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Tulsi Gabbard — the one-time Democratic representative turned Fox News pundit and Trump loyalist — is the latest of the president’s Cabinet picks to clear the confirmation process despite a lack of qualifications and uniquely troubling views. Gabbard will serve as his Director of National Intelligence, a position in which she will oversee more than a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and Nsa, and will be responsible for Trump’s briefings on classified intel.

The Senate advanced Gabbard’s nomination in a Monday vote along party lines, 52-...

“At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,” President Joe Biden said in a speech from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The president’s remarks on Sunday followed the news that President Bashar al-Assad’s government had fallen to rebel forces who united from across the nation against the brutal dictator.

“This regime brutalized and tortured and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians,” Biden said. “The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering...

Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted from power early on Sunday in a stunning bloodless coup by Islamist rebels who took control of Damascus, the Syrian capital after a 13-year civil war that has caused more than 500,000 deaths and forced millions of Syrians to leave their homeland.

The rebels, who are called the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters, moved swiftly, entering Damascus and taking over the city as government military fled, hours after Assad had absconded.

The rebels’ fast-paced offensive was facilitated by a changing geopolitical scenario in which Assad was no longer able to rely on support from Iran, Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, according to several analysts.

State TV in Iran, which has been Assad’s main backer in recent years, reported that Assad had left the Syrian capital for an undisclosed location, while Syrian state television aired a video statement saying that he had been overthrown and...

In 2013, I met a 12-year-old Syrian girl who had been shot in the back by a government sniper near Aleppo. Her name was Maysaa, and she was paralyzed from the waist down.

“Am I a terrorist? Are all of the children they kill terrorists?” she asked, recuperating in an improvised medical facility on her way to a Turkish hospital.

Despite her pain, she was overcome with anger, and she cursed the man responsible. “Children are being torn to pieces. May God tear Bashar al-Assad and his children to pieces.”

Curses...

Syrian rebels took to the airwaves on state Syrian TV on Sunday morning local time to announce they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad, after their shock seizure of the country’s capital of Damascus.

Footage circulating on social media channels shows the rebels taking control of the state TV building and entering the control gallery to ready the broadcast.

A group of nine men in casual clothes made an on-air statement saying they had toppled the “oppressive” al-Assad, and also freed prisoners being held in his regime’s notorious Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus.

Assad is reported to have flown out of the country to an unknown destination in the early hours of Sunday. The president’s flight ends his family’s 54-year stranglehold on the country which began when his father Hafez al-Assad seized power in a bloodless coup in November 1970.

The rebels’ ousting of Assad is...

Donald Trump has already lost a Cabinet pick and is reconsidering a second, but they say bad news comes in threes, and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard may be the next uphill confirmation battle for the incoming president.

Gabbard — a former Democratic representative from Hawaii who turned Republican in 2024 — was a controversial pick from the start. Her past comments defending Russia’s 2020 invasion of Ukraine and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad have raised eyebrows within the intelligence community she’s meant to lead.

According to a Thursday report from ABC News,...

An Islamic militant group has made rapid advances across northwest Syria, seizing territory from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in a dramatic evolution of a thirteen-year-old conflict that had appeared to be frozen.

The swift gains by the fighting group Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham, also known as Hts, began with attacks last Wednesday against government forces in northwestern Syria. By Saturday, the militants had gained control of Aleppo — Syria’s second largest city — and had pushed south to Hama, a major city on the highway south to Damascus.

“Hts is...

Donald Trump has nominated Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and Fox News contributor, as his next director of national intelligence.

The president elect also confirmed that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-fl) would be his choice for secretary of state, despite some unhappiness among some of his supporters over the choice. Some had been pushing for Ric Grenell, who served as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence in his first term, as well as U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Gabbard endorsed Trump’s presidential bid and joined the Republican party last month.

Trump said in a statement, “Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans. As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican! I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights,...

Copenhagen-based TrustNordisk continues to score with the thriller “Boundless,” starring Ulrich Thomsen as maverick detective Carl Mørck from author Jussi Adler-Olsen’s “Department Q” crime series.

The latest deals were closed with Plaion for Germany and Austria, Movies Inspired for Italy, Cinemania Group for former Yugoslavia and Albania, Media4Fun for Poland and Palace Films for Australia and New Zealand.

A total of 26 territories now hold the rights including France (Wild Bunch Distribution), Spain (Vértigo Films) and Switzerland (Frenetic Films). According to TrustNordisk’s sales manager Frederik Hemmingsen, 65% of the buyers are the same ones who acquired earlier “Department Q” films.

Currently ranking second at the 2024 Danish box office with over 311,000 admissions, “Boundless” is the second of six “Department Q” standalone features produced by Nordisk Film Production Denmark, after “The Marco Effect.” Four earlier film adaptations produced by Zentropa turned into major hits: “The Keeper of Lost Causes,” “The Absent One,...

Interview with the Vampire season 3 will explore Armand and Daniel's relationship, adding depth and staying true to the source material. Season 3 will adapt the "Devil's Minion" storyline, highlighting queer elements and the evolving dynamics between Armand and Daniel. Despite timeline alterations, the show continues to honor Anne Rice's stories, setting the stage for a complex and intriguing journey for Armand and Daniel.

Interview with the Vampire season 3 will bring more depth to Armand and Daniel's relationship, and I'm moved that there's finally an adaptation giving these characters the time they deserve. Since Interview with the Vampire burst onto screens in 2022, I knew I would be happy with it. It maintained the core elements of Anne Rice that I loved, while changing the story in ways that only served to highlight Rice's values and messages. Interview with the Vampire season 3 looks set to continue this pattern.

In Interview with...

Warning: Major Spoilers ahead for Interview with the Vampire season 2 finale and Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles book series!

Actors Assad Zaman and Eric Bogosian want to explore the unexpected romance between their characters Armand and Daniel in Interview with the Vampire. They discuss the "Devil's Minion" chapter from Queen of the Damned and its potential for adaptation in the series. The actors express excitement about the show's adaptation process, highlighting the imaginative world of Anne Rice's books and the creative freedom of the adaptation while also sticking to the books' big moments.

Interview with the Vampire stars Assad Zaman and Eric Bogosian want to see the TV series adapt one important romance from Anne Rice's books onscreen. Interview with the Vampire season 2 had a key focus on Louis and his love for other vampires, in particular his relationship with Armand and his history with Lestat. By the end...

Note: This story contains spoilers through Season 2, Episode 8

After two seasons and 15 episodes, “Interview With the Vampire” finally introduced the real Lestat in the Season 2 finale, “And That’s the End of It. There’s Nothing Else.” The iconic vampire has appeared in the memories of multiple characters, in dreams and hallucinations, but now, he has finally appeared in a scene without subjective bias — and he might not be quite what audiences expected.

Seductively cruel in Louis’ recollection, violent and manipulative in Claudia’s, and cartoonishly callous in Armand’s, Lestat is “a shell of himself” when we finally meet him, according to actor Sam Reid. But that’s the real, objective Lestat, seen without the lens of an individual narrative for the first time in the series.

“By the time Louis finds out that Armand directed the play, the interview ends and he leaves and he walks out of it,...

Interview With the Vampire star Sam Reid, who plays the role of the devious Lestat de Lioncourt, teased the dynamic between Assad Zaman’s Armand and Jacob Anderson’s Louis.

Speaking with EW, Reid mused on Louis’ relationship with his new partner Armand, describing it as "very different" from Lestat and Louis' dynamic in Season 1. "Finding out more about Armand, and Louis and Armand's relationship and their dynamic, which is very different to Louis and Lestat, it's exciting," he said. "It's a wild ride. I get tingles when I see Assad as Armand — it's very spine-tinglingly good." Reid continued to tease Zaman’s performance in the upcoming Interview With the Vampire Season 2, revealing that viewers will get to learn more about Armand’s backstory. He added, "Assad didn't really get the chance to play Armand last season. Armand is a really awesome character that has a lot of connections to a lot of the vampires.

“Lamya’s Poem” centers around a Syrian refugee girl named Lamya who draws strength from the verses of ancient poet Rumi after violence forces her to flee from her country. The animated film was recently released digitally in the U.S. roughly around the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising and in the aftermath of massive back-to-back earthquakes that have hit Turkey and Syria.

The timely tale’s impressive voice talent includes Mena Massoud, the star of Disney’s most recent “Aladdin,” as Rumi when he was a young poet; Millie Davis as Lamya; and Faran Tahir as Baha Walad, Rumi’s father.

“Lamya’s Poem” is directed by Alex Kronemer and produced by Sam Kadi, Los Angeles-based Syrian director who helmed the doc “Little Gandhi,” which focuses on the life and death of young Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar.

Kadi spoke to Variety about how “Lamya’s Poem” ties in with latest...

The penultimate episode of the global espionage series “Liaison” on Apple + premiered today, and we uncovered a massive secret about Alison’s past, which might change how the audience has viewed her all along. In the previous episode, Samir finally reunited with his wife and son, thanks to Gabriel and Alison, and they headed to General Jack Rowdy’s sprawling mansion. However, Antropa sent its men to the safe house, and Gabriel ended up having to shoot Alison’s dad when the intruders were at the door. Is her dad still alive, and will they be able to escape the armed intruders? Here’s what happens in this week’s episode:

Spoilers Ahead

Gabriel To The Rescue

After the Rowdy home gets invaded and the intruders cut the power line, Gabriel immediately gets to work and looks to bring down one of the armed men who are sweeping through the house.

Eladio Carrión is a busy man - even by industry standards. Since the release of "SEN2 Kbrn Vol.2" last November, the artist has been traveling, filming videos, and doing press interviews pretty much nonstop. Whenever his docket is clear, Carrión can be found in the studio putting in more work, or "practice," as he calls it. So much so that getting a moment to chat with him required months of staying in communication and shifting around schedules. But when he finally sits down, dressed in a black hat, black hoodie, and glistening chain, he's wearing the smile of a job well done.

"I just turned in the album yesterday, so I'm happy. I've got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder," the artist tells Popsugar.

The album in question? It's titled "3MEN2 Kbrn" (which stands for "tremendo cabrón"), the third and final installment of the "Sen2 Kbrn" series...