The president’s stated intention to pardon Tina Peters, jailed for tampering with election machines in 2020, has set off a legal fight over the extent of Mr. Trump’s pardon powers.
Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters, middle, during her sentencing for her election interference case at the Mesa County District Court in Grand Junction, Colo., last year.
His library foundation has told the I.R.S. that by the end of 2027 it expects to bring in just $11.3 million — not nearly enough for a traditional presidential library.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has only just begun to raise money for a presidential library, starting with an event for potential donors on Monday in Washington.
Interviewed as he prepares to leave City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams said that he hadn’t gotten the credit he deserved and that certain forces had always been arrayed against him.
The next steps for the president’s 20-point Gaza peace plan have been mired in uncertainty and a lack of detail, but that may be set to change. Here’s what to know.
In South Carolina, parents struggle to deal with infections that have brought quarantines and remote learning. Health care workers are bracing for an increase in cases.
This week, Donald Trump announced that he would allow Nvidia to sell chips to China. The Times Opinion editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, argues that the move undermines national security.
Watch: King Charles issues update on his cancer treatment
King Charles has been praised for hiscandour in talking about his cancer treatment where he highlighted the importance of early detection and screening.
In a recorded video message, broadcast on Channel 4 for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, the King said his treatment was being reduced and he urged people to take up offers of cancer screening, saying "early diagnosis quite simply saves lives."
The type of cancer he is being treated for has not been revealed and the King, 77, will continue to receive treatment and monitoring.
Clare Garnsey, associate medical director of Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, said his message was "very powerful".
The King, who revealed his diagnosis in February last year, is not described as being in remission or "cured" but the regularity of his treatment will be significantly reduced in the new year.
In his video message, recorded in Clarence House two weeks ago, he said that he was "troubled" to learn that nine million people around the UK are not up to date with the cancer screening available to them.
"That is at least nine million opportunities for early diagnosis being missed," he said.
He added: "Too often, I am told, people avoid screening because they imagine it may be frightening, embarrassing or uncomfortable.
"If and when they do finally take up their invitation, they are glad they took part.
"A few moments of minor inconvenience are a small price to pay for the reassurance that comes for most people when they are either told either they don't need further tests or, for some, are given the chance to enable early detection, with the life-saving intervention that can follow."
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Miss Garnsey said she, "like the majority of health professionals who work in the cancer field" was "really thankful" for what the King said.
"I think the message was very powerful about the importance of early diagnosis and how important it is that we all attend for our screening," she added.
She said it is "really helpful" to healthcare professionals when people in "positions of influence" - such as the King - speak publicly about their experiences with cancer.
These messages highlight that it "can happen to anybody", she said, and raise awareness of the potential symptoms someone may experience.
Royal biographer and friend of King Charles, Jonathan Dimbleby, said the King's message demonstrated the "unique role of the sovereign".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said the King's decision to speak openly about his treatment in such "warm, gentle, thoughtful, kind terms" was "quite extraordinary and it has great impact".
Until now the King has said little publicly about his illness.
In his video message, King Charles said he knew how "overwhelming" a diagnosis can feel, but stressed that early detection is "key" to give patients the "precious gift of hope".
Cancer charity Macmillan Cancer Support said it was "incredibly grateful" to the King for sharing his experience "with such openness and honesty".
"The King's reminder of the importance of screening and early detection is an important message for us all," it added in a statement.
The prime minister said the King's message was "powerful" and that he was "glad" that the King's treatment will be reduced in the new year.
According to Buckingham Palace, the King's recovery has reached a very positive stage and he has "responded exceptionally well to treatment", so much so that doctors will now move his treatment "into a precautionary phase".
The regularity of treatment is going to be significantly reduced - but the King, 77, is not described as being in remission or "cured".
Meanwhile, Dr Harrison Carter, director of screening at NHS England, said the health service "fully supported" the King's call for people to attend screening tests.
"So, when your NHS screening invite arrives, whether it's for cervical or breast screening, or a bowel cancer testing kit through the post, please do make time to take it up."
The tree, in the village of Shotton Colliery, was cut down on Wednesday
Two men have been arrested after a Christmas tree which has stood in a village for more than 10 years was cut down, hours after its lights were switched on.
The tree, in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, was felled at some point between 22:00 and 23:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Two men were arrested after an appeal by Peterlee Neighbourhood Police Team.
Police said officers were in the process of charging and remanding a 26-year-old man with criminal damage, while a 23-year-old man has been released under investigation.
On Friday, Shotton Residents Association chairman Steve Maitland said the tree had been put up as a monument to the fallen soldiers of World War One.
He told BBC Radio Tees that members of the public were making a sleeve for the tree's base, so they could bolt it back up as quickly as possible, "just to tide us over for Christmas".
He said: "These people who did this – I don't think they understand the history and the feeling of these things."
Some of the people involved in fundraising for the tree a decade ago had since died, he said.
He called the attack "mindless vandalism" but said he could not "turn the clock back".
The Last Time Is Now. It's the name given to the tournament in which 16 wrestling giants have been competing to be the one opponent in John Cena's final fight before retirement.
And that final fight is now - Saturday night - in Washington DC, bringing the curtain down on an illustrious career that has seen the American become one of wrestling's biggest and most bankable stars.
In the 8,570 days since his debut, Cena has clinched 17 world titles and coined the iconic "You Can't See Me" catchphrase - but the 48-year-old's impact goes far beyond that.
If you were to pose the question "who is John Cena?", depending on who you ask, the answers might vary from legendary WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) superstar, to successful film actor, while some will say he's Mr Make-A-Wish (more on that later).
Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images
John Cena celebrates his win during WrestleMania 41 Sunday in Las Vegas in April 2025
How to watch John Cena's last match:
Start time: WWE Saturday Night's Main Event is scheduled to begin at 01:00 GMT on Sun 14 Dec
Where to watch: In the UK, you can watch for free on WWE's official YouTube channel. Internationally it can be watched on Netflix, and on Peacock in the US
'An exceptional wrestling talent'
Since his 2002 debut, there's been an evolution in his own wrestling character - transitioning from "ruthless aggression" rookie, to a "Doctor of Thuganomics" rapper, and eventually a heroic character known for a "Never Give Up" attitude.
Despite criticism from some fans of his in-ring ability, with occasional chants of "you can't wrestle" through the years, "there's no doubt that he's an exceptional wrestling talent", says Brandon Thurston, editor and owner of wrestling website, Wrestlenomics.
He feels something changed in 2005, after which WWE became "increasingly scripted in a way it had not been" before, as it entered into a more controlled, family friendly PG era. But Cena managed thrive.
"He's definitely been the biggest draw over the time which I would say stretches from 2005 to roughly 2015," Mr Thurston says, with Cena's merchandise also regularly topping sales for the company.
"There's little question that he was WWE's most important economic wrestler throughout that time - in terms of pay-per-view buys, which were still central in that era, TV ratings, and as a house show draw."
Outside the ring too, he's a personality who "people gravitate towards and want to listen to", says Mr Thurston - and wrestling fans like Joe Clarkson and Sabrina Nicole feel just that.
WWE via Getty Images
Cena made his debut against Kurt Angle during SmackDown in June 2002
"To go for such a long time in an industry, which is quite heavily taxing on the body, is absolutely fascinating," says Joe, 24, who was five when he first saw Cena on TV.
"I think over time, the people just gained more and more respect for him, not just as a performer, but also as an individual."
For Sabrina, 37, who remembers Cena's WWE debut in 2002, it's "his charisma".
"He has just always had something about him that makes him a star," she says, adding that for most of his career, he's "always maintained a good guy persona".
"No matter what the crowd, no matter what the fans have thought of him. He has just been the testament to if you have a really good character, you can be on top," she says.
It also seems to be true that, beyond his ability and persona, Cena seized an opportunity.
Getty Images
Cena's signature "You Can't See Me" gesture
With The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin no longer full-time performers, WWE bosses were looking for a new star to emerge.
Brandon feels WWE leadershiprecognised Cena "would be a very reliable and extremely hardworking person whom they could entrust with such a spot".
It's widely accepted within wrestling circles that the final decision to have Cena as the chosen star would ultimately have been taken by then-WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
While he was known for following his instincts, there will also have been a judgement on Cena's ability to connect with a passionate crowd on the mic, his marketability and whether he could be in the industry long enough to be profitable.
And when Cena started taking more time away from wrestling in 2015 and working a reduced schedule, Mr Thurston feels there was a "decline" in the WWE product.
Other wrestling experts have suggested Cena's presence over the years helped slow the slide of WWE ratings trending downwards which, according to analysis by wrestling site PWtorch, saw average viewership for its flagship weekly Raw programme fall by a million between 2010 and 2015, to 3.7m.
Having achieved so much within wrestling, Cena could "just come in and be a wrestler and walk out", adds Dr Gillian Brooks, associate professor in marketing at King's Business School, but instead she says he built a personal brand that comes across as real.
An 'authentic' character
Among the brands Cena has worked with is Neutrogena, becoming the face of its sunscreen campaign after revealing he had skin cancer spots - which he attributed to his own lack of sun protection use.
He also holds the Guinness World Record for the number of wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with more than 650 fulfilled wishes for children with critical illnesses. It's a partnership he revealed had started by "accident", but one he's kept since 2002, describing it as "the coolest thing".
"If you think about it from a child's perspective, they're seeing someone that they've seen on TV watching WWE or in films, and they suddenly get to meet him," Dr Brooks says. "The fact that he's doing charity work, he's written a children's book, been in films, made music… all these things illustrate that he's not a one show pony.
"It's coming across in a way that's very authentic and very sort of pure to who he is."
Both Cena's personal brand and his charisma are set to live on, but his time in the ring looks to have come to an end after Cena announced last year that 2025 would be his last as a competitor.
Getty Images
Cena reached his 500th wish-granting milestone in 2015
The retirement run
Explaining his reasoning at the time, he told of the physical toll wrestling had taken on his body.
His career has seen him undergo several operations, including on his neck, pec and triceps, with Cena saying in interviews that his "body hurts" and is "screaming to close the chapter".
While the old saying "never say never" is a popular one, Cena has repeatedly said he will be "100% done" - and has received rousing receptions around the world for his final appearances.
Overall, fan Joe is happy with Cena's "retirement run", with matches against old rivals such as AJ Styles, Randy Orton and CM Punk, and newer stars including Dominik Mysterio and Gunther.
He does feel the "execution" of his final year could have been better though, with Cena's short-term "heel turn" (becoming a villain) at the Elimination Chamber event in March drawing criticism.
"It could have been handled better," Joe says. "[But] he's had such a unique distinction of having a retirement run that no one's ever had before.
"It's very sad to see him retire now. But I think he said it himself - it's the right time."
Not that WWE fans will never see Cena again; he has signed a five-year deal to be an ambassador for the company.
Having won The Last Time Is Now tournament, it's former world heavyweight champion Gunther who will face Cena in his final fight.
With it not being broadcast on terrestrial TV, but rather on streaming platforms, it's been reported that there is no time limit on the match - and Gunther, who has never wrestled Cena before, has been giving much tough talk.
One thing's for sure: "You Can't See Me" might be the taunt Cena gives Gunther, but the last fight will be seen and remembered by many.
WWE via Getty Images
John Cena lands a Five Knuckle Shuffle on AJ Styles in Perth, Australia
Avatar: Fire and Ash is predicted to be one of the year's highest-grossing movies
It's no secret the Avatar films are a gigantic technical feat - pushing the boundaries of cinematography, animation and performance capture.
But you may not be aware that the same applies to the music.
Composer Simon Franglen says work on the third instalment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, took an epic seven years to complete.
Along the way, he wrote 1,907 pages of orchestral score; and even invented new instruments for the residents of the alien planet Pandora to play.
And, with director James Cameron tinkering with the edit until the very last minute, the British musician only finished his final musical cue five days before the film was printed and delivered.
In total, Avatar contains "four times as much" music as a standard Hollywood film, says Franglen, with almost the entirety of its 195-minute running time requiring music.
"But I got 10 minutes off for good behaviour," he laughs.
20th Century Studios
Simon Franglen spent seven years working on the score, with the bulk of the work taking place from 2023-25
Fire and Ash is the third instalment in the record-breaking series, continuing the saga of the blue Na'vi population, who are protecting their planet from human invaders, intent on stripping its natural resources.
The new film, released on 19 December, takes audiences back to the astonishingly vivid landscapes of Pandora, but it also sends them on a visceral emotional journey.
At the start of the film, the two main characters Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are mourning the death of their teenage son, Neteyam.
Unable to see eye-to-eye, the grief threatens to tear the couple apart.
Franglen was tasked with creating a score that could reflect the depth of their despair.
"I wanted to make sure that you felt that sense of distance that was growing between them," he says.
"So what I would do is, I would take two lines [of music] and I'd have them moving apart, or I would make them go wrong, so that they felt austere and cold and disconnected."
"Grief is not something that is ever addressed in these sorts of films," he continues, "but for any family, the loss of a child is the worst thing you can go through.
"Musically, the important stuff is often the quiet moments."
A hoedown on a galleon
By contrast, when Franglen composed the music for the Wind Traders - a nomadic clan of salesmen, who travel by airship - he could let his imagination run wild.
Their swashbuckling themes are inspired by the action movies of the 1930s and 40s, but they also feature brand new instruments, unique to Pandora.
"When we meet the wind traders [they're having] a hoedown on their enormous Galleon," says Franglen.
"The problem was that, if you are having a Pandoran party, what do they play? I can't give them guitar, bass and drums. I can't give them a banjo.
"You have to have a real instrument that would be designed for three metre-tall, blue people with four fingers.
"And because Avatar is not animation, when there are instruments on screen, you have to have the real thing," he says, referring to Cameron's rule that everything on screen has to be rooted in reality, even though the film's imagery is largely computer-generated.
"So I sketched out some instruments, and gave them to the art department, who made these beautiful designs."
20th Century Studios
Franglen sketches were turned into actual, playable instruments
Franglen's creations included a long-necked lute, similar to a Turkish saz, with strings that represent the rigging of the Wind Traders' ship.
A percussion instrument was also designed, with the drum head using the same material as the vessel's sails.
The art department's renders were then given to prop master Brad Elliott, who built the instruments on a 3D printers, and the actors played them for real on set.
For now, however, these inventions have no official name.
"They are currently called 'the stringy things' and 'the drummy things'," laughs Franglen.
"I'm sure there's a better name. Somebody said we should have a competition."
20th Century Studios
Franglen says his new instruments could be produced commercially if there is enough demand from fans
Franglen's musical career started when he was just 13 years old- he wrote a letter to the BBC asking how someone would go about becoming a record producer.
Mistakenly assuming he was asking about radio production, the corporation advised him to study electronics - leading him to a course at Manchester University in the early 1980s.
He arrived just as the Hacienda Club opened ("I was member 347") and spent his free time booking bands for the college's concert venue.
"I remember booking Tears for Fears and 11 people came," he says.
After graduating, he was hired to work as a synth programmer, and was introduced to Trevor Horn - who set him to work on pivotal 80s albums by Yes and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Eventually, he decided to try his luck in America where, "after six months of doing almost nothing", he became an in-demand session musician and programmer.
Credits started to rack up on hits like Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart, All 4 One's I Swear and Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing; and he eventually found himself programming drums for Michael Jackson's HIStory album.
"The pressure was to make it great," he says. "To have that sense of groove, what we call, 'the pocket'.
"And a big part of my career is that I had a good pocket. I understood where things should feel and how they should hit. And that is as important with film scores as it is when you're making a Michael Jackson record."
Franglen's first experience of film scoring came when Bond composer John Barry asked him to assist on Kevin Costner's Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves. He was later hired to do the "dark and nasty stuff" on David Fincher's Se7en.
"My job was to provide the dystopian edge that that score has. So I would take squealing brakes, make samples of them, and then play all the violin lines with squealing brakes underneath.
"There was a lot of experimental stuff, which was incredibly fun."
Getty Images
Franglen says he'll work on some smaller projects before returning to the Avatar universe
Franglen first met Avatar director James Cameron after being hired by legendary film composer James Horner, to work "on a film he had no money for".
The film was Titanic - a notorious white elephant, dismissed as a vanity project, and predicted to bring about the collapse of film studios Fox and Paramount.
The composer had seen the headlines, but when Cameron showed him the scene where the Titanic broke in half and started to sink, he realised the press had got it wrong.
"It was just astonishing, in comparison to anything you'd seen before. I knew it was special."
Even so, there was no budget left for the music, Franglen had to borrow equipment and instruments from the manufacturers, and the majority of the score was recorded on synthesizers in a rented apartment.
"Part of the reason that Titanic sounds the way that it does, is because there wasn't enough money for [an] orchestra everywhere," he says.
Getty Images
The cast posed with director James Cameron ahead of Avatar's European premiere earlier this week (L-R): Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, Oona Castilla Chaplin and Stephen Lang
The opposite is true on Avatar.
"Jim [Cameron] still believes that the good things take time. And as a composer, having that ability to refine and to make something special is something that is rare these days."
The director also went to great lengths to ensure his latest film is free from artificial intelligence.
"He very specifically asked me, 'So, we're not using any AI? We're not putting any real musicians out of work'," Franglen recalls.
"It's fair to say that if you gave a lot of film producers the option to save money, they would take that option.
"Jim is in a situation where he will not compromise, and that's as important when it comes to the music as it is to the live performances of the actors."
As the film prepares to open, Franglen is celebrating a Golden Globe nomination for the theme song, Dream As One, sung by Miley Cyrus.
But he's also thinking about what comes next. Cameron has already completed the scripts for Avatar Four and Five; scheduled to come out in 2029 and 2031.
"Four is… I think it's astonishing," says Franglen. "It goes into whole new territories, and I love it."
Initial footage has already been shot, but Cameron says completing the film will depend on the box office performance of Fire and Ash.
"I really hope that we break even, so that we can make it," says Franglen.
"I think they said after Avatar Two that the break even point was $1.4 billion (£1 billion).
"I have no way of knowing, but I presume that it's a similar number for this one.
"So if the audience tells us that they want an Avatar Four, I'm very much looking forward to doing that."
Watch: King Charles issues update on his cancer treatment
King Charles has shared "good news" about his cancer, saying in a personal message that early diagnosis and "effective intervention" means his treatment can be reduced in the new year.
In a recorded video message broadcast on Channel 4 for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, the King said: "This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care."
According to Buckingham Palace, the King's recovery has reached a very positive stage and he has "responded exceptionally well to treatment", so much so that doctors will now move his treatment "into a precautionary phase".
The regularity of treatment is going to be significantly reduced - but the King, 77, is not described as being in remission or "cured".
"Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to 'doctors' orders', my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year," the King said in his speech.
The video message, recorded in Clarence House two weeks ago, was played in the Stand Up To Cancer show on Channel 4 on Friday evening, in a fundraising project run with Cancer Research UK.
The campaign encourages more people to get tested for cancer and to take advantage of national screening schemes - and the King's message emphasised the importance of checks to catch cancer at an early stage.
"I know from my own experience that a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming. Yet I also know that early detection is the key that can transform treatment journeys, giving invaluable time to medical teams," said the King.
Early detection could be a lifesaver, he said: "Your life, or the life of someone you love, may depend upon it."
PA Media
King Charles had a message of "hope" at an Advent service this week
The King also spoke of how much he had been "profoundly moved by what I can only call the 'community of care' that surrounds every cancer patient - the specialists, the nurses, researchers and volunteers who work tirelessly to save and improve lives".
Until now the King has said little publicly about his illness.
He didn't seem to want to be defined by the disease and his approach has been to keep working, with a busy schedule including overseas trips and hosting state visits, including last week's by the German president.
A couple of days ago he was sending a message of optimism and seasonal "hope", when he attended an atmospheric, candle-lit Advent service at Westminster Abbey.
The Stand Up To Cancer show, presented by celebrities including Davina McCall, Adam Hills and Clare Balding, has urged people not to be frightened of getting cancer checks.
In particular, the show has appealed to the estimated nine million people in the UK who Cancer Research UK says are not up to date with NHS screening schemes, offering an online checker to let people see if they are eligible for tests for breast, bowel and cervical cancer.
The King said it "troubles me deeply" that this represents nine million missed opportunities to catch cancer early - and he urged people to use the screening checker online tool.
"The statistics speak with stark clarity. To take just one example: When bowel cancer is caught at the earliest stage, around nine in 10 people survive for at least five years. When diagnosed late, that falls to just one in 10," he said.
According to royal sources, the King's reference to bowel cancer should not be seen as linked to his own condition, and prostate cancer has previously been ruled out.
In an attempt to demystify cancer checks and show the value of early diagnosis the Stand Up To Cancer show had a live broadcast from cancer clinics at Addenbrooke's and Royal Papworth hospitals in Cambridge.
"I want to take the fear out of cancer screening and show everyone that they are not on their own in this," said McCall, 58, who recently said she was recovering from breast cancer surgery.
Reuters
The King has talked about the shock of receiving a cancer diagnosis
Currently in the UK, there are three NHS cancer screening programmes - for bowel, breast and cervical cancer - available to certain age groups.
A new lung cancer screening programme is also being slowly rolled out for anyone at high risk of developing the disease, specifically targeting people aged 55-74 years old, who currently or used to smoke.
Men may enquire about prostate cancer checks, but there is no national programme in place.
The Stand Up to Cancer project, which has raised £113m since 2012, is funding 73 clinical trials involving 13,000 cancer patients.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said public figures speaking openly about cancer can encourage others to have a check up.
"Spotting cancer early can make a real difference and provides the best chance for successful treatment," she said.
Robert Rhodes, pictured in a police interview in 2016, orchestrated a plot to kill Dawn Rhodes and claim he did so in self-defence
On a bank holiday evening in 2016, Robert Rhodes turned to his child and said: "Do you want to get rid of Mum?"
Those words, the child recalled years later, were the start of a plot for Rhodes to kill his wife, Dawn, in their Surrey home and cover up her death as an act of defence - of himself and his child.
For years, Rhodes painted himself as a victim of an attack in the killing he planned and covered up.
Described as swift and protective, jurors heard accounts of a father who moved to protect his child from their knife-wielding mother, who lost her life in the skirmish that ensued.
Instead, a new trial revealed a complex tale of abuse, control and a murder plot with the coercion of a child at its heart.
On 2 June 2016, the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to their mother and said: "I drew a picture for you, close your eyes and hold out your hands."
Then, with the child leaving the room and locking themselves in the bathroom, Rhodes cut his wife's throat with a kitchen knife.
To cover up the killing, Rhodes once again turned to his child, telling them he "needed a favour".
The favour, the child told police in 2022, was to stab their father in the back of the shoulder, with the same knife used to kill Dawn, and then let him cut their arm.
Surrey Police
Dawn Rhodes was killed in her kitchen in Wimborne Avenue, Earlswood, Surrey
"I didn't want to do any of it. I just felt guilty but I did what I was told," the child said during the police interview.
Despite the child crying and objecting at the time, Rhodes reportedly said: "We've done this now. There's no going back."
The child also told their therapist in 2021 that Rhodes had stabbed himself in the back of the head, causing himself another wound he would claim was caused by his wife.
As they were under 10 years old at the time of the murder, the child bears no criminal responsibility for aiding the attack.
Life insurance
The death of Dawn Rhodes followed the end of a marriage in turmoil, with the couple in the process of separating after revelations of infidelity.
The pair had known each other for more than 20 years, having met when Rhodes was 21 and Mrs Rhodes was 18, the court heard.
Having married in 2003, the couple lived in Epsom and across Surrey, before settling in Wimborne Avenue in Earlswood, near Redhill.
But on Christmas Eve in 2015, Robert Rhodes found out about an affair that Mrs Rhodes had been having with a co-worker.
From that point, Mrs Rhodes would claim to family members that Rhodes would self-harm in front of her and threaten to kill himself.
Internet searches made by Rhodes show him researching methods of suicide, as well as about life insurance.
He told the court: "I didn't see a future in our marriage."
Rhodes also admitted to creating a fake Facebook profile and contacting the wife of Mrs Rhodes' new partner to tell her about the affair.
Later, he would message his wife's partner: "Thank you for screwing my life and wife."
'Like the Hulk'
The child continued in their second set of police interviews: "There was a plan and we went through with it. I was told to lie and I did."
But shortly after the killing, the child originally told police how, after another argument between Rhodes and his wife, they had tried to intervene.
As part of the cover-up of their father's attack, the child said their mother picked up a knife and swung it at their arm, delivering the cut to their arm which was, in fact, administered by Rhodes.
The child described Dawn's "rage" and "anger" in a police interview in May 2017, before being told to run upstairs and "lock yourself in the bathroom".
In his own police interview, an emotional Rhodes told officers how he "grabbed the blade" of the knife and "held it as tight as I could".
Weaving his story together, he told officers: "I was scared, and it takes a lot to scare me.
"It's like one minute she [Dawn] is fine and the next minute she's like the Hulk," he added, referring to the comic book superhero.
Despite the façade put up by the child, witnesses in the trial pointed to signs that the truth lay beneath.
In a conversation while together in a car, when asked about their scar from the incident, the child would tell one adult: "It was the sharp bit [of the knife], that's how dad did it."
The child would later allege that, while on supervised visits, their father would attempt to speak to them, telling them to "stick to the plan".
They would later suggest their father would message them on a phone he had secretly given them, again urging them to continue backing his version of events.
In an unrelated conversation years later, other witnesses revealed how they heard Rhodes tell the child: "Snitches get stitches."
Surrey Police
Robert Rhodes, 52, coerced his child into helping to kill their mother, Dawn Rhodes, in 2016
Years passed, and the child continued at school and made new friends, while the truth of what happened continued to eat at them inside.
In November 2021, the child confided the truth in a close friend, who recalled: "I asked if they felt guilty, they said yes - like this guilt had been bothering them. They were distraught."
The following day, the child would then tell their therapist, who alerted police.
Double jeopardy
Following an appeal to the Court of Appeal in November 2024, Rhodes was retried under the double jeopardy rules.
It meant that, due to the compelling new evidence brought forward by the child, he could be reexamined for the crime he was acquitted of in 2017, as well as charges of child cruelty, perverting the course of justice and perjury.
At his new trial, Rhodes would often sit staring ahead, his eyes occasionally darting over to the 12 people hearing his case.
While the court listened to more gruesome details of the murder, Rhodes would hunch over and stare at the floor and, on one occasion when evidence was being read out, he sat shaking his head and mouthing "nope" out into the courtroom.
As jurors convicted him, he stood silently in the dock.
'Motherhood brought her joy'
Following the trial, Mrs Rhodes' family - mother Liz Spencer, sister Kirsty Spencer and brother Darren Spencer, paid tribute.
Her mother said: "Dawn was a loving daughter, sister and mother. Being a mother was what brought joy to Dawn.
"During her life, Dawn was looking for someone to build a life with. She was looking for someone to love and be loved by someone to trust and be trusted by and someone to respect and be respected by."
Kirsty added: "Dawn was my sister and I loved her dearly.
"I know my sister would want us to find freedom, a freedom that she was deprived of."
Her brother Darren added: "Dawn was a very capable woman, but unfortunately went through hell in the last few years of her life.
"The pressures on her at the time meant that she wasn't the Dawn we all knew, and the last few times we saw her before she was taken from us, she was at the end of her tether."
Rhodes will be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on January 16.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is predicted to be one of the year's highest-grossing movies
It's no secret the Avatar films are a gigantic technical feat - pushing the boundaries of cinematography, animation and performance capture.
But you may not be aware that the same applies to the music.
Composer Simon Franglen says work on the third instalment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, took an epic seven years to complete.
Along the way, he wrote 1,907 pages of orchestral score; and even invented new instruments for the residents of the alien planet Pandora to play.
And, with director James Cameron tinkering with the edit until the very last minute, the British musician only finished his final musical cue five days before the film was printed and delivered.
In total, Avatar contains "four times as much" music as a standard Hollywood film, says Franglen, with almost the entirety of its 195-minute running time requiring music.
"But I got 10 minutes off for good behaviour," he laughs.
20th Century Studios
Simon Franglen spent seven years working on the score, with the bulk of the work taking place from 2023-25
Fire and Ash is the third instalment in the record-breaking series, continuing the saga of the blue Na'vi population, who are protecting their planet from human invaders, intent on stripping its natural resources.
The new film, released on 19 December, takes audiences back to the astonishingly vivid landscapes of Pandora, but it also sends them on a visceral emotional journey.
At the start of the film, the two main characters Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are mourning the death of their teenage son, Neteyam.
Unable to see eye-to-eye, the grief threatens to tear the couple apart.
Franglen was tasked with creating a score that could reflect the depth of their despair.
"I wanted to make sure that you felt that sense of distance that was growing between them," he says.
"So what I would do is, I would take two lines [of music] and I'd have them moving apart, or I would make them go wrong, so that they felt austere and cold and disconnected."
"Grief is not something that is ever addressed in these sorts of films," he continues, "but for any family, the loss of a child is the worst thing you can go through.
"Musically, the important stuff is often the quiet moments."
A hoedown on a galleon
By contrast, when Franglen composed the music for the Wind Traders - a nomadic clan of salesmen, who travel by airship - he could let his imagination run wild.
Their swashbuckling themes are inspired by the action movies of the 1930s and 40s, but they also feature brand new instruments, unique to Pandora.
"When we meet the wind traders [they're having] a hoedown on their enormous Galleon," says Franglen.
"The problem was that, if you are having a Pandoran party, what do they play? I can't give them guitar, bass and drums. I can't give them a banjo.
"You have to have a real instrument that would be designed for three metre-tall, blue people with four fingers.
"And because Avatar is not animation, when there are instruments on screen, you have to have the real thing," he says, referring to Cameron's rule that everything on screen has to be rooted in reality, even though the film's imagery is largely computer-generated.
"So I sketched out some instruments, and gave them to the art department, who made these beautiful designs."
20th Century Studios
Franglen sketches were turned into actual, playable instruments
Franglen's creations included a long-necked lute, similar to a Turkish saz, with strings that represent the rigging of the Wind Traders' ship.
A percussion instrument was also designed, with the drum head using the same material as the vessel's sails.
The art department's renders were then given to prop master Brad Elliott, who built the instruments on a 3D printers, and the actors played them for real on set.
For now, however, these inventions have no official name.
"They are currently called 'the stringy things' and 'the drummy things'," laughs Franglen.
"I'm sure there's a better name. Somebody said we should have a competition."
20th Century Studios
Franglen says his new instruments could be produced commercially if there is enough demand from fans
Franglen's musical career started when he was just 13 years old- he wrote a letter to the BBC asking how someone would go about becoming a record producer.
Mistakenly assuming he was asking about radio production, the corporation advised him to study electronics - leading him to a course at Manchester University in the early 1980s.
He arrived just as the Hacienda Club opened ("I was member 347") and spent his free time booking bands for the college's concert venue.
"I remember booking Tears for Fears and 11 people came," he says.
After graduating, he was hired to work as a synth programmer, and was introduced to Trevor Horn - who set him to work on pivotal 80s albums by Yes and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Eventually, he decided to try his luck in America where, "after six months of doing almost nothing", he became an in-demand session musician and programmer.
Credits started to rack up on hits like Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart, All 4 One's I Swear and Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing; and he eventually found himself programming drums for Michael Jackson's HIStory album.
"The pressure was to make it great," he says. "To have that sense of groove, what we call, 'the pocket'.
"And a big part of my career is that I had a good pocket. I understood where things should feel and how they should hit. And that is as important with film scores as it is when you're making a Michael Jackson record."
Franglen's first experience of film scoring came when Bond composer John Barry asked him to assist on Kevin Costner's Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves. He was later hired to do the "dark and nasty stuff" on David Fincher's Se7en.
"My job was to provide the dystopian edge that that score has. So I would take squealing brakes, make samples of them, and then play all the violin lines with squealing brakes underneath.
"There was a lot of experimental stuff, which was incredibly fun."
Getty Images
Franglen says he'll work on some smaller projects before returning to the Avatar universe
Franglen first met Avatar director James Cameron after being hired by legendary film composer James Horner, to work "on a film he had no money for".
The film was Titanic - a notorious white elephant, dismissed as a vanity project, and predicted to bring about the collapse of film studios Fox and Paramount.
The composer had seen the headlines, but when Cameron showed him the scene where the Titanic broke in half and started to sink, he realised the press had got it wrong.
"It was just astonishing, in comparison to anything you'd seen before. I knew it was special."
Even so, there was no budget left for the music, Franglen had to borrow equipment and instruments from the manufacturers, and the majority of the score was recorded on synthesizers in a rented apartment.
"Part of the reason that Titanic sounds the way that it does, is because there wasn't enough money for [an] orchestra everywhere," he says.
Getty Images
The cast posed with director James Cameron ahead of Avatar's European premiere earlier this week (L-R): Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, Oona Castilla Chaplin and Stephen Lang
The opposite is true on Avatar.
"Jim [Cameron] still believes that the good things take time. And as a composer, having that ability to refine and to make something special is something that is rare these days."
The director also went to great lengths to ensure his latest film is free from artificial intelligence.
"He very specifically asked me, 'So, we're not using any AI? We're not putting any real musicians out of work'," Franglen recalls.
"It's fair to say that if you gave a lot of film producers the option to save money, they would take that option.
"Jim is in a situation where he will not compromise, and that's as important when it comes to the music as it is to the live performances of the actors."
As the film prepares to open, Franglen is celebrating a Golden Globe nomination for the theme song, Dream As One, sung by Miley Cyrus.
But he's also thinking about what comes next. Cameron has already completed the scripts for Avatar Four and Five; scheduled to come out in 2029 and 2031.
"Four is… I think it's astonishing," says Franglen. "It goes into whole new territories, and I love it."
Initial footage has already been shot, but Cameron says completing the film will depend on the box office performance of Fire and Ash.
"I really hope that we break even, so that we can make it," says Franglen.
"I think they said after Avatar Two that the break even point was $1.4 billion (£1 billion).
"I have no way of knowing, but I presume that it's a similar number for this one.
"So if the audience tells us that they want an Avatar Four, I'm very much looking forward to doing that."
Login
