The Duchess of Sussex once sparked controversy among Italians with her spaghetti recipe featured on her Netflix lifestyle show, but this week, the Princess of Wales garnered admiration for her pasta-making skills.

During her two-day international visit, 44-year-old Kate was lauded as a ‘natural Rezdora,’ a term used locally for a skilled matriarch or homemaker, as she expertly crafted fresh dough by hand.

She impressed chef Ivan Lampredi by combining flour, oil, salt, and water to prepare tortelli, a type of stuffed pasta.

Chef Lampredi was so taken with her skills that he remarked he would gladly ‘hire’ her. “I’ve taught many people this technique, and she excelled,” he enthused.

“She picked it up swiftly and was remarkably easy to converse with, just like one of us. Hosting the princess in my kitchen was a tremendous honor. It’s hard to believe, and it carried a great sense of responsibility,” he added.

The future Queen also shared insights into cooking at Forest Lodge, revealing that she makes her own pasta at home.

‘When I do this at home it’s without a big bowl and it goes everywhere,’ Kate admitted, later laughing when she rolled her pasta through the machine and the handle fell off by accident. ‘Is there a technique for this?’ she asked.

It’s a far cry from the Italian reception to the Duchess’ pasta-making endeavours in her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.

Fans expressed their horror over the dish she whipped up with her close friend, make-up artist Daniel Martin.

Kate, 44, was dubbed a ‘natural Rezdora’ – the local term word for a matriarch housewife – as she rolled out freshly made dough by hand during her two-day trip overseas 

‘When I make this, I make it for my family,’ Meghan explained, before clarifying ‘not that my children are eating heaps of noodles but I will make enough so that I can put leftovers in their lunchbox’.

Describing how the cherished dish harks back to her days of creating lifestyle content for her previous website The Tig, she said: ‘This skillet spaghetti would have been on there’.

To make the meal, Meghan removed the dry pasta from a jar and laid it into the dish, which had feta and cherry tomatoes already in a layer on the bottom.  

There was scant detail on measurements, except to say ‘an entire pack of spaghetti’ is used – and ‘three and a half cups of boiling water, give or take’ should be added. 

After adding lots of lemon zest, she told viewers: ‘You just pour boiling water on top and that’s it’. When the cooking is almost done, chard and kale are added. 

It’s a far cry from the Italian reception to Meghan’s pasta-making endeavours in her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan

She wowed chef Ivan Lampredi, kneading flour, oil, salt and water in a large bowl to make tortelli – a type of stuffed pasta

The pro even later said he would ‘hire’ her. ‘I have shown many people how to do this exactly right and she was very good at it,’ Mr Lampredi gushed

Meghan said she left it for ‘four or five minutes until the noodle is done, al dente…’

However, while the final result looked tasty, many appeared baffled by the cooking methods. 

‘Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan Markle doesn’t know how to cook pasta,’ one person wrote on X.

‘Next she’ll show us how to make frozen pizza!’ another joked.

Another lamented: ‘She overcooked the noodles. Slimy looking.’

‘Wtf is that? It looks like she made some sort of soup, cooked the vegetables to hell, tossed in some spaghetti and called it a day,’ a user commented.

‘The pasta looks fine in the end, but I think Italians screamed at their TVs when she poured water into the sauce,’ someone else observed.

Others, however, came to the Duchess’ defense.

‘It looked delicious to me,’ one person wrote.

In another moment that likely annoyed an entire European nation, the Duchess called the popular Italian pasta ‘noodles’ more than once while prepping the meal.

A leading criminal profiler has issued a stark warning about a potential serial killer emerging in Texas sooner than previously anticipated, with concerns mounting over a possible larger number of victims. This apprehension arises from a notable six-year interval between the alleged murders.

The accused, Luis Benitez-Gonzalez, a 26-year-old who had been deported from the U.S. before, faces charges of strangling two women in Austin, Texas, with incidents reported in 2018 and again in 2024.

His arrest was announced by police earlier this week, following two more attempted shootings in 2025 that left the women injured but alive. One of them bravely retaliated, reportedly managing to take the attacker’s cellphone, shedding new light on the investigation.

Benitez-Gonzalez, charged with two killings and implicated in shooting two other survivors, is identified as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, who was voluntarily deported in 2020. Authorities in Austin suspect there could be additional victims connected to this case.

We usually never find out who the first victims really were. I just wonder how many this guy has killed with his homicidal anger towards women over the years?

“The rub for me…is that he is accused of killing Alba Jenisse Aviles-Marti when he was only about 18 years old,” said John Kelly, a criminal profiler who had been following the case since before Austin police and the U.S. Marshals announced an arrest. “We worked hard looking for this guy, because we believed there was a serial killer in this area. Little did we expect a budding serial killer who allegedly started killing at 18.”

Historically, most serial killers are older when they evolve into murderers, he said.

Luis Benitez-Gonzalez is accused of murdering Alba Jenisse Aviles, 28, and Alyssa Ann Rivera, 34, in Texas during separate incidents. (Department of Homeland Security)

“This is extremely rare, as serial killers usually start killing between 23 to 35 years old,” the STALK Inc. founder told Fox News Digital. “We usually never find out who the first victims really were. I just wonder how many this guy has killed with his homicidal anger towards women over the years?”

Investigators working the case are asking the same question.

“We believe that there is a strong likelihood that Benitez is responsible for further acts of extreme violence,” said Chris Anderson, a homicide detective with the Austin Police Department.

He said police are already looking into more cases for potential connections.

An image from Luis Benitez-Gonzalez’s arrest in Dallas by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force on April 27, 2026. He is accused of killing two women, shooting two more who survived, and Austin police say there may be more victims. (Austin Police Department)

He is urging anyone with additional information on Benitez-Gonzalez to contact the Austin Police Homicide unit at 512-974-8477 or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477.

The suspect, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who voluntarily self-deported in 2020 before reentering the country at an unknown time, is believed to have ties to Austin, Houston, Dallas and Hidalgo County.

WATCH: Texas authorities say illegal migrant charged in 2 murders, 2 shootings and more victims possible

Authorities announced charges against him Tuesday in connection with the murders of Aviles-Marti and Alyssa Ann Rivera, whose remains were found just three miles away in 2024.

Anderson said that it’s suspicious that there’s a six-year gap between the slayings and that evidence shows an alleged “repeated pattern of violence conducted against vulnerable female victims.”

“He has a 2018 case, and he has a 2024 case,” Anderson said. “People who commit crimes of this nature, with the very distinct MO, they usually don’t take a break.

Benitez-Gonzalez is also accused of shooting two more women in Austin in November and December 2025. Both of them survived, which helped authorities catch Benitez-Gonzalez.

He allegedly claimed self-defense in all four cases, but authorities said they don’t believe him. He has not yet entered a plea.

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• Cerebras, an AI chipmaker, saw its shares nearly double on Nasdaq, closing up 70% with a $95B market cap.
• Cerebras’s powerful chips are key in the US-China AI tech race.
• Chris Buskirk, co-founder and chief investment officer of 1789 Capital, a key Cerebras investor, says the company’s IPO is geopolitically significant.

The AI chipmaker Cerebras, based in Sunnyvale, California, made a significant splash in the stock market on Thursday. As the company debuted on the Nasdaq, its shares opened at $185 each and saw a remarkable surge, closing the day at $311. This impressive 70% climb lifted Cerebras’ market valuation to a staggering $95 billion, marking it as the largest initial public offering of the year to date.

For those eager to enhance their investment portfolios with more AI-related opportunities, Cerebras’ IPO was a beacon. It was reported to be oversubscribed by a factor of 20, placing it among the most sought-after opportunities in public markets, akin to industry giant Nvidia.

Chris Buskirk, co-founder and chief investment officer of 1789 Capital, which was an early backer of Cerebras, commented on the stock’s launch, “This thing is flying … partly because there are so few ways for public investors, whether retail or institutional, to invest in this.”

Cerebras is renowned for its cutting-edge, high-power chips, particularly the Wafer Scale Engine. This chip stands out as the largest ever created, utilizing an entire silicon wafer and boasting 19 times the computing power of Nvidia’s leading chip.

The timing of the IPO is notable, occurring during a period when artificial intelligence is a focal point in international discussions. This is underscored by President Trump’s current meetings with Xi Jinping in Beijing, where AI is expected to be a key topic.

“American companies are excellent but the Chinese companies are very good — well capitalized with very talented people,” Buskirk said. “It’s going to be the American AI tech stack or the Chinese AI tech stack that will proliferate not just in our own countries, but around the world and that’s something we absolutely have to win.”

In that context, Cerebras’ listing may be even more significant geopolitically than financially. The IPO serves as a timely reminder of how America is building both the hardware and software foundation to maintain AI dominance edge and how eager China is to get American chips.

But investors say the company doesn’t just underscore America’s commanding AI hardware advantage — its deep ties across the Middle East are actively expanding US technology influence at a time China is aggressively trying to dominate the region.

“This is the existential geopolitical race of our time,” Buskirk adds.

That’s on full display in the Gulf. In 2025, Cerebras relied on two UAE customers for 86% of its $510 million in revenue. Those ties have drawn scrutiny and even led to a national security review from CFIUS that delayed the chip maker’s listing (UAE-based G42 has an investment portfolio that included Chinese tech companies).

This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC’s power players (and those who aspire to be).

But investors argue the relationship ultimately strengthens influence in areas China wants to control.

“During the Biden administration, the US government did everything they could to push our allies in the Middle East away from us into China’s arms… It was the Biden administration that was pushing them into China’s arms. The Trump administration is bringing them back into alignment with the United States.” — Buskirk told me.

“Everybody needs to adopt AI technology — every company, every country needs to do it. And there’s only two choices. Do you align with the United States AI stack or align with the Chinese tech stack?”

And speed, at this moment, is everything — because computing power has become the defining constraint on AI’s growth.

“Compute is the new bottleneck,” said Buskirk. “Software can scale infinitely — that’s why people loved to invest in [Software as a Service] companies. But the amount of compute that’s necessary for AI is many orders of magnitude larger.”

Cerebras has also secured a major strategic investment and compute partnership from OpenAI, which some critics dismiss as a circular deal that only inflates the AI bubble.

Buskirk rejected that view, arguing the arrangement is a practical necessity: “They can’t deploy their models at scale unless there are leading-edge chip companies that have enough scale to deliver chips to them.”

The company has also drawn scrutiny for its ties to the Pentagon — which Buskirk says is actually a good thing.

“The US government should be buying the absolute best leading-edge technology from American companies at all times,” he told me. “And Cerebras is one of those companies.”

On Thursday, Richard Glossip, once condemned to death row, walked free after an Oklahoma judge approved his bond while he anticipates a retrial concerning a murder dating back to 1997.

Throughout nearly three decades of incarceration, Glossip faced execution so closely that in 2015, he was offered “last meals” on three different occasions. He has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence in the murder of Barry Van Treese, his former employer who owned a motel in Oklahoma. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction and rescinded his death sentence.

Here’s a timeline of pivotal developments in Glossip’s legal journey and appeals.

January 7, 1997: Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese is found beaten to death. Employees Justin Sneed and Richard Glossip are quickly apprehended in relation to the crime.

August 14, 1998: Glossip is found guilty of murder and receives a death sentence. During the trial, prosecutors claim Van Treese’s death resulted from a murder-for-hire plot. Motel handyman Sneed testified, alleging he murdered their employer following Glossip’s promise of a $10,000 payment.

July 17, 2001: The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals throws out Glossip’s murder conviction and orders him a new trial.

Aug. 27, 2004: Glossip is sentenced to death again after second trial ends with a new murder conviction.

April 29, 2014: Oklahoma uses the surgical sedative midazolam for the first time during the execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhes and groans on the gurney. The execution process gets halted, but Lockett dies 43 minutes later. The state later blames an improperly placed intravenous line, not the new drug mix.

Nov. 20, 2014: Glossip’s scheduled execution is delayed to allow Oklahoma to obtain drugs and train staff on a new protocol.

Jan. 28, 2015: After Glossip has been served what is supposed to be his final meal, the U.S. Supreme Court halts his execution and those of two other Oklahoma prisoners while considering their legal challenge to the state’s use of midazolam in executions.

June 29, 2015: A divided U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma’s use of midazolam during executions.

Sept. 15, 2015: For the second time, Glossip is served what is supposed to be his last meal: chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and a dinner roll, fish and chips, a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry malt.

Sept. 16, 2015: Hours before Glossip is scheduled for execution, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals grants him a two-week reprieve to review claims of new evidence supporting his innocence.

Sept. 29, 2015: For the third time, Glossip is served what is supposed to be his final meal: a medium pizza, two orders of fish and chips, a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry malt.

Sept. 30, 2015: Prison officials are preparing to execute Glossip when Oklahoma’s governor stays the procedure because one of the lethal drugs being used didn’t match the state’s execution protocol.

Oct. 2, 2015: The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, at the request of the state’s attorney general, puts all executions on indefinite hold as officials review Oklahoma’s execution procedures.

Feb. 13, 2020: Oklahoma announces plans to resume executions using a three-drug lethal injection protocol.

May 5, 2023: The U.S. Supreme Court again halts Glossip’s execution, set for May 18, at the urging of Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general, who has concluded Glossip’s trial was “unfair and unreliable.”

Feb. 25, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court throws out Glossip’s murder conviction and death sentence, ruling prosecutors violated his right to a fair trial by allowing Sneed, their key witness, to give testimony they knew was false.

June 9, 2025: Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says he plans to try Glossip again for murder. While agreeing his previous trial was unfair, Drummond says he doesn’t believe Glossip is innocent.

May 14, 2026: An Oklahoma judge orders a $500,000 bond for Glossip, granting him a chance to leave jail while awaiting trial. Hours later, Glossip walks out of an Oklahoma City jail.

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.