Archive December 11, 2025

Two-weight world champion goal motivates Cordina

By in News, Sports News
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Gareth Bailey

BBC Sport Wales
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Former super-featherweight world champion Joe Cordina says it would be “unbelievable” to become a two-weight world champion.

Cordina returned from a 14-month lay-off with a hard-fought points win over Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz in July to claim the vacant WBO global lightweight title.

The bout marked his return to the 9st 9lb class, where he won British and Commonwealth titles earlier in his career.

The Welshman faces off against Gabriel Flores Jr on Saturday, 13 December in a bout billed as a final eliminator for the WBO lightweight world title which was won by Abdullah Mason in an epic encounter with Sam Noakes in November.

The 34-year-old says he would be surprised if his fight in Stockton, California goes the distance.

“I don’t think it will go 12 rounds but I’ve been wrong before,” said Cordina.

“I’ve felt I would go points with a guy before then ended up knocking him out, like when I won the world title the first time [against Kenichi Ogawa].

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Cordina, who will be making his US debut, accepts fight expectations can also go the other way.

“I’ve also gone into fights where I thought I could get this guy out and ended up having a hard night’s work so I’ll go out there and focus on everything we’ve been working on in the gym and then I’m sure I’ll get the job done,” he added.

“I’m not looking at the eliminator for a world title, the man in front of me is the problem on the night and that’s going to be my focus and I’m looking to do a job.”

Cordina boasts a professional record of 18 wins and one defeat, his only loss coming to Anthony Cacace in May 2024.

His 25-year-old opponent has a professional record of 27 wins and two losses.

The pair are the co-main event, along with unbeaten pair Diego Pacheco and Kevin Lele Sadjo facing off for the WBC silver & WBO international super middleweight titles.

Hometown motivation

Llanrumney Phoenix ABC ringBBC Sport

Earlier this year Cordina returned to south Wales to train with Gary Lockett, and there is no better place to motivate him in his quest for another world title than the Llanrumney Phoenix Boxing Club.

The canvas in the ring at the gym is the one on which he beat Ogawa with a thunderous second round knockout in 2022.

“I didn’t even know they had the canvas here until I came into the gym,” said the Cardiff-born fighter.

“I would have loved a chance to buy it, maybe put it in a gym that I eventually get and run, but they’ve got it and I’m training here, can’t complain.”

Cordina says the other fighters in the gym are great motivation too.

“For me coming in this gym, seeing this canvas and seeing the boys around me, it’s a bit of a lift to know they’re training alongside a world champion,” he added.

“You’ve got a world title challenger Liam Williams also in the gym and Rhys Edwards who should be challenging for a British title very soon.

Now moving towards the latter stage of his career, Cordina says everyone has different goals in their boxing life.

“Mine was winning a world title,” the experienced fighter told BBC Sport Wales.

“Boxing is a hard old sport and to get to a British title let alone a world title.

“Fortunately for me, I had a good amateur career that gave me a head start in the pros. I put the leg work in in the amateurs to get to my goals.”

Cordina won a European title in 2015 and fought at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games before turning professional.

“I set not unrealistic goals, and I met every single one as an amateur then set new goals as a pro but the main one for me was always winning a world title,” he said.

Taking inspiration from Ricky Burns

Ricky Burns defends his WBA World Super-Lightweight title against Kiryl Relikh at The SSE Hydro on October 7, 2016 Getty Images

Cordina also paid tribute to a former stablemate and housemate Ricky Burns – who the Welshman is looking to emulate in winning titles at multiple weights.

The pair were both trained by Tony Sims and lived together in Essex as Cordina began his professional career in 2017.

Scotland’s Burns held world titles in the super-featherweight, lightweight, and super-lightweight divisions during his career.

“I learned a lot from him, probably the most I’ve learned in boxing is from him,” said Cordina, “How he lives his live, how he trains.

“For me, I was able to fight in a 12-round fight in my sixth fight and that was due to sparring him, living with him, training with him because of the intensity and how he lives his life as a fighter.

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‘A gesture of love’: Italy’s cuisine joins UNESCO’s cultural heritage list

By in News, World News

Italian cuisine, long cherished for its deep regional traditions, has been officially recognised by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage” – a designation the country hopes will elevate its global prestige and draw more visitors.

“We are the first in the world to receive this recognition, which honours who we are and our identity,” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday.

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“For us Italians, cuisine is not just food, not just a collection of recipes. It is much more, it is culture, tradition, work, and wealth,” Meloni said.

The vote by a cultural panel of UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – meeting in New Delhi capped a process Italy launched in 2023, with the government portraying the country’s culinary tradition as a social ritual that binds families and communities.

‘Cooking is a gesture of love’

UNESCO did not single out any famous dishes or regional specialities. Instead, the citation focused on how much Italians value the everyday rituals around food: the big Sunday lunch, the tradition of nonnas teaching kids how to fold tortellini just right, and simply sitting down together to enjoy a meal.

“Cooking is a gesture of love; it’s how we share who we are and how we look after each other,” said Pier Luigi Petrillo, part of Italy’s UNESCO campaign and a professor at Rome’s La Sapienza University.

In its announcement, UNESCO described Italian cuisine as a “cultural and social blend of culinary traditions”.

“Beyond cooking, practitioners view the element as a way of caring for oneself and others, expressing love and rediscovering one’s cultural roots. It gives communities an outlet to share their history and describe the world around them,” it added.

The UNESCO listing could deliver further economic benefits to a country already renowned for its cooking and where the agri-food supply chain accounts for about 15 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).

It could also bring some relief to traditional family-run restaurants, long the backbone of Italian dining, which are facing a harsh economic climate in a market increasingly polarised between premium and budget options.

The Colosseum is illuminated during a special light installation, after Italy won a place on UNESCO’s cultural heritage list [Remo Casilli/Reuters]

Honouring cultural expressions

Italy is not the first country to see its cuisine honoured as a cultural expression.

In 2010, UNESCO inscribed the “gastronomic meal of the French” on its intangible heritage list, calling out France’s tradition of marking life’s important moments around the table.

Other food traditions have been added in recent years, too, including the cider culture of Spain’s Asturian region, Senegal’s Ceebu Jen dish, and the traditional cheese-making of Minas Gerais in Brazil.

UNESCO reviews new candidates for its intangible-heritage lists every year under three categories: a representative list; a list for practices considered in “urgent” need of safeguarding; and a register of effective safeguarding practices.

At this year’s meeting in New Delhi, the committee evaluated 53 proposals for the representative list, which already includes 788 entries. Other nominees included Swiss yodelling, the handloom weaving technique used to make Bangladesh’s Tangail sarees, and Chile’s family circuses.

A woman spoons onto a plate some
A woman spoons ‘spaghetti alla Carbonara’ during a cooking competition [Andrew Medichini/AP Photo]

Hollyoaks star Jimmy McKenna reveals his wife has died and opens up on secret grief

By in Entertainment News, News

Jimmy McKenna who has played Jack Osborne in Hollyoaks since 1996, admitted his co-stars have stepped up to ensure he is not spending the festive season alone this year

A soap legend has revealed his wife has died as he opens up about his secret grief for the first time.

Jimmy McKenna who has played Jack Osborne in Hollyoaks since 1996, admitted his co-stars have stepped up to ensure he is not alone during the festive season following his tragic loss. While he did not divulge details of her cause of death but admitted the festive season “has been a wee bit melancholy”.

While speaking to Inside Soap Magazine about his plans for Christmas, the 72-year-old revealed his wife Bev, who he shares four children with, had passed away.

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His revealed co-star Nick Pickard, who plays Tony Hutchinson, has stepped up to ensure he won’t be alone at Christmas inviting Jimmy into his home along with members of Bev’s family. “I’ll be with Nick and his partner Sarah for Christmas Day. Nick’s mum, my mum-in-law and sister-in-law are coming. Nick’s daughter Ellie and her boyfriend will be there too, there’s nine of us in total,” he said.

He continued: “Since my wife Bev passed, Christmas has been a wee bit melancholy for me. So it’s good to just be surrounded by friends, having a laugh and a wee drink!”

Jimmy has been a familiar face on screens since the 1980s when he landed a small part in Coronation Street playing Jim Lomax in 1985. He returned to the cobbles just over a decade later in 1994 playing an Immigration Officer in two episodes.

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For 14 years from 1996 he juggled his soap role with a role in the David Jason police procedurial A Touch Of Frost in which he played Sgt. Don Brady. He has also had roles in Taggart, Rumpole of the Bailey, Soldier Soldier and Heartbeat.

Hollyoaks airs on Mondays through to Wednesdays at 7am on Channel 4 before airing on E4 at 7pm.

Despite opposition, US House passes record $901bn defence spending bill

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The United States House of Representatives has passed a far-reaching defence policy bill authorising a record $901bn in annual military spending.

The tally in Wednesday’s vote saw 312 lawmakers vote in favour of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with 112 opposing the bill. It has now been sent to the Senate for consideration and is expected to pass next week.

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The $901bn in defence spending for the 2026 fiscal year is $8bn more than US President Donald Trump requested in May this year.

The sweeping 3,086-page bill, which was unveiled on Sunday, includes typical NDAA provisions on defence acquisitions to compete militarily with rivals such as China and Russia. It also includes measures to improve living conditions for American troops, including an almost 4 percent pay rise and improvements in military base housing.

Lawmakers also forced the inclusion of several provisions cementing Washington’s commitment to Europe’s defence in the face of Russian aggression, including $400m in military assistance to Ukraine in each of the next two years to help repel Russia’s invasion.

Another measure requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted.

This year’s bill, however, also cut several programmes reviled by Trump, including about $1.6bn in funding to initiatives focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as climate change.

The legislation will now head to the Senate, with leaders aiming to pass the bill before lawmakers depart for a holiday break. Trump will then sign it into law once it reaches the White House.

Bill puts pressure on Defense Secretary Hegseth over transparency of attacks

The NDAA is one of a few major pieces of legislation to typically enjoy broad bipartisan support, having made it through Congress every year since its enactment in 1961.

This year’s process was rockier than usual, coming at a time of growing friction between the Republican-controlled Congress and the Trump administration over the management of the US military.

Before the vote, members of both parties urged their lawmakers to support the vital defence legislation, even if they objected to individual provisions contained within it.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, DC, Mike Hanna, said that while there was “some significant dissent”, the bill still passed “very easily indeed”.

Also tucked into the NDAA are several measures pushing back against the Department of Defense, notably a demand for more transparency on deadly attacks carried out by the US military on alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in recent months.

Hanna said a “very noticeable” part of the bill threatens to take away 25 percent of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel funding unless he discloses more information on the US attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, including allowing lawmakers to review unedited video of the strikes and the orders given to carry out the attack.

“This is a very strong move by the House forcing, it would appear, the defence secretary to provide full details of these attacks,” Hanna said.

At least 86 people have been killed across 22 known strikes since the Trump administration announced the first attack in early September.

The president has depicted them as a necessary counter-narcotics effort, even though they are widely considered illegal under both international and US law.

Hardline conservative lawmakers had expressed frustration that the NDAA did not do more to cut US commitments overseas, including in Europe.

Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers responded, saying “we need a ready, capable and lethal fighting force”.

“The threats to our nation, especially those from China, are more complex and challenging than at any point in the last 40 years,” Rogers said.

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, said that while the bill does not do enough to rein in the Trump administration, it’s a “step in the right direction towards reasserting the authority of Congress”.

Ukraine reports large Russian mechanised assault in battle for Pokrovsk

By in News, World News

Ukrainian forces have reported an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, where Russia has reportedly massed a force of some 156,000 troops to take the beleaguered and now destroyed former logistics hub.

“The Russians used armoured vehicles, cars, and motorcycles. The convoys attempted to break through from the south to the northern part of the city,” Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said in a statement on Wednesday regarding an assault earlier in the day.

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A source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps told the Reuters news agency that Russia had deployed about 30 vehicles in convoy, making it the largest such attack yet inside the city. The source added that previously, Russia had deployed just one or two vehicles to aid troop advances.

While Russia has claimed full control of Pokrovsk, Kyiv maintains that its troops still hold the northern part of the city, where fierce urban battles continue to rage.

Russian troops have pushed into the city for months in small infantry groups, looking to capture the former logistics hub as a critical part of Moscow’s campaign to seize the entire industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Video clips shared by the 7th Rapid Response Corps showed heavy vehicles in snow and mud, as well as drone attacks on Russian troops and explosions and burning wreckage.

Russian forces were attempting to exploit poor weather conditions but had been pushed back, the unit said on Facebook.

Capturing Pokrovsk would be Russia’s biggest prize in Ukraine in nearly two years, and the city’s weakening defence amid Moscow’s onslaught has added to pressure on Kyiv, which is attempting to improve terms in a United States-backed proposal for a peace deal that is widely seen as favourable to Moscow.

Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, told journalists earlier this week that the situation around Pokrovsk remained difficult as Russia massed a force of some 156,000 around the beleaguered city.

Syrskii said Russian troops were staging the military buildup in the area under the cover of rain and fog.

George Barros, Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War – a US-based think tank – said Moscow is “hyping” the importance of the fall of Pokrovsk “in order to portray Russia’s battlefield advances as inevitable”.

“That sense of inevitability is being echoed by some members of President Donald Trump’s negotiating team trying to pull together a peace proposal for the Ukraine war,” Barros wrote in an opinion piece shared online.

But Russia has paid a huge price in its push to take the city with “more than 1,000 armoured vehicles and over 500 tanks” lost in the Pokrovsk area alone since the beginning of Russia’s offensive operations in October 2023 to seize nearby Avdiivka, which fell to Russian forces in early 2024 in one of the bloodiest battles of the war so far.

On Wednesday, President Trump said he had exchanged “pretty strong words” with the leaders of France, Britain and Germany on Ukraine, telling them their plan to hold new talks on a proposed US peace plan this weekend risked “wasting time”.

“We discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words,” Trump told reporters when asked about the phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“They would like us to go to a meeting over the weekend in Europe, and we’ll make a determination depending on what they come back with. We don’t want to be wasting time,” Trump said.

The initial US peace plan that involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not captured was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as aligning too closely with many of Russia’s demands to end the war, and has since been revised.