News Desk

Jan. 31 (UPI) — Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul lost their bid to have a federal court order the Department of Homeland Security to end its immigration enforcement effort in the state.

U.S. District Court of Minnesota Judge Katherine Menendez on Saturday denied a motion to enjoin the federal government from continuing its immigration law enforcement surge in the Twin Cities.

“Even if the likelihood of success on the merits and the balance of harms each weighed more clearly in favor of plaintiffs, the court would still likely be unable to grant the relief requested: An injunction suspending Operation Metro Surge,” Menendez wrote in her 30-page ruling.

She cited a recent federal appellate court ruling that affirmed the federal government has the right to enforce federal laws over the objections of others.

“The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently vacated a much more circumscribed injunction, which limited one aspect of the ongoing operation, namely the way immigration officers interacted with protesters and observers,” Menedez said.

“The injunction in that case was not only much narrower than the one proposed here, but it was based on more settled precedent than that which underlies the claims now before the court,” she explained.

“Nonetheless, the court of appeals determined that the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the government because it would hamper their efforts to enforce federal law,” Menendez continued.

“If that injunction went too far, then the one at issue here — halting the entire operation — certainly would,” she concluded.

Menendez said her ruling does not address the merits of the case filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on behalf of the state and two cities, which are named as the lawsuit’s three plaintiffs.

Those claims remain to be argued and largely focus on Ellison’s claim that the federal government is undertaking an illegal operation that is intended to force state and local officials to cooperate with federal law enforcement.

Menendez said Ellison has not proven his claim, which largely relies on a 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court in a case brought by Shelby County, Ala., officials who challenged the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The act placed additional restrictions on some states based on “their histories of racially discriminatory election administration,” Menendez said.

The Supreme Court ruled a “departure from the fundamental principle of equal sovereignty” requires the federal government to show that geographically driven laws are “sufficiently related to the problem that it targets” to be lawful, she wrote.

Ellison says that the ruling “teaches that the federal government cannot single out states for disparate treatment without strong and narrowly tailored justification,” according to Menendez.

But he does not show any other examples of a legal authority applying the “equal sovereignty ‘test'” and does not show how it would apply to a presidential administration’s decision on where to deploy federal law enforcement to “enforce duly enacted federal laws,” she said.

“There is no precedent for a court to micromanage such decisions,” and she can ‘readily imagine scenarios where the federal executive must legitimately vary its use of law enforcement resources from one state to the next,” Menendez explained.

Because there is no likelihood of success in claims based on equal sovereignty, she said Ellison did not show there is a likelihood that plaintiffs will succeed in their federal lawsuit, so the motion to preliminarily enjoin the federal government from continuing Operation Metro Surge is denied.

Former President Joe Biden appointed Menendez to the federal bench in 2021.

The Sunday Telegraph says the King paid a surprise visit to joggers at a Parkrun event on his Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. “Yes, it really IS His Majesty,” is the Sunday Mirror’s headline, above a photo of the King, laughing beside one of the organisers, who’s holding up a sign to that effect. Joggers “lapped up” the joke, it says.

Jane McDonald was a favourite with TV viewers on Loose Women but she quit the show in 2014

Jane McDonald has become a household name thanks to her travel shows and singing career, but many fans still remember her from her Loose Women days.

The 62-year-old star used to be one of the ITV programme’s most popular presenters, chatting over the hottest topics of the day for a decade before announcing that she was permanently vacating her seat on the panel.

While fans of the daytime show have become used to a rotating cast of presenters, many were disappointed to see Jane go when she stepped down in 2014.

So why did she leave Loose Women? And will she ever go back to the show?

When was Jane McDonald on Loose Women?

Jane was already well known for television programme The Cruise and a string of albums when she joined the show as a presenter in 2004.

She featured on Loose Women along fellow stars such as Carol McGiffin, Andrea McLean, Sherrie Hewson and Denise Welch and became hugely popular with viewers.

When did Jane McDonald leave the ITV show?

However, in January 2014, the star announced that she was leaving, telling fans that the time was “right” for her to move on as she had an album and a tour in the pipeline.

She said in a statement at the time: “It has been an incredible 10 years for me on Loose Women and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve got a busy and exciting year coming up with a new album and national concert tour.

“So the time is right for me to step aside from Loose Women and concentrate on new opportunities.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again on tour and I thank you all for your continued support, loyalty and best wishes.”

Would Jane McDonald return as Loose Women panellist?

The star has previously suggested that she isn’t likely to make a permanent return to the programme, as she was widely quoted as telling Woman magazine: “It was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now.

“And it was an era of girls who were not just colleagues – we were a force to be reckoned with. We were like Sex And The City when we hit the town. We’d have taken a bullet for each other.”

However, she did add: “Never say never.”

Guest appearances

Jane has gone on to make guest appearances on the ITV show over the years.

In 2021 she returned to the programme to talk about the death of her fiance Eddie Rothe, who had passed away that year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Opening up in a moving segment, Jane told how it had been a “privilege” to nurse her partner before he died.

“At first I thought, ‘How am I going to do this?’” she said. “But then you get a strength when you are nursing your loved one. I learnt how to do it. I changed all the dressings and I cared for him and I nursed him and I’m glad I did.”

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

Cruising with Jane McDonald is on Channel 5 at 1.05pm on Sunday (February 1).

Jan. 31 (UPI) — The Iranian military intends to conduct two days of live-fire naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Sunday, despite warnings against it from the U.S. military.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is conducting the drills amid civic unrest and U.S. President Donald Trump deploying a “massive armada” to the area, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

“U.S. forces acknowledge Iran’s right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters. Any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization,” CENTCOM officials said in a statement on Saturday.

“CENTCOM will ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, ships, and aircraft operating in the Middle East. We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions, including overflight of U.S. military vessels engaged in flight operations, low-altitude or armed overflight of U.S. military assets when intentions are unclear, high-speed boat approaches on a collision course with U.S. military vessels, or weapons trained at U.S. forces,” CENTCOM said.

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, with Iran situated along its northern shore and Oman and the United Arab Emirates along its southern shoreline.

More than 100 merchant vessels per day sail through the strait, which makes it an “essential trade corridor” that supports the region’s economy, CENTCOM said, as reported by Fox News.

The deployment comes as the Trump administration considers potential military intervention in the Iranian unrest.

Various estimates place the number of protestors and other civilians killed at between 6,000 and more than 30,000 since protests began on Dec. 28.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman attended a private briefing in Washington, D.C., on Friday and warned that Iran would grow stronger if the United States does not act in Iran is warranted if military action is warranted, Axios reported.

Trump has threatened to target Iran’s leadership with military strikes if widespread killings of protesters continued, but he delayed any strikes after Saudi leaders cautioned against it.

Salman’s comments on Friday indicate a change among Saudi Arabia’s leadership regarding potential military action in Iran.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday accused the U.S. military of trying to dictate how the Iranian military conducts “target practice on their own turf.”

“Freedom of navigation and safe passage of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are of vital importance for Iran, as much as it is for our neighbors,” Araghchi added.

“The presence of outside forces in our region has always caused the exact opposite of what is declared: promoting escalation instead of de-escalation,” he said.

The pending military exercise also is scheduled after Iranian state media reported an explosion damaged a nine-story residential building and killed a young girl and injured 14 in Bandar Abbas, which is an Iranian port city located on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Fars News Agency denied reports that IRGC Navy leader Brigadier Gen. Alireza Tangsiri died in the blast, which local officials said likely was caused by a gas leak.

“The initial cause of the building accident in Bandar Abbas was a gas leak and buildup, leading to an explosion,” Bandar Abbas Fire Chief Mohammad Amin Lyaghat told Iranian state media. He called the explanation an “initial theory.”

Follow our live build-up, score, photos and text commentary stream from the men’s singles final at Melbourne Park.

A noughties dramedy that fans describe as ‘a truly magical experience’ has just landed on Netflix

Netflix has quietly added a cult classic drama that picked up the coveted Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 2004.

The streaming giant has a huge catalogue of Academy Award winners and Lost in Translation is worth adding to your weekend watchlist.

The 2003 dramedy was written and directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather). It follows an unlikely friendship between American strangers Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson).

The pair first meet in Tokyo, where fading movie star Bob is due to film a Japanese whiskey commercial. Meanwhile, Charlotte is a conflicted newlywed visiting alongside her celebrity-photographer husband.

After meeting at their hotel bar, the pair discover they have more in common than they expected. From there, the film dives into important themes such as alienation and the importance of human connection.

The dramedy was an instant hit with critics, earning four Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Leading Actor (for Murray). Ultimately, Coppola took home the screenplay prize.

It also earned a near-perfect 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics praised: “Effectively balancing humour and subtle pathos, Sofia Coppola crafts a moving, melancholy story that serves as a showcase for both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.”

Viewers were equally impressed, though they awarded the drama a less-impressive 85% score.

One fan raved: “The movie is a masterpiece in every sense. Nothing wanting. If you want to learn about movie making, or just enjoy something purely brilliant, this is it. A work of art.”

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Someone else echoed the praise: “A hypnotically sweet and tender movie that’s quiet, but grows on you and makes you never want to leave its presence.”

While a third said: “One of the most real and raw movies I have ever seen, Coppola tells a beautiful tale of simple human connection, unlikely friends, and loneliness. This movie is wonderful and thoughtful from start to finish. Deciding never to watch it would be a mistake.”

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

Yet another moviegoer gushed: “A truly magical experience. Concise, yet meaningful, dialogues where you have to read between the lines to uncover their true depth.

“Simple, yet touching, story that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. Breath-taking visuals that complement the story. In fact, the main character IS indeed the city of Tokyo that unites two wandering lonely souls.”

Lost in Translation is streaming now on Netflix

Jan. 31 (UPI) — Israel on Saturday launched airstrikes at targets in Gaza, with Palestinian authorities reporting that at least 30 were killed in the attacks.

The strikes come after Israel accused Hamas of violating a shaky cease-fire in Gaza ahead of the expected reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

The strikes hit an apartment building, tent camp and a police station, hospital officials told the Los Angeles Times.

Ten officers and detainees were killed in the police station strike in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood outside Gaza City. Officials are searching the rubble for bodies and said the number of dead could increase, The Guardian reported.

The outlet added that three children and two women were killed in the apartment building in Gaza City, in addition to seven who died in strikes in the Khan Younis tent camp.

In a statement, Israel said the strikes were in response to militants leaving a tunnel in Rafah, which is controlled by Israel and would constitute a violation of the cease-fire.

The latest outbreak of violence comes one day before the land crossing between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah is due to reopen, part of the multi-part cease-fire that Israel and Hamas agreed to last October.

Israeli officials said the crossing would be open to a “limited” number of people and that all individuals entering or exiting Gaza will be required to obtain a security clearance from Israel in coordination with Egypt, NBC News reported.

Hospitals and ambulances in Egypt already have been preparing to receive sick and injured Palestinians from Gaza when the crossing opens on Sunday morning.

Despite the both Israel and Gaza accusing each other of violating the cease-fire, an Israeli official told The New York Times that Israel will not alter plans to open the Rafah border crossing.

Sloth is yet to be unmasked on The Masked Singer but one costume designer has revealed how the mystery star ‘almost scared’ the production team backstage on the hit show

The Masked Singer’s Sloth has been entertaining audiences for weeks on the hit ITV competition series after belting out a string of pop songs but no one is aware of just who is in the costume yet. The secret star is through to the semi-final, but it has emerged now that the performer was so “athletic” backstage, there were concerns raised in the costume department.

Costume designer Tim Simpson, creative director at Plunge Creations, insisted that the line up are always enthusiastic but explained that if they are too energetic, it can be hard on the elaborate outfits that are crafted for the series.

He said: “These performers are really up for it, and they really enjoy it. They’ve seen it enough times to realise that, and probably the word has gone out in the grapevine that if you’re going to get involved in The Masked Singer, then you’re gonna have to really strap in and get fit.‘

READ MORE: The Masked Singer Can of Worms’ identity ‘revealed’ as boyband legendREAD MORE: Masked Singer’s Red Panda revealed as TV legend and comedy star

“So the word’s gone out, and by the time they arrive on set, or by the time we get to the costumes to them, I think they’re already quite into it.

Speaking to Metro, Tim added: “Sloth, who apparently not just enjoyed the costume, but got to the point where it nearly scared the production team, because they were so physical and so athletic and so keen to be doing yoga and aerobics that we worried for the safety of the costume. The more the performers jump around, the better they look, but the harder it is on the costume.”

Judges Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama have already thrown a lot of names about as to who could be Sloth, with stars like fitness guru Joe Wicks, TV chef Jamie Oliver, Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls, Chris Moyles, and Ben Fogle having been thrown into the mix.

So far, stars like Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon, rapper Professor Green and, singer Kate Nash and Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke have been unmasked. On Saturday night’s edition of the show, former TV Burp star Harry Hill was revealed to have been performing as Red Panda.

Earlier in the evening, former X Factor star Olly Murs was revealed as Mole Dommett, who had been working as a sleuth for the competition and appeared on ITV Daytime shows in the build-up to the episode. Upon Harry’s unmasking, he told host Joel Dommett: “I’m not a natural singer, my wife heard me the other day, and she thought I was choking on a Pot Noodle!”

Asked if he enjoyed it, he admitted: “No. Yes of course I enjoyed it! The weird thing is, you put the thing on and you’ve got no inhibitions. The only downside is you’re breathing your own breath because it’s all trapped, and I had falafel for lunch!”

Harry, who has been married to artist Magda Archer since 1996, then revealed after his elimination that it was his wife who inspired him to sign up for the show in the first place.

He said: “I always say to my wife what shall I do? And she said darling you should do it. That’s a holiday! I have just finished a big tour and I was planning to have some time off.

“You have to spend a bit of time learning the words but because you’re in the outfit, you don’t have to spend time thinking about a fancy dance routine or what faces you’re going to pull because it’s all inside [the costume].”

The Masked Singer continues Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITV

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The talks come just a day before a second round of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.

United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said he held “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida, as President Donald Trump’s administration presses to end Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

“We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine,” wrote Witkoff in a post on X following Saturday’s talks.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks.

Neither side released details of what was discussed.

Dmitriev also met Witkoff and Kushner in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He also held talks on the Ukraine war with US negotiators in a visit to Miami in December.

Saturday’s meeting comes before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are expected to hold a second round of talks with US mediators in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to end Russia’s war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later appeared to suggest that the meeting would not take place on Sunday, saying in his nightly address that Ukraine was waiting for more information from the US about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week.

A first US-mediated meeting was held in the United Arab Emirates’s capital last week, marking the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv since the early weeks of the war.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this week that he believes “we are getting close” to a deal to end the war.

Trump announced on Thursday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had agreed to his request not to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week amid extreme cold weather, which he said was “very nice” of the Russian president.

The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Putin had received the request, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling Sky News the Russian leader had “of course” agreed to the proposal.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that the issue of a ceasefire on energy infrastructure attacks had been discussed during last week’s talks, and that he expected the agreements to be implemented. “De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war,” he added.

On Friday, the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly address that neither Moscow nor Kyiv had conducted strikes ⁠on energy targets from Thursday night onwards.

Several sticking points over the US-backed plan to end the war remain, including Russia’s demand for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from about one-fifth of the Donetsk region, and the potential deployment of international peacekeepers in Ukraine after the war.

Laura Dogu’s visit comes as Venezuela moves to privatise its oil sector under pressure from Trump.

The top United States envoy for Venezuela has arrived in Caracas to reopen a US diplomatic mission seven years after ties were severed.

Laura Dogu announced her arrival in a post on X on Saturday, saying, “My team and I are ready to work.”

The move comes almost one month after US forces abducted Venezuela’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro, from the presidential palace in Caracas, on the orders of US President Donald Trump.

Maduro was then taken to a prison in New York, and is facing drug trafficking and narcoterrorism conspiracy charges.

The move has been widely criticised as a violation of international law.

Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil wrote on Telegram that he had received Dogu, and that talks would centre on creating a “roadmap on matters of bilateral interest” as well as “addressing and resolving existing differences through diplomatic dialogue and on the basis of mutual respect and international law”.

Dogu, who previously served as US ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua, was appointed to the role of charge d’affaires to the Venezuela Affairs Unit, based out of the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.

Venezuela and the US broke off diplomatic relations in February 2019, in a decision by Maduro after Trump gave public support to Venezuelan lawmaker Juan Guaido, who claimed to be the nation’s interim president in January that year.

Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Diosdado Cabello, one of Venezuela’s most powerful politicians and a Maduro loyalist, said earlier in January that reopening the US embassy in Caracas would give the Venezuelan government a way to oversee the treatment of the deposed president.

Although the Trump administration has claimed that Maduro’s abduction was necessary for security reasons, officials have also repeatedly framed their interests in Venezuela around controlling its vast oil reserves, which are the largest in the world.

Since the abduction, Trump has pressured Interim President Delcy Rodriguez to open the country’s nationalised oil sector to US firms.

The two countries have reached ‌a deal to export up ⁠to $2bn worth of Venezuelan crude to the US, and on Thursday, Rodriguez signed into law a reform bill that will pave the way for increased privatisation.

The legislation gives private firms control over the sale and production of Venezuelan oil, and requires legal disputes to be resolved outside of Venezuelan courts, a change long sought by foreign companies, which argue that the judicial system in the country is dominated by the governing socialist party.

The bill would also cap royalties collected by the government at 30 percent.

The Trump administration said on the same day that it would loosen some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, and allow limited transactions by the country’s government and the state oil company PDVSA that were necessary for a laundry list of export-related activities involving an “established US entity”.

Trump has announced that he ordered the reopening of Venezuela’s commercial airspace and “informed” Rodriguez that US oil companies would soon arrive to explore potential projects in the country.

On Friday, Rodriguez announced an amnesty bill aimed at releasing hundreds of prisoners in the country, and said she would shut down El Helicoide, an infamous secret service prison in Caracas, to be replaced with a sports and cultural centre.

That move was one of the key demands of the Venezuelan opposition.

TRIPLE Grammy nominee Yungblud has blasted the Brits for being “out of touch” after he was snubbed by his home country’s music awards.

The Doncaster rocker is up for Best Rock Performance category for his powerful rendition of Changes at the late Ozzy Osbourne’s Back To The Beginning concert last summer.

And he will wear the necklace given to him by his Black Sabbath idol, who died last year, at tonight’s ceremony in LA, where he is also up for two other Grammys.

Yet despite accolades Stateside, and two UK No1 albums last year, he says it feels “weird” to be a notable omission at this month’s Brits.

He told me: “I just think with the Brits, there’s something more corporate afoot. I feel like I’ve not kissed the babies in my own country that I should — I’ve done it my way.

“And I think someone’s pissed off at me for that. The beautiful thing about the Grammys is it’s voted for by your peers — musicians and artists.

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“The Brits, you can tell it’s been done in a boardroom by a committee that’s out of touch. That’s a lot of the British music industry.

“But I’m vibing, man — I’m at the Grammys!”

And Yungblud — real name Dominic Harrison — vows to the keep celebrations rock ’n’ roll — having VOMMED from partying so hard during a pre-Grammys night out with Sharon Osbourne and Lewis Capaldi.

He and Lewis “had a mad one”.

Yungblud said: “We had an accidentally brilliant night. I threw up!

“Everyone’s full of s***. Me and Lewis always find each other at a party, to talk about something half-normal.

“There’s so many parties  . . . you end up going for two minutes, and everyone looks shell-shocked.

“So we end up throwing our own. We had such a good night. Sharon came out. Lewis came out.”

Yungblud jokes he is “clearing room in my suitcase” for potential Grammy trophies, though any wins would be bittersweet without Ozzy.

He said: “It’s wild when you love someone. You idolise someone.

“And then you get to know them, then you perform this song to honour them and it gets Grammy-nominated.

“It’s weird to comprehend.”

YUNGBLUD is throwing his own “riot” of a Grammys afterparty at Sunset Strip’s Rainbow Bar and Grill – famed for hosting wild bashes with the likes of Led Zeppelin and Motley Crue.

He says: “It will be a f***ing free-for-all, with pizza and beer, doing bumps of caviar.”

The rocker, who stripped naked on a yacht in Sydney, Australia, while touring last year, insists: “I’m not really sick. I’m usually alright. I’ll probably end up naked – but I won’t be sick.”

STARS DRESSED TO FRILL

SOME of the biggest names in music gathered in LA to let their hair down for some pre-Grammys partying on Friday.

Singer Kesha bloomed in giant flowers at the 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year gala, while Cara Delevingne showed off new brunette locks at the Warner soiree.

Addison Rae gave a raunchy performance in just her undies at Spotify’s 2026 Best New Artist Party, where she was joined by nominated Brit Olivia Dean in a checked blue floor-length gown.

Meanwhile, Swedish siren Zara Larsson wore hot pink for the Epic Records and Hennessy bash.

I’m glad it was warmer in Cali than it was on this side of the pond . . . 

NATHAN’S EYE ON BALL

NATHAN EVANS hopes to score Scotland’s official World Cup anthem – and will be joining the Tartan Army in the US.

The Wellerman singer and band Saint Phnx are also in discussions about cheering the lads on during training sessions, after Ed Sheeran performed for the England team during the 2024 Euros.

One of the ideas is to rework their track Home with lyrics cheering on the Scots squad, and Nathan would love it to become the official supporters’ tune this summer.

He said: “We’ve got something cooking that hopefully we can pull off. And if we do, it’ll be something massive.”

AITCH’S AMBER NIGHT

RAPPER Aitch wooed a stunning podcaster nearly 15 years his senior – just weeks before stealing the nation’s hearts on I’m A Celebrity.

I’m told the 26-year-old locked lips with Francesca Amber, 40, at the Pride of Britain Awards in London last October, after the pair hit it off at the free bar.

Aitch was seen cracking jokes with the blonde, who believes in “manifesting” the life you want.

An onlooker said: “Aitch is a bit younger, but didn’t lack confidence. They were having a right giggle and, by the end of the evening, they were kissing in front of everyone. They exchanged numbers.”

Single mum-of-three Francesca has told listeners she dreams of going on E4 dating show Celebs Go Dating. I hope this helps manifest it for her . . . 

TEDDY IS READY TO RAYA

VOCAL powerhouse Teddy Swims is looking for love online after sadly splitting from his baby momma.

The Bad Dreams singer broke up with singer Raiche Wright late last year.

But now Teddy – who last year released the final part of his album series I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy – is putting his best foot forward and getting himself out there with a profile on A-list dating app Raya.

The singer – born Jaten Dimsdale – posted a series of snaps showing off his tattoos and dapper style, advertising the fact he is based in Sherman Oaks, California.

He, fittingly, uses his own music to illustrate his profile.

Happy swiping . . . 

IT MUTT BE LOVE FOR DUA

THE City of Love is the only place for Dua Lipa and fiancé Callum Turner as they put on a smoochy display.

The smitten singer and actor were snapped holding hands while walking Callum’s beloved Labrador-Rottweiler mix Golo in Paris.

An onlooker said: “They were completely loved up and kept kissing, it was very sweet.

“Golo the pooch is like their child and travels with them everywhere.”

Speaking several years ago, Callum confessed that his beloved pet helped to keep him grounded.

He said: “I have a dog, yeah. He keeps me very humble.

“You know, picking up his poo every day keeps you humble.”

That’ll certainly do the trick . . . 

OZZY SINGS TO MY KID

I’M A Celebrity star Jack Osbourne has revealed his late dad Ozzy is singing lullabies from beyond the grave.

Jack’s three-year-old daughter Maple has told him that the Black Sabbath rocker visits her when she’s tucked up in bed and sings to her.

Jack said: “My youngest daughter has been having a lot of ‘interactions’, shall we say. She’s three – she keeps saying, ‘He sings to me at night.’ I’m like, ‘That’s awesome, what’s he singing to you?’

“I don’t make a big deal about it. I’m supportive of it, I’m instantly like, they’re kids, they have imaginations and stuff.

“But she’s saying things and I’m like, ‘How do you know that? We haven’t been saying things – where does that come from?’”

Speaking on the Howie Mandel podcast, Jack added: “For her, the more she brings it up, it’s becoming a thing and I think that it’s not just her imagination.”

Hopefully he’s not Paranoid . . . 

RUSH ON FOR PERFECT 10

BOYBAND mania is set to hit London today as December 10 arrive to meet their fans.

I’m told police are on standby amid fears the signing event could turn into a riot, after 6,000 fans of the group, above – assembled by Simon Cowell – put their names down to attend.

An insider said: “There are concerns that over-excited kids will still rock up – even though only a tiny fraction will actually be allowed to get inside.

“Organisers swear they’ve got it all under control and are working closely with the Old Bill, promising a safe and sensible do.”

It’s like the One Direction days all over again . . . 

These are the key developments from day 1,438 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Sunday, February 1:

Fighting

• Russian attacks on Ukraine killed one person and wounded seven others in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the country’s emergency service. High-rise buildings, homes, shops and cafes were also damaged.
• Another person was wounded by shelling in the Zaporizhia region, the service said, with a blast also destroying three residential buildings and 12 homes.
• In the Donetsk region, at least two people were killed, and five more were wounded, in 13 separate Russian attacks across multiple districts, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.
• A total of 172 people, including 35 children, were evacuated from the front line, Filashkin said.
• Russian strikes hit state railway infrastructure in the Zaporizhia and Dnipro regions, a tactic Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was intended to “cut our cities off from one another”.
• In total, 303 combat clashes took place throughout Saturday, Ukraine’s General Staff wrote on Telegram, tallying 38 air strikes, 119 guided bombs, 2,510 kamikaze drones and 2,437 attacks on settlements and troops.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that its troops captured ⁠the villages ​of Petrivka, ‍in Ukraine’s southeastern ‍Zaporizhzhia region, and ⁠Toretske, in the eastern ​Donetsk ‌region. Al Jazeera could not verify the claim.
• Russia’s TASS state news agency also claimed that Russian forces had taken control of at least 24 Ukrainian settlements since the start of the year, the majority of which were in the Zaporizhia region.
• Two people were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on a car in Russia’s Belgorod region, TASS reported.

Energy

• Parts of Ukraine, including at least 3,500 buildings in Kyiv, faced a blackout throughout Saturday after a failure on interconnection lines with Moldova, officials reported.
• The Kyiv metro closed down, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, along with the capital’s water and electricity supplies, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.
• Although the capital’s water supplies had returned by around 10:30pm local time (20:30 GMT), energy workers were continuing to restore heat to roughly 2,600 houses, Klitschko said.
• Ukraine is investigating the stoppage, but “as of now, there is no confirmation of external interference or a cyberattack”, the president said. “Most indications point to weather: ice buildup on the lines and automatic shutdowns.”
• At the request of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, SpaceX has temporarily restricted operations of its Starlink systems in Ukraine to prevent Russian drone attacks, Serhii Beskrestnov, technology adviser to the defence minister, announced on Facebook.
• “I apologise once again to those who have been temporarily affected by the measures taken, but for the security of the country, these are now very important and necessary actions,” Beskrestnov wrote.

Politics and diplomacy

• United States special envoy Steve Witkoff said that he had “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida.
• “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine,” Witkoff said, adding that he was “grateful” for US President Donald Trump’s “critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace”.
• US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks.
• In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is “in regular contact with the US side” and is “waiting for them to provide specifics on further meetings”, expected to take place next week.
• “Ukraine is ready to work in all effective formats,” he added. “What matters is the results, and that meetings happen.”
• Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha spoke with Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein Sabine Monauni, discussing “developments in the peace negotiations and urgent needs of Ukraine’s energy system”, Sybiha wrote on X.
• “We also paid special attention to further sanctions pressure on Russia and joint international efforts to hold it to account,” Sybiha said.

A federal judge in the United States has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from a facility in Texas amid an outcry over their detention during an immigration raid in Minnesota.

In a decision on Saturday, US District Judge Fred Biery ruled Liam Conejo Ramos’s detention as illegal, while also condemning “the perfidious lust for unbridled power” and “the imposition of cruelty” by “some among us”.

The scathing opinion came as photos of the boy – clad in a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took him away in a suburb of the city of Minneapolis – became a symbol of the immigration crackdown launched by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children,” Biery wrote in his ruling.

“Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of ‌the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly ‌and humane policy than currently in place.”

The judge did not specify the deportation quota he was referring to, but Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has previously said there was a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day.

The ongoing crackdown in the state of Minnesota is the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, according to federal officials, with some 3,000 agents deployed. The surge has prompted daily clashes between activists and immigration officers, and led to the killings of two American citizens by federal agents.

The deadly operation has sparked nationwide protests as well as mass mobilisation efforts and demonstrations in Minnesota.

According to the Columbia Heights Public School District in Minneapolis, Liam was one of at least four students detained by immigration officials in the suburb this month.

Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said ICE agents took the child from a running car in the family’s driveway on January 20, and told him to knock on the door of his home, a tactic that she said amounted to using him as “bait” for other family members.

The government has denied that account, with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claiming that an ICE officer remained with Liam “for the child’s safety” while other officers apprehended his father.

Vice President JD Vance, who has vigorously defended ICE’s tactics in Minnesota, told a news conference that although such arrests were “traumatic” for children, “just because you’re a parent, doesn’t mean that you get complete immunity from law enforcement”.

The Trump administration has said that Conejo Arias arrived in the US illegally in December 2024 from Ecuador, but the family’s lawyer says they have an active asylum claim that allows them to remain in the country legally.

Following their detention, the boy and his father were sent to a facility in Dilley in Texas, where advocacy groups and politicians have reported deplorable conditions, including illnesses, malnourishment and a fast-growing number of detained children.

Texas Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett visited the site earlier this week. Liam slept throughout the 30-minute visit, Castro said, and his father reported that he was “depressed and sad”.

Biery’s ruling on Saturday included a photo of the boy, as well as several Bible quotes: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’,” and “Jesus wept”.

The episode, Biery wrote, made apparent “the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence”. Biery drew a comparison between Trump’s administration and the wrongdoings that then-author, future President Thomas Jefferson, mounted against England’s King George, including sending “Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and creating “domestic Insurrection”.

There was no immediate comment from the Department of Justice and DHS.

The Law Firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, said in a statement that the pair will soon be able to reunite with the rest of their family.

“We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal,” the statement said.

Minnesota officials have been calling on the Trump administration to end its immigration ‍crackdown in the state. But a federal judge on Saturday denied a request from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other officials to issue a preliminary injunction that would have halted the federal operation.

Trump, meanwhile, has ordered DHS to, “under no circumstances”, get involved with protests in Democratic-led cities unless they ask for federal help, or federal property is threatened.

BOMBSHELL unheard audio of Michael Jackson sharing his deepest “intimate” thoughts on children will be revealed in a new documentary.

In the chilling voice recordings, the music legend can be heard discussing his deep-seated feelings on his infatuation with kids.

During one alarming moment Jackson even admitted that if he could not be close to children he would take his own life, according to the New York Post.

“If you told me right now . . . Michael, you could never see another child…I would kill myself,” he reportedly said.

“Children want to just touch me and hug me.

“Kids end up falling in love with my personality. Sometimes it gets me into trouble.”

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The unsettling recordings alongside a number of never-before-seen tapes have been secured for a four-part Channel 4 series called The Trial.

Set to premiere on February 4, the docuseries details new revelations from the pop icon’s 2005 child molestation trial.

Shedding new light on Jackson’s relationship with child cancer survivor Gavin Arvizo, who later accused him of sexual abuse, unseen footage shows their pair going on picnics alone together.

Gavin accused him of sexual molestation in 2005, saying Jackson showed him pornography and gave him alcohol.

The star – who admitted to sharing his bed with kids – was cleared of all 14 charges, including four counts of molesting a child, four counts of getting a child drunk so that he could molest him, and of secretly conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive at his California ranch, Neverland.

He was also charged with supplying alcohol to the boy, now 15.

The New York Post spoke to an insider who had heard the recordings.

“There is something extremely unusual and eerie about Michael Jackson’s infatuation with children – especially those who are not his own,” they said.

“To hear his voice discuss children in this manner, given he had been accused on molestation, raises many questions about his mental health, mindset and sadly, intentions.

“This is Michael at his most open giving us an insight into how he was in love with children . . . infatuated with wanting to be around them,” they added.

Continuing on, the insider said Jackson saw “nothing wrong with bringing kids to his home and his bed without parental supervision”.

“[He justified] those actions by saying he is a just a friend looking to help,” they said.

“He even went further — expressing how most of the spoiled children fell in love with him.

“These are very uneasy phrases and language to hear from a single man in his 40s.”

The insider said the footage also showed how Jackson cared for Gavin throughout his cancer battle.

“Many doctors felt that his diagnosis was terminal, but Michael never gave up hope,” they said.

“Michael described how he told Gavin he looked like an angel to him. The way that these could have been interpreted are fascinating.”

Executive producer Tom Anstiss said: “The unheard audio tapes of Michael Jackson offer a rare and privileged window into Michael’s psyche and his soul”.

He said The Trial would “deliver a new understanding of who Michael Jackson really was, what he thought and the seismic moments that shaped his life”.

“The tapes are emotionally raw and very real,” he said.

“At points, you can hear Michael is close to tears.”

Jackson’s former public relations advisor appears in the show, revealing that he “absolutely” believed the allegations against the popstar, according to the Telegraph.

“I believe there was a cover-up for so many years,” he said. 

Jackson’s estate still vehemently denies all child molestation accusations against him.

He had three children of his own, Prince, Bigi (formerly Blanket) and Paris.

The trio have described him as “the best father you could ever imagine”, according to People.

Jackson died of an overdose on a prescription anaesthetic four years after the trial concluded.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — Danish military veterans and others staged a protest march against U.S. President Donald Trump‘s recent comments regarding NATO members and Greenland.

Trump criticized the amount of support the United States received from NATO allies during recent conflicts, and many veterans and others in Denmark took to the streets on Saturday to show their displeasure.

One protester, Danish Lance Cpl. Soren Teigen, said only the president is responsible for the comments.

“I don’t blame American soldiers in any way — we’ve fought side by side, and we still do,” Teigen told The New York Times. “But when the president says something like this, of course it hurts.”

Trump earlier accused NATO allies of shying away from fighting after sending their troops to Afghanistan but allegedly keeping them away from the front lines.

Officials with Danish Veterans & Veteran Support took exception to the president’s comments.

“Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA, and we have shown up in the world’s crisis zones when the USA has asked us to,” the group said in a prepared statement.

“We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark’s combat side by side with the USA,” it added.

Many veterans and other Danes also are unhappy with the president’s efforts to annex or otherwise control Greenland.

Hundreds of Danish military veterans on Saturday quietly marched to outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, where some placed 44 small Danish flags in planters located nearby.

The flags are to commemorate the 44 Danish military personnel who died in Afghanistan.

U.S. Embassy staff members were unaware of the flags’ meaning and initially removed them, which further upset many Danes.

Upon learning what the flags represented, the embassy staff left alone any that remained or were replaced.

SYDNEY Sweeney has told how her first bra inspired her new lingerie range.

The Housemaid actress, 28, revealed she was a 32DD at 12.

She told Cosmopolitan: “I remember going to the store to get my first wire bra.

“It was silk and the only bra I felt good in.

“I literally wore it to the point that it had holes in it.”

Her new SYRN range include bras up to size 42DDD.

Sydney said she still had her first bra, adding: “It has stood by my side my entire life.

“I want to make bras that stay with women.”

Sydney last week unveiled her SYRN range with a raunchy campaign.

Sweeney is said to be currently dating US music executive Scooter Braun, 44.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials must release Adrian Arias and his 5-year-old son, Liam, from detention, a federal district court judge ruled on Saturday.

U.S. District Court of Western Texas Judge Fred Biery Jr. on Saturday granted a writ of habeas corpus petition naming the father and son.

Biery likened his strongly worded ruling to placing a “judicial finger in the constitutional dike.”

The petitioners “seek nothing more than some modicum of due process and the rule of law,” Biery wrote.

“The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently, even if it requires traumatizing children,” he said.

“This court and others regularly send undocumented people to prison and orders them deported but do so by proper legal procedures,” Biery added.

He accused the federal officers of violating the Fourth Amendment via an unlawful search-and-seizure and said only judicial warrants enable them to arrest or detain people when there is no probable cause to do so.

“Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster,” he said.

“That is called the fox guarding the henhouse,” Biery said. “The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer.”

He ordered the federal government to release both from custody no later than Tuesday.

Former President Bill Clinton appointed Biery to the federal bench in 1993.

Federal officers arrested Adrian Arias and detained Liam while enforcing an administrative warrant for the father on Jan. 20 in the Greater Minneapolis area.

The two were transferred to a detention center in Texas, while awaiting deportation.

Liam’s mother, Erika Ramos, told media that she watched from a window as ICE officers detained her son and partner.

She said they led her son to the door and knocked while her son asked her to open the door, but she wouldn’t because she feared she would be arrested.

“When I didn’t open the door, they took Liam to the ICE van,” Ramos said, adding that she thought the officers were using her son as “bait.”

Ramos said she is pregnant and has another child, whom she feared leaving alone if she had opened the door and was arrested.

Homeland Security officials on Jan. 22 said the ICE officers wanted Ramos to open the door so that they could leave her son with her.

“Our officers made multiple attempts to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her that they would NOT take her into custody.

“She refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”

They said the officers’ primary concern was the child’s safety and welfare and that the father is from Ecuador and subject to deportation.

It was early in the morning, and Yakubu Buba stood in front of his house in Gamboru, northeastern Nigeria, looking towards the horizon. He was not waiting for a vehicle. He was waiting for cattle.

From across the Cameroon border, they came in low, patient herds, hooves lifting dust into the air. Yakubu breathed in deeply and smiled.  He enjoys the smell of fresh animal droppings, he says. “It replenishes the soul.”

The herds come daily. “About ten of them,” the 57-year-old estimates. “They are guided into Kasuwan Shanu, where they are loaded onto trucks bound for Maiduguri.”

That same morning, he, too, was headed to Maiduguri. A bean merchant since he was 17, Yakubu began travelling the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road in 1986, importing beans from Cameroon and selling them onward to traders at the Muna Market who supplied to markets across Nigeria.

Gamboru sits on the Nigerian-Cameroon border in the northeast. A few kilometres away is Ngala, which links Nigeria and Chad. Through these borders, traders export processed goods like flour into Cameroon and Chad, Yakubu says. And when crossing back, they would import beans, sesame, and groundnuts. Animals, in whole or in parts, like hides, are the most imported from these countries, he says.

At the Muna Motor Park in Maiduguri, where I met Yakubu, this pattern was once predictable. Vehicles arrived full and left fuller. Mustapha Hauwami, a 47-year-old driver who began plying the route in 1980, remembers when the park felt like a tide. “We transport traders and passengers to Gamboru and Dikwa daily,” he says. “Most of those coming from Gamboru are Chadian traders.” He drove twice a day, sometimes more.

The pattern got interrupted, slowly. Conflict came, and fear crept in. “It became too risky to travel,” Mustapha says. Checkpoints began to pop up, and movement became impossible without military escorts. “There are at least 20 checkpoints on the road,” Mustapha says. “Importing goods became difficult,” Yakubu adds.

Movements became restricted

The effects were uneven. While Maiduguri’s economy tightened under restricted access, border towns like Gamboru adapted in unexpected ways. Cut off from Maiduguri at the height of the Boko Haram conflict, traders there turned outward. “We relied entirely on Chad and Cameroon,” Yakubu recalls.

Over time, goods from Maiduguri began arriving again, but now as just one stream among many. “They became cheaper in Gamboru,” he said. “Goods were coming from both Maiduguri and the neighbouring countries.”

The movement did not stop. It rerouted. The road’s restriction reshaped the advantage, redistributing it. What Maiduguri lost in centrality, border towns gained in flexibility.

Elsewhere, the pattern repeated with variations. On the Maiduguri-Bama-Gwoza road, Muhammad Haruna remembers when nights were just nights. He began driving in 1981, commuting passengers to Bama, Gwoza, Pulka, Yola, and Mubi. “Driving to Bama took at least 40 minutes,” he recalls. “For Banki, Gwoza, and Kirawa, it was one hour and 30 minutes.” There were few checkpoints, he says. And these existed because of criminals. “And travelling to Mubi was three hours, while Yola was not more than five hours.” The roads were free, even at night. “On market days, as many as 200 fully loaded Gulf cars carried traders into these towns,” says Bamai Mustapha, Chairman of the Bama Park National Union of Road Transport Workers.

Here, too, the Boko Haram conflict affected the flow. Most of the roads became inaccessible, forcing drivers to take a long route passing through the forest into Dikwa, before reaching Bama, until it became totally impossible to travel. “After escaping abduction in 2015, I stopped driving,” Muhammad says. “I sold the car and went into trading.”

Some traders shifted focus to Yola, Muhammad says. They would import from Cameroon into Yola instead. “Others import to Jalingo.”

When calm slowly returned, the routes reopened, but with limited access. “In some of the towns, curfew starts early,” says Muhammad. “They close Bama and Konduga by 5 p.m.” “If you leave Maiduguri by 2 p.m. with Gwoza passengers, you must spend the night in Bama.”

Still, it is not totally safe. “There was a time we got stuck for about a week in Konduga, while going to Gwoza, waiting for military escorts,” Muhammad recalls.

There have been recurring attacks and abductions on these routes for about a decade. The Boko Haram terror group has turned to the kidnapping economy as one of its revenue windows. “The most dangerous route is between Gwoza and Limankara,” Muhammad reveals. “The terrorists would plant mines on the roads. You cannot follow the route without a military escort.”

Despite that, they must travel the route. “It leads into Cameroon. We often transport traders and goods imported from Cameroon through Banki, Kirawa, and Pulka into Maiduguri.” At least seven trucks filled with grains enter Maiduguri from Pulka daily, he says. “It used to be around 30.” “This is the same for Gwoza, Madagali, and other towns.” 

The goods coming in, especially grains and animals, are transported onwards to Lagos in southwestern Nigeria and other cities, Bamai says. “They pass the Maiduguri-Damaturu road.”

The fish stopped coming

The story is the same on the Maiduguri-Baga-Monguno road. This is the backbone of Maiduguri’s fish trade. Audu Gambo began plying this route in 1990, transporting passengers, including traders and farmers, to Baga daily. “Driving to Baga used to take only two hours and 30 minutes,” the 54-year-old recalls. “There were few customs and immigration checkpoints, and the roads were good,” he adds. This enabled him to make a full trip twice, he says, until the conflict interrupted this frequency.

“Travelling has become difficult and restricted,” Audu says. “The entrance to Baga closes at 2 p.m.” So, they must leave Maiduguri as early as 8 a.m. “There are at least 30 checkpoints before reaching Baga,” he says. “Most of the drivers here are from Baga. Those of us from Maiduguri rarely travel the route.”

This affected the city’s source of protein. “I stopped going to Baga in 2017,” Abubakar Mustapha, a fish trader, recalls. It was 10 a.m. when I met him at his stall at the Baga Road Fish Market. “If it were before [the insurgency], we would have finished trading by this time,” he says. The influx of fish into the market has reduced. “They were cheaper and in abundance in the past. We used to offload at least five trucks of fish daily in the market.”

When the insurgency peaked, Abubakar recalls, it became one truck in days, until it became too risky to travel. The road became totally inaccessible.

Then the focus shifted to neighbouring countries. “We began importing from Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,” Abubakar recalls. “Fish from Cameroon and Chad are imported through the Maiduguri-Gamboru road. Those from Niger are brought in through Geidam in Yobe State,” and are transported through the Maiduguri-Damaturu road. “At least four trucks from these countries are offloaded daily,” he estimates. However, transporting to Maiduguri became costly. “Each cartoon costs 4,000 to import,” he says. So, traders relocated to Hadejia and Yola. “More than 50 per cent left.”

In the past two years, however, there has been cautious improvement. The market’s population has increased as previously closed roads are now accessible, Abubakar says. “Some traders have returned and they can now directly import from Baga and Monguno. Yesterday, we offloaded four vans. And the day before, it was three. It doesn’t go below or beyond this number.”

Yet, consignments from neighbouring countries make up the majority. “Fishers cannot freely access the water from the shores of Baga and Monguno,” he says. The shore there is one of the strongholds of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terror group. To fish in the water, fishers must pay.

That afternoon, Yakubu Buba boarded a vehicle at the Muna Park back to Gamboru. His beans had been delivered. He has learned to accept delays as the new rules of the road. Still, he remembers it used to be free.

Demond Wilson, who was best known for playing Lamont Sanford, the son of Redd Foxx’s character on the 1970s TV show “Sanford and Son,” died in his sleep at his home in the Coachella Valley on Jan. 30. He was 79.

Wilson’s publicist, Mark Goldman, confirmed that he died from complications related to cancer.

“Demond was surrounded by love throughout his final days,” Goldman said in a statement. “A devoted father, actor, author, and minister, Demond lived a life rooted in faith, service, and compassion. Through his work on screen, his writing, and his ministry, he sought to uplift others and leave a meaningful impact on the communities he served.”

Demond Wilson attends the 2016 Chiller Theater Expo at the Parsippany Hilton in New Jersey on April 22, 2016.

(Bobby Bank / WireImage)

Grady Demond Wilson was born in Valdosta, Ga., on Oct. 13, 1946, and grew up in New York City. His mother, Laura, was a dietitian, and his father, Grady Wilson, was a tailor. Wilson learned tap dance and ballet and appeared on Broadway at just 4 years old. After serving in the Army from 1966 to 1968 in Vietnam, where he was wounded, he made his TV debut in 1971, playing a burglar alongside Cleavon Little in Norman Lear’s sitcom “All in the Family.” That role led to his casting in “Sanford and Son” in 1972, which was notable at the time for having a nearly all-Black cast.

Redd Foxx, left, broods next to Demond Wilson about one of the 3,000 pieces used on the “pleasantly junky” set of “Sanford and Son.”

(NBC)

Although “Sanford and Son” was his most famous role, Wilson also appeared in “Baby, I’m Back,” “The New Odd Couple” and “Girlfriends.” His last TV appearance was in “Eleanor’s Bench” in 2023.

Despite his success, Wilson left acting, sold his Bel-Air mansion and Rolls-Royce and became an interdenominational preacher in 1983.

The change was not surprising given his background. “I was raised a Catholic, was an altar boy, and at 14 I seriously considered becoming a priest,” Wilson told The Times in 1986. When he was 12, his appendix ruptured and he nearly died, leading him to promise to serve God as an adult. “I was always aware that God was the guiding force in my life,” he said.

Disillusioned with Hollywood, Wilson moved his wife and children to what he jokingly called a “respectable, Republican, upper-middle-class” neighborhood in Mission Viejo. He wanted his five children at the time to have “normal childhoods.” “We’ve left the rat race and false people behind,” he said.

Wilson was also an author. He published “The New Age Millennium: An Exposé of Symbols, Slogans and Hidden Agendas” in 1998, and his autobiography, “Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years,” in 2009. He also wrote 11 children’s books.

Wilson is survived by his wife, Cicely; his six children, Nicole, Melissa, Christopher, Demond Jr., Tabitha and Sarah; and his two grandchildren, Madison and Isabella.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — A northeasterly storm has created blizzard conditions in the Carolinas and triggered state of emergency declarations in North and South Carolina and Georgia on Saturday.

The intensifying storm system is centered over the Atlantic Ocean and near the Carolinas and Georgia coastline after its central pressure dropped by up to 40 millibars over the past 24 hours.

Hurricane-force wind gusts of between 60 mph and 80 mph are contributing to blizzard conditions along the Outer Banks coastal plains areas, and more than 10,000 flights have been canceled through the weekend.

The Hampton Roads area of Virginia also is getting pummeled with wintry weather from the storm system, and the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 7 p.m. EST on Sunday for the commonwealth’s coastal areas and parts of North Carolina.

The winter storm is delivering the most snow in two decades to areas that rarely see significant amounts of snowfall.

Icy road conditions caused hundreds of collisions as of Saturday afternoon, and wave action from the storm’s strong winds and a high tide is threatening to damage or destroy homes along the coast.

The National Weather Service is forecasting between 5 and 9 inches of snowfall and sustained winds of between 33 and 41 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, along the coastal areas of the Carolinas and into neighboring areas in Virginia and northern Georgia.

The snowfall likely will end during the overnight hours, but northwest winds will remain strong, with sustained wind speeds of between 28 and 33 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph into Sunday afternoon.

Although windy, the clouds are predicted to clear during the afternoon hours.