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NY mayoral hopefuls clash in high-stakes debate

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NY mayoral hopefuls clash in high-stakes debate


Independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani participate in a mayoral debate, in New York, U.S., October 16, 2025. — Reuters
  • Mamdani attacks Cuomo for his alleged sexual misconduct.
  • Mamdani pulls off stunning upset in Democratic primary. 
  • Second debate will be held on October 22.

A socialist, an accused molester and a vigilante all hoping to be New York’s next mayor clashed in a debate with “high levels of testosterone” Thursday as the unpredictable campaign enters the homestretch.

Democratic candidate and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, independent former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa pitched to voters in the first of two televised debates ahead of the November 4 election.

Early voting begins on October 25.

Mamdani attacked Cuomo for his alleged sexual misconduct and controversial governing record “sending seniors to their death in nursing homes” during the Covid pandemic.

“Thank God I’m not a professional politician because they have created the crime crisis in this city,” Sliwa said, gesturing at his two rivals.

“There’s high levels of testosterone in this room,” he said later.

Mamdani pulled off a stunning upset in the Democratic Party primary, defeating political scion Cuomo who had been the favorite for weeks, becoming the party’s official nominee.

Mamdani has promised free bus services, rent freezes and city-run supermarkets, which Cuomo has panned as fanciful and unaffordable government overreach.

The race to govern the city’s 8.5 million people was again upended when sitting Mayor Eric Adams, who has been engulfed in corruption allegations, quit the race without endorsing another candidate.

Cuomo, 67, was the state governor from 2011 until 2021, when he resigned over sexual assault allegations.

Mamdani, 33, is a state lawmaker for the city borough of Queens and has run an insurgent grass-roots campaign that has motivated young New Yorkers at a high rate.

‘Take on Trump’

Trump has threatened to withhold federal funds from Mamdani’s administration if he is elected, calling him a “communist.”

But Mamdani said “I would make it clear to the president that I am willing to not only speak to him, but to work with him, if it means delivering on lowering the cost of living for New York.”

Cuomo warned “Trump will take over New York City, and it will be Mayor Trump” if Mamdani won — mirroring the takeover of much of the administration of the capital Washington.

Trump said Wednesday he had “terminated” the $16 billion Hudson Gateway tunnel linking New York to New Jersey, a years-long megaproject.

Asked in the debate for his dream news headline, Mamdani said it would be “Mamdani continues to take on Trump.”

Quinnipiac University polling suggests most voters will not have their minds changed by the TV debate with just 18% of Mamdani and Cuomo’s supporters “not likely” to alter their pick, compared to 24% of Sliwa’s backers.

In the latest polling Sliwa, a 71-year-old who founded the Guardian Angels vigilante group in 1979, is trailing a distant third with 15% in the most recent poll, behind Cuomo’s 33% and Mamdani’s 46%.

Sliwa insisted he would not bow to inducements he alleged were arranged by Cuomo — who denies the claim — to quit the race, like lucrative jobs with fat salaries and a driver.

“I said, ‘Hey, this is not only unethical, it’s bribery, and it could be criminal,” Sliwa told AFP ahead of the showdown.

A second debate will be held on October 22.





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Meghan Markle marks major win of ‘Confessions of Female Founder’ podcast

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Meghan Markle marks major win of ‘Confessions of Female Founder’ podcast


Meghan Markle celebrates major win for her podcast

Meghan Markle is celebrating a major milestone of her podcast Confessions of a Female Founder.

The Duchess of Sussex took to her Instagram account on Friday, October 17, to share the exciting news of her podcast’s big Signal Award win.

Meghan Markle marks major win of Confessions of Female Founder podcast

Meghan reposted a post by Lemonada Media, which produces the podcast, announcing that Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan received Gold in the Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture category and also won the Listener’s Choice award.

Lemonada Media network celebrated the achievement with a joyful post on Instagram that read, “Oh friends… big news! Confessions of a Female Founder with @Meghan just won Gold in the Business People & Entrepreneurs Shaping Culture category at the national @SignalAward, and we are also a Listener’s Choice winner! Your votes made this happen.”

Meghan Markle marks major win of Confessions of Female Founder podcast

“We are so grateful for all the love, listens, and shares. Thank you for being part of our little podcast family.”

For the unversed, Meghan hosted her own podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, aired earlier this year, with the Lemonada Media network.

She previously hosted another podcast for Spotify called Archetypes, which aired in 2022.





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Prince Andrew gives up his royal titles in fallout from Jeffrey Epstein scandal

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Prince Andrew gives up his royal titles in fallout from Jeffrey Epstein scandal


Britain’s Prince Andrew will not use his royal titles, including the Duke of York, any longer, he said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday. The announcement comes after the release of excerpts from a posthumous memoir by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had repeatedly claimed to have been sexually trafficked by the late financier to Andrew.

“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III, said in the statement. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”

He continued: “With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.” 

Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, sued Andrew in 2021, alleging that he forced her to engage in sexual acts against her will when she was 17 years old. The two reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022. Andrew has denied the allegations.

Giuffre was one of the most vocal accusers of Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of helping Epstein groom, recruit and sexually abuse underage girls. Giuffre alleged Maxwell connected her with Epstein, which Maxwell denies.

In an excerpt of her memoir published by The Guardian, Giuffre describes her alleged encounters with Andrew in detail. 

“He was friendly enough, but still entitled — as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright,” she wrote. “The next morning, Maxwell told me: ‘You did well. The prince had fun.’ Epstein would give me $15,000 for servicing the man the tabloids called ‘Randy Andy.'”

Andrew, once second in line to the British throne, has long been a source of tabloid fodder because of his links to Epstein, other questionable characters and money woes.

His attempt to refute Giuffre’s allegations backfired during a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers saw a prince who proffered curious rebuttals — such as disputing Giuffre’s recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring — and showed no empathy for the women who said Epstein abused them.

Within days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties. 

As well as no longer being known as the Duke of York, Andrew will also give up other titles: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

He will remain a prince, which he has been entitled to since birth.



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Prince William’s emotional promise to Princess Diana laid bare

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Prince William’s emotional promise to Princess Diana laid bare


Prince William’s childhood vow to Princess Diana revealed

Prince William made a heartfelt promise to her mom, Princess Diana after the title of “Her Royal Highness” was taken away from her.

The Prince of Wales was only 14-years old when his parents settled their divorce in 1996 , which led Diana to lose her royal highness title.

Losing the title meant Diana had to perform a formal greeting called curtsy to her ex-husband, her sons, and other senior members of the royal family.

During this emotional moment, the teenage prince promised her mom, “Don’t worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am king,” via Radaronline.com.

“Diana was incredibly touched by what William said – she told friends it was one of the kindest things he’d ever done for her,” A source told the outlet,

“He could see how much the loss of her title hurt her, and he just wanted to take that pain away in the only way he knew how.”

However, William will never be able to keep the promise as a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

A second palace source remarked, “It’s heartbreaking when you think about it. Diana’s loss was the defining wound of William’s life, and that small promise became symbolic of everything he couldn’t protect her from.”

“The tragedy is that he’ll never get to fulfill it — no matter what kind of king he becomes.”





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