Morocco has earned itself a spot in the FIFA Arab Cup final after soundly defeating the UAE 3-0 in Monday’s semi-final at Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.

CHRISTMAS is nearly here, but hot on its heels is what seems to be the year’s, longest, most miserable month: January.

The UK endures some of the dimmest winter light in Europe, says travel company First Choice, with just 41 to 62 hours of sun in the WHOLE of January, equating to only between 90 minutes and two hours a day.

So there couldn’t be a better month to escape abroad.

Lisa Minot suggests sunny escapes that will boost your mood without hurting your bank balance.

CYPRUS

You’ll get three times more sunshine on this sun-drenched island that enjoys 3,4000 hours of blue skies a year.

Temperatures in January are still a very acceptable 18C to 20C and the sun shines an average of five to six hours a day.

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands

SNOW SLOPES

I went to the all-inclusive ski resort with 300 days of sunshine

Get your fix with a cheeky short stay at the 4* Louis Phaethon Beach right on the seafront near Paphos.

The hotel has two fabulous pools and three restaurants.

Four nights’ all-inclusive is from £337pp including flights from Manchester on January 14.

Check out firstchoice.co.uk.

LANZAROTE

Laze the day away beside your own sparkling private pool at the Rubi Mar village near Playa Blanca.

Here in the Canary Islands, you can expect six to seven hours of sunshine a day in January, with temperatures a balmy 20C or 21C.

The three-bed villa sits in lovely grounds and is within walking distance of a shop and restaurant.

Seven nights’ self-catering is from £240pp, based on six sharing and including flights from Gatwick on January 8.

See solmarvillas.com.

FLORIDA & CARIBBEAN CRUISE

This is the ultimate holiday for sun-seekers.

An incredible 15-night deal twins an Orlando stay with the chance to cruise the sun-soaked islands of the Caribbean.

Expect temperatures in the high twenties throughout, and seven to nine hours of sunshine.

This trip of a lifetime includes a five-night stay in Orlando, with a ticket to the new Epic Universe theme park as well as a seven-night full-board Caribbean cruise aboard the new Star Princess with ports of call in Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic.

And that’s not all — there’s also a two-night stay in Miami included as well a tour of the Everglades.

The price, £1,699, includes return flights from London on January 12 and dedicated transfers throughout.

To book, go to cruise.co.uk or call 0870 990 8824.

MOROCCO

Soak up Moroccan sunshine in magical Marrakech as you visit the bustling souks then enjoy a dip in the rooftop plunge pool at your traditional riad hotel.

Temperatures are 18C to 20C in January and you can expect seven hours of sunshine a day.

This Travelbag deal includes seven nights’ B&B at the boutique Riad Vert, in the heart of the old town and a ten-minute stroll from the souks.

Prices from £649pp include flights from Gatwick on January 11 and private transfers. See travelbag.co.uk or call 0203 944 3694.

THAILAND

It’s a little farther to fly but you’ll be rewarded by sizzling temperatures from 28C to 32C and nine hours of sunshine a day if you head to the tropical paradise of Hua Hin this January.

The 3* Ibis Hua Hin hotel is just a five-minute stroll from a sandy shore and has an outdoor pool and great restaurant.

It’s also close to the Cicada Market and Vana Nava Water Jungle.

Seven nights’ room-only is from £760pp including flights from Stansted On January 20.

Check out onthebeach.co.uk.

EGYPT

The Red Sea resort of Hurghada promises guaranteed sun in January, with eight to ten hours of clear skies a day and temperatures ranging from 19C to 22C.

The 4* Sea Star Beau Rivage hotel sits right on its own sandy beach and features two huge pools set in palm-lined gardens.

The spa and hammam on site is perfect for pampering too.

Seven nights’ all-inclusive is from £378pp including flights from Gatwick on January 21.

Check out travelsupermarket.com.

MADEIRA

Enjoy sub-tropical temperatures and abundant nature on this stunning island in the Atlantic.

Expect daily temperatures of around 19C in January, and five or six hours of sunshine a day.

The 3* Mathu Raga Madeira Hotel is just a short stroll from Funchal’s popular Lido promenade.

The hotel’s pool is heated in winter and while the Mathu Raga has a lovely buffet restaurant, the delights of the town’s many restaurants and bars are within easy walking distance.

Seven nights’ room-only is from £439pp including flights from Birmingham on January 26, 22kg luggage and transfers.

To book, see jet2holidays.com.

FUERTEVENTURA

Treat yourself on this lovely Canary Island with average daytime highs of 20C and six to seven hours of sunshine.

The 4* Occidental Jandia Playa hotel has panoramic seaside views as well as two beautiful pools to lounge beside.

A ten-minute walk from Jandia Beach there’s also two restaurants, four bars and evening entertainment to keep you busy.

Seven nights’ half-board is from £600pp including flights from Stansted on January 16, 20kg hold luggage and transfers.

See tui.co.uk.

India, now the sole operator of the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar strike aircraft, is to acquire surplus examples of the Cold War-era jets from Oman, which retired the type in 2014. The decision reflects the continued value of the Jaguar to the Indian Air Force (IAF) but also points to the service’s shrinking fighter force and delays in acquiring new equipment.

Multiple reports indicate that India and Oman have come to a deal that will put an undisclosed number of former Omani Jaguars into Indian hands. Starting in 1977, the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) received a total of 27 British-made Jaguars, comprising 20 single-seaters, five two-seaters, and two ex-U.K. Royal Air Force aircraft used as attrition replacements. At least 13 of these were involved in various accidents, which would leave a maximum of ‘intact’ airframes 14 for India. Potentially, some further components could also be harvested from Omani aircraft that were written off while in service.

As for the IAF, the service selected the Jaguar for its Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft (DPSA) in 1978 and received 18 aircraft from U.K. Royal Air Force stocks as ‘interim’ equipment, 40 ‘flyaway’ aircraft direct from British Aerospace (BAe), plus around 128 more that were license-built in India under a transfer-of-technology agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The ex-Omani jets won’t be inducted into IAF service but will be broken down into spare parts to support the aging but still in-demand Indian Jaguar inventory. TWZ contributor and IAF historian Angad Singh told us that the jets will be dismantled in Oman and then shipped to India for ease of transport.

The IAF’s demand for increasingly hard-to-find Jaguar spares saw India turn to France in 2018–19. France, which retired its last Jaguars in 2005, shipped 31 complete airframes plus various spare parts to India, with New Delhi paying only for the cost of transport.

These airframes and spares are being used to support the IAF’s current six Jaguar squadrons, each of which has between 18 and 20 aircraft on strength. However, the fleet is being slowly eroded by attrition, with three Jaguar losses this year alone.

The last new Jaguar to be built in India came off the HAL production line in 2008; British and French production had long since ceased by this date. Since then, obtaining spare parts and components, including new or refurbished engines, has become much more complex. Already, India is reportedly having to cannibalize some aircraft to keep the others in the air.

Further evidence of the importance of the Jaguar to the IAF’s plans comes from the continued efforts to upgrade the jets, the oldest of which are now around 45 years old.

At the center of this effort is the Display Attack Ranging and Inertial Navigation (DARIN) modernization program for the Indian Jaguars, which first began in the 1980s and which has since progressed through three rounds of upgrades.

The first of these, DARIN I, kept the Jaguar’s original ‘chisel’ nose profile but added a new Sagem navigation/attack system, a combined map and electronic display, and a head-up display and weapon-aiming computer. A new Mil Std 1553B databus was added, making it easier to integrate new weapons and sensors. This would pay dividends during the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan, during which Jaguars employed laser-guided bombs.

Starting in the early 2000s, DARIN II changed the nose profile, with a new Thales laser targeting and designation system fitted. Other new additions included an Israeli-made Elbit head-up display, an inertial navigation/GPS system, and a multifunction display in the cockpit. Self-protection was enhanced with an Israeli-made Elta EL/L-8222 jammer, locally made Tarang radar warning receivers, and new countermeasures dispensers. New weapons included the ASRAAM air-to-air missile and the Textron CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon.

In a category of their own are India’s Jaguars tasked with maritime strike. These were originally fitted with a radar nose accommodating an Agave radar, used in conjunction with Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles. Under DARIN II, these items were replaced with the Elta EL/M-2032 and the AGM-84 Harpoon Block II, respectively.

The most significant of the upgrades is DARIN III, begun in 2008, which includes a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the Israeli-made Elta EL/M-2052. The Jaguar became the first Indian combat jet to feature an AESA, and you can read more about the upgrade here.

The DARIN III program, led by HAL and informed by the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft program, saw the first flight of an upgraded Jaguar in 2012, but thereafter it suffered significant delays. Issues included integration of the locally developed open-system-architecture mission computer as well as a re-engining effort, which planned to replace the original Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour afterburning turbofans with Honeywell F125-INs. Replacement engines were finally canceled in 2019, after they were judged to be too expensive.

Other advanced DARIN III features include a fully ‘glass’ cockpit with three multifunction displays, an engine and flight instrument system (EFIS) digital display, and a digital head-up display. Also new is the Elbit Display and Sight Helmet (DASH), which is used to cue the ASRAAM missile. The ASRAAM, like the Magic 2 before it, is carried on the Jaguar’s unique overwing missile pylons.

The DARIN III program is planned to extend the life of at least some of the Indian Jaguars until 2050. However, the initial phase-out of the aircraft will begin before then. As Singh explained, the oldest (British-made) jets will not undergo the full upgrade, meaning that at least two of the IAF’s six Jaguar squadrons are due to disband in the near future.

Even the India-made HAL jets are now getting long in the tooth, but with examples still going through the DARIN III upgrade, at least some of them will be able to see out another 10 years or more of service.

“The Jaguar is still useful as a strike aircraft, and has been kept relevant with upgrades to electronic warfare, nav-attack systems, standoff weapons, and so on,” Singh told TWZ.

The fact that New Delhi has pressed on with upgrades to the Jaguar is a testament to the rugged reliability and precision-attack capabilities of the jet, despite its age, but it also points to underlying problems in the IAF, especially in terms of the size of its combat jet fleet.

Faced with the dual threats of Pakistan and China, the Indian government has said that the IAF needs at least 42 squadrons of combat aircraft. Currently, it has just 29, meaning the service is operating its smallest combat force since it went to war with China in 1962. The retirement of the veteran MiG-21 Fishbed has not helped matters in this regard.

Meanwhile, India’s plans to buy new off-the-shelf fighters are going nowhere fast.

After buying 36 Dassault Rafales, India announced a requirement for 114 fighters, initially specifying single-engine types. Subsequently, the competition appeared to be wide open, with the F-15EX, for example, now also being offered to India, and with the Rafale and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet also in the running. If India decides to procure another single-engine fighter, after all, the Indian-specific F-21 configuration of the F-16 is also a viable candidate. But with no decision made, and with homegrown combat aircraft programs also proceeding slowly, the ‘squadron gap’ is only set to grow.

“The Indian Air Force is at 70 percent of its planned 42-squadron fighter strength — a number that was arrived at in the 1960s and will only be revised upward on any fresh assessment. Given this dire situation, the brass simply has no choice but to keep aircraft around, no matter how old,” Singh concluded.

Faced with this stark reality, it is less surprising that India is now searching far and wide for spare parts that will ensure its prozed Jaguars can see out their service life as maintaining them becomes ever more of a challenge.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

THE Rolling Stones have called off plans for a UK and European tour next summer.

It would have been their first string of live dates since their huge Hackney Diamonds tour in the US in 2024 – which sold almost one million tickets.

It’s understood the band – who’ve sold over 250 million records worldwide – were looking at plans to play huge stadiums across Europe and the UK after pulling the plug on dates in 2025.

An American music critic said Keith Richards, who turns 82 on Thursday, told his bandmates Mick Jagger, 82, and Ronnie Wood, 78, he couldn’t commit to the trek at this time.

They added: “The Rolling Stones had all the big promoters throwing loads of ideas and dates at them for next summer.

“But when they properly sat down to discuss the tour, Keith said he didn’t think he could commit and wasn’t keen on a big stadium tour for over four months.”

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A spokesperson said at the time: “The band were looking to tour earlier this year but couldn’t make it work either.

“It’s hard for their fans but The Stones will get back onstage when they’re good and ready.”

In September, Ronnie confirmed to The Sun that he was waiting on the nod on the 2026 tour dates.

He also confirmed they had been working on their next album, which was recorded at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, west London.

Ronnie said: “You will be getting new music from the Rolling Stones with an album next year. It is almost done. ”

Their last album, Hackney Diamonds, came out in 2023 and was their first record of original material in 18 years.

The album went straight to No1 in the album charts and spawned hits including Angry, which had Sydney Sweeney in the official music video.

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIF. — At a time of huge bank mergers and cries to overhaul the nation’s banking system, Kenneth A. Guenther makes sure the smallest banks in America have one of the loudest voices.

The outspoken chief executive and executive vice president of the Independent Bankers Assn. of America more often than not finds himself at odds with powerful forces pushing for sweeping changes in the rules banks operate under as well as those promoting huge mergers as a way to improve the health of the nation’s banks.

The future of the Bush Administration’s bank reforms–allowing banks to open branches across state lines, allowing banks into Wall Street and insurance activities and permitting industrial and service companies to buy banks–is growing more uncertain. Two weeks ago, the House voted down a Democrat-altered version of the bank-reform plan. A much narrower bill, largely to bolster the nation’s dwindling bank deposit insurance fund, could be approved soon, but any major reforms are unlikely right now.

In fighting the Administration, Guenther has irked some powerful people. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady has said that Guenther “demeans his members, carrying on the way he does” in his opposition to the bank-overhaul plans.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Guenther, 55, completed graduate studies at Johns Hopkins, the University of Rangoon and Yale University. A former Treasury and State Department official, Guenther served as a special assistant to three former heads of the Federal Reserve Board. He joined the 6,100-member banking trade group roughly 10 years ago.

Guenther’s basic point is that the deck is increasingly stacked against the small community banks. Although he has the image of a maverick, Guenther is very much a Washington insider, maintaining cordial relationships with many people he disagrees with publicly. He plays tennis with the likes of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and various bank regulators–though he often finds himself at odds with them on policy.

Guenther uses blunt words to make his case. But the Washington influence shows in his dress–a formal business suit for morning meetings even at a resort hotel where everyone is dressed for golf. His populist style has made him a hero among independent bankers, while attracting criticism from those who accuse him of grandstanding.

Part of Guenther’s clout comes with his skill with the media. He is a prolific writer of letters to the editor, is quoted frequently and has strong friendships with reporters–in fact, he and his wife, Lilly, are godparents of a New York Times reporter’s twins.

Question: What future does the independent bank have in this age of banking consolidation?

Answer: There are going to be fewer big banks and medium-sized banks than smaller banks. As banks get larger, this opens up more niches for your smaller banks. Larger banks generally mean poorer services for your small business and small-time customers.

Q: Large banks would argue the opposite. They would say it will be good for customers, providing things they can’t get now.

A: With size comes regimentation. You are going to have to do things their way. There is going to be far less “high touch.” Those small banks providing high-touch services are going to have increased opportunities.

Q: What about public policy concerning mergers? You said Treasury is committed to seeing a lot of mergers. Why so?

A: Secretary (Nicholas F.) Brady wants to get the banks in this country into the No. 1 rank. But people aren’t looking at the cost of building banks to the size of the Japanese banks. Size alone does not mean a healthy, good, diversified financial system or political system. The Japanese have the largest banks in the world, but who wants their political system? Our diversified financial and economic system underlies our diversified political system.

Q: What about the argument that the big banks use , that there’s too much overcapacity? That there are too many banks?

A: There’s a very interesting study out from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis that says public policy promoting consolidation is not in the interests of the banking system or the economy. This study indicates that we should not be moving in that direction.

Q: What about the argument that says the banking system is inefficient?

A: I think our banking system is remarkably efficient. I think we have still the strongest entrepreneurial system in the world. It needs some fine tuning. But we don’t have to throw it out lock, stock and barrel and adopt a Japanese model.

Q: Does it need consolidation?

A: The industry is consolidating. The question is: Is it productive public policy to force more rapid consolidation?

Q: The House for now has rejected legislation to overhaul the banking system. What does this mean for the independent banks?

A: This legislation has nine lives–it’s on its fourth now. The Administration and their big-bank allies killed a version of the bill they didn’t like and moved immediately to resuscitate another version of Secretary Brady’s big-bank reform bill.

Q: Why should people care about these proposals?

A: Everybody in the United States should breathe a big sigh of relief because the House has turned back a proposal from the Administration which would have allowed the largest commercial firms–domestic and foreign–to buy the largest banks in this country. This would have totally restructured the economic and financial system of the United States and led to an enormous concentration of economic power. That’s always bad news for John Q. Public.

Q: Why shouldn’t a bank be allowed to open a branch across a state line?

A: Our problem with that is that the Treasury Department proposed to keep “too big to fail”–meaning the Treasury Department proposed that the bigger banks continue to have a 100% deposit insurance product. At the same time, they were proposing that our deposit insurance product be reduced. That means the big banks could go across state lines, offering a superior deposit insurance product. This would have driven money out of the smaller banks of this country.

Q: Do you fear that there will eventually be some cuts in deposit insurance?

A: Everybody knows that the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) fund is hurting. Why not expand the assessment base? The foreign deposits in American banks that enjoy deposit insurance coverage do not pay deposit insurance premiums. Make everybody who has the insurance pay for the insurance. That could bring in literally billions and billions of dollars a year.

Q: Does it matter whether we declare a policy saying banks are not too big to fail? In a crunch, won’t we step in?

A: (Federal Reserve Board Chairman) Alan Greenspan is about as free market as you can get. But Greenspan has testified repeatedly before the Congress that the large uninsured depositor cannot be put at risk, because if he’s put at risk in this country we will have runs (on the banks). He will take his money and put it into the Japanese banks, or German banks. What Alan Greenspan is saying is, in the moment of truth, we are going to intervene to make sure the depositors in your big banks do not get hurt, because this is essential for the stability of the system. How can you make a policy prescription to cut back deposit insurance for John Q. Public, who banks with a smaller institution?

Q: What about proposals such as $100,000 protection per Social Security number?

A: In this day and age, $100,000 is not that much money. It’s a four-year college course for a student who doesn’t go to an Eastern school. Again, you are penalizing your smaller institutions. People will put their money in your “too-big-to-fail” banks.

Q: What about allowing banks into other lines of business?

A: You are opening the door into riskier areas. If you are moving into a business you don’t know well, you are not inclined to do it well in the beginning. And the doors that they are trying to open are really quite risky. Underwriting corporate debt, or underwriting stocks is a risky business. Will the banks do it well? Will it turn out to be profitable? I think these are question marks.

Q: What are the primary problems of independent banks these days?

A. We are in a recession that is deeper than anticipated. The Fed has just cut key interest rates. . . . The other problem is that the industry went too far overboard in terms of commercial real-estate development.

Q: How healthy are independent banks?

A: The independent banks are healthier than your larger banks.

Q: Can the voice of an independent bank be heard these days?

A: It’s enormously frustrating that this Administration is listening to a very select number of voices. The Treasury Department is promoting a legislative product that benefits a relatively few number of large financial institutions. This is why we have sort of adopted the theme that the Treasury is promoting Wall Street and we are here trying to protect Main Street. There are far more Main Street institutions than Wall Street institutions.

Q: Do you think that the deck is stacked against the independent bank?

A. The deck in this Administration is stacked against the independent banks. And therefore we have put together this wide-ranging Main Street coalition: small business, retired people, home builders and farm groups working against key elements in the Administration proposal.

Q: Both you and your association have taken a lot of criticism from people like Brady and also other trade groups.

A: No one likes to be criticized by the secretary of Treasury, who is a nice man. But I’m sorry, Mr. Secretary, your policy objectives are very different than ours. Your policy objectives will make life much tougher for millions of banks and small businesses.

Q: If they gave you the banking reform bill and said write it any way you want, what would you do?

A: The problem is that this bill focused on the weakness of the deposit insurance fund. Something has to be done to strengthen the deposit insurance fund, and thus strengthen depositor confidence. Then you move from that central issue that has to be addressed and ask yourself the next question: What can you do to definitely strengthen banking and the profitability of banking? There are some things that can be done in this area. Give banks some more retail products, and again this will increase what is available to the American consumer.

Q: Do you think taxpayers are going to have to pick up any of the tab for the banking problems as they have for the savings and loans?

A: It depends on what happens to the real-estate market in California. Just like with costs of the S&L; crisis, things are escalated by what happens in California. California is such a key state.

Q: And depending on what happens here is what is going to make the difference?

A. What happens in California will make the difference. The banking industry, to remain healthy, cannot pick up the full tab if things go very bad in California. At that time, the American taxpayer would have to decide: Do we want a healthy and growing banking industry or do we force the full tab on the banking industry?

Q: In this era of megamergers, with huge institutions being created, can the independent bank compete?

A: The independent bank will compete, the independent bank will survive and prosper. We run a high-touch operation: high-tech plus high-touch. There is going to be plenty of business around for those who don’t want to deal with the impersonal, insensitive elephants.

Q: What about the argument that we don’t need all of these little banks?

A: We don’t need all these big banks running around. There are definitely too many big banks in New York City–in a declining economy and declining city. The American market is really not over-banked. It’s one of the illusions that is out there. American small business wants to deal with your smaller bank, where you get better, personalized service.

Q: What about the argument that we need bigger banks to compete with foreign banks?

A: Perhaps in some areas, that’s the case. But what the big banks have lost in this country is the large commercial lending business. They’ve lost your commercial and industry loans. Big firms earlier went to banks to get this money, now they issue their own commercial paper. So the big banks are looking for a new role, and maybe they can’t find it.

Donegal captain Patrick McBrearty has retired from inter-county football on medical advice.

A statement issued by his county on Monday explained that the decision for the 32-year-old to call it a day had been taken in light of “the sustained recurrence of a knee injury which has hindered the Kilcar clubman in recent seasons”.

During a distinguished 15-year career, McBrearty won seven Ulster Senior Championship medals, a record for a Donegal footballer.

He was an All-Ireland winner in 2012 and represented Ireland three times in international rules matches.

His tally of Donegal appearances stands at 167, with 82 of those accumulated in Championship matches.

The forward played in July’s All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry, replacing Oisin Gallen after 49 minutes of the Croke Park contest.

Paying tribute to McBrearty, County Board chairperson, Mary Coughlan, said that he “has had an extraordinary career and has set the bar extremely high for the next generation”.

“He’s been a tremendous ambassador for Donegal GAA and has carried himself with dignity both on and off the field. His retirement leaves a great void but the player has been plagued by injury in recent seasons.”

“It is fitting that he leaves with a record haul of medals and since being appointed captain in 2022, he has always led by example and worn the county jersey with fierce pride and distinction,” she concluded.

Dec. 15 (UPI) — Trinidad and Tobago announced Monday that it will open up its airport to U.S. military flights as tensions escalate between the United States and Venezuela.

The country’s foreign ministry announced it has “granted approvals” to military jets to use its airports, adding that the United States said the flights would be “logistical in nature, facilitating supply replenishment and routing personnel rotations.”

“The Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs maintains close engagement with the United States Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago,” an announcement from Trinidad and Tobago said.

“The honorable prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, has affirmed the government’s commitment to cooperation and collaboration in the pursuit of safety and security for Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region. We welcome the continued support of the United States.”

At its closest point, Trinidad is just 7 miles from Venezuela.

The country allowed the USS Graverly to dock Oct. 26 and conducted joint military drills with the U.S. 22 Marine Expeditionary Unit in October and November.

The U.S. military also installed a high-tech radar unit, AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR at the ANR Robinson International Airport in Crown Point, on Tobago, ostensibly to combat drug trafficking.

Persad-Bissessar initially denied reports of Marines being in Trinidad and Tobago. She retracted those statements last month, saying there were Marines working on the radar, runway and road.

Some on the island have expressed concern that it could be used as a launchpad for fighting with Venezuela, but Persad-Bissessar has denied that. She has voiced support of the U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean.

The United States has placed a large number of ships in the Caribbean, including warships, fighter jets, Marines and the USS Gerald R. Ford to show force against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a foe of President Donald Trump.

Michele Singer Reiner, who was killed along with her husband, filmmaker Rob Reiner, on Sunday at their home in Los Angeles, was a photographer who moved from still images into filmmaking and later into producing, with work that blended performance, politics and persuasion. She was 70.

Singer Reiner was gigging as a photographer in the late 1980s, visiting film sets as part of her income. One of those sets was “When Harry Met Sally …,” the romantic comedy Rob Reiner was directing in New York, a film that would go on to become one of the era’s defining hits. Having divorced actor and director Penny Marshall eight years earlier, Reiner said he noticed his future wife across the set and was immediately drawn to her.

Scripted by Nora Ephron, the film was originally written to leave its central couple, played by Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, separate, crossing paths over the years without ending up together. But after meeting Singer Reiner, Reiner reconsidered. He rewrote the final scene so the characters reunite and marry, an ending that helped make the film a beloved classic.

The two married in 1989, months after the film’s release. They went on to have three children: Jake, born in 1991; Nick, born in 1993; and Romy, born in 1997.

Hours after the couple were found dead at their Brentwood home, Nick Reiner — who had struggled for years with substance-abuse issues — was taken into custody and booked into Los Angeles County jail on suspicion of murder, according to jail records. He had spoken publicly about getting sober by 2015, when he worked with his father on “Being Charlie,” a semi-autobiographical film about addiction and recovery that Rob Reiner directed and Nick co-wrote.

After their marriage, Singer Reiner worked on several of Reiner’s films, as a special photographer on “Misery,” his 1990 adaptation of the Stephen King novel, among others. Their marriage also became a working partnership. As Reiner’s career expanded beyond studio films into documentaries and political projects, Singer Reiner — who earlier in her career had photographed the cover of Donald Trump on the photo of his 1987 bestseller “The Art of the Deal” — was closely associated with those efforts, collaborating on films and advocacy campaigns that increasingly overlapped.

Their civic strand emerged early. In the 1990s, she and Reiner started the I Am Your Child project, an effort aimed at raising awareness about early childhood development and expanding access to support services for parents.

The initiative coincided with Reiner’s emergence as one of Hollywood’s most prominent political voices. He was a founding board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which led the legal fight to overturn Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage. He was also a central figure behind Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Initiative, a landmark policy that created an ambitious statewide early childhood development program.

In the last decade, Singer Reiner moved more fully into producing. Her credits included such Reiner-directed projects as “Shock and Awe” (2017), “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (2023) and this year’s “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” as well as “God & Country,” a 2024 documentary examining Christian nationalism in the United States.

As news of their deaths spread, tributes emphasized the Reiners’ shared public life. Laurie David, an environmental activist and documentary filmmaker who was a close friend of the couple, wrote on Threads that “Rob & Michele — always referred to as Rob & Michele — were an extraordinary couple who worked side by side to make the world a safer, fairer and more just society.”

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also issued a joint statement calling the couple’s deaths “heartbreaking” and pointing to what they described as the Reiners’ “active citizenship” in defense of “inclusive” democracy. “They were good, generous people who made everyone who knew them better,” the statement said.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the loss “devastating,” writing that while Reiner was creative, funny and beloved, Singer Reiner was his “indispensable partner, intellectual resource and loving wife” in all of their endeavors.

Italy’s silence on the Mercosur trade pact is deafening – and potentially decisive. Rome could become the kingmaker between supporters of the deal and countries seeking to block it.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to fly to Brazil on December 20 to sign off the agreement. France, facing farmer anger over fears of unfair competition from Latin America, opposes the deal and wants to postpone the EU member states vote scheduled this week to allow the signature.

The trade pact with Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – aims to create a free-trade area for 700 million people across the Atlantic. Its adoption requires a qualified majority of EU member states. A blocking minority of four countries representing 35% of the EU population could derail ratification.

By the numbers, Italy’s stance is pivotal. France, Hungary, Poland and Austria oppose the deal. Ireland and the Netherlands, despite past opposition, have not officially declared their position. Belgium will abstain.

That leaves Italy in the spotlight. A diplomat told Euronews the country is feeling expose but that may not be a bad position to be in if it plays its cards rights to get concessions.

Coldiretti remains firmly opposed to the agreement

Rome’s agriculture minister had previously demanded guarantees for farmers.

Since then, the Commission has proposed a safeguard to monitor potential EU market disruptions from Mercosur imports. The measure, backed by member states, will be voted on Tuesday by EU lawmakers at plenary session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Italy’s largest farmers’ association, Coldiretti, remains firmly opposed.

“It’s going to take too long to activate this safeguard clause if the EU market is hit by a surge of Mercosur’s imports,” a Coldiretti representative told Euronews.

On the other side, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni faces a delicate balancing act between farmers and Confindustria, the industry lobby, while Italy remains the EU’s second-largest exporter to Mercosur countries.

This was also made clear by Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida a few days ago in Brussels. “Many industrial sectors and parts of the agricultural sector, such as the wine and cheese producers, would have a clear and tangible benefit [from the deal]. Others could be penalized,”he said.

This is why Italy has not taken a clear stance up to now. “Since 2024, we tried to protect everybody”, Lollobrigida argued, while remaining ambiguous on the country’s position.

Supporters of the deal are wooing Meloni, seeing her as the path to get the agreement done and open new markets amid global trade obstacles, including nationalist policies in the US and China.

“As long as the Commission president is preparing to go to Brazil to the Mercosur summit, we need to do what’s necessary for that to happen,” an EU senior diplomat from a pro-deal country said.

Yet uncertainty lingers. No one wants to schedule a vote that might fail, and Italy’s prolonged silence is rattling backers, sources told Euronews.

One diplomat familiar with the matter speaking to Euronews conceded “it’s hard, looks difficult”.

Katie Pavlich, a longtime contributor to Fox News, is leaving the network to join NewsNation.

Pavlich, a conservative political analyst, will have a nightly 10 p.m ET program starting early next year, the Nexstar-owned cable news channel announced Monday.

Pavlich, 37, will replace Ashleigh Banfield, who held down the time period since 2021. Banfield will partner with the network to create digital true crime content, including a podcast.

Pavlich has spent the last 16 years as news editor of the conservative website Townhall.com. She appeared regularly on cable ratings leader Fox News since 2013, appearing as a guest co-host on “The Five” and a fill-in host on its prime-time programs.

Pavlich becomes the latest Fox News alum to join NewsNation. Leland Vittert, a former correspondent for the network, is NewsNation’s 9 p.m. Eastern host. Chris Stirewalt, who was fired from Fox after the 2020 presidential election, is politics editor for the network.

Veteran cable news host Ashleigh Banfield joined NewsNation in March.

(NewsNation)

NewsNation was launched in 2020 as an alternative to the three major cable news networks at a time when all leaned heavily into opinion programming in prime time. But the network has moved toward political debate since Chris Cuomo became its highest rated host in prime time.

An Arizona native who grew up as an avid hunter, Pavlich is a strong advocate of the 2nd Amendment. She poses with firearms in a number of photos on her Instagram.

Pavlich is the author of several books, including New York Times bestsellers “Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal” and “Assault and Flattery: The Truth About the Left and Their War on Women.”

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia finished second in Heisman Trophy voting to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

That, of course, is quite an accomplishment.

But Pavia apparently felt otherwise. After the results were announced Saturday in New York, the 23-year-old senior posted a photo of himself with his offensive linemen on his Instagram Stories and gave it a profane caption.

“F-ALL THE VOTERS,” Pavia wrote, followed by a thumbs-down emoji, “BUT ….. FAMILY FOR LIFE”

On Sunday night, Pavia posted a lengthy apology on X.

“Being a part of the Heisman ceremony last night as a finalist was such an honor,” he wrote. “As a competitor, just like in everything I do I wanted to win. To be so close to my dream and come up short was painful. I didn’t handle those emotions well at all and did not represent myself the way I wanted to.

“I have much love and respect for the Heisman voters and the selection process, and I apologize for being disrespectful. It was a mistake, and I am sorry.”

Heisman Trophy finalists, from left to right, Notre Dame‘s Jeremiah Love, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin pose with the trophy before the award ceremony Dec. 13 in New York.

(Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Associated Press)

Mendoza received 643 first-place votes and 2,362 overall points to Pavia’s 189 first-place votes and 1,435 points. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love finished third in voting (46 first place, 719 points), and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was fourth (eight first place, 432 points).

Indiana (13-0) is the top team in the College Football Playoff rankings and will play the Oklahoma-Alabama winner in the Rose Bowl. Mendoza has played a large role in the Hoosiers’ success. He completed 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards with a national-best 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions. In addition, Mendoza rushed for 240 yards and six touchdowns.

“Fernando Mendoza is an elite competitor and a deserving winner of the award,” Pavia wrote. “I have nothing but respect for his accomplishments as well as the success that Jeremiyah and Julian had this season.”

Pavia also put up huge numbers for Vanderbilt (10-2), which was No. 14 in the final CFP ranking and will play Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 1. He completed 71.2% of his passes for 3,192 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions and rushed for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.

A former walk-on at New Mexico Military Institute, Pavia played two years at New Mexico State before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2024. Leading up to the Heisman ceremony, Pavia declared himself the best college football player of all time. He recently told Sports Illustrated, however, that his self-confidence should not be mistaken for arrogance.

“As an underdog paying to walk on to JUCO, you kind of have to be your own cheerleader,” Pavia said. “And it just never left my head, to be like ‘Oh I arrived, I don’t need to do that anymore.’”

Pavia reflected on his past in his apology post.

“I’ve been doubted my whole life. Every step of my journey I’ve had to break down doors and fight for myself, because Ive learned that nothing would be handed to me,” he wrote. “My family has always been in my corner, and my teammates, coaches and staff have my six. I love them — I am grateful for them. — and I wouldn’t want anything to distract from that. I look forward to competing in front of my family and with my team one more time in the ReliaQuest Bowl.”

Statement comes as regional body says no evidence of fraud in November vote that Trump-backed candidate Asfura leads.

The head of Honduras’s National Electoral Council (CNE) has decried acts preventing the ongoing recount of the Central American country’s presidential election, as a regional body said there was no reason to suspect fraud in the November 30 vote.

Ana Paola Hall’s statement on Monday came amid ongoing protests and unrest over the unresolved election. Nasry Asfura, a right-wing businessman publicly supported by US President Donald Trump, has held a razor-thin lead over his top opponent, Salvador Nasralla.

At least 99 percent of votes have already been counted, but CNE has said that nearly 2,800 ballots will need to be re-examined through a special recount.

In a post on X, Hall said disturbances seen in the country’s capital, Tegucigalpa, have “prevented the necessary conditions for the special recount to begin”.

Observers have said infighting at the CNE, which is run by three officials each representing one of the major political parties, has delayed reaching the final results.

Both Nasralla, a conservative, and outgoing left-wing President Xiomara Castro have alleged vote tampering, although several international missions have dismissed the claims.

On Monday, the Organization of American States (OAS), a regional body, said that despite a lack of expertise in overseeing the election, there was not “any evidence that would cast doubt on the results”.

The OAS mission “urgently calls on the electoral authorities to immediately begin the special recount and to explore all possible ways to obtain the official results as quickly as possible,” OAS official Eladio Loizaga said in a report he read to the group’s members.

“The current delay in processing and publishing the results is not justifiable,” he said in the report.

The OAS statement added that its mission of 101 observers from 19 countries “did not observe any malice or obvious manipulation of the electoral materials or computer systems”. The finding was in line with that of a parallel European Union mission.

The election in Honduras had been in turmoil even before polls opened, with several major parties, political figures, and foreign interference for months casting doubt on the election’s integrity.

The most prominent scandal involved an investigation by the attorney general into a member of Asfura’s National Party for allegedly discussing plans with a military officer to influence the vote.

The candidate for outgoing President Castro’s LIBRE party, Rixi Moncada, later told Reuters news agency that the alleged conspiracy proved the election was “the most rigged in history”.

Several candidates have also criticised the influence of Trump, who endorsed Asfura in the final stretch of the race and vowed to withhold US funding if his candidate did not win.

The US president also pardoned former Honduran President and National Party member Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been convicted in the US of drug trafficking, two days before the vote.

Authorities in Honduras, a country of about 11 million, subsequently issued a fresh arrest warrant for Hernandez.

Authorities in Gaza have warned that stormy weather could spur more war-damaged buildings to collapse and heavy rains are making it more difficult to recover bodies still under the rubble.

Authorities sounded the alarm on Monday, three days after two buildings collapsed in Gaza, killing at least 12 people, during winter rains that have also washed away and flooded the tents of displaced Palestinians and led to deaths from exposure.

A ceasefire has been in effect since October 10 after two years of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, but humanitarian agencies said Israel is letting very little aid into the enclave, where nearly the entire population has been displaced.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abou Azzoum said despite a shortage of equipment and fuel and the weather conditions in the enclave, Palestinian Civil Defence teams retrieved the bodies of 20 people on Monday.

The bodies were recovered from a multistorey building bombed in December 2023 where about 60 people, including 30 children, were believed to be sheltering.

Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal called on the international community to provide mobile homes and caravans for displaced Palestinians rather than tents.

“If people are not protected today, we will witness more victims, more killing of people, children, women, entire families inside these buildings,” he said.

Father mourns children killed in building collapse

Mohammad Nassar and his family were living in a six-storey building that was badly damaged by Israeli strikes earlier in the war and collapsed in heavy rain on Friday.

His family had struggled to find alternative accommodation and had been flooded out while living in a tent during a previous bout of bad weather. Nassar went out to buy some necessities on Friday and returned to a scene of carnage as rescue workers struggled to pull bodies from the rubble.

“I saw my son’s hand sticking out from under the ground. It was the scene that affected me the most. My son under the ground and we are unable to get him out,” Nassar said. His son, 15, died as did a daughter, aged 18.

Exposure warning

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Monday that more aid must be allowed into Gaza without delay to prevent putting more displaced families at serious risk.

“With heavy rain and cold brought in by Storm Byron [late last week], people in the Gaza Strip are freezing to death,” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini posted on X.

“The waterlogged ruins where they are sheltering are collapsing, causing even more exposure to cold,” he added.

Lazzarini said UNRWA has supplies that have waited for months to enter Gaza that he said would cover the needs of hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s more than two million people.

UN and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting.

Gaza authorities, meanwhile, were still digging to recover about 9,000 bodies they estimated remain buried in rubble from Israeli bombing during the war, but the lack of machinery is slowing down the process, spokesman Ismail al-Thawabta said.

Azzoum reported that Civil Defence teams said they require a surge in heavy machinery to expedite the work.

“They are saying that they are still in need, initially, for 40 excavators and bulldozers in order to achieve some slight progress in the whole process on the ground,” Azzoum said, reporting from Gaza City.

Israel’s continuing ban on the entry of heavy machinery into the Gaza Strip is a violation of the ceasefire, he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Hamas said Israel’s continuing violations of the ceasefire risk jeopardising the agreement and progress towards the next stage of United States President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

Since the ceasefire began, Israel has continued to strike Gaza on a daily basis, carrying out nearly 800 attacks and killing nearly 400 people, according to authorities in Gaza, while blocking the free flow of humanitarian aid.

“There is no real sense of safety nor protection for families,” Azzoum said of the ongoing violations.

A clear favourite has emerged to take the Strictly Come Dancing crown, say bookies and fans.

Three nervous celebrities are going into the Strictly Come Dancing final but only one can win – and it’s increasingly clear who that will be. Despite the final being touted as the closest in years, a single star is surging ahead in the battle for the Glitterball trophy that will take place on Saturday night.

Former England footballer Karen Carney, 38, has leapt ahead of all the others in the running and has been named as the far-ahead favourite to take the title, with people piling in to back her. It’s something of a last-minute upset since social media star George Clarke, 26, has long led the market, but is now drifting away.

West End star Amber Davies, 29, who has been in the dance-off for two weeks running now but managed to survive, is now thought to be the least likely to win the competition with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin and is predicted to finish third behind runner-up George and winner Karen.

One fan wrote: “The odds are slowly beginning to suggest we do have our winner” but added: “I think it’ll be the closest final we’ve had in years which is always a refreshing change after the past few years!”

Others said they would be switching their vote from Balvinder to the football star. One wrote: “Karen! I like George but I’ve been less moved by his story and I think the Karen/Carlos pairing is endlessly fun.” Another agreed: “As a Bal fan, im now gonna be voting for Karen.”

Lee Phelps for William Hill explained: “Karen Carney has taken firm control of the Strictly betting ahead of the final, and her move into 2/5 from 6/5 shows just how strongly punters are backing her to lift the Glitterball. After weeks of favouritism see-sawing between the two, Clarke has now eased out to 15/8 from 4/5, indicating that momentum has swung decisively in Carney’s favour at the ideal moment.

“Amber Davies’ survival in the dance-off hasn’t gone unnoticed either, with her trimmed into 20/1, but the market is clearly focused on a straight fight at the top as we head into the final.”

Others dismissed the predictions, with one fan writing: “Omg why is Karen such a strong favourite to win when George is going to win?” Another pointed to the huge fanbase he has thanked to his vast online following who are ready to vote for him.

They said: “I hate to get my hopes up, but I saw the strictly results show post of Facebook, and majority of the comments were saying their votes go to George and they want him to win. Not only that but he has his fanbase, and has been top of the polls. It’s looking promising.”

Another agreed: “What also helps George is the same thing that likely helped Ginge win I’m A Celeb – he’s in with some of the biggest stars in the UK YouTube scene, so if they post the vote link the same way they did for Ginge I think it’ll be a real uphill battle for Karen or Amber.”

Strictly Come Dancing’s live final is at 7pm on Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Republicans and Democrats squared off in court Monday in a high-stakes battle over the fate of California’s Proposition 50, which reconfigures the state’s congressional districts and could ultimately help determine which party controls the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms.

Dozens of California politicians and Sacramento insiders — from GOP Assembly members to Democratic redistricting expert Paul Mitchell — have been called to testify in a Los Angeles federal courtroom over the next few days.

The GOP wants the three-judge panel to temporarily block California’s new district map, claiming it is unconstitutional and illegally favors Latino voters.

An overwhelming majority of California voters approved Prop. 50 on Nov. 4 after Gov. Gavin Newsom pitched the redistricting plan as a way to counter partisan gerrymandering in Texas and other GOP-led states. Democrats admitted the new map would weaken Republicans’ voting power in California, but argued it would just be a temporary measure to try to restore national political balance.

Attorneys for the GOP cannot challenge the new redistricting map on the grounds that it disenfranchises swaths of California Republicans. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that complaints of partisan gerrymandering have no path in federal court.

But the GOP can bring claims of racial discrimination. They argue California legislators drew the new congressional maps based on race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment, which prohibits governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on race or color.

On Monday, attorneys for the GOP began by homing in on the new map’s Congressional District 13, which currently encompasses Merced, Stanislaus, and parts of San Joaquin and Fresno counties, along with parts of Stockton.

When Mitchell drew up the map, they argued, he over-represented Latino voters as a “predominant consideration” over political leanings.

They called to the stand RealClearPolitics elections analyst Sean Trende, who said he observed an “appendage” in the new District 13, which extended partially into the San Joaquin Valley and put a crack in the new rendition of District 9.

“From my experience [appendages] are usually indicative of racial gerrymandering,” Trende said. “When the choice came between politics and race, it was race that won out.”

Republicans face an uphill struggle in blocking the new map before the 2026 midterms. The hearing comes just a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas to temporarily keep its new congressional map — a move that Newsom’s office says bodes poorly for Republicans trying to block California’s map.

“In letting Texas use its gerrymandered maps, the Supreme Court noted that California’s maps, like Texas’s, were drawn for lawful reasons,” Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement. “That should be the beginning and the end of this Republican effort to silence the voters of California.”

In Texas, GOP leaders drew up new congressional district lines after President Trump openly pressed them to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. A federal court blocked the map, finding racial considerations likely made the Texas map unconstitutional. But a few days later the Supreme Court granted Texas’ request to pause that ruling, signaling they view the Texas case, and this one in California, as part of a national politically-motivated redistricting battle.

“The impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California),” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. argued, “was partisan advantage pure and simple.”

The fact that the Supreme Court order and Alito’s concurrence in the Texas case went out of their way to mention California is not a good sign for California Republicans, said Richard L. Hasen, professor of law and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law.

“It’s hard to prove racial predominance in drawing a map — that race predominated over partisanship or other traditional districting principles,” Hasen said. “Trying to get a preliminary injunction, there’s a higher burden now, because it would be changing things closer to the election, and the Supreme Court signaled in that Texas ruling that courts should be wary of making changes.”

Many legal scholars argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Texas case means California will likely keep its new map.

“It was really hard before the Texas case to make a racial gerrymandering claim like the plaintiffs were stating, and it’s only gotten harder in the last two weeks,” said Justin Levitt, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University.

Hours after Californians voted in favor of Prop. 50 on Nov. 4, Assemblymember David J. Tangipa (R-Fresno) and the California Republican Party filed a lawsuit alleging that the map enacted in Prop. 50 for California’s congressional districts is designed to favor Latino voters over others.

The Department of Justice also filed a complaint in the case, arguing the new congressional map uses race as a proxy for politics and manipulated district lines “in the name of bolstering the voting power of Hispanic Californians because of their race.”

Mitchell, the redistricting expert who drew up the maps, is likely to be a key figure in this week’s battle. In the days leading up to the hearing, attorneys sparred over whether Mitchell would testify and whether he should turn over his email correspondence with legislators. Mitchell’s attorneys argued he had legislative privilege.

Attorneys for the GOP have seized on public comments made by Mitchell that the “number one thing” he started thinking about” was “drawing a replacement Latino majority/minority district in the middle of Los Angeles” and the “first thing” he and his team did was “reverse” the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s earlier decision to eliminate a Latino district from L.A.

Some legal experts, however, say that is not, in itself, a problem.

“What [Mitchell] said was, essentially, ‘I paid attention to race,’” Levitt said. “But there’s nothing under existing law that’s wrong with that. The problem comes when you pay too much attention to race at the exclusion of all of the other redistricting factors.”

Other legal experts argue that what matters is not the intent of Mitchell or California legislators, but the California voters who passed Prop. 50.

“Regardless of what Paul Mitchell or legislative leaders thought, they were just making a proposal to the voters,” said Hasen, who filed an amicus brief in support of the state. “So it’s really the voters’ intent that matters. And if you look at what was actually presented to the voters in the ballot pamphlet, there was virtually nothing about race there.”

American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey will perform at the opening ceremony of next year’s Winter Olympics.

The five-time Grammy award-winner will be one of the “leading performers” for the event at Milan’s San Siro stadium – the home of football clubs Inter and AC Milan – on Friday, 6 February.

The Games in Milan and Cortina run from 6-22 February.

Athletes will be able to participate in the ceremony from other venues in Milan, Cortina, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme.

Carey, 56, has headlined major sporting events in the past, having sung the USA’s national anthem before the NFL’s Super Bowl in 2002 and at the NBA All-Star game in 2003, and performed her own song at the 2020 US Open women’s tennis final.

She will be following in the footsteps of Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, who both performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Dec. 15 (UPI) — Spotify said Monday an unknown glitch hampered service for thousands of users of the music streamer.

The streaming platform Spotify experienced a brief disruption to its services in the morning hours, according to updates on social media.

“All clear! Thanks for your patience,” Spotify Status posted on X at 10:34 a.m. local time.

Spotify first acknowledged the issue around 9:45 a.m. local time. But the cause remains unclear.

“We’re aware of some issues right now and are checking them out!” officials wrote in the morning.

At one point, Downdetector showed more than 10,000 reports on the issue.

The company followed up roughly an hour later confirming the outage had been resolved by 10:34 a.m. local time.

In May, Spotify announced that Apple had approved its app update following a federal court ruling that found the tech giant in violation of an earlier injunction.

Meanwhile, Spotify said Monday if users still experience issues they can find out more on a community support thread page it posted.

This week is shaping up to be crucial for the European Union’s policy on Ukraine. EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday; EU heads of state will gather on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting United States envoy Steve Witkoff. At the top of the agenda is the peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump and continuing funding for Ukraine’s war effort.

The European strategy so far has been to alter the US-proposed peace plan in such a way that it becomes completely unacceptable to Russia. This, as European leaders hope, will reinforce the core narrative emanating from their capitals over the past two months – that Russian President Vladimir Putin is just playing games and doesn’t really want peace.

The idea behind it is to try to sway Trump to their side and have him apply additional military and economic pressure on the Kremlin rather than pressing Ukraine into signing an unsavoury peace deal right away. But this effort could easily backfire.

The main practical issue with regards to Ukraine’s capacity to withstand Russian aggression during 2026 is who is going to fund its army as well as its state and social welfare system. Trump proudly states that the US is no longer financing Ukraine’s war effort because, in his parlance, it is “Biden’s war” – ie, his predecessor Joe Biden is to blame.

The burden of funding is now squarely on Europe – the EU and rich non-EU countries, such as the United Kingdom and Norway. The US keeps providing weapons to Ukraine, but these are being paid for with money from European coffers. US intelligence support, crucial in Ukraine’s war planning, is currently available to Kyiv for free.

European leaders have been vocal and aggressive throughout the year in rejecting any realistic compromise that could end the war. But even as 2025 is ending, there is no clarity as to how they are going to back up their jingoistic rhetoric with sufficient funding that would allow Ukraine not just to stay afloat but tip the balance in the conflict in its favour.

Their plan A is what they call the reparations loan. It envisages using the assets of the Russian Central Bank frozen by European banks to fund the Ukrainian defence. This means that rather than spending the money on actual reparations – as in Ukraine’s post-war restoration – it would be spent on the war itself.

The thinking behind this plan is that once Russia suffers a strategic defeat, it would retroactively agree to the confiscation rather than demand its money back, so European governments would not have to reach into their coffers to return the money to the Russians.

The obvious problem here is that exactly nobody – except war cheerleaders who have been promising Russia’s defeat for the past four years – believes this outcome is even remotely realistic. Belgium, which holds the bulk of these assets, is equally sceptical, which is why it opposes this plan. It has been joined by a growing number of EU states, including the Czech Republic and Italy.

The other big problem is that Trump’s peace plan has radically different designs for the assets in question. It envisages using them as actual reparations, as in spending them on restoring Ukraine’s economy. Most crucially, Moscow has on numerous occasions signalled that it agrees with this part of the plan. It considers the money lost and wants to make sure neighbouring Ukraine does not turn into a failed state.

This means that if the reparations loan plan goes ahead, it would undermine the most attractive provision of Trump’s plan. If this happens, the US and the EU may find themselves more at odds with each other than they already are, and that would hardly sway Trump.

His administration has indicated on a number of occasions that it could walk out of the peace process if it is derailed, which means ending any help to Ukraine, be it with weapons or intelligence.

The reparations loan plan also comes with an enormous risk for the European economy. The confiscation of Russian assets would discourage any central bank in the world from keeping its money in Europe, meaning the European banking system stands to lose.

More importantly, this move cannot guarantee that Ukraine would be able to stop Russia’s slow but steady advancement. Securing funding for another year under the current circumstances basically means that more Ukrainian lives and territory will be lost in 2026.

This money cannot in effect counter the biggest threat to Ukraine and its neighbours right now: that of Russia precipitating a humanitarian catastrophe that could spill over into the region by devastating Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this winter. The latest blackout in Odesa when the whole city was left without water and heating in the middle of winter is a dark prelude of things to come.

All this warrants the question of why European leaders are acting the way they are now. Could their irrational radicalism be explained by their extensive political investment in delusional outcomes of this war that they have been selling to voters for the past four years? Or are they engaging in incessant moral posturing so as to avoid being scapegoated for the real outcome of the war?

There is probably a bit of both. But there is perhaps also an even more sinister motive, recently expressed by Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference: the idea that “as long as this war is being fought, … Europe is safe because the Ukrainians have successfully tied down this mighty Russian army.” In other words, there are some within the European political elite who perceive ending the war as being against European interests.

But regardless of what those on top think or are motivated by, the war fatigue in Europe is real. The rise of pro-Russia far-right groups in Germany and elsewhere, capitalising on the ruling elites’ shining ineptitude in handling the conflict with Russia, is a clear sign of that.

If the reparations loan scheme does not pass this week, the EU would have to go to plan B, which envisages loaning money from the EU budget. That, of course, would be met with fierce opposition from the European public.

The failure to secure funding for Ukraine may be seen as an embarrassing failure in Europe, but it would make things easier for Zelenskyy. With his administration losing popularity amid continuing military upsets and a major corruption scandal, Ukraine’s president is well on his way to becoming the chief scapegoat in this debacle.

But no more funding from Europe would allow him to declare that the West has betrayed Ukraine and proceed with the inevitable: accepting an unsavoury peace largely on Russia’s terms.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

PREGNANT The Saturdays singer Vanessa White has wed her fiancé in a stylish London ceremony.

Vanessa looked stunning as she posed with her husband hunky model and musician Emmanuel Lawal.

The Saturdays singer confirmed the news on social media alongside some gorgeous snaps of her wedding.

Vanessa looked stunning in a white gown with lace insets as she showed off her baby bump, as Emmanuel looked stylish in a dark suit and white shirt.

The series of snaps showed the couple signing the wedding register, smiling in their car and holding hands together.

A sweet snap of Vanessa feeding her new husband as they sat in the restaurant was particularly beautiful.

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After the ceremony, the loved up couple headed to Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal for dinner.

Vanessa said: “We wanted it to feel like a long date.”

The couple travelled all day in a flying spur from Bentley Motors which saved Emmanuel from having to find a parking space near Regent Street.

The Chef closed the restaurant for them to use exclusively with endless courses arriving.

“We were there for hours,” the couple said. “We didn’t get home until 11pm.”

Vanessa captioned the images: “The Lawal’s such an honour for us to share our special day with @britishvogue.

“A few thank you’s. @bentleymotors, what a dream family you have been to us over the many years. @mytheresa.com@mytheresa.men you made us feel GREAT!

“My husband designed my engagement ring and surprised me with bespoke bands from @sholabranson… yeah.

“@christianlouboutin they will NEVER leave our wardrobes. @alexdillingcaferoyal@adills1 you my friend are a legend. Mind blown. Delicious. Hospitality we will never forget.

“15+ years with my darling talented friend @kom_makeup. adore you.

“And to the magician @georgewilliamvicary who you actually never notice taking any photo’s until you see them. Thank you for capturing life long memories in the moment.”

As one fifth of the band The Saturdays, Vanessa shot to fame in 2008 with her fellow girl pals Mollie King, Frankie Bridge, Una Healy and Rochelle Humes.

After the group split in 2014, Vanessa appeared on I’m A Celebrity in Australia and was the fourth celeb to be evicted from the jungle.

She’s now a model and influencer and regularly shows off her stunning stylish looks online.

Vanessa revealed only last month that she was pregnant and engaged.

The singer showed off her large bare bump in a series of stunning snaps on Instagram.

She wore a white vest top rolled up to show off her tum and blue jogging bottoms, and there was a noticeable sparkling ring on her engagement finger.

Vanessa wrote: “there’s a V and E in love.”

Vanessa keeps her personal life largely private on social media, but last year she rekindled her romance with her new husband, Emmanuel.

He is one half of production duo AUDIOCOMINGSOON with fellow fashionista Ashton Gohil.

The talented twosome have performed at prestigious events including Samuel L. Jackson’s One For The Boys Fundraiser and a Louboutin collection launch.

LA28 announced the next step in its ticketing plan for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Monday as ticket registration will open on Jan. 14.

Fans can start registering for tickets on Jan. 14 at la28.org, and the registration will remain open until March 18. All who sign up will be entered into a random draw to receive a time slot to purchase tickets. While registering, fans will enter their zip codes, and those who live in the Los Angeles and Oklahoma City areas near venues will be eligible to access the first time slots reserved for locals.

“The goal there is to make sure that we’re getting tickets into the hands, not just the fans, but of the local fans,” said Allison Katz-Mayfield, LA28’s senior vice president of Games delivery revenue. “Those that are going to be closest to the Games, really helping us host these Games in some ways.”

The 2028 Olympics will feature the largest Games schedule in history, with 36 sports and 11,198 athletes. The majority of the Games will be held in L.A., including major sports zones in downtown, Exposition Park and the Sepulveda Basin, but cities including Carson, Inglewood and Long Beach will also have multiple venues. Oklahoma City will host the softball and canoe slalom events at existing facilities.

LA28 is still finalizing the duration of each purchasing window, although the plan is to have multiple opportunities per day, so fans would be assigned time slots that are open for several hours. Tickets for a variety of events will be available during each drop in 2026, with single-event tickets beginning at $28. When tickets for the Paralympics go on sale in 2027, the system will be similar and fans will not have to re-register their interest.

While the Olympics will be back in L.A. for the third time in 2028, it will be the first time the city is hosting the Paralympics.

LA28 plans to release 14 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics. The total would be a Games record, eclipsing the 12 million sold in Paris, where ticket sales began almost a year after the timeline LA28 is currently using. The Paris Games that opened in July 2024 did not begin ticket registration until November 2022, 20 months before the event.

Fans will have two-and-a-half years to register and purchase tickets before L.A. opens the Olympics on July 14, 2028.