WORLD NEWS
Trump says progress made in Ukraine talks but ‘thorny issues’ remain
Bernd Debusmann Jr,Washington DCand
Harry Sekulich
EPA
The US has offered Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, during talks on a revised peace plan with Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.
The US president said an agreement on this point was “close to 95%” done, but Ukraine’s leader has since said he would like guarantees for up to 50 years.
President Zelensky outlined territorial issues and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as the last unresolved matters, with little said on the future of Ukraine’s contested Donbas region.
Russia has previously rejected key parts of the plan, but a Kremlin spokesman agreed on Monday with Trump’s assessment that peace is closer, Russian-owned news agency Tass reported.
Addressing reporters at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after Sunday’s meeting, Zelensky repeated his belief that an overall peace agreement was 90% of the way there, a figure he had given in the lead up to the visit.
Both the US and Ukrainian leaders also indicated that there had been progress on one key sticking point – security guarantees for Ukraine. News agency Reuters reported that he hoped any security guarantees would begin the moment Kyiv signed a peace deal.
“Without security guarantees, this war cannot be considered truly over. We cannot acknowledge that it has ended, because with such a neighbour there remains a risk of renewed aggression,” Zelensky explained, according to news agency AFP.
He added that he wanted the US to further “consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years”.
The US has not yet commented on the time frame. On Sunday, Trump said an agreement was close and that he expected European allies to “take over a big part” of that effort with support from the US.
Reuters
For President Zelensky, two core issues now remain unresolved within the plan – the question of territories and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The two regions are known collectively as Donbas.
Speaking to reporters after their meeting, Trump said a deal on Donbas remained “unresolved, but it’s getting a lot closer”.
Its fate has been a major obstacle throughout negotiations, with Russia consistently unwilling to compromise on its aim to seize full control of Donbas.
On Monday, the Kremlin again said Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the part of the region that Kyiv still controls. Ukraine has insisted the area could become a free economic zone policed by its forces – but Zelensky has underlined that any talks on this should include the Ukrainian people, Reuters reported.
The US president has repeatedly changed his own position on Ukraine’s lost territories, and in September stunned observers by suggesting that Ukraine might be able to take it back. He later reversed course.
Trump has also floated the possibility of trilateral talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine, saying it could happen “at the right time”.
While he is keen to add the Ukraine-Russia war to the list of conflicts he claims to have ended, Trump cautioned that stalled or scrapped talks that go “really badly” could mean that the war continues for even longer.
Zelensky suggested the Ukrainian officials could meet at the White House in January, potentially alongside European leaders, as the US and Ukrainian delegations finalise plans for further talks.
In a post-meeting call with European allies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed “good progress” in the Florida talks while reinforcing the need for “ironclad security guarantees” for Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron also said Kyiv’s allies would meet in Paris next month to discuss security guarantees.
Trump: Agreement on Donbas ‘unresolved’ but ‘getting closer’
Zelensky has said that a peace plan should be put to a referendum in Ukraine, insisting that a 60-day ceasefire would be necessary for such a vote to take place.
However, Russia does not back a temporary ceasefire – an issue which reportedly came up on a call between Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ahead of Sunday’s meeting.
Yuri Ushakov, Russia’s former US ambassador, said Trump listened to the Kremlin’s assessment of the proposals and the two presidents left the call united in their belief that a temporary ceasefire proposed by the EU and Ukraine would instead prolong the conflict.
Trump – who initiated the call – acknowledged that Moscow had little interest in a ceasefire that would allow Ukraine to hold a referendum.
“I understand that position,” he added.
Little further detail was offered, although Trump said he believed the Russian leader “wants Ukraine to succeed”.
Meanwhile, strikes continued overnight in Ukraine.
Kyiv said 25 airstrikes were carried out by Russia on Sunday, 21 of which were shot down.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said 89 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) from Ukraine were intercepted by its forces on Sunday night – the vast majority of which were over the Bryansk region.
Trade data suggests that levels of Russian naphtha, a refined crude oil product, flowing into Taiwan remain steady despite Taipei saying it would reduce volumes.
A report published in October by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) revealed the Asian country had become the world’s biggest importer of the fossil-fuel derivative from Russia.
Ciaran Tyler, lead naphtha research analyst at Brussels, Belgium-based commodity data analytics firm Kpler, says Taiwan’s imports of Russian-origin naphtha have not slowed significantly, even though they have said they would not renew contracts to buy the product.
Kpler data shows that naphtha volumes from Russia imported by Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) — the Taiwanese company almost entirely responsible for the surge in naphtha imports — remained steady in November and December.
“Formosa won’t renew buying for new term contracts next year, but fulfilling contracts already set up is something they have not backed away from, seemingly,” he told DW.
Putin’s secret shadow tankers
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Tyler expects import volumes to decline rapidly early in 2026, as annual and quarterly contracts expire.
Luke Wickenden, one of the co-authors of the CREA report, told DW that he believes Formosa is sincere in its commitment to pull back.
The CREA report, written in conjunction with Taiwan’s Environmental Rights Foundation and the exiled Russian environmental group Ecodefense, had revealed that in the first six months of 2025, Taiwanese imports of Russian naphtha had surged six times what they were in 2022.
Naphtha is needed to make chemicals required for high-tech manufacturing, including semiconductor manufacturing.
“It’s essentially a base feedstock for producing all sorts of chemicals that fund its semiconductor industry,” said Wickenden. “It’s an incredibly important chemical.”
Taiwan pulls back on naphtha imports
The report prompted debate in Taiwan over possible dependence on Russia, with lawmakers arguing that China could leverage the dependence against Taiwan in the future, given the increasingly close ties between Beijing and Moscow.
A steady supply of naphta is essential for Taiwan’s all-important semiconductor industryImage: Tao-Chuan Yeh/AFP/Getty Images
After the report was published,
Formosa issued a statement saying that as a private company, it was not restricted from buying Russian naphtha, but that it requires traders and suppliers to “comply with international sanctions.”
It claimed that due to “global market conditions,” it had been buying higher shares of Russian naphtha. “This is purely the result of market circumstances, not a deliberate shift in procurement strategy,” the company added.
Jheng Rui-he, a senior analyst at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a government think tank based in Taipei, says it’s important to see Formosa’s purchases of Russian naphtha in that context.
“Based on the spirit of free trade, governments can’t interrupt the commercial behavior of private companies,” he told DW.
Taiwan’s minister of economic affairs Kung Ming-hsin, subsequently, told Taiwanese media that Formosa’s contracts for Russian naphtha were soon due to expire and that the company had “agreed not to purchase Russian naphtha in the future.”
For CREA’s Wickenden, the case shows how it was possible to put pressure on companies that continue to buy Russian hydrocarbons. “It clearly shows that with coordinated pressure from NGOs and other think tanks, there is an opportunity to make real changes,” he said.
Coal also in the mix
Although Taiwan has taken swift action to cut Russian imports and reduce the risk of dependence, it has shone a light on the island’s energy mix.
More than 80% of Taiwan’s energy is currently powered by imported coal and LNG, although the share of coal is gradually falling, with renewable energy taking some of the share. Around 97% of Taiwan’s energy is imported.
Jheng Rui-he says Taiwan’s dependence on imports for its fuel means it faces “significant geopolitical risks.”
Taiwan’s coal imports from Russia increased after the invasion of Ukraine, before dropping drastically in 2025Image: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo/picture images
Coal was also a focus of the CREA report. It pointed out that Taiwan had largely succeeded in reducing Russian coal dependence, with imports of the fossil fuel from Russia falling by 67% in the first six months of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Taiwanese imports of Russian coal had climbed steadily, partly because it became affordable. “It’s pretty natural that Taiwan essentially just started to try and make as much profit from importing cheaper Russian coal as they could,” said Wickenden.
Taiwan actually became the fifth-largest buyer of Russian coal during the war. The fall in coal imports in 2025 has been largely driven by the Taiwanese government, with state-owned companies such as Taipower and the Taiwan Cement Corporation slashing coal purchases from Russia.
Wickenden says he is still concerned about private companies buying coal from Russia, even if it is currently in relatively small quantities. However, he notes that the “risk isn’t huge anymore.”
Russian crude oil is impossible to detect in refined productsImage: Yoruk Isik/REUTERS
Refined products still a focus
Beyond coal, Taiwan still imports small volumes of LNG from Russia but overall, it does not currently look vulnerable to coercion from Moscow or Beijing.
Jheng Rui-he noted that energy diversity is a core principle for the government but added it is important to remember that costs will always mean there is a chance of Russia being in Taiwan’s energy mix in some form.
“Although countries’ imports from Russia would be criticized, in reality, factors such as inflation, the burden on consumers, and industrial competitiveness also need to be considered,” he said. “I think it’s very hard for politicians to achieve balance.”
Luke Wickenden believes that while Taiwan is a positive example of how energy flows from Russia can be cut, the European Union must maintain and step up pressure on refined Russian oil products in particular.
The EU has recently stepped up sanctions on refined exports from Russia. It has called on traders and operators to have due-diligence procedures in place to limit the risks of products made with Russian crude oil coming into the EU. The bloc has laid a specific focus on goods coming from Turkey, China and India, due to those countries’ high recent purchases of Russian crude.
India’s economy reaps benefits from Russian oil imports
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However, the EU itself has pointed to the fact that oil cannot be physically segregated once mixed, “it is impossible to certify the origin of all crude molecules imported into the EU.”
Wickenden believes the language and legislation is still not strong enough regarding direct imports of refined products, of the kind that Taiwan found itself the focus of.
“At the moment it’s only importers of crude and then exporters of refined products to say, EU countries, that are being scrutinized,” he said.
Edited by: Uwe Hessler
NEED TO KNOW
- JoJo Fletcher is sharing an update on her postpartum experience
- The new mom joked that she was in the “newborn trenches” in a post on her Instagram Stories
- Fletcher and her husband Jordan Rodgers welcomed their first baby, a girl named Romy Blair Rodgers, ahead of the holidays
JoJo Fletcher is sharing an update on her postpartum experience.
The Bachelorette alum, 35, shared a selfie of herself on her Instagram Stories wearing comfortable clothing as she held her newborn baby girl, Romy Blair Rodgers, close to her chest. In text above the photo, the new mom, who shares her daughter with husband Jordan Rodgers, opened up about how life has been since giving birth on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
“Hiiiii!! Mom & Dad and baby girl all doing good!” she began. “In the newborn trenches so haven’t had much time at all haha but wanted to say thank you so much for all the love and wishes. I’m recovering well.”
JoJo Fletcher.
JoJo Fletcher/Instagram
“Jordy is literally DAD goals,” Fletcher added of her husband. “It’s crazy how fast he took to it and has been a total rockstar caring for me and Romy.”
The new mom went on to share how despite being in the “newborn trenches” and experiencing all the changes that comes with the new experience, she can only think about her “little angel.”
“It’s crazy what they say that you literally can be in full sleep deprivation mode but the second you look at her you forget it all bc the only thing you can think about is just how much you love this little angel. 🥹,” she wrote.
In the post, Fletcher also shared how “obsessed” she is with her baby girl.
“She’s delicious,” she said. “I’m so obsessed w her i can’t handle it.”
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The former Bachelorette star and Rodgers, 37, who married in 2022 after getting engaged during the reality show’s finale in 2016, shared the exciting news on Instagram on Thursday, Dec. 25. Their baby girl was born on the day before Christmas Eve after Fletcher visited her doctor for their weekly sonogram. However, they learned she needed an emergency cesarean section that same day.
“Merry Christmas to us 🥹❤️ What a whirlwind these last couple of days have been but in the most magical way,” Fletcher wrote, alongside a picture of Rodgers sleeping on a couch next to Romy. “Went in for our weekly sonogram this past Tuesday and found out we needed to deliver via emergency c section that day.”
“At 5:37pm on Dec 23 – we met our girl,” Fletcher continued. “Romy Blair Rodgers you are our whole world. Cant wait to share more but in the meantime soaking up these moments as a new family of 3 ❤️ + 2 😉 🐶🐶.”
Rodgers shared the post on his Instagram Stories, adding, “Santa really upped his game this year.”
WORLD NEWS
BREAKING: Boy, 13, seriously injured after Boxing Day horror crash between car and dirt bike
We’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
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Anthony Joshua has been injured in a car crash in Nigeria, police say.
The boxer, 36, was travelling in the back of a black Lexus when the SUV hit a stationary red truck on a busy highway.
He suffered minor injuries and has been taken to hospital for treatment, while two other people in the vehicle died, police said.
The crash happened on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Makun, around 30 miles north-west of the country’s largest city Lagos, at around midday local time (11am GMT), according to the Nigerian federal road safety corps (FRSC).
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Joshua, who is the son of British-Nigerian parents, attended a boarding school in Ikenne, 53 miles from where the crash happened, before returning to Britain at age 12.
Footage posted on social media shows the British former world heavyweight champion apparently wincing in pain as he is helped out of a damaged vehicle 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.
Pic: @akinyemiabdulq1/X
Pic: @akinyemiabdulq1/X
The FRSC said a total of five adult males were involved in the crash, adding: “Two persons sadly lost their lives, one sustained injuries, while two others escaped unhurt. Anthony Joshua was rescued alive and sustained minor injuries.”
Police said in a statement the two people who died have been taken to Livewell Hospital Morgue, in nearby Sagamu, while the circumstances of the crash are “currently being investigated”.
“The Ogun State Police Command extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and assures the public that a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident has commenced,” a statement said.
The crash happened just over a week after Joshua knocked out US YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in the sixth round of their bout in Miami.
The fight marked the end of a 14-month hiatus for Joshua, who is expected to fight long-time rival Tyson Fury in 2026.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet the US president, his sixth such meeting since the Gaza war. The Israeli PM’s recent meetings with US presidents have been followed by escalations across the Middle East. Here’s a recap of some of those major events.
Published On 29 Dec 2025
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Skip next section What are the two leaders going to discuss regarding Gaza?
12/29/2025December 29, 2025
What are the two leaders going to discuss regarding Gaza?
The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is expected to be one of the main topics discussed between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The second phase of the ceasefire, that has been in force since October, involves the Israeli army withdrawing its positions in the Gaza Strip, while Hamasis supposed to lay down its weapons, with the Islamist militant group seeing its disarmment as a major sticking point.
According to Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian, Netanyahu is to discuss the agreement in a view of making sure that “Hamas is disarmed” and “Gaza is demilitarized.”
Both Israel and Hamas have alleged frequent ceasefire violations from the other side.
https://p.dw.com/p/565CD
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage
12/29/2025December 29, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the current situation in Lebanon, where the Israeli army has regularly been carrying out strikes against what it said were violations of the ceasefire by Islamist militia Hezbollah.
Iranis also expected to be discussed as tensions between the Islamic republic and Israel remain high.
The meeting is expected to start at 13:00 local time (19:00 CET).
‘Onus is on Trump’ to push Israel’s Netanyahu on Gaza peace
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https://p.dw.com/p/5655y
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Two people have died in Spain after torrential rainfall and flooding buffeted swathes of the country over the weekend.
The body of a man whose van was swept away by an overflowing riverbed in Malaga was recovered on Sunday, as a desperate search continued for a missing passenger.
Authorities also confirmed the death of a young person in Granada who was swept away trying to cross a riverbed on a motorbike.
In Barcelona, a woman was hospitalised on Saturday after being hit by a lamppost torn down by 70km-per-hour winds.
Dozens of people in the Barcelona province were also forced to evacuate from a building damaged by heavy rainfall in recent days.
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Authorities clean up floods in Estacion de Cartama, Malaga, on Sunday (EPA)
Extreme weather warnings were tentatively lifted in Malaga on Monday after storms rocked the southern coast over the weekend.
The man found dead in Alhaurín el Grande on Sunday was some 3km from where they believe he ran into trouble. He has not been named by authorities.
Authorities believe the pair, aged 53 and 54, were trying to cross the Fahala River on foot when they were swept away. The van was found overturned in the river with significant damage, but nobody was inside.
Some 150 people were drawn in to help with the search.
open image in gallery
Some areas saw as much as 250l of water per square metre (EPA)
The victim in Granada was identified only as a young person from Zujaira.
He was trying to cross the Cañada stream on a motorbike with a friend when he was swept away, authorities said. The friend made it to safety.
Valencia, which saw more than 220 people killed in floods last year, meanwhile issued red alert warnings and urged people to stay indoors and on high ground over the weekend.
Some areas saw as much as 250l of water per square metre. A yellow weather warning remained in place on Monday.
There were eight provinces on orange alert late on Sunday, with residents warned of serious risks to themselves or property.
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A waterspout in Puerto de Mazarron, Murcia, amid violent weather conditions (Instagram/@_nataliamarin)
In Catalonia, emergency lines had been swamped with nearly 900 phone calls for related incidents by Saturday evening. The poor weather had dissipated by Monday morning.
A group of 16 people staying at a holiday camp in Girona province, to the north, had to be rescued by firefighters, as the Fluvià river swelled and left them stranded.
A dozen people trapped in a house in nearby Sant Feliu de Pallerols were also evacuated as a stream overflowed.
NEED TO KNOW
- A 5-year-old boy has died after getting his arm caught in a moving walkway at a ski resort in Hokkaido, Japan
- The incident occurred in the morning of Sunday, Dec. 28, while the boy was riding with his mom
- Hokkaido Police are investigating the incident, according to local media outlet The Asahi Shimbun
A 5-year-old boy has died in a skiing accident in Japan.
On Sunday, Dec. 28, a customer was fatally injured after getting caught in an outdoor escalator while visiting the Asari Ski Resort in Otaru, Hokkaido, the resort said in a statement. The victim was identified as 5-year-old Hinata Goto, according to the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun.
“A serious accident occurred on the escalator connecting the parking lot and center house at around 10:12 a.m. on Dec. 28, in which a customer was caught in the escalator and died,” the resort said.
Hinata had been riding on the belt-conveyor escalator with his mother and had tried to get off the 30-meter walkway when he fell on an outdoor escalator and got his arm caught in the winding mechanism at the top, The Guardian and The Asahi Shimbun reported.
At around 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, Hinata’s mother called emergency services “about her son being caught in the escalator.” Hinata was freed from the escalator around 40 minutes later but fell unconscious, per the outlets. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hokkaido, Japan.
Didier Marti/Getty
The Asahi Shimbun reported that no staff members were allegedly in the area where the boy got caught in the escalator. General manager of the slope, Kensuke Tamagawa, told the outlet that staffers were instructed not to go near the escalator for safety reasons.
A maintenance cover is installed at the escalator’s endpoint, which is designed to stop should an object get caught, as a safety mechanism. This, however, was not activated when Hinata was caught, officials told The Asahi Shimbun.
According to the outlet, Hinata’s mother had to push the emergency stop button installed at the end of the escalator instead for it to come to a stop.
The Hokkaido Police are investigating the incident, per The Asahi Shimbun.
Otaru, Japan.
DoctorEgg/Getty
The Asari Ski Resort continued in its statement, “We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased customer and offer our heartfelt condolences to the family. We would also like to offer our deepest apologies for the occurrence of such a serious accident at a facility operated by our company.”
The company said that it is fully cooperating with the police investigation following the incident.
“[We] are inspecting the relevant facilities and carrying out confirmation work to prevent a recurrence. Going forward, we will make responding to the bereaved families our top priority and work with all our heart and soul,” the resort added.
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PEOPLE has contacted the local police for comment.
Anthony Joshua has reportedly been injured in a car crash in Nigeria that left two other people dead.
Joshua, 36, was in the vehicle when it smashed into a stationary truck on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Makun, according to local media.
Footage posted online appears to show the former heavyweight world champion boxer topless and looking dazed as he sits in the wrecked Lexus Jeep among shattered glass.
He is later seen sitting in the front seat of an emergency vehicle, speaking to officials. It is reported that Joshua sustained minor injuries, and two other people were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Daily Mail has contacted Joshua’s representatives for comment.
Joshua had posted a story on his Instagram account four hours ago where he is seen topless in a video playing table tennis with another male.
He accompanied the clip with the message: ‘@healthy_mindset dishing out table tennis smoke.’
Footage posted online appears to show former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, 36, topless and looking dazed as he sits in the wrecked Lexus Jeep among shattered glass
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
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Anthony Joshua is injured in car crash in Nigeria which killed two others
A Scottish couple threw all social norms out the window and raised a grizzly bear as their son for over 20 years. Hercules, lovingly dubbed “Herc” became a global legend after vanishing for 24 days in 1980
12:32, 29 Dec 2025
A British couple rejected the traditional path to parenthood by raising a 70 stone bear as their ‘son’
Wrestler Andy Robin and his wife Maggie fell in love with Hercules when he was born into captivity at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie. Learning he faced being put down due to a lack of space at the sanctuary, the couple stepped in and paid £50 to adopt the grizzly back in 1974. Back at their home in Sheriffmuir near Dunblane, the little bear grew quickly, weighing 30 stone after just one year. Instead of living and eating in a caged enclosure, he roamed freely throughout the house and ate dinner at the table, with spaghetti carbonara being one of his favourites.
And despite frantic phone calls from worried experts across the globe warning that ‘Herc’ would kill the couple, Andy, Maggie and the bear lived as one happy family, even enjoying pints down the pub together. “He was a happy drunk,” Maggie told the MailOnline in 2015. “And he was always very careful when he was indoors.” She added: “It was a much more innocent time. You could do tons of stuff with a bear and nobody really bothered you.”
READ MORE: ‘Cosy’ slippers and ‘beautiful’ pyjamas that ‘help with night sweats’ are 20% offREAD MORE: Audible slashed to 99p a month offering another way to get Stranger Things fixAndy Robin wrestler and wife Maggie Robin July 1985 with Hercules the bear (Image: Daily Record)
And the couple were so smitten that they sacrificed having children of their own to raise their furry friend. Maggie said of his adoption: “From that moment on our lives, and his, changed forever. We had never imagined that the little bundle of fluff we had adopted would bring us such joy and laughter, and indeed to so many others who saw him or heard of his adventures through his colourful life.”
In a recent interview with The Times, Anne Logan, 71, a vet who treated Hercules in his later years, said the connection between the trio was unlike anything else. She said: “I don’t think I can impress on people too much the bond they had. He adored Andy, and Maggie definitely was his mum. Andy was a bit more gung-ho with him, whereas Maggie could read Hercules.” She said that Maggie would feed Herc ‘prawns and Heinz beans’ when she was giving him shots and that she could sense when he wasn’t in the ‘best of moods’ to get an injection.
Hercules, being a bear, didn’t stop his parents from having dreams of what his life would or should look like. Andy set about turning their bear-child into a star, travelling the country as a wrestling double act and paying £10,000 to commission a publicity-raising documentary. Hercules soon became the face of Kleenex. What turned Hercules into a star was his dash and disappear act during whilst shooting an advert in the Outer Hebrides in August 1980.
The couple didn’t have children so they could devote themselves to Herc(Image: Daily Record)
Andy was horrified when Hercules swam across a lake and ran off during a take, but arguably it was this act that gave Herc his international fame. Rescue teams looked for three days before calling the search off, but a distraught Andy soldiered on alone.
After three long weeks Hercules was spotted swimming and brought back to Andy and Maggie, who found his weight had plummeted by 15 stone. Used to eating cooked food and with a dislike of raw flesh, the friendly beast had neglected to feed on the ample stocks of fish and cattle.
Kleenex used the saga as leverage for their ‘Big Softie’ campaign but the attention on Herc meant Hollywood came calling, and was cast in the 1983 13th James Bond movie Octopussy alongside Roger Moore and then came a Channel 5 documentary titled Hercules the Human Bear. But all good things come to an end, and Hercules’ career was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a slipped disc while filming BBC documentary Eyewitness Bear in 1997.
Andy, however, refused to give up on his beloved best friend. They moved back from Los Angeles and used their savings to build a giant swimming pool to rehabilitate him. For six long months, Andy would spend hours a day walking Herc up and down the pool, desperately trying to get his legs working once more.
His efforts paid off, but the following winter, Hercules lost the use of both his legs and slipped away peacefully just before hibernation, aged 25, which is the normal life expectancy for bears. After Herc’s death, the couple were devastated, Maggie added: “Our lives dulled a little from that day onwards, and we miss him still. We were greatly blessed to have known him, and Hercules can never be replaced, but he can be remembered and honoured in this way.”
Andy, who died six years ago at the age of 84, first dreamt of adopting a bear when he volunteered to wrestle a black bear known as Terrible Ted for $1,000 while he was performing at the Wonderful World of Sport show in Ontario, Canada.
In August this year, theatre company Tenterhooks developed an exciting play of Scotland’s most famous bear, which ran from September to October. Ben Winger and Diane Thornton play Andy and Maggie, with Suzie Ferguson as Hercules. In an interview with The Courier, Maggie said: “…Herc has been away for 25 years, and then Andy… But the play feels like part of the fairytale continues.” Left by herself now with both husband and son gone, Maggie runs a boutique in Auchterarder, Scotland, called Bear Necessities, but the story of her son, a bear her and her husband adopted, continues to live on in different ways.
Hercules the Bear: A Love Story airs on BBC2 at 6pm on Tuesday 30 (tomorrow) and is on iPlayer now.
WORLD NEWS
Chinese aircraft and navy conduct drills around Taiwan in warning against ‘external interference’ | World News
China has conducted more military drills around Taiwan in a warning against “external interference”.
Taiwan said it was placing its forces on alert and called the Chinese government “the biggest destroyer of peace”.
Air, sea and rocket troops were dispatched to take part in the joint exercises around the island, which Beijing continues to insist must come under its rule.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said 89 Chinese military aircraft and drones were detected, with 67 entering Taiwan’s response area.
The country’s transport ministry said it will divert international flights from what it says are dangerous areas or issue alternative flight routes to ensure safety.
Chinese aircraft frequently fly near Taiwanese airspace as tensions persist in the Taiwan Strait.
The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at US weapons sales to Taiwan and a statement from Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who said her military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan.
Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a Chinese military spokesperson, said the drills would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, southwest, southeast and east of the island.
Col Shi said the activities would focus on sea-air combat readiness patrol, “joint seizure of comprehensive superiority” and blockades on key ports.
It was also the first large-scale military drill where the command publicly mentioned one of the goals was “all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain”.
“It is a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces, and it is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Col Shi said.
Does Trump care about Taiwan?
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Taiwan’s president sets date to prepare for combat with China
Government delays Chinese ‘super embassy’ decision
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said rapid response exercises were underway, with forces on high alert to defend the island.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s targeted military exercises further confirm its nature as an aggressor and the biggest destroyer of peace,” the ministry said.
The ministry also claimed that the drill areas include Taiwan’s territorial waters.
Taiwan has been ruled separately from China since 1949 following the civil war that brought the Communist Party to power in the mainland.
The island has operated since then with its own government, though Beijing still claims it as sovereign territory.
NewsFeed
China has begun two days of military exercises around Taiwan, including live-fire drills that Beijing says simulate a blockade of key ports. Taiwan condemned the move, launching fighter jets, and mobilising troops in response.
Published On 29 Dec 2025
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Retailers of home improvement products are having a glittering year on the London stock market, as cash-strapped UK consumers turn to DIY projects after being priced out of moving home or undertaking expensive renovations.
Publicly listed retailers including the B&Q owner, Kingfisher, as well as Topps Tiles, Wickes and the sofa seller DFS are on track for double-digit percentage share price increases of as much as 56% this year.
Kingfisher and Topps Tiles have posted share price increases of 26.5% and 13% respectively, their best annual gains since the pandemic, while a 23% year-to-date rise at DFS is its strongest year since 2019.
Kingfisher, which also operates in France and Poland, has issued two profit upgrades since September on the back of the company’s strong performance in the UK.
The biggest winner is Wickes, a leading retailer of paint, whose shares have risen 56% in its best year since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021.
Retailers in the home improvement sector have been aided by the closure of their rival Homebase, which collapsed into administration in November last year.
Analysts have pointed to a stagnant housing market: Halifax, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, reported flat growth in house prices in November this year and a significant slowdown in annual growth to 0.7%, down from 1.9% in the same month last year.
Slowing house price growth reflects weaker buyer demand, as cash-stretched consumers turned their focus to cheaper DIY projects to spruce up their existing homes.
Measures introduced in last month’s budget, including increasing the minimum wage and changes to property taxes, could further spur the DIY market as the cost of activities such as eating out increases.
“That may drive a continued shift toward eating and spending more time at home,” Manjari Dhar, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, told Bloomberg.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that spending on household goods has often outpaced wider retail sales this year.
However, ONS figures showed the rate of unemployment hit a four-year high of 5.1% in the three months to October, which could dampen the DIY boom.
While home improvement goods retailers have experienced a stellar year, the share prices of building materials suppliers have lagged, suggesting some homeowners have also put large home renovation projects on the back burner.
Shares in the kitchen supplier Howden Joinery Group have risen by 5% this year, while Travis Perkins has suffered an 11% fall.
Earlier this month, Halifax said buyers attempting to get on the property ladder in the UK were now in the best position to snap up a home in a decade.
Halifax said when property prices were compared with average incomes, affordability was at its strongest since late 2015.
However, data published by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors found that new buyer demand had declined to the lowest level since 2023.
US President Donald Trump will turn his focus to the Middle East on Monday, as he hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida for talks that are expected to cover Gaza and a range of other pressing issues.
Any decisions made could have a potentially momentous impact on questions that determine the future of the region.
The US has been Israel’s strongest military and political backer throughout two years of war in Gaza and many are now looking to the meeting as a test of the leaders’ relationship and how aligned they are on key topics.
It will be their sixth meeting since Trump’s return to office 11 months ago.
Among the expected points of discussion is the future of relations with Syria’s new government, Iranian rearmament, and Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon.
Perhaps most critically, they will discuss progress of the Gaza ceasefire deal, where Israel’s government has taken several positions diverging from those of the US government.
The talks will take place as storms continue to lash Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians remain living in basic tents that offer little protection from the cold and flooding.
On Monday, the death of a two-month-old baby due to the severe cold was reported by the Hamas-run health ministry, bringing the total killed by the wintry weather since 10 December to three, while another 17 people have been killed by damaged buildings collapsing in the storms.
The UN and numerous aid agencies have accused Israel of not meeting its ceasefire obligations by continuing to restrict full access to basic supplies and equipment. Israel has said it is meeting its obligations in facilitating an increase in aid deliveries.
The Trump administration wants to see the ceasefire progress to its second phase in January, whereby a Palestinian technocratic government would be established alongside the deployment of an international security force, Hamas would disarm, Israeli troops would withdraw, and the reconstruction of the devastated territory would begin.
Critics have suggested that Netanyahu may instead seek to delay the progress of the ceasefire, saying he does not want to engage seriously with questions of a political future for Palestinians and will instead push for Hamas to fully disarm before Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza. Hamas officials have repeatedly said that its full disarmament should take place alongside progress towards an independent Palestinian state.
The 20-point peace plan promoted by Trump and signed by both Israel and Hamas recognises Palestinian aspirations to a sovereign state, however Netanyahu and his ministers have consistently rejected Palestinian statehood since the ceasefire came into effect in October.
Last week, Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country would build settlements in Gaza and would “never fully withdraw” from the territory even if Hamas disarms, despite this being a key tenet of the ceasefire deal.
Breaking out of the current impasse is seen as crucial by many in the region as near-daily deadly attacks by the Israeli military continue to take place in Gaza despite the declared ceasefire.
In the 80 days since it came into effect, at least 414 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in the territory, according to its health ministry.
The Israeli military, which controls more than half of Gaza, has said it has only opened fire in response to ceasefire violations.
Three Israeli soldiers have been killed in attacks that the military has blamed on Hamas over the same period.
Israel also continues to wait for Hamas to return of the body of Ran Gvili, the last remaining dead hostage in Gaza. All living and decease hostages taken during the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, which sparked the war, should have been returned three days after the ceasefire came into effect.
Trump’s intervention and US mediation could be brought upon the fraught and unresolved sticking points, pushing Netanyahu to take a softer line on certain positions.
For instance, the Israeli government has opposed Turkey taking part in the International Stabilisation Force to be deployed in Gaza. However, few other countries have been willing to take part.
Netanyahu is also expected to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is seen as supportive of the positions of the Israeli government.
Last week, Israeli media reported that there may be an attempt by the prime minister to rediscuss Israel annexing the occupied West Bank – something President Trump has spoken against.
Israeli ministers have recently described their expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as a de facto annexation of the territory aimed at burying the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.
Both the settlements and annexation are illegal under international law.
It is also expected that Netanyahu may use his meeting with Trump on Monday to seek US permission for further military strikes on Iran.
The Israeli government is said to believe Iran is rearming its missile capabilities after their 12-day war this summer, which saw Iran’s nuclear facilities bombed by both Israeli and US fighter jets.
The Iranian president said this weekend that said his country was in “all-out war” with Israel, the US and Europe. “They don’t want our country to remain stable,” Masoud Pezeshkian said.
Becoming a euro area member demonstrates how the Bulgarian economy has improved over the past decade. But political turmoil and rising public anger over economic mismanagement and corruption pose a serious challenge.
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