A BIG Brother star has been spotted working the door of a high-end restaurant in London, almost two decades after he rose to fame on the then-Channel 4 show.
A star who rose to fame in Big Brother almost two decades ago, has swapped fame for a quieter life as a restaurant doormanCredit: SplashThe former musician and TV star was seen helping Sharon and Kelly Osbourne out of upmarket restaurant Aki London this weekCredit: SplashZiggy Lichman appeared on Big Brother back in 2007Credit: Not known
Despite success across TV and music, it appears Ziggy, real name Zac, has shunned fame as he was spotted working at gourmet Japanese restaurant Aki London.
And the new role doesn’t mean Ziggy is far from the spotlight, as he is still brushing shoulders with the A-list at the food hotspot.
On Wednesday evening, Ziggy was seen escorting Sharon and Kelly Osbourne out of Aki.
The Osbourne’s are unlikely to be Ziggy’s only famous guests, with the likes of Romeo Beckham and actress Holly Valance spotted there previously.
Back in 2017, it was reported that Ziggy was working on the door of upmarket members club Paper Soho.
He is since thought to have opened two of his own bars across North London, The Shop NW10, a cocktail bar and café, and bar The Wealthy Beggar.
Ziggy is also still in touch with his ex-girlfriend Chanelle, following their joint rise to fame on Big Brother.
Despite being split up for 18 years, the duo remain friends and even appeared on Loose Women together in 2018.
“She’s absolutely smashed it. She’s held her own, had a family, gone through some tough times as you know.
“I still love her to bits, absolutely,” said Ziggy of Chanelle, who continued to pursue a career in the spotlight after the show.
Ziggy was known on Big Brother for his on/off romance with housemate Chanelle Hayes, whom he split from after the series finishedCredit: Channel 4He and Chanelle remain friends and eve reunited in 2018 to appear on Loose WomenCredit: Rex FeaturesHe was also a member of boyband Northern Line, which consisted originally of Lee Baldry, Dan Corsi, Andy Love, Ian Mason and Michael Sharpe – and later Ziggy and Warren MorrisCredit: AlamyZiggy has been working in the restaurant and bar industry for several years and was spotted working the door of a members club in 2017Credit: Splash
WILLOWS — As hospital staff carted away medical equipment from abandoned patient rooms, Theresa McNabb, 74, roused herself and painstakingly applied make-up for the first time in weeks, finishing with a mauve lipstick that made her eyes pop.
“I feel a little anxiety,” McNabb said. She was still taking multiple intravenous antibiotics for the massive infection that had almost killed her, was unsteady on her feet and was unsure how she was going to manage shopping and cooking food for herself once she returned to her apartment after six weeks in the hospital.
But she couldn’t stay at Glenn Medical Center. It was closing.
The hospital — which for more than seven decades has treated residents of its small farm town about 75 miles north of Sacramento, along with countless victims of car crashes on nearby Interstate 5 and a surprising number of crop-duster pilots wounded in accidents — shut its doors on October 21.
McNabb was the last patient.
Registered nurse Ronald Loewen, 74, checks on one of the last few patients. Loewen, a resident of Glenn County and a former Mennonite school teacher, said the hospital closing is “a piece of our history gone.”
Nurses and other hospital workers gathered at her room to ceremonially push her wheelchair outside and into the doors of a medical transport van. Then they stood on the lawn, looking bereft.
They had all just lost their jobs. Their town had just lost one of its largest employers. And the residents — many of whom are poor— had lost their access to emergency medical care. What would happen to all of them now? Would local residents’ health grow worse? Would some of them die preventable deaths?
These are questions that elected officials and policymakers may soon be confronting in rural communities across California and the nation. Cuts to Medicaid funding and the Affordable Care Act are likely rolling down from Washington D.C. and hitting small hospitals already teetering at the brink of financial collapse. Even before these cuts hit, a 2022 study found that half of the hospitals in California were operating in the red. Already this fall: Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe filed for bankruptcy and Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine sought emergency funds.
But things could get far worse: A June analysis released by four Democrats in the U.S. Senate found that many more hospitals in California could be at risk of closure in the face of federal healthcare cuts.
“It’s like the beginning of a tidal wave,” said Peggy Wheeler, vice president of policy of the California Hospital Association. “I’m concerned we will lose a number of rural hospitals, and then the whole system may be at risk.”
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1.Medical assistant Kylee Lutz, 26, right, hugs activities coordinator Rita Robledo on closing day. Lutz, who will continue to work in the clinic that remains open, said through tears, “It’s not going to be the same without you ladies.”2.Rose Mary Wampler, 88, sees physician assistant Chris Pilaczynski at the clinic. Wampler, who lives alone across the street from Glenn Medical Center, said, “Old people can’t drive far away. I’m all by myself, I would just dial 9-1-1.”
Glenn Medical’s financing did not collapse because of the new federal cuts. Rather, the hospital was done in by a federal decision this year to strip the hospital’s “Critical Access” designation, which enabled it to receive increased federal reimbursement. The hospital, though it is the only one in Glenn County, is just 32 miles from the nearest neighboring hospital under a route mapped by federal officials — less than the 35 miles required under the law. Though that distance hasn’t changed, the federal government has now decided to enforce its rules.
Local elected officials and hospital administrators fought for months to convince the federal government to grant them an exception. Now, with the doors closed, policy experts and residents of Willows said they are terrified by the potential consequences.
“People are going to die,” predicted Glenn County Supervisor Monica Rossman. She said she feared that older people in her community without access to transportation will put off seeking care until it is too late, while people of all ages facing emergency situations won’t be able to get help in time.
Kellie Amaru, a licensed vocational nurse who has worked at Glenn Medical Center for four years, reacts after watching a co-worker leave after working their final shift at the hospital.
But even for people who don’t face a life or death consequence, the hospital’s closure is still a body blow, said Willows Vice Mayor Rick Thomas. He and others predicted many people will put off routine medical care, worsening their health. And then there’s the economic health of the town.
Willows, which sits just east of I-5 in the center of the Sacramento Valley, has a proud history stretching back nearly 150 years in a farm region that now grows rice, almonds and walnuts. About 6,000 people live in the town, which has an economic development webpage featuring images of a tractor, a duck and a pair of hunters standing in the tall grass.
“We’ve lost 150 jobs already from the hospital [closing],” Thomas said. “I’m very worried about what it means. A hospital is good for new business. And it’s been hard enough to attract new business to the town.”
Dismantling ‘a legacy of rural healthcare’
From the day it started taking patients on Nov. 21,1950, Glenn General Hospital (as it was then called) was celebrated not just for its role in bringing medical care to the little farm town, but also for its role in helping Willows grow and prosper.
“It was quite state-of-the-art back in 1950,” said Lauren Still, the hospital’s chief administrative officer.
When the hospital’s first baby was born a few days later — little Glenda May Nieheus clocked in at a robust 8 pounds, 11 ounces — the arrival was celebrated on the front page of the Willows Daily Journal.
But as a small hospital in a small town, the institution struggled almost immediately. Within a few years, according to a 1957 story in the local newspaper, the hospital was already grappling with the problem of nurses leaving in droves for higher-paying positions elsewhere. A story the following year revealed that hospital administrators were forcing a maintenance worker to step in as an ambulance driver on weekends — without the requisite chauffeur’s license — to save money.
In a sign of how small the town is, that driver was Still’s boyfriend’s grandfather.
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1.A customer walks into Willows Hardware store.2.Cheerleaders perform during Willows High School’s Homecoming JV football game against Durham at Willows High School.3.The press box at Willows High School’s football field is decorated with previous Northern Section CIF Championship wins.
Still, the institution endured, its grassy campus and low-slung wings perched proudly on the east end of town. Generations of the town’s babies were born there. As they grew up, they went into the emergency room for X-rays, stitches and treatment for fevers and infections. Their parents and grandparents convalesced there and sometimes died there, cared for by nurses who were part of the community.
“They saved my brother’s life. They saved my dad’s life,” said Keith Long, 34, who works at Red 88, an Asian fusion restaurant in downtown Willows that is a popular lunch spot for hospital staff.
Glenn Medical’s finances, however, often faltered. Experts in healthcare economics say rural hospitals like Glenn Medical generally have fewer patients than suburban and urban communities, and those patients tend to be older and sicker, meaning they are more expensive to treat. What’s more, a higher share of those patients are low-income and enrolled in Medi-Cal and Medicare, which generally has lower reimbursement rates than private insurance. Smaller hospitals also cannot take advantage of economies of scale the way bigger institutions can, nor can they bring the same muscle to negotiations for higher rates with private insurance companies.
Across California, in the first decades of the 20th century, rural hospitals were running out of money and closing their doors.
T-Ann Pearce, who has worked at Glenn Medical Center for six years, sits in the medical surgical unit during one of her last shifts with only a few remaining patients left to care.
In 2000, Glenn Medical went bankrupt, but was saved when it was awarded the “Critical Access” designation by the federal government that allowed it to receive higher reimbursement rates, Still said.
But by late 2017, the hospital was in trouble again.
A private for-profit company, American Advanced Management, swooped to the rescue of Glenn Medical and a nearby hospital in Colusa County, buying them and keeping them open. The Modesto-based company specializes in buying distressed rural hospitals and now operates 14 hospitals in California, Utah and Texas.
The hospital set about building back its staff and improving its reputation for patient care in the community, which had been tarnished in part by the 2013 death of a young mother and her unborn baby.
“We’ve been on an upswing,” Still said, noting that indicators of quality of care and patient satisfaction have risen dramatically in recent years.
Then came the letter from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. On April 23, the federal agency wrote Glenn Medical’s management company with bad news: A recent review had found that Glenn Medical was “in noncompliance” with “distance requirements.” In plain English, federal officials had looked at a map and determined that Glenn Medical was not 35 miles from the nearest hospital by so-called main roads as required by law — it was just 32. Nor was it 15 miles by secondary roads. The hospital was going to lose its Critical Access designation. The hit to the hospital’s budget would be about 40% of its $28 million in net revenue. It could not survive that cut.
At first, hospital officials said they weren’t too worried.
“We thought, there’s no way they’re going to close down hospitals” over a few miles of road, Still, the hospital’s chief executive, said.
Especially, Still said, because it appeared there were numerous California hospitals in the same pickle. A 2013 federal Inspector General Report found that a majority of the 1,300 Critical Access hospitals in the country do not meet the distance requirement. That includes dozens in California.
Still and other hospital officials flew to Washington D.C. to make their case, sure that when they explained that one of the so-called main roads that connects Glenn Medical to its nearest hospital wasn’t actually one at all, and often flooded in the winter, the problem would be solved. The route everyone actually used, she said, was 35.7 miles.
“No roads have changed. No facilities have moved,” administrators wrote to federal officials. “And yet this CMS decision now threatens to dismantle a legacy of rural health care stability.”
Without it, the administrator wrote, “lives will be lost for certain.”
But, Still said, their protestations fell on deaf ears.
In August came the final blow: Glenn Medical would lose its Critical Access funding by April 2026.
The news set off a panic not just in Glenn County but at hospitals around the state.
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1.A bicyclist passes by Glenn Medical Center. First opened to patients on November 21, 1950, the center was called Glenn General Hospital then.2.A member of the staff signs a farewell board on closing day at Glenn Medical Center on October 21, 2025.
At least three other hospitals got letters from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid saying their Critical Access status was under review, Wheeler said: Bear Valley Community Hospital in Big Bear Lake, George L. Mee Memorial in Monterey County and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital in Solvang. The hospitals in Monterey and Big Bear Lake provided data demonstrating they met the requirements for the status.
Cottage Hospital, however, did not, despite showing that access in and out of the area where the hospital is located was sometimes blocked by wildfires or rockslides.
Cottage Hospital officials did not respond to questions about what that might mean for their facility.
Asked about these situations, officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid said the law does not give the agency flexibility to consider factors such as weather, for example, in designating a critical assess hospital. They added the hospital must demonstrate there is no driving route that would make it ineligible based on driving distances included in the statute.
Jeff Griffiths, a county supervisor in Inyo County who is also the president of the California Assn. of Counties, said he has been following the grim hospital financing news around the state with mounting worry.
The hospital in his county, Southern Inyo, came close to running out of money earlier this year, he said, and with more federal cuts looming, “I don’t know how you can expect these hospitals to survive.”
“It’s terrifying for our area,” Griffiths said, noting that Inyo County, which sits on the eastern side of the Sierra, has no easy access to any medical care on the other side of the giant mountain peaks.
‘This is the final call’
In Willows, once word got out that the hospital would lose its funding, nurses began looking for new jobs.
By late summer, so many people had left that administrators realized they had no choice but to shutter the emergency room, which closed Sept. 30.
Helena Griffith, 62, one of the last patients, waves goodbye as patient transport Jolene Guerra pushes her wheelchair down the hallway on October 20, 2025.
Through it all, McNabb, the 74-year-old patient receiving intravenous antibiotics, remained in her bed, getting to know the nurses who buzzed around her.
She became aware that when they weren’t caring for her, many of them were trying to figure out what they would do with their lives once they lost their jobs.
On the hospital’s last day, nurse Amanda Shelton gifted McNabb a new sweater to wear home.
When McNabb gushed over the sweetness of the gesture, Shelton teared up. “It’s not every day that it will be the last patient I’ll ever have,” she told her.
As McNabb continued to gather her things, Shelton retreated to the hospital’s recreation room, where patients used to gather for games or conversation.
With all the patients save McNabb gone, Shelton and some other hospital staff took up a game of dominoes, the trash talk of the game peppered with bittersweet remembrances of their time working in the creaky old building.
Registered nurse Ronald Loewen, 74, looks out the window on closing day at Glenn Medical Center on October 21, 2025. Loewen, who grew up and attended school in Willows, had four children delivered at Glenn Medical, two of them survived, and took care of former classmates at this hospital, says the hospital closing is, “a piece of our history gone.”
Shelton said she is not sure what is next for her. She loved Glenn Medical, she said, because of its community feel. Many people came for long stays or were frequent patients, and the staff was able to get to know them — and to feel like they were healing them.
“You got to know people. You got to know their family, or if they didn’t have any family,” you knew that too, she said. She added that in many hospitals, being a nurse can feel like being an extension of a computer. But at Glenn Medical, she said, “you actually got to look in someone’s eyes.”
The building itself was in dire shape, she noted. Nothing was up to modern code. It didn’t have central air conditioning, and it was heated by an old-fashioned boiler. “I mean, I have never even heard of a boiler room” before coming to work there, she said.
And yet within the walls, she said, “It’s community.”
Bradley Ford, the emergency room manager, said he felt the same way and was determined to pay tribute to all the people who had made it so.
At 7 p.m. on the emergency room’s last night of service, Ford picked up his microphone and beamed his voice out to the hospital and to all the ambulances, fire trucks and others tuned to the signal.
He had practiced his speech enough times that he thought he could get through it without crying — although during his rehearsals he had never yet managed it.
“This is the final call,” Ford said. “‘After 76 years of dedicated service, the doors are closing. Service is ending. On behalf of all the physicians, nurses and staff who have walked these halls, it is with heavy hearts that we mark the end of this chapter.”
Nurses and other staff members recorded a video of Ford making his announcement, and passed it among themselves, tearing up every time they listened to it.
In an interview after the hospital had closed, Ford said he was one of the lucky ones: He had found a new job.
It was close enough to his home in Willows that he could commute — although Ford said he wasn’t sure how long he would remain in his beloved little town without access to emergency medical care there.
Rose Mary Wampler, 88, waits to have blood drawn at the lab beside a cordoning off, signaling the closure of the hospital side of Glenn Medical Center, on October 22, 2025. Wampler lives alone across the street from the hospital.
Rose Mary Wampler, 88, has lived in Willows since 1954 and now resides in a little house across the street from the hospital. Her three children were born at Glenn Medical, and Wampler herself was a patient there for two months last year, when she was stricken with pneumonia and internal bleeding. She said she was fearful of the idea of driving more than 30 miles for healthcare elsewhere.
She looked out her window on a recent afternoon at the now-shuttered hospital.
“It looks like somebody just shut off the whole city, there’s nowhere to go get help,” she said.
Glenn Medical Center patient Richard Putnam, 86, closes the window in his hospital room. A month shy of it’s 75th year, the hospital closed on Oct 21, 2025.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Times photographer Christina House contributed to this report.
Israel is engaged in a last-ditch bid to change the wording of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on the next phase of United States President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that was recently amended to mention a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that his opposition to a Palestinian state had “not changed one bit”, one day before the UNSC votes on the US-drafted resolution, which would mandate a transitional administration and an international stabilisation force (ISF) in Gaza.
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Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday that Netanyahu’s government was engaged in a last-minute diplomatic push to alter the draft resolution, which the US had changed to include more defined language about Palestinian self-determination under pressure from Arab and Muslim countries expected to contribute troops to the ISF.
The draft now says that “conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” after reforms to the Palestinian Authority are “faithfully carried out and Gaza redevelopment has advanced”.
There has been criticism that Palestinian voices and aspirations have been sidelined in the whole spectacle of Trump’s Gaza plan from its launch, which came with the US president’s customary fanfare.
Later on Sunday, Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions called on Algeria – a non-permanent member of the UNSC – to reject the plan for stabilisation forces to be deployed in Gaza.
In a statement, the resistance factions called the efforts “a new attempt to impose another form of occupation on our land and people, and to legitimise foreign trusteeship”.
“We direct a sincere and fraternal appeal to the Algerian Republic, government and people, to continue adhering to its principled positions supporting Palestine, and its steadfast rejection of any projects targeting Gaza’s identity and our people’s right to self-determination,” the statement added.
On Friday, a joint statement with eight countries – Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkiye – urged “swift adoption” of the draft resolution by the 15-member UNSC. Potential contributors to the force have indicated that a UN mandate is essential for their participation.
Israel has already said it will not accept Turkiye, a key Gaza ceasefire mediator, having any role on the ground.
Turkiye has maintained staunch criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza over the past two years and recently issued arrest warrants for genocide against Netanyahu and other senior officials.
Ahead of Monday’s crucial vote, which is expected to garner the nine votes needed to pass, with the likely abstention of Russia and China, Netanyahu confidants and officials from the Foreign Ministry were said to be engaged in intensive talks with their US counterparts, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan).
Netanyahu under pressure
A far-right walkout over the ceasefire plan, in which Trump has heavily invested his own prestige, could bring down Netanyahu’s right-wing government well before the next election, which must be held by October 2026.
On Sunday, Israeli government officials lined up to express their opposition to any proposals backing a Palestinian state.
“Israel’s policy is clear: no Palestinian state will be established,” Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X.
He was followed by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who said on X that his country would “not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel”.
Far-right firebrand and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the Palestinian identity an “invention”.
Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a major backer of Israel’s settler movement who has been sanctioned by a number of countries for “incitement of violence” against Palestinians, urged Netanyahu to take action.
“Formulate immediately an appropriate and decisive response that will make it clear to the entire world – no Palestinian state will ever arise on the lands of our homeland,” he said on X.
Russia’s rival resolution
The UNSC resolution would give the UN’s blessing to the second phase of Trump’s 20-point plan, which brought about a ceasefire after two years of genocidal war that has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians.
The ceasefire came into effect on October 10, although it has been repeatedly breached by Israel with near-daily attacks that have killed hundreds of people.
There has been plenty of jockeying ahead of the vote.
Meanwhile, Russia is circulating its own resolution to rival the US version, offering stronger language on Palestinian statehood and stressing that the occupied West Bank and Gaza must be joined as a contiguous state under the Palestinian Authority.
In a statement, Russia’s UN mission said that its objective was to “to amend the US concept and bring it into conformity” with previous UNSC decisions.
“We would like to stress that our document does not contradict the American initiative,” said the statement. “On the contrary, it notes the tireless efforts by the mediators – the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye – without which the long-awaited ceasefire and the release of hostages and detainees would have been impossible.”
THERE are some pretty unusual tourist attractions in the UK, most of which have ended up popular spots by pure accident – including a door in the Cotswolds.
Often thought to be the most photographed door in the UK, it can be found at the north porch of St. Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold.
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Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds is home to, what is believed to be, the most photographed door in the UKCredit: GettyThe door can be found at the north porch of St. Edward’s ChurchCredit: Getty
The wooden door looks like it has been ripped directly from the pages of a fairytale and many believe that it inspired J.R.R Tolkein’s Doors of Durin, west gate of Moria.
It is made from a dark wood and has studded panels, with an old oil lamp hanging above.
The door is relatively small as well, and is bookended by two tree trunks.
Tolkien often visited the area during his time at Oxford University, but the claims that the door inspired him have never been verified.
The porch where the door is found was built around 300 years ago, and thanks to the rumour it inspired Tolkien and its two yew trees that have essentially become part of the porch, it is one of the most photographed doors in the UK.
But the rest of Stow-on-the-Wold is definitely worth exploring as well, having been named one of the prettiest towns in the country by travel experts SnapTrip.
As you wander around the village, you will see many honey-coloured stone houses and shops that the Cotswolds is famous for.
In the heart of the village is Market Square, which has been hosting markets since 1107.
In fact, when Stow was popular for its wool trade, over 20,000 sheep changed hands here.
If you happen to visit on the second Thursday of the month, you will find the Stow Farmers’ Market here, with fresh produce including breads, meats and cheeses.
The Market Square is then surrounded by a number of independent shops.
For example, you could pick up some new paintbrushes and sketchpads in Cotswold Art Supplies or pick up something to read from Borzoi Bookshop, which has been in Stow for over 40 years.
From the village, visitors can head off on a number of walks into the Cotswolds countryside or to other villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water.
Another option is to head off on the Heart of England Way Stow Circular, which is a 3.7 mile circular walking route that takes around 90 minutes to walk.
Once you’re peckish, head to Lucy’s Tearoom for a Stow afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, scones, cream and jam, cake, and either tea or coffee, costing £18.50 per person.
Or for a pint, head to The Queen‘s Head, which sits in the village square and serves a good range of ales.
The village is also home to a couple of cosy pubsCredit: Getty
There’s also The Porch House, which claims to be England‘s oldest inn and has been authenticated by the Guinness Book of Records.
It dates back to 947 AD and features stones with ‘witch marks’ to protect against evil.
Mains at the inn include mushroom and chestnut pie for £18.95 or wagyu burger for £19.95.
You can also stay in one of 13 bedrooms at The Porch House, costing from £110 per night.
Alternatively, you could head to The Old Stocks Inn, which is located inside a 17th century coaching inn next to the village green.
The inn is formed of three terraced houses which have been combined, and inside the interiors feature a Scandinavian style.
It costs from £150 per night to stay at.
Celebrities are also known to love the area, such as the Beckhams who live nearbyCredit: Instagram
It’s no surprise that this pretty village is also popular with celebrities.
In 2015, the Beckhams planned to buy a house in the area; however, they chose a different property in Great Tew, which is about a 20-minute drive away.
Actress Kate Winslet is also believed to own a cottage near Stow-on-the-Wold.
MARTIN Freeman has been branded “selfish” after he complained about the noise from nearby schools.
The Sherlock star recently won a year-long battle with planners to put in new windows at his £5 million mansion to block out the din, despite being in a protected area which has strict rules on building appearance.
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Neighbours of Martin Freeman have dubbed his complaints over noise from nearby school as ‘outrageous’Credit: GettyThe Sherlock star snapped up the five-bed mansion in 2016He recently had planning approved to install double-glazed windows to block out the noiseCredit: Getty
The planning inspector gave the green light for the new double-glazed windows after visiting the star’s home last month, and there were no submitted objections from neighbours.
Aside from the playground noise, Freeman had also insisted that most of the existing single glazed windows were so wonky from building movement that he couldn’t even open and close them properly.
In a statement, his planning agent said: “The noise is a major problem particularly during term time on weekdays due to the school located directly opposite.
“The new units will reduce noise pollution from the street and school, improving the building’s internal environment.”
But some are unimpressed with the actor’s grievances about noise, with one dubbing him “selfish” and saying he was “overreacting”.
Ex-schoolteacher, Simon Bridge, 70, whose property backs onto one of the schools, fumed: “If neighbours are complaining about schools, I think it’s outrageous.
“The children make a noise, of course, the whistle blows, but come on.
“Go and live somewhere else, that’s my feeling. You’ve got money, go away.
“I’m a great lover of theatre, music and everything and I have nothing against actors whatsoever. But I don’t like people complaining about children, hearing noise, that’s all.”
When asked if he had any problems with the noise himself, he replied: “Not at all. I love it. Because I’m an ex-schoolteacher, I’m used to school.
“To hear children playing and laughing, that’s wonderful.”
Freeman’s mansion is in close proximity to several schools.
Retiree Sam De Silva has lived in a block of flats opposite the junior school for 12 years and has no complaints.
Ex-schoolteacher, Simon Bridge, said he thought complaints about noise from the local schools was ‘outrageous’Credit: Ray Collins
He said: “Well, as far as I’m concerned, the only issue with me is finding a place to park my car. I haven’t come across any noise issues, you know.”
When asked about his thoughts on grumblings about noise, he said: “I think it’s a bit selfish , I guess.
“There’s not a lot you can do, you know. I think he’s overreacting.
“I’ve been here for 12 years, my dad lived here prior to me. He’s never complained.
“Honestly, it’s a bit silly. These schools didn’t crop up, you know?
“My daughter goes to school down the road and I heard Taylor Swift bought a house down that lane.
“So if she can buy a house adjacent to a primary school, why the hell should we be complaining?”
Planning battle
Officials at his local council failed to make a decision on time so the Sherlock star appealed to a Government planning inspector who gave the go-ahead.
The council later said they would have refused to grant planning permission as the new windows would harm the designated conservation area.
Freeman’s planning agent said: “To all practical intents and purposes, the replacement windows would retain the appearance of the original single glazed windows and the appearance of the appeal property would be preserved.”
They said in a statement that planning officers wanted to negotiate on the application to a point where it could be approved but Freeman did not want to make changes.
A local caretaker, who didn’t want to be named, has worked in the area for nearly 30 years and said: “It’s only noisy when the kids are going in in the morning and coming out at night. But that’s where the house is isn’t it?
“What are you going to do? There’s a school there, a school there, a school there.
“The thing is, right opposite his house is the playground. So when I go past sometimes, the kids are in the playground running.
“But what’s that? Ten minutes – then it’s done.
“I don’t see him about much, he’s always away working. If he was here every day, I’d understand it.”
Other residents said the sound of children was a “joyful noise” and that they “wouldn’t have any complaints”.
The Office star’s Arts and Crafts-style pad boasts a basement gym, wine cellar and summerhouse and dates back to 1883 but is not listed.
He bought the massive mansion after cashing with with Hollywood movies Love Actually, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War.
The U.S.-South Korea trade deal fact sheet released Friday opens the door for Seoul to secure rights to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The agreement, struck during the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the APEC summit in Gyeongju in October, approves South Korea’s quest to build nuclear submarines. Photo by Yonhap
South Korea took a major step forward Friday in its long-running quest to secure rights to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, with the United States affirming its support in the countries’ joint summit document.
The joint fact sheet, released earlier in the day, outlines the agreements reached in the two summits between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump. It covers the allies’ commitments on a range of key trade and security issues.
“Consistent with the bilateral 123 agreement and subject to U.S. legal requirements, the United States supports the process that will lead to the ROK’s civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for peaceful uses,” the document showed. ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
Under the 123 agreement on peaceful nuclear energy cooperation, South Korea has very limited authority to reprocess spent nuclear fuel or enrich uranium for civilian purposes, as such activities require U.S. consent through bilateral consultations under the relevant treaties, laws and regulations governing both countries.
The agreement only allows South Korea to enrich uranium up to less than 20 percent based on U.S. consent, with U.S. concerns over nuclear proliferation known as the primary reason.
The nuclear energy pact, forged in 1974, was revised once in 2015 for a 20-year term, to accommodate Seoul’s request for the rights to reprocess spent fuel and enrich uranium, but it has been seen as effectively barring Seoul from producing its own civilian nuclear fuel.
South Korea, a global nuclear energy powerhouse, has long sought to expand its rights as a way to address growing nuclear waste stockpiles.
The country currently operates 26 commercial nuclear reactors. The storage for spent fuel rods from the reactors is expected to reach full capacity around 2030.
Its push to revise the agreement also comes as South Korea seeks to secure fuel supplies for its bid to build nuclear-powered submarines, a project for which it has obtained U.S. approval, as confirmed in their joint fact sheet.
Announcing the result of the summit Friday, Lee called U.S. support for Seoul’s uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing a “significant advancement.”
“The door is now wide open for a South Korea-U.S. alliance renaissance, in which both nations can achieve a true win-win outcome,” he said.
In separate press material, the foreign ministry described the agreement on enrichment and reprocessing as “a strategic upgrade” of bilateral nuclear energy cooperation.
“We have publicly secured U.S. backing for (uranium) enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing for the first time,” the ministry said.
Having secured such support from its ally, South Korea faces a long and complex road ahead to advance these efforts, as implementing the agreement will require a lengthy and challenging negotiating process that could take years or more.
Seoul and Washington would need to decide whether the U.S. will allow uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing within the current 123 agreement framework, or by revising the pact. Either way, tough negotiations over the terms are expected.
“It will require extensive discussions,” National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said following the joint fact sheet announcement. “How much adjustment is needed will depend on the results of these consultations,”
The prevailing view is that South Korea has looked at Japan’s 1988 agreement of the same kind with the U.S. as a case model. The U.S. has given Japan preapproved and long-term permission, known as “advance consent,” for the enrichment and reprocessing. It allows Japan to produce highly enriched uranium over 20 percent if the two parties agree.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo signaled that the government is considering a revision.
“We are in talks with the U.S. with a revision in mind,” he told lawmakers during a parliamentary session.
South Korea and the U.S. have established a high-level bilateral commission under the 123 agreement. Any follow-up talks could start by resuming this platform.
Going forward, how Seoul will work with Washington to dispel nuclear proliferation concerns from within the U.S. government remains another major challenge.
It took more than two weeks after the Lee-Trump summit for the joint fact sheet to be released, apparently due to extended coordination among the relevant U.S. government agencies.
Wi said Friday that the delay had much to do with the enrichment and reprocessing issues.
“The bulk of the final discussions (within the U.S.) had focused on uranium enrichment and reprocessing,” he told reporters at the briefing.
“In any case, we believe the agreement will need some form of adjustment.”
Elle Fanning as Thia and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as DekCredit: PA
WHAT happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? That’s the question in this latest outing for the marauding monster franchise.
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And for the first time it’s a Predator and not a person who is our protagonist.
This fundamental plot twist takes the action into pure sci-fi territory, too.
While Badlands still has a cat-and-mouse chase at its core, director Dan Trachtenberg disposes of the previous man versus masked extraterrestrials that glued together all predecessors.
And not a single human lifeform features in this script.
Forget Predator’s 1980s roots, which saw Arnold Schwarzenegger battling other-worldly beings in the jungle.
Decent curveball
Here an epic 22-minute opening explainer sees our lead Predator — young Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) — witness the murder of his brother Kwei by their Yautja father.
Cast out from his clan he takes flight to a far-flung planet with the intention of hunting down and slaying the gigantic apex hunter known as the Kalisk.
As well as this mutinous adversary, poisonous plants that can paralyse and lethal grass made of razor blades, here Dek also encounters Thia (Elle Fanning) — a Weyland-Yutani android left hanging from a tree after the Kalisk cut off her legs.
This becomes Dek’s cyborg-in-crime as they help each other across the Badlands with the aim of taking out their mutual target.
Thia’s spoken sentences after an awful lot of subtitled (uncannily Dutch-sounding) Yautja language are a welcome relief.
There’s an unexpected amount of humour too, mostly centred on an additional cute critter travelling companion called Bud.
But amusing segues aside, the idea that everyone is doggedly hunting something does still stand.
The Kalisk and Thia’s evil android twin Tessa are intent on trying to capture Dek, which enables all the heavyweight stand-off set pieces you could hope for.
The graphics are consistently excellent and there’s a decent curveball at the end to leave the door to the next instalment open.
Predator fans may feel dissatisfied by just how far-removed Badlands has travelled from the original.
But doing so does pave the way for some unadulterated futuristic action that can be enjoyed entirely on its own merits, and by a whole new audience.
ANEMONE
(15) 126 mins
★★☆☆☆
Day-Lewis plays Ray alongside his estranged brother (Sean Bean)Credit: PA
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS makes his big-screen return after seven years in this movie directed by his son Ronan.
On paper, that reunion sounds moving. In practice, the film feels heavy, distant and difficult to connect with.
It’s set in the late 1980s on a grey northern coast, and the movie commits fully to that gloom, as every scene reminds of the weight of past burdens the characters still carry.
Day-Lewis plays Ray, a recluse who has cut himself off from almost everyone.
His estranged brother (Sean Bean), seeks to bridge the gap, bringing with him long-buried resentment and unfinished conversations.
The performances themselves are strong, especially from Day-Lewis, who can still command a screen with the smallest gesture.
But the script – written by the actor and his director son – rarely gives the audience room to breathe.
Silence stretches on, metaphors pile up, and the film’s symbolism grows so thick it begins to feel jarring.
There are flashes of genius – a confrontation here, a quiet confession there – but the slow, sombre bits in between offer little or no reward.
The film wants to be profound about pain passed between generations, yet its emotional impact gets lost in its own seriousness.
LINDA MARRIC
THE CHORAL
(12A) 113mins
★★★★☆
Ralph Fiennes is superb as choirmaster Dr GuthrieCredit: PA
YORKSHIRE royalty, writer Alan Bennett, is the recognisable voice behind the script of this feelgood World War One drama.
Set in his native God’s Own Country and with a stunning scenic backdrop, the movie is laced with Bennett’s trademark dry comedy and explores the hope and the horror of wartime Britain through the members of a local community choir.
Ralph Fiennes – superb as choirmaster Dr Guthrie – is brought in to help raise the roof for the ensemble’s annual performance.
Here he heads up a comforting cast of acting heavyweights including Mill owner Duxbury (Roger Allum), pianist Horner (Robert Emms) and Simon Russell Beale as the composer Elgar.
Initially regarded with suspicion thanks to pre-war years spent living in Germany and his fondness for reading naval pages (aka relationships with men) Dr Guthrie soon galvanises his motley mixed generational gang of voices, all dealing in their own way with consequences of war.
Lofty (Oliver Briscombe) and cheeky-chappy pal Ellis (Taylor Uttley) are about to be conscripted, others are grieving those who will not return.
The EU’s enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, commended Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, and Moldova for their advancements towards EU membership, describing expansion as a “realistic possibility within the coming years” during a session at the European Parliament.
While Montenegro is noted as the most advanced candidate, the commissioner criticized Serbia for slowing reforms and indicated that Georgia is merely a candidate “in name only.” Kos emphasized the need for the EU to prepare for enlargement.
She highlighted Albania’s “unprecedented progress” and Moldova’s rapid advancements despite challenges. Ukraine’s commitment to its EU path and essential anti-corruption reforms was also recognized, particularly against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion and Hungary’s obstacles.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy echoed this sentiment, urging the EU to take decisive action to eliminate barriers to a unified Europe.
A Tesla pictured in Oct. 2022 near the Meta campus in Menlo Park, Calif. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla received 16 reports of exterior door handles becoming “inoperative due to low 12VDC battery voltage in certain MY 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles.” File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 3 (UPI) — Federal regulators have ordered Tesla to comply with an investigation into possibly defective door handles that reportedly led to trapped passengers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told the Elon Musk-owned Tesla that the federal government received scores of complaints on its electric vehicles.
As of Oct. 27, the NHTSA said it received 16 reports of exterior, retractable door handles becoming “inoperative due to low 12VDC battery voltage in certain MY 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles.”
Reports indicated children were trapped in the cars in some cases, and owners unable to enter or exit vehicles due to battery that impeded door handle use.
A deadly 2024 crash in Wisconsin led to a lawsuit that claimed Tesla was negligent in its door handle designs.
Meanwhile, Tesla officials have until Dec. 10 to provide records to federal regulators.