Asoka Jayaweera, an 85-year-old California cardiologist, allegedly choked to death in August 2023 due to food served to him on a Qatar Airways flight. In a wrongful death lawsuit, Jayaweera’s son Surya claims that his father requested a vegetarian meal for his Aug. 1 flight from Los Angeles to Doha, Qatar, but was informed none were available. Instead, he was allegedly instructed to “eat around” the meat when he quickly “began choking on the meal.” The complaint alleges that flight crew members claimed an emergency landing wasn’t available as they were “traveling over the Arctic Circle/Ocean,” however, Surya argues that at the time of the choking, the plane was actually flying over Wisconsin. Instead, the flight crew called MedAire, a service that has ER doctors guide flight crew through emergencies. Jayaweera was provided oxygen, however, he lost consciousness. Eight hours later, the plane landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Jayaweera was brought to the hospital, where he died two days later due to aspiration pneumonia, caused by unintentionally consuming food or drink into the lungs. Surya has requested damages at the statutory minimum amount of $128,821 due to wrongful death and negligence. Qatar Airways did not respond immediately to request for comment.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s motorcade has been pelted with rocks by protestors, leading one of his ministers to claim it was an assassination attempt. Environment and Energy Minister Ines Manzano filed a report that included unverified claims that the car had been shot at. Reuters reports that 500 protesters gathered in the province of Cañar against cuts to fuel subsidies. The cuts have led to strike action from Ecuador’s National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONAIE). Five people were detained following the unrest. Manzano said they would be charged with terrorism and attempted assassination. Noboa’s government has taken a tough stance on crime and is no stranger to giving the armed forces and law enforcement emergency powers. “Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property—that’s just criminal,” Manzano said. “We will not allow this.” In response, CONAIE said on X that protestors had been subject to orchestrated violence from authorities. It decried what it described as the 37-year-old president’s “war policy,” accusing the administration of “military responses to the legitimate demands.” The strike is now in its third week.
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Fall is officially in full swing, which means shorter days, cooler weather, and criminally overrated pumpkin spice everything are here. As we inch closer to the dreaded end of daylight saving time and the beginning of SAD season (or “cuffing season,” if you’re a glass-half-full person), the good news is that it’s the perfect time to cozy up with a new blanket. Lola Blankets are indisputably the best on the market—they’re designed from the softest faux fur fabric we’ve ever felt and are actually machine-washable. Right now, the brand is offering a very generous buy one, get one free deal to quell our post-summer blues. The catch? It’s only valid for 24 hours. In other words—run, don’t walk.
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A man arrested on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C. on Sunday was found to be carrying over 200 explosive devices, authorities said. Louis Geri, 41, set up a tent on the cathedral’s steps ahead of the annual Red Mass ceremony, which is typically attended by some of the Supreme Court justices. When approached by officers, he told them, “You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives.” He warned, “Several of your people are gonna die from one of these.” Geri handed over a nine-page document outlining his disdain for Catholicism, Judaism, the Supreme Court justices, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At one point during the standoff, he brandished a butane lighter and began pulling out vials containing a yellow liquid, later identified as nitromethane, a compound used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Geri was eventually subdued and arrested, with a search of his tent uncovering a multitude of “fully functional” explosive devices, according to court documents. He faces multiple charges, including possession of a weapon of mass destruction, and is being held without bond.
Rome is opening up a passageway underneath the Colosseum that emperors once used to visit gladiators. The Passage of Commodus, or Passaggio di Commodo, has been renovated more than 1,900 years after it was first built. It is located at the Colosseum Archaeological Park in Italy’s capital. The tunnel is believed to have served a dual purpose, also allowing emperors to beat a hasty retreat if they faced the ire of the mob. It gets its name from Emperor Commodus, said to have been an avid fan of the lurid delights of the area. He is the Emperor depicted by Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. The passage is still shrouded in mystery, however. After 60 yards it comes to an abrupt end, courtesy of sewage pipes laid for modern Rome. Where it once ended remains unknown. According to The Sun, architects think the tunnel was included in the original plans for the Colosseum. It was first rediscovered in the 19th Century. Now reinstated to its former glory, has lights designed to emulate the sun that would have reached it through skylights in the glory days of the empire. The site’s director, Alfonsina Russo, said, “It’s an extraordinary place and now it has been restored the world will finally get to see it.” It opens to visitors from October 27.
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Dolly Parton’s sister Freida has apologized for scaring fans after asking them to pray for the country music star. Parton, 79, was forced to cancel both an event in Dollywood and an upcoming Las Vegas residency after coming down with a kidney stone which was causing her “a lot of problems.” Following news of the Vegas cancellation, Freida asked fans for their prayers after revealing her sister “hasn’t been feeling her best.” But in a follow-up post on Facebook, the 68-year-old singer-songwriter clarified, “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly. She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister.” She added, “Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference.” A spokesperson for the singer told CBS that Parton will post a social media update on Wednesday that “will address everyone’s concerns.”
Donald Trump has reinstated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief linked to the “Sharpiegate” incident. The Senate confirmed atmospheric scientist Neil Jacobs as the new boss of the administration in charge of weather forecasting, NBC reports. Jacobs was acting administrator in 2019, in Trump’s first term, and now moves into the top job properly. He was at the helm when the president said Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama, despite forecasters at the National Hurricane Center saying there was almost no chance of it. Under Jacobs’ stewardship, NOAA bowed to the president’s will. The Center’s Birmingham office said Alabama wasn’t at risk, but Trump overruled it, presenting an alternative map of Dorian’s predicted path. On the printed chart was an additional blob drawn on in black Sharpie, his preferred writing instrument. His version did reach Alabama. Storm Dorian did not. It ended up in Canada. Jacob’s agency fell in line with Trump, issuing an unsigned statement in support of the new map. Now at NOAA’s helm, Jacobs will be responsible for weather forecasting and keeping climate records. Trump has railed against the consensus on man-made climate change, deriding it as a hoax. His administration has consistently expressed its preference for the use of fossil fuels and disdain for renewable energy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested an 82-year-old country singer should have been picked as the Super Bowl halftime performer over Bad Bunny. MAGA mouthpieces have whipped themselves into a frenzy over the Puerto Rican superstar being selected for next year’s Super Bowl, following his criticism of ICE. “I didn’t even know who Bad Bunny was, but it sounds like a terrible decision, in my view,” Johnson told a reporter on Tuesday when asked to comment on the choice of performer. “It sounds like he’s not someone who appeals to a broader audience.” Bad Bunny, 31, is one of the most successful musical artists on the planet and has accumulated over 107 billion streams on Spotify. “There’s so many eyes on the Super Bowl-a lot of young, impressionable children,” Johnson added. “And, in my view, you would have Lee Greenwood or role models doing that. Not somebody like this.” Greenwood, famous for his 1984 hit “God Bless the U.S.A.,” appeared with Donald Trump at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service and was a key identity throughout Trump’s 2024 campaign stops. Johnson, 53, is not alone in his dismissal of Bad Bunny. Trump told Newsmax on Monday, “I never heard of him, I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy… I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
An 84-year-old climber has died after falling 25 feet despite medics reaching him while he was still alive. A team from the Baraboo Area Fire and E.M.S. District responded to a call in Devil’s Lake State Park, Wisconsin, at 11:30 a.m., officials said. The man had been out with a group of climbers over the weekend. His identity has not been made public, The New York Times reports. Responders reached the man using a technique called a high-angle rope rescue, which lowers them down steep rock faces into hard-to-reach areas. Baraboo Area Fire assistant chief Mark Willer said, “Our medics made access to him, but before we could get anything set up, he went pulseless.” It is the fifth time this year the department has been called out to climbers in the 10,000-acre state park. Willer said climbers “are historically the safest people out there.” The park attracts around 2.5 million visitors annually. The man died in an area called West Bluff, on a “moderate to difficult route” that traverses dense woods and steep drop-offs, according to the park’s website.
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A group of tourists who were chased by an angry elephant while on a canoe safari in Botswana have spoken of the terrifying ordeal. Video footage from earlier this year captured the creature stampeding after the tourist boat and almost capsizing it when they drifted too close to its young. “The first thought that came to my mind was, ‘This is the end of me,’” passenger Jeff Melvin told ABC News. “We kept telling them that they were kind of getting a little annoyed at our presence,” he recalled. “And then just in the blink of an eye, things kind of changed.” Fellow passenger Larry Unrein said the group did not initially see the elephant calves, which were hidden behind a patch of tall grass. After chasing the canoe, the elephant rammed it with its tusks, trampling on a female passenger as she tumbled into the crocodile-infested water. Guides said the woman was lucky to be alive. “I thought for sure I was dead,” Unrein said. “And then once I was safe, it was just jubilation. I was very happy to be alive.”
Kiss co-founder Ace Frehley, 74, has scrapped the remaining shows of his tour. The former guitarist of the legendary hard rock group was hospitalized in late September after a minor fall in his studio, forcing him to pull out of his concert in Lancaster, California “against his wishes.” On Monday, a post on his Instagram announced, “Due to some ongoing medical issues, Ace has made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of his 2025 dates.” Dubbed The Spaceman, Frehley was slated to perform at several shows in October and November, including in Saint Charles, Missouri, and in Westland, Michigan, according to Ticketmaster. The musician has spent much of 2025 touring in support of his 2024 solo album 10,000 Volts. In August, President Donald Trump named Kiss as one of his 2025 Kennedy Center honorees. Frehley, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss, who founded Kiss in 1973, all expressed appreciation for the honor to TMZ. Stanley and Simmons have been highly critical of Trump in the past, but Frehley had referred to himself as a Trump supporter in 2020, according to TMZ. Frehley remained with Kiss until his departure in 1982.