May Day events across Europe and Asia on Friday showcased a shift in the traditional focus of International Workers’ Day. What was once primarily a platform for labor rights is increasingly becoming a stage for broader political debates. Current protests are merging concerns about wages, inflation, and worker protections with anti-war sentiments, criticisms of Israel, and larger ideological conflicts over global power dynamics.

In cities like Paris, Istanbul, Madrid, Manila, and Seoul, protests often extended beyond workplace issues. Demonstrators connected the dots between rising living expenses, social inequality, the turmoil in the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, and a broader anti-capitalist sentiment.

Nile Gardiner, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, commented to Fox News Digital, describing these demonstrations as indicative of a ‘troubling moral inversion.’

Supporters of the Iraqi Communist Party, wielding a symbolic hammer and sickle, participated in May Day celebrations in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

“Rather than protesting U.S. military actions, these May Day demonstrators should be opposing the oppressive regime in Tehran,” Gardiner remarked. “This highlights the moral void present in Europe today.”

In Paris, May Day protests reportedly escalated into clashes as police used tear gas grenades and forceful arrests after projectiles were thrown during demonstrations, according to publicly circulated social media footage.

Earlier, French labor leaders had focused on inflation, wages and social protections, but parts of the protests also featured anti-war slogans, Palestinian symbolism and criticism of military spending.

Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Rennes, western France, Friday, May 1, 2026.  (AP)

In Madrid, thousands marched under banners reading “Capitalism should pay the cost of their war,” while demonstrators protested stagnant wages, housing shortages and militarism. Placards targeting President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted how international conflict featured prominently alongside domestic labor concerns.

Germany also saw unrest in Munich, where publicly circulated reporter footage showed riot police using batons to disperse radical leftist protesters after pyrotechnics were repeatedly ignited during a revolutionary May Day demonstration. 

Emma Schubart, Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank, warned that May Day demonstrations increasingly serve as platforms for ideological movements extending beyond labor activism.

“The May Day demonstrations across Europe increasingly feature Islamist elements. Militant anti-war, anti-capitalist rhetoric is now routinely accompanied by Palestinian flags and explicit anti-Israel slogans,” Schubart said, adding that far-left activism and Islamist-linked networks are increasingly converging under broader anti-Western narratives.

In Istanbul, police blocked leftist groups from marching to the banned Taksim Square, the historic center of Turkey’s labor movement, where demonstrations have long carried symbolic political weight. Protesters attempted to break through barricades and clashed with police as authorities detained some of the protesters.

Protester take part in a rally to mark May Day in Athens, on Friday, May 1, 2026  (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo)

Outside Europe, similar themes emerged across Asia.

In Manila, workers clashed with police near the U.S. Embassy while protesting higher fuel and commodity prices, demanding wage increases and calling for an end to war in the Middle East.

A left-wing labor group paraded a giant effigy depicting Trump, Netanyahu and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a three-headed monster, symbolically tying domestic hardship to both local and international political leadership.

In South Korea, thousands gathered near Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square for major labor rallies centered on collective bargaining and worker rights, but speeches also incorporated broader geopolitical messaging. 

Korea Confederation of Trade Unions Chairman Yang Kyung-soo called on demonstrators to “unite with the Iranian and Palestinian workers and people suffering from American imperialist aggression,” explicitly connecting labor solidarity to anti-American and Middle East political narratives.

People march with Chilean flags during a May Day event in Chile in 2026. (Juan Gonzalez/Reuters)

While local priorities varied, from wages in France to labor rights in Seoul, May Day 2026 demonstrated a growing global pattern: labor demonstrations are increasingly becoming arenas for broader ideological and geopolitical confrontation.

“The United States is fighting to defend the free world against tyranny, and yet across Europe and beyond we are seeing protesters direct their outrage at America and its allies instead of the brutal regimes driving so much of this global instability,” Gardiner said. “That should deeply concern anyone who cares about the future of Western civilization.”

British Jews are currently confronting an unprecedented threat, as authorities investigate the involvement of an Iran-affiliated group in a series of antisemitic incidents, according to London’s leading police officer.

Sir Mark Rowley, the chief of London’s Metropolitan Police, expressed grave concerns in an interview with The Times of London. “When you consider the convergence of hate crime, terrorism, and hostile state actions, coupled with the spread of ideology online, the situation becomes extremely alarming and worrisome,” Rowley explained.

He elaborated on the complex web of threats, stating, “Whether it’s extreme left, Islamist terrorism, or right-wing terrorism, and even certain hostile states, particularly those linked to Iran, they form a troubling nexus at the heart of this issue.”

These remarks follow a shocking antisemitic knife attack that occurred on Wednesday, where two Jewish men were brutally stabbed in north London. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Essa Suleiman, originally from Somalia, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of carrying a bladed weapon in public, as reported by The Times of Israel.

Suleiman was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, according to authorities.

Shadowy Islamic group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the knife attack, The Times of Israel reported.

That group has also taken credit for at least eight arson attacks on Jewish locations in London in recent weeks, NBC News reported.

HAYI has direct links to the regime in Tehran, with British authorities investigating whether the group is linked specifically to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or another arm of Tehran’s crumbling government, The Times of London said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised the government was taking immediate action and suggested the attack could have backing from a foreign state.

“We’ve increased enhanced funding for police patrols and protective security and we’re fast-tracking legislation to deal with malign state actors,” Starmer wrote on X, adding, “My message to Jewish people is this: you belong here, and we will do everything we can to keep you safe.”

Starmer also suggested that people using the leftist rallying-cry “globalize the intifada,” widely seen as an antisemitic call for violence against Jew, at anti-Israel marches should be prosecuted.

“[I]f you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews. If you stand alongside people who say globalize the Intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted,” Starmer said in an address Saturday.

Starmer added he would consider banning some of the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel marches if they used the occasion to spread calls for intifada.

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, renowned for her role in The Sopranos, kept her battle with Multiple Sclerosis under wraps for 15 long years, confiding only in those closest to her. This decision was driven by a fear of jeopardizing her career and disappointing colleagues, as she grappled with symptoms ranging from involuntary spasms and a noticeable limp to the more challenging issues of impaired mobility and incontinence.

Today, at 44, Sigler openly credits fellow actress Christina Applegate for inspiring her to embrace transparency about her condition. Applegate, who also contends with MS and recently faced hospitalization due to the illness, provided Sigler with the encouragement she needed to discard any pretense.

In her newly released memoir, And So It Is…, Sigler shares, “Christina helped me see the impact I could have by sharing deeply and being vulnerable.” She acknowledges that Applegate’s willingness to express herself honestly and openly prompted her to do the same.

By aligning with Applegate’s “radical candor,” Sigler hopes to make a difference and shed light on the realities of living with MS, a condition that affects many yet is often shrouded in silence. Her journey from secrecy to openness marks a significant step in both personal healing and public awareness.

‘Because she was ready to share in such a raw way, I had to match the radical candor she was bringing to the table.’

That includes speaking publicly for the first time about the incontinence that is common among women with MS – losing control of her bowels or bladder when she would least expect it, including one time when she was about to go on live TV.

‘I literally lost my bowels before appearing on the Today show,’ she wrote, ‘and just cleaned myself up and walked out on set as if nothing traumatic had just occurred minutes earlier.’

Sigler first developed symptoms of the condition age 20, a few weeks before filming the third season of The Sopranos, in which she played Meadow, the spoiled, rebellious daughter of mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).

‘Christina [Applegate] helped me see the impact I could have by sharing deeply and being vulnerable,’ Sigler wrote in her new memoir

Sigler found fame on The Sopranos, playing Meadow, the spoiled, rebellious daughter of mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his wife Carmela (Edie Falco)

Her symptoms include anything from numbness to difficulty walking (Sigler pictured in a wheelchair at LAX airport)

The numbness in her legs, leading to paralysis from the waist down, was initially misdiagnosed as Lyme disease. At one point she even feared she might never walk again.

And managing the symptoms while performing a very public job became a constant battle, she said, writing that she ‘buried the diagnosis under layers of denial, pretending it didn’t exist.’ 

It was only in 2016, with the birth of her son Beau, that she decided to go public.

Five years later, she and Applegate connected when the Dead to Me actress found that she, too, had the life-threatening condition.

The pair even collaborated on a podcast to shed light on MS, called MeSsy. 

It was Applegate, said Sigler, who helped her open up about the sometimes deeply shameful reality of MS – including wearing adult diapers, ‘which used to be something I would have rather died than admit.’

In the book, she described the first time she lost control of her bladder – wetting herself while walking the streets of New York.

‘I didn’t understand what was happening to me,’ she wrote, ‘only that one minute I felt like I had to pee and the next second, pee was running down my leg.

‘I felt disgusted with myself. Embarrassed.’

Frantically trying to think about what to do, she sat on a bench and crossed her legs tight to hide the dark stain forming on her blue sweatpants. Then she called her boyfriend at the time.

Sigler and Christina Applegate connected when the Dead to Me actress found that she, too, had the life-threatening condition

The pair even collaborated on a podcast to shed light on MS, called MeSsy

He arrived on the scene with a shirt to wrap around her waist, so she could ‘humbly’ walk back to her apartment building, ‘avoiding eye contact with anyone and going straight up to my bathroom to wash away the awful moment.’

Later, when she was performing as Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway in 2002, she described being terrified she might humiliate herself on stage.

‘About halfway through our run, during one performance, I had the feeling that I might have lost control of my bowels,’ she wrote.

‘Can you imagine? As Belle you don’t ever get a moment to leave the stage, so I was prancing around for almost the entirety of the first act not knowing if I was in the clear or not.

‘Doing those high kicks during Be Our Guest, normally a proud moment, I was consumed with the worry that I was sending noxious fumes into the front row.’

Fortunately, when she went back to her dressing room at intermission, she discovered she had just been paranoid. ‘But it had me reeling,’ she said.

On another occasion, she was at a Yankees game when she suddenly lost control of her bladder.

‘Completely mortified, I didn’t know what to do. I was sitting in the front row of the box, talking to some people I had just met, and had no possible way out.’

Her quick-thinking answer was to text a friend to come over and spill a drink on her – covering the wet stain on her pants.

‘The whole of my twenties was shadowed by this invisible enemy living inside me,’ she wrote, ‘and yet most of my coworkers, directors, friends, agents, and managers, even some family, didn’t suspect a thing, even after I began to limp and my back ached and I found it hard to stand on my own without support.

‘I was an island unto myself. And I had believed that was the way it had to be. I routinely stuffed down the bad stuff. My motto: Move on.’

When she eventually plucked up the courage to tell her Sopranos castmates what was really going on in her life, her on-screen father Gandolfini was among the first to know.

‘I want to tell you something that I’m really afraid to say,’ she told him.

‘Say it,’ he answered.

‘I have MS.’ 

Her words hung in the air for a moment before she added: ‘I found out a few years ago and I’m so scared and I don’t know what this means. And I’m doing a s***ty job here and I don’t know how to act anymore.’

She wrote: ‘He hugged me and said all he could: “I’m so sorry.”‘

They hugged it out – nothing more needed to be said. 

‘This was enough for me. This felt like enough.’

She was able to finish the final Sopranos season on a high, celebrating a special tribute at the 2007 Emmy awards

‘The whole of my twenties was shadowed by this invisible enemy living inside me,’ wrote Sigler

Sigler with her husband, former baseball player Cutter Dykstra

Buoyed by her work family’s support, she was able to finish the final Sopranos season on a high, celebrating a special tribute at the 2007 Emmy awards, during which the cast received a standing ovation.

Sigler recalled that she was wearing high heels that night – something that had become increasingly difficult because of her condition – and that her co-star Robert Iler, who played her on-screen little brother AJ, held her up as they took to the stage in that emotional moment.

‘I’d told Rob about my MS only a few hours earlier that day,’ she wrote. ‘I wanted him to understand why I was the way I was and felt that with the finality of this experience being wrapped in a bow it would be wrong if I didn’t tell him. 

‘He was still so young and didn’t know how to receive it, but he did request that I ask him for help whenever I needed it. I promised I would, and standing up there on that stage was his first assignment.’

She now says that, while this is not the life she would ever have chosen for herself, she now wouldn’t change a thing. 

‘I was ashamed for so long,’ she wrote. ‘I assumed so much about other people. And in my assumptions, I contorted myself to do what I thought would please others and to escape my own negative thoughts. 

‘I’II fantasize sometimes about the what-ifs: Would I have gone on to have a bigger career after The Sopranos? Would I be a better mother?’

But she added: ‘Without these experiences, I would not be me. I wouldn’t have this strength or this clarity or this knowledge or this beautiful messy life.’

And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope by Jamie-Lynn Sigler is published by Harper

In San Bernardino, California, a $2.2 billion solar power project, initially funded by federal taxpayers, now leaves electricity consumers burdened with its operational costs.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a massive installation located near the California-Nevada border, was constructed using billions of dollars in federal aid as part of the Obama-era economic stimulus initiative. However, the plant now finds itself in a financial quandary.

Administrations under both Trump and Biden, as well as the utility purchasing its power, have advocated for its closure. They argue that the plant underperforms, generates costly electricity, and has been surpassed by more affordable energy alternatives. Nonetheless, California regulators have resisted these closure efforts, citing potential risks to the stability of the state’s power grid if the plant were to shut down.

This situation has led to a costly deadlock, stemming from years of governmental decisions. Shutting the plant down would potentially leave taxpayers accountable for hundreds of millions linked to a $1.6 billion federal loan, while keeping it operational results in increased electricity prices for consumers.

“This project is economically unsustainable, as the market has clearly demonstrated,” stated Daniel Turner, founder of the energy advocacy group Power The Future, to Fox News Digital.

“This is a boondoggle, like most of California’s large projects are a boondoggle,” he said, arguing it is being kept alive for political reasons, with costs ultimately passed on to customers.

“At some point, you have to stop throwing good money after bad,” he added.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in the Mojave Desert uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto three towers to generate electricity. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Rising out of the Mojave Desert, the more than 4,000-acre facility still looks like the future. It has roughly 350,000 mirrors — mounted on more than 170,000 heliostats — which stretch for miles and reflect blinding sunlight into three towering structures that glow eerily white against the barren terrain. 

But more than a decade after it opened, the technology behind it has been overtaken by cheaper, more efficient solar alternatives — turning what was once a symbol of clean energy progress into a costly problem. The project has also faced scrutiny over its environmental impact, with thousands of birds killed after flying through the plant’s concentrated solar beams — along with the destruction of large areas of desert land and displacement of desert tortoises.

The costly tradeoff

Roughly $730 million to $780 million of the $1.6 billion federally backed loan tied to the project remains outstanding, according to federal data. In addition, the U.S. Department of the Treasury provided a $539 million grant to help build the facility, covering about 30% of construction costs.

At the same time, some analysts estimate the plant’s electricity could cost customers roughly $100 million more per year than power from newer solar alternatives.

That leaves policymakers facing a stark choice: shut it down and risk sticking taxpayers with hundreds of millions in losses tied to the loan, or keep it running and continue passing higher costs on to electricity customers.

Critics argue that without government backing and long-term contracts, the plant would likely struggle to remain economically viable.

Even the federal government and the utility paying for the power have tried to walk away.

Officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations, along with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — which buys electricity from the plant — have supported shutting it down. PG&E has described the contracts as part of an effort to reduce “uneconomic resources” in its energy portfolio, according to regulatory filings.

California regulators, however, have refused.

The California Public Utilities Commission rejected efforts to terminate the plant’s contracts, citing concerns about grid reliability as electricity demand rises, including increased demand from data centers.

In its decision, regulators warned that shutting down Ivanpah could strand more than $300 million in ratepayer-funded transmission and infrastructure tied to the project, while also creating potential risks for grid reliability — particularly as uncertainty grows around how quickly new energy projects can be built.

PG&E, meanwhile, has argued that terminating the contracts would save customers money compared with continuing to purchase electricity from the facility.

The dispute highlights a broader challenge facing the energy sector — how to balance reliability, cost and past investments as demand rises and technology evolves.

Outdated technology, shifting market

Standing near the site, the scale of the project is unmistakable.

The plant uses a technology known as concentrated solar power, in which computer-controlled mirrors reflect sunlight onto boilers atop nearly 460-foot towers, creating visible beams of concentrated light and causing the structures to glow brightly. The heat is then used to produce steam, which drives turbines to generate electricity.

When it opened in 2014, the technology was considered cutting-edge. However, rapid advances in photovoltaic solar panels and battery storage have since made cheaper, more flexible alternatives widely available.

The project was fast-tracked during the Obama-era stimulus push, prompting concerns about the speed of its environmental review. It was part of a broader federal effort to boost the economy following the 2008 financial crisis and expand renewable energy.

It represented a significant scale-up of relatively new technology, expanding from smaller pilot projects to a nearly 400-megawatt facility — a leap that introduced uncertainties about long-term performance.

But the industry moved on faster than expected.

Cheaper and more efficient photovoltaic solar panels, often paired with battery storage, quickly overtook the concentrated solar technology used at Ivanpah — leaving the plant at a competitive disadvantage.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in the Mojave Desert uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto three towers to generate electricity. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

“The technology used at Ivanpah is no longer really competitive with a new solar farm that uses conventional solar panels,” Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at the University of California, Berkeley, told Fox News Digital.

Borenstein said the project reflects the risks of investing in emerging energy technologies at scale.

“When this plant was planned, solar thermal looked like a promising approach,” he said. “But photovoltaic costs fell much faster than anyone anticipated, and that changed the economics entirely.”

Borenstein explained the project was part of a broader wave of experimentation in early clean energy development, noting that while some technologies — including solar panels, batteries and wind power — became dramatically cheaper over time, Ivanpah “fell into the latter category,” with costs failing to drop as expected.

“That doesn’t mean it was a bad idea to build it originally,” he said.

Borenstein added that once those shifts occur, large infrastructure projects can be difficult to unwind.

“These are long-lived assets with long-term contracts,” he said. “Even if they no longer make economic sense, you can’t easily just walk away.”

Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University energy systems expert, contended the technology itself is not inherently flawed but lacks key features used in newer systems.

“There’s no role for a concentrated solar plant without storage,” Jacobson told Fox News Digital, noting that modern systems typically store energy for use at night — something Ivanpah cannot do.

An aerial view shows the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant near the California–Nevada border, where mirrors reflect sunlight onto towers to generate electricity. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jacobson added that while the plant may no longer be competitive with new projects, that does not necessarily mean it should be shut down.

“It’s already built,” he said. “So the question is whether it’s cheaper to keep it running than to replace it.”

In addition to the $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee, the project received a roughly $539 million Treasury grant covering about 30% of construction costs, along with tax credits, accelerated depreciation and other federal incentives.

California’s renewable energy mandates also required utilities to purchase power under long-term contracts, helping ensure demand even as newer technologies emerged.

Ivanpah is not the first federally backed clean energy project to face scrutiny. Solar company Solyndra collapsed in 2011 after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees.

The Ivanpah project drew backing from major private investors, including NRG Energy and Google, which invested hundreds of millions of dollars in its development.

But the project’s financing structure spreads risk unevenly. Federal loan guarantees, taxpayer-funded grants and long-term power contracts help stabilize returns for investors, while leaving taxpayers and electricity customers exposed to potential losses and higher costs.

Operational challenges have also been documented. A 2025 audit by California regulators identified recurring forced outages and equipment issues that could affect reliability.

NRG Energy, which operates the facility, told Fox News Digital it remains committed to running the plant under existing agreements and providing renewable energy to California.

Although Ivanpah has a nameplate capacity of nearly 400 megawatts, solar plants typically operate below full capacity because they only generate electricity when the sun is shining. Even so, the facility has underperformed.

In 2023, it operated at roughly a 17% capacity factor, according to data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — well below the 25% to 30% levels originally expected.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant near the California–Nevada border uses mirrors to reflect sunlight onto towers to generate electricity. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Real-world impact

While the facility spans thousands of acres in a remote stretch of desert, it feeds electricity into the broader grid rather than a specific community and has drawn relatively limited public attention despite its scale and cost. The town of Baker, for example, is the nearest town to the facility on the California side, but it is about 50 miles away from the plant.

For some residents and business owners in the region, however, rising electricity prices remain a growing concern.

“During the summer it can be anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000 … in the winter anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000,” said Lazarus Dabour, owner of the Mad Greek restaurant in Baker.

“It still restricts your bottom line when your overhead from more electricity goes up. It’s a big factor,” he said.

A tower at the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant is illuminated by concentrated sunlight in the Mojave Desert, where mirrors reflect solar energy to generate electricity. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)

“Our electricity is too high here in Baker,” said Eddie Bravo, a local store worker who said his bills can reach between $650 and $750 in the summer.

He said he notices the plant when he travels to Las Vegas, but “[doesn’t] know much about it.”

Despite the scale of the project, many people passing through the area said they were largely unaware of the facility or the controversy surrounding it.

Some expressed frustration with rising energy costs, while others took a more neutral view.

“It seems like it’s doing its job … it’s definitely working,” said Gregory Simons, a truck driver from Rancho Cucamonga who was stopped at a gas station near the Nevada state line.

Just across the road, newer solar facilities sit quietly on the desert floor, using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity more simply and at lower cost — highlighting how quickly the industry has shifted away from Ivanpah’s technology.

More than a decade after it opened, the plant now stands as a symbol of how quickly energy technology can evolve — and the cost of getting it wrong when a project becomes too expensive to shut down and too costly to justify keeping it running.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, known for his interest in extending human lifespan, is now funding what is being touted as the “world’s first” anti-aging vaccine.

Last week, Putin directed scientists to embark on the creation of a vaccine aimed at preserving youth. This endeavor is part of a sweeping national health initiative with a budget exceeding 2 trillion rubles, or approximately $26 billion. The initiative, in response to Russia’s declining population, includes the development of this novel vaccine.

At 73, Putin has long been reputed for his fascination with longevity and vitality.

In Russia, men have an average life expectancy of 67 years, a stark contrast to the 76.5 years observed in the United States.

According to the Moscow Times, Deputy Minister of Science Denis Sekirinsky announced that researchers have advanced in creating a gene therapy. This therapy targets the Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE), a critical cellular mechanism associated with the aging process.

While this announcement has generated significant global attention, the US has also been deeply involved in similar and often more advanced anti-aging research, though it typically frames these as “longevity research” or “cellular reprogramming” rather than a single “vaccine.”

Blocking the receptor could effectively put aging on pause, or at least slow down the progression, Sekirinsky told a conference of over 300 doctors and health experts in Saransk.

The goal now is to create “the world’s first gene therapy drug” specifically designed to block the receptor, he added.

Russian research on RAGE receptors has involved both lab experiments and animal models to study inflammation and disease, but human trials have not been done. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Russia plans to begin producing the anti-aging drug between 2028 and 2030, reported The Moscow Times.

A source close to the Kremlin previously told the exiled news outlet Meduza that the project stemmed from what they described as an “obsessive idea” from Mikhail Kovalchuk, a Putin crony and head of the Kurchatov Institute for nuclear research, “who dreams of eternal life and the ‘genome of the Russian person.’”

“What some time ago we could describe as an incredible future is now becoming reality,” Golikova said.

During a meeting in September, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, 72, were overheard on a “hot mic” moment discussing aging, according to NBC News.

Putin said, “With the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted, and people can live younger and younger, and even achieve immortality.”

Xi’s interpreter then replied: “Predictions are, this century, there’s a chance of also living to 150 [years old].”

In 2022, the publication Proekt reported that Putin took antler baths — a health treatment in which a person immerses themselves in a warm infusion of the boiled young, unossified deer antlers. The antlers are harvested by cutting through the growing, nerve-rich velvet antler tissue while the deer is awake or inadequately sedated, causing them extreme pain.

For humans, the procedure purportedly improves the cardiovascular system and rejuvenates the skin..

The Russian president also takes long walks in the forest and eats a strict, low-sugar diet focused on protein, fish and fresh vegetables, while maintaining a daily workout schedule, swimming, judo and ice hockey.

Putin’s foes fear he has a quest to live and rule for many decades before handing the reign over to his eldest son Ivan Spirodonov, now only 11, according to MSN.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and his model girlfriend, Marissa Ayers, turned heads as they graced the red carpet at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.

Ayers, a social media influencer and boxing ring girl, who has been dating Dart for nearly a year, captivated onlookers in a striking light blue dress paired with an elegant fascinator, accompanying Dart at the prestigious event.

Legendary coach Bill Belichick, 74, also made an appearance at the races, accompanied by his 25-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, a former cheerleader.

The duo attended Churchill Downs for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, an event that saw a delayed start from the usual 6 p.m. post time due to television commitments, much to the annoyance of Louisville residents.

Jaxson Dart and model girlfriend Marissa Ayers dazzled on the Kentucky Derby red carpet

Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson were also in attendance at Churchill Downs

On Saturday, Hudson wowed the crowd in a sophisticated black dress with a matching fascinator, while a dapper Belichick followed closely behind, ready to enjoy another day at the races.

One of the legendary NFL coach’s former players, Rob Gronkowski, is also set to take in the Kentucky Derby with long-term partner Camille Kostek. 

Gronkowski, who won four Super Bowls under Belichick with the New England Patriots, donned a smart navy blazer, a blue shirt and beige pants in Louisville.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Kostek posed on the red carpet in a black and polka dot dress, along with a matching bag and hat. 

Big names from other sports are also in attendance for the Kentucky Derby, including retired NBA player Avery Johnson and ex-WNBA star Sue Bird, who recently announced her split from girlfriend and soccer icon Megan Rapinoe.

Nate Burleson, the former NFL wide receiver who now works as a presenter for CBS, sported one of the most eye-catching outfits on the red carpet after pulling up to Churchill Downs in a white pinstriped suit jacket with images of two giant roses on the front and matching shorts.

It promises to be another memorable Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening, despite the race being reduced to 19 horses at the very last minute.

The Puma has been scratched from the starting lineup, meaning the 152nd edition of the Derby will be run with one less horse than the maximum 20.

Ex-NFL star Rob Gronkowski and long-time partner Camille Kostek posed on the red carpet

Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and girlfriend Erin Bracken are also at the Kentucky Derby

Sue Bird (left) and Avery Johnson (right) were among other sports stars in attendance

A number of racegoers are in Louisville for Saturday’s highly-anticipated Kentucky Derby

Churchill Downs officials announced The Puma was out because of a swollen leg from a skin infection.

He was ruled out less than 12 hours before the 6:57pm ET post time, past the deadline for Corona de Oro to draw into the field off the also-eligible list.

The horse trained by Gustavo Delgado Sr. and son Gustavo Delgado Jr. opened at odds of 10-1 and was bet down to 8-1 by Friday.

‘It’s incredibly disappointing, but the swelling should go down within a day or two,’ Delgado Jr. said. ‘It´s just really bad timing.’

The father-son training duo was looking to win its second Derby after doing so with Mage in 2023. Another father-son duo, Bill and Riley Mott, is the first to each have a horse in the race since 1964.

A tragic overnight accident in Oregon has claimed a life, following a dramatic crash into Portland’s prestigious Multnomah Athletic Club. The incident has sparked a significant police investigation after the discovery of potential explosives within the vehicle.

Portland Fire and Rescue rushed to the scene just before 2:50 a.m. local time on Saturday, responding to reports of a car plowing through the club’s main entrance and becoming engulfed in flames, as reported by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB).

Once the fire was extinguished, authorities discovered a deceased individual inside the vehicle.

Interestingly, this is not the first incident at the Multnomah Athletic Club; police had previously looked into a separate crash at this elite social venue in Portland, Oregon about a month prior.

The PPB’s Explosive Disposal Unit was called into action after signs of an explosive device were detected within the wrecked vehicle.

The explosives unit is assisting with the investigation and assessing the scene.

The Portland FBI Office also responded to the scene, according to local outlet KATU. 

Multiple nearby streets remain closed, and police asked the community to avoid the area.

The Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Ore. (Google Maps)

In a Facebook post, the club said it would remain closed until further notice, calling the incident “serious.”

“At this time, we do not have a timeline for reopening, but we’re expecting a prolonged close,” club leadership wrote in the post. “Our priority is ensuring the club is safe before welcoming our community back.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.