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Quentin Tarantino Watch Yourself, Brad Pitt!!! Alleged Tense Moment on 'Hollywood' Set Published May 21, 2026 3:51 PM PDT Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt made a classic with "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" ...
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Mackenzie Shirilla’s aunt tried to defend her niece in her murder case ... telling the judge Mackenzie was in "very much in love" with her boyfriend before the fatal car crash ... TMZ has learned.
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Kyle Busch NASCAR Legend Dead At 41 Published May 21, 2026 2:44 PM PDT NASCAR legend Kyle Busch has tragically died at the age of 41. Busch's racing team, Richard Childress Racing, and NASCAR, just
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum receives European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a meeting to sign deals on trade, security and cooperation, at the National Palace, in Mexico City, Mexico May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Raquel
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Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the US to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the State Department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on yesterday, in a move criticised by aid groups.USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted."An alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply," said the US Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight of USCIS."This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes."The USCIS said the new policy will free up agency resources to focus on processing other cases.HIAS, an aid group that provides services to refugees, among other groups of immigrants, said USCIS was forcing survivors of trafficking and abused and neglected children to return to the dangerous countries they fled in order to process their applications for green cards granting them permanent residency in the US Friday's policy change is the latest in a series of steps taken by US President Donald Trump over the last year to tighten migration to the US. Last year, the Trump administration moved to shorten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media.In January, the State Department announced that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump took office the year before. Related Story
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Thousands of protesters waving Cuban flags rallied in front of the American embassy in Havana on Friday, in a show of support for ex-president Raul Castro following his US indictment.'Long live Raul!' chanted the group, which included the Caribbean island's current president and other top officials, clad in military fatigues.The 94-year-old brother of Fidel Castro was slapped with murder and other charges on Wednesday over the 1996 downing of two civilian planes — the latest tightening of US President Donald Trump's pressure campaign against Cuba's communist leaders.Raul Castro, who is increasingly frail, did not attend the rally held at a park across the street from the US embassy that has been dubbed the 'Anti-Imperialist Platform.' However, his children were present, including his lawmaker daughter Mariela Castro and son Alejandro Castro, a key figure in secret talks that led to a historic rapprochement with the US under Raul Castro and former president Barack Obama in 2015.Many of the participants waved pictures of the bespectacled Castro, who led the country for 15 years after succeeding Fidel in 2006.His indictment has augmented fears that the US may try to overthrow Cuba's government after a months-long pressure campaign, including a crippling oil embargo.In January, Washington used drug charges as a pretext to snatch Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro from a compound in Caracas and whisk him to the US to face trial.Speaking to reporters, Mariela Castro dismissed the likelihood of her father suffering a similar fate.'I am not afraid because I know they (the US) won't do it,' she said, in the Castro family's first reaction to the indictment. She said that when the charges are mentioned, her father 'smiles like an old guerrilla fighter who knows he's safe, with one foot in the stirrup, and that no one is going to kidnap him.'Many attending the rally work for the state.Gilberto Gonzalez, a 59-year-old employee of a state-owned flour mill said he was driven by 'patriotism' to show solidarity with Castro.'We are reaffirming the conviction we have to continue fighting and support our General Raul Castro, who has been unjustly accused in the US.'Gerardo Hernandez, a former Cuban spy in the US who was released in 2015, conveyed a message to the crowd from Castro.The former president 'says he thanks our people from the bottom of his heart for their solidarity' and 'that as long as he lives, he will continue to lead our people and defend our revolution,' Hernandez said.
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The new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Kevin Warsh speaks during a swearing-in ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s suggestion that independence may not extend fully to the Fed’s crisis-fighting role abroad has unsettled central banking peers, who fear any reduction in its global footprint could risk market stability. With the dollar by far the world’s most used currency, the US central bank plays a pivotal role in stabilising financial markets during periods of stress. It has expanded its crisis-fighting tools over time to keep funding flowing. But Warsh, who was sworn in as Federal Reserve Chair on Friday raised eyebrows by suggesting that outside monetary policy, including in international finance, the Fed needs to work closely with the presidential administration and Congress. Warsh told his confirmation hearing that independence in setting interest rates did not fully extend to the Fed’s broader operations, prompting some to question whether it would remain fast and decisive when the next crisis hits. On- and off-the-record comments from more than half a dozen policymakers indicate they are attentive to Warsh’s remarks and await clarification. But they anticipate no big policy change for now, if only because Fed liquidity facilities ultimately protect the US economy as much as those of global partners. A less reliable Fed would encourage countries to keep moving away from the dollar, extending and probably accelerating a 15-year fall in the greenback’s global market share, they said. There is little central banks can do in the short term if the Fed curbs access to dollars, however, and even the suggestion that liquidity lines may not be readily available could generate market turbulence. “It’s a double-edged sword,” said one European Central Bank policymaker, who declined to be named. “The world relies on the dollar and if the dollar is not readily available, everybody pays a price - the US included.” The Fed currently provides dollars on demand to the ECB and the central banks of Canada, Japan, Britain and Switzerland, against collateral, via standing liquidity tools. Other central banks can also access dollars through a more onerous facility. The justification for that backstop is that commercial banks overseas sit on trillions of dollars worth of US Treasury bonds, and that market stress could force them to sell quickly to access cash, importing turbulence to the United States. Inserting politics into the provision of dollars would not be new. The Trump administration gave Argentina a $20bn liquidity line ahead of elections last year, and Gulf and Asian nations recently requested liquidity lines to help deal with energy shocks and the fallout from the Iran war. Korean President Lee Jae Myung reportedly raised the issue during a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this month. Nomura Research Institute economist Takahide Kiuchi, a former BOJ board member, noted the impact Fed policies can have on other markets. “Warsh could attempt a tightrope of conducting dovish interest rate policy that aligns with Trump’s hopes, while guiding a hawkish balance sheet policy,” Kiuchi said. “Any rupture in the US market caused by such Fed moves, coupled with rising oil prices from the Iran war, could further push up 10-year Japanese Government Bond yields. That, in turn, could hurt Japan’s economy and stock prices.” Another source argued that it was in the Fed’s interest to keep dollars flowing from abroad to help finance the high US budget deficit. A less reliable Fed could ultimately channel market demand towards the euro, the world’s second most-traded currency. The ECB has made efforts to increase its market share and widen euro availability. But the single currency’s architecture is not yet adequate to take on a significantly greater role and vast internal reforms are still needed, a third source said.
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Gabriel Attal, once France's youngest prime minister, said Friday he would run for president next year when Emmanuel Macron steps down, becoming the second prominent centrist to challenge the far right."I can't take this kind of French politics anymore, where it's just 50 shades of managing decline," said the 37-year-old."I have decided to run for president," he said under a blazing sun in the southern village of Mur-de-Barrez.Attal joins a crowded field of candidates, including 55-year-old Edouard Philippe, an experienced centre-right former prime minister, and hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, 74.Attal chose to announce his bid in rural France, where the centrists hope to strengthen their performance against the ascending far-right National Rally (RN) party.National Rally is banking on its best chance yet at winning power next year, with either Marine Le Pen, 57, or Jordan Bardella, 30, running for the country's top job.The newest presidential candidate, an openly gay Parisian known for his confidence and good looks, made history when he became France's youngest ever prime minister at the age of 34 in 2024.He has had a meteoric rise in politics that has invoked comparisons with that of his mentor, and was dubbed by some a "mini-Macron" when he was appointed prime minister.Macron was 39 when he won the Elysee Palace, becoming the youngest ever head of state since Napoleon.Attal will turn 38 next March, just ahead of the presidential election scheduled for April.- 'Communications pro' -In what appeared to be a move laying the ground for his bid at the presidency, Attal opened up about his love life in a book published last month.He devoted a chapter to "the man of my life", European commissioner and former minister Stephane Sejourne.Attal will face fierce competition from Philippe, a former head of government who leads his own Horizons party, and analysts question his ability to lead the centrist camp.One centrist, speaking on condition of anonymity, described Attal as "above all a communications pro"."But that does not at all reflect a coherent political offering."Philippe is currently seen as better placed in polls, which suggest the mayor of the northern city of Le Havre could win the election in a runoff against the far right."Attal will not be president," said a senior member of Philippe's party. "People will not vote for Macron a third time."Attal distanced himself from the unpopular Macron after the president dissolved French parliament's lower house in 2024, cutting short his brief tenure as prime minister.Macron's gamble was intended to stave off the advance of the far right, but the snap polls backfired, leading to months of political deadlock.Attal has quickly risen through the ranks since entering politics in his early 20s.He was elected to France's lower house of parliament in 2017 and later served as government spokesperson and budget minister.As education minister between 2023 and 2024, he tackled bullying and also banned pupils from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting garment from the shoulders to the feet worn by some Muslim women.Macron's Renaissance party has often been criticised for its weak local roots, and Attal chose to launch his presidential bid in Mur-de-Barrez to send a message of solidarity with ordinary people."The day we stay locked in Parisian offices, in ministries, is the day politics stops," he said. Related Story
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Security personnel speak before the Friday prayers yesterday at the Grand Mosque ahead of the start of Haj in the holy city of Makkah. – Reuters More than 1mn Muslims are gathering in Makkah for the Haj pilgrimage overshadowed by the Middle East war, as animosity smoulders across the region despite a fragile ceasefire.This year's rites, drawing Muslim worshippers from across the world, including Iran, follow waves of Iranian attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours.Saudi officials are keen to keep conflict far from the minds of visitors, who have travelled long distances for one of the world's biggest annual pilgrimages.However, for Fatima, a 36-year-old German housewife travelling with her family, "there was no second thought" about coming to Makkah."We know we are at the safest place in the world," she told AFP.As of this week, more than 1.2mn pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the multi-day pilgrimage starting on Monday, officials said.Because of the "wartime situation", only about 30,000 Iranian pilgrims out of an expected 86,700 had travelled to Saudi Arabia for Haj, according to the IRNA state news agency.The Haj has been a point of tension in the past between Riyadh and Tehran, with repeated outbreaks of violence and unrest involving Iranian visitors.In the years following Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Saudi authorities accused Iranian pilgrims of triggering stampedes and other violence, while also chanting political slogans.A Saudi state broadcaster this week posted a warning from the interior ministry saying that any chanting or raising political or sectarian flags was strictly prohibited during the Haj.Relations were severed in 2016 after protesters attacked Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad.No Iranian pilgrims were allowed that year, as the two sides were unable to organise a protocol for them to attend.Experts, however, said authorities would do their utmost to prevent any unrest from rattling this year's pilgrimage."Saudi Arabia and Iran have kept their political engagement open" despite the war, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy.The two sides only re-established relations in a surprise 2023 deal brokered by China, which saw tensions ease and embassies reopen in their respective capitals.However, the detente was upended following the US and Israeli attack on Iran in late February that set off Iran's wide-ranging retaliation against its Gulf neighbours.Energy installations, airports, export terminals, ports and other civilian infrastructure were targeted by Tehran, as Iranian attacks on the Strait of Hormuz choked Gulf oil and gas exports to the outside world.Despite the ongoing situation, pilgrims were overcome with emotion as they kickstarted the Haj pilgrimage in Makkah."Haj has been the dream of a lifetime for me," Ahmed Abo Seta, 47, told AFP. "And it is finally coming true." Related Story
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US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Kevin Warsh in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on May 22, 2026. The
