Caracas, October 27, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Trump administration has announced plans to back electoral reforms in Venezuela and push for presidential elections.

In a press briefing with international journalists on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Venezuela’s electoral infrastructure “designed to rig elections” and argued it must be replaced quickly to ensure a valid vote.

Rubio, who has been the Trump administration’s chief architect of US policy toward Venezuela, said talks between Acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s government and opposition sectors led by Dinorah Figuera were moving toward the appointment of a new Supreme Court (TSJ) before the end of the year, followed shortly afterward by the renewal of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

“Obviously, we need to use our influence with the interim [Venezuelan] authorities, to ensure that the process moves forward responsibly (…) Our goal is to have an election,” Rubio said. He welcomed what he described as “serious progress in that direction” and warned that “if anyone tries to derail the process, they will seriously harm Venezuela.”

In a separate press briefing, a senior State Department official added that, once both institutions have been reconstituted, the Venezuelan presidency will be declared permanently vacant, triggering a six-month constitutional deadline for presidential elections to be held “under competitive conditions.”

The anonymous official stressed that the process would also require political guarantees and regulations on access to the press. The official also defended the inclusion of pro-government sectors in a “transition,” arguing that peaceful democratic processes often require cooperation from outgoing factions, citing Spain and Portugal as precedents.

Asked about a specific election date, Rubio said the Rodríguez administration had complied with US timetables so far. 

“Are we going to wait two years [for an election]? That’s not going to happen. At best, I have two years and two months left in this position,” he added.

His remarks coincide with statements by Dinorah Figuera, who heads the opposition delegation in talks with government representatives and forecast presidential elections to take place in late 2027 or early 2028.

Meanwhile, the third round of political dialogue in Venezuela agreed to review four laws governing political participation, pluralism, and the autonomy of political organizations, including the Law on Political Parties, Public Meetings, and Demonstrations. The discussions also addressed disqualifications from holding public office and the review of legal frameworks related to political rights.

In parallel, Venezuela’s National Assembly formally launched the process to renew the 32 justices of the Supreme Court (TSJ). Applications from legal professionals seeking to join the court will be accepted from Wednesday, October 28, through Wednesday, November 11. The fourth round of dialogue is scheduled for November 11–15.

Rodríguez and other Venezuelan high-ranking officials have not commented on the State Department announcements.

The White House’s claims relating to Venezuelan reforms and elections coincided with the return of opposition leader María Corina Machado to the country on Sunday. The far-right politician had spent more than a year abroad and her supporters have called for her inclusion in the ongoing negotiations.

Asked about Machado’s return, Rubio said he had told the Rodríguez government “weeks ago” that Machado should be able to come back without obstacles. The secretary of state denied that Washington had obstructed Machado’s return, stating only that she was advised against traveling immediately after the June 24 double earthquake.

Rodríguez, for her part, said the opposition politician could have avoided the “show” of appearing at a church in Lara state before traveling 400 kilometers to Caracas at the head of a motorcade, amid chants of “freedom” and calls for immediate presidential elections.

“The airports are there. Let’s move away from the show (…) Many people who have benefited from the amnesty law and this process, which seeks peaceful coexistence, have been able to enter through the airport’s new transitional structures,” Rodríguez said.

The acting president declined to clarify which route Machado had taken to reenter Venezuela. Machado left the country in December 2024 for Oslo, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize before gifting it to Trump. She and her party maintain that the government prevented her from returning on seven previous occasions, a claim the authorities deny.

Asked whether the justice system would take action against Machado, Rodríguez replied that she hoped there would be “repentance and a change of course” from the opposition figure and that the opposition leader would be able to “contribute something to the country.” In recent years, Machado endorsed economic sanctions and a foreign military attack against Venezuela.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

TO some, Tiffany Pollard is the ultimate reality queen, gracing Celebrity Big Brother and many other shows with her own explosive brand of drama.

But it is less well-known that she is now a recording artist as well, thanks to a cheeky sample on Zara Larsson‘s track Hot & Sexy.

Tiff — who dubs herself the Head Bitch In Charge, or HBIC — speaks the refrain “beautiful, fly, hot and sexy” on the pop princess’s empowering song.

Speaking for the first time about the collab, Tiffany said: “Zara is multi- talented, and for her to come for the HBIC to honour a track blows my mind.

“I was in that studio. It was like I was Beethoven because I wanted to get it right and iconic just for her.

“I was dedicated to the piece and a lot of people dance to it, so we’re happy.”

Read more on Tiffany Pollard

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Late & Live chaos as CBB legend Tiffany Pollard brands Daley Thompson ‘rotten’

The track from Zara’s multi-platinum album Midnight Sun was even played during last week’s Victoria’s Secret catwalk.

But we’re not going to see Tiff on tour with Zara any time soon.

She revealed: “I don’t want to crush dreams or anything like that, but our girl is going to handle it. I’m not gonna be on tour — I got bad knees, honey.”

Tiffany’s back on the reality beat as she begins a stint on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother — a decade on from her career-defining appearance.

Fans will remember her spats with Gemma Collins and the “David’s dead” misunderstanding when housemate Angie Bowie was told her ex-husband had died, but Tiffany thought it was David Gest who had passed away — until others found him asleep in bed.

Today Tiffany heads into a divided house, with the self-proclaimed “hierarchy” of Rochelle Rackham and Philip Regan facing accusations of bullying — but she is ready to take them on.

The outspoken American said: “It’s Halloween week and I’m gonna put the whore in horror.

“I’m gonna listen to people, I’m gonna have an authentic experience but I don’t want to be on my best behaviour.

“It’s called the hierarchy? The king and the queen of the house? Oh, please. It’s time for me to knock down the bricks.

“I only go around this life one good time and I want to make sure I’m living it authentically.

“I don’t want to quiet a voice of something that should have been said.

“I have a lot of people who are betting on me to be real and to just say what it is.”

Tiffany will also make time while staying in the UK for some of her favourite British pastimes — including watching Towie, Hollyoaks and tucking into our good old fish and chips.

Just hours before heading on to Big Brother, she said: “Bring all that vinegar. People are so nice here.”

We’ll see if she feels the same following her stint in the spy-on-the-wall house.

• Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

GSK plc (GSK) reported third-quarter core earnings per share above analyst expectations on Wednesday, as growth in specialty medicines helped offset weakness in vaccines.

The drugmaker reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook, while investors continued to assess the growth potential of newer

Dundee United are emerging as one of the stories of the season as Jim Goodwin’s side continue to thrive following a radical change in style from their manager.

As a coach, and certainly as a player, expansive, continental-inspired football was never really something associated with Goodwin, a Scottish football veteran who has been part of the furniture for more than 16 years.

But the former Aberdeen and St Mirren boss has said he has taken inspiration from Jens Berthel Askou’s work at Motherwell last season to reshape himself, and his side are lighting up the league after overcoming a difficult start.

An exhilarating 3-2 victory over Aberdeen in chaotic weather at Tannadice extended United’s unbeaten run to five matches, moving them up to fourth.

Now they face the Premiership’s acid test: a trip to Celtic Park.

Goodwin has got the better of the champions in two of his past three encounters with them, but both of those victories came at Tannadice last season.

Staggeringly, Celtic are unbeaten in 51 home games against United in all competitions since a 1-0 league defeat in December 1992.

Goodwin will be wary of the way Martin O’Neill’s men dismantled a bold Hearts side at Parkhead last time out, but the reinvented Irishman is urging his players to embrace a trip to the venue where his life in the Scottish game began.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi surprised observers when he recently announced his intention to leave office after his third presidential term ends in April 2030.

El-Sisi had been widely suspected of moving to amend the Egyptian constitution to allow him to serve another term, or possibly indefinitely.

But speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Egyptian Military Academy, el-Sisi insisted that his departure was a settled matter and that “no one would tamper with” the constitution.

So what is behind the decision? There has been much speculation that el-Sisi may use this declaration to rally popular support for a fourth term or preempt a move by the military against him. But there is also the possibility that he is setting up the next phase of military rule in Egypt.

It is important to point out first that voluntarily leaving power is a risky proposition for any authoritarian leader.

In el-Sisi’s case, his 2030 departure would leave open the possibility that a future Egyptian government could seek to use him as a scapegoat for the country’s problems, possibly even holding him to account for alleged crimes committed during his presidency.

El-Sisi led a coup in 2013 against Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, which was accompanied by massacres and the jailing of tens of thousands of politicians, activists, and journalists.

El-Sisi’s economic record has also been the subject of criticism, with detractors accusing him and his government of corruption, poor fiscal policy and lavish spending on vanity projects. Egypt’s debt stands at 81 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), with interest payments alone exceeding combined spending on healthcare, education, wages and subsidies. Meanwhile, the Egyptian pound has lost more than 80 percent of its value against the US dollar since 2014, while cumulative inflation exceeds 460 percent.

In this context, el-Sisi’s announcement that he plans to step down in 2030 was rather unexpected. Some have speculated that he has no intention of actually leaving office and could go back on his statement, as he has done before.

In 2013, following Morsi’s overthrow, el-Sisi denied that he would run for president.

After telling the media in 2017 that he was committed to “preserving [the constitution’s] two four-year terms and not changing it”, he helped lead the drive to amend the constitution in 2019.

A judicial source told Mada Masr last week that el-Sisi’s announcement left open the door for a “popular call” for the president to remain in office.

A second possibility is that with this move, el-Sisi may be attempting to preempt a possible military intervention, which could become more likely if the economy continues to falter.

In 2011, the military responded to popular protests against former President Hosni Mubarak by forcing him to step down.

The army could attempt to defuse public anger by presenting el-Sisi as a scapegoat, forcibly removing him from power, and replacing him with someone who can preserve a measure of stability as well as secure its vast economic interests.

In that context, a member of parliament said recently that he has heard el-Sisi say in private meetings that he would rather step down than wait for the military to force him out.

But a third and much more likely possibility deserves particular attention: el-Sisi may be preparing to leave the presidency while ensuring that Egypt’s military-dominated political system survives his departure.

It is perhaps not coincidental that during the announcement, he cited Article 200 of the constitution, which gives the armed forces an extraordinary role in Egyptian politics.

The article, amended in 2019, makes the military responsible for maintaining the country’s “democracy” and the “gains, rights and freedoms” of the Egyptian people.

According to el-Sisi, the aim of the article is “to protect the Egyptian state from any attempt to infiltrate it or allow people to take it over who cannot handle the responsibility of this country or who do not even understand the meaning of ‘state’”.

Article 200, combined with Article 234 — which requires that a president secure approval from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces before appointing a defence minister — gives the military significant control over Egyptian political life.

El-Sisi’s vision for the selection of Egypt’s next president gives the military an outsized role. His proposal includes setting up a committee of experts to draft legislation for selecting hundreds of highly educated Egyptians to undergo specialised training at the Egyptian Military Academy.

Applicants, el-Sisi proposes, should hold doctoral degrees, be between 40 and 50 years of age, and be prepared to spend 30 months at the academy learning about the Egyptian state.

The programme would also train future ministers, governors and members of parliament.

Combined with Articles 200 and 234, this proposed mechanism seems intended to preserve the military’s dominance long after el-Sisi leaves office. It could be favourable to him as well.

A genuinely independent, civilian president could seek to investigate massacres overseen by el-Sisi, allegations of corruption, or other alleged crimes. A transition process closely managed by the military is highly unlikely to yield such a result.

The open question now is how an increasingly frustrated and critical Egyptian public will respond to a political process managed by the military that effectively wipes out the need for a popular mandate.

For now, el-Sisi and the military appear determined to shape Egypt’s political future. But the people may have the last word.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

One minute I’m cycling through an expansive dusty pink stretch of heathland with sloping sand dunes in the distant horizon, the next I’m winding through a fragrant Scots pine forest as sunlight filters through the branches of red-barked trees to make a kaleidoscope of white shapes on the trail floor ahead.

I’m in Hoge Veluwe National Park, a 5,400 hectare (13,000 acre) nature reserve in Gelderland, about an hour and a half from Amsterdam. It’s crisscrossed by 25 miles (40km) of cycling paths, and around 2,000 free-to-use white bikes are available for visitors to explore the ever-changing scenery.

I’ve been flitting back and forth to the Netherlands for years and have lost count of the times friends there have raved about the park and the wider Veluwe region, a forest-rich ridge of hills and diverse landscapes, stretching 37 miles, north to south. Finally I’ve come to see for myself and explore on foot and on two wheels over a few days – adding in a dash of culture at some of its historic towns and museums too.

My trip starts at Natuurcentrum De Ginkel, a charming nature and visitor centre near Ede outside Arnhem. Here I meet nature guide Hanna Pol who takes me into the forest. “Veluwe is very biodiverse,” says Pol quietly as we walk past verdant oak, pine and birch. Trees with autumnal tawny-coloured leaves line one side of the path and wildflowers, with pops of bright yellow sunflowers and vivid red poppies, the other. Pol reels off some of the wildlife here: roe deer, five types of woodpecker, beavers, wild boar and wolves. As we crunch through a carpet of fallen leaves, we spy a small brown frog on a log, a woodpecker dancing around a tree, and the outline of two rust-red deers in the distance.

We make our way to the wildlife observation area, an enclosed building with curved windows and a theatre-style set of wooden chairs. “The deer pass this way every night to eat,” says Pol. “Once we saw a really big fight break out.” She’s seen wolves too – they returned to the country in 2015 after about 150 years and it’s a controversial topic, with farmers worried about their livestock. We don’t see the elusive creatures, just a solitary bright white buzzard perching on a tree. On the shelves behind us, an assortment of skeletal remains includes antlers, skulls, the teeth of a wild boar and the foot of a deer.

That night I stay in a stylish and sleek cabin with floor-to-ceiling views of the forest at Buitenplaats Petersburg on the edge of the park. It’s a peaceful haven of lodges with fairy lights strung around the woods and an enchanting Italian restaurant, Il Lupo, with an outdoor terrace.

Besides its unspoilt natural wonders, Veluwe has plenty of other attractions. I visit Paleis Het Loo, a 17th-century royal palace in Apeldoorn, once the summer residence and hunting lodge of William of Orange III and his wife Princess Mary II Stuart. It’s an impressive building with ornate rooms, a staircase with the second biggest mural in the Netherlands, formal symmetrical gardens and an underground museum which tells the story of the Dutch royal family.

Hotel de Echoput, a family-run modern hotel nearby, surrounded by the forest, is my home for the night. Its Grand Bistro Echo is a treat, with a menu that focuses on local ingredients – I enjoy fried mushrooms with a creamy Dordogne sauce and a vegan cheesecake with basil and white chocolate.

The next morning, after a brisk walk in the woods with barely a soul around, I visit the historic Hanseactic city of Harderwijk, on the shores of Wolderwijd lake. I wander the narrow cobblestone streets, medieval city walls and Old Town Hall with guide Marianne van Limbeek. “Harderwijk means hiding place for shepherds,” she tells me. We bump into Hendrik Kaper, a local street organist wearing a flat cap who treats us to a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody on his portable wooden organ.

But it’s in Hoge Veluwe national park that I find the greatest sense of serenity – though one day a small adder with a dark zigzag stripe stops me in my tracks. Come outside peak times, as I have, and you might have some of the trails to yourself.

Within the park lies Kröller-Müller Museum, a revered national art museum and sculpture garden founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller, who along with her husband, shipping magnate Anton Kröller, bought vast amounts of land in Veluwe (their private estate was later donated to the state). My timing is great as all 88 of its Vincent van Gogh paintings are on show together for the first time since 1984 (until 3 January).

The sculpture park is one of the largest in Europe, and I stroll around the surrounding open grass and into the forest and stumble across various artworks (there are about 200 pieces dotted around). A short cycle away is Jachthuis Sint Hubertus, the former country residence of the Kröller-Müller family with a watchtower more than 30m tall (apparently Helene loved afternoon tea at such lofty heights) surrounded by a lake with a very athletic bunch of jumping carp.

I stop at Restaurant De Hoge Veluwe at Park Paviljoen for an early pasta dinner on the terrace before the sky turns a moody grey and rain looks imminent. Fortunately it’s only a 15-minute cycle to Otterlo, a pretty village with clusters of fairy lights and bunting decorating red brick houses and Vakantieoord Het Lorkenbos, a charming holiday park surrounded by trees. My bungalow is cute and, feeling as if I’m in a twinkling winter wonderland, I light a candle and look up the Dutch word for cosy. It’s gezellig – a perfect description of how I feel after my nourishing break in this wild and restorative part of the Netherlands.

The trip was arranged by Visit Veluwe. Entrance to Hoge Veluwe national park €13.85 per adult. Cabins at Buitenplaats Petersburg from €110. Camping at Het Lorkenbos from €23 a night, bungalows from €320 for two nights. Double rooms at De Echoput from €169. Omio provided train travel: Eurostar runs from London to Amsterdam

Ukraine’s 475th Separate Assault Regiment, known as CODE 9.2, says it has used the StarGate uncrewed aerial platform to evacuate two seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield in the span of a week. Reportedly, this is the first time the specialized drone has been used for an operation of this kind. It is not, however, the first instance of Ukraine using an aerial rescue drone on the battlefield, with the more extemporized heavy hexacopter also having been used recently, as you can read about here.

Taken together, the missions underscore Ukraine’s efforts to develop alternative casualty evacuation capabilities as Russian drone threats, electronic warfare, and harsh terrain increasingly complicate conventional recovery operations, including those using uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs).

МИ ЕВАКУЮВАЛИ ДВОХ ПОРАНЕНИХ ДРОНОМ STARGATE

According to CODE 9.2, on its Facebook page, the regiment’s personnel carried out two complex evacuation missions using StarGate, a platform developed and manufactured by Ukrainian company SkyFall. The two wounded servicemen were 25-year-old Yevhen, callsign “Izyum,” and 24-year-old Artem, callsign “Kolobok.” Both belonged to adjacent units and had suffered severe limb injuries while occupying positions in a so-called gray zone approximately three miles from the Russian border.

Difficult terrain, including water obstacles, and the threat posed by Russian first-person-view (FPV) drones prevented ground vehicles from reaching the casualties, the regiment said. Air evacuation was the only available option.

The missions were planned and executed by CODE 9.2 personnel with support from SkyFall. They required coordination among multiple units, additional forces and equipment, and dedicated fire support — much like a more traditional casualty evacuation effort involving crewed helicopters. Vampire heavy strike drones were employed to suppress enemy positions during the operations.

“The injury tore off half of my foot, so a lot of blood was lost already,” Izyum said in a video interview from his hospital room. “I think if that incredible little bird hadn’t flown in, well, getting out from there would have been unrealistic.”

During one of the missions, StarGate reportedly flew nearly 20 miles to reach the casualty before covering approximately the same distance on the return leg with the wounded serviceman aboard. CODE 9.2 said Russian electronic warfare systems were actively attempting to suppress satellite navigation signals in the area.

Despite the reported interference, the platform completed the mission using its onboard artificial intelligence-based navigation system, according to the regiment. The statement did not specify the navigation technologies involved.

StarGate was designed specifically for casualty evacuation, or CASEVAC, when conventional ground transportation cannot reach wounded personnel or would expose them to unacceptable risks. Its stated specifications include a payload capacity of up to 330 pounds and a maximum speed of approximately 65 miles per hour. The evacuation module is based on a covered, medical-grade stretcher.

Oleksandr Nastenko, commander of CODE 9.2, callsign “Flint,” said the regiment intends to use the experience gained from the two missions to train crews and make aerial evacuation a more established capability. The regiment also plans to set up a dedicated aerial medical evacuation unit within its medical company.

The StarGate missions follow a separate reported operation involving the 92nd Assault Brigade, which says its personnel helped evacuate a wounded soldier using a heavy-lift hexacopter drone, produced by Gurzuf Defense, with the casualty suspended beneath it, as seen in the video below:

ТАКОГО ЩЕ НІХТО НЕ РОБИВ! В УКРАЇНІ ПРОВЕЛИ ПЕРШУ В СВІТІ ПОВІТРЯНУ ЕВАКУАЦІЮ ЛЮДИНИ З ЛІНІЇ ФРОНТУ

This drone was reportedly an Audag-6 model, which is said to be capable of carrying a 200-pound payload over a distance of up to 15 miles.

In that incident, the soldier had been wounded while holding his position. Once again, aerial extraction was judged the only suitable option; in this case, due to the presence of mines and intense Russian drone activity.

This was a more improvised approach, which the brigade described as the world’s first frontline aerial drone evacuation of a wounded soldier. Compared to Stargate, the Gurzuf drone brings some drawbacks with it, including casualty stability, exposure to the elements, the risk of swinging during flight, and the difficulty of safely lifting and lowering a severely injured person. It subsequently emerged that the soldier involved, Kostiantyn Vlasenko, had been forced to amputate his own foot as part of a 491-day ordeal on a frontline position.

This was not the first time that Ukrainian forces have adapted existing drone technology to effect battlefield evacuations.

TWZ also previously reported on a Ukrainian soldier who managed to escape from the Russians that surrounded him after an electric bike was dropped to him by a large aerial drone.

Врятований завдяки дрону. Як ми витягли пораненого побратима з оточення

As a purpose-built platform, StarGate offers a more standardized way to secure and transport casualties, and to transport them protected from the elements, in a secure, prone position. However, StarGate still faces the challenges of flying in contested airspace and navigating under electronic warfare conditions. Once again, depending on the degree of injuries, the casualty may need assistance being put on the stretcher and, regardless of the degree of medical care that can be provided, StarGate is only an option if already available in proximity to the victim.

The fact that the StarGate missions also needed strike drones for fire support underscores that casualty recovery, whatever the platform being used, typically requires coordination across multiple combat elements.

Despite the limitations, CODE 9.2’s plan to create a dedicated medical aviation element indicates it wants to move beyond one-off missions toward a repeatable capability.

As with other emerging technologies from the war in Ukraine, this is likely to be studied by other armed forces, too. The U.S. military, for example, has long looked at the potential of uncrewed aerial systems to effect casualty evacuation missions, as you can read about here.

Meanwhile, the challenges of that conflict mean that Ukrainian troops continue to explore different ways to recover wounded troops from positions that more conventional evacuation methods can no longer safely reach.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

HOLLYWOOD superstar George Clooney revealed last week his plans to open a new restaurant in the tiny Provencal town of Cotignac.

The French fishing village, which is home to just 2,000 people, has seen an extraordinary influx of Hollywood celebrities in recent years.

Yet this latest development is the first likely to draw hordes of selfie-stick-wielding tourists to the quaint medieval town.

And residents are split over the move, with many fearing the commune is being transformed into a new A-list enclave to rival St Tropez.

While some welcome the creation of jobs in the area, others feel the town risks being overwhelmed by celebrity residents such as George, 65, and his wife Amal, 48.

Writing on a local Cotignac Facebook page, local resident Veronique Luisetti wrote that the town is being “taken over.”

The Canadian entrepreneur backing George’s restaurant, Graham Porter, also owns the Lou Calen hotel, which includes the Michelin-starred Le Jardin Secret restaurant, and the La Falaise art centre.

Another, Viviane Palumbo, added: “We don’t have any money left!”

Meanwhile a comedy mock-up cartoon showing the Ocean’s Eleven actor serving a platter at his new venue is being shared among neighbours.

Titled Cotignac: Hollywood Passe en Cuisine – or Hollywood hits the kitchen – it sees a caricature of George serving up a platter of pasta in an apron.

Jeany Cronk, who runs vineyard Maison Mirabeau, welcomes the jobs the venue will create for locals and said it will bring in much-needed cash.

But she said the residents hope they won’t be overrun by visitors desperate to ogle the actor, saying: “We are not St Tropez.”

Jeany, 53, told The Sun: “You can’t really escape the fact that people will want to come here to see George when his restaurant opens.

“It will impact people wanting to come and eat there.

“And he’s been a celebrity for a very long time, he understands that, you know.

“We’re expecting it to be over the top at first, but we’re hoping it settles down.

“Some people are negative about it, because not everyone likes change, but others are positive about the jobs it will create.

“We are just hoping that everyone will be respectful, and keep the spirit of our community alive.

“We are a former fishing village, we are not St Tropez.

“We don’t have a big Chanel villa or crowds of visitors.”

Jeany, author of the book At Home in Provence, has had plenty of chances to meet the celebrities who have moved into the area – from George and his wife Amal to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who bought the Chateau Miraval vineyard just minutes away from Cotignac in 2008.

The vineyard was later at the centre of a toxic legal battle between the couple, after actress Angelina sold her share in 2021.

Also within a 30 minute radius is John Lucas’s Skywalker Vineyard, while John Malkovich owns a private wine-making estate named Les Quelles de La Coste.

And Ridley Scott produces wine at his Mas des Infermieres vineyard in the heart of the Luberon National Park in Provence.

Jeany continued: “Cotignac has always been quite a famous place.

“I mean, it’s one of the most beautiful villages in France.

“And it is, you know, it has a long history with, you know, celebrities.

“Eric Idle’s lived there for many years.

“And hugely famous people, like David Bowie and Pink Floyd recorded albums in the Studio Miraval.

“George and Amal have obviously built a strong connection to our village.

“I think what’s very nice for him – and I really hope that this remains, now that the restaurant is so public – is that he’s been very free to move around and be amongst people who live in the village.

“He feels happy and safe here.

“I think the celebrities always love that people just go about their business while they’re there and don’t make a big fuss.”

But what of the rivalry among neighbouring vineyards?

She continued: “It’s generally very friendly.

“We all share a common goal – to bring our beautiful rose wines to the world.

“And these big names do lend a hand in raising our profile.

“We are doing very well at the moment, especially in the UK, and we have a great global partnership with Soho House.

“So it isn’t nasty in any way.

“However,” she added, “Of course, business is business.”

George’s latest venture comes as he recently became a French citizen after buying an estate in nearby Brignoles.

And he reportedly wants his restaurant ready to open next year, according to the local mayor.

Jean-Pierre Véran told the newspaper Nice-Matin: “He wants to create a well-designed restaurant, with a terrace and the option to reserve the dining room for private events when he hosts celebrities.”

He continued: “We discussed their restaurant, and I told them I wasn’t opposed to this project, which can benefit everyone.”

However, both the actor and his wife are likely to stay far away from the kitchen – after joking that they are not the world’s greatest cooks.

“I’ll tell you what,” Clooney said three years ago.

“My wife, who is a brilliant lawyer, she’s one of the advocates of the world.

“She takes on Isis.

“But I better be doing the cooking or we will all die.”

Foreign ministers form security committee to share intelligence and follow up on impact of Jordan’s strikes on Syria.

Syria is reopening its border crossing with Jordan, and the two countries will investigate Jordanian strikes on suspected ISIL (ISIS) sites that killed seven in southern Syria.

Nassib, Jordan’s only border crossing with Syria, will reopen on Wednesday morning, with regular passenger and commercial traffic resuming, the state news agency SANA reported.

The crossing was briefly closed following the Jordanian airstrikes, which targeted ISIL “hideouts” in southern Syria on Monday in response to a Greek Orthodox church shooting by gunmen in Jordan’s Karak on Friday, the Jordanian military said in a statement. ISIL took responsibility for the attack.

Jordan’s strikes on Syria killed at least seven people in Deraa and Suwayda, including five members of the same family, three of whom were children. Syria’s Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said its teams had responded to attacks at four sites.

The two countries also agreed to form a security committee to examine the aftermath of the strikes, foreign ministers said in a statement following a phone call between the two countries’ top diplomats.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Monday’s air attacks were based on field intelligence and aimed at “neutralising confirmed threats and imminent terrorist operations targeting Jordan’s security”.

Safadi expressed “deep regret” over civilian deaths in his call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and stressed Jordan’s respect for Syria’s sovereignty and stability.

Jordan had claimed that the strikes were coordinated with the Syrian government, which Damascus denied.

In addition to investigating the attacks, the security committee will develop “field and intelligence coordination in dealing with terrorist threats” to ensure the protection of innocent civilians.

The church shooting claimed the lives of at least nine people and wounded 34 others. Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law on suspicion of carrying out the attack.

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed that an image that has been circulating online for years does indeed show an experimental Chinese reusable spaceplane in orbit. A newly released higher-resolution copy of the image underscores that the design is nearly a dead ringer for the X-37B miniature space shuttles now operated by the U.S. Space Force.

DIA included the higher-resolution image of the Chinese spaceplane in a new unclassified report on global security challenges outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, which was released yesterday. A satellite belonging to Maxar Technologies (now Vantor) captured the image, but when exactly remains unclear. It does have a 2024 copyright date.

The image shows a miniature space shuttle-like design with small wings and twin vertical tails. It also has upward-opening doors above a central payload bay. There is also an extension at the tail end with solar panels seen deployed on either side. There are what look to be side-by-side ventral bays, which are likely for the main gear in a tricycle landing gear configuration. Overall, the core design is extremely similar to that of the U.S. X-37B, which also features tricycle landing gear and can also be fitted with an extended payload module at the tail. One major difference is that the wings on the Chinese design have a much longer chord compared to the X-37B.

“A key capability for reusable space activities are spaceplanes like this PRC [People’s Republic of China] Spaceplane captured by Maxar. Spaceplanes can launch into orbit to place objects in space or even test them and return to earth [sic],” reads the caption to the picture in DIA’s report.

As noted, the basic fact of the existence of this image is not new. U.S. Space Force Col. John Patrick, then head of U.S. Space Forces-Korea (SPACEFOR-KOR), included a much lower-resolution version in a presentation at the Open Space Forum in South Korea in 2024. It was also not immediately clear at that time whether or not the picture simply showed an X-37B. TWZ had reached out at the time to the U.S. Space Force and Maxar for more information, and both had declined to comment. Two X-37Bs were built, and they have been sent on eight orbital missions, in total, since 2010. The Orbital Test Vehicle 8 (OTV-8) mission was launched on August 22, 2025.

China is understood to have conducted four separate orbital spaceplane missions using the same experimental vehicle since 2020. Three of those missions had concluded before Col. Patrick gave his presentation. The most recent launch occurred on February 7 of this year, and the vehicle has not yet returned, at least as far as we are aware.

On the third mission, which lasted from December 14, 2023, to September 6, 2024, the Chinese spaceplane was observed releasing multiple smaller objects into orbit. What those payloads may have been remains unknown, but they could have been released from the main payload bay, which is seen open in the on-orbit image. The bay could have opened without any subsequent release of objects on either of the two prior missions, as well.

As an aside, the spaceplane appears to have released at least one more object earlier this year in the course of its latest mission.

A secretive airbase in the northwest end of China, sporting one of the longest runways in the world at 16,400 feet, looks to be where the spaceplane has landed after missions. The facility, which has been expanded massively in recent years, is now loosely akin to America’s top-secret proving ground at Area 51, and has been the site of other advanced aviation test efforts.

DIA’s report also says that “China has two primary spaceplane models: the Shenlong and Tengyun,” but does not specify which one is seen in the image. The name Shenlong has been commonly used to refer to the spaceplane China has been experimenting with to date. Images said to show a prototype or test article of this design slung underneath an H-6 bomber for testing purposes had emerged in 2007.

The state-run China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) unveiled the Tengyun design in 2016 as part of a so-called two-stage-to-orbit system that uses a mothership aircraft flying within the atmosphere as part of the launch method rather than a traditional space launch rocket. As of 2020, CASIC was aiming for a live test of Tengyun in 2025, but it is not immediately clear whether or not that occurred.

There have been other spaceplane developments in China in recent years. This includes designs from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) subsidiary Chengdu. The design from Chengdu is called Haolong and has been in development officially as an option for resupplying the country’s Tiangong space station.

In general, “spaceplanes are … reusable and feature enhanced maneuverability, making them more suitable for certain missions than traditional satellites,” DIA’s report notes.

TWZ has highlighted in the past how reusable space shuttle-like vehicles offer ideal platforms for rapidly deploying small satellites and any other payloads into orbit. In this way, they can be critical assets for space-based experimentation, as well as operational activities. This could include intelligence gathering, and even on-orbit attacks, areas of clear interest to the Chinese government.

As we often mention in the context of the X-37B, spaceplanes also have distinct advantages when it comes to rendezvousing with and maneuvering very close to other objects in space. They can execute course changes and other maneuvers in ways that traditional satellites cannot. All of this only underscores their potential as weapon systems, as well as for gathering intelligence. The fact that a Maxar (now Vantor) satellite took an on-orbit picture – a service the company is known to offer – of a Chinese spaceplane further highlights the kind of cat-and-mouse games that are increasingly emerging in space. The general risks posed by these kinds of activities were recently thrust into the public eye by the unprecedentedly close shadowing of a commercial radar imaging satellite tied to Ukraine by another satellite belonging to Russia.

China has been making massive investments, in general, in new space-based intelligence and other capabilities in recent years. Chinese space developments have now also extended into reusable space launch rocket boosters. Space launch company LandSpace became the first in China to achieve a successful recovery of a reusable space launch rocket booster on land in August. That followed CASC’s successful recovery of a reusable space launch rocket booster at sea using a specially configured ship the month before.

ZhuQue-3 first landing

In general, “access to space traditionally requires expendable spacecraft: single-use launch vehicles, satellites, and one-time use capsules designed to maximize performance. Reliance on expendable vehicles has made access to space expensive and exclusive,” DIA’s report explains. “Reusable technologies, while even more difficult and expensive to develop and build, stand to greatly reduce the cost of spaceflight by recovering, refurbishing, and reusing rocket stages, fairings, and capsules.”

Chinese spaceplanes, one of which we have not definitively gotten a view of in orbit, look set to become an increasingly important part of this growing ecosystem.

Update: 6:32 PM ET –

Vantor has now provided an additional copy of the image of the Chinese spaceplane, elements of which look to be redacted, and some additional details. The company has confirmed it was taken on May 28, 2024, by the WorldView-3 satellite at a range of just under 56 miles (90 kilometers).

“There is a separate satellite docked to the aft section of the vehicle whose structure and solar arrays are visible,” Vantor also told us. “The spacecraft’s payload bay doors are visibly open.”

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

KIM Kardashian has baffled fans with a mysterious indentation on her back in new photos from her trip to Rome.

The Skims mogul, who just turned 46 this month, debuted what followers called a “backgina” in a polka-dot strapless dress worn at her All’s Fair photoshoot in Italy on October 26.

In her Instagram carousel on Monday, Kim showed off her daring cut-out gown by designer Galia Lahav and styled by Zendaya’s BFF Law Roach.

In one shot where Kim faced away from the camera, fans spotted a strange, deep dent in her back.

One follower cheekily called the mark a “backgina,” seemingly in response to her infamous “pitgina” in 2025.

“What am I looking at?!” one Reddit follower marveled.

“I’m so confused,” another chimed in.

But Kim’s friends, family and Instagram followers largely loved her unusual look.

“The queen diva has arrived!” Kim’s sister Khloe marveled.

“Really love this,” gushed friend Lala Anthony.

Last summer, Kim shocked fans with what they called a “pitgina” in a very tiny bandeau top.

As she waved to onlookers in Venice, a deep indentation in her armpit could be seen.

“Why does it look like a belly button?” one follower asked on a Reddit thread.

“What is that? I’m terrified!” said a second.

New York-based plastic surgeon Dr. Norman M. Rowe, M.D. told The U.S. Sun that the dent could be an “axillary hollowing.”

“An axillary hollowing is essentially a divot or indentation in the armpit area that can result from certain cosmetic procedures,” Dr. Rowe said.

“The most common causes include liposuction to the upper arm or armpit, an arm lift or brachioplasty, or breast augmentation when the implant is placed through the transaxillary route—that is, through an incision in the armpit.

“In these procedures, tissue is removed or repositioned in a way that can leave behind visible contour changes, especially in someone lean like Kim Kardashian.”

Kim has not commented on the “pitgina” or “backgina” talk, or accusations she underwent liposuction procedures.

The surprising loss to Fleetwood, a team 84 places below Arsenal in the football pyramid, was made even worse by the fact that the Gunners’ under-21 team had beaten AFC Wimbledon, a side in a division higher than the hosts, on the same night in the EFL trophy.

The first incident of the match came with under two minutes on the clock when the game was stopped for more than eight minutes when a drown was flown above the pitch.

Perhaps Arsenal should have taken that as a warning.

Arteta named an experimental side and gave a debut to 18-year-old Ceadach O’Neill, started 17-year-old Marli Salmon at centre back, 16-year-old Dowman on the wing while goalkeepr Illan Meslier was making his first start for the club too.

But the Gunners boss surrounded that inexperience with seasoned internationals such as Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie, World Cup winner Martin Zubimendi, Champions League winner Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.

All of those players played a huge part in the Gunners winning the Premier League title last season.

However, even after introducing captain Martin Odegaard and £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes from the bench, Arsenal produced a poor performance.

“First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through the next round. The manner that they have done it, and for us a very sad day.” Arteta said of the result.

“There is nothing to criticise the players for their attitude, their application. The determination – you could see that was there from the start.

“Even with 10 men, we conceded a really poor goal to start with that gave them some momentum.”

The loss in this competition is not the Gunners’ first, but it does mean they have not won the League Cup for 33 years.

In 2012, Arsenal lost to League Two side Bradford City on penalties and they were also beaten by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in 2015 at the same stage too.

With Dowman now suspended, Saka out for around six weeks, Tzolis working to return and Arteta revealing after the match that Madueke was unavailable with an injury, their options in the wide areas for the match with Liverpool on Sunday are looking slim.

Khalil returned to Columbia University to discuss memoir detailing his arrest and detention by ICE agents.

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil says campus advocacy has shifted public perception and encouraged a generation of leaders to question their views on Israel, speaking as he returned to Columbia University for the first time since his arrest.

The 31-year-old Columbia graduate, who became a figurehead of the campus movement that swept the United States in 2024, returned to campus on Tuesday to discuss his new memoir, No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention, marking his first visit since his arrest on March 8, 2025.

“The American public is finally changing, is finally looking at the Palestinian as an equal human,” he told the AFP news agency in an interview.

While Khalil described the event, attended by about 100 people, as a “victory”, he accused university leadership of seeking “to erase me, to erase any Palestinian voices on campus”.

Some Jewish groups on social media opposed his return to campus. In response, a Columbia spokesperson said the university is “committed to rigorous debate, inquiry, and respectful dialogue across differing perspectives”.

“Columbia supports the right of faculty members to organize academic events,” the statement carried by US media read. “An invitation to speak does not signify university endorsement of a speaker’s views.”

Khalil helped lead student demonstrations at Columbia in 2024, which became the epicentre of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. He was later arrested by immigration authorities at the height of a federal crackdown on foreign student activists and held for three months without criminal charge, despite holding permanent US residency.

He has repeatedly slammed the university for its handling of the demonstrations, which included authorising the New York Police Department to clear protesters from the Manhattan campus.

“They chose brutality. They chose repression,” Khalil told AFP.

Columbia maintained at the time that the demonstrations presented a safety threat. Khalil also accused the university of failing to protect him from harassment prior to his detention.

Despite the personal toll, Khalil credited Palestinian student advocacy with driving broader political shifts in the United States, pointing to gains by progressive candidates.

“Also, we can see on the ground that we have more progressive candidates being elected into US Congress and positions of power,” he said, citing candidates like Dr Abdul El-Sayed, running for the US Senate in Michigan, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Khalil was released from immigration custody on June 20, 2025, though the Trump administration continues to seek his deportation.

“A big part of my fight is like fighting for normalcy,” he said. “To go back to being the young father who would go to the park with his son and wife, and no one would bother them.”

Despite the ongoing legal battle, he expressed resolve over his public role.

“My fight is not only about whether I get to stay in this country,” Khalil said. “It is about whether, you know, people in this country can speak their minds.”

FOR eight years, Sara Cox was forever the bridesmaid, never the bride.

At long last, then, on a bright, sunny Monday morning in July, the broadcaster got her big day, becoming the long-overdue host of Radio 2’s Breakfast Show.

The first two tracks played?

Lizzo’s About Damn Time and CeCe Peniston’s Finally.

Which tells you all you need to know about this brilliantly witty DJ: She says it as she sees it, and has fun along the way.

“Was it deliberate?”, she says, smiling. “Of course — I was being cheeky.

“On the day itself though, I actually felt fine, not that nervous. It was a job I’ve wanted for so long that it just felt like . . . finally.

“And when I thought about About Damn Time, it did make me smile.

“I thought, ‘Start as you mean to go on’. I just wanted to be me, which essentially is a little bit cheeky.

“Luckily, the reaction’s been great. We have the best listeners in the world and I have the best job in the world. I’ve got an incredible team, a brilliant bunch of people like me who are massive radio geeks, and I love it.”

While some may have crumpled under the pressure of hosting the ­biggest gig on the airwaves, the unflappable former model has taken it all in her leggy stride.

An instant hit with listeners — she was also a long-time favourite with devotees of her former gig, the Drivetime show — Sara has introduced new games and inter­active formats to keep things fresh.

Lucky listeners can win a pair of branded “Sara Sox” socks (clean) should they triumph in games such as Let’s Hear It For The Noise, a fiendishly difficult memory challenge.

(Behind the scenes, she is incredibly hands-on, WhatsApping her team with ideas around the clock, I’m told.)

Having been relentlessly badgering Sara’s team for an interview, today, then, is my Big Day. Finally.

Invited to spend a morning in the life of the Bolton-born 51-year-old, things kick off, rather unpleasantly, with a 4.50am alarm call.

Entering the BBC’s flagship London building in the dark, I am tired and grumpy. Sara is not.

In the studio, she dances to tracks, chats to her listeners before and after they call (apparently, many DJs don’t bother with such niceties), and cheerfully munches on an avocado wrap she brought in from home.

The super-fit mum of three — who last year smashed a gruelling 135- mile run across five consecutive days, raising £11.7million for Children In Need — also stands up for the entirety of her three-hour show.

I am exhausted just watching her.

I used to sit down doing the radio but not any more,” she says.

“I like to move around. But it’s also for the leg region. the late (TV health expert) Michael Mosley did a podcast on inflammation — if you sit down for too long, your cells start making the inflammation. So, sadly, it’s not for a rock ’n’ roll reason.”

On the subject of rock ’n’ roll, to a legion of geriatric millennials like me, and Gen Xers, Sara came to the fore as a “ladette”.

Former Breakfast show host Zoe Ball, Sara — back then on Radio 1 — Denise van Outen, Meg Mathews, Sadie Frost, et al, were entrenched in pop culture of the Nineties.

With a motto of “work hard, play hard”, Sara and her pals were endlessly papped hanging out at celebrity hotspots such as London’s Met Bar.

Yet those days are long gone — so much so, the charismatic star is now teetotal. Plus, constant cameras — filmed clips of the show are put out on the station’s official Instagram page — mean it would be nigh-on impossible to hide a hangover.

She says with a laugh: “I mean, you saw the Radio 1 pap shots of me leaving the building — I literally look like I’d slept in a skip. It was great.

“But yeah, it’s all visualised now, and I get it, we are evolving. I can get away with putting my make-up on during a record. A bit of mazzie (mascara) and I’m good to go.

“Today, though, I don’t drink. I’ve not drank since February after my last pina colada in half-term.

“I do feel better for it. To be fair, I was drinking so little, maybe one unit a week, that when I did drink, it was making me feel dizzy and weird.

“Plus, my husband Ben hasn’t drunk for four or five years so that makes it easier/wears you down.

“I mean, you feel a complete lush having half a glass of malbec of an evening otherwise.”

She has been married to marketing executive Ben Cyzer, who she met at Glastonbury Festival, since 2013. They are blissfully happy. Presumably, though, Ben was less thrilled with his wife’s career reawakening and the unsociable hours?

Sharing her new routine, she says: “I am in bed by 9pm. When I started the job, I was setting my alarm at five, but then I was really rushing about and I thought, ‘No, Sara, make it a tiny bit earlier’. So, at 4.50am off goes the first one.

“Then Alexa is on stand-by at 4.55, and if things have gone really wrong, 5.05am and 5.06am are also set on my phone.

“And my husband, bless him, checks the doorbell sometimes to make sure I’ve actually gone.

“I am a light sleeper, so a lot of the time I take myself off to the spare room, because I’m getting up so early and need to sleep well.

“And also because he doesn’t want to go to bed at 9.15pm, because he’s an adult male. He’s a normal person.

“Then Friday and Saturday, it feels like quite a treat and it’s quite nice to be back together.”

After feeding the couple’s three cats, Watson, Peggy and Miso, she takes a home-made breakfast to eat in the studio and glugs a coffee in the car on the way in. (“I eat very quickly, like a seabird”).

Her first-day guest was Hollywood’s Tom Hanks — and on the day I visit, Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan joins her.

So who would her dream guests be? “Daniel Craig — we’ve just had M, Dame Judi Dench, so we should have Bond too. Tom Cruise would be wild — we’ve had The Hanks, and I’d love to work towards completing the Hollywood set.”

“Also on the list is Beyonce — “I interviewed her when I was pregnant with my son and he’s 18 now, so we’re well overdue a catch-up.” And Madonna — “I interviewed her at Radio 1 and offered her my spare room ’cos she was house-hunt­ing in the UK . . . The offer’s still on.”

Sara got the Breakfast Show gig at a challenging time for the BBC.

Previous host Scott Mills was fired over a historical allegation of a sexual offence.

It has since emerged the axed DJ has enlisted lawyers and is planning to sue the corporation.

Not surprisingly, questions about him are off the table. And 72 hours after my visit, a story comes out in the Press, with insiders claiming to have felt “uncomfortable” due to her habit of calling mistakes out on air.

Well, having chatted to four of her team, including her producer, and seen Sara mucking about with colleagues, I can testify it appears to be a very happy ship indeed.

A perfectionist she may be, but a tyrant she ain’t.

And listener figures for the show in the last few years have stayed solid at around 6.37million weekly.

Elsewhere, though, it is a challenging time generally for legacy media, as audiences consume their content largely online, on streaming services and platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

So does Sara, who has written four Sunday Times best- selling novels, think radio will still be around in a decade? Yes.

“I think it’ll always be there be­cause people will always want that connection and that friendship that they have with their DJ,” she says.

“There’s a lot of people who listen who won’t speak to anybody else for the rest of the day, so it’s important.

“But at the same time, we’ve just got to keep being innovative. And for younger audiences as well, we film everything. We’ve got a brilliant young socials team who are constantly coming up with great ideas for TikTok and Instagram.

“I really enjoy it, I love being silly and having fun. You can’t take yourself too seriously, can you?

“I do feel lucky. I really do have ‘pinch me’ moments in this job. I love it, and I really hope it shows.”

It does, Sara, it does.

The new route gives Brits the chance to visit two Christmas markets this historic city which run from November to January and boast free entry, featuring classic winter scenes of chalets, Christmas trees, and an open-air ice rink

Ryanair has announced a brand new route in time for cheap getaways this winter and this Christmas.

The budget airline has revealed its new winter 2026 route from Manchester to Warsaw Modlin in Poland. Ryanair bosses shared yesterday (October 27) how the first of the Manchester-Warsaw Modlin flights took of this week.

Ryanair says it will operate six weekly flights on this “exciting new winter 2026 route, providing UK customers with even more choice at Europe’s lowest fares”. Ryanair’s full winter 2026 schedule is available to book now via the Ryanair app and website in time for cheap winter and Christmas breaks.

The new route gives Brits the chance to enjoy Warsaw’s two Christmas markets, including the huge Jarmark Warszawski at Plac Defilad, by the Palace of Culture and Science, and the traditional, historic market in the Old Town along the city walls.

Both markets run from November to January and boast free entry, featuring classic winter scenes of chalets, Christmas trees, and an open-air ice rink.

The first flight comes after Ryanair unveiled its newly expanded winter schedule last month, with 22 new routes from UK airports with Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London airports benefiting the most. Ryanair also announced that it was adding nineteenth-based aircraft at Manchester Airport this winter, helping it to run one extra route from the North West hub.

Ryanair is increasing its flight frequencies on another 26 routes from Manchester, including holiday hotspots like Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid, as well as city break destinations like Barcelona, Belfast, Venice, Porto, Prague and Krakow.

Eye-catching flights among the list included the new winter sunshine route from Birmingham to Marrakech, which regularly enjoys mild winter temperatures. The bulk of the other routes are to northern and western European destinations where more festive pleasures are on the itinerary.

The new route announcement followed the boss of Ryanair warning that air fares would “no doubt” rise next year for summer holidaymakers amid the surging price of oil and the Iran war.

Earlier this month, oil prices rose above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time since July after the latest round of strikes in the conflict.

Ryanair’s Director of Communications, Jade Kirwan, said: “ It was great to see the first flight of our new winter 2026 route from Manchester to Warsaw Modlin take off this week, bringing the first of many happy Ryanair passengers on their winter 2026 getaways.

“Our Manchester to Warsaw Modlin route will operate six times per week, offering our UK customers even more choice at the lowest fares in Europe. Ryanair’s full winter 2026 schedule is available to book now on the Ryanair app/website.”

CHICAGO — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Samuel Helenius scored for the Kings in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. The Kings’ Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.

Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.

Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

The Kings got off to a fast start. Jared Wright’s shot trickled past Knight, and Helenius poked it home at 2:31 for his first goal of the season.

The Kings carried their 1-0 lead deep into the second period. But Joel Armia was whistled for tripping at 14:26 and interference at 16:29, and Connor Bedard set up Kantserov for the rookie’s team-high fifth goal at 16:40.

The Blackhawks improved to four for 38 (10.5%) on the power play in 12 games. They converted 16.9% of their chances last season, ranking 29th in the NHL.