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Nigeria’s Stolen Classrooms | RSS.com

On The Crisis Room, we’re following insecurity trends across Nigeria.

Between 2014 and 2025, at least 1,880 students have been abducted across Nigeria.

It’s a staggering number on its own, but it becomes even heavier when you realise these are children whose dreams, confidence, and sense of safety have been repeatedly disrupted.

And this tragic pattern continues. Just this Monday, Nov. 17, in Kebbi State, terrorists abducted at least 25 students of the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga.

Today on The Crisis Room, we talk about the effect of this abduction on children.

Hosts: Salma

Guests: Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu and Professor Auwal Inuwa

Audio producer: Anthony Asemota

Executive producer: Ahmad Salkida

To get it out of the way: Yes, Tobias Jesso Jr. has heard about gooning.

“Somebody put me up on it and said it was about masturbation?” says the 40-year-old singer and songwriter, which is about half-right: As detailed in an essay in Harper’s that went viral last month, to goon — a term heretofore associated with Jesso thanks to his cult-fave 2015 album “Goon” — means in Gen Z parlance to masturbate at such great lengths that the act leads to a kind of trance state.

“Well, I’ve never done that,” Jesso says. “‘Goon’ I got from ‘The Goonies’ — it’s just a brilliant movie.” He laughs. “But I don’t care. If it sells more records, sure.”

That Jesso has a record to sell at all might take some by surprise. Though “Goon” thoroughly charmed critics and fellow musicians with its early-’70s-balladeer vibe — many said he evoked the glory days of Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson and beard-and-shearling-coat-era Paul McCartney — Jesso didn’t cotton to the life of a sort-of-famous performer and almost immediately walked away from his solo career to write songs for other singers instead.

He’s thrived in that role, penning hits for the likes of Adele, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Dua Lipa. In 2023, he was named songwriter of the year at the Grammy Awards; this month he was nominated for that prize for a second time, with the Recording Academy citing his work with Justin Bieber (“Daisies”), Haim (“Relationships”) and Olivia Dean (“Man I Need”), among others.

Yet now he’s back with an unexpected follow-up to his debut called “Shine,” which came out Friday. Stripped back for the most part to just voice and piano, it’s an earnest work of introspection from a guy who knows how to make tenderness feel like strength.

Jesso, who grew up in Vancouver and lives in Los Angeles, announced the album just last week with a music video for his song “I Love You” that features the actors Riley Keough and Dakota Johnson, with whom he’s been close since he first touched down here around 2008.

“I hit them up and was like, ‘You girls think it’s about time I use your fame to get some extra clicks?’” he says on a recent morning at his place in Silver Lake. “The video opens up on them, then it pans away and it goes to me and you never see them again.”

Says Keough, a former girlfriend: “It was a very Tobias ask.”

So why return to the spotlight? According to Jesso, he wouldn’t have had it not been for a breakup that left him “the most depressed I’ve ever been in my life, by far.” We’re sitting in a cozy den that looks out over a lush hillside garden; a bowl of persimmons sits on a coffee table while a copy of “McCartney II” peeks out from a stack of LPs.

Jesso, whose mop of curly hair has begun ever so slightly to gray, says that when he enters a songwriting session with another artist, “I leave my worries and woes outside the door. I’m there to serve you — to write the song you want to write.” It’s an approach that’s endeared him to his star collaborators and yielded songs as deep as Adele’s “To Be Loved,” a stunning meditation on the costs of divorce from her 2021 album “30.”

But earlier this year, for the first time in Jesso’s decade of behind-the-scenes work, he found himself struggling to deliver. “I was feeling so in the dumps that I’d be choking on a line that I didn’t even want to say because if I say it, I’ll start crying,” he recalls.

He cleared six weeks from his busy schedule to process his emotions; the result was a set of songs for himself about heartache — “I can see the love leaving from your eyes in the form of a tear,” he sings in “Rain” — but also about his mom’s experience with dementia and about the young son he shares with his ex-wife.

To record the music, Jesso’s instinct was to go big. “I’m a dreamer, so I was like, ‘Imagine all the people I could have help me now that I didn’t have 10 years ago,’” he says. “I went from so-and-so to so-and-so, trying out studios, making promises I couldn’t keep. But all that stuff over the weeks just kind of flaked away.”

What remained was the beautifully mellow sound of a vintage Steinway piano he’d had restored after buying it on Craiglist for $800. He keeps the piano in a small, uncluttered studio upstairs from the den at his house; that’s where he cut “Shine,” singing live as he accompanied himself in real time.

A small handful of other players appear on the album, most prominently in “I Love You,” which erupts near the end with a wild drum fill performed by Jesso’s old pal Kane Ritchotte. The idea for the percussive outburst came to Jesso after he’d consumed “a s— ton of mushrooms,” he says. “I turned to my assistant at the time — I wonder if I have it — and I said, ‘Record me right now.’ She started recording me, and what came out was that fill.”

He picks up his phone and scrolls for a moment. “Look at this,” he says, turning the screen my way: There’s Jesso in the same room we’re in right now, staring wide-eyed into the camera as he mouths the drum sounds Ritchotte would later replicate exactly.

“That song is about somebody’s inner child being in the middle of a labyrinth, and you’re trying to find them so you can convince them that you’re in love,” Jesso tells me. “You can’t get there and you’re wishing that the whole labyrinth would just be destroyed. So when it gets to that part — ‘Shatter the cracks wide open / And say, “I love you”’ — the drums are the walls coming down. That’s the shattering.”

Tobias Jesso Jr. at the 65th Grammy Awards in 2023.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Drum theatrics aside, Jesso’s singing is the album’s clear focal point; his pleading, slightly unsteady tone gives the music an emotional intimacy that makes you feel as though you’re sitting right next to him on the piano bench.

Jesso describes his voice as something of a liability, which Keough says has been true since he was ducking the frontman’s job in the various bands he played in when he was in his early 20s. “I always loved his voice, and he just didn’t feel that way for whatever reason,” she recalls. “I don’t know if he felt a sort of shyness, which is really interesting because as a person he’s not shy whatsoever.”

Asked whether Jesso’s decision to follow up “Goon” surprised her, she says, “I was surprised he released ‘Goon’ to begin with.”

The way Jesso sees it, “My voice isn’t good enough for the songs I write, which is why I’ve chosen to work with all these other people.” What he’s comes to realize, though, is that “my voice is perfect for my songs.”

Which doesn’t mean it’s easy for him to hear it. Once he’d finished recording, Jesso asked his friend Shawn Everett to mix “Shine”; what he got back — with every imperfection of his voice under a virtual magnifying glass — terrified him. “It felt way, way, way too vulnerable,” Jesso says.

He texted Everett and said he was sorry but that he couldn’t put out the record like this. “I told him, ‘You just brought out more of me than I’m willing to share,’” he says now. “Then I got home, I smoked a big fat joint and I sat on the couch. I was like, I’m gonna wait until I’m high enough that I can press play and pretend this isn’t me.” He laughs. “I put on the headphones, and I have never in my life had such a profound experience with music.”

Who’d you imagine was singing?
I don’t know — like a 50-year-old dude or maybe a 20-year-old girl who’s got a low voice? It didn’t matter — it wasn’t me, so I wasn’t listening with judgmental ears.

The paradox is that “Shine” feels like the you-est possible album.
There’s no tricks. I didn’t auto-tune, I didn’t cut anything together, I didn’t do any of that. It’s me singing a take, and it’s the best take I got. Whereas with “Goon,” there were a lot of elements that maybe weren’t possible for me to do.

“Goon” was a little more elaborate — more players and producers.
Which was tortuous because I’m like, “How do I recreate this thing that I didn’t even fully make myself?”

Given the unhappiness of your experience after “Goon” came out, I wondered whether this time you’d put certain restrictions on what you’re willing to do.
I’ll say right off the bat: I’m not touring — no way. I’ve met enough artists who say, “I feel totally myself onstage,” to know that there’s a natural state in which people feel comfortable up there. And I’ve tried every which way — by which I mean drinking and not drinking — and I just can’t. It’s not me.

Maybe this is something I still need to work on in therapy, but by being onstage and singing, I’m basically saying, “I’m a singer,” and I’m not comfortable saying that. I’m comfortable saying, “I’m a songwriter.” So there’s this weird shame that comes in where I’m presenting myself beyond what I know my ability to be.

One of the benchmarks I needed to hit on this record was to be comfortable that I’m not misrepresenting myself, which is why I’m OK if there’s an out-of-tune note here and there or if it’s a little bit fast or slow. But even knowing that I can perform it exactly like it is on the record, there’s nothing drawing me to the stage. I don’t really want to have a relationship with fans in that way. I feel very privileged that this is not my main job.

Between “Goon” and now, songwriting became your main job.
So I don’t have to take this as seriously. The parts I do take seriously — the art — I’m willing to put in the work for.

But not for success per se.
Exactly. This is weird to say, but there were moments where I was toiling over this record — listening to Take No. 73 and being like, “Wait, what was the other one?” — and the thought would occur to me: I could go to work today instead of do this and potentially create much more wealth for myself than this album could ever do.

I mean, that’s almost certainly the case.
In comparison, “Shine” is meaningless in terms of success and potential. And yet I was still drawn to doing it, which made me feel like I was making the right choice for myself. But when it comes to the stuff I don’t think is important, just try to get me to do it. It ain’t happening.

I went back and looked at something I wrote about a show you played at South by Southwest in 2015 where you had to start your song “True Love” five times.
Oh God.

But it’s not like anybody in the crowd was mad about it. People thought it was cute.
I feel like if I was onstage now — and everything’s pointing to I probably should play a show or two — I’d be able to see the value in vulnerability. It’s human, and I like that about it. But at the time I wasn’t able to cope with the people who wouldn’t see it that way. Because I wasn’t seeing it that way. I was seeing it as: I’m trying to pretend I’m OK with this, but I’m actually forgetting my song because I’m such a s— performer. Yeah, the crowd loves it, but I go offstage and I’m not looking for the comments saying, “It was so funny.” I’m looking for the ones that are like, “This guy’s a joke.” And I’m like, f—, I knew it.

Keough shares Jesso’s assessment of what’s put him in a different position today versus 10 years ago.

“With ‘Goon,’ he would have put pressure on himself” to jump through the hoops required of a performer, she says. “He was a barista straight out of the coffee shop. ‘Shine’ is straight off all his Grammys and his big songwriting career. He’s able to be more free as an artist now because the stakes are lower.”

Yet not so long ago Jesso reckoned he might be close to burning out in the pop realm. “I was kind of getting ready to dip,” he says, “because I don’t like going into a room and saying, ‘Oh, this song is blowing up — let’s do the same thing.’”

Tobias Jesso Jr. at home in Silver Lake.

(Ian Spanier / For The Times)

He clarifies that he’s not talking about working with an artist like Dua Lipa, who recruited him as a writer for her 2024 “Radical Optimism” LP. “Dua was great,” he says. “I’m talking about going into pitch sessions and sitting with a bunch of writers and figuring out how to get a song pitched. That’s never really worked for me, and the higher you get with producers, the more into that formula you’re putting yourself.”

What he found with Bieber earlier this year was nothing like that. “It was balls to the wall, ideas just flying around,” Jesso says of the roving sessions for the pop superstar’s experimental “Swag” and “Swag II” albums, which took Jesso and the rest of Bieber’s crew to France and the Bahamas and Iceland before Jesso began work on “Shine.”

“I nearly wept on more than one occasion because of how moved I felt about what Justin was doing,” Jesso says. “It was raw emotion without any tricks, without any wordplay, without any of the stuff that I’d been so jaded by in the industry.” The experience, he adds, “reinvigorated my belief in pop music.”

Which makes it an interesting time to move to Australia, as Jesso plans to do soon in order to be close to his son, Ellsworth, who’s there with Jesso’s ex-wife, the Australian singer and songwriter Emma Louise.

“D-I-V-O-R-C-E, you know — it’s always give and take to meet each other’s needs,” he says. “And one of the things was Australia. She really wants Ellsworth to go to school there, which makes sense in one sense — and professionally makes no sense at all. But I committed to it, and I want to at least give it a try and see it through.

“This album coming out and moving to Australia within the same couple months — it feels like a big moment of change,” Jesso continues. “Maybe I’m letting go of some old things, like music being scary, and embracing some new scary things. I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do over there. Hopefully I get busy doing something. Otherwise I’ll be pitching the groundskeeper ideas for TV shows the whole time.”

Nov. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Coast Guard has reversed course on swastikas and nooses, saying they are “hate symbols” after reportedly issuing guidance calling them “potentially divisive.”

The agency late Thursday said the guidance “doubles down on its current policies prohibiting the display, distribution or use of hate symbols by Coast Guard personnel.”

“This is not an updated policy but a new policy to combat any misinformation and double down that the U.S. Coast Guard forbids these symbols,” the Coast Guard, which is part of Homeland Security, said in a news release.

The new guidance came after media outlets, led by The Washington Post, earlier Thursday reported that the Coast Guard had written a less firm policy earlier this month.

Since 2023, Coast Guard policy said displaying the symbols “constitutes a potential hate incident.”

“The Coast Guard does not tolerate the display of divisive or hate symbols and flags, including those identified with oppression or hatred,” the Coast Guard wrote about the policy on Thursday night.

“These symbols reflect hateful and prohibited conduct that undermines unit cohesion. A symbol or flag is prohibited as a reflection of hate if its display adversely affects good order and discipline, unit cohesion, command climate, morale, or mission effectiveness.”

Listed were “a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups as representations of supremacy, racial or religious intolerance, anti-semitism or any other improper bias.”

The policy applies to all personnel and they “shall be removed from all Coast Guard workplaces, facilities and assets,” the agency said.

Also, all displays or depictions of Confederate battle flags continue to be prohibited.

In the earlier reported policy, commanders could take steps to remove them from public view and that the rule did not apply to private spaces outside public view, including family housing.

“At a time when anti-Semitism is rising in the United States and around the world, relaxing policies aimed at fighting hate crimes not only sends the wrong message to the men and women of our Coast Guard, but it puts their safety at risk,” Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said Thursday.

She said the change “rolls back important protections against bigotry and could allow for horrifically hateful symbols, like swastikas and nooses, to be inexplicably permitted to be displayed.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the change “disgusting” and said “it’s more encouragement from the Republicans of extremism.”

Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, called it “categorically false” to claim prohibitions were rolled back.

“These symbols have been and remain prohibited in the Coast Guard per policy,” Lunday said in a statement, adding that “any display, use or promotion of such symbols, as always, will be thoroughly investigated and severely punished.”

DHS denied there was a revision.

“The 2025 policy is not changing — USCG issued a lawful order that doubles down on our current policies prohibiting the display, distribution or use of hate symbols by Coast Guard personnel,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said to CNN.

Nooses are a symbol of hatred of black people, with thousands lynched between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the civil rights movement.

Swastikas represent Adolf Hitler‘s Nazi Germany, which killed millions of people during the Holocaust.

About 1,900 died while serving in the Coast Guard during World War II against Germany.

“The swastika is the ultimate symbol of virulent hate and bigotry, and even a consideration by the Coast Guard to no longer classify it as such would be equivalent to dismissing the Ku Klux Klan‘s burning crosses and hoods as merely ‘potentially divisive,'” Menachem Rosensaft, a law professor at Cornell University and a Jewish community leader, said in a statement to Military Times.

Other armed services are part of the Department of Defense.

In 2020, a Pentagon report found that extremist views were not widespread in the military, though there was the ability of people with military experience to carry out “high-impact events.”

Two months ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of all the hazing, bullying and harassment definitions across the military. He said they were “overly broad” and were “jeopardizing combat readiness, mission accomplishment and trust in the organization.”

During his confirmation hearing in January, Hegseth said a focus on extremism has “created a climate inside our ranks that feels political when it hasn’t ever been political.”

The U.S. Air Force says it estimates a fleet of Next Generation Airlift (NGAL) aircraft will be flying operational missions by the 2040-2041 timeframe. The service hopes to have its C-5M Galaxy and C-17A Globemaster III cargo planes replaced by NGAL types by the mid-2040s and mid-2070s, respectively. By 2075, the C-17, a type that has been under particular strain in recent years, will have been in service for 80 years, though the remaining individual aircraft will be younger than that.

Air Mobility Command (AMC) laid out its latest vision for its future airlift fleets in a strategy memo released earlier this week. The document reconfirms that the current plan is for a single NGAL aircraft to supplant the C-5M and C17A, which AMC had first disclosed publicly in September. At that time, the command had only said it was targeting the mid-2040s timeframe to begin making the transition to its new cargo planes. The Air Force had 222 C-17As and 52 C-5Ms in its inventory as of the start of Fiscal Year 2025.

“With an accelerated NGAL Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) in FY27 [Fiscal Year 2027] and an uninterrupted acquisition process with consistent funding, the first NGAL aircraft could be produced as early as FY38,” the Airlift Recapitalization Strategy document, dated November 18, 2025, explains. “It is estimated [that] the NGAL program will reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in FY41.”

U.S. government fiscal years run from October 1 of the year before through September 30 of the year in question. So, for example, Fiscal Year 2041 starts on October 1, 2040, and ends on September 30, 2041.

“One NGAL aircraft will replace one C-5M aircraft until the entire C-5M fleet is retired. Then, the C-17A fleet will be replaced by NGAL at a one-for-one swap,” the document adds. “Uninterrupted inter-theater airlift capacity is paramount for global operations during fleet recapitalization. Current recapitalization projections require C-5M viability until 2045 and C-17A viability through 2075.”

The Air Force’s C-5Ms were all upgraded from older B and C variants that began their service careers in the 1980s. C-17As first began entering operational service in 1995. Neither of these aircraft is still in production.

By 2045, the youngest C-5Ms will have been flying for some 56 years. As already mentioned, the Air Force is now set to keep flying C-17s for eight decades. The service took delivery of its last Globemaster III in 2013, which will be 62 years old in 2075.

It’s also important to point out here that a succession of major crises globally has led to persistently high demand for the C-17 fleet in recent years. The aircraft have played notably critical roles in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the delivery of military aid to Ukraine immediately before and since Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022, and various contingencies around the Middle East since 2023. This, in turn, has put immense strain on the aircraft, and their crews, and has created additional sustainment challenges. With all this in mind, how exactly the Air Force concluded it would be feasible to keep the C-17s flying through 2075 is unclear.

“To mitigate risks associated with acquisition delays, funding uncertainties, or technological challenges, the existing C-5M and C-17A fleets’ operational viability must be maintained until a fully capable replacement is fielded, which may require extending the service life and associated Military Type Certificate (MTC) of each platform,” the AMC airlift strategy document does note.

There have been growing discussions already about re-engining the C-17 fleet, which could help extend the operational life of those aircraft. New engines that offer greater fuel economy and/or higher reliability could give the aircraft a boost in performance, as well as reduce operating costs and sustainment demands.

“The C-17 and C-5 … served us well for decades, but they’re not going to fly forever, and so we’d like to recapitalize those on our timeline,” Air Force Gen. John Lamontagne, head of AMC, had told TWZ and other outlets at a roundtable on the sidelines of the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2025 Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in Spetember. “We’d like to have a plan in place so when the service life starts to erode on the C-17, whether it’s wings, engines, or more, we’ve got a competition already going.”

AMC does also have plans now for other capability upgrades to its existing airlift fleets, especially the workhorse C-17s, to ensure their continued relevance, especially in future high-end fights. The Globemaster IIIs are already in the process of getting new beyond-line-of-sight communications suites, and new defensive systems could also be on the horizon.

Many questions about the successor NGAL aircraft still remain to be answered, as well, including whether or not the Air Force might require the design to incorporate stealthy features. Vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and other ways to reduce dependence on traditional runways, access to which is expected to be greatly limited in future major conflicts, might also be part of the equation. The Air Force has explored advanced airlift and aerial refueling tanker concepts that include these elements on multiple occasions in the past. TWZ has been calling attention to the growing need for more survivable cargo planes and tankers for years now.

“As far as what we want in the next[-generation airlift] platform, we want agility, we want speed, we want to be able to operate in a higher threat environment,” Gen. Lamontagne had said in September. This includes “countermeasures that are effective against those threats that are coming from increasingly longer ranges.”

On top of all this is the key equation of how the Air Force expects to replace the C-5M and C-17A with a single platform. The Galaxy and Globemaster III are very different size-wise, as well as in the kinds of missions they were designed to perform, as TWZ has highlighted in the past.

At least one company, Radia, is openly pitching a new airlifter to the Air Force that is bigger than the C-17 and the C-5. However, the Windrunner design is also still in a very aspirational phase of development, as you can read more about here.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing, among others, have also been publicly showing various concepts for advanced transports and tankers in recent years.

The Air Force has talked previously about the potential for NGAL to be a ‘system of systems’ rather than a single aircraft. Speaking in September, Gen. Lamontagne said it remained possible that multiple aircraft types could ultimately come under the NGAL umbrella, but raised concerns about whether his service “can afford, grandkids, kids, all of them.”

No matter what aircraft the Air Force ultimately acquires under NGAL, the service has now set a clear goal for them to begin entering operational service within the next 15 years or so.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt apologised after accidentally revealing personal details about his guest star on the BBC show

Matt Tebbutt dropped a huge blunder just minutes into today’s Saturday Kitchen (November 22), accidentally revealing where one of his celebrity guests lives.

The TV chef was joined by comedian and actor Tom Allen, famous for his roles on The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Cooking with the Stars and The Great British Bake Off’s Extra Slice.

He popped up on the ITV show to promote his gardening podcast, Pottering With Tom Allen, telling presenter Matt: “I just thought what the world needs is another podcast.”

He went on: “We keep the bird song in, we keep the church bells in, even aeroplanes going over we leave in.”

Matt then chimed in with a cheeky comment about the background noise, which accidentally gave away where the star calls home, reports the Express.

“Please Matt! Don’t tell people where I live,” Tom shot back, before quipping: “It’s true though it’s a very desirable area,” as giggles filled the studio.

The gaffe sparked a hasty “I’m sorry” from presenter Matt, who quickly added: “I didn’t give out the full address.”

Tom then revealed that his neighbourhood was quite compact, meaning even tiny hints were too much information.

“Well it’s not a very big place so if you are in Chislehurst you’ll see me there,” he revealed before throwing a tongue-in-cheek “So thanks for that” Matt’s way.

As the programme progressed, Matt turned to chef Ravinder Bhogal to ask what was next on the agenda. Yet, he couldn’t help but make another quip about his earlier gaffe.

“Right let’s see what else is on the menu today. Ravinder! Tell everyone where you live,” he jested, sparking more laughter from the cast and crew.

Saturday Kitchen is broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer

Travis Head’s 69-ball century in Perth helps Australia take a 1-0 series lead against England in the Ashes.

Makeshift opener Travis Head smacked an explosive 69-ball century to power Australia to victory in a high-octane first Ashes Test on Saturday as England meekly surrendered in the Perth Stadium cauldron.

Chasing 205 to win, Head slammed 123 as the hosts romped home on the second day by eight wickets in an electric start to the five-match series. Marnus Labuschagne was not out on 51, and Steve Smith was on two.

Head’s heroics came on the back of a blistering spell from the marauding pace pair Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc after lunch that prompted a stunning England collapse.

The tourists were cruising at 65-1 and building an ominous second-innings lead, but Boland and Starc left them reeling with four wickets in as many overs.

A ruthless Boland accounted for Ben Duckett (28), Ollie Pope (33) and Harry Brook (0) in the space of 11 balls, then two deliveries later, Starc sent Joe Root packing for eight.

When Starc removed skipper Ben Stokes (2), England were flailing at 88-6 and the veteran paceman had bagged a 10-wicket haul for only the third time after his first innings 7-58, a career-best.

England were partially rescued by a crucial 50-run stand between Gus Atkinson (37) and Brydon Carse (20) before being rolled for 164 at tea.

When they returned, Usman Khawaja again failed to show as an opener as he battles back stiffness, with Australia signalling their intent by sending in Head.

Head, who has opened nine times previously in Test cricket, quickly got into his destructive rhythm, crunching some lovely boundaries, including big sixes off Carse and Mark Wood.

He made it look easy, making a mockery of the struggles other batsmen had on the bouncy track, bringing up his half-century in 36 balls, passing 4,000 Test runs in the process.

Looking to emulate him, debutant Jake Weatherald also went on the attack, but it cost him, out for 23 after a mistimed pull shot was taken by Ben Duckett off Carse.

An unruffled Head kept the pressure on, slamming four boundaries in one Stokes over and sending a six back over the head of Jofra Archer on his way to a 10th Test century.

He eventually fell to Carse, going for another big hit.

Starc stars

Australia resumed on a paltry 123-9 in their first innings and added just nine before Nathan Lyon was removed by Carse for four to leave England with a 40-run advantage.

Stokes was the star of the show, claiming 5-23 off just 36 balls to give England a golden opportunity to win a Test in Australia for the first time since the 2010-11 series.

They had all been out for 172 at the hands of Starc on day one.

Australia were banking on the 35-year-old to emulate his exploits in the second innings, and he whipped the sold-out Perth Stadium crowd into a frenzy when he removed Zak Crawley in his first over.

The veteran consigned Crawley to a pair, diving to his left in an incredible feat of athleticism for a memorable caught-and-bowled.

Duckett and Pope settled in, safely reaching lunch at 59-1.

But Scott Boland began to find his radar when they returned.

Duckett edged to Steve Smith in the slips, then Pope did the same to wicketkeeper Alex Carey before Brook repeated the feat to Khawaja.

After a first innings duck, Joe Root was desperate for runs, but he was no match for the relentless Starc, dragging a thick edge onto his stumps to cap a miserable start to the series.

Brendan Doggett then cleaned up Jamie Smith (15), Carse and Archer (5).

Nigeria is in the news again due to recent attacks by armed groups, involving the kidnapping of many students from schools and an assault on a church service. These events have increased pressure on the Nigerian government, especially after U. S. President Donald Trump hinted at possible military action owing to the reported persecution of Christians in the country.

The attacks lack clear responsibility claims, but they resemble those by gangs seeking ransom. These armed groups, referred to as bandits, use intimidation and violence, abducting victims and escaping into forests. Recently, 25 students were taken from a Muslim girls’ school in Kebbi state, marking the first mass school kidnapping since a larger incident in March 2024. Additionally, another 64 individuals were kidnapped from Zamfara state, and two people were killed during an attack on a church in Kwara state, where 38 worshippers were also abducted with a ransom demand made. On Friday, more students were kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic school in Niger state, with reports indicating 52 students taken.

Experts believe these attacks are financially motivated, particularly targeting schools due to weak security. Kidnappers find it easier to demand ransoms from parents willing to pay to get their children back. The northwest of Nigeria is especially plagued by insecurity, with armed groups operating in remote areas. Meanwhile, in the northeast, extremist groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP have caused significant humanitarian crises, resulting in over 2 million displaced persons and many deaths.

Tension in Nigeria also arises from ethnic and religious conflicts, especially in the central regions where the Christian and Muslim populations clash over various issues. Despite claims of specific persecution against Christians, some argue that the situation is more complex and that Muslims also suffer violence. The Nigerian government rejects assertions of complicity in religious violence by security forces.

The U. S. is considering actions to pressure Nigeria into better protecting religious freedoms. Nigeria’s military leads the counter-efforts against these armed groups, with traditional leaders also engaging in peace negotiations. However, attacks continue amid reports of increasing violence, with thousands of civilian deaths this year alone. President Tinubu has dispatched officials to oversee rescue efforts for kidnapped schoolgirls.

With information from Reuters

DUA Lipa looked sensational as she stripped to a bright orange bikini on holiday with her sister.

The Levitating hitmaker, 30, soaked up the sunshine in her matching two-piece as she joined look-a-like sister Rina, 24, on a day bed.

Rina, who is carving out her own career as a Gen Z influencer but has dreams of becoming a top actress, opted for red halterneck swimwear for their day in Brazil.

Both siblings shared their sun tan spot on a balcony above a busy beach.

Yet with the rays playing havoc with their Instagram snap, they shaded their eyes with their hands for their sexy snap.

Dua was seen keeping hydrated with a big bottle of water and sun tan lotion perched on a table alongside her.

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Dua posted a gallery of her holiday snaps to her Instagram grid with the caption: “Rio in my [heart].”

It came just a day after the New Rules hitmaker was seen in the crowds at a South American football clash.

The Brit songstress was spotted at the Fluminense vs Flamengo derby in a Brazil shirt – just days after taking in Argentina’s mammoth showpiece.

She is currently on her ‘Ridical Optimism Tour‘ and after playing two shows at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, she went to Chile for back-to-back performances.

Last week on November 15, she performed in Sao Paulo, Brazil and isn’t due back on stage until tonight in Rio de Janeiro, so has been letting her hair down and taking some well earned chilled time.

LOVED-UP

Meanwhile, Dua is no stranger to a sexy outfit, and recently posed in a sheer lace top as she told how she had “deeply fallen” for fiance Callum Turner.

She opened up about her actor fiance, who she got engaged to last year, after a whirlwind romance.

Discussing their relationship, Dua said: “I love love. It is a beautiful thing.

“It’s a really inspiring thing. You find yourself so intensely falling all the time in the best way possible. That vulnerability is so scary, but I feel so lucky to get to feel it.

“I’ve spent a lot of time being guarded or protecting my heart, and so I’m letting go of that feeling and just being like, ‘Okay, if I’m supposed to get hurt, then this is what’s going to happen.’ I have to just allow love.”

The singer added: “I’m happier than ever, so it feels like I’m doing a disservice by not talking about it.

“When you’re a public person, anything that’s very personal is very vulnerable. It’s not like I don’t want to share it.”

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The Sun were first to reveal Callum had popped the question last Christmas, after less than a year of dating.

Dua confirmed our story last month and told British Vogue: “Yeah we’re engaged. It’s very exciting.”

Nov. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, from different political spectrums, found common ground while meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.

Trump and Mamdani met for a half hour in the Oval Office before fielding questions from reporters for another 30 minutes, during which the president said that they have more shared priorities than expected, including cost of living, housing and crime.

“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said from his desk as Mandani stood next to him.

“I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again,” he added. “I’ll really be cheering for him.”

Trump, whose legal residence now is in Palm Beach, Fla., said he would feel “very, very comfortable being in New York” with Mamdani as mayor.

The president said he “OK” with some New Yorkers voting for both of them.

Mamdani said his motivation for meeting with the president is to “leave no stone unturned” in his effort to make New York City more affordable for its residents.

“I have many disagreements with the president,” Mamdani said, but called it his “opportunity to make my case.”

“We should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” Mamdani added.

“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said when asked about cutting federal funding as he has previously mentioned.

Trump said he is fine with Mamdani referring to him as a fascist.

Mamdani affirmed he is a democratic socialist when asked by a reporter while in the Oval Office though Trump previously called him a “communist,” CNN reported.

The president said the meeting between the two was “really good, very productive” and that they both “want this city of ours that we both love to do very well.”

Trump was born and raised in New York City, and said he and Mamdani talked about making housing more accessible and lowering food prices.

“I think you’re going to have a really great mayor,” Trump said of Mamdani. “The better he does, the happier I am.”

Mamdani is likely to “surprise some conservative people” and “some very liberal people,” he added.

The mayor-elect likewise said the meeting between the two was productive.

“We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries, [and] we spoke about utilities,” Mamdani told reporters. “We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.”

He said he “appreciated the time with the president” and “I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”

Mamdani is scheduled to be sworn in as New York City’s mayor shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.

China on Friday took its feud with Tokyo over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Taikachi’s recent comments on Taiwan to the United Nations, as tensions between the East Asian neighbours deepened and ties plunged to their lowest since 2023.

“If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression,” China’s permanent representative to the UN, Fu Cong, wrote in a letter on Friday to the global body’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, referring to the strait that separates mainland China from self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing insists belongs to China. Beijing has not ruled out the possibility of forcibly taking Taiwan.

The diplomatic spat began earlier in November when Taikachi, who took office only in October, made remarks about how Japan would respond to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. Those remarks angered Beijing, which has demanded retractions, although the Japanese PM has not made one.

However, the spat has now rapidly escalated into a trade war involving businesses on both sides, and has deepened security tensions over a contested territory that has long been a flashpoint for the two countries.

Here’s what we know about the dispute:

What did Japan’s PM say about Taiwan?

While speaking to parliament on November 7, Taikachi, a longtime Taiwan supporter, said a Chinese naval blockade or other action against Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response. The response was not typical, and Taikachi appeared to go several steps further than her predecessors, who had only in the past expressed concern about the Chinese threat to Taiwan, but had never mentioned a response.

“If it involves the use of warships and military actions, it could by all means become a survival-threatening situation,” Taikachi told parliament, responding to an opposition politician’s queries in her first parliamentary grilling.

That statement immediately raised protests from China’s foreign and defence ministries, which demanded retractions. China’s consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, a day after, criticised the comments and appeared to make threats in a now deleted post on X, saying: “We have no choice but to cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us without hesitation. Are you ready?”

That post by Xue also raised anger in Japan, and some officials began calling for the diplomat’s expulsion. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara protested to Beijing over Xue’s X message, saying it was “extremely inappropriate,” while urging China to explain. Japan’s Foreign Ministry also demanded the post be deleted. Chinese officials, meanwhile, defended the comments as coming from a personal standpoint.

On November 14, China’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Japanese ambassador and warned of a “crushing defeat” if Japan interfered with Taiwan. The following day, Japan’s Foreign Ministry also summoned the Chinese ambassador to complain about the consul’s post.

Although Taikachi told parliament three days after her controversial statement that she would avoid talking about specific scenarios going forward, she has refused to retract her comments.

How have tensions increased since?

The matter has deteriorated into a trade war of sorts. On November 14, China issued a no-travel advisory for Japan, an apparent attempt to target the country’s tourism sector, which welcomed some 7.5 million Chinese tourists between January and September this year. On November 15, three Chinese airlines offered refunds or free changes for flights planned on Japan-bound routes.

The Chinese Education Ministry also took aim at Japan’s education sector, warning Chinese students there or those planning to study in Japan about recent crimes against Chinese. Both China and Japan have recorded attacks against each other’s nationals in recent months that have prompted fears of xenophobia, but it is unclear if the attacks are linked.

Tensions are also rising around territorial disputes. Last Sunday, the Chinese coastguard announced it was patrolling areas in the East China Sea, in the waters around a group of uninhabited islands that both countries claim. Japan calls the islands the Senkaku Islands, while Beijing calls them the Diaoyu Islands. Japan, in response, condemned the brief “violation” of Japanese territorial waters by a fleet of four Chinese coastguard ships.

Over the last week, Chinese authorities have suspended the screening of at least two Japanese films and banned Japanese seafood.

Then, on Thursday, China postponed a three-way meeting with culture ministers from Japan and South Korea that was scheduled to be held in late November.

‘Symbol of defiance’

On November 18, diplomats from both sides met in Beijing for talks where the grievances were aired.

Senior Chinese official Liu Jinsong chose to wear a five-buttoned collarless suit associated with the rebellion of Chinese students against Japanese imperialism in 1919.

Japanese media have called the choice of the suit a “symbol of defiance.” They also point to videos and images from the meeting showing Liu with his hands in his pockets after the talks, saying the gesture is typically viewed as disrespectful in formal settings.

The Beijing meeting did not appear to ease the tensions, and there seems to be no sign of the impasse breaking: Chinese representatives asked for a retraction, but Japanese diplomats said Taikachi’s remarks were in line with Japan’s stance.

What is the history of Sino-Japanese tensions?

It’s a long and – especially for China – painful story. Imperial Japan occupied significant portions of China after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), when it gained control of Taiwan and forcefully annexed Korea. In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Amid strong Chinese resistance, Japan occupied parts of eastern and southern China, where it created and controlled puppet governments. The Japanese Empire’s defeat in World War II in 1945 ended its expansion bid.

The Chinese Communist Party emerged victorious in 1949 in the civil war that followed with the Kuomintang, which, along with the leader Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan to set up a parallel government. But until 1972, Japan formally recognised Taiwan as “China”.

In 1972, it finally recognised the People’s Republic of China and agreed to the “one China principle”, in effect severing formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. However, Japan has maintained firm unofficial ties with Taiwan, including through trade.

Japan has also maintained a policy of so-called “strategic ambiguity” over how Tokyo would respond if China were to attack Taiwan — a policy of deliberate ambivalence, aimed at leaving Beijing and the rest of the world guessing over whether it would intervene militarily. The stance is similar to that of the United States, Taiwan’s most powerful ally.

How important is trade between China and Japan?

He Yongqian, a spokesperson for China’s commerce ministry, said at a regular news conference this week that trade relations between the two countries had been “severely damaged” by PM Takaichi’s comments.

China is Japan’s second-largest export market after the US, with Tokyo selling mainly industrial equipment, semiconductors and automobiles to Beijing. In 2024, China bought about $125bn worth of Japanese goods, according to the United Nations’ Comtrade database. South Korea, Japan’s third-largest export market, bought goods worth $46bn in 2024.

China is also a major buyer of Japan’s sea cucumbers and its top scallop buyer. Japanese firms, particularly seafood exporters, are worried about the effects of the spat on their businesses, according to reporting by Reuters.

Beijing is not as reliant on Japan’s economy, but Tokyo is China’s third-largest trading partner. China mainly exports electrical equipment, machinery, apparel and vehicles to Japan. Tokyo bought $152bn worth of goods from China in 2024, according to financial data website Trading Economics.

It’s not the first time Beijing has retaliated with trade. In 2023, China imposed a ban on all Japanese food imports after Tokyo released radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific. Beijing was against the move, although the UN atomic energy agency had deemed the discharge safe. That ban was lifted just on November 7, the same day Taikachi made the controversial comments.

In 2010, China also halted the exports of rare earth minerals to Japan for seven weeks after a Chinese fishing captain was detained near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

Directed by Japan’s monomonikered Hikari, “Rental Family” — a beautifully moving and affably humorous story of human connection — kicks off with one funeral and culminates with another, demonstrating the evolution that our protagonist, Philip (Brendan Fraser), goes through during his personal journey between these two events.

The first funeral is a shock. Philip is a struggling actor in Tokyo, with one massively successful commercial as a toothpaste superhero mascot under his belt. His agent has booked him a gig as “Sad American,” a role he can easily play with his looming height, doleful eyes and a heart he wears on his sleeve. Late as usual, he dashes to check in for work and is shocked to stumble into a somber funeral. He’s even more shocked when the formally dressed corpse starts emotionally reacting to the tearful eulogies.

The scene is a marvel of revelation and reaction from Fraser and, in fact, much of the genius of his performance in “Rental Family” comes from his reactions, especially as he discovers the weird and wonderful new job he’s landed.

In the screenplay by Hikari and Stephen Blahut, Philip finds himself working for Tada (Takehiro Hira), who runs a company called Rental Family that’s hired by clients to provide staff to role-play in various real-world scenarios — the fake funeral, for example, or as a mistress apologizing to a spurned wife or just for friendship. Philip’s first role is quite complex: He plays a Canadian man getting married to a young Japanese woman in a show wedding for her conservative parents. She’s queer and needs an out in order to be with her real partner. Philip, who is earnest and honest to a fault, chafes at the lie but soon realizes that he’s helping someone to live their authentic life, so he throws himself into it.

Rental Family’s service is all about maintaining Japanese values of propriety and politeness through performance, and the little (or big) white lies are manipulations to get what the clients want: an apology, companionship, love, admiration, closure. Philip’s most challenging high-wire act proves to be posing as the long-lost American father of a shrewd and emotionally intelligent young girl, Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), in order to secure her school admission. Both Philip and Mia’s mom (Shino Shinozaki), the client, soon realize that it’s much more complicated than just pretending to be a nuclear family for a school interview.

While playing daddy, Philip also juggles a role as a curious journalist profiling an aging, iconic (but largely forgotten) screen actor, Kikuo (Akira Emoto), from whom he learns surprising lessons about life, memory and legacy. He finds himself deeply connecting with these people, young and old, and learning from them, while becoming tangled in their lives.

Empathy pours off Fraser in waves, which is what made his Oscar-winning performance in “The Whale” work. Hikari channels that quality to good use in “Rental Family” but never oversteps. The film is sweet and affecting, never treacly or overly sentimental. She knows how to balance humor and poignancy, to allow Philip to be a grown man with his own needs and peccadilloes and mistakes, though we never question his motivations because of the inherent goodness that radiates off Fraser.

Hikari’s naturalistic style perfectly suits this story. The Tokyo that she showcases is one of quotidian everyday life, not the futuristic neon city that an outsider might capture. Hers is one of small, cramped apartments, karaoke bars, public transit, hotels, temples and schools. It’s a world occupied by normal people who sometimes need a little help, a little push to get the things they want in life. Philip is there to provide that service even though he’s also in need of his own connection to others.

But it’s the mishaps along the way that actually help Philip to grow. By the time we get to the second funeral, we see how much he has bloomed. Fraser has an openness to his expression that’s like a flower unfolding, beaming in the sunlight of recognition and personal fulfillment. As an actor, Fraser’s second act has been a sight to behold. He’s the emotional anchor of this life-affirming and quietly resonant film about the importance of being together — a movie that announces Hikari as a major talent.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

Nov. 22 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1718, Edward Teach, also known as the pirate Blackbeard, was killed off North Carolina’s Outer Banks during a battle with a British navy force.

In 1858, the city of Denver was founded.

In 1935, a Pan American Martin 130 “flying boat” called the China Clipper began regular trans-Pacific mail service. The flight from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines, took 59 hours and 48 minutes.

In 1943, meeting in Cairo, Egypt, President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-Shek discuss ways to defeat the Empire of Japan.

In 1950, a train wreck in New York City killed 79 people.

In 1954, the Humane Society of the United States was founded.

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, 46, in the third year of his first term, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the nation’s 36th chief executive. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with Kennedy’s slaying but was killed before he could go to trial.

In 1972, the U.S. State Department ended a 22-year ban on U.S. travel to China.

In 1977, the Anglo-French supersonic Concorde jetliner began scheduled flights to New York from London and Paris.

In 1988, the U.S. Air Force publicly unveiled the B-2 Stealth bomber for the first time before some 2,500 spectators, including members of Congress and other dignitaries.

In 1989, newly elected Lebanese President Rene Moawad died in bomb blast that also killed 17 other people in Syrian-patrolled Muslim West Beirut.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office.

File Photo by Rich Lipsk/UPI

In 1993, Mexico’s Senate approved the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari called it a “triumph.”

In 1997, New Zealanders Robert Hamill and Phil Stubbs arrived in Barbados from the Canary Islands in their boat, Kiwi Challenger, after 41 days, 1 hour and 55 minutes — a record for rowing across the Atlantic.

In 2002, at least 100 people died in riots in northern Nigeria sparked by a religious controversy over the Miss World beauty pageant.

In 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany’s chancellor. She was the first woman and first person from East Germany to lead the country.

In 2010, about 400 people were killed and hundreds injured in a panic-driven stampede on a densely crowded suspension bridge during Cambodia’s Water Festival in Phnom Penh.

In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Grace Hopper for her roles as a pioneering computer scientist and Navy admiral. Also awarded that day were: Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Lorne Michaels, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Vin Scully, Elouise Cobell, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Frank Gehry, Maya Lin and Richard Garwin.

In 2020, Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem en route to his first ATP Finals title London.

File Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE

60 years after assassination, a look back at JFK

<< Show Caption >>

Abuse survivors urge accountability and support ahead of the much-anticipated release of the files related to the late sex offender in the United States.

A group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse have said that they have been receiving death threats, which they expect to escalate, as the date nears for the release of files concerning the deceased convicted paedophile financier.

In a statement titled “What we’re bracing for” and made public on Thursday, Epstein’s survivors have demanded accountability and legal support to face their abusers and get justice.

“Many of us have already received death threats and other threats of harm. We are bracing for these to escalate,” they said.

“We ask every federal and state law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over these threats to investigate them and protect us.”

They also warned that there have been attempts to blame the victims for their own or each other’s abuse.

Some of the survivors have increased the pace of their campaigning efforts recently to pressure the United States administration to release the Justice Department’s files on the late sex offender, speaking publicly about their stories.

The furore has dominated the national agenda in the US with President Donald Trump backpedalling on his opposition against the Justice Department releasing the files with a sudden about-face last week.

Trump signed a bill on Wednesday requiring the Justice Department to release all of the files related to the disgraced financier.

That was one day after the legislation was unanimously approved in the US Senate.

After he signed the move into law, the department has 30 days to make them public.

‘Continue fighting’

The development follows weeks of intense political fighting about how far to go in disclosing records tied to Epstein.

The release could identify some of the most high-profile figures in politics, entertainment and business.

“Years ago, Epstein got away with abusing us by portraying us as flawed and bad girls,” said the statement by the survivors, demanding full disclosure of the files.

“We cannot let his enablers use this tactic to escape accountability now,” added the appeal, signed by 18 named survivors and 10 Jane Does.

“We ask our champions in Congress and in the public to continue fighting to make sure all materials are released, not selected ones.”

For one survivor, Marina Lacerda, the upcoming publication of the files represents more than an opportunity for justice.

Lacerda says she was just 14 when Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York mansion, but she struggles to recall much of what happened because it is such a dark period in her life. Now, she’s hoping that the files will reveal more about the trauma that distorted so much of her adolescence.

“I feel that the government and the FBI knows more than I do, and that scares me, because it’s my life, it’s my past,” she told The Associated Press news agency.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. He pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution.

Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein survivor whose painful story has been one of the most high-profile cases, had reportedly faced a campaign of intimidation and threats before she died by suicide in April.

Giuffre had accused Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the disgraced and expelled former United Kingdom royal Prince Andrew, of sexual abuse.

BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty shared a rare family memory on Saturday morning as she warned weatherman Simon King about a popular Christmas gift.

Viewers watching BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning (November 22) got an unusual peek into Naga Munchetty’s childhood as she revealed a cautionary tale live on air.

Charlie Stayt was alongside Naga for presenting duties today, with the conversation quickly shifting to must-have Christmas presents from their younger days.

Charlie revealed that the BBC breakfast crew had been discussing “iconic” festive gifts, including items the team had desperately wanted but never received during their childhood.

“There are lots of people who will never forgive their parents for not giving them something that they really wanted,” he began, as Naga pushed him for his response.

“No, not me actually,” he clarified, before adding: “Though I did want an action man and it wasn’t allowed – but that was a very long time ago,” as giggles could be heard from the production team, reports the Express.

The presenting pair then turned to weatherman Simon King who revealed he had always longed for a slushie maker during his youth. However, Naga was swift to jump in with a cautionary message.

“My cousins had one,” she began. “And I was really envious of it.”

Carrying on with her story, she explained: “I’ll make you feel better. That product then, a long time ago, when you used to scrunch it because it was a slush-making machine, bits of plastic used to come out as well.

“So it was never very good, so you didn’t miss out,” she added, comforting her colleague.

A relieved-looking Simon responded: “Good, I’m glad for that thank you,” before returning his focus to the weather forecast.

BBC Breakfast is broadcast every day on BBC One and iPlayer starting at 6am.

The ongoing US actions are ‘suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society’, according to the expert.

The United States must lift unilateral sanctions imposed on Cuba as they are “causing significant effects across all aspects of life” more than six decades after they were imposed during the early part of Fidel Castro’s leadership, according to a senior United Nations expert.

The “extensive regime of economic, trade and financial restrictions” against the island nation marks the longest-running unilateral sanctions policy in US history, said Alena Douhan, special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights.

Only the US Congress can lift the Cold War-era embargo on communist-run Cuba, whose government has maintained that the country “will not surrender” to Washington’s “policy of collective punishment”.

“As a result, generations of Cubans have lived under unilateral coercive measures, which has shaped the country’s economic and social landscape,” Douhan said in a statement released on Friday.

The UN official cited reports that Washington’s imposed measures have progressively tightened since 2018, with further sanctions imposed on the already existing ones and a significant intensification in 2021 following Cuba’s re-designation as a so-called “state sponsor of terrorism”.

Other countries and international companies also over-comply with the embargoes in an effort to steer clear of being targeted with secondary sanctions, which Douhan said affects the government and the people’s ability for long-term planning, “suffocating the social fabric of Cuban society”.

US governments have for decades ignored international calls to remove the sanctions on Cuba, including the overwhelming UN General Assembly vote at the end of October that showed global support for an end to the embargo for a 33rd year.

According to the UN rapporteur, there are shortages of food, medicine, electricity, water, essential machinery and spare parts in Cuba, while a growing emigration of skilled workers, including medical staff, engineers and teachers, is further straining the country.

The accumulative effect has “severe consequences for the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, food, health and development”, Douhan said.

Cuba has suffered a series of electricity blackouts, grid collapses that have rocked the island of 10 million over the past year.

Even when the US issues very limited licences and exemptions, the UN expert said investors remain wary of committing to long-term projects since there could be a policy shift in Washington.

“I urge all states to adhere to international law principles and norms and ensure that humanitarian concerns are fully respected, grounded in principles of mutual respect, solidarity, cooperation and multilateralism,” she said.

Douhan will present a thorough report to the UN Human Rights Council on the effect of the US sanctions in September 2026, following meetings with government officials, international agencies, church representatives, members of academia, medical personnel and the private sector.

A series of artillery, air attacks hit near Rafah, Khan Younis in the south, and Deir el-Balah in the centre, as well as Gaza City.

IT’S been an incredibly choppy lead up to his big day – and this week Adam Peaty and his wife-to-be Holly Ramsay felt they had no choice but to speak out, saying they felt “targeted” and “hurt” by the drama.

But there was one part of the couple’s statement that struck me the most – Adam’s repeated mentions of his sister Bethany, seemingly the one family member he is still talking to – who he mentioned even before his future wife. Now, I can reveal the truth behind their close bond, the real reason they are sticking together and how Bethany is also now estranged from their mum.

The statement was the latest twist in the ongoing drama surrounding the Olympian, 30, and his family – making it very clear just how divided camp Peaty really is. 

Interestingly, it was Bethany, 32, that Adam mentioned first when discussing the pain his family were suffering.

Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings tells us: “The mention of his sister Bethany in a positive light is a small lighthouse of loyalty in a storm of familial conflict.”

His sister has had her head turned by all the glitz and glamour.

family friend

At this point, Bethany is the only family member who is still going to Adam and Holly’s upcoming nuptials next month – after they disinvited his mother and others in the group took a stand. 

In fact, she’s so close to Adam and Holly that she has been asked to be a bridesmaid and was front and centre at the hen do – rubbing shoulders with Victoria Beckham.

A friend close to the family told us: “Bethany has always been very close to Adam and she is really taken with the celebrity lifestyle.

“She’s had her head turned by all the glitz and glamour. She was over the moon to be at the hen party, hanging out with Victoria Beckham and couldn’t wait to tell all her friends about it.

“She really fits in with the glam world – she’s blonde and very pretty.

“She got on with Holly straight away and has been asked to be a bridesmaid.”

The siblings grew up in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, but Adam now spends much of his time travelling or in London. Bethany, who now lives in Derby, is thought to spend time with both him and Holly whenever they are back in the UK.

It’s no secret just how much Adam’s life has changed since he became such an acclaimed swimmer – and is now set to marry a woman whose dad is worth £200million.

In contrast, Adam’s working-class family are living the same lives they always have – while he is said to have become “seduced by the fame and glamour of the Ramsays”, which those close to the star tell me Bethany has also now fallen for. 

In his 2021 autobiography The Gladiator Mindset, he openly addressed how it’s all impacted his relationships.

He wrote: “Some of the closest people to me take it personally and despite my reassurances that I really do care, they think that I’ve changed through success and as a result I am ashamed of them and that I should spend more time with them.”

But as well as enjoying the flashiness of Adam and Holly’s life, Bethany and Adam have something else in common – being young parents.

Our insider said: “She’s also a young mum so has really bonded with Adam since he became a dad. It’s made them closer than ever.”

News of the Peaty family rift has sent shockwaves through the showbiz world, but we can reveal it’s not the first time they have all fallen out.

We are told that like in all families they have had ups and downs over the years, but there was one huge row years ago that started it all. 

ADAM’S TOUGH LOVE

They continued: “Adam was always close to his two brothers as well, particularly James, 34, but something happened a number of years ago, which sparked the first fallout.

“Their mum Caroline sides with James, because he has his struggles – his ADHD and mental health problems – and she felt he needed support.

“Caroline feels James is the weaker one and is looking after him right now.

“She felt that Adam was being too tough on his older brother, he can be a real sportsman at times and gives tough love.”

Adam himself admitted in the past that he can lack ’empathy’ and branded himself a ‘selfish athlete’.

The family friend said: “There have been a number of fallouts over the years, and they often fall in and out with each other, but this time feels different.”

And things are now so bad that mum-of-two Bethany is in the same boat as Adam and has been ostracised from the rest of the family – which explains why he has taken her under his wing so much. 

They added: “Caroline is now not talking to Bethany. It’s very sad because it means she’s not seeing the children either. 

“They all feel it’s gone too far now, and they won’t be able to make things up any time soon – let alone within time for the wedding.”

In Adam’s statement he accused his family of “encouraging” false claims about him and his fiancée.

It reads: “Over the past few days, a lot has been reported and comments posted about the private life of Holly and myself.

“My sister Bethany, has also been targeted. This has been almost entirely one-sided and, in many cases, excessive and intrusive. It has been deeply hurtful and upsetting to read, especially given the false basis upon which we have been targeted.

“What makes it worse is that it has been encouraged by members of my family.”

The swimming champion assured fans there were two sides to the story and insisted he only has good intentions.

He continued: “Bethany, Holly and myself cannot go into detail given an ongoing police investigation into serious matters that arose long before recent events.

“For those who know me personally, you know that I work so hard on trying to improve myself as a person who wants to contribute to making the world a better place. I am continuing to learn about myself and how I can be the man I want to be; a worthy partner, father, businessman, friend and athlete; even through these challenging times.

“Bethany, Holly and I will get through this – we do not ask for sympathy. We just need people to be aware that there are always two sides to every story. To those of you who have reached out and shown kindness and understanding – thank you. It is deeply appreciated.”

‘STABILISING THE NARRATIVE’

Behavioural/media psychologist Jo has analysed the statement and believes he is making a clear point with his choice of words.

She explained: “By calling out Bethany positively, Adam is signalling that she occupies a safe harbour in a turbulent sea. He’s saying: ‘Here is someone I still trust, someone on my side, someone whose presence matters to me.’

“In the turmoil of exclusion, perceived betrayal and hurt feelings, naming one person as being on his side helps to stabilise the narrative for him – and for us as observers.

“The fact that only Bethany appears singled out for praise suggests a selective boundary-setting. It appears he is differentiating between ‘us’ and ‘them’ in his family sphere – Bethany is part of his chosen ‘us’ whereas others are very much in the ‘them’ category, including his outspoken mother and aunt.

“In publicly acknowledging Bethany, Adam may also be signalling a hope (or at least an intention) for reconciliation, but on his terms. He may be saying: ‘We will – at least – stay connected at this sibling level, even if other layers of the family relationship are fractured’. It shows that despite the rift, there is at least one relationship bridge he is keeping intact.”

She went on to discuss the impacts of weddings on family dynamics, saying: “Weddings, especially high-profile ones, often precipitate identity shifts: you take on your partner’s family, you step into new social circles, you leave things behind. 

“By praising his sister and by positioning her as part of his inner circle, Adam is implicitly affirming: ‘I’m still anchored in my roots.’ In doing so, he signals to himself and to others that even as his life changes (new partner, new family-in-law, maybe new social position), he hasn’t entirely left behind who he is or where he comes from.

“The mention of Bethany is a soft way of acknowledging that there is hurt, that there is estrangement, that there is a dividing line being drawn. By choosing to publicly show gratitude to one family member, he implicitly reveals that others are excluded or wounded – without naming them or going into all the gritty detail. It’s a controlled way of saying ‘this family situation is fractured’ but with focus on who remains.”

Adam’s aunt Louise previously branded his fiancée Holly “divisive and hurtful” in a bitter online rant after her sister Caroline wasn’t invited to her hen do at Soho Farmhouse, which of course Bethany attended.

Caroline was later banned from the couple’s wedding at Bath Abbey next month.

NO WAY BACK

In a heartbreaking interview, Caroline said she has reached rock bottom over the family feud, which has seen Adam pull closer to the Ramsays.

Worried Holly called the police last weekend while Adam was on his stag do in Budapest over concerns he could be assaulted by his brother James when he got back to the UK.

Adam was escorted by five police officers through passport control upon touching down in the UK. His brother was later arrested at his Staffordshire home.

His father Mark previously told The Sun that the feud had spiralled out of control.

He said: “They’re brothers.

“They’ve always been close but like any normal family, brothers fight, argue, fall out, make-up and start all over again. But it’s got out of hand.

“There’s been very little empathy towards Jamie’s genuine mental health difficulties.”

Over the years Adam, who is heavily religious, has written extensively about his alcoholism and mental health problems, so knows more than anyone what it’s like to go through a hard time.

He has certainly changed a lot from the boy who first hit headlines all those years ago – and as his statement suggests – his sister, his partner and their future are his priority. And at the moment there is no room for anyone else. 

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Bonuses of $10,000 will be awarded to 776 air traffic controllers and technicians with perfect attendance during the 43-day government shutdown.

The extra money was announced Thursday by Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford. The FAA is part of the Transportation Department.

“These patriotic men and women never missed a beat and kept the flying public safe throughout the shutdown,” Duffy said. “Democrats may not care about their financial well-being, but President Trump does. This award is an acknowledgement of their dedication and a heartfelt appreciation for going above and beyond in service to the nation.”

During the shutdown, essential workers, including those in air traffic control, worked without paychecks.

It ended on Nov. 12 with legislation to fund the government through January.

“I am profoundly proud and grateful for the air traffic personnel who worked during extraordinary operational challenges to keep the NAS running safely during the longest government shutdown,” Bedford said. “Their dedication represents the highest levels of public service.”

Absences caused delays and cancellations of flights, including mandated flight reductions at the largest 40 airports in the United States, which rose to 6%, though there were plans for 10% if the shutdown continued.

Some personnel were required to work six-day workweeks of 10 hours a day. They are on duty for a variety of shifts, including holidays.

Even before the shutdown, there were staffing shortages of air traffic controllers and other essential staff.

Last week, President Donald Trump mentioned the bonuses idea on Nov. 10 in a Truth Social post.

He also threatened to dock the pay of those who called out during the shutdown, telling them he was “NOT HAPPY” with them and “get back to work.”

Selected recipients will receive electronic notification next week, and their payments will be received no later than Dec. 9.

The two agencies didn’t say whether those taking planned vacations or fatigue calls will receive the bonuses, NBC News reported.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which has been critical of staffing issues, said it was informed of the decision on cash bonuses hours before the announcement.

Of these receiving bosses, 311 are represented by NATCA.

“We look forward to working with the Administration to provide the appropriate recognition to those not covered by the Secretary’s announcement,” the union, which represents more than 20,000 air industry workers, said in a statement to CNBC.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents 11,000 FAA and Defense Department workers, including technicians, said it is “reviewing the information that has been provided by the FAA and is evaluating how best to ensure that all employees who worked during the shutdown are recognized.”

That union said 423 will get the bonus. In all, it said 6,000 worked without pay.

“It took many hands to ensure that not one delay during the historic 43-day shutdown was attributed to equipment or system failures,” PASS said in a statement.

There are about 14,000 air traffic controllers in the United States. The median salary for the position, including ones not with the FAA, was $144,580, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Salaries start at $55,000 to $68,000, depending on location.

They work in control towers, approach control facilities or en-route centers.

Also, there are about 3,400 trainees, including 1,000 initially at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.

The mandatory retirement age is 56.

Also last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Transportation Security Administration officers who screen passengers at airports would also receive $10,000 bonuses for perfect attendance.

“Despite tremendous personal, operational and financial challenges, these dedicated officers showed up to work every day for more than a month, without pay, ensuring the American people could travel safely,” DHS said in a press release.

“Forever chemicals” don’t die — they just regroup. Only instead of regrouping in hell, as that old Marines saying goes, it’s in the oceans, where such compounds were dumped for decades.

For years, Times environmental reporter and Pulitzer finalist Rosanna Xia has been covering the legacy of forever chemical DDT, a pesticide once applied to humans as innocuously as hairspray and yardhose water. In 2020 she broke the story that barrels of DDT’s toxic waste, last sent to the ocean floor decades ago by its biggest manufacturer, Montrose, were closer to Southern California’s shores than previously thought. Her ongoing investigative work is now the subject of a documentary, “Out of Plain Sight,” which Xia co-directed with Daniel Straub. (Full disclosure: It was produced by L.A. Times Studios, an affiliate company.)

The film is a fleet, urgent-sounding dispatch, centering on Xia herself as an intrepid factfinder roving the affected coastline, dropping in on scientists, oceanographers, biologists and wildlife experts as she tries to piece together the effects of half a million barrels of forgotten DDT, banned in 1972 but still having an impact on an already fragile ecosystem and the descendants of those exposed to it. Her inspiration, quoted up top and glimpsed in archival footage, is Rachel Carson, whose seminal 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” spurred enough public outcry against chemical pesticides to lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Carson’s galvanizing alarm was, paradoxically, an absence, seen in declining bird populations (hence the “silent” of her title). Xia’s clarion call, meanwhile, starts with robot-captured images of leaking barrels on the ocean floor. That’s the beginning of the sea-to-land food chain that starts with DDT-ridden marine life. Microplastics are the current bete noire and rightly so, but we’re still in the dark about the causal calamity of a past era’s chemical polluting. It’s one thing if a company like Montrose, now defunct, once believed no one would notice their massive DDT-waste-dumping operation. It’s another, the movie argues, if we choose not to wrestle with the environmental ramifications being felt today.

“Out of Plain Sight” strives to be more cinematically alive than the standard talking-head-laden documentary. A brief history of DDT, from the corporate excitement over its invention to protesting, is given a snazzy split-screen archival montage treatment, sourced from educational films, newsreels and interviews but scored to the Zombies’ “I Don’t Want to Know” as a cheeky touch. And all of Xia’s interviews are filmed in the field in a vérité style, a nod to journalism in action, from UC San Diego labs and mammal rescue operations treating cancer-riven sea lions to microbiologist David Valentine’s attempts to collect samples from those time-bomb-like barrels of sludge.

Though we need movies that demystify journalism (and Xia is an appealing on-camera correspondent), that aspect is less interesting than the propulsive portrait of a dedicated, multi-pronged effort to expose, understand and hopefully clean up a still-viable threat. “Out of Plain Sight” doesn’t need to be earthshaking filmmaking to relay a valuable ongoing story about a hidden nightmare for all of us. It brings to mind another famous saying, just as applicable to DDT’s longevity as the one about the Marines, from William Faulkner: “The past is never dead — it’s not even past.”

Nov. 21 (UPI) — Engineers formerly employed by Amazon accounted for about 40% of its 4,700 jobs cut in October as the online retailer and tech company seeks greater efficiency and innovation.

Amazon fired more than 1,800 engineers in October amid downsizing, while also seeking more rapid innovation, CNBC reported on Friday.

Amazon has 1,578,000 employees as of Sept. 30, which is twice as many as 2019, according to Stock Analysis. The $2.3 trillion market cap is fifth fifth-highest in the world, The Market Fool posted.

The company announced the job cuts in its respective Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notifications filed in California, New Jersey, New York and the state of Washington.

The jobs cut in one month are the largest reduction in Amazon’s 31 years in business and part of the more than 14,000 layoffs announced last month by Amazon officials.

The tech firm’s human resources leader, Beth Galetti, said Amazon needs more artificial intelligence engineers to enable it to better manage operations while reducing labor costs.

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before,” Galetti said in the memo notifying states of the job cuts.

“We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

Most of the engineers fired this year are software specialists.

Amazon’s job cuts echo those of other tech firms, which combined for nearly 113,000 job reductions in total among 231 tech firms so far this year, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy in recent years has emphasized downsizing to make Amazon more efficient by cutting its organizational fat, CNBC reported.

The virtual retailer is expected to announce more job cuts in January while revising its workforce to improve efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.

Huzaifa Abubakar has spent years leading community dialogues on food security and malnutrition, working to support families whose lives have been shaped by conflict and neglect in northeastern Nigeria. Yet, despite his experience, he often felt unprepared for what awaited him in the field.

As Team Lead of the Scaling Up Nutrition Youth Network Nigeria in Borno State, Huzaifa said he regularly engages with individuals who have experienced deep trauma. But he lacked guidance on how to safely navigate conflict-affected areas or engage survivors in ways that honoured their experiences.

That changed after he spent three days at the capacity-building workshop for the inaugural cohort of the Strengthening Community Journalism and Human Rights Advocacy (SCOJA) Fellowship by HumAngle Foundation in Maiduguri, Borno State. 

“I am now equipped to interact with vulnerable people and survivors ethically and sensibly,” he said. “The session on trauma-sensitive reporting stood out for me; still, the whole training was an eye-opener.”

Huzaifa is one of 90 community journalists and local advocacy actors selected for the SCOJA Fellowship, held with support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Nigeria. The fellows are drawn from nine states across three regions — North West (Kaduna and Kano), North Central (Benue, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa), and North East (Borno, Adamawa, Yobe).

The six-month fellowship aims to equip participants with skills and knowledge that will improve how they engage, document, and support grassroots issues and initiatives. 

Abdussamad Ahmad, HumAngle’s Security and Policy Analyst, who has coordinated the workshops in the North East and North Central, reminded fellows that their work places them at the earliest point of contact with communities. 

“You remain society’s first responders; your proximity to ordinary people gives you both responsibility and a rare advantage, the ability to shape public understanding with clarity, empathy, and discipline,” he said.

He urged them to cultivate habits of verification, ethical judgment, and emotional awareness, especially when engaging people coping with displacement, loss, or trauma.

The training also featured role-playing exercises and report-writing activities, giving participants space to practise trauma-sensitive engagement, field reporting, and ethical storytelling in realistic scenarios. These hands-on sessions helped fellows translate the concepts learned into practical skills they can immediately apply in their work.

“It was an engaging and insightful session, and I admire how he shared his experiences for us to learn from,” said Mohammed Alamin from Borno Radio Television (BRTV), referring to a session on digital and field safety, which was facilitated by Abdulkareem Haruna, HumAngle’s former Editor for the Lake Chad. 

Abbas Usman, a reporter for PharmaSahel, a local platform reporting on health issues in Borno, said he now feels better prepared to identify and report misinformation, malinformation, disinformation, and fake news. 

Another SCOJA Fellow, Nathaniel Ishaya, a radio producer and presenter from SMK Radio in Maiduguri, added, “The HumAngle training is an eye-opener; it teaches us about many things we are only now discovering in journalism. Although I studied journalism, this is the first time I got this firsthand.”

The recently concluded workshops, held between Nov. 10 – 19 in Jos (Plateau State), Kaduna, and Maiduguri (Borno State), mark the first phase of the programme. The next stage will involve fieldwork, during which fellows are expected to implement community projects, document local issues, and work with their organisations to pursue practical solutions rooted in human dignity and accountability. They will also share their learnings with colleagues to broaden the fellowship’s impact.

During this period, HumAngle will continue to support the fellows with resources and mentorship to strengthen their work at the grassroots level.