The US says its Gaza plan is moving towards disarmament and reconstruction.
“We have officially entered the second phase of Gaza’s 20-point peace plan.”
Those were the words of US President Donald Trump, who said that Washington will reach a deal with Hamas on handing over its weapons while threatening the group with consequences if it doesn’t comply.
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Trump stopped short of calling on Israel to fulfil its commitments, however, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the US announcement as largely symbolic.
So, is the transition to the next phase even possible?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Xavier Abu Eid – Political analyst and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization negotiation team
Yezid Sayigh – Senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center
Robbie Williams has surprised fans by releasing his new LP BRITPOP three weeks earlier than planned, with the unexpected drop coming in the early hours of Friday morning
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Robbie Williams has stunned supporters by dropping his fresh album BRITPOP a full three weeks ahead of schedule. The surprise release arrived in the small hours of Friday morning, with striking visuals of the album cover beamed onto iconic London buildings to celebrate the launch.
The pop star had initially planned to unveil the LP on October 10, 2025, a week after Taylor Swift dropped her latest record The Life of a Showgirl, but he delayed the date to February 6, 2026 as the Shake It Off hitmaker would have prevented him from claiming the number one spot. This LP marks Robbie’s 13th studio effort and showcases him embracing guitar-heavy arrangements, influenced by the period that moulded his early solo career.
Announcing the launch, Robbie declared: “You thought it was gonna be then… then we decided it wasn’t… and now I’ve decided it’s now. Ladies and Gentlemen: BRITPOP – the album.”
Following on from 2019’s The Christmas Present and 2016’s non-seasonal The Heavy Entertainment Show, the album includes tracks Rocket, Spies, Human, Pretty Face and All My Life.
The record features a diverse roster of contributors, including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Gaz Coombes, Black Sabbath icon Tony Iommi, Mexican pop pair Jesse and Joy, and ex- Take That colleague Gary Barlow.
Discussing the motivation behind the work previously, Robbie revealed that BRITPOP represents the album he’d always dreamed of creating after departing Take That in 1995.
He explained: “I set out to create the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995. It was the peak of Britpop and a golden age for British Music.”
The Angels star added: “I’ve worked with some of my heroes on this album; it’s raw, there are more guitars and it’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some ‘Brit’ in there and there’s certainly some ‘pop’ too – I’m immensely proud of this as a body of work and I’m excited for fans to hear this album.”
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Should Robbie claim the number one spot with BRITPOP, he’ll match The Beatles ‘ record for the most UK chart-topping albums.
The album has been released shortly before a new Netflix documentary about Take That is out, which features archive footage of Robbie with the band.
The Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman was once spotted in Scotland for a very different reason and the memory has stayed with her fellow celebrity
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Kelly Brook says watching Claudia Winkleman on The Traitors always reminds her of an unexpected moment they shared. Filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, the much-loved BBC show is currently in its fourth UK series, and viewers have been captivated by the continuous plot twists.
While Scotland is now a regular temporary home for Claudia, it’s not the first time she has been seen there.
Back in 2000, the 54-year-old and her husband, Kris Thykier, were in the country for a very different reason – the wedding of pop icon Madonna and film director Guy Ritchie.
The event took place at Skibo Castle, a luxurious estate in the Scottish Highlands, and brought together a host of high-profile guests.
Also on the guest list was Kelly, who has spoken about the moment she spotted Claudia at the airport ahead of the major event.
Quizzed on holidaying with a celebrity, the Loose Women star said: “This is the weirdest thing, and it always reminds me [of it] when I watch The Traitors.
“So, Claudia and I both attended Madonna’s wedding at Skibo Castle in Scotland.
“And so, I remember seeing her at the airport going to Scotland and I was like, ‘Are you going to the wedding as well?’
“And she was because I think her husband is friends with them,” the 46-year-old shared on Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach podcast.
“And yeah so, I feel like I’ve had a bit of a Scottish rendezvous with Claudia.”
Claudia’s husband reportedly knows Guy through his early career in film publicity and production, while Kelly is thought to share mutual friends with him.
During the podcast, the Loose Women star also spoke of her hopes of appearing on Celebrity Traitors, which Alan won last year.
After leaving the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! camp back in December, she revealed her cheeky side, confessing to stealing milk bottle treats from the rest of the camp along with Aitch and Angry Ginge.
Addressing her decision to admit it on her exit, she told Alan: “I think the great thing with I’m a Celebrity, you know that every day there is a small window where it is live, and you can pretty much say whatever you want.
“So there was that moment where the boys and I had eaten more milk bottles than we’d let on to, and I thought I that was my audition for the next series of Traitors.
“I thought, ‘I’ll just drop that little grenade, let them know that there was more than we let on’ and let the boys deal with that on my way out.”
She added: “But I think a lot of people thought I’d shown my true colours, but it’s TV, and I thought throw the cat amongst the pigeons. It’s a bit of a laugh!”
Meanwhile, following a hugely successful debut, the BBC has confirmed that Celebrity Traitors will return for a second series later this year, with the line-up yet to be revealed.
Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson compete in the rhythm dance at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield. The pair sit in second place on the leaderboard with the free dance still to come.
READ MORE: European Figure Skating Championships: All you need to know
Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer from the 2025 Formula 1 season has been moved to a new role at Ferrari.
Riccardo Adami will take over as manager of the Ferrari driver academy and their programme for testing previous cars.
A Ferrari statement made no reference to Hamilton by name, saying only: “The appointment of the new race engineer for car number 44 will be announced in due course.”
The move comes after consistent speculation throughout the 2025 campaign there were communication problems between Hamilton and Adami.
Hamilton, 41, always denied that was the case and insisted their relationship was fine, despite the impression left by a number of their conversations over team radio.
The relationship with their race engineer is one of the most important for any driver.
The engineer is the person the driver talks to over the radio from the car, they decide together on changes to improve a car’s performance and at times the role is as much a counsellor as colleague.
Before joining Ferrari, Hamilton worked with one engineer at Mercedes – Peter Bonnington – for all his 12 years at the team.
Seven-time champion Hamilton had a difficult first season at Ferrari and spoke a number of times of his belief changes were needed within the organisation, without specifying what they were.
Ferrari’s statement added: “[Adami’s] extensive trackside experience and Formula 1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the program.”
Testing previous cars programmes have become important within F1 as ways of giving young drivers experience, with in-season testing in current cars heavily restricted.
Hamilton was outperformed by team-mate Charles Leclerc during his first season at Ferrari.
The Briton finished one place and 84 points behind Leclerc in the championship and was beaten by the Monegasque 22 times to seven in qualifying at an average advantage of 0.15 seconds a lap. Leclerc’s average grid position was 5.6 while Hamilton’s was 9.5.
Hamilton was knocked out in the first session of qualifying for the final three races of the season.
At the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi there was an apparently awkward between Hamilton and Adami, when the Briton told his engineer not to inform him who was ahead of him on track.
Having been advised the car in front was Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Hamilton responded: “Stop telling me I’m racing people. I know I’m racing him, man. Just leave me to it. I’m racing everyone ahead of me.”
Adami previously worked with both Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel – and had an at-times strained relationship with the German.
There were a number of times during the 2017-18 season, when Ferrari had a competitive car but let their title hopes slip away with a series of mistakes, when Vettel ran out of patience with the team’s race operations.
ARCO Group PLC has congratulated US–based Nigerian professional Dr Henrietta N. Ukwu on her recent inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who, one of the United States’ oldest and most respected biographical directories.
The prestigious listing, announced on January 9, 2026, recognises individuals with notable accomplishments and influence in their fields, placing Dr Ukwu alongside global leaders in business, science, public service and culture.
In a statement signed by Group Managing Director Alfred Okoigun, ARCO described Dr Ukwu’s recognition as “timely and well deserved,” highlighting her decades of professional excellence in global regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
“This honour is not only a personal milestone, but a testament to decades of intellectual rigour, ethical leadership, and professional excellence in one of the world’s most demanding and consequential fields,” the statement said.
Dr. Henrietta N. Ukwu in picture receiving ARCO Nigerian Excellence in Science & Technology (NEST) Award from the then Nigerian High Commissioner in UK, Chief Bola Ajibola, April 2001.
ARCO Group recalled Dr Ukwu’s early recognition at the 2001 Nigerian Excellence in Science & Technology (NEST) Awards, which it organised in London — a testament to her long-standing promise and impact. The award was established to recognise outstanding Nigerians whose work had attained global standards of excellence in science and technology.
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The Group Managing Director and CEO, ARCO Group, Alfred Okoigun, described Dr Ukwu’s recognition as “timely and well deserved.”
At that ceremony, three individuals were honoured, among them Ukwu, whose selection reflected the same qualities that continue to define her career today: integrity, clarity of purpose, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
Dr Ukwu’s inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who reflects a distinguished career as a physician, infectious diseases expert, and global regulatory leader, currently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer at Novavax Inc.
In this role, she oversees strategic product development and registration, forging regulatory partnerships with agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and other global authorities.
Over her more than three-decade career, Dr Ukwu has held senior leadership positions in major pharmaceutical companies, including Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, PPD, Pfizer and Merck, where she helped secure regulatory approvals for critical vaccines and therapies, including the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine and early breakthroughs such as the Varivax chickenpox vaccine and Crixivan HIV protease inhibitor.
ARCO’s commendation emphasised not only Dr Ukwu’s accomplishments but also her enduring influence on global regulatory science and quality assurance — fields essential to public health, innovation and international collaboration.
