Texas deploys National Guard troops under President Trump’s orders as legal battles intensify over his authority to send them into Democratic-led cities. As the war in Gaza enters its third year, hopes rise over a new U.S.-backed plan aimed at ending the fighting. And the Supreme Court hears a case on state bans of conversion therapy, weighing free speech rights against protections for the LGBTQ community.
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p class=”readrate” data-rr=”17″ data-pm-slice=”1 1 []”>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Alina Hartounian, Miguel Macias, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
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p class=”readrate” data-rr=”17″>It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas
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p class=”readrate” data-rr=”17″>We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
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p class=”readrate” data-rr=”17″>Join us again tomorrow
The word “Bennifer” might include flashbacks to frosted lip gloss and butterfly clips, but everything comes back in style eventually. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez got back together nearly 20 years after their romance first took the world by storm.
The pair first connected in 2002 on the set of the ill-fated Gigli. The movie flopped at the box office and among critics, who claimed Affleck and Lopez didn’t have much chemistry.
It was a different story off-screen. Lopez filed for divorce from second husband Cris Judd in June 2002, and she went public with the Good Will Hunting star after. The “Waiting for Tonight” singer had a 6-carat pink diamond ring on her finger by November.
Their wedding was set for September 2003, but they canceled just days before the ceremony due to “excessive media attention” before officially splitting in January 2004.
Nearly two decades after seemingly moving on (with Lopez marrying Marc Anthonyand Affleck starting to seeJennifer Garner in 2004), the exes reunited in spring 2021. Lopez and Affleck finally said “I do” in a Las Vegas ceremony in July 2022.
Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez’s family broke their silence two days after he allegedly assaulted a 69-year-old delivery driver in downtown Indianapolis.
“This has been a deeply distressing time for everyone involved. Mark and our family are incredibly grateful for the concern, love, and support we’ve received over the past few days,” Mark’s brother, Nick, said in a statement to TMZ on Monday, October 6.
Nick continued, “Mark remains under medical care for the serious injuries he sustained and is focused on his recovery as the legal process continues. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the first responders and medical staff.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, the former NFL quarterback allegedly attacked the driver during a dispute in an alley between the Westin Hotel and the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown shortly after midnight on Saturday, October 4.
According to court documents obtained by Us, the driver told police that he thought Mark, 38, was “trying to kill” him. When officers arrived at a pub following the incident, they discovered Mark with multiple stab wounds on his upper torso and the older man bleeding from cuts to his face. Investigators said the man was collecting used cooking oil between the two hotels when Mark approached him, seeming intoxicated.
Per the docs, Mark told the man he’d spoken to hotel management and said that his truck was not supposed to be there. Per security footage, Mark climbed into the driver’s side of the truck. The men circled the vehicle before the confrontation became violent near a dumpster.
Speaking with police, the man claimed he first used pepper spray against Mark, but then pulled out a knife and stabbed the athlete in self-defense.
On the morning of Sunday, October 5, Marion County prosecutors formally charged Mark with three misdemeanors: battery resulting in injury, public intoxication and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. He was arrested at the hospital and later taken to jail and released on a $300 cash bond. As of Monday, one of his charges was upgraded to a level 5 felony — which means he could spend up to five years in prison.
A court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 7.
Us has reached out to Mark’s legal team for comment.
After the alleged attack, the driver’s family — who requested anonymity — showed graphic photos of his injuries to the Indiana-based outlet FOX59. They said the man, who suffered a deep laceration across his cheek that pierced his tongue, is “recovering but traumatized.”
Mark previously played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins before retiring from professional football in 2019. He currently works as a Fox Sports analyst and had been scheduled to appear on TV during the Sunday-night showdown between the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders.
Scary moment for Jenelle Evans and her family … we’ve learned her mother, Barbara, was hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Jenelle’s mom suffered a stroke last week and has since been discharged…
KAMPALA-(MaraviPost)-Bobi Wine has once again ignited the spirit of defiance and hope across Uganda with his latest declaration that “Nothing will stop us from reaching our people.”
His message, shared on the social media platform X, resonated far beyond Mityana, symbolizing the unyielding determination of a movement that continues to challenge the status quo.
The statement, simple yet powerful, captures the unwavering resolve of the National Unity Platform (NUP) and its supporters, who have endured years of political intimidation, arrests, and censorship.
Bobi Wine’s choice of words—“rope-a-dope style”—suggests a strategic resilience, a refusal to be knocked out despite sustained political blows from the establishment.
It is a metaphor drawn from boxing legend Muhammad Ali, known for absorbing attacks before countering with decisive strikes—an apt description of Uganda’s political struggle between the old guard and the restless youth.
Mityana, a town with a history of political activism, once again found itself at the heart of this renewed wave of civic awakening.
Residents poured into the streets, waving red berets and chanting slogans that echoed Bobi Wine’s message of liberation, unity, and a new Uganda.
The hashtags accompanying his post, #ProtestVote2026 and #ANewUgandaNow, serve as rallying cries for a generation demanding meaningful change ahead of Uganda’s 2026 general elections.
These slogans encapsulate both a call for political consciousness and a refusal to accept manipulated electoral outcomes—a persistent issue in Uganda’s democratic landscape.
Bobi Wine’s digital activism continues to demonstrate the power of social media as a tool for mobilization and resistance in modern African politics.
Even as traditional media faces restrictions, platforms like X provide a direct line between leaders like Bobi Wine and their supporters, bypassing censorship and state propaganda.
His words remind Ugandans that change is not merely a dream but a process driven by courage, persistence, and the collective will of the people.
The road to 2026 will be challenging, marked by political friction and government pushback, but Bobi Wine’s message from Mityana sends a clear signal—Uganda’s youth will not retreat.
His movement continues to embody the yearning for dignity, justice, and accountability, standing as one of the most significant symbols of democratic resistance in contemporary Africa.
If his momentum persists and his message continues to resonate, Bobi Wine may well turn the “Protest Vote” into a historic turning point for Uganda’s political future.
Turn up your Tuesday with this topless star! Can you guess which Hollywood hottie ditched her top for this sexy shot? Here are a couple clues for ya. No chance you’re snoozing after taking in her social snaps — she’s a singer and songwriter, even…
Broderick, 66, proudly showed off her bikini body while “pooling around” and enjoying some fun in the sun. The Sabrina the Teenage Witchalum put her sculpted figure on display in a white two-piece via Instagram on Monday, October 6.
In the snap, she posed in a triangle top featuring delicate straps that tied in a halter top behind her neck. The actress styled the number with low-waisted bottoms finished with bows on her hips.
In the photo, Broderick, who played Aunt Zelda in the sitcom, which aired from 1996 to 2003, leaned against a tiled pool while giving the camera a pout.
She opted for a full beat for her pool day, including a bright red lip and long lashes. Broderick teamed her Marilyn Monroe-inspired look with her platinum pixie cut parted to the side and styled in loose curls.
“The rumors are true. I have been ‘pooling’ around again!” Broderick playfully captioned her post. Her fans went wild over the swimsuit snap in the comments section.
“60s are no problem for bikinis 🙌,” one gushed. A second social media user added, “Aunt Zelda More like MOTHER Zelda 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥,” while a third commented, “Looking fantastic 🤍🤍🤍🤍.”
This isn’t the first swimsuit moment Broderick has shared as of late.
Courtesy of Beth Broderick/Instagram
On September 22, she rocked a cherry red number while taking a dip in her pool. The piece featured halter straps and red triangle cups. She again made sure that her makeup was on point, donning bright crimson lips that perfectly matched her swimwear.
She gave the camera a soft smile while flaunting her dewy skin. Broderick complemented her ensemble with painted pastel nails and her hair blown out.
“Just for the record, older women still like to ‘pool’ around,” she captioned the post.
Broderick often talks about aging via her weekly essay “Wit and Wisdom,” which she publishes on her Substack account.
In July, she wrote, “Our ears and noses continue to grow as well. Getting older has some good things to offer. This is not one of them. Easy to spot a gal who’s had a nose job in a retirement home.” She added, “Her’s is still a petite little ski slope of a thing, while the others have schnozzes which have developed sizably. Gravity, which is NOT our friend in these later years, will also give our noses a tug and create a bit of a hook on the end. If nature did not take things away from us, we would never agree to leave this life.”
Broderick, known to keep it real via her Substack, also shared how she’s keeping her hair healthy and thick.
“I take DIM supplements daily as well as Women’s Saw Palmetto and copious amounts of Collagen and Biotin,” she revealed. “It helps. On my head, at least, my hair is hanging in there. It is not the great swinging mop I sported when I was in my younger days, but it looks okay. And it’s gray and white, so I am sure that not many folks are looking closely at it or me for that matter, so it will do just fine.”
Christina Haack’s son Brayden got real about her taste in men after she filed for divorce from Joshua Hall in 2024.
“When we first split up, Brayden, my [now] 10-year-old, he slept in bed with me,” Haack, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, October 1, while promoting her new champagne, Clé Cachée, recalling her eldest son jumping into protector mode.
Haack said Brayden, whom she shares with ex-husband Tarek El Moussa, became an “old soul” in that moment and was “speaking life into me,” telling her how “wonderful” she is.
“It was so sweet. He was just like, ‘You’re a wonderful mom, you’re a great person. You’re, like, amazing, you just make really bad choices in men,’” Haack revealed of her son’s words of wisdom. “He said, ‘Dad’s the best, but you make bad choices.’ Sorry, Tarek, he loves you obviously.”
“The kids would bring it up to me,” Haack remembered. “They’d be like, you know, ‘Dad and [his wife] Heather [Rae El Moussa]hold hands. Dad and Heather are cuddly, like, you guys don’t like each other. You guys never hug. You don’t hold hands, like, you don’t even look at each other like you like each other.’”
She confessed, “That’s a really sad thing to hear. And I’m like, ‘What am I doing showing them that this is normal? Like, I’m not happy, and they can see that.’ It’s such a lesson.”
Haack married Tarek in 2009. They split in 2016 and finalized their divorce two years later. Following their breakup, the pair continued to cohost HGTV’s Flip or Flop until it’s end in 2022 after 10 seasons.
Tarek moved on romantically with Heather, 38, whom he wed in October 2021. The pair share son Tristan, 2.
Haack, meanwhile, married Anstead, 46, in December 2018. After less than two years of marriage, they divorced in September 2020 and continue to coparent Hudson. Anstead even made a cameo on season 1 of Haack’s show The Flip Off with Heather and Tarek after Hall stepped away from the project amid their separation.
Josh HallCourtesy of Josh Hall/Instagram
Haack and Hall tied the knot in October 2021 and had an official ceremony the following September. They announced their split in July 2024, and Us confirmed in May that Haack and Hall had reached a divorce settlement.
“It’s not like I missed [the red flags],” Haack told Us on Wednesday of her rocky relationship with Hall. “It’s just like whatever’s happening in my own life, and there’s a lot of chaos in this industry and world, and I think I just was swept up in so much that for whatever reason, at that time, whatever I was going through, I chose to ignore them.”
Amid all the turmoil, Haack found love again with boyfriend Christopher LaRocca. Us confirmed in January that Haack was dating LaRocca, who also resides in Orange County, California.
“Nice people still exist. We all experience it, and there can be a lot of scary individuals out there that don’t have your best interest, and especially in this world,” Haack said on Wednesday of her new partner, gushing, “So I would say I got lucky meeting him, but I definitely deserved to meet him, and he’s definitely just changed my life for the better.”
Like finding a good man, Haack has been focused on manifesting happiness in all aspects of her life since her split from Hall. One of those big projects includes the launch of her own champagne called Clé Cachée, which started as part of her vision board and is now available for purchase.
Christina Haack, BraydenCourtesy of Christina Haack/Instagra,
“I’m a champagne girl, and I think once you try it, you’re going to appreciate it. It’s from the Grand Cru region, which is the most prestigious region in all France, as far as grapes,” Haack told Us of her creation. “It’s a Blanc de Blancs. It is naturally sweet, so it has a very low dosage sugar content, which is less than five grams for the whole bottle. So basically, one Starburst.”
She revealed that the champagne will leave you with “no hangover” because of the sugar dosage and it’s a project she’s “super proud of.”
Christina, Heather, TarekCourtesy of Christina Haack/Instagra,
Haack noted that she “designed everything,” including creating the name which means “hidden key.” She explained, “[It] is all about, you know, I’m about manifesting. And it’s basically finding your hidden potential within and just celebrating.”
The TV personality added that she was “very hands-on” and traveled to France to pick the grapes, dosage and approve “the flavor, the taste, everything.” She teased, “I’m very picky, so naturally, I wanted it to be perfect.”
Haack told Us that Clé Cachée is $100 a bottle compared to other bottles from the region that range from $300 to $500 each.
“I wanted to still make it affordable. I wanted to make it [for a] special occasion, but still, you know, you could drink it on a Tuesday,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like some of the champagnes I like the bottles aren’t the cutest. So, I still wanted it to be pretty, right? I want it to be decor. I love decorating bars. I want it to be just something that you could leave out. It looks nice and classy.”
Haack concluded, “It’s perfect for a girl’s night, for a date night. It’s a perfect gift. Champagne is just celebratory in general, and it always just leaves you with, like, a good vibe.”
Learn more about Clé Cachée on the official website — where you can also purchase your own bottle.
Roseanne Barr just unloaded her sprawling macadamia nut farm on Hawaii’s Big Island … and she sold it for more than she was asking. Our real estate sources tell us Roseanne sold her 46-acre farm for a cool $2.6 million. She listed it in August…
Charlie Hunnam‘s commitment to playing Ed Gein led to him visiting the infamous murderer’s grave after filming Monster.
“[After we wrapped, my girlfriend, Morgana McNelis, said] ‘Take some time after you finish. Because when you come home, you should be ready to see me,’” Hunnam, 45, recalled on the Today show before the show’s season 3 premiere on Friday, October 3. “I’d been shooting in Chicago, I decided to stay for a week and sort of decompress so I was ready to see her when I got home. And it was about an 8-hour drive up to Wisconsin from where I was to where Ed grew up and where he’s buried.”
For Hunnam, it was a “good conclusion” to the role “to go visit his grave,” which has been unmarked since 2000 after the infamous killer’s headstone was stolen and the burial site was repeatedly vandalized.
“And say what I wanted to say to him. [I told him I] hoped we had told his story honestly at the very least, and [I] didn’t invite him to come on the journey with me moving forward,” he continued. “I was ready to say goodbye to him and that be the end.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story centered on the “Butcher of Plainfield,” who was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and admitted to a second killing in the 1950s. While it has been suspected that Gein was involved in multiple other crimes, he only admitted to exhuming multiple graves and fashioning grotesque keepsakes out of the bodies.
“You have to have an enormous amount of love and empathy for a character that you play to be able to inhabit them. Because as despicable as Ed was in his acts, I wanted to find the human in there,” Hunnam told Variety earlier this month about playing Gein. “I personally don’t like to be forced to confront the most bleak and sinister elements of the human condition.”
He continued: “I could certainly see the accusation being leveled at me that I was too sensitive toward him, and let him off the hook a bit too much. My hope was, although I clearly don’t understand the function of these type of stories, I understand that people are very drawn to them. I needed to bring Gein to life in as honest and human a way as possible.”
Before Ryan Murphychose Gein as the inspiration for season 3 of Monster, the criminal was the jumping off point for movies such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Psycho. The topic of how Gein’s crimes helped true crime evolve into a pop culture phenomenon is addressed throughout the season.
“This whole series, it turns the camera right on us,” showrunner Ian Brennan told Tudum in October. “It really matters what you look at and the images and stories you consume. They do stick with you, and they do have an impact.”
Hunnam, meanwhile, explained the main message of Monster. “Who was the monster? This poor boy who was abused his whole life then left in total isolation, suffering from undiagnosed mental illness?” he asked Tudum. “Or the legion of people who sensationalized his life for entertainment and arguably darkened the American psyche and the global psyche in the process?”
