The overhead locker mistake passengers are making that is causing chaos onboard
AS TEMPERATURES drop below zero, most of us now don’t go anywhere without our trusty winter coat – but on a flight, these can cause you chaos.
Of course, we need to stay warm and dry but most of the time once you are onboard your flight, you won’t want to wear your puffy coat.
However, the problem comes when on board the flight – where do all the coats go?
If you put your coat in the overhead bin, then you are using up space for other passengers’ hand luggage – which in some cases they may have paid for.
Then, this can cause some rather heated discussions between passengers or even baggage being offloaded.
The reality is, coats aren’t supposed to go in the overhead lockers.
Read more on travel inspo
The overhead lockers are supposed to be for hand luggage only, and this is mostly because small suitcases and bags cannot be stored safely anywhere other than the overhead lockers.
Typically, airlines know how many suitcases and bags will fit onboard the plane and this is why you see some people being caught out at the gate when they have brought an extra bag.
However, winter coats are immune to this, as you of course are allowed to wear a coat onboard a flight.
If you have put your coat in the overhead bin, then don’t be surprised if a flight attendant asks you to move it.
This is because they will be trying to get all the approved luggage stowed in the overhead bins first.
The question then arises, where are you supposed to put your coat?
Most airlines state that passengers should put their small bags, such as handbags, and their coats underneath the seat in front of them.
But if you don’t want it to take up your foot room, you might want to try squashing it into your suitcase or bag that is in the overhead locker.
Lots of airlines have coat hooks on the side of the seat in front of you though, so if you were to store it by your feet, this would only need to be for take-off and landing and then you could hang it from the hook.
The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor, Kara Godfrey said: “As someone who is a frequent hand luggage traveller, seeing people put their coats in the overhead lockers is my biggest annoyance.
“Airlines state small bags and coats must be under the seat in front as only cabin luggage is allowed in the lockers.
“Yet passengers regularly ignore this, stashing their bulky winter coats in there instead.
“I’ve been on flights where crew spend ages asking whose coats they are so they can remove them, which delays the boarding.
“Or I’ve had it where flight crew did nothing, so I was forced to stash my suitcase halfway down the plane – then unable to get to it when trying to get off the plane.”
One person commented on Reddit: “I’m more annoyed by people who take up an entire bin by putting their carry on, backpack, and then huge jacket all next to each other.”
Another added: “We all have heard about one carry on item and one personal item at least ten times between ticket purchase and boarding.
“It’s not ignorance, it’s a selfish and purposeful decision.”
So make sure to keep it with you next time you are on a flight – or risk the wrath of crew and passengers.
In other aviation news, a major airport is hiking its drop-off fee with strict new 10 minute stays.
Plus, Jet2 is relaunching flights to much-loved winter sun destination – the first time in 16 years.
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Published On 3 Dec 2025
Matthew Perry’s parents slam ‘jackal’ doc who supplied Friends star with ketamine in moving statement before sentencing
MATTHEW Perry’s parents have ripped the “jackal” doctor who broke his “most important vows” by supplying their son with ketamine when his addiction spiraled out of control.
The grieving parents voiced their emotional frustrations towards Salvador Plasencia in victim impact statements obtained by The U.S. Sun ahead of the disgraced doctor’s sentencing on Wednesday.
Plasencia, who pleaded guilty ahead of his trial to four counts of illegal distribution of the prescription anesthetic ketamine, is set to be the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with Perry’s overdose in October 2023.
Keith Morrison, Perry’s stepfather, conveyed the emotional toll the actor’s mother, Suzanne, has continued to endure since her son’s death more than two years ago.
“Many people, mothers mostly, have told me over the years how things like that breaks you, makes you feel broken,” the parents wrote in their victim impact statement.
“And I didn’t quite get what that meant until I watched what this thing did to Matthew’s mother. Still does, two years on. It’s a deep well, can’t see the bottom yet.”
Read more in The U.S. Sun
The parents slammed Plasencia and the other defendants as “greedy jackals.”
“I believe the man you are going to sentence today is among the most culpable of all. His crime I find truly hard to understand,” the parents’ statement read.
Perry’s parents criticized Plasencia for repeatedly breaking his most important vows when he “fed on the vulnerability” of their son, 54.
“Sometimes it’s a little easier to understand when a person commits a terrible crime,” Suzanne and Keith wrote.
“Maybe in the heat of passion, or because that person makes one very bad decision.. or some drug dealer, bad to the bone, who takes the calculated risk of getting caught and spending many years in prison.
“But… a doctor? Who trades on respect, and trust? And not just one bad decision.. No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles.
“But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret.
“For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son…and crow, as he did so, with that revealing question: ‘I wonder how much this moron will pay. Let’s find out.’”
Perry’s stepmom, Debbie, whose victim impact statement was on behalf of herself and the actor’s father, John, condemned Plasencia’s action, saying their son’s recovery counted on the defendant “saying no.”
“Your motives? I can’t imagine,” Debbie and John wrote.
“A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people? Whatever were you thinking? How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow?
“Did you care? Did you think? How many more people have you harmed that we don’t know about?”
The parents lamented that Plasencia devastated the family and contributed to the loss their only son.
Five defendants charged with Matthew Perry’s death
In August 2024, prosecutors announced federal charges against five people in connection with Matthew Perry’s overdose.
Here are the five individuals allegedly behind Perry’s ketamine crisis:
- “Ketamine Queen of Los Angeles” Jasveen Sangha: Sangha is a 42-year-old drug dealer who allegedly helped sell the ketamine that killed Perry, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. In 2019, Sangha sold ketamine to another victim hours before he died, prosecutors say. After hearing of his death, she allegedly searched “can ketamine be listed as a cause of death,” on Google. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of all charges.
- “Dr. P” Dr. Salvador Plasencia: Plasencia, 43, allegedly learned that Perry was seeking ketamine, and obtained doses from a dirty doctor. Speaking to the doctor over text, he allegedly said, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.” Plasencia taught unlicensed people associated with Perry how to inject ketamine, and even personally injected it at times, prosecutors say. Perry’s assistant, who was taught by Plasencia, administered the fatal dose on October 28, 2023. Plasencia is facing nine charges stemming from the death.
- Kenneth Iwamasa: Iwamasa, 60, was Perry’s live-in assistant who was allegedly taught how to inject ketamine by Dr. Plasencia, according to prosecutors. He also corresponded with dealers to organize the sale and delivery of the drug. He admitted to injecting Perry multiple times on the day of his death in a guilty plea.
- Eric Fleming: Fleming, 55, is a dealer who helped to coordinate drug sales to Sangha before they ultimately made it to Perry. He corresponded with Iwamasa when ketamine was on its way to their home. Fleming admitted to distributing 50 vials of ketamine to Iwamasa, half of them four days before Perry’s death.
- Dr. Mark Chavez: Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to Dr. Plasencia by writing fraudulent prescriptions. He also coordinated with Iwamasa to get the drugs to Perry. Between September and October 2023, Plasencia, Chavez, and Iwamasa allegedly distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000 in cash.
‘DR. P’
Federal investigators said Plasencia and Mark Chavez – a former physician in San Diego, who is also scheduled to be sentenced to on December 17 – coordinated with Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s personal live-in assistant, to distribute the drugs to the actor.
Martin Estrada, the US attorney for the Central District of California, said Perry fell back into addiction during the fall of 2023.
“These defendants took advantage to profit for themselves,” Estrada said at the time.
On September 30, 2023, Plasencia and Chavez discussed purchasing ketamine so they could sell it to Perry, according to a federal indictment.
In a text message, prosecutors said Plasencia and Chavez discussed how much they were going to charge Perry, writing, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Let’s find out.”
Estrada said that between September and October 2023, Plasencia, Chavez, and Iwamasa, who is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, distributed approximately 20 vials of ketamine to Perry for $55,000 in cash.
Prosecutors said Plasencia saw it as an opportunity to profit off of Perry, “He also stated in text messages that he wanted to be Mr. Perry’s sole source of supply for drugs.”
“As a doctor defendant Plasencia knew full well the danger of what he was doing,” Estada added.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
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Coventry Airport set to close next year after nearly 90 years
A UK airport is set to close next year after operating for nearly 90 years.
Coventry Airport first opened in 1936, then called Baginton Aerodome and was used as an RAF base during WWII.
Today, the airport doesn’t operate scheduled passenger flights, and is mainly used for charter flights or training.
Along with charter flights, the Air Ambulance Service currently operates from the airport.
However, it is closing next year for good, being replaced by a massive new factory development.
What will instead open on the grounds is ‘gigafactory’ Greenpower Park which was given planning permission back in 2022.
A UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson confirmed: “Coventry Aerodrome has given formal notice to us of its plan to close the airport permanently with effect from 11 June 2026.”
The Midlands Air Museum also at the site won’t be affected.
Opening as an RAF base, Coventry Airport once even welcomed Pope John Paul II in 1982.
Also in the 1980s, Hards Travel operated flights to Spain, France, Italy and Austria as package holidays.
And from 2004 to 2008, Thomsonfly operated scheduled passenger flights to Europe.
Wizz Air also had flights to Poland from Coventry Airport, flying to Gdańsk and Katowice.
These were all scrapped after rejected plans to add permanent passenger terminal facilities.
This led to the airport closing in 2009, before reopening the following year after being bought by the Rigby Group.
A statement from the Rigby Group states: “This procedural submission, first envisaged when local planning approval for Green Power Park was granted in 2022, enables the next phase of infrastructure work for the site to proceed.”
Runway operations will slowly be phased out until the full closure next summer, followed by airspace approvals.
Another closed airport in the UK has revealed plans to reopen by 2027.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport closed in 2022 despite once having TUI and Wizz Air flights.
New plans will see a £193million reopening project, the City of Doncaster Council confirmed.
It will also be reopening for a one-day event next year, with tickets on sale.
And Manston Airport has plans to also reopen by 2027.
Manchester United: Ruben Amorim avoids social media to ‘protect’ himself
“I don’t read it; I protect myself. I don’t watch TV when they are talking about Manchester United, not because I don’t agree – most of the times I do – but it’s a way of me being healthy.
“My feeling as a coach is enough. I don’t need other feelings. The only way – there is no other way – is to protect myself.”
The analysis in BBC’s investigation was conducted with data science company Signify.
It looked at posts made during 10 Premier League matches and six WSL matches on 8 and 9 November, and found messages including racist slurs, homophobia and threats of violence.
Managers were targeted more than players, while 82% of abusive posts were posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Of all the abusive messages, 61% were sent from accounts in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Data suggests the overall number is on the rise.
“I lose money from sponsors,” said Amorim.
“On Instagram I could earn a lot of money (but) for my protection of my family and living a normal life it is not worth some more dollars or pounds.
“Nobody can be tougher than me when we lose and when we don’t play well.
“Nowadays, it’s really normal to have that abuse, so it’s the only way to survive in this world.”
United finished 15th in the table last season, their lowest finish since being relegated in 1973-74.
They were beaten by Tottenham in the final of the Europa League as they missed out on a place in Europe.
This season they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Grimsby Town and are seventh in the Premier League before Thursday’s home game against West Ham.
Verstappen, Norris, Piastri: F1 set for three-way title fight in Abu Dhabi | Motorsports News
Max Verstappen can win a fifth straight world title but will need to overcome McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Formula One will crown its champion in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both seeking to dethrone Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and deny the Dutchman his fifth title in a row.
Norris is favourite in the three-way showdown, 12 points clear of Verstappen and needing “only” to finish on the podium at Yas Marina whoever wins on what could be a night of high drama.
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The last season before the start of a new era for the sport, and the expansion to 11 teams with new rules and engines, has been one of comebacks and shocks for all three contenders, and none can be counted out.
All have seven wins each, are capable of adding to that tally and ready to deliver an edge-of-seat sunset finale that might have come straight out of Brad Pitt’s recent F1 movie blockbuster.
All have also suffered the agony of race retirements due to collisions or crashes.
McLaren’s incredible season, Verstappen’s incredible fightback
Norris, winner of the opener in Melbourne last March, was 34 points behind Piastri at the end of August but turned his fortunes around with a hot streak, while the Australian stalled.
He won in Abu Dhabi from pole last year, after losing a title battle with Verstappen.
“It’s been an incredible season. We have an incredible car. I’m proud of everyone in the team. Thank you to all of our fans. We’ve got one more race, and we’ll give it everything,” he said.
Piastri, leading from Saudi Arabia in April to Mexico in October, had looked set for Australia’s first championship since Alan Jones 45 years ago, but is now 16 points behind his teammate.
He needs to win or finish second and hope for a twist in the tale – twice this century, the driver who was third overall going into the final round has come out on top.
Verstappen, who can join Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to take five titles in a row, could be on for the most astonishing comeback of all after being 104 points behind Piastri in late August.
“We stay in the fight until the end,” grinned the Dutchman after winning in Qatar last weekend, following on from victory in Las Vegas the Saturday before that.
Abu Dhabi has been a happy hunting ground for him in the past, with four wins in a row at the anti-clockwise circuit until last year.
Another win, with Norris not on the podium, would suffice.
McLaren had both their cars disqualified in Las Vegas and threw away a win for Piastri and podium for Norris in Qatar, thanks to a bungled strategy.
Surely the runaway constructors’ champions, with the second-highest single-season points tally of all time, can’t let slip through their fingers a first title double since 1998?
Prizemoney and paddock pecking order
While the title drama plays out, others will be chasing prize money and points to improve their place in the paddock pecking order.
Mercedes and Red Bull are fighting for second place, although the former looks likely to prevail with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, given the latter team’s reliance on Verstappen.
The race will be a final outing for Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull, his seat handed to Frenchman Isack Hadjar for next season, and engine partners Honda before switching to Aston Martin.
Ferrari have one last chance to win a race in 2025 while seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton is facing his first season without even standing on the podium.
Sauber, in their last race before becoming the factory Audi team and with Nico Hulkenberg making his 250th start, are only five points behind eighth-placed Haas, who are in turn seven adrift of Aston Martin.
Renault-owned Alpine are competing for the last time with Renault engines before a switch to Mercedes power. For Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto, that means one last attempt to score his first point of the campaign.
Nursery worker Vincent Chan admits sexually assaulting children
Daniel SandfordUK correspondent
Metropolitan PoliceA nursery worker has admitted sexually abusing young children in his care in north London.
Vincent Chan, 45, appeared at Wood Green Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to 26 charges including sexual assault by penetration, sexual assault by touching and making indecent images depicting the most severe category of child sex abuse.
The investigation into Chan followed a tip-off from a whistleblower and became one of the most “harrowing and complex” cases undertaken by the Metropolitan Police, the force said.
Chan, of Stanhope Avenue in Finchley, will be sentenced on 23 January.
‘Deeply disturbing material’
Judge David Aaronberg KC told the defendant: “Mr Chan, you have pleaded guilty to matters which are going to result in a custodial sentence of many years.”
Chan first came to attention for filming children at Bright Horizons nursery, Finchley Road, West Hampstead. The nursery branch has since closed.
When police started to investigate, they found what detectives called “deeply disturbing material” on Chan’s devices and iPads seized from the nursery.
They later found the video evidence of sexual abuse of children at the nursery, some of which had been filmed on nursery iPads.
Det Supt Lewis Basford, who led the Met Police’s investigation, said the offences had caused “deep shock and distress”.
Chan had been advance vetted by the Disclosure and Barring Service, having previously worked as a karate club instructor and in a school.
Chan, who was born and raised in the UK and is of Chinese heritage, took on a number of roles at the nursery including art specialist, room leader and nursery nurse. He was entrusted with the care of children aged between two and four.
Family members of many of the victims sat in the dock as charges were read out, many of them in tears.
Following Chan’s guilty pleas, the victims’ parents made a joint statement through their solicitor.
“As parents we are still trying to process the sickening discovery that our children were subjected to despicable abuse… We feel that Bright Horizons has failed us, and we want answers.
“How was someone like Vincent Chan employed? And how were such horrific crimes against children able to continue for so long without the staff responsible for safeguarding at Bright Horizons nursery acting?
“We are concerned that failures in management and supervision at Bright Horizons allowed this abuse to go undetected, and we are committed to securing accountability for our children.”
A spokesperson for Bright Horizons said: “We are shocked and appalled by this individual’s horrific crimes. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the children and families affected, and we are committed to offering support to them during this incredibly difficult time.”
The 7 best places across Europe to celebrate New Year’s Eve with waterfront fireworks and historic attraction parties
AS 2025 comes to a close, you might be starting to think about where to spend the start of 2026 – and destinations across Europe have some pretty spectacular celebrations.
Whether you enjoy dancing in a club or wrapping up warm and watching the fireworks, there are all sorts of celebrations that take place on December 31.
And if you are fed up of celebrating here in the UK, then Europe has some great events to fly to, to see in the New Year in a new country.
Berlin, Germany
We have all heard about Berlin being rated for its nightlife, so celebrating New Year in the city must be good.
On New Year’s Eve the city turns into one huge celebration.
Head to the Brandenburg Gate and you will find one of Europe‘s largest open-air parties which draws in more than a million people each year.
Read more on travel inspo
And what is even better is that unlike London‘s expensive fireworks, entry is completely free.
Inside, visitors will be able to browse stalls selling traditional bratwursts and currywurst.
There are also stages that host both German and international acts.
Even if you choose to stay in your hotel room on the big night, you can participate in a decades-old tradition.
Every TV and many independent cinemas across the city screen ‘Dinner for One’, which is a black-and-white British sketch from 1963.
Having first broadcast in Germany in 1972, it has run every New Year’s Eve since, becoming a tradition.
Families will even joke about the butler’s catchphrase: “Same procedure as every year”.
For those wanting to head out clubbing, well there are plenty of places to choose from in the city.
If you are lucky enough to get in, Berghain’s New Year’s celebrations start on December 31 and run until January 2.
Return flights to Berlin in December cost from £81 from Manchester, or £83 from Edinburgh or London.
Malaga, Spain
In Malaga in Spain, on New Year’s Eve – or Nochevieja, as they call it – Malaga’s Plaza de la Constitucion fills with people carrying 12 grapes.
Whilst this may seem unusual, it is a tradition that dates back to 1909 when Alicante winemakers promoted the ritual after a good harvest.
When the bell strikes each time at midnight, each person eats a grape.
Supermarkets even sell grapes portioned out in small plastic tubs ready for the celebration.
When the bell chimes for the 12th time, fireworks illuminate the sky and the streets around Calle Larios turn into dance parties, with live bands and DJs.
Temperatures are usually mild with highs of 18C and lows of 8C, making it the ideal destination to enjoy New Year’s in the fresh air.
When the sun eventually comes up, people then head to churrerias – shops or stands that specialise in making and selling churros.
Return flights to Malaga in December cost from £27 from Bristol and Liverpool or £28 from Birmingham or Manchester.
Interlaken, Switzerland
In the town of Interlaken in Switzerland, you will find the country’s longest New Year, with a festival lasting three days.
It starts on December 31 when fireworks are launched from the Hoheweg promenade with the Jungfrau summit in the background.
Then on New Year’s Day, Hohematte park hosts a free concert, known as Touch the Mountains.
The line-up usually features Swiss and international acts.
Finally, on January 2, is Harder-Potschete – an entire event dedicated to Alpine folklore.
The event features a masked procession which dates back centuries, and is led by the Hardermannli – a figure from local legend that is believed to be a ghost of a monk punished and sent to the cliffs above the town.
Locals and visitors then wear wooden carved masks and fur and head through the streets as bells and drums play.
After the parade finishes, people gather in many of the towns restaurants and pubs to have a meal.
Return flights to Zurich in December cost from £71 from London or £76 from Manchester.
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon in Portugal is known for having amazing fireworks, especially when you watch them from the Tagus River.
Alternatively, you could head to one of several miradouros (lookouts) which are dotted across the hills around the capital.
In Praça do Comércio – Portugal‘s biggest square – there are then lots of celebrations, with live music, parties and Portuguese sparkling wine.
And for those who want to embrace local traditions, then eat 12 raisins, one by one, at midnight and then drink a glass of espumante.
Return flights to Lisbon in December cost from £43 from London or £49 from Manchester.
Stockholm, Sweden
Over in chilly Stockholm, Nyårsafton (NYE) celebrations begin at home, or if you are visiting, in the hotel, with lots of food and drink.
Just before midnight the party then starts.
Since 1985, locals have headed to Skansen, an outdoor museum in the city, to ring in the new year.
At midnight, a person reads Tennyson’s ‘Ring Out, Wild Bells’ and streamers burst above peoples heads.
There are then plenty of places to head to after to enjoy some dancing, such as Berns and Club Backdoor.
Return flights to Stockholm in December cost from £36 from London.
Reykjavik, Iceland
If you fancy seeing ice and snow, head to Reykjavik for New Year’s.
Celebrations start in the day and take over the entire city.
In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, the city lights around 12 bonfires where people head, to enjoy a warm drink, some singing and food.
Then when it comes to New Year’s Eve itself, people gather on the streets at around 8pm to light different items.
However, this abruptly stops at 10:30pm, when the TV show Aramotaskaupio is broadcast – a comedy about all the year’s events.
Once the show is over, the fireworks then light up the sky.
Return flights to Reykjavik in December cost from £74 from Bristol or £94 from London.
Collioure, France
For perhaps a slightly less crowded New Year’s Eve, head to Collioure in France.
This quaint fishing village is usually quite quiet, but on New Year’s Eve it comes to life.
During the early evening of December 31, locals will set up tables and blankets through the village’s stone walkways and the beachfront.
Then, people enjoy food together.
Some tents also provide food, like fresh oysters and sparkling wine.
The mayor then makes a speech and a live band begins to play in the main square.
At midnight, people then head to the beach to watch the fireworks as they light up the ocean below.
The closest airport to Collouire is Girona, with return flights to Girona in December costing from £28 from London or £29 from Manchester.
Letter from the editor: Highlights from our Music Issue
With our Dec. 4 edition, The Envelope combines its Grammys and Oscars song and score coverage into a single Music Issue, and one glance at the table of contents confirms that the old boundaries no longer apply.
This year, Karol G released both a nominated album and a Netflix documentary; “Golden,” a top Oscar contender, also nabbed a nod for song of the year; and filmmaker Oliver Laxe joined forces with French electronic music artist Kangding Ray for Spanish Oscar submission “Sirāt” — and that’s just the start of the crossover talents featured in this week’s Envelope.
Cover: Karol G
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
With a Grammy-nominated album (“Tropicoqueta”), a Coachella headline slot and the launch of her new “200 Copas” tequila — about which she regaled me when she stopped by The Times newsroom recently — Karol G is a multihyphenate global superstar. But as August Brown writes in this week’s cover story, the Colombian artist is still introducing herself to new fans. And relishing the opportunity.
“For her, there’s still something tantalizing about topping a mixed-genre bill before an audience that may not have heard her music at all. Is it weird to be one of the biggest musicians on Earth and yet still, in some circles, be introducing herself?
‘I love that. If you are on tour, you know that the people there are waiting to see you, and they already know the songs,’ she said. ‘But festivals give you the opportunity to open doors for more people that don’t know your music, who don’t know nothing.’”
Digital cover: Huntr/x
(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)
I’d only just gotten the ultra-catchy tracks from “KPop Demon Hunters” out of my head when I spent Thanksgiving with some old friends and their 6-year-old son, who requested “Soda Pop” as soon as we got in the car after getting dressed for dinner — and swiftly landed a blockbuster’s worth of earworms right back in my brain. So it’s fitting that my own favorite, “Golden,” is the subject of this week’s digital cover, about the trio of K-pop artists lending their voices to the fictional band Huntr/x.
“It’s really wild and weird,” Audrey Nuna tells writer Laura Sirikul about the instant chemistry with groupmates Ejae and Rei Ami. “Honestly, the mesh of our voices just felt so intuitive. It was very organic and easy. The song is not easy, but the mesh and connecting were.”
How ‘Sirāt’ threw the year’s hottest rave
Speakers reverberate in the mountains during the rave in “Sirāt.”
(Neon)
My own party days ended around the same time as the second Bush administration, but the opening sequence of Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt” — before the film descends into a mad journey through the remote reaches of the Moroccan desert — almost had me ready to dance through the night.
What makes “Sirāt’s” rave so convincing? Well, as Gregory Ellwood reports, it’s more or less a real rave: “In order to capture the true spirit of a contemporary rave, the production had already agreed to stage a three-day event essentially run by” the Trackers and Drop’In Caravan collectives.
“I have videos at the bar, which is not on the dance floor, and you can see the waves of the sound [in the drinks],” production designer Laia Ateca recalled to Ellwood. “The speakers were so loud, you don’t need anything else. It’s very, very powerful.”
Read more from our Dec. 4 issue
Strict ban across France that Brits have no idea about
ANYONE heading across to France for a ski trip this winter needs to remember one very important rule, as breaking it could result in major fines.
It comes months after a major announcement enforced to help improve public health across the country.
Over the summer, France introduced a new smoking ban in public outdoor places.
France‘s health and family minister announced in May 2025 that “where there are children, tobacco must disappear”.
As the ban was introduced in the summer, it mostly affected beaches, parks and bus stops – but now that it’s winter it also counts for ski resorts.
Any Brits heading on a ski holiday in France this winter won’t be able to light up on the slopes, lifts or in queues for pistes.
Read More on Winter Holidays
While these rules will be blanketed across all resorts in France, it’s not the first time that a ban on smoking has been put in place.
In 2022 Les Gets (Haute-Savoie) became one of the first ski resorts in France to ban smoking on the slopes.
It was followed by some others including Crest-Voland (Savoie).
There will be no smoking across all resorts now, however some may have designated smoking areas – and the ban doesn’t apply to vapes.
Anyone seen breaking the rule on the slopes could face fines up to €135 (£118) per person.
Not only is it in place to improve public health, but it’s an attempt to clean up France as cigarette butts remain one of the top three littered items in the country.
According to Connexion France, more than 57,000 cigarette butts were cleared from French ski resorts last year.
France’s health and family minister Catherine Vautrin announced the restrictions would come into force on July 1, 2025.
And anyone who fails to follow the new rules could face a fine over over €100.
The minister added that children have the “right to clean air”.
Cigarettes will also be banned in areas close to schools, to prevent students being tempted to smoke in front of their school.
The ban, however, does not apply to cafe terraces or include electronic cigarettes.
The five best ski resorts in Europe from beginner slopes to toddler-friendly resorts…
Trying to choose the right ski resort for the family – here are some of the best…
Hundfjället, Sweden
Just a 15–20 minutes transfer from the airport, Hundfjället is easy to get to and simple to navigate. The resort is designed with families in mind.
Soldeu, Andorra
Soldeu offers calm, family-friendly skiing, with the main gondola taking visitors straight to nursery slopes and the ski school. Wide green and blue runs through the trees make progression easy. Younger kids can build confidence in the playful Baba Boom Circus area, complete with obstacles and fun features.
Rauris, Austria
A peaceful, compact resort, Rauris is perfect for first-time skiers. Everything is within walking distance – from family-run accommodation to the gondola and ski school. Children can learn on the nursery slopes, progress to gentle blue runs with panoramic views, or have fun on the mini racetrack.
Obergurgl, Austria
High in the Austrian Alps, Obergurgl combines alpine charm with family convenience.
Quiet slopes and excellent ski schools help children gain confidence quickly, while parents enjoy high-quality hotels, hearty Tyrolean cuisine, and stunning mountain views.
Family-friendly facilities like pools and playrooms add extra appeal, and reliable snow cover keeps everyone happy all season.
Flaine, France
Flaine has both sunny slopes and reliable snow, ideal for beginners and families. Kids can enjoy Crystal Childcare while exploring beginner areas, and there’s plenty to keep everyone entertained off the slopes – from ice skating and bowling to magical dog sled rides. And with accommodation near the lifts it ensures a smooth and comfortable stay.
For more, these are the best resorts for early season trips from France to Italy according to ski experts.
Plus, take a look inside Europe’s southernmost ski resort – with 320 days of sunshine each year and views of the Med.
EU Commission sharpens its economic doctrine to counter foreign threats
Published on
•Updated
The EU executive is aiming to improve the EU market’s defences against threats from third countries with a new economic doctrine that combines risk anticipation with a reinforced strategy.
The new “software” comes as the EU faces increasingly nationalist trade policies from major players like China and the US.
Just weeks ago, a Chinese push to restrict exports of rare earths to the rest of the world put key European sectors at risk, from cars and tech to defence. Beijing also tested Europe’s economic resilience by blocking shipments of crucial automotive chips to Dutch-based company Nexperia, squeezing a strategic link in the EU’s supply chain.
“Europe remains a champion of open trade and global investment, but openness without security becomes vulnerability,” said European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič. “To stay resilient in a shifting geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape, we must use our tools more strategically and assertively, while developing new ones to reinforce our economic security.”
The doctrine outlines several areas where the EU aims to sharpen its risk assessment to curb strategic dependencies, from critical raw materials to tech components and semiconductors – areas which are increasingly being weaponised by China.
The EU wants to include economic security considerations in its trade defence investigations. The bloc has several tools at its disposal, including foreign direct investment, subsidies screenings and anti-dumping mechanisms.
Among the most important measures are the anti-coercion instruments adopted in 2023, designed to retaliate to threats from a foreign power.
Industrial espionage crackdown
Brussels also wants to crack down on predatory practices and industrial espionage, tightening scrutiny of strategic companies and infrastructure both physical and digital.
“We must strengthen our capacity to gather and share economic intelligence, because true security is only possible when Europe acts as one – with Member States and industry moving in sync,” Šefčovič said.
However, the Commission has not yet offered any concrete proposal to address situations where companies of strategic emerging areas such as quantum technology cannot access funding in the EU.
“There are concerns that we would be letting ownership of certain technology holders come out of European hands, not for good reasons,” a senior EU official said.
For such situations, the document unveiled Wednesday said the EU will prioritise EU funding or fundings coming from like-minded country and suppliers for critical quantum components and services, and “limit reliance on high-risk quantum/cloud providers in sensitive sectors.
In markets like EV batteries, dominated by China, the Commission plans to drive tech and know-how sharing.
The same senior EU official said that Brussels also wants the private sector closely involved, since this is “where the risk actually takes place”.
The bloc already has legislation, born from the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to keep essential goods, services and people moving within the EU market during emergencies. A new trusted advisory group drawn from industry will be set up to bolster this effort.
The Commission also wants the EU to forge partnerships with countries facing similar threats in a world splintered into new trade blocs, and to strengthen trade risk assessments. Japan will be involved, along with EU membership candidate countries – a sphere where the EU is already contending with Chinese influence.
Why L.A. County preschools are closing as TK thrives
During the first four years of California’s new transitional kindergarten program, 167 community-based preschools in Los Angeles County shut down, unable to financially survive amid enrollment drops or pivot to more costly infant and toddler care, according to new U.C. Berkeley research.
The closures represent some painful and unintended consequences of the state’s ambitious rollout of transitional kindergarten or TK — a signature education program of Gov. Gavin Newsom that provides universal public preschool to every 4-year-old, researchers found. The loss of community preschools has meant that some families of children younger than 4 have had to scramble to find other daycare in an already delicate network.
At least in some cases, rather than bolstering California’s child-care sector and serving more children, TK instead appears to be competing with — and even replacing — local preschools, as they struggle to take in younger children, according to the study. Areas that experienced the largest growth in TK enrollment were also the most likely to suffer preschool closures.
“TK seemed like a sparkling idea with very few negatives,” said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of education and public policy who co-authored the study. “But the downsides were not weighed carefully enough in retrospect.”
Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.
In 2019, before the pandemic, there were about 26,500 children enrolled in TK in public schools in the county. Since then, with the help of the state TK expansion, the program grew to about 39,500 children by the 2024-25 school year, according to state data.
But this growth — about 13,000 students — only slightly surpasses the loss of 12,000 child-care slots for 3- and 4-year-olds at the preschools that have closed since 2020. The 167 preschool closures from 2020 to 2024 compare with just 92 closures between 2014 and 2019.
And while pressures from the pandemic as well as a decline in population contributed to this increase, the researchers’ statistical analysis found that TK played an important role in driving the closure of these centers.
Certain areas of the county actually experienced a net loss of child-care slots as TK expanded. In the Rolling Hills-Palos Verdes area, for example, TK enrollment climbed by 152 children, but the area lost four pre-K centers that could serve 316 children. In the Northridge area, TK enrollment grew by 96 children, but the closure of 3 preschool centers meant the loss of 184 spaces.
The state’s many goals for the TK program — laid out in 2020 by the master plan for early learning and care — include calling on preschools to counter the loss of their 4-year-old students by taking on more 3-year-olds, as well as infant and toddlers, whose parents have the greatest shortage of options. Licensed centers and family child-care homes in L.A. County only have the capacity to serve 13% of working parents with infants and toddlers, according to the county public health department.
But in reality, preschools have struggled to transition to younger children amid challenges such as difficulties recruiting teachers, aging facilities, obstacles in securing the necessary permits and even the reluctance of some staff to change diapers, the researchers found.
A student at Angelina Preschool in Los Angeles practices her letters.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
“The good news is we are serving more 4-year-olds. But the not-so-good news is that it’s eroding the capacity of community-based pre-K’s to serve younger children,” said Fuller.
State officials declined to respond to the results of the study, or to questions about the TK program’s impact on community preschools. TK costs about $3.7 billion annually and became fully operational this year after its four-year phase-in. All 4-year-olds in California are now eligible for a free spot in the state’s newest public school grade level.
The study revealed another surprising enrollment trend in the county.
Another goal of creating TK aims to shrink income and racial disparities in children’s early cognitive skills. But TK enrollment growth has been the highest in the county’s most affluent ZIP Codes, including Palos Verdes and Brentwood-Westwood. Since 2021, TK enrollment has grown by 50% in the county’s poorest quarter of ZIP Codes, but 135% in the wealthiest quarter of ZIP Codes.
One explanation, Fuller said, may be that many lower-income families were already accessing free child care in long-standing programs that include Head Start, the California State Preschool Program and vouchers that can be used for a variety of care options.
“It’s folks that are beyond the income eligibility cap that have had to pay through the nose for quality preschool. So the quickest and biggest economic savings is felt by those upper middle-class families that had to pay for preschool,” he said.
Up close: one preschool’s struggle
For the last two years, as the TK expansion has marched forward, the staff at Angelina Preschool in the Temple Beaudry neighborhood near downtown has been struggling to fill its classrooms.
“Our 4-year-olds really have been disappearing,” said Jacqueline Torres, administrative director of child development programs at the Little Tokyo Service Center, which operates the preschool.
In July, Torres was confident that 10 of the 4-year-olds students who were had attended the previous year would be staying on at the school. But when L.A. Unified started in August, six ended up transferring at the last minute — some to the elementary school right across the street — leaving empty spaces in Angelina’s classrooms.
This year, 49 children are enrolled at Angelina — down from a high of 58 in 2023. “And it’s been a hard-fought 49,” said Torres. She’s been trying “extremely hard” to make up the loss of the school’s 4-year-olds by targeting infants and toddlers, but with limited success.
Angelina Preschool is located within an affordable housing complex in Los Angeles. The school, which is part of the Little Tokyo Service Center, has been struggling to keep enrollment up as more parents are choosing transitional kindergarten instead.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
One problem, she said, is that the state didn’t give community preschools like hers “more warning and a ramp-up-period” when they started the TK expansion. Caring for younger children requires preparation, and schools didn’t have time to make the shift before they started losing their older students.
“It has really put preschools and school districts as almost competitors, when really I think TK should have been just another option,” said Torres.
Taking on infant and toddlers
Some preschools have successfully begun to serve infants and toddlers, and the state has helped by increasing payments to state preschools that care for younger children.
However, obstacles persist.
Caring for infants and toddlers requires a special health and safety license from the state, a process that can take 6-12 months, said Nina Buthee, executive director of EveryChild California, a membership association for child-care centers. There is also a new set of fire regulations for centers that care for younger children to contend with, she said.
Many preschool teachers are not trained or interested in caring for babies, making recruitment a challenge. Infant care is a “declining specialty,” Buthee said.
And it’s also a difficult financial proposition. Because of ratio requirements, a single teacher can care for 12 preschoolers, but only three infants or four toddlers. Preschool operations often depend on collecting tuition from more 4-year-olds to subsidize losses from fewer but costlier and resource-needy toddlers and babies.
Buthee said she was not surprised by the results of the study.
“It takes time to be able to shift this. It’s almost like moving the Titanic. You point it in one direction, but it takes a little time for that momentum to shift and for all of these different policies to be able to move along with it,” she said. “If it was as easy just flipping a switch, you better believe that programs would be doing it.”
Preschool budgets tighten
At the Segray preschool program, which has locations in Eagle Rock and Thousand Oaks, owner Annette Gladstone said she has a waiting list for infants and toddlers but has been having trouble enrolling preschoolers. She wants to serve more younger children and even has an empty classroom that she could fill with infants and toddlers — but she says the process is too burdensome.
“I would love to do it, but we just don’t love dealing with the process of what licensing puts you through, to be honest,” said Gladstone. So instead, she’s being more careful with her budget, and paying closer attention to spending on materials.
Buthee said as TK continues to grow, it’s likely that more preschools will find the numbers don’t add up anymore. “We haven’t seen the full impact of this. Over the next year or so we will definitely see more programs closing.”
When the TK program passed through the legislature, Fuller said, this sort of collateral damage of the program on California’s child-care sector likely didn’t factor into their vote.
“It’s a classic public policy case where the policy designers in government have a simple idea about implementation, but in fact, it unfolds in a much messier way.”
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children, from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.
High school soccer continues to see players coming and going
Welcome to another high school soccer season in which so many boys’ and girls’ players are coming and going that you’ll need to make a phone call or send a text to the head coach to confirm who’s playing or who’s off competing for a club team, a national team or working out with a pro team.
It’s not chaos, just another sign of the many options elite players in Southern California have to consider, and playing high school soccer isn’t exactly the No. 1 in priority in the minds of USA Soccer, club teams, college programs and pro teams.
The example of Santa Margarita’s top senior girls’ players, goalie Peyton Trayer and forward Coral Fry, is perhaps the future. They helped the Eagles win the Southern Section Open Division championship as juniors. This season, they’ll be playing for Santa Margarita this month until they leave in January to join their respective college programs — North Carolina and Tennessee. Each said seven recruits from their future college teams are also leaving high school early.
“For me, it’s a huge advantage to go in the spring, start classes and get acclimated to the environment, get a semester ahead training with the team and do the strength and conditioning to be ready for my freshman season,” Trayer said.
Said Fry: “The higher level of training is going to help me so much by the time the college season comes around.”
Trayer and three other players got into trouble last season when they went to participate in a pro team training session in Brazil and were declared ineligible in the middle of the high school season for violating CIF bylaw 600.
Under CIF rules, players can’t play simultaneously on a club team and a high school team. There’s also USA Soccer commitments in the middle of the high school season and many club teams are not letting students play both. For girls and boys, they are not allowed to try out with a pro team during their high school season.
“It’s a ripple effect,” Santa Margarita coach Craig Bull said. “It’s really the pro clubs driving this. I’m from Europe. We graduate high school 16 years old and you’re signing a pro contract if you’re good enough and you’re training five days a week, where you’re 16 to 18 here, playing club and high school soccer, training two or three days. This is about America keeping up with the rest of the world.”
Seven coaches from teams Santa Margarita will face in nonleague games this season told Bull they have players choosing not to play high school soccer.
To help replace Trayer and Fry after December, Santa Margarita has one of the nation’s top juniors, Mia Corona, a UCLA commit, set to join the team in January. She missed last season working out with pro teams and hopes to be finished with her training for the last part of the high school season.
Remember how Harvard-Westlake was without the Thompson sisters, Alyssa and Gisele, for much of their four-year high school careers. Alyssa turned pro her senior year and both signed with Nike in 2022. “There’s so much talent in Southern California,” Harvard-Westlake coach Richard Simms said.
The good news for the Wolverines this season is that their top two players are available. Leading scorer Kaia Santomarco-King is a Colorado commit and goalie Sasha Selvaggio is a Ohio State commit and Italian national team participant. The Wolverines, Santa Margarita, Corona Santiago, Mater Dei and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame all should have top teams.
Boys teams held off scheduling games until after a big club tournament this past weekend in San Diego and the MLS Next tournament in Arizona this week.
Cathedral goalie Peter Cornejo attended the FIFA U-17 World Cup in November representing El Salvador.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
“We just go with who we have,” Loyola coach Chris Walter said. “It’s a tough situation. I don’t think it’s fair for student athletes to have to make decisions. They should be able to play at their school or the highest level they can.”
Loyola has a top player, Cody Davis, who hasn’t played high school soccer since his freshman season. He’s committed to Loyola Marymount and won’t be playing again this high school season. Loyola’s top returning player is Josh Gallagher. Birmingham has lost brothers Carlos and Christian Esnal, who decided to pursue playing in Uruguay. Robert Mejia joins the team after not playing high school before. “He’s really good,” coach Gus Villalobos said.
Give credit to those sticking it out with high school soccer and trying to prove you can still be an elite player.
Defending City Section champion El Camino Real and long-time rival Birmingham should battle it out again for a City boys title. In the Southern Section, Cathedral returns nine players, including goalie Peter Cornejo, who played in the under-17 World Cup representing El Salvador. The annual Loyola vs. Cathedral nonleague match is scheduled for Dec. 9 at Loyola.
JSerra is the defending Southern Section Open Division boys champion, and should face competition from Mater Dei, Cathedral, Bishop Amat, Orange Lutheran and Palos Verdes.
Meanwhile, coaches and CIF officials need to figure out a plan going forward to find ways to keep their elite players competing for their high schools.
CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti said schools have failed to change or get rid of bylaw 600, because it effects all sports and would create additional issues. “We consistently reach out to various soccer organizations to work with them,” he said.
World Cup participant Trinity Rodman attended JSerra but never played high school soccer after playing for Corona del Mar her freshman year.
“These girls need both,” Bull said. “They love high school soccer [and] what it brings and they love club [and] what it brings. We need to find a way to do both.”
Britain stalls on allowing China to build ‘super embassy’ in London
Dec. 3 (UPI) — Approval for a huge 215,000 sq. ft. Chinese “super embassy” in central London was postponed for a third time at the last minute, but was expected to get the go ahead in January after the government determined it was not a threat to national security.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had been due to announce its decision Dec. 10, but said Tuesday that it needed more time, prompting protests from Chinese diplomats.
The final decision, more than three years after Tower Hamlets council refused to grant planning permission, was now due Jan. 20, ahead of a planned three-day visit by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Beijing, the first by a British leader since 2018.
The move, overriding security concerns and local opposition to the facility, combining seven existing diplomatic sites dotted around London into a single embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint near Tower Bridge, came after the MI5 and MI6 assessed any risks were manageable.
Opponents argued the facility in the heart of the British capital, close to its financial district, and in particular its proximity to critical fiber-optic networks, would be a prime center for Chinese spying and surveillance operations, pursuing dissidents, or worse.
Local people were also opposed, in part, due to concerns about protests, while activists pointed to human rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang province.
However, a spokesman for Starmer argued the reality was that the new embassy had significant security benefits for the United Kingdom.
“An independent planning decision will be made by the secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government in due course,” said the spokesman. “Should the planning decision for a new embassy in the London borough of Tower Hamlets be approved, the new embassy will replace seven different sites which currently comprise China’s diplomatic footprint in London which clearly brings security advantages.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, said they had “carefully considered” all the issues and had worked with police and others to ensure national security concerns had been addressed.”
However, they said they recognized “the importance of countries having functioning diplomatic premises in each other’s capitals.”
The new delay through next month was to allow additional time for consultation with all stakeholders.
The planned embassy, China’s largest anywhere in the world, has living accommodation for 200 staff, offices and significant underground space.
The site, which contains “listed” [protected] buildings and a residential block, was purchased by the Chinese government for $339 million in 2018.
Tower Hamlets councillors voted to reject the embassy’s planning application in 2022 and the then-Conservative government declined to intervene, stalling all progress until Starmer’s Labour administration came into office last year and took the matter out the local authority’s hands.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London criticized what they said was yet another hurdle stretching out the process into an eighth year.
“We strongly deplore the U.K.-side’s repeated postponement of the decision on the planning application for the new Chinese embassy project. We strongly urge the U.K. side to approve our planning application quickly to avoid further undermining the mutual trust and cooperation between the two sides,” the spokesperson said.
Analyzing North Korea’s New Air-Launched Guided Weapons
Celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Korean People’s Air Force (KPAF) provided an apparent first look at three new types of air-launched weapons, intended to arm the KPAF’s Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack aircraft, and potentially others. The event also yielded a better look at the country’s ‘copycat’ drones, the Saetbyol-4 and Saetbyol-9 that are almost exact visual copies of the U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9 Reaper, respectively.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the KPAF’s 80th anniversary event at Wonsan Kalma Airport in Wonsan, Kangwon province, on Friday, according to the state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The North Korean leader was accompanied by his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, widely assumed to be his likely successor, and bestowed the Order of Kim Jong Il — the country’s highest military decoration — on the air force.
Images released by KCNA showed Kim inspecting a display of some of the KPAF’s latest assets, which also included mobile missile launchers, as well as the service’s airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, based on a Russian Il-76 Candid cargo aircraft.
During his visit, Kim Jong Un stated that the KPAF will be reinforced with “new strategic military assets and entrusted with a new important duty,” though he did not specify the nature of these.
He emphasized that “the expectations … for the air force, which will play a role in the exercise of the nuclear war deterrent, are very great.”
While the comments appear to point to the addition of new nuclear weapons to the KPAF’s armory, they could also be understood in broader terms, in which the air force supports other parts of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
As for the air-launched weapons on show at Kalma Airport, these are potentially no less interesting.
The stores in question were seen loaded under the wing of a Su-25, around 38 of which are operated by North Korea, according to FlightGlobal analysis. However, it should also be noted, at this point, that we have no hard evidence that these are genuine, functioning weapons. While vaporware and hardware misdirection are common tactics in a military context, these different stores do at least make a good deal of sense in terms of a shortcut to modernizing the KPAF’s veteran fleet. It’s also worth noting that North Korean weapons displayed under the Kim Jong Un regime have traditionally come to some sort of operational or at least testing-level fruition. The days when mockups for propaganda and counterintelligence purposes were the norm are long gone.
Together with MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, the Su-25s are the most capable aircraft in the KPAF inventory, followed by older MiG-23 Flogger swing-wing combat jets.
Otherwise, the KPAF combat fleet comprises even more antiquated equipment, including Chinese-made H-5 Beagle first-generation jet bombers, Soviet-era MiG-21 Fishbeds and their Chinese F-7 equivalents, and Chinese-made F-6 Farmers — a first-generation supersonic fighter. Even F-5 Fresco jets — a license-built version of the MiG-17, which was first flown in 1950 — remain in KPAF service, although these are reportedly only now considered for suicide missions.
The largest of the weapons displayed at Kalma is an apparent long-range air-to-ground missile, attached to the Su-25’s inboard underwing pylon. South Korean analysts immediately compared it to the KEPD 350 Taurus standoff weapon as used by the Republic of Korea Air Force’s F-15K Slam Eagle.
In terms of appearance, the missile shares some traits with the Taurus, including the box-like cross-section, a pair of pop-out wings, and cruciform tailfins. The missile is powered by a small jet engine, which could be fed by an underslung or rear side-mounted air intake arrangement.
There are also some similarities to the Russian Kh-69, a weapon that has been employed in the conflict in Ukraine.
South Korean analysts have attributed the weapon with an estimated range of 124 to 311 miles, but this remains speculative. Similarly, it’s not entirely obvious what type of guidance system is used, but a likely solution involves an inertial navigation system combined with GPS/GLONASS for mid-course updates, potentially also with terrain-matching, which would require an electro-optical digital scene-matching area correlation (DSMAC) system. The apparent optical window in the missile’s nose could be an indicator of a DSMAC guidance system.
Although the status of the weapon, the name of which is unknown, cannot be confirmed, a standoff cruise missile would be an important new development for the KPAF.
As it stands, the KPAF’s arsenal of precision-guided munitions is strictly limited.
In terms of roles, the standoff missile could be used to hit a variety of hardened targets with known coordinates and would be launched from within North Korean airspace and outside the range of many South Korean air defense systems. This would be especially important when it’s being launched from the subsonic and less-survivable Su-25.
Presuming it has capabilities similar to the Taurus, one or more targets could be programmed into the missile before flight, although it is less certain whether it would be possible to upload coordinates into the missile’s guidance system once the launch aircraft is airborne.
It’s possible that the North Korean missile can also be carried by the KPAF’s MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters.
Compared to the legacy air-to-ground weapons available to the KPAF, the new missile should offer a significant leap in capability. It would be much more accurate, as well as offering considerably greater range and survivability, although this also comes with a much higher price tag.
On the next three pylons outboard of the standoff missile, the KPAF Su-25 was armed with three-round clusters of what looks like another, much smaller precision-guided munition. Based on its appearance, this may well be something like a North Korean equivalent to the U.K.-designed Brimstone anti-armor missile, although it would almost certainly lack the more advanced features of that weapon.
As we have described in the past, the Brimstone family consists of ground, surface, and air-launched weapons, each of which is a little under six feet long and weighs around 110 pounds. These missiles offer a range of between five and 12 miles, and the guidance system is designed to be all-weather, day-and-night capable through the use of an active millimetric-wave radar seeker.
However, the optically transparent seeker used in the North Korean missile could also imply electro-optical or laser guidance. Both would make sense. The Su-25 is already equipped with an internal laser rangefinder/target designator.
Whatever the guidance type, the addition of a precision-guided anti-armor weapon would be a major advance for the KPAF’s Su-25s, which are otherwise restricted to using ‘dumb’ armament such as rockets and free-fall bombs. The KPAF’s Su-25 likely also includes Soviet-era laser-guided surface-to-air missiles, but these are much larger and more expensive weapons and are increasingly old.
Finally, and perhaps most intriguingly, the Su-25’s outboard underwing pylon is loaded with what appears to be a short-range air-to-air missile. Normally, this hardpoint would be loaded with a Soviet-era R-60 series (AA-8 Aphid) infrared-guided air-to-air missile. In terms of overall size, the North Korea weapon is similar but has a simpler arrangement of control surfaces, somewhat reminiscent of the European-made IRIS-T.
The possibility that Pyongyang has developed its own short-range air-to-air missile is interesting in itself. Its old stock of Soviet-era missiles is surely questionable in terms of functionality and quantity, and their effectiveness against a modern opponent with even basic countermeasures is highly questionable. Certainly, the R-60 specifically is, by now, a very dated design, with more limited performance compared to modern heat-seeking air-to-air missiles.
Indeed, the apparent size of the possible new air-to-air missile could point to a weapon with significantly improved capability, especially compared to older Soviet-era designs. Potentially, it is large enough to border on intermediate range, like the aforementioned IRIS-T. The European weapon has a reported range of around 16 miles and has yielded surface-launched derivatives.
Overall, this new ordnance is not representative of the “new strategic assets” for the KPAF that Kim Jong Un mentioned, although there is a possibility that the larger standoff cruise missile could potentially be fitted with a nuclear warhead at some point.
More importantly, these designs reflect continued efforts by the North Korean military to enhance its conventional military capabilities, alongside its much better-known nuclear weapons developments.
Other recent investments in the KPAF’s conventional warfighting capabilities include the aforementioned Saetbyol-4 and Saetbyol-9 drones and the Candid-based AEW&C aircraft.
On the other hand, the KPAF’s aging combat fleet needs all the help it can get, especially since Russia has, so far, apparently not provided any new aircraft.
For some time now, it has been expected that North Korea would receive secondhand MiG-29 and Su-27 Flanker fighters from Russia in return for Pyongyang sending thousands of troops to fight in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. This was also the assessment of the commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), but it doesn’t appear to have materialized yet. Indeed, as we have previously discussed, it is something harder to achieve in practice, based on what’s available in Russian stocks.
Before the topic of secondhand fighters for Pyongyang came up, there were suggestions that more advanced Russian equipment could be headed to North Korea.
Official photos released of Kim Jong Un’s visit to the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, or KnAAPO, in the Russian Far East, showed the North Korean leader looking into the cockpit of a Su-57 Felon fighter, as well as in the final assembly hall for the Su-35 Flanker, and watching a demonstration flight over the factory airfield by a pre-delivery Su-35. Either of these types would be a huge advance over anything that the KPAF currently operates, but there have been no signs of a potential transfer in the works.
Perhaps Moscow has provided technical support to North Korea that could have helped it develop these three new air-launched weapons. This could be one form of payment for Pyongyang’s provision of soldiers and significant quantities of arms to assist Russia, and it’s still possible that fighters may follow. North Korea has reportedly also received high-end air defense assistance from Russia, as you can read about here.
Once again, we will need to wait for more evidence to confirm that some or all of these weapons are genuine munitions, let alone whether they have successfully completed their development and have been issued to frontline units. Even then, their efficacy should be questioned, especially when facing modern countermeasures and tactics. However, provided they are the real deal, any kind of more modern air-launched missiles will help make up for the glaring inadequacies in North Korea’s creaking air force.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Stranger Things major death ‘sealed’ in tragic Jonathan ring theory
Jonathan Byers’ gift to Nancy Wheeler in Stranger Things may not bring the joy he had hoped for.
Stranger Things season five, volume two drops on Netflix soon and fans were left in shock after some surprising revelations at the end of the first four episodes.
While Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp) discovered some life-changing abilities, his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) was caught up in a love triangle with Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) – who could be immune from death.
Fans of the Jonathan and Nancy coupling were squealing with delight after Murray (Brett Gelman) smuggled Jonathan an engagement ring, disguised inside a cassette tape.
Murray urged Jonathan to dive straight in and declare his love for Nancy, but Jonathan was reluctant to propose after Nancy’s parents were brutally attacked by a Demogorgon.
The ring is yet to appear again in the series and fans have come up with a heartbreaking theory about what could be in store for Jonathan.
On the Stranger Things fan group Facebook page, C Anna Thomas said: “Jonathan has a ring in the cassette. Don’t hate me!!! Jonathan dies and Nancy later finds the ring.”
Amy Harding agreed, adding: “I had the same theory. And then Steve and Nancy live out his Harrington dream. I really hope that doesn’t happen though. Love Steve, but Nancy and Jonathan belong together.”
Over on Reddit, jjn0394 shared: “So I find myself to be pretty good at reading what things in shows mean and how they’re later going to apply down the line. Like noticing the subtle signs and I’m calling it now Jonathan’s going to die.
“He just received the engaging jazz tape. So to me – there’s an engagement ring in that cassette. Nancy’s going to find it after he dies and find out he was going to propose. That’s my guess – cementing it here.
After watching all four episodes of volume one, they added: “They’re all going to go after Holly obviously. Nancy, Steve and Jonathan will be together.
“Something happens where Steve is in harms way and about to die and Jonathan saves him and dies instead after saying a ‘take care of her’ or something.
“At the very end after everything is done Nancy will find the ring. She’ll marry Steve in the flash forwards of a new life but will always still love Jonathan too.”
It appears viewers could be in for a “tell Nancy I love her” scenario with Jonathan, potentially leaving Steve to give Nancy the ring.
Of course, he has the option to hide this information from Nancy – but, being the selfless person he is, he is likely to do what he feels is best for her.
Viewers will have to wait and see if Jonathan meets his end or gets his happily ever after in volume two.
Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 drops on Netflix on Christmas Day in the US and Boxing Day in the UK.
The grand finale will air on New Year’s Eve in the US and New Year’s Day in the UK.
Nothing more embarrassing than fancying someone
THERE is no experience available to humanity more shameful than finding another person attractive, research has found.
Although depicted in literature and music as a feeling that lifts the soul, actual sufferers of crushes report symptoms including anxiety, blushing, overheating and hyperawareness of their own face.
Tom, not his real name, who desperately fancies his colleague Grace Wood-Morris, said: “Oh God, it’s mortifying. Every evening is a catalogue of painful regrets. And this is meant to be good?
“When I’m scrolling her Instagram, listening to Dusty Springfield and imagining our life together it seems alright. None of that survives even fleeting contact with Grace. All I do is overthink and say idiot things and wish to sink painlessly into the earth forever.
“I’m 32 with a mortgage and moles. Do you know how humiliating it is to plan outfits? To change my email signature from ‘best wishes’ to ‘kind regards’ lest it betray my fluttering lovelorn heart? There should be a cut off of 18 for this sort of thing, like with acne.
“Today she offered me a cup of tea and I reacted like it was a marriage proposal. To be fair she was giving out blatant sexual signals such as wearing a nice jumper.”
Professor Amice, not his real name, of the Institute of Notes said: “A crush creates anxiety by raising levels of stress hormone cortisol. It’s the body’s fight-or-flight response. And the answer is ‘flight’.”
Yes, we give you permission to hate-read Olivia Nuzzi’s ‘American Canto’
“You cannot outrun your life on fire,” writes political journalist — and recent tabloid darling — Olivia Nuzzi in the opening pages of her much-anticipated memoir, “American Canto.”
The release of “American Canto” will no doubt stoke that fire — not extinguish it — if the latter was Nuzzi’s wish when her reputation went up in flames about a year ago. As the result of revelations of an alleged affair with her interview subject, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who has denied it) during his run for president, Nuzzi was notoriously fired from her job as Washington correspondent for New York Magazine. Her fiancé — political reporter Ryan Lizza — broke off their engagement. A frenzied media storm has since ensued, in which Nuzzi is either victim or perpetrator, depending on your point of view. With “the debris of her life” littering the planet, Nuzzi fled the East Coast for a secluded bungalow in the Southern California hills, where she vowed to no longer “see myself, the character of myself imagined by others, viral allegory of hubris, female avatar of Icarus, stripped and left for dead in a pool of wax.” She recounts pledging “a vow of silence,” and “to fall silent in myself, too.” Further, she writes that “I do not wish to be understood, which no one seems to understand.”
Author Olivia Nuzzi.
(Emilio Madrid / Photo from Simon & Schuster)
In writing “American Canto,” while Nuzzi has broken her vow of silence — smashing it into smithereens and setting off a wave of public retribution by Lizza — she has succeeded brilliantly in her wish not to be understood. Nuzzi emerges less as someone who, in the words of her publisher, “walked through hell and she took notes,” but as a woman whose version of the events that laid her low remain stubbornly unprocessed — as blurry and borderless as the book itself.
Nuzzi has been a keen political observer, praised, for example, by legendary longtime editor Tina Brown for her “unabashed bravura” and “vivid, irreverent coverage” — which is no doubt among the talents that led Vanity Fair to risk hiring her, post-scandal, as their West Coast editor earlier this year. And those skills helped establish Nuzzi as an emerging media star in the first place, with ready access to the biggest names in politics. But in the pages of “American Canto,” those storytelling skills falter, as the author loses the narrative thread — avoiding confrontation even as she plunges into it. Where exactly is she going with all of this?, one can’t help but wonder. “It is inconceivable,” Nuzzi writes of the paparazzi who stalk her, “that someone would choose to allow a crisis to go to waste, would not want to make of their attention more attention, would not want to reap some kind of short-term profit from the mess of their life.” But isn’t “American Canto” an attempt to enter the belly of that beast?
Nuzzi’s aim in offering this account remains cloudy, but readers looking for a mea culpa won’t find it here. The author’s few attempts at regret or self-reflection don’t land, nor do her efforts to contrive a kind of contemporary, Didion-inspired journalistic style that mixes meticulous observation with first-person intimacy. Court transcripts, transcripts of conversations Nuzzi’s had with other reporters and snapshots of a D.C. politico’s high life collide with one another in disjointed chapters that eschew timelines and zigzag among subjects. There are lengthy digressions involving, say, the puzzling practices of an American flag warehouse, or the time the FBI apparently investigated the author of the children’s book “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” Nuzzi intends these as part of a larger mosaic, and while they are occasionally intriguing, they exist as fragments, precluding any possibility of narrative momentum.
Yes, Nuzzi does provide some sharply insightful perspectives on Trump she gained through her “method reporting style” and talent for “talking to people who are abhorrent,” though she largely withholds judgement of the man she likens to a king who has been run out of his castle, after Biden’s election. Trump now “must resurrect himself,” she writes, “project the self that he wishes the world to see, and he must see it so clear that through his insistent clarity he conjures the vision for others until is it not a vision at all but the truth of his existence and the truth of yours.” She’s a witness to his powers of destruction. “His lawlessness inspired lawlessness. His rejection of norms called norms into question,” she notes. But when her alleged lover, Kennedy, comes to her for advice on whether he should align with Trump, all she can muster is to approach “his dilemma Socratically.” In those moments, Nuzzi writes, she asked Kennedy, “How do you feel when you visualize standing onstage and endorsing the Democrat?” He responds, “Nauseous.” Then she asks, “How do you feel when you visualize standing onstage and endorsing the Republican?” “Nauseous,” he responds. It’s important to Nuzzi that she maintain neutrality, apparently blind to her own bias. While Kennedy had acute misgivings about either choice, Nuzzi reports that the Trump option “seemed the surest way of maximizing his influence.” However, she adds that Kennedy was “clear-eyed about the president himself.” He always thought of Trump “as a novel: hundreds of lies that amounted to one big truth.” What that truth is, we’re left to guess.
In Lizza’s widely-circulated revenge series of Substacks meant to counter any negativity Nuzzi aims at him in “American Canto” — and in fairness, his presence barely registers, except that he may have set off the entire hullabaloo — he suggests his ex’s most egregious transgression was journalistic. Yes, Nuzzi cheated on him with a famous married man, but she was also aiding and abetting that man politically through her writing. Lizza also alleges that Nuzzi may have helped quash negative coverage of Kennedy, and that her coverage of Biden was potentially tainted by her desire to protect the man she was in love with. While she skirts this fundamental issue in the book, Nuzzi does affirm her inexplicably passionate feelings for Kennedy. She writes that she “loved that he was insatiable in all ways,” and when he threw himself down onto the bed of their hotel room, “his pink shirt unbuttoned, revealing my favorite parts of his chest.” She shares in her pages that Kennedy “told me he loved me,” after which she realizes that “the sound of him made me smile, that the sight of him made me smile, that just the thought of him made me smile.” Even in his “darkness,” she saw “softness.” He tells Nuzzi that what he felt for her was as powerful as “waves knocking me down.” What drew them together? Nuzzi writes that “we were both of us, vain, and our shared reverence for physical beauty, was in part, what bonded us.” That bond wouldn’t hold: when their alleged relationship threatened Kennedy’s position, he denied it had ever transpired.
Nuzzi describes the grief she feels over this betrayal, but from a distance, shrouded in verbosity. What she’d experienced, she writes, “was a kind of death … one that called for a period of griefless mourning. It was the death of an idea. An idea of self. Not of self itself. Not of myself. But of an iteration of myself.” I get it, but … ?
“American Canto” contains no footnotes or sourcing, and its main players are referred to not by name, but using designations such as “the Politician” (for Kennedy), “the Personality” or “the South African tech billionaire” — presumably for Elon Musk. Nuzzi claims to have a near-photographic memory for recalling conversations, which she relies on here to recount some of the book’s central events. There’s a maddening quality to these editorial choices that make it difficult to view Nuzzi as a character worthy of sympathy — which after all, may not be what she was trying for.
And yet that’s what we crave. We want to be able to root for this woman, whose misguided love led her to egregious personal and professional compromises she hasn’t reckoned with here. In real life, Nuzzi may have risked it all, but as an author, she hasn’t been as fearless, using words as armor, not conduit. It’s an understandably protective posture, but not one that has produced a memoir of consequence.
Haber is a writer, editor and publishing strategist. She was director of Oprah’s Book Club and books editor for O, the Oprah Magazine.
Erling Haaland: How Manchester City striker broke Premier League goals record
It was goal number 100 for Haaland on Tuesday, but goals 101 and 102 could have come just as easily.
He hit the post in both halves during a strong attacking display as he also chipped in with two assists.
Haaland leads the top flight’s scoring charts, having netted 15 times so far this season, with Brentford’s Igor Thiago the nearest challenger with 11 for the Bees.
Since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, Haaland has chalked up a string of feats, and to beat Shearer’s long-standing record by reaching 100 goals in only 111 games ranks highly on his list of achievements.
Shearer took 124 games to reach that mark, but Haaland has a long way to go if he is to match the former England captain’s total of 260 goals in the competition that launched in 1992-93 after breaking away from the English Football League.
Haaland performed a ‘robot’ celebration earlier this season, and City’s reliance on their goal machine is highlighted by the fact that he has scored 15 of his side’s 32 league goals this term.
“Congratulations, it is incredible,” Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said of Haaland’s achievement.
“What can I say? Today he was outstanding. He was unbelievable and got a fantastic goal.
“Enjoy it, hopefully he is hungry to continue getting goals for this club.”
City midfielder Bernardo Silva said: “Erling is still so young and can be the best player that ever played in the Premier League if he keeps doing what he’s been doing.
“Since the moment he arrived at this club he has been a fundamental piece to everything that we achieved. It’s just so good to have him with us.
“I am really happy for him. He can achieve everything that he wants if he keeps that hunger he has inside him.”
Sudan’s RSF has no “well-articulated governance strategy” | Sudan war News
Confluence Advisory founder Kholood Khair says as Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces takes more control in Kordofan, there is no plan to treat people as citizens rather than as subjects.
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Published On 3 Dec 2025
UK Delays Decision Again on China’s London Embassy, Raising Security and Diplomatic Concerns
Britain has postponed for the third time its decision on whether to approve China’s plan to build Europe’s largest embassy in London, a project that has faced delays for three years. The embassy is proposed on the site of a historic two-century-old building near the Tower of London, purchased by China in 2018. The delays are attributed to opposition from local residents, lawmakers, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, who cite both security concerns and the strategic significance of the site, which lies above critical fibre-optic cables.
The planning process has become politically sensitive, with previous local council objections and direct intervention by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who asked UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to facilitate approval.
Why It Matters
The delayed decision touches on both national security and diplomatic relations. Some UK and US officials worry that the embassy could be used for intelligence-gathering purposes. At the same time, the delay risks straining UK-China relations, with Beijing warning that continued deferrals undermine mutual trust and cooperation. The decision also comes amid broader scrutiny of China’s influence in the UK, following the collapse of a trial involving two British men accused of spying for China, raising questions about the government’s handling of national security threats.
Key stakeholders include the UK government, particularly the ministries of housing, interior, and foreign affairs, which are reviewing the security implications of the project. The Chinese government and its embassy in London are directly invested in obtaining planning approval. Local residents and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners are vocal opponents, while opposition politicians are pressuring the government to block the embassy due to strategic security concerns. International observers, including the US, are also monitoring the situation due to broader implications for Western relations with China.
What’s Next
The UK Department of Housing has now set January 10, 2026, as the new deadline to rule on the embassy project. The decision will hinge on the security assessments provided by relevant ministries. Depending on the outcome, the ruling could either defuse or further inflame diplomatic tensions with China, and set a precedent for how the UK balances national security against economic and diplomatic interests with Beijing. Continued delays could prompt stronger criticism from both domestic and international actors concerned about espionage and strategic vulnerabilities.
With information from Reuters.
Sharon Osbourne’s emotional tribute to late husband Ozzy on his birthday as she shares unseen pics of star
SHARON Osbourne has paid an emotional tribute to her late husband Ozzy on his birthday and shared unseen pics of the star.
Ozzy sadly passed away aged 76 on July 22, with the cause of death later revealed to be a cardiac arrest.
On what would have been Ozzy’s 77th birthday his wife Sharon, 73, took to Instagram and posted a series of emotional snaps of her beloved husband.
She captioned the post: “My darling husband, I celebrate the day you were born. I will never let go of your hand until I see you on the other side.”
The heart-breaking snaps include photographs of the pair sitting side-by-side with their much loved dogs.
In others, Ozzy and Sharon are seen tenderly kissing and holding each other throughout the ages.
Sharon also shared a video of a floral tribute to Ozzy in Birmingham on Black Sabbath Bridge that read ‘Happy Birthday Ozzy.’
The poignant tribute ends with an emotional snap of the pair holding hands.
Sharon accompanied her snaps with Ozzy’s song – See You On the Other Side.
Sharon recently made her first red carpet appearance since Ozzy’s death as she attended a London event with her daughter Kelly.
Kelly has been supporting her mother through their loss, previously revealing she slept in her parents’ bed for two months after Ozzy passed away.
In a special episode of their family podcast titled Remembering Ozzy, Sharon confessed she “hates” going to bed at night.
Kelly said: “I mean, I slept with you for the first two months so that you weren’t on your own.
“But then I felt like you needed some space.”
She then confessed how her daily routine had been altered and admitted: “I wake up and for the first three seconds I feel normal.
“And then I remember everything.
“Mornings are the hardest for me, because it happened in the morning. And I used to spend most of my time with Dad in the morning.”
Sharon also outlined how Donald Trump, 79, sent the family a special voice message.
She worked with the entrepreneur-turned-politician during his NBC series, The Celebrity Apprentice, back in 2010.
She choked back tears as she played the voicemail in which Trump said: “Hi, Sharon – it’s Donald Trump, and I just wanted to wish you the best and the family.
“Ozzy was amazing – he was an amazing guy.
“I met him a few times and I wanna tell you he was unique in every way and talented.
“So I just wanted to wish you the best and it’s a tough thing, I know how close you were, and whatever I can do – take care of yourself, say hello to the family – thanks, bye.”
During the podcast, Sharon also revealed King Charles had a letter hand-delivered to their home after Ozzy’s passing.
Sharon and Ozzy’s son Jack, 40, is currently taking part in I’m a Celebrity and he recently left fans concerned as he ended up in tears while discussing Ozzy.
During a discussion with Eddie Kadi, Jack was asked what he missed most about Ozzy.
As he attempted to answer the question, Jack became overcome with emotion as he tried to compose himself.
And later in the show, Jack broke down in tears when he received his letter from home.
Jack’s wife Aree Gearheart wrote: “You are so in your element out there.”
She praised her husband for “keeping the fires ablaze, cooking 5 star meals, and being an amazing camp protector and often leader”.