WHILE Russell Brand and Noel Fielding once looked like one of the most unlikely – and inseparable – double acts on the British comedy circuit, the Bake Off star has now revealed their relationship was never as close as it appeared.

Noel has broken his silence to The Sun following Brand’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, insisting that while they played up their relationship for the cameras and in the media, he considered it a “professional” rather than “personal” friendship.

In a statement to The Sun, Noel said: “I was horrified and deeply disturbed to learn of Russell Brand’s crimes, which I was completely unaware of until they became public knowledge.

“My thoughts are with the women whose courage brought him to justice.

“I appeared on TV, radio and live charity shows with him, and whilst we played it up for the cameras and in the media, I considered it a professional relationship, rather than a personal one. I have had no contact with him for many years.

“Looking back at some of the jokes I made alongside him I was appalled. They were horrible and inappropriate, and I very much regret them.”

The comments offer a different picture of a relationship which, to anyone watching from the outside, could easily have been mistaken for a close friendship.

The pair were regularly booked together, appeared alongside one another on television and were photographed on nights out – becoming one of the most recognisable odd couples of the Noughties comedy scene.

Brand was sentenced to ten years and six months in prison after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

On November 5, he was convicted at Southwark Crown Court, where a jury heard how a woman was raped by the comedian in 2009 at his luxury London home, when she was a 21-year-old fan.

The duo first met at the NME Awards in the early 2000s, regularly being booked together by television producers as an offbeat comedy package.

They became known as The Goth Detectives, a double act which saw them team up for sketches including on Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

With their eccentric outfits, heavy eyeliner and increasingly outrageous humour, the pair became a firm favourite on Jimmy Carr’s annual panel show.

Brand, 51, rose to fame as the host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth in 2006, while Noel became known for his surreal comedy in The Mighty Boosh and later appeared in The IT Crowd. They also appeared together at events including the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit, while Noel popped up on Brand’s BBC Radio 2 show.

Away from the cameras, they were regularly photographed together at parties and nights out, particularly around Camden, where London’s indie-sleaze and alternative comedy scenes collided.

During the mid-Noughties, venues such as The Hawley Arms, Barfly and KOKO were regular haunts for the capital’s musicians, comedians and celebrity crowd.

It was a world of skinny jeans, fringes, rock clubs and late nights – and Noel and Russell were right in the middle of it.

But, in the light of Brand’s conviction, revisiting some of their old material now makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing – something Noel has said himself he regrets.

In one resurfaced Big Fat Quiz appearance, the pair made a series of bizarre jokes about underage girls.

At one point, Noel asked: “How do you even know if it’s a child or an adult? You don’t even care, do you?”

Brand then joked about mistaking a grasshopper for an adult, before pretending to realise it was actually 12.

In another exchange, the pair discussed a young girl being brought into their supposed gothic household, with Brand warning Noel: “Don’t say rape when we’re left alone with a 15-year-old girl.”

The sketches were presented as surreal comedy at the time, but have taken on a different tone following Brand’s conviction.

And it was not the only time their shared humour veered into uncomfortable territory.

In another interview, Noel joked about the young female fans who attended The Mighty Boosh live shows, saying: “Some of our fans are quite young, so, you know, we didn’t take advantage.

“We showed them a good time, gave them a few drinks. But the problem was then you realise they were really young, so you’d sort of feel really guilty. Oh, we’d better get them a cab home and make sure they’re alright and stuff.”

He added that he sometimes encountered their parents the following day, saying he would be left insisting: “I didn’t do anything.”

In another clip, Noel joked that his ideal audience for his comedy was “16-year-old girls and art students”.

But perhaps the most uncomfortable moment to resurface came from a Big Fat Quiz appearance alongside Brand, Jonathan Ross and singer Lily Allen.

During the show, Ross joked about Allen being seated near two of the best-known “c**ksmen” in the business, referring to Brand and Fielding.

Ross then suggested she should move away from them to ensure she went home with her dress still on.

Noel replied: “How dare you? We’re not rapists.”

When Jimmy Carr questioned why he was wearing a cape if he was not a rapist, Noel joked that it was a “Jack the Ripper cape”.

Brand then joined in, saying: “There is no direct corollary between capes and rape. It’s just a rhyme. Leave him alone.”

Noel went on to joke about leaving the scene of a crime with his cape covering his face.

The exchange has since been revisited following Brand’s convictions, with Allen herself recalling the uncomfortable moment in a 2023 interview with Grazia.

She said: “I was on a chat show with Russell Brand and Noel Fielding and Jonathan Ross. And there are comments, I think, about me being raped or something.”

Noel has now said he was appalled by some of the jokes he made alongside Brand and very much regrets them. He has not been accused of misconduct, nor is there any suggestion he knew about the extent of Brand’s behaviour.

Their personal lives also overlapped during the same period, with both men being linked to Bob Geldof’s daughters.

Noel was frequently photographed with Pixie Geldof in 2006 and 2007, when he was 33 and she was 16. He denied they were romantically involved, insisting they were “just friends”.

At the time, he acknowledged the age gap had caused controversy, saying: “There’s a chemistry between us and we liked each other, but she’s so much younger… It caused a lot of problems because her dad wanted to kill me obviously.”

Brand, meanwhile, was rumoured to have briefly dated Pixie’s older sister Peaches, who was 17 at the time. Neither publicly confirmed the relationship.

Another old appearance saw Noel and Brand take part in an Amnesty International Secret Policeman’s Ball promotional sketch called When Two Hairs Collide, in which they improvised a hyper-sexualised routine involving racehorse Red Rum and Brand’s anatomy.

The pair’s comedy was often deliberately provocative, with Brand’s performances in particular built around sexual shock value.

But the contrast between that world and Noel’s life today could hardly be greater.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on behalf of Fielding.

The Mighty Boosh star has become one of Britain’s best-known television presenters, fronting The Great British Bake Off – a family favourite watched by millions.

Noel joined the Channel 4 baking competition in 2017, taking over as co-host alongside Sandi Toksvig after the programme moved from the BBC. He has remained on the show ever since, later presenting alongside Matt Lucas before Alison Hammond took over the role in 2023.

Away from television, Noel shares two daughters, Dali and Iggy, with his wife, radio presenter and writer Lliana Bird. The couple have kept their family life largely private, with Noel rarely speaking publicly about his children.

Brand, meanwhile, has been convicted of serious sexual offences and sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

For a pairing that once looked like a close friendship to the outside world, Noel’s statement has drawn a clear distinction between the double act audiences saw and the relationship he says existed behind the scenes.

It comes after Jonathan Ross also broke his silence on his past friendship with Brand and David Walliams, 55, saying he was “horrified” by the revelations and had been “genuinely unaware of their conduct”.

Ross said: “There was a time in my life when I was on friendly terms with both men, and during that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct.

“My thoughts are with the many, many women who have bravely come forward.”

Walliams has faced a separate scandal, following allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour which he strongly denies.

An ITV investigation, David Walliams: Power and Silence, examined allegations made by women who said he had used his position in the entertainment industry to target or groom them when they were teenagers or young women. Walliams has denied all allegations.

Nov. 13, 2026 7:23 PM PT

DENVER — Democrat Eileen Laubacher defeated Rep. Lauren Boebert for a Colorado U.S. House seat Friday, ousting a three-term Republican and staple of conservative media.

Laubacher is a former Navy rear admiral. Her win in the 4th Congressional District race brought about just one of several surprising Republican losses in what’s shaping up to be the most lopsided election in half a century.

Boebert has embodied the Republican politics of the last decade. The telegenic owner of a gun-themed restaurant named Shooters Grill in the western Colorado town of Rifle, she catapulted to notoriety alongside President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Once elected to Congress in 2020, she refused to pass through metal detectors at the U.S. Capitol and taunted Rep. Ilhan Omar, sometimes in Islamophobic terms, as when she referred to the Minnesota Democrat as part of the “jihad squad.” After barely surviving her first reelection campaign four years ago, Boebert moved across Colorado to a more Republican district.

Republicans carried the 4th District by more than 11 percentage points in 2024. But even that wasn’t safe for her in this year’s midterm election.

Boebert acknowledged the widespread losses as she returned to the Capitol this week, saying, “We collectively failed.”

“It’s very clear,” she said. “The American people let us know we have failed in this governing experience for this Congress.”

In a video posted on her social media account Friday, Boebert said she called Laubacher to congratulate her on her victory and thanked the district’s residents.

Riccardi writes for the Associated Press.

Kennedy was an avid Boston Marathon runner who took in strangers, launched a Christmas charity and urged his family to serve others.

Kennedy has brought those values to the Bruins, working alongside head coach Bob Chesney preaching success starts with putting others first.

Decades before he became UCLA’s innovative offensive coordinator, Dean Kennedy eagerly waited at mile marker 24 in Boston.

Dean stood alongside dozens of members of a large Irish Catholic family every Patriots’ Day.

And while it was a time of celebration for everyone running the Boston Marathon, it was a national holiday for the Kennedy family — especially Dean’s father, Jake Kennedy, who was an avid marathoner.

“There was the Super Bowl, and then there was the Boston Marathon,” said Zack Kennedy, Dean’s older brother. “Our whole family, from as early as I could remember, would gather up. We’d find a meeting spot on Beacon Street, two miles out from the finish line, and our cousins were there, and we would all wait for my dad.”

Former Florida assistant coach Dean Kennedy, left, talks with his father, Jake, at the Swamp in Gainesville, Fla.

(Courtesy of the Kennedy family)

When he was 10, Dean got to experience the marathon in a new way. Sporting a Chicago Cubs Nomar Garciaparra jersey, Dean watched his dad do what he always did — find his group of supporters, hug his family and kiss his wife.

Before departing for the marathon’s homestretch, Jake picked up Dean, brought him onto the running path and told him, “Let’s finish this together.”

The father and son ran the final 2.2 miles of the race together, continuing one of Jake’s long-standing traditions of selecting a family member to finish the race with him each year.

“It was the coolest thing and that definitely inspired me to be a runner,” Zack said.

In 2023, Dean crossed the Boston Marathon finish line again.

But this time, he did it without Jake.

Cousins Russel Becker, Dean Kennedy, Zack Kennedy and Chip Kennedy pose for a photo after running the Boston Marathon in honor of Jake Kennedy.

(Courtesy of the Kennedy family)

Instead, Dean ran alongside his two brothers, in honor of his father, who died in 2020 after a battle with ALS — a disease that also took the lives of Jake’s brother and father.

Jake, who led a Boston-based physical therapy practice, not only helped athletes prepare for the race, but also competed alongside them, running 37 consecutive Boston Marathons with the hope of setting the record for most consecutive runs.

After Jake’s death, the Kennedy brothers made a pact that at least one of them would run the marathon, passing the torch and keeping their father’s streak alive.

“After he passed away after COVID, we created the Jake Kennedy ALS fund to raise money and then we got marathon bibs and we were able to run it in his honor,” Dean said. “… To actually cross that mile marker to cross the finish line, it was something that I can’t even explain. It was very surreal to be in that moment of something my dad loved to do to raise money for this disease, but at the same point in time being there and feeling him and feeling his spirit.”

The brothers say their dad inspired the family’s commitment to helping others.

Whether it was working 18 hours at his physical therapy practice to treat everyone that needed him, family dinners that included house guests who needed a helping hand, or wrestling a gun away from two people in a fight, Jake would take the shirt off his back and give it to anyone.

Jake’s generous spirit inspired the launch of “Christmas in the City,” a charity he started alongside his wife that gave a Christmas experience to thousands of people in inner city Boston.

The charity was formed in 1989 when Jake realized his kids had too many gifts and needed to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Today the charity is run by Zack and Chip, the youngest of the four Kennedy children, and supported by Dean and Jake’s eldest child, Alyse.

After Jake was diagnosed with a form of ALS that took his voice first, Dean asked his dad if they could skip the “Christmas in the City” event and celebrate privately as a family — knowing that it would probably be one of the last holidays they would spend together.

“His voice, he could barely speak, and he looked at me, and he said, ‘Our job is to help people who need it the most,’” Dean said. “That was how I grew up, that piece of that there’s always people that are in a worse-off situation, and you can always find the positive things in life, and that’s how he lived his life.”

Jake Kennedy, right, and his wife, Sparky, greet people during a “Christmas in the City” event.

(Courtesy of the Kennedy family)

Jake’s lifelong commitment to helping others lives on in the way that Dean mentors his UCLA players. And it fits in naturally with head coach Bob Chesney’s belief that success begins by serving others.

While Dean coaches his players hard and demands a lot, he said his main focus is showing the Bruins that he is there for them. He stresses that everyone goes through adversity, and that football is a microcosm of life.

“That’s what coaching is all about,” Dean said. “It’s about giving back and being there for these 18- to 23-year-olds in … their most transformative years. And that’s what I learned from my dad … the ability to give back and always attack every day with a positive attitude.”

Six months after his ALS diagnosis, Jake implored his son to run the Disney World half marathon with him. But after years of long nights coaching, Dean was a worn-out member of the University of Florida staff and felt like he was the most out of shape he had ever been.

“The doctors told him that he shouldn’t run, and he kind of looked at them and gave them the middle finger,” Dean said. “He looked at me, and I’d probably gone six months without working out at that point, and I said, ‘I’m not going to run.’ He said, ‘If I have ALS and I’m going to run, you’re going to run.’ And he smiled, but he forced me to run the half marathon with him.”

Dean and his brothers now try to live up to their father’s high standards.

“Our dad had this incredible, insatiable ambition to help the world with the tools he had, and for my siblings, we live the same way,” Chip said. “We found these passions and the ways that we’re going to help the world. The way that Dean’s making football the best possible sport, he can see it.”

Delays and cancellations are expected at numerous airports today after The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) enforced a ground stop

Passengers flying to and from UK airports in America today are likely to face disruption after flights were grounded across the United States by The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Manchester Airport has warned that three US-bound Virgin Atlantic flights scheduled to leave on Saturday morning are likely to be affected. Gatwick, meanwhile, is understood to be facing minimal impact.

The FAA said the dramatic step was taken due to “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”. The latest statement from FAA reads “The safety of the flying public is always the FAA’s highest priority. The FAA lifted the ground stop and some flight departures are resuming. Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable. Passengers should contact their airlines for flight updates.”

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In the early hours of this morning the FAA has begun gradually lifting restrictions as systems come back online, with some flights receiving clearance to depart for overseas destinations, including Germany and Prague.

Accoriding to FlightAware a total of 3,530 flights have been delayed tomorrow and 2,352 flights have been cancelled tomorrow. The total delays within, into, or out of the United States tomorrow is 330 and the total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States tomorrow is 2,144.

A British Airways spokesperson said: “Our flights departing the United States may be delayed due to the ongoing air traffic control issue. Customers are advised to travel to the airport as planned so we can try to depart our aircraft as quickly as possible.“This is entirely outside of our control and our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to our customers.”

London Heathrow’s website said most of its flights scheduled to depart on Saturday morning were running on schedule, however an 8.20am flight to Dallas Fort Worth had been cancelled, along with a number of incoming flights from the US.

Heathrow is the only UK airport with confirmed UK cancellations and delays and that Manchester is also expecting issues. We are awaiting an update from other UK airports.

See the full list below:

Airlines with the most cancellations:

• Delta Air Lines: 404 cancellations and 76 delays.
• JetBlue: 332 cancellations and one delay.
• United Airlines: 257 cancellations and 43 delays.
• American Airlines: 190 cancellations and 33 delays.
• Republic Airways: 105 cancellations and 12 delays.
• Southwest Airlines: 95 cancellations and 30 delays.
• PSA Airlines: 91 cancellations and 31 delays.
• Envoy Air: 87 cancellations and two delays.
• SkyWest: 85 cancellations and four delays.
• Endeavor Air: 81 cancellations and four delays.

Delta recorded the highest number of cancellations, followed by JetBlue and United. JetBlue also had a particularly high cancellation rate, with 40% of its flights cancelled in the figures supplied.Airlines with the most delays:

• China Eastern: 190 delays.
• Delta Air Lines: 76 delays.
• United Airlines: 43 delays.
• American Airlines: 33 delays.
• Southwest Airlines: 30 delays.
• Saudia: 19 delays.
• Tianjin Airlines: 18 delays.
• Shenzhen Airlines: 66 delays.
• Air China: 96 delays.

Airports with the most delays:

• Reagan National (DCA) – 8 delays
• Heathrow (LHR) – 35 delays
• Hartsfield-Jackson Intl (ATL) – 12 delays
• Frankfurt/Main (FRA) – 58 delays
• Miami Intl (MIA) – 6 delays
• Orlando Intl (MCO) – 15 delays
• Dallas-Fort Worth Intl (DFW) – 38 delays
• John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)- 39 delays

Follow our live blog for the latest updates by clicking here.

Lagos, Nigeria – A woman in an elegant red dress walks down a hallway, turning to take in her surroundings. A large painting catches her eye, and she steps into the booth for a closer look.

Around her, visitors move between 15 partitioned exhibition spaces, pausing to study the artworks. Thousands have gathered to admire, connect with and collect works from across the world.

It is the third day of ART X Lagos, West Africa’s premier and largest art fair, held from November 5–8 as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s annual art week. This year’s programme features exhibitions, installations, music, discussions and film screenings at the Federal Palace Hotel on Victoria Island. Galleries and museums across Lagos are also hosting exhibitions.

Together, the exhibitions explore cultural erosion, migration and belonging, examining how art can preserve collective memory and reconnect people with their heritage. They also reveal a cultural side of Lagos that extends beyond its reputation for commerce, traffic and relentless hustle.

The past in the present

Ndidi Dike, a contemporary sculptor and multidisciplinary artist, is among those exhibiting. Her installation, Residues of Past Encounters II, features a wooden canoe suspended above a glass surface, with sand arranged around its edges. Above it hangs fabric in the Adire style, associated with Yoruba women of southwest Nigeria,  bearing silhouettes of tightly packed people.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore plays softly in the background, evoking the Atlantic coastline at Badagry, a historic Nigerian town that was once a notorious transit point for enslaved West Africans. The sand and sound were sourced from the town.

Dike’s installation explores the intertwined histories of the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, memory and migration. The reflective surface beneath the canoe evokes absence, remembrance and the passage of time.

“The sound of the waves makes you contemplate, makes you think deeper, and then you begin to imagine, perhaps, how those who have left our shores under various circumstances must have been feeling mentally, the prospect of leaving home and never, perhaps, seeing it again,” Dike told Al Jazeera.

The work draws a connection between historical displacement and contemporary migration. Centuries after the transatlantic slave trade, many young Africans still undertake dangerous journeys to Europe, crossing the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. Some die along the way, while others face exploitation and trafficking.

“I find that there is a correlation between slavery and what is happening now. It’s always the best of our demographic that are taken or who decide to go abroad. For me, I think it’s good to look at that correlation between the historical and contemporary circumstances,” she said.

Beyond the vessel

Now in its 11th edition, this year’s fair takes the theme ‘A New Chapter, A New Decade’, drawing inspiration from the pioneering generation of Nigerian artists, architects, educators and thinkers who helped shape modernism in the country.

ART X founder Tokini Peterside said the older generation demonstrated that innovation need not mean abandoning cultural inheritance. Instead, it can emerge from a deeper understanding of identity and the confidence to interpret it in new ways.

“For me, the thread connecting these presentations is the idea that our histories are not simply things to preserve or look back upon. They are living sources of knowledge that can inform what we create next,” Peterside told Al Jazeera. “While the exhibitions are distinct, collectively they reveal a creative landscape that is increasingly self-assured, intellectually ambitious and deeply engaged with the world around it.”

One artist whose legacy is being celebrated is Ladi Kwali, a Nigerian potter and ceramicist. Her work features in an exhibition titled Beyond the Vessel. Beside a large photograph of Kwali at work, her handcrafted pots and ceramics display motifs of scorpions, lizards and butterflies, alongside intricate patterns.

Kwali came from a long line of Gbari women potters in the village of Kwali, near Abuja. Pottery was part of everyday life in the community, but her talent took her from local recognition to international acclaim. Her work has been exhibited and collected by museums and galleries around the world. Her portrait has also appeared on Nigerian currency.

Jareh Das, curator of the exhibition, said preserving Kwali’s legacy would remind future generations of her achievements and inspire young artists, particularly in a country where documenting and maintaining cultural heritage can be challenging.

“Culture is not always outside, but looking at what exists within and how you can draw from that, how you can rise above immediate challenges … through something as familiar as pottery,” Das said.

Art and a new generation

Barbara Barungi, dressed in Adire, moves between booths in search of new works. At Afriart Gallery, a Kampala-based space exhibiting Ugandan art, she finds a painting by Daniel Atenyi made with coffee.

“It is very Nigerian and it also just shows you the vibe of Lagos, but it creates a safe place to just relax to forget the hustle and bustle out there,” she said of the fair.

Barungi jokingly described it as Nigeria’s ‘Met Gala’, comparing the fashion on display with the annual fundraising event in the United States known for its celebrity outfits.

The fair also aims to widen access to art, particularly for younger generations. Its educational programme welcomed more than 750 schoolchildren, introducing them to contemporary art and the stories behind the works.

“For many of these children, visiting ART X Lagos may be one of their earliest encounters with contemporary art. That experience can be transformative. It allows them to see creativity not as something distant or inaccessible, but as something they can participate in and contribute to,” Peterside said.

Adeniyi Adewole’s Breath Beneath the Waters, a fibreglass sculpture, reflects his personal struggles with depression, which kept him indoors and unable to work for a time.

“When I came back to work, I started creating work on how I have been able to move away from that blue period to a period of peace,” he said. He hopes viewers will experience sombre reflection, calm and peace when they encounter the work.

Beyond the main fair, Mercy Imiegha’s group exhibition, Every House Remembers, brings together four artists exploring how bodies, objects and domestic spaces preserve memory, history and spiritual identity. The Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation, a Nigerian-founded artist residency programme, is also organising a citywide art tour, extending the programme across Lagos.

Memory, loss and belonging

Joel Benson’s feature-length documentary, Mothers of Chibok, explores the lives of three parents and a woman abducted and later freed during Boko Haram’s 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from their dormitory in Chibok. Amnesty International reported in April 2024 that 82 girls remained in captivity. The film follows relatives still grieving the absence of their daughters.

“It is important to tell this type of story because it is more convenient to forget and just move on,” Benson said. The film prompted conversations about insecurity and attacks on girls in Nigeria.

Despite more than a decade of grief, Benson said, the parents have continued to navigate life through laughter, humour, pain, tears and faith. He hopes the film will move audiences and authorities beyond empathy towards action that can shape policy and improve security.

As the afternoon sun gives way to dusk, more visitors arrive in bold Afrocentric fashion. Some browse art books in the fair’s library, while others discuss the works that have caught their attention. Outside, people gather beneath umbrellas in the cafe area to eat, relax and network.

“I hope the fair offers a space for discovery and connection, and that visitors leave with a deeper appreciation of the richness and complexity of artistic expression from Africa and its diaspora, as well as a desire to continue exploring the histories, ideas and perspectives they have encountered,” Peterside said.

White House says Trump plans to discuss the Iran war and nuclear arms at a meeting on the sidelines of APEC next week.

Leaders of the United States, China and Russia are set to hold an unprecedented three-way meeting next week, the White House has said.

US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub, the White House assistant press secretary confirmed in an announcement.

The talks will be held nine months after the last nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow expired, leaving the world’s two countries with the largest atomic arsenals without caps for the first time in more than 50 years.

What’s on the agenda?

Trump has said the meeting is a chance for all three countries to reach a deal on nuclear stockpiles.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) lapsed in February. Trump then rejected Russia’s proposal to extend it for another year and demanded a “new, improved and modernized” deal that includes China.

Expectations are low. “We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement,” a senior Trump administration official told the Reuters news agency, describing the meeting as the start of a conversation.

Russia holds the most nuclear warheads, followed by the US, then China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Trump plans on discussing the Iran war with Xi and Putin, but will steer away from discussing Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a senior US official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

Elon Musk will also travel with Trump to China but will not attend the meeting, the official added. Trump is also not expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the Asia trip.

Yalta Conference comparisons

The planned summit has drawn comparisons with the 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union shaped the post-war order.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, dismissed the parallel, saying any agreements reached in Shenzhen cannot be imposed on others, but he still called the meeting “extremely significant”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced concern that the meeting could become a platform to discuss a Ukraine deal behind Kyiv’s back.

Trump has pursued closer ties with both leaders despite a short-lived trade war with China last year and Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine, where Washington is seeking to mediate a solution.

Nsqk can hear the connection between Radiohead and Willie Colón. To the Mexican singer-producer, both know when to let the instruments speak as much as the verses.

It’s a fitting observation from an artist whose music moves between electronic production, R&B melodies, rap and distorted guitars. Born Rodrigo Torres de la Garza in Monterrey and raised partly in Texas, the 28-year-old Nsqk — pronounced “Nesquik” — grew up navigating two countries and the expectations that come with belonging to both.

“I grew up in Houston,” he says. “I understand what it’s like to be a second-generation Mexican growing up in the States.” That experience, he explains, helps him connect with collaborators who also know what it means to feel as if they exist between worlds.

His audience has grown well beyond the underground following he garnered in his early experiments with electronic production. After releasing his albums “Roy” (2022) and “ATP” (2024), he sold out two consecutive shows at Mexico City’s Palacio de los Deportes in 2025.

A date this January at the city’s Estadio GNP Seguros marks another leap in his scale.

In his Oct. 15 album release, “Mosca,” Nsqk is joined by the Chicano experimentalist Jean Dawson on the guitar-driven “Dientes de Fierro,” while indie icon Julieta Venegas lends her silky vocals and synth melodies to “Estar Así Siempre.” Additional cameos include folk balladeers like Pedro Tovar of Eslabón Armado and Kevin Kaarl, with longtime Gorillaz collaborator Stephen Sedgwick handling the mixes.

De Los spoke to Nsqk ahead of his upcoming U.S. tour — which includes a performance at Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw fest on Sunday in L.A.’s Dodger Stadium. He spoke candidly about letting his music breathe, finding common ground in the studio and why Mexican identity shouldn’t depend on where someone lives.

When we first spoke, you mentioned EDM producer Porter Robinson as an influence. Where does that influence show up on “Mosca”?
Absolutely. Just the other day, I was listening to “Worlds” again. Everyone has these albums that you discovered at 14 years old, and you listen to them every once in a while because it’s part of you.

I was making these connections: “Oh, I didn’t even realize I was referencing this.” It keeps happening with a lot of my influences. There are certain moments, especially on “Peces Muertos” and some of the more electronic tracks, where you can hear very directly the influence from Porter Robinson and Madeon.

What did you try on “Mosca” that you wouldn’t have trusted yourself to do on “ATP”?
I tried letting the music ride a lot more. During the process, I listened to a lot of Radiohead and U.K. rock. It’s very cinematic. They let the music breathe and let the instruments speak for a while without having to sing.

I was also listening to a lot of salsa: Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz. I never expected that where Radiohead and Willie Colón meet is that they let the music ride. They’ll sing a verse, then let the instruments speak for a minute, two minutes.

That’s something I hadn’t done in my music intentionally. It’s about what I’m saying, but it’s also about what the instruments are saying.

Mexican rapper and singer-songwriter Nsqk (Rodrigo Torres de la Garza).

(Mono Studio (Mexico))

What surprised you about working with Stephen Sedgwick on the album’s mixes?
One of the craziest things about working with him is that everything is analog, everything’s physical. He’ll run his Pro Tools out into this gigantic wall of effects and compressors, amplifiers and limiters. I didn’t even know what everything was.

I do everything on my laptop. To take it somewhere where it’s all physical, at first it was actually kind of weird. We were speaking two different languages. I was trying to explain that I wanted things in a very digital way, but we had to figure out how to do that with his equipment.

What stood out about working with Pedro Tovar of Eslabón Armado on “Mil Problemas”?
He’s an amazing songwriter. He is so quick. It’s a similar experience with Julieta: They’re so good at it that they just sit and start, and they can write a song in five minutes. And it’s an amazing song.

He knows exactly what he wants, and he knows exactly who he is as an artist. The track is not a corrido or sierreño, but it sounds like them. It sounds like his melodies and his chords.

He did the guitar solo and I rerecorded it with my guitarist, who’s a rock guy. Even this guy, a classically trained guitarist, was like: “This is crazy to play.” It’s a completely different approach to playing guitar.

It’s really hard to put into words, but once you see him do it, it makes total sense.

What connects the collaborators you brought together on this record?
You’re not American [enough] for the Americans, not quite Mexican [enough] for the Mexicans. The Chicano experience: I grew up like that.

All of the artists on the record sort of share this cultural duality, where you often feel like you’re in between worlds, and you don’t know exactly which one you belong to.

It’s not that we sat down and talked about it to create the music. But I feel like the reason I connected so well with everyone is that we share that characteristic.

Has returning to the U.S. as an artist changed how you understand that experience?
There’s often this cultural disconnect between Mexicans living in the U.S. and Mexicans living in Mexico. I often see people say, “You’re not Mexican if you don’t live in Mexico.” That’s always felt kind of weird to me because I know what it’s like.

I feel like our culture and our heritage is so beautiful. The fact that it’s so ingrained in the States is amazing to me.

I see a lot on Twitter and TikTok, people fighting about it: “Just because you were born in Chicago, but your parents were Mexican, and you speak Spanish, and you eat Mexican food. But because you don’t live in Mexico, you’re not Mexican.” I see people saying that a lot.

I feel really honored to be able to tour the United States, meet these people and wear the flag on my chest. I don’t feel like we’re any different.

As a Tyler, the Creator fan, what does playing Camp Flog Gnaw mean to you?
It’s an honor. He created this space for much more vulnerable music with all these different influences. He’s a torch carrier for a niche of artists that try to make different music, in a way that’s not necessarily the status quo or the most commercial way to do it.

To be part of the lineup is an honor, but it’s also very motivating. It’s cool that we’ve gotten this far, and that only gives me more energy to keep working.

You’re going from a stadium show in Mexico City to smaller U.S. rooms. What can you do with an audience that close?
Talk to them. It’s a lot easier to see their faces and reactions and literally talk to them.

When I’m onstage, I really enjoy talking to people and making them feel like I’m not just playing my set list for the hundredth time. I’m actually there, I’m enjoying it, I’m seeing them and they’re seeing me.

SEOUL — President Trump will get his wish for a historic meeting among the three most powerful men in the world — Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia and himself — at a summit Thursday in southern China.

But Moscow, Beijing and Washington already know their leaders are arriving at the Shenzhen conference with disparate aims.

Trump hopes to focus the meeting on nuclear nonproliferation, urging the Russian and Chinese presidents to work with him to scale back the world’s largest nuclear stockpiles. Putin pressed for the meeting to discuss his ongoing war in Ukraine. And Xi wants to discuss neither, only embracing the idea of the summit to show the world China can help broker peace on the international stage, Chinese officials told The Times.

“That’ll be interesting,” Trump said earlier this week, teasing the trilateral summit before the White House formally confirmed the meeting Friday.

“We’re talking a lot of things, including denuclearization,” he added, “but we’ll be talking a lot of things.”

U.S. officials have acknowledged they do not expect the meeting to result in a breakthrough on arms control. China is openly racing to build up its nuclear capacity — a nonnegotiable policy in Beijing, which sees its arsenal dwarfed by an American stockpile nearly 10 times the size.

“We do not expect to get to any kind of agreement. I would characterize this as the entry point,” one senior Trump administration official said. “This is the beginning of hopefully a conversation that can be productive going forward.”

The Chinese, too, threw cold water on the chances of a breakthrough, with one Chinese official telling The Times the central government saw no benefit to a pause.

“It is a matter of survival,” the official said.

The United States and Russia still command the world’s two dominant nuclear arsenals, with over 5,000 warheads each. China has an estimated 620 — but in catching up, it is developing new warheads with more sophisticated delivery systems.

Moscow, too, is modernizing its weapons, after the Trump administration allowed the last major U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty to expire earlier this year.

Though expectations are low for a nuclear breakthrough, Trump doesn’t want to discuss Putin’s priorities, either, the U.S. official added.

“He does not intend to talk about Ukraine in that meeting,” the official said. “China is not really part of that track, so it doesn’t really seem appropriate.”

Ukraine has grown increasingly concerned by Trump’s pressure campaign to force it into concessions to Moscow as he pushes to end the war.

The Trump administration has brought Russian and Ukrainian officials together at a working level to explore the viability of peace talks. But a long-standing U.S. policy on the war — not to negotiate about Ukraine without Ukraine — could be further compromised at a trilateral with Putin and Xi.

The only American business leader confirmed to join Trump in Asia is Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief who was seen as instrumental in the decision last month to restrict Ukraine’s access on the battlefield to Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Musk.

Beijing has struck a careful balance on Ukraine, publicly issuing its respect for sovereign borders — a position popular among Chinese voices who support Kyiv — while giving Moscow diplomatic cover, an economic lifeline and technological support throughout the war.

Their competing agendas could make the summit little more than a spectacle, yet still produce images that hark back to the famous Yalta Conference — held in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula currently occupied by Russia, in 1945 — where Josef Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill carved up a postwar order.

World War II allies Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin meet on Feb. 4, 1945, at the Yalta Conference.

(Associated Press)

The summit on Chinese soil offers Xi a powerful image to broadcast worldwide, demonstrating an emergent superpower can bring together the leaders of two historic rivals in the name of peace.

Putin gets to present himself as a global player, despite the devastation wrought on Russia’s economy and military standing after four bruising years of war.

And it allows Trump to reassert his global relevance after this month’s midterms delivered the worst electoral rebuke to a president in half a century, rivaling the backlash against President Nixon during Watergate.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground all flights nationwide for several hours Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams scrambling to reach their destinations in time for games this weekend.

Transportation officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centers for the stoppage. It left some teams searching for hotel rooms, others rescheduling flights, leagues adjusting start times, and some teams had even taken the extraordinary step of chartering buses rather than waiting for the ground stop to end.

“We’re going to allow for general aviation, those larger movements, to take place as a priority. Smaller movements will take lower priority,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said after the ground stop was lifted Friday night in Washington.

“If you’re talking about football teams moving,” Duffy continued, when asked about the sports landscape, “many of those are charters, and there’s a lot of individuals on those charter planes, so I would encourage those football teams to reach out to the FAA to schedule those flight times, so they can move and make sure we have games going off tomorrow.”

Most college football teams playing Saturday travel the day before their game, and the stoppage left many schools — including No. 2 Utah, eighth-ranked Texas and No. 9 Tennessee — at a standstill as they departed for road games. The Utes play at No. 22 Arizona, the Longhorns visit No. 24 Louisiana State, and the Volunteers are traveling to Texas A&M in three of the bigger games of the weekend.

“The Southeastern Conference is aware of the FAA’s nationwide ground stop and the potential impact on team travel,” the league said. “We are in close communication with our member institutions to assess potential disruptions and coordinate appropriate responses.

“The safety and well-being of student-athletes, coaches and team personnel remain our highest priority.”

Texas and Tennessee both returned to their campuses during the ground stoppage. Once it was lifted following more than four hours of uncertainty, the schools began making plans to fly out as soon as possible, allowing them to arrive before game day.

Auburn opted to take a bus to Mississippi State, with the SEC pushing back the Saturday start time from 9 a.m. PST to 1:15 p.m. to give the Tigers a little buffer. Purdue likewise decided to board buses from West Lafayette, Ind., for its game at Iowa.

Other schools affected by the stoppage included Baylor, Washington, Kansas State, Minnesota and No. 19 Mississippi, which said it did not plan on flying to Oklahoma for its game against the Sooners until Saturday morning.

The Big 12 said late Friday that the Kansas-West Virginia game scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PST would be moved up to 12:30 since the Jayhawks arrived in plenty of time. That allowed the league to shift the Arizona State-Central Florida game from 11:30 a.m. PST to 2:30 p.m., giving the Sun Devils an additional three hours after their flight was delayed.

Washington spokesman Kurt Svoboda said the Huskies returned to campus when their flight was grounded, but officials stayed in touch with their Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines partners and the flight crew remained in place. The Huskies ultimately flew out late Friday for their game at Michigan State on Saturday.

Florida State was playing at Pittsburgh on Friday night, while Illinois was visiting fourth-ranked UCLA and No. 14 Houston was visiting Colorado. Those teams were hoping their charter flights home afterward would be unaffected by the upheaval.

It was unclear whether any referees, who typically fly to their assignments the day before, would have trouble reaching their games. The Big Ten said in a statement that all of its officials had arrived for their scheduled assignments Saturday.

Several teams were able to take off before the stoppage began, including all of those traveling in the Atlantic Coast Conference; Missouri, which was flying to top-ranked Georgia; Duke, which was visiting fifth-ranked Miami; and No. 10 Texas Tech, which posted on social media images of its arrival for a game at Oklahoma State.

NFL teams playing Sunday typically travel the day before their games. They were expected to fly as planned on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets were among five NBA teams scheduled to fly Friday for games Saturday. They had just boarded the team plane in New Orleans after playing the Pelicans this week when their flight to Memphis was halted in place.

The Detroit Pistons flew earlier in the day to Miami. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies played Friday night and were due to fly afterward.

The Cavaliers played in Miami on Friday night and were scheduled to play the Dallas Mavericks at home on Saturday. Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said about 90 minutes before tip-off that his team was scrambling to find hotel rooms for Friday night, just in case.

“It’s part of it. You just adapt,” Atkinson said.

There are 14 scheduled games in the NHL on Saturday. The Florida Panthers were among the majority that made it to their destinations before the stoppage began, but the Sharks were left waiting in San José to see whether they would be able to travel to Utah.

JuJu Watkins and her third-ranked USC teammates were trying to get to South Carolina for their game Sunday against the top-ranked Gamecocks. The team had just boarded its flight at Los Angeles International Airport when the ground stop was issued. After a while, the decision was made to deboard passengers, and the team returned to Galen Center.

In soccer, the Utah Royals already were in the Washington, D.C., area ahead of their National Women’s Soccer League semifinal against the Washington Spirit on Saturday. But the Kansas City Current were supposed to depart Friday for their semifinal against Gotham FC on Sunday in New York, and team officials were uncertain when their flight would be allowed to leave.

The U.S. men’s national team’s match against Haiti on Saturday in Miami was unaffected by the ground stop. Both teams and officials already were in town for the first leg of the two-match CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal series.

Skretta writes for the Associated Press.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted a nationwide ground stop imposed on Friday that halted departing flights, an order it issued citing “extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety”.

The halt, which grounded thousands of flights across the country, was lifted on Friday evening.

This was the third nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

“Everybody’s safe,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, adding that this was not “another 9/11”.

Here is what we know:

What happened?

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop at 3:54pm Eastern Time (20:54 GMT) on Friday due to a telecommunications outage affecting air route traffic control centres, which handle flights travelling across the country.

The FAA confirmed that the nationwide ground stop had been lifted.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airspace reopened at 8:15pm ET (01:15 GMT on Saturday), after more than four hours of disruption.

“We’ve opened up the airspace,” Duffy said, warning that flights would not resume immediately.

“It’s going to be slow,” he added, urging passengers to check with their airlines.

Duffy said flights would resume depending on the availability of pilots and flight attendants, with authorities trying to get as many flights moving as possible on Friday night.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that after 4pm ET (21:00 GMT) on Friday, about 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were still scheduled to depart from US airports.

By 7:05pm ET (00:05 GMT on Saturday), at least 827 flights had been diverted, according to Cirium. Of those, 670 returned to their departure airports, while 157 were diverted elsewhere.

Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations and land during the ground stop.

During the ground stop, international flights were handled on a case-by-case basis, with some allowed to depart despite the restrictions.

How many flights were affected?

More than 4,700 flights were cancelled and 10,000 delayed on Friday, while another 700 had already been cancelled for Saturday, according to FlightRadar24.

Aviation analysts said it could take days for airlines to restore their schedules.

Reporting from Los Angeles international airport, Al Jazeera’s John Hendren spoke to passenger Nicholas Erdodi, who travelled from New Zealand and was trying to reach Chicago for a conference.

Erdodi said he had been travelling for 16 to 18 hours before spending another six hours at the airport, where passengers had been forced to leave their plane.

“The challenge is you cannot ask anyone here what to do,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Lack of information is what bothers me, I mean, and not to mention find the hotel for the night, not to mention all the cost.”

Erdodi said he had been rebooked but remained uncertain whether his next flight would depart.

“I work in tech, I understand what could be going on, but someone needs to tell us,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if someone tells us that we don’t know what’s happening, but please just let us know what’s going on,” he added.

What does a nationwide ground stop mean?

A nationwide ground stop temporarily requires departing aircraft to remain on the ground until cleared to take off.

Flights in the air are generally allowed to continue to their destination, but new departures are on strict orders to stay grounded.

The measure is intended to stop any further aircraft from entering the airspace as the authorities deal with the safety issues.

What caused the FAA nationwide ground stop?

The FAA said the ground stop was caused by a telecommunications outage affecting air traffic control systems.

Duffy said the outage was caused by switches and routers that became overloaded with data and went down, adding that the incident did not involve a total loss of communications or radar capabilities.

Todd Curtis, an aviation safety expert and chief executive of AirSafe.com, told Al Jazeera that the failures appeared to be concentrated in the country’s air route traffic control centres.

“There are 21 across the United States, one in Alaska and the other 20 in the lower 48,” he said.

“These are the folks who handle the aircraft that are transiting from one part of the country to the other, and they rely on multiple handoffs between controllers.”

Speaking before Duffy provided further details, Ron Bartsch, a professor of international aviation law at the University of the South Pacific, raised questions about the apparent failure of backup systems.

“The whole aviation community is based on redundancy,” he told Al Jazeera.

“So the fact that a redundant system hasn’t kicked in immediately just raises more questions than what we’ve seen answers to at this stage.”

Mullin said that there was no cyberattack linked to the nationwide ground stop and that the public was never in danger.

Duffy acknowledged that tens of thousands of travellers had been stranded and called for $50bn in upgrades to the nation’s air traffic control system.

When will US flights return to normal?

Duffy said it will “take us some time to get back to capacity”, but he expected operations to be “back up and operational as we come into the heat of travel during Thanksgiving”.

The Thanksgiving travel period, which begins in less than two weeks, is usually one of the busiest times of the year for air travel in the US.

Aviation safety expert Curtis also warned that the disruption could continue affecting passengers even after the technical problems were resolved.

“If it’s fully resolved, it would take more than a day to get back to normal, to reschedule aircraft,” he told Al Jazeera.

He explained that many airlines operate interconnected networks, meaning passengers often have to change planes at major hubs.

“So there could be a bit of a hassle on the part of the airlines trying to figure out how to get everyone to where they have to go,” he said.

Passengers have been advised to check their flight status directly with their airlines, as delays and cancellations might continue.

It was only the second such nationwide stoppage since the immediate aftermath of the al-Qaeda plane hijackings of 11 September 2001.

“This looks like the worst since 9/11, but clearly not on that scale,” Dr Guy Gratton, an associate professor of aviation at Cranfield University, told BBC Verify.

Dr Gratton pointed to a US grounding in 2023 due to a failure in the Notice to Air Missions (Notam) system.

“That lasted 1 hour and 52 minutes, delayed about 9,500 flights and cancelled about 1,300,” he said.

The 2023 outage meant air traffic safety notices could no longer be published, and flights were grounded until that system was restored.

But Friday’s incident lasted longer than the 2023 event.

EXCLUSIVE: Coronation Street stars Lucy Fallon and Tina O’Brien appear to have ruled out a big Christmas theory linked to their characters Bethany and Sarah Platt.

Two Coronation Street stars appear to have ruled themselves out of being in this year’s Christmas Day episode.

With that, it could rule out a major twist fans had predicted just weeks ago. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror recently, cast members Lucy Fallon and Tina O’Brien shared very little about the festive period on Corrie.

But while their answers were brief, they could have been rather telling. Fans have been predicting that Christmas Day will see the moment Lucy’s pregnant character Bethany Platt finds her big secret rumbled.

She’d hiding the fact that she slept with her mum’s partner Kit Green, and is now pregnant. Fans thought Kit’s on/off partner and Bethany’s mother Sarah Platt, played by Tina, would find out the betrayal on Christmas Day.

But the actresses have now told the Mirror that they actually will not appear in this year’s Christmas episodes. While they did laugh as they spoke so it could be a big bluff, they appeared to be in the dark about what’s on the cards this year.

Admitting they didn’t know anything, they claimed they won’t be in the episodes, which seems to rule out Christmas Day being the moment Sarah finds out Bethany’s baby secret and that Kit has slept with her daughter. Asked if they could tease Christmas on Corrie, Lucy told us: “I don’t know actually.”

Tina added: “I don’t know, we’re a bit out of the loop at the moment.” Lucy then said: “We’re clearly not involved, it’s not us. I don’t think we’re in it.”

Tina replied: “Yeah, we’re not in it.” The pair then laughed, so could they be teasing, or are Bethany and Sarah really not part of the episodes?

It comes after a recent episode of the podcast On The Sofa, hosted by Corrie stars Jack P Shepherd and Ben Price, saw the pair tell co-host Colson Smith about Christmas on the show. Fans listening claimed that in the episode, the pair teased it would be a classic Christmas.

They added details included the Bistro being shut on the day, while Christmas would be spent there for some characters. They didn’t give away who, but implied it was of significance.

With a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, with Bethany’s baby secret, fans had wondered if this is the moment the truth comes out. One fan suggested they had seen a behind-the-scenes recently from filming that suggested Ryan Connor was involved.

Fans know that Ryan’s love interest Bethany is pregnant with Kit’s baby. Posting online, one fan theorised: “Last Monday, Jack (David) & Ben (Nick) revealed to Colson (aka Craig) on their podcast that they filmed Christmas Day and it’s the classic ‘Christmas in the Bistro, Nick closes it and then it’s who’s there’

“So I bet that’s when Sarah & Ryan find out about Bethany & Kit’s one night stand & Kit being the dad of Bethany’s baby.” A fan then replied: “Yep sounds on the money that theory.” A third fan commented: “I feel based on recent interview and drama potential of the ticking time bomb of Bethany pregnancy that Bethany will continue the pregnancy.

“I can see the big paternity reveal happening at either Christmas or after baby is born at a Christening at big public revelation like at Lily christening it was discovered David was behind Nick car ‘accident’.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

Self-funded political newcomer Eric Jones has edged out longtime Rep. Mike Thompson in the Democrat-on-Democrat race for Northern California’s 4th District.

Ten days after the Nov. 3 election, the Associated Press called the race for Jones, who spent millions on his race and led Thompson 52.5% to 47.5% as of Friday evening.

Jones, a venture capitalist and nonprofit executive who grew up in a working-class household, will now lead a district that was redrawn under Proposition 50 to stretch from the vast wineries of Napa County to the rice fields of Sutter County.

He ran against Thompson (D-St. Helena), who was first elected in 1998, while calling for a new generation of leadership. He campaigned on keeping corporate money out of politics, lowering the cost of living and protecting “our future” by facilitating a government that lives within its means.

Jones poured $14.8 million of his own funds into the race and ran an active campaign. He said that he held more than 200 town halls and that his campaign knocked on half a million doors.

“I answered every email myself personally. We offered a coffee chat with every single voter we met, and that’s the message that people heard,” he said in an interview Friday after his race was called. “I do think we need to make a lot of progress on campaign reform. It’s something we’re already working on with the freshman class right now in D.C.”

The 36-year-old father of two also backed progressive measures to expand Medicare and cut taxes for low- and middle-income Americans.

“It’s been really fantastic to see just how impactful our message was because we knew from Day One that we were speaking to voters and Americans who were pretty left behind in the political system,” he said.

Thompson acknowledged the election results in a statement Friday evening.

“I’m proud of my service,” he said before listing his work on water issues, wildfires, gun violence and conservation. “My team and I have always lived by one principle: We’re here to do the people’s work serving our district, and that job is never too big nor too small.”

Supporters of Jones’ campaign included Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.); Duolingo Chief Executive and co-founder Luis von Ahn; and Our Revolution, an independent grassroots organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Thompson spent 14 terms in Congress, initially elected to California’s 1st District. Prior to that, he was a two-term state senator.

He sits on the influential Ways and Means Committee and is the top Democrat on its tax policy subcommittee. He had been endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and the California Democratic Party.

After USC’s bye earlier this season, the Trojans flopped.

They lost 24-7 to unranked Wisconsin. Quarterback Jayden Maiava passed for 257 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. USC’s rushing game was held to minus-18 yards, while the offense averaged 3.2 yards per play.

The experience changed the way coach Lincoln Riley approached the team’s second bye week leading into No. 18 USC’s big game at No. 9 Indiana (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) on Saturday. If the Trojans (7-2, 4-2) win, they keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. A loss would eliminate USC from playoff contention.

“We were on the field more last week, certainly than we were the first time around,” Riley said of his team’s workouts during the bye. “We handled the weekend a bit differently, both with players and staff, and I think we came into this week with probably more good work under our belt and a little bit more prepared.”

USC coach Lincoln Riley watches his team warm up before beating Ohio State at the Coliseum on Oct. 31.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“We’re quite a bit further ahead than we were at this point before playing Wisconsin,” he added.

This bye week comes after the Trojans beat No. 2 Ohio State 30-18. But that victory remains in the rearview mirror for Riley and Maiava. Just as the team needs to move past a loss, Maiava understands the importance of looking beyond arguably the team’s best win of the season and remaining focused on the present.

“Every single day requires our best. If we’re focused on yesterday’s victories, you lose out on opportunities for today’s victories,” Maiava said.

It’s a message Riley reiterated.

“The reality is you’re not gonna play your best every week. You want to get as close to it as you can, and then you want to get good enough that even when you’re not at your best, you still find ways to win ballgames,” he said. “… These are one-week seasons, and we got to be our very best here this week.”

With three games left in the season, USC’s fate remains in its own hands. A win at Indiana followed by a home game against Maryland at the Coliseum would set up a consequential matchup with No. 4 UCLA to close out the season.

Wide receiver Trent Mosley believes the team has prepared for that pressure during its two weeks of practice.

“We’re all pushing every day. We all know what’s in front of us, and we’re taking it week by week,” he said.

Saturday’s matchup will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams. Historically, the competition has been one-sided, with USC winning all four previous meetings.

Indiana enters Saturday’s game with the nation’s fourth-ranked scoring defense, allowing 12.4 points per game. The Hoosiers also have 32 team sacks, the fourth-most in the nation. Tight end Tucker Ashcraft trusts that USC’s offensive line will keep Indiana’s pass rush away from Maiava.

“[We need to] take advantage of all our opportunities, find the space in their zones and make big plays,” Ashcraft said.

Riley said he sees the opportunity to face reigning national champions as a benefit, helping the team make a late-season playoff push.

“Whether it’s [a] big end-of-season game, championship game, the more you’re in those scenarios, the more you’re used to being in that level of competition,” Riley said. “It’s a different type of feeling and a different type of strength that it takes to win and excel in those games.”

This will be the first time the teams meet during the Curt Cignetti era. The game will also mark the first meeting between Riley and Cignetti as opposing coaches.

“We sit next to each other in Big Ten meetings and make comments back and forth to each other the whole time,” Riley said. “He’s been a fun guy to interact with.”

As the Trojans head to Bloomington, they’ll face a significant change in weather, going from a high of 71 degrees in Los Angeles to a forecast high of 47 degrees in Indiana. For Hawaii native Maiava, playing November football in colder weather is a dream come true.

Regardless of the weather, USC is exactly where it wants to be at this point in the season, Riley said.

“We worked hard and it hasn’t been perfect, but there’s been a lot more good than bad, and that’s why we’re one of the few teams that sits here right now controlling our destiny in so many ways,” he said.

Christian Cousins, the former child actor who starred as Dominic Palmieri in the 1990 movie “Kindergarten Cop,” has died. He was 43.

The actor’s half-brother, Jonas Roeser, announced the death on social media last month, writing that Cousins “had been very sick with liver disease.”

Cousins and his twin brother, Joseph, starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Kindergarten Cop,” with the boys trading off in their portrayal of Dominic, the son of a dangerous drug dealer who had gone into hiding with his mother, Joyce. Schwarzenegger’s character, a Los Angeles police detective, goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher, falls for fellow teacher Joyce and becomes a father figure to Dominic.

“It’s hard to share that my brother, Christian Cousins, has passed away,” Roeser wrote on Instagram. “Christian and his twin brother, Joseph ‘Joey’ Cousins, are my brothers through my biological father. They grew up in California while I was in Washington and I didn’t get to know them until I was in college.

Roeser wrote that he grew up watching the twins on the CBS soap opera “Knots Landing” but that the acting roles were “only a small part of how I’ll remember Christian.”

“He was a character, full of passion and energy, with big stories and even bigger dreams,” Roeser wrote, adding that it “brings me comfort to believe he is now in heaven with his mother, free from the pain he was carrying.”

“Rest easy, Christian,” he wrote. “I hope your soul is at rest and that you’ve found peace. You are my brother and you will be missed.”

According to Cousins’ Facebook page, he was living in East Irvine and has struggled with health issues in recent years. Alongside a 2017 photograph of him cheekily lighting two cigarillos, he commented years later: “The good old days when I could be thin and smoke two bay Sherman’s in one hand. Now I’m regretting it all.”

Born March 17, 1983, in Orange County, Cousins was raised in Laguna Niguel. He and his twin brother shared roles across television and film in the ’80s and ’90s, including their portrayal of Bobby Ewing in “Knots Landing” from 1987 to 1993. Cousins also starred in the movies “Twin Sitters” and “Critters 3,” and the TV shows “Eerie, Indiana,” “Empty Nest” and “Intruders.”

During a “Kindergarten Cop” reunion Zoom call with the cast in 2020 hosted by Yahoo, Cousins described his experience acting in some of the most intense scenes of the film.

“I remember having to act more scared than I’d ever been on camera thus far in my career . . . it was actually a little difficult because despite how evil it seems my dad is, which is Richard Tyson — he’s like the nicest guy in the world in person,” he said. “It was really hard to act scared of somebody who after every scene [said] ‘That was awesome; you did great!’”

Cousins was 7 when he filmed “Kindergarten Cop,” and after the film hit theaters, Cousins said he was recognized and swarmed for autographs at shopping malls, airports and at Disneyland. He recalled a bus full of kids at the amusement park lining up and asking for personalized notes. He was so young that he struggled to spell “beautiful.”

During the reunion, Cousins also revealed that he had retired from acting and was working in the furniture business.

WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday that he will run for Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer after the party swept to power in the midterm elections.

Van Hollen said in a statement that “the American people called for change” and that is why he is running.

“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”

Schumer has said he has the necessary support to win the race, which will be the first contested election for Senate Democratic leader in decades. The closed-door, secret-ballot election will be held in early December.

The question of whether to reelect Schumer has already divided the caucus and many senators have declined to say publicly how they will vote, even before Van Hollen entered the race. They have privately deliberated about what message to take from the election and many are torn — Schumer recruited many of the party’s winning candidates and raised money for them, but progressive groups are pushing for his removal.

Making the pitch for his reelection, Schumer has been working with Democratic senators one-on-one to form an agenda for 2027. In private caucus meetings this week, Schumer opened discussion on a broad plan for their first 100 days in power that included healthcare and tariff legislation and efforts to stop the Iran war.

“I’m going to win it,” Schumer told the Associated Press in an interview last week.

In a statement after Van Hollen’s announcement, Schumer said he welcomes any discussion about the future of the caucus.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together — 55 seats and counting is an amazing result — and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” Schumer said. “I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”

Divisions over Schumer have simmered over the last two years

While Schumer is the favorite to win, Van Hollen’s run exposes a rift in the party that opened in the spring of 2025, when Schumer was put on the defensive after he sided with Republicans on a spending vote.

Even as Schumer has redeemed himself within his caucus since then — leading them through a government shutdown last year and orchestrating huge wins in the election — many in the Democratic base are agitating for generational change.

Van Hollen, 67, is not that much younger than Schumer, 75. But he has positioned himself as a new face in the party. He has also said he is considering a run for president.

While most Democratic senators have either said they are supporting Schumer or are undecided, Van Hollen has at least two backers: Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, who won a competitive election in his state last week, and progressive standard-bearer Bernie Sanders.

El-Sayed posted on X on Thursday night that their majority will need “bold leadership.”

“I called on Sen. @ChrisVanHollen to lead our caucus as a candidate back in April because he leads with courage and experience,” El-Sayed wrote. “We need both right now. Which is why I’m proud to stand with him in his bid to lead our Senate majority.”

Sen. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, held a news conference Tuesday announcing he would not support Schumer. He posted Thursday night that the American people “want a Democratic Party that will stand up to powerful special interests, take on the billionaire class and fight for working families. That is why I am supporting Senator Chris Van Hollen to lead Senate Democrats.”

Van Hollen has not yet laid out his own agenda, but he has criticized Schumer for his ties to Israel and other special interests.

While Schumer has a long history of support for Israel, he has strongly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of the war in Gaza.

Schumer says he has broad support

Several senators have said they are backing Schumer, including incoming Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who beat Republican Sen. Jon Husted last week. Beyond the election wins, those who support him say being the leader is a difficult job, experience is necessary and Schumer has proved himself with legislative successes when they held the Senate under President Biden.

“Why would you fire the manager when you just won the World Series?” posted Maine Sen. Angus King, another independent who caucuses with Democrats and votes in the leadership election.

“Chuck Schumer is one of the principal architects of the most successful election in modern history, and I see no reason to change the leadership that helped make that success possible,” King wrote.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) also posted her support Thursday evening:

Cortez Masto said Schumer was key in “securing a historic majority. I will be supporting him as our Democratic leader.”

Jalonick writes for the Associated Press.

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