A couple have signed up to be frozen after death in the hope of being brought back to life together in the future – but say if one of them doesn’t make it they will ‘pull the plug’ on the other.

Allan and Barbara Pease, from Queensland, will be cryogenically frozen together at a newly built facility in the New South Wales town of Holbrook, which is operated by Southern Cryonics and is the first facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The couple, experts in body language, communication and relationships and married for 35 years, said they want their love story to continue even after death.

Speaking to 60 Minutes Australia, Allan said: ‘They have the technology to put us in, but they haven’t figured out how to get us out yet, and there’s always a risk. But the alternative is eternal blackness.

“When we come back, if they find a way to unfreeze us, if one of us doesn’t do the freezing properly, one of us will pull the plug. We both don’t want to do it alone, I don’t want to come back without her.

Barbara added, “I don’t want to come back without him either. We don’t think about death, we just live in the moment and enjoy every second of it.’

Cryonics is an experimental field of research in which the bodies of the clinically dead are frozen at -196 degrees Celsius so that they can potentially be resuscitated if future medical advances permit.

When it is time for the couple, their bodies will be transferred from their home in Queensland to the cryonics facility in Holbrook, where their bodies will be frozen at sub-zero temperatures.

They will be placed in mental tanks where they will remain until science has evolved enough to extract them and bring them back to life, which could take as long as 100 years.

The couple admitted that they are not worried that the world will look very different when they return in the future.

Barbara said, “I think the world will definitely look different, but I’m excited about that. It would be great to come back and have our babies and grandkids here, but even if they choose not to [be cryogenically frozen]., there would still be descendants of ours around.’

People in the industry admit there is no guarantee of a future revival and that the procedure itself has long been met with skepticism from medical experts. But cryonics enthusiasts are willing to take the gamble for a chance at life after death.

Allan explained: ‘Cryonics is like, if you’re in a plane flying over the Alps and the captain comes along and says, ‘The engines are all gone, we’re going to crash in the next 15 minutes, but we do have experiential skills on board. Parachutes, they have never been used, but we think they will work”, would you like to take the parachute? Well, that’s what cryo-suspension is, it’s a parachute.’

So far, 50 Australians from all walks of life have paid $150,000 to secure a place at Southern Cryonics.

Southern Cryonics director Peter Tsolakides previously said this ABC news that it costs $50,000 for the process done immediately after death, which includes a chemical drip and staff waiting to act at the time of the expiration.

He said the remaining money will cover the company’s fees, and if anything remains, it will be returned to the deceased’s estate.

Another well-known freeze location in America is the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona.

From the outside it looks like any other warehouse. But inside lie the frozen dead bodies of hundreds of patients.

It’s on the pricier side: It costs people $200,000 to have their entire body stored in a high-tech freezer, but there is an option to put just the brain on ice for a discounted price of $80,000.

The number of patients at the Michigan center has grown dramatically from about 600 in 2006 to nearly 1,975 in 2023.

The longest-running patient, named Rhea Ettinger, has been there since 1977.

Her son, Robert Ettinger, a World War II veteran and founder of the Cryonics Institute, is also in the Arctic limbo, along with his first and second wives.

The idea of ​​life being revived after being frozen for a while has largely been relegated to science fiction in scientific circles.

Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute in the US, told us Discover Magazine There are three challenges that future technological developments must overcome.

Repairing the damage caused by frostbite, curing the ailment that killed the patient, and reversing the aging process will all be necessary so that the person has a healthy body to enjoy his second chance at life.

Shannon Tessier, a cryobiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US, said the freezing process alone is a permanent death sentence.

“There is absolutely no current way, no proven scientific way, to actually freeze an entire human being to that temperature without completely destroying — and I mean destroying — the tissue,” Ms. Tessier said.

Of all the many startling elements of the Sussex relaunch this week — from the use of Meghan’s coat of arms to its timing as the King battles cancer — perhaps the most surprising has yet to be remarked on.

It is this: at no point on any part of their new website, Sussex.com, is there a single mention of the word ‘Netflix’.

This includes the section devoted to Archewell Productions, where you will find the following resumé: ‘Founded in 2020 by Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, our company is dedicated to illuminating thought-provoking and diverse narratives that underscore our common humanity and celebrate community — through scripted and non-scripted TV, film, documentaries and podcasting.’

And that’s it.

To jog memories, their estimated $100 million (£80 million) deal with the streaming giant was their first (big) step into the world of commerce after ‘Megxit’, and when it was signed in September 2020 all involved said how delighted they were with the ‘multi-year’ deal.

‘Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope,’ the couple — whose son Archie was born in May 2019 — said in a statement. ‘As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us.’

They added that Netflix’s ‘unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action’.

Netflix boss Ted Sarandos (who is actually one of their near-neighbours in a $35 million (£28 million) home in Montecito, California) said: ‘We’re incredibly proud they have chosen Netflix as their creative home and are excited about telling stories with them that can help build resilience and increase understanding for audiences everywhere.’

He had seen off competition from Disney, NBCUniversal and Apple to sign up the couple, who had only arrived in California six months previously, just as the pandemic hit.

But for all the fine words about the intention to make a social impact, Harry later remarked in his television interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had been forced to make the Netflix deal because of pressing financial need.

As he put it: ‘My family literally cut me off financially.’ He added: ‘I’ve got what my mum left me, and without that we would not have been able to do this.’ (‘This’ being the move to a mansion in Montecito).

So what is going on with the media deal which is meant to be funding their new life?

Perhaps surprisingly, the spectre of (relative) penury and wrangles over money loom rather large over the couple and their relationship with Netflix — and cast a fascinating light on the question of what they are going to do next.

I’m told, by well-placed sources with knowledge of the deal, that the association has been disappointing all round, with Harry and Meghan drawing a relatively meagre amount from the streamer — thought to amount to as little as $20 million (£16 million) for them personally, all in.

Considering the delivery of a blockbuster tell-all six-part documentary Harry & Meghan in December 2022, which was seen by 81 million households in its first three weeks, the couple could judge that $20 million isn’t much at all. Maybe we should look no further when seeking to explain the perplexing omission on the website.

What’s more, the expectation in Hollywood is that both parties will break the deal as soon as it is contractually viable, which will mean a ‘divorce’ in September this year or next.

Will the Sussexes have by then produced their romcom film based on the Carley Fortune book Meet Me At The Lake?

And will they have produced any of the documentary projects, including a Prince Harry in Africa series which has also been long in the planning? Other proposals they are trying to get off the ground include a feminist retelling of the origins of Charles Dickens’ Miss Havisham in the form of a TV drama.

Yet while the writers’ and actors’ strikes took out much of last year, it is notable how little the couple have actually made work for Netflix.

The head of content, Bela Bajaria, tried to put a brave face on the inactivity at an event last week. She said the couple had a number of projects in ‘very early development’ and were being helped by Netflix’s head of unscripted content, Brandon Riegg.

‘They actually have, like a bunch in development,’ she said. ‘They have a movie in development, and a series that they are working on. So all early development, with a movie, a TV series and a couple of unscripted shows that they are working on with Brandon Riegg. But yeah, the movie is great.’

Some might argue that’s faint praise.

Meanwhile, Meghan told reporters at a Variety event earlier this year: ‘We have so many exciting things on the slate. I can’t wait until we can announce them.’

However, a source with knowledge of the situation says that essentially the Netflix deal is a dead duck.

‘The whole arrangement was basically the trade-off for Netflix getting the Harry & Meghan documentary. It was never the huge payday that the Press reported. The $100 million number was always a newspaper figure. 

It’s thought they got a small fraction of that number up front, and everything from there on is largely contingent on performance. The fact is that the company [Archewell] has been relatively inactive so far.’

Rather than a massive lump sum, the deal consisted of a multi-year commitment from Netflix to cover the overheads of Archewell. This is said to be in the region of $3 million (£2.4 million) a year, of which the Sussexes will keep a small portion personally.

Most of that money is being spent on overheads and project development costs. Indeed, when Archewell bought the rights to make a film of Meet Me At The Lake it was reported that, quite unusually, Netflix had stumped up the $1 million (£800,000) cash rather than Archewell, reflecting the fact that the company is not swimming in funds.

By far the most lucrative element was the production fee for the Harry & Meghan documentary of around $20 million (£16 million), $15 million (£12 million) of which will have gone directly to the couple, the rest being spent on making the series.

The changing cast of characters at Archewell has not helped relations with Netflix. The source adds: ‘There’s been a lot of turbulence at executive level within Archewell, and I know for a fact that Netflix are annoyed to be advancing several millions dollars a year of overhead to a company that can’t seem to retain more than a handful of staff at a time and that has almost no day-to-day visibility around town.

‘That wasn’t what Netflix were pitched and the shaky executive base is a big part of the reason why Archewell hasn’t got much done.’

The company lost head of content Ben Browning in January 2023 after his contract expired and this January production manager Bennett Levine also walked, two years after joining. Rebecca Sananes, the head of audio, left after the Archetypes podcasts had been produced.

Bad luck has come into play, too. Netflix has pulled back on its film and TV expenditure massively over the past 12 months after it became clear that previous spending levels were not sustainable.

Hollywood is generally a much more financially sober environment, too. In addition to the actors’ and writers’ strikes and the pandemic, ‘peak TV’ is over, with fewer shows being made and at a lower price point.

The source says: ‘There is an across-the-board acknowledgement that Netflix will want to get out of, or scale down further, the deal at the earliest contractual opportunity.

‘You might say that Netflix haven’t done too badly out of the relationship, as they’ve probably only gone out of pocket to the tune of around $30 million [£24 million] or thereabouts, and they did at least get a huge hit doc out of the investment.

‘As for Harry and Meghan, it’s understood that they will have managed to keep around $15 million [£12million] just for themselves, which is not bad business. But that kind of money doesn’t last long with their lifestyle.’

The lifestyle is indeed idyllic by any standards and included the purchase of their Montecito mansion in 2020 for $14.7 million (£11.7 million), with a mortgage of $9.5 million (£7.5 million). The potential mortgage payments on such a borrowing may run to $50,000 (£39,600) a month.

Then there is their security detail, generally thought to cost somewhere north of $2 million (£1.6million) a year, plus taxes of $68,000 (£54,000) a year, staff costs of $300,000 (£238,000) a year and utilities costing up to $24,000 (£19,000) a year.

Harry’s legacy from Princess Diana is generally said to be around £7 million all in, plus a further amount from a legacy left by the Queen Mother. That won’t go far in California, so you can see how money could become a pressing concern.

Among the biggest money-spinners of all has actually been Harry’s memoir Spare. Released in January last year, it has sold around four million copies. If we are to assume a relatively modest cut for Harry of 15 per cent, that would have netted him $15 million (£12 million), give or take. He has given an unknown portion of the profits to charity.

Meanwhile, it’s unclear how much money the Sussexes made from the podcaster Spotify, for which Archewell managed to make just one 12-episode podcast, Archetypes, in three years. Their deal was cancelled in 2023.

It was said to be worth $20 million (£16 million) but again will have most likely only netted them a fraction of that amount, given the lack of content created. The Wall Street Journal reported with restraint that they ‘failed to reach the productivity benchmark’.

Spotify executive Bill Simmons famously put it more bluntly: ‘I wish I had been involved in the “Meghan and Harry leave Spotify” negotiation. The F***ing Grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.

‘I have got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories . . . F*** them. The grifters.’

Archetypes does have a new home. It was announced this week that Meghan is to venture again into podcasting for Lemonada, a small but successful female-run outfit which makes podcasts with actresses Sara Sugarman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

But looking beyond the end of the Netflix deal, a world in which Meghan has a podcast does not look like a world in which the couple maintain a house with 16 bathrooms. Logic would suggest that they brave the backlash and write more books, as the story of their fall-out with the Royal Family remains compelling. Even a cookbook, which I heard was Meghan’s preference, would be a great potential source of income.

Last summer, it was announced that Meghan had signed with Ari Emanuel, the powerhouse agent at WME. However, although she then turned up at some events with prominent WME clients, such as at Kevin Costner’s charity party, there have been no blue-chip commercial deals for her.

She was also said to be about to revive her website, The Tig, and sign an endorsement deal with the fashion house Dior. Neither has yet happened. Some believe that WME are letting her go, again because of the problem of how to turn her megawatt profile into some kind of tangible product. 

They are said to have played ‘no part’ in the Sussex.com rebrand, which does not augur well. Inquiries about her status there go unanswered.

There was the surprise appearance of the couple at the Jamaica world premiere of the Bob Marley biopic One Love earlier this year, prompting suggestions of a deal with makers Paramount, especially as they travelled there by private jet with the company’s boss Brian Robbins.

But that would be a most unlikely destination for them.

At present, Paramount is being sold, so a new head is almost an inevitability, and you would expect that whoever comes in will want to make their own mark.

Interestingly, that private jet ride may be another indication that money is an issue.

They travelled with oil billionaire Michael Herd on his ‘PJ’ to see Katy Perry in Vegas in November and their outing from Santa Barbara to Vancouver for the Invictus events was also by private jet and at someone else’s expense, according to Page Six in the U.S.

‘It’s always other people’s money,’ a source told the publication. But how to keep it coming?

By Owen Tonks for Mailonline

Published: 2:42 PM EST, February 3, 2024 | Updated: 9:20 PM EST, February 3, 2024

Parakeet smugglers, banana hammocks, snails – whatever you want to call them – they are the great equalizer here in Australia.

Athletes wear them, our former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was rarely out of the closet and Prince Harry put a pair over his chinos in 2018, when he still had a sense of humor.

But it’s Mike Tindall, who made the swimsuit his own in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and convinced his wife, Zara, to wear the female version – the ‘smugglers’ – which, in a week when Australia officially put plans for a republic on the back burner, single-handedly ensured it might never happen.

If the royals want to keep Australia as the most loyal arm of Royal Inc, they will do the right thing by sending the Tindalls as ambassadors.

These two are PLUs (People Like Us). Mike may have only given us a glimpse of his parakeet smugglers under his shorts on Wednesday as he swam and cuddled up to his wife in Byron Bay, and the pair are only here because Zara has a paid gig as an ambassador for the Magic Millions- races. event.

But their down-to-earth attitude, their willingness to get stuck in, and their genuine love of the nation have endeared them to a nation of post-Elizabethan sovereignty skeptics.

Zara even said she would move the family here if she had even a chance.

The 21st in line for the throne and her stunner of a guy are the kind of royalty we want.

No airs and graces. No crazy stories about traveling with toilet seats and having your shoelaces washed by a minion. No arguing about who borrowed his lip gloss.

Down here, we love a guy who confesses to splitting his pants dancing with his mother-in-law, and a woman who’s not only committed to becoming an Olympian but is so relaxed about motherhood that she dropped out in high school. gave birth to her third child. bathroom floor.

Here in the land of sunshine and camaraderie, it’s about relatability, friendliness and the ability to say something great rather than looking fancy in a dress that will earn one a loyal following.

For a long time we thought Prince Harry was our man.

But with our Assistant Minister for the Republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, announcing this week that our pursuit of a republic is ‘not a priority’ following the defeat of our Voice to Parliament referendum, there is clearly time for another PR move from Team Windsor.

The Tindalls, who met in a bar on Manly beach in 2003, are well placed to be the mascots.

Author Tom Keneally, who initiated the Australian Republic Movement in 1991, admitted in The Australian on Thursday that dreams of breaking away from the monarchy were now in the never-never.

“And so the republic, like Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet, has fallen into a deep coma after consuming a death-mimicking drug supplied by our government,” he wrote.

Intriguingly, Keneally, who won the Booker Prize in 1982, went on to say that he was won over by Queen Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, when he was whisked away to meet her by fellow Australian writer Kathy Lette.

Keneally noted that she spoke about recent books “knowledgeably and in a pleasant manner” and said that afterwards everyone just wanted to know if he was charmed by her.

The answer was ‘yes’.

While he goes on to argue that Australia should not be represented by a charming Englishwoman – ‘of whom there are legions’ – Keneally’s experience shows that even the most ardent republican can be won over by reason, humour, approachability and common sense.

The Tindalls have those qualities in spades.

We loved how ‘Uncle Mike’ casually put his arm around Prince George outside church on Christmas Day, because every child, future king or not, needs a fun family member.

We also loved how the Tindalls’ daughter, Mia, was clearly spared a lesson on hierarchy, which was evident when she took Prince Louis’ hand and marched to church with the Wales family.

For George, Charlotte and Louis, cousins ​​bring a familiar and much-needed sense of normalcy when your classmates are all desperately trying to be your friend at the instruction of their mothers who want to be buddies with Kate.

The truth is that Australia is currently in favor of the monarchy and is proud that our Princess Mary, a hard-working woman who had distinguished herself so far by being elected to the school council of her high school in Tasmania, Queen of Denmark will be. .

Critics may point out that Denmark should get an Australian head of state before Australia gets an Australian head of state, but the rest of us applaud the work it has done to secure the continued support of a progressive welfare state for the monarchy.

With an approval rating of over 85 percent, Mary has what the Tindalls have shown all week: the communal touch.

Britney Spears’ fans may be enjoying her choreographed routines on Instagram – but Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller had some nice words for the pop superstar, who she claims literally has to ‘pull her pants up’ if she has any hope has to impress her moves.

Best known for her blunt — and sometimes hurtful — criticism, Abby Lee, 58, didn’t hold back, claiming that Britney, 42, had gone from an “amazing, confident” dancer to a “cringer.”

“I cringe and scream at her, and then the whole world hates me, and then Britney’s world comes after me like I’m a psychopath. How dare I,” Abby, 58, admitted in an exclusive sit-down interview with DailyMail.com, just days after doubling down on her harsh criticism of Taylor Swift’s dancing.

“I just want her to pull up her pants.” The lower your pants are, the longer your body looks and the shorter your legs appear.

‘No torso. You want to be a head, neck and legs. So she keeps pushing her pants down, making her body longer and her leg shorter. And I’m like, ‘Pull up your pants and make your legs look longer.’

But Abby Lee — who starred on Lifetime’s reality series Dance Moms from 2011 to 2017 — said Britney’s moves weren’t always “cringe-worthy.”

“I would say she performed like J-Lo. She did the kneeslides and was very athletic, really dancing,” she continued.

‘Toxic. I mean, all those songs, even in her video […Baby One More Time] the iconic schoolgirl outfit, which comes down the hall with the lockers. She danced and she could dance. She was great. She was just wonderful.

“Britney was cute, amazing, confident and well taught.”

The famed choreographer, who is also responsible for launching the careers of JoJo Siwa and Maddie Ziegler, attributed Britney’s questionable dance moves to her lack of recent training.

‘She was away from her dance teacher for too long, that’s number one. And number two is that dance is an art form that is constantly evolving, so you have to constantly keep up with the trends,” she said.

“Britney’s first dancer, Darni Fenerty, is even a friend of mine. When Britney went to Star Search, her parents didn’t take her with them.’

“Darni took her just like I took kids to all these things,” she added, claiming that the singer’s mother, Lynne Spears, 68, sent Britney to Star Search with “one dress and one pair of shoes.” ‘

“And Britney won. After winning, she immediately had to record another episode. And she won. And then she had to shoot another episode. So my friend Darni went to Dillard’s department store and bought all these dresses and shoes for her to wear on Star Search.

‘Britney didn’t have much money when she was little. They went to rehearsal and if she had dance class on Saturday and rehearsal on Sunday, they didn’t drive two hours back to their hometown and back.

‘They slept outside in the car in front of the studio. I know that for sure.’

Abby’s comments come days after she took aim at Taylor’s dancing skills. claiming the “pigeon-toed” superstar isn’t as good as her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who she called a “natural.”

Abby, who was diagnosed went on to star in a series of spin-offs, including Dance Moms: Abby’s Studio Rescue and Dance Moms: Miami.

In September, Abby launched her latest reality show, Mad House, which features professional dancers compete for the opportunity to learn and live in Abby’s Mad House to advance their careers.

She also revealed that she was recently in New York City filming an episode for the return of Dance Moms, which will be rebranded under a different name.

“I’m filming season nine,” she said. ‘The show I am photographing is the original concept I participated in. It’s not called Dance Moms, so some people are involved: hair, makeup, prop design, that kind of thing. They are involved.

“It gives a lot of kids a chance to be on TV and a lot of kids to be involved. There is so much talent in the world. The kids dancing today are incredible.”

In January, Abby sold her Pittsburgh dance studio, made famous by Dance Moms, off-market for $300,000.

“Before there were a lot of kids with dreams… there was a 22 year old with the dream of building my own state-of-the-art facility with the best sprung floors money could buy,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

In 2017, Abby was indicted on twenty counts of fraud and sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

She was also ordered to pay fines of $40,000 and $120,000.

Mad House is streaming on the newly launched Brandon TV app.

Cable networks are preparing for the worst as they fear their plans for live broadcasts on New Year’s Eve will have to change if disorderly pro-Palestinian supporters take over Times Square.

Anti-Israel protesters are threatening to derail Dec. 31 celebrations in the Big Apple — where more than a million revelers from around the country and the world are expected to bring in the New Year.

The NYPD is pulling out all the security stops in view of the potential violence on the streets of New York City. Protests have been taking place in the city since Hamas brutalized Israeli civilians, sparking a conflict in the Middle East on October 7.

Television networks are also gearing up for a heady night ahead of the ball drop — and they’re “prepared for anything and everything,” according to sources who spoke to Deadline.

The program ‘Shut it down! The Protest for Palestine, organized by anti-Israel groups, will begin in the afternoon and disrupt New Year’s Eve celebrations.

They start at Columbus Circle, the location of the headquarters of CNN – the network that will air Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’s New Year’s Eve specials.

This will be the seventh year that Cooper and Cohen have organized the spectacle.

In addition to CNN, anchors from other major networks will also broadcast live from Times Square, where the protests threaten to reach.

ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest is co-hosted by Rita Ora – featuring artists such as LL Cool J, Megan Thee Stallion, Jelly Roll and Sabrina Carpenter.

The celebrations in Times Square begin at 6 p.m., when the six-ton ​​crystal ball is lit and raised. At 11:59 p.m., the ball begins its one-minute fall in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering partygoers.

Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Friday that “there are no specific threats to the city,” but “as we saw last year, after not having any specific threats, we are going to have a threat, and we will be ready for it .’

He was referring to the fact that three officers were attacked by a Maine man, 19, with a machete on December 31, 2022, over US support for Israel.

Several anti-Israel protest groups have belligerently shut down festivities in the Big Apple since October 7. The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was interrupted by enthusiastic pro-Palestinian supporters, as was the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Assistant NYPD Commissioner Kaz Daughtry stated on December 29, “We will have tow trucks strategically parked along the actual New Year’s Eve festivities, and we will have drones deployed around the outer perimeter so that we can see the protests, potential protests that are coming in real time.”

Adams added: ‘Hundreds of thousands of people will be queuing here, and no matter how many times we see it, you never get used to it, the excitement continues again and again.”

Times Square will be locked down from around noon on New Year’s Eve and anyone wishing to enter the area must pass through police and security checkpoints.

Homeland Security and the FBI will be in Times Square, along with state police, mounted police and canine units.

a law enforcement source said Deadline that police presence “will be significantly greater than normal.” A lot can happen, we are prepared.’

And one cable news source, knowing that on-camera airtime is the goal of many protesters, said, “We are prepared for anything and everything, especially when it comes to the safety of our team.”

This comes after protesters, calling for a ceasefire as 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, disrupted all the city’s major celebrations and parades since the October attacks.

Assistant Chief John Hart emphasized the department’s preparedness for groups of varying sizes and origins of protests.

Other pro-Palestinian protests in the city over the past few months have drawn between 1,000 and 5,000 people.

“We are prepared for them in any number,” Hart said. “We are prepared for different groups from different places and we will ensure this event remains safe.”

Adams, a Democrat, conceded that it was likely that protesters would try to cause disruption in Times Square, where more than a million people were expected to gather to celebrate at midnight.

This comes days after police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked access to New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Travelers were forced to get out of their cars and walk with their luggage to the airport in New York after activists demanding a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas blocked the road to one of the country’s largest and busiest airports on Wednesday. country had blocked.

Video shows protesters joining hands to create a line blocking traffic, holding signs calling for a free Palestine and chanting, “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.” ‘

Port Authority police arrest the protesters, load them onto an airport bus and take them into custody.

Thousands of police officers are expected to patrol Times Square along with a combination of robots, drones and sniffer dogs to ensure the security of the event.

Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter has given a heart-breaking insight into what could be her last Christmas with her mother.

Rebecca Wilcox revealed how she was ‘determined to make the most’ of it and how the big day spent with her mother and family was ‘so filled with love’.

The television presenter said she ‘held on to each moment so tightly’ as they filled their Christmas Day with ‘happy memories’ after Childline founder Dame Esther was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this year.

The 83-year-old revealed this month she has joined assisted-dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland and will consider going there to end her life should her next scan show she is getting worse.

Dame Esther has also reignited the debate over assisted-dying after calling for national debate on the subject, saying people deserve ‘the choice’ over how they pass away.

Dame Esther previously revealed she had not expected to spend this Christmas with her family after being diagnosed with cancer, but a ‘miracle’ drug had given her additional time with her loved ones. 

Writing in her column for The Mirror, her daughter Rebecca, 43, explained: ‘It’s not often that you know beforehand it will be the last time you will dish out turkey and pull crackers at the table with your mother, but that’s what this year has been for us.

‘She thought she would be dead in spring, but a miraculous drug has meant that we have another Christmas with her, a wonder we couldn’t have imagined possible when she was diagnosed in January. I was determined to make the most of it.’ 

Rebecca continued: ‘I couldn’t relax. I was too aware every moment was a precious treasure. I felt I needed to hold on to each minute so tightly I was probably exhausting to be around.’ 

She explained how despite initially stressing about the ‘trickling away time’ she managed to finally ‘relax’ and find contentment in making memories.

She revealed how Dame Esther made wonderful memories with her grandchildren – teaching two how to play solitaire and being taught in return how to do a sudoku puzzle – before singing karaoke late into the day.

Rebecca added that the was ‘filled with so much love that our memories will last’ and said she was holding out hope for ‘another Christmas miracle’ by having her mother with them next year.

She previously said she fears she could be accused of murder if she helps her seriously ill mother travel to Dignitas.

However, Dame Esther admitted such a decision would put her family and friends in a difficult position as they could be prosecuted should they decide to join her. 

Rebecca told TalkTV: ‘It’s impossible, isn’t it, because I can’t even say to you, I would support my mum on her journey to Dignitas because if I said that, that’s legally murky. 

‘Obviously, in my head, I would have thought that I would never let her go alone to somewhere like that, but I’m a busy working mum. I can’t leave my children to pop off to jail while she’s buzzing off to Switzerland.

‘The fact is only three people a year get prosecuted. But the actual process of going through a court case at what is the worst time of my life so far. 

‘You know, mum is my person. I do not want to live without her. I will have to live without her and please, please don’t make it worse for me by accusing me of murdering her and making me go through what would be a terrifying legal process.’

Dame Esther has called for a free vote on assisted dying as it’s ‘important that the law catches up with what the country wants’.

Speaking on the current illegal status of assisted dying in the UK she pleaded: ‘This cruelty must stop.’

She continued:’The current law was intended to protect the vulnerable, to stop them being pressured into suicide.

‘And of course precautions are vital. But bad cases make bad laws, and in trying to prevent crime the law at the moment denies us the most valuable freedom of all, the freedom to choose when to end our own suffering.’

She said she will find out in a few weeks if a new medication she has been taking is ‘performing its miracle’ or if it has ‘given up’.

Asked about the current rules on assisted dying, Ms Wilcox said: ‘Why would it be a problem to set up regulation around this? 

‘We have regulation around everything. I’ve been trying to adopt a dog and the forms and licences and things that go through that is ridiculous. 

‘So death and birth are possibly the most important moments in your life. 

‘My death, I want it to be exactly how I want it to be and I think coming together, making a law, making structures, making regulation that respects my opinion on my body and my death for everybody is the only sane way.

‘It would stop the money-makers who want to make money from people’s death and frankly if you’re going to give someone a good death, make some money out of it as long as you’re helping them.

‘I have to say, Dignitas does not look like a very lovely place. I would much rather have diamonds and champagnes and a hot bathtub, and it doesn’t look like they supply that, and I think mum would too. We both model ourselves on Dame Joan Collins who is fabulous.’

Ms Wilcox had earlier told ITV’s Good Morning Britain how her mother, who has also worked as a broadcaster for several years, ‘doesn’t care what anyone else says’ as she prepares to join her family for what tragically could be her last Christmas. 

‘It’s horrific and she always promised us she would live forever. She’s not usually one to break her promises so we’re a little upset about that. 

‘I would personally want to ground her plane if she was going to fly to Zurich but I know it’s her decision. I just don’t ever want her to go.’

Ms Wilcox also spoke of the heartbreak of watching her father, Desmond, endure a slow and painful death as he battled heart disease, adding: ‘That’s what mum wants to avoid.’

Dame Esther said that if ‘nothing’s working’ she might ‘buzz off to Zurich’ in Switzerland but realises this would put her family and friends in a difficult position as they could be prosecuted should they decide to join her. 

Elon Musk has shared stunning footage of his newly-released Cyberbeast overtaking a Porsche 911 in a drag race and beating a F-350 Diesel in an off-road truck pull. 

The billionaire X CEO (formerly Twitter) took to his online platform to share demonstrations of the Cyberbeast’s accelerative abilities in two videos. 

In one clip, the titanic stainless steel truck was seen outrunning the 2023 Porsche 911 down a quarter-mile track, while also towing another 911 behind. 

Another video showed the Cyberbeast’s remarkable strength as it competed against a Ford F-350 Diesel in a truck pull and came out on top. 

The $99,990 Cyberbeast is the latest version of the Cybertruck, Tesla’s huge SUV that will boast 845 horsepower and a 0-60mph acceleration of just 2.6 seconds. 

Tesla’s Cybertruck fleet has been years in the making, with the Cyberbreast offering also joined by All Wheel Drive and Rear Wheel Drive versions. 

The Cyberbeast, the most expensive of the trio, will have the ability to travel a quarter mile in under 11 seconds, with its impressive power on show as Musk shared the striking footage. 

The 6,843lb electric vehicle has a towing capacity of 11,000 pounds, a 130-mph top speed, and can charge up to 250KW. 

Designed for all terrains, the steel-plated vehicle features a six-foot-long, four-foot-wide bed that can carry up to 2,5000 pounds and has a 17-inch ground clearance. 

If Musk’s claim that the Cyberbeast takes only 2.6 seconds of 0-60 mph time is true, the truck would become the quickest pickup electric truck in the world.

Musk said the Cybertruck’s body is made of a stainless steel alloy developed by Tesla, which will not suffer from corrosion and does not need paint – but can still be mass-produced. 

The Cybertruck is the first car in the US since the DMC DeLorean of ‘Back to The Future’ fame to use a stainless steel body. It also has armor glass that can resist the impact of a baseball at 70 miles per hour or Class 4 hail.

Musk said the doors are bulletproof to .45 caliber & 9-millimeter rounds. He showed a video demonstrating the capability to the audience at the event in Austin, Texas.

It was seen blowing a huge Porsche 911 Carrera T out of the water in the latest demonstrations, which has 379 horsepower and a 4.3 second (manual) 0-60mph time. 

While more expensive than its Tesla rival as it starts at $124,900, the iconic car has a higher top track speed at a staggering 181 mph.

The car requires premium-grade fuel for maximum output. 

On the other hand, the Ford 350 diesel truck has up to a 50-gallon fuel capacity and a horsepower of just over half the Tesla beast, at between 385 to 475 horsepower. 

The truck also boasts a 12,000 to 24,000 towing capacity and is considered an elite heavy-duty truck for towing or hauling heavy loads. 

The release of the two videos comes after Musk handed keys to the first 12 Cybertruck owners during a live event today to mark Tesla finally delivering the futuristic truck after four years of delays.

The CEO appeared in good spirits as he watched the steel-plated electric vehicles roll onto a stage before inviting each person to sit in their new truck.

Moments after the live stream ended, Tesla updated its website with new pricing, showing the Cybertuck has nearly doubled in price from $39,999 to $60,990.

Musk, however, failed to mention the increase during the 25-minute event hosted at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.

The ceremony started with Musk driving the truck on a stage in darkness and hopping into the bed to talk about it. 

‘It’s the most unique thing on the road,’ he said. ‘Finally, the future will look like the future.’ 

Musk made jokes with the crowd, which was in a completely different mood from the day before when he told Disney CEO Bob Iger to ‘go f*** yourself.’

The remark was made when Musk was asked about Iger’s decision to pull advertising from X. 

But the fowl mood did not carry over into Thursday as Musk stood tall in the bed of a Cybertruck proclaiming the vehicle’s durability. 

He even had Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen recreate the 2019 test that saw shatterproof glass with a metal ball.

However, a baseball was used this time, which bounced off the ‘armored glass.’ 

 

It was speculated that Tesla was set to raise the price due to adjustments and upgrades made since the prototype was unveiled. 

More than two million people are on the waitlist, which requires a $100 down payment to secure a truck. 

Tesla has faced ‘enormous challenges in reaching volume production’ with the Cybertruck because of its new technology and design as well as how hard it was to generate cash flow while selling them at a price people can afford, Musk said in a recent statement.

‘We dug our own grave with Cybertruck,’ Musk said last month, warning that making the vehicle a significant cash flow contributor would take a year to 18 months.

Experts said that Cybertruck’s new body material and unconventional, futuristic styling add complexity and costs to production and threaten to alienate traditional pickup truck buyers who focus on utility.

A few years ago, Musk had floated the idea that if people did not like the futuristic Cybertruck design, Tesla could ‘build a normal looking truck.’ 

Eric Noble, president of automotive consulting firm The CARLAB, said: ‘The larger problem for the Cybertruck is the Cybertruck wasn’t really designed for pickup truck users.

‘It will have a much narrower appeal than a Ram or an F series,’ he said of the popular Dodge and Ford pickups.

But on the company’s earnings conference call in October, Musk lamented how hard it has been to produce the innovative truck with a body made of hard-to-bend stainless steel.

‘We have over 1 million people who have reserved the car, so it’s not a demand issue,’ he said. ‘But we have to make it and we need to make it at a price people can afford. Insanely difficult things.’

Tesla, Musk said, could quickly have produced trucks similar to those already on the market, but he wanted to make something innovative and unique.

‘Special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous,’ he said.

He expects an upcoming lower-cost Tesla car to be more conventional and thus much easier to build.

Telsa’s Cybertruck became a sensation when revealed to the world in November 2019, promising a 2021 launch.

The celebrated event quickly became a nightmare for Musk after the glass on his new electric ‘Cybertruck’ was smashed just after he boasted about it being ‘shatterproof.’

During the announcement of the truck – which looks like an armored vehicle with angular sides – Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen tried to prove the glass was ‘shatterproof’ by throwing a heavy metal ball at close range.

Musk was heard muttering ‘oh my f***ing God’ when the glass smashed.

Since this prototype, tweaks have been made to Cybertruck to ensure it’s more durable and resistant to impact from rocks and debris that may fly up as it powers through rough terrain at high speeds.

The Cybertruck’s exoskeleton is now made from a new type of stainless steel that is strong enough to withstand impact from a 9mm handgun, according to Musk.

The truck is aimed at the most profitable part of the US auto market, which is now controlled mainly by Ford, General Motors and Ram truck maker Stellantis. 

Since Musk’s announcement four years ago, Ford, GM and Rivian already have their own electric trucks on sale, and the electric Ram is due out early next year.

The Rivian RT has one of the quickest pick-up times among electric trucks and can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds and up to a top speed of 110 mph.

Ford’s F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the nation, followed by GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and Stellantis’ Ram. 

Combined, all three of the Detroit automakers sold nearly 1.7 million big pickups through October at prices that can reach more than $100,000 per vehicle.

According to Tesla’s website, the rear-wheel drive Cybertruck will be ‘available’ in 2025, but the all-wheel drive and the Cyberbeast are set to launch in 2024.

X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, could lose as much as $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year if dozens of major brands pause their marketing campaigns after its owner, Elon Musk, endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory this month. .

Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times this week show that the company is in a more difficult position than previously thought and that concerns about Mr Musk and the platform have spread far beyond the likes of IBM, Apple and Disney, which have halted their advertising campaigns. on X last week. The documents list more than 200 ad units from companies including Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft, many of which have halted or are considering pausing their advertising on the social network.

The documents come from X’s sales team and are intended to track the impact of all advertising errors this month, including those from companies that have already shut down and others at risk of doing so. They mention how much advertising revenue X employees fear the company could lose through the end of the year if advertisers don’t return.

On Friday, The company said the figures viewed by The Times were outdated or represented an internal exercise to evaluate overall risk.

The ad cuts come during the last three months of the year, which is traditionally the social media company’s strongest quarter as brands run holiday promotions for events like Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. In the final three months of 2021 — the last year the company reported fourth-quarter earnings before Musk took over — the company posted $1.57 billion in revenue, nearly 90 percent of which came from advertising.

Since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last year, some brands have been reluctant to advertise on the platform, concerned about Musk’s behavior and content moderation decisions, which have led to an increase of inflammatory and hateful content. U.S. advertising on the platform is down nearly 60 percent this year, prompting the company to win back advertisers in an effort spearheaded by CEO Linda Yaccarino. X also runs advertising campaigns during the holiday season to make up for revenue shortfalls.

However, the documents show that this is not going according to plan. More than 100 brands are shown as having their advertising ‘completely paused’, while dozens more are listed as ‘at risk’. Many paused on or after November 15, when Mr. Musk wrote in a post on

Leesha Anderson, the vice president of digital marketing and social media at ad agency Outcast, said his clients steadily stopped spending on X after Mr. Musk took over and found alternatives on platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok.

“In today’s dynamic marketplace, brands have a plethora of platform choices at their disposal for precise audience targeting,” she says. “It is therefore imperative that the administrators and owners of social platforms exercise conscious discretion in all aspects, whether it concerns their personal beliefs or political positions, as these choices will inevitably come under public scrutiny.”

The organizations that have halted their advertising on X range from political campaigns to fast-food chains and tech giants, the documents show. For example, Airbnb halted listings worth more than $1 million, while Uber cut back on listings worth more than $800,000, halting campaigns in the U.S. and international markets. Both technology companies declined to comment.

Other major brands, including Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola and Netflix, have halted some of their campaigns. By X’s estimates, Netflix’s discontinued ads were worth nearly $3 million. Jack in the Box, Coca-Cola and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

Several Microsoft subsidiaries have also stopped advertising — leading to a potential loss of more than $4 million in revenue for Q4 X, based on the documents — as have Amazon’s books and music units and one subsidiary from Google. The search giant and some other brands that have halted their spending, including NBC Universalcontinue posting its content on the platform without paying X to ensure it reaches a wide audience.

Google and Microsoft declined to comment. Amazon did not return requests for comment.

On the NBC program “Meet the Press” last Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie called Musk’s comment part of a recent outpouring of an “outrageous kind of hatred.”

“Whether it’s Elon Musk, whether it’s professors on our college campuses or students who they’re misleading, or whether it’s individuals speaking out in an anti-Semitic way on the streets of our cities,” he said.

Two days before Mr. Christie’s appearance, a super PAC supporting him, called Tell It Like It Is, withdrew its ads from X, according to the documents. A representative for the political fundraising group did not respond to a request for comment.

At an internal meeting with X employees this week, Ms. Yaccarino was in a defiant mood. She made no mention of Musk’s support for the anti-Semitic post and attributed the company’s problems to a report from left-wing media watchdog group Media Matters, which found that ads on for white people. nationalist and Nazi content.

On Monday, after Mr. Musk called Media Matters “a malicious organization,” and images of paid posts from X’s largest advertisers, bordering on racist, inflammatory content.” Ms Yaccarino has blamed the Media Matters report for X’s declining ad sales.

“Giving in to external criticism or pressure is simply not the way X will ever work,” she wrote in an email to X employees on Wednesday that was seen in The Times. “The people at X are defenders of freedom of expression. We stand in solidarity with those who believe in this fundamental right and the critical checks and balances of a thriving democracy.”

Earlier this week, Mr. Musk spent time celebrating companies that have continued to advertise on X, including the National Football League. Using a heart emojiThe billionaire owner of

So does Mr. Musk noted that the company would “donate all advertising and subscription revenue related to the war in Gaza to hospitals in Israel and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza.” The funding includes revenue from advertisements purchased by charity groups, news organizations and other groups that promoted content related to the conflict.

Following the lead of her boss, Ms. Yaccarino added a plea to Mr. Musk’s original post.

“Lean over and help,” she said wrote on X.

Tiffany Hsu reporting contributed.