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Charlize Theron said that she is "not haunted" by her father fatally shooting her father in self-defense when she was 15.

Key points

• The Atomic Blonde actress said that her mom immediately wanted to "move on" after the incident: "Not necessarily the healthiest thing."

• "It really did change our relationship," Theron added.

Charlize Theronis reflecting on her mother fatally shooting her father.

TheAtomic Blondeactressspoke at lengthabout her mom protecting her from an attack from her alcoholic father when she was 15.

"I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone," Theron toldThe New York Times. "I never knew about a story like that. When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore."

Theron detailed how she and her mother stopped by her uncle's house after a trip to the movie theater when she inadvertently offended her inebriated father by not greeting him upon arrival. "I had to pee really badly. So I ran into the house to get to the toilet, and he took that as me being rude, because I didn’t stop and say hello to everybody," she explained. "Big thing in South Africa, the kind of respect that you have to have for elders. And he was in a state where he just spiraled. Like: 'Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?'"

After she got home, Theron instructed her mother to protect her from a confrontation with her dad. "I knew he was mad at me. So I said to her, 'When he eventually decides to come home, please tell him I’m asleep,'" she recalled. "I went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared. My window faced the driveway, and I could tell the level of anger, frustration or unhappiness by the way he drove in. The way that he drove into that property that night, I can’t explain it to you. I just knew something bad was going to happen."

TheMad Max: Fury Roadstar said that her father "broke into the house" alongside his brother, noting that he used firearms to break through the home's security measures. "He shot through the steel doors to get in, making it very clear that he was going to kill us," Theron remembered. "We knew it was serious, and so by the time he broke into the first gate, my mom ran to the safe to get her gun. She came into my bedroom. The two of us were holding the door with our bodies because there wasn’t a lock on it."

Theron said that her father fired multiple shots at her and her mother in her room. "He just stepped back and started shooting through the door. And this is the crazy thing: Not one bullet hit us," she said. "The messaging was very clear.I’m going to kill you tonight. You think I can’t come into this door? Watch me. I’m going to go to the safe. I’m going to get the shotgun."

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TheMonsteractress explained how her mother shot both her uncle and her father. "He walked to the safe, and my mom pulled the door open while the brother was still standing there," she said. "The brother ran down the hallway, and she shot one bullet down the hallway that ricocheted seven times and shot him in the hand. It’s stuff you can’t explain. And then she followed my father, who was by then opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him."

Theron said that her mother didn't want to process the incident after her father died from the gunshot wound.

"She picked right up," she remembered. "The next morning she sent me to school. She was just like, We’re going to move on. Not necessarily the healthiest thing, but it worked for us."

Theron added, "She wanted me to forget about it. She didn’t want me to sit in it. We didn’t have therapists around, so in her head the best therapy was, We’ve got to move on."

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TheFate of the Furiousactress said that her bond with her mother grew stronger after that fateful night. "It really did change our relationship," she said. "We were always very close. We felt like a team. But that night changed it because in retrospect, once I got out of the shock of it, I realized that she saved my life. Which is a big thing."

Theron is next set to appear in the survival thrillerApex, which hits Netflix next week. She will also star in Christopher Nolan'sThe Odyssey, which recentlyrevealed that she will play the nymph Calypso.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

Washington —Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia announced on Monday that his daughter Madison has died following a lengthy battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues. She was 36.

"We are heartbroken beyond words by the passing of our beloved daughter, Madison," Warner and his wife, Lisa Collis, wrote in a statementsharedon social media. "She filled our lives with love and laughter, and her absence leaves an immeasurable void."

The couple said they are "grateful for the loving support of friends and family during this difficult time" and asked for privacy as they "navigate this profound loss."

Warner has been in the Senate since 2009, after serving as governor of Virginia. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia, and have two other daughters — Gillian and Eliza.

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Warner has been an advocate for diabetes research in the Senate, often citing his own family's experience having a daughter with Type 1 diabetes. He's spoken out about makinginsulin more affordableand sponsored legislation to increase access todiabetes caremore broadly.

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HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s government on Monday confirmed that it had recently met with U.S. officials on the island as tensions between the two sides remain high over the U.S. energy blockade of theCaribbean country.

Senior U.S. State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity,had said on Fridaythat American diplomats flew earlier in April to the island for the first time since 2016 in a new diplomatic push. Neither U.S. nor Cuban officials have said exactly when the meeting took place nor which U.S. officials took part.

Alejandro García del Toro, deputy director general in charge of U.S. affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday that the U.S. delegation included assistant secretaries of state, and that the Cuban delegation included representatives at the level of deputy foreign minister.

The exchange was conducted “respectfully and professionally," he said, adding that the U.S. delegation did not issue any threats or deadlines as has been reported in some U.S. media.

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“The elimination of the energy embargo against the country was a top priority for our delegation,” García del Toro said. “This act of economic coercion is an unjustified punishment of the entire Cuban population.”

He added: “It is also a form of global blackmail against sovereign states, which have every right to export fuel to Cuba, under the rules that govern free trade.”

Among conditions for a lifting ofU.S. sanctions on Cuba, Washington is pressing the Cuban government to end political repression, release political prisoners and liberalize its ailing economy.

In late January, U.S. Donald Trumpthreatened tariffson any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba. Trump also has threatened to intervene in the country, and Cuban PresidentMiguel Díaz-Canelsaid last week thathis country is prepared to fightif that should happen.

ANTALYA, April 18 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper ‌said on Saturday ‌the Strait of Hormuz had yet ​to return to normal operations despite a ceasefire in the Iran war, and ‌urged Tehran ⁠to allow global shipping to resume fully.

"We ⁠are at a critical diplomatic moment with a ​ceasefire now ​in place ... ​but we ‌don't yet have normal passage through the strait", Cooper told Reuters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum ‌in Antalya.

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She said ​the truce needed ​to ​develop into a ‌lasting peace, adding that ​restoring ​shipping through the waterway was urgent for the ​global ‌economy.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing ​by Jonathan Spicer and ​Louise Heavens)

A former deputy cabinet secretary has said theprime ministerthrewOlly Robbins“under the bus” in the wake of the LordPeter Mandelson’s vetting revelations.

SirKeir Starmerfired theForeign Office’s most senior civil servant after it was revealed that the department overruled security vetting for LordMandelson's appointment as UK ambassador to the US.

Downing Streetis attempting to claim thatSir Keirwas only made aware of the issue this week when documents detailing his appointment came to light.

The prime minister has said it was “staggering” and “unforgivable” that he had not been told earlier, adding he was "furious".

However,the Independent revealed on 11 September last yearthatMI6 had failed to clear the then-Labourpeer, largely because of concerns over his business links to China.

Those concerns were put to No10, but the then-director of communications, Tim Allan, insisted: “Vetting done by FCDO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] in normal way”.

The former top civil servant has been formally asked to give evidence on the vetting of Lord Mandelson next week.

He previously told a Commons committee it was “clear that the prime minister wanted to make this appointment himself”. In the grilling in November, Sir Olly said he said he understood that Sir Keir “took advice and formed a view himself, and we then acted on that view”.

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Helen MacNamara, a former deputy cabinet secretary and co-host of The Independent’s politics podcastIn The Room,spoke about the topicin an exclusive clipand said that Sir Olly was “following [the PM’s] judgement”.

Helen and Cleo have already examined the PM’sobsession with ‘process’ in relation to Mr Mandelsonand spent an episode painfully combing through thefirst Mandelson tranchein previous episodes.

On Robbins, MacNamara said: “Some of the time, what you are doing as a very senior civil servant is deciding to take the risk onto yourself rather than pass everything up the chain. Sometimes you're saying that the right thing to do here is, I will not say this to the prime minister in all of the detail. I will take responsibility for holding some of this information myself because that is the right thing to do.

“If this can happen to Ollie Robbins with all of his skills, all of his ability, all of the things that he actually offers to the country day in, day out, and yet still, he's somehow being fired for the prime minister's misjudgment, then what signal does that send to everybody else?

She criticised the prime minister for axing Sir Olly, calling it a “reactive” and a “throwing under the bus”.

She added: “Let Olly explain in public actually what he's done and what he's not done. And then you can make a judgment.

“Doing exactly what the prime minister wanted him to do last January on the basis of information that the prime minister was aware of, because even by the standards, if that's the case, that's totally unacceptable.”

Watch Helen and Cleo’sfull reaction here

Former deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara and ex-No 10 special advisor Cleo Watson are the co-hosts of The Independent’s politics podcast,In the Room. New episodes drop every Friday. Listen onApple PodcastsandSpotify, or watch onYouTube.

Spirit Airlineshas asked theTrumpadministration for an emergency bailout as it facesthe threat of liquidationoverrising fuel costscaused by theIran war, according to reports.

The budget carrier has struggled to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and adapt to shifting demand, as passengers favored full-service airlines when travel resumed. Spirit Airlinesended up filing for bankruptcy twice, first in November 2024 and then in August 2025. By its first bankruptcy filing,it had lost more than $2.5 billion since 2020.

Spirit Airlines appeared to be making a comeback after reaching an agreement with creditors on a plan to slash debt and reduce operational costs. It was expected to emerge from bankruptcy this summer, until the U.S. and Israel beganlaunching strikes against Iranon February 28.

When Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation,oil prices surged. Tehran announced Friday thatthe vital oil passageway was reopened to commercial traffic.

Spirit Airlines had planned for fuel costs averaging about $2.24 per gallon this year and $2.14 next year,Reutersreported. But jet fuel prices have now spiked to around $4.24 per gallon, according to the publication.

Bloombergreported Wednesday that Spirit was at risk of being liquidated over the rising jet fuel prices. The publication’s sources said a decision to liquidate could come as soon as this week, but a Reuters source said that there are no plans for the airline to liquidate in the coming days.

Spirit Airlines toldThe IndependentThursday, “We don’t comment on market rumors and speculation. Our operations continue as normal.”

With talk of the carrier potentially liquidating, travel experts warned that customers with booked flights could end up stranded.

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But now, there may be hope for the struggling airline, following reports of a bailout request for the Trump administration.

Spirit Airlines has asked the Trump administration for hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funding to help with the rising fuel costs, people familiar with the matter told the aviation news site,The Air Current.

CBS Newslater reported on the bailout request to prevent liquidation, with one source saying, “Spirit is looking for a lifeline.”

An official from the Department of Transportation toldThe Independentthat the agency is monitoring Spirit’s situation but would not confirm whether the administration was approached for a bailout.

The Independenthas reached out to Spirit Airlines and the White House for comment.

Transportation SecretarySean Duffyis expected to meet with budget carrier executives, including those from Spirit, next week, according to the reports. Duffy regularly checks in with these carriers and a source forThe Air Currentsaid next week’s meeting will focus on the health of the nation’s smaller airlines.

CBS News’ Senior Transportation Correspondent Kris Van Cleavesaidin a video posted to social media Thursday that if Spirit is forced to liquidate, “Other airlines already have plans in place to offer what they call rescue fares — discounted one-way fares to get people home.”

Katy Nastro, a travel expert with the airfare monitoring site Going, toldABC Newsthat Spirit customers should not cancel their booked flights if the airline does liquidate “because then you forfeit your right to a refund if there's still some money left over to be able to do so."

In 2019, Model and actorJosh Kloss, who starred in Katy Perry’sTeenage Dreammusic video, accused her of publicly humiliating him at a 2012 party.

The accusation is being revisited by social media users amid the singer facing s**ual a**ault claims by Australian actressRuby Rose.

Rose allegesPerryrubbed her privates in her face at Melbourne’s Spice Market nightclub when they were both in their 20s, which made her “projectile vomit.”

Some netizens have called Perry the“female Diddy”amid the fiasco.

Katy Perry’sTeenage Dreamco-star accused her of overstepping boundaries with him

Image credits:katyperry

Kloss made his allegations in a now-deleted Instagram post that read: “So I sawKatya couple times after her breakup with Russell [Brand]. This one time, I brought a friend who was d**ng to meet her.

“It was Johnny Wujek’s birthday party at Moonlight Rollerway. When I saw her, we hugged, and she was still my crush.”

Image credits:katyperry

“But as I turned to introduce my friend, she pulled myAdidassweats and underwear down as far as she could to show my p**is to a couple of her guy friends and the crowd around us. Can you imagine how pathetic and embarrassed I felt?”

Image credits:LaertesFrump

Image credits:Capitol Records, LLC

Wujek, a renowned costume designer based inLos Angeles, defended Perry at the time and said Kloss had developed an “obsession” with her since they worked together.

“Katy would never do something like that,” he added.

Image credits:Getty/Paul Archuleta

Perry addressed the allegation in a 2020 interview withThe Guardian,saying, “I don’t want to say ‘guilty until proven innocent,’ but there are no checks and balances. A headline just flies. There’s no investigation of what it is.”

Katy Perry could not say the same about Ruby Rose’s claim, as the actress has filed an official police report

Image credits:Capitol Records, LLC

Rose made her allegations against Perry on Threads on April 12 and, on April 14, provided an update, saying she had “finalized” filing a complaint against the singer.

Victoria Police confirmed to local dailyThe Herald Sunthat they’re investigating “a historical s**ual a**ault” inMelbournedating back to 2010.

Image credits:Capitol Records, LLC

“As the investigation remains ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage,” they added.

The owner of the concerned nightclub, in a statement, said Perry and Rose were “drunk” but not “paralytic” on the night in question.

Image credits:katyperry

He said he was unaware of any alleged misconduct or of someone vomiting.

Meanwhile, the singer’s representatives said, “The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, but they are also dangerous, reckless lies.”

Image credits:rubyrose

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The statement noted that Rose had a “well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals,” but failed to name any figures.

Other instances of Perry behaving questionably also resurfaced online this week

A video of Perry grabbingJustin Bieber’s backside at the 2012 Capital Summertime Ball is being widely shared on social media.

“Now imagine the gender reversed,” a Redditor commented, while another flagged the age difference between both musicians, with Perry being 28 at the time and Bieber being 18.

Image credits:katyperry

Anna Kendrick’s 2014 appearance on Conan O’Brien’s eponymous talk show, where she described Perry inappropriately touching her at that year’s Grammys, went viral too.

“Katy Perry f**ger b**ged my cleavage,” theA Simple Favoractress told O’Brien, though her tone was playful.

Kendrick said her dress was “kinda asking for it” and that “if nobody had done it,” she would’ve been disappointed.

Netizens used the interview to label Perry “predatory.”

Image credits:katyperry

In 2018, while serving as a judge onAmerican Idol, Perry stirred controversy by kissing contestant Benjamin Glaze on the lips without warning after he confessed he had never been kissed.

Glaze, in his response, said he did not consider the encounter harassment but acknowledged that it made him uncomfortable.

“She needs to be locked up,” a netizen said about Katy Perry

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