News Desk

Cars slogged through the flooded streets of Santo Domingo as Tropical Storm Melissa dumped heavy rain and wind gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour. The stom, which also drenched Haiti, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy checked out the cockpit of a Gripen fighter jet in Sweden on a visit to buy 150 of the aircraft. Ukraine’s military hopes to start using some already manufactured jets next year.

KEANU Reeves’ security team slammed a fan to the ground after she attempted to get into the actor’s car.

A woman could be heard screaming for the star’s attention before attempting to get inside his vehicle.

The shock footage came just seconds after the actor graciously waved and smiled at waiting fans and photographers outside of his hotel.

At one point, the lady in question could be heard insisting she was his “divine wife” during the altercation.

Having waved to the crowds, Keanu can be seen calmly getting into his car.

Just seconds later, the woman appears to shove past his security details as she heads for his car door.

With the bodyguards attempting to hold her back, the woman screeches: “Let go of me.”

She then shouts at the window: “Keanu, it’s your divine wife!”

After repeatedly saying the star’s name, she runs around the vehicle to the other side before shouting: “Don’t let them hurt me.”

As the car attempts to drive away, the woman manages to reach the car door handle.

The bodyguards then manage to get to the woman and forcibly pull her away from the car.

Latching onto her, two men appear to pull at her before she stumbles and falls onto her back on the road.

She can be heard branding the men “a*****es” before managing to get back up.

One of the men shouts: “Get her out of here. Get her out of here.”

Someone else can be heard shouting: “You guys need a restraining order on this one.”

Keanu is currently appearing on-stage in a Broadway play.

The 61-year-old star has been performing in Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot.

The production has been entertaining guests at the Hudson Theater. 

Oct. 22 (UPI) — The International Court of Justice said Wednesday that Israel must allow humanitarian aid to Gaza by the United Nations.

The opinion by the United Nations’ highest court is non-binding but has moral and diplomatic weight.

It also said that Israel has not proven its allegations that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees had a significant number of employees that were members of Hamas. The United Nations denied those claims. There are 13,000 employees of the UNRWA in Gaza.

“The occupying power may never invoke reasons of security to justify the general suspension of all humanitarian activities in occupied territory,” Judge Iwasawa Yuji said while delivering the opinion. “After examining the evidence, the court finds that the local population in Gaza Strip has been inadequately supplied.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the opinion was “entirely predictable from the outset regarding UNRWA.”

“This is yet another political attempt to impose political measures against Israel under the guise of ‘international law,'” it added. Israel said it will not cooperate with UNRWA.

Israel has alleged that UNRWA has more than 1,000 Hamas-affiliated employees and that they teach hatred of Israel in its schools.

In December, the U.N. General Assembly asked the ICJ to decide what legal obligations Israel had regarding U.N. relief agencies. This happened after Israel’s parliament passed a law banning any UNRWA activity in Israeli territory.

Sam Rose, UNRWA’s acting Gaza director, told the BBC that the opinion “underscores the obligations of Israel under international law.”

“The ruling of today says that Israel’s laws against UNRWA have gone against those obligations, as have its actions on the ground,” he said.

While the world recognized that there was famine and starvation in Gaza last summer, Israel continued to deny it, often blocking any aid to reach hungry Gazans.

“The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in Gaza,” an IDF post said in July. “This is a false campaign promoted by Hamas.”

A migrant has returned to the UK on a small boat after being removed to France under the “one in, one out” scheme less than a month ago, BBC News understands.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the man claimed to have been been a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smuggling gangs in France.

The Home Office declined to directly confirm the report but said a migrant had been detained and their removal was being sought as soon as possible.

Forty two people who arrived in the UK illegally have been removed so far under the scheme in which the UK agrees to take in asylum seekers who have a case for protection.

The BBC understands the man is an Iranian national, and was initially detained on 6 August and was removed on 19 September, becoming the third person to be sent to France under the scheme. He returned four days ago on 18 October.

The male migrant – who the Guardian has not named – told the newspaper he returned to the UK because he feared for his life in France.

Speaking about his alleged treatments at the hands of smugglers, he said: “They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest.”

Asked about the report, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We will not accept any abuse of our borders, and we will do everything in our power to remove those without the legal right to be here.

“Individuals who are returned under the pilot and subsequently attempt to re-enter the UK illegally will removed.”

Maddie Harris, director of Humans for Rights Network, told BBC News her organisation has been in direct contact with the Iranian man.

She said: “From very on early [after his removal] he was experiencing acute fear… as a result of the experience he had at the hands of the smugglers.

“While in France he experienced horrendous treatment at the hands of the people who are organising journeys to the UK.”

She said the man returned because he felt he “was not receiving protection in France and feared those individuals may continue with that horrendous treatment”.

She also said her organisation had seen cases of others returned under the scheme who have had “compelling” evidence of mistreatment, and who were not able to receive “adequate legal advice” during the “rushed” removal process.

Asked about the “one in, one out” scheme on Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We’ve been clear about the arrangement with France, that this is the beginning of a landmark scheme which is not in itself a silver bullet”.

Separately, the BBC has spoken to an Eritrean man in France who says he was also returned under the scheme.

The man, who asked to be identified as Jonas, said he fled his home country because he feared religious persecution during mandatory conscription in the military.

Jonas said he travelled to the UK via Belarus, Poland and France, and boarded a small boat with 71 others to cross the Channel, some of whom he said have now received asylum in the UK.

Jonas said he believes he was selected for removal arbitrarily, and told the BBC he was detained for two months prior to be flown to France.

Asked why he believed he was chosen for removal, he said: “I don’t know. The only reason they say is ‘you came from safe country’ – but it’s not only me. How many people are crossing? Three thousand, four thousand [per month]?”

Jonas, who is now temporarily living in a refugee centre in Paris, would be unlikely to be deported to Eritrea from the European Union, but said he fears he would be imprisoned if he returned.

The scheme, which was announced in July, is intended to deter people from crossing the Channel and encourage migrants to make asylum claims on the continent. Twenty three people have returned to France.

Under the treaty, France agreed to take back migrants who had travelled to the UK by small boat and had their asylum claim rejected.

For each person returned to France, the UK has agreed to accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee who has not attempted to cross the Channel.

On Sunday, the Home Office said 16 people had been removed to France on a single flight, the largest group removal under the scheme yet.

The Iranian man’s return to the UK came as small boat arrivals on Wednesday meant that the number of attempts to cross the Channel this year have now exceeded the 36,816 recorded in 2024.

An official figure won’t be confirmed until Thursday.

The record number of arrivals for a single year was 45,755 in 2022, and this year’s rate is closely tracking that.

Home Office figures show that there were no crossings on six out of the last seven days but that 369 made the journey on 18 October.

“What a horrible story! What a hideous play!” a theater critic for the Daily Telegraph lamented after the London premiere of “Hedda Gabler” in 1891. Victorian audiences were repelled by Henrik Ibsen’s fatally attractive newlywed who appears to have it all — the fancy house, the doting husband — only to be violently bored.

But writer-director Nia DaCosta (“Candyman,” “The Marvels”) and her star Tessa Thompson understand Hedda down to the pretty poison in her molecules. Their rollicking redo, set from dusk to hangover at a drunken bacchanal, is vibrant and viciously alive. With apologies to Ibsen’s ghost, DaCosta’s tweaks have sharpened its rage. I don’t think that long-dead critic would like this “Hedda” any better. I think it’s divine.

Thompson’s Hedda is a clever, status-conscious snot raised to believe that her sole purpose is to be a rich man’s wife. With no hobbies or career and no interest in motherhood, her only creative outlets are squandering money and machinating the success of her milquetoast husband, middlebrow academic George (Tom Bateman), who has such a flimsy hold on his bride that his last name might as well be attached to hers with Scotch tape. (It’s Tesman and it’s pointedly rarely used.) Hedda doesn’t love George. In fact, she seems to think he’s a whiny little worm. But she’s dead-set on securing him a promotion to afford her expensive tastes.

If Hedda had been born a man, she’d be leading armies into battle like her late father, General Gabler, who spawned her out of wedlock. Instead, she takes out her aggression on civilians. Using her charm offensive, Hedda goads naive spouses to cheat, recovering alcoholics to drink and depressives to wander off into the darkness with a revolver. Some of her havoc is calculated, most of it is out of pique that others are living braver, more fulfilling lives. All of it feels like a cat tipping over water glasses just to see them shatter. Like the nasty seductress of “Dangerous Liaisons,” she’s a warning that frustrated women aren’t merely a hazard to themselves — they’re a menace to the society that made them.

Inspired by her antihero, DaCosta manipulates Ibsen to suit her own goals. She’s updated the play’s setting to 1950s England, a similar-in-spirit era in which well-bred women were kept domesticated. (I can’t wait for someone to do a version among the tradwives of Utah.) From there, DaCosta has smartly tightened the narrative, which used to have a key scene at an off-stage bachelor party to which Hedda was pointedly not invited. “What a pity the fair lady can’t be there, invisible,” Ibsen’s Hedda grumbled at being left home while the men got to carouse.

In DaCosta’s version, the whole drama unfolds during a martini and cocaine-fueled rager at Hedda’s mansion, a party she’s throwing to impress George’s potential new boss, Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch), who she hears has a bohemian streak. At her own happening on her own turf, Hedda couldn’t be more visibly in command. She rallies the guests to hurl her former classmate, Thea (Imogen Poots), a wretchedly earnest drip, into a nearby lake and gets the whole room grooving to a dance band’s cover of “It’s Oh So Quiet,” the swinging hit that the Icelandic pop singer Björk would popularize a half-century later. It’s a great song pick with manic crescendos — You blow a fuse, zing boom! The devil cuts loose, zing boom! — that capture Hedda’s feverish mood shifts.

We know this evening will go wrong from the film’s opening shot of Hedda facing down two policemen who keep interrupting her explanation of the last 24 hours. “Where should I start?” she says with smothered exasperation. As we cut back to watch the night unfold, a shot of Hedda surveying the crowd from an upstairs landing feels like she’s looking at a game board — Clue, perhaps? — with a weapon stashed in every room. Which threat is most pressing? The pistols she keeps in a leather box, the precarious crystal chandelier or the lake’s deep waters outside?

Thompson is marvelous in the role. Even the way she chomps a cherry off a cocktail toothpick has menace. I first saw her as the lead in “Romeo and Juliet” at a 99-seat theater in Pasadena when she was barely 20 years old (there’s so much talent in our small stage scene), so it’s a nice reminder that the funny and soulful actor of the “Thor” and “Creed” franchises is also a hell of a good classical performer and a worthy star on her own.

She wears Hedda’s lovely mask with confidence — red lips, lush cheekbones, cool demeanor — and periodically allows it to slip. Editor Jacob Schulsinger often allows Hedda a tiny hesitation before she charges ahead ruining people’s lives, long enough to know that she’s considering the consequences. “Sometimes I can’t help myself, I just do things all of a sudden on a whim,” she admits to the nosy Judge Brack (Nicholas Pinnock), revealing a sliver of weakness. She’s almost (nearly) asking for help. Yet, the judge just wants to maneuver her into bed. How tedious.

DaCosta boldly layers race and sexuality on top of Ibsen’s tale. She’s gender-swapped Hedda’s ex-lover, Eilert, into a lesbian named Eileen (a swaggering Nina Hoss), a brilliant, openly norm-defying author who is George’s job-seeking competition (and the only person Hedda enjoys kissing). If earlier incarnations of Hedda didn’t dare defy social rules when she was white and straight, being Black and queer adds so much additional peril that the script barely needs to say out loud. The new tension is there in just a few whispers, as when Hedda overhears a guest murmur that their hostess is “duskier than I thought she would be.” Hedda doesn’t acknowledge the slight. That would mean admitting vulnerability. She simply starts destroying the speaker in the very next scene.

What’s wiser? Eileen’s determination to face down the boys and be accepted for her full self or Hedda sneaking around and steering everyone’s fates behind the scenes? They can’t team up — they’re doomed to tear each other to shreds. And as much glee as we get watching Hedda’s rampage, it aches to see these two formidable women reduce each other to hysterics (to use the medical diagnosis of the day).

From our 21st century perspective, they both have a right to be mad and they both might be mentally ill. DaCosta doesn’t offer a verdict, but she plunges us so deeply into Hedda’s headspace that we can hear how certain things set her off. Insults hit her with a knife-like hiss of air; fresh schemes get her charging around to Hildur Guðnadóttir’s tumultuous, percussive score.

Costume designer Lindsay Pugh has done incredible work outfitting the film’s central female roles. Hedda wears bullet-like strands of pearls that choke her neck and a jade-colored gown that seems to molder into a festering, jealous shade of green. When her rival, Poot’s Thea, arrives underdressed, Hedda forces her into a hideous frock with fussy bows and an ungainly skirt. Poots, her nose raw and red, her character kicked when she’s down, gamely looks a fright, trusting that moral fiber will expose Hedda’s ugly insecurities.

But Pugh’s stroke of genius is putting Eileen not in some sort of mannish suit but in a bombshell dress that highlights her curves like a primal goddess. It’s pure feminine power — just like the film itself — and when Eileen struts into a room of her all-male colleagues, that dress exposes how fast the tenor can shift from awe to jeers and how little wiggle room she or any woman has for error.

Economists credit US President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign with reducing trade between Germany and the US, its top trading partner last year.

China overtook the United States as Germany’s largest trading partner during the first eight months of 2025, preliminary data from the German statistics office has shown.

The data indicated that German imports and exports with China totalled $190.7bn (163.4 billion euros) from January to August, while trade with the US amounted to $189bn (162.8 billion euros), according to Reuters calculations.

The US was Germany’s top trading partner in 2024, ending an eight-year streak for China. Germany had sought to reduce its reliance on China, citing political differences and accusing Beijing of unfair practices.

But trade dynamics shifted again this year, with US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his renewed tariff campaign.

The tariffs have pushed down German exports to the US, which fell 7.4 percent in the first eight months of the year compared with 2024.

In August, exports to the US also fell 23.5 percent year-on-year, showing that the trend is accelerating.

“There is no question that US tariff and trade policy is an important reason for the decline in sales,” said Dirk Jandura, president of the BGA foreign trade association.

Jandura added that US demand for classic German export goods, such as cars, machinery and chemicals, had fallen.

With the ongoing tariff threat and the stronger euro, German exports to the US are unlikely to rebound any time soon, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at the financial institution ING.

Exports to China fell even more sharply than those to the US, dropping 13.5 percent year-on-year to $63.5bn (54.7 billion euros) in the first eight months of 2025.

By contrast, imports from China rose 8.3 percent to $126.4bn (108.8 billion euros).

“The renewed import boom from China is worrying – particularly as data shows that these imports come at dumping prices,” said Brzeski.

He warned that the trend not only increases German dependence on China, but could add to stress in key industries where China has become a major rival.

“In the absence of economic dynamism at home, some in Germany may now be troubled by any shifts on world markets,” said Salomon Fiedler, an economist at the bank Berenberg.

Journalists and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have joined forces to seek justice for 42 men arbitrarily detained and tortured by the Nigerian military in Borno State, North East Nigeria.

During an advocacy meeting organised by HumAngle and Amnesty International in Maiduguri, the state capital, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, civic leaders and media practitioners took a step to spotlight an investigation that opened a can of worms on the gross violation of human rights.

The survivors were present at the meeting to share first-hand accounts of how they endured years of torture, abuse, and brutal treatment in detention. They were accompanied by some of their relatives, who waited over a decade for their return. 

One survivor lost his sight while in detention, another lost an ear, and the other bore scars all over his body. Their stories cast a sombre mood over the room, as participants and advocates reflected on how to achieve transitional justice for the victims.

Usman Abba Zanna, the HumAngle reporter who investigated the case for months, detailed how he followed a lead from local sources and made several visits to Gallari, a rural community in Borno’s Konduga Local Government Area, to verify claims of military invasions and arbitrary arrests.

“In a conflict situation like this, there are so many cases of violation of humanitarian laws and war crimes by state actors. These men were the breadwinners of their families, and the military just arrested all of them,” Zanna narrated to the audience, stating that the arrest happened immediately after the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction in April 2014.

“When I went to Gallari, I met a 16-year-old boy who told me that they had arrested his father. He was now saddled with all the responsibilities of the family, including caring for her grandmother, who cried until she became blind. He travels far away to work and raise money to fend for his younger ones,” he added. 

In his remarks, Isa Sanusi, the Country Director at Amnesty International in Nigeria, reiterated the organisation’s efforts in documenting human rights violations amid insurgency and armed violence in the region. He said the organisation’s recent partnership with HumAngle is another move to seek accountability.

“One of the issues that we consistently talk about is the issue of accountability. Many people believe that the only way to bring peace is just to say that schools are being rebuilt and people are being forced to return to their communities,” he said, urging stakeholders in the meeting to take necessary actions.

“So many people are always asking: How are we going to have accountability, and how is it going to work? This is the reason we’re here. Amnesty International and HumAngle are partners in making sure that we seek accountability in this case.”

Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu, HumAngle’s Managing Editor, corroborated this sentiment, saying: “Journalism and advocacy are some of the most effective tools with which to correct the ills in society. Through the gathering today, we are merging both so that the suffering of people like the Gallari men and all other victims of enforced disappearances can have their stories heard. This is in the hopes that targeted advocacy towards stakeholders will elicit positive action from them.”

The raid that led to the arrests shattered the civilian community, leaving children, wives, and the elderly in displacement, poverty, and forcing some to remarry or assume breadwinning responsibilities prematurely.

Ten years later, in 2024, HumAngle revisited the incident, documenting the fate of the forgotten men. Three of them were released following our investigation a few months later. When we visited them after their return, we found an even more disturbing revelation: 37 of the 42 men detained had died gruesomely in detention, and those still alive carry their grief and scars around.

Tonight millions of viewers will be able to celebrate those honoured at The Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises as it airs on ITV. But what were Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo’s best bits?

Millions of people across the UK will be tuning in tonight to the most uplifting show in the TV calendar, as The Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises unfolds in a two hour extravaganza.

Seldom is an event this packed with A list celebrities. But, despite the dazzling outfits and wall-to-wall glamour, it is the ordinary people with the extraordinary stories who take centre stage for this truly incredible occasion.

Co-hosts Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo host the event brilliantly – totally engaging with the amazing winners, who win everyone’s hearts … including our Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who describes them as “the very best of our country.”

Here, Carol and Ashley each share their five most magical moments from the unforgettable night..

Carol’s Moments – Maja surprising Sally Becker

Known as The Angel of Mostar, humanitarian aid hero, Sally Becker, who received the Lifetime Achievement award – after evacuating hundreds of children from war zones all across the globe over a 30 year career – was joined on stage by one of the children she had saved.

Carol said: “Sally had referenced Maja when I asked about when she first went into Bosnia, this girl who had lost her leg and was in critical pain and how she brought her out. We got Maja to send a fake message from Florida to thank her, and then, of course, the big surprise was that Maja came out with her award. Sally is one of the most loving people you could ever possibly wish to meet. She’s so brave. I don’t think she realises just how brave she is. She’s quite extraordinary. That really made me cry, to be honest.”

The Rock Surprising Luke

Luke Mortimer, 12, who had all four of his limbs amputated after contracting meningitis and septicemia, was shown being surprised by movie star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who told him he would be receiving the Child of Courage award.

The young fundraiser was stunned into virtual silence when the star of Jumanjii and The Smashing Machine walked into his hotel room with his room service order. Johnson, who stands at a remarkable 6ft 5in, commended Luke on the incredible physical challenges he has completed to raise money for other children with amputations. Carol said: “All of us were going to Luke, ‘How big is The Rock? Is he as big as we think he is?’ That was really funny.”

Margot Robbie surprising Georgie

Georgie Hyslop, 17, received the Good Morning Britain Young Fundraiser award for her incredible efforts to brighten-up the lives of others, despite being treated for an extremely rare form of bone cancer herself. The brave youngster, who has raised over £55,000 for charity through a series of balls and events, was surprised by Margot Robbie, who played Barbie in the movie, and who revealed that she had won a Pride of Britain.

The Hollywood star of blockbusters like Wolf of Wallstreet and I, Tonya, also invited Georgie – an aspiring actor – and her family to attend the premiere of her latest film, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. Carol said: “We’d lied to Georgie, obviously. We said we were filming a documentary and that we were going to take the family out for dinner, so they should bring some nice clothes. But actually, of course, they were bringing clothes to go to Margot Robbie’s premiere which was quite remarkable. It was just lovely, absolutely lovely.”

Ruth Jones as Nessa with Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris was handed the ITV Fundraiser award for her mission to provide knitted breast prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies due to breast cancer. Inspired by her own friend’s struggle with the disease, which made her aware of the uncomfortable silicon prosthetics provided by the NHS, Joanne set up Knitted Knockers Northern Ireland which now provides 5,000 soft, breathable knitted breast prosthetics to cancer patients free of charge every year.

On stage, Gavin and Stacey stars Ruth Jones and Joanna Page, presented her award, paying tribute to her tireless charity work. Carol said: “Ruth, never ever does the Nessa impression, you know? But she did it all as Nessa from Gavin and Stacey and it was just wonderful. It was like Nessa was on stage!”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Mary Earps surprising Asha

Asha Rage was recognised for starting the Dream Chasers, a football club turned youth centre to help support local children in Birmingham and keep them away from antisocial behaviour. Presented with the Special Recognition award, Asha was surprised on stage by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and former England’s Lionesses’ goal keeper Mary Earps. The PM commended Asha for her tireless work supporting the young people of her community.

Carol said: “I could get over the fact that here is a Muslim woman who doesn’t know anything about football and then decides that she’s going to set up a football club for teenagers. She trained herself and now she’s got three and a half thousand members of the club. It’s quite extraordinary.”

Ashley’s Moments – Westlife on stage with Ups & Downs

The Ups & Downs group, a theatre club for children and young people with Down’s syndrome and their siblings, was awarded the This Morning’s Local Heroes award. The group, formed in 1995 by three music teachers who worked at an additional needs school, provides a safe space for people of all ages with Down’s Syndrome to be themselves and share the joy of theatre.

Thirty of its members took to the Pride of Britain stage to receive the award and at the end of the ceremony, joined the legendary Westlife to celebrate the wonderful evening. Ashley said: “It was such a joy to see the Ups & Downs group so excited to receive their Pride of Britain award – they brought such an unmatched energy to the room and put a smile on everyone’s faces. Seeing them dance with Westlife and the other incredible winners was just the best ending to the ceremony.”

Al Murray helping Marcus inhis fundraising efforts and revealing the total donated

Marcus Skeet, 17, better known as the Hull Boy by his hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, was given the Special Recognition award for his incredible fundraising efforts and tireless advocating for mental health awareness. The campaigner, who earlier this year became the youngest person ever to run the length of the country between Land’s end and John O’Groats, took to running after struggling with his mental health.

Ashley said: “You don’t meet many people like Marcus who are able to bring themselves out of such a dark place in the way he has. But not only that, to go on to help others through their own dark times as well, it’s just incredible and so inspiring. One of my highlights was seeing the room come together to help him reach his fundraising goal to start Marcus Movers clubs all over the country – lead of course by the legendary Al Murray who made the whole thing hilarious.”

Hainault police officers

The three police officers who were the first responders at the scene of the brutal Hainault attack last year, which saw 14-year old Daniel Anjorin murdered by psychotic killer Marcus Arduini-Monzo, received the Outstanding Bravery Award. Despite suffering injuries and having no weapons to hand, their decisive actions helped bring the situation under control and ensured the safety of the community.

Ashley said: “This was one of the most hard hitting moments of the evening. As a father, it just amazes me that there are people out there like these police officers who are willing to put themselves in such danger to protect others. Any of us could be in that position one day but with people like that around to step in, we are all that bit safer. It made me really emotional, yeah, but I am so glad they got the recognition they deserved.”

Javeno receiving his award

For more than two decades, Javeno McClean has used his skills as an exercise and health specialist to improve the lives of the elderly and people with disabilities. Setting up his own free gym in his hometown of Manchester, he has created a friendly environment for everyone to work on their physical and mental health and welcomes people of all abilities through his doors.

He was awarded the brand new P&O Cruises Inspiration award for his tireless work and was joined on stage by boxing champion David Haye. Ashley said: “Javeno is one of the coolest and most positive guys I have ever met. His muscles really put us all to shame but the way he is so dedicated to helping the most vulnerable members of our community is so inspiring.”

Ronnie Wood surprising Harry Byrne

Harry Byrne was awarded the King’s Trust Young Achiever award after overcoming loss, addiction and homelessness to become an inspirational mentor and coach helping to give other young people a brighter future. The 24-year-old was presented his award by Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood.

Ashley said: “Ronnie Wood is a god of rock and roll, isn’t he? The moment he was on stage with Harry was amazing and such a great representation of what the awards are all about. I mean, Harry has completely transformed his life after a pretty rough start and is now helping other young people to do the same. The way the King’s Trust has helped him and others is remarkable and Harry deserved all the glory – and the praise that Ronnie gave him – for his hard work.”

Watch Pride of Britain on Thursday 23rd October, ITV at 8PM.

Oct. 22 (UPI) — The European Parliament announced Wednesday it granted imprisoned journalists Andrzej Poczobut and Mzia Amaglobeli with its 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought as the two political prisoners sit in isolation for speaking up.

The France-based European Parliament awarded Andrzej Poczobut of Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia with the prize to honor “exceptional” people or organizations that defend human rights, fundamental freedoms and safeguard minority rights.

On Wednesday, EP President Roberta Metsola revealed the decision by parliament’s political group leaders in the plenary chamber.

“The courage of these journalists in speaking out against injustice, even behind bars, stands as a powerful symbol of freedom and democracy,” Metsola posted on X.

The Sakharov Prize named after Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, since 1988, honors those who fight for “respect of international law, democracy and rule of law.”

Its 2024 laureates were Venezuelan political opposition leaders, including María Corina Machado who in 2025 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations must be issued by at least 40 European Parliament members or by its political groups.

Poczobut and Amaglobeli were jointly nominated by the European People’s Party group, the European Conservatives and Reformists group, Lithuanian EP member Rasa Juknevičienė and 60 other colleagues.

Prize nominations were presented on Sept. 23 at a joint meeting of the EP’s foreign affairs and development committees in addition to its human rights subcommittee.

In August, scores of international human rights and journalism advocates joined to condemn the conviction and two-year prison sentence of independent Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli.

Amaghlobeli, notably, is Georgia’s first female political prisoner since its 1991 independence from the former Russian Soviet Union.

Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and blogger from the Polish minority in Belarus, has been known for criticism of longtime Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko and his regime.

Poczobut, detained in 2021 and sentenced to eight years in a penal colony, has become a symbolic figure in the struggle for freedom and democracy in the country. His current condition is unknown and his family is denied any visits as the EP has called his his immediate and unconditional release.

The parliament granted its 2022 award to the people of Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale arbitrary invasion of its neighboring country, and in 2024 to the late Jina Mahsa Amini and Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom Movement.

Other finalists included Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, the 2025 Budapest Pride events in Hungary, and the late American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Meanwhile, the award ceremony with its cash prize will take place December 16 in Strasbourg, France.

Our Jamie Hunter went to Wichita to fly aboard Beechcraft’s M-346 jet trainer, which could replace the Navy’s T-45 Goshawk. Steven Helmer, a flight test and demonstration pilot for Textron Aviation and Defense, gave us a walk-around tour of the M-346 prior to taking to the skies.

The demonstrator Beechcraft is using is an M-346FA (fighter-attack) model of Leonardo’s M-346 Master family of jets. Leonardo and Textron, the latter of which owns Beechcraft, have joined forces for the Navy’s next generation trainer opportunity. The Navy’s M-346 variant will be configured slightly different, with the company giving the concept the designation M-346N. You can read all about this proposed variant here.

The next generation Navy jet trainer is unlikely to be required to land or launch from a carrier, a controversial move to say the least, but this decision has opened up the field to types that won’t require as extreme of a modification.

With all that being said, check out our walk-around tour below and stay tuned for a much deeper dive in the M-346 for the Navy in an upcoming video of Jamie’s flight.

You can also check out Textron’s pitch for the M-346N in our previous video below from Sea, Air, Space symposium earlier this year:

Contact the author: [email protected]

KYLIE Jenner’s dog Norman has died at 12 as the heartbroken star paid tribute to her pet with a touching post.

Kylie, 28, revealed on Wednesday, October 22 that her beloved dog Norman has died.

She captioned a series of sweet photos, “In Loving Memory of My Sweet Norman.

“I still remember the day I brought you home. I had never loved anything so much. I always wanted an Italian Greyhound growing up, but my mommy never let me have one. Then, right after I turned 17, I got you for Christmas, and it was the best gift I could have ever received.”

Kylie added that her pooch has “filled” her live with “pure joy.”

She continued to pen, “Almost 13 years old, and yet I know I’ll remember you far longer than the time we got to share. I wish I wasn’t writing this post. I knew you were getting older, and I tried to prepare myself, but it’s hard losing you norm. It makes me happy knowing my kids got to meet you and love you.”

Read more on Kylie Jenner

OOPS!

Kylie Jenner tries to cover her chest in white thong bikini during dip in the ocean

Kylie is mom to daughter Stormi, 7, and son Aire, 3.

Kylie ended the caption, “My sweet Normyyyy. My heart aches for you. Rest in peace, my precious Normandle. I love you forever.”

In the photo collage, Kylie shared photos of her dog Norman through the years.

In one snap, Norman had his paw on Kylie in bed, as wrote on the picture, “Me and Norman forever.”

In another snap, Norman was dressed up for Christmas with her other pooch.

Kylie also shared a photo of her daughter Stormi petting Norman and her son Aire playing with him as well.

LOVED ONES’ SUPPORT

The last photo was of three flower arrangements, likely from loved ones sending their condolences.

Loved ones also flooded the comments, as her cousin Natalie wrote, “I’m so so sorry Ky. May Norman rest in peace in doggy heaven.”

Friend Amelia Gray wrote, “NORMYYYYYYYY we love you so much.”

Another pal wrote, “Love u forever normi bear.”

PET LOVER

Kylie has posted Norman often throughout the years on her social media.

She owns around seven dogs, including Italian Greyhounds and Dachshunds.

She also has a bunny and chicken.

Another one of Kylie’s familiar pooches is her Greyhound Bambi.

In February 2021, Kylie debuted her new dog Kevin to her social media followers.

Kylie has kept busy recently, as she launched a pop music career with her debut single Fourth Strike.

PRICEY SECRETS

Katie Price reveals she snogged EMINEM and two more A-list Hollywood stars

HORROR STORY

I nearly died after the Yorkshire Ripper attacked me with a screwdriver

This comes after the new teaser trailer for the upcoming season of The Kardashians dropped.

The new season will premiere on Thursday on Hulu.

Follow our live build-up, with full team news coverage, ahead of our text commentary stream of the UCL tie.

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is expected to soon announce that it will return a few dozen artifacts to Indigenous communities in Canada as part of its reckoning with the Catholic Church’s troubled role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas, officials said Wednesday.

The items, including an Inuit kayak, are part of the Vatican Museum’s ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum. The collection has been a source of controversy for the Vatican amid the broader museum debate over the restitution of cultural goods taken from Indigenous peoples during colonial periods.

Negotiations on returning the Vatican items accelerated after Pope Francis in 2022 met with Indigenous leaders who had traveled to the Vatican to receive his apology for the church’s role in running Canada’s disastrous residential schools. During their visit, they were shown some objects in the collection, including wampum belts, war clubs and masks, and asked for them to be returned.

Francis later said he was in favor of returning the items and others in the Vatican collection on a case-by-case basis, saying: “In the case where you can return things, where it’s necessary to make a gesture, better to do it.”

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said Wednesday it has been working with Indigenous groups on returning the items to their “originating communities.” It said it expected the Holy See to announce the return. Vatican and Canadian officials said they expected an announcement in the coming weeks, and that the items could arrive on Canadian soil before the end of the year.

The Globe and Mail newspaper first reported on the progress in the restitution negotiations.

Doubt cast on whether the items were freely given

Most of the items in the Vatican collection were sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries for a 1925 exhibition in the Vatican gardens that was a highlight of that year’s Holy Year.

The Vatican insists the items were “gifts” to Pope Pius XI, who wanted to celebrate the church’s global reach, its missionaries and the lives of the Indigenous peoples they evangelized.

But historians, Indigenous groups and experts have long questioned whether the items could really have been offered freely, given the power imbalances at play in Catholic missions at the time. In those years, Catholic religious orders were helping to enforce the Canadian government’s forced assimilation policy of eliminating Indigenous traditions, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called “cultural genocide.”

Part of that policy included confiscating items used in Indigenous spiritual and traditional rituals, such as the 1885 potlatch ban that prohibited the integral First Nations ceremony. Those confiscated items ended up in museums in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, as well as private collections.

The return of the items in the Vatican collection will follow the “church-to-church” model the Holy See used in 2023, when it gave its Parthenon Marbles to the Orthodox Christian Church in Greece. The three fragments were described by the Vatican as a “donation” to the Orthodox church, not a state-to-state repatriation to the Greek government.

In this case, the Vatican is expected to hand over the items to the Canadian bishops conference, with the explicit understanding that the ultimate keepers will be the Indigenous communities, a Canadian official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are not concluded.

What happens after the items are returned

The items, accompanied by whatever provenance information the Vatican has, will be taken first to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. There, experts and Indigenous groups will try to identify where the items originated, down to the specific community, and what should be done with them, the official said.

The official declined to say how many items were under negotiation or who decided what would be returned, but said the total numbered “a few dozen.” The aim is to get the items back this year, the official said, noting the 2025 Jubilee which celebrates hope but is also a time for repentance.

This year’s Jubilee comes on the centenary of the 1925 Holy Year and missionary exhibit, which is now so controversial that its 100th anniversary has been virtually ignored by the Vatican, which celebrates a lot of anniversaries.

The Assembly of First Nations said some logistical issues need to be finalized before the objects can be returned, including establishing protocols.

“For First Nations, these items are not artifacts. They are living, sacred pieces of our cultures and ceremonies and must be treated as the invaluable objects that they are,” National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told Canadian Press.

Gloria Bell, associate professor of art history at McGill University who has conducted extensive research on the 1925 exhibit, said the items were acquired during an era of “Catholic Imperialism” by a pope who “praised missionaries and their genocidal labors in Indigenous communities as ‘heroes of the faith.’”

“This planned return marks a significant shift in the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and perhaps the beginning of healing,” said Bell, who is of Metis ancestry and wrote about the 1925 exhibit in “Eternal Sovereigns: Indigenous Artists, Activists, and Travelers Reframing Rome.”

Winfield writes for the Associated Press.

Oct. 22 (UPI) — Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., passed the 14-hour mark Wednesday morning in his filibuster speech on the “grave threats to democracy” he said President Donald Trump poses.

Merkley began his speech at 6:24 p.m. EDT Tuesday and was speaking as of about 10 a.m. Wednesday. The record for a Senate filibuster was set in April this year by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who spoke for 25 hours and 5 minutes.

The senator from Oregon used the speech to warn about what he described as Trump’s shift toward authoritarianism and weaponization of the Justice Department. He said it was “an incredible threat to our nation.”

“I’ve come to the Senate floor tonight to ring the alarm bells,” Merkley said in his opening remarks. “We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War.

“President Trump is shredding our Constitution.”

Merkley took issue with the level to which Trump has used executive actions and powers, the mass deportations carried out by his administration, the deadly strikes used against suspected drug cartels in South and Central American waters, federal troop deployments to U.S. cities, and his work to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to Newsweek.

“President Trump wants us to believe that Portland, Ore., in my home state, is full of chaos and riots,” Merkley said. “Because if he can say to the American people that there are riots, he can say there’s a rebellion. And if there’s a rebellion, he can use that to strengthen his authoritarian grip on our nation.”

Merkley’s filibuster comes days after thousands of “No Kings” protests were held across the country. The anti-Trump demonstrations addressed many of the same issues as Merkley’s speech.

The Senate, which has yet to pass a stopgap funding bill to reopen the government after a 22-day shutdown, will be unable to carry out any business on the Senate floor until Merkley concludes his speech.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte visits the US as Trump proposes freezing the battle lines in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Brookside icon Tinhead is returning to the famous close for a one-off episode twinned with Hollyoaks, and actor Philip Olivier has opened up about the character’s nickname.

Brookside legend Tinhead is making a comeback to the renowned close for a special one-off episode alongside Hollyoaks.

Both beloved Channel 4 dramas were created by Grange Hill mastermind Sir Philip Redmond, with Brookside subsequently inspiring the development of Chester-set Hollyoaks.

To celebrate Hollyoaks’ 30th anniversary, the shows are joining forces for a landmark crossover episode, with Philip Olivier returning to his memorable role as Tinhead.

Tim “Tinhead” O’Leary made his debut in 1996 as the offspring of Carmel and Tommy O’Leary, portraying a wayward pupil at Brookside Comprehensive High School.

Throughout his storyline, Tinhead formed an intricate relationship with beloved character Sinbad, portrayed by Michael Starke, who served as a mentor figure for the rebellious youngster, reports the Manchester Evening News.

However, Tinhead was compelled to transform his ways following a devastating incident that nearly claimed his sister Melanie’s life.

His future seemed promising when romance blossomed with Emily, portrayed by Jennifer Ellison, and the couple wed in 2001.

Yet marital happiness wasn’t destined for the pair.

Following further involvement in unlawful activities, Emily perished during a burglary in 2002, leaving Tinhead bereaved at a young age.

Philip Olivier, 45, last appeared as Tinhead in November 2003 when Brookside broadcast its concluding episode.

However, over two decades later, he’s reprising his role as Timothy O’Leary, alongside Suzanne Collins as Nikki Shadwick, for a special Hollyoaks and Brookside episode.

How did Tinhead earn his nickname?

Despite the character’s actual name being Timothy, soap fans will recognise him by his unusual moniker.

Ahead of the rebooted episode, Olivier shed light on how his character acquired the nickname, revealing it was purely coincidental.

The actor shared: “There was a pretty rough school in my area with a really hard kid who everyone knew as Tinhead. This was before I got the part. The name was spray-painted on the side of a building near the school.

“I know a lot of Brookside writers used to live round that area so they must’ve drove past and remembered the name. People thought I’d suggested it but it was a coincidence.”

Olivier also disclosed that he had initially auditioned for a different role in the show before landing the part of the teenage troublemaker.

He elaborated: “Originally, I went up to play the character of Danny Simpson, then ended up playing the kid that bullied him at school.

“I auditioned for Danny then got a call a month later about this character called ‘Tinhead’.”

The Brookside and Hollyoaks crossover episode airs on Wednesday (October 22) at 7pm on E4.

The White House has begun tearing down parts of the East Wing to make way for President Trump’s new ballroom – although the project reportedly hasn’t yet received formal approval. Soraya Lennie explains.

Israeli army and settlers have carried out 158 attacks against olive pickers since the start of the current season

Israel has ordered the deportation of 32 foreign activists supporting olive-harvesting Palestinian farmers amid mounting Israeli army and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank two weeks into the harvesting season.

Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom reported that the activists were arrested last week near the town of Burin, in the Nablus Governorate, as they protested an Israeli general order stating that only those working on the harvest are allowed on the land during the harvesting period.

Israeli army and settlers have carried out 158 attacks against olive pickers since the start of the current season, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

The assaults included a range of violations, including beatings, mass arrests and shootings. At least 74 attacks targeted olive-growing lands, including 29 cases where trees and farmland were cut, bulldozed or uprooted. A total of 765 olive trees were destroyed.

The UN and rights groups have said Palestinian farmers face a heightened risk while gathering olives.

“Settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency,” Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territory, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Two weeks into the start of the 2025 harvest, we have already seen severe attacks by armed settlers against Palestinian men, women, children and foreign solidarity activists.”

The UN estimates that 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinian families rely on the olive harvest for their livelihoods, Sunghay said.

On Wednesday, a statement by Interior Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that the activists would be deported over their alleged affiliation with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC).

A 99-year entry ban was imposed on the activists, the statement said, without specifying their identities, nationalities or where they would be deported to.

Settler violence against Palestinians has worsened since the start of the war in Gaza.

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since October 7, 2023, in the occupied West Bank, according to the United Nations, and thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced due to Israeli settler attacks, movement restrictions and home demolitions.

The UN says the first half of 2025 has seen 757 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage – a 13 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

On Sunday, a settler attack in the town of Turmus Aya was captured on camera and showed Israeli settlers descending on Palestinian olive harvesters and activists and beating them with clubs. One woman was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

At least 36 people, including journalists, were injured earlier this month when settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in the Jabal Qamas area of Beita, beating them and setting fire to three vehicles.

More than 700,000 settlers live in 150 settlements and 128 outposts – both illegal under international law – dotting the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Settlers are often armed and frequently accompanied or protected by Israeli soldiers.

In addition to destroying Palestinian property, they have carried out arson attacks and killed Palestinian residents.