News Desk

Jan. 17 (UPI) — Ongoing altercations between protesters and federal law enforcement spurred Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to mobilize the state’s National Guard on Saturday.

The National Guard units were not deployed as of Saturday evening but eventually are expected to help state and local police to maintain peace in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

Walz urged protesters and others to “stay safe and stay peaceful today” amid the protests and continued federal immigration law enforcement activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies.

“Our public safety team has the resources, coordination, and personnel on the ground to maintain public safety and respond if needed,” Walz said. “Thanks to local law enforcement for keeping the peace.”

The governor on Jan. 9 ordered the state’s National Guard members to be “staged and ready” for a potential deployment after an ICE officer shot and killed anti-ICE activist Renee Good as she tried to flee as federal officers tried to arrest her for obstructing them on Jan. 7.

A second ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis that did not cause a fatality happened Wednesday night when a Venezuelan who ICE said had illegally entered the United States fled during a targeted traffic stop.

That man and two others assaulted the ICE officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, and the officer shot the primary suspect in the leg to end the attack.

National Guard units on Saturday were “staging to support local law enforcement and emergency management agencies,” the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said in a social media post.

A federal judge on Friday restricted ICE’s use of crowd-dispersal tools, such as tear gas and pepper spray, to protect peaceful protesters and banned ICE from initiating traffic stops of protesters who have not broken any laws.

While a federal judge has restricted ICE activities, the Department of Justice on Friday opened an investigation of Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and others for potentially conspiring to impede ICE and other federal law enforcement in Minnesota.

President Donald Trump also has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota if protest violence continues, but he said there was no need to do so as of Friday, KSMP-TV reported.

These are the key developments from day 1,424 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Sunday, January 18:

Fighting

• The General Staff of the Ukrainian military has estimated that Russian forces have lost about 1,225,590 personnel since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• The office also reported that Russia has lost an estimated 11,569 tanks, 23,914 armoured fighting vehicles, 74,601 vehicles and fuel tanks, 36,261 artillery systems, 1,615 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,278 air defence systems, 434 aeroplanes, 347 helicopters, 108,605 drones, 28 ships and boats, and two submarines. Casualty figures for both sides since the beginning of the war have been difficult to independently verify.
• The Russian TASS news agency reported that Russian forces have captured the settlement of Pryvillya in the Donetsk region and Pryluky
  in the Zaporizhia region, citing the Ministry of Defence in Moscow.
• The ministry said that Ukrainian forces lost about 1,305 personnel in the last 24 hours, and that Russian air defences shot down 214 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and two long-range Neptune missiles.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry also said that it carried out attacks on Ukrainian energy and transportation infrastructure across 167 locations over the past 24 hours, along with deployment areas for Ukrainian forces and “ammunition depots, assembly workshops, storage sites, pre-flight preparation and launch sites for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles”.

Energy strikes

• Russian forces continued their campaign of strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over Saturday night, carrying out attacks in the Kyiv and Odesa regions, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy. Ukrainian authorities have characterised the Russian attacks as an effort to weaponise the current cold weather, degrading the country’s energy system.
• Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said in a post on the messaging app Telegram that more than 20 settlements in the Kyiv area were left without power as a result of the strikes.
• The mayor of the city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said that constant Russian attacks were straining the energy system of Ukraine’s second-largest city, stating the system that provides residents with essentials, such as heating and electricity, was “constantly operating at its limits”. He said that three people were injured in overnight strikes.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an energy coordination meeting that the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia are facing the most acute energy challenges. He added that the country must increase energy imports and seek additional equipment from allies.
• The Ukrainian news outlet Kyiv Independent reported that foreign embassies plan to stay in Kyiv despite the power outages, infrastructure issues, and predictions of extreme cold, with weather forecasts predicting temperatures as low as –20 degrees Celsius (–4 degrees Fahrenheit) later this month. The outlet reported that about 80 foreign diplomatic missions are based in Kyiv.
• Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence body has said that Moscow is planning attacks meant to disconnect Ukraine from three nuclear power plants in the coming days. The intelligence agency said those efforts seek to degrade the country’s energy infrastructure and “force Ukraine to accept unacceptable capitulation demands to end the war”.

Peace talks

• A Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States for peace talks, with Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, saying he was set to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Secretary of the US Army Dan Driscoll.
• Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Davyd Arakhamia will also take part in the talks in Miami, Florida, on Sunday.
• Zelenskyy said on Friday that the weekend talks would focus on finalising proposals for a future peace agreement on issues such as post-war security guarantees and economic rebuilding.
• Zelenskyy said the delegation would also emphasise the destructive role of continued Russian strikes on Ukraine, adding that the attacks are “constantly worsening” the already strained possibilities of reaching a peaceful settlement to end the war.
• If the Trump administration reaches an agreement with Ukraine on a proposal, the two countries could sign a document at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week. Any such proposal would also have to gain Russian support.

Diplomacy

• The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the Trump administration’s threats to seize control of Greenland and slap tariffs on European allies that defy him should not be allowed to undermine the focus on bringing an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which she called the bloc’s “core task”.
• Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev ridiculed European leaders for deploying military members to Greenland as Trump continues to threaten the self-governing Danish territory and NATO member, saying in a social media post targeted at EU chief Ursula von der Leyen that European countries should not “provoke the daddy”.
• French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Denmark and Greenland, saying that the concept of sovereignty motivates France’s support for Ukraine and that Europe must take steps to ensure that the continent’s “sovereignty is upheld”.
• Zelenskyy announced Ukrainian sanctions targeting individuals and organisations tied to Russian athletics ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, saying that Moscow uses “sports venues to spread anti-Ukrainian narratives and Russian propaganda”. The Russian national team is banned from competing, but Russian athletes may participate as “neutral athletes”.

THERE will be plenty of fans desperate to see Gareth Gates’ raunchy new stage show – but his ­teenage daughter isn’t one of them.

The singer admits his only child Missy is “mortified” at the thought of him stripping off ­during nostalgic concert, Boyband In The Buff.

And despite being supportive of his career, the schoolgirl, 16 — who is just a few months younger than Gareth was when he first found fame on 2002’s Pop Idol — doesn’t want to see posters of her topless dad promoting the Magic Mike-style extravaganza.

The show is a nostalgic, cheeky concert tour starring a scantily clad Gareth and a cast of male performers — also in minimal clothing — belting out hits from Nineties and Noughties boybands including Take That, Blue, NSYNC and Backstreet Boys.

In an exclusive interview, Gareth says: “Missy is mortified. She goes to school in Wiltshire and she’s very pleased that I’m not going to a ­theatre near there.

“She says she couldn’t handle ­seeing Daddy topless on a poster so close to her school.

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Pop Idol legend Gareth Gates strips off for Boybands in the Buff show

“When I first told her about it, she was speechless. She went, ‘What?!’

“She was shocked. She’s always been a big fan of everything I’ve done, but she’s sceptical about this one. She may well want to see some of the other lads on stage — she’s of that age — but not her dad!”

Gareth and Missy have a close bond and the singer, who lives mostly in West London, has even bought a second home near her boarding school to see more of her.

He says: “Any opportunity I get to go down there and see her, I do.

‘Raunchy and cheeky’

“I just gravitate there when I’m not on the road because it’s tough being away from her.

“I bought it a year before Covid and locked down there with her – which was perfect, as I hadn’t ever had that amount of time with her before.

“We have a great relationship and I feel very lucky. She’s a beautiful soul inside and out. I’m very proud of her.

“Fatherhood changes you as a person — your whole perspective of life.

“You’re not living for yourself any more, you are living for ­somebody else.

“I’ll always perform because I love it and it’s what I do best, but I invest in other areas, such as property, and I’m producing now.

“It’s all to give her the best life possible and to leave her a bit of an empire when I’m not around.”

Gareth continues: “The hardest thing about being on tour is being away from her. As I’m getting older, I’m trying to put into place that I don’t have to be away as much.

“I can produce shows and be at home with her a bit more, because you miss out on key moments when you’re away, which is tough.”

I’ll always perform because I love it and it’s what I do best, but I invest in other areas, such as property, and I’m producing now

Gareth Gates

Gareth reckons that as his daughter hits her late teens, it won’t hurt to have him around keeping an eye on her.

He says: “Missy is 16 now, which is quite scary for Daddy. She’s a very sensible girl, though.

“She goes to dance class and singing every night of the week, so she’s keeping busy and keeping away from boys – or so she tells me!”

At a similar age, Gareth, now 41, had a colourful love life.

After finishing as runner-up on Pop Idol to Will Young, he hooked up with Katie Price while she was pregnant with her son Harvey.

And in her book, Being Jordan, she claimed that she took his virginity.

Then, in 2008, Gareth married Missy’s mum — dancer Suzanne Mole.

The pair split after four years amid claims he cheated on her with Corrie actress Faye Brookes.

Gareth and Faye were together on and off for seven years, before splitting for good in 2018.

And from 2020 to December 2022, he was in a relationship with DJ Chloe McLennan.

Gareth has been with West End actress and singer Allana Taylor, 26, for the past three years after they appeared together in panto.

He says: “The show’s name was actually Allana’s idea. She’s in the industry herself, so she’s fully supportive. Our relationship is going from strength to strength.

“We live together and we have a brand new puppy together called Lady Gates, so we’ll see what ­happens in the future.”

Gareth has had a successful career after finding fame on Pop Idol and releasing his single Unchained ­Melody, which went to No1 in 2002.

Boyband In The Buff is not just a male strip show. It has elements of that. There’s water involved — there’s a shower scene — so we’re in ­swimwear. It’s raunchy and cheeky

Gareth Gates

He recorded three studio albums, starred in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Les ­Miserables in the West End, and appeared in nationwide tours of ­Boogie Nights and Footloose.

‘Marrying passions’

He not only stars in Boyband In The Buff but he produces it, too.

The idea for the musical came from seeing the success of the Magic Mike films and West End show.

And part of his research involved going to strip shows for real.

Gareth says: “With my producer hat on, I saw that Magic Mike was doing very well and I wanted a slice of that pie, so there’s that same look and choreography.

“Boyband In The Buff is not just a male strip show. It has elements of that. There’s water involved — there’s a shower scene — so we’re in ­swimwear. It’s raunchy and cheeky.

“We get girls on stage and we ­celebrate the male form, but it’s not full frontal nudity.

“I have seen a ­couple of these types of shows for research and there are ones that make you cringe.

“Ours isn’t that show. Plus, we sing, so it’s a pop concert as well.

“Obviously, a lot of the people who come to see it will remember the hits — it’s a very nostalgic night — so we’ll take them back to their youth.”

Gareth has transformed himself from a skinny Bradford teenager into a man with bulging muscles.

He works out every day for two hours, lifting weights and bench pressing almost 19st.

The star says of combining his first loves on stage: “I’ve always loved boyband music – I sang the Westlife song, Flying Without Wings, for my Pop Idol audition.

“I’m also a big gym-goer, so it’s marrying my two passions.

“I’ve cast four amazing lads who are all big West End performers — great singers and great dancers — but they just so happen to look half decent without a top on.

‘Held back by stutter’

“There’s nothing like the fear of getting your kit off on stage to kick you up the backside to go to the gym.

“The show is actually just an ­extension of what I do.

“I train very hard in the gym — I won Celebrity SAS two years ago – and now I’m a male stripper. Some people have said that the pictures of me with my shirt off look like AI, but it really isn’t.

“I rarely go out these days, I rarely drink and I feel better for it. Hand on heart, I feel the best I’ve ever felt.”

I rarely go out these days, I rarely drink and I feel better for it

Gareth Gates

When the Boyband In The Buff tour ends in October, Gareth is ­producing his first panto — Beauty And The Beast in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk – in which he also stars.

And he is producing a new West End show, which is a transfer from Broadway and likely to open in early 2027, plus two soon-to-be released films.

Meanwhile, he has written a ­musical entitled Speechless, about a man who stammers, which is based on his own experiences. Gareth’s stutter dates back to his childhood.

These days he manages it with the help of a speech therapist and a speech coach, who sits in remotely on all his interviews to ­support him and remind him to talk more slowly.

Gareth explains: “Stammering isn’t just repetition of sound. It really controls you.

“You can’t be the person that you want to be because you’re held back by your affliction. That can be very hard at times. The thought of a live interview on TV still, 24 years on, fills me with terror.”

• For more information about Gareth’s musical stage show or to buy tickets, see boybandinthebuff.com.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Denmark to show support for Greenland and reject United States President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take control of the self-governing Danish territory.

Waving the flags of Denmark and Greenland, the protesters formed a sea of red and white outside Copenhagen city hall on Saturday, chanting “Kalaallit Nunaat” – the Arctic island’s name in Greenlandic.

Rallies were also organised throughout the day in the Danish cities of Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense, as well as in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.

“I am very grateful for the huge support we as Greenlanders receive … We are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up,” said Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organisation for Greenlanders in Denmark.

“Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights,” she added.

The demonstrations come as Trump said 10 percent tariffs would be imposed on several European allies opposing US control of Greenland from February 1, hitting ​Denmark, ‌Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The US president, who says the move is critical for his country’s interests, added that those tariffs ‌would rise to ‌25 percent on June ⁠1 and would continue until an agreement is reached ‌for the US to purchase Greenland.

While Greenland and Denmark have rejected the idea of the island being “owned” by the US, efforts to get the US administration to change its stance have so far appeared to fail.

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland left a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC, this week, saying that they “didn’t manage to change the American position”.

“It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters.

According to the latest poll published in January of last year, 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the US, while only 6 percent were in favour.

Reporting from Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands said Saturday’s rally was expected to be a large one.

“This is … the capital city, but [home to] only about 19-20,000 people. Everyone we spoke to yesterday said that they were going to be coming out and marching today,” Challands said.

“This essentially is Danes and Greenlanders coming together. Everyone here believes that at some point, there should be some form of independence [for Greenland],” he added.

“But for the moment, Denmark and Greenland are saying that their best way out of this crisis is to remain united.”

Some US lawmakers – including members of Trump’s own Republican Party – also have raised opposition to the president’s push to take control of Greenland, saying it threatens global stability and the US commitment to NATO.

A bipartisan group of US Congress members travelled to Denmark on Friday, led by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, who said there was no security threat to Greenland to justify the Trump administration’s stance.

“Greenland is a part of Denmark. Denmark is our NATO ally. That should be the end of this discussion, in my view,” Coons told reporters in Copenhagen.

Trump has repeatedly accused Denmark of failing to do enough to secure Greenland’s territorial waters in the Arctic.

European NATO members are deploying troops in Greenland for a military exercise designed to show that they will “defend [their] sovereignty”, French armed forces minister Alice Rufo said this week.

Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced they are sending small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic.

Zach Sutton, a mechanical engineer from Detroit, calls his car Bak2Bak. It is built from the front ends of two old Chrysler vehicles, one made in Canada, the other in the United States.

Sutton says he didn’t know the origins of the parts when he bought them, but later found the pairing felt serendipitous. He describes the two countries as close “sister countries” making the hybrid design feel fitting.

The quirky vehicle turns heads on the streets of Detroit. Sutton says the project was never meant to be serious, but fun and accessible, a light-hearted symbol that delivers, as he puts it, “a lot of smiles per gallon.”

Video by Eloise Alanna

If you’re looking for a great watch in the cinema, this could be the film for you.

My mum, being a Sky Cinema member, receives two complimentary cinema tickets each month – and she alternates between taking my sister and me to catch the latest films. It’s a cute little tradition, made all the more convenient by the fact that her local Vue cinema (the only chain where the tickets are valid) is just a five-minute drive away.

This time around, The Housemaid was on the cards; having only seen the trailer and a few TikTok videos of women shielding their boyfriends’ eyes during certain scenes, I was bracing myself for an uncomfortable viewing experience. However, I found the film to be fast-paced, mildly risqué for about five minutes, and packed with unexpected plot twists.

The Housemaid initially focuses on Millie (Sydney Sweeney), an ex-convict on parole who is desperately in need of employment. Soon enough, she finds herself sitting across from Mrs Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried), who just so happens to be looking for a live-in maid.

The offer seems too good to pass up, particularly as Millie has been sleeping rough in her car and washing in public restrooms.

Once hired, Millie’s quickly introduced to Mrs Winchester’s handsome husband, Andrew (portrayed by Brandon Sklenar), who initially appears to be a devoted family man dealing with an unstable wife.

In a job she can’t afford to walk away from, Millie finds herself biting her tongue as Mrs Winchester’s demands become increasingly chaotic.

Witness to his wife’s tantrums, Andrew begins to feel sorry for Millie and tries to comfort her, which predictably turns into an affair – but that’s when the predictability stops.

Unexpected plot developments arrive one after another, maintaining the film’s brisk momentum; before long, Mrs Winchester’s viewpoint emerges, and the audience are shown what really drove her to madness.

The two-hour runtime flies by remarkably quickly, making for genuinely compelling viewing. Plus, Amanda Seyfried delivers an outstanding performance as an emotionally fragile mother justifiably worried about her wandering husband.

Notably, Sydney Sweeney excels in her part – creating a character audiences find themselves supporting as she seeks retribution against the charismatic unfaithful spouse, convincingly brought to life by Brandon Sklenar.

What other people are saying

The production has earned a remarkable 92% popcornmeter score on movie review platform Rotten Tomatoes, with viewers hailing it as “one of the best thrillers” they’ve experienced – a sentiment I wholeheartedly share.

One reviewer stated: “Honestly, one of the best thrillers I have watched. Absolutely nerve-racking and exciting, would definitely watch again.” Someone else said: “Phenomenal. Much better than I expected. Definitely worth the watch.”

Provided you don’t scrutinise the conclusion too closely once everything appears resolved, this gripping thriller offers plenty to appreciate.

Jan. 17 (UPI) — Representatives of the European Union and South American nations signed a free trade agreement on Saturday, but it won’t be official until approved by the European Parliament.

The free trade agreement would support trade between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, collectively called “Mercosur,” and E.U. member nations, but the E.U.’s parliamentarians could reject it.

Mercosur is a Spanish acronym that is short for “Southern Common Market,” and the European Parliament might take months to ratify the agreement, if it does at all, some European officials have warned.

E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa participated in the signing ceremony held in Asuncion, Paraguay, along with representatives of the four South American nations subject to the agreement.

If ratified by the E.U., the deal would affect more than 700 million people in Europe and South America, but it still has significant opposition to overcome.

Officials in France and Poland are especially averse to the free trade agreement, which they said could place their domestic farmers and producers of beef and poultry food products at a competitive disadvantage to agricultural goods produced in South American nations that have more lax regulations, EuroNews reported

Opponents also say the deal could lead to increased deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and other environmentally sensitive areas.

Many French and European farmers displayed their objections to the trade agreement by entering Brussels and Paris on their tractors and other farm implements in December to protest the proposed deal.

An initial agreement was reached late last year after roughly 25 years of effort to reach its current status, and recent tariff policies announced by U.S. President Donald Trump have made the E.U.-Mercosur trade agreement more viable, according to leaders on both sides of the agreement.

Domestic political issues in France also are weakening opposition to the trade agreement there, and a former E.U. trade negotiator told The Washington Post that a consensus no longer is needed among the 27 E.U. member states regarding the trade agreement.

“Other member states were of the view that we cannot really delay this much further,” Ignacio Garcia Bercero said. “There would be a huge loss of credibility for the European Union if it cannot go ahead at this time.”

The current global political climate makes it more important for the deal to be approved as the United States and China become more aggressive in promoting their respective global economic and political goals, he added.

The United States has urged Syrian troops to halt their advance through Kurdish-held territory in Syria’s north, amid clashes with Kurdish-led forces over strategic posts and oilfields along the Euphrates River.

The rapid advance of Syrian troops on Saturday came after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to retreat east of the river, following recent fighting in Aleppo and areas east of the city over stalled plans to merge the SDF into the Syrian state.

Brad Cooper, who heads the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), wrote on X that Syrian troops should “cease any offensive actions in areas” between the city of Aleppo and the town of Tabqa, approximately 160km (100 miles) further east in the Raqqa governorate.

On Saturday, the Syrian Army Operations Command told Al Jazeera Arabic that the military had entered Tabqa, a strategic town near a dam and a military airbase. The SDF denied the claim, saying its forces were “still in their positions” there.

‘Betrayal’

The SDF had said it would pull back from the key towns of Deir Hafer and Maksana, as well as some surrounding villages in the Aleppo governorate, whose residents are predominantly Arab.

Syria’s army took control of the area on Saturday and accused the SDF of violating a withdrawal agreement by targeting an army patrol near Maksana, “killing two soldiers”.

The SDF, meanwhile, accused Damascus of violating the agreement by entering the towns “before our fighters had fully withdrawn”.

Later, Syrian troops advanced further, with state news agency SANA reporting they had expanded into the Raqqa countryside, entering Kurdish-controlled towns and villages, including Hneida, Rajm al-Ghazal, Mansoura and Zur Shamar, and imposing a curfew in the Maadan area, as they raced closer to Tabqa.

The SDF accused Damascus of betrayal. “Heavy clashes continue between our forces and Damascus factions, who violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces during the implementation of the withdrawal provisions,” it said in a statement, adding that parts of Raqqa had been “subjected to artillery shelling and rocket fire”.

But the SDF said in a statement on Saturday that Tabqa was “outside the scope of the agreement” and that it would fight to keep the town, as well as an oilfield in its vicinity.

Reporting from Aleppo, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said there was ongoing shelling in the Raqqa governorate.

“Judging by the amount of weapons, the amount of long-range artillery, the truckloads of ammunition we saw going in that direction, it is unsurprising,” he said.

“There are fights ongoing for oilfields that were controlled by the SDF, so this is a very ongoing, active theatre of operations, and things are moving very quickly,” he added.

The Syrian Petroleum Company said on Saturday that it had taken over the al-Rasafa and Safyan oilfields from the Syrian Army shortly after soldiers seized the areas of Deir Hafer and Maskana from the SDF.

Unresolved issue

The US has had to recalibrate its Syria policy to balance years of backing for the SDF, with whom it was allied in the fight against ISIL (ISIS), and its support for the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ousted Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.

US envoy Tom Barrack travelled to Erbil in ‌the Kurdish region of northern Iraq on Saturday to meet with Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.

The Kurdish region’s authorities welcomed a decree announced on Friday that formally recognises the Kurdish language and restores citizenship to Kurdish Syrians, but said that it needed to be translated into law and enshrined in the constitution.

From Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said that behind the “conciliatory words” lay the “unresolved issue of how to integrate these tens of thousands of heavily armed, well-trained SDF fighters into the Syrian Army”.

“It was supposed to start last year. It never got going by the end of the year. That’s what led to these clashes earlier in January,” he said.

HE has been linked to Rihanna, J-Lo and Kylie Jenner, but I can reveal that Drake secretly wooed OnlyFans star Lily Phillips.

The Canadian rapper slid into the adult entertainer’s DMs and invited her out for dinner when he performed in Birmingham in July last year.

Lily, who owns a sprawling £1.1million mansion in Cheshire, was bowled over by the star hiring a whole Italian restaurant for the pair of them to dine alone.

A US source close to the rapper said: “Drake first met Lily at a party, when they were introduced by mutual friends, and he was completely struck by her.

“He was asking her lots of questions about herself and really showed an interest in her. He’s a global megastar, so Lily was quite taken aback and she couldn’t believe how nice he was.

“He really wanted to make sure she had a great time.

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“Then he slid into her Instagram DMs to invite her to his gig at the Utilita Arena in his special VIP area.

“After the gig, he surprised her by hiring out an entire Italian restaurant so he could wine and dine her. He went all out to impress her and it was really romantic.

“They went back to his hotel to continue the party, and have continued texting each other since.”

Lily, who appears in Olivia Attwood’s latest series of Getting Filthy Rich on ITV2, revealed she made £800,000 in a month after filming herself sleeping with 100 men in a single day.

She has usually dated other adult performers since starting her OnlyFans career.

Talk about Hotline Bling . . . 

Will J-Law scoop a Bafta or end up pig sick just like her mum?

JENNIFER LAWRENCE is set to bump into ex Nicholas Hoult at next month’s Baftas.

And they could reminisce about the time Jen’s mum got a nasty infection after kissing a pig in the company of her British X-Men co-star.

Jen told the SmartLess podcast: “I brought a British boyfriend home and, in celebration, they roasted a pig on a spit.

“My boyfriend was very fancy and didn’t want to eat it but was being polite. My mum was like, ‘When I saw that naked pig, I couldn’t help myself so I leaned right in and gave it a kiss, and won’t you know it, two weeks later I got ringworm’.”

Jen is being tipped for Best Actress for Die My Love ­– but recently said she now sees herself as a “stay-at-home mum” rather than an actress after having two kids.

Hopefully she swerves smooching bacon.

DENISE VAN OUTEN has revealed she saw Jessie Buckley’s promise straight away when the Oscar favourite appeared on I’d Do Anything in 2008.

Denise was a judge on the BBC talent show alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber.

She said: “We always knew she’d be a big star – we spotted it in her immediately. She’s one of the best actresses in the world.”

Jessie came second and has said she was “brutalised” by the intensity of the series.

Denise who was one of Jessie’s mentors, said of the contestants: “I felt a sense of responsibility for them all at the time.

“I was older than them and they were just kids.”

ACTING’S IN THE JEANS, BELLA

SUPERMODEL Bella Hadid looks dandy in denim for a Miss Sixty fashion shoot.

The fashionista revealed last week that she would like to do more acting after appearing in Ryan Murphy’s new TV series The Beauty.

Bella said: “I would love to keep continuing acting after this. This is a dream of mine.

“I’ve brought my art side and my creativity to modelling but, at the end of the day, I love being able to move, and I love film and acting in general.

“I love actors because they can be different characters for so many different people.”

Bella’s definitely got enough contacts in the industry – her sister Gigi is dating Bradley Cooper.

I’m sure he would put a good word in for her.

Heidi: I don’t see my ’babes

HEIDI RANGE has revealed she doesn’t keep in touch with her ex-Sugababes bandmates – and has no idea where they live.

The singer performed in three of the girl band’s four line-ups, alongside Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen.

Heidi said: “We don’t keep in touch but if we see each other we will chat and catch up. I don’t know where they all live now. I don’t miss those days.”

Speaking at the premiere of Cirque du Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall, she added: “I was in the band for 11 years and it was incredible, but I love this stage of my life.

“I miss singing but I don’t want to be on the road. I want to be home with my kids. I want to pick them up from school and put them to bed.”

CIRQUE du Soleil had the audience buzzing on Wednesday night as their annual London residency returned bigger, bolder and brighter.

The joyous opening night at the Royal Albert Hall had an insect theme, with performers transforming into bees, dragonflies, grasshoppers and spiders.

From acrobats to contortionists, fans were whisked off to a magical world of nature – a welcome escape from the January rain and gloom.

Celeb guests including Queen legend Brian May, supermodel Jodie Kidd singer Becky Hill and Strictly’s Janette Manrara and Nadiya Bychkova posed on the red carpet before sipping bubbles in the VIP area.

Olivia Dean was seen in the crowd ahead of her upcoming Brit Awards performance.

Such star power shows this return was truly the bee’s knees.

ROB APPY TO CHAT TO TOM

HE may have refused to perform in the Strictly Come Dancing finale amid rumours he planned to sue the BBC over being voted off, but Thomas Skinner is still in the 2025 contestant WhatsApp group.

Former rugby ace Chris Robshaw who took part in the show alongside The Apprentice star Tom revealed: “Thomas hasn’t left – he is still there. We all keep in touch. Thomas is a nice guy. We shared a dressing room. From what I’ve met of him, he was decent. We got on fine.

“I don’t think he feels too hard done by with Strictly.

“The great thing about the show is that you are put in touch with people you would never normally meet.”

Chris shed the pounds during the show, which saw him partnered with pro dancer Nadiya Bychkova.

He said: “I lost 4kg and it was the best I have felt in a long time.

“It’s the most energised I have felt in a really long time. I really miss the training.”

Chris also hinted that he could be launching his own podcast later this year, adding: “I’ve got a project in the podcast space, but it’s too early to say any more.”

I fear the cat is already out of the bag . . . 

KYLIE LOOKS SEW RETRO

KYLIE MINOGUE will have fans hooked as she oozes subtle sex appeal in this white crocheted dress.

The singer posed for Northern Irish designer JW Anderson’s new fashion campaign, while actors Daryl McCormack and Ruth Wilson were also models.

Kylie’s look matches her liking for retro styles. She has said previously: “I miss almost everything about the 1990s.

“There were no phones, dance music was going nuts and I was in it and among it, going to the clubs, going to fashion shows, pounding the pavement, going to markets.

“I wasn’t wasting time scrolling on socials or dealing with, like, adulting.

“So there’s a lot I miss. Overall, just freedom.”

What a Step Back In Time . . . 

SYDNIE’S HARRY NEW YEAR

SYDNIE CHRISTMAS has gone Instagram official with her new man.

The 2024 Britain’s Got Talent winner quietly split from fellow singer Max Rizzo last year, but has now posted a series of photos with her new bloke, Harry Woods.

The couple have visited New York and Thailand since meeting last autumn.

A source said: “Sydnie is having the time of her life. Her career is going from strength to strength and she’s in a whirlwind romance.

“Harry is really supportive of her career and loves that she is so talented.

“They’ve really enjoyed getting to know each other and making new memories. She couldn’t be happier.”

I look forward to seeing if she pens any songs about her new beau.

DAN AND CRAIG GET IN STUDIO

THEY were both titans of the UK garage scene and now Craig David and Daniel Beddingfield are going to release music together.

Gotta Get Thru This hitmaker Daniel says he’s been getting creative with Craig because most of today’s artists are rubbish. Meow.

Daniel said: “I don’t think music moves many people these days. It’s really boring.

“At the moment, you have to befriend someone that is incredible at what you do. Whatever you’re good at, they have to be as good and that’s extremely hard to find.

“Most music I’ve heard this year is mush, but Oppidan, Flava D and DJ Zinc . . .  they are making garage that sounds really fresh.”

He added: “Craig David –  we’re working on some stuff together at the moment.”

Watch this space.