EXCLUSIVE The real-life WWII Rangers who make Steve McQueen and The Great Escape look like amateurs
One of the greatest yet most unheralded fighting units of World War II was so audacious, it made Steve McQueen and his band of POWs in The Great Escape look like amateurs.
The First American Ranger Battalion – otherwise known as Darby's Rangers after its commander Major William Orlando Darby - was composed of 500 dangerous men seeking dangerous missions.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Meadow Walker spotted out for the first time amid furor over her late father Paul Walker appearing in final Fast & Furious film
Just days after Vin Diesel 's dramatic announcement that the late Paul Walker will appear in the final Fast & Furious film, Paul's daughter Meadow was spotted out. The 26-year-old daughter of Walker and his childhood friend Rebecca Soteros was spotted out with friends in the Soho area of Manhattan on Monday. While the model has yet to speak about Diesel's dramatic announcement, many fans have chided the decision to bring the beloved character back for the final Fast & Furious film. Walker was spotted wearing a white crop top that exposed her toned midriff with her dark hair pulled up in a bun. She also had a small handbag dangling from her right shoulder while accessorizing with small silver hoop earrings and a silver bracelet for the outing. Walker completed her look with dark blue Daisy Dukes short shorts and black flat shoes as she walked with friends. Meadow grew up in Hawaii with her mother, but back in 2011 at 13 years of age, she moved to Los Angeles to live with her father Paul. Just two years later, her father passed away in a tragic car accident at just 40 years of age, in November 2013. The crash resulted in multiple lawsuits, including a wrongful death lawsuit Meadow filed against Porsche, the manufacturer of the car Paul was riding in during the crash. Walker's father - Paul Walker III - and Meadow both received out-of-court settlements from Porsche, and Meadow received a $10.6 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit Paul III filed against the estate of Roger Rodas, the driver of the Porsche in the fatal crash who also died. Meadow launched her career as a model in 2017 when she signed with DNA Models, and she also made a cameo appearance as a flight attendant in 2023's Fast X. Earlier this month, she shared a poignant Father's Day tribute to her late dad in an Instagram post. 'Happy Father's Day to my guardian angel. Thank you for your love, guidance, and for truly being the most incredible dad and my best friend. I miss you every day, my sunshine. I love you,' she said. As for her father's posthumous return in the Fast & Furious franchise, star-producer Vin Diesel made the announcement to a raucous crowd at Fuel Fest in Pomona on Saturday. Earlier this month, she shared a poignant Father's Day tribute to her late dad in an Instagram post. He was wearing a shirt that read, 'Fast X Part 2 Los Angeles Production 2025' while revealing his three demands to Universal Pictures for the final film. 'The studio said to me, "Vin, can we please have the finale of Fast and Furious [in] April 2027?"' Diesel said, confirming the release date. He continued, 'I said, "Under three conditions." First, is to bring the franchise back to L.A.! The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing!' Diesel concluded, 'The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O'Conner,' referring to the late Paul Walker 's beloved character. Diesel didn't say how Walker's Brian O'Conner would return, though it would likely require the help of Paul's brothers Cody and Caleb, who were used as stand-ins for footage filmed for 2015's Furious 7 after Walker's death, with Walker's face later digitally inserted through visual effects. Fans did not hesitate to roast Diesel on social media, including X user @sharon_riley35, who said, 'I watched them turn grief into a cash grab and now they're dragging Paul Walker's legacy back like it's a prop.' Another fan dubbed @HdRozay said, 'Let Paul Walker's character in the Fast series stay retired. He got a good send off, don't bring him back,' referring to Walker's character Brian O'Conner retiring from the criminal life to raise a family at the end of Furious 7. Jason Delgado (@JasonDelgado78) said, 'Let Paul Walker Rest in Peace instead of CGIing him into a crappy movie.' Fans did not hesitate to roast Diesel on social media, including X user @sharon_riley35, who said, 'I watched them turn grief into a cash grab and now they're dragging Paul Walker's legacy back like it's a prop.' Another fan dubbed @HdRozay said, 'Let Paul Walker's character in the Fast series stay retired. He got a good send off, don't bring him back,' referring to Walker's character Brian O'Conner retiring from the criminal life to raise a family at the end of Furious 7. Others like @rainbow_astoria was ready for the whole franchise to end, tweeting, 'Can't we just let this franchise go. It's WAY past its prime & its only disrespectful to Paul Walker to continue to have Brian there. Idc if it's Paul's brother playing him, its still disrespectful and stretching out a franchise that should've ended like ten years ago.' Some weren't quite as furious, like @She_DreadzMe, who said, 'Listen, if Paul Walker's family is cool with them resurrecting him via CGI for Fast & The Furious I can't be mad. I will never understand people being mad with creative choices that directors/writers make if the family is cool with it. Conversation should be over.' Others like @rainbow_astoria was ready for the whole franchise to end, tweeting, 'Can't we just let this franchise go. It's WAY past its prime & its only disrespectful to Paul Walker to continue to have Brian there. Idc if it's Paul's brother playing him, its still disrespectful and stretching out a franchise that should've ended like ten years ago.' Kaida (@khaliltooshort) said, 'Bringing back Paul Walker as a CGI character is as disgusting as bringing back Chadwick as Black Panther.' Universal Pictures has already set an April 2027 release date for Fast X: Part 2, with production believed to begin later this year in Los Angeles.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Twisted secret behind Spotify's biggest new band... as fans and artists boycott the music service
Spotify is facing boycotts from both artists and subscribers over its move into AI. Not only is the streaming service facing backlash for its ties to an AI military startup, one of the biggest new bands on the site is rumored to be AI generated. The band, named The Velvet Sundown, already have over 550,000 million monthly listeners despite only debuting on the service in early June. Promotional images of the band all appear to be AI generated, and the credits on their music has no writers, producers or musicians listed. There's also no live performances or interviews of the band anywhere to be found, and none of the four members have any kind of internet presence. The band also has barely any social media followers, with just 322 on Instagram and 47 followers on X. Despite this, The Velvet Sundown have been featured on multiple popular Spotify playlists. After various media outlets reported that The Velvet Sundown may be AI-generated, the band hit back in a series of posts on X - yet offered no proof to disprove the claims. 'Absolutely crazy that so-called 'journalists' keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is 'AI-generated' with zero evidence,' they wrote. 'Not a single one of these "writers" has reached out, visited a show, or listened beyond the Spotify algorithm,' they continued. 'This is not a joke. This is our music, written in long, sweaty nights in a cramped bungalow in California with real instruments, real minds, and real soul. Every chord, every lyric, every mistake — HUMAN.' They added, 'Just because we don't do TikTok dances or livestream our process doesn't mean we're fake.' And despite their miniscule following on social media, the band said that they had to 'lock down' all of their accounts 'due to harassment'. However, none of their accounts are officially verified by any site outside of Spotify, and none of their social media accounts have been set to private either. On Deezer, where The Velvet Sundown's music also appears, there's a warning from the streamer stating, 'some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence'. has contacted The Velvet Sundown for comment. Back in 2017, Spotify was forced to deny reports that they had created 'fake' artists to fill up their playlists, presumably in a bid to reduce royalty payments. 'We do not and have never created 'fake' artists and put them on Spotify playlists. Categorically untrue, full stop,' they said at the time. 'We do not own rights, we're not a label, all our music is licensed from rights holders and we pay them - we don't pay ourselves.' Meanwhile, allegations of AI artists isn't the only issue that Spotify is dealing with right now. The streaming service is currently facing boycotts from a handful of fans and artists after a venture capital firm founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek contributed 600 million euros ($693.6 million) to German military tech startup Helsing. According to the Financial Times, the company is producing drones, aircraft and submarines, and developing a system to create AI fighter pilots. Ek told the publication, 'There's an enormous realisation that it's really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield'. Ek's involvement in military technology has caused a number of artists to pull their music from Spotify, including indie band Deerhoof and Amsterdam label Kalahari Oyster Cult. 'We don't want our music killing people,' Deerhoof said in a statement. 'We don't want our music tied to AI battle tech'. Others have decided to cancel their Spotify accounts. 'Cancelled my subscription and never going back. should've made the move ages ago as it's been red flags for a long time,' wrote one user.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Status Quo's Francis Rossi, 76, admits he's constantly worried about his health and mortality after lifestyle overhaul: 'Will I last too much longer?'
Status Quo's Francis Rossi has admitted that he's constantly worried about his health and mortality. The rocker, 76, spoke candidly in a new interview as he said he often now asks himself: 'Will I last too much longer?' Francis is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo. In recent years he has embraced vegetable smoothies, herbal supplements and 60 sit ups-a-day as part of his impressive lifestyle overhaul following years of alcohol and drug addiction. He told The Mirror this week: 'My wife asks me when we have coffee at about 7ish, 7.30 am, she says, 'How are you today?'. I go, 'Well...' It's in the morning I get, 'What the f*** am I doing?' 'And I can't get that out of my mind, whatever I do. I'll be alright as the day goes on. I'm going into the studio in a while. And then I look forward to the next meal, and that's it really. 'Will I last too much long. Being 76 gets to me most mornings'. Back in 2021 he quipped that he hadn't got 'long left' as he discussed his strict health regime to prepare for his OUT OUT QUOING tour in 2022. He said to The Sun on Saturday at the time: 'Coming out [of lockdown ] is a problem for me. Going back to work with Quo is a problem for me. 'Physically, can I do the Quo gig? I'm fit, but I cannot emulate the lung capacity any more and I have to increase that. 'I've been practising in my room at night. I've been trying to sing Paper Plane and I get about a quarter of the way through it and it just tires you out.' His intense fitness schedule included 30-length dips in his swanky indoor pool at 7am, followed by eight minutes of crunches and 60 sit-ups. Francis, who lives in Surrey with his wife of 32 years Eileen, fills his nutrition-packed smoothies with broccoli, kale, spinach, carrots, raspberries and strawberries, with apple cider vinegar to aid digestion. Breakfast includes a diverse selection of fruit and vegetables while 'dinner' takes place at 3.30pm, giving the Status Quo star plenty of time for his stomach to settle ahead of exercising his vocal cords or going on stage. Francis revealed he prefers to eat early as he performs better on an empty stomach. Dinner is followed by a one-hour scenic power walk around his leafy neighbourhood. Francis confirmed he has ditched prescription medicines in favour of herbal remedies and a long list of supplements including probiotics, Omega 3, vitamin D and magnesium tablets. He decided to go teetotal several years ago after abusing alcohol in the 80s and developing a £1.7million cocaine habit which caused his septum to fall out in the shower. Francis said any type of drug, including prescription medications, can be a 'slippery slope' for him, after struggling to give up the legal drug, Valium, in the past. He also watched the deterioration of his band mate Rick Parfitt - who he has known since the age of 16 - after the rock 'n' roll lifestyle took a toll on his body. Rick passed away in 2016 at the age of 68. While he has turned his life around for the better, Francis confirmed he still has one vice, a single cigarette which he savours between 5.15pm and 6.30pm daily. He opts for an American spirit tobacco which is free of nasty preservatives and additives Francis said of his one-a-day habit: 'I light it and the nicotine hits worse than any drug or alcohol. I've got to have one vice!'
