Maria Bartiromo was reportedly frozen out inside Fox Business before her departure, with staff members allegedly instructed not to speak with the veteran anchor in the weeks leading up to her firing.

Bartiromo, 58, a longtime fixture at the network, was abruptly dismissed from Fox News on Thursday. The company announced the move in a terse press release, saying it had “parted ways” with the anchor.

According to Status News, the breaking point was an allegation that Bartiromo shared a confidential internal memo with President Donald Trump concerning Fox News’ decision to scale back coverage of his claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

However, sources told Mediaite that the alleged leak was “not the only reason” behind her firing. Inside Fox News, they said, the move did not come as a shock, with members of Bartiromo’s team reportedly “freaking out” for weeks over the future of her programs.

Network insiders told the outlet that Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox executives had deteriorated because of a “confluence of factors,” including repeated editorial disputes about the direction of her shows.

This reportedly included her role in Fox’s $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over its peddling of Trump’s election claims, and several botched interviews on the air this year.

As Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox bosses reportedly fell apart, sources said her staff were barred from even speaking with her, while she laid low in the Hamptons and was ‘nowhere to be found.’

Bartiromo was reportedly so un-reachable that it was ‘like she was undercover’, with her future in limbo for weeks before she was ultimately fired this week.

Sources said that while Bartiromo’s alleged leak to Trump may have been the final straw, she had been clashing with executives for some time. 

Alongside her role in peddling Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims that led to the huge settlement with Dominion, another similar lawsuit from Smartmatic that is ‘still hanging out there’ had also been hurting her status at the network. 

At the time she sent the White House the guidance, Bartiromo was also reportedly seeking to pursue a new story related to China and the 2020 election and Trump’s claims of Chinese interference, according to Puck. 

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Amid the breakdown of Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox executives, her staff were then ordered not to even attempt to speak with her.

‘In order to talk to her, you had to go to management,’ the source said, adding that her staff had known for weeks that ‘something was up.’

‘People were freaking out,’ the source said.

As Bartiromo was booted from the network, her longtime producer Patrick Ignozzi was also ousted, Puck News reported. 

Amid reports that she leaked classified internal information to the Trump administration, the president quickly defended her on Thursday in a Truth Social post.

‘I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great shows on Fox News/ Business,’ Trump wrote.

‘Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior.

‘Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!’ 

Bartiromo was since reportedly hired attorney Bryan Freedman to guide her through her termination, after the high-powered lawyer previously represented other major ousted news personalities including Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon.

She was quickly removed from Fox News’ website, with her bio page and show content erased from online. 

Her shows, Mornings With Maria and Sunday Morning Futures, are now set to be hosted by a rotating cast of anchors and Fox personalities in the coming weeks. 

Nicole Kidman is said to be enjoying a relaxed new chapter in her love life, with reports linking her to private equity investor Michael Reinstein in what sources describe as a “casual” romance.

“Nicole is dating again after her divorce from Keith [Urban],” an insider told Us Weekly on Thursday, adding that the “Big Little Lies” star “has been seeing” Reinstein.

According to the source, Kidman and Reinstein — who were first seen together in Portofino, Italy, in July — were introduced through mutual friends.

The insider also noted that Kidman, 59, has not been limiting herself to one connection, saying she “has also been on several dates with other people” while friends continue trying to play matchmaker.

As for her relationship with ex-husband Keith Urban, 58, the source claimed the former couple are “in a much better place now,” with the “dust” having “really settled” after their 2025 split ended 19 years of marriage.

“There’s still a lot of respect between them despite everything they went through,” the source said of the exes, who share daughters Sunday, 18, and Faith, 15.

Kidman, according to the insider, got through the divorce with help from her pals Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, the latter of whom “gave [Kidman] this sense of familiarity and home” when they were filming “Practical Magic 2” together.

The source added that Kidman is “happy” and “doing really well now.”

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“It feels like she’s finally on the other side of everything,” the insider shared. “She is always very positive to be around and is super confident. She is a great role model to her girls and is optimistic about this next chapter.”

Page Six has reached out to reps for Kidman, Urban and Reinstein for comment.

Kidman made headlines in July for cozying up to Reinstein, 54, during an Italian getaway, though she still hasn’t confirmed the rumored romance.

However, the “Lioness” star gushed that she’s “embracing love” in an August interview with British Vogue.

She also admitted she “didn’t expect” her life to take the turn it has — “but this is what it is now.”

‘You make all these plans and you have all these ideas of what it’s all going to be like and then it’s … not. You have to adjust. You adapt,” she explained.

Kidman separated from Urban in Sept. 2025, with the former couple finalizing their divorce four months later.

Urban has faced his own romance rumors involving fellow country singer Karley Scott Collins and his guitarist Maggie Baugh.

Both women have denied being romantically involved with Urban.

The show in St. Paul shifted from celebration to concern in an instant, as the music cut out, the house lights remained on and confusion rippled through the crowd at Lionel Richie’s concert.

For nearly an hour, fans waited for answers after the 77-year-old music icon suddenly left the stage during Dancing on the Ceiling. The silence was finally broken by his saxophonist, Dino Soldo, who delivered the unsettling update: ‘He won’t be able to continue.’

Richie had brought his Sing A Song All Night Long tour with Earth, Wind & Fire to an abrupt stop after telling the audience he felt ‘dizzy.’ Paramedics were waiting backstage, and he was taken to a hospital shortly afterward.

The June health scare was never fully clarified, but concern deepened two months later when the beloved performer appeared to have difficulty standing and breathing during a performance of All Night Long in St. Louis.

He was later admitted to intensive care, where doctors ran tests for cardiac-related issues. Richie spent four days in the hospital, leaving fans worried that the legendary singer could be approaching his final encore.

But the deepest fears are said to be felt inside his own family, with an insider claiming his three children are ‘crazy scared they could lose him’ – and that his daughters, Nicole, 44, and Sofia, 28, have become ‘like moms to him’ in a heartbreaking role reversal.

The source said the two sisters and their brother Miles, 32, are ‘worried he could have serious heart issues’. 

Another insider echoed the sentiment to the Daily Mail, adding: ‘His kids are always on him about taking care of himself.’

They added that Richie is now back home and being ‘doted on’ by his family, although he remains optimistic, ‘feeling OK’ and in his ‘usual jovial mood.’ 

Indeed, Nicole, whom Richie adopted with his first wife Brenda Harvey, and Sofia, whom he shares with his second wife Diane Alexander, ‘both take time out to help dad’ despite their busy schedules, careers and young families. 

‘His daughters, especially, really want him to slow down because he means so much to them, he has always been there for them, he has been like a Super Dad,’ said the source. 

Their brother Miles, whom Richie also shares with Alexander, is said to share their concerns with all three siblings unable to imagine life without the father they regard as the ‘glue of the family.’  

According to the source, he regularly ‘hosts family dinners at his LA mansion or brunches at the Beverly Hills Hotel.’

But balancing those treasured family occasions with his relentless career – including his current tour and a demanding judging role on American Idol – has become a growing concern.

‘They have worried that Lionel was working too hard with this new tour on the heels of eight seasons of American Idol, which is a super demanding job,’ the source explained.  

Their apprehension is shared by Richie’s longtime American Idol costar Luke Bryan. ‘Luke has been calling often to check on him and telling him to take a break,’ the source said. ‘Luke is a very grounded guy and has reminded Lionel that family, not work, comes first.’

Richie joined ABC’s revival of the show as a judge in 2018, appearing alongside Katy Perry and Bryan, and has reportedly earned around $10 million per season. 

And the punishing workload of a reality show would leave even the most seasoned entertainer feeling the strain. 

Even Jennifer Lopez admitted that American Idol was too demanding to balance with her other commitments, eventually stepping away from the show after two seasons. 

By contrast, Richie has continued to embrace the punishing schedule. But that relentless drive is hardly new. 

Richie first rose to fame as a member of the Commodores before becoming one of the biggest solo stars of the 1980s, with global hits including Hello, All Night Long, Dancing on the Ceiling and Say You, Say Me. 

His work has earned him Grammy Awards and an Oscar. He also co-wrote 1985’s We Are the World, the all-star charity single that became one of the defining songs of its era. 

So why, as he approaches 80, does he continue to take on so much instead of considering retirement?

According to the Daily Mail insiders, the answer is twofold: Richie is ‘addicted’ to the spotlight and to the work itself. 

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‘Lionel likes to stay busy, he can’t sit still, and loves his career momentum,’ the first source said.

They put it even more bluntly: ‘He puts his health at risk to work super hard even though he is 77 – work is like an addiction for him and he refuses to retire.’ 

And they insisted that his decision to keep working is not about the paycheck. 

‘He has tons of money, he is worth over $200 million, so that’s not the problem,’ the source added. ‘The issue is he loves being popular, in the news.’

His loved ones would, of course, ‘like him to slow down’, but they know ‘Lionel will be Lionel’ – and he will keep doing shows for as long as he is able to stand.

‘He still loves touring and being out there performing, and he wants to keep doing that for a long time,’ the second insider added. 

Richie has otherwise enjoyed generally good health throughout his extraordinarily long career, although he revealed in 2025 that he had been diagnosed with ADHD.

However, his recent concert emergencies are not the first time he has faced a serious health scare. 

In the early 1990s, the Stuck on You singer underwent four operations to treat an unknown condition affecting his throat.

Reflecting on the ordeal in 2022, Richie told People that the mysterious illness had taken a serious toll on his mental health.

‘About as close as you ever would have come to a nervous breakdown,’ he said of the period and his anxiety surrounding the procedures. ‘You don’t want anybody fooling around down there. This is your identity.’

‘I never really thought that it would end,’ he added.

Doctors eventually traced the problem to acid reflux triggered by the late-night food Richie was eating before bed. Once he treated the underlying cause rather than continuing to operate on his throat, he made a complete recovery.

But after the recent concert fiascos, the singer is being forced to take a closer look at his health.

‘Lionel has always been the type to put things off and think he’s pretty much indestructible,’ one source told the Daily Mail. ‘But now he’s really listening to his body. Especially after what happened a few weeks ago on tour, he just wants to make sure he’s OK.’

‘If something doesn’t feel right or seems off, he’s going to get it checked out,’ they added. ‘He wants to make sure it’s nothing serious and, if it is, to get it fixed.’

And Richie has an expanding family to give him even more reason to take his health seriously. 

His children are no longer simply looking to him as their father – they are raising families of their own, making him a grandfather to four grandchildren.

Nicole has been married to Joel Madden, the Good Charlotte frontman, since 2010, and they share two children: 18-year-old Harlow and 16-year-old Sparrow. 

Sofia married music executive Elliot Grainge in 2023, and the couple have two young children: two-year-old Eloise and five-month-old Henry.

‘Lionel is finally taking control of his health and making sure he’s doing everything he can to be around, healthy and performing for the people he loves for many years to come,’ the second source said.

‘And, of course, to be around for his family and kids and grandkids.’

For now, Richie is ‘very eager to get back out on tour’, but his team will continue monitoring him after the holiday weekend before deciding whether he is fit to return.

If he is healthy and in good shape in around two weeks, ‘all systems will be go’, the source said.

The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Richie for comment.  

A former Long Island art teacher who was fired after being accused of raping a student in his classroom has been arrested again — this time for allegedly stalking the same young woman.

The former Bay Shore High School student dialed 911 Thursday morning after she allegedly saw 53-year-old John Kennedy following her when she left her Bay Shore home and traveled to an undisclosed location in Selden, Suffolk County police said.

“Suffolk County Police today arrested a high school teacher for stalking a former student that he had sexual affairs with previously,” a department spokesperson said. Kennedy was taken into custody Thursday evening at his home in St. James, authorities said.

The alleged stalking incident involving the now-18-year-old accuser came just over a week after she filed a blistering lawsuit against the Bay Shore school district. In court papers, she accused school administrators of failing to shield her from a “serial sexual predator” who allegedly raped her repeatedly inside his own classroom.

Kennedy, once described by many current and former students as their “favorite” teacher, was first identified by The Post in October after allegations surfaced that he had sex with the then-17-year-old senior in his art class. He had been placed on administrative leave amid the scandal before his firing.

The girl was of the legal age of consent in New York at the time of the alleged abuse, and a Suffolk County police probe was initially closed after finding no evidence of criminal conduct.

But her lawyer, Andrew Silvershein, claimed Kennedy occupied a position of power as a teacher that made the relationship inherently exploitative, regardless of the age of consent.

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The lawsuit also alleged the school district had an obligation to protect the former student from being sexually groomed by the teacher — and ignored warning signs along the way. 

Bay Shore Superintendent Steven Maloney has maintained that the district acted swiftly once it learned of the allegations and immediately placed Kennedy on administrative leave, barred the creep from campus and alerted Suffolk police.

The scandal marks the third high-profile incident involving possible sexual misconduct by Bay Shore teachers.

In November 2024, the district was ordered to pay $25 million in damages tied to a case involving Thomas Bernagozzi, a retired third-grade teacher who was accused of sexually abusing students for more than three decades.

A Suffolk County jury found the district ignored repeated warning signs about the child predator, whose abuse spanned the 1970s through the early 2000s — and over 50 former students have since come forward.

Marcus Johnson, a teacher’s assistant at the high school, was also charged with raping a 15-year-old student in 2017.

The Post was unable to find a working phone number for Kennedy.

In many industries, complexity is treated as an obstacle to be simplified or avoided. David Oiaknin sees it differently. For him, the most durable business opportunities often sit inside complicated systems that others overlook. A real estate developer and entrepreneur working across real estate, manufacturing, and technology, Oiaknin has built his career around connecting sectors that are often viewed in isolation. His perspective is straightforward: modern construction relies on manufacturing efficiency, and that efficiency increasingly depends on technology, coordination, and disciplined execution. The businesses that understand those connections can find a meaningful competitive edge.

The Problem With Short-Term Thinking

Real estate and construction are not typically industries short on capital or potential projects. What they often lack, however, is the kind of long-term infrastructure that supports sustainable growth. Companies may expand rapidly when demand is strong, only to face strain when conditions shift. Partnerships are frequently built around individual deals rather than shared operating systems. As businesses grow, the complexity of financial planning, regulatory compliance, procurement, and supply chain management can quickly exceed the systems in place to handle it.

That dynamic leaves many companies in a familiar position: busy, but not necessarily building lasting value. Momentum can look like growth from the outside, but activity without structure is difficult to sustain. In construction and real estate development, the difference between what gets completed and what endures often comes down to the systems behind the work.

Where Execution Becomes Strategy

Oiaknin’s answer to that challenge is not simply another product or short-term fix. It is a methodology centered on creating scalable organizations with repeatable processes, operational discipline, and growth models built to withstand changing market cycles. Rather than optimizing only for favorable conditions, his approach emphasizes performance through volatility as well as expansion.

Within real estate, Oiaknin’s focus includes ADU development and modular construction, two areas where construction technology can help shorten delivery timelines and reduce per-unit costs when it is effectively integrated into the building process. In advanced manufacturing, he applies operational optimization methods more commonly associated with high-output industrial settings to construction-related businesses that have historically been slower to embrace systematized growth.

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Across both, technology is not being deployed for its own sake. It is used to potentially enable better decisions, reduce waste, improve transparency, and create organizations that may be capable of consistent performance, even at scale. 

The Disciplines That Set Him Apart

What makes Oiaknin’s profile unique is his mix of expertise in strategic business development, real estate and construction knowledge, manufacturing optimization, and technology integration. That convergence wasn’t accidental. His business growth strategy reflects the belief that the most valuable opportunities in real estate and construction lie outside conventional deal flows. 

They are found in the seams between industries, where manufacturing inefficiency can limit construction output, where technological adoption lags behind operational needs, or where fragmented supply chains prevent otherwise strong businesses from scaling. By structuring companies to address those “in-betweens,” he strives to position them to generate value not just for initial investors, but for partners and customers over the years.

An Optimistic Future

Oiaknin’s focus spans far into the future. His vision is to expand technology-driven real estate platforms, advance off-site and modular construction methods, and build strategic partnerships with investors and operators who share a long-term goal. 

His belief is that sustainable businesses are built through trust, operational excellence, and repeatable actions, not through the pursuit of scale alone. For those looking to learn more about companies designed to compound over time, David Oiaknin’s work is a model worth a look. 

China is accelerating its push to build the data centers and power networks needed to fuel artificial intelligence, a rapid expansion that is drawing fresh attention in Washington. While the United States still holds a major advantage in the physical backbone of the AI boom, Beijing’s ability to deliver enormous infrastructure projects at speed has raised questions about how quickly that gap could narrow.

For now, America’s lead remains substantial. The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence’s 2026 AI Index, citing Cloudscene data, reported 5,427 data centers in the U.S. in 2025, compared with 449 in China. Stanford noted, however, that the figures do not reflect key differences such as facility size, computing power or how intensively the sites are used.

Still, the pace of China’s buildout is difficult to ignore.

“We know that China is far behind, but we also know that they are moving at great speed,” China expert Gordon Chang told News Media.

Chang argued that Beijing understands the U.S. advantage will be difficult to erase if America continues building at the same pace and said growing opposition to data-center development could slow that expansion.

President Donald Trump made a similar argument this week, warning communities fighting new projects that China stands to benefit.

“China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!” Trump also argued that communities embracing data centers would gain jobs and tax revenues.

Vice President JD Vance sharpened that warning Thursday, telling Fox Business there was “a very good chance” the U.S. could lose the AI race to China if Democrats regain control of Congress.

Vance said the broader problem is America’s ability to build enough power to support data centers and other major infrastructure. “We cannot be a country that says we’re not going to build more power,” Vance said, arguing that the administration is trying to make it easier to construct power plants alongside data centers while protecting residential ratepayers from higher electricity costs.

He also pointed to the widening US-China electricity gap, saying China now generates roughly three times as much power as the United States. “We’ve got to build more power plants. We’ve got to make the regulatory state easier to work with.”

Asked about China’s rapid infrastructure expansion, the Chinese Embassy in Washington rejected the premise that AI should primarily be viewed as a geopolitical contest.

“AI should not be owned by major countries, still less dominated by contests and rivalry,” Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang told News Media.

Liu pointed to China’s 2025 Global AI Governance Action Plan, which calls for accelerating construction of clean power, next-generation networks, computing capacity and data centers. He said China advocates cooperation with the U.S. and wants AI development to benefit both countries and the broader international community.

Behind that diplomatic message, Beijing is undertaking a massive geographic reorganization of its computing infrastructure.

Under China’s “East Data, West Computing” initiative, Beijing is directing more computing capacity toward western regions where land is available and wind and solar resources can help reduce energy costs.

Five of China’s eight national computing hubs are located in western China, according to a June 25 report from the government-backed Digital China initiative. More than 30 data centers were under construction within a three-kilometer area in Horinger, Inner Mongolia, while intensive construction was also underway in Zhongwei, Ningxia.

That buildout caught the attention of members of the bipartisan US-China Economic and Security Review Commission during a recent fact-finding trip to China.

“I left with an intense belief that the Chinese see this as the frontier in terms of competition,” Commission Vice Chairman Mike Kuiken told News Media, describing AI as increasingly intertwined with robotics, biotechnology, advanced materials and manufacturing.

Kuiken said China has one significant advantage when it comes to constructing the infrastructure needed to support that technology.

“The Chinese, because they write the rules as they go, and the rule of law largely does not exist, are able to just move faster in terms of building things,” he said.

But Kuiken also identified a major Chinese weakness: access to the most advanced chips.

“The constraints that are real though, the Chinese do not have the ability to procure advanced chips,” he said, while describing Beijing’s ability to rapidly construct coal plants and other infrastructure as “quite incredible.”

The U.S. retains major advantages beyond its data-center lead. The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence’s 2026 AI Index found that America produced 59 notable AI models in 2025 compared with 35 from China, and U.S. private AI investment reached $285.9 billion, compared with $12.4 billion in China. Stanford cautioned that private investment figures understate Beijing’s overall spending because of Chinese government-backed funds.

At the same time, Chinese models have rapidly narrowed the performance gap. Stanford’s 2026 AI Index found that as of March 2026, the top U.S. model led the top Chinese model by just 2.7%.

Chang also alleged that Beijing is seeking to exploit American opposition to data centers and claimed China-linked networks have helped support protests against projects in the US. “These protests are not entirely organic,” Chang told News Media.

Kuiken was cautious about portraying those local disputes as part of a broader anti-China fight, saying genuine U.S. opposition to data-center projects has also emerged over concerns including electricity costs, water use, noise and land development.

“We are building things in the U.S. faster than we have in a long time,” he said, adding that policymakers are working through infrastructure constraints. “Usually there are local issues that are driving those things.”

The emerging competition, therefore, is not simply over who develops the smartest AI model.

It is increasingly a race over who can build the electricity, data centers, chips and networks needed to run those models at enormous scale — and how quickly they can build them.