WORLD NEWS
UAE says it will withdraw from Yemen after Saudi strike on separatist-held port
EPA
The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seeks independence for southern Yemen
The United Arab Emirates has said it will withdraw its remaining forces from Yemen, after Saudi Arabia backed a demand from the Yemeni presidential council for them to leave within 24 hours.
The Emirati announcement followed an air strike by a Saudi-led military coalition on what it said was a weapons shipment for UAE-backed separatist forces in the southern port of Mukalla.
The UAE denied the shipment contained weapons and expressed “deep regret” at the Saudi accusations.
Saudi and the UAE have been allies in the war against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement over the past decade, but the infighting between the rival factions they support has deepened a rift between them.
Saudi Arabia also accused the UAE of “pressuring” the separatists to attack Saudi-backed government forces in two eastern provinces, and warned it would take measures to confront such “highly dangerous” actions.
On Tuesday afternoon, the UAE’s defence ministry put out a statement announcing “the termination of the remaining counterterrorism personnel in Yemen of its own volition”, six years after the UAE’s armed forces had “concluded” their presence.
The ministry explained that the decision to withdraw them was made “in light of recent developments and their potential implications for the safety and effectiveness of counterterrorism missions”, without mentioning the coalition strike or Saudi warning.
The strongly worded statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday morning said it was working to “contain the escalatory steps” taken recently by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks independence for southern Yemen.
It accused the UAE of “pressuring” the STC to conduct offensives in the eastern provinces of Hadramawt and al-Mahra, which it said constituted “a threat to the kingdom’s national security, and the security and stability of the Republic of Yemen and the region”. It also warned that Saudi Arabia would take measures to confront such “highly dangerous” actions.
The UAE’s foreign ministry denounced the allegations that it “exerted pressure on, or issued directives to, any Yemeni party to undertake military operations that would undermine the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or target its borders”.
It also insisted that the UAE had “focused on containing the situation, supporting de-escalation efforts, and promoting understandings to contribute to preserving security and stability” since the start of the STC’s offensives.
The head of Yemen’s eight-member presidential council – which includes STC representatives – earlier announced that he was cancelling a joint defence pact with the UAE and ordering its forces to leave within 24 hours “in the interest of safeguarding the security of all citizens, affirming commitment to Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, stability, and territorial integrity”.
Rashad al-Alimi also declared a state of emergency for a period of 90 days, which he said was necessary to confront the Houthis and what he described as “the internal strife led by mutinous military elements that received orders from the United Arab Emirates”.
The STC’s leaders said the ultimatum for the UAE’s withdrawal was unilateral and had no legal basis, and insisted the UAE would remain a “main partner” in the battle against the Houthis.
AFP
The Saudi-led coalition air strike on Mukalla destroyed a number of military vehicles and pick-up trucks
Alimi’s announcement came after the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition – which includes the UAE – said it had carried out a “limited” air strike on weapons and military vehicles for the STC’s forces in the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla which arrived on two ships from the UAE.
The shipments had constituted “an imminent threat and an escalation that threatens peace and stability”, Maj-Gen Turki al-Maliki asserted.
An official at the port told AFP news agency that a warning to evacuate was received at 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and that an open area at the facility was struck about 15 minutes later.
Pictures showed a number of burned out military vehicles and pick-up trucks in a walled-off area at the port, as well as damage to a nearby building. No casualties were reported.
The UAE’s foreign ministry said it had been surprised by the strike on Mukalla and that the coalition statement had been issued without consultation with member states.
It insisted that the shipment in question “did not include any weapons, and that the vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party but were shipped for use by Emirati forces operating in Yemen”.
On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition called on the STC’s forces to withdraw “peacefully” from Hadramawt and al-Mahra, a day after the Saudi air force reportedly bombed positions held by the separatists in the Wadi Nahab area of Hadramawt.
The STC’s forces launched offensives in the two provinces amid rising tensions earlier this month, putting them in direct conflict with government forces.
It said the operations were necessary to “restore stability” in the south and to combat the Houthis, as well as the jihadist groups al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS).
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened to restore the government’s rule.
The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 people dead and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
At the start of the war, the STC and other separatists seeking independence for south Yemen, which was a separate country before unification with the north in 1990, formed an uneasy alliance with the government to stop the Houthis capturing the southern city of Aden.
However, in recent years the STC and its allies have turned on the government and gradually seized control of Aden and much of the south of the country.
Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former US President John F. Kennedy, died on Tuesday at the age of 35, just weeks after announcing her terminal cancer diagnosis.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation’s social media accounts.
What do we know about Schlossberg’s illness?
The late journalist revealed in an essay in The New Yorker in November that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive type of cancer that is mostly common above the age of 60.
Doctors were first alerted to her condition after she gave birth to her second child in May 2024. They detected an unusually high white blood cell count, which is caused by the disease.
“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe,” she wrote in her essay. “My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me.”
The late journalist published widely in outlets including The Atlantic and Vanity Fair. In 2019, she published the award-winning book: “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.”
She is survived by her husband, George Moran, and their two children.
Tatiana Schlossberg revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer last monthImage: Amber De Vos/AFP//Getty Images
Where did Schlossberg stand on her relative, RFK Jr.?
Schlossberg, daughter of former diplomat Caroline Kennedy, joined many voices from her family in denouncing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US President Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary.
“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” she wrote.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat-turned-Trump supporter, has been heavily criticized for his history of promoting vaccine conspiracy theories and misinformation, including by members of his prominent Democratic family.
Before he was confirmed for the post, Schlossberg’s mother Caroline wrote a letter to US senators urging them to vote against her cousin’s nomination as health secretary, describing him as a “predator” who is addicted to power.
Team Trump: A misinformation machine?
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China fired rockets into waters near Taiwan during large-scale live-fire drills Tuesday, staging its biggest military encirclement of the island in eight months while warning “separatist” forces and outside powers.
A video released by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command showed forces firing rockets into waters north of Taiwan and bomber aircraft taking off at night as part of the encirclement.
The footage was released on the second day of the large-scale exercise “Justice Mission 2025.”
China launched the exercise Monday, surrounding Taiwan with warships, aircraft and live-fire drills as tensions rose following a record U.S. arms sale to Taipei.
CHINA SHARPENS CONFRONTATION WITH JAPAN FOLLOWING REPORTED RADAR RUN-IN
China launched rockets near Taiwan during massive live-fire drills, surrounding the island with warships, aircraft and military pressure as tensions rise. (PLA Eastern Theater Command via Reuters)
“Justice Mission 2025” includes coordinated deployments of ground forces, naval vessels, fighter jets, drones and artillery across seven maritime zones encircling Taiwan.
Tuesday’s drills included long-range live-fire exercises in waters north of Taiwan, PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Li Xi said, according to state-run Xinhua News. Li said the drills achieved their intended results.
Other drills included assaults on maritime targets and anti-air and anti-submarine operations. Destroyers, frigates, fighter jets and bombers also carried out simulated strikes on maritime targets.
TAIWAN UNVEILS $40B DEFENSE SPENDING PLAN TO COUNTER CHINA MILITARY THREAT OVER NEXT DECADE
China launched rockets near Taiwan during massive live-fire drills, surrounding the island with warships, aircraft and military pressure as tensions rise. (PLA Eastern Theater Command via Reuters)
Rockets fired by Chinese forces landed inside Taiwan’s 24-nautical-mile line, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.
Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said Tuesday that Beijing “has continued to escalate military tension in the region, which is not the behavior of a responsible world power,” according to Focus Taiwan. He added that “Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation, nor seek conflict with China.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on X that 130 PLA aircraft, 14 naval vessels and eight official ships were operating around the island as of 6 a.m. local time.
“Ninety of the 130 sorties crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zone,” the statement said. “We monitored the situation and responded.”
CHINA LAUNCHES THIRD AIRCRAFT CARRIER AS XI PUSHES MILITARY MODERNIZATION AGAINST US INFLUENCE
China launched rockets near Taiwan during massive live-fire drills, surrounding the island with warships, aircraft and military pressure as tensions rise. (PLA Eastern Theater Command via Reuters)
The PLA said on X that a Chinese military drone captured aerial footage of Taipei 101, which Taiwan’s Defense Ministry described as a typical example of psychological warfare. “So close, so beautiful, go to Taipei at any time,” the PLA said in the post.
President Donald Trump said Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping did not inform him of the drills, adding that the exercises did not concern him.
As the drills unfolded, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels were operating near the island, with some engaging in close stand-offs near Taiwan’s contiguous zone, about 24 nautical miles from shore.
BIPARTISAN HOUSE CHINA PANEL SLAMS BEIJING’S TAIWAN DRILLS AS ‘DELIBERATE ESCALATION’
Military exercises mobilize the Chinese PLA Navy, Army, Air Force and the Chinese Coast Guards, which are deemed as a punishment to Taiwan’s call for independence. (Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Conducting live-fire exercises around the Taiwan Strait would not only constitute military pressure on us, but could also pose broader risks to the international community and neighboring countries,” said Hsieh Jih-sheng, Taiwan’s deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence.
Taiwan placed its military on high alert and said it was prepared to conduct rapid-response exercises if the drills escalated. The ministry released video highlighting its own capabilities, including U.S.-made HIMARS systems, while the coast guard deployed large patrol ships to monitor Chinese vessels near its waters.
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China claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects that claim, maintaining that only its people can decide the island’s future.
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and Reuters contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
WORLD NEWS
Judge says top DOJ officials pushed to prosecute Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he fought deportation error
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A newly unsealed court filing in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia suggests high-level officials in President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice made the case a “top priority” after he sued the government for mistakenly deporting him to El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges that were brought against him after several courts ordered the government to bring him back to the United States from a brutal prison in his home country, a legal battle at the center of the president’s mass deportation efforts.
He is asking the judge to throw out the charges on grounds of “vindictive and selective prosecution,” arguing that the administration unlawfully punished him as part of an apparent smear campaign for “having the audacity to fight back.”
Government attorneys turned over documents that Abrego Garcia’s team had hoped to expose the decision-making behind the case, which involved an incident from three years ago.
Tennessee District Judge Waverly Crenshaw had previously found “some evidence” that the case was the product of vindictive prosecution, pointing to an apparent admission from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that the case was brought in an effort to return Abrego Garcia to the United States, which the judge said could be considered “direct evidence of vindictiveness.”
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A federal judge says there may have been an ‘improper motivation’ to bring charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia after federal prosecutors coordinated with Justice Department officials (Getty Images)
In a December 3 order that was unsealed Tuesday, Crenshaw went further, finding that the top federal prosecutor involved with the case may have brought charges in a “joint decision with others who may or may not have acted with an improper motivation.”
In early April, roughly two weeks after the Supreme Court unanimously ordered the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return after his “illegal” removal, a top official in Blanche’s office contacted several officials to talk about the Abrego Garcia case, including then-Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire.
That same day, McGuire received a file on Abrego Garcia from the Department of Homeland Security.
On April 30, DOJ official Aakash Singh called the case a “top priority,” according to emails shared with the court.
McGuire wrote that he did not receive “specific direction” from Blanche’s office to bring the case, but he “heard anecdotally” that Blanche and his deputy “would like Garcia charged sooner rather than later,” emails show.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who has pushed for Abrego Garcia’s release, said he “very much” believes the case is political.
The recently unsealed emails look like a “smoking gun against the administration,” he told CNN Tuesday.
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Officials at Trump’s Department of Justice may have coordinated with a top federal prosecutor in Tennessee to bring charges against Abrego Garcia after the Supreme Court ordered his return from El Salvador, emails show (REUTERS)
A grand jury indicted Abrego Garcia on May 21, and he was abruptly returned to the United States in June to face allegations that he illegally moved other immigrants across the country.
ICE swiftly brought him back into custody after a judge released him from pretrial detention in his criminal case. He has since been allowed to stay out of federal detention in both his immigration and criminal cases and to live with his wife and U.S. citizen children while those legal challenges continue.
Last week, Crenshaw canceled a planned January trial and replaced it with an evidentiary hearing on Abrego Garcia’s argument that the case was unlawfully brought against him.
Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis has also ordered government officials to file a sworn declaration outlining whether the administration still plans to deport him and under what authority. Since his return to the United States, officials have tried to deport Abrego Garcia to at least six different countries, including the African nations of Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia and Uganda.
He has accepted the Costa Rican government’s offer to deport to that country, but the Trump administration allegedly denied the request after Abrego Garcia refused to plead guilty.
Winter activities involve brisk outdoor walks, holiday travel, and cozy movie marathons. What’s the plush style I wear to stay warm and comfy through it all? You’ve probably guessed it: sweatpants.
They are the practical style I can rely on during chilly winter weather thanks to their stretchy elastic waistbands and cold-busting fabrics. And popular stores like Lululemon, Vuori, and Nordstrom are packed with options right now. You can even snag Spanx sweatpants on sale that both Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon approve of.
From sleek joggers to breathable wide-leg styles, join me in revamping my sweatpants collection and reaching peak levels of cozy this winter.
Comfy Sweatpants for Winter
- Writer Pick: Alo Muse Sweatpants, $118; aloyoga.com
- Automet Fleece-Lined Sweatpants, $25 (orig. $30); amazon.com
- Celeb-Worn: Spanx AirEssentials Wide-Leg Pants, $69 (orig. $118); spanx.com
- Lowest Price: Amazon Essentials Straight-Leg Sweatpants, $12; amazon.com
- Lululemon Scuba Oversized Jogger, $69 (orig. $118); shop.lululemon.com
- Vuori Performance Jogger, $94; vuori.com
- Alo Accolade Straight-Leg Sweatpants, $138; aloyoga.com
- Athleta Forever Fleece Jogger, $62 (orig. $89); athleta.gap.com
- Lululemon Loungeful Classic-Fit Sweatpant, $79 (orig. $118); shop.lululemon.com
- Nike Phoenix High-Waist Sweatpants, $70; nordstrom.com
Alo Muse Sweatpants
People
After receiving the Alo Muse sweatpants and matching hoodie as a Christmas gift three years ago, they’ve become my go-to for everything from traveling and errands to lounging on the couch and casual lunch dates. The waffle-knit fabric feels buttery soft and warm without making me overheat. The adjustable drawstring allows me to customize the fit, and the side pockets keep my hands cozy. The cuffed hem also traps in heat and gives the pants a jogger appearance that looks good with sandals, sneakers, and boots.
Automet Fleece-Lined Sweatpants
Amazon
These $25 sweatpants are lined with fleece, which is ideal for cold weather because the fabric is made with lifted fibers that create an insulating layer. The baggy silhouette means you can wear the pants over a pair of shorts if you need to, say, layer up before heading to the gym for a workout. One Amazon shopper ordered multiple pairs and said that the pants maintain their quality after multiple washes.
Spanx AirEssentials Wide-Leg Pants
Spanx
We thought the fabric of these Spanx pants was silky-soft and draped nicely when we tried them, while Oprah has once said that wearing them “feels like a hug.” The knit material is breathable and offers four-way stretch to optimize comfort. You can snag the pants in petite, tall, and regular lengths as well as sizes XS through 3XL. They’re even on sale right now in select colors, but sizes are going fast.
With temperatures only continuing to dip, now’s the time to upgrade your loungewear with these cozy sweatpants from Amazon, Athleta, and Nike below.
Amazon Essentials Straight-Leg Sweatpants
Amazon
Lululemon Scuba Oversized Jogger
lululemon
Vuori Performance Jogger
Vuori
Alo Accolade Straight-Leg Sweatpants
alo
Athleta Forever Fleece Jogger
Athleta
Lululemon Loungeful Classic-Fit Sweatpant
lululemon
Nike Phoenix High-Waist Sweatpants
Nordstrom
WORLD NEWS
All child care payments to Minnesota are FROZEN amid daycare ‘fraud’ scandal as Tim Walz is targeted in huge crackdown
The federal government has ceased all child care payments to Minnesota amid the Democratic state’s ongoing daycare fraud scandal.
Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Jim O’Neill announced on Thursday that funding has been frozen and demanded that Governor Tim Walz audit the centers allegedly involved.
‘We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,’ O’Neill declared in his statement.
The move from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the division of the HHS that handles child care, comes after independent journalist Nick Shirley shared footage of an apparently empty Minnesota daycare.
The facility has reportedly received millions in taxpayer funds, leading Shirley to claim that Minnesota has allowed for the ‘largest fraud in US history’ to go unchecked.
‘You have probably read the serious allegations that the state of Minnesota has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade,’ O’Neill wrote.
O’Neill said he has activated the ‘spend defend system for all ACF payments,’ meaning that all payments going forward across the country will require proof and reasoning before the money is allocated.
He added that he and ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams have identified the people involved in the scheme that Shirley allegedly unveiled.
Independent journalist Nick Shirley shared video from an apparently empty daycare in Minnesota
Footage of the facility, featuring a misspelled sign as ‘Quality Learing Center’, sparked outrage among lawmakers
The HHS has demanded that Governor Tim Walz (pictured with his wife, Gwen) audit the centers allegedly involved in the fraud scandal
In another effort to combat money funneling under the guise of childcare, a ‘fraud-reporting’ hotline and email address have been set up.
‘Whether you are a parent, provider, or member of the general public, we want to hear from you,’ O’Neill wrote.
The Minneapolis facility that Shirley highlighted notably featured a misspelled sign, which the business named Quality ‘Learing’ Center instead of Quality ‘Learning’ Center.
This is a developing story…
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All child care payments to Minnesota are FROZEN amid daycare ‘fraud’ scandal as Tim Walz is targeted in huge crackdown
Justin Hood has reached the World Darts Championship quarter-finals after beating Josh Rock 4-0, earning £100,000 prize money and hinting he may finally open his dream Chinese restaurant
Justin Hood can achieve his dream of owning his own Chinese restaurant(Image: PA)
Breakout World Darts Champions star Justin Hood could realise his dream of owning a Chinese restaurant after netting £100,000. The 32-year-old has emerged as this year’s cult hero and is into the quarter-finals after cruising past Josh Rock.
Hood, currently ranked 86in the world, made history during an afternoon session when he became the first player to nail 11 consecutive doubles without missing, before finishing with 75 percent. His flawless performance led to a 4-0 victory over the Northern Irishman.
Now, with his place in the last-eight confirmed and a match against Gary Anderson on the horizon, Hood can finally afford to open his own Chinese restaurant.
READ MORE: Darts news: Luke Littler fires shot at Ally Pally crowd as star is left ‘heartbroken’READ MORE: Stephen Bunting slams abuse of his young son Toby and ‘negative comments’ from trolls
The 32-year-old was a long shot at 1,000/1 in the pre-tournament odds but has already bested Nick Kenny, sixth-seed Danny Noppert, Ryan Meikle and Rock. He is now just two wins away from the final, with his next challenge coming up on New Year’s Day.
Hood, who quit his job as a hotel porter to pursue his darting dream, only qualified for the Q School, where players eye a tour card, earlier this year.
However, for ‘Happy Feet’ , opening a Chinese restaurant has always been his dream.
He’s often joked about spending the record-breaking £1million prize money on his own eatery if he were to win.
But now, what once seemed like a far-fetched dream could soon become a reality.
When asked if the prize money at Ally Pally was life-changing, he responded with a nonchalant “Yes and no. I don’t live above my means.
It was an emotional moment for Justin Hood(Image: Getty Images)
“It’s nice to have it in the bank, but I just get up there to throw darts. The money’s a massive bonus – I want that trophy now.
“No timeline yet. You’ve got to pay double. We’ll look into it after the Worlds. Half price? Get in. Every game’s unknown for me. I’ll go back, probably have a Chinese – maybe two or three. But seriously, I’ll treat it the same as every other game: practise, eat good food, and get ready.”
Luke Littler, the current world number one, made his debut at the World Championships and quickly became a fan favourite due to his love of kebabs. The then 16 year old Warrington-born darts prodigy became a running joke, with fans expecting him to indulge in his favourite dish after each match during the 2024 tournament, where he eventually lost in the final to Luke Humphries.
Before his fourth-round triumph over Rocky, Hood said: “I haven’t looked into it (the finances) properly yet.
“We might be out of business in a week, the amount of food I eat. I wanted to stay in London over Christmas because the Chinese around here are top-notch. I love eating it all the time.”
After Anderson’s 4-1 victory over Van Gerwen, Hood is set to face the former world champion on New Year’s Day, hoping to secure a spot in the semi-final.
NewsFeed
The UAE says it’s withdrawing all ‘counterterrorism’ units from Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on a port in southern Yemen. Riyadh has accused the Emiratis of shipping weapons and military vehicles to aid Yemen’s separatist movement, an accusation Abu Dhabi denies.
Published On 30 Dec 2025
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A man and two of his companions are dead after high winds prevented rescue crews from responding to a report of an injured hiker near a southern California mountain trail, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department announced on Monday.
The three bodies were discovered Monday evening along the Devil’s Backbone trail at Mount Baldy, which rises more than 10,000ft and sits just east of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department.
The deaths occurred near where actor Julian Sands died three years ago. Sands, who starred in A Room With a View and Leaving Las Vegas, was reported missing after setting off on a solo hike in January 2023. His body was found five months later.
And in January 2023, the same month Sands went missing, another 15 hikers either got lost, were injured or died on the mountain.
The department said it received a call at about 11.30am on Monday from someone reporting that their 19-year-old friend had tumbled 500ft (150 meters) down a remote mountainside. The caller had hiked to an area with cellular service and provided GPS coordinates to rescuers.
A helicopter crew spotted the injured hiker and two other people but strong winds prevented the aircraft from landing. A second landing attempt hours later was also unsuccessful because of winds.
A medic was eventually hoisted down from a helicopter and found all three people dead at about 7.30pm, the sheriff’s statement said. Their identities were not released as of Tuesday and the cause of the deaths wasn’t immediately known.
That same day, the San Bernardino sheriff’s department announced that it rescued two other hikers – two men, ages 18 and 31 – from another trail on Mount Baldy. One of the hikers was hurt after falling more than 100ft from the trail.
In October, three hikers were rescued near the same trail where the deceased hikers were found. The San Bernardino sheriff’s department said that three 20-year-old men were hiking near the Devil’s Backbone when they took a wrong turn, got lost and were unable to keep moving on the mountain. All were rescued without any injuries.
Germany’s perennial debate over safety has flared up once again as fireworks sales resume ahead of New Year. Meanwhile, a spate of black ice has caused numerous accidents across the country. Follow our updates.
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Tatiana Schlossberg, a Kennedy scion and granddaughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 35, just weeks after announcing her terminal cancer diagnosis.
The JFK Library Foundation announced Schlossberg’s death in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement reads. The post was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory.”
Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their three-year-old son and their one-year-old daughter. She’s also survived by her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, her brother Jack Schlossberg, and her sister Rose Schlossberg, who is married to Rory McAuliffe.
The environmental journalist revealed she had been diagnosed with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer, in a New Yorker essay published November 22, the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination.
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The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced that Tatiana Schlossberg died Tuesday (Getty)
In the essay, the 35-year-old recounted her disbelief. The disease is mostly seen in older people, she said.
“I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick,” Schlossberg wrote.
Schlossberg was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024. Her doctors noticed her white blood cell count was elevated just hours after she delivered her daughter.
“Everyone thought it was something to do with the pregnancy or the delivery. After a few hours, my doctors thought it was leukemia,” she wrote.
She recalled feeling worried that her young children would not remember her after her death.
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Tatiana Schlossberg with her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and her brother, Jack Schlossberg (AP)
“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe. My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” Schlossberg wrote.
“My son might have a few memories, but he’ll probably start confusing them with pictures he sees or stories he hears. I didn’t ever really get to take care of my daughter—I couldn’t change her diaper or give her a bath or feed her, all because of the risk of infection after my transplants,” she added.
In her essay, Schlossberg also criticized her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn into his post in February after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” she wrote.
She decried his cuts to research funding, particularly for “mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers.”
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Tatianna Schlossberg, Jack Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy meet with Prince William in 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)
Other members of the family have also criticized the Department of Health and Human Services leader, including Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, who announced plans to run for Congress as a Democrat in New York last month.
Maria Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California, praised her cousin’s New Yorker essay last month.
“If you can only read one thing today, please make/take the time for this extraordinary piece of writing by my cousin Caroline’s extraordinary daughter Tatiana,” Shriver wrote. “Tatiana is a beautiful writer, journalist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.”
Schlossberg was born May 5, 1990, in New York City. Her mother, the daughter of the 35th president and first lady Jackie Kennedy, has served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan and Australia. Her father is a designer and artist.
Schlossberg earned her bachelor’s degree in history at Yale University before attending the University of Oxford, where she earned a master’s degree in American history.
She interned for The New York Times in 2014, before she was hired as a staff writer for the outlet’s metro section, and later its science section. Henry Fountain, a long-time climate reporter and editor for The New York Times, told The Washington Post Schlossberg was a “total delight” who “just researched her butt off on stories.”
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Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg watch as their mother, Caroline Kennedy, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2012 (AFP via Getty Images)
Schlossberg went on to work as a freelance environmental journalist, focusing on the impacts of climate change. She published several stories in The Washington Post, including an investigation into the impacts of climate change on cranberry farmers.
In 2019, Schlossberg also published Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.
The work earned her the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. The award’s judges wrote that Schlossberg’s readers “will find solace, humor and a route to feeling empowered with possibilities for positive change, rather than drained by an accumulation of bad news.”
In her New Yorker essay, Schlossberg said she has told her son about her love of writing.
“My son knows that I am a writer and that I write about our planet. Since I’ve been sick, I remind him a lot, so that he will know that I was not just a sick person,” she wrote.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul honored Schlossberg in a statement Tuesday.
“My heart goes out to the Kennedy family. I will never forget the images of Caroline Kennedy as a child in the White House before she lost her father. To now lose her own daughter to this terrible disease is unspeakable. I’m praying for all who knew and loved her,” she wrote on X.
WORLD NEWS
Hugh Grant Once Asked Emma Thompson If This Film Was the ‘Most Psychotic Thing’ They Ever Made
NEED TO KNOW
- Emma Thompson opened up about which movie with Hugh Grant he called their ‘most psychotic’
- Thompson said she’s working with Grant more than any other actor, including in Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually and The Remains of the Day
- Thompson said time has shown Grant’s comment missed the mark
Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson have made a lot of movies together, but there’s one that Grant thought might be their “most psychotic.”
Thompson, 66, opened up about her career in a video for GQ, published Dec. 9. In it, she looked back at Love Actually, the 2003 holiday ensemble film directed by Richard Curtis. Thompson played Karen, who’s married to Alan Rickman’s Harry. She’s also the sister of Grant’s David, the new British Prime Minister.
“It’s the ultimate ensemble, isn’t it?” the Oscar winner said of the movie. “We did sort of get flung into our pieces, one by one.”
Then she remembered the conversation she had with Grant, 65, about it. “I do remember opening it in New York, and I’d just done Wit with Mike Nichols, which is not a romcom at all, and something very serious, you know, and sad,” she said. In that film, Thompson plays a woman battling ovarian cancer.
From left: Martine McCutcheon, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson in ‘Love Actually’.
Universal/Dna/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock
“And I went to the opening of that and then the opening of Love Actually, and Hugh Grant came up behind me and said, ‘Is that the most psychotic thing we’ve ever made?’ ” Thompson remembered and laughed. “And I said, ‘Well, you know, time will tell. Time will tell.’ ”
She admitted, “And time has told. It holds up because it’s so full of Richard’s deep love for humanity.” Though often debated, Love Actually has remained for many people a yearly Christmas watch, though Grant has admitted he doesn’t know why it’s “so popular.”
Thompson told GQ that she “worked it out” and thinks she’s starred in more things with Grant than anyone else. “He’s been my brother, my lover, my sort of husband person, somebody I’ve served as a servant in The Remains of the Day,” she said. “We’ve done so many things together. . . . And it’s always been a completely different relationship.” In 1995’s Sense and Sensibility, they played lovers. They both also appeared in 2025’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
Thompson also opened up about one of her biggest scenes in Love Actually: when Karen realizes her husband bought jewelry for another woman and gives her just a Joni Mitchell CD. She hides her heartbreak, trying not to ruin the holiday.
Hugh Grant (left) and Emma Thompson in ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
Moviestore/Shutterstock
“It was easy really to do,” she admitted. “I knew what being heartbroken felt like. So, it wasn’t difficult.” She said they did “four or five” takes and that Curtis was “sniveling in the corner” the whole time, which was “very funny.”
“It was just that thing of that I so understand of people crying and then but not wanting to cry and then having to cover it up,” she said. She added that there’s “no woman that doesn’t know what that’s like, especially if they’ve got kids.”
Back in 2022, Thompson admitted she is not one of the people who rewatches Love Actually.
“No, it was 20 years ago,” she told Jimmy Fallon when he askled about it during an episode of The Tonight Show. The host asked if it was fun to look back and reminisce, but she joked, “Not really. No, you’re just saying, ‘I don’t think I was very well paid for that. That was that terrible trailer with the loo that really stank and had that sort of….’ That’s the things you remember, not the good ones.”
She also confirmed that countless fans have sent her Mitchell CDs. “I have a separate house for those,” she joked.
Scottish wind farms have been paid an astonishing £347million to not generate electricity – helping to rack up a Britain-wide bill of more than £1.45billion for wasted wind power in a single year.
Operators north of the Border have been handed the millions in so-called wind constraint payments, in order not to generate power.
But in total, wasted renewables have cost Britain a massive ten-figure sum with the cash spent on switching off wind turbines and firing up alternative power sources.
In constraint payments alone, wind farms in Scotland have been paid a remarkable £346,847,461 to stand idle.
All but five local authority areas in Scotland have wind turbines within them, laying bare the scale of how the power projects have taken over the country.
Politicians and campaigners alike have sounded the alarm about the scale of the constraint payments, which are ultimately borne by households and businesses through their bills.
MSP Douglas Lumsden, Scottish Conservative energy spokesman, said: ‘Hard-pressed Scots will rightly be questioning these soaring payments.
‘At a time when they are facing rising energy bills, they will wonder why they are footing an ever-increasing bill for turbines to be turned off.
In constraint payments alone, wind farms in Scotland have been paid a remarkable £346,847,461 to stand idle
‘Rural communities are being overwhelmed by the number of wind farms spreading across the country.
‘Labour and the SNP are riding roughshod over local community concerns.
‘While the right balance must be struck on our energy needs, delivering value for money for taxpayers must be a top priority at all times.’
And campaigner Denise Davis, of Communities B4 Power Companies, said: ‘The whole of the UK is having to pay for this. Every single time they get a bill, they’re paying.’
The Highlands has the most onshore wind turbines with 862 built, latest figures have revealed. It is followed by South Lanarkshire, where there are 518, and Dumfries and Galloway, where there are 512.
But there are also huge wind farms offshore, developments which includes Scotland’s largest, named Seagreen, which is around 17 miles off the coast of Angus in the North Sea.
An astonishing £1,457,263,000 has been spent turning off wind turbines and paying gas plants to switch on in Britain so far this year, data from the Wasted Wind tracker website showed, jumping from £1.23bn the year before.
And separate figures from the Renewable Energy Foundation show that, as of December 15, wind farms in Scotland have been paid £346,847,461 in constraint payments alone.
So far this is the second highest on record, slightly down on the 2024 high of £393,492,798, with two weeks of the year left.
Constraint payments are dished out when the grid is congested and cannot transport power from wind farms in remote areas, often in Scotland, to where it is needed most.
But to keep the lights on in those areas grid operators must call on gas plants to step in to power up Britain often at great expense.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: ‘We are reversing decades of underinvestment and delivering the biggest upgrade to the grid, which will minimise constraint costs, meet the capacity needed to deliver clean power by 2030, and help bring down bills for households for good.
‘The more renewables on the system, the cheaper the wholesale price of electricity, which is why the only answer for Britain is our mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control.’
Gillian Martin, Holyrood’s energy secretary, said: ‘The current UK energy system is not fit for purpose – in an energy rich country like Scotland, nobody should be struggling to pay their bills or living in fuel poverty.
‘Despite UK Government promises to cut energy bills by £300, they are now more than £150 higher. We have consistently called for reform of the electricity market so that Scottish households can benefit from the green electricity produced in our country.
‘Scotland’s vast renewable potential is one of our greatest economic opportunities and can deliver thousands of well-paid, sustainable jobs across Scotland, as well as securing lasting benefits for communities.’
Multiple passengers have been injured and hundreds of tourists have been left stranded after the terrifying crash on the route to Machu Pichu in Peru
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University students in Iran have joined shopkeepers and bazaar merchants in protests over the country’s soaring cost of living.
Footage showed scores of people marching along a street in the capital Tehran, chanting “rest in peace Reza Shah”, a reference to the founder of the royal dynasty ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said hundreds of students held protests at four universities in Tehran on Tuesday.
Video from Monday showed people gathering in central Tehran and chanting slogans.
Protesters march in Tehran. Pic: Fars News Agency/AP
Iran‘s currency, the rial, has lost nearly half its value against the US dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5% in December and the price of food rising as much as 72% as the country bears US sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had asked the interior minister to listen to the “legitimate demands” of the protesters.
A spokesperson for the government said a dialogue mechanism would be set up and would include talks with protest leaders.
“We officially recognise the protests,” they said on Tuesday. “We hear their voices and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people’s livelihoods.”
The demonstrations are the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted outpourings of patriotic solidarity.
Read more from Sky News:
Review ordered in case of British-Egyptian activist
China fires rockets into waters off Taiwan
Pic: Fars News Agency/AP
Iran’s economy has been suffering for years after Donald Trump reimposed US sanctions during his first term as president in 2018 and ended an international deal over the country’s nuclear programme. United Nations sanctions on the country were also reimposed in September.
Inflation is currently pushing many prices beyond the means of most people.
Iran faced protests across the country in 2022 over price hikes, including for bread.
The country’s clerical rulers were rocked by the boldest unrest yet in years over the same period and into 2023 after the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes.
The country is still under intense international pressure, with Mr Trump on Monday saying he might back another round of Israeli airstrikes if Tehran resumes work on ballistic missiles or a nuclear weapons programme.
The US and Israel conducted airstrikes on Iran’s military and nuclear installations over 12 days in June, aimed at stopping what they said were efforts to develop the means to build an atomic weapon.
Iran has said its nuclear energy programme is entirely peaceful and claimed it has not tried to build a nuclear bomb.
NewsFeed
Footage shows a massive hole in the vault of Sparkasse Bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where thieves made off with valuables estimated to be worth between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7 to 105.7 million), police said. Angry customers assembled outside the bank on Tuesday demanding answers.
Published On 30 Dec 2025
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