English rock band the Beatles at the BBC television studios in London before leaving for a concert tour of Germany, and afterwards Japan, 16th June 1966. From left to right, they are Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
As if four upcoming Beatles biopics aren’t enough, the BBC is ready to give fans more.
The network has picked up a new drama series, Hamburg Days, which will focus on The Beatles’ early days as a band. The six-part series, based on the autobiography by German artist and musician Klaus Voormann, is set in the ’60s when Voormann and photographer Astrid Kirchherr meet a young Liverpool rock band, who are playing in the clubs of Hamburg’s St. Pauli’s red-light district.
“Together, they help spark a transformation that turns a scrappy group of teenagers into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known: The Beatles,” reads the series description.
“Hamburg Days is the fascinating story of how, in the space of two short years, a raw young band from Liverpool honed their music skills in Hamburg, before returning home to become an overnight worldwide success,” says Sue Deeks, head of scripted pre-buy acquisitions at the BBC. “It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!”
Voormann will serve as a consultant on the series. Casting on the project has not yet been announced.
Law enforcement on the scene after two people were shot and killed in Simi Valley, Calif., Dec. 1, 2025. KABC.
(SIMI VALLEY, Calif.) — The son of a California radiologist has been identified as the suspect in the fatal shooting of his parents at their home.
Dr. Eric Cordes, 63, and wife, Vicki, 66, were shot multiple times in their Simi Valley garage on Sunday shortly after 12 p.m. local time. The couple was taken to a local hospital and later died of their injuries, the Simi Valley Police Department told ABC News.
Keith Cordes, 37, allegedly shot his father and stepmother multiple times before fleeing the scene to the city of Chino, police said. He then reportedly set the car he escaped in on fire before fatally shooting himself, police said.
The San Bernardino County Medical Examiner’s Office was able to confirm the remains in the car set ablaze as Keith Cordes on Tuesday, police said.
Investigators said they believe that the weapon used in Keith Cordes’s suicide is the same weapon that was used to kill the couple, but forensic testing is still pending.
The circumstances and motive for the double murder are still under investigation, according to police.
The suspect — a resident of Kentucky — allegedly approached the couple in their garage before opening fire on Sunday. He then fled the scene in a black sedan with out of state plates, according to witness statements obtained by police.
Detectives later found the vehicle and the suspect’s remains by tracking its movement using FLOCK cameras and LPR cameras.
Dr. Cordes worked with Focus Medical Imaging for several years before his killing, the radiology clinic told ABC News on Tuesday.
“Dr. Eric Cordes was a brilliant, hard working doctor, and a respected colleague. He served the Simi Valley community and surrounding areas throughout his entire 30 plus year career. His tragic passing will leave a huge hole that will take a long time to fill,” Focus Medical Imaging said.
Adventist Health Simi Valley, where he also worked, called the couple’s killing a “shocking loss.”
“The Adventist Health Simi Valley community is heartbroken by the tragic deaths of our longtime colleague, Dr. Eric Cordes, and his wife, Vicki. Dr. Cordes was a highly respected, board-certified radiologist and beloved physician who served this community with compassion and excellence for nearly 30 years,” the hospital told ABC News in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — The Northeast is bracing for its coldest temperatures of the season as an arctic blast hits the Midwest and then moves east.
On Thursday morning, the temperature is forecast to plunge to 5 degrees in Chicago; minus 4 degrees in Minneapolis; minus 1 degree in Green Bay, Wisconsin; and 8 degrees in Kansas City, Missouri.
On Friday, the temperature could fall to 1 degree in Chicago, 8 degrees in Detroit, 10 degrees in Pittsburgh, 14 in Boston and 21 in New York. Chicago, Pittsburgh and Portland, Maine, could also record daily record lows.
By the weekend, the temperature won’t be as extreme, but it’ll still likely feel cooler than average in the North and Northeast. Unseasonably cold conditions in the East are expected again next week.
Meanwhile, in the West, winter storm alerts are in effect on Wednesday in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, where 3 to 13 inches of snow is forecast.
Much of this snow is welcome, as the mountains have been behind normal snowfall this season.
Denver could see 3 to 6 inches of snow on Wednesday, with totals increasing in higher elevations outside of the city.
Maxx Morando and Miley Cyrus attend the premiere of ‘Avatar: Fire And Ash,’ December 1, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/WireImage)
That “Something Beautiful” on Miley Cyrus‘ finger is indeed an engagement ring.
In an interview with ABC’s Chris Connelly onGood Morning Americathat airedWednesday, Miley, 33, confirmed that she and her boyfriend of four years, Maxx Morando, 27, are getting married. Maxx popped the question during the couple’s recent trip to Asia.
Asked if Maxx got down on one knee, Miley said yes, adding, “And I’m not easy to surprise. I love to control every situation. And I had completely surrendered, and I’m telling you, I was so, so surprised.”
Miley shared her news while being interviewed for Avatar: Fire and Ash,James Cameron‘s new film, for which she co-wrote and recorded the song “Dream As One.” Asked if she and Maxx “dream as one,” Miley said yes, adding, “Me and Maxx have been together for four years and it’s obvious the amount of growth I’ve had in those four years.”
“You wanna dream the biggest you can and you wanna have someone by your side that always tells you you can do it,” she said.
Maxx, who is in the band Liily, has been linked to Miley since 2021, according to People. That year, they were photographed holding hands while they sat front row at the Gucci Love Parade in Hollywood.
In an interview with The Cut in September, Miley shared how much Maxx means to her.
“I ended up with a person who means a lot to me and treats me really well and respects me,” she said. “I had to learn that the hard way because my mommy taught me the wrong way and then I had to learn the right way by myself.”
The couple’s engagement comes six years after Miley and her first husband, actor Liam Hemsworth, filed for divorce.
A Waymo self-driving car (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) – A Waymo driverless taxi drove a passenger into an apparent police standoff in downtown Los Angeles last week, according to a video posted online Monday.
The Waymo taxi came across a street blocked by police vehicles early Friday before turning into an area that was not blocked off where other vehicles were also traveling, according to a Waymo spokesperson.
Officers were conducting a high-risk felony arrest after a stolen vehicle pursuit at around 3:40 a.m. when the Waymo drove through an intersection, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Waymo said the vehicle was in the vicinity of the event for “no more than 15 seconds.”
“Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets. When we encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities,” a spokesperson for Waymo said in a statement to ABC News.
Officers had not yet blocked off traffic when the Waymo vehicle drove through but did so afterward, the LAPD said.
The incident did not impact the LAPD’s tactics, police said. The LAPD also said it has a 24/7 hotline for coordinating issues with Waymo.
Waymo began operating its driverless taxis in Los Angeles early last year and opened its service to everyone in November 2024.
All hail. Anne Hathaway stars in the official trailer for the upcoming A24 film Mother Mary. The movie follows the wounds that come to the surface after a pop star reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer on the eve of her comeback performance. Michaela Coel and Hunter Schafer also star in the latest film from The Green Knight director David Lowery …
Nicholas Hoult and Daisy Edgar-Jones are set to star in a new comedy series. Variety reports that the actors will team up to lead the upcoming Disney+ comedy Mosquito. The show is described as a sardonic look at a young couple’s relationship. It will follow a married couple whose secrets begin to reveal themselves as daily life chips away at their personas, according to an official synopsis …
Angelina Jolie has found her next film role. Deadline reports that the Oscar winner has started filming the dark thriller Sunny. The movie is being directed by Eva Sørhaug, and follows a female gangster who fights to protect her sons and herself from an abusive drug kingpin …
(CADILLAC, Mich.) — Two family members have been charged in connection to the death of a pregnant woman in Michigan after authorities allege she was lured to a home and tortured “in an attempt to remove the unborn infant,” according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
Cortney Bartholomew, 40, and Bradly Bartholomew, 47 — both from Boon, Michigan — were arraigned on Tuesday in the 84th District Court in Cadillac on multiple felony charges related to the murder of Rebecca Park, 22, of Manton, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Officials allege that on Nov. 3, the couple lured Park — Cortney Bartholomew’s biological daughter who was approximately 38 weeks pregnant at the time — to their Wexford County home in upstate Michigan.
“The couple then allegedly tortured Park in an attempt to remove the unborn infant, resulting in the death of both,” according to the statement from the attorney general’s office. “After an extensive search, Park’s remains were found in the Manistee National Forest on November 25.”
“Rebecca had everything to live for, and our hearts are with her loved ones as they endure this unthinkable loss,” Nessel said. “We are committed to working alongside the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to ensure justice is pursued in this tragic case without delay.”
Cortney and Bradly Bartholomew have each been charged by the Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree murder, felony murder, torture and a series of other charges that could land each of them a potential life sentence.
“This case involves a truly horrific homicide in which a young woman and her unborn child endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Defendants,” said Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey. “The brutality and disregard for human life displayed here are deeply troubling. While these remain allegations until proven in court, the evidence reflects an extraordinary level of callousness and violence. We look forward to presenting the full facts in court.”
The Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is handling the prosecution of this case with the assistance of the Department of Attorney General, authorities said.
(NEW YORK) — The Kremlin on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin hadn’t outright rejected the latest version of the U.S.-backed plan at his Tuesday meeting with American officials, but added that more work would have to be done to make the proposal acceptable to Moscow.
“No, it would not be correct,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday. “The fact is that such a direct exchange of views took place for the first time yesterday, and, again, as was said yesterday, something was accepted, something was noted as unacceptable, and this is a normal working process of seeking compromise.”
Those statements came as two of the top Ukrainian security officials were set to regroup on Wednesday in Brussels with several European counterparts to discuss the outcomes of Tuesday’s U.S.-Russia meeting in Moscow, the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement.
Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and Andrii Hnatov, chief of the General Staff, were expected to join talks in Belgium, which would follow a day after top U.S. officials held a high-stakes sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“This is our ongoing coordination with partners, and we ensure that the negotiation process is fully active,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday on social media.
After their meetings in Brussels, Umerov Hnatov were expected to begin preparations for a meeting with envoys of the Trump administration, Zelenskyy said.
The sit-down in Moscow followed a series of meetings between top U.S. and Ukrainian officials, during which the parties sought to revise the original peace-plan proposal presented by the Trump administration to Ukraine last month. Witkoff and other top U.S. officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — met on Sunday in Florida with a Ukrainian delegation to attempt to find a deal that Ukraine and Russia might both accept to end the war.
Witkoff and Kushner on Tuesday conveyed the outcomes of that meeting to Putin. The Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide said Tuesday’s five-hour talks in Moscow had been “useful” but added that “no compromise plan” had been found yet on the toughest issues.
None of the parties involved in the negotiations has detailed the current version of the proposal.
Peskov on Wednesday told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that Russia also didn’t plan to publicly disclose what Witkoff, Kushner and Putin had discussed, but added that Russia was “grateful for these efforts by the Trump administration and we are all ready to meet as many times as necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement.”
(NEW YORK) — A doctor who admitted to distributing ketamine to Matthew Perry weeks before he died is set to be sentenced on Wednesday — the first among the five people convicted in connection with the “Friends” actor’s 2023 overdose death.
Salvador Plasencia pleaded guilty in July to four counts of distribution of ketamine. He is one of two doctors convicted of providing Perry with ketamine before the actor died in October 2023 at the age of 54. The actor was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Plasencia, an operator of an urgent care clinic in Malibu, had been set to go on trial in August in the case prior to reaching a plea agreement. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each count, prosecutors said.
His sentencing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday local time in Los Angeles federal court.
The government recommended a sentence of 36 months in prison, arguing in a filing ahead of the sentencing that Plasencia “sought to exploit Perry’s medical vulnerability for profit.”
“Indeed, the day defendant met Perry he made his profit motive known, telling a co-conspirator: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay’ and ‘let’s find out,'” prosecutors stated.
Plasencia’s attorneys asked for a sentence of one day credit for time served and three years of supervised release in a filing ahead of sentencing, arguing that prison time is unnecessary given “the punishment Mr. Plasencia has already experienced, and will continue to experience for many years to come.”
“He has already lost his medical license, his clinic, and his career,” they wrote. “He has also been viciously attacked in the media and threatened by strangers to the point where his family has moved out of state for their safety.”
His attorneys stated that Plasencia recklessly treated Perry “without adequate knowledge of ketamine therapy and without a full understanding of his patient’s addiction,” and that it was “the biggest mistake of his life.”
They said he accepts the consequences of his actions and is working to find ways to help people without a medical license and one day hopes to start a nonprofit focused on food insecurity.
His attorneys also tried to differentiate Plasencia from the four other defendants in the case who have also all pleaded guilty — two dealers who provided the fatal dose of ketamine to Perry, the actor’s personal assistant who administered it and another doctor who ran a ketamine clinic.
Plasencia, his attorneys said, treated Perry for “a discrete thirteen-day period in the physician-patient context for depression.”
“Despite the serious treatment mistakes he made, Mr. Plasencia was not treating M.P. at the time of his death and he did not provide him with the ketamine which resulted in his overdose,” they continued.
According to Plasencia’s plea agreement, he distributed 20 vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges and syringes to Perry and the actor’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, between Sept. 30, 2023, and Oct. 12, 2023.
Plasencia “admits that his conduct fell below the proper standard of medical care and that transfers of ketamine vials to Defendant Iwamasa and Victim M.P. were not for a legitimate medical purpose,” his plea agreement stated.
Iwamasa, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, the DOJ said.
According to Iwamasa’s plea agreement, Perry asked Iwamasa to help him procure ketamine in September 2023 and provided his assistant with “money, or promised to reimburse him, and directed him to find sources from whom to acquire the drugs.”
One of Plasencia’s patients introduced him to Perry on Sept. 30, 2023, with the unidentified patient referring to the actor as a “‘high profile person’ who was seeking ketamine and was willing to pay ‘cash and lots of thousands’ for ketamine treatment,'” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.
Plasencia contacted his mentor, Mark Chavez, who had previously operated a ketamine clinic, to discuss Perry’s request for ketamine and purchased vials of liquid ketamine, ketamine lozenges and other items from him, according to the agreement.
Chavez pleaded guilty in October 2024 to distributing ketamine to Perry.
In discussing how much to charge Perry, Plasencia said in text messages to Chavez, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets [sic] find out,” the Department of Justice said.
Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry at the actor’s home on several occasions, and left vials and lozenges with Iwamasa to administer, according to the plea agreement. In one instance, he was paid $12,000 for such a visit, according to the agreement.
One such instance occurred outside of the home, when Plasencia administered ketamine to Perry in a parking lot near an aquarium in Long Beach, according to the plea agreement. Upon learning about that, Chavez “reprimanded” the other doctor “for ‘dosing people’ in cars, and in a public place where children are present,” Chavez’s plea agreement stated.
Plasencia returned to Perry’s home on Oct. 12, 2023, to administer ketamine, during which the actor’s blood pressure spiked, causing him to “freeze up,” according to Plasencia’s plea agreement.
“Notwithstanding Victim M.P.’s reaction, defendant left additional vials of ketamine with Defendant Iwamasa, knowing that Defendant Iwamasa would inject the ketamine into Victim M.P.,” the agreement stated.
After receiving 10 more vials of ketamine through a licensed pharmaceutical company using his DEA license, Plasencia texted Iwamasa on Oct. 27, 2023, according to the plea agreement: “I know you mentioned taking a break. I have been stocking up on the meanwhile. I am not sure when you guys plan to resume but in case its when im out of town this weekend I have left supplies with a nurse of mine …I can always let her know the plan.”
Perry died the following day after overdosing on ketamine, which Plasencia had not provided, according to the plea agreement.
Plasencia “sold vial after vial of ketamine to Mr. Perry, knowing that Perry’s personal assistant was administering the ketamine without proper oversight or medical training,” the government’s sentencing file stated. “Even after defendant saw Mr. Perry suffer an adverse reaction to a ketamine shot, he still offered to sell Perry more. While the ketamine that killed Mr. Perry on October 28 was not provided by defendant, defendant’s egregious breaches of trust and abandonment of his oath to ‘do no harm’ undoubtedly contributed to the harm that Mr. Perry suffered.”
Following their convictions, both Plasencia and Chavez gave up their medical licenses.
Chavez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Iwamasa is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 14, 2026, and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Two other defendants in the case — Erik Fleming and Jasveen Sangha — admitted to distributing the ketamine that killed Perry.
Prosecutors said Sangha worked with Fleming to distribute ketamine to Perry, and that in October 2023, they sold the actor 51 vials of ketamine, which were provided to Iwamasa.
Fleming pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2026, and faces up to 25 years in prison.
Sangha, allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen,” pleaded guilty in September to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The family of a Colombian fisherman who died in a U.S. military boat strike in September has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging the U.S. government illegally killed him.
Alejandro Carranza was killed in a strike in the Caribbean on Sept. 15, according to the petition, filed on Tuesday.
“From numerous news reports, we know that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza and the murder of all those on such boats,” according to the petition. “Secretary Hegseth has admitted that he gave such orders despite the fact that he did not know the identity of those being targeted for these bombings and extra-judicial killings.”
In the petition, Carranza’s lawyer Dan Kovalik said the fisherman’s family “has no recourse to adequate and effective remedies in Colombia to obtain redress for the injuries they have suffered due to the actions of the United States.”
While the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights can investigate the complaint and issue findings, any ruling it makes would not be legally binding on the U.S.
A Pentagon official told ABC News the department does not comment on pending litigation.
The filing comes after Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. government of committing murder for the strike that killed Carranza.
“U.S. government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing,” Petro said on X last month. “The Colombian boat was adrift and displaying the distress signal due to having an outboard motor. We await explanations from the U.S. government.”
Three people total were killed in the Sept. 15 strike in the Caribbean, U.S. officials said.
President Donald Trump said at the time that he ordered the military strike against a boat that he insisted was carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela to the U.S., telling reporters the operation left “big bags of cocaine and fentanyl” floating around in the ocean.
Since September, Trump and Hegseth have ordered more than 20 military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The Trump administration has alleged with little evidence that the boats were smuggling drugs from Venezuela and Colombia. The controversial campaign so far has killed more than 80 people, according to officials.
Hegseth has maintained that the strikes are all legal and claims that the military has evidence that the boats were carrying drugs.
On Capitol Hill, some leaders from both parties have questioned the legality of the strikes and whether the president has the constitutional power to authorize them.
The first such incident, which occurred on Sept. 2, has been under scrutiny following a recent Washington Post report that cited two people with direct knowledge of the operations saying a second strike was ordered on the boat that killed two survivors.
One person familiar with details of the incident confirmed to ABC News that there were survivors from the initial strike on the boat and that those survivors were killed in a subsequent strike.
Democrats say that alone could be enough to suggest a war crime occurred. The laws of war require either side in a conflict to provide care for wounded and shipwrecked troops.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who oversaw the initial attack, has defended the strike as legal.
The defense secretary told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he watched the first strike unfold before leaving for meetings. He says he did not see survivors or any strikes that followed and said the admiral who, he said, ordered the second strike made the “right call.”
