Gloucester held their nerve to beat Castres 34-14 on their return to the Champions Cup after a two-year absence on a wild afternoon at Kingsholm.
With the score tied at 14-14, the Cherries were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when Deian Gwynne was sent to the sin-bin.
But two vital penalties from Ross Byrne after the sin-bin period ended gave Gloucester breathing space before Charlie Atkinson scored two late tries.
Castres scored converted tries from Vuate Karawalevu and Loris Zarantonello before half-time, with Gloucester’s Freddie Thomas and Will Trenholm going over for tries converted by Byrne as both sides defied the howling wind.
Errors crept in after the break, and then Gwynne was shown a yellow card after his hand connected with the eye area of Florent Vanverberghe.
But the French Top 14 side lost their discipline in the closing stages, with Christian Ambadiang and Gauthier Doubrere also being sent to the sin-bin.
Cherries bounce back after poor start
The game had started badly for the hosts when Karawalevu intercepted to stroll over from halfway for the opening try, but Wales international Tomas Williams fed second row Thomas for Gloucester’s first score.
Castres hooker Zarantonello bundled over for what proved to be their final score, despite the French side playing with the strong wind behind them after the break.
Trenholm was shown to have reached the line by a television match official review, after the try had initially been ruled out on the pitch, meaning the game reached 14-14 by the break.
Gloucester struggled with their line-out while Castres gave away numerous penalties in a frantic second half, but the Cherries resisted the visitors despite being a player down in Gwynne’s absence.
Singer Paloma Faith has revealed she was in hospital before writing about her pregnancy aged 44
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(Image: Instagram/palomafaith)
Celebrity Traitors star Paloma Faith shared an update with followers saying she was in hospital with a mask over her face. She wrote over the top of the image: “Thanks @homertonhospital for nebulising me for FLU A.” The post was accompanied by the song Breathe Again by Toni Braxton.
in a separate picture the star opened up about being pregnant. Alongside a black and white snap showing her bump, the singer wrote: “Pregnancy at 44. Ngl that’s a bit worrying but I’m trying to pretend to myself I’m calm So that eventually that comes true. I couldn’t be more happy about another baby and I’m bracing myself for the storm….”
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Former TOWIE star Jess Wright was among those in the comments section sharing their delight at the upload. She simply shared three emoji faces with love heart eyes. Alan Carr, who also starred with his pal on the Celebrity version of the BBC’s hit Traitors series, also shared three emojis. He commented with three red love hearts. Sheridan Smith gushed: “Love this.”
Paloma is currently expecting her third child and her first with her boyfriend Stevie Thomas. She also shares two daughters from her previous relationship with Leyman Lahcine.
Last month, the Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer posted a reel to her social media as she shared clips of how she looked during her first pregnancy compared to now.
She is dressed casually in the shots and goes about her daily activities. The video then continues to show Paloma lying on her red bed wearing a lace jumpsuit. As she looks at the camera seductively, Paloma says: “Hi boys. Mummy’s making milk.” She then struggles to keep a straight face as she smirks before the clip cuts off.
Paloma made her pregnancy announcement in October. To make the big reveal to the public she posed alongside her pet dog and proudly showed off her bump. In the images, she was wearing a sports jersey rolled up to show her stomach. She paired it with a polka dot skirt by Taylor Dorry and a matching sports cap as she clung to her dog.
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She captioned the upload: “Plot twist, mother is mothering (again),” before adding the hashtags #morethangeriatricpregnancy #oappregnancy #oapmilf #18weekspregnant.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame praises Trumpian diplomacy for de-emphasizing ‘democracy, freedom and human rights’.
US diplomacy under President Donald Trump has a bigger chance of success because it focuses on transactional deals that “translate into improvements of people’s lives” instead of “theories about democracy, freedom and human rights”, argues Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
After the US government placed sanctions on the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, her life turned upside down.
Credit cards stopped working, she told Al Jazeera. A hotel reservation booked by the European Parliament was cancelled. Medical insurance was denied. For Albanese, the consequences of her work on Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza were not just professional — they were personal, too.
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“We are turned into non-persons,” she said at the Doha Forum, calling the sanctions imposed against her “unlawful” under international law.
“But again, for me, it’s important that people understand the extent … the United States, Israel and others would go to silence the voice of justice, the voice of human rights,” Albanese said.
As leaders, diplomats, and legal experts gathered in Qatar’s capital for the Doha Forum this weekend under the theme “Justice in Action: Beyond Promises to Progress”, the crisis in Gaza dominated discussions.
Allegations of genocide against Israel, repeated vetoes blocking UN ceasefire resolutions, and growing pressure on international justice mechanisms have made Gaza a test case for the rules-based international order, raising questions about whether international law is capable of providing justice.
‘Sense of insecurity around me’
According to Albanese’s legal assessments, Israel’s conduct in its war on Gaza constitutes a genocide, a term that prominent human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Israel’s B’Tselem have also used.
When announcing the sanctions on Albanese, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused her of waging a “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel”. She says the allegation is baseless.
“I have been subjected to smear campaigns,” she said, adding that US officials have accused her of being an anti-Semite, of supporting violence, and of failing to condemn the crimes committed on October 7 against Israeli civilians.
“It has created a sense of insecurity around me. I have received threats from all corners,” Albanese said.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese is the UN’s expert on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory [File: Pierre Albouy/Reuters]
In addition to targeting Albanese, the US imposed sanctions in August on nine judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including two European citizens, after the court began investigating alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
“This is mafia-style intimidation that we are subjected to, just for doing our job,” Albanese noted, warning that sanctions and intimidation of legal experts set a dangerous precedent.
“There will be that pressure [on ICC judges and legal experts] that, if I go on this route, this is going to be scrutinised. This is the idea, to make it impossible for the organisation, for the ICC to work,” she cautioned.
“Imagine that every US person interacting with us, someone who works in the US or is a citizen, could go to jail for up to 20 years. It creates a chilling effect.”
Western hesitance
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “war crimes”.
The US called the move “outrageous”, and while the United Kingdom and Canada said they would adhere to international law, they did not make clear if they would uphold the warrant.
Many Western countries have not described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide and have continued to send the country arms, despite growing allegations of war crimes occurring in Gaza.
Albanese emphasised that nations continuing to transfer arms are failing in their legal obligations.
“They have the obligation to prevent a genocide that has already been recognised as plausible in January 2024 by the International Court of Justice,” she said.
Janine Di Giovanni, co-founder of the Reckoning Project, which documents war crimes in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, said the position of many Western states reeked of a glaring “double standard”.
“There is one set of laws and rules that pertain to Ukraine … and another set for brown and Black people,” she said, pointing to the ICC’s historical focus on African leaders and the failure of Western powers to hold Israel accountable.
Di Giovanni directed her criticism at European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, saying the former Estonian prime minister had been “negligent” when it came to Gaza.
“She points out over and over again what [Russian President] Putin has done in Ukraine, but not a word about Gaza,” she added.
“She’s the EU foreign policy chief. She has a responsibility to point out Israel’s criminality.”
Is international law still relevant?
With multilateral institutions and the international law system coming under growing pressure from nation-states, Albanese said that international law does work and that “we need to make it work”.
“I often make the example, if a cure doesn’t work, would you trash all medicine? No,” she asserted.
“This is the first genocide in history that has awakened a conscience, a global conscience, and has the potential to be stopped.”
Meanwhile, Reckoning Project’s Di Giovanni said the UN General Assembly could be “activated to work at a higher level and a more effective level than what they’re doing, while the Security Council is blocked”.
“But maybe this shows us that we need to have a greater reform for how the Security Council works,” she said.
Di Giovanni added that it was crucial to address the “extraordinary heinous crimes that Netanyahu and others” have committed, or else it would send a message that “impunity is rampant”.
Britain’s Lando Norris secured his maiden Formula 1 drivers’ championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The McLaren driver finished third at the Yas Marina Circuit, a result which was good enough to seal the title by two points from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won the grand prix.
Taylor Swift is ‘in the best possible place’ after ‘triumphant year’ which included her summer engagement to NFL superstar Travis Kelce and new album The Life Of A Showgirl
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“As we come to the end of 2025, Taylor seems to be in the best possible place,” says PR expert Lynn Carratt. (Image: Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
After what’s been one of her most triumphant years ever, Taylor Swift is gearing up for a cracking Christmas. With her summer engagement to NFL superstar Travis Kelce and an early Christmas gift to fans in the shape of a new album, it’s been another remarkable 12 months for the pop icon.
“As we come to the end of 2025, Taylor seems to be in the best possible place,” says PR expert Lynn Carratt. “After riding the wave of her Eras Tour and releasing The Life Of A Showgirl, settling down with Travis is definitely the icing on the cake.” As if that wasn’t enough, this week, on 12 December – the day before her 36th birthday – a brand new docuseries celebrating the star, titled The End Of An Era, will be shown on Disney+.
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The six-parter, set to be released weekly in two-episode instalments, promises to give “an intimate look at Taylor’s life” and follows the singer as she takes her phenomenal Eras Tour around the globe. Huge names from the world of music, including Gracie Abrams, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch all feature, along with her band, dancers, family members and, of course, fiancé Travis.
In August, Taylor and the Kansas City Chiefs ace caused a social media meltdown after announcing their surprise engagement. “The reaction was just incredible,” says Lynn. “They knew by putting it on Instagram it would blow up, and it’s all everyone was talking about – even President Trump commented on it.”
Alongside beautiful photos of Travis, 36, proposing in the garden of his Missouri estate, the momentous announcement included Taylor’s now-immortal words, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
It became the fastest post to ever reach a million Instagram reposts, achieving the milestone in just six hours. And with the news coming hot on the heels of Taylor’s big reveal about The Life Of A Showgirl, it brought double delight for the Swiftiverse.
“The timing of both announcements, just two weeks apart, could not have been better,” says Lynn. “It was a genius strategic PR move, firstly getting fans excited about her new music, and then offering this rare glimpse into her personal life.”
The pair first got together in the summer of 2023, after Travis attended one of Taylor’s Eras shows and then revealed his crush on her on his and brother Jason’s New Heights podcast. He urged Taylor to “just meet me once, just give me a chance” and, after agreeing, they became instantly smitten.
Speaking on her beau’s podcast in August, Taylor opened up about the early days of their romance, revealing they got to know each other “in a way that’s very natural, very pure, very normal”. She also said Travis “could make me laugh so immediately about normal things” and called him “a vibe booster”.
Just as lovestruck, Travis said of their first meeting, “It was the easiest conversation I ever had.” Within weeks of their first date, Taylor was seen watching Travis at Chiefs matches. Though some initially claimed the relationship was a publicity stunt between the biggest pop princess on the planet and the alpha-male athlete, that was far from the case.
“Travis is not the jock that some assumed him to be,” says Annie Zaleski, author of Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind The Songs . “He has a sensitive side and often gets emotional when talking about Taylor.”
Coming just four months after Travis’ picture-perfect proposal, this festive season is set to be even more precious for Christmas-obsessed Taylor.
“Her birthday falls just before Christmas [on 13 December], so the second half of the month is always super-celebratory,” says Annie. “She loves spending time with family, and I think the added element of her being engaged will make it even more special.”
Taylor’s love of the season stems from her days growing up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, and she was only 17 when she released her first festive album, The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection.
In 2019, she released the aptly titled Christmas Tree Farm, based on her childhood memories of the holiday season. “I really love Christmas,” she once said. “I wish it was all year round.”
But she’s also poked fun at her festive fixation, branding herself an “obnoxious Christmas sweater, gingerbread cookie girl”.
It’s not all about dressing up in Yuletide knits, though – the superstar likes to focus on giving back across the whole month and has become known for “Tay-lurking”, where she finds out where fans live, work and what makes them happiest.
In 2014, an event dubbed “Swiftmas” saw her post Christmassy emojis on 32 lucky fans’ socials before she sent each a selection of handpicked gifts – with the FedEx label crossed out and replaced by “SwiftEx”. For one fan, Rebecca Cox from Michigan, thoughtful gifts included a Victoria’s Secret duffel bag, a Polaroid camera, bath and beauty products, a sweater, blanket and candles.
“There’s no one in the music industry who has a heart as big as she does,” said Rebecca at the time. You can tell that she wrapped all the gifts personally.” With Christmas fast approaching, fans can expect yet more seasonal goodwill from Taylor. Last December, she visited Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, where she was pictured hugging young patients, and later gifted one of them, Naya, a replica of the outfit she wore that day.
During the festive period, she also donated $250,000 to a Kansas City children’s non-profit organisation. Though she and Travis will no doubt spoil each other rotten, they’re likely to focus on those less fortunate, too. “They both seem to want to help make the world a better place and use their platforms to improve people’s lives,” says PR expert Lynn.
Despite such a full-on festive season, the couple will also have the small matter of a wedding to plan – with Lynn saying a summer ceremony could be on the cards.
“I’m sure it won’t be a very long engagement – I think they’ll want to get on with it,” she says. “It’s already been framed as the wedding to end all weddings.”
