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A continuous world cruise came to an unexpected end in Cambodia on Tuesday, forcing passengers to disembark as the operator suspended operations due to “extraordinary increases in fuel costs.”
Villa Vie Residences, which operates the residential cruise ship Villa Vie Odyssey, said in a news release that it would evaluate restructuring and recapitalization options. The ship sold permanent residences starting at about $120,000, as well as five-year residences, a three-year voyage and short-term rentals.
The announcement said that fuel expenses had shot up from an average of $1,800 a month per cabin to more than $6,000 — a cost that could not be passed on to passengers.
“Since the conflict [in Iran] began in late February, we have taken significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port,” the company’s statement said. “Those measures have not been enough to offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs, and we have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses.”
Villa Vie said it was working with the passengers to find “temporary living arrangements.”
The company did not immediately answer questions about how many passengers and crew were on board or what will happen to them.
Randy Cassingham, a writer who has lived on the ship since late 2024, wrote on his site Residential Cruising that passengers received a message after 7 a.m. telling them they had to disembark by 2 p.m.
He said in an email that he had to find his own hotel, and was not aware of the company helping anyone find a place to stay or paying for accommodations.
“The evacuated residents are exhausted both physically and emotionally,” he wrote on the website.
U.S. military officials estimate that the Trump administration’s war with Iran has cost more than $47 billion through mid-October, a rise of more than $3 billion over the past several weeks, according to a document reviewed by The Washington Post.
The total includes $29 billion in munitions that have been fired by U.S. forces since the conflict began eight months ago, the document shows. The destruction of other weapons platforms, such as fighter jets, has cost $6 billion, it says.
The latest figures do not account for damage to U.S. bases in the region, especially facilities in the Persian Gulf, which have been battered by Iranian drones and ballistic missiles.
The estimate was compiled by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. It marks the military’s latest and most detailed tally of the Iran war’s financial costs. Central Command last projected that the war had cost at least $43.6 billion through early September.
The rising expense has forced the Pentagon to shift billions of dollars from within its existing budget to cover shortfalls caused by the conflict as the military has had to rush troops and equipment to the Middle East and keep them there for months on end.
Per the most recent estimate, the Air Force had spent about $7.6 billion to sustain the military operation, whereas the Army and the Navy had spent $2 billion and $1.45 billion, respectively.
The Iran war, which was initiated by the Trump administration in tandem with Israel on Feb. 28, has proved deeply unpopular with the American public, polling shows. It has emerged as a central issue in next week’s midterm elections, with voters frustrated by the soaring cost of gas and other goods linked to Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
At the outset of the conflict, President Donald Trump predicted that hostilities would be over in about five weeks. His administration has been unable to secure a lasting ceasefire on terms that the president finds favorable to American interests, however, and he has threatened to resume attacks on Iran after the midterms.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska endorsed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins in the state’s governor’s race Tuesday.
“Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Alaska needs a serious conversation about our fiscal future, as well as a focus on the cost of energy and growing our economy.”
In a statement, Kreiss-Tomkins said he was honored by Murkowski’s endorsement, adding that the state’s unique priorities require “cooperation, not political conflict.”
When contacted by text about the endorsement, Kreiss-Tomkins responded with flexed-arm and rocket emojis.
Kreiss-Tomkins is the leading candidate based on public polling in a four-way race against three Republicans. Bernadette Wilson, a business executive, is running with President Donald Trump’s backing. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting.
Murkowski, who depends on independent and crossover voters in her own races, endorsed Democrat Mary Peltola in her 2022 and 2024 races for the U.S. House (though she endorsed Peltola’s Republican opponent in this year’s Senate race).
As a state representative, Kreiss-Tomkins worked to create a bipartisan governing coalition, which controls both chambers of the state legislature. He served in the state House from 2013 to 2023, winning a district that voted for Trump.
Alaska Republicans have gone after Murkowski in the past, including in her 2022 primary and in 2010, when she won as a write-in candidate. Wilson campaigned against Murkowski in 2010 and blasted her for endorsing Kreiss-Tomkins.
“Given that Senator Lisa Murkowski abandoned Alaska values a long time ago, I am not surprised that she has endorsed ‘Just Keep Taxing’ JKT,” Wilson wrote on X.
DNA testing connected serial killer Ted Bundy to the death of another teenage girl in Utah more than 50 years ago, authorities said Tuesday.
The body of Melissa Ann Smith, 17, was discovered by hunters in October 1974, officials told a news conference.
For decades, Smith’s death remained a mystery — until earlier this year, when investigators in Utah County used DNA evidence to identify what they said was another Bundy victim, 17-year-old Laura Aime, whose body was found in November 1974.
The breakthrough prompted investigators in the Smith case to compare samples taken from both bodies, officials said.
The DNA evidence, “alongside evidence related to pattern, motive, means and opportunity, establishes that Ted Bundy was responsible for Melissa Ann Smith’s murder,” Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said.
Bundy was executed in 1989 after confessing to the killings of at least 30 people. Bundy had confessed to Aime’s death before his death, without providing any details, according to the Associated Press.
“The voices and cherished memories of Melissa Ann Smith and Laura Ann Aime and others involved in these cases ring louder than the hate and sedition of the one who took their lives,” said Mike Reynolds, a sergeant with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
The most affordable electric vehicle I test-drove in Mexico City was born in China.
Chevrolet’s roughly $24,400 Spark EUV seems tailor-made to take on the Dolphin Mini built by China’s BYD, now the largest EV manufacturer in the world, selling for about $21,600. Since my visit, Chevy has tried to undercut the Dolphin, selling it for about $21,100 if you include a trade-in and financing.
The Spark EUV is a rebadged Baojun Yep Plus, produced with GM’s partner SAIC and made in China, where it sells for the equivalent of less than $15,000. General Motors did not respond to inquiries for this story.
The Spark is roomier than the Dolphin Mini Plus, with 54 percent more cargo space, but has only four seats, to the Dolphin’s five. It drives like a mini-Jeep: boxy and burly, with no finesse on the pavement but more power under the hood (100 hp, about a third more than the Dolphin Mini). I never got the Spark up to highway speeds (where some reviewers deride it as squirrelly), but it held its own in city traffic. It also comes with a few extra safety features and conveniences such as automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. The 175-mile range (157 with a full load, estimated EPA-equivalent) was comparable to that of the Dolphin.
But the digital details felt anachronistic. After imbibing futuristic Chinese-made interfaces all week, I found the Spark’s 10.1-inch screen to look like someone slapped an aging Android tablet on the dashboard. It offered Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but lacked affordances of the Dolphin Mini, such as a rotating touch screen, built-in navigation, a cellular connection, over-the-air updates and a voice assistant.
The Spark, at least, lets GM start to compete with China’s low-cost, high-technology rivals. The three EVs that GM builds in Mexico — the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Blazer EV and Cadillac Optiq — sold just a few hundred in the country last year, according to INEGI, Mexico’s statistical agency.
The Spark EUV may give it hope. Despite slow initial sales after arriving in Mexico in mid-2025, sales have surged to about 4,000 in Mexico, according to registration data. But it’s still behind BYD.
Additional Coverage
- October 27, 2026
I went to Mexico to test-drive the cars Americans can’t buy
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It took 30 innings, but the World Series is now a competition, after the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in 12 innings in Game 4 early Wednesday morning. The Brewers had taken the first three games, the last one by a score of 10-1, and they were outplaying the Rays in every facet. But in Game 4, the teams traded runs early, and then they traded zeros for six innings. The Brewers went up 3-2 in the top of the 12th.
But the bottom of the 12th opened: error, single, single to tie the game, single to load the bases. Pinch hitter Ben Williamson, who joked that he’d had his batting helmet on since the fifth inning, chopped a ball to right field to drive home the winning run for the Rays.
The Brewers are still in an enviable position. Forty-four teams have taken a 3-0 lead in an MLB playoff series. Forty-three have gone on to win.
The 2004 Boston Red Sox famously came back against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Only one other team has even forced a Game 7 — the Houston Astros in the 2020 ALCS. They lost that series to … the Tampa Bay Rays.
Competitive Senate and gubernatorial races saw some of the largest increases in advertising spending over the last week, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Overall, $749 million was spent in competitive federal and governor’s races between Oct. 20 and 27.
Over that time period, Kansas’s Senate race saw an influx of $25 million, bringing total spending in the campaign to $67 million. Voters in Kansas have not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, but the race is rated as a toss-up.
Michigan’s Senate race saw a 19 percent rise in spending, and Iowa’s Senate contest had a 21 percent increase. Both races are toss-ups.
Ohio’s gubernatorial race had a jump of more than 15 percent in ad spending over the past week. The Cook Political Report moved the contest from a “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat” on Friday after GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy received backlash for an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s mother. Ramaswamy’s campaign has spent twice as much on ads as Acton’s overall, though their spending was nearly even in the past week: $6 million versus $5 million.
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