Manager Eddie Howe says it was a “relief” that forward William Osula did not leave Newcastle United on transfer deadline day because he now looks like the “complete package”.

The 22-year-old was close to joining Eintracht Frankfurt last month, only for the move to fall through.

Osula has since gone on to make an impact for Newcastle in the Premier League, Carabao Cup and Champions League, and played a key role in Bruno Guimaraes’ 90th-minute winner against Fulham on Saturday.

Although record signing Nick Woltemade remains first-choice striker, Osula’s contributions have been welcomed by Howe after Yoane Wissa suffered a knee injury while on international duty with DR Congo.

“The next step was for Will to try and play regularly, so that was the aim [with the Frankfurt move], especially with us bringing two strikers in,” Howe said.

Radio journalist Robian Williams says Jamaica is bracing for the worst, as Hurricane Mellissa nears the island. She says many refuse to leave their homes in fear of looting.

A US Air Force plane flew inside Hurricane Melissa on Monday over the Caribbean, revealing a rare weather phenomenon known as the ‘stadium effect’. Forecasters say the Category 5 storm is set to be Jamaica’s most destructive on record and is expected to make landfall early on Tuesday.

DISNEY fans could soon be able to get to Disney World much more easily thanks to a massive airport project.

A 10-year plan has been approved for Orlando International Airport (MCO), estimated to cost around $6billion (£4.5billion).

Orlando Airport is the busiest in Florida, and one of the busiest in the whole country.

And the project comes after passenger numbers have increased at the airport over the past few years, with it handling 57.2million passengers in 2024.

The expansion will focus on four main areas: customer experience, community, infrastructure and people.

By 2030, the airport hopes to add 8,000 car parking spaces, complete the construction of a new baggage handling system for Terminals A and B, complete two gate expansions and add more passenger walkways and travellators in Terminal C.

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Also by 2030, the airport would like to increase the number of small businesses working with them.

Then by 2035, the airport hopes to complete work on Terminal C.

The project will also see the terminals renamed by numbering them to make it easier for passengers.

As a part of the plans, the airport is working towards attaining a five star Skytrax rating too.

There will be one new cargo processing facility, an FAA-approved ‘vertiport’ for helicopters and restored stormwater structures, as well.

A video released showing the plans for the airport also implied that there will be facial recognition in the future, better flight information screens, smart restrooms, more shops and lounges and new play areas for families that will even have a theme park theme.

CEO of Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), Lance Lyttle, said: “This vision focuses and unites everything we do around one core purpose: delivering an exceptional experience for everyone who passes through our airports.

“We’re creating spaces that are more welcoming, efficient, and enjoyable, from the parking areas to the gate, so that every step of the journey feels seamless.”

According to Disney Tourist Blog, the “MCO badly needs modernisation and expansion, and we’re pleased to see that happening with this massive $6billion (£4.5billion) investment.

“That should greatly improve the arrival and departure experience, making for a better first and last impression with Walt Disney World guests.”

The blog added that the airport is usually very busy, with 30 minute queues.

But thanks to the new expansion, a lot of the issues should hopefully go away.

The expansion also comes after a number of new attractions have opened in Orlando, with more in the pipeline.

For example, Epic Universe at Universal Orlando opened in May of this year with a new Harry Potter land.

The £7billion land also has a ‘How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk’ land and a Super Nintendo World.

Walt Disney World is also investing $17billion (£12.7billion) over the next couple of decades, which includes a number of new rides.

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In other aviation news, a major UK airport is getting a £30million upgrade – but could mean your late flight is cancelled.

Plus, these are the best and worst airports in the UK – with regional airport coming in at number one.

DISCREET and “not blatant”, with a stranger and with mandatory payment – those were the strict rules set by Lily Allen that allegedly allowed her husband of four years to cheat.

Now the scorned songstress, 40, has ferociously lifted the lid on the ‘arrangement’ with Stranger Things actor David Harbour in a song titled ‘Madeline’.

It’s the moniker she gave to costume designer and single mum Natalie Tippett, 34, who allegedly cheated with the American, 50, despite suggesting she had given him a ‘hall pass’ to sleep with sex workers.

Fuming in lyrics, which she says are a “mixture of fact and fiction”, Lily says: “We had an arrangement; Be discreet and don’t be blatant; And there had to be payment; It had to be with strangers; But you’re not a stranger, Madeline, Madeline, Madeline, Madeline.”

The track on her comeback album West End Girl, which documents the unravelling of her relationship and his supposed infidelity, has earned critical acclaim and has three songs in the Top 40. 

Unsurprisingly, it’s Lily’s anti-monogamy stance that has raised the eyebrows of listeners but these types of ‘arrangements’ are far from unusual in the world of celebrity.  

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Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings tells The Sun some are tempted due to working away for long periods of time and feeling unable to satisfy each other sexually or emotionally.

However, she cautions: “No matter how many boundaries or rules you put in place, what happens when it becomes more than just sex and your partner falls in love?” 

“There are so, so many obstacles with these types of relationships,” Jo tells us. “And it’s interesting that Lily had this very specific boundary.

“She set it because there would be very little danger of her husband falling in love with one of these girls or having an emotional relationship when it’s purely sexual and transactional.

“It sort of sounds modern, grown-up and pre-emptive, deciding you’re in an open relationship and acknowledging what’s going on rather than being ‘cheated on’ but it rarely works.

“There is nearly always one person who is secretly less comfortable with the idea than they say they are and there’s a big difference between ‘theoretical acceptance’ and actual acceptance.

“When the gossip starts and the press finds out, when it happens on repeat and the public starts to judge their relationship it can get really, really tough. 

“And some ‘open relationships’ are less genuine than one might think, some say they are in one to protect themselves. It can be deflective in a lot of cases.

“I think a lot of celebrities are pre-empting scrutiny and that way if their partner is seen snogging the face off someone at a bar, they are one step ahead of the game.”

As Jo highlights, Lily is far from the only celebrity to be stung after opening the sexual floodgates in her relationship – with many ending in divorce, as we reveal. 

Will & Jada Pinkett Smith

The aftermath of this ill-fated ‘arrangement’ resulted in the most explosive moment ever seen at the Oscars, which led to Will Smith being banned for 10 years and scrutinised across the globe. 

In 2022, the Fresh Prince star slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke about his wife of 28 years Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia, comparing her to a buzz-cut character from the film GI Jane.

Yet the origin of Will’s anger is said to have stemmed from the public ridicule and humiliation he suffered after Jada admitted to an affair two years previously. 

Describing it as an “entanglement”, she spoke of a fling with August Alsina, a rapper 21 years her junior, who was a friend of their son Jaden, during a separation from Will. 

Later Will apologised for his Oscars attack, stating: “I was gone. That was a rage that had been bottled [up] for a really long time… What I would say is that you just never know what somebody’s going through.” 

Rumours of the Smiths having an open marriage had circulated for more than a decade and even when Jada denied it in a 2013 Huffington Post interview, her cryptic response prompted more questions. 

She said: “I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay.’”

Later Jada posted a lengthy rant on Facebook questioning if loving someone meant “owning them” and if it should “operate as enslavement”.

She concluded: “Will and I BOTH can do WHATEVER we want, because we TRUST each other to do so. This does NOT mean we have an open relationship…this means we have a GROWN one.”

Jo says for some celebrities being part of a ‘power couple’ can lead to more sexually flexible relationships, as it appeared to be with the Smiths, but it rarely works. 

She tells us for some it can be a “way of protecting themselves” ahead of an affair being discovered or a way to have “a feeling of control, by agreeing on the terms” of what can and can’t be done.

“It can be hard to fulfil your partner’s emotional and physical needs when you’re half way across the world and flings may seem like a ‘harmless release’,” Jo says.

“And it’s easy for celebrities to go into these agreements with good intentions but you cannot predict how you or your partner will feel when it happens. 

“There are so many opportunities in the chaos of celebrity life for boundaries to be overstepped and so almost inevitably it will go wrong at some point.

“Even if both partners feel they are on the same page and in 100 per cent agreement, most couples aren’t. One partner always wants it more than the other and the other may not be able to accept what happened.”

Michelle Visage & David Case

Former Strictly star Michelle Visage set sparks flying away from the stage when she claimed cheating makes her marriage “stronger” – but she’s not exactly thrilled by his flings.

She told the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast that her actor hubby David Case experiences ‘compersion’, which is considered to be ‘the opposite of jealousy’.

It’s a term often used in the polyamorous community to describe a partner feeling joy that their romantic partner had an exciting experience with another person. 

“We live openly, so he would get off knowing that I was so happy and no matter what it is that I do, and I’m not just talking sexually,” Michelle said last year.

“Whatever it is, I don’t know if I have compersion in me to be really excited if he’s doing something with another woman but I know that it exists and he is 100% that.”

While Michelle claimed it was something that “works for us” and “what makes us stronger”, Jo says it can still be problematic.

She warns it’s risky when meddling with “the intimacy of a relationship” despite the couple claiming to be “fully transparent and trusting one another”. 

Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher

When Ghost actress Demi Moore shacked up with Ashton Kutcher, 21 years her junior, she wanted to “show him how great and fun I could be” – especially when it came to sex.

“I put him first, so when he expressed his fantasy of bringing a third person into our bed, I didn’t say no,” she admitted in her 2019 memoir Inside Out.

But her two ménages à trois, left Demi feeling “flooded with shame” and realising it was a “mistake”. Worse still, Ashton later told her it encouraged him to have affairs.

She claimed the That 70s Show actor told her the threesomes “blurred the lines” of their romance and “to some extent, justified what he’d done”.

It referred to at least three flings, including one on a San Diego stag do and another with a pal of her eldest daughter, that doomed their six-year marriage by November 2011. 

Jo says she sees issues like what happened with Demi and Ashton “a lot” in counselling – where one partner is “willing to please” because their partner “wants it so badly” and fears losing them.

“But it can have devastating consequences for the relationship,” she says. “Maybe not immediately but some struggle because they can’t unseen what they have seen or what their partner has done.

“Some aren’t even able to recall seeing their husband having sex with another woman, because it’s so brutal for them. Many prefer to turn blind eye, not see or not join in. 

“Even if they think they want it at the time, sometimes threesomes can be the last straw for a couple or for any agreed infidelity.”

Ethan Hawke & Ryan Shawhughes

Ethan Hawke’s marriage to Uma Thurman was marked by rumours of cheating, which he strenuously denied, yet after their 2003 split he made it clear he strongly believes in polyamory. 

After getting together with their former nanny Ryan Shawhughes, he argued that most people have “a childish view of monogamy and fidelity”, suggesting it as an outdated concept.

“To act all indignant, that your world has been rocked because your lover wasn’t faithful to you, is a little bit like acting rocked that your hair went grey,” Ethan told HuffPost in 2013.

It’s unclear how open the relationship with Ryan is but he encouraged speculation by stating “neither she nor I know what shape the future will come in” and justified extramarital flings. 

“Sexual fidelity can’t be the whole thing you hang your relationship on,” he added. “If you really love somebody you want them to grow, but you don’t get to define how that happens. They do.”

Shirley MacLaine & Steve Parker

Hollywood legend Shirley MacLaine, who starred in Steel Magnolias and Terms of Endearment, had an open marriage for 28 years. 

It started back in 1954 due to her producer husband, Steve Parker, predominantly working in Japan while she was in America and she admitted “no one understood it” apart from them. 

She added: “I would say better to stay friends and we don’t have enough time to talk about the sexuality of all. I was very open about all of that and so was he.”

Despite declaring extra-marital flings “the basis for a long-lasting marriage”, the couple divorced in 1982 but remained friends.  

Jo says these types of arrangements can be more common among celebrities due to them maintaining long-distance relationships because of work projects, however it’s very risky. 

“While it may feel like a safety net, it can erode trust and intimacy and instead of enjoying the ‘freedom and liberation’ they anticipate, they can feel like they are being replaced.

“You can put in a world of boundaries and rules to but what happens when your partner falls in love with someone else? When it becomes more than just sex, you’re in trouble. Your relationship is effectively over.” 

Bella Thorne & Tana Mongeau

For just over a year, Dirty Sexy Money actress Bella Thorne celebrated her open relationship with musician Mod Sun and YouTuber Tana Mongeau in loving posts online .

In 2019, she told the Gay Times: “We joke around about poly[amorous], but we aren’t in the sense that we don’t put a word, a box or label too many things. It is what it is.”

Bella even claimed that she didn’t think anybody could “really understand the bonds” she shared with Mod and Tana, only for their three-way romance to end just months later.

It all came tumbling down after what Mod – real name Derek Smith – described as a “very, very public incident” that led him to end their “toxic” relationship.

Bella later slammed Tana on X – formerly Twitter – for breaking “girl code” after she was seen on a date with Mod. 

Tana later got engaged to boxer Jake Paul and had a legally non-binding wedding to the influencer-turned-fighter in late 2019.

They too had an open relationship but she revealed it heavily contributed to them splitting up because she felt compelled to “green-light everything” to make him happy, even though it was “killing” her.

Mo’Nique & Sidney Hicks

Precious actress Mo’Nique put an end to her open relationship with her husband and manager Sidney Hicks after fearing it would lead to them breaking up. 

She first spoke about them having hall passes to cheat back in 2010, claiming “I don’t want to be owned anymore… [or] have ownership over anyone”.

Declaring her “beautiful” open relationship “my idea”, Mo’Nique said: “If sex happens with another person, that’s not a deal breaker for us.

“That’s not something where we’ll have to say, ‘Oh God, we’ve got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me,’ because we don’t cheat.” 

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However by 2023, Mo’Nique, who had been with Sidney since she was 16, changed her tune saying she wanted monogamy. She said it was down to recognising the strength of their relationship and his love for her “at my worst”.

She added: “I didn’t want to sacrifice that just for a lay. So I grew out of that.”

It was one of the most dramatic protests in Los Angeles by activists who opposed Israel’s war in Gaza: a shutdown of the southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway as it passes through downtown.

In a chaotic scene captured by news helicopters, protesters sat down on the freeway in December 2013, halting traffic just south of the four-level interchange. On live television, enraged motorists responded by getting into physical altercations with demonstrators.

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office later charged many of the protesters with unlawful assembly, failure to disperse, failure to comply with a lawful order and obstruction of a street, sidewalk or other public corridor — all misdemeanors.

On Monday, after a lengthy legal battle, a judge agreed to put 29 protesters into a 12-month diversion program, which requires that each performs 20 hours of community service.

If they complete that service and obey the law, the charges will be dismissed in October 2026, said Colleen Flynn, the protesters’ attorney.

In court Monday, Flynn praised her clients for taking a stand, motivated by a moral duty to “bring attention to the loss of life and humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza.”

“These are people who were, out of conscience, making a decision to engage in an act of civil disobedience,” she told the judge.

Two others charged in connection with the protest were granted judicial diversion earlier this year and have already completed their community service. The charges against them have been dismissed, Flynn said.

Flynn initially asked for the 29 protesters to each receive eight hours of community service. City prosecutors successfully pushed for 20 hours, saying the political reason for the protest had no bearing on the case. Deputy City Atty. Brad Rothenberg told the judge that the freeway closure lasted about four hours.

“That affected thousands of people who come to the second largest city in the United States to work,” he said.

The hearing brought a quiet end to a furious legal battle.

Flynn spent several months pushing for the case to be dismissed, arguing that Feldstein Soto’s decision to charge the protesters was rooted in “impermissible bias” — religious or ethnic prejudice against Palestinians and their supporters.

At multiple hearings, Flynn said her clients experienced disparate treatment compared to other protesters who also disrupted traffic but were highlighting different political issues, such as higher wages for hotel workers. Flynn also pointed to social media posts by Feldstein Soto on Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, murdering more than 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others.

“Every nation and every moral person must support Israel in defending her people,” Feldstein Soto wrote on her @ElectHydee page.

Last month, a judge denied Flynn’s request to dismiss the case. At that hearing, prosecutors said the protesters were charged because they shut down a freeway, creating a particular threat to public safety.

Prosecutors argued that a motorcycle traveling between traffic lanes at a high rate of speed easily could have plowed into freeway protesters who were sitting cross-legged on the pavement.

Prosecutors also defended Feldstein Soto’s social media posts, saying they were written on the day of the invasion, before Israel had launched its counterattack. At that point, Feldstein Soto was expressing outrage over a horrific day of violence, the prosecutors said.

Since then, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, a majority of whom were women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

I may be revealing a secret cherished by columnists the world over, but I admit that among the columns we relish writing the most fall into the “I told you so” genre.

Case in point: In April last year, in a column about the gambling mess ensnaring Shohei Ohtani’s then-interpreter, I warned that the pro sports leagues’ enthusiastic embrace of betting would inevitably produce a major scandal.

“It might not surface in the next months or even years,” I wrote, “but it will happen.”

The calendar, as it turned out, ticked over at 19 months. Last Thursday, federal prosecutors charged National Basketball Assn. player Terry Rozier and former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones with fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to fix bets on NBA games. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was charged in a separate indictment linking him to a Mafia scheme to fix poker games; Jones was also named in that indictment.

The NBA has placed Billups and Rozier on leave. They’re both due to appear in federal court in Brooklyn over the next few weeks to enter pleas, though both have asserted their innocence.

It may not be easy for the league to wash its hands of this mess. All the professional sports leagues spent years shunning gambling as a threat to their public image of integrity before embracing the siren call of big-time sports betting, bringing gambling companies and their ever-increasing customer base into their tents. But the NBA was ahead of the crowd.

In a 2014 op-ed, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver effectively cried “uncle” in the league’s battle against gambling.

“For more than two decades,” he wrote, “the National Basketball Association has opposed the expansion of legal sports betting, as have the other major professional sports leagues in the United States.” The leagues supported a 1992 federal law prohibiting sports betting except in grandfathered venues, such as Las Vegas.

They took a stern position against players and personnel caught betting on their games and their sports, dating to 1919 and the so-called Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the World Series for the benefit of a gambling ring. Major League Baseball hired an austere federal judge, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, as its commissioner and gave him unchecked authority to clean up the game. He banned the eight players from baseball forever.

In recent times, Silver observed in his op-ed, the American appetite for sports betting has only risen. Accordingly, he called for legalizing the practice so it could be “brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.”

(The 1992 law was overturned by the Supreme Court, and legalized sports betting spread coast to coast.)

Given the subsequent developments, one can tag Silver for his childlike innocence in counting on the government to regulate an industry collecting billions of dollars a year from millions of users while operating with a legal imprimatur.

Silver wrote that among his “most important responsibilities as commissioner of the N.B.A. is to protect the integrity of professional basketball and preserve public confidence in the league and our sport.”

When I asked the NBA if Silver has had second thoughts about his 2014 op-ed, the league replied, “We continue to believe that a legal, regulated, and monitored sports betting market is far superior to an illegal one operating underground,” and suggested that a single federal regulator would be preferable to the existing state-by-state patchwork, though the activities alleged in the federal indictments almost surely would be crimes in any state. Silver did say during a broadcast interview Friday that the case gave him “a pit in my stomach.”

The league’s ability to monitor the behavior of its own people is questionable. Consider a March 23, 2024, Charlotte Hornets game against the New Orleans Pelicans. According to the indictment, Rozier let the gambling conspirators know that he would take himself out of the game early, allowing them to profit from bets that his stats would fall short of bookmakers’ expectations.

The NBA, alerted by sports wagering companies to “aberrational behavior” involving Rozier in the game, investigated but later said it could find any “violation of NBA rules.”

The NBA can hardly claim to have been blindsided by the new indictments. Only last year, another federal gambling case erupted involving NBA games.

In that case, prosecutors alleged that a gambler named Ammar Awawdeh forced then-Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter to take himself out of a game early. That led gamblers who knew of the arrangement to bet that his stats for the game would fall short of expectations; those insiders made more than $100,000 on their bets, the prosecutors charged.

According to text messages filed with the 2024 indictments, Awawdeh acknowledged “forcing” Porter to participate in the scheme to help clear some of his gambling debts.

Awawdeh engaged in plea negotiations in the case, but the outcome couldn’t be determined. Porter pleaded guilty to related federal fraud charges, and is scheduled to be sentenced in December. The NBA has banned Porter for life.

Awawdeh was also named in last week’s indictment over the alleged poker scam.

In recent years, the pro leagues have cozied up to the gambling industry, claiming that their interest is merely “fan engagement” — that is, keeping TV viewers in front of their sets even during blowout games.

Only 11 states bar sports gambling today. They include the customary anti-gambling holdouts Utah and Hawaii, and California, where ballot measures to legalize sports gambling were defeated in 2022. As I mentioned in 2024, the perils of this expansion are manifest.

They’ve created a new underclass of gambling addicts while largely failing to fulfill their advocates’ assurances that state-sponsored and regulated gambling would produce a new, risk-free revenue stream for state and local budgets. The outcomes of some games have come under suspicion even where no evidence of fixing has been found.

The leagues have gone beyond just tolerating gambling; they’ve made partnership and sponsorship deals with the major sports gambling companies. The two leading companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, are official corporate gambling partners of the NBA, National Football League and Major League Baseball.

During broadcasts and steaming of games, it’s common to see in-game statistical projections on-screen — what are the chances of this hitter striking out, or hitting a home run, for instance.

During the seventh inning of Game 2 Saturday, Fox flashed a projection that there was a 36% chance that Yoshinobu Yamamoto would pitch 9+ innings. (He went the distance.)

The only reason to offer such projections is to feed the appetite for in-game proposition, or “prop,” bets. These are fundamentally bookmakers’ estimates. They don’t tell ordinary viewers anything they need to know to enjoy the coming innings, but do give bettors something to chew on before putting money down on the proposition “will Yamamoto pitch a complete game?”

In-game prop bets, as it happens, are like heroin to the vulnerable, offering instant gratification (or dismay). They “may be associated with risky gambling behavior,” according to the National Council on Problem Gaming. Draftkings heavily promotes prop bets on its sportsbook web page.

In a memo issued Monday, the NBA singled out prop bets as trouble spots: “In particular,” the memo says, “proposition bets on individual player performance involve heightened integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.”

The major gaming companies have rolled out new ways to keep bettors betting. Smartphone apps, for example. In the old days no one could place a legal sports bet without traveling to Las Vegas, a built-in curb on problem gambling. Today, anyone with a smartphone can place a bet, often without certifying their age or financial resources.

“The advent of smartphones in 2007 and the Supreme Court decision in 2018 opened the door to fully frictionless, 24/7 legal gambling,” problem gambling experts Jonathan D. Cohen and Isaac Rose-Berman wrote recently.

I asked FanDuel and DraftKings if they accepted any responsibility for problem gaming in the U.S. DraftKings didn’t reply. A spokesman for FanDuel told me by email that the company “takes problem gambling seriously and continually works to identify at-risk behavior … including when a customer attempts to deposit significantly more than what they typically do,” or “excessive time on site, chasing losses or signals from customer service interactions.” In those cases, the company sometimes imposes deposit limits or timeouts or can exclude the user entirely.

That brings us to the latest indictments. The feds identified seven NBA games in 2023 and 2024, including the 2023 game in which Rozier allegedly tipped confederates to his decision to bench himself.

Among the others were a 2023 Trail Blazers game in which gamblers were tipped that the team would sit its best players so it would lose, thereby acquiring a better position in the upcoming NBA draft; and two Lakers games in which Jones allegedly tipped gamblers that star LeBron James, a friend since they played together on the Cleveland Cavaliers, was hurt and wouldn’t be playing.

“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight,” Jones allegedly told a contact before the first game, against the Milwaukee Bucks. James sat it out and the Lakers lost. James isn’t identified by name in the indictment, but its description of his roles helped identify him. James hasn’t made a public comment about the case, but he hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.

Can anything stem this tide? The smart bet at this moment is “no.” There’s just too much money riding on the continued expansion of sports betting: DraftKings has more than doubled its revenue since 2022, reaching $4.8 billion last year, and nearly doubling its monthly average users to 3.7 million. FanDuel is owned by a British gambling conglomerate, so its U.S. sports revenue is difficult to parse.

That’s a lot of money to be thrown around promoting more sports gambling, making it harder for governments to regulate and for sports leagues to turn up their noses at the income. Keeping their image for integrity intact in this world of greedy and needy players and voracious gamblers is only going to get harder.

Oct. 27 (UPI) — Melissa, a strong Category 5 hurricane, neared landfall on the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica early Tuesday, where three people were already dead and amid fears of a humanitarian crisis.

The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas were to be later threatened with powerful winds, rainfall and storm surge.

The storm was expected to move near or over Jamaica’s southern coast Tuesday — the first hurricane to make landfall in the Caribbean this season.

The island, which has 2.8 million residents, was already experiencing damaging winds and heavy rainfall, threatening catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported three deaths and nearly 15 people injured while preparing for the storm.

The hurricane was situated about 115 miles southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 290 miles southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 a.m. EDT update. It was moving north-northeast at 5 mph.

Melissa’s maximum sustained winds of 175 mph have not changed since the 2 p.m. update on Monday. Hurricanes are designated as the highest class when they reach 157 mph.

When Melissa makes landfall as a powerful major hurricane, it will be the strongest direct hit for the island since records have been kept in the Atlantic Basin.

“Catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are expected through Tuesday,” NHC forecaster Richard Pasch said in a late Monday discussion about Jamaica. “The eyewall’s destructive winds may cause total structural failure, particularly in higher elevations, leading to widespread infrastructural damage, prolonged power and communication outages and isolated communities.”

The storm became a hurricane Saturday morning and was upgraded to a Category 3 major hurricane by Saturday night, then a Category 4 on Sunday morning and a Category 5 on Monday morning.

On Tuesday night or Wednesday, Melissa is anticipated to make a second landfall along Cuba’s southeastern coast, while still wielding major hurricane strength. It’s also expected to remain a hurricane when it reaches the Bahamas. Bermuda also could be threatened.

“After reaching Jamaica, a combination of land interaction and increasing southwesterly shear should cause some weakening, although Melissa is still forecast to be a major hurricane when it reaches Cuba,” NHC forecaster Jack Beven said in an earlier discussion.

“Once over the Atlantic, stronger shear should cause more substantial weakening, and Melissa is expected to become extratropical by the end of the forecast period as it interacts with a large baroclinic low over the north Atlantic.”

Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in parts of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica were expected through early next week.

A hurricane warning was in effect for all of Jamaica; the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Holguin; and the southeastern and central Bahamas.

Hurricane watches were in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

There was a tropical storm warning for Haiti and the Cuban province of Las Tunas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Hurricane-force winds extended up to 30 miles from the center, and tropical-force winds tended outward to 195 miles.

Rainfall of 15 to 30 inches through Wednesday was forecast for portions of Jamaica and an additional 6 to 12 inches for southern Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, with a local maximum of 40 inches, the NHC said.

“Catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides are likely,” NHC said.

Cuba is expected to receive rainfall of 10 to 20 inches, with local amounts up to 25 inches, into Wednesday, “resulting in life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding with numerous landslides,” NHC said.

Over the southeastern Bahamas, rainfall is forecast to total 5 to 10 inches into Wednesday with flash flooding in some areas.

Life-threatening storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level, near and to the east of where the center of Melissa makes landfall and are expected to be accompanied by large and destructive waves, NHC said.

Along the Cuban coast late Tuesday and Wednesday, there is a potential for significant storm surge of 7 to 11 feet.

And in the southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, there is the possibility of storm surge of 4 to 6 feet.

Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season and fifth hurricane. The other Category 5 storms in the Atlantic have been Erin and Humberto.

In September 2019, Hurricane Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and destroyed the Bahamas islands, including Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, as a Category 5 storm.

The all-time highest sustained measure was Hurricane Allen at 190 mph in August 1980 over the Yucatan Peninsula but weakened to a Category 3 when it struck south Texas.

The most destructive Category 5 storm in the United States was Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, with $27.3 billion in damage. Hurricane Michael, also a Category 5 storm, struck the less populated Florida Panhandle in October 2018.

The U.S. is not threatened this time.

Hurricane Gilbert struck Jamaica in 1988 as a Category 3 storm. The island could be battered for several hours as the eyewall moves slowly.

Would you dare to the stay the night in Cornwall in what is said to be one of the most haunted hotels in the UK? Well – one woman did, and it inspired her murder mystery novel

Perched on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, this hotel is renowned for its eerie tales and rich history, tracing back to the 1750s.

As we’re in the midst of the spooky season, there’s nothing quite as chilling as spending a night in a hotel reputed to be one of the most haunted in the UK. The Jamaica Inn, an old coaching inn with a dark past believed to involve smuggling and ghostly stories, is famous for its spine-tingling reputation.

Originally built in 1750 as a coaching stop, the hotel now serves as a pub, restaurant and hotel, with a dedicated area for learning about the alleged spectral encounters. The Grade II-listed building exudes charm – and fear – with its traditional oak beams and snug rooms.

However, before it became a popular spot for food and overnight stays, it was infamous as a hub for the Cornwall smuggling trade. Its isolated location on the moors made it notorious for smugglers transporting goods like tea, brandy and silks from the sea, hidden beneath the floors and panels.

The isolation of the Jamaica Inn was its greatest asset in those days, often frequented by mysterious figures under dimly lit lanterns. Despite its modern touches, it was creepy enough for English author Daphne du Maurier to base her entire murder mystery novel on her stay there in 1936.

Taking its name from the precise spot where it stands, Jamaica Inn became a literary sensation amongst readers and was subsequently transformed into a film under Alfred Hitchcock’s direction.

The movie marked the final British production he would helm before departing for Hollywood, where he would establish himself as one of cinema’s legendary figures, earning up to six Oscar victories.

Thus, despite its shadowy and occasionally unlawful past, the inn achieved immortality through du Maurier’s fictional masterpiece, as she found herself captivated by the brooding heritage and spooky presence of the establishment and its bleak landscape.

Today in the 20th century, Jamaica Inn has evolved into something of a regional icon, where visitors pause to rest and discover its enduring legacy. One guest posted on TripAdvisor: “Had a thoroughly enjoyable two-night stay.

“The views from the inn were amazing onto the moor. The atmosphere was as expected from an old smugglers’ inn, full of mystery and intrigue!”.

Another visitor, eager to witness a supernatural encounter or sense the presence of the smugglers who once trod these very boards, recounted their spine-chilling experience.

They wrote: “We had done some research before arriving and saw that some rooms in the new, and many rooms in the original, areas have had activity from the paranormal…”

They shared tales about their terrifying night’s sleep – or their lack of. “Within a few minutes I was in the bathroom getting ready for a shower and heard a very loud male whistle from inside the room (corner nearest the bedroom). When asking my partner if she had whistled and getting a response of ‘absolutely NO’ I suddenly felt on edge.”

It’s no mystery that whilst the hotel has been transformed into a contemporary cosy pub and inn popular with travellers, its spine-chilling past is renowned for good reason. Whilst many other guests claim to have never experienced anything of the sort, others can’t help but let their minds wander.

As trial opens, Tetsuya Yamagami admits murdering Japan’s longest serving leader three years ago.

The man accused of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 has pleaded guilty to murder.

Forty-five-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami admitted all charges read out by prosecutors as his trial opened on Tuesday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Yamagami was charged with murder and violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon to shoot Japan’s longest serving leader.

“Everything is true,” the suspect told the court, according to the AFP news agency.

Abe was shot as he gave a speech during an election campaign in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Yamagami was arrested at the scene.

The assassination was reportedly triggered by the suspect’s anger over links between Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the Unification Church.

Yamagami held a grudge against the South Korean religious group due to his mother’s donation of 100 million yen ($663,218). The gift ruined his family’s financial health, Japanese media reported.

Long the subject of controversy and criticism, the Unification Church, whose followers are referred to disparagingly as “Moonies”, has since faced increased pressure from authorities over accusations of bribery.

The church’s Japanese followers are viewed as a key source of income.

The shooting was followed by revelations that more than 100 LDP lawmakers had ties to the Unification Church, driving down public support for the ruling party.

After Tuesday’s initial court session, 17 more hearings are scheduled this year before a verdict is scheduled for January 21.

The trial opened the same day as two of Abe’s former allies, LDP leader and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and visiting United States President Donald Trump, held a summit in Tokyo.

Abe, who served as Japan’s prime minister for almost nine years, is regularly mentioned by both during public events.

On Tuesday, Takaichi gave Trump a golf putter owned by Abe and other golf memorabilia during their meeting at the Akasaka Palace.

About a month ago, as he was lying in a hospital bed after a stroke, Kenny Enea had one main concern: Would the Halloween decorations be completed in time?

“The only thing he was worried about was getting out and finishing,” says Ana Lovelis, his partner of 32 years.

The Hatteras Haunted House in Sherman Oaks is in its eighth year, and is a mix of accumulated, handmade, store-bought and antique items.

(David Butow / For The Times)

After all, if the elaborate front-yard haunt wasn’t fully assembled by Oct. 31, eight months of work could be for naught. This is the eighth and final year Enea’s family of four will be remaking its Van Nuys property into a frightful, walk-through attraction that spooks thousands of visitors each Halloween.

Today, Enea, 62, is on the path to a full recovery, and the Hatteras Halloween House — its official name, based on the street that borders the home — was wrapped with days to spare. The family is planning a large-scale bash Friday featuring a tarot reader, a handful of actors and even a wedding: Lovelis and Enea have decided that after three-plus decades together, it’s time to tie the knot. Their two daughters, Nia and Rena Lovelis, both in their mid-20s, will serve as “best man” and maid of honor.

The Hatteras Halloween House has become one of the more well-known home haunts of the San Fernando Valley, a region now known for extravagant, do-it-yourself Halloween displays, especially in Burbank. To enter is to walk through a small cemetery before encountering a winding array of thematic spaces — a skeleton seated at a decrepit vintage piano gives way to a rickety bridge, a smooshy swampland, a doll-laden tea temple, a chapel and an exorcism room.

The Hatteras Halloween House started small as an accumulation of Halloween items but has gradually grown into an elaborately themed walk-through attraction.

(David Butow / For The Times)

The displays are so massive that when the facades for the bridge and mini church started taking shape, the family received a visit from a city inspector. A neighbor, says Nia, complained that the family was building an unsanctioned ADU.

“They thought it was an actual house extension,” Ana says. “We were like, ‘No, it’s Halloween decorations.’ The inspector came by, and I was like, ‘No, it’s foam.’”

One segment of the haunt is lighted by bloody hands holding plastic tea candles. Stairways to nowhere are hiding bones and body parts in their underbelly. Hand-written notes, courtesy of a narrative dreamed up by Nia, dot the space and hint at an enveloping backstory. An abstract, slow-waltz of a moody soundtrack, courtesy of Rena, sets the mysterious tempo. A mix of store-bought animatronics, handmade props and found objects — vintage lamps, creatures with elongated necks and an assortment of mystical, witchy knickknacks, fill every nook.

After eight haunted houses and 32 years together, Kenny Enea and Ana Lovelis will marry this Halloween inside the haunt’s church.

(David Butow / For The Times)

Consider it a collection of intimate rooms, each one holding new reveals and surprises. You may want to duck, for instance, if you spy a snake near a foggy water fountain. Elsewhere, a cabinet never stops quivering as we wait for its door to swing open. Months went into constructing the surrounding fences and the vintage-inspired covered wooden bridge — Enea and Ana run a construction firm — and luxuries such as vacations were skipped as the family estimates that not an evening or weekend went by without some work done on the haunted house. Ana puts the total cost at somewhere in the $20,000 range. And Rena is quick to joke, “Don’t ask about the DWP bill.”

In a way, the haunt feels like an extension of the family’s home. On a recent afternoon the four, plus Darragh Hettrick, Nia’s partner, were gathered in a living room that felt like a mix of an antique store, a tarot tent and an apothecary haven. Or perhaps the embodiment of a witch’s coven — candles, crystals and fantastical items (a small mermaid hangs on one wall) — grace the space.

“It’s not just Halloween,” Enea says. “We’re kind of drawn to the darker side of everything in life. Everything is just a little left of center. A lot left of center.”

“We’re looking to marry the dark with the light,” Ana says, noting she’s held a fascination with Halloween, costumes and masks since early childhood.

A creepy woman figure at The Hatteras Halloween House.

(David Butow / For The Times)

The family’s haunts at first started relatively modest — a hodgepodge of Halloween decorations. But in the last four years, especially, the couple and their children have experimented with various themes. Last year, for instance, was a “hell hotel,” with rooms themed to demented clowns or terror at sea. Other years they have experimented with aliens, complete with a 12-foot spaceship hanging above the proceedings.

It became a family craft project taken to its maximalist extreme. Ana says she wanted something the neighborhood kids could experience for free. Many neighbors started participating, either dropping off old Halloween decor or even acting in the haunt. Enea says the project brought him joy during our stressful and divisive cultural climate.

“In these times we’re experiencing in this country and the world, there’s no politics and there’s no religion here,” Enea says. “We’re literally just having a good time. There’s no left or right. Everyone is just in it, and having a good time. I see the experience of people coming through with the kids, and everyone is just so happy. Can’t we have that throughout the world? I know it’s Pollyanna thinking, but we can give this little section of Van Nuys happiness.”

The Hatteras Halloween House is estimated to have drawn about 3,000 people last Halloween.

(David Butow / For The Times)

Multiple home haunts throughout the San Fernando Valley have been garnering attention in the Southland in recent years. Jen Spincic in 2020 created the Halloween in Burbank and Beyond map and site to catalog them all. Spincic’s accompanying Instagram contains dives into some of the better known, which this year included a house that’s a mash-up of “Wicked” and “The Wizard of Oz,” a creepy exploration of all-things clowns and a joyous celebration of Disney-inspired culture.

“In the last three years it’s really exploded,” Spincic says. “More and more people are decorating. It’s a destination. I see that people on the news keep calling it ‘Halloween town.’”

Halloween in 2025 often stretches into the late summer, and increasingly there are conventions, theme parks and films that celebrate a spooky mood year-round. Spincic also attributes the growth to our cultural climate, theorizing people need community and tension-free places to rally around. “Nowadays everybody hates each other, with political differences or whatever it is,” Spincic says. “It brings people together. People are laughing, connecting and talking.”

Props, creepy antiques and weird dolls are found throughout the Hatteras Halloween House.

(David Butow / For The Times)

But it all raises a question. The Hatteras Halloween House clearly brings the family closer. Nia can talk for more than five minutes explaining the byzantine narrative she has constructed for the haunt. Rena speaks proudly of experimenting with jazzy sounds for the soundtrack (the two daughters were in the now-defunct L.A. rock band Hey Violet). Can they really give up the haunt?

Nia says the family is getting nostalgic for the days before they turned their home into a destination, when they explored the creativity and artwork of others.

“They bought a cabin and they want to spend time building that next year,” Nia says of her parents. “I don’t think we can do nothing. Mom and I will be out there next year putting up some props, but before we started doing the walk-throughs we would go to Reign of Terror (in Thousand Oaks), and all the home haunts. It was a tradition for the family.”

Enea says he also needs a break. This year he worked with the local fire department to ensure the haunt was up to code, and on Halloween night they have hired actors and security. But before Enea can relax, Anna is rattling off a series of dreams for the future — perhaps the family opens a Halloween-inspired pizza parlor, or maybe a “haunted” home that can be rented out.

“My ideas are endless,” she says. “I just have to figure out how to pull Kenny in on it.”

And moments after the family talks about the haunted house’s retirement, for instance, they also speak excitedly of the Krampus figure they purchased that will make an appearance this Christmas season. They may be able to remove the haunt from the yard, but don’t expect the Hatteras house to completely go quietly into the night.

The Hatteras Halloween House comes with an elaborate, slightly hidden backstory for guests who want to dig deep.

(David Butow / For The Times)

Exactly a year after the Eaton fire broke out, musicians are banding together once more for an upcoming benefit show, called A Concert for Altadena.

As a way to both raise funds and bring the community together, the night is set to include performances from musicians like Jackson Browne, Dawes & Friends, Aloe Blacc, Jenny Lewis, Everclear, Stephen Stills, Mandy Moore, Judith Hill, Brad Paisley, Ozomatli, Brandon Flowers of the Killers and more.

Many of the featured acts have ties to Los Angeles and Altadena specifically, like Dawes, an indie band from Altadena who notably sang a lively rendition of “I Love L.A.” at this year’s Grammys ceremony. Moore, who is also performing, similarly lost their homes in the fire.

“I’ve seen firsthand how music can mobilize people for good. This concert brings together artists, fans, and neighbors for something bigger than all of us — recovery, hope, and rebuilding lives,” said Grammy winner Eric Krasno. The guitarist, who also lived in Altadena, helped organize the event and is set to perform.

Even behind the scenes, people like Kevin Lyman, who founded the Vans Warped Tour and is a longtime Altadena resident, is working as the event’s lead producer.

“Music has always been a force for community. With this event, we’re not just putting on a show — we’re helping Altadena rebuild homes, restore businesses, and heal hearts. This night is about unity and purpose,” said Lyman.

All of the proceeds from the show will go to the Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Fire Relief & Recovery Fund, which helps provide resources to families impacted, and the Altadena Builds Back Foundation, which focuses on the long-term recovery of housing in the neighborhood.

The Eaton fire is the second most destructive wildfire in California’s history, destroying more than 9,000 structures in an area of nearly 22 square miles. It is also one of the state’s deadliest fires, with 19 people killed. Since the January fire, rebuilding efforts have proved to be slow-moving in the face of bureaucracy and high overhead costs.

The benefit show will take place Jan. 7 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Tickets go sale Nov. 7.

Ex-Premier League striker Jamie Cureton tells Monday Night Club on his desire to still play football aged 50, after scoring his debut goal for Kings Park Rangers meaning he has scored in the top-10 tiers of English football.

READ MORE: Cureton, 50, scores in 10th tier to ‘complete football’

LISTEN: Monday Night Club

The sentence handed to the far-right politician last month has become a major issue in Brazil-US relations.

Lawyers for Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro have filed an appeal against his 27-year prison sentence handed down last month for a botched military coup after his 2022 election loss.

The 85-page motion filed with the Supreme Court on Monday sought a review of parts of Bolsonaro’s conviction, including his sentence.

United States President Donald Trump has branded the prosecution of his far-right ally a “witch-hunt” and made it a major issue in his country’s relations with Brazil.

Bolsonaro was convicted in September over his bid to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power following the 2022 vote.

The effort saw crowds storm government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration, drawing comparisons with the January 6 riot at the US Capitol after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

The motion filed by Bolsonaro’s lawyers asserted there were “deep injustices” in his conviction and sentence. It did not stipulate how much of a reduction in the sentence was being sought.

Failed coup

Last month, four of five judges on a Supreme Court panel found Bolsonaro guilty of five crimes, including taking part in an armed criminal organisation, trying to violently abolish democracy and organising a coup.

Prosecutors said the plot entailed the assassination of Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and failed only due to a lack of support from military leaders.

Trump cited his displeasure with the prosecution in July as he announced punitive tariffs against Brazil and imposed sanctions against Brazilian officials.

Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest since August, has denied wrongdoing. Under Brazilian law, he will not be sent to prison until all legal avenues are exhausted.

Judicial revisions possible

Thiago Bottino, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told the AFP news agency that while it is unusual for the Supreme Court to reverse its rulings, it had made revisions in the past, including to the length of sentences.

Defendants sentenced by the Supreme Court usually need two judges to diverge on a ruling to request an appeal that could significantly change the decision, Reuters reported.

After only one justice dissented, Bolsonaro’s lawyers filed a lesser motion seeking clarification or review of specific parts of the conviction.

If his appeal fails, Bolsonaro, 70, could request to serve his sentence under house arrest, claiming poor health.

He was recently diagnosed with skin cancer and was briefly admitted to hospital last month with other health issues.

Hundreds of asylum seekers could be housed in two military sites in Inverness and East Sussex as the government aims to end the use of hotels.

Discussions are under way over the use of the sites to accommodate 900 men, as first reported in the Times.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has instructed Home Office and Ministry of Defence officials to accelerate work to locate appropriate military sites, the BBC understands.

The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels, which have cost billions of pounds and become a focal point for anti-migrant protests, by the next election.

Migrants are due to be housed in the Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex by the end of next month, under plans being drawn up by ministers.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard told BBC Breakfast that the sites were not “luxury accommodation by any means,” but “adequate for what is required”.

“That will enable us to take the pressure off the asylum hotel estate and enable those to be closed at a faster rate,” he said.

Pressed on whether military sites would be cheaper for the government than hotels, Pollard said the cost was currently being assessed and that “it depends on the base”.

He said: “But I think there’s something that is of greater significance that we’ve seen over the past few months, and that is the absolute public appetite to see every asylum hotel closed.”

Pollard would not be drawn on how many asylum seekers were to be moved or when that would happen.

He said there would have to be sufficient engagement with local authorities and adequate security arrangements in place. “Those conversations have been going on for some time now,” he added.

Inverness’s Liberal Democrat MP Angus MacDonald told the BBC he supported the use of military sites to house asylum seekers, but that the chosen base seemed “a bit odd” given it is in the town centre.

“It’s effectively the same,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding that to his knowledge it was an open barracks without security.

“I very much thought the idea of putting them in army camps was to have them out of town, and make them less of an issue for the local population.”

He said he had first been given a “tip-off” about the use of Cameron Barracks about a month ago by someone in the army, when its occupants had been given notice to leave, and recently learned the plan was to house 300 asylum seekers there.

MacDonald added that Scotland did not have a “great track record” of migrants staying put there – and that the Home Office would need to consider whether they would “just up sticks and leave”.

Ministers are also considering industrial sites, temporary accommodation and otherwise disused accommodation to house asylum seekers.

Government sources told the BBC that all sites would comply with health and safety standards.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ”We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.

“This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well under way, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities and cut asylum costs.”

Around 32,000 asylum seekers are currently being accommodated in hotels, a drop from a peak of more than 56,000 in 2023 but 2,500 more than last year.

A report on Monday found billions of taxpayers’ money had been “squandered” on asylum accommodation.

The Home Affairs Committee said “flawed contracts” and “incompetent delivery” had resulted in the Home Office relying on hotels as “go-to solutions” rather than temporary stop-gaps, with expected costs tripling to more than £15bn.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Sir Keir said he was “determined” to close all asylum hotels, adding: “I can’t tell you how frustrated and angry I am that we’ve been left with a mess as big as this by the last government.”

Two former military sites – MDP Wethersfield, a former RAF base in Essex, and Napier Barracks, a former military base in Kent – are already being used to house asylum seekers after being opened under the previous Tory government.

‘Fully loaded’ devices are being used to stream paid for content including football – full list of UK areas targets most recently

The Federation Against Copyright Theft has issued warnings that it is cracking down on people using ‘dodgy’ or ‘fully loaded’ Firesticks to illegally stream sport and paid for content. It carries out raids and also monitors digital sellers of the devices in order to target suppliers.

The practice is increasingly widespread – and the most recent raids carried out in the country by FACT have been across the UK. Working with police the clampdown spanned locations across the UK, including London, Cheshire, Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, the East and West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Northumbria, and North Yorkshire.

FACT, in collaboration with police services are intensifying efforts to disrupt and dismantle piracy operations across the country by targeting suppliers who are selling unauthorised access to premium content, including film, television and live sports.

The most recent reported two-week enforcement operation saw FACT and police targeting 30 suppliers of illegal IPTV services. These individuals were visited in person and issued cease-and-desist warnings by post, instructing them to cease illegal activities immediately or face potential criminal prosecution.

As part of the enforcement action, South Wales Police arrested a 42-year-old man from Newport who was suspected of involvement in illegal IPTV operations, including the sale of illicit Firesticks. FACT and South Wales Police seized several digital devices, including Firesticks, which are now undergoing forensic examination. Additionally, FACT issued a number of takedown requests to social media platforms and online marketplaces, further disrupting illegal IPTV activity.

FACT warned that courts are increasingly imposing severe penalties for illegal streaming operations, ‘particularly those who do not heed warnings’. It said private prosecution undertaken by the Premier League resulted a 29-year-old from Liverpool, receiving a three-year and four-month prison sentence for selling and using illicit Firesticks.

The body often targets the month of November because a lot of the Firesticks are sold at this time of year. Kieron Sharp, CEO FACT said: “Our cease-and-desist measures are not just warnings—they are the first step toward holding offenders accountable. Many who ignored these notices in the past are now facing arrest and criminal charges. We strongly advise anyone involved in these activities to stop immediately.

“If you’re supplying or using illicit streaming devices or illegal IPTV subscriptions, take this as a clear warning: you are breaking the law and risk facing serious consequences.

“We will continue working with police to track down and shut down these illegal operations. The police across the UK have been unstinting in their efforts to tackle this criminality and we are grateful for their assistance.

“To those using illegal streaming services, the message is that you’re not just committing a crime; you are putting yourself at risk. These services often expose users to malware, scams, and data theft, with no recourse when things go wrong. The safest, smartest and only choice is to stick to legitimate providers for your entertainment.”

FACT gets intelligence from Crimestoppers from anonymous reports from the public and works with sports rights holders and broadcast partners, including The Premier League, Sky, TNT Sports and Virgin Media, to investigate and prosecute those involved in intellectual property crimes. Digital piracy undermines the rights of broadcasters and content creators by providing users unauthorised access to premium content without proper compensation.

Illegal streaming exposes your home to criminals, granting them access to data stored on your network, including banking details and sensitive personal information. Additionally, it can introduce malware, which can further compromise your security. Learn more about the dangers of illegal streaming at BeStreamWise.

Freddie, meet Freddie.

It was excruciating. It was exhausting. It was ecstatic.

It was Fred-die, Fred-die, Fred-die, forever.

Repeating history, rocking the Ravine, winning the unwinnable, Freddie Freeman has done it again for the Dodgers, knocking a baseball for a second consecutive October into probably a second consecutive championship.

In the 18th inning of the longest World Series game in baseball history Monday, nearly seven hours after it started, Freeman smashingly ended it with a leadoff home run against the Toronto Blue Jays to give the Dodgers a 6-5 victory and a two-games-to-one lead.

This time last year he was hitting an extra-inning, walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees that propelled the Dodgers to the title. At the time, he was being compared to Kirk Gibson and his memorable 1988 World Series homer.

This time, he can only be compared to himself, a guy who was struggling so much in the postseason that both Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts had been intentionally walked in front of him late in the game.

Three times in extra innings, he could have ended the game with a hit. Three times he left runners stranded.

But, finally, Freddie once again became Freddie, driving the ball deep over the center field fence, thrusting his right hand in the air, and watching his teammates dancing and jumping and screaming with a jubilation not previously seen by this workmanlike team this postseason.

“I don’t think you ever come up with the scenario twice,” said Freeman. “To have it happen again, it’s kind of amazing, crazy, and I’m just glad we won.”

Nobody seemed happier than Ohtani, who left the scrum to run down to the bullpen to embrace teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Despite throwing a complete game two days ago, Yamamoto was preparing to pitch in this game because the Dodgers had run out of arms.

It was that kind of night. It was two seventh-inning stretches. It was umpires nearly running out of baseballs. It was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. eating in the dugout.

“It’s one of the greatest World Series games of all time,” said Dodger Manager Dave Roberts while meeting the media after midnight. “Emotional. I’m spent emotionally. We got a ball game later tonight, which is crazy.”

When Ohtani returned toward the dugout he was hugged by water-spraying teammates, and for good reason.

Throughout the night Ohtani once again wrapped Dodger Stadium in his giant arms and shook it down to its ancient roots.

The win was set up after Tommy Edman made a perfect relay throw to the plate to gun down Davis Schneider in the top of the 10th, then Clayton Kershaw dramatically worked out of a base-loaded inherited jam in the 12th.

But before Freeman’s homer, Ohtani owned the night.

He led off the game with a ground-rule double. Then he gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a third-inning homer. Then he closed a 4-2 deficit with a fifth-inning RBI double. Then he tied the game at 5-all with a seventh inning home run.

Then, his aura became even crazier.

Four times in a five-inning stretch from the ninth inning to the 15th, Ohtani was intentionally walked — drawing a fifth walk on four pitches in the 17th. Twice the bases were empty. Once he had to pause at second base to relieve leg cramping. It was nuts.

Imagine a player so dangerous he is given a base four times with a World Series game on the line. One can’t imagine. That’s Ohtani.

“He’s a unicorn,” said Freeman. “There’s no more adjectives you can use to describe him.”

Remember 10 days ago when Ohtani had three home runs and struck out 10? Monday night was nearly as impressive because it was in the World Series, his four extra-base hits tying a record that had last been set in 1906.

And, yeah, he pitches again Tuesday in Game 4, so by the time you comprehend all this, he may have done it again.

“Our starting pitcher got on base nine times tonight,” said Freeman with wonder.

Ohtani was so good, he was better than the Dodgers bad, which included bad baserunning, bad fielding, and a bit of questionable managing.

The Dodgers stranded the winning run on base in the ninth,10th, 11th, and 13th, 14th and 15th inning and 16th…and really should have won it in the 13th.

That’s when Roberts surprisingly batted for Kiké Hernández after a Tommy Edman leadoff double. Miguel Rojas bunted Edman to third, but Alex Call and Freeman couldn’t get him home.

That was only one of numerous potentially game-changing plays on a night when the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead, fell behind 4-2, tied it up at 4-all, fell behind 5-4, then tied it up again in the seventh. Who’d have thought it would remain tied for the next 11 innings?The Dodgers left 18 men on base. They were two-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Max Muncy went 0-for-7. Mookie Betts went 1-for-8. Freeman was just 2-for-7.

“Weird how the game works sometimes, huh?” said Freeman.

The official time of this one was 6:39, which wasn’t so long that one thought of actor Jason Bateman’s reminder to the crowd during a pregame cheer. He noted that the Dodgers had not clinched a World Series championship at Dodger Stadium since 1963.

Two wins in the next two days and they’ll finally do it again.

After Monday’s doubleheader sweep, it’s hard to believe they won’t.

Oct. 28 (UPI) — A statue of a Confederate general toppled amid the civil rights protests that swept across the country during the summer of 2020 has been reinstalled in Washington, D.C.’s Judiciary Square.

The 27-foot bronze and marble statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike was reportedly returned to the square on Saturday.

It had been removed after protesters toppled the statue, the only one honoring a Confederate general in the nation’s capital, in June 2020 amid Black Lives Matter protests demanding an end to police brutality and racial injustice after the murder of George Floyd by a White police officer.

In August, the National Park Service announced that it would be restored in alignment “with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and reinstate pre-existing statues.”

While the NPS says the statue honors Pike’s “leadership in Freemasonry,” critics deride its return as the man fought against the United States in the Civil War.

“The morally objectionable move is an affront to the mostly Black and Brown residents of the District of Columbia and offensive to members of the military who serve honorably,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said in a statement.

“Pike represents the worst of the Confederacy and has no claim to be memorialized in the nation’s capital.”

On a hot October morning, fuel pumps at a dozen service stations in Bamako, the capital of Mali, sputtered to a stop. Drivers who had spent hours waiting in line left empty-handed. Motorbikes, taxis, and vans idled where they stood. Market stalls that depended on refrigeration closed early. Hospitals began counting fuel reserves. 

What appeared to Mali residents as an everyday shortage was, in fact, the result of a deliberate, sustained campaign by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, known as JNIM, an Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in the Sahel, to choke the flow of fuel into the country. The group has moved beyond hit-and-run attacks to economic warfare, burning tankers, ambushing convoys, and enforcing a de facto embargo on fuel imports.

Videos shared online after the Oct. 21 attack showed dozens of burning tankers in Zégoua, near the border with Côte d’Ivoire. JNIM later released a propaganda message claiming responsibility for ambushing 37 vehicles that day.

The first publicly reported attacks began in early September, when the group blocked routes to Kayes and Nioro du Sahel in western Mali, bordering Mauritania and Senegal. That same day, Sept. 3, JNIM reportedly abducted six fuel tanker drivers from Senegal.

Despite an increased military presence, the jihadists struck again on Sept. 13 and 14, torching over 40 tankers under military escort while transporting from Senegal to Mali along the Diédiéni–Kolokani corridor. 

The consequences have rippled far beyond queues at fuel stations. There is currently a sharp inflation that has affected commercial activities. Mines operations have also slowed, and there is a steady erosion of the state’s control over basic life. Across the country, schools have also been closed, further disrupting daily life and cutting several young people off from education.

The residents of Mali expressed their grievances, urging the military junta led by Assimi Goita to step up the fight and counter the group’s atrocities.

JNIM has also sought to control the narrative. In a video released in early September, a spokesperson justified the blockade as retaliation against what he called “the bandit government’s persecution of the population” and “the closure of gas stations”.

This rhetoric points to a deeper cause. Mali’s government recently banned the sale of fuel outside official stations, a measure meant to disrupt the jihadists’ supply chains. 

Blockades and ambushes 

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, and it imports most of its fuel by road from Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Convoys, sometimes more than 100 tankers, travel through routes to Bamako, and that includes passing through jihadist-controlled areas. 

JNIM have staged checkpoints on key routes where they conduct their attacks by igniting the lead vehicles to create conflagrations. They have destroyed dozens of tankers, with a single ambush in mid-September affecting at least 40 tankers. Videos circulated online showed burning wrecks and stranded drivers. 

The attacks are designed to make transport by road both physically dangerous and economically untenable. As a result, many private companies have stopped sending fuel tankers; others now insist on military escorts, which often become targets in themselves, and neighbouring countries hesitate to transit fuel through overtly dangerous routes. 

Analysts note that by choking off fuel transport, JNIM aims to undermine public confidence in the junta’s competence, stir unrest, and increase its leverage in negotiating local control, taxation, or governance arrangements in contested areas. The approach aligns with Al-Qaeda’s long-standing strategy of exploiting social grievances and state fragility to entrench influence.

The group’s broader objective is to pressure Mali’s military government, which seized power in a coup five years ago, while expanding its own authority through informal taxation and control of smuggling routes. JNIM now holds sway over vast areas of Mali, particularly across the tri-border zone with Burkina Faso and Niger.

The economic shock 

Since the start of the attacks, Bamako and other urban centres have seen fuel queues stretch for hours and a surge in black-market operations, the very activity the government intended to stamp out in its recent ban.

One video posted on X on Oct. 23 captured the desperation: a long procession of cars trailing a fuel tanker to a station, hoping to secure a few litres.

The shortages have cascaded through every layer of the economy. Power supply has been hit as electricity utilities begin implementing emergency plans amid dwindling diesel reserves. For households dependent on private generators, costs have spiked overnight.

The price of goods transported by road has risen sharply in markets across Mali. Small traders who buy fresh produce daily for resale in Bamako say profits have evaporated. For ordinary families, higher transport costs translate directly into more expensive food.

Reports from the weeks following the convoy attacks documented widespread closures of petrol stations and soaring costs of travel and delivery. The military halted certain deliveries to mines over security concerns, and some tankers destined for large gold operations were stopped to avoid creating easy targets. 

For a country already weakened by years of conflict, coups, and economic instability, the fuel blockade has become a multiplier of hardship, a crisis that compounds every existing vulnerability.

Losing the grip 

At first glance, the scarcity hurts everyone, and JNIM gains leverage. 

By controlling or denying access to commodities, the group converts scarcity into political capital. In areas under its influence, it already collects taxes, fines, and “security levies” from traders. Smugglers who can move fuel through alternative routes find new profit, often paying bribes or cutting deals with armed groups to secure passage. 

Meanwhile, formal businesses tied to regulated supply chains and formal employment lose trust and capacity. Local elites who depend on state contracts feel the pinch. The junta, unable to guarantee basic services, faces a mounting legitimacy crisis. Analysts warn that such conditions hollow out institutions and entrench shadow economies, allowing parallel systems of governance to take root.

The government’s response has been uneven; part denial, part damage control. Initially, officials blamed the shortages on heavy rains delaying tanker arrivals. But when JNIM released its propaganda videos claiming responsibility, public outrage forced an acknowledgement of the crisis.

“The sellers should make things easy for the population; the hydrocarbon sellers should not raise the prices at this time of crisis,” said one resident in Bamako, interviewed by DW Africa, voicing his frustration over the difficulties of getting the fuel. 

The armed forces have since launched airstrikes, escorted convoys, and convened emergency committees to protect fuel shipments. Yet these measures have proven costly and largely ineffective.

Transitional Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, who convened an interministerial crisis management committee, announced further steps, including price controls, new regional depots, and increased convoy protection, but they have done little to stem the attacks. Some local reports suggest negotiations or attempts at local truces in areas where the terrorists have influence, but negotiations are politically sensitive for a government that prizes a posture of strength.  

Complicating the situation further is the evolving role of foreign paramilitaries. The Wagner Group’s replacement by the so-called Africa Corps has yet to yield stability, and persistent accusations of human rights abuses risk undermining their counterterrorism efforts.

The longer the blockade continues, the sharper the choices before Mali’s leaders: concede territory and influence to armed groups, or escalate military operations that risk civilian casualties and further infrastructure damage. Either way, the cost of control grows heavier with each passing week.

COMEDIAN Steve Coogan will pay substantial damages to a university boss for portraying him as a film’s sexist bully. 

The actor, 60, co-wrote and starred in 2022’s The Lost King, about the quest to uncover the remains of Richard III. 

Richard Taylor was part of the Leicester University team which located the grave of the king — often portrayed as having a hunched back — beneath a car park in the city. 

But Mr Taylor sued for libel after being characterised as “smug, unduly dismissive and patronising”. 

Alan Partridge star Coogan is a vocal campaigner for media fairness. 

Last year, a judge found Coogan and two production companies “knowingly misrepresented facts” in the film, starring Sally Hawkins and Harry Lloyd. 

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Yesterday, lawyers for Mr Taylor told London’s High Court the parties had settled out of court and that he was being paid “substantial damages”. 

Producers will also make changes to the film. 

Mr Taylor called it vindication after “a long and gruelling battle”. 

Mrs Justice Collins Rice said: “These were momentous historical events and finding yourself represented in a feature film about them must be an unsettling experience, even in the best of circumstances.  

“I hope that this very clear statement and the settlement… will help Mr Taylor put this particular experience behind him. ” 

Coogan, his production company Baby Cow, and Pathe Productions were not represented in court and did not attend. 

However, the star said he was consulting lawyers over remarks made by Mr Taylor — and insisted of his film: “It is the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did.”