Jan. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump late Thursday announced he withdrew Canada’s invitation to join the U.S.-led Board of Peace, as relations between the longtime allies continue to deteriorate during his second term.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump said in a statement posted to his Truth Social media platform.

The note was addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Trump formally launched the Board of Peace initiative earlier Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. More than 50 world leaders reportedly received invitations, with about 25 joining the board, though additional countries are expected to follow.

The board was initially conceived to aid in the peace process in Gaza, though questions over whether it has larger ambitions have been raised by the absence of mention of the Palestinian enclave in its charter. Controversy also swirls over those who have been invited to join, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Tensions between Trump and Carney spiked during Davos, beginning with Carney giving a 16-minute special address that attracted international attention for emphasizing that the era of a rules-based international order was coming to an end and was being replaced by a world of “great power rivalry” where “the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.”

Carney said that Canada was among the first nations to “hear the wake-up call” that the old world was over and began to shift its strategic posture, and called on middle powers to come together, “because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

Trump, speaking at Davos on Wednesday, hit back at Carney, accusing him of being ungrateful.

“They should be grateful to U.S., Canada. Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said.

“Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Carney then responded in a speech on Thursday.

“Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” he said.

“We choose to build a bright future worthy of the ground on which we stand. We choose Canada.”

Trump issued his statement hours later.

Canada and the United States have seen their relationship sour amid the second Trump administration.

Trump’s threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st state and his imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods, which ignited a trade war, prompted Carney to foster relations with Europe and other nations while distancing itself from the United States.

Carney has previously said that Trump’s stance toward Ottawa is a “betrayal” and his tariffs a “direct attack” on Canada, and has repeatedly signaled that he will seek to lessen Canada’s dependency on Washington.

Canada had indicated a willingness to join, but said it would not pay the $1 billion Trump is requesting as a fee.

While many so-called middle powers have joined the board, notable U.S. allies and Western nations, including France, Britain and Germany, have either declined to join or are uncommitted.

Israel is no longer concealing its intention to forcibly displace Palestinians from their homeland, as it now announces this plan more openly than ever before through official rhetoric at the highest levels, said Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor in a report issued today.

Through actions on the ground and institutional measures designed to reframe the crime as “voluntary migration”, explained Euro-Med Monitor, Israel has attempted to implement its displacement campaign by exploiting the international community’s near-total silence, which has enabled the continuation of the crime and Israeli impunity despite the unprecedented nature of humanity’s first livestreamed genocide.

“Israel is now attempting to carry out the final phase of its crime, and its original goal: the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine, specifically from the Gaza Strip. For a year and a half, Israel has carried out acts of genocide, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people, erasing entire cities, dismantling the Strip’s infrastructure, and systematically displacing its population within the enclave. These actions aim to eliminate the Palestinian people as a community and as a collective presence.”

The current plans for forced displacement, said the Geneva-based rights group, are a direct extension of Israel’s long-standing, settler-colonial project, aimed at erasing Palestinian existence and seizing land. What distinguishes this stage, it added, is its unprecedented scale and brutality.

“Israel is targeting over two million people who have endured a full-scale genocide and have been stripped of even the most basic human rights, under coercive, inhumane conditions that make living any sort of a normal life impossible. Israel’s deliberate objective is to pressure Palestinians into leaving by making it their only means of survival.”

Having succeeded in revealing the weak principles of international law, such as protections for civilians based on their perceived racial superiority or lack thereof, Israel is now reshaping the narrative once again.

READ: Gaza reaches WHO’s most critical malnutrition level amid Israeli blockade

“Armed with overwhelming force and emboldened by the international community’s abandonment of legal and moral responsibilities, Israel seeks to portray the mass expulsion of Palestinians as ‘voluntary migration’,” said the group. “This is a blatant attempt to rebrand ethnic cleansing and forced displacement using dishonest language — like ‘humanitarian considerations’ and ‘individual choice’ — and is a direct contradiction of legal facts and the reality on the ground.”

Euro-Med Monitor emphasised that forced displacement is a standalone crime under international law, because it involves the removal of individuals from areas where they legally reside, using force, threats, or other forms of coercion, without valid legal justification.

“Coercion, in the context of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, goes beyond military force. It includes the creation of unbearable conditions that render remaining in one’s home practically impossible or life-threatening.” A coercive environment includes fear of violence, persecution, arrest, intimidation, starvation or other forms of hardship that strip individuals of free will and force them to flee.

“Israel has already committed the crime of forced displacement against Gaza’s population, having driven them into internal displacement without legal grounds and in conditions that violate international legal exceptions, which only permit evacuation temporarily and under imperative military necessity, while ensuring safe areas with minimum standards of human dignity,” said Lima Bustami, Director of Euro-Med Monitor’s Legal Department.

“None of these standards have been met. In fact, Israel has used this widespread and repeated pattern of displacement as a tool of genocide, aimed at destroying and subjecting the population to deadly living conditions.”

Bustami added that although the legal elements of the crime are already fulfilled, Israel is further escalating it to a more lethal level against the Palestinian people, manifesting its settler-colonial vision of expulsion and replacement. “Now it is attempting to market the second phase of forced displacement — beyond Gaza’s borders — as ‘voluntary migration’: a transparent deception that only a complicit international community — one that chooses silence over accountability — would accept.”

Today, the people of the Gaza Strip endure catastrophic conditions that are unprecedented in recent history, said Euro-Med Monitor. “Israel has obliterated all forms of normal life; there is no electricity or infrastructure, and there are no homes, no essential services, no functioning healthcare or education systems, and no clean water services.”

Indeed, the group’s report notes that around 2.3 million Palestinians are confined to less than 34 per cent of the Strip’s 365 square kilometres. Approximately 66 per cent of the territory has been turned into so-called “buffer zones”, or areas that are completely off-limits to Palestinians and/or that have been forcibly depopulated through Israeli bombings and displacement orders. “Most of the population is now living in tattered tents amid the spread of famine, disease and epidemics and an accumulation of waste, conditions symptomatic of the near-complete collapse of the humanitarian system.”

Moreover, Israel continues to systematically block the entry of food, medicine and fuel; destroy all remaining means of survival; and obstruct any efforts aimed at reconstruction or restoring even the minimum conditions for a healthy life.

“These conditions in place are not the result of a natural disaster,” the Euro-Med report says pointedly. “They have been deliberately engineered by Israel as a coercive tool to pressure the population into leaving the Gaza Strip. The absence of any genuine, voluntary alternative for Palestinians in the enclave renders this situation a textbook case of forcible transfer, as defined under international law and affirmed by relevant jurisprudence.”

READ: Israel advocate says, ‘I’m OK with as many dead kids as it takes’

According to Bustami, “While population transfers may be permitted in certain humanitarian contexts under international law, any such justification collapses if the humanitarian crisis is the direct consequence of unlawful acts committed by the same party enforcing the transfer. It is impermissible to use forced displacement as a response to a disaster one has created, a principle clearly upheld by international tribunals, particularly the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.”

Framing this imposed reality as a “voluntary” migration and an option not only constitutes a gross distortion of truth, said Euro-Med Monitor, but also undermines the legal foundations of the international system, erodes the principle of accountability, and transforms impunity from a failure of justice into a deliberate mechanism for perpetuating grave crimes and entrenching the outcomes of such crimes.

“Repeated public statements from the highest levels of Israel’s political and security leadership have escalated in intensity over the past year and a half, and expose a clear, coordinated intent to displace the population of the Gaza Strip. In a blatant bid to enforce a demographic transformation serving Israel’s colonial-settler agenda, senior Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — have publicly called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the Strip and for the settlement of Jewish Israelis in their place.”

Netanyahu expressed full support in February 2025 for US President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip, describing it as “the only viable solution for enabling a different future” for the region. Likewise, Smotrich announced in March that the Israeli government would back the establishment of a new “migration authority” to coordinate what he termed a “massive logistical operation” to remove Palestinians from the Strip.

Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, has openly advocated for the encouragement of “voluntary migration” coupled with calls to resettle Jewish Israelis in the territory.

The human rights organisation referred to the 23 March decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet to establish a dedicated directorate within the Ministry of Defence, to manage what it calls the “voluntary relocation” of the Gaza Strip’s residents to third countries. “This is evidence that this displacement is not a by-product of destruction or political rhetoric, but an official policy,” it noted. “This policy is being implemented through institutional mechanisms, directed from within Israel’s own security apparatus, with full operational powers, executive structures, and strategic goals.”

READ: Israel bombing kills 4-year-old twin girls as they slept in Gaza

Furthermore, current Defence Minister Israel Katz’s statement on the new directorate confirmed that it would “prepare for and enable safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents for their voluntary departure to third countries, including securing movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries.”

The true danger of establishing such a directorate, said Euro-Med Monitor, lies not only in its institutionalisation of forced transfer, but in the new legal and political reality it seeks to impose. “It rebrands displacement as an ‘optional’ administrative service while stripping civilians of their ability to make free, informed decisions, therefore cloaking a war crime in a veneer of bureaucratic legitimacy.”

Any departure from the Gaza Strip under current circumstances cannot be considered “voluntary”, it added, but rather constitutes, in legal terms, forcible transfer, which is strictly prohibited under international law. “All individuals compelled to leave the Strip retain their inalienable right to return to their land and property immediately and unconditionally. They also have the full right to seek compensation for all damages and losses incurred as a result of Israeli crimes and rights violations, including the destruction of homes and property, physical and psychological harm, the assault on human dignity, and the denial of livelihood and basic rights.”

Under its obligations as an occupying power responsible for the protection of the civilian population, Israel is prohibited from forcibly transferring Palestinians and bears full legal responsibility to ensure their protection from this crime.

The rules of international law, particularly customary international law and the Geneva Conventions, require all states not to recognise any situation arising from the crime of forcible transfer and to treat it as null and void. States are also obligated to withhold all material, political and diplomatic support that would contribute to the entrenchment of such a situation.

“International responsibility goes beyond mere non-recognition,” said the rights group. “It includes a legal duty for states to take urgent effective steps to halt the crime, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide redress to victims. This includes ensuring the safe, voluntary return of all displaced persons from the Gaza Strip, and providing full reparations for the harm and violations they have suffered. Any failure to act in this regard constitutes a direct breach of international law and complicity that could subject states to legal accountability.”

READ: Israeli air strike hits Gaza children’s hospital

Euro-Med Monitor said that the international community must move beyond deafening silence and abandon paltry rhetorical condemnations, which have come to represent the maximum response it dares to make in the face of the livestreamed genocide unfolding before its eyes. “It must act swiftly and effectively to halt Israel’s ongoing project of mass displacement in the Gaza Strip and prevent it from becoming an entrenched reality. This action must be based on international legal norms, a commitment to justice and accountability, and an honest reckoning with the root structural cause of the crimes: Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 1967.”

Endorsing or remaining silent about Israeli plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip not only exonerates Israel but rewards it for its illegal conduct by granting it gains secured through mass killing, destruction, blockade, and starvation, said the organisation. “This is not just a series of war crimes or crimes against humanity, it embodies the legal definition of genocide, as established by the 1948 Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

All states, individually and collectively, must uphold their legal obligations and take all necessary measures to halt Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.

This includes taking immediate, effective steps to protect Palestinian civilians and to prevent the implementation of the US-Israeli crime of forcible transfer that is openly threatening the Strip’s population.

“The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and grave violations of international law. This includes halting arms imports and exports; ending all forms of political, financial and military support; freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians; imposing travel bans; and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that offer Israel economic advantages that sustain its capacity to commit further crimes.”

The rights group insisted that states must also hold complicit governments accountable — chief among them the United States — for their role in enabling Israeli crimes through various forms of support, including military and intelligence cooperation, financial aid and political or legal backing.

“The ethnic cleansing and genocide taking place right now in the Gaza Strip would not be possible without Israel’s decades-long unlawful colonial presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This is the root structural cause of the violence, oppression, and destruction in the besieged enclave,” concluded Euro-Med Monitor. “Any meaningful response to the escalating crisis in the Strip must begin with dismantling this colonial reality, recognising the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, and securing their freedom and sovereignty over their national territory.

“As Israel and its allies must be compelled to abide by the law, international intervention is the only path to ending the genocide, halting all forms of individual and collective forcible transfer, dismantling the apartheid regime, and establishing a credible framework for justice, accountability, and the preservation of human dignity.”

OPINION: Palestinian voices are throttled by the promotion of foreign agendas

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and Celebrity Traitors champion Alan Carr have been renovating a dilapidated property in Corfu on Amanda and Alan’s Greek Job

Amanda Holden’s husband gets “jealous” of her relationship with Alan Carr as she admits “cutting him out”. Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda has been married to music producer Chris Hughes since 2008.

The happy couple, who share daughters Lexi, 19, and 13-year-old Hollie together, first met in Los Angeles in 2003. The pair struck up a romance a year later and have remained together ever since.

However Amanda, 54, says Chris can sometimes find himself feeling jealous of her friendship with comedian Alan, 49. It comes as the pair have formed a close bond while filming their home renovation and travel series together.

Celebrity Traitors champion Alan even spent New Year’s Eve around Amanda’s house. On the Table Manners podcast, host Lennie Ware asked: “Does Chris get a bit jealous?” To which Amanda replied: “He did mention it a couple of times.”

Alan continued: “There was a funny moment we had last Christmas. We didn’t spend New Year’s Eve together but we did spend that bit in between and we were going through Covent Garden with her family and there was that gorgeous Christmas tree.

“She went, ‘Oh, let’s have a photo’, and she threw the camera at Chris and me and here were like this [poses] with her children. He’s got such a good sense of humour.”

Amanda went on to praise her husband as being the “funniest man alive,” before Alan recalled a humorous anecdote from their new year’s celebrations. He said: “We did a photo at New Year’s Eve where she deliberately cut him out. We’re holding hands and I know.

To which Amanda interjected: “And you could just see Chris’s shoulder in the side of it. I was like, ‘Me and my husband’. Oh, whoops.”

Amanda and Alan have been working closely together in recent years. Their first series, Amanda and Alan’s Italian Job saw the pair buying a property in Sicily for a Euro before renovating and selling it on.

The completed property, situated in the picturesque town of Salemi, was marketed for slightly over £125,000 last year, with sale profits divided between Children in Need and Comic Relief. Subsequent series featured makeovers in northern Tuscany, Italy, and Andalusia, Spain.

Their most recent series has taken the pair to Corfu for Alan and Amanda’s Greek Job. Amanda previously revealed they wanted to visit the area because she enjoys visiting with husband Chris Hughes and their daughters Hollie and Lexi.

She said: “As a country we love it, I holiday there every year, Alan and I have holidayed there. We were fantasizing, saying oh, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do a show in Greece… we never actually thought it would be a reality!”

Amanda and Alan’s Greek Job will return to BBC One at 7.30pm tonight

When the Lakers and Clippers faced each other at Intuit Dome on Dec. 20, both teams were struggling. After that game, they began to move in opposite directions.

The Lakers were 19-7 before that game and the Clippers stood at 6-21. Since the Clippers’ win that night, they’ve gone 14-3 — and the Lakers are 7-10.

The Lakers continued their tailspin Thursday, falling into a 26-point hole they were unable to climb completely out of in a 112-104 loss to the Clippers, losing for the sixth time in nine games.

Luka Doncic nearly had a triple-double with 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Lakers’ modest two-game win streak. LeBron James finished with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Clippers forward John Collins dunks during the first half Thursday against the Lakers.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Clippers won for the seventh time in eight games behind seven players scoring in double figures.

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points, giving him a career-best 23 consecutive games with 20 points or more. James Harden had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Ivica Zubac had 18 points and 19 rebounds.

The Lakers were down 26 in the third quarter, but trimmed it to 86-72 at the end of the quarter and then to 93-91 in the fourth on a three-pointer by Doncic and by playing defense like it mattered.

The Lakers kept clawing back, getting to within 105-102 on a three-point play by James, but they couldn’t stop the Clippers from closing out.

Even with Deandre Ayton back after missing the second half against Denver on Tuesday because of a left eye injury, the Lakers still lost to the Clippers for the second straight time. Ayton, who wore goggles during the game, had four points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.

Leonard had been listed as questionable before the game with left knee contusion. He had missed three games with the injury, but Lakers coach JJ Redick was confident before the game the Clippers star would play.

“We assume everybody’s going to play against the Lakers,” Redick said. “(It’s) backed by statistical data. We talked about this last year.”

And Leonard made his presence felt, drilling a three-pointer to give the Clippers a 72-49 lead in the third, prompting Redick to call a timeout.

Leonard, Harden and Zubac are a big reason why the Clippers have won 14 of their last 17 games.

“It was just being positive with our guys every step of the way,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “I think that bled over to just coming together, understanding that first game against the Lakers (the Clippers won in December) and it was kind of like we could exhale then. Now we can start playing better basketball and we’ve been able to do that.”

Etc.

Austin Reaves, who has missed 14 games with a calf injury, played in some three-on-three “stay-ready” games in practice, Redick said. “He’s looked great,” Redick said. “He’s progressed really well. And the last couple live exposures, he’s looked like Austin. So we’re hopeful he’s back soon.”

Jan. 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Coast Guard did not execute 22.7 billion won ($17.5 million) in project funds by year-end 2025, according to data submitted to the National Assembly, raising questions over whether budget execution and fund allocation were properly managed.

The figures, obtained by opposition People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-ho, show the Coast Guard carried over 22.73431 billion won ($17.5 million) in project funds as of Dec. 31, 2025. The projects include spending tied to maintenance depot operations, vessel construction and establishment of Vessel Traffic Service centers.

More than 45 of 56 projects were classified as “contract period not yet expired,” the data showed. The Coast Guard has said payments could not be made because work was not completed. However, some observers said that under annual project structures that can include advance and progress payments, at least part of the funding could have been disbursed by the end of the year.

The Coast Guard rejected the “unpaid” characterization, saying the issue stems from contracts still being in effect rather than overdue payments. It also said the situation differs from cases involving the Defense Ministry where payments were reportedly not made even after completion and invoicing.

Still, the Coast Guard’s explanations appeared inconsistent. In a call with this publication, a Coast Guard spokesperson described a system that includes advance payments and interim payments with execution tied to project progress. The following day, the Coast Guard emphasized a typical “80% advance payment and 20% final payment” structure and said some contracts are paid in full after completion, without clearly addressing whether the 22.7 billion won figure reflected interim payments or final payments.

Asked whether the amount involved interim or final payments, a Coast Guard official said the agency would need to review individual projects, signaling further verification is required.

A political source said even official documents submitted to the National Assembly contain inconsistent descriptions of the execution structure and called for a parliamentary review of the Finance Ministry’s overall fund allocation and execution management.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, who soon will begin winding down his two-decade tenure leading the company, collected $45.8 million in compensation last year — an 11% bump from the prior year.

In 2024, Iger was paid $41 million in compensation.

Disney released its corporate executive compensation packages Thursday, as the board prepares for its high-wire act of picking a new leader to replace Iger, whose contract ends in December.

“Management succession planning remains a top priority for the board, reflecting its importance to business continuity and long-term shareholder value,” Disney Chairman James Gorman wrote in a letter to shareholders. He noted the board’s succession committee has been evaluating the various candidates and that the full board would soon determine who will become the next CEO.

Four internal candidates have been vying for the job, including the parks boss, Josh D’Amaro, top television and streaming executive Dana Walden, movie studio head Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.

Unlike six years ago when the board made its last CEO switch, Disney’s board tightened up the succession process by establishing a dedicated committee headed by Gorman, the former head of investment bank Morgan Stanley.

The group also includes General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Lululemon Athletica CEO Calvin McDonald and Jeremy Darroch, the former head of Sky broadcasting in Britain. “Each internal candidate is going through a rigorous preparation process, including mentorship from Mr. Iger, external coaching and engagement with all directors,” Disney said in its proxy.

Disney said it will hold a virtual shareholder meeting March 18. Investors will be asked to vote on several shareholder-inspired measures, including proposals on the company’s climate commitments and disability accommodations in its theme parks.

The conservative National Center for Public Policy Research has introduced a proposal that would require Disney to issue a report detailing its return on investment for its climate commitments. The think tank argues that shareholders need more information to judge whether the company’s public promises to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions is in their best financial interest.

Disney has encouraged shareholders to vote no on this proposal, saying its approach to environmental sustainability is “grounded in science” and already disclosed publicly. The company said a new report, such as the one urged by the proposal, would fall outside financial disclosure requirements.

Shareholders will also weigh in on a proposal that would push Disney to conduct a third-party assessment of its accessibility and disability inclusion practices.

The proposal, which was submitted by shareholder Erik G. Paul, comes as Disney has received criticism over disability access policies at its theme parks.

Disney urged shareholders to vote no on this measure, saying the company is “committed to the design and implementation of innovative and effective services that accommodate persons with disabilities and already reviews its practices on an ongoing basis.”

The company also said it already provides “detailed” information online and in-person in the parks about its disability access policies, which can include no waiting in standby lines for visitors who require that option, as well as a “broad range” of accommodations.

A new board member — Apple’s former chief operating officer Jeff Williams — is expected to join the board at the March meeting.

Iger’s base salary was $1 million. He received $21 million in stock awards, $14 million in options and a $7.25 million executive bonus.

Disney also paid more than $568,000 for Iger’s personal air travel expenses, as well as $1.8 million in security costs. The company said its CEO is required to use a corporate aircraft for personal travel due to security reasons.

The Burbank media and entertainment company said Iger was rewarded for Disney’s strong theatrical performance in the last year, including billion-dollar blockbusters “Moana 2,” which was released in 2024 but reached that milestone last year due to strong carryover at the box office, as well as the live-action adaptation of “Lilo & Stitch.”

The company also cited Iger’s role in successfully closing Disney’s acquisition of Hulu through contentious arbitration proceedings with Comcast, which Disney said bolstered the streaming platform’s presence globally.

Iger also supervised the launch of the direct-to-consumer ESPN Unlimited app and theme park milestones, including Disneyland’s 70th anniversary and the opening of new attractions like Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride, which Disney said “aim to better position our parks for the future.”

Succession has become a front-burner issue for the company.

The board said it has provided contract extensions to four of Iger’s top lieutenants “in order to retain our key senior leadership to promote a successful CEO succession process.” Those executives are Chief Financial Officer Hugh F. Johnston, Chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez, Chief People Officer Sonia L. Coleman and Chief Communications Officer Kristina K. Schake.

Johnston received a package valued at $20.2 million; Gutierrez was paid $16.3 million; Coleman received $7.4 million and Schake was awarded $6.2 million in compensation.

After Hatate’s dismissal in the 34th minute, it was a backs-to-the-wall Celtic performance, with Trusty’s back-post tap-in a rare venture into Bologna territory.

Attack after attack was repelled by the Celtic backline as Trusty and Liam Scales stood up to the Bologna onslaught.

The hosts dominated possession, pinned Celtic in their own half and had 63 touches in the Celtic box.

And yet, the stubborn defence was undone frustratingly easily as Dallinga’s header went through Schmeichel from close range and the Denmark veteran was then rooted to the spot as Rowe’s powerful shot flew over his head.

“There will be a feeling of ‘what could have been?’ – and I think Schmeichel could do better for both goals,” former Scotland forward James McFadden said.

“So it will be mixed emotions.”

O’Neill questioned whether Schmeichel was unsighted for Rowe’s leveller, but chose to focus on the efforts of his centre-backs in the valuable draw.

Trusty alone made 17 clearances and three interceptions, marshalling the depleted visitors to great effect.

“Trusty was magnificent, as he has been during my time here,” O’Neill said.

“I couldn’t give him higher praise, he was absolutely magnificent as were the team. Him and Scales have been great as a defensive two in the time I have been here and my expectation of them is quite high.

“Trusty epitomised the spirit of the team tonight. It was colossal and keeps us in the competition for at least one more week.”

Another former Celtic manager also praised the way they battled to a point.

“Brilliant character from the players,” Neil Lennon said. “You can see what it means to them.

“Auston Trusty and Liam Scales were immense. They had to defend so many crosses.

“It’s a massive point.”

Frank “The Stag Man”, who runs a travel agency that specialises in the parties, has often been an advocate for Benidorm in Spain, but now he believes a new destination is making waves

A travel agent claims resorts in Ibiza are set to overtake Benidorm’s title as the “hen and stag do” capital for Brits.

Frank “The Stag Man” has praised the Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea for its nightlife and value for money as a holiday destination. Frank, who runs a travel agency that specialises in the parties, said for years Benidorm on mainland Spain has been the favourite for his clients but that the tide is tipping.

The travel professional, from Tottenham, north London, stressed “the King is coming” — as Ibiza, he believes, is back on the map. The 55-year-old man said: “Times change, as does the world, and for Ibiza it’s become lost over the years… Now, I can make it the number one holiday destination for stag and hen parties once again. And even give Benidorm a run for its money.

“It’s my job to stop Benidorm, as well as Ibiza, from becoming ghost towns. I’ll give the islands another year and then I’ll make my move. Watch this space — the King is coming.”

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British holidaymakers represent the biggest market for the seaside town of Benidorm, with more than 832,000 of them flocking to the renowned Costa Blanca area in 2023 alone. Tourism exploded there following the decline of the fishing trade in the 1950s.

But tourists have cited crime, such as robberies and muggings, in reasons to deter them from repeat visits, looking for new options instead. One of these is Ibiza, which welcomed more than three million tourists from all countries in 2022, in part for its booming nightlife.

And Frank believes its popularity will continue — after a relative slump prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The travel expert continued: “You can still get cheap prices there too (like Benidorm). The resorts have stopped looking at what people want, focusing only on making money. [I get that] money makes the world go round — and people will pay for quality.

“There’s an increase in robberies and muggings (in Benidorm). If it wasn’t suffering from this massive crime issue, then it’d be doing so much better.”

Frank intends to exploit the boom in Ibiza, but will continue operating his multiple bars, travel agents and restaurants in Benidorm at the same time. These are across the municipality, which is within the province of Alicante, and largely cater to the Brits who holiday there.

Ibiza is the third largest of the Balearic Islands in area, but the second-largest by population. It has historically been associated with the electronic dance music club scene, but tourism bosses there have in recent years made efforts to promote family-orientated holidays.

Jan. 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Democratic Party split into competing camps Thursday after party leader Jeong Cheong-rae abruptly proposed a merger with the Rebuilding Korea Party, drawing praise from some lawmakers and backlash from others who said the move bypassed internal procedure.

Jeong announced the proposal at an emergency news conference at the National Assembly, saying the merger was needed to support President Lee Jae-myung’s administration and win the June 3 local elections.

Chief spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said the party had held prior discussions with the Rebuilding Korea Party and reached an understanding Wednesday afternoon on making the proposal public.

Critics inside the Democratic Party said there was no internal deliberation despite the scale of the decision.

Rep. Jang Cheol-min wrote on Facebook that even members of the party’s supreme council learned of the plan only about 20 minutes before the news conference, saying decisions that determine the party’s future should not be made through surprise announcements.

Rep. Kim Yong-min said the leader should not decide the issue alone. Supreme Council member Han Jun-ho and Rep. Mo Kyung-jong also stressed procedural legitimacy, saying the party should first confirm the will of its members.

Supporters framed the move as a step toward consolidating the progressive bloc. Rep. Park Ji-won said the party must take risks to secure victory, while Rep. Choi Min-hee said she welcomed the proposal as a way to build a stronger progressive force.

Cho Kuk, who leads the Rebuilding Korea Party, said Jeong’s proposal carried significant weight and that his party would gather views through its party affairs committee.

Presidential office spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said the office was monitoring developments as an issue for the National Assembly, adding there had been no prior discussion.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

The U.S. is continuing to build up its military presence in the Middle East ahead of a possible attack on Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln and its Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is now in the Indian Ocean, a U.S. Navy official told The War Zone on Thursday. The CSG was in the South China Sea until U.S. President Donald Trump ordered it moved west. In addition, more cargo jets and aerial refueling tankers have arrived in the region. Trump on Thursday said a large naval presence is heading to the region.

These movements come as Trump has threatened to strike Iran over its brutal treatment of anti-government protesters, which has resulted in thousands of deaths.

“We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon. “We have a big force going toward Iran. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely.”

“We have an armada,” Trump added after claiming he “stopped 837 hangings on Thursday…We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see.”

Aside from threatening to strike Iran, Trump on Jan. 13 also promised those taking to the streets that help was on its way.

However, he relented after being told the killings would stop and reportedly called off a strike against Iran last week. According to some accounts, Trump does not want to become involved in a protracted battle with Iran while still contemplating regime change. There are lingering concerns in Washington and Jerusalem about not having enough assets in the region to defend against an expected Iranian response, which in part led Israel to urge Trump to hold off any attack. This was also our analysis at the time.

Underlying theme: the admin is seriously thinking about regime change in Iran.

Issue they’re running into is how to make it happen without a protracted campaign. https://t.co/oEqVUq0aUd

— Gregory Brew (@gbrew24) January 22, 2026

The influx of additional assets to the region will give Trump a greater range of potential action, and allow for the ability to defend against an Iranian attack, whether in response to U.S. military actions or not.

“If Iranian leadership perceives that regime collapse is imminent, the expectation within this assessment is that Iran would escalate aggressively across multiple vectors,” the Times of Israel recently suggested in an opinion piece. “This would include attacks on American assets throughout the region, coordinated pressure against allies such as Israel, and actions designed to disrupt global energy flows. In particular, the Strait of Hormuz represents one of Iran’s most consequential pressure points. Energy agencies estimate that roughly 20 million barrels per day—about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption—transit the strait.”

All this depends on the state of Iran’s command and control at the time of such an operation, as well as many other factors. While the specter of major retaliations in the Strait of Hormuz have persisted for years, it did not come to fruition during the war with Israel in June. Still, operations that seek regime change could change this calculus.

As for U.S. force posture in the region, there remains a large number of unknowns, including the exact composition of U.S. forces that are already there and what role, if any, will be played by Israel and other U.S. allies if Trump moves forward with an attack. We do know that the U.S. already had a limited number of fighter aircraft at several bases throughout the Middle East, as well as three Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers and perhaps a submarine plying its waters, among other capabilities, prior to the protests.

Many additional assets have poured in since then, but it remains unclear at the moment whether the current force can support in terms of a sustained conflict and what will be added in the coming days or even weeks leading up to an operation. At the same time, an operation could begin any time, so the current picture is quite murky. Even a limited decapitation operation aimed at the regime would require a huge number of contingencies.

The Lincoln CSG, which appears to be several days away from arriving in the Arabian Sea, would boost U.S. striking power in the region. Its embarked CVW-9 Carrier Air Wing consists of eight squadrons flying F-35C Lightning II, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, CMV-22B Ospreys and MH-60R/S Sea Hawks. Its escorts, Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 bring a large number of missile tubes that could be used to strike Iran. These vessels could also be used in the defense of U.S. targets and those of its allies during a reprisal.

So far, there does not appear to have been a major influx of U.S. airpower. Low-resolution satellite imagery observed by The War Zone shows no large deployments to Diego Garcia, the Indian Ocean island where U.S. bombers have previously been staged amid rising tensions with Iran. However, online flight trackers are reporting that there have been flights of C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets to the region. These would be needed to move materiel and personnel. As we projected, the U.S. is sending additional Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems to the Middle East for increased protection from any Iranian attack, The Wall Street Journal reported.

As we previously mentioned, online flight trackers also noted that F-15E Strike Eagles, accompanied by KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling jets, headed east from RAF Lakenheath in England to the Middle East earlier this week.

The presence of Strike Eagles in the region, especially those coming from RAF Lakenheath, is in itself not new. These jets have maintained a steady presence at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan for nearly a decade, and their recent arrival in the Middle East was largely expected due to the current instability and saber-rattling. F-15Es played a key role in defending against multiple Iranian drone and cruise missile barrages on Israel and they are now more capable of that mission than ever. Beyond its offensive capabilities, if Iran were to launch a major attack on Israel and/or U.S. assets in the region, preemptive or in retaliation, the F-15Es would play a key part in defending against those attacks.

While these are significant additions to the standing force posture in the region, more fighter aircraft would be expected for a major operation against Iran. We have not seen evidence of those kinds of movements just yet, although some movements are not identified via open sources.

Beyond tactical combat aircraft in the region, the U.S. can fly bombers there from the continental United States, as was the case when B-2 Spirits attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer last June.

The U.K. is also sending tactical combat jets to the region.

“The Royal Air Force’s joint Typhoon squadron with Qatar, 12 Squadron, has deployed to the Gulf for defensive purposes, noting regional tensions as part of the UK-Qatar Defence Assurance Agreement, demonstrating the strong and enduring defence relationship between the U.K. and Qatar,” the U.K. Defense Ministry (MoD) announced on Thursday.

“12 Squadron has regularly deployed to Qatar to conduct joint training and share experiences which enhance national and regional security,” MoD added. “Recently, the RAF deployed on exercises such as EPIC SKIES and SOARING FALCON – further reinforcing the operational capability between our two nations.”

RAF Typhoon jets have deployed to Qatar in a defensive capacity.

The UK and Qatar have been close defence partners for decades. This deployment builds on that relationship, supporting regional stability and keeping us secure at home and strong abroad. pic.twitter.com/83FkaBPJng

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 22, 2026

Israel too remains at a high state of alert for an attack on or from its arch-enemy.

“It is my assessment that a strike will take place,” a high-ranking Israeli Defense Force (IDF) official told The War Zone. “The key variables – timing, method of execution, and the identity of participating forces, whether U.S. assets, the IDF, or additional coalition elements should they be involved, will be subject to strict and aggressive compartmentalization.”

“Likewise, the final decision to proceed with execution rests with a single individual alone,” the official added, referring to Trump.

As the U.S. and allies flow assets into the region and Israel stands at a heightened state of readiness, Iranian officials are ratcheting up their rhetoric.

On Thursday, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander General Mohammad Pakpour warned Israel and the United States “to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate.”

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief — a leader dearer than their own lives,” he added, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The IRGC also released a video showing the location of U.S. bases in the region. 

Iranian Revolutionary Guard media released a video warning the United States, showing the locations of U.S. military bases across the Middle East that are within range of Iranian missiles

🇺🇸🇮🇷‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/t2O2dAPWTO

— WW3 Monitor (@WW3_Monitor) January 22, 2026

Khamenei’s government is also claiming it has suppressed the nationwide unrest that began Dec. 28 over rising prices, devalued currency that saw the rial crater now to basically nothing, a devastating drought, and brutal government crackdowns.

“The sedition is over now,” said Mohammad Movahedi, Iran’s prosecutor general, according to the judiciary’s Mizan News agency. “And we must be grateful, as always, to the people who extinguished this sedition by being in the field in a timely manner.”

However, getting verifiable information out of Iran remains incredibly challenging as the regime has cut off internet and phone service, and it is possible that at least some protests are ongoing.

While there is no indication of any imminent fighting, the regional players are increasingly preparing for conflict. This remains a volatile situation we will continue to monitor it closely.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

TOMMY Fury has given fans a glimpse inside his daughter Bambi’s adorable third birthday celebrations, which included a party fit for a princess.

The boxer shares the tot with partner Molly-Mae Hague, who he reunited with last year following their shock 2024 split.

With Bambi set to turn three tomorrow, 23 January, the youngster has already marked the occasion with quite the bash.

Celebrating with a group of her young pals, the little one was adorably dressed in a pink dress as her fellow toddlers were welcomed into a soft play party by a massive balloon arch.

A number of pastel balloons were positioned around a display which read: “Bambi is as sweet as can three”.

Bambi was given a two-tier birthday cake with pink frosting, an iced “B” and ice cream cone decorations, as her dad Tommy lifted the youngster up to blow out three candles on the top in a sweet video.

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After she blew out the candles, boxer Tommy planted a kiss on Bambi’s cheek while the room cheered.

Guests snacked on pizza, sandwiches and iced cookies as they celebrated at Bambi’s favourite soft play spot.

They were also given goodie boxes which contained plush soft toys in the shape of donuts, cake slices and ice creams.

Molly-Mae’s sister, Zoe, also took to her Instagram Stories to mark the party day as she shared a picture of herself hugging Bambi before the bash.

“Birthday party for my favourite girl,” wrote the doting auntie.

While Molly-Mae is yet to mark her little girl’s celebrations on her social media, she will likely document the birthday on her Instagram.

Molly-Mae and Tommy welcomed Bambi back in 2023, four years after they met on Love Island.

Getting engaged when Bambi was just six months old, the pair appeared one of the show’s strongest ever pairings.

However, they shocked fans the following year when Molly-Mae announced they had split up.

It was later revealed that the split was caused by Tommy’s strained relationship with alcohol, something he took control of before restarting the relationship early last year.

Now, the family have reconciled in a newly-renovated Cheshire home, following months of living apart while rebuilding the relationship.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Kennedy Blair scored 21 points, and the No. 13 Michigan State women held off USC’s late surge for a 74-68 victory on Thursday night.

Michigan State opened the fourth quarter on a 13-5 run to stretch its lead to 66-54 with 5:15 remaining. Jazzy Davidson scored the last five points in a 10-0 run to help pull USC to 66-64 with 4:10 left before the Spartans sealed it from the free-throw line.

Kara Dunn scored 23 points and Davidson added 21 to lead USC (11-8 overall, 3-5 in the Big Ten). Kennedy Smith scored 15 points.

Blair shot eight of 15 from the field overall, made five of six free throws and had five steals. Grace VanSlooten scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Michigan State (18-2, 7-2), which rebounded from a 75-68 loss to then-No. 10 Iowa. Rashunda Jones scored 16 points and Ines Sotelo added 12 to go with seven rebounds for the Spartans.

Michigan State scored 25 points from 24 USC turnovers.

On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump made clear to other world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, that he was unflinching in his demand to acquire Greenland, even as he said for the first time that he did not plan for the US to take the land by force.

Trump, who talked up his tariff-based negotiation strategy, cited Greenland’s strategic position between the US, Russia and China as the main reason he wants to acquire the territory.

Retelling the US history with Greenland and Denmark, Trump said, during World War II, “we saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere”.

This much is accurate: After Germany invaded Denmark, the US assumed responsibility for Greenland’s defence and established a military presence on the island that remains today, albeit in diminished scope.

But Trump overstepped when he said, after World War II, “we gave Greenland back to Denmark”.

“All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago,” he said.

Although the US defended Greenland during World War II, it never possessed the nation, and so could not have given it back. Experts have told PolitiFact that Greenland’s status as part of Denmark is not in question, and has not been for more than a century.

Denmark’s colonisation of Greenland dates to the 1720s. In 1933, an international court settled a territorial dispute between Denmark and Norway, ruling that as of July 1931, Denmark “possessed a valid title to the sovereignty over all Greenland”.

After the 1945 approval of the United Nations Charter – the organisation’s founding document and the foundation of much of international law – Denmark incorporated Greenland through a constitutional amendment and gave it representation in the Danish Parliament in 1953. Denmark told the UN that any colonial-type status had ended; the UN General Assembly accepted this change in November 1954. The US was among the nations that voted to accept Greenland’s new status.

Since then, Greenland has, incrementally but consistently, moved towards greater autonomy.

Greenlandic political activists successfully pushed for and achieved home rule in 1979, which established its parliament. Today, Greenland is a district within the sovereign state of Denmark, with two elected representatives in Denmark’s Parliament.

What about Iceland?

Four times in the Davos speech, Trump referred to Iceland instead of Greenland.

“Our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland,” Trump said. “So Iceland has already cost us a lot of money, but that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up, and we have an unbelievable future.”

US markets reacted negatively to Trump’s Greenland comments the day before his Davos speech, falling about 2 percent in value.

But in recent weeks, Trump has said nothing about acquiring Iceland, an independent island nation with nearly 400,000 residents, located east of Greenland.

In an X post following Trump’s Davos address, the White House press secretary criticised a reporter for posting that Trump “appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland” several times. Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s “written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is”. Although Trump did call Greenland a “very big piece of ice”, he also separately mentioned “Iceland”.

Traditionally, Icelanders have maintained strong ties to the US, dating back to World War II, when Reykjavik invited US troops into the country. In 1949, Iceland became a founding member of NATO, and in 1951, the two countries signed a bilateral defence agreement that still stands.

Its location – between the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, a strategic naval choke point in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap – means that Iceland, despite its lack of a standing military, is geographically important for both North America and Europe.

In 2006, the US gave up its permanent troop presence at the Keflavík airbase – a 45-minute drive south of the capital, Reykjavik – but US troops still rotate through. Icelandic civilians now handle key NATO tasks such as submarine surveillance and operations at four radar sites on the nation’s periphery. Iceland also makes financial contributions to NATO trust funds and contributes a small number of technical and diplomatic personnel to NATO operations.

Trump’s pick for ambassador to Iceland, former Republican Congressman Billy Long, attracted criticism earlier this month when he was overheard saying Iceland should become a US state after Greenland, and that he would serve as governor.

Long apologised during an interview with Arctic Today.

“There was nothing serious about that. I was with some people, who I hadn’t met for three years, and they were kidding about Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland, and they started joking about me. And if anyone took offence to it, then I apologise,” Long told the publication. Trump has tapped Landry, Louisiana’s Republican governor, to be the US envoy to Greenland.

Silja Bara R Omarsdottir, an international affairs professor who now serves as rector, or president, of the University of Iceland, told the Tampa Bay Times in August that newfound attention to Iceland’s security, including concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the rest of Europe, is “definitely very noticeable at the political level”.

Multiple analysts in Iceland told the daily, only half-jokingly, that the key to surviving the Trump era has been to remain out of sight, something Greenland, for whatever reason, was unlucky enough not to be able to do.

“You could say Icelandic policy towards the US has been to try to keep under the radar,” said Pia Elisabeth Hansson, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland.

All That’s Left of You is a film missing from American screens until now. A moving production directed by Cherien Dabis, with Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo as executive producers, leaving the viewers in a state of trance long after the final credit has faded into darkness.

My first introduction to this movie came quietly, through a community post by someone who had watched it at San Diego’s Digital Gym Cinema. The message was simple: bring a box of tissues. Then came a text from a fellow writer in Florida, insistent and unmistakably shaken. “The theater was packed,” she told me. She didn’t say how much she cried, but she added something far more telling: her husband cried too, and he never cries.

“I’ve never seen anything this powerful,” she texted. “You have to write a review.” She even sent me the screening link in San Diego, as if daring me not to.

I hesitated. I have never written a film review before, and I knew watching this story in a theater, in public, would not be easy. I told her that KARAMA, an organization I’m associated with, would be screening the film during the San Diego Arab Film Festival in March. She wouldn’t let it go. “Write a review now,” she insisted. “People need to see this movie.”

There is always a first time, I thought. I relented and agreed to watch the film and write my first movie review. Thankfully, through KARAMA’s screening access, I watched it alone, in the stillness of my home office, where tears were free to drift, unpoliced.

All That’s Left of You is the cinema America has been missing, a film that turns away from spectacle and toward remembrance. The large screen becomes a space for lived experience, where memory lingers, mourns, and refuses to die.

What a movie? But it wasn’t a movie. It was the art of using a large screen to bear witness to a life lived. What made it unbearable, and unforgettable, was how intimately it reached into my own life. I was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp. I was no longer watching a film. I was remembering. I saw my mother’s tears. I saw my father’s weathered face, scanning the rain-soaked ground, trying to pitch a tent to shelter his wife, his seven-month-old baby, and his aging parents.

I saw displacement, not as an abstract political word, but as I lived it. My parents ethnically cleansed from home, from country, so someone who was oppressed in Europe could find safety and refuge in their home, claiming that a god had given them a deed of confiscation some 3000 years ago.

It became even more poignant as the saga unfolded scene by scene, my eyes flooded with tears. I had to hit the pause button several times, breathe deeply, and steady myself. The grief on the screen was not distant or symbolic. It was intimate, lived, and overwhelmingly familiar. I was taken back to the camp, to its alleys and schools, from flirting with classmates to resistance and political awareness. The camp was a repository of contradictions: a life of destitution, yet rich in love and community. Each scene felt like a reopening of wounds I had spent a lifetime trying to bury, memories layered with loss, fear, and an unrelenting sense of injustice.

What made it cut even deeper was the realisation that I had written extensively on untold stories of Palestinian displacement. I had co-authored two books with the fellow writer who texted me from Florida, a Jewish American author, where we chronicled a multi-generational family saga from Jafa, uprooted from their orange grove and reduced to existence in a tent. As I watched the film, the lines between fiction, memory, and history collapsed. The faces on the screen merged with the characters we had created, and the families we lived with in the pages of our two novels.

The tears were not only for what was lost, but for what keeps being lost again and again. Palestinians didn’t just mourn the homes, trees, and childhoods erased, but also the quiet human truths that survive despite everything. The ache of parents trying to shield their children from despair, the dignity of people stripped of almost everything except their will. At that moment, the film stopped being something I was watching. It became something I was reliving.

“Your humanity is also resistance.” The line from the movie is more than poetic, but rather a lived truth and a personal indictment. I have spent a lifetime watching how our humanity as Palestinians must first be erased before our suffering can be justified. Demonisation is a prerequisite. Only by denying our humanity can they rationalise starving our children, and when the erasure of a nation can be defended as policy rather than crime.

That line affirms what I have known instinctively and painfully, to remain human, to insist on grief, memory, and dignity, is itself an act of resistance against a system that survives on our dehumanisation. Strip our humanity away, then anything becomes permissible. Recognise it, even for a moment, and the entire moral and legal structure used to justify Israeli inhumanity begins to collapse.

All That’s Left of You is not a movie that comforts. It is a testament to humanity’s stubborn endurance under a malevolent Zionist occupation. It reminds us that what remains of a people is not only found in history books, but in the unspoken bonds between parents and children, in the traditions that outlast catastrophe, and in the Palestinian refusal to forget.

Watching this film will leave you with more questions than answers. What stays with you, however, is not confusion, but a sharpened awareness, an understanding passed into the world beyond the screen. All That’s Left of You is essential cinema, not as escapist entertainment, but as a work of rare scope and moral clarity, one that restores humanity to its rightful place and demands the viewer to carry it forward.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Scott van-der-Sluis has been branded “rude and selfish” by his ex-girlfriend Abi Moores as she spoke about what he was like on the set of Love Island with her in 2023

Scott van-der-Sluis has been branded “rude and selfish” by his ex-girlfriend Abi Moores. The footballer, 25, was a contestant on the tenth series of Love Island 2023 and is now back on screens looking for love once more in the All Stars spin-off of the hit ITV2 dating show.

He is currently coupled up with Leanne Amaning, who initially found fame on the sixth series of Love Island, but was last night seen in a tense row with Charlie Frederick amid his own love triangle with Millie Court and Jess Harding.

Following the dramatic scenes, Abi, who dated Scott on-screen but called it quits moments before they left the villa in 2023, has accused her former flame of only being on the programme for fame and issued a warning to Leanne in the process.

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She said: “I think some certain things of people’s personality, you can consider them to be nasty but there’s good and bad parts but overall I think he’s quite selfish. Yeah I’d probably say he’s done multiple TV shows, I think it’s another job for him.

“I wouldn’t trust that he’s in there for intentions to find a girlfriend. I think it’s more to gain a few more followers and maybe sign a deal with Boohoo Man. If I were Leanne, I’d tell her to run away!”

Abi then claimed that Scott was “rude” to fellow Islanders and those behind the scenes as well. Speaking to The Sun, she added: “He was quite rude. He was quite rude to me and to the people that we were living with – all of the producers and stuff. But I think that he is genuinely him and who he was. He would just take his food up to his room and wouldn’t sit and eat with us.”

However, the TV star did admit that Scott is only “doing his job” as a reality star and praised him for “bringing entertainment” to television. But, overall, she did admit that she “worries” whenever someone does not display their true intentions in the villa, and does not make it clear that they are only hoping for a career “boost” rather than looking for genuine love, noting just how much it can “hurt” when the truth does come out.

These days, Abi is now engaged to Married At First Sight star Nathan Campbell. They dated for a matter of months before he popped the question.

“Nathan did not hold back when it came to putting on a lavish display for Abi,” an insider said of the special moment between the pair.

Not only did he want to make her birthday ‘extra special’, he also wanted to show he feels about her by getting her the huge ring. “Abi couldn’t be happier and immediately said yes – she feels like she’s finally found a keeper in Nathan,” they added.

Prior to the news that they are to wed, Abii revealed their mutual friend Reuben Collins set them up on a date when he invited her to Sellebrity Soccer.

“I turn up and Reuben said he was going in the changing rooms and he’d be right back and then he sent Nathan out, and he said ‘Reuben, told me to come and speak to you because you fancy me,” she revealed.

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