IF you missed out on the January launch of The Sun’s Hols From £9.50, there’s no need to worry.

From March 1, thousands of new breaks will be added to the Sun Holidays from £9.50 website – where you can gain early access from one minute past midnight if you’re a Sun Club member.

This includes previously sold-out dates at some of the most popular UK holiday parks, as well as breaks at plenty of sunny resorts across Europe.

Plus if you’re a Sun Club member, you’ll be able to catch a head start when booking.

Sun Club members can head straight online at midnight on Sunday March 1.

Others must wait until morning to collect code words from the newspaper to unlock booking.

Read more on £9.50 holidays

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Our £9.50 Holidays expert answers YOUR questions – including top parks for couples

How do I go about booking?

There’s multiple ways to get access to £9.50 holidays, including collecting tokens from the newspaper to enter online to unlock the deal.

However there is a faster and easier way to gain access, which is by joining Sun Club. Join Sun Club at thesun.co.uk/club for £1.99 a month or £12 for a year.

Once you’re a member, go to the Sun Club Offers hub and find the Hols From £9.50 page – book your break from midnight on Sunday March 1.

This gets you ahead of those collecting codes, who have to wait until morning to purchase a newspaper to find the final code.

Plus once you’ve signed up you can enjoy plenty of other benefits too, such as discounted tickets to top UK attractions.

So why not stay up and join the midnight service to be among the first to access these new breaks?

What are Hols from £9.50?

The Sun’s Holidays from £9.50 are a selection of breaks available to book across the UK and Europe that can cost you as little as £9.50pp.

These holidays range from mega family parks in the UK to sunny beachfront stays abroad.

Over at Hols from £9.50, there are more than 300 holiday parks to choose from.

These range from romantic adults-only resorts such as Sand Bay in Somerset, to fully-fledged family resorts like Billing Aquadrome in Northampton.

Some of the most popular UK holiday parks for families include Seal Bay in West Sussex and Unity Beach in Somerset, both of which have an action-packed entertainment program.

Plus it’s not just UK holiday parks receiving a major boost in booking dates – there’s sunny hotspots across Europe that you can book, too.

These include holiday parks in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Croatia, the Netherlands and more.

And with sunny holiday resorts like the palm-fringed Bella Terra in Spain and Orbitur Valverde in the Algarve to pick from, you could be jetting off abroad for cheap.

These are just some of the 300+ resorts available under Sun Hols from £9.50.

And if you had your eye on a resort that quickly sold out in January – we’ve got good news!

Even previously sold-out dates at a range of popular parks are back with a fresh restock this March.

Tips for bagging your break

Queen of the £9.50 holiday Tracy Kennedy has been booking these holidays for nearly 30 years, and has shared her top tips for logging on and bagging the resort you want.

Tracy recommends getting prepared with your top picks for parks, as well as joining the website at midnight with Sun Club membership.

She said: “Come up with a list of your top four parks from the list of those available.

“Popular sites like Seal Bay and Unity Beach tend to go really fast.

“So if you’re set on which park you want, book it as soon as possible.

“But you should also add a few extras you wouldn’t mind going to, just in case you don’t get your top picks.

“To be in with the best chance of getting the one you want, you should set an alarm.

“I book through Sun Club  at midnight, so I make sure to stay up.

“I call it The Midnight Service. It started years ago when we could start booking online.

“A few minutes after midnight comes, then Sun Club people can book. Which includes me, straight after midnight. The people collecting codes have to wait a bit longer”.

“I love the convenience of having it all online. And it’s nice getting that extra priority with it opening early.

“I definitely recommend joining Sun Club to get first dibs.”

Two people took the Bakerloo line on one of London’s shortest Tube journeys while another walked between the stations – with surprising results showing walking was faster

While the London Underground is undeniably handy most of the time, there are some journeys that seem barely worth the hassle. By the time you’ve reached the station, scanned your ticket or Oyster card, gone down the stairs or escalator, waited for your train, then made the return journey back to street level and scanned back out, you could probably have walked the distance just as quickly.

The people at secret.london decided to put this theory to the test, with two people tackling one of the capital’s briefest Tube journeys, whilst another made the same trip on foot to determine who’d arrive first.

The journey from Marylebone Station to Baker Street on the Bakerloo line lasts just 57 seconds – however, the time spent getting to and from the platforms, plus waiting for the train, will bump this up. The stations sit just 0.2 miles apart, with the walk between them taking around six minutes, according to Google Maps.

Kicking off the video, narrator Tom said: “This has got to be the most pointless Tube journey in London.” He continued: “Today we’re racing between Marylebone and Baker Street, with Google predicting a six minute walk versus a one minute Tube ride, who’s going to get there first?”

The footage then shows Tom and two female colleagues at Marylebone Station simultaneously starting timers on their phones, before he heads off on foot whilst the women dart into the station, reports MyLondon. The footage captures the women striding quickly – but not running – through the station, while navigating the ticket barrier and commuters blocking the escalator.

Tom, meanwhile, is filmed making his way through the streets, remarking: “Of course we’re doing it in such terrible weather. You’ve got to be prepared for everything, so I have come with a brolly.”

He continues: “I’m feeling good about this. Those guys have got to get onto the platform (and) find a tube that’s hopefully on time.”

The women are then spotted reaching the platform, with the next service due in two minutes, while Tom encounters his “first obstacle” – a set of traffic lights. “A fun fact about Baker Street Station: it’s the oldest Tube station in the world,” he says. “It was created on January 10 in 1863.

“But was it built to be the fastest? I don’t know.”

The women are subsequently shown getting on the train, their timers displaying four minutes and 20 seconds, and counting. “It’s not our fault we’re tiny and petite and he’s big and lanky and long,” one remarks.

They’re then filmed getting off the train and moving swiftly towards the exit. Tom, by contrast, stands across the road from the station entrance.

“I can see the entrance to the station and they’re not outside it, so I think I’ve got a good chance” he says. After a frantic dash up the escalator and a tussle with a stubborn ticket barrier, the women display the timer, reading six minutes and 26 seconds, as they reach the station entrance – only to find Tom already there.

Tom finished the journey in six minutes and 16 seconds, remarking: “So for this one, you probably should walk it.”

What are the shortest Tube journeys?

1. Charing Cross – Embankment 35 secs (Northern line)
2. Leicester Square – Covent Garden 39 secs (Piccadilly line)
3. Southwark – Waterloo 42 secs (Jubilee line)
4. Tottenham Court Road – Leicester Square 44 secs (Northern line)
5. Holborn – Chancery Lane 45 secs (Central line)
6. Warren Street – Goodge Street 46 secs (Northern line)
7. Cannon Street – Mansion House 50 secs (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
8. Cannon Street – Mansion House 50 secs (District line)
9. Embankment – Charing Cross 50 secs (Bakerloo line)
10. Monument – Cannon Street 50 secs (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
11. Monument – Cannon Street 50 secs (District line)
12. Marble Arch – Bond Street 51 secs (Central line)
13. Northfields – South Ealing 51 secs (Piccadilly line)
14. Oxford Circus – Tottenham Ct Rd 51 secs (Central line)
15. Charing Cross – Leicester Square 54 secs (Northern line)
16. Euston – King’s Cross 54 secs (Victoria line)
17. Finchley Road – Swiss Cottage 55 secs (Jubilee line)
18. Wood Lane – Shepherds Bush 55 secs (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
19. Goodge Street – Tottenham Court Road 56 secs (Norther line)
20. Baker Street – Marylebone 57 secs (Bakerloo line)
21. Bond Street – Oxford Circus 57 secs (Central line)
22. Marylebone – Edgware Road 57 secs (Bakerloo line)

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BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Bravo 2, Fremont 1

Mendez 13, West Adams 1

Torres 12, Lincoln 2

SOUTHERN SECTION

Aliso Niguel 5, Millikan 3

Anaheim Canyon 9, Villa Park 8

Arroyo 8, Edgewood 1

Banning 5, San Bernardino 3

Barstow 2, Eastvale Roosevelt 1

Bellflower 4, Mary Star of the Sea 0

Bell Gardens 12, Hacienda Heights Wilson 4

Bishop Montgomery 11, South East 0

Bonita 11, Northview 6

Brentwood 6, Campbell Hall 4

Buckley 18, Shalhevet 2

Calvary Baptist 8, Fontana 2

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 6, Burbank 2

Cerritos 7, Ocean View 1

Charter Oak 11, Montebello 3

Colton 15, Vista del Lago 2

Compton Centennial 12, Compton Early College 3

Cornerstone Christian 14, Lakeside 5

Corona 11, Trabuco Hills 1

Corona Centennial 10, Arrowhead Christian 8

Crossroads 6, Viewpoint 1

Desert Christian 10, Boron 5

Downey 4, Redondo Union 1

Entrepreneur 23, California Lutheran 14

Excelsior Charter 14, Yucca Valley 5

Foothill Tech 8, Fillmore 1

Flintridge Prep 4, Schurr 3

Garey 20, El Monte 2

Great Oak 8, Los Osos 5

Hemet 11, Temecula Prep 1

Heritage 7, Rancho Mirage 5

Hesperia Christian 17, ACE 1

Hoover 24, La Puente 2

Indian Springs , Arroyo Valley 1

Irvine 3, Estancia 1

Kaiser 4, Cajon 3

Katella 2, Woodbridge 1

Laguna Beach 10, Segerstrom 1

Lawndale 4, Firebaugh 3

Linfield Christian 18, Whittier Christian 8

Long Beach Jordan 10, Dominguez 0

Long Beach Poly 3, Palos Verdes 2

Maranatha 5, St. Augustine 4

Montclair 6, Miller 1

Moreno Valley 11, Redlands 2

Mountain View 10, Mark Keppel 2

Murrieta Mesa 9, Rancho Verde 1

Nordhoff 6, Santa Clara 3

Norte Vista 14, San Gorgonio 1

Nuview Bridge 6, Bloomington 2

Oak Hills 2, Granite Hills 1

Oakwood 11, Pasadena Poly 1

Ontario 7, Azusa 3

Oxnard 7, Santa Monica 5

PACS 31, Mojave 4

Paramount 8, Glenn 0

Ramona 8, Hillcrest 3

Righetti 12, Milken 2

Riverside North 6, Tahquitz 6

Rowland 10, Pasadena Marshall 0

Royal 10, Trinity Classical Academy 2

San Clemente 3, Colony 2

San Jacinto 9, Santa Rosa Academy 4

San Jacinto Valley Academy 13, Xavier Prep 3

San Marino 6, Cathedral 5

Santa Ana Foothill 6, Santa Fe 5

Saugus 16, Quartz Hill 9

St. Anthony 6, Cerritos Valley Christian 1

Summit 3, Etiwanda 0

Temescal Canyon 6, La Sierra 2

Thousand Oaks 10, Chaminade 8

Victor Valley 9, Vasquez 4

Village Christian d. South El Monte, forfeit

Vista Murrieta 5, Yorba Linda 5

Webb 19, Pomona 3

West Valley 7, Indio 6

INTERSECTIONAL

El Rancho 6, Maywood CES 0

Bishop Montgomery 11, South East 0

Mira Costa 8, Chatsworth 3

San Fernando 3, Castaic 1

JSerra 5, Southlake Carroll 2

South Torrance 10, Venice 0

St. Francis 9, Taft 0

St. Monica 12, LA Hamilton 1

Warren 12, Mesa (AZ) Dobson 3

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Bernstein 17, Fairfax 16

Cleveland 15, Reseda 9

Mendez d. Animo Venice, forfeit

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 16, Rim of the World 0

Ayala 7, Carter 0

Banning 11, San Bernardino 5

Beaumont 7, Northview 2

Bishop Montgomery 15, St. Anthony 4

Bloomington 8, Indian Springs 4

Bolsa Grande 17, Long Beach Cabrillo 14

Bonita 11, Baldwin 2

Boron 9, Desert Christian 4

Burbank Providence 15, Santa Clarita Christian 3

California 5, Downey 3

Calvary Baptist 7, Fontana 2

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 17, Mayfield 1

Capistrano Valley 7, Villa Park 4

Cathedral City 10, Coachella Valley 4

Chaffey 8, Patriot 1

Chaminade 10, Heritage Christian 0

Chino 12, Beckman 7

Claremont 13, Don Lugo 2

Colton 16, Tahquitz 9

Compton Centennial 12, Burbank Burroughs 0

Corona 7, Colony 5

Corona del Mar 7, Ocean View 2

Costa Mesa 16, Compton Early College 9

Covina 7, Diamond Ranch 3

Crescenta Valley 7, Hart 3

Crossroads 11, Trinity Classical Academy 7

Desert Hot Springs 24, Xavier Prep 20

Dos Pueblos 10, Lompoc 5

Downey Calvary Chapel 12, Santa Ana Valley 9

El Dorado 4, Esperanza 1

El Monte 15, Mark Keppel 3

Etiwanda 13, Cajon 4

Firebaugh 17, Rosemead 4

Fountain Valley 9, Irvine 6

Garden Grove Pacifica 7, Mater Dei 2

Glendale 15, St. Bernard 5

Glendora 11, West Covina 0

Grace 8, Vasquez 2

Hacienda Heights Wilson 9, Montebello 4

Hawthorne 15, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 3

Hesperia 14, Moreno Valley 4

La Habra 9, La Palma Kennedy 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 10, Katella 0

Lancaster 12, Silverado 1

La Serna 1, Mission Viejo 0

Liberty 16, Ridgecrest Burroughs 3

Los Amigos 18, Century 3

Maranatha 18, South Pasadena 3

Millikan 21, Gahr 7

Moorpark 18, Ventura 4

Newbury Park 12, Santa Paula 2

Nogales 12, Montclair 6

Northview 7, Eastvale Roosevelt 2

Northwood 24, Newport Harbor 5

Oak Park 2, Rio Mesa 1

Oaks Christian 11, Simi Valley 2

Ontario 9, Azusa 2

Ontario Christian 15, Irvine University 3

Oxford Academy 20, Samueli Academy 4

Oxnard 6, Camarillo 5

Oxnard Pacifica 11, Carpinteria 0

Paloma Valley 10, Jurupa Valley 0

Paramount 13, Long Beach Jordan 1

Ramona 3, Los Osos 1

Rancho Cucamonga 8, Rancho Verde 0

Riverside Notre Dame 13, Barstow 2

Riverside Prep 13, Arroyo Valley 0

Riverside Prep 14, AAE 1

Sacred Heart of Jesus 7, Ramona Convent 6

Sage Creek 9, Elsinore 5

San Juan Hills 8, Santa Ana Foothill 4

San Marcos 14, Del Sol 2

Santa Margarita 2, Trabuco Hills 1

Segerstrom 6, Tesoro 1

Sierra Vista 9, Pasadena 8

South El Monte 16, Edgewood 16

Southlands Christian 14, La Puente 1

South Torrance 12, Mary Star of the Sea 3

St. Bonaventure 8, Buena 5

St. Paul 8, Sonora 2

Thousand Oaks 3, Valencia 2

University Prep 9, Hesperia Christian 3

University Prep 13, Riverside Notre Dame 3

Valley View 12, Lakeside 2

Viewpoint 6, Flintridge Prep 4

Walnut 11, Rowland 2

Warren 15, Sunny Hills 5

Westlake 2, Royal 1

West Valley 13, Temecula Prep 5

Yorba Linda 17, Troy 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Alhambra 11, LA Marshall 2

Bonita 11, Kailua (HI) 0

Burbank Burroughs 7, Granada Hills Kennedy 2

Canyon Country Canyon 9, Verdugo Hills 8

Culver City 13, LA Hamilton 3

El Camino Real 4, Louisville 1

El Rancho 11, Garfield 7

Golden Valley 24, Grant 4

Granada Hills 13, La Canada 1

HMSA 8, Animo Venice 1

Long Beach Poly 9, Legacy 2

Muir 12, Eagle Rock 2

Port of LA 10, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 0

Shadow Hills 6, Brawley 5

Wilmington Banning 12, Peninsula 0

Feb. 26 (UPI) — Pakistan conducted airstrikes in areas of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia overnight, officials from both countries said, as Islamabad’s defense minister early Friday declared Pakistan was in “open war” with Afghanistan.

Pakistani warplanes struck areas of the Afghan capital Kabul and its second-largest city, Kandahar, and Paktia province, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, said in a statement, claiming there were no casualties — which Pakistan disputes.

Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, said Afghan military targets were hit, and claimed 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded. The figures could not be independently verified.

Twenty-seven Afghan military posts were destroyed and nine captured in the assaults, he said.

“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us,” Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement.

“Pakistan’s army did not come from across the seas. We are your neighbors; we know your ins and outs.”

The airstrikes were carried out after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border positions late Thursday, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defense, which said the assault was retaliatory for Pakistan’s fatal strike on seven militant camps and hideouts last week.

The latest explosion in violence follows months of escalating tensions between the two countries, with Pakistan repeatedly accusing Afghanistan of harboring terrorists, in particular the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an Islamist group seeking to overthrow the Islamabad government.

Afghanistan has repeatedly denied the allegations Pakistan has leveled since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

Pakistan blames TTP and other Afghan-based terrorists for a series of brutal attacks over the years, and has carried out repeated airstrikes in Afghanistan in response, including in October.

Development agendas borrow a term common in the study of global governance that is shaped not only by policy, but also by the decision-making structures that determine who speaks, who is heard, and who ultimately adapts. In the contemporary multilateral landscape, the tendency of weaker actors to align their positions with dominant powers for the sake of security or accessibility has evolved beyond its classical definition in realist theory. It now operates as a subtle but consequential social mechanism, systematically reducing the diplomatic boldness of the Global South countries in international forums.

The bandwagon effect is not just a phenomenon of individual behavior, but a reflection of an institutionalized architecture of structural inequality. Under these conditions, the countries of the Global South often hide their authentic preferences. Not because of argumentative incompetence, but rather because of the incentives created by financial dependence, representation asymmetry, and limited diplomatic capacity. The consequence is a direct contradiction to Sustainable Development Goal 16, which mandates the building of strong, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

The Bandwagon Effect in the Context of Global Governance

From a realist perspective, countries that have identical votes in UNGA resolutions reflect similar preferences within the framework of the protection of sovereign norms. But empirical research shows a more complex reality. Khan’s (2020) study of Bangladesh’s voting patterns at the UNGA for the period 2001–2017 revealed that vote alignment does not always reflect the proximity of substantive preferences, but is often a product of geopolitical contexts and dependency relationships. Realists themselves recognize that this kind of voice alignment tends to collapse in crisis situations when countries are encouraged to self-help that makes it clear that a seemingly consensus-like may never really exist.

More direct evidence comes from a panel of 123 developing countries in a study of U.S. economic sanctions and UNGA voting patterns for the 1990–2014 period. The study, which limited its analysis to non-OECD countries because foreign aid was not considered to affect the voting behavior of rich countries, confirmed that external pressures, both in the form of incentives and sanctions, significantly shaped developing countries’ voting preferences on important issues. It further states that receive budget support and unconditional assistance from the US tend to vote in line with US interests. A correlation that is difficult to explain solely by the similarity of values.

This pattern was also identified structurally through the analysis of the UNGA voting network. Magu and Mateos (2017) found that the empirical distribution of voting similarity scores is right-skewed towards a value of 1, which means that clusters of countries with a high degree of alignment are much more common than can be explained by pure similarity of interest. This is consistent with the hypothesis that structurally weak states tend to move toward dominant power positions, not because of belief, but because of survival calculations.

The Inequality Architecture That Creates Bandwagon Incentives

Understanding why the bandwagon effect is so entrenched among the Global South requires a reading of the existing global governance architecture. At the International Monetary Fund, the United States holds 16.9 percent of the vote and has an effective veto since major decisions require an 85 percent majority. Meanwhile, Africa, which consists of 54 member states and accounts for most of the IMF’s 2026 active loan portfolio, only controls about 6.5 percent of the vote. On the UN Security Council, not a single African country holds a permanent seat, although more than 60 percent of the Council’s agenda is related to conflicts on the continent.

This representational inequality creates the conditions in which joining a majority position or with a certain power bloc becomes an administratively rational strategy, even when it is contrary to the long-term interests of a country.

The factor of dependence on military suppliers is also relevant. A study of the determinants of developing countries’ voting at the UNGA identified that the choice of military suppliers that placed countries in the orbit of Western, Russian, or Chinese influence also influenced voting tendencies. This provides important context for India’s abstaining position in the UNGA resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is an inseparable decision from the fact that about 70 percent of India’s military equipment comes from Russia. This is not a moral inconsistency but rather a rationality imposed by the architecture of dependence.

Contradictions with SDGs 16: Measuring What Is Not Measurable

Sustainable Development Goal 16 mandates the development of institutions that are ‘peaceful, equitable, and inclusive at all levels’ is a mandate that explicitly encompasses global, not just domestic, governance. The SDG 16 Global Progress Report (UNDP/UNODC/OHCHR, 2023) describes an alarming situation where progress towards SDG 16 is very slow and in some cases even moving in the wrong direction. Violence is on the rise, inequality is hampering inclusive decision-making, and corruption is undermining the social contract.

On a broader level, the Sustainable Development Report 2024 (SDSN), which covers all 193 UN member states, found that on average only 16 percent of the SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030. SDG 16 is specifically mentioned as one of the goals that are furthest from the target. More significantly, among the five SDG targets that showed the most regression since 2015, press freedom, which is an indicator under SDG 16, is also included.

The connection between the bandwagon effect and the setback of SDG 16 is not just correlative. It is mechanistic. When countries are unable to express their authentic preferences in the multilateral negotiation process due to structural pressures, the three key pillars of SDG 16 inclusivity, accountability, and effectiveness are degraded simultaneously. Inclusivity is degraded as voices that are supposed to represent the global majority are eroded into a consensus designed by and for minorities. Accountability is degraded because countries that choose to go against the interests of their people in order to maintain relations with donors or trading partners cannot be held coherently accountable by their constituents. Effectiveness is degraded because resolutions born of pseudo-consensus will never be implemented with sincere commitment.

The Bandwagon Effect as a Social Phenomenon, Not an Individual Failure

It is important to emphasize that the bandwagon effect in this context is not a failure of diplomatic character or moral inconsistency. It is a rational response to unequal structural incentives. A quantitative analysis of UNGA voting in the period 1946–2014 shows that the voting patterns of developing countries consistently shifted to the dominant power configuration in that period not because of the convergence of values, but because of changes in the distribution of power and dependency.

This makes the bandwagon effect a social phenomenon in the strictest sense. It is not behavior that is freely chosen by individuals or states, but behavior that is conditioned by the structure of the system. As the literature on public voting behavior and foreign policy shows, public opinion and domestic pressures do influence foreign policy but in countries with low state capacity, external factors such as aid dependence and pressure from international financial institutions are often more decisive.

The consequences of this framing are very important in policy. The solution is not moral persuasion, but in the transformation of structural incentives. The countries of the Global South do not need to be educated to be braver, they just need to be given conditions where diplomatic courage does not mean financial suicide or geopolitical isolation.

Implications and Directions of Reform

If the bandwagon effect is understood as a product of the architecture of inequality, then meaningful reform must target that architecture. First, reform of representation in the Bretton Woods institutions remains a prerequisite that cannot be postponed. As long as the quota formula remains biased towards advanced economies and as long as the U.S. retains its veto, the structural incentives for the bandwagon will continue to exist. The SDSN Sustainable Development Report 2024 itself identifies strengthening UN-based multilateralism as one of the urgent needs of a recommendation that presupposes a more equitable representation architecture reform.

Second, transparency in the multilateral negotiation process must be expanded. If negotiating positions could be monitored more openly by civil society and the media, the space between publicly stated positions and actual behavior at the negotiating table would become narrower. This is especially relevant for the negotiation process in international financial institutions that have been operating with a high level of secrecy.

Third, strengthening a substantive south-south coalition that should go beyond solidarity rhetoric can also provide a buffer against external pressure. But this requires that the countries of the Global South build real policy coordination mechanisms in multilateral forums, not just in bilateral meetings. Without this kind of mechanism, Global South solidarity will continue to be an aspiration that is defeated by the calculation of bilateral dependency in critical moments.

Conclusion

The bandwagon effect in global governance is a manifestation of institutionalized inequality. It works discreetly, through incentives and dependencies, to produce consensuses that look strong on the outside but fragile on the inside. SDG 16 which mandates inclusive, accountable, and effective institutions cannot be realized as long as the global decision-making mechanisms themselves continue to produce conditions that encourage countries to hide their true preferences.

As UNDP affirms in its latest SDG 16 progress report, peace and prosperity for all people and the planet is only possible with decisive and innovative action on SDG 16. Such actions cannot be limited to the domestic realm alone, they must include a fundamental transformation in the global governance architecture that currently systematically penalizes diplomatic courage and incentivizes compliance.

Effective global governance is not built on consensus imposed by dependencies. It is built on genuine participation and genuine participation requires conditions in which authentic choices are not punished by structures that are supposed to serve all.

ROBBIE Williams will pay tribute to late rocker Ozzy Osbourne at the Brit Awards. 

The singer, 52, will perform a special arrangement of Ozzy’s 1991 track No More Tears alongside some of the Black Sabbath rocker’s former bandmates and musician pals. 

It will celebrate the posthumous Lifetime Achievement award being made to Ozzy, who died in July aged 76, at tomorrow night’s ceremony. 

His wife, Sharon, 73, will be in the audience at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena.

A source said: “Sharon personally asked Robbie to perform the tribute to Ozzy. He is a huge Ozzy fan and has been a friend of the family for decades. 

“For Sharon, Robbie seemed the perfect person to perform this song for him. She has curated the special arrangement for No More Tears. It will be a performance that goes down in the Brits’ history books and will be a very special moment.” 

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A Brits insider added: “Robbie’s performance with some of Ozzy’s closest friends will celebrate his legacy as one of the most influential rock icons of all time. 

“The Brits have a special relationship with Ozzy. He hosted the ceremony with Sharon and his children Jack and Kelly in 2008. 

“This will be an incredibly emotional and fitting way to celebrate the impact he had on not only British music, but globally, too.” 

Others who died in the past year will also be remembered during an In Memoriam segment. They are expected to include Stone Roses bassist Gary “Mani” Mounfield. 

Ozzy, who died just five days after after giving his final concert, joins music royalty John Lennon and Freddie Mercury in being posthumously honoured. 

The awards will be hosted by Jack Whitehall and will air on ITV and ITVX from 8.15pm. 

Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, Raye, Wolf Alice, Sombr, Alex Warren and Mark Ronson will perform. 

ANT McPartlin says he and co-presenter Declan Donnelly never want to host the Brits again because: “Everybody in the room just wants to get drunk.” 

Winning tip: fossils and soaring cliffs near Cardiff

I’m a fan of the lesser-known beaches along the dramatic and rugged Glamorgan Heritage coastline; Wick, Monknash and Nash Point. One of my favourite routes requires a scenic hike across fields and a precipitous scramble down Cwm Bach ladder. The reward is a gorgeous expanse of rocky beach with only the occasional distant naturist and huge stepped cliffs absolutely full of fossils, including some enormous ammonites. The nearby ancient Plough & Harrow feels like a step back in time and you’re being served beer in someone’s living room.
P Thomas

A magical swimming spot in Pembrokeshire

Last July on the hottest day of the year my friend took me to the slightly hidden Witches’ Cauldron in Moylegrove. This is a collapsed cave where you can swim in water that glows magical emerald green in the sun. You can swim straight from the cave out to sea. It’s a bit of a scramble down on foot from the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, or you can access it by sea kayak through tunnels from the sea. Check that it’s accessible though, as sometimes it’s closed to protect local seals.
Anna

Eryri’s most enchanting castle

North Wales is famous for its castles: Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech are lauded and filled with visitors, year-round. But forget these Anglo-Saxon fleshpots and seek out Castell y Bere. Located near Tywyn, in the south of Gwynedd, this stronghold of medieval Welsh ruler Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) stands on an impressive, windswept crag, surrounded by flat, fertile estuarine pastures. Looking over this land you can sense the herds of cattle that once roamed here and fed the people. The atmosphere of history is pervasive, almost crushing. If you go there, tread lightly and don’t stay too long, lest its magic be ruined for others.
Ian Statham

A petrified forest in Ceredigion

The submerged forest of tree stumps between Ynyslas and Borth is incredible. The stumps of oak, pine, birch, willow and hazel are up to 5,000 years old and were preserved in peat. I like to walk down the beach to touch them and imagine how the world was all those years ago.
Michael Gale

A slice of Bangor

Returning to Gwynedd where my dad grew up feels like a homecoming of sorts. A trip to Jones’ Pizza in Bangor after a journey on the marvellous North Wales mainline train fills hungry stomachs. It’s good value, bustling, and a pillar of community and student life. I like to take a scenic walk along the Menai Strait and wonder at both Thomas Telford’s Menai Bridge, built in 1826, and Britannia Bridge, before moseying around Caernarfon’s monthly Saturday craft fair and dried flower shop Herbariwm, and following the medieval castle’s walls, which snake around the town.
Flora

A north coast cycle to Llandudno

Not considering myself a serious cyclist, I found the 18-mile Prestatyn to Llandudno route to be a brilliant entry-level cycle ride. It’s almost all off-road, along national cycle network paths by the coast, so you can just focus on the beautiful north Wales coastline without worrying about cars or maps or anything else. There are plenty of lovely places to stop along the way to refuel and admire the view. Towards the end it gets pretty steep but you’re rewarded with beautiful views and the best chippy supper from Barnacles, which has a dedicated vegan menu. You can either cycle back again or take your bike on the train.
Esther

A forest garden near Dolgellau

Mountain bikers flock to Coed y Brenin, a few miles north of Dolgellau. After all, it’s the UK’s first purpose-built mountain biking centre. Few pause at the quietly enchanting Forest Garden though. Tucked away from the main trails, it offers a slower, more contemplative side of the forest. After slipping into disrepair in the early 2000s, it has been carefully restored. Redwoods, the tallest trees here, now rise above moss-covered boulders and a lively stream that swells into cascades after rain. Douglas firs from the 1920s stand alongside larch, spruce and pine from wetter corners of the world. Part of the circular trail is all-access, making this woodland retreat open to everyone – and it’s free entry.
Alina Congreve

A wild iron age site, Ynys Môn (Anglesey)

Tŷ Mawr Hut Circles on the slopes of Holyhead Mountain is a true under-the-radar treasure. More than just a fascinating archaeological site, it’s a beautifully preserved glimpse into iron age life – and an unbeatable picnic spot, with sweeping views. Visit year-round, but late summer is especially magical when the hillside glows with vibrant purple heather. It feels peaceful, wild and wonderfully untouched. From here, continue your walk towards the dramatic South Stack lighthouse, where the cliffs plunge into the sea. With a bit of luck, you might even spot seals bobbing below or puffins nesting.
Tatiana Campo

Artistic inspiration in Tenby and Cardiff

The tiny but fascinating Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a Grade II-listed building in Pembrokeshire, is the oldest independent museum in Wales, having been established in 1878. As well as featuring geology, local history and culture, it is home to several intriguing works by Gwen and Augustus John, famous sibling artists who spent their childhoods in Tenby. Appetite whet, from there travel to Cardiff where a major retrospective of Gwen John, Strange Beauties, is running until 28 June at the National Museum.
Adrian Brodkin

Atmospheric Welsh cemeteries

Welsh graveyards are special. From austere chapel burial grounds with their glass-domed immortelles to remote churchyards with Welsh-language inscriptions cut deeply into local slate, every village has something to see and something to teach you about life in the local community. Some recent discoveries of mine include Cefn Golau Cholera Cemetery, isolated on a windswept hill high above Tredegar (just south of the Bannau Brycheiniog national park) for fear of contagion from the dead; and the ancient circular-walled churchyard of St Baglan’s, Llanfaglan, set in a field overlooking the mouth of the Menai Strait just west of Caernarfon – a truly peaceful and magical place.
Emma Halstead

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley, who joined from his former position of sporting director at Red Bull last March, said at the team’s launch this year: “We’re not here to mess around. It’s an ambitious project. We’re humble. We know where we’re starting from and we know where we want to go.

“We want to make Audi the most successful F1 team in history. There are milestones on that journey and we are starting it today.”

No pressure, then.

Audi won the Le Mans 24 Hours 13 times in 18 years from 1999 to 2016. And in rallying they were famous for introducing four-wheel drive with the iconic Quattro in the early 1980s.

They might not have taken part in F1 before, but they did compete in its forerunner, the European grand prix championship, in the 1930s.

In a battle with arch-rivals Mercedes, Auto Union won the title with the great Bernd Rosemeyer in 1936, won five races against Mercedes’ seven in 1937, while the legendary Tazio Nuvolari won races for them in 1938 and 1939 before the Second World War brought racing to a halt.

Audi’s entry this year rekindles that old rivalry with Mercedes, and battle lines have already been drawn in a pre-season row over the rules governing the engines’ compression ratio. Audi are said to have been prime among those pushing for a rule change because of a fear Mercedes had found a way of exploiting a loophole to their advantage.

Rivals on track with Mercedes, though, Audi are unlikely to be for a while.

While Mercedes start the season as championship favourites, Audi have a lot of work to do to transform Sauber into a winning proposition.

Following the announcement of Audi’s entry in August 2022, the first steps of the programme did not augur well. Audi did not invest anywhere near enough money anywhere near soon enough.

Sauber made no progress through 2023 and into the following year. With the clock ticking on its entry in 2026, Audi axed chief executive officer Andreas Seidl, who had left his previous role as team principal of McLaren to join them, in mid-2024.

He was replaced with a dual management team of former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, who was tasked with running the factories – Hinwil in Switzerland for Sauber, and Neuberg in Germany for the engine programme – and Wheatley, in charge at the track.

Even then, the management changes were not finished. Binotto had initially joined as chief operating and technical officer. Less than a year later, he was made head of the Audi F1 project, and chief executive officer Adam Baker left the company.

The appointment of Binotto and Wheatley had a relatively quick impact, as Sauber finally began to move forward in 2025.

Having been marooned at the back, Sauber became more respectable performers, and their veteran German driver Nico Hulkenberg even finally scored a podium after 16 years of trying in last year’s British Grand Prix.

This year, the driver line-up of Hulkenberg and Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who is heading into his second season, continues, and the new Audi engine makes its debut.

So far the team have made a promising start.

They ran their car early in January, the first team to do so built to this year’s new rules, and put a first aerodynamic upgrade on it in the final pre-season test in Bahrain last week.

Pace-wise, the belief is that Audi are in the midfield mix with Haas, Alpine and Racing Bulls, and ahead of Williams. A solid effort so far, although Hulkenberg is not getting carried away.

“It’s just speculation right now still,” the German said last week. “We really don’t know until Melbourne and even a few races in, because I feel at the moment it can be quite track dependent on how your package feels on different circuits.

“So we’ll have to wait and see until everybody really pulls their pants down in qualifying and we’ll find out. Early days. I hope we’re competitive somewhere in the midfield right now.

“But, yeah, the team’s been working hard over the winter, pushing all the areas, doing the power-unit side for the first time. It’s been busy and a challenge, and I think we’re OK. But there’s still a lot of work and a lot of room for improvement on that side and a lot to come.”

Feb. 26 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics President Roh Tae-moon said the company aims for the new Galaxy S26 to surpass its predecessor’s sales, highlighting upgraded artificial intelligence features despite higher retail prices.

Speaking Tuesday at a Galaxy Unpacked press briefing in San Francisco, Roh said the Galaxy S25 series exceeded the prior model’s sales, citing improved real-world user feedback over time.

Market researcher Counterpoint Research said Galaxy S25 sales from February through December rose 5% from the previous generation. Industry estimates place total sales in the high 30 million range.

Roh said the Galaxy S26 features more advanced “agentic AI” capabilities and strengthened practical tools such as Photo Assist. He added that tighter integration between software and hardware, including a privacy-focused display feature, has drawn positive responses from global partners.

Samsung has expanded its AI platform beyond Bixby and Google Gemini to include additional services, and introduced a new AI operating system developed in cooperation with Google to enable smoother AI-driven functions. Roh described the strategy as a “hybrid AI” approach allowing users to choose optimized AI tools for different tasks.

The company is also positioning AI as a differentiator across product tiers, from flagship to entry-level smartphones.

Samsung raised domestic launch prices for its latest Galaxy S series by as much as 300,000 won, about $225, after keeping prices unchanged for three years, citing rising component costs. Counterpoint has projected Samsung’s smartphone shipments could decline about 2% this year amid higher prices.

Roh acknowledged cost pressures but said Samsung’s long-established supply chain gives it flexibility. He said the company will pursue innovation that maintains performance even with fewer components, using AI to offset hardware constraints and limit the impact of cost increases.

“As AI evolves, the importance of devices will only grow,” Roh said, adding that smartphones remain the primary interface through which users generate data and interact with AI services.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260227010008181

Hamas says latest attacks show Israel’s ‘blatant disregard for the efforts of mediators, and its complete disregard for the Peace Council and its role’.

At least five Palestinians have been killed in Israeli drone attacks targeting two police posts in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis in the south, as Israel presses on with its more than two-year genocidal war on the devastated enclave.

The attacks overnight into Friday were condemned by Hamas as undermining mediator efforts during a “ceasefire” phase that Israel has violated almost daily since October 10.

Medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported the arrival of three bodies and several wounded individuals following an Israeli military strike on a police checkpoint at the al-Maslakh intersection in al-Mawasi. The sources said that the strike occurred in an area outside the Israeli military’s control, and described the condition of some of the wounded as critical.

In the central Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were killed and others were injured in a similar Israeli drone strike that targeted a police post at the entrance to the Bureij refugee camp.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that the rising number of deaths as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip reflects “the Zionist occupation’s blatant disregard for the efforts of mediators, and its complete disregard for the Peace Council and its role”.

Qassem added, in a statement, that Israel is continuing its war of extermination against the Palestinian people, despite some changes to form and method, indicating that “the talk of the guarantor states about stopping the war lacks any real substance on the ground”.

Jonathan Majors is ready to stage his comeback — by teaming up with the Daily Wire.

The actor is reportedly filming his first movie since being found guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend in 2023. According to Deadline, production on the untitled action movie from the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend begins this week in South Carolina.

Written and directed by “Run Hide Fight” filmmaker Kyle Rankin, the movie is described as “in the vein of ’80s and ’90s action movies ‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Toy Soldiers,’ ” per the outlet. In addition to starring in the film, Majors will also serve as an executive producer, the entertainment outlet reported.

“You’re not going to BELIEVE what we’re doing,” right-wing pundit and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shaprio said in a Thursday post on X sharing the news. On Facebook he claimed, “This movie is going to be WILD.”

Majors was a Hollywood star on the rise when he was arrested on charges of assault, strangulation and harassment in March 2023. The “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actor was swiftly dropped from projects, his management company and his public relations team. Once poised to be the next central villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was also dropped by Marvel Studios following his conviction.

Majors avoided jail time and has since married fellow actor Meagan Good after a brief engagement.

In addition to Shapiro, who will be producing for the Daily Wire, Dallas Sonnier will be producing for Bonfire Legend. Neither company has shied away from courting disgraced Hollywood talent trying to revive their careers.

Among the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legends’ previous joint projects is “Terror on the Prairie,” the 2022 western starring Gina Carano. The “Mandalorian” actor was fired by Disney in 2021 for “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” that the company called “abhorrent and unacceptable.” (Carano filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging wrongful termination in 2024. The lawsuit was settled in August.)

PHOENIX — Two nights after losing to the Orlando Magic in a heartbreaker, the Lakers focused on trying to beat a Phoenix Suns team missing key players.

In the end, the result was the same — disappointment.

The Lakers lost 113-110 after Austin Reaves missed a three-pointer as time expired, the Suns coming up with the clutch shot on Royce O’Neale‘s three with nine-tenths of a second left to send the Lakers to their third consecutive loss Thursday night.

On the final play, Marcus Smart inbounded the ball and LeBron James and Maxi Kleber set a double-screen to get Reaves open. Reaves floated to the corner and took a cross-court pass but his shot bounced off the rim, sending the Lakers to another loss despite Luka Doncic‘s 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair before the Suns built a 12-point lead with 6:28 left. The Lakers quickly recovered and tied the score on a Reaves three-pointer with one minute left. O’Neale scored on an offensive rebound to give the Suns a 110-108 lead before James scored on a put-back to tie the score.

The Suns then called a timeout to set up O’Neale’s winning shot.

Phoenix, which had lost six of eight, played without All-Star guard Devin Booker (right hip strain), Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Jordan Goodwin (left calf strain).

Still, the Lakers (34-24) knew the Suns (34-26) would play hard and throw up a lot of three-pointers — Phoenix shot 22 for 50 from three-point range.

When the Lakers went up by three early in the fourth, things looked good. But then the Suns went on a 13-3 run.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was forced to call a timeout after Oso Ighodaro rolled in for an uncontested dunk, putting the Lakers down 96-86 with 7:43 left.

The Lakers went down by 10 points in the second quarter, but took a two-point lead late in the quarter on a Reaves three-pointer. But Grayson Allen scored on a layup to tie the score 49-49 at halftime.

The Lakers opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter, but ended up tied 80-80 entering the fourth.

Allen carried the Suns in the third, scoring 16 points. He missed just one of his shots and just one of his five three-pointers in the third.

James finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Reaves scored 14 points and Smart had 13 points.

The Lakers lost to Orlando on Tuesday by one point on a botched play when Doncic didn’t shoot a three-pointer and instead passed the ball to James, who missed a last-second three-point attempt.

It was a tough way for the Lakers to end their eight-game homestand, going 4-4 over that stretch.

Redick was asked if it is easy to move on after a tough loss.

“Well, I think that’s not in general,” Redick said. “I think there are specific times throughout the season where you talk about what just happened, more than just your normal review. You’re not going to do that after every game. So, we had a great practice and meeting on Monday after the Boston game and you don’t need to belabor every single loss.”

ETC.

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura didn’t play against the Suns because of an illness, the team said. But backup center Jaxson Hayes, who missed the last game with right ankle soreness, played 21 minutes against the Suns, finishing with eight points and three rebounds.

Jo Knox travelled to Tenerife for a relaxing break, but was left with only the clothes on her back after a shuttle service booked through easyJet Holidays lost her suitcase on the way to the hotel

A holidaymaker who was left without her luggage on a ten-night trip to Tenerife has slammed easyJet Holidays’ response as ‘unhelpful’ and ‘rude’.

Jo Knox arrived on the winter sun island on January 13, eager to enjoy some sunshine, but her holiday turned into a nightmare when her case went missing from a Canaryshuttle service en-route to her hotel.

Jo, who was travelling in a party of four with her husband, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law, has taken easyJet Holidays to small claims court as she claims it left her thousands of pounds out of pocket.

When contacted for comment, easyJet declined to give a statement, with a spokesperson saying: “We’re sorry to hear about Joanne’s missing luggage on her recent holiday to Tenerife. Our team in resort worked hard to assist in resolving the situation as quickly as possible. As this matter is now subject to legal proceedings, it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

However, Jo says that easyJet have only given her £231 in compensation for her lost baggage, and her travel insurance company will not cover the claim as she willingly handed her luggage to the shuttle bus driver before it went missing.

She said: “We landed into Tenerife South and collected four cases, one each. We walked up to the coach and the driver was there. He took my case off me. I’m always a bit paranoid when I go on holiday, so I always stand there and make sure my case is definitely on.”

Jo claims that when the cases were loaded, they were put on neatly, “like a box of matches”, but later she noticed the luggage had been moved. Jo’s brother-in-law took a photo on arrival to show family members the sunny weather, and managed to capture proof that Jo’s distinctive red suitcase had been loaded onto the shuttle bus.

“He said,’ I’ve got a picture here’.”, Jo recalled. “So he’d sent me it and it was timestamped 12.33pm. Now as we’d got on the coach my husband said we definitely departed that coach at 12.42pm because they have big clocks at the front like digital clocks and I noticed the time. But he said on this picture my case is facing the other way he said it’s like it’s been turned as if it’s easy to get off”.

Jo said the shuttle bus made a couple of stops before hers, and she saw passengers get off at their hotels but didn’t see anyone take her red case. However, a short while later when they reached their destination, Jo’s luggage was nowhere to be found.

“It definitely never came off that bus”, Jo claimed. “So, we immediately spoke to the driver, and when we’d got on the bus he was laughing and joking with us. He could speak broken English. But the minute we started questioning about my case, he shrugged his shoulders.”

“So my husband and my brother-in-law are bending down, trying to look under, you know, inside the cage. And he put his arm out and he’s like, no, no, no, no. And then literally the, the flap came down and he got on the coach and drove away.”

Heading to reception, Jo rang easyJet immediately, and claims they were less than helpful. Jo says she couldn’t recall the name of the coach company at the time and easyJet were unable to give her the information. She began to panic, as she was there for 10 nights, and all of her belongings including some medication was in her case.

The next morning, she headed to the airport and tried to speak to members of the Canaryshuttle team, where she was told to email the office. One airport worker who worked for another airline told Jo that as she booked a package through easyJet, it was the company’s responsibility to assist her.

Going back to the easyJet desk, Jo said she pled with a rep to help her out, only to be told the case had already been investigated and closed. She claims the rep told her, “The case is closed. Move away. There’s nothing we can do.”

However, later the rep got in touch with Jo and agreed to escort her to the police station. While Jo wanted to make a complaint about the driver, she claims that the rep said she’d known the driver for eight years and could “vouch for him”. She requested that the police look at CCTV around the coach stand, but says that the airport has not provided the data to police.

Instead of relaxing on a sunbed, Jo faced a dash around the island’s shops to try and get some items together for her holiday. She managed to get replacement diabetes medication from a local pharmacy, and bought some basics such as dresses and knickers to replace the lost items. She said easyJet initially offered €25 a day for three days, a maximum of €75, which is just over £65.

When claiming online with easyJet, she submitted 16 receipts and says eventually they paid 12 of them, with her compensation so far totalling £231. However, she has been left unable to claim any other expenses or resolve her case with easyJet customer services.

Jo sat down and itemised everything in her case, estimating the total value would be £2,712. She’s now submitted a claim to a small claims court to cover the cost of her luggage, as well as the cost of her holiday for her and her husband, and £500 for the “severe distress” caused.

READ MORE: Canary Islands’ ‘hidden gem’ has unspoiled beaches, £2 beer and 21C March weatherREAD MORE: Foreign Office issues travel ban for Brits heading to popular Caribbean island

Jo’s sunshine break was ruined by the events: “It spoiled all our holidays, literally, I was just in tears. I just wanted to come home. And my husband sort of said, look, if it’s just me and you, yes, I get it. Let’s go home. But because it was [my in-laws’] first time in Tenerife and they’d been looking forward to this for so long, I begrudgingly stayed but I just wanted to come home in all honesty.”

She added that “all I want in an ideal world is just my case to turn up”.

ALSA who own Canaryshuttle have been contacted for comment.

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

Gaza City – Amid the buzz of customers in the Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City, Samar Abu Harbied stops at a small, makeshift roadside stall to buy groceries to prepare an Iftar meal for her family, to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

With no cash in her purse, the 45-year-old housewife asks the grocer if she could put the bill on credit, until her husband or son could wire the money to him.

“I have not touched a paper note for months. I don’t even have money to pay for a taxi. Now we walk a lot, for long distances,” Abu Harbied said.

Najlaa Sukkar, 48, was trying to catch her breath at the same stall, which is run by her son Abdallah, after a failed journey on foot to see a doctor for a post-surgery check-up and to buy medication.

Najlaa said she did not have enough money to pay the 30 shekel (US$9.5) check-up fees, and the only banknote she had, a 20-shekel bill, was so worn out that the pharmacist turned it down.

“I returned without receiving medical care,” she told Al Jazeera.

“At the pharmacy, they didn’t accept the banknotes as they were frayed. The taxi driver didn’t accept a banknote, only small change, which I don’t have. It is very difficult to get by. What a mess, we don’t know what to do!”

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are struggling to conduct their daily lives amid a severe cash flow problem imposed by Israel immediately after it embarked on its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

A US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in October has brought little reprieve to Palestinians, who are still using worn-out currency they had from before the war, or must rely on a new system of electronic payments conducted through smart telephones amid limited internet coverage.

Palestinians in Gaza use the Israeli currency, the shekel, in their daily transactions, and depend on Israel to supply banks with new banknotes and coins.

Electronic payments

Palestinians were forced to turn to a digital payment system as a way to get around a severe shortage of Israeli shekel banknotes, a problem that has been exacerbated by the destruction of an estimated 90 percent of bank branches and cash machines.

The Palestinian Monetary Authority, working with internet service providers, has pushed for mobile-based electronic payments, including PalPay and Jawwal Pay, to help Palestinians overcome the liquidity problem.

Abu Harbeid said her son switched to electronic payments after he faced many problems using the 50 shekels per shift he was receiving while working as a night guard.

“My son, Shady, was receiving his daily wage in cash, which was worn and torn. We could hardly break it into smaller change or buy anything, as sellers don’t accept overused paper bills,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Moreover, the seller doesn’t accept it unless I spend it all, as they don’t have change. Now, as he is paid into his bank account, we buy everything through bank apps,” she added.

But digital payments have added another layer of hardship to a large segment of the population.

Most Palestinians still do not receive bank-transferred salaries, many lack access to smartphones, and those who have phones struggle to keep them charged in an area where electricity services are in severe crisis.

To add to that, there is still the problem of finding a good internet connection for the transfer process.

Abu Harbeid said a proper trip to the market requires her to have her husband or son with her to pay for goods. But neither can leave work to join her.

“I prefer cash in my hand; I could buy anything on the go,” Abu Harbied said.

Not only a liquidity shortage issue

Analysts say Gaza’s current economic reality started as a liquidity crisis, but has become an issue of transition from a regulated financial system to a fragmented survival economy shaped by scarcity, informality, and political constraints.

“However, as the months passed, the crisis evolved into something far more structural,” Ahmed Abu Qamar, member of the board of directors of the Palestinian Economists Association, told Al Jazeera.

“The black market now plays a dominant role in determining liquidity conditions. A small group of traders effectively manages cash circulation through high-commission cashing operations.”

He said that when money itself becomes a traded commodity, it signals severe distortion in the monetary system. “Cash, like any commodity, becomes subject to supply and demand dynamics. When it becomes scarce, its value increases beyond its nominal worth. From an economic perspective, this represents a structural disruption of the monetary system.

“The formal banking sector and the Palestinian Monetary Authority were sidelined. What we are seeing is the neutralisation of the formal monetary system,” he said.

Abu Qamar said the deeper issue was confidence – not just in cash, but in the financial system as a whole. “Cash is inherently difficult to track, whereas electronic payments are traceable and can be frozen or restricted. Implementing such a transition abruptly produces severe economic and social distortions,” he warned.

“Widespread selling on credit is not a sign of market stability – it is an indicator of declining incomes and weakened purchasing power. When debt expands rapidly without a parallel increase in income, the result is social fragmentation. Approximately 95 percent of households in Gaza depend on aid,” he added.

Profiteering from Gaza’s woes 

The war has paved the way for middlemen to cash in illegally on the financial woes of Gaza, residents said.

Sukkar said that when her husband or sons needed cash, they were often forced to deal with brokers who charge a hefty commission that could reach 50 percent.

“We lose our money to them for nothing; they steal from us under our full consent,” she said.

Many residents, like Abu Harbeid, also do not trust bank transfers, saying they prefer physical cash in hand.

“I ask my sons, where does that money in the account appear?” said Sukkar.

“Who holds our money in their hands? I used to see money and count it, the banknotes and the change. On some days, when there are technical problems with the bank applications, we get nervous about the possibility of losing the money in their accounts,” she added.

Abdallah Sukkar, whose family ran a well-known family store in the Shujayea area in eastern Gaza before the war, said families who receive direct deposit salaries often buy with bank transfers.

“But I don’t like this method; I prefer cash,” he said.

He said he accepts all banknotes, whether new or worn-out ones, and allows people to buy on credit, but admitted that all of that affects his ability to make improvements to the roadside stall he now runs in place of his family’s old business.

He also complained of unpaid debts, adding that debts had soared by more than 500 percent during the war, while his profits barely reach 2 percent. He said he had given out 20,000 shekels’ worth of goods to new customers, “all of [whom] have become customers during the war”.

“People don’t have money; I can’t turn them away when they come to buy food on credit. It’s already catastrophic in Gaza,” he said.

“From the beginning of Ramadan till now, I haven’t had banknotes and change, which affects the sales. I don’t have small change to give to people who have cash, so they turn to other stalls or shops.

“Yesterday, when the bank application stopped, we were terrified that we might lose our money in the bank,” he said.

JESY Nelson has shared an adorable new video of her giggling twin girls.

The pop star’s mum Janice can be seen holding one of the twins who erupts into laughter as her nan nuzzles her face into her neck.

In another clip, Jesy, 34, can’t help but chuckle about her daughter’s little mullet hairstyle, while she likens the other to a Cabbage Patch doll as she runs her fingers through her hair.

Nine-month-old sisters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe look happy and well-loved in the sweet footage on Instagram.

The singer gave birth to her little girls prematurely at 31 weeks and is no longer with their music producer dad Zion Foster.

Last month, Jesy bravely revealed the tots have been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA1).

brave mum

Jesy Nelson reveals new video of twins holding hands after breaking down in tears

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Jesy Nelson bursts into tears over struggle her twins are facing

The incurable condition causes muscles to waste away, but early detection and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. The girls have had gene therapy infusion to prevent their muscles from deteriorating, but damage already suffered cannot be reversed.

If untreated, the life expectancy of a baby with SMA Type 1 is two years.

Jesy and Zion have been told it is unlikely the girls will ever walk and may face serious breathing and swallowing difficulties.

Only around 50 children in the UK are born with the condition a year.

The former Little Mix star and mum-of-two has seen her Amazon documentary on her parenthood journey hit number one spot while continuing her fight for life-saving SMA tests.

Recently, she became emotional about the struggles her twins will face growing up.

Jesy revealed she “burst into tears” after receiving the special feeding chairs her daughters will need.

She admitted the arrival of the equipment brought home the reality of their condition.

She posted a photo of one of the special feeding chairs to her Instagram story.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Signs and symptoms

Spinal muscular atrophy is a disease which takes away a person’s strength and it causes problems by disrupting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord.

This causes an individual to lose the ability to walk, eat and breathe.

There are four types of SMA – which are based on age.

• Type 1 is diagnosed within the first six months of life and is usually fatal.
• Type 2 is diagnosed after six months of age.
• Type 3 is diagnosed after 18 months of age and may require the individual to use a wheelchair.
• Type 4 is the rarest form of SMA and usually only surfaces in adulthood.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of SMA will depend on which type of condition you have.

But the following are the most common symptoms:

• Floppy or weak arms and legs

• Movement problems – such as difficulty sitting up, crawling or walking

• Twitching or shaking muscles

• Bone and joint problems – such as an unusually curved spine

• Swallowing problems

• Breathing difficulties

However, SMA does not affect a person’s intelligence and it does not cause learning disabilities.

How common is it?

The majority of the time a child can only be born with the condition if both of their parents have a faulty gene which causes SMA.

Usually, the parent would not have the condition themselves – they would only act as a carrier.

Statistics show around 1 in every 40 to 60 people is a carrier of the gene which can cause SMA.

If two parents carry the faulty gene there is a 1 in 4 (25 per cent) chance their child will get spinal muscular atrophy.

It affects around 1 in 11,000 babies.

It showed a pink cushioned chair with straps, a headrest, a tray, a foot stand, handlebars, and wheels.

She wrote: “So the girls need special feeding chairs that came yesterday, and I couldn’t help but burst into tears yesterday when I saw them.

“It just made me feel so sad as it’s just another reminder of another obstacle we have to tackle. Do any other SMA mummies feel this way?”

In her first TV interview since revealing the twins had SMA, Jesy tearfully told This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “I just want to be their mum. I don’t want to be a nurse. It’s hard.

“They’ve had their treatment, thank God. A one-off infusion. That puts the gene back in their body that they don’t have. It stops the muscles still working from dying. Any that have gone, you can’t regain them back.

“Now it’s down to constant physio. We’ve been told they’ll probably never walk or regain their neck strength. They’ll probably be in wheelchairs.”

Jesy revealed how the twins were going to Great Ormond Street Hospital twice a week.

“They’re still smiling, they’re still happy, and have each other. That’s the main thing I’m so grateful for because they could be doing this by themselves,” she continued. “All I can do is try my best to be there for them and give them positive energy, keep doing physio.

“My whole life has completely changed. If you came to my house, it looks like a hospital. My whole hallway is filled with medical stuff. It’s crazy how you can go from one extreme to the next.”

Since revealing her twins’ diagnosis, Jesy has called on the NHS to expand the standard heel prick test to screen for SMA1.

Large-scale trials are currently taking place, though Jesy is pushing Health Secretary Wes Streeting to speed up the process.

A Los Angeles firefighter said in sworn testimony that he sounded the alarm about the inadequate mop-up of the Lachman fire — and was blown off by a captain — days before the embers reignited into the deadly Palisades fire.

The firefighter, Scott Pike, testified last month in a lawsuit brought by Palisades fire victims against the city and the state.

Pike, a 23-year LAFD veteran normally assigned to a station in Sunland, was working an overtime shift on Jan. 2 when he was assigned to pick up the hoses from the Lachman fire. But he said he saw about five areas that were still smoking.

At one ash pit, he said, “I didn’t even want to use my gloved hand because it was hot. So I just kicked it with my boot to kind of expose it, and there was, like red hot, like, coals … that was still smoldering. And I even heard crackling.”

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Pike’s dramatic retelling, which city attorneys initially blocked from release along with transcripts of deposition testimony from 11 other firefighters, corroborates previous reporting by The Times that a battalion chief ordered crews to pack up their hoses and leave, despite signs that the earlier fire was not completely extinguished.

Pike testified that when he reported his observations to other firefighters at the scene, “I felt like I kind of got blown off a little bit.”

Then he tried the captain.

“That’s how I approached him, is like, ‘Hey, Cap … We have hot spots in general. We have some ash pits,’” Pike said of the captain on the scene, whose name he did not know. “That’s an alert to double-check the whole area and maybe we need to switch our tactics.”

Pike testified that it was not his job “to overstep and tell him what to do. He earned that rank.”

The other firefighters, too, seemed eager to “just get this hose picked up,” Pike said, adding that he was working overtime the day after a holiday “because nobody else wanted to work it.”

“It kind of sits heavy with me that nobody listened to me,” he said.

LAFD commanders have insisted that the flames were completely out and barely mentioned the earlier fire in an after-action review report designed to examine mistakes and prevent them from happening again.

Pike said in his testimony that he was never interviewed for the after-action report.

After the firefighters testified over the course of three weeks, city attorneys invoked a general protective order that any party in the litigation can designate testimony as confidential for up to 30 days. A city attorney previously told The Times that this allowed them to review the testimony and determine which parts, if any, should stay confidential.

Days after the firefighters left the scene, high winds reignited the embers into the inferno that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and killed 12 people.

Alex Robertson, an attorney representing the Palisades fire victims in the lawsuit, said the 11 other firefighters who were deposed testified that the fire was out and that they did not see hot spots or smoldering.

“Only one of the firefighters we deposed had the courage to tell the truth — that his fellow firefighters and captain ignored his warnings that the fire had not been fully extinguished,” Robertson said.

The fire victims allege that the state government, which owns Topanga State Park, failed in the week between the two fires to inspect the burn scar after firefighters left and make sure a “dangerous condition” did not exist on its property.

The LAFD was responsible for putting out the fire, but plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the state should have done more to monitor the burn scar and ensure the area was safe.

Several California State Parks representatives also testified in the case. Their testimony and text messages show that their initial concern was whether the fire was on parkland and whether firefighting efforts and equipment would harm federally endangered plants and artifacts.

The Times report about crews being ordered to leave the earlier fire, published Oct. 30, described text messages from firefighters indicating that at the scene of the Lachman fire on Jan. 2, 2025, the ground was still smoldering and rocks were hot to the touch.

In one text message, a firefighter who was at the scene wrote that the battalion chief had been told it was a “bad idea” to leave because of the visible signs of smoking terrain, which crews feared could start a new fire if left unprotected.

“And the rest is history,” the firefighter wrote.

A second firefighter was told that tree stumps were still hot when the crew packed up and left, according to the texts. And a third firefighter said last month that crew members were upset when told to pack up and leave but that they could not ignore orders, according to the texts. The third firefighter also wrote that he and his colleagues knew immediately that the Palisades fire was a rekindle of the Jan. 1 blaze.

LAFD officials were emphatic early on that the Lachman fire, which federal prosecutors believe was deliberately set, was fully extinguished.

“We won’t leave a fire that has any hot spots,” Kristin Crowley, the fire chief at the time, said at a community meeting Jan. 16, 2025.

“That fire was dead out,” Chief Deputy Joe Everett said at the same meeting, adding that he was out of town but communicating with the incident commander. “If it is determined that was the cause, it would be a phenomenon.”

The Lachman fire broke out shortly after midnight on New Years Day. A few hours later, at 4:46 a.m., the LAFD announced that the blaze was fully contained at eight acres.

Top fire commanders soon made plans to finish mopping up the scene and to leave with their equipment, according to another set of text messages obtained by The Times through a state Public Records Act request.

“I imagine it might take all day to get that hose off the hill,” LAFD Chief Deputy Phillip Fligiel said in a group chat early the morning of Jan. 1. “Make sure that plan is coordinated.”

At 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 2, Battalion Chief Mario Garcia — whom firefighters said had received the observations about the smoldering ground and hot rocks, according to the private text messages The Times reviewed — texted Fligiel and Everett: “All hose and equipment has been picked up.”

Five days after that, on the morning of Jan. 7, an LAFD captain called Fire Station 23 to say that the Lachman fire had started up again.

In June, LAFD Battalion Chief Nick Ferrari had told a high-ranking fire official who works for a different agency in the L.A. region that LAFD officials knew about the firefighters’ complaints at the Lachman fire scene, The Times also reported.

After the Oct. 30 Times report, Bass directed Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who started the job in November, to commission an independent investigation into the LAFD’s handling of the Lachman fire.

In an interview last month, Moore said he opened an internal investigation into the Lachman fire through the LAFD’s Professional Standards Division, which probes complaints against department members. He said he requested the Fire Safety Research Institute, which is reviewing last January’s wildfires at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom, to include the Lachman fire as part of its analysis, and the institute agreed. Moore also pointed to the L.A. City Council’s move to hire an outside firm to examine the Lachman and Palisades fires.

Even with the internal investigation underway, Moore said he spoke with the battalion chief who was on duty during the Lachman fire mop-up.

“He swears to me that nobody ever told him verbally or through a text message that there was any hot spots,” Moore said.

In one of the strangest weeks in City Section soccer history, six-time champion Birmingham High, which was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs two weeks ago, defeated Venice 6-0 on Thursday to earn a spot against rival El Camino Real in Saturday’s 6 p.m. Open Division boys’ final.

The Patriots got a second chance to avenge their earlier loss to Marquez via penalty kicks when semifinalists Marquez and South East were removed from the playoffs for using an ineligible player. The City Section decided to have first-round losers Birmingham and Venice play for the right to face El Camino Real.

Five City Section teams in the playoffs have had to forfeit games because players participated in outside leagues during their high school season in violation of CIF bylaw 600.

“It’s been a crazy week,” Birmingham goalie Alexis Villagran said. “We’re blessed for the opportunity.”

Birmingham coach Gus Villalobos was preparing to take back his players’ uniforms this week to end the season. Now they are one win away from a City title. Players look tired at times because they hadn’t practiced since their loss on Feb. 6. Villagran was allowed to play even though he took part in a club match after he thought the season ended. The state CIF approved the waiver.

Robert Mejia, who scored two goals on penalty kicks and has 26 goals this season, is in his first year playing for Birmingham after being a member of the L.A. Galaxy youth academy program. He said both his club coach and high school coach made it clear you can’t play club during the high school season.

“We all know the rules,” he said.

The continual violation of CIF bylaw 600 has left City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos scrambling to replace teams. The latest team to discover a violation was Gardena in Division III, allowing Sun Valley Magnet to advance to the final. Lagos also received information about City Division II finalist Garfield, but as of Thursday night, she said the Bulldogs have been cleared to play Santee in the final.

After a scoreless first half, Birmingham sophomore Hayden Quiambao started a six-goal surge with a header to open the second half.

Feb. 26 (UPI) — The Department of Defense shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, Democratic House lawmakers said Thursday, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to expand its no-fly zone near El Paso, Texas.

Little information about the shootdown has been made public. UPI has contacted the Pentagon and CBP for comment.

“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.

“We said MONTHS ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, [the Department of Homeland Security] and the FAA was a short-sighted idea.

“Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”

The FAA told UPI that it expanded the temporary flight restriction in place over Fort Hancock, located about 50 miles southeast of El Paso.

The TFR has been in place since Dec. 23 for “Special Security Reasons.” It has been “expanded to include a greater radius to ensure safety,” the FAA told UPI. The restriction is in place through 8 p.m. local time on June 23, according to the Notice to Air Missions.

The statement was distributed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which Larsen serves as the ranking member. Carson is ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee and Thompson is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

This is a developing story.

Last December, Warner Bros agreed to a takeover offer from Netflix for some of its assets. But Paramount, which is backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison and led by his son David, made a rival offer as it looks to transform itself into a Hollywood heavyweight. But it had been rebuffed by Warner Bros.

THE Wire star Bobby J. Brown has died after sustaining injuries in a barn fire.

Bobby, 62, who portrayed Officer Bobby Brown in the HBO drama series, passed away on Wednesday.

The actor’s daughter revealed he died of inhalation, according to TMZ, which first reported the news.

His cause of death was ruled diffuse thermal injury and smoke inhalation, per the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

His death was determined to be an accident.

The blaze reportedly started when Bobby went inside the barn to jump-start a vehicle.

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He then called out to a family member to fetch a fire extinguisher, but the flames had already engulfed the barn by the time they returned.

Bobby appeared in many other TV and film projects, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Veep, and We Own This City.

According to his IMDb page, Bobby originally was a professional boxer and won five Golden Glove Championships before transitioning to acting.

His first recurring role was on Law & Order: SVU, where he portrayed an NYPD officer.

The former athlete has also shared the screen with Academy Award winners Robert DeNiro, Renee Zellweger, and James Franco.

In April 2022, the TV star’s son, Bobby Brown II, shared snapshots from the premiere of We Own This City.

He posed with his father and the show’s lead, Jon Bernthal, outside the event.

“It always great to celebrate my dads accomplishments. He always set the bar high and he still inspires me to this day,” Bobby’s son sweetly wrote in his caption.

WASHINGTON — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented President Trump with a mock newspaper front page during a visit to the White House on Thursday to discuss massive new housing investments in the city.

It’s a tactic designed to appeal to Trump, who is keenly aware of his media coverage and, aside from being an avid viewer of cable news, is known to voraciously consume coverage in the local New York City publications. The Republican president and Democratic mayor have maintained a cordial relationship since their first meeting last fall.

Anna Bahr, Mamdani’s communications director, said the mayor’s team created a mock front page and headlines for Trump to look at and demonstrate what kind of reaction new federal housing investments could bring. The mock New York Daily News front page says “Trump to City: Let’s Build” — a riff on the famous 1975 cover that read “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” referring to Gerald Ford’s vow to veto financial assistance to the city.

The mayor posted the photo of their meeting, featuring the front pages, to his social media page.

Mamdani’s office declined to elaborate on the mayor’s housing proposal, but Bahr said Trump was “very enthusiastic” about it. When Trump and Mamdani last met in November, the president encouraged Mamdani to return to him with an idea to build big things together in New York City, Bahr said.

Though Trump repeatedly maligned Mamdani as a “communist” as he ran for New York City mayor, the president appeared charmed by him after their one-on-one meeting at the White House in November.

At the meeting on Thursday – which was previously unannounced and lasted for about an hour – Mamdani also brought up the detainment of Ellie Aghayeva, a Columbia University student from Azerbaijan who was arrested earlier Thursday by federal immigration agents.

The agents had accessed a campus residence by claiming they were searching for a “missing person,” according to Aghayeva’s attorneys and Columbia’s president. As he met with Trump, Mamdani urged Trump to consider releasing her.

In a phone call not long after their White House meeting, Trump told the mayor that Aghayeva would be released. Mamdani also gave White House chief of staff Susie Wiles a list of four other students targeted by federal authorities and asked for the administration’s help with them.

The four students are Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia, who were all detained for their roles in pro-Palestinian protests. Of the four, only Kordia remains in custody, although all cases are proceeding through the courts.

Kim writes for the Associated Press.