WORLD NEWS
Dead at 99, Stanley Baxter – the most admired, brilliant (and tortured) comedian on TV who spent his last 25 years as a virtual recluse
An hour with Stanley Baxter was like a night at a party with a crowd of the most celebrated actors and aristocrats of the telly age.
As he reeled off streams of outrageous, delicious anecdotes, he didn’t simply imitate people – he embodied them. The Queen, or Kenneth Williams, would simply materialise in front of your eyes as you wiped away tears of laughter. It was almost literally magical.
But in one instant, like a change in the wind, he could become broken down with sadness. Melancholy swept over him. Once, in the middle of a story while I was interviewing him, he stopped and said in the gentlest voice: ‘I’m just grateful my wife and I couldn’t have children. Her schizophrenia and my nerves – what an awful combination.’
Stanley Baxter, who has died aged 99, was once the most admired comedian on television. His annual variety shows, in which he played dozens of characters, were the small screen’s most expensive extravaganzas.
But he spent the past 25 years as a virtual recluse in his first floor apartment in a Highgate Village art deco mansion. He dreaded going out – believing himself to be decrepit, he feared being recognised and, worse, pitied.
Stanley Baxter as the late Queen Elizabeth II. He was born in Glasgow in May 1926, the son of a timid insurance clerk called Fred and his wife Bessie – a blacksmith’s daughter with dreams of stardom for their only son from the time he could walk
Even the telephone filled him with horror. One afternoon, I saw him flinch when it rang. ‘What fresh hell is this?’ he muttered.
His greatest terror was that the public would discover what everyone already knew, the biggest open secret in showbusiness – that Stanley Baxter was gay.
The first time we met, he opened the door to me and, retreating three steps up the stairs to gain the advantage of height, roared: ‘Let me tell you this, you are not going to write about my f*****g sex life!’
What’s so heartbreaking is that he hid his sexuality all his life, preferring to turn his back on fame rather than risk humiliation. The brutal truth is that, when he did come out as gay in a biography in 2020, the only people shocked were the ones who assumed he had been dead for years.
‘There are many gay people these days who are fairly comfortable with their sexuality,’ he said. ‘I’m not. I never wanted to be gay. I still don’t. Anyone would be insane to choose to live such a very difficult life. The truth is, I don’t really want to be me.’
It was an unworthy fate for a man who should have been revered as the greatest jewel in Britain’s comedy crown. His breadth of talent was unmatched – satirist, stand-up comedian, singer, dancer, impressionist, wit, poet, panto dame, dramatic actor, writer and choreographer.
Bax couldn’t just do it all: he did all of it better than anyone else.
His starriest turn was as the Duchess of Brendah, in tiara and silk gloves up to his armpits… so much like the Queen that he could have taken her place for Trooping the Colour.
As Stanley Baxter reeled off streams of outrageous, delicious anecdotes, he didn’t simply imitate people – he embodied them. Here he plays the pantomime dame in Jack and the Beanstalk at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow in 1977
He was the first comedian to impersonate Her Majesty on TV. To add to the insolence of it, one Christmas show included a mock message from Buckingham Palace in which he described the Queen Mum as a ‘priceless antique’.
In lavishly produced sketch shows throughout the 1970s, Baxter sent up everyone from Hollywood superstars to pompous BBC pundits. He staged magnificent song-and-dance numbers that took months to film as he played every part – spoofing movie musicals, Oscar-winning blockbusters and TV rivals.
Donning outrageous drag costumes, Baxter announced himself as Joan Crawford, Bette Davis or Mae West. Often he gave their names mischievous twists – becoming Glandy (Glenda) Jackson, John Bitumen (Betjeman), Malcolm Gibberidge (Muggeridge) or Alan Wicked (Whicker).
But the splendour of the shows made them impossible to sustain. Baxter switched from the BBC to ITV and back again, eventually concentrating on just one mega-show a year, until even that became so costly it was impractical.
His epics became a byword for TV that was too ambitious for the confines of the small screen.
Baxter was appalled by the open homosexuality in CSE – ‘all chiffon hankies and make-up and flouncing about,’ he said. ‘I thought, I really hate this. I don’t want to be involved in this kind of world’. Here he is with mother Bessie, left, and sister Alice, right, ast a Glasgow premiere in 1961
At the same time, his private life was so tortuous and painful that his nerves unravelled. Returning to the stage, he was tormented by a morbid fantasy of suffering a heart attack in his dressing room before the curtain went up and being discovered on the floor by a stage hand: ‘You’re awful cold, Mr Baxter…’
Miserable and afraid, he decided to retire – and for his last 30 years cut himself off from the one thing that had sustained him throughout his life, the adulation of audiences.
Stanley Baxter was born in Glasgow in May 1926, the son of a timid insurance clerk called Fred and his wife Bessie – a blacksmith’s daughter with dreams of stardom for their only son from the time he could walk.
Bessie and her sisters loved amateur dramatics. They staged their own vaudeville shows, performing hits of the day such as Baby Face and Bye Bye Blackbird, and smoking Russian cigarettes to cultivate an image as artsy Bohemians.
By the time he was four, Stanley was a regular with his mother at the music halls, and at six he was starring on the city’s talent circuit. Dressed in a sailor suit with his hair tonged into waves, he sang saucy music hall numbers… such as I’m One Of The Lads Of Valencia: ‘You can’t beat a Spaniard for kissing, Oh ladies, just think what you’re missing!’
His mother called him Sonny Boy and dinned a fear of failure into his head: ‘She probably felt if she praised me I’d try less hard. I began to be scared someone else would do better than me on stage, and my mother would clatter me.’
Baxter was the first comedian to impersonate Her Majesty on TV. To add to the insolence of it, one Christmas show included a mock message from Buckingham Palace in which he described the Queen Mum as a ‘priceless antique’
In lavishly produced sketch shows throughout the 1970s, Baxter sent up everyone from Hollywood superstars to pompous BBC pundits
Fiercely jealous, Bessie refused to allow her son to have female friends. She needn’t have worried – from the first time he saw a half-naked Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan at a Saturday cinema matinee, Stanley knew he was attracted to men.
Aged 18 in 1944, he received his call-up papers, but was deemed too short-sighted for active Army service. After months working in the coal pits as a Bevin Boy, he was grateful in June 1945 to be assigned to the Seaforth Highlanders and sent to India and then, as the war with Japan ended, to Burma.
A notice caught his eye, appealing for performers to join the Combined Service Entertainment [CSE] unit. A seaplane took him to his audition in Singapore, where he was sent to the stage door of the Victoria Theatre.
A crowd of CSE artistes was just leaving. Baxter asked if he could cadge a lift and was told there was no room in the truck, because some of the men had invited local women back with them.
Baxter with wife Moira. He once said: ‘I’m just grateful my wife and I couldn’t have children. Her schizophrenia and my nerves – what an awful combination’
A nasal voice cut through the throng: ‘Of course we can take him! Yesss! There’s room! We don’t want all you and your f*****g girlfriends!’
That was Baxter’s first meeting with Kenneth Williams. The pair formed a lifelong friendship, sharing a dormitory and a love of poetry, and spending their wages every Saturday night on fine dining and gin-and-tonics.
Soon they were topping the bill in a show called At Your Service, dancing onstage in yellow and blue uniforms, one hand on the hip and the other pointing to the lairy squaddies in the front row, defying a barrage of catcalls.
Yet Baxter was appalled by the open homosexuality in CSE – ‘all chiffon hankies and make-up and flouncing about,’ he said. ‘I thought, I really hate this. I don’t want to be involved in this kind of world.’
When he returned to Glasgow two years later, he joined the idealistic Citizen’s Theatre Company, performing Ibsen and Shaw to working class audiences in the Gorbals district.
Stanley Baxter’s life imploded when he was arrested in a public toilet in Holloway in 1962 and charged with soliciting for sex. Here he is in panto again, opposite Molly Urquhart
Determined to be heterosexual, he started courting an actress named Moira Robertson. She was 22 and highly strung, and he was taken aback by how heavily she fell for him.
When he warned her that all of his previous sexual experiences had been with men, she climbed out of their second storey window and stood on the ledge, threatening to jump. ‘If I can’t have you,’ she yelled, ‘I won’t settle for anyone else.’
Guilt-stricken and confused, Baxter relented. They were married in 1952. On their wedding night, he sat on the bed and sobbed.
The couple moved to London, and by the end of the decade he was starring in a BBC sketch show called On The Bright Side, with Ronnie Barker and Una Stubbs. Dashing and square-jawed, he was the leading man in light film comedies too, such as The Fast Lady.
But his life imploded when he was arrested in a public toilet in Holloway in 1962 and charged with soliciting for sex. At this time, sex between consenting adult males was still illegal. ‘I was going to top myself,’ he said. ‘I thought, my career will never survive this – and if I don’t have a career, what do I have?’
He was saved by the celebrity barrister David Jacobs, who argued in court that Baxter could not have been ‘soliciting’ – because, when he was arrested, there was no one in the gents’ apart from two policemen.
Psychiatric therapy for his sexual desires failed to help. The doctor, realising he was married, simply told him to return to his wife.
Baxter with wife Moira. In lavishly produced sketch shows throughout the 1970s, Baxter sent up everyone from Hollywood superstars to pompous BBC pundits
Stanley Baxter, who has died aged 99, was once the most admired comedians on television
Instead, unable to cope with Moira’s pleas for a baby, he left her. They met for lunch every day in the 1970s, and she talked frequently of killing herself – but he was unprepared when a friend called at their old home to find the front door wide open and Moira in the bath, the water dark with blood.
She lived, but her mental health was tragically fragile for the rest of her life. ‘She told me she was hearing voices,’ Baxter said in despair. ‘She thought the television was talking to her.’
Though they never lived together again, he did his best to support her, emotionally as well as financially – wracked with guilt that he could not be the husband she needed.
In 1997, when he told her he was going on holiday for a few weeks, a row erupted. ‘She punched me,’ he said. ‘My glasses flew off. It was the one and only time she had ever reacted this way.’
On his return to Britain, he called her from the airport. She didn’t answer. He went straight to the house. When he discovered the door was unlocked again, he knew what he would find. Moira was in the bedroom, dead from an overdose. She was 69.
Baxter never recovered fully from the shock. He talked about her often, always with a note of self-loathing, and rejected all reassurance that it was not his fault.
Baxter with his wife Moira and solicitor David Jacobs at Clerkenwell Court. Mr Jacobs successfully argued in court that the star could not have been ‘soliciting’ – because, when he was arrested, there was no one in the gents’ apart from two policemen
Though he made a few tentative trial comebacks over the next 20 years – a radio show here, a TV interview there – he lacked the confidence to revive his career, or even to accept the homage of generations of comedians who regarded him as a master.
His loneliness was made worse by his dread of the phone and a tendency to suspend friendships on the slightest pretext.
‘It’s purdah for him,’ he’d say. ‘The cold shoulder.’ He ceased speaking to Kenneth Williams on several occasions, though that always thawed.
Others were banished permanently and I was one of them. For years he’d leave me phone messages, and I’d send him a bottle of gin and a packet of Bensons on his birthday – two cigarettes a night were his last vice.
One year, the booze and the cigs were returned. I’d offended him, perhaps by a comment in my TV column about some actor he knew. He wouldn’t say why.
That was Stanley Baxter. The world offered him open arms, and he gave it the cold shoulder.
The bodies of two elderly men were found by enforcement agents who were repossessing a funeral parlour in Gosport, Hampshire, which was run by Richard Elkin and Hayley Bell
20:15, 12 Dec 2025
Hayley Bell (left) and Richard Elkin face jail(Image: Solent News)
Two funeral directors have been warned to prepare for jail by a judge after a decomposing body was found in their mortuary room.
Richard Elkin, 49, and Hayley Bell, 42, ran Elkin and Bell Funerals in Gosport, Hampshire, and they were convicted of preventing the decent burial of a body and fraud offences following a trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.
Lesley Bates KC, prosecuting, told the trial that the bodies of two elderly men were found by High Court enforcement agents who had been tasked with repossessing the premises because of unpaid rent and debts.
She said that the room was not refrigerated and water was coming in through a leak in the roof of the mortuary room and the body of one of the men, 87-year-old William Mitchell “showed obvious signs of decomposition”.
READ MORE: Screaming mum finds funeral director ‘watching cartoons’ with two dead babiesREAD MORE: Funeral home director ‘handed fake ashes to thousands of pet owners – while actual remains went to landfill’
Two bodies were found at Elkin & Bell Funerals in Gosport(Image: Solent News)
The prosecutor said that the defendants had said the body of Mr Mitchell had remained because the cremation fees had not been paid – when the costs had actually been covered by a funeral payment plan. Mr Mitchell’s family “were incredulous” when told by police that his body had not been cremated in the planned private cremation and had even placed a wreath at Portchester Crematorium in the “mistaken belief that his body had been cremated there”, the court heard.
Ms Bates told the jury that there had been five other known cases of “badly decomposed” bodies kept in the mortuary room of Elkin and Bell. There were more than 40 other bodies stored at the funeral directors between June 28, 2022 and December 10, 2023 which were not seen separately at hospital.
She said: “Bearing in mind the condition of the bodies they did see, what happened to these others?” Ms Bates said that the funeral directors was previously investigated by the Gosport Environmental Health Partnership in August 2021 and issued with improvement notices which the defendants responded to by buying a refrigeration unit on eBay which was unsuitable because of the size of the room.
The pair were found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court(Image: PA)
They were both found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court of intentionally causing public nuisance between June 27, 2022 and December 11, 2023, preventing lawful burial of a body between November 3, 2023 and December 11, 2023 and carrying on a business fraudulently between August 10, 2022 and December 11, 2023. Along with this Elkin was convicted of the forgery of a certificate of funeral directing and using it as a false certificate on or before December 10, 2023. He had previously pleaded guilty to illegal possession of pepper spray.
Judge James Newton-Price KC adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports to be prepared on the two defendants who will be sentenced on February 19. Releasing them on conditional bail, he told them: “I am going to adjourn sentencing in this case for pre-sentence reports on both defendants because I need to know more about each of you.
“Neither of you gave evidence in this trial and I need to know a little more about your circumstances and the circumstances surrounding these offences. You should prepare yourselves for an immediate custodial sentence.”
Rachel Robertson, of CPS Wessex, said that Elkin and Bell “showed a grave disregard for the dignity owed to the deceased in their care”. She added: “Their conduct caused serious harm to those coming into contact with their business and the families who had placed the care of deceased loved ones in their trust.”
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo, of Hampshire Constabulary, called for new legislation following similar cases elsewhere in the country. He said that the defendants had betrayed the trust of the families “in the worst way possible”.
He added: “We need new legislation rather than relying on common law. We also need better regulation. Combined, this can help ensure that all funeral directors act, as the majority do, with professionalism and compassion.”
WORLD NEWS
Belgian prime minister tells Sky News he is ‘sceptical’ about Ukraine loan using Russian assets | World News
The Belgian prime minister said he is “sceptical” about giving Ukraine a loan using frozen Russian assets, and tells Sky News that it would need to be done with European partners.
Bart De Wever met Sir Keir Starmer at Downing Street on Friday for talks on using frozen Russian assets, the majority of which are held in Belgium, to fund Ukraine.
European Council president Antonio Costa said this week that members were close to greenlighting the proposal, but the Belgian prime minister has not ruled out taking legal action against the EU if the bloc decides to confiscate the assets.
Asked by Sky News’ people and politics correspondent Nick Martin if Belgium holds the key to Ukraine’s future defence, Mr De Wever said “that’s a bit of a cynical question”.
“I don’t think we hold the key, but we do hold a lot of Russian assets,” he said. “Will we do it with a European solution or with the reparation loan? I’m sceptical about a loan. I’m not going to lie.
“That’s because I’m heavily exposed to the liabilities of such an operation. But I’m a loyal European. I’m loyally pro Ukraine.”
‘I’m not the only one who holds immobilised assets, there are other countries’. Pic: Reuters
The Belgian prime minister then said “if you want to go through with this, we could,” but said there would need to be “the mutualisation of the risk of it being a liquidity safety net”.
“The idea that we do this all together,” he said. “But I’m not the only one who holds immobilised assets, there are other countries like the UK, like France.
“If you go together, then you’re under a big umbrella and you’re not the only one that is exposed to all the risks.”
Russian assets worth €190bn are held in Belgium, De Wever said outside Number 10, compared with €8bn worth in the UK.
When asked if he received assurances on shared liability from Sir Keir, Mr De Wever added: “I’m not sure that I’m at liberty to say what the Prime Minister has told me… but it was a constructive meeting”.
Pics: Reuters
‘It’s something historic’
Mr De Wever also said that the meeting was timely and noted “I’ve even been described as a Russian asset” for his stance on the proposal.
“It worries me a lot, of course. The exposure risk is huge. €190bn plus damages, and litigation that could go on, go on for two decades.
“It’s a tall order, because until two months ago, we considered this to be an operation that we would never do… It’s not a detail. It’s something historic.
“So to get that all in the right wording, with the right reassurances, it’s quite something.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement that Mr De Wever and Sir Keir “discussed ongoing work, together with European partners, on addressing Ukraine’s financial needs, including through the use of the value of immobilised Russian Sovereign Assets”.
“They agreed to continue to work together closely to make progress on this complex issue,” they added.
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UK ‘rapidly developing’ plans to prepare for war
EU indefinitely freezes assets
It comes as Russia’s central bank said on Friday that the plan was “illegal” and that it reserved the right to take any means necessary to protect its interests.
Meanwhile, the EU has indefinitely frozen Russia’s assets in Europe using a special procedure meant for economic emergencies to prevent the billions of euros from being used to support Ukraine.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban – who has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin – accused the European Commission, which prepared the decision, “of systematically raping European law.”
“It is doing this in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that clearly isn’t winnable,” he added on social media.
Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico has also said that he would refuse to support any move that “would include covering Ukraine’s military expenses for the coming years”.
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Michael Clarke answers your Ukraine questions
Zelenskyy to visit Ukraine, Sky News learns
It comes as Sky News learnt from a source that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to visit Berlin on Monday.
He is set to meet German chancellor Friedrich Merz and also speak with representatives of Britain and France, it’s understood.
It also comes as Ukraine’s deputy energy minister said that Russia has launched 1,800 missiles, 50,000 drones and attacked energy facilities 4,500 times since the start of the year.
Roman Andarak told a briefing: “There are no examples in recent history of an energy system existing under such conditions – such large-scale, targeted terror.
“Unfortunately, this terror is intensifying every day.”
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked out of a US courthouse without being arrested by immigration authorities, relieving fears ICE may attempt to take him back into custody the day after he was released.
Published On 12 Dec 2025
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Angry French farmers are calling for more protests over the government-backed slaughter of cattle herds affected by so-called Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD).
On Thursday there were clashes between riot police and demonstrators in the southern Ariège department, after vets were called in to destroy potentially contaminated cattle at a farm.
Elsewhere in the south, farmers have dumped manure outside government buildings and blocked roads. The offices of several environmentalist groups were ransacked in the Charente-Maritime department.
LSD is a highly contagious bovine disease which is transmitted mainly by fly-bites. The symptoms are fever, mucal discharge and nodules on the skin.
Though mainly non-fatal, it can badly affect milk-production and the cows are unsaleable.
The disease arrived in Europe from Africa about ten years ago. France’s first outbreak was in the Alps in June, when an infected herd forced the Tour de France cycle race to cut short one of its stages.
The government’s policy of slaughtering entire herds where a single animal has been infected has run up against bitter opposition from two of the three main farmers’ unions.
Conféderation Rurale and Conféderation Paysanne say the policy is being brutally applied, and is in any case unnecessary because a combination of selective culling and vaccination would suffice.
But most vets disagree.
“Right now we are unable to tell the difference between a healthy animal and a symptomless animal carrying the virus. That is the only reason we have to carry out these whole-herd slaughters,” said Stephanie Philizot who heads the SNGTV vets’ union.
Since June there have been around 110 outbreaks of LSD in France, originally in the east but now increasingly in the south-west. Ministry officials blame the illegal movement of cattle from affected zones. Around 3,000 animals have been slaughtered.
The French government is worried the protests could snowball into a wider movement among a farming population that feels itself under growing threat from the imposition of EU norms and competition from abroad.
A big protest is planned in Brussels next week during the summit of EU leaders. Several French farming sectors are in deep crisis, from wine-growers hit by falling consumption to poultry farmers hit by avian flu.
There is also widespread opposition to the impending signature of an EU free-trade agreement with South American countries, which farmers fear will open France to more cheap food imports, much of it produced under looser environmental and sanitary constraints.
Citizens of nations conventionally considered low-risk US allies will soon have to provide their social media handles upon arrival to the country. Under plans announced this week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), travelers from 42 countries including Germany, Israel, Australia and Japan will be subject to the same tight scrutiny as the rest of the world has been since 2019.
Up until now, travelers from the 42 countries have enjoyed a visa waiver, meaning they can travel to the US for up to 90 days without applying for a visa, as long as they get authorization through the lighter-touch Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The new proposals mean travelers will likely soon be obliged to share their social media history, phone numbers and email addresses as part of the travel authorization process.
The DHS said the proposal, which will reportedly come into effect on February 8, 2026, unless challenged in court beforehand, originated from US President Donald Trump’s January order for arrivals to be “vetted and screened to the maximum degree.” It comes on the heels of an announcement by the State Department in August that all US visa holders would be under “continuous vetting,” including on social media.
How would a social media check for travelers work?
While travelers will be required to provide social media handles and phone numbers used in the last five years and email addresses in the last 10 years, on their entry forms, there will be no requirement to hand over log in details.
How dangerous are TikTok & Co. for democracy?
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Therefore, in theory, the US government can only see publicly available information, unless it gathers further details directly from social media companies — something that has not been stated as a possibility in the documentation. It does however say that biometric data and a host of personal details on applicants’ family members will be added to the entry requirements when “feasible.”
The proposal is thin on details of how it will monitor social media accounts provided or how it already does. But the logistics of actively monitoring such a huge number of accounts poses a number of questions as David Ellis, an expert on digital behavior from the University of Bath, England, explained to DW.
“How are they going to manage all that data? Are they just interested in what you’re saying or is it what you consume too?” Ellis, part of the university’s Institute for Digital Security and Behavior, said.
“Most people don’t say much online but there is obviously content that we all see online that we don’t agree with, that we didn’t want to see. So how do they [the US government] draw a distinction between that being a red flag, and just something that was served up and you watched for three seconds?”
What would the US government look for in tourist social media posts?
The executive order that sparked the proposal cites concerns about terrorism as a reason for increasing the spotlight on those from overseas. “The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security,” it reads.
For Ellis, phrases like “hostile attitudes” are dangerously open to interpretation and perhaps could be used against people who have liked, viewed or shared something that they may not even agree with.
“You could look at someone’s TikTok history and see they saw a video that was promoting extreme views, but they only watched it for a second. Is that better than if it were 30 seconds?” he asked. “Ethically, they should give justification, but they could just say ‘we don’t like your social media use’ to make things difficult for people who want to come to the country with perfectly good intentions.”
There is no specific reference to what would disallow a person from entering the US. A clue may come in the US government’s catch-and-revoke policy, described by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a “one-strike policy” which aims to identify and expel foreign nationals in violation of US legislation — independent of that infraction’s severity.
US judge rules Columbia student Khalil can be deported
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The program uses AI-powered surveillance tools to monitor foreign nationals in the US by monitoring their presence on social media and at protests. Law experts and rights groups have warned that the program particularly targets individuals appearing to express support for US-designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas or Hezbollah when speaking out for Palestinian rights.
Ellis suspects similar, if not the same, technology, will be used for tourists under the new proposal.
“It’ll almost have to be AI.” he said. “The resource required to manually go through it is just never going to happen. They are going to have to use specific queries and things to look for. There will be a huge financial and environmental cost there, whatever is decided. I do wonder how much it’s been thought through and how many ‘bad people’ it’ll actually catch,” he added.
Are there privacy concerns?
Most obviously, those who post anonymously online would forfeit their privacy on entry to the US. There are also concerns about the use of data. In the EU, users can find out what data is held on them by social media companies, but no such mechanism is available to the individual in the US.
US stance, policy on Europe ‘not helpful,’ MEP tells DW
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There are also concerns that the changes will mean every visitor to the US can be tracked for as long as the government wants to. “Nearly every non-US citizen who seeks to enter or remain in the United States would be subject to indefinite social media surveillance by the US government,” Caroline DeCell, a legislative advisor at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, told Al Jazeera.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, the press and peaceful assembly. DeCell is among those who fear the changes mean potential visitors or immigrants to the US will have to censor their speech on social media should they wish to travel or reside in the country.
There are also concerns for the millions traveling to the 2026 FIFA World Cup , hosted in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Iran and Haiti fans are already unwelcome due to the travel ban imposed by Trump. Ronan Evain, the executive director of Football Supporters Europe, said the rights of those who travel to the games should be protected.
“Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are universal human rights. No football fan surrenders those rights just because they cross a border. This policy introduces a chilling atmosphere of surveillance … and it must be withdrawn immediately.”
Edited by: Maren Sass
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Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered a fresco of a Roman-looking Jesus as the “Good Shepherd,” which is being hailed as one of the most important finds from Anatolia’s early Christian era.
The work of art was found in August in an underground tomb near the town of Iznik, where the Nicene Creed, a foundational statement of Christian belief, was adopted in A.D. 325. The tomb itself is believed to date back to the third century, when the area was still under the Roman Empire and Christians faced persecution.
POPE LEO XIV OPENS FIRST FOREIGN TRIP IN TURKEY WITH A VISIT TO CHRISTIANITY’S EARLY HEARTLANDS
Archaeologists clean and restore frescoes inside a 3rd-century tomb where a rare early Christian depiction of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” was discovered, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Khalil Hamra/AP Photo)
The fresco shows a youthful, clean-shaven Jesus dressed in a toga and carrying a goat on his shoulders, according to The Associated Press, which was the first international media organization given access to the tomb. The outlet noted that researchers say the fresco represents one of the rare instances in Anatolia in which Jesus is portrayed with Roman attributes.
The lead archaeologist on the project believes the artwork could be the “only example of its kind in Anatolia,” the AP reported.
A fresco depicting Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” adorns the wall of a 3rd-century tomb in Hisardere, where archaeologists uncovered one of Anatolia’s best-preserved early Christian artworks, in Iznik, Turkey, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Khalil Hamra/AP Phto)
POPE LEO XIV CALLS FOR ‘DIVINE GIFT OF PEACE’ IN MAIDEN VISIT TO MIDDLE EAST
Pope Leo XIV recently visited the town as part of his first overseas trip since taking the helm of the Vatican. While in Iznik, Pope Leo XIV marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which set forth the Nicene Creed that millions of Christians still read today.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes Pope Leo XIV (R) with an official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye, on Nov. 27, 2025. (Utku Ucrak/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented a tile painting of the “Good Shepherd” discovery to the pope, according to the AP.
While in Turkey, Pope Leo XIV was joined by Eastern and Western patriarchs and priests as they prayed that Christians would one day be united once again. They prayed together over the site where the council produced the Nicene Creed. The men recited the creed, which the pope said was “of fundamental importance in the journey that Christians are making toward full communion,” according to the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.
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Medical Aid in Dying act: Illinois becomes 12th state to let terminally ill residents choose to end their lives
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Illinois residents with terminal illnesses will soon be able to choose to end their lives on their own terms.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying act into law Friday. It is also known as “Deb’s Law” in recognition of Deb Robertson, a lifelong resident of the state living with a rare terminal illness who has pushed for the measure’s approval.
She has testified to the suffering of people and their families wanting the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
Pritzker said he was moved by stories of patients suffering from terminal illness and their devotion to “freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.”
“This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy,” Pritzker said after singing the measure in Chicago.
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Deb Robertson, the retired social worker from suburban Chicago who gave a name to the law, thanked Pritzker for signing the law providing ‘the full range of end-of-life options’ (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The law takes effect in September 2026 to give the Illinois Department of Public Health and other medical participants time to develop “stringent processes and protections” for implementing the provision, according to the Democratic governor’s office.
Eleven other states and the District of Columbia offer medical aid in dying, according to the advocacy group, Death With Dignity. Delaware was the latest, and its provision takes effect Jan. 1, 2026. Seven other states are considering allowing it.
In Illinois, patients 18 and older with physician-confirmed mental capacity to make medical decisions may request end-of-life medication if they have an illness that could be fatal within six months, as verified by two doctors; as well as have received information about all end-of-life care options, such as hospice or palliative care.
Additionally, both oral and written requests for the medication must come from the patient, not a surrogate or proxy.
Sponsoring Sen. Linda Holmes, a suburban Chicago Democrat, said both her parents died of cancer.
“I’ll never forget the helpless feeling of watching them suffer when there was nothing I could do to help them,” Holmes said. “Every adult patient of sound mind should have this as one more option in their end-of-life care in the event their suffering becomes unbearable.”
The Illinois House approved the measure 63-42 in late May at the end of the legislative spring session. The Senate didn’t take it up until October, when it was approved 30-27. In both chambers, there were prominent Democratic “no” votes.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois, representing the state’s six Catholic dioceses, issued a statement disparaging Pritzker’s action, saying the law puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”
“Rather than investing in real end-of-life support such as palliative and hospice care, pain management, and family-centered accompaniment, our state has chosen to normalize killing oneself,” the Catholic bishops said. “This law ignores the very real failures in access to quality care that drive vulnerable people to despair.”
The conference also derided the idea that Illinois has legalized suicide for some while attempting to prevent it in others, particularly teenagers, among whom suicide is the second-leading cause of death. That sentiment was echoed by the nonpartisan advocacy and lobbyist group Patients Rights Action Fund.
“Assisted suicide plunges Illinoisans with disabilities and other vulnerable people into conversations about death, instead of the care and support they deserve from their medical teams,” said Matt Valliere, the group’s president and CEO.
Deb Robertson, the retired social worker from suburban Chicago who gave a name to the law, thanked Pritzker for signing the law providing “the full range of end-of-life options.”
Robertson added, “The end for me could be near, but I’m pleased to have been able to play some role in ensuring that terminally ill Illinois residents have access to medical aid in dying.”
NEED TO KNOW
- Liam Neeson narrates the new documentary, Plague of Corruption, which expresses skepticism toward vaccines and includes discredited science
- A representative for Neeson released a statement stressing that the actor “never has been, and is not, anti-vaccination”
- Neeson has previously advocated for vaccines, saying that conversation about them in recent years has “lost sight of how much good they have done”
Liam Neeson is countering speculation that he is against vaccinations.
On Friday, Dec. 12, the Naked Gun star clarified his stance on vaccines after being tied to the controversial documentary, Plague of Corruption: 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed. The 73-year-old narrates the new documentary, which expresses skepticism toward vaccines and includes discredited science.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a representative for Neeson stressed that he has “never been” anti-vaccination.
“We all recognize that corruption can exist within the pharmaceutical industry, but that should never be conflated with opposition to vaccines,” the representative said. “Liam never has been, and is not, anti-vaccination. His extensive work with UNICEF underscores his long-held support for global immunization and public-health initiatives. He did not shape the film’s editorial content, and any questions about its claims or messaging should be directed to the producers.”
The documentary is based on the 2021 book of the same name, co-authored by Judy Mikovits, a discredited former scientist who espoused disinformation and encouraged people not to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and Kent Heckenlively, who previously referred to himself as the “world’s #1 anti-vaxxer.”
In the narration by Neeson, he reportedly states that those on the pro-vaccine side have demanded “unconditional submission to our public institutions” and “science has become dangerously politicised,” the Guardian reports.
Additionally, the film reportedly features an interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and praises President Donald Trump. Both men have spread debunked theories and shared misinformation about the safety of vaccines and supported the removal of long-standing vaccine mandates.
Liam Neeson.
Karwai Tang/WireImage
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In response to Neeson’s involvement in the documentary, Heckenlively posted on X last month saying, “Liam Neeson for the win. Aslan is on our side!”
Despite the controversy, in the past, Neeson has advocated for vaccines in his role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
In 2022, the Taken actor said, “Vaccines are a remarkable human success story. Over the last 75 years, billions of children have been vaccinated, thanks to scientists, to health workers, to volunteers. If you’ve ever been vaccinated, or vaccinated your children, then you are part of the arm-to-arm chain that keeps all humanity safe.”
“The conversation about vaccines in recent years has lost sight of how much good they have done for each of us,” he continued. “We need to celebrate this. It is perhaps one of the biggest collective achievements in human history.”
WORLD NEWS
Ominous fleet of Iranian-linked tankers off US coast spark alarm about Trump’s widening war with Venezuela
A menacing ‘shadow fleet’ of tanker ships is sailing just miles from the US coastline— brazenly transporting sanctioned Iranian oil while President Trump continues his military campaign against alleged drug smugglers in the very same waters.
A bombshell new report obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail exposes a deep, clandestine network of 20 illicit tankers currently lurking in the Caribbean, serving as a lifeline for the regimes of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Iran and Russia.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which has spent over 12 years tracking these elusive vessels, has identified 11 ships directly linked to Iran’s oil trade—including the ‘Skipper’ and ‘Star Twinkle 6’—alongside nine others tied to Russian and Venezuelan operations.
The stakes could not be higher. The Skipper’s revenues reportedly fund terrorist activity by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, prop up hostile regimes and provide cut-price oil to China.
Jemima Shelley, Senior Research Analyst at UANI, warns this reality could lure Trump into a dangerous provocation with Iran, pointing to the strong ideological alliance forged between Maduro and the Ayatollah.
‘Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its illicit oil sales are the main source of funding for its global terrorist activities,’ Shelley told the Daily Mail.
‘The IRGC—a designated foreign terrorist organization—is not only using this oil revenue to revamp its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program, but also to actively plot terror on US soil, including against senior members of the US administration,’ she added.
The sheer scale of this operation was brought into sharp focus on Thursday with the dramatic seizure of the Skipper.
A satellite image of BERTHA provided by UANI. Friday, it was seen loading Venezuelan oil from the Jose Terminal
The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations
News of the interception broke after US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a 45-second video on X
The stakes could not be higher. The Skipper’s revenues reportedly support terrorist activity by the IRGC and Hezbollah, prop up hostile regimes and provide cheap oil to China
News of the interception broke after US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a 45-second video on X.
The footage captures the high-stakes raid: two helicopters swoop down over the vessel in open water, deploying armed agents in camouflage who rappel onto the deck to seize control.
The operation, carried out by the FBI, Homeland Security and the Coast Guard with US military support, marks a significant escalation. It is the first Venezuelan oil cargo seized since US sanctions were imposed in 2019.
While Iran-linked tankers are most often tracked in the Persian Gulf and Asia, the Skipper’s interception off the Venezuelan coast signals a dangerous geographical diversification.
These ‘Ghost Armadas’—clandestine fleets shared by Iran, Russia, and Venezuela—are no longer distant threats; they are at America’s doorstep – navigating waters dangerously close to the US.
Shelley told the Daily Mail that the seizure of the Skipper is just the tip of the iceberg, revealing new data on the massive revenue these ships generate.
‘At UANI, we have acquired data showing that there are at least 10 additional dark fleet vessels in the Caribbean with a similar history of transporting illicit Iranian oil,’ Shelley said. ‘In total, these 10 vessels have in the past carried over 29 million barrels of Iranian crude, generating approximately $1.8 billion for the Iranian regime.’
Iran’s embassy in Caracas condemned the raid on X, labeling it a ‘grave violation of international laws and norms’
According to UANI leaders, the ships’ presence in the Caribbean highlights the highly coordinated and flexible operations of these dark fleets. The vessels are interchangeable assets in an illicit alliance between Tehran, Moscow, and Caracas.
‘The revenue made by Iran’s illicit oil trade and transported by the dark fleet serves as the primary funding source for the Iranian regimes’ nuclear program and global terrorist activities,’ Shelley explained, ‘as well as its efforts to assassinate US citizens, including on American soil.’
The geopolitical fallout has been immediate.
Iran’s embassy in Caracas condemned the raid on X, labeling it a ‘grave violation of international laws and norms.’
Meanwhile, the US has officially sanctioned the Skipper for its role in the Iranian oil trade and is reportedly planning further seizures as part of an intensifying pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government.
UANI leaders warn that this is only the beginning. Their comprehensive list of vessels provides a clear roadmap of potential targets—and with the US signaling its readiness to act, the hunt for the rest of the Ghost Armada is on.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
House Democrats have today released a selection of photographs from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, some of which show President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew
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