The mother of the celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is seeking temporary custody of his three children after he was hospitalized during a mental health crisis at his south Florida home last week.
… %!s()
Court documents filed in Miami-Dade county and seen by multiple news outlets, including Miami’s NBC 6, show the request for custody was made by 48-year-old Hilton’s mother.
“My main concern and objective, as well as the family’s, is to protect the children and make sure they are safe,” said Natalie F Guerra-Valdes, an attorney representing Hilton’s mother, in a statement.
“We want them to have some sense of normalcy as they begin their journey of healing after the tragic events that occurred last week.”
Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is known for pioneering the celebrity gossip blog business in the mid-2000s, posting photos and gossip. He was embroiled in many high-profile feuds with that era’s pop culture icons including Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. His business translated a measure of celebrity on to Hilton himself.
But on 4 August, Hilton posted a now-deleted TikTok live stream from his home that appeared to show him naked and covered in blood, with visible cuts and holding what appeared to be a knife.
The Miami-Dade sheriff’s office said that deputies responded after they received “multiple calls regarding an individual who was livestreaming acts of self-harm on social media”.
Hilton’s identity was later confirmed by the sheriff’s office, which confirmed he was “Baker-Acted”, a term used in Florida to describe laws that allows police, doctors, mental health professionals or judges to temporarily detain a person for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation for up to 72 hours during a mental health crisis.
Hilton’s family said on Saturday he remained hospitalized in serious condition and had been stabilized, but said his injuries would require surgery.
His family later said his three children, niece and sister were inside the home “minutes before” the live stream began.
“When it became clear that Perez was experiencing a severe mental health crisis and harming himself, they immediately fled to protect the children from witnessing any further trauma,” a statement posted on the Perez Hilton website said.
The blogger is reported to be a single parent to children who are all under the age of 14 and born via surrogacy. His family have asked that the public “to leave the area surrounding the family’s home”.
“Our highest priority right now is helping the children begin to heal from what they experienced,” the statement reads. “An important part of that process is allowing them to safely return home and begin rebuilding a sense of security and normalcy.”
The family says it “remains focused on Perez’s treatment and recovery”. %!s()
A "massive" Ukrainian drone and missile strike on Russia's port of Novorossiysk has damaged two major grain export terminals and hit the last big Russian naval base on the Black Sea, reports say.
… %!s()
Three people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed and another 24 injured in the overnight attack, local officials said.
Ukraine's PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky said Kyivhad launched rockets, jet and naval drones in a "unique operation" to strike the Russian base, although he did not mention grain terminals being hit.
Ukraine's military later said four Russian warships, including two frigates, were hit. Russia's military has not commented publicly commented on the issue.
"The occupying fleet and all the infrastructure that supports it will not be safe as long as Russian aggression continues," Zelensky said in a post on social media.
Most of Russia's Black Sea fleet is docked in Novorossiysk - one of the largest ports in Russia - after it was forced to vacate its former home base of Sevastopol, in the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula, which was too exposed to Ukrainian attacks.
A major grain trading company confirmed to Russia's TASS news agency that its terminal had been hit, while another told Reuters and Russian outlet RBK the same.
The Russian agriculture ministry announced on Wednesday that it was working to redirect cargo flows to ports in the Baltic and Caspian Seas as well as land routes. It did not make any reference to Ukraine's attacks but said it was "taking into account current logistical constraints".
Repeated explosions reportedly rang out over Novorossiysk throughout the night as air defences shot down aerial objects.
An emergency situation was declared in the city on Wednesday, after the barrage of drones struck areas around the port and damaged pipelines, suspending water supply for the city.
Elsewhere in the region a man was killed by drone debris, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. Several locations in the surrounding Krasnodar region were also struck by "several hundred drones" overnight, Kondratyev added, with dozens of buildings damaged, including homes.
For its part, Moscow launched aerial overnightstrikes which killed at least 11 civilians in Ukraine between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The majority were killed when Russia hit the southern city of Zaporizhzhia with ballistic missiles and glide bombs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
After a period of relative calm in the Black Sea, over the course of this summer Kyiv and Moscow resumed striking one another's ports and shipping.
The last remaining sea route out of Ukraine has been badly affected by several deadly Russian strikes on cargo ships and the port of Odesa, through which Moscow seeks to put off foreign companies from trading with Ukraine. In July, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) reported a 23% decrease in exports.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has grown increasingly adept at carrying out long-range strikes on Russian territory. Its recent attacks on vessels in the eastern Black Sea have disrupted Russia's grain shipments, too.
Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter - but according to a Moscow-based analytics company, exports for August could fall by more than half compared to the same month over the last five years due to the disruption in the Black and Azov seas.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of carrying out strikes on Russian grain and agricultural infrastructure, resulting in a hike in global food prices and growing grain shortages.
But Zakharova also said that for its part Russia would continue striking "facilities that [Ukraine's armed forces] use on the Black Sea to destabilise the navigation situation" until "the full elimination of threats to security projected to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea".
Concerns over how the war in Ukraine would affect global food supplies have been persistent since the start of Russia's invasion in 2022.
Together, Russia and Ukraine account for a significant share of global grain trade, particularly for buyers in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
The 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative, under which Russia agreed to lift its blockade on Ukraine's agricultural exports, did not last after Moscow resumed attacks on vessels using the maritime corridors to Odesa the following year. %!s()
About 100 family, friends and colleagues of Ann Widdecombe have attended a funeral service for the former Conservative minister, who was killed in her home in Devon last month.
Politicians and broadcasters were among the mourners at Buckfast Abbey in Buckfastleigh, a Catholic abbey in Devon where Widdecombe regularly worshipped and which she described as her “safe haven”.
… %!s()
A 90-minute requiem mass – where prayers are offered for the soul of the dead – was held for the former MP and Reform UK spokesperson.
Before the service, police officers and sniffer dogs could be seen searching the grounds.
Widdecombe died on 8 July, aged 78, after she was hit over the head with a hammer 21 times at her home in Haytor. Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was charged with her murder on 20 July.
It is understood that Reform leader, Nigel Farage, did not attend the funeral because he did not wish to be a distraction. He is expected to attend a public memorial planned for later this year.
Buckfast Abbey paid tribute to Ann Widdecombe, recalling her ‘sharp intellect’ and dedication to public service. Photograph: Mike Davies on behalf of Buckfast Abbey/PA
Those slated to attend included the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, the former Conservative justice minister Crispin Blunt and the broadcaster Iain Dale.
The private mass featured a homily from the Rt Rev David Charlesworth, the abbot of Buckfast. He said: “In the midst of the shock, clamour and sometimes unwarranted comment surrounding her death, our response is to pray for the repose of her soul, to give thanks for her fortitude, and offer Holy Mass in this abbey church, which Ann called her safe haven.”
An earlier statement from the abbey said: “Ann was a woman of profound faith, a faith which found expression in the public forum of politics. Ann was unafraid to express her unwavering convictions, formed through her Roman Catholic faith. She had a sharp intellect and was a dedicated public servant.”
Mourners arriving for the funeral. Photograph: Matt Keeble/PA
The order of service showed tributes would be paid by the Rev Roger Widdecombe, Widdecombe’s nephew, and Christian Sweeting, a close friend.
Donations made in her memory will be divided between the Leprosy Mission and Abound, supporting the projects of the Christian Endeavour Hostel in India.
Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP for Maidstone in 1987 and became a prisons minister in the 1990s. She later became a member of the European parliament for the Brexit party. At the time of her death she was a spokesperson on immigration and justice for Reform UK. She had also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother. %!s()
Simon Levy, the prolific sexual predator left free by police and prosecution errors to murder two women, will never leave prison after being sentenced to a rare whole-life tariff.
Judge Lucraft KC said Levy, 40, “ruthlessly” exploited women for his sexual pleasure, and had a proven history of sexual offending dating back to 2018.
… %!s()
Levy will be one of a group of just 76 people currently confined to jail for the rest of their lives.
Police have admitted that it is likely his second murder victim could have been saved were it not for errors by officers and the prosecution service.
The sentencing was watched by the families of his murder victims, Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, killed in south-east London in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, murdered five months later in Tottenham, north London. Wilkins was murdered just a day short of her 40th birthday and had 83 marks on her body.
Levy was also convicted of attacking and raping another woman, aged 35, in Tottenham in January 2025, known as “ED” to protect her anonymity. She survived and gave damning testimony of how she was beaten, suffocated and raped.
Levy, from Tottenham in north London, was on bail as a suspect for the first murder when he committed the second, after police said they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him.
Before the killings he already had an extensive history of sexual offending and was on the sex offender register, having been jailed in 2021 for two sexual assaults.
Sentencing Levy at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, the judge told him he was “someone who appears to have a morbid fascination with sex, rape and crime”. Lucraft added: “You will be in prison for life.”
Sheryl Wilkins (left) was murdered by Simon Levy five months after he killed Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo (right). Photograph: Metropolitan police
Months before the first killing, British Transport Police arrested Levy for sexual assaulting women on trains but made errors that delayed charging him, leaving him free.
In total he carried out 10 attacks on trains in London, many while on bail for the first set of train attacks. He was convicted of those crimes earlier this year.
The prosecutor, Tom Little KC, said Levy’s offending was so severe it deserved a whole-life tariff, and an aggravating feature was that sexual violence was “inextricably interwoven with the killing” of both victims.
The sentencing heard harrowing testimony from the victims’ loved ones that the women were vulnerable because they were sex workers and used drugs, but that they were much loved and central to the lives of their families.
Wilkins’s mother, Mary, said her daughter was a sacrifice to keep others safe: “You have done this before and wouldn’t have stopped. Our Sheryl has ended your chances of hurting anyone else.
“She lost her life to do this, but we truly believe Sheryl has saved countless women from being subjected to your disgusting and horrendous acts. I hope you never walk the streets again as you are a threat to all women.”
Wilkins’s sister, Lindsey Hicks, said: “You, Simon Levy, have destroyed our lives. Sheryl was a beautiful soul … the pain you have put her through is unbearable. I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life.”
The woman Levy attacked in January 2025 told the court she was a “mum and a classical pianist” from eastern Europe and had been trafficked into the UK and used drugs to deal with the pain.
She said Levy was a “monster” but said she was stronger now, and had vowed to overcome the “humiliation” he had inflicted on her. He had tried to steal her “soul and dignity” as he set on her, she said, and had left her for dead after raping and strangling her. She vowed: “‘I will play music again and smile.”
The woman said that when she first told officers of the attack they “spoke to me like a child”. This was in January 2025, before the other two murders.
Screengrab from a video of Judge Mark Lucraft KC at the Old Bailey, central London, sentencing Levy. Photograph: PA Video/PA
The judge and DCI Neil John, of the Met police, said the woman’s bravery was crucial to ensuring Levy was jailed for life. After all the Met’s failings, its murder team had arrested Levy for Wilkins’s murder, then found Levy’s first victim and got a full statement, and also linked him to the first murder, of Valencia-Trujillo.
John said: “I must also commend the victim-survivor who showed considerable bravery and presented vital evidence in court. Her testimony was crucial.”
The judge said: “It takes considerable courage to come to court and to give evidence … she should be commended for doing so.”
Victims groups have described the litany of failings in the Levy case as staggering. Government sources say they have no plans for an independent inquiry into the errors – but they come after other scandals highlighting catastrophic errors by police that led to women being seriously hurt or murdered.
Police errors were a factor in allowing the black cab rapist John Worboys to drug and rape scores of women.
And the murderer and kidnapper of Sarah Everard, Wayne Couzens, had earlier exposed himself repeatedly, but police had taken no action and left him as a serving police officer.
Another Met officer, David Carrick, was able to use his status to intimidate and sexually assault women, while complaint after complaint against him was ignored.
Harriet Wistrich, of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “The catalogue of combined failures in this case provides terrifying evidence that our criminal justice system is in a state of collapse.
“Given the series of catastrophic failures by the Met police on top of an appalling history of police failures … we must conclude that the Met police are not fit for purpose.”
Bodycam footage shows arrest of Simon Levy – video
Next year the official Angiolini inquiry, set up after the Couzens scandal, will report and is considering a finding that police are institutionally misogynist.
Kevin Southworth, the Met deputy assistant commissioner, said: “We know that this case has raised questions around the way Levy was handled and we have carefully reflected on the opportunities missed to prevent his violent offending.
“It highlighted that improvements needed to be made and we have not waited for the outcome of the IOPC’s report to implement change.”
Two Met officers are under investigation by the police watchdog in relation to the case. Levy’s risk assessment was downgraded by the Met in August 2024 from high to medium, in part because he was blind in one eye, believed by detectives to be a reprisal for the rape of another woman.
British Transport Police moved one officer, blamed for the delay in charging Levy for the train attacks, out of investigations, and verbally told off his supervisor, but have not referred themselves to the police watchdog.
Prosecutors admitted bungling efforts to have Levy remanded in custody after the first murder and after he was charged with the train attacks. They failed to provide three court hearings with key information demonstrating the full extent of the danger he posed to women.
A Crown Prosecution Service source said people have and will continue to be disciplined, but refused to give details.
When first arrested for murder, Levy, who lived with his mother and sister, was wearing children’s pyjamas. He needed an appropriate adult present when detectives interviewed him and had dyslexia, autism and learning difficulties. He is believed to have been long-term unemployed. %!s()
Trump claims pro-Israel lobbying groups no longer hold sway in Capitol Hill as they did some 20 years ago.
United States President Donald Trump took a jab at the dwindling power of pro-Israel lobbying groups in Congress and across Washington’s political spectrum in a pre-taped exclusive recording with the hyper-partisan show America Speaks on the MAGA-friendly network “Real America’s Voice” (RAV).
… %!s()
When asked by host Wayne Allyn Root in the interview that aired on Tuesday about the “problem,” of the “communist colour revolution”, taking over “the biggest cities in America”, Trump replied that the biggest change he had observed over the last decade is “what’s happened to Israel and Jewish people”, adding that if, “you go back 20, 25 years ago, they had the most powerful lobby in Washington. Now, everyone is … if you look at the House … you look at the Democrats in the House … it’s pretty amazing actually. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items
list 1 of 3Can Trump keep his ‘irritation’ with Netanyahu in check?
list 2 of 3Trump says his decoy plane faced ‘greater risk’ in secret flight change
list 3 of 3As Strait of Hormuz transit drops, Trump again says US has ‘control’
end of list
The comments come after a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs revealed a dramatic erosion of support for the US ally, with burgeoning opposition from Democrats and signs of polarisation among the Republican base.
This was not the first time the president had conceded Israel’s declining support in US politics. In September 2025, an interview with White House correspondent Reagan Reese of the Daily Caller, a right-wing website founded by former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, saw Trump acknowledging that he was aware of slumping support for Israel among young Republicans, later explaining to the Caller that Israel’s ironclad endorsement in Congress is now a thing of the past.
In the 42-minute audio clip with RAV, Trump went on to slight Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in US history and a reliably pro-Israel voice, “Look at Schumer. He’s become virtually a Palestinian,” he told the Caller.
Trump made similar comments in 2025, as well. During a March 2025 Oval Office meeting, Trump told reporters that “Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned,” and reiterated the comment at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in July. He berated the Democrat whom he claims was once “one hundred percent for Israel”.
At the time, Trump’s derogatory proclamations met with widespread disapproval and drew condemnation from Jewish and Muslim groups over what many saw as a xenophobic slur, regarding the president’s attempts to frame “Palestinian” as a political insult directed at Schumer.
In March 2024, the Senate minority leader had called for a leadership shake-up in Israel, after describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza”.
That was the Jewish-American Democrat’s most vociferous critique of Israel since its genocidal war in Gaza first began in October 2023, having also expressed support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The veteran senator is usually a staunch defender of Israel.
More recently, Schumer reprimanded the president over his handling of the US-Israel war on Iran, noting that his “rinse and repeat approach … isn’t a strategy”, but a “recipe for utter disaster”, adding, “we keep moving backward … it’s incredible what a fiasco this war is.” %!s()
