top

WUTHERING Heights star Margot Robbie would soak up views of the Yorkshire Dales from a bath while there for filming, a hotel owner has revealed.

Staff said the 35-year-old Aussie became a real “Yorkshire lass”, wearing wellies and a wax jacket — and pulling pints.

Margot, who plays Cathy Earnshaw in the tragedy, spent three weeks at 17th-century Simonstone Hall Hotel in Hawes, North Yorks, last year.

Other cast members also stayed including Jacob Elordi, 28, who plays brooding Heathcliff.

Barbie actress Margot was given the hotel’s best room, the luxury £300-a-night Langtry Suite.

Staff said she was obsessed with having a daily bath in its free-standing tub by a large window so she could enjoy the view.

Read more on Margot Robbie

OH MAMA!

From getting ‘whipped’ to being racy on jet ski, Margot Robbie’s sex confessions

BIG SCREEN

The northern England beauty spot used to film Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights

Meanwhile, Australian Jacob requested a “dog-friendly” room for his golden retriever Layla.

Margot is effortlessly beautiful and even looked good in wellies and a wax jacket.

Hotel owner Jake Dinsdale on Margot

Hotel owner Jake Dinsdale told The Sun on Sunday: “Margot was absolutely lovely.

“She was very down-to-earth — a real Yorkshire lass at heart.

“Margot is effortlessly beautiful and even looked good in wellies and a wax jacket.”

He added: “I’ve got an old school Land Rover and she asked me to drive her to the set in it a couple of times.”

Jake said Margot had a go at pulling a pint of Simonstone Ale.

He added: “There were a few wild nights, drinking negronis and martinis, or hanging out in the hot tub or by the fire.

“But on weekends it was always very relaxed.

“Margot had a Sunday roast in the restaurant and enjoyed our afternoon tea.”

Filming took place in the Yorkshire Dales National Park 30 miles from Haworth, West Yorks, where Wuthering Heights author Emily Bronte grew up.

Margot returned in the summer for a break with producer husband Tom Ackerley and their baby son.

They visited Hardraw Force, England’s highest single drop waterfall — where Tom, 35, had a dip to recreate a scene in 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Custodian of the falls Mark Thompson said: “I remember Margot saying how much she enjoyed Yorkshire and they bought a photo of the falls from the gift shop.”

Wuthering Heights was released in cinemas on Friday.

The Mirror’s data team has crunched the numbers and found where in the country has the highest concentration of pubs – see if your hometown has made the cut in our rankings

The pub capital of the UK has been crowned, and it’s a beautiful part of the country with cosy inns and rolling hills.

It’s been a rough year for the pub trade. Many are facing increasingly tricky futures. A report by UK Hospitality has warned that six venues will close every day this year without support – a total of more than 2,000. That far outstrips the 378 that closed in 2025, according to the Institute for Licensing. The British Beer and Pub Association worries pubs will need to sell an extra 1.3 billion pints of beer a year to offset surging taxes.

However, as gloomy as the overall picture is, there are still thousands of incredible pubs across the country, and areas where the trade is, if not booming, then thriving in a relative sense.

The Mirror’s data team has crunched the numbers and found that the drinkers in the Derbyshire Dales are more well stocked with pubs than anywhere else in England and Wales. The rural council has a total of 152 pubs and bars within its borders, according to our analysis of government data.

READ MORE: I went to opening of major new Wetherspoons – everyone says the same thingREAD MORE: I met the King of Benidorm – he knows where to find 87p pints and best beaches

That works out as the equivalent of 25 for every 10,000 adults living there.

That’s the highest rate for any local authority in England and Wales, excluding two areas where extremely low population numbers skew the figures – the City of London (188 pubs and bars, equivalent to 132 per 10,000 adults) and the Isles of Scilly (six pubs, equivalent to 29 per 10,000).

Westminster has the next highest number of pubs relative to its drinking-age population. The London borough’s 407 boozers works out as 23 for every 10,000 resident adults.

Powys also has 23 per 10,000 adults with a total of 259 pubs.

That’s followed by Pembrokeshire with 21 per 10,000 adults, then four council areas with 18 pubs for every 10,000 adults – Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire, Gwynedd and Ceredigion.

You can see how many pubs there are for every 10,000 adults in each council area in the country by using our interactive map.

London councils fill the top 10 list of areas with the most pubs relative to their geographic size.The City of London’s 188 pubs and bars works out as the equivalent of 169 for every square mile (with the area famously known as “the Square Mile” being slightly larger than a square mile).

Westminster’s 407 pubs is equivalent to 49 every square mile. In Islington, there are 40 pubs every square mile, while in both Camden there are 29, in Hackney 22 and in both Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham there are 20 every square mile.

Liverpool has the highest density of pubs outside of London. The city’s 502 boozers works out as nearly 12 for every square mile, the 11th highest ratio in England and Wales.

Manchester’s 432 pubs work out at nearly 10 per square mile. Portsmouth’s 139 pubs are nine per square mile, Blackpool’s 114 pubs are also nine per square mile, Norwich’s 127 are eight per square mile, as are Brighton’s 244 pubs and Bristol’s 321.

Wales and England’s 25 pub capitals

1. Derbyshire Dales
2. Westminster
3. Powys
4. Pembrokeshire
5. North Yorkshire
6. Westmorland and Furness
7. Gwynedd
8. Ceredigion
9. Carmarthenshire
10. Staffordshire Moorlands
11. South Hams
12. Denbighshire
13. Monmouthshire
14. North Devon
15. Cotswold
16. East Lindsey
17. West Devon
18. High Peak
19. Malvern Hills
20. Herefordshire, County of
21. Shropshire
22. Isle of Anglesey
23. Calderdale
24. Great Yarmouth
25. Amber Valley

Vinicius Jr strikes twice ⁠from ⁠the penalty spot as Madrid move provisionally above Barcelona, who play Girona on Monday.

Vinicius Junior scored two penalties as Real Madrid moved top of La Liga with a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad, despite missing superstar Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe watched from the substitutes’ bench on Saturday after missing some team training sessions during the week with discomfort in his left knee.

Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said on Friday that he was able to play, but evidently, he did not want to rush his star goal-scorer.

Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, out with a hamstring injury, watched as Madrid produced an assured team performance to end the visitors’ 11-game unbeaten run across all competitions, and move two points clear of Barcelona before the defending champions visit Girona on Monday.

Perhaps Tuesday’s team dinner at a fancy restaurant paid for by Mbappe and Vinicius helped focus the players before facing Benfica in the Champions League playoffs next week.

Gonzalo Garcia opened the scoring with a slight touch to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the fifth minute. However, it was to be a largely frustrating game for the young attacker, who failed to make more of other good opportunities.

Dean Huijsen conceded a penalty for bringing down Yangel Herrera, and Mikel Oyarzabal duly equalised from the spot with a hard, high, centrally-placed shot in the 21st.

Referee Francisco Jose Hernandez Maeso awarded another penalty at the other end four minutes later, when Jon Aramburu caught Vinicius’s ankle, bringing him down. The Brazilian dusted himself off to score from the spot in the 25th minute.

Madrid captain Fede Valverde gratefully scored the third in the 31st after being left too much space at the edge of the penalty box. It was Valverde’s first goal of the season.

Garcia should have scored again before the break, when Valverde set him up for what looked like a simple tap-in, but Vinicius made it 4-1 with his second spot kick after the break, awarded after Aramburu was again penalised for bringing him down.

Dani Carvajal made his long-awaited return around the hour mark, when he replaced Alexander-Arnold for his first league appearance since Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Barcelona in October.

Vinicius thought he had scored a hat-trick when he headed in a free kick in the 90th minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

Elsewhere in La Liga on Saturday, Borja Iglesias scored in stoppage time, after having another seemingly good goal ruled out through VAR, to salvage a 2-2 draw for Celta Vigo at Espanyol.

A rueful Iglesias shook his head and smiled after having a 77th-minute goal disallowed when a long check determined there had been an offside infringement.

His frustrations grew when Ramon Terrats pulled the ball back for fellow substitute Tyrhys Dolan to score what he thought was the winner for Espanyol in the 86th minute.

But Iglesias equalised in the third minute of stoppage time when Pablo Duran set him up with his heel after a good run from Sergio Carreira.

Espanyol remained sixth, and Celta a point behind in seventh.

Also on Saturday, Getafe held on to upset visiting Villarreal 2-1, and the 10-man Sevilla drew with Alaves 1-1 in a duel between two strugglers.

The decision to send the Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) from the Caribbean to the Middle East was made after the Navy’s top officer said he would give “push back” against such an order over concerns about the welfare of the crew and the condition of the ship after being deployed for so long. The carrier departed Norfolk last June for the Mediterranean. It was later dispatched to the Caribbean last October by President Donald Trump to take part in a mission that ultimately resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Trump’s new deployment order for the Ford came as he is considering whether to attack Iran amid ongoing negotiations and after sending the Abraham Lincoln CSG to U.S. Central Command area of operations.

“I think the Ford, from its capability perspective, would be an invaluable option for any military thing the president wants to do,” Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), told a small group of reporters, including from The War Zone, last month at the Surface Navy Association’s (SNA) annual symposium. “But if it requires an extension, it’s going to get some push back from the CNO. And I will see if there is something else I can do.”

Caudle didn’t provide any specifics about what actions he would take to forestall an extension.

Regardless, the order to send the Ford CSG to the Middle East will extend its time away from its homeport even further. The ship won’t even get to the region until near the end of this month and it’s unclear how long it will be needed there, although Trump has mentioned something of a loose timeline.

“I guess over the next month, something like that,” Trump said Thursday in response to a question about his timeline for striking a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. “It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly.”

There is also a chance that the Ford could be ordered to turn around should a deal be reached with Iran.

Trump also said it would be “very traumatic” for Iran should no deal be reached.

On Friday, Trump gave reporters his rationale for ordering the Ford to the Middle East.

“We’ll need it if we don’t make a deal,” the U.S. president told reporters.

“The strike group’s current deployment has already been extended once, and its sailors were expecting to come home in early March,” The New York Times, which was first to report that the Ford was ordered to the Middle East, noted. “The new delay will further jeopardize the Ford’s scheduled dry dock period in Virginia, where major upgrades and repairs have been planned.”

It is publicly unknown what discussions the CNO had with senior administration and Pentagon officials and whether he raised any objections or sought alternatives to keeping the Ford at sea longer than anticipated. We have reached out to his office and will update this story with any details provided. We also reached out to the White House and Joint Chiefs of Staff, which referred us to the CNO’s office.

At the SNA conference, Caudle emphasized that there is a price to be paid for the strike group after being away from homeport for more than 200 days under often intense conditions. That was almost exactly a month ago.

“I am a big non-fan of extensions, and because they do have significant impact,” Caudle explained. “Number one, I’m a sailors-first CNO. People want to have some type of certainty that they’re going to do a seven-month deployment.”

Beyond affecting people, extensions also have a detrimental impact on the ship in addition to its previously noted dry dock schedule.

“So now, when the ship comes back, we expected the ship to be in this level of state in which it was used during that seven-month deployment, when it goes eight, nine-plus months, those critical components that we weren’t expecting to repair are now on the table,” Caudle pointed out. “The work package grows, so that’s disruptive.”

In addition to the maintenance issues Caudle brought up at the SNA conference, the Ford also is also plagued by sewage issues.

You can read more about how detrimental deferred maintenance is to carriers — or any U.S. Navy warship for that matter — that get their deployments extended in our deep dive here.

It is not unusual for there to be two carriers deployed to the Middle East region. For instance, a year ago, the U.S. Navy had both the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carriers in the Middle East at the same time, engaged in combat operations against Yemen-based Houthi rebels. However, the Navy has 10 active carriers after the Nimitz, the service’s oldest, returned to port in December ahead of a scheduled decommissioning. There are scheduling and logistical support limits to how many can be out at sea at the same time without massive disruptions down the line.

The USS Eisenhower, the last carrier to make an extended deployment, has seen its planned maintenance extended for a half year and counting as a result of the additional strain of being away from its home port for so long. The Navy’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget shows that work on the ship was supposed to have been completed last July, but it is still unfinished. The lack of availability reverberates across the rest of the fleet. That in turn limits the options commanders have when planning or preparing for contingencies and puts the overall carrier availability plan out of whack.

As for the rest of the fleet, three other carriers are in various maintenance periods taking them out of action for extended periods. In addition, the USS George Washington is forward deployed to Japan, two carriers are preparing for deployment and two are in post-deployment mode.

The move to send the Ford to the Middle East comes amid a growing buildup of forces ahead of a potential conflict with Iran. In addition to the Ford, the Pentagon is also dispatching a peculiarly small number of Air Force tactical aircraft to the Middle East, joining a limited number of aircraft already there on land and sea.

In addition to the Lincoln, there are also at least nine other warships in the region, including five Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers. Submarines are also there, but their presence is not disclosed, and there are more than 30,000 troops on bases around the Middle East.

During the first week of February, three U.S. Navy ships transited the Malacca Strait northbound with little fanfare, entering the Indian Ocean.

The trap was set. Expeditionary Sea Base USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), embarked with U.S. special forces, and destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG… pic.twitter.com/HTVXqTCV4f

— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) February 11, 2026

Another CSG, with its embarked tactical aircraft and Aegis-equipped escorts, would certainly bolster America’s firepower in the Middle East. As we have frequently pointed out, even with the jets that are there and those arriving, there is not enough tactical airpower there now for a major sustained operation. A second CSG would provide significant help.

It remains unknown what orders Trump will give or when, but a second carrier strike group in the region gives him more options.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Ruemmler’s resignation comes after emails revealed her links to the late sex offender.

The top lawyer at Goldman Sachs, Kathy Ruemmler, has announced that she will resign following revelations of her links to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ruemmler’s resignation comes after the United States Department of Justice’s latest release of investigative files about Epstein showed that she had received gifts from Epstein, offered him advice on managing his reputation, and likened him to an older brother.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon confirmed Ruemmler’s resignation in a statement on Thursday, saying that he respected her decision.

“Throughout her tenure, Kathy has been an extraordinary general counsel, and we are grateful for her contributions and sound advice on a wide range of consequential legal matters for the firm,” Solomon said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

“As one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy has also been a mentor and friend to many of our people, and she will be missed,” he said.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, Ruemmler, who previously served as White House counsel under US President Barack Obama, said that she would step down as chief legal officer and general counsel at the end of June.

Ruemmler told the newspaper that media attention on her relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, had become a “distraction”.

She had previously expressed regret for knowing Epstein, and denied providing the financier with legal representation or advocating on his behalf to any third party.

Ruemmler is just the latest in a slew of high-profile and powerful figures to exit prominent roles or face legal scrutiny in connection with the Epstein case.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday announced the resignation of his cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, in his latest effort to quell controversy surrounding his appointment of Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, whose ties to Epstein have prompted a police investigation into suspected misconduct in public office.

Also on Thursday, police in Norway searched properties belonging to former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland as part of a corruption probe focused on the politician’s associations with Epstein.

FORMER glamour model Katie Price has left fans stunned as she put on an eye-popping display in a plunging grey bra.

Katie flew back to Dubai over the weekend to visit her “Walter Mitty” husband Lee Andrews.

The 47-year-old shared a cheeky selfie with fans as she posed up in bed before winding down for the night.

Katie, who shocked the world with her whirlwind marriage just weeks ago, showed off her huge boobs.

She is thought to have had her 17th boob job back in 2024 amid her vow to have the biggest boobs in Britain.

The podcast host simply captioned the post: “Bedtime”

NOT SO SUBTLE

JJ Slater appears to take swipe at ex Katie Price with telling holiday snap

PRICED UP

Katie Price puts deposit on Dubai home despite fears over serial liar husband

Katie pouted for the snap as she posed in a tiny grey crop top.

This comes as fans are fearing for the reality TV star over her serial liar husband Lee.

The Sun revealed how self-proclaimed businessman Lee lives a ‘Walter Mitty’ style existence in Dubai.

Lee was accused of using artificial intelligence to fake images of himself with tech billionaire Elon Musk and reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

He also claimed on his LinkedIn profile to have been a Member of the Board of Advisors to the Labour Party since 2015.

But a Labour source said: “We don’t have a board of advisors and he doesn’t work with us.”

Katie’s pals have told The Sun she has put down a deposit on a property in Dubai.

And they worry she is planning to relocate to the country for good.

A source said: “Katie said she had found a property in Dubai and has put down money.

“The contract is signed and she’s forging ahead.

“She is really excited and thinks she is going to have her happy ending with Lee.

“But those close to Katie fear this could be the start of a potential scam.”

They added: “She was only supposed to be in Dubai for two days but she’s still not returned home.

“Katie says she is busy planning her new life with Lee and has splashed the cash on this property – but it’s making her closest friends and family anxious.”

The source claimed her family are concerned by his motives given what his ex partners have come out and said.

One of his exes Alana, who was engaged to Lee, told Katie to “run to the hills” and branded Lee a “liar” and a “narcissist”.

Meanwhile, ex Crystal echoed a similar sentiment and warned Katie not to give Lee money, after allegedly being duped out of £123,000 by him.

FOR many, winter means hibernation – but if you’re looking for something to do as a family, there are plenty of options out there.

Now might also be a good time to look for better deals, with fewer crowds and lower prices; those looking for winter days out and short breaks can feel more special than during peak season.

Whether you’re craving crisp countryside walks, a fun day filled with adventure and rides, or something a bit more spontaneous, a little planning goes a long way.

Winter can also open the door to seasonal events that don’t exist during the summer and cosy family experiences with less hustle and bustle.

Wondering where to get started?

That’s where this checklist comes in handy, as a practical, inspiration-led guide to making the most of the colder months.

Before you resign yourself to another winter spent mainly indoors, here are five ideas worth considering.

Top 5 travel checklist

Drayton Manor

LONDON’S West End is full of exciting productions, but it can be hard to keep track of them all and there are some you might want to see, finishing this year…

There is nothing worse than saying for ages that you want to see a specific show, finally coming to book it and finding out that it has actually ended.

Well, for a few big productions, that will be the case this year.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future will be leaving the West End on April 12.

You have just two months to catch Back to the Future in the West End if you haven’t seen it already.

The Olivier Award-winning production is currently at London’s Adelphi Theatre and is based on the 1985 film by the same name.

Read more on travel inspo

ALL IN

I found the best value all inclusive London hotel… just £55pp with free food & booze

TRIP TIPS

I’ve visited Disney 55 times… mistakes parents make that ruin trips & waste money

The show even features high-tech effects, like a flying DeLorean.

And while it is leaving London’s West End, it will be touring the UK from October with stops in Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Sunderland and Southampton.

Meanwhile, Billy Elliot will be replacing it, coming to the Adelphi Theatre from February 12, 2027 to July 31, 2027.

It will mark the production’s first time in the West End in over 10 years and is part of a national tour of the original award-winning production.

If you do want to catch Back to the Future before it leaves London – there are some great offers available.

Direct through the production’s website you can get weekend tickets from just £19.85 (do you see what they did there?).

Or you can get four tickets from £50.

If you have the TodayTix app, you can get £29.50 Rush tickets for same day performances.

And some midweek shows cost £23.

Starlight Express

Starlight Express will be leaving the West End on May 3.

Currently at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, the show has been running since 2024 and is considered to be the longest-running revival of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in London over the past two decades.

The show follows the story of a train set that has come to life.

The Starlight Express will then be heading off on a world tour in 2027.

What show will be at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre next is yet to be announced.

Tickets are still available including discounted tickets for 16-25-year-olds for £25 when booked in advance, directly.

Regular tickets cost from £27.50 per person.

TodayTix has Rush tickets for same day performances for £30.

Hercules

Disney’s Hercules will be leaving the West End on September 5.

The show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane opened last summer and has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for the anthem ‘Go the Distance’.

A replacement show has not yet been announced for the theatre.

If you book via LW Theatres, tickets cost as little as £29.50 and these are for lightning seats, which means you could pay less for a better seat.

TodayTix also sells Rush tickets for this price, for same day performances and regular tickets from £33.

MJ The Musical

MJ The Musical will perform its last show on February 28.

The show focuses on the creative process behind Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour, with the show set during rehearsals.

Once it finishes in London’s Prince Edward Theatre, the production will go on tour in Asia before launching a UK tour in 2027.

As for the London theatre, Beetlejuice The Musical is set to replace it and open at London’s Prince Edward Theatre in May 2026.

If you still want to catch MJ The Musical before it finishes, you can book via the production’s website with tickets costing from £58.

Though, if you have or download the TodayTix app, you can snap up Rush tickets for same day performances from just £30

And even regular tickets are cheaper via TodayTix, costing from £51.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (two parts)

The two-part version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be leaving the West End on September 20.

The much-loved stage show spin-off arrived at the Palace Theatre a decade ago but now it will be shrunken to just one show instead of two parts.

The theatre will close for a few weeks before reopening on October 6 with a single show which will run for two hours and 55 minutes.

Potterheads and for those who are intrigued by a two-part show have some time to catch it before it finishes – and it might be the best time to as historically, watching both parts has been expensive.

Whilst the best seats in the stalls are still priced at a couple-hundred quid for both parts, you can snap up tickets in the balcony for just £36 for both parts on TodayTix- a bargain!

If you want to try and get a bargain on good seats, then enter TodayTix’s Friday Forty, where you could get tickets in top seats for just £40 for both parts.

A couple of years ago, I managed to secure Friday Forty tickets and ended up in the front row of the Grand Circle – tickets that would have cost me upwards of £300 for both parts.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Live

In just a few days, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Live immersive show at London’s Riverside Studios will end.

The 90-minute show began back in November 2025 in Hammersmith and incorporates a live cast and a puppet of Marvin the Paranoid Android.

If you are desperate to go there are still a few tickets left via TodayTix with 25 per cent off costing £30 per person instead of £53 when you book direct.

If you are looking for inspiration on what to watch on stage near you, then here are the best theatre shows for kids coming to the UK in 2026 – from Dogman to Spongebob and Great Showman.

Plus, here are all the little-known apps and websites offering cheap and even free tickets to top gigs, theatre shows and festivals.

A spokesman for the Co-op told the BBC: “Our culture, as a co-operative, ensured decision-making throughout has listened to views from leaders and colleagues across our food and wider business, whilst simultaneously acknowledging when a wide range of views are expressed, not everybody will always agree with the final decisions and actions taken.”

Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani has said Tehran is ready to engage in ‘realistic’ nuclear talks with the United States. Speaking in Muscat during a visit to mediator nation Oman, he said issues must be resolved through dialogue and not the ‘language of force’.

The head of U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) has downplayed the current significance of Chinese efforts to develop new long-range strike aircraft with more global reach. He said that China remains, at best, a regional bomber force, though it continues to “aggressively” pursue new capabilities in this regard, like the long-awaited H-20 stealth bomber.

AFGSC commander Gen. Stephen Davis talked about Chinese bombers and other aviation developments with TWZ‘s Howard Altman last month. In that same interview, he also discussed his command’s role in any future conflict in the Pacific region, as well as new U.S. strategic capabilities that are in the works now, such as the B-21 Raider stealth bomber and the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), among other topics. This was Davis’ first interview since taking command of AFGSC in November 2025.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) recruitment video below from 2021 includes a teaser for the H-20 at the very end.

中国空军2021年度招飞宣传片完整版震撼发布！易烊千玺 吴京倾情加盟演绎强军路上精彩人生！「逐梦青春」| 军迷天下

“I can certainly understand their [the Chinese] desire to have a long-range strike capability like the United States, and I know that they’re pursuing it aggressively,” Davis said when asked for his thoughts on the H-20, as well as two very large stealthy flying wing-type drones that emerged in China last year. TWZ was first to report on the emegence of both of these designs, which appear to be at least in the initial flight test phase of development.

The H-20 is understood to be a stealthy flying wing-type bomber, very roughly analogous to the U.S. B-2 Spirit, and its development is said to trace back to the early 2000s. The U.S. military has previously estimated that it could have a maximum unrefueled range of close to 6,214 miles (10,000 kilometers), and noted that its reach could be further extended through aerial refueling. Past reports have also said that it might be able to carry up to 10 tons of ordnance, including land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles.

“What I can tell you is they’re just not there yet,” Davis continued. “I think our adversaries look at our long-range strike capabilities, and … want to mimic them, but they can’t.”

“There’s no other country in the world [besides the United States] that can take and deliver a long-range strike platform pretty much on any day, in any time and place that they’re choosing, right?” he added. “Really, China is a regional bomber force at best. I think they’re trying to continue to develop that.”

China’s bomber force currently consists of variants of the H-6, the core design of which was originally derived from the Soviet Tu-16 Badger. The H-6N version, which made its official debut in 2019, has enabled the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to re-establish a strategic nuclear triad. The N model is primarily designed to carry a single very large air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) under its fuselage and is one of the H-6 types that is capable of being refueled in flight. How many different types of missiles have been integrated onto the H-6N to date is unclear, but its arsenal does include the nuclear-capable Jinglei-1 (JL-1), as you can read more about here.

Gen. Davis’ comments are in line with past statements from U.S. officials on the H-20, specifically.

In 2024, an unnamed U.S. intelligence official said the H-20 Stealth Bomber was “not really” a concern, according to a report at the time from Breaking Defense.

“The thing with the H-20 is when you actually look at the system design, it’s probably nowhere near as good as U.S. LO [low-observable] platforms, particularly more advanced ones that we have coming down,” the same official said. “They’ve run into a lot of engineering design challenges, in terms of how do you actually make that system capability function in a similar way to, like, a B-2 or a B-21.”

“The H-20 … may debut sometime in the next decade,” the Pentagon subsequently wrote in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments later in 2024. That report also highlighted ongoing efforts in China to develop a stealthy medium-range bomber, which has been referred to in the past as the JH-XX.

The Pentagon’s most recent annual China report, published in December 2025, notably makes no mention at all, directly or indirectly, of the H-20 or JH-XX. That report did note that “of China’s currently fielded systems, the DF-26 IRBM [intermediate range ballistic missile and the H-6N’s ALBM are both highly precise theater weapons that would be well suited for delivering a low-yield nuclear weapon.” This underscores Gen. Davis’ comments about the continuing regional limitations of the Chinese bomber force.

Despite past PLA pronouncements that the program is on track, the current status of the H-20 is unclear. The present state of work related to the JH-XX, and whether it may have carried over into other programs, like the J-36 advanced tailless tactical combat aircraft, is also unknown. Starting in the late 2010s, there had been a surge in official and semi-official statements about how the H-20 was ‘coming soon,’ but this looks to have largely subsided in the past year or so.

This is despite a flurry in other very high-profile Chinese military aviation developments, including the aforementioned large flying wing-type drones, as well as the J-36 and J-XDS sixth-generation stealth fighters, the GJ-11 uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), the KJ-3000 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and more. The PLA Navy (PLAN) has also made major strides in advancing its carrier-based aviation capabilities in the past year or so.

As TWZ has noted in the past, a platform like the H-20 would give the PLA the ability to hold entirely new swaths of the Indo-Pacific region, including in parts of the continental United States, at risk. An expanded long-range strike aviation force would also expand China’s ability to target highly strategic outlying areas, including the U.S. island territory of Guam and Hawaii, as well as threaten regional competitors like Japan and India. If fielded, the aforementioned JH-XX could also have an important role in future regional operations.

The PLA has already been working to expand its routine bomber operations in the Western ends of the Pacific, especially around Taiwan and in the hotly contested South China Sea. Chinese bombers also now regularly integrate with their Russian counterparts and have made use of bases in that country for joint patrols. H-6K missile carrier aircraft flew in international airspace near Alaska for the first time ever during one of these joint operations back in 2024.

China and Russia conduct joint air strategic patrol over Bering Sea on July 25. This marks the eighth air strategic patrol organized by the two militaries since 2019.

Photos from China PLA Air Force Weibo accounthttps://t.co/g9w27FRnnM pic.twitter.com/oeZA4cUQR9

— Ryan Chan 陳家翹 (@ryankakiuchan) July 25, 2024

In his recent interview with TWZ, AFGSC commander Gen. Davis similarly highlighted the continued importance of American bombers in the Pacific.

“We have a requirement to be able to do that, day-to-day, for the President. We have to be able to penetrate adversary air defenses and deliver capabilities as directed,” Davis said when asked about the ever-growing threats posed by Chinese anti-access and area-denial capabilities. “We’ll continue to do that, as I said, by essentially, you know, taking all the information we can get, and integrating the B-21. Obviously, one of the great things about the B-21 is it’s going to be much more capable, it will have more sensors, it will have more inputs to it that will make it even stronger and more capable as a penetrating bomber.”

“Long-range strike, I think, contributes to every important mission set that we have in the Department of War,” the AFGSC commander also said when asked about how bombers could be employed against Chinese naval forces, specifically. “Obviously, one of the attributes of the modern force is the weapons they can carry, the variety of weapons they can carry, and the number and types of targets they can attack.”

“I think in any major confrontation that the U.S. would find itself in, you’re going to find your bomber forces are participating in bringing those skill sets to bear,” he added.

With this in mind, China is also still pursuing new long-range strike aviation capabilities, though it remains to be seen when the H-20 might finally emerge.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com