News Desk

MAYA Jama was all smiles as she left a glitzy showbiz awards ceremony in a daring black halterneck top alongside AJ Odudu.

The Love Island anchor ditched her bra as she opted for the sizzling attire, paired with a semi sheer black and nude stripe skirt, at the GQ Man Of The Year awards.

The London ceremony, held at the Tate Modern, celebrates stars across the entertainment, sport and fashion sectors who have made the past 12 months ” a year to remember.”

Maya, 31, stayed on for the after-party, with her sexy attire showing off her toned curves.

The broadcaster looked cheery as she made her way to her waiting car, flashing a smile before waving her hands.

Despite a night of partying, her curly hair and black eye make-up was perfectly in tact.

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Maya Jama and Leigh-Anne Pinnock wow in sexy plunging outfits at GQ awards

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Yet her top appeared slightly off-centre, with the TV star risking a potential wardrobe malfunction as she stepped outside.

She was then joined by Big Brother host AJ, 37, dressed in a stunning chocolate brown two-piece suit.

The pair flashed smiles and held hands as they left

Meanwhile, on her Instagram Stories, Maya gave an insight into the event, capturing her name card and menu before sharing a video showing her flashing a pout with a pal.

She joked how she felt she “looked like a bat” courtesy of her vampish black eyeliner.

Maya then filmed inside her hotel room, which featured glitterballs on the ceiling and a fully stocked bar.

Earlier in the night Maya, alongside Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne, stole the show in their risque attire on the Red Carpet.

Other stars at the prestigious event included James Bond legend Pierce Brosnan, who looked dapper in his suit.

Marvel star Tom Hiddleston and his wife Zawe Ashton also stepped out on the red carpet.

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Away from the A-List event, it was recently revealed that Maya has just signed a massive £800,000 deal to continue as host of Love Island.

As well as cashing in from being the host of the iconic matchmaking series, and also banking millions from her face-mask ­business, The Sun recently revealed that she has also started up a new property company and is becoming a landlord.

A source told us: “Maya is a shrewd businesswoman and, while her career is going stellar, she’s not going to be wasting her hard-earned cash.

“She’s joining celebs like Ed Sheeran and Daniel Radcliffe by buying up properties to rent out.

“It’s a clever way to invest her money as it’ll not only bring her a decent return but will see her bank balance grow over time.

“Maya did come up with the first company name, Blagging It Properties, but then changed it to something a little more sensible.

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“She’s now the director of Penny Property Holdings and will start investing soon.”

Maya is also making her acting debut in the second series of Guy Ritchie‘s hit comedy- drama The Gentlemen.

Ministers implicated in scandal involving misused and stolen funds earmarked for anti-flooding infrastructure.

Two ministers in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s cabinet resigned on Tuesday after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into “ghost” infrastructure and billions of dollars of missing government funds, deepening a crisis facing the country’s government over the corruption scandal.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman have both stepped down from their posts, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday.

Castro said the pair chose to resign “after their departments were mentioned in allegations related to the flood control anomaly” and “in recognition of the responsibility to allow the administration to address the matter appropriately,” according to The Philippines Inquirer newspaper.

Bersamin and Pangandaman are the highest-ranking members of the Marcos government to be hit directly by the corruption scandal since it broke in July, according to Aries Arugay, an expert in Philippines politics and a visiting senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Marcos himself has managed to stay above the fray – for now – although Arugay said that could change at any time.

“At the moment, the palace is trying to take the president out of this, and this is why you have the ‘resignations’ of the executive secretary, the budget secretary. They’re the ones accepting command responsibility over this,” he told Al Jazeera.

Arugay said Marcos Jr still has a “comfortable” majority in the legislature because many MPs still prefer him to leadership under Vice President Sara Duterte, but “all bets are off” should more evidence emerge.

Earlier this week, politician Zaldy Co – who is currently not in the Philippines – alleged that Marcos directed him to add $1.7bn to the budget for “dubious public works” while he headed an appropriations committee, according to The South China Morning Post, although the claims have not been verified.

Co was among the first group of officials to be charged this week for their role in the corruption scandal following a months-long investigation, according to The Philippines Inquirer.

The scandal has engulfed the Philippines since Marcos Jr revealed in a speech to Congress earlier this year that billions of dollars of public funds for anti-flooding infrastructure had been siphoned off by private contractors to build substandard infrastructure – and in some cases, none at all.

The Philippines is regularly hit by typhoons and other tropical storms, and flooding remains a perennial and often deadly problem.

The corruption scandal has set off mass protests across the Philippines, including a demonstration on Sunday that drew 500,000 people to Manila.

In China, 87 percent of people trust AI, compared with just 32 percent in the US, according to an Edelman poll.

China’s public is far more trusting of artificial intelligence than their peers in the United States and other Western countries, a survey has found.

In China, 87 percent of people said they trusted AI, compared with 67 percent in Brazil, 32 percent in the US, 36 percent in the United Kingdom, and 39 percent in Germany, the Edelman poll released on Tuesday showed.

More than seven in 10 Chinese respondents said they expected AI to play a role in solving a range of societal issues, including climate change, mental illness, poverty and polarisation.

Only one-third of Americans said they expected AI to reduce poverty and polarisation, though half predicted a positive impact on climate-related challenges.

While 54 percent of Chinese said they embraced greater use of AI, just 17 percent of Americans answered the same, according to the survey.

Trust was highest among young people, though still much lower in Western countries.

Eighty-eight percent of Chinese aged 18-34 said they had faith in the technology, compared with 40 percent of Americans in that age group.

“For businesses and policymakers, this divergence presents a double challenge,” Edelman Senior Vice President Gray Grossman said in a report accompanying the survey.

“In high-trust markets, the task is to sustain optimism through responsible deployment and straightforward evidence of benefit. In low-trust markets, the task is to rebuild confidence in the institutions behind the technology.”

The survey results come as the US and China are locked in a battle for tech supremacy, with firms in both countries rolling out increasingly sophisticated AI models.

While the US is widely seen as still having an edge in producing the most powerful AI, Chinese firms such as Alibaba and DeepSeek have made major inroads in recent months with “open” language models that offer customers much lower costs.

Last month, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky made headlines when he revealed that the short-term rental platform preferred Alibaba’s Qwen over OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

“It’s very good. It’s also fast and cheap,” Chesky told Bloomberg in an interview.

The line where the sky meets the sea is calling to the new “Moana.”

The first teaser trailer for the live-action Disney film released Monday features star Catherine Laga’aia singing a few lines of her character’s signature “I Want” song as the footage offers glimpses of the island and people of Motunui, the demigod Maui, the seafaring Kakamora and Moana’s clumsy rooster Heihei.

“I am a girl who loves my island and the girl who loves the sea,” Laga’aia as Moana sings in the opening moments of the trailer. “It calls me.”

Fans of the original animated movie will recognize the scene of a young Moana playing with the ocean after seeing a seashell on the shore. Speaking of the 2016 film, Dwayne Johnson, who voiced the shapeshifter demigod and hero of men in the animated “Moana,” will also portray the live-action version of the arrogant trickster. You’re welcome.

Directed by Thomas Kail, the live-action remake will follow Moana, who dreams of being a wayfinder and exploring the ocean. She leaves Motonui in search of Maui and the Heart of Te Fiti to help save her people.

In addition to Laga’aia and Johnson, the “Moana” cast includes John Tui as Moana’s father, Chief Tui; Frankie Adams as her mother, Sina; and Rena Owen as Gramma Tala.

The trailer ends with Laga’aia triumphantly singing, “I am Moana.”

The animated “Moana,” with Hawaiian actor Auliʻi Cravalho in the title role, grossed $643.3 million worldwide during its initial run. Its follow-up “Moana 2” was one of three films released in 2024 that crossed the $1-billion mark at the worldwide box office. Cravalho serves as one of the executive producers of the live-action film, along with Kail, Scott Sheldon and Charles Newirth.

The live-action “Moana” will hit theaters July 10.

Nov. 19 (UPI) — The House voted Tuesday against censuring Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the Intelligence Committee following revelations she texted with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing.

The late night 209-214 vote came hours after the House approved a bill directing the Justice Department to release the files from its investigation into Epstein. Three Republicans joined Democrats voting against the measure. Another three Republicans voted “present.”

Leading up to the vote to release the files, the House Oversight Committee began releasing troves of documents from Epstein’s estate that included his texts and other communications.

Those included copies of texts Epstein had with Plaskett as she was about to question Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer of President Donald Trump, during a 2019 congressional hearing, The New York Times reported.

Republicans seized on the revelation, and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., introduced the censure resolution accusing Plaskett of having “inappropriately coordinated” with Epstein, receiving suggested lines of questioning and congratulations from him. The resolution also would have directed the House Ethics Committee to investigate her ties to Epstein.

Plaskett, a Democrat, represents the U.S. Virgin Islands as a delegate. That means that while she may participate in many of the chamber’s functions while representing the territory, she cannot vote on the House floor.

She defended herself in a House floor speech, explaining that Epstein was a constituent she had been in contact with to get information, reported Politico.

“I know how to question individuals. I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, from other individuals because I want the truth,” she said.

Norman, however, told The Washington Post that it was “beyond comprehension” that Plaskett would work with the disgraced financier on House business.

“The American people expect honesty, the American people expect integrity and judgment from their elected officials,” he said in a floor speech, according to the Post. “They expect members of Congress to conduct themselves with one word — decency — not to seek advice from a predator who exploited minor children.”

BBC

British Newspaper Archive

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‘They leathered me’

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Merseyside Police

‘You’re going home’

Julia Quenzler/BBC

Audience members applauded the financial journalist during last night’s The Martin Lewis Money Show Live when he challenged fashion brand Evans and restaurant chain Carluccio’s

Martin Lewis fired a direct warning to two well-known high street brands last night — insisting he has reported them to Trading Standards.

The money guru said fashion brand Evans and restaurant chain Carluccio’s have failed to change information on their websites about returns, claims he found were inaccurate after an investigation in the summer. Some 30 companies were identified by the broadcaster as misleading shoppers in July but, following Martin’s work, the majority swiftly amended their websites.

Two firms are no longer in business, which as of last night left Evans and Carluccio’s. Presenting The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV, Martin looked directly at a camera and said: “Evans and Carluccio’s, you are wrong. Your websites are misleading, change them please. I have reported you to Trading Standards.”

The audience in Manchester clapped warmly at the tirade, which came amid a segment around consumer rights as Brits hit towns and cities for Christmas shopping. Martin informed the audience and viewers of their legal stances when it comes to returns and refunds, some of which appeared to surprise the crowd last night.

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Martin’s website, Money Saving Expert, lists the 30 companies and their misdemeanours, as uncovered in July. The majority of these have changed their websites since the article.

But the table states Evans, owned by the Arcadia Group, says words to the effect of: “Standard returns policy is 21 days for online orders.” However, Martin’s website states what it gets wrong. It says: “You have 14 days to change your mind, then a further 14 days to return the item, so a maximum of 28 days.”

And the table shows Carluccio’s, a chain of Italian restaurants which also offers gifts in its online shop, says word to the effect of: “You can return goods to Carluccio’s Online within 14 days of delivery.” Money Saving Expert writes beside this: “You have 14 days from delivery to change your mind, then a further 14 days to return the item.”

Martin’s team researched more than 400 of the UK’s most popular retail brands and had found 30 list online return policies which suggest customers have fewer rights than the law prescribes. It misled shoppers over their statutory return rights, and areas of their websites listed harsher criteria than the law requires them to offer. HMV, Home Bargains and The Range were among guilty parties but, in his show last night, Martin was quick to point out these have since corrected their websites.

The Mirror has contacted Evans and Carluccio’s for comment. The Martin Lewis Money Show Live said it too had approached the businesses before broadcast.

President Donald Trump has designated Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally of the United States during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, DC, where the two leaders reached agreements covering arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

During a formal black-tie dinner at the White House on Tuesday evening, Trump made the announcement that he was taking “military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally”.

Trump said the designation was “something that is very important to them, and I’m just telling you now for the first time because I wanted to keep a little secret for tonight”.

The designation means a US partner benefits from military and economic privileges but it does not entail security commitments.

Saudi Arabia and the US also signed a “historic strategic defence agreement”, Trump said.

A White House fact sheet said the defence agreement, “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East”, makes it easier for US defence firms to operate in Saudi Arabia and secures “new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray US costs”.

The White House also announced that Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia while the kingdom had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.

“I’m pleased to announce that we are taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally.” – President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/PXXGGCBPGU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 19, 2025

Saudi F-35 deal raises questions about Israel’s ‘qualitative military edge’

Saudi Arabia’s purchase of the stealth fighter jets would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter planes to Riyadh. The kingdom has reportedly requested to buy 48 of the aircraft.

The move is seen as a significant policy shift by Washington that could alter the military balance of power in the Middle East, where US law states that Israel must maintain a “qualitative military edge”.

Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35 until now.

Asked by Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett about the impact of the jet fighter deal on Israel’s “qualitative military edge”, Trump said he was aware that Israel would prefer that Riyadh receive warplanes of “reduced calibre”.

“I don’t think that makes you too happy,” Trump said, addressing the crown prince, who was seated beside him in the White House.

“They’ve been a great ally. Israel’s been a great ally. … As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line,” Trump said of the F-35 deal.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said part of the almost $1 trillion investment in the US announced by Prince Mohammed included $142bn for the procurement of the F-35 fighter jets, “the most advanced of their kind in the world”.

Fisher also said the Israeli government and lobbyists had tried to block the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia.

The agreements announced were about “much more” than Saudi investment in the US, he added.

“It’s about helping each other’s economy, business and defence. Politics isn’t near the top of the agenda, but both countries believe these deals could create a political reset in the Middle East,” Fisher said.

‘A clear path’ for Palestinian state

The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership with Riyadh.

Israeli officials had suggested that they would not be opposed to Saudi Arabia getting F-35s as long as Saudi Arabia normalises relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework.

The Saudis, however, have said they would join the Abraham Accords but only after there is a credible and guaranteed path to Palestinian statehood, a position Prince Mohammed repeated in the meeting with Trump.

“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said.

“We’re going to work on that to be sure that we come prepared for the situation as soon as possible to have that,” he added.

Ukraine announced it launched Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles at military targets in Russia. The attack appears to be the first use of these U.S.-made weapons into Russia under the Trump administration. It also points to the strong possibility that another batch of the prized missiles have been supplied to Ukraine, which is noteworthy in itself due to the limited U.S. stocks of the weapons, and/or that the White House has approved the type’s use once again.

“This is a significant development that underscores Ukraine’s unwavering commitment to its sovereignty,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said of the attack. “Despite the ongoing pressure of Russian offensive actions, Ukrainians remain resilient, demonstrating determination and consistent resolve in defending their homeland.”

“The use of long-range strike capabilities, including systems such as ATACMS, will continue,” the Armed Forces General Staff added.

Ukrainian officials provided no details about the ATACMS targets or how many were launched. Newer variants of these missiles can reach to nearly 200 miles, with first generation models having just over half the range.

Ukrainian and Russian mibloggers suggested that Ukraine attacked locations in Russia’s Voronezh region, among them the Pogonovo training area, located roughly 105 miles from the border. However, there is no independent verification of that.

The following video, first published by the Supernova+ Telegram channel, purports to show one of the ATACMS being shot down.

Cluster warheads packed with submunitions would be an ideal weapon to fire at a location where troops might be concentrated in the open. Ukraine used cluster munitions-equipped ATACMS to hit a Russian training ground in the occupied Luhansk region in May 2024 to devastating effect. That strike was also captured on video, which you can see below.

Though Kyiv claimed it will continue using ATACMS, just how many it has left is a mystery. Considering the long stretch between known uses, it likely ran dry for an extended period of time until the U.S. supplied more. The Trump administration could have also blocked the use of the weapons, especially into Russian territory, until now, although we cannot confirm this at this time.

Ukraine still has a number of U.S.-made Army High Mobility Rocket System (HIMARS) and M270 MLRS launchers that fire ATACMs. However, the last of these munitions authorized to be sent to Ukraine by former President Joe Biden arrived in the spring, The Wall Street Journal reported in August. The publication noted that “Kyiv has a small supply left, according to U.S. officials.”

Meanwhile, in March, The Associated Press reported Ukraine ran out of ATACMs. A U.S. official told the wire service at the time that “Ukraine was given fewer than 40 of those missiles overall and that Ukraine ran out of them in late January.”

We cannot confirm that number, but we do know they were not furnished by the many hundreds or anything approaching that number. The U.S. inventory is thought to be the low thousands.

Senior U.S. defense leaders, including the previous Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austin, “had made it clear that only a limited number of the ATACMs would be delivered and that the U.S. and NATO allies considered other weapons to be more valuable in the fight,” according to the AP.

As we previously reported, the first tranche of about 20 early generation, shorter-range ATACMS variants arrived in Ukraine in October 2023 and were apparently mostly used during attacks on Russian-held airfields the same month. Ukraine has used the limited number of these prized weapons it has received with major results. Longer-range variants, which were not introduced into the war until the Spring of 2024, were first used in a wave of attacks on air bases and air defense installations across the Crimean peninsula, according to the Kyiv Post.

A major reason for the limited number of ATACMS given to Ukraine is that U.S. officials have expressed concern about their own stockpiles. However, in December 2023, the U.S. Army began receiving the first tranches of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles. The Army, which sees PrSMs as the ATACMS successor, said in September 2023 that the advent of these weapons could reduce some of the readiness risks associated with giving Ukraine ATACMS. It is quite possible that PrSM deliveries had freed-up more ATACMS rounds for Ukraine, and, given the chill between the White House and the Kremlin, these weapons would work both as a tactical tool and a strategic message.

This is especially the case as discussions continue regarding the U.S. supplying even more advanced and longer-range weaponry to Ukraine. While Trump has seemed to sour on giving Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles, more ATACMS, which have far shorter range and do not set a new precedent, would be a likely alternative.

After meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his American counterpart was open to lifting restrictions on Kyiv’s use of American-made long-range weapons to strike inside Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump didn’t make any commitments to do so, the newspaper reported.

A month earlier, the Journal wrote that the Pentagon had for months “been blocking Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.”

“A high-level Defense Department approval procedure, which hasn’t been announced, has prevented Ukraine from firing ATACMS missiles against targets in Russia since late spring,” the Journal added. “On at least one occasion, Ukraine sought to use ATACMS against a target on Russian territory but was rejected.”

The last recorded case of a Ukrainian ATACMS strike inside Russia was on January 14 as part of a massive attack also using U.K.-made Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles and long-range drones. That took place in the waning days of the Joe Biden administration, which also took a circuitous route in giving Ukraine ATACMS and then allowing them to strike inside Russia. The following graphic, produced as Biden was debating allowing Ukraine to hit Russia with ATACMS, gave a sense of what kinds of targets could be reached.

The first such attack took place almost exactly a year ago. On Nov. 19, 2024, a munitions storage facility near the town of Karachev in the Bryansk region of western Russia was hit by ATACMS. The target was around 70 miles from the Ukrainian border, well within range of these missiles.

There are many questions unanswered about Ukraine’s claimed ATACMS strike today. We have reached out to the White House, Pentagon and State Department to see if we can get some answers about the last time Ukraine was given these weapons and the last time they were used in Russia. We will update this story if they give us any useful details.

While ATACMS did have major lasting battlefield effects, it never proved to be a game-changer based on the tiny quantities provided. But they are another long-range weapon that has existed in Ukraine’s arsenal that packs a punch far heavier than the long-range drones Kyiv has been using across Russia. With Ukraine’s introduction of home-made cruise missiles, this equation is changing, but still, ATACMS are survivable and hit very hard when equipped with a unitary warhead and its cluster warheads can blanket large areas with explosions and shrapnel.

If the strike occurred as stated today, it points to a shift in the Trump administration’s policy when it comes to long-range strikes with U.S. weapons into Russia and it could also indicate the ATACMS supplies are flowing once again.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

HEART FM presenters Amanda Holden and Ashley Roberts turned heads as they were among the glittering star-studded arrivals at this year’s Global’s Make Some Noise gala.

The blonde bombshells looked incredible as they strutted down the red carpet for the charity evening.

Amanda, 54, looked as elegant as ever as she flashed the flesh in a daring lace black dress.

The gorgeous gown featured intricate detailing as it wrapped around her enviable figure.

It featured a diagonal cut-out from one shoulder right down to her hip with the skirt featuring an equally dramatic thigh-high split exposing her tanned leg.

The BGT judge kept her hair tucked back behind her ears as she smiled for waiting photographers as she made her way into the event.

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Her co-star and former Pussycat Doll, Ashley Roberts, looked equally as glam for the evening.

She opted to wear a see-through mesh number for the night out.

Ashley’s unique pink and red dress put her toned legs on display underneath the mesh material.

The Don’t Cha hitmaker added some height to her frame in a pair of statement red high heels.

The Celebrity Traitors star Kate Garraway was also among the famous faces who had turned up for the evening.

The GMB star looked glam in a gold gown for the charity ball.

Fellow Global radio stars including Jordan North, Nick Ferarri and Chris Stark were also in attendance.

The annual ball is help on behalf of Global Radio’s Make Some Noise charity campaign.

The fundraising efforts are promoted across all of Global’s stations including Capital FM, Heart FM, Capital Xtra, Smooth Radio, LBC and Gold.

Money raised both at the annual event, and all-year round, is donated to small, local charities to help provide relief up and down the country on a variety of issues.

Issues such as poverty, homelessness and mental health issues are all supported by the charities that Make Some Noise supports.

Last year’s gala raised a cool £1.2million in funds.

Nov. 18 (UPI) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday rebuffed the idea of the U.S. military intervening within her country’s borders to combat drug trafficking despite recent remarks from President Donald Trump.

Sheinbaum made the comments during a press conference Tuesday as the Trump administration pursues its increasingly militarized approach to drug trafficking.

Sheinbaum said Trump had offered during multiple phone conversations to send troops to Mexico to help authorities combat criminal groups. While Sheinbaum said she was willing to share information and work with the United States, she would not accept a foreign government intervening in her country.

“We don’t want intervention from any foreign government,” said Sheinbaum in Spanish. She noted that Mexico lost half its territory the last time the United States had a military presence in her country, a reference to the U.S.-Mexico war of the 19th century.

She added she was open to “collaboration and coordination without subordination” to the United States and had communicated the same message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Trump administration has launched a series of strikes targeting boats allegedly carrying drugs across the Pacific to the United States. Military officials have justified the strikes as legally permissible after the U.S. government designated drug traffickers as “terrorist organizations.”

Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump said the strikes had significantly reduced drug trafficking across waterways and prevented U.S. citizens from fatal overdoses. When asked if he was open to military strikes against Mexico, Trump indicated he was open to the idea, citing “big problems” in Mexico City.

“So let me just put it this way, I am not happy with Mexico,” he said.

Saudi Aerospace Solutions (SAS) has signed an agreement to purchase 100 electric helicopters from the Chinese company Vertaxi. This reflects Saudi Arabia’s commitment to strengthening its technological partnership with China in the field of future aviation. Saudi Arabian Airlines confirmed its intention to use these small, electric-powered aircraft, acquired through the “Vertaxi” deal, to transport pilgrims between Mecca and Jeddah, as well as visitors to major sporting events in Riyadh and other tourist destinations. The low-altitude economy (LAE), represented by “Vertaxi,” is a strategic and emerging sector in China, combining advanced manufacturing with new business models such as smart cities. SAS’s vision is to establish Saudi Arabia as a regional hub for the LEA by 2030.

  Through this deal with China’s Vertaxi and Saudi Aerospace Solutions Group, it continues to pursue its ambitious goals of connecting the world to Saudi Arabia. This includes offering several advantages, such as linking multiple destinations via this advanced Chinese electric aircraft and supporting them with air routes between the major airports where the Saudi group operates. This initiative aligns with Saudi Arabia’s vision of economic diversification and the shift towards smart transportation models that could impact future technological and regional balances. The 8th China International Import Expo witnessed the signing of an agreement between Saudi Aerospace Solutions Group and Vertaxi, a Chinese company specializing in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Saudi Aerospace Solutions Group signed a letter of intent to purchase 100 Vertaxi M1 electric cargo VTOL aircraft.  The electric aircraft included in the deal are among the first fully electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.

 These aircraft are distinguished by their ability to take off and land vertically, eliminating the need for traditional airports. They can travel up to 175 km at speeds of up to 260 km/h, offering significant time savings for individual passengers compared to other options, and can accommodate up to six passengers.

 Through this deal with China, Saudi Arabia, officially through the Saudi Solutions Group, aims to enter a new era and achieve leadership in the aviation and air transport sector in the region. The Saudi electric aircraft deal with China will provide unprecedented solutions and new air routes to connect pilgrims to Mecca during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. It will also enable visitors to Saudi Arabia to quickly access sporting and entertainment events and tourist sites, in addition to connecting the Kingdom’s mega-projects within the framework of Saudi Vision 2030 with distinguished air services that meet the future aspirations of Saudis. Furthermore, this deal achieves a highly important objective for Saudi Arabia, which is continuing the implementation of initiatives supporting sustainability and environmental conservation (electric aircraft), which are characterized by their reduced carbon dioxide emissions. This Saudi deal with China will contribute to providing more flights and reducing travel times by up to 90%, including to long-distance tourist destinations. It will also offer effective transportation solutions in areas congested with pilgrims, travelers, and traffic jams. Furthermore, this Saudi-Chinese agreement will contribute to reducing traffic congestion, saving time, expanding the range of premium services for VIP guests visiting Saudi Arabia, and providing a seamless and luxurious travel experience. This will also contribute to boosting tourism and business within the Kingdom.

 Saudi Arabia is relying on the air transport electrification deal with China as a practical path to decarbonizing this vital and important sector, which is currently characterized by high emissions and environmental damage. Currently, environmentally friendly and low-carbon-emission electric aircraft represent a very small percentage of the global aviation fleet. Saudi Solutions Company will collaborate with the Chinese company Vertaxi to develop local applications for these aircraft.  Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) cargo services in Saudi Arabia, including low-level logistics, marine power transport, and security inspection.

 This Saudi deal with China comes at a time when China is accelerating its plans to strengthen its global digital presence. Tencent (the Chinese giant) is also simultaneously taking new steps in the Saudi market through cloud investments, in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 for digital transformation. Dawson Tong, senior executive vice president of Tencent and CEO of its Cloud and Smart Industries Group, confirmed that “the new data center in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, represents a significant growth opportunity,” explaining that the Chinese partnership with Saudi Arabia is nearing completion of its final launch stages. He officially confirmed that “we already serve many Chinese companies that are increasing their investments in Saudi Arabia, and a number of our partners have lined up to benefit from the new data center in Riyadh, which allows us to expand not only within the Kingdom but throughout the entire region.”

  In this context, Saudi and Chinese companies signed 34 investment agreements on the sidelines of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia in December 2022. These Saudi-Chinese agreements covered various sectors, including green energy and green hydrogen, solar photovoltaic energy, information technology, transportation and logistics, medical industries, housing, and construction, among others. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 offers diverse investment opportunities in partnership with China across multiple sectors as part of the Saudi government’s efforts to diversify the economy away from crude oil, which is currently the Kingdom’s primary source of income.

 In the future industries sector, the Saudi Business Industries Company (Sahl Al-Aamal) signed a cooperation agreement with two Chinese companies: China New Energy and Eurasia. The aim is to establish a specialized electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia, with investments totaling one billion Saudi riyals. This new Saudi-Chinese project also aims to support Saudi Arabia’s drive towards sustainable transportation, increase local content, and create quality job opportunities through partnership with Chinese companies.

 These Saudi steps towards partnership and cooperation with China come within the framework of the “Vision 100 strategy” to expand its international partnerships and enhance its ability to transfer advanced technologies and knowledge to the Saudi market, thus contributing to driving economic development and achieving sustainability.

  From the preceding analysis, we conclude that the Saudi-Chinese partnership, through the helicopter deal with the Chinese company Vertaxi and others, promotes environmentally friendly industrial innovation.  With the joint Saudi-Chinese effort to strengthen partnership in artificial intelligence and petrochemicals to develop sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies, Saudi Arabia has affirmed its readiness to welcome Chinese investments through the development of industrial cities, aiming to increase the number of its factories to more than 26,000 by 2030 through cooperation with China.

Serious financial woes have plagued the Palm Springs Art Museum for at least six years, according to internal documents obtained by The Times. Recent developments have opened a Pandora’s box.

On Jan. 15, the accounting firm conducting the annual audit of the museum’s 2024 books attached to its report a “letter of material weakness,” a standard accounting practice for alerting a client to the reasonable possibility that its internal financial statements are significantly out of whack.

Less than three months after the audit letter, in early April, the museum’s director suddenly resigned, and trustee defections began. A cascade of at least eight resignations from the museum’s board of trustees — nearly one-third of its membership — has occurred since spring. One resignation came on the advice of the trustee’s attorney. With 19 trustees remaining, according to a listing on the museum’s website, the total number has fallen below the minimum of 20 required in the museum’s by-laws.

Palm Springs Art Museum board chair Craig Hartzman did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Accountants at Eide Bailly, citing a “deficiency in internal control” at the museum, highlighted six areas of concern, including problems with reporting of endowment spending, improper recording of the market value of donated and deaccessioned art, and faulty recording of admissions revenues.

Former museum director Adam Lerner had reportedly been negotiating a three-year contract renewal when he stepped down. Without elaborating on his unexpected decision to depart, he was cited in a museum press release as leaving for personal reasons. Lerner returned to Colorado, where he previously headed the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.

Reached by text, Lerner declined a request for interview, referring questions to the museum.

Financial problems at PSAM are not new. According to six pages of notes obtained by The Times, compiled by a trustee who led a task force charged with examining museum finances, the ending statement on the 2019 endowment balance was $3 million higher than the beginning balance on the 2020 statement. Audits and tax returns posted on the museum website confirm the puzzling discrepancy.

The notes say it is “highly unlikely” the funds were stolen. Instead, they question internal museum accounting practices, which can create a misleading appearance of fiscal health. By the 2021 audit, the outside accounting firm that had been preparing them annually prior to Eide Bailly had quit.

“This is always a red flag,” wrote museum trustee Kevin Comer, an art collector who retired after 30 years as a managing director at Deutsche Bank in New York, and who is a former professor of accounting and fiduciary management techniques at the Ohio State University. A trustee for less than two years, Comer resigned Nov. 6.

Reached by telephone, Comer declined to discuss the accounting firm’s letter or the task force notes.

Palm Springs Art Museum

(Guillaume Goureau/Palm Springs Art Museum)

Since late July, a lengthy anonymous email has also been circulating from a self-described “whistleblower with a direct relationship” to the Palm Springs Art Museum. Fourteen itemized complaints, most concerning fiscal matters, are presented with sobriety, plus a slow burn of understandable anger. Whether or not the unidentified whistle blower has an ax to grind is unknown to me, but plainly the email is not a list of wild accusations hurled by an unreliable gadfly.

The coherent level of informed specificity certainly suggests authorship by a knowledgeable insider. Some stated grievances may have benign explanations, while others are troubling.

Comer pulled few punches in his own letter of resignation to fellow trustees, also obtained by The Times. The fiduciary expert, a former member of the board’s finance committee, said he was resigning on the advice of his attorney.

The board, Comer alleged, is sidestepping the fundamental fiduciary obligation to protect “the integrity of the museum, despite our best intentions.” The letter urges hiring both a law firm and a forensic accounting firm to review museum finances, partly to untangle apparently inappropriate methods in the past for the benefit of the current board, and partly to address potential liability.

An earlier task force suggestion to that effect was discussed by the board but went unheeded, he charges.

Especially concerning is a 2019 reclassification of some restricted funds. Task force notes suggest the $3-million discrepancy between 2019 and 2020 may have originated as a change in restricted funds to unrestricted status. Assets specifically donated for a particular function could then appear to be available for general operating purposes.

The museum consistently operated at a loss, the notes say, with some operating shortfalls covered by the 2019 reclassification. A deficit is not unusual for an art museum, but whether the reclassifications of some restricted funds were appropriate appears to be in doubt. Presumably, funds reclassified as unrestricted at the end of one year to make the financial filing look good may have had their restricted status restored at the start of the next year.

Restricted funds can include money raised through the deaccession and sale of art donated to a museum’s collection. Common museum ethical standards require income from deaccessioned art to be sequestered, used only for other art purchases, as well as for direct care of the collection. For accounting purposes, the monetary value of a nonprofit museum’s art collection is not considered a material asset to be carried on the books. Reclassification of sequestered art funds could support an appearance of general financial vigor.

During the lengthy 2020 pandemic closure, the cash-strapped museum made the controversial decision to deaccession and then sell a prized 1974 Helen Frankenthaler painting, which brought $4.7 million at auction. The 2024 audit puts total donor restricted funds for art purchases and collection maintenance at $7.8 million.

To pay the bills the museum has also been drawing down the endowment. According to the 2024 audit, the most recent financial statement currently available, the endowment is slightly more than $17 million — extremely small for a museum that last year had an operating budget of approximately $10.5 million.

“Endowment draws over the past decade totaled roughly $8 million, and contributions to the endowment totaled roughly $500,000,” the notes report. “Most years the museum operated at a loss, including for the last three years when the board believed we were profitable,” it states.

Such a disproportion between fundraising and expenditure, between money coming in and money going out, is frankly unsustainable for this — or any — art museum, especially when inflation is factored in.

The endowment is a nonprofit’s “seed corn,” eaten for short-term gain only at its long-term peril. Most disturbing: The notes suggest that while the five-person executive committee may have been aware of some of the situation’s more difficult details, the rest of the board appears not to have been fully informed of the museum’s financial position
.
“Bottom line,” Comer’s resignation letter astutely observes, “this is a leadership group that doesn’t know what it doesn’t know, and that is the most dangerous place in which an institution can be placed.”

The Palm Springs Art Museum has apparently wedged itself firmly between a rock and a hard place. Now, it is unclear how the museum can move forward without a full cohort of 20 trustees authorized to vote on making essential decisions — including accepting new members to the board.

Spain finish unbeaten at the top of Group E despite being given genuine scare by Turkiye, who will compete in playoffs.

Spain have booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with a 2-2 draw against Turkiye in their final qualifier to top Group E.

Turkiye finished second on Tuesday and will compete in the playoffs after they became the first team to force Luis de la Fuente’s Euro 2024 champions to drop points.

Dani Olmo fired Spain ahead, but Deniz Gul and Salih Ozcan struck for Turkiye as the hosts conceded their first goals in the qualification process.

Mikel Oyarzabal hit back to equalise in Seville for a Spanish team looking to win football’s biggest prize for the second time.

Spain scored 21 goals in qualifying while conceding just twice and have not tasted defeat in a national record 31 consecutive games.

However, that run includes a 2-2 Nations League final draw with Portugal after extra time in June with Spain losing on penalties.

Turkiye showed de la Fuente’s side are not flawless although Spain were missing several key players, including Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Rodri.

They knew to qualify all they had to do was avoid defeat by a seven-goal margin, which was never on the cards, and might have triumphed if not for some inspired goalkeeping by Manchester United stopper Altay Bayindir.

Marc Cucurella’s cross found Olmo in the box, and he controlled it well to bypass a defender before finishing lethally in the fourth minute.

The Barcelona playmaker twice came close to scoring a second from long range, but Bayindir tipped over both efforts.

Turkiye became the first team to score against Spain in qualifying just before the break when Gul levelled, reacting quickly to flick home a knock-down from a corner.

The visitors came out strongly in the second half and forced Spain’s goalkeeper Unai Simon into a pair of smart saves before taking the lead.

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ozcan rifled home from the edge of the box after Orkun Kokcu had set the ball up nicely for him.

Spain bit back, and Oyarzabal finished from close range after Merih Demiral did brilliantly to block Yeremy Pino’s shot on the line, but it rebounded off another defender nicely for the Real Sociedad forward.

It was Oyarzabal’s sixth goal in a qualifying campaign in which he has staked his claim to being Spain’s starting striker at the World Cup.

Substitute Samu Aghehowa came close as Spain sought a winner, but Bayindir kept out his header and then denied Alex Baena to secure Turkiye an impressive point.

Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez found the net in stoppage time, but his goal was disallowed for offside.

Elsewhere, Scotland scored two dramatic stoppage-time goals to beat 10-man Denmark 4-2 on Tuesday and reach the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

A 1-1 home draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina was enough for Austria in Group H while Belgium routed Liechtenstein 7-0. Switzerland qualified after a 1-1 draw at Kosovo.

The 12 group winners qualified directly while the runners-up will participate in playoffs along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024-2025 Nations League that did not finish first or second in their groups.

The playoffs will be played on March 26 and March 31.

The World Cup will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Shahina Begum broke down in tears the moment a special court in capital Dhaka sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her close aide, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, to death for crimes against humanity.

Begum’s 20-year-old son Sajjat Hosen Sojal was shot and his body burned by the police on August 5, 2024, hours before a student-led uprising forced Hasina to resign and flee the country she had ruled with an iron first for 15 years.

Prosecutors allege that six student protesters were killed that day in Ashulia, a readymade garments hub on the outskirts of Dhaka: five shot and their bodies burned, while another was allegedly burned alive inside the police station.

The killings, allegedly ordered by Hasina in a desperate bid to hang on to power, were part of a brutal crackdown by security forces on what is referred to in Bangladesh as the July Uprising, during which more than 1,400 protesters were killed, according to the United Nations.

After a months-long trial held in absentia as Hasina and Khan had fled to neighbouring India, Dhaka’s International Crimes Tribunal on Monday sentenced the two to death, while a third accused – former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun – was given a five-year jail term because he had turned a state witness.

“I cannot be calm until she [Hasina] is brought back and hanged in this country,” Begum told Al Jazeera on Monday night, as the historic verdict triggered a surge of emotions across the country of 170 million people.

“My son screamed for help inside that police station. No one saved him. I will not rest until those who burned him can never harm another mother’s child again.”

But as hundreds of families who lost their loved ones during last year’s uprising come to terms with Monday’s landmark sentencing, many wonder if Hasina will actually face justice.

There are questions around whether India, a close ally of Hasina during her 15 years of rule, would extradite her and Khan, or whether it might instead help them escape justice.

“They took five minutes to burn my son alive, but it took almost a year and a half to deliver this verdict,” said Begum from her ancestral home in Shyampur village in the northern Gaibandha district.

“Can this government really bring her back from India? What happens if the government changes and the next one protects Hasina and her collaborators? Who will guarantee that these killers won’t escape?”

‘Sentence must be carried out’

As hundreds gathered outside the tribunal building in Dhaka on Monday, Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdho – whose brother Mir Mugdho was shot dead during the uprising – said Hasina “deserves the maximum penalty many times over,” urging the authorities to bring her back to Bangladesh to enforce the judgement.

Standing close to him was Syed Gazi Rahman, father of killed protester Mutasir Rahman. He called for the sentence to be carried out “swiftly and publicly,” accusing Hasina of “emptying the hearts of thousands of families”.

Some 300km (186 miles) away, at Bhabnapur Jaforpara village in the northern district of Rangpur, family members of Abu Sayeed also welcomed the death sentence against the former prime minister.

Sayeed was the first casualty of the July Uprising, which started with mainly student-led protests against a controversial quota system for government jobs that disproportionately favoured the children of people who fought in the 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.

On July 16, 2024, Sayeed, a student leader, was shot dead by the police while demonstrating in Rangpur.

“My heart has finally cooled down. I am satisfied. She must be brought back from India and executed in Bangladesh without delay,” said his father, Mokbul Hossain.

“My son is gone. It pains me. The sentence must be carried out,” added his mother, Monowara Begum. She said the family distributed sweets to those visiting them after the verdict.

Sanjida Khan Dipti, mother of Shahriar Khan Anas, a 10th-grade student who was shot dead in Dhaka’s Chankharpul neighbourhood on August 5, 2024, told Al Jazeera the verdict is “only a consolation”.

“Justice will be served the day it is executed,” she said.

“As a mother, even 1,400 death sentences would be insufficient for someone who emptied the hearts of thousands of mothers. The world must see the consequences when a ruler unleashes mass killing to cling to power. God may grant you time, but He does not spare.”

Dipti said she was not satisfied with the verdict against former police chief al-Mamun.

“Abdullah al-Mamun should have received a longer sentence because, as part of the nation’s security force, he became a killer of our children,” she said.

‘No dictator should rise again’

Several processions were taken out in Dhaka and other parts of the country on Monday after Hasina was sentenced to death.

During a march inside the campus of the Dhaka University, Ar Rafi, a second-year undergraduate student, said they will rally to demand Hasina’s extradition from India.

“We are happy for now. But we want Hasina brought back from India and executed. We, the students, will remain on the streets until her sentence is carried out,” he told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, a group called Maulik Bangla staged a symbolic enactment of Hasina’s execution at Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection area after the tribunal’s verdict.

“This is a message that no dictator should rise again,” said Sharif Osman bin Hadi, spokesperson for Inquilab Manch (Revolution Front), a non-partisan cultural organisation inspired by the July Uprising.

Political parties, including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, also welcomed the verdict.

“This judgement proves that no matter how powerful a fascist or autocrat becomes, they will one day have to stand in the dock,” BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters on Monday.

Jamaat leader Mia Golam Porwar said the ruling proves that “no head of government or powerful political leader is above the law”, and that the verdict offers “some measure of comfort” to families of those killed during the uprising.

The United Nations human rights office said while it considered the verdict was “an important moment for the victims”, it stressed that a trial held in absentia and resulting in a death sentence may not have followed due process and fair trial standards, as it reiterated its opposition to capital punishment.

Rights group Amnesty International also raised concerns about the fairness of the trial, saying the victims “deserve far better” and warning that rushed proceedings in absentia risk undermining justice.

“Victims need justice and accountability, yet the death penalty simply compounds human rights violations. It’s the ultimate cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment and has no place in any justice process,” it said.

But the families of the victims say the verdict was a recognition of the brutality of the crackdown, and raises hopes for a closure.

“This verdict sends a message: justice is inevitable,” said Atikul Gazi, a 21-year-old TikToker from Dhaka’s Uttara area who survived being shot at point-blank range on August 5, 2024, but ended up losing his left arm.

A selfie video of him smiling – despite missing an arm – went viral last year, making him a symbol of resilience. “It feels like the souls of the July martyrs will now find some peace,” Gazi told Al Jazeera.

Vogue Williams sits down with the Mirror to discuss going into the I’m a Celebrity jungle and how she up for a “bit of mischief….like Traitors.”

A second star has opened up about entering I’m a Celebrity as a latecomer.

Vogue Williams has already blitzed the Christmas shopping, filled the cupboards and menu-planned for the next month. But now the mum-of-three is about to swap managing everything at home for running the gauntlet in the jungle. The Irish presenter, who turned 40 last month, is entering the I’m a Celebrity camp on Thursday as a latecomer with Celebs Go Dating star Tom Read Wilson.

And she admits she likes the idea of playing the game like a certain hit BBC show. “I would not mind causing a bit of mischief, a bit like Traitors vibes,” she laughs. “I don’t want to annoy anyone, but I think I am very much willing to go along with the game.”

At home in London, life with husband Spencer Matthews and their three young children is a well-drilled operation. The couple share son Theodore, six, daughter Gigi, four, and youngest son Otto, three, and it is leaving them that is preying on her mind more than any Bushtucker Trial. “My only real worry is missing the kids and missing Spencer and missing my family,” she said.

“I have done all my Christmas shopping. I have done our food shops for the next four weeks. I have organised everything down to a tee because I kind of do all that stuff at home, so I have got everything organised so I do not have to worry when I get back.” Vogue had to think carefully about how much she told the children after agreeing to take part.

“I had to be careful telling my kids, because they have a bigger mouth than me,” she laughed. “I have ignored everybody who has been texting asking if it’s true? I am like, ‘ignore, ignore.’

“I showed the kids the last series to get them into it, and they absolutely loved it when people were having an absolute nightmare. So if I get thrown in with rats, that will be their dream.”

The star, who has built a huge following through her podcasts and radio work, says the strangest part of being Down Under is suddenly not being in charge of everyone’s day from the moment she wakes up. “It is such a strange feeling, because obviously when you have kids, you have got this massive responsibility, and the first thing that you think of in the morning is them and all day it is about how you are going to organise everything that they need. And it is a really strange feeling not to have to do that. It is very relaxing.”

Part of the reason she signed up for the hit ITV show was turning 40 and realising how set in her ways she had become.

“I am too comfortable in life,” she said. “I sleep with four pillows in my bed just for me. I think you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone, particularly when I turned 40. I was getting kind of stuck in my ways a little bit. I like things a certain way. I mean, I like to walk around the park a certain way and everything.”

She said she was oblivious to what she was getting herself in for which was a difficult concept to grasp as she was such a control-freak. “It is going to be so weird, so different. I don’t even know what is happening at all. I do not know if I am going to be flung off a building, so for someone who loves control and to have a level of organisation around things, it is really weird for me to have all of that taken away.”

But she says there was one unexpected bonus: having her phone confiscated by producers.

“My phone got taken away yesterday, and even that, it has not really bothered me,” she said. “I have not watched the last two episodes of Selling Sunset but we will wait till I get back.”

She is braced for the lack of treats to play havoc with her usually steady mood.

“You do not really know how you are going to be affected by things such as no sugar, or even salt. All those things will make it a little bit harder. I am quite a stable person emotionally, really. But I think going in there and having all that taken away, and then kind of not being with people you know, might be difficult.”

As for the home-comforts she will miss the most, she admits: “Coffee in the morning, the four pillows, my really comfortable bed, a nice toilet that I do not have to share with anyone, my LED face mask, food, loads of food, I love eating,” she said.