US forces launched a military attack against Venezuela on January 3, reportedly killing over 100 people and kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, who also serves as a National Assembly deputy.

Western corporate media have played an active role in recent years in legitimizing escalated US aggression against the Venezuelan people, from whitewashing economic sanctions that killed tens of thousands (FAIR.org, 6/4/21, 6/13/22) to outright calling for a military intervention (FAIR.org, 2/12/25, 11/19/25). They also exposed themselves once again as the fourth branch of the US national security state, opting not to publish information they had prior to the January 3 operation in order to “avoid endangering US troops” (FAIR.org, 1/13/26).

The brazen act of war has elicited zero dissent from the Western media establishment, no urge to challenge Trump’s return to early 20th century “gunboat diplomacy.” Worse, with the White House pushing to impose a semi-colonial protectorate and plunder Venezuela’s wealth, corporate outlets continue working overtime to normalize US imperialist predations.

Damage control

In the weeks since the attack, Western media have made a point of referring to Maduro as “arrested” (NBC, 1/5/26), “captured” (PBS, 2/10/26) or “ousted” (ABC, 1/5/26). The choice is far from innocent. By not stating that the Venezuelan leader was “kidnapped” or “abducted,” in a blatant violation of international law, establishment journalists are normalizing the US’s rogue actions, denying Maduro the proper protections of prisoner of war status (FAIR.org, 1/20/26).

But it is not just through semantic distortion that corporate outlets have quarantined any critique of the administration’s lawlessness. Another common feature has been a certain “damage control” in covering up Trump’s most outlandish statements.

After the January 3 military operation, Trump stated in a press conference that “many Americans, hundreds of thousands over the years…died because of [Maduro].” No corporate outlets reported the outrageously false statement. (A couple of factchecking pieces—CBS, 1/6/26; New York Times, 1/8/26—addressed his adjacent, essentially unfalsifiable claim that “countless Americans” died due to Maduro.)

The attempts to make Trump’s Venezuela policy claims appear more rational are not new. For instance, in presidential press conferences, he constantly said that Venezuela had “emptied” its mental institutions into the US (X, 10/15/25, 11/2/25, 12/3/25, 1/3/26). But throughout 2025, the New York Times  (11/4/25) mentioned this absurd statement just once, and the Washington Post (10/22/25, 12/21/25) did so twice.

On the domestic policy front, corporate journalists have had fewer qualms labeling Trump claims as “false,” when it comes to ending wars (CNN, 1/20/26), immigration (NBC, 2/4/26) or the 2020 US election (Guardian, 1/12/26). But they seem happy to carefully conceal or openly parrot false accusations that build the case for wars of aggression, whether in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran and now Venezuela (FAIR.org, 8/1/05).

The vanishing cartel

In recent years, and especially in the second half of 2025, US officials justified escalating attacks against Venezuela on the grounds that Maduro and associates ran a drug trafficking operation, the so-called Cartel of the Suns. Trump himself, during his January 3 press conference, claimed Maduro “personally oversaw the vicious cartel known as Cartel de los Soles.”

While experts consistently questioned the cartel’s existence, and specialized agencies, including the DEA, found Venezuela to play a marginal role in drug trafficking, media outlets reproduced the warmongering claims without scrutiny, citing only the denials from the Venezuelan president they have systematically demonized for over a decade (e.g., New York Times, 10/06/25; NPR, 11/12/25; CNN, 11/14/25).

But the biggest rebuff came from the Justice Department itself. When the time came to indict Maduro, US prosecutors dropped the accusation that the Venezuelan leader headed an actual drug cartel, and downgraded the Cartel of the Suns to a “patronage system.” In other words, the Justice Department was aware that the cartel charge had no substance, and instead accused Maduro of a much looser “drug trafficking conspiracy.”

But this remarkable about-face brought no accountability for the media establishment. Having spent years echoing claims that US prosecutors admitted would not hold in court, corporate outlets chose to ignore the new development, rather than exposing their shameful stenography over the years and taking responsibility for its deadly consequences. FAIR used Google to search for reporting on this crucial about-face in outlets including the Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, NBC and NPR, and found no results.

The one notable exception in this quasi-state corporate media circus was the New York Times‘ Charlie Savage (1/5/26), reporting on the administration’s quiet dropping of its casus belli. Savage wrote that this “called into greater question the legitimacy” of the administration’s designation of the Cartel of the Suns as a foreign terrorist organization. However, the piece stopped short of challenging the US military operation and illegal kidnapping of Maduro, referring to the Venezuelan leader as “captured” and “removed from power.”

The paper of record was quick to compensate for the vanishing of a flimsy regime-change trope by bringing up another one, focusing on a tried and tested dishonest narrative: Venezuela’s alleged ties with Hezbollah, one of the main opponents of the US and Israel in West Asia (FAIR.org, 5/24/19). Under the headline, “What to Know about Hezbollah’s Ties to Venezuela,” Times reporter Christina Goldbaum (1/19/26) offered nothing but a laundry list of unsubstantiated claims from anonymous officials.

Media connivance with Washington’s official narratives to justify imperialist attacks only pave the way for new iterations. Recently, in tightening the murderous blockade against Cuba, the Trump administration proffered the totally baseless claim of the Cuban government “providing a safe haven” for Hamas and Hezbollah. While the New York Times (1/30/26) uncharacteristically reminded readers that Trump offered no evidence, other outlets (NBC, 1/29/26; CNN, 1/30/26) were happy to echo the accusation uncritically.

Holding a country hostage

The media establishment’s support for US foreign policy did not end with the January 3 act of war. Since the attacks and presidential kidnapping, the Trump administration has taken control of Venezuelan oil exports at gunpoint after a month-long naval blockade that involved seizing tankers in the high seas for allegedly transporting Venezuelan crude in violation of unilateral US sanctions.

Under an initial agreement, Venezuela surrendered 30–50 million barrels for White House–picked intermediaries to transport and sell. Proceeds were deposited in bank accounts in Qatar, with a portion being returned to Carácas at the administration’s discretion (Venezuelanalysis, 1/21/26, 1/29/26). Analysts have argued that this arrangement explicitly violates the Venezuelan constitution.

Some articles have given space for Democrats to oppose the Trump deal, but mostly on the grounds of lack of transparency or opportunities for corruption (CNN, 1/15/26; Politico, 2/11/26; New York Times, 2/11/26). Readers will find no opposition on principle to the Trump administration’s Mafia-esque extortion of a sovereign nation’s natural resources, from the president himself saying the US will “keep some” of the hijacked Venezuelan oil (CNBC, 1/22/26) to Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing that the administration is “prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation” (New York Times, 1/28/26).

It is hard to find double standards, because no other nation on Earth unleashes this kind of gangster imperialism. But concerning Russia, Western media did not hold back from denouncing its “stealing,” “robbing” or “plundering” of Ukrainian minerals or grain, despite these resources being in territory that Russia occupies and claims sovereignty over (Washington Post, 8/10/22; Guardian, 12/11/23; DW, 8/28/23; New York Times, 6/5/22).

In a nutshell, when Washington imposed deadly sanctions against Venezuela, corporate pundits said these only targeted Maduro and were meant to promote democracy (FAIR.org, 6/14/19, 6/4/21, 6/13/22, 6/22/23). When the White House ramped up military threats, mainstream journalists parroted drug trafficking allegations (FAIR.org, 2/12/25, 11/19/25). When the drug trafficking charges were exposed, Western outlets reheated baseless stories about Hezbollah. And when Trump seized Venezuelan oil at gunpoint, the only mild concern was whether he would use it to enrich himself.

True to its roots in the “yellow journalism” of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the liberal media establishment is fully on board with Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine.” They have undoubtedly earned the title, to paraphrase Gen. Smedley Butler, of “gangster journalists for capitalism.”

Source: FAIR

IT was in this very column that Delta Goodrem first revealed it was her dream to represent Australia at Eurovision.

Now, nine months later, she has been officially unveiled as the contest’s Aussie entry, with the Lost Without You singer firmly crediting Bizarre with making it happen.

Speaking to our Jack, Delta said: “This is, literally verbatim, all your fault. It is all on you — you and Bizarre started this.

“Your article went back to the Aussies who were like, ‘Do you want to do this?’ So thank you. I have a big job to do.”

Delta will head to Vienna this May to compete with her song Eclipse and it ticks every box, with an infectiously camp chorus and a complex piano bridge.

A beaming Delta explained: “From your article, people started reaching out.

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“Then one of the songwriters, Jonas Myrin, who I wrote the song with, took a screengrab of the article and sent it to me saying, ‘Delta, if you ever go to Eurovision, I want to write the song with you’.

“He’s in Sweden. Sure enough he flew to Australia when I said I was doing it. Even the first question I got asked when doing my first Australian interview was, ‘We heard it all started from an article from the UK,’ and yes, it did.”

It’s been three years since Australia last qualified for the live final, which adds to the pressure on Delta, who has sold eight million records worldwide.

“Of course I am nervous, but it’s so joyous and I am so excited to be a part of it,” she said.

“I can’t control what will happen. All I know is that I am honoured to represent Aus.

“I will fly the flag and give my heart and soul.

“Two of my greatest idols, who are part of the reason I am in music, Olivia Newton-John and Celine Dion, did Eurovision.

“I am grateful to be able to step into that.

“What an honour it is to be able to perform anywhere, let alone on the biggest stage in the world. I am excited.”

We Brits can’t vote for our own act, Look Mum No Computer (aka Sam Battle), whose entry Eins Zwei Drei is out on Friday, so Delta is hoping the British jury will give her our 12 points.

Explaining how it all fell into place, she said: “I had always said, ‘Oh, you know, when the time is right’. I always have an open heart to new things and being a coach on The Voice I celebrate all types of music. Then it all came into focus.”

It’s not the first time a country has sent a major household name to Eurovision, with Bonnie Tyler, Engelbert Humperdinck and Blue all taking part in the past.

Speaking about what people should expect when she competes at the second semi-final on May 14, Delta explained: “The staging is important, but you will have to wait and see.

“There is a high bar out there but I am enjoying the creativity of it. I love the out-of-the-box moments, but I also love past winners Loreen, Alexander Rybak and Mans Zelmerlow.”

This year’s competition has already been rocked by controversy with Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain all pulling out due to Israel being allowed to take part in the contest, amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

But Delta is keen to use the platform to help bring people together and celebrate our common ground.

She said: “I am in music for unity and the healing spirit,” adding that she loves the sense of “togetherness” generated by music and song.

Delta added: “Eurovision has been going for 70 years and there is a reason everyone comes back, united in song.

“I am really looking forward to being united together. At my shows, that is what you want, too.

“My song is about one love and connection.”

You’ve got our votes, Delta.

DECEMBER 10 are playing a free O2 Presents . . . gig at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on April 8.

There will be 767 pairs of tickets available to O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers via a ballot, which will be open from March 9- 23 on the Priority app.

COMPASS TO GO THE COLE MILE

I TIPPED big things for Belfast pair Broken Compass after they released their debut single Storm in October.

Now the duo, Ben Dadidson and Allen Gordon have landed roles in Anything Goes at Belfast’s Grand Opera House.

Running from April 14-18, the show features songs from Cole Porter including I Get A Kick Out Of You.

While Allen has graced the stage at the venue before, it will be the first time for Ben, who previously toured with Westlife in boyband Most Wanted.

Ben told Bizarre: “This has been such a whirlwind, moving to Belfast and joining St Agnes Choral Society.

“Opening myself up to theatre as well as pop has been a dream come true.”

OASIS will feature on the new Help(2) War Child album with a standalone 7in single of Acquiesce, recorded live at Wembley last September, being included in the vinyl edition.

It will be a hidden track on the double CD version, and on streaming, when the charity record is out on Friday.

Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn and Pulp will also feature.

RAYE SETS LIFE BOAT AFLOAT

RAYE will return to dance music on her upcoming album with a belting electro track called Life Boat.

The singer debuted the song at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday night and it features emotional ­lyrics against a euphoric chorus.

In the verse, she sang: “Cry yourself an ocean, trying not to drown in it. Lord send me a lifeboat, something I can cling to.”

Then in the chorus she repeated: “I’m not giving up yet.”

Earlier in her career Raye had a string of dance hits including Bed, Prada, You Don’t Know Me and Secrets, so she knows a thing or two about releasing a banger.

And with her album, This Music May Contain Hope, out on March 27, there isn’t long to wait.

OH BUCKET! AL’S FOR HIGH JUMP

IF you thought it was funny ­watching Alan Carr take part in the challenges on Celebrity ­Traitors, his next show will see him jumping out of a plane.

He is shooting a travelogue called The F**k It List for Prime Video, which will see him and other comics taking on bucket list experiences, but it sounds like he’s drawn the short straw.

Alan said: “I was sold this show about a bucket list. I thought I would be on the Orient Express and swimming with dolphins.”

Instead, he admitted on his Bottoms Up ­podcast: “I’m skydiving, bungee jumping and stroking a tarantula. I hate spiders.”

Thera’s so much promise

SHE’S the vocal powerhouse from Prague who, aged just 18, is already turning heads across Europe.

And as rising star Thera wraps up supporting Jason Derulo on his The Last Dance world tour, she opened up backstage about juggling school with breaking into the industry.

The Czech singer, who first toured with Loreen, said: “I’ve gone through a lot that made me mature faster, which is why people are shocked I’m 18.
“It doesn’t feel strange to me. Those experiences shaped who I am today and how I handle things and what I do.

“School has really helped me, even though it’s very stressful and chaotic at times.

“It’s almost forced me to be organised and have a system, which I feel has helped me in the music world.”

On tour it was the Les Twins, who also went on the road with Jason, who acted as her “big brothers”.

She added: “They’re role models, but also feel like family.”

Her biggest night yet was Prague’s O2 Arena on Sunday, where her whole family watched alongside 20,000 fans.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday refused to box himself in on how long U.S. military operations will last in Iran, saying the conflict in the Middle East could stretch from a month to potentially “far longer” as he frames the mission as one that is necessary to eliminate a “colossal threat” to American interests.

“Whatever the time is, it’s OK. Whatever it takes,” Trump said at a White House event. “Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have the capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it.”

Hours earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the duration of the military operation remains fluid, and that Trump has “all the latitude in the world” to determine how long the war in Iran will go on.

“Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up. It could move back,” Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon news conference.

The Trump administration’s shifting time frames and open-ended objectives in Iran have deepened uncertainty around an expanding conflict in the Middle East, particularly as American troops have already been killed in action and officials warn of more U.S. casualties.

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that additional U.S. military forces are already moving into the region, and warned that the conflict will not be a “single, overnight operation” and that he expects “additional losses.”

A fourth U.S. fatality

The development came as military officials confirmed a fourth American service member had been killed by Iranian counterattacks and that three American jets were mistakenly shot down in Kuwait in an “apparent friendly fire incident” — and as airstrikes continued to fall across the Middle East, where missile defense systems were unable to intercept every attack and deaths mounted into the hundreds.

As the U.S. and Israel continued to hammer Tehran and other targets across Iran and in Lebanon, retaliatory strikes by Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, were reported in Israel as well as at U.S. facilities and other targets inside Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, to Iran’s east, Pakistan and Afghanistan were engaged in their own battles, further destabilizing the region.

In addition to hundreds of people dead, including Iranian schoolchildren, other civilians and migrant workers in the Gulf, the fighting has impacted the world’s production of oil and natural gas — disrupting tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at the southern end of the Persian Gulf and causing oil prices to shoot up.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted Iranian drones attacking an oil refinery near Dammam, with the refinery shutting down as a precaution, the AP reported. Iran denied targeting the facility.

Air travel disrupted

The war also disrupted air traffic globally, as major airports in the Gulf, including in Dubai, halted or radically scaled back flights. The travel interruptions rippled around the world, and airline stocks tumbled.

Israel had implemented nationwide restrictions on activities as it fended off attacks from Iran and residents hid in bomb shelters. Iran reported strikes at multiple schools in the country had left young students dead.

As the conflict unfolds in real time, Trump and Hegseth have refused to rule out sending American troops into Iran, and the president has signaled that the “big wave” of military attacks is yet to come.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground. Like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump told the New York Post on Monday. ”I say, ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”

When asked by a reporter whether U.S. troops were currently on the ground, Hegseth told reporters they were not, but then bristled at further questions about potential future deployments.

“Why in the world would we tell you, the enemy or anybody, what we will do or will not do in pursuit of an objective?” Hegseth said.

The Trump administration’s objectives in the war have been equally hard to pinpoint. Trump said Saturday that the operation is aimed at razing Iran’s military and nuclear capability and dismantling Iran’s theocratic regime, but on Monday said the goal is to eliminate the threats posed by the “sick and sinister regime” but not the government itself.

Hegseth said the attacks in Iran are not part of a “so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it today.” The U.S. and Israel attack on Saturday killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

‘Second or third place is dead’

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday evening, Trump suggested his administration had considered some figures to replace Khamenei, but said those people are now dead.

“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Trump said. “It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead.”

The Trump administration’s messaging, meanwhile, was consistent in its vengeful rhetoric.

Hegseth and Trump both warned that any threat to Americans would be met with force.

“If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation, we will kill you,” Hegseth said.

Kevan Harris, an associate professor of sociology who teaches courses on Iran and Middle East politics at the UCLA International Institute, said a long misconception in “the way the U.S. reads Iran” is the belief that Khamenei ruled the country alone, and that taking him out would create a massive leadership vacuum or a sharp shift in the nation’s policies.

But while Khamenei was certainly an “intransigent” force in Iran, killing him won’t “lead to a major shift inside the country,” Harris said.

Benjamin Radd, a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, said whether the U.S. can get out of Iran on a relatively short timeline depends on whether those in power in Iran now are willing to negotiate terms that Khamenei and other leaders who have been killed rejected.

“If the remnants of the regime are ideologically committed to what they were under Khamenei,” Radd said he “can’t see Trump backing down” and would expect the war to rage on.

Other leaders in Iran are fundamentalist and aligned with Khamenei, but given the U.S. has shown a willingness and ability to capture and assassinate foreign leaders, they might back down out of self-preservation.

“In the short term, there should be a wait-and-see approach as to what this reconstituted regime looks like,” he said.

Tyler Reddick isn’t exactly the Michael Jordan of NASCAR.

Not yet anyway.

Still, Reddick seems to be at the start of something special as the driver of a team co-owned by the NBA legend who led the Chicago Bulls to two NBA championship three-peats in the 1990s (1991-93 and 1996-98).

Less than a month into the season, Reddick has established his own three-peat of sorts, the likes of which has never been seen before in NASCAR.

After winning the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 and at Echo Park Speedway in Atlanta last week, Reddick held off Shane van Gisbergen over the final 20 laps at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday to become the first Cup Series driver to win the first three races of the season.

“It’s incredible. NASCAR’s always been super competitive but in this day and age where the field is so close, for us to be able to pull this off is true testament of teamwork, hard work in the offseason by everyone on this team, everyone at 23XI,” Reddick told KXAN-TV in Austin after the race.

“It’s super special to be on this kind of a run. We’re just gonna try to keep it going as long as we can. We’re kind of just in the right headspace throughout the week, and it’s been really sweet to just grab these wins like we have.”

23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan watches the final laps by Tyler Reddick on Sunday in Austin, Texas.

(Stephen Spillman / Associated Press)

Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, was with Reddick’s pit crew at the end of the race. As Reddick climbed out of the car, Jordan gave him a high five and exclaimed, “Three, baby, three!”

Reddick posted video of that exchange with Jordan on X and wrote, “3 PEAT BABY.”

Also on X, Reddick posted a photo of Jordan holding up three fingers after the Bulls’ first three-peat in 1993 next to a photo of himself making the same gesture while holding his trophy from Sunday’s race.

“Tyler came in with most pressure,” Jordan told Fox Sports. “He had a chance to win three in a row. That’s the hardest one to win, you know. And he kept to his strategy. … Tyler did a good job. He beat good competition.”

In December, an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was settled nine days into the trial, with NASCAR agreeing to grant all of its teams the permanent charters they had been seeking.

Started in 2020, 23XI Racing has three full-time cars — driven by Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst — as well as a part-time car driven by Corey Heim. Entering next week’s race in Phoenix, Reddick leads the NASCAR Cup standings by 70 points, followed by Wallace in second place.

Jordan credited Hamlin, who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, as the “mastermind” who put together a team that is seeing such great success early this season.

“I just put up the money,” Jordan said.

March 2 (UPI) — The royal editor for The Daily Mail on Monday denied using a private investigator to steal information about Prince Harry and his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Prince Harry is suing Associated Newspapers Ltd., which owns The Daily Mail, along with six other plaintiffs including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, for using information they obtained illegally.

ANL denies all wrongdoing and said it gathered all information for its stories legally.

The testimony Monday mostly hinged on Mike Behr, a South Africa-based private investigator. Rebecca English, royal editor, said she knew Behr only as “a freelance journalist who could help on Africa stories,” The Guardian reported.

Lawyers asked English about an email from Behr that shared the exact flights that Davy was taking on a vacation with Harry in 2007.

Behr asked in the email if English and the Sun reporter “can plant someone next to her?”

Plaintiffs’ lawyer David Sherborne said the email “could only have been obtained from the computer system” of an airline. That means it came from a “blag” — British slang for a way of obtaining information illegally.

English responded that she didn’t remember the email or ask for those flight details.

“[Behr] was never asked for anything like this, ever,” she said. “That is something I would never even consider doing, now or then,” The Guardian reported.

Sherborne asked about planting someone next to Davy, and English replied: “It’s an absolutely shameful suggestion both by him and by you … clearly there’s no reply to this email, which emphasizes my belief that I never actually saw it.”

He then accused her of using illegal information in a story about a “make-or-break holiday” for the couple. But English said the information was likely from students at the University of Leeds, where Davy was enrolled, “who were friends with Chelsy Davy and part of her circle.”

Sherborne also asked English about a story with the headline, “How Harry fell in love,” from 2004. The story alleged that Harry had shared details of his relationship with Davy with friends at a campfire in Botswana. English said the campfire info came from her coworker Sam Greenhill.

“Sam told me that one of the people that Prince Harry had spoken with ’round the campfire got in touch with the newspaper when news of the relationship broke and gave this information to us,” The Independent reported.

“Prince Harry hadn’t told them who his girlfriend was but had described her so that, when the stories about Chelsy Davy broke, they realized the significance of what they had been told.

“I thought at the time that the tip was from a contact of Sam’s, but now understand it just came in to the news desk. I think that Sam gave it to me because he knew that I was new to my job as a royal reporter and thought it might be helpful to me.”

Harry testified last month that the people at the campfire — his “closest friends” — would not have shared that information, and if they had, there “would be a lot more out there.”

The Navy has posted its first pictures from Operation Epic Fury, showing a variety of actions that have been taken so far, especially the launches of RGM-109 Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles (TLAMs) from its Arleigh Burke class destroyers. One image, in particular, caught our eye. It shows a glossy black TLAM unlike any we have seen before.

To date, we have never seen a black Tomahawk before. Today, the missiles are usually painted in the same haze gray tone we have been accustomed to seeing on pretty much everything in the U.S. Navy. All the other TLAMs shown being fired appear to be painted in this standard scheme, so what we are seeing appears genuinely new.

The dark color of the TLAM in question fits with that of another missile in the U.S. Navy’s inventory, the stealthy AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). These advanced cruise missiles are delivered, at least in part, not in the flat gray tone as seen on their land-attack cousins, the AGM-158 JASSM, but instead with a glossy black coating. This appears to be the case for earlier testing models and at least some operational ones. It’s our best guess that a very similar coating is now being applied to the latest TLAMs coming off the production line for the Navy.

As for why black is the new gray, as it would seem, we would expect this to be a low observable coating aimed at enhancing the survivability of the weapon, especially for strikes against maritime targets. It can also make the missile harder to spot while skimming low over the water. Having radar-absorbent and infrared suppressive properties could also be a major benefit. This is especially true for the TLAM, which has been around for decades and has been continuously improved upon to keep it relevant and effective. That has included adding low observable features, such as the chined crease in its nose section that reduces its radar cross-section from the critical front aspect. It’s also worth noting that the small v-shape gray portion of this black TLAM is the inlet door that retracts once the missile is boosted to sustained speed shortly after launch.

This new coating would appear to be part of the upgrades likely included on the latest Maritime Strike Tomahawk, otherwise known as the MST, which has a long-range anti-ship function.

F-18 follows Tomahawk Missile

The Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) is a subvariant of the latest Block V variant of the Tactical Tomahawk (TACOM), and is also known as the Block Va. Though the Block IV TACOM already has a demonstrated anti-ship capability, MST has additional features to optimize it for this role. This most notably includes a new multi-mode guidance system that reportedly includes an imaging infrared seeker. All Block V Tomahawks also come with a two-way data link, allowing them to receive course correction and other targeting updates, as well as be entirely retasked, during flight.

A set of unclassified briefing slides that Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) released last year lends additional credence to the black-colored Tomahawk being an MST. One slide includes a mention of MST along with a very low-resolution picture showing a dark-colored missile.

It isn’t clear when the first MSTs were delivered, but unless this coating is being put on past variants of the missile, this may be the first time we have seen one of these new Tomahawk variants in action.

Update:

We are also seeing video showing what appear to be TLAMs with forward swept wings. If these are indeed TLAMs, this would likely be another measure to reduce the missile’s radar cross-section and making it more survivable, and thus battlefield relevant. It’s also possible that this is a long-range Israeli cruise missile that has not been identified, although this seems less likely. Still, Israel does have the Popeye Turbo cruise missile that is nuclear-armed and used as a second strike deterrent aboard its diesel electric submarines. It is possible that this is a conventional version of that weapon.

The digital world of the first AI actor, Tilly Norwood, is expanding.

AI talent studio Xicoia, which created Norwood, has announced plans for a “rapid expansion” for the digitized actor. The developments include a digital universe dubbed the “Tillyverse,” where ”Tilly and a new generation of AI characters will live, collaborate and build careers.”

The London-based company responsible for creating emotionally intelligent, hyperreal AI personas said it’s focused on more than experimenting with AI actors. It plans to build its own IP and change “how talent is created, developed and experienced in the AI era.”

“Together, we’re building something entirely new. Tilly Norwood isn’t just an AI character — she’s a personality, a brand, and a future global superstar with a compelling narrative arc,” said Xicoia CEO Eline van der Velden in a release.

Norwood was first launched last fall. Upon its introduction, many Hollywood actors, including Emily Blunt, Whoopi Goldberg and Natasha Lyonne, spoke out against the bot. Though Norwood has yet to star in a major project, the fear of AI-generated characters replacing actors and taking jobs is widespread.

Previously, SAG-AFTRA’s president, Sean Astin, also criticized the bot, saying, “It manipulates something that already exists, so the conceit that it isn’t harming actors — because it is its own new thing — ignores the fundamental truth that it is taking something that doesn’t belong to them.”

The development deepens union anxieties more than two years after concerns about the use and misuse of artificial intelligence led to back-to-back strikes.

SAG-AFTRA re-entered contract negotiations with the major studios last month. The union is expected to propose what has been called the Tilly tax, a fee that studios would have to pay to the union in exchange for using an AI actor.

Xicoia, which is owned by AI video production studio Particle6, recently hired former Amazon Prime Video executive Mark Whelan. He will lead Norwood’s expansion, develop new AI characters and oversee the creation of AI talent commissioned by third parties.

“Becoming a lead architect of the Tillyverse is genuinely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Whelan in the release. “AI is evolving at breathtaking speed, and combining cutting-edge tech with ambitious creative thinking means we’re not following an industry playbook at Xicoia — we are writing it.”

The company expects the “Tillyverse” to launch later this year.

WASHINGTON — When President Trump announced that he was taking the United States to war against Iran, he offered a long list of ambitious goals.

He said the operation aimed not only to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but also to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and defang its proxy forces in the Middle East.

Then he added the most audacious objective of all: regime change.

“To the great, proud people of Iran … the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said. “Take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

That was a striking turnabout for Trump, who campaigned for president in 2016 promising: “We’re going to stop the reckless and costly policy of regime change.”

But it’s far from clear that the president has a coherent plan for replacing Iran’s radical Islamist autocracy with a friendlier regime. Nor is it clear that he’s fully committed to the goal.

On Monday, at a White House event, Trump reiterated the military goals of the operation, but did not mention regime change — suggesting he may be having second thoughts. However, he did describe the current Iranian regime as “sick and sinister.”

Military experts and Iran scholars are virtually unanimous that airstrikes alone, no matter how destructive, are unlikely to transform the Islamic republic into a peaceable, democratic country.

“Air power rarely produces friendly regime change,” said Robert A. Pape of the University of Chicago, a prominent scholar of air power. “Bombing can destroy targets. It does not reliably reshape politics.”

A more likely outcome is that Iran’s militant Islamic security force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, will seize power, experts said. The Washington Post has reported that the CIA also made that assessment before the war began.

A takeover by the Revolutionary Guard would change the names of the people in charge, but it would fall far short of a genuine regime change.

Trump has said he doesn’t believe ground troops will be necessary, although he hasn’t ruled them out. He hasn’t offered a plan for pushing Iran’s theocratic rulers out of power beyond continuing the airstrikes. The outcome on the ground, he said Sunday, is up to ordinary Iranians.

“Be brave, be bold, be heroic and take back your country,” he said in a video message on Sunday. “America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you, but we’ll be there to help.”

In an interview with the New York Times, he said he hopes the Revolutionary Guard will simply “surrender” to the opposition forces it was brutalizing only a month ago.

In effect, he is abandoning the so-called Pottery Barn rule — “You break it, you own it” — that was popularized by then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell before the Iraq war in 2003. Trump’s message to Iranians looks like: “I’ll break it, you own it.”

Iran’s democratic opposition is fragmented

The central problem with Trump’s apparent theory of regime change, scholars say, is that the Revolutionary Guard and other security services are well-organized and well-equipped, but the country’s democratic opposition is fragmented.

“Even if the clerical regime were to fall, the security forces are best positioned to take its place,” warned Richard N. Haass, a former top State Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

Meanwhile, he added, “the political opposition is not united or functioning as a government-in-waiting. It is not in a position to accept defections [from the regime], much less provide security.”

Some experts argue that there is more the administration could be doing to improve the prospects for regime change, without putting troops on the ground.

Haass faulted the Trump administration for failing to work more closely with the Iranian opposition to prepare it for a role in a potential future government.

Others said the United States should now make it clear that it would provide substantial economic aid to a new Iranian regime, but only if its behavior is benign. Iran’s economic crisis, its worst in recent history, helped spark the popular uprising in January that the regime suppressed at the cost of thousands in lives.

“There are more steps the administration could be taking now to help the democratic opposition,” said Kelly Shannon, a visiting scholar at George Washington University. “Close coordination with dissidents on the ground. Protection from the security forces if they open fire. Money, including support for a general strike fund. Assistance with ensuring internet access for all Iranians. And ensure that airstrikes don’t hit Evin Prison or other prisons where dissidents are being held; a lot of potential opposition leaders are in there.”

Scenarios for the future

If the Revolutionary Guard remains intact, Iran experts have described several different scenarios for the regime that may emerge.

One might be called the Venezuela scenario: an Iran ruled by officers from the current regime who have agreed to cooperate to some extent with the United States. This would resemble the situation in Venezuela, where the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro but left the rest of his regime in power.

Trump has already endorsed that quick-fix scenario and said he’s willing to open talks with the newly named successors to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike. “What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario,” he told the New York Times.

Another option might be called the Hamas scenario: a battered and weakened Islamic Republic could stay in power but remain hostile to the United States, even after losing much of its military infrastructure.

A third possibility would be the Libya scenario: an Iran in which the regime has been toppled, and several factions battle for power. That’s what happened in Libya after the United States and other countries used air power to help overthrow longtime dictator Moammar Kadafi.

But none of those scenarios would be the transition to democracy that many Iranians hope for — the more positive version of regime change.

Trump’s search for offramps

Trump, meanwhile, sounds as if he is already looking for an opportunity to declare victory and withdraw.

In an interview with Axios on Saturday, he said he believes he has several “offramps” from the war.

“I can go long and take over the whole thing — or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians, ‘See you again in a few years.’”

“He seems to be looking for an offramp,” Haass said. “He may say ‘It’s up to the Iranian people’ and leave the opposition to its fate…. He might claim a victory in terms of obliterating — or, I guess, ‘re-obliterating’ — Iran’s nuclear program and downgrading its ballistic missiles.”

“But he would still face a danger in that scenario. If it comes down to a physical confrontation [between the regime and the opposition], the opposition could be killed in even larger numbers before. … After offering regime change as one of the reasons for the war, we may not only fail to produce regime change; we could see a second massacre.”

George added he would be happy to let his two-year-old daughter play the sport if she chose to.

While a group of former players are taking legal action against rugby’s authorities claiming that more should have been done to protect their brain health in the past, there are a series of measures in place to protect players from concussion.

They include ‘smart’ gumshields that measure the forces players heads withstand in a tackle, pitchside doctors, mandatory assessments and stand-down periods for players diagnosed with having had a concussion.

“We are in very, very safe hands,” George added.

“Of course, there is a risk that you might get a concussion in a full-contact sport. We are aware of the risks that come with that, but at the same time, we have the utmost confidence in the people around us, the protocols that are in place and that we are being as well looked after as we possibly can be.”

Ben Earl, George’s Saracens and England team-mate, is equally confident in the care he gets for both club and country.

“I have never once felt like I’ve been managed poorly,” he said.

“If anything, it’s probably too far the other way. They’re probably sometimes holding you back when you feel like you’re ready to go, but actually they’re just looking after you and your body.

“So, in terms of my personal experience with the game and safety, I have felt unbelievably well cared for.”

QatarEnergy has suspended liquefied natural gas (LNG) production following a drone attack, straining the global LNG market.

On Monday, Iranian drones struck two sites, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Defence: a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed Industrial City and an energy facility in Ras Laffan belonging to QatarEnergy, the world’s largest LNG producer.

While no casualties were reported, QatarEnergy suspended the production of LNG and other products at the impacted sites for security reasons.

Why did QatarEnergy suspend operations?

The drone attacks hit the Ras Laffan complex, which is home to processing units for liquefied natural gas set to be exported.

The state-owned energy company was forced to declare what is known as force majeure, when a company is freed from contractual obligations in the event of extraordinary circumstances, such as a drone attack, according to Reuters and Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes at a time when intensifying sea battles between Iran and the United States, coupled with missiles flying over the region, have effectively choked the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic trade route. At least 150 vessels have dropped anchor, including those carrying LNG, in the strait and surrounding areas, according to Reuters.

Traffic in the strait for both LNG and oil has declined by 86 percent, with roughly 700 ships sitting idle on either side of the passage, according to the Anadolu news agency.

How will this impact the broader global LNG market?

Qatar’s LNG exports represent 20 percent of the global market. With fewer products reaching the market, LNG supply is down, causing prices to surge.

“Definitely an escalation overnight with pressure on energy infra in the Gulf,” said Rachel Ziemba, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank.

The countries hit the most directly are Asian markets, particularly Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

China is the world’s largest importer of natural gas, but it gets the majority of its imports from Australia, accounting for 34 percent of its imports, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Maksim Sonin, an energy expert at Stanford University’s Center for Fuels of the Future, however, said that while QatarEnergy’s decision would bring “volatility” to energy markets, he wouldn’t describe the situation as a “crisis” just yet.

“We will see near-term volatility in the LNG market, especially if infrastructure in Qatar and other hubs is damaged,” Sonin told Al Jazeera. However, he added, “I do not expect the 2022 gas crisis to repeat in Europe,” referring to the period following Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, when many European nations tried to dramatically scale back their dependence on Russian oil and gas.

Which are the world’s largest LNG exporters?

Until 2022, Russia was the world’s biggest exporter of LNG, but its sales have plummeted since its war on Ukraine began.

Now, the US is the world’s largest exporter of LNG, followed by Qatar and Australia.

Will this add pressure on Europe?

While 82 percent of QatarEnergy’s sales are to Asian countries, the halt puts increased pressure on other markets across the globe, too, particularly in Europe.

In effect, a smaller supply of gas will need to meet the same global demand. As a result, gas prices have already started soaring: Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices soared by almost 50 percent, while benchmark Asian LNG prices jumped almost 39 percent, on Monday after the QatarEnergy announcement.

“Not good if Qatar stays offline for long, of course,” said Ziemba. The only silver lining for Europe: “At least the worst of the winter in Europe may be behind,” Ziemba pointed out.

The European Union’s gas coordination group will meet on Wednesday to assess the impact of the widening conflict in the Middle East, a European Commission spokesperson told Reuters on Monday. The group includes representatives from member state governments. It monitors gas storage and security of supply in the EU, and coordinates response measures during crises.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Khamenei was among a number of senior Iranian officials targeted in the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes earlier today.

Readers can first get caught up on the ongoing conflict in our previous rolling coverage here.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media network. “He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”

EXCLUSIVE: Tilly and Antony were handcuffed together 24/7 as they competed for £100,000 on the Channel 4 reality show hosted by Jonathan Ross

Tilly and Antony have spilled the beans on what it was truly like being shackled together for Channel 4‘s outrageous new programme.

The Suffolk-based millionaire vintage car enthusaist, aged 60, and a 37-year-old barmaid from North London who balances three jobs, are among the nine pairs of Brits vying for the £100,000 prize.

Introduced by host Jonathan Ross, the 18 Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing contestants will have to endure being chained to each other round-the-clock, doing everything in unison.

If the pressure becomes unbearable, they can choose to uncuff at any moment, but doing so means they’re out of the running, with the last pair standing claiming the entire pot.

The competitors are a diverse mix from all walks of life and are strangers to each other, reports the Daily Star.

As the cuffs are secured, with the duos separated by a special screen, they’ll only find out who they’ve been chained to once the partition is removed.

Discussing the biggest hurdle they encountered, Antony revealed: “Being a man of 60 years of age, I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo so I was conscious of the fact that wouldn’t be something Tilly would be doing.

“I practised for weeks before we filmed with every contraption known to man on how to actually wee in the bed and I managed to get the right contraption so that was a really tough thing but I don’t think I ever woke her up when I was doing it.”

He continued: “She used to snuggle down sort of hip level and I got this contraption on the old man to pee and her head was six inches away from it and then, of course, once it’s finished, you’ve got to put the lid back on and put it by the side of the bed.

“So I had all that to deal with without waking her up and I was very proud of the fact that I mastered it. I carried this thing around with me everywhere but I found that difficult to begin with.”

Tilly, who has previously appeared on The Island with Bear Grylls, went on to share the biggest lessons she learned after taking part in the social experiment, saying: “I think to listen more, be patient and realise that everybody is different, everybody comes from a different background and that makes them who they are.

“Me and Antony had a chat quite early on, I think it was on the first day, and I said ‘listen, I’m not gonna quit’ and Antony was like ‘neither am I’. So we were like, okay, well, cool’.

“I wouldn’t have bothered entering the competition if I thought for a minute that I wouldn’t see it through on my part. I done it for the money.”

Fans will have to wait and see exactly how far Tilly and Antony progress in the competition, but the pair remain friends despite showering and using the toilet mere inches from one another.

Antony said: “I think I have changed a lot since the show and I’m not quite as private a person as I was. I was determined that the person I was gonna be handcuffed to I would get on with.

“When the screen went back, we had a connection and it’s as simple that. I thought to myself ‘thank God for that’. I consider she’ll always be a friend and there’s quite a lot planned for the future for us.”

Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing launches Monday, March 2 at 9pm. Watch or stream on Channel 4.

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday urged the Supreme Court to limit the reach of the 2nd Amendment and deny gun rights to “habitual” users of drugs, including marijuana.

But most of the justices sounded skeptical. They questioned whether marijuana users are so dangerous they should not have firearms.

They noted too that President Trump signed a recent executive order to reclassify marijuana as lesser controlled substance.

“Why is this a test case?,” asked Justice Neil M. Gorsuch.

Federal laws on “controlled substances” and the 2nd Amendment created a conflict between gun rights and illegal drugs, but Gorsuch said marijuana users are not seen as a particular danger to the public.

“This is an odd case to have chosen” to resolve this legal dispute, he said.

Most of the justices said they were wary of ruling broadly to decide the legal status of other addictive drugs.

At issue was a provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which forbids gun possession by any person who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance.”

The Justice Department says about 300 people per year are charged with a crime under this provision. They include Hunter Biden, the former president’s son, who was charged and convicted of lying about his drug addiction when he applied for a handgun permit.

The case brought together civil libertarians and gun rights advocates, who said millions of Americans could face criminal charges if the government’s view is upheld.

Deputy Solicitor Gen. Sarah Harris, representing the administration, said the court should uphold the law to deny guns to habitual users of unlawful drugs.

“Congress decided it is dangerous to mix firearms with controlled substances,” she said.

But Erin Murphy, a Washington attorney, said gun owners have not been notice that having a handgun at home could lead to a criminal prosecution if they sometimes use marijuana.

She said the court should hand down a “narrow” decision that spares her client.

Ali Hemani, a Texas man, was investigated by the FBI in 2020 for his family’s suspected ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist group.

When the FBI obtained a warrant to search his home, agents found a Glock pistol and 60 grams of marijuana as well as 4.7 grams of cocaine in his mother’s room. Hemani said he used marijuana about every other day.

He was charged with illegal gun possession because he was an unlawful drug user.

But citing the 2nd Amendment, a federal judge and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the charges on the grounds that he was not under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest.

Appealing, the Trump administration said the Supreme Court should uphold the 1968 law and deny guns to those who are “habitual users” of illegal drugs.

Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer said this prosecution “falls well within Congress’s authority to temporarily disarm categories of dangerous persons — here, habitual drug users.”

From the nation’s founding, “habitual drunkards” could be prohibited from having guns and that historic principle supports denying guns to habitual drug users.

The American Civil Liberties Union defended Hemani said the government’s view threatens to broadly extend the reach of the criminal law.

“Like tens of millions of Americans, Ali Hemani owned a handgun for self-defense, keeping it safely secured at home. Like many of those same Americans, he also consumed marijuana a few days a week,” they said in their brief.

“According to the government, those two facts alone sufficed to make him an ‘unlawful user’ of a controlled substance who could face criminal penalties.”

The warm smiles coming from Chadrack Mpoyi are plentiful these days. After forcefully dominating the paint and protecting the rim in Crean Lutheran wins, the imposing big man beams as teammates, classmates and supporters congratulate him. He offers a hug in return.

Mpoyi says he’s having fun each game in his one season of high school basketball in the U.S., the 6-foot-11 African enjoying a meteoric rise to become one of the top West Coast centers in this year’s class. A virtual unknown coming from Congo two summers ago to attend school in Orange County, Mpoyi saw his recruitment skyrocket and lead to him signing with Minnesota. He scored 14 points during Crean Lutheran’s 59-52 win over JSerra in the Southern Section Division 1A championship game Saturday. The Saints (26-7) qualified for for the CIF Southern California Regional that begins Tuesday, extending Mpoyi’s senior season.

In a way, it all happened so quickly, by leaps and bounds. Within a week of arriving in June 2024 on a student visa, Mpoyi was donning the Saints’ jersey and playing in a tournament in Corona in preparation for the NCAA evaluation period when college coaches can watch recruits play in person. By that August, he claimed an offer from Washington. The following summer, he had about two dozen offers.

Still, Mpoyi’s swift emergence came amid a rather inauspicious beginning to his journey. He left his father, mother and siblings to pursue a basketball opportunity on another continent. He tried seeking international student transfer eligibility with the highly regarded Crean Lutheran program, but the CIF Southern Section ruled he couldn’t play on the varsity team in the 2024-25 season. He’d be sitting out.

Chadrack Mpoyi saw the Crean Lutheran community support him before he was ever able to play in an official game for the Saints.

(Diamond Leung / For The Times)

And soon after that …

“My mom passed away,” Mpoyi said quietly, declining to discuss it much further.

The Crean Lutheran community responded by wrapping its arms around the teenager with the 7-foot-5 wingspan. A second family — a prominent Orange County one — stepped forward to open its doors to Mpoyi and form a stateside support system.

“And he blended in beautifully,” said Stacy Jones, the mother of his host family.

Crean Lutheran is named after John Crean, the recreational vehicle pioneer and philanthropist with a rags-to-riches story. As a child, Crean and his family left North Dakota at the start of the Great Depression and settled in Southern California as they barely scraped by, and his Irish immigrant father was in poor health. As an Orange County businessman, Crean ultimately became the founder and chief executive of Fleetwood Enterprises, a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue surpassing $3 billion. His foundation donated $10 million after his 2007 death to help establish Irvine’s first Christian high school.

The school has made it a well-worn path for international students to come for a faith-centered education in one of the newer planned residential communities in the city. And boys’ basketball coach Austin Loeb, through his connection to the Luol Deng Foundation, has facilitated the addition of several players from the former NBA All-Star’s native South Sudan. They’ve stayed with host families and gone on to play at the college level. The Saints currently include two Sudanese players in senior forwards Jacob Majok, who has signed with UC Riverside, and Will Malual.

“It’s a ministry as well [as] an opportunity to get kids that come from nothing and give them this,” Loeb said in Crean Lutheran’s gym after a Saints win.

Mpoyi is the first player from Congo to play for Crean Lutheran. He arrived with the ability to speak three languages — French, Swahili and Lingala.

Crean Lutheran guard Caden Jones recalled how the team communicated with the new kid as Mpoyi joined a trip to Santa Barbara for a summer tournament the week after he arrived.

“Through Google Translate,” said Jones, a dual-sport standout who also stars at quarterback for Crean Lutheran. “Every food place we went to, he wanted a cheeseburger or pizza. By the end of it, we just knew what he wanted so we didn’t have to ask him.”

Jones’ mom, Stacy, upon first spotting Mpoyi wearing the Crean Lutheran jersey, wondered who was the player sitting by himself.

“Nobody was talking to him,” Stacy recalled. “Nobody offered him water or anything. We went to him and said, ‘Do you need water or a protein bar?’ He didn’t speak English. He didn’t know what we were talking about. So we just went and got it, and we asked the coach, ‘What’s going on with this kid?’”

Mpoyi was limited not only by the language. He’d been playing basketball only a few years, after he started watching videos of Hakeem Olajuwon, an NBA star from Nigeria, so he also had more to learn on the court.

“He traveled every other possession,” said Loeb, who served as Crean Lutheran’s top assistant coach last season. “I’m not kidding.”

Eventually, Stacy learned about Mpoyi’s living situation off campus and found it to be unsatisfactory for him.

“The coach says, ‘Do you mind? Can you just take him for a couple weeks until I can find a host family?’” Stacy recalled. “And so we did, and then … we couldn’t give him away.”

Chadrack Mpoyi greets Stacy Jones, right, the mother of his host family, after leading Crean Lutheran to a win at Cypress.

(Diamond Leung / For The Times)

She laughed and smiled.

Said Caden: “Just being with him every day, he’s like a brother to me now. I love him to death.”

Stacy never got a chance to speak with Mpoyi’s mother, but she could tell they were very close. She understood that his mom’s life revolved around church and raising nine kids, Mpoyi being the baby of the family.

Less than three months after he left his hometown of Likasi, his mother died.

“It’s pretty sad and incredible,” Loeb said. “His mom had cancer and when this opportunity came about for him to come over to the U.S., she didn’t tell him because she thought he would stay. Once he was here, she told him she was sick, but he didn’t know how quick it would be. Talk about putting your kids above yourself.”

Mpoyi was neither able to travel back home nor play in high school basketball games as an outlet. As Mpoyi mourned, the team had to encourage him to step outside of the house to clear his mind, said Caden, who extended empathy beyond the hospitality inside of it. Mpoyi’s faith deepened.

“I was driving him to school — he wanted to go to school, and put his hand on my arm, and he says, ‘… I really want to get baptized in honor of my mom,’” Stacy Jones said, her voice shaking. “And I just lost it.”

A month after losing his mother, Mpoyi was baptized at chapel held in the school gym. Wearing a Crean Lutheran hoodie, he bowed his head in front of the whole school, including teammates and coaches, and received a standing ovation.

Stacy, who had arranged a French-speaking pastor, also surprised Mpoyi with a letterman jacket, with his mom’s favorite picture and Bible verse custom-printed on the back.

“It was just cool to see him continuing his faith and how happy inside he was to take the journey,” Caden said.

Caden’s father, Steve, is the global chairman and chief executive of Allied Universal, the private security provider for many Fortune 500 companies, and he oversees the third-largest private employer in North America. The only companies with more employees are Walmart and Amazon.

Crean Lutheran teammates Chadrack Mpoyi and Caden Jones, waiting to check into a game, say they are like brothers after living together.

(Diamond Leung / For The Times)

Stacy, his wife, is a philanthropist who has joined him in raising $13 million in the last seven years for victims of human trafficking by supporting Vera’s Sanctuary, an Orange County residential drug rehabilitation center for young women.

Together they opened the doors of their home to Mpoyi and later signed on for guardianship. Mpoyi didn’t know the family well upon arriving to the gated community of Coto de Caza, but adapted — and grew in more ways than one.

Stacy said she enlisted an English instructor who also spoke French and that Mpoyi picked up the language in two weeks. “He’s a sponge,” she said. “He just absorbs everything. He’s wicked smart.”

Mpoyi said it was hard, but in four or five months, Loeb described a night-and-day difference in his English-speaking ability and marveled at the progress, noting that he carries a grade-point average above 3.0. Stanford would join the schools offering him a scholarship.

The Joneses were especially busy during the fall of 2024 raising two sons as elite athletes as well. Caden was a four-star quarterback when he suffered a season-ending knee injury that September before bouncing back as a junior by throwing for 30 touchdowns and more than 3,000 yards to draw heavy recruiting interest. Carter Jones flipped his commitment from California to Arizona that October after developing into a three-star linebacker at Crean Lutheran, and he formed a tight bond with Mpoyi before leaving for college.

With the new dynamics, what was it like in that household?

“We are a very physical family,” Stacy said. “Lots of hugs.”

Said Caden: “A lot of food. We eat a lot.”

And with the team, Loeb said what made Mpoyi special was how he connected, explaining, “He loves people so much and he cares about them. He’s a natural leader.”

Sidelined last season, Mpoyi dedicated himself to lifting weights and adding muscle. That part he could control, according to Loeb, who credited Mpoyi for sticking with the plan. With Crean Lutheran’s strength program — and having access to some weights at the Jones home — he went from 195 pounds to about 245. The transformation of his body enabled him to transform his game as he progressively improved his combination of physicality and skill.

“I can do several things,” said a smiling Mpoyi, who watches video of another 6-11 talent, NBA great Kevin Garnett, before games. “I can dunk on people, and then I can face up.”

Said Loeb: “When he came over, he was more of like a stretchy forward. I wanted to turn him into a more traditional big right now because that would help him to be successful. But he still has the mobility to get out and guard and still be physical. He’s learning the game, and he has really good touch.”

And perseverance, for which Loeb nominated Mpoyi for the Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award. Loeb believes the trait comes from Mpoyi’s strong faith.

Steve Jones, who wrote a book about achieving more in business and life titled, “No Off Season: The Constant Pursuit of More,” sees the same.

“All people see is this giant 7-foot kid,” Steve said. “What people don’t see is how hard of a worker he is.”

Midnight neared as Steve, dressed in Crean Lutheran gear, visited with Arizona football staffers at the Saints’ basketball game at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana. They watched Caden hoop with Crean Lutheran fighting for a spot in the Open Division playoff field, as there’s interest in having him join his older brother on the Wildcats’ football team. Caden, a 6-foot-3 point guard, also has received basketball offers from Washington and UC Santa Barbara.

Aside from running a global company that does about $23 billion in annual revenue out of its Irvine headquarters, Steve, a former college football player at Cal Poly whose father played for Bear Bryant, also oversaw the recruitment process for Mpoyi last summer and looked out for his best interests.

Forced to sit out last season, Mpoyi developed into a three-star prospect while playing for All In Elite on the Under Armour circuit and in summer high school events. Mpoyi and Crean Lutheran traveled to Mesa, Ariz., last June and captured a bracket title at Section 7, an event crawling with college coaches. Minnesota offered the following week, and Loeb counted 23 offers over the summer.

“I wanted to make sure no one took advantage of him,” Steve said. “I wanted to make sure he found the right fit. I wanted to make sure that coaches really wanted him for the right reason, that it was the right offense for him.”

Crean Lutheran coach Austin Loeb has watched Chadrack Mpoyi fight to overcome obstacles after he arrived from Congo.

(Diamond Leung / For The Times)

That ended up being in the bruising Big Ten with Minnesota. After the 19-year-old signed with just five years of playing experience, Coach Niko Medved said in a statement in November: “Chadrack has an incredible upside, has a great motor and is athletic. One of the first things we noticed was how well he moves for his size and his ability to move his feet and protect the rim.”

It’s Stacy who has taken on the difficult task of trying to track down Congolese documentation as she works with Minnesota’s compliance department to help Mpoyi meet NCAA eligibility requirements.

Mpoyi not only acknowledges that the Joneses have supported him but also has shown protective instincts with the family. When they’re walking around, he’ll wait and make sure she’s nearby, Stacy said.

“He’s very humble and I know he comes from small beginnings but he never lets you know it,” she said. “We live in a nice house, and they ask him all the time, what’s it like to live with the Joneses? And he’s like, what are you talking about? He doesn’t engage with those kinds of conversations. How much money do they have? Like, why are you asking? Does it matter?

“He’s a gift.”

“He’ll be in our lives forever,” said Steve, who envisions holidays in which Mpoyi is able to come back from college to their home. “It’s like he’s turned into our son. I don’t know if we originally thought that was going to happen. When you say, ‘Can someone live at your house for a little bit,’ you say ‘Yes.’

“It’s like we have a third son forever.”

March 2 (UPI) — Canada and India agreed on several deals Monday including a 10-year nuclear energy deal and a goal to reach $50 billion in trade in the next five years.

The agreements were the result of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, establishing what the two leaders called a “new partnership,” CBC reported.

“This is not merely the renewal of a relationship,” Carney said during a joint appearance with Modi. “It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus and foresight — a partnership between two confident countries charting our course for the future.”

Modi credited Carney for new cooperation between the two countries.

Diplomatic relations between Canada and India became strained in 2023 after former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested India was linked to the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver, British Columbia. In the wake of the allegations, multiple Indian diplomats were expelled from Canada.

“This vision inspires us to move forward in every field. Unlocking the full potential of economic cooperation is our priority,” Modi said.

Carney said the two countries plan establish a free trade deal by the end of 2026 with the aim of taking the strain off U.S. tariffs, the BBC reported. The deal would ease tariffs between Canada and India.

Carney and Modi ultimately signed five memorandums of understanding, the CBC reported, including a $2.6 billion deal in which Canadian-based Cameco would supply about 22 million pounds of uranium to India for nuclear energy between 2027 and 2035.

Other deals focus on artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and semiconductors as well as plans to jointly host a renewable energy summit. Indian firm HCL Technologies plans to open two new AI centers in Canada and expand one in Vancouver, while OCT Therapies & Research plans to manufacture medicines in New Brunswick.

Jonathan Ross hosts Channel 4’s new social experiment Handcuffed, where 18 contestants are cuffed together as they compete to win a £100,000 prize

Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing is the brand new social experiment from Channel 4.

Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the new series sees 18 contestants cuffed together as they compete to win £100,000.

A synopsis for the new Channel 4 series reads: “Could you survive being handcuffed to a total stranger? In a brand new social experiment, Jonathan Ross is challenging 18 brave Brits to do just that, as they compete to win a £100,000 prize.

“The nine pairs will have to cope with being chained to each other 24/7, doing everything – quite literally – just inches apart. If it gets too much, they can uncuff at any time, but if they do they’ll be out of the competition. The last pair standing takes all. Jonathan’s starting the competition as he knows best, in a TV studio with a live audience.

“The competitors represent a complete cross section of British society, and have never met each other before. As the cuffs are locked in position with the duos either side of a special screen, they’ll only discover who they’ve been chained to once the divide goes back.

“In a divided Britain, Jonathan’s hoping living in such close proximity will force these opposites to talk, listen, and maybe even learn from each other. As the pairs set off for each other’s houses, to walk a mile in their partner’s shoes, we focus in on three of the couples.”

Among the participants are Somerset contestants Sir Benjamin Slade, 79, the 7th Baronet of Maunsel, and bus driver Morag, 64. They’re joined by London-based model Bambi, 29, and Suffolk’s millionaire businessman Anthony, 60, reports Somerset Live.

Here’s the complete roster for Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing.

Jo, 39, Manchester

Jo, a plus-size fashion brand owner, describes herself as “loud, mindful and crazy.”

When asked about her biggest concern, Jo admitted: “I’m nervous about the proximity. I’m on the autistic spectrum and being in close proximity to a stranger is going to be quite a challenge for me.”

Reuben, 29, Portsmouth

Reuben, a property developer, characterises himself as “confident, cocky, and disciplined.”

Discussing the toughest part of the experience, Reuben revealed: “The hardest thing about the experience was definitely the speed of walking and the chafe of the cuff after several hours, having my partner slow and drag me down was tedious.”

Sir Benjamin Slade, 79, Somerset

Benjamin, the 7th Baronet of Maunsel, reflected on his experience: “I was surprised by having some challenging and honest conversations about class,” adding: “The hardest thing was having sleep apnoea which means I don’t get any sleep and having to pee 6 times a night.”

George, 60, London

Prison Officer George describes himself as “pragmatic, empathetic, and lively” and joined the show “purely for the spirit of adventure,” which has led him to experiences ranging from topless waitering to skydiving from 15,000ft, and even volunteering as the first Officer in Belmarsh for the High Secure Unit.

Claire, 48, Hampshire

Claire, an “eccentric, persistent, bubbly,” horse trainer from Hampshire, was surprised by her own patience. She admitted: “The level of patience I’ve got. I was surprised! I didn’t think I had it in me. Also, how much of a bubble I live in- I didn’t realise how different other people’s lives are to mine.”

Bambi, 29, London

Model and content creator Bambi described herself as “loud, chill…but also not chill- I’m a bit of a contradiction!” When asked about her biggest worry, Bambi confessed: “The actual intricacies of the day to day; showering, going to the toilet- the basics. Also, as much as I’m a social butterfly and love being around people I like my own space and I do take a lot of time to myself. I think my biggest concern is I’m not going to have that time to relax and unwind and I think that’s going to really get to me.”

Nina, 42, London

Hairdresser Nina characterises herself as “moody, loud and fun,” and found the most challenging aspect of being handcuffed was being paired with someone whose beliefs were “completely opposite” to her own.

Sara, 55, Northhamptonshire

Mum-of-seven Sara describes herself as being “bubbly, annoying and kind.”

Reflecting on the most challenging aspect of her experience, Sara said: “Being involved in something so intense then the sad feeling afterwards when life returns to normal. To be honest looking back it felt like an out-of-body experience.”

Lin, 38, London

Political commentator Lin characterises herself as “Charismatic, opinionated, and a leader.”

Regarding her biggest concern, Lin said: “Going to bed, I’m a really private person, the whole going to bed and showering, I’m apprehensive about how it’s going to work.”

Frank, 27, Derbyshire

Green Party Councillor Frank explained his motivation for joining the programme: “As a politician, I spend every day trying to get someone else to agree with me, but what most elected representatives forget is that genuine understanding comes from putting yourself into the shoes of another and taking the opportunity to truly question yourself. Participating in Handcuffed was the only way for me to grow personally and professionally.”

Bob, 70, Yorkshire

Retired soldier Bob, who describes himself as “well-travelled and a musician.”

spoke about the toughest element of the programme: “Not knowing what was coming next and the lack of privacy from always having a camera nearby meant it sometimes felt quite restrictive, and that I maybe wasn’t able to get to know my partner as well as I would have liked.”

Chris, 38, London

Youth worker Chris admits he’s most apprehensive about his “everyday life,” when it comes to taking part in the show. He confessed: “I’m quite particular and I like things a certain way. When I get home, I take off all my clothes put them in the wash basket and put on my house clothes because who just sits on their bed when you’ve just been on the tube? I’ve got a lot of insecurities that I’m still trying to work through: I suffer with lupus so there’s a part of me that’s not comfortable looking at my own self let alone being around another person- it’s very exposing.”

Charlie, 44, West Sussex

Practical Homemaker Charlie describes herself as “determined, kind and strong-minded.”

On what surprised her about her journey, Charlie revealed: “I think learning about my own levels of resilience, to always be open minded and not to judge a book by its cover.”

Rob, 32, Staffordshire

Rob is an adult content creator who characterises himself as “eccentric, straightforward, kind.”

On what surprised him the most about the experience, he shared: “That two people, living two completely different lives worlds apart can become great friends. We put our judgements aside and listened to our hearts.”

Morag, 64, Somerset

School bus driver Morag identifies herself as being “enthusiastic, vegan and hippie.”

On what surprised her the most, Morag admitted: “I was surprised to find myself so emotional, particularly in the first few days.”

Angie, 44, Stourport

Salon proprietor Angie describes herself as “direct, impulsive and wild.”

Reflecting on the most challenging aspect of the experience, Angie explained: “Not having control of what I was doing, where I was going, and that what was in store for us. I became very hyper vigilant, and I went through a process of unwrapping all these things that I didn’t know about myself. I don’t like being told what to do so this was an adjustment for me to hand over control. Being away from my husband was so hard, it’s the first time we have spent that much time apart with zero contact.”

Tilly, 37, North London

Barmaid Tilly is “loud, loving and kind”. She frankly revealed her motivation for joining Handcuffed: “I wanted to win the money… and for the experience, but mainly the money.”

Anthony, 60, Suffolk

Business proprietor Anthony, who characterises himself as “generous, genuine and happy,” shared that the toughest element of the experience was having to reveal so many “deep and repressed” aspects of himself to a complete stranger.

MAJOR changes to train ticket rules will be rolled out next month in a bid to stop fare dodgers.

The new conditions for refunding tickets will come into effect on April 1.

From April, passengers will be unable to get a refund on Off-Peak and Anytime train tickets after 11:59pm the day before travel.

This means travellers who change their plans last minute will not be able to get their money back.

Rail bosses said that the new rule was to clamp down on fraud that has cost the network around £40million a year.

They said fare dodgers had been claiming refunds on tickets that were not scanned through barriers, even if they made the journey.

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The current rules allow ticket holders to get refunds of up to 28 days after the day of travel, if the ticket has not been used.

But this leaves many travellers who might have to cancel their train journey a day before, due to illnesses or cancelled events, with no opportunity of a refund.

Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said: “Deliberate fare dodging has no place on our railways.

“It drains much-needed revenue and undercuts the trust of passengers who play by the rules.

“Changing refund rules will help stamp out fraud, keeping money in the railway – which will ensure we can deliver an improved railway with passengers at its heart.”

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke says he “will never jog again” after being “embarrassed in front of the whole world” by his red card at the end of Saturday’s home defeat by Manchester City.

Farke, 49, headed straight on to the Elland Road pitch at the final whistle to confront referee Peter Bankes, aggrieved at several decisions in his side’s hard-fought 1-0 loss in the Premier League.

Farke, sent off for the first time in his 16-year managerial career, said he did not swear or use threatening language towards Bankes and his fellow officials, and that he was shown the red card before he said anything.

He gave an 11-minute answer when asked about the incident in his news conference for Tuesday’s match with Sunderland (19:30 GMT).

“I jogged over,” he said. “Not one bad word. No swear words or bad language. I just wanted to ask him why he didn’t add any [further stoppage time] on. He didn’t speak to me and just pulled out the red card.

“To pull out a red card and embarrass me in front of the whole world, I wasn’t happy. Even the assistants were shocked the red card was shown. This is not how we should work with each other. I have so much respect for the referees.

“I don’t think Peter did it on purpose, he just misjudged it. I will never jog again.”

The former Norwich boss could appeal against the dismissal but is yet to decide if he will.

“I’m not sure what the processes are and when we can appeal it,” he said. “I can just give you my gut feeling this should not be a red card.

“When there has been a clear and obvious mistake, and for me this was a clear and obvious mistake, it should be overturned. This is what I’ve experienced when players have a red card by mistake, it can be overturned, and I expect the same.”

Early on Monday, a suspected Iranian drone crashed into the runway at the United Kingdom’s RAF Akrotiri base in southern Cyprus. British and Cypriot officials said the damage was limited. There were no casualties.

Hours later, two drones headed for the base were “dealt with in a timely manner”, according to the Cypriot government.

The incidents came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer signalled on Sunday that the UK was prepared to support the United States in its confrontation with Iran – raising the prospect that it could be drawn deeper into a war it did not choose by its closest ally.

In a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, Starmer said the European group was ready to take “proportionate defensive action” to destroy threats “at their source”.

Later, in a televised address, he confirmed that Westminster approved a US request to use British bases for the “defensive purpose” of destroying Iranian missiles “at source in their storage depots, or the launches which are used to fire the missiles”.

But his agreement did little to placate US President Donald Trump, who said the decision came too late.

UK-based military analyst Sean Bell cautioned against reading too much into the Akrotiri incident.

“I understand the projectile that hit Cyprus was not armed, it hit a hangar [with] no casualties, and appears to have been fired from Lebanon,” he said, citing sources.

Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the claim.

The broader context, he argued, is more consequential.

The US has taken the action “and everybody else is having to deal with the fallout”, he said.

Iran’s military strength lies in its extensive ballistic missile programme, he said, adding that while some have the range to threaten the UK, they do not extend far enough to strike the US.

“I don’t think [US] President Trump has yet made the legal case for attacking Iran, and … international law makes no discrimination between a nation carrying out the act of war and a nation supporting that act of war, so you’re both equally complicit,” he said.

Bell said that Washington likely reframed the issue, communicating to London that, whatever triggered the escalation, US forces were now effectively defending British personnel in the region.

That shift, he suggested, provided a legal basis to “not to attack Iran, but to protect our people”, allowing the UK to approve US operations from its bases under a “very, very clear set of instructions” tied strictly to national interest and defence.

UK officials ‘tying themselves in knots’

However, concerns of complicity had reportedly shaped earlier decisions, according to Tim Ripley, editor of the Defence Eye news service, who said the British government initially concluded that US and Israeli strikes on Iran did not meet the legal definition of self-defence under the United Nations Charter.

When Washington requested the use of bases such as RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK, and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Starmer is understood to have consulted government lawyers, who advised against participation.

Up until Starmer’s televised address, in which he approved the US request, the UK had not considered the campaign a war of self-defence, said Ripley. While Washington’s legal reasoning has not changed, the war’s trajectory has.

Iranian retaliatory strikes – which have seen drones and missiles targeting Gulf states – have placed British expatriates and treaty partners under direct threat.

“The basis of our decision is the collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies, and protecting British lives. This is in line with international law,” Starmer said.

According to Ripley, several Gulf governments, which maintain defence relationships with the UK, sought protection, allowing London to focus on protecting British personnel and partners rather than endorsing a broader campaign. However, with memories of the Iraq War hanging over Westminster, British ministers have stopped short of explicitly backing the US bombing campaign.

British officials are “tying themselves in knots” trying to describe a position that is neither fully participatory nor detached, he said.

US-UK: A strained relationship

Starmer on Monday told Parliament that the UK does not believe in “regime change from the skies” but supports the idea of defensive action.

But Ripley warned that any arrangement allowing US warplanes to operate from British air bases carries significant risks.

Iran’s missile systems are mobile and launchers mounted on trucks, he said. From RAF Fairford or Diego Garcia, US aircraft face flight times of seven to nine hours to reach Iranian airspace, necessitating patrol-based missions.

Once airborne, pilots may have only minutes to act. The idea that a US crew would pause mid-mission to seek fresh British legal approval is unrealistic, he said.

London must rely on Washington’s assurance that only agreed categories of “defensive” targets will be struck. If an opportunity arose to eliminate a senior Iranian commander in the same operational zone, the temptation could be strong. Yet such a strike might fall outside Britain’s stated defensive mandate. The aircraft would have departed from British soil, and any escalation could implicate the UK, Ripley said.

Bell highlighted another weakness: Britain has no domestic ballistic missile defence system.

If a ballistic missile were fired at London, he said, “We would not be able to shoot it down.”

Intercepting such weapons after launch is notoriously difficult, reinforcing the argument that the only reliable defence is to strike before launch.

The UK, therefore, occupies a grey zone: legally cautious, operationally exposed and strategically dependent on US decisions, it does not fully control.

Beyond the legal and military dilemmas, Starmer must also contend with a sceptical public.

A YouGov poll conducted on February 20 found that 58 percent of Britons oppose allowing the US to launch air strikes on Iran from UK bases, including 38 percent who strongly oppose.

Just 21 percent support such a move, underscoring limited domestic backing for deeper involvement.

The popular theme park has released details of its much-anticipated new Viking-theme land, which will include thrill rides, a restaurant, and a playground, and the official opening date has been revealed

Paultons Park theme park has shared a sneak peek of its new Valgard: Realm of the Vikings land, a £12 million project that’s due to open later this spring.

The Hampshire-based park is perhaps best known as the home of Peppa Pig World, which opened in 2011 and has attracted thousands of young children and their families. (In fact, it’s even been tipped to be the UK’s best theme park in recent rankings, beating out the likes of Thorpe Park and Alton Towers). However, this new land is aimed more at teenagers and adults, cementing the park’s reputation as a destination for thrill rides.

Valgard: Realm of the Vikings is set to open on Saturday, May 16,and one of its most-anticipated rides is Drakon, the park’s first inverting rollercoaster. It will feature a vertical lift hill and two twists where riders will be flung upside-down. An interior shot shows the vehicles used in the ride, and the image features dry ice and dim lighting, teasing an atmospheric ride.

Another new ride will be the Vild Swing, where riders will be thrown 12 metres into the air and spun around. A teaser video showed construction of the new ride, as well as on-ride footage showing the thrilling experience that visitors can enjoy.

Frequent visitors to the park may also notice a former ride has been revamped for the new Viking world. Cobra is being reborn as Raven, a bobsled adventure that’ll be redesigned to fit the viking theme.

Younger visitors can enjoy a Viking-themed playground, and the experience is complete with a new themed Feasting Hall restaurant where you can dine like a Viking.

Lawrence Mancey, marketing and technology director at Paultons Park, said: “Despite weeks of rain and difficult conditions, our team and contractors have made incredible progress on site. We designed Valgard to offer an immersive, atmospheric, and action-packed experience for families, and it’s amazing to see the vision come together.

“In the last few weeks new pathways have gone in, landscaping has begun, and our Viking statues have been installed. Drakon and Vild Swing have begun testing and the Feasting Hall restaurant is looking incredible. We are so excited to open the gates in May and see Valgard conquered by our guests. It’s great to be able to share the construction journey and anticipation with our fans online too.”

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In addition to the new Valgard land, Paultons already boasts six themed worlds. Other lands include Tornado Springs, themed around Midwestern America, which has the Cyclonator and free-spinning Storm Chaser rollercoaster. The park also has a dinosaur-themed world, Lost Kingdom, which is much-loved by all ages.

Paultons Park tickets can be booked online with prices starting at £46.75 per person. However, if you book a short break through the theme park’s official website, you get a second day free, and can stay at a number of nearby hotels for a family break.

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