death

What’s the one thing from your childhood that your mom threw away that haunts you to this day?

Ben Stiller has one, a souvenir from what today would be called a riot but back in the 1970s registered as perfectly normal behavior.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, host of The Envelope newsletter and the guy still holding out hope that those baseball cards are going to turn up in a box someday.

In this week’s newsletter, let’s look at what our Envelope cover star Ben Stiller misses.

Cover story: Ben Stiller has no time to waste

(Shayan Asgharnia / For The Times)

For this week’s cover story, Stiller and I talked a lot about his love for the New York Knicks, a passion kindled early and one that became an “addiction” this year as the team tried to win its first NBA championship since 1973. His dad, Jerry Stiller, took him to lot of games as a kid. Two of Jerry’s friends, Stanley Asofsky and Carnegie Deli co-owner Fred Klein, had season tickets, and they knew all the players and refs and would introduce them to Ben.

Jerry also took his son to baseball games, both the Yankees and the Mets. The Yankees were Ben’s favorite — though his commitment to them was nowhere near his love for the Knicks — and when they won the American League championship series in 1978, Stiller ran out onto the field with his friend Jonathan Harris, as one did in New York. (Or, really, anywhere else … but especially New York.) He even scooped up a chunk of the right-field turf and took it home with him on the D train.

“I had it in my room for two years,” Stiller says.

“And then,” I guessed, “your mom threw it away.”

“My mom threw it away,” Stiller affirms. To be fair to Anne Meara, the sod was old and crumbling and probably had bugs in it. And yet …

“It was a prized possession,” Stiller says. “I had it on a piece of tinfoil on a shelf. Maybe if I had been really lucky and had picked up a base, my mom wouldn’t have made me get rid of that.”

Stiller told me he wouldn’t be directing any episodes of “Severance’s” upcoming third season to free him up to make a feature film, a World War II survival story about a downed airman in occupied France who becomes involved with the French Resistance. Stiller has spent most of this year helping prep the third season and wants to be clear that the show is “a real priority.” But after a long break, he’s ready to return to feature filmmaking.

“Severance” star Adam Scott understands, though he finds it hard to imagine the set without Stiller. Scott remembers exactly what he told Stiller when they were shooting the jaw-dropping, mood-shifting Season 2 finale.

“I was just like, ‘Dude, this is our ‘Temple of Doom,’” Scott told me, referencing the second “Indiana Jones” movie. “And I was in absolute paradise the entire time, not just because ‘Temple of Doom’ is my favorite movie, but because we were getting to do it all. There’s the marching band. There’s a fight scene. There’s the running in the hall. We had the big scene where Mark talks to Outie.”

“And when we finished it, we were all so tired,” Scott continues. “But I could see how happy Ben was. It was such a showcase for him.”

And now, he’ll be returning to making movies — the one thing as a kid he always wanted to do.

Well, that and snag third base at Yankee Stadium.

Read more coverage of ‘Severance’

Which critics group will be the first to give Amy Madigan a prize for “Weapons”?

Might she be the standout of the summer, the one most deserving an award, other than the person who updated this billboard near LAX?

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. A forecast for a cosmic future in these parts? Hope, indeed, comes in many forms.

Madigan’s diabolical turn deserves a champion

Julia Garner and Josh Brolin in “Weapons.”

(Quantrell Colbert / Warner Bros. Pictures)

I’m going to tread lightly when it comes to spoilers for Zach Cregger’s horror movie “Weapons,” currently the No. 1 movie at the box office.

But I’m also of the mind that you should see “Weapons” knowing as little as possible about it. So anything I write could be considered a spoiler, though I should also note that I’m someone who never watches movie trailers and will go so far as to close my eyes and cover my ears in a theater to avoid them. Sometimes I think the only reason I’m still writing about movies is that the job allows me to see films in advance and not have them ruined. I love flying blind.

You probably know that “Weapons” follows what happens in an American town after 17 children disappear one night, all of them simultaneously running out the front doors of their homes, arms outstretched, at precisely 2:17 a.m. Cregger unravels the mystery from multiple, often overlapping points of view, calling to mind Paul Thomas Anderson’s audacious epic “Magnolia,” right down to the presence of a clumsy, mustachioed cop.

Well into the movie, we meet Madigan’s Aunt Gladys in a principal’s office at the school that the missing kids attended. All of the children were in the same class. Gladys says she is the aunt of the one child from the class who didn’t run off into night. There’s some understandable curiosity and concern over this boy, Alex (Cary Christopher, another standout in a very good year for child actors), and Gladys is here to reassure everyone that Alex — and his parents — are doing just fine.

Gladys is perhaps not the most reliable messenger. She is wearing a bright-red wig and multiple layers of makeup, a presentation that suggests she has spent a lifetime watching Bette Davis in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” Something is off, and, hoo boy, are we about to find out what that something is.

Madigan is excellent, disarming and adept at concealing, to a point, the hidden core of good ol’ Aunt Gladys. Again, I’m treading lightly. If you’ve seen it, as I’m sure many of you have, you know just how delightfully insane her work in the movie is.

Critics groups love to reward the delightfully insane. They also love to champion genres, like horror, that tend to be marginalized at the Oscars.

So I’d expect some group — perhaps New York, maybe L.A. — could be eager to plant a flag for Madigan as a much-deserved, out-of-the-box supporting actress choice. She’s 74, has enjoyed a fine career on stage and screen and, along with her husband, Ed Harris, made a principled stand (or sit) at the 1999 Academy Awards, refusing to applaud when Elia Kazan took the stage to receive an honorary Oscar.

It’s easy to get swept up in the success of “Weapons” and the countless stories sifting through its ending and themes. Once the film leaves theaters and the fall festival awards contenders start dropping, Madigan will need a champion or two to put her back into the conversation.

History might be on her side, though: Davis earned a lead actress Oscar nomination for “Baby Jane.” And Ruth Gordon won the supporting actress Oscar for “Rosemary’s Baby” for the same kind of deliciously diabolical turn that Madigan gives in “Weapons.”

Plus, you know Aunt Gladys was taking notes on Gordon’s cosmetic routine in “Rosemary’s Baby.”

I’ll be back in your inbox Monday. Thanks, as always, for reading.

Read more of our summer movies coverage

Two and a half years before he died, Elvis Presley sat on the floor of a walk-in closet at the Las Vegas Hilton and discussed a project that might have changed the course of his life.

The meeting, as recounted by Presley’s longtime friend Jerry Schilling, put the King of Rock and Roll face to face with Barbra Streisand, who’d come to see Presley perform at the Hilton in March 1975 then sought an audience after the show to float an idea: Would Presley be interested in appearing opposite Streisand in her remake of “A Star Is Born”?

At the time of the duo’s conversation — Schilling says that he, Presley’s pal Joe Esposito and Streisand’s boyfriend Jon Peters squeezed into the closet with the stars in a search for some quiet amid the commotion backstage — it had been six years since Presley had last played a dramatic role onscreen; Streisand’s pitch so tantalized him, according to Schilling, that they ended up talking for more than two hours about the movie.

“We even ordered in some food,” Schilling recalls.

Presley, of course, didn’t get the part famously played by Kris Kristofferson — a casualty, depending on who you ask, of Streisand’s insistence on top billing or of the unreasonable financial demands of Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. (In her 2023 memoir, Streisand wonders whether the character of a self-destructive musician was in the end “a little too close to his own life” for Elvis’ comfort.)

Whatever the case, Schilling believes that the disappointment over “A Star Is Born” set Presley on a path of poor decision-making that effectively tanked his career before his tragic death at age 42 on Aug. 16, 1977 — 48 years ago this weekend.

“That was the last time I saw the twinkle in my friend’s eye,” Schilling, 83, says of the sit-down with Streisand.

An intriguing new box set commemorates the King’s final burst of creativity. Released this month in five-CD and two-LP editions, “Sunset Boulevard” collects the music Presley recorded in Los Angeles between 1972 and 1975, including the fruit of one session held just days before the meeting about “A Star Is Born.” These were the studio dates that yielded songs like “Separate Ways,” which Elvis cut amid the crumbling of his marriage to Priscilla Presley, and “Burning Love,” his last Top 10 pop hit, as well as 1975’s “Today” LP, an exemplary showcase of Presley’s latter-day blend of rock, country and blue-eyed soul.

Is yet another repackaging of Presley’s music really something to get excited about? The Elvis industry has never not been alive and well over the half-century since he died; in just the last few years, we’ve seen Baz Luhrmann’s splashy big-screen biopic, the latest book from the singer’s biographer Peter Guralnick (this one about Parker) and not one but two documentaries about the so-called ’68 comeback special that heralded Presley’s return to live performance after nearly a decade of film work.

More gloomily, “Sunset Boulevard” arrives as Priscilla Presley — who got her own biopic from director Sofia Coppola in 2023 — is making headlines thanks to an ugly legal battle with two former business partners she brought on to aid in managing the Presley brand. (The feud itself follows the sudden death two years ago of Priscilla and Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie Presley.)

Yet the new box offers an opportunity to ponder the curious position Elvis found himself in once the glow of the comeback special had faded: a rock and roll pioneer now strangely removed from the culture he did as much as anyone to invent.

“Sunset Boulevard’s” title, which the set shares with Billy Wilder’s iconic 1950 movie, can’t help but evoke the spoiled grandeur of an aging showbiz legend. It also refers to the physical location of RCA Records’ West Coast headquarters at 6363 Sunset Blvd., across the street from Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome. Now the site of the L.A. Film School, the building is where the Rolling Stones recorded “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Jefferson Airplane made “Surrealistic Pillow” — and where Presley set up in the early ’70s after cutting most of his ’60s movie soundtracks at Radio Recorders near the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

Jerry Schilling at his home in West Hollywood.

(JSquared Photography / For The Times)

By 1972, rock had long since evolved beyond the crucial influence Elvis exerted at the beginning of his career. Nor was the King particularly dialed into what was happening in music while he was busy in Hollywood.

“We weren’t as exposed as much as I wish we would’ve been to everything going on,” Schilling says on a recent afternoon at his home high in the hills above Sunset Plaza. A core member of Elvis’ fabled Memphis Mafia, Schilling has lived here since 1974, when Elvis bought the place from the TV producer Rick Husky and gifted it to Schilling for his years of loyal friend-ployment.

“When you’re doing movies, you’re up at 7 in the morning and you’re in makeup by 8,” Schilling continues. “You work all day and you come home — you’re not necessarily putting on the latest records.”

More than the growling rock lothario of Presley’s early days — to say nothing of the shaggy psychedelic searchers who emerged in his wake — what the RCA material emphasizes is how expressive a ballad singer Elvis had become in middle age. Schilling says the singer’s romantic troubles drew him to slower, moodier songs like “Separate Ways,” “Always on My Mind” and Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times,” the last of which he delivers in a voice that seems to tremble with regret. (Presley had to be cajoled into singing the uptempo “Burning Love,” according to Schilling, who notes with a laugh that “when it became a hit, he loved it.”)

But in the deep soulfulness of this music you’re also hearing the rapport between Presley and the members of his live band, with whom he recorded at RCA instead of using the session players who’d backed him in the ’60s. Led by guitarist James Burton, the TCB Band — that’s Taking Care of Business — was assembled ahead of Elvis’ first engagement at Las Vegas’ International Hotel, which later became the Las Vegas Hilton; indeed, one of “Sunset Boulevard’s” more fascinating features is the hours of rehearsal tape documenting Presley’s preparation in L.A. for the Vegas shows that began in 1969.

The sound quality is murky and the performances fairly wobbly, as in a take on “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” where Elvis can’t quite seem to decide on a key. Yet it’s a thrill to listen in as the musicians find their groove — a kind of earthy, slow-rolling country-gospel R&B — in an array of far-flung tunes including “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues,” even the Pointer Sisters’ “Fairytale.”

The RCA Records building on Sunset Boulevard in an undated photo.

(RCA Records)

In one rehearsal recorded Aug. 16, 1974, Elvis cues his band to play the Ewan MacColl ballad made famous by Roberta Flack: “‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Friggin’ Face,’” he calls out as we hear the players warming up. Then they all lock in for a closely harmonized rendition of the song so pretty there’s something almost spooky about it.

Sitting next to the balcony he was standing on when he got the phone call alerting him to the news of Presley’s death, Schilling takes clear pleasure in spinning well-practiced yarns about his years with Elvis: the time John Lennon told him to tell Presley that he grew out his sideburns in an attempt to look like the King, for instance, or the audition where Elvis took a flier on a relatively unknown drummer named Ronnie Tutt who ended up powering the TCB Band.

He’s more halting when he talks about the end of his friend’s life and about what he sees as the lack of a serious artistic challenge that might have sharpened Elvis’ focus. Staying on in Vegas a bit too long, making so-so records in a home studio set up at Graceland — these weren’t enough to buoy the man he calls a genius. Does Schilling know if Presley saw “A Star Is Born” when it came out at the end of 1976?

He considers the question for a good 10 seconds. “I don’t know,” he finally says. He started tour managing the Beach Boys that year and was spending less time with Presley. “He never mentioned it to me. I wish I knew. There’s probably nobody alive now who could say.”

The shooting death of 33-year-old rapper T-Hood at his residence in Georgia is being investigated as a possible self-defense case, according to police in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta.

Police have identified the alleged shooter as Ky Lasheed Frost, 24, the son of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” stars Rasheeda and Kirk Frost. Ky Frost was detained at the scene of the shooting and interviewed, but no charges have been filed against him.

A representative for Rasheeda did not reply immediately to The Times’ request for comment Friday.

Authorities responded to a domestic dispute at approximately 7 p.m. on Aug. 8 and discovered the rapper — real name Tevin Hood — suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Hood was dating Ky Frost’s sister, Kelsie Frost, according to TMZ. The entertainment news site also published surveillance video recorded earlier this year in their apartment that showed them in a physical altercation. In the video, Hood walks around the bedroom while Kelsie Frost is lying on the bed. The video appears to show Hood as he leaps toward her and begins to choke her.

Ky Frost and a witness, Ariel Miranda Hutchinson, 25, remained on the scene of the shooting last Friday and cooperated with investigators, police said.

Meanwhile, a female victim sustained physical injuries, police said. Kelsie Frost posted a carousel of photos of herself and Hood last Saturday on Instagram with the caption, “Just come get me baby please….. I can’t even type this. I love you papa. I can’t wait to hold you again.”

The investigation is ongoing.

Brookside was the gritty soap that shocked the nation, smashed taboos, and made suburban cul-de-sacs the stage for explosive drama. But what happened to the cast?

Brookside, the groundbreaking soap that shocked the nation and turned ordinary suburban streets into a hotbed of drama, was a staple of British television for over two decades.

The show, which first aired on Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, followed the everyday lives of its characters, dealing with everything from heart-wrenching break-ups to shocking crimes that reflected real issues in the UK. The Liverpool-based soap ran for an impressive 21 years before its final episode aired on 4 November 2003.

Created by Phil Redmond, Brookside was never one to shy away from controversial topics – it was responsible for the UK’s first pre-watershed lesbian kiss and tackled subjects such as domestic abuse, incest, and even a body buried under a patio.

Now, the beloved soap is poised for a comeback – featuring in an unprecedented crossover with Hollyoaks.

READ MORE: ITV axes Noel Edmonds’ big TV comeback after just one series despite huge launchREAD MORE: ITV fans accuse Alan Titchmarsh of ‘ruining’ garden as foster parents left sobbing

After Brookside concluded on November 4th 2003, Hollyoaks stepped up as Channel 4‘s premier continuing drama. The show began production on a portion of Brookside’s former set, which remains its filming location to this day.

As Hollyoaks gears up to celebrate its 30th anniversary this October, it plans to commemorate the occasion with a special episode that pays homage to both Brookside and their shared creator, Sir Phil Redmond.

The upcoming crossover episode will delight viewers with the reappearance of beloved, classic Brookside characters to celebrate this significant event.

But what became of the Brookside cast once the cameras stopped rolling? From heartbreaking losses to surprising career changes, here’s a look at where some of the show’s biggest stars ended up.

Dean Sullivan (Jimmy Corkhill)

Jimmy, a troubled drug addict turned teacher, was one of Brookside’s longest-serving characters. Portrayed by Dean Sullivan, he joined the series in 1986 and was involved in many major storylines.

Tragically, Dean passed away in 2023 at the age of 68 after a battle with prostate cancer, a diagnosis he had bravely shared just months before his death. He had been diagnosed in 2018 and had been receiving treatment.

Following his passing, fans and former co-stars paid their respects.

Sue Jenkins (Jackie Corkhill)

Jackie Corkhill, played by Sue Jenkins, was the long-suffering wife of Jimmy Corkhill, enduring his emotional turmoil and schemes in many of the show’s most gripping storylines.

Since the end of the show, Sue has continued her acting career with roles in Coronation Street, Holby City, and Doctors, as well as theatre productions. Now 66, she is a vocal advocate for arts education and is married to David Fleeshman, with whom she has three children, Richard, Emily and Rosie.

Anna Friel (Beth Jordache)

Beth Jordache, portrayed by Anna Friel, became a cultural icon when she was involved in the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British television, a storyline that made international headlines. The episode aired in January 1994, also featuring Margaret Clemence, played by Nicola Stephenson.

Anna has since built a highly successful acting career on both sides of the Atlantic, starring in shows like Pushing Daisies, Marcella, and The Girlfriend Experience. Now 48, she is an award-winning actress and a regular on the red carpet.

She has been married twice and has one child.

Claire Sweeney (Lindsey Corkhill)

Claire Sweeney played Lindsey Corkhill, a member of the troubled Corkhill family, who found herself caught up in love triangles, dodgy dealings, and emotional confrontations. Lindsey started as a recurring character before being promoted to the regular cast in 1995.

Actress Claire shot to fame following Brookside, transitioning into musical theatre, releasing an album, and becoming a Loose Women panellist. She has recently made a comeback to the soap world with a stint on Coronation Street.

Earlier this year, Claire delighted Brookside enthusiasts as she returned to the West Derby houses where the programme was originally filmed. The 53-year-old shared numerous photographs and videos on Instagram from her impromptu nostalgic journey.

In her Instagram video, Claire revealed to followers that whilst she had visited the location the previous year, she had spotted a “beautiful little surprise” beneath the Brookside sign commemorating Dean Sullivan, who portrayed her on-screen father Jimmy.

Michael Starke (Sinbad Sweeney)

Sinbad Sweeney was a window cleaner with a heart of gold. He became a viewer favourite after joining the programme in 1984.

Actor Michael Starke subsequently featured in The Royal, Coronation Street, and even enjoyed a role in Benidorm. He has also established himself as a pantomime regular and serves as a dedicated ambassador for Liverpool’s cultural scene.

Now 67, his latest role saw him portray a taxi driver in Hollyoaks from 2021 to 2023.

Jennifer Ellison (Emily Shadwick)

Emily’s storyline concluded in devastating fashion, with her character’s tragic plunge from a window ranking among Brookside’s most shocking departures. Actress Jennifer switched gears to pop music, reality TV (Dancing on Ice, Hell’s Kitchen), and theatre, before launching her own dance academy in Liverpool.

She also starred in the West End and now leads a quieter life centred around family.

She is married to Rob Tickle and they have three children.

Louis Emerick (Mick Johnson)

Mick Johnson was the straight-talking single dad and mini-mart owner with a strong moral compass. He made his final appearance on 22 August 2001, having first appeared in 1989.

Actor Louis Emerick, 64, has continued his acting career in TV dramas and soaps, including Coronation Street and Doctors, and has performed in theatre tours across the UK.

Where are the others?

Several cast members left the industry altogether – some moved abroad, others stepped away from the limelight. A few, like Ray Quinn (who briefly appeared in the later years), reinvented themselves entirely.

Ray went on to become a singer and X Factor finalist, with a stage career.

READ MORE: Rare luxury watches made out of rubbish shoppers ‘couldn’t be happier with’

“Suleiman lost his football career, and football lost Suleiman.” The family of Palestinian football icon Suleiman al-Obaid mourn his loss after he was killed in an Israeli air strike while waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza.

A WOMAN has died after falling from a 32-floor skyscraper in London’s financial district.

Police were scrambled to Sirocco Tower in Canary Wharf this morning following the horror.

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The woman, aged in her 20s, tragically could not be saved and was declared dead at the scene.

The Met Police have now launched a probe into the tragedy.

A spokesperson said: “At around 06:39hrs on Wednesday, 13 August police responded to calls that a person had fallen from height in Harbour Way, Canary Wharf.

“Police and the London Ambulance Service attended the scene but sadly a woman in her 20s was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Her next of kin have been notified and are being supported by specialist officers.“

At this time her death is being treated as unexpected and enquiries continue.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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If you’re feeling a little peckish as you open this week’s letter from the editor, our latest cover subject, “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder, has a recommendation for you: a breakfast burrito from Historic Filipinotown’s Doubting Thomas, home of her favorite in the city.

And while you wait for those eggs to cook up, let’s unwrap the foil on our Aug. 14 issue and chomp down on some highlights.

Cover story: Hannah Einbinder’s next act

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)

No, “Hacks” is not over. As of this writing, Season 5 is not even officially its last. But with a stand-up comedy special under her belt, Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” in the can and another hush-hush project already underway, it’s clear that the “Hacks” star isn’t planning to rest on the laurels of four Emmy nominations.

As former competitive cheerleader Einbinder tells Margy Rochlin in this week’s cover story, the prospect of leaving the “Hacks” nest is “emotional,” but the novelty of new challenges scratches its own itch: “I’m an adrenaline seeker,” she says. “I just have always liked the feeling of flying.”

Accompanying the story online is the debut of our new short-form series “In the First Place,” in which we ask cover subjects about life and career “firsts” — including, in Einbinder’s case, her first stop at the Americana, the first comedy album she listened to on repeat and more.

Inside the year’s most ambitious TV episode

(Matthew Lewis / Netflix)

As a result, perhaps, of my particular lens — former high-school teacher here — it wasn’t the destabilizing premiere, the wrenching finale, or Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty’s riveting two-hander that left me most awestruck when I watched Netflix’s “Adolescence” this spring.

It was only after the second episode, which weaves a murder investigation into a chaotic school day, that I found myself muttering under my breath, “I need a diagram of how they did that.”

Thanks to Emmy-nominated director of photography Matthew Lewis for obliging my curiosity (see above), and for speaking to contributor Bill Desowitz for his story about the extraordinary choreography required to piece a fire drill, a police chase and a drone shot into a single continuous shot, all with 350 young extras to corral.

For logistical stress, that puts even chaperoning prom to shame. And trust me, I’d know!

A real ‘Somebody’

(The Tyler Twins / For The Times)

“Somebody Somewhere’s” Jeff Hiller is having the time of his life — and not just in the photo above, snapped last month in the courtyard of his Manhattan apartment building.

As Tyler Coates writes in his profile of the first-time Emmy nominee, the surprise and delight of the announcement allows Hiller to keep basking in gratitude for the role of lovable queer Kansan Joel even though the series ended its three-season run last fall: “If I could play a role like that for six weeks once a year, for the rest of my life? I’d be more than fulfilled.”

It also allows him entree to HBO’s vaunted after-party, though my fingers are crossed that “Somebody Somewhere” doesn’t inspire any trays of “St. Louis sushi.”

Read more from our Aug. 14 issue

Talent agent Brandon Blackstock, who was the ex-husband of pop star Kelly Clarkson and the father of their two children, died Thursday after losing his battle with melanoma.

Butte-Silver Bow County coroner Dan Hollis confirmed Blackstock’s cause of death to The Times on Monday. He also confirmed that Blackstone died at his home in Montana under hospice care and surrounded by his family, as first reported by People. The coroner said Blackstock’s manner of death was natural causes.

The official cause of death clarifies information shared by Blackstock’s family, who announced his death last week in a statement shared with The Times and on social media. Blackstock “bravely battled cancer for more than three years,” the statement said, not giving specifics. Melanoma is a kind of skin cancer that first affects cells that help produce pigment for skin color, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Blackstock’s family announced his death shortly after Clarkson postponed four August shows in her Studio Sessions residency in Las Vegas for personal reasons. She wrote in an Instagram post that “this past year, my children’s father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them.”

Clarkson and Blackstock married in 2013 and split in 2020, finalizing their divorce in 2022. They share a daughter and a son. Blackstock also had two children from his first marriage.

Since her ex-husband’s death, footage of Clarkson wiping away tears during a July 26 show in Las Vegas resurfaced on social media. In the video, the “American Idol” alumna reflects on the changes she had on her song “Piece by Piece,” which she first wrote about Blackstock.

As she tells her audience about rewriting a more mature version of the number she turns away, seemingly overcome with emotion. “I’m really trying to pull it together,” Clarkson says, later wiping her eyes as fans cheer.

“Screw it, let’s just sing it. This is ‘Piece by Piece,’” she says, carrying on.

It’s unclear when Clarkson will make up the postponed August shows, but she has several performances scheduled for November, according to her website. The 18-show residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace was announced in February and kicked off on the Fourth of July.

Jennifer Aniston just came out with an unexpected, wistful comment about her “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry’s death: Part of her, she said, thinks it might be “better” for him that he died.

“We did everything we could when we could,” the “Morning Show” star said in an interview published Monday by Vanity Fair, talking about Perry’s friends’ attempts to help him when he was struggling with addiction. “But it almost felt like we’d been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.”

Indeed, Perry discussed his friends’ efforts to help him in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” which recounted his decades-long struggles with substance abuse as well as his numerous recovery efforts.

“Although he asserts he was never high while filming ‘Friends,’ he’d often be sick or hungover,” former staff writer Christina Veta wrote in The Times’ review of the memoir. “Once, Perry passed out on the Central Perk couch and [co-star Matt] LeBlanc had to nudge him awake to say his line. Later, Aniston called him out for drinking again, telling him, ‘We can smell it.’”

Perry told Aniston, “I know I’m drinking too much, but I don’t exactly know what to do about it.”

“In nature, when a penguin is injured, the other penguins group around it and prop it up until it’s better,” he wrote in his memoir. “This is what my costars on Friends did for me. There were times on set when I was extremely hungover, and Jen and Courteney [Cox], being devoted to cardio as a cure-all, had a Lifecycle exercise bike installed backstage. In between rehearsals and takes, I’d head back there and ride that thing like the fires of hell were chasing me — anything to get my brain power back to normal. I was the injured penguin, but I was determined to not let these wonderful people, and this show, down.”

Aniston told Vanity Fair in the new interview, “looking solemn and out toward the ocean” as she spoke about Perry’s death, “As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there’s a part of me that thinks this is better. I’m glad he’s out of that pain.”

Perry said in his memoir that amid all his drinking and drug use, he was never suicidal.

“In the back of my mind I always had some semblance of hope. But, if dying was a consequence of getting to take the quantity of drugs I needed, then death was something I was going to have to accept,” he wrote about the period after “Friends” ended.

“That’s how skewed my thinking had become — I was able to hold those two things in my mind at the same time: I don’t want to die, but if I have to in order to get sufficient drugs on board, then amen to oblivion.”

Almost exactly a year after the memoir came out, on Oct. 28, 2024, at 4 in the afternoon, Perry was found dead in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home. The drug ketamine would later emerge as his official cause of death, with drowning a contributing factor.

CHELSEA boss Enzo Maresca loves to celebrate with a cigar – but more than anything he wishes he could have a smoke with a team-mate who died in horrific circumstances.

Maresca has enjoyed plenty of recent success, guiding the Blues to glory in the Conference League and Club World Cup.

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After the latter, the Blues boss enjoyed one of his favourite Portagas 2 cigars, the brand he used to smoke with Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola when they were marking City’s success.

But when Maresca was asked to name the football personality he would most like to one of his favourite Portagas No 2 cigars with, the Italian gave a poignant answer – Antonio Puerta, who died aged 22 after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field.

Maresca told Men in Blazers: “That’s a very good question. I will tell you, when I was 25, 26, I lost a team-mate inside the pitch. So if I could, I would like a cigar with him.”

Midfielder Maresca had four seasons at Sevilla but his third campaign started in tragic fashion.

The Italian was on the field when, just 35 minutes into the opening game of the 2007/8 season – at home against Getafe – Puerta suffered a cardiac arrest.

After the wing-back collapsed and lost consciousness in the penalty area, team-mates and medical staff rushed to his aid.

Puerta recovered enough to walk to the dressing room but collapsed again there.

He was resuscitated and rushed to hospital, where he had to receive more life-saving resuscitation.

But Puerta died three days later, on August 28, because of multiple organ failure and irreversible brain damage.

It emerged that he had an incurable hereditary heart disease called arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy.

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Puerta’s death shocked Spanish football and the wider world.

His girlfriend was expecting their first child at the time of his death.

When Puerta passed away, Maresca and the rest of the Seville squad were already in Greece for a Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.

Maresca, who played for Greek side Olympiakos later in his career, spoke about the tragedy when Chelsea went to Athens in October 2024 for a Conference League game against Panathinaikos.

Maresca said: “In terms of the season I spent here in Greece, for me it was very good with Olympiakos, a big rival with Panathinaikos. But unfortunately I lost a friend on the pitch when I was at Seville.

“The first game we played after that, we were already in Athens and just on that day, one of our team-mates passed away in Antonio Puerta.

“So it is a mixed feeling. The season in Athens was fantastic. But every time I come back here I am a little bit sad.”

The Champions League game against AEK, which had been scheduled for the evening of the day Puerta died, was postponed.

When Sevilla faced AC Milan in the Uefa Super Cup on August 31, all 22 players had the name Puerta on the back of their shirts.

Sergio Ramos, who had come through the Sevilla academy and into the first team with Puerta, wore T-shirts in memory of Puerta after Spain’s triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Jesus Navas, who was on the field on the day Puerta collapse, made the same gesture after the 2010 World Cup final.

In 2010, Sevilla unveiled a statue of Puerta at their training ground.

Watch the full Men in Blazers interview with Enzo Maresca here.

Pamela Warner, the mother of late “Cosby Show” star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, looked beyond loss and offered some comfort to his fans as she broke her silence about his sudden death in July.

The elder Warner created an Instagram page dedicated to her son’s legacy and on Friday released a contemplative and lengthy statement saying the actor-musician “was at peace and more importantly, he did not suffer.” Warner, who was best known for his portrayal of clean-cut Theodore Huxtable, drowned while swimming in the Caribbean off Costa Rica. He was 54.

Pamela Warner reflected on her son’s accomplishments in TV, music and his personal life, honoring her son as a “kind, loving man with a huge heart for humanity” and an “exceptional” family man. In addition to his mother, the actor is survived by his wife and daughter.

“Malcolm left an indelible mark on the world and on countless hearts,” she wrote. “All who met him, however briefly, were better for the encounter.”

While she mourned the loss of her “teacher, coach, confidant, business partner, and best friend,” Pamela Warner also reflected on giving birth to him more than 50 years ago. She said she felt “blessed that he chose me to be his mother, to come into the world through the waters of my womb.” She went on to offer a full-circle perspective on her son’s death.

“Malcolm was birthed through water and he transitioned through water,” she wrote. “He departed as he arrived, through water. This was his time. His mission on earth had been completed.”

The Emmy-nominated actor was on vacation with his family at the time of his death. He was swimming when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean. The Red Cross in Costa Rica said its first responders also tended to another man caught in the same current that claimed Warner’s life. The patient, whose identity was not disclosed, survived. First responders found Warner without vital signs, and he was taken to the morgue.

Pamela Warner’s statement joins the collection of tributes honoring her son’s life. Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s co-stars including Bill Cosby, Geoffrey Owens and Raven-Symoné and, more recently, Keshia Knight Pulliam have mourned his death.

“A week ago I lost my big brother but I gained an angel,” Pulliam said of her TV brother on social media.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was a multi-faceted entertainer who in addition to acting also pursued a Grammy-winning music career. After his time on “The Cosby Show” he also directed episodes for several other TV shows. Warner’s mother’s statement acknowledged his reach, encouraging his fans and loved ones to “Hold close to whatever part of Malcolm’s life that touched yours.”

Her statement concluded: “In keeping it near, you keep his spirit alive — nourishing you with the peace, love, joy and light that embodied Malcolm-Jamal Warner.”

BOGOTA, Colombia — A Colombian senator and presidential hopeful whose shooting at a political rally in June recalled some of the darkest chapters of the country’s drug-fueled violence died Monday.

The family of Miguel Uribe Turbay said the politician died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota. Uribe, 39, was shot three times, twice in the head, while giving a campaign speech in a park and had since remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition with episodes of slight improvement.

“Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, wrote in a social media post confirming his death. “I ask God to show me the way to learn to live without you.”

A teenage suspect was arrested at the scene of the June 7 attack in a working-class Bogota neighborhood. Authorities later detained several other people, but they have not determined who ordered the hit or why.

The shooting, which was caught on multiple videos, alarmed Colombians who have not seen this kind of political violence against presidential candidates since Medellin drug lord Pablo Escobar declared war on the state in the 1990s.

Uribe’s own mother, well-known journalist Diana Turbay, was among the victims of that period. She died during a police rescue after being kidnapped by a group of drug traffickers led by Escobar seeking to block their extradition to the United States.

“If my mother was willing to give her life for a cause, how could I not do the same in life and in politics?” Uribe, who was just 5 when his mother was killed, said in an interview last year with a Colombian news outlet.

Uribe, a lawyer with a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University, entered politics as a councilman for Bogota when he was 26. In 2022, he was the biggest vote-getter in the conservative Democratic Center party led by former President Álvaro Uribe.

“Evil destroys everything,” the ex-president, who is not related to the senator, said on social media. “They have killed hope. May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia’s path.”

The senator was among the strongest critics of Colombia’s current government. In October, he joined the list of politicians seeking to replace Gustavo Petro, the first leftist to govern Colombia, in the May 2026 elections.

Authorities have floated several hypotheses about what led to the attack, while allies of the candidate have complained that the government ignored repeated requests to reinforce his state-provided security detail.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, tens of thousands poured into the streets dressed in white and waving the Colombian flag to reject the violence.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the politicians who lamented the senator’s death.

“The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,” he posted on X.

Suárez writes for the Associated Press.

Reporting from Sacramento — The state ethics agency cited the serious illness and death of key witnesses in its decision to drop charges that political contributions were laundered to the 2010 campaign of Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina).

Ending a protracted legal battle that began three years ago, the state Fair Political Practices Commission has also notified Hernandez’s attorney that it will not pursue allegations that the candidate failed to report spending on a mass mailing on the West Covina City Council elections.

“After a full investigation, the Enforcement Division did not find sufficient, reliable evidence to conclude that your client violated the [Political Reform] Act in this instance and is closing the file on this matter,” wrote Zachary W. Norton, an attorney for the FPPC, to Hernandez’s lawyer.

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The state agency launched the probe after receiving a citizen complaint questioning loans of $100,000 that Hernandez made to his campaign in 2009 and 2010.

The commission issued a finding of probable cause in January. At that time, an attorney for the state agency alleged Hernandez’s committee filed “an inaccurate semi-annual campaign statement with the Secretary of State, falsely reporting information regarding the true sources of contributions received.”

Hernandez challenged the allegations, and in preparing for an administrative hearing, commission attorneys found “inconsistencies in previous witness testimony” and that key witnesses were not available, Norton said.

“Specifically, one key witness has serious medical issues that would prevent him from testifying and another has passed away,” Norton wrote in the case-closing letter. “The standard for proving a violation of the Act administratively is based on the preponderance of the evidence and, at this point, the evidence is not sufficient to meet that standard.”

The allegation involving failure to report a mass mailer was dropped after Hernandez’s campaign provided information that the campaign staffer who approved it was not authorized to do so, Norton said.

Jimmy Gutierrez, an attorney for the Assemblyman, said the letter provides false excuses for why the case was dropped.

“They had issued probable cause findings with no facts whatsoever and they know it,” Gutierrez said. “There was absolutely no merit to it whatsoever.”

Distressing video shows the moment a 15-year-old boy was killed by a falling aid pallet in Gaza. Aid agencies warn airdrops cannot deliver food safely or quickly enough to address starvation in Gaza, which has now killed 100 Palestinian children.

Taliban rulers say they are not behind the threats and are investigating, according to the United Nations.

Explicit death threats have been made against dozens of Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan, according to a new UN report, where their rights have been severely curtailed since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The UN mission to the country said female national staff were subjected to direct death threats in May, in the latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan published on Sunday.

The report says the Taliban told the UN mission that their cadres were not responsible for the threats, and an Interior Ministry investigation is under way.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, however, said no threats had been made. “This is completely incorrect”, Qani told The Associated Press news agency.

“The ministry has an independent department for this, and we have a strategic plan for protection and security so there is no threat to them in any area, nor can anyone threaten them, nor is there any threat to them.” Qani did not answer questions about an investigation, according to AP.

The threats came from unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, other agencies, funds, and programmes, “requiring the U.N. to implement interim measures to protect their safety”, according to the report.

The Taliban barred Afghan women from working at domestic and foreign nongovernmental organisations in December 2022, extending this ban to the UN six months later. They then threatened to shut down agencies and groups still employing women. Aid agencies and NGOs say the Taliban have disrupted or interfered with their operations, allegations denied by authorities.

The UN report is the first official confirmation of death threats against Afghan women working in the sector. The report also highlighted other areas affecting women’s personal freedoms and safety, including inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry requiring women to wear a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head. Women have been arrested for only wearing the hijab.

Women have also been denied access to public areas, in line with laws banning them from such spaces.

A UN report from August 2024 found that Afghanistan’s Taliban government has “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of their right to an education during its three years in power.

About 300,000 more girls are missing out on school since UNESCO last carried out a count in April 2023, it said on Thursday, warning that “the future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy.”

ICC targets Taliban for persecution of women

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in July for two top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan on charges of abuses against women and girls.

ICC judges said at the time there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.

“While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement in July.

The Taliban has “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said.

The Taliban has rejected the ICC warrants as “baseless rhetoric”, saying it does not recognise the ICC’s authority, and underlined the court’s failure to protect the “hundreds of women and children being killed daily” in Gaza.

Popstar Peter Andre has opened up about his terrifying experience of being stalked during a chat with his daughter Princess on her new ITV show, The Princess Diaries

Peter Andre has opened up about a terrifying ordeal where he was targeted by a persistent stalker who sent him numerous death threats during his daughter Princess’ ITV show, The Princess Diaries.

During a deep chat with her dad, the 18-year-old opened up about the “weird messages” she received online – leaving Peter horrified. Princess revealed people would ask to see feet pics, with others asking if she was now legal.

Expressing why he was so worried Peter explained: “I had one stalker, who was a violent stalker that had threatened to kill me on one of the shows. I was touring with Bobby Brown, and on the night of the Sydney show, 26 police officers came and surrounded the building,” he said. It comes after Katie Price worries fans with appearance in family photo after explaining weight loss.

READ MORE: Katie Price shares cryptic post about motherhood amid Princess Andre ‘rift’READ MORE: Katie Price and Princess Andre ‘feud’ deepens: 18th birthday ‘blow out’ and ‘jealousy’

“They thought the guy was going to come and kill me that night,” Peter explained, leaving his daughter in utter shock. He then revealed he was 19 at the time.

Peter has previously spoken about the terrifying ordeal, shortly after Strictly’s Shirley Ballas‘ stalker, Kyle Shaw, had been sentenced.

Kyle Shaw, 37, pleaded guilty at Liverpool’s Crown Court on February 25, admitting the charges that took place between August 31, 2017, and November 9, 2023.

In his column for OK!, the father-of-five shared his own chilling experience with a stalker, which led to 26 police officers being called to the venue where he was performing in Australia due to the barrage of death threats he had received.

He penned: “I was reading about Shirley Ballas’s stalker avoiding jail. It’s strange – I think some people read these terrible stories and somehow don’t believe they’re real. They’re very real. It happens to a lot of people in the public eye.”

He went on to say: “Now, you may not believe me but it happened to me. In 1992 or 93, I was touring with Bobby Brown in Australia.

“At one of the concerts in Sydney, there were 26 police at the venue who were present on this particular night because of a series of death threats that had been made to me from someone who’d been stalking me for a long time. One day, I’ll tell the whole story..”

Peter previously demanded action to “eliminate” the crime of stalking following Shirley’s terrifying experience which grabbed headlines.

In an earlier column, the pop star revealed he’d “seen a lot of stories about stalking”, including a disturbing incident involving tennis ace Emma Raducanu.

The 22 year old was compelled to halt a match against Karolina Muchova at the Dubai Tennis Championships after spotting a man in the crowd who had given her a letter at her hotel the day before.

“It’s really interesting because stalking has been going on for years,” Peter said.

“I remember the 1992 movie, The Bodyguard, focused on the stalking of celebrities. Social media isn’t helping, as it makes it easier to track someone down. But this has been going on for a long time and I hope we find a way to eliminate this sort of thing. My thoughts are with both Shirley and Emma.”

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Israeli attacks have killed at least 39 people, including 21 seeking humanitarian aid and 11 who starved to death, over 24 hours in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that the total number of malnutrition deaths has reached 212, including 98 children, since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

Most of the deaths have occurred in recent weeks as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on aid supplies entering Gaza after partially lifting a total blockade in late May.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that famine continues to pose a serious risk “especially among children and the elderly”.

“Malnutrition among children leads to decreased immunity and may lead to death,” he said.

On Friday, the World Food Programme (WFP) called on Israel to allow the delivery of at least 100 aid trucks per day to Gaza, noting that only 60 of its aid truck drivers have been vetted and approved by the Israeli military to date.

The 100 trucks per day the organisation called for is a fraction of the 600 per day other United Nations agencies and Gaza authorities have said are needed to meet the basic needs of Gaza residents.

“Since July 27, 266 WFP trucks arriving at crossing points were turned back, 31 percent of which had initially been approved,” the agency’s latest report said.

“Convoy movements are frequently hampered by last-minute changes by Israeli authorities, and heavy insecurity due to military activities along convoy routes.”

In its latest statement on Saturday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, noted that it has not been allowed to bring any humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food and medicine, for more than five months, depriving hungry and ailing Palestinians of what they need to survive.

UNRWA has been calling on Israel to lift its siege on Gaza, saying the ongoing airdrops of humanitarian aid from several countries “are very expensive and ineffective” at reaching those urgently in need.

The warnings come as Israeli forces continued to escalate their attacks across the territory. Six people were killed by Israeli soldiers while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Two other Palestinians were also killed and transported to the Nasser Medical Complex from a GHF aid distribution site in the southern part of the territory.

One woman was killed and another person was wounded in an Israeli air strike targeting an apartment in Khan Younis in the south.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry’s latest count, at least 39 people have been killed in 24 hours.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 61,369 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 152,850. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

‘No one and nowhere is safe’

As the death toll continues to soar, international condemnation of Israel’s conduct in the war is growing, with several countries raising alarm over Israel’s plans to seize Gaza City in an operation that could forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to concentration zones in southern Gaza.

A rare emergency UN Security Council meeting has been scheduled on Sunday to address the plan approved by Israel’s security cabinet this week.

In Gaza City, residents were defiant, promising not to leave in the event of a new Israeli ground offensive.

Umm Imran told Al Jazeera that there was nowhere safe in Gaza.

“They say go south, go to al-Mawasi, but there is nowhere safe any more – north, south, east or west. No one and nowhere is safe. We will stay here.”

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said residents were unable to sleep on Friday night after the announcement by Israel.

“People are wondering what’s going to happen to them, what’s going to be left of Gaza if Israel moves on with its approved plan to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City,” he said.

The Israeli plan has also been condemned by the foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the diplomats warned that Israel’s plan will “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians”.

“Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also urged Muslim nations to work in unison to oppose Israel’s plan.

Speaking at a joint news conference in El Alamein with his Egyptian counterpart after meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fidan said members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation had been called to an emergency meeting to tackle the crisis.

Feels like a good weekend to stay in, stay cool, maybe put some peaches in a deep freeze and catch up with some favorite shows, old and new. (I’m still watching “Miami Vice,” even though my white linen suit is at the cleaners.)

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Got any home improvement projects on tap? Seems like a good time to tackle one while we take a look at the shows that might win Emmys next month for writing and directing.

Writing and directing power rankings

The writing and directing categories at this year’s Emmys could give us a couple of A-list acceptance speeches — Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen — as well as providing the usual hints about what shows will wind up prevailing in the series categories.

Let’s sketch out how the races are shaping up with our official set of power rankings, ordered from worst to first for drama, comedy and limited series. Try to see if you can read it all in a single take in honor of all the “oners” nominated.

Drama series directing

Adam Scott and Britt Lower in “Severance.”

(Apple TV+)

7. “The White Lotus.” “Amor Fati,” Mike White
Season 3 aftertaste remains as bitter as one of Timothy’s poison piña coladas.

6. “Slow Horses.” “Hello Goodbye,” Adam Randall
Another exemplary season. There’s a reason Randall recently became the first director to be hired for another go-round.

5. “Andor.” “Who Are You?,” Janus Metz
Should be required viewing for American citizens right now.

4. “The Pitt.” “7 a.m.,” John Wells
How it all began …

3. “The Pitt.” “6 p.m.,” Amanda Marsalis
And how it ended.

2. “Severance.” “Chikhai Bardo,” Jessica Lee Gagné
We finally got our Gemma episode and it was breathtaking in the ways it used visual language to convey the most heartbreaking love story this side of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

1. “Severance.” “Cold Harbor,” Ben Stiller
Innie Mark vs. Outie Mark. Frantic chases down the hallways. An impossible choice. And a marching band.

Comedy series directing

Sarah Polley, left, Catherine O’Hara and Seth Rogen in “The Studio.”

(Apple TV+)

5. “Mid-Century Modern.” “Here’s to You, Mrs. Schneiderman,” James Burrows
For those keeping score, that’s Emmy nomination No. 28 as a director for Burrows. (He has won five times.)

4. “The Bear.” “Napkins,” Ayo Edebiri
Tina’s origin story, and the episode that probably won Liza Colón-Zayas her Emmy last year. Also likely to be remembered for being Edebiri’s directorial debut and, taken with her co-writing this season’s standout “Worms,” an auspicious sign of good things to come.

3. “The Rehearsal.” “Pilot’s Code,” Nathan Fielder
In which Fielder lives the life of Sully Sullenberger, from baby to adult, complete with a puppet mom and an unforgettable lactation scene.

2. “Hacks.” “A Slippery Slope,” Lucia Aniello
Blueprint for Colbert’s last episode?

1. “The Studio.” “The Oner,” Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Not my favorite “Studio” episode (that would be “The Pediatric Oncologist”) but an obvious choice to take this category.

Limited / TV movie directing

Owen Cooper, left, and Stephen Graham in “Adolescence.”

(Netflix )

6. “Sirens.” “Exile,” Nicole Kassell
It was not a good year for limited series.

5. “Zero Day,” Lesli Linka Glatter
Seriously.

4. “Dying for Sex.” “It’s Not That Serious,” Shannon Murphy
La petite mort onward to the last roundup. Que Dieu te garde, Molly.

3. “The Penguin.” “A Great or Little Thing,” Jennifer Getzinger
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any darker, the show’s finale went there.

2. “The Penguin,” “Cent’Anni,” Helen Shaver
The series’ best episode and why Cristin Milioti will probably win the Emmy.

1. “Adolescence,” Philip Barantini
Every episode was a oner.

Drama series writing

Tramell Tillman in “Severance.”

(Apple TV+)

6. “Slow Horses.” “Hello Goodbye,” Will Smith
To my great and everlasting surprise, “Slow Horses” won this Emmy last year, meaning that however long it lasts — and there will be at least two more seasons — it will have triumphed at least once.

5. “The White Lotus.” “Full–Moon Party,” Mike White
I’m a little like Saxon after his hookup with his brother in this episode, wanting to pretend it — and the whole season — never happened.

4. “The Pitt.” “7 a.m.,” R. Scott Gemmill
This is such a wonderfully written episode, introducing us to a couple of dozen characters, establishing them and the setting and doing so in a tight 53 minutes.

3. “Andor.” “Welcome to the Rebellion,” Dan Gilroy
There’s so much respect for what the Gilroy brothers did with “Andor” that you could see voters having a strong impulse to reward it.

2. “The Pitt.” “2 p.m.,” Joe Sachs
You remember how this episode ends? The honor walk for Nick? I am getting tears in my eyes typing this sentence. And that was just one element in an episode that left me so gutted that I had to sequester myself after it ended before I could even choke out a word or two with my wife.

1. “Severance.” “Cold Harbor,” Dan Erickson
Trippy, emotionally fraught season finale that’ll probably win since loyalists of “The Pitt” have two choices in this category.

Comedy series writing

Jean Smart in “Hacks.”

(Jake Giles Netter / HBO Max)

6. “What We Do in the Shadows.” “The Finale,” Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis and Paul Simms
They shut the casket one final time, satisfying nearly everyone who loved the show for six seasons.

5. “Somebody Somewhere.” “AGG,” Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett
Another series finale, a near-perfect summation of the show’s lovely blend of joy and melancholy.

4. “Abbott Elementary.” “Back to School,” Quinta Brunson
Solid season opener of a series that has crossed over into “taken-for-granted” status.

3. “The Rehearsal.” “Pilot’s Code,” Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Locke-Norton and Eric Notarnicola
“It was difficult at first to inhabit the mind of a baby. I know so much more than babies do, and it can be hard to forget all that stuff. So I tried not to think about the fact that I was a 41-year-old man and just did my best to be present in the moment.”

2. “The Studio.” “The Promotion,” Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez
The episode that started it all and made me more interested to see a “Kool-Aid” movie than practically anything that an actual studio released this summer.

1. “Hacks.” “A Slippery Slope,” Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky
“Hacks” has won this Emmy twice in its first three seasons, and the dramatic episode — Deborah loves Ava more than her dream job! — seems a spot to prevent a “Studio” sweep.

Limited / TV movie writing

Christine Tremarco and Stephen Graham in “Adolescence.”

(Netflix )

5. “Say Nothing.” “The People in the Dirt,” Joshua Zetumer
Car bombs, hunger strikes, political assassinations.

4. “Black Mirror.” “Common People,” Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali
Technology really is going to destroy us, isn’t it?

3. “Dying for Sex.” “Good Value Diet Soda,” Kim Rosenstock and Elizabeth Meriwether
Of course, we’re all gonna die anyway. Might as well indulge.

2. “The Penguin.” “A Great or Little Thing,” Lauren LeFranc
After all, evil and depravity win out in the end.

1. “Adolescence,” Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham
So hug your children tonight.

It is 2am in the obstetrics and gynaecology emergency department of Assahaba Medical Complex in Gaza City. Through the open windows, I can hear the never-ending hum of drones in the sky above, but aside from that, it is quiet. A breeze flows through the empty hall, granting relief from the heat, and a soft blue glow emanates from the few lights that are on. I am six months into a yearlong internship and 12 hours into a 16-hour shift. I am so tired that I could fall asleep here at the admissions desk, but in the calm, a rare sense of peace envelopes me.

It is soon shattered by a woman crying in pain. She is bleeding and gripped by cramps. We examine her and tell her that she has lost her unborn baby – the child she has dreamed of meeting. The woman was newly married, but just a month after her wedding, her husband was killed in an air raid. The child she was carrying – a 10-week-old embryo – was their first and will be their last.

Her face is pale, as though her blood has frozen with the shock. There is anguish, denial, and screams. Her screams draw the attention of others, who gather around her as she falls to the ground. We revive her, only to return her to her suffering. But now she is silent – there are no cries, no expression. Having lost her husband, she now endures the pain of losing what she hoped would be a living memory of him.

Life insists on arriving

It is my sixth night shift in obstetrics and gynaecology. I am supposed to rotate through other departments – spending two months in each – but I have already decided to become a gynaecologist during this rotation. Being in this ward brings joy to my life – it is where life begins, and it teaches me that hope is present regardless of the terrible things we are enduring.

Giving birth in a war zone – amid bombing, hunger, and fear – means life and death coexist. Sometimes, I still struggle to understand how life insists on arriving in this place surrounded by death.

It amazes me that mothers continue to bring children into a world in which survival feels uncertain. If the bombings don’t take us, hunger might. But what surprises me most is the resilience and patience of my people. They believe their children will live on to carry an important message: That no matter how many you have killed, Gaza responds by refusing to be erased.

Childbirth is far from easy. It is physically and emotionally exhausting, and mothers in Gaza endure excruciating pain without access to basic pain relief. Since March, the hospital has seen a severe shortage of basic supplies, including pain relief medication and anaesthetics. When they cry out as I stitch their tear wounds without anaesthesia, I feel helpless, but I try to distract them by telling them how beautiful their babies are and reassuring them that they have gotten through the hardest part.

With constant hunger here, many pregnant women are fatigued and do not gain enough weight during pregnancy. When the time comes to deliver, they are exhausted even before they begin to push. As a result, their labour can be prolonged, which means more pain for the mother. If a baby’s heartbeat slows, she might need an emergency Cesarean section.

Practicing medicine here is far from ideal. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and resources are severely limited. We’re constantly battling shortages of medical supplies. On every night shift, I work with one gynaecologist, three nurses and three midwives. I usually deal with the easier tasks, such as assessing conditions, suturing small tear wounds, and assisting with normal deliveries. A gynaecologist takes the more complicated cases, and a surgeon performs the elective and emergency Caesarean sections.

The surgeon always reminds us to minimise the consumption of gauze and sutures as much as possible, and to save them for the next patient who may arrive in desperate need. I try to discard and replace gauze only after it is completely saturated with blood.

Power outages make things even more difficult. The electricity cuts out several times a day, plunging the delivery room into darkness. In those moments, we have no choice but to switch on our phone flashlights to guide our hands.

During a recent shift, the electricity went out for nearly 10 minutes after a baby was born. The mother’s placenta hadn’t been delivered yet, so we used our phone lights to help her.

Many of the best medical professionals in Gaza have been killed, like Dr Basel Mahdi and his brother, Dr Raed Mahdi, both gynaecologists. They were killed while on duty at Mahdi Maternity Hospital in November 2023. Countless others have fled Gaza.

Most of the time, the doctors around me are too overworked to offer guidance or teach me the practical skills I had hoped to learn, though they try their best.

Still, some moments pierce through the exhaustion and remind me why I chose this path in the first place. These encounters stay with me longer than any lecture or textbook could.

At dawn, a new baby

During one shift, a pregnant woman came in for a routine check-up, accompanied by her five-year-old daughter, whose smile lit up the room. She had come to learn the baby’s gender.

As I prepared the ultrasound, I turned and playfully asked the little girl, “Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?”

Without hesitation, she said, “A boy.”

Surprised by her certainty, I gently asked why. Before she could respond, her mother quietly explained. “She doesn’t want a girl. She’s afraid she’ll lose her – like she lost her older sister, who was killed in this latest attack.”

Another day, a woman in her tenth week of pregnancy came to the obstetrics clinic after being told by a doctor that her baby’s heart was not beating. As I performed an ultrasound to check the fetus, to my surprise and relief, I detected a heartbeat.

The woman cried with joy. On that day, I witnessed life where it was thought to have been lost.

Tragedy touches every part of our lives in Gaza. It is woven into our most intimate moments, even around the joy of expecting a new life. Safety is a luxury we’ve never known.

At 6am, as dawn breaks on the morning of my shift, we welcome a new baby born to a mother from the Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, an area surrounded by Israeli soldiers and tanks. As the first rays of sunlight pierce the delivery room, the mother cries happy tears, her face flushed as she hugs her baby girl.

Having endured a night filled with fear, missiles, and snipers, the mother and her family managed to reach the hospital safely. In this moment, they celebrate and find a reason to hope again.