Mission Impossible's Simon Pegg: Police sometimes let me off because of Hot Fuzz
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ITV News
16 hours ago
- ITV News
Failed asylum seeker drowned attempting to jump onto cargo ship at Southampton Docks, inquest told
A failed asylum seeker from Egypt drowned after he attempted to jump onto the ramp of a vehicle-transporter ship at Southampton docks in a bid to travel to Canada, an inquest has heard. Walid Gomaa, who was denied asylum status when he arrived in the UK in 2021, had told a friend that he intended to travel across the Atlantic having lived illegally in the UK for four years. The 36-year-old Egyptian national was spotted by members of the crew of the 200-metre MV Tannhauser, attempting to reach the ramp's finger-flaps, articulated extensions at the end of the vessel, as it was being raised ahead of sailing, the Winchester inquest was told. The operator paused the raising and saw Mr Gomaa walk away but as they started lifting up the ramp again, Mr Gomaa ran and jumped towards the ramp despite a crew member of the ship which was due to set sail to Halifax, Canada, shouting at him to stop. The inquest heard that Mr Gomaa then hit his head and fell into the sea at Empress Dock at the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal, where he drowned before a rescue boat could reach him on April 28 this year. Coroner Jason Pegg said: 'Mr Gomaa attempted a second time, warnings were shouted to Mr Gomaa but he continued despite the warnings. 'Mr Gomaa jumped off the jetty towards the vessel. On this occasion Mr Gomaa was not able to grab hold of anything and fell towards the water between the jetty and the vessel itself.' Mr Pegg said a post-mortem examination found the cause of death was drowning which resulted from a head injury and a fall into the water. The coroner said a friend had contacted police after Mr Gomaa had not been in contact and said Mr Gomaa had told him that he planned to travel to Canada. Mr Pegg said that when the friend asked how he was going to get there, Mr Gomaa replied: 'Do not worry about it.' The coroner added: 'Mr Gomaa came to the UK in 2021 and was not given status in this country and disappeared for a period of time. 'He initially claimed asylum but that was denied in 2021 and it was not until April 2025 that Mr Gomaa raised his head again.' In a message to Mr Gomaa's family in Egypt who did not attend the hearing, Mr Pegg said: 'I do give my condolences to Walid Gomaa's family and friends and they have my best wishes.'
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Tom Cruise's new flame Ana de Armas faces Mission Impossible over demands of Scientology that drove Katie Holmes to call it quits
All eyes are on 63-year-old Tom Cruise and his new 26-years-younger love who've been spotted holding hands near her $7million home in Vermont. Cruise and Knives Out star Ana de Armas, 37, were first seen together in February 2025 and who will be co-starring in the upcoming Doug Liman supernatural thriller, Deeper, strolled through the picturesque town of Woodstock, where they picked up ice cream cones and waved away paparazzi. But according to those familiar with Cruise's past loves, de Armas, who grew up in a devout Catholic family, is facing a real-life Mission Impossible in embarking on a relationship with the world's most famous Scientologist. The Cuban-born actress, who has starred in a slew of films in both English and Spanish, survived a nearly yearlong Covid-era romance with Ben Affleck, with whom she shared a home in Venice before they split in early 2021. But taking up with one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, who is also high in the Church of Scientology, could prove daunting. Former Scientologists as well as longtime observers say that Cruise's women often start off starry-eyed and impressed with both the megastar and his 'church,' but there's almost always a point when they get in too deep and want out. 'Tom Cruise's love affairs are doomed,' Karen de la Carriere, who was one of the highest-ranking Scientologists and one of the few to be directly trained by founder L. Ron Hubbard who defected from the church in 2010, told the Daily Mail. 'There is a honeymoon period with a lot of generosity and dazzling moments, and then reality sets in.' That reality, according to de la Carriere, occurs when the girlfriends and wives of Cruise, who often begin by taking low-level Scientology courses and undergoing auditing, are eventually faced with some of the church's more outlandish, science fiction-like aspects. Scientologists, as directed by Hubbard, believe that humans are immortal spiritual beings (Thetans) haunted by alien souls from a mass extermination 75 million years ago, and that they can be saved only by expensive spiritual cleansing. 'Scientology is very bait and switch,' de la Carriere told the Daily Mail. 'It starts off OK, especially when you're the girlfriend of a superstar like Tom Cruise. 'But then you get to the higher, confidential levels and you find out things like you have 400,000 spirits attached to you and you have to spend the next 30 to 40 years peeling them off. 'So suddenly the person is entering the world of the bizarre, and that's when the pullback occurs. Who wants to be told they have to start going to five sessions to exorcise those spirits? Nobody.' Cruise's first wife, Mimi Rogers, now 69, is the one who introduced Cruise to the controversial religion when they began dating in the mid-1980s – but she has since left the church herself. His second wife, Nicole Kidman, 58, dove headfirst into Scientology's courses and auditing and rapidly achieved the rank of OT2 thanks to Cruise's fame and importance in the church. But she reportedly soured on it so much after that point that she and Cruise both backed off from Scientology – and ultimately divorced after eleven years of marriage in 2001. Next came Penelope Cruz, 51. She and Cruz dated for three years and Cruz took Scientology courses 'which she found beneficial' although her rep says she was never a member of the church Katie Holmes, 46, married Cruise in 2006 and was so gung-ho about the church at the start that she filed an official report against Leah Remini at the time of her splashy wedding to Tom in Italy because Remini had been vocal about Scientology leader David Miscavige's missing wife, Shelly. She also spoke publicly when she and Cruise were still dating about having started some Scientology courses and auditing. His second wife, Nicole Kidman quickly advanced to OT2 in Scientology thanks to Cruise's influence, but grew disillusioned, leading her to distance herself from the church before their 2001 divorce But Holmes had changed her tune by 2012 when she famously turned the tables on Cruise, filing for divorce and taking their then 6-year-old daughter Suri when Cruise was shooting a movie in Iceland. 'Katie would have seen (Cruise's adopted children) Isabella and Connor going through their interrogations and auditing,' journalist Tony Ortega, who has investigated Scientology for decades, told the Daily Mail. 'It's about the age of six when they start the courses, and that's about the age Suri was when Katie left Tom. 'Listen, I can't fault these women. They fall in love with the guy. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be part of your partner's lives. It's just that Scientology becomes too much to deal with.' Ortega reported Thursday on his Underground Bunker Substack that Kidman's long-ago Scientology auditor, Bruce Hines, said that Kidman rose up the ranks in Scientology study much faster than the normal initiate when she was married to Cruise. Hines said that Cruise and Kidman spent many weeks at various times at what Scientologists call 'Int Base' or 'Gold Base' near the town of Hemet in Riverside County, California, which serves as the corporate headquarters of the church. 'They had a course room set up just for them with their own 'Course Supervisor' and their own 'Word Clearer' (someone who helps a Scientologist look up the meaning of words),' Hines said. 'Tom and Nicole could get many auditing sessions per day, seven days a week, if they wanted. Their auditors were on full-time standby.' Ortega and others have long reported that Kidman and Cruise drifted away from the church during the latter years of their marriage, but after their divorce, Scientology leader David Miscavige made a successful, push to get Cruise back in the fold. Kidman almost never comments on Scientology, Cruise or the two children she and Tom adopted, Bella, now 32, and Connor, 30, who lived mainly with Cruise after their divorce. Kidman has been married to country star Keith Urban since 2006, and they have two daughters. Neither she nor Holmes are now involved with Scientology. Scientology sources are divided when it comes to whether they think Ana de Armas will start looking into Scientology because of her apparently blossoming romance with Cruise. 'She'll have to be indoctrinated,' predicted composer and songwriter Geoffrey Levin, 79, who was with the church for more than 50 years and was around Cruise and Kidman at the Celebrity Centre before leaving around 2018. 'She's going to essentially have to learn the language of Scientology too. Otherwise, when you go to events, it's like hearing Greek or something. The real issue is what she wants from the relationship deep down.' De la Carriere told the Daily Mail that she believes Cruise may have drifted somewhat from the church in recent years, although he's still an avowed member. 'You don't see him out promoting Scientology at events and you don't see him photographed with Miscavige anymore,' de la Carriere said. 'He's just not in that Bible-thumping phase anymore. 'I wonder if that will be less pressure on this new girl to get involved.' But Ortega said that he hears that Cruise is as tight as ever with Miscavige and very much involved in the church. 'Bruce Hines told me that being Tom Cruise's girlfriend or wife is a very intense experience. Everybody who knows him well says he has energy that he could use to power a small city. 'Tom would run around saying constantly "Where's Nic, where's Nic" – he's on all the time. When he gets into a relationship, he's really intense about it. But at the same time, he brings with him all the baggage that comes with him from Scientology.' Levin was working in Scientology's notorious Celebrity Centre when Cruise and Kidman were first married. 'When Nicole got her first taste of Scientology, it was at the Celebrity Centre,' Levin told the Daily Mail. 'Back then especially, it was very impressive. It looked like the equivalent of a high-end museum. As Tom's wife, she got the royal treatment. Nobody else got that kind of treatment. 'This was before a lot of the bad press about Scientology, so you can imagine she had no idea what it was really like behind the curtain.' Levin said Cruise came off, on the surface at least, as warm, courteous and helpful when Levin had dealings with him. He remembered Kidman as 'warm and friendly' as well. 'Then the luster wore off for Kidman and she started to see what had been hidden,' Levin said.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Eerie ghost town on fringe of Las Vegas thousands flock to every year
Goodsprings, Nevada, is a ghost town located just 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas - and it's proving incredibly popular with tourists, with thousands flocking in each year Located in the middle of nowhere and allegedly haunted, the ghost town of Goodsprings is far from the most obvious tourist destination. Coupled with its proximity to the dazzling lights of Las Vegas, it would be easy for Goodsprings to be overlooked. But, despite its spooky history and sparse amenities, the town finds itself subject to thousands of visitors every year. Just half an hour away from the city's bustling strip and vibrant nightlife, life in Goodsprings could not be more different. Home to around 200 residents, this quiet town at the base of the Spring Mountains in the Nevada desert was once a bustling mining hub. In its heyday in the early 1900s, it housed 800 inhabitants and boasted amenities such as a hospital, hotels and a school - which remarkably still operates today, albeit with only two pupils on its roll. However, as the ore reserves in the Goodsprings mines dwindled, so did its populace. In 1942, the town served as the base for a special search mission following the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of actress Carole Lombard. Her aircraft crashed into Potosi Mountain, and her husband, Hollywood legend Clark Gable, anxiously awaited news at Goodsprings' Pioneer Saloon. It's said that Gable's cigar burns can still be seen on the Saloon's bar to this day. Consequently, there's a memorial room at the Pioneer honouring its connection to the iconic couple. Today, Goodsprings has a somewhat eerie aura. A drive through the town on its dusty roads evokes a spooky feeling. Often the subject of folk tales and ghost hunts, Reddit users have shared their experiences of visiting the town. One stated: "When I went to Goodsprings a few years back with my wife, it was completely dead. "No one was outside or driving around, it looked like a wild west ghost town that time had forgotten". Despite its remote location, the owners of the Pioneer Saloon are eager to provide a warm welcome to visitors. Stephen Staats, also known as Old Man Liver, purchased the iconic pub in 2021 and discovered Goodsprings' unique place in pop culture. The town serves as the starting point for the cult classic video game Fallout: New Vegas, which features the main character revived after being buried alive in Goodsprings cemetery. Many of the game's characters are based on real-life residents, and the Pioneer itself is featured in the game, rebranded as the Prospector Saloon. Recognising the town's popularity, Staats hosted a Fallout-themed event on National Video Game Day, July 8, in 2022. He expected "maybe 100 in a crazy world", but was taken aback when more than a thousand fans showed up. Since then, it has grown year on year, and following the launch of the acclaimed Amazon Prime Video series based off the game, 6,420 people visited Goodsprings in 2024. Fallout fans have praised the town's atmosphere and welcoming spirit on Reddit, with one saying: "The locals love it, and it's kind of their only form of tourism." Another, who visited before Staats took over the Pioneer, said: "They were incredibly friendly and welcoming both times I went, and there's even a marble wall inscribed with the town's residents since it's founding, movies and TV shows that have filmed there, all sorts of stuff." With a second season of the Amazon Prime show greenlit and likely to be set in and around 'New Vegas', Goodsprings could become an unlikely destination to rival the dazzling city that casts its wide shadow over the Nevada desert.
