Latest news with #Nightly
West Australian
19 hours ago
- General
- West Australian
Pheobe Bishop: Mum Kylie Johnson pleads for information about daughter 20 days after she went missing
Vanished teenager Pheobe Bishop's mother is convinced someone has information about where she is, issuing an emotional plea for them to come forward. In a social media post on Wednesday morning, Kylie Johnson noted it had been 20 days since the 17-year-old had gone missing. Pheobe hasn't been seen since May 15 after failing to check in for her flight at Bundaberg Airport. She was on her way to visit her boyfriend in Western Australia. Her bank and social media accounts have not been touched and police say her disappearance is suspicious. 'Starting day 20 with you still missing Pheobe,' Ms Johnson wrote in a Facebook post alongside an image of a Queensland Police alert calling for information about her daughter's disappearance. 'I don't know if life will ever be the same again? I don't know if I will ever look at the world the same way that I did before May 15th. 'What I do know is that people have information on where you are Phee and we need that reported to police.' On Saturday, Ms Johnson spoke of her heartbreak and worry as detectives to try and piece together her daughter's movements. In a prepared statement Ms Johnson told how her family's life had been changed for the worse since Pheobe's disappearance. 'This is a pain no person or family should have to experience,' she said. 'Pheobe was a beautiful, loving, kind person and every day not knowing where she has been is devastating for us.' While she still held hope Pheobe would be found alive, Ms Johnson said 'if the worst case scenario has happened, I at least need to know where she is resting'. 'Someone knows something and as a mum I am asking you to come forward with your information.' Pheobe's housemates, Tanika Bromley and James Wood, told police that they drove Pheobe in their grey Hyundai ix35, dropping her and her luggage at the airport for the 8.30am flight. But police say she never made it. That car and the Gin Gin house the trio had been living in were declared crime scenes in the early stages of the police investigation. There is no suggestion that Mr Wood, 34, or Ms Bromley, 33, are involved in Pheobe's disappearance. Both Mr Wood and Ms Bromley are facing unrelated weapons charges, stemming from a police search of their Hyundai during the investigation into Pheobe's whereabouts. On Tuesday, the Nightly revealed that Queensland Police have yet to fly to meet with Pheobe's boyfriend for an in-person interview. The teen is not believed to be a suspect in the case and is thought to have cooperated with detectives. Police previously confirmed they had spoken to the 17-year-old. It's believed Pheobe tried to call her boyfriend as she was being driven to the airport but the call cut out. He told the Daily Mail he could not hear Pheobe during the call. Unaware that anything was wrong, he went to the Perth airport and waited hours in vain for her to arrive. The greater Gin Gin area remains the focus of the investigation. Police are appealing appeal to anyone with information, vision or sightings of a grey Hyundai ix35 between May 15 to 18 in the greater Gin Gin area to contact them. Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
What Lester Holt told Tom Llamas before handing over ‘NBC Nightly News'
Tom Llamas first stepped into NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters in 2000 as a fresh-faced intern. On Monday, he becomes part of television news history as the fifth anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' and the first Latino journalist to helm a daily English-language network evening newscast (one of his mentors, Jose Diaz-Balart, handles the Saturday edition of 'Nightly'). Llamas, 45, takes over for Lester Holt, who will move full time to NBC's 'Dateline' after a 10-year run in the anchor chair. Llamas will remain the anchor of 'Top Story,' a live, hourlong newscast on the network's free streaming platform NBC News Now. The son of Cuban immigrants, Llamas grew up in Miami, where he continues to have strong ties (pop superstar Gloria Estefan and 'Sabado Gigante' host Don Francisco attended a party in Florida to celebrate his promotion). He lives in Westchester County, N.Y., with his wife, Jennifer, three children aged 12, nine and seven, and a dedicated room for his vinyl record collection built from a decade of crate-digging while traveling around the world on assignment. He recently spoke with The Times about his new role. You've known Lester Holt since you were a 21-year-old production assistant at NBC News. What advice did he give you for your new role? He's been married to this job. And so I asked him about that, because my kids have always known me as a network correspondent and a network anchor. But he told me, 'Your life is going to change.' And he explained to me that everyone's going to want a piece of you and there's going to be a lot of demands, even more than you've ever experienced. And he's been right about that. He said, 'You have to make the right decisions when it comes to your career and your family.' My wife and my kids have known that sometimes I'll be at a little league game or I'll be at a school play, and I have to run and jump on a plane because there's breaking news. And they understand that their dad does that. But we always have conversations about it. And it's tough. Do your children watch 'NBC Nightly News' and 'Top Story'? Oh yeah. I had my 7-year-old explaining the election to his classmates. He was walking them through when President Biden stepped down and Kamala Harris took over the nomination. Sometimes it's tough. They were watching that night during Hurricane Milton last summer when a transformer exploded over my head, and that is a little scary. There were some text messages and calls to me quickly. Sometimes they watch a little too much and we have to turn it off. But they are very plugged-in; they know the world around them. It's just the same way I was raised. We watched news in English and Spanish as far back as I can remember. Because my parents were always searching for news out of Cuba. What are your early news viewing memories? I can really remember any time Fidel Castro was going to be interviewed. It was always a major moment, right? I remember my parents watching the interview and then deciding if it was a fair interview or not and having an open conversation about that. So I'm hearing about conversations of fairness my entire life. And I see what it means and how viewers react to that. Did that inspire you to go into the profession? I don't know if it was an inspiration as much as it was a testament of how important the news is. It's just that my family relied on the news. They wanted to know what was happening in their home country. They wanted to know what was happening in America. And they listened, and they trust these people. What made the powers that be decide that you should keep doing 'Top Story' while doing 'Nightly'? It was actually my idea. Right now, in this country, you've got to be everywhere. And I didn't want to lose what we've established for three and a half years. We just got nominated for an Emmy up against amazing legacy shows like 'Nightly News,' 'ABC World News Tonight' and the 'CBS Evening News.' To be in that circle with a streaming show that is three years old, that's been one of the greatest achievements of my career. Because this was a startup. And a lot of people said we couldn't do this, and we have. President Trump basically declared war on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. [The Federal Communications Commission has called for an investigation into NBC's parent firm Comcast for what it describes as 'DEI discrimination.'] Has that muted the achievement of being the first Latino to anchor an English-speaking nightly newscast? I don't think I got this job because I'm Hispanic; I think I got this job because I'm the best person for the job. And I know that's what NBC believes, too. My life story is something I'm very proud of. [My parents] essentially came to this country with nothing. They had no money, they barely spoke the language, and this incredible country gave them a second chance. It gave them a new home. And they taught me hard work, but they also taught me to love this country. And I do, I think this is the greatest place in the world, hands down. To become the anchor of 'Nightly News' tells me that the American dream is still very alive. You're from the streaming music generation, but you have a vinyl record collection. How did that happen? Ten or 12 years ago, I went to my friend's house in Los Angeles and he has a record player. I think he played 'Sticky Fingers' from the Rolling Stones. We just chilled and we listened to the album. And I thought, 'What a great experience.' Then I realized the other fun part about records is just finding them and collecting them, and trying to get original pressings. I have Wilson Pickett records that were made in Spain. I have Beatles records where the liner notes and the album covers are in different languages. I have a room where I have them — it feels like you're walking into a jukebox. It's where I read the paper sometimes. It's where I prepare for big election nights. I'll be in there for hours. It's how I relax. What's on your turntable at the moment? I'm in a bit of a hard-bop phase, so I'm listening to a lot of Art Blakey, a lot of Cannonball Adderley. I've been trying to find great live albums. I picked up this great five-record set from Bruce Springsteen, the run he had in the late '70s through the '80s. And a great album, which I got turned on to, is Elvis Presley's 'From Elvis in Memphis.' He recorded that in 1969, when Jimi Hendrix was taking off and Woodstock was happening. And it's just a very country Americana album with beautiful songs. It's got the Memphis Boys backing him. You have good taste in music. I appreciate it.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lester Holt's last night as anchor of 'NBC Nightly News'
NEW YORK, N.Y. (WSAV) — On Friday, Lester Holt will step down from 'NBC Nightly News.' On Monday, Tom Llamas takes over anchoring duties. Holt has been a steady presence in the anchor seat for more than a decade. And, while Holt isn't leaving NBC completely — he will continue to host 'Dateline NBC,' he will be missed by those who have turned to him during many major events over the last decade. He reported weeknights during the pandemic, international conflicts and presidential elections, just to name a few. Earlier this month, Holt spoke with 'Variety' about his impending departure and his new role. 'The big buy-in was to be able to do more of the hours,' Holt told Variety. 'I once spent two nights in prison for a Dateline, and I've done heartbreaking stories on the asthma crisis and the economy. I've done a lot of things that are outside of what many would think is a traditional Dateline, but I want to do more of those, and I want to be able to tell a producer, 'Yes, I'll be there for that interview next week,' because I won't be jumping after whatever is happening for Nightly.' During the interview, Holt discussed how his decision didn't come quickly. 'It wasn't like one moment of epiphany. I never saw myself doing this job forever. I decided that I needed to come off the Nightly gig, but I still had gas in the tank.' You can see Lester Holt's final night as anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' Friday following WSAV News 3 at 6. Tom Llamas will take over as anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' on Monday, June 2. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
19-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Donald Trump's new ‘flying palace' won't be much like Air Force One
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING — President Donald Trump is back in Washington after a four-day trip around the Middle East that both put more miles on the aging current Air Force One and set the stage for what Trump hopes will be a shiny new model. During the trip, Trump indicated that he would accept a gift plane from the Qatari royal family to serve as a new official presidential aircraft. There are currently two identical 747-200s as well as some smaller presidential aircraft that are part of the 'Air Force One' fleet. This announcement riled up everyone from pro-Trump influencer Laura Loomer to Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who called the gift 'the definition of corruption.' But Trump might be especially licking his chops at the idea of a new presidential aircraft because of the state of the old ones, in use since 1990, with conversations to replace them since the Obama administration. In 2018, the Air Force formalized a contract with Boeing to deliver two new planes, which are behind schedule. The Qatari jet is loaded with modern amenities and opulence. What it won't be equipped for in the same way is the ability to serve as a 'flying White House,' according to Frank Kendall, who served as the Secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration. To understand more about the state of play of the current and future Air Force One, Nightly spoke with Kendall. This interview has been edited. What are the major differences between a commercial 747 and Air Force One? It's a pretty dramatic difference. One way to get a frame of reference is a commercial aircraft of this size is going to cost roughly $200 million to $300 million. Air Force One costs about $2 billion, and the reason is that it's a flying White House. You try to put onto the aircraft everything that the president would get for support when he's in the White House. The capabilities of the Situation Room, full medical support, the ability to host people, because it's an aircraft that has to go to foreign places and carry the President and his staff and so on. You have support capabilities, food service and storage capacity for that long enough to cover the duration of a trip. You also have some things there for security, Secret Service and the White House put extensive security on the aircraft. When you add all those things together, they're expensive and they also are very hard to get into an airplane. So what we always struggle with in these aircrafts is getting into them everything that the White House team wants to have for the support of the president. And what are the differences between the plane Qatar is offering and Air Force One? Essentially, it's a flying palace. It's very luxurious on the inside. It's all custom printed out to whatever specifications that the customer may have. And it's often, quite frankly, very opulent. Things like either gold- or platinum-plated fixtures, silk carpeting and wall coverings, all custom made, for a very luxurious period of time while you're flying on the airplane. But what it doesn't have to that point is many of the capabilities that you're talking about with Air Force One. You would not have any of the ability to have a nuclear conference call, highly secure communications, highly reliable communications of various types. Protective measures. There might be some medical support on board for whoever the owner was, but nothing like what you'd have for the president, and there wouldn't be any storage capacity for support for the president and staff over a long period of time. This situation began because of the difficulties that Boeing has had delivering their orders for a new Air Force One on time. Can you explain the timeline and Boeing's struggles? Yeah, the order has been out for about 10 years now. You can foresee when these airplanes are going to wear out, and you can try to keep maintaining airplanes longer than really makes economic sense to do. During the first Trump administration, a price was set between the CEO of Boeing and President Trump, at $3.9 billion for two aircrafts, and Boeing took a fixed price contract to deliver to the requirements. And they have really, really struggled to do that. They've lost, I think, over $2 billion already on the program, and have found some issues they didn't anticipate. Boeing's just really struggled to try to get these two airplanes delivered. When you worked in the Obama administration, you were also discussing a new Air Force One purchase, correct? We hadn't finalized the contract. We had decided on a 747, there wasn't really much choice about that. They were coming out of production, and we were basically going to take an aircraft and modify it. One of the problems they got into was structural issues. That was not on our radar or something we expected to see happen. What are the specific security components of Air Force One? I can say, basically communications should be reliable under almost any circumstances, to other key leadership, to foreign leaders. You might need to talk to governors in a national disaster, for example. So we try to put a pretty complete suite of communications capabilities that are going to be dependable. You need to have the ability to do conference calls, for example; that's an important part of doing the work of the president. I can't really say much of anything about what might be there to provide for his security while he's on the airplane. Sure, there are measures to do that, and there have been some stories I've seen in the press about what those might be, but I don't think I'm allowed to say anything specific about that. What are the influence concerns with Qatar potentially providing a new Air Force One? Again, I'm going off of press reports about business dealings that the Trump business organization, as well as the Trump family, has with Qatar. As far as the U.S. relationship with Qatar, there may be issues there as well. If nothing else, the appearance here is not attractive. As a government person of any type, I would not have been allowed to accept gifts. The president could potentially accept this, I believe, on behalf of the American people if it became property of the American people; the analogy to the Statue of Liberty has been made sometimes. But the problem with this, as I understand it, is he's going to take the airplane with him when he leaves office. It's going to go to his personal presidential library, which is not a government institution, and having that as part of the condition of the gift makes it personal. One other issue that's getting a very strong reaction from people in his own party is, we don't want our American president flying on a gift from Qatar. This is the plane that represents America. It represents the American people. It represents the office of the presidency. It's not just about Donald Trump. The president has the right to waive any concerns about security or influence in the purchase of the aircraft though, correct? The requirements are not set by statute. They're not provided by Congress. These are things that we determine internally in the federal government are military or operational necessities. The president, ultimately, is in charge. He's the commander-in-chief, he's the chief executive. So he can choose, in an extreme example, to say 'I don't want any of this stuff. I will just put the vice president in charge while I'm on the airplane.' No president's ever done that, but that's a possibility. There's an office that works for him that sets those requirements, but it works for him, and so if he prioritizes, as appears to have happened in this case, to get a new airplane with the colors he prefers while he's in office, he has latitude as the commander-in-chief to say 'I'm just going to take the plane. I'll take whatever communications are already on there.' A lot of people will push back and try to get him to do more than that, but at the end of the day, he's in charge. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at cmchugh@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh. What'd I Miss? — Trump says Russia and Ukraine will 'immediately' start ceasefire talks: President Donald Trump expressed optimism following a two-hour phone call today with Russian President Vladimir Putin about 'immediately' starting ceasefire talks with Ukraine, but seemed to signal that the U.S. would no longer seek to play a mediating role in ending the three-year war. 'The conditions for [a ceasefire] will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know the details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,' Trump wrote in a TruthSocial post. — Republicans tweak megabill's SNAP, Medicaid provisions: The GOP megabill is undergoing some significant changes in the House as conservative hard-liners, moderates and blue-state Republicans all angle to shape the bill to their liking ahead of a potential floor vote this week. Conservatives are still pushing for controversial changes to the federal share of Medicaid payments, which could lead to major benefit cuts, but House Republican leadership, moderates and the White House are all still resisting that effort, according to two Republicans granted anonymity to describe the private talks. Medicaid work requirements, though, are expected to be phased in two years, addressing the hard-liners' push to speed up the previously planned 2029 implementation. — Federal judge rules Trump administration's efforts to dismantle US Institute of Peace are 'unlawful': A federal judge blocked the Trump administration today from dismantling the embattled U.S. Institute of Peace, the independent, congressionally funded organization taken over by the Department of Government Efficiency two months ago. In a memorandum opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell argued that the actions taken by administration officials and DOGE to break apart USIP were 'unlawful' and that the removal of the institute's president, George Moose, subsequently installing DOGE official Kenneth Jackson as his replacement and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration must be declared 'null and void.' — Appeals court questions EPA's termination of $20B climate grants: A panel of appellate judges appeared skeptical today of EPA's reasons for terminating $20 billion in Biden-era climate grants, but it indicated the dispute could end up in a different court. During over two hours of oral arguments, the three judges questioned the timing and authority of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's termination of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants, which were intended to support climate and affordable housing projects using funds from Democrats' climate law. — Trump signs Take It Down Act, criminalizing deepfake and revenge porn: President Donald Trump signed a law today criminalizing the spread of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes and revenge porn. The Rose Garden ceremony, dotted with cabinet officials and lawmakers, marks a major policy win for first lady Melania Trump, who championed the Take It Down Act as part of her revitalized Be Best initiative. AROUND THE WORLD HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT — Britain and the European Union have agreed to cooperate more closely on support for Ukraine, while promising a further deal allowing U.K. companies to benefit from an EU plan to boost defense spending. The partnership struck by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at today's summit in London says the two sides will 'swiftly explore' the potential for the U.K. to gain access to a €150 billion loan program for defense procurement. The Commission's fund allows states within the bloc to jointly procure weapons but is closed to non-EU countries that do not have a defense deal with the EU. Both sides raised expectations that a further agreement on admitting British firms to the program would be agreed shortly, with von der Leyen specifying it could come within 'only a few weeks.' MINERAL WATER-GATE — Call it the French Watergate. The iconic French mineral water brand Perrier is at the center of a fresh scandal that threatens to bubble over and hit the highest levels of government. Nestlé Waters lobbied France's government, including people close to French President Emmanuel Macron, to make possible the sale of branded mineral water that circumvented stringent French regulations, effectively misleading consumers, according to a damning Senate report released today. At the heart of the accusations are Nestlé Waters's allegedly unauthorized use of carbon filters and ultraviolet light — methods normally used on tap water — to treat mineral water for several of its brands, including its flagship sparkling water Perrier. But France's stringent regulations aim to ensure that natural mineral water remains pure and unaltered, justifying the steep price tag paid by consumers. Anger over the alleged lobbying scandal threatens to further hurt an already embattled Macron as he fights political deadlock and low approval ratings. Asked about the Élysée's role in the Nestlé Waters case in February, Macron said he was 'not aware of such things' and that there had been no 'agreement' or 'collusion.' NOT WELCOME — Russia announced today it would ban human rights NGO Amnesty International in the Kremlin's latest crackdown on civil society groups opposing its war in Ukraine. The federal prosecutor's office declared in a statement that Amnesty was the 'center of preparation of global Russophobic projects' and was in league with Ukraine, which Russia has waged war on for more than a decade. 'They justify the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, call for an increase in their funding, insist on the political and economic isolation of our country,' the prosecutor's office said, designating Amnesty 'undesirable,' meaning it cannot operate in Russia. Since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Amnesty — which says it campaigns for human rights worldwide — has documented Russian war crimes and called for the perpetrators to be held to account. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP DIGITAL DETOX — As people become more addicted to their phones, a growing coalition is choosing to limit their screen time — or abstain from smartphones altogether. There's even a nickname for them — the 'appstinent' — a group of people who worry their phones make them less social and productive and are actually willing to do something to fix the issue. Some simply delete social media while others turn to so-called dumb phones, equipped with call and text but not email or social media. But in a digitally dependent world, it's not so simple to just go back to using a flip phone, with issues like being unable to access some forms of two-factor authentication. Julia Pugachevsky reports for Business Insider. 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Perth Now
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
‘White powder': Internet erupts over Macron, Starmer video
A video of French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sparked a social media firestorm with wild allegations that it showed the trio with 'white powder'. The video, captured while Mr Macron, Sir Starmer and Mr Merz were on a train following talks in Ukraine, shows the French President reach for a white object on the table as media enter the carriage. The white object is swiftly taken from the table and concealed out of sight in Mr Macron's right hand, before he subtly moves it to his left hand which he then keeps under the table. The video also shows another small straight object on the table, which is moved underneath a manila folder. Despite there being no evidence, social media has blown up with theories speculating that the items swept out of sight were illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia. The Nightly does not imply any wrongdoing or the presence of any illicit substances. Dr Simon Goddek posted a video of the leaders on X, writing: 'Macron, Starmer, and Merz caught on video on their return from Kiev.' 'A bag of white powder on the table. Macron quickly pockets it, Merz hides the spoon,' he alleged. If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. French media labelled the online speculation 'conspiracy theories', quickly attempting to set the record straight. 'High-quality photographs and videos, such as those taken by the AFP or AP news agencies, show that the mysterious bag of white powder is actually a handkerchief rolled into a ball that was placed on the table,' Libération wrote online. 'These conspiracy accusations fit with the narrative that Western elites are depraved and approach war unconsciously.' As for the straight object that some online users speculated was a spoon, reports suggest it could have been a tooth pick or a drink stirrer. A zoomed in view of a photo captured aboard the train. Credit: Getty Despite the French publication's clarification on the object, and images showing a tissue, many online appear to be enjoying the speculation.
