The first tranche of these – 1,000 of them – were meant to be created this summer. But the government has now withdrawn those after the BMA announced it was taking strike action. It comes after 30,000 applicants applied for 10,000 jobs last summer, although some of these were foreign doctors.

Strictly Come Dancing star Carlos Gu opened up about his time on the show and whether he plans to return, following the recent exits of several of his co-stars

Carlos Gu has opened up about his future on Strictly Come Dancing amid a shake-up to the line-up. Since joining the show in 2022, the professional dancer has performed with three celebrity partners; Molly Rainford, Angela Scanlon and Karen Carney, who he lifted the Glitterball trophy with last year.

Reflecting on his transition from the competitive dance industry to television, he claimed it was “a completely different world” to what he’s been used to for the last 20 years.

Before Strictly, Carlos competed professional with Susan Sun, winning multiple competitions as a well-known duo.

Discussing the industry, the 33-year-old described it as “very challenging and hard”, but also “unstable” as he shed light on the realities of being a dancer.

“It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how good you are, you are the one always being judged and being chosen, your results are always unstable. You never know, today might be good but tomorrow might not,” he explained.

“We worked so hard for 20 years and we made our way there and everybody knows us, we come out, everyone knows Carlos and Susan.”

Reflecting on himself joining Strictly and not being given a celebrity partner in his first year, he added: “Then joining Strictly and not being given a partner made me realise I’m going back again to being chosen, because to have a partner or to not have a partner is out of my control, it doesn’t base on how good I am or how hard I am working, it’s not, it’s purely out of your control.

“I never worked in the TV world, it’s a completely different world,” he added.

Asked by Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast about his future on the show, Carlos admitted he was yet to know if he will be returning.

Addressing the news of some of his co-stars leaving the show, he said: “I know we’ve heard, we’ve all seen the news but nothing confirmed by the BBC yet, so we’re waiting. I think they’re going to make the final announcement for all the cast.

“But like I said, being in a position not knowing if you’re going to stay or not is scary. We work so hard in our lives, but those things are out of your hands.”

So far, Luba Mushtuk, Karen Hauer, Michelle Tsiakkas, Nadiya Bychkova have been given the boot from the show. Karen was the longest-standing female professional, who was a part of the show for 14 years.

In a statement announcing her exit, she told fans it was “the right time to close this chapter and take on new projects in other areas I’m passionate about”.

This comes after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped away from their hosting duties after 11 years together on the main show.

Former England captain Courtney Lawes says he is “officially unretiring from international duty” after signing for Sale Sharks for the 2026-27 season.

The 37-year-old second row won three Six Nations championships and played in the 2019 World Cup final during a glittering 14-year England career before retiring from internationals after the 2023 tournament.

Lawes spent his club career with Northampton Saints, winning two Prem titles, before joining French side Brive in 2024.

“I’m officially un-retiring from international duty and I’d love to play for England again but first and foremost I want to play well for Sale and we’ll see what happens after that,” he told Sale’s website, external.

ANOTHER airline is cracking down on passengers travelling with a certain travel item.

Singapore Airlines – often named one of the world’s best – has confirmed that new rules are being rolled out this month regarding the use of power banks onboard.

From April 15, travellers will only be allowed to pack two power banks in their hand luggage.

Anyone with more than two will have to surrender any other portable chargers before being able to board.

Not only that, but they must not be used onboard to charge any devices.

This follows on from previous rules that don’t allow the power banks to be charged using the onboard USB ports either.

TAKING OFF

Major airline slashes fares by 50% as Middle East conflict sparks price war

GROUNDED

UK airline cancels all London domestic flights due to ongoing fuel crisis

The USB ports must only be used to charge items like mobile phones and tablets, not power banks.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) explained: “Power banks must also not be charged on board the aircraft and passengers are advised not to use power banks to charge their devices during the flight.

“ICAO’s new requirement of a maximum of two power banks per passenger and restrictions on the charging and use of power banks on board flights seek to reduce the risk of fire while catering for passengers’ travelling needs.

“In consultation with the airlines, CAAS will provide some time for the airlines to do so and for passengers to familiarise themselves and have the requirements take effect only from 15 April 2026.”

A number of airlines around the world have been cracking down on power banks being taken onboard.

One of the strict airlines is Air Busan, who has banned passengers from even taking them onboard.

This is because of an airline fire back in January 2025 which saw a plane decommissioned due to the damage caused by the power bank setting alight.

Airlines such as Emirates followed suit, with passengers only allowed to carry one power bank onboard and it must be under 100Wh.

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have similar rules as well, and ban the power banks being used onboard.

And airlines across Japan, Thailand, China and Australia are also affected by the power bank crackdown.

UK airlines are yet to follow these rules, with British Airways and Ryanair yet to introduce any similar bans.

All airlines still ban power banks being in any checked luggage – they must be in bags that go into the cabin.

Israeli forces raided the Muslim Youth Association in Hebron, firing tear gas at Palestinians and shutting down the group’s headquarters. Troops confiscated and destroyed equipment during the raid.

A US-Israeli strike has caused extensive damage to a synagogue in Tehran, according to a video published by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency. Footage shows civil defence workers amid the rubble, with Hebrew-language books scattered on the ground.

Giles Wood and Mary Killen have become staples on screens thanks to their Gogglebox stint – but away from the show the couple have faced their fair share of hardships

Gogglebox’s Giles Wood and Mary Killen have become telly legends thanks to their stint on the Channel 4 show – but what do we know about their real lives?

The married couple joined the long-running Channel 4 programme back in 2015. And it didn’t take them long to become firm favourites with viewers.

Over the years, Giles and Mary – who live in Wiltshire – have had fans in stitches thanks to their witty banter and one-liners and comical takes on the telly highlights.

Away from the show though, both Giles and Mary have faced their fair share of hardships in their marriage, including a terrifying health scare. Here, we’re taking a look inside the couple’s lives.

Giles and Mary’s romance

Giles and Mary’s romance dates back decades, after meeting each other for the first time when they were just 21 years old. When they crossed paths, Giles was at Wimbledon Art School and Mary was a model.

The pair have been married for over 30 years, most of which time they have spent living at their cottage in Wiltshire.

Giles and Mary are also known for referring to each other with the nickname ‘nutty’ on the series. Mary has previously revealed that the nickname is in reference to The Nutty Professor cartoon strip.

She said: “We call each other ‘nutty’ because we both consider the other to be a bit mad. Certainly Giles has multiple personality disorder so he’s all sorts of people and one of them is a bit of a genius.”

Giles and Mary’s rarely-seen daughters

Giles and Mary also have two grown-up daughters together, who don’t feature on the show, although one was reportedly due to appear alongside Giles before deciding against the idea.

Little is known about Mary and Giles’ daughters however Mary once did give an insight into family life. Speaking to The Guardian about banning swearing in their house, Mary explained: “There’s so much on telly, I don’t want it in my own cottage. Giles swears occasionally because he’s always having minor accidents. Our children turn on him and tell him off. Poor Giles.”

Meanwhile, in 2021, Giles and Mary gave a rare look at their daughters after the couple posted a throwback photo of the family. In the picture, Mary and Giles could be seen holding their girls who wore a white shirt with their blonde hair styled in pigtails.

Gogglebox ‘saved’ Giles and Mary’s marriage

Despite appearing very close on the show, Giles and Mary have admitted to facing challenges in their relationship but credit the Channel 4 programme with bringing them closer together.

Giles recounted how their routine changed dramatically due to the show. He told MailOnline: “Working together on Gogglebox – watching telly at the same time – meant Mary and I suddenly no longer lived like two intimate strangers.

“Mary working from 6am till 8pm, then falling asleep slightly drunk at 9pm; me gardening from 1pm till 3.30pm, when I have lunch, and then going to bed at two in the morning after watching vintage horror films. It has definitely saved our marriage.”

Mary on the ‘closest she’s come to death’

In 2018, Mary revealed her near-death experience after contracting Legionnaires’ disease. Speaking to the Guardian, Mary said: “The closest I’ve come to death was contracting Legionnaires’ disease in 1999.

“I caught it from air conditioning in the Bahamas and developed something called Beau’s lines: white ridges across the fingernails which are a sign that your body’s shutting down for death.”

Coming out of the ordeal battered but alive, she confessed: “It knocked the stuffing out of me. I’ve never been quite the same since.”

Mary’s health ordeal

Years later though, Mary was struck by a severe bout of campylobacter food poisoning which she suspects came from “grubby” homegrown vegetables.

While on antibiotics during her treatment, Mary found herself unable to drink alcohol. She recalled: “Immediately afterward, I found I couldn’t face alcohol. I remember going to a house party on the Isle of Mull a short time later. All sorts of wonderful wines were being served and I couldn’t touch any of them.”

Surprisingly, the sudden aversion reminded her of pregnancy : “It made me recoil,” she explained to MailOnline. The condition she suffered from, campylobacteriosis, is an infection from bacteria commonly found in tainted food and water, and can lead to symptoms such as diarrhoea, cramps, and fever.

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.

To continue their upward trajectory, Bemand, who has signed a new deal to stay with Ireland until the conclusion of the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup, has freshened up his squad and opted for a change of captain.

There are nine uncapped players in the 36-strong panel while winger Amee-Leigh Costigan, who captained the side throughout last year’s championship, and former co-captain Edel McMahon, are out.

The armband has been passed to returning back row Erin King, who Bemand believes is the ideal candidate to lead the green wave into a new cycle.

He said: “Erin embodies the Ireland player of the future of how she attacks training and how she is – honest, driven and a resilient player.”

The 22-year-old recently returned from the serious knee injury which forced her to miss last year’s World Cup and is relishing her new role.

King believes Ireland must target being competitive in both games against the top two and it is not an unrealistic goal.

They were well in the game at half-time in Cork last year when they trailed 7-5, only for England to blow them away in the second half to win 49-5.

At the World Cup in the summer, Ireland led 13-0 at the break before France came back with 18 unanswered points to progress to the last four.

“We know we are bridging the gap to the top two teams – France and England. They’ve been professional for a lot longer than us but the last few years of our professionalism is paying off now,” she said.

“Last year we held it to England for a good while so it would be great if we could compete for the full 80 [minutes] against them and get to get one up on France, we can definitely compete with them.

“With the squad we have, we can do things we’ve never done before. We just want to get going.”

Arrest comes after Roberts-Smith lost case against journalists who said he was involved in murders of unarmed Afghan men.

Former Australian special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested at Sydney airport and is expected to face charges for alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The 47-year-old was expected to appear in a court in New South Wales later on Tuesday over five counts of the war crime of murder, related to unarmed Afghan nationals who “were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder”, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday, according to the ABC.

Barrett said the charges followed a “complex” investigation by the AFP news agency and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) dating back to 2021.

The arrest comes after Roberts-Smith lost defamation proceedings he brought against journalists who had reported he was “complicit in and responsible for the murder” of three Afghan men.

An Australian judge found in 2023 that those journalists had not defamed Roberts-Smith, a ruling that was upheld by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in May last year.

Rawan Arraf, the executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, said the arrest was a “significant and long-awaited step for victims and affected communities” in Afghanistan, where Roberts-Smith was deployed multiple times.

“The proper investigation and prosecution of alleged war crimes by members of the Australian special forces in Afghanistan are essential to ensuring justice for Afghan victims and to Australia meeting its obligations under international law,” Arraf said in a statement.

About 39,000 Australian soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan as part of the United States and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other armed groups over two decades.

Roberts-Smith’s case has drawn considerable scrutiny in Australia, including because prior to the charges, he had received the Victoria Cross medal for his fifth tour of Afghanistan, and was reportedly the most-decorated living Australian war veteran.

Meanwhile, former Australian army lawyer David McBride remains imprisoned in Australia over his role in revealing information about alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.

Australian Senator David Shoebridge responded to the news of Roberts-Smith’s arrest by saying “Release David McBride” in a short post on X.

An advanced imaging infrared seeker from a U.S.-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile interceptor looks to have been recovered largely intact in Syria. This could be a major intelligence loss that may allow adversaries to gain valuable insights into the capabilities of THAAD, which is being very heavily employed in the current conflict with Iran. THAAD has also been an important player in blunting previous Iranian missile barrages against Israel, and is a key component of the U.S. military’s global missile defense architecture.

A video, seen below, began circulating on social media earlier today showing the THAAD seeker, as well as other portions of the interceptor, on the ground. The clip is said to have been shot in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Suwayda in the southwestern corner of the country, though TWZ cannot immediately verify this independently. However, Suwayda is some 25 miles north of the border with Jordan and around 55 miles to the east of Israel’s internationally recognized boundaries. The U.S. military is currently reported to have THAAD batteries in Israel and Jordan.

As its name indicates, THAAD is designed to intercept short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight. Depending on a variety of factors, including the physical position of the launcher relative to the threat, the system can attempt intercepts against targets just as they begin their descent into Earth’s atmosphere.

THAAD cues its interceptors before their launch, either using its own powerful AN/TPY-2 radar or via data from offboard sensors through the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication (C2BMC) network.

After launch, the so-called “kill vehicle” at the front end detaches from the rocket booster at the rear. A shroud at the front, which covers the seeker and the rest of the kill vehicle, also breaks away. That shroud is also seen on the ground in the newly emerged video.

Freed from the shroud, the kill vehicle uses its conformal infrared seeker to find and home in on the target missile. In general, imaging infrared has the benefit of being a passive guidance method that is immune to radiofrequency countermeasures, such as jamming or decoys designed to mimic the radar signature of a real threat.

THAAD’s interceptors are hit-to-kill types that are designed to destroy their targets through sheer force of impact. As such, the kill vehicles do not contain any kind of explosive warhead. Each one does have several small rocket motors that help it precisely maneuver into position to slam into the incoming missile. These are collectively known as the Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS).

“The unique DACS provides two kinds of propulsion: one for attitude control and another for kill-vehicle maneuvering. The DACS uses six thrusters to provide roll, pitch, and yaw control for the interceptor,” according to L3Harris, which supplies this component of the interceptor. “These thrusters work together to precisely stabilize the interceptor-seeker field of view for proper target visibility. The seeker’s target data are then converted into maneuvering or divert commands that actuate the other four DACS thrusters as required. The four divert thrusters provide short, forceful pulses to quickly and accurately position the THAAD kill vehicle for target intercept.”

In the video, the entire kill vehicle is intact enough that the ports for some of these rockets are plainly visible.

The fact that the kill vehicle and shroud were recovered on the ground so close together and in relatively good condition points to a failure of some kind, but the exact circumstances remain unknown. What has since happened to the debris is also not known.

Gaining access to a THAAD interceptor seeker, as well as the rest of the kill vehicle, would give an adversary new insights into its performance envelope and other capabilities. That information could then be used in the development of new countermeasures, as well as tactics, techniques, and procedures to reduce the interceptor’s effectiveness. This would be on top of what Iran, as well as countries like Russia and China, have already been gleaning just from observing THAAD’s performance in the current conflict, as well as prior engagements.

Deep intelligence exploitation of the physical design of the seeker and the kill vehicle, as well as the materials used to make them, could be beneficial for supporting other developments, as well. The kill vehicle and the systems within have to survive the stresses of traveling at hypersonic speeds, typically defined as anything above Mach 5, as it screams toward its target. Adversaries like China could leverage this information to improve their own anti-ballistic missile capabilities or attempt to clone THAAD more directly.

Employing highly advanced weaponry of any kind always carries at least a degree of risk of intelligence loss. Even just in the course of normal operations, the most reliable systems can still fail and fall into the wrong hands. This is not the first time TWZ has called attention to this reality, including in regard to the recovery of sensitive components of surface-to-air interceptors. The U.S. government, as well as China, Russia, and many other countries, have extensive foreign materiel exploitation programs poised to seize on any opportunity to acquire weapon systems and other equipment for extensive analysis, testing, and even reverse engineering.

Though we do not know what happened to the THAAD seeker and the rest of the kill vehicle seen in the video, this may not be the last time we see such debris in Syria or elsewhere in the region, given how extensively these interceptors are being used as Iranian ballistic missile attacks continue.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Gemma Collins says she will prove she is ‘strong woman’ in I’m A Celebrity camp second time around.

Former TOWIE star Gemma Collins has insisted she is committed to I’m A Celebrity second time around.

The reality TV star lasted just 72 hours first time around before quitting in 2014, but has been given a second chance in South Africa. Gemma, who went in as a late entry alongside Craig Charles, said: “Going on All Stars is a real moment for me in my career – it’s redemption. To be able to do this again is the greatest honour ever. I am going to be the best campmate and get those stars. None of us will be starving under my watch.”

The 45-year old also revealed she will be walking into the South African jungle as ‘Gemma Collins’ and not her dive persona ‘The GC’.

She said: “I am dreading the whole lot, I don’t think anyone goes into the jungle going ‘woohoo’. It’s not normal to be faced with animals, but I am going in as Gemma Collins. Gemma Collins is a self-made woman. I have been to hell and back to get to where I am today. I am just looking forward to proving to people I can do it.

“There is no way I am going to be leaving after 72 hours. I am in it to win it. I am going through to the end. Last time, there were no highlights for me. But I wasn’t the strong, assertive woman I am today and I’ve got a totally different mindset.”

She says if she were lucky enough to win the series, it would be the ultimate pinnacle in her career.

Gemma said: “If I could get crowned the ‘Legend’, I would just feel complete in my life. Me quitting has been a shadow hanging over me. It would be my real redemption moment of my career that I had done this and nobody could take it away from me.”

Ahead of filming the show last year, Gemma also said she was looking forward to chatting with Ant & Dec again in the jungle.

She added: “It has been embarrassing whenever I have been to ITV parties knowing their first thought might be, ‘oh no, there is that girl who left the jungle’. They are fabulous. I want to show them what I am made of and get that new-found respect.”

As well as Gemma other returning stars include Olympian Sir Mo Farah, former Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt, Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts, actor Adam Thomas, singer Sinitta and comedian Seann Walsh.

Gemma and fellow latecomer Craig Charles will be competing in a trial before they arrive in camp tonight.

Asked if the show changed her first time around, she added: “No but now with hindsight, I realise I wasn’t wholesome or grounded when I went in. I was this girl from Essex who was all about Range Rovers, fancy jewellery and fancy coats. I am going to South Africa with a very different mindset.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

The race report from Suzuka actually mentioned that more than half Aston Martin’s deficit to the front was caused by the chassis.

That information came from a very senior and knowledgeable figure over the course of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

It also tallies with what other teams are seeing on the GPS data to which all have access, in terms of the cars’ speed on different parts of the track.

The exact split in terms of the losses that can be attributed to car and engine at Aston Martin-Honda is not known, and it’s probably not possible to know, as of course the behaviour of the engine can also have an impact on the cornering performance of the car.

It’s worth adding that, while it’s true that much of the public focus has been on the Honda engine, and especially the severe vibrations that have been causing reliability problems, team principal Adrian Newey has been clear that the car is also lacking.

It’s also the case that it’s not clear where the vibrations are coming from – are they intrinsic to the engine, or is there something about the way the engine is mounted to the chassis that exacerbates them?

In Australia, Newey said that on the chassis side “we’re maybe the fifth best team, so sort of potential Q3 qualifiers on the chassis side, but with the potential to be up front at some point in the season”.

On average over the four qualifying sessions of the first three races, including for the sprint in China, the Aston Martin is 3.6 seconds off the pace.

The fifth fastest team on average are Alpine, at 1.268secs off the pace, followed by Haas at 1.567secs.

So Aston Martin are about 2.3secs off qualifying in the top 10, with the majority down to the chassis and the rest the engine.

In other words, put a Mercedes engine in the car, and it would be about where Alpine or Haas are. Exactly as Newey suggested.

Given the Aston Martin’s troubled birth – effectively starting again when Newey arrived in March last year, a delayed entry into the wind tunnel until April, and a consequent compressed development programme – that sounds entirely feasible.

The car is overweight, and is especially poor in high-speed corners.

The fundamental point, though, is that it doesn’t really matter where exactly the deficit lies between car and engine. Both Aston Martin and Honda are a long way from being competitive, both know that’s the case, and both have a lot of work to do.

A cosy eatery has been crowned best pizzeria at the Italian Awards 2026, with diners praising its ‘quality hand-picked ingredients with generous toppings and a perfectly oven-fired base’

Italian cuisine is a firm favourite for most families when dining out, and a delicious pizza never fails to please – so you might be astonished to discover some of the finest examples are right on your doorstep.

In what has evolved into something of an Oscars for the Italian hospitality industry, the Italian Awards 2026 took place, celebrating the very best establishments showcasing the cuisine throughout the UK.

From traditional cafes, restaurants, pizzerias and exceptional dishes – everything received its well-earned recognition at the highly prestigious ceremony.

Emerging victorious as the winner for best pizzeria in a category featuring five rival establishments was a charming eatery nestled in the town of Darlington in the North East.

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Housed within an old Victorian-style building with dark brickwork, in a softly lit environment, it creates an intimate atmosphere, perfect for enjoying authentic pizza.

It’s an unexpected location to discover delicious, genuine Italian pasta, hidden away in a market town, but it’s absolutely worth the detour during your travels around the Peak District.

The restaurant in New Mills, High Peak, roughly eight miles south-east of Stockport, and merely 13 miles from Manchester.

While it sits somewhat away from your typical culinary hotspots, it impressed Italian food experts sufficiently that it warranted acknowledgement for bringing genuine flavour to the town.

A recent customer raved on TripAdvisor: “Without a doubt the best pizza we have ever had. Quality hand-picked ingredients with generous toppings and a perfectly oven-fired base. I like the pepperoni lover the best.

“Simple but a full slice of quality pepperoni in every bite; you don’t run out halfway through as so often I find at other restaurants. Nick and his friendly relaxed team make this a dining experience to savour. P.S. The arancini are not to miss.”

Another delighted diner shared: “Fabulous pizza restaurant! Stable Hearth has such a lovely atmosphere. Really smart and classy decor, incredibly friendly staff and owners (so wonderful with our young children) and amazing pizzas.

“The chips are incredible with a fab choice of seasonings. The pizza menu offers great choices too. A really wonderful restaurant.”

The establishment clearly takes pride in serving authentic Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, featuring both traditional and contemporary styles.

According to TripAdvisor, this isn’t their sole achievement either; the compact yet impressive restaurant has secured the Best Pizzeria English Italian Awards in 2018, 2019 and 2022.

You’ll discover this delicious gem tucked away at 33-35 Duke Street, Darlington DL3 7RX. While there’s no dedicated car park on site, street parking is readily available, and it’s just a brief stroll from both Winston Street West Car Park and Abbott’s Yard Car Park.

Awards Director Warren Paul, discussing the launch of Italian Awards for 2026, expressed his delight in showcasing the efforts of “passionate people”.

He continued: “That’s why we do what we do. It’s to make sure the hard-working inspirational people and businesses get the recognition they deserve.

“Everyone jumps to criticise and leave a negative review or complaint over the tiniest thing, but very few rush to praise good service, food and experiences. That’s where we come in. So congratulations to our winners.”

Highly Recommended Pizzerias in the same category included:

• Best Pizzeria Amico Mio (Clitheroe)
• Best Pizzeria Osteria V2.0 (Shrewsbury)
• Best Pizzeria Primavista Bury St Edmunds (Bury St Edmunds)
• Best Pizzeria Scaramantica Pizzeria (Cardiff)

In the churchyard next to Wilmington Priory in East Sussex, I found a yew so ancient and stooped that its trunk had eaten half a gravestone. Its boughs were supported by long poles, a creepy sight that made me shudder. I had come here to see something just as strange, but more benign than this folk-horror vision – the figure of the Long Man of Wilmington on the hillside opposite, on the steep scarp of the South Downs. He treks over the hill, a stave clasped in each hand. Climbing Windover Hill, just beneath the South Downs Way, I saw that while he was once a chalk giant, his lines are now marked with concrete blocks.

The Long Man may be Anglo-Saxon in origin – the shape is similar to the design on a buckle discovered in Kent in 1964 by the archaeologist Sonia Chadwick Hawkes, which probably represents the god Odin (or Woden); but he may be a much later adornment for the hillside, made to be viewed from the priory. His form entranced the photographer Lee Miller and her husband, the artist Roland Penrose, who lived close to the Long Man. Penrose painted a surrealist representation of the Long Man on the inglenook fireplace at Farleys, their home – for them the figure was a protective spirit. It also inspired the Black composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor, the folk collective the Memory Band, and Benjamin Britten picnicked at its feet.

The Long Man of Wilmington is one of the more famous chalk figures, the mysterious carvings that decorate the hills in England (and almost uniquely in England), numbering 40 or so. They have always been a part of my life. Familiar and simultaneously fantastic, they have fascinated me and many others: film-makers, writers, musicians and artists. They have drawn the attention of historians, archaeologists, antiquarians, all sorts of fellow travellers. Their appearance enlivens walks and invites conjecture.

Many hill figures – most famously horses, but also crosses, crowns, regimental symbols, giants and buried gods – are located close to ancient trackways that have taken pilgrims, traders, warriors and now Gore-Tex missionaries over the rounded chalky hills. By tracing these routes for my book The Tattooed Hills, I was able to get under the skin of these mysterious shapes.

My planned walk of a few miles from the Long Man to the figure of the Litlington White Horse was cut short by a thunderstorm – you don’t want to be in the hills under lightning – so I visited the next day. This small, lonely animal peeks over the hill towards the English Channel near Cuckmere Haven, and was cut secretly, by local people, in a single night in 1924, the successor to an earlier lost figure.

Also close to the coast, in Dorset, I climbed the hill to the huge figure of George III on his horse, Adonis, overlooking his favourite seaside resort of Weymouth. It was carved in 1808 as a tribute to the king and a huge advertisement for the town, although he’s rather faded now. Walking farther north, along the Wessex Ridgeway, I was menaced and fascinated by the huge, priapic figure of the Cerne Giant, on the opposite hillside, dominating the secluded valley with his club held aloft. His date has been hotly contested – he has been believed to be a Romano-British figure, or a 17th-century marauding Oliver Cromwell. Some have thought he was Helith, a pagan god. He is more likely to be a Saxon image of Hercules, or a local saint, Eadwold. This giant is an unreliable shapeshifter, a joker.

Taking the Ridgeway across Wiltshire’s chalk hills will plunge you into the county of white horses, of which eight remain. A midsummer walk from the slim form of the Alton Barnes White Horse took me along the Wansdyke, a great defensive ditch and bank stretching for miles through empty countryside with views of the ancient Silbury Hill, to a similar horse at Cherhill, scampering over the deep-sided coomb, carved in the shadow of a hillfort and signposted by the Lansdowne Monument, which dominates the hillscape and makes it unsettling.

Both horses come with music: the Alton Barnes horse appeared briefly in a video for the Britpop band Dodgy, for their single Staying Out for the Summer. The song mashes together many nostalgic cliches of the time (VW camper vans, space hoppers, crop circles, football tops), summoning up a specific idea of the countryside as a place for raves, and selling it back to us, without its rebellion. In their earlier incarnation as the Timelords, the KLF came to Cherhill to film the video for Doctorin’ the Tardis – not a good song, but one which introduced us to their art-terrorist antics. The KLF make the horse part of a dustier landscape in keeping with this corner of Wiltshire’s weirdness.

Further along the Ridgeway, I came to the greatest and most mysterious figure – the commanding presence of the elongated Uffington White Horse, also sited beneath a hillfort. Archaeology has dated this figure to the late bronze age – 3,000 years ago, give or take – and it’s an extraordinary survival. Generation after generation have cared for this racing animal, somehow keeping it bounded to its wind-blown hill. It too has been an inspiration for musicians: Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting video was filmed here and XTC’s album English Settlement has the horse on its cover. Andy Partridge from XTC told me that the landscape surrounding his native Swindon was an important inspiration: “It marked me like an Avebury stone or the ripples across a hillfort. It made me.”

The Ridgeway gets tangled up with the Icknield Way, which runs over the country’s chalk spine to East Anglia and through the leafy Chiltern Hills, home to a cluster of some of the stranger chalk figures, which include two crosses, one on top of a massive chalk pyramid – the Whiteleaf Cross. Another figure, the Watlington White Mark, has been interpreted as an ancient fertility symbol, but is actually an 18th-century trompe l’oeil of the landscape. Stand in a particular place, it is said, and the chalk obelisk gives the church a spire. Walking east along the Icknield Way took me to Ivinghoe Beacon; from here I could see the prime ministerial retreat of Chequers in the valley below, but what drew my eye was the magnificent chalk figure of the Whipsnade White Lion, cut in 1931-33 to celebrate the opening of the zoo and now occasionally nibbled by wallabies, who help keep it in good shape.

At the far end of the Icknield Way I visited Wandlebury, in the Gog Magog Hills, named for the giants who, in folklore, once ruled Britain. One archaeologist, TC Lethbridge, thought he had found hill figures beneath the turf here; his findings were speculative and nothing remains of them, but the iron age hillfort above, the beechwoods and the nearby ancient track are the chalklands condensed into one country park. What struck me most about the Gog Magog story was something Lethbridge wrote in his book describing the dig, something that I found too as I travelled in search of the stories of the chalk. “There is no need,” he wrote, “to go to the ends of the earth for interesting quests and excitement. It is here, in prosaic old England, at one’s back door.”

The Tattooed Hills: Journeys to Chalk Figures by Jon Woolcott is published by Aurum (£17.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Follow Jon on Instagram at dorsetjonw

April 6 (UPI) — Two Democratic lawmakers concluded a trip to Cuba on Monday by calling for the United States and Cuba to begin “real negotiations” and denouncing the Trump administration’s “economic bombing” of Havana.

Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal, of Washington, and Jonathan Jackson, of Illinois, returned to the United States following a five-day visit to Cuba. They said they spoke with officials and witnessed the effects of President Donald Trump‘s monthslong de facto oil blockade of the island nation.

The lawmakers said they saw premature babies in incubators put at risk due to Cuba’s energy crisis, children out of school because teachers have no fuel to travel to school and cancer patients being denied treatment because of a lack of medicine.

“This is cruel collective punishment — effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country — that has produced permanent damage,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

“It must stop immediately.”

The Trump administration has been enforcing a monthslong policy of choking off oil supplies to Cuba, plunging the socialist nation into a worsening energy and humanitarian crisis. On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency with respect to Cuba and created a process to penalize countries that provide it with oil. According to a recent U.N. system action plan, citing Cuban authorities, no fuel imports have been recorded since Dec. 13.

“This disruption has triggered a severe energy shock, characterized by a critical fuel shortage affecting electricity generation, transportation and essential logistics across the country,” the U.N. report published last week said.

Widespread blackouts, fuel rationing and electricity shortages have been reported, it said.

The two Democratic lawmakers said they met with Cuba leaders in religion, civi society and the government, as well as dissidents, and all agreed that the blockade — which they called illegal — must end.

“We do not believe that the majority of Americans would want this kind of cruelty and inhumanity to continue in our name,” they said.

The pair met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, who said in a statement that he denounced to them the “energy siege decreed by the current U.S. government” and reiterated “the willingness of our Government to sustain a serious and responsible dialogue and to find solutions to the existing differences.”

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez of Cuba said in a statement that he also told the lawmakers about the situation facing his country and their “willingness for serious and responsible dialogue to try to find solutions to bilateral problems.”

The Democrats said the Cuba government has sent signals that the country is ready for reform, pointing to its pardoning last week of more than 2,000 prisoners and efforts to liberalize its economy, while arguing the remaining obstacles to its progress is U.S. policy, which they called “outdated” from the Cold War-era.

“True reform will only come from charting a new course,” they said.

Trump has turned his attention to Cuba after detaining Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, in early January in a clandestine military operation.

He has said it is “a failing nation” and described it as on the precipice of collapse.

“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” he said on March 7 during the Shield of the Americas Summit.

“Cuba’s at the end of the line.”

US President Donald Trump said ‘Tuesday will be power plant day’ in a vulgar post on social media. He says the US plans to start bombing electricity infrastructure unless Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami looks at Iran’s power plants and the dangers of potential attacks.

Offset was shot near the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., on Monday evening and is currently listed as stable, a spokesperson for the rapper told The Times.

“We can confirm Offset was shot and is currently at the hospital receiving medical care,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “He is stable and being closely monitored.”

The Seminole Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to an incident in the valet area of the hotel and casino shortly after 7 p.m. One person was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police detained two people in connection with the incident, and an investigation remains ongoing. The scene has been secured and operations at the Hard Rock are continuing as normal, police said.

The circumstances around the shooting remain unclear.

The 34-year-old rapper, whose real name is Kiari Cephus, gained prominence as a member of the Atlanta rap trio Migos, which was founded in 2008 and rose to hip-hop fame in 2013 with the breakout hit “Versace.” The group, whose members included rappers Quavo, Takeoff and Offset, achieved major mainstream stardom in 2016 through “Bad and Boujee,” which shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The three members grew up together in the Atlanta area. Takeoff was Quavo’s nephew, while Offset is a close family friend.

In 2022, the group split up due to differences between Offset and Quavo. In November of that year, Takeoff, whose real name is Kirsnick Khari Ball, was fatally shot outside of a bowling alley in Houston. He was 28 years old.

Patrick Xavier Clark was indicted by a grand jury in the murder of Takeoff in May 2023. He has pleaded not guilty and the case is awaiting trial.

Offset shares three children with hip-hop legend Cardi B, whom he married in 2017. The pair split publicly in late 2023, and Cardi B filed for divorce in 2024.

Since the breakup of Migos, Offset has focused on his solo career, releasing his album “Set It Off” in 2023, which features artists including Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Future and Cardi B. He released his latest album, “Kiari,” in August.

Times staff writer Emily St. Martin contributed to this report.

“The Cowleys were different as after years of bargain basement managers we actually went out and did the research and found them,” said Whiley.

“The excitement was there and I remember the event where they first met the fans they were cheered into the room.

“We can look at this season and see promotion to the Championship as the best thing the club has done, but those three seasons, two promotions, FA Cup quarter-final, winning a trophy at Wembley. That changed it all.

“They brought a buzz back that we hadn’t seen since Keith, and they were like Keith in that they would find players on the way up, scour non-league and find the future stars.

“The fact is, that even after the Cowleys left to join Huddersfield, the energy stayed.

“It sticks with me that Danny said to me he didn’t want to see kids in Lincoln wearing the shirts of Premier League clubs, he wanted to see them kicking a ball in the park wearing a Lincoln City shirt.

“The success, the work that was done means that is a reality. I see it all the time when I go round the city, people wear their colours with pride.”

While Mark, Leigh and myself have covered parts of Lincoln’s recent history, one man who has been the stalwart has been BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s Michael Hortin.

His first game was in 1999, and he was there in the commentary box as Lincoln gained promotion to the Championship.

“This promotion is the culmination of a long-term plan,” said Hortin. “This is about a chairman and board who have been thoughtful with their investment.

“Lincoln’s FA Cup run earned them a lot of money and they did not spend it on players, they spent it on a whole new training set-up.

“The Cowleys were the start of a transition from the old way of doing things, to a set-up that is very much part of the modern game.

“Under them a sporting director was brought in to support recruitment and player development and now we really do have a true ‘head coach’ in Michael Skubala.

“It is about finding those raw players, developing them, selling them, and it is paying off as it has allowed them to secure players on better deals.”

Lincoln have, as Hortin describes, recruited ‘experience’ to the squad. Their head coach, though, is a man who had limited time in the professional game, but Hortin said Skubala’s ability to learn and adapt has been impressive.

“I remember the first game Skubala took was against Stevenage, and it was a bit of a shock, but he was quite cool and his reaction was more ‘huh, this is what it is about’, and he learned,” said Hortin.

“The way the team has adapted and what Skubala has done is create a team that is hard to beat.”

A team that is hard to beat. A club that has been learning, developing, recruiting, all building up to where Lincoln are now. But what next?

Hortin is confident that the club will remain realistic. “The first goal will be survival, but the thing is they had a plan to become an established League One club, and now they will be working on another plan for what comes next.

“The one thing is that new owner Ron Fowler will likely go about it the same as Clive Nates. It will be done in a quiet, steady, thoughtful way. That has become the Lincoln way.”

United States Vice President JD Vance is travelling to Budapest to bolster support for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz Party faces its most difficult election in over a decade.

The White House announced last week that Vance would arrive in Hungary on Tuesday and hold two days of bilateral meetings.

In February, US President Donald Trump endorsed right-wing leader Orban ahead of Hungary’s April 12 parliamentary elections, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country that month to show support.

Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor of sociology at Princeton University in the US who has spent years as an analyst and critic of Orban’s government, says that the trip is meant to underscore the close relationship between Trump and his Hungarian counterpart.

“Orban will make a big deal out of the fact that he’s got Trump’s support. And that’s why Vance is coming,” she said, adding that she is sceptical that Vance’s trip will have a large impact on the outcome of the election.

“If you look at the polls in Hungary, they show the opposition with an 8 to 12 percent lead, in some recent polls up to a 20 percent lead. One visit by a relatively low-profile American vice president is not going to change that.”

Robust opposition

Orban’s 16-year tenure has been marked by the erosion of the independence of institutions such as the judiciary and the media, as well as reforms that critics say have slanted the electoral system in favour of Orban and his Fidesz party.

But despite what the opposition has described as a deeply imbalanced electoral environment, most polls show the 62-year-old Orban trailing the 45-year-old opposition leader, Peter Magyar, and his Tisza Party.

Magyar is a former high-ranking Fidesz official who broke with the party two years ago and has emerged as a popular voice railing against Orban’s rule.

His campaign has focused on corruption, deteriorating social services, economic conditions, and Orban’s combative relationship with the European Union, which has often centred on immigration and support for Ukraine.

The European Union suspended billions of euros in funding for Hungary in 2022 over what it characterised as democratic backsliding and declining judicial independence.

Magyar has pledged a more cordial relationship with the European bloc, as well as reforms that could lead to the restoration of suspended funds.

While Orban has depicted the opposition as a destabilising force that will sell out the country’s national interests on behalf of Ukraine and the EU, Magyar’s right-leaning politics mean that policies on issues such as immigration would see little change.

“Magyar is centre-right; he’s basically a believer in much of what Orban has done, minus the corruption. In EU terms, he’s slightly eurosceptical but wants to get the money back,” said Scheppele.

Blueprint for the US right

While Orban’s approach to consolidating power and his embrace of far-right politics have mired his relationships in Europe, they have made him a source of inspiration for the US far right and prominent members of the Trump administration, such as JD Vance.

Hungary has previously hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual summit where individuals and groups from across the US right and allies from other countries gather to discuss the future of the conservative movement.

When CPAC convened in Budapest in 2024, Trump sent a video praising Orban for “proudly fighting on the front lines of the battle to rescue Western civilisation”.

Shared ire for Muslims, immigrants, and centres of liberal politics such as universities has helped cement that bond, and Vance himself has enjoyed especially close relations with Orban’s government.

When he was selected as Trump’s running mate in July 2024, Orban’s political director shared a photo of himself posing with Vance, captioned: “A Trump-Vance administration sounds just right.”

Orban’s Hungary has been at the centre of the Trump administration’s shifting policy towards Europe, firmly aligning itself with far-right parties and immigration restrictionists in countries such as France and Germany.

Scheppele says that Orban’s relationship with the Trump administration and status as an icon of the global far right may be of limited use in an election that is mostly focused on domestic issues.

But she noted that more tangible steps, such as a pledge of US financial support from the Trump administration if Orban wins, could buoy his chances in the closing days of the race.

“The big thing to watch is that, when Orban came to the US recently, Trump appeared to promise a fiscal safety net if Orban wins,” said Scheppele, adding that the US took similar steps before the 2025 midterm elections in Argentina in order to bolster right-wing ally Javier Milei, now the country’s president.

“Trump hasn’t made that kind of formal promise, and he’s now denied that he made any specific promise. But the Orban people think that Trump is going to backstop them if they win the election,” Scheppele added. “If Vance makes that kind of announcement, it could be a real game-changer.”

Political analyst Trita Parsi says no one should be surprised that Iran has rejected the idea of a ceasefire deal with the US and Israel, given their history of violating previous agreements.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival posted set times for Weekend 1 of the 2026 edition and a former headliner has been added to the lineup.

Jack White, who was the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” with host Jack Black over the weekend, will be the opening performer in the Mojave Tent on Saturday playing from 3 to 3:45 p.m.

White is the latest festival alum added to the bill for a surprise slot in recent years, joining the likes of Weezer and Ed Sheeran in 2025, Blink-182 in 2023 and Arcade Fire in 2022.

White last headlined the festival as a solo act in 2015. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year as a member of the White Stripes, which played Coachella in 2003.

The sold-out festival is topped by Sabrina Carpenter on Friday, Justin Bieber on Saturday and Karol G on Sunday. Carpenter has the earliest headlining spot of the three, with a set scheduled for 9:05 to 10:35 p.m. Following Carpenter on opening night is electronic artist Anyma, who is debuting a production called “Æden” at midnight on the Coachella stage.

Nine Inch Noize, the collaboration between Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and German producer Boys Noize, will be in the Sahara Tent on Saturday night from 8 to 8:45 p.m.

Coachella hasn’t announced Weekend 2 set times yet.

Earlier on Monday, Coachella posted more information about the mysterious Radiohead activation on the poster dubbed “the Bunker.”

A post on Coachella’s Instagram called it the debut of “Radiohead Motion Picture House Kid A Mnesia,” with a 75-minute-long large format film from band frontman Thom Yorke and band artist Stanley Donwood of “sketches, paintings, collages, audio recordings and handwritten notes” captured during the recording of “Kid A” and “Amnesiac.”

It’s free to see, but there’s a reservation system for a time slot. People who can’t make a reservation will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

On the Coachella website, it describes the Bunker as being located near the Sahara Tent.