Crowds celebrated in the Syrian city of Latakia after the US House of Representatives approved a bill that will lift sanctions imposed on Syria six years ago. The legislation will now go to the US Senate where it’s expected to pass.
Primark is stocking diamanté boots that arguably resemble a £105 pair for £24. The fashion retailer is known for selling budget-friendly clothing and footwear, and the new heels could please money-savvy shoppers. Now, the high street giant has launched £24 Embellished Diamanté Heeled Sock Boots ahead of the Christmas party season, and they’re said to be ‘perfect for evening events.’ The heels could also be ideal for high-end fashion fans.
Primark’s offering arguably looks very similar to the wide Tamaris Heart & Sole High heeled ankle boots, previously sold at Zalando for £104.99. The heels are currently out of stock on the website, but the listing is still visible.
As such, Primark’s take on the heeled boots style could be just the thing for fans of the Tamaris look who would like a pair – and at a lower price. Both brands opted for sock-style boots with a stiletto heel and silver diamanté design.
Although the boots aren’t identical, as the Primark heels have more diamantés, and the Tamaris heels have a distinctive burgundy sole, this does not detract from the similarities. Both heels could be the final show-stopping touch to someone’s Christmas party outfit.
The product description for Primark’s shoes says: “Turn heads in these Embellished Diamanté Heeled Sock Boots. Crafted with a sleek black stretch sock-style upper, they hug the ankle for a smooth, fitted look.
“The pointed toe adds sharp sophistication, while sparkling silver diamanté cover the entire boot for maximum shine. A high stiletto heel lifts the silhouette, and a discreet side zip ensures easy on and off. Perfect for evening events or special occasions, these party-ready boots combine style and sparkle in one statement-making design.
“Elegant, eye-catching, and designed to dazzle, they bring a touch of glamour to any dressy outfit.” There is no detailed product description for the Tamaris heels, but it does state that the stiletto heels feature a polka dot pattern with rhinestones. It adds that the heel height is 4″.
Elsewhere, shoppers looking for wide-fit heels might prefer Marks & Spencer’s £60 Wide Fit Satin Hotfix Kitten Heel Ankle Boots. The product description states: “These satin ankle boots are embellished with sparkling gems for a dazzling effect.
“They’re set on a wearable mid-height kitten heel and feature a pointed toe for an elegant silhouette. A side zip fastening completes the party-ready design. M&S Collection: easy-to-wear wardrobe staples that combine classic and contemporary styles.” The retailer also sells £60 Satin Hotfix Kitten Heel Pointed Ankle Boots.
For shoppers with more room in their budget, M&S also sells £179 Sparkle Stiletto Heel Pointed Ankle Boots. The product description says: “Get set to dazzle with these crystal-embellished ankle boots from Carvela.
A shortlist of six contenders has been announced for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for 2025.
Footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly, rugby union player Ellie Kildunne, darts player Luke Littler, golfer Rory McIlroy and Formula 1 driver Lando Norris are the nominees.
Voting will take place during the show on BBC One, the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app on Thursday, 18 December.
Sharon Osbourne has opened up about King Charles’ relationship with Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne. The star revealed how the monarch was always so ‘gracious’ with her husband and recalled how the pair would always ‘laugh’ in each other’s company.
Ozzy passed away in July at the age of 76 from a reported heart attack, mere weeks after his emotional reunion with the band during the Back To The Beginning farewell gig in Birmingham. Sharon, who shared more than 40 years of marriage with the musician, said she received a personal letter of condolence from King Charles and has now spoken out about how she has been coping since Ozzy’s death.
She told Piers Morgan Uncensored: “His Majesty sent me a letter the next day… King Charles hand-delivered it. (It said) just how sorry he was. He knew Ozzy. We met him several times, and he’s always been so gracious with Ozzy, and they would always laugh together.
“When you look at King Charles and you look at Donald Trump, whatever anybody might think about them, it’s their business, but their days, you know how full their day is? I mean insanity, and that they had the time and the graciousness to do that for us.”
The ex-X Factor panellist also heaped praise on her three children, Kelly, Aimme and Jack, describing them as ‘magnificent’ in their support. “Grief has now become my friend,” Sharon continued.
“It is very weird to me, when you love someone that much and you’re grieving for them, it’s what I have to live with, and I’ll get used to it. I will, I have to, you know, things move on.
“It’s an ache that you wake up with and you can’t get rid of that ache. It’s like a big hole inside of you and the kids feel exactly the same way, and it’s just, what do you do? It’s inevitable that it happens to all of us.
“I would have just gone with Ozzy. I’ve done everything I wanted to do. But they’ve (Kelly, Aimee and Jack) been unbelievably, just magnificent with me, all three of them.”
Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, performed his final gig on July 5 in a concert that also featured performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. Sharon revealed that despite her husband being ‘terribly ill’ over the past year, he was determined to perform and that it had made him happier than she had seen him in the last seven years.
She continued: “He knew his body was failing him. He was in so much pain, so much pain. He had pneumonia three times this year. He’d had sepsis… That’s what really, really destroyed him.
“(After the farewell gig), he kept looking at the papers, and he goes to me, ‘I never knew so many people liked me’, but that was the way he was. He knew he was famous, but not to the amount that people loved him. And for two weeks, every day was sunshine for him. Really, really happy. Happier than we’d seen him in seven years.”
Black Sabbath, established in 1968, is widely credited for defining and popularising the heavy metal genre. The band members were recently honoured with the freedom of the city of Birmingham, a tribute to their exceptional contributions to the city.
Ozzy, who also enjoyed a successful solo career, gained a new fan base when he starred in the 2000s reality TV series The Osbournes, alongside his wife Sharon and their two youngest children, Kelly and Jack.
TV presenter Davina McCall has reportedly married celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas, three months after she confirmed their engagement. The couple have been together for around seven years and Davina, 58, described him as her “lifesaver” when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent surgery last year.
According to reports, the pair enjoyed their “perfect” low-key wedding on Friday, December 5, witnessed by just a handful of their closest friends and family. “It was very intimate and everyone who attended is very special in their lives,” a source said, adding that it took place in a small venue near to their home in Kent.
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Speaking to The Sun, the source said Davina’s recent breast cancer diagnosis, which she shared publicly last month following a lumpectomy, was what spurred the couple to say their “I Do’s”, adding, “they didn’t see the point in waiting”.
In early November, Davina opened up about her initial “angry” feelings about the breast cancer results, but said was in a “much more positive place” following her surgery at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.
“I’m talking about this because I think it might help someone. And this is what I always do. It was very, very small, so I got it very, very early which is incredibly lucky,” she told her 2.1 million Instagram followers. “”But I am so relieved to have had it removed and to know it hasn’t spread.”
Opening up about “absolute lifesaver” Michael earlier this year, former Big Brother host Davina said she felt they had already faced the ultimate test as a couple during her brain tumour diagnosis and treatment.
“It’s by far the hardest thing that we as a couple have ever been through together because we had to go on separate journeys,” she told the Mirror. “But we came together at the end of it, and it’s incredible.”
The Masked Singer judge has been married twice before. Her marriage to her first hubby, Andrew Leggett, lasted less than a year and they were officially divorced in 2009.
She then enjoyed a 17-year marriage to TV presenter and explorer Matthew Robertson, with whom she shares children Holly, Tilly and Chester.
She and Michael started dating in 2018 after years of a platonic friendship, and moved in together in 2023, a year before her surgery to remove her life-threatening colloid cyst from her brain, and enjoyed what she called a “spiritual” summer together after being given the all-clear, which included a few nights at Glastonbury.
National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ini Ememobong, says Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke’s defection was the direct outcome of a crisis the party’s leadership allowed to grow.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Ememobong said the Adeleke had become “a victim of circumstance,” stressing that the situation was “vicarious because every problem is human-caused and therefore should have a human solution.”
He argued that decisive leadership action could have prevented the breakdown that eventually pushed Adeleke out of the party. “At the level of leadership to which he belonged in the party, the party ought to have acted decisively,” he said.
Describing the PDP’s internal decline as self-inflicted, he warned that unresolved political problems only worsen with time.
“The challenge is that immediately we begin to feed the monster without knowing we will end up in the belly of the monster, after a while, we become victims,” he said. “If we feed animals to the monster, and we think time will solve problems, time allows human beings to solve problems. It doesn’t solve problems on its own.”
Ememobong said the party should have taken “strong action” in 2023 when the cracks first appeared.
He, however, noted that PDP leaders opted for dialogue instead, hoping that negotiations would calm tensions.
“You also cannot fully blame them,” he said, “because sometimes they think that with negotiations, when passions are calm, people could reconsider their position, but unfortunately, it didn’t.”
He linked the eventual fallout to the controversial PDP convention in Ibadan, which was marked by mass expulsions of high-profile members, the election of new national officers, and significant internal conflict.”
According to him, Adeleke’s exit is tied to “circumstances arising from vicarious liabilities which he cannot completely extricate himself from,” reflecting the long-ignored internal failures that ultimately engulfed the party.
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Governor Adeleke formally resigned from the PDP, the political platform under which he rose to prominence as senator and later governor.
The governor announced his decision in a post on his official X handle late on December 2, attaching a copy of his resignation letter dated November 4, 2025.
The letter was addressed to the PDP Chairman of Ward 2, Sagba Abogunde, in Ede North Local Government, Osun State.
In the letter, Adeleke cited the ongoing crisis within the PDP’s national leadership as the reason for his departure.
“Due to the current crisis of the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I hereby resign my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party with immediate effect,” he wrote.
The publicity secretary’s comments follow Adeleke’s joining the Accord Party as a new platform to seek re-election in August next year.
Governor Adeleke announced in a post on his verified X handle on Tuesday, just a few days after resigning from the PDP.
The governor disclosed that he joined the Accord Party more than a month ago, precisely on 6th November 2025, as a platform to seek re-election in 2026.
He said the decision was made after weeks of consultation and deliberations with stakeholders and opinion leaders.
Adeleke noted that he opted for the Accord Party because its mission of welfarism aligns with his passionate focus on citizens’ and workers’ welfare.
“Stakeholders and residents of Osun State are aware of why we are taking this important decision. We intend to pursue a second term in office on the platform of the Accord Party to complete ongoing delivery of good governance and democratic dividends, which have been applauded at home and abroad.