On a recent episode of “Interesting Times,” Andrew Kolvet shares what it’s like to be on the receiving end of conspiracy theories from other conservative influencers after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
A gas line explosion in Hayward, Calif., sent multiple victims to the hospital and led to a fire that burned several houses. Two people remained unaccounted for, an official said.
After construction workers said they had damaged multiple gas lines, Pacific Gas and Electric crews shut off the flow of gas. But minutes later, a large explosion occurred in the neighborhood.
Do Kwon, a crypto entrepreneur who went on the run after the crash of two virtual currencies that he created, was escorted by Montenegro police in 2024.
The four pairs of contestants had to make their way more than 3,500 miles through Central America
Spoiler warning: This article reveals the winners of Celebrity Race Across the World.
Broadcaster Roman Kemp and his sister, singer-songwriter Harleymoon, have triumphed in the latest series of the BBC's Race Across the World.
They reached the final checkpoint ahead of the three other pairs of contestants after a 33-day, 5,900km (3,600 mile) quest through Central America.
The pair reached the finish line two minutes before EastEnders actress Molly Rainford and her fiancé, TV and radio host Tyler West, with broadcaster Anita Rani and her dad Bal finishing six hours later.
Derry Girls actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mum Jackie came fourth - having decided to leave the race earlier in the episode because of limited funds.
Wednesday's final episode covered the last stage, a 1,000km route from Medellín to the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia.
In previous stages, the teams had to make their ways through countries including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
They did so without using phones or air travel, and with a budget of £950 per person - the equivalent cost of flying the route.
This was the BBC's third celebrity series of Race Across the World and has been attracting about six million viewers.
Roman and Harleymoon Kemp are the children of Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp and wife Shirlie.
Roman is know as co-host of BBC One's The One Show and Capital's former breakfast show DJ, while Harleymoon is a country singer who has been releasing music for five years.
The final journey saw them take a 4x4, boat ride and race by foot up a cliffside, with Ronan describing it as "the most adrenaline, most emotion that I've had ever".
Harleymoon added: "I've never run like that in my whole life."
Rainford, 25, is known for playing Anna Knight in EastEnders since 2023 and reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2022.
She met Kiss radio host West when he was also a contestant on the same series of Strictly, and they announced their engagement earlier this year.
Rani is known as co-host of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and BBC One's Countryfile, and was racing with her dad Balvinder Singh Nazran, a semi-retired businessman.
Dylan Llewellyn, who has been racing with mum Jackie, is known for playing James in hit sitcom Derry Girls, as well as for roles in Big Boys and Beyond Paradise.
Many were complacent, but conflict was next door, the Nato chief warned
Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years, the Western military alliance's chief has said in a stark new warning.
"Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against our societies," Mark Rutte said in a speech in Germany. "We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured."
He echoed similar statements about Russia's intentions made by Western intelligence agencies, which Moscow dismisses as hysteria.
Rutte's warning comes as US President Donald Trump tries to bring an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
Earlier this month, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said his country was not planning to go to war with Europe, but it was ready "right now" if Europe wanted to - or started a war.
But similar reassurances were given by Moscow in 2022, just before 200,000 Russian troops crossed the border and invaded Ukraine.
Putin has accused European countries of hindering US efforts to bring peace in Ukraine - a reference to the role Ukraine's European allies have recently played in trying to change a US peace plan to end the war, whose initial draft was seen as favouring Russia.
But Putin was not sincere, Nato's secretary-general said in the German capital, Berlin.
Supporting Ukraine, he added, was a guarantee for European security.
"Just imagine if Putin got his way; Ukraine under the boot of Russian occupation, his forces pressing against a longer border with Nato, and the significantly increased risk of an armed attack against us."
Russia's economy has been on a war footing for more than three years now - its factories churn out ever more supplies of drones, missiles and artillery shells.
According to a recent report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Russia has been producing each month around 150 tanks, 550 infantry fighting vehicles, 120 Lancet drones and more than 50 artillery pieces.
The UK, and most of its Western allies, are simply not anywhere near this point.
Analysts say it would take years for Western Europe's factories to come close to matching Russia's mass-production of weapons.
France and Germany have both recently moved to revive a system of voluntary military service for 18-year-olds.
So-called "hybrid" or "grey-zone" warfare, which includes events that are often deniable, such as cyber-attacks, disinformation and the alleged launching of drones close to airports and military bases in Nato countries, have been ramping up this year.
But worrying as these are, they pale compared to the crisis that would be triggered by a Russian military attack on a Nato country, especially if it involved seizing territory and people being killed.
Nato includes 30 European countries - as well as Canada and the US, the alliance's most-powerful military member.
Under pressure from Trump, its members have pledged to increase military spending.
"Nato's own defences can hold for now," Rutte warned in Berlin, but conflict was "next door" to Europe and he feared "too many are quietly complacent, and too many don't feel the urgency, too many believe that time is on our side.
"Allied defence spending and production must rise rapidly, our armed forces must have what they need to keep us safe," the Nato chief said.
Reuters
"Listen to the sirens across Ukraine, look at the bodies pulled from the rubble," Rutte warned in his speech
Oscar-winning actor Catherine Zeta-Jones faced criticism over her looks at Netflix's Wednesday FYC event in November
Women are rallying behind Oscar-winning actor Catherine Zeta-Jones after she faced criticism on social media over her looks at a recent red carpet event.
Zeta-Jones attended a Netflix event in Los Angeles on 9 November where a TikTok interview about her role in the latest Wednesday series was overshadowed by comments about her appearance.
Laura White, 58, and this year's winner of Miss Great Britain Classic, called the backlash "complete nonsense", adding that "men don't have this sell-by/use-by date that women do".
Beauty journalist Sali Hughes, 50, said unlike men, women were unfairly judged for aging and Zeta-Jones should be free to look however she liked.
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In the video, which was also posted on Facebook and had more than 2.5m views, Zeta-Jones, who is from Mumbles, Swansea, talked about how much she enjoyed exploring her character, Morticia Addams, in season two.
But many of the hundreds of comments focused on her age and were disparaging about her appearance.
The online backlash sparked widespread defence of Zeta-Jones, including a viral video from one Facebook user which said: "You bully women when they get too much work done and bully them when they don't have enough."
Commenters also came to her defence, with one writing: "It's called ageing naturally and she looks beautiful."
Others described her as "gorgeous" and "so pretty", while someone else said that "she looks her age - that's called reality."
Laura White
Laura White said "men don't have this sell-by/use-by date that women do"
Ms White arrived for her interview at BBC Radio Wales Breakfast earlier makeup-free to "prove a point" and to show there was no set "template" for what a woman in her 50s should look like.
Like many women her age, she said she "takes care of herself" not to look younger but to feel "better" and look "healthy".
"Aging is a privilege and if we can do it the best we can, that's what really matters," she added.
She argued that men were not held to the same beauty standards, adding "no-one questions how old Tom Cruise, George Clooney or Tom Jones are - they just look 'great'."
She said it was one of the reasons she entered Miss Great Britain's category for over-45s, to "show that midlife women are still here" and "still have it".
Dora Paphides
Welsh beauty writer Sali Hughes says women were frequently and unfairly judged for aging
Hughes, an author and presenter from Wales, said that while Zeta-Jones was "gorgeous" it was "not the point", adding she should be free to look however she liked without her age being scrutinised.
She said the online abuse showed no woman was "immune" and that women do not deserve the "constant narrative" that they are not good enough or young enough - a problem that is "galling, regardless of who the victim is".
Asked if men face the same scrutiny, she said "no, never", noting women were attacked simply for having the "audacity" to exist online as they age.
Despite the beauty industry promoting "longevity", Hughes said women were still criticised whether they aged naturally or underwent treatments like plastic surgery or injectables.
"If you age naturally, people say you should do more; if you get work done, you're accused of not aging gracefully enough," she added.
In a blow to national Democrats redistricting push, top Democrats in Maryland’s Legislature said Thursday redrawing the state’s congressional maps will not be on the agenda during a special legislative session set to begin next week.
Maryland Sen. President Bill Ferguson and House of Delegates Speaker Pro Tem Dana Stein instead said state lawmakers will focus on other state matters.
The announcement from Maryland state Democrats comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans are pushing for GOP-led states to redraw their maps to make them more favorable to the party ahead of the midterms. Ferguson and Stein issued their statement before Indiana Republicans rejected an effort Thursday afternoon to redraw maps in the Hoosier state.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful, on Tuesday signed an executive order calling for a special session on Dec. 16, for the lower chamber to elect a new leader following the surprise resignation of Adrienne Jones from the post.
“The General Assembly may also consider other business to be resolved prior to the beginning of the 2026 legislative session,” he wrote, appearing to leave open the possibility the Maryland House could move forward on redistricting.
Both Moore and Jones support Maryland lawmakers redrawing the state’s federal congressional maps to gain an additional congressional seat in a push to counteract Trump’s effort.
Moore, along with other national Democrats including Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries, have for months pressured Ferguson to allow a vote on a measure that could deliver Democrats all eight of the state’s congressional seats. Ferguson, who has cited the possibility of the party losing congressional seats should new maps be challenged in court, has emerged as one of the biggest impediments to the pro-redistricting faction of his party.
Those close to Moore, however, suggest the push for redistricting is not dead.
On Friday, the Maryland governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission will hold its final public hearing with residents to solicit recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly on whether to move forward with redistricting.
The commission members are expected to meet next week to discuss the potential contours of a new map based on public testimony and written statements, according to a legislative aide granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations of the commission.
“The [commission] will continue its work and make a recommendation to the governor and state legislature on the need for new maps,” a second aide confirmed to POLITICO, also granted anonymity to speak freely about next steps in the state’s redistricting effort.
Moore and his allies could ultimately press the Maryland General Assembly to revisit redistricting when it returns for regular session in January, which would allow more time for negotiations with Ferguson.
Raskin directly addressed Ferguson’s reluctance to move on redistricting in a podcast with The New Republic released Thursday.
“One of the reasons he invoked for it was that he said he had spoken to the Republican president of the Indiana Senate, who said he was going to stay out,” Raskin said. “Well, if he doesn’t stay out, that is going to redouble everybody’s determination to change Bill Ferguson’s mind.”
Indiana Republicans have withstood immense pressure from President Donald Trump — and ignored threats on their lives — to defeat his plan to redraw the state’s congressional map, dealing him one of his most significant political setbacks since his return to the White House.
The GOP-controlled state Senate on Thursday voted down the map that gerrymandered two more safe GOP seats, undercutting the party’s chances at holding control of Congress next November.
The failed vote is the culmination of a brass-knuckled four-month pressure campaign from the White House on recalcitrant Indiana Republicans that included private meetings and public shaming from Trump, multiple visits from Vice President JD Vance, whip calls from Speaker Mike Johnson and veiled threats of withheld federal funds.
It’s a major setback for the president as well and a blow to his party’s hopes of gerrymandering their way to a House majority in 2028 — and it set off alarm bells with top MAGA allies.
“We have a huge problem,” said former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who simulcasted The War Room show live from a suburban Indianapolis hotel to boost support for redistricting. “People have to realize that we only have a couple opportunities. We’ve got a net five to 10 seats. If we don't get a net 10 pickup in the redistricting wars, it's going to be enormously hard, if not impossible, to hold the House.”
The failed vote saves the seats of two sitting members, Democratic Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan, whose districts had been carved up to become heavily Republican under the proposed map.
“I wouldn't call it a setback,” Speaker Mike Johnson, who reversed his stance on getting involved in redistricting by whipping votes with calls to individual Indiana lawmakers in recent days, told reporters earlier in the day before the state Senate voted. “I've got to deal with whatever matters are finally presented in each state, and we're going to win. We've got a better record to run on.” Johnson predicted earlier this week the map would pass.
The monthlong debate about whether to redraw maps exposed deep fissures within the party between the MAGA base and the more traditionalist, pre-Trumpian wings of the party. It also gained more attention nationally in the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk, who threatened primaries for Hoosier Republican elected officials who opposed it in the final weeks of his life.
Turning Point Action, the organization founded by Kirk, has promised to work with other Trump-aligned super PACs to spend tens of millions of dollars to primary the resistant Republicans who voted no. But the group could only turn out a couple hundred protestors recently ahead of this week’s vote.
A number of states closely watched Indiana for signs of where the redistricting arms race would turn next, but none more so than neighboring Illinois. The state’s Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, said earlier this week that Illinois “won’t stand idly by” if Indiana votes to redraw its congressional boundaries.
The former chief executive, Michael S. Jeffries, was charged with running an international sex-trafficking ring. An earlier ruling found that he could not be tried because he had Alzheimer’s.
Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, and President Trump have clashed for years, in part because of the civil suit she brought against him, his company and his family members.
Seizures of more tankers could put a stranglehold on Venezuela’s economy, which is exceptionally dependent on oil to keep the government running and pay for basic necessities.
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