Month: January 2026

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

Thrilling crime drama starring Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly is coming soon to Sky

Under Salt Marsh ranks amongst the most eagerly awaited crime dramas heading to screens in 2026, with Yellowstone sensation Kelly Reilly taking on an electrifying new character.

Crafted, penned and directed by Claire Oakley, and featuring Rafe Spall (Trying) in a key role, the series unfolds in an imaginary Welsh coastal settlement facing potential evacuation due to surging sea levels and perilous storms.

Following a shocking crime, the incident resurrects haunting memories of another spine-chilling occurrence from three years prior that left the close-knit community reeling.

Reilly embodies a teacher and ex-detective who feels driven to probe deeper when her previous colleague, portrayed by Spall, turns up to handle the fresh investigation.

With only days remaining before this moody and captivating murder mystery hits our screens, here’s everything we know about what lies ahead, reports the Express.

What is Under Salt Marsh About?

Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly takes on the role of Jackie Ellis, a primary school educator whose detective career was destroyed by her niece’s baffling vanishing three years earlier.

Following the discovery of one of her pupils’ remains on the edges of the fictional settlement of Morfa Halen, she must confront the traumatic past whilst forging an uneasy partnership with her ex-colleague, detective Eric Bull.

Throughout the six-part series, Jackie and Bull expose the residents’ dark and startling secrets to determine whether the crimes are connected and identify the culprit.

The synopsis for Under Salt Marsh states: “As a huge storm starts to form far out at sea, a teacher and former detective, Jackie Ellis, finds the body of her 8-year-old student, Cefin, who appears to have drowned.

“This shocking discovery stirs up the town’s memories of an unresolved case from three years earlier – the disappearance of Jackie’s niece, Nessa, which ruined her career.

“Cefin’s death brings back Jackie’s old partner, Detective Eric Bull, to lead the investigation in a community where he previously failed. Believing the two cases are connected, Jackie and Bull must work together to uncover hidden secrets in Morfa Halen before the storm hits and wipes away any evidence.”

Who features in Under Salt Marsh’s cast?

Yellowstone star Kelly Reilly and Rafe Spall head up the cast, supported by an impressive mix of established names and emerging talent.

The series also features Jonathan Pryce as Solomon Bevan, the town’s patriarch. Pryce has recently gained recognition for his roles in acclaimed dramas The Crown and Slow Horses.

Additional key cast members include Industry’s Harry Lawtey portraying local resident Dylan Rees, and Wolfe’s Naomi Yang as Jess Deng, Eric’s colleague.

The supporting cast includes:

• Dinita Gohil (Sandman, Greed)
• Brian Gleeson (Bad Sisters, Phantom Thread)
• Kimberley Nixon (Fresh Meat, Life and Death in the Warehouse)
• Mark Stanley (Happy Valley, The Reckoning)
• Dino Fetscher (Fool Me Once, Foundation)
• Lizzie Annis (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Extraordinary)
• Rhodri Meilir (Pren Ar y Bryn/Tree On A Hill, Craith/Hidden)
• Julian Lewis Jones (House of the Dragon, Wheel of Time)
• Newcomer Amara Atwal as Nessa

**For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website**

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Sky’s Ultimate TV package includes Sky Atlantic so Game of Thrones fans can tune into the new spin-off

When does Under Salt Marsh launch?

The gripping new thriller arrives in one week’s time on Friday, 30th January, streaming exclusively via Sky Atlantic and NOW. Two episodes will drop initially, with subsequent instalments released weekly each Friday.

The highly anticipated finale is scheduled to broadcast on Friday, 27th February.

Under Salt Marsh debuts Friday, 30th January on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

Curren Price’s political career appears destined to end before his criminal trial.

Prosecutors first charged the L.A. City Council member in 2023 with embezzlement, perjury and having a conflict of interest in votes on City Council matters in which his wife stood to benefit.

A long-delayed preliminary hearing began this week, where more evidence against Price will be put forth and a judge must decide if prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed. If it moves forward at the current rate, Price’s case is almost certain to drag on after he is forced from office by term limits at the end of 2026.

Price, 75, is unlikely to face prison time even if convicted — and he is expected to retire from public service at the end of the year after decades as an elected official in Sacramento and Los Angeles. Some of his colleagues have questioned whether his alleged impropriety should be addressed by the city’s ethics commission rather than a jury.

But with his preliminary hearing expected to last several more days, more evidence against Price is becoming public — meaning the consequences of the case may echo beyond the courtroom.

There are seven candidates running to replace Price in November, including his deputy chief of staff, Jose Ugarte. The crowd trying to upset Ugarte — Price’s handpicked successor and the current favorite to win — could seize the moment to shake up the primary field. Ugarte has also faced allegations of unethical behavior for failing to disclose income he made through lobbying and consulting work outside of City Hall.

Ugarte — who did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this article — has defended Price’s record as a legislator and denied that the council member committed any crimes. Ugarte recalled joining Price when he had his fingerprints taken for the criminal case.

“I was just heartbroken,” Ugarte said in November on the podcast “What’s Next, Los Angeles?”

“They’re going to find him not guilty and he’s going to be exonerated of everything,” Ugarte added.

Jose Ugarte is running for Los Angeles City Council District 9.

(Jose Ugarte)

The case could also complicate Price’s legacy.

He has survived a tumultuous and scandal-ridden time in City Hall, marked by colleagues getting marched out of office following federal prosecutions, a leaked racist recording and the continued success of young and progressive challengers unseating politicians of his generation. A conviction could see his name forever associated with peers taken down by allegations of graft.

The veteran politician, who served as a member of the Inglewood City Council and in the state Senate and Assembly, has called himself a “progressive, positive, inclusive” leader. He has supported higher wages for low-income workers in the city and has close ties to organized labor.

In an interview this week, Price reiterated that he never intended to do anything wrong and questioned the fairness of a prosecution over what he said was essentially a paperwork error.

“These offenses are built around the intent to do wrong and I had no intent, no knowledge of us doing anything wrong at the time,” he said.

No matter what happens in court, Price believes city residents will remember him for bringing jobs and affordable housing to the district, rather than the corruption charges.

“I’ve got a sophisticated constituency. They certainly know the work we’ve been doing around housing, around economic development… I think I’m going to be judged on how those programs have changed the atmosphere and the temperature in the district,” he said, referencing his work on green space initiatives, boosting wages and the construction of BMO Stadium during his time in office.

Curren Price speaks at a news conference on the L.A. Convention Center expansion along with local union members in Los Angeles in September 2025.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Price, who grew up in South Los Angeles before attending Stanford, faces 12 counts of violating state conflict of interest laws by voting on city matters in which he had a financial interest, perjury and embezzlement.

Prosecutors allege Price repeatedly voted on items before the City Council that benefited agencies and companies that had previously done business with his wife, Del Richardson, and her consulting company, Del Richardson & Associates.

Richardson’s company received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from LA Metro, the city housing authority and land developers before Price voted to approve projects, grants and funding for those businesses and agencies, prosecutors allege.

The perjury charges stem from Price’s alleged failure to disclose Richardson’s income on state forms. Prosecutors say he committed embezzlement by claiming Richardson as a dependent on his city-funded healthcare plan despite them not being legally married at the time. The insurance flub cost taxpayers roughly $30,000.

Price’s attorney, Michael Schafler, has maintained Price had no knowledge of the conflict and the payments to Richardson had no effect on his votes. All of the votes cited in the complaint passed by wide margins, meaning Price did not swing any council decisions.

In court this week, Schafler continually tried to paint his client’s alleged crimes as little more than clerical errors.

While cross-examining the top attorney for California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, Schafler pointed to disclosure forms where Price declared he’d received income from a developer in the same exact amount he’s alleged to have failed to disclose in one of the perjury counts.

The count, Schafler argued, related to income from a business that the developer, Thomas Safran, owns.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman dismissed Schafler’s attempts to downplay the charges in an interview earlier this week, noting Price was made acutely aware of the conflicts when The Times published a 2019 investigation into his record of voting on matters related to Richardson.

“His brazen conduct, even after the L.A. Times brings this to public light, is that he keeps doing it. His explanations might be to blame his staff, to blame Del Richardson’s staff, to blame lawyers, to blame basically everyone but himself,” he said. “But when you have these myriad criminal violations, all roads lead to just one person who is responsible.”

Witnesses in the preliminary hearing — which began on Tuesday and is expected to end next week — included former members of Richardson’s company and Price’s City Hall staff.

On Wednesday, longtime Richardson employee Maritsa Garcia and Deputy Dist. Atty. Casey Higgins sparred on the witness stand over what information the consulting firm provided to the councilman’s office about possible conflicts. At one point, Higgins noted that Garcia had an attorney in the room, paid for by Richardson, and suggested her testimony might be “biased.” The attorney, Michael Freedman, declined to speak with a Times reporter.

Mike Bonin, a former city councilman, said he believed Price’s alleged malfeasance should be handled by the city’s Ethics Commission — not criminal prosecutors. One of the votes at issue was about a project in Bonin’s district that sailed through the council, with Price’s vote unimportant to the project’s outcome.

“Unlike every other homeless or affordable housing project in my district, this one had no objection. It went straight through. There was absolutely no controversy,” Bonin said.

Bonin said the criminal case never “passed the smell test” to him, and that it didn’t seem as serious as crimes committed by other city councilmembers like Mitch Englander and Jose Huizar.

Englander pled guilty in 2021 to obstructing a federal investigation into whether he improperly received gifts from developers while in office. Huizar pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion two years later, after federal prosecutors accused him of taking in millions in bribes and perks in what they described as a pay-to-play scheme.

“I felt like for whatever reason they wanted to find something against Curren,” Bonin said.

An employee from the L.A. City Ethics Commission — which accused Price of a litany of violations in 2024 — testified this week that Price would still have a conflict of interest even in votes that passed by wide margins.

After former Dist. Atty. George Gascón quietly charged Price in 2023, Hochman added two charges against Price last year and has pursued the case aggressively. His prosecutors have also tried to force Richardson, who has attended court every day this week in support of her husband, to testify against him. Richardson was described as a “suspect” in the initial investigation in 2022, according to documents made public last year, but she was never charged with a crime and has denied all wrongdoing.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches at the Loyola Law School, said Hochman should continue pursuing cases involving political corruption, especially given the recent history at City Hall.

But with Price’s career winding down and the charges not indicating a major financial loss to taxpayers, she questioned if the case has lost value over the years.

“The importance of this case can very much change over time,” she said. “He’s not in the same political space as when [Gascón] first brought the charges, and there might have been a lot of incentive to do it then.”

Hochman confirmed attempts were made to resolve the case through a plea deal, but they were not successful. He declined to elaborate on the potential terms. Schafler also declined to detail those conversations.

Price has no intention of stepping down before his term.

The race to replace Price is likely to be one of the more competitive in June, with numerous well-funded candidates. Estuardo Mazariegos is running to Ugarte’s left and has been endorsed by Controller Kenneth Mejia and the Democratic Socialists of America Los Angeles. Also running is Elmer Roldan, a nonprofit leader who works to keep students from dropping out of schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Roldan was endorsed by Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday.

A dedicated group of supporters has flanked Price at nearly every court hearing. In the past, he’s held miniature rallies and prayer circles in the courthouse hallways.

Rose Rios, 80, who is the head of a homeless outreach group in South L.A., said she believes prosecutors are unfairly maligning Price and expressed concern the charges will overshadow his legacy of “building up South-Central.”

Rios said she will never accept a guilty verdict in the case, and neither will many of Price’s constituents.

“I trust him. I trust him with my life. He’s loved through all the district,” she said. “That many people wouldn’t love you if you weren’t doing the right thing.”

The trip was long — about 1,100 miles from Manchester, England, to Bodø, Norway.

The temperatures were freezing — around 28 degrees, with the wind chill around 10 degrees.

The results were not ideal — at least not for the 374 Manchester City fans who traveled to the fishing town north of the Arctic Circle only to see their team suffer one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history.

None of this was lost on Manchester City’s team captains after their club’s shocking 3-1 loss to Bodø/Glimt. In a joint statement the following day, the four players — Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Rodri — announced they would reimburse every Machester City fan who bought a ticket for the game.

“Our supporters mean everything to us,” the statement read. “We know the sacrifice that our fans make when they travel across the world to support us home and away and we will never take it for granted. They are the best fans in the world.

“We also recognize that it was a lot of traveling for the fans who supported us in the freezing cold throughout a difficult evening for us on the pitch. Covering the cost of these tickets for the fans who traveled to Bodø is the least we can do.”

According to the BBC, away tickets to the game cost around $33.75 in U.S. dollars, which would make the total amount to be handed out by the thoughtful and embarrassed group of Manchester City team leaders close to $13,000.

One of England’s most successful soccer teams, Manchester City has spent more than $500 million on its superstar roster over the last year. But for at least one day, it was no match for a club playing in its first Champions League.

Bodø/Glimt took a 3-0 lead on two first-half goals by Kasper Høgh and one in the 58th minute by Jens Petter Hauge. Rayan Cherki scored Manchester City’s only goal in the 60th minute.

“It’s embarrassing,” City’s Norwegian striker Haaland said after the loss, which came three days after a 2-0 defeat to Premier League rival Manchester United.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Some films linger in our minds because of their sharp plots, quotable one-liners and unforgettable characters. Others stay with us because of the music.

That distinction was unmistakable at a recent screening of Forest Whitaker’s 1995 romantic dramedy “Waiting to Exhale” as part of a Cult Classics Cinema event at Inglewood’s Miracle Theater. As the film played, roughly 80 attendees swayed their bodies and sang along to songs from the Grammy-winning soundtrack, including “Sittin’ Up in my Room” by Brandy, Mary J. Blige’s “Not Gon’ Cry,” and Toni Braxton’s “Let It Flow.”

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When Whitney Houston’s title track, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” played during a scene in which her character, Savannah, reconnects with a man with whom she’s been having an on-and-off again affair, the audience crooned the lyrics in unison like a choir: “Everyone falls in love sometime / Sometimes it’s wrong, and sometimes it’s right.”

“It’s really a time capsule of ‘90s R&B,” says attendee Deonna Tillman, 33, of Miracle Mile, who listened to the Babyface-produced album during her drive to the event as a way to prepare herself for the screening. “It also has our greats on there, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin. … It’s iconic.”

Each month Cult Classics Cinema screens a movie event, hosted by Diamora Hunt, then theatergoers can attend a casual listening party, where the film soundtrack is played from start to finish.

Part movie screening, part listening party, Cult Classics Cinema is an event series that celebrates beloved Black films and the music that helps bring them to life. Each month, founder Diamora Hunt, who also goes by DJ Rosegawd, screens a movie — titles have included “The Wiz,” “The Wood,” “Set It Off” and “Love Jones” — and then invites attendees to stick around for a more casual listening party, where the soundtrack is played from start to finish. The recent screening of “Waiting to Exhale,” the film adaptation of Terry McMillian’s 1992 novel starring Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine, celebrated the film’s 30th anniversary.

In Los Angeles, where screenings happen just about every night of the week at venues like Quentin Tarantino’s Vista Theater and the New Beverly, and the TCL Chinese Theatre as well as at special events like Rooftop Cinema and Cinespia, Cult Classics Cinema stands out because of its communal atmosphere that gives people the space to not only geek out on films and their soundtracks, but also commemorate Black stories.

“I want it to feel like when I’m in the living room with my friends,” says Hunt, 36, adding that its become a ritual for her to watch music videos from the soundtrack after finishing a movie. “I feel like they go hand in hand in world building.”

For Hunt, who’s been DJing for nearly a decade, everything always comes back to the music.

As a lover of film soundtracks, Cult Classics Cinema founder Diamora Hunt (a.k.a. DJ Rosegawd) wanted to create an experience where people could enjoy the film and the music.

During the COVID lockdown, she spent her only day off from her insurance and call center jobs doing hourslong live DJ sets on Twitch from her bedroom. Each Saturday, she would pick a different artist, primarily female performers, and run through their entire discography and share interesting facts about them. Among the artists she spotlighted were Missy Elliott, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Drake.

In 2022, Hunt began hosting Club Renaissance, a dance party where she’d play Beyoncé’s seminal “Renaissance” album in order from top to bottom at various venues in L.A. The function immediately took off, and she had to upgrade to a larger venue to accommodate a 1,200-person crowd. At one party, Grammy-winning rapper Doechii performed “Heated” with her DJ Miss Milan. Also, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, posted about the event on Instagram, saying that Jay Z sent her a recap video.

After hosting the event for several months in L.A. and taking it to New York, Hunt wondered whether she could do the same thing with other beloved albums. To test out that theory, she debuted the Cult Classics party under her event company Ladera Hearts in February 2023. The first album she highlighted was Brandy’s third studio album, “Full Moon,” on the night of a full moon at the Blind Barber in Highland Park.

She kept it up, throwing dedication nights in honor of Usher’s “Confessions,” Janet Jackson’s “The Velvet Rope,” 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin,’ ” “One in a Million” by Aaliyah and Mariah Carey’s “The Emancipation of Mimi.” After seeing a lively fan recap video from the party, Carey commented “invite me next time” with two kissy face emojis.

Hunt says she thinks people were receptive to the party, even if they weren’t familiar with the album, because you are “surrounded by people who love it and they’re going to tell you why they love it.” She adds, “It helps people connect with [the music] in a different way.”

She wondered whether she could create that same feeling with her favorite movies and their soundtracks.

Hunt hosted the first Cult Classics Cinema event in November 2024 and screened the 1992 film “Boomerang” starring Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, Chris Rock and Robin Givens at a local bar. During the function, she shared trivia about the soundtrack such as the fact that Toni Braxton’s song “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” was her introduction into the music industry.

Singer Tyger Lily and producer Knoqlist debuted a trailer for their “Waiting to Exhale”-inspired music video at the Miracle Theater.

Since January 2025, she’s been hosting her movie nights at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood. Just days before Thanksgiving, Hunt showed “Soul Food” and invited stars Vivica A. Fox, Brandon Hammond and Morgan Méchelle to participate in a panel discussion hosted by Randy C. Bonds. Afterward, attendees were welcomed to attend a family-style dinner with the cast members.

At the recent “Waiting to Exhale” screening, patrons walked down a red carpet to get to the theater entrance. After picking a customized button that depicted popular scenes from the movie, many guests grabbed a themed cocktail (named after the four main characters) and a snack (popcorn, empanadas or box candy) at the bar. As people waited to order, they could read fun facts about the film and soundtrack.

During the film, attendees laughed out loud, shouted at the characters on the screen as if they could hear them (“Don’t do it!”) and recited their lines back to them (“Get yo s— and get out!”).

As someone who attends movie screenings regularly, Tillman says it’s hard to find ones dedicated Black storytellers, which is why she appreciates Cult Classics Cinema.

“I feel like we have a lot of Black cinephiles in L.A., but we don’t have a lot of access to watch our classics,” says Tillman, adding that many of these films aren’t available on streaming platforms — “which is really frustrating.”

Felisha Fowlkes, 34, has attended multiple Cult Classics Cinema events solo. “When you hear these songs, you’re thinking about the scenes in the movie,” she says. “You’re thinking about what happened emotionally and I feel like [the music] allows you to really sit in that place.”

When the two-hour movie ended, one attendee won the big raffle prize, which included “Waiting to Exhale” on DVD — and a DVD player to play it.

“Waiting to Exhale” attendees react during a screening. “I want it to feel like when I’m in the living room with my friends,” says Cult Classics Cinema founder and host Diamora Hunt.

As the music video for Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” played on the big screen with the song lyrics running along the bottom, Hunt moved the mic to the center of the stage in case anyone felt called to sing.

No one took her up on the offer. Who would want to compete with a powerful songstress like Houston? Still, the energy in the room remained high as the crowd sang, bobbed their heads and grooved to the music from the comfort of their plush seats.

It felt, just as Hunt envisioned, like being in a living room with all your friends.

Cult Classics Cinema will screen “Boomerang” on Saturday, “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” on Feb. 15 and “B.A.P.S.” on March 14 at the Miracle Theater in Inglewood. Tickets start at $15 (not including taxes and fees).

General Secretary To Lam will continue to lead Vietnam’s Communist Party amid pledges to continue rapid reforms.

Vietnam’s Communist Party ⁠has ​re-appointed To ‍Lam as its ‍general ⁠secretary, extending his top leadership position in the Southeast Asian nation for the next five years.

To Lam was “unanimously” re-elected to the post of general secretary, according ‌to an announcement made ‌at ‌the conclusion of the party’s five-yearly ⁠congress in the capital Hanoi on Friday.

The party central committee “absolutely unanimously elected Comrade To Lam to continue holding the position of General Secretary”, the party said in a statement.

Tran Thanh Man, chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly, said the party chief had received 180 votes out of 180 to remain in the top job.

Lam’s re-election as party chief will send a reassuring message to foreign investors who regularly cite political stability as a key factor in Vietnam’s appeal as a pro-business environment.

Lam, 68, is also seeking to become president, with a decision on that position ‌expected to be announced later.

Earlier this week, addressing hundreds of congress delegates seated in red-upholstered chairs in a red-carpeted conference hall under a towering statue of the Communist Party’s founder and liberation struggle hero, Ho Chi Minh, Lam promised to continue fighting corruption and ensure annual growth above 10 percent through to 2030.

Speaking at the end of ‌the ‌congress and his reappointment on Friday, Lam committed to ⁠working hard to meet the expectations ‌of Vietnam’s people.

Lam’s retaining of the top party position follows his implementation of sweeping reforms since taking over as Communist Party General Secretary in late 2024, which have shocked the country with their speed and severity for some sectors.

He has eliminated whole layers of government bureaucracy, abolished eight ministries or government agencies and cut nearly 150,000 jobs from the state payroll, while pushing ambitious rail and power projects as well as weeding out corruption.

Lam said in a speech this week that he wants to change the country’s economic growth model, which has hinged for decades on cheap labour and exports, instead turning Vietnam into a high-middle-income economy by 2030 by focusing on innovation and efficiency.

He also warned of the overlapping threats Vietnam faces “from natural disasters, storms and floods to epidemics, security risks, fierce strategic competition, and major disruptions in energy and food supply chains”.

Vietnam, a nation of 100 million people, is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, where the Communist Party has sought to deliver rapid growth to bolster its legitimacy domestically and internationally.

Former United States Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended his prosecution of President Donald Trump, rejecting Republican claims that the cases were politically motivated.

Testifying before lawmakers at the House Judiciary Committee, Smith said the two federal cases, one over Trump’s handling of classified documents and the other over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, were based on evidence, not politics.

Both cases were dropped after Trump was re-elected in November 2024, in line with longstanding Department of Justice policy barring the investigation or prosecution of a sitting president. Smith resigned shortly before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.

The hearing marked the first time the US public heard at length from Smith since his resignation. He told the panel that he expected Trump’s Justice Department to try to bring criminal charges against him.

These are the key takeaways:

What specifics do we know about the cases?

Smith, a public corruption prosecutor, was appointed in November 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump.

These are the two cases he investigated:

Classified documents

Smith investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office at the end of his first term.

The criminal case included 31 counts under the US Espionage Act for the willful retention of national defence information, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Separate charges accused Trump of conspiring to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.

Prosecutors alleged that Trump removed highly sensitive documents from the White House when he left office in 2021 and later stored them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

2020 election results

The second case focused on Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Prosecutors argued that Trump sought to block the lawful transfer of power after the vote, rather than accept the outcome.

The charges followed a wide-ranging investigation into the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of voters.

Smith did not accuse Trump of directly inciting the Capitol riot. Instead, the case centred on Trump’s actions in the weeks between his election defeat and the violence in Washington, examining efforts to pressure officials, advance false claims of fraud and interfere with the certification of the election results.

What were the main takeaways from Thursday’s testimony?

‘No one should be above the law’

Smith said his investigation into Trump was driven by evidence and the law.

“We followed the facts and we followed the law. Where that led us was to an indictment of an unprecedented criminal scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power,” Smith said.

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat,” Smith said in his opening remarks.

“No one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith added.

Still, the special counsel said he stopped short of filing a charge of insurrection against Trump. That was pursued in the House impeachment of Trump in the aftermath of January 6, though the president was acquitted of the sole count of incitement of an insurrection by the Senate.

Cassidy Hutchinson

Republicans have long focused on challenging the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, which was a key moment in the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack.

Hutchinson told the committee she had been informed that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle as he demanded to go to the US Capitol. Other witnesses later disputed that account.

During the hearing, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, the committee’s chair, pressed Jack Smith on the episode. “Mr Smith, is Cassidy Hutchinson a liar?” Jordan asked.

Smith said Hutchinson’s account was second-hand and that investigators were unable to confirm it. He said the Secret Service agent in the vehicle at the time did not back up the claim.

Jordan pressed whether Smith would have brought Hutchinson forward to testify anyway, and Smith said he had not made “any final determinations”.

Jordan seized on that response, arguing it showed prosecutors were determined to go after Trump.

In fact, Smith said, one of the “central challenges” of the case was to present it in a concise way, “because we did have so many witnesses” – state officials, Trump campaign workers and advisers – to testify.

“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who, in fact, were fellow Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump, who had campaigned for him and who wanted him to win the election,” Smith added.

‘Threats to democracy’

One Democrat, Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, asked how he would describe the consequences – for US democracy – of not holding Trump accountable for alleged violations of the law and his oath.

“If we do not hold the most powerful people in our society to the same standards of the rule of law, then it can be catastrophic,” Smith said.

“Because if they don’t have to follow the law, it’s very easy to understand why people would think they don’t have to follow the law as well.”

Smith continued, “If we don’t hold people to account when they commit crimes, that it sends a message that those crimes are OK, that our society accepts that… It can endanger our election process, it can endanger election workers, and ultimately our democracy.”

‘I don’t get it’

Smith sharply criticised Trump’s decision to issue mass pardons for people convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

On his first day back in office, Trump granted clemency to all those charged over the riot, including hundreds who had been accused or convicted of assaulting police officers.

When asked about the move, Smith said: “The people who assaulted police officers and were convicted after trial, in my view and I think in the view of the judges who sentenced them to prison, are dangerous to their communities. As you mentioned, some of these people have already committed crimes against their communities again, and I think all of us – if we are reasonable – know that there is going to be more crimes committed by these people in the future.

“I do not understand why you would mass pardon people who assaulted police officers,” Smith said on Thursday. “I don’t get it. I never will.”

According to reports, at least 140 police officers were injured during the Capitol attack.

Smith defends his work

Republican lawmakers sought to portray Smith as an overly aggressive prosecutor who needed to be restrained by senior Justice Department officials as he pursued cases against Trump before the former president’s potential return to office.

They focused, in particular, on Smith’s decision to obtain phone records for members of Congress, including then–House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, arguing the move amounted to overreach.

In a heated exchange, Republican Representative Brandon Gill of Texas accused Smith of using nondisclosure orders to “hide” subpoenas from both their targets and the public.

Smith rejected those claims, saying the collection of phone records was a routine investigative step aimed at understanding the “scope of the conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election.

“My office didn’t spy on anyone,” Smith said.

He added that nondisclosure orders were sought because of concerns about witness intimidation, pointing to Trump’s public warnings that he would be “coming after” people who crossed him.

“I had grave concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation, specifically with regards to Donald Trump,” Smith said.

Smith said prosecutors are not required “to wait until someone gets killed before they move for an order to protect the proceedings”.

Trump responds

Trump appeared to be following Smith’s testimony live, posting on Truth Social as the hearing unfolded and praising Republicans for their attacks on the former special counsel.

“Deranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions,” Trump wrote. “He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law.”

Trump framed the investigations as a “Democrat SCAM” and said those involved should “pay a big price”.

Trump has deployed similar tactics in the past, using his social media account in September to direct the Justice Department to indict other critics of his actions, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

BROOKLYN Beckham’s wedding DJ Fat Tony has broken his silence on claims mum Victoria danced “inappropriately” during his and Nicola Peltz’s big day.

Earlier this week Brooklyn, 26, made a series of sensational claims about his parents David and Victoria in a bombshell six-page social media statement. 

After alleging that his Spice Girl mum “danced inappropriately on him” during the first dance, DJ Fat Tony appeared on This Morning on Friday to reveal what really happened.

He joined Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary and revealed what the “inappropriate” move was.

Laying blame at singer Marc Anthony’s foot, he revealed the popstar had encouraged Brooklyn to place his hands on Victoria’s hips during a dance to one of his Latin pop tracks.

The DJ revealed he believed the timing of the moment was “inappropriate” as opposed to the dance move

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He further confirmed reports that Marc Anthony had asked the “most beautiful” woman in the world to head on up to the dancefloor and then asked Victoria to the ceremony instead of wife Nicola Peltz.

Tony revealed this moment left Nicola running out in tears but Marc continued on with her performance anyway.

In his scathing attack on Victoria and David, Brooklyn recalled his account of his wedding day.

He said: “My mum hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic love song.

“In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead.

“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone.”

The latest on Brooklyn’s seismic statement…

He went on to say: “I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”

Brooklyn’s younger brother Cruz has also reacted to the memes poking fun at Victoria.

Those close to Victoria, 51, insist she was just “a tad tipsy and having fun.”

And now Cruz, 20, has weighed in on social media.

A post shared by comedian olly_101 saw the social media creator acting as the DJ at Brooklyn and Nicola’s wedding.

During the skit, he pretends to speak to guests.

“And now for the song requested by the mother of the groom for her first dance with her son,” he said.

He then proceeded to play the 1996 R&B hit Pony by Ginuwine.

The iconic song gained worldwide popularity when Channing Tatum performed a striptease to it in his movie Magic Mike.

The post was captioned: “Interesting moves Victoria.”

Cruz seemingly saw the funny side of the clip and hit the like button.

Multiple World Cup gold medallist Kirsty Muir was Team GB’s youngest athlete four years ago in Beijing, and at the age of 21 she returns for her second Olympics to compete in the freestyle skiing slopestyle and big air alongside Chris McCormick.

Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who retired after the 2022 Games but returned to training last year, returns to the Olympic stage in the halfpipe alongside Liam Richards, while Maisie Hill and Txema Mazet-Brown join Brookes in competing in snowboard slopestyle and big air.

Like Ryding, Andrew Musgrave will compete at his fifth Olympics as he participates in the cross-country. He is selected alongside Beijing 2022 veteran James Clugnet and debutants Joe Davies and Anna Pryce.

Ollie Davies is Team GB’s sole representative in the ski cross, while Makayla Gerken Schofield and Mateo Jeannesson will compete in the moguls.

“Over the past four years, our skiers and snowboarders have shown they’re capable of mixing it with the very best in the world, and the squad that’s heading out for these Games is a real reflection of the talent, grit, and will to win that makes British sport so special,” said Vicky Gosling, GB Snowsport chief executive.

UK Sport believes Team GB could win between four and eight medals at next month’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The nation’s best medal haul at a Winter Games is five, achieved at Sochi 2014 and matched in Pyeongchang four years later, but Team GB came home from Beijing in 2022 with just two medals.

The BBC will broadcast more than 450 hours of live action from the Games, which run from Friday 6 to Sunday 22 February.

LONDON Heathrow has announced that travellers will no longer have to take certain items out of their bags at all terminals.

Brits can now breeze through the UK’s busiest airport without taking liquids and electronics out of their bags at security.

London Heathrow is now the largest airport in the world to fully roll out next-generation CT security scanners.

Thanks to a £1billion upgrade, passenger security lanes across all four of Heathrow’s terminals have been replaced.

The updated technology means that passengers will no longer have to take their 100ml liquids or electronics from their hand luggage before heading through security.

Travellers will still have to adhere to the 100ml restriction of liquids in their hand luggage.

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The new technology will save the use of 16 million plastic bags per year.

You might still need to remove some items though like your coat or belts with a buckle before walking through the metal detector.

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said: “Every Heathrow passenger can now leave their liquids and laptops in their bags at security as we become the largest airport in the world to roll out the latest security scanning technology.

“That means less time preparing for security and more time enjoying their journey – and millions fewer single-use plastic bags. This billion pound investment means our customers can be confident they will continue to have a great experience at Heathrow.”

London Heathrow is the UK’s busiest airport, and one of the busiest in Europe handling between 83-84 million passengers each year.

The new scanners are predicted to save time for those heading through security.

Although Which? said that the “the sensitivity of the new scanners means that many people find that their bags must be searched by hand after passing through the scanner.”

London Heathrow isn’t the first airport to roll out these new scanners.

Other airports across the country stopped the need for liquid bags and taking electronics out of bags.

As of late 2025, these airports are; Birmingham, Edinburgh, London City, London Luton, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds Bradford, Southend, Teesside.

London Gatwick upgraded 19 of its security lanes at the end of March 2025, and said that more than 95 per cent of passengers were already getting through security in under five minutes.

Some airports have scrapped the 100ml liquid rule altogether – a rule which has been in place since 2006.

In July 2025, Birmingham Airport and Edinburgh Airport confirmed passengers can take up to two litres of liquids in their hand luggage.

For more on London Heathrow, here’s an update on its £1.3billion upgrade plans including better terminals, fewer delays and faster baggage.

Plus, here’s everything you need to know before you travel in 2026.

A joint team of police and military investigators has imposed travel bans on three civilian suspects accused of involvement in alleged drone flights to North Korea, sources said Friday.

The suspects include a graduate student in his 30s, surnamed Oh, who claimed to have flown the drones, an individual, surnamed Jang, suspected of building them, and a third person known to have worked at a drone manufacturing company set up by the other two, according to the sources.

The joint investigation was launched last week after North Korea claimed South Korea infringed on its sovereignty with drone incursions in September and on Jan. 4. South Korea’s military has denied involvement, saying it does not operate the drone models in question.

The suspects are accused of flying a drone bound for North Korea from Ganghwa County, just west of Seoul. The aircraft reportedly took pictures of a South Korean Marine Corps base as it flew across the inter-Korean border.

Investigators seek to press charges against the suspects for violating the Aviation Safety Act and the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act.

The joint team has stepped up investigative efforts after Oh claimed to have sent the drones to North Korea on the dates alleged by Pyongyang in a media interview aired last Friday

Investigators have widened the probe following revelations that Oh and Jang worked at the presidential office under former President Yoon Suk Yeol, as well as allegations that Oh operated online news outlets suspected of being linked to a military intelligence official.

The Defense Intelligence Command later confirmed the link between them, in a briefing to ruling party Rep. Boo Seung-chan, saying the online news outlets were used to issue fake identification cards to help agents conduct intelligence activities.

The command, however, said it has yet to be verified whether military intelligence officials were involved in the alleged drone flights, according to Boo’s office.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

As key buildings, including the Parliament, suffer from blackouts, finding light, in the figurative and literal sense, becomes a challenge.

Kyiv, Ukraine – The rattle of multiple petrol generators sounded out across the historic neighbourhood of Podil as people attempted to traverse the icy streets in near darkness.

About half the capital’s homes are without heating or power after large Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine targeted the country’s infrastructure in recent weeks.

Temperatures sit well below freezing.

Yet as an air raid siren blares, young people in Kyiv gathered in a row of cafes and bars. Generators are able to provide heating, light and music.

“It’s really important for the youth to meet up and do stuff together so we don’t break down mentally,” Karina Sema, a 24-year-old journalist, told Al Jazeera.

She pulled out her phone and showed a video filmed the day before. About 100 people can be seen gathering in torchlight around a speaker, singing along to a track called All I Need Is Your Love Tonight.

The latest large-scale attack was on Tuesday night, when Russia fired drones and ballistic missiles across the country, plunging the city, including the Ukrainian Parliament, into darkness just as repair crews had begun to restore parts of the grid after an assault earlier in January.

State of emergency

Repeated attacks have pushed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to issue a state of emergency in the energy sector. He has accused Russia of deliberately exploiting the bitter cold snap as a weapon of war.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk denounced the strikes as a “cruel” and clear violation of international law.

The lack of heating has caused water pipes to burst in some buildings, leading to flooding as the water in them freezes.

Residents of an area on the capital’s left bank, which has been hit by repeated drone strikes and has no electricity supply, told Al Jazeera of a number of creative solutions to the crisis.

One popular method is to heat a brick on a portable petrol-powered stove, which helps warm the apartment and retains heat long after the stove is switched off.

Assiya Melnyk, a single mother in her 30s, showed Al Jazeera around her apartment, which had had no electricity for the whole day.

“My eyesight is going because I squint in the dark for so long,” she said, holding a small torch.

“It is hard to stay warm, we use jumpers and blankets; I just think of my daughter and keeping her well mentally and physically,” she said.

Economic impact

The attacks on infrastructure also hurt business owners who have struggled for almost four years under a wartime economy.

Enes Lutfia, a 24-year-old originally from Turkiye, told Al Jazeera that he is now considering closing his restaurants and bars.

It costs him almost $500 a week to fuel his generator.

“I have no customers”, he said. “Young people hang out together on the street or at home, many adult men are fighting, many women have left the country,” he said with a resigned shrug.

Defending the country’s energy sector is also costing Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said the air defence missiles used after Tuesday’s attack cost about $90 million.

‘You stay with your own mind’

It is not just Kyiv that has been affected. Cities such as Kharkiv in the east and Odesa in the south have also suffered near darkness.

In central Ukraine’s Poltava, Anatoli, a 54-year-old car mechanic, told Al Jazeera he now gets electricity only for a few hours at night. He works in his garage in the early morning hours when the lights are on.

He is considering leaving Ukraine.

“I will leave as soon as they open the borders,” he said.

In a restaurant in the city’s centre, 23-year-old Maxim Senschuk told Al Jazeera that staying at home with no electricity can affect a person’s mental state: “You stay with your own mind”.

He bemoaned a “psychological war on society”, but added, “All my family, friends, we are not scared, it has been four years [of war]. Now we are just bored with this”.

Ethan Hawke has been nominated for an Oscar for lead actor for his role in “Blue Moon,” directed by Richard Linklater from a screenplay by Robert Kaplow. In the film, Hawke plays lyricist Lorenz Hart, who wrote the sharp, witty words to such standards as “My Funny Valentine” and “Blue Moon.”

The drama captures one night with Hart near the end of his life as he waits at Sardi’s for his former songwriting partner Richard Rogers (played by Andrew Scott) to arrive for a party celebrating the premiere of “Oklahoma!” By turns funny and self-pitying, full of regrets, disappointments and thwarted ambitions, Hart is portrayed by Hawke as a man who has often been his own biggest obstacle and is coming to realize his time has passed him by.

Hawke had been previously Oscar-nominated for supporting actor in 2001’s “Training Day” and 2014’s “Boyhood” — and for co-writing “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight.” He has been acting professionally since he was a teenager, with an extensive list of credits that includes “Dead Poets Society,” “Reality Bites,” “Gattaca,” “Hamlet,” “Before the Devil Knows You‘re Dead,” “First Reformed” and many more.

Speaking on the phone during the morning of the Oscar nominations from his home in Brooklyn, the 55-year-old Hawke showed no signs of slowing down, as he was heading to Park City, Utah, the next day for the Sundance Film Festival. His new project, “The Weight,” starring Hawke and produced by his wife Ryan Hawke, would be premiering there and Hawke would also be speaking at a tribute to Robert Redford.

“It is true that this last year is one of the hardest working years of my life,” said Hawke. “I went from ‘Blue Moon’ straight to ‘The Lowdown’ straight to ‘The Weight.’ Somehow figured ‘Black Phone 2’ in there. I worked my ass off the last year. Ask my kids; they’re not happy about it.”

You recently did an interview where you said you thought you were maybe doing too many interviews. So I guess I apologize in advance.

Ethan Hawke: It’s just funny, the amount of energy it takes to kind of penetrate the zeitgeist today is a lot more than it used to be. I hate to sound like an old man, but it used to be you go on “Letterman” and everybody knew about your movie. And now it’s like, wow. It’s just a lot different.

Congratulations on your nomination today. Were you watching the announcements? How did you find out?

Hawke: I don’t do that to myself. I found out because my wife woke me up and told me. I let myself try to sleep in so that I could try to avoid the stress.

This is your fifth Oscar nomination, but the first for best actor. What does that mean to you?

Hawke: Embarrassingly enough, it means a lot. I’ve dedicated my life to this profession and our culture places a high value on that. And it means a lot to me. Frankly, I don’t think I would’ve thought when I did “Training Day” that it would take me so long to get there. It’s been a long road.

Margaret Qualley and Ethan Hawke in the movie “Blue Moon.”

(Sabrina Lantos / Sony Pictures Classics)

It’s such a great year for movies and you talk with such passion and conviction — almost as an ambassador of movies — about how important they are to you. You seem like you’re like cheerleading for everybody else as much as promoting your own work.

Hawke: I feel that way, sincerely. I appreciate you saying that because I do think that’s kind of the job of these award shows and things. We are ambassadors for our profession. Everybody knows that competition and the arts — it’s a game and a lot of great things go unnoticed in their time. And time is the great curator, of course. But movies need a boost and it’s part of our job to create substantive, meaningful entertainment for people to have serious conversations and interesting things to think about and talk about and push the consciousness forward. And so I feel really proud of all these movies that were nominated and tons of them that weren’t, that are all doing their job.

The fact that this nomination comes from a film you’ve made with Richard Linklater, who you’ve worked so closely with over the years — does that make it even more special?

Hawke: I couldn’t articulate that clear enough. It feels so wonderful to get this for a movie that was made so organically and rose up through not through the prism of business, but through the prism of friendship. Robert Kaplow is a brilliant screenwriter and Rick’s his friend, and we’ve been talking about this for a decade. And that’s the way all of the projects that I’ve done with Rick have happened, is they kind of are born out of friendship. And so to get to ring the bell with a film that really feels so connected to my life is particularly meaningful.

What does that relationship with Richard mean to you?

Hawke: Words fail. I think that friendship is the substance of our life. When friendships or love affairs or collaborations happen the right way, they’re kind of effortless. And your life is richer because of them, not your work. Your life, your character is improved. I always like to tell my kids, you spend your life with your friends, so your friends are your life, so choose them wisely. They really shape you. And I’ve been really lucky to have a great friend who happens to be one of the definitive filmmakers of our era.

And I don’t take that lightly. Think about it, Rick has two — I know he doesn’t care, so it kind of makes it even more funny — but he had two of the best movies made this year [“Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”]. And he doesn’t win any prizes but it’s kind of a testament to what’s special about his filmmaking is that he disappears and lets the project appear and he doesn’t put his signature all over it. I was fortunate enough to work with Sidney Lumet and they’re reminiscent of each other in a way. They’re just completely dedicated to the work. And it’s wonderful to have a partner like that.

What did you connect to about the character of Lorenz Hart?

Hawke: It’s deeper than just the character. It has to do with what the film’s kind of about. My love of the theater and my love of the people who dedicate their life to creativity and the kind of highs and lows of that life, and the silliness and stupidity of that life, and the moments of elegiac grace. I love what the film is about. It’s kind of a howl into the night of an artist being left behind. And indifference is kind of the feeling most of us in this profession feel most of the time, obviously not today, but most of our lives are met with absolute indifference.

And it also had the good fortune of the way Rick works. He’s so patient — we worked on it and dreamed about it for 10 years. And we knew it was fragile. We knew it was delicate. We knew the bull’s-eye was extremely small. It’d be an easy movie to make badly. So it was entirely execution-dependent. And that’s the fun of Rick is he loves to think about it.

You shaved your head for this. Were you confident it was going to grow back?

Hawke: No. At my age you’re like, “Wait a second, is this just a giant mistake?” But we knew we had to get the look right. So we were all in.

You just seem like you’re in such an incredible position right now in your career, you’re making projects like “Blue Moon” and “The Black Phone” movies, you’re doing TV work, you can direct your own projects like “Wildcat” or “The Last Movie Stars,” about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. How do you see where you are right now?

Hawke: It feels really good because I have a lot more I want to do. I’ve started to feel like one lifetime’s not enough for this profession and that there keeps being so much to learn. I get more excited about the possibilities of how storytelling can impact our culture and what the responsibilities are with that and how much fun I’ve had. I’ve really had a ball — my whole career I’ve gotten to do things the way that I wanted to do them.

And it’s kind of thrilling for me to watch Stellan [Skarsgård] this year and like get inspired. I mean, he’s a proper grown-up and he’s humble and so gifted and had such an amazing career. And it makes me really excited about the future. I’ve always had these huge actors I’ve admired, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, people who’ve learned how to grow up and be an adult in this profession. That’s what I’m trying to do. So I feel like that’s the moment you’re finding me in.

Because it seems at this point that you’re always working. Do you ever think about just taking a break?

Hawke: I’ve been always working since ’89. The thing is, I just love it. My wife and I have this little production company and we both just love to work and make things and try to sneak things into the atmosphere that might not exist otherwise. And it’s how you define work, right? Most of the time it’s not work for me. I loved making “Blue Moon.” When I’m on a set with Richard Linklater, I am exactly where I want to be. My relationship with my work is one where I wouldn’t want to take a year off because I wouldn’t know what to do.

I’ve noticed a lot of people, when they talk about you, they say they used to find you annoying — who does that guy think he is, writing a novel or directing a movie? — but that they’ve come to really respect and admire you for the fact that you try to do so many different things and you’ve really kept at it. How do you feel about it when you hear people talk about you in that way?

Hawke: I think they’re right too. It’s a general suspicion and if you can’t withstand that suspicion, then you should stop. Like you have to pass through that if you’re serious and you have to be willing to be criticized, to be made fun of. It’s a small luxury tax for getting to do it. You really want to be doing it because you want to offer something. And so if you’re offering it, then people can do with it whatever they want. They can throw it away. They don’t have to take it.

I think some of the stuff that was happening to me when I was younger, facing that attitude was really actually good for me. I mean, I hated it. We all want to be liked and understood and for people to understand our intentions and know that our aim is true and we’re coming from a good place. All of us crave that. But you just can’t give it too much credit. And you’ve just got to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

LeBron James downplayed any suggestion of a rift between him and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss on Thursday following an ESPN report that detailed how the now-minority owner of the team had started to turn on the Lakers superstar.

“Quite frankly, I don’t really get involved in that, or the reports, or whatever the case may be,” James said after the Lakers lost 112-104 to the Clippers at Intuit Dome.

The report detailed how years of in-fighting between the Buss siblings led to the family selling a majority stake of the team to Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year. As the franchise struggled to recapture the magic established under Jerry Buss, Jeanie had grown distant and resentful, the report said, that James didn’t take accountability for involvement with the decision to acquire Russell Westbrook in 2021. She reportedly floated the possibility of trading James to the Clippers in 2022 and didn’t believe James was grateful when the Lakers drafted Bronny James in 2024.

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Lakers star LeBron James responds to a report stating there is a rift between him and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss.

But LeBron James brushed it off.

“At the end of the day, when I came to this organization, my whole mindset was about restoring excellence,” James said. “The things that I seen growing up with the Lakers — obviously, I didn’t get an opportunity to watch Showtime [era], but I know the history. Then the early 2000s with Shaq [O’Neal] and [Kobe Bryant], and then what Kob did and those couple runs with him and Pau [Gasol]. So my whole mindset was like, ‘How can I get that feeling back to the Lakers organization?’ … And then I was able to do that along with, you know, 14, 16, other guys winning the championship, bringing the championship here.”

The Lakers’ 2020 championship — in James’ second season with the team — helped the franchise tie rival Boston for the most championships in league history. But the Celtics have since pulled ahead with an 18th NBA title.

The Lakers have won two playoff series in the five seasons since their last championship and have been eliminated in the first round in back-to-back seasons. They stunned the NBA by acquiring Luka Doncic in a midseason trade last season but are struggling to hang on in the competitive Western Conference. They have lost six of their last nine games.

James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers (26-17) cut a 26-point third-quarter deficit to three points with 1:28 remaining when James converted a three-point play. But the Clippers, who have won 14 of their last 17 games starting with their last win over the Lakers on Dec. 20, answered with a reverse dunk by Ivica Zubac and a dagger three-pointer from John Collins.

“LeBron, for what seems like the 20th straight game, just gave us — he emptied the tank and gave us everything he had,” coach JJ Redick said.

After he missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, James is averaging 22.5 points, six rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. Since guard Austin Reaves re-injured his calf on Christmas Day, James has averaged 24.9 points and played more than 31 minutes in each of the 12 games, including playing two back-to-backs in a week.

The 41-year-old James has achieved some of the most significant milestones of his career with the Lakers. He became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in purple and gold. He is the first player to play 23 NBA seasons. Now in his eighth season with the Lakers, L.A. has been his continuous NBA home for longer than any other city, not counting the separate seven- and four-year stints he had in Cleveland.

When he came to the Lakers, James told Buss that he wanted to return the Lakers to glory, he recalled while accepting the NBA Finals most valuable player award in 2020. Buss, standing nearby in the socially distant trophy ceremony, smiled and clutched her hands to her chest when James brought up her father.

Lakers star LeBron James dunks over Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis on Jan. 9 at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

When asked Thursday of how he thought the partnership with Jeanie Buss has been, James said he thought “it was good, but somebody could see it another way.

“So it’s always two sides of the coin,” James continued.

The two have not talked since the report was published Wednesday, but that’s not out of the ordinary, James attested.

“We never talked,” James said. “I don’t understand. It’s not like me and Jeanie be on the phone talking, guys. I never heard a report about that. Don’t make something out of it that it’s not. It’s always been mutual, it’s always been respect, it’s always been a great partnership.”

LeBron James hugs Jeanie Buss after the Lakers’ NBA championship win on Oct. 11, 2020.

(Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)

“I’ve been here two years, everybody in this organization appreciates LeBron and appreciates what he’s done for the Lakers,” Redick said before the game. “He’s carried on the legacy and also truthfully the burden of being a superstar for the Los Angeles Lakers for eight years. And he’s done it with class. And then personally, I can just speak to it: I’ve enjoyed coaching him at the highest level, like 10 out of 10. That’s not to say LeBron and I don’t have our disagreements, but I know with that guy, he’s gonna put everything into this and it’s been awesome to coach.”

James picked up his $52.6 million player option this summer. It’s the first time in his 23-year NBA career that he’s played on the final year of a deal. He will be up for free agency this summer along with several other players, including guard Austin Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton.

With the trade deadline approaching, James brushed off questions about what steps the Lakers can do to improve their roster. As he turned to walk out of the locker room, James pointed to his hoodie that was printed with the name of his wife Savannah’s podcast.

“Everybody’s crazy,” James said.

Giel Malual and John Kiel walked nearly 1,000 miles from England to Scotland to raise money to build schools in Sudan, but were shocked by what they experienced in the UK

Two men who walked 900 miles from Kent to John O’Groats to raise money to open a school in Sudan has said there was one thing that shocked them about the UK.

Giel Malual and John Kuei, both from Sudan, trekked from Dungeness in Kent to John o’Groats in Caithness over 33 days.

Given the current political climate, Giel admitted he was worried about how he and John would be treated and received on their long journey. However, this was to be the least of their worries as the nation opened its doors to help Giel and John in whatever way they could.

The pair said they were inundated with messages of support from people offering hot meals, free rooms, that some Airbnb hosts refunded them, and that people would stop their cars to chat and make donations.

All of this, Giel said, gave them a greater feeling of the impact of a “loud minority” that hid the truth about the UK.

He told the Guardian: “We hear a lot of negativity from a loud minority in this country…with the political dynamic going on in the country, we thought people may have some reservations about us.

“But we have seen for ourselves there’s nothing to actually fear.”

Beginning in December last year, the pair originally aimed to raise £35,000 to open a school at a Sudanese refugee camp in Chad, but their walk was so warmly received that they have now raised £90,000 and plan to build multiple schools instead.

The pair were supported by Asylum Speakers, an organisation that aims to help amplify the voices of refugees in the UK and which helped support Giel and John logistically on their trip.

After a gruelling 900 mile walk across England and Scotland, Giel and John both made it to their end destination of Duncansby Head lighthouse in Scotland on Wednesday.

Arriving back in London on Thursday, they were met with a heroes welcome. Giel emphasised the “true value” of British society had been people helping them “without judging us based on what we look like”.

Among the examples of the warm welcome the pair received was when they stopped off in Edinburgh where they were welcomed by the Sudanese community who had organised an event to meet.

In a statement on Instagram at the time, Giel said: “It was an emotional moment for me, I have never cried this hard in my life.”

Jan. 23 (UPI) — The United States has completed its exit from the World Health Organization, the Trump administration said, one year since it began the withdrawal process.

“Like many international organizations, the WHO abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a joint statement on Thursday.

“Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organization pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests.”

Trump initiated the process to withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ intergovernmental health body on the first day of his second term in office via executive order.

Under U.S. law, the United States could withdraw from the WHO after a one-year notice. It also requires the United States, the WHO’s largest financial contributor, to fulfill its financial obligations to the organization for the fiscal year in which the notice was given.

Rubio and Kennedy said the WHO has refused to return the American flag that hung outside its headquarters, asserting that the organization has not approved the United States’ withdrawal due to outstanding payments.

The pair neither confirmed nor denied whether the United States was negligent on its bills but said that on its way out, “the WHO tarnished and trashed everything that American has done for it.”

“From our days as its primary founder, primary financial backer and primary champion until now, our final day, the insults to America continue,” they said.

The U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited to completing the withdrawal and “to safeguard the health and safety of the American people.”

“All U.S. funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives has ceased,” they said.

UPI has contacted the WHO for comment.

Trump originally withdrew the United States from the WHO during his first term in office, accusing the organization of allegedly enabling China to cover up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and its early outbreak of the disease.

President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s decision on his first day in office in January 2021.

Then, on his first day of his second term in the White House, Trump, via executive order, pulled the United States from the WHO, citing its “mishandling” of the pandemic as well as its seeking “unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries’ assessed payment.”

Trump has sought to distance the United States from the United Nations and its affiliated agencies, and more broadly from multilateral institutions and forums and intergovernmental engagement, under his America First international policy.

Earlier this month, the White House announced the U.S. withdrawal from 35 non-U.N. entities and 31 entities under the U.N. umbrella. Rubio said the organizations affected were deemed “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

Critics and Democrats have chastised Trump and his administration for seeking to pull the United States from the greater global community.

Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO “a shortsighted and misguided abandonment of our global health commitments.”

“Withdrawing from the World Health Organization is scientifically reckless,” Nahass said in a statement. “It fails to acknowledge the fundamental natural history of infectious disease. Global cooperation is not a luxury; it is a biological necessity.”

On the other hand, Mike Waltz, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., celebrated the move.

“We stand proud in our commitment to American sovereignty,” he said on X.

Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished multiple structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) compound in East Jerusalem, a site Israel seized last year. Bulldozers entered the compound under heavy security and razed large buildings that previously housed dozens of UNRWA staff and were reportedly used to store humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza. UNRWA had vacated the premises in early 2025 after Israel ordered the agency to halt operations and leave all its facilities.

UN response and legal claims:
UNRWA strongly condemned the demolitions, calling them an “unprecedented attack” on a UN agency. The organisation said Israeli forces forced out security guards before carrying out the demolition, arguing the action violated international law and the privileges and immunities afforded to United Nations property. UNRWA maintains that the compound remained UN premises despite Israel’s ban on its operations.

Israel’s justification:
Israel rejects UNRWA’s claims of immunity. The Israeli foreign ministry said the compound did not enjoy special legal protection and that its seizure and demolition were conducted in line with Israeli and international law. Israeli authorities have also cited unpaid municipal property taxes of 11 million shekels, arguing the Jerusalem municipality acted only after issuing repeated warnings and following due process.

Political and security context:
The demolition follows Israel’s October 2024 law banning UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibiting Israeli officials from engaging with the agency. Israel accuses UNRWA of systemic bias and alleges that some of its staff were members of Hamas and participated in the October 7, 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis. While UNRWA has dismissed or disciplined some staff, it says Israel has not provided evidence for all accusations.

Status of East Jerusalem:
East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory under international law by the United Nations and most countries, while Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its sovereign capital. This legal divergence lies at the heart of the dispute, particularly over whether Israeli authorities have jurisdiction to demolish UN-linked facilities in the area.

Humanitarian implications:
UNRWA operates across Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the wider Middle East, providing education, healthcare, and social services to millions of Palestinian refugees. Former staff say the demolished buildings were part of the agency’s logistical infrastructure, raising concerns that the action could further disrupt humanitarian operations amid an already severe regional crisis.

Analysis:
The demolition of UNRWA facilities marks a significant escalation in Israel’s confrontation with the UN agency and reflects a broader effort to delegitimise its role in Palestinian affairs. Legally, the move deepens a long-running dispute over the status of UN property in occupied territory and tests the limits of international protections for humanitarian agencies. Politically, it reinforces Israel’s narrative that UNRWA is compromised, while strengthening UN and international criticism that Israel is undermining humanitarian access and international norms. In practical terms, the destruction of aid-related infrastructure risks further weakening relief efforts for Palestinians at a time when humanitarian needs are at historic highs, making the episode as consequential on the ground as it is symbolically charged.

With information from Reuters.

Claudia Winkleman’s theatrical flair and dry commentary has made her an important part of The Traitors since it launched in 2023, with the latest series set to conclude tonight

A man who was at university at the same time as Claudia Winkleman says one thing she tells people “isn’t true”. The Traitors presenter studied art history at the University of Cambridge.

During her time as a student Claudia says she would sleep on the floor after renting a sunbed for £40-a-month. She joked she “curled up like a mushroom” in order to fit the piece of kit into her student digs.

Former BBC 3 controller Stuart Murphy explains that Claudia’s reputation would precede her at Cambridge. Although he dismissed any notion that she wasn’t a “big noise” around the campus.

Speaking in the documentary, Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe, he said: “I was at university the same time as Claudia and people knew of her. She was eccentric, funny, super smart.

“She was one of those people who would turn up to a party and everyone would know she was there because she held court, and then she would leave early. I think a lot of people were really intrigued by Claudia.

“I think her version of events is that she wasn’t a big noise around campus, that is simply not the case.”

Elsewhere Jake Brown, who netted the £94,600 jackpot on The Traitors with co-winner Leanne Quigley recently revealed he was “taken aback” with Claudia’s off-screen behavior.

Speaking to The Sun’s TV Mag, he said: “I was taken aback by how normal she is. Claudia’s one of those celebrities who’s even better than she appears on TV.”

His fellow winner Leanne remarked: “Claudia’s the perfect host. She has a big heart and I think she wanted to check in on us, but she had to keep the persona.”

Claudia, 54, has become a popular face on The Traitors since its launch in 2022. Viewers have been left enamored with her theatrical flair and dry commentary.

Former Traitor Paul Gorton, whose dramatic departure paved the way for Harry Clark to win the series in 2024, also praised Claudia. Speaking to Heat, he said: “She’s a full-on stand-up comedian.”

He added: “Like, she is the funniest, driest person and an extraordinary woman. I’m so glad that she is getting her own chat show off the back of it – I still think there’s so much more that people haven’t seen from her.”

Paul, 37, believes Claudia showed her true colours during an encounter at the Royal Albert Hall last year. He recalled: “Claudia came over and said, ‘How are your kids? I love them,’ and you think, ‘Oh you’re invested in me. You’re not just a host and then you disappear.”

Despite The Traitors now attracting millions of viewers per episode, Claudia confesses she never anticipated such tremendous success. Speaking to Grazia magazine, she reflected: “We didn’t foresee this.

“We went to Scotland with the amazing people who make it and a pair of red fingerless gloves and gave it our best shot. I think people like it because the psychology is extraordinary – just watching people work out whether they’re being lied to. The dynamics feel addictive. I’m completely obsessed.”

The Traitors returns at 8.30pm on BBC One tonight (January 23).

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

CITY SECTION

Alliance Bloomfield 39, Alliance Ted K. Tajima 36

Animo Robinson 72, New Designs University Park 30

Animo Venice 89, Burton 40

Animo Watts 65, New Designs Watts 26

Bert Corona Charter 44, Lakeview Charter 32

Central City Value 76, Animo Bunche 37

Collins Family 48, East College Prep 46

Downtown Magnets 90, Annenberg 23

Hollywood 60, Northridge Academy 58

LA University 94, New West Charter 40

Orthopaedic 49, Aspire Ollin 28

Rise Kohyang 50, Stern 45

San Fernando 59, Panorama 54

Triumph Charter 102, CHAMPS 43

WISH Academy 71, Animo Pat Brown 53

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alpaugh 39, Coast Union 28

Alta Loma 32, Colony 30

Beaumont 45, Redlands 43

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 67, Paraclete 49

Channel Islands 47, Fillmore 42

Chino 90, Ontario 47

Chino Hills 69, Los Osos 67

Colton 57, Rim of the World 32

Compton Early College 49, Pacific Lutheran 47

CSDR 71, Anza Hamilton 25

Don Lugo 65, Chaffey 56

Eisenhower 67, Bloomington 47

Elsinore 89, West Valley 54

Excelsior Charter 84, ACE 36

Geffen Academy 52, New Roads 44

Glendale Adventist 64, Beacon Hill 55

Glenn 39, Edgewood 36

Godinez 70, Garden Grove 43

Highland Hall 43, Lighthouse Christian 21

Holy Martyrs Armenian 66, Buckley 46

Jurupa Hills 58, Grand Terrace 41

La Palma Kennedy 69, Placentia Valencia 63

Mesrobian 82, Southwestern Academy 29

Milken 68, AGBU 62

Montclair 66, Diamond Ranch 59

Nordhoff 46, Carpinteria 40

Ocean View 81, Westminster 36

Palm Desert 66, Shadow Hills 55

Palm Springs 52, Xavier Prep 22

Rancho Cucamonga 66, Upland 37

Rancho Mirage 79, La Quinta 34

Redlands East Valley 71, Citrus Valley 68

Riverside Notre Dame 61, Kaiser 59

San Jacinto Valley Academy 67, SJDLCS 20

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 50, Tustin 41

Santa Clarita Christian 73, Lancaster Baptist 45

Santa Rosa Academy 63, California Military Institute 46

Segerstrom 49, Santa Ana 38

Summit 80, Carter 57

Tahquitz 48, San Jacinto 36

Tarbut V’ Torah 77, Newport Christian 63

Temecula Prep 78, Nuview Bridge 26

Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian 61, Sequoyah School 47

Trinity Classical Academy 72, Desert Christian 61

Vistamar 83, CAMS 25

Weaver 51, Noli Indian 27

INTERSECTIONAL

Georgia-Cumberland Academy 52, Loma Linda Academy 30

San Fernando Valley Academy 80, Summit View 19

San Gabriel Academy 56, Greater Atlanta Adventist (GA) 18

San Gabriel Academy 75, Chisolm Trail Academy (TX) 47

Spencerville Adventist Academy (MD) 49, Loma Linda Academy 43

GIRLS

CITY SECTION

Alliance Ted K. Tajima 32, Alliance Bloomfield 22

Animo Robinson 41, New Designs University Park 4

Animo Venice 34, Burton 12

Animo Watts 88, New Designs Watts 2

Annenberg 32, Downtown Magnets 12

Aspire Ollin 44, Orthopaedic 9

Central City Value 56, Animo Bunche 16

East College Prep 32, Collins Family 13

New West Charter 40, LA University 21

Northridge Academy 82, VAAS 11

San Fernando 63, Panorama 16

Stern 41, Rise Kohyang 17

Vaughn 34, Fulton 10

SOUTHERN SECTION

Adelanto 67, Granite Hills 14

Alemany 100, Marymount 40

Alpaugh 53, Coast Union 27

Beaumont 54, Redlands 36

Beckman 59, San Clemente 43

Bishop Diego 59, Coastal Christian 47

Bishop Montgomery 63, St. Anthony 48

Buena 49, Santa Barbara 18

Calvary Baptist 67, Bethel Christian 29

CAMS 43, Vistamar 42

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 46, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 8

Cate 56, Santa Barbara Providence 18

Chaffey 52, Don Lugo 40

Chino 68, Ontario 47

Chino Hills 54, Upland 26

Citrus Valley 41, Redlands East Valley 27

Colony 57, Alta Loma 32

Colton 36, Arroyo Valley 31

Corona Centennial 65, Moreno Valley 54

CSDR 64, Anza Hamilton 30

Elsinore 60, West Valley 18

El Toro 49, Mission Viejo 34

Fontana 67, Grand Terrace 35

Foothill Tech 42, Thacher 35

Gardena Serra 74, Ramona Convent 29

Harvard-Westlake 55, Marlborough 36

Highland 40, Littlerock 21

Holy Martyrs Armenian 46, ISLA 28

Jurupa Hills 47, Bloomington 23

Kaiser 41, Rim of the World 15

Knight 61, Palmdale 27

Laguna Beach 45, Capistrano Valley 27

Lakewood St. Joseph 54, St. Monica 45

Lancaster 46, Quartz Hill 41

La Quinta 68, Rancho Mirage 18

Los Alamitos 65, Corona del Mar 33

Marina 45, Fountain Valley 40

Mary Star of the Sea 58, San Gabriel Mission 16

Mater Dei 58, JSerra 48

Milken 45, AGBU 30

Montclair 35, Diamond Ranch 24

Newport Christian 28, Anaheim Discovery 20

New Roads 32, Geffen Academy 15

Notre Dame Academy 50, Flintridge Sacred Heart 27

NOVA Academy 55, First Baptist 9

Oakwood 55, Le Lycée 7

Pilibos 61, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 59

Rosary Academy 58, Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 37

Samueli Academy 57, Legacy College Prep 9

San Dimas 52, South Hills 28

San Jacinto 50, Tahquitz 39

San Marcos 62, Oxnard 24

Santa Clarita Christian 61, Lancaster Baptist 44

Santa Margarita 78, Orange Lutheran 73

Shadow Hills 54, Palm Desert 39

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 74, Louisville 49

Sierra Canyon 93, Chaminade 35

South Hills Academy 23, Animo Leadership 15

Southlands Christian 66, Vista Meridian 0

Spring Valley Academy 46, Loma Linda Academy 32

St. Bernard 62, Pomona Catholic 8

St. Bonaventure 85, Santa Clara 12

St. Genevieve 52, Paraclete 38

St. Paul 55, Sacred Heart of LA 44

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 70, St. Mary’s Academy 43

Temecula Prep 66, Nuview Bridge 30

Trabuco Hills 60, Tesoro 57

Trinity Classical Academy 67, Desert Christian 32

Valley Christian Academy 46, Lompoc Cabrillo 38

Victor Valley 45, Barstow 30

Western Christian 49, Webb 8

Xavier Prep 41, Palm Springs 36

Yucaipa 68, Cajon 37

INTERSECTIONAL

Loma Linda Academy 37, Collegedale Academy (TN) 28

Redlands Adventist Academy 51, Pine Hills Adventist 23

The hidden gem village features a medieval castle with ghost tours and a rare herd of wild cattle

Nestled amidst the expansive fields of the Northumberland countryside lies a charming little village with a fascinating history and a storybook castle.

Chillingham has carved out a reputation for itself due to two unique features – its historic castle and its distinctive cattle. The village boasts what is believed to be the UK’s most haunted castle, Chillingham Castle, which traces its roots back to the 12th century as it was fully fortified in 1344.

The renowned estate has remained within the same family lineage since its inception and continues to be private property, attracting visitors keen to experience its alleged hauntings. For those daring enough to venture inside, the Torture Chamber and nocturnal Ghost Tours are bound to leave you with some hair-raising memories.

It’s thought to have had over 100 spirits spotted within its grounds, testament to its rich history.

Documented paranormal activity includes hearing strange voices, footsteps and even sightings of moving objects, so much so that keen ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts choose to spend the night or conduct their own ghost-hunting within the castle.

While it is free to explore the grounds, Chillingham Castle provides travellers with the opportunity to stay in an authentic mediaeval fortress. It offers a selection of courtyard apartments, a stay in the tower and even a night in the old coaching rooms.

Recent guests have raved about their visits on TripAdvisor.

One visitor wrote: “Our stay at Chillingham Castle was absolutely incredible from start to finish. The castle itself is breathtaking, steeped in history, and beautifully preserved, and the ghost tour was a genuine highlight-engaging, atmospheric, and wonderfully done.”

Another guest added: “We stayed at the castle for 2 nights in the dairy apartment, as we were doing a paranormal investigation on the Friday.

“The castle is magnificent. The staff are super friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. It was like stepping back in time. Although the spirits weren’t interacting as much as we’d like, the energy and atmosphere was certainly haunting.”

Alongside Chillingham Castle stands the equally renowned Chillingham Cattle, a wild herd that has roamed the village following centuries of strict inbreeding.

The herd originated when approximately 90 animals were enclosed during the Middle Ages and have continued breeding within these grounds ever since.

As of 2022, the herd is believed to comprise 138 animals, split evenly between males and females. What makes them extraordinary is their completely untouched nature – left to breed, live and die in their natural habitat without human intervention, rendering them exceptionally rare.

The animals are widely regarded as a ‘scientific marvel’, since inbreeding throughout history typically leads to extinction, yet they continue to thrive in the very same grounds of Chillingham Park.

What sets them apart is their behaviour, as it’s entirely natural, providing us with additional insight into the lives of animals that may have preceded them. We can also gain knowledge about the spontaneous behaviours of animals not influenced by humans.

Israel has spent more than two years attacking Gaza in its genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave. It has destroyed the majority of its housing and infrastructure, and killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, leaving the rest of Gaza’s population facing a harsh winter with inadequate food, medicine, and shelter.

And yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Gaza – this week joined US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, established to oversee the reconstruction and governance of Gaza.

It opens up the question of what Netanyahu – and Israel – actually want from the Palestinian territory, and whether they want the territory to rebuild or just want a continuation of the status quo.

Ahead of Netanyahu lies a difficult journey, observers say. With Israeli elections looming later this year, he must appear to the world and the Israeli public as working with US ambitions for Gaza.

But he also needs to maintain his governing coalition, which relies in part on elements, such as his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who are not just opposed to the reconstruction of Gaza, but also opposed to the ceasefire in a territory that he and his allies – as religious Zionists – regard themselves as divinely entitled to settle upon.

So far, things do not seem to be going entirely Netanyahu’s way. He has failed to delay the transition to the second phase of Trump’s three-phase ceasefire plan, despite Hamas’s refusal to disarm. Similarly, despite his objections, Gaza’s Rafah crossing is due to open in both directions, allowing people in and out of the enclave, next week. Lastly, his protestations against Turkiye and Qatar joining the Board of Peace, and potentially deploying forces to Gaza as part of a proposed International Stabilisation Force, also appear to have been overruled by the US.

Settlement or security

At home, Netanyahu’s cabinet remains divided on Gaza. On Monday, Smotrich not only slammed US proposals as “bad for Israel”, but on Monday, called for the US base in southern Israel responsible for overseeing the ceasefire to be dismantled. Meanwhile, others in the Israeli parliament have primarily focused on the upcoming elections, aiming only to galvanise their political base, regardless of ideology.

Netanyahu continues to insist that Hamas will be disarmed, and the Israeli military is working on razing territory all along the border with Gaza, creating a buffer zone deep into the coastal enclave.

Even if Hamas does not completely lose all its weapons, it has been weakened, and pushing Palestinians further away from the Israeli border allows the Israeli government to project the image of security for its population.

The Israeli public, exhausted after more than two years of war, largely relegates the consequences of Israel’s actions to the back pages of national media.

“The public is deeply divided on Gaza and the Board of Peace,” said American-Israeli political consultant and pollster Dahlia Scheindlin. “Though there’s a minority bloc favouring resettling Gaza, most of Israeli society is splintered. People typically view Gaza with a mixture of fear and a need for security, driven entirely by the events of October 2023. They want Israel to remain in Gaza in some form and don’t trust outsiders to handle it. At the same time, there’s hope that US involvement could achieve what two years of war couldn’t.”

“However, nearly everyone starts from the same point: Anything is better than going back to war,” Scheindlin said.

“They don’t have a strategy, and everything is chaos,” peace campaigner Gershon Baskin said, referring to Israel’s leaders. “They’re in election mode and only speaking to their base. I went to the Knesset yesterday. It’s like watching lunatics in a house of madness. It’s a disaster.”

For much of the public, Palestinians remain invisible. “They don’t exist. Israel has probably killed more than 100,000, but the majority of Israelis don’t know or care what’s going on the other side of the border. We even dispute there’s a border; it’s just ours,” Baskin said. “We don’t even see it on TV. All they show are old clips on loop. You can find images of Gaza on social media, but you have to go looking for it.

“Most Israelis don’t.”

Divided politics

Many Israeli leaders agree on one thing – that there will not be a Palestinian state.

How to reach that goal, or the details that accompany it and how Gaza fits into it all, are open to interpretation.

Irrespective of the outcome of the US-backed Gaza ceasefire process, Israel will remain alongside a territory, Gaza, against whose population it is accused of genocide. Currently, according to analysts within Israel, there appears to be no plan for the coexistence that geography dictates, only the unspoken suspicion that outside powers, in this case the US, are not really capable of determining how best to achieve it.

Even Israel’s commitment to US plans is open to question, with Netanyahu – when safely outside of Trump and his team’s earshot – framing the ceasefire’s second phase as a “declarative move”, rather than the definite sign of progress described by US envoy Steve Witkoff.

“The genocide hasn’t stopped. It’s continuing; it’s just moved from active to passive,” said Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif. “Israel is not bombing Gaza as before, but now it is leaving the people there to freeze and starve. This isn’t happening on its own. This is government policy.”

Numerous analysts, including political economist Shir Hever, questioned Israeli leaders’ capacity for long-term planning.

Decisions, such as the attacks on Iran and Qatar, Hever said, were driven as much by domestic politics as overarching strategy. The Iran attack in June, for instance, coincided with a pending vote of no confidence in the government, while the Qatar strike in September may have been an attempt to refocus public attention away from Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, he told Al Jazeera.

“There is no plan. Long-term planning is not how Israeli governments work,” Hever told Al Jazeera. “Smotrich and others have a long-term plan – they want to settle Gaza and expel Palestinians – but in real politics, there is no plan. Everything is short-term.”

Uncertain future

“I’m more optimistic than I have been for a long time,” Baskin, whose mediation between Israel and the PLO in the ’90s proved pivotal during the Oslo Accords, “There’s a new factor in play that hasn’t been there before: a US president that the Israeli government can’t say no to,” he continued, referring to the US decision to override Israeli objections against moving into phase two before Hamas’s disarmament, the inclusion of Qatar and Turkiye in the Board of Peace and the decision to open the Rafah crossing.

Cassif was less hopeful. “I don’t have any faith in this Board of Peace,” he said, “I think it’s now government policy to keep frustrating and delaying plans to form a stabilisation force; to just let people die while that happens.

“People accuse me of saying these things for politically cynical reasons, but of course, that’s not true,” he said, “I wish I didn’t have to say them at all.”

“It’s painful,” he continued, “And it’s painful to me not just as a humanist and a socialist, but as a Jew.”

South Africa has launched an inquiry into Iran’s participation in joint naval drills with BRICS nations last week, apparently against the orders of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

BRICS is a group of 10 countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The acronym BRICS represents the initial letters of the founding members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The group, formed in 2006, initially focused on trade, but has since expanded its mandate to include security and cultural exchanges.

It concluded a week of joint naval drills in South African waters on January 16. The drills have caused controversy in the country and drawn the ire of the United States.

Although South Africa regularly holds drills with Russia and China, the latest maritime training comes amid heightened tensions between the US and many of the group’s members, particularly Iran, which until last week was grappling with mass protests at home that turned deadly.

Pretoria said the exercise, named Will for Peace 2026, was essential for ensuring maritime safety and international cooperation. The training “brings together navies from BRICS Plus countries for … joint maritime safety operations [and] interoperability drills”, a statement from the South African military noted before the exercises.

However, US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has previously accused BRICS of being “anti-American” and has threatened its members with tariffs, has strongly criticised the naval exercises.

Here’s what we know about the exercises and why they were controversial:

What were the drills for?

South Africa hosted the BRICS naval exercise, which included warships from participating countries, on January 9-16.

China led the training, which took place near the southwestern coastal city of Simon’s Town, which is home to a major South African naval base.

Exercises in rescue and maritime strike operations as well as technical exchanges were planned, according to China’s Ministry of National Defense. All BRICS countries were invited.

Captain Nndwakhulu Thomas Thamaha, South Africa’s joint task force commander, said at the opening ceremony that the operation was not just a military exercise but a statement of intent by BRICS countries to forge closer alliances with each other.

“It is a demonstration of our collective resolve to work together,” Thamaha said. “In an increasingly complex maritime environment, cooperation such as this is not an option. It is essential.”

The purpose, he said, was to “ensure the safety of shipping lanes and maritime economic activities”.

South African Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa told journalists that the drills had been planned before the current tensions between some BRICS members and the US.

While some BRICS countries may face issues with Washington, Holomisa clarified that they “are not our enemies”.

Who participated and how?

China and Iran deployed destroyer warships to South Africa, while Russia and the United Arab Emirates sent corvettes, traditionally the smallest warships.

South Africa, the host country, dispatched a frigate.

Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil joined the exercises as observers.

India, the current chair of the group, chose not to participate and distanced itself from the war games.

“We clarify that the exercise in question was entirely a South African initiative in which some BRICS members took part,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “It was not a regular or institutionalised BRICS activity, nor did all BRICS members take part in it. India has not participated in previous such activities.”

Why is South Africa facing US backlash over the drills?

The US is angry that South Africa allowed Iran to participate in the drills at a time when Tehran was accused of launching a violent crackdown on antigovernment protests that had spread across the country.

The protests broke out in late December, when shopkeepers in Tehran closed up their businesses and demonstrated against inflation and the falling value of the rial. These protests swelled into a broader challenge to Iran’s rulers, as thousands of people took to the streets nationwide to demonstrate over a few weeks.

Security forces in some areas cracked down on the crowds, resulting in the deaths of “several thousands”, according to a statement on Saturday by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. While activists said thousands of protesters were killed, the Iranian government said this was an exaggeration and claimed police officers and security service members formed a significant chunk of those who were killed.

The Iranian authorities also claimed the US and Israel had armed and funded “terrorists” to inflame the protests. They said agents affiliated with foreign powers, and not state forces, were responsible for the deaths of civilians, including protesters.

The mass uprising is one of the most disruptive the country has witnessed since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been arrested.

Before the BRICS drills, the US warned South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that Iran’s participation would reflect badly on his country, according to a report by the Daily Maverick, a South African newspaper.

Ramaphosa subsequently ordered Iran to withdraw from the exercises on January 9, the paper reported.

However, three Iranian vessels that had already been deployed to South Africa continued to participate.

In a statement on January 15, the US embassy in South Africa accused the South African military of defying orders from its own government and said it was “cozying up to Iran”.

“It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, jailing, and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves,” the statement read.

“South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cozying up to Iran.”

South African political analyst Reneva Fourie said Washington was merely fishing for reasons to criticise South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice for its war in Gaza.

“The US is looking for an entry point,” she said.

The US “is facing increased infringement on freedom of expression and association, democracy and human rights as well as increased militarisation. The US should focus on its own dire state instead of meddling in the affairs of others.”

Tensions over the military drills are only the latest point of contention between the US and Iran.

During the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025, Washington sided with Israel, and on June 22, the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran. Initial assessments from US officials noted that all three were severely damaged. Iran retaliated by bombing a military base in Qatar where US troops are positioned, in what was largely seen as a face-saving exercise.

Which other BRICS members have tensions with the US?

Nearly all members of BRICS have problems with the current US government.

Besides the dispute over Iran joining the naval drills, South Africa is also caught up in a battle of narratives with the Trump administration, which alleges, without any evidence, that the country’s minority white population is being subjected to a “genocide“. In 2025, Trump established a refugee programme for white Afrikaners wishing to “flee” to the US.

The US has also condemned South Africa’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice in December 2023.

The US currently levies tariffs on South African exports of up to 40 percent as a result.

China has been locked in a tense trade war with the US for more than a year. After slapping each other with tariffs exceeding 100 percent early last year, these were suspended pending trade talks. But China then restricted exports of its rare earth metals, which are required for technology crucial for defence, and Trump again threatened more tariffs before the two sides reached an agreement in late October, under which China agreed to “pause” restrictions on the export of some metals.

Russia is also on Washington’s radar because of its war in Ukraine.

Just three days before the drills began, the US seized a Venezuela-linked Russian oil tanker in the North Atlantic due to its sanctions on both countries.

On January 3, the US military abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from the capital, Caracas. Both now face drugs and weapons charges in a New York federal court. In September, the US had begun a campaign of air strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean, claiming they were trafficking drugs to the US, but providing no evidence.

India has been hit with 50 percent tariffs on its exports to the US, partly as punishment for continuing to buy Russian oil.

This month, the US withdrew from the India-led International Solar Alliance, although this withdrawal was part of a broader move to pull the US out of several international bodies.

Harsh V Pant, a geopolitical analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank, told Al Jazeera that, for India, keeping out of the naval drills was “about balancing ties with the US”.

Pant added that in India’s opinion, “war games” were never part of the BRICS mandate.

While BRICS was founded as an economic bloc, it has widened its mandate to include security.

What has the response been in South Africa?

Ramaphosa’s government has also faced some backlash over the drills at home.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), a former opposition party that is now part of the governing coalition and largely represents the interests of the white minority, blamed Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola for failing to hold the Department of Defence to account.

Lamola is from the African National Congress (ANC) party, which, until 2024, governed South Africa alone.

“By allowing the Department of Defence to proceed unchecked in these military exercises, Minister Lamola has effectively outsourced South Africa’s foreign policy to the whims of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), exposing the country to serious diplomatic and economic risk,” the DA said in a statement two days after the exercises started.

“South Africa is now perceived not as a principled non-aligned state, but as a willing host for military cooperation with authoritarian regimes.”

What is the South African government saying now?

South African officials have shifted from initially justifying the drills to distancing themselves from the Iran debacle.

Despite initial statements from officials that the drills would go ahead as planned, Ramaphosa eventually appeared to bow to US pressure and, on January 9, ordered that Iran be excluded, local media reported.

Those instructions do not seem to have been followed by the South African Defence Department or the military, however.

In a statement on January 16, Defence Minister Angie Motshekga’s office said Ramaphosa’s instructions had been “clearly communicated to all parties concerned, agreed upon and adhered to as such”.

The statement went on to say that the minister had established an inquiry board “to look into the circumstances surrounding the allegations and establish whether the instruction of the President may have been misrepresented and/or ignored as issued to all”.

A report on the investigation is expected on Friday.

This is not the first time South Africa has been criticised for its military relations with Iran.

In August, its military chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, prompted anger from the DA when he embarked on a trip to Tehran and affirmed that South Africa and Iran had “common goals”.

His statement came just weeks after the Iran-Israel war. He was also reportedly critical of Israel while in Tehran.

Some ANC critics called for Maphwanya’s firing, but he has remained in office.