Carmela Chillery-Watson, 11, was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for her services to charitable fundraising after raising over £400,000 for Muscular Dystrophy UK

Carmela Chillery-Watson is just 11-years-old(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

An 11 year old girl believed to be the youngest person ever awarded an MBE has revealed she was left “speechless” upon discovering her remarkable honour.

Carmela Chillery-Watson received recognition in the King’s Birthday Honours for her incredible charitable fundraising efforts. The youngster battles a rare muscle wasting condition that impacts just one in a million children globally.

Following her diagnosis in 2017 at the tender age of three, Carmela has since spearheaded approximately 25 fundraising and awareness initiatives, helping Muscular Dystrophy UK amass over £400,000.

Miss Carmela Chillery-Watson is made a Member of the Order (Image: PA)

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After Wednesday’s investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, Carmela described being rendered “speechless” when she opened the letter revealing her accolade.

“I never would have thought that I would have got an MBE, I just wanted to do what I did to change communities. But this is absolutely incredible. I just never would have thought this would have happened in a million years.”

Whilst the Government considers Carmela the youngest-ever MBE recipient, it lacks complete historical records to definitively verify this claim. Carmela praised the Prince of Wales as “very nice” and revealed they chatted about her charitable endeavours and the substantial funds she’d generated.

Paralympic swimmer and volleyball star Monica Vaughan, 73, also collected an honour at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, receiving an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her sporting contributions. Vaughan described receiving an OBE as the “cherry on the top” of her previous honours, adding: “It is quite amazing.”

(Image: Getty Images)

Yesterday TV presenter Claudia Winkleman also accepted an MBE from the King as she was joined by her proud husband at Windsor Castle.

Claudia and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly were both made MBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours for their services to broadcasting. Just weeks after the announcement, the duo announced that they will be leaving the BBC dance show after fronting it together since 2014.

Claudia donned an all white suit for the occasion along with a pair of matching stiletto heels and a headband over her signature glossy locks. As she collected the honour, Claudia was seen cracking a joke with King Charles whose wife Queen Camilla is a known fan of Strictly. Claudia and Tess were both sent personal letters from the Queen after their MBE’s were announced, with Tess calling her visit to Windsor Castle ‘the proudest day of her life’.

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The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado didn’t make it to Oslo in time to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in person, in an extraordinary day shrouded in uncertainty over her whereabouts.

Machado isn’t the first Nobel Laureate unable to attend, but her journey to Oslo was unprecedented in the history of the prestigious prize.

Her departure from Venezuela, carried out amid heavy secrecy and probably with covert US help, was fraught with risk, but on Wednesday she was en route to Norway, where she is expected to land late in the evening.

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Sister’s ‘mixed emotions’ over Nobel prize

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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro joins supporters marching to commemorate the Battle of Santa Ines. Pic: Reuters

Reports suggested she first travelled by boat to the Caribbean island of Curaçao before getting a private flight via the US. Two US F-16 jets were tracked in the skies close to Curaçao late Tuesday night.

In a phone call with members of the Nobel Institute, released just after she took off, Machado said she was “very sad” not to make it in person but “as soon as I arrive, I will be able to embrace all my family and children.”

In her absence, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa Machado, whom she hasn’t seen for almost two years, collected the award in Oslo City Hall and delivered the speech her mother wrote.

She spoke about 2,500 people who had been “kidnapped, disappeared or tortured” under Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s government and slammed the corruption that has brought Venezuela, once one of the world’s richest nations, to its knees.

“This prize carries profound meaning; it reminds the world that democracy is essential to peace.

“More than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey – that to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom.”

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Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at an anti-Maduro protest in January. File pic: AP

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Corina Perez de Machado, mother of Maria Corina Machado, at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. Pic: Reuters

To a standing ovation from an audience that included several South American leaders, Machado thanked the people of Norway and sent a message to her fellow countrymen and women, many of whom had travelled to Oslo from their homes outside Venezuela.

“Venezuela will breathe again,” her daughter read.

“We will open prison doors and watch thousands who were unjustly detained step into the warm sun, embraced at last by those who never stopped fighting for them.

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Are US strikes on Venezuela about drugs or oil?

“We will see our grandmothers settle children on their laps to tell them stories not of distant forefathers but of their own parents’ courage.

“We will hug again. Fall in love again. Hear our streets fill with laughter and music. All the simple joys the world takes for granted will be ours.”

Ms Machado is the leader of a grassroots political movement fighting for democracy in Venezuela.

She was banned by Nicolas Maduro from running for election, so she rallied a campaign behind a little-known veteran diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.

She organised and trained more than a million volunteers to monitor elections in 2024 and collect data.

Those results, smuggled out of the country, were verified by independent experts and confirmed a landslide win for Gonzalez and Machado’s party.

Maduro refused to recognise the result and detained thousands of opponents.

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Protests have failed to dislodge him, although US president Donald Trump has stationed a massive naval force off the coast and has warned the Venezuelan leader his “days are numbered”.

Mr Trump had lobbied publicly to win this year’s Nobel Prize himself, but rang Machado to congratulate her. Some members of Trump’s administration had threatened the Nobel committee if he didn’t win.

Edmundo Gonzalez, who was at the ceremony in Oslo, has since gone into exile in Spain, but Machado has remained in Venezuela, spending most of her time in hiding.

Her mother, sister and children have also travelled to Oslo to be reunited with her.

The decision to travel to Norway is fraught with risk.

Having successfully left the country, she faces a dangerous journey home again.

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Storm Byron is threatening to heap new miseries on Palestinians in Gaza, with families making distress calls from flooded tents and hundreds of others fleeing their shelters in search of dry ground as the fierce winter storm lashes heavy rains on the besieged territory.

Officials warned Wednesday that the storm was forecast to bring flash floods, strong winds and hail until Friday, conditions expected to wreak havoc in a territory in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people live in tents, temporary structures, or damaged buildings after two years of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

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Humanitarian workers said Israeli restrictions on the entry of tents, tools to repair water and sewage systems have left Gaza poorly equipped to respond to the storm, and called on the international community to pressure the Netanyahu government to urgently allow in supplies.

In the southern city of Rafah, the Palestinian Civil Defence said its teams had already received distress calls from displacement camps, with families reporting “flooded tents and families trapped inside by heavy rains”.

“Despite limited resources and a lack of necessary equipment, our teams are working tirelessly to reach those in need and provide assistance,” the rescue agency said on Telegram.

Footage posted on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed Palestinians shovelling a ditch around tents in a desperate attempt to create barriers that would prevent them from flooding.

Displacement camps at risk

Nearly 850,000 people sheltering in 761 displacement sites face the highest risk of flooding, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Flooding has previously been recorded at more than 200 of the highest-risk sites, affecting more than 140,000 people, the office said.

Previous storms had contaminated displacement sites with sewage and solid waste, swept away families’ tents and driven them out of makeshift shelters.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said that UN  agencies and local authorities were warning that any significant rainfall could have devastating consequences for Gaza’s population, with the displacement camps built on barren, open terrain that would be highly susceptible to flooding.

The tents available to people were typically flimsy, unreinforced and often torn, he said, offering negligible protection from heavy rains, which were likely to seriously damage whatever possessions families had left.

Risk of water contamination, disease

Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs network, said Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and equipment had left Gaza ill-equipped to deal with the storm.

He said only 40,000 tents, out of a needed 300,000, had been allowed in, while tools that would likely be needed to repair sewage systems and water networks were also restricted.

Flooding would bring a serious risk of sewage and solid waste contaminating drinking water or food supplies, raising the risk of diseases in the densely populated Strip, where 2.2 million people are crammed into just 43 percent of the territory, while the remaining 57 percent remains under Israeli military control.

“If Israel were to allow the entrance of supplies, things would be different. But for now, it has done all it can to make life more complicated for Palestinians,” Shawa said.

Oxfam humanitarian response adviser Chris McIntosh agreed, telling Al Jazeera that the people of Gaza were bracing for a “very tragic situation”.

“Persistent bureaucracy prevented us from bringing in adequate dwellings for people in Gaza,” McIntosh said. “The Israelis have not permitted tents to enter Gaza for many months. The only thing they’re allowing at this point is some tarpaulin, which isn’t going to do much for people who need proper shelter.”

He said Palestinians were being forced to live in “deplorable conditions”, with well more than 50 percent of the population living in tents.

He anticipated many would attempt to find dry ground inside bombed-out buildings that were at heightened risk of collapse amid the forecast heavy rains and winds.

Families flee flooding risk

Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warned that vulnerable groups, including newborn children, are at particular risk from the incoming winter storm.

About 200 families were expected to arrive at a new displacement site in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the Strip, fleeing a heightened risk of flooding in their present location, he said.

“These households made the decision to move given the impact of the frequent rains and the risk of flooding,” he said.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Al Jazeera that about 288,000 Palestinian families were without shelter as Storm Byron bore down on the enclave, and issued a call to the international community to pressure Israel to allow in supplies to help respond to the storm.

“We are issuing an urgent appeal to the world, [United States] President Trump and the [United Nations] Security Council to pressure the Israeli occupation,” he said.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, condemned global inaction as families in Gaza braced for the storm.

“Palestinians in Gaza are literally left alone, freezing and starving in the winter storm,” she posted on X.

“I keep asking how we became such monsters, [i]ncapable of stopping this nightmare.”

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Watch: “We want safety” – Trump addresses social media checks for tourists to the US

Tourists from dozens of countries including the UK could be asked to provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entry to the United States, under a new proposal unveiled by American officials.

The new condition would affect people from dozens of countries who are eligible to visit the US for 90 days without a visa, as long as they have filled out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form.

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to toughen US borders more generally – citing national security as a reason.

Analysts say the new plan could pose an obstacle to potential visitors, or harm their digital rights.

Asked whether the proposal could lead to a steep drop-off in tourism to the US, Trump said he was not concerned.

“No. We’re doing so well,” the president said on Wednesday.

“We just want people to come over here, and safe. We want safety. We want security.

“We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people come enter our country.”

The US expects a major influx of foreign tourists next year, as it hosts the men’s football World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, and for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The proposal document was filed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agency Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

It was published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the US government.

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Trump has tightened border control (file photo)

The proposal says “the data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years”, without giving further details of which specific information will be required.

The existing ESTA requires a comparatively limited amount of information from travellers, as well as a one-off payment of $40 (£30). It is accessible to citizens of about 40 countries – including the UK, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan – and allows them to visit the US multiple times during a two-year period.

As well as the collection of social media information, the new document proposes the gathering of an applicant’s telephone numbers and email addresses used over the last five and 10 years respectively, and more information about their family members.

The text cites an executive order from Trump in January, titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”.

The new proposal regarding ESTA data collection for tourists invites views from the public for 60 days.

“Nothing has changed on this front for those coming to the United States,” a spokesperson for CBP said in a statement.

“This is not a final rule, it is simply the first step in starting a discussion to have new policy options to keep the American people safe.”

Sophia Cope, of digital rights organisation the Electronic Frontier Foundation, criticised the plan, telling the New York Times it could “exacerbate civil liberties harms”.

Meanwhile, immigration law practice Fragomen suggested there could be practical impacts as applicants could face longer waits for ESTA approvals.

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The plan would affect people from countries including the UK, which can fill out an ESTA form in lieu of a visa

The Trump administration previously announced it would examine social media accounts when vetting foreign nationals who apply for student visas or H-1B visas for skilled workers.

The state department said it would conduct “online presence” reviews for applicants and their dependants, and that privacy settings on all social media profiles must be made “public” so this screening can take place.

An announcement on the website for the US Embassy and Consulate in Mexico states certain visa applicants must list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used in the last five years.

It warns that if any social media information is not listed, it could lead to both current and future visas being denied.

A senior state department official said of the student visa policy: “It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump Administration is doing every single day.”

Officers were instructed to screen for those “who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic harassment or violence”.

As part of the administration’s broader effort to toughen borders, officials recently said an existing travel ban – affecting 19 countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean – could soon be expanded.

That move was announced in the wake of a shooting of two National Guard members in Washington DC, in which an Afghan man is accused.

Experts have previously suggested the changes to travel policies introduced under Trump have had an impact on the American tourism industry.

Earlier this year, the World Travel & Tourism Council said the US was the only one of 184 economies that it analysed that was expected to see a decline in international visitor spending in 2025.

Other Trump administration policies have also appeared to affect tourism to the country, such as many Canadians boycotting US travel as a form of protest against Trump’s tariffs.

October marked the 10th straight month of decline in the number of Canadian travellers to the US.

In the past, Canadians have made up about a quarter of all international visitors to the US, spending more than $20bn a year, according to the US Travel Association.

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Comment | The sinister conspiracy theory behind Trump’s blistering attacks on Europe

It’s official. Europe is decaying and run by a cabal of weak leaders, according to a blistering attack by Donald Trump.

The reason for this is simple: Europe’s disastrous policy on immigration means “the people coming in have a totally different ideology” which is fatally weakening the continent.

His outburst follows a new US international policy stance which argues that Europe faces “civilization erasure” and is already indulging in the “censorship of free speech and the suppression of opposition”.

These are not the latest social media post from a crank in the White House. This is the assessment of its finest minds who have just produced the 2025 National Security Strategy. This is the written version of how all in the White House must see the world and the means by which they intend to get the rest of us to view the planet.

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 23:30

Ukraine officially responds to US peace plan amidst pressure from Trump

Ukraine officially handed over its point-by-point response to the latest US peace plan, as reported by Axios.

This move comes amongst growing pressure from US president Donald Trump for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the 20-point peace plan, which concedes major territorial losses.

Zelensky’s national security advisor and chief negotiator Rustem Umerov forwarded the Ukrainian response to Jared Kushner, Trump’s advisor and son-in-law.

The response includes comments and proposed ideas to “make the whole thing doable”, according to a Ukrainian official.

This follows days of consultations with European allies, including with Keir Starmer and the French president Emmanuel Macron and the German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who held a phone call with Trump on Wednesday.

A virtual meeting between the US and Ukraine is expected to take place on Thursday to continue discussions on the peace plan, a Ukrainian official said.

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 22:54

Trump says Zelensky needs to be ‘realistic’

US president Donald Trump has commented on the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Trump said” “I think he has to be realistic. And I do wonder about, you know, how long is it going to be till they have an election democracy? It’s a long time they haven’t had an election in a long time. It’s losing a lot of people. And it’s possible that the people, if you look at the polls, I will say 82% there was a vote came out. 82% of the people are demanding a settlement be made.

“Ukrainian people, they want to see a settlement. And I understand that they’re losing thousands and thousands of people a week. They want to see it ended. And I do say, you know, at what point, when do they have a an election in Ukraine?

“That’s not casting dispersions on anybody, but they do have a massive corruption situation going on there. And they do say, you know, when, when are they people are asking this question, when do they have an election? Are they going to have an election, or are they going to just keep it going like this? So I think it’s time to get that war settled.”

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 22:44

Here’s why Ukraine hasn’t held elections since Russia’s full-scale invasion

US president, Donald Trump, has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of using the war as an excuse to not hold elections.

In an interview with Politico, Mr Trump said: “They’re using war not to hold an election, but, uh, I would think the Ukrainian people … should have that choice. And maybe Zelenskyy would win. I don’t know who would win.

“But they haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

This sentiment mirrors the Kremlin in Moscow’s stance using the expired term as a way of painting Zelensky as an illegitimate leader.

However, a wartime election would illegal as Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Although Zelenskyy’s term formally expired in May 2024, Ukraine’s constitution allows him to legitimately remain in office until a newly elected president is sworn in.

Any nationwide election would also pose security risks for citizens to gather as Russia bombs Ukraniain cities with missiles and drones.

Logistically, a nationwide ballot would prove impractical, given that approximately one-fifth of the country under Russian occupation and millions of Ukrainians displaced abroad, and it would be difficult for front-line soldiers to cast their votes.

Despite previously declining to hold election, Zelensky on Tuesday responded to Mr Trump’s criticisms, saying he was ready for elections.

He said: “I am now asking — and I am stating this openly — for the United States, possibly together with our European colleagues, to help me ensure security for holding elections,” he told reporters on WhatsApp. “And then, within the next 60–90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold them.”

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 22:30

Watch: Starmer reiterates support for Ukraine as Zelensky meets European allies at Downing Street

Starmer reiterates support for Ukraine as Zelensky meets European allies at Downing Street

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 22:00

Zelensky reaffirms Ukraine will not cede land to Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reaffirmed his strong refusal to cede any territory, resisting US pressure for painful concessions to Russia.

“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelensky told reporters in a WhatsApp chat late on Monday.

“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right,” he said. “According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either,” he said.

In an interview with Politico released yesterday, US president Donald Trump pressed Zelensky to accept the US proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, Trump has wrongfully argued Moscow has the “upper hand” in its nearly 4-year-old invasion, and that Zelensky’s government must “play ball”.

Vladimir Putin’s forces have not made any significant territorial gains, the Institute for the Study of War said.

“Russian forces have gained 0.77 percent of Ukrainian territory since the start of 2025 while suffering disproportionately high personnel costs,” the think tank said in an update last night.

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 21:30

Zelensky says he is hopeful of ‘bringing the bloodshed to an end’

Mr Zelensky hinted that “this week may bring news for all of us – and for bringing the bloodshed to an end.”

Mr Zelensky’s team is due to hand its latest peace proposals to United States negotiators and the Ukrainian president said Ukraine would hold talks with the US on plans for post-war reconstruction and economic development.

Meanwhile a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – the countries led by the UK and France prepared to support Ukraine and deter Russia if there is a ceasefire – will take place on Thursday.

Ukraine is also working on a 20-point document “that could define the parameters for ending the war”.

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 21:00

British soldier killed in Ukraine military training exercise named

A British soldier killed on duty in Ukraine has been named by the Ministry of Defence as 28-year-old Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment.

Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to him at Prime Minister’s Questions. He said: “Lance Corporal Hooley was injured in a tragic accident away from the front lines while observing Ukrainian forces testing a new defensive capability.

“His life was full of courage and determination. He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine.”

Our senior reporter Dan Haygarth brings the report:

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 20:30

Kherson maternity hospital attack highlights worsening risks for pregnant women

Last week, a maternity hospital in Kherson, which was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), was damaged by an strike.

This latest attack comes amid new UNFPA data which shows the maternal mortality rate has risen by approximately 37 per cent in the past year, as repeated strikes on hospitals force women to give birth in increasingly dangerous conditions.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, more than 80 maternity and neonatal facilities have been damaged or destroyed, among the 2,763 healthcare sites hit nationwide.

Florence Bauer, UNFPA’s Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said: “These are not abstract statistics – they are people and families living under unbearable stress and reflect a health system under attack. Safe childbirth must be protected even in war, and international humanitarian law is clear: health facilities, health workers and humanitarian access must never be targeted.”

Kherson City Clinical Hospital, the facility struck by artillery fire on 4 December , lies just 1.5 km from active front lines and remains under constant threat from artillery and drone attacks. During the strike, staff and patients sheltered in the bunkerised maternity unit constructed with UNFPA’s support. All personnel and patients were unharmed, and a baby girl was safely delivered during the attack.

Shaheena Uddin10 December 2025 19:30

Thousands of Nato soldiers pass through Lapland amid Russian threat

Nato soldiers have been passing through Rovaniemi in Finland for training exercises at Rovajärvi, which is Europe’s largest military exercise area.

The region, frequented by tourists hoping to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, is 55 miles from the Russian border.

(Getty Images)(Getty Images)

Maira Butt10 December 2025 19:00

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NEED TO KNOW

• Isla Fisher pays tribute to Sophie Kinsella after her death at 55
• The London-born writer, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, published over 30 books throughout her career
• She was best known for her 2000 novel Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was made into a 2009 film starring Fisher

Isla Fisher is mourning the death of Sophie Kinsella. 

In a tribute posted to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Dec. 10, the Australian actress, who starred as the lead in Kinsella’s 2009 rom-com Confessions of a Shopaholic, reflected on the impact the late author left on the world. 

“Dear Sophie, You conjured Rebecca Bloomwood, a hilarious flawed dream of a comic character – and I was lucky enough to step into her shoes and speak your witty & brilliant words,” Fisher, 49, wrote in a text overlay that accompanied a photo of the pair smiling at an event together. 

Isla Fisher mourns Sophie Kinsella.

Isla Fisher/Instagram; Ian West – PA Images/PA Images via Getty 

She continued, “My daughters grew up being read your books and love them to this day. My heart is broken. You are still my hero, and I’m grateful for you. And though we won’t meet again, your light and magic lives on in your incredible characters.”

The London-born writer, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, wrote more than 30 books throughout her career. Still, Kinsella is best known for her 2000 novel Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was made into the 2009 film starring Fisher and Hugh Dancy.

Kinsella’s family confirmed her death on social media earlier in the day, hours before Fisher’s tribute. She was 55.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy),” the Instagram post read. “She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.”

A single photo of Kinsella smiling outdoors was included with her family’s message.

Kinsella was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of glioblastoma brain cancer in 2022, and her family said on Wednesday that “Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed.”

A second post shared to Fisher’s Instagram Stories included a promo photo from the film of the actress as Rebecca Bloomwood stuffing Henri Bendel shopping bags into a taxi cab. 

Isla Fisher, Confessions Of A Shopaholic.

Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

“I’m so heartbroken that you are gone,” Fisher wrote over the image, tagging Kinsella. 

Additionally, the Now You See Me: Now You Don’t star shared a few clips with scenes from the movie to her Stories as well.

Kinsella wrote her first novel, The Tennis Party, at just 24 years old after working as a financial journalist.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“To be honest, it was the only job I could get,” she told The Guardian in 2012 of her path before her blockbuster career switch. 

Kinsella is survived by her husband Henry Wickham and their five children.

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By WAYNE FLOWER, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 17:36 EST, 10 December 2025 | Updated: 17:52 EST, 10 December 2025

 Former Jetstar pilot could walk free from jail on bail after his murder conviction was overturned. 

Lynn fronted the Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday where the court ordered his conviction over the murder of Carol Clay be scrapped. 

A Supreme Court jury last year found Lynn guilty of murdering the retiree at a campsite they shared in Victoria’s High Country in March 2020, but acquitted him of murdering her companion, Russell Hill. 

Greg Lynn arrives at court on Thursday

Lynn has always maintained his innocence, saying the pair died in tragic, accidental deaths following a dispute involving a knife and one of his guns.

On Thursday, Court of Appeal President Karin Emerton said there was a ‘substantial’ likelihood of a miscarriage of justice during the original trial.

The decision had been made by Justice Emerton and justices Phillip Priest and Peter Kidd. 

Lynn was jovial upon hearing the judge’s decision, embracing his legal team. 

Dress in a suit and hiking boots, he had appeared confident of the decision before it had even been made. 

Lynn smiled at supporters in the court, which included his son Geordie. 

Lynn’s son refused to comment to a media pack upon leaving the court. 

The former pilot’s barrister, Dermot Dann, KC refused to say whether he intended to now apply for bail. 

A jury found Lynn murdered Carol Clay (left) but not Russell Hill

If he does as expected, the matter will be listed in the Supreme Court of Victoria. 

Lynn faces a decent chance of securing bail given the length of time he has already spent behind bars and the expected delay in the re-rial.

Any retrial is likely not to commence until late next year or even the following year given the complexity of the case and backlogs. 

A swag of evidence had been tossed out by the presiding judge for Lynn’s first trial. 

A lengthy pretrial had already been run before that trial even began. 

It is expected Lynn’s defence team and prosecutors will again face-off to work out how the next trial might proceed. 

Lynn had entered the witness box himself during his first trial where he was put to the torch for days by both his own barrister and the prosecution. 

More to come. 

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Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn could be free for Christmas as court overturns his murder conviction and orders a retrial

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Locklynn Rose McGuire died after being mauled by a dog she was left in a room with for a ‘substantial period of time’ as her parents are now facing upgraded murder charges

Locklyn Rose Maguire was left in the room with the ‘dangerous’ animal for a ‘substantial period of time’(Image: GoFundMe)

A two-year-old girl was savaged to death by a dog which authorities described as “dangerous” and “malnourished”, as she was left in the room the with the animal for a “substantial period of time” before she was found dead.

Initially parents Darci Lambert, 24, and Jorden McGuire, 34, were charged with second-degree murder. However on December 8 the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office announced that these have now been upgraded to charges of first-degree murder.

Authorities have said that the change in the charges that Lambert and McGuire are facing came after they reviewed the “horrendous details of the case.” Investigators have claimed that there was also evidence that the same dog had attacked the child on previous occasions.

READ MORE: Ex-nurse who stabbed woman 26 times before burying her on beach faces justiceREAD MORE: Smirking thug headbutted his partner said ‘She’s my bird, I’ll do what I want’Darci Lambert has been charged with first-degree murder after initially being charged with second-degree murder(Image: Oklahoma County Detention Center)

Officers from Oklahoma City police arrived at the family home on November 18 while responding to a report of a child not breathing. When they entered the house the officers discovered the body of the girl with “horrific injuries”, which were thought to be the result of an attack by an animal.

Oklahoma City Police Staff Sgt. Dillon Quirk has previously told PEOPLE that officers working on the case “learned that the child was left in that room with the animal for a substantial period of time before she was discovered deceased.” Adding that “ultimately a murder arrest came from that investigation”.

Loved ones identified the child as Locklynn Rose, who was just two years old. Loved ones also paid tribute to Locklynn in a GoFundMe started to help raise funds to cover expenses after her death.

It said: “Locklynn was pure light. She was curious, gentle, and full of joy – the kind of little girl whose smile could brighten even the hardest day. She loved deeply and was deeply loved. Losing her in such a heartbreaking and unexpected way has left our entire family shattered.”

Jorden McGuire was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was later upgraded to first degree(Image: Oklahoma County Detention Center)

Now, authorities investigating the horrific case are alleging that Lambert and McGuire were aware of the danger that the dog posed to Locklynn. The district attorney’s office has claimed that they “maliciously failed to protect their child and permitted her to remain in the presence of a dangerous, malnourished dog, fully aware of the serious risk of harm.”

When they were at the scene officers also found four dogs, of which it is alleged that three were malnourished. The dogs were removed by Oklahoma City Animal Welfare, along with two Bearded Dragons.

Both Lambert and McGuire are currently in police custody, and have been given a bond of $1 million (£747k). If they are convicted on the charge of first degree murder they could face a life sentence.

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United States Congressman Randy Fine, an ally of President Donald Trump, has suggested that the Palestinian people should be destroyed, boasting that he is not afraid to be called Islamophobic.

During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Fine – who has a long history of Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian statements – cited the myth that Israelis are banned from going to some areas in the occupied West Bank due to “apartheid” imposed against Israeli settlers.

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In reality, the Israeli military, which controls the Palestinian territory, has signs warning settlers against entering Palestinian towns for safety concerns.

But settlers, often armed and protected by Israeli forces, regularly storm and ransack Palestinian villages. At least two US citizens have been killed in settler attacks this year.

“When you are dealing with a group of people who continually call for the destruction of the State of Israel, who are OK with signs that say, ‘Jews may not enter these areas’, we want to be free of Jews, how do you make peace with that?” Fine asked Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, during the hearing.

“How do you create a long-term solution with that? Or is there another way that we have to go?”

Klein – who previously used the slur “filthy Arab” and called for profiling Muslims in the US – said Islam needs to undergo a “reformation” and accept “Israel as a Jewish state”.

“Nobody wants to talk about it. They’re afraid of being called Islamophobic,” Klein said.

Fine interrupted, saying, “I’m not afraid of that.”

The Republican US congressman, who represents a district in the state of Florida, then doubled down on his volatile rhetoric.

“I don’t know how you make peace with those who seek your destruction. I think you destroy them first,” he said.

A United Nations convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, including killing, causing harm, preventing births, forcibly transferring children, and imposing life conditions to cause destruction”.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 70,400 Palestinians and turned nearly the entire territory into rubble, aimed to destroy the Palestinian people, leading rights groups and UN investigators have said.

Abed Ayoub, executive director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), slammed Fine, calling him “the Temu version of Benjamin Netanyahu,” referring to the discount online retailer and the Israeli prime minister.

“He’s hated by Republicans and Democrats for his policy of Israel first, Israel second, Israel third — Americans nowhere. He’s basically a foreign spokesperson at this point, and not even a good one,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

“His unhinged, genocidal rhetoric shows his desperation as he tries to appease his bosses back in Tel Aviv.”

This isn’t the first time that Fine – who was elected to Congress earlier this year with the endorsements of Trump and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) – has made inflammatory statements about Palestinians.

In 2021, Fine commented on a social post with a photo of a dead Palestinian child asking him how he sleeps at night with: “Quite well, actually! Thanks for the pic!”

Earlier this year, he wrote “starve away” in response to a report about the deadly hunger in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.

Last year, Fine lauded the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US activist who was fatally shot by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.

“Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway,” Fine wrote in a social media post.

He has also previously argued that fear of Muslims is warranted. “While many Muslims are not terrorists, they are the radicals, not the mainstream,” he wrote in a post on X in 2023. “Now is the time to speak truth, not bathe in political correctness that will kill us.”

Despite such comments, Fine – who refers to himself as the Hebrew Hammer – has been a regular guest on some mainstream media outlets, including CNN.

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), called out Republicans in Congress and Trump for failing to denounce Fine.

“It’s one thing to read disgusting, racist, anti-Palestinian, anti-Black, and xenophobic vile on social media 24-7, but we’re not supposed to hear it from actual elected officials in this country,” Abudayyeh told Al Jazeera.

“This is what the Trump era has brought to the political arena: hateful speech from hateful people like Randy Fine, a sickening Zionist apologist for genocide who is allowed to spew his racism without condemnation from the rest of his party or his president.”

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US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

The US president confirmed the operation on Wednesday. “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela – a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” he said. “And other things are happening so you will be seeing that later and you will be talking about that later with other people.”

“It was seized for a very good reason,” Trump told reporters, declining to say who owned the vessel.

Two US officials told Reuters the operation was led by the US Coast Guard, but did not name the tanker or say specifically where the interception happened. A senior Trump administration official told Bloomberg that the US had conducted a “judicial enforcement action on a stateless vessel” that was last docked in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s government made no immediate comment on the seizure but speaking at a rally in Caracas, Maduro urged citizens to act like “warriors” and be ready “to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary”.

Maduro has been in power since 2013, when he succeeded Hugo Chávez after Chávez’s death from cancer. Widely believed to have stolen last year’s presidential election, Maduro has clung to power after launching a wave of repression that forced Edmundo González, the apparent winner of the 2024 vote, into exile in Spain.

Since August, the US has put a $50m bounty on Maduro’s head, launched the biggest naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, and carried out a series of deadly airstrikes on alleged drug boats that have killed more than 80 people.

On Tuesday, two US fighter jets circled the Gulf of Venezuela for about 40 minutes. The aircraft flew just north of Maracaibo, one of Venezuela’s most populous cities.

On Wednesday, González’s most important backer, the opposition leader María Corina Machado, was awarded the Nobel peace prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a peaceful and just transition from dictatorship to democracy”.

Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the prize, telling a ceremony in Oslo that her mother’s struggle to end years of “obscene corruption” and “brutal dictatorship” would go on.

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Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves of oil and, although years of mismanagement and corruption have done severe damage to its oil industry, oil exports remain Venezuela’s main source of revenue. The main customer is China.

The objective of this week’s reported tanker seizure was not immediately clear.

In an interview last week, Joe Biden’s former chief Latin America adviser, Juan González, said that at around the time of last year’s election he had pushed for the US to station two navy destroyers off Venezuela’s coast “and even impose an oil blockade”.

That never happened, but González believed one possible way out of the current crisis might be for the Trump administration to push Maduro into accepting a recall referendum, perhaps in 2027, but threatening “real hardline consequences” such as a blockade if the result was not respected.

“I think it is potentially a viable option where there should be a very credible and aggressive snapback associated with it,” González said, adding: “Imposing an oil blockade would shut down the entire economy.”

“It’s less aggressive [than a land strike] but it’s still considered an act of war,” added González, who was the national security council’s senior director for the western hemisphere during the Biden administration.

“He [Trump] could take unilateral action by blocking oil tankers from leaving or entering the country, and that I think would precipitate Maduro’s departure.”

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