LITTLE MIX’s Perrie Edwards flashed her bare baby bump as she gave a peek into family Christmas with hubby Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The singer, 32, shared sweet snaps from her Christmas with her footballer Alex, 32, and their son Axel, 4, as the couple prepare to welcome their second child together.

She posted a sprawling message on her Instagram to her 18.6million followers, exposing her huge baby bump as she spoke of feeling “content and blessed”.

Alongside a series of festive snaps and footage, she wrote: “Merry Christmas everyone!

“Excitement pumping through the family, amazing food, Christmas magic on repeat, house is now a pigsty, overstimulated, stayed in pj’s all day”.

Her caption continued: “Axels hair is a birds nest, I’m the size of a beach whale, can’t consume any more chocolate if I tried, need fork lifting off the sofa… but my goodness I feel content and blessed”.

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Among the selection of snaps, Perrie included a sweet video of her son Axel singing to her festive track Christmas Magic, which she released last year.

The singer, who is currently heavily pregnant, received over 500,000 likes on her Instagram post, as friends and fans threw support towards the couple in the comments section.

One wrote: “Axel singing christmas magic no i’ll sob that’s your biggest fan fr he’s giving us all a run for our money“.

Another commented: “My goodness, Axel is the cutest kid ever he’s gonna be the best big brother ever”.

A third added: “Merry Christmas beautiful & to all your family”.

Perrie recently revealed the couple suffered a devastating miscarriage before they had Axel, and lost another baby at 24 weeks in 2022.

Alex also broke his silence on their devastating losses, and said: “When you start a family, that’s when you start to learn it’s not easy to have a child, that things can go wrong.

“It’s so difficult — especially for women when they are literally growing another human being inside them, the connection they feel to that, and then can things go wrong and they can lose the baby.

“And it’s so difficult, especially losing the baby so late into the pregnancy.”

Perrie confirmed she was pregnant again in September, just weeks after opening up about her two miscarriages.

Speaking on the We Need To Talk podcast with Paul C Brunson, she said: “It’s weird, because the first time it happened, I think because it was so early, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s hard’.

“But I think when you’re 24 weeks and you’ve planned out that room and all these things, it’s really hard. And nobody knows other than immediate friends and family.

“I remember shortly after, friends would message and be like, ‘How’s the bump?’ And I’d be like, ‘There is no bump’.”

Perrie was also full of praise for Alex during the interview, saying: “He’s very mature. He’s very laid back. He’s very level-headed.

“He’s not the type to get mad or get angry or get funny about things. It might sound boring to some, but it’s so unproblematic.”

Ditchling and Plumpton, East Sussex

Distance 7 miles
Duration 5 hours
Start/finish Ditchling village car park

A pub walk is, as everyone knows, the best kind of ramble, and this tranquil circular walk up on to the South Downs boasts not one inn, but three. Ditchling – the start and end point of the walk – has two pubs, the White Horse and the Bull, alongside 36 buildings dating from the 1500s to 1800s. Most notable is Wings Place, gifted to Anne of Cleves in her divorce settlement from Henry VIII in 1540.

Within a couple of minutes’ walk from the heart of the village, you’re in open fields. Head right out of the car park and look for a right turn, signposted “to the Downs”. With the church spire behind you, the path leads diagonally into leafy woodland, before heading south towards Underhill Lane, and the steep climb up to Ditchling Beacon.

The Beacon is a pull (248 metres), but the view is spectacular: south to Brighton and the silvery wastes of the English Channel, north across the Sussex Weald to Ashdown Forest and the Surrey Hills. Walk east along the South Downs Way, before an unmade road takes you downhill, directly into the welcoming arms of the Half Moon at Plumpton.

Of all the pubs in the area, the Half Moon is my favourite: independent, ungentrified and supportive of local producers. Order a glass of Plumpton Estate wine and check out the pub’s famous painting of dozens of its regulars, including Raymond Briggs and Jimmy Page, done over a nine-month period in 1979. Sunday lunches are hearty roasts, with good vegan options (two/three courses, £24.95/£29.95), alongside a local catch of the day and homemade pies.

The good news is that the second half of the walk is flat. Well-signed paths skirt the grounds of Plumpton College, before heading back across fields and past My Little Farm, a new community smallholding. Once at the bridleway, turn back to see a forested “V” of beech, fir and lime trees on the side of the hill, planted in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. I always sneak a peak through the gates at Streat Place, an elegant Elizabethan manor house, before the final, straight-line stretch across open fields to Ditchling – where a choice of pubs awaits.
Annabelle Thorpe

Highgate to Little Venice, London

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 3½ hours
Start Highgate tube station
Finish The Prince Alfred, Maida Vale

Starting at Highgate tube station, follow Southwood Lane into Highgate village, noting the former home of Mary Kingsley, a Victorian explorer who had the chutzpah to chat up cannibals in the Amazon. At Pond Square, admire the array of London plane trees (planted in bulk across the city because they could handle the pollution), before proceeding south down Swain’s Lane to Highgate Cemetery (adults £10) to pay your respects to Bob Hoskins (made films), George Michael (made music) and Karl Marx (made a terrible fuss about the exploitation of workers).

Cut through Oakeshott Avenue – a distinctive street of mock-Tudor mansions – to Hampstead Heath, where you should resist the temptation to have a dip in the men’s pond (Mum, I’m talking to you), and instead continue west until you hit upon East Heath Road. From here, wiggle north-west to Well Walk, where you’ll find the erstwhile abodes of JB Priestley and John Constable, as well as the Wells Tavern, a good spot to get some liquid on board. Follow Well Walk west until it splits, at which point err right on to Flask Walk, which you should follow to its terminus.

You’re in Hampstead village now, which is either good or bad depending on your disposition. Meander south-east to Belsize village, where it’s possible to rest your legs or get a bagel from Roni’s. Continue south on Belsize Park Gardens (the composer Frederick Delius lived at No 44) before doing a quick left-right on to Primrose Gardens, about as attractive an oval of terraced housing as you’re liable to find.

In Primrose Hill village itself, you’ll find the former homes of Sylvia Plath (opposite Chalcot Square) and Friedrich Engels (opposite Le Tea Cosy). Climb to the summit of the village’s eponymous mound, exit the park on its west side then proceed along St Edmund’s Terrace to St John’s Wood High Street, where even the charity shops are flogging designer gear for serious dough.

You’re now a stone’s throw from the zebra crossing on Abbey Road made famous by the Beatles, upon which you should absolutely take your time posing, because the motorists love it. Follow Hall Road to Hamilton Terrace, at the southern end of which you’ll find the former gaff of Joseph Bazalgette, who scored brownie points with Londoners by designing the city’s sewer system. Cross Maida Vale and enter Little Venice, a concentration of canals that probably doesn’t warrant its moniker. Follow the aromas of ale and roast beef to the Prince Alfred, where dinner awaits. The pub is an absolute beauty, worth a visit for its vintage interior alone. Bottoms up! (Or down, rather …)
Ben Aitken

Bath, Somerset

Distance 10 miles
Duration 5 hours
Start/finish Bath Abbey

Bath is a city lost in the countryside, an urban blip in a hug of hills. Even standing in the heart of its Georgian gorgeousness, those green billows beckon you out. So I turn my back on the Abbey, step on the Cotswold Way marker stone by its hefty doors, and walk away.

This National Trail starts (or ends) in Bath, and provides the finest route out of town. It’s tricky, picking out the waymarks amid the Christmas market crowds, but eventually I duck down Quiet Street and then pass the city’s greatest hits: Queen Square, The Circus, the sweeping Royal Crescent, resplendent in low winter light.

As the trail winds westward and up – and there’s a lot of up to come – the tourists thin. I skirt Royal Victoria Park, nod to the golfers on High Common and drop into Weston village. Here, the Cotswolds proper start to rise.

I’ve walked and run this route a hundred times, but still … how is this sylvan promenade so close to a city? I feel my lungs expand; I want to sing to the sheep, to the rolling slopes, to the hump of Kelston Roundhill, with its wig of winter-naked trees. Best is Prospect Stile, from where you can see Bath, the Mendips, even Wales. And it’s never better than now: blush pink on a crisp winter afternoon, as if embarrassed by its own good looks.

The Cotswold Way heads left here. Instead, I veer right across the racecourse and around the cirque beneath Beckford’s Tower – a gilt-topped monument to Georgian eccentricity, open most winter weekends. Nearby, a footpath leads left to Lansdown Road, and to the hillside Hare & Hounds.

This 17th-century inn is a great summer pub: it has Bath’s best beer garden, looking across the winsome Charlcombe valley. With a thick coat, you could still nurse a pint of Proper Job outside. Fortunately, it also has a full wall of mullioned windows. I opt to enjoy the view from inside, where a real fire crackles and good roasts are served.

I’ve walked seven miles now, and could bus back to town. But instead I backtrack to the trail below Beckford’s, continuing to walk. The views remain superb. And this way I can wind through salubrious backstreets that deliver peak Bath-ness minus the crowds – not least Lansdown Crescent, a rival to the Royal. Eventually, I make it back to the abbey, this time walking towards its exquisite west front, but still with an eye to the hills beyond.
Sarah Baxter

Broadway Tower, the Cotswolds

Distance 4 miles
Duration 2½ hours
Start/finish War memorial, Broadway High Street

The dog’s tail is wagging hard. We’ve brought her to Broadway on a chilly Saturday afternoon – a time she usually saves for snoring belly up – and there are canines at every turn. Pugs leaving coffee shops, beagles eyeing up knitwear boutiques, terriers cooing over the 16th-century limestone architecture. The dog owners of south-east Worcestershire are out in force, although as visitors our goal lies elsewhere. We’re heading for the hills.

Broadway is well named. Some Cotswolds honeypots feel hemmed in, but the wide, handsome high street has a calming sense of space, especially in lesser-visited winter. A rich history too: the Beaker people, the Romans, medieval wool traders, TikTok influencers – all have passed through Broadway, pulled in different ways by the rolling countryside.

It’s what’s drawn us, too. We’re walking an official National Trails circular route, meaning decent signage, loads of puddly kissing gates and big, billowing views. We exit the high street on to a footpath. The escarpment to the south is topped by the turreted silhouette of Broadway Tower, our end goal. Green landscapes swell around us.

The first section is an easy ramble across grassy meadows, and ridge and furrow undulations, before the path leads upwards along a thigh-sapping avenue of sycamores. Higher now, we cross more tussocky fields as the panoramas open up. Visible far to the west is the spine of the Malvern Hills. The sky is blue. The wind is cold and mud scented. The dog is in heaven.

The complex around the tower arrives suddenly, complete with a cafe and playground. The tower itself – a hexagonal structure built as a folly in the 1790s – is the second highest point in the Cotswolds. Designer William Morris came here regularly to draw inspiration. A patchwork of towns and farmland spills out below us; Birmingham is a speck on the blustery horizon.

The Cotswold Way descends steeply back into Broadway and we make for the 17th-century Crown & Trumpet. A 35-year mainstay in the Good Beer Guide, it’s a short wander off the main drag and something of a rarity in these parts: in place of chichi decor it has an open fire, framed beer mats and a well-trodden carpet. Pints of Shagweaver and bowls of cheesy chips hit the spot. And the dog? Ready for that snooze.
Ben Lerwill

Burnley to Worston via Pendle Hill, Lancashire

Distance 11½ miles
Duration 6 hours
Start Burnley
Finish Calf’s Head, Worston

In this corner of east Lancashire, Pendle Hill – an outlier of the Pennine spine – separates industrial and agricultural, built-up and empty, the urban working-class from the rural upper-middles. Burnley, the start point, is known for coal as well as cotton, football and cricket, not to mention gay rights and Benedictine liqueur.

Take the Burnley Way to the banks of the Calder, the river that powered and watered the early mills. From here, follow the Pendle Way to Higham, which gets you on to the southern slopes of Pendle Hill. Sheep, dry-stone walls and steep climbs take over. A zigzagging route takes you up to Newchurch in Pendle, a tiny hamlet perched on a tight bend in the road. St Mary’s church has an “eye of god” on its tower to deter evil spirits, and a tomb by the rear wall bears the name of one Ellin Nutter. The 1651 date could make her a relative of Alice Nutter, who was hanged after the Lancaster witch trials.

This area is marked as the Forest of Pendle on maps. A former royal chase, it was later used for vaccaries (pastures for cows). Note the recurrence of “booth” in local placenames, alluding to the huts used by herdsmen. Look south for views over the chain of towns that grew up around yarn and cloth. From left (east) to right (west), there’s Barrowford, Colne, Nelson, Brierfield, Burnley, Accrington, Oswaldtwistle and Blackburn – to name only the larger places. For residents of all, Pendle Hill and the nearby West Pennine Moors are the main recreational spaces, airy heights that in the smoky old days provided respite for lungs and legs.

The 557-metre climb to the trig point at the top of Pendle Hill goes via Fell Wood, between the two Ogden reservoirs and along Boar Clough – clough is another local word, used for a steep-sided ravine. Barley Moor opens out here, hopefully with a few peewits or even a hawk battling the westerlies. From the trig, it’s a breezy saunter across the mesa-like top of the hill, now with views north to the Yorkshire Three Peaks and Bowland Fells, to drop down to Worston from the Pile of Stones on Pendle Moor.

You’ve passed pub options already – at Higham and Barley – but the Calf’s Head is a well-liked, well-run village pub all on its own in Worston. There’s a single small snug with three tables and an open fire, and more tables – for food or drink – in the pub lounge and in an annexe. If the weather’s fine, the beer garden is a real beauty. Timothy Taylor’s and local Moorhouse’s ales are generally available. The menu is massive; I rate the seafood sharing board, hot pot and plate pie.

From Worston, it’s a short walk to Clitheroe for onward trains and buses. Take care crossing the A59. If you want a longer walk, you can avoid the busy carriageway altogether by taking a loop along West Lane and through the villages of Downham and Chatburn, which have three more pubs between them.
Chris Moss

St Mawgan and Mawgan Porth, Cornwall

Distance 5.4 miles
Duration 2 hours
Start/finish The Falcon Inn, St Mawgan

I’m climbing up the coast path away from Mawgan Porth beach on the north Cornwall coast, the golden sands and swirling seas way below. Gulls wheel overhead and the wind whips my face, but I’m glad for the breeze after the exertion of the hill. Ahead, I make out the rocky outcrop of Griffin’s Point, an iron age cliff fort with views south to Watergate Bay and Newquay beyond. This is where I turn inland, leaving behind the dramatic sea stacks of Bedruthan Steps and heading east to return to the village of St Mawgan.

It’s around the halfway point of one of my favourite circular walks in Cornwall, a 5.4-mile loop that takes in a wide variety of terrain, from coastal sections and sheep-speckled fields to woodlands scattered with streams, pines and badger setts.

You could start and end at Mawgan Porth, but I like to begin in St Mawgan, parking on the road outside The Falcon Inn. From here, I follow the river north-west then cross a bridge, passing the acers and azaleas of the Japanese Garden (closed in winter) and a row of cottages with quaint names such as the Mouse House.

Forking left, I’m on to the public footpath signposted towards Mawgan Porth. After Windsor Mill, a settlement dating back to the middle ages, I cross a stile and follow the path through the trees, the River Menalhyl trickling to my left. The track quickly turns rugged underfoot, with exposed tree roots and leaves that make a satisfying crunch with each step.

Beneath the trees, some with orange lichen on their trunks, others with stubborn hawthorn berries still clinging to branches, there’s shelter from the elements; a blissful contrast to the bracing sea breeze I’m about to experience on that coast path.

After around half an hour on the coast, I turn inland for a final stretch through fields and across streams. I return to the Falcon via the St Mawgan churchyard, pausing at the memorial to 10 men who died from hypothermia on a boat that drifted ashore near Watergate Bay in December 1846.

I wonder if any of those men frequented this 16th-century inn, which is under new ownership this winter but has kept a traditional feel, with its original fireplace, exposed beams and dark wooden bar. I join the locals enjoying pints of ale from the pub’s own microbrewery in Penryn. It’s a warm, welcome respite after miles walking through the Cornish winter elements.
Ellie Ross

Bakewell to Little Longstone, Peak District

Distance 3 miles
Duration 1½ hours
Start Bath Gardens, Bakewell Square
Finish The Packhorse Inn, Little Longstone

“Walk and pub?” Growing up in the Peak District, these two things were never mutually exclusive. You can keep your Gore-Tex-clad scrambles, your emergency crampons, your Wainwright “bagging” and Three Peaks conquering. I’m worn out just thinking about all that. Give me a route I can do in an hour and a half, that’s manageable with a hangover or an unruly toddler or, God forbid, both. Give me a route where the scenery is quietly breathtaking and ever-changing but I can do it in a pair of beaten-up trainers.

Give me a route that ends in a fantastic pub, where I can fill my belly with lovingly cooked local produce and slake my thirst on local ale. Earwig on a mix of day-trippers and local “characters” rubbing along just fine in front of one of three roaring fires. Give me the walk from Bakewell to the Packhorse in Little Longstone.

I’ve done this walk so many times I can practically hear the footsteps from different phases of my life ringing out from the pavement as we set off from Bath Gardens and leave the Rutland Arms Hotel (the “birthplace” of the original Bakewell pudding – the tart followed later, just so you know and don’t mortally embarrass yourself when you visit) and the bustling market town behind. Tracing the A6 road out past the Lambton Larder cafe and pretty Georgian houses, we cross the River Wye at the stone bridge on the right, just past the fire station. We head straight on past Lumford House, with its blue plaque for Richard Arkwright Jr, whose inventor and industrialist old man was kind of a big deal in these parts.

A brief incline brings us out above the town and the show-off panoramic views to the imposing woods above Chatsworth and the fields down towards Hassop and Ashford-in-the-Water, beautifully pockmarked with wild pink heather. A few years ago, I proposed in the field of canary yellow rapeseed blazing in the far distance. Today, my bovine-phobic wife pushes me forward as a human shield as we take the left fork of the footpath into a field of cows that stare at us like the locals from the pub scene in An American Werewolf in London.

We cross a stile into a wooded stretch and emerge at a field full of sheep (less foreboding, apparently) and the road heading into Great Longstone. Following the public footpath over a stone stile to the left brings us out into an almost laughably bucolic field of beech and sycamore trees. We skirt around the village of Great Longstone and into Little Longstone, with its red phone box and Bertie Bassett-inspired well dressing. The Packhorse Inn sits on the right, complete with a sign that says “Kids, dogs and muddy boots, welcome”. We don’t have any of those things today but we do, crucially, have a thirst on.

“Walk and pub?” An unbeatable combination.
James Wallace

Newport to Fishguard, Pembrokeshire

Distance 11.3 miles
Duration 6 hours
Start Newport
Finish The Ship Inn, Fishguard

The A487 is not one of Britain’s most celebrated highways. In one stretch, it’s reduced to a single-track squeeze that requires drivers to sneak around a blind corner and pray no one is coming the other way. And what is the source of this nasty constriction that cannot be removed? A wonderful little pub called the Ship Inn. Hemmed in by a wooded hill behind, the fishing boat-speckled sea in front and that crow-black trunk road, it is no wonder that the front door is of the sliding variety. If it opened outwards, the tailback would block Pembrokeshire.

Serving good beer surrounded by nautical memorabilia, polished wood and black-and-white photographs of drinkers down the ages, the Ship in Lower Town, Fishguard, has hosted some famous drinkers in its time. One face stands out from the fading photos: Richard Burton, at the peak of his thespian career, barrelling down that single-track snicket, his eye on the front door of the pub, no doubt thirsting for a pint of Double Dragon. Burton was in town for the 1971 filming of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.

Our walk to reach this watering hole starts up the coast at the pretty village of Newport (the pub is cash-only so use the ATM here), then follows the Wales Coast Path. Almost immediately, the flavour of the route is apparent: a big, banging seascape filled with jagged rocks, epic cliffs and roaring seas. Even the signs seem to have an extra robustness about them: “Keep to the Path. Cliffs Kill” screams one and, more mysteriously, “Caution. Deep Animal Holes Ahead” reads another.

The route rolls along, passing several fine coves before tackling Dinas Mawr, a formidable headland. In 1954, this dramatic coastal feature was used in the filming of Moby Dick, starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. Three-masted ships like Ahab’s Pequod were once a common sight along here, until the great storm of 1859 wrecked many of them. At the sea’s edge in Cwm-yr-Eglwys, I search the ruined churchyard of St Brynach’s and find tombstones for the mariner John Harries and Thomas Laugharne, master of the schooner Eliza. That may have been the Eliza that got smashed up on the Llŷn peninsula. One other casualty of the 1859 storm was the church itself, of which only one wall survives.

It was to New Quay, on this stretch of coast, that Dylan Thomas moved in 1944, finding inspiration for unforgettable characters such as the lascivious fisher Nogood Boyo and Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard, so house-proud that the sun must wipe its shoes before sneaking through her chintz curtains. Burton was a slam dunk to narrate both the 1954 BBC radio play and the 1971 film.

I pass the ruined Fishguard Fort and its cannon, last fired during the abortive French invasion of 1797, then reach the pub as it opens (4pm on Saturday and Sunday, 5pm Wednesday to Friday). There are only snacks, but the beer is good and the decor satisfyingly unchanged since Burton sat in here boozing with Peter O’Toole, their Daimlers parked down by the quayside. Elizabeth Taylor did not show her face, although local legend has Burton on the payphone, ordering Hollywood’s finest to “get her fat arse down to Pembrokeshire”. They were divorced three years later, remarried, then divorced again after two more.
Kevin Rushby

Edinburgh to Leith via the Water of Leith

Distance 4.7 miles
Duration 2 hours (with option to extend)
Start National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
Finish Leith

The Water of Leith Walkway follows its namesake river from Balerno, near the Pentland Hills, through the heart of Edinburgh to Leith, the city’s historic port district, where it meets the sea. This walk follows the final stretch.

In the grounds of Modern One on Belford Road – one of Scotland’s national art galleries – visit the crescent lakes of Charles Jencks’s Landform, then head to the left corner of the car park, passing a Henry Moore sculpture. Double iron gates lead to steps descending to the Water of Leith. Cross the footbridge and turn left, look for a figure of a man in the river, the first of four of Antony Gormley’s 6 Times figures that are visible on this walk. The path is marked throughout by small brown signs. Some sections offer step-free alternatives: for the most interesting landscape, stick to the riverbanks.

The path winds through Dean Village, once an industrial slum, now one of Edinburgh’s most incongruous and enchanting neighbourhoods. The half-timbered cottages look more Bavarian than Scottish. Look out for Well Court, an imposing red-brick building, a rare example of Arts and Crafts style in Edinburgh, commissioned by the owner of the Scotsman newspaper in the 1880s to house local workers. Walk under the high arches of Thomas Telford’s 1832 Dean Bridge towards St Bernard’s Well, a pretty Roman-style folly with a statue of Hygeia, the ancient Greek goddess of health.

Arriving in Stockbridge, perhaps pause in one of its excellent cafes, before crossing Deanhaugh Road to steep steps where the route continues. This section curves around some of Edinburgh’s distinctive “colony houses”, built for artisans and skilled workers between 1850 and 1910. Ahead you’ll see the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh – add a loop if you have time (free entry, donations welcome).

Otherwise, the path forks right to follow the river. At a junction signed for Rocheid Path, keep right to steep steps to Brandon Terrace. Cross to Warriston Road, a high walkway built as part of flood defences. From here, the route skirts the wooded edges of St Mark’s Park to the wildlife-rich Coalie Park – keep an eye out for more Gormleys and, if you’re lucky, kingfishers.

Our walk ends in Leith, where the river widens and is dotted with restaurants, bars and delis. For a cosy pub lunch head to the Roseleaf, a welcoming family-run pub, with excellent home-cooked food. The cullen skink is legendary and the all-day big breakfast, served in a sizzling skillet, is hard to beat.
Ailsa Sheldon

Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, to Seaton Sluice, Northumberland

Distance 3 miles
Duration 2 hours
Start Lido di Meo’s beach shack
Finish The Delaval Arms

Two Octobers ago, a storm turned Whitley Bay seafront into a hazardous foam party, then dragged about a metre of sand out to sea. Whenever I return home, once or twice a year, I still do a double-take every time I see the sunken beach and marvel at the newly exposed sandstone, ripe sea glass and pebbles of coal. I’m always on the hunt for a few standout pieces to add to my shelf of beach finds back in my landlocked Madrid apartment.

On a still, sunny morning at low tide, the shoreline glitters with wildness. I spot a crab strutting along the water’s edge, then burying itself alongside looping sandworms. Crows survey the scene just as closely, before zigzagging between the rocks in search of their salty prey. I look out to sea and see a creche of gull chicks bobbing up and down on the gentle waves, flying off in fright when a seal pops up for air. I look inland and tune into an orchestra of speckled starlings chirrupping around the Lido di Meo beach shack and begin my walk north up the sand, the mild sun warming my back.

At low tide, a good stretch of this route can be done on the beach. When the sand runs out, simply head up to the promenade and let the footpath guide you onward to St Mary’s Lighthouse, on its own tiny island and accessible only at low tide. I’ve always wished there was a pub on this poetic rocky outcrop, but that would have brought this pub-bound winter story to an abrupt end, missing arguably the best bit.

Leave the island, climb up to the clifftops and catch your breath while enjoying a panoramic view of the lighthouse below, interrupted only by fluffy coastal grasses bowing in the North Sea gusts. Check the tide times and, if you get it right, you can watch the water engulf the path to St Mary’s Island, rendering it an offshore Northumbrian outpost until low tide returns.

From here, almost every northbound footpath leads you to the Delaval Arms, a Grade II-listed building dating back to 1748 and the first pub you’ll encounter as you cross into Northumberland. Over the years, the pub’s interior has been modernised yet has never lost its cosy charm. The brass‑railed bar, log fire and dark wood‑panelled walls and ceilings still anchor the snug rooms, while colourful soft furnishings and a lively menu have brought it gracefully up to date.

The old sandstone building sits a coal pebble’s throw from the border with North Tyneside, so I settle in beside the log fire, wine in hand, and reflect on how my ancestors once fought over the very land where I now sit in complete comfort.
Leah Pattem

Llanthony Priory, Bannau Brycheiniog

Distance 6 miles
Duration 3 hours
Start/finish Llanthony Priory

Llanthony Priory, nestled in the Vale of Ewyas, makes for an enticing base to explore the Black Mountains, here in the easternmost part of Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons).

The priory was founded in the early years of the 12th century by William de Lacy, a Norman knight who was said to have been so taken with this remote location that he immediately renounced the way of the sword for the life of a hermit. Some stories suggest he was inspired by Dewi Sant (Saint David), who sought tranquillity in this same place in the sixth century.

Today, the priory is just a ruined shell, but the allure of Llanthony, flanked by steep glacial ridges, endures. Particularly energetic walkers like to embrace the 16-mile loop out along Offa’s Dyke Path to Hay Bluff and Lord Hereford’s Knob, before tracking back along the Cambrian Way trail. I, however, have a more modest tramp in mind – a 6-mile circular walk that will get me back to the priory’s Cellar Bar just in time for lunch (served from 12.30pm to 2pm on weekends during the winter months). With its whitewashed vaulted stone ceilings and wooden benches, this snug will provide a cosy reward for whatever the Welsh weather may have in mind.

My route embraces the tough stuff first – a short but sharp ascent following the Beacons Way walking trail up Cwm Bwchel to Bâl Bach (a lower section of the 607-metre Bâl Mawr). Viewing the route from Llanthony, you may be tempted to head straight to the pub. Don’t be put off, though, because the views from the top of the ridgeway are a more than sufficient reward for the climb you’ve undertaken. It’s a clear day and the nearby peaks of Sugar Loaf and Skirrid Fawr stand out against the blue-and-white clouded sky. Above Llanthony Priory, on the other side of the valley, a long treeless ridgeway connects Hatterrall Hill with Hay Bluff. Further up the Vale of Ewyas lies Capel-y-Ffin, once the summer grange for the canons of the priory. It was here that beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg wrote his acid-enabled Wales Visitation – his neo-romantic riff on Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey.

From Bâl Bach, I follow the Cambrian Way south until I reach a sharp left fork into Coed Tŷ Canol. Down in the western valley lies Saint Issui in Patricio, a medieval church named after another hermit holy man and renowned for its 10th-century font and intricately carved 15th-century wooden screen. A detour to Saint Issui is tempting, but will have to wait for another walk. This morning, it’s time to descend off the ridgeway following forestry tracks and woodland paths back to Llanthony. A little over three hours after I began, I emerge from Llanthony Wood into open fields and the stone facade of the priory comes into view. A pint of Felinfoel Double Dragon beckons. Surely Ginsberg, and maybe even William de Lacy, would approve.
Matthew Yeomans

PORTLAND, Ore. — James Harden had 34 points, Brook Lopez scored 31 points, including a career-high nine three-pointers, and the Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-103 on Friday night for their third straight win.

Kawhi Leonard pitched in 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists, including 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Deni Avdija led Portland with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The Clippers outscored the Blazers 63-41 in the second half, including a 19-1 run in the third quarter to take control.

A free throw by Donovan Clingan made it 71-59 Blazers with 8:16 left in the third quarter, matching Portland’s biggest lead of the game. After a drought for both teams, the Clippers took over.

After Lopez’s seventh three-pointer made it 72-67, acting Blazers coach Tiago Splitter was called for a technical foul. Leonard made the free throw to make it 72-68.

Harden hit two free throws and then scored on a driving layup to tie the game at 72.

The Clippers took their first lead at 75-72 with 3:23 left in the third quarter on Lopez’s eighth three. Lopez connected on his ninth to make it 78-72.

Harden’s four-point play with 1:06 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 85-77.

Leonard had a ferocious dunk on Clingan to make it 95-86.

After a basket by Avdija cut the L.A.’s lead to seven, the Clippers had a six-point possession to push their lead to 101-88 with 8:19 left.

After the Clippers cut Portland’s first-half lead to 52-50, the Blazers went on a 9-0 run, capped by a fast break dunk from Shaedon Sharpe to make it 61-50, forcing a Clippers timeout.

After the timeout, a three-point play from Harden and a three-pointer from Kobe Sanders helped cut the Portland lead to 62-56 at halftime.

Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Detroit Pistons at Intuit Dome on Sunday night.

UK plans to boost ranks of armed forces by offering young people paid military experience amid growing Russian threats.

Teenagers in the United Kingdom will be offered paid “gap years” with the armed forces under a new “whole of society” approach to national defence that aims to increase recruitment among young people, according to reports.

The London-based i Paper reported on Friday that the UK’s Ministry of Defence hopes the scheme will broaden the appeal of military careers for British youth as tensions with Russia rise across Europe.

The scheme will initially be open to about 150 applicants aged 18 to 25 in early 2026, with ministers aiming to eventually expand the programme to more than 1,000 young people annually, depending on demand, according to British radio LBC.

With fears of threats from Russia growing amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, European countries have looked to national service for young people as a means to boost their ranks, with France, Germany and Belgium announcing schemes this year.

Recruits to the UK scheme will not be deployed on active military operations and while pay has not been confirmed, the UK’s LBC news organisation reported that it is expected to match basic recruit salaries, typically about 26,000 pounds, or $35,000.

Under the programme, army recruits would complete 13 weeks of basic training as part of a two-year placement. The navy scheme would last one year while the Royal Air Force (RAF) is still considering options, according to reports.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey told the i Paper: “This is a new era for Defence, and that means opening up new opportunities for young people.”

News of the programme follows remarks earlier this month from the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, who said Britain’s “sons and daughters” should be “ready to fight” and defend the country amid Russian aggression, the Press Association reports.

Knighton said that while a direct Russian attack on the UK is unlikely, hybrid threats are intensifying.

He referenced a recent incident involving a Russian spy ship suspected of mapping undersea cables near UK waters.

“Every day the UK is subject to an onslaught of cyber-attacks from Russia and we know that Russian agents are seeking to conduct sabotage and have killed on our shores”, Knighton said, warning that Russia’s military had become a “hard power [which] is growing quickly”.

The UK government announced earlier this year that defence and security spending will rise to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.

Citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) will vote on Sunday in highly controversial presidential and legislative elections expected to extend President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s tenure beyond two terms for the first time in the country’s history.

Touadera, who helped put his country on the map when he adopted Bitcoin as one of its legal tenders in 2022, had earlier pushed through a referendum abolishing presidential term limits. That, as well as significant delays that almost upturned the confirmation of two major challengers, has led some opposition groups to boycott the vote, calling it a “sham”.

CAR will also hold local elections for the first time in 40 years, after a long period of destabilising political conflict, including an ongoing civil war between the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel movement and the largely Christian Anti-balaka armed groups, which has led to the displacement of one million people. There are fears that the country’s electoral body is not equipped to handle an election on this scale.

The landlocked nation is sandwiched between several larger neighbours, including Chad to the north and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the south. It has an ethnically and religiously diverse population of about 5.5 million, with French and Sango being the national languages.

Although rich in resources like crude oil, gold and uranium, persistent political instability since independence from France in 1960, and the ongoing civil war (2013-present) have kept CAR one of Africa’s poorest nations. For security, CAR is increasingly reliant on Russian assistance to guard major cities against rebels.

Citizens of CAR are referred to as Central Africans. The country’s largest city and capital is Bangui, named after the Ubangi River, which forms a natural border between CAR and the DRC. The country exports mainly diamonds, timber and gold, but much of the population depends on subsistence agriculture, and economic activity is limited.

Here’s what we know about Sunday’s election:

Who can vote and how does it work?

About 2.3 million Central Africans over the age of 18 are registered to vote for the country’s next president. Of these, 749,000 registrations are new since the previous election in 2020.

They’ll also be voting for national lawmakers, regional and, for the first time in about 40 years, municipal administrators. Average turnout in past years has been about 62 percent, according to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). There are about 6,700 polling units across the country.

The National Elections Authority initially planned to hold the municipal government elections at the end of August, but moved the polls to December at the last minute, blaming insufficient funds as well as technical and organisational challenges. The decision has added to concerns among election observers and opposition politicians about how prepared the electoral body is.

Campaigning began on December 13, but opposition groups claim that delays in including Touadera’s biggest challengers in the process have favoured the president’s rallies.

The presidential candidate with an absolute majority is declared the winner, but if there is no outright winner in the first round, a second run-off vote will determine the victor.

Although presidents were previously limited to two, five-year terms, a controversial 2023 referendum introduced a new constitution which removed term limits and increased each term to seven years.

Who is running for president?

The country’s constitutional court approved Touadera’s candidacy alongside prominent opposition leader Anicet-Georges Dologuele, ex-Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra, and five others.

However, delays in approving the two major opponents and concerns around the readiness of the electoral body have led an opposition coalition, the Republican Bloc for the Defence of the Constitution (BRDC), to boycott the election. The group has, therefore, not presented a candidate.

Here is what we know about the candidates who are standing:

Faustin-Archange Touadera

Touadera, 68, is a mathematician and former vice chancellor of the University of Bangui. He is running under the ruling United Hearts Movement (MCU).

He served as the country’s prime minister from 2013 to 2015 under President Francois Bozize. He was elected as president in 2016 and again in 2020, although opposition groups contested the vote.

Touadera, who is the favourite to win in these polls, has campaigned on promises of peace, security and new infrastructural development in the country.

After 10 years in office, the president’s legacy is mixed. His administration has been dogged by accusations of suppressing the opposition and rigging elections.

Indeed, Touadera would not be eligible to run had he not forced the 2023 referendum through. He sacked a chief judge of the constitutional court in October 2022, after she ruled that his referendum project was illegal.

Opposition members boycotted the referendum, but that only gave the Touadera camp more “yes” votes. Although a civil society group launched a legal challenge against his candidacy before the polls, the constitutional court threw out the suit.

Touadera is credited with spearheading some economic development, compared with his predecessors. New roads and highways have been built where there were previously none, but the World Bank still ranks CAR’s economy as “stagnant”.

Touadera has also been praised for achieving relative stability in the conflict-affected country where armed groups hold swaths of territory, especially in the areas bordering Sudan.

Support from a United Nations peacekeeping force, Rwandan troops and Russian Wagner mercenaries has helped to reduce violence in recent years.

CAR was the first country to invite the Russian mercenary group to the continent in 2018 in a security-for-minerals deal, before other countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, also secured security contracts.

CAR was historically closer to former colonial power France, but Paris suspended its military alliances and reduced aid budgets to the country in 2021 following the Russia cooperation.

At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023, Touadera praised Russia for saving CAR’s democracy. The two met again in January 2025.

In advance of the elections, Touadera has also signed a series of peace accords with some armed groups active in the country, although there are fears that the agreements will only hold until after the polls.

The president launched Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2022, making CAR the second country to do so after El Salvador. The idea drew scepticism, as less than 10 percent of Central Africans can access the internet, and was ultimately abandoned after a year.

In February 2025, CAR launched the $CAR meme coin, which the government said is an experiment.

This week, Touadera’s government signed a new contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink to expand internet services to rural and remote regions.

Henri-Marie Dondra

The 59-year-old is a career banker and former finance minister. He is running under his Republican Unity party (UNIR), which has positioned itself as a reformist party and is not part of the opposition coalition. He served as prime minister under Touadera between 2021 and 2022 but was fired, likely because of his strong pro-France tendencies at a time when the administration was turning towards Russia, according to reporting by French radio, RFI.

Dondra’s candidacy was not approved until November 14, after Touadera accused him of holding Congolese citizenship, which he denied. The accusations raised fears that he would be barred from the vote. Two of his brothers were reportedly arrested and detained without charge before the vote, Dondra told Human Rights Watch in late November.

Anicet-Georges Dologuele

The main opposition leader of the Union for Central African Renewal (URCA) party broke from the boycotting opposition coalition in order to run in these elections. Dologuele’s candidacy has prompted what some analysts say are xenophobic statements from Touadera’s supporters.

The 68-year-old dual citizen French-CAR politician first ran for the top job back in 2015 and was the runner-up in the 2020 presidential race. His third bid has faced challenges over his citizenship status. The 2023 referendum limited candidates to CAR citizenship only, and derisive comments from some in the governing camp have suggested some opposition candidates are not “real Central Africans”.

In September, Dologuele said he had given up his French citizenship; however, in October, a Central African court stripped him of his CAR citizenship, citing a clause in the old constitution disallowing dual citizenship. Dologuele reported the issue as a violation of his human rights to the UN human rights agency. It’s unclear what, if any, action the agency took, but Dologuele’s name on the final candidates list suggests his citizenship was reinstated.

Dologuele served as prime minister in the 1990s, under President Ange-Felix Patasse, before joining the Bank of Central African States and later heading the Development Bank of Central African States.

Although he is seen by some as an experienced hand, others associate him with past government failures. Dologuele is promising stronger democratic institutions and better international alliances.

Other notable candidates

• Aristide Briand Reboas – leader of the Christian Democratic Party, the 46-year-old was a former intelligence official and the sports minister until 2024. He is running on promises of better amenities, including electricity and water. He previously ran in 2020.
• Serge Djorie – a former government spokesperson until 2024, the 49-year-old is running under his Collective for Political Change for the new Central African Republic party. The medical doctor and published researcher has campaigned on public health reforms, poverty reduction and more pan-Africanism. Djorie ran in the 2020 elections.
• Eddy Symphorien Kparekouti – The civil engineer helped draft the new constitution that was controversially adopted in 2023. In his campaigns, the independent candidate has emphasised poverty reduction in order to solve political insecurity and other developmental challenges.

What are the key issues for this election?

Armed groups

Protracted political conflict in CAR has continued for more than a decade, with many Central Africans saying they want a leadership that can bring peace.

Trouble began following a coup in March 2013 by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance that overthrew President Francois Bozize. In retaliation, Bozize assembled Christian and animist rebel armed groups, known as the Anti-balaka. Both sides attacked civilians and have been accused of war crimes by rights groups. Bozize, who continues to lead a rebel coalition, is now in exile in Guinea-Bissau. His attempted attacks in 2020 were fended off by Touadera’s Russian mercenaries.

However, killings, kidnappings and displacement continue in many rural communities in the country’s northwest, northeast and southeast regions, despite recent peace deals signed with some groups. Russian mercenaries have proven pivotal in securing major areas, but are also accused of human rights violations, such as mass killings, while opposition politicians have criticised the reliance on foreign fighters.

A 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, MINUSCA, has been extended until November 2026, although the move faced resistance from the US, which wants CAR to handle its own security going forward. The force has suffered at least three deaths in deadly attacks this year alone. There are also fears about the security of voters in rural areas; about 800 voting units were forced to close in the last elections due to rebel violence.

Poverty

CAR remains one of the poorest nations in the world, with more than 60 percent of the population living in poverty, according to the World Bank.

Most people live in rural areas and survive on subsistence farming in the absence of any state-propelled industry.

Economic growth rate is slow, averaging 1.5 percent yearly. Only 16 percent of citizens have access to electricity, and only 7.5 percent have access to the internet.

Persistent fuel shortages make economic activity more difficult.

The country ranked 191st of 193 countries in the 2022 Human Development Index.

Divisive politics

The country’s turbulent political history and the present landscape of deeply divided political groups have failed to deliver a unified opposition coalition that can challenge Touadera and enshrine a functioning democracy.

Fears around whether Touadera intends to run for life following the 2023 referendum are high, with opposition and rights groups already calling for reforms to the new constitution. There are also fears around vote rigging in the elections in favour of Touadera’s governing party.

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Even as the year winds down, there are still some exciting new releases hitting theaters.

Few films this year are arriving on quite the wave of expectation behind Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” in part because of the unhinged, go-for-broke promo push from its star Timothée Chalamet. The film tells the story of Marty Mauser, a shoe salesman in 1950s New York who dreams of becoming a champion table tennis player and will stop at nothing to make it happen.

As Amy Nicholson put it in her review, “Like Marty, Chalamet was raised in New York City, and since he arrived on the scene, there’s never been a doubt he’ll win an Oscar. The only question is, when? To Chalamet’s credit, he’s doing it the hard way, avoiding sentimental pictures for pricklier roles about his own naked ambitions. … The movie’s moxie makes it impossible not to get caught up in Marty’s crusade. We’re giddy even when he’s miserable.”

The surprise winner of the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” is a gently enigmatic film revolving around, as the title suggests, parents and siblings. Told in three separate stories — set in New Jersey, Dublin and Paris — the film stars Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Mayim Bialik, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Charlotte Rampling, Luka Sabbat and Indya Moore.

Tom Waits in Jim Jarmusch’s movie “Father Mother Sister Brother.”

(Atsushi Nishijima / Mubi)

In his review, Tim Grierson wrote, “The film’s persistent brittleness may make some viewers antsy. That’s partly the point, but hopefully, they’ll soon be swept away by the movie’s melancholy undertow. … Eventually, we learn to look past Jarmusch’s deceptively mundane surfaces to see the fraught, unresolved issues within these guarded families. The characters occasionally expose their true selves, then just as quickly retreat, fearful of touching on real conflict.”

Tim Grieving spoke to composer Daniel Blumberg, who won an Oscar earlier this year for “The Brutalist,” about his work on “The Testament of Ann Lee,” director Mona Fastvold’s portrait of the founder of the Shaker religious movement. Singing and dance were an integral part of the Shakers’ spiritual practice, so the music for the film was of special importance.

“Ann Lee was very radical and extreme,” said Blumberg, “and Mona is as well.”

De Los also recently published a list of the 25 best Latino films of 2025 as picked by Carlos Aguilar. His favorites include Amalia Ulman’s “Magic Farm,” Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson’s “Serious People,” Diego Céspedes’ “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Petra Costa’s “Apocalypse in the Tropics” and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.”

All three of this year’s Envelope roundtables are now available to watch: actors, actresses and directors.

New Year’s Eve at the movies

Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps in the movie “Phantom Thread.”

(Laurie Sparham / Focus Features)

When people talk about holiday films, they typically mean Christmas. But what if the movies that featured a New Year’s Eve scene were sneakily better? To judge by the titles playing around town this week, an argument could be made.

Take for example Kathryn Bigelow’s “Strange Days.” An exciting techno-thriller set during the last two days of then-future 1999, it’s about a hustler (Ralph Feinnes) who finds himself in way over his head. The film builds to a huge millennial New Year’s Eve street party filmed in downtown Los Angeles. Still something of a rarity on streaming, “Strange Days” will be showing in 35mm at the New Beverly on Friday afternoon and then at the Aero on Wednesday 31, early enough in the evening to leave time for more fun after.

Then there is Paul Thomas Anderson’s achingly romantic and bitingly funny “Phantom Thread,” in which the controlling fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) initially refuses to leave the house on New Year’s Eve, but then races to be with his muse and lover Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps) after she goes out without him. The movie will be showing on New Year’s Day in 70mm at the Aero.

Anderson’s 1997 “Boogie Nights,” which will show in 35mm at Vidiots on the afternoon of Dec. 31, features a very different take on New Year’s Eve. In a pivotal sequence, many of the film’s characters converge on a NYE party to ring in the transition form 1979 to 1980. It does not go well.

jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in 1960’s “The Apartment.”

(Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)

Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” will play in 35mm at the New Beverly on Saturday and Sunday and also at the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz Theater on Dec. 30. In the film Jack Lemmon is a lonely office drone who finds his complex relationship with a co-worker (Shirley MacLaine) ultimately coming to a head on a fateful New Year’s Eve.

Rob Reiner’s 1989 “When Harry Met Sally…” will likely be playing several times over the next weeks in tribute to the filmmaker. Starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal as two friends trying to figure out if their relationship can (or should) be something more, the film features not one but two memorable New Year’s Eve scenes. It will be playing at the New Beverly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Katie Holmes, left, and Sarah Polley in the movie “Go.”

(Tracy Bennett / Columbia Pictures)

Doug Liman’s “Go,” from a screenplay by John August, is not strictly speaking a New Year’s Eve movie, but it does take place in the sort of liminal zone of ongoing partying that occurs during holiday time. With a cast that includes Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant and many more, the film revolves around a few grocery store co-workers, some low-stakes drug dealing, questionable choices and a lot of miscommunication. The movie shows at Vidiots on Tuesday.

In a review of the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, “When all is said and done, ‘Go’ is a film about people going too far, which works precisely because its makers know when to hold back. ‘Go’ keeps us guessing … but it never forgets it’s a comedy; if it was too serious it would burst like a bubble. So uniformly skilled and talented is the film’s cast, which has 15 featured players, that it is impossible to single out any one. ‘Go’ is perfectly titled: Exhilarating and sharp, it never stops for a second.”

Points of interest

The Marx Brothers’ eternal comic mayhem

Chico Marx, left, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx and Margaret Dumont in the movie “Animal Crackers.”

(Universal)

It has become a tradition around town for theaters to show Marx Brothers movies at the holidays, and who are we to argue with that? For pure whimsy and comedy that hits somewhere deep in the unconscious, the Marx Brothers are still pretty much unbeatable.

The New Beverly played some Marx Brothers movies on Christmas Day. For those who still want more, Vidiots will be showing 1935’s “A Night at the Opera,” directed by Sam Wood and including the famous stateroom scene in which more and more people cram into a single room on an ocean liner.

On New Year’s Day, the Aero will show 1933’s “Duck Soup,” directed by Leo McCarey, in which the brothers take over the fictional nation of Freedonia. That will be followed by 1930’s “Animal Crackers,” directed by Victor Heerman, in which Groucho Marx plays African explorer Rufus T. Firefly.

Eric Rohmer’s ‘The Green Ray’

A scene from Eric Rohmer’s “The Green Ray.”

(Janus Films)

Initially released as “Summer” in the U.S., Eric Rohmer’s “The Green Ray” won Venice’s Golden Lion in 1986. The film follows Delphine (Marie Rivière, who co-wrote the script with Rohmer), a single woman in Paris, as she struggles to find someone to go on a holiday trip with her, leading to a series of serio-comic misadventures. The film will show Thursday in 35mm at the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz Theater.

Reviewing the film in 1986, Michael Wilmington asked if watching a Rohmer film is really, to quote Gene Hackman on Rohmer movies in “Night Moves,” like watching paint peel? “Not at all,” Wilmington wrote. “‘Summer’ is one of the masterpieces of 1986. It’s one of the most finely wrought, stimulating films of an erratic year. It’s intellectual in the best sense: engaging you emotionally and mentally. It moves faster, wastes less time, and has more to offer than most movies now on view — and those who are skipping it are missing one of the year’s real treats.”

The 5-star resort has won Europe’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort at the World Travel Awards for the second year running, and lucky guests can enjoy a wide range of facilities that include a whopping 10 pools

A luxury hotel nestled on a peninsula in Corfu has grabbed the title of Europe’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort at the World Travel Awards for the second year running.

Ikos Odisia bagged the prestigious award in 2024 and has won again in 2025 for its resort situated on the tranquil eastern coast of the island, within the serene Dassia Bay area. Considering this modern resort only welcomed its first guests in 2023, it’s quite an achievement. So, what sets this all-inclusive holiday apart from the rest?

When you’re holidaying at an all-inclusive resort, a top-notch pool is a must-have, and Ikos Odisia doesn’t disappoint with a staggering 10 heated outdoor pools to pick from. There’s also a splash pool for the little ones and an indoor pool in the spa area.

And if you prefer your own space, rooms with private pools are on offer, including brand new three and four-bedroom villas set to launch in summer 2026, reports the Express.

Once you’ve claimed your sunlounger, you can simply sit back and bask in the sunshine, with towel service and waiting staff on hand to deliver your chosen cocktail. The same high standard of service extends to the hotel’s sandy beach, decked out with cushioned loungers and parasols, ensuring you can settle in comfortably after a refreshing dip in the azure sea.

Another spot to relax is the resort’s opulent spa, which boasts a thermal suite featuring a sauna and steam bath, a spa pool with stunning sea views, and an array of high-end treatments. If you’re holidaying with little ones and fancy some peace, kids’ clubs are on hand for children aged six months and up, offering both morning and afternoon sessions.

For those under four, there’s an additional charge for the creche. However, for 4-12-year-olds, the kids’ club is part of the package and provides a vast selection of activities to keep them entertained all day.

Guests can also book activities like paddleboarding, yoga classes, tennis, or a round of golf. Complimentary bike hire is available if you fancy exploring the peninsula, and the resort can organise electric car hire should you wish to venture further afield.

Dassia boasts numerous stunning beaches, offering popular activities from sailing to water skiing, so it’s well worth taking some time to explore.

When it comes to all-inclusive dining, many might envision chaotic buffets, but at Ikos Odisia, you’re spoilt for choice. While a Mediterranean buffet is available for all-day dining, there are also seven à la carte restaurants serving a diverse range of cuisine, including Greek, Spanish, Peruvian, and Asian options, complemented by an impressive premium wine list.

Naturally, it’s always nice to venture out from the resort in the evenings to sample some local cuisine. As part of your all-inclusive package, you can take advantage of the Dine Out option at three local restaurants. This allows you to experience the local cuisine and soak up the town’s atmosphere without any additional cost.

As dusk falls, why not pop into one of the resort’s cocktail bars for a pre-dinner drink?

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The hotel also offers a variety of entertainment options, ranging from live music to fireworks displays, as well as beach parties to fully embrace those balmy summer nights. For more information about Ikos Odisia and to make a booking, visit their official website.

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

Dec. 26 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Friday it will move ahead next week with administrative steps to make North Korea’s state newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, publicly accessible.

The ministry said a consultative meeting of supervisory agencies held Friday confirmed a consensus to reclassify Rodong Sinmun from “special materials” to “general materials,” clearing the way for broader public access.

Participants in the meeting included the Ministry of Unification, the National Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission.

Following completion of required administrative procedures, including the issuance of official notices to supervisory and handling agencies, the ministry said the reclassification will take effect next week.

Deputy Unification Ministry spokesperson Jang Yun-jeong said earlier Friday that the government has been reviewing ways to expand public access to North Korean materials. She noted that many such materials, including Rodong Sinmun, are currently designated as special materials and can be handled only by authorized agencies.

In a written response submitted Thursday to the office of Yoon Gun-young, the intelligence service said it plans to decide on reclassification through interagency consultations, citing the public’s right to know and the promotion of inter-Korean exchanges.

The Unification Ministry also said it is pushing to amend the Information and Communications Network Act and enact a separate law on the management and use of North Korean materials, a move that would allow access to North Korean websites and publications such as Rodong Sinmun.

President Lee Jae-myung has said the public should not be treated as inherently vulnerable to propaganda or agitation.

The plan has drawn mixed reactions. Some experts have urged a cautious, phased opening of North Korean media, while others have called for countermeasures against Pyongyang’s sophisticated propaganda efforts and warned of potential cybersecurity risks from North Korean websites.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Agreement follows talks aimed at ending weeks of deadly clashes along the Thailand-Cambodia border.

Thailand and Cambodia said they have signed a ⁠ceasefire ​agreement to end weeks of fierce fighting along their border that has killed more than 100 people and forced the displacement of more than half a million civilians in both countries.

“Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement,” ‍the Thai and Cambodian defence ⁠ministers said in a statement on Saturday.

“Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” the ministers said.

The ceasefire is scheduled to take effect at noon local time (05:00 GMT) and extends to “all types of weapons” and “attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”.

The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ‌ends 20 days of fighting, the worst between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in years.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon.

The new series of BBC’s Call The Midwife will feature a brand new cast playing some of the much-loved characters at the ages they were when WWII broke out

The prequel of BBC One’s Call the Midwife, set at the start of World War Two and featuring younger versions of at least three of the show’s best-known characters, will launch next year on Christmas Day.

Despite the audience not knowing the actors who will play the earlier models of Jenny Agutter’s Sister Julienne, Pam Ferris’ Sister Evangeline or Judy Parfitt’s Sister Monica Joan, BBC bosses have such confidence that the show’s loyal fans will tune in, that the drama is expected to keep its prime festive slot.

Executive producer Pippa Harris, of Neal Street Productions, revealed that the prequel would kick off in the place usually reserved for Call the Midwife. Introducing the upcoming 15th series, she was asked if BBC bosses were concerned about being left with “a blank space” for 2026 and replied: “No, it will be on at Christmas.” That festive outing will be the first glimpse that viewers have of the wartime spin-off, which came about after writer Heidi Thomas had a desire to go further back in time.

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“Having wept, laughed, and raged my way from 1957 to 1971, I found myself yearning to delve into the deeper past,” she has explained. The brand new series, which does not yet have a title and will film next year, is set in 1939, nearly two decades before Jennifer Worth’s original memoirs began in 1957.

Heidi admits she needed a “temporary pause in the usual pattern” after 15 years of Call the Midwife. “I don’t think any other show has produced a series every year for that period of time,” she said. “So I think this is a lovely opportunity for us to press pause and refresh a little bit and come back with more exciting things.”

She stressed that a 16th series, picking up in 1973, would follow on TV in due course. “We’re not going anywhere,” she stressed, “Except for maybe Australia.” A movie version for cinema release, set in 1972 and featuring the regular cast, is likely to be set in Australia.

On the film, to be shot at the end of next year, Heidi said: “Australia is likely, I can say that. But there are a number of places within Australia where that could be, all of which would be very different. We won’t be making any official announcements until we know exactly .” One possibility is that Miriam Margolyes will make a welcome return as Mother Mildred, as the actress is based in Australia.

Helen George, who has played nurse Trixie Aylward since the first episode aired in 2012, said she was happy to have a year off before returning to make the movie. “The truth is no one knows who’s going to be in the film yet,” she admitted. “It has to make sense that all of these characters end up in Australia. So even though I may want to go – of course I bloody do! – it can’t be so extraordinary that it doesn’t make sense.”

She said a feature-length film would provide the “space and the time” to explore their characters further. “Australia is so beautiful, when we did the South African Christmas special it was so cinematic and the lighting is all different. This would be their missionary work potentially, because this is what the nuns would do. It makes complete sense for them to branch out into the world.”

Trixie wasn’t born in 1939, but Helen, 41, believes that expanding the Nonnatus world backwards is also a fantastic idea. “The prequel will have characters that we know so well, but we’ll be going back and seeing the start. When we first began, we’d have sets with the remnants of buildings that had been bombed in the Blitz. It’s fascinating to go even further back, and I will definitely be watching.

“The fact that the British public still want us around is amazing,” she laughed. “It’s right to change the format – we all need a new lease of life.”

In the series starting next month, it is 1971 and the midwives and nurses are getting to grips with the women’s liberation movement. In one scene, some of the Nonnatus regulars are seen burning their bras, and while she didn’t do that herself, actress Linda Bassett, who plays nurse Phyllis Crane, said she did get involved in other ways.

“I was involved in various women’s groups – it affected all our relationships, people were very enthused,” she recalled. “I was very young and we had groups where we sat in a circle and got out speculums and looked up our own vaginas, at the cervix. That was what we did! I don’t think Heidi wanted to put that in the film. It was all about being free and feeling at one with your body and not being ashamed.”

Linda, 75, said she didn’t actually burn her bra. “That was a publicity thing. People did it and I’m not knocking it but no, I didn’t.” Annabelle Apsion, who plays Poplar’s much-loved mayor and shop-owner Violent Buckle, said it had been fun to film the bra burning, with some members of the team finding it quite emotional.

“Lisa, who directed it, was crying, because she remembered all of that. A lot of young women now don’t realise how things were. It would probably be a big shock to them to hear that women didn’t get the same pay for the same job.

“It was a beautiful day and it was hilarious how the men, like Dr Turner, were saying things like ‘have you left me a casserole?’”

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Lakers guard Austin Reaves will miss at least a month with a grade 2 strain in his left calf, the team announced Friday, one day after he left the game against the Houston Rockets at halftime.

Reaves, averaging career highs in points (26.6), assists (6.3) and rebounds (5.2), had already missed three games with what the team called a “mild” calf strain. He returned off the bench while playing on a minutes restriction against Phoenix on Dec. 23 and reprised his starting role on Christmas Day in a loss to the Rockets. But after scoring 12 points in 15 minutes in the first half, he was ruled out for the second half with “left calf soreness.”

Calf injuries have been major concerns across the NBA since three stars — Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum — suffered Achilles tears during last year’s playoffs. Haliburton and Lillard have previously dealt with calf injuries.

Lakers star guard Luka Doncic suffered a calf injury on Christmas Day last year while with the Dallas Mavericks and missed two months, during which he was traded to the Lakers.

“I know how it is to go to a calf injury. It’s not fun at all,” Doncic said Thursday after the game. “[I’ll] just be there to support him. Take your time. Calves are dangerous so take your time.”

The Lakers (19-10) are losing their second-leading scorer at a critical time of the season. They have lost three consecutive games, their only losing streak of the season, and their defense in the last 15 games has been among the worst in the league.

After the third consecutive blowout loss, coach JJ Redick questioned how much his players cared. He promised an “uncomfortable” film session and team meeting at practice on Saturday before the Lakers face Sacramento at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

After a difficult stretch of the schedule that included eight out of 10 games against teams with winning records, the Lakers have four of their next five against teams in the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Outside of a home game against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, the Lakers play the Sacramento Kings, the Memphis Grizzlies (on Jan. 2 and 4) and at New Orleans on Jan. 6.

Reaves’ absence could extend until the beginning of the Lakers’ Grammy road trip that begins on Jan. 20 against Denver.

Dec. 26 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Unification Ministry and the National Security Office have told families of South Korean nationals detained in North Korea that President Lee Jae-myung’s recent remarks on the issue resulted from a misunderstanding of a question and problems with on-site interpretation, according to relatives.

Family members said Unification Vice Minister Kim Nam-joong and officials from the ministry met relatives of detainees, including the families of missionaries Kim Jeong-wook and Choi Chun-gil, ahead of Christmas. They offered condolences and said the government would address the detainee issue, while explaining that Lee’s comments at a foreign press briefing on Dec. 3 stemmed from a misunderstanding of the question.

Relatives also said the National Security Office contacted families after the Dec. 3 briefing at the presidential guesthouse and said the detainee issue had been reported to Lee in September. Officials said Lee confused it with a separate case involving a South Korean detained in connection with a Cambodia scam incident, and said interpretation problems prevented an appropriate response, the families said.

At the Dec. 3 briefing, Lee responded to a question about South Koreans detained in North Korea by saying he was hearing about it “for the first time” and asked national security adviser Wi Sung-lak whether it was true. After the question was clarified, Lee said he lacked specific details and would review the matter.

The presidential office said the next day that six South Korean nationals, including defectors, were detained from 2013 to 2016 on charges including espionage.

Choi Jin-young, the son of detained missionary Choi Chun-gil, said he was told Lee knew about the detainees but there had been “a slight misunderstanding.” Choi said the government promised to handle the issue going forward.

But he said the explanations “sounded like nothing but excuses” and argued the case risks being forgotten. He said he urged the government to at least run a public awareness campaign.

Choi also criticized remarks in government briefings suggesting there is little that can be done without inter-Korean dialogue, saying families consider that “heartbreaking.” He said the government could still pursue cooperation by raising the issue with senior Chinese officials.

Kim Jeong-sam, brother of detained missionary Kim Jeong-wook, said he hoped the incident would prompt the government to focus more on the detainee issue. He said he was told the matter is included in the administration’s 100 key policy tasks, adding that the explanation about Lee’s remarks eased some concerns.

South Korea says six of its nationals have been detained in North Korea since 2013 through 2016 on charges including espionage. They include missionaries Kim Jeong-wook, detained in October 2013, Kim Guk-gi, detained in October 2014, and Choi Chun-gil, detained in December 2014, along with three former North Korean defectors. A defector journalist working for a North Korea-focused outlet is also reported to have been abducted by North Korea in China.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to launch a “gap year” scheme to give school and college leavers a taste of the Army, Royal Navy and RAF, but without making a long-term commitment.

The paid 12-month course is aimed at under-25s and is part of efforts to help solve long-term recruitment and retention problems in the armed forces.

Applications open in spring 2026 to be part of the first cohort of 150 recruits, with ministers planning for the scheme to eventually grow to 1,000 young people a year.

The programme is paid but officials have yet to announce a salary.

The MoD says those who join the “gap year” programme will learn skills of leadership, teamwork and problem solving to set them up “for life” whether they pursue a career in the armed forces or not.

Officials hope the scheme will bring a broader range of people into the forces, and that some decide to stay to pursue a career in the military.

Defence Secretary John Healey MP said: “This is a new era for Defence, and that means opening up new opportunities for young people to experience and learn from our Armed Forces.

“This gap year scheme will give Britain’s young people a taste of the incredible skills and training on offer across the Army, Royal Navy and RAF. It’s part of our determination to reconnect society with our forces, and drive a whole of society approach to our nation’s defence.

“As families come together at this time of year, and young people think about their futures, I want the outstanding opportunities on offer in our Armed Forces to be part of that conversation in homes across the UK.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: “As ever with Labour, the reality does not match the spin. A scheme involving just 150 participants is barely a pilot, let alone the ‘whole of society’ response they claim to be delivering.

“Of course, the Australian scheme has its strengths but these tiny numbers do nothing for our war readiness, and expose the harsh reality that Labour is prioritising higher welfare spending over a proper increase in the defence budget. Meanwhile, their Defence Investment Plan is months behind schedule, and we still have no idea when, or how, they intend to reach 3% of GDP on defence.

“In contrast, the Conservatives are serious about defending our country, which is why we announced the Sovereign Defence Fund, to raise an additional £50bn for defence and strengthen our deterrence by giving our Armed Forces the modern capabilities they need.”

The “gap year” scheme was recommended by the UK Strategic Defence Review in June after being inspired by the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The ADF gap year programme has been in operation for more than a decade, with applicants offered the chance “get a feel for military life while enjoying unique experiences you can’t find anywhere else”.

VICTORIA Beckham gushed over her husband David Beckham as he continued a sweet family tradition with their daughter, Harper.

The former Spice Girl gave an insight into their family Christmas which they celebrated with their extended families and three of their four children, Cruz, Romeo and Harper.

Victoria shared a range of photos and videos from their festive Christmas, including a video of David dancing with Harper, 14, to the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton hit, Islands in the Stream.

David and his wife have long danced to the hit song at anniversary and birthday celebrations as a mark of their love, have even inspired a viral TikTok trend in 2024.

Now David is continuing the tradition with his daughter and they sung the lyrics as they danced, and the former England footballer then dipped Harper who held on and smiled.

“Truly the best daddy,” Victoria captioned the video which she shared to her Instagram stories.

united front

Inside the Beckhams’ Christmas without Brooklyn as they ‘send message’ to son

FESTIVE FEUD

Brooklyn Beckham spends Xmas with famous tennis star

Notably absent from their celebrations was the couple’s oldest son, Brooklyn and his wife, Nicola Peltz.

Brooklyn himself posted a Christmas Eve snap of his wife, declaring that she’s his “everything” amid the feud with his family.

The couple then spent Christmas Day hitting the courts with tennis  player Reilly Opelka, as well as Nicola’s brother Bradley.

The ongoing feud between Brooklyn and his family escalated this month when he blocked his famous parents on Instagram.

The move infuriated brother Cruz, 20, who addressed the drama – revealing that Brooklyn removed the entire family – including 14-year-old Harper – from his social media.

The musician confirmed his parents woke up to being banned from seeing Brooklyn’s profile, and said: “My mum and dad would never unfollow their son.

“They woke up blocked. As did I.”

Brooklyn’s wife Nicola is also not following any of the Beckham family on Instagram – weeks after the couple were absent from David’s long-awaited knighthood celebrations.

Meanwhile David and Victoria were not present for Brooklyn and Nicola’s New York wedding vow renewal in August.  

The couple, who tied the knot in 2022, were last pictured with David and Victoria last Christmas.

Earlier this week, Brooklyn reportedly called for his parents to apologise to Nicola, with a source claiming: “There was a long briefing war where it was open season on Nicola. They (David and Victoria) targeted Nicola and thought that they could do so without consequences.

“You can’t inflict that much pain and damage on two people and then expect to pick up the relationship via a public social media post. The person who caused the pain does not get to decide when they declare it is over.

“If they want to make up then they need to apologise and acknowledge the pain caused and make changes to show that it is not going to happen again.”

A British travel expert has shared the location of what she believes to be the most beautiful place on Earth, advising others of five things to know before planning a visit to the breathtaking scenery

Following her visit to what she hailed as the “most beautiful place on Earth”, a travel expert has compiled a list of five essential pointers for anyone wanting to experience this breathtaking destination themselves. Emma Ansley Knight turned to TikTok after returning from the Brazil-Argentina border in South America, describing her journey as “such a bucket list moment”.

“Literally felt a tear come down my face when I stood over the Devil’s Throat waterfall for the first time,” she added. “Just amazing how powerful nature can be.” She went on to explain that the Brazilian side of her destination offers roughly a 1.5km walk with “beautiful panoramic views” of the cascades, which she suggests tackling first.

“Someone said that from the Brazilian side you can see the falls, and from the Argentinian side you can feel the falls, which I thought was a great way of describing it,” Emma said. The Argentinian side is quite different, however, featuring multiple walking routes and providing more of a “full day experience”, she added.

Her destination? Iguazu Falls. Also referred to as Iguaçu Falls, it sits on the Iguazu River and forms part of the world’s largest waterfall network.

“If you want to see the falls at their absolute fullest, you are best off going in the rainy season, which is roughly between November and March,” Emma advised.

“We went in December and just before that it had rained so much that the flow of the falls was five times higher than usual.”

She went on to describe the Devil’s Throat, the most impressive cascade at Iguazu Falls. “You can see the water thundering down it from the Brazilian side,” she said.

“And on the Argentinian side, you can head along a walkway and stand pretty much right at the top of it – and wow, what an experience that was.”

Regarding accommodation options, Emma outlined several choices. “On the Brazil side, you have Foz do Iguaçu, which is where we stayed. And on the Argentina side there’s Puerto Iguazu – and if your budget allows, you can even stay in the National Park itself.”

Emma concluded by reminding visitors that crossing from one side of the falls to the other requires passing through border control, meaning you must make sure you have your passport with you.

Iguazu National Park achieved UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1986 due to its exceptional natural splendour. Its website advises: “The semicircular waterfall at the heart of this site is some 80m high and 2,700m in diameter and is situated on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil.

“Made up of many cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The surrounding subtropical rainforest has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caymans.”

To get to the destination from Brazil, you can catch a flight from either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro to the local airport, Aeropuerto Internacional de Foz do Iguaçu. The journey from Rio takes roughly two hours, while flights from Sao Paulo shave off about 15 minutes.

Alternatively, if you’re travelling from Buenos Aires in Argentina, you can fly directly to the Aeropuerto Internacional de Puerto Iguazu. This flight is slightly quicker, clocking in at around one hour and 50 minutes.

The world’s longest suspension bridge is currently in Turkey but a new record could be held if the government in Italy gets its way with its hugely ambitious Messina Bridge project

The world’s longest suspension bridge has been given the green light – and it could prove hugely popular with Brits. Just four months ago, the Italian government’s plans to build the longest suspension bridge in the world was approve. It would connect the mainland region of Calabria to Sicily.

However, a lot can happen in that time. The controversial Messina Bridge project, which would cost a staggering £11.7bn, faced a huge stumbling back last month, meaning it is once again on hold. But more on that shortly.

If the bridge ever gets built along the Strait of Messina, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni still intends, it would be a hugely ambitious infrastructure challenge that has been talked about in Italy for decades.

The colossal bridge, consisting of two towers stretching 400-metres (1,300 feet), would span an incredible 3.3km (2.05 miles). Three lanes of traffic would sit either side of two railway lines in the middle.

It would be particularly welcomed by Brits travelling in Italy, because it would cut their journey to Sicily to just ten minutes, compared to taking the ferry, which can take a lot longer than the 30 minutes crossing when you factor in the immense queuing at peak times.

Speaking earlier this year, Meloni said: “It is not an easy task but we consider it an investment in Italy’s present and future, and we like difficult challenges when they make sense.”

Transport minister Matteo Salvini spoke in August that the goal was to have it built between 2032 and 2033. He also boasted that 120,000 jobs a year would be created, something he said would bring economic growth to the poor regions of Sicilia and Calabria, which is on the tip of Italy’s boot.

Rome was given the approval for the project in August after years of the plans being scrapped. One of the biggest reasons plans have been halted historically was concerns of mafia fraud, including worries about taxpayers’ money being siphoned off by the Sicilian and Calabrian gangsters.

Other concerns have repeatedly been raised about environmental damage, cost and safety, and given the region is one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean, designers promised the Strait of Messina Bridge would be able to withstand earthquakes.

However, last month, yet another setback was reported, after an Italian court ruled the bridge would go against EU environmental and tender rules.

The Court of Auditors ruling concluded: “The assumptions regarding the various ‘reasons of public interest’ are not validated by technical bodies and are not supported by adequate documentation.”

But the Italian government is refusing to give up and has vowed to review the ruling carefully and continue with its ambitions of making the bridge a reality.

As well as still having to convince the Italian Court of Auditors and both national and EU environmental agencies, there would also be pushback from the 4,000 residents who live either side of the Strait.

Their homes would be at risk of demolition and this could mean legal challenges regarding having to abandon their properties.

As it stands, the current world’s longest suspension bridge is the 915 Canakkale Bridge in Turkey – which connects Asia to Europe and takes six minutes to cross.

Construction across the passage of water (Dardanelles Strait) started in 2017 and it only became open to the public three years ago. Journey times have been cut by up to 93%.

This means 90-minute ferry trips can be avoided by using the bridge that starts in Gelibolu, Turkey, which is based on the European side of the country, to the Asian town of Lapseki.

Brydon Carse takes two wickets in three deliveries, as Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc are both dismissed for a duck to leave Australia 121-9 on day two of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes fourth Test – day two

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More than 40 million Americans under winter storm warnings or weather advisories as heavy snow expected.

Thousands of flights have been cancelled and delayed in the United States due to winter storm Devin, airline monitoring website FlightAware reports, dealing a blow to air travel during peak holiday time.

A total of 1,581 flights “within, into or out of the” US were cancelled and 6,883 delayed as of 4pm US Eastern Time (21:00 GMT) on Friday, according to FlightAware, which describes itself as the world’s largest flight tracking data company.

The delays and cancellations came as the US National Weather ⁠Service warned of winter storm Devin causing “hazardous travel conditions” and heavy snow forecast across parts of the Midwest and northeast.

More than 40 million Americans were under winter storm warnings or weather advisories on Friday, plus another 30 million under flood or storm advisories in California, where a so-called atmospheric river has brought a deluge of rain.

New York City, the largest US city, was bracing for up to 250mm (10 inches) of snow overnight on Friday, the most expected in four years. Temperatures were forecast to drop into the weekend when an Arctic blast is expected to swoop down from Canada.

New York’s John F Kennedy airport, ⁠Newark Liberty international airport and LaGuardia airport warned travellers of potential delays or cancellations. More than half of the flight cancellations and delays took place at these three airports, according to FlightAware.

JetBlue Airways cancelled 225 flights on Friday, the most among the US carriers, closely followed by Delta Air Lines, which cancelled 212 flights. Republic Airways cancelled 157 flights, while 146 were cancelled by American Airlines and 97 by United Airlines.

“Due to winter storm Devin, JetBlue has cancelled approximately 350 flights today and tomorrow, primarily in the Northeast where JetBlue has a large operation,” a JetBlue spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.

On the US West Coast, powerful winter storms brought the wettest Christmas season to Southern California in 54 years.

There was still a risk of more flash flooding and mudslides on Friday despite slackening rain around Los Angeles, the National Weather Service warned.

Firefighters rescued more than 100 people on Thursday in Los Angeles County, with one helicopter pulling 21 people from stranded cars, officials said.

Surrounded by a stunning coastline, the UK has some breathtaking beaches to visit – here are five of the best hotels to stay at which make the most of their magical seaside locations

If you are dreaming of escaping the chaos of everyday modern life but don’t want to travel abroad, the UK has some idyllic beaches and beautiful coastline destinations to explore.

Treat yourself to a well-deserved break at a spot Queen Victoria compared to a scene from a fairytale ballet, try your luck at dolphin and seal spotting or relax in acres of subtropical gardens above a sandy cove before snorkelling in crystal clear waters.

From balmy Cornwall and sunny Devon to the remote Isle of Harris via Snowdonia National Park, the new Good Hotel Guide shared with us this year’s five Editor’s Choice picks for the best seaside hotels, which offer something for everyone.

With ‘all the comforts one could possibly desire’, the Ashworth family’s much-loved hotel stands in two-acre subtropical gardens above sandy Carne Beach in the unspoilt National Trust landscape of the Roseland Peninsula. Appealing to guests of all ages, with its country-house comforts and timeless charms, it is perfect for multi-generational family stays. The well-trained, friendly staff ‘make it so special’ say Guide readers.

The least-pricey country-view bedrooms have comfy seating and such pleasing touches as fresh flowers and fruit, magazines, a Roberts radio and Penhaligon bath products. Facilities include a lounge, drawing room, sun lounge, bar, library, conservatory and gym, plus indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis and croquet. There is a lift, and public rooms have access for a wheelchair user. Days can be spent building sandcastles, investigating rock pools, snorkelling in crystal-clear waters, walking the Southwest Coast Path or waterborne exploration aboard the hotel’s motor launch Alice Rose.

You can dine à la carte in the Quarterdeck seafood brasserie, on the terrace, or in the dining room from a five-course fixed-price menu, where silver service, and hors d’oeuvres and cheese trolleys hark back to a more civilised age, and “being able to choose from a sumptuous selection of puds is true luxury”. They serve cream teas (of course), a cracking Sunday lunch, and early supper for children under seven. Dogs are allowed in the bedrooms and gardens, and Carne is one of the few beaches locally that permits dogs all year round, though be sure to follow the Canine Code.

Country-view doubles from £406.

Walls of windows afford glorious Atlantic views from Emma Stratton’s fun hotel on the clifftop above a sheltered, sandy beach with caves and rockpools. Built in the Californian Modern style, with Scandi-inspired interiors, it was launched by Emma’s father, a farmer and engineer, in 1959, and, while evolving with the decades, it still reflects his passion for sustainability.

This is very much a child-friendly family affair with spacious sea and countryside-facing bedrooms, some sleeping three or four. In a separate building, apartment suites for four to six guests have a separate bedroom or bunkroom for the kids, a living area and a Juliet balcony or a patio (choose a ground-floor apartment and the dog can come too). Two-hour sessions for children under five are offered in the play-space crèche, with a kids’ club for over-fives, so parents have a bit of a breathing space, perhaps for spa treatments, wellness classes or a steep in the hot tub in the sensory spa garden.

An all-day menu in the Wild Café caters to every taste, with nibbles, salads, sandwiches, pies and grills, moules frites, fish and chips, risotto… Adults can sip cocktails in the bar and on the terrace, with wine tastings and sophisticated dining in Ogo restaurant. Menus reflect the hotel’s values of locality and seasonality, with such dishes as whole lemon sole with mussel butter, rock samphire and elderflower caper sauce; Mora Farm roasted cabbage with smoked potato, Cornish gouda and potato skins. Walk the Coast Path to sharpen your appetite.

B&B doubles from £129 .

Centred on a cosy, beamed pub in a stunning situation above Babbacombe Beach, Lana de Savary’s dog-friendly spa hotel is a resort in its own right. “It’s a beautiful spot,” noted Queen Victoria as she sketched the scene from offshore, “…red cliffs and rocks with wooded hills like Italy and reminding one of a ballet or play where nymphs appear – such rocks and grottoes, with the deepest sea on which there was no ripple.”

The descent by road is a little hairy but there are moorings for yachting folk who come by water. Guests have a choice of ten coastal-chic inn rooms and suites, some for a family, as well as eight beach huts, beach suites and fishermen’s cottages. All rooms have a mesmerising sea view and are supplied with an espresso machine, a decanter of sloe gin, and Temple Spa bath products, and have a private terrace or balcony from which to spot dolphins and wave to Sammy the seal. The Shell Suite has a kitchenette, log burner and patio. Beach huts have a mezzanine bedroom, a waterfall shower, bifold doors to a decking area. Check for late availability for surprisingly low prices.

Dinner in the scenic restaurant might include Brixham crab and mussels, steak and ale pie, fish and chips, courgette pappardelle with smoked mozzarella and wild-garlic pesto. When the sun shines, they host lobster barbecues with live music, and days can be spent paddleboarding, sea kayaking, on mackerel fishing trips and generally messing about in boats.

B&B doubles from £175.

Perennially popular with readers, some of whom will have known it from childhood, this long-established hotel, in a hillside location, set back from the road, was founded at the dawn of the Edwardian era and received its first paying guests in 1904. Originally a somewhat eccentric mock-Tudor-cum-château edifice, for more than a century it was owned by the Cave family, who expanded and modernised it, with a 1960s facelift, and the addition of an extra floor in the 2000s. So it was that, when they sold it in October 2025, BLS UK Hotels acquired not just a hotel but a legacy of good will, and the new owners are pledged to retain the same staff and same values. This will be important to a faithful following who want continuity not fad and fashion, home comforts not hipster vibes.

The location is “fabulous”, overlooking golf course, dunes and sandy beach. The amenities are excellent, with three sea-view lounges for afternoon tea, a tennis court, nine-hole golf course, heated indoor swimming pool and spa bath. Dogs and kids are welcome. Spacious bedrooms, some for a family, with sea or hillside views, are decorated in coastal colours and have ample seating.

You can order from a lounge menu, while, in the restaurant (dress code smart casual), the menu features such dishes as garlic and thyme roast chicken with thyme jus, beef medallions with wild mushrooms and café de Paris butter, baked Mediterranean vegetable and goat’s cheese cannelloni.

B&B double from £270.

Forget promenades and bandstands, crowded beaches and candy floss, amusement arcades and bucket-and-spade shops – only Machair and sheep-grazed pasture lie between Patricia and Tim Martin’s Georgian manse and the Atlantic, in this sublime, end-of-the-world location on the Isle of Harris, against a backdrop of heather-clad hills. It provides the cosy ambience you want after outdoorsy days of hiking, wildlife spotting, swimming, surfing and sailing, with a library and first-floor drawing room where you can take afternoon tea by an open fire.

Maud the pug, Brodie the spaniel and moggies Mister and Wee Hamish are quite amenable to sharing the library, but drawing-room and dining rooms are out of bounds for visiting hounds, who are charged at just £25 a stay (maximum two). Bedrooms (three in an annexe) are traditional cottage style with patterned wallpapers, solid wood furniture and pretty china. All have views of garden, beach or hills; two have sitting areas with sofa and wrap-around windows.

An early supper is laid on for children before guests gather convivially for drinks and a set-price dinner of such sophisticated dishes as langoustine bisque with rouille and smoked scallop mayonnaise; roast quail and porcini risotto. A separate menu for vegans and vegetarians might include timbale of ratatouille, red pepper sabayon; Puy lentil, fennel and celeriac casserole, Strathdon blue cheese, honey and truffle vinaigrette. A hearty breakfast brings freshly squeezed orange juice, organic porridge with cream, Stornoway kipper, a full Scottish. They’re closed now until April, so look (and book) ahead.

Doubles, B&B, £315 per night for stays of 2 or 3 nights.

Ukraine is expanding its uncrewed surface vessel (USV) attacks to hit Russian targets on the Dnipro River and its tributaries. Kyiv’s USV campaign has previously hit enemy shipping, warships, and infrastructure in attacks made famous by the country’s State Security Service (SBU) and Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR).

Meanwhile, as Russia begins to build out its own USV effort, Ukraine also said it struck a storage site for those vessels on Tuesday night in a preemptive effort to keep them from being deployed.

The 40th Coastal Defense Brigade of the 30th Marine Corps recently released a video showing the Barracuda USV it developed carrying out a mission in the Dnipro region. The video purports to show the Barracuda making its way through an inlet before hitting a small camouflaged Russian boat and outpost. The video then cuts to aerial drone views showing an explosion and resulting destruction.

“The unmanned boat ‘Barracuda’ carried out another successful mission,” the Corps stated on Telegram.

The Barracuda USV is operated by a special unit of the same name, according to the 30th Marine Corps.

“The eponymous special unit, subordinated to the 40th Marine Brigade, independently designed and launched a water drone, which is already defending the coasts of Ukraine,” the Corps explained. 

Unveiled earlier this year, the Barracuda was designed to carry out several missions, including one-way attack, strikes with grenades and first-person view (FPV) drones and resupply, according to the Corps.

This modular design is similar to the Sea Baby USVs produced by the SBU and the Magura line of USVs operated by GUR that have frequently staged attacks in the Black Sea. In addition to serving as one-way attack weapons, the USVs previously deployed by Ukraine have brought down jets and helicopters and launched attacks using aerial drones. This onslaught has already kept Russia’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) at bay, forcing it to retreat from Crimea to Novorossiysk. Ukrainian USVs have also damaged enemy military facilities in occupied Crimea and the Kerch Bridge.

However, unlike Ukraine’s long-range USVs, the Barracuda is not equipped with satellite communications.

“Its range is therefore limited, making it suitable primarily for short-distance missions among the islands of the Dnipro River, which corresponds with the operating area of the 40th Coastal Defense Brigade,” the Ukrainian United24 media outlet noted.

The unit claims that the Barracuda is guided in part by artificial intelligence, but does not provide any details.

Overall, the Barracuda appears to be a bit cheaper and less complex design that is better optimized for lower priority targets in riverine and shallow littoral areas. The lack of a satellite communications system is interesting as control of the boat would have to be provided locally, within line of sight of the boat or at least within line of sight of a relay, such as a drone, flying overhead. The boat could also follow waypoint navigation autonomously, but making pinpoint attacks in complex waterways would be a challenge for such a concept of operations.

The Barracuda attacks are part of a fight taking place on the Dnipro, its inlets and islands since the Ukrainian’s recaptured Kherson City in November 2023. With neither side being able to launch a major cross-river attack due to the difficulty of crossing a body of water while under fire from drones and artillery, the two sides have been jockeying for position in this area on a much smaller scale.

The success of Ukraine’s USVs has not been lost on Russia. Earlier this year, Moscow carried out a drone boat attack on a Ukrainian Navy reconnaissance ship in the mouth of the Danube River. That incident marked Russia’s first confirmed use of these weapons. In addition to building its own drone boats, Russia also created dedicated units to operate them. You can read more about Russia’s USV development in our story here.

The following video shows the August Russian USV attack on the Ukrainian ship.

Though there have been no confirmed Russian USV attacks since August, Ukraine remains concerned about the potential for future strikes. 

“As part of a systematic reduction of the Russian aggressor’s military-economic potential, on the night of December 24, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out successful strikes on several enemy targets,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed on Wednesday. “The storage and maintenance site for unmanned boats in the area of Mirny in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimea was hit.”

The General Staff did not provide any visual evidence of the results of the attack and said that the extent of the damage is still being determined.

While Ukraine’s Barracuda USVs have not yet been carrying out attacks on high-value targets, the drone boats give Kyiv’s beleaguered forces another weapon they can use to help defend its internal waterways.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com