White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has suggested that the United States military’s attacks on alleged drug boats around Latin America aim to ultimately topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
In comments published by Vanity Fair magazine on Tuesday, Wiles appeared to contradict the Donald Trump administration’s stated rationale behind the bombing campaign – combating drugs.
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“He [Trump] wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will,” Wiles was quoted as saying.
Vanity Fair released a lengthy profile on Wiles on Tuesday, hours after the Pentagon announced three more boat strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean that it said killed eight people.
“So not a war on the cartels. It’s regime change,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote on X in response to Wiles’s comments. “Either way, totally illegal and nonsensical.”
The US administration has been intensifying attacks on vessels as it ramps up its military presence near Venezuela, raising speculations that Washington may be plotting another regime change war against Maduro’s left-wing government.
Trump has repeatedly asserted over the past months that the Venezuelan president’s “days are numbered”.
Last week, US forces raided and seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a move that Caracas denounced as “international piracy”.
Trump – who recently pardoned the right-wing former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez, a convicted drug trafficker – has portrayed the boat strikes and the push against Maduro as an anti-narcotics campaign.
Legal experts say the targeting of vessels in international waters in the Caribbean and Pacific – which has killed more than 90 people – likely violates US and international law and amounts to extrajudicial executions.
The Pentagon has only provided grainy footage as evidence that the boats it has targeted were carrying drugs, while describing the victims as “narco-terrorists”.
The US has been designating drug-trafficking organisations as “terrorist” groups, but UN experts have rejected that label as justification for the deadly bombardment.
“These attacks do not appear to have been conducted within the context of national self-defence, an international or non-international armed conflict, nor against individuals posing an imminent threat to life, thus violating fundamental international human rights law prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of life,” the experts said in a report last month.
“Unprovoked attacks and killings on international waters also violate international maritime laws.”
In October, Trump joked that people are no longer going fishing near the Venezuelan coast due to the US attacks.
Washington has had tense relations with Caracas since the rise of Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s late predecessor, in the early 2000s. The oil-rich South American country has been under heavy US sanctions for years.
Trump, who received the newly established FIFA Peace Prize earlier this month, has campaigned against more US wars and portrayed himself as a peace president.
But his administration has been escalating against Venezuela and issuing threats to Colombia, which is led by another left-wing government under President Gustavo Petro.
The US president has refused to rule out a ground invasion of Venezuela. He has also declared the country’s airspace closed “in its entirety”.
Last week, the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy, emphasising the need to establish US “preeminence” in the Americas.
Maduro has accused the US of creating a “pretext” for war, expressing openness to diplomacy with Washington while rejecting what he called a “slave’s peace”.
Rob Reiner’s son, Nick, 32, has been booked for the murder of his parents, who were tragically found stabbed to death at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday
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Rob Reiner reportedly took his son, Nick, to a Christmas party to ‘keep an eye on him’(Image: Access Hollywood)
Rob Reiner reportedly took his son, Nick, to a Christmas party to ‘keep an eye on him’ before the Harry Met Sally star was brutally murdered.
In news which has left the whole of Hollywood reeling, Nick Reiner, 32, has been booked for the murder of his dad, 78, and mum, Michelle, 68, who were found stabbed to death at their home in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Before the tragedy, the Reiner family had been at a party at Conan O’Brien’s house, with Rob reportedly asking the TV host if Nick could come so he could ‘keep an eye on him’. At the party, sources added, the director’s youngest son “exhibited antisocial behaviour,” such as staring at people.
READ MORE: Heartbreak behind Rob Reiner’s party row with ‘distressed’ son hours before tragedyREAD MORE: Shocking photos released of Rob Reiner’s son being arrested after leaving ‘trail of blood’
Following the reports from Rolling Stone magazine, disturbing details have emerged of a loud argument between Rob’s son Nick and guests at the party the night before the tragedy.
According to TMZ, Hollywood heavyweight Rob and his son were embroiled in a “very loud argument”. One of the sources claimed to PEOPLE: “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.”
It has now been revealed that Nick became ‘disruptive and upset’ when his parents expressed their worries about his health at Conan’s party, reports NBC. It’s also reported that Rob and Michele then left the party following the fracas.
Nick had accompanied his parents to the Christmas party, and sources later claimed to Sky News’ US partner NBC that the couple were both upset and embarrassed by his behaviour, and expressed concert about his health, citing another source alleging that Nick’s behaviour had made other guests feel uncomfortable.
They claimed that the screenwriter had interrupted a conversation between filmmaker Bill Hader and two other guests and when told it was a private conversation – stood still and stared at the group, before storming off in a rage.
Tragically, just hours later, Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday, Dec. 14, their bodies allegedly found by their daughter, Romy – with the LA Fire Department called to the gruesome scene at around 3.30pm local time, to provide medical aid.
Shortly after the tragic news broke, son Nick was arrested 15 miles away from the family home and was pictured, surrounded by cops.
Staff at the Pierside Santa Monica motel – where he had been staying – claimed they called authorities after discovering a trail of blood inside the 32-year-old’s hotel room.
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In dramatic photos released this morning, Nick, wearing jeans, a striped jacket and baseball cap, can be seen lying face down on the ground in handcuffs before he was put in the back of a police car by armed officers in Los Angeles.
He is now held without bail and will appear in court at 8:30 am local time on Tuesday, according to jail records..
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has confirmed the passing of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Retired Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, GCON, who passed on today at 71 years.
A condolence letter released by the NJC says the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, NJC, Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, GCON, on behalf of the entire Judiciary commiserates with the family and the government and people of Bauchi State over the death of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria.
The CJN also sent condolences to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the Nigerian Judiciary and the entire Legal Community, while praying for the Almighty to grant His Lordship rest and the members of his family, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
The letter signed by the Secretary of the NJC notes that though death is a painful reality, the NJC is consoled by the fact that His Lordship, the late CJN left a legacy of handwork, honesty and dedication to work.
READ ALSO: Ex-CJN Tanko Muhammad Dies, Gov Mohammed Mourns
A part of the condolence letter reads, “The late Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, GCON, who would have been 72 years by 31s December 2025, was a devout Muslim, a respected Jurist, who was courageous with exemplified highest ideals of the Bench.”
Late Justice Tanko Muhammad began his career in 1982, after he was called to the bar in 1981, the same year he graduated from the Nigerian Law School. In 1989, he was appointed as Chief Magistrate of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, a position he held until 1991 when he became a Judge at the Bauchi State Sharia Court of Appeal. He served in that capacity for two years before he was appointed to the Bench of the Court of Appeal in 1993.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has been named the 2025 FIFA The Best Men’s Goalkeeper, claiming the honour for the first time in his career.
FIFA announced the award on Tuesday, recognising the Italian’s outstanding performances during a trophy-laden season with former club Paris Saint-Germain.
Donnarumma played a decisive role in PSG’s UEFA Champions League triumph, keeping a clean sheet in their emphatic 5–0 victory over Internazionale in the final on 31 May 2025. He also delivered a series of commanding displays throughout the knockout stages.
On the domestic front, the 26-year-old helped PSG secure Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions.
The goalkeeper further featured in the squad that finished runners-up at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.
Now plying his trade with Premier League giants Manchester City, Donnarumma finished ahead of fellow nominees Alisson Becker, Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martínez, Manuel Neuer, David Raya, Yann Sommer and Wojciech Szczęsny.
His key achievements during the assessment period include winning the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1 and Coupe de France, lifting the 2024 Trophée des Champions, finishing runner-up at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, and earning a place in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season.
The winner was determined from a shortlist compiled by a panel of experts, based on performances between August 11, 2024, and August 2, 2025.
Votes were cast by men’s national team coaches, captains, football journalists and fans on FIFA’s official website.
Each voting group accounted for 25 per cent of the final result, with nominees receiving points for first, second, and third-place selections.
The goalkeeper with the highest total points was declared the winner, with tie-breaks decided by the number of first-choice votes from national team captains.
Donnarumma was previously a runner-up for the FIFA THE BEST GOALKEEPER award in 2021.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is back in action on Friday night when he faces the biggest test of his career against two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Joshua will start as the huge favourite in this one, despite not having fought for more than a year and after taking a break from boxing.
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For Paul, this bout – more than the rest of his previous fights combined – will go a long way to convincing supporters and sceptics alike whether the brash-talking social media star is a genuine world-class contender or nothing more than an overhyped pretender.
Here’s what you need to know in advance of Paul vs Joshua:
What is the date and start time for the Paul vs Joshua fight?
The fight is scheduled for Friday, December 19.
Paul and Joshua are expected to undertake their ring walks at 10:30pm local time (03:30 GMT Saturday). The fight will begin shortly thereafter.
Where is Paul vs Joshua being held?
The heavyweight contest will be staged at the Kaseya Center in Miami, United States.
The venue is home to the three-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion Miami Heat and can hold up to 20,000 spectators for boxing matches.
How to watch and follow Paul vs Joshua?
Al Jazeera’s live text commentary and photo coverage of the fight night will begin at 23:30 GMT on Friday, December 19. We will bring you all the pre-fight talking points, analysis and build-up before bringing you round-by-round Paul-Joshua updates live.
This whole fight card will be available live worldwide exclusively on Netflix. All Netflix subscribers can stream the event at no extra cost.
What are the betting odds?
Joshua has a substantial height and weight advantage – and his professional fighting resume is far superior – making the Briton the overwhelming bookie’s favourite to win the fight.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change) offer the following money lines, suggesting a Joshua win as a near-certainty:
Jake Paul to win: +700
Anthony Joshua: -1300
Anthony Joshua, right, stands head and shoulders above Jake Paul with the bookies [File: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images via AFP]
What is the fight purse?
Figures vary, but it appears both fighters are in for the largest payday of their careers.
It was initially reported that Paul and Joshua would evenly split a whopping $184m fight purse.
Paul has since claimed on social media that the fight will actually be worth a staggering $267m, but has provided no evidence to back up that inflated figure.
Why hasn’t Joshua fought in more than a year?
It will be Joshua’s first bout since a brutal fifth-round knockout loss against fellow Englishman Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
In the past 14 months, the 36-year-old Joshua also underwent elbow surgery and took time off the sport to recover and recharge mentally and physically.
Why didn’t Paul fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis?
Paul’s November 14 exhibition boxing match against WBA world lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis was scrapped on November 4 after it emerged that a civil lawsuit had been filed against Davis in Miami-Dade County in late October.
The scheduled fight had drawn significant global interest due to the novelty of the matchup that pitted the much-larger Paul against Davis, who fights at the 135-pound (61kg) weight limit.
The November 2025 fight that never happened: Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, left, and Jake Paul [File: Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images]
Who is Jake Paul?
Paul, 28, is from Westlake, Ohio where he and his older brother Logan shot to fame through social media. Jake began his career posting videos on the online platform Vine in September 2013 and had amassed 5.3 million followers and 2 billion views before the app was discontinued, according to reports.
Paul is 6-feet, 1-inch tall (1.85m) and normally fights at the cruiserweight – or junior heavyweight – division. The weight class limit for the division is listed at 200 pounds (91kg).
The American enters this fight off the back of his last successful bout against former world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June, which he won by unanimous decision.
Before that, he shot to worldwide fame in November 2024 when he prevailed in a decision victory over legendary heavyweight Mike Tyson, who was 58 at the time and was a shadow of his former self.
Who is Anthony Joshua?
Anthony Joshua is a 6-feet, 6-inch tall (1.98m) boxer from Watford, just outside London, England.
Under the parameters of the bout, Joshua, who historically has weighed in at about 250 pounds (113kg) for past heavyweight fights, will be limited to no more than 245 pounds (111kg) against Paul.
Joshua is a two-time unified heavyweight world champion. He held the unified titles (WBA, IBF, WBO) at the following time periods: April 2016 to June 2019, when he won the IBF belt and unified it, losing them to Andy Ruiz Jr; and again from December 2019 to September 2021, after winning the rematch against Ruiz Jr. before losing to current heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua unleashes a huge right hand against Andy Ruiz Jr during their unification fight for the IBF, WBA, WBO & IBO World Heavyweight titles at Diriyah Arena, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on December 7, 2019 [Andrew Couldridge/ Action Images via Reuters]
What’s Paul’s fight record?
Paul began professional bouts in 2020, and his pro fight record is 12-1.
His only loss came in February 2023, when he lost to Tommy Fury, the brother of former heavyweight world champion Tyson.
What’s Joshua’s fight record?
The 36-year-old’s fight record is 28-4. Joshua has fought several famous heavyweights, including Usyk, Dubois and Wladimir Klitschko.
He is eight years older than Paul and has more than double the number of career professional fights than his opponent.
What has Paul said about the fight?
Paul has predicted the bout will end via a knockout victory in the fifth round.
“I’m here to go out there and shock the world,” Paul said. “I know what I’m capable of. People say, ‘Oh, he’s out of his mind.’ I’ve gotten to where I am today because of delusional optimism. No one thinks I’m going to win, so join the list and be ready to be shocked.”
“He’s one of the best heavyweights ever,” Paul added. “But I believe that fighting a smaller man is often times harder for a heavyweight because of the speed difference and because of the foot speed, because of the angles. All that power is great. I just have to avoid that one shot. I believe that I can do that. I know I can pick him apart and score points.”
What has Joshua said about the fight?
Despite being the odds-on favourite for victory, Joshua says he is approaching the eight-round contest seriously.
“You can’t underestimate anyone. I’m going to take him seriously,” Joshua said. “After a year out, I’ve realigned a lot in my life. I got my focus back to where it needs to be.”
Joshua, who has 25 career KOs as a pro, acknowledged that anything short of a quick knockout win will be perceived as additional erosion of his standing among the elite heavyweights.
“I’ve seen it. I’ve heard it,” he added. “As I said to Jake respectfully, I need to cut him up. I need to break him up, and I need to hurt him. That’s just what we do.”
Who is fighting in the co-main event?
In the co-main event, it will be an all-North American women’s matchup with Alycia Baumgardner of the United States putting two of her three World super featherweight titles (IBF, WBO) on the line against Canadian challenger Leila Beaduoin.
Baumgardner, aka “The Bomb”, hasn’t been defeated since 2018 and will start as the strong favourite in the eighth title match of her professional career.
Beaduoin, who is riding a four-fight winning streak, will need to be at her all-time best to upset the champ on Friday.
Alycia Baumgardner (pictured) will defend her undisputed junior lightweight titles against Leila Beudoin [File: Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images via Reuters]
Full undercard
Main card (From 8pm | 01:00 GMT on Saturday)
Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua – heavyweight (8x3min rounds)
Alycia Baumgardner vs Lela Beaudoin – IBF & WBO super-featherweight world titles (12x3min rounds)
Anderson Silva vs Tyron Woodley – cruiserweight (6x3min rounds)
Jahmal Harvey vs Kevin Cervantes – featherweight (6x3min rounds)
Preliminary card (From 4.45pm | 21:45 GMT on Friday)
Cherneka Johnson vs Amanda Galle – undisputed bantamweight title (10x2min rounds)
Yokasta Valle vs Yadira Bustillos – WBC strawweight world title (10x2min rounds)
Avious Griffin vs Justin Cardona – welterweight (8x3min rounds)
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes told Portuguese media the Premier League club had wanted to sell him this summer after receiving interest from Saudi Arabia.
But the 31-year-old claimed manager Ruben Amorim still had him in his plans and that convinced him to stay at Old Trafford.
“My passion and empathy for the club were the same, but there comes a point where money becomes more important to them than you,” Fernandes told Canal 11, a channel owned by the Portuguese Football Federation, on Monday.
“The club wanted me to leave. I said it to the directors and I think they didn’t have the courage to make that decision because the coach wanted me.
“But if I had said I wanted to leave, even if the coach wanted me to stay, the club would have let me go.”
READ ALSO: Man United Forward Sesko Out ‘For A Few Weeks’
Fernandes, who has 103 goals in 307 appearances for Man Utd in all competitions since arriving in 2020, was also reportedly hurt by the club hierarchy’s willingness to part ways with him.
“The feeling I got from the club was, ‘if you leave, it’s not so bad for us’. That hurt me a little,” he said, according to comments reported on the website of Portuguese sports daily A Bola.
The playmaker said he had considered a move to Saudi Arabia, following in the footsteps of compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo who made the move to the kingdom in 2023 after his acrimonious departure from Old Trafford.
