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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
Steve Hilton opened Wednesday night’s debate ready for confrontation, invoking a notorious Washington insult aimed at Xavier Becerra. The Republican reminded voters that a former Biden administration official had once referred to Becerra as “Bitch-ass,” immediately giving California’s only scheduled gubernatorial debate a combative edge as Becerra defended his record from the opening moments.
The Republican challenger repeatedly pressed Becerra on taxes, government bureaucracy and his tenure as California attorney general. Becerra, the Democratic front-runner, responded by attacking Hilton’s tax proposals and highlighting his alliance with President Donald Trump.
“Thank you to CNN for bringing Xavier Becerra out of hiding,” Hilton said.
Hilton used the CNN debate to accuse Becerra of failing to take meaningful action while serving as the state’s top law-enforcement official.
“When you were there as Attorney General, you did nothing,” Hilton said. “You did nothing.”
The debate soon shifted to taxes. Hilton proposed eliminating taxes on the first $150,000 of income and repealing California’s gas tax, while Becerra argued that such reductions would ultimately harm working residents.
Hilton said his plan would benefit working Californians as well as higher-income residents, whom he argued help create jobs. Becerra labeled the proposal “Trump tax cuts” and warned that it would provide the state’s wealthiest residents with a 40% tax break.
Becerra added that he did not want Wall Street investors to have an easier time buying California homes than the state’s teachers.
One of the evening’s most pointed exchanges followed. When Becerra argued that California should avoid repeating policies he believes have failed, Hilton responded: “Yes, like voting Democrat.”
Artificial intelligence also became a point of disagreement. Hilton called for a pause on the use of AI in California classrooms, while Becerra cited his lawsuits against Google and Meta.
“And I will continue to do so as governor,” Becerra said.
Hilton then challenged Becerra to identify a single action he had taken to reduce government red tape. Becerra pointed to his lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach in Orange County.
“That’s more red tape,” Hilton replied.
Becerra also warned that California would see “Trump results” under a Hilton administration. Trump has endorsed Hilton and supported his campaign.
Hilton entered the debate behind Becerra in two September polls. The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll showed Becerra leading 58% to 33%, while the Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Survey put the race at 60% for Becerra and 38% for Hilton.
Outside the debate, Hilton has made Becerra’s record a central campaign issue. His campaign website prominently uses the nickname “Bitch-ass Becerra,” referencing a reported Washington-era insult attributed to former Biden administration adviser Susan Rice.
Because no second debate was scheduled, Wednesday’s event represented the candidates’ only planned opportunity to attack one another directly before California voters cast their ballots.
The California Post reported Tuesday that former Biden administration colleagues had questioned Becerra’s qualifications to become governor. One former colleague alleged that Becerra had referred disparagingly to migrant children as “little Juanitos and Juanitas.”
“I do not think he is qualified to be the governor,” Becerra’s former colleague told The Post.
“I don’t think he’s qualified to be the boss of anything.”
A 21-year-old University of Georgia student survived an eight-story fall from an Athens apartment window after apparently slipping through a screen while dancing near the open window, according to a police report obtained by News Media.
Kristin Sargent fell from a window on the eighth floor of the Rambler Athens apartment complex on West Broad Street at about 7:37 p.m. Saturday.
Witnesses told investigators that Sargent had been dancing on a couch or air mattress positioned near the open window when she apparently went through the screen. She landed in the courtyard near a pool on the building’s second floor, the report said.
Investigators found signs that Sargent hit a metal bench during the descent. An officer reported blood on the bench cushion and noted that one armrest had broken away.
A University of Georgia senior survived an eight-story plunge from an apartment window in Athens, Georgia, after apparently falling through a screen while dancing near an open window.(Instagram/_kristinsargent; Google Maps)
Lt. Katie Jenkins, a spokesperson for the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said investigators believe the bench helped cushion Sargent’s fall. Jenkins told News Media that the incident is not being treated as a criminal case and that Sargent was understood to be alert and conscious.
911 audio obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta captured the chaotic moments immediately after the fall.
“We’re on the eighth floor. My friend just fell out of the window,” one caller told dispatchers. “She’s on the ground. She fell out of the window. We were dancing, and she just fell out of the window.”
A dispatcher then asked if Sargent was moving.
Police said University of Georgia student Kristin Sargent, 21, survived an eight-story fall from an Athens apartment window while dancing on a couch.(Instagram/_kristinsargent)
“Is she moving? Is she moving? No, she’s not,” the caller replied.
The caller later said she could see Sargent below but could not tell whether her eyes were open.
“No, I don’t know. I’m looking down at her on the floor. She’s not moving,” the caller said.
Paramedics took Sargent to a hospital. Police investigators interviewed her and witnesses there while forensic personnel examined the scene, according to the report.
The Rambler Athens apartment complex on West Broad Street in Athens, Georgia, where a University of Georgia student fell from an eighth-floor window.(Google Maps)
A responding officer wrote that the information collected at the scene indicated the fall was accidental. Jenkins also confirmed to News Media that police are not investigating the incident as a criminal matter.
The police report lists Sargent as a resident of the apartment where she fell.
Police did not provide details about the window or say what safety measures were, or were not, in place.
Sargent is a student at the University of Georgia in Athens.(Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
Rambler Athens previously said it was reviewing the incident.
News Media reached out to the apartment complex for additional information about the window and any safety measures in place at the time of the fall.
A representative for the University of Georgia did not immediately respond to News Media’s request for additional information.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has taken an indirect swipe at Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers over their approach to government spending, saying every level of government must play a role in easing inflationary pressure.
The comments came after the Reserve Bank unanimously raised the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.6 per cent on Tuesday, taking borrowing costs to their highest level since 2011.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Wednesday showed the Consumer Price Index climbed 4 per cent in the 12 months to August 2026. That marked an increase from the 3.5 per cent recorded in the year to July.
After the inflation data was released, Minns highlighted his government’s record on spending restraint and referred to Reserve Bank warnings about the potential inflationary impact of public expenditure, appearing to contrast NSW’s approach with Canberra’s fiscal policy.
‘I think every government has a responsibility to do what it can to take demand out of the economy,’ he said on Wednesday.
‘We have heard the advice from the RBA over the last two years that we need to be careful with public funds.
‘As a result, over the last four years, we’ve had the lowest increase in spending growth of any jurisdiction in the country, Labor or Liberal, any state, any territory, any government.
‘And the reason for that is we’ve had to make difficult decisions along the way.’
Chris Minns (pictured) has stressed his NSW government’s fiscal record after the latest interest rate increase
The Premier said governments had to acknowledge the limits of public finances, arguing that fiscal discipline had helped bolster confidence in NSW’s financial position.
‘We recognise there’s a finite amount of public funds to use and just recently we’ve had our credit rating reaffirmed by the ratings agencies,’ Minns said.
‘In fact, there’s been an upgrade to it which has been the result of a lot of hard work.’
Despite the pointed remarks, Minns stopped short of openly attacking the federal government, while maintaining that controlling the growth of public spending was necessary.
‘I’m not going to make a long commentary about other governments. It’s up to them and their decisions, obviously,’ he said.
‘But we want to make it clear that we’ve been careful with public money, particularly the growth in public money, and that will continue if we’re re-elected next March.’
Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock likewise avoided directly blaming the government, although she pointed to Australia’s weak productivity performance as a significant concern.
‘The bottom line is that productivity is doing nothing. And I know we talk about productivity a lot, but it’s so important if we want the economy to be able to grow and create jobs,’ she said on Tuesday.
One NSW Labor MP said they wished Albanese could ‘stay away’ from the 2027 election
Minns’s comments come as tensions appear to be growing between NSW Labor and the federal government, with the Premier seeking to reinforce his own political identity.
The NSW Premier has taken different positions from his federal colleagues on several policy matters in recent months.
He has supported One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and the federal Coalition’s push for a reduction in tobacco excise, and publicly clashed with Chalmers over GST arrangements.
Some NSW Labor MPs would like Minns to go even further.
The Daily Mail understands several state MPs believe the premier should put as much distance as possible between himself and the Prime Minister ahead of the 2027 election.
They have suggested he adopt a similar approach to former Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s decision to keep Scott Morrison at arm’s length before the Coalition’s victory in 2019.
‘I wish [Albanese] could stay away,’ one NSW Labor MP told the Daily Mail last week.
The private frustration reflects growing concern within sections of the NSW Labor caucus that the Prime Minister could drag down the party’s vote, especially in regional areas where cost-of-living pressures remain acute and support for major parties has softened.
Those worries have been sharpened by the rise of Pauline Hanson and One Nation, with the party believing it can make significant gains across regional and outer-suburban NSW at the next state election.
When it comes to the interest rate increase, Chalmers and Albanese have rejected claims that government spending contributed to the hike.
The Prime Minister said his government would consider new cost-of-living relief and spending cuts in the mid-year economic update due in December.
Asked whether he agreed with claims inflation was largely homegrown or with Chalmers’ argument that the US war with Iran was a key driver of the rate hike, Albanese said he agreed with both.
‘They are not saying contradictory things at all,’ he said.
‘The Treasurer has been very consistent, speaking about the inflationary pressures which are there in the economy. [But] the war in the Middle East has had an impact and people can’t just dismiss that.’
A man allegedly connected to the hit-and-run death of former child television star Kianna Underwood has been arrested.
Court records reviewed by the Daily Mail show that Michael Griffiths, 72, was taken into custody Tuesday by the New York City Police Department.
Underwood was struck by two vehicles in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood shortly before 7 a.m. on January 16.
The former All That star, who was 33, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Griffiths faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury. He is scheduled to return to court October 27.
In a January interview with the New York Daily News, Griffiths acknowledged that he was behind the wheel of the Ford SUV that initially struck Underwood. He maintained, however, that he had “done nothing wrong.”
The Daily Mail said it contacted Griffiths’ attorney, the NYPD and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for comment, but had not received responses.
Michael Griffiths, 72, was arrested Tuesday in New York City and charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury in connection with the January 16 hit-and-run death of former Nickelodeon star Kianna Underwood; Above, Underwood appears on All That
Griffiths told the New York Daily News in January that he was driving the Ford SUV that first struck Underwood but insisted he had “done nothing wrong”; Above, Underwood, third from left, is pictured with her All That castmates in 2005
The New York Post was first to report Griffiths’ arrest.
According to the report, Griffiths was driving a 2021 Ford Explorer when it allegedly hit Underwood after she entered the roadway without waiting for the walk signal at Watkins Street and Pitkin Avenue.
Security footage obtained by the Post appeared to show the Explorer crossing the double yellow lines while passing a vehicle stopped in the center of the lane.
The SUV then reportedly struck Underwood, sending her body across the intersection.
A police source told the Post that a second vehicle hit Underwood moments later and dragged her “several hundred feet”—a distance of more than two blocks.
Underwood suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
It remains unclear whether investigators have identified the driver of the second vehicle.
In January, Griffiths reportedly told authorities that he was obtaining a lawyer and would not answer questions about the fatal crash.
Kianna Underwood, pictured as a child on All That, was identified as the victim of a Friday morning hit-and-run
Surveillance footage showed Underwood leaving a doorstep in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood before waiting near the intersection of Pitkin Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard
Authorities impounded Griffiths’ vehicle and reportedly reviewed surveillance footage to determine whether he was driving when Underwood was struck. At the time, his identity had not been publicly disclosed.
Records obtained by the Daily News showed that Griffiths’s vehicle in the past had been ticketed for 41 violations, 25 of which were for speeding.
Shocking surveillance footage from the scene obtained by CBS News showed Underwood leaving a doorstep in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn on Friday morning and waiting at the intersection of Pitkin Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard.
She reportedly did not wait for the walk symbol when she was struck by the SUV driver, who was heading west on Pitkin Avenue and had a green light, but veered across double yellow lines to pass another vehicle, according to the Daily News.
The driver could be seen in the surveillance footage going against traffic and striking Underwood before it disappears from the video frame without slowing down.
Underwood was then struck moments later by the driver of a black and gray sedan, which dragged her body for more than two blocks before it came loose near the intersection of Pitkin and Osborn Streets.
That driver also failed to stop, but several people appeared not to notice the body until a few witnesses reached for their phones.
Griffiths claimed to the New York Daily News that he had stopped and tried to flag down other drivers to help when he saw a second car strike her and drag her body.
Underwood was then struck by a black 2021 Ford Explorer after it veered across double yellow lines to pass another vehicle
However, Griffiths then left the scene, which he claimed was because he needed to take medication, and he said he ‘felt like I was going to faint when the incident happened.’
The former child actress ‘sustained severe trauma to the head and body,’ police said, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
One day later, her devastated father, Anthony Underwood, shared a heartbreaking Facebook post in which he compared his daughter’s death to the time he saw a fox get run over in the Catskills Mountains.
‘Another driver pulled over and picked the fox up who was still alive and put it on the side of the road,’ he recalled. ‘All I can think about is did anyone show my baby that same compassion, as someone ran her over like roadkill.’
It now seems that Underwood, who starred in shows like All That and Little Bill, fell on hard times since her time as a child actor.
Two years ago, Angelique Bates, 45, sounded alarms about Underwood, who had been homeless in New York City, and she took to social media to call out their former crew members for not reaching out to her.
In November 2023, she shared an Instagram video and called out Nickelodeon for turning a blind eye.
Underwood was then struck moments later by the driver of a black and gray sedan, which dragged her body for more than two blocks before it came loose
It’s unclear what progress the NYPD has made in identifying the driver of the second vehicle that hit Underwood and dragged her body two blocks
‘She’s one of us, and she needs help, but she’s not getting it,’ she said in her video before later adding: ‘Nobody’s speaking on Kianna Underwood.’
She said that the cast members acted like a close-knit family while on TV but appeared to not uphold the same behavior when they were off the set.
After learning of Underwood’s death, Bates shared a clip with the news article headline she read and a throwback clip of the late star on the show.
She wrote in her caption: ‘Y’all have no idea how much this one hurts…Sick to my stomach….So many people failed baby girl.’
Those who knew Underwood in Brooklyn have described how she would frequently ask for money.
‘She would come around and ask for a couple of dollars here and there,’ said Andy Sierra, who supervises a store nearby.
‘I used to give a couple of dollars and buy her food. I gave her some clothes and some sneakers last Saturday.’
Speaking of Underwood’s untimely death, Sierra said it was a ‘tragedy.’
Underwood (far right) appeared on the hit Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That alongside stars including Kenan Thompson (middle)
Underwood starred on All That for its tenth and last season in 2004 and 2005. She also dabbled in stage production, touring with the musical Hairspray. She is pictured with Frances Fisher on the opening night of the show in Los Angeles
‘No human being deserves to die like that.’
Another man in the neighborhood, who refused to give his name, told the Daily News that Underwood’s boyfriend informed him of her death.
He said that her boyfriend was cooking breakfast for Underwood when she left in the morning, adding, ‘He was just talking to her and he was begging her to stay inside the house.’
‘I’m very devastated, you know, I see her all the time,’ he added.
‘She always had good spirits, happy, good energy. It was very sad to hear that it was her.’
Underwood got her big break on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That for its tenth and last season in 2005, replacing Jamie Lynn Spears.
The show produced several stars, including longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson and Amanda Bynes.
Underwood also starred in 23 episodes of Little Bill, and appeared in the film The 24 Hour Woman, starring Patti LuPone.
Additionally, she voiced a character in the animated movie Santa Baby! and dabbled in stage production, touring with the musical Hairspray.
HHS decertifies organ procurement network over harvesting allegations
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services decertified Kentucky organ donation nonprofit Network for Hope following allegations that organs were harvested from living patients. Dr. Marc Siegel joined Sandra Smith and John Roberts to discuss the federal investigation, which identified 73 cases of premature organ recovery, including a 2021 incident in which a patient reportedly woke during surgery.
Newly released public records indicate that Cercle Allocation Services charged a UCLA research operation a $765 procurement fee for each liver and thymus specimen. In internal correspondence, the company cautioned that certain wording on the invoices could wrongly suggest that the human tissue itself was being sold.
The documents were obtained from UCLA through a California Public Records Act request filed on behalf of Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden. They include purchase orders and email correspondence exchanged between UCLA and Cercle Allocation Services.
A UCLA internal order form identifies the purchasing unit as part of the David Geffen School of Medicine’s Division of Hematology-Oncology and refers to the “Mouse Core.” The university redacted researchers’ names and other identifying details from the records.
The records reviewed by News Media do not show that UCLA, its researchers, procurement staff or other employees acted illegally or unethically in connection with the transactions.
Cercle supplies human fetal tissue for biomedical research.(Shane Collins/Northwestern University/File)
One UCLA purchase order lists seven individually numbered liver and thymus specimens at $765 each, for a total of $5,355. A second order, dated Aug. 18, 2023, lists five specimens at the same per-unit rate, totaling $3,825. Other purchase orders show the identical $765 charge per specimen.
Cercle challenged the tax treatment on the purchase orders and asked UCLA to issue corrected versions. The company said the charges represented procurement services, not sales of tissue, and argued that applying sales tax could create the misleading impression that the specimens themselves had been sold.
Cercle does provide human fetal tissue for biomedical research. Peer-reviewed studies have identified the company as the source of human fetal liver tissue used in research, offering independent support for the type of procurement operation described by CMP.
UCLA redacted the names and other identifying information of researchers from the record.(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/File)
CMP described the liver and thymus specimens in the UCLA purchase orders as fetal tissue. News Media has not independently confirmed that the tissue covered by those specific orders was fetal. The documents identify the organs by type, sample number and date, but do not label them as fetal tissue.
The records do not prove that the payments were unlawful. Cercle described the charges as procurement service fees rather than compensation for the tissue itself.
However, the correspondence makes clear that the company was highly focused on how the transactions were characterized.
“The overriding issue is the use of terminology that we must not use due to their improper implication that we are selling taxable items, which we are not,” a Cercle accounts manager wrote in September 2023. “Due to the nature of our business, we must be very careful and clear that we invoice fees for our procurement services.”
The email added that references to sales tax could suggest Cercle was “selling the items received,” which the company said were “illegal to sell.” Instead, Cercle directed UCLA to authorize payments for procurement services while linking each sample number and date to a $765 unit charge.
The correspondence indicates that UCLA later issued revised purchase orders after Cercle objected to the tax-related language.
David Daleiden, a defendant in an indictment stemming from a secret investigation of his undercover videos of Planned Parenthood, stands in a Houston courtroom Feb. 4, 2016.(David J. Phillip/AP)
In one email, Cercle said a July invoice totaling $5,355 for procurements conducted on three dates had already been “processed and paid.” The company also asked UCLA to replace additional purchase orders that contained tax language, including one for five procurements dated Aug. 18 and valued at $3,825.
Federal law prohibits knowingly acquiring, receiving or transferring human fetal tissue for “valuable consideration” when the transaction affects interstate commerce. The law permits “reasonable payments” connected to transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control or storage.
The records reviewed by News Media do not establish that Cercle or UCLA violated the federal prohibition.
Daleiden contends the documents raise questions about whether the uniform $765 charges represented permissible reimbursement for procurement-related costs.
He pointed to the uniform $765 amount UCLA assigned to individual specimens on the purchase orders, including multiple organs listed on the same date. Daleiden told News Media he believes the structure raises questions about whether the payments reflected the procurement-related costs permitted under federal law.
Documents reviewed by News Media do not contain Cercle’s invoices or underlying cost calculations and do not establish whether the $765 amount exceeded reasonable procurement-related expenses.
Daleiden also said UCLA did not produce Cercle’s invoices in response to the public records request.
The May 2025 request sought the original and most recent materials associated with UCLA IRB No. 11-002504 and records and communications from 2023 forward between the authors of a specified UCLA study and Advanced Bioscience Resources or Cercle. The request covered records, including emails, text messages, notes and fetal tissue logs.
UCLA later said its departments had completed their search and that the September 2026 production represented the final batch of non-exempt responsive records. The university said it redacted certain researcher identities because of concerns about threats and harassment involving sensitive research.
Records also show the UCLA-Cercle relationship continued into 2025.
A February 2025 Cercle ticket involving UCLA was titled “Liver and brain.” Cercle responded March 3 that it had been “unable to fulfill your request today” and canceled the ticket. The records do not specify that the requested tissue was fetal or establish that any brain tissue was ultimately procured or transferred.
Daleiden has spent years investigating fetal tissue procurement after CMP released undercover videos involving Planned Parenthood officials in 2015. His recording operation later became the subject of a California criminal case.
Kamala Harris’ office opened the investigation while she was California attorney general. Charges were later filed under Attorney General Xavier Becerra. In April 2026, a California judge dismissed the final charge and expunged the case.
The records reviewed by News Media do not establish that the UCLA-Cercle transactions violated federal law. UCLA and Cercle have not been accused or charged by authorities with illegal conduct in the transactions reflected in the public records obtained by CMP.
UCLA and Cercle Allocation Services did not respond to News Media’s requests for comment.
The closest friend of Constable Mia Lay, who was killed last week when a police patrol car crashed into a tree at high speed in Sydney, has paid tribute to the young officer in a deeply emotional message.
Constable Lay, 20, died when the police vehicle she was travelling in struck a tree in Redfern at around 1.30am on Friday.
She was a passenger in a Volkswagen Tiguan driven by Constable Brandon Torrisi, 24. The officers had been responding to an urgent report of a stolen vehicle in Glebe.
In an Instagram post shared on Wednesday afternoon, Lay’s best friend Elka Summer said she would remember and treasure their friendship for the rest of her life.
“Beautiful, beautiful Mia, how much fun we’ve had together,” Ms Summer wrote.
“Last May I watched you throw your cap into the air as you graduated from the police academy and began a new chapter. I believe that was only the beginning of you truly falling in love with life.
“You were courageous and passionate, and the incredible woman you were has left behind an unfillable void.
“I’ll hold on tightly to our beautiful memories… I love you. Life is not fair.”
Elka Summer (left) has shared a heartfelt tribute to her best friend, Constable Mia Lay
Ms Summer said she watched Constable Lay at her 2025 attestation ceremony, a moment she believed marked when Mia “truly fell in love with life”
Police said Constable Lay died instantly in the crash, with the force of the impact tearing the Volkswagen apart after it struck the tree
Ms Summer accompanied her tribute with a series of photographs showing the friends celebrating Lay’s 2025 attestation ceremony, enjoying beach holidays, spending time with friends and sharing memories from their high school years.
The tribute was posted a day after Constable Lay’s father, Clem Lay, revealed that his daughter had been thinking about joining the NSW Police Force’s Dog Squad. She hoped to follow the career path of her aunt, who is a senior serving police officer.
Mr Lay said his daughter had been enjoying her career in the force when they last discussed her future. During that time, she had also met Dan Vasquez, an officer based in Sydney’s eastern suburbs whom she considered the “love of her life”.
“She’s always been a sporty child, blessed with athletic ability. She’s always happy, full of life,” Mr Lay said.
He described her as determined and strong-willed, recalling how she had recently insisted that he paint his son’s bedroom.
“I had finished it the day before. I was going to call her and ask her to come over and see it — to tell her, ‘I’ve finally done it’… Then the next morning, a police officer came to my door with the devastating news,” he said.
“To tell you the truth, it still hasn’t really hit home. We’re all trying to come to terms with everything that’s happened.”
He added that he hoped no one would ultimately be considered “at fault” for the fatal crash.
Constable Lay’s father, Clem, said he hoped no one would be found “at fault” for the deadly crash
Ms Summer shared a carousel of images showing the special friendship she had with Mia
‘If the investigation is done correctly and in detail, that’s all I could ever ask,’ he told 9News.
‘I don’t know what to say about that speed. I just looked at pictures of the car and the shape of the car and thought, yeah, that makes sense.’
Mr Lay’s comments come after multiple police sources said the car was travelling at more than 150km/h when it hit a tree on Gibbons Street, killing the constable instantly.
As crash investigators attempt to piece together the cause of the collision, police have not ruled out charging Torrisi if he is found to have been speeding unnecessarily.
The NSW Police watchdog said it would monitor the force’s investigation into the crash to ‘ensure public confidence’.
A fundraiser set up in memory of Constable Lay has raised more than $28,000 for her family, with the money to be used to provide ongoing support for Mia’s siblings.
‘Most importantly, it will give Mia’s family the space to care for one another, to be there for each other and to grieve without the added stress of financial pressures or disrupted income,’ the organisers, who are friends of Constable Lay’s brother, wrote.
‘The Lay family are deeply loved by so many in our community. This is just one small way of showing them that we are here for them, now and in the months ahead, and that Mia will forever live on in our hearts.’
– READ MORE: The final shift of Constable Mia Lay: Patrol car was travelling over ‘150km/h’ before fatal crash
– READ MORE: Heartbroken dad of Constable Mia Lay sends message to driver as dramatic CCTV shows police car hurtling down Sydney street
Ben Affleck has spoken publicly for the first time about losing both of his parents earlier this year.
The 54-year-old filmmaker’s father, Timothy Affleck, died in April. His mother, Chris Anne Affleck, died two months later in June.
During an appearance on his Animal co-star Kerry Washington’s Streets We Grow Up On podcast this week, Affleck explained how the back-to-back bereavements have prompted him to reconsider his childhood.
“It’s sort of a big thing, and it’s caused me to start thinking about my own childhood in ways that [have] been a little bit different,” the Oscar-winning screenwriter told Washington.
He said the experience had deepened his appreciation for his mother, adding that he now more clearly recognized “what she did and what the sacrifice and commitment that she made and how complete it was.”
Chris’s death was reported in July, with her obituary stating that she died on June 2 after battling pancreatic cancer. In early September, Ben’s brother Casey Affleck, 51, confirmed that their father had also died earlier this year.
Ben Affleck has spoken about the deaths of both of his parents
Chris Anne Affleck died on June 2 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She is pictured with Ben in 2004
While promoting his film Company at the Venice Film Festival, Casey dedicated the project to his parents.
“It’s dedicated to my parents because I lost both my mom and my dad this year, and they were very important to me,” he said. “I really wanted to show this movie to them, and I didn’t get to. I think they would have liked it.”
In Tuesday’s podcast episode, Ben revealed that he found letters his mother had written before he was born after her death.
The discovery offered him a new perspective on the woman he had known as a devoted mother. “All I knew was a person who just made me and my brother the absolute most important center of her life,” he said.
Affleck said he was particularly struck by Chris’s ability to work while remaining a fully present parent to him and his brother.
He also noted that she built the same kind of close bond with her grandchildren.
Timothy and Chris, who were also parents to the two movie stars, are survived by five grandchildren: Indiana, 22, Violet, 20, Atticus, 18, Fin, 17, and Sam, 14.
Ben is pictured with his father in Los Angeles in 2013
Affleck has one brother, 51-year-old Casey Affleck
While promoting Company at the Venice Film Festival, Casey dedicated the film to his parents after losing both of them this year
Chris’s grandchildren were described as “the animating force of her last two decades” in her Legacy obituary.
According to the publication, she was told by doctors that she had six months to live last December, and her final wish was to see her grandson’s high school graduation.
She attended the ceremony this past May, and died in her sleep days later.
Timothy mostly stayed out of the limelight, but made an appearance in Casey’s 2010 I’m Still Here mockumentary starring Joaquin Phoenix.
Chris graduated from Harvard University and was a public school teacher for 35 years until her retirement in 2008.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his mom in 2012, Ben said: ‘My mother taught public school, went to Harvard and then got her master’s there and taught fifth and sixth grade in a public school.’
Chris became socially conscious early in life, and ‘made the most of an elite education while remaining skeptical of the tightly cloistered world it represented,’ according to her obituary.
Authorities arrested a 40-year-old man early Wednesday who is accused of plotting an attack on the Texas Capitol.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it received “credible information about an individual planning a violent attack” scheduled for Thursday in Austin.
The tip was reported Tuesday evening. SWAT officers arrested the suspect at about 3 a.m. Wednesday at a residence in Converse, near San Antonio.
SWAT officers made the arrest about 3 a.m. Wednesday at a residence in Converse, near San Antonio. pabrady63 – stock.adobe.com
Benny Caldera Jr. could face charges, including felony terroristic threat against a public servant, according to a DPS statement.
Caldera was booked into jail and later released on a $75,000 bond, online court records show.
Messages seeking comment were left for John Bunk, the attorney listed as representing Caldera.
Authorities have not disclosed details about the alleged plot, saying the investigation remains ongoing.
“Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol,” Texas governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on social media. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
DPS alerted state lawmakers to the threat and arrest early Wednesday. The Capitol continued operating during its regular hours.
Texas Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw said in a notice that security would be increased at the Capitol while the investigation continues.
Gov. Greg Abbott said the FBI assisted Texas DPS with the arrest.
“Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol,” Abbott said in a statement posted on social media.
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A private grass airstrip in rural northeastern Lake County is becoming the focus of a broader debate over aviation growth, wetlands and wildlife habitat — including the flight paths of one of Florida’s most distinctive birds.
That bird is the Swallow-tailed Kite, a striking black-and-white raptor recognized by its sharply divided tail and graceful, soaring flight.
The airfield at the heart of the issue is Deep Woods Ranch Airport, an existing private-use facility identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as FD86 and associated with DeLand. Lake County planning documents locate the property along Deep Woods Road, east of Deer Haven Road in the Paisley area.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is seeking to transform the property into an aviation-training site.
However, documents reviewed by News 6 indicate that a state permit tied to the project has not yet been completed.
The St. Johns River Water Management District told News 6 Wednesday that an Environmental Resource Permit application from Embry-Riddle remains under review. District officials said they have asked the university for more information and are awaiting a response before moving ahead with the evaluation.
A 12-page Request for Additional Information, or RAI, dated July 7 and obtained by News 6 outlines the issues regulators still want addressed.
The document includes 37 numbered requests.
Several of those questions involve the potential effects of the project on wildlife, wetlands and aircraft activity.
The airstrip is already there — the proposal involves expansion
A key point in the discussion is that Deep Woods Ranch is not a proposed new airstrip. The facility already exists.
The FAA identifies Deep Woods Ranch Airport by the location code FD86.
County records trace the property’s aviation history back decades. At a May 2025 Planning and Zoning Board meeting, a representative for the applicant said a conditional-use permit for a private airstrip and related structures was issued in 1987. A county action in 2006 later broadened the group permitted to use the private facility. Lake County’s 2006 commission minutes confirm that change.
Embry-Riddle’s proposal centers on the development and expansion of the existing airstrip for aviation-training operations.
Lake County records from 2025 describe a rezoning request covering roughly 118.69 acres. County staff said the proposed aviation-training facility would initially focus on paving the existing airstrip. Under the concept presented at the time, approximately 80% of the property would remain open space.
The documents also outline the proposed access route: County Road 42 to Deer Haven Road, followed by Clay Lake Road and Deep Woods Ranch Road. Both Clay Lake Road and Deep Woods Ranch Road were described as unpaved.
The property’s remote setting is central to the questions surrounding its potential impact on wildlife.
Why Swallow-tailed Kites are drawing attention
Swallow-tailed Kites pass through Florida during migration before continuing south toward Central and South America. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the birds begin moving through the state during the summer as they make their way toward South America.
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, located in the wider region, has documented particular significance for the species.
A 2008 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conservation plan reported a pre-migration gathering of more than 900 Swallow-tailed Kites at the refuge and described it as the second-largest pre-migration roosting colony in the southeastern United States at the time. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Those figures are historical and should not be read as a current population count. But they demonstrate why the landscape has long been significant for the species.
At the Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Chief Operating Officer Nicole Jones told News 6 the center has experience rehabilitating injured Swallow-tailed Kites.
Jones works in the center’s education, outreach and rehabilitation operation.
Her concern centers on the overlap between birds that spend much of their time airborne and increased low-altitude aviation activity.
“You have birds interacting in an area where you’re gonna have not only flying aircraft but low-flying aircraft,” Jones said.
She said repeated disturbance could affect how the birds use a roost.
The concern does not mean an expanded airstrip will necessarily injure birds. The effects of future operations would depend on factors including where and when aircraft fly, the intensity of operations, wildlife activity and what mitigation measures are ultimately used.
But ARC already knows what happens after some Swallow-tailed Kites are hurt.
A 100-foot room just to learn to fly again
For a relatively slender bird, a Swallow-tailed Kite needs an unusually large rehabilitation space.
Jones said the center cannot simply place an injured kite in one of its smaller enclosures. Because the birds need to regain the ability to soar and maneuver, they may require ARC’s largest flight enclosure — roughly 100 feet long.
That creates a second issue: capacity.
ARC operates with only four staff members and relies heavily on volunteers. Jones explained that multiple large birds needing rehabilitation at the same time can create what she described as “musical chairs” among species competing for the center’s largest flight space.
If more Swallow-tailed Kites needed lengthy rehabilitation, Jones said, that enclosure could be unavailable for other species that also require it.
That is a hypothetical concern — ARC is not reporting an influx of kites caused by the Deep Woods project, and flight-training operations contemplated by the project have not begun under the pending state permit.
But it illustrates why ARC is paying attention.
State regulators asked 37 questions
The regulatory record adds another layer.
The St. Johns River Water Management District received Embry-Riddle’s application for an Individual Environmental Resource Permit for the Deep Woods Ranch Airfield Development.
On July 7, the district sent Embry-Riddle a 12-page letter stating that additional technical information was needed to sufficiently review the application.
Wetlands and surface water: District staff wrote that they were unable to fully evaluate direct wetland and surface-water impacts from the information originally provided. They requested a fuller accounting of work including timber harvesting, grubbing and grading within the Ocala National Forest.
Wildlife and FAA safety areas: The district asked for documentation showing required FAA safety zones in relation to wetlands and surface waters, specifically referencing Wildlife Hazard Assessment Areas and Habitat Management Areas. Regulators also requested information showing expected aircraft elevations during takeoff and landing over wetlands and surface waters.
Wildlife surveys: The RAI says wildlife surveys conducted in 2024, 2025 and 2026 were referenced in project materials but had not been provided to the district. Regulators requested those surveys and additional survey work covering the entire project area, including portions within the Ocala National Forest.
Wood storks: The district wrote that proposed wetland and surface-water impacts fall within the core foraging area of multiple known wood stork colonies. Staff said they did not yet have enough information to determine whether listed-species mitigation would be required.
Florida wildlife review: The application has also been forwarded to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, according to the RAI. The district said additional information or plan modifications could be requested after FWC comments are received.
The RAI also raises questions involving stormwater design, floodplain impacts, groundwater, mitigation and the full extent of work proposed on federal land.
One section notes that the project appears to fall within the Tick Island–Mud Lake subwatershed and identifies Tick Island–Mud Lake as a nutrient-impaired waterbody within the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, an Outstanding Florida Water.
What “public interest” language in the document actually means
One of the strongest sentences in the RAI requires context.
The district wrote:
“The applicant has not demonstrated that the project is not contrary to the public interest.”
That does not mean regulators determined that the project is against the public interest.
Instead, the district said the environmental narrative submitted with the application did not contain enough information to adequately address all seven criteria in the state’s required public-interest test. Regulators requested a detailed response to each of those criteria.
In other words, it is an unresolved permitting requirement, not a final judgment on the project.
The same distinction applies to the 37-item RAI generally: the requests are not 37 violations. They are 37 categories of additional information or clarification regulators say they need before completing their review.
What Embry-Riddle says
News 6 sent Embry-Riddle several questions Wednesday, including questions about wildlife analysis, anticipated flight activity and specific measures that could be used to reduce the possibility of aircraft disturbing or striking birds.
The university responded with a statement:
“Embry-Riddle continues to work closely with Lake County and other regulatory agencies as we responsibly develop a safe, limited footprint in the area.”
The university added:
“The university follows applicable regulatory guidance, requirements and established safety practices, including appropriate analysis and consideration of wildlife hazards, as part of our ongoing planning and operations.”
The statement did not specify what wildlife-hazard analysis has been completed specifically for Swallow-tailed Kites at Deep Woods Ranch, provide anticipated flight numbers or detail what operational protections could be used if wildlife monitoring identifies a concern.
The university’s statement does, however, confirm that it says wildlife hazards are being considered as part of its ongoing planning.
Where the permit stands now
The St. Johns River Water Management District gave News 6 a direct update Wednesday.
The district said the permit application remains under review, but that the agency has requested additional information from the applicant and is currently awaiting a response.
That means the permit has not been issued.
The July RAI also makes the immediate next step explicit: under district rules, construction on the proposed project cannot begin until the district issues the permit.
The letter initially gave the applicant 90 days to respond, while also explaining that additional time can be granted under certain circumstances.
So for now, the project exists in two different realities.
There is already an airstrip in the woods.
There is also a plan to do substantially more with it.
And between those two points sits an ongoing regulatory review asking questions about water, wetlands, wildlife and what future aircraft operations could mean for the landscape around them.
For Jones, the reason to pay attention is visible inside ARC’s 100-foot flight enclosure.
Swallow-tailed Kites are built for the sky. When one is injured, even recovery requires room to fly.
And at a wildlife rehabilitation center with only so much room, Jones said each additional patient can matter.
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Cedrick Leroy Powell, 21, has been booked into the Alachua County Jail on allegations that he robbed and assaulted a 71-year-old Campus Walk resident while staying illegally in the man’s apartment in February.
Gainesville Police Department officers were called to Campus Walk Apartments, 914 SW 8th Avenue, at about 4:55 a.m. on February 3, 2026. They found the victim unconscious inside his apartment and transported him to a hospital. After regaining consciousness, the man told investigators he had been robbed.
The victim said he had spent about a week in the hospital before the incident. While he was away, four unidentified adults and a child began staying in his apartment. He said he did not report them because he did not want the child left outside in the cold. After being discharged, he withdrew cash from the bank to pay his rent and placed the money in his wallet.
According to the victim, he was watching television when one of the occupants, later identified as Powell, approached from behind and put him in a chokehold. The attacker allegedly demanded to know where the money was, took the victim’s wallet containing approximately $500, and continued pressing him for more cash.
The victim also reported that the attacker removed his oxygen, causing him to lose consciousness.
A roommate reportedly witnessed the robbery and told police that two of the men staying in the apartment went by the nicknames “Munchie” and “C2.”
Investigators located a 911 call made from the victim’s apartment while he was hospitalized. Although a woman placed the call, the phone was linked to Cedrick Powell’s account. Police determined that the woman was Powell’s sister and learned that Powell had been released from prison in December 2025. One of his known aliases is “C2.”
Another witness said the occupants were awakened by a disturbance and went into the living room, where they found the victim unconscious. The witness knew the alleged attacker as “Ced” and said Ced and the woman were siblings. The witness also said Ced had recently been released from prison.
Campus Walk surveillance video reportedly captured the four adults staying in the victim’s apartment while he was hospitalized. Investigators positively identified Powell in the footage.
Powell faces charges of robbery and battery on a person older than 65. His complete criminal history was not attached to the First Appearance Order filed on the court website. However, Walton County records show convictions beginning in 2022, when he was 18, including grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fleeing, misdemeanor drug offenses, and resisting an officer without violence. He served 17 months in prison and was released in December 2025. Powell was arrested in Walton County in March on the Alachua County warrant tied to the February case. He was also sentenced in April to 16 months in prison, with credit for 298 days served, for battery on a detainee. After that sentence ended on October 1, he was transferred to Alachua County to face the February charges.
Judge James Colaw wrote in the arrest warrant that the State Attorney’s Office planned to seek pretrial detention. Judge Meshon Rawls instead set Powell’s bail at $300,000.
