A famous farmer and host of Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, Amanda Owen, recently shared a funny anecdote about her daughter Annas.
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Amanda Owen has revealed how she jokingly threatened her daughter with “adoption”(Image: @yorkshireshepherdess/Instagram)
Amanda Owen has revealed how she jokingly threatened her daughter with “adoption” after being snubbed over one of her literary projects. Amanda, a celebrity farmer best known for her appearances on shows such as Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, resides at the remote 2,000-acre Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, Yorkshire.
Amanda, whose popular @yorkshireshepherdess Instagram account boasts an impressive following of more than 500,000 people, is also a mum of nine children, Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine, and Nancy with ex-husband Clive.
Speaking to James Fisher on the Country Life podcast, Amanda recently opened up about her writing career, which includes The Yorkshire Shepherdess trilogy and her recent foray into children’s books, Christmas Tales from the Farm.
It prompted her to share an anecdote about her daughter, Annas, and her amusing response when asked whether she’d read her mum’s book, but it seems that’s how Amanda wants “it to be”.
Amanda responded, “Well, your kids must love the fact that you’ve written a book.” Have you read the book, Annas, I asked you to say that yesterday. ‘, and she went, ‘ Nah’.
“And I said, “Why?” She said, “Well, I’m in it, I kinda know it,” and she went. And that’s how I want it to be, too. I simply stated that I would adopt you if you didn’t pass any of the questions on the back of the quiz.
In related news, Amanda admitted back in August that she worries about her children as she shared details about a certain “extreme” activity they enjoy at their sprawling rural home.
She revealed that some of them had engaged in “extreme hide and seek” as per their description. She went on to say that their home has “even got a cave,” and that there are places to climb as well.
Amanda remarked that their family is “blessed” because they have so much space to enjoy, but she still worries about them, saying it’s “absolutely joy” to be able to give her children that freedom.
She told the Darlington and Stockton Times: “Yeah, course I do. You want to keep your child safe, of course. But danger comes in many forms, whether it’s vehicles, fast-flowing rivers, things with teeth and hooves, or even through a small screen.
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“I wouldn’t teach or support it, but you can’t live your life being risk-averse, but who knows where the danger is coming from?” Simply put, you must understand how to live your life and also understand how to live it.
We must be “fearless” in life, Amanda continued, saying that we must be someone who “steps forward” rather than “shies away”.
We take a deep dive into the jaw-dropping list of lust-worthy places Taylor Swift and her fiancé Travis Kelce get to call home and their property portfolio is beyond incredible
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Taylor has built up an incredible property portfolio with homes in a number of different cities(Image: taylorswift13/Twitter)
She may have grown up on a humble Christmas tree farm, but today Taylor has a mind-boggling property portfolio worth an estimated £120m. From a palatial New England seaside retreat to swish homes in Los Angeles and New York, she has no shortage of pads for hosting friends, family and, of course, fiancé Travis.
But not to be left behind, the NFL maestro also owns several houses across the US, and as PR expert Lynn Carratt says, “Between them they’ve got all bases covered, so they can get away from everything together, or they can be right in the middle of things if they want. In that, we take a look at the lust-worthy lineup of places Taylor and Travis get to call home, way, they’re able to use their properties to control how much – or how little – the public sees of them.”
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As well as already having an eye-wateringly valuable set of homes between them, the pair were reportedly spotted hunting for a new abode in Cleveland, Ohio, where Travis grew up. According to sources, they recently checked out a six-bedroom mansion set in over 60 acres, which is kitted out with its own recording studio. It also has a pool, a huge patio for outdoor entertaining and a wine cellar. Whether or not they snap up the £14m property remains to be seen, but here we check out their other impressive digs…
TRIBECA, NYC
In 2014, Taylor bought two penthouses – one of which was owned by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson – and converted them into one enormous duplex. Located in a building on Franklin Street, the property now has a total of 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms spanning more than 8,000 square feet.
Worth around $50million, the apartment has a billiards room and a grand staircase, while Taylor’s Insta shots have shown rustic, cosy décor with lots of exposed wood. One of her most prized decorations is a photo of her opera singer grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, who inspired the track Marjorie on her 2020 Evermore album.
But in 2023, the property had a brush with disaster after a fire broke out in the white marble kitchen. Taylor was writing the song Us with Gracie Abrams at the time, and when they heard a thud in the early hours they assumed it was one of the star’s three cats.
It was in fact a candle falling over, and a video shared by Gracie showed Taylor putting out the fire while joking, “What do I do about this? I think we’re going to die… Our purses are ruined, and our shoes, and the whole room I think.” Clearly a fan of ultra-trendy Tribeca, Taylor also bought a three-storey townhouse next door in 2017, which has four bedrooms, a home cinema, gym, a glass-enclosed rooftop atrium and even its own bar. Not too shabby!
WATCH HILL, RHODE ISLAND
Taylor reportedly splurged $17million in cash on a spectacular Colonial-style mansion known as High Watch in 2013. It was once owned by a socialite called Rebekah Harkness, who inspired Taylor’s 2020 song The Last Great American Dynasty.
Overlooking the beach and comprising 12,000 square feet, it has eight bedrooms, a large pool, over five acres of grounds and a music studio. As the setting for several of her star-studded Independence Day parties, dubbed ‘Taymerica’, the pad has played host to everyone from Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Selena Gomez and Karlie Kloss to Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
At one of her legendary bashes in July 2016, actor Tom Hiddleston – Taylor’s boyfriend at the time – was famously pictured wearing a T-shirt adorned with the words ‘I heart T.S.’ Recent reports suggest the property could serve as a venue for Taylor and Travis’s nuptials, and Annie Zaleski, author of Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs, says, “It would be an amazing place for a wedding. It’s such a beautiful space, and you can imagine all the photos with the ocean in the background. Immediately you know they would be gorgeous.”
Further fanning the flames of speculation, the house is currently being renovated – apparently to the tune of $1.7 million. The upgrade, due for completion by the end of this year, will include a new bedroom suite, extra bathrooms and a modified kitchen.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
One of her earliest property purchases in 2009, Taylor paid around $2million for a multi-level penthouse on Nashville’s Music Row, so-called HQ of America’s country music scene. She then spent 18 months renovating the three-bedroom pad, which she once said was “Tim Burton-Alice in Wonderland-pirate ship-Peter Pan” inspired.
It features floor-to-ceiling windows with views across the city and out to the Great Smoky Mountains beyond. Social media snaps and her Miss Americana documentary have provided a glimpse into the condo’s unusual décor, including colourful wallpaper, a six-foot rabbit, chandeliers and even a koi pond in the living room. It also has a human-sized birdcage lined with pillows and blankets which Taylor has called the “most comfortable place in the world.”
Another quirky artefact was said to be a framed photo of the infamous moment Kanye West crashed her Best Female Video acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. She is said to have written on the photo in gold ink, “Life is full of little interruptions.” The walls are adorned with pictures of friends and family too, and Taylor once said, “I need to have pictures of people I love everywhere.” In her bedroom, she apparently picked “everything white and fluffy,” with vintage mirrors and tiered white curtains at the windows.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Taylor’s most impressive home may be the Goldwyn estate in Beverly Hills, which she purchased in 2015 for $25 million. Since then, she has painstakingly renovated and restored the property to its original 1930s condition in honour of its namesake, the director and producer Samuel Goldwyn.
Located in the hills behind the Beverly Hills Hotel, the estate includes a main 10,982 square-foot mansion with six bedrooms, several guest apartments and staff accommodation, plus a library, cinema room and gym. Outside, there is a swimming pool and tennis court, and two acres of gardens which provide the perfect chillout spot whenever she and Travis are in town.
In 2017, Beverly Hills City Council approved Taylor’s request to designate the estate an historic city landmark, meaning it cannot be radically altered even if she decides to move on. But somewhat alarmingly, when actress Zoë Kravitz and her mum Lisa Bonet temporarily stayed there during the LA wildfires, they were forced to take out one of Taylor’s bathrooms after losing a pet snake in its interior.
“We’re ripping up the tiles, we’re scratching the walls,” Zoë said. “We completely destroyed Taylor’s bathroom. And there was just this moment where I was like, ‘Either we destroy her bathroom, or I have to tell her there’s a snake somewhere in her house.’” Thankfully, Taylor was said to have seen the funny side of the debacle.
FOREST HILLS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
In 2011, Taylor purchased an historic mansion within the gated Northumberland Estate in Nashville’s exclusive Forest Hills neighbourhood. It cost $2.5million, but Taylor generously gave the house to her parents Andrea and Scott, who moved with her to Nashville when she was 14 and trying to grow her music career.
Set in six acres, the property comprises a main house of 5,600 square feet with four bedrooms, as well as an additional guest house and outdoor pool. The main residence is known for classic Southern features such as stately columns and vaulted ceilings, while there are also marble fireplaces and herringbone wood floors.
LEAWOOD, KANSAS
Travis’s main home is a stunning, 17,000 square-foot mansion in an upscale area of Kansas called Leawood, located around 20 minutes from the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Famously, its lush gardens, winding paths and romantic gazebo provided the backdrop for his proposal to Taylor in August.
Inside the opulent property there are six bedrooms, a cinema room, gym and sauna, plus a wine cellar and bar, while there are three acres of grounds featuring a large pool and hot tub, a tennis and pickleball court and a miniature golf course.
Travis has reportedly also been adding the ultimate ‘mancave’ to the house, carving out a 396 square-foot underground den which will house an indoor golf simulator. He bought the secluded gated property in Tomahawk Creek Estates for $6million in October 2023, when his newly-official status with Taylor meant the pair needed more privacy than his previous pad in Briarcliff West, Kansas City home could offer.
It’s unclear whether Travis has now sold that property, but it was similarly impressive, with seven bedrooms, a pool and gym. Elsewhere, Travis and his family also own an apartment in Orlando, Florida, where his mum Donna spends most of her time. Situated in palm tree-lined Baldwin Park, it’s a more modest affair, with two bedrooms, a wrap-around balcony and shared pool.
Aston Villa travel to Anfield on Saturday, with the Reds currently on a four-game losing streak in the Premier League, while Villa has won six of their previous seven games overall.
Could Villa win another significant victory, similar to Villa Park’s 7-2 victory in 2020?
For the Saturday starting line-ups quiz this week, we’ve chosen that match.
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Former Cuban economic minister and others have been charged with espionage and a number of other financial crimes by the country’s top prosecutor.
Alejandro Gil, who served as Cuba’s attorney general from 2019 until his removal in February 2024, was the subject of a nearly two-year criminal investigation that the office of Cuba’s attorney general announced on Friday.
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Without specifying which nation or actors might have benefited from their actions, Gil and the others are held accountable for “espionage, acts detrimental to economic activity or contracting, embezzlement, and bribery.”
Other offenses include theft or damage of documents or other items in official custody, as well as tax evasion, influence peddling, money laundering, and money laundering.
The enumerated charges are punishable by Cuba’s penal code, which prohibits 10 years in prison and the death penalty.
In 2021, Gil was at the forefront of significant monetary reform in Cuba, including efforts to unify the country’s dual currency system, raise wages, adjustments to subsidies, and introduce new rules for cooperatives and private employment.
However, the policies caused soaring inflation, a falling national currency, and more trouble for a number of state-owned enterprises in Cuba, which was already severely contracting.
Official statements only stated that Gil, 61, was accused of making “grave errors” when he was removed from office.
When the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 debuts in Qatar on Monday, the next generation of football stars will showcase their talent on the biggest stage.
The tournament is set to produce a spectacle unlike any other thanks to an expanded field of 48 teams.
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Everything you need to know about the showpiece event is provided in this article:
What dates are crucial?
Kicking off the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be two matches between South Africa and Bolivia, and Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates, both of which will take place in Qatar on November 3.
The 104-match tournament will come to an end on November 27th, when the final match will be played.
Stages 3 through 11 November
Round of 32: November 14 and 15
November 18th round of 16.
November 21 in the quarterfinals
November 24 in the semi-finals
Playoff for third place on November 27
Final date: November 27
Where is the location of the competition?
Starting this year, Qatar will host five more U-17 World Cups.
At the Aspire Zone complex in Al Rayyan, which is located about 9 kilometers (5,6 miles) from the capital Doha, all matches will take place until the final, which will be played over eight pitches.
The 45-meter-capacity Khalifa International Stadium, the home of six matches during the men’s FIFA 2022 World Cup, will host the final match. One of Qatar’s oldest stadiums, it was constructed in 1976.
Egypt hosted the U-17 World Cup in 1997 and the United Arab Emirates hosted the U-17 World Cup in 2013; this is the third time the event has taken place in the Arab world.
Qatar’s national football team plays at the Khalifa International Stadium. It will now host the Under-17 World Cup final [Lintao Zhang/Getty Images], having hosted major events like the Qatar 2022 World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup.
How many teams are participating?
Instead of the previous biennial 24-team competitions, the 2025 U-17 World Cup will be played in a 48-team format.
The participating countries, which come from six confederations, are divided into the following 12 groups:
Group A: Qatar, Italy, South Africa, Bolivia Group B: Portugal, Morocco, New Caledonia, and Japan Senegal, Croatia, Costa Rica, and the United Arab Emirates are all in Group C. Group D includes Argentina, Belgium, Tunisia, Fiji, and Groupe D: Group E includes England, Venezuela, Haiti, and Egypt. Group F includes Mexico, South Korea, the Ivory Coast, and Switzerland. Group G includes Germany, Colombia, North Korea, El Salvador, and Group G. Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, and Zambia are included in Group H. US, Burkinabe, Tajikistan, Czechia, and Group I Group J: Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Panama, Republic of Ireland, Group J: Group K includes France, Chile, Canada, and Uganda. Group L: Mali, New Zealand, Austria, Saudi Arabia
What kind of tournaments are there?
The round of 32 will feature the top two teams from each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
The tournament will then follow a knockout format, with the round of 16 quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
What is the significance of the U-17 World Cup?
Youth World Cups are fascinating to watch because they provide a glimpse into the future of football and showcase young talent before making their mark on the biggest professional stages.
The U-17 World Cup is of particular significance because it frequently serves as a launch pad for tomorrow’s stars.
Former and current players like Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos, and Phil Foden, who later won the tournament’s Golden Ball award for the best player, first attracted attention from the world as they won the trophy for it.
At the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, which England won by beating Spain in the final [Anupam Nath/AP], Phil Foden, who currently plays for English Premier League side Manchester City, was awarded the Golden Ball award for the best player.
Who will win the lottery, odds are?
The front-runners in Qatar will be Brazil, who wants to win the fifth U-17 World Cup record-equalling title. Brazil, who are the reigning South American champions, are undoubtedly the best team in the region, having won the title 14 times in a row.
The Brazilians are the most successful team at the 2025 edition because Nigeria did not earn the necessary qualification for this competition.
Portugal and France, who frequently have a strong run at major tournaments, are other potential contenders for the title. They won their third U-17 Euro title in June.
Expectations are low for Germany this year because they failed to advance past the Euros group stage despite the fact that they are the defending champions of the 2023 World Cup.
Mexico, which has won the World Cup twice, is also the title favorite as they reach the finals for the eighth time in a row, while Uzbekistan, who has won the Asian title, and Saudi Arabia could be the dark horses.
Who should you watch for the most players?
Samuele Inacio, Italy’s top scorer in the Euros finals with five goals, is a must-see at the tournament. Inacio, a player for the Borussia Dortmund youth academy, is a constant threat to the goals thanks to his incredible creativity in the forward line.
Djylian N’Guessan, a forward from France and who scored nine times in the Euro qualifying and finals, is a key player in the area known for his excellent technique, calm finishing, and link-up play. N’Guessan, age 17, also represented his country at the recent U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Italy’s Samuele Inacio scored five goals for the U-17 team in Albania this year. [Ben McShane – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images]
Thomas de Martis, a striker for the South American U-17 Championship, was the top scorer with six goals despite Argentina’s failure to advance to the semifinals. De Martis is excellent at finishing and being incredibly talented in the box.
Along with Morocco’s midfielder Abdellah Ouazane, the player of the tournament during their first U-17 Africa Cup of Nations title run, Sadriddin Khasanov was named the most valuable player (MVP) in Uzbekistan’s U-17 Asian Cup triumph for his goal-scoring abilities and impressive skills.
Where can I purchase tournament tickets?
General sale tickets for the U-17 World Cup can be found on FIFA’s official website. A day pass, a dedicated ticket for all of Qatar’s matches, and a standalone final ticket are all available.
The price of a day pass, which includes access to six selected pitches, is about $5.50, while final start tickets start at about $4.
There have been broadcast announcements for specific nations, including Brazil, Italy, the UK, and the US.
Qatar will host the FIFA U-17 World Cup this year, and five countries will make history there.
🇸🇻 El Salvador 🇫🇯 Fiji Republic of Ireland 🇺🇬 Uganda 🇿🇲 Zambia pic. twitter.com/oiOyOwyiLj
Following a summit dominated by a call-out agreement between the leaders of the United States and China to end their trade war, the leaders of the Asian and Pacific Rim have pledged their support for trade and investment that “benefits all.”
Following a high-stakes summit held on the sidelines of the event, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, earlier agreed to lower the temperature in the heated US-China conflict.
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Trump left South Korea on Thursday following their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, putting the Chinese leader in the spotlight during the two-day economic forum.
At the event’s opening on Friday, Xi, who has portrayed China as a proponent of multilateralism and free trade, said that nations needed to collaborate because the world is becoming more “complex and volatile.”
The APEC leaders stated in their statement that “robust” trade and investment were essential for the growth of the region and that they were committed to “deepening economic cooperation to navigate the evolving global environment.”
According to the declaration, APEC, which has 21 members, includes the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and China, will promote “market-driven” economic integration and promote “experience sharing, capacity building, and business engagement.”
Additionally, the leaders pledged regional cooperation in the areas of declining birth rates and artificial intelligence.
The summit’s host, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, warned that economies were navigating a time of growing global uncertainty before the declaration.
According to Lee, “the free trade system is experiencing significant turbulence, global economic uncertainty is deepening, and trade and investment momentum is waning.”
“Freaked exercise”
In a sign of the fraying consensus on free trade amid rising populism around the world, Saturday’s statement made no direct reference to multilateralism or the World Trade Organization.
It was “probably a miracle” that the leaders could come to a consensus on a joint statement, according to Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore.
Any agreed language that could be included in a document was a difficult task, Elms said, citing the strong positions of some APEC economies.
These are typically prepared well in advance. As officials changed wording to find a workable compromise, this one hung in the balance until the very last second.
After arranging earlier meetings with Xi’s counterparts in Japan, Canada, and Thailand, Xi and Lee met for discussions slated to include trade and North Korea’s nuclear program.
Since Xi’s election in a snap election in June, the two leaders have met for the first time since Xi last visited South Korea in 2014.
Lee has pledged to pursue a more unbiased approach to China than Yoon Suk Yeol, his conservative predecessor, who was impeached for briefly enjoining martial law last year.
South Korea has had to draw a fine line between China, South Korea’s largest trading partner and the US, its security guarantor.
The US maintains about 28,500 troops in South Korea, which is bound by international law to defend it in the event of an attack. This is a testament to Washington’s support for the nation during its 1950-1953 conflict with North Korea.
In 2024, South Korea exported nearly one-fifth of its goods to China, with shipments totaling $133 billion.
With shipments worth $ 127.8 billion, the US was the second-largest export destination.
In recent years, South Korea’s relationship with China has been tampered with by a number of disputes, most notably one involving the US’s 2017 deployment of a THAAD missile defense system.
According to Rob York, director for regional affairs at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, Lee wants to see South Korea’s most significant relationships “main stable.” This means lowering tensions with China, preventing a drastic decline in US relations, and leveraging the diplomatic heavy lifting his predecessor did with Japan.
According to York, “for the time being, striking a friendly note with both Chairman Xi and President Trump will mean he will do so even as he steps in secret to lessen US reliance on the US to protect maritime security and to stop PRC hybrid war operations in South Korea related to maritime issues and technology theft,” according to York, who spoke in Mandarin Chinese.
