Month: January 2026

Nigella Lawson is said to be the favourite to replace Prue Leith as a judge on Channel 4 show The Great British Bake Off, after the judge announced she was stepping down after nine years

Nigella Lawson is favourite to replace Prue Leith on The Great British Bake Off. The much-loved judge has made the announcement she has quit the Channel 4 show

“After nine series and judging more than 400 challenges, I have decided to step down as a judge on The Great British Bake Off. Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison and Noel and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4,” she wrote.

“But now feels like the right time to step back (I’m 86 for goodness sake!), there’s so much I’d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden. Whoever joins the team, I’m sure they’ll love it as much as I have. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.”

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Love Productions added: “Huge thanks to Prue who has been a brilliant judge on Bake Off and a much loved presence in the tent for nearly a decade. From her genuine expertise and encouragement of the bakers to her ability to drop innocent innuendos that reduce the entire tent (and the audience at home) to tears of laughter, Prue will always have a piece of Bake Off’s heart.”

Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz also issued a statement thanking Prue for her work on the show: “Prue Leith has been a joyous presence in the tent, pairing absolute culinary authority with great generosity and empathy for the bakers We are grateful for her passion, her wit, her ineffable style, and all the summers she spent in the tent.

“She leaves an indelible mark on the show and all its bakers. We will miss her wry, gentle judgement but look forward to working with her on new projects.” Prue’s replacement will be announced soon but Nigella Lawson is said to be favourite to take the role.

“Contract discussions are in the final stages and, all being well, Nigella will be heating up the famous tent soon. Nigella’s recognised worldwide. She’s got the cheeky banter down to a tee, with all her work laden with the fun innuendos and naughty patter that are synonymous with Bake Off,” a source said of the possibility.

Currently, Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond host the show, whilst Paul Hollywood has also been a longstanding judge on the programme, with Prue initially replacing Mary Berry.

Would you like to see Nigella replace Prue on The Great British Bake Off? Take our poll and comment below.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

NUUK, Greenland — So far north in the middle of winter, the sun had barely crept above Greenland’s ice sheet midday when President Trump began his remarks. But Jinny Holm was not going to miss them.

She turns on the television every morning these days, keeping it on in the background, monitoring the developments of a foreign leader who otherwise would matter little in her life if not for his fixation on conquering her ancient homeland.

“My son, he has been a little bit worried about this military, so I have been talking to him — ‘Don’t worry. He cannot buy us,’” said Holm, a caregiver, describing her 9-year-old. “So that’s really good, that he said he will not use military force.”

In his remarks at Davos, Switzerland, Trump walked back threats to use military force to annex the semiautonomous Danish territory — news that was received with overwhelming relief here. Yet few trust Trump enough to take him at his word on any given day.

“I don’t want to be American, because I am Inuit,” she continued. “I am born here. In my future, I have grandson, and he will be Greenlandic.”

In remarks to the annual economic forum in Switzerland, which were focused largely on the fate of Greenland, Trump made no mention of the people here, whose lives have been consumed by confusion and concern over his designs.

• Share via Close extra sharing options

It has become such an overbearing topic around town that locals have grown weary discussing it. Journalists are making their presence known in Greenland’s largest city, posting tripods at the few major intersections that make up Nuuk. Flying to the regional capital — which, by law and practice, means flying into the European Union — even a border agent in Reykjavik, Iceland, couldn’t help but comment on the news.

“You’re flying into that storm?” she asked.

Many locals let signage speak for themselves: “We Are Not For Sale” posters are common, alongside the occasional silhouette of Greenland, donning an orange toupee, crossed out in red. Several locals said they are flying Greenland’s red-and-white flag for the first time.

“He talks so much s—,” said Silas, a student from Nuuk, who dismissed the idea of joining the United States due to its healthcare system.

Finn Meinel, a lawyer born and raised in Nuuk, said there is “universal” disapproval of Trump’s territorial approach toward the island.

“Of course it’s nice to see that the wording has been softened, and that increases the odds of a nonviolent solution to this conflict,” Meinel said. But he took a moment before answering whether he viewed the United States as a force for good in the world.

“A lot of people are disappointed,” he said, “and for trust to be rebuilt with the Greenlandic people, that will take quite some time.”

Cal Egedeboggild, also born and raised in Greenland, said he had lost trust in Trump after precipitating an unnecessary crisis.

“He’s threatening, he’s threatening and he’s threatening. He gets his way by threatening. But does he create trust? No,” said Cal Egede Boggild, a former university professor working at the Ministry of Education. “There’s no such thing as a friendly annexation.”

A pedestrian at sunset in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 21, 2026.

(Evgeniy Maloletka / Associated Press)

Like so many others, he has closely followed developments out of Washington. After conveying frustration with the U.S. government, he paused to apologize for being so direct.

“There are Americans, and there is Trump. They are two things,” Egede Boggild said. “I don’t distrust Americans. I distrust the Trump government. It’s only power — that’s all it is. The argument they are making don’t hold.”

Those arguments are coming solely from the White House, where Trump himself, with no meaningful assistance from policy wonks, has run the United States headlong into a diplomatic rupture with its closest allies, Defense and State Department sources tell The Times.

Trump’s remarks Wednesday, suddenly retreating from his threat of military force, could mitigate some of the damage inflicted on Washington’s most cherished relationships. But there is a risk his pivot has come too late. Major transatlantic partners, from France and the United Kingdom to Canada, expressed this week a rare sense of resignation, as if they have had enough with Trump’s foreign policy tactics, viewed across Europe as increasingly boorish and unrestrained.

The president’s moves may ultimately result in a new defense agreement over Greenland. But it may also be remembered as the moment where Europe broke away from the United States, exasperated by a world run solely by hard American power at the whims of an ever imperial presidency.

In Greenland, for its part, it may be remembered as a moment that rallied its small, remote population to its value and purpose.

“I think people are coming together, and are more socially aware — taking care of those who need to be supported, caring for one another,” Meinel said.

“People are more friendly,” he continued, “putting ourselves together as a group against an external foe.”

What else you should be reading

The must-read: https://www.latimes.com/sports/newsletter/2026-01-20/rams-seahawks-super-bowl-title
The deep dive: Celebrity PR firm helped LAFD shape messaging after Palisades fire
The L.A. Times Special: 2026 Oscar nominations: Our expert’s predictions in 11 key categories

More to come,
Michael Wilner
—
Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

From Bill Shaikin: This was pretty audacious, even by the Dodgers’ standard. Their $17-million left fielder flopped last year, so they threw $240 million at another corner outfielder to supplement the three most valuable players already in their lineup.

Still, as Kyle Tucker smiled for the cameras at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, it was hard to imagine this one man could sign here and take down the 2027 season.

On Tuesday the Athletic quoted one ownership source that portrayed the Tucker signing as a tipping point that made it “a 100 percent certainty” owners would push for a salary cap when the collective bargaining agreement expires this fall. Owners have been complaining about the Dodgers’ signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell and Tanner Scott, and on and on, and it sounds silly that the signing of one Kyle Daniel Tucker would turn the owners in a direction many of them already indicated they want to go.

“I agree,” said the man who signed him, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

If baseball comes up with new rules next year, the Dodgers will abide by them. Until then, Friedman said, their “only focus” is on delivering the best possible product to the fans who pack Dodger Stadium every night and shop the team store like crazy. In return, he said, the Dodgers can sell themselves to stars like Tucker.

“A destination spot is where players and their families feel incredibly well taken care of,” Friedman said. “If they’re playing in front of 7,000 people, they don’t feel that as much.

“Playing in front of 50,000 people, and seeing the passion and how much people live and die for the Dodgers each summer and each October, I think, adds to the experience and allure of playing here.”

Continue reading here

‘I want to clear my name’: Yasiel Puig fights charges of lying to federal investigators in trial

Teammates believe in Matthew Stafford

From Gary Klein: Whatever the circumstance — cold, snow, rain, wind, noise — Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is cool, calm and collected.

But the 17th-year pro is not quiet.

Especially in the huddle. Especially at decibel-delirious Lumen Field in Seattle.

“He’s screaming,” tight end Davis Allen said Wednesday, chuckling. “He’s not talking normal, that’s for sure… He does a great job making sure guys are where they need to be.”

Since joining the Rams in 2021, Stafford is 3-1 at Lumen Field, where the Rams will play the Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game.

Asked how he thought he had played in Seattle, Stafford instantly ticked through all of the Rams’ performances.

A Thursday night victory in 2021. Sitting out 2022 because of injury. A walk-off touchdown pass to win in overtime in 2024, and an overtime loss this season in Week 16.

“It’s always a great environment,” Stafford said.

Continue reading here

NFL playoffs schedule

All times Pacific
Conference championships
Sunday

AFC
Noon
No. 2 New England at No. 1 Denver (CBS, Paramount+)

NFC
3:30 p.m.
No. 5 Rams at No. 1 Seattle (FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes)

Super Bowl

Sunday, Feb. 8, 3:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock

UCLA women rout Purdue

From Steve Galluzzo: Coming off Sunday’s 30-point win over then-No. 12 Maryland — UCLA’s largest margin of victory over a top-15 team since 1992 — it would have been easy for the Bruins to take unranked Purdue lightly.

Instead, the UCLA women played with the intensity and focus characteristic of an NCAA tournament game, dominating from start to finish in a 96-48 triumph Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.

The third-ranked Bruins (18-1 overall, 8-0 in Big Ten) won for the 12th straight time and are more than halfway to tying the program record of 23 in a row set last year. The 48-point win marked the sixth straight by 18 points or more as the Bruins moved out of a tie with Iowa for sole possession of first place in the conference.

All five starters scored in double figures. Gabriela Jaquez led the way with 25 points on 10-for-11 shooting, Lauren Betts had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Kiki Rice and Charlisse Leger-Walker each added 15 points and Gianna Kneepkens had 14.

Continue reading here

UCLA box score

Big Ten standings

Alijah Arenas debuts in USC’s loss

From Ryan Kartje: As he laid in a hospital bed last April, lucky to be alive, Alijah Arenas dreamed of this moment. He thought of it in the weeks and months after his Tesla Cybertruck hit a tree and burst into flames in Reseda, leaving him hospitalized for six days. And he thought of it over a long summer and fall spent rehabbing the injured knee that failed him in his first week back to practice at USC.

Nine difficult months spent waiting for the day to finally culminated Wednesday night with Arenas roaring into the lane, with just one defender standing between him and the hoop. The five-star freshman had committed to USC with every intention of bolting for the NBA after one season, only for the setbacks of the past year to put his likely lottery status in doubt.

Now here, as he lifted toward the hoop early in his college debut, Arenas spun around that lone defender in mid-air and softly laid in a finger roll, reminding everyone in attendance of the talent they’d waited so eagerly to see.

But what unfolded from that moment on Wednesday night probably wasn’t how Arenas or any Trojan would have envisioned it, as Northwestern, a team previously winless in the Big Ten, spoiled the star freshman’s debut and left USC spiraling with a 74-68 defeat.

“Critical, critical loss tonight,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “I can’t. I mean, just brutal.”

Continue reading here

USC box score

Big Ten standings

Gary Patterson to the Trojans?

From Ryan Kartje: In his years-long pursuit to build a great defense at USC, Lincoln Riley first entrusted the job to a familiar face from his Oklahoma days. When that failed, Riley handed the reins of his defense — and a massive paycheck — to the crosstown rival’s rising star … who then left two years later.

Now, in his third try at finding a leader for USC’s defense, Riley is working to lure a Hall of Famer to Hollywood.

USC is closing in on a deal to hire Gary Patterson, the longtime Texas Christian coach, as its defensive coordinator, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times.

Continue reading here

Ducks win fifth in a row

Mikael Granlund and Cutter Gauthier scored in the shootout and Lukas Dostal stopped 40 shots as the Ducks defeated the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 2-1 for their fifth straight win Wednesday night.

Jeffrey Viel scored in his second straight game as the Ducks opened a six-game trip.

Artturi Lehkonen scored for Colorado, and Scott Wedgewood made 16 saves.

Alex Killorn played in his 1,000th game. He spent 11 years with Tampa Bay, winning the Stanley Cup twice, before signing with the Ducks as a free agent in 2023.

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL standings

WNBA releases schedule

The WNBA is set to begin its season on May 8, assuming the league and the players’ union can come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Teams will play 44 games over a five-month period with a 17-day break for the FIBA World Cup in early September. The league said last year that with the World Cup this season they would keep the schedule at 44 games despite adding two new teams in Portland and Toronto.

“As we prepare to tip off the WNBA’s historic 30th season, this schedule reflects both how far the league has come and the momentum that continues to drive us forward,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

The Sparks are scheduled to open the season with a four-game homestand at Crypto.com Arena, beginning May 10 against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. The Sparks will also host the expansion Toronto Tempo on May 15.

Continue reading here

Trade unions support Santa Anita

From John Cherwa: The dispute between the state and Santa Anita Park over the use of a new betting machine was ratcheted up Wednesday when four major trade unions sent a letter to Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, urging the state to return the terminals it confiscated on Saturday. Santa Anita filed suit against the state on Tuesday seeking the same.

Collectively, the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters, California State Pipe Trades Council and the State Assn. of Electrical Workers created a special letterhead with all their logos to show their solidarity on the issue. The two-page letter, obtained by The Times, was stinging and pointed, calling the state’s removal of Racing on Demand machines as “not only misguided but reckless.”

It went on to say: “By removing these terminals, your agency has introduced unnecessary uncertainty into an industry already confronting significant economic challenges. This decision undermines innovation, discourages investment and jeopardizes the more than $1.7 billion in annual economic impact that California horse racing generates for local communities, workers and the state as a whole.”

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1920 — The New York Yankees announce they will be the first team to wear uniform numbers, according to the player’s position in batting order.

1960 — Paul Pender beats Sugar Ray Robinson in a 15-round split decision to capture the world middleweight boxing title.

1962 — Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson are elected into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Robinson is the first Black man to enter the Hall.

1968 — The NBA awards expansion franchises to Milwaukee and Phoenix.

1973 — George Foreman knocks out Joe Frazier in the second round in Kingston, Jamaica, to win the world heavyweight title.

1983 — Houston becomes the first NBA team not to score a point in overtime. The Portland Trail Blazers outscore the Rockets 17-0 for a 113-96 victory.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Larry Holmes in the fourth round at Atlantic City to retain his world heavyweight title.

1989 — After winning his third Super Bowl as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh retires.

1998 — New York’s Pat LaFontaine reaches 1,000 career points, scoring his 19th goal in the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to Philadelphia.

2003 — Andy Roddick wins one of the longest matches of the Open era, beating Younes El Aynaoui in a fifth set that ended 21-19 to reach the Australian Open semifinals. The American won 4-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 21-19 in a match lasting 4 hours, 59 minutes — the longest men’s singles match at the Australian Open since tiebreaker sets were introduced into Grand Slam events in 1971.

2005 — Jockey Russell Baze passes Bill Shoemaker to take second place on the career win list. Russell gets his 8,834th victory aboard Hollow Memoires in the seventh race at Golden Gate Fields.

2006 — The Pittsburgh Steelers are the first team since the 1985 Patriots to win three postseason road games thanks to a 34-17 dismantling of the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game.

2006 — Kobe Bryant scores a staggering 81 points — the second-highest total in NBA history — and the Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 122-104.

2012 — The New England Patriots beat the Ravens 23-20 in the AFC championship game after Baltimore’s Billy Cundiff misses a 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds remaining that would have tied the score.

2012 — New York’s Lawrence Tynes kicks a 31-yard field goal in overtime and the Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC championship game.

2016 — David Blatt, the second-year coach who guided Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2015, is fired despite the Cavaliers holding a 30-11 record. Blatt is the first coach since conferences began in 1970-71 to be fired when his team had the best record in its conference.

2018 — New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins has 44 points, 24 rebounds & 10 assists in 132-128 double-OT win over Chicago Bulls; 1st player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) with 40+ points, 20+ rebounds & 10+ assists.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

A TRIP to the English seaside doesn’t have to just be in the summer – in fact many of them get a lot less rain than the rest of the country.

The UK gets an average 164 days of rain a year. Compared to as little as 45 days in Spain it’s certainly a depressing thought.

Yet Botany Bay beach in Kent is near to the Spanish rainy statistics, getting just 58 days of rain on average a year.

A study conducted by Parkdean looked at the rainfall patterns over the duration of one year aT some of the UK’s most popular beaches.

Joining others across Scarborough, Bristol and Weymouth, Botany Bay came out on top.

The small beach is often forgotten about by tourists, being away from any main train stations or shops.

SANDS GREAT

Our 26 must-visit UK beaches for 2026 – including tropical-feel spots

BY THE BEACH

Under-the-radar seaside village that’s now one of the coolest places in the UK

It sits between Margate – often named one of the UK’s trendiest seaside towns – and Broadstairs, a more traditional beach town.

Despite this, it is often called one of the UK’s most beautiful beaches, being relatively unspoilt.

One said: “Really lovely and doesn’t feel like you’re in the UK”.

While it isn’t ‘hot’, Botany Bay is also one of the warmest beaches in the UK in winter thanks to its location on the Channel.

Expect temperatures of 9.5C on average in winter – not sunbathing weather but warmer than most coastal spots.

Botany Bay doesn’t have a pub, but there is nearby the Captain Digby at Kingsgate Bay, sitting on top of the cliff and overlooking the ocean.

Expect a more authentically British pub rather than a trendy gastropub, but it’s great for a pint and a burger.

Otherwise there are also public toilets and a snack kiosk open in the summer months selling drinks and food.

If you fancy a long walk, the 32-mile Viking Coat Trail takes you from Margate to Broadstairs which goes via Botany Bay along the way.

When it comes to Margate, you can explore the trendy bars and restaurants of Cliftonville, named one of the world’s coolest neighborhoods last year by Time Out.

Or you can explore the retro Dreamland theme park, with a great line up of live music acts this summer.

If you’d rather explore Broadstairs, you an go on the Charles Dicken’s trail, with the town loved by the author.

And make sure to stay at the town’s newest hotel, Smith’s Townhouse.

Here are five other British beaches that are better to visit in winter.

And here’s how to find the UK’s warmest beach in winter.

South Korea on Thursday formally enacted a comprehensive law governing the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) models, becoming the first country globally in doing so, establishing a regulatory framework against misinformation and other hazardous effects involving the emerging field.

The Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness, or the AI Basic Act, officially took effect Thursday, according to the science ministry.

It marked the first governmental adoption of comprehensive guidelines on the use of AI globally.

The act centers on requiring companies and AI developers to take greater responsibility for addressing deepfake content and misinformation that can be generated by AI models, granting the government the authority to impose fines or launch probes into violations.

In detail, the act introduces the concept of “high-risk AI,” referring to AI models used to generate content that can significantly affect users’ daily lives or their safety, including applications in the employment process, loan reviews and medical advice.

Entities harnessing such high-risk AI models are required to inform users that their services are based on AI and are responsible for ensuring safety. Content generated by AI models is required to carry watermarks indicating its AI-generated nature.

“Applying watermarks to AI-generated content is the minimum safeguard to prevent side effects from the abuse of AI technology, such as deepfake content,” a ministry official said.

Global companies offering AI services in South Korea meeting any of the following criteria — global annual revenue of 1 trillion won (US$681 million) or more, domestic sales of 10 billion won or higher, or at least 1 million daily users in the country — are required to designate a local representative.

Currently, OpenAI and Google fall under the criteria.

Violations of the act may be subject to fines of up to 30 million won, and the government plans to enforce a one-year grace period in imposing penalties to help the private sector adjust to the new rules.

The act also includes measures for the government to promote the AI industry, with the science minister required to present a policy blueprint every three years.

Following the implementation of the act, the science ministry said it has launched a support desk tasked with offering advisory services to businesses.

The support desk will work to respond to businesses’ general inquiries within three days and those requiring in-depth legal review within 14 days, according to the ministry.

“The AI Basic Act stands at the center of South Korea’s AI industry and the realization of an AI-based society,” Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung said in a release.

“The support desk will serve as a guide to help the act take root in the local industry,” Ryu added.

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.

EPA

What has been said about the framework deal?

Is there any detail about the possible deal?

Will any deal short of ‘ownership’ please Trump?

Why does Trump want Greenland?

Netflix has confirmed it is making a documentary on convicted child killer Lucy Letby and it will be launched next month

The moment Lucy Letby was woken up in bed by police officers storming to question her over the deaths of seven babies has been released in a new Netflix documentary.

The film will feature fresh evidence and testimonies from the convicted child killer.

In the footage released as part of a trailer, Letby is in bed when police enter her bedroom. They tell her: “I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.” Letby looks stunned by what she is being told.

Later when she is being questioned by police she is seen telling them emotionally: “I felt like I’d only done the best for those babies.”

The streamer has this morning announced a new film called The Investigation of Lucy Letby. The feature length documentary will be released on February 4 and includes “new materials and testimony” from the British police who investigated the case and “never-before-seen footage of Letby” during her arrest and questioning.

The documentary also includes contributions from the mother of one of the victims speaking about her experiences and involvement in Letby’s trial. This is the first time that a family member involved in the prosecution has spoken in a documentary.

A Netflix documentary on this subject has been rumoured for some time. In August 2025, reports suggests the global streaming giant is working with production company ITN to make the programme about the woman found guilty of murdering seven sick babies and trying to kill seven more in hospital. The news came days after experts urged the Government to delay the inquiry into the Letby case over concerns about evidence at her trial.

Those approached to take part in the TV documentary include outspoken statistician Richard Gill – who has called the conviction of ­Britain’s worst mass baby murderer a major miscarriage of justice. A source said: “This is sure to be hugely controversial, the show will be watched the world over. The people at the heart of this story are utterly devastated. Families of those involved in the case will desperately hope this programme treads extremely carefully.”

There has already been a number of documentaries about the convicted killer including on ITV, Channel 4 and BBC.

In ITV documentary Lucy Letby : Beyond Reasonable Doubt? there were a number of medical experts who are critical of large elements of the evidence used to convict her.

After two trials, Letby was found guilty of killing seven newborn babies and attempting to kill seven others in one of the most shocking murder cases in British history. She was handed fifteen whole life sentences, meaning she will never be released from prison.

Letby has failed twice in appeal. Instead, her defence team are attempting to use another route to get a judge to re-examine the case.

They have submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent public body which examines potential miscarriages of justice.

In response to the ITV programme, the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Lucy Letby was convicted of 15 separate counts following two jury trials.

In May 2024, the Court of Appeal dismissed Letby’s leave to appeal on all grounds rejecting her argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed.”

On Tuesday it was confirmed Letby will face no further charges over additional deaths and collapses of babies that were investigated by police.

Cheshire Constabulary passed additional evidence to prosecutors last year for consideration, linked to eight potential offences of attempted murder and one offence of murder at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Another two allegations of attempted murder and murder were linked to one child at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

Lady Justice Thirlwall’s inquiry report into how Letby was able to commit her crimes on a hospital neonatal unit is due to be published this year.

* The Investigation of Lucy Letby will be released on Netflix on February 4.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

JUST minutes from a faux ‘seaside’ town filled with ice cream parlours and arcades is one of the most rural train stations in the UK.

Cromford Station in the Derbyshire Dales welcomes just one train an hour and it is one of the most quaint in the country – there’s even a holiday cottage right on the platform.

Cromford Station opened to passengers in 1849 and is often considered one of the prettiest in the UK.

In 2024, it was highlighted by the BBC as one of the “plenty of picturesque stations closer to home.

The rural station was also named one of the ‘best’ British railway stations by The Telegraph by a writer who has visited more than 500 across the country.

The small station has two platforms, but since 1968, only platform one has been in use.

GO SEA IT

£9.50 holiday spot with shipwrecks, seals offshore & horseshoe-shaped waterfalls

FALL FOR IT

Why Sun readers love Wales – their favourite waterfalls & TV-famous castles

Trains are operated by East Midlands Railway and head to Matlock – a journey that takes 6 minutes – Lincoln Central and Cleethorpes.

There’s usually just one train to each destination per hour.

The building that sits on platform two is what was once the old waiting are, now used as a holiday cottage aptly called ‘The Waiting Room Holiday Cottage‘.

The quaint cottage has been completely transformed with a bedroom, new kitchen, cosy living area with an open fireplace and even underfloor heating.

It has one bedroom but can sleep up to four people thanks to its pull out sofa and can be booked from £325.

This disused platform might also look familiar to Oasis fans as it was used for the Some Might Say single cover in 1995,leading to fans rushing to stay there.

Cromford itself is a small village with some of the prettiest spots being around Cromford Mill Pond.

Just minutes up the road is the larger town of Matlock Bath which has long been considered a ‘seaside town’ despite it being 70 miles from the coastline.

However, when you’re strolling along the River Derwent during the summertime, it will feel like you’re by the seaside as there are fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours and arcades.

You can get beautiful cliff-top views over the water, and there are boat parades too – also known as the Matlock Bath Illuminations.

Discovering the town’s seaside charm is exactly what travel writer Catherine Lofthouse did when she visited a few years ago.

She said: “You will find this lively town at the bottom of a limestone gorge in deepest Derbyshire — not a county ordinarily known as a must-visit for a bucket and spade holiday.

“But Matlock Bath has been ignoring its inconvenient geography for centuries. Once famed as a spa resort, the town saw a decline in the fashion for mineral bath treatments.

“Instead there was the rise of railway travel in Victorian times, which encouraged locals to turn this village into an eccentric destination, caring not a jot that the nearest beaches are in Skegness or north Wales.”

Similar to other seaside towns like Llandudno, Matlock Bath even has a cable car.

Called the Heights of Abraham Cable Car, which is around a third of a mile long, it takes visitors right up goes up to the into the Peak District hillside.

When you get to the top of Masson Hill, visitors can explore Masson Cavern which has been turned into an immersive experience.

There’s also Great Rutland Cavern, Womble Mania, multiple viewing platforms, a sculpture trail, playground and a hilltop restaurant and cafe.

For families, Matlock Bath has another must-visit tourist spot – Gulliver’s Kingdom theme park.

In spring last year, the theme park opened a new thrilling ride called ‘Tree Top Drop’.

The drop ride at the park gives riders an incredible view of the park before suddenly plunging 15 metres.

Gulliver’s Kingdom has around 30 rides and attractions – it will reopen on March 14, 2026 for the season.

Entry to the park can cost as little as £24 if booked in advance, or £27 on the day.

Here’s another attraction minutes away from Matlock Bath…

Head to Crich Tramway Village for a fun day out – writer Catherine Lofthouse reveals why it’s the perfect family day out…

“My boys love a visit to Crich Tramway Village on the edge of the Derbyshire Dales, with its dramatic scenery over the Derwent Valley, trams of all shapes and sizes, historic buildings and fun for all the family.

“It’s the perfect place to visit if you’re gutted by the news that Blackpool’s heritage trams will no longer be spotted along the seafront as they cost too much to run. 

“But luckily Crich has several Blackpool trams from different eras, including an unusual open-topped one that looks more like a barge than a bus, that sometimes runs in nice weather.

“Once you’ve paid to visit Crich, your ticket is valid all year so you can go back as much as you like to ride the rails.

“A ticket covering either one adult and four children or two adults and three children is around £50, so it’s good value if you live close enough to make the most of visiting lots of times during the summer season.

“One little touch that my boys love is receiving an old coin on arrival, which is used to pay the conductor for your ticket on the first tram you board.

“Adults are given an old penny and children a halfpenny. It certainly helps get you in the spirit of days gone by, before you even step foot on a tram.

A visit to Barnett’s sweet shop, with jars of goodies and ice creams to choose from, is a hit with the little ones, while adults can enjoy a drink in the Red Lion, a pub that’s been reconstructed brick by brick from its original site in Stoke.”

For more on Derbyshire, here’s why Derby makes one of the best city breaks for an affordable holiday and fun attractions.

If you’re heading to the Peak District, discover these lesser-known spots from one local who grew up there.

One year ago this week, a case of measles was recorded in Gaines County, Texas.

It was the start of an outbreak that killed two children and sickened at least 760 people. Thousands more in the U.S. have contracted measles since.

In April, the Pan American Health Organization, an offshoot of the World Health Organization, will determine whether the same virus strain first recorded in west Texas on Jan. 20, 2025, has been transmitted without interruption in the 12 months since.

If it has, the U.S. will officially lose the measles elimination status that the organization conferred in 2000.

Meeting those requirements “took several decades of really hard work,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease specialist and emeritus professor at UC Berkeley. “Losing that distinction is an embarrassment for the United States. It’s another nail in the coffin for the credibility of this country.”

In public health terms, elimination means that a disease has become rare enough, and immunity to it widespread enough, that local transmission dwindles quickly if a case or two emerges.

Scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are studying virus sequences from multiple sites around the U.S. to determine whether more recent measles cases are descended from the original outbreak or were introduced from other locations, a distinction that could affect whether the U.S. keeps its status.

Regardless of the international committee’s ultimate ruling, what is clear is that a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease kept largely in check for a quarter of a century is surging back.

There were 4,485 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2025 alone, there were 2,242 — the highest annual case count since the early 1990s.

“Measles is incredibly contagious, and it is the thing that comes first when you take your foot off the gas, in terms of trying to keep vaccination levels up,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, a New York-based pediatric infectious disease specialist and author of the book “Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health.”

“It didn’t have to turn out this way,” he said. “It doesn’t help us that there haven’t been clear messages from HHS.”

In March, after the first child death from measles in more than a decade in the U.S., Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a statement that noted vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing measles’ spread, but stopped short of outright recommending that parents vaccinate their children.

A month later, he posted on X: “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” outraging many of his anti-vaccine supporters.

Yet as the year went on, Kennedy and the agencies he leads upended the nation’s vaccine delivery system, while publicly sharing misleading and inaccurate information about immunizations.

Kennedy dismissed the members of a key vaccine advisory committee to the CDC and replaced them all with handpicked appointees, many of whom have been openly critical of vaccines or have spread medical misinformation.

Late last year, the CDC altered its website on vaccines and autism to include inaccurate statements linking immunizations to the neurodevelopmental disorder. Earlier this month, the CDC abruptly slashed the number of diseases it recommends children be vaccinated against from 17 to 11.

While the CDC has not officially changed MMR vaccine recommendations, the agency’s conflicting actions and confusing statements have only further depressed vaccination rates, experts said.

“The messages that are coming out of this CDC are crazy. It’s hard for pediatricians. It’s hard for parents,” Ratner said. “Nothing has changed about how safe the MMR vaccines are … or how well they work. It is all the messaging. And I’m very concerned that that is speeding up, not slowing down.”

Vaccination rates in the U.S. were already dipping before Kennedy’s appointment to Health and Human Services. Only 10 U.S. states — including California — meet the 95% vaccination threshold required to prevent community transmission of measles.

Forty-five states reported confirmed measles cases last year, and at least nine states have logged cases in January alone.

“If you go to cdc.gov, you would expect to see a huge banner saying, ‘Measles outbreak, get your vaccine now,’” said Dr. Jeff Goad, a Chapman University School of Pharmacy professor and president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “And it’s not there.”

The Pan American Health Organization will review data from the U.S. and Mexico on April 13 to determine whether those two countries will endure the same fate as Canada, which lost its measles elimination status in November.

“Whether or not we officially lose elimination status is an academic exercise at this point,” said Mathew Kiang, an assistant professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University. “The reality is that without concentrated efforts to ramp up vaccination, we will continue to have these long, extended outbreaks across the U.S. We’re witnessing the results of a years-long effort to disassemble the vaccine infrastructure in the U.S. that has been accelerated by the current administration.”

Ruben Loftus-Cheek emerges as Aston Villa and Man Utd target, Spurs weigh up Crysencio Summerville move, Liverpool interested in Micky van de Ven and Nottingham Forest eye Kostas Tsimikas.

AC Milan and England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 29, is a target for Aston Villa, who are looking to bolster their midfield ranks after France international Boubacar Kamara, 26, sustained a serious knee injury. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)

Loftus-Cheek has also been offered to Manchester United, with exploratory talks having taken place. (Talksport), external

Villa have enquired about Fenerbahce striker Youssef En-Nesyri in the past 24 hours, and the 28-year-old Morocco forward will decide his future soon with Napoli and Juventus also interested. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

Tottenham are considering a £25m move for West Ham‘s 24-year-old Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville. (Mail), external

Liverpool are interested in Tottenham and Netherlands centre-back Micky van de Ven, 24, who is yet to sign a new contract with Spurs. (Mail – subscription required, external)

Manchester United are set to tell Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes, 31, they want to keep him for another year and would like a decision from him before this summer’s World Cup. (ESPN), external

Nottingham Forest will allow Brazilian left-back Cuiabano, 22, to leave on loan this month, with Liverpool‘s 29-year-old Greece full-back Kostas Tsimikas, currently on loan at Roma, among their list of targets. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Forest have had an offer for Napoli defender Mathias Olivera rejected, but remain in talks for the 28-year-old Uruguay international. (Tuttomercatoweb – in Italian), external

Celta Vigo have submitted a formal loan offer to Wolves for Fer Lopez, 21, and would cover all of the Spain Under-21 attacking midfielder’s salary. (Sky Sports, external)

Real Madrid are considering a move for Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 28, who is open to a move away from Al-Hilal, with Manchester United also eyeing the former Wolves captain. (AS – in Spanish), external

Chelsea and England playmaker Cole Palmer, 23, is willing to return to Manchester to join Manchester United, although the former Manchester City player has a contact until 2033 at Stamford Bridge. (Express), external

Barcelona want to sign Manchester City captain, Bernardo Silva, 31, on a free transfer when the Portugal midfielder’s contract expires at the end of the season. (Nacional – in Spanish), external

Brentford and Nigeria defensive midfielder Frank Onyeka, 28, is being chased by Championship duo Sheffield United and Coventry City for a January move, while Valencia are also interested. (Standard, external)

Schalke have reportedly agreed terms to sign Bosnia-Herzegovina striker Edin Dzeko, 39, who only joined Fiorentina in July. (Sky Sport – in German), external

Today Disneyland is so fully formed that it‘s taken for granted. We debate ticket prices and crowd calendars, strategizing the optimal time to visit.

The new documentary “Disneyland Handcrafted” hits pause on all of that.

Culled from about 200 hours of mostly unseen footage, director Leslie Iwerks’ film takes viewers back to the near beginning, tracing the largely impossible creation of the park from a year before its opening.

“Can you imagine L.A. without Disneyland?” Iwerks asks me during an interview.

To begin to answer that question cuts to the importance of “Disneyland Handcrafted,” which premieres Thursday on Disney+. For while Disneyland is corporately owned and managed, the park has become a cultural institution, a reflection of the stories and myths that have shaped America. Disneyland shifts with the times, but Iwerks’ film shows us the Walt Disney template, one that by the time the park opened on July 17, 1955, was so set in place that it would soon become a place of pilgrimage, a former Anaheim orange grove in which generations of people would visit as a rite of passage.

Walt Disney surveying the Anaheim land that would become Disneyland, as seen in Leslie Iwerks’ film “Disneyland Handcrafted.”

(Disney+)

Iwerks comes from a family of Disney royalty. Her grandfather, Ub, was a legendary animator instrumental in the development of Mickey Mouse. Her father, Don, was a cinematic and special effects wizard who worked on numerous Disney attractions, including the Michael Jackson-starring film “Captain EO.” As a documentarian, Iwerks has explored Disney before as the director of “The Imagineering Story” and has a long career of films that touch on not just Hollywood but also politics and environmental issues.

Here, Iwerks reveals just how fragile the creation of Disneyland was.

1

2

3

1. A worker applies gold detailing to the ornate spires of Sleeping Beauty Castle, showcasing the elegance and precision that defined the centerpiece of Disneyland Park. 2. A craftsperson applies paint to the stone facade of Sleeping Beauty Castle. 3. A glimpse of Sleeping Beauty Castle under construction. (Disney+)

Having watched the film now numerous times, there are many small moments that stick with me. A worker, for instance, carefully sculpting the concrete on Sleeping Beauty Castle just months before opening while a narrator speaks of the park’s rising cost. A construction vehicle toppling, with its driver escaping a life-changing accident by jumping out just in the nick of time as Disney himself talks up how there have been very few accidents. And the mistakes, such as frantically learning — and failing — at how to build a river.

That Disneyland is as popular today as it was in 1955 — the film reveals that more than 900 million people have visited the park — is no accident. We live in stressful, divisive times, and Disneyland was not only born of such a moment but built for them, arriving in 1955 in a post-World War II America that was adjusting to more internalized, less-overtly-visible fears. The specter of nuclear annihilation was now forever a reality, and the Cold War heightened the sense of uncertainty.

A fake world inspired by a real one that never existed, don’t mistake Disneyland for nostalgia. Disneyland seeks to reorient, to show a better, more optimistic world that only exists if we continue to dream — to imagine a walkable street, for instance, in which a fairy tale castle sits at its end. Disneyland isn’t so much an escape from our world as it is a place where we go to make sense of it, a work of live theater where we, the guests, are on a stage and can play at idealized versions of ourselves.

“Why do we care? Why does it matter?” asks Iwerks. “I think what matters, for Disneyland, is that Walt set out to create the happiest place on Earth. Right there, putting that stake in the ground. That’s so impressive. That’s so risky. And yet he did it by sheer belief that he wanted families to come together and experience a place they could come back to time and again, a place that would continue to grow and always be evolving through cultures, through time, through generations.”

The front gates of Disneyland under construction.

(Disney+)

What makes the film so poignant is that Iwerks essentially gets out of the way. The footage was initially commissioned by Disney and shot for use in the company’s then weekly ABC series, which was funding the park. Some of the clips have appeared in episodes of “Walt Disney’s Disneyland,” but very few. For that show, Disney was selling the public on the park. With the public having long been sold, Iwerks can show us the park in shambles, a dirt path entering a wood-strewn Frontierland while Harper Goff, then Disneyland’s art director, speaks of a frustrated Disney lamenting that half the park’s money is gone and it remains nothing but a pile of muck.

“This is what worry is,” Goff says in the narration.

“What rose to the surface was how much pressure there was during this one year,” Iwerks says. “It was impossible. It was building what ultimately was a mini city in less than a year, pulling together all those construction workers, all those people who handcrafted this whole park in record time using their own skills, artistry and storytelling.”

Adds Iwerks, “You can’t remodel your kitchen right now in a year.”

Since the film is a light cinéma vérité style, Iwerks doesn’t editorialize as to how it all did get done. But we see workers, for instance, straddling beams in Tomorrowland with no support, making it clear this was an era with fewer regulations. Iwerks herself points to the ABC funding, acknowledging that the arrangement simply necessitated the park being completed in a year. But when it opened, it was far from finished. Disneyland’s struggles on opening day have long been mythologized, be it stories of weak asphalt or plumbing disasters.

A craftsperson works on the yellow decorative trim of King Arthur Carousel in Fantasyland.

(Disney+)

Iwekrs is more interested in showing us the race against time, especially for a park that deviated from the light theming and simple rides of amusement parks of the era. Throughout the film’s hour and a half running time, Iwerks is making the argument that Disneyland simply wasn’t practical. Two months before opening we see a concrete-less Main Street while we’re told of a debate as to whether Disneyland should delay its planned July date. The decision was made not to, as the park was running out of money and there was a fear any push would ultimately kill it.

And in some ways it’s a surprise we’re seeing any of this. Iwerks notes the film was completed years ago, but sat on the shelf. She credits Disney executive Jason Recher with pushing it through. “I showed him a link, and he said, ‘This has to be seen.’ It takes someone with a vision to see that this could get out there and be appreciated by audiences,” Iwerks says. “I was thinking this would never see the light of day.”

The end result is a film that will likely be cherished by Disney fans but also admired by anyone interested in the making of an American classic. One of the most striking moments in the film is that of the cars of the Disneyland Railroad being ferried on trucks past downtown’s City Hall, a reminder that Disneyland, no matter its influences, its stewards or its changes, is a Southern California original.

Jan. 22 (UPI) — Nine Muslim-majority countries across the Middle East and Asia have announced their acceptance of President Donald Trump‘s invitation to join the U.S.-led Board of Peace intergovernmental organization, as they seek a permanent cease-fire to end the fighting in Gaza.

In a joint statement Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said they “welcome” Trump’s invitation and will join his Board of Peace.

The foreign ministry of Kuwait followed hours later with a similar statement of its own.

The eight nations, led by Saudi Arabia, placed Gaza at the center of their acceptance.

The ministers said they “reaffirm their countries’ commitment to supporting the implementation of the mission of the Board of Peace as a transitional administration … aimed at consolidating a permanent cease-fire, supporting the reconstruction of Gaza and advancing a just and lasting peace grounded in the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood in accordance with international law.”

So far, at least 19 countries have agreed to join the Board of Peace, though no major European nation and several U.S. allies invited have either declined the invitation or remain uncommitted.

Trump first announced the board as part of a 20-point plan aimed at securing a cease-fire in Gaza, which has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. On Friday, the White House announced the board’s appointed members, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, World Bank President Ajay Banga and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, among others.

While initially conceived to help bring an end to the two-year-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the board’s charter does not mention the Palestinian enclave, raising concerns over the scope of the board. Trump has suggested that it will seek to address other world conflicts, stating that “it might” replace the United Nations.

The announcement comes after Israel confirmed it accepted the offer on Wednesday, and Kosovo and Bahrain on Tuesday.

Concerns have also been raised about those invited to join, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Both Trump and the Kremlin have confirmed that Putin was asked to join, and Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the U.S. president told reporters Putin had accepted.

“This is the greatest board ever assembled, and everybody wants to be on it,” he said. “But, yeah, I have some controversial people on it. But these are people who get the job done. These are people that have tremendous influence. If I put all babies on the board, it wouldn’t be very much.”

The Kremlin has yet to confirm.

Canada has indicated it is willing to join, but that it will not pay the $1 billion Trump is requesting as a fee.

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, speaking during the World Economic Forum, said that Ottawa sees the board as a vehicle for peace in Gaza and that it should be designed to meet the needs there.

He said the board needs to coincide with the “immediate full-flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza” where “conditions are still horrific.”

“We think there’s aspects of the governance and the decision-making process that could be improved,” he said. “But we will work with others, obviously work with the United States because we can improve the situation there and to move onto a path to a true two-state solution.”

Asked if Canada is willing to pay the $1 billion fee, Carney replied: “We would write checks and deliver in kind to improve the welfare of the people of Palestine, but we want to see it delivered direct to those outcomes, those outcomes promoting peace.”

“I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private.

“Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.

“I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.

“For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family.

“The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.

“Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade.

“But I believe the truth always comes out.

“My parents have been trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding, and it hasn’t stopped.

“My mum cancelled making Nicola’s dress in the eleventh hour despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress.

“Weeks before our big day, my parents repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name, which would have affected me, my wife, and our future children.

“They were adamant on me signing before my wedding date because then the terms of the deal would be initiated. My holdout affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since.

“During the wedding planning, my mum went so far as to call me ‘evil’ because Nicola and I chose to include my Nanny Sandra, and Nicola’s Naunni at our table, because they both didn’t have their husbands.

“Both of our parents had their own tables equally adjacent to ours.

“The night before our wedding, members of my family told me that Nicola was ‘not blood’ and ‘not family’.

“Since the moment I started standing up for myself with my family, I’ve received endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.

“Even my brothers were sent to attack me on social media, before they ultimately blocked me out of nowhere this last Summer.

“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. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.

“We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment.

“My wife has been consistently disrespected by my family, no matter how hard we’ve tried to come together as one.

“My mum has repeatedly invited women from my past into our lives in ways that were clearly intended to make us both uncomfortable.

“Despite this, we still travelled to London for my dad’s birthday and were rejected for a week as we waited in our hotel room trying to plan quality time with him.

“He refused all of our attempts, unless it was at his big birthday party with a hundred guests and cameras at every corner.

“When he finally agreed to see me, it was under the condition that Nicola wasn’t invited. It was a slap in the face.

“Later, when my family travelled to LA, they refused to see me at all.

“My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first.

“Family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it’s at the expense of our professional obligations.

“We’ve gone out of our way for years to show up and support at every fashion show, every party, and every press activity to show “our perfect family.”

“But the one time my wife asked for my mum’s support to save displaced dogs during the LA fires, my mum refused.

“The narrative that my wife controls me is completely backwards. I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life. I grew up with overwhelming anxiety.

“For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared. I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace and relief.

“My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation.

“All we want peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.”

Global stock markets rallied on Thursday as US President Donald Trump rolled back tariff threats linked to Greenland.

Attending the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said he had agreed the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland after meeting with Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary-general.

The president claimed he would not use military force to seize the island from Denmark, and also dropped plans to impose extra tariffs on European countries from 1 February.

Details of the future deal are scarce, although investors were visibly cheered by the de-escalation.

Just after the opening bell in Europe, France’s CAC 40 traded 1.31% higher, Germany’s DAX saw a 1.23% lift, Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 1.05%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB rose 0.97%. The UK’s FTSE 100 traded 0.76% higher, while the wider STOXX Europe 600 was up 1.15%.

A global boost as tensions ease

The optimism in Europe mirrored movements in Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 1.73%, China’s SSE Composite Index up 0.14%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 up 0.75%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng drifted less than 0.1% higher, while South Korea’s Kospi saw a 0.87% boost, breaching the 5,000 mark for the first time and closing at a record 4,952.53.

Over the last 12 months, the Kospi has emerged as the world’s best-performing index on the back of the AI boom, with South Korea home to pivotal chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Semiconductor firms, which are already highly valued, saw their stocks climb even further after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke at Davos on Wednesday. Huang claimed that the AI transition would require trillions of dollars of investment, easing fears around overvaluations — at least for now.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks 30 US semiconductor companies, closed 3.18% higher on Wednesday.

Looking at broader US sentiment, S&P 500 futures traded 0.40% higher, Dow Jones futures were up 0.20%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.64%.

Gold and US Treasuries

As EU-US tensions eased, demand for safe haven assets slid.

As of around 9:30am CET, gold traded 0.19% lower at $4,828.30 per ounce — following a record high of over $4,800 reached on Wednesday.

The metal’s popularity is linked to its liquidity and status as an inflation hedge, but a weaker dollar and falling US interest rates have also boosted bullion.

When the greenback falls in value, this makes gold comparatively cheaper for foreign buyers and therefore drives up demand and prices. Low US interest rates also increase gold’s appeal compared to interest-bearing assets, as investors aren’t significantly losing out if they choose the metal over assets like bonds.

The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies, traded less than 0.1% higher at 98.81 on Thursday.

Yields on long-term US bonds also slid after a spike earlier in the week, linked to Greenland tensions and threats to Federal Reserve independence as Trump prepares to name a new chair. Another reason for the earlier yield spike is volatility in Japan, with some investors moving money away from US assets into higher-yielding Japanese debt.

In the days ahead, markets will be watching for more details on Trump’s Greenland deal, as Denmark has stressed that the island’s sovereignty is not up for negotiation. An emergency summit between EU leaders will take place in Brussels on Thursday to address the US threat.

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee is offering to sell private dinners with President Clinton, places on foreign trade missions and other forms of exclusive access to senior officials to party donors willing to pony up $100,000 or more.

In a recent fund-raising letter, the party offered big contributors a pricey catalogue of favors, including high-level briefings, VIP status at the Democratic National Convention and a “personal DNC staff contact” to help cut through red tape in the Washington bureaucracy.

Lesser donors receive lesser privileges, such as lunch with Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore. For $1,000, a donor can get an invitation to events with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tipper Gore and female political appointees, according to the letter, which was first disclosed by the Chicago Sun-Times.

The high-roller solicitation comes just weeks after Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) promised during a public forum in New Hampshire to create a bipartisan commission that would recommend ways to clean up campaign financing practices and end the sale of influence and access in Washington.

It also flies in the face of then-candidate Clinton’s 1992 pledge in his campaign manifesto, “Putting People First,” to end the “cliques of $100,000 donors” buying access to Congress and the White House.

Republicans have long rewarded big-dollar donors with access to top officials, including photo opportunities and receptions with President George Bush at the White House during his tenure and seats near him at public events. But critics said the new Democratic letter had taken the practice to new lows of influence-peddling and assailed Clinton for making promises of places at the presidential dinner table and on government-sponsored trade missions.

“This is outrageous,” said Ann McBride, president of Common Cause, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog group. “They’re auctioning off access to the President of the United States to the highest bidder.”

McBride called on Clinton to disavow the fund-raising tactic and announce that neither he nor any member of his Administration would participate in the promised dinners, briefings, trade missions or other activities.

“Clinton gave a speech today about building community among people. He should remember that one thing that helps build community among average citizens is the belief that they have access to their government and their voices will not be drowned out by the rich and powerful,” McBride said.

A White House aide defended the practice as legal under current campaign financing laws and as a legitimate use of incumbency.

“We support the party and conduct normal fund-raising procedures that have been used by both parties,” spokeswoman Mary Ellen Glynn said. She said the Democrats must employ whatever tools they have to compete with aggressive Republican fund raising.

“Until the system is changed, we will not unilaterally disarm,” said Donald Fowler, co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Republicans have long courted wealthy donors with membership in such exclusive clubs as the Eagle Forum or Team 100, which entitle big donors to private receptions with top party leaders and attendance at policy forums. But Republican National Committee spokeswoman Mary Mead Crawford said she reviewed years of fund-raising letters and had not found any that offered such specific promises of access.

The closest parallel was a 1992 Republican appeal in which those who gave or raised at least $92,000 received a photo opportunity with Bush, lunch with then-Vice President Dan Quayle, a reception with Cabinet officers and breakfast with congressional leaders.

The Democratic fund-raising letter, mailed in late June over the signatures of Fowler and general party Chairman Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), offers to make $100,000 donors “managing trustees” of the party.

That contribution entitles the donor to two meals with the President, two meals with the vice president, one dinner with top Administration officials, honored guest status at the 1996 Democratic Convention, two annual retreats with top policy-makers, exclusive issues briefings, a daily fax on Administration activities and political announcements, a DNC staff contact to assist in handling “personal requests” and a spot on annual foreign trade missions. Donors must reimburse the government for the cost of the missions.

For $50,000, the contributor gets a presidential reception, dinner with Al Gore, two high-level briefings and special–but not “honored”–treatment at the 1996 convention.

“In spite of the fact that both Democrats and Republicans have pledged many times to change business as usual, everything just seems to go along the same path,” said Ellen Miller, director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group. “If anything has changed in Washington, it’s that everything has become so much more obvious.”

Just look at United’s attack.

You have got Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2008 and would go on to be one of the greatest players of all time.

Then Rooney, the all-time top goalscorer for United and England.

And, while Carlos Tevez’s time at Old Trafford was not prolific, he scored 14 Premier League goals in 2007-08.

It was a forward line to fear. Up to this stage of the season, Ronaldo had scored 22 goals, Tevez 12 and Rooney nine.

Who do Arsenal have? Viktor Gyokeres, a striker who may go on to excel but, so far, has not lived up to his £55m transfer fee.

Bukayo Saka is clearly a world-class player out wide. But it is hard to make a case for Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard or Noni Madueke.

Gyokeres and Martinelli have nine goals this season, with Saka and Trossard on seven.

In midfield Declan Rice has to be considered one of the best in the world today, playing alongside Martin Odegaard and Martin Zubimendi.

But Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes were superb for Alex Ferguson.

Did we mention Ryan Giggs came off the bench in the Champions League final too? It is United ’08, no doubt.

Emily Gibbs, 29, loves going on extreme day trips abroad for under £100

A mum leaves her toddler and partner at home to embark on solo “therapy” holidays. Her escapades have included a four-hour jaunt to Chamonix that takes less time than a day in London.

Emily Gibbs, 29, adores extreme day trips as they offer her “freedom” and “adventure” while providing a brief respite from parenting her three-year-old son, who stays at home with his dad.

She has visited Monaco and Gothenburg, France, and jetted off to the French Alps this January – enjoying a “picture perfect” train ride up in the mountains before returning home in time for bed. The mum of one, who runs a housekeeping agency, spent just £100 on the entire trip, departing at 8.30am and arriving back at Luton airport at 7.50pm the same day.

Emily, from Norwich, Norfolk, said: “I love going abroad on day trips. If I have a week where I’ve not got loads going on, I’ll just look at what cheap flights I can get and then go on a day trip somewhere.

“I love the freedom of walking through an airport by myself without any bags and knowing I’ll be back in my own bed at night time. I go on family holidays with my three-year-old son and his dad too, but these day trips are my independent time, they’re like my therapy.

“Chamonix was like a winter wonderland, it was picture perfect, like a scene from a movie. There was snow hanging off the trees and little chalets everywhere.

“It was like stepping into the scene of a Hallmark movie. The highlight of my trip was definitely the train ride up the mountain.

“I was just looking out of the window thinking, ‘how on earth am I doing this right now? I was in my own bed this morning and I’ll be back there in a few hours’ time’.

“It’s fun to push boundaries and see where you can get in a day. I managed to do the whole day for exactly £100. It’s no more than I’d spent on a day out in the UK, the train from Norwich to London is £60 alone.

“It was a tiring day, but I have a three-year-old son, so it was nothing compared to the sleepless nights that mothers go through. It’s just one day and then I’ll go home and recover the next day.”

Emily chose to visit the snowy ski resort of Chamonix, France, after previously savouring extreme day trips to Monaco and Gothenburg in 2025. The busy mum shared that she adores jetting abroad on day trips because of the “sense of adventure” it gives her.

While Emily treasures family holidays with her son and partner, she views her extreme day trips as “therapy trips” where she can enjoy herself on her own terms. For each adventure, Emily sets herself a £100 budget covering transport, food and activities, and she managed to secure return flights to Geneva for this journey for just £42.

On the day of her trip in January, Emily rose at 4am and drove two hours to Luton airport. She then caught the 8.30am flight to Geneva, touching down in the Swiss city at 11am.

Emily then hopped on a one-hour bus to Chamonix at 12.15pm, arriving at 1.05pm. Despite Chamonix being a renowned skiing and winter sports resort, Emily chose to stroll around, admiring the breathtaking snow-capped alps and engaging in conversation with fellow tourists.

After spending roughly an hour immersing herself in the atmosphere, at 2pm Emily took the Montenvers Mer de Glace train up through the mountains, which cost her £27. After the train ride, Emily returned to the town centre, where she grabbed some grub and watched skiers returning from a full day on the slopes.

“It was lovely,” she expressed. At 5.15pm she caught the bus back to Geneva, before boarding the 6.30pm train home, arriving in Luton at 7.50pm.

She then embarked on the two-hour drive back to Norwich and was snuggled up in bed by 11pm. All things considered, Emily got to spend four hours in Chamonix and although she wishes she had stayed longer, she said this was ample time to do everything she wanted to on the trip.

“I always want to stay longer, but I got to go up the mountains, I didn’t rush around, I wasn’t watching my clock,” she shared.

Despite a few queues at passport control, Emily said there were no downsides to her trip and is eagerly anticipating her next extreme day trip, a girls’ trip to a spa in Bucharest, Romania. She shares her story on @littlemomentswithemily.

Breakdown of Emily’s day in Chamonix

4am wake up

4:30am drive to Luton airport

6.45am Arrive at car park and free shuttle to airport

8.30am Flight to Geneva

11am Touched down in Geneva

12.15pm Caught the bus to Chamonix

1.05pm Arrived in Chamonix

2pm Took the Montenvers train up to the peak

3.45pm Rode the Montenvers train back down

4.05pm Explored the town and grabbed food and drinks

5.15pm Hopped on the bus back to Geneva airport

6.30pm Reached Geneva airport

7.50pm Flew back to Luton

11pm Back in bed

Expenses

Airport Parking £10

Return Flights (Luton to Geneva) £42

Return Bus (Geneva airport to Chamonix) £21

Montenvers Mer de Glace train £27

Jan. 22 (UPI) — A New York court judge has ordered the state to redraw its congressional map, striking down a Republican district and potentially giving the Democratic Party an advantage in securing an additional seat in the upcoming midterm elections.

Justice Jeffrey Pearlman of the Supreme Court of the State of New York issued his ruling Wednesday, declaring New York’s 11th Congressional District unconstitutional as it unlawfully diluted the voting power of Black and Latino voters.

“It is clear to the Court that the current district lines of CD-11 are a contributing factor in the lack of representation for minority voters,” Pearlman wrote in his 18-page order.

“Petitioners have shown strong evidence of racially polarized voting bloc, … they have demonstrated a history of discrimination that impacts current-day political participation and representation and they have shown that racial appeals are still made in political campaigns today. Taken together, these circumstances provide strong support for the claim that Black and Latino votes are being diluted in the current CD-11.”

Pearlman ordered the district map to be redrawn by Feb. 6, though the ruling is expected to be appealed.

The lawsuit was filed in late October by New York voters who challenged the 2024 congressional map for maintaining what they called in the court document “a fatal substantive defect: it dilutes Black and Latino voting strength in CD-11.”

New York’s 11th congressional district encompasses all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. Held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, it is the only Republican seat in New York City.

In a statement, Malliotakis said she is reviewing the decision.

“Nothing changes the fact that this is a frivolous attempt by Washington Democrats to steal this congressional seat from the people and we are very confident that we will prevail at the end of the day,” she said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., celebrated the decision on Wednesday.

“This ruling is the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan,” he said in a statement. “The voters of New York deserve the fairest congressional map possible.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK will not yet be signing up to US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace over concerns about Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s possible participation.

Cooper told the BBC the UK had been invited to join the board but “won’t be one of the signatories today” at a planned ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The foreign secretary described the board as a “legal treaty that raises much broader issues” than the initiative’s initial focus on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The charter proposed by the White House does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to replace some functions of the United Nations.

Countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Israel have said they will become members of the board, and at Davos, President Trump said Putin had accepted an invitation to join the initiative.

But President Putin has not confirmed this and earlier he said his country was still studying the invitation.

Speaking to the BBC’s Breakfast programme from Davos, Cooper said the UK had received an invitation to join the board and strongly supported Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

“That’s why we are also clear we want to play our part in phase two of the Gaza peace process,” Cooper said.

But she added: “We won’t be one of the signatories today because this is a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.

“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something that’s talking about peace when we’ve still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be commitment to peace in Ukraine.”

She said Putin had shown no willingness “to come and make that agreement and that’s where the pressure needs to be now”.

“But we will have continuing international discussions including with our allies,” the foreign secretary said.

Diplomatic relations between the US and the UK are on shakier ground after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European nations if his demand to hand control of Greenland to his country was not met.

But US president appears to have backed down after saying the US was exploring a potential deal on Greenland after talks with Nato, as he dropped planned tariffs on eight European countries and ruled out using force to take the island.

Cooper welcomed the apparent climbdown on Greenland and said the UK and its European allies had put forward “positive, constructive proposals” on security in the Arctic.

But when asked about the Board of Peace, Cooper echoed other UK cabinet ministers who in recent days have been expressing concerns over Putin’s potential role in the scheme, given Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies and together with France, signed a declaration of intent on deploying troops to the country if a peace deal is made with Russia.

As talks to end the war in Ukraine continue, President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are due to meet in Davos on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump repeated his often-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.

Trump’s Board of Peace was originally unveiled by the White House as part of a plan to rebuild Gaza and design its future governance.

But the leaked text of the board’s founding charter goes far beyond that purpose.

The text says the board would be “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”.

The leaked document says the Board of Peace’s charter will enter into force once three states formally agree to be bound by it, with member states given renewable three-year terms and permanent seats available to those contributing $1bn (£740m), it said.

The charter declared the body as an international organisation mandated to carry out peace-building functions under international law, with Trump serving as chairman – and separately as the US representative – and holding authority to appoint executive board members and create or dissolve subsidiary bodies.

Last Friday, the White House named seven members of the founding Executive Board, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

More have now said they will join it, including Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Vatican has said that the Pope has also received an invitation.

Good Morning Britain star Ranvir Singh shared heartbreaking news during Thursday’s show

A Good Morning Britain star made a tragic death announcement on Thursday (January 22), as tributes poured in. The popular ITV show was presented by Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid, who kept viewers updated with the latest happenings both nationally and globally.

Joining them in the studio were Laura Tobin, providing regular weather updates, and Ranvir Singh, who covered the day’s other news stories.

During the programme, Ranvir reported the sad news of an 87-year-old woman who had tragically died in hospital after falling into a pothole while crossing the road. The family of Beryl Barrett has described her death as “unnecessary”.

Ranvir shared: “The family of an 87-year-old woman, who died after falling in a pothole, says she lost her life unnecessarily. Beryl Barrett was crossing the road in Nottinghamshire when she clipped the wheel of her walking aid and fell. She died six days later on Christmas Day,” reports Wales Online.

She continued: “Beryl’s MP raised her death with the Prime Minister, saying it was time to take action. The government says it’s investing £2 billion in the East Midlands to fix roads.”

Beryl’s family had previously released a statement saying: “We, the Barrett family, would like to address the event that we believe caused the death of our mother on 25 December. She was 87 years old, living independently in Warsop. She had a very active life. She regularly attended church, bingo and met family and friends for events.”

The statement revealed that Beryl fell backwards onto the road and received assistance from “many kind members of the public” and emergency services. The family said they were informed Beryl had fractured her femur and the top of her previous hip replacement. She was transported to King’s Mill Hospital.

They added: “It was recommended that she have surgery the following week. Sadly and absolutely unnecessarily, she went into respiratory failure and passed away on Christmas Day.

“We believe that, if that accident hadn’t occurred [despite her underlying health issues], she would not have passed away in this way.”

Beryl’s MP, Steve Yemm, demanded improvements to the county’s roads on Wednesday (January 21). Upon hearing of Beryl’s heartbreaking death, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, extended his “deepest sympathies” to her family.

He said: “I will make sure the roads minister meets the family at the earliest opportunity. It shows why tackling potholes really matters. We are investing £2 billion in the East Midlands to fix the roads and improve local transport. We are also putting in place tough new standards so that councils must prove they are fixing roads properly.”

Bert Bingham, a cabinet member on Nottinghamshire County Council, expressed his condolences: “We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of a resident in Warsop in December, and our thoughts are with their family and friends. Any reports of incidents on our highway resulting in injury are taken extremely seriously and are investigated to establish the circumstances in which they occurred. In this case, we do not feel that it is appropriate to comment further until any relevant investigations have taken place.”

Elsewhere, Richard and Susanna brought viewers breaking news on today’s GMB, reporting that multiple individuals remain unaccounted for following a devastating landslide at a campsite in the popular New Zealand destination of Mount Maunganui.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am

Reporting from Washington — Republicans have a boatload of presidential candidates, and Democrats have one clear front-runner, but in both parties most voters seem satisfied with their choices so far, a new poll indicates.

The latest survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center also finds that interest in the presidential campaign has risen notably as candidates have begun to enter the field. Two-thirds of voters said they were thinking about the campaign, up 8 points in two months. But fewer than 1 in 3 say they are thinking “a lot” about presidential politics this far ahead of the November 2016 election.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 57% say they have an excellent or good impression of their party’s candidates, while among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 54% do, the poll found.

For the GOP, that’s a notable switch from this point four years ago, when only 44% said they had such a positive view. The field at that time had only a couple of well-established political figures in it. Partisans on both sides have a more positive view of the choices than they did in the run-up to the 2004 election, when about 4 in 10 rated their parties’ candidates as excellent or good.

The survey asked for specific impressions of Hillary Rodham Clinton and six GOP presidential hopefuls — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee.

Bush, the former governor of Florida and brother and son of former presidents, was the best-known on the GOP side, with only 12% of Republicans and Republican leaners saying they could not rate him. He also had the largest share with a negative impression, 35%, compared with 52% positive.

Walker, the Wisconsin governor, was the least known, with 36% not able to rate him. He also had the best ratio of positive to negative opinions, with only 17% unfavorable compared with 46% favorable. The numbers reflect the good start Walker has had in his as-yet-unofficial campaign, but also the fact that he has yet to establish a clear image for many.

Conservative Republicans are more likely than moderates or liberals to have opinions about the GOP field. They are a bit less positive about Bush than are moderates and liberals, but not dramatically so, with 37% of conservative Republicans and 34% of the party’s moderates and liberals having an unfavorable view of him.

Both Walker and Rubio, the Florida senator, get significantly more favorable opinions from conservatives than nonconservatives in the party — a potentially important factor in a party where conservatives dominate the primary voting.

Clinton’s ratings have declined, but she remains extremely popular among Democrats or Democratic leaners, with 77% having a favorable opinion of her. That’s down from 86% last summer, but still a much higher number than any of the Republicans garner among their partisans.

Among the public at large, opinion is closely divided on Clinton, with 49% viewing her favorably and 47% negatively. Her ratings are down most sharply among Republicans, 17% of whom now say they view her favorably.

The youngest Democrats, those aged 18 to 26, were least likely to have a positive view of Clinton, with 65% viewing her favorably. Among other age groups of Democrats, about 8 in 10 had a favorable view.

Although some liberal activists have pined for alternative candidates, 81% of liberal Democrats viewed Clinton positively, compared with 74% of conservatives and moderates. And despite her potential appeal as the first female elected president, male Democrats were about as likely to have a positive view of Clinton as females.

By contrast with Clinton’s generally positive ratings among Democrats, Vice President Joe Biden’s star has faded. Only 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents viewed him favorably, and among voters overall, 39% have a favorable view compared with 48% who view him unfavorably.

The Pew survey, conducted May 12-18, polled 2,002 adults, including 1,497 registered voters. The margin of error for the registered voter sample was +/- 2.9 percentage points.

For more on politics and policy, follow @DavidLauter on Twitter.