A man has described his alleged experience in hell as so terrifying that he would “rather be tortured” in some of the world’s most repressive countries than return there.

Steven Kang, a Christian evangelist and author, told Fox News host Sean Hannity that a near-death experience in 1998 left him determined never to face the ordeal again.

“I’d rather get tortured in a camp in North Korea, Afghanistan, than go back to hell,” Kang said.

“Anything is better on earth. Any suffering on earth is better than the pain I felt in hell,” he added during Tuesday’s episode of “Hang out with Sean Hannity.”

Kang, who was 19 when he experienced the near-death episode after ingesting deadly drugs at a college party, went on to describe what he said he encountered.

“And for me, Sean, it was a very spiritual, physical experience. I saw tall demons; I saw the prison camps just like Pastor Bill said,” Kang recalled.

“And I knew I was next; I was going to go in there. But thank God I didn’t go in there,” he added.

In his book, “8 Hours in Hell: A Shocking Firsthand Experience of What Really Awaits in the Afterlife,” Kang said the drug-fueled episode began after he smoked a bong containing heroin, cocaine and PCP. He said the experience kept him awake for 10 hours and led to what he described as a journey through hell.

During the podcast, Kang appeared alongside two other men who also said they had experienced hell.

Bill Wiese, author of “23 Minutes in Hell,” told the group that he had spoken with God about his alleged experience.

“Well, he told me,” Wiese said, “Many people do not believe hell is real. He said, ‘Even some of my own people do not believe hell exists.’”

“That statement surprised me—I thought all Christians believe in hell,” Wiese told Hannity.

Wiese has said he saw a vision of hell at 3 a.m. on November 23, 1998.

He said he was pulled from his bed into an “out-of-body” experience that lasted 23 minutes, before Jesus rescued him from the torment he alleged he had witnessed.

“The Bible talks all about hell, so that’s why the Lord had me share this,” Wiese said.

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Jim Woodford, who sat between Kang and Wiese during the interview, also described what he said was his own experience in hell.

According to Woodford, who also wrote a book about his alleged time in the underworld, said he endured an 11-hour trip to hell in April 2014 after overdosing on pain medication. 

In his book, called ‘Heaven, an Unexpected Journey: One Man’s Experience with Heaven, Angels, and the Afterlife’, Woodford said he took the pills while battling Guillain-Barré syndrome at the age of 52. 

The rare disease is classified as an autoimmune disorder that causes intense pain throughout the body, and on that day, Woodford took four times his prescribed dosage while sitting inside his truck. 

Woodford said he was raised Catholic, but never considered himself a religious or spiritual person, he told Hannity. 

The former pilot from Canada said that he cried out to God to forgive him before he lost consciousness and ‘saw the light’ before his body started to feel like it was catching on fire. 

‘I raised my right hand and I said, “God forgive me,” and I collapsed on the steering wheel,’ Woodford recalled. 

From there he said he ‘got a glimpse of heaven and then I had to look into hell.’ 

After a brief experience in what he said was heaven, Woodford said he suddenly started to smell something horrid, and knew he was in a dark place. 

‘And then I saw the creature coming out. Was it a devil, was it a demon? I don’t know, but it was ugly,’ he told Sean, adding that he thinks it stood at about 60ft. 

President Donald Trump has sharply criticised British authorities after five terror suspects arrested near a UK airbase used by US forces were released on bail.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump questioned the decision to grant bail following a major counter-terrorism operation at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

“I’m just disappointed that they caught terrorists. How do you give bail to a terrorist?” Trump said.

He said the United States had been involved in the investigation for some time, before telling a British reporter that their “fellow countrymen” had released the men.

“These were serious people, seriously bad people, and they should not have done that yet,” Trump added.

Trump’s remarks came after police confirmed that petrol had been found in vans linked to the alert near the base, but that no explosive devices were recovered.

The five men were first arrested on suspicion of explosives offences before being held under counter-terrorism legislation. All were released on police bail on Monday. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who leads UK Counter Terrorism Policing, described the move as a tactical “investigative decision.”

By Tuesday, life was gradually returning to normal around RAF Fairford after dozens of residents were evacuated during the dramatic operation on Sunday morning.

Providing an update, Taylor said police had found no improvised explosive devices, although they had recovered a quantity of petrol.

He confirmed that the five men had been released on police bail the previous day and remained under investigation subject to strict conditions while inquiries continued.

Taylor said protecting the public remained central to every investigative decision, including the decision to release the suspects.

Acknowledging that the move had surprised many people, he said it was based on police experience, careful assessment and the available legal powers.

The British nationals were detained on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences on Sunday after three vans were discovered near RAF Fairford, a Gloucestershire airbase that has been used by the US military for strikes against Iran.

The suspects include a 24-year-old from Camden in north London, as well as a 23-year-old, two 24-year-olds and a 25-year-old, all from Westminster in central London.

Police have not said when the men are expected to answer bail.

A major incident was sparked on Sunday morning with elite SAS troops deployed to the site from Hereford and an emergency COBRA meeting called by Prime Minister Andy Burnham. 

Residents from around 85 evacuated households were allowed to return home on Monday.

One local businesswoman complained the arrested men had been bailed and potentially allowed back to their homes before local residents in Whelford had.   

Police cordons near the base are expected to be completely lifted on Wednesday, and searches of the London homes of the five suspects have been completed. 

Earlier today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the plot ‘involved the hand of a foreign actor’.

In a television interview, Mr Rubio mentioned Iran by name, noting that the regime had previously threatened to target US interests. However, he stopped short of directly blaming Tehran for the incident. 

Potential involvement by Iran was understood to be one line of inquiry for British investigators, and the nation has used proxies in the past to carry out acts in the UK. 

However, Tehran ‘categorically’ denied any involvement in the alleged plot in Gloucestershire. 

In a statement, its London embassy dismissed reports linking Tehran to the arrests as ‘unfounded and malicious speculations’.

The embassy added: ‘The circulation of such fabricated speculations, particularly in the aftermath of the criminal acts of aggression committed by the United States and the Israeli regime against the Iranian people, will serve no purpose other than to fuel Iranophobia propaganda in the UK.

‘The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to take appropriate legal measures, as necessary, to safeguard the rights and interests of the country and its people in response to misleading and damaging media narratives.’

Rubio described the events near RAF Fairford as a ‘very serious situation’ and thanked British authorities for their response, saying they had been ‘very cooperative and very helpful’.

He added that ‘a lot of people are disturbed’ by the decision to grant bail to the five suspects.

Assistant Commissioner Taylor said the worries felt by people over a suspected terror plot near RAF Fairford have been ‘heightened by the international commentary’.

Former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn trembled in court after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife, following prosecutors’ claims that he had been carrying on an affair with a woman from the church where the couple served on the worship team.

Flynn, 40, shot his wife, Ashley, as she slept in their marital bed at their home in Ohio on February 16, jurors concluded after deliberating for just two and a half hours.

His lower lip quivered and tears streamed down his face as the judge announced the guilty verdict at the Miami County courthouse on Tuesday.

Flynn rocked back and forth and sobbed before lowering his head in prayer while Ashley’s family watched from the courtroom.

The judge revoked Flynn’s bond, and officers led him from the courtroom in handcuffs. His sentencing is set for October 5.

He now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for Ashley’s murder. Police said the shooting happened while the couple’s two young daughters, who were then nine and 11, were inside the house.

Flynn had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and several additional charges.

On Monday afternoon, prosecutors filed a motion seeking to dismiss two misdemeanor charges alleging intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case.

In a frantic 911 call, Flynn told police that a burglar had entered their home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton, and killed 37-year-old Ashley. Prosecutors, however, argued that he had staged the burglary to throw investigators off the trail.

They said Flynn had maintained a years-long affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted to end his marriage.

According to the case presented in court, he also wanted to avoid losing custody of his daughters, his well-paid position at Ashley’s family business and his role at the church.

During the trial, Botner acknowledged the affair and testified that Flynn had told her he hated Ashley and had considered killing her.

Botner, 24, said she met Flynn in 2022, when she was a 20-year-old intern at the Christian Life Center in Dayton. Flynn was in his 30s at the time.

The pair exchanged more than 100,000 text messages during their 18-month relationship, which Botner told jurors began in early 2024.

Botner has since resigned from the church and moved to North Carolina. In court, she read several of the messages she and Flynn had exchanged to the jury.

She testified that Flynn frequently complained about his wealthy in-laws and told her he remained with Ashley only because they had two pre-teen daughters.

Botner and Flynn got matching tattoos. Botner told the court that Flynn ignored her ultimatums to leave his wife for her – the final one allegedly given the month before Ashley was killed.   

In one September 2025 message, Flynn himself listed what he was prepared to sacrifice to be with his mistress – and put his daughters first.

He said he was willing to risk his ‘daughters, a quarter-million-dollar salary job, a place to live, possibly a church I serve at, public shame and humiliation, and way more.’

Botner, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that he leave Ashley. ‘Until she’s gone, I’m gone,’ she wrote in one ultimatum.

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‘I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,’ he wrote.

Botner responded by explicitly telling him not to kill Ashley.

‘I’m not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that’s not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn’t,’ she wrote. ‘But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.’

Flynn responded: ‘I’ll work on getting rid of her. Until then, I love you.’

By the night before Ashley’s death, prosecutors say the pair’s secret relationship had reached a decisive moment.

Botner sent Flynn information she had researched about divorce proceedings, custody, deleting messages and how Ashley could potentially prove her husband’s infidelity.

Shortly before midnight, Flynn sent his mistress one final message. He wrote: ‘Good night, tomorrow’s a big day. I’ve got to get to bed.

‘I choose you, I’m about to be free.’

Hours later, Ashley was dead.

Botner testified that the timing immediately alarmed her.

‘Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?’ she messaged Flynn on the morning of the killing.

She later deleted the message because she feared investigators would examine his phone and discover their affair, she admitted.

When she learned Ashley had supposedly been killed by an intruder, Botner said her ‘heart started pounding.’

‘In my mind, it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that, the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,’ she told the court.

Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder killed his wife.

His defense maintains investigators rushed to judgment and that lurid publicity surrounding his affair has distorted the evidence against him.

Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day.

‘His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,’ said defense attorney Patrick Mulligan. ‘The issue here isn’t, “Was he a good husband?”‘

Text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good, Mulligan added.

Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling TV viewers his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition. 

He sang before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood. 

One of JD Vance’s former Senate colleagues is gaining momentum as a potential running mate if Vance launches a 2028 presidential campaign.

Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt has developed a close relationship with Vance and is viewed as one of the leading contenders for the ticket, Axios reported Tuesday.

According to the outlet, Vance regards Schmitt as “trustworthy, intelligent, and articulate.”

Schmitt, 51, served as Missouri’s attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2022. Vance has not officially announced whether he will seek the presidency in 2028.

Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that Vance and Marco Rubio could run together in 2028, though he has not indicated which of the two he would prefer to lead the ticket.

Rubio has also been discussed as a possible vice presidential choice, but he has sought to downplay the speculation.

“I’m not a candidate for anything right now,” Rubio told Colombian broadcaster RCN earlier this month. He said his attention is focused on his two current positions as secretary of state and national security adviser.

Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz endorsed the prospect in a post on X, writing: “I would support any ambition of Senator Schmitt.”

Mike Howell, president of the conservative legal group the Oversight Project, also praised Schmitt, calling him a “rockstar” in a post on X.

A longtime former Senate GOP aide told the Daily Mail that the appeal of a vice presidential nominee often lies less in what the candidate adds than in the problems they avoid creating for the campaign. “You don’t want headaches,” the aide said, suggesting Schmitt could offer a low-drama option.

Schmitt and Vance worked together when both were serving in the Senate on Capitol Hill.

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After Vance joined the administration, the pair continued working together through his role as the White House Fraud Czar.

Together, they are directing a coordinated legislative and executive effort to combat fraud across several federal programs, including COVID-19 relief initiatives and healthcare spending.

Following a White House anti-fraud Taskforce meeting earlier this year, Schmitt said in a media release: “Vice President Vance has done an incredible job cracking down on fraud and exposing rampant waste, fraud, and abuse of our federal programs.”

Referring to their shared efforts, Schmitt added: “In the Senate, I am proud to lead the Anti-Fraud Task Force to work alongside this Administration to strengthen federal oversight and hold criminals accountable so we can ensure federal programs actually help Americans in need.”

As a potential vice presidential pick, Schmitt would also bring experience as Missouri’s attorney general, a leadership role in the Republican Attorney Generals Association, and service as vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee.

Long before seeking elected office, Schmitt played varsity football and baseball at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, an NCAA Division II school.

He has held elected office at the state and local level, and has also been a partner in law firm in private practice.

Dan Rene, a conservative communications strategist, told the Daily Mail that ‘it is way too early to be picking a VP but never too early to have fun speculating.’

He added that he sees ‘Schmitt as an interesting candidate because he understands technology and has authentic and authoritative insight into where AI, communications, and the economy are headed.’

‘Any ticket will have to effectively communicate about the future instead of re-litigating the past,’ Rene concluded.

Representatives for Vance did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Mail.