Watch Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki beat beat Esther Henseleit in a two-hole play-off to win the 2026 Women’s Open, her first major title.
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CARDI B is about to let everyone in on the story of her rollercoaster life — including working as a stripper.
I can reveal the rapper is the subject of a major new documentary from the same team behind programmes on Victoria Beckham, Pamela Anderson and Coleen Rooney.
Production company Dorothy Street Pictures is secretly working on the special, in which she will speak about her rags to riches story.
Cardi, who wore this eye-popping pink catsuit and matching hat for a performance in New York on Sunday, has quite a backstory, so I’m sure it will be riveting viewing.
She started off her working life as a stripper, and would entice men to hotel rooms and steal their money.
Her fortunes changed when she became a viral sensation a decade ago on apps such as Vine and Instagram, and eventually got signed to a label and scored hit songs including Wap and I Like It.
Cardi has not been short of controversy during her time in the showbiz spotlight, famously throwing a shoe at rival Nicki Minanj during a spat in 2018.
She has also had a difficult love life, getting married to Migos rapper Offset in 2017, and having four kids with him before they separating in 2023.
A source said: “Cardi is one of the most in-demand rappers in the world and is also one of the most interesting.
“She has lived her life in the public eye to some degree. But there’s a lot that she’s never opened up about, and this is her chance.
“Next year will mark a decade since she released her major-label debut single Bodak Yellow and so there’s a documentary in the works which will mark that.
“There’s a lot to talk about and she wants the public to see who she really is, because she often feels misunderstood.
“It’s expected to air on a big streaming service like Netflix, but the deal is still being hatched out.”
Cardi released her long-awaited second album Am I The Drama? last year and then went on a tour across North America.
And I won’t be surprised if we see her back on stage at British festivals next summer.
Kojo Funds has worked with acts ranging from Wizkid and Tion Wayne to Kano and Bugzy Malone since bursting on to the music scene a decade ago.
But the British singer has saluted the work ethic of top women in the industry and says they have inspired him.
His biggest chart hit to date is 2017 collaboration Finders Keepers with Mabel, and has also worked with Raye on a 2018 track called Check.
Kojo said in an exclusive interview: “Female artists who are operating at that level take their craft seriously. Put effort into what you’re doing, don’t do it anyhow.
“They’re very hard-working, I respect them for that. The work ethic… that’s the kind of thing I took from them.”
Kojo’s new single How Many will be on his EP Hello It’s Me Again, which is out on August 21.
And one person who’s bound to be giving it a spin is Cardi B.
Recalling how the US rapper discovered his music, he said: “Her first time in London, she went to a club and they were playing my music.
“Dun Talkin’ came on and she saw how people were hyping her up while she was moving to it.
“The next morning, she’s on Instagram singing it, with her hair messy, a little bit tipsy.”
They’ve since performed together and hung out, so I’m hoping a collaboration with her is on the cards next.
DANCING On Ice beauty Vanessa Bauer has been tipped for a career in Hollywood by Football Factory and The Business actor Tamer Hassan.
She has re-trained after the ITV show was axed, and plays Tamer’s girlfriend in new film Rise Of The Footsoldier: Retribution.
On how great she was playing Isabella Chaika opposite his character, Colonel Sullivan, he told me: “Vanessa has a future in films, 100 per cent.
She looks great, she carries herself well.
“She’s definitely got some chops to be an actress.”
Vanessa joined Dancing On Ice in 2018 when the show was revived.
She won with Jake Quickenden, and was a runner-up several times with celebs including Diversity’s Perri Kiely and Towie’s Joey Essex.
But the show ended again in 2025 and now she is exploring new paths, having also appeared in Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club.
THE race for No1 is hotting up.
Shakira’s Dai Dai now is just 118 copies ahead of Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In – closing the gap from 609 copies the previous day.
The World Cup anthem will be her third chart-topper if she can hang on to the lead until Friday.
But if Rein Me In can clinch it, it will become the longest-running No1 of all time, with 19 weeks at the top.
OSCAR-winning director Christopher Nolan says there’s one genre that’s too hard for him to tackle – the romcom.
The man behind movies such as Oppenheimer, Interstellar and The Dark Knight would be “terrified” at the prospect of making one.
The Brit whose new epic The Odyssey is No1 at the box office, explained: “I think doing a romcom would be incredibly difficult.
I love watching those movies. But no, I think people who direct comedy, people who do comedy . . . that’s one of the hardest things in the world, to make people laugh that way.
“If I show a film to people and maybe they don’t respond to bits of it, I’m like, ‘Ah, they don’t get it. Whatever’. There’s no hiding behind that when you do comedy, so I would be terrified.”
TYLA is hitting the road for a 34-date global tour following the release last week of her second album A*POP.
The Chanel singer has announced she will open the tour in Paris on October 12 before shows at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on October 15 the O2 Apollo Manchester on October 19 and O2 Academy Glasgow on October 18.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am this Friday through tylaworld.com.
THERE was no chance of Zara Larsson getting cold feet about her latest brand deal with these slippers.
She wore the funky footwear – designed as giant feet in flip flops – while reclining on a sofa as part of a campaign for re-sale site Depop.
Zara put 30 pieces of clothing from her own wardrobe up for sale, and they sold out almost straight away.
She said: “I’m not particularly sad about releasing anything of mine into the world because I know I’m gonna get many more beautiful things back. Fashion is fun in that way.”
Given all the designer brands desperate for her to wear their clothes, I am sure she has plenty of options.
DANNY DYER and Ray Winstone are teaming up again, two decades after appearing in TV film All In The Game.
The hardmen, pictured together in 2006, have been cast in UK crime thriller Going Under, which is due to hit cinemas next spring.
Production on the film has just been completed, after being shot in secret.
It will follow Ray’s gangster character Riley and his right-hand man Don, played by Danny, trying to pull off one final deal.
CHARLI XCX is ready for our fourth heatwave of the summer – and has stripped off to prepare.
She shared this photo of her wearing a bra and sunglasses on Instagram, just as it was revealed there will be a picture of the singer going on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
A 2024 photo of Charli in a white crop top, which was taken by Harley Weir and used to promote her album Brat, has been added to the gallery’s collection and will be in its History Makers Now space.
Senior curator Brandei Estes said: “We are delighted to acquire this striking portrait of Charli XCX, which captures one of the defining cultural figures of her generation.”
WILD Child actress Emma Roberts has tied the knot to afellow screen star Cody John.
Emma, who appeared in American Horror Story and is the niece of Hollywood A-lister Julia Roberts, wore a Monique Lhuillier dress, and told Vogue: “I’ve been married in a movie before, and I tried out wedding dresses for that, which feels so weird. Now, it’s the real deal.
“I wanted it to feel very vintage-inspired.”
The couple started dating in 2022.
LIZ HURLEY has revealed the secret to her romance with Billy Ray Cyrus is a shared love of birdwatching.
She said: “We’ve been together nearly 18 months, but we spend the vast majority of our time in the countryside, whether it’s in England or Tennessee.
“We like doing the same things, which some people would think is a little odd. We like bird watching. We’ve got binoculars, we’ve got long lenses.”
The relationship has been especially good for her son, filmmaker Damian, who has been able to meet Billy’s superstar daughter Miley.
Liz added on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in the US: “When he was a young teen, he used to love all her music. I used to have to watch her music videos like Wrecking Ball a zillion times with him, so we were very familiar with who she was, and I knew I was going to like her, and I do like her.”
For more than a quarter-century, a lawsuit settlement from a case brought in Los Angeles federal court has dictated conditions for children held in immigration detention.
But now, the long-standing settlement — which set minimum standards for housing, education and medical care for migrant kids in federal custody, while strictly limiting how long they can remain there — hangs in the balance in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a challenge by the Trump administration.
At the same time, the federal judge in L.A. who presides over the agreement appears poised to appoint a powerful new enforcer to uphold it.
President Trump has long sought to scrap the Flores settlement, which dates back to the Clinton era. In recent months, the Trump administration has waged a legal battle to cancel the agreement, while also pleading with the district court not to order an independent monitor to boost its compliance.
“[Flores] is the only thing standing between them and indefinite detention of families,” said Leecia Welch, chief legal director at Children’s Rights, a plaintiff in the case.
Last month, Assistant Atty. Gen. Brett A. Shumate pressed the 9th Circuit court to give the administration “the thumbs-up or thumbs-down” on its bid to tear up the settlement and end what he called “judicial micromanagement” of federal immigration policy.
“The Flores consent decree is an agreement which goes well above the constitutional floor,” Shumate told the court during oral arguments in June. “We’re asking that [the Department of Homeland Security’s] compliance with the law be assessed based on the law, not a 30-year-old settlement agreement.”
The three-judge panel sharply questioned the Justice Department’s legal claims, saying little had changed since the government last petitioned the court to have the agreement dissolved in 2020 — a request that was rejected.
The judges also pressed Trump administration lawyers to respond to evidence from scores of declarations filed in district court since last summer, in which detainees describe struggling to sleep in freezing, brightly lit rooms, vomiting from eating spoiled food, and begging for diapers, baby formula and asthma inhalers.
“You’ve said a lot of the reason you’re doing this is to discourage families from coming in the first place, so you’re basically punishing children because their parents brought them here,” Judge Marsha S. Berzon said.
Berzon, a Clinton appointee who issued a fiery dissent last year in a case that challenged the administration’s use of armed troops in immigration enforcement operations, asked: “You’re saying there’s no constitutional problem there?”
“I understand the detention of children at the border is a controversial policy issue, but that’s a policy decision,” Shumate said.
Just a day earlier, Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee scolded a pair of government attorneys from her bench in Los Angeles, signaling she would probably appoint a new special master to force compliance with the settlement agreement.
“We’re talking about 11 years of this,” Gee said during the June 1 status conference. “None of these issues are new to me. These are all issues on which I have issued orders. I am very displeased about the fact that my orders are being disregarded and are not being complied with, not in good faith.”
“Both sides seem to be operating in different planes of reality,” Gee said.
The disputed settlement emerged from a 1985 lawsuit over the fate of 15-year-old Jenny Flores, a Salvadoran refugee who was picked up by federal immigration enforcement and left to languish in detention in Pasadena. At the time, there was little awareness that children were among the tens of thousands of migrants fleeing civil war and state collapse in Central America — with virtually no U.S. government infrastructure to protect them.
“It was a surprise,” said Benjamin Roth, a professor at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work and an expert on the agreement. “There was no thought then that there were kids in this mix.”
The current court fight centers on an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, run by the private prison company CoreCivic, where the vast majority of children and families in immigration custody are held.
In court filings earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it has “maintained core Flores-related services” at Dilley and argued its length-of-stay numbers were skewed by a small number of families it was forced to keep because they are considered “national security risks.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection likewise boasted its July 1 report “shows our highest level of compliance to date.”
Immigrant rights advocates called those claims “a fiction.”
“We see the same sorts of problems and concerns and misery that we’ve been seeing for the last 15 months,” said Welch, the Children’s Rights attorney.
In dozens of declarations collected as part of the court record, detainees recounted broccoli full of worms, diapers doled out one at a time, and staff tearing up children’s drawings.
One mother said medical staff laughed off her 8-year-old’s broken arm. Another said she was denied treatment for hepatitis B, even after doctors told her she could develop liver cancer and pass the infection on to her unborn daughter.
Still others described unexplained rashes, outbreaks of diarrhea and infestations of lice, among a host of other maladies for which many said they were offered only Tylenol or allergy medication. Even Christmas brought misery in the form of an ICE agent dressed up as Santa, who shoved away children trying to hug him, according to the detainee declarations submitted to the court.
“What happened on Christmas Day can only be described as an atrocity,” one mother recalled. Children “dropped everything, ran up to him, begged for candy and wanted to take pictures. Some children even cried and begged him for their freedom. Santa himself acted very indifferent.”
The Department of Justice argued that immigrant kids could still sue over poor conditions if the Flores settlement is unwound. But experts say existing protections would collapse without the legal architecture of the consent decree to support them.
“[Under the settlement], the federal government has built out a very efficient system to provide temporary care for kids,” Roth said. “If Flores is dissolved, it’s not going to be easy to stand up this same set of programs.”
If the Trump administration loses before the 9th Circuit, the fight over Flores could soon escalate to the Supreme Court.
“I’d be shocked if the 9th Circuit rules for the government, and I’d be shocked if the Trump administration doesn’t appeal,” said Eric J. Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University and an expert on the high court.
But consent decrees are legally and politically complicated, and the treatment of migrant children further tangles the situation. Given the legal and political complexity, the Supreme Court could rule to keep the settlement in place, or decline to take the case at all, experts said.
“It’s more likely than not the court would stay away from this,” Segall said.
For now, both the district judge and the 9th Circuit panel appear fed up.
“I think my patience has come to an end,” Gee said during the recent hearing in her Los Angeles courtroom.
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U.S. wheat futures closed above $7 per bushel Wednesday for the first time since late 2023, driven by surging tensions in the Black Sea and hot weather in crop-growing areas around the world, including the U.S. Plains and Western Europe.
US President Donald Trump lingers on stage as Spain lift the 2026 World Cup trophy after beating Argentina 1-0 at the 2026 World Cup final.
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IT was seen as total madness by many and a charade by others.
But pop duo Wham!’s 1985 trip to China for two special concerts in the newly opened communist state turned out to be a stroke of genius.
The gruelling ten-day trip saw Wham! become the first Western band to perform in Communist China, and helped fast-track school pals George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, now 63, to superstardom.
During their illustrious time together they sold more than 25 million records worldwide and clocked up five UK No1 singles including Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, I’m Your Man and Last Christmas.
Crucially the trip helped the duo crack America and, armed with their catalogue of hits and flanked by a camera crew, it was filmed for what would have been a gritty documentary about the band leading a Western revolution in the country.
Speaking in the documentary, George, who died on Christmas Day 2016, recalls: “It was historic. There were only a few things that you can do as a pop band that haven’t been done before.
“It was a great privilege being the first people to play real Western pop music to those people.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. It’s just that it was a pretty hard couple of weeks.”
Wham!’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, initially believed that getting renowned British director Lindsay Anderson on board to make the film was a massive coup which would add credibility.
But, it quickly became apparent they had completely different visions for the documentary.
George and Andrew just wanted to make a glossy concert film, while Lindsay, who openly criticised the group, was focused on a hard-hitting documentary about the westernization and opening up of Communist China.
And due to these creative differences the documentary was never shown and the tapes were archived.
Now, for the first time, the incredible footage has been unearthed and the historic trip is told in George and Andrew’s own words in the 90-minute film, Wham! 10 Days In China.
While often unpredictable, the late singer was by all accounts far better at playing the media game than his bandmate.
At a VIP screening at Soho House in London, Andrew told The Sun: “Frankly, I behaved like a bit of a t**t, honestly.
“We were relatively young, but we had also had a good two or three years worth of experience with the press.
“We knew the game. We knew what was at stake. We knew how to behave and how not to — but I just chose not to.”
The band had formed just four years earlier, releasing their debut single Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) in June 1982.
Andrew knew going to China was a “risky” move for the famous duo, who had experienced phenomenal success but were yet to reach the international stardom they eventually went on to achieve.
He adds in the film: “Wham! In China . . . I was cynical. Untried. Untested. Risky.
“I didn’t really like it. Landing in China, I felt we were there on false pretences. It was a circus. Wham! in China was more than just the shows.
“A show had to be made of Wham! in China and that meant official events, interacting with our hosts. It was just part and parcel of being there.
“Being dragged around to contrived scenes was not something either of us was particularly comfortable with.”
However they took the risk, determined to break the US market as quickly as possible.
Andrew continued: “To break the States was a huge ambition for any act — and George’s ambition overrode everything.
“However, he had suffered with his voice breaking down.
“He had undiagnosed polyps on his vocal cords at that point and so he didn’t want to spend months touring small venues. We wanted to fast-track Wham! straight to the top. Something was going to have to be done.”
Run like a royal tour, as well as the two concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the trip included a number of photo opportunities and government-organised events.
The whole tour was masterminded by Napier-Bell, who saw the opening of China as a way to make history and fast-track the boys to the top.
In return, China got foreign investment.
Alongside the more obvious choices, such as a trip to the Great Wall of China, Wham! were guests of honour at a State Dinner and a garden party at the Ambassador’s house inside the British Embassy.
Publicly, the pair put on a great show, making small talk and mingling with dignitaries.
But amusing new footage reveals the stars oscillated from finding the whole thing hilarious to being sick to death of being wheeled out to all and sundry.
During the dinner, they were presented with an intricate tapestry, prompting George to whisper to the camera like a naughty schoolboy: “It’s a bath mat. We will cut it down the middle. My mum can have one half and Andrew’s mum can have the other half.”
The long, drawn-out trip to the Ambassador’s house almost pushed them too far.
Andrew recalls: “Our schedule was such that we were being pulled in a variety of different directions.
“The Ambassador’s residence was a bit of 1930s Blighty transported into Peking. They seemed to exist in this colonial microcosm. It’s quite strange.
“There was nowhere to hide in there. I thought I would be polite and play the game, but Yog [George’s nickname] didn’t feel the same way. He thought it was an utter charade.”
George was so fed up with parts of the trip that he upped sticks and left Andrew in the middle of a cassette signing with fans.
His bemused bandmate was forced to make up excuses that George was feeling sick and needed a lie-down to cover up the fact the star had simply had enough.
In historic footage of the moment, seen for the first time, a baffled Andrew says: “He’s left me in the lurch before, but once bitten, twice aware — or twice as aware.”
Grilled as to how he would describe his partnership with George, he added: “Stormy, but mostly on the fair side. He’s a nice enough chap.”
While the band split in 1986, the pair went way back before fame, having known each other since 1973, after meeting on their first day at Bushey Meads School, Herts.
Asked if he found watching footage of his late friend difficult, Andrew added to The Sun: “Sometimes it catches me out.
“The moments that really appeal to me are scenes like the one where we are bickering in the back of the car — just two youngsters, two friends.
“They are the ones where you can see the essence of real friendship. They are the things I miss, as we are unable to share them now.
“Anyone who had his company and his friendship for an extended period of time will know he was a deeply caring chap, and we all miss him. To have lost the best friend I have ever had is difficult, as they are irreplaceable. A childhood friend who you have spent all those years with.”
The trip wasn’t without drama.
During an internal flight, one of the band’s trumpet players suffered a breakdown — stabbing himself in the stomach and forcing his way into the cockpit.
For the first time, backing singer Shirlie Kemp — who went on to become one half of Pepsi & Shirlie along with Helen DeMacque — speaks about how she was left terrified and covered in her bandmate’s blood.
Shirlie said: “It was one of the most scary experiences of my life.”
Despite the mile-high terror, Wham!’s trip was hailed a success, both in terms of winning over the Chinese with their music and cracking America.
Chatting to The Sun, Andrew says he believes his late pal would be most proud of the fact the gigs helped inspire a generation of children in China to get into music, many of whom had never even danced in public before attending the Wham! gig.
Andrew told us: “I think George would feel very much the same way as I, in that the legacy that exists for the Chinese people who were at the show is the most meaningful and substantial of all the legacies.
“It achieved what it was supposed to. The trip was designed to raise our profile in the US, as we didn’t want to do a long tour. Yog didn’t like being away from home for extended periods.
“He would find the fact that there are Chinese artists whose careers may exist only because they saw Wham! incredible.”
Venezuela’s reconstruction is hampered by persistent US sanctions and frozen assets. (Rome Arrieche)
Caracas, July 17, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – A group of US Congress members addressed a letter to President Donald Trump advocating an immediate removal of sanctions against Venezuela in the wake of its recent double earthquake.
“These economic restrictions are severely hampering urgent relief efforts, and will continue to threaten Venezuela’s recovery and long-term reconstruction if allowed to remain in place,” the text read.
The missive was signed by 14 representatives from the Democratic Party, including Jesús García, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They cited the United Nations estimates of earthquake damage as high as US $37 billion, roughly a third of Venezuela’s current GDP.
“The existing sanctions regime on Venezuela has far-reaching indiscriminate effects,” the legislators continued. “The removal of sanctions will allow state institutions to more effectively coordinate and deliver emergency healthcare, shelter and food.”
The letter was backed by a number of NGOs, including Just Foreign Policy, Demand Progress, and Peace Action.
Venezuela was rocked by near-simultaneous 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes on June 24 that caused widespread destruction in north-central regions. The coastal state of La Guaira was the worst hit, with hundreds of collapsed buildings. The latest official death count stands at nearly 5000.
Since 2017, Washington has levied wide-reaching sanctions against Venezuela, targeting key sectors such as banking, mining, trade, and especially the oil industry. Coercive measures against Venezuela’s all-important energy sector have caused revenue losses estimated at more than US $20 billion per year. The sanctions regime imposed during Trump’s first administration was largely kept in place by the Joe Biden White House.
Venezuela’s GDP contracted by three-quarters between 2014 and 2020, with 88 percent of the contraction taking place under the US economic blockade. In recent days, hundreds of scholars have also demanded the lifting of coercive measures against Venezuela.
Despite pledges of assistance following the devastating tremors, the Trump White House has not entertained any sanctions relief, issuing only a four-month license allowing earthquake relief-related transactions.
However, the US representatives called the measure “entirely insufficient” due to their limited scope and overcompliance from financial institutions.
They urged the Trump administration to “do everything to facilitate Venezuela’s access to its frozen assets abroad.” Venezuelan leaders have called on Washington and its allies to lift sanctions and unfreeze assets for reconstruction efforts. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez penned a letter to UK King Charles III requesting the release of around US $4.5 billion in Venezuelan gold held by the Bank of England.
The US and European allies are estimated to hold over $10 billion in other assets, including frozen bank accounts and roughly $5 billion in IMF-issued Special Drawing Rights (SDR). In contrast, US offers of post-earthquake humanitarian aid have only totaled $386 million.
Since the January 3 military strikes and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has seized control of Venezuelan export revenues, particularly from oil sales. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the acting Rodríguez administration must submit a “budget request” before accessing its own funds.
Trump has repeatedly stated that the US has recouped the costs of the January 3 operation “many times over” from its undisclosed cut taken from Venezuelan oil proceeds. Economist Francisco Rodríguez has found a significant delay in Washington’s disbursement of Venezuelan funds.
The Trump administration also took advantage of the June 24 natural disaster to significantly expand its military footprint in the Caribbean nation. The Southern Command confirmed the presence of more than 900 servicemen on Venezuelan territory by the end of June.
US forces have taken over air traffic coordination, communications, and security operations at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, while two US warships have established a “command-and-control node” at La Guaira port.
Edited by Lucas Koerner in Caracas.
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Front-month gold futures plunged below $4,000/oz Monday after fresh strikes between the U.S. and Iran sent oil prices surging higher, reviving concerns about inflation and the potential for tighter monetary policy.
The latest escalation and President Trump’s declaration that the
Turkey renewed its push for greater defence cooperation within NATO on Wednesday as President Tayyip Erdogan urged alliance members to remove restrictions that limit defence-industrial collaboration among allies. Ankara has long argued that political disagreements should not prevent NATO members from working together on defence projects, particularly as Europe seeks to strengthen its military capabilities in response to growing security threats.
The appeal comes as NATO leaders gather in Ankara for a summit focused on increasing defence spending, expanding military production and reinforcing the alliance amid continued tensions with Russia and instability in the Middle East.
Addressing NATO leaders at the opening of the summit, Erdogan said restrictions on defence cooperation between allies should be removed.
“Restrictions among allies on defence cooperation, especially in the defence industry, must be lifted,” he said.
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He warned that excluding NATO members that are outside the European Union from European defence initiatives could create unnecessary divisions.
“At a time when a model of cooperation based on common sense and reason is possible, excluding allies that are not members of the (European) Union would lead to artificial divisions in Europe,” Erdogan said.
Turkey has repeatedly sought participation in European defence initiatives, including the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) funding programme, which aims to strengthen the continent’s defence industry.
Despite possessing NATO’s second-largest military and becoming a major producer and exporter of defence equipment, Ankara has largely remained outside several Europe-led security projects because of political disputes with some EU member states.
Turkish officials argue that NATO allies should cooperate more closely regardless of EU membership.
Erdogan’s appeal came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated Washington could ease some longstanding tensions with Ankara.
During a meeting with Erdogan on Tuesday, Trump said he intended to lift U.S. sanctions imposed on Turkey and would decide whether to allow Ankara back into the F-35 fighter jet programme.
Turkey was removed from the programme after purchasing Russia’s S-400 air defence system in 2019, a move that triggered U.S. sanctions and strained relations between the two NATO allies.
Any decision to reverse those measures is expected to face opposition in the U.S. Congress.
Erdogan said Turkey remains on track to meet NATO’s target of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030.
He announced that Ankara had allocated an additional $24 billion to its Steel Dome integrated air defence project, which is intended to strengthen both Turkey’s national security and NATO’s collective air and missile defence capabilities.
The Turkish president also called on alliance members to assume greater responsibility for Europe’s security while preserving NATO unity.
Turkey is expected to continue pressing for full participation in European defence initiatives as NATO members expand military spending and industrial cooperation. Whether European governments are prepared to ease political objections remains uncertain, while any U.S. decision on sanctions relief or Turkey’s return to the F-35 programme is likely to face congressional scrutiny. The outcome could shape Ankara’s role in NATO’s evolving defence architecture in the coming years.
With information from Reuters.
A MULTI-MILLION pound karting attraction is set to come to a major seaside city.
Thrill-seekers will be able to experience the ride in just two years time.
The brand-new attraction – known as Skyline Swansea – is set to bring Europe’s first ever skyline luge to the Welsh city.
The £49million experience will see visitors taking a cable car up the mile-long stretch from the Copper Quarter to Kilvey Hill.
Once there, thrill-seekers will be able to ride a three-wheeled luge cart – a type of reclining sled – down a 1,012-meter snaking track, propelling visitors downwards using gravity.
Three luge tracks will be available to ride upon opening, along with a children’s adventure park, a 50mph sky swing, and a 150-seat restaurant with a separate bar area.
The mountain biking trails that are currently available on the hill will also be maintained and improved, with additional trails to be added.
New Zealand-based Skyline Enterprises, the firm behind the project, revealed that construction is currently underway, with an estimated completion date of mid-2028.
The leisure company said their mission was to “open up Kilvey Hill for everyone to enjoy, bringing accessible tourism to the heart of Swansea” and “where the sweeping views of Swansea Bay, Gower, and Bannau Brycheiniog can be enjoyed by all”.
This marks the firm’s first project in the UK, having built similar style sites across New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and South Korea.
The 193-metre hill also remains a popular site for hikers, cyclists and trail runners, with an estimated 140,000 visitors each year.
However, the new attraction is projected to bring in upwards of 450,000 visitors annually, with more than half coming from outside of Wales.
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Wall Street ended the holiday-shortened week higher as investors looked past softer-than-expected labor market data and increased bets that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates before year-end.
The June jobs report showed the U.S. added just 57,000 jobs, missing expectations, while the
Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane explains that the EU won’t lift crucial sanctions on Iran until a formal nuclear agreement is reached. The bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also clarified that human rights-related sanctions will continue regardless.
Published On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026
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Europe’s highest outdoor lift is used by 40,000 people a year
Some of the world’s most jaw-dropping lifts can be found in luxury hotels, including the highest outdoor lift in Europe, nestled in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Bürgenstock Resort is home to the remarkable Hammetschwand lift, offering stunning views of Lake Lucerne.
The Hammetschwand lift was built between 1900 and 1905 by pioneering hotelier Franz Josef Bucher, at a cost of 500,000 Swiss francs (around £470,000). It remains the quickest route up to the viewpoint, climbing 153 metres (502 feet) in under a minute.
Those planning a visit should bear in mind that to reach the foot of the lift, you’ll need to walk the breathtaking Felsenweg cliff path.
It is estimated that over 40,000 people use the Hammetschwand lift annually, and around 200 to 250 riders per day.
On Tripadvisor, one visitor advised choosing “the perfect sunny day to enjoy the view.” They went on to say: “This is a fantastic view, the elevator is just too quick, but still worth a visit.”
Another said: “You do the Burgenstock track to the lift and it is already by itself stunning!!! Nobody talks about it. It’s a hidden gem in Switzerland!
“Then you arrive at that special spit where the lakes of the four cantons connect, and it’s breathtaking. A bit ahead, there’s the lift and the adventure to one of the most beautiful views ever. It’s easy, it’s accessible, it’s unbelievably beautiful. I will do it again.”
Among other remarkable examples is the Hotel Santa Caterina’s lift in Amalfi, Italy, which boasts breathtaking views. Carved into the rugged cliffside, the glass-fronted elevator takes guests down to the exclusive Beach Club and the hotel’s Italian seafood restaurant.
In Greece, the Corfu Holiday Palace features a stunning lift that transports guests down the cliffside to the beach in just moments, treating them to gorgeous views across the bay while providing far easier access to the white sands below.
The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, United States, is home to one of the most iconic lifts on the planet. Given the hotel’s striking pyramid shape, the lifts travel between floors at a diagonal 39-degree angle, treating guests to a spectacular outlook over the atrium as they make their way to one of the hotel’s 4,407 rooms.
Three years ago, Mattel Inc. struck box-office gold — or rather, pink — with the billion-dollar success of “Barbie.”
In its first return to theaters since the female-forward phenomenon, the El Segundo toymaker is turning to the brawny He-Man for another box-office lift.
Its latest film, “Masters of the Universe,” opens this weekend, as Mattel looks to build on that previous success and continue extending its signature toy brands into the entertainment arena.
“The movie is very much in tune with culture,” said Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz. “Everything is much more contemporary relative to what was created more than 40 years ago, but it’s still very true to the origin story and to the DNA of the brand.”
The new film arrives at a pivotal time for Mattel, which is facing pressure from investors to grow its business. The maker of Hot Wheels, American Girl and Uno has recently confronted a challenging market for toys, beset by tariffs on goods produced overseas and weaker-than-expected demand for Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price preschool products.
Amid uncertainty in the toy market and the fallout from tariffs, Mattel’s net income dropped 25% to $398 million in 2025. And since the company announced disappointing holiday sales totals in February, its stock has dropped more than 30%, closing at $14.34 on Wednesday.
“Masters of the Universe” toys at Mattel headquarters in El Segundo.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The share price slide prompted investor Southeastern Asset Management to send a letter last month to Mattel leadership suggesting the toy maker should sell itself and go private. Southeastern manages about 4% of the company’s stock on behalf of its clients.
“The frustration among investors has been the fact that if you look at the business from 2021 through 2025 and even this year … the business really hasn’t grown,” said Eric Handler, a Roth Capital senior media and entertainment analyst, referring to Mattel. “This is a company that needed something fresh in the portfolio, and there’s a wide range of investments being made, of which ‘Masters of the Universe’ is one part.”
Kreiz pushed back on the idea that the company is not growing. In the fourth quarter of 2025, net sales were up 7% to $1.8 billion, though the result was not as strong as the company expected.
Mattel has spent $1.2 billion in the last three years to buy back shares, with an additional $1.5-billion share repurchase planned for the next three years.
“We’re investing in our own stock because we believe it is undervalued,” he told The Times in an interview at his office, which has floor-to-ceiling windows that give an expansive view of El Segundo. “We absolutely agree that the share price doesn’t reflect the progress that we’ve achieved over the last few years financially, operationally, our place in culture, the strength of our brands, and the continued expansion of the business. And more importantly, the potential that we have down the road.”
“Masters of the Universe” is a key variable in that equation.
Ynon Kreiz, chief executive of Mattel.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The movie, which had a budget of roughly $170 million, is expected to bring in $25 million to $35 million in the U.S. and Canada during its debut weekend. That’s a far cry from the $162-million opening haul of “Barbie,” but box-office analysts say that film captured the cultural zeitgeist in a way that’s hard to replicate.
The ‘80s-era “Masters of the Universe” is “a property that was famous with a certain group of fans, but it hasn’t had much of a pop culture presence,” said Shawn Robbins, who directs movie analytics at Fandango and founded the forecasting site Box Office Theory. The movie has notched a respectable 74% approval rating from critics on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
“There’s been so many callbacks to nostalgic franchises,” he said. “Some people are always on board for them, and maybe the positive reviews bring people in who were on the fence. But people are also ready for something fresh and new and exciting.”
Kreiz said he’s often asked how the company will match the success of “Barbie.”
“The answer is, we don’t need to match ‘Barbie’s’ success for movies to have a meaningful economic impact on the company,” he said. “Not every movie will be ‘Barbie.’ If we create quality content that people want to watch and create quality experiences that people are engaged with, good things happen, and these brands will resonate and will be here for years to come.”
While theatrical revenue is important, the measure of success for “Masters of the Universe” could also include its eventual reception on streaming platforms and, of course, toy sales, analysts said.
There are hundreds of products tied to the movie, from collectible action figures of Nicholas Galitzine’s He-Man and Camila Mendes’ Teela, to branded Uno decks, Legos, clothing and skateboards.
Skeletor from “Masters of the Universe.”
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
“For us, it’s a huge win already,” said Robbie Brenner, president of Mattel Studios and chief content officer, who also served as a producer on the film. “We have reinvigorated and relaunched this brand that has been around for decades … and done it in a way with just the best-in-class toys. Obviously that’s our bread and butter. And then to have made an epic, incredible movie … is a huge win.”
While Mattel does not yet have sales totals for its “Masters of the Universe” toys, executives said during an earnings call in late April that product sales were “growing double digits” amid strong customer demand, particularly from adults.
When Kreiz was named CEO in 2018, he saw the potential for Mattel to expand beyond toys. In an entertainment landscape dominated by known franchises and intellectual property, the former TV and media executive wanted to leverage the company’s IP in new ways to attract consumers.
Hence, Mattel has expanded into real-world experiences such as a Barbie pop-up at Coachella or a traveling Hot Wheels monster truck show. In February, the company fully acquired Mattel163 mobile game studio after buying out a stake held by Chinese tech firm NetEase. The studio has released games based on Uno, Skip-Bo and other Mattel intellectual property.
And on the film and television front, the Mattel Studios division now has 51 people — most of whom are based in El Segundo — focused on projects across platforms.
After “Masters of the Universe,” Mattel Studios plans to release a “Matchbox” streaming movie in October. The division has more than a dozen films in development that have been announced, including an American Girl movie with Paramount, Polly Pocket with Amazon MGM Studios, as well as a live-action Magic 8 Ball series from M. Night Shyamalan.
“The journey for the company was to evolve from being a toy manufacturer that was making items to become an IP company that is managing franchises,” Kreiz said. “It’s not that we’re not creating toys — it’s obviously a big part of our business — but the opportunity is to expand so much more than the physical product.”
“Masters of the Universe” was in development for years at several different studios before it was picked up by Amazon MGM.
That partnership stemmed from Mattel’s work on the “Barbie” movie with Courtenay Valenti, then president of production and development at Warner Bros. Pictures who is now head of film at Amazon MGM.
“Masters of the Universe” felt like a good property for Mattel to bet on because of its nostalgia factor and deep bench of colorful characters, from the green tiger Battle Cat to the heavily armored Ram Man and ever meme-able Skeletor, which the company hopes will attract new audiences, Brenner said.
The movie is directed by Travis Knight — chief executive of stop-motion studio Laika who also led the 2018 “Transformers” spin-off “Bumblebee” — who Brenner said “nailed” the narrative’s tone. (It didn’t hurt that Knight was already a fan of the franchise and had sported the He-Man haircut as a child.)
“It’s a property that’s kind of out there,” said Brenner, who grew up watching He-Man and his twin sister She-Ra. “It’s got all these crazy characters. But just riding that line between what is funny and kind of irreverent and then kind of heartfelt, that is a very hard thing to put in a blender and to get right.”
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