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Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid will continue without President Trump stepping in, Ukraine’s top energy executive has warned, as millions risk a freezing winter without power.

DTEK’s Maxim Timchenko spoke out as Ukraine braced for further Russian drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure and a day after Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the third time to bring an end to the nearly four-year war.

“Yesterday’s meeting gave us renewed hope. But our task is not to live from hope to hope — it is to continue doing what we have done for four years: responding to immediate challenges and fighting every day,” Timchenko told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP TOUTS ‘TREMENDOUS PROGRESS’ BUT SAYS HE’LL MEET PUTIN AND ZELENSKYY ‘ONLY WHEN’ PEACE DEAL IS FINAL

U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands at a news conference following a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on December 28, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“We are deeply grateful to President Trump for his leadership. We believe he and his team are the only ones who can force Russia to negotiate and stop the war, together with the support of our partners in the European Union and other countries,” the DTEK CEO said.

Founded by Ukrainian entrepreneur Rinat Akhmetov, DTEK is Ukraine’s largest private energy company and a backbone of the nation’s power supply.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the company operated eight thermal power stations. Three were later occupied by Russian forces.

“Today, we operate five power stations, and each of them has been attacked at least five times since the full-scale invasion,” Timchenko confirmed.

PUTIN REJECTS KEY PARTS OF US PEACE PLAN AS KREMLIN OFFICIAL WARNS EUROPE FACES NEW WAR RISK: REPORT

A seller waits for customers in a shop during a partial blackout in Lviv on Nov. 28, 2024, following Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images)

He described the damage as unprecedented. “The level of destruction is incomparable to any energy system in the world. Nothing like this has happened in modern history,” he said.

At one point, he said, nearly all of DTEK’s generation capacity was damaged or destroyed, with losses totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

“And I can say that at some moment of time, 90% of our generation capacity was damaged or destroyed,” he explained.

“With this destruction, we lost hundreds of millions of dollars in direct damages, and I don’t even mention lost revenue. So, only for 2025, our recovery budget was about $220 million, but if you take it from the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I say it’s hundreds, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Timchenko said.

Despite the destruction and losses faced, his company has repeatedly restored power to millions of Ukrainians.

“Since 2022, we have managed to reconnect more than 30 million households and clients,” Timchenko said. “We are fighting and we are fast.”

RUSSIA UNLEASHES MAJOR DRONE, MISSILE ATTACK ON UKRAINE AS US DIPLOMATIC TALKS CONTINUE

A drone hits an apartment building in Kyiv during Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

“For the last two years, it has been extremely difficult. Attacks have become so intense and we live in crisis mode every single day because our equipment is destroyed, power stations damaged, and the only thing we are thinking about is how to restore power supply as soon as possible,” Timchenko said.

He also added that recovery efforts include resuming gas drilling, continuing construction of Eastern Europe’s largest wind park, and building a major battery storage system with U.S. firm Fluence.

Otherwise, in Odesa, for example, around 600,000 people have been affected by outages, with some neighborhoods left without power for days at a time.

But Russia’s most recent large-scale strike came on Dec. 26, when missiles and drones hit Kyiv and surrounding areas, cutting electricity to more than 1 million people during freezing temperatures.

FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE SAYS PUTIN WON’T AGREE TO UKRAINE PEACE DEAL UNLESS FACED WITH ‘BIGGER STICK’

DTEK says they have restored power to 30 million Ukrainian households despite repeated Russian strikes on critical energy infrastructure. (Reuters)

“People have learned how to live without necessities like electricity,” Timchenko said.

“The temperature in Kiyv was minus 10 degrees and because of this attack, we couldn’t get water, we couldn’t get heat, and of course, there is no electricity.

“They attacked us with ballistic and Kalibr missiles and calibers, then 500 drones and other types of missiles,” he added.

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Looking ahead, Timchenko stressed Ukraine’s dependence on continued support.

“The energy system is at the core of this fight. Modern life simply cannot exist without electricity. We need continued global support,” he added.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture. 

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Residents of a Texas town have reacted with shock after four people were found dead inside their home by police on Christmas Eve.

“We had our garage open, we [had] people in the yard celebrating, we’re laughing, we’re eating, we’re having a good time, and something like this is happening right down the street,” said neighbor Stephanie Turner, who lives in Terrell, north Texas.

According to the Terrell Police Department, officers responded at 5:29 p.m. on Wednesday to a residence to conduct a welfare check and found four people who were pronounced dead at the scene.

In an update Monday, the deceased were identified as Philip Dale Humphrey, 66, Sherry Lynn Bostick, 62, and a 12-year-old boy, whose identity was kept anonymous on the request of his family. Investigators determined that each person died from a gunshot wound.

The fourth body was identified as Casey Dale Humphrey, 38, who sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

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Four found dead in home on Christmas Eve by police who were carrying out a welfare check (NBCDFW)

The department did not give further information on the relationship between the victims or the circumstances that led to the shootings. The incident remains an active and ongoing investigation.

Turner told NBC DFW that her son and other family members were playing outside their home when police first arrived.

“They weren’t sure what it was, but we just knew that it wasn’t right,” she said, adding that she and others in the neighborhood were in shock at the horrific incident. “This is a really good neighborhood. People love on each other here and all that good stuff,” she said.

Kathern Limmer was preparing food when she looked out her window and also saw “police cars everywhere.” She and her husband found out further details the day after.

open image in gallery

Police were unable to provide specific information about what led to the incident inside the house but said at the time they believed it to be isolated, with no further threat to the public (NBCDFW)

“This was the day before Christmas, and their family had Christmas without them,” she said. “How could you go and come outside every day and look at the house and know what happened?” added Johnny Limmer. “Kind of mind-boggling, really…. [I] can’t grasp it.”

Turner said she had been in contact with a family member of the four victims and that they were “trying to find understanding” in the tragedy.

“This is going to separate their family, this is going to tear up their family, you know?” she told NBC. “Because nobody knows why, nobody knows how, or what caused this or what brought this on.

“All they know is they got family members that are gone.”

She added: “Every time they think about celebrating Christmas, or even Christmas Eve… these people are going to go through some trauma.”

Terrell Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 469- 474-2700.

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NEED TO KNOW

• In 2005, the Palm Beach Police Department began an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that led to his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor
• The PBPD first investigated Epstein in 2001 after learning Ghislaine Maxwell had been “hiring young women” from a local college
• A second investigation began in 2003 after a masseuse reported that Epstein had asked her to remove her top and pants while working on him “several times’

On March 14, 2005, a Florida couple walked into the Palm Beach Police Department (PBPD) and told officers they believed their 14-year-old daughter “may have had some type of sexual relationship with an older male who resided in Palm Beach,” according to an incident report obtained by PEOPLE.

The couple did not know the man’s name, his address or any details beyond that, and said their daughter would not admit to or even discuss the incident — which they learned about from the mother of one of their daughter’s friends.

That report launched an investigation which ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of Jeffrey Epstein, who in 2008 pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Investigators were already familiar with Epstein years before 2005 though, as new records released by the Department of Justice reveal that he was the subject of two previous investigations by the PBPD.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty

The first investigation began in December of 2001, when the West Palm Beach Police Department (WPBPD) contacted the PBPD’s Organized Crime/Vice and Narcotics Unit and reported Epstein’s top lieutenant Ghislaine Maxwell was allegedly “hiring young woman from [Palm Beach State College] to come to her house and answer the phone,” according to the case report.

The report from the WPBPD said that “three female college students” had been approached on campus by Maxwell and allegedly told that she “needed young, beautiful unmarried women to answer phones and do office work at her home on Palm Beach.”

One student who accepted the $200-a-day offer on several occasions said most of the calls came from men “saying when they were going to drop of [sic] particular girls,” according to the report. Two other girls who spoke with the WPBPD “complained about Epstein touching them inappropriately” when they worked at the home.

The PBPD set out to try and interview these students but had little luck in contacting most of the girls, largely because they attended a community college and most lived off campus.

A few did eventually agree to interviews and while they reported that there were “nude photographs of women all over the house,” “women running around the pool area topless,” and the feeling that something “weird” was going on with the constant massages, they did not witness anything illegal.

At the same time, investigators with the PBPD were also doing trash pulls at Epstein’s home, and over the course of just a few months found “nude photographs of women,” massage directories and even a “list of female names titled ‘People That I Want You To Meet’ listing females, ages, descriptions, and what they do,” according to the report.

In April of 2002, the investigation was closed because “no illegal activity has been reported or detected,” per the report.

The investigation did, however, result in one of the college women included in that WPBPD report being kicked out of campus housing after six Smirnoff Ice alcoholic beverages were found in her room by school security, who had been asked to conduct a search by the PBPD when she refused to return their calls.

Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. Department of Justice

Then, in March of 2004, a female masseuse who had been giving Epstein massages at his home called the PBPD and said that she wanted to file a complaint.

The woman alleged that “several times Epstien [sic] asked her to take off her top or her pants,” but she refused to do so.

Police responded the following day at 11 p.m., saying “they would contact her at a later date,” according to the report. Five days later, police called the woman and left a message, with no further attempts to contact the individual mentioned in the report.

Five months after that, in August 2004, an officer filed a report after being flagged down by a taxi cab driver who informed him that he had “just dropped off two unknown white females, who appeared to be approximately 15 and 17 [years old] at the residence of Epstein.”

The cab driver also said that while driving to the home he “overheard the females discussing how much money they would make ‘dating’ in Palm Beach,” according to the report.

In November of that year, another report came in after the property manager for Epstein’s home called to report a suspicious vehicle was parked in the driveway.

The responding officer said that he arrived at the home and spoke to the woman in the vehicle, who informed him she was there to pick up an envelope that Epstein had left for her at the house, according to the report.

Epstein did in fact leave an envelope for the female, the officer reported, while also noting that at one point during their conversation the girl received a call from her mother, and said: “I can’t talk, I can’t talk. I’m at school, I gotta go.”

That girl also told the officer that the envelope contained “money for being a massage therapist” and also informed him “off the record” that Epstein “has many young girls come over for that” and that “there’s always a different young girl at the pool or inside with him when he’s here.” 

However, there was no action taken until March of 2005, when police once again began to pull trash from the home while also parking cars outfitted with recording devices down the street from Epstein’s mansion in order to surveil the entrance.

The report notes that on March 30, 2005, a PBPD detective was “investigating Epstein as a suspect involved in a sexual battery of a 14-year-old female.”

That investigation was launched by Det. Joseph Recarey, who had just one potential victim at that time. But by August 2006, he had interviewed over 30 potential victims — a majority of whom were minors, according to the report.

In May of 2006, Det. Recarey submitted his report to prosecutors, recommending that Epstein be charged with four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and a single count of lewd and lascivious molestation.

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If convicted on all five counts, Epstein could have been sentenced to 135 years in prison.

Prosecutors chose instead to seek a grand jury indictment on a single count of soliciting a prostitute.

From there, Epstein was able to negotiate his infamous sweetheart plea deal, serving just 13 months in a private jail before being placed on a modified house arrest that allowed him to travel between his properties in New York City, Palm Beach, New Mexico, the Virgin Islands and even Paris.

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Leading the list of people recognised by the King in the New Year’s honours are actor Idris Elba along with ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean who won Olympic gold



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The two “close friends” of Anthony Joshua killed in a car crash in Nigeria in which the British boxer was injured have been named by his spokesperson.

Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele died in Monday’s road traffic accident which happened on a busy highway around lunchtime.

They were both described as being “integral members” of the boxer’s team.

Joshua suffered minor injuries as he travelled in the back of a black Lexus that hit a truck in Makun, ⁠Ogun State, about 30 miles from the country’s biggest city, Lagos.

Image:
(L-R) Sina Ghami, Anthony Joshua and and Latif Ayodele. Pic: Mauricio Sulaiman

Authorities said the former two-time world heavyweight champion, 36, was taken to hospital for treatment along with another injured passenger, while Ghami and Ayodele were killed.

Joshua and the other survivor are described by officials as being in a “stable” condition.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Naming the two men who died, Joshua’s spokesperson said in a statement: “It is with the deepest and most profound sadness that we confirm, following a road traffic accident in Lagos Nigeria earlier today, the death of Sina Ghami and Kevin ‘Lateef’ Ayodele.

“Both were close friends and integral members of Anthony’s team. We respectfully ask that space and privacy be given to the families at this time while they process this truly shocking and devastating news.”

Image:
Pic: @akinyemiabdulq1/X

Image:
Pic: @FRSCNigeria/X

The Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on X: “I have spoken with AJ to personally convey my condolences over the passing of his two close associates, Kevin Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami in the recent accident.

“I wished him a full and speedy recovery, and prayed with him. AJ assured me he is receiving the best possible care.”

A statement on X by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, from Matchroom Boxing, also confirmed the victims’ names, saying: “With profound sadness it has been confirmed that two close friends and team members Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele have tragically passed away.”

The crash happened on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway near Sagamu, at about midday local time (11am UK time), according to the Nigerian federal road safety corps (FRSC).

Joshua is on holiday in Africa following his win over US YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami just over a week ago.

Image:
Pic: @FRSCNigeria/X

The FRSC said preliminary findings indicated the Lexus was “suspected to be travelling beyond the legally prescribed limit” and “lost control” while overtaking before crashing into the truck, which was parked by the side of the road.

“The primary causes of the crash being excessive speed and wrongful overtaking constitute serious traffic violations and remain among the leading causes of fatal road crashes on Nigerian highways,” the corps said on X.

Joshua, who is the son of ‍British-Nigerian parents, attended a boarding school in Ikenne, around 50 miles from where the crash happened, before returning to ‌Britain at the age of 12.

Pictures released by the FRSC show the badly damaged Lexus that Joshua was travelling in and the red Sinotruck that it collided with.

Footage posted on social media shows the British ex-world heavyweight champion apparently wincing in pain as he is helped out of the wreckage by a crowd.

Other clips show him in an emergency vehicle, wearing only a pair of shorts, as he is driven away from the scene.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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Residents of Saint-Tropez paid tribute to French film icon Brigitte Bardot on Monday outside her home, a day after the actress died at the age of 91. The actress-turned-far-right agitator will be buried in a seaside cemetery near the southern town, local officials said.

Published On 29 Dec 202529 Dec 2025

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Jair Bolsonaro underwent a second “phrenic nerve block procedure” on Monday to treat persistent hiccups.

The treatment went well and the former Brazilian president’s condition is stable, according to his medical team.

The far-right politician, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup to overturn the 2022 election, has been in hospital since Christmas Eve after being granted judicial permission to leave prison to undergo hernia repair surgery.

That operation was successful, but because the bout of hiccups has persisted for months, Bolsonaro underwent a non-surgical, minimally invasive procedure on Saturday to block the phrenic nerve on the right side.

The phrenic nerve is described in medical literature as a vital nerve originating in the neck that controls the diaphragm, the primary muscle involved in breathing. Doctors decided to postpone the same procedure on the left side until Monday to mitigate potential risks.

“Procedure completed. Thank God, we are now waiting for him to be taken back to his room,” wrote the former president’s wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, who has been accompanying him during his hospital stay. Earlier, she said: “It’s been nine months of struggle and anguish with daily hiccups.”

Dr Claudio Birolini later told journalists that Bolsonaro was expected to be discharged on 1 January, provided his recovery remains uneventful.

At the request of his defence lawyers, Bolsonaro was authorised by supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes to leave prison for the hernia surgery. In a statement issued while he was in the hospital, Bolsonaro endorsed the 2026 presidential bid of his son, Flavio Bolsonaro.

Once discharged from the hospital, Bolsonaro will return to serving his sentence at a federal police jail in Brasilia.

He has had health problems since he was stabbed during a presidential campaign event in September 2018.

Bolsonaro underwent multiple abdominal surgeries after the attack.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse

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Wedaeli Chibelushi,

Ameyu Etana,BBC Afaan Oromooand

Farah Lamane,BBC Somali

AFP via Getty Images

Residents of Somaliland’s capital city, Hargeisa, have been celebrating Israel’s declaration

Israel has taken the controversial decision to recognise the breakaway state of Somaliland as an independent nation, sparking condemnation from many other countries.

China is the latest to condemn the decision, with its foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian telling reporters: “No country should encourage or support other countries’ internal separatist forces for its own selfish interests.”

China outlined its position ahead of the UN Security Council holding an emergency session to discuss Israel’s decision.

Israel on Friday became the first country in the world to acknowledge Somaliland as a standalone republic, more than 30 years after the region declared independence from Somalia.

Somaliland’s president called the development “a historic moment”, but Somalia furiously rejected Israel’s move as an attack on its sovereignty.

Dozens of countries and organisations, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the African Union, have also condemned Israel’s surprise declaration.

Why does Somaliland want independence?

A breakaway, semi-desert territory on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland declared independence after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

The move followed a secessionist struggle during which Siad Barre’s forces pursued rebel guerrillas in the territory. Tens of thousands of people were killed and towns were flattened.

Though not internationally recognised, Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force, and its own currency.

Its history as a distinct region of Somalia dates back to nineteenth century colonial rule. It was a British protectorate – known as British Somaliland – until it merged with Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form the Somali Republic.

Those in favour of Somaliland’s independence argue that the region is predominantly populated by those from the Isaaq clan – an ethnic difference from the rest of Somalia.

Also, Somaliland, home to roughly six million people, enjoys relative peace and stability. Its proponents argue that it should not be shackled to Somalia, which has long been wracked by Islamist militant attacks.

However, Somalia considers Somaliland to be an integral part of its territory. The government in Somalia’s capital city, Mogadishu, has repeatedly said that any recognition of Somaliland’s independence would contravene Somalia’s sovereignty.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has also characterised Israel’s declaration as an “existential threat” to his country’s unity.

Why did Israel recognise Somaliland as an independent state?

In a phone call with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was acknowledging Somaliland’s “right of self-determination”.

He also said official recognition would be “a great opportunity for expanding” the countries’ partnership.

However analysts say there are strategic reasons for Israel’s declaration.

“Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,” Israeli think tank the Institute for National Security Studies said, referring to Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels, in a paper last month.

“Somaliland is an ideal candidate for such cooperation as it could offer Israel potential access to an operational area close to the conflict zone.”

Israel repeatedly struck targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In response to Israel recognising Somaliland, the Houthis warned that any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be considered a “military target” for their forces.

A few months ago, a number of news outlets reported that Israel had contacted Somaliland over the potential resettlement of Palestinians forcibly removed from Gaza.

Israel did not comment on the reports, but at the time, Somaliland said that any move by Israel to recognise its independence would not have anything to do with the Palestinian issue. Both Somalia and the Palestinian Authority have suggested Israel’s recognition of Somaliland could be linked to a plan to displace Palestinians.

“Somalia will never accept the people of Palestine to be forcibly evicted from their rightful land to a faraway place,” Somalia’s president told his parliament on Sunday.

Offering his perspective, US-based Africa analyst Cameron Hudson told the BBC that Israel has recognised Somaliland primarily because it is trying to counter Iran’s influence in the Red Sea region.

“The Red Sea is also a conduit for weapons and fighters to flow up the Red Sea into the Eastern Mediterranean. It has traditionally been a source of support and supply to fighters in Gaza. And so having a presence, having a security presence, having an intelligence presence at the mouth of the Red Sea only serves Israel’s national security interests,” he said.

Why has Israel’s move been condemned so widely?

Israel has been criticised by the likes of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the African Union, Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria, Libya, Iran, Iraq and Qatar.

In their condemnations, many of these countries have referred to Somalia’s “territorial integrity” and the breaching of international principles.

The African Union has long been concerned that recognising Somaliland could set off a chain reaction, where separatists could demand recognition for the territories they claim.

“Regions could attempt to establish external alliances without the consent of central governments, creating a dangerous precedent that risks widespread instability,” Abdurahman Sayed, a UK-based analyst for the Horn of Africa, told the BBC.

Is there any support for Israel’s declaration?

Countries considered to be allies of Somaliland, or sympathetic to its campaign for recognition, have largely remained quiet.

For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which operates a military port in Somaliland, has not released a statement.

Mr Hudson told the BBC that the UAE is “very much aligned with the Israelis on this question of Somaliland”.

“I think even now today you’re going to see an alignment of Israeli and Emirati interests across the entire Red Sea region,” he added.

Ethiopia’s government has also refrained from commenting. Last year Somaliland agreed to lease part of its coastline to landlocked Ethiopia – a move that angered Somalia.

Mr Abdurahman said Turkey stepped in to mediate between Somalia and Ethiopia. It led Ethiopia to sign an agreement with Somalia’s government, committing to respect its territorial integrity.

“As a result, although Israel’s unilateral recognition of Somaliland may be quietly welcomed by Ethiopia, Addis Ababa appears to have adopted a cautious “wait-and-see” approach,” the analyst added.

Somalilanders had hoped the US would recognise it as an independent state following signals given before Donald Trump began his second term as president.

But in response to Israel’s declaration, Trump suggested to the New York Post that he would not swiftly follow Netanyahu’s lead.

“Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?,” he reportedly said.

More BBC stories on Somaliland:

Getty Images/BBC



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Actor George Clooney, along with his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney, and their two children, have become French citizens.

The couple and their 8-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, were granted citizenship, according to a naturalization decree.

The couple has been living in France with their children after uprooting the family to get away from the culture of Hollywood, the Academy Award-winning actor and director said in October. 

AMANDA SEYFRIED BAILS ON ‘TRICKY’ HOLLYWOOD FOR QUIET FARM LIFE

George Clooney joined by his wife, Amal Clooney, at the Tony Awards. The couple and their two children have been granted French citizenship.  (Jenny Anderson)

In an interview with Esquire, Clooney, 64, opened up about his life in France and explained why they chose to move his family to the countryside. 

“You know, we live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it’s like – they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.”

CANDACE CAMERON BURE EMBRACES SMALL-TOWN LIFE AWAY FROM HOLLYWOOD

George Clooney (Christopher Anderson/Esquire)

“I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life,” he continued. 

In addition to his family home in France, George reportedly owns an estate in England, a villa on Lake Como in Italy, and another property near his family in Kentucky, People reported. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Clooney’s representatives for comment. 

(Taylor Hill/FilmMagic ;Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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During his Esquire interview, Clooney talked about living in France, away from the glamor of Hollywood. 

“France – they kind of don’t give a s— about fame,” he said. “I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.”

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NEED TO KNOW

• Darius Rucker put on an impromptu show inside of a Nashville airport
• The Grammy winner shared fan footage of himself playing inside the airport as unsuspecting patrons went about their day
• “Keep your head on a swivel!” he captioned the post, adding laughing emojis

Darius Rucker is spreading holiday cheer with a little bit of music!

On Monday, Dec. 29, the Grammy-winning country music artist, 59, shared fan footage of him performing to a small crowd of unsuspecting guests for an impromptu performance inside of a Nashville airport. 

“Walking in the Nashville airport means seeing Darius Rucker singing one song and maybe 15 people stopping,” wrote the fan in text displayed across the original video, which the star shared to Instagram. 

Darius Rucker in June 2025.

Terry Wyatt/WireImage

In the clip, the “Wagon Wheel” singer performs in the airport by himself with a mic stand and guitar, wearing a baseball cap and glasses as patrons ate and carried on with conversations around him. A decorated Christmas tree was also in his background.

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“Keep your head on a swivel!” Rucker captioned the clip along with two laughing emojis, adding that the original video was taken by a passerby named MaryCate McNamara.

Fans in the comments section couldn’t believe their eyes. 

“Sorry boss.. flight’s delayed,” one person wrote, joking about how they would have stayed to watch the rare show. 

Another added, “I don’t trust anyone in that airport that didn’t immediately stop and enjoy the show. I’d miss a flight over that opportunity!”

One person praised those lucky enough to notice Rucker’s performance.

“I love this moment. You’re touching roots doing it for the craft. 15 people had a deeply special moment instead of with thousands. It all touches my heart,” the fan said. 

Earlier this year, Rucker announced his engagement to Emily Deahl. The Hootie & the Blowfish frontman proposed to the TikTok star in his home state of South Carolina in October. 

Darius Rucker and Emily Deahl.

Darius Rucker/Instagram

“Thank you for showing me a level of happiness I have never known. The day I met you I knew I didn’t want to go another one without you. Now I don’t have to,” he captioned a joint Instagram announcement with his fiancée on Oct. 8.

The following month, Rucker appeared on Today and gave an update on their wedding. “We don’t really have any plans,” the “Alright” singer said. “We’re not going to plan — we’re just gonna get married and have a big party somewhere.”

He also shared that his fiancée, a singer-songwriter and content creator, has been in his life for some time now. “Emily and I, we’ve been together for a couple of years, and she’s an amazing human being,” Rucker said.

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The SNP is the political equivalent of knotweed – but the Scottish parliament election this coming May provides an unmissable opportunity to root it out.

Scotland could then emerge from a long spell of torpor and stagnation and start to draw a line under almost two decades of failure and mismanagement.

For anyone who harbours such a hope, a weekend interview with John Swinney was a depressing foretaste of the possible future that lies in store.

The First Minister said he wants to be a ‘long-term’ leader and confirmed his plan to serve a full term if re-elected – and to stand again in 2031.

He was speaking just before the Christmas break at Holyrood but perhaps he’d already had a tad too much of the festive sherry.

Either way, it’s a depressing forecast because the polls currently predict an SNP victory, although mercifully a majority appears to be unlikely.

John Swinney, pictured with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, wants to be a ‘long term’ leader for Scotland

The SNP’s stewardship of Scotland has been dogged with paralysis and inertia

Nationalist rule has been a kind of permafrost for public life, leading to paralysis and inertia, where meaningful reform is off the table (or badly botched).

Take the NHS, which has been judged to be ‘financially unsustainable’ by the public sector watchdog Audit Scotland.

A newspaper profile of the ‘invisible’ NHS chief executive Caroline Lamb, who makes only rare appearances on the front line of hospital care despite earning more than £200,000 a year, contained a telling line.

A political insider noted a ‘weariness in the civil service about suggestions of any reform that might rattle a special adviser to the SNP’.

Those in charge, they told the Sunday Times, had little choice but to ‘manage decline’ – though it’s more of a desperate downward spiral, with no one willing to be held accountable for the manifest deficiencies of the NHS.

Government by special adviser is no way to run a country, though you might wonder what’s so special about their advice given the crisis in so many of our public services.

Scotland is crying out for exactly the sort of change that will ‘rattle’ SNP functionaries but it’s nowhere on the horizon.

The only ‘blue-sky thinking’ offered by the SNP is yet more costly rumination about another independence referendum.

Many hours have been wasted by those wearied civil servants, living in fear of seemingly all-powerful SNP strategists, drawing up plans for a parallel universe.

As we reported last week, Mr Swinney’s £30,000 independence relaunch was a humiliating flop, with as few as 28 people bothering to read the Fresh Start With Independence paper on some days.

The Scotland in Union campaign group found only 3,934 people in the UK browsed the prospectus in its first 33 days online.

There’s nothing remotely ‘fresh’ about these rehashed ideas which fail to address unresolved questions from 2014 on currency and any number of other issues – or at least to provide any convincing answers.

The useful idiots of the Left-wing commentariat provide a willing audience for much of this propaganda, helping to provide a sheen of credibility for the most preposterous proposals.

A case in point is a recent interview with Mr Swinney by former New Labour spin chief Alastair Campbell and former Tory minister Rory Stewart for their podcast, The Rest is Politics.

It’s hard to imagine a chummier chat, with Mr Stewart admitting that neither he nor his co-host had mugged up on Scottish education, so they let the First Minister off the hook with a soft-soap exercise.

Try and envisage the polar opposite of Jeremy Paxman in his heyday and you’d come close to the sycophancy and deference shown to Mr Swinney.

He was allowed to trot out soundbites about how wonderful schools are, with no consequences.

As fervent Remainers, Mr Campbell and Mr Stewart naturally gave Mr Swinney an easy ride, though sadly they must have run out of time to ask him about the chances of Scotland regaining EU membership in the event of independence – and why it could lead to the adoption of the Euro as our currency. 

True, it’s only one podcast – albeit a popular one – but this docile approach is reflected in much of the media, including the BBC.

A shameful paucity of opposition at Holyrood is another contributory factor, fuelling the sense among many voters that there’s no real alternative.

Yet while SNP ‘perma-rule’ continues, there’s no hope of boosting the economy despite Mr Swinney’s talk of growth. It is hard to take seriously from a party which once governed alongside the Marxist Greens.

He also has a deputy, Kate Forbes, who was held up as a business guru – but one of her big ideas was to tell new firms to set up in cupboards to cut their rates bills.

Ms Forbes won’t be around for much longer but how many of us truly think there’s anyone waiting in the wings with a sounder grasp of how businesses operate?

Meanwhile, taxes remain high and may go higher in the Scottish Budget next month, notwithstanding Mr Swinney’s insistence that income tax won’t be hiked.

Mind you, he also said his party hadn’t broken manifesto promises ruling out tax-grabs, when it patently had – so nothing he says can be trusted.

Scotland is already the highest-taxed part of the UK after the SNP used the powers of devolution not to relieve the tax burden but to increase it to eye- watering levels.

Another SNP government will inevitably mean higher taxation, whether in this Budget or the next, given that the £5billion hole in the nation’s finances is greater than the annual budgets for transport or policing and public order.

Taking a 40-year view, the Scottish Fiscal Commission projects that Scottish public spending will exceed funding for that spending by, on average, 4.1 per cent each and every year.

That represents a sharp deterioration from estimates issued as recently as April.

Adjusting to account ‘for a possible UK Government response to its [own] fiscal sustainability pressures’ widens the gap between spending and revenues to 13.2 per cent a year.

Total devolved social security spending in Scotland is due to soar from £6.22billion this year to £6.93billion next year, and then to £7.92billion by 2027/28 – and £9billion a year by the end of the decade.

More and more taxpayers’ cash is being ploughed into state handouts, with no plan, and indeed no appetite, to cut back on spending.

It means more pain in the pipeline for those who work for a living, and for future generations who will have to pay the cost of a bloated welfare system.

Polling day in May will be a chance to change government but also to change Scotland – and free it from the yoke of toxic nationalism.

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Emergency services rushed to a bungalow on Hardy Place in Upperthorpe, Sheffield, on the night of December 27 where a woman was tragically declared dead at the scene



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Standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump threatened Iran and said “we’ll knock the hell out of them” if Tehran rebuilds its military forces. When asked by an Israeli reporter about regime change, however, he didn’t give a clear answer.

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The United States on Monday pledged $2bn in assistance to tens of millions of people facing hunger and disease in more than a dozen countries next year, part of what it said was a new mechanism for the delivery of life-saving assistance following major foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration.

The US slashed its aid spending this year, and leading western donors such as Germany also pared back assistance as they pivoted to increased defense spending, triggering a severe funding crunch for the UN. The billions of dollars in assistance pledged by Washington on Monday will be overseen by the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, the state department said, under what it described as new model of assistance agreed with the UN that aims to make aid funding and delivery more efficient and increase accountability for the spending of funds.

UN data shows total US humanitarian contributions to the UN fell to about $3.38bn in 2025, equating to about 14.8% of the global sum. This was down sharply from $14.1bn the prior year, and a peak of $17.2bn in 2022.

The US and UN will sign 17 memorandums of understanding with individual countries identified by the US as priority countries, officials from the state department and UN said in Geneva.

But some areas that are priorities for the UN, including Yemen, Afghanistan and Gaza, will not be receiving US funding under the new mechanism, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said, adding that the UN will seek support from other donors to find funding for those.

Jeremy Lewin, state department under secretary of state for foreign assistance, humanitarian affairs and religious freedom, said further countries would be added as more money is contributed to the mechanism.

“These are some countries where I think our interests overlap … But over time, we will thoughtfully add additional countries,” Lewin said.

A UN spokesperson said Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sudan were among the countries covered in Monday’s package.

But Gaza – where aid agencies have repeatedly said far more aid needs to get into the small, crowded enclave – is not covered in Monday’s announcement and will instead be handled on a separate track, Lewin said.

A family in a makeshift tent in Gaza City, Gaza, on 28 December. Photograph: Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu/Getty Images

He said that the US had approved over $300m after Donald Trump’s administration helped broker a Gaza ceasefire “to give pipeline to the UN agencies”, adding that the US will be working to get additional donors for a pooled mechanism under a separate track for Gaza under phase two of the deal.

Fletcher said that donors would have “specific requirements” around which countries and what type of work should be funded.

“But the humanitarian action at the other end of that must always be neutral and impartial and independent, and nothing in the work that we’re doing together here in this partnership undermines those principles,” he said.

Lewin said the focus of the funding was on life-saving assistance, while funding for climate-related and other projects that were not a priority for the administration would be cut out. Earlier in December, the United Nations launched a 2026 aid appeal for $23bn to reach 87 million people at risk – half the $47bn sought for 2025, reflecting plunging donor support despite record global needs.

Fletcher acknowledged it had been a tough year for the UN, following a slew of cuts while humanitarian crises in war-torn countries such as Sudan surged, but said he was optimistic following the US pledge.

“Millions of lives will be saved across 17 countries,” said Fletcher.

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Navin Singh KhadkaEnvironment correspondent, BBC World Service

David Liano

Officials say the problem of waste piling up is more evident on higher camps of Everest

A scheme to encourage climbers to bring their waste down from Mount Everest is being scrapped – with Nepalese authorities telling the BBC it has been a failure.

Climbers had been required to pay a deposit of $4,000 (£2964), which they would only get back if they brought at least 8kg (18lbs) of waste back down with them.

It was hoped it would begin to tackle the rubbish problem on the world’s highest peak, which is estimated to be covered in some 50 tonnes of waste.

But after 11 years – and with the rubbish still piling up – the scheme is being shelved because it “failed to show a tangible result”.

David Liano

Clean-up campaigns have usually focused on lower camps of Mt Everest as it is difficult and costly to operate at higher altitudes

Himal Gautam, director at the tourism department, told the BBC that not only had the garbage issue “not gone away”, but the deposit scheme itself had “become an administrative burden”.

Tourism ministry and mountaineering department officials told the BBC most of the deposit money had been refunded over the years – which should mean most climbers brought back their trash.

But the scheme is said to have failed because the rubbish climbers have brought back is usually from lower camps – not the higher camps where the garbage problem is worst.

“From higher camps, people tend to bring back oxygen bottles only,” said Tshering Sherpa, chief executive officer of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which runs an Everest checkpoint.

“Other things like tents and cans and boxes of packed foods and drinks are mostly left behind there, that is why we can see so much of waste piling up.”

Mr Sherpa said on average a climber produces up to 12kg (26lbs) of waste on the mountain where they spend up to six weeks for acclimatisation and climbing.

Apart from the “flawed rule” that required climbers to bring back less trash than they produce, authorities in the Everest region said lack of monitoring has been the main challenge.

“Apart from the check point above the Khumbu Icefall, there is no monitoring of what climbers are doing,” said Mr Sherpa.

Nepalese authorities are hoping a new scheme will be more effective.

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Even the lower parts of the Everest region below the base camp see abandoned waste by visitors and trekkers

Under the changed rule, officials said, a non-refundable clean-up fee from climbers will be used to set up a checkpoint at Camp Two and also deploy mountain rangers who will keep going to the higher parts of the mountain to make sure climbers bring down their trash.

Tourism ministry officials said it will most probably be $4,000 per climber – the same amount as deposit money – and will come into effect once passed by the parliament.

Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of the Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, said the change was something the Sherpa community had lobbied for for many years now.

“We had been questioning the effectiveness of the deposit scheme all this time because we are not aware of anyone who was penalised for not bringing their trash down.

“And there was no designated fund but now this non-refundable fee will lead to creation of a fund that can enable us to do all these clean-up and monitoring works.”

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Increasing number of climbers on Mount Everest has been a growing concern for sustainable mountaineering

The non-refundable fee will form part of a recently introduced five-year mountain clean-up action plan, with Jaynarayan Acarya, spokesperson at the ministry of tourism, saying it was designed “to immediately address the pressing problem of waste on our mountains”.

Although there has been no study quantifying the waste on Everest, it is estimated there are tons of it including human excrement which does not decay on the higher part of the mountain because of freezing temperature.

And the growing number of climbers each year, averaging around 400 with many more supporting staff, has been a growing concern for mountaineering sustainability.

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