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Meghan Markle hits out at backlash for defying ‘blanket ban’ in place after ‘H’s mom’
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Meghan Markle, who is the Duchess of Sussex, came under fire this week after travelling to Europe for the first time in more two years – to attend Paris Fashion Week
Meghan Markle has fought back after critics blasted her for visiting Paris – a city believed to be subject of a “blanket ban” as it is where Diana, Princess of Wales died.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, was filmed on her way back from the Balenciaga after-show party amid Paris Fashion Week using the same route Diana was driven moments before her tragic crash in August 1997. She is seen with her feet up on the chair in the car, just moments from the Pont d’Alma tunnel.
Meghan faced criticism for the “insensitive” clip, although it was also claimed she was unaware the infamous tunnel was on the route. Other insiders are particularly shocked because both Meghan and Harry have turned down numerous invitations to attend events in Paris over recent years, thought to be because of the city’s association with his mother.
Yet, Meghan attended Paris Fashion Week, where she was greeted with kisses by the European style pack as well as former Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour. It is thought this appearance was part of what has been dubbed the “Establishment plot” – called “Project Thaw” because it is reportedly designed to “warm up” the Duke’s and Duchess’s frosty relationships with the rest of the Royal Family and with the British people.
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But a source told the Daily Mail Harry, 41, would consistently make it clear that he would not go to Paris, because of his mother. The same source added: “Meghan would explain when asked: ‘I cannot go to Paris because of H’s mom.'”
After the footage taken in the car emerged, one friend of Harry’s told the publication: “She’s driving around in that city where his mother died. She knows exactly what she is doing.”
However, following the furore, Meghan has now spoken out, stressing she went to the fashion event because of her huge admiration for Pierpaolo Piccioli, one of the industry’s new kings.
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“Over the years, the Duchess has worn a number of designs by Pierpaolo. They have worked closely together, collaborating on design for key moments on the world stage,” the duchess said.
“She has long admired his craftsmanship and modern elegance, and tonight was no different. This evening reflects the culmination of many years of artistry and friendship, reflected in her support for his new creative chapter at Balenciaga.”
Trump reveals prescription drug deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca
United States President Donald Trump has unveiled a second deal with a major pharmaceutical company to offer lower-cost prescription drugs direct to American consumers.
This time, the agreement concerned AstraZeneca, a multinational based in the United Kingdom.
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Trump hosted the company’s chief executive, Pascal Soriot, in the Oval Office on Friday to publicly cement the deal, which he described as “another historic achievement in our quest to lower drug prices for all Americans”.
“Americans can expect discounts, and as I said, it could be, in many cases, way over a hundred percent,” Trump said.
As in previous press appearances, he pledged US consumers would see impossible discounts on popular medications.
Inhalers to treat asthma, for example, would be discounted by 654 percent, Trump said, calling the device a “drug that’s hot, very hot”. He also reiterated past claims that some medications could see “a thousand percent reduction”.
Trump has long pushed to reduce prescription drug costs to what he has billed as “most-favoured nations prices”.
That would bring prices down to the same level as in other developed countries, though Trump, with typical hyperbole, has said the policy would equate to “the lowest price anywhere in the world”.
AstraZeneca is the second major pharmaceutical company after Pfizer to strike such a bargain. Last month, Pfizer announced a “voluntary agreement” to price its products “at parity with other key developed markets”.
Like AstraZeneca, it also agreed to participate in an online, direct-to-consumer marketplace the Trump administration plans to launch, called TrumpRx.
But in a news release on its website, Pfizer made clear that the agreement would help it dodge the high tariffs that Trump threatened against overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers.
“We now have the certainty and stability we need on two critical fronts, tariffs and pricing, that have suppressed the industry’s valuations to historic lows,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.
At Friday’s Oval Office ceremony, officials like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr openly celebrated the power Trump had wielded through his tariff threats.
“ The president saw something that we didn’t see, which is we had leverage, and that came through Howard [Lutnick] and the tariffs,” Kennedy said, giving a nod to Trump’s commerce secretary. “We had extraordinary leverage to craft these deals.”
The deals with both AstraZeneca and Pfizer came after Trump threatened in September to impose a 100-percent tariff on pharmaceutical companies unless they started to build manufacturing plants in the US.
“There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social.
Those tariffs were slated to come into effect on October 1. But Pfizer unveiled its deal with the Trump administration on September 30, and the tariffs were subsequently postponed.
In Friday’s Oval Office appearance, Soriot acknowledged that, like Pfizer, he had negotiated a delay for any tariffs against AstraZeneca. In exchange, he pledged to increase US investments to $50bn by 2030.
“I appreciate very much Secretary Lutnick granting us a three-year tariff exemption to localise the remainder of our products,” Soriot said. “Most of our products are locally manufactured, but we need to transfer the remaining part to this country.”
Just one day earlier, AstraZeneca had revealed it would construct a “multi-billion-dollar drug substance manufacturing centre” in Virginia, with a focus on chronic diseases, a top priority for the Trump administration.
Trump himself touted his tariff threat as the impetus for the recent string of drug deals. When asked by a reporter if he could have brought the pharmaceutical companies to the negotiating table any other way, Trump was blunt.
“ I would never have been able to bring him,” he replied, with a gesture to Soriot. “ Now, I’m not sure that Pascal would like to say, but behind the scenes, he did say tariffs were a big reason he came here.”
Since returning for a second term as president, the Republican leader has relied heavily on tariffs – and the threats of tariffs – as a cudgel to bring foreign governments and businesses in line with his administration’s priorities.
He has called the term “tariff” the “most beautiful word” in the dictionary and repeatedly labelled the dates he unveiled such import taxes as “Liberation Day”.
But earlier this year, it was unclear if his sabre-rattling would pay dividends. In May, for instance, Trump issued an executive action calling on his government to take “all necessary and appropriate action” to penalise countries whose policies he understood as driving up US drug costs.
He also called on Secretary Kennedy to lay the groundwork for “direct-to-consumer” purchasing programmes where pharmaceutical companies could sell their products at a discount.
Trump, however, lacked a legal mechanism to force participation in such a programme.
In July, he upped the pressure, sending letters to major pharmaceutical manufacturers. The letters warned the drug-makers to bring down prices, or else the government would “deploy every tool in our arsenal” to end the “abusive drug pricing practices”.
He also openly mused that month about hiking tariffs on imported medications.
“We’ll be announcing something very soon on pharmaceuticals,” Trump told a July cabinet meeting. “We’re going to give people about a year, a year and a half, to come in, and after that, they’re going to be tariffed if they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country, the drugs.”
“They’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 percent,” he added.
The “most-favoured nation” pricing scheme is an idea that Trump tried but failed to initiate during his first term as president, from 2017 to 2021.
How that project might shape up in his second term remains to be seen. The TrumpRx website – which the president insists he did not name himself – has yet to offer any services.
Cruz Beckham couldn’t afford Big Mac and was thrown out of McDonalds
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Victoria Beckham has revealed that her youngest son didn’t have enough money on his card to buy a Big Mac and was kicked out of a McDonalds as a result
Victoria Beckham has revealed that her son Cruz had to go hungry at a McDonalds after he couldn’t afford to buy a Big Mac. While the star could have paid for her son’s meal, she doesn’t want to spoil her children, and he got “turned away”.
The former Spice Girl turned fashion star and her husband, David, have four children together – Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper Seven. When their children were growing up, the pair did their best not to spoil them. As such, when Cruz couldn’t afford a McDonalds burger, they didn’t swoop in to help.
Victoria explained: “Cruz got turned away from McDonald’s recently. He got turned away from McDonald’s because he didn’t have enough money on his card.”
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As part of a interview with The Sun ahead of the release of her new documentary, Victoria opened up about her parenting style. She also shared that communication is really important to her. “The way we’ve brought up our kids is all about communication.
“It’s good to talk. As a family, we try to have dinner together every night – it’s phones down and ‘What has everyone done today?’ Just making sure that it’s a safe forum for everybody to be honest and talk and laugh.”
But, despite efforts to communicate, the relationship between Victoria and her eldest son, Brooklyn, seems to have broken down and the two are reported to be no longer speaking. Brooklyn has snubbed many major Beckham events this year, including the premiere of his mother’s documentary. He also did not invite any of his family to his vow renewal.
In addition to this, even though Victoria has tried to make sure her children are aware of their privilege and do not rely on their parents for help, the Beckham children, particularly Brooklyn, have been accused of being nepo babies.
However, Victoria has hit back at those claims, especially concerning her son Cruz. The youngest of the Beckham boys has embarked on a music career and even though his mother found fame as a musician, she says she did not, and could not, help him.
“I mean I can’t really give him any advice — the industry has changed so much,” she told The Sun. “But I told him, ‘Don’t expect immediate success’. It’s almost better if it isn’t an immediate success.”
She added that he has spent “ten years learning his craft”. ““Cruz has got music coming out soon. He’s spent the last ten years learning his craft — much like I did with Roland — learning to play instruments. He taught himself to play about seven instruments. He writes his own songs, he’s put a band together. He’s properly done it from the grass roots up. He hasn’t just come in and sung his songs, or demanded anything.”
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Victoria is not the only celebrity to try to prevent their children from growing up entitled. TV chef Gordon Ramsay has said he refuses to pay for his kids to fly first class. “I do not want them sat there with a 10 course f**king menu with champagne. I am not embarrassed. It is my wife and I’s choice to discipline them and to keep them real.”
Palestine factions refuse foreign guardianship on Gaza as truce takes hold
Hamas and allied Palestinian factions have reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect.
In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza.
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“We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said.
The groups added that they are working on an “urgent comprehensive national meeting” to discuss next steps after the ceasefire.
“This will unify the Palestinian position, formulate a comprehensive national strategy, and rebuild our national institutions on the foundations of partnership, credibility, and transparency,” they said.
It is not clear whether Fatah, the faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority, has agreed to be part of the meeting.
United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, dubbed the “Board of Peace”, that would be tasked with overseeing an interim authority of technocrats to govern Gaza.
According to the scheme, Trump himself would chair the board, which would also include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The first stage of the ceasefire, to which both Hamas and Israel agreed, is linked to Trump’s plan, but it remains unclear how Gaza will be governed going forward.
Captive releases; aid trucks for Gaza
Al Jazeera obtained a copy of the stipulations of the agreement, which calls on Hamas to hand over the Israeli captives within 72 hours without any public celebrations or media ceremony.
The deal also would ensure that at least 600 aid trucks reach Gaza daily, as well as the rehabilitation of water stations and the establishment of camps to shelter people in the enclave.
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began their journey to their homes in the north of the territory on Friday as the Israeli military started to withdraw from coastal areas.
The Palestinian Civil Defence said it retrieved 63 bodies from the streets of Gaza City after the truce came into effect on Friday. Thousands of Palestinians remain missing amid difficulty in pulling victims from under the rubble and reaching areas under Israeli military control.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described near total destruction in Gaza City after weeks of intense Israeli bombardment.
“On the way to Gaza City, as we approached the main entrance on the coastal road, it was already unrecognisable by the vast destruction and devastation of many of the buildings,” Mahmoud said.
“During our displacement journey, when we left the city, we counted 15 buildings either partially standing or still fully intact, inhabited by some of the displaced families. On our way back, we did not see them.”
Later on Friday, the Gaza Government Media Office stressed the need for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the territory.
The first phase of the agreement calls for the entry of equipment to remove the rubble – a first step towards reconstruction.
The deal also says that United Nations agencies and other aid groups would distribute the humanitarian assistance, effectively sidelining the controversial Israel and US-backed GHF.
Hundreds of Palestinians were killed over the past months as they tried to reach GHF sites deep inside Israeli lines of control. Rights groups have described the mechanism as a death trap.
But GHF announced on Friday that it will continue to operate despite the ceasefire.
“GHF’s team on the ground continues to provide humanitarian aid and food to all those who need it,” GHF executive director John Acree said in a statement.
“We will not rest so long as there are Gazans in need. It’s our mission, and it continues on.”
Was Slovakia win Northern Ireland’s best display under O’Neill?
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The moment Trai Hume’s lofted effort made its way into the unguarded net, Windsor Park erupted.
It was a wave of unbridled joy, with a hint of relief, as a wall of noise made its way around south Belfast.
The goal by Hume, who grew up playing at Windsor Park for Linfield before making the leap to Sunderland, secured a 2-0 win and a huge three points as Northern Ireland look to reach a first World Cup in 40 years.
Defeat would have all but ended hopes of automatic qualification.
Now, against the odds, they are joint-top of Group A on six points after three matches, tied with Germany and Slovakia.
“We discussed before about is this the best [performance] since Michael O’Neill returned?” said BBC Sport NI pundit David Healy, who is Northern Ireland’s record men’s goalscorer.
“You may even question, was it the best full 90 minutes since Michael has been in charge 99 times?
“That was the level of performance tonight. Overall, tonight, 2-0 certainly flattered Slovakia.”
That sentiment was echoed by 1982 World Cup hero Gerry Armstrong, who said it was “as good a performance I have seen in the last 10-15 years here”.
“They look like they have so much more experience from the tender years because they are playing like a team with confidence and belief in each other and that’s what I love about them,” Armstrong added.
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O’Neill admired the performance of his young side, who have made a superb start to qualifying.
A win in Luxembourg was followed by an hour of matching European heavyweights Germany, who eventually prevailed to win 3-1.
Friday’s win was superb from first minute to last. A Patrik Hrosovsky own goal broke the deadlock before Hume’s superb effort with just under 10 minutes left made sure – but was it the best under O’Neill?
“I don’t really look at games like that because teams evolve,” O’Neill said when asked if it was the most complete performance since his return in 2023 for a second spell in charge.
The Germany fixture will be his 100th game as Northern Ireland boss.
“The team when I came back in is very different to the team now,” O’Neill said. “They have given other good performances, like at home here to Bulgaria [a 5-0 win in October 2024] when we were excellent.
“I think tonight was a team of a higher calibre as well, so you can say it is one of the best performances we’ve had, but I still think there is more in the tank, and I think the players believe that as well.”
O’Neill was also full of praise for Hume, who has moved up the leagues with Sunderland and is now a Premier League regular.
The defender’s goal had come after the in-form David Strelec poked an effort wide for Slovakia. In the past, when there felt like an inevitability that the opposition would hit back, Hume’s effort changed that narrative.
“We deserved to be more than one goal ahead with how the game had gone, but we needed that second goal,” said O’Neill.
“Slovakia are a good team and are very experienced at international level, and it only takes a moment.
‘A huge result’
With three teams level at the top of Group A, the remainder of the campaign effectively becomes a shootout to reach top spot.
Germany, who brushed aside Luxembourg 4-0 on Friday, will still be favourites to automatically qualify.
In November, Northern Ireland travel to Slovakia and host Luxembourg in their final qualifier.
There’s a lot of football still to be played, and O’Neill said his team’s win was a “huge result in the context of the group”.
“We’ve now a massive game at home to Germany,” he said.
“All three teams are on six points, and we have two home games left, so maybe that gives us a slight advantage.
“We have to try and take what we did tonight and bring it into the game on Monday against a very, very good team.”
Any time a big nation visits Windsor Park it is a huge occasion.
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