Home Blog Page 72

The Final Hours of Noah Presgrove Revealed Minute by Minute

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
The Final Hours of Noah Presgrove Revealed Minute by Minute

Pompeii’s Forgotten Past Revealed by Child’s Necklace Found in Wardrobe

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Pompeii’s Forgotten Past Revealed by Child’s Necklace Found in Wardrobe

A long-sealed cupboard has offered archaeologists a rare, intimate window into everyday life in Pompeii, nearly 2,000 years after the ancient city was destroyed.

Among the objects recovered were a perfume container, coins, tweezers and a child’s necklace, revealing the kinds of personal belongings people kept in their homes.

The wooden cupboard stood inside a house on one of Pompeii’s busiest streets before it was entombed beneath volcanic material during Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD.

After being buried under metres of ash for centuries, the furniture and its contents have now been painstakingly excavated and examined by researchers.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director general of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said it is impossible to identify the home’s occupants with certainty, but the objects offer valuable clues about their routines.

“Pompeii is not only a site of extraordinary art,” he said. “Even the most commonplace possessions can help restore the human dimension of the past.”

Archaeologists have found a child's necklace inside a Pompeii cupboard that hasn't been opened since the eruption. Pictured: An amulet shaped like a winged shoe that would have been part of a necklace

A child’s necklace was among the objects discovered inside a Pompeii cupboard that remained unopened since the eruption. Pictured: An amulet shaped like a winged shoe, once worn as part of a necklace 

Children in the Roman Empire were often given necklaces called crepundia that served as protective amulets and rattles to help busy parents keep track of their kids. Pictured: Charms from a child's crepundia found in Pompeii

Children in the Roman Empire were often given necklaces known as crepundia. The protective amulets also acted as rattles, helping busy parents keep track of their children. Pictured: Charms from a child’s crepundia discovered in Pompeii

The most striking of the everyday objects is a children’s necklace called a crepundia, which provides an especially personal glimpse into Roman family life.

It consists of 24 miniature charms, carefully fashioned from materials including bone, glass paste, earthenware and rock crystal.

The decorations include tiny hands and feet, pinecones, clusters of grapes, and figures representing Mercury and Bes. Originally an Egyptian deity, Bes became widely revered throughout the Roman world.

The word crepundia means “to make noise,” reflecting the necklace’s dual purpose. It was believed to protect children while also producing sound that allowed parents to locate them.

Although these necklaces were intended for children rather than adults, they were often preserved as sentimental reminders of childhood.

Travel was common across the Roman world, whether for business, employment or trade. Small personal objects such as these were therefore sometimes stored in boxes or bags and carried as reminders of home.

Dr Sophie Hay, communications officer for the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, told the Daily Mail that the discovery sheds light on the private lives of one or more people who occupied the house before the eruption.

“They point to a belief in protection from the evil eye,” she said, adding that the necklace and other amulets appear to have been kept for their magical and apotropaic qualities.” 

A collection of lead weights was found inside a wooden box (pictured), suggesting that the owners were engaged in trade

A group of lead weights discovered inside a wooden box (pictured) indicates that the household may have been involved in trade 

Experts believe the owners of this house did not survive the disaster, since their valuables and sentimental goods were left in the house

Experts believe the occupants may not have survived the eruption, as valuable possessions and sentimental belongings were left behind in the house 

The cupboard also contained tweezers, a small glass vessel that may have held perfume or ointment, a pestle used to prepare cosmetics and an incense burner.

Other finds included bronze, glass and ceramic vessels, among them an elegant snuff bottle decorated with a pine-scale pattern.

Meanwhile, in a sign that life in Pompeii wasn’t always so refined, researchers found the remains of two wild mice that had apparently been sneaking food out of a large jar when the eruption hit.

Dr Hay adds: ‘Evidence from elsewhere in the house suggests that the house was undergoing structural repairs and maintenance work at the time of the eruption so the house was not in a perfect living state potentially affecting how rooms and spaces were used.’

There were also intriguing hints at the owners’ professions, as the archaeologists found a set of lead weights in a small wooden box, suggesting they were involved in trade.

Archaeologists even uncovered a small woven container holding 38 bronze coins.

According to the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, survivors from Pompeii or their descendants usually returned to the city to dig out their valuables after the disaster.

However, Mr Zuchtriegel says the fact that these valuable goods and precious keepsakes remain untouched suggests their owners died without heirs.

The cupboard was found inside a house on one of Pompeii's busiest streets that was buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD

The cupboard was found inside a house on one of Pompeii’s busiest streets that was buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD

Archaeologists found pots (pictured), vases, tweezers, a pestle for mixing makeup, a glass bottle of perfume, and an intricately decorated snuff box

Archaeologists found pots (pictured), vases, tweezers, a pestle for mixing makeup, a glass bottle of perfume, and an intricately decorated snuff box 

Despite this new evidence, archaeologists are still trying to piece together a portrait of the people who lived in this house.

The home, known as a domus, was located on the crowded Via dell’Abbondanza, a 900–metre–long strip of bustling shops, workshops and homes that formed the city’s central axis.

The interior of the home is rich, featuring elegant paintings and furniture that would have been typical for these inner–city homes.

After being excavated in 1912, researchers have tentatively linked the house to a man named Cornelius Maximus, due to inscriptions discovered within.

READ MORE: “Why My Son Has a Striking Resemblance with Former President Obasanjo” – Actor Ajibola Finally Opens Up – NewsFinale

But the interior rooms are only now being excavated as part of a wider restoration project, and there are still many more clues to discover.

Eventually, researchers hope that those small pieces of evidence will come together to reveal what life was like in the doomed city right up to the moment disaster struck.

Mr Zuchtriegel says: ‘The value of this discovery lies in the possibility of reading together the different traces of a ⁠life: personal habits, work and memories.’

How Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map by devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago

What happened?  

Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.  

Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is thought to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.  

Every single resident died instantly when the southern Italian town was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic hot surge.

Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.

They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450mph (700 km/h), and at temperatures of 1,000°C.

An administrator and poet called Pliny the younger watched the disaster unfold from a distance. 

Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century.  

His writing suggests that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii unaware.

Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow

Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow

He said that a column of smoke ‘like an umbrella pine’ rose from the volcano and made the towns around it as black as night.

People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some wept as rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.  

While the eruption lasted for around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic surges began at midnight, causing the volcano’s column to collapse.

An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the side of the volcano at 124mph (199kph), burying victims and remnants of everyday life.  

Hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewelry and money, were killed instantly.

The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano

The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by the ashes as they attempted to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of the Vesuvius volcano

As people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets of the surge.

While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be ‘exceptional’ and the number of deaths is thought to exceed 10,000.

What have they found?

This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until rediscovery by archaeologists nearly 1700 years later.

The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given unparalleled insight into Roman life.

Archaeologists are continually uncovering more from the ash-covered city.

In May archaeologists uncovered an alleyway of grand houses, with balconies left mostly intact and still in their original hues.

A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day

A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day

Some of the balconies even had amphorae – the conical-shaped terra cotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.

The discovery has been hailed as a ‘complete novelty’ – and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.

Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble.

Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day. 

NYC Tenants Angry Over Secret Deal to House Homeless Residents and Former Inmates in Building

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
NYC Tenants Angry Over Secret Deal to House Homeless Residents and Former Inmates in Building

Residents on West 83rd Street say their building has become a nightmare.

Tenants at an Upper West Side complex say they are “living in fear” after their landlord reached a behind-the-scenes agreement to house homeless people and former inmates in their quiet, working-class building.

Members of the tenants association at 126 W. 86th St. said they were blindsided by the deal with the city, which permits up to 30% of the building’s 72 rent-stabilized apartments to be assigned to hard-to-house adults — including people with active drug addictions and mental illnesses coming directly from the shelter system.

“We don’t want to be a shelter. We don’t want to be program housing,” one frustrated resident told The Post.

The tenants remain shaken by the 2023 murder of their 74-year-old neighbor, Maria Hernandez, who was brutally killed by the complex’s superintendent, a convicted felon who had been hired without a background check.

Now, residents say, they are confronting another crisis as the city places people from Mayor Zohran Mamdani-backed programs, including The Fortune Society, into vacant units without on-site social workers or other building-level supervision.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that many tenants are living in fear for their safety,” the Tenant Association said in a statement.

Six tenants who spoke with The Post — all of whom declined to give their names because they feared retaliation or losing their homes — said public drug use, trespassing and suspected prostitution have become part of daily life.

Several tenants also alleged that strong odors from crack cocaine and methamphetamine spread through the ventilation system, while residents they described as unstable regularly shout obscenities throughout the night.

Tenants claimed that one person placed in the building had been arrested three times since moving in during 2024, including two arrests involving alleged stabbings.

“Tenant association officials insist that most, if not all, of the placements require supportive services and supervision, and should not be living independently in a rent-stabilized building filled with children, elderly, and working families,” the group said in a statement.

The property is owned by St. Timothy’s and St. Matthews Housing Corporation, a now-defunct church organization that once operated across the street. The city placed a lien on the building in 2018 after the group failed to pay its property taxes.

In 2023, just six months after Hernandez’s murder, the organization transferred the building’s deed to a Housing Development Fund Corporation, giving the city the ability to use the property for affordable-housing initiatives.

In return, the city canceled more than $2.3 million in property-tax debt. That same day, the HDFC signed a supportive-housing agreement with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, or HPD, without informing the tenants about the transfer.

“This was going on behind the scenes, but none of us were made aware of this,” one longtime tenant said.

EXPLORE MORE: Candice Swanepoel Removes Ring Amid Tom Brady Dating Rumors

“We just kept getting our rent checks. We just kept paying them to St. Matthew’s and St. Timothy’s. Meanwhile, the church also closed, and we’re still paying rent to them, which felt weird.”

The building is now in the process of being sold to another HDFC nonprofit, Sisters of Charity.

“We just feel like we’re not being listened to, and we are very concerned that, you know, they’re going to take advantage of the 30% and remove those apartments from making rent stabilization,” another tenant and association leader told The Post.

Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property Owners of New York, warned that landlords fear the arrangement could become a model for other buildings.

“No New York renter would be immune from the nightmare that the residents of this Upper West Side building are experiencing,” she said.

“Small owners are deeply concerned that the City Administration’s supportive housing model will eventually be integrated into privately-owned residential properties.”

HPD officials and the Sisters of Charity CEO Matthew Janeczko told residents at a meeting that the placements would be strictly capped at eight units, but the building’s 40-year agreement reviewed by The Post explicitly permits the owner to set aside up to 30% of the building – up to 23 apartments – for alternative placements. 

The Article XI contract, which was approved by the New York City Council in 2024, also subsidizes the landlord for the placements with payments of up to $6,000 a month. All standard Article XI regulatory agreements require 10% of units for formerly homeless households.

Residents charge that the agreement gives the landlord incentive to force the building’s current tenants – many of who are elderly or work for the city as teachers and public servants. 

“We know that as we are rent-stabilized tenants, we know that they can’t kick us out, but they could make our living conditions so horrendous that we just choose to leave,” said one tenant who has lived in the building for over ten years. 

New York City primarily uses two models to move homeless and high-risk individuals into permanent housing – congregate housing, in which an entire building is dedicated to supportive housing with onsite social service – and scattered-site housing – in which individuals lease conventional and private buildings.

The scattered site model still requires social workers, case managers or weekly mobile crisis teams to visit clients on a scheduled basis – but all of the tenants interviewed by the Post claimed they have never observed support staff in or outside of the building. 

“It is not OK to gamble on our safety,” another longtime resident said. “You have done so already, twice. So what’s it gonna take?”

A spokesperson for the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development said officials are “listening to the residents’ concerns” and working alongside elected officials to address them.

“HPD recently oversaw the appointment of a new property management company and is working with them to strengthen the financial and physical stability of the building now and for decades to come,” the spokesperson said. 

“We are also exploring a transfer of the building to a new nonprofit owner with greater capacity to address long-running issues facing the building,” the spokesperson added. “As always, our top priority is to ensure the safety and stability of all tenants and their building, preserving much-needed affordable housing in a neighborhood with too little of it.”

Voters on the Left and Right Agree: The America They Knew Is Slipping Away

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Voters on the Left and Right Agree: The America They Knew Is Slipping Away

The stakes in Tuesday’s midterm elections felt so significant to Shane Dunn that he cast his first ballot at 65.

The stakes in Tuesday’s midterm elections felt so significant to Shane Dunn that he cast his first ballot at 65.

Dunn, a lifelong cook who worked along the East Coast, recently settled in suburban Philadelphia and voted in Levittown last week. “I was always a busy man,” he said outside the polling station. Now, he added, “I’m learning what’s going on within our country, and this is actually what brought me out.”

He voted for Democrats. “It feels great, to put my word in,” Dunn said, tapping the “I Voted” sticker affixed to his black hoodie.

Across the country, voters are making their voices heard as they decide which party will control the Senate and House, as well as governors’ offices, state legislatures and other leadership posts during the final two years of Republican Donald Trump’s presidency.

For many, the election reflects a fear that the America they recognize is steadily disappearing.

They point to lawlessness among the people who write and enforce the laws, politicians inflaming hostility between neighbors, corruption seemingly everywhere, billionaires wielding outsized power and a political culture disconnected from everyday life. In their view, the foundations of the country are under strain — and soaring gas prices only add to the frustration.

In dozens of Associated Press interviews with voters casting ballots at early-voting sites and drop boxes nationwide, the anxiety was unmistakable. It was most intense among Trump’s opponents, though many of his supporters expressed deep concerns of their own.

A vote cast to stop the ‘madness’

“I saw my vote today as trying to put the brakes on just the madness,” said Arthur Horner, 59. His food-importing and marketing business has been damaged by tariffs. After submitting his mail ballot at the Dauphin County election bureau in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he said he voted for Democrats.

In Sioux City, Iowa, cattle rancher Elizabeth Marlett, 61, voted inside Woodbury County’s historic Prairie-style courthouse. She left troubled by a range of issues, including chemicals in processed food, her son’s difficulty obtaining veterans’ benefits and, above all, what she views as the country’s shift to the left. To Marlett, society also appears badly damaged.

“Family values are going by the wayside, and they need to be brought back,” she said. “Our liberties have been stomped all over. Religion has been stomped all over. And I believe we in the majority need to step up and stop being silent.” She voted Republican.

Voters despair at the anger fueled by Trump and his allies

For some voters, the anger unleashed by a president known for profanity and an unwillingness to tolerate criticism has become unbearable.

“He’s just destroying us,” said Linda Markle, 72, a Democrat, outside the Warminster Township library in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

“I am so afraid for this country,” she said. “People used to look out for each other. Not anymore.”

“All people do now is just hate each other,” Markle said, arguing that Trump “seems to have given them the courage to go ahead and be like that.” The division, she added, is “horrible, absolutely horrible,” and she said she could not wait to see him leave office.

Republican Chris Smith, a 27-year-old software engineer from Harrisburg who voted for Trump in 2024, said he understood Markle’s view — up to a point.

“A lot of people hate him for various reasons, and I can understand why,” Smith said. He added, “I think he’s kind of going a bit crazy on a lot of things.” Still, Smith supports Trump’s push to bring manufacturing back to the United States and agrees with the aims of his tariffs. He voted Republican because he continues to regard the party as more fiscally responsible than the Democrats.

In Ohio, Lori Wilkinson, a retired home health worker from New Pittsburg, and her husband, David, a janitor, describe themselves as independents. David recently wrote to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to praise his performance, and the couple had previously voted for Republican George W. Bush for president.

But their view of Trump is starkly different. “He’s the worst president in United States history,” David said at the Wayne County election center. “You get up every day, and you’re like, ‘What’s he going to do now?’” Lori was equally blunt: “He’s got the hate just so bad, it’s just out of hand. It’s just out of control.” She worries that a sweeping Democratic victory Tuesday could cause Trump to “go fricking berserk.”

Some pretend Trump is on the ballot

Despite his striking unpopularity in polls, Trump repeatedly asked supporters to pretend he’s on the midterm ballot, betting that would motivate fans to vote who otherwise might not. But that cuts both ways.

Samontae Mwangi, 20, and his brother, Gathenya Mwangi, 19, voted for the first time, casting early ballots Tuesday at their election center in Topeka, Kansas. Both work at a plant that manufactures trackside buildings for railroads.

They went with their grandfather, Lynn Henderson, 68, a retired Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. worker and a former Marine lance corporal who wore a Marine’s cap. Henderson said he took his grandsons to vote because his own mother died recently and he wanted them to have an event to remember him when he’s gone.

All three are hoping that the election produces Democratic victories and political change. Gathenya said the economy and discontent with Trump could motivate people who’ve voted in the past to show up, as well as those who never have. “It really could change, make a difference, I feel, if a lot of people vote,” he said.

Denise Wunder, a retired sandwich shop manager, pulled up to the center in a van featuring a decorative license plate with an American eagle. The strong Trump supporter is the daughter of Democrats. Illegal immigration is her top issue.

“I think Trump is kind of our last hope, because otherwise this world’s going to go to hell in a handbasket,” she said. “Yeah, he says stupid stuff, but, you know, so do we.”

EXPLORE MORE: Jason Ryan Karvois Sentence: How Long Will He Be In Prison? – NewsFinale

In the Richmond, Virginia, suburb of Henrico County, voters arrived at a steady clip on a crisp fall afternoon a week from Election Day. The moment of decision found one conservative couple, Joan and Frank Bark, lamenting the country’s direction.

“I’m afraid Trump has gotten so egotistical, it’s affecting his ability to make intelligent or more favorable decisions,” Frank said. But, he said, “I don’t want the decisions that would be generated from that far left side, either.”

Joan, a retiree like her husband, said of Democrats: “I haven’t found very much that they want to change or work with. It’s just mostly, ‘I hate Trump.’” But Trump really isn’t on the ballot. They voted for Republican candidates.

In Nanuet, New York, people streamed into the small room of a community center to vote; some were in Halloween costumes. Primrose D. Sullivan, a nurse, is an independent. She scoffed at Trump’s wish that voters act as if he’s running.

“No, because he’s not,” she said. “When a patient comes into the hospital, you want me dealing in facts, not in, ‘Hmm, let me act like you might have cancer.’ No. Do you or do you not have cancer? We need to proceed based on facts.” She voted for Democrats.

Yet some see a cancer on politics, if not the presidency

Sullivan was among a number of voters who singled out the billionaires Trump has made common cause with and how that might feed into American decline.

“I don’t begrudge any of our wealthy people, Jeff Bezos or, you know, Elon Musk,” she said. “But I do have a certain problem with them wanting more and more and doing things that really don’t help humanity.”

“If we keep going the way these guys are going,” she went on, meaning both the political and CEO classes, “we’re not going to have anything like what we had in the past.” Theirs is a “self-destructive attitude,” she added, “because, honestly, if the whole planet destroys itself, the wealthy go with us.”

Outside the polling station at the YMCA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Benjamin Updegraft offered a piercing denunciation of the elite as he traced his evolution from a “full-throated young Republican” who voted for Trump as a young man in 2016 to a “lifetime Democrat,” after casting his ballot in the Senate race.

He cited Musk’s throttling of his Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, which disrupted a key defense against Russian attacks, and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad in the Ohio governor’s race featuring the estranged mother of Democratic rival Amy Acton among the reasons powerful men must be brought to heel.

“That needs to be cut out from this country like a cancer,” Updegraft said. “We have an incredible responsibility to take back the stranglehold that the worst people in this country have on the reins of power and to inflict punishment on them for their actions.”

In Scottsdale, Arizona, David Lee described his conservative upbringing, his past voting for Republicans and now his decision to turn against that party and vote Democratic in the contested races for governors and the House. He considers Trump’s heavy-handed immigration enforcement to be lawless.

“Nobody wants open borders, but you’re treating these people without due process, sending people to countries they don’t even belong to,” said Lee, 63. “There’s no more rules.”

Then there are those prices. And that war

The Trump supporters interviewed by the AP at the polls signaled their tolerance of the surge of gas prices from the Iran war, in some cases blaming factors other than the actual cause. Nor did they break with him on the war itself.

Among them was David Stouffer, 59, branch manager for a mortgage bank and three-time Trump voter, who spoke outside the Harrisburg elections office. “Iran has been killing Americans for 50 freaking years,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll suffer with some higher gas prices in the interim until they get that nonsense figured out.”

Does that put a crunch on your household budget, Stouffer was asked. “Of course it does.” How to cope with that? “I just keep driving.”

“He’s made the tax cuts real,” Stouffer said. “He has secured the borders. That, to me, is a very, very big deal.”

By the dozens, Democrats, independents and Republicans outside the core of Trump’s support differed with that assessment, even as some of them granted the president his achievements on taxes and immigration.

Horner, the food importer, is going “bonkers” with the tariffs and all the other moves bouncing between the Trump administration and the courts while a “feckless” and now electorally endangered Republican Congress largely stands aside.

“You can’t do business when every month you have to readjust your pricing because the president gets a wild hair on something that he’s not even constitutionally allowed to do,” Horner said. He added, “He’s just playing out the clock on all of this stuff — where you just know he knows it’s wrong.

“And what do we have? Higher healthcare, higher food, higher gas, a business environment that is complete chaos.”

But Jerry Casner, 74, of Mechanicsburg, a suburb of Harrisburg, wants as much of Trump as he can get. Alas, “he can’t run again,” Casner noted.

“Well, technically,” Casner said, “he can’t run again.”

___

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan.; Levy from Harrisburg, Pa.; Catalini from Levittown, Pa.; and Woodward from Washington. Associated Press journalists Julie Carr Smyth in Wooster, Ohio; Erik Verduzco in Fort Mill, S.C.; Thomas Beaumont in Sioux City, Iowa; Joseph Frederick in Nanuet, N.Y.; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Warminster, Pa.; Mikella Schuettler in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Sarah Rankin in Henrico, Va., contributed to this report.

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

Labour’s Energy Bailout Set to Leave 830,000 of UK’s Poorest Households Without Support

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Labour’s Energy Bailout Set to Leave 830,000 of UK’s Poorest Households Without Support

More than 830,000 low-income households are set to miss out on the additional help announced by John Healey in last week’s Budget, according to new analysis.

The Chancellor allocated £2.6billion to provide £100 payments for up to 20 million households in council tax bands A to D, aiming to help families facing sharply higher energy bills.

Mr Healey said the measure, partly funded through a new levy on banks, would “take the pressure off in the coldest months and see people through to the Spring”.

However, campaigners have warned that the support is both poorly targeted and too limited to shield households from the significant increase in energy costs expected in January.

Ofgem’s price cap increased by 3.6 per cent to £1,723 for a typical household on October 1, while a further rise of around 22 per cent has been forecast for the New Year.

The £100 payment is also expected to direct more funding towards the North and Midlands than the South East, where fewer properties fall within council tax bands A to D.

More than 830,000 low-income households will not benefit from extra support announced by John Healey at last week's Budget, a new analysis has found

More than 830,000 low-income households are expected to miss out on the additional support announced by John Healey in last week’s Budget, new analysis suggests

The Government’s own estimates suggest the £100 payment will reach just 88 per cent of households in the bottom three income deciles and 83 per cent of “fuel-stressed” households.

An analysis by the Policy In Practice think tank found that 838,000 households currently receiving Council Tax support will not qualify for the extra help announced by Mr Healey.

The research used administrative data from a representative sample of local authorities through the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) analytics platform.

“Council tax bands are an imperfect proxy for household needs,” the think tank said.

“Low-income households can live in larger properties assigned to higher council tax bands, and often have little choice over the size or band of the home they are allocated.

“Increasingly, several families or generations are also sharing a home in order to keep costs under control.”

EXPLORE MORE: Armed Midtown Disturbance Leads to Arrest of Man on Pretrial Release

Policy in Practice found that a low-income family of five or more people is 1.6 times more likely to live in a council tax band E-H property than the average low-income household. 

As a result, more than 130,000 larger low-income households are expected to miss out on the payment this winter, it said.

Deven Ghelani, director of Policy in Practice, said: “More than 800,000 low-income families are going to miss out on this vital relief from high energy bills.

“Millions of people are [also] missing out on more than £24billion in [wider] support that goes unclaimed each year because of low awareness, administrative complexity and stigma.”

He described the situation as “shocking at the best of times, but unforgivable in a cost of living crisis”, and called on ministers to do more to help people access the support available. 

Policy in Practice found that 84 per cent of households excluded from the £100 payment either live with a disabled person, have children or are below the poverty line.

The think tank also said lower-income households are less likely to pay their bills by direct debit, meaning they will not receive the money automatically.

It warned that many low-income households are overdrawn, meaning a payment designed to go towards energy costs will merely go towards existing debt.

In his Budget, Mr Healey also announced the scrapping of standing charges on gas bills.

But Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, has been among those to criticise the Chancellor’s measures as ‘terribly badly targeted’ in the face of ‘really catastrophic forecasts for living standards’.

She said it was ‘a relatively small Budget and arguably one that did not live up to the scale of the challenges that Britain faces’. 

A Government spokesman said: ‘Tackling the affordability crisis is our priority, which is why we’re giving families immediate breathing space.

‘From January, millions of households will receive £100 towards their energy costs, alongside action to make bills fairer, including removing standing charges from gas bills and supporting those in energy debt.’

Tucker Carlson Claims Trump Could Be Days From Iran Nuclear Strike

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Tucker Carlson Claims Trump Could Be Days From Iran Nuclear Strike

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, has suggested that Donald Trump could be only days away from ordering a nuclear attack on Iran aimed at destroying the underground Pickaxe Mountain facility.

The conservative commentator warned that any strike on the site could make World War Three “inevitable.”

Carlson claimed Trump was facing pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he described as “cornered and desperate” after losing his majority in the Israeli election.

“Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one,” Carlson said.

Neither the United States nor Israel has officially confirmed that such an attack is being planned.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.

Carlson offered no documentary evidence for the claim, instead referring to an unnamed “informed observer.”

“Bibi calls Trump about it every day,” Carlson quoted the anonymous source as saying.

Former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson has warned that Donald Trump may be days away from launching a nuclear strike on Iran to destroy its Pickaxe mountain lair

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has claimed Donald Trump could be days away from ordering a nuclear strike on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain facility

US President Donald Trump speaks at a midterm campaign rally at Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa on November 1

US President Donald Trump speaks at a midterm campaign rally at Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa, on November 1

The claim followed remarks by Trump, who threatened Iran with “the hammer” during a campaign rally in Iowa on Sunday.

“And the only reason why I’m not finished with Iran is I want to be nice. I want to try and save all those lives if I can… But at some point we’re going to have to give them the hammer,” Trump told supporters.

Trump made the comments after speaking with Netanyahu on Saturday about whether, and when, military operations against Tehran should be intensified.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Carlson told his 17.9 million followers: “After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final.”

The post has reportedly been viewed 28.1 million times.

Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, commonly known as Pickaxe Mountain, sits south of Iran’s Natanz uranium-enrichment complex. The Natanz site was bombed by the United States during Operation Midnight Hammer, carried out during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in 2025.

The mountain facility is among the few Iranian sites associated with the country’s nuclear programme that have not been hit by US or Israeli forces.

Unverified reports have alleged that part of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium could be stored there. That material could potentially be enriched further for use in nuclear weapons.

A satellite view shows an overview of the Natanz nuclear facility and Pickaxe Mountain, near Natanz, Iran, June 30

A satellite image shows the Natanz nuclear facility and Pickaxe Mountain near Natanz, Iran, on June 30

Construction of the facility began in 2020, according to the ISIS thinktank

Construction of the facility began in 2020, according to the ISIS think tank

Recent satellite images appear to show construction work taking place at the site.

Construction of the facility began in 2020, according to the ISIS thinktank, after ‌what Iranian authorities reported at the time as an explosion caused by an act of sabotage at the Natanz site. 

Tehran claimed at the time the Natanz sabotage had caused significant damage, and in September of that year, the country’s then nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the regime had started constructing a ‘modern, larger and more comprehensive hall in all dimensions in the heart of the mountain near Natanz’ for making advanced centrifuges.  

Centrifuges, tube-shaped devices arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. 

Experts agree that the size of the project indicates Iran will likely be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well as to build centrifuges, which produce nuclear fuel. 

Additional cascades spinning would allow Tehran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountain’s protection. 

Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7 square kilometres (1 square mile) in the country’s arid Central Plateau. It has multiple entrances visible from satellite images.

In 2023, an Associated Press story on Pickaxe Mountain included analysis from experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies that suggested Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 metres (260 feet) and 100 metres (328 feet). 

Digging has continued at the site in the time since, with some experts suggesting it could be even deeper underground. 

Such underground facilities led the US to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 metres (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. 

‘An attack on Pickaxe Mountain could target the above-ground incoming power supply lines, the location of ventilation shafts [the targets in the attacks in June last year] and the open tunnel entrances,’ the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said. 

Satellite imagery suggests the site features two pairs of entrances and a security wall that was recently completed. 

Since the US and Israel began launching strikes, a pair of eastern tunnel portal entrances has been hardened and partially backfilled to prevent ground vehicle access, but they have not been ​sealed completely, according to the ISIS thinktank.

Sam Lair, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Reuters that increasing the strength of the tunnel entrances would complicate ‘targeting with penetrating munitions like bunker busters’.

‘We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,’ Trump told reporters on July 21. 

On July 28 he repeated the threat: ‘I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem – we took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal.’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has previously said that ‘no nuclear activity is taking place’ at Pickaxe Mountain.

He described US threats as ‘a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage’.

In the final days of a US midterm election campaign, driven by voter frustration over high energy and commodity prices stemming from the conflict, Trump and Netanyahu are threatening to bomb Iran again. 

‘I have a decision to make,’ the US president said on Fox News this week. ‘Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal?’

In October, he threatened to deploy the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal, known as the massive ordnance air blast bomb – or the ‘mother of all bombs’ – against the secretive facility.

But the MOAB, weighing 21,000 pounds, is simply too big to fit on traditional bombers, and would have to be dropped from the hold of a slow-moving C-130 cargo plane, which would be risky to fly deep into Iran.

America has used a different weapon – the massive ordnance penetrator, or MOP – in previous attacks on the underground nuclear facilities of Natanz and Fordow due to its ability to tunnel through rock and concrete shelters.

Candice Swanepoel Removes Ring Amid Tom Brady Dating Rumors

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Candice Swanepoel Removes Ring Amid Tom Brady Dating Rumors

Candice Swanepoel has fueled fresh speculation about her reported relationship with Tom Brady after she was recently spotted wearing a substantial gold band on the finger traditionally associated with engagement.

But just a day later, the 38-year-old supermodel appeared without the ring while taking one of her young sons out for Halloween trick-or-treating.

Swanepoel, whose rumored plastic surgery history has recently drawn attention, embraced the occasion in a glamorous costume. She wore a white slip dress with angel wings and a matching mask, while her long blonde hair rested loosely over her shoulders.

Her missing ring immediately raised questions, although it remains unknown whether she removed it specifically for the Halloween outing or had another reason for going without it.

Looking relaxed and cheerful, the South African model guided her son and several other children along a dimly lit street in Miami Beach, Florida, completing her look with practical Mary Jane shoes.

The latest sighting comes as speculation continues to swirl around Swanepoel’s alleged romance with former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, 49.

Candice Swanepoel caused another sensation as she appeared ringless while taking one of her young sons trick or treating on Halloween - a day after she was seen wearing an eye-catching ring on her left hand amid rumors she is dating Tom Brady

Candice Swanepoel drew renewed attention after appearing without a ring while taking one of her sons trick-or-treating on Halloween, just one day after she was photographed wearing a striking band on her left hand amid rumors of a romance with Tom Brady

Ringless finger aside, Swanepoel's sultry costume featured a white slip dress, angel's wings and mask

Despite the bare finger, Swanepoel turned heads in a sultry Halloween outfit consisting of a white slip dress, angel wings and a mask

Neither Swanepoel nor Brady has publicly confirmed that they are dating.

A People report said the pair has been taking careful steps to keep their alleged relationship out of the spotlight whenever they spend time together.

‘They’ve been dating for a while now,’ a source told the publication. ‘They both live in Miami, so it’s very convenient. They’re spending a lot of time together.’

A second source claimed that Swanepoel and Brady have been seeing each other for several months, adding that the model has been highly selective about sharing details of the relationship.

‘When they have met up, they’ve gone [to great] lengths not to be spotted.’

The sources also said the two have found common ground through their experiences as parents.

Brady is the father of Benjamin, 16, and Vivian, 13, whom he shares with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, as well as 19-year-old Jack, his son with former partner Bridget Moynahan.

Swanepoel has two sons, Anacan, 10, and Ariel, eight, with her former fiancé Hermann Nicoli. The couple ended their relationship in 2018 after being together for a decade.

On Friday, the South African beauty caused online buzz after she was seen entering Brady's office in Surfside, Florida with the thick gold band on her engagement finger

The South African model sparked online speculation on Friday when she was seen arriving at Brady’s office in Surfside, Florida, wearing a thick gold band on her engagement finger

NEXT UP: Andrew Cabot: Net Worth, Age, Marriage, and Role as Privateer Rum CEO – NewsFinale

Swanepoel and the former quarterback have reportedly been dating 'for a while now.' Above, Brady in 2024

Swanepoel and the retired NFL star have reportedly been together ‘for a while now.’ Brady is pictured in 2024

The Victoria's Secret Angel has 'been very secretive and selective about who she's told about their dating,' a source told People. Above, Swanepoel in 2025

A source told People that the Victoria’s Secret Angel has been ‘very secretive and selective about who she’s told about their dating.’ Swanepoel is pictured in 2025

Since divorcing Bundchen, 46, in 2022 after 13 years of marriage, Brady has largely kept his personal life out of the headlines. The retired quarterback previously played for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

However, he has been romantically linked with several A-listers, including reality star Kim Kardashian, 46, model Irina Shayk, 40, and 25-year-old media personality Alix Earle.

Earlier this year, Brady played coy and said he is too busy to dip his toes back in the dating pool.

In January, the seven-time Super Bowl champion told People: ‘I don’t have much time for a personal life or much time for myself, but I love working, and I love my kids.

‘I like to be busy and try to really stay fulfilled in the things I’m doing, so I’m working on some really cool projects and I’m involved with some great teams of people that are doing some really positive things.’

He continued: ‘My oldest [son] is 18. But seeing him thrive and grow, and there’s nothing greater for a parent when you’re seeing your kids do well. I’m so blessed in so many parts of my life.’

Like Brady, Swanepoel has kept her dating life under wraps, but she previously admitted she is ‘very in tune with my children’s needs, then my own personal needs’ in an interview with V magazine in 2023.

The budding romance has reportedly driven a wedge between Swanepoel and her best friend of 15 years, Joan Smalls.

The budding romance has reportedly driven a wedge between Swanepoel and her best friend of 15 years, Joan Smalls, who has also been romantically involved with the NFL star-turned-Fox Sports commentator. Above, Swanepoel and Smalls in 2019

The budding romance has reportedly driven a wedge between Swanepoel and her best friend of 15 years, Joan Smalls, who has also been romantically involved with the NFL star-turned-Fox Sports commentator. Above, Swanepoel and Smalls in 2019

Join the discussion

Is it ever okay to date a friend’s ex, or is Candice breaking the ultimate friendship code?

The Puerto Rican stunner has also been romantically involved with the NFL star-turned-Fox Sports commentator.

According to Page Six, Swanepoel had urged Smalls to dump Brady while they were dating before taking up with him herself.

Smalls is said to be furious and is reportedly telling their mutual friends to pick sides, per the outlet.

The two have been close for 15 years, sharing numerous catwalks throughout their highly successful modeling careers.

Four New York Races That Could Decide Control of Congress

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Four New York Races That Could Decide Control of Congress

The road to 2027 runs through New York.

The Empire State is once again expected to play a decisive role in determining which party controls the House of Representatives — four years after Republican gains in New York helped produce the GOP’s four-seat pickup and shift the chamber’s balance in 2022.

Political strategists and analysts nationwide are closely watching New York, despite its Democratic lean, because several high-profile contests remain among the country’s few true swing-district races.

“We have a chance in New York to play an important part in winning back the House majority,” state Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said.

“Hakeem Jeffries will be the next speaker of the House,” Jacobs added, referring to the Brooklyn Democrat and House minority leader.

Jacobs predicted that Democrats would regain the chamber comfortably, with every incumbent winning reelection and the party potentially adding two seats in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York.

State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox also acknowledged New York’s importance as the GOP holds a narrow 218-214 edge, alongside one independent member and two vacancies in the 435-seat House.

“Of course New York is important. The New York races were important in the Republicans taking the House in 2022,” Cox said.

New York’s competitive districts helped Republicans capture the House four years ago, when a red wave carried the party into the majority.

Republicans gained two seats on Long Island and two more in the Hudson Valley.

In the Third District, covering Nassau County’s North Shore and part of Queens, Republican George Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman after Democrat Tom Suozzi chose to run for governor rather than seek reelection.

Joseph D’Esposito also defeated Democrat Laura Gillen in the Fourth District, which includes Nassau County’s South Shore and beach communities.

In the lower Hudson Valley’s 17th District, Republican Mike Lawler pulled off an upset victory over Democratic incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney, who was then chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Republican Marc Molinaro defeated Democrat Josh Riley in the redrawn 19th District.

Republicans also benefited from gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin’s stronger performance at the top of the ticket in the competitive House districts compared with Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likewise blamed Hochul’s weak showing in the swing districts for contributing to Democratic losses.

The political environment was different four years ago, when then-President Joe Biden faced backlash during the midterms and Democrats were hurt by lingering concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation.

Democrats largely reversed those fortunes two years later. Better prepared during the 2024 presidential election year, they won back three of New York’s four most competitive House seats.

Suozzi returned to his former district after Santos was exposed as a fraud and expelled from the House. He won the seat in a February 2024 special election, then held it that fall with a three-point victory over former Assemblyman Michael LiPetri.

Gillen also defeated one-term incumbent D’Esposito in a rematch for the Fourth Congressional District, while Riley prevailed over Molinaro in their rematch in the 19th District.

Only Lawler survived, defeating former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones in 2024.

This time, four seats remain competitive.

3rd District – Rep. Tom Suozzi vs. Mike LiPetri 

Incumbent Suozzi is facing off against Mike LiPetri, an attorney and former state Assembly member, who narrowly lost to Suozzi by 3-percentage points in a 2024 election. 

KEEP READING: George Floyd-Era Police Watchdog Chair Charged Over Witness Name Sale

The district encompasses suburban nabes in Nassau County’s North Shore, while also including parts of Queens and Huntington in Suffolk County. 

Suozzi is serving his second stint in the House of Representatives after representing the district from 2017 – 2023, breaking to run for governor in 2022, where he lost in the Democratic primary to Governor Kathy Hochul. 

But Republican Michael LiPetri is giving Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive, a run for his money.

A Super PAC with Trump ties donates about $10 million into LiPetri’s race. The challenger has snagged an endorsement from Suozzi’s hometown police department, which had supported Suozzi in the election just two years ago. 

4th District – Rep. Laura Gillen vs. Jeanine Driscoll 

Incumbent Gillen is facing off against Driscoll, the receiver of taxes in the town of Hempstead.

A series of diverse communities along Nassau County’s South Shore make up the swing district, which was won by a Republican in a 2022 election before Democrat Gillen took over the seat in 2024. 

Gillen had run against Republican Anthony D’Esposito in 2022, before defeating him in 2024. D’Esposito, the inspector general in the US Department of Labor declined to challenge Gillen this year. 

Gillen has come under fire for previously taking credit for funding programs she’d voted against and has been accused of being a “serial tax hiker.” 

17 District — Rep. Mike Lawler vs. Cait Conley

Lawler faces off against Democrat Cait Conley, an Army combat veteran and former national security adviser in the Biden Administration.

An analysis by the tracking firm Ad Impact found that more than $50 million has been spent combined on ads for Lawler-Conley race — $30 million by Republican groups and $20.9 million by Democrats.

That’s the second-highest ad spending on a House race in the country, behind only House District 1 in North Carolina, where $50.4 million was spent.

21st District — Anthony Constantino vs. Blake Gendebien

The race in the red-leaning 21st district in the North Country is surprisingly competitive after Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik decided not to seek re-election.

Democrat Blake Gendebien, a farmer, is running against firebrand Republican businessman Anthony Constantino, who doesn’t live in the district.

In a sign the Democrats believe they have a shot at winning the seat, their House Majority PAC spent $1.4 million, including on an ad rapping Constantino for supporting Trump’s trade war with Canada.

Constantino is a Trump booster who won the GOP primary against an assemblyman backed the local Republican and Conservative Party leadership after Trump endorsed him. The owner of a printing company, he has poured $17 million of his fortune into the race.

The Conservative Party ballot, which typically backs a Republican candidate in House races, was left blank.

The split on the political right over Constantino, coupled with frustration over higher fuel and other day-to-day costs, provides Gendebien and Democrats a “perfect storm” to win the seat, said campaign strategist O’Brien “OB” Murray.

“It’s a fractured Republican Party,” Murray said. “When the Republican and Conservative parties are not in sync, it’s a problem.

“It provides an opportunity for the Democrats to take advantage of the split. It could be the perfect storm for the Democrats.”

Murray was involved in the last North Country race when there was a split on the political right in 2009. He worked on the campaign of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in a three-way race that included Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens.

Owens won the race after then-Vice President Joe Biden stumped with him the eve of the election.

Vice President JD Vance will stump with Constantino in the district on Monday to rally the Republican base and other conservative-minded voters to back him.

Murray said Vance is the “perfect surrogate” to tell Republicans that keeping the Stefanik seat “is too important” to cede to Democrats over party infighting.

Additional reporting by Vaugh Golden

RHOP Recap: Eddie Osefo Hints He’s Responsible for the Show’s Legal Drama

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
RHOP Recap: Eddie Osefo Hints He’s Responsible for the Show’s Legal Drama

RHOP Recap Season 11 Episode 4

Karen is focusing on herself, while Courtney shares an emotional update about her fertility struggles on this episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac. Ashley organizes a trip to Bethany Beach—hopefully a smoother getaway than the last one—and Wendy puts Tia and her husband on the spot with a series of difficult questions. For several of the women, their marriages and friendships appear to be entering a defining new chapter.

Karen is determined to enjoy herself, and she is especially happy to spend time with Ashley—even if that means browsing a lingerie store together. She reveals that her husband, Ray, invited her to dinner, a promising sign as they continue trying to repair their marriage.

Courtney joins the group and discusses her work as a minister. She admits that maintaining a particular image has brought plenty of pressure, though that does not stop her from confidently modeling a sheer onesie around the store for Karen and everyone watching.

Ashley asks Courtney about the prophecy videos she records in her car, including one that went viral. Courtney insists the video was never intended to create fear and says she has experienced prophetic visions throughout her life. She describes seeing angels pass by and deceased relatives visit her, revealing another unexpected side of her story.

Tia and her mother sit down for a meal, and Tia asks her mom to speak with her husband about the dating-app controversy. Her mother, however, seems more sympathetic toward Rob. Tia explains that her father once had another family, which may help explain why her mother is not especially shocked by Rob “having his ugly pictures on a dating app.” Through it all, Tia remains remarkably composed.

Gizelle travels to Congress to share her story and advocate for efforts that could prevent more deaths from brain tumors and brain cancer. Her father’s death was sudden, and she continues honoring his memory through her work. Gizelle is determined to make him proud.

Ashley discusses the latest changes at home, including her cousin and his girlfriend moving in. The household also has a new nanny. Because Ashley feels a strong responsibility to support her family, she raises the possibility of purchasing a beach house with her uncle when he stops by. Since she received $20 million from her divorce, Ashley suggests they share the cost of a family property that could also be rented out.

Wendy says the issues involving Eddie remain outside the home so they can preserve some normalcy for their children. She tells Eddie that Tia and Rob are essentially coexisting and are no longer having sex. Eddie responds that he understands what that feels like.

Wendy also brings up Gizelle’s advice that they remain united during this difficult period. Eddie questions whether Wendy is staying because she feels obligated or because she still loves him despite their legal troubles. Both say they love each other, while acknowledging that their relationship is still a work in progress.

Gizelle visits six congressional offices to tell her story. She believes lawmakers understand the importance of securing funding that could help future generations.

Stacey, Thiemo, and their daughter go out for tea. They plan to tell her about their re-engagement, but she is initially more interested in the food. Eventually, their daughter says she would love to see her parents reunite and immediately starts preparing for the wedding.

Ashley plans a Bethany Beach trip while searching for a vacation home for her family. Since Tia is serving as her realtor, Ashley imagines a fun girls’ getaway. Gizelle is wary after their last trip ended badly. Robyn suspects Ashley may simply be looking for drama with someone, but she agrees to go along.

Courtney opens up about undergoing fertility testing and learning that her egg reserve is on the low side for conceiving. She is devastated, but her husband, Alexis, offers comfort and support. Courtney feels responsible for the situation because she focused on building her career and believes she may have missed her window. She also lost a fallopian tube and an ovary during a procedure roughly 10 years ago, adding another complication to the couple’s hopes of having another child.

Karen explains that after getting sober, she and Ray began sleeping in separate bedrooms. The arrangement allows her to prioritize her well-being while remaining in the same home. Ray admits that the version of Karen who was not sober seemed more fun and sexual to him. He says he was surprised she did not come home and “tear” him “up,” while acknowledging that he always felt she drank more than was healthy. Karen tells Ray that he does not truly know her and that she cannot predict where their relationship will go. What she does know is that she will no longer sacrifice herself for anyone.

Tia joins Wendy and Eddie for a double date, marking the first time she and Rob have gone out together as a couple in this setting. The silence between them is difficult to miss, but Tia is still glad they are making the effort. Wendy observes that the women are all navigating complicated relationship dynamics and asks whether this is the lowest point yet for Tia and Rob.

Tia says online photos do not represent the darkest period of her life, prompting Wendy to ask whether infidelity may be involved. Tia sees the line of questioning as a deflection. Wendy also wonders why Tia so often travels without Rob and suggests that his loneliness may have contributed to the dating-app issue. She then directly asks Rob why he feels lonely.

Wendy believes Tia has avoided confronting Rob with these questions, so she takes the lead. Rob says he feels embarrassed for his wife but insists they will work through their problems. Wendy tells them she is rooting for their marriage, and Tia returns the sentiment by saying she is also supporting Wendy and Eddie.

Tia asks how much Wendy and Eddie’s children know about their criminal case. Wendy reveals that their oldest child searched their names online. Despite the strain in their marriages, both couples believe they have made it through the most difficult part with their spouses.

Eddie says Wendy was blindsided when the situation escalated and is now examining every detail. According to Eddie, Wendy did not understand what was happening at the time. His comments once again appear to suggest that he may have played a role in the legal troubles affecting their family.

“I think it’s just one of those things where you know for example, if you’re charged with paying the mortgage every month, and then 9 months later, sheriff’s coming at your door saying it’s time for you guys to get out of the house [because] you haven’t paid the mortgage,” shared Eddie as he gave an example in explaining what caused tension in his marriage to Wendy.

He added, “it’s one of those situations where Wendy was caught off guard… She’s not handling things. She didn’t know anything going on.”

Perhaps it might be time to taken Karen’s diss advice and zip it? Must say if they’re not planning to take a plea deal, they are saying a lot and seem to be implying some wrongdoing on Eddie’s part. 

Wendy then warns that “even if you have your role, you still need to know everything that is going on in your house.” Touché.

TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THIS PREMIERE EPISODE OF RHOP?

Taylor Swift’s Ex Helped Fuel Her Wedding-Crasher Reputation With the Kennedy Family

NewsFinale Journal
-
0
Taylor Swift’s Ex Helped Fuel Her Wedding-Crasher Reputation With the Kennedy Family

Taylor Swift posing in a silver strapless dress

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Long before her highly publicized relationship with Joe Jonas and her rumored fairytale future with Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift was briefly linked to another famous name: Conor Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy. The pair reportedly had a summer romance in 2012, when Kennedy was 18 and Swift was 22, during a period when the singer appeared captivated by the storied political dynasty. Their age difference was not what generated the most attention, however. Instead, the relationship became associated with an alleged wedding-crashing controversy involving Kennedy’s cousin, Kyle Kennedy. In comments to the Boston Herald, Victoria Gifford Kennedy, Kyle’s mother, accused Swift of attending her daughter’s wedding without permission—even after being told she was not welcome.

Conor, who had been invited to the ceremony, reportedly hoped to bring Swift and sought Victoria’s approval shortly before the event. Concerned that the pop star’s appearance could draw focus away from the bride, Victoria said she declined the request. “I responded with a very clear ‘Please do not come,’” she recalled, according to People. Victoria later claimed that Swift arrived anyway and that her presence immediately attracted attention. She said she approached the singer, introduced herself and asked her to leave, but alleged that Swift did not respond. “It was like talking to a ghost. She seemed to look right past me,” Victoria said. Swift’s representative, Paula Erickson, disputed that account in a statement to the Boston Herald, insisting that Swift had been invited and that the bride had warmly thanked her for attending.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TERROR: Videos Show Deadly Attack by Islamist in Australia and the Hero Who Confronted Him – NewsFinale

Taylor Swift was confused by the whole wedding debacle

Taylor Swift walking with ex Conor Kennedy on the beach

Robert Scott Button/Shutterstock

The wedding controversy continued to unfold when Kathie Lee Gifford, Kyle Kennedy’s step-grandmother and a guest at the event, said she witnessed the tense exchange. She explained that Victoria’s objection was not rooted in a personal dislike of Swift, but in concerns about the carefully planned reception. “It was a beautiful sit-down dinner that had been planned for months,” Gifford said. Appearing on the “Today” show, she recalled seeing Swift waiting in a hallway before Conor took her hand and left with her, as reported by CBS News. Gifford added that she did not realize there had been a dispute until Victoria later explained what had happened.

Even Gifford acknowledged that Swift may not have understood she was unwelcome. “I’m not sure she didn’t know she wasn’t invited,” she told her “Today” co-host, Hoda Kotb. Swift and Conor reportedly ended their relationship soon after the incident, but the singer never fully confirmed Victoria’s version of events. When asked about the story in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Swift said she did not know exactly what had happened and described the situation as “the biggest misunderstanding.” She also insisted that she would never knowingly attend an event without an invitation or deliberately take attention away from someone else.
1...717273...5,543Page 72 of 5,543