Lebanon’s president reaffirms the commitment to bring all arms under state control.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has discussed the confiscation of explosives intended for use against Israel during a telephone call with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Lebanese Presidential Palace has announced.

Aoun received the call on Thursday, assuring Rubio that Lebanese security forces are fully carrying out their duties in confiscating illicit arms across the country.

Last week, an explosive-laden truck carrying 780kg (1,720lb) of explosives was intercepted on a highway between Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

On Thursday, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah acknowledged the group’s connection to the shipment, stating that the materials were intended for operations against Israel.

Speaking to reporters at the Lebanese parliament, Fadlallah said Hezbollah had immediately contacted security agencies to clarify ownership of the vehicle and cargo, demanding the materials be returned and detained personnel released.

Rubio urged Aoun to hold accountable those who ordered, financed, and directed the shipment, warning that “returning explosives to [Hezbollah] should be out of the question,” a State Department official told US media.

The official added that Rubio also advocated for direct military-to-military communication between Lebanese and Israeli forces “for deconfliction”.

In response, the Presidential Palace reported that Aoun asked Rubio to press Israel to halt its attacks and destruction in southern Lebanon.

Separately on Thursday, Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran, according to Israeli media reports.

The explosives-laden truck

On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed that Lebanon would conduct an investigation to track down members of Hezbollah linked to the incident.

Judicial officials told The Associated Press news agency that the truck was carrying 780kg (1,720lb) of explosives, including 250kg (550lb) of TNT and 550lb of C4 plastic explosives.

Salam described the transport as a “criminal operation” and praised security forces for intercepting the vehicle along the strategic highway linking Beirut with the Bekaa Valley.

For years, Hezbollah moved weapons freely across parts of the country. However, in March, the Lebanese government declared all military activities by the group illegal. Despite the government’s pledge to bring all weaponry under state control, the group has stated its intention to continue transporting arms in its confrontation with Israel.

Earlier this spring, Lebanese and Israeli envoys met in Washington under the auspices of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, marking the first direct diplomatic contact between the two nations in decades.

Despite that diplomatic push from Washington, Israel has repeatedly violated the November 2024 ceasefire deal between it and Hezbollah, with Lebanon frequently reporting civilian casualties.

The renewed diplomatic friction comes as heavy Israeli attacks continue across southern Lebanon, where dozens of villages have been systematically demolished and large areas remain under Israeli military occupation, despite a framework agreement signed in June.

Collioure is a Mediterranean dream

Last October, while I was cycling around south-west France, near the Spanish border, a tip from a local waiter led me to Collioure, near Perpignan. The town was like a Mediterranean dream, where the summer crowds had faded, leaving behind a peaceful, artistic haven of soft light, warm sunshine, cobbled streets, sandy beaches – and the Pyrenees as a backdrop. In the early evening, the still balmy autumn air was perfect for wandering through the quiet, pastel-coloured alleyways of the Le Mouré district to enjoy €5 off-season happy hour wine with fish tapas. I had planned to stay a weekend but ended up staying a week, seduced by Collioure’s perfect autumn cocktail of chilled Catalan culture and sunkissed seaside sensuality.

April

Peaceful Portuguese sunsets

Sitting outside in T-shirt and shorts on the deck of a boat gliding along the Tagus River in Lisbon, sipping a glass of crisp Portuguese wine as the setting autumn sun illuminated the pastel-coloured hills, is a lasting travel memory for me. October temperatures were still in the mid-20s, perfect for exploring fascinating areas on foot, or hanging out of trams as they rattled up and down the cobbled streets. In the evenings, I joined local people basking in the remaining warmth of the year at outdoor cafes or waterside tavernas like Ponto Final, enjoying coffee and pastries, or anchovies and beer, while watching magnificent sunsets without the summer masses.

Nicoletta

Wild times in St Davids, Pembrokeshire

My autumn escape is St Davids on the Pembrokeshire coast. Once the summer crowds disappear, it feels wonderfully wild and tranquil. We walk the coast path towards Whitesands, stopping to watch for seals below the cliffs, before heading back into tiny St Davids for something warm to eat. The beaches are often almost empty and, even when the weather turns, the dramatic sea and windswept coastline are part of the charm. My tip is to visit in early autumn; pack proper walking boots and layers, and embrace the weather – you get one of Britain’s loveliest coastlines almost to yourself.

Tess

Baroque beauty in eastern Germany

Görlitz makes for a fascinating autumnal base, with its location on the German-Polish border to the east of Dresden. The highlights were day excursions to Bad Muskau, where there is a wonderful baroque palace, and the Rakotzbrücke (Devil’s Bridge), reached by a narrow gauge forest railway (waldeisenbahn.de). It’s a part of Germany rarely visited, but those who go there will be rewarded with amazing photographs.

Martin

Bliss on a lesser-visited Canary island

The Canary Islands are well-trodden choices for autumn sun, but the island of El Hierro remains a wilder alternative to Tenerife or Lanzarote. The scenery is beautiful and bizarrely varied: from pine forests to black volcanic lava flows – most of which you’ll have to yourself. You can pass hours exploring the rugged coastlines, where volcanic swimming holes such as Charco Azul can be found. We spent a blissful few hours there, relaxing on the rocks and looking out at the Atlantic. There are no big resorts but plenty of guest houses and smaller hotels, and sunshine is almost guaranteed into November.

Leo Mark

Dramatic Devon walks

We stayed in Woolacombe, north Devon, with our three-year-old in October 2023 and the off-season suited us well. The three-mile beach gave us room for proper sandcastle engineering, and the Atlantic offered drama rather than deckchair weather. We watched the sunset turn the sea orange and purple from the hill above the bay. We could walk into the village, then use Woolacombe as a base for Mortehoe and the South West Coast Path. Pack waterproofs as well as sunglasses: north Devon makes no promises. But on a bright autumn day, those enormous sands feel almost privately hired.

Katharina Parsons

Coast, culture and cable cars on Madeira

Funchal on Madeira is my pick for an autumn escape because it still feels properly alive after summer. The seafront is made for slow walks in the sunshine, with cafes and gardens open year-round. You can browse the colourful Mercado dos Lavradores, ride the cable car for views over the terracotta rooftops and Atlantic, then cool off at one of the city’s lidos. The weather is pleasantly warm rather than overpowering, while the mountains and levada (aqueduct) walks are within easy reach. It combines coast, culture and dramatic scenery without feeling like a resort that closes down for winter.

Bernice

Clifftops and crab rolls in the Scottish Borders

If you’re looking for a cracking wee coastal escape, head straight to St Abbs in the Scottish Borders. My wife and I absolutely fell in love with its rugged charm and bonny views. First off, Marvel fans will know it as New Asgard from Avengers: Endgame, and taking a selfie by the official sign set the right tone. Beyond the film fame, the dramatic clifftop walk up to St Abb’s Head is brilliant, packed with seabirds and proper fresh sea air. Afterwards, grab a fresh crab roll down at the harbour cafe – nae hassle, just proper good cheer.

Craig

Nonstop sun in a Cretan haven

Autumn came brutal and early to Crete this month. But the ferocious northerly that drenched the northern coast got stuck on the White Mountains. And on just one tiny south-west speck of the island, the sun shone all and every day. Palaiochora is a year-round magic place anyway. No big hotels. Still proudly Greek. A place where the town’s rhythms are set by the comings and goings of the Loutro ferry. But this past week, while thunder stalked the mountains, we swam and walked every day. “We’re unique,” said the man at the cafe. “Please don’t tell anyone.” What have I done?

Kay Jones

Winning tip: Fiestas and feasts in Zaragoza, Spain

For an autumn city break, Zaragoza comes alive during the Fiestas del Pilar in October. We spent a week there, wandering bustling streets lined with people, many in traditional dress, queueing to lay flowers at the vast floral tribute to the Virgin Mary in Plaza del Pilar. Along the river, food stalls served Aragonese specialities, from chistorra (sausage) and stews to roast chestnuts and sweet wine. Between festivities, we explored the stunning Aljafería Palace and discovered tiny tapas bars tucked down side streets. The city felt wonderfully local, lively and full of surprises.

Carrie

The “biggest oil deal in history” was announced almost simultaneously by acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 28. However, many Venezuelans didn’t find out until the next day because massive blackouts — up to 16 hours a day and partly caused by increased oil production — kept them from scrolling the news.

At the United Nations a month later, Trump bragged that he had taken Venezuela’s “spoils,” while Rodríguez said the deal with the U.S. would contribute to resolving the energy needs of “the hemisphere and the international economy.” Venezuelans then asked: What about our energy needs and economy?

The oil deal, the legal and operational details of which are still unknown, covers the exploitation of 17 fields and 65 billion barrels, which equates to 20% of Venezuela’s total reserves — the world’s largest, at an estimated 303 billion barrels. U.S. companies will invest $100 billion in exploiting the fields, a figure which — according to Venezuelan government projections — would translate into more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela over the years of the contract.

The announcement sparked questions and criticism from different sectors of the country, with concerns about the lack of information and the impact on sovereignty. In response, Rodríguez tried to explain the deal’s benefits in a nationally televised address, noting, “How much does Venezuela receive? Based on a barrel price of $65 … revenue would reach $209.3 billion for the state. In concrete terms, this means that for every barrel produced and sold, about $19 goes to [Venezuela].”

Oil drives the Venezuelan economy. Currently, it accounts for 71% of the nation’s total exports, but now much of that revenue goes to the U.S. In the first quarter of this year, out of a total of $7.76 billion in exports, $5.5 billion came from oil activity. As the acting president’s address went on, many of us only had more doubts.

A few hours later, Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodríguez summed up some of the nation’s concerns: “Do the projected tax revenues … correspond to nominal amounts, inflation-adjusted amounts, or net present values? A nominal amount of $19 per barrel in 2051, the project’s final year, would correspond to a real value of about $9 today.”

“The $209 billion equates, over 25 years, to about $8.4 billion annually, a relatively low amount compared with the tax revenue Venezuela has collected in the past at similar production levels. The amount would be even lower if it corresponds to a nominal total.” According to Central Bank of Venezuela data, Venezuela took in a record $82.8 billion in 2008 alone from oil sales.

Contradictions

Trump later contradicted Delcy Rodríguez’s 25-year timeline, saying the deal would involve a century of concessions. Francisco Rodríguez, the economist, noted that extracting 65 billion barrels in 25 years would be impossible, due to lack of infrastructure. 

“What rights does the U.S. acquire over these resources after 25 years? Can a future Venezuelan government decide to withdraw from this deal if it doesn’t like it?” he asked.

And why wouldn’t they like it? Trump said on Truth Social that Venezuela will begin supplying the U.S. strategic oil reserve immediately through “a gift.” Nobody knows what that means exactly, but since the military intervention on Jan. 3, the revenue generated by the sale of Venezuelan oil — we don’t know how much that is either — is already “in the custody” of the U.S. Treasury.

“It doesn’t look like Venezuela will benefit broadly in the long term. It’s like being on floor minus-18 and going up to minus-10,” Venezuelan researcher Blas Regnault, who specializes in energy policy and oil governance, told Truthdig from The Hague, Netherlands.

“There could be an indirect reactivation of the economy because of the indirect jobs that may emerge in some regions. But let’s also keep in mind that the country has been 100% blockaded, suffocated, so any door that opens will bring some benefits, but this is not the benefit one would expect for a sovereign country,” he said. 

“That’s the other problem: There’s no sovereignty of any kind over the resource itself, over what’s being sold. On top of that, there’s a lot of opacity — you’re analyzing blind.”

This “opacity” is also illegal. Articles 150 and Article 187, Paragraph 9, of Venezuela’s Constitution state that contracts of national public interest with foreign states or entities require approval from the National Assembly. However, although the Assembly endorsed the announcement of the deal on Sept. 1, its president, Jorge Rodríguez, said it had not yet been “submitted” to the legislature. Then, a month later he said that “according to some legal experts, it doesn’t need to be reviewed.”

It’s clear that Venezuela is once again, as it was for much of the 20th century, a kind of “U.S. oil province,” Regnault says, “Recovering sovereignty won’t be easy because Venezuela is strategic to U.S. interests.”

“On top of that, the other side of the coin is that China has become a key player [globally]. Today the Chinese do what Saudi Arabia used to do when it cut production and pushed prices up. With this Strait of Hormuz crisis, after the naval blockade of Iran, it was discovered that China had more reserves than previously thought, and that kept the crisis from being bigger and the price from reaching $150.”

That is precisely why U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrated the fact that several of the oil fields included in the deal were once “dominated by China and Russia and Iran.” At the same time, the U.S. government has decided to maintain sanctions against Venezuela, thereby preventing any new economic players. In fact, the U.S. Treasury Department, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, updated its oil licensing policy for Venezuela in late September through Orders 46E, 48D and 49B, which benefit U.S. businesses but maintain an absolute ban on Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea and China.

“The [Venezuelan] government has already amended the Hydrocarbons Law to try to create more favorable conditions for investors in the oil and gas sector, but … the [U.S.’] problem isn’t domestic supply. They need to monopolize the world’s energy reserves, markets and prices in order to prevail in the rest of their economic activities,” oil expert David Paravisini explains to Truthdig from Caracas, referring to a legal reform that was passed on Jan. 29 and created the possibility of technical and operational management and direct commercialization by private companies. He believes that for Venezuela, the deal is a diplomatic “quest” to survive. 

Trump is also maintaining some of his domestic support by presenting Venezuela as the great economic and geopolitical victory of his administration, especially after the war against Iran — which was supposed to last “only a couple of weeks” — reached the six-month mark and cost more than $37.5 billion through the end of July. In fact, Trump has claimed again and again that this oil deal will lower fuel costs inside the U.S. and come “at no cost whatsoever to the American taxpayer.””

Does this mean the $100 billion investment will come from private companies? The deal also aims to exploit eight greenfield blocks, areas where crude has been identified but which have not yet been developed. But what happens if that investment does not materialize? Since Jan. 9, Trump has been trying, without success, to persuade U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela.

Corruption is fine if the U.S. profits

So far, the only company we’ve heard about is North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), which was selected on Aug. 31 by the Trump administration to lead oil extraction projects in the 17 Venezuelan fields.

According to the White House, the Department of Defense will hold a 35% equity stake in NABEP and, in addition, the Barbados-registered company will grant Washington the right to buy 20% of the oil it produces at the cost of production.

NABEP, which has only operated in Venezuela for two years, was awarded the deal without a prior bidding process. The company belongs to Venezuelan businessperson Alejandro Betancourt, who was under investigation by federal prosecutors in Florida until January 2026 for allegedly laundering more than $1 billion from the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The case was then closed suddenly under the orders of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (now the attorney general), after a decade-long investigation. He is still the subject of open investigations in Switzerland and Spain.

Betancourt comes from a middle-class family but studied at the private religious school Instituto Cumbres de Caracas, where he befriended Javier Alvarado Pardi, son of Javier Alvarado Ochoa, who later became president of Electricidad de Caracas, deputy energy minister and a PDVSA executive.

Back in 2009, Alvarado Ochoa presented Betancourt and his engineering firm, Derwick Associates, as the best solution to Venezuela’s power generation crisis. Betancourt went on to receive 12 government contracts, awarded without competitive bidding, worth a total of $5 billion, which were either never completed or were implemented improperly, according to Transparency Venezuela and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (which is funded by the U.S. government, among other countries).

So why Betancourt? Rubio said that he is no longer under investigation by the U.S., has supported the Venezuelan opposition and he has demonstrated his ability to produce oil. In that vein, NABEP claims it produces 200,000 barrels of crude a day, just behind Chevron.

However, Victor Hugo Majano, a Venezuelan investigative journalist and director of the well-known outlet La Tabla, told Truthdig that Betancourt overbilled the Venezuelan state by billions of dollars for power plants that never worked. He cited information from Thor Halvorssen, an anti-Chavista activist and cousin of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López. With that money, Betancourt bought a Dassault Falcon private jet and the historic Alamíin Castle in Spain.

Halvorssen also says Betancourt, who is also linked to 50 companies spread across 15 countries, paid former New York prosecutor Adam S. Kaufmann to halt prosecutions; former Wall Street Journal reporters to discredit whistleblowers; and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to bring the U.S. Justice Department over to his side.

“Despite this, the U.S. still doesn’t attack Venezuelan corruption. They want to protect the dollar and the U.S. financial system. They are only worried about securing capital flow, money that is not controlled by the state, the [Venezuelan] government,” Majano said.

More oil for the U.S., less electricity for Venezuela

Meanwhile, Venezuelans are paying the price for both Betancourt’s alleged corruption and the oil deal. So far this year, oil production has increased by 29.9%, going from 924,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January to an average of 1.2 million bpd. The increase has been driven by the need to deliver oil to U.S. companies, and it has directly worsened the nation’s electricity crisis.

Authorities acknowledge this; Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said in May the country is seeing higher electricity demand due to the growth in oil production, which “is a very serious problem.” The Ministry of Electrical Energy also noted that demand has reached 15,625 megawatts (MW), “the highest energy consumption figure in the last eight years, an increase of 3.6% compared with the peak reported in 2025.”

However, this statement omits that Venezuela actually has a nominal installed capacity of approximately 35,000 MW, double the country’s peak demand, but stable real generation barely reaches 11,000 MW. This shortfall is a result of both U.S. sanctions and domestic corruption, which together have led to disinvestment, lack of maintenance, fuel shortages (plants designed to run on natural gas have been forced to use low-quality diesel) and transmission problems.

Where does oil production come in? Víctor Poleo, an electrical engineer and former vice minister of Energy and Mines from 1999 to 2001, told Truthdig that “the national oil industry uses up about 1,500 MW, of which about 250 MW is self-generated, but another 1,250 MW is taken from the national interconnected system. This draw is 24/7 and must be continuous in order to carry out crude extraction, transport, pumps and compressors and refining.”

Poleo, who bases his analysis on studies by fellow electrical engineer Nelson Hernández, says light, medium and heavy crudes are estimated to require between 9 kilowatt-hours and 15 kilowatt-hours per barrel to produce. For extra-heavy Orinoco crudes, the estimate is 24 kilowatt-hours per barrel. “As a result, citizens lose their quality of life so that oil can be produced.”

This deterioration is particularly notable in Zulia state, Venezuela’s so-called oil cradle, where production has risen to between 350,000 and 370,000 barrels per day of light and medium crude — far below the historic peak of 1.5 million bpd in 2004, but a figure that, for its residents, has translated into daily blackouts exceeding 12 hours.

From the Isla Dorada residential complex in northern Maracaibo, capital of Zulia, José Javier León tells Truthdig that power failures “have worsened dramatically.” In his area, outages used to last four hours but now exceed seven. 

“In many places there are double rounds, meaning the power goes out in the morning and at night, or at night and then before dawn. All the problems have gotten worse, and we don’t know the real reasons. In the suburb of Cuatricentenario, one of the most working-class areas and where the government had the most electoral support, the cuts are the worst,” he says.

León complains that residents are not alerted when the outages will happen. There is nothing like the electricity rationing schedules of the past, which would at least let them plan better. “In my area, there is no domestic gas, so we have electric stoves. Also, these are apartment buildings, where we have to turn on pumps to get water.” To make matters worse, the temperature in Zulia often reaches 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) because of the humidity.

In the Andes, outages add up to as many as 12 hours a day, and 16 hours in rural or border areas. From La Hechicera, an urban neighborhood in the city of Mérida, Silvana Solano tells Truthdig that the power used to go out for seven to eight hours, once a day, “but for the past two months, it goes out twice a day, the first time for seven hours and the other for around five hours, and we can’t predict the schedule. This also affects phone signals, which keeps us from communicating, making payments, etc.”

Some government institutions, including the Mérida mayor’s office, are open only from 8 a.m. to noon. Solano says she is worried that public schools, which operate until 3 p.m., will also adopt this schedule, in turn affecting parents’ working hours. Throughout September, residents of the towns of Caja Seca (Zulia state) and Nueva Bolivia (Mérida state) blocked the Pan-American Highway to protest the power outages.

To Venezuela’s north, on the famous Margarita Island, Alejandro Pérez tells Truthdig there are areas that have gone seven to eight months without water service. “Here we pay for water trucks, $50 for 10,000 liters of water, sometimes with $60 we get 13,000 liters, but you have to pay in foreign cash or at the parallel rate because the Central Bank of Venezuela exchange rate isn’t accepted here.” The black market or informal exchange rate is worth more, for those with foreign currency, than the official exchange rate.

Unlike other Caribbean islands, Margarita doesn’t have significant natural sources of fresh water. Some 90% of the area’s water comes from the mainland, crossing the sea through underwater pipelines that require gigantic pumping stations.

The contradictory rhetoric and the endless problems we face daily mean that, according to the latest AtlasIntel poll conducted for Bloomberg News, only 10% of Venezuelans believe the country will benefit from the oil pact with the U.S. — data that also aligns with the most recent study by the firm Meganálisis, the same one that after Jan. 3 said 92.2% of Venezuelans loved Trump. Emotions change, social problems persist, and without electricity, no economic improvement will be possible.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Source: Truthdig

Emma Willis has shared an update on Delta Goodrem after she was forced out of Strictly Come Dancing and admitted she could tell “something wasn’t right” with the pop star

Emma Willis has shared an update on Delta Goodrem after she was forced out of Strictly Come Dancing.

Pop singer Delta is currently in the lineup of celebrities trying their luck on the dancefloor. Whilst she and Kai Widdrington managed to top the leader board last week with their Salsa, it quickly emerged that the singer had done the show in “absolute agony” and on the Sunday, she went to hospital with a rib injury.

Appearing on Thursday’s edition of It Takes Two, Emma told host Ellie Taylor that it was somewhat obvious that something was amiss with Delta’s health at the time. She said: “It’s such a shame. I think it became quite apparent after the show that last week that something wasn’t right.”

Delta has been given a free pass – or bye – to the next round of the competition and, even though she will miss out on Icons Week, Emma said the cast and crew are hopeful this will mean she will be back and fighting fit.

She added: “We’re just hoping that because she has this bye week, by the week after, she’ll be good to get back. Fingers crossed!”

The TV presenter Emma, 50, took the reins of the new series of the BBC Saturday night favourite along with Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe when Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman left at the end of last year.

Delta, who is best known for starring in Australian soap Neighbours and released hits such as Innocent Eyes before representing her home country at Eurovision earlier this year, has broken her rib but is hoping to recover in time for next week and – following her doctor’s order – has been getting rest at home.

Taking to social media, she wrote: “Just wanted to come on here and say a big Thank you to everyone who has sent messages and wrote lovely comments the last couple of days, I see them all.

“Not the start to the week I’d hoped for but your support has meant the world. Also special big thank you to my amazing dance partner @kaiwidd who I will miss dancing with this weekend but I am so beyond grateful for his guidance and friendship through it all.. as well as the wonderful Strictly team!!”

She added: “Resting and recovering at home and will be cheering everyone on from my couch on Saturday night xx.” Delta had previously said she was “absolutely gutted” to be out the show for the week, and hoped she’d be back the following week.

It was revealed today that Delta’s planned dance to Dolly Parton’s Jolene with Kai Widdrington will be performed instead by Amy Dowden.

A spokesperson for the show had said: “Due to injury, Delta Goodrem has been advised by doctors to rest and, as a result, will not dance on this weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing.

“In line with the rules of the show, Delta and Kai will receive a bye through to next week when it is hoped they will be able to dance again. We wish Delta the very best as she continues her recovery.”

Delta added: “I’ve been loving every second of this experience, so having to sit this one out is heartbreaking – especially after the high of Saturday night.” “I cannot tell you how much I love being a part of this magical show. I’m going to focus on resting and recovering, and hopefully I’ll be back on that dancefloor very soon. Thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support. It’s so appreciated. I’ll be cheering everyone on from the sidelines this week!”

Sources revealed that Delta’s rib injury “deteriorated” and she was “in absolute agony” performing. She was later rushed to hospital to undergo tests but is now resting at home.

A source said: “Delta has been pushing herself as far as possible to impress Strictly viewers. A small injury at the start of last week has quickly deteriorated. On Saturday night, despite putting on a brave face and smiling, she was in absolute agony.

“Filming didn’t wrap until late Saturday night and she was exhausted. The plan was to go home and get some rest but she could hardly sleep. On Sunday morning she was raced to A&E and then spent most of Monday also at the hospital.”

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WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Birmingham 32, Taft 0

Eagle Rock 26, Lincoln 0

El Camino Real 34, Chatsworth 0

Franklin 27, Los Angeles Marshall 6

Fremont 8, Crenshaw 0

Fremont 34, Dymally 0

GALA 30, Port of Los Angeles 0

GALA 12, Washington Prep 0

Jefferson 36, Foshay 0

Manual Arts 13, Los Angeles 0

Monroe 26, Smidt Tech 13

San Pedro 27, King/Drew 0

Sun Valley Magnet 27, AMIT 0

Verdugo Hills 32, Arleta 7

View Park 24, Stella 12

Washington Prep 28, Port of Los Angeles 0

Southern Section

Antelope Valley 27, Highland 18

Aquinas 32, Woodcrest Christian 0

Arroyo 25, El Monte 6

Ayala 7, Glendora 6

Azusa 25, Garey 9

Bishop Diego 7, Cate 6

Brentwood 13, Windward 6

Burbank Burroughs 20, Monrovia 18

Cantwell-Sacred Heart 34, Whitney 12

Capistrano Valley Christian 51, Legacy College Prep 0

Castaic 13, West Ranch 0

Chino 14, Montclair 6

Compton 19, Long Beach Cabrillo 16

Compton Early College 44, Compton Centennial 0

Crean Lutheran 19, Cypress 2

Edison 19, Western Christian 7

El Modena 13, Sonora 6

El Rancho 13, Santa Fe 0

Gabrielino 39, Temple City 20

Gardena Serra 33, St. Mary’s Academy 0

Hawthorne 13, Beverly Hills 0

JSerra 19, Orange Lutheran 12

Keppel d. San Gabriel, forfeit

La Canada 14, San Marino 13

Laguna Beach 28, San Juan Hills 7

La Habra 32, Troy 0

Lakewood St. Joseph 40, Anaheim Canyon 12

Lancaster 13, Knight 6

La Sierra 21, Norte Vista 0

Linfield Christian 40, Riverside Notre Dame 12

Loma Linda Academy d. United Christian Academy, forfeit

Long Beach Poly 48, Long Beach Jordan 0

Long Beach Wilson 26, Bishop Montgomery 0

Marina 24, Corona Santiago 12

Montebello 13, Rosemead 0

Mountain View 26, Alhambra 7

Ontario Christian 42, Arrowhead Christian 28

Palmdale d. Littlerock, forfeit

Quartz Hill 13, Eastside 0

Rancho Verde 13, Orange Vista 6

Redlands Adventist Academy 30, Public Safety 0

Redlands East Valley 31, Temecula Valley 7

San Jacinto Valley Academy 6, Hemet 0

San Marcos 13, Ventura 12

Santa Ana Foothill 30, Fullerton 13

Santa Ana Valley 14, Magnolia 6

Schurr 36, South El Monte 0

Shalhevet 12, Animo Leadership 6

Shalhevet 48, Environmental Charter 12

St. Bonaventure 36, Fillmore 6

St. Lucy’s 42, Sierra Vista 6

St. Margaret’s 40, Rosary 6

St. Monica 71, Mary Star of the Sea 0

Village Christian 40, Chadwick 7

Workman 31, Edgewood 6

Xavier Prep 13, Banning 7

Yucaipa 21, Arlington 7

Intersectional

Granada Hills Kennedy 19, Golden Valley 18

Vasquez 7, Panorama 6

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

City Section

Angelou 25, Diego Rivera 6

Bernstein 35, Mendez 0

Carson 62, Gardena 0

Contreras 19, Roybal 0

Contreras 7, Hollywood 0

Garfield 42, South Gate 0

Los Angeles Hamilton 12, Palisades 7

Manual Arts 6, Foshay 0

Maywood CES 12, Elizabeth 0

Narbonne 20, King/Drew 6

Orthopaedic 30, Belmont 20

RFK Community 33, Mendez 0

RFK Community 14, Bernstein 0

San Pedro 20, Wilmington Banning 19

Santee 37, West Adams 0

Torres 7, Sotomayor 6

Venice 35, WISH Academy 0

Westchester 7, Fairfax 6

There are just weeks to go until the US midterm elections that will decide control of Congress, with campaigning in full swing around the country and voters weighing who to back at the ballot box.

The elections will have a potentially major impact on the remainder of President Donald Trump’s time in office. He is facing challenging political headwinds with concerns over rising costs and the war in Iran high on the minds of voters.

Ahead of the elections, the BBC’s Sarah Smith travelled across Iowa to speak to voters in the predominately Republican state.

Produced by Cai Pigliucci, filmed by John Landy and edited by Blanca Estrada

Rob’s murder left all the Faithful confused while banished Hannah admitted her spreadsheets hadn’t helped her as a Traitor

While comedian Rob Beckett found being murdered funny in The Celebrity Traitors, Professor Hannah Fry said she’d cried more during her five days of playing the game than at any other point in her life.

Hannah was banished at the round table last night with 12 of the 15 remaining players writing her name on the slate – giving them a landslide 80% victory. Speaking straight after leaving the castle, she admitted that she’d found her time there to be a rollercoaster of emotions. “I laughed more, cried more and got more excited than I ever have in the entirety of the rest of my life combined,” she explained.

“I really preferred being Faithful. I think it’s just a much more authentic experience,” she added, saying that one of the lessons learned was that she hated “lying to people’s faces”. “I think there’s actually some pride in being a rubbish Traitor.”

The maths guru, who has two daughters aged eight and six with her ex-husband, said that being a Traitor had been far harder than playing as a Faithful – which is what she’d gone into the game to do. “One of the reasons why I didn’t want to be a Traitor is because the only way your game ends is by being banished or winning – having people vote for you and having heat on you is part of the role of being a Traitor.”

Hannah confessed she’d avoided voting for Julie Hesmondhalgh out of guilt because the actress was “lovely” and had instead gone for Jerry Hall as “the one person on that whole table who could handle being voted for”.

The 42-year-old said she always knew she might not last long in the game. “On the first day, I asked Michael Sheen who he would murder, and he said, ‘You’. At that point I knew I was really in trouble.”

And the BBC presenter also confessed that getting the roman numerals right in her final mission – to help with the group £8,000 – had been far tougher than it looked. “I knew that everyone was going to expect me to be the one to solve it, but I think people have this image in their heads that mathematicians just sit around thinking of big numbers all day – it couldn’t be further from the truth. I haven’t used a number since I was about 16, I’m all about the x’s and y’s.”

Along with the trickier moments, there was also some highs. “Killing Rob Beckett was one of the best evenings I’ve had in my entire life,” she laughed. “I was running through the woods in the middle of the night, opening the door to Rob’s face. It was delightful.”

Speaking after being killed face-to-face with the traitors, dad-of-two Rob said that he cared less about the game and more about the juicy stories the other celebs were sharing in the castle. “What I loved most was meeting everyone and talking to them,” he explained. “When you have Michael Sheen, Richard E . Grant, Jerry Hall, James Blunt, I don’t care who’s a Traitor. Give me the anecdotes, I want the gossip. So everyone was going back to the hotel writing ideas of who it might be in their notepad, and I’ve got a notepad full of anecdotes that they told me that can only get wheeled out when I’m drunk at a party.”

When The Traitors arrived as his crypt to tell him he’d been murdered, he responded jovially: “Thank you very much James Acaster!” But he did say he expected comedy sidekick Romesh Ranganathan to “avenge my death”.

Rob, 40, reckoned the only Traitor he’d potentially identified at the start was Richard E Grant – so was “gutted” when the actor blurted it out. But the funnyman realised too late how James Acaster had been giving him a wide berth. “I gave James the benefit of the doubt because he desperately wanted to be a Faithful, but then that’s the oldest trick in the book, saying that. He had been really quiet, and on reflection, he’d avoided me a lot which makes sense, because I know him quite well. And then Maya Jama does not change her personality, whatever’s happening. So she’s going to be a great Traitor, I think she could win it.”

Confessing he was happy to go home because he’d been missing his kids, aged eight and 10, Rob said his highlight in the castle has been hitting it off with Jerry Hall. “I love her. She’s got such an amazing energy. She’s just so chilled. We just floated on together. She tells me her life motto probably every eight minutes, and that is ‘what will be, will be’.”

He now wants Jerry, 70, to win – along with his close pal Romesh. “Jerry Hall’s my pick, a rank outsider, but she’s my pick. The ultimate finale would be Leigh-Anne, Jerry and Romesh staring down Acaster. Three on one and they take his sorry ass to the cleaners.”

He believes his relaxed way of playing the game far outweighs the high-pressure path that Hannah had been forced down. ”I’d say, don’t stress yourself about it. All the money goes to charity. Have a good time for a long time.”

One of the surprising things Hannah discovered in The Celebrity Traitors was that she is actually related to Irish comedian Joanne McNally because their cousins are married. “We’re basically sisters,” she laughed. “I really loved her so much. She described herself as coming out of the womb as a show pony – that’s the perfect description of that woman. She is phenomenal. She knows exactly who she is, and she is totally unapologetic about it. I cannot tell you how much I admire her.”

While she’d like to see Joanne win, Hannah now thinks that fellow Traitor Maya or Faithful Leigh-Anne are the most likely to reach the final. “I think Maya is playing the most amazing game. When someone looks like that, I think that you expect her to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder because she’s one of the most beautiful women alive, but she’s also just so much fun. No airs and graces, totally delightful to be around.”

She also believes that Leigh-Anne has a great chance in the game, because she’s been woefully underestimated. “My God, that woman hasn’t got a single thing wrong. She’s the most perceptive person I’ve ever come across in my entire life. Is she psychic?

“Leigh-Anne needs to keep quiet about how good she is because I don’t think people have necessarily noticed. As soon as Maya notices that Leigh-Anne is that good, she’s going to kill her.”

Last night’s episode ended with boxer turned YouTube star King Kenny being recruited into the turret – much to his enormous surprise. “Being a Faithful was fun, but being a Traitor is going to be better,” he declared.

Urging Maya Jama and James Acaster not to double-cross him, he admitted he had concerns about joining them halfway through the game. “I worry the Traitors can switch on me at any time.”

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