vows

Michael Kotlikoff expresses deep sorrow over the case, calling it one of the most challenging periods for Cornell.

Cornell University’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, has called the alleged 2024 gang rape of a student at a fraternity house “deeply disturbing”, pledging greater transparency amid mounting outrage over how the school handled the case.

“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said in an eight-minute video message to the Cornell community on Saturday.

He characterised the past week as one of the most difficult in the university’s history and said it would weigh on the university for years to come. “It raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanisation and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use,” he said.

The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, alleges she was sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024 and has sued the university and seven former students.

Scrutiny over Cornell’s handling of the case intensified after New York Governor Kathy Hochul said newly released information had undermined her confidence in the local prosecutor, who initially declined to bring charges.

Hochul subsequently appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to take over the criminal investigation, saying she would “not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug”.

The case has also renewed scrutiny of the “voluntary intoxication loophole” in New York law that makes it difficult to prosecute sexual assaults involving victims who voluntarily consumed alcohol or drugs, even if they later became too intoxicated to consent.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten had cited the legal provision in defending his original decision not to pursue charges. Hochul has pledged to push for changes to it.

At a student assembly hearing on Thursday, several speakers called for Kotlikoff’s resignation.

In Saturday’s video, Kotlikoff reaffirmed his support for an independent review of the university’s handling of the case and said Cornell’s Board of Trustees would announce details next week. He also called for a “serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life”.

James’s appointment has placed the case under a prosecutor whose office has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump. She has separately described the case as “an active criminal investigation”.

BRITAIN’S oldest Lido has vowed to “definitely reopen” after being left to rot.

The historic swimming facility has been closed for over two years, despite receiving a £9.3million makeover.

Cleveland Baths, first opened in 1815 and is the oldest of its kind to exist in the UK, but closed in 1984.

A huge campaign and a mulit-million pound refurbishment saw it reopen for just four months in 2023 before it was forced to close again due to flood damage.

But now trustees have promised to reopen the 200-year old pool, telling the BBC it is “moving as quickly and responsibly” as possible

It’s definitely going to happen,” Peter Askew, chair of Cleveland Pools Trust, told the outlet.

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The trust has set out a timetable that includes a consultation and more fundraising, with repair works restarting in 2028.

In January 2024, the River Avon burst its banks and destroyed the facility.

A subsequent investigation revealed mechanical and structural damage.

“The first is that floodwater entered the door of the plant room.

“And then, secondly, in the process of emptying the pool of floodwater, the groundwater level wasn’t properly managed, and that led to further damage,” Peter explained.

It comes as just a few weeks back, the lido welcomed visitors to the grounds to take a rake peak at pool.

At the time, visitors were able to meet the trustees and volunteers to hear about their vision for the site, but could not swim.

Embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay on despite exit polls in two local elections suggesting damaging defeats for his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

In the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party was projected to only just scrape into parliament, while the far-right AfD was on track to win the most votes. Merz called the result “a disaster” for his party.

In Berlin, the ruling CDU was also expected to be beaten by Die Linke (The Left).

Merz is under mounting pressure, with poor approval ratings and rumours he could even be replaced mid-term in a so-called chancellor swap.

Votes took place on Sunday, a fortnight after the CDU saw its vote halved as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Echoing comments he made after that defeat, Merz told reporters at the party’s Berlin headquarters on Sunday that he would forge ahead with his coalition government’s plans to push through a package of economic, tax and welfare reforms.

“The reforms have to come,” he insisted. “I am taking on this responsibility, because I want to move our country forward”.

“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness and patience,” Merz said. “I will demonstrate this as CDU party chairman and, above all, as chancellor of our country.”

“I would even go so far as to say that these reforms are the antidote to the authoritarian poison that, with the fascination of authoritarianism, is penetrating ever deeper into our society,” Merz added.

LONDON: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vowed on Tuesday that shipments to Israel’s military would not be allowed to pass through Malaysia after cargo containers heading there were seized.

His comments came after Bloomberg reported that Malaysian authorities had halted all shipments heading to Israel from one of the country’s largest ports after three containers were stopped by authorities last month.

“We will not allow our country to be used as a conduit for any shipment that supports or contributes to Israel’s military capabilities and its atrocities against Palestinians and other innocent lives,” Ibrahim wrote on X.

“Any suspicious shipment will be subject to inspection and investigation in accordance with Malaysian law. Where a violation is established, decisive action will be taken.”

The three containers were stopped at Tanjung Pelepas Port on Aug. 19 and have been held ever since, the report said. 

They were destined for Israel’s Ashdod port and contained products from China.

Malaysia has no diplomatic or trade relations with Israel, but cargo is allowed to transit through the country’s ports from one country to another.

Bloomberg reported that the seizure could be a shift in Malaysia’s approach to handling Israel-bound cargo.

Malaysia is a major shipping hub, located along some of the world’s busiest maritime routes through Asia.

The Malaysian Border Control Agency said the matter remains under investigation.

The seizure came just two weeks after a container destined for Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems from the Philippines was also stopped in Malaysia.

Malaysia has been one of the most prominent international critics of Israel and, in particular, the war on Gaza.

At the BRICS Summit in New Delhi at the weekend, Ibrahim condemned what he described as Israel’s “settler terrorism” in the occupied West Bank.

WASHINGTON — Philippine President Corazon Aquino, given a rousing reception, told a joint meeting of Congress today that if she fails to negotiate peace with communist guerrillas threatening her government she will not flinch from “taking up the sword of war.”

“I will not stand by and allow an insurgent leadership to spurn our offer of peace and kill our young soldiers and threaten our new freedom,” Aquino said.

Aquino was greeted in the House chamber by enthusiastic applause and cheers from the members of Congress, many of whom sported yellow flowers in their lapels. Aquino wore her trademark yellow suit, like the ones she wore so often during her campaign for the presidency earlier this year.

Many visitors in the gallery, and several members as well, chanted “Cory, Cory, Cory” for half a minute as she entered the chamber.

Several members later said her speech had been so well received that it could mean more U.S. aid for her nation. Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill said it was the best he had ever heard on Capitol Hill.

‘Hit a Home Run’

Senate Republican leader Bob Dole said he told Aquino she had “hit a home run” with Congress, and said she replied: “I hope the bases were loaded.” Impressed senators and House members called her speech “brilliant,” “eloquent,” “magnificent” and “moving.”

She opened her speech with a tribute to her husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., a human rights activist whose murder in Manila in 1983 after years of exile in the United States swelled the widespread disenchantment with the government of Ferdinand E. Marcos and eventually led to his downfall.

Her husband’s death “was my country’s resurrection in the courage and faith by which alone they could be free again,” she said. “And so began the revolution that has brought me to democracy’s most famous home, the United States.”

Aquino’s speech underscored her policy of negotiating with the communist New People’s Army guerrilla movement and, if the talks fail, waging a vigorous war against the insurgents.

“I must explore the path of peace to the utmost, for at its end, whatever disappointment I meet there, is the moral basis for laying down the olive branch of peace and taking up the sword of war,” she said.

“Still, should it come to that, I will not waver from the course laid down by your great liberator,” a reference to Abraham Lincoln and his determination to fight the Civil War.

‘Whatever It Takes’

“Like Lincoln, I understand that force may be necessary before mercy,” she said. “Like Lincoln, I don’t relish it, yet I will do whatever it takes to defend the integrity and freedom of my country.”

She said the aim of the negotiations is “to bring the insurgents down from the hills and, by economic progress and justice, show them that for which the best intentioned among them fight.” Persuading the guerrillas to stop fighting will be accomplished by “political initiatives and local reintegration programs.”

She said her predecessor, Marcos, set aside democratic rights to wage a war against “a communist insurgency that numbered less than 500.

“Unhampered by respect for human rights, he went at it with hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that insurgency had grown to more than 16,000.

“I think there is a lesson here to be learned about trying to stifle a thing with the means by which it grows.”

Former Little Mix star is reportedly in talks to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and bosses are “thrilled” that the singer could be about to appear in the jungle

Jesy Nelson is said to be “in talks” to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!

The pop star, 35 shot to fame when she won The X Factor in 2011 and was part of Little Mix alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall. But in recent years, the singer has been through a tough time and recently split from Zion Foster, whom she had been engaged to for just under a year.

Prior to that, Jesy gave birth prematurely to their twin daughters Ocean and Story in March 2025, and both of them were born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type 1, and neither of them are likely to ever walk.

Jesy then successfully lobbied the government and joined with the Mirror to campaign to have all newborns tested for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) when her twin girls were diagnosed too late after irreversible nerve damage.

Now, though, it’s thought that Jesy is up for a new challenge and could be about to head Down Under to take part in the upcoming series of Ant and Dec’s reality survival show.

A source said: “Jesy has been negotiating with ITV for weeks and now the talks are at a very promising stage. For Jesy, doing I’m A Celebrity would be a huge boost for her professionally as well as personally.

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “Continuing to raise awareness around SMA for her girls is something Jesy is very keen to do, and she knows she can use a platform like I’m A Celebrity to reach millions.”

Jesy is said to be a “big fan” of the show to begin with and wants to show the “public a different side to her” if she makes it onto the show.

The source said: “She has been open about how she has struggled with anxiety in the past — and there’s no better way to challenge herself than going on a show like I’m A Celebrity. She’s had a really hard time in the last couple of years but she’s ready to grab life by the horns and get on with things.”

The insider then added that a “complete change of scene and a fresh start” is what Jesy needs right now. Even though it would be “hard” for her to be away from her children for up to three weeks, it’s said that she just wants to do them proud.

According to the outlet, bosses are hopeful that Jesy will be signing her contract in a matter of weeks and are “thrilled” that they have got this far. It’s reported that producers would be keen for her to speak about her time in Little Mix and her decision to suddenly quit in 2020 when she is in the jungle.

The hit reality show, which began in 2002, usually airs for three weeks in November and sees Ant and Dec broadcast live from the Gold Coast in Australia. A spokesperson said: “Any names suggested for I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! are just speculation.”

The news comes just one day after Jesy unveiled her new boyfriend on Instagram. As she next to her hunky landscape gardener boyfriend Ben Davies, she wrote: “Forgot to mention…”

Her friends and fans flocked to the comments, with Saffiya Vorajee writing: “so so happy for you.” While another wrote: “so happy for you!! you deserve all the happiness in the world xx” A third commented: “Wow u look incredible and what a stunning couple.”

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TEHRAN: Iran said Sunday that its forces attacked a US naval drone trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, hours after targeting ships in retaliation for American strikes on three oil tankers.

The latest round of clashes, which began with US raids last week, comes amid a deadlock in their six-month war.

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Washington is also seeking to choke Iran’s economy, rolling out sanctions on entities with financial links to the Islamic republic in a bid to force it into submission.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said Sunday it “attacked an American military unmanned surface vessel” attempting to enter the strait, according to a statement carried by state television.

Hours earlier, the IRGC said its naval forces “targeted three oil tankers on the unauthorised route of the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels affiliated with the child-killing America in other areas”.

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened on Sunday to launch swifter and more forceful responses to US attacks.

“The Americans must have understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end,” said Ghalibaf in a speech carried by state media, adding that “any aggression against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, more intense and more painful response”.

It warned ships not to attempt to transit by unapproved routes.

On Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in the region, said it struck tankers linked to the Iranian Guards, accusing the most powerful arm of the Iranian military of unsuccessfully firing at American warships.

“Following Iran’s failed attacks, CENTCOM permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask,” it said.

“American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo… in the Gulf of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship.”

Video posted by CENTCOM showed large fireballs and billowing flames after projectiles slammed into the ships.

The three vessels were “part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC and its regional proxies”, it said.

‘Higher economic cost’

The Guards meanwhile claimed the two American warships they targeted had been “forced to retreat” after “suffering damage”, but CENTCOM said those ships successfully evaded Iranian attacks.

CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said after the operation: “If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost — taking out three of yours.”

The Iranian foreign ministry hit out at Washington over the strikes on oil tankers, calling them “illegal and aggressive actions”.

A correspondent for Iranian state TV in Jask in the southern province of Hormozgan said one of the tankers was empty and the second was carrying oil. The crews were transported to shore on lifeboats, they said.

Another state TV correspondent on Kharg Island said the attack there caused no casualties.

Iran’s Khatam-al Anbiya central military command warned that if the US continued its attacks, then Tehran’s retaliation against US warships would be “more severe than before, and there is a possibility of their expansion”.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has tried to downplay the significance of the six-month conflict, which has proven increasingly unpopular at home as midterm elections near.

US Vice President JD Vance went so far as to say that he “wouldn’t call it a war”.

Trump reiterated that view on Friday, calling the war “small potatoes” for Washington.

Iran’s Security Chief Mohsen Rezaei warned this week that the Islamic republic had adopted a “new strategy” against Washington that “will shatter your foundations”.

The US has been trying to step up pressure on Tehran in a bid to wrestle control of the Hormuz strait, through which one-fifth of world oil supplies previously flowed.

A fragile ceasefire between the two sides collapsed in July after attacks on commercial ships in the strategic waterway.

Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly threatened to claim sovereignty over the strait, even posting a map showing it as “new US territory”.

Vance has insisted the US will not reopen talks with Iran until it ends attacks on commercial shipping in Hormuz.