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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
Tropical Storm Lala is gaining strength in the Pacific, and experts caution that it might soon transform into the first hurricane on record to impact Hawaii’s Big Island.
On Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) revised the storm’s projected path and intensity, indicating that Lala is expected to reach hurricane force by early Saturday morning.
Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, the Administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, emphasized, “Lala is intensifying, and it is crucial for residents to be ready for the potential of severe winds, torrential rain, flooding, and substantial waves.”
This occurrence would be unprecedented, marking the first recorded instance of a hurricane making landfall on Hawaii’s Big Island since the commencement of precise weather documentation in the 20th century.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell noted, “Hawaii’s Big Island has never experienced a hurricane making landfall. Only Tropical Storms Darby in 2016 and Iselle in 2014 have previously reached land on the Big Island.”
NHC upgraded their alert to an official Hurricane Warning for the Big Island (Hawaiʻi Island), and also issued Tropical Storm Watches for all of Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe.
Lala currently has sustained winds of 60 mph and is expected to begin impacting the state Friday afternoon, delivering potentially dangerous wind gusts and rain.
Once the storm arrives on Saturday, AccuWeather’s worst-case scenario warns that parts of the Big Island could see up to 30 inches of rain, deadly flash flooding and mudslides, wind gusts reaching 100 mph and ocean surges approaching six feet.
Tropical Storm Lala (Pictured) is projected to become a hurricane be as early as August 14, threatening to become the first hurricane to make landfall on Hawaii’s Big Island
The National Weather Service projected that Tropical Storm Lala will become a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, right before making landfall in Hawaii
The heaviest rainfall and wind damage is expected to impact the eastern side of the Big Island, however, forecasters now predict that the entire island chain will see at least two to four inches of rain this weekend, with isolated spots seeing eight inches.
AccuWeather predicted that Lala will be a Level 2 out of 5 on their ‘Real Impact’ scale for rating hurricane damage.
This means the storm will likely cause wind damage to small buildings and trees, power outages and significant property damage in coastal communities.
AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva warned that the oncoming storm closely resembles Hurricane Hone, which brought severe flooding and dangerous winds to the island paradise in 2024.
‘Despite never making landfall in Hawaii, Hone brought more than two feet of rain to portions of the Big Island, causing significant flooding, as well as winds in excess of 70 mph,’ DaSilva said in a statement.
The only other hurricane believed to have made landfall on the Big Island was the 1871 Kohala Cyclone but there are only unconfirmed reports from local newspapers documenting the extreme weather event.
According to Hawaiian news outlet Big Island Now, the Kohala Cyclone was a Category 3 hurricane when it struck the north side of the Big Island on August 9, 1871.
AccuWeather has projected that Tropical Storm Lala will only reach Category 1 hurricane status overnight, meaning it will have sustained winds of 75 to 95 mph.
Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui are expected to take the most severe damage from Tropical Storm Lala
The island of Maui (Pictured) is under a Tropical Storm Watch as Lala approaches Hawaii
More than one million people are spread out across the state, particularly in communities such as Honolulu, Waikiki, Kahului and Kihei.
Hawaii is in the peak of its summer travel season, with roughly 250,000 vacationers visiting beaches and other tourist attractions on any given day from June to mid-August.
Maui, Hawaii’s second-largest island and one of the state’s top vacation destinations, welcomed approximately 2.5 million visitors in 2025, drawing tourists to its world-class white and black sand beaches, luxury resorts, whale watching sites and iconic attractions such as the 64-mile-long highway known as the Road to Hāna.
Mayor Richard Bissen of Maui County said in a statement: ‘County departments have been preparing for Tropical Storm Lala, and we’re asking our community to do the same.’
‘Use today to finish securing property, making sure your home has enough food, water, supplies and medications, and check on kūpuna (grandparents), neighbors and loved ones.’
Hawaii’s Big Island (Pictured) is projected to suffer a direct hit from Lala on Saturday morning, bringing over 16 inches of rain to the island’s east side
Since modern weather records have been kept, only two tropical storms have made landfall on Hawaii’s Big Island. Lala would be the first hurricane
The National Weather Service added that local evacuations may be necessary in areas where heavy rainfall triggers floods.
‘Leave immediately if evacuation orders are given for your area,’ NWS officials urged on Friday.
Imagine committing to a mortgage payment plan that stretches all the way to 2066. This could be a reality for some Australians as more lenders introduce 40-year home loans into the market.
In recent years, a growing number of smaller lending institutions in Australia have begun offering these extended mortgage terms, which extend a decade beyond the conventional 30 years.
AMP, a prominent name among Australian banks, has jumped on this trend by unveiling a new 40-year mortgage product specifically targeted at investors.
This move places AMP alongside a select group of lenders such as Credit Union SA, Unity Bank, Great Southern Bank, RACQ Bank, Bank of Us, Liberty, and Pepper Money.
Sally Tindall, the director of data insights at financial comparison site Canstar, shared with SBS News that many of these extended 40-year mortgages are aimed at younger individuals and first-time homebuyers.
Last year, a Finder survey found that 30 per cent of Australians would take out a 40-year mortgage if it reduced their monthly repayments to a more affordable level.
But experts warn there are major downsides that would-be borrowers should weigh.
The trade-offs of a 40-year mortgage
With house prices at historic highs, a longer loan term can make it easier for some Australians to enter the housing market by reducing monthly repayments, improving their serviceability or increasing how much they can borrow.
But it comes at significant cost.
According to an analysis by Canstar, an additional decade of repayments on a $600,000 mortgage could reduce a borrower’s initial monthly repayments by around $288 but result in nearly $275,000 in extra interest over the life of the loan.
“It improves someone’s chances of getting the green light on a loan that they might not have otherwise been able to afford,” Tindall told SBS News.
“But really, if you are someone that is struggling to pay off a debt over 30 years, it’s worth stopping and thinking, well, is the size of the amount I want to borrow too high for my financial situation?”
Last year, when Great Southern Bank introduced a new 40-year loan, its chief customer officer, Rolf Stromsoe, suggested the product could be a stepping stone for first-home buyers, allowing them to enter the market before ultimately refinancing.
“As their needs evolve and their earnings capacity changes, they may refinance any number of times — but this is the loan that can start it all,” he said.
But Tindall warned that refinancing may be a challenge with this type of product, given the limited pool of lenders that offer them and their high-risk profile.
It also exposes borrowers to the risk of being trapped in a loan they could struggle to refinance.
“Is that pay rise guaranteed? Is that promotion guaranteed? Absolutely not,” Tindall asked.
“It might all work out fantastically. It might not, and so it’s really important to be looking at the alternatives, so that you understand the risks of that particular strategy, and go in with your eyes open.”
She added that with fewer lenders to choose from, interest rates on these loans could be less competitive.
A growing trend?
Amid a global housing affordability crunch, longer loans are also gaining traction in several other countries.
In the UK, mortgages stretching beyond 30 years have become increasingly common, while 50-year loans are gaining popularity among younger buyers in Japan.
In the US, President Donald Trump floated the prospect of a 50-year mortgage last year.
Sarah Megginson, personal finance expert at Finder, said she expects more lenders may start offering 40-year loans in Australia as housing becomes increasingly out of reach for many buyers.
“I think that we will see more banks respond to customer demands by looking at different ways they can evolve their products and get more lending happening,” she told SBS News.
And as the cost of living burden leaves households with limited wiggle room in their budgets, she said, the prospect of saving a few hundred dollars a month on a mortgage may be attractive to some.
“Long term, the pain is there, but in the short term, people are just looking to try and release a bit of pressure,” she said, describing longer loan terms as offering “short-term gain for long-term pain”.
Tindall, however, doesn’t think there’s appetite for many lenders to offer 40-year loans.
“I don’t think they’re going to become more common,” she said. “APRA (The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) sees them as risky, and certainly the big banks don’t touch them.”
The banking regulator has previously said it places greater scrutiny on higher-risk mortgage lending, which includes lending at very long terms.
There are a range of factors behind this, Tindall said, including the sheer length of the loan. Someone taking out a 40-year mortgage in their 40s could still be paying it off well into retirement, in their 80s.
She doesn’t believe longer loan terms are the answer to Australia’s housing affordability problem — far from it.
“I can’t see a world where we move towards a 40-year mortgage as a solution to overpaying on a property.”
“What we need to see in order to make housing more affordable is more stock and lower prices, rather than just getting people to sign up for longer debts.”
This article is general information. Please see a professional if you need financial advice.
What may seem like harmless attention toward a child can sometimes conceal darker intentions, warns a Kentucky advocate. This caution comes as the state’s newly enacted grooming law results in its first arrest mere weeks after its implementation.
Laura Wills-Coppelman, who established Institutional Complicity Kentucky, known as ICKY, shared with News Media her perspective on the recent arrest. She views it as validation of the new legislation’s purpose, which is to offer law enforcement an earlier chance to intervene before behavior potentially escalates into sexual abuse.
“For the first time, legal measures in Kentucky enable intervention in scenarios where children might face irreversible harm,” noted Wills-Coppelman. “It’s an essential advancement in efforts to thwart child abuse.”
In a recent case, authorities detained Sadie Flores, a teacher at Graves County Middle School, following an investigation into her alleged inappropriate relationship with a student.(Graves County Detention Center)
Just a few weeks post-enactment on July 15, the new law led to the arrest of 25-year-old Sadie M. Flores from Mayfield. She faces charges of grooming a minor, classified as a Class D felony.
The Graves County Sheriff’s Office said Flores, an employee at Graves County Middle School, allegedly had an improper relationship with a minor student in the district.
The allegation was initially reported to Graves County Schools, which immediately turned the information over to the sheriff’s office, according to authorities.
Detectives seized electronic records, conducted interviews and took other investigative steps before interviewing Flores and arresting her around 3:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.
A woman poses with a sign as members of the public queue to enter a council meeting during a protest calling for justice for victims of sexual abuse and grooming gangs, outside the council offices at City Centre on Jan. 20, 2025 in Oldham, England.(Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)
Wills-Coppelman cautioned against drawing conclusions about Flores, saying the evidence and allegations in the case must now be evaluated through the court system.
But she said the arrest illustrates the significance of creating an earlier point at which authorities can investigate conduct that may precede abuse.
Wills-Coppelman said one of the biggest misconceptions about grooming is the belief that one questionable interaction can be viewed in isolation and labeled grooming.
Instead, she said grooming often unfolds gradually, with behaviors that may seem explainable on their own becoming increasingly concerning when they form a pattern.
“Grooming is a pattern of behavior that is intended to build trust, erode boundaries, and create conditions for a child to be exploited or abused,” she said.
Potential warning signs, she said, can include excessive attention or favoritism, gifts, secrecy and increasingly isolating a child from other trusted adults or peers.
Individually, some of those behaviors may have innocent explanations. The alarm, Wills-Coppelman said, comes when adults begin seeing them develop into a broader pattern over time.
And from the child’s perspective, she warned, grooming may not feel threatening at all.
Brandon Matthews says he remains unable to determine whether his children could be expected to share school restrooms or locker rooms with members of the opposite sex, according to court filings.(Houston Chronicle via Getty Imag)
“Grooming is a form of manipulation,” Wills-Coppelman said, explaining that a child may instead feel “special and seen and validated” by the attention.
“It doesn’t often register as dangerous until it’s too late,” she said.
For parents watching from the outside, however, the same relationship may begin setting off alarm bells.
“Why does this adult need so much access? Why are they being isolated so much? Why so much excessive attention?” Wills-Coppelman said parents should ask themselves.
Wills-Coppelman said survivors her organization has spoken with have repeatedly described another troubling pattern — adults who recognized something felt wrong but did not speak up at the time.
“A lot of people, bystanders, in their situations in retrospect look back and say, ‘I had an icky feeling,'” she said. “I saw something or I heard something that made me feel uncomfortable. I wish I would have spoken up.”
She stressed that reporting concerning conduct is not the same as declaring someone guilty.
Instead, she said, authorities are responsible for examining the evidence and determining whether conduct meets the threshold for criminal charges.
“The point of awareness can be the point of prevention,” Wills-Coppelman said.
That distinction has become particularly important amid concerns that ordinary interactions between teachers, coaches, youth leaders and children could be mistaken for grooming. The law makes clear that legitimate school, work and volunteer-related communications are not what it is designed to criminalize.
Wills-Coppelman rejected that characterization, calling appropriate adult-child boundaries “common sense.”
The president of a Georgia teachers union told News Media that public schools have “been grossly underfunded” due to school choice policies.(Getty Images)
“The intent of the law is to create an earlier intervention point, not to criminalize ordinary relationships between adults and children.”
Wills-Coppelman said the legislation received unanimous support in both chambers of the Kentucky legislature and bipartisan backing.
House Bill 4, primarily sponsored by Republican state Rep. Marianne Proctor, passed the House 98-0 and the Senate 38-0 before the House unanimously approved the Senate’s changes. Gov. Andy Beshear signed it into law April 10.
“This is not a political issue. This is a human issue,” she said.
Kentucky’s new grooming law is putting a spotlight on warning signs, appropriate adult-child boundaries and early intervention in schools.(Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
The pushback she has encountered, she said, has instead largely centered on due process and concerns about what happens after someone reports suspected grooming.
Wills-Coppelman said due process remains an essential part of the law because a report alone does not automatically trigger criminal charges. Investigators must evaluate the evidence before determining whether charges are warranted.
“We can preserve and respect due process and also prioritize the prevention of abuse and the protection of our children,” she said. “They are not competing principles.”
Wills-Coppelman said she ultimately hopes the law results not in more arrests, but fewer children ever reaching the point where alleged abuse occurs.
“The ultimate goal of this law is not more prosecutions,” she said. “It’s earlier recognition, awareness and understanding of what these behaviors look like and ultimately prevention.”
For Wills-Coppelman, passing the grooming law is only one piece of a larger fight.
She said she now wants Kentucky’s educator code of ethics brought into alignment with the new law and is pushing for greater accountability when people in positions of authority become aware of disturbing patterns but fail to report them.
That includes situations in which institutions attempt to handle serious allegations internally rather than referring them to the appropriate authorities, she said.
“My efforts are focused not only on the obvious villain, which is the perpetrator in these cases, but also turning some attention toward enablers, systems and institutions and the people within those organizations that had the capacity and the ability to take action and made a deliberate choice to not do so,” Wills-Coppelman said.
In the Flores case, Graves County Schools said administrators contacted law enforcement immediately after becoming aware of the allegation.
Sadie Flores, a teacher at Graves County Middle School, was arrested after authorities charged her with felony grooming of a minor.(X/@KyDeptofEd/Graves County Detention Center)
Superintendent Matt Madding said the district has since been informed that charges were filed against the teacher and pledged continued cooperation with investigators.
“We take any allegation involving the safety of a child or the professional conduct of an employee extremely seriously,” Madding said in a statement.
The district said it is limited in what it can disclose because the case remains an ongoing legal and personnel matter.
Wills-Coppelman hopes Kentucky’s approach eventually reaches far beyond the state.
She said Ohio has legislation similar to Kentucky’s, but her goal is for protections against grooming to ultimately become a nationwide standard.
“A child’s protection from grooming and abuse should never depend on geography,” she said.
For now, Kentucky’s first case under the new law will move through the courts, while the legislation itself faces its first real-world test.
And for Wills-Coppelman, its success won’t ultimately be measured by the number of people put behind bars.
“If it prevents even one child from the horrific consequences of abuse,” she said, “that makes it all worth it.”
Whitmer Thomas: Terminal Crew of Dudes, set to air tonight at 9 PM on HBO and HBO Max, breaks the mold of the traditional comedy special. Instead of performing to a packed house, comedian Whitmer Thomas steps into an intimate setting with his closest companions and older brother, weaving together a tapestry of humorous stories, original songs, and nostalgic film clips interspersed with whimsical antics designed to tickle his friends’ funny bones. This refreshing blend of laughter and sentiment captures the essence of a show that is as touchingly inspiring as it is uproariously entertaining.
In Terminal Crew of Dudes, Whitmer Thomas, now 37, opens up about his upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama, a journey that took a dramatic turn when his parents, afflicted by addiction, parted ways. His mother, battling alcoholism, relocated him and his older brother, Johnny, to the coastal enclave of Gulf Springs. Here, fate introduced Whit to Jeramy, a fellow skateboard enthusiast who would become his inseparable best friend. Remarkably, the members of Thomas’s backup band are not mere musicians for hire—they are the lifelong friends who populate his tales of youthful misadventure and camaraderie.
Thomas’s latest offering is a unique blend of utter vulnerability and an infectious skater-boy charisma. Throughout the special, he bravely explores both the darkest and most mortifying moments of his childhood, only to lighten the mood with his trademark juvenile humor. As he repeatedly emphasizes, it’s his loyal friends, his so-called “terminal crew of dudes,” who have been his steadfast source of joy and resilience through life’s tempests. In this way, Terminal Crew of Dudes offers a refreshing antidote to the pervasive discussions on male loneliness saturating the pop culture landscape of 2026.
This week, Whitmer Thomas graced the studios of DECIDER to share insights into the making of Terminal Crew of Dudes. He delved into how executive producer Tim Robinson played a pivotal role in amplifying the rawness of the special, and revealed a cheeky piece of advice—one should perhaps resist the urge to do certain things solely because they elicit laughter from friends…
**Spoilers for some jokes/punchlines in Whitmer Thomas: Terminal Crew of Dudes ahead**
Photo: Brian Zak/NY Post
DECIDER: Whitmer, thank you for coming here. I watched your special last night and I found it to be so strangely moving and creative in ways I had not considered a comedy special could be. I think I mentioned to you, I used to do stand-up briefly when I was younger. I never knew you could have other people on stage with you, like your friends behind you hanging out with you during a stand- up set. How did you conceive of bringing the band on with you and them being so interactive with the entire special?
WHITMER THOMAS: I took a minute. I was doing that sort of a version of that show for a couple years just on tour all over the place. I play with the band mostly live while I’m doing stand up. And then one tour in 2023, I realized that a bunch of the material — I was doing stories and stuff — involved the band members when we were kids. And I realized it was way more fun to talk to them and sort of let the audience in on that. And that’s where it kind of clicked, like “Oh, maybe if I get to do another comedy special that would be the move.
Another unique thing to me, at least, is oftentimes with comedy specials, they start up top like “Live from this theater, it’s…” There wasn’t any of that. There are a lot of interstitial sketches that come up and we cut to videos. Why did you kind of want it to have more of almost a theatrical feel as opposed to a live performance?
I just think it looks cool. I mean, that’s really all it is. I just love, like, Stop Making Sense, The Talking Heads live movie, and The Last Waltz. They take a lot of creative liberties. A lot of that, it appears to be live, but it’s not. They put the camera on the stage without the audience there and cover certain angles and things. So when I was kind of prepping to do this, the goal was to do the full show with no audience at all with the camera on stage, but we didn’t have time to do that, so we just picked a few little moments.
As far as just the whole, “Welcome to Los Angeles, California, at the so-and-so theater, it’s Whitmer Thomas!” Just to get right into it, I’m already wasting people’s time with all these four-minute long songs, little videos of us as kids. So I thought let’s just get right into a joke.
Photo: HBO
I love all the videos of you guys when you were kids and it just adds such, I don’t know, a dimension and humanity to what you’re saying because we can now see you guys as yourselves and now. Was it hard to source that or were you just sitting on all these tapes?
It was hard. It was really hard to find. It took a while to edit because we had to go back home and ask a couple friends if they had any old videos and then that would send them — they were almost like also employed. Like they had a new job which is to look through old tapes and they have actual jobs. So we went back to Alabama and really our friend Sam Sumlin had so many old tapes and we sort of hit the jackpot. We were like, “Oh, it’d be so cool if we had a video of our band in middle school playing live,” and then he just had one. It was like hours of us just looking through stuff. Yeah, it was pretty hard to source and we got really lucky with a lot of stuff.
Yeah, it seems like so many stand up specials are individuals writing for themselves with one person on stage doing the whole thing. The credits have all these people getting shout outs for everything they contributed. What was it like to kind of create this village, this community behind this special?
I just feel very lucky to have friends who — and I’m all about notes and collaborating. And I screened it a bunch and there were multiple different edits and different jokes and so I thought it would be fun to credit people in different ways. There were a lot of credits that we had that weren’t allowed. There was, I don’t know, there’s just a bunch of credits that were like made up credits. And HBO was like, “You can’t actually do that. That’s against a union rule.” And so then we just made up names. Or we made up “lighting rig operator.” Like jobs that don’t actually exist, just so I could credit a friend. And I don’t know, that’s what gets me. It makes me feel maybe the most grateful watching is whenever I look at the credits at the end and I see all my dumb ass friends, you know? [laughing] They weren’t even there whenever we made it.
Photo: HBO
I think one of my favorite parts of the special as a whole is that you start off from expressing your insecurities about wanting to be cool and wanting to be liked and you share all of these very vulnerable stories about your childhood and things that you went through. And at the end, I love the turn around that you are okay because you have your “terminal crew of dudes” and it becomes a love letter to male friendship. I’m just so curious because I’m tired of hearing about the male loneliness epidemic, but this feels like an antidote to that in some capacity. Did you feel that at all? It’s a love letter to how men can grow and bond over hobbies and things that they share.
That’s what I’m hoping. I want people to watch it with their friends or to think of their friends, send it to their friends. I know that I’m lucky to have the same friends that I grew up with. The reality of all that is like me and my pals are going on dates all the time and we’re telling each other everything. We all check a certain box. You know, we all have our character that we play in like the movie of our friendship. I may be a little bit guilty of loverdramatizing it or mythologizing our friendship, but I like to hang on to my friends. If anything, I hope it inspires people to try to do that.
Yeah, as far as male loneliness goes, I mean it is a problem. I think guys have a hard time opening up and really what it is like — and there’s a million memes about it — but just like take your pal on a date. Take some guy you kind of relate to out on a little date, go get sushi and see a movie. Go see The Odyssey with some new cool looking guy.
That’s how you make a friend. You just go on a date and go see The Odyssey.
I skateboard and [that’s] the whole thing that me and my pals started doing that made us friends. I think skaters are really good at making friends because we’re all like maybe a little bit vain or thinking about clothes and shoes and style all the time. So it’s normal to go up to a guy at a skate spot and be like, “Hey man, where’d you get those pants?” The most embarrassing thing you could ever ask another guy is like, “Right, fine.” And skaters watch each other fall and cry. So it really opens the floodgates for a good friendship.
Photo: HBO
I think one of my favorite anecdotes that you share is about your brother when he barked. I think the whole audience was laughing and I, at home, was like, “Awww.” I mean, first of all, what was it like to have him on stage? Does he remember doing that? Just help me through that story and what it means to you that your brother would bark just to make you laugh.
A lot of those stories are stories that I was worried I was making up in my head. You know, like how you as a kid make up that there was a ghost in your house or something. But with my brother and my dad, who also I would bounce those things off of, like, “Did you really not know Toy Story was a cartoon?” You know, which is a bit in the thing. And my dad would be like, “Yep, I never saw anything like that before.” Or with my brother, I’d say like, “There was a time when you barked, right?” And he was like, “Yeah, I thought it was really funny. It made you laugh.” So It’s so fun. You know, I just want to give him his flowers and I don’t think that my brother’s ever done a wrong thing in his whole life. He’s the best guy that I know. So having him on stage is like, I think I’ll do that for the rest of my life, if I can. He’s like got a job and a family and stuff, so I can’t bring him on tour or nothing. But if I get to make more things like this, I always want him next to me. I could care less about the other guys.
I also really enjoyed the Spice Channel story because it could be creepy, but I thought as a child you had such empathy for your mother in a way that I wouldn’t normally think a little boy would have for his mother’s situation. Is that what you wanted to sort of cast out there? It’s funny and it’s real, but it could make people uncomfortable if it was delivered in the wrong way.
I mean, it’s just going to make people uncomfortable no matter what. That story, you know, I think if I ever have a family, the goal is for them not to know every single thing that’s happening in my life. Which wasn’t the case for me as a kid. Because of that, I related to my family, maybe a little too young. And the point of this whole special is to show that no matter what was going on in my childhood, I was laughing and having a blast because of my pals. But the truth is everything that I do, no matter what, creatively, I’m always thinking of my mom. It’s maybe not a creative thing that we’re doing in there, but I did have a lot of empathy for her and it was very hard to be mad at her, no matter what decision she was making because I was aware of her situation, even as a little kid. So yeah, I wouldn’t have known — I didn’t even know what empathy was until a few months ago, but, I guess I kind of did, yeah.
Photo: HBO
I was reading in the LA Times that Tim Robinson gave you a note to keep something in that you were kind of leery of. I think it’s the wings joke?
Yeah.
Which is so funny because it feels like a bit you have with your friends and not a polished standup bit. How did Tim sort of help you hone in on that “group hang” kind of comedy versus that really polished standup stuff?
Well, that joke was sort of pitched to me by my friend CJ Toledano. He was like, “Oh, I have this idea for a joke.” And I helped him kind of finish. And he was saying, you should do this because buffalo wings is my favorite food. And so he threw that to me. And it was not in my comedy special. There was no plan for me to do that. Really what I had planned to do this joke about boy bands and their friendship and I did do that and if you watch it you can see there’s kind of a hard cut like as if I cut three minutes out of it. My friends all dared me to do the buffalo wings joke because that is a joke that me and my pals would just — I would say it to them and they thought it was funny. But I had no intention of ever doing that joke live and they were like, “You gotta do that.” So I did it just for fun and I was planning to cut it out. And if you watch it, you can see I’m overcommitting as hard as I can, and I’m yelling, and I start sweating. So the first cut, we had both the Backstreet Boys joke and the buffalo wings joke, and a bunch of other stuff. And really where Tim came into play, he was like, “You gotta stick to what this is about. It’s fun to watch you and your pals do stuff and you do jokes that maybe are a little bit inside jokes with your friends and stuff.” And that Buffalo Wings joke is definitely one of them, so every time I’d try to cut it out, he’d be like, “You gotta keep that in. Lose the Backstreet Boys. Lose the five minute joke about The Dark Knight. Instead, stick to what this is really about.”
Speaking of which, you mentioned how some of the jokes feel like inside jokes in the first watch. It occurred to me that this means that this could be one of those specials that you could repeat-watch and then find it funnier the more you watch it. Is that something that you’re hoping for, that people can re-watch it and feel more clued into the fun group?
Yeah. I really want everybody to walk away feeling they know the guys, and I would love it if they kind of watched it again and looked at where Budd was laughing compared to Clay, because there’s a lot of it where Clay’s not laughing at all, because he’s seen me do this 8,000 times. Where, you know, Budd is just like a gracious laugher. If you look at Jeramy, Jeramy’s never seen most of it. He only played the show with me twice. You know, he’s living in Alabama along with my brother. So they hadn’t seen most of it. So they’re kind of like, Jeramy didn’t know that I was going to tell the story about him living in my car, or the “dewanul” thing, or anything like that. So he’s kind of laughing the hardest.
And before I let you go, I am curious, did you actually swallow a cigarette or was that kind of a prop?
I swallowed a cigarette.
Okay. Definitely?
I’ll just say that in the lead up to doing that show and that bit, I threw up a lot after the shows and I felt really sick and don’t do that even if it makes your friends laugh.
Okay, all right. Words of wisdom.
Whitmer Thomas: Terminal Crew of Dudes will premiere tonight at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.
This interview has been edited and formatted for clarity.
In Germany, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at highlighting inclusivity sparked lively debate when a public swimming pool promoted an event dedicated solely to Black communities.
Nestled in front of Berlin’s iconic Volksbuhne theatre, this temporary open-air pool made its debut just last week and will be a summer staple for the next eight weeks.
With a hefty investment of €300,000 (£256,289), this pop-up pool was intended to be a vibrant meeting place for locals. However, a significant wave of scrutiny hit when it announced plans to restrict access to most of the public for a single day.
Scheduled for Friday, August 14, the Volksbuhne’s official website—aptly named ‘People’s Theatre’—noted, “During this period, the public bath will be open exclusively to Black communities.”
From 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on that day, the 25-meter pool will not be accessible to the general public, with organizers calling for respect towards this “collective self-designation” and the exclusive space it creates.
Volksbuhne has since cancelled the event, which was in partnership with the anti-discrimination community project Each One Teach One (EOTO).
The theatre cited ‘security concerns’ for its decision, which followed ‘the fact that swimming for Black children and teenagers has become the target of right-wing and racist harassment’.
It comes after a German beach faced heavy criticism last week after bathers were told by a lifeguard that they must speak the language – or they would be banned from the lake.
The temporary open-air pool in front of Berlin’s Volksbuhne theatre was officially opened just last week, and will remain open for eight weeks
The €300,000 (£256,289) pop-up was promoted as a summer meeting spot for locals
The swimming pool in Volksbuhne was originally announced as a symbol against exclusion and commercialisation, with it being marketed as a ‘summer invitation’.
The event was held in collaboration with the public-funded EOTO, which offers social and cultural programmes for Black people.
The move sparked anger from excluded Berliners after the project’s six-figure sum was funded by Volksbuhne, which receives more than €20million (£17million) annually from public funding.
The number of swimmers allowed to use the pool at one time is limited to 46, with the theatre estimating costs of around €300,000 for an expected 20,000 visitors.
It is, notably, free to use for visitors.
Volksbuhne’s new director Matthias Lilienthal described the move as wishing to provide people a place to swim in a city where options are limited.
He told German news outlet ZDF: ‘Half of the indoor and outdoor pools are closed, so we thought we’d help out Governing Mayor Kai Wegner.
‘The Volksbuhne considers even something as simple as two people splashing each other to be a theatrical event’, he added.
A German beach has caused a racism row after its lifeguard ruled bathers must speak German
Heidebad beach in Halle, north-east Germany, saw the rules introduced after Mathias Nobel said swimmers’ safety was threatened
The Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz theatre dates back to 1914, and is widely viewed as one of Berlin’s most historic theatres. It welcomes around 130,000 visitors with its, on average, 20 events per week.
Meanwhile, a racism row erupted at the Heidebad lakeside beach in Halle, eastern Germany, when a lifeguard banned those who could not speak German from the lake this summer.
Mathias Nobel decided bathers should be able to understand safety rules after saving a toddler who almost drowned after swimming into a 138ft-deep section of the lake in June.
Described as the ‘German-only’ policy, Mr Nobel was accused of discrimination and racism.
Authorities in Halle told him to row back on the language rules and warned moves which ‘might be perceived as xenophobic’ could damage the city’s reputation.
The far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) seized on the row and said German swimming pools were becoming ‘danger zones’.
It added: ‘When private operators are forced to implement their own language controls to ensure the safety of swimmers, the state’s loss of control has definitively reached the heart of our society.’
But Mr Nobel was criticised by the German life-saving association and the country’s anti-discrimination agency pointed out there were no equivalent rules for German tourists bathing abroad.
He told The Telegraph: ‘I had large families coming by and when I tried to explain the safety rules to the parents, it was clear they could not understand me.
‘It was the same if I asked them how old their children were, because under-fives swim for free here. And if I saw a child swimming without armbands, and tried to speak with them, the response was simply “ja, ja” [yes, yes], and I did not feel they knew what I meant.’
He said he was worried the language barrier could cause serious harm and added he denies any allegations of racism.
For him, the issue was about ‘listening to lifeguards’ and ‘respect’.
Halle lies in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is set for elections next month in which immigration remains a primary issue.
Currently the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is the largest party in the state parliament but the AfD finished second in the last poll and will look to add to its 23 seats in the 83-strong legislature.
Nationally, CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz has taken a hardline on immigration in response to the AfD threat.
This month, Mr Merz’s government continued a spat with Italy over migrant transfers under the EU’s Dublin system, which gives responsibility for asylum-seekers to the first bloc country the individual entered.
After enduring over nine months of captivity, American missionary Kevin Rideout has been freed, according to an announcement by SIM International, the Christian missionary organization he was associated with in Niger.
In a proclaimation to News Media, the organization joyously stated, “We are thankful to share the wonderful news that our dear friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released following his lengthy detainment.”
SIM revealed that Rideout was seized on October 21, 2025, while near his residence in the bustling capital city of Niamey, Niger.
The organization confirmed his release into U.S. officials’ hands and reported that he is in good physical condition.
Kevin Rideout, who served as a Christian missionary pilot, has now been safely transferred back to American authorities.(X/@RepMarkHarrisNC)
Rideout, who serves as a pilot for the North Carolina-based SIM, will now return to his wife and children.
“He will soon be reunited with Krista, his children, and his extended family,” SIM International’s statement read.
“Krista and the rest of Kevin’s family are profoundly grateful for the prayers offered on their behalf by people around the world throughout his captivity, and in particular for the deep level of prayer and support offered by our SIM family,” the statement also read.
Rideout was abducted just 150 feet from Niger’s presidential palace, The Washington Post reported in November.
Niger’s presidential palace in Niamey, Niger on Sept. 7, 2023.(AFP via Getty Images)
No information has been released about the group that took Rideout, though the Post cited analyst speculation that his abduction was connected to Islamic terror groups in the region.
Niger has been a hotbed for Islamic terrorism since a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government in 2023. Following the coup, the military expelled French and U.S. military personnel, forcing the Western nations to abandon Air Base 101 in Niamey, according to U.S. Africa Command.
Supporters of Niger’s ruling junta gather for a protest called to fight for the country’s freedom and push back against foreign interference, in Niamey, Niger, Aug. 3, 2023. Russia has moved some troops onto an airbase in Niger where a small number of U.S. forces remain after most American troops left the base in Niamey, the nation’s capital, a U.S. official said Thursday, May 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
Islamic groups, particularly the ISIS-affiliated Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) and the al Qaeda-affiliated JNIM, have grown in strength and influence in the region since the takeover.
“JNIM activity in Niger saw a substantial increase… representing an almost fourteenfold increase in fatalities and marking the highest number of deaths and attacks by JNIM in the country to date,” according to a report from the Global Terrorism Index in 2025.
News Media contacted SIM International, the White House, the State Department and AFRICOM for further comment.
For many young Californians today, the conventional trajectory from high school directly to a four-year college is being reassessed as they explore alternative routes to achieving a stable, middle-class lifestyle.
With escalating tuition fees, an unpredictable job market, and the rising impact of artificial intelligence, increasing numbers of youth are considering careers that emphasize practical training over traditional degrees.
This trend is evident in the surge of interest in trade programs and apprenticeships throughout California.
On a national level, enrollment in public two-year colleges, which are dedicated to vocational and trade education, has seen a significant uptick since the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, enrollment numbers for these institutions soared to approximately 871,000 by spring 2025—marking an impressive increase of nearly 20% compared to spring 2020.
That growth has continued, although at a slower pace. In spring 2026, enrollment at high-vocational public two-year colleges increased another 2.8%, or roughly 24,000 students, according to the Clearinghouse report.
California is particularly well positioned for the trend.
The state’s community college system says it is the largest provider of workforce training in the world, offering more than 200 career education programs, including automotive technology, engineering and skilled crafts. Officials say many programs can be completed in less than a year, with courses costing $46 per unit.
And students are increasingly competing for spots in some of the state’s apprenticeship programs.
In Los Angeles County, the Electrical Training Institute in Commerce — which trains electricians through an apprenticeship program — says its application windows can close once 2,000 applications have been received.
The institute’s 2026 application schedule lists multiple windows, including one in July that closed after reaching the application limit.
The appeal is straightforward: instead of spending four years paying for college before entering the workforce, apprentices can train for a skilled occupation while gaining hands-on experience.
California has nearly 100,000 active registered apprentices, according to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, which has made apprenticeships a central part of its workforce strategy.
The system says apprenticeships combine classroom instruction with hands-on career training and can lead to high-wage careers without student loan debt.
That can be particularly attractive in California, where the cost of a four-year degree can quickly add up.
At the University of California, a California resident entering as an undergraduate in the 2026-27 academic year faces $14,202 in annual tuition, plus a $1,386 Student Services Fee, before housing, food, books and other expenses.
Trade programs, by comparison, are generally designed around getting students into a specific occupation rather than requiring years of general education before they begin working.
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has also made career education a central part of its Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to increase the number of students completing career programs and finding jobs in their fields while expanding pathways into in-demand occupations.
The shift does not mean young people are abandoning college altogether.
Community college enrollment overall rose 3.1% in spring 2026, while public four-year enrollment increased 1.5%, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
But vocational-focused colleges are continuing to post gains, while enrollment in some traditionally popular fields is moving in the opposite direction.
Computer and information sciences, for example, saw undergraduate enrollment fall sharply from the previous spring — down 8.4% at four-year institutions and 11.2% at two-year institutions.
At the same time, health professions enrollment increased across award levels and institution types for a third consecutive year.
In a dramatic bid to secure her position, Jeanine Pirro brought a trove of documents to a meeting with Donald Trump, following a public admonishment from the President. Pirro, aiming to retain her role as US attorney, was determined to present her side of the story directly to Trump.
Spotted entering the West Wing with a box of crucial evidence, the former Fox News host acted swiftly after Trump accused her of yielding under pressure, saying she “folded like an umbrella,” a source disclosed to the Daily Mail.
Trump’s ire was ignited when he discovered the DC office, under Pirro’s supervision, sought to drop charges against ex-Olympian canoeist David Hearn. Hearn had faced allegations for defacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, an act that drew public outrage.
Responding to the President’s fury, Pirro – a seasoned judge and district attorney appointed as US Attorney for Washington, DC, last year – meticulously laid out the details of the evidence for Trump. Sources familiar with the meeting noted that while Trump was visibly upset, he listened to her explanation with measured understanding.
Renowned for her no-nonsense approach, Pirro didn’t deflect responsibility or downplay the situation’s gravity. Her straightforward manner aimed to reassure the President of her commitment to her duties.
‘She took the hit, she’s a big girl, she can handle it,’ the source said.
A separate source, however, said that Trump was more angry that he was not informed of the decision in advance.
‘The reason Trump went ballistic is that he didn’t know about it. It didn’t get by him,’ a Washington insider told the Daily Mail.
Trump expressed his outrage with U.S. Attorney and former Fox News ally Jeanine Pirro on Monday.
Government lawyers acknowledged the damage was likely caused by a botched installation in a 20-page filing released Friday, prompting DC US Attorney and longtime Trump ally Jeanine Pirro (pictured) to drop the charges.
Trump Publicly Rebukes Jeanine Pirro Over Dismissed Case
Sources told the Daily Mail that the news was expected to slip by the president and the media as part of a Friday evening news dump, but he was enraged the next day when he saw the media making it a focus of their news coverage.
On Truth Social, Trump signaled his frustration with Pirro Saturday afternoon, questioning her judgment in the case.
‘I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of vandalism,’ he wrote, adding that he disagreed with her ‘100 percent.’
By Monday, the story continued to saturate cable news, further provoking the president’s anger.
‘I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,’ Trump said angrily to reporters in the Oval Office Monday afternoon. ‘She folded like an umbrella, and people get away with things, and it’s a disgrace.’
People close to the president told the Daily Mail they were shocked by Trump’s public comments, as Pirro has been not just an ally but a close friend.
Pirro has been not just an ally to Trump but a close friend.
David Hearn (pictured), the former Olympian accused of vandalizing Donald Trump’s restored Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, has had his charges dismissed.
Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to criticize the DOJ’s decision.
Trump Stands by Jeanine Pirro After Case Setback
Pirro does not play Washington, DC, games, one source noted, as she keeps a very close-knit social circle that only shrank further when she took the job as US attorney.
She’s not a ‘leaker’ either, leaving many of her friends out of the loop when it comes to her work for the president.
Trump concluded that Pirro was dealt a ‘rough hand’ with the judge on the case, one source detailed, but that he was not likely to fire her.
But it was a mistake that she would be unable to fix.
‘The case is institutionally over in the Justice Department. What’s done is done, you can’t reindict them,’ the source said.
Remember the intelligent sibling of Jason Bateman’s character from a beloved 1980s sitcom? You might be surprised to see how this former child star looks today.
This weekend, the now 55-year-old actor made headlines with his strikingly different appearance as he was spotted strolling through Los Angeles alongside his wife, who is 56.
His wife, an actress herself, gained recognition with her roles in popular TV shows like CSI: NY and Charmed.
The Southern California-born actor embraced a laid-back look, sporting a blue t-shirt matched with grey shorts, and chose slide sandals to complete his sun-friendly ensemble.
Gone are the days of his thick, dark locks; now, his hair is closely cropped and clearly thinner. The celebrity accessorized with sunglasses to keep his eyes shielded from the California sun.
The father-of-two stepped away from acting in 2004 to pursue a career as an independent life and medical insurance agent in California, but has returned to the screen in recent years.
Can you guess who he is?
This former child star is best know for playing Jason Bateman’s brainy brother in a popular 1980s sitcom
Over the weekend, the 55-year-old actor looked unrecognizable as he stepped out with his wife, 56, in Los Angeles. Can you guess who he is?
That’s right, it’s Jeremy Licht! He famously starred in the hit show The Hogan Family.
Licht also appeared in Twilight Zone: The Movie as well as alongside Sally Field in the 1981 TV movie All The Way Home.
He was joined by wife Kimberly Wallis during his latest outing.
Wallis showed off her legs in a pair of denim shorts paired with a grey tank top.
She topped off the look with a black hat, with her brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Licht and Wallis for comment.
Licht married Wallis in 2007. They have two children together.
He was previously married to Carol-Ann Plante from 1996 until 2001.
Licht and Bateman played brothers on The Hogan Family, which ran from 1986 to 1991.
The Hogan Family, which was originally titled Valerie, centered on Valerie Harper as Valerie Hogan, a mother balancing raising her three sons, working at an auction house and dealing with her pilot husband’s frequent absences.
That’s right, it’s Jeremy Licht! He famously starred in the hit show The Hogan Family; Pictured in 1988
Licht and Bateman played brothers on The Hogan Family, which ran from 1986 to 1991; Pictured: (clockwise top center) Bateman, Danny Ponce, Josh Taylor, Valerie Harper, and Licht
He was joined by wife Kimberly Wallis during the outing. She is known for appearing in episodes of CSI: NY and Charmed
The California native kept it casual in a blue t-shirt and grey shorts. He completed his summer-friendly outfit with a pair of slides
His once-luscious dark hair was cropped short and appeared noticeably thinner. The entertainer kept his eyes shielded with a pair of sunglasses
He stepped away from acting in 2004 to pursue a career as an independent life and medical insurance agent in California, but has returned to the screen in recent years
Her sons were played by Bateman as David, Licht as Mark and Danny Ponce as Willie.
Harper left the series after two seasons due to a salary dispute. Sandy Duncan joined the cast as Sandy Hogan, the boys’ aunt who moved in and became their surrogate mother.
The show was renamed Valerie’s Family: The Hogans for its third season before becoming The Hogan Family for its final three seasons.
In June, Licht spoke about Bateman becoming like an ‘older brother’ to him on set, despite the times they ‘fought and argued.’
‘I have in real life a younger brother, so all of a sudden I had an older brother,’ he told Remind Magazine.
‘Jason was great, unbelievable professional, knew so much about, especially sitcoms,’ he said. ‘I had never really done a sitcom. I’d done an episode of something before, but never a sitcom and all of a sudden I’m booked on this show and he just knew timing.’
‘To this day, his timing is good. His cadence in everything is just amazing.’
He noted that there were times not everyone got along.
Licht also appeared in the Twilight Zone: The Movie; Pictured in a still with Kathleen Quinlan
He also starred alongside Sally Field in the 1981 TV movie All The Way Home; Seen in a still with Field and Willam Hurt
‘Was it always easy? No. We had three boys who were pre-and actively pubescent and of a certain age. And were there times that we fought and argued? Absolutely. Were we always showing up to rehearsals and professional? Absolutely.’
‘Because we experienced five years together, there can also be brutal honesty when things are challenging.’
Licht went on to say, ‘I love Jason and all of them, and my experience was all good.’
He added cast remain close to this day: ‘We still end up going to lunch every six months or so when we can all get our acts and schedules together.’
Licht’s most recent acting credit was in the 2025 short film Star-Crossed. His other notable credits include the 1980 TV movie The Comeback Kid, alongside John Ritter, and the 2023 short mystery thriller Seat 23B.
