across the area.

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Raul Asencio: Real Madrid defender cleared over allegedly sharing explicit video

Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio has been acquitted of alleged involvement in distributing a sexually explicit video involving a minor.

The 23-year-old was absolved of the offence by a Spanish court, external and charges were withdrawn against him in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

The court also gave minimum sentences to the three defendants who were convicted after the victims, who were two women aged 16 and 18, forgave the accused.

The case was “linked to the recording and dissemination of a sexually explicit video related to an intimate encounter at a beach club in Gran Canaria in June 2023”.

Three of Asencio’s former team-mates from the Real Madrid academy were given a one-year suspended prison sentence for “child pornography” and must attend a sexual “re-education” course.

They were also handed a two-year restraining order against the victims, and three years of disqualification from working in any profession related to minors.

In a statement, Asencio said: “Today, after a long period of silence and after respecting a judicial process in which I always had faith, I can say that I have been acquitted.

“Over these past months I have been through a difficult situation and, at times, I have had to see how information and opinions about me were published before justice had its say.

“I understand and respect the work of the media and the right to report and express opinions, but I also believe it’s important to remember that behind every piece of news there is a person and a family who live with the consequences of it.

“I have always trusted that justice would eventually set things right. Today there is a judicial ruling that speaks for itself, and I accept it with peace of mind and with the satisfaction of being able to close a very important chapter in my life.”

In another separate case, Real Madrid have opened disciplinary proceedings against Asencio over a drink-driving conviction which also happened in Gran Canaria.

He was more than three times over the limit in the 16 August incident, which resulted in him being fined and having his driving licence suspended for eight months.

When asked about the incident, Real boss Jose Mourinho said: “Raul Asencio, given the situation he found himself in, I talked to him when he arrived and I talked to him about things that happened in the past.

“I haven’t talked with him since but I don’t discuss situations outside Valdebebas.

“His attitude is perfect here. He picked up an injury a few weeks ago and since then, he is first to arrive and last to leave working on his recovery.

“But obviously a Real Madrid player is a Real Madrid player for 24 hours, seven days a week, 12 months a year, so when you do something outside your professional area, it’s still Real Madrid and it hurts the club’s prestige that is untouchable.

“So I am not happy. We all make errors but no, I’m not happy.”

Asencio referred to his drink-driving conviction in his statement as he added: “I am deeply sorry for what happened and I fully accept my responsibility.

“It has been an experience from which I have learned and I am very clear that it will not happen again.

“I don’t want to get involved in controversies or look back. I want to close this chapter with respect, with my head held high and with a great desire to move forward. And I [am] absolutely in agreement with my coach: not only on the pitch, but also off it.”

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Kate Beckinsale reveals PTSD diagnosis and admits she’s in a ‘lonely place’ in heartbreaking Instagram video

KATE Beckinsale has revealed her PTSD diagnosis and admitted she’s in a ‘lonely place’ in a heartbreaking Instagram video.

The actress said that there’s loads of information around military PTSD but not Civilian PTSD and that people find that harder to understand.

Kate Beckinsale revealed her PTSD diagnosis and admitted she’s in a ‘lonely place’ in heartbreaking Instagram video Credit: Instagram/ @katebeckinsale
The actress said that that there’s loads of information around military PTSD but not Civilian PTSD and that people find that harder to understand Credit: Instagram/ @katebeckinsale

Kate, 53, explained that people who “have seen or experienced levels of horror, terror or violence” see it every time they blink or any time they close their eyes for a second.

She said: “Those people aren’t recognised as heroes.”

She went on to explain that although people with PTSD go about their everyday lives that “they don’t sleep for more than an hour because when they do, it’s full of nightmares.”

She said: “Anything, smells, sounds, thoughts, feelings. Can trigger them into a place that is actually like hell.”

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She shared that since battling PTSD is “invisible,” people should be “kinder and gentler” to others. Credit: instagram
Kate explained anything can trigger them into a place that is actually like hell Credit: instagram/katebeckinsale
She said that PTSD victims “are the loneliest people because they are alone with a level of horror that’s incompatible with life Credit: Instagram
Kate lost her beloved mum Judy Loe, 73, in 2025 after a battle with cancer Credit: Reuters

She shared that since battling PTSD is “invisible,” people should be “kinder and gentler” to others.

She continued: “It really is true that if you haven’t walked a mile in someone’s shoes — however fancy you think the shoes are — you have absolutely no idea what they might be carrying, masking, dealing with day and night.

“And if in doubt, especially to a little child. And I am someone who had a little child who was treated extremely cruelly by grown adults, who forgave themselves immediately.

“So if in doubt be kind. Always be kind.”

The star ended her video by explaining that PTSD victims “are the loneliest people because they are alone with a level of horror that’s incompatible with life.

“Yet a lot of the time these people continue to try and put one foot in front of the other.”

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “Thank you for sharing this, I appreciate you being so open n giving some insight, I don’t know if it helps but I hope you know it’s appreciated.”

Kate replied: “I’m really glad that makes me happy. I just hope at least one person can feel seen and appreciated and understood. It can be such a lonely place.”

Another added: “Sending love and hugs.”

A third wrote: “The truest words I’ve heard all f***ing year! Hope you’re ok xx.”

While a fourth said: “You’re right… there’s not enough awareness of complex PTSD at all!”

Kate lost her beloved mum Judy Loe, 73, in 2025 after a battle with cancer.

Kate first revealed her mother’s cancer diagnosis last year, shortly after the death of her famous stepfather Roy Battersby, who tragically passed away following a massive stroke.

The Serendipity star also lost her father Richard Beckinsale at the age of five after he suffered a huge heart attack.

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Jordan Chiles will return to gymnastics and train for LA28 Olympics

That Girl is back.

Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles announced her intention to train for the L.A. Olympics on Wednesday, publicly beginning her attempt for a third Olympic Games in a video narrated by NBA legend Michael Jordan.

“Why again?” says Jordan, whom Chiles is named after. “Because the dream is still there.”

Chiles helped the United States to a team gold medal in 2024, competing in all four events in the final. She won her first individual Olympic medal, a bronze on floor with her energetic Beyoncé-inspired routine, but that result still is being considered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after controversy involving the inquiry process that led to Chiles’ score being upgraded to overtake Romania’s Ana Barbosu.

Chiles is the fourth member of that gold medal-winning team to announce a comeback for the 2028 Olympics, joining Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera. Simone Biles, the 29-year-old, 11-time Olympic medalist, has not officially come out of retirement.

Before Biles, a U.S. female gymnast had not competed in three Olympic Games in 24 years. Dominique Dawes, who competed in her third Olympics in 2000, Linda Metheny and Muriel Grossfield are the only other American women to accomplish the feat. But in a sport no longer dominated by teenage one-hit wonders, there will be three women vying to join the exclusive triple Olympian club in 2028.

Chiles used college experience to help raise her game after winning a team silver in her first Olympic experience in Tokyo, and after returning from Paris with gold, she finished a standout college career at UCLA. The 23-time All-American won her second and third individual NCAA titles, on bars last year and floor this year, and won the AAI Award, which goes to the top senior gymnast in the nation. She had 19 perfect 10s in her college career, which ranks third in UCLA history. On Tuesday, UCLA announced Chiles would return to the team as a student coach.

“Jordan has made an incredible impact on our program over the years,” UCLA gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald said in a statement. “I’m excited to watch her continue that influence in a new capacity as she steps into this next chapter with student coaching. Her energy, passion, leadership and gymnastics experience will make a unique and positive impact on our team this coming year!”

Outside of the gym, Chiles has capitalized on her Olympic stardom. She was a finalist on “Dancing with the Stars” and authored a memoir, “I’m That Girl: Living the Power of my Dreams.” She was named to Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in sports this year and has been a ubiquitous presence on red carpets and at major sporting events and galas.

With her post-gymnastics life rolling, Chiles still is choosing to return to training with less than two years remaining until the 2028 Games.

“When the world asks why she’s back for a third time,” Jordan says in Chiles’ announcement video, “the answer’s simple.”

“Why not?” Chiles chimes in.

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