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Irish dance star Michael Flatley announces wife Niamh’s death

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Michael Flatley has announced that his wife, Niamh, has died at the age of 52.

The Lord of the Dance star shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram on Monday evening, asking fans to keep his family in their thoughts and prayers.

Niamh died peacefully at Beacon Hospital in south Dublin “following a period of illness,” a representative said.

Michael, 68, posted several photographs of Niamh, including an image from their wedding day and another showing the couple with their son, Michael Saint James.

In his statement, he wrote: “My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend. My gorgeous bride of twenty years has gone to the Lord in Heaven.

“She was the most loving mother, wife and person, and our lives will never be the same without her.

“Thank you for all the love and kindness you have shown us. Please keep Niamh, Michael St James and our family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Michael Flatley has announced the death of his wife Niamh aged 52 in a statement on Instagram on Monday evening

Michael Flatley announced his wife Niamh’s death at the age of 52 in a statement shared on Instagram on Monday evening.

His statement read: 'My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend. My gorgeous bride of twenty years has gone to the Lord in Heaven

Michael wrote: “My heart is broken. I have lost my beautiful wife, Niamh, and my best friend. My gorgeous bride of twenty years has gone to the Lord in Heaven.”

Michael, 68, shared a series of photographs of Niamh including one of the couple on their wedding day and another with their son, Michael Saint James (pictured with their son)

Michael, 68, shared photographs of Niamh, including one of the couple with their son, Michael Saint James.

According to the Irish Independent, Niamh had been unwell for several years and was just hours away from being flown to the United States for specialist treatment.

She had been battling ill health, with Michael reportedly spending “every waking hour” caring for his wife.

A statement from Michael’s representative said: “[The Flatley and O’Brien families] express their sincere gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff at Beacon Hospital who cared for Niamh over the past few weeks, and to everyone who has offered their kindness and support to the family.”

Friends said Michael had been left “distraught, devastated and utterly grief stricken” by the loss.

Fans of the Riverdance star shared their condolences beneath his post. One wrote: “So sorry for your loss Michael. Sending thoughts and prayers to you all.”

Other messages included: “So sorry to read this. Thoughts and prayers”; “So sad”; and “Sorry for your loss and condolences to all of your family, may she RIP.” Another fan wrote: “Heartbreaking. She was gorgeous inside and out. All our love to your son. Shine bright beautiful girl. Heaven has gained an angel.”

Despite her illness, Niamh continued working on Michael’s touring productions alongside costume designers, service providers and dancers.

Niamh was also a professional dancer. She began performing at the age of three and appeared in Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames and Celtic Tiger.

The couple first met while working on Riverdance, and Niamh was part of the famous line-up during the 1994 Eurovision interval.

Although they did not begin a romantic relationship until 2006, they married later that year in Fermoy, County Cork. Their son, Michael Saint James, was born in 2007.

In an interview on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2013, Michael again described his wife as his ‘best friend’.

Niamh, who was also a professional dancer, began performing at the age of three and appeared in Riverdance, Lord Of The Dance, Feet Of Flames and the Celtic Tiger

Niamh, who was also a professional dancer, began performing at the age of three and appeared in Riverdance, Lord Of The Dance, Feet Of Flames and the Celtic Tiger

Fans of the Riverdance star offered their condolences in the comments section of his post, including one which read: 'So sorry for your loss Michael. Sending thoughts and prayers to you all'

Fans of the Riverdance star offered their condolences in the comments section of his post, including one which read: ‘So sorry for your loss Michael. Sending thoughts and prayers to you all’

They didn't strike up a romance until 2006 but married later the same year in Fermoy, County Cork, before welcoming their son Michael Saint James in 2007 (pictured on their wedding day)

They didn’t strike up a romance until 2006 but married later the same year in Fermoy, County Cork, before welcoming their son Michael Saint James in 2007 (pictured on their wedding day)

He said: ‘She is highly intelligent. She is my best friend. She is extraordinarily beautiful, inside and out. I am proud to be her husband. I am blessed to have her. She is a loyal true blue.’

Michael has also spoken of how Niamh was his rock during his battle with cancer. 

Speaking to the Irish Independent last year, he said: ‘I was haemorrhaging and convulsing on a hospital bed and I kept passing out. They couldn’t give me the painkillers necessary. 

‘There were some wonderful nurses that were trying to help me, but they were invisible to me because of the pain, but I will never forget opening my eyes one of the times that I came to, and my wife was there. 

‘And my wife was smiling. Can you imagine the courage from my wife, to put on a smile in that position? The courage that took?’

Niamh and Michael were last seen in public together in August, celebrating Michael Smurfit’s 90th birthday in Monaco.

Psychic Warned of a ‘Future Pandemic’ Weeks Before Russia’s Plague Scare

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A warning from self-described psychic Craig Hamilton-Parker about a “future pandemic” has resurfaced following reports of a suspected plague infection in Russia.

Hamilton-Parker, a UK-based figure sometimes dubbed the “Prophet of Doom,” previously attracted attention after claiming he had predicted both the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

In remarks made on September 24, he told followers that another pandemic could emerge, this time involving a bacterial disease affecting the chest and lungs.

He said the warning had come from two Tibetan monks who, according to his account, had unexpectedly visited his home.

Hamilton-Parker also claimed the illness would be “much harder to control” than previous outbreaks.

The comments gained renewed attention after reports said Darya Shipilova, 28, had been exposed to pneumonic plague while working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia. Pneumonic plague is a serious lung infection that can progress rapidly.

According to the news outlet Lyudi Baikala, Shipilova told medical workers late in September that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria. She died on October 1.

Authorities subsequently placed almost 200 people who had been in contact with her under medical observation and restricted access to hospitals and medical facilities across an area of roughly 30 square miles. Russian officials, however, have not confirmed that plague caused her death.

Craig Hamilton-Parker, also known as 'Prophet of Doom,' warned in late September that a second pandemic was set to emerge

Craig Hamilton-Parker, also known as ‘Prophet of Doom,’ warned in late September that a second pandemic was set to emerge

There is no evidence that Hamilton-Parker’s prediction was connected to the reported Russian case. Broad psychic forecasts can also be matched to events retrospectively, particularly when they use general descriptions.

In last month’s video, Hamilton-Parker introduced a section titled “Warning of Another Future Pandemic” while outlining the claim.

“I listened to them,” he said of the Tibetan monks, “about the fact that there would be another pandemic coming.

“They were concerned about this… and this new one would be a different one.”

He said the alleged second pandemic would target the lungs, describing it as “more like a biological type of illness” that would be “much harder to control.”

Hamilton-Parker first made his widely cited COVID prediction in a video released in January 2020. In it, he described a flu-like pandemic beginning in China before spreading around the world.

He later pointed to an earlier video, posted on September 25, 2019, in which he said he had foreseen a “flu-like pandemic” affecting the world in late 2019 or 2020.

In his September video, Hamilton-Parker further claimed that the monks knew of a treatment for the predicted illness, supposedly preserved in ancient Tibetan texts.

Lab worker Darya Shipilova, 28, died in Siberia of pneumonic plague after breaking a test tube.

Lab worker Darya Shipilova, 28, died in Siberia after reportedly breaking a test tube in a suspected pneumonic plague incident

She was reportedly working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia when she was exposed to pneumonic plague.

She was reportedly working at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia when she was exposed to pneumonic plague

“It’s much more dangerous this one because it can spread much more quickly,” he added.

‘But I’ve always said that the second one that comes will be stopped. And [the monks] said the same thing. 

‘They said the prophecies say that this would happen, but it would be stopped. So if it happens again, guys, rest assured we’re going to conquer it. We’ll beat it.’

He said the reason the world would beat this pandemic is the use of AI, which is capable of developing treatments quickly. 

Pneumonic plague is the most dangerous form of plague and the only one that can spread directly from person to person through infectious respiratory droplets. 

The pathogen, if untreated, can cause swelling, fever and death. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that Washington was monitoring reports of a plague infection, but that it was not a ’cause for alarm’.

‘There’s very limited travel between the US and Russia, obviously, but like anything else, something like that gets out, it could quickly spread,’ Mr Rubio told reporters before taking off on a visit to Iceland.

‘So we’re watching and monitoring it closely. I don’t think it’s cause for alarm, but it is cause for focus and a cause to just keep an eye on it. And we’re doing that.’

Health officials pictured in the Irkutsk region wearing hazmat suits during the plague response, with a mask mandate also put in place

Health officials pictured in the Irkutsk region wearing hazmat suits during the plague response, with a mask mandate also put in place

Vladimir Putin’s regime is seeking to downplay Ms Shipilova’s death, yet widespread suspicion of a state cover-up is rapidly spreading.

It was revealed on Monday that more than 60 colleagues of the young scientist will remain locked inside her Siberian research institute for days, despite none testing positive for the plague.

Up to five hospitals in the Irkutsk area are in ‘epidemic’ mode, according to reports, with hundreds of staff and patients barred from leaving.

City Clinical Hospitals No1, No3, and No10 and the Ivano-Matreninskaya Children’s Hospital have been closed for a three-week quarantine, according to Lyudi Baikala.

Relatives of a woman giving birth at one of Irkutsk’s maternity hospitals also reported to the outlet that it had imposed a quarantine.

A source in the healthcare sector told the publication that Irkutsk doctors are ‘openly talking about plague’.

NYC Woman, 35, Found Dead, Badly Beaten Inside Apartment

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A 35-year-old woman was found dead inside her Bronx apartment Sunday evening with bruises covering her body, and investigators are examining possible foul play, police and sources said.

Jasmine Chisolm had visible injuries to her head and face when officers arrived at the apartment on East 158th Street near Courtlandt Avenue in Melrose at about 6:30 p.m., authorities said.

Her boyfriend called 911 to report her condition, according to law enforcement sources.

Jasmine Chisolm was covered in bruises when police responded to her apartment on East 158th Street near Courtlandt Avenue in Melrose Sunday night, cops and sources said. Google Maps

Emergency medical workers transported Chisolm to Lincoln Medical Center, where she was initially listed in stable condition. She died from her injuries several hours later.

The circumstances of Chisolm’s death were not immediately clear, but sources said the NYPD is investigating whether a crime was involved.

The city medical examiner’s office will make the official determination of her cause of death.

No arrests had been announced by Monday afternoon.

No Arrests After Georgia Block Party Shooting Kills 2 and Injures Dozens

VIENNA, Ga. – Authorities in rural southern Georgia continued searching Monday for suspects in a weekend shooting that killed two people and injured nearly three dozen others after gunfire broke out during a large block party celebrating a homecoming football win.

No arrests had been reported in Dooly County, where the sheriff said more than 50 shots were fired early Sunday in Vienna. More than 1,000 people were still gathered outdoors, celebrating well past midnight when the violence erupted.

Dooly County Sheriff Craig Peavy identified the victims as Ja’Quavion Jackson, 21, of Cordele, and Macaleb Jackson, 23, of Hawkinsville. Sara Lue, a spokesperson for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said the men did not appear to be related.

Another 35 people were hurt, authorities said at a Sunday news conference. Most suffered gunshot wounds, while others were injured as people rushed to escape the scene. The sheriff said an unspecified number of victims were hospitalized in critical condition.

Investigators have not disclosed a possible motive or determined exactly how many people were struck by gunfire.

“At large parties with people from different places, not just your locals, sometimes problems come,” Peavy said Sunday.

Officials said the block party was neither sponsored by the school nor authorized by a city permit. Peavy said he had assigned additional deputies to patrol during the weekend because homecoming was expected to attract large numbers of alumni and visitors from outside the area.

The sheriff did not immediately respond to a phone message Monday. Lue said state investigators had no additional information to release. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation routinely assists rural communities with major cases.

The shooting overshadowed what Peavy described as a large but otherwise peaceful celebration of Dooly County High School’s homecoming football victory. Vienna, a city of roughly 3,000 residents, is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Macon.

Revelers filled an area spanning four blocks, and Peavy said deputies were patrolling nearby. After the first shots rang out and officers moved toward the scene, additional gunfire erupted about a block away, he said.

“It was so many people,” Peavy said. “And it was just hard to figure out what was going on.”

Antoria Felton of Jonesboro was among those who traveled to Vienna for the weekend. She drove two hours with her daughter and six other girls, telling WMAZ-TV that the gathering initially appeared calm before “bullets were going everywhere.”

As she searched for her daughter and the other girls, Felton said she saw “kids laying on the ground had been shot.”

“The only thing I’m trying to do is find these girls,” Felton said. “Everybody scattered out everywhere, everybody running. It was terrifying.”

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Teen Loses Hand After Police Grenade Explodes During French Student Protests, Report Says

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A 15-year-old student lost his hand during violent clashes between high school protesters and French police, as demonstrations over deteriorating school conditions and teacher shortages continued across the country.

The teenager reportedly picked up a police dispersal grenade in Lens before it exploded, severing his hand and part of his lower arm, officials said Monday, Reuters reported. The incident came as the nationwide school protests entered their third week.

François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said an estimated 200 to 250 demonstrators had thrown objects at police during the unrest.

30% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS SAY VIOLENCE ACCEPTABLE WAY TO STOP SPEAKERS ON CAMPUSES, SURVEY FINDS

Masked protesters install a barricade amid clashes with police during a protest by high school students near the Lycee Berthelot high school in Aubervilliers near Paris

Masked demonstrators put up a barricade during clashes with police near Lycee Berthelot high school in Aubervilliers, outside Paris, on Oct. 2, 2026. The action was part of nationwide protests calling for more substitute teachers, greater school funding and improved learning conditions. The placard reads: “Same studies, but not the same rights”. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said protest activity had eased in recent days. He added that the government planned to create a platform where students could share their concerns and frustrations.

The teenager was injured one day before a national rally organized by the pupils’ union, which is protesting inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating school buildings.

France student protests

Students confront police during continuing demonstrations in Lyon, central-eastern France, on Oct. 1, 2026. Since late September, young people have gathered outside schools nationwide to protest schedules, large class sizes, teacher shortages and overheated classrooms during this year’s heat waves. (Alex Martin AFP via Getty Images)

The unrest comes only months before an election to succeed President Emmanuel Macron. The movement began in Paris, with many demonstrations centered in poorer suburbs, before spreading to communities across France.

Officials say the demonstrations have increasingly been marked by violence, with some schools reportedly vandalized or ransacked.

Students protest in France

Students clash with police during demonstrations over school conditions and a nationwide shortage of teachers. Reports say one teenager suffered the loss of his hand after picking up a police grenade. (Getty Images)

French high school students gather outside the Lycee Voltaire high school as part of nationwide protests

French high school students protest outside Lycee Voltaire. More than 400 schools remain closed as unrest at some demonstrations has intensified into violence. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

“We’re going to keep blocking until the government hears us,” 18-year-old Sami Karen told Reuters while protesting outside Charles de Foucauld high school in Paris. “As long as they don’t listen to us, we won’t stop this fight.”

More than 5,000 people have been arrested since the protests started, and 87% of those detained were minors, according to France’s Justice Ministry. The ministry said more than 1,800 people face prosecution, including 1,483 minors.

Authorities have not released details about the charges.

Mother Dies Holding Photo of Her Four Children After Arson Attack

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A mother who suffered severe burns in an arson attack died while clutching a photograph of her four children, an inquest has heard.

Michelle Pearson was 37 when she died in August 2019, more than 18 months after Demi Pearson, 15, Brandon, eight, Lacie, seven, and three-year-old Lia were killed in the devastating fire at their Salford home.

The blaze, which broke out in December 2017, left Ms Pearson with burns covering 68 per cent of her body. She remained alive in hospital for more than a year before eventually losing her fight for life.

Bolton Coroner’s Court was told this week that the mother-of-six died with a crucifix placed around a photograph of her children in her hand.

Zak Bolland and David Worrall, who were 26 and 28 at the time, were convicted of all five murders and each received four life sentences.

The inquest heard that Ms Pearson and her children had been “petrified” in the weeks before the fatal attack, following a series of incidents at their home in Walkden.

Ms Pearson told police she believed the family was at risk and had approached a housing provider in an attempt to secure another home.

She reported a campaign of escalating harassment, including smashed windows, a wheelie bin being set alight and graffiti being sprayed across the walls of the property.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Pearson’s mother, Sandra Lever, said her daughter had been desperate to leave the house.

Michelle Pearson (pictured) died aged 37 clutching a photo of her children, more than a year-and-a-half after four of them died in a devastating house fire

Michelle Pearson (pictured) died aged 37 while clutching a photograph of her children, more than 18 months after four of them were killed in a devastating house fire

Eight-year-old Brandon (left), Lacie (centre), seven, and Lia (right), three, died in the house fire

Brandon, eight, (left), seven-year-old Lacie (centre) and three-year-old Lia (right) died in the house fire

Demi Pearson (pictured) also passed away at the age of 15 in the blaze

Demi Pearson (pictured), 15, also died in the blaze

“Michelle was beyond distressed,” she said. “She was not eating. The children were petrified of living in Jackson Street.”

The children were said to have suffered nightmares, while eight-year-old Brandon told his mother that he did not want to remain living at the property.

However, Ms Pearson said she felt “fobbed off” after being told by the housing provider that she did not qualify for emergency accommodation.

Elaine Williams, who lived nearby, told the inquest that she had seen Bolland smashing the windows of Ms Pearson’s home with a hammer just weeks before the fatal arson attack.

Mrs Williams said: “She wanted to move from there. She was fed up with all the trouble. She just wanted out.

“Michelle’s nerves were shot. She was at her wits’ end and she was worried.”

The family’s relatives believe the deaths were “wholly preventable” and have questioned whether state agencies missed opportunities to intervene and keep them safe.

Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, said as he opened the inquest, which is expected to continue for about eight weeks: “This is not a trial, this is not an exercise in blame and shame.”

He said the inquest would seek to examine whether there was ‘any predictable threat to life’ and ‘what could or should have been done that might have prevented these deaths’.

The coroner said the inquest aims to give the Pearson family a voice but added that their concerns, ‘coalesce into two words of rhetoric – “What if?”‘

Zak Bolland, then aged 26, was jailed for life for the arson attack

His accomplice, 28-year-old David Worrall, also received a life sentence

Zak Bolland (left) and David Worrall (right), then 26 and 28 respectively, were jailed for life over the attack

A statement released by the family when Ms Pearson passed away read: 'We know she's back with her children and out of pain'

A statement released by the family when Ms Pearson passed away read: ‘We know she’s back with her children and out of pain’

Mr Brennand read the remarks of Mr Justice Davis, who jailed for life the family’s killers, Bolland and Worrall, for carrying out the attack with petrol bombs in the dead of night.

Mr Brennand said the judge had determined a series of tit-for-tat attacks had taken place as part of a feud in the lead-up to the fatal firebombing, but what lay behind the dispute was never made public.

Earlier, Anna Morris KC, representing the Pearson family, read pen portraits about each of the victims from their families.

She described Michelle Pearson as a devoted mother who read her children bedtime stories each night.

After suffering massive injuries herself in the blaze, for some time during lengthy hospital treatment she was not aware her children were dead, but her mental health deteriorated after she was given the news.

‘We know she’s back with her children and out of pain,’ the family statement said.

Demi was described as a ‘happy, smiley child’ who was ‘best friends’ with her mother.

Brandon had an infectious smile and was a ‘mummy’s boy’ while his sister Lacie was a little ‘diva’ and Lia a little chatterbox with a cheeky laugh.

‘All of the children had such bright futures ahead of them,’ the family statement said, adding: ‘We cherish the short time we shared with them.’

Bolland and Worrall were both given four life sentences and told they would serve a minimum of 40 and 37 years respectively for the petrol bombing.

Bolland’s girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, 20, was jailed for 21 years for four counts of manslaughter.

The inquest continues.

Refugee Seeks $150,000 to Recover Before Leaving Australia

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Refugee advocate and human rights lawyer Nyadol Nyuon has launched a $150,000 fundraiser to help her recover and remain in Australia until she leaves the country, saying she has become disillusioned with life there.

Nyuon created the GoFundMe campaign over the weekend, ahead of her planned departure in mid-2027.

The 39-year-old was born in an Ethiopian refugee camp in 1987 and came to Australia aged 18 after her family fled Sudan’s civil war.

She later studied at the University of Melbourne, where several scholarships and grants helped cover her law degree and living costs.

Among them were the Eleanor and Joseph Wertheim Scholarship, a refugee bursary from Ormond College and the Sir Ian McLennan Award.

Nyuon received an Order of Australia Medal in 2022 for her work advocating for refugees. Earlier this year, however, she said she intended to return the honour and renounce her Australian citizenship.

Her growing disillusionment has been linked in part to an $800,000 taxpayer-funded initiative she led to support female diversity in workplaces.

She resigned as director of Victoria University’s Sir Zelman Cowen Centre in 2025, citing alleged racism, difficult working conditions and mental exhaustion.

Outspoken refugee advocate and prominent lawyer Nyadol Nyuon (above) has sought to raise $150,000 ahead of her move out of Australia in mid-2027

Outspoken refugee advocate and prominent lawyer Nyadol Nyuon (above) is seeking $150,000 before leaving Australia in mid-2027

In a statement posted with the fundraiser on Saturday, Nyuon said the money would help cover mounting expenses, including her mortgage and other essential bills.

“For almost two years, I have been unable to work. I have been the sole income earner in my household and my paid work supported both my household and the public work many people know me for,” she wrote.

“I am exhausted, managing depression and trying to make space for recovery. My bills have accumulated, my mortgage is in arrears and I cannot currently afford car insurance.

“I am asking for $150,000 to help me meet essential costs and remain in Australia through to mid-2027 while I focus on recovery. This support would give me some stability at a time when I have very little left to draw on.”

Nyuon said she decided to seek donations after friends encouraged her to do so, despite her own feelings of “pride and embarrassment”.

During her time leading the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, the organisation was contracted by WorkSafe Victoria to oversee its WorkWell Respect Network.

Nyuon later criticised both Victoria University and WorkSafe Victoria in a series of posts published online.

She accused the organisations of being “racist” and using her as “corporate blackface”, claiming the experience subjected her to “sustained psychological and emotional assault”.

Nyuon studied at the University of Melbourne via multiple scholarships

Nyuon attended the University of Melbourne with support from several scholarships

Speaking on the televised ABC National Immigration Forum, Nyuon said the experience had damaged her trust in institutions that presented themselves as progressive and committed to diversity.

“It’s easy for people to think I have made a decision out of anger. Actually, it was out of grief,” she said.

Both institutions have indirectly denied her allegations. 

Nyuon received mixed responses to her appearance on the program last month after stating she had ‘no intention of assimilating’ with Australians and losing her own cultural identity, and that there was no such thing as Anglo-Celtic culture.

‘Australia’s never been monocultural before. Before European settlement, there were Indigenous people who spoke multiple languages and considered themselves to be people of different nations,’ she said.

‘Then there was the immigration post WWII, those were also a diverse people.

‘If we start talking about terms like Anglo-Celtic and stuff, it creates this idea that there is some form of white culture that exists somewhere that can be recreated here in Australia.

‘But there is no white culture. There is Italian culture, there’s French culture, but there is not this notion of sort of a white culture that is being threatened.’

She clashed with former deputy prime minister John Anderson on the ABC National Immigration Forum last month

She clashed with former deputy prime minister John Anderson on the ABC National Immigration Forum last month

Nyuon’s GoFundMe post suggested she is still in discussions with Victoria University and WorkSafe Victoria.

‘I have also been involved in a lengthy process seeking review of a difficult professional matter,’ she wrote.

‘I’m keeping the details private while that process continues. It has taken a significant emotional and financial toll.’

The lawyer said $50,000 from the fundraiser would go towards her ‘mortgage arrears, overdue household bills and utilities and car insurance’ while $100,000 would aid with ‘essential living costs through to mid-2027’.

Nyuon changed the fundraiser’s goal to $30,000 late on Monday night.

At that time, more than $5,800 had been raised.

– READ MORE: Anthony Albanese’s government quietly grants permanent visas to 30,000 boat arrivals 

Christa Pike May Not Fully Recover After Failed Execution

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Christa Pike survived her execution attempt, but her attorney says the ordeal could leave lasting physical and cognitive effects.

“She’s still in the hospital on a ventilator, critically ill,” Pike’s attorney, Stephen Ferrell, told CNN on Oct. 4. “We don’t really know the prognosis yet and may not know for several days.”

Ferrell said he has not spoken directly with Pike’s doctors. Instead, his legal team has received updates through her medical power of attorney while Pike’s hospital room remains under guard.

“If she recovers, she may not fully recover,” Ferrell told CNN. “And there may be issues about her competence.”

“We have had no discussions about this,” Ferrell added. “The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office so far has not given us any indications of what their intentions will be.”

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction declined to comment.

Pike had spent more than 30 years on death row for the brutal 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was scheduled to be executed Sept. 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, but survived two doses of a lethal-injection drug and was taken to a hospital, where she remains.

“We don’t know what her physical state will be,” Ferrell told the outlet. “But it is clear that she has endured a torturous attempt at executing her.”

The execution was nearly halted before it began. A federal appeals court issued a temporary stay that day to consider a legal challenge from Pike’s attorneys. The stay was lifted hours later, allowing the execution to proceed—although the procedure ultimately failed.

After Pike delivered her final statement—“I’m going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love”—witnesses said she began gasping, choking and snoring inside the execution chamber.

At one point, Pike said, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst.” She was later transported to the hospital.

Her attorneys filed an emergency motion seeking to stop the execution, arguing that the procedure was causing her “unnecessary agony and occurring in violation of [her] right to be executed free of cruel and unusual punishment.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered a review of the failed execution and postponed the Dec. 3 execution of Gary Wayne Sutton.

The Tennessee Department of Correction, however, said it had “followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office.”

The botched execution has intensified debate over how Tennessee carries out the death penalty.

“Gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn has announced that she would try to use the electric chair,” Ferrell told CNN. “Which would require the Tennessee legislature to change the law.”

Ferrell is now asking Lee to commute Pike’s death sentence to life in prison, while acknowledging that no sentence could undo Slemmer’s killing.

“Nothing that anyone can do will bring back Colleen Slemmer,” Ferrell told CNN. “Nothing that anyone can do will make this right for her mother.”

He added, “I don’t think attempting another execution is going to bring justice.”

What Happened to Colleen Slemmer? 

On Jan. 12, 1995, Pike, then 18, led 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer to a secluded area of the University of Tennessee campus, where she fatally beat her. Pike’s boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp, and their friend, 18-year-old Shadolla Peterson, helped in the attack.

Shipp carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest while Pike took a piece of her skull, which she later described as a “souvenir.” 

Slemmer was beaten so badly that a university employee who discovered her remains, initially believed they belonged to an animal, according to a 1995 Tennessee Supreme Court opinion. 

Pike gave a full confession to police, saying that Slemmer had been “running her mouth” and that she wanted Pike’s boyfriend. Pike claimed she didn’t mean to kill Slemmer and only wanted to fight her. 

During Pike’s trial, her lawyers argued that she suffered from mental illness during the time of the killing. However, in 1996, she was found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and sentenced to death. 

Shipp was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and sentenced to prison, while Peterson received six years of probation. 

In 2023, Pike called Slemmer’s murder “the worst mistake.” 

“It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected,” she wrote in a letter to The Tennessean. “I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think that someone as loving and compassionate as myself had the ability to commit such a crime.”

Usha Vance Nearly Falls While Carrying Newborn, Quickly Recovers

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Second Lady Usha Vance kept her composure after nearly losing her footing on a staircase while carrying her newborn son.

The 40-year-old wife of Vice President JD Vance was stepping off a Marine Two helicopter at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday with two-month-old Alec secured in a chest carrier when she briefly stumbled.

Usha was dressed in a plaid, high-waisted skirt, a brown top and knee-high heeled boots when she missed a step while leaving the aircraft.

She quickly grabbed the staircase railing, steadied herself and continued with a smile.

The guards waiting at the foot of the stairs remained in place as she recovered from the stumble.

Video of the incident was posted to X and quickly went viral, prompting viewers to praise the mother of four for handling the awkward moment calmly.

‘She missed a step, caught herself and seemed to joke about it with the officers—all while carrying a newborn,’ one user wrote admiringly.

Other viewers, however, criticized the men nearby for not stepping forward to assist when she lost her balance.

Second Lady Usha Vance proved to be quite the super mom as she nearly fell down a set of steps but caught herself while carrying her newborn baby in her arms

Second Lady Usha Vance maintained her composure after nearly falling on a set of steps while holding her newborn son

Vice President JD Vance's wife Usha, 40, was captured losing her balance as she exited a Marine Two helicopter at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Monday

She was holding her two-month-old son, Alec, in a carrier around her chest

Usha Vance, 40, briefly lost her balance while leaving a Marine Two helicopter at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, with her two-month-old son, Alec, secured in a carrier against her chest

‘Not one person moved to help,’ another viewer posted.

‘Why did no one help her down? She had a baby with her,’ a separate commenter asked.

‘None of those men moved an inch to assist her. Shocking,’ a fourth person wrote.

A fifth commenter added: ‘And none of those dorks rushed in to help? WTF?’

JD Vance followed behind her, carrying the couple’s daughter in his arms.

The couple were escorted from the helicopter to Air Force Two before departing for Alaska, where JD was scheduled to attend a campaign rally.

Usha and JD welcomed their fourth child in July.

‘We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning,’ JD wrote in announcing his son’s arrival.

Thankfully, Usha, who dressed in a plaid, high-waisted skirt, brown top and knee-high heeled boots, quickly recovered

Usha, wearing a plaid high-waisted skirt, brown top and knee-high heeled boots, quickly recovered after missing a step

She grabbed the railings of the staircase before regaining composure with a smile on her face

She caught the staircase railing and regained her composure with a smile

JD exited the helicopter after her, holding their daughter in his arms. The couple were escorted from the aircraft to Air Force Two to travel to Alaska a campaign rally

JD exited the helicopter after her, holding their daughter in his arms. The couple were escorted from the aircraft to Air Force Two to travel to Alaska a campaign rally

Usha and JD welcomed their fourth baby back in July

Usha and JD welcomed their fourth baby back in July

‘Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.’

He went on to thank ‘the incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit,’ describing them as a ‘blessing.’

‘We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family,’ he added.

The Vice President and Second Lady already share two sons, Ewan, nine, and Vivek, six, and a daughter, four-year-old Mirabel. 

Cause of Death Revealed for Los Angeles High School Student Who Died After Jumping From School Amid Bullying Reports

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Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, a 17-year-old student at Benjamin Franklin High School, died by suicide after being assaulted by a classmate and falling over a fourth-floor railing, officials said.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled Monday that the teenager died September 30 from multiple blunt-force injuries to his head and torso.

The determination that the death was a suicide adds a significant development to the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into Xavier’s final moments.

Video showing the incident appeared to capture Xavier being verbally taunted and repeatedly punched by a classmate inside a classroom, while an elderly teacher tried urgently to intervene.

The student, who was wearing a black backpack, continued striking Xavier and eventually knocked him to the floor.

The video also appeared to show the classmate taunting Xavier and saying, “Run, n—a — run.”

After standing up, Xavier ran into an outdoor hallway with the other student following him. Moments later, he went over a fourth-floor railing.

Xavier’s family has said he endured bullying throughout high school. They described him as a caring, quiet teenager who was reluctant to speak about what he had been experiencing.

Police were notified of the fall at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, September 30. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took Xavier to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Benjamin Franklin High School was placed on lockdown after the incident as LAPD and Los Angeles School Police officers responded and began investigating the death.

Police did not initially release the identity or age of the student involved in the classroom altercation, and authorities had not announced criminal charges against him in the immediate aftermath.

LAPD initially said there was no evidence of foul play, while emphasizing that the circumstances surrounding the fall were still under investigation.

In a message to parents, Benjamin Franklin High School Principal Marine Davtyan said, “The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff continues to be our top priority.” She added that the medical emergency had prompted the campus lockdown.

School officials said mental health professionals and support staff would be available to students after the tragedy, including counseling and a safe place for those who wanted to talk.

A vigil was held for Xavier, drawing students, families and community members who gathered to remember him. Classmates described him as a caring, supportive friend who was known for his smile.

Xavier’s mother, Lilia Nungaray, is raising money following the heartbreaking loss.

“Losing a child is an unimaginable pain, and this family is now facing the emotional weight of grief while also trying to make arrangements to honor his life,” she wrote. “His passing has left a deep void in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.”

As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $180,000 toward its $200,000 goal.

The family’s fundraiser describes Xavier as “a beautiful, caring and loving boy.” The money will help cover funeral services and reduce the financial strain on his family after his death.

Friends and relatives have also remembered the 17-year-old as funny, caring and supportive of those around him.