News Desk

Gaza City – Khaled Abu Jarrar spends his days trying to find ways to get his wife treatment for her recently diagnosed liver cancer.

The 58-year-old, originally from the town of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza, but displaced with his family for the last year and a half in Gaza City, knows that his wife needs to travel abroad urgently.

It is why he is so desperate for the Rafah crossing, previously the Gaza Strip’s main access point to the outside world, to open.

Israel has kept it firmly shut for most of the past two years, as it conducted its genocidal war on Gaza, killing more than 70,000 Palestinians.

Khaled is looking towards Gaza’s new administration – a group of Palestinian technocrats overseen by United States President Donald Trump’s so-called “board of peace” – to change things.

The National Committee for Gaza Management (NGAC) met for the first time last week, in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. It will manage Gaza’s day-to-day affairs in place of the Palestinian group Hamas as part of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan.

The US announced that the second phase had begun last week.

Khaled now wants to see tangible results from the NGAC and the second phase, starting with the opening of the Rafah crossing. But he is sceptical.

“I hope it’s a committee with real powers, not just words on paper,” Khaled told Al Jazeera. “Otherwise, it will be a failed committee.”

His pessimism is understandable. Israel has continued to attack Gaza, killing more than 400 Palestinians since the beginning of the ceasefire.

It has also made clear its opposition to the NGAC, and makes little effort to allow for life in Gaza to improve. One of Israel’s most recent moves has been to order the shutdown of international humanitarian organisations providing vital medical care and food aid in Gaza.

“On the ground, the shelling never stops,” Khaled said, as he followed news on the NGAC from inside a shelter set up in the former Legislative Council building in western Gaza City.

“In the media, they talk about withdrawals and reconstruction, but on the ground, the bombing continues from the north and the south, and things seem even more complicated.”

Waiting for solutions

Khaled’s living arrangements in a government building are not unusual. Thousands of displaced people have found shelter in the structures from which Gaza was once administered, or buildings that have at least partially survived Israel’s targeting.

This reality underlines the difficulty the NGAC and any administration will face when attempting to govern Gaza.

And it makes any talk of new committees and administrations hinge on a series of simple questions for the displaced: Will the technocrats be able to overcome the restrictions imposed on Gaza by Israel? Will they be able to deliver tangible changes to the lives of Palestinians exhausted by displacement and loss?

The committee is presented as a politically “neutral” framework, made up of non-factional figures with administrative and technical expertise. It will be led by Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority (PA) deputy minister.

But many Palestinians believe its success depends less on its composition and more on its ability to operate in an environment that Israel still dominates, and is unwilling to allow to rebuild.

Palestinian political analyst Ahed Farwana referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent comments, in which he described the second phase of the ceasefire as “symbolic”, as evidence that Israel has no intention of cooperating.

“So far, things are unclear for the committee, because it depends on serious implementation of the second phase’s obligations,” Farwana told Al Jazeera.

Many of the obligations on Israel in the first phase of the ceasefire, such as halting attacks, a full Israeli withdrawal from a specified area of Gaza, and the opening of the Rafah crossing, have not happened.

Farwana believes that Netanyahu does not want to pay the political cost in Israel of allowing the ceasefire to progress and fully declaring an end to the war, particularly as he will face an election sometime this year.

If anything, Farwana expects Israel to continue violating the ceasefire and expanding its buffer zone, while it cites excuses such as that one remaining Israeli body has not been handed over from Gaza. Hamas has said that it is unable to reach the body because of the amount of rubble left behind by Israeli attacks.

“If there is real American pressure, there will be real change and implementation of the second phase,” Farwana said, arguing that the ceasefire’s partial success was largely tied to pushes made by the US administration. “[But] leaving the field to Netanyahu will not produce results.”

Israeli restrictions

Israeli officials deny the existence of limits on the quantity of aid coming into Gaza. However, international organisations and local Palestinians point to delays in permit approvals, as well as prolonged inspection procedures that slow access and restrict the entry of goods Gaza desperately needs, including non-food items and heavy materials for infrastructure.

The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly called for crossings to be opened and the facilitation of aid entry, stressing that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic and that a large share of agreed-upon aid has yet to enter since the implementation of the ceasefire.

The continued closure of the Rafah crossing, in particular, has left Gaza almost entirely dependent on other entry points, such as Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), which is subject to complex inspection procedures and full Israeli security control.

Against these obstacles, discussions about Gaza’s new administration become more complex, as any committee’s authority to manage services and reconstruction is directly linked to its ability to operate within restrictions on the movement of materials.

Asmaa Manoun is waiting desperately for things to improve.

The 45-year-old, originally from northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, is a mother of five, but one of her children was killed during the war.

She now lives with her husband Mohammad – injured during the war – in the stairwell of a partially-destroyed building in Gaza City. A simple tarpaulin barely shelters them.

Those conditions explain why Asmaa did not initially hear the news of the establishment of the NGAC, and talk of the beginning of the second phase of the ceasefire.

“Most of the time, my phone isn’t charged, and the internet isn’t available,” she said. “Usually, we hear things from people around us in the camp, and discussions circulate among them.”

Asmaa had initially left southern Gaza, where she had been living displaced, to Jabalia in an attempt to return home. But constant Israeli shelling and gunfire, including a bullet that she said killed a woman in the tent next to her, ended the experiment and made it clear that safety was still a far-off prospect.

Mohammad, 49, stood beside Asmaa as she talked. His hope for the new committee was clear: organise aid entry and distribution, and manage Gaza after the chaos that it had been through.

“We hear a lot, but in reality, we are in the same place we’ve been for two years,” he said.

“The situation in Gaza is beyond difficult. We can barely manage. For many months, we haven’t received aid, food parcels, or tents. Things are chaotic, and Israel is interested in this chaos, and in using aid as punishment.”

Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula’s marriage is over, the “Summer House” reality stars announced Monday on social media, validating rumors of a split that have been circulating for a while.

“After much reflection, we have mutually and amicably decided to part ways as a couple,” the couple said in a joint statement posted on both of their Instagram stories. “We share this with a heavy heart and kindly ask for your grace and support while we focus on our personal growth and healing.

“It feels ironic to ask for privacy during this time since we’ve always tried to be open and honest about our relationship, but your kindness and respect will go a long way as we try to navigate our next chapter.”

It’s unclear exactly when that “next chapter” began, as rumors that the relationship was on the rocks have been circulating for more than a year.

“We are not perfect. We’ve never tried to portray a perfect couple. We wear it all on our sleeve. Yeah, 10 years in, 4 years in a marriage, all on camera, it hasn’t been easy,” Cooke told Access Hollywood in an interview at BravoCon 2025 in November. “Particularly when you have people offering up some, um, trolling info.”

Around the same time, an “insider” told Page Six that the two had been “going through a challenging time” but were still committed to working things out. Celebrity rumor account Deuxmoi said it got a message in December that the marriage was done, and commenters on that post noted that Cooke had been missing from several significant events that Batula documented on social media.

“We’ve gone to therapy. We’ve worked on ourselves,” Batula told Us Weekly a year before that. “It’s very eye-opening getting to watch yourself back [on TV] and see how you handle different situations. So, we’ve learned a lot and have grown from it. … We’re still working on it.”

Batula and Cooke began dating during the first season of “Summer House,” which premiered in 2017 but was filmed in 2016. He proposed to her in the final episode of Season 3, which was filmed in 2018, then the couple saw their wedding postponed until September 2021 — it aired during the Season 6 finale — because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Bravo stars will appear in “Summer House” Season 10, which premieres Feb. 3 and streams the next day on Peacock. Bravo said viewers will see “tension” between the two during the season.

“Summer House” debuted in 2017 with a cast that included Cooke and featured Batula in recurring role. The show follows a group of people sharing a Hamptons beach house on weekends for a summer, and the cast has shifted over the life of the show.

“Having these experiences is not something that people get to do or would do,” Batula said at BravoCon 2024. “I mean, again, we’re in our 30s and 40s, and you wouldn’t really share a house together like this. Being able to have these moments to look back on and these experiences is something that’s really special.”

Jan. 21 (UPI) — Air Force One with President Donald Trump on board was forced to return to Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews late Tuesday due to an electrical issue with the aircraft, officials said.

Trump had boarded Air Force One at 9:34 p.m. EDT Tuesday, with wheels up shortly afterward. The plane was en route to Zurich Airport as the president is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, when it was forced to return.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a statement that after takeoff, the crew identified “a minor electrical issue” and that “out of an abundance of caution,” the plane was returning to Joint Base Andrews where the president would board a replacement aircraft before continuing on to his destination.

Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews at 11:07 p.m., according to a statement from the White House. Two replacement planes were on the tarmac, a second pool note stated.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Leavitt, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller and several others were aboard Air Force One with Trump.

This is a developing story.

Corporate media have deployed a lexicon of legitimation in their coverage of the deadly US invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife and fellow politician Cilia Flores. Major news outlets have routinely described these events using words like “capture” (New York Times, 1/3/26) or “arrest” (BBC, 1/3/26), which presents them as a matter of enforcing the law against fugitives or criminals, and carries the built-in but false assumption that the US had the right or even duty to conduct its operation in the first place.

The ludicrous premise is that any time an arrest warrant is issued somewhere in the United States, the US has the right to do anything, anywhere in the world, in pursuit of the subject—including bombing another country, invading it, killing its citizens, and spiriting away its president and first lady. Cornell Law School professor Maggie Gardner (Transnational Litigation Blog, 1/5/26) rebuked the idea that the US merely enforced the law in Venezuela, pointing out (emphasis in original):

Under customary international law, a sovereign can only exercise enforcement jurisdiction in the territory of another sovereign if it has that sovereign’s consent. This hard line limiting enforcement powers to a sovereign’s own territory is clear and well-established.

Venezuela, of course, didn’t consent to being bombed, or to having Maduro and Flores taken from the country at gunpoint. Accordingly, what happened in Caracas is best understood not as the US enforcing the law, but as the US breaking international law. It’s misleading, therefore, to use language like “capture” and “arrest,” which evoke the US upholding the law, to describe blowtorch-wielding, heavily armed US forces taking Maduro and Flores prisoner in the middle of the night (BBC, 1/4/26).

‘Abducted, so to speak’

I used the news aggregator Factiva to examine New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post coverage from January 3 through January 5, the day of the US’s attack on Venezuela and the first two days after these developments. The papers published a combined 223 pieces that featured Maduro’s name, and 166 of these (74%) used the term “capture” or a form of it, such as “captured” or “capturing.” Sixty of these pieces, or 27%, included the word “arrest” or variations on the term, like “arrested” or “arresting.”

“Abduction” or “kidnapping”—synonyms that mean to take someone away unlawfully and by force—are far more suitable words for what the US did to Maduro and Flores. Only two pieces in the Post and one in the Journal used any form of “abduct” (such as “abduction”) in any of the articles that refer to Maduro—1% of the combined total articles. In each case, the term appears in quotation marks. The Times ran no pieces in which the word appeared.

The Post (1/3/26) shared a perplexing perspective from Geoffrey Corn—head of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University, and a former top legal adviser to the US Army—who said that the US Supreme Court has been clear since the late 19th century that “you can’t claim that you were abducted and therefore the court should not be allowed to assert authority over you.” The article went on:

“Maduro is not going to be able to avoid being brought to trial because he was abducted, so to speak, even if he can establish it violated international law,” Corn said, adding that in his view, the administration’s overnight military operation lacked any “plausible legal basis.”

So, despite Corn’s view that the US attack was illegal, he couldn’t bring himself to present Maduro’s abduction as literal rather than figurative.

That article, as well another in the Post (1/3/26) and one in the Wall Street Journal (1/5/26), quoted Democratic Senator Mark R. Warner:

If the United States asserts the right to use military force to invade and capture foreign leaders it accuses of criminal conduct, what prevents China from claiming the same authority over Taiwan’s leadership? What stops Vladimir Putin from asserting a similar justification to abduct Ukraine’s president?

Even as Warner is skeptical about the US’s actions in Venezuela, he still uses the language of “capture” for Maduro, while using “abduct” for a hypothetical scenario in which the official enemy Putin carries out a parallel crime. None of the articles that included Warner’s quote  commented on this linguistic inconsistency.

The word “abduct” was never used in the voice of a reporter from any of these papers to describe what the US had done.

‘It’s not a bad term’

Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself (New York Times, 1/5/26), say that he was “kidnapped” by the US. They’re not the only ones. On Democracy Now! (1/3/26), Venezuelan journalist Andreína Chávez and US-based Venezuelan historian Miguel Tinker Salas both used that word to characterize what the US did to Maduro and Flores.

Canada’s national broadcaster, the CBC (1/5/26), regarded the idea that Maduro was “kidnapped” as at least meriting serious discussion. Co-anchor Andrew Chang asked:

Did the US military just kidnap Nicholas Maduro?… “Kidnap” is a loaded word because it implies illegality. Maybe a more neutral way of describing Maduro’s capture is as an “abduction,” but the US government calls it an “arrest.”…

This isn’t some nerdy question about semantics. It’s a question about law, and whether the US has the legal right to extract world leaders from their homes, and maybe even whether other countries might have that right, too.

Notably, when Trump was told that Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez said it was a “kidnapping,” he didn’t push back, saying, “It’s not a bad term.”

However, the only times “kidnap” appeared in the Times, Journal or Post in relation to Maduro and Flores—in 10 pieces, or 4% of the coverage—came when that term was attributed to representatives of the Venezuelan state. Suggesting to readers that a government that has been demonized in US media for decades is the only source that regards Maduro and Flores as having been “kidnapped” is tantamount to suggesting that no credible sources take that position.

The three papers combined to run zero articles treating as an objective fact the view that America “abducted” or “kidnapped” a sitting head of state in defiance of international law, while they regularly used “captured” and “arrested” outside of quotation marks, as if those word choices are merely flat descriptions of reality.

ICE also ‘arrests’

These linguistic choices matter. “Capture” and “arrest” paint Trump, Delta Force and the CIA as righteous heroes protecting their country—as well as Venezuela and the rest of the world—from the villainous Maduros. “Abduct” and “kidnap” morally invert the good guy and bad guy roles, and would portray US actors as the wrongdoers.

This particular form of word play is part of a pattern for corporate media under this Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) round-ups of migrants in the United States have featured what can most accurately be described as abductions or kidnappings of people—off the streets, at courts, in workplaces and elsewhere—by armed, masked and unaccountable agents, into unmarked vehicles. It’s little surprise, then, that immigration lawyers, members of Congress, and law professors (LA Times, 10/21/25), among others, routinely use the word “abduct” to describe these events.

And describing ICE’s practices as “kidnappings” isn’t some fringe view. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.) uses the word (Independent, 12/5/25), as does Rolling Stone editor Tim Dickinson (7/2/25), and the academic and author Natasha Lennard of the New School for Social Research in New York (Intercept, 7/1/25). ICE’s victims (Mother Jones, 7/18/27; NPR, 7/27/25) and their families (Guardian, 4/15/25, 6/10/25, 6/26/25) frequently describe their ordeal in such terms.

Yet corporate media eschew such language for the same sanitized “arrest” or “capture” language they employed for Maduro and Flores. When I used Factiva to pair “ICE” with the words “abduct” or “kidnap,” just two articles turned up that included the perspective that ICE “abducts” people (New York Times, 7/13/25; Washington Post, 12/3/25), both attributed to critical sources. Five (2%) included a version of the word “kidnap,” all in quotation marks.

Three of these quotes were from the much-maligned Venezuelan government (New York Times, 3/18/25, 11/25/25; Washington Post, 5/4/25), one came from a man whose father and daughter-in-law had been detained by ICE (Washington Post, 3/21/25), and another from a member of the Chicago Board of Education (New York Times, 10/22/25).

The language is freighted in the same way, whether it is migrants under attack from US jackboots, or those same forces unleashed against socialist politicians in Global South countries seeking to escape imperial domination.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Source: FAIR

Radford Studio Center, the storied movie lot that gave Studio City its name, is in financial distress and is expected to be returned to lenders as declining film and television production racks the entertainment industry.

Formerly known as CBS Studio Center, the Los Angeles lot has been home to generations of landmark television shows including “Gunsmoke” and “Seinfeld.”

Hackman Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest independent studio operators, has defaulted on a $1.1-billion mortgage and investment bank Goldman is leading a takeover of the historic property. Bloomberg first reported on the news.

A street sign on the lot of the Radford Studio Center in Studio City.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The move follows Hackman’s aggressive push in recent years to buy up studios to capitalize on anticipated growth, especially in the TV business. As of last year, the company had $10 billion in assets under management.

Founded by silent film comedy legend Mack Sennett in 1928, the lot became known as “Hit City” in the decades after World War II as popular TV shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Will & Grace” were made there.

Culver City-based Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management teamed up to buy the Radford Avenue property from ViacomCBS in 2021 with a winning bid of $1.85 billion after a competitive battle for the 55-acre studio beloved by the television industry.

At the time, the staggering price tag underscored the value — and scarcity — of TV soundstages in Los Angeles as content producers scrambled for space to shoot TV shows and movies to stock their streaming services. It was one of the largest ever real estate transactions for a TV studio complex in Los Angeles.

A photo of actors John Wayne, center, Max Terhune, left, and Ray Corrigan in the movie “Three Texas Steers,” filmed in 1939, hangs on a wall at Radford Studio Center.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Since then, production has substantially declined. L.A. continues to battle the loss of production to other states and countries, as well as the continued effects on the industry of the pandemic and the 2023 dual writers’ and actors’ strikes. Cutbacks in spending at the major studios after a surge in streaming-fueled TV production have further damped film activity in Southern California.

Total film and television shoot days for 2025 dropped 16.1% compared with the previous year, according to a recent report. The production decline has left many in Hollywood without work for months or even years.

Last year’s 19,694 shoot days was the lowest total since 2020, according to the nonprofit FilmLA, which tracks filming in the Greater L.A. area. In 2024, the total was 23,480 shoot days.

“While the year-end numbers are disappointing, they are not unexpected,” Philip Sokoloski, spokesman for FilmLA, said in a statement. “Although our overall numbers remain low, there are dozens of incentivized projects that have yet to begin filming.”

Financial incentives to film in California are offered through the state’s revamped film and television tax credit program approved by state legislators and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. The new program now has a cap of $750 million, up from $330 million.

“We are continuing to work with the Radford lenders on a path forward for this asset,” Hackman Capital spokesman Nathan Miller said in a statement. “This is a challenging time for all suppliers and independent studio owners and operators in the U.S.”

Republic Avenue on the lot of Radford Studio Center in 2023.

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Miller added: “We have substantial capital behind us, hold 50% of our assets without debt, and remain geographically diverse, with 55% of our studios outside the U.S. This will help us to navigate through these troubled waters.”

Among its 19 properties are studios in England, Ireland, Scotland and Canada.

A sticking point in Radford’s financial challenges is MBS Group, which provides lighting and other production services for shooting locations and was acquired by Hackman Capital in 2019. In the last year, Bloomberg said, MBS broke away from Hackman while continuing to manage many of the firm’s properties, including Radford.

In a December letter to investors, Hackman said MBS had thwarted its efforts to restructure the loan, spurring its decision to return the property to lenders, Bloomberg said.

“MBS delivered a proposal requiring significant adverse changes to the Radford equipment rental agreement that would undermine the projected economics of the loan restructuring,” Hackman said in the letter.

Hackman is considered Hollywood’s largest landlord.

In 2019, Hackman Capital purchased CBS’ other sprawling complex in Los Angeles — the 25-acre Television City adjacent to the Original Farmers Market and the Grove — for $750 million.

Hackman Capital also owns the Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus and the historic Culver Studios in Culver City, where “Gone With the Wind,” “Rebecca” and “E.T.” were filmed. Amazon Studios now operates from the site.

Times staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — A group of North Korean defectors on Tuesday petitioned South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission to block the Unification Ministry’s move to change how defectors are labeled, saying the shift could undermine their identity and deepen divisions within the community.

The group, which calls itself the Association of North Korean Defectors Opposing the Forced Use of the Term “North-bound residents,” said the ministry’s preferred wording goes beyond accommodating the choice of some defectors and amounts to imposing a new designation on most of them.

Lee Eun-taek, the group’s representative, said in a statement that the change risks infringing on “the identity and dignity that individual defectors have chosen for themselves” and is fueling unnecessary conflict among defectors.

“What we seek to protect is the rights and identity of those who have chosen to live as North Korean defectors,” Lee said, adding that diverse views within the community should be respected and that no term should be used to erase someone else’s identity.

Lee urged the commission to prevent defectors from being deprived of the right to choose how they are identified, saying “a name” reflects a person’s life experience and should not be decided by state power or politicians.

The Unification Ministry said in last year’s work report that it intended to change the terms “North Korean defectors” and “North Korean refugees” to “North-bound residents.” The ministry has used the new phrasing internally since this year and plans to adopt it as legal terminology once it becomes socially established, the report said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

What if I told you that the Pope, beyond his shepherding on how his followers should conduct their daily lives, also speaks extensively about international politics?

It was evident during Pope Leo XIV’s “State Of The World” address last week.

In his first such event since being elected to the Papal throne back in May last year, the Pope addressed a wide range of issues. Using a classic from Augustine, titled ‘The City of God,’ as the base of his speech, the Pope further elaborated his thoughts on three main topics: the first being the importance of diplomacy as well as the use of language within it; the second being human rights which includes freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, and religious freedom; and the final headline being the world peace. The third, of course, came at the right time: just days after the US attack in Venezuela, a Catholic-majority country.

But, there is a specific aspect of the speech that I found particularly intriguing, especially since it was uttered by a religious leader like the Pope: multilateralism.

In his address, the Pope highlighted the ‘weakness of multilateralism’ as a ’cause for concern at the international level.’ He also lamented the rise of the use of force at the global scale, mentioning that ‘diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force.’ The main question then emerges: why does the Pope have to address this issue? Why multilateralism?

Holy See’s Foreign Policy: A Holy Diplomacy

You probably have seen that in many contemporary and academic literatures, the terms ‘Vatican’ and ‘Holy See’ are often used interchangeably. While acceptable, we have to acknowledge that the two do have distinctions.

The ‘Vatican’ is a physical territory which hosts the iconic Basilica of Saint Peter, the ever-crowded Saint Peter’s Square, the magnificent Sistine Chapel, and the famous Vatican Museum. Meanwhile, the ‘Holy See’ is the spiritual and administrative centre of the Roman Catholic Church and is a subject of international law. In other words, the Holy See is the body of government. Thus, it is the Holy See, not the Vatican, that represents all of the Catholic faithful on the global stage, including at the United Nations. However, for the purpose of simplicity, I will use those two terms interchangeably.

How long, then, has the Holy See been participating as an actor on the global stage?

According to Jodok Troy, the Holy See is ‘one of the oldest participants in the international society of states.’ Similarly, a paper by Janne Matlary claims that the Holy See has always been an international actor, even before the concepts of Westphalian statehood and sovereignty were formulated. In the same research, Matlary adds that the Vatican’s foreign policy is fueled by ‘the rich intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church,’ which means not only do they draw their foreign policy solely from teachings of the Scripture, but also those from Church Fathers such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.

Pope Leo XIV, in his first audience with members of the Diplomatic Corps in May last year, reiterated three pillars of missionary work that simultaneously act as ‘aim[s] of the Holy See’s diplomacy.’ Those are peace, justice, and truth.

Imagine a classical building, those three aspects will act this way: truth as the foundation, justice as the supporting pillars, and peace as the entablature.

Peace is, evidently, highly regarded by the Holy See.

We should also understand the Vatican’s sense of peace since it does not merely mean an absence or pause of war and conflict.  

The Vatican’s understanding of peace can be found in the concept of ‘just peace’; it should permeate every aspect of society. Matlary explains that to achieve just peace, it requires ‘just distribution of goods’, respect of human rights, as well as ‘honest investigation’ of atrocities that may have been conducted in a conflict. That very concept was also reiterated by the Pope himself in his last year’s address, explaining that peace should engage and challenge human beings, regardless of our cultural background or religious affiliation, demanding first of all that we work on ourselves.’

Departing from the Pope’s statement, it is obvious that the Holy See put human beings as an imago Dei at the very centre of its diplomacy.

Pope Leo XIV emphasised that Papal diplomacy is ‘inspired by a pastoral outreach…at the service of humanity.’

Similarly, Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State under the late Pope Francis (as well as under the current Pope Leo XIV), stated that the diplomacy run by the Holy See is a ‘human diplomacy’ and therefore all diplomatic actions should revolve around ‘real people.’

We can conclude that, according to the Vatican’s perspective, one of the ways in which humans can work for peace is through dialogue and consensus in a multilateral setting. It, then, brings us to the main question of this article: why multilateralism?

The Global Reach of Catholicism

The first answer is that Catholics are scattered in most, if not all, of the countries all over the world. From peaceful nations to those with conflicts, such as those in the Middle East and Latin America, you can find a multitude of faithful. The latest data from the Vatican claimed that there are around 1.4 billion Catholic faithful worldwide.

Despite having less than 50 hectares of sovereign area, the Holy See, being the ecclesiastical centre of the Roman Catholic Church, regards every Catholic faithful as its subject. In other words, Catholics worldwide do obey the authority of the Pope. Daniel Binchy, in an address to the Chatham House in 1945, even went on to say that Papal sovereignty “does not depend on the small territory over which he rules.”

We can, therefore, safely say that Papal influence transcends Westphalian-style sovereignty. It transcends modern state boundaries.

For Catholics worldwide, the Pope is regarded as the ‘Vicar of Christ,’ a title that has been passed throughout millennia since the foundation of the Church by the Apostle Paul. As for non-Catholics

As far as my knowledge goes, that case is particular to the Holy See.

Doesn’t that make the Holy See somewhat cosmopolitan?

Referring back to Binchy’s address eight decades ago, he agreed to the idea that the Holy See has ‘acquired an essentially cosmopolitan outlook.’ He further elaborated that the Holy See’s ‘attitude’ is, in fact, ‘supra-national [sic] rather than international’ and it was passed down from the ‘universalist’ idea from the olden age of the Roman Empire.

I, on the other hand, have to dissent from that idea.

The opinion of the Holy See being ‘cosmopolitan’ is actually a mischaracterisation of its global presence that might seem ‘overarching’ for some.

The Holy See, in fact, subscribes to the principle of subsidiarity, which holds that matters should be handled by the most direct authority. In the case of international politics, the direct authority refers to the state government. The principle is also mentioned in Pope Pius XI’s 1931 encyclical, Quadragessimo Anno.

Therefore, it is clear that the Holy See, despite its unique capacity to transcend borders, still consider that states worldwide and their governments are sovereign over their own citizens. It then makes a clear statement about the need for multilateralism.

It is also important to note that most multilateral cooperation happened within what we know as multilateral institutions. And, for the Holy See, those institutions are useful for the continuity of its diplomacy.

For that reason, we come to the second answer: the Holy See prefers multilateralism since it can utilise multilateral institutions to amplify its diplomatic message.

A Need for an Amplifier

In the words of Sarah Teo, multilateralism ‘facilitates the institutionalisation of rules and norms that are relatively beneficial to all participants, regardless of economic size or military capability.’ She, then, argues that multilateral institutions are ‘more open and fair’ and that they could ‘help to restrain major powers from imposing their preferences on the smaller states.’

It is obvious that the Vatican does not possess material resources such as military and economic power in order to be on a par with other states. Instead, they become a norm entrepreneur, taking on the task to define an appropriate standard of behaviour in the international society.

Being a norm entrepreneur is quite common among states of lesser power, such as small and middle powers. It compensates for the lack of material power a country failed to possess.

Papal ‘human-centred’ diplomacy, along with peace, justice, and truth being the aim, is universally accepted, and, regardless of which state you belong to, you will find yourself in agreement with these points. Thus, these are the bases for the Vatican’s norm entrepreneurship.The act of serving as a norm entrepreneur is, therefore, the core of Papal diplomacy.

How does the Holy See project its norm entrepreneurship in a multilateral setting?

It is through the United Nations that the Holy See has been projecting its norm entrepeneurship in the global setting.

The UN, as the centre of multilateral diplomacy, has witnessed the play of the Vatican’s ‘holy diplomacy’ since its elevation to a permanent observer/non-member status within the institution.

The current Pope Leo XIV spoke highly of the United Nations, highlighting its achievements in mediating conflicts, promoting development, and helping states protect freedoms and human rights over the eight decades since its inception.

The UN was built on the ashes of the Second World War, which had ‘brought untold sorrow to mankind.’ Therefore, it is enshrined in its Charter that the purposes of the UN are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems, and to be the centre for harmonising the actions of nations.

For the Holy See, the aforementioned purposes share similarities with its conception of diplomacy.

According to an article by Alan Chong and Jodok Troy, both the Holy See and the United Nations represent a ‘universal idealist mission’ such as pursuing peace and working on the ‘universalisation of human rights.’

Even back in the 1960s, Pope Paul VI stated that the Holy See’s role in the United Nations is as an ‘expert of humanity.’

Vatican’s commitment to humanity through multilateral means is also evident in the Pope’s recent address to the diplomatic corps, where he emphasised the need for a “more focused” policy aimed at the “unity of the human family instead of ideologies.” We can also interpret that particular statement as the Pope’s call for reform at the UN, just in time for the growing need for multilateralism.

The slow demise of multilateralism is, therefore, a nightmare for the Holy See.

Not only will it lose its influence in international politics, but the Holy See will eventually have to worry about the safety and security of its subjects worldwide, for when multilateral diplomacy fails, it will lead to the ‘ushering in’ of the ‘diplomacy of force’ that will put humankind in danger.

Therefore, it is right and just that the Pope use his platform and call for efforts to renew the institutions where multilateral diplomacy takes place.

DAVID BECKHAM has fought back tears over being a proud dad in a resurfaced clip amid his ongoing feud with his son Brooklyn.

The aspiring chef released a bombshell statement on Monday as he slammed his parents for “controlling” him and said he has no intention of reconciling with them.

In his Netflix documentary series BECKHAM, which released in October 2023, David opened up about how proud he is of his four children.

As he fought back tears, he expressed: “They could be little s**ts but they’re not and that’s why I say I’m so proud of my children.

“And I’m so in awe of my children, the way they’ve turned out,” the proud dad admitted while speaking directly to camera.

In scenes shown in the episode in question, David and his eldest son were seen cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

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Aside from Brooklyn, David and Victoria are also parents to Romeo, Cruz and Harper.

The 26-year-old finally broke his silence after months of reports about the family feud.

He expressed: “I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private.

“Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.

“I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.

“For my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family.

“The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.

“Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade.

“But I believe the truth always comes out.

“My parents have been trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding, and it hasn’t stopped.”

He went on to accuse his mum of trying to sabotage his wedding with Nicola Peltz by allegedly taking over his first dance and cancelling making the wedding dress at the eleventh hour.

David spoke out for the first time today as he admitted his children had “made mistakes” on social media.

Speaking live on CNBC’s financial program Squawk Box, Becks said: “I have always spoken about social media and the power of social media . . . For the good and for the bad.

“What kids can access these days, it can be dangerous.

“But what I have found personally, especially with my kids as well, use it for the right reasons.

“I’ve been able to use my platform for my following, for UNICEF.

“And it has been the biggest tool to make people aware of what’s going on around the world for children.

“And I have tried to do the same with my children, to educate them.

“They make mistakes, but children are allowed to make mistakes. That is how they learn. That is what I try to teach my kids.”

The former Manchester United star added: “You sometimes have to let them make those mistakes as well.”

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — Bank deposits in South Korea are falling sharply as investors shift cash toward the stock market during the KOSPI’s rally, raising concerns in the financial sector about an accelerating “money move,” industry data showed Tuesday.

Demand deposits at the five major banks – KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank – totaled 673.9145 trillion won ($455.6 billion), down 4.99% from the end of last month, a decline of 35.3973 trillion won ($23.9 billion), the financial sector said.

Time deposits also edged lower, slipping to 938.2555 trillion won ($634.3 billion) from 939.2863 trillion won ($635.0 billion) in December.

Market participants attributed the outflows to a shift into securities-related cash, including investor deposits – standby funds used directly for stock purchases – and cash management accounts.

Investor deposits rose to 91.2182 trillion won ($61.7 billion) as of Friday from 77.912 trillion won ($52.7 billion) at the end of November, the data showed. Cash management account balances climbed to 102.9779 trillion won ($69.6 billion) from 98.0722 trillion won ($66.3 billion) over the same period.

The increase in investor deposits has tracked the KOSPI’s gains, the report said. Investor deposits hovered near 60 trillion won ($40.6 billion) in June last year when the index was around 2,000, then topped 80 trillion won ($54.1 billion) on Oct. 13. As the KOSPI resumed a steady rise in January and touched 5,000, investor deposits moved above 90 trillion won ($60.8 billion), reaching 92.8537 trillion won ($62.8 billion) on Jan. 8.

Banks revived deposit products paying interest in the 3% range in the second half of last year, but they are facing competition from alternatives such as integrated investment accounts known as IMAs, introduced in December, the report said.

The IMA products are marketed as offering principal protection if funds are held to maturity while targeting returns above 4%, the report said. About 220 billion won ($149 million) flowed into one product on its first day, it added.

A banking industry official said the reappearance of 3% deposit products reflects an attempt to respond to the money move. The official said the decline in time deposits remains modest, but banks are monitoring the trend closely.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

A new draft defense spending bill making its way through Congress seeks to boost funding for the U.S. Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft to $1.1 billion for the current fiscal year. This is hundreds of millions of dollars more than Congress had already authorized in a defense policy bill signed into law last month. This underscores the changing fortunes of the E-7 program, which the Pentagon had sought to cancel last year.

The Senate Appropriations Committee released a draft of the Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 Fiscal Year, which reflects negotiations with its counterparts in the House, earlier today. The proposed defense spending legislation is currently consolidated with other bills covering funding for an array of other government agencies. A separate annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the current fiscal cycle became law in December, and had already approved $846.676 million in funding for E-7. Congress also included a separate tranche of $200 million for Wedgetail in a short-term spending bill signed into law in November to reopen the federal government following a protracted shutdown.

“The agreement emphasizes the importance of the E-7 Wedgetail platform and the airborne early warning and battle management mission for the Department ofthe Air Force. Therefore, $1,100,000,000 is included in Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force for fiscal year 2026 to continue E-7 rapid prototyping activities and transition to engineering and manufacturing development aircraft,” according to a Joint Explanatory Statement report the Senate Appropriations Committee also released today. “The Secretary of the Air Force is directed to present a plan to the congressional defense committees, not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, on ongoing actions to streamline requirements and control costs on future production of the E-7 aircraft.”

The Boeing 737-based E-7s are part of a larger Air Force plan to supplant its current fleet of E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, which we will come back to later on. The Air Force’s 16 remaining E-3s provide essential airborne early warning, data-sharing, and command and control capabilities, but are aging and have become increasingly difficult to operate and maintain. The Wedgetail features a newer radar and other improved systems over the E-3 in a package that also offers better fuel economy and other benefits, as you can read more about here. Versions of the Wedgetail are already in service in Australia, South Korea, and Turkey. The United Kingdom is still on track to field the E-7, but the NATO alliance cancelled plans to buy a fleet that multiple members would operate collectively after the U.S. military separately withdrew from that effort.

Furthermore, “the agreement bolsters the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft program and includes a new general provision that prohibits the use of funds to pause, cancel, or terminate the E- 7,” the Joint Explanatory Statement adds.

The Air Force first announced plans to buy E-7s in 2022, but, as noted, the Pentagon had moved to cancel the program last year. The Air Force had requested just under $200 million for Wedgetail in Fiscal Year 2026, but explicitly to support the process of closing it out, including a full financial audit. The Pentagon and the Air Force had also laid out an alternative plan involving the purchase of additional E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft as interim gap-fillers for the retiring E-3s until the Air Force could push most, if not all, airborne target warning sensor layer tasks into space. Officials justified the decision, in part, by raising concerns about the E-7 vulnerability, especially in future high-end fights, such as one against China in the Pacific. Significant delays and cost overruns were also cited as key factors.

Members of Congress, as well as independent observers, were quick to question various aspects of this plan, including whether E-2s would be an adequate interim substitute for the E-7 and what the realistic timeline might be for new space-based capabilities to become operational. In the U.S. military, the Hawkeye is currently in service with the Navy. The lower and slower flying aircraft was designed with the unique requirements of carrier-based operations, and their constraints, in mind. Survivability concerns would apply just as much to the E-2 as the E-7, the latter of which also offers a larger platform that is more adaptable to expanded mission needs, such as battle management and acting as a networking node.

When it comes to future space-based capabilities, the U.S. officials have touted progress on being able to persistently track targets on the ground and at sea from orbit, but have acknowledged challenges in doing the same with ones in the air.

“So GMTI [ground moving-target indicator capability] and AMTI [air moving-target indicator capability] sound like they’re really close, just because one little letter that is all you changed, [but it] turns out they’re pretty different,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, U.S. Space Force’s top officer, said during a press briefing on the sidelines of a conference in December, according to Breaking Defense. “What it takes to accomplish AMTI is different than what it takes to accomplish GMTI.”

“Things on the ground move slower than things on [sic] the air, so [they] require different levels of fidelity tracks,” he added.

With all this in mind, there had already been a steady drumbeat of moves in Congress to preserve the E-7 program since last summer. The NDAA for Fiscal Year 2026 was the first piece of legislation to enshrine this into law. That bill also included a provision blocking the retirement of any E-3s in the current fiscal cycle.

When the Air Force may now begin to field E-7s operationally, even with a further boost in funding, does remain to be seen. When the Pentagon revealed plans to cancel the program last year, the Air Force was still working to acquire two initial production representative prototypes. The original plan had been to use those aircraft for test and evaluation purposes in the lead-in to the production of Wedgetails in a full U.S.-specific configuration. The Air Force had hoped to have the first examples flying missions in 2027. As of January of last year, the initial operational capability timeline had been pushed back to 2032, according to the Government Accountability Office, a Congressional watchdog.

In the meantime, Congress does look set to further underscore its support for the E-7, a program already in a completely different position from where it was a year ago.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

HILARY Duff has addressed the long-running feud with her big sister Haylie, and admitted “we don’t talk anymore”.

The two sisters, who were once incredibly close, have not been photographed together in years, leading fans to suspect they have fallen out.

For years, Hilary, 38, and her sister Haylie, 40, have had no interaction whatsoever when they used to be very close.

They do not like each others posts on social media, nor comment on anything of each others.

Hilary and Haylie have also not been seen together in public in at least five years.

Now Hilary, who is currently relaunching her music career, has appeared to have lifted the lid on the fall out with her sister, and even blamed “jealousy”.

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It all happened when the Younger star took to the stage for the first time in 18 years.

During her concert in London on Monday night, Hilary introduced fans to the new song, We Don’t Talk.

In a clip of her performing the song on stage, she sings: “Don’t know when it happened / Not even sure what it was about,” alluding to their broken down relationship.

She continues: “’Cause we come from the same home, same blood.

“People ask me how you’re doing / I wanna say amazing, but the truth is that I don’t know / What I always end up saying is how … ”

For the chorus, Hilary sings: “We don’t talk, we don’t talk about it / We don’t talk about anything anymore.”

It is in the second verse that Hilary alludes to sibling rivalry.

“And if it’s ’cause you’re jealous / God knows I would sell it all, then break you off the bigger half,” she sings.

The song also includes the lyrics: “Let’s have it out / I’ll hear you out, you’ll hear me out on the couch / Get back to how we were as kids / Let’s break it down / So sick of being so sad about / How we don’t talk and you won’t talk about it.”

Taking to social media to speculate that the song was about her fall out with Haylie one fan said: “That song is so about her sister Haylie. You can tell she gets emotional at the end of the song.”

Another added: “WOWW… Hilary Duff just sung We don’t talk and it’s 100% about Hailey. But not mean at all. Basically telling her to reach out.”

A third agreed: “I think Hilary misses her sister!”

ADDRESSING FEUD

After years of silence, back in November Hilary seemingly addressed the feud between her and her sister while chatting about “family drama”.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about her musical comeback, the star said she feels “ready to fill in the blanks and share with people and connect with them on the level of now”.

She then told the outlet how she and her fans have gone through twists and turns and “have gone through a lot of the same things”.

“Whether that’s complicated relationships, anxiety, raising kids, divorces, trying to find yourself in adulthood, family drama…

“Finally I felt safe enough and comfortable in my own family to step outside and open that part of myself up again,” she explained.

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — A South Korean defense advisory panel has recommended creating a Joint Operations Command to streamline wartime and peacetime command as Seoul prepares for the transfer of wartime operational control, while calling for the disbandment of the military’s Drone Operations Command.

The Future Strategy Subcommittee under the Defense Ministry’s civilian-military advisory panel released its findings Tuesday, outlining defense reform tasks and implementation steps covering future defense concepts, command and unit restructuring, force structure and personnel reforms.

The subcommittee said a Joint Operations Command should be established to unify the command structure and strengthen operational command ahead of the wartime operational control transfer, known as OPCON. Under the proposal, the Joint Operations commander would also serve as the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces commander after the transfer, overseeing both wartime and peacetime operations.

The panel said the Joint Chiefs of Staff would shift to a narrower role focused on strategic situation assessment, military strategy development and force development.

The subcommittee also recommended abolishing the Drone Operations Command, saying it creates inefficiency because drone missions and requirements are already being developed by each service. It said a smaller functional command could handle cross-service tasks such as identifying integrated requirements.

In its future defense concept, the subcommittee said planning should account for North Korea’s nuclear and conventional capabilities and gray zone threats, as well as the possibility of disputes with neighboring countries. It recommended building a Korea-led combined defense system after OPCON transfer and a tailored deterrence posture within the alliance using South Korea’s conventional capabilities and broader military power including U.S. nuclear forces.

The panel urged early fielding of key assets tied to deterring North Korea, including high-power, ultra-precise ballistic missiles, long-range surface-to-air missiles and military reconnaissance satellites and microsatellite systems. It also called for raising research and development spending for advanced defense technology such as artificial intelligence, defense semiconductors and robotics by an average of more than 10% per year.

To address declining manpower, the subcommittee recommended expanding the use of civilian resources in non-combat roles and some combat support areas, with legal and institutional changes to enable use in both wartime and peacetime. It also proposed changes to the military service system to allow people to choose multi-year professional service alongside short-term conscripted service.

The subcommittee recommended building a total defense workforce of 500,000 by 2040, including 350,000 active-duty troops and 150,000 civilian defense personnel such as civilian employees and specialized reservists.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

MEGHAN Trainor has announced she welcomed her third child via surrogate and shared the youngster’s adorable name and gender.

The singer shared the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

It included a slideshow of photos of Meghan, her husband, Daryl Sabara, and their two sons bonding with their new baby sister.

One captured the Grammy Award winner in tears as she had her first skin-to-skin contact with her newborn baby girl, moments after the youngster’s arrival.

Meghan revealed in her caption that her daughter, named Mikey Moon Trainor, was born on January 18th with the help of a “superwoman surrogate.”

“Our baby girl Mikey Moon Trainor has finally made it to the world thanks to our incredible, superwoman surrogate,” the Mother singer’s caption began.

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“We are forever grateful to all the doctors, nurses, teams who made this dream possible. We had endless conversations with our doctors in this journey and this was the safest way for us to be able to continue growing our family.

“We are over the moon in love with this precious girl. Riley and Barry have been so excited, they even got to choose her middle name. We are going to enjoy our family time now, love you all,” she concluded.

Mikey joins Meghan and Daryl’s boys, Riley and Barry.

Fans reacted with surprise and congratulatory messages in the comments for the growing family.

“WHATTTT!!!!! OMG MY HEART THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!! Congratulations!!!! So happy for you and your family!!!” one person wrote.

“Somehow I had no idea you were having a daughter via surrogacy,” another shocked user said.

“Oh my god I’m so happy for you all,” remarked a third.

“Not Meghan just surprising us all with another baby,” laughed a fourth.

“WHAT!!!! Congratulations omg!!! You finally have your baby girl I’m gonna cryyyy,” added a fifth.

Meghan – who recently underwent a dramatic weight loss – just revealed late last year that she’s heading on the road for her The Get In Girl Tour.

The tour kicks off on June 12th in Michigan and wraps on August 15th in Los Angeles.

Meghan appears to have much to focus on away from the recent toxic mom group drama ignited by her pal Ashley Tisdale.

Ashley claimed in a blog post that her close circle of mom friends, which includes Meghan, Hilary Duff, and Mandy Moore, repeatedly made her feel “left out” from their get-togethers.

A source exclusively revealed to The U.S. Sun that the ladies’ separation from the High School Musical star “wasn’t an overnight thing” and that she’d been “slowly slipping away” from them for years.

They also claimed that Ashley’s controversial political comments contributed to the feud as she made others feel “uncomfortable with her by association.”

Jan. 20 (UPI) — Two more women have accused actor Russell Brand of rape and sexual assault, and a judge in London on Tuesday granted Brand bail ahead of a Feb. 17 pretrial hearing.

Brand, 50, appeared remotely from his home in South Florida via video in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, during which new charges were entered based on complaints filed by two women.

The additional charges accuse Brand of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in 2009. The bail amount was not announced.

Those charges are in addition to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault filed against Brand that are alleged by four women from 1999 to 2005.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Brand that one of the charges against him only can be tried in a crown court and granted him an unannounced bail amount ahead of his scheduled pretrial hearing in London’s Southwark Crown Court on Feb. 17.

Tuesday’s hearing lasted about six minutes, during which Brand only acknowledged his name and date of birth.

The entertainer previously denied all allegations against him and said he only had consensual relations with his accusers and all other women.

He called the claims against him a “coordinated attack,” The Guardian reported.

One accuser said Brand raped her in 1999 while in southern England, and another said he “indecently assaulted” her in London in 2004.

A third accuser said Brand sexually assaulted and orally raped her in 2004, while a fourth victim accused him of sexual assault between 2004 and 2005.

Brand in May pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The actor and comedian was married to singer Katy Perry from October 2010 to December 2011 and has appeared in several films and television programs.

He is married to Laura Gallacher, who is the mother of Brand’s daughters, Peggy and Mabel.

US has moved to assert strict control over the production and sale of Venezuelan oil since attacking the country this month.

The United States military announced that it has seized a seventh Venezuela-linked oil tanker, as the US tightens its control over the production and sale of the country’s considerable oil resources.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees military operations in Latin America, said on Tuesday that it captured the Motor Vessel Sagitta as part of its blockade on oil vessels leaving and entering the country.

“The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” SOUTHCOM said in a statement.

It added that Tuesday’s tanker seizure occurred “without incident”, sharing a video appearing to show US forces flying towards the vessel and landing on its deck.

The US began seizing sanctioned tankers on December 10, as part of a campaign of increasing pressure on Venezuela.

Tensions between the US and Venezuela came to a peak on January 3, when US President Donald Trump authorised a predawn military operation to abduct his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.

In the lead-up to that operation, Trump and allies like Stephen Miller had been increasingly vocal about laying claim to Venezuelan oil, given the US’s history of prospecting for petroleum there in the early 20th century.

But by 1971, Venezuela had nationalised its oil industry. Efforts to expropriate assets from foreign oil companies in 2007 have further fuelled criticism from the Trump administration, which considers Venezuelan oil “stolen” from US owners.

Legal experts, however, largely consider such arguments a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.

Trump has nevertheless said the US will control Venezuela’s oil and has used the threat of further military attacks to pressure Venezuela’s government into compliance.

The Trump administration has also placed steep sanctions on Venezuela’s economy, as part of a trend stretching back to the Republican leader’s first term as president.

The US has framed the tanker seizures as a way of enforcing those sanctions, although the legality of using military force to enforce economic penalties is disputed.

Trump and his officials have said that the sale of Venezuelan oil on the world market will be dictated by the US and that the proceeds from those sales will be placed in a US-controlled bank account.

Trump has also used control over Venezuela’s oil to ratchet up pressure on Cuba, for which access to Venezuelan oil is an important economic lifeline.

The US president told reporters on Tuesday at a White House briefing that he has taken 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela.

“We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said at the White House. “We’re selling it on the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly.”

Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, said that her country had received $300m from recent oil sales. In her inaugural state of the union address last week, she signalled that her administration would reform the country’s hydrocarbon law to allow more foreign investment in future.

Timothy Busfield, the Emmy-winning actor known for “The West Wing” and “Thirtysomething,” has secured a legal victory in his child sex abuse case.

A New Mexico judge on Tuesday sided with Busfield, announcing he will release him on his own recognizance as the 68-year-old actor-director awaits trial stemming from allegations he sexually abused two child actors on the set of the Fox drama “The Cleaning Lady.” His wife, “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert, was in attendance at Tuesday’s hearing and wept following the decision.

“Thank you, God,” she appeared to say.

New Mexico District Court Judge David A. Murphy said the child sex abuse allegations against Busfield are “inherently dangerous” and that prosecutors proved “Mr. Busfield does pose a danger to the safety of others” but that it is currently “difficult for the court to put too much weight into the allegations as they’ve not been vetted by the judicial system.”

Leading up to his decision, Murphy cited letters submitted by Busfield’s defense team from the actor’s friends and family, additional affidavits in support of the actor and “the lack of a pattern involving children in this case.”

“I don’t find that there’s been sufficient presentation that this defendant may commit new crimes pending trial. There’s not evidence of a pattern of criminal conduct,” Murphy added. “There are no similar allegations involving children in his past. There’s no evidence of noncompliance with prior court orders.”

Though Busfield will be supervised by a pretrial services officer in Albuquerque, his travel will not be limited and he is required to report to that officer. He is barred from possessing firearms and weapons and from consuming alcohol or drugs. He is also ordered to refrain from contacting the alleged victims and their family and from discussing his case with witnesses.

Busfield had been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, where he was booked on two felony counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and a single count of child abuse. He turned himself into law enforcement last week, days after New Mexico officials issued a warrant for his arrest.

An affidavit filed earlier this month accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his tenure as a director, actor and producer for “The Cleaning Lady.” According to the complaint, one child actor said Busfield first touched his “private areas” multiple times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that, when he was 8 years old, Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times, according to the affidavit. The complaint also detailed a police interview with Busfield in which he suggested that the boys’ mother might have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her kids back for the final season.”

Leading up to his surrender, Busfield denied the allegations. “They’re all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys,” he said in a video published last week by TMZ. He also told supporters at the time he intends to “fight” the charges and predicted, “I’m gonna be exonerated.”

Tuesday’s hearing featured statements by Bernalillo County Deputy Dist. Atty. Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, Busfield defense attorney Amber Fayerberg and testimony from “Cleaning Lady” cinematographer Alan Caudillo.

Although Brandenburg-Koch argued against Busfield’s release and cited previous allegations that he assaulted two women, his attorney presented audio from the child actors’ initial interviews with police in which they said that Busfield did not touch them inappropriately.

“This was not a failure to disclose,” Fayerberg said of the audio clips, which she played in the courtroom. “This was an express denial.”

Fayerberg also mentioned the legal troubles of the child actors’ parents, including father Ronald Rodis’ guilty plea to a federal fraud charge in 2017, and a fraud lawsuit in 2011 against the boys’ mother, Angele LaSalle. The attorney said the two young actors had been “victimized” but not by Busfield.

“They were victimized by their own parents, who no longer could make money as a lawyer, disbarred. No longer could write bad checks,” she said, “taking 85% of the money they made on a TV show and then manufactured into victims as revenge.”

Busfield’s professional career has taken numerous hits amid the child sex abuse allegations. As the complaint circulated, Busfield was dropped by his agency and edited out of an upcoming film, according to Deadline. Last week, NBC also decided to pull an episode of “Law & Order: SVU” featuring Busfield from its programming lineup.

Jan. 20 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, announced Tuesday that they’re expecting their fourth child.

They revealed the news in a joint post on Instagram.

“We’re very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy. Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are all looking forward to welcoming him in late July,” the post read.

“During this exciting and hectic time, we are particularly grateful for the military doctors who take excellent care of our family and for the staff members who do so much to ensure that we can serve the country while enjoying a wonderful life with our children.”

JD Vance and Usha Vance, who married in 2014, share three children: Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 4. The last vice president to welcome a child while in office was Schuyler Colfax — who served under President Ulysses S. Grant — in 1870.

Singers Karol G and Feid have reportedly broken up after dating for three years.

According to TMZ, the split was “amicable” and the duo remain on good terms.

Representatives for Karol G and Feid did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for confirmation of the breakup.

Neither artist has addressed their split on social media, with Karol G’s most recent Instagram post being Christmas themed and Feid promoting his new single with Luis Fonsi, “Cambiaré’.”

The Colombian power couple were first rumored to be dating after the release of their 2021 collaboration “Friki.” Their relationship was all but confirmed after the two were seen together at the 2023 Latin Grammys, where Karol G won album of the year for “Mañana Será Bonito.”

The “Provenza” artist made their romance public when she posted a photo on Instagram in March 2024 of her holding hands with Feid at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music ceremony.

Feid was featured on Karol G’s 2025 album “Tropicoqueta” on the track “Verano Rosa.”

Feid spoke with The Times last year about how the single came to be.

“We recorded the song in 2023, but we changed the tone of it many times. We were trying to find a way in which Karol would sound like Karol and I would sound like Ferxxo,” he said.

El Ferxxo — pronounced Fercho — was an alter ego used by Feid beginning in 2020. The nickname was inspired by the singer embracing his Medellín roots and incorporating slang from his hometown into this music.

“Karol then told me, ‘Let’s put this song on my album. It would be muy chimba to release because our teams love us together on it,’” Feid said. “So we went to the studio again and recorded it in different tones until we both felt comfortable with it. It’s always special to work with her. She knows what she wants and how she wants it. For her to also be my partner, it’s beautiful and a blessing to work with family.”

Real Madrid beat Monaco 6-1 in the league phase of the Champions League, as forward Vinicius defies boos from home fans.

With three assists and a goal, Vinicius Junior quieted the fans who had booed him again at the start of Real Madrid’s 6-1 rout over Monaco in the Champions League.

Part of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd jeered the Brazil forward nearly every time he touched the ball early on in the league-phase game in Madrid on Tuesday. But the boos dissipated as the match went on and were virtually gone by the time Vinicius scored his first Champions League goal of the season in the 63rd minute.

The early boos were not nearly as loud as they were on Saturday in Madrid’s 2-0 win over Levante in the Spanish league. Both times fans jeered when Vinicius’s name was announced in the starting lineup, but this time, the game ended with fans on Vinicius’s side as he was chosen the man of the match.

Vinicius has been having a lacklustre season, and some fans viewed him as one of the reasons why coach Xabi Alonso was replaced last week.

Vinicius had spats with Alonso, a former Madrid and Spain great as a player, who was replaced as a coach following a tumultuous eight-month stint. Vinicius was reportedly the main player not backing Alonso in the locker room.

He scored his goal on Tuesday with a well-placed strike after getting past a couple of defenders and hitting the upper corner. He did not go towards the fans to celebrate, and instead hugged his teammates near the midfield. Then he ran towards the sideline to salute and hug the new Madrid coach, Alvaro Arbeloa.

Vinicius had assists in goals by Kylian Mbappe in the 26th and Franco Mastantuono in the 51st. The Brazilian also assisted with a cross that led to an own-goal by Monaco defender Thilo Kehrer in the 55th.

“Vini, we are behind you,” read a banner held by a fan at the Bernabeu.

Mbappe scored in the fifth minute to put the hosts ahead. He hugged Vinicius after his second goal later in the first half and again following the final whistle.

Mbappe and Arbeloa had come out defending Vinicius recently, with Mbappe saying the crowd should not single out Vinicius as the one to blame for the team’s struggles.

Many fans applauded a seventh-minute attempt by Vinicius, who just missed wide from inside the area. When he misplayed a ball in the 40th, some of the fans started to boo again, but many more applauded in response.

There were no immediate jeers towards club President Florentino Pérez as had happened against Levante.

Mbappe appeared to apologise to Monaco fans after scoring. He was a former Monaco player. Mbappe has 18 Champions League goals for Madrid, the most of any player in the first 20 appearances with the club, ahead of the 14 of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jude Bellingham, who was also jeered by some fans on Saturday, scored Madrid’s sixth goal in the 80th minute.

Vinicius came close to scoring again on a breakaway in second-half stoppage time.

Madrid had entered the match against Levante coming off a two-game losing streak, which included a loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia – prompting Alonso’s departure – and an embarrassing elimination against Albacete in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.

There was a moment of silence before the match in honour of the victims of the train crash, in which more than 40 people were killed, in southern Spain on Sunday.

Arsenal win 3-1 at Inter Milan in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League to seal their place in the last 16.

Gabriel Jesus is already hitting top form just a month after returning from a lengthy injury layoff.

The Arsenal forward was given only his third start this season, and he scored twice in a dynamic first half to set his side on the way to a 3-1 victory at Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Jesus was out for almost a year after tearing his ACL last January.

“It’s a dream night. I always dreamed of being a footballer,” Jesus told Amazon Prime. “I watched when I was a kid, I watched a lot of Serie A, so to be here in this stadium and score here is tears in my eyes, because I always dreamed of being here.

“There is always a reason that things happen, even whether it’s good things or difficult things. I learned that during my 11 months out of the field.”

Jesus returned in December, but has made mainly substitute appearances since then, with his only starts before Tuesday coming in domestic cup competitions.

However, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta named the Brazilian in the starting lineup at San Siro in place of Viktor Gyokeres, who has struggled to adapt since his big-money move from Sporting Lisbon in the summer.

“Everyone wants to start,” Jesus added. “I am a very respectful guy. I am not a kid any more; I am 28, so I understand football.

“I am very happy Vik came on and scored a goal. I am so happy I scored, and Vik scored.”

Jesus fired Arsenal in front in the 10th minute with an instinctive finish to stretch out his leg and get on the end of a scuffed Jurrien Timber shot.

It was his first Champions League goal in more than two years since netting in a group match against Lens in November 2023.

Inter levelled eight minutes later through Petar Sucic, but Jesus was again in the right place at the right time to put Arsenal in front in the 31st minute.

Bukayo Saka swung in a corner from the right to the far post, where Leandro Trossard nodded it back across for Jesus to head home.

Gyokeres came on for Jesus in the 75th and scored Arsenal’s third nine minutes later.

The victory assured table-topping Arsenal a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League and also saw it win seven European games in a row for the first time in its history.

Arsenal have never won the Champions League, although they reached the final in 2006, losing to Barcelona.

Arteta’s side also top the Premier League, with a seven-point advantage, and host Manchester United on Sunday.