Brooklyn Beckham fired back after fans sharply criticised his latest cooking video on Saturday.

The 27-year-old aspiring chef is no stranger to criticism over his recipes. This time, his take on the Italian classic spaghetti all’assassina drew another wave of biting reactions online.

Unlike traditional spaghetti, the dish is prepared by placing the pasta straight into a pan rather than boiling it separately in salted water before adding sauce.

A tomato-based broth, usually thinned with water, is then added gradually as the spaghetti absorbs the liquid—much like the method used to prepare risotto.

Several followers were unconvinced by Beckham’s version, describing it as “vile” and branding him a “spaghetti murderer.”

In response, he posted a meme from Friends in the comments, showing Ross Geller making the so-called “friendly middle finger,” a more playful version of the offensive gesture.

He later addressed the criticism on his Story, writing: “For all the lovely comments about me always burning my food, this pasta is supposed to be burnt sooooooo.”

Some supporters agreed with him, noting that spaghetti all’assassina is traditionally made by adding dry pasta directly to the pan so it develops a distinctive charred flavour.

Other commenters were far less forgiving. One wrote: “This looks… in a word – vile. It’s not even cooked properly,” while others asked, “Where is the REAL tomato sauce?” and dismissed it as “Basically burnt pasta with jar sauce.”

Further remarks included: “This is not al dente, but al hammer,” and, “That’s how Meghan Markle makes her pasta dishes – a lazy way of cooking.” Another critic added: “A tube of paste, a jar of sauce, ready prepped garlic. that’s not real cooking oh and the spaghetti looks half cooked. No thanks.”

“The Spaghetti Murderer is the right name,” another person commented.

Still, Beckham also had supporters in the comments. One viewer wrote: “Not gonna lie Brooklyn, that looks damn tasty.”

Another defended him by saying: “Interesting how many people criticise Brooklyn but still take the time out to watch his videos. Go Brooklyn.”

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A third fan commented: “It looks delish. Heck w the haters/food snobs. loved watching you cook and I’ll give this one a try.”

The backlash is familiar territory for Beckham, whose cooking clips often attract divided reactions. Earlier this summer, he faced criticism after preparing a protein pizza with Cloud 23, his own hot sauce brand.

That same month, fans were also stunned when he cooked a pasta dish with seawater while staying aboard a luxury yacht.

The latest clip was originally posted last year before being shared again on TikTok on August 8.

It caused immediate controversy as followers watched the eldest Beckham son dip his saucepan in the sea to collect salty water to boil the pasta.

It seems Brooklyn may have been trying to trump his estranged dad David, who is also passionate about cooking and even completed a culinary course during his spell at AC Milan.

He told The Times back in 2013: ‘Funnily enough, when I lived in Italy, I took a six-month culinary course at a professional chef’s school and learnt to make real ragu and fresh pasta.

‘I used to go there three times a week… I was obsessed with perfecting the risotto because it is difficult.’

Brooklyn is estranged from his family including parents David and Victoria and released a scathing statement about them in January.

He accused them of trying to ruin his wedding to wife Nicola Peltz and control him under the ‘brand Beckham’ name.

Brooklyn hasn’t been seen with his parents or siblings Cruz, Romeo and Harper since.  

A kayaker pulled from the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay was fortunate to survive after a coordinated rescue near the Bay Bridge.

The San Francisco Police Department’s Marine Unit and Drone as First Responder (DFR) Team joined San Francisco firefighters in the Thursday afternoon operation.

The response began after a 911 caller reported an overturned kayak near the San Francisco Ferry Building late Thursday afternoon.

Drone footage later shared by the SFPD on Instagram showed the capsized kayak at about 2:41 p.m.

A second 911 caller said one kayaker, who was wearing a life jacket, had reached shore safely. The person’s companion, however, was still missing in the water.

An SFPD drone located the overturned kayak, and a San Francisco Fire Department boat soon arrived. Responders recovered the kayak and a paddle behind Fire Station 35.

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One of the callers then reported hearing someone beneath the Bay Bridge’s westernmost column.

Marine Unit officers found and pulled the man from the water before transferring him to the fire department boat.

“This rescue is a reminder to prepare before heading out on the bay,” the SFPD said in an Instagram post. “Conditions can change quickly, and cold water and strong currents can put even experienced paddlers at risk.”

Police urged kayakers to wear life jackets, keep a cellphone in a waterproof pouch or dry bag, check weather conditions, tides and currents before launching, and share their trip plans with someone on shore.

The rescue came one day before San Francisco’s Fleet Week weekend began Friday morning. Following Thursday’s busy response, the SFPD Marine Unit returned to the water Friday to help launch the annual celebration with the Parade of Ships.

A Rhode Island homicide investigation that remained unsolved for more than four decades may have reached a breakthrough after police recovered a discarded water bottle from a theater.

William “Billy” Morton, 61, was arrested Oct. 6 and charged with first-degree murder in the 1985 Newport killing of 22-year-old Hillary Hellewell.

Investigators say advances in DNA analysis now connect Morton to the crime, decades after Hellewell’s death.

Over the years, detectives developed clues pointing to Morton as a possible suspect. To establish a DNA link, however, they needed a sample from him.

According to court records, an investigator followed Morton in late August to a Rhode Island theater where he attended a concert by a Heart tribute band.

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Investigators said Morton purchased popcorn and bottled water for himself and his fiancée. The pair left before the concert ended, and Morton reportedly abandoned the trash. An investigator then retrieved the bottle as possible evidence.

Court documents say DNA obtained from the bottle matched genetic material recovered from Hellewell’s body.

Morton was arrested Oct. 6 and remains jailed without bond.

The killing

Hellewell’s body was discovered in Newport at about 4:15 a.m. on May 19, 1985, by two brothers, ages 17 and 20, who were heading to work.

She was found on a sidewalk along Anthony Street wearing white painter’s pants, a sweater and socks. Her shoes were missing.

The arrest warrant states that Hellewell’s body had no pulse and was largely “cold to the touch,” although some areas remained “slightly warm” when police arrived.

A medical examiner determined that Hellewell died from asphyxia caused by strangulation and classified the death as a homicide.

Detectives documented a bloodstain on the back of her white pants, along with a “heavily soiled” blue T-shirt found near her head, according to the warrant.

Swabs collected during an internal examination detected spermatozoa, indicating sexual contact, the warrant says.

Hellewell was formally identified the following day after she was reported missing.

Friends and relatives told investigators that Hellewell had spent the previous evening at a gathering with friends in Newport. Authorities were also told that alcohol had been consumed during the night.

Investigators learned that Hellewell had offered to walk home with one of her male friends, who’d become overly intoxicated.

He made it home. She did not.

The next day, he was still so intoxicated, he couldn’t give many details to police.

The men who were close to Hellewell at the time of her death were ruled out as being “potential donors” of the sperm, according to court records. But Newport Police were never able to develop a viable suspect.

At the time of Hellewell’s murder, DNA evidence was collected and preserved.

Resurrecting a cold case

The case was reviewed by state officials in 2004. They hoped new advancements in DNA technology could help.

During that review, DNA profiles for Hellewell and the suspect were entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database.

Then in 2023, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office formed the Cold Case Unit (CCU), and Hellewell’s case went under review again.

With recent breakthroughs of technology used to evaluate DNA, the evidence was sent to a private lab.

That work brought a new lead into sharp focus. Suddenly, Morton was a suspect.

Investigators pinpointed Morton’s family line through the DNA found on Hellewell’s body. They later found Morton had been convicted in 1987 of a violent sexual assault in Newport 45 days after Hellewell’s death. The assault took place a couple miles from where Hellewell’s body was found, court records show.

Morton was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He spent seven years behind bars, and served out the remainder of his sentence on probation.

Date-night DNA discovery

After the new DNA evaluation, investigators collected evidence and conducted interviews. New clues led them to Morton.

They began to watch and trail him.

On Aug. 21, Michael Nayor, a senior cold case investigator with the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, followed Morton and his fiancee, the arrest warrant shows. They pulled into a Burger King before heading to a theater in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

The investigator purchased a ticket to a show by Bad Animals, a Heart tribute band, and followed the couple inside. He watched as Morton bought popcorn and two bottled waters, the arrest warrant shows.

Naylor watched Morton sip his water throughout the show. And when he set the bottle on the seat next to him, Naylor took note, the warrant shows. .

When Morton and his fiancee left early, the bottle of water was left behind. Naylor seized it and submitted it for DNA testing.

The DNA profile from the water bottle “is consistent with the previously reported partial profiles” from the sperm stain on Hellewell’s pants, and a stain on the blue shirt found near her body, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

On Oct. 6, officers from multiple agencies visited Morton’s home at about 7 a.m., as he was leaving for his job as service technician at a Volkswagen dealership. He was charged with first-degree murder in the Rhode Island District Court Second Division.

The case will go to a grand jury, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 20.

News Media could not reach Morton’s attorney for comment.

Authorities have launched a search in the California desert for the missing sister of a Saturday Night Live writer, nearly a year after she disappeared.

Christina Fowlie Downer, 38, was reported missing in December 2025 after her family said they last heard from her the previous month, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The LAPD told NBC Los Angeles on Friday that officers had searched an Airbnb in Joshua Tree as part of the investigation into Downer’s disappearance. She is the sister of SNL writer Jimmy Fowlie.

Investigators carried out an extensive sweep of the property with the help of K-9 teams. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also assisted with the operation, police said.

Authorities have not disclosed whether the search uncovered any evidence, and the investigation remains active.

Downer’s disappearance followed an unusual social media update in which she appeared in a fitted red top inside her Los Angeles apartment, looking toward the camera.

“Living at peace. If you wanna send me a Christmas treat, I’ll be waiting. Happy holidays, everyone,” she wrote in a post dated December 14, 2025.

She also listed her Cash App and Venmo usernames in her Instagram bio, allowing her roughly 700 followers to send her money.

Friends and relatives later told the Daily Mail that the lighthearted post felt out of character. They said they had already gone weeks without hearing from Downer before the message appeared on December 14.

In an emotional post shared in April, her brother Jimmy indicated that he feared she had died. “Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayer for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable,” he wrote.

Police, however, continue to classify Downer’s case as a missing-person investigation. The LAPD did not confirm to NBC Los Angeles whether officers were searching the Joshua Tree site for human remains.

The department said investigators were seeking evidence in the area. Its Robbery-Homicide Division is leading the case.

The Daily Mail reported in May that Downer had lived a private second life as an adult performer and exotic dancer. People familiar with her also said she had faced mental health struggles in recent years.

She was also involved in a turbulent relationship with an R&B singer known for facial tattoos. Downer filed a restraining order against his former girlfriend, accusing the woman of stalking and harassing her.

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Ryan Downer, Christina’s former husband, told the Daily Mail that he requested a wellness check in December after being unable to reach her for several weeks.

The couple married in 2015 in their hometown of Woburn, Massachusetts. Before their marriage, Christina had worked at a local gentlemen’s club after leaving the adult entertainment industry, where she performed under the name “Chavon Taylor.”

The pair separated in November 2023, citing ‘irreconcilable differences,’ according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail. But it was amicable.

Ryan called authorities when she didn’t respond to him for weeks.

‘It just doesn’t make any sense why she would leave without telling anyone. That’s not like her. We just want to know what happened because none of it makes any sense.’

When cops did a welfare check at her apartment in Koreatown, the place was clean and tidy with nothing out of the ordinary, Ryan told the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail also learned in May that Christina had an on-and-off relationship with a local LA R&B singer named Delorean Bijon Brandon. 

Ryan told the Daily Mail that Christina and Brandon had a toxic relationship and she often left him voice messages complaining about their dynamic.

In September 2024, Christina filed a temporary restraining order against Brandon’s ex-girlfriend, claiming she had been harassing them for years.

Brandon told the Daily Mail that Christina had trouble getting modeling work and was struggling with money. The singer claimed he had nothing to do with her disappearance and that he also was concerned for her safety.

He said the stress of making it in Tinseltown took its toll on her and she allegedly mixed drugs to cope with the stress.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the LAPD and Fowlie for comment.  

The number of teenagers arrested with guns in New York City has surged 19% so far this year, even as police report progress in some areas of youth violence, according to new data.

NYPD figures show that 423 people under 18 have been arrested this year, compared with 355 during the same period in 2025.

At the same time, 76 juveniles have been shot this year—down 19% from the 93 recorded during the comparable period in 2025.

The 2026 total is also slightly below the 78 juveniles shot in 2024, the data show.

The number of young people accused of shooting someone has fallen 11% this year. So far, 83 juveniles have shot another person, compared with 93 during the same period last year.

However, the figure remains 6% higher than it was two years ago, when 78 juveniles were recorded as having pulled the trigger.

Police blame the continuing problem in part on New York’s 2017 “Raise the Age” law, which critics describe as soft on crime and which requires juvenile offenders to be housed separately from adults in correctional facilities.

Combined with laws that make certain offenses ineligible for cash bail, the policy means judges generally send juveniles to the city’s primary detention centers only when they are accused of the most serious crimes.

“They’ve been sending the message for years that you’re not going to go to jail if you get caught with a loaded gun,” said retired NYPD Assistant Commissioner of Youth Strategies Kevin O’Connor. “It’s not only the guns, it’s the felony assaults with weapons.”

The NYPD says it is using several tactics to curb youth crime, including creating safety zones in locations heavily frequented by students.

The department also deploys specialized Youth Coordination Officers, supervised by sergeants, to track crime trends near schools and throughout neighborhoods while connecting young people with support programs.

Among the department’s youth initiatives are Saturday Night Lights, a citywide sports program, and programs operated by the Police Athletic League.

Still, the NYPD can address only part of the juvenile-crime problem, said Kirk Burkhalter, a New York Law School professor who spent 20 years with the department before retiring as a first-grade detective.

“Sadly, this is nothing new,” he said.

Burkhalter recalled his time as a police officer in the 1980s, when “life was extremely cheap” and many people committing killings in major cities were very young. He identified the crack epidemic as a major factor at the time.

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Today, experts say youth violence in New York often escalates from neighborhood turf disputes between crews, along with online threats and boasts shared by juveniles.

“It’s pretty amazing that there’s a segment of young people who are committing crimes that would be difficult to apprehend them for but for them putting the proceeds of those crimes—and holding an unlicensed firearm—on some type of social media, literally bragging about it,” Burkhalter said.

Ultimately, Burkhalter said, the NYPD’s primary tool is making arrests.

“The police are literally keeping the top on the bottle,” he said. “The only thing they can do is apprehend offenders once they’ve committed a crime. There has to be a different approach.”

The latest youth shooting occurred around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, when Jihadi Pack was shot in the stomach behind NYCHA’s King Towers building on West 115th Street near Malcolm X Boulevard, where he lived, police said.

He was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside, but he could not be saved, authorities said. 

A 57-year-old man – who law enforcement sources identified as a worker for the New York City Housing Authority – was struck in the right hand by an apparent stray bullet nearby, police and sources said. A 15-year-old was taken into custody but he wasn’t immediately charged, police said.

The motive wasn’t clear, cops said.

In another recent tragic case, 14-year-old Malakai Adams was fatally gunned down by a scooter-riding killer on Sept. 21 in Far Rockaway, Queens. 

The shooter allegedly stole Adams’ ride after blasting him in the back around 3:40 p.m. but it wasn’t clear if that was the main motive, cops said. Investigators haven’t ruled out gang involvement in the shooting, police sources said.

Harlem mom Jackie Rowe-Adams, who lost two sons in shootings, wants inner city communities to do more to help stop youth gun violence, she said. 

“Let’s tell the truth of what’s happening in the urban community,” said the 79-year-old who runs a group called Harlem Mothers and Fathers SAVE (Stop Another Violent End) and helps grieving parents who’ve lost their children to street violence.

“We as parents and community leaders must do more,” she said. “We must check their backpacks when they leave our houses. We have to check under mattresses. I’m not saying it will stop it, but it could really slow it down.”

Rowe-Adams’ son Anthony Bouldin was shot and killed in Harlem at the age of 17 in 1982. Sixteen years later, her 28-year-old son, Tyrone Bouldin, was murdered in Baltimore.

“You never, ever forget,” she said. “You learn to move on, but you never forget your loved ones. If I can save another mother or another family from feeling the hurt and pain, my life will not be in vain.”