More than 40 million Americans will soon be without federal food assistance because SNAP benefits are set to expire on November 1 as the government shutdown drags on. President Trump signs a trade deal in Japan to secure rare earth minerals, a key bargaining chip ahead of his meeting with China’s president later this week. And Hurricane Melissa bring over 170 mile per hour winds as it barrels towards Jamaica, and threatening other island nations in the Caribbean.
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p class=”readrate”>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Padma Rama, Tara Neil, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle .
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p class=”readrate”>It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Christopher Thomas
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p class=”readrate”>We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Affleck, 26, uploaded a TikTok on Monday, October 27, that featured her and pro Ravnik, 30, during a break from DWTS rehearsal. The video was titled, “Me When Anyone Talks Trash About Jan.”
In the clip, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star could be seen furiously typing away on her phone hitting back at haters before Ravnik stepped in and stopped her.
“Take it down. Take it down. Take it down. We need it gone,” Ravnik mouthed over a pre-recorded audio snippet. “That doesn’t represent me or what we need to be doing.”
Fellow DWTS pro Ezra Sosa quickly showed support for Affleck defending her partner, writing in her comments section, “I’ll ride at dawn for this man.”
While neither Affleck nor Ravnik specified what — or who — they were responding to, the video comes shortly after Chmerkovskiy, 45, made comments about being unimpressed with Ravnik’s inaugural season on the ABC dance series.
“Dancing With the Stars is a worldwide phenomenon. … I’m sorry, Jan has absolutely no business being a pro on Dancing With the Stars,” Chmerkovskiy claimed during the Friday, October 24, episode of wife Peta Murgatroyd’s “The Penthouse With Peta” podcast. “There’s zero foundation technique, quality, understanding of the partnership. Bro, I’m getting emotional. It is absurd, and this is unreal how blind we have to be and God forbid say what’s obviously there.”
Chmerkovskiy — who was a DWTS pro himself on and off from 2006 to 2018 — pointed to Ravnik and Affleck’s foxtrot during last week’s Wicked Night to support his argument, claiming that Ravnik had “no idea” what the dance style entitled. (Ravnik and Affleck ultimately earned at 32 out of 40 from the judges for the performance.)
“How are you going to expect him to teach it and deliver that message in a format that is completely different from even ballroom dancing?” Chmerkovskiy continued. “We had this criticism weeks ago, and I’m like, ‘Bro, is anybody going to explain it to him?’”
Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images
Murgatroyd, for her part, agreed that she didn’t “love the foxtrot elements” of Ravnik’s choreography — which was set to the tune of Wicked’s “As Long As Your Mine” — but argued that he is “learning slowly” throughout his first season and should be given an amount of “grace.” (Murgatroyd, 39, joined DWTS in 2011, serving as a troupe member for two years before becoming a pro. She stepped away in 2024 to welcome her and Chmerkovskiy’s first baby.)
Chmerkovskiy disagreed with his wife’s assessment, stating that Ravnik’s dance from the previous week for Dedication Night — where he and Affleck danced a Viennese Waltz to Lauren Daigle’s “Rescue” — delivered “some sort of direction” before going “off the cliff” the following week.
The former pro added that he has nothing against Ravnik and it’s “not his fault,” but reiterated that Affleck “has no partner.”
Murgatroyd then suggested that Ravnik should have been put in the “troupe” for a year before becoming an actual pro on the show. She claimed that there was an “obvious” reason he was granted pro status so quickly, hinting at Ravnik’s previous job as Taylor Swift’s dancer on her worldwide Eras Tour.
“Apart from that he’s a lovely guy, he looks great, he obviously is a great dancer,” she added, before noting, “Hiring a non-ballroom dancer to teach ballroom dancing to a celebrity as a job is outrageous.”
She continued, “He should’ve learned, gone to ballroom classes. Look, what I would do if I were him — and I don’t know what he’s doing behind the scenes, let’s be honest. … But I would do my four hours in the studio, whatever I needed to do, and then I would take [Jen] for another four hours and go elsewhere.”
Prior to his time on DWTS and the Eras Tour, Ravnik won multiple National, European and World champion titles. He also won the Best Dancer of Slovenia award twice and an award for the Best Trainer/Choreographer from the Slovenian Olympic committee.
Since joining DWTS for season 34, Ravnik and Affleck have remained in the middle of the pack with scoring, but have seen some criticism from the judges over their choreography.
Ravnik, however, has taken it in stride. “They’re just obsessed with me or something,” he joked to Us Weekly exclusively after Disney Night earlier this month. “I mean, look, I am new, so I’m gonna take every note that they’re giving to me. I don’t think it’s in a bad way that they’re always saying.”
Affleck, meanwhile, has maintained her excitement over being paired with Ravnik. “I am so excited,” she previously told Us. “There’s a lot of energy. We’re both newbies, and I’m just so excited.”
Ravnik and Affleck will next dance together for DWTS’ Halloween Night on Tuesday, October 28, where they will perform a contemporary to Swift’s. “Look What You Made Me Do.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
More surprises are in store for Seeking Sister Wife fans as season 6 continues — and Us Weekly has an exclusive first look at the drama still to come.
In the bombshell Monday, October 27, midseason teaser, Reise and Billie Jean Williamson meet up with another woman as they navigate dating as polygamists. “Obviously, she’s first wife,” Reise says, gesturing to Billie Jean and asking if the other woman “would be OK” with that arrangement.
Her response comes with some hesitation. “You know, I am not sure,” she tells the couple, before explaining to the camera, “Two dominant women in a relationship with one man could cause problems.”
Elsewhere in the clip, Nick Davis tries to reassure girlfriend Teresa that her “insecurities are unfounded” as she tries to find her footing in the plural family. “I do feel like I’m worthless,” she confesses. “And I hope that I can get to a point where I’m as confident as the other girls are.”
Teresa was a friend of Nick and his wives, April and Jenny Davis, for 14 years before taking her relationship with the family to the next level. The Davises aren’t the only ones with a possible new addition on the horizon, however.
Dani Peralta sits down with prospective sister wife Jackie, who says she feels like she’s “getting closer to” Dani’s husband, Yessel. The conversation takes an emotional turn when Dani brings up the topic of children.
TLC
“The last time we talked about kids, you definitely want more,” Dani says, struggling to hold back tears. “I don’t think I’m able to handle him having another baby with another woman.”
Dani previously expressed her hesitations to Yessel, already a father of two from former relationships, after making their debut on Seeking Sister Wife season 6. “It doesn’t matter to me if they already have a child versus not,” Dani explained. “But if they don’t, I don’t want another woman to have a child with you. … For me, that’s a non-negotiable.”
The tension seemingly comes to a head later this season. “You can be with us, but if your plans are to sabotage the relationship, that’s a no-go,” Yessel tells Dani, who declares she’s “done.”
Fellow season 6 newcomers Matt and Anjelica Johnson might also face a shake-up in their relationship with girlfriend Shanay. In the midseason trailer, Shanay asks Matt if he’s been dating other women — and he says yes.
“I feel hurt and betrayal,” Shanay admits as she storms off.
Seeking Sister Wife debuted on TLC in 2018 following different couples who are looking for another spouse or adjusting to life with a polygamous relationship. Season 6, which kicked off in September, has given fans an even closer look at how each household navigates the highs and lows of finding a potential new sister wife.
Among the challenges? Telling other friends and family about choosing a polygamous lifestyle. “So you’re swinging?” Anjelica is asked in the season 6 teaser while breaking the news to her inner circle that she and Matt have been dating other people.
All new episodes of Seeking Sister Wife air on TLC Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
Jay-Z is defending Bad Bunny’s selection as the Super Bowl halftime show performer … he says Americans really love them some Benito. We got Hov in New York City on Monday and our photog asked him about all the hate getting thrown Bad Bunny’s way…
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PRESS RELEASE
Climate Change Falls Over 20% Behind Top Global Concern in 2025, New IPSOS Survey Reveals
Wars and economic hardship dominate public worries as climate change slips further down global priorities
PANAMA CITY, Panama, October 28, 2025/ — Unveiled today at its General Assembly, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (https://FSC.org/) reports a sharp slide in public concern for climate change, even after the hottest year on record. The 2025 Global Consumer Awareness Survey—conducted with IPSOS across 50 countries and 40,000+ respondents—find war and conflict (52%) now dominate public worries while climate change trails at 31%. That is a 21-point gap in the 2025 snapshot. Looking only at the 32 countries surveyed in both 2022 and 2025, the concern gap has widened from 12 points in 2022 – where economic hardship was on top position – to 16 points in 2025. Global highlights (beyond Europe) Forests as the “felt” climate impact: Issues such as loss of species, deforestation, wildfires, droughts and floods remain among the most pressing forestry concerns worldwide, underscoring that people experience climate risk very directly through forests. While concern about climate change ranks lower than other global crises, Canadians express strong concern about forest-related issues like wildfires — likely because they are a threat felt more locally. Rising concern in key markets: Japan registers a notable increase in climate concern since 2022, while Brazil also moves sharply upward — bucking the global decline. Attitudes at the checkout: Despite the attention shift, consumers still reward credible sustainability; demand for products that “do no harm” to plants and animals remains strong and continues to influence brand trust and loyalty. Europe: Declining Climate Concern in Key Economies The European results are particularly striking. Across France, Denmark, Spain, the UK and Germany, public concern over climate change has dropped by 6–10 percentage points since 2022. France: 52% → 45% (–8) Denmark: 51% → 41% (–10) Spain: 44% → 37% (–6) UK: 45% → 35% (–10) Germany: 42% → 34% (–8) These countries are among Europe’s largest economies and climate leaders, but public attention is clearly shifting. At the same time, the EU is pushing ahead with ambitious climate legislation — creating a disconnect between policy momentum and public concern. “This concern gap shows why we must work with the concrete realities of people’s lives if we are to address climate change effectively. The survey shows a clear contradiction: people report lower worry about climate change, and yet they reward brands that can prove sustainability. This disconnect between abstract concepts and practical choices points to a clear need: make climate action tangible in daily life,” said Subhra Bhattacharjee, FSC Director General. Forests Remain Where People Feel Climate Change Most Directly While “climate change” may rank lower as an abstract global issue in the 50-country snapshot, across the forestry module markets the impacts felt through forests—wildfires, droughts, floods, and biodiversity loss—rank among the top concerns within the forestry sector. “Loss of plant and animal species” and “deforestation” consistently appear among the most pressing forestry issues in those markets. Together, these results reinforce forests’ dual role as frontline climate arenas: they are highly vulnerable to climate change and essential to tackling it. Consumers Still Act on Climate at the Checkout Despite slipping concern levels, consumer behavior reveals strong climate values, with 72% of global consumers across 29 markets saying they prefer products that do not harm plants or animals. “Even if climate change isn’t always top of mind, people are increasingly voting with their wallets. They want sustainable choices—and they reward brands that can prove their impact,” said Helen Chepkemoi Too, Senior Director of Markets at FSC. Importantly, recognition of the FSC label correlates with higher levels of trust in brands, showing that climate-conscious choices are a powerful driver of loyalty and reputation. Africa Climate Change Highlights In 2025, the study included Egypt for the first time on Kenya and South Africa that was included in 2023. The results show that public concern about climate change declined most sharply in Kenya, down by 12 percentage points since 2023, followed by a 7-point drop in South Africa. “Africa has faced a year marked by conflict, economic strain, and social unrest. These realities inevitably influence people’s priorities,” said Annah Agasha, Deputy Director, FSC Africa. “Yet even amid uncertainty, sustainability remains a strong value across the continent. In Kenya and South Africa, FSC recognition rose to an average of 62%, up from 58% in 2023, showing that while people’s concerns shift, their commitment to responsible choices endures.” Why This Matters As wars, pandemics and inflation dominate public debate, climate change risks sliding out of political and consumer consciousness. Yet at the same time, people clearly want sustainable products and see the loss of plant and animal species as the greatest forestry related concern, with a majority expecting companies to ensure that their products do not contribute to deforestation. FSC calls for integrated strategies that address environmental action alongside social and economic security — ensuring climate solutions are not deprioritized in the face of crises. These findings are being debated this week at the FSC General Assembly, where global stakeholders are gathered to shape the future of responsible forest management and its role in tackling climate emergencies. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Forest Stewardship Council.Survey details: The FSC x IPSOS Global Consumer Awareness Survey 2025 interviewed more than 40,000 people in 50 markets. Historical comparisons are based on the 32 markets that were surveyed in both 2022 and 2025.
In the political arena, clarity and unity are virtues that foster progress and stability.
Yet, every so often, individuals rise who seem more intent on creating confusion and discord than on contributing positively to the political discourse. Frank Mwenifumbo, co-chairperson of the so-called Northern Region Block, is currently embodying this unfortunate role.
His recent claims of a secret deal between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and his bloc regarding parliamentary positions are not only unfounded but serve only to generate unnecessary division and distraction.
Mwenifumbo’s assertion that the DPP has agreed to support Catharine Nzumara, the Northern Region Block’s candidate for First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, in exchange for the bloc’s backing of the DPP’s candidate for Speaker, is a fabrication meant to mislead the public and disrupt the carefully laid plans of a legitimate political process. The DPP has categorically denied any such agreement.
Shadreck Namalomba, the party’s spokesperson, made it abundantly clear that the party’s leader, President Peter Mutharika, holds the sole authority to select candidates for parliamentary positions.
This is a matter of party protocol and discipline that Mwenifumbo appears either ignorant of or deliberately chooses to disregard.
What is most disturbing about Mwenifumbo’s antics is his apparent desire to sow seeds of disunity within the political landscape—particularly within the parliamentary dynamics.
By making unfounded claims about alliances and deals that do not exist, he not only misleads the public but also risks fracturing relationships that are vital for governance and national progress.
His actions demonstrate a troubling penchant for confusion and political noise-making rather than constructive engagement.
It is important to remind Mwenifumbo and those who support this so-called Northern Region Block that no formal or recognized alliance exists between his group and the DPP.
The legitimacy of any political coalition is grounded in transparent agreements and mutual consent, neither of which has been presented in this instance.
The people must understand that political alliances are not forged through hearsay or unilateral declarations but through concrete negotiations and formal endorsements.
Moreover, it is worth recalling that Mwenifumbo himself pursued a presidential bid, having collected nomination papers from the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
This move indicates his personal political ambitions and his desire to chart an independent course rather than one aligned with the DPP. Indeed, many voters in certain areas cast their ballots for him, clearly distinguishing his political journey from that of the ruling party.
This fact alone underscores that Mwenifumbo did not contribute to the DPP’s victory in any meaningful way; his political path runs parallel, not intertwined, with that of the DPP.
For this reason, Mwenifumbo has no standing to claim credit or to make demands that imply a partnership that was never negotiated.
His attempt to insinuate influence over DPP’s parliamentary nominations is both presumptuous and baseless.
The DPP, under the clear and decisive leadership of President Mutharika, has already chosen its candidates for key parliamentary roles: Sameer Sulemani for Speaker of Parliament and Victor Musowa for First Deputy Speaker.
These nominations reflect a considered and official decision by the party and are not subject to the whims of external groups lacking formal ties to the DPP.
The so-called Northern Region Block, as advocated by Mwenifumbo, remains a vague and unrecognized entity to the general populace. Its purported political clout is questionable at best.
The masses have not been made aware of any formal structures, manifestos, or representative actions that would legitimize this bloc’s claims.
In essence, it is more a shadow group than a recognized political force, and its self-proclaimed co-chairperson’s statements carry little weight beyond personal ambition.
Mwenifumbo’s role as a confusionist is clear. Instead of contributing to a cohesive political environment, he chooses to fan the flames of discord. Such behavior does not serve the interests of the people or the nation.
It is a distraction from the real issues that should be occupying the attention of parliamentarians and citizens alike.
It is a disservice to the democratic process and to the stability that Malawi’s political institutions strive to maintain.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General, Richard Chimwendo Banda, has applauded the people of Dowa East for their unwavering support and loyalty to the party, assuring them that the MCP remains strong, united, and focused on delivering on its promises.
Speaking after being sworn in at Parliament, Chimwendo reaffirmed that the party will soon undergo a comprehensive restructuring process aimed at strengthening its internal operations and emerging even stronger.
He urged all newly elected party representatives to remain dedicated to serving their communities and to uphold the values of the party.
“Let us continue working together. The MCP is intact, and we are focused on rebuilding and delivering on our promises. I urge all newly elected members to stay committed to their people and never leave them behind,” said Chimwendo.
In a related development, former Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda emphasized the importance of effective parliamentary oversight and accountability. He underscored that the opposition has a vital role to play in ensuring transparency and good governance.
“This experience gives us a better understanding of how to provide proper oversight and facilitation. The opposition must provide checks and balances because we are the government in waiting. People expect facts, not fallacies. While politics may have its challenges, we must remain responsible and serve our constituencies diligently,” said Chithyola.
Both leaders highlighted the need for unity, commitment, and responsible leadership as key ingredients for Malawi’s democratic growth and sustainable development.
Meanwhile, former Vice President and Freedom Party President, Khumbo Kachali, encouraged the general public to take part in various developmental roles to improve living standards across the country.
Kachali pledged to support the ruling government and backed Sammer Suleman for the position of Speaker of Parliament.
He urged citizens to expect more decisive action from the current administration, particularly in addressing challenges such as forex shortages, fuel supply issues, and fertilizer distribution.
“The Northern Region’s priority should be the construction of major roads and improved infrastructure to boost economic growth,” Kachali added
American actor Jon Abrahams was 22 years old when he played Bobby Prinze — the scheming, sex-crazed high schooler — in the horror/comedy film “Scary Movie” back in 2000. Jon shared the big screen with Anna Faris, Regina Hall … and Marlon and…
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