Major American studio releases vie against festival favorites in the animated feature competition.
“Quite a few films from a strong Cannes, such as ‘In Waves,’ ‘Iron Boy’ and ‘Tangles,’ will aim to break into this category,” predicts Robert Daniels.
“The mind-blowing stop-motion masterpiece ‘Wildwood’ is my top contender at this point,” enthuses Dave Karger.
“ ‘Minions and Monsters’ might be an outside pick here but it’s probably the most astute piece of contemporary Hollywood commentary this year,” declares Katie Walsh. “Give Pierre Coffin his flowers!”
Glenn Whipp, meanwhile, sighs that “Toy Story 5” is a top contender: It “was perfectly fine and completely unnecessary, unless you’re a Disney shareholder. It will be the category’s most-seen movie and sports one Taylor Swift song released this year that critics don’t outright despise. That might be enough for the Oscar.”
1. “Wildwood” 2. “Toy Story 5” T3. “Iron Boy” T3. “Minions and Monsters” 5. “Ray Gunn” 6. “Tangles”
“Quite a few films from a strong Cannes, such as ‘In Waves,’ ‘Iron Boy,’ and ‘Tangles,’ will aim to break into this category. But for now, you can pretty much guarantee that ‘Toy Story 5,’ a return to form for the franchise, and the latest Laika film, ‘Wildwood,’ are in.”
Turner Classic Movies
Dave Karger
1. “Wildwood” 2. “Toy Story 5” 3. “Ray Gunn” 4. “High in the Clouds” 5. “Iron Boy”
“The mind-blowing stop-motion masterpiece ‘Wildwood’ is my top contender at this point, followed as always by a strong entry from Disney/Pixar (‘Toy Story 5’). Meanwhile, former Pixar filmmaker Brad Bird could also find himself back in the running with his Netflix title, ‘Ray Gunn.’ ”
Los Angeles Times
Amy Nicholson
1. “Wildwood” 2. “Minions and Monsters” 3. “Toy Story 5” 4. “Ray Gunn” 5. “High in the Clouds”
“The latest Minions movie was made as much for cineastes as children. So be it. Pierre Coffin’s lozenge-shaped horde has already schooled kids in the joys of (near) silent filmmaking. What a bonus to see them romp with Georges Méliès.”
“The field is led by Pixar’s runaway blockbuster sequel ‘Toy Story 5’ and original eco-feature ‘Hoppers.’ Laika’s stop-motion ‘Wildwood’ is also grabbing raves.”
Tribune News Service
Katie Walsh
1. “Toy Story 5” 2. “Minions and Monsters” 3. “Forgotten Island” 4. “Wildwood” 5. “In Waves”
“ ‘Minions and Monsters’ might be an outside pick here but it’s probably the most astute piece of contemporary Hollywood commentary this year — a loving tribute to old Hollywood threatened by an out-of-control, all-consuming surveillance blob that swallows companies whole. Give Pierre Coffin his flowers!”
“ ‘Toy Story 5’ was perfectly fine and completely unnecessary, unless you’re a Disney shareholder. It will be the category’s most-seen movie and sports one Taylor Swift song released this year that critics don’t outright despise. That might be enough for the Oscar.”
US President Donald Trump has asked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White to be White House press secretary, in a social media post.
“Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Dana, please take the job!”
It was unclear whether the president’s public job offer was genuine, although White said later on Saturday: “I’m going to meet with him, we have a meeting on Monday”.
The vacancy for White House press secretary has been open since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia quit less than five days into the job.
Trump’s post on Saturday afternoon comes after his fellow Republicans were routed in the US midterm elections, losing their congressional majorities.
The president called White “a violent Fighter and Warrior” and asked that he bring a number of high-profile UFC fighters with him on the job “even though some are not from our Country”.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote, alongside photos of the six fighters.
Following Trump’s post, White posted an Instagram photo of himself behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room.
“On to the next chapter,” White wrote, though it was unclear if the post was tongue-in-cheek.
“Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X, as he shared the president’s message.
Some Haitians have cheered on El Salvadorian troops deployed to fight gangs which have almost taken control of the Haitian capital. El Salvador’s Bukele promised to wipe out the gangs after four of its citizens were kidnapped.
More than 30 vehicles were involved in a collision which left two people seriously injured on the M20 in Kent late on Saturday, police say.
Officers were called to the scene at around 18:41 on the London-bound carriageway between junctions eight and nine, near Hollingbourne, Maidstone.
Eleven people were cared for by paramedics and two taken to hospital, Kent Fire and Rescue Service said.
An air ambulance crew, three fire engines and a “technical rescue unit” were sent to the scene, where National Highways said “thick fog” had been confirmed.
The road was shut in both directions early on Sunday and was likely to remain closed “for several hours while recovery and clear up operations continue”, the agency said.
Kent Police said one of the two people seriously injured had been taken to a hospital locally, and the other to a London hospital.
“Other drivers have sustained injuries not believed to be serious,” it said in a statement.
“Closures are likely to remain overnight while the incident is dealt with.”
The force has asked anyone with information about the incident or dashcam footage to come forward.
After this week’s major wins by the Democratic Party in the midterm elections, it’s no surprise that the cold open on “Saturday Night Live” was political in nature.
But there was one surprise guest: The new senator-elect of Texas, James Talarico.
The cold open began with a conversation between Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (Kenan Thompson) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (Sarah Sherman), the minority leaders of the House and Senate (and possible future majority leaders), respectively, as they celebrated their party’s victory, including flipping Texas blue — for which they took credit. (Schumer: “That was all me. I found the candidates, I recruited them. And as a show of respect, they begged me not to appear at their campaign events.”)
Jeffries pledged that their first order of business would be to march up to President Trump and tell him, “Hey, knock it off, Buster.”
But Trump (James Austin Johnson), not one to be left out, interrupted to take the credit for the Democratic victories instead — thanks to the “horrible economy and terrible war.” “So in the words of Moana’s big fat friend, ‘You’re Welcome,’” he said.
After an appearance from J.D. Vance (Jeremy Culhane) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost), plus Trump’s complaints about having to work with millennials and the return of their optimism, he began listing some of the newly elected senators who would be arriving in Washington: “Jon Ossoff, or as I call him Thinky Herman. Abdul El-Sayed, or as I call him, Mamdani for men. And of course, down in Texas, Talafreako.” Talarico then stepped into frame to a roar of applause and cheers from the audience, leading to this exchange:
Talarico: “Hi America, I am James Talarico, the guy who has been texting you everyday asking for $5.”
Trump: “In this economy, who can blame you.”
Talarico: “But I think Mr. President, if we can work together, we can make life better for everyday Americans. It’s clear people want something new. They want something different. I’m talking of course about ‘SNL’s’ cold opens. How many of these Trump freezes are they going to do?”
Trump: “Infinity.”
Talarico: “Well in that case, there is only one thing to say: Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night Live.”
Sidney Crosby scored two goals while moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL’s career scoring list, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ended their skid at four games with a 5-2 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.
The 39-year-old Crosby broke his tie with Kings great Marcel Dionne by scoring his 1,772nd point when Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer deflected in off him in the second period. Crosby added a late empty-net goal, diving face-first on the ice to tip it home.
Tommy Novak got two goals in the first six minutes and Egor Chinakhov also scored for the Penguins (6-9-2), who moved Crosby and the 40-year-old Malkin onto their top line before the game in an effort to spark their struggling lineup. Sergei Murashov made 26 saves as Pittsburgh opened a three-game California trip with just its third win in 11 games.
Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped only 14 shots for the Kings (5-8-2), who have lost two of the last three during their seven-game homestand.
Novak put the Penguins ahead less than two minutes after the opening faceoff after controlling a rebound in front. Less than 3½ minutes later, he carried the puck into the zone and followed behind Ben Kindel to cash in another rebound for his seventh career multi-goal game.
Perry scored midway through the first when Mikey Anderson’s high shot off the end boards ricocheted down toward the crease, where he slapped it out of mid-air for the second goal of his 22nd NHL season.
Chinakhov scored on a power play late in the first to put the Penguins up 3-1, but Laferriere scored on a power play early in the second.
Artemi Panarin appeared to score a tying rebound goal for the Kings late in the second period, but it was disallowed after a video review determined the Kings’ zone entry had been offside. Moments later, Erik Karlsson’s backhand pass set up Malkin’s shot off Crosby.
Up next for the Kings: vs. Nashville at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.
Colombian President de la Espriella says those behind the attack in Santa Rosa del Sur will have ‘nowhere to hide’.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
A drone attack on a military base in northern Colombia has killed three soldiers and wounded at least 16, the country’s armed forces said.
The Colombian military said in a statement on Saturday that the attack hit a base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range. Authorities have not said who carried out the strike, the latest in a series of attacks on security forces as violence rises across rural parts of the country.
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The area is rich in gold mines and has long been disputed by rebel armed groups including the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and smaller groups led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Footage shared on social media showed clouds of smoke rising from the base after three explosions, and soldiers taking cover in shelters made of sandbags.
“Those who were behind this attack… will have nowhere to hide,” President Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X. “Every attack against our soldiers strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia.”
Rising violence
Violence has intensified in several rural areas since de la Espriella, a conservative, took office in August.
The president cancelled peace talks with rebel groups and has taken a confrontational approach, including more air strikes, deploying more troops in some cities and creating joint task forces to defend strategic assets such as a pipeline that runs from the Caribbean coast to central Colombia.
De la Espriella’s government argues that armed groups used ceasefires granted by the previous government to consolidate their grip on rural areas, where they tax local businesses and profit from the drug trade.
Some groups have responded by stepping up attacks on the country’s armed forces.
Last week, a military base in Tolima province was targeted with missiles made from gas canisters. The attack killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby.
Police in the border city of Cucuta have been attacked several times with remotely activated bombs.
State forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in Colombia in the four weeks to October 16, a 9 percent increase on last year’s four-week average, according to ACLED, a group that monitors armed conflicts.
A 2016 peace deal with FARC led to the demobilisation of more than 14,000 fighters, but smaller groups have since fought over the rebels’ former territory.
A small plane has made an emergency landing on a busy Florida road, much to the shock of drivers. The Cessna, which suffered mechanical failure, clipped a pickup truck, but no injuries were reported.
Twenty years after its world premiere in Northern California — and subsequent success on Broadway and in London — “Passing Strange,” the quintessential L.A. coming-of-age musical, is finally arriving in Southern California, staging its long-awaited area premiere at Pasadena Playhouse on Sunday.
Exactly why it has taken so long for this acclaimed, Tony Award-winning show — much of it set in the heart of Los Angeles — to come here is something its creators, the artist and singer-songwriter, Stew, and Heidi Rodewald (along with this writer) have been scrutinizing since 2009, the year after it opened to critical acclaim on Broadway.
“Passing Strange” tells the story of a young, artistic “Youth” (that’s actually his name in the show) who rejects his single mother and the “Black, middle class dream” of 1970s Los Angeles in favor of leaving home to find “The Real,” an elusive state of mind and authenticity he craves.
The reasons “The Real” took so long to land in its hometown began to make sense during a recent group Zoom with the “Passing Strange” brain trust, including Stew, Rodewald and its new director Zhailon Levingston.
“At my age, at this point, I think it is absolute poetry that this gentleman [Levingston] is the one who brings it to our hometown,” said Stew, pointing to a serendipity of timing.
Director Zhailon Levingston sits outside before a rehearsal of “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse. Levingston recently won a Tony Award for directing, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Levingston is the 32-year-old theatrical wunderkind who won this year’s Tony Award for best director, for the groundbreaking revival of “Cats” on Broadway by re-imagining the long-running ‘80s smash as a ballroom drag competition.
Getting Levingston to do this revival of “Passing Strange” as his immediate follow-up to “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” is a coup for Pasadena Playhouse’s Artistic Director Danny Feldman. Feldman calls Levingston a rare talent, who’s “generous and fearless.” Or as Stew says more bluntly: “Zhailon’s got the receipts. … it’s the right time because it’s him. We made this play for him — literally, I don’t mean figuratively — because me and Heidi don’t make work necessarily for the contemporary time, we make it for the future.”
One of the main themes of “Passing Strange” is how knowledge is awkwardly handed down from one generation to another. In a key scene, the narrator describes a mentor, Franklin, whose words and wisdom wash over Youth “like a Bach fugue creeping out of a cheap car stereo.” In conversation together, Stew and Levingston (the former is twice the latter’s age) seem entirely in sync, having both clearly absorbed the show’s mantra: “Just ask the song.”
Actors rehearse “Passing Strange,” which is based in downtown L.A. but has never been produced in Southern California until now.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Stew says he learned the virtues of “asking the song” while casting the original production at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2006. The show would go on to play 165 performances on Broadway, but it wasn’t a traditional book musical — it played more like a cabaret or rock experience. “When we had everybody audition, they had to sing a punk rock song,” Stew recounts. “That was the fast track to figure out if they could do what we needed, or not.”
That original Berkeley cast, including Eisa Davis, Daniel Breaker, Rebecca Naomi Jones and Coleman Domingo, won the 2008 Obie Award for ensemble at New York’s Public Theater before transferring to Broadway. That cast was a big part of the show’s success, so much so that Levingston calls them “the Avengers of Black talent.”
Spike Lee filmed the show’s penultimate night at the Belasco Theater. In 2010, PBS broadcast it as part of “Great Performances,” which is how a then 15-year-old Levingston learned about “The Real.”
“My grandmother’s bedroom had a TV and that was kind of my refuge as a kid. I happened to turn on PBS,” Levingston recalls, “and it just so happens that was the night that they were airing ‘Passing Strange.’ I wasn’t looking for it. I just clicked on the television, and the opening credits were happening. I stayed glued. I didn’t leave. I didn’t pee. I just watched it.”
Levingston was hooked. “It became my favorite show ever,” he says, “I had two birthday parties designated to my friends watching it.”
Composer Heidi Rodewald and writer Stew attend the premiere and panel discussion of “Passing Strange” during the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival at Directors Guild Theater on May 2, 2009, in New York City.
(Amy Sussman / Getty Images)
But more importantly, it made him ask questions. “I then went to school the next day. … I got a dictionary and I looked up every word I didn’t know. I looked up every reference I didn’t know,” Levingston says. “I didn’t know who James Baldwin was. I didn’t know who Josephine Baker was. I didn’t know the significance of the Berlin Wall. I had never been out of the country, let alone Louisiana.”
None of the creators of “Passing Strange” would wince at the musical being described as a “bildungsroman,” or a classic coming-of-age story. Its title is derived from Shakespeare’s “Othello,” and the show earned Joycean comparisons, including to “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Black Man,” from critics.
“Passing Strange” pokes fun at the pretensions of youth, how a young person can know every indie rock album or French New Wave film and still be clueless about their own emotions and need for family. The truth and timelessness of Stew’s story — about a boy in the 1970s wanting to escape what he sees as L.A.’s “fishbowl of philistines” resonated so much for Levingston that he was inspired to escape his own fishbowl (Louisiana) for a life in Los Angeles, where he enrolled in AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Hollywood.
He lived in L.A. for four years, before making his name in theater back east. He had never dreamed of directing “Passing Strange,” saying, “it felt like too ‘full circle’ to actively pitch myself as the director.” But when he took a meeting with Pasadena’s Feldman: “I mentioned ‘Passing Strange,’ kind of as a secret menu option.”
Britton Smith, left, and Tanerélle in a rehearsal for “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Feldman loved the idea, and now “Passing Strange” is here. Asked during a recent rehearsal whether he’s deconstructing or re-inventing the show as he did “Cats,” Levingston replied with an emphatic no.
“I didn’t want to put it on the moon … or create some kind of other, concept approach to ‘Passing Strange,’ that would make it too corny. The concept has to be the people,” he said.
Inspired by Stew, Levingston looked for actors with a punk vibe, because he “wanted a company that understood what it meant to lead a band, even if you’re not the Narrator or Stew, I wanted the authenticity of that kind of swagger.”
Ty Taylor plays Stew in the revival, along with a whole new cast. During a recent rehearsal, it was uncanny how these performers look and sound so different — yet still carry the same fiery sense of invention as the actors who created the roles. It was also moving to see that Stew and Rodewald’s Tony Award-winning book still delivers laughs and pathos two decades on. Their show about passing the torch of cultural enlightenment hasn’t lost its edge — even as it is being handed off to another generation.
Actors rehearse “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse. The rock musical has played on Broadway and is staging it’s Southern California premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
During the Zoom interview, Rodewald noted that the show’s original director, Annie Dorsen, gave them the confidence “to not try to please everyone,” to just make something they thought was cool.
“And then we went, and we did it,” Stew adds, “and now it’s perfect that it’s happening here. It’s the right director. It’s the perfect cast.”
In this way, the show has not only come home to Los Angeles, but it has also come full circle.
“I was talking to a cast member the other day, and I was like, ‘I just try to make theater that my friends like.’ But now I feel like I’m trying to make this show as a thank you letter to Heidi and Stew,” Levingston said, as he sat in the house seats at the Playhouse during rehearsal.
Indeed, rather than re-imagining “Passing Strange,” Levingston dug down to the show’s roots, when Stew and Rodewald traveled from gig to gig as musicians. “One of my earliest images thinking about the show,” Levingston says, “is that I wanted it to feel for the audience as if a bus tour of artists from a band backed up here and just dumped everything from the road onto the stage because the tour schedule said we had to be in Pasadena tonight.”
Will L.A. at long last embrace “The Real” or is this revival of “Passing Strange” looking to move to New York or elsewhere?
“Just ask the song,” Levingston says with a smile.
“I did not do this show because I had some long runway vision of how to take it from Pasadena to Broadway or Chicago,” he says, “but obviously, I want everyone in the world to see it.”
Levingston then mentions the number “Arlington Hill,” which is about being torn between where you come from and where you want to be.
Levingston quotes from the scene, “The Narrator looks back and says to Franklin, ‘Thank you, Brother’…’I want to say thank you for giving me this fugue.’ ”
He then gestures to the theater around us, “That’s the intention here.”
‘Passing Strange’
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 29.
SANDY, Utah — Sergi Solans and Zach Booth scored early and Real Salt Lake clinched a playoff spot while eliminating the Galaxy with a 2-1 victory Saturday.
Real Salt Lake (13-15-6) snags the ninth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference and will travel to Seattle for a wild-card matchup with the Sounders. The winner will square off against the top-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps in the best-of-three first round.
The Galaxy (11-12-11) have missed the past two postseasons after winning the MLS Cup in 2024.
Solans and Booth scored three minutes apart to give Real Salt Lake a 2-0 lead in the 13th minute.
Solans used assists from Noel Caliskan and defender Philip Quinton in the 10th minute to score for the 14th time in his first season in the league. Nine of Caliskan’s 11 career assists and all three of Quinton’s have come this year.
Booth scored unassisted three minutes later for a 2-0 lead. It was the first goal for the 22-year-old rookie midfielder in his 18th appearance and seventh start.
The Galaxy cut it to 2-1 in the 40th minute thanks to an own goal by Real Salt Lake defender Luc de Fougerolles, making his seventh appearance in the league.
Rafael Cabral totaled one save for Real Salt Lake.
Tear gas fired in Paris and Lyon as interior minister warns authorities are ‘ready and waiting’ for rioters and looters.
Published On 7 Nov 20267 Nov 2026
Tens of thousands of people have protested across France for a fourth consecutive weekend, in another show of anger against the government.
About 146,000 people rallied across the country to protest against the rising cost of living on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris, the Ministry of the Interior said.
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Unions put the figure at 250,000 protesters nationwide, with 75,000 in the capital.
The demonstrations come just days after an estimated 575,000 people took part in a rally organised by trade unions.
About 70,000 security personnel were deployed across the country on Saturday, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warning that authorities would be “ready and waiting” for anyone engaging in rioting or looting.
Clashes broke out between police and some protesters in the capital, Paris, despite a lower turnout than in previous weeks.
Footage posted online by the CLPRESS news agency showed police charging at protesters and using tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds. A police officer was also seen hitting a protester with a baton.
Police said a group of 200 individuals attacked officers as they were arresting a man who had set fire to a rubbish bin in a square in Paris, the AFP news agency reported.
In the southeastern city of Lyon, police also fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre who were blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
Reporting from the French capital, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said people working in a variety of jobs attended Saturday’s demonstrations in support of the student-led movement.
“I spoke to one railway worker who told me it was really important to be here today. He said not only was it important to protest against the cost of living, but that it was also important to support young people,” Butler said.
“There is no doubt that the trade unions, who’ve been weakened in recent years, really feel there is a sense of momentum,” she said. “Many of the workers that I’ve been speaking to say this is their time to really press the government for higher salaries and better facilities.”
The demonstrations in France began in September over poor conditions and a lack of resources at French high schools. The protests later expanded to encompass a host of grievances, linked to worsening living standards. The movement continues to be led by France’s students, but people of all ages have been taking part.
This weekend’s protests take place against the backdrop of France’s upcoming presidential election, due to be held in April. Polls put far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Rally first, followed by far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon of the France Unbowed party.
Melenchon unveiled his programme on Saturday to some 17,000 supporters and promised to do the opposite of incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.
He pledged to stimulate the economy by capitalising on consumer spending and “through billions [of euros] that already exist”, adding that these savings “must be channelled towards our country’s ecological and social needs”.
The operation is to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport weapons and other materials, US Central Command says.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced a plan to block Iran’s land-based supply routes, expanding its months-long naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced on Saturday that it had established a new task force “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”.
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Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.
Based in Tampa, Florida, the task force will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM said.
Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera the task force’s role will be to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off”, and how “Iran is transporting its energy”.
He added that if US President Donald Trump orders an escalation to the war, it will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”.
“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily focuses on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets, as part of this comprehensive plan to cut the regime off from its ability to fight and ability to fund itself,” Mulroy told Al Jazeera.
CENTCOM separately said on Saturday that it had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.
A US “military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of St. Kitts-flagged M/V Huda, disabling the ship after CENTCOM forces directed the crew to abandon targeted spaces”, it said in a statement.
“Enforcement actions since July have resulted in U.S. forces redirecting 147 commercial vessels that complied”, and disabling “five merchant ships that refused to comply”, it added.
Explosions reported
On Saturday, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported the sound of two explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz.
IRNA also reported the sound of “several explosions” in the cities of Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
Trump confirmed new strikes on Qeshm Island a day earlier, but downplayed them as “minor”. He added that Tehran still wants a deal as Qatari-mediated talks continue.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy reported that two oil tankers struck mines near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
Iranian state television, citing the navy, said the tankers had passed through an “unsafe” part of the strait with their navigation systems off. They “suffered severe damage and stopped after hitting sea mines”.
Richard Lloyd, the fiery guitarist of the influential New York rock band Television, has died. He was 75.
Lloyd died on Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn., from cholangiocarcinoma, a bile duct cancer, according to a statement from Lloyd’s family to the New York Times.
Lloyd’s contributions to Television — a proto-punk band with intricate hailstorms of guitar — helped make them one of the city’s most important if briefly tenured bands. In a time when peers such as the New York Dolls and Velvet Underground were upending rock and roll with glamour and arty disaffection, Television fulfilled the genre’s promises of both swaggering virtuosity and restless reinvention.
Lloyd, born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh, moved to New York City with his mother and grew up in Greenwich Village. He attended Manhattan’s acclaimed Stuyvesant High School, but dropped out to pursue music.
Television formed in 1973 after Lloyd met front man Tom Verlaine, then-bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca through Terry Ork, an Andy Warhol scenester who managed the legendary film bookstore and memorabilia shop Cinemabilia, where Verlaine and Hell worked. The band was an outlier at the grimy local country and bluegrass dive bar CBGB (the members had to convince owner Hilly Kristal to book them). Yet the group would help transform that club and Max’s Kansas City into hubs for punk bands and the avant-garde such as Blondie, the Ramones and Talking Heads.
While sharing little in common with dueling-guitar acts such as the Allman Brothers Band or ’70s contemporaries the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, Television also drew its power from the preternatural rapport between Verlaine and Lloyd’s instruments. With its oblique lyricism and jazz-infused chords, layered over a twitchy rhythm section and 10-minute-long jams, Television was unlikely to be a commercial hit.
Yet the band impressed peers such as Lou Reed and David Bowie, and signed to the major label Elektra. Its 1977 debut LP “Marquee Moon” is universally considered a rock masterpiece, landing at No. 107 on Rolling Stone’s ranking of the top albums of all time. The dramatic trills of “Venus” and moaning peals of “Torn Curtain” showcased Lloyd’s natural guitar language with Verlaine, adding up to an unmistakable and irreplaceable sound.
The band released one follow-up, 1978’s “Adventure.” But Lloyd, who had long struggled with mental health issues, was also suffering from drug addiction, and conflicts with Verlaine led to the band’s breakup.
Lloyd would go on to have a robust solo career, with nine albums under his own name, and performances on records by Matthew Sweet and John Doe of the punk band X. Television briefly reunited to perform at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival, and released a new self-titled album the same year.
Beyond its own career, Television became a key inspiration for Sonic Youth and Geese, which shared Television’s downtown panache and coils of guitar noise.
Lloyd’s survivors include his wife, Sheila, his brother, Eric and his son, Dylan.
Former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith was knocked down and stopped for the first time in his career as Chev Clarke won their all-British non-title fight on Saturday.
Londoner Clarke landed a big right hand at the start of the seventh round and although Billam-Smith beat the count, he was down again moments later after a barrage of punches.
The contest was allowed to continue but the Bournemouth fighter looked unsteady on his legs and when Clarke connected with two more blows, the referee stepped in.
Billam-Smith immediately protested against the decision, while Clarke stood in the middle of the ring shrugging his shoulders.
Clarke moves to 13 wins with two defeats and inflicts the third professional defeat for Billam-Smith who also lost to Gilberto Ramirez in 2024 and Richard Riakporhe in 2019.
“I do what champions do,” said Clarke, who also beat Billam-Smith when they met in the amateur ranks a decade ago.
“I’m happy. Arsenal won and I won. My training camp was good and you saw that in the ring. I’ll take all-comers going forward.”
The likes of heavyweight Johnny Fisher, Traitors star King Kenny and strongman Eddie Hall were all spotted watching on from ringside in a Copper Box arena that was far from full, with just the lower tier of seats open for fans.
After a slow start to the contest with lots of holding, Clarke looked the sharper man as he landed some clean shots on the former world champion.
In the second round, the Londoner landed a big overhand right to the side of Billam-Smith’s head. Clarke also connected in the third round with a big uppercut and an overhand right that snapped back Billam-Smith’s head.
The former world champion, struggling to find his rhythm, was caught by another uppercut before Billam-Smith responded with a short right hook that made Clarke stumble back to his corner.
But in the seventh round Clarke broke Billam-Smith down, scoring two quick knockdowns before the referee intervened.
Fight promoter Dana White said after the fight that he felt the decision to stop the fight might have been a little premature.
The Egyptian Football Association has sacked national team coach Hossam Hassan, cutting short a promising tenure after a historic run to the Round of 16 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Hassan’s marital issues had spilled into the public eye causing concerns over the team’s image.
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO says he will meet with the US president on Monday to discuss the offer.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief executive Dana White has said he will meet with Donald Trump after the US president offered him the job of White House press secretary.
Speaking at a new conference after a boxing event in London on Saturday, White said he would meet with Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the president’s offer.
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“Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Saturday. “Dana, please take the job!”
Trump also requested that White “bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country”.
Trump listed and posted pictures of six current and former UFC title holders to join White: Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov from Russia’s Dagestan region; Americans Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and “Kayla Harris”, likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and Amanda Nunes, a Brazilian who became a US citizen last year.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote.
The White House press secretary role has been vacant since Katie Zacharia’s tenure ended last month after just five days.
Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down from the role at the end of August.
White and Trump first worked together in the early 2000s, but they grew closer since the UFC chief publicly backed Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
In recent years, Trump has attended several UFC events, and in June, the White House hosted a night of UFC fights as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.
The White House press office already has a former UFC spokesperson among its ranks: Director of Communications Steven Cheung, who worked for White’s organisation from 2013 to 2016.
Cheung shared the president’s message on X and said, “Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite! It’ll just be like old times!”
Amy Dowden MBE on Instagram: “A year ago today, I had just made it home from hospital in time for Strictly, after undergoing another mastectomy. 🎀 The start of November over the last three years hasn’t been easy. It’s been a time of year I’ve dreaded, bringing back so many emotions, memories and challenges. But fast forward a year, and I couldn’t be prouder of how far I’ve come , of my body and my incredible Strictly family, who have supported me every step of the way.💖 What an incredible show after such an amazing week I’ve had! Feeling truly grateful for everything! 🙏🎀 Life really is precious. Never take a moment for granted. Remember to get out there and LIVE life! 💖💖”
19K likes, 176 comments – amy_dowden on November 7, 2026: “A year ago today, I had just made it home from hospital in time for Strictly, after undergoing another mastectomy. 🎀 The start of November over the last three years hasn’t been easy. It’s been a time of year I’ve dreaded, bringing back so many emotions, memories and challenges. But fast forward a year, and I couldn’t be prouder of how far I’ve come , of my body and my incredible Strictly family, who have supported me every step of the way.💖 What an incredible show after such an amazing week I’ve had! Feeling truly grateful for everything! 🙏🎀 Life really is precious. Never take a moment for granted. Remember to get out there and LIVE life! 💖💖”.
Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Nathan “Nate” Ballard, a former aide sentenced in connection with a domestic violence case, to the State Historical Resources Commission.
Ballard, 57, of Mill Valley, will serve alongside eight other commissioners tasked with designating state historical landmarks and preserving the state’s cultural heritage, following the appointment made Friday evening.
In 2020, Ballard was arrested after an incident at an upscale resort where the Napa County district attorney’s office said he pushed his then-wife into a glass door and held a pillow over his four-year-old daughter’s head. The following year, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor corporal injury against his spouse and child endangerment, according to court records.
He was sentenced to four years’ probation and initially ordered to stay away from his ex-wife and two children for six years, which was later reduced to two years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ballard was Newsom’s communications director from 2007 to 2010, when the outgoing governor was mayor of San Francisco. He previously worked in similar roles for the Democratic National Committee and the California Democratic Party, and as John Kerry’s California press secretary during his 2004 presidential run. He now works as an attorney in private practice and runs a public relations firm.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Newsom said the governor “considers the experience, qualifications and suitability for each post in making appointments.”
“He believes that abuse of any individual is unacceptable, and that those who commit such conduct should face accountability,” the statement continued. “He also believes in second chances.”
Ballard, who grew up in Davis, told The Times he applied for the position and looks forward to returning to public service. He described the need “to preserve the things that we love so much about California, and also to alleviate some of the pressures that we’re feeling on housing costs.”
Ballard added that he and the governor have known each other for decades and worked together through “tough times.”
“It’s no surprise that my appointment is a little controversial and I’m grateful to have his support,” he said.
Some have criticized the governor’s move.
Ivy Lee, the head of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office for Victims’ Rights, told Mission Local, which broke the story, “Why elevate perpetrators of abuse?”
“When people in power do that, it shows us what they really think about survivors. And it’s not much,” she said. “Survivors deserve better.”
Nadia Rahman, former president of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, told the outlet that the appointment was “egregious.”
“He should not be appointed to a body,” she said. “This sets him off on a road of normalizing his behavior and reintroducing him to powerful political circles in California.”
During a long career in politics, “I didn’t think twice about exploiting my opponent’s biggest weakness when I was in the middle of a policy battle,” Ballard said when asked about the pushback. “So when I hear somebody speaking up with conviction about an issue like this, I understand where they’re coming from.”
Golden Valley 9, Buckley 9 (Golden Valley wins on games)
Esperanza 11, Bishop Montgomery 7
Long Beach Wilson 14, Cerritos Valley Christian 4
Laguna Blanca 13, Burbank Burroughs 5
La Salle 14, Chaparral 4
Simi Valley 10, Village Christian 8
Thacher 11, San Marcos 7
Santa Barbara 15, La Canada 3
DIVISION 6
Montclair 10, Century 8
Segerstrom 12, Western 6
Carpinteria 9, Brea Olinda 9 (Carpinteria wins on games)
Katella 11, Glendale 7
St. Margaret’s 13, Ridgecrest Burroughs 5
Maranatha 14, Westminster 4
Orange County Pacifica Christian 10, Lakewood St. Joseph 8
Downey 10, Gahr 8
DIVISION 7
Redlands East Valley 11, Garden Grove Santiago 7
Royal 12, El Modena 6
Castaic 12, Alhambra 6
Mayfair 13, Corona 5
Canoga Park AGBU 18, Temescal Canyon 0
Cajon 9, Summit 9 (Cajon wins on games)
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 12, Tahquitz 6
Milken 14, Azusa 4
DIVISION 8
Granite Hills 11, YULA 7
Carter 10, Pasadena 8
Santa Paula 11, Riverside Notre Dame 7
Foothill Tech 12, de Toledo 6
Lakeside 10, Palm Springs 8
Grand Terrace at Rio Mesa
Canyon Springs 10, Grand Terrace 8
Nordhoff 10, Costa Mesa 8
Rosemead 12, Magnolia 6
Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-8) Nov. 9 at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Nov. 11 at higher seeds; Finals (Divisions 1-4) Nov. 13 at University of Redlands. Finals (Divisions 5-8) Nov. 13 at The Claremont Club.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government, passing over the former army chief’s rival, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Herzog told Eisenkot of his decision on Saturday evening and will formally hand him the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday, the president’s spokesperson said.
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Herzog held consultations with political parties this week to decide who he would appoint to form a government after neither side secured a majority in the October 27 general election.
Some 67 lawmakers, including from Arab-led parties, endorsed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, to form the next government, while only 46 backed Netanyahu, the current prime minister.
Eisenkot will have 28 days – with a possible 14-day extension – to build a coalition of at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the minimum threshold for a government.
In the October election, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.
Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.
He could also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Herzog’s decision, said the president “took the predictable route” in selecting Eisenkot, as he had the highest number of recommendations.
“The hard work will begin now for Eisenkot to put together a government that can pass a vote of confidence at the Knesset that: one, will not break too many of the promises he made on the campaign trail; and two, that can survive the opposition of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu,” Odeh said.
If Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate another candidate. If the second nominee fails, a parliament majority can back a third candidate, who will be granted a final 14 days.
If, once again, no government is formed, a new election will be called within 90 days, with Netanyahu staying on as a caretaker prime minister.
United against Netanyahu government
Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.
Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List – a coalition of Arab-led parties that holds 11 seats – told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Herzog’s decision was “expected”.
“We were concerned that the president would move towards a national unity government,” he said, referring to a proposed power-sharing agreement between Eisenkot and Netanyahu.
Instead, Arab-led parties endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate, granting him a “considerable margin”.
Tibi said he believes Eisenkot is headed for a minority government “with external support from the Arab parties”.
While this would not be a “dream government” for Arab-led parties, Tibi prioritised bringing down “the government of Netanyahu, [Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich”.
Hours before Herzog’s decision, Netanyahu had warned that a government formed by the opposition bloc with support from Arab-led parties would lead to Israel’s collapse.
“Such a government, dependent on Islamists, will dismantle the state of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and far worse than that,” Netanyahu said in a prerecorded video speech, echoing the language of far-right politicians who falsely claim parts of Europe have come under Islamic law.
Netanyahu “described us as supporters of terrorists and terrorism”, Tibi said. “My response to him is this: Netanyahu is the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, and the foremost supporter of terrorism, particularly Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.”
Al Jazeera’s Odeh noted that although Eisenkot has expressly said he does not wish to form a government with Arab-led parties, “they both share quite compelling reasons to get rid of Netanyahu”.
El Hierro asks Spanish government for help after more than 3,300 people arrived on boats since start of November.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
Authorities of El Hierro, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, have declared an emergency and asked the government in Madrid for help after a surge in migrants and refugees arriving on boats.
“We are very concerned… by this sharp increase in arrivals,” Alpidio Armas, head of the governing council for El Hierro, one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants and refugees from West Africa, told Spanish television on Saturday.
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“This is precisely what has led us to declare an emergency in order to ensure a framework of cooperation with higher-level institutions.”
More than 3,300 people have arrived on the island in about 30 boats since the start of November, according to local authorities. El Hierro has about 11,400 residents.
Officials are seeking temporary accommodation for the new arrivals, while conditions at the island’s hospital have become “undesirable”, Armas said.
The situation is “absolutely unsustainable”, the Reuters news agency quoted Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, as saying on Friday.
Maritime rescue services rescued 3,261 migrants and refugees off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first six days of November.
Clavijo said the numbers were approaching the record levels seen in 2024, and on some days, the current pace was even higher.
Buses have been diverted to migration operations, and medical staff have been brought in from other islands, he said.
Deadly route
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.
Two people were found dead on a boat heading for the Canaries this week, and five others are believed to have died during the voyage, according to the AFP news agency, citing survivor accounts.
At least nine migrants or refugees have died off the islands in recent weeks.
Arrivals reached a record of more than 46,000 in 2024, then fell sharply due to tighter surveillance and greater cooperation with countries of origin and transit.
Between January and October, 13,327 irregular migrants and refugees arrived by sea, 5.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year, according to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.
Patrols off Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have pushed departures further south, from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, making crossings longer.
Senegalese police said on Saturday that they intercepted 142 migrants, including women and young children, off Dakar.
TELEVISION guitarist Richard Lloyd has died aged 75, after a brave battle with cancer as Smiths star Johnny Marr leads tributes.
Pennsylvania-born Lloyd appeared on all of the influential New York punk band’s studio albums.
Television were one of the first punk bands to play at the legendary CBGB’s club in New YorkSource: GettyLloyd was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer, in March this yearSource: Getty
Television are best known for Marquee Moon 1977, Adventure 1978 and their self-titled third LP released in 1992.
Lloyd was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer, in March this year.
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Sadly, a post on Television’s official X account announced: “We are so very sad that Richard Lloyd has today passed away at the age of 75.
“Deepest condolences to Sheila and to all of is family and friends.”
Television are best known for their 10-minute epic Marquee MoonSource: AlamyBands such as Pixies, Sonic Youth and Gang Of Four credit Television as an influenceSource: Getty
With Television, Lloyd’s style helped form the post punk and indie movements.
Bands such as Pixies, Sonic Youth and Gang Of Four credit Television as an influence.
Former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr lead tributes to Lloyd, posting touching words to his Instagram.
He said: “RIP Richard Lloyd. A seeker and finder and a true inspiration with and without the guitar.
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“It was an honour to know him and a blessing to have been a fan. Thank you Richard. Carry on my friend.”
Singer Lloyd Cole also paid tribute, posting on X: “I just heard. RIP Richard Lloyd.
“I only saw Television once – all those amazing riffs that drive the songs – Richard played them all.”
Television are best known for their 10-minute epic Marquee Moon, from the album of the same name.
The song reached number 30 in the UK singles chart and is known for its repetitive guitar riff.
They also had two further hits with Foxhole and Prove It.
Television were one of the first punk bands to play at the legendary CBGB’s club in New York.
The venue would go on to launch the careers of bands such as Blondie, Patti Smith and The Ramones.
It had previously been intended to host country and bluegrass music.
The band’s line-up on their first album was made up of Lloyd, singer and guitarist Tom Verlaine, bass player Fred Smith and drummer Billy Ficca.
Verlaine died in 2023, aged 73, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and Television disbanded following his death.
Alongside his work with the band, Lloyd also released nine studio albums beginning with 1979’s Alchemy.
He married his wife Sheila O’Keefe in 2010, he also had a son named Dylan.
2027 Oscar predictions: animated feature
Major American studio releases vie against festival favorites in the animated feature competition.
“Quite a few films from a strong Cannes, such as ‘In Waves,’ ‘Iron Boy’ and ‘Tangles,’ will aim to break into this category,” predicts Robert Daniels.
“The mind-blowing stop-motion masterpiece ‘Wildwood’ is my top contender at this point,” enthuses Dave Karger.
“ ‘Minions and Monsters’ might be an outside pick here but it’s probably the most astute piece of contemporary Hollywood commentary this year,” declares Katie Walsh. “Give Pierre Coffin his flowers!”
Glenn Whipp, meanwhile, sighs that “Toy Story 5” is a top contender: It “was perfectly fine and completely unnecessary, unless you’re a Disney shareholder. It will be the category’s most-seen movie and sports one Taylor Swift song released this year that critics don’t outright despise. That might be enough for the Oscar.”
1. “Wildwood”
2. “Toy Story 5”
T3. “Iron Boy”
T3. “Minions and Monsters”
5. “Ray Gunn”
6. “Tangles”
RogerEbert.com
Robert Daniels
1. “Wildwood”
2. “Toy Story 5”
3. “Iron Boy”
4. “Decorado”
5. “Tangles”
“Quite a few films from a strong Cannes, such as ‘In Waves,’ ‘Iron Boy,’ and ‘Tangles,’ will aim to break into this category. But for now, you can pretty much guarantee that ‘Toy Story 5,’ a return to form for the franchise, and the latest Laika film, ‘Wildwood,’ are in.”
Turner Classic Movies
Dave Karger
1. “Wildwood”
2. “Toy Story 5”
3. “Ray Gunn”
4. “High in the Clouds”
5. “Iron Boy”
“The mind-blowing stop-motion masterpiece ‘Wildwood’ is my top contender at this point, followed as always by a strong entry from Disney/Pixar (‘Toy Story 5’). Meanwhile, former Pixar filmmaker Brad Bird could also find himself back in the running with his Netflix title, ‘Ray Gunn.’ ”
Los Angeles Times
Amy Nicholson
1. “Wildwood”
2. “Minions and Monsters”
3. “Toy Story 5”
4. “Ray Gunn”
5. “High in the Clouds”
“The latest Minions movie was made as much for cineastes as children. So be it. Pierre Coffin’s lozenge-shaped horde has already schooled kids in the joys of (near) silent filmmaking. What a bonus to see them romp with Georges Méliès.”
IndieWire
Anne Thompson
1. “Toy Story 5”
2. “Wildwood”
3. “Iron Boy”
4. “Hoppers”
5. “Ray Gunn”
“The field is led by Pixar’s runaway blockbuster sequel ‘Toy Story 5’ and original eco-feature ‘Hoppers.’ Laika’s stop-motion ‘Wildwood’ is also grabbing raves.”
Tribune News Service
Katie Walsh
1. “Toy Story 5”
2. “Minions and Monsters”
3. “Forgotten Island”
4. “Wildwood”
5. “In Waves”
“ ‘Minions and Monsters’ might be an outside pick here but it’s probably the most astute piece of contemporary Hollywood commentary this year — a loving tribute to old Hollywood threatened by an out-of-control, all-consuming surveillance blob that swallows companies whole. Give Pierre Coffin his flowers!”
Los Angeles Times
Glenn Whipp
1. “Wildwood”
2. “Toy Story 5”
3. “Tangles”
4. “Iron Boy”
5. “Hoppers”
“ ‘Toy Story 5’ was perfectly fine and completely unnecessary, unless you’re a Disney shareholder. It will be the category’s most-seen movie and sports one Taylor Swift song released this year that critics don’t outright despise. That might be enough for the Oscar.”
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‘Please take the job!’ – Trump asks UFC boss Dana White to be White House press secretary
US President Donald Trump has asked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) boss Dana White to be White House press secretary, in a social media post.
“Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Dana, please take the job!”
It was unclear whether the president’s public job offer was genuine, although White said later on Saturday: “I’m going to meet with him, we have a meeting on Monday”.
The vacancy for White House press secretary has been open since mid-October, when Katie Zacharia quit less than five days into the job.
Trump’s post on Saturday afternoon comes after his fellow Republicans were routed in the US midterm elections, losing their congressional majorities.
The president called White “a violent Fighter and Warrior” and asked that he bring a number of high-profile UFC fighters with him on the job “even though some are not from our Country”.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote, alongside photos of the six fighters.
Following Trump’s post, White posted an Instagram photo of himself behind the lectern in the White House press briefing room.
“On to the next chapter,” White wrote, though it was unclear if the post was tongue-in-cheek.
“Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite!” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X, as he shared the president’s message.
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Haitians cheer El Salvador’s Bukele amid gang war | Armed Groups
Some Haitians have cheered on El Salvadorian troops deployed to fight gangs which have almost taken control of the Haitian capital. El Salvador’s Bukele promised to wipe out the gangs after four of its citizens were kidnapped.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
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Kent M20 crash injures two after more than 30 vehicles collide
More than 30 vehicles were involved in a collision which left two people seriously injured on the M20 in Kent late on Saturday, police say.
Officers were called to the scene at around 18:41 on the London-bound carriageway between junctions eight and nine, near Hollingbourne, Maidstone.
Eleven people were cared for by paramedics and two taken to hospital, Kent Fire and Rescue Service said.
An air ambulance crew, three fire engines and a “technical rescue unit” were sent to the scene, where National Highways said “thick fog” had been confirmed.
The road was shut in both directions early on Sunday and was likely to remain closed “for several hours while recovery and clear up operations continue”, the agency said.
Kent Police said one of the two people seriously injured had been taken to a hospital locally, and the other to a London hospital.
“Other drivers have sustained injuries not believed to be serious,” it said in a statement.
“Closures are likely to remain overnight while the incident is dealt with.”
The force has asked anyone with information about the incident or dashcam footage to come forward.
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James Talarico, senator-elect of Texas, addresses Trump in ‘SNL’ cold open
After this week’s major wins by the Democratic Party in the midterm elections, it’s no surprise that the cold open on “Saturday Night Live” was political in nature.
But there was one surprise guest: The new senator-elect of Texas, James Talarico.
The cold open began with a conversation between Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (Kenan Thompson) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (Sarah Sherman), the minority leaders of the House and Senate (and possible future majority leaders), respectively, as they celebrated their party’s victory, including flipping Texas blue — for which they took credit. (Schumer: “That was all me. I found the candidates, I recruited them. And as a show of respect, they begged me not to appear at their campaign events.”)
Jeffries pledged that their first order of business would be to march up to President Trump and tell him, “Hey, knock it off, Buster.”
But Trump (James Austin Johnson), not one to be left out, interrupted to take the credit for the Democratic victories instead — thanks to the “horrible economy and terrible war.” “So in the words of Moana’s big fat friend, ‘You’re Welcome,’” he said.
After an appearance from J.D. Vance (Jeremy Culhane) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost), plus Trump’s complaints about having to work with millennials and the return of their optimism, he began listing some of the newly elected senators who would be arriving in Washington: “Jon Ossoff, or as I call him Thinky Herman. Abdul El-Sayed, or as I call him, Mamdani for men. And of course, down in Texas, Talafreako.” Talarico then stepped into frame to a roar of applause and cheers from the audience, leading to this exchange:
Talarico: “Hi America, I am James Talarico, the guy who has been texting you everyday asking for $5.”
Trump: “In this economy, who can blame you.”
Talarico: “But I think Mr. President, if we can work together, we can make life better for everyday Americans. It’s clear people want something new. They want something different. I’m talking of course about ‘SNL’s’ cold opens. How many of these Trump freezes are they going to do?”
Trump: “Infinity.”
Talarico: “Well in that case, there is only one thing to say: Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night Live.”
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Kings can’t keep pace with Sidney Crosby and Penguins in loss
Sidney Crosby scored two goals while moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL’s career scoring list, and the Pittsburgh Penguins ended their skid at four games with a 5-2 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.
The 39-year-old Crosby broke his tie with Kings great Marcel Dionne by scoring his 1,772nd point when Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer deflected in off him in the second period. Crosby added a late empty-net goal, diving face-first on the ice to tip it home.
Tommy Novak got two goals in the first six minutes and Egor Chinakhov also scored for the Penguins (6-9-2), who moved Crosby and the 40-year-old Malkin onto their top line before the game in an effort to spark their struggling lineup. Sergei Murashov made 26 saves as Pittsburgh opened a three-game California trip with just its third win in 11 games.
Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped only 14 shots for the Kings (5-8-2), who have lost two of the last three during their seven-game homestand.
Novak put the Penguins ahead less than two minutes after the opening faceoff after controlling a rebound in front. Less than 3½ minutes later, he carried the puck into the zone and followed behind Ben Kindel to cash in another rebound for his seventh career multi-goal game.
Perry scored midway through the first when Mikey Anderson’s high shot off the end boards ricocheted down toward the crease, where he slapped it out of mid-air for the second goal of his 22nd NHL season.
Chinakhov scored on a power play late in the first to put the Penguins up 3-1, but Laferriere scored on a power play early in the second.
Artemi Panarin appeared to score a tying rebound goal for the Kings late in the second period, but it was disallowed after a video review determined the Kings’ zone entry had been offside. Moments later, Erik Karlsson’s backhand pass set up Malkin’s shot off Crosby.
Up next for the Kings: vs. Nashville at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.
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Drone attack on Colombian army base kills three soldiers and wounds 16 | Conflict News
Colombian President de la Espriella says those behind the attack in Santa Rosa del Sur will have ‘nowhere to hide’.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
A drone attack on a military base in northern Colombia has killed three soldiers and wounded at least 16, the country’s armed forces said.
The Colombian military said in a statement on Saturday that the attack hit a base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range. Authorities have not said who carried out the strike, the latest in a series of attacks on security forces as violence rises across rural parts of the country.
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The area is rich in gold mines and has long been disputed by rebel armed groups including the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and smaller groups led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Footage shared on social media showed clouds of smoke rising from the base after three explosions, and soldiers taking cover in shelters made of sandbags.
“Those who were behind this attack… will have nowhere to hide,” President Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X. “Every attack against our soldiers strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia.”
Rising violence
Violence has intensified in several rural areas since de la Espriella, a conservative, took office in August.
The president cancelled peace talks with rebel groups and has taken a confrontational approach, including more air strikes, deploying more troops in some cities and creating joint task forces to defend strategic assets such as a pipeline that runs from the Caribbean coast to central Colombia.
De la Espriella’s government argues that armed groups used ceasefires granted by the previous government to consolidate their grip on rural areas, where they tax local businesses and profit from the drug trade.
Some groups have responded by stepping up attacks on the country’s armed forces.
Last week, a military base in Tolima province was targeted with missiles made from gas canisters. The attack killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby.
Police in the border city of Cucuta have been attacked several times with remotely activated bombs.
State forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in Colombia in the four weeks to October 16, a 9 percent increase on last year’s four-week average, according to ACLED, a group that monitors armed conflicts.
A 2016 peace deal with FARC led to the demobilisation of more than 14,000 fighters, but smaller groups have since fought over the rebels’ former territory.
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Plane clips truck during emergency landing on busy Florida road | Newsfeed
A small plane has made an emergency landing on a busy Florida road, much to the shock of drivers. The Cessna, which suffered mechanical failure, clipped a pickup truck, but no injuries were reported.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
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‘Passing Strange’ premieres in L.A. at Pasadena Playhouse
Twenty years after its world premiere in Northern California — and subsequent success on Broadway and in London — “Passing Strange,” the quintessential L.A. coming-of-age musical, is finally arriving in Southern California, staging its long-awaited area premiere at Pasadena Playhouse on Sunday.
Exactly why it has taken so long for this acclaimed, Tony Award-winning show — much of it set in the heart of Los Angeles — to come here is something its creators, the artist and singer-songwriter, Stew, and Heidi Rodewald (along with this writer) have been scrutinizing since 2009, the year after it opened to critical acclaim on Broadway.
“Passing Strange” tells the story of a young, artistic “Youth” (that’s actually his name in the show) who rejects his single mother and the “Black, middle class dream” of 1970s Los Angeles in favor of leaving home to find “The Real,” an elusive state of mind and authenticity he craves.
The reasons “The Real” took so long to land in its hometown began to make sense during a recent group Zoom with the “Passing Strange” brain trust, including Stew, Rodewald and its new director Zhailon Levingston.
“At my age, at this point, I think it is absolute poetry that this gentleman [Levingston] is the one who brings it to our hometown,” said Stew, pointing to a serendipity of timing.
Director Zhailon Levingston sits outside before a rehearsal of “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse. Levingston recently won a Tony Award for directing, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Levingston is the 32-year-old theatrical wunderkind who won this year’s Tony Award for best director, for the groundbreaking revival of “Cats” on Broadway by re-imagining the long-running ‘80s smash as a ballroom drag competition.
Getting Levingston to do this revival of “Passing Strange” as his immediate follow-up to “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” is a coup for Pasadena Playhouse’s Artistic Director Danny Feldman. Feldman calls Levingston a rare talent, who’s “generous and fearless.” Or as Stew says more bluntly: “Zhailon’s got the receipts. … it’s the right time because it’s him. We made this play for him — literally, I don’t mean figuratively — because me and Heidi don’t make work necessarily for the contemporary time, we make it for the future.”
One of the main themes of “Passing Strange” is how knowledge is awkwardly handed down from one generation to another. In a key scene, the narrator describes a mentor, Franklin, whose words and wisdom wash over Youth “like a Bach fugue creeping out of a cheap car stereo.” In conversation together, Stew and Levingston (the former is twice the latter’s age) seem entirely in sync, having both clearly absorbed the show’s mantra: “Just ask the song.”
Actors rehearse “Passing Strange,” which is based in downtown L.A. but has never been produced in Southern California until now.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Stew says he learned the virtues of “asking the song” while casting the original production at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2006. The show would go on to play 165 performances on Broadway, but it wasn’t a traditional book musical — it played more like a cabaret or rock experience. “When we had everybody audition, they had to sing a punk rock song,” Stew recounts. “That was the fast track to figure out if they could do what we needed, or not.”
That original Berkeley cast, including Eisa Davis, Daniel Breaker, Rebecca Naomi Jones and Coleman Domingo, won the 2008 Obie Award for ensemble at New York’s Public Theater before transferring to Broadway. That cast was a big part of the show’s success, so much so that Levingston calls them “the Avengers of Black talent.”
Spike Lee filmed the show’s penultimate night at the Belasco Theater. In 2010, PBS broadcast it as part of “Great Performances,” which is how a then 15-year-old Levingston learned about “The Real.”
“My grandmother’s bedroom had a TV and that was kind of my refuge as a kid. I happened to turn on PBS,” Levingston recalls, “and it just so happens that was the night that they were airing ‘Passing Strange.’ I wasn’t looking for it. I just clicked on the television, and the opening credits were happening. I stayed glued. I didn’t leave. I didn’t pee. I just watched it.”
Levingston was hooked. “It became my favorite show ever,” he says, “I had two birthday parties designated to my friends watching it.”
Composer Heidi Rodewald and writer Stew attend the premiere and panel discussion of “Passing Strange” during the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival at Directors Guild Theater on May 2, 2009, in New York City.
(Amy Sussman / Getty Images)
But more importantly, it made him ask questions. “I then went to school the next day. … I got a dictionary and I looked up every word I didn’t know. I looked up every reference I didn’t know,” Levingston says. “I didn’t know who James Baldwin was. I didn’t know who Josephine Baker was. I didn’t know the significance of the Berlin Wall. I had never been out of the country, let alone Louisiana.”
None of the creators of “Passing Strange” would wince at the musical being described as a “bildungsroman,” or a classic coming-of-age story. Its title is derived from Shakespeare’s “Othello,” and the show earned Joycean comparisons, including to “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Black Man,” from critics.
“Passing Strange” pokes fun at the pretensions of youth, how a young person can know every indie rock album or French New Wave film and still be clueless about their own emotions and need for family. The truth and timelessness of Stew’s story — about a boy in the 1970s wanting to escape what he sees as L.A.’s “fishbowl of philistines” resonated so much for Levingston that he was inspired to escape his own fishbowl (Louisiana) for a life in Los Angeles, where he enrolled in AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Hollywood.
He lived in L.A. for four years, before making his name in theater back east. He had never dreamed of directing “Passing Strange,” saying, “it felt like too ‘full circle’ to actively pitch myself as the director.” But when he took a meeting with Pasadena’s Feldman: “I mentioned ‘Passing Strange,’ kind of as a secret menu option.”
Britton Smith, left, and Tanerélle in a rehearsal for “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
Feldman loved the idea, and now “Passing Strange” is here. Asked during a recent rehearsal whether he’s deconstructing or re-inventing the show as he did “Cats,” Levingston replied with an emphatic no.
“I didn’t want to put it on the moon … or create some kind of other, concept approach to ‘Passing Strange,’ that would make it too corny. The concept has to be the people,” he said.
Inspired by Stew, Levingston looked for actors with a punk vibe, because he “wanted a company that understood what it meant to lead a band, even if you’re not the Narrator or Stew, I wanted the authenticity of that kind of swagger.”
Ty Taylor plays Stew in the revival, along with a whole new cast. During a recent rehearsal, it was uncanny how these performers look and sound so different — yet still carry the same fiery sense of invention as the actors who created the roles. It was also moving to see that Stew and Rodewald’s Tony Award-winning book still delivers laughs and pathos two decades on. Their show about passing the torch of cultural enlightenment hasn’t lost its edge — even as it is being handed off to another generation.
Actors rehearse “Passing Strange” at the Pasadena Playhouse. The rock musical has played on Broadway and is staging it’s Southern California premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
During the Zoom interview, Rodewald noted that the show’s original director, Annie Dorsen, gave them the confidence “to not try to please everyone,” to just make something they thought was cool.
“And then we went, and we did it,” Stew adds, “and now it’s perfect that it’s happening here. It’s the right director. It’s the perfect cast.”
In this way, the show has not only come home to Los Angeles, but it has also come full circle.
“I was talking to a cast member the other day, and I was like, ‘I just try to make theater that my friends like.’ But now I feel like I’m trying to make this show as a thank you letter to Heidi and Stew,” Levingston said, as he sat in the house seats at the Playhouse during rehearsal.
Indeed, rather than re-imagining “Passing Strange,” Levingston dug down to the show’s roots, when Stew and Rodewald traveled from gig to gig as musicians. “One of my earliest images thinking about the show,” Levingston says, “is that I wanted it to feel for the audience as if a bus tour of artists from a band backed up here and just dumped everything from the road onto the stage because the tour schedule said we had to be in Pasadena tonight.”
Will L.A. at long last embrace “The Real” or is this revival of “Passing Strange” looking to move to New York or elsewhere?
“Just ask the song,” Levingston says with a smile.
“I did not do this show because I had some long runway vision of how to take it from Pasadena to Broadway or Chicago,” he says, “but obviously, I want everyone in the world to see it.”
Levingston then mentions the number “Arlington Hill,” which is about being torn between where you come from and where you want to be.
Levingston quotes from the scene, “The Narrator looks back and says to Franklin, ‘Thank you, Brother’…’I want to say thank you for giving me this fugue.’ ”
He then gestures to the theater around us, “That’s the intention here.”
‘Passing Strange’
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 29.
Tickets: Start at $40
Running time: 2 hour, 30 minutes (with one 15 minute intermission)
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Galaxy lose to Real Salt Lake, miss playoffs again
SANDY, Utah — Sergi Solans and Zach Booth scored early and Real Salt Lake clinched a playoff spot while eliminating the Galaxy with a 2-1 victory Saturday.
Real Salt Lake (13-15-6) snags the ninth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference and will travel to Seattle for a wild-card matchup with the Sounders. The winner will square off against the top-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps in the best-of-three first round.
The Galaxy (11-12-11) have missed the past two postseasons after winning the MLS Cup in 2024.
Solans and Booth scored three minutes apart to give Real Salt Lake a 2-0 lead in the 13th minute.
Solans used assists from Noel Caliskan and defender Philip Quinton in the 10th minute to score for the 14th time in his first season in the league. Nine of Caliskan’s 11 career assists and all three of Quinton’s have come this year.
Booth scored unassisted three minutes later for a 2-0 lead. It was the first goal for the 22-year-old rookie midfielder in his 18th appearance and seventh start.
The Galaxy cut it to 2-1 in the 40th minute thanks to an own goal by Real Salt Lake defender Luc de Fougerolles, making his seventh appearance in the league.
Rafael Cabral totaled one save for Real Salt Lake.
JT Marcinkowski saved six shots for the Galaxy.
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More than 140,000 rally as new protests against rising costs sweep France | Protests News
Tear gas fired in Paris and Lyon as interior minister warns authorities are ‘ready and waiting’ for rioters and looters.
Published On 7 Nov 20267 Nov 2026
Tens of thousands of people have protested across France for a fourth consecutive weekend, in another show of anger against the government.
About 146,000 people rallied across the country to protest against the rising cost of living on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris, the Ministry of the Interior said.
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Unions put the figure at 250,000 protesters nationwide, with 75,000 in the capital.
The demonstrations come just days after an estimated 575,000 people took part in a rally organised by trade unions.
About 70,000 security personnel were deployed across the country on Saturday, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warning that authorities would be “ready and waiting” for anyone engaging in rioting or looting.
Clashes broke out between police and some protesters in the capital, Paris, despite a lower turnout than in previous weeks.
Footage posted online by the CLPRESS news agency showed police charging at protesters and using tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds. A police officer was also seen hitting a protester with a baton.
Police said a group of 200 individuals attacked officers as they were arresting a man who had set fire to a rubbish bin in a square in Paris, the AFP news agency reported.
In the southeastern city of Lyon, police also fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre who were blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
Reporting from the French capital, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said people working in a variety of jobs attended Saturday’s demonstrations in support of the student-led movement.
“I spoke to one railway worker who told me it was really important to be here today. He said not only was it important to protest against the cost of living, but that it was also important to support young people,” Butler said.
“There is no doubt that the trade unions, who’ve been weakened in recent years, really feel there is a sense of momentum,” she said. “Many of the workers that I’ve been speaking to say this is their time to really press the government for higher salaries and better facilities.”
The demonstrations in France began in September over poor conditions and a lack of resources at French high schools. The protests later expanded to encompass a host of grievances, linked to worsening living standards. The movement continues to be led by France’s students, but people of all ages have been taking part.
This weekend’s protests take place against the backdrop of France’s upcoming presidential election, due to be held in April. Polls put far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Rally first, followed by far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon of the France Unbowed party.
Melenchon unveiled his programme on Saturday to some 17,000 supporters and promised to do the opposite of incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.
He pledged to stimulate the economy by capitalising on consumer spending and “through billions [of euros] that already exist”, adding that these savings “must be channelled towards our country’s ecological and social needs”.
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US launches task force to disrupt Iran’s land-based supply routes | US-Israel war on Iran News
The operation is to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport weapons and other materials, US Central Command says.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
The United States military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced a plan to block Iran’s land-based supply routes, expanding its months-long naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced on Saturday that it had established a new task force “to prevent Iran from using ground routes to transport advanced weapons and other materials”.
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Task Force Iron Gate will reinforce “the success of our ironclad blockade against Iran at sea”, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.
Based in Tampa, Florida, the task force will coordinate with other US government agencies “on preventing the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea”, CENTCOM said.
Michael Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant defence secretary for the Middle East, told Al Jazeera the task force’s role will be to find out where “weapons systems are coming in, how they could potentially be cut off”, and how “Iran is transporting its energy”.
He added that if US President Donald Trump orders an escalation to the war, it will likely be attacks on this “series of targets”.
“Unlike Operation Epic Fury, which primarily focuses on military targets, I think these targets will be focused on economic and infrastructure targets, as part of this comprehensive plan to cut the regime off from its ability to fight and ability to fund itself,” Mulroy told Al Jazeera.
CENTCOM separately said on Saturday that it had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.
A US “military aircraft fired precision munitions at the stern of St. Kitts-flagged M/V Huda, disabling the ship after CENTCOM forces directed the crew to abandon targeted spaces”, it said in a statement.
“Enforcement actions since July have resulted in U.S. forces redirecting 147 commercial vessels that complied”, and disabling “five merchant ships that refused to comply”, it added.
Explosions reported
On Saturday, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported the sound of two explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz.
IRNA also reported the sound of “several explosions” in the cities of Jask, Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
Trump confirmed new strikes on Qeshm Island a day earlier, but downplayed them as “minor”. He added that Tehran still wants a deal as Qatari-mediated talks continue.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy reported that two oil tankers struck mines near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
Iranian state television, citing the navy, said the tankers had passed through an “unsafe” part of the strait with their navigation systems off. They “suffered severe damage and stopped after hitting sea mines”.
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Richard Lloyd, guitarist for NYC rockers Television, dead at 75
Richard Lloyd, the fiery guitarist of the influential New York rock band Television, has died. He was 75.
Lloyd died on Saturday in Chattanooga, Tenn., from cholangiocarcinoma, a bile duct cancer, according to a statement from Lloyd’s family to the New York Times.
Lloyd’s contributions to Television — a proto-punk band with intricate hailstorms of guitar — helped make them one of the city’s most important if briefly tenured bands. In a time when peers such as the New York Dolls and Velvet Underground were upending rock and roll with glamour and arty disaffection, Television fulfilled the genre’s promises of both swaggering virtuosity and restless reinvention.
Lloyd, born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh, moved to New York City with his mother and grew up in Greenwich Village. He attended Manhattan’s acclaimed Stuyvesant High School, but dropped out to pursue music.
Television formed in 1973 after Lloyd met front man Tom Verlaine, then-bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca through Terry Ork, an Andy Warhol scenester who managed the legendary film bookstore and memorabilia shop Cinemabilia, where Verlaine and Hell worked. The band was an outlier at the grimy local country and bluegrass dive bar CBGB (the members had to convince owner Hilly Kristal to book them). Yet the group would help transform that club and Max’s Kansas City into hubs for punk bands and the avant-garde such as Blondie, the Ramones and Talking Heads.
While sharing little in common with dueling-guitar acts such as the Allman Brothers Band or ’70s contemporaries the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, Television also drew its power from the preternatural rapport between Verlaine and Lloyd’s instruments. With its oblique lyricism and jazz-infused chords, layered over a twitchy rhythm section and 10-minute-long jams, Television was unlikely to be a commercial hit.
Yet the band impressed peers such as Lou Reed and David Bowie, and signed to the major label Elektra. Its 1977 debut LP “Marquee Moon” is universally considered a rock masterpiece, landing at No. 107 on Rolling Stone’s ranking of the top albums of all time. The dramatic trills of “Venus” and moaning peals of “Torn Curtain” showcased Lloyd’s natural guitar language with Verlaine, adding up to an unmistakable and irreplaceable sound.
The band released one follow-up, 1978’s “Adventure.” But Lloyd, who had long struggled with mental health issues, was also suffering from drug addiction, and conflicts with Verlaine led to the band’s breakup.
Lloyd would go on to have a robust solo career, with nine albums under his own name, and performances on records by Matthew Sweet and John Doe of the punk band X. Television briefly reunited to perform at the 1992 Glastonbury Festival, and released a new self-titled album the same year.
Beyond its own career, Television became a key inspiration for Sonic Youth and Geese, which shared Television’s downtown panache and coils of guitar noise.
Lloyd’s survivors include his wife, Sheila, his brother, Eric and his son, Dylan.
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Chev Clarke beats Chris Billam-Smith at London’s Copper Box arena
Former cruiserweight world champion Chris Billam-Smith was knocked down and stopped for the first time in his career as Chev Clarke won their all-British non-title fight on Saturday.
Londoner Clarke landed a big right hand at the start of the seventh round and although Billam-Smith beat the count, he was down again moments later after a barrage of punches.
The contest was allowed to continue but the Bournemouth fighter looked unsteady on his legs and when Clarke connected with two more blows, the referee stepped in.
Billam-Smith immediately protested against the decision, while Clarke stood in the middle of the ring shrugging his shoulders.
Clarke moves to 13 wins with two defeats and inflicts the third professional defeat for Billam-Smith who also lost to Gilberto Ramirez in 2024 and Richard Riakporhe in 2019.
“I do what champions do,” said Clarke, who also beat Billam-Smith when they met in the amateur ranks a decade ago.
“I’m happy. Arsenal won and I won. My training camp was good and you saw that in the ring. I’ll take all-comers going forward.”
The likes of heavyweight Johnny Fisher, Traitors star King Kenny and strongman Eddie Hall were all spotted watching on from ringside in a Copper Box arena that was far from full, with just the lower tier of seats open for fans.
After a slow start to the contest with lots of holding, Clarke looked the sharper man as he landed some clean shots on the former world champion.
In the second round, the Londoner landed a big overhand right to the side of Billam-Smith’s head. Clarke also connected in the third round with a big uppercut and an overhand right that snapped back Billam-Smith’s head.
The former world champion, struggling to find his rhythm, was caught by another uppercut before Billam-Smith responded with a short right hook that made Clarke stumble back to his corner.
But in the seventh round Clarke broke Billam-Smith down, scoring two quick knockdowns before the referee intervened.
Fight promoter Dana White said after the fight that he felt the decision to stop the fight might have been a little premature.
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Egypt sacks winning football coach after wives’ scandal | Football
The Egyptian Football Association has sacked national team coach Hossam Hassan, cutting short a promising tenure after a historic run to the Round of 16 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Hassan’s marital issues had spilled into the public eye causing concerns over the team’s image.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
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Trump asks UFC chief Dana White to be White House press secretary | Donald Trump News
Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO says he will meet with the US president on Monday to discuss the offer.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) chief executive Dana White has said he will meet with Donald Trump after the US president offered him the job of White House press secretary.
Speaking at a new conference after a boxing event in London on Saturday, White said he would meet with Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the president’s offer.
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“Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Saturday. “Dana, please take the job!”
Trump also requested that White “bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country”.
Trump listed and posted pictures of six current and former UFC title holders to join White: Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov from Russia’s Dagestan region; Americans Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and “Kayla Harris”, likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and Amanda Nunes, a Brazilian who became a US citizen last year.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote.
The White House press secretary role has been vacant since Katie Zacharia’s tenure ended last month after just five days.
Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down from the role at the end of August.
White and Trump first worked together in the early 2000s, but they grew closer since the UFC chief publicly backed Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
In recent years, Trump has attended several UFC events, and in June, the White House hosted a night of UFC fights as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.
The White House press office already has a former UFC spokesperson among its ranks: Director of Communications Steven Cheung, who worked for White’s organisation from 2013 to 2016.
Cheung shared the president’s message on X and said, “Hell yeah! Do it, @DanaWhite! It’ll just be like old times!”
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Strictly Come Dancing 2026 LIVE: Fans fume over ‘undermarking’ as exit ‘sealed’ for show favourite
Amy Dowden MBE on Instagram: “A year ago today, I had just made it home from hospital in time for Strictly, after undergoing another mastectomy. 🎀 The start of November over the last three years hasn’t been easy. It’s been a time of year I’ve dreaded, bringing back so many emotions, memories and challenges. But fast forward a year, and I couldn’t be prouder of how far I’ve come , of my body and my incredible Strictly family, who have supported me every step of the way.💖 What an incredible show after such an amazing week I’ve had! Feeling truly grateful for everything! 🙏🎀 Life really is precious. Never take a moment for granted. Remember to get out there and LIVE life! 💖💖”
19K likes, 176 comments – amy_dowden on November 7, 2026: “A year ago today, I had just made it home from hospital in time for Strictly, after undergoing another mastectomy. 🎀 The start of November over the last three years hasn’t been easy. It’s been a time of year I’ve dreaded, bringing back so many emotions, memories and challenges. But fast forward a year, and I couldn’t be prouder of how far I’ve come , of my body and my incredible Strictly family, who have supported me every step of the way.💖 What an incredible show after such an amazing week I’ve had! Feeling truly grateful for everything! 🙏🎀 Life really is precious. Never take a moment for granted. Remember to get out there and LIVE life! 💖💖”.
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Newsom appoints former aide convicted in domestic violence case to state commission
Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Nathan “Nate” Ballard, a former aide sentenced in connection with a domestic violence case, to the State Historical Resources Commission.
Ballard, 57, of Mill Valley, will serve alongside eight other commissioners tasked with designating state historical landmarks and preserving the state’s cultural heritage, following the appointment made Friday evening.
In 2020, Ballard was arrested after an incident at an upscale resort where the Napa County district attorney’s office said he pushed his then-wife into a glass door and held a pillow over his four-year-old daughter’s head. The following year, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor corporal injury against his spouse and child endangerment, according to court records.
He was sentenced to four years’ probation and initially ordered to stay away from his ex-wife and two children for six years, which was later reduced to two years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ballard was Newsom’s communications director from 2007 to 2010, when the outgoing governor was mayor of San Francisco. He previously worked in similar roles for the Democratic National Committee and the California Democratic Party, and as John Kerry’s California press secretary during his 2004 presidential run. He now works as an attorney in private practice and runs a public relations firm.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Newsom said the governor “considers the experience, qualifications and suitability for each post in making appointments.”
“He believes that abuse of any individual is unacceptable, and that those who commit such conduct should face accountability,” the statement continued. “He also believes in second chances.”
Ballard, who grew up in Davis, told The Times he applied for the position and looks forward to returning to public service. He described the need “to preserve the things that we love so much about California, and also to alleviate some of the pressures that we’re feeling on housing costs.”
Ballard added that he and the governor have known each other for decades and worked together through “tough times.”
“It’s no surprise that my appointment is a little controversial and I’m grateful to have his support,” he said.
Some have criticized the governor’s move.
Ivy Lee, the head of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office for Victims’ Rights, told Mission Local, which broke the story, “Why elevate perpetrators of abuse?”
“When people in power do that, it shows us what they really think about survivors. And it’s not much,” she said. “Survivors deserve better.”
Nadia Rahman, former president of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, told the outlet that the appointment was “egregious.”
“He should not be appointed to a body,” she said. “This sets him off on a road of normalizing his behavior and reintroducing him to powerful political circles in California.”
During a long career in politics, “I didn’t think twice about exploiting my opponent’s biggest weakness when I was in the middle of a policy battle,” Ballard said when asked about the pushback. “So when I hear somebody speaking up with conviction about an issue like this, I understand where they’re coming from.”
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High school girls’ tennis: Southern Section playoff scores
By Los Angeles Times staff
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ TENNIS
SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
First Round
DIVISION 1
Corona Del Mar, bye
Mira Costa 10, Harvard-Westlake 8
Orange Lutheran 10, Palos Verdes 8
Portola 12, Westlake 6
Second Round
DIVISION 2
Foothill 14, Sage Hill 4
Campbell Hall 15, Ayala 3
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Woodbridge
Irvine University 15, Marlborough 3
Calabasas 12, Aliso Niguel 6
Cerritos 10, Mater Dei 8
Cate 13, Newport Harbor 5
Agoura 10, Tesoro 8
DIVISION 3
San Marino 14, Long Beach Poly 4
West Torrance 10, Cypress 8
Fountain Valley 10, Oak Park 8
Pasadena Poly 13, Brentwood 5
Corona Santiago 10, West Ranch 8
Burbank 11, Walnut 7
Flintridge Prep 12, Diamond Bar 6
Archer School 9, Troy 9 (Archer wins on games)
DIVISION 4
Capistrano Valley 13, Culver City 5
Mission Viejo 16, Valencia 2
Westridge 13, Liberty 5
Dos Pueblos 13, Riverside North 5
Keppel 13, Yucaipa 5
CAMS 10, Chaminade 8
Arlington 10, La Serna 8
Western Christian 12, Rowland 6
DIVISION 5
Golden Valley 9, Buckley 9 (Golden Valley wins on games)
Esperanza 11, Bishop Montgomery 7
Long Beach Wilson 14, Cerritos Valley Christian 4
Laguna Blanca 13, Burbank Burroughs 5
La Salle 14, Chaparral 4
Simi Valley 10, Village Christian 8
Thacher 11, San Marcos 7
Santa Barbara 15, La Canada 3
DIVISION 6
Montclair 10, Century 8
Segerstrom 12, Western 6
Carpinteria 9, Brea Olinda 9 (Carpinteria wins on games)
Katella 11, Glendale 7
St. Margaret’s 13, Ridgecrest Burroughs 5
Maranatha 14, Westminster 4
Orange County Pacifica Christian 10, Lakewood St. Joseph 8
Downey 10, Gahr 8
DIVISION 7
Redlands East Valley 11, Garden Grove Santiago 7
Royal 12, El Modena 6
Castaic 12, Alhambra 6
Mayfair 13, Corona 5
Canoga Park AGBU 18, Temescal Canyon 0
Cajon 9, Summit 9 (Cajon wins on games)
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 12, Tahquitz 6
Milken 14, Azusa 4
DIVISION 8
Granite Hills 11, YULA 7
Carter 10, Pasadena 8
Santa Paula 11, Riverside Notre Dame 7
Foothill Tech 12, de Toledo 6
Lakeside 10, Palm Springs 8
Grand Terrace at Rio Mesa
Canyon Springs 10, Grand Terrace 8
Nordhoff 10, Costa Mesa 8
Rosemead 12, Magnolia 6
Note: Quarterfinals (Divisions 2-8) Nov. 9 at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Nov. 11 at higher seeds; Finals (Divisions 1-4) Nov. 13 at University of Redlands. Finals (Divisions 5-8) Nov. 13 at The Claremont Club.
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Israel’s president picks Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form next government | Israel Election 2026 News
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government, passing over the former army chief’s rival, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Herzog told Eisenkot of his decision on Saturday evening and will formally hand him the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday, the president’s spokesperson said.
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Herzog held consultations with political parties this week to decide who he would appoint to form a government after neither side secured a majority in the October 27 general election.
Some 67 lawmakers, including from Arab-led parties, endorsed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, to form the next government, while only 46 backed Netanyahu, the current prime minister.
Eisenkot will have 28 days – with a possible 14-day extension – to build a coalition of at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the minimum threshold for a government.
In the October election, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.
Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.
He could also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Herzog’s decision, said the president “took the predictable route” in selecting Eisenkot, as he had the highest number of recommendations.
“The hard work will begin now for Eisenkot to put together a government that can pass a vote of confidence at the Knesset that: one, will not break too many of the promises he made on the campaign trail; and two, that can survive the opposition of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu,” Odeh said.
If Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate another candidate. If the second nominee fails, a parliament majority can back a third candidate, who will be granted a final 14 days.
If, once again, no government is formed, a new election will be called within 90 days, with Netanyahu staying on as a caretaker prime minister.
United against Netanyahu government
Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023.
Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List – a coalition of Arab-led parties that holds 11 seats – told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Herzog’s decision was “expected”.
“We were concerned that the president would move towards a national unity government,” he said, referring to a proposed power-sharing agreement between Eisenkot and Netanyahu.
Instead, Arab-led parties endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate, granting him a “considerable margin”.
Tibi said he believes Eisenkot is headed for a minority government “with external support from the Arab parties”.
While this would not be a “dream government” for Arab-led parties, Tibi prioritised bringing down “the government of Netanyahu, [Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich”.
Hours before Herzog’s decision, Netanyahu had warned that a government formed by the opposition bloc with support from Arab-led parties would lead to Israel’s collapse.
“Such a government, dependent on Islamists, will dismantle the state of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and far worse than that,” Netanyahu said in a prerecorded video speech, echoing the language of far-right politicians who falsely claim parts of Europe have come under Islamic law.
Netanyahu “described us as supporters of terrorists and terrorism”, Tibi said. “My response to him is this: Netanyahu is the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, and the foremost supporter of terrorism, particularly Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.”
Al Jazeera’s Odeh noted that although Eisenkot has expressly said he does not wish to form a government with Arab-led parties, “they both share quite compelling reasons to get rid of Netanyahu”.
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Canary Islands’ El Hierro declares emergency amid migrant, refugee influx | Migration News
El Hierro asks Spanish government for help after more than 3,300 people arrived on boats since start of November.
Published On 8 Nov 20268 Nov 2026
Authorities of El Hierro, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, have declared an emergency and asked the government in Madrid for help after a surge in migrants and refugees arriving on boats.
“We are very concerned… by this sharp increase in arrivals,” Alpidio Armas, head of the governing council for El Hierro, one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants and refugees from West Africa, told Spanish television on Saturday.
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“This is precisely what has led us to declare an emergency in order to ensure a framework of cooperation with higher-level institutions.”
More than 3,300 people have arrived on the island in about 30 boats since the start of November, according to local authorities. El Hierro has about 11,400 residents.
Officials are seeking temporary accommodation for the new arrivals, while conditions at the island’s hospital have become “undesirable”, Armas said.
The situation is “absolutely unsustainable”, the Reuters news agency quoted Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, as saying on Friday.
Maritime rescue services rescued 3,261 migrants and refugees off the coast of the Canary Islands in the first six days of November.
Clavijo said the numbers were approaching the record levels seen in 2024, and on some days, the current pace was even higher.
Buses have been diverted to migration operations, and medical staff have been brought in from other islands, he said.
Deadly route
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings.
Two people were found dead on a boat heading for the Canaries this week, and five others are believed to have died during the voyage, according to the AFP news agency, citing survivor accounts.
At least nine migrants or refugees have died off the islands in recent weeks.
Arrivals reached a record of more than 46,000 in 2024, then fell sharply due to tighter surveillance and greater cooperation with countries of origin and transit.
Between January and October, 13,327 irregular migrants and refugees arrived by sea, 5.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year, according to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.
Patrols off Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco have pushed departures further south, from The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, making crossings longer.
Senegalese police said on Saturday that they intercepted 142 migrants, including women and young children, off Dakar.
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Television guitarist Richard Lloyd dies aged 75 after brave cancer battle
TELEVISION guitarist Richard Lloyd has died aged 75, after a brave battle with cancer as Smiths star Johnny Marr leads tributes.
Pennsylvania-born Lloyd appeared on all of the influential New York punk band’s studio albums.
Television are best known for Marquee Moon 1977, Adventure 1978 and their self-titled third LP released in 1992.
Lloyd was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer, in March this year.
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Sadly, a post on Television’s official X account announced: “We are so very sad that Richard Lloyd has today passed away at the age of 75.
“Deepest condolences to Sheila and to all of is family and friends.”
With Television, Lloyd’s style helped form the post punk and indie movements.
Bands such as Pixies, Sonic Youth and Gang Of Four credit Television as an influence.
Former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr lead tributes to Lloyd, posting touching words to his Instagram.
He said: “RIP Richard Lloyd. A seeker and finder and a true inspiration with and without the guitar.
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“It was an honour to know him and a blessing to have been a fan. Thank you Richard. Carry on my friend.”
Singer Lloyd Cole also paid tribute, posting on X: “I just heard. RIP Richard Lloyd.
“I only saw Television once – all those amazing riffs that drive the songs – Richard played them all.”
Television are best known for their 10-minute epic Marquee Moon, from the album of the same name.
The song reached number 30 in the UK singles chart and is known for its repetitive guitar riff.
They also had two further hits with Foxhole and Prove It.
Television were one of the first punk bands to play at the legendary CBGB’s club in New York.
The venue would go on to launch the careers of bands such as Blondie, Patti Smith and The Ramones.
It had previously been intended to host country and bluegrass music.
The band’s line-up on their first album was made up of Lloyd, singer and guitarist Tom Verlaine, bass player Fred Smith and drummer Billy Ficca.
Verlaine died in 2023, aged 73, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and Television disbanded following his death.
Alongside his work with the band, Lloyd also released nine studio albums beginning with 1979’s Alchemy.
He married his wife Sheila O’Keefe in 2010, he also had a son named Dylan.
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