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‘I am a terrorist’

A UK activist group has released a video of protesters who were arrested by police for supporting Palestine Action, as part of a campaign calling on the government to lift the ‘disproportionate’ ban. A major legal challenge is currently underway on whether the ban was lawful.

CELEBRITY psychic Sally Morgan has threatened a rival with legal action — for using the stage name Psychic Sal.

The TV medium’s lawyers have warned Sally Cudmore to stop using the title or face court action.

They claim Sally, 74, dubbed Britain’s best-loved psychic, has trademarked Psychic Sally, Psychic Sal and Sally Psychic.

But mum-of-three Sally, 54, told The Sun last night: “To be honest, I didn’t see this coming.

“My name is Sally. It has been since birth. I didn’t borrow it, steal it, trademark it, or contact Sally Morgan for permission.”

She said her family had been doing readings for four generations and jokingly blamed her mum for her name, saying if she had foreseen it “perhaps she would have chosen Janet”.

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Sally, from Eltham, South London, has appeared on Loose Women and This Morning.

She calls herself Psychic Medium Sally Cudmore and uses the handle @psychicsal100 on TikTok.

She said: “How can anyone confuse me with Sally Morgan?

“She is years older than me and looks nothing like me.”

Sally Morgan’s lawyers want her to stop using names such as Psychic Sally, Psychic Sal or similar and make a public statement over the confusion.

And her spokeswoman said: “She is acting in the best interest of her loyal followers to prevent further confusion caused by Sally Cudmore. She is protecting her professional name.”

Next five fixtures: Sharks (H), Ospreys (A, Challenge Cup), Black Lion (H, Challenge Cup), Dragons (A), Ulster (A)

It has been a difficult start to life in Galway for former England boss Stuart Lancaster, who replaced Pete Wilkins as Connacht head coach in the summer.

After an opening win over Benetton was followed by the Storm Amy-enforced postponement of their Scarlets game, the western province lost to Cardiff, Bulls and Munster before the international break.

The 28-27 loss to the Bulls in Galway and 17-15 reverse to Munster in Limerick were tough pills to swallow, but Lancaster has had a solid month to devise a plan for breathing new life into Connacht’s season.

It starts with the visit of the Sharks to Dexcom Stadium on Saturday (19:45 GMT). After three defeats in their first four games, the South African side signed off before the November break with a 29-19 win over Scarlets.

The Sharks will be without most of their Springboks, including Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi, Ethan Hooker and Andre Esterhuizen.

For the hosts, Ireland internationals Bundee Aki, Cian Prendergast and Finlay Bealham are available for selection, but Mack Hansen has been ruled out.

Hansen, who starred at full-back in Ireland’s win over Australia earlier this month, is nursing hand and foot injuries with Connacht unsure on a timeline for the 27-year-old’s return.

After facing the Sharks, Lancaster will lead Connacht into European action for the first time as the Challenge Cup returns with a trip to Ospreys followed by a home game against Georgian side Black Lion.

Judges are reviewing the UK government’s decision to ban the activist group Palestine Action under counter-terror laws. Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego was at the court where police were arresting people for displaying pro-PA signs.

As the Liberty Van rolled into the Home Depot, its driver slowed, lowered the window and waved at day laborers standing around the parking lot.

It had rained all morning and the overcast clouds trapped a chill in the air. Still, on a recent Friday, day laborers milled around even as it began to drizzle again. A pastor, a Navy veteran, an immigration lawyer and cameraman got out of the Liberty Van — camioneta de la libertad in Spanish — and greeted the day laborers while offering them water and snacks.

Since June in Los Angeles, federal immigration agents have destabilized daily life by raiding neighborhoods, worksites and Home Depots — popular gathering spots for day laborers who often lack U.S. citizenship. In turn, several “rapid-response” organizations have surged into action to aid those targeted in the raids, and document their treatment.

One of these organizations is the Save America Movement, which runs the Liberty Vans and includes a bipartisan leadership that is far more politically connected than that of many grassroots organizations. The group was founded by Steve Schmidt, a former top aide to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Mary Corcoran, a longtime public relations specialist, with a steering committee that includes law professors, pastors and strategists.

On this particular Friday, Fabian Núñez — a member of that steering committee who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly — was one of those who hopped out of the Liberty Van. He chatted with a day laborer who stopped by to grab a snack, and explained they were there to film any interactions with federal agents, as part of their national rapid-response effort.

The day laborer said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have previously detained other workers at the Panorama City Home Depot and have returned frequently. “Many times,” he said. “Five or six.”

Despite the repeated raids, the laborer said workers like himself have little choice but to keep showing up.

“They have to keep coming,” he said. “One has to pay the bills.”

The Save America Movement launched the vans first in L.A. and then in Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., where federal immigration agents were raiding heavily Latino areas. The motivation behind the project was to provide support and help people understand the impact of the daily immigration raids, Corcoran said in an interview. Outside California, she said, many people don’t get it.

“If they did, I believe there would be much more urgency around what’s happening,” she said.

The vans were inspired by the Liberty ships and Victory ships during World War ll that provided supplies and other relief to the U.S. and its allies.

The teams that run the vans document and record video, with the footage published online so the public can watch the enforcement actions and hear testimonies from affected local residents, she said.

For months, the Trump administration has argued that it is merely enforcing the law — and fulfilling a campaign promise — by detaining and deporting immigrants who lack documentation. But some enforcement actions by ICE and Border Patrol agents have resulted in U.S. citizens being detained. Others have been criticized for being unnecessarily violent and traumatizing.

Fabian Núñez, a Save America Movement steering committee member who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly, talks with a laborer who stopped by the Liberty Van for some snacks in the parking lot of a Panorama City Home Depot on Nov. 21, 2025.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

In Los Angeles, the Save America Movement first launched its vans in MacArthur Park in September, just two months after immigration agents on horses and armored vehicles descended on the area carrying rifles and tactical gear.

City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez — whose district spans from Highland Park, Chinatown and south to Pico-Union — welcomed the group’s effort, which she described as a tool in a movement of resistance.

Alejandro Maciel, the L.A. bureau chief for the organization and a former Los Angeles Times journalist, takes the van out roughly five times a week, starting around 6 a.m. and wrapping up late into the afternoon. Maciel and volunteers drive to Home Depots across Southern California, going north to Ventura County, east to the Inland Empire and south to Orange County.

On Friday, the van ride included the Rev. Madison Jones McAleese, Navy veteran Brian Kelly and immigration lawyer Juan Jose Gutierrez, who can offer legal support to families or offer “know your right” basics to laborers. And to capture it all was cameraman René Miranda, who started covering raids when a large protest broke out in Paramount, where he lives.

For McAleese, she said she felt it was her duty to be part of the effort to stand against the raids because of what she views as unlawful actions being taken by ICE enforcement. McAleese carries holy water and offers to pray with any one who seeks prayer.

“I don’t feel like I have a choice,” she said. “God is reflected in the face of every immigrant, documented and undocumented.”

As they headed to the next location, Maciel pulled up on his phone StopIce.Net, a website on which people submit reports of ICE activity. Just the day before, there was a raid in Long Beach, later confirmed by local media reports, and nine people were detained by masked agents, an L.A. County official said.

The San Fernando Valley was quiet that Friday, but Maciel said it has been important to establish and maintain relationships with both workers and organizers who have created rapid response networks. When he drives the van to a site, he said, he greets such organizers and makes sure the laborers understand they are there to help.

Ernesto Ayala, the site coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Labor Center in the Home Depot parking lot, said ICE agents have been to the site several times, as recently as a few weeks ago. At the Van Nuys Home Depot, volunteers monitor each entry point of the parking lot and alert the center of any suspicious vehicles that could contain federal agents.

“It’s very traumatic,” Ayala said of the continuing raids. Ayala himself was detained and sprayed with an irritant by agents after they held him down and accused him of interfering. He was arrested but never charged with any crime, he said.

Organizations such as the Save America Movement help with videos and other documentation that could be used in potential litigation against ICE in the future, Ayala said. He said his arrest was recorded from a distance by a witness.

In October, the organization said video by a Save America Movement photojournalist in Chicago recorded federal agents deploying tear gas against protesters and pointing weapons at journalists, which at the time violated a federal court order. The organization made that footage available online with time stamps and annotations.

Along with documenting interactions, Núñez said, the group hopes to remind ICE agents of the human impact and make them question their actions, and to move viewers. Such footage, he said, could help Americans see “that these Gestapo-like tactics are happening and they’re being utilized with our tax dollars.”

“We think we can convince them to move, to think more compassionately about people and think: Is this the America I signed up for?”

Nov. 20 (UPI) — Charlotte, N.C., officials said Thursday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have left the city, but the Department of Homeland Security insisted that agents are still enforcing immigration law there.

Shortly after the Mecklenburg, N.C., County sheriff announced that agents had left Charlotte, the Trump administration pushed back.

“Wrong. Operation Charlotte’s Web isn’t ending anytime soon,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

CBP had agents in Charlotte for nearly a week, and DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would continue to enforce laws in the city while also transitioning CBP agents to New Orleans.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, CBP has been in touch with officials in Louisiana about mobilizing and deploying agents to New Orleans after Thanksgiving, NBC News reported.

The Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement action known as “Operation Charlotte’s Web” resulted in the arrests of more than 250 people which prompted fear among residents and business owners, local media reported.

The Charlotte operation was the latest in a series of immigration enforcement actions in several large U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, where many of those arrested did not have criminal records, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Local law enforcement and state leaders have pushed back on federal law presence in their cities, saying additional enforcement personnel are not necessary to police municipalities.

At least 250 Border Patrol agents are scheduled to begin arriving in New Orleans Friday, where officials have said they expect as many as 5,000 arrests, local media reported.

Nov. 18 (UPI) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday rebuffed the idea of the U.S. military intervening within her country’s borders to combat drug trafficking despite recent remarks from President Donald Trump.

Sheinbaum made the comments during a press conference Tuesday as the Trump administration pursues its increasingly militarized approach to drug trafficking.

Sheinbaum said Trump had offered during multiple phone conversations to send troops to Mexico to help authorities combat criminal groups. While Sheinbaum said she was willing to share information and work with the United States, she would not accept a foreign government intervening in her country.

“We don’t want intervention from any foreign government,” said Sheinbaum in Spanish. She noted that Mexico lost half its territory the last time the United States had a military presence in her country, a reference to the U.S.-Mexico war of the 19th century.

She added she was open to “collaboration and coordination without subordination” to the United States and had communicated the same message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Trump administration has launched a series of strikes targeting boats allegedly carrying drugs across the Pacific to the United States. Military officials have justified the strikes as legally permissible after the U.S. government designated drug traffickers as “terrorist organizations.”

Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump said the strikes had significantly reduced drug trafficking across waterways and prevented U.S. citizens from fatal overdoses. When asked if he was open to military strikes against Mexico, Trump indicated he was open to the idea, citing “big problems” in Mexico City.

“So let me just put it this way, I am not happy with Mexico,” he said.

KELLY Brook once demanded very steamy sex scenes were cut from an erotic thriller after they “became something different” to what she’d intended.

In the early noughties, actress Kelly starred in Survival Island, also known as Three, alongside her ex Billy Zane.

The sizzling movie features Kelly and Billy in the lead roles as a wealthy couple Jennifer and Jack marooned on a desert island after their luxury yacht catches fire at sea.

Only three people survive the accident, the couple and hunky crew member Manuel, who develops an infatuation with Jennifer that drives Jack crazy.

What follows is an intense love triangle with deadly consequences.

Kelly said in 2005: “It’s a very sexy film, but there are scenes that I’ve asked to be removed.

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“You go into a film with the idea of what you want to achieve and then it gets into the hands of others and it becomes something different.”

She added that her decision was backed by Billy, whom she became romantic with while filming the flick in the Bahamas.

The film was widely-panned by critics with scathing reviews dubbing it “dull” and “appalling” despite its sex scenes.

Glamour model turned TV presenter Kelly later found love with hunky Frenchman Jeremy Parisi in 2015 after several high-profile engagements, including to Hollywood actors Jason Statham and Billy Zane, both 58, and rugby star Thom Evans, 40.

Her first engagement was to Brit actor Jason but they called it quits in 2003, with Kelly going on to meet Titanic star Billy Zane in 2005.

They dated for four years before she called it off, with a source saying at the time: “After much soul-searching, Kelly decided that Billy is not the man she wants to marry and has called off the engagement.”

Kelly’s ex Jason is now married to Victoria’s Secret star Rosie Huntington-Whiteley after they met on the set of Transformers back in 2010.

Billy – who is set to play Marlon Brando in a new biopic – later got engaged to model Candice Neil and the couple welcomed two daughters.

Kelly recently made a shock confession on Loose Women about dumping an unnamed ex just a day before they were due to tie the knot.

“I didn’t jilt him,” she explained.

“But I called it off on the day. I was in my wedding dress.”

She added: “The jet was waiting, we were going to Vegas that day, and I was just crying. It was like a movie – it was all very dramatic.

“I was in a dress, it was just horrific. It was the most horrific thing. But we stayed together, and he kind of came around to it and understood why. I’m not going to mention who it was.”

Kelly, now 45, reflected on the relationship’s significant age gap and said: “I was 25 and they were like 42, a lot older.

“They should have known better.”

She added: “I felt I was really manipulated and coerced into something that I wasn’t ready for.

“I kind of went along as a people pleaser. Sometimes you want to stay with the person, but you’re not necessarily ready for that kind of commitment.

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“And so, from my point of view, I went along with it until the very last minute and then was like, hang on a minute, I’m not ready for this now.

“So it wasn’t like I jilted them, but it was just the whole situation was wrong. It wasn’t like there was big preparations for a wedding, with family there.”

Nov. 16 (UPI) — The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, adding to a military build-up in the region, as President Donald Trump signaled that he may have decided on a possible U.S. show of force in Venezuela.

The Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, leads a strike group assigned to dismantle international narcotics trafficking organizations.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is getting closer to deciding on a course of action in Venezuela after a series of high-level meetings with officials amid mounting tensions in the region.

“I sort of have made up my mind – yeah,” Trump told reporters about Air Force One when asked about the meetings and the situation in Venezuela. “I can’t tell you what it would be, but I sort of have.”

Trump was briefed last week on options for military action in Venezuela, one of which could potentially include outing President Nicolas Maduro, several officials told CNN.

The U.S. military has dispatched more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the area, part of what the Pentagon is calling “Operation Southern Spear.”

Last week, Trump was briefed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Kaine and a larger group of national security officials about U.S. options in Venezuela.

They discussed a wide range of options, including air strikes on military and government facilities, drug-trafficking routes and a potential attempt to remove Maduro directly.

Trump has previously considered targeting cocaine production facilities and trafficking routes inside the country, CNN reported. The president last month authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela, but administration officials later told lawmakers that there is no justification that would support military action against any land targets in the country. Trump recently said on CBS News’ 60 Minutes that he is not considering that option.

Indigenous and other climate activists say they need to ‘make their voices heard’ as UN conference hits halfway mark.

Thousands of people have marched through the streets of the Brazilian city of Belem, calling for the voices of Indigenous peoples and environmental defenders to be heard at the United Nations COP30 climate summit.

Indigenous community members mixed with activists at Saturday’s march, which unfolded in a festive atmosphere as participants carried a giant beach ball representing the Earth and a Brazilian flag emblazoned with the words “Protected Amazon”.

It was the first major protest outside the conference, which began earlier this week in Belem, bringing together world leaders, activists and experts in a push to tackle the worsening climate crisis.

Indigenous activists previously stormed the summit, disrupting the proceedings as they demanded that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva take concrete action to ensure their territories are protected from growing threats.

Amnesty International warned in a recent report that billions of people around the world are threatened by the expansion of fossil fuel projects, such as oil-and-gas pipelines and coal mines.

Indigenous communities, in particular, sit on the front lines of much of this development, the rights group said.

Branded the “Great People’s March” by organisers, Saturday’s rally in Belem came at the halfway point of contentious COP30 negotiations.

“Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed,” Benedito Huni Kuin, a 50-year-old member of the Huni Kuin Indigenous group from western Brazil, told the AFP news agency.

“We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results,” he said. “We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights.”

Youth leader Ana Heloisa Alves, 27, said it was the biggest climate march she has participated in. “This is incredible,” she told The Associated Press. “You can’t ignore all these people.”

The COP30 talks come as the UN warned earlier this month that the world was on track to exceed the 1.5C (2.7F) mark of global warming – an internationally agreed-upon target set under the Paris Agreement – “very likely” within the next decade.

If countries do as they have promised in their climate action plans, the planet will warm 2.3 to 2.5C (4.1 to 4.5F) by 2100, a report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found.

“While national climate plans have delivered some progress, it is nowhere near fast enough, which is why we still need unprecedented emissions cuts in an increasingly tight window, with an increasingly challenging geopolitical backdrop,” said UNEP chief Inger Andersen.

Despite that urgency, analysts and some COP30 participants have said they don’t expect any major new agreements to emerge from the talks, which conclude on November 21.

Still, some are hoping for progress on some past promises, including funding to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.

For the first time, Ukraine has presented footage that purportedly shows its extended-range Long Neptune cruise missile in action. Part of a growing arsenal of long-range cruise missiles from domestic production, the Long Neptune was unveiled in March of this year, at which point Zelensky claimed it had already been tested in combat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video that he said showed the Long Neptune being launched against a target in Russia. He did not provide the date of the claimed launch or what was targeted.

“We’re producing more,” Zelensky said of the Long Neptune, in a comment posted alongside the video.

Previously, the Ukrainian president disclosed that his forces “successfully used Long Neptunes against designated targets on Russian territory — and this is our entirely just response to Russia’s ongoing terror. Ukrainian missiles are delivering increasingly significant and precise results virtually every month.”

Zelensky added: “I thank everyone working on our missile program and giving Ukraine this accuracy and long-range capability.”

The new video indicates that the Long Neptune is fired from a transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) of a different design from that used for at least the original versions of the missile. As well as the longer canisters required for the bigger missiles, there is a larger gap between the first and second axles and the third and fourth axles on the new TEL. Meanwhile, there is no longer a space between the cabin and the command module, as was previously the case.

The Long Neptune is an extended-range derivative of the previous land-attack version of the Neptune anti-ship missile, which is powered by a small turbofan jet engine. The land-attack version reportedly has a guidance package that combines a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) and an imaging infrared sensor in place of the anti-ship missile’s active radar seeker.

Ukraine famously used Neptune missiles to sink the Russian Navy’s Slava class cruiser Moskva in 2022 and reportedly began developing a new land-attack version in 2023. The anti-ship Neptune is a Ukrainian development of the Soviet-era Kh-35, known to NATO as the SS-N-25 Switchblade, variants of which remain in service in Russia and elsewhere globally.

The Long Neptune features an extended body with capacity for additional fuel, which Zelensky has said gives it a range in the region of 620 miles (1,000 kilometers).

This is significantly further than the original land-attack version of the Neptune, which a Ukrainian defense official previously told TWZ has a range of up to 225 miles (360 kilometers).

Meanwhile, the maximum stated range of the anti-ship version of Neptune is said to be around 190 miles (300 kilometers).

Unclear at this stage is what kind of warhead the Long Neptune carries, but the anti-ship Neptune missile carries an explosive charge weighing around 330 pounds (150 kilograms). The Long Neptune can be distinguished from the previous versions on account of its longer and wider main body, with tapering tail and nose sections. The main fins are also bigger and are not swept.

It’s worth noting that another version of the Neptune has also been developed, this one apparently featuring fuel tank ‘bulges’ for increased range. As you can read about here, this model appears to be something like an intermediate-range version, falling between the original land-attack Neptune and the Long Neptune.

There have been unconfirmed reports that the Long Neptune may have been used in overnight Ukrainian strikes focused on the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in southern Russia. The port is a key hub facilitating the export of Russian oil. The city is also now home to much of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, providing it with something of a safe haven, after its warships were essentially forced out of waters closer to Crimea following a concerted Ukrainian campaign waged against them.

According to Supernova+, a Ukrainian Telegram channel, likely more than one Long Neptune was used to attack Novorossiysk, specifically targeting the Sheskharis oil terminal, which was set ablaze, according to unconfirmed videos circulating on social media.

U.K.-based maritime security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence of large explosions, including one that occurred in a container yard at the port, leaving a crane and several containers damaged. The same source said that a non-sanctioned container ship alongside the terminal suffered some collateral damage due to falling drone debris. “Reportedly, three crew members were injured,” Ambrey added.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it shot down 216 Ukrainian drones during the attack, during which authorities in Novorossiysk declared a state of emergency. According to state news agency TASS, apartment buildings in the city were struck, and at least two people were injured.

ATLANTA — The leader of a nonpartisan organization announced he will take over the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and others after Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis was removed from the case.

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia was tasked with finding someone to lead the case after Willis was disqualified over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she’d chosen to lead it. The organization’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, said Friday that he would take the case on himself.

“The filing of this appointment reflects my inability to secure another conflict prosecutor to assume responsibility for this case,” Skandalakis said in an emailed statement. “Several prosecutors were contacted and, while all were respectful and professional, each declined the appointment.”

While it is unlikely that any action against Trump could proceed while he is the sitting president, there are 14 other people still facing charges in the case, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Trump earlier this week announced pardons for people accused of backing his efforts to overturn the results of that election — including those charged in Georgia — but that doesn’t affect state charges.

After the Georgia Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal of her disqualification, it fell to the nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find a new prosecutor. Skandalakis can continue to follow Willis’ vision for the prosecution, decide to pursue only some charges or dismiss the case altogether.

“While it would have been simple to allow Judge McAfee’s deadline to lapse or to inform the Court that no conflict prosecutor could be secured — thereby allowing the case to be dismissed for want of prosecution — I did not believe that to be the right course of action,” Skandalakis wrote. “The public has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this case. Accordingly, it is important that someone make an informed and transparent determination about how best to proceed.”

The Associated Press sent text messages seeking comment to a spokesperson for Willis and a lawyer for Trump.

Willis announced the sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023. She used the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to try to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Defense attorneys sought Willis’ removal after one of them revealed in January 2024 that Willis had engaged in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. The defense attorneys said the relationship created a conflict of interest, alleging that Willis personally profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took.

During an extraordinary hearing the following month, Willis and Wade both testified about the intimate details of their personal relationship. They maintained that their romance didn’t begin until after Wade was hired and said that they split the costs for vacations and other outings.

The trial judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, rebuked Willis, saying in an order in March 2024 that her actions showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment.” But he said he did not find a conflict of interest that would disqualify Willis. He ultimately ruled that Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned, which the special prosecutor did hours later.

Defense attorneys appealed that ruling, and the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case in December, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The high court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal.

Brumback writes for the Associated Press.

Look around lately and 20th century science fiction has become 21st century fact. Real life in the year 2025 — the date in which Stephen King set his 1982 novel “The Running Man” — involves technological surveillance, corporate feudalism, infotainment propaganda and extreme inequality, all things that his story about a grisly game show predicted. King, like the great sci-fi authors Philip K. Dick and George Orwell before him, was writing a cautionary tale. But the decades since have seen people take their bleak ideas as a blueprint, like when Elon Musk bragged on X that the Tesla Cybertruck is “what Bladerunner would have driven,” missing the point that we don’t want to live in a dystopia (and that Bladerunner isn’t even Harrison Ford’s name in “Blade Runner”).

The timing couldn’t be better — and worse — for Edgar Wright to remake “The Running Man,” only to put no fire into it. He and his co-writer Michael Bacall have adapted a fairly faithful version of the book, unlike the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger meathead extravaganza. (The only way to suffer through that one is if you imagine it’s a parody of pun-driven testosterone flicks.) Tellingly, they’ve left off the year 2025 and only lightly innovated the production design with spherical drones. But there’s little urgency or outrage. Instead of a funhouse mirror of what could be, it’s merely a smudged reflection of what is.

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Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, a cash-strapped, employer-blacklisted father who begrudgingly agrees to be a contestant on a television hit that no one has survived. There’s only one network, FreeVee, and its goals overlap enough with those of the government that the distinction between them isn’t worth parsing. Every day Ben dodges a death squad, he’ll earn money for his wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), and sick baby, up to a billion “new” dollars if he can last a month. (The updated bills have the Governator’s face printed on them.)

But as ever, the game is rigged. The network’s boss, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), and smarmy host Bobby T (Colman Domingo) rally viewers to turn Ben in for a cash prize, fibbing that he’s a freeloader who refuses to get a job, the typical tax-leeching scapegoat trotted out to turn the middle class against the poor and the poor against themselves. One enraged FreeVee-addicted granny (Sandra Dickinson) genuinely believes Ben eats puppies. “She used to be a kind, clever woman,” her son says with resignation.

Clearly, Wright wants to make a political satire that echoes the drivel of our own actual news. The politics are there in the armored vehicles rolling down city streets and the masked militias out to nab Ben for the bounty money. Yet we don’t feel the paranoia of eyeballs over the streets, even though it turns out that there’s no way to disguise Powell’s foxlike features under a silly stick-on mustache. A hustler named Molie (William H. Macy) warns that the TVs themselves are watching people. It doesn’t really feel like they are. I’ve felt more uneasy in a house with an Alexa.

As for the satire, this faintly cruder version of right now doesn’t have much bite. Little we see is surprising, stimulating or even that futuristic. Screens blare commercials for a drink called Liquid Death (real) and a Kardashian-esque reality show called “The Americanos” (essentially real). The film’s sole representative of upper-middle-class normality — a hostage named Amelia (Emilia Jones) — could trade places with any Pilates instructor.

When an underground rebel, Bradley (Daniel Ezra), breaks down how the network chases ratings by flattening people into archetypes, he’s not telling today’s audience anything it doesn’t already know. King wrote the character as an environmental activist; here, he’s more of a TV critic. Likewise, Bradley’s crony Elton (Michael Cera) has mutated from a pathetic idealist to a Monster-chugging chaos agent — as if “Home Alone’s” Kevin McCallister grew up to join Antifa. Elton’s motivations don’t make sense, but at least Cera barges into the movie with so much energy that his sequence is a hoot. Chuckling that he likes his “bacon extra crispy” as he takes aim at a police squad, he also breaks the seal on this remake’s use of bad puns. From his scenes on, the script crams in as many groaners as it can.

Wright has talent for casting actors that pop. Domingo’s fatuous celebrity host is fantastic, even doing the retro running man dance with Kid ‘n Play aplomb. We see just enough of Ben’s fellow competitors, played by Katy O’Brian and Martin Herlihy, to wish we had more time with them. One of the hunters, Karl Glusman, has so much intensity that I’ll be looking out for what he does next. Pity that the charismatic Lee Pace’s main villain has to spend most of the film covered by a shroud.

Meanwhile, Powell is being put through his own test of Hollywood survival. Everyone seems to agree that he’s the next movie star, but he hasn’t yet landed the right star-making vehicle. Here, as ever, he’s being treated like a Swiss Army knife on a construction site: Handy at a lot of things from humor to action to drama to romance, but his character lacks the oomph to truly showcase his skills. We’re told over and over that Ben is the angriest man in the world, but Powell’s innate likability, that cocky-charming heroic twinkle in his eye, makes him come across peevish at worst. His best moments are all comedy, like when Ben slaps on a thick brogue to hide out as an Irish priest, or his snappy back-and-forth with a psychologist who puts him through a word-association test. (Anarchy? “Win.” Justice? “Hilarious.”)

Still, I missed the truly misanthropic lead of King’s novella, a sour bigot radicalized to see himself not just as a cog in a machine but as a spoke in a revolution. There’s lip service to that idea here, but the film doesn’t take itself seriously enough to give us the chills. It’s not fair to judge “The Running Man” by how closely it hews to the book — and if you remember King’s ending, then you know there’s no way Wright could have pulled that off, although his fix is pretty clever. But tonally, there’s just not enough rage, gore or fun.

Maybe Wright feels the same way too. He’s been wanting to make this movie since 2017 and had the lousy luck to do it for Paramount in the year that the studio embraced the government and sacrificed its employees for its own billion-dollar reward. There’s no bleaker satire than making it through “The Running Man’s” end credits, past images of a raised fist that reads “Together Against the Network,” to see the last words on screen: A Skydance Corporation. Or maybe there is, if someone makes a documentary about what Edgar Wright may have had to cut.

Hundreds of people have joined an Indigenous-led protest on the second day of the UN climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belem, highlighting tensions with the Brazilian government’s claim that the meeting is open to Indigenous voices.

Dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) on Tuesday evening after hundreds of people participated in a march to the venue.

“We can’t eat money,” said Gilmar, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community near the lower reaches of the Tapajos River in Brazil, who uses only one name, referring to the emphasis on climate finance at many of the meetings during the ongoing summit.

“We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”

A spokesperson from the UN, which is responsible for security inside the venue, said in a statement that “a group of protesters breached security barriers at the main entrance to the COP, causing minor injuries to two security staff, and minor damage to the venue”.

The protest came as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has highlighted Indigenous communities as key players in this year’s COP30 negotiations, even as several industries continue to further encroach on the Amazon rainforest during his presidency.

Lula told a leaders summit last week that participants at the COP30 would be “inspired by Indigenous peoples and traditional communities – for whom sustainability has always been synonymous with their way of life”.

However, Indigenous participants taking part in rolling protests in and around the climate change meeting say that more needs to be done, both by Lula’s left-leaning government at home and around the world.

A joint statement ahead of the summit from Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin and all Biomes of Brazil emphasised the importance of protecting Indigenous territories in the Amazon.

As “a carbon sink of approximately 340 million tons” of carbon dioxide, the world’s largest rainforest, “represents one of the most effective mitigation and adaptation strategies”, the statement said.

The statement also called for Indigenous territories to be excluded from mining and other activities, including “in particular, the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basins”.

Leo Cerda, one of the organisers of the Yaku Mama protest flotilla, which arrived at the summit after sailing 3,000km (1,864 miles) down the Amazon river, told Al Jazeera that Indigenous peoples are trying to secure nature not just for themselves but for humanity.

“Most states want our resources, but they don’t want to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples,” Cerda said.

As the flotilla sailed towards COP30, Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, received a licence to begin exploratory offshore oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.

“You cannot make climate policies without indigenous people at the negotiation table.”

This Indigenous activist flotilla just sailed the entire length of the Amazon River to take their message to the #COP30 climate conference. pic.twitter.com/55YjlZgJct

— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 11, 2025

Cerda also said it was important for Indigenous people to be present at the conference, considering the fossil fuel industry has also participated in the meetings for several decades.

According to The Guardian newspaper, some 5,350 fossil fuel lobbyists participated in UN climate summits over the past four years.

Representatives from 195 countries are participating in this year’s summit, with the notable absence of the United States. Under President Donald Trump, the US has fought against action on climate change, further cementing its role as the world’s largest historical emitter of fossil fuels.

Most recently, Trump has torpedoed negotiations to address emissions from the shipping industry.

Notably, this year’s meeting is the first to take place since the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruled that countries must meet their climate obligations and that failing to do so could violate international law.

Crop residue burning, along with emissions from vehicles, industries and construction, engulf the capital in smog.

Crowds have demonstrated in New Delhi as the Indian capital faces another winter engulfed in smog.

Pollution levels in New Delhi surged again on Monday morning as the city was immersed in a thick smog. The annual degradation of air quality in the capital to harmful levels has led to rare protests.

On Sunday, demonstrators mounted a rally at the city’s India Gate monument to demand action over the lethal pollution that envelops the area each year.

Crowds held up banners and chanted slogans while some disrupted traffic. Police officers detained some of the protesters by putting them on buses and dispersed others.

By Monday morning, the city’s air pollution index had surpassed 350, squarely landing in the range classified as “very poor” by India’s Central Pollution Control Board.

Anything below 100 is considered good or satisfactory, while an index of more than 400 is classified as “severe”.

Some areas of the Indian capital experienced an index of more than 400 early on Monday morning as a thick blanket of smog was trapped over the city amid falling temperatures.

The right to clean air is a basic human right.

The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by our Constitution.

Why are citizens who have been peacefully demanding clean air being treated like criminals?

Air pollution is affecting crores of Indians, harming our children and… https://t.co/ViPZiO16lT

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 9, 2025

India has six of the 10 most polluted cities globally and 13 of the top 20. New Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world, according to the Switzerland-based air quality monitor IQAir.

Air quality dramatically deteriorates in the city every year as the cold season approaches.

The smoke created by farmers burning crop residue in nearby states blows into the capital and is trapped by the cooler temperatures.

As it mixes with vehicle and industrial emissions, the resulting smog causes respiratory illnesses and has become a key factor in thousands of deaths each year.

Efforts to prevent the annual envelopment have struggled to have a significant effect.

The authorities have launched a tiered emergency system that restricts construction, bans diesel generators, and limits vehicle entry when pollution hits severe levels.

The government has also introduced crop-burning control subsidies with limited success.

A cloud seeding effort last month failed to trigger artificial rain and cut pollution levels.

“The right to clean air is a basic human right,” Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party, wrote in a post on X, criticising how the protesters were treated.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, environment minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, said the government “will continue every possible effort” to prevent pollution.

North Korea issues warning as Washington and Seoul agree on strengthening military ties.

North Korea’s defence minister, No Kwang Chol, has condemned the arrival of a United States aircraft carrier at a port in South Korea and warned that Pyongyang will take “more offensive action” against its enemies.

The minister’s warning comes a day after North Korea launched what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast.

“We will show more offensive action against the enemies’ threat on the principle of ensuring security and defending peace by dint of powerful strength,” the defence minister said, according to a report on Saturday by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“All threats encroaching upon the sphere of the North’s security” will become “direct targets” and be “managed in a necessary way”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also reported the defence minister as saying.

The missile launch on Friday followed after Washington announced new sanctions targeting eight North Korean nationals and two entities accused of laundering money tied to cybercrimes, and a visit to South Korea by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Commenting on the visit by US and South Korean defence chiefs to the border between North and South Korea, as well as their subsequent security talks in Seoul, the North Korean defence minister accused the allies of conspiring to integrate their nuclear and conventional weapons forces.

“We have correctly understood the hostility of the US to stand in confrontation with the DPRK to the last and will never avoid the response to it,” No said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

According to KCNA, the defence minister made his comments on Friday in response to the annual South Korea-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and the recent arrival of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and the Fifth Carrier Strike Group at a port in Busan.

The arrival of the US strike group also coincides with large-scale joint military drills, known as Freedom Flag, between US and South Korean forces.

While in South Korea for the SCM talks this week, Hegseth posted several photos on social media of his visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the North and the South.

Hegseth said that the core of Washington’s alliance with Seoul would remain focused on deterring North Korea, although the Trump administration will also look at flexibility for US troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats.

I visited the DMZ with my ROK counterpart, Minister Ahn, to meet the brave troops of the U.S., ROK, and UN Command that maintain the military armistice on the Peninsula.

Our forces remain ready to support President Trump’s efforts to bring lasting peace through strength. pic.twitter.com/Uy6gab0zwl

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 3, 2025

Pyongyang described the DMZ visit by Hegseth and his South Korean counterparts as “a stark revelation and an unveiled intentional expression of their hostile nature to stand against the DPRK”.

Pyongyang’s latest missile launch, which Japan said landed outside its exclusive economic zone, came just over a week after US President Donald Trump was in the region and expressed interest in a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

On Friday, the US said it was “consulting closely” with allies and partners over the ballistic missile launch.

“While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s actions, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

In July, the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) revealed that Nigeria’s northwestern region is facing an alarming malnutrition crisis, with Katsina State at the epicentre, and is currently witnessing a surge in admissions of malnourished children. It was not the first time the organisation had raised the alarm. It had also done so several times in the past year. 

Against this backdrop, government leaders, international organisations, and civil society convened in Abuja, the federal capital city, on Thursday to mobilise against the escalating crisis in the region.

Hosted by the Katsina State Government, the Northwest Governors Forum, and MSF, the event drew participation from the Office of the Vice President, UNICEF, WFP, the World Bank, the INGO Forum, ALIMA, IRC, CS-SUN, and the European Union.

MSF’s country representative, Ahmed Aldikhari, noted that 2025 has been flagged as the worst, recording the highest cases of malnutrition in the last five years.

“We are here to highlight the situation and solidify commitments, collaborations, and engagement from all partners and government officials.”

He echoed a silent sentiment: “We acknowledge that resources are invested in conferences like this, but the real solutions lie within the communities. So, we must go beyond the hall and get practical in finding real solutions.”

HumAngle had reported the broader impact of this crisis, noting that displacements, armed conflicts, limited access to healthcare, and climate change have compounded the nutritional emergency. In one of our reports, we documented how 30 per cent of children under five in Katsina’s Jibia and Mashi local government areas are suffering from acute malnutrition. 

Most recently, HumAngle produced a 21-minute-long conversation via The Crisis Room, a monthly podcast series that focuses on crisis signalling and explores existing responses and solutions to crises in Nigeria. The conversation with the state’s MSF coordinator focused on the state’s malnutrition crisis—where aid workers fight to save lives on the edge.

Despite these reports, malnutrition in Katsina and northwestern Nigeria remains dire with limited systemic change.

While reacting to MSF’s latest report on the scale of the issue in Katsina state, the governor said he saw it as an opportunity to find feasible solutions to the crisis in the state.

“Instead of criticising the latest MSF report on malnutrition, my administration saw it as a call to action for confronting the crisis head-on. To address this challenge, we set up a high-level committee to investigate the root causes of malnutrition across the state,” he said. 

“We are promoting local production of therapeutic foods such as Tom Brown to reduce dependency on imports, distributing thousands of food baskets to at-risk families, and training hundreds of women to produce nutritious meals at the community level.”

However, the commercialization of Tom Brown and other therapeutic food is a present threat that has been documented all over the country, and was highlighted in his speech. This suggests that beyond making the foods available, the distribution process needs to be strengthened.

The federal government’s concerted efforts are also needed for an enduring impact, an area many, especially displaced people, have found insufficient. Uju Vanstasia Anwukah, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, who was present at the event as the Vice President’s representative, said the government was committed to fixing the issue. 

“This partnership with MSF and the convening of this high-level conference reaffirm the government’s understanding that real progress begins with the health and nourishment of every child,” she said.

Adding to the discussion, Nemat Hajeebhoy, Chief of Child Nutrition at UNICEF, outlined an affordable financing strategy.

“The global architecture of financing is changing, but there is still very much the recognition that there is a need to invest and support countries. UNICEF is here to partner with the government. They are our clients, so to speak, but children are our bosses.”

She introduced UNICEF’s Child buy-one-get-one-free-to-one match initiative: “It’s a buy one get one free. For every Naira the government invests—federal, state, or LGA—we will match it to help procure high-impact nutrition commodities.”

“But we need more. It’s not sufficient. This is the pavement for the future. It’s no longer just about aid—it’s about partnership.”

While commending the Katsina State government, Nemat emphasised the need for a 360 advocacy, involving bilateral engagement with governors, technical communities, media, and champions like actors.

“We also need communities to speak out and demand. There is hope. The Nutrition 774 Initiative, launched by the vice president in February, puts accountability and action at the LGA level. Nigeria is a big country, and unless we go ward by ward, we may not see change.”

Though the conference seems to have set the stage for concrete, coordinated action to protect the health and future of millions of vulnerable communities, citizens are eager to see improvement in the coming months and years. 

THE UK will be getting a brand new theme park in 2026 – but it won’t have your typical thrill rides.

Kynren – An Epic Tale of England, is the UK’s largest live action outdoor theatre production and next year it will launch Kynren – The Storied Lands, a new daytime historical theme park.

Set to open in summer 2026 in County Durham, the theme park will immerse visitors in multiple live shows and experiences that “span millennia”.

Phase One of Kynren – The Storied Lands will reveal The Lost Feather and four other live-action shows and immersive experiences, including Fina, a Medieval horse show, a viking show and a Victorian Adventure with characters from the past.

There will also be The Legend of the Wear which will transform a lake into a stage, where the Lambton Worm myth will be brought to life with water stunts and special effects.

In the future, the theme park will have even more shows, as well as educational content and themed experiences inspired by Robin Hood, Excalibur and the Tudors.

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As a whole, the attractions will form the UK’s first live-action historical theme park.

Anna Warnecke, CEO of Kynren – The Storied Lands, said: “2026 is going to be an unforgettable year.

“Not only will our award-winning night show return, but we’ll also open Kynren – The Storied Lands a unique new experience that brings history, heritage and myth to life on a scale not seen anywhere else in the UK.”

The news follows the announcement that Kynren – An Epic Tale of England is set to return next summer, with tickets now on sale.

Located in Bishop Auckland, the show involves more than 1,000 cast and crew members and mass choreography, combat, horsemanship, stunts and fireworks – all on a seven-and-a-half acre stage.

The show takes spectators on a journey of 2,000 years of history from Boudicca’s rebellion to Viking invasions, Norman conquests, Tudor drama and even Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

The show lasts 90 minutes, beginning at sunset and ending when the stars are out.

It will run every Saturday evening between July 18 and September 12, 2026.

Tickets cost from £30 per adult and £20 per child.

Children under the age of three, are free.

If visitors book their tickets now, they will also unlock an ‘Insider Pass’, which gives them priority access for tickets to the new Kynren – The Storied Lands when it opens next summer.

Travel writer Catherine Lofthouse, who visited this year’s show, said: “If you’ve never heard of Kynren in Bishop Auckland, Durham, you’re not alone.

“Over an hour and a half, scenes that tell the tale of our homeland, history and heritage come to life across the 7.5-acre outdoor stage.

“The 1,000 professionally trained volunteers might be amateurs, but this incredible cast put on one of the best shows I’ve seen, one that really has to be seen to be believed.

“My boys aged 12 and 10 were absolutely enthralled by the evening’s entertainment from start to finish.

“The whole event is epic – from Viking ships rising from the water to the recreation of a magnificent stained glass window in the spray of a fountain.

“Battle scenes, stunts, celebrations, historic moments, lines from Shakespeare – it’s sometimes difficult to know where to look at there’s so much to take in from one moment to the next.

“It was such a high-quality performance, I’d say it rivaled a live Disney show too.”

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — Farmers for Free Trade, a nonprofit group that advocates for lower tariffs and expanded global market access, wrapped up its “Motorcade for Trade” tour Tuesday in Washington to urge policymakers to ease trade tensions and support struggling producers.

Dozens of farmers joined at different points along the route to participate in town halls and farm stops, contributing to discussions on trade priorities, export markets and challenges.

The organization has prioritized five issues, including tariff reductions, exemptions for agricultural necessities, such as fertilizer and equipment, and a timely review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The caravan began Sept. 5 in Dorchester, Neb., with a cooperative event between farmers and Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. The next three stops included sessions with Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Jim Baird, R-Ind.

Although the Farmers for Free Trade team did not live in its RV, the group named it Ruth after driving more than 2,800 miles with it, spending many hours inside planning and being interviewed with their furry companion, a dog named Huckleberry.

“It’s really about getting information from farmers throughout the Midwest to understand what impact the administration’s trade and tariff policies have had on individuals,” said Brent Bible, an Indiana grain farmer. “It’s had an individual impact, not just on producers, but on communities throughout rural America,”

The caravan made 10 stops — in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington.

“We hosted events throughout the Midwest — everything from meetings with members of Congress to farmer roundtables and tariff town halls,” said Brian Kuehl, the Farmers for Free Trade executive director.

Between the fourth and fifth stop, Kuehl said, it became increasingly difficult to set a schedule.

“Our No. 1 one priority was to meet with members of Congress, and a lot of times you wouldn’t know their schedule until a few days in advance. Then, in the middle of the tour, we had the government shutdown. A bunch of members we had events with canceled because they had to be in D.C.,” Kuehl said.

His team then pivoted to hosting listening sessions and trade talks with farmers, along with visiting the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin and various farms.

Despite some adjustments, Kuehl shared his team’s optimism for the tour.

“One of the things that’s so cool about agriculture is how diverse it is throughout the United States,” he said. “In the Midwest, you’re looking at soybean and corn farms. As we moved east, we saw more dairies and hog farms. We even visited a winery in Pennsylvania. Pretty much the trade disruptions are impacting them all negatively.”

In Indiana, Bible said, “Our input costs have gone up dramatically because of tariffs on imports — fertilizer, equipment, steel, aluminum. If we need a replacement part or a new tractor, all of those things are impacted. We’re getting squeezed at both ends, and when that happens, there’s nothing left in the middle.”

In Ohio, corn, soy and cattle farmer Chris Gibbs said, he’s felt that squeeze firsthand. After more than 40 years in agriculture, he described 2025 as “a cash flow and working capital crisis,” noting that he’s paying well above production costs for major crops.

“We’re about $200 per acre under the cost of production for corn and about $100 under for soybeans,” Gibbs said.

Because of the shutdown — now the longest in history — the U.S. Department of Agriculture “is essentially not functioning,” Gibbs said. “They normally release reporting information that the market relies on, but that hasn’t been occurring. Farmers are having to make major business decisions without the data we depend on.”

Gibbs added: “I’ve been farming almost 50 years, and I’m struggling, If I’m having to move money around just to stay afloat, what happens to the young farmers who don’t have savings yet? They’re hanging on by a thread.”

Farmers strategically planned the finale of their motorcade to be in Washington this week in alignment with the Supreme Court of the United States’ schedule. The high court plans to hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes President Donald Trump to impose tariffs to the extent he has.

“We’re in a commodity business,” Bible said. “If we have a truly free, functioning market, we can be competitive. But that hasn’t been the case. Prices have been artificially manipulated by policy decisions and retaliation from other countries.”

US president claims Chinese leader ‘openly said’ Beijing would not act on Taiwan while Trump is in the White House ‘because they know the consequences’.

United States President Donald Trump has said that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has assured him that Beijing will not attempt to unify Taiwan with mainland China while the Republican leader is in office.

Trump said on Sunday that the long-contentious issue of Taiwan “never even came up as a subject” when he met with Xi in South Korea on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting in six years. The meeting largely focused on US-China trade tensions.

“He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president’, because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an interview with the CBS 60 Minutes programme that aired on Sunday.

Asked in the interview whether he would order US forces into action if China moved militarily on Taiwan, Trump demurred.

The US, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan – trying not to tip its hand on whether the US would come to the island’s aid in such a scenario.

“You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that,” said Trump, referring to Xi.

But Trump declined to spell out what he meant in the interview conducted on Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, adding: “I can’t give away my secrets. The other side knows.”

US officials have long been concerned about the possibility of China using military force against Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy Beijing claims as part of its territory.

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed US relations with the island, does not require the US to step in militarily if China invades but makes it US policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, did not respond directly to a query from The Associated Press news agency about whether Trump has received any assurances from Xi or Chinese officials about Taiwan. He insisted in a statement that China “will never allow any person or force to separate Taiwan from China in any way”.

“The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair, and it is the core of China’s core interests. How to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people ourselves, and only the Chinese people can decide it,” the statement added.

The White House also did not provide further details about when Xi or Chinese officials conveyed to Trump that military action on Taiwan was off the table for the duration of the Republican’s presidency.

The 60 Minutes interview was Trump’s first appearance on the show since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over its interview with then-Vice-President Kamala Harris. Trump alleged that the interview had been deceptively edited to benefit the Democratic Party before the 2024 presidential election. Trump initially sought $10bn in damages, later raising the claim to $20bn.