News Desk

RAPPER Wiz Khalifa filmed himself punching his son in the stomach 13 times in a sick birthday tradition that he shared on Instagram.

In the shocking clip shared to his stories, the 38-year-old lands a series of blows on his son Sebastian who grimaces and tries to grab the wall behind him to brace for the impact.

His father repeatedly tells him to raise his arms above his head for each punch – one for every year of his life.

“We still doin’ birthday licks in this house!” he wrote in a caption with the video.

“Took it like a g tho.”

Just before the second blow, Sebastian can be seen lowering his arms and grabbing the wall behind him before his dad tells him “hands up,” looks directly at the camera and punches him in the stomach before laughing.

WIZ SENTENCE

Rapper Wiz Khalifa jailed for 9 months after lighting up joint on stage

Meanwhile, his son puts his hands on his stomach and grimaces.

“You’ve got to take it like a G, you’re 13 years old,” Khalifa tells him.

“That’s only four, tighten your stomach,” he later told his son who groaned and fell away from the wall on the fourth punch.

He gave his struggling son bizarre and twisted advice, telling him, “every time you get hit, breathe out,” as he continued to hit him.

Wiz, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, shares Sebastian with his ex-wife and model Amber Rose.

The pair celebrated their son’s 13th birthday on Saturday night with a basketball-themed bash packed with friends and family.

“He’s officially a teenager. We are so proud of you and we love you,” his dad said during a speech shared by Amber on her Instagram stories.

More to follow…

At its peak, the BRICS coalition of economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was seen as a serious attempt to move away from the United States dollar and the domination of Western economic institutions like the World Bank, Group of Seven (G7), and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But BRICS members have different political agendas, and new forces are at play, argues economist Jim O’Neill, a member of Britain’s House of Lords.

O’Neill, who coined the term “BRIC” 25 years ago, tells host Steve Clemons that the US’s economic policies may be the driver of its own decline, coupled with the economic rise of China and India.

Uganda Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Mohamed Dagalo’s meeting with President Yoweri Museveni focused on ending war.

Sudan has condemned Uganda for hosting the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, as an “insult” to humanity and the Sudanese people.

In a statement on Sunday, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the reception of Dagalo, also known as “Hemedti”, in the “strongest terms” and his meeting on Friday with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

“This unprecedented step insults humanity before it insults the Sudanese people, and at the same time, it disregards the lives of innocent people killed due to the behaviour of Hemedti and his terrorist militia,” the Foreign Ministry wrote.

Rights groups and international organisations have accused the RSF of war crimes and targeting civilians in Sudan.

Khartoum said hosting Dagalo “disregards” human values.

It “completely disregards the laws governing relations between member states of regional and international organisations that prohibit providing any support for rebel forces against a legitimate, internationally recognised government”, the Foreign Ministry added.

In 2023, Sudan was plunged into a civil war between the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 11.7 million people have been displaced by the conflict and an estimated 150,000 people have been killed.

Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on three RSF commanders over their alleged roles in the 18-month siege and capture of el‑Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan.

In a statement, the US Department of the Treasury accused the RSF of perpetrating “a horrific campaign of ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence” during the siege and capture of el-Fasher, which fell to the RSF in October.

Separately, a UN mission found that the RSF campaign in el-Fasher was a “planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide”.

‘Poisonous’ identity politics

Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its own statement on Dagalo’s visit and said his meeting with Museveni focused on “ending the ongoing conflict in Sudan and restoring regional stability”.

Museveni reiterated in his remarks to Hemedti that peace in Sudan could only be achieved through dialogue and warned against what he described as identity politics.

“When I last came to Sudan, I met [former] President [Omar al-] Bashir and advised against the politics of identity instead of the politics of interest,” Museveni said.

“Identity politics is poisonous. It does not yield good results. What is important are shared interests that unite people,” he said while calling for both parties to prioritise “peace over military confrontation”.

For his part, Dagalo thanked Museveni and said he shares the Ugandan president’s “principles and your commitment to peace”, according to a statement released by the Ugandan government.

“He noted that Sudan continues to face serious humanitarian and institutional challenges as a result of the conflict and stressed the need for a peaceful resolution,” the statement added.

“That’s my pot dealer!” exclaimed Michelle Phillips in a crowded movie theater in 1977. Months earlier, the Mamas & the Papas singer had only known Harrison Ford as a stoner-carpenter with a few bit parts to his credit. Now he was Han Solo in “Star Wars,” directed by a young upstart, George Lucas. Clearly the world was changing.

How much, though? Conventional wisdom about the Hollywood renaissance of the ‘60s and ‘70s suggests that starting with “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Easy Rider,” a batch of emerging auteurs shook the studios out of a rut and transformed American film. There’s plenty of truth to that: Francis Ford Coppola’s shift in 10 years from a director-for-hire on an old-hat musical, “Finian’s Rainbow,” to the auteur behind “Apocalypse Now” is just one of the era’s most remarkable achievements.

A pair of new books, though, suggest that the overall shift was only so modest, ultimately shoring up not just the old-school studio system but the social norms the interlopers were supposed to be upending.

Paul Fischer’s lively history of the new wave of California directors, “The Last Kings of Hollywood,” concentrates on Lucas, Coppola and Steven Spielberg. (New York contemporaries like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma are present but relatively off-screen.) Fischer has a gift for highlighting the ways that moments that we now accept as inevitable were often the product of dumb luck, pyrrhic victories and tough decisions. Coppola made “The Godfather” out of financial desperation, averse to adapting a mob novel; Spielberg’s “Jaws” was beset with mishaps, from a foolhardy attempt to train a real shark to its malfunctioning mechanical one; only when Lucas learned that the rights to Flash Gordon were unavailable did he pursue a space-opera concept all his own.

Their brashness and can-do spirit were worth cheering for: As the trio delivered films that broke box office records — ”The Godfather,” “American Graffiti,” “Jaws” and more — there were reasons to believe that big-budget films could operate outside the studio system. Lucas in particular was driven as much by resentment of the old as passion for the new. He never forgot how Warner Bros. manhandled his debut feature, “THX 1138” and was driven to muscle “Graffiti” into existence to spite the suits who said he couldn’t. In 1969, Coppola and Lucas launched their own studio, American Zoetrope, in San Francisco, with a passel of scripts in progress (including “Apocalypse Now” and “The Conversation”) and a $300,000 investment from Warner Bros. But Coppola wasn’t much of a businessman, and he had an easier time putting the office’s fancy espresso machine to work than the suite of state-of-the-art editing bays: “He ran his business like he ran a film set — on vibes,” Fischer writes.

A decade later, both Coppola and Zoetrope would declare bankruptcy, and he would split with Lucas, who’d used the success of “Star Wars” to cut his own path as a Hollywood kingmaker via his own production company, Lucasfilm. It allowed him to indulge his love of classic cliffhanger serials, and he tapped Spielberg to direct “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But Fischer frames Lucas’ career arc as a disappointment, despite all those dollar figures — Lucas wanted to return to artsier “THX”-style fare, but needed cash flow. “If George was ever going to be independent from Hollywood, he thought he wouldn’t get there by making abstract mood poems,” Fischer writes. By the ‘80s, with two “Star Wars” sequels done, Lucas was out of the mood-poem business entirely.

While “Last Kings” focuses exclusively on directors’ relationship to movie economics, Kirk Ellis’ “They Kill People” considers “Bonnie and Clyde” and the New Hollywood from a variety of angles — filmmaking, the social turmoil of the ‘60s, America’s complex relationship with outlaws in general and guns in particular. It’s a meaty yet accessible book that captures the lightning-in-a-bottle nature of the generation’s ur-text, capturing the unlikely nature of its creation and the somewhat dodgy nature of its legacy.

“Bonnie” was such a provocation — nakedly, almost giddily violent — that its studio, Warner Bros, all but willed it not to exist. It was given a shoestring budget, was mocked by studio chief Jack Warner (who sarcastically referred to director Arthur Penn and producer-star Warren Beatty as “the geniuses”), and initially released largely in Southern drive-ins. “They figured the redneck kids would like the guns,” Penn said.

Everybody liked the guns. A few scolding critics lamented the film’s violence, especially its then-shocking bloody finale, but Beatty and co-star Faye Dunaway were deeply seductive onscreen. (Ellis notes that the two are always the best-dressed characters in the film.) And its outlaw sensibility resonated with young audiences in the late‘60s. Moreover, writes Ellis (a historical-drama screenwriter best known for “John Adams”), it represented the culmination of decades of American culture that equated American gun culture with freedom — a notion that would’ve baffled the founding fathers, who dwelled little on gun-rights matters in the Federalist Papers and other constitutional drafting documents, but gained traction thanks to gun manufacturers. “In the printed legend of American history, guns and freedom have become synonymous,” Ellis writes, but it was a new legend — stoked in part by “Bonnie and Clyde” — not America’s origin story.

It’d be a mistake to reduce the New Hollywood to the filmmakers highlighted by these two books — though, focused as they are on white men, they echo the way women and people of color were largely shut out of the system, or relegated to more marginal blaxploitation work. Artists looking to operate outside the system have plenty of inspiration to draw from in the ‘70s. Yet the books also expose how commerce does what it always does — take provocations and sand the edges off of them, then look for ways to make them profitable. In the early ‘80s, a decade after Coppola and company stormed the barricades, Paramount chief Michael Eisner shared a fresh and contradictory vision, such as it was: “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.”

It would take another decade — and auteurs on the East Coast — to launch another attack on that sensibility, via films like “Do the Right Thing” and “sex, lies, and videotape.” They would help usher in the Miramax era — but that’s another story, with its own problematic twists.

Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of “The New Midwest.”

Hundreds of far-right anti-Islam marched through Manchester on Saturday, demanding mass deportations of migrants and Muslims from the UK. Al Jazeera’s Nils Adler spoke to protesters and counter-protesters at the rally.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

The incident in Florida took place on Sunday when US President Donald Trump was in Washington, DC.

The United States Secret Service ⁠says its agents have shot and killed a man who attempted to break into a secure perimeter at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The man, in his 20s, appeared to be armed with a shotgun and fuel can, according to the Secret Service’s communications chief Anthony Guglielmi. He was shot at about 1:30am Sunday morning (06:30 GMT).

Trump was in Washington, DC, not Mar-a-Lago, when the incident took place. No other individuals under Secret Service protection were present, said the agency.

Guglielmi said Secret Service agents and a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confronted the armed individual, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, after he approached Mar-a-Lago’s north gate. The individual was pronounced dead after being shot by law enforcement officials.

“The incident, including the individual’s background, actions, potential motive and the use of force, is under investigation by the FBI, the US Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office,” said Guglielmi.

This is a breaking news story…

The cast of “Scrubs” knows that the show’s creator, Bill Lawrence, has a habit of building communities with his series, which include “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” But the “Scrubs” crew knows they are the closest.

“Since I work on all those shows, I can say that we’re the tightest-knit group,” says Zach Braff on a video call with his fellow fake doctors Sarah Chalke and Donald Faison. “We vacation together.”

Lawrence, just a day later, has to concede that Braff has a point. “It’s annoying because I have to admit that they are right,” he says. “We’ve stayed the tightest because we all still spend way too much time together.”

And now the gang is back together for a new, nine-episode season of the beloved series premiering Feb. 25 on ABC, and the next day on Hulu. When “Scrubs” debuted in 2001, narrator J.D. (Braff), his best friend Turk (Faison) and on-again, off-again love interest Elliot (Chalke) were interns at Sacred Heart Hospital. Now, J.D. is a concierge doctor, while Turk and Elliot have advanced to leadership positions at Sacred Heart. There’s a new batch of interns, a new cheery hospital representative (Vanessa Bayer) whose job involves making sure no one gets offended, and a new doctor (Joel Kim Booster) who is not too fond of J.D. But there are also other familiar faces including John C. McGinley as J.D.’s begrudging mentor Dr. Cox and Judy Reyes as nurse Carla, who also happens to be Turk’s wife.

“Scrubs” then and now: Sarah Chalke, Zach Braff and Donald Faison in the original series, left, and in the ABC revival. (Chris Haston/NBC) (Brian Bowen Smith/Disney)

In the Season 8 finale — before the show reset with a medical school setting — J.D., always prone to elaborate fantasy sequences, sees a vision of how his life is going to turn out. His reality doesn’t exactly resemble that.

“We say midlife crisis or whatever, but it’s a time of questioning, a time where you take stock of your life,” says showrunner Aseem Batra. “That’s really a cool time to catch up with our characters because when we saw them last, they were in their quarter life.”

Batra herself has followed a similar path to the characters. After working as an assistant at ABC, her first writing gig was on “Scrubs.” Now she’s in a position of authority. “Truly, it was the best job I had and it was my first job and I’m doing it again out of pure love,” she says. (Longtime “Scrubs” writer Tim Hobert was originally announced as co-showrunner but departed the project.)

Lawrence, who serves as executive producer on the new incarnation, can also see a parallel between his path and that of his fictional creations. “I’m only good at writing about stuff that’s at least tangentially part of my life and the idea that of those young goofballs who are the students now being the teachers, it’s very much part of my life right now,” he says.

“Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence has handed the reins to Aseem Batra, who is the showrunner of the revival. “Truly, it was the best job I had and it was my first job and I’m doing it again out of pure love,” she says.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Still, Lawrence says the reason the revival of the show was able to work is because of the closeness of the original cast. Faison and Braff are still constantly collaborating whether that’s on a podcast or commercials, and even though she’s decamped from Los Angeles to Canada, Chalke makes a point to keep in touch. On a boisterous Zoom call, we spoke about returning to their beloved characters.

What were your reactions coming back to this world?

Donald Faison: Please. Please. Revive it. Do me that solid and revive it.

Sarah Chalke: I manifested it. A couple years ago, I was like, “Oh, I miss ‘Scrubs.’ I want to do a comedy like ‘Scrubs’ that shoots in Vancouver, and then it all happened.”

Zach Braff: To be honest, I was very surprised when it actually started happening that ABC was going to put it in prime time. I thought it might be something on Hulu. That felt like a giant audience with Hulu the next day and a really big scale and really a belief in the project. That was really exciting.

Why do you think the show’s legacy is so strong that there is that belief?

Braff: I think that it’s Bill’s unique mix of comedy and pathos and emotion and fantasy. It’s such a unique recipe. But in execution, as he did with the first pilot, it was undeniable. It was so groundbreaking at the time. No one had done that in the network space. It was also at a time when there was no streaming. So, the show was on at 9:30 and Bill was trying to push what you could still do on network [television]. That’s why it was a more risqué version of what we’re doing now. I think now the goal was — well, there’s streaming for that. What’s a show that we can have on at 8 that pairs with “Abbott Elementary” that parents can watch with their kids? Maybe some jokes will fly over the kids’ heads, but it’s not trying to compete with what people are doing on streaming.

What do you remember about getting cast? You were all in your 20s.

Faison: I was the oldest one. Still the oldest one. I remember how big of a deal it was. This was the pilot of the season. I remember everybody and their mama was talking about how great the script was and how they wanted to be on the show. I remember my agent telling me, “This is a big one. The creator of the show really likes you. Let’s see what you can do.”

Chalke: I didn’t know this until two days ago. Our casting director came up to set to visit, and she said I was the first person to audition on the first morning of casting. In the character description, it said she moves and talks at a faster pace than normal humans. And in every single job, I’ve been told, “Slow down.” It felt like the luckiest thing; I’ll never forget when Bill called me and said that I got it and I truly couldn’t believe it. And the experience far exceeded any expectation I could have had about what it was going to be.

When I think back on it, what I remember is what that felt like to be at work every day, genuinely laughing so hard to the point where it would get late at night and there was one sound that Zach and Donald could make that would make me laugh.

Sarah Chalke on being cast in “Scrubs”: “I’ll never forget when Bill called me and said that I got it and I truly couldn’t believe it. And the experience far exceeded any expectation I could have had about what it was going to be.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

What was the sound?

Faison: It’s almost like a fart.

Braff: No, it’s not a fart.

Faison: I’m not trying to make a fart joke. But do you know how when you fart, it always sounds like a question mark. So, that’s the sound.

Braff: Esther, do not use this, please. It’s a high-pitched noise like this [does noise]. We would do it quietly enough that no one would hear we were doing it. And then she would break down laughing and ruin the take and we’d be like, “Sarah, what are you doing? It’s late. We want to go home.”

Zach, what were your initial thoughts about the project?

Braff: I was waiting tables at a French-Vietnamese restaurant called Le Colonial at Beverly and Robertson [in L.A.]. And I had to wear a tunic, which I put into “Garden State.” I’d been auditioning for so many things and not really getting much traction in the sitcom space, but I read this and I thought it was so funny. I was like, “Oh, I think I could really sell this because I find it so funny.”

How did you know the chemistry between the three of you was going to work?

Braff: When we were shooting the pilot, I was just like, “Wow. I really love these people.” I was obsessed with Sarah. I thought Donald was the funniest person I’d ever met. And then Bill was legitimately the funniest person I’ve ever met. I just felt in really good hands.

Chalke: We were all so excited to be there and we’d just hang out and watch the other scenes that we weren’t in. And I remember just being by the monitor, watching everybody else work and just being so blown away.

Braff: We would hang out after we were wrapped, which Sarah still does occasionally. This time Donald came early because there’s this really weird coffee robot in the production office that Donald seems to think is amazing coffee. So, I caught him a few times coming in early for the coffee robot.

Faison: That’s not why I came in early. I was notoriously late and unprepared the first go of “Scrubs.” I heard Tom Hanks talking about how he was a young actor and a very established actor kept forgetting their lines. And the director finally goes, “Ah, come on, come on guys. Three things. Show up early, know the text, have an idea. Let’s take 10,” and walks away. And Tom Hanks goes, “Oh, if that’s what it takes, I can do that s—.” So, I took that to heart and this is the second opportunity.

Braff: I thought it was the coffee robot.

Zach Braff on his co-stars: “When we were shooting the pilot, I was just like, ‘Wow. I really love these people.’ I was obsessed with Sarah. I thought Donald was the funniest person I’d ever met.” (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

But Sarah would hang out after you wrapped?

Chalke: We are all executive producers on this. Zach is producing and directing and editing and writing and doing all of the things, and that’s been really neat to watch. I legitimately do want to learn. Obviously, there’s a balance of that with also going back into work full-time and having two kids.

Braff: Sarah gave me this whole speech at the top of the show. She’s like, “Hey, I really do want to learn this stuff. I want to sit by your director’s chair. I want to ask you questions. I want to learn to genuinely [executive produce], genuinely direct.” And I was like, “Great.” The first week I was like, “All right. Sarah, we’re going on a big tech scout. It’s probably going to be about…”

Chalke: “In a van for seven hours.”

Braff: I go, “You’re going to learn more on the tech scout than you could in film school.” And she’s like, “No, I won’t be able to do that.” And then by the end of the nine episodes, Sarah was like, “I think my EP thing is morale.”

Faison: I want to piggyback on something Sarah said though. Zach has done a lot, these nine episodes. For this revival, he’s done so much and has worked so hard on this. And that’s made us all feel very safe and secure also because we know we have the No. 1 guy on the call sheet who cares about the show completely putting in 100% to make sure that we’re coming out the gate with something very, very, very, very strong and undeniable for the fans.

What were your conversations about where your characters would be after all these years?

Braff: One of the big conversations we had was we wanted to reground the show because the show got really broad over the years and we wanted to dial it back and go back to where we started, where it exists in a real place. We have the luxury of the fantasies where we can be super silly. And obviously, we dip our toe over the line sometimes and stuff is a little broad. But for the most part, the new show is back to Season 1 and grounded again.

As we all know, especially when you reach 50 years old, a lot of things in life don’t turn out the way you hope they would. And that’s why we opened the show with J.D. living this fantasy that he is this heroic trauma ER guy when in fact he’s fixing toes in the suburbs. Also, I think with regard to me and Donald, [Lawrence] said, “I want them to be silly as those two guys are in real life, but … when they drop in and they’re teachers, they’re really good teachers.”

Donald Faison on returning for the revival: “When we did the table read, I laughed so hard when the first voice-over kicked in, when Zach read the voice-over.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Was it easy to fall back into your rhythms?

Faison: When we did the table read, I laughed so hard when the first voice-over kicked in, when Zach read the voice-over.

Braff: The whole room did. It was really funny because no one had heard me do that voice in 20 years.

Chalke: One of the coolest things that helped with the show was Bill would just write to everybody’s strengths or write to their quirks or write to their personalities and weave it in. That happened this season, but it happened all through the first eight years. And so, to a certain extent, the lines blurred sometimes between ourselves and our characters. So, stepping back into them, there’s a reason why it felt so comfortable.

Braff: Sarah is a fast-talking klutz.

Chalke: I am. We met all the interns and Zach said, “So, guys, Chalke’s going to come in every day and something’s going to be broken. Every day there’s going to be a story.” And then I proceeded the very next day, which was the day before filming, to fall and break my finger. So, I did have to come in on the first day and say, “So, I broke my finger.”

How did you break your finger?

Braff: Walking.

Chalke: It’s part of who I am, but it’s also part of who Elliot is.

Braff: I think if we put in the show how really klutzy you are, people would think it’s too much.

Was there anything you were nostalgic for that wasn’t in the new incarnation?

Chalke: Sam Lloyd.

Braff: Sam Lloyd who played the lawyer was such a big part of the show and not only a fan favorite, but our favorite. He was just the funniest, nicest man. And Bill calls people like Sam Lloyd “comedy assassins.” They come in and they have one line and you’re laughing. And he was one of the greats.

Faison: It’s not the same “Scrubs.” And I kind of miss a little bit of that. There are so many new stories to tell. And you get nostalgic when you see the stuff that we’re doing in it, but I do sometimes miss some of the stories that we told in the past. It’s like capturing lightning in the bottle again, and I feel like we did it. I really do hope we have that opportunity again. I really do hope that this isn’t just nine. But it’s important for the audience to know that we’re definitely older. That’s just real talk. I’m not a 26-year-old man anymore. I’m 50.

Feb. 20 (Asia Today) — Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has approved a draft proposal calling for a significant expansion of lethal weapons exports, including scrapping existing limits that restrict overseas transfers to non-combat equipment.

The draft, endorsed Wednesday by the party’s Security Affairs Committee, seeks to revise operational guidelines under Japan’s Three Principles on Defense Equipment Transfer.

At the center of the proposal is the abolition of the so-called “five categories” rule, which currently limits arms exports to non-combat purposes such as rescue, transport, surveillance and mine clearance.

Under the draft, exports of weapons with lethal capability would in principle be permitted.

Kojiro Onodera, head of the committee, told reporters after the meeting that Japan’s security environment is “growing increasingly severe” and said expanding defense exports is necessary to strengthen coordination with allies and like-minded countries.

The party plans to finalize its recommendations next week and submit them to the government in early March.

Exports would be limited to countries that have signed defense equipment and technology transfer agreements with Japan. Media reports have cited between 10 and 17 partner countries, including the United States and Australia.

Decisions on lethal weapons exports would be subject to review by the prime minister and relevant Cabinet ministers at the National Security Council. Non-lethal items such as body armor and helmets would be handled at the working level within the government, with possible post-reporting to the Diet rather than requiring formal Cabinet approval in each case.

The draft also calls for allowing finished products developed through international joint programs to be exported to third countries beyond the original partner nations. Current rules restrict such transfers largely to the next-generation fighter program jointly pursued by Japan, Britain and Italy.

Another sensitive issue is exports to countries involved in armed conflict. The existing principles prohibit transfers to parties engaged in conflict, allowing only limited non-lethal support to countries such as Ukraine.

The draft would maintain a general ban on exports to countries actively engaged in combat but allow exceptions in “special circumstances” when Japan’s security interests are at stake.

Japanese media outlets including Asahi, Mainichi and Sankei described the move as accelerating Japan’s shift toward a more active defense export policy.

The push reflects efforts to revitalize Japan’s defense industry and deepen security ties with partner nations. Critics, however, have raised concerns that easing restrictions could weaken parliamentary oversight and increase the risk of arms proliferation.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260220010005980

Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the game as Spurs host Arsenal for a crucial North London derby.

KELLY Osbourne has penned an emotional message about grief seven months after her father Ozzy’s passing.

The Black Sabbath singer died aged 76 at home with wife Sharon, 73, and his kids by his side, back in July.

Ozzy passed away weeks after he took to the stage one final time with his bandmates at Villa Park in Birmingham.

Kelly, 41, has been candid in opening up on the difficulties of processing her tragic loss.

She previously told how she slept in her late father’s bed along with her mum Sharon as they dealt with their grief.

The mum and daughter duo also broke down in tears this month at a Grammys tribute to Ozzy.

ALWAYS REMEMBERED

Sharon & Kelly Osbourne left in tears after Grammys tribute to Ozzy

‘RIP DEAR FRIEND’

Finding Prince Charming contestant dies as Kelly Osbourne leads tributes

Now Reality TV star Kelly has taken to her Instagram post for a lengthy message pouring out her feelings.

She wrote in white text on a black background: “Some grief doesn’t end. It changes shape.

“It becomes the quiet weight you learn to carry, the ache woven into your days.

“Making it through doesn’t mean leaving it behind.

“It means finding the strength to live and love and keep going even with forever resting in your heart.

“When grief feels endless and disastrous, like it’s unmaking you from the inside out, surviving isn’t about conquering it.

“It’s about enduring it.

“It’s about standing in the wreckage of our own heart and whispering, ‘I am still here,’ even when every part of you feels shattered and like you don’t want to be here!”

Ozzy died at home in his stunning mansion in Welders, Buckinghamshire “surrounded by love”.

Sharon, his wife of 43 years and mum to their children Aimee, Jack and Kelly, was by his side.

A statement from his family said at the time: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.

“He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.

“Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis.”

Ozzy became known as the “Prince of Darkness” in his six-decade career thanks to his on-stage antics that attracted a legion of heavy rock fans.

He last graced the stage this July when he reunited with his bandmates Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward and played a five-song set in a farewell to music.

The gig was touted as “the greatest heavy metal show ever,” with Ozzy grinning to chanting fans as he thanked them for all they had done for him.

Over the weekend, we told how removal boxes have been seen outside Sharon’s £13million LA mansion as she downsizes following her spouse’s passing.

Twelve Palestine Action activists, including hunger strikers, who were charged with breaking into the British site of an Israeli-linked defence firm, reunited with their families outside London’s Central Criminal Court after they were granted bail on Friday.

Former Death in Paradise star Ardal O’Hanlon has opened up about his time on the BBC crime drama

Ardal O’Hanlon has revealed how much he misses former co-star Don Warrington since his departure from Death in Paradise.

The comedian and actor, who portrayed DI Jack Mooney in the popular BBC crime drama, exited the show in 2020 after a three-year stint, reports the Express.

During an appearance on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday (February 22), he reflected on his time on the series after Alan asked whether it had been “emotional” to leave the island and long-time co-star Don, who portrays Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

“He’s just brilliant, he’s brilliant,” Ardal enthused. “I miss him more than anything, actually. I loved Don and we’re still very good friends, but yeah that was kind of a bromance actually.”

He continued: “It always starts off the new detective and you know very, very wary around the inspector but eventually the inspector softens by the end.”

Although the programme is set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie, most of the filming takes place in Guadeloupe.

The star said he did “love it” but also acknowledged it was “a commitment”, as it involved being away for months of the year for filming.

“I’m kind of in one way glad I don’t have to do it now because it’s like, it’s gruelling, but I look back at it very fondly,” he shared. “It was just a great adventure apart from anything else, as well as being like a, you know, a challenging acting job.”

He also shared how he enjoyed having a variety of different actors join the cast every few weeks.

“All these great great people… these people I adored,” he said. “And then you’d also get the hot shots, the up-and-coming people who have gone on to Hollywood now. We got them raw.”

Ardal, who is also known for his portrayal of Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted, went on: “Because you take great pride in the island, because I’ve been there for a few years and you get to love it and you can’t wait to show it off to them.

“So on the rare days off you’d bring them to some waterfall that only you know about or some boiling hot part of the sea like, right where the volcano heats the water, you know, that side of it I really, really loved.”

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Death in Paradise broadcasts on the BBC and Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh is on ITV.

On February 16, a group of Palestinian footballers, clubs and advocacy groups referred the heads of FIFA and UEFA to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 120-page filing accuses Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Čeferin of “aiding and abetting war crimes (specifically, the transfer of civilian population into occupied territories) and crimes against humanity (specifically, apartheid)”.

This historic case marks the first time sports leaders are being accused of these crimes and sends a warning to presidents of all other corporate entities in and beyond athletics. It offers a perfect opportunity to challenge the impunity of Israeli apartheid, occupation and genocide.

Football is the world’s most popular form of cultural expression, with some five billion fans across the planet. Therefore, the stakes of this charge are immense in terms of the spectacle of accountability and legal precedent.

In the course of its campaign in Gaza, of genocide generally and “athleticide” particularly, Israel has killed 1,007 Palestinian sportspeople and destroyed 184 sports facilities, while damaging 81 others.

Although this “athleticide” cannot be directly attributed to the Israel Football Association (IFA), its activities linked to clubs from illegal Israeli settlements located on the occupied Palestinian territory and their participation in domestic and international tournaments can be seen as abetting Israeli crimes of occupation and apartheid.

Despite facing demands for the suspension of these clubs or the IFA, UEFA and FIFA leadership have taken no action. In a recent interview, FIFA chief Infantino said he opposed a ban on Israeli teams from participation in global football, calling it “a defeat”. He went on to add that he was in favour of enshrining in FIFA statutes that no country should ever be banned from “playing football because of the acts of their political leaders”.

Ironic, when you consider he is the very person who oversaw the suspension of Russia from FIFA in 2022 and the banning of Crimean clubs from playing in the Russian league, linked to UEFA, after the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.

The complaint is filed against Infantino and Čeferin because private organisations cannot be defendants before the ICC, but those individuals responsible for their policies can be.

The focus of the complaint is the fact that the IFA has been permitted to materially support, recognise, and include in domestic and international competitions clubs that are based in the stolen settlement land of the occupied West Bank.

Article 64(2) of FIFA Statutes prohibits member associations and their clubs from playing on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval.

The complaint alleges that by allowing the IFA to oversee clubs that operate on stolen land, Infantino and Čeferin are accountable for normalising illegal Israeli settlements, in direct contravention of a 2024 pronouncement by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly, which found the settlements to be “unlawful” and required Israel to “cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

The existence of sanctioned Israeli clubs in West Bank settlements, the referral argues, contributes to the transfer of the civilian population into the occupied territory, contrary to the Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(viii), by normalising colonisation.

Likewise, because Israeli clubs in the occupied territory prohibit Palestinians from spectating matches or playing for or managing these teams, the continued sanction of these organisations falls under the definition of aiding and abetting apartheid (a crime against humanity pursuant to Rome Statute Article 7(1)(j).

In continuing to allow the membership of these clubs and the IFA in global and European sport, the filing alleges that Infantino and Čeferin have acted in full knowledge that they have participated in the violation of international law based on the fact that they have deliberately ignored numerous reports and letters advising them to intervene.

Now that the complaint has been formally filed, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC will conduct a preliminary examination to confirm that the elements of jurisdiction, admissibility, and the interests of justice have been satisfied. They will then have the option to either decline to open the investigation or proceed to investigate the legal issues raised in the complaint.

If an investigation does ensue, evidence-gathering will occur and arrest warrants or summonses may ultimately be issued. If that happens, this would set an important precedent and give momentum to the campaign for justice for Palestine.

It is notable that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to dodge an ICC arrest warrant by cowering away from Rome Statute signatory states, it would be impossible for Infantino and Čeferin to do so while still fulfilling their roles, assuming it is enforced.

Football is, without question, one of the most popular sports on the planet. When such a cultural juggernaut is connected to business, what emerges is an industry like no other. FIFA and UEFA are global regulatory monopolies, meaning their rules and regulations act the same way a country’s legislation acts on its population. They also preside over a huge, lucrative industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Given the amount of eyeballs and money at stake, the impact of a ban on participation is enormous, as Russia understands all too well after being subjected to suspension. This is no doubt exactly why the presidents of these organisations have refused to act against Israel under the guise of “political neutrality”.

As former UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Michael Lynk, told us: “When an occupying power is blatantly committing war crimes by creating civilian settlements in occupied territory, the rest of the world – including states, corporations and international sporting organisations – is required to ensure the enforcement of international law by doing everything in their power to bring the violations to a swift end. Yet, FIFA and UEFA are sportswashing the illegal Israeli occupation by allowing the Israeli Football Association to include clubs based in the illegal settlements to participate in their domestic leagues. Nothing could be further from the rules of fairness and equity.”

The bottom line is that sport is and has always been political. The veneer of “political neutrality” conceals the reality that politics is the name of the game for FIFA and UEFA.

Nobody is entitled to stand above international law. It is time for the ICC to prove it.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Main target was the energy sector, but residential buildings and a railway were also damaged, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.

Russia has launched dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at Ukraine, killing at least one person, according to Ukrainian officials.

The most powerful attacks were reported in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv, the officials said on Sunday.

Ukraine’s air force said Moscow launched 50 ballistic and cruise missiles and 297 drones overnight, the majority of which were intercepted.

“Moscow continues to invest in strikes more than in diplomacy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that this past week alone, Russia launched more than 1,300 drones, ‌more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 96 missiles against Ukraine.

The president added that Sunday’s attacks targeted the Dnipro, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava and Sumy regions.

The main target of the attack was the energy sector, but residential buildings and a railway were also damaged, he noted.

In a separate incident in the western city of Lviv, which has been largely spared the worst of the conflict, a policewoman was killed and 25 people were injured in the detonation of explosive devices inside a shop on a central shopping street.

Hours later, law enforcement said it had arrested a Ukrainian woman suspected of carrying out the bombing, without providing any further details and saying an investigation was ongoing.

Kyiv attack

Mykola Kalashnyk, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram that Russian forces targeted five districts in the Kyiv region, injuring at least 15 people, including four children, and killing one person.

Russian attacks were also reported in the eastern region of Kharkiv, where Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least 12 settlements were targeted and six people injured.

In southern Ukraine, fires broke out in the region of Odesa as Russian drones struck energy infrastructure, according to Governor Oleh Kiper.

“Fortunately, there were no deaths or injuries. An assessment of the state of energy facilities and elimination of the consequences is ongoing,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.

Attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities have become a near-daily occurrence in winter during Russia’s war in Ukraine, which started almost four years ago when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of the neighbouring country.

These attacks deprive millions of Ukrainians of heat, power and running water as temperatures have dropped below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), causing thick ice to cover roads and the Dnipro, Europe’s fifth largest river.

Last week, Russia unleashed a barrage of nearly 400 drones and 29 missiles on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on the first day of two days of peace negotiations in Geneva, its second large-scale blow in six days.

On February 12, another attack had left 100,000 families without electricity and 3,500 apartment buildings without heat in Kyiv alone.

Sunday’s attacks come as the United States is trying to reach a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow.

But these efforts – including the talks in Geneva last week and two earlier sessions in the United Arab Emirates – have failed to reach any breakthrough.

A core sticking point is territory. Russia wants Ukraine to pull out from the remaining 20 percent of its eastern region of Donetsk that the Kremlin’s forces have failed to capture – something firmly rejected by Kyiv.

Ukraine does not want to make territorial concessions and is demanding clear security guarantees that it will not be attacked by Russia again if a ceasefire is reached.

Aston Merrygold of JLS fame has opened up about the devastating toll of his recent ankle injury during an appearance on Sunday Brunch

JLS star Aston Merrygold has gotten candid about his recent leg injury, admitting the emotional toll is “killing me”.

The Peterborough-born boyband icon, 38, underwent surgery late last year after suffering a painful injury on his ankle during rehearsals.

However, Aston has continued to perform with the band, which also includes Marvin Humes, Oritsé Williams, and JB Gill, either seated or using crutches.

During an interview with Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy on today’s (22nd February) edition of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, Aston shared some more insight into his injury and recovery.

“I broke everything in my ankle, apart from the bone,” he shared. “So, I’m still here.

“Basically, jumping off a platform to end the show, I vanished through the stage and landed on some crash mats. Obviously, I got excited and probably jumped a bit too high, trapped my leg between the crash mats and my body kept going.

“So I had to have full ankle reconstruction surgery.” Tim quipped: “Got a team of lawyers on that?”, prompting laughter from Aston.

After revealing he had continued with the tour on crutches, Aston was asked about his history playing football and how his injury has affected his exercise regime.

“You used to be a good footballer years ago, didn’t you?” Tim asked. “So this must be killing you.”

Aston agreed: “It’s killing me. But everything, even in the week, going away with the kids for a few days is lovely.”

Tim interjected, “Can you do anything?” and Aston revealed: “I can’t run yet. So that’s kind of the extent of it. Stairs are good now, for the ankle progression.”

The presenter then mused: “You know what they say, and this is so true, a well man has 10,000 wishes and an ill man has one.”

“100 percent,” Aston agreed. “And the worst, worst part of the whole thing was that I had to be bed-bound at one point.

“Then, when I could stand up, it had to be no weight. So no picking up the kids, no kind of running around.

“Obviously I didn’t listen,” he then confessed. “You can’t have those special moments just taken away fully, so I was a bit like, ‘No, there are some things…’”

Simon then asked when Aston will be fully recovered, with the JLS star explaining: “The operation was in December. December 5th. And he said over six months.”

Sunday Brunch airs Sundays from 10am on Channel 4.

Feb. 20 (Asia Today) — South Korea was the largest source of foreign visitors to Japan in January, filling a gap left by a sharp drop in Chinese tourism, according to official data released this week.

The Japan National Tourism Organization said 3,597,500 foreign travelers visited Japan in January, down 4.9% from a year earlier and marking the first year-over-year decline in four years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korea accounted for 1,176,000 visitors, up 21.6% from a year earlier and representing 32.7% of all arrivals. It was the highest monthly total on record for a single country or region in January.

In contrast, Chinese visitors fell 60.7% to 385,300 from 980,250 a year earlier. The decline followed calls by the Chinese government urging restraint in travel to Japan. The drop extended a steep fall in December.

Visitors from Hong Kong also declined 17.9% to about 200,000, reducing the combined share of mainland China and Hong Kong to roughly 11% of total arrivals, compared with 20% to 30% in previous periods.

Other markets showed solid growth. Taiwan sent 694,500 visitors, up 17%, while the United States recorded 207,800 arrivals, up 13.8%. Australia contributed 160,700 visitors, up 14.6%. South Korea, Taiwan and Australia each posted record January figures.

Despite the slump in Chinese travel, 17 countries and regions set record January totals, helping to limit the overall decline. The tourism agency cited demand for winter sports and an increase in long-stay travelers as supporting factors.

Industry officials said group tours from China have been more heavily affected than individual travelers. The downturn followed remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi related to Taiwan, after which Beijing encouraged citizens to reconsider trips to Japan.

Tourism operators are seeking to reduce reliance on Chinese demand. A sake brewery in Niigata said Chinese visitors account for about 10% of its 7,000 annual foreign guests. On a recent tour, no Chinese participants were present.

Tourism Agency Commissioner Shigeki Murata said bookings from non-Chinese markets are maintaining levels seen during last year’s Lunar New Year holiday. Yusuke Miura, an economist at Nissei Research Institute, warned that prolonged travel restraint from China could pose risks and called for both businesses and the government to diversify by market.

China’s Spring Festival, which began Feb. 15, typically overlaps with Japan’s off-season for domestic travel, making Chinese tourists a key source of winter demand. Analysts are watching closely how the shortfall will affect hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260220010006001

Pakistan says it has launched strikes on armed groups in Afghanistan after blaming recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it says are operating from its neighbour’s territory.

Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing armed groups to use Afghan territory to stage attacks in Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday said “dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded” when strikes hit a school and homes in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika.

Nangarhar police told the AFP news agency the bombardment started about midnight (19:30 GMT on Saturday) and hit three districts.

“Civilians were killed. In one house, there were 23 family members. Five wounded people were taken out,” police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad said.

The Afghan Defence Ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.

The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians from October to December, according to the United Nations mission in Afghanistan.

Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.

The deteriorating relationship has had repercussions for people in both countries with the land border largely closed for months.

KATE Hudson led the fashion pack in a glam corset dress at the Bafta Film Awards Nominees’ Party.

Anticipation is building for the prestigious awards ceremony – honouring the best British and foreign films of 2026 – which will air on the BBC tonight.

Previously, the Bafta 2026 nominations were revealed with Leonardo DiCaprio flick One Battle After Another leading the nominations in 14 categories.

Hollywood veteran Leo, 51, now shares an all-time Bafta record with the likes of movie legends Michael Caine, Daniel Day-Lewis and Laurence Olivier for seven Best Actor nominations.

However he has won the award just the once, for The Revenant in 2016. 

Yet while the stars get set for tonight’s proceedings, a swanky shindig at the National Portrait Gallery ramped up the anticipation last night.

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Song Sung Blue actress Kate oozed elegance in her trendy frock, which paired a black corset top with a flowing white skirt.

She left her blonde hair flowing over her shoulders and kept her make-up fresh, accessorising with statement silver earrings.

The beauty was seen posing with fellow actress Chase Infiniti, who she is pitted against in the Best Leading Actress category.

One Battle After Another screen star Chase opted for a delicate pink lace bodycon with long sleeve.

Ruffle detail around the waist and wrists added extra glam, and she finished off her look with silver high heels.

Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley and Bugonia’s Emma Stone are among others in the pair’s hotly contested category.

Meanwhile, Star Wars actor Warwick Davies flashed a huge smile as he stepped on the Red Carpet.

Wimbledon actress Kirsten Dunst cut a glam look in a longline black coat with matching handbag while her Fargo star husband Jesse Plemons wore a stylish grey blazer and matching trousers.

He is nominated for the Best Actor role for flick Bugonia.

Big Brother anchor AJ Odudu stood out for all the right reasons in a purple halterneck dress with a side split.

Marty Supreme actress Odessa A’zion, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, went for an all-black attire with striking yet sophisticated silver detail cuffs.

Garcia is the new world champion after a unanimous points decision victory against title holder.

Ryan Garcia has won the WBC welterweight title with a dominant unanimous decision over Mario Barrios.

Garcia dropped Barrios in the opening seconds on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, and controlled the fight with sharp combinations. The 27-year-old stayed patient after the early knockdown and turned more conservative late with a big lead.

The judges scored the fight 119-108, 120-107 and 118-109 for Garcia (25-2, 20 knockouts) of Victorville, California. The Associated Press news agency had it 119-109.

“It feels good to finally be a world champion,” Garcia said. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was seven years old.”

Garcia already has begun to turn to his future, looking at WBO super lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and saying he wanted him next.

This was the second underwhelming bout in a row for Barrios (29-3-2, 18 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas, after he was fortunate to escape with a majority draw victory over Manny Pacquiao in July.

The win capped a turbulent stretch for Garcia, including a suspension, fines and other controversies.

In the co-main event, Gary Antuanne Russell kept his title against Andy Hiraoka.

After seven dynamic caps off the bench, 21-year-old back rower Henry Pollock finally gained a first Test start.

The idea was his energy would help avoid a repeat of last week when Scotland blitzed England in the opening 20 minutes.

“What do you do? Two weeks in a row conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes,” prop forward Ellis Genge told BBC Sport.

“Everyone has to take a look at themselves. No-one knows what the answer is right now or we would have sorted it out.

“It opened up scar tissue from last week – we have to be better at managing that period and stop turning the ball over.

“It’s brutal, professional sport because if you get 5% wrong it’s gone. We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can’t let the noise in now.

“We have let everyone down. Apologies for that but I promise we will make it better. We are going to go away and work as hard as we can to go away and rectify things.”

England found themselves deep in Ireland’s 22 on multiple occasions but lacked any clinical edge, making 14 handling errors in the game.

George Ford also missed touch with a penalty that could have put the hosts in a scoring position.

“As players, senior players and the leadership team we have to take responsibility for not starting the game right,” said Itoje.

“It was just our inaccuracy. We turned the ball over too much, and when we did get into positions to hurt Ireland we were not accurate and then gave ourselves a mountain to climb.”

GRAMMY-nominated salsa legend Willie Colón has died aged 75.

Heartbreaking tributes have poured in for the musical pioneer – with Bad Bunny calling the star “one of the legends who contributed to this beautiful and legendary genre”.

The iconic artist passed away on Saturday surrounded by loved ones, his manager confirmed.

Colón was a trombonist, composer, arranger, singer and social activist.

Over his decades-long career, he produced more than 40 albums that sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

His manager Pietro Carlos said: “Today, we’ve lost an architect of the New York sound, a trombonist who made metal his banner and wrote eternal chapters in our musical history.

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“Willie didn’t just change salsa; he expanded it, politicized it, clothed it in urban chronicles, and took it to stages where it hadn’t been heard before.

“His trombone was the voice of the people, an echo of the Caribbean in New York, a bridge between cultures.”

He added: “Today we say goodbye to a master, but his legacy lives on.”

Meanwhile, Grammy-winner Bad Bunny said on Instagram: “Today, one of the legends who contributed to this beautiful and legendary genre passed away.”

The star continued: “So, on behalf of myself and Los Sobrinos, we wish Willie Colón peace.

“Much strength to his family.

“The inspiration of so many of these great musicians who left their mark on this earth will never die as long as there are talented young people like those here, keeping the music, salsa and all Caribbean rhythms alive.”

Colón’s cause of death has not been confirmed, but Saturday’s tragic news follows reports from last week claiming that the star had been hospitalised for respiratory problems, according to TMZ.

A pivotal architect of urban salsa music, Colón collaborated with a long list of fellow icons, including the Fania All Stars, David Byrne and Celia Cruz.

His critically acclaimed collaboration with Rubén Blades, Siembra, which touched on social issues in salsa, became one of the bestselling albums in the genre of all time.

The musician, born to Puerto Rican parents, was nominated for 10 Grammys and one Latin Grammy.

Colón was born in the Bronx, New York, before being raised by his grandmother and aunt, who from a young age nurtured him with traditional Puerto Rican music.

When he was 11 years old he ventured into the world of music, first playing the flute, then bugle, trumpet and finally trombone.

His interest in trombone was sparked after experiencing Barry Rogers playing it on Dolores, Mon Rivera’s song with Joe Cotto.

He recalled in 2011: “It sounded like an elephant, a lion … an animal.

“Something so different that, as soon as I heard it, I said to myself: ‘I want to play that instrument.’”

Colón’s main musical traits included the fusion of rhythms.

The genius harmonized jazz, rock, funk, soul and R&B with the old Latin school of Cuban son, cha-cha-cha, mambo and guaracha.

His style also encompassed traditional Puerto Rican sound including jíbara, bomba and plena music.

A passionate advocate for civil rights, he fought mostly in the US for the Latino community among others.

In 1991 he was awarded the Chubb fellowship from Yale University, a public service recognition also awarded to John F. Kennedy, Moshe Dayan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Ronald Reagan.

And he even served in politics – working as a special assistant to David Dinkins, New York’s first Black mayor, and an adviser to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Colón had his own stints running for public office too – but had little luck challenging the then-US Rep. Eliot Engel in the 1994 Democratic primary.

In 2001 he also came in third in the Democratic primary for New York’s public advocate.

The late star also appeared in films such – taking roles in Vigilante, The Last Fight, and It Could Happen to You.

On TV, he featured in Miami Vice and Demasiado Corazón.

The icon also appeared in Bad Bunny’s music video for NuevaYol.

Colón is survived by his wife and four sons.