Martin Scorsese is mourning the devastating loss of his close friends Rob and Michele Reiner, sharing a deeply personal reflection on their lives and the impact they had on him. 

In a heartfelt guest essay for The New York Times, the legendary filmmaker opened up about his grief following the tragic deaths of the couple, who were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14. 

Their son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

“What happened to Rob and Michele is an obscenity, an abyss in lived reality,” Scorsese wrote, expressing the shock and sorrow that has followed the news. 

“From now on, I’ll have to use the past tense, and that fills me with such profound sadness.”

Scorsese reflected on his longtime friendship with Rob Reiner, noting that the two bonded early on through their shared love of storytelling and film. 

He recalled meeting Rob and his then-wife Penny Marshall in the early 1970s and immediately feeling a connection. 

“Right away, I loved hanging out with Rob,” he wrote. “He was hilarious, warm, and had a kind of joy that filled the room.”

The director praised Reiner’s creative legacy, calling This Is Spinal Tap “in a class of its own” and highlighting his work in Misery as especially powerful. 

He also reflected on working with Reiner in The Wolf of Wall Street, describing a scene in which Reiner played Leonardo DiCaprio’s father as deeply moving. 

“I was struck by the tenderness he brought to it,” Scorsese shared, adding that revisiting that performance now is particularly painful.

In closing, Scorsese expressed a longing that feels both personal and universal, the hope of once again sharing laughter and conversation with his late friend. 

“I’ll always wish I could sit beside him again,” he wrote, “and hear that laugh, and feel lucky just to be in his presence.”

A helicopter on a medical evacuation mission has crashed on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, killing all five people on board.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening, December 24, on one of the mountain’s most popular climbing routes at an altitude exceeding 4,000 meters.

As reported by Tanzanian authorities, the victims included two foreign nationals, a local doctor, a Tanzanian mountain guide, and the pilot.

Police identified the foreign passengers as Czech tourists who were being evacuated due to health issues.

The pilot of the helicopter was a Zimbabwe national.

The helicopter, an Airbus H125 operated by the local company Kilimanjaro Aviation, crashed between the Barafu Camp and the Kibo summit.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) confirmed the fatalities and stated that a formal investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident.

The mount is considered as the highest peak of Africa drawing tens of thousands of climbers each year.

While the ascent is non-technical, altitude sickness is a common risk, usually requiring emergency evacuations.

This helicopter crash marks the first aircraft accident on the mountain since 2008. 

Nottingham Forest and Scotland legend John Robertson, described by the iconic Briah Clough as “the Picasso of our game,” has died at the age of 72.

The winger was an essential part of the Forest team that achieved the unthinkable under Clough, rising from the second division to win back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.

Robertson’s contributions in those finals cemented his legacy, giving the assist for Trevor Francis’s winner in 1979 before scoring the decisive goal himself against Hamburg in 1980.

The legend scored a winning goal for Scotland against England at Wembley in 1981.

Robertson was born in Scotland. At first, he struggled with professionalism at Forest before a stern talk from Clough’s assistant, Peter Taylor, transformed his career.

He became the creative heartbeat of a legendary side, marking over 500 appearances and winning several trophies.

After his retirement, he enjoyed a successful coaching career, highly notable as assistant to former teammate Martin O’Neill at Celtic.

The football industry has started pouring tributes with messages from Forest, Derby County, and the Scottish national team, mourning the loss of the football legend.