extended

The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have expanded a ceasefire deal in the presence of US President Donald Trump, who is in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit. In July, the president helped bring an end to their five-day border conflict.

Staff at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will be out of work for at least another week as the business secretary prepares to meet suppliers of the car maker who are at risk of closure.

JLR has confirmed that production in its factories – including its UK facilities in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton – will remain suspended until at least October 1.

It previously said production would resume on September 24.

The company’s production lines ground to a halt in late August following a major cyber attack, and fears are growing that the company’s suppliers could go bust without support.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle will visit JLR for the first time since the attack to meet with the company and firms in the supply chain for the beleaguered carmaker.

“Our focus remains on supporting our customers, suppliers, colleagues, and our retailers who remain open,” the statement said.

“We fully recognise this is a difficult time for all connected with JLR and we thank everyone for their continued support and patience.”

Industry minister Chris McDonald said he was visiting JLR alongside the business secretary to “host companies in the supply chain, to listen to workers and hear how we can support them and help get production back online.”

He said in a statement: “We have two priorities, helping Jaguar Land Rover get back up and running as soon as possible and the long-term health of the supply chain.

“We are acutely aware of the difficulties the stoppage is causing for those suppliers and their staff, many of whom are already taking a financial hit through no fault of their own – and we will do everything we can to reassure them that the government is on their side.”

Suppliers are anxious to be heard, according to Johnathan Dudley, the head of manufacturing for accounting and consulting firm Crowe UK. The firm is based in the West Midlands, which is where the Solihull and Wolverhampton plants are.

“Obviously, they’re being very, very cautious because they don’t want to create panic, and equally, they don’t want to be seen to be criticising people further up the chain,” he said.

“It’s not a blame game, but it is a cry for help, because there are businesses now seeing people not paying [staff].”

The halt in production had hit profits by about £120m already, and £1.7bn in lost revenue, according to David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at the University of Birmingham.

JLR is currently taking the lead on support for its own supply chain, rather than any state intervention.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has revoked former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service protection that otherwise would have ended next summer, senior Trump administration officials said Friday.

Former vice presidents typically get federal government protection for six months after leaving office, while ex-presidents do so for life. But then-President Biden quietly signed a directive, at Harris’ request, that had extended protection for her beyond the traditional six months, according to another person familiar with the matter. The people insisted on anonymity to discuss a matter not made public.

Trump, a Republican, defeated Harris, a Democrat, in the presidential election last year.

His move to drop Harris’ Secret Service protection comes as the former vice president, who became the Democratic nominee last summer after a chaotic series of events that led to Biden dropping out of the contest, is about to embark on a book tour for her memoir, titled “107 Days.” The tour has 15 stops, including visits abroad to London and Toronto. The book, which refers to the historically short length of her presidential campaign, will be released Sept. 23, and the tour begins the following day.

A recent threat intelligence assessment the Secret Service conducts on those it protects, such as Harris, found no red flags or credible evidence of a threat to the former vice president, said a White House official who also insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The administration found no reason Harris’ protection should go beyond the standard six-month period for former vice presidents, the official said.

Trump’s vice president from his first term, Mike Pence, did not have extended Secret Service protection beyond the standard six months.

Still, it is not unusual for Secret Service protection to continue well beyond the statutory six-month window, particularly when former officials face credible and ongoing threats. But Trump’s decisions to revoke the protection have stood out both for timing and for targets.

During Trump’s second presidency, he repeatedly has cut off security for adversaries and figures who have fallen from favor, including his onetime national security advisor John Bolton and members of Biden’s family, including the former president’s adult children. Outgoing presidents can extend protection for those who might otherwise not be eligible; Trump did so for his family after leaving office in 2021.

The decision to strip Harris of protection is certain to raise alarms among security experts who view continuity of protection as essential in a polarized climate.

A senior Trump administration official said an executive memorandum was issued Thursday to the Department of Homeland Security ending Harris’ security detail and security services. Those had been extended from six to 18 months by the Biden administration, so they would have ended in July 2026, but now they will be terminated on Monday.

Harris lives in the Los Angeles area. The city’s Democratic mayor, Karen Bass, called Trump’s decision “another act of revenge following a long list of political retaliation” and warned that it would endanger Harris. Bass said she plans to work with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, to ensure the former vice president’s safety, and she and Harris have already been in touch about the issue, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.

While she lost to Trump last November, Harris is seen as a potential candidate for 2028, and she has already announced she will not run for California governor in 2026. Harris is also a former senator, California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney.

Last year was a particularly politically charged environment with Trump facing two assassination attempts, and the Secret Service played a crucial role in protecting the now-president. While questions remain about how the agency prepared for a July 2024 rally in Butler, Pa., a Secret Service counter sniper shot a gunman dead after he fired eight shots, killing an attendee, wounding two others and grazing Trump’s right ear. Trump chose one of the agents who rushed to the stage to shield him, Sean Curran, to lead the agency earlier this year.

The news of the security revocation was first reported by CNN.

Kim and Gomez Licon write for the Associated Press. Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Two years after a sign-stealing scandal at the University of Michigan rocked college football, the NCAA on Friday increased sanctions the Wolverines had self-imposed but refrained from handing down the most severe punishments.

Michigan won’t be subject to a postseason ban and won’t be required to vacate victories — especially important because the Wolverines won the national championship in 2023, the last of three seasons they were accused of improperly stealing signals that opposing coaches used to communicate with players on the field.

However, they were fined approximately $30 million and the program was placed on four years of probation. Also, the suspension of head coach Sherrone Moore was increased from the self-imposed two games to three. In addition to the third and fourth games of the 2025 season, Moore also will miss the 2026 opener.

Jim Harbaugh, the Michigan head coach from 2015 to 2023 who now is coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, will have a 10-year show-cause penalty tacked onto the current four-year show cause that resulted from scouting and recruiting violations in 2021-2022.

Connor Stalions, the staff member who carried out the sign-stealing scheme, was handed an eight-year show-cause penalty and former assistant Denard Robinson was hit with a three-year show-cause sanction for recruiting violations and failing to attend an NCAA hearing on the matter.

As long as Harbaugh remains in the NFL, the penalty will have no real impact on him. However, the sanction could make him unwelcome in the college ranks for more than a decade.

The show-cause sanction effectively makes it difficult for the person to secure employment at an NCAA school because it requires a school attempting to make the hire to “show cause” to the NCAA why it shouldn’t also be penalized for giving the person a job.

The NCAA had charged Michigan with 11 rule violations, six of them the most serious Level 1 variety, after an investigation revealed that Stalions had carried out a scheme to shoot video of the signals opposing coaches used to communicate with players on the field.

Stalions, a retired captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was paid $55,000 a year as an off-field defensive analyst at Michigan. He is alleged to have arranged for people to attend the games of upcoming Michigan opponents and film the sideline signals from 2021 to 2023, when the scheme was uncovered and Stalions resigned.

The NCAA does not prohibit stealing signs during games, but since 1994 schools are not allowed to scout upcoming opponents in person. The rule was designed to prevent well-funded programs from gaining an advantage by sending scouts to opponents’ games when programs with smaller budgets couldn’t afford such scouting.

According to the NCAA notice of allegations, Stalions was accused of arranging the scouting of at least 13 future opponents on 58 occasions. He purchased tickets at nearly every Big Ten school.

The fine imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions includes a $50,000 initial fine, 10% of the football budget, 10% of the cost of football scholarships for the 2025 season and the loss of all postseason-competition revenue sharing for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Added up, it should exceed $30 million.

Moore improperly deleted a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions when the scandal became public. However, the NCAA was able to retrieve the texts, but Moore was not charged with having knowledge of the sign-stealing.

Harbaugh was suspended for the last three games of the 2023 regular season despite his adamant denial that he knew anything about the sign-stealing. Michigan won all three games anyway and went on to capture the national championship.

While preparing the Chargers for his first season at the helm in August 2024, Harbaugh reiterated that he was “not aware nor complicit” in the sign-stealing at Michigan. He felt compelled to address the situation because Moore — his replacement as head coach — was one of seven staffers from the 2023 championship Michigan team under investigation.

“Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal,” Harbaugh said in a statement in 2024. “I was raised with that lesson. I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I’ve coached. No one’s perfect. If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right.

“Today, I do not apologize. I did not participate, was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations. So for me, it’s back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti became an unlikely Michigan advocate in pushing the NCAA to keep sanctions to a minimum, suggesting to the NCAA Committee on Infractions that Michigan deserved no further punishment.

This was the same Petitti who suspended Harbaugh in a Nov. 10, 2023, letter to Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel that appeared to question the integrity of the Wolverines’ program.

The school sought an emergency temporary restraining order against the Big Ten to allow Harbaugh continue coaching, saying due process had not been followed and asserting that Harbaugh had no knowledge of Stalions’ sign-stealing.

Michigan eventually withdrew the restraining order request, but the relationship between the school and the commissioner remained contentious as Harbaugh served the suspension and the Wolverines turned the episode into a rallying cry.

This season, Michigan will visit USC on Oct. 11 but does not play UCLA.

It’d been over a decade since reporter Alice Sjoberg had seen the Lord of the Rings films, so she decided to take the opportunity to watch the extended versions at the cinema for the first time

Alice Sjöberg is an Social News Reporter working across all Reach Plc titles. Alice previously worked as an Entertainment Evergreen Specialist at Dexerto. She has a special interest in internet culture, relationship and lifestyle topics. She has written for both regional and national newspapers across the country.

Cineworld is celebrating their Unlimited feature, a membership programme which allows members to watch as many films as they want for a monthly fee, turning 25. So to celebrate, they brought back some of the top films from the last 25 years for fans to enjoy for a discounted rate for everyone.

So when I saw on social media that the Cineworld near me was showing all three of the Lord of the Rings movies three days in a row, I immediately knew I wanted to go. If there’s anything that’ll make those films better, it’s seeing them in the cinema. But when I later realised they were showing the extended versions, I got even more excited as I’d only ever watched the theatrical cuts of each movie.

So, I quickly booked tickets for me and my boyfriend, who is a big Lord of the Rings fan, and together we went to experience the iconic films on the big screen. But will 12 hours in total prove to make this trilogy ‘too much’? Only time would tell…

The Fellowship of the Ring

First up was of course the Fellowship of the Ring, which was showing on the Monday evening at 6.30pm. We made sure to get there early enough to use the bathroom and get ourselves some popcorn and drinks ahead of the three-and-a-half hour long film.

The first extra scene came right at the beginning, which saw the introduction of the one ring and how it came to be so powerful and feared among people in Middle Earth. As a novice in the world of Lord of the Rings, I really appreciated this, as it added extra depth into the story – not that it needs it.

Next up came the scenes in the Shire, which already were some of my favourite as I’d happily live there myself if I could. While I felt like it dragged a bit at some points, you just can’t beat the feel-good moments such as during Gandalf’s fireworks extravaganza. This truly made me excited for watching the rest of the movies, as the cinematic experiences made it even better.

It also added extra backstory to all of the Hobbit characters. While this is nice in the moment, it really adds a nice build up and backstory for the later films.

One of the extra scenes that truly blew me away in this film was when Frodo and Sam spotted the Wood Elves heading to the Undying Lands. While it didn’t add much in terms of the plot, the scenery, music, and overall emotion of the moment made it a breathtakingly beautiful scene that ended with me covered in goosebumps.

As I’d not watched the films from beginning to end in so long, there were also moments and scenes in this film that I’d completely forgotten about, which made it feel like I was watching them again for the first time.

The extra scenes also made me sympathise with Aragorn right from the start. Don’t get me wrong, he is and remains one of my favourite characters, but seeing him visit his mum’s monument in Rivendell and sing and Elvish song that refers back to his feelings for Arwen really makes him more relatable.

The Two Towers

The following evening, it was time for my boyfriend’s favourite film, The Two Towers. It follows the journeys of the members of the Fellowship, after it got divided into three groups and went on their separate adventures to do what they could to prepare for the upcoming fight against antagonist Saruman.

While I was excited for this, our cinema experience started with a disappointment as we soon realised all the ads and trailers were the exact same as the previous night, and they were even in the same order! While this isn’t the movies fault, I had hoped for a bit more variety.

However, one of my favourite parts about this film was how much screen time Merry and Pippin got. Once again, I’d completely forgotten about their adventures with the Ents, especially Treebeard.

A particular favourite moment of mine was when they drank the nourishment of the Ents and quickly starts competing to see who can grow taller than the other. Since the films are quite heavy and dark overall, these lighthearted moments become more enjoyable.

Another example of this is when Legolas and Gimli start to compete with each other over how many orcs they’ve killed at the end battle, which not only helps show the competitive friendship between the two, but also makes the long fight scene a bit more fun and light-hearted.

Speaking of the fight scenes, of which there are many – these scenes have always been incredible to watch. But watching them in the cinema really made it worth having to stay up until almost midnight every night to watch them, even for someone like me who normally has a strict 10pm bedtime.

The Return of the King

All of the sudden, it was Wednesday and it was time to return to Cineworld for the longest movie in the trilogy. It also had an added 51 minutes of footage added to it, making the film over four hours long.

This film included several scenes I think I would miss if I rewatched the theatrical release now, as they truly made an already great film even better. The most notable scene in this extended version is Saruman’s death.

This takes place when Gandalf and the others come across a defeated Saruman who is still defiant, but is quickly stabbed by Wormtongue and falls off his tower to his death. Meanwhile, in the theatrical cut, Saruman’s story just ends and he is simply not heard from again.

The extended version also included answers to a previous plot hole on how Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli take over the Black Ships, which I’m sure fans were overjoyed to learn when they first saw it.

Overall, I spent over 12 hours watching the extended versions of this trilogy in the cinema, but would I recommend it to others? Absolutely.

These films became even more amazing when watching them on the big screen, and the extended versions never felt like they were as long as they actually were as there were constantly interesting things happening.

I am so happy that Cineworld decided to bring these films back to the cinema, and I hope more cinemas will do the same in the future as I’m desperate to watch them again.

The original “Spider-Man” trilogy, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, is returning to the big screen with a special addition.

For the first time, “Spider-Man 2.1” — the extended edition of “Spider Man 2” — will be playing in theaters in 4K in a limited engagement presented by Fathom Entertainment. This version, released on DVD in 2007, features eight minutes of new footage, including a fan-favorite scene in which J. Jonah Jameson, played by J.K. Simmons, tries on the Spidey suit.

More than two decades and 10 Spider-Man movies after the original trilogy premiered, “Spider-Man 2” consistently ranks among the best of the franchise by critics and fans. Starring alongside Maguire as Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) are Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane “MJ” Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborn and Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Octavius.

“The success of ‘Spider-Man’ in 2002 helped launch the modern era of super hero films. To this day, Tobey Maguire’s take on Spider-Man resonates across generations,” Fathom Entertainment’s Chief Executive Ray Nutt said in a press release. “At Fathom Entertainment, we celebrate fandom and I am delighted that ‘Spider-Man 2.1’ in 4K will make its theatrical debut, a true gift for longtime fans and a thrilling discovery for new ones.”

“Spider-Man” will play in theaters Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, “Spider-Man 2.1” on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, and “Spider-Man 3” on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. Tickets will be available at Fathom Entertainment and participating theaters July 25.

Other films soon returning to theaters with Fathom Entertainment are “Clueless” (June 29-30), “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (July 13-16) and “The Sound of Music” (Sept. 13-17).