Northern Ireland are 69th in the Fifa world rankings, 57 places below Italy and 27 adrift of Wales, but two spots above Bosnia.

Michael O’Neill’s side finished third behind Germany and Slovakia in the World Cup qualifying group but secured their play-off place thanks to their Nations League success.

Italy, Wales and Bosnia all finished second in their groups, behind Norway, Belgium and Austria respectively.

Northern Ireland are looking to qualify for their first major tournament since Euro 2016, when they were knocked out in the second round by a Wales side who went on to reach the semi-finals under Chris Coleman.

O’Neill was in the midst of his first, nine-year spell in charge of Northern Ireland at the time and is now three years into his second stint as his country’s manager.

“Down the years they’ve just had something and they know what they are. They’ve got a brilliant manager who I really like,” Bellamy added.

“I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with him as well, and I loved him. No wonder his players do well. They won’t be playing at their home ground [against Italy], but I just feel they’ll be comfortable in any situation you throw them into.

“There will be pressure coming on Italy because they haven’t qualified for two World Cups. If I was Italy going into that game, with everyone expecting you to win, I’m telling you I’d be edgy. I wouldn’t be comfortable with it.

“Italy is one of the greatest nations in football and that’s a lot of responsibility to shoulder. To have to play a team like Northern Ireland, I’d just be thinking let’s get through this and see what happens in the other game.”

Israeli authorities are engaged in multiple major efforts, including building settlements and pursuing annexation, to ensure there will be no Palestinian state in the future.

Israeli authorities are expected to advance plans to build 9,000 new housing units in an illegal settlement on the site of the abandoned Qalandiya airport in occupied East Jerusalem, in another attempt to cut off Palestinian lands from each other and block any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state ever emerging.

The so-called Atarot neighbourhood in northern East Jerusalem, reminiscent of the E1 plan to undermine Palestinian statehood, is to be discussed and have its outlines approved on Wednesday by the District Planning and Building Committee, according to Israeli group Peace Now.

The advocacy group said the new settlement is envisioned to be built within a densely populated Palestinian urban area, stretching from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and Kafr Aqab in the north through the Qalandiya refugee camp, ar-Ram, Beit Hanina and Bir Nabala.

It would build an Israeli enclave in an area where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in close proximity, with the aim of blocking development in a key area and further damaging the likelihood of a sovereign Palestinian state being established.

“This is a destructive plan that, if implemented, would prevent any possibility of connecting East Jerusalem with the surrounding Palestinian area and would, in practice, prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” Peace Now said.

Translation: The massacre government is working to establish a new ultra-Orthodox mega-settlement across the Green Line north of Jerusalem. The new political attack called ‘Atarot’ is planned to be built in the heart of the Palestinian state that will be established alongside Israel. This involves 9,000 housing units that Israel will have to evacuate. Isn’t it a shame?

The organisation said the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seizing every moment to bury chances for a future of peace and compromise.

“Especially now, when it is clear to everyone that the ideas of ‘managing the conflict’ and ‘decisive victory’ have led to a security disaster for Israel, we must act to resolve the conflict.”

The plan’s advancements date back to early 2020, when Israel’s Housing Ministry sent it to the Jerusalem municipality to prepare it for approval. It completed the bureaucratic preparation process within months, but faced objections from the Environmental Protection and Health ministries, according to Peace Now, which said the administration of United States President Barack Obama had also opposed it.

It would need further government consideration and approval before being given legal effect and moving towards tender processes to select construction contractors.

Most of the plan area is designated as “state land” by Israeli authorities, meaning they would not have to seek permission from Palestinian landowners.

Israel has been quickly advancing with several major projects to build illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory and pursuing annexation of the occupied West Bank, alongside its genocidal war on Gaza that started in October 2023 and has now killed more than 70,000 people.

The E1 plan, which would see the construction of thousands of illegal Israeli homes in the occupied West Bank, is hailed by Israeli officials despite international condemnation.

Israel’s security cabinet last week signed off on plans to formalise 19 illegal settlements across the West Bank.

Demolitions and widespread arrests

Israeli forces continue to launch raids across the occupied West Bank and support violent settlers in attacking Palestinian lands while issuing permits to demolish Palestinian homes.

Israeli authorities began carrying out demolition operations Wednesday morning in the town of Biddu, located northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext that the Palestinian buildings lacked permits.

In the central part of the West Bank, settlers, who have been rampaging with impunity often backed by the Israeli military, burned Palestinian vehicles and wrote racist slogans in the village of Ein Yabrud in Ramallah on Wednesday.

Several Palestinians were also arrested during raids across the West Bank, including in Nablus.

Local authorities said the Israeli military plans to demolish 25 residential buildings in the Nur Shams refugee camp this week.

Industry is about to return, so now is the perfect time to binge all episodes of the BBC and HBO banking drama

A series once called “TV’s wildest drama” is set to return for a fourth season, and its previous episodes are all available to binge.

Industry first aired on BBC Two and HBO back in 2020, and three seasons down the line, it has garnered a cult following.

The brainchild of former investment bankers Konrad Kay and Mickey Down, it charts the journey of a group of graduates at the fictitious bank Pierpoint. It drew drawing parallels with Skins and Succession, and with just eight episodes per season, it’s ideal for a binge-watch.

With captivating performances from the entire cast, edge-of-your-seat tension and a brutally honest glimpse into their inner struggles, it’s no surprise that Industry has been commissioned for a fourth season, due to premiere on January 11 on HBO and HBO Max, and later in the month on iPlayer.

The narrative kicks off in a pre-Covid world at Pierpoint, a high pressure investment banking setting about to welcome a new batch of graduates.

Among them is Harper Stern, portrayed by Myha’la – an extraordinarily bright yet troubled young woman who will stop at nothing to reach the pinnacle, reports the Express.

Marisa Abela, also known for her portrayal of Amy Winehouse in the 2024 film Back To Black, takes on the role of fellow graduate Yasmin Kara Hanani. She’s fully aware of her privileged status as a ‘nepo baby’ in the professional world, but as the series unfolds, we discover that her life isn’t as straightforward as it appears.

Other key characters include Robert Spearing, brought to life by Harry Lawty, another graduate hailing from a more working class background who is desperate to leave his past behind.

Ken Leung plays Eric Tao, Harper’s unpredictable boss who recognises Harper’s potential and mentors her – a decision that would irrevocably alter his life.

Viewers follow as the employees clinch deals, celebrate at wild parties when things go well, and forge connections with influential figures.

However, each character has their own shortcomings. The show is rife with pain, weaving themes of sexism, abuse, discrimination, and death throughout its narrative.

When the third series hit screens last year, The Guardian hailed it as “TV’s wildest drama”, likening it to the cult favourite Succession. The Independent lauded it as “millennial Mad Men with plenty of swagger” and a “thrillingly fresh” series that only graces our screens every so often.

Industry airs on the BBC

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter where the final days of the college football season are upon us. I’ve spent the past week trying to catch up on shopping for Christmas, which — checks notes — is only 10 days away??

So what better time to consider what USC might need for the year to come and put together a transfer portal wishlist of sorts, with portal season fast approaching.

5. Offensive line

Returning starters: LT Elijah Paige, LG Tobias Raymond, C Kilian O’Connor, RG Alani Noa, RT Justin Tauanuu

Other expected returners: Elijah Vaikona, Aaron Dunn, Alex Payne, Kaylon Miller

Notable newcomers: OT Keenyi Pepe, OG Esun Tafa

Offensive line coach Zach Hanson did a great job this season with the hand he was dealt. USC had injuries up and down its line, as Paige and O’Connor missed half the season. With most of last year’s line potentially returning, and a lot of young linemen entering Year 2, USC should have more depth to work with up front.

That said, it could stand to upgrade on the interior. USC pursued a transfer center to start over O’Connor last year and struck out on J’Onre Reed. Could they take another swing at that spot? As this season proved, there’s no such thing as having too many capable linemen.

4. Wide receiver

Returning starters: Tanook Hines

Other expected returners: Zacharyus Williams, Corey Simms

Notable newcomers: Ethan Feaster, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Trent Mosley

Makai Lemon is on his way to the NFL, and my expectation is that Ja’Kobi Lane will follow him. That leaves USC with just one returning starter at receiver, albeit one with a lot of promise.

Hines has the ability to be the Trojans’ No. 1 wideout, but he won’t be able to hold down the passing attack alone. USC will need to add at least one starter to the mix to fill out a receiving corps that is suddenly quite thin. Fortunately, USC has never had trouble finding a transfer for that purpose.

Zacharyus Williams seemed primed to contribute in 2025, but injuries derailed his start to the season. He could step into a bigger role. Several freshmen could see opportunities early, too, the most intriguing to me being Mosley, whose shiftiness reminds me of Lemon.

3. Cornerback

Returning starters: Marcelles Williams

Other expected returners: Chasen Johnson, Alex Graham, RJ Sermons, Kevin Longstreet

Notable newcomers: Elbert Hill, Brandon Lockhart

Injuries decimated this group last season and made it difficult for the secondary to find its stride. Now the room will have to be mostly rebuilt, with several corners out of eligibility or leaving in the portal.

Marcelles Williams should be better. Chasen Johnson was primed to start in 2025 and should be expected to step into that spot in 2026, while other young players, like Alex Graham and RJ Sermons, could take a huge step in Year 2.

But if there’s a lockdown outside corner in the portal, USC needs to do whatever it can to get them to L.A.

2. Interior defensive line

Returning starters: Devan Thompkins, Jide Abasiri

Other expected returners: Jahkeem Stewart, Floyd Boucard, Jah Jarrett

Notable newcomers: Jaimeon Winfield, Tomuhini Topui

USC was supposed to be much improved on the interior in 2025, and that simply wasn’t the case, especially against the run. Experienced tackles like Keeshawn Silver and Thompkins, who entered the season with a lot of hype, never lived up to expectations. Jarrett was a disappointment before getting hurt, and Abasiri was inconsistent.

Stewart and Boucard both showed glimpses of major potential in spite of injuries, and both need to be on the field more next season. But this group is in need of a game-wrecker against the run, a stopper who can clog up the interior and hold his own in the Big Ten.

Those tackles don’t grow on trees, unfortunately. USC has tried to find them — and failed — on multiple occasions, the latest being Silver. But unless USC wants to rely heavily on its youth at defensive tackle next season, it’s going to need to find reinforcements from the transfer portal, no matter what.

1. Linebacker

Returning starters: Desman Stephens

Other expected returners: Jadyn Walker, Ta’Mere Robinson, AJ Tuitele

Notable newcomers: Talanoa Ili, Shaun Scott

This group was rough in 2025, and it’s set to lose its leader in Eric Gentry. Stephens felt miscast as a middle linebacker this season, and Walker, while dynamic, was still trying to figure things out in his first full season.

Walker and Stephens should be better with another offseason under their belt. But would anyone feel good going into next season with both as the primary starters at linebacker? I doubt it.

USC has already been linked to North Carolina linebacker Khmori House, and I doubt he’ll be the last linebacker that’s talked about as a possible Trojan. USC may bring in multiple linebackers and also have no choice but to count on a few of its young guys making the leap. Ili, in particular, is intriguing as a top-100 recruit.

Where does Makai Lemon’s season rank?

Makai Lemon

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Makai Lemon’s coronation as college football’s top receiver in 2025 was made complete last week as he became the second Trojan wideout to be awarded the Biletnikoff.

The only other Biletnikoff winner in the award’s 30 years of existence was Marqise Lee, who finished the 2012 season with an NCAA-leading 118 catches, 1,721 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns. Lemon had 39 fewer catches and 565 fewer yards this season.

That’s largely a reflection of how prolific Lee was in 2012. But the fact that Lemon’s Biletnikoff-winning performance doesn’t rank in the top 10 statistically in any category in USC history shows just how many great receivers USC has had in the last quarter century.

Five USC receivers have caught over 100 passes in a season, four of which came in the last 15 years. Drake London would have made it six — and won his own Biletnikoff — if he hadn’t injured his ankle in 2021.

Lemon’s 79 catches rank 13th in USC history, his 11 touchdowns are tied for 11th.

That’s not to take away from what Lemon has done this season. His ability to create yards after the catch is perhaps unlike any other receiver in school history. But in the annals of great seasons for USC receivers, Lemon may never look quite as impressive on paper as it felt in person.

Lindsay Gottlieb

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

—Waymond Jordan will return to USC in 2026. And that’s huge news for USC’s rushing attack, which will now be able to deploy one of the Big Ten’s most dynamic 1-2 punches with Jordan and King Miller. Jordan didn’t play the second half of the season after suffering an ankle injury that required surgery. Had he continued his pace from the first half of the season, Jordan probably wouldn’t be coming back to USC in 2026 … because he’d be on his way to the NFL. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Jordan comes into next season as arguably the best returning back in the Big Ten. If USC hopes to hold up during its gauntlet of a conference slate, the run game will have to lead the way.

—Notre Dame is losing its scheduling leverage. The tides have really started to turn on the Irish ever since they declined a bowl invite following their College Football Playoff snub. That didn’t sit well with the rest of the college football world. Neither did the news that Notre Dame, according to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger, negotiated a deal for preferential playoff access starting next season. In fact, according to Dan Wolken, also of Yahoo, it has led athletic directors in other leagues to threaten to freeze Notre Dame out in the future. We’ll see if anyone actually follows through on that threat — I have my doubts — but it does seemingly give USC an upper hand when it comes to getting a deal done soon … if it wants one. It’s probably no coincidence that athletic director Pete Bevacqua now appears optimistic about getting a deal done quickly, after blaming USC for the hold-up. Bevacqua told The Echoes podcast last week that he thought the two schools would come to an agreement on a short-term extension, potentially with a gap in the series after that. That’s the deal that USC has been trying to sell Notre Dame on since August.

—USC did add a non-conference matchup to its 2026 slate. Louisiana will come to the Coliseum on Sept. 12, 2026, to face USC for the first time in program history. USC will pay the Ragin’ Cajuns $1.3 million for the rights to what should be an easy non-conference victory. The Trojans now have 11 of 12 games scheduled for 2026, with one very glaring opening remaining.

—Chad Baker-Mazara is leading the Big Ten in scoring and exceeding all preseason expectations. The sixth-year senior came to USC in search of a bigger scoring role, and with Rodney Rice out, he’s made the most of his opportunity. Baker-Mazara is averaging 25 points per game over USC’s last four, in the wake of Rice’s injury, and shooting the lights out, hitting 53% of his shots during that stretch. Even beyond his offensive output, Baker-Mazara’s energy has been an important part of USC’s identity early on. If he can keep scoring efficiently when Rice and freshman Alijah Arenas return from injury, USC could be a legitimate threat come March.

—Nike did a cool thing to honor Gigi Bryant during what would’ve been her freshman year at Connecticut. During Saturday’s USC-UConn matchup, every player on the court wore a different pair of Kobe’s. Even players who didn’t play wore different pairs of Kobe’s. Nike says that’s the first time it has ever done that in a college basketball game.

—I’ve always appreciated Lindsay Gottlieb’s willingness to be vulnerable. And she showed that part of herself again Saturday, in response to a mass shooting at her alma mater, Brown. She addressed the shooting before talking about USC’s loss to UConn and was clearly shaken by the situation. She said a former teammate at Brown was waiting to hear from a kid who was hiding in the basement of a library. Gottlieb didn’t pull any punches: “It’s the guns,” she said. “We’re the only country who lives this way.”

Poll results

We asked, “Which of these five options would you put at the top of USC’s transfer portal wish list?”

After 402 votes, the results:

Reinforcements at linebacker, 40.7%
A run stopper on the interior, 39.7%
A shutdown cornerback, 10.1%
A standout edge rusher, 7.9%
A No. 1 wide receiver, 1.6%

Top 5 … restaurants in L.A.

In honor of one of my favorite things we do at The Times — our 101 best restaurants list — here’s my take on the five best fine dining establishments in L.A. …

5. Funke. Really, I could choose any of Evan Funke’s restaurants in this position. Mostly because the focaccia bread, so deliciously dripping with olive oil, requires recognition.

4. Bavel/Bestia. Cheating, I know, but I love both of these restaurants equally. The Peruvian scallop crudo at Bestia is one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had. Meanwhile anything involving lamb at Bavel is out of this world.

3. Republique. It’s the most breathtaking setting of any restaurant in L.A., built into an old church, and the pastries and bread are unforgettable. Any trip requires ordering pan drippings on a baguette, as strange as that may sound.

2. Providence. The ultimate special occasion spot. I still think about the 12-course meal I had there 10 years ago.

1. Dunsmoor. This is a new top restaurant for me within the last year, but I was absolutely blown away by Dunsmoor. The cornbread is an all-time dish for me, and there’s just something about eating your entire meal from a hearth that does it for me. It was so good that I had to mention it in a previous newsletter, and here I am, writing about it again.

In case you missed it

USC coach Gottlieb weighs in on Brown shooting: ‘It’s the guns’

No. 16 USC women routed at home by top-ranked Connecticut

USC likely to move to SoFi Stadium for 2028 football season because of 2028 Olympics

Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar lead USC to win at San Diego

‘These are like my brothers.’ USC coach Eric Musselman treasures his San Diego bonds

What I’m watching this week

Rhea Seehorn in “Pluribus.”

(Apple TV+)

It’s not often these days that a show delivers a story so unexpected that I have no idea where it’s headed. But “Pluribus” is one of those shows. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised given that Vince Gilligan, the writer and showrunner, is a master of storytelling.

The story follows Carol, played by Rhea Seehorn, whose world is turned upside down suddenly by a humanity-altering event that mysteriously does not affect her. Seehorn is terrific as always, and the story has been genuinely gripping so far.

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Dec. 17 (UPI) — There are no legal or national security justifications for the Trump administration’s attacks on ships in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Sea, Sen. Chris Murphy said following a bipartisan classified briefing on the strikes.

At least 95 people have been killed in 25 military strikes on ships the Trump administration accuses of being used by drug cartels and gangs designated as terrorist organizations since Sept. 2.

The strikes have drawn mounting domestic and international condemnation and questions over their legality by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

The administration defends the strikes as legal under both U.S. and international law, arguing the United States is at war with the drug cartels who are flooding the country with deadly substances.

State Secretary Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a classified briefing on the strikes with members of Congress on Tuesday, with many Democrats, including Murphy, D-Conn., calling foul.

“While I obviously can’t tell you any classified information I learned, I can tell you this: that the administration had no legal justification for these strikes, and no national justification for these strikes,” Murphy said in a video posted to his X account.

On the national security front, the administration admitted to the lawmakers that there is no fentanyl coming to the United States from Venezuela and the cocaine that is coming from Venezuela is mostly going to Europe, he said.

“And so we are spending billions of your taxpayer dollars to wage a war in the Caribbean to stop cocaine from going from Venezuela to Europe,” he said. “That is a massive waste of national security resources and of your taxpayer dollars.”

On the legal front, the administration is justifying the strikes by stating they are targeting gangs and cartels that the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations.

Since February, President Donald Trump has designated 10 cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations, with Clan de Golfo blacklisted on Tuesday.

Murphy said that while the president has the power to designate groups as terrorist organizations, it does not give him the ability to carry out military strikes targeting them.

“A designated ‘terrorist organization’ allows the president to impose sanctions on those organizations and individuals,” he said. “Only Congress, only the American public, can authorize war. And there’s just no question that these are acts of war.”

A woman was left bitterly jealous after she noticed that children can do one thing on flights that adults cannot, and she said it means they’re practically in first class

Flying as an adult is usually a pretty cramped experience, of course, unless you’re lucky enough to be sitting in first class getting fed delicious food and wine until you reach your destination. However, the average person is not in that privileged position and is actually more likely to be in the middle seat, trying to navigate whether their seatmates will be kind enough to let them have the armrests on either side.

However, one woman pointed out that every time young children fly with a family member, they’re practically “in first class”, joking that they don’t understand “how good they’ve got it”.

TikToker @elkekahler videoed herself on the flight, looking shocked, as she flipped the camera around to show young children lying down in a seat, using luggage as a pillow so they were as comfortable as possible.

They were covered in blankets and fast asleep – a far cry from the experience of most adults, who know how tricky it is to get some shut-eye in the air.

She flipped the camera back onto herself as she looked mortified, and jealous the youngsters were able to lie down and sleep.

Over the top of the video, she hilariously played the song ‘Glamorous’ by Fergie, which contains the lyrics “we’re flying first class, up in the sky, poppin’ champagne, livin’ my life in the fast lane”.

It’s safe to say that these kids were definitely living their best lives when they were able to sleep properly and land in a whole new country without any stress.

Someone in the comments joked that they needed a “tutorial” on how to do that because they wanted to try it for themselves, but if an adult attempted it, their feet would likely be hanging far off their seat and being constantly knocked by the trolley service.

“They’re gonna hate it when they get older and have to sit on aeroplanes normally,” one woman pointed out.

“I’m 19 and still do this,” a woman shared, saying that they were “short enough” to get away with it. But imagine giving it a go only to realise you were too tall? You’d likely be feeling pretty embarrassed.

“My mum prepared the same for my sister and me when I was younger. I can confirm that it’s the comfiest ever,” a TikTok user boasted.

A flight attendant shared: “I used to operate this type of aircraft for Emirates, and we would always have to tell them not to do this because of safety.”

Referring to the blankets, she added: “There is a high risk that you’re not allowed to bring these onto the plane.”

Although it looks like you could make something similar out of a suitcase and a pillow, it’s not confirmed what they actually did.

Kolo Askumto sits on a small mat outside her makeshift shelter, a shawl draped around her shoulders for warmth. Her eyes remain fixed on the farmland ahead, not out of desire but necessity. Rows of guinea corn and beans stretch into the darkness. While she scans the fields, careful not to blink for too long, her ears strain at every unfamiliar rustling of leaves. 

It is midnight, and Kolo is at the Lainde fields in Mayo-Ine, a community in Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State, in North East Nigeria.

The 55-year-old has been living on her farm during every harvest season for the past three years. Before 2022, guarding her ripe beans or guinea corn was never a concern. That changed when thieves began invading their fields at night, carting away crops — sometimes even those already harvested and packed, waiting to be transported home. 

Kolo lives with her family at the Malkhohi displacement camp in Yola, the state capital. She managed to secure farmland in Lainde after fleeing Madagali in Borno State due to Boko Haram attacks. Since 2016, subsistence farming has helped her support her husband in providing for their family. 

This year, Kolo has slept on her farm for more than two weeks. Every night, she spreads her blanket on her mat, switches on her torch, and scans her surroundings like an owl. When the night deepens, she retreats to her thatched tent but barely blinks while she’s there. 

She is not the only one keeping watch. The isolation of the area adds to the danger. Located on the outskirts of the Mayo-Ine area, Lainde lie far from residential settlements, with only a few people living there permanently. There is no police station nearby, farmers said, except in the main village several kilometres away, leaving those who sleep on the fields largely on their own through the night.

The vigil

Every night, several farmers keep watch across open fields. Some sit in small groups, whispering as they stay awake until dawn. At sunrise, some resume their harvest, while others head home to return by evening for the night shift. The women mostly stick together. 

To stay awake, the farmers told HumAngle that they drink herbal concoctions believed to chase sleep from their eyes. Sometimes, they light a fire and huddle around it for warmth. 

“We pray that God should protect us before we sleep, but we wake up to every sound we hear,” Kolo said. 

Though the vigil has helped keep her farm safe this year, fear still lingers. Two years ago, criminals struck in the dead of night and stole all the grains she had packed in sacks. She was not physically harmed, but the memory of that night has never left her. Since then, she sleeps with a machete by her side.

Unlike some women who return home during the day to rest, Kolo plans to remain on the farm for nearly a month — until the crops are fully harvested. The journey from the IDP camp is long and exhausting. “If we are to trek before we get here, we will be tired, and we will not have enough strength to work,” Kolo said. It takes about an hour to reach Lainde from Yola by tricycle, and much longer on foot.

While she has not encountered any security problems this year, she fears she might encounter the same group that robbed her the last time. However, Kolo says she is willing to go to any length to protect her farm. “If we don’t sleep here, we can lose everything,” she said.

“We can’t afford to pay”

Not every farmer in Lainde stays on the field all night. Some pay guards, mostly young men, to keep watch on their behalf. It costs around ₦60,000 to ₦70,000 monthly. In some cases, the guards are paid with a bag or two of harvested crops.  

For many women, that option is simply out of reach. “We have to buy fertilisers, herbicides, and other inputs,” Kolo explained. “There is nothing left to pay guards.”

Elizabeth Joseph has farmed maize, groundnuts, and beans in the Lainde fields for three years. Every harvest season, she says, comes with anxiety. Once, she harvested several bags of beans and left them in the field while she went to find transport. When she returned, everything was gone. Not even a single grain remained.

In 2024, a bag of beans sold for between ₦110,000 and ₦130,000, while a bag of maize cost about ₦60,000; losing even a few bags can undo months of back-breaking work for these small-scale farmers. That loss left her with little choice but to keep watch herself.

But the vigil is exhausting.

“If I have money, I won’t have to come to the farm. I will just assign labourers to do the work for me, and I will just come during the harvest season. I will even pay those who will harvest, and there won’t be any stress, but since I don’t have the money, I have to come and guard myself,” Elizabeth added. 

Although her husband could sleep on the farm while she managed the household, they switched roles. According to Elizabeth, men are more likely to be attacked or killed by thieves at night.  Her fear is not unfounded.

Recently, in Bare, another community in Adamawa State, twelve young men working on a farm at night were attacked; three of them were killed. Even on the Lainde fields, such attacks that claimed lives have occurred. 

Such thefts are not isolated to Lainde or Bare. Across the BAY states — Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe — farmers have repeatedly reported nighttime farm thefts and attacks during harvest seasons. Communities continue to call on authorities to address the insecurity, saying the losses threaten their livelihoods and food supply.

These threats compound the vulnerability of rural communities to hunger and poverty. Nearly 35 million people in Nigeria, particularly in the BAY states, are facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme. Displacement, rising food prices, and ongoing violence have further worsened the risk of malnutrition in the region.

Living with danger

However, the robbers are not the only thing farmers are afraid of; they face other threats such as snakes, scorpions, cold weather, and isolation. 

Zara Abba, who began farming in Lainde in 2023, said the environment becomes frightening after sunset. “By 7 p.m., everywhere looks like it is midnight; the whole place gets dark,” she stated. 

Like Kolo and Elizabeth, Zara cannot afford night guards. A mother of four, she brings her children to the farm and lives with them in a thatched tent. At night, the children sleep while she stays awake, watching the fields.

Zara said the women had once raised their concerns with the community leader, hoping for intervention or improved security. But nothing changed.

“If I could afford guards, I would stay home with my children,” she said. “But I don’t have a choice.” She carries gallons of water, cooking utensils, and clothes, staying on the farm for nearly a month until the harvest is complete.

“The other women, too, have been sleeping here for a long time,” she said. “We decided to come here because if we don’t, we will lose our harvest.”

As someone who has lost her ripened crops to thieves in the past, Zara says she does not mind living on the open field with her four children, where she can keep an eye on all of them. 

While they continue to find ways to adapt, the women who spoke to HumAngle said staying on the fields has impacted their other responsibilities, especially for those who can’t bring their children to the open fields. “When coming to sleep here, we leave the children at home and make sure we give them food that would sustain them with the older ones who take care of them before we get back,” Kolo said. 

Though the routine has become familiar, it remains exhausting. 

“The nights are harsh, and sometimes we feel like not selling our farm produce because of the suffering, but we end up selling it at a cheaper price sometimes,” Elizabeth lamented. The exposure often leaves them with flu. “Every harvest season comes with its stress.”

Elizabeth is also frightened by snakes and scorpions; people have been bitten in the fields in the past. To protect herself, she keeps a machete by her side.

As the harvest season draws to a close, the women of Lainde fields look forward to when they can return home, carrying the fruits of both their labour and sleepless nights. Yet even as they prepare to leave, another harvest season will come, and they will be forced to face long nights under open skies again.

HARRY Potter star Jessie Cave has opened up on an “awful” two years with boyfriend Alfie Brown after the pair’s secret split.

The actress, 38, told of the “terrible” time, which also “massively affected” her own career and self-confidence in a lengthy Instagram message.

It came after actress, comedian, author, and cartoonist Jessie, best-known for her role as Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter franchise, launched a podcast with stand-up Alfie, also 38.

He began performing stand-up in 2006 and is known for his work at the Edinburgh Festival and Next Up Comedy series.

He is the son of composer Steve Brown and impressionist Jan Ravens who was “cancelled” in 2023 after old footage showing him using a racist slur in 2015 emerged.

The performer has since apologised.

Marital Mayhem

Jessie Cave reveals secret split from Alfie Brown and admits break-up fears

‘WHY DO WE GO?’

Disgusted Harry Potter star Jessie Cave spots ‘balls of mould’ at soft play

Now Jessie – who revealed their previous secret split earlier this year – has let slip the detail of their rough time period on social media.

She uploaded an image of their son watching Alfie’s stage show on the TV followed by various snaps showing her man doing his day job.

Yet her emotional caption revealed the reality and she put: “My boyfriend was what is/was called ‘cancelled’ in 2023 on the day our youngest son Becker turned one.

“It was the beginning of a terrible year, two years, actually longer…. I won’t make this about me and tell you how AWFUL it has been to watch the person you love most in the world go through so much pain, public shaming and humiliation – or even how it has massively affected my career and self-confidence too – because he has just put his comedy special about it the whole thing out on YouTube, and it’s getting a brilliant and entirely well deserved response… though it’s not been easy at all to get it out there.

“I’ve watched him hide away and overthink, lose himself. I watched him do Edinburgh shows in tears at midnight, as he first worked the show out, a few months after everything disintegrated.

“I’ve watched his whole life change in the last three years, losing not only his career but with the shocking deaths of his great friend and director Adam Brace and his wonderful dad Steve Brown… two of the most vital and supportive people to him.

“I’ve watched as people we thought we could trust betray him. I’ve watched as the theatre we used to love and who we both worked with for over a decade cover up posters of him and act like cowards.

“I’ve stood by him for it all as I will stand by him forever.

“But I think the saddest thing of all is that I’ve watched him shy away from gigs when it used to be that being onstage was the most natural thing in the world to him.

“I tried to pick photos from during that time for this post but they were all too bleak. But I like the ones I’ve chosen as he looks so uncertain and scared, yet determined to find a way forwards onstage, telling jokes.”

In a brighter note, with Alfie’s The Last Cancelled Comedian show now available for free on YouTube, she added: “Everything is much better now.

“He’s back onstage again, we are close to happy (if you listen to our podcast you might know what I mean).

“I find the show very hard to watch, though I’ve seen it over 10 times. I think it’s incredible and I would love people to watch it.

“Thank you if you already have. I love you Alfie.”

LOVE STORY

In 2012, Alfie and Jessie first crossed paths at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where they were both performing stand-up.

Two years later, the two were set up on a date through a mutual friend.

They went home together but didn’t see each other again – until four months later when Jessie discovered she was pregnant with his child.

They welcomed their son, Donnie, in October 2014, followed by their daughter 2 years later.

SPLIT SHOCK

In 2018 the couple went through a complicated breakup – as recently revealed on their brand new podcast Before We Break Up Again (BWBUA)

In February, on the show’s release, the hosts jokingly declared that it will run “from now until we break up again.”

Speaking with The Sunday Times, Jessie revealed that she’s not sure if the pair “will remain a couple for ever”.

In October 2020, they had a second son, and by December 2021, they announced they were expecting their fourth child.

UNIVERSAL has finally been given the green light to open a theme park in the UK.

The famous film studios has been given planning permission to start building the theme park.

A Special Development Order (SDO) has been granted by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which allows the theme park to skip local planning procedures.

This means it will allow it to be built in the suggested location near Bedford.

Expected to start works in January 2026, the park could open as soon as 2031.

It will be the first Universal theme park for both the UK and Europe, with current resorts only across the US and Asia.

BUILDING BLOCKS

The unofficial ‘eighth Wonder of the World’ could get a new theme park

RIDE ON

I went to the European theme park named the best in the world with 100 attractions

Local Labour MP Mohammad Yasin praised the “landmark moment,” adding: “The confirmation of planning permission for the Universal Destinations & Experiences Entertainment Resort Complex is transformational and will be felt for decades to come.”

Estimated to cost £6.6billion to build, it could attract as many as eight million visitors a year.

Little is currently known about what kind of themed lands and rides would open at the UK Universal.

Rumours suggest James Bond, Paddington and Lord of the Rings, Minions, Jurassic World, and Back to the Future.

It is unlikely to include Harry Potter due to licensing rules and the nearby Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction in the nearby Leavesden.

Set across 662 acres, there will be four ‘zones’; the Core Zone, Lake Zone, West Gateway Zone and the East Gateway Zone.

The Core Zone is likely to be the entrance area, as well as where the theme park and waterpark will be.

Plans also include a 500-room hotel.

More accommodation and business hotels will be at the Lake Zone, as well as an entertainment complex ans convention centre.

Then both the West Gateway Zone and the East Gateway Zone will be where guests arrive by train and car, with restaurants and hotels.

This is also like to be where the Entry Plaza area will be, as well as the parking and a 500-room hotel.

The park is expected to stay open all year round, unlike other UK theme parks like Alton Towers and Thorpe Park which only open on select dates like Christmas and New Year.

Not only that but it would have much longer opening hours, suggested to be 7am to 11pm.

It will also have a free-to-visit area where guests won’t need a ticket to enter.

Also included in the theme park plans are a new train station to cope with demand.

The new station would be part of the East West Rail (EWR) line, with train links to Oxford to Cambridge via Milton Keynes and Bedford.

In the mean time The Sun’s  Assistant Travel Editor Sophie Swietochowski visited Universal’s huge new £7bn theme park this summer.

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey said he thought he edged the ball when he was given not out on review during day one of the third Ashes Test against England.

After surviving on 72, Carey went on to make a fine 106 to help the hosts reach 326-8 at the close in Adelaide.

The technology showed a large spike when England called for a review in the 63rd over but the TV pictures showed it coming before the ball had reached the bat.

“I thought there was a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat,” said Carey.

“If I was given out I think I would have reviewed it, probably not confidently. It was a nice sound as it passed the bat.”

There has been debate about ‘Snicko’, the technology used in such situations in Australia, throughout the series after a number of inconclusive incidents.

In the first Test in Perth, England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was given out caught behind on review despite a spike coming after the ball had passed his bat and glove.

That was explained as being because the technology used in Australia has a two-frame gap between the pictures and the sound wave.

Bowling coach David Saker suggested England may escalate this latest incident further with match referee Jeff Crowe.

“I don’t think we’ve done anything about it so far but after today, maybe that might go a bit further,” Saker said.

“There have been concerns about it for the whole series. We shouldn’t be talking about this after a day’s play, it should just be better than that. It is what it is.”

Carey is not new to Ashes controversy. He was the wicketkeeper who famously stumped Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s in the 2023 series, resulting in a febrile final day.

On his reprieve he added: “Snicko obviously didn’t line up. It is just the way cricket goes – sometimes you have a bit of luck.

“Maybe it went my way.”

Carey was also asked if he is a ‘walker’ – the tradition where some batters leave the field without waiting for a decision if they believe they have hit the ball.

He joked “clearly not” in response.

Rescuers save six Palestinians, including two children, in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp after family home collapses.

Courtney Bardell, 25, said the family-of-five faced two-hour waits for rides as well as pushing and shoving in crowds after forking out over £270 to visit London’s Winter Wonderland

A young girl was left in tears after an exhausted Santa “refused her entry” to his Grotto during a “disappointing” visit to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, her mum has claimed.

Mother-of-three Courtney Bardell, 25, claims her children were “upset” following a disastrous outing to the popular London market last Saturday (12). She said the family-of-five endured two-hour queues for rides alongside aggressive jostling in crowds after spending over £270 on travel, attraction passes, and food.

However, the event’s organisers have said that admission to see Father Christmas is paused at ‘peak times’, and that the grotto’s workers also have scheduled breaks.

The stay-at-home mum, who attended with partner Connor, 26, and daughters Harlie-Mae, six, Lucia, four, and Essie, one, insists she won’t be returning to the festive event. Courtney, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, said: “I expected it to be busy but I didn’t expect it to be as busy as it was.”

READ MORE: Beautiful country just three hours from the UK is one of the world’s most mountainousREAD MORE: Man spends £10 on lost bag from the airport and is floored when he opens it

“I expected them (the kids) to see Santa and get a gift from Santa. It was advertised that Santa’s Grotto would be open until 6pm but we got there at about 3pm and the staff said ‘Santa’s had enough’. Harlie-Mae started crying because she wanted to see Santa. You could see through the glass that other children were getting to see him.”

Courtney said that her family arrived at 2pm and were instantly taken aback by the sheer volume of visitors.

She added: “The kids couldn’t even walk without getting pushed over. My six-year-old was asking me after half an hour ‘when are we going home?’. You also get advertised a meal which we assumed would be in a sit-down restaurant but there weren’t enough tables at all, so you’re getting pushed while you’re trying to eat.”

Courtney has since shelled out £35 to take the children to a local grotto after Harlie-Mae labelled her day at Winter Wonderland as “rubbish”.

“We’ll probably just go somewhere local next time”, she added. “It’ll save the disappointment.”

In a statement from Winter Wonderland, a spokesperson said: “Hyde Park Winter Wonderland’s priority is the safety of all our visitors. To manage visitor flow, we operate specific entry times and a ticketing system to help guests enjoy the event comfortably.

“We understand there can be queues during particularly busy periods and work to clear these as quickly as possible. Santa’s Grotto operates with scheduled breaks, and admissions may be paused at peak times.”

Courtney isn’t the only one to be left disappointed by her Winter Wonderland experience this year. A woman who ordered a hot chocolate at the Hyde Park attraction was left floored by the price, and took to TikTok to show how she managed to spend £70 on food and drink during her trip.

READ MORE: England’s most beautiful building is a ‘must visit’ — and it’s not in LondonREAD MORE: Brit Benidorm megafans spend Christmas at all-inclusive with Chinese buffet and bottomless booze

However, there are cheaper alternatives such as Christmas markets in Europe. The cheapest Christmas market in Europe was recently revealed as Poznan in Poland, which is just a two hour flight from the UK. Visitors can book hotel rooms for as little as £30 a night, and pints are about £2 in this underrated city.

Another option closer to home is Newcastle Christmas Market, recently named one of the best in the UK by readers of Which? It was recently praised for having a large number of independent traders, the majority of them being local to Newcastle, and groups can pre-book igloos in the city centre and enjoy food and drink service with somewhere to shelter.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

The Pentagon is continuing to pour assets into the Caribbean to beef up the Trump administration’s military pressure on Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and enhanced drug interdiction operations. As additional aerial refueling tankers arrive in the region, the White House is also reportedly preparing to seize more sanctioned oil tankers to further impact Maduro’s income.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to again explain to lawmakers the details of a Sept. 2 attack on a suspected drug boat that also killed the survivors of an initial strike on the vessel. Three more boats were destroyed yesterday in the Operation Southern Spear campaign that began as a counter-narcotics mission but has morphed into one aimed at Maduro.

New imagery emerged on social media Monday showing that at least four more U..S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers have joined six aerial refuelers that recently arrived at Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, KC-46 Pegasus tankers have been flying sorties out of the U.S. Virgin Islands for months, with a major ramp-up in activity in recent weeks. As we previously noted, forward deploying the tankers reduces the amount of time needed to fly to the region and thus increases time on station and sortie rates.

In addition, an online airplane tracker using the @LatAmMovements X handle said more C-17 Globemaster III heavy cargo jets have arrived in Ecuador with supplies from Erbil, Iraq. The flight was the latest of several from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) region bolstering Southern Spear. CENTCOM declined to comment on that effort.

RCH937 out of MacDill AFB (KMCF) 🇺🇸 en route to Manta (MEC/SEMT) 🇪🇨.

This is the fourth Southern Spear-related cargo flight to Ecuador. This flight is carrying cargo from Erbil, Iraq.

RCH937 | 04-4137 | C-17A | #AE1242 | USAF pic.twitter.com/2ljlQA2UYH

— LatAmMilMovements (@LatAmMilMVMTs) December 16, 2025

The open-source tracker also found that at least nine C-17s have arrived in Puerto Rico from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing, likely carrying supplies and troops ahead of the looming deployment of an unspecified number of F-35A stealth fighters, which we were the first to report. The Vermont National Guard (VNG) declined to offer any details. Low resolution satellite imagery we obtained shows C-17s in Puerto Rico.

RCH234 out of Burlington ANGB (KBTV) 🇺🇸 en route to Roosevelt Roads (RVR/TJRV) 🇵🇷.

This is the ninth cargo flight in support of the 158th FW’s upcoming deployment to PR.

RCH234 | 08-8197 | C-17A | #AE2FA9 | USAF pic.twitter.com/TQVuq7Owe3

— LatAmMilMovements (@LatAmMilMVMTs) December 15, 2025

Low resolution satellite imagery showed C-17s on the ground in Puerto Rico. We also found that , with a major ramp-up in activity in recent weeks.

The new tankers and cargo planes join a growing aerial armada that includes combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft, E/A-18G electronic warfare jets, Marine Corps F-35B and AV-8B Harrier II fighters, MQ-9 Reapers and AC-130 Ghostrider gunships and various helicopters already in the region.

As for the Navy, an official told us Tuesday morning that no new ships have joined the 11 already there, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier.

Beyond equipment, U.S. Southern Command continues to expand its footprint in the region. On Monday, Trinidad and Tobago agreed to allow the U.S. military to use its airports for Southern Spear. That follows an earlier deployment by the U.S. Marine Corps of an AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR), a modern road-mobile multi-purpose AESA radar that can be used for air defense and more general air traffic control purposes.

Amid all these aircraft movements, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a new Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) warning them to “exercize caution” in and around Venezuelan airspace.

“OPERATORS ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN OPERATING IN THE MAIQUETIA FLIGHT INFORMATION REGION (SVZM FIR) AT ALL ALTITUDES DUE TO THE WORSENING SECURITY SITUATION AND HEIGHTENED MILITARY ACTIVITY IN OR AROUND VENEZUELA,” according to the NOTAM. “THREATS COULD POSE A POTENTIAL RISK TO AIRCRAFT AT ALL ALTITUDES, INCLUDING DURING OVERFLIGHT, THE ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE PHASES OF FLIGHT, AND/OR AIRPORTS AND AIRCRAFT ON THE GROUND.”

That move came after a Jet Blue airliner had a close encounter with a U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tanker near Venezuela on Friday. The FAA issued a similar NOTAM last month.

ATC audio of US Military aircraft operating DUE REGARD over the Caribbean Sea, this JetBlue pilot sounds pissed but what are they going to do about? 😎 https://t.co/Eq5yCmeEHy

— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) December 14, 2025

On the economic front, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to take control of more oil tanker ships in the wake of the seizure of the M/T/ Skipper last week. The goal is to deprive Maduro of revenues gained from oil sales.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

There are upwards of 18 sanctioned oil-laden ships in Venezuela’s waters now, Axios reported. “Eight are classified as ‘Very Large Cargo Container ships’ like Skipper, which can carry nearly 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of the firm Tanker Trackers that monitors global shipping.”

So far, Trump has opted against moving into Venezuelan waters to seize any of these vessels, but that could soon change, Axios noted.

“We have to wait for them to move. They’re sitting at the dock. Once they move, we’ll go to court, get a warrant and then get them,” a Trump adviser told Axios. “But if they make us wait too long, we might get a warrant to get them” in Venezuelan waters.

While the Trump administration continues to insist that Southern Spear is directed at stemming the flow of drugs into the U.S., The New York Times on Tuesday suggested Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and competition from China are the real motivating factors.

“Venezuela and its oil lie at the nexus of two of Mr. Trump’s stated national security priorities: dominance of energy resources and control of the Western Hemisphere,” the newspaper noted. “Venezuela has about 17 percent of the world’s known oil reserves, or more than 300 billion barrels, nearly four times the amount in the United States. And no nation has a bigger foothold in Venezuela’s oil industry than China, the superpower whose immense trade presence in the Western Hemisphere the Trump administration aims to curb.”

In its recently published China’s Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, Beijing repeated its stance that it has a valid economic stake in the region and does not want to have its access cut off.

Today I had the chance to read #China’s Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, released just a few days ago.

It is the first update to this document in 9 years and it came immediately after the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine was released. I think the timing… pic.twitter.com/2fA0Atlw00

— Imdat Oner (@imdat_oner) December 15, 2025

Against this backdrop, Hegseth and Rubio provided closed-door briefings to the Senate (SASC) and House Armed Services Committees (HASC) about the Sept. 2 boat strike. It was the first of nearly two dozen such attacks that have so far killed almost 90 people. These attacks – and especially the follow-up one on Sept. 2 that killed survivors – have been strongly condemned by various parties.

Hegseth promised to provide the committees with full versions of the video feed from that attack. Only snippets have been publicly released so far.

The full video of that attack will remain classified and won’t be shown to the public, Hegseth proclaimed. He also justified the boat attack campaign.

Southern Spear has been “a highly successful mission to counter designated terrorist organizations, cartels, bringing weapons – meaning drugs – to the American people and poison the American people for far too long,” Hegseth told reporters gathered at the Capitol. “So we’re proud of what we’re doing…”

Senators received a classified briefing from Secretary Marco Rubio and Secretary Pete Hegseth on the ongoing operations in the Caribbean today, but left without seeing the highly requested unedited video of the Sept. 2 boat strikes, senators said. https://t.co/ezRFeAMfn4 pic.twitter.com/ga3uHgaP8M

— ABC News (@ABC) December 16, 2025

Hegseth’s comments came a day after Trump issued an executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, a move that could possibly widen the administration’s ability to take action against Maduro, who has a $50 million bounty on his head as a fugitive wanted on U.S. drug charges. However, while Trump and his aides have insisted Southern Spear is aimed mainly at stopping drug trafficking, “Venezuela is not a drug producer, and narcotics smuggled through the country mostly go to Europe,” The New York Times noted.

In a somewhat surprising exchange, Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, suggested getting rid of Maduro may be the real reason Trump is expending so many resources and so much political capital in the Caribbean.

“Over lunch, Wiles told me about Trump’s Venezuela strategy,” Vanity Fair reporter Chris Whipple wrote Tuesday in the second part of an exclusive interview with one of Trump’s closest advisors. Wiles told the magazine that “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” The story continued, stating “Wiles’s statement appears to contradict the administration’s official stance that blowing up boats is about drug interdiction, not regime change.”

“Over lunch, Wiles told me about Trump’s Venezuela strategy: “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” (Wiles’s statement appears to contradict the administration’s official stance that blowing up…

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 16, 2025

Trump’s true motivations and how he will act on them remain unknown. On Friday, he repeated his refrain that he may soon order strikes against drug traffickers on land in addition to those at sea. Meanwhile, some 15,000 U.S. troops who have surged to the region continue to wait for orders.

Update: 7:49 PM Eastern –

In a post on Truth Social, Trump offered the clearest indication of his motives and terms for the Caribbean build-up and how Venezuela’s oil reserves play a role.

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us,” Trump wrote. “The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping. For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.”

Trump also ordered  “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela, however, he did not provide details of how that will work. We reached out to the White House for more information.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Melissa Barrera is no stranger to a certain type of espionage. Dangerous missions. Sometimes starting in the dark of night. One particular covert operation she regularly took part in is one many daughters have had to take with their resolute mothers — Black Friday shopping.

She recalls crossing the border from her hometown in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in the wee hours of the morning to McAllen or Brownsville in Texas to score primo deals at the big-box stores.

“It felt like a treasure hunt for me,” she recalled. “In my mind, it was like a mission, getting the things that we had to get. I like challenges and being given instructions. That was very satisfying for my personality type.”

That experience prepared the Mexican actor for her role as a spy juggling secret identities in Peacock’s “The Copenhagen Test,” premiering Dec. 27. The espionage thriller stars Simu Liu as an intelligence analyst whose brain has been hacked, putting his thoughts and memories in the hands of unknown perpetrators. Barrera co-stars as Michelle, a spy tangled in the web of deceit.

“It was a challenge. I’d never done anything like this before, in the sense that you really don’t know who Michelle is,” said the actor, who chatted over Zoom from Barcelona where she’s filming another thriller, “Black Tides.”

“It was also confusing for me as an actor, because we didn’t have all the scripts at the beginning, so I had made up who I thought Michelle was — and then I would get more scripts and I was like, ‘Well, that goes out the window.’ It was a constant construction.”

Those Black Friday missions weren’t the only ways in which Barrera was innately prepared for the role. Growing up, she devoured the Jennifer Garner spy series “Alias.” She spent hours as a teen watching and rewatching episodes on DVD. It was Garner’s ass-kicking turn as Sydney Bristow, and her many stealthy alter egos, that planted a seed in Barrera.

“I was obsessed with that show,” she says. “As a young teenager, I was like, ‘I want to be a spy.’ I would research online: ‘How do you get recruited as a spy?’ That’s how obsessed I was.”

She longed for intrigue, for covert operations, for wigs. Not just the kind of spy business that equates to elbowing señoras at Best Buy for a deeply discounted TV. And then came “The Copenhagen Test.”

“I just thought that it was so fun, the role playing within the role playing that happens,” she said. “I read the scripts, and they were really good. And I got to be a spy. I was like, this is a no-brainer for me. I’ve been asking for this since I was 12, so it was a dream come true for young me.”

From “Episode 101” of “The Copenhagen Test”: Melissa Barrera as Michelle and Simu Liu as Alexander.

A spy series is just the latest in a long wishlist of roles for Barrera, who got to flex her dramatic side in “Vida,” her vocal and dance prowess in the musical “In the Heights,” and dive into scream queen territory in “Scream V” and “Scream VI.”

“I think it’s valuable for Latinos onscreen to bring in some of their background when it fits, and when it doesn’t, there’s no need to push it — I’m representing Latinos just by being there,” said Barrera, with a nod to ongoing discussions surrounding Latino inclusion in Hollywood. “[Yet] I’ve always wanted to explore all parts of myself. I’ve always wanted to try different things. I think it’s been happening, because I do believe that whatever you put out into the universe comes to you.”

It’s not just dream acting roles that Barrera puts out into the universe, hoping it produces something good. The 35-year-old is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, wearing her beliefs quite literally on her chest — during our call she sports a hoodie with the phrase “words not actions” in the shape of a watermelon, a symbol of perseverance and resistance for Palestinian people. She’s never shied away from using her voice, in particular for this specific human rights issue, and it’s come with its consequences.

Two years ago, Barrera was fired from the forthcoming installment of the Scream franchise, “Scream VII,” as well as dropped from her agency for posts she shared and wrote on social media calling Israel’s attacks on Gaza acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” read one of her Instagram stories in following the events of Oct. 7. “Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt [sic] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

Her firing drew widespread attention and critical discussion over what was viewed by many as the latest form of Hollywood blacklisting. Last year, Barrera spoke to De Los about the backlash, saying, “It wasn’t easy to be labeled as something so horrible when I knew that wasn’t the case. But I was always at peace because I knew I had done nothing wrong. I was aligned with human rights organizations globally, and so many experts and scholars and historians and, most importantly, Indigenous peoples around the world.”

Over a year later, her stance hasn’t changed. In fact, that period changed everything for Barrera.

“I’ve always had that inner inquietude, that kind of yearning for equality and for justice and for eliminating any kind of prejudices and racism and colorism, which is very prevalent in Mexico,” she explained. “But I honestly think it was Palestine that did it for me, that crumbled everything for me. After that, it’s been a before and after in my way of thinking and my way of viewing the world; in my way of viewing the industry and the way that I want to move forward.”

As Barrera moves forward, using her platform to speak up for injustice is inextricable from her sense of self and her place in Hollywood. What she brings to the screen is her full self, regardless of the role; to play a spy, or a scream queen, or any other character takes knowing who you are and what you stand for. Now, more than ever, Barrera is firmly grounded and ready for action.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
TUESDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS
CITY SECTION
Downtown Magnets 103, Aspire Ollin 12
Sotomayor 67, Maywood CES 28
Stern 35, Rise Kohyang 33
Triumph Charter 68, LA Wilson 51
University Prep Value 66, Animo Venice 52
WISH Academy 79, Alliance Ted Tajima 16

SOUTHERN SECTION
AGBU 63, Newbury Park 51
Arcadia 82, Glendale 34
Baldwin Park 57, Pomona 23
Banning 90, Bethel Christian 26
Big Bear 89, University Prep 45
Calvary Baptist 58, Diamond Bar 57
Chino Hills 78, CSDR 31
Citrus Hill 76, San Gorgonio 30
Corona 58, Granite Hills 17
Crescenta Valley 73, Burbank Burroughs 43
Desert Chapel 69, Weaver 34
Desert Christian Academy 56, Nuview Bridge 19
Eastvale Roosevelt 53, Hesperia 52
Eisenhower 67, Bloomington 52
El Rancho 55, Sierra Vista 52
Elsinore 72, Tahquitz 36
Estancia 68, Lynwood 30
Entrepreneur 72, Crossroads Christian 41
Harvard-Westlake 86, Punahou 42
Hesperia Christian 59, AAE 39
La Palma Kennedy 41, Norwalk 34
Loara 67, Katella 41
Long Beach Cabrillo 74, Lakewood 55
Long Beach Wilson 75, Compton 64
NSLA 52, Cornerstone Christian 33
Oxford Academy 66, CAMS 42
Public Safety 54, Grove School 41
Rancho Alamitos 58, Century 28
Redlands 52, Sultana 51
Rio Hondo Prep 68, United Christian Academy 24
Riverside Notre Dame 55, Kaiser 50
San Bernardino 94, Norco 80
Shadow Hills 60, Yucaipa 52
Summit Leadership Academy 71, PAL Academy 9
Temecula Prep 77, San Jacinto Leadership Academy 43
Temescal Canyon 68, West Valley 52
Tesoro 57, Aliso Niguel 53
Valley Christian Academy 57, San Luis Obispo Classical 27
Viewpoint 74, Firebaugh 39
Villa Park 60, Brea Olinda 49
Webb 64, Santa Ana Valley 36
Western 61, El Modena 34
Westminster La Quinta 53, Santa Ana 39
YULA 61, San Diego Jewish Academy 26

INTERSECTIONAL
Brawley 66, Indio 46
Cathedral 60, Bravo 49
Los Alamitos 73, Torrey Pines 53
Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 53, Huntington Park 30
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 65, LA Marshall 59
USC Hybrid 63, Legacy College Prep 13

GIRLS
CITY SECTION
Aspire Ollin 57, Downtown Magnets 12
Lakeview Charter 70, Valor Academy 10
Stern 34, Rise Kohyang 6
Washington 34, Crenshaw 33

SOUTHERN SECTION
Bolsa Grande 21, Capistrano Valley 26
Buena 62, Santa Barbara 20
California Military Institute 29, Santa Rosa Academy 12
Carter 65, Sultana 39
Cate 43, Laguna Blanca 29
Coastal Christian 45, Santa Maria 32
Colton 41, Arroyo Valley 26
Crescenta Valley 55, Burbank Burroughs 47
CSDR 45, Norte Vista 21
Desert Christian Academy 89, Nuview Bridge 23
El Dorado 63, Placentia Valencia 20
El Rancho 40, Diamond Ranch 33
Elsinore 34, Tahquitz 20
Foothill Tech 37, Thacher 22
Garden Grove 46, Orange 32
Grove School 30, Public Safety 14
Harvard-Westlake 48, Campbell Hall 37
Hesperia Christian 51, AAE 21
Hillcrest 53, La Sierra 8
Kaiser 52, Pomona 0
Laguna Beach 52, Dana Hills 33
Long Beach Wilson 70, Compton 32
Lucerne Valley 44, Lakeview Leadership Academy 7
Marlborough 65, Alemany 43
Mayfair 34, Chadwick 32
Monrovia 36, Mayfield 20
North Torrance 59, Palos Verdes 57
Oak Hills 58, Beaumont 32
OCCA 31, Liberty Christian 16
Oxford Academy 50, Western 34
Oxnard 46, San Marcos 30
Redlands 61, Jurupa Hills 39
Rialto 86, Apple Valley 27
Ridgecrest Burroughs 68, Barstow 38
Santa Ana Valley 64, Glenn 6
Shadow Hills 55, Palm Springs 14
Silver Valley 45, Riverside Prep 22
Temecula Prep 45, San Jacinto Leadership Academy 43
Temescal Canyon 85, West Valley 17
University Prep 47, Big Bear 31
Viewpoint 60, Agoura 45
Vistamar 33, Wildwood 14
YULA 51, Milken 50

INTERSECTIONAL
Birmingham 55, Heritage Christian 44
Desert Mirage 46, Borrego Springs 19
SEED: LA 44, Animo Leadership 7
Sun Valley Poly 65, Westridge 9
USC Hybrid 45, Legacy College Prep 4
Whittier 52, Garfield 46

Fans of English novelist Jane Austen have been celebrating the anniversary of her birth 250 years ago. Al Jazeera’s Charlie Angela has been to Austen’s former home in southern England.

Jake and his team are hoping for a lot of things. Hoping AJ is underestimating him, hoping AJ is shot, hoping AJ’s inactivity will cost him, hoping AJ is low in confidence, hoping AJ’s chin isn’t what it once was.

But, unfortunately for them, AJ is super switched on. He’s had a camp and he’s training like he’s fighting Oleksandr Usyk or in a Daniel Dubois rematch.

I expect my fighter to win inside two rounds with a devastating knockout.

He could hit Jake to the body and he would break his ribs and he wouldn’t be able to get up.

If he hits him clean, he will knock him spark out. Or the referee could jump in.

We don’t know how it could play out but with the way AJ punches – with the speed and destruction – as soon as Jake is hit on the chin, the fight is over.

Then we go back to AJ’s two goals he wants to achieve in the time he has left in this sport – to fight Fury and to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.

Eddie Hearn was speaking to BBC Sport’s Kal Sajad.

Dec. 16 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s People Power Party said Tuesday its number of dues-paying members is nearing 1 million, arguing the growth reflects a strengthening of the opposition since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office.

Secretary-General Jeong Hee-yong said at a parliamentary strategy meeting at the National Assembly that, as of December, the party had 963,231 dues-paying members, which he described as the highest level since membership statistics were first compiled.

Jeong said the party had 744,354 dues-paying members in late November last year. That figure fell to 711,528 in April, then rose to 751,030 by Aug. 26, when the party held its national convention. Since then, Jeong said dues-paying membership has increased by 212,201 compared with the convention period.

Jeong said the leadership does not view the increase as a typical election-season boost. He said the number of “responsible members” – defined as members who have paid dues for more than three months – also rose by 53,995 compared with the convention period. He called the scale of the increase unprecedented.

Jeong said public demand to push back against the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party is being reflected in higher party membership. He said the participation and solidarity of members shows expectations for the People Power Party to mount a stronger opposition.

He added that the party aims to build a more active organization with its members, win the next local elections and position itself as an alternative party focused on people’s livelihoods.

– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

The top of the tower had disappeared in the mist, but its bells rang clear and true, tolling beyond the abbey gates, over the slopes of frost-fringed trees, down to the town in the valley below. Final call for morning mass. I took a seat at the back of the modern church, built when the Abbey of Saint Maurice and Saint Maurus relocated to this hill in Clervaux, north Luxembourg, in 1910. Then the monks swept in – and swept away 1,000 years. Sung in Latin, their Gregorian chants filled the nave: simple, calming, timeless. I’m not religious and didn’t understand a word, but also, in a way, understood it completely.

Although mass is held here at 10am daily, year-round, the monks’ ethereal incantations seemed to perfectly suit the season. I left the church, picked up a waymarked hiking trail and walked deeper into the forest – and the mood remained. There was no one else around, no wind to dislodge the last, clinging beech leaves or sway the soaring spruce. A jay screeched, and plumes of hair ice feathered fallen logs. As in the church, all was stillness, a little magic.

I’d come to Luxembourg by train, with the notion of finding a frozen fairytale. This tiny grand duchy, about the size of Dorset, has a ridiculous number of castles – as many as 130 (depending on your definition). It’s the legacy of being sited at the heart of western Europe, suffering centuries of incursions. Some of these castles have been restored for visitors; some are places you can stay at (with lower rates off-season). Add in rimy forests, chanting monks and the fact all public transport is free – maybe the most magical thing of all – and my hopes Luxembourg would make an atmospheric winter break were being fulfilled.

My walk ended at Clervaux Castle. It dates from the 12th century, but was destroyed during the second world war’s desperate Battle of the Bulge, which played out in these cold forests in December 1944. The castle has since been rebuilt and now houses the 1950s Unesco-listed photo exhibition The Family of Man. It was almost empty as I moved between the 503 images, taken by the most prestigious photographers of the age, depicting normal people in all life stages, the ordinary rendered extraordinary. There are no captions or locations; each photograph is its own whole story, containing multitudes. It was incredibly uplifting.

You can’t spend the night at Clervaux Castle, but 10 minutes away by (free!) bus is Chateau d’Urspelt, where you can stay. When I arrived, this castle looked Disney-cute, fairy lights dripping from its white-washed turrets. Eighty years ago, it was quite different. The US 1st Battalion 110th Infantry had its HQ here in December 1944, before being overwhelmed by German forces. After the war, Urspelt fell further into ruin, until 2005, when a local entrepreneur decided to restore it and turn it into a smart hotel. I skipped the snazzy spa, and the ice rink sparkling in the courtyard, but relished a fruity Luxembourgish pinot noir in the low-lit bar, which hides like a speakeasy in the castle’s historic cellars.

One of the country’s most impressive castles is Vianden (less than an hour from Clervaux via a free bus), a beast of a bastion, lording over the River Our, on the German border. It was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries on Roman foundations, altered multiple times, left to rot, then, from the 1970s, painstakingly restored to its medieval pomp. On a pallid winter’s day, it was crowd-free. I rattled around its vast state rooms and marvelled at the layered history visible in the visitor centre, which is built around past excavations.

It’s not just the castle that gives Vianden its fairytale feel. There’s the winding river, the tight-pressed wooded hills and the village itself, with its remnants of 13th-century walls and pretty, cobbled main street. I opted to escape reality entirely in the Ancien Cinéma cafe, a former movie theatre where you can grab a coffee, sit on a couch and watch whatever’s on the big screen, surrounded by film paraphernalia.

My final stop was a castle unlike any other. Chateau de Clémency, close to the Belgian border, is a five-room guesthouse and the 2025 winner of Luxembourg Tourism’s Best Host award. Dating back to 1635, it was only ever a small residential retreat, with no military function. When Pascal Zimmer – former judoka, self-taught tailor and architect, and restorer of historic buildings – bought it 20 years ago, it was a proper mess, in need of either demolition or renovation. He saw the property’s true value and he liked the staircase – “You could say I spent €400,000 on some stairs …” he confessed, pointing out the stone pleasingly worn by 400 years of footfall.

“When you think about castles, you think of Windsor or Versailles. But this is a Luxembourgish castle, not so expansive, not so well done; you can’t restore it in the same way.”

So, to that end, Clémency is Pascal’s own artistic vision. Each room has a different theme, from belle époque “Peggy’s” to the “Roaring 20s”. “Tribute” pays homage to the local steel industry on which Luxembourg’s wealth is built. “My father was a miner,” Pascal said. “He was a humble guy; he’d say all he wanted was a small, clean room. This is a small, clean room.” A patchwork blanket covers the bed, while the bathroom is black polished concrete, a nod to life underground. I stayed in “Sherlock”, a Holmesian fantasy suite; the lounge was a steam-punkish curiosity shop of moody portraits, scientific implements and stuffed cats.

There isn’t much to do in the town of Clémency itself, although that hardly mattered. It was only 40 minutes by public transport (did I mention: all free!) into Luxembourg City, a capital perched on a precipitous rock, like something from a storybook. It was a shorter hop to Bascharage, where I got cosy in D’Braustuff, a gemütlich brewery-brassiere serving Luxembourgish classics – I tucked into a hearty wäinzoossiss (traditional sausage). But when darkness fell, I was also content to stay in my castle with a book – the shelves were full of Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle – and enjoy an alternative winter’s tale.

The trip was provided by Luxembourg tourism board and Byway, which can arrange bespoke itineraries including Eurostar tickets, Interrail passes and accommodation. Château de Clémency has doubles from €99. Château d’Urspelt has doubles from €174