The White House has released a photograph of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presenting President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize, a move she said was ‘recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom’.
Ant and Dec announce their new podcast on Belta Box
Ant and Dec have announced a huge new project this morning – almost two years after Saturday Night Takeaway came to an end.
The TV presenters wrapped their final Saturday Night Takeaway show in April 2024, but still face pleas from fans to come back to our screens – despite fronting I’m A Celebrity… and Tipping Point. Now, the duo have made a huge announcement on Saturday Night Takeaway’s official Instagram and YouTube pages to reveal a new project – which includes the pair hosting their own podcast.
The presenting duo, who have been working together for more than 30 years, have today launched Belta Box, a brand new entertainment channel, which will house new content including new digital projects while also taking a look back at some of their career highlights.
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Meanwhile, the platform will also feature their brand new podcast, Hanging Out With Ant and Dec, which launches on January 22. Speaking about the exciting new venture, 50 year old Ant said: “We’ve spent our whole careers celebrating great entertainment, so launching Belta Box feels like the natural next step. Alongside our new podcast, we’re excited to create a space packed with fun, feel-good content that brings people together—no matter where they’re watching or listening.”
While his pal Dec, 50, added: “What better way to launch Belta Box than with our first ever podcast series! We asked our audience if we did a podcast what would they like it be about, and they said we just want you guys to hang out. So that’s what we’re doing! Ant & I don’t get to hang out as much as we used to, so it’s perfect for us.”
The pair shared a video on their newly-transformed YouTube and Instagram channels, which had changed its name from Saturday Night Takeaway to Belta Box. In it, Dec begins: “Hi everyone, we’ve got a bit of an announcement for you.”
Ant adds: “Well we know you like Saturday Night Takeaway,” as Dec interjects: “It’d be a bit weird if you didn’t because you’ve subscribed to the channel.” “That is true,” Ant agrees. “But Takeaway is not currently on air.”
Dec then reveals: “But because we’re so very kind…” as Ant adds: “On top of all the Saturday Night Takeaway content on this channel we want to give you more.” “So,” Dec interjects. “We are changing this channel to…” He then catches a big box with the words ‘Belta Box’ before the pair both reveal the new name.
Ant then explains: “Belta Box will be packed with feel-good entertainment curated by experts.” Dec replies: “Well, us…” “Yeah, us,” Ant agrees. “And we’ll be bringing you more from our archive including the best of SMTV Live, Byker Grove, coming later this year, and tonnes more.” Dec adds: “Not only that, Belta Box will also bring you lots of brand new entertainment, too.” Ant then reveals: “And, we’re excited to announce that on the 22nd of January we’re launching our first show for Belta Box, which will be…”
The pair are then seen taking a big jump in the air before landing in a new part of a studio. Dec then announces: “Our brand new podcast! Hanging Out With Ant and Dec!” Ant asks viewers: “Do you like it? Looks good right? And we cannot wait for you to join us for it.”
“So,” Dec says. “Whether you’re here for a trip down memory lane…” before Ant interjects: “Or for fresh, original content featuring two lovable, handsome…” As Dec jokes: “And humble Geordies!”
“We’re excited to welcome you to…” Ant says before they both say: “Belta Box!” The news was met with praise and excitement from fans in the comments section as one said: “Ant & Dec podcast sounds incredible”, while another added: “RIP Saturday Night Takeaway YouTube channel. It is great to see more Saturday Night Takeaway content and even SMTV. Looking forward to what comes next.”
A third said: “So excited”, while another said: “Rip Saturday night takeaway youtube channel BUT YAY IM SO EXCITED FOR NEW STUFF”.
David and Victoria Beckham are celebrating a planning win over an extension to their Cotswolds estate.
The pair are said to have been at war with local residents over plans to construct a new driveway so they don’t have share access.
The couple plan to transform a farm track into a second access road leading directly to their £12million countryside haven in Oxfordshire that only they will use.
The duo found themselves in hot water with local council officials after forging ahead with an extension without planning permission.
Planners have now given the thumbs up for a “change of use” of the track, turning it into an 800ft-long driveway. The current route is shared with guests of the celebrity hotspot Soho Farmhouse, a swanky members’ club and “rural escape” frequented by stars such as the Clooneys, Cara Delevingne, Daisy Lowe and Molly-Mae Hague.
However, one local resident “strongly objected” to the Beckhams’ proposal for secondary access to their Grade II listed estate, which features a tennis court, treehouse, pond and kitchen garden. In a letter, she questioned: “The house already has one perfectly serviceable access road so why is another stretch of tarmac land through the woods deemed a good idea? Ramblers use the lane and they should be left undisturbed by giant SUVs lumbering up and down. Please do not allow this application.”
Another objector penned: “Many locally have said enough is enough and it’s about time the planners indicated this to the applicants. Many think the Beckhams have been given far too much on a very small amount of land.”
As part of the plans, new entrance gates will be constructed at both ends of the loose gravel track, with proposed tree planting on either side. The development also includes a wildflower meadow and installations such as bird boxes, bug hotels, bat boxes, and hedgehog houses to enhance biodiversity.
Documents submitted to the local council indicate that construction work on the track extension commenced in June 2024, but is yet to be completed. The Beckhams also possess a £40million listed mansion in London, complete with an indoor pool, gym, and wine cellar.
Their planning agent stated: “The scheme integrates discreetly with its agricultural context and results in no significant landscape or visual harm. The works respond to operational, safety and amenity needs, while being carefully designed to conserve the rural, heritage and landscape character of the area.”
Tucked away in the Cotswolds, the Beckham’s country retreat has all the trappings of a cosy hideaway. Victoria, 51, and David, 50, purchased the Grade II listed home in December 2016 for a reported £6.15million.
However, since moving in a decade ago, the Beckhams have invested heavily in refurbishing their country haven. This includes constructing a lake nearly three-quarters the size of a football pitch, complete with its own island. The property also boasts an impressive orchard and several outbuildings.
The power couple, parents to Brooklyn, 26, Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20, and Harper, 14, reportedly have a property empire of around. In addition to their properties in the Cotswolds and London, they also own a mega-mansion in Miami.
The Beckhams are one of the world ’s most recognisable families and have a combined net worth of £500million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. As David is co-owner of Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, the Beckhams spend a lot of their time between the US and their UK properties.
David and Victoria have provided behind-the-scenes looks at their family life through their respective Netflix documentaries, with Victoria’s being released on the streaming platform earlier this year. The documentaries also gave a glimpse into the Beckhams’ property portfolio, which is worth a combined £111m.
The Beckham family first moved stateside after David joined LA Galaxy in 2007. Almost two decades on, the former Manchester United star remains strongly linked to the country through Inter Miami, a team he helped co-found that now boasts Lionel Messi as an integral part of their squad.
In October 2024, The Sun reported that the Beckhams had paid £55m in cash for a huge Miami mansion, which overlooks Biscayne Bay. The 14,270sqft property boasts nine bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, according to the Daily Mail, as well as a home cinema, personal spa, and swimming pool.
The kitchen is built to chef-standard, with ample outdoor spaces to entertain guests. Situated on the coast, the property also has mooring space for a yacht.
In addition to their Florida mansion, the Beckhams also own a penthouse in Miami. The 10,000sqft property was bought for £18m in 2020.
Two weeks after United States special forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado visited the White House for her first in-person meeting with US President Donald Trump.
With Venezuela’s future uncertain, and Trump seemingly in a position of authority to determine who might lead the South American country, Machado placed her recently won Nobel Peace Prize in the hands of a man who has coveted the award for years.
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The two posed for a photo in front of the Declaration of Independence in the Oval Office, and Trump smiled big as he clasped onto a large golden frame encasing the medal.
But does the prize now belong to Trump, and could it change the US president’s course of action when it comes to Venezuela?
ABC News later quoted an unnamed White House official confirming that Trump had agreed to keep the award.
“It was my Great Honor to meet Maria Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today. She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
“Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Maria!”
Machado, 58, is the leader of the Venezuelan opposition party, Vente Venezuela. She is also one of Maduro’s staunchest critics.
In 2023, she won the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary, placing her in a prime position to challenge longtime leader Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections.
However, Venezuela’s top court, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, upheld a ban stopping Machado from running for office. The court backed government claims that she supported US sanctions, was linked to a weapons plot through her party and had helped cause losses to Venezuelan assets like the US-based oil refiner Citgo and chemicals company Monomeros, which operates in Colombia.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a diplomat, replaced her as presidential candidate for the opposition bloc. Machado campaigned for him.
However, Maduro won the election, continuing to hold onto his presidential seat, which he has held since 2013. The election was disputed and earned widespread accusations of fraud from within and outside Venezuela, including from a panel of United Nations experts. Nine Latin American countries demanded a review of the election results in the presence of independent observers.
After spending more than a year in hiding and defying a decade-long travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities, Machado secretly left Venezuela in December to travel to Oslo to collect her prize.
While announcing her win, the Nobel Committee said Machado was “receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
Trump’s longstanding desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize is well known. Before the prize for 2025 was announced, Trump repeatedly suggested that he deserved to win it and claimed it would be a “big insult” to the US if he did not.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September 2025, Trump said, “Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Trump added, “I ended seven wars. No president or prime minister has ever done anything close to that.” The wars he claimed to have ended include conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand; Kosovo and Serbia; the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda; Pakistan and India; Israel and Iran; Egypt and Ethiopia; and Armenia and Azerbaijan. Subsequently, Trump also oversaw the signing of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
In reality, analysts have pointed out, several of these conflicts are still alive – Thailand and Cambodia have fired at each other since their truce; Israel has killed more than 450 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10; and tensions remain high between India and Pakistan.
Trump has openly expressed his frustration with not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. “I single-handedly ENDED 8 WARS, and Norway, a NATO Member, foolishly chose not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on January 7.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which determines who wins the prize, is independent from the government of Norway.
The White House posted a picture of Trump and Machado with the framed prize. The text on the frame read: “Presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people, in recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action in pursuit of a free Venezuela.”
After her meeting with Trump, Machado told reporters it was “excellent” and that she presented Trump with the medal as “a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom”.
Under the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, a Nobel Prize cannot be revoked, reallocated, or transferred to another person. Once a prize has been awarded, the decision is final and permanent.
The statutes of the Nobel Foundation are the formal rules that govern how the Nobel system works in practice.
While Trump can hold the physical prize, it has still been awarded to Machado, which is a decision that will continue to stand.
The Nobel Peace Center account on X, the official account of the museum about the Nobel Peace Prize, reiterated this in an X post on Wednesday.
“A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,” the post says.
On January 3, Maduro, 63, was abducted by special forces of the US during an operation in the Latin American country’s capital, Caracas.
Since his abduction, Venezuela has been confronted by questions over who will lead it – and whom Trump would back for the role.
The US president quickly ruled out the possibility of supporting Machado as the leader of Venezuela. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,” Trump said about Machado during a news conference on January 3.
On January 4, The Washington Post reported, quoting two anonymous sources close to the White House, that Trump had withheld support from Machado because he was upset that she had accepted the Nobel – even though she had dedicated it to him – instead of refusing it.
One of these people said Machado accepting the award was the “ultimate sin”, while the other person told the Post: “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today.”
Instead, Trump has backed Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, who was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president. Rodriguez has expressed eagerness to work with the US.
During the meeting between Machado and Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while Trump had been looking forward to meeting Machado, he stood by his “realistic” view that Machado lacks the backing required to lead the country for now.
Meanwhile, Trump spoke to Rodriguez over a phone call on Wednesday. In a post on Truth Social that day, Trump described the call as “very good”.
“Many topics were discussed, including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security. This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”
Rodriguez described the conversation as long, productive and courteous, saying they discussed a bilateral agenda aimed at benefitting both countries.
Wayne Rooney says caretaker head coach Michael Carrick will “steady the ship” at Manchester United, but fans shouldn’t be fooled by his calm persona.
United confirmed that Carrick would take charge until the end of the season – succeeding Ruben Amorim – on Tuesday.
Rooney and Carrick were team-mates at Old Trafford, playing together on 366 occasions and winning five Premier League titles together.
“Michael’s great fun. He is a great character, but don’t be fooled by how calm he looks,” Rooney said on the latest edition of BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney Show.
“He can have fun as well, but make no mistake, he’d be going in there now with full focus.”
Carrick made 464 appearances for United across a 12-year spell and had a three-game stint as caretaker manager at the club in 2021, winning two games and drawing one.
The 44-year-old managed Middlesbrough between 2022 and 2025.
“It is probably the obvious choice really because I don’t think there are any top, top managers available at the minute.
“I think it is the right choice at this moment in time.
Carrick’s short-term appointment still leaves questions around who the board will turn to in the summer.
Xabi Alonso, who left Real Madrid on Monday, and England manager Thomas Tuchel are among the names to have already been suggested.
“Alonso did incredible at Leverkusen and I think you have more chance of him sitting and waiting and hoping with [Liverpool manager Arne] Slot,” Rooney said.
Manchester United sit seventh in the Premier League after winning just one of their past six games.
Carrick’s first assignment comes on Saturday (12:30 GMT) when Manchester City make the short trip to Old Trafford.
“It is a massive game for the club, for Michael,” Rooney said.
“I think what he will do is bring a bit of calmness, a bit of grit to the game, which I think is needed. It is going to be very difficult, Manchester City are obviously a top team and it will be difficult to get anything out of it even at Old Trafford.
Carrick has brought former England assistant Steve Holland in as his number two, with Jonathan Woodgate, Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion also part of his staff.
Holland worked under Gareth Southgate when England finished fourth at the 2018 World Cup and were runners-up at Euro 2020 and 2024.
“I was really impressed him tactically at England, how he worked and his organisation,” Rooney said.
“Steve Holland did all the training, Gareth Southgate didn’t really, he’d be more the manager and Steve took all the sessions.
Egypt might be disappointed with their failure to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final but coach Hossam Hassan says it has been a good experience ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 later this year.
Egypt lost in Wednesday’s semifinal to Senegal in Tangier but on Saturday will play Nigeria for the bronze medal at the tournament in Morocco.
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“It has been very good preparation for us, we’ve tried several systems of play throughout the tournament and played against different types of opponents,” Hassan said.
“We came close to the final but that’s football,” he said of the 1-0 loss to Senegal.
“Overall, I’m satisfied with all that happened and what we achieved. We have a good team. We were away from home and did not have a lot of supporters.”
The match against Nigeria would be another opportunity to prepare for the World Cup, he added.
Egypt play in Group G with Belgium first up in Seattle on June 15, New Zealand in Vancouver on June 21 and Iran on June 26 back in Seattle.
Hassan said Egypt might have fallen short because of a lack of players at top clubs in Europe, in contrast to the two finalists, Morocco and Senegal, whose squads are filled with players at top European teams.
“Players based in Europe gain better tactical acumen and become physically much stronger, and we need that added value to make us better,” he said.
Egypt’s 28-man squad had only three players based in Europe – captain Mohamed Salah from Liverpool, Omar Marmoush from Manchester City and Mostafa Mohamed from Nantes in Ligue 1.
“I think [the Nigeria] game gives us a chance to continue preparations, but we always want to win. Egypt always plays to win, we are a team who have won seven Cup of Nations in the past,” Hassan said.
