WORLD NEWS
From French cinema to international fame
Brigitte Bardot, the French model and actress, has died at the age of 91.
After enchanting Paris as a teenage model she took French cinema by storm in the 1950s.
She then became a global icon who directors competed to work with. But she struggled in the spotlight and upon retiring turned her attention to supporting animal charities.
Later in life, she damaged her reputation with a series of convictions for race-hate crimes in France and was also criticised for homophobic comments.
WORLD NEWS
Trump and Zelensky to discuss three key issues as they’re set to meet today… while Russia launches thousands of strikes on Ukraine
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are preparing to meet to discuss a peace agreement which could end almost four years of war between Russia and Ukraine.
The US President will host his Ukrainian counterpart at Mar-a-Lago where he has been spending the holidays at 1pm EST, the White House said.
They will discuss three key issues – raising pressure on Russia, security guarantees, and investment in postwar reconstruction, according to the Washington Post.
It comes just a day after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring 20 more, according to the mayor of the Ukrainian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown little interest in negotiating a peace deal, while Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ‘willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war’.
Writing on X on Saturday, Zelenskyy said: ‘For us, priority number one – or the only priority – is ending the war. For us, the priority is peace.
‘We need to be strong at the negotiating table. To be strong, we need the support of the world: Europe and the United States.’
Zelenskyy said his country needs more air defenses, weaponry, and money.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are poised to discuss three key issues as they discuss a peace agreement which could end almost four years of war
Russian President Vladimir Putinhas shown little interest in negotiating a peace deal, while Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ‘willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war’ in the post above
‘If the whole world – Europe and America – is on our side, together we will stop Putin,’ he wrote.
Trump told Politico he thought their Palm Beach meeting would go well, but he added that ‘Zelenskyy doesn’t have anything until I approve it’.
‘We’ll see what he’s got,’ the US president said in the comment published Friday.
The engagement will be the sixth meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy this year, with their relations improving since the fiery Oval Office feud on February 28.
This first meeting degenerated into a heated argument, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance accusing Zelenskyy of failing to show gratitude for US support.
In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the key to peace is ‘pressure on Russia and sufficient, strong support for Ukraine.’
To that end, Carney announced $2.5 billion Canadian (US$1.8 billion) more in economic assistance from his government to help Ukraine rebuild.
Denouncing the ‘barbarism’ of Russia’s latest attacks on Kyiv, Carney credited both Zelenskyy and Trump with creating the conditions for a ‘just and lasting peace’ at a crucial moment.
Trump and Zelenskyy sitting down face-to-face also underscored the apparent progress made by Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans and continued to shape a proposal to end the fighting.
Zelenskyy told reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is ‘about 90 percent ready’ — echoing a figure, and the optimism, that US officials conveyed when Trump’s chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin earlier this month.
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Trump and Zelensky to discuss three key issues as they’re set to meet today… while Russia launches thousands of strikes on Ukraine
A massive blaze broke out at the Wetherspoons pub, The Hippodrome, in Market Drayton, Shropshire, with diners and drinkers forced to flee before firefighters tackled the blaze
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Myanmar’s election is unlikely to change the reality for more than 1M Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who fled what the UN called ‘genocidal violence’ in Myanmar. Efforts to repatriate the Muslim minority have stalled since the junta seized power in 2021. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Cox’s Bazar.
Published On 28 Dec 2025
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An icon of French cinema and one of the country’s most famous stars, Brigitte Bardot has died at the age of 91.
Often referred to simply by her initials, BB was considered both a feminist and a femme fatale — but controversy also became a recurring theme of her life.
Born the daughter of an industrialist in Paris on September 28, 1934, Brigitte Bardot was discovered as a model at the age of 15. She became even more sought-after once she had dyed her brunette hair blonde, making her one of the most famous “blondes” of the 20th century, not unlike Marilyn Monroe.
Well into the 21st century, fashion magazines celebrated “BB blonde” as the perfect shade of blonde.
Bardot, pictured here in 1965, was an icon of 1960s French cinemaImage: AFP
An icon of sexual liberation
Bardot started appearing in films at age 18, but international interest was first piqued in Roger Vadim’s 1956 romantic drama And God Created Woman, in which she portrayed a liberated young woman in a respectable beachside town.
In the US, the film was deemed too shocking to be screened; some theater managers who showed it were arrested. But that helped rather than hindered the movie’s success, and Bardot became an international star.
She went on to star in more than 40 films, including Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963), Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Truth (1960) and Louis Malle’s Viva Maria! (1965).
Bardot also recorded many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s, collaborating with the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and Sacha Distel.
As a fashion model, she was a muse for great designers including Dior, Balmain and Pierre Cardin. Her numerous love stories and affairs never failed to make headlines, and she became an icon of the sexual liberation of the time.
In her 1959 essay, “The Lolita Syndrome,” Simone de Beauvoir described BB as a “locomotive of women’s history” and declared her the most liberated woman of postwar France.
Bardot retired from acting in 1973, but remained a major star throughout her life. From 1969 to 1978, she modelled for the official busts of Marianne, the national symbol of the liberty of France.
From acting to animal welfare
Instead of acting, she increasingly used her international fame to campaign for animal rights and protection, which was to become the main focus of the later part of her life.
Among other things, she urged the introduction of bolt guns in slaughterhouses to kill animals with as little pain as possible.
In 1976, she joined a global campaign against seal hunting. Then in 1986, she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which still campaigns for animal welfare worldwide.
Bardot later founded her own animal protection foundationImage: picture-alliance/ dpa
Drift to the far right
Later in her life, she made headlines for what were alleged to be racially insensitive statements, and was fined many times by French courts for inciting racial hatred against Muslims or native Indian Ocean islanders.
In 2012, Bardot emerged as an ardent supporter of France’s far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, at one point calling her “the Joan of Arc of the 21st century” who would “save France.”
Bardot also repeatedly spoke out on gay rights and gender issues, though she denied being homophobic, saying she had many homosexual friends.
At the same time, she blamed the number of gender reassignment surgeries for skyrocketing health care costs.
During the #MeToo debate over sexual harassment in the movie business, she said many actresses “tease” producers to land a role. “And then they say they were harassed so we’ll talk about them,” she said.
But despite her many controversial statements, Brigitte Bardot’s iconic status will remain firmly anchored in pop culture history.
This article was originally written in German.
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JOHANNESBURG: Millions of Christians in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), spending Christmas under the reported threat of persecution, kidnapping, sexual violence and in some cases, death from Islamist militants, have seen Friday’s U.S. strikes on Islamic State militants in Nigeria as a real sign that President Trump is serious in his efforts to stop the killing of Africa’s Christians.
Over 16 million Christians are estimated to have been displaced and ripped from their homes across the region. The alleged release of 130 kidnapped schoolchildren in Nigeria this week has done little to reduce fears, as many on the continent try to worship at Christmas.
But this year, Fox News Digital has highlighted the catastrophe from Africa on multiple occasions. The situation led to senior members of Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and ultimately, President Donald Trump who threatened to send U.S. troops into the worst-affected country, Nigeria, ‘guns-a-blazing’, to stop the killing of Christians, has shone a light on the violence.
LAWMAKERS SOUND ALARM ON ‘DEADLIEST PLACE ON EARTH TO BE A CHRISTIAN’ AS NIGERIA VIOLENCE ESCALATES
In Africa this Christmas, so far there’s reportedly little sign of improvement. “The militant Islamist onslaught across SSA is a catastrophe of global proportions unfolding before us,” Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK & Ireland, told Fox News Digital this week.
Open Doors is a global Christian charity supporting Christians persecuted for their faith.
Blyth continued, “the last year has seen a non-stop stream of reports from sub-Saharan Africa. (including) reports of militant Islamist groups brutally attacking, among others, defenseless Christian communities.”
“At Open Doors, we have been sounding the alarm through our Arise Africa campaign. We’ve prayed repeatedly that the campaign of terror will reach public awareness.”
Referring to Nigeria and the thousands of Christians reported to have been killed there each year and the speeches, articles and posts against the violence, Open Doors’ Blyth states, “There is no sign that this has abated in 2025”.
Members of St Leo Catholic Church hold a procession to mark Palm Sunday in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, on April 13, 2025. (Adekunle Ajayi/Getty Images)
“The lack of global outrage and action on this issue is a moral disgrace,” South Africa’s Chief Rabbi, Dr. Warren Goldstein, told Fox News Digital. He added, “It seems as if black lives do not matter if they are murdered by Islamists in Africa. The persecution of Christians in Africa needs to be seen in its global context. It is part of a multi-continental jihadi war on the ‘infidels’ — Jews and Christians — and on Western values.”
He continued “it is a world war, with Israel at the epicenter of the fire of the jihadi forces of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and others. The Islamist war on Christians in Africa is another front of this world war that stretches from Sudan in the north to Mozambique in the South.”
TRUMP ADMIN TARGETS ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE WITH NEW VISA CRACKDOWN POLICY FOLLOWING NIGERIA ATTACKS
Fox News Digital has highlighted where persecution has hit hardest in Africa in 2025:
NIGERIA
According to Open Doors, the continent’s most populous nation saw the worst persecution in Africa in 2025, with ‘non-stop stories of deadly attacks and kidnappings’ across Nigeria’s north and Middle Belt — a litany of villages torched, citizens raped, abducted, shot and beheaded.
Pope Leo XIV spoke out this year against killings attributed to Muslim Fulani tribesmen in Nigeria’s Benue State in June, saying “Some 200 people were murdered, with extraordinary cruelty”.
Christians hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during a prayer and penance for peace and security in Nigeria in Abuja on March 1, 2020. – The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria gathered faithfuls as well as other Christians and other people to pray for security and to denounce the barbaric killings of Christians by the Boko Haram insurgents and the incessant cases of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria. (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images)
Bishop Wilfred Anagbe’s Makurdi Diocese in north-central Nigeria is almost exclusively Christian. But the constant and escalating attacks by Islamist Fulani militants led him to testify at a congressional hearing in Washington in March. Back in Nigeria, he was threatened, and some 20 of his parishioners killed.
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC)
A screen shot shows villagers inspecting the damage left by jihadi terrorists who killed 49 Christians in DR Congo in late July. (Open Doors)
The war-torn country is 95% Christian, yet the faithful are being targeted by jihadists. In February, terrorists linked to Islamic State from the so-called ADF group, who want the eastern part of the country to become a Muslim caliphate, rounded up 70 Christians and reportedly beheaded them — in a church. In September, at least 89 Christians were reportedly slaughtered by jihadists at a funeral and in surrounding fields.
SUDAN
Sudan’s estimated 2 million Christians make up an estimated 4% of the country’s population,
Like the rest of Sudan’s people, they face chronic food shortages and the horror of a yearslong war. But Christians are also allegedly singled out for discrimination and persecution by both sides in the conflict.
The Evangelical church in Omdurman after being bombed even though it was not in a combat zone or used by any warring forces. (Open Doors)
A senior Sudanese church leader told Fox News Digital that in the Darfur city of El Fasher, that “now Christians are eating animal feed and grass. No wheat, no rice, nothing can get in.”
CAMEROON
A civil conflict and weak governance have allowed armed militants to step into the vacuum of law and order, Open Doors reported. In the far north, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province regularly swoop into villages in overnight raids, killing, abducting and destroying. Thousands of people have fled their homes for displacement camps.
Ali, a villager, said “It never ends. I want it to end, but it doesn’t. We must sleep in the mountains for safety.”
MOZAMBIQUE
Situated in the southwest of the continent, Mozambique has a Christian population of 55%. Islamic State Mozambique is causing havoc in the far north, targeting Christian communities, burning their churches and destroying homes. The killings have multiplied this year, and thousands more are fleeing their homes, joining more than 1.3 million who have already been displaced.
Christian villages targeted in Mozambique (Middle East Media Research Institute)
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In one mass attack on the village of Napala in October, Open Doors reported militants killed 20 Christians and displaced some 2,000. A local pastor described how four elderly sisters were tied up and burned to death inside a house.
On the airstrikes in Nigeria, Open Doors’ Henrietta Blyth told Fox News Digital, “a military operation like this is not going to provide any sort of quick fix for decades of violence. The Nigerian government must pursue lasting solutions that ensure peace, protection of civilians and religious freedom for everyone.”
Chief Rabbi Goldstein concluded, “The West can only win this war if it can find the moral clarity to call it by its name and see all the theaters of war as part of the same fight.”
Paul Tilsley is a veteran correspondent who has reported from four continents for more than three decades. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, he can be followed on X @paultilsley.
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A contentious debate over the future of surfing in Munich’s iconic English Garden escalated on Sunday, after city workers removed a beam covertly installed over Christmas to restore a popular wave in the park’s river.
The Eisbach river, which flows through the garden, has long been a magnet for surfers and spectators alike, famed for its meter-high (three-foot) wave generated by a powerful current. This natural phenomenon, however, vanished in October when municipal workers cleared accumulated sediment, gravel, and debris from the riverbed. Its disappearance has since prompted ongoing discussions between city officials and the surfing community regarding its potential restoration.
The authorities were apparently not moving fast enough to suit at least some of the the surfers, who enjoyed several days of holiday surfing in wetsuits after unknown individuals deployed the beam across the river bed on Christmas Day. A banner on the adjacent bridge declared in English, “Just Watch. Merry Christmas!”
The surfers may have been stoked, but the city was not. The fire department moved in early Sunday morning, and the improvised structure and the wave were gone, the dpa news agency reported.
open image in gallery
Fire department employees dismantle the installations and devices for an artificial wave on the Eisbach in Munich, Germany, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP) ((c) Copyright 2025, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten)
The city has urged patience and asked an engineering professor from the Munich University of Applied Sciences to advise on possible solutions.
Safety concerns became more prominent in May, when a 33-year-old surfer died after her board was caught underwater and she couldn’t free herself from the attached leash.
A Munich surfing association complained on Thursday on its website that city authorities were imposing too many conditions on efforts to restore the wave and that the process has “stalled.”
NEED TO KNOW
- Jasmine Guillory’s 2018 novel The Wedding Date will be adapted for Netflix
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have signed on as producers through their production company, Archewell Productions
- Details about the film are slim, but the book follows a chance elevator encounter that turns into a fake wedding date
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are putting their stamp on a modern romance with Netflix’s adaptation of The Wedding Date.
Deadline reported in December 2025 that Meghan and Harry were set to produce a film version of Jasmine Guillory’s 2018 novel The Wedding Date via their Archewell Productions company. The couple’s involvement came months after announcing they were extending their deal with Netflix, expanding their collaboration into a multi-year, first-look agreement covering both film and television projects.
Though the couple have produced multiple documentaries for the streamer — including their popular 2022 series Harry & Meghan — this will mark one of their first scripted movies to go into production. The couple also acquired the book rights for Carley Fortune’s romance novel Meet Me at the Lake in 2023.
Markle notably has a background in entertainment, having starred in the legal drama Suits for seven seasons. She returned to the industry in November 2025, when she was spotted on set, playing herself in a small role in the Amazon MGM Studios film Close Personal Friends. It does not appear that she will play any part in The Wedding Date.
Here’s everything to know about The Wedding Date, including how Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are involved.
What is The Wedding Date about?
Jasmine Guillory attends Hello Sunshine’s Shine Away on October 21, 2023 in Los Angeles, California ; ‘The Wedding Date’ by Jasmine Guillory.
Monica Schipper/Getty ; Amazon
Details about The Wedding Date film, including its logline, haven’t been released. But if it stays true to Guillory’s book, fans of the novel know what’s to come in this rom-com.
“A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel,” a logline from The New York Times bestselling author said. “Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.”
The Wedding Date is the first title in Guillory’s six-book Wedding Date series.
Who is writing The Wedding Date?
Tracy Oliver attends the Variety Showrunners dinner on January 11, 2024 in West Hollywood, California.
Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty
Tracy Oliver has signed on to adapt The Wedding Date into a movie, per Deadline. She made history with her 2017 hit Girls Trip, which marked the first time a film written by a Black woman grossed more than $100 million worldwide.
The screenwriter’s other notable film credits include Little, The Sun Is Also a Star and The Blackening. Oliver also created and executive produced the series First Wives Club and Harlem.
“Always loved this book by @jasminepics and when one of my longtime friends @b_haps from film school called me about collabing with her on it, I jumped at the opportunity to adapt and help bring it to life on-screen,” Oliver wrote in a December Instagram post announcing The Wedding Date. “Shout out to Tracy Ryerson at Archewell as well and the Netflix team who got behind it. Beyond excited!”
At that time, Guillory also shared her excitement about the movie on Instagram, writing that she was thrilled to be “working with Netflix, Tracy Oliver, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex!!!”
When will The Wedding Date be released?
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala on December 06, 2022 in New York City.
Mike Coppola/Getty
A release date for The Wedding Date hasn’t been announced.
Where can I watch The Wedding Date?
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive on the red carpet at the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala on Thursday, October 9, 2025.
John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
The Wedding Date be available to watch on Netflix, amid Meghan and Harry’s ongoing partnership with the streamer.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex expanded their relationship with the platform in August 2025, shifting to a multi-year, first-look deal after reports surfaced earlier in the summer that their initial $100 million agreement would not be renewed. At the time, an insider told PEOPLE the move reflected a broader change in Netflix’s strategy, stepping back from large multi-project deals.
WORLD NEWS
ANDREW NEIL: We’re on the brink of a historical turning point… and it should terrify us. The old world order has ended. We’re on our own
This was the year the old world order ended. The order that had defeated Nazi Germany, the greatest evil the modern world has known, then went on to see off Soviet communism – the other great evil of the age.
The order that rebuilt – from the carnage, ruins and dictatorships of the Second World War – prosperous Western European democracies. Then embraced the new democracies of Eastern Europe as they threw off their communist yoke.
The order that, for all its many lapses in living up to its principles, placed liberal democracy, human rights and the prosperity of the people at the core of its purpose, leading to the greatest rise in global living standards these past eight decades the world has ever known.
The order in which Britain played a pivotal and honourable role, which we’ve now forgotten as we wallow behind our veil of woes. But in which America was always the essential ally for all involved.
I dwell on such matters to emphasise not just the significance of the historical watershed we’re now living through but the scale of our loss.
The old order was no doubt in need of a reboot, a recalibration, a refocusing for the 21st century. Instead, it is being swept away, for no good reason, by an American president with no knowledge of history, little grasp of geopolitics and scant regard for the principles of democracy and freedom which made the world a safer place the more they were adopted across the globe.
A president who thinks it is no part of US foreign policy to make the world a better place, whose only concern is furthering the narrow, short-term interest of an isolationist America and what he regards as its surrounding satrapies.
If that means supping with tyrants and dictators with the shortest of spoons, while turning on loyal, democratic allies of long standing, then so be it. If it also facilitates lining the pockets of Washington’s ruling family, then so much the better.
Andrew Neil describes Donald Trump as ‘a president who thinks it is no part of US foreign policy to make the world a better place’
Donald Trump has assembled a massive armada off the coast of Venezuela. The naval blockade is designed to cut off the export of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, with the President’s real goal to to topple Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and hasten the collapse of the Cuban regime, writes Andrew Neil
It is the ruthless, unprincipled application to foreign policy of the ways of the amoral New York property developer in which everything is reduced to a ‘deal’ and nothing matters but power, money, success and self-interest – attitudes that mark the death knell of an old world order which has served us well.
To be replaced by what? We do not yet know for sure. No doubt the coming year will improve our comprehension of what is in store. Those contours that we can already discern are not encouraging.
Next year will hasten America’s retreat from Europe, which will increasingly be left to its own devices, as President Trump focuses his attention and American power on the Western Hemisphere – where he has imperial ambitions.
That is why, as 2025 draws to an end, he has assembled a massive armada off the coast of Venezuela. The pretext is a crackdown on drug-smugglers speeding towards America in high-powered boats. The real goal, of course, is to topple Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, whose regime has impoverished the country, even though it sits on the biggest oil reserves in the world.
The US Navy is now seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan crude oil exports, which account for 90 per cent of Maduro’s revenues. The loss of these funds would be catastrophic for the man in Caracas. Trump reckons a few more turns of the screw will bring down early next year his corrupt, cruel, repressive regime hated by the Venezuelan people.
But there is a further, so far unspoken, purpose to Trump’s Caribbean military adventure: his aim is also to bring down the flailing communist regime in Cuba, which is just as much an economic basket case as Venezuela.
Almost 3 million Cubans – mainly young, educated, ambitious and accounting for a quarter of the country’s population – have fled Cuba in this century alone. What was, until only recently, regularly lauded by the British Left as something of a communist paradise is, in fact, a hellhole in which 90 per cent of the people struggle to survive in extreme poverty.
About 70 per cent go for days without a proper meal; water shortages mean there isn’t even enough to flush the loo or wash the dishes; daily power blackouts force people to sleep outside in sub-tropical heat while schools and hospitals are closed; and basic medicines are now a luxury few can afford. No wonder eight out of ten Cubans want to leave.
The country is in the grip of its worst crisis since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, worse even than its troubles after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which had been its biggest benefactor.
Since then, Cuba has been kept on life support by cheap Venezuelan oil – at one stage as much as 100,000 barrels a day. That’s already fallen to 30,000 as Venezuela’s inefficient nationalised oil industry struggles to keep up production.
The US naval blockade is designed to cut off even that to hasten the collapse of the Cuban regime. The Cuban gerontocracy and Maduro are joined at the hip. Venezuelan oil is essential to the survival of the government in Havana. Brutal Cuban intelligence teams help Maduro identify and crack down on any dissent that threatens his government.
If Trump could bring down both regimes early in 2026 he would regard it as vindication of his new emphasis on increasing US power in its own backyard. His aim is to surround America with governments that will do its bidding. He’s already achieved that in Panama.
There is no plan to deploy US boots on the ground in Cuba or Venezuela. The American people – including his own isolationist MAGA movement – have no appetite for that.
He thinks his blockade will do the job. And who could object to seeing the back of Maduro and his henchmen or the Cuban communist plutocrats who’ve ruined a beautiful country?
The problem is that the US record when it comes to regime change does not engender confidence. From South Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya and countless countries in between over the years, the US record on regime change is one of failure, on an often catastrophic scale.
What reason is there to think Venezuela or Cuba will be any different, especially since some of America’s largest previous regime-change failures have been in Latin America?
Even so, it is at the top of Trump’s to-do list in 2026, and if there is even just a scintilla of success it will embolden him to exert further US sway over more of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has indicated Colombia could be next if Venezuela falls.
Join the debate
How should Europe respond if America abandons its traditional role as global protector?
Units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine extinguish a blaze after a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia earlier this month… next year will hasten America’s retreat from Europe, which will increasingly be left to its own devices
The coming year will see the effective end of US financial and military aid to Ukraine, writes Andrew Neil. It already started to dry up in 2025
Argentina is already in hock to Washington, with $20 billion of US support for its currency. Canada will remain under pressure to fall in line with whatever is Trump’s latest whim. Even Greenland is still in his sights. He’s just appointed a new envoy who has described his job as ‘a volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US’. The Danes, under whose control Greenland falls, are increasingly nervous.
The more Trump concentrates on his own backyard, the more the US retreat from Europe will gather pace. I find it astonishing that European leaders have still to grasp the immensity of the geopolitical shift that is now under way.
It isn’t just that the European leg of Nato can no longer count on US military when the chips are down – the fact is that Trump’s America is no longer even on our side, a harsh reality that will become apparent as next year unfolds.
Yet European Nato still bases its defence planning on massive US assistance, even as Trump pushes a version of a peace plan for Ukraine originally drafted by the Kremlin.
The coming year will see the effective end of US financial and military aid to Ukraine. It already started to dry up this year.
If Europe means what it says about standing by Ukraine then, in 2026, it will have to become Europe’s war, without American back-up. Despite all the supportive rhetoric it is by no means clear Europe’s leaders are up for this.
Germany is at last taking rearmament seriously. Chancellor Merz has freed up Berlin’s tight fiscal rules to pump an extra €150 billion into defence, taking military spending by the start of the next decade to at least 3 per cent of GDP.
It’s still too little, too late – and it’s not being spent on the armaments needed for 21st-century war.
Germany’s combined air, sea and land forces, the Bundeswehr, has a mere 600 drones at its disposal. It’s planning to increase that to 10,000 in 2026. In 2025, Ukraine made 5 million drones, because they are the essential weapon in the 21st-century battlefield. It will make 10 million next year.
British defence spending is a bit more forward-looking but still wholly inadequate to the task at hand. Despite frankly embarrassing talk from Chancellor Rachel Reeves about making Britain a ‘defence industrial superpower’, military spending is scheduled (according to the latest Commons Library briefing) to rise from £60 billion in 2024-25 to a mere £62 billion in 2025-26 – a pathetic increase which, after inflation, equals almost no increase at all.
Despite bold statements about spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by early in the next decade, there’s not even the outline of an official road map to get us there, to the shame of Starmer’s Government.
I have little hope of peace breaking out in Ukraine. No Ukrainian leader could accept what President Putin wants: to consolidate his grip on the east; place severe limits on the size of free Ukraine’s military; replace President Zelensky with a leader more disposed to the Kremlin – then wait for the rest of Ukraine to fall into his lap. Patience has always been a key ingredient of Russian strategy.
The President has ‘no knowledge of history, little grasp of geopolitics and scant regard for the principles of democracy and freedom which made the world a safer place’, writes Andrew Neil
Trump’s MAGA movement is now gripped by ‘low-intensity civil war’, Andrew Neil adds
Although Putin is the real roadblock to peace, the Russian dictator knows Trump will blame Ukraine (and its European backers) for the lack of progress. He expects Trump to throw his toys out of the pram in frustration some time in the first half of 2026 and depart the scene, saying it’s now on Europe to handle the conflict while he doubles down on the Western Hemisphere.
This will hand the advantage to Putin, which is why 2026 is so dangerous. It is not that, bereft of US protection, Russian tanks will start rolling west. But a Ukraine under the cosh would be grim news for the Baltic states (where mass evacuations are already being rehearsed in case of Russian incursions), Poland and Finland.
Russian cyber attacks and sabotage in Europe, which increased this year, will become endemic next year.
Russian drones have recently flown over Poland, Germany and Denmark, causing civilian airports to shut.
These ‘grey-zone’ provocations will intensify next year, designed to intimidate Europe into loosening its commitment to Ukraine. In the next 12 months we will discover if Europe has the backbone to resist them.
Yet there is an opportunity – if only Europe had the leadership to grasp it. Energy prices – especially oil and gas – are likely to tumble in 2026 because of global gluts of both.
This could act as a trillion-dollar economic stimulus for Europe’s energy-hungry economies, including Britain. Add in European rearmament at the required scale and further interest rate cuts as inflation falls below 2 per cent – helped by a surge in cheap imports from China (everything from solar panels to electric vehicles) – and you have the makings of a return to European growth which could bring the continent renewed confidence when it comes to defence and security.
We shall see. Europe’s recent default position has been to miss every opportunity presented to it. The one thing it can be sure of is not counting on President Trump.
Of course, we could be past peak Trump. His presidency is now being rocked by a cost-of-living crisis. His MAGA movement is now gripped by low-intensity civil war.
The bookies reckon there’s an 80 per cent chance the Republicans will lose the House come the November mid-term elections. That would limit his scope for mischief. But the modern US imperial presidency has plenty of room for manoeuvre, especially in foreign policy.
I expect Trump to be as active as ever on that front in 2026. There is talk in the White House of bringing the Kremlin in from the economic cold with a spate of US-Russian energy deals, perhaps even a joint carve-up of Ukrainian resources. No doubt there will be rich pickings for the Trump family, too.
I’ve even heard top aides muse about a new world order in Trump’s image. America dominant and unchallenged in the Western Hemisphere. But calling the shots in the rest of the world through a new alliance of America, Russia, China, India and perhaps even Japan (now with a Trump-style leader).
Europe, of course, is nowhere in any of these plans. If, in 2026, it doesn’t at last dawn on Europe (including Britain) that we’re on our own then I doubt it ever will – at least not before it’s too late.
A plastic bottle was allegedly thrown towards the Aston Villa bench after they beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League – and Chelsea have now launched an investigation
12:02, 28 Dec 2025
Unai Emery’s side came from behind to win at Stamford Bridge(Image: Vince Mignott/MB Media)
Chelsea have launched an investigation after a plastic bottle was reportedly thrown towards the Aston Villa bench following their 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
Aston Villa once again staged a comeback to clinch a league victory, having done so in their previous four Premier League away matches prior to facing Chelsea. Substitute Ollie Watkins netted twice in the second half, securing Villa’s 11th consecutive win across all competitions.
The match, which saw eight yellow cards handed out, was marred by moments of ill temper, with Villa’s set-piece coach Austin MacPhee also receiving a booking late in the game – something captain John McGinn made light of by posting three crying laughing emojis and a GIF of the yellow card on X.
Tensions seemed to reach boiling point at the final whistle when a plastic bottle was allegedly hurled towards the Villa bench, dousing some staff members with water.
READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: Liverpool losing Semenyo battle, new Man Utd target, Chelsea busyREAD MORE: Diogo Jota’s widow in emotional statement after Liverpool’s classy gesture
Some Villa staff reacted with visible disgust, and according to The Telegraph, one member appeared to suggest that the object had been thrown from the Chelsea dugout area, although this has yet to be confirmed, reports Birmingham Live.
Chelsea have reportedly pledged full cooperation with Villa and any relevant authorities, if necessary, to ascertain exactly where the bottle originated from. CCTV footage is expected to be scrutinised as part of the investigation.
Mirror Football understands that the Football Association, who would bare responsibility for any disciplinary action should it be necessary, are aware of the allegations. Chelsea and Aston Villa have both been contacted for comment.
Ollie Watkins’ brace off the bench sent Aston Villa home happy(Image: David Watts/Getty Images)
The scenes at full-time did little to diminish the delight of the away side, who have now racked up a joint club record of 11 straight wins in all competitions. Villa sit third in the Premier League, one point behind Manchester City in second and three adrift of leaders Arsenal, who they face on Tuesday.
“I’m very happy and thankful for the supporters because we need them and they are with us, transmitting their energy and we’re here trying to play for them,” Emery said post-match. “How the players responded on the field was really fantastic. In the first half, we struggled.
“We weren’t getting the rhythm to keep ball possession and to try to get to their box frequently, but we needed to defend and we were being brilliant defensively.
Enzo Maresca was left to reflect on another disappointing result(Image: Getty Images)
“We conceded one goal from the corner, and we needed to change something in the second half but with the same structure we had in the first half. We started getting better and we needed fresh legs, but how we got our momentum, with the players showing their mentality to exploit their qualities, was fantastic.
“To beat Chelsea here is very difficult. We wanted it and we are happy but still keeping balance and trying to get each match with our objective.”
By contrast, Enzo Maresca was left to reflect on another disappointing result. Chelsea’s form has dipped dramatically and they are now 10 points behind Villa.
“I think the goal we conceded was the turning point,” Maresca said. “Until the goal we conceded, that is around one hour, we were completely in control of the game.
“Again, it’s something that is not the first time that happened. And when we concede a goal, even if we are winning and we concede a goal, we struggle a little bit with the management of the game. And it’s something that for sure we need to improve.”
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WORLD NEWS
Brigitte Bardot: The bombshell and style icon who walked away from fame and glamour | Ents & Arts News
Brigitte Bardot was the sultry film siren who helped ignite a sexual revolution, a woman whose cultural significance extended beyond her acting career.
The French star, who has died aged 91, came to embody a new kind of female sexuality on screen that was bold and unapologetic.
Brigitte Bardot at a London Hotel during a photocall. Pic: PA
She was so famous that she became known simply by her initials.
Emmanuel Macron said Bardot “embodied a life of freedom”.
In the film Le Mepris (Contempt) directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Pic: Nana Productions/Shutterstock
Pic: Sipa/Shutterstock
Paying tribute, the French president said: “Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne” – referring to the national symbol of France.
“French existence, universal brilliance. She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”
Brigitte Bardot dies: Latest reaction
An 18-year-old Bardot pictured in 1952 in Cannes. Pic: Bob Hawkins/Kobal/Shutterstock
Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
As a singer, she also released several records during her time in the spotlight, and was famously the muse for Serge Gainsbourg’s erotic single Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus.
Despite her success, she retired from acting before she had even turned 40, instead choosing to dedicate her time to helping animals.
Born in Paris in 1934, Bardot rebelled against a strict upbringing to break into film.
Bardot in the 1960s. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
She started as a model in the early 1950s, and, after some minor parts, the role that made her a household name came in 1956 – … And God Created Woman.
Directed by her then husband Roger Vadim, the film was considered scandalous at the time for its frank depiction of sensuality, daring to challenge conservative post-war norms about women’s behaviour and desire.
Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
In the 1967 film A Coeur Joie (Two Weeks in September). Pic: Nana Productions/Shutterstock
Bardot instantly became a symbol of youthful rebellion, a sex symbol and a style icon – an influence that would be felt for decades, seen in the soft, eye-skimming fringes and cat eyeliner many women still turn to today.
Often compared to Marilyn Monroe but with a distinctively European cool, her femininity redefined post-war cinema, captivating audiences.
But while she starred in more than 40 films – and proved she could play much more than the seductive ingenue – by 1973, aged only 39, she walked away from the big screen.
A 1954 portrait of French actress Brigitte Bardot. (AP Photo)
Pic: Dalmas/Shutterstock
“I gave my youth and my beauty to men,” she said of her retirement. “I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals.”
In 1986, Bardot founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation dedicated to combatting animal cruelty, funding sanctuaries and numerous wildlife rescue operations.
Pic: Sam Levin/Regie Du Film/Del Duca/Kobal/Shutterstock
Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
In later years, she spoke of feeling “used” by the film industry and the media, saying she’d felt increasingly uncomfortable with the constant public scrutiny and the intense objectification she was subjected to.
But Bardot was also a controversial figure herself, with her image tarnished in more recent years following a book she published in 2003 entitled A Cry In Silence, for which she was prosecuted for incitement to racial hatred against Muslims.
Marking the 20th anniversary of her foundation for animal rights, The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, in 2006. Pic: AP
She went on to receive several fines over the years for alleged racism in various statements she made, often in the context of her animal campaigning, and most recently in 2021.
But she remained a popular figure to many. While activism and animal welfare were her real passions, she will be best remembered for her lasting influence on international cinema.
Published On 28 Dec 2025
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From displaced Palestinian families struggling in the cold winter in makeshift tents in Gaza, Christmas celebrations in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, to the historic gathering of more than one million people in Dhaka welcoming home Bangladesh’s opposition leader Tarique Rahman after his 17-year self-imposed exile, here is a look at the week in photos.
French movie star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91, her foundation said Sunday.
“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation,” it said in a statement sent to French news agency AFP.
The foundation’s Bruno Jacquelin told The Associated Press Bardot died at her home in southern France. He did not give a cause of death and said no immediate arrangements have been made for funeral or memorial services.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised Bardot for her excellence on and off the screen, writing on social media platform X: “Her films, her voice, her dazzling glory, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne, Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom.”
“French existence, universal brilliance,” he added. “She touched us. We mourn a legend of the century.”
Celebrated sex symbol
When her career began in the 1950s, she was widely regarded as a sex symbol, thanks to her figure and libertine lifestyle.
One of her most well-known films was “And God Created Woman,” in 1956, where she starred as an 18-year-old caught up in a love triangle, which was directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim.
Vadim once promised that Bardot would become “the unattainable fantasy of all married men.” A few years later, in 1963, she played a sullen, frustrated wife of a screenwriter in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” which featured scenes that became part of cinema folklore.
However, by 1973 Bardot announced she had become “sick of being beautiful every day,” as she turned her back on acting to look after abandoned animals.
Foundation set up dedicated to animal protection
In the early 1980s, Bardot travelled to Canada and experienced a “life-changing” visit when she witnessed its annual seal cub culls.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation was set up in 1986 and was dedicated to animal protection. Bardot crusaded for baby seals and elephants, called for the abolition of ritual animal sacrifice and the closure of horse abattoirs.
Bardot’s later years were marked by animal rights campaigns and far-right political sympathiesImage: Valery Hache/AFP
In a 2011 letter to conservation group WWF, she retold her viewing of the cull of seal cubs, saying: “I will never forget these pictures, the screams of pain, they still torture me but they have given me the strength to sacrifice my whole life to defend the animal’s one.”
Controversial comments marred later life
While Bardot’s advocacy stepped, criticism of her comments and political statements saw her face a backlash.
She was repeatedly fined by French courts between 1997 and 2008 for remarks judged to constitute incitement to racial or religious hatred, including statements directed at France’s Muslim community.
According to court rulings she was convicted at least five times during that period with her most severe penalty coming in 2008, when a Paris court fined her €15,000 over a letter criticizing Muslim ritual slaughter.
Bardot married Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to the far-right National Front in 1992 and later went on to publicly endorse the party’s successive leaders, Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine Le Pen.
In 2018, she denounced the #MeToo movement in an interview with the magazine Paris Match, claiming actresses who spoke out against sexual harassment were: “Hypocritical and ridiculous. Lots of actresses try to play the tease with producers to get a role.”
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A Russian submarine was deployed alongside a spy ship to map critical undersea infrastructure around Britain, it has emerged.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has declassified a photo of the incident, which saw a submarine shadowing the Yantar, officially described as a Russian research ship, as it reportedly surveyed the gas pipeline linking Britain and Ireland. It was not clear whether the escort was one of Russia’s own purpose-built sabotage submarines.
An anti-submarine Merlin Mk2 helicopter could be seen from the photo tracking the Yantar in the Irish Sea from November last year; a British submarine also emerged from the surface nearby.
It is believed to be one of several operations where Russian submarines have accompanied the Yantar into waters close to the British Isles, according to The Sunday Times.
First sea lord general Sir Gwyn Jenkins said earlier this month that there had been a “30 per cent increase in Russian incursion in our waters” just over the last two years.
An anti-submarine Merlin Mk2 helicopter could be seen tracking the ship (MOD)
The activity is most visibly seen in the presence of spy ships like the Yantar operating near UK waters, he said, but warned: “It’s what’s going on under the waves that most concerns me.”
Just last week Sir Gwyn warned that Russia was renewing its investment in its elite deep-sea submarine division, known as GUGI. The UK sanctioned the Russian military agency, which is leading the development of Russia’s underwater intelligence gathering operations, in June this year.
An MoD Spokesperson said: “As the Defence Secretary has said, our message to President Putin is clear: We see you, we know what you are doing, and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.
“We are acutely aware of the threat posed by Russia, which includes attempts to map undersea cables, networks, and pipelines belonging to both the UK and our allies, and we are tackling these threats head on.
“That is why the Prime Minister set out the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War, including a commitment to increase spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP from April 2027, and an ambition to spend 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament, as economic and fiscal conditions allow.
“In addition, we have introduced 900 new sanctions against individuals, entities and ships under the Russia regime, and accelerated the development and deployment of advanced anti-submarine technology.”
The government believes its Atlantic Bastion programme, which is integrating autonomous vessels, AI-enabled sensors, warships, and aircraft to safeguard critical undersea infrastructure against evolving challenges, will help to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO to counter the threat of Russia’s evolving submarine force.
NEED TO KNOW
- One woman was told she was going to be a bridesmaid in her cousin’s wedding
- Her cousin then told he she didn’t fit the “aesthetic” of her wedding, making her the “something blue” instead
- So, she turned to Reddit for advice
Navigating family expectations during weddings can be hard.
A 29-year-old woman shared on Reddit that she’s debating whether or not to attend her cousin’s wedding after being snubbed as a bridesmaid.
“I am a ‘something blue’ to my cousin for her upcoming May wedding,” she wrote, explaining that “being someone’s ‘something blue’ is a modern wedding tradition where a person is asked to wear blue as a symbolic role, often in place of or in addition to a traditional bridal party.”
“This person, or ‘something blue crew,’ is honored with a special role in the wedding, such as getting ready with the couple or participating in photos, but typically without the official duties or obligations of a bridesmaid or groomsman,” she added.
Despite being given the role, she is “considering not attending for a few reasons,” but knows her absence would “end up becoming an issue” between her and the bride, so she turned to Reddit for advice.
Stock photo of a wedding ceremony.
ozgurcankaya/Getty
She explained that her cousin had always insisted she would be in her wedding party, but then, after getting engaged, all of a sudden decided that the poster “was not part of the ‘aesthetic’ to be a bridesmaid.”
However, now that she has lost 100 lbs., the bride feels she is “more pleasing on the eyes to be part of the day,” the user wrote.
The woman noted that the wedding is also quite far away, and would either require a 10-hour drive or a shorter flight plus a two-hour drive to get there. The hotel is also 45 minutes from the reception space, and she would need accommodations back at home for her dog.
Additionally, the poster also took a pay cut after getting a new job, so she is “financially more strapped than usual.”
Lastly, she is newly single “and didn’t receive a plus one but other family did.”
“I love love. And I’m really glad she’s marrying this guy, he’s way better suited than her previous partners. And I do want to celebrate them,” she wrote. “But at the same time, I still feel slighted.”
“Was told you’ll be a bridesmaid bc I was the only one who supported this relationship at the start. I’m still overweight but way healthier so I still don’t feel I’m good enough essentially for her,” she continued.
Plus, she doesn’t “enjoy traveling with people” and would prefer to spend her money on something like “solo camping,” noting that this trip would “be a lot of money, time and effort” for something she doesn’t even know “will be enjoyable.”
People in the comments section urged the woman not to attend the wedding.
“You’re not skipping a wedding, you’re dodging a financial and emotional hostage situation. If attending requires a 10-hour drive, a dog sitter, emotional gymnastics and pretending you weren’t excluded for years, it’s not a ‘wedding,’ it’s a bill with vows. Go camping and let everyone else romanticize the chaos without you,” one person wrote.
“If you’re not at the wedding party, you definitely don’t have to be there. Tell your cousin that the new job has you strapped financially (which is true) and send a nice gift,” another person wrote.
WORLD NEWS
Brigitte Bardot dies aged 91: France’s original ‘Sex Kitten’ who found global fame with And God Created Woman before ditching acting and modelling for animal rights activism and far-right politics passes away
Brigitte Bardot has passed away aged 91.
The French former actress and singer had been ill in hospital in Toulon, according to local media.
Known as the original ‘Sex Kitten’, Bardot shot to international notoriety with her role in 1956 film And God Created Woman, which was directed by her first husband Roger Vadim.
That turn as a voluptuous, hedonistic orphan made her an object of edgy fascination for millions, even though the film itself got a mixed reaction from critics.
Described by Time magazine as France’s ‘most ogled export’, Bardot’s sex appeal was further fuelled by her outings as a model.
The star, who married and divorced three times before settling with her fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale in 1992, retired from acting in 1973 to focus on her passionate animal rights activism.
But she drew controversy with her engagement in far-right politics, which saw her endorse National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and be fined six times for inciting racial hatred.
The star was reclusive in her final years, instead preferring to remain out of the spotlight at her secluded and very private property in Saint Tropez.
Brigitte Bardot has passed away aged 91. Above: The star in 2023, one of the last times she was pictured out and about
Brigitte Bardot has passed away aged 91. Above: The star in 2023, one of the last times she was pictured out and about
Born on September 28, 1934, in Paris, Bardot initially trained as a ballet dancer at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music and Dance.
At 15, she had already appeared on the front cover of France’s Elle magazine and began to establish herself as a model.
Her acting career began in 1952 when she starred in a series of small roles, but she soon began to turn heads at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953 when she frolicked on the beach in a skimpy bikini.
Brardot said: ‘Yes, I knew I was ugly as a child. I said to myself: “Well, I am ugly, so I must at least be bright and funny and have other things to compensate.”
‘I knew I had to be the best at something, otherwise I would be nothing. I knew I wanted the world to know about Brigitte Bardot.’
And the world certainly did.
Over the course of her career she starred in 47 films and recorded more than 70 songs.
Bardot’s willingness to be part of steamy on-screen scenes made her controversial. And her personal life was no different.
Brigitte Bardot leaves the Elysee Palace on crutches after meeting Brigitte Macron, July 2018
In 1992 Bardot married her husband Bernard d’Ormale, a former adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen of the Front National
Pictured: Playboy Roger Vadim with Bardot on set. After meeting the model, the French film producer helped her become a star
Bardot’s parents did not initially approve of her union with Vadim but agreed to her marriage after she attempted suicide. Above: Being walked down the aisle by her father, December 19, 1952
Brigitte with her second husband, Jacques Charrier, with whom she had a son, Nicolas
Bardot had little to do with her son Nicolas during his childhood after she gave Charrier custody of him when they divorced
Bardot’s third husband was German industrialist Gunter Sachs. The couple were married between 1966 and 1969
Despite her parents’ fierce opposition, she married Vadim in 1952. The couple’s relationship lasted just five years.
After their divorce in 1957, Bardot became ensconced with actor Jacques Charrier.
By the time they married in 1959, she was already heavily pregnant with her first and only child.
Nicolas-Jacques Charrier was born on January 11, 1960. Bardot would later say: ‘I’m not made to be a mother.
‘I don’t know why I think this because I adore animals and I adore children, but I’m not adult enough – I know it’s horrible to have to admit that, but I’m not adult enough to take care of a child.
‘I need somebody to take care of me. I’m sad to have had that baby. What will be his life? People who are making babies and families now are mad. It is such a bad world.’
In 1962, Bardot’s union with Charrier ended in divorce.
She went on to marry German millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs in 1966. But that relationship was similarly short-lived. By 1969, they had divorced.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.