News Desk, Author at Occasional Digest

NEWS TODAY

Worker dies after partial collapse of medieval tower in Rome

A worker who was trapped after part of a medieval tower collapsed in the heart of Rome, has died, according to hospital officials.

Octay Stroici was pulled free at 23:00 local time (22:00 GMT), nearly twelve hours after a section of the Torre dei Conti, on the edge of the famous Roman Forum and close to the Colosseum, gave way and trapped him beneath.

His heart stopped in the ambulance, and doctors at the hospital he was rushed to were unable to save him.

The Romanian foreign ministry said Stroici was a Romanian national, as was another worker among three others pulled from the rubble. One is said to be in a critical condition.

Stroici’s rescue was initially described as an exceptional feat by firefighters who had worked late into the night. Rescue teams used drones and rubble clearers to try to reach him, despite the risk that the fragile tower could collapse further.

He had been conscious and talking to the emergency workers throughout the rescue. His wife was also at the scene.

Stroici had been carrying out conservation work on the medieval tower which is part of the Roman Forum, one of this city’s busiest tourist sites. But this particular building had been empty and abandoned for many years.

The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the incident.

Efforts to rescue Stroici – reported to be in his 60s – were interrupted when a second section of the 29m (90ft) high tower began crumbling again, with bricks raining down, creating a huge cloud of dust.

Earlier, Rome prefect Lamberto Giannini had described it as a “very complex situation”. Giannini said that after the initial collapse firefighters had “put up some protection” around the trapped man, so when the second collapse happened, “they obviously shielded him”.

He added that the rescue was a long operation due to having to “mitigate…the enormous risks faced by the people trying to carry out the rescue”.

One firefighter was taken to hospital with an eye problem, according to local media, but the rest were unharmed, eventually resuming their search for the man.

A police chief said there was no imminent danger that the tower will disintegrate.

“My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the person currently fighting for his life beneath the rubble, and to his family, for whom I sincerely hope that this tragedy finds a positive outcome,” wrote Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on X before the rescue was complete.

Another worker, 67-year-old Ottaviano, who was inside at the time of the collapse but escaped from a balcony uninjured, told the AFP news agency: “It was not safe. I just want to go home.”

Rome’s mayor and Italy’s culture minister visited the scene.

The 13th Century tower is part of the Roman Forum, a major tourist attraction in the centre of Rome, but it is separated from the main visitors’ area by a road. The streets all around have been taped off by police as a precaution.

The medieval tower was built by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his brother.

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First look at the John Lewis Christmas advert 2025 – and it's a tearjerker

Nov 4, 2025 News Desk

The 2025 Christmas advert from John Lewis launches a new campaign, telling shoppers "If you can’t find the words, find the gift"

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Trump says he will restrict federal funds for New York City if Mamdani wins | Donald Trump News

Nov 4, 2025 News Desk

United States Republican President Donald Trump says he will restrict federal funds for New York City if Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the city’s mayoral elections, to be held on Tuesday.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Monday that “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required”, if Mamdani wins the race.

‘Our time is now’

Mamdani, a 34-year-old New York state assemblyman, has galvanised New Yorkers with an optimistic, multilingual campaign that promised free buses, rent freezes and universal childcare, partially paid for by taxing the city’s wealthiest residents.

He reiterated that Trump had signalled his support for Cuomo in a 60 Minutes interview. In recent weeks, Cuomo has appealed to conservatives as a way to up his polling numbers.

“If [Cuomo is] elected as mayor, our city will descend deeper into the darkness that has forced too many of our neighbours to flee, and made it impossible for working people to live lives of dignity,” Mamdani said.

In his City Hall speech on Monday, Mamdani seemed to embrace the seismic shift that his campaign has represented for New York’s politics.

“There were few in this city who dared to imagine that we could win, and what it would mean for a city that has – for too long – served only the wealthy and powerful, at the expense of those who work through sunrises and sunsets,” Mamdani said.

Moments later, the crowd broke out in cheers of, “Our time is now!”

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after an independent state probe found he had engaged in a pattern of sexually harassing women, took aim at Mamdani’s democratic socialist promises in his final hours of campaigning, likening them to left-wing governments in Latin America.

“Socialism didn’t work in Venezuela. Socialism didn’t work in Cuba. Socialism is not going to work in New York City,” Cuomo said. Mamdani, however, is a self-described “democratic socialist”.

New York’s most prominent billionaires, including hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have supported Cuomo’s campaign, with Ackman doling out a total of $750,000 through donation vehicles known as super PACs, CNBC reported last week.

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Shrinking Water Sources Stir Farmer-Herder Tensions in Adamawa Community

Nov 4, 2025 News Desk

Bello Gambur dreads going to the stream before 2 p.m.

Every morning, he leaves home with a herd of over 30 cattle, with his staff slung across his shoulders as they head into the bush. For about five hours, he watches them as they graze, rest, and wander, but none can drink. The only stream in the community lies just a short walk away, yet he must wait until 2 p.m. to take them there.

Going earlier, he says, could have deadly consequences.

All his life, the forty-year-old has lived as a herder in Mararaban Bare, a small community in the Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, where his ancestors migrated and settled a long time ago.

Over the years, the herders lived in peace with their host community, but in 2017, violence broke out over water. The clash claimed many lives, and several properties were destroyed. In October, security operatives stepped in to quell a similar incident.

So, Bello doesn’t mind his herd enduring hours of thirst if it helps keep the fragile peace.

Man standing in a field with grazing cows under a clear sky. — *Bello Gambur stands behind his herd in a grazing field at Mararaban Bare. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle*

He leads the cattle to the stream when most locals have finished using it and are back at their homes. Bello and the other herders go there between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to prevent coming in contact with the locals who visit the stream every morning to bathe, wash, and fetch water for domestic chores.

The rationing also requires the locals to leave before 2 p.m.

However, this arrangement has not ended the clashes between the groups, as locals believe it does little to address deeper grievances.

Tension keeps building

“Irrigation farmers use the water from the canal to farm. And other community members drink the water, the cattle also drink from it, so this is a problem,” Alphonsus Bosso, a 55-year-old farmer and resident of Mararaban Bare, told HumAngle.

He said the tension is unlikely to end soon, especially with the dry season approaching. This competition for access to the stream intensifies during this period.

Alphonsus said a lasting solution would be to provide the herders with their own water source “because we no longer co-exist”. In some other Adamawa communities, humanitarian organisations have already supported the creation of alternative water sources, which have helped ease similar tensions, a model yet to reach Mararaban Bare.

A person sits under a tree, surrounded by lush greenery and a clear blue sky. — *Alphonsus Bosso, a farmer and resident of Mararaban Bare. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/ HumAngle.*

“We used to have canals that served as water sources for our cattle, and we barely used the stream until the canals began to dry up,” said Muza Alhaji Shenya, a 37-year-old herder in the area. He linked the recent drying up of water bodies in the area to industrial expansion, particularly the construction of embankments to store water for sugarcane plantations. HumAngle saw some of these embankments during a visit.

Narrow stream with greenish water flows between grassy and eroded banks under a blue sky. — *Herders said the construction of embankments for the irrigation of sugarcane plantations affected water bodies. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle*

However, environmental experts say the problem extends beyond industrial activity.

Hamza Muhammed Usman, the Executive Director of Environmental Care Foundation, a non-governmental organisation in Adamawa State that promotes a climate-friendly environment, food security, and peacebuilding, explained that prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall, and deforestation, among other factors, are responsible for the shrinking water bodies in the state.

He said that overgrazing by livestock and human activities such as excessive farming on the same location and mining reduce vegetation cover, which disrupts the natural flow of water into its channels and bodies, especially in local government areas such as Numan, Fufore, some parts of Madagali, Maiha, Gombi, and the southern zone.

Hamza also noted that migration and growing birth rates in the affected areas have increased the competition for water. “There are people from Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and other places trooping into Adamawa for greener pastures. This leads to overdependence on the limited resources,” he said.

A man with a green headscarf stands in a field with grazing cattle under a partly cloudy sky. — Muza Alhaji Shenya has been grazing in Mararaban Bare for over two decades. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle

‘They pollute the water’

Locals insist that sharing the water with the cattle is unhealthy.

“The cattle are polluting the water with mud and urine,” said Silas Simon, the community leader. “We dilute the water with alum when we want to consume.”

Even this treatment becomes difficult during the dry season, which starts in October.

During the season, the herders in Mararaban Bare are left with two options: lead their cattle to the local stream or trek six kilometres into Bare, the nearest village with multiple water sources. The journey takes about six hours, making the local stream the closest option for many.

Sign reading "Welcome to Bare (Bwazza), Home of Hospitality," against a backdrop of greenery and blue sky. — *Some herders trek for six hours to Bare every day to access water for their cattle. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle*

One herder, who treks to Bare to avoid being attacked by locals, said his cattle often drink water once a day, mostly in the afternoon, and sometimes, in the evening while returning to their settlement. There, water is provided for them in small containers, but much priority is given to the calves since the water is not enough.

“The cows are getting thinner; their health has deteriorated over the years,” he said. “Every water source is drying up.”

“If we can have alternative water sources, then we won’t go to the stream for water where the people drink from,” Muza said.

There is a borehole in Mararaban Bare, but it barely functions.

Silas noted that if the borehole was functional, locals would use it as a water source and leave the stream for the herders, which would reduce the clashes.

“The borehole barely works. If it ever pumps water, it ceases at any time, so one has to wait for hours before the water runs again. Sometimes, people queue up from morning to evening and get unlucky because it ceases anytime,” he said.

A hand-pump well stands on a concrete base surrounded by green grass and foliage. — *The only borehole in Mararaban Bare barely functions. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle.*

‘No agreement’

Several meetings have been held between the locals and herders to resolve the conflict, but no lasting agreement has been reached apart from a temporary water-use arrangement. Silas said tensions remain high, as youths from both groups often act as the main instigators during clashes.

“We do not wish to provoke anyone; we are only after the welfare of the cattle,” said Alhaji Ngala, the chairperson of herders in the community. He also noted that farms have taken over grazing routes, leaving them with “no freedom”.

“If we can have access to grazing routes and enough water supply, then our minds will be at peace,” Ngala told HumAngle.

Hamza, the climate-friendly environment advocate, urged the government to invest in solar-powered boreholes as a way of promoting clean energy and sustainable water supply across communities facing similar challenges. He also called for stronger conflict-resolution mechanisms across the state.

A group of boys walks towards grazing cows in a vast green field under a clear blue sky. — A group of young herders watch cattle graze in the open fields of Mararaban Bare. Photo: Saduwo Banyawa/HumAngle.

“Water scarcity is not just an environmental issue but a driver of insecurity, because in a place where there is tension, certain groups can take advantage of the situation to infiltrate such communities and cause problems,” Hamza said.

Although the state government has collaborated with civil society organisations to adopt measures like afforestation, small-scale irrigation projects, and awareness campaigns, among other initiatives, to address the recurring clashes over water and limited resources. Hamza noted that many communities still lack the technical capacity and financial support to sustain these interventions.

“Some of the measures, like afforestation and proper waste management, are not owned properly by the locals,” Hamza said.

He further called for integrated water resource management and inclusive governance to protect watersheds and prevent further land degradation. “Degraded lands can be restored through rotation. Herders should not graze on the same spot for more than five years, and farmers should do the same,” he said.

He also stressed the need for interdependence; farmers relying on cow dung as manure, and herders being granted access to reserved grazing areas.

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Molly-Mae Hague breaks silence on Behind It All documentary backlash after being slammed as ‘out of touch’ and ‘bratty’

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

FORMER Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague has broken her silence on her Behind It All documentary and the backlash she faced.

The 26-year-old successful star and mum of one, was slammed when her new Amazon docuseries, Molly-Mae: Behind It All, was released.

Many viewers of the series admitted the Love Island star’s “bratty behaviour” had “put them off her” after watching the Amazon offering.

Breaking her silence on the backlash and reaction from viewers, Molly-Mae opened up in the introduction of her new YouTube video, which was shared on Monday evening.

The influencer and fashion mogul even revealed she was forced to delete TikTok amid the comments she saw about the series.

Speaking in her vlog, she said: “I had seen what people were saying about the doc and then made the executive decision to basically delete TikTok.”

Tesla inquiry grows over door handle issue

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

A Tesla pictured in Oct. 2022 near the Meta campus in Menlo Park, Calif. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla received 16 reports of exterior door handles becoming “inoperative due to low 12VDC battery voltage in certain MY 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles.” File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 3 (UPI) — Federal regulators have ordered Tesla to comply with an investigation into possibly defective door handles that reportedly led to trapped passengers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told the Elon Musk-owned Tesla that the federal government received scores of complaints on its electric vehicles.

As of Oct. 27, the NHTSA said it received 16 reports of exterior, retractable door handles becoming “inoperative due to low 12VDC battery voltage in certain MY 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles.”

Reports indicated children were trapped in the cars in some cases, and owners unable to enter or exit vehicles due to battery that impeded door handle use.

A deadly 2024 crash in Wisconsin led to a lawsuit that claimed Tesla was negligent in its door handle designs.

Meanwhile, Tesla officials have until Dec. 10 to provide records to federal regulators.

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NEWS TODAY

Norway’s Sorry NH90 Helicopter Saga Finally Comes To An End

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Norway has become the latest customer of the pan-European NH90 helicopter to walk away from its acquisition, agreeing on an out-of-court settlement with manufacturer NH Industries (NHI). The NATO member follows Australia, whose departure from the program TWZ has discussed in depth in the past, and Belgium, which announced earlier this year that it would retire its Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) versions.

It was confirmed today that NHI would pay Norway €375 million ($432 million) to bring to an end the dispute around the Scandinavian nation’s long-contested NH90 contract, which involved 14 navalized versions of the helicopter. In a joint statement, Norway and NHI said that the 14 NH90s would be returned to the manufacturer together with spare parts, tools, and mission equipment. The aircraft and components will be recycled back into the program so they can be passed on to other customers.

An NH90 on the deck of a Royal Norwegian Navy ship. *NHI*

“This solution reflects the parties’ mutual agreement to bring all related disputes to a conclusive end,” the joint statement said.

Norway announced plans to buy the 14 helicopters in 2001, with these to be divided between the Royal Norwegian Navy and Norwegian Coast Guard, with deliveries planned between 2005 and 2008. The Navy was to get six examples outfitted for anti-submarine warfare, while the Coast Guard would receive the remaining eight configured for search and rescue.

From the start, the program was dogged by problems, with the first example not being delivered until December 2011. The following year, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense announced that the slow pace of deliveries meant that another helicopter type might have to be purchased to fill the gap once the country’s Westland Lynx shipborne helicopters were retired in 2014. At that time, it began to be reported that Oslo was looking at the U.S.-made MH-60 Seahawk as an alternative to the NH90 for anti-submarine warfare.

lynx helikopter — A Norwegian Coast Guard Westland Lynx. *Norwegian Armed Forces*

By January 2016, six NH90s had been delivered, and two years later, a Norwegian Armed Forces report found that the NH90 fleet was not providing the required flight hours to meet its intended roles. The report recommended that all 14 helicopters be converted for the anti-submarine warfare role.

A subsequent Norwegian Armed Forces study, in September 2018, suggested that it might still be possible for the 14 NH90s to perform in both the Navy and Coast Guard roles. However, this would require the ready availability of spare parts, as well as sufficient overhaul capacity. The goal was to achieve this by 2022.

By 2022, however, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense was voicing more concerns over new delays and NHI’s alleged failure to meet contractual obligations. Once again, an alternative helicopter was on the agenda.

Finally, in June 2022, then-Norwegian Minister of Defense Bjørn Arild Gram announced that the NH90 contract would be terminated and that the helicopters would be immediately grounded. Oslo cited delays, errors, and excessive maintenance requirements and demanded compensation from NHI.

A Norwegian NH90 helicopter in the hangar. *Norwegian Ministry of Defense*

By that point, 13 NH90s had been delivered, but only eight arrived in a fully operational configuration, according to the Norwegian Ministry of Defense. Where the fleet was required to fly 3,900 hours a year, it was averaging just 700 hours annually.

“Regrettably, we have reached the conclusion that no matter how many hours our technicians work, and how many parts we order, it will never make the NH90 capable of … meeting the requirements of the Norwegian Armed Forces,” Gram said at the time.

In 2023, Norway announced that the NH90s would be partially replaced by six MH-60R Seahawks. Deliveries began this year and are scheduled to be completed in 2027.

Seahawk lands at Haakonsvern with Norwegian pilots lands at Haakonsvern for the very first time. This marks a historic milestone for the Navy and the phasing in of the new maritime helicopters in Norwegian service.

📸Ludvig Kjendalen / @Forsvaret_no pic.twitter.com/1MpBa2FyU8

— Selshevneren (@selshevneren) October 17, 2025

The Norwegian development is the latest blow for NHI in what has been a disappointing year.

In July, Belgium’s Minister of Defense Theo Francken said that the country will soon retire its four NH90 TTHs, describing the acquisition as a “bad purchase.” Belgium will continue to operate a similar number of maritime-tasked NH90s.

Australia’s sorry saga with the NH90 is something that TWZ has reported on extensively in the past.

Like Norway, Australia cited difficulties with maintenance and availability when, in December 2021, it announced it was ditching its fleet of MRH90 battlefield utility helicopters, a variant of the NH90 also known locally in that country as the Taipan, and replacing them with U.S.-built UH-60 Black Hawks. The NH90 had entered Australian service in 2008, and the fleet of 46 Taipans was retired a decade ahead of schedule.

An Australian Army MRH90 provides support to the New South Wales government following a request for assistance in response to flooding across the state. *Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defen*se

“The performance of the MRH90 Taipan has been an ongoing and well-documented concern for [the Australian Ministry of Defense], and there has been a significant effort at great expense to try to remediate those issues,” then-Australian Minister for Defense Peter Dutton said at the time. “It is critically important that there is a safe, reliable, and capable utility helicopter available for our servicemen and women into the future, with reasonable and predictable operating costs.”

Norway’s neighbor, Sweden, has also been less than satisfied with its NH90s, of which it took nine each of the TTH and NFH, albeit modified to meet local requirements for specific search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles, respectively. Delays in getting the TTHs fully operational led to Sweden ordering 15 UH-60M Black Hawks as a stopgap, while in November 2022, the country revealed plans to replace its NH90 NFHs entirely.

Outside of these cases, other NH90 operators have faced a variety of problems with the helicopter, although these issues have rarely been consistent, especially since individual variants — more than 20 in all — can differ from country to country.

Examples include Germany, where the Army’s helicopters were revealed to have rear ramps too weak to support fully equipped soldiers, cabin floors that can be damaged by combat boots, among other faults. At one point in 2019, only around 12 percent of Germany’s NH90s were mission-capable, with the German Armed Forces blaming Airbus, which is part of the NHI consortium, for alleged failings in its maintenance services.

A German Army NH90 is loaded aboard an An-124 strategic airlifter at Leipzig/Halle Airport for transport to Mali in 2017. *Bundeswehr/Mario Bähr*

On the other hand, NHI has continued to trumpet the NH90’s successes, where they have occurred.

Last year, the company’s CEO, Axel Aloccio, said that he considered there were “lots of commercial opportunities” available for additional NH90 sales. He said that, in particular, there was “a lot” of interest from Middle East nations and identified an overall market for between “50 to 100” sales of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, 13 other operators continue to fly the NH90 in a variety of roles, and the helicopter is expanding into new missions, too. As part of its defense spending drive, the Netherlands announced last year that it would add to its NH90 fleet.

For the time being, however, the NH90’s loss in Norway, and previously Australia, further tarnishes the helicopter’s reputation but is certainly good news for Lockheed Martin, whose H-60/S-70 series is a readymade and well-proven replacement.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Thomas is a defense writer and editor with over 20 years of experience covering military aerospace topics and conflicts. He’s written a number of books, edited many more, and has contributed to many of the world’s leading aviation publications. Before joining The War Zone in 2020, he was the editor of AirForces Monthly.

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Diane Ladd dead: ‘Wild at Heart’ actor, Laura Dern’s mom was 89

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actor who received acclaim for her work in films including “Rambling Rose,” “Wild at Heart” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” has died. She was 89.

Oscar winner Laura Dern, Ladd’s daughter with Oscar-nominated actor Bruce Dern, announced her mother’s death in a statement shared Monday. “My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai,” Dern wrote. A cause of death was not revealed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” “Marriage Story” star Dern said in her statement. “We were blessed to have her.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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U.S. Senate convenes on 34th day of shutdown

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Nov. 3 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate reconvened Monday afternoon for a possible funding bill as the federal government shutdown moved one day closer to a record 35 days, set in 2019 during President Donald Trump‘s first term.

There have been 13 unsuccessful procedural votes on a House-passed continuing resolution, which would fund the government through Nov. 21.

The Senate convened at 3 p.m. after last meeting on Thursday. The House hasn’t been in session since Sept. 19. The government shut down on Oct. 1.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday that he is “optimistic” but not necessarily “confident” senators from both parties will reach a deal to reopen the government this week.

“Based on sort of my gut of how things operate, I think we’re getting close to an off-ramp. But this is unlike any other government shutdown in terms of the way Democrats reacted to it,” he said.

Thune hopes to have an agreement this week because the Senate is scheduled to be in recess next week for Veterans Day.

“There were a lot of conversations over the weekend and hopefully that will bring about the desired result,” Thine said. “But you know, if we don’t start seeing some progress or some evidence of that by at least the middle of this week, it’s hard to see how we would finish anything by the end of the week. And I think that would be the objective here, to try and get something that we could send back to the House that would open up the government.”

Thune said he is agreeable to extending the resolution until January.

Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that GOP leaders are discussing ways to deal with the expiration date of the continuing resolution that passed the House 217-212 on Sept. 19.

The House only needs a majority to pass legislation.

In the Senate, they have failed to reach the required 60 votes. The Republicans have a 53-47 advantage.

Trump has called for Senate Republicans to “get rid of the filibuster” to allow them to pass the stopgap funding bill with a simple majority. The so-called “nuclear option” would eliminate the need for the 60-vote supermajority typically required to pass legislation in the upper chamber.

Thune said he’s against invoking the nuclear option for fear Democrats would use it as a precedent and take advantage of it when they control the Senate in the future.

In fact, he said Monday that there’s not enough support among his colleagues on scrapping the filibuster.

“The votes aren’t there,” Thune told reporters.

The Trump administration opposes negotiating with Democrats on healthcare until the government reopens. The Democrats don’t want to approve any funding bill until subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, are extended into next year.

“Our position has been very clear,” one White House official told CNN. “The clean CR [continuing resolution] needs to be passed, and then there’s room for talks after that.”

The White House is calling it a “Democratic shutdown” on its website and social media.

A bipartisan quartet of House lawmakers released a “statement of principles” Monday for an extension of Obamacare subsidies for two years and an income cap for eligibility, Politico reported. It was by Republican Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Jeff Hurd of Colorado, and Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said lawmakers have been on a “taxpayer-funded vacation” instead of negotiating and Trump was at his home in Florida, including hosting a $1 million-per-play campaign fundraising dinner.

“What’s Donald Trump been doing this weekend? He was on the golf course, spitting in the face of the American people with his inaction and his indifference,” Jeffries said.

Only essential personnel are working and without pay. That includes air traffic controllers. Flights have been delayed at airports throughout the nation. At last 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed and roughly 730,000 working without pay. In past shutdowns, workers off the job received back pay.

“There is a level of risk that gets injected into the system when we have a controller that’s doing two jobs instead of one,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday on ABC News’ This Week. “We will delay, we will cancel, any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe.”

Flights are being spaced out to handle the diminished staff.

From Friday morning until Sunday night, 98 Federal Aviation Administration facilities reported a “staffing trigger” in which air traffic controllers had to alter operations to keep the airspace safe.

FlightAware reported 5,890 total delays involving U.S. airports on Sunday. The delays aren’t only related to air traffic control issues.

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US Tariffs Slam Manufacturing Giants

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

In October, manufacturing economies worldwide faced challenges, particularly due to weak demand in the U. S. and tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Factories in the U. S. struggled with lower new orders and strained supply chains, leading to a decline in manufacturing activity for the eighth consecutive month. Manufacturers expressed concerns about the unpredictable tariff situation affecting future costs and the ability to expand production.

In the Eurozone, factory activity stagnated, with flat new orders and reduced workforce. Germany, a key player, showed minimal recovery, experiencing a slowdown in production growth. Engineering orders in Germany dropped sharply, while France’s manufacturing sector remained weak and Italy saw a slight contraction. Spain was the exception, with its factories performing better than in September. Analysts noted that growth in the Eurozone was primarily driven by strong domestic demand, but foreign orders remained a concern, especially from France and the U. S.

In Britain, outside the EU, factories reported their best month in a year, largely due to the resumption of production at Jaguar Land Rover following a cyberattack. Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in China grew at a slower pace, and South Korea saw a decline in exports amid cautiousness over U. S. demand. China’s official PMI indicated a seventh straight month of falling factory activity, with economists suggesting the economy lost momentum in October. Despite a recent agreement between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease tariffs, deeper trade tensions persist.

In Asia, India experienced a boost in factory activity driven by strong domestic demand, in contrast to some declines in Malaysia and Taiwan, while Vietnam and Indonesia saw improvements in their manufacturing sectors.

With information from Reuters

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Beloved BBC drama spin-off gets major update as Netflix star joins cast

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

The Split Up is a spin-off from the hit BBC drama The Split and will follow another family’s law firm.

A spin-off from the hit BBC drama The Split has received a significant update.

Fans were gutted when the legal series starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan wrapped up after three seasons in 2022, followed by a two-part special last year. Now, fresh information about the upcoming show The Split Up has emerged, including casting announcements.

The original programme featured Annika star Nicola as Hannah, grappling with the breakdown of her marriage to Nathan (Stephen) whilst juggling affairs, romance and complicated relationships, all while managing her family’s law practice alongside the chaos created by her two sisters and mother.

The Split Up will now centre on a different family law practice, this time based in Manchester and focusing on the British-Asian elite Kishan family.

The six-episode series will explore “the high-stakes world of Manchester’s divorce law circuit, where one family of lawyers, the Kishans, reigns supreme,” according to the previous announcement, reports Wales Online.

It adds: “Kishan Law is a British-Asian high net worth family law firm in Manchester, noted for its clientele and its reputation.

“They are the ‘go to firm’ for Manchester’s elite who come to them for their excellence, integrity, and discretion.

“But the future and legacy of Kishan Law hangs in the balance when a family secret from the past comes to light, throwing their professional and personal lives into turmoil.”

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The line-up for the series has already been unveiled, and it’s now been confirmed that The Good Place star Jameela Jamil is coming on board.

When the announcement was posted on social media featuring a photo of Jameela with leading lady Ritu Arya, the She-Hulk actress responded: “I love her.”

“My two favourites together,” one supporter wrote, whilst another added: “OMG can’t wait. Love you both!!!”

“Very excited for this,” a third person commented.

Jameela is joining The Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya, Unforgotten’s Sanjeev Bhaskar, alongside Aysha Kala (Virdee), Arian Nik (Film Club), Danny Ashok (Dinosaur), Dimitri Leonidas (Those About To Die), Mawaan Rizwan (Juice), Sindhu Vee (Matilda the Musical), Shalini Peiris (The White Lotus) and Tom Forbes (Queenie).

Celebrity guest appearances will also feature Lenny Henry and Jane Horrocks.

The BBC revealed: “The fast-rising star of Kishan Law is Aria Kishan (Ritu Arya), poised to step up and take the mantle from her father Dhruv (Sanjeev Bhaskar). However, the death of her mother has cast a new light over these plans for Dhruv, who has begun to wonder if his daughter can, or should, take on this responsibility single-handedly.

“Aria’s relationship is placed under scrutiny too with the wedding for long-term partner Neal (Danny Ashok) on the horizon, but with their personal and professional so entwined it’s unclear if their relationship can withstand any more pressure – a problem further compounded when a former secret flame (Dimitri Leonidas) arrives in Manchester unexpectedly.

“Alongside her siblings Maya (Aysha Kala) and Kav (Arian Nik), Aria must navigate the splits that divide family and those we love – and ask herself: who should you live your life for?”

Creator Ursula Rani Sarma expressed: “Having admired The Split and Abi Morgan for years, I was honoured to be asked to bring The Split Up to life. As a writer passionate about representation, it’s a dream come true to place a contemporary British South Asian family centre stage. Diversity deepens our understanding, enriches our stories, and reflects the true fabric of our society.

“It’s thrilling to watch our amazing cast led by Ritu and Sanjeev bring the Kishan family to life. I can’t wait for audiences to meet them and to witness the drama as it unfolds.”

Abi Morgan chimed in: “The chance to take all that was loved about The Split and use it to inspire the next generation of British South Asian talent, to create a new family of dynamic lawyers spilling over with all the messiness of life, both personally and professionally, has been a brilliant challenge, beautifully realised by lead writer Ursula Rani Sama. I hope audiences will take it to their hearts.”

The Split is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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Israel releases five Palestinian prisoners as killings continue in Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Gaza’s Health Ministry says it also received the remains of 45 Palestinians from Israel through the Red Cross.

Israel has released five Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas, offering a rare moment of relief for the families in Gaza.

The five men, freed on Monday evening, were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah for medical examinations, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported from outside the facility.

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Relatives gathered at the hospital, some embracing the freed prisoners, while others anxiously sought information about missing family members.

“This is the first time since the ceasefire that Israeli forces have released unknown Palestinian prisoners,” said Khoudary.

Thousands of Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel, many held without charge under what rights groups call arbitrary detention.

Israel returns remains of Palestinians

Earlier on Monday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said it received the remains of 45 Palestinians from Israel through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), bringing the total number of bodies handed over under the ceasefire agreement to 270.

Forensic teams have identified 78 bodies so far and will continue their examinations “in accordance with approved medical procedures and protocols” before returning the remains to families, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Officials previously reported that many of the returned bodies bore evidence of torture and abuse, including bound hands, blindfolds, and facial disfigurement, and were handed back without identification tags.

The handover forms part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10, which includes prisoner and body exchanges mediated by Turkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, with involvement from the United States.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Khoudary said, “Many of the bodies returned show signs of torture.” She added that families of missing Palestinians are still searching for relatives among the dead.

“If these bodies are not identified, they will be buried along with other Palestinians in a mass grave in Deir el-Balah,” she said.

Israeli ceasefire violations

Despite a ceasefire, Israel continues to carry out deadly attacks. A source at Nasser Medical Complex told Al Jazeera Arabic that three Palestinians were killed on Monday by Israeli fire north of Rafah in southern Gaza.

The Israeli army said it launched strikes on southern Gaza, claiming individuals had crossed the “yellow line”, an Israeli-controlled area, in what it called a ceasefire violation.

The Israeli version of events could not be independently verified. It also remains unclear whether the Israeli military was referring to the same attack that killed the three Palestinians.

In Gaza City, a child was among three people wounded by Israeli fire in the city’s east, a source at al-Ahli Arab Hospital told Al Jazeera.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said Israel continues to use quadcopter drones to drop grenades on buildings left partially standing. “Authorities here describe these acts as violations of the ceasefire,” he said.

The Gaza Government Media Office has accused Israel of committing more than 125 ceasefire violations since the truce took effect, warning that continued attacks threaten to reignite full-scale hostilities.

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Turkiye: Hamas will transfer Gaza’s governance to committee of Palestinians | Hamas

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

NewsFeed

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says Hamas is ready to transfer the governance of Gaza to a committee made up of Palestinians.

Published On 3 Nov 2025

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Laura Dern’s mom Diane Ladd dead at 89

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

LAURA Dern has revealed her mother, Diane Ladd, has died in an emotional statement.

The actress shared the sad news on Monday.

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Laura Dern revealed that her mother, Diane Ladd, died at the age of 89Credit: Getty Images

Laura’s statement read, “My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Ca.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.

“We were blessed to have her.

“She is flying with her angels now,” Laura concluded.

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The Oscar nominated actress was 89 years old.

Diane appeared to have no plans of slowing down anytime soon, as her last social media post shared her latest project.

In September, the actress posted a picture on Instagram of a promotional photo for her new film, The Last Full Measure, which was recently released on numerous streaming platforms.

Diane also shared a screengrab of one of her scenes in the movie, opposite Christopher Plummer.

She gushed about the production, which was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and her co-stars, including Peter Fonda, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sebastian Stan.

Diane also teased a potential career pivot into podcasting, sparking a slew of comments from fans excited for what’s to come for the movie star.

“Looking forward to the movie and podcast! Much love to you!” one person wrote.

“Miss Diane, I cannot wait to hear what your podcast will contain,” said another.

“I’d love to hear your podcast Mrs. Ladd. You’re also one of the greats. Will never forget you in Wild at Heart. ICONIC. love,” boasted a third.

Diane’s death comes two months after her husband, Robert Charles Hunter, tragically passed.

Robert, who was the former PepsiCo CEO, was 77 when he died in August while visiting his family in Fort Worth, Texas.

He was the third husband of Diane’s, following her marriage to Laura’s father Bruce Dern from 1960 to 1969 and businessman William Shea Jr. from 1973 to 1976.

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Diane and Robert’s love story began when they met in Sedona, Arizona, and tied the knot in 1999.

They launched a production company together, though Diane is most known for her showstopping performances in front of the camera.

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France threatens to ban Shein for sale of ‘childlike’ sex doll

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

The French government is threatening to ban Chinese retailer Shein for selling a “childlike” sex doll online. Shein is scheduled to open its first store in Paris soon. File Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

Nov. 3 (UPI) — The French government threatened to ban Chinese retailer Shein for selling a “childlike” sex doll online.

France’s consumer fraud agency got an anonymous tip about the dolls on the site. It said their “description and categorization on the site leave little doubt as to the child pornography nature of the content,” said a press release issued Saturday by the French Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control.

One of the ads on Shein, first reported by Le Parisien newspaper, showed a life-size doll of a little girl wearing a white dress and holding a teddy bear. The description clearly states its intended use.

“This has crossed a line,” said France’s economy minister, Roland Lescure, said in an interview with French radio, adding that a formal investigation was underway, The New York Times reported. “These horrible objects are illegal.”

The company issued a statement saying it removed the items.

“We take this situation extremely seriously,” Quentin Ruffat, a spokesperson for Shein France, told BFMTV, a French TV channel. “This type of content is completely unacceptable and goes against all the values we stand for. We are taking immediate corrective action and strengthening our internal mechanisms to prevent such a situation from happening again.”

Shein will soon open a store at BHV Marais, a department store in Paris. But in the wake of the doll discovery, employees have protested the move, and some French cosmetics and clothing brands have pulled their items from BHV Marais.

Société des Grands Magasins is the French company that is helping Shein move into the French market. It’s the parent company of BHV Marais. SGM President Frédéric Merlin said in an Instagram post that SGM “obviously condemns the recent events related to the doll controversy. Like everyone else, I expect clear answers from SHEIN.” But he said it hasn’t changed his plans. “I have decided not to reverse my decision, despite the controversy and the pressure because we’re doing things by the book, with ethics and transparency.”

The consumer fraud agency noted that the distribution, via an electronic communications network, of representations of a pedopornographic nature is punishable by sentences of up to seven years imprisonment and a fine of $115,000. The statement alleges that Shein doesn’t effectively filter out pornographic content to protect minors or vulnerable audiences.

For this, the law allows penalties of up to three years in prison and $86,000.

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Worker trapped after medieval Rome tower partially collapses | Infrastructure

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

NewsFeed

Video shows part of Rome’s medieval Torre dei Conti collapse for a second time during a restoration near the Colosseum. One seriously injured worker remained trapped Monday evening with firefighters continuing a high-risk rescue as the tower’s stability is assessed.

Published On 3 Nov 2025

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Comedy Central extends Jon Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ run through 2026

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Jon Stewart’s biting satire may have made his new bosses squirm, but they went ahead and extended the comedian’s run on Comedy Central through December 2026.

The channel’s parent company, Paramount, announced Monday that Stewart will continue to host “The Daily Show” on Monday nights and serve as an executive producer through the end of next year.

Members of the show’s news team will continue to share Tuesday through Thursday hosting duties. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“Jon Stewart continues to elevate the genre he created. His return is an ongoing commitment to the incisive comedy and sharp commentary that define The Daily Show,” Ari Pearce, Comedy Central’s manager said in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to support Jon and the extraordinary news team.”

Stewart’s contract was re-upped nearly four months after Paramount-owned sister network CBS notified Stephen Colbert, who rose to fame on “The Daily Show,” that it was dumping his late night show at the end of the season. The cancelation was revealed days after Colbert lambasted a $16 million settlement Paramount agreed to pay President Trump to end a lawsuit over edits to “60 Minutes.” Colbert called the arrangement “a big fat bribe.”

Paramount settled the Trump suit to win approval from the Trump administration of its sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners. CBS has said the reason for Colbert’s cancellation was financial, not political, although many people have expressed doubts.

Ellison took ownership of Paramount in August. Stewart has joked that he, too, might be tossed as the company tries to reposition itself to the political center.

Last week, the company began a deep round of layoffs, cutting 1,000 employees with plans to terminate another 1,000 in the coming weeks, in an effort to trim its workforce by 10%.

After a nine-year absence, Stewart returned as a host in February 2024. He had helmed the show for 16 years before taking a break in 2015. His current contract was expiring.

The show was hosted by Trevor Noah until 2022, when he stepped down. That prompted a rotation of guest hosts, including Kal Penn, Charlamagne tha God, Sarah Silverman and Michelle Wolf.

Last month, during a conversation with the New Yorker at a cultural festival, Stewart was asked whether he might stick around longer. “We’re working on staying,” Stewart told the New Yorker’s David Remnick.

The rotation of “The Daily Show” hosts also will include Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, and Desi Lydic with Troy Iwata and Grace Kuhlenschmidt.

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What the latest polls are showing in the Mamdani vs Cuomo NYC mayoral race | Elections News

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

The most recent polls place Mamdani 14.7 points ahead of Cuomo, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average.

New York City’s mayoral race is entering its final stretch, with early voting now ended and residents among some five million registered voters set to cast their ballots on November 4 to choose the city’s next leader.

According to the New York City Board of Elections, 734,317 early votes have been cast over the past nine days – more than quadruple the total for the 2021 mayoral elections.

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According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani leads with 45.8 percent, holding a 14.7-point advantage over independent Andrew Cuomo at 31.1 percent and a 28.5-point lead over Republican Curtis Sliwa at 17.3 percent.

Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has energised liberal voters, drawn to his proposals for universal, free childcare, free buses, and a rent freeze for New Yorkers living in about one million rent-regulated apartments.

New York City holds mayoral elections every four years, with a two-term limit for any individual. The current mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, who has been in office since January 2022, withdrew his candidacy earlier in the year following several controversies, most notably his federal criminal indictment on bribery and conspiracy charges, which was ultimately dismissed by a judge in April.

This year’s contest is notable for its three-way dynamic, bringing progressive, establishment and conservative forces to face off in the country’s largest city.

How accurate are the polls?

The latest polls put Mamdani between three and 25 points ahead of Cuomo, according to a selection of polls from RealClearPolitics.

Every poll carries a degree of uncertainty. While pollsters aim to capture a representative sample and mirror the wider electorate, there are margins of error. As such, actual levels of support fall within a few points of reported figures, with each surveyor using differing wording in issues such as how to treat undecided voters.

Aggregating different results helps to reduce bias.

How does polling work?

Polling organisations, such as Emerson College, Marist College, and Quinnipiac University, regularly conduct public opinion surveys to gauge voter sentiment leading up to the primaries and general election.

Surveys use random sampling, including contacting voters by phone, text, or online, and ask respondents about their candidate preferences, key issues influencing their vote, and approval ratings.

Poll results include margins of error and sample sizes, which aid in interpreting accuracy and the fidelity of findings.

How the voting works

Unlike the primaries, which used ranked choice voting (RCV), the general election uses a first-past-the-post system, so whoever gets the most votes wins.

As of February, there were 5.1 million registered voters in New York City, of whom 65 percent were Democrats and 11 percent were Republicans. About 1.1 million voters were not registered with any party, and voter registration closed on October 25, one week before the November 4 election.

In the last New York City mayoral election, just more than 1.1 million voters cast ballots – about 21 percent of registered voters.

To be eligible to vote, residents of New York must:

Be a citizen of the United States

Have been a New York City resident for at least 30 days

Be at least 18 years old (you may preregister at 16 or 17, but can’t vote until you’re 18)

Not be in prison for a felony conviction

Not have been judged mentally incompetent by a court

Not be registered to vote elsewhere

When do polls open and close?

Polling stations will be open between 6am (11:00 GMT) and 9pm on November 4 (02:00 GMT on November 5).

Timings vary from location to location in the city, but polling stations open between 8am and 10am and close between 4pm and 9pm.

Early voting began on October 25 and ended on November 2.

A full list of polling stations open for early voting is available on the website of the New York City Board of Elections.

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OpenAI, Amazon sign $38bn AI deal | Technology News

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

The announcement comes less than week after Amazon laid off 14,000 people.

OpenAI has signed a new deal valued at $38bn with Amazon that will allow the artificial intelligence giant to run AI workloads across Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure.

The seven-year deal announced on Monday is the first big AI push for the e-commerce giant after a restructuring last week.

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The new deal will give the ChatGPT maker access to thousands of Nvidia graphics processors to train and run its artificial intelligence models.

Experts say this does not mean that it will allow OpenAI to train its model on websites hosted by AWS – which includes the websites of The New York Times, Reddit and United Airlines.

“Running OpenAI training inside AWS doesn’t change their ability to scrape content from AWS-hosted websites [which they could already do for anything publicly readable]. This is strictly speaking about the economics of rent vs buy for GPU [graphics processing unit] capacity,” Joshua McKenty, CEO of the AI detection company PolyguardAI, told Al Jazeera.

The deal is also a major vote of confidence for the e-commerce giant’s cloud unit, AWS, which some investors feared had fallen behind rivals Microsoft and Google in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. Those fears were somewhat eased by the strong growth the business reported in the September quarter.

OpenAI will begin using AWS immediately, with all planned capacity set to come online by the end of 2026 and room to expand further in 2027 and beyond.

Amazon plans to roll out hundreds of thousands of chips, including Nvidia’s GB200 and GB300 AI accelerators, in data clusters built to power ChatGPT’s responses and train OpenAI’s next wave of models, the companies said.

Amazon already offers OpenAI models on Amazon Bedrock, which offers multiple AI models for businesses using AWS.

OpenAI’s sweeping restructuring last week moved it further away from its non-profit roots and also removed Microsoft’s first right to refusal to supply services in the new arrangement.

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Amazon’s announcement about an investment in AI comes only days after the company laid off 14,000 people despite CEO Andy Jassy’s comment in an earnings call on Thursday saying the layoffs were not driven by AI.

“The announcement that we made a few days ago was not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now at least,” Jassy said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the startup is committed to spending $1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources – enough to roughly power 25 million United States homes.

“Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” said Altman. “Our partnership with AWS strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”

This comes amid growing concerns about the sheer amount of energy demand that AI data centres need to operate. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that AI data centres will use up to 12 percent of US electricity by 2028.

An AP/NORC poll from October found that 41 percent of Americans are extremely concerned about AI’s impact on the environment, while another 30 percent say they are somewhat concerned as the industry increases its data centre footprint around the US.

Signs of a bubble

Surging valuations of AI companies and their massive spending commitments, which total more than $1 trillion for OpenAI, have raised fears that the AI boom may be turning into a bubble.

OpenAI has already tapped Alphabet’s Google to supply it with cloud services, as Reuters reported in June. It also reportedly struck a deal to buy $300bn in computing power for about five years.

While OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft, which the two forged in 2019, has helped push Microsoft to the top spot among its Big Tech peers in the AI race, both companies have been making moves recently to reduce reliance on each other.

Neither OpenAI nor Amazon were immediately available for comment.

On Wall Street, Amazon’s stock is surging on the news of the new deal. As of 11:15am in New York (16:15 GMT), it is up by 4.7 percent.

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Celebrity Weakest Link’s Helen Flanagan red-faced after very awkward blunder

Nov 3, 2025 News Desk

Helen Flanagan was left humiliated after she struggled to remember the name of a TV legend while appearing on an episode of the celebrity version of The Weakest Link

Former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan’s memory was put to the test while appearing on the celebrity version of The Weakest Link. When asked by host Romesh Ranganathan to name which month shared the surname of a Top Gear host, the former soap star, 35, took an awkwardly long pause while figuring out the answer.

And this left the other contestants, including rapper Konan from Krept and Konan, in utter disbelief. This came after she was shown a picture of James May, who co-hosted the hit motoring show for many years, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond.

When the image was revealed, Romesh asked the now turned reality TV star: “Look at your screen, this TV presenter shares his surname with which month of the year?”

Taking an awkwardly long pause she then answered the question after a reported 20 seconds. But she gave a correct answer, to which the mum of three yelped “yes”, in response to being told the good news.

Speaking about the show, former Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who does the voiceover said : “Helen took so long to get the month question that I had enough time to make a cup of tea and go to the shop for biscuits – but she did getit right in the end.”

After receiving the most amount of votes, Helen said: “Wow – that is so bad, I am so shocked. I got the main question right.” And comedian Tim Vine added: “The thing that made me do it was just before a correct answer when you waited for, I think, six minutes. It was quite a long time.”

In an attempt to redeem herself, Helen hit back saying: “But did I get that answer right?” Biting back Tim answered: “Yes, but the clock was going down.” Doing his best to keep the peace, host Romesh chimed in saying: “If it makes you feel any better she seems pretty chilled about it.”

But this is not the first time Helen has appeared on the show as she attempted to excel last year. The mum of three has been off our screens for many years since playing Rosie in the popular ITV soap.

During her previous stint, Romesh asked her: “In geology, the White Cliffs of Dover are principally formed of what substance, chalk or cheese?”

But, assumingly without thinking, she answered “cheese,” which undoubtedly left her fellow contestants bowing their heads. And it also caused a stir on social media.

Away from the spotlight, it looks as though Helen is keen to get her love life back n track. In an interview with the Mirror, she admitted: “I’m open to dating, but I’m just so, so busy with the kids. “

She added: “When you’re 19 you can go out in Manchester and come home with a boyfriend a few days later, but I’m 35 now, I’m not really going to go on a night out am I, really?”

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