“Saturday Night Live” is taking a break for the next few weeks — and we’re hoping they’ll also decide to take a break from a certain character they’ve been running into the ground lately.
More than any other recent “SNL” recurring character, James Austin Johnson’s impression of President Donald Trump has been unavoidable on the show as of late, appearing more than a dozen times since Trump was reelected a year ago. He gets started early, too: Johnson’s Trump has appeared in the very first “SNL” sketch, aka the cold open, in four of the six episodes so far this season. (And in one of the two where he didn’t appear in the cold open, he popped up in a later sketch as a podcast guest.) But the joke is getting a little old at this point, so we’re humbly asking “SNL”: Please stop opening every show with a Trump sketch.
The Trump cold opens are repetitive and toothless
Courtesy of NBC
We get it: Trump is the leader of the free world, and he does say and do some pretty crazy stuff. Johnson’s impression is admittedly spot-on, too, matching the veering train of thought, random pop culture references, and sudden changes in volume we’ve come to know from Trump. But collectively, the cold opens featuring Trump feel like beating a dead horse, repeatedly hitting the same jokes over and over again and just swapping out the punchlines with that week’s current events. (The weird thing they’ve been doing where Trump interrupts an unrelated scene to brag about his accomplishments is particularly tiresome.) Plus, Weekend Update hits Trump pretty frequently, too, so he takes up even more space each week.
It’s as if “SNL” feels obligated to tackle Trump in some way, since he’s such a dominant presence in all of our lives, so they stick him at the top of each show without thinking. But the way they approach Trump has been kind of toothless, afraid to take any real shots at the President for fear of retribution. As a result, they’ve turned Trump into a harmless caricature: a kooky guy who says silly stuff for our amusement. In our polarized political climate, it’s hard to see who this version of Trump is for: Conservatives are annoyed that Trump is getting (gently) made fun of, and liberals are annoyed that Trump is getting even more airtime while essentially being let off the hook.
They’re predictable, too
Courtesy of NBC
The worst part about the way Trump cold opens have dominated “SNL” lately, though: They’re predictable. And we all know that’s the death of comedy. When every episode begins with Johnson’s Trump giving another rambling monologue, it loses any semblance of the power it once had. It just becomes… expected. (He might as well be an honorary cast member at this point.)
Actually, the times that “SNL” has put Trump in a sketch that isn’t a straight cold open monologue — like last season’s “The White Lotus” parody — have been pretty good, or at least a marked improvement. So while the “SNL” writers have some time off before their next episode, we have a request: Find a way to make Johnson’s Trump impression relevant and fresh again… and for the love of God, stop putting him at the top of each episode.
What do you think of the Trump cold opens on “SNL”? Too much? Not enough? Hit the comments to share your thoughts!
What we loved: The St. Regis Red Sea Resort delivers polished service from the moment you arrive at Red Sea International Airport. The private island setting is serene, beautifully landscaped, and offers a luxurious alternative to established Indian Ocean destinations, with villa options that feel both refined and deeply connected to the sea.
What we didn’t love: There is no house reef off the beach, so water excursions require a boat trip. Alcohol was not yet available at the time of our stay, and travellers seeking a lively social atmosphere may find the resort more mellow than expected.
How to book: This property participates in the Marriott Bonvoy program, with with standard room redemptions costing 188,000–250,000 points per night.
If you are booking a cash rate, reach out to Prince Collection. Since the resort participates in the Marriott STARS preferred partner program, bookings through Prince Collection include complimentary breakfast for two, a 100 USD credit, upgrade priority, and other premium perks at no extra cost.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – About The Property
Opened in early 2024, The St. Regis Red Sea Resort is one of the first luxury properties within Red Sea Global’s groundbreaking, sustainability driven development. Set on a private island within the Ummahat archipelago, the resort offers only 90 villas, giving it an intimate feel despite its expansive natural surroundings.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort
The resort draws on the concept of “regenerative luxury,” blending natural forms and curves with light woods, coastal tones, and organic textures. Overwater Coral Villas spiral outward over the lagoon, while Dune Villas blend seamlessly into sculpted sand formations, creating a harmonious connection between architecture and landscape. The resort is also fully solar powered, reinforcing its commitment to sustainability.
The atmosphere is one of relaxed elegance, balancing bright, airy spaces with discreet design details that prioritise privacy over extravagance. Combined with signature St. Regis butler service, it provides a polished yet relaxed island experience.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort
Location
The Red Sea region sits along the western coast of Saudi Arabia between the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa, about a 1.5-hour flight from Riyadh and roughly one hour from Jeddah.
The resort sits on its own private island in the Ummahat Islands. Access begins at Red Sea International Airport, the gateway for the region.
At the airport, Red Sea Global organizes transfers for all guests to their respective resorts. The journey to The St. Regis Red Sea Resort begins with a 25-minute ride through untouched desert in a Mercedes EQS to the Turtle Bay Beach Club jetty, followed by a 45-minute boat ride to the island. Once on the island, movement is mainly by bicycle, buggy, or on foot, reinforcing the sense of peaceful seclusion.
Booking
We experienced this property on an industry rate, but normal rates for a standard One Bedroom Dune Villa with one king bed start at 6,615 (SAR) and up before taxes, or 188,000–250,000 Bonvoy points per night.
The destination intrigued us, both as a new entrant into luxury travel space and as an alternative to the Maldives.
Pre-arrival communication was excellent. The resort reached out for flight details, arrival and departure times, and passport and visa information well in advance, ensuring a smooth airport experience. Transfers to and from the resort are generally included with most cash rates. We paid for our stay using Marriott gift cards purchased at a 20% discount, which provided additional savings.
At Prince of Travel, we value Marriott Bonvoy points at about 0.8 cents (CAD) or 0.6 cents (USD). With high cash rates at this resort, redeeming points would be good value.
Had we charged incidentals to a card, we would have chosen the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card for its elevated Bonvoy earning and annual Free Night Award.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
Earn 55,000 Bonvoy points upon spending $3,000 in the first three months
Also, receive an annual Free Night Award worth 35,000 Bonvoy points starting in your second year with the card
Also, receive 15 elite-qualifying nights every year and automatic Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
Bonus Bonvoy points for referring family and friends
Annual fee: $120
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort is bookable through Marriott STARS via Prince Collection, providing exclusive benefits such as a 100 USD credit, breakfast for two, priority for upgrades, early check in, late check out, and a personalised welcome.
Book Luxury Hotels with Prince Collection
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Check-In Experience
Arrival begins at Red Sea International Airport, where after going through immigration, resort guests are welcomed into a bright and open lounge offering Arabic coffee, tea, and dates. Staff collected our luggage details and transferred our bags directly to the resort, allowing a truly seamless and relaxed transfer.
Red Sea International Airport resort check-in lounge
We were driven in a Mercedes EQS to the Beach Club to then catch our boat transfer. The water shifts from deep blue to luminous turquoise as you approach, creating a memorable arrival.
Land transfer in a Mercedes EQS
Managerial staff greeted us at the island pier with cool towels and welcome drinks, creating an immediate sense of hospitality. Our butler introduced herself and guided us through a brief island orientation en route to the Arrival Pavilion.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Arrival Pavillion
The island was quiet, pristine, and beautifully landscaped. Curved villas, white sand, and turquoise waters set a peaceful tone. By the time we reached our overwater Coral Villa, two bicycles were already prepared for our use and our luggage had already been placed inside along with welcome treats.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa ExteriorThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa Exterior
As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite member, we received the following:
Upgrade: Confirmed through a Nightly Upgrade Award into a Two Bedroom Coral Villa.
Welcome amenity: 1,000 points plus in villa treats of dates, nuts, dried fruit, and fresh fruit.
Late check-out: We did not need this as we were moving to Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, though the resort offers flexible timing tailored to a guest’s departure.
Breakfast: Included with our stay and generally provided to all guests.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
The Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa combines bright coastal design with expansive indoor and outdoor space. Inside, the living room features floor to ceiling windows and soft, neutral décor. A curved sofa and textured seating creates an inviting space for relaxing with snacks or watching a movie.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral VillaThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
Conveniences like a powder room and a discreet corner kitchenette added comfort without disrupting the villa’s airy feel. The kitchenette includes a microwave, beverage fridge, sink, toaster, and tea and coffee station.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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Sliding doors lead to a generous terrace with loungers, a dining area, a plunge pool, and steps descending into the water. Privacy screens create a secluded retreat without limiting views.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
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The first bedroom includes two queen beds. Its ensuite features a double vanity, shower, and freestanding tub, with décor that subtly mirrors seashells and coral textures.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral VillaThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
The master bedroom offers panoramic ocean views, a plush king bed, a round chaise lounge, and a writing desk.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral VillaThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
Its master ensuite is anchored by a large circular soaking tub, complemented by a spacious shower, double vanity, and separate water closet. Closet space is integrated within the bathroom, keeping the bedroom clean and uncluttered. Sodashi amenities and bath salts further enhanced the spa-like feel.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Two Bedroom Overwater Coral Villa
Overall, the villa felt expansive yet cozy, ideal for families or friends seeking a stylish, contemporary overwater experience with direct lagoon access and ample privacy.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Food and Drink
The resort features several dining venues:
Nesma for Middle Eastern-inspired all-day dining
Gishiki 45 for Japanese fare
Tilina for a fine-dining experience
The Beach Club for casual meals
The St. Regis Bar for evening ambience, drinks, and live music
Breakfast at Nesma is included with all stays and was excellent, combining an well-rounded buffet with à la carte menu for main dishes.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma Breakfast
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma Breakfast
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma Breakfast
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Nesma Breakfast
We especially enjoyed Grill Night at the Beach Club one night, which offered a relaxed atmosphere with fresh seafood and meats grilled to order.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Beach ClubThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Beach ClubThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Beach Club
Tilina provided an elevated evening, with dishes that were visually artistic and flavourfully refined, while Gishiki 45 served excellent Japanese-inspired dishes, including a matcha dessert that I especially enjoyed.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gishiki 45
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gishiki 45
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gishiki 45
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gishiki 45
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gishiki 45
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Dining prices are high but in line with high-end Maldivian resorts; expect lunch to cost around $100 USD and dinner around $250+ USD for two guests. Wherever we dined, service was attentive without being rushed, with staff quickly remembering preferences.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Menu Pricing
Despite the absence of alcohol, the resort excelled in its non-alcoholic beverages. Mocktails were flavourful and thoughtfully crafted, and we frequently received complimentary welcome drinks at meals or by the pool, which added a warm touch to the experience.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Beach Club Dinner Welcome Drinks
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Other Facilities
Guests can explore the island by bicycle, on foot, or via buggy arranged through the butler.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort Buggy
The beach is scenic with shallow turquoise waters, though the sand is slightly more coarse than in other Indian Ocean locations. Along the shoreline, elegant wooden cabanas offer shade, with built in cooling fans, and ample privacy thanks to their thoughtfully spaced placement.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – BeachThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Beach
Just off the main beach, two pools including an adults-only option, provide a serene retreat overlooking the water beyond. The area is lined with loungers, and attentive staff offer iced water and prepare beach beds with thoughtful attention as soon as you arrive.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Pool
The full-service spa included a vitality pool, cold plunge, lap pool, yoga pavilion, and a well-equipped gym. Our complimentary yoga session was exceptional, with an instructor who provided one of the most effective stretches we have experienced at any resort. Tennis and padel courts are also available and complimentary for guest use.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Spa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Spa
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Gym
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The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Tennis and Padel Courts
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The Little Treasures kids club is colourful and thoughtfully designed, offering indoor and outdoor play areas with daily programming for children aged 4–12 and teens.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Kids ClubThe St. Regis Red Sea Resort – Kids Club
Water activities can be arranged through the WAWA Water Sports center. Complimentary water sports include kayaking and paddle boarding for 30 minutes per day. The Galaxea diving centre manages snorkelling and diving trips to nearby outer reefs, as the resort itself does not have a great house reef.
Red Sea Outer Reef
Service throughout the resort is outstanding. Staff anticipate needs effortlessly, and our butler provided several memorable gestures, including bringing us a platter of mangosteen after noticing how much we enjoyed them, and gifting us a boxed candle and room spray set after hearing my husband comment on the villa’s scent.
Lastly, each evening at sunset, the resort hosts the traditional St. Regis sabrage ceremony at the bar, adding a celebratory touch to close the day.
Conclusion
During our stay, occupancy was low as the Red Sea region awaited expanded international flight access, which created an uncommon sense of tranquil exclusivity. Even as visitor numbers grow, the resort’s thoughtful layout and abundant space ensure that guests can still find their own quiet corner of paradise.
The St. Regis Red Sea Resort is ideal for couples, families, and travellers seeking a serene, modern, and luxurious island escape with exceptional service. For those curious about emerging destinations beyond the Maldives, the Red Sea offers a compelling new alternative, and we would happily return as the region continues to evolve.
Larry Summers has been forced out of his lucrative consulting gig at ‘woke’ hedge fund DE Shaw — effectively ending the former Treasury Secretary’s career on Wall Street following a scandal over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, The Post has learned.
Two insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 70-year-old Summers — who had sought dating advice from the dead pedophile in a trove of embarrassing emails that surfaced last week — had still been listed as an adviser on the hedge fund’s internal directory as recently as Friday morning.
“They just terminated him,” a source told The Post after an email to the Summers’ DE Shaw address requesting comment bounced back.
Summers, seen here on the right in 2004, is under investigation at Harvard University over his ties to the pedophile financier. Alamy Stock Photo
“Larry Summers is no longer a consultant to the firm,” a DE Shaw spokesperson said of the former chief economist of the World Bank, who was once described by the New York Times as the company’s “marquee hire” to drum up clients all over the world.
The spokesperson declined to provide further details about Summers’ departure from DE Shaw, which has more than $70 billion of assets under management. Summers did not return further calls or emails from The Post seeking comment.
The Obama and Clinton administration alum worked for the wildly lucrative investment firm “off-site” from Boston, a stone’s throw from Harvard’s Cambridge campus, and reported to one of the firm’s managing directors, Max Stone, the insiders said.
His first stint with the New York-based powerhouse began in 2006 when he joined as a managing director, bringing with him his long-time trusted adviser, Michael O’Mary, who joined the following year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Summers, seen here at Harvard Business School in 2022, is on leave from his teaching position at the Ivy League college where he once served as its president. China News Service via Getty Images
The one-time Harvard president left in late 2008 to become President Barack Obama’s top economics guru before returning as a consultant after Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary quit government for the second time.
DE Shaw saw its algorithm-driven trades make it the most profitable hedge fund in 2024, raking in $11.1 billion for investors, according to Institutional Investor magazine.
Billionaire David. E Shaw, a computer scientist, founded the firm in 1988. deshaw.com
The firm was founded by major Democratic donor David E. Shaw, who helped bankroll the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.
The company’s top brass have been some of the most vocal champions of DEI on Wall Street while effectively slapping gag orders on former employees, as The Post has previously reported.
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The one-time president of the top college has also stepped back as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Summers joined DE Shaw in 2006, one year before his long-time trusted aide, Michael O’Mary, followed him to the firm. Obtained by NY Post
They were accompanied by the disgraced financier’s infamous British madam, the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted on sex trafficking charges, the Harvard Crimson reported Thursday.
Summers spent his honeymoon on the so-called “Epstein Island” in 2005 and even travelled on the money man’s private jet that was dubbed the “Lolita Express.” SplashNews.com
The island getaway came six months after Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein for the rape of a 14-year-old girl, with a search warrant later executed on his mansion in October 2005.
Flight logs show Summers flew to the 72-acre Caribbean island on Dec. 21, 2005 — and took Epstein’s jet, allegedly used to ferry victims and accomplices in his sex-trafficking rings, three other times.
Emails released by a Dem-led congressional oversight panel also show the two men appeared to have had a close relationship right up to Epstein’s arrest in July six years ago.
The pervy pair often discussed women, politics and Harvard-related business in hundreds of emails exchanged between 2013 and 2019, according to the treasure trove of messages.
Summers, seen here with Epstein and lawyer Alan Dershowitz, exchanged regular emails with the pedophile financier in which he sought his counsel on everything from dating advice to the differences between men and women. Alamy Stock Photo
In one missive, Summers joked that women were less intelligent than men.
“I observed that half the IQ in world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population,” Summers wrote Epstein in October 2017, without providing further context.
In another online back-and-forth in March 2019, Summers asked Epstein for romantic advice.
“I dint [sic] want to be in a gift-giving competition while being the friend without benefits,” Summers told Epstein while discussing his pursuit of a woman, adding that “she must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it.”
Summers — who helmed the elite university between 2001 and 2006 and was a tenured economics professor there since 1983 — resigned from the board of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, on Wednesday amid a firestorm over his ties to the infamous predator.
There’s a temptation to strike fundamentalist poses when talking about the rise of Zohran Mamdani, an unapologetic member of the Democratic Socialists of America, to the mayor’s office in New York City.
If you hate Mamdani, the explanation comes easily: New Yorkers inhaled too much second-hand cannabis, lost their minds, and elected the communist who will destroy them.
If you love him, you can be just as glib: the revolution has begun, the old order will be overthrown, and nasty old New York will be transformed into an egalitarian utopia.
Of course, when it comes to 21st-century politics — and to New York at all times — things are never that simple.
Voting patterns can be parsed any number of ways. From one perspective, as Renu Mukherjee has observed, “the racial demographics of Mamdani’s winning coalition resembled that of President Trump’s from 2024.”
Like Trump, Mandani also won big with men — and he far exceeded Trump’s inroads among young voters.
One doesn’t have to be a genius to discern the connection.
Both Trump and Mamdani aim to smash the structures that have organized American politics since the end of the Cold War. Their voters are those willing to follow them on that mission; hence the overlap.
Mamdani was fortunate to be running against Andrew Cuomo, a repellent specimen of the old regime. His victory signals the catastrophic collapse of the Democratic Party establishment, an outfit that only yesterday could foist a senile candidate for the presidency on the party’s ambitious young lions without eliciting a murmur of complaint.
Anyone who doubts that those days are over should walk a mile in Chuck Schumer’s shoes. The implications for the 2028 presidential race are, quite literally, incalculable.
Trump, however, is an America-first populist, whereas Mamdani is a DSA-style radical — that is to say, a Marxist who would be a Leninist if he could get himself organized. So mere repudiation of the system can lead to diametrically opposed positions.
Did New York vote for socialism? That case can be made.
A different take on the voting patterns would show that Mamdani was propelled to victory by two groups: the young and the college-educated.
Both are often the same person, lolling in skinny-leg pants and colorful sneakers at a coffee house in Brooklyn — the borough that gave Mamdani his largest margin.
Opinion polls reveal large numbers of the young applauding socialism as a really amazing idea. Conceivably, it could be that youthful New Yorkers hoped to turn the city into some version of Romania circa 1960.
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But I doubt it.
For over a century, socialism has failed dismally everywhere it has been tried. Enthusiasm for the ideology, we can safely assume, is proof of a profound ignorance of history.
Zoomers and younger Millennials attended college to learn grievance, not the Battle of Hastings. Their professors were likely still mourning the fall of the Soviet Union.
To decipher the political dreams of the young, I believe we must circle back to our original observation: they are most comfortable in the act of repudiation.
This was a vote against.
In part, they were against a corrupt Democratic establishment so perfectly embodied by the repugnant Cuomo.
But to some considerable extent, they were in revolt against our economic system — against everything implied by that massively connotated term, “capitalism.”
Let’s pause for a moment of reflection.
Capitalism has lifted billions out of primeval poverty to affluence, long lives, and family trips to Harry Potter World — yet nobody has ever written back to say thanks.
Capitalism turned Communist China, once the site of the deadliest famine in history, into a well-fed economic powerhouse.
The same story was repeated in the Korean peninsula. In socialist North Korea, people starve, while in capitalist South Korea — now more than 50 times wealthier than the north — the kimshi joints alternate with KFC outlets.
Yet nobody seems to be paying attention. The very word “capitalism,” in its modern usage, was defined by socialist haters in the 19th century to mean appropriation or abuse of wealth.
The reason for such reflexive disdain isn’t hard to fathom.
Capitalism is based on competition — and for every winner, there must be many losers. And most people — but particularly the hyper-educated — imagine they see a natural-born winner when they look lovingly at the mirror.
The opposite of capitalism, in other words, isn’t socialism but entitlement.
The most relentless enemy of the capitalist system isn’t the proletariat or the revolutionary vanguard but the entitled class.
That brings us back to Mamdani’s young, educated voters.
They belong to a generation that was coddled in childhood and pumped full of artificial self-esteem in school. They benefited from cheap government loans so they could pay college tuition and from grade inflation so they could graduate with straight A’s.
At every step, they were taught to despise their country as unworthy of their own exalted selves.
They had done nothing but expected everything. That’s practically the definition of entitlement.
Then life intervened.
The sociopolitical scramble to the top resembles those great wildebeest migrations to greener pastures across the Zambezi River. The quick and courageous get across first and grow fat on the tall grass. The disdainful and rejectionists in the herd lag behind and eat the leavings, while gazing at the hind-parts of the winners.
Peter Turchin has written about the “overproduction” of elite types. In 1950, when only 6% of Americans had graduated from college, a degree was a ticket to the top of the power pyramid. By 2024, over 40% were college graduates — yet that pyramid remained pointy at the top.
Today, many are called but few are chosen.
Some have argued that the New York vote represents the revenge of the downwardly-mobile — and in specific instances, this could well be true.
If you graduated from an Ivy League school with $200,000 in debt and a worthless degree in critical gender studies to show for it, you are probably looking for someone in a suit you can blame for your troubles.
To make matters worse, artificial intelligence can already run circles around our distracted all-too-human brains. We may be on the cusp of an extinction event for college-level jobs.
But the fact remains that, at the moment, this cohort is doing just fine. Average income for those between ages 25 and 29 has reached $80,000, more than double what it was in 2010.
This is a crisis of shattered expectations. Seduced by their upbringing, the educated young felt destined to play an important part in the world – superior virtue, they believed, entitled them to become movers and shakers, or at least influencers and podcasters, rather than ordinary grunts making a decent living in some insipid corporation.
By the rules of their fragile self-regard, they have been disinherited.
Hence the revolt against a system that has failed to recognize their obvious merit. Hence the fury against capitalism, which tramples on justice and decency to reward those who simply make and sell things.
Mamdani himself is a middling example of the entitled class.
Born into an affluent, artistic family, he has always led a life of comfort and ease. Yet, at 34, the mayor-elect has attempted little and accomplished absolutely nothing.
He was rejected by Columbia University even though his father is a famous professor there. His actions during three years as a state delegate have left no mark on the lives of New Yorkers.
Mamdani is a laggard. That explains the peculiar obsession with those who have crossed the river ahead of him: the billionaire, the “Zionist,” the “1 percent.”
Read, if you have the stomach for it, the full text of his victory speech following the election.
The world described therein is thought to be naturally and spontaneously abundant, due to the efforts of the working people — instead, it’s been pauperized by a clique of oppressors that sucks up wealth like a vacuum cleaner. New York City need only expropriate the expropriators to usher an age of permanent prosperity.
Mamdani no doubt intended this as an economic theory, along the lines laid down decades ago by that brilliant economist, Fidel Castro.
I prefer to think of it as a psychological condition.
If, at one stroke, he could eliminate those whose hind-parts he has been staring at his entire adult life, Mamdani would enter into a glorious personal paradise.
It’s the politics of resentment. The goal is a world without winners to irritate and embarrass mediocre minds.
To the extent that Mamdani can put his principles into practice, he will join the long list of failures engendered by socialism — but failure in this case will be applauded and redefined as the happy place of the entitled crowd.
And in the march to mandatory universal failure, the economy of New York will merely be collateral damage to a gigantic therapeutic experiment.
The Eurovision Song Contest is changing its voting system, following allegations of “interference” by Israel’s government this year.
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public in the contest in May, ultimately finishing as runner-up after the jury votes were counted.
But a number of broadcasters raised concerns about Israel’s result.
After the final, Irish broadcaster RTE requested a breakdown in voting numbers from contest organiser the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), while Spain’s public broadcaster, Radio Television Espanola (RTVE), called for a “complete review” of the voting system to avoid “external interference”.
In September, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS said it could no longer justify Israel‘s participation in the contest, due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
It went on to say there had been “proven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of the Song Contest, with the event being used as a political instrument”. The statement did not elaborate on the means of “interference”.
Sky News has contacted the Israeli government for comment.
In early December, the EBU will hold its winter general assembly, with members due to consider the changes, and if not satisfied, vote on Israel’s participation.
Key changes to next year’s competition include:
• Clearer rules around promotion of artists and their songs • Cap on audience voting halved • The return of professional juries to semi-finals • Enhanced security safeguards
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Will Eurovision boycott Israel?
Sanctions threat
The EBU said the tightening of rules around promotion was to “discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns… particularly when undertaken or supported by third parties, including governments or governmental agencies”.
It said that “any attempts to unduly influence the results will lead to sanctions”.
Contest director Martin Green said “no broadcaster or artist may now directly engage with or support campaigns by third parties – including governments or their agencies – that could distort the vote”.
He said the reduction in the number of votes that can be made online, or via SMS or phone call, from 20 to 10 was “designed to encourage more balanced participation”.
He said that “although the number of votes previously allowed did not unduly influence the results of previous contests, there were concerns expressed by participating broadcasters and fans alike”.
Professional juries in semi-finals – and younger jurors
It was also announced that professional juries in the semi-finals would be restored for the first time since 2022, with an expansion to the range of professions from which jurors can be chosen.
The EBU said this will give roughly 50-50 percentage weight between audience and jury votes.
At least two jurors aged 18-25 will be present in every jury, to reflect the appeal of the contest with younger audiences.
Also mentioned were enhanced technical safeguards designed to “protect the contest from suspicious or coordinated voting activity” and strengthen security systems that “monitor, detect and prevent fraudulent patterns”.
Politics making itself heard over Europop lyrics
Mr Green said that the neutrality and integrity of the competition is of “paramount importance” to the EBU, its members, and audiences, adding that the event “should remain a neutral space and must not be instrumentalised”.
Image: Israel’s 2024 representative, Eden Golan. Pic: AP
Russia was banned from the competition in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times, but there have been ongoing calls to block their participation over the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Hamas-Israel war.
Israel denies targeting civilians in Gaza and has said it is being unfairly demonised abroad.
In September, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia threatened to withdraw their participation in Eurovision unless Israel is excluded from the competition.
There were also demonstrations against Israel’s inclusion in Basel, Switzerland, when the 2025 competition took place.
‘Step in right direction’
Responding to the changes, Iceland’s official broadcaster RUV told Sky News they were “a step in the right direction”, and they would be discussing them with their “sister stations in the Nordic countries” ahead of the EBU meeting in December.
Ireland’s official broadcaster RTE told Sky News: “Clearly, events in the Middle East are unfolding day by day. As previously confirmed by the EBU, the issue of participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest has been included on the agenda of the EBU Executive Board’s ordinary Winter General Assembly.”
Sky News has also contacted the official broadcaster for the Netherlands (AVROTROS), Spain (RTVE), Slovenia (RTVSLO), and Israel (Kan) for comment.
The chief executive of Kan, Golan Yochpaz, has previously said the event should not become political and that there is “no reason” why Israel should not be part of it.
Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic: Reuters
Netanyahu praised Israeli entrant
Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel’s 2025 Eurovision entrant Yuval Raphael she had brought the country “a lot of honour” after she finished in second place, adding “you’re the real winner. Statistically, it’s true… You entered the hearts of a huge portion of the public in Europe.”
The year before he told entrant Eden Golan: “I saw that you received almost the highest number of votes from the public and this is the most important thing, not from the judges but from the public, and you held Israel’s head up high in Europe.”
In October, a ceasefire deal was put in place, aimed at bringing an end to the two-year war in the Middle East.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the territory and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it says around half of those killed were women and children.
The world’s largest live music event, next year’s contest will be held in Vienna, Austria, in May and will celebrate 70 years of Eurovision.
Kate Hippler adjusts a THOR-5F female crash test dummy in a vehicle at Humanetics in Farmington Hills, Mich., Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Paul Sancya/AP
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Paul Sancya/AP
When the Trump administration announced it was giving the green light to the design for a female crash test dummy, it was welcome news to the advocates who have long fought for better female representation in vehicle safety.
This dummy has been on a long journey. And she’s not at the end of the road yet.
Vehicle safety tests in the U.S. use crash test dummies based on a male body. Advocates say it’s no coincidence that women are more likely to suffer injuries in car crashes than men, even if you control for the severity of the crash and the size of the vehicle.
Calls for an accurate female crash test dummy date back decades. Consumer Reports has traced them back to 1980.
In the early 2000s, regulators added a small “female” dummy to tests — but it was just a scaled-down version of the male dummy, with breasts attached. That doesn’t reflect the real anatomical differences between male and female bodies.
Around the same time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started thinking about creating a more accurate female dummy. For more than a decade, NHTSA has worked with Humanetics, the leading manufacturer of crash test dummies, to develop, build and test the dummy that the Trump administration unveiled this week.
The new dummy is called the THOR-05F, or Test device for Human Occupant Restraint, 5th-percentile Female. (That is to say, a very small woman.) It’s actually based on the female body.
“The pelvis for a female is more rounded and does not hold the seatbelt the same way,” says Chris O’Connor, the CEO of manufacturing company Humanetics. He also pointed to anatomical differences in the neck, and significant differences in the lower leg that are correlated with much higher rates of leg injuries in women.
The dummy’s design had previously been embraced by some regulators overseas, with European officials indicating plans to add it to tests within a few years. But it had been stuck in limbo in the U.S., where for several years NHTSA said that more testing and consideration was required before formally adopting the dummy.
Adding a new dummy to the crash testing process will be costly — aside from the costs of development, individual dummies can each cost more than $1 million.
The new design also won’t necessarily represent all women; it has been criticized for being extremely small, rather than reflecting an average body size. Some safety groups have argued that using computer simulations, which can model bodies of various sizes, is a good way to diversify testing, although others say that having better real-life crash test data to feed into those models is essential.
So the road to this week’s announcement from the Department of Transportation has been winding. “This is a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” wrote NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison.
And the publication of technical documents and specifications is, indeed, just one step. A final rule still has to be published, and then the new dummy “will be considered” for inclusion in actual safety tests, the Department of Transportation writes in its press release. Those tests have not yet been rewritten to include the new design.
Women Drive Too, an advocacy group that has long pushed for the use of female crash test dummies, welcomed the news in measured tones. “We applaud this action, but by itself, it won’t be enough,” the coalition wrote in a statement. They’re still pushing for Congress to pass a law that requires the dummies actually get used in real-life crash tests.
After decades of planning, the use of the new dummies in actual federal testing is almost certainly still years away.
The Jeffrey Epstein puzzle contains many pieces that have never been investigated. The release of the Epstein files, if it ever comes, does not mark the end of the process. The release of the files should be viewed as phase one of what should be a long and comprehensive investigation into one of the most prolonged sex crime rings in US history.
Trump and his party want Jeffrey Epstein and the scandal to go away quickly. The president’s desire to sweep this under the rug is why Republicans rushed to support the legislation to compel the DOJ to release the files.
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Sen. Merkley said on CNN on Thursday morning:
I expect the administration to block the release of anything that puts the Trump administration or Trump himself in a bad light. I don’t trust this administration to follow the law. At all. There are provisions in this law that say you can redact for a temporary and very narrow protection of an investigation.
But who’s going to be inside the administration actually saying, follow this law as written? Plus, they have to provide explanations of what they redact, but will they really provide detailed explanations? I just think that Trump has spent the last 10 months protecting pedophiles powerful men who were involved with Epstein.
He’s been defending his own reputation. I’m not saying that he himself falls into that pedophile group, but just that he thought that this investigation or this these materials would harm his reputation in some way.
In order to get full justice for the victims, the money needs to be followed, and that is where Trump could face more problems.
Rumors of an early 2026 release for an entry-level MacBook with an iPhone chip continue to swirl. With an expected price range of between $700 and $900, its place in Apple’s laptop lineup is far from clear.
The M4 MacBook Air is hard to beat
If the rumors are indeed true, we can likely expect the new laptop to be called “MacBook,” so that’s the name we’re going to use here. And it makes sense, because that’s a name that Apple has used before.
But what the MacBook would be in 2026 makes for an interesting thought process. Where it would sit in a lineup that already has the $999 13-inch MacBook Air is even more of a quandary.
The sports executives whom Mark Walter and his Guggenheim Baseball Management trusted to turn around the Dodgers and make them World Series winners have now enlisted Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman to take on advisory roles with the Lakers, people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times on Friday.
Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, purchased majority ownership of the Lakers for a $10-billion evaluation and has started a transition from the Buss family ownership by having Zaidi and Friedman become more involved.
Zaidi is an advisor with Guggenheim and he was the former president of baseball operations with the San Francisco Giants and a former Dodgers general manager. He also has been consulting with the Sparks, another team that Walter owns.
Friedman is the president of baseball operations for the Dodgers and has overseen a team that has won three World Series titles in the last six years.
Both are known in the baseball world as executives who rely on analytics. The Lakers have been known as having a weak analytics department, so Zaidi and Friedman will play a role in improving that.
Friedman already has been talking with Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
The Lakers began making changes in their front office when they fired Joey and Jesse Buss as well as some scouts on Thursday.
Joey Buss was an alternate governor and vice president of research and development with the Lakers while Jesse was the team’s assistant general manager and head of the scouting department.
Fresh off winning a World Series with the Dodgers, Walter, who had been a minority owner of the Lakers since he bought 27% of the franchise with Todd Boehly in 2021, promptly sat courtside for the next Lakers home game Nov. 2. He looked on when the Lakers honored the world champion Dodgers at a home game on Nov. 5.
Walter was part of the group that purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012. Since then, the team has won three World Series titles in five appearances with 13 consecutive playoff berths.
China just placed its largest order of U.S. soybeans in two years, offering a sign of improving trade conditions after months of China snubbing American soybean farmers.
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the sale of 792,000 metric tons of soybeans to China. The move follows a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the end of last month to ease trade tensions, with China committing to resume orders of U.S. soybeans and purchase 12 million tons of of the crop by the end of the year, as well as at least 25 million tons in each of the next three years.
Earlier this month, China bought 332,000 tons of U.S. soybeans, bringing the total so far in November to more than 1 million tons. COFCO, China’s largest state-owned agriculture and food business, had not ordered soybeans from the U.S. since May and had not purchased the crop since the 2025 U.S. harvest season began.
These fresh purchases offer hope for U.S. farmers following months of tariff disputes that disincentivized China from purchasing American soybeans and effectively priced them out of the global market. It’s a good start, industry leaders said, but farmers want more assurance of a steady market moving forward.
“We want to trust what we’ve heard,” Todd Main, the director of market development at the Illinois Soybean Association, told Fortune.
At the same time, farmers are fed up with the uncertainty that has unaccompanied the trade policy of the Trump administration.
“We are concerned about the volatility in the trade relationships,” Main continued. “It’s hard for people to make plans—whether that’s farmers planning for next year’s crop, or buyers that are planning to make big investments in equipment or facilities or what have you—where there’s lots of instability.”
In 2024, soybeans made up about 20% of U.S. “cash crop receipts,” worth about $46.8 billion, according to USDA data. While about a quarter of those soybeans went to China, retaliatory tariffs as a result of trade disputes with Beijing hobbled the U.S. soybean industry while South American countries gobbled up market share. Brazil and Argentina are replacing U.S. farmers, with Brazil making up about 71% of China’s soybean imports, according to the American Soybean Association. Three decades ago, Brazil accounted for just 2% of those imports.
A new trade era
Even with thawing relations between the U.S. and China, soybean farmers have reason to be on edge about restoring trade ties. For one, the USDA’s figures for soybean exports could be skewed and harder for economists and farmers to interpret. The USDA may not be releasing up-to-date weekly export summaries for the rest of the year as a result of the shutdown slowing down the release of key data. Therefore, farmers and economists rely more on the USDA reporting flash sales, or crop purchases that exceed a certain volume and warrant their own report.
Not everyone is sold on China’s commitment, either. StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman said in a note earlier this month that China’s data “provided no evidence to support the notion that there will be a substantial increase in state purchases to meet the 12 million metric ton commitment for calendar year 2025 as stated by the White House” and that China’s soybean processors have “zero financial incentive” to buy more U.S. supply because of the more affordable options from South America.
Main is likewise skeptical. He said during Trump’s first term, China and the U.S. similarly made an agreement to resume soybean trade, but there was a delay in initial follow-through from China.
The threat of future trade tensions hasn’t completely disappeared. The consequences of reopened tariff disputes between the U.S. and China would mean Brazil and Argentina would once again have another opportunity to expand their dominion over China’s soybean import market.
“Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of soybeans, and so the real concern has been, if we have another trade war, we’re incentivizing faster expansion in South America, which has long-run effects for us,” Scott Gerlt, chief economist for the American Soybean Association, told Fortune.
Still, soybean farmers aren’t completely at the mercy of fragile trade relations. Even before the 2025 slate of tariffs, soybean farmers have made inroads to diversify demand for their crops, including opening “soybean excellence centers” meant to provide training and best practices globally for soybean producers, as well as expand infrastructure to be able to process and distribute more soybeans domestically, according to Main. Others have found other trade partners, such as Southeast Asian buyers to partially offset lost business from China.
“It’s not going to be just, OK, everything’s all better—or, everything’s a disaster,” Main said. “It’s going to be somewhere in between going forward.”
