Indian Prime Minister Modi hailed the agreement on critical minerals and rare earths as a ‘major step towards building resilient supply chains’.
Brazil and India have signed an agreement to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths, as the Indian government seeks new suppliers to curb its dependence on China.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday and discussed boosting trade and investment opportunities.
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Modi said in a statement that the agreement on critical minerals and rare earths was a “major step towards building resilient supply chains”.
China dominates the mining and processing of the world’s rare-earth and critical minerals, and has increased its grip on exports in recent months as the United States attempts to break its hold on the growing industry.
Still, for Brazil, which follows China as the world’s second-largest holder of critical minerals, its resources are used across a range of fields, including electric vehicles, solar panels, smartphones, jet engines, and guided missiles.
In a statement, Lula said, “increasing investments and cooperation in matters of renewable energies and critical minerals is at the core of the pioneering agreement that we have signed today.”
While few details have emerged about the mineral deal so far, demand for iron ore, a material for which Brazil is the second-largest producer and exporter after Australia, in India has grown amid rapid infrastructure expansion and industrial growth.
Rishabh Jain, an expert with the New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water think tank, told the AFP news agency that India’s growing cooperation with Brazil on critical minerals follows recent supply chain engagements with the US, France and the European Union.
“Global South alliances are critical for securing diversified, on-ground resource access and shaping emerging rules of global trade”, Jain told AFP.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi [Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Trade agreements
India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced that, along with the critical minerals and rare earths deal, nine other agreements were signed, including a memorandum of understanding that ranged from digital cooperation to health.
Moreover, Modi called Brazil India’s “largest trading partner in Latin America”.
“We are committed to taking our bilateral trade beyond $20bn in the coming five years,” he said.
“Our trade is not just a figure, but a reflection of trust,” Modi said, adding that “When India and Brazil work together, the voice of [the] Global South becomes stronger and more confident.”
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also said he was confident that Lula’s talks with Modi “will impart a new momentum to our ties”.
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) in 2024, Indian exports to Brazil reached $7.23bn, with refined petroleum being the main export. On the other hand, Brazilian exports to India reached $5.38bn, with raw sugar being the main export.
The Israeli Knesset is pushing through a bill that, if passed, would allow the occupation authorities to legally execute Palestinians. This development has attracted hardly any international attention, but for Palestinians, it is yet another looming horror.
The bill is part of the deal that allowed the formation of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government in late 2022. It was demanded by Itamar Ben-Gvir, now national security minister, who has led a reign of terror across the West Bank for the past three years.
In November, the bill passed its first reading, and in January, its provisions were revealed: execution carried out within 90 days of sentencing, no appeals, and death by hanging. Palestinians charged with planning attacks or killing Israelis would face the death penalty. Ben-Gvir has repeatedly called for the execution of Palestinians, most recently during his visit to Ofer Prison, where he filmed himself overseeing the abuse of detainees.
That we got to this point is hardly surprising. For decades, the international community has neglected the fate of Palestinian prisoners. In the past two and a half years, there has been almost no global reaction to the mass brutalisation of Palestinians held in Israeli jails with or without charges. Israeli efforts to legalise executions of Palestinian is the logical next step in eliminating the Palestinian question.
‘Prisoners’ or captives?
The use of the term “prisoners” to refer to Palestinians held by Israel is deceptive. It strips this cruelty of its context – the military occupation and colonisation Palestinians live under. Prisoners of war or captives are much more accurate terms. That is because Palestinians are taken away either for resisting the occupation or for no reason at all – for the sake of terrorising their families and communities.
Currently, more than a third of the Palestinians Israel is holding are under “administrative detention” – ie, they are being held without charge – and some are women and children. Palestinians are also “tried” in military courts, which are blatantly biased against the occupied population.
I, myself, was a victim of this system of oppression through unjust detention.
In November 2015, Israeli soldiers burst into my home in Ramallah and took me away. They tortured and isolated me for weeks without even telling me what I was accused of.
Eventually, they came up with an accusation of “incitement”, for which they did not produce any evidence. They kept me under their “administrative detention”, or what is really an arbitrary arrest. The abuse continued, and during one interrogation session, an Israeli officer threatened me with rape.
They treated me like an animal without rights or legal protection. Representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross were prevented from visiting me. I was released only after I went on a hunger strike for three months and my condition deteriorated to a dangerous level.
This happened to me 10 years ago, long before October 7, 2023. Back then, the international community was turning a blind eye to Israel’s violations of international law through administrative detention and abuse.
After October 7, the conditions in Israeli military prisons worsened, with rampant torture, starvation and medical neglect. At least 88 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli detention since then. The international community has remained silent, issuing an occasional weak condemnation.
Legalising the illegal
Israel’s brutal mistreatment of detained Palestinians is in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, which it is a party to. By virtue of being under occupation, Palestinians are considered a protected population and have rights which the Israeli authorities have systematically denied.
Nevertheless, the international community has accepted these flagrant violations. Under the guise of anti-terrorism, the international discourse has transformed Palestinians from an occupied people to threats to Israeli and international security.
Not even the shocking images and testimonies of mass rape at Israeli detention centres managed to overturn this flawed framing.
In this context, the death penalty bill is not an extremist proposal; it fits right into the pattern of the brutalisation of Palestinian detainees.
From the perspective of the Palestinians, this bill is yet another tool of Israeli revenge. If passed, it would spread more fear and further diminish any peaceful resistance against the Israeli settlers’ violent assaults on the Palestinian people and their property.
The bill is also a nightmare for every family that has a member in an Israeli prison. They have already been pushed to the edge by the lack of information about their loved ones since a ban on visiting amid the spike in deaths in detention.
Even more horrific is the prospect that the bill may be applied retroactively. This means anyone with the charges of planning or causing the death of an Israeli could be executed.
There are currently reports in Israeli media that supposedly, the Israeli government is under pressure not to push forward with this law. There have been some suggestions to amend the text to make it more palatable. But we know that Israel will eventually get to executing Palestinians. Just as it has done with other laws, it will deceptively manoeuvre to minimise reactions but still proceed with what it wants to do.
As Israel is well on its way to bulldozing through yet another international legal norm, the most it will likely get is “calls for restraint” or “statements of condemnation”. Such weak rhetoric has enabled its onslaught against international law for the past few decades, and especially during the past two and a half years.
If the international community wants to salvage what is left of the international legal regime and save face, it is time to radically change its approach.
Instead of making weak statements about respect for international law, they must impose sanctions on Israel. Israeli officials who have been accused of committing crimes against Palestinians should not be hosted but held to account.
Only then can there be hope for the safe and peaceful return of all Palestinian prisoners – something that was already agreed upon during the Oslo Accords. And only then can there be hope that Israeli efforts to dismantle international law so it can do as it pleases in Palestine will be stopped.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Our present podcast era has bred a new generation of interlocutors from the public sphere, veteran interviewees turned journalists. Harper Simon is among the many pro musicians who have taken on the role of insatiably curious interrogator. The singer-songwriter, who is the son of Paul Simon, has made four solo albums and toured the country both as a solo artist and sideman, but it wasn’t until he was tapped by music manager Michael Lustig in 2016 to host an internet series called “Talk Show” that Simon found his new avocation.
The cream of Simon’s interviews have now been collected in “Thinking Out Loud,” which is published by L..A. imprint Hat & Beard Press. I chatted with Simon about the art of the interview, Pink Floyd and Ed Snowden.
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An exclusive look at what we’re reading, book club events and our latest author interviews.
I have found that people who have been interviewed a lot are good at interviewing others. They know how to avoid the banal and obvious questions.
I’m not a trained journalist, so the conversations were closer to what Andy Warhol’s “Interview” magazine used to be. More of a casual back-and-forth, rather than me trying to ask questions or having someone promote their product. So the book is really a combination of folks that I’ve known my whole life and others that I just asked to interview.
Interviewing public figures can be a very stilted experience. And then you wind up not getting much of anything.
Interviews with journalists are a funny thing. There is always this weird, uncomfortable hierarchical relationship, where the journalist might feel superior, or the subject feels that way. It creates this strange imbalance. The journalist might feel the need to wrest some hot information from the subject, or find some aha moment and then the subject gets their guard up. I feel like the interviews in my book are very relaxed. You’re going to get some truth, even if it’s a modest truth. There were some interviews I left out of the book because the subjects seemed too media trained or too guarded.
Some of your interviewees, like Eric Idle and Buck Henry, are people you’ve known your entire life, having grown up with your dad in that kind of very stimulating artistic milieu. Does that help or hurt?
I think I might get better material from folks like that. There’s a warmth there, but I’m also a huge fan of their work, so I want to hear about Eric Idle’s work with Monty Python, or Buck Henry hosting “Saturday Night Live.” There are still plenty of stories that I’ve never heard.
Harper Simon, the artist and son of Paul Simon, has released three solo albums and toured the country. His latest project is a collection of interviews.
(Demme)
Someone like Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has been interviewed hundreds of times in his career. What is there left to ask?
It’s kind of like my father, where the legacy is so familiar and well-known, what is there left to be said? What is there left to say about “Dark Side of The Moon”? But it turned out to be a really good interview. He had some great things to say about [Pink Floyd founder] Syd Barrett, how Gilmour felt like the other members had behaved callously towards him at times. He also speaks with great warmth about his own family.
Harry Dean Stanton is in the book, and I have to empathize. He was by far the most difficult interview subject I’ve ever had to deal with. A man of few words.
It’s funny, because I wound up doing some projects with Harry Dean, like this big tribute event to help raise money for Vidiots in Eagle Rock, but even after all of that, we didn’t get any closer. He was a very hard person to know.
You interviewed James Woolsey, and you guys were definitely not on the same page, but the tone remains civil. Don’t you think it’s important to have a reasoned discourse with someone you don’t agree with politically?
Absolutely, but that was one that definitely became contentious at times. James Woolsey had been the former head of the CIA under Clinton. So I came into the interview feeling very outgunned. I’m not a trained political journalist. But somehow I had gotten it in my head that I was Abbie Hoffman and he was J. Edgar Hoover or something. This was 10 years ago, and Edward Snowden was the big story in the news. So I led with that, and Jim Woolsey, being a good CIA man with very strong convictions, felt that Snowden was a traitor. But then he said he would like to see him hung by his neck, which felt aggressive. Then things really went off the rails when we somehow got locked into a discussion about Israel and Palestine. I remember him saying to me, “You’re just parroting the talking points of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Now I found those words echoing in my thoughts when I listen to some people discuss the current situation. I respected him and enjoyed the conversation but it was intense. I thought I held my own reasonably well but he was a tough guy to get in the ring with.
(This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
📰 The Week(s) in Books
“‘Second Skin’ is more sociological than sexy; more anthropological than animalistic,” writes Meredith Maran.
(Los Angeles Times illustration; book jacket from Catapult)
Meredith Maran thinks Anastasiia Fedorova’s book “Second Skin” does a great job of busting open the taboo of what is commonly regarded as deviant sexual desire. The book “advocates for a person’s right to like what they like and to get it consensually,” writes Maran.
Victoria Lancaster has a chat with Emily Nemens about her new novel “Clutch” and the challenges of writing about midlife among a clutch of close female friends. “I was cognizant of balance and understanding the lazy-Susan of it,” says Nemens. “Making sure I was spinning all the way around the table and touching each piece in each storyline.”
Two new novels about game-changing women in history — Janet Rich Edwards’ “Canticle” and Paula McLain’s “Skylark” — find favor with Bethanne Patrick. What these books “get right about their very different heroines and time periods is that change doesn’t happen overnight. … [But] change can and does happen, one determined woman at a time.”
Finally, on the occasion of the new screen adaptation of “Wuthering Heights,”six authors weigh in on their love of Emily Brontë’s enduring romance novel.
📖 Bookstore Faves
Skylight Books on Vermont is a staple of the Los Feliz literati.
(Joel Barhamand/For the Times)
Let us praise Skylight Books, which for over 30 years has remained a pillar of its Los Feliz community, with the main shop and the arts annex just a few doors away from each other on Vermont Boulevard. Store manager Mary Wiliams tells us what her customers are sweeping off the shelves right now.
What is selling right now?
“Vigil” by George Saunders is our biggest seller right now. Aside from that, it seems like great recent fiction in paperback is dominating the bestseller list — “Rejection” by Tony Tulathimutte, “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” by Haruki Murakami, “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar, and “All Fours” by Miranda July all are books that keep on selling really well for us, month after month.
Do you sell more fiction than nonfiction, or is it a tie?
We sell a good amount of both, but fiction is the bigger seller. Especially literary fiction, which is our bread and butter. On the nonfiction front, “Everything Now” by Rosecrans Baldwin is a perennial bestseller out of our Regional section — it’s a great collection of essays about Los Angeles. And everything Patti Smith touches turns to gold, so her book “Bread of Angels” is also a hit here.
Your arts annex is unlike anything else in L.A. I suppose there is still a market for cool periodicals and expensive art books that the internet hasn’t knocked out?
Our goal with the annex is for it to be a place of discoverability — where you can find the weird cool art book, comic or magazine you didn’t know you needed. We hope even our customers who are well-versed in art books find something new every visit. A fair amount of what we carry isn’t widely available online in the U.S., so when we put it on our website in our Annex Picks section and advertise it in our newsletter, we get orders from around the country.
Skylight Books in Los Angeles is located at 1818 North Vermont Ave.
(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)
More than 150 giant tortoises have been released on Ecuador’s Floreana Island in the Galapagos, nearly 150 years after they disappeared. The reintroduction is part of a long-term effort to restore the island’s ecosystem.
Kharkiv regional administration head, Oleh Syniehubov, reported that 175 ‘combat clashes’ were recorded over the past 24 hours.
Published On 21 Feb 202621 Feb 2026
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A Russian attack on the Kharkiv region killed two police officers Saturday during an evacuation in the village of Seredniy Burlyk, as Moscow and Kyiv continue trading attacks.
The head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, reported that the city and 10 populated areas had been subjected to Russian attacks over the past 24 hours.
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In Seredniy Burlyk, five people were also wounded by shelling.
“Over the past 24 hours, 175 combat clashes were recorded. On the South-Slobozhansky direction, the enemy four times stormed the positions of our units in the areas of the populated settlements of Staritsa, Lyman, Vovchansky Khutory, and Krugle,” Syniehubov wrote.
Moreover, three people were injured, including a woman, after a Russian air strike targeted one of the private sectors of Sumy, the National Police of Sumy Oblast reported.
According to the police, the Russian attack destroyed two residential buildings and damaged at least 10 neighbouring houses and a gas pipe.
It added that three people who were injured included two children aged five and 17, as well as a 70-year-old woman who was hospitalised.
Attack on an industrial site
Ukrainian drones targeted an industrial site in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, injuring 11 people, three of whom were hospitalised, according to the local health minister, Sergei Bagin, who issued an update on Telegram.
The head of the Udmurt Republic, Alexander Brechalov, also wrote in a Telegram post that “one of the republic’s facilities was attacked by drones”, adding that injuries and damage were reported.
Brechalov did not elaborate on what the targeted facility was responsible for. However, an unofficial Russian Telegram channel, ASTRA, reported after analysing footage from residents that the strike targeted the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a major state defence enterprise.
The Votkinsk factory produces Iskander ballistic missiles, which are often used against Ukraine, as well as nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Ukraine’s military confirmed the attack on the Votkinsk factory and said in a post on Facebook that a “fire was recorded on the territory of the object. The results are getting real.”
The army added that its troops hit a Russian gas processing plant in the Samara region, which caused a fire.
Separately, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported that Ukrainian drones were attempting to attack production facilities in Almetyevsk in Russia’s Tatarstan region, citing the head of the city as saying that defence systems were operating.
Russia’s RIA news agency also reported, citing the defence ministry, that Moscow’s forces took control of the village of Karpivka in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Fans of the iconic group were left heartbroken when Jesy announced she was quitting the band in 2020, citing mental health reasons.
She left her bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall to continue carrying the torch, but they soon went on a hiatus in 2022.
The X Factor winners’ legacy is still carried by their catchy tunes, which still attract over 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
In light of Jesy sharing behind-the-scenes truths about the band, let’s take a look at where they are today.
Jesy Nelson
Jesy has recently opened up about her life since leaving the band in a new Prime Video docuseries, Life After Little Mix.
The 34-year-old had a short-lived solo music career because her first single sparked backlash. She released ‘Boyz’ featuring Nicki Minaj in 2021, and followed it up with a music video.
Fans accused Jesy of ‘Blackfishing’ in the video, which featured her wearing makeup and fake tan that they claim made her appear Black or mixed-race. This scandal caused so much headache for the star that she vowed to never return to music in her new documentary.
Outside of music, Jesy was in a long-term relationship with ex fiancé Zion Foster, which came to an end earlier this month. The former couple welcomed twin daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe in May 2025.
Following their birth, the singer discovered they had a life-threatening condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1. The rare genetic condition causes progressive muscle weakness. Jesy is now campaigning to raise awareness about the condition.
Perrie Edwards
Perrie focused on her family life following the group’s hiatus in May 2022, as she had just welcomed her first son Axel months prior.
The 32-year-old has since welcomed daughter Alanis with footballer fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But she hasn’t forgotten about music. The mum-of-two released her debut album ‘Perrie’ last year and dropped new single ‘Woman in Love’ earlier this month.
The lyrics delve into the pain of losing a close friendship and how these losses can be just as devastating as romantic break ups.
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Leigh-Anne also married a famous footballer named Andre Gray. The couple share twins but have kept their identities private.
As for her music career, Leigh-Anne has just dropped her first studio album ‘My Ego Told Me To’ and will be touring this April.
Announcing her tour to fans, she wrote: “I’m going on tour baby!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am to perform this album live for you! Get me back to my happy place nowww! This one’s going to be so special!”
Jade Thirlwall
Jade is also embarking on a tour, which spans across the UK, Europe and the US. It comes after her first album ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’ dropped in September.
The 33-year-old bagged two BRIT Award nominations for Best Pop Act and Artist of the Year following her debut.
As for her personal life, Jade is in a long-term relationship with Rizzle Kicks members Jordan Stephens.
Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix is streaming now on Prime Video.
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An explosive-laden motorcycle rammed vehicle in security forces convoy, military says.
Published On 21 Feb 202621 Feb 2026
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Two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, have been killed during a military operation when a fighter driving an explosive-laden motorcycle rammed a security convoy vehicle in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province near the border with Afghanistan, according to the country’s army.
The deadly clash took place on Saturday in KP’s Bannu district, with the Pakistani military saying at least five armed fighters, including one it described as “a suicide bomber” were also killed during the operation.
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The military said that the bomber was stopped by the leading security team, preventing his attempt to attack civilians and law enforcement personnel and averting “a major catastrophe”.
The army referred to the fighters as “khawarij” – the term it uses for banned groups, including the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration in Kabul of providing refuge to the TTP, a banned Pakistani group separate from but linked to the Afghan Taliban, though Kabul has denied the allegations.
The two countries had previously clashed in a brief border conflict in October last year.
“Pakistan will not exercise any restrain and operations would continue against the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act for justified retribution against khwarij, irrespective of their location,” the statement said.
“Such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” it said.
Repeated attacks
Bannu has long been a frequent flashpoint for armed violence, with repeated attacks on security forces and police checkpoints in recent years.
Security officials have reported strikes on police installations, suicide bombings and armed assaults in the district, part of a broader surge in armed rebel group activity across KP after the TTP ended a ceasefire with the government in late 2022.
Earlier this week, two bomb attacks and a gun battle between police and rebel fighters killed more than a dozen people in the province. One child and 11 security personnel were killed in an attack in Bajaur district, the Pakistani military said, while seven others, including women and children, were injured in the incident.
Who: India vs South Africa What: T20 World Cup Super Eights Where: Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India When: Sunday, February 22, at 7pm (13:30 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 10:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.
Defending champions and tournament co-hosts India begin their Super Eights phase on Sunday against the team they defeated in the 2024 final, South Africa.
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Both sides stormed through the group stage of the 2026 edition and look heavy favourites to at least reach the semifinals, with the Indians clear favourites to lift the trophy once again.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the most mouth-watering match-up of two of the heavy contenders for the crown so far at the tournament.
India gunning for South Africa’s top order
India’s bowlers will target early wickets against South Africa, said bowling coach Morne Morkel on Friday.
“We know that their top order gives them that momentum, with Quinton (de Kock) and Aiden (Markram) up front in good form and hitting the ball very well,” said the former South Africa quick bowler Morkel.
“We will definitely put our best foot forward to try and get those early wickets.”
How did India reach the T20 World Cup Super Eights?
India stormed their group to claim top spot with four wins from four. A slightly nervous start against USA was followed by a thumping 93-run win against Namibia.
The game everyone had their eyes on was the latest pairing with rivals Pakistan, which resulted in a 61-run win, while the final game saw the Netherlands fall only 17 runs short of their 194 target.
How did South Africa reach the T20 World Cup Super Eights?
South Africa opened their tournament with a 57-run win against Canada, but needed a Super Over to confirm their win against Afghanistan in their second match.
New Zealand were given a thumping by the Proteas, who claimed a seven-wicket win to confirm their passage to the Super Eights with a game to spare, before completing the group with a six-wicket win against the UAE.
India expect Abhishek to return to form soon
While Markram’s South Africa have looked strong in all departments, tournament favourites India have not enjoyed batting consistency, with opener Abhishek Sharma out of form. Morkel, though, predicts he will be back among the runs soon.
Morkel said the left-hander, who has recorded three consecutive ducks, was just one innings away from getting back in the zone.
“Absolutely no discussion in our team group about that,” said Morkel about Abhishek’s failure to score in any of the matches yet.
“He is a world-class player. We are going to a very important phase of the World Cup now and I am sure he is going to deliver.
“I am pretty sure he is hitting the ball in the nets.
“It is just a matter of getting the start and getting the innings going.”
Can South Africa be the team to stop India at the T20 World Cup?
Morkel acknowledged South Africa have been one of the form teams of the T20 World Cup so far.
“They are a team that’s full of confidence,” said Morkel.
“They have got guys at the top who are in form. In terms of weaknesses, there aren’t many.”
South Africa have also shown guts when needed, coming out victorious after two nerve-shredding super overs against Afghanistan.
“For us it comes down, on the day, to how well we execute with the bat and the ball,” said Morkel of defending champions India.
“It’s going to be world-class players against each other. It is going to be a mouth-watering thing.”
(Al Jazeera)
What is India’s record in T20 World Cup cricket?
Not only are India the defending champions after their victory against South Africa at the 2024 edition, but they are also the joint-record winners of the T20 World Cup.
The Indian side won their inaugural event in 2007, beating Pakistan in the final, but that made for a long wait for their second win at the last edition.
England and the West Indies have both also recorded two tournament wins.
What is South Africa’s record in T20 World Cup cricket?
South Africa still await their first T20 World Cup title. In fact, the wait goes on for the Proteas to lift any trophy at a major ICC tournament.
Their seven-run defeat at the hands of India in the 2024 edition was their first appearance in a final of either a T20 World Cup or a 50-over Cricket World Cup.
South Africa make surprise wholesale T20 changes for future tour
South Africa have named a much-changed squad that includes five uncapped players for their five-match Twenty20 tour of New Zealand next month, leaving behind most of the team that have qualified for the Super Eights at the ongoing World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Batters Connor Esterhuizen, Dian Forrester and Jordan Hermann, all-rounder Eathan Bosch and teenage seamer Nqobani Mokoena will all hope to make their international debuts on the tour.
Hermann is the younger brother of Rubin, who is also in the squad and has been capped in One Day Internationals and T20 matches for South Africa, while Bosch is the younger sibling of Corbin, who has impressed at the World Cup.
The side will be captained by spinner Keshav Maharaj, with a return for seamers Gerald Coetzee, Lutho Sipamla and Ottneil Baartman.
Three players from the current World Cup squad will tour: Maharaj, spinner George Linde and all-rounder Jason Smith.
“With this series taking place directly after the T20 World Cup, the majority of that squad will return home, which creates a great opportunity for this group of players to step into the international environment and show what they’re about at this level,” South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said.
The five-match series will be played between March 15 and 25.
Head-to-head
This will be the 36th meeting between the sides in T20 internationals. India have won 21 of the matches, while South Africa have claimed victory on 13 occasions with one no result/abandonment.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj
KATIE Price appears to be planning to double down on defying her family’s warning about her husband – by marrying him for a second time.
The 47-year-old wed Lee Andrews last month in a whirlwind ceremony in Dubai just days after meeting in person.
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Katie Price posted about having another weddingCredit: InstagramShe wed Lee Andrews last monthCredit: Instagram/@wesleeeandrewsShe appears to be thinking about her second wedding dressCredit: BackGrid
Weeks after breaking up with Married At First Sight’s JJ Slater,Katie posted photos of her wedding proposal, with flowers spelling “Will you marry me?” at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa hotel.
He has not yet travelled to the UK to meet her family or kids.
Katie Price’s relationship history
We take a look back at the highs and lows of Katie Price’s relationship history.
1996-1998: Katie got engaged to Gladiators star Warren Furman – aka Ace – with a £3,000 ring. But their relationship didn’t make it as far as ‘I do’.
1998-2000: Katie described Dane Bowers as ‘the love of her life’ but she broke up with the singer after he allegedly cheated on her.
2001: Footballer Dwight Yorke is the father of Katie’s eldest child Harvey. He has had very little to do with his son throughout his life.
2002: Rebounding from Dwight, Katie famously had one night of passion with Pop Idol star Gareth Gates, allegedly taking his virginity.
2002-2004: Katie was dating Scott Sullivan when she entered the jungle for I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!. He threatened to “punch Peter’s lights out” when chemistry blossomed between her and Peter Andre.
2004-2009: The jungle romance resulted in Katie marrying Aussie pop star Peter. They had two kids, Junior and Princess, before their bitter split in 2009.
2010-2011: Fresh from her break-up with Peter, Katie enjoyed a whirlwind relationship and marriage with cage fighter Alex Reid. They split 20 months after their Las Vegas wedding.
2011: Katie briefly dated model Danny Cipriani… but it ended as quickly as it begun.
2011-2012: They didn’t speak the same language, but Katie got engaged to Argentinian model Leandro Penna in 2011. He later fled home to South America.
2012-2018: Wedding bells rang once more after Katie met Kieran Hayler in 2013. They eventually called it quits after a rocky marriage.
2018-2019: Katie moved on quickly with Kris Boyson. They had an on-off romance for one year and even got engaged. They split for good in 2019.
2019: Katie was linked to Charles Drury during her on-off relationship with Kris. Charles, who also dated Lauren Goodger, has always denied being in “official relationship” with her.
2020-2023: Car salesman Carl Woods took a shine to Katie in 2020. Their relationship was up and down for three years. They broke up for a final time last year.
2024-2026: After weeks of rumours, Katie confirmed her relationship with Married At First Sight star JJ Slater in February 2024. The pair split in January 2026 after two years together.
2026: Katie shocked fans when she revealed she had married Dubai-based businessman Lee Andrews after a 48-hour engagement and only knowing him a week.
Kim Yong-min, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s Bill Review Subcommittee No. 1, opens a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 20 to review a proposed amendment to the Pardon Act. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
Feb. 20 (Asia Today) — A National Assembly subcommittee on Thursday approved a third revision to South Korea’s Commercial Act that would in principle require listed companies to cancel repurchased shares within a year, shifting key decisions from boards to shareholders.
The bill cleared the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s Bill Review Subcommittee No. 1. It sets a one-year deadline for canceling newly acquired buyback shares and gives companies six months to comply for company-held shares already on their books.
Rep. Oh Ki-hyung of the Democratic Party told reporters the core change is requiring companies to decide their shares-held-in-treasury disposal plans at an annual shareholders meeting rather than leaving the matter to boards.
He said directors could face administrative fines of up to 50 million won ($34,500) if the company fails to cancel the shares within the required period.
Oh said the measure is not an unconditional mandate to cancel repurchased shares, arguing that companies could keep them for extended periods if they obtain approval from shareholders.
The revision also adds language allowing boards to pass resolutions on capital-reduction procedures when buyback shares acquired for specific purposes are canceled, lawmakers said.
Hundreds of US troops have been pulled out of the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, The New York Times reported Friday, citing anonymous Pentagon sources.
The report also said forces have been evacuated from Bahrain, where the US Navy’s 5th Fleet is based.
American forces remain stationed at bases in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
The withdrawal is being interpreted as a precautionary measure amid rising tensions about a possible US. attack on Iran, with Tehran expected to respond by striking American forces in the region.
The US military’s Central Command, which covers Iran and much of the surrounding region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a letter Thursday to the UN secretary-general, the head of Iran’s mission to the UN said if Iran were attacked, then “all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets,” and the “United States would bear full and direct responsibility for any unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences.”
Al Udeid is the largest US military base in the Middle East, hosting 10,000 troops.
Disneyland Resort’s high percentage of California visitors has helped mitigate a dip in international tourists, an executive said Thursday.
More than 50% of the Anaheim theme park’s audience has typically been from California, Thomas Mazloum, president of Disneyland Resort, told reporters during a media event at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa. As a result, the company has been able to quickly shift marketing focus to that audience, as well as its ongoing efforts to boost out-of-state attendance.
Company executives said they expected to see “modest” growth in its operating income for its experiences sector — which includes Disney’s theme parks — due to “headwinds” in foreign visitation trends to its domestic parks, as well as pre-launch costs for its new cruise ship and a “Frozen”-themed land in Disneyland Paris.
And as Disneyland Resort hit its 70th anniversary last year, the park is looking to grow and find new audiences to stay relevant for the future.
Because of the large number of California visitors, the company recently expanded its traditional deal for Southern California locals to all residents of the Golden State. Disneyland Resort has also made its lowest-price entry ticket of $104 available year-round to active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces, and introduced a new summer promotion pricing a one-day, park-hopper kids’ ticket at $50 a day.
The theme park is also looking to attract more young families. To that end, Disneyland Resort will open an immersive theater experience called “Bluey’s Best Day Ever!” on March 22 at the Fantasyland Theatre, a nod to the massive appeal of Australian animated show “Bluey.”
“I continue to say how critical it is to expand the audience,” Mazloum said. “I still see a lot of opportunity for people who haven’t discovered Disneyland yet.”
Disney California Adventure’s Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! ride will also stay open into 2027, Mazloum said. The ride was originally scheduled to be retired this year to make way for an “Avatar” ride and experience, but after some planning from the engineering and operations teams, it can now stay open without negatively affecting construction and project progress, he said.
The park is also looking to increase spontaneity for visitors, and will eliminate the current 11 a.m. start time for park-hopping later this year, allowing guests to move back and forth between the parks at their leisure, Mazloum said.
The plans for growth at Disneyland Resort come as Disney recently named theme parks chief Josh D’Amaro as its new chief executive. The theme parks sector he previously oversaw is Disney’s economic engine, providing the majority of the company’s operating income in the last few years.
Fishermen pack squid into boxes at Jumunjin Port on South Korea’s east coast, 04 June 2015, as the busy squid-fishing season gets under way. File. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
Feb. 20 (Asia Today) — The number of fishing vessels over 10 tons in North Gyeongsang Province has fallen nearly 16% over the past five years as squid stocks along South Korea’s East Sea coast continue to decline, government data show.
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ fisheries statistics portal, 369 vessels exceeding 10 tons were registered in Gyeongbuk in 2024, down from 438 in 2020, a 15.7% decrease.
Local fishermen have long relied on squid as a primary source of income. In 2020, catches of Pacific flying squid in the region reached 20,653 tons, accounting for more than half of total production. By 2023, that figure had plunged to 2,793 tons, an 86% drop in four years.
Analysts attribute the decline in part to rising sea temperatures that have pushed spawning and feeding grounds northward, causing juvenile squid to remain longer in northern Gangwon Province and waters near North Korea.
Some observers also point to large-scale fishing activity by Chinese vessels in North Korean waters. In 2020, Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit monitoring group, reported that squid populations in South Korean and Japanese waters had fallen about 80% since 2003, linking the decline to foreign fishing in North Korean waters.
The group said more than 900 large Chinese vessels were found operating in the area in violation of U.N. sanctions and estimated they harvested more than 160,000 tons of Pacific flying squid worth roughly $500 million between 2017 and 2018 – an amount comparable to the combined annual catch of South Korea and Japan.
As nearshore squid stocks dwindle, distant-water fishing has expanded. In Busan, the number of vessels over 200 tons rose 18%, from 273 in 2020 to 321 in 2024, even as mid-sized vessels declined.
Overall registered fishing vessels in Busan remained relatively stable at 3,339 in 2024, compared with 3,333 four years earlier, but the fleet composition shifted toward larger ships.
Government data show distant-water squid production nearly doubled from 31,500 tons in 2023 to 63,200 tons in 2024.
Industry groups said a recently passed amendment to the Coastal and Inshore Fisheries Structural Improvement Act could provide a more stable exit path for fishing households facing financial strain.
Tehran, Iran – The Iranian government has again blamed “terrorists” for the killings of thousands during last month’s nationwide protests after United States President Donald Trump and human rights experts weighed in.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that the government has released a list of 3,117 people, whom he described as “victims of recent terrorist operation”, including about 200 security personnel.
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“If anyone disputes accuracy of our data, please share any evidence,” the diplomat, who has previously stated that 690 people on the list were “terrorists” armed and funded by the US and Israel, wrote on X.
Araghchi’s comments come hours after the US president told reporters that 32,000 people were killed during the protests, adding that “the people of Iran have lived in hell” under the theocratic establishment.
The Iranian foreign minister has also been speaking with multiple US media outlets to advocate for a “fair” agreement with Washington over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The threat of war looms increasingly large over the country and potentially the region, with Serbia on Saturday becoming the latest country to call on all its citizens to immediately leave Iran.
‘Majority of those killed are ordinary people’
Mai Sato, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, has said more than 20,000 civilians may have been killed, but information remains limited amid heavy internet filtering by the state, six weeks after a nationwide communications blackout was imposed.
The US-based HRANA says it has documented more than 7,000 people killed during the nationwide protests, and is investigating nearly 12,000 more cases.
Sato was among 30 special rapporteurs and international human rights experts who signed a joint statement on Friday calling on Iranian authorities to fully disclose the fate and whereabouts of tens of thousands arrested, forcibly disappeared or missing in the aftermath of the nationwide protests, and to halt all related death sentences and executions.
“The true scale of the violent crackdown on Iranian protesters remains impossible to determine at this point,” the experts said. “The discrepancy between official figures and grassroots estimates only deepens the anguish of families searching for their loved ones and displays a profound disregard for human rights and accountability.”
The international experts added that “the vast majority of those detained or killed are ordinary people, including children, from all provinces and diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as Afghan nationals”, in addition to lawyers representing protesters, medical professionals who treated the wounded, journalists and writers, artists and human rights defenders.
Iranian state media were accused of regularly broadcasting what the experts said are “widely regarded as forced confessions”.
The latest such incident came on Saturday, when the official Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary released footage from a court session for three men who said they regret setting fire to motorcycles, a mosque and copies of the Quran in Tehran during the unrest.
Also on Saturday, some students in Tehran and across the country returned to university campuses for the first time, as authorities kept universities closed and took some classes and exams online in the aftermath of the protests.
In Tehran’s Sharif University, one of the most prestigious in the country, students clashed after two separate demonstrations. Videos circulating online showed students shouting “dishonourables” at a group of paramilitary Basij students affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who chanted back in favour of the establishment.
The clashes come amid a heightened security atmosphere in Iranian schools and university dormitories. Teachers and schools in a number of cities near the capital went on strike last week to protest the killing of at least 230 children and teenagers, as well as increased presence of security forces in classrooms.
Families dance in defiant grief
The Iranian government held mourning events on Tuesday and Wednesday in Tehran, with some officials in attendance.
Culture Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri announced on Saturday that the government has decided to call the upcoming ceremonies around Newroz, the new Iranian year starting in late March, an exercise in “unity and empathy” with the aim of “getting past the grief” of thousands killed.
But numerous families have been holding defiant commemoration events of their own over the past week to mark 40 days since the killing of their loved ones during the anti-establishment protests.
Footage from many ceremonies across the country this week showed family members, and large crowds gathered to support them, proudly holding up images of those killed and celebrating their shortened lives.
Many chose to clap, play traditional drums and cymbals, and even dance in symbolic shows of resistance and defiance that heavily clash with religious rituals favoured by the theocratic state.
“May your pen break, O fate, if you do not write about that which befell us,” the father of Abolfazl MirAeez, a 33-year-old killed in the city of Gorgan in the northern province of Golestan, told crowds gathered at a ceremony on Thursday.
“My son was neither a rioter, nor an embezzler nor an aghazadeh [child of an elite]. He was the son of a farmer.”
Director Sang-il Lee sets his epic-scaled “Kokuho” in the vivid world of kabuki theater, but it’s not just the movie’s milieu that distinguishes it. Spanning 50 years and running nearly three hours, “Kokuho,” which has become Japan’s biggest live-action hit ever, evinces intensely mixed feelings about its two main characters’ quest for greatness. Kabuki is presented as an art form of balletic skill, but it can never fully redeem or repair the film’s central figures, who once were friends before ambition got in the way.
In 1964 Nagasaki, 14-year-old Kikuo (Soya Kurokawa) performs at a New Year’s event, impressing Hanjiro (Ken Watanabe), a beloved kabuki legend. But after Kikuo’s father, a yakuza crime boss, is murdered, Hanjiro takes the grieving teen under his wing. Soon, Hanjiro is training Kikuo and his own son Shunsuke (Keitatsu Koshiyama) in his Osaka studio to become “onnagata” — male kabuki actors who portray female characters. Both sweet and bashful, Kikuo and Shunsuke quickly grow close, enduring Hanjiro’s exacting requirements as he shapes them to be graceful, disciplined performers.
“Kokuho” then fast-forwards to the early 1970s as we meet the grown-up versions of Kikuo (Ryo Yoshizawa) and Shunsuke (Ryusei Yokohama). Now practically brothers, the young men are making their name as a well-regarded kabuki duo, but their personalities have begun to diverge. Kikuo remains soft-spoken, while Shunsuke is more of a partier and big talker, dominating their interviews with local journalists. Hanjiro still thinks highly of them both, although each pupil faces disadvantages. Kikuo is more gifted but in this nepotistic art form, being part of a respected kabuki lineage is crucial, something this yakuza scion doesn’t possess. Shunsuke, meanwhile, lacks his friend’s formidable technique, but because he’s Hanjiro’s son, his future prospects are practically assured. Kikuo and Shunsuke complement one another as performers but a shocking turn of events will sever their bond.
Adapting a novel by Shuichi Yoshida, Lee maps the arc of a friendship while exploring the minutiae of kabuki, both on stage and behind the scenes. (The movie’s Oscar-nominated makeup is an acknowledgment of the blinding-white face paint and bright red lipstick that kabuki actors wear to transform into their roles.) Much like ballet, kabuki necessitates precise choreographed actions: Not only does “Kokuho” provide generous samples of different kabuki pieces but also includes captions that list the title of the individual works and a brief synopsis. Rarely do these pieces directly echo the two men’s interpersonal drama, but the information adds context to the actors’ enchanting movements, which are backed by gorgeous outfits and striking set design that accentuate the mythical tales being played out.
Kikuo and Shunsuke’s fortunes shift over the decades — one of them will literally be kicked when he’s down on two separate occasions — but Lee doesn’t let us settle on a definitive impression of either performer. Our sympathies change as we witness both men’s failings as well as their enduring virtues. “Kokuho” is a hearty melodrama with a little bit of everything — sex scandals, betrayals, unlikely comebacks, health scares — but the film’s gaudy plot twists (which shouldn’t be spoiled) belie the filmmaker’s unsentimental attitude regarding stardom’s perils. Refreshingly, “Kokuho” is that rare film to be un-awed by talent alone. Both Kikuo and Shunsuke will enjoy high highs and low lows, but it’s their perseverance that ultimately means more than arbitrary benchmarks like “genius” or “brilliance.”
The film’s title translates to “national treasure,” another clichéd term thrown around when trying to categorize greatness. Kikuo and Shunsuke revere kabuki’s bygone giants, who are affixed with that moniker. But as “Kokuho’s” characters seek such an accolade for themselves, they come to realize how misleading it is. Yoshizawa and Yokohama bring abiding tenderness to their characters’ friendship while refusing to allow either protagonist to be reduced to a simple set of qualities. Kikuo’s delicate features suggest a pure soul, but Yoshizawa gradually reveals other sides to this gifted, haunted performer. And Yokohama ably depicts a privileged young man who rightly views his good fortune as both blessing and curse.
Their lives intersect, then disentangle, then return to each other’s orbit again. That elegant dance matches what we see on stage, the kabuki performances melding melancholy and beauty, anguish and catharsis.
Who: Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal What: English Premier League Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK When: Sunday, February 22 at 4:30pm (16:30 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Arsenal will look to banish their untimely bout of title race anxiety as the wobbling Premier League leaders head to bitter rivals Tottenham for the north London derby.
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Mikel Arteta’s men are in danger of blowing a commanding position in the title race after successive draws against Brentford and Wolves left them with just two wins in their last seven league matches.
The Gunners squandered the lead in both matches, with Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at bottom-of-the-table Wolves especially galling as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser having led 2-0.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side will move two points behind Arsenal if they beat Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s new coach, Igor Tudor, faces a baptism of fire in his first game in charge of the club as he is tasked with steering Spurs out of a relegation battle.
Thomas Frank was sacked as Tottenham manager following the defeat to Newcastle earlier in February, as a dire domestic campaign has left Spurs in 16th place going into the weekend, just five points above the relegation zone.
Saka urges Arsenal to ‘get over the line’
On February 7, Arsenal players walked off the field after a convincing 3-0 home win against Sunderland with their lead in the Premier League at nine points. Then things started to go wrong.
Defiant Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka is adamant his side will eventually “get over the line” and end their trophy drought.
After allowing City to overhaul them in the 2023 and 2024 title races, the north Londoners, who have not won silverware since the 2020 FA Cup, face pointed questions about their ability to handle the mounting tension.
Saka said Arsenal must silence the doubters by getting back on track at archrivals Tottenham on Sunday.
“I believe the next few years are going to be the years that we get over the line, and we’re able to win trophies and make history for this club,” Saka said. “We’re back where we belong, fighting for everything.”
Saka in action against Wolves at Molineux on February 18 [Carl Recine/Getty Images]
Arteta dismisses ‘bottlers’ talk
Arsenal’s boss rejected the term “bottlers’ ahead of Sunday’s Premier League visit to Tottenham Hotspur.
“It’s not part of my vocabulary and I don’t see it like this because I don’t think anybody wants to do that as an intention,” Arteta told reporters on Friday, when asked about the term being used regarding their latest wobble in the title race.
“That’s individual opinion, perspective. You have to respect that. That’s what I said after in the press conference. You lose two points against Wolves in the manner that the game played out, you have to take it on the chin. It’s part of our role.”
“What I’m very interested in is the next one, what we are made of, what we love about this and how we write our own destiny from here.”
‘No time to find excuses’
Tottenham Hotspur’s new interim head coach Tudor says instilling the players with confidence is his most urgent task.
“First priority is to give everything the team needs in these moments. The team need, I believe, first of all, to get some confidence, to get some courage, but also, in same way, the concrete things in the pitch,” Tudor told Spursplay.
“Of course, I’m coming here knowing that situation is not easy. There is no time to find excuses. What I said from the first day here, each of us, need to give something more, something extra.”
He added: “The position of the club in this moment is one that nobody can accept. Every Tottenham fan cannot accept the situation. We are aware of that. But it’s not enough to just be aware of that.”
The 47-year-old former Juventus coach Igor Tudor has been brought in until the end of the season [File: AFP]
Tudor wants a team prepared to ‘suffer’
While Tudor is aware of the significance of a derby win over Arsenal, he is more concerned with building a strong team spirit to help fuel their survival bid.
“I understand the importance of this game. This is a derby, a north London derby,” he said.
“This is a team that is full of quality, full of talented players, with good motor engines. But my goal in these first training sessions is that we become a team, with a really right way of going to war.
“A team who want to suffer. To fight, to run, to have the right mentality. This is the start.”
Head-to-head
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have locked horns on 212 occasions; Arsenal won 90 of the games, while Spurs won 67, and 55 were draws.
Arsenal are now unbeaten against Spurs in their last seven games. Earlier this season, Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick in November as the Gunners thrashed Tottenham 4-1 at the Emirates.
Arteta’s side also did the double over their bitter local rivals in 2024-25, winning 1-0 at Tottenham and earning a 2-1 victory at home.
Tottenham’s team news
Spurs were dealt a big blow when promising young winger Wilson Odobert ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Newcastle.
He joins a long injury list of players who will miss the derby, including James Maddison, Ben Davies, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Destiny Udogie, Kevin Danso and Lucas Bergvall.
Cristian Romero will serve the second of his four-game suspension after the Spurs captain was sent off in the defeat to Man United earlier this month.
Brazilian forward Richarlison is back in training after a knock and could be available for selection, while Pedro Porro faces a late fitness test as he looks to return from injury.
Predicted starting XI:
Vicario (GK); Palhinha, Dragusin, Van de Ven; Gray, Gallagher, Sarr, Spence; Kolo Muani, Simons; Solanke
Arsenal’s team news
Versatile midfielder Mikel Merino has undergone surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot, an injury sustained in January, and could miss the rest of the season.
Leandro Trossard is a serious doubt for the derby after he went off injured in stoppage time against the Wolves.
But Arteya has said he hopes to have captain Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz available for selection after they were struggling with injuries, and youngster Max Dowman has returned to training after an ankle problem.
And while Saka also limped off against Wolves, he is expected to be declared fit for this match.
The former Top Gear presenter admits he was blindsided by what he now sees as one of the gravest dangers facing young people, confessing “I simply had no idea”
11:08, 21 Feb 2026Updated 11:09, 21 Feb 2026
Jeremy Clarkson(Image: PA)
Jeremy Clarkson has confessed he was caught off guard by what he now considers one of the greatest threats to young people today, admitting, “I simply had no idea.” In his column for The Sun, the former Top Gear host revealed that while he previously worried about conventional teenage dangers, he overlooked the fact that the most damaging influences were already accessible through their mobile phones.
Looking back on his time as a father, Clarkson explained: “When my kids were teenagers, I worried about them taking drugs and going on motorbikes, and I simply had no idea that the real danger was lurking in their telephones.”
His remarks follow the Government’s plans to strengthen laws targeting the distribution of non-consensual intimate images online. Earlier this week, Sir Keir Starmer announced intentions to bolster legislation requiring tech firms to delete such content within 48 hours of being flagged.
However, Clarkson maintains that the rapid pace of online sharing renders that timeframe impractical. “This is laughable because if someone uploads a topless picture of you, all your friends will see it within 48 seconds,” he stated. “Forty-eight hours on the internet is about four million years,” reports the Express.
The Prime Minister has positioned the proposed reforms as a key element of a wider effort to tackle online abuse directed at women and girls. Through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, social media companies that don’t meet the two-day deadline for removing content could be hit with substantial fines or potentially banned from operating in the UK.
Starmer, who previously held the role of director of public prosecutions, said his past work gave him insight into the “unimaginable, often lifelong pain and trauma violence against women and girls causes.” He added: “As Prime Minister, I will leave no stone unturned in the fight to protect women from violence and abuse.”
Characterising the internet as an emerging frontline, Starmer stated: “The online world is the front line of the 21st century battle against violence against women and girls. That’s why my government is taking urgent action: against chatbots and ‘nudification’ tools. Today we are going further, putting companies on notice so that any non-consensual image is taken down in under 48 hours. Violence against women and girls has no place in our society, and I will not rest until it is rooted out.”
Clarkson, 65, doesn’t question the gravity of the problem. In fact, he believes it goes even deeper than politicians realise. He highlighted the HBO drama Euphoria, featuring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney, as a stark illustration of the challenges confronting today’s teenagers. “What Starmer needs to do is watch a TV show starring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. It’s called Euphoria and God knows what possessed me to tune in — teenage angst and a lot of male nudity is not my thing normally — but Lord, I’m glad I did,” Clarkson remarked. “I know it’s a drama but if only half of the issues are real, society has a serious problem.”
For Clarkson, the programme highlighted how online culture has amplified adolescent experiences. He outlined the troubling aspects he believes have become widespread: “The bullying. The d*ck pics. The revenge porn threats. And a very real sense that if you say or do something that is considered out of line by an ‘unseen woke police force,’ that’s you done.”
While he acknowledges that Starmer is correct to concentrate on social media’s effect on teenage girls, he doubts whether a 48-hour takedown requirement is adequate in reality. “Starmer is right to be thinking about the effect social media has on teenage girls. But suggesting that a platform must take down revenge nudes and deep fake pictures within two days demonstrates he does not understand the scale of the problem.”
In 1878, the New Haven, Conn., Telephone Co. published the first phone directory. It listed 50 subscribers.
In 1885, the Washington Monument, a 555-foot-high marble obelisk built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, was dedicated in Washington.
File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
In 1916, Germans launched the Battle of Verdun. More than 1 million soldiers in the German and French armies were killed in nearly 10 months of fighting. It was the longest battle of World War I.
In 1925, the first issue of The New Yorker was published.
In 1934, Nicaraguan guerrilla leader Cesar Augusto Sandino was killed by members of the country’s national guard.
In 1953, Francis Crick and James D. Watson discovered the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. It took another three decades for scientists to produce a clear, direct picture of the DNA molecule.
The Francis Crick Letter titled “Secret of Life” is on display at Christie’s in New York City on April 5, 2013. The letter from Francis Crick to his son dated March 19, 1953, outlines the revolutionary discovery of the structure and function of DNA. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
In 1965, Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally in New York.
In 1994, longtime CIA counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames and his wife, Maria, were arrested and charged with selling information to the Soviet Union and Russia. Ames was sentenced to life in prison; his wife got a five-year term.
In 1995, a Russian commission estimated up to 24,400 civilians died in a two-month uprising in the separatist republic of Chechnya.
In 2007, nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan signed a treaty in New Delhi aimed at preventing the accidental use of atomic weapons.
In 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, at the White House after the Chinese government warned the meeting would damage U.S.-China relations. A White House statement said Obama “reiterated the U.S. position that Tibet is part of the People’s Republic of China and that the United States does not support Tibet independence.”
In 2019, the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa-2 probe touched down on asteroid Ryugu. It was the first probe to deploy working rovers onto an asteroid.
In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered “peacekeeping” troops into two separatist regions of eastern Ukraine under new decrees recognizing them as independent republics. Three days later, Russia invaded Ukraine.
“For the last 12 months his yearly income was around £34,000.
“As often said there is the Instagram world and the reality. Mr Timlin’s bank statements make it very clear the lifestyle he lives in the public eye is not the lifestyle he actually does lead.”
She said he relies on extra money sent by his mother.
Scotty T’s finances have been revealed – as it’s claimed he relies on money from his mumCredit: Instagram/@scottgshore
She continued:”He made his name on Geordie Shore and won Celebrity Big Brother but that was as far back as 2016.
“Although he’s done some TV work since Geordie Shore ended in 2019 those were the programmes he made his name from.
“He now relies extensively on the promotional world being paid to attend bars and nightclubs for events.”
She said his opening and closing balances for the last three months “make for bleak reading”.
Timlin has recently become a father, and opened up to The Sun about how his son has changed his life.
He joined Geordie Shore in 2012 and gained himself the nickname Turbo T for his womanising ways.
Admitting he was out seven days a week doing cocaine as he opened up about his drug-drive arrest for the first time, he told us: “I felt like I was just getting drunk and I was on coke and all sorts,” he admits.
“It was just like every night getting drunk, waking up and then going out again.”
Timlin, 37, was fined £938, Oukhellou £975 and Clayton was given a £820 fine. All the celebs will pay a £1,000 contribution to prosecution costs.
The Gaza Strip – As soon as the “ceasefire” in Gaza began in October, Palestinian farmer Mohammed al-Slakhy and his family headed straight for their farms in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City.
After more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza – and despite ongoing Israeli attacks – it was finally safe enough to return, and attempt to rebuild and restore.
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Mohammed and his family spent months clearing rubble from the ground and whatever was left of their greenhouses, which were flattened during the fighting, like many of the buildings in Gaza.
With very limited resources, they prepared the soil and planted the first courgette crop, hoping it would be ready to harvest by early spring.
But even this limited attempt to bring the family’s land back to life is not without risk. As Mohammed explains, every time he goes to tend to his field, he is risking his life. A few hundred metres away sit Israeli tanks, and the sound of bullets flying by is common.
Before the war, Mohammed’s farm produced large quantities of vegetables.
“I learned farming from my father and grandfather,” he told Al Jazeera. “Our farm used to produce abundant, high-quality crops for the local market and for export to the [occupied] West Bank and abroad. Now, everything we had has been destroyed in the war.”
Levelled to the ground
More than three hectares (7.5 acres) of Mohammed’s greenhouses were levelled to the ground. The destruction also included his entire irrigation network, all nine of his wells, two solar power systems, and two desalination plants.
Mohammed’s losses reflect the wider extent of the damage to the agricultural sector in Gaza. According to a July 2025 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 80 percent of cropland was damaged, and less than 5 percent remained available for cultivation.
And even with the “ceasefire”, the losses have not stopped for Gaza’s farmers, as Israel expands a so-called buffer zone, within which its forces are based.
In fact, many Palestinians fear that Gaza’s agricultural lands will be forcibly taken by Israel if the buffer zone becomes a permanent fixture. Blueprints released as part of United States President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” plan for Gaza show many agricultural areas erased.
Eid al-Taaban, a 75-year-old farmer in Deir el-Balah [Abdallah al-Naami/Al Jazeera]
Expanding buffer zones
Israel still controls about 58 percent of the Gaza Strip, calling it a security buffer zone in the east, north, and south of the Gaza Strip. The majority of that buffer zone is Palestinian agricultural land.
Mohammed has only been able to return to one hectare (2.5 acres) of the more than 22 hectares (54 acres) of farmland his family had cultivated in Gaza City before the war. The other 21 hectares lie within the Israeli buffer zone, and he cannot access them.
The solitary hectare is only about 200 metres (650 feet) from the “yellow line”, which marks the border between the buffer zone and the rest of Gaza. Mohammed says that Israeli tanks frequently approach and fire randomly.
One such incident occurred on February 12, when Israeli tanks advanced into Salah al-Din Street and opened fire. Two Palestinians were killed, and at least four others were reported wounded. Mohammed was in his farmland, close to the Israeli tanks.
“We were working in the field when suddenly a tank approached and opened fire towards us. I had to take cover behind a destroyed building and waited there for more than an hour and a half before I could escape west,” Mohammed said.
The dangers to Mohammed’s farm are mirrored in central Gaza, where 75-year-old Eid al-Taaban is increasingly worried.
His land in Deir el-Balah lies only about 300 metres (980 feet) from the yellow line and the Israeli areas of control.
“We planted eggplants in an open field after the ceasefire. Now, we can’t reach it and harvest the crop because of the expansion of the buffer zone,” Eid told Al Jazeera.
“The sounds of Israeli heavy machineguns are heard every day in our area. Every time my sons go to irrigate the crops in the greenhouses, I just pray that they come back alive,” he added.
On February 6, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the Israeli army killed Palestinian farmer Khaled Baraka while he was working on his land in eastern Deir el-Balah. Khaled was Eid’s neighbour and friend.
“Khaled Baraka was a great farmer,” Eid said. “He dedicated his life to cultivating his land and teaching his sons and daughters about farming.”
Israeli blockade
According to Palestinian farmers, the Israeli blockade of Gaza is one of the biggest challenges they face in their efforts to reclaim agricultural land.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has largely prevented the entry of any agricultural equipment or supplies, such as seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, irrigation networks, or tractors.
That has led to a huge shortage, with what is available still liable to being damaged in bombing, or in the case of seeds, pesticides, and fertilisers, reaching expiry. The prices of what little is available have also skyrocketed due to the Israeli restrictions.
And even when the materials can be obtained, they do not guarantee a return.
Eid said that he had planted tomatoes in his greenhouses to harvest in the spring, paying an exorbitant amount to acquire the seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides.
After 90 days of costly care for the plants, and when it was time to start harvesting, the entire crop was ruined because the pesticides and fertilisers he had bought turned out to be ineffective. He was forced to replant the crop.
Israeli produce has flooded Gaza, often at lower prices than locally sourced produce [Abdallah al-Naami/Al Jazeera]
Market difficulties
Eid noted that the current economic conditions in Gaza mean that it is hard to find customers for the produce.
“Even when we manage to keep the plants alive and harvest the crop, we don’t know if we’ll be able to sell it,” Eid said.
The instability of the market in Gaza is causing heavy losses for local farmers.
Waleed Miqdad, an agricultural produce wholesaler, explained that Israeli authorities sometimes close the crossings and at other times flood the market with various goods, causing significant losses for Palestinian farmers.
He added that Israeli goods are usually of a lower quality and are priced more cheaply.
“Our local produce, although much fewer in quantity than before the war, still has a distinctive quality and taste. Many of our customers prefer local produce,” Waleed told Al Jazeera.
But many residents of Gaza, whose economy has been devastated as a result of the war, do not have the money to be able to choose the higher-priced items.
The competition from Israeli produce is therefore making it difficult for Palestinian farmers to market their produce and make a profit.
“I was recently forced to sell large quantities of my produce for less than the cost of production because of the competition from imported goods that are widely available in the market,” said Mohammed, the farmer from northern Gaza. “I had to sell and lose or watch my produce rot. And of course, we haven’t received any compensation or support.”
Despite the challenges facing the farmers in Gaza, they remain determined to reclaim agricultural fields across the Gaza Strip. These areas have always been adored by Palestinians in Gaza, where most had lived in the built-up cities. The farms provided a respite from Israel’s control over the territory and its constant wars.
“Agriculture is our life and our livelihood,” said Mohammed. “It is an important part of our Palestinian identity. Despite the destruction and danger, we will remain steadfast on our land and will replant all the land we can reach. Our children will continue after us.”
For Eid, farming is a continuation of the work of his ancestors – in towns that are now in Israel, and where he can never set foot.
“I’m 75 years old, and I still work in the fields every day,” Eid said. “My grandfather was a farmer in our hometown of Beersheba before the [1948] Nakba.”
“He taught my father, my father taught me, and today I’m passing on my agricultural expertise to my grandchildren,” Eid added. “The love of the land and agriculture is passed down from generation to generation in our family, and it can never be taken away from us.”
