Andres Perea scored a goal and Matt Freese had two saves for New York City FC on Saturday night in a 1-1 tie with LAFC.

Perea slammed home a header off a corner kick played in by Nicolás Fernández to make it 1-1 in the 59th minute.

NYCFC (8-12-10) is winless, with three losses, in its last five games.

Leo Walta, acquired Aug. 31 by LAFC on loan, scored his first career MLS goal in his fourth appearance. The 23-year-old midfielder put away a straightaway free kick from 30 yards out to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

Hugo Lloris had three saves for LAFC (12-9-10).

Up next for LAFC: Hosts the Galaxy on Oct. 25.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro fired off a barrage of personal attacks during their first debate a week before a tight presidential run-off.

In a chaotic exchange on Sunday, the two men called each other “liar” multiple times, accused each other of corruption, dragged up various scandals, and clashed on issues from public security to healthcare.

Lula said Bolsonaro was “a habitual liar” and a “thug”, and physically distanced himself on stage from the candidate he called a “militiaman”, alluding to his alleged ties to Rio de Janeiro’s paramilitary groups.

Bolsonaro, who led the first-round election with 47 percent to Lula’s 45 percent, said it was better to keep Lula at a distance “because my wallet could be stolen”.

Throughout the debate, Bolsonaro, 45, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, paced behind Lula, shaking his head, smirking and scoffing as his adversary spoke.

The 80-year-old Lula, who is seeking a fourth term, demanded an explanation regarding a corruption investigation involving the older Bolsonaro, a question his opponent dodged.

The younger Bolsonaro responded by calling Lula a “clown”, and then parried by bringing up a potential corruption case involving one of the president’s sons.

Jair Bolsonaro has been under house arrest while serving a 27-year sentence connected to efforts to overturn the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula.

Cost of living, public spending in focus

Flavio Bolsonaro hammered away at the top concerns of Brazilians, such as the cost of living and crime, and accused Lula of “reckless spending” to get re-elected, referring to various social measures the president has announced during the campaign.

Lula countered by asking Bolsonaro about his plans to emulate the drastic public spending cuts implemented by Argentina’s right-wing president, Javier Milei.

Bolsonaro dodged the question throughout the debate and pivoted to different topics.

When his father’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic came up, Bolsonaro admitted that this “wasn’t an area where we saw the best results during Bolsonaro’s presidency. I’ll offer a mea culpa here.”

Lula also sought to portray his opponent as out of touch with poor Brazilians, saying Bolsonaro had never used the country’s public healthcare system or taken a bus.

“My opponent only knows about buses from books. He has never even stepped foot on one. He has no idea what the world of work is like,” Lula said.

Voters show their colours

Ahead of Sunday’s debate, supporters of each candidate gathered en masse in public to show their allegiance.

Pro-Bolsonaro crowds wearing Brazil’s national colours of yellow, green and blue packed Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo’s financial centre, where the candidate addressed the crowd.

Lula supporters wearing red, symbolic of his Workers’ Party, filled Brasilia’s plaza of government buildings, while students backing the president protested against Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro.

“We need the current government to remain in power. If another government comes in, we’re, excuse my language, screwed,” said Lula supporter Sonia Maria at the Brasilia rally.

“I don’t like bandits. Out with Lula!” said Bolsonaro backer Vera de Sousa in Sao Paulo.

Also on Sunday, Brazil’s federal police asked the country’s Supreme Court to open an investigation into Bolsonaro over a money laundering accusation involving a lawyer close to him.

The presidential candidate is already under investigation for his links to Daniel Vorcaro, a disgraced former banker who financed a movie about Jair Bolsonaro’s life.

Lula spent 580 days in prison in ⁠2018 and 2019 on a corruption conviction that was later annulled over flaws in the investigation and legal proceedings.

Polls suggest a close race for the October 25 run-off, with Flavio Bolsonaro holding a slight advantage after finishing nearly 2 percentage points ahead of Lula in the first round on October 4.

Both candidates hope to engage the 33 million voters who stayed home in the first ⁠round, equal to about one in five eligible voters.

Sunday’s debate was the first between Lula and Bolsonaro after the candidates both ⁠declined previous opportunities. A second debate is scheduled for October 23, just ahead of the runoff.

Dragons showed tenacity in defence before securing a hard-fought win against Perpignan in Newport on Friday.

Filo Tiatia’s men have made a strong start to the season but that might not necessarily translate into a bigger contingent in Tandy’s squad.

Lock Ben Carter is a shoo-in, tight-head prop Dillon Lewis will hope to pick up where he left off in the summer and in-form hooker Elliot Dee would love to battle Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias for action.

The Perpignan fixture highlighted the qualities of Dragons’ grafters with blind-side flanker Shane Lewis-Hughes, who won three caps in 2020, continuing his strong start to the season.

Wales contact coach Dan Lydiate was a guest at Dragons training last week and would have been impressed as Lewis-Hughes put in 27 tackles against the French side’s big carriers.

But the forward, like team-mate Harri Keddie, is competing in a position of real depth.

The same applies for wing Rio Dyer, who is yet to score this season but has been lively with ball in hand and impressive in the aerial game.

Dragons’ man of the match against Perpignan was Aneurin Owen, so often the side’s glue from inside centre.

He carried strongly to go with his distribution skills, while he was strong in defence and came up with two turnovers.

Owen, who turns 26 the day before Tuesday’s squad announcement, was a member of the Wales squad under Wayne Pivac in the summer of 2021 but remains uncapped.

There might be an opening at 12 due to Ben Thomas’ injury should Tandy look to see if a quality operator at club level can take the next step.

“Aneurin knows I love him,” said Dragons boss Filo Tiatia. “He has outstanding leadership and there is lots more to come from him.

“He wants to improve, is coachable and is strong at challenging the coaches.”

US president accuses Ukrainian leader of not wanting to end the war, as Zelenskyy speaks with Washington envoys.

United States President Donald Trump has defended sanction waivers for Russia, saying he wants to keep Moscow at the bargaining table and accusing his counterpart in Kyiv of not wanting to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump made the comments on Truth Social on Sunday in response to criticism of his decision to block numerous sanctions on Russia just days before they were due to take effect.

“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” he said.

The move has triggered a significant diplomatic fallout between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the past week.

Zelenskyy said that waiving sanctions on Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, “will hurt Ukraine”, telling NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that it would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

“We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s [an] aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist, and that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”

Trump reiterated his claim that Zelenskyy does not want the war on his country to end, saying on Truth Social that Kyiv was launching attacks on diesel refineries in Russia despite knowing it was “seriously hurting the world diesel markets”.

“Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him… he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump wrote.

Trump announced plans on October 9 for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets to tackle fuel prices that have soared since the US and Israel launched war on Iran in late February. The move led Tehran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global energy exports transited before the war.

Trump’s embrace of Russian energy has angered not only Kyiv, but also European partners and many US officials, who say the move rewards Moscow while it continues its four-and-a-half-year war against Ukraine.

US-Ukraine talks continue

The Ukrainian president said on X on Sunday that he has spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as part of “virtually non-stop communication” between the two countries’ teams aimed at the “next steps in diplomacy”.

“We are doing everything on our part to make this happen, and to ensure that America’s position is strong and helps bring peace closer. Peace that everyone, except Russia, has been waiting for over the past four and a half years,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy spoke with Witkoff and Kushner as Russia and Ukraine continued to strike each other’s energy sites, with Moscow leaving thousands without power, and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on Russia, in St Petersburg, since the war began.

EXCLUSIVE: His co-star Tessa Peake-Jones, who played Raquel, says it was ‘poignant and quite sobering’ watching the comedy legend grapple with the past

Only Fools and Horses star Tessa Peake-Jones has told how Sir David Jason felt saddened watching himself playing Del Boy in lost archive clips, as he hankered to be back in his prime.

The actress, who played his wife Raquel from 1988 for 15 years, says she enjoyed sitting with him, and other actors from the hit BBC sitcom, to watch newly discovered gems that they all believed had been lost many decades ago.

But she revealed that at times the 86-year-old became maudlin as he looked back. “You know, he’d just been knighted, he was in every programme going, Darling Buds of May, all of them. And he said, ‘There I am in my prime, and now here I am as an old man sitting watching it.’ I found that really quite moving.

“He just said, ‘Oh, I’m finding it very sad,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean?’ I ended up becoming his therapist on the sofa and he said, ‘I just I look at myself then in my prime as the best I could possibly be,’ which of course he was then – in his forties and fifties, he was more famous than anyone in Britain on telly.

“And I knew what he meant when he said he felt sad because this is us looking back on what we were, particularly for him because he was at his absolute peak. It must have felt very peculiar. You’re not ever going to be what you were then.”

And she added: “He’s still a very vibrant man, he’s got a lot of energy, he’s doing things all the time, but it was just very poignant and quite sobering.”

At the end of the first episode, which airs on Tuesday, David can’t get over how good the pair of them looked back then. “It is difficult because we are looking back at a time when we were both beautiful,” he says. Tessa responds with positivity, telling him: “Maybe we still are but we don’t see it as easily.”

But speaking afterwards she said she had also found watching the lost archive clips and outtakes difficult at times too. “Some actors really like looking at themselves. I will run a mile, I absolutely loathe it. So it was slightly torturous for me, particularly because not only are you watching scenes that you’re acting in, but you’re 30 years older.”

She believes that the secret of the comedy’s longevity is that its humour, written by the late John Sullivan and also starring Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney, had universal appeal. “John didn’t leave anyone out. He really cared about family and he cared about what people shared watching on telly.

“I know we all go, ‘oh, isn’t Del awful with all his scams’, but at the end of the day he’d do anything for anyone. He was kind. Looking at comedy these days, bar the odd brilliant one like Ghosts, some of them are quite cruel. It doesn’t make me laugh when you see someone being horrid about someone else.”

Tessa, now 69, says that she has received thousands of letters from fans over the years wanting to talk about her role as Raquel.

But even though she was in Only Fools for many years, she still gets more fan mail for one tiny role that she played in 2013.

“I had 30 seconds of screen time on Doctor Who,” she laughs. “But it happened to be when one Doctor becomes another. I was in a Christmas special when it happened – it was Matt Smith leaving and Peter Capaldi coming in. I must have had six lines in it, maybe seven. But I’ve had more fan mail about that 30 seconds of screen time than anything I’ve ever done in my career.”

She said the Only Fools fans aren’t far behind the Doctor Who ones. “We have many extremely obsessive fans who are almost as as powerfully connected.”

Tessa said the remaining cast from the hit sitcom were all astonished to hear that 66 bits of film, including full scenes and outtakes, had been discovered. “What’s so hilarious is that I believe all these bits and bobs were found in like a drawer at the BBC in White City,” she laughs. “Think what other gems are in drawers somewhere in those buildings. It’s extraordinary, isn’t it?”

She said it had been hard at times to work out if she even knew whether the clips had been cut from the original upsides. “I suppose you’re you’re wound up in the general whirly gig of all of it. You’re rehearsing constantly. You’re filming every weekend – life’s marching at quite a pace. So I suppose even when you record these things, if they don’t get put in, you sort of forget them.”

But, in the films, Sir David marvels at just how much ends up on the cutting room floor. He laughs: “I remember discussing it with John – we cut more jokes out than other shows had got in their entire episode.” The extra bits span 10 episodes from the 90s and cover the stories about blow-up dolls, Peckham Spring water, Cassandra’s miscarriage and Raquel giving birth to Damian., as well as the Jolly Boys coach trip to Margate.

By the time Tessa joined in 1988 the show had been on air for seven years and was a huge hit. The actress is enormously proud of the reaction her first episode got, when Derek Trotter first met Raquel on a blind date. “John wrote that brilliant script and it’s the only time the programme’s ever won a BAFTA,” she recalls. “He did that just to see what would happen for Del Boy’s character if if he was to fall in love.”

Having conceived Raquel as a one-off character, the writer quickly changed his mind. “John saw the public response and thought he could take this character of Raquel further – that it might change the dynamics of Derek and Rodney Trotter’s relationship. He thought, ‘Iet’s bring her back and see what happens’. And then a lot did happen. Such a lot.”

Unlike Sir David Tessa does not consider Only Fools to be the pinnacle of her career. “This was one of many, many things. I wouldn’t call it the thing I’m proudest of, I don’t think it’s my greatest achievement being in Only Fools, much as I’ve loved doing it. I’ve still got to meet my peak,” she laughs. “I might reach it next year.”

And well she might because 2027 brings viewers not only the last series of ITV’s Grantchester, in which Tessa has played vicarage housekeeper Sylvia Chapman since 2014, but also new Channel 5 crime series The Last Resort, in which she stars as a sixty-something sleuth alongside Caroline Quentin and Jason Watkins.

Tessa believes that, for fans, these new documentaries will be the last surprise from Only Fools and Horses, which is marking its 45th anniversary having launched in 1981.. “We’re all too old and also there is no one to carry John Sullivan’s mantle,” she says. “He was a one-off genius. So I don’t think there can be any other surprises. Thank God for things like UK Gold – who knows, in 100 years people might still be watching it.”

– Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, U&Gold, Tuesday 20th & 27th October

An alliance of Venezuelan opposition parties has reaffirmed its commitment to exiled Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado as its leader.

On Sunday, members of the opposition’s Unitary Democratic Platform (PUD) agreed in a meeting in Caracas to “recognise and support the leadership of Maria Corina Machado”.

The coalition also renewed its demand for free elections in Venezuela, following a series of contested presidential votes in 2024 and 2018.

Sunday’s statement included 14 proposals for a democratic transition, including freedom for political parties, the release of all political prisoners and the safe return of those who went into exile.

The announcement also increases pressure on authorities to allow Machado’s return. She has been living in exile since leaving Venezuela last December to receive her Nobel Prize.

“The will of the Venezuelans must once again govern the destiny of our nation,” the opposition’s former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez wrote on social media supporting the proposals.

“We will not accept political prisoners, persecution or a governing power that disregards the mandate of its citizens. Living in freedom and under a genuine constitutional order is a legitimate demand of our society.”

No election set

Venezuela has yet to declare a date for a new presidential vote. Since January 3, the country has been led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez of the long-governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

PSUV leaders have been accused of carrying out human rights abuses against political dissidents, including arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and torture.

Still, after the United States launched a military operation to abduct and jail former President Nicolas Maduro, the PSUV has remained in power with the support of the White House.

US President Donald Trump has backed Rodriguez’s leadership, despite her having been Maduro’s vice president.

His administration has maintained an active role in Venezuela, exerting control over its oil resources and pressuring the Rodriguez government for reforms.

But critics point out that Trump has been reluctant to push Rodriguez for new elections, opting instead for a three-phase plan that focuses first on stabilising the country and economic recovery before pursuing a political transition.

Machado, meanwhile, has told The Financial Times she would like to see Venezuela hold elections by July next year.

“The US government and the Venezuelan people all agree ⁠⁠that the only way to make ⁠⁠this sustainable and ⁠⁠a real victory is to turn Venezuela into a stable democracy,” she told the newspaper earlier this month.

A thwarted return

Venezuelan authorities blocked Machado’s repeated attempts to return to the country, according to her party, Vente Venezuela.

Machado has also reportedly attempted to petition the Trump administration for help re-entering Venezuela.

Separately, she gifted Trump her Nobel Peace Prize in January, during a visit to Washington, DC. Media reports, however, have suggested friction between the Trump administration and Machado.

In interviews with Reuters and Axios, US administration officials have anonymously expressed frustration with the opposition leader’s repeated efforts to return home, particularly after a pair of deadly earthquakes in Venezuela last July.

Axios quoted one official as calling Machado’s push “political opportunism”.

Machado, however, remains one of the most popular figures in Venezuela’s opposition.

In October 2023, Machado won the opposition coalition’s presidential primary, but in January 2024, Venezuela’s courts blocked her from running in the upcoming race.

The courts upheld a 15-year ban on her holding public office, reportedly due to her support of US sanctions against the Maduro government.

Gonzalez ultimately replaced Machado as the opposition candidate in the 2024 race. Maduro claimed victory for a third term as Venezuela’s president in that election cycle, despite widespread criticism that the vote did not meet democratic standards.

The opposition released vote tallies that appeared to show Gonzalez had won the race.

The US had recognised Gonzalez as the country’s rightful president-elect and denied the legitimacy of Maduro’s election claims.

Machado was previously removed from the National Assembly in 2014, due to her activism against the Venezuelan government.

A third round of talks between the Rodriguez government and the opposition began in Venezuela this month.

But instead of including Machado, the negotiations have involved members of the 2015 National Assembly, which was led by the opposition and dissolved under Maduro.

Still, in a statement this month, the US State Department praised the talks as aiding the Venezuelan government’s reform.

“Political reconciliation talks between the interim Venezuelan government and 2015 National Assembly representatives are producing tangible reforms in civil liberties and political rights, laying the groundwork for credible elections and a democratic transition,” the State Department said.

Mogadishu, Somalia – The fishing town of Bander Beyla, on Somalia’s Puntland coast, has become a focal point of the renewed piracy crisis. But beyond the hijackings and international security operations, residents are struggling to protect their livelihoods as fishing restrictions, arrests and surveillance reshape daily life.

Abdifatah Mohamed has spent 20 years fishing off Somalia’s coast. He began at 15, but says declining catches and foreign trawlers have made it increasingly difficult to support his family.

“I don’t catch as much fish anymore, and the prospects for catching lobsters have become rare,” the 35-year-old said.

“Foreign trawlers are emptying out the seas,” he added.

Somalia’s central government collapsed in 1991, weakening maritime oversight and leaving its waters vulnerable to illegal fishing. Some fishermen, angered by foreign vessels exploiting the country’s resources, have turned to piracy.

“We’re [fishermen] no match for the foreign trawlers, who possess capabilities far greater than us, which impacts the livelihoods of our families on land,” Mohamed said.

He added, “Some from our community have taken up arms at sea, but deep down I know it’s hurting our community.”

Piracy has surged off Somalia since late April 2026. The reported number of hijackings varies according to whether counts include commercial ships, fishing vessels and dhows. Several seized vessels have been held near Bander Beyla, bringing the crisis close to the town’s fishing community.

In late August, local authorities restricted fishermen from going to sea amid concerns that pirates were disguising themselves as fishermen.

“The local authorities gave an order the last week of August preventing us from going out at sea, which would remain in effect for two months,” Mohamed said.

“Our families depend on what we catch at sea. Even though our catches [of fish] have gone down in recent years, it helped provide for our families at home. But it’s like we were being punished for crimes we have nothing to do with, and our families have suffered for it.”

For fishermen, Mohamed said, going to sea has become a risk whether they obey the restrictions or defy them.

“It’s a two-way risk, because if the authorities know you went out to sea, they could accuse you of piracy or even transporting supplies to the ships that were hijacked,” he noted.

“While out at sea, you could face arrest or violence from international navies, and get mistaken for pirates, and taken away to a jail in a foreign land. It’s happened to a lot of men from this town.”

Abdirizak Said, who has fished in Bander Beyla for 15 years, said the crackdown has deepened the hardship faced by residents.

“Dozens have been arrested, most of them after they brought food or khat to the pirates, when the ships were anchored near Bander Bayla,” he said.

“Businesses and stores were even ordered by the [local] government not to sell anything to pirates, and if they do, they’ll be viewed as pirates themselves.”

The networks behind piracy

Some of the people involved in the hijackings come from the same town now bearing the consequences.

“Some of the pirates involved in the hijackings are from Bander Bayla and hail from this community,” Said added.

Jethro Norman, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), said that piracy cannot be understood solely as a criminal activity at sea. It also depends on networks on land that can provide money, equipment, manpower and protection.

“Kinship networks can effectively function as a form of financial and social infrastructure, and for piracy, this is no different,” he said. “Pirate groups have historically been able to mobilise credit, and get equipment, manpower and protection.”

“In other words, clan relationships can underwrite the practical resources and act of mobilising that make piracy possible. This is precisely why effective counter piracy requires understanding the land-based networks that make those operations possible,” Norman added.

These networks also help explain why efforts to disrupt piracy reach into ordinary commercial life. Said noted that the consequences extend beyond fishing: boats carrying supplies from Yemen to Somalia have stopped arriving, for instance.

“The boats that used to bring supplies from Yemen have also ceased, because of these [pirate] attacks,” he said.

Residents push back

Despite the disruption, Mohamed said that some residents have tried to prevent young men from joining the attacks.

“Recently there was an attempt by local youth with guns trying to go out at sea, but the residents told them not to do it and that they would be harming their community even more,” Mohamed said.

“It was civilians that took the initiative to stop them and not the government because it’s the civilians in this town that will suffer the blowback if they launch attacks from here,” he added.

Two local government officials, speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to talk to the press, confirmed that restrictions had been imposed to weaken the local support networks supplying pirates.

“The security restrictions were lifted on October 1 after successful anti-piracy operations led to the release of three ships,” the first local official said.

The International Maritime Organization confirmed on October 2 that three hijacked vessels, Honour 25, Seamull (also known as Sibu 1) and Eureka, had been freed. It said 44 seafarers were released and reported that five crew members died during the rescue operation involving Honour 25.

The lifting of restrictions has not ended the visible security presence around Bander Beyla, according to the officials.

“Military helicopters flying inland from the sea routinely hover over the town, and these flyovers are more frequent in the nearby remote coastal areas,” one local government official added.

“They’re looking for any movements of armed individuals on the coast,” a second local government official said.

Both officials said the helicopters belonged to the European Union Naval Force, which has conducted counter-piracy operations in the region for years.

Security forces stretched thin

The renewed attacks have emerged amid wider regional instability and competing demands on maritime security forces. Abdinur Abdella, a Somali political and security analyst, said international naval attention shifted after Houthi attacks began in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in late 2023.

“When Houthis began carrying out attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in late 2023 in response to the conflict in Gaza, it saw international navies change their focus and efforts to the Houthi threat, which allowed armed groups active on the Somali coast to take advantage of the lax in security,” Abdella said.

Norman said Puntland’s maritime forces have also been diverted by other security challenges.

“The PMPF [Puntland Maritime Police Force] has been stretched thin by its fight against ISIS in the Al-Miskad mountains. It also lost some personnel to the 2023 anti-Somaliland rebellion in Las Anod,” he told Al Jazeera. “Some Dhulbahante fighters from Puntland’s forces, including the PMPF, joined the uprising, which wrested roughly a third of Somaliland’s claimed territory from its control.”

“Again, this links back to the clan dimension, and the strength of kinship ties and obligations as essential to understanding contemporary piracy networks and counter piracy initiatives,” Norman added.

For residents of Bander Beyla, these overlapping security pressures are not abstract geopolitical developments. They determine whether fishermen can work, whether supplies arrive and whether people risk being mistaken for pirates.

Said noted that the presence of aircraft remains a reminder that even after restrictions were lifted, fishermen are still being watched.

“We can hear the sound of aircraft and the louder it gets, the closer they are, so we know they’re watching,” he said. “I just want to make a living without worrying whether I’ll make it back to shore safely.”

AN explosive sexting scandal almost wrecked Christian Horner’s marriage to pop royalty – and a year later, his F1 career was in tatters.

The multi-millionaire racing tycoon, married to ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was sacked by Red Bull with a £76million payoff after sending hundreds of texts to an attractive aide, pestering her for pics and sexy chat.

Geri was left heartbroken and humiliated by the WhatsApp messages, leaked in 2024 — a day after Horner was cleared of inappropriate, and controlling behaviour towards the woman in an independent probe.

Loyal Geri stood by her man, but Red Bull’s track performance took a hit amid the damning claims.

Now Horner, 52, has written an extraordinary new memoir, Drive, out on Thursday, which is essentially a grovelling, 320-page love letter to his wife of 11 years.

In it, he swerves the awkward reason his marriage nearly hit the skids.

Instead, he praises Geri for steering him through the darkest days of his life — while glossing over the aide who complained about his conduct.

The former Red Bull chief executive was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, and his book does not link the embarrassing scandal to his sacking after 20 years in the top Formula One job.

Instead, he blames a series of poor results on the race track, and does not attempt to explain or justify why he sent the flirty messages.

Yet Horner DOES recall his wife heroically mustering every ounce of Girl Power as the crisis erupted.

Initially baffled by the allegations levelled against him, Horner writes: “What was going on?

“The lawyer, presumably aware that a wrecking ball was being aimed at my life, explained the situation as my sense of bewilderment rose.

“Geri knew by my face that something was very wrong.

“She fell silent as she listened. We both understood the implications immediately. She looked at me. ‘Just tell your truth’, she said.

“‘That’s all I can do’, I replied.

“She reassured me that everything would be all right.

“Her resilience was remarkable.

“Our lives had been turned upside down, yet she found the strength and conviction to support me through an immensely difficult period, one that was undoubtedly challenging for her as well.

“Her belief in me gave me the determination to move forward. At a time when my confidence was being tested, Geri provided the perspective and stability that I needed most.

“Without her support, I’m not sure I could have navigated those months in the same way.”

Days after Horner was cleared of behaving inappropriately in 2024, Red Bull suspended his accuser on full pay. The woman, who was not named, then agreed to leave Red Bull for a £3million settlement and dropped her claims.

She signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevents her from talking about the scandal.

Her appeal over the outcome of the probe into Horner was thrown out.

Despite landing another job in motor racing, she was dismissed less than a year later amid “trust issues”.

The other glaring omission in Horner’s carefully-curated life story is the bitter feud with his parents.

Garry and Sara Horner were so horrified when their son hooked up with Geri that they refused to attend the wedding.

Christian and his previous partner, pub landlady Beverley Allen, had a baby daughter, Olivia, who was 19 months at the time of the nuptials.

In Drive, his relationship with Beverley, who died from cancer aged 58, is dispatched in a couple of swift sentences, and he describes falling for Geri like something out of a cheesy romcom.

He says marrying the singer at Woburn Abbey, Beds, in 2015 was the happiest day of his life.

“It was obvious that Beverley and I were drifting apart,” writes Horner.

“Our relationship was now more of a loving friendship than anything else, and it was clear that what had once brought us together was no longer there. We had never married, though we had a daughter, Olivia, and although our relationship had faded, we remained amicable.

“The following year, my relationship with Geri began. She had a natural warmth and confidence, and she treated everyone the same, whether they were royalty or a road sweeper.

“It was clear there was something between us.” Their controversial courtship and Beverley’s heartbreak are skipped entirely, along with him being such a workaholic that he once missed Olivia’s birth.

Months after he began dating Geri, he proposed while hiking up Mount Fuji in Japan, and became a second father to Bluebell, her daughter from a previous relationship with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.

He says: “Geri was the woman I wanted to marry. I knew it almost from the moment we started going out. Our connection was undeniable; I had never experienced anything like it before. I had totally fallen for her.

“Within twelve months, we were engaged. I wasn’t planning to propose at the ­time — the thought of buying a ring hadn’t even occurred to me — but the occasion seemed too perfect.

“The sun was dipping behind the mountain, the shadows were lengthening, so I grabbed the moment, and Geri, to my relief, said yes.

“With the emotion of the proposal beginning to sink in, we hitched a ride on a passing dustcart and rode to the bottom, laughing.

“Geri and I later married at a beautiful service. Daniel Ricciardo drove us in a vintage Rolls-Royce to the reception; Daniil Kvyat chauffeured the bridesmaids. Geri’s father had sadly passed away when she was in her twenties, so her daughter, Bluebell, walked her down the aisle.

“I knew that when I married Geri, I’d be taking on responsibility for Bluebell, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the arrangement.

“It was one of the happiest days of my life.” Geri slotted into Horner’s life in the Cotswolds and took to wearing prim, all-white outfits as she embarked on her luxurious role as lady of the manor.

She said in 2019 that her plain wardrobe freed up time and brain space: “I was at a moment in my life when I just needed simplicity.

“Also, if you only wear white, everything matches.”

Within a year of marrying, she was pregnant with their son Monty.

And now, following Horner’s astonishing Red Bull payoff, which was revealed this month, they are considering upgrading their £9.2million Oxfordshire mansion.

They recently viewed Edgcote House, Notts, a sprawling, £45million estate with a private racecourse which featured in the BBC’s Pride And Prejudice. Love-struck Horner might still be unemployed, but he insists the marriage has been all smooth sailing, raving: “I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to spend my life with.

“Geri was unswervingly supportive of what our family wanted to do. In a relationship where both parties were exposed to public scrutiny, she was able to deal with the pressure like it was irrelevant.

“Clearly, years spent at the centre of global fame had given her an extraordinary sense of composure.

“In moments of stress, she had the capacity to compartmentalise the negative emotions and focus on the positives.

“I learned so much from her about how to handle the never-ending stress and cutthroat politics of Formula One.” Horner also bats off the backlash that came his way following his appearances on Netflix’s Drive To Survive.

Last year, he was booed by an angry crowd at the O2 Arena. He was previously dubbed a “Karen” for incessantly complaining about Lewis Hamilton and other teams.

He recalls: “Overnight, Formula One’s audience had grown beyond the traditional fanbase, and with it came a level of scrutiny I’d never experienced before.

“Every comment, every expression and every disagreement became part of the story. In creating a bingeable show, Netflix filmed hundreds of hours of footage and naturally presented the juiciest material, which I ­understood.

“But the fact that Red Bull were going up against Lewis, a national treasure in the UK, meant we were sometimes cast as the villains.

“Before long, I had become Drive To Survive  ’s equivalent of Darth Vader.

“Fortunately, Geri understood the fickle nature of public perception better than I ever could. Really, I should have expected it. It wasn’t pleasant, but I accepted it.

“’It doesn’t matter if they boo’, she said. ‘Booing means they care. It’s only a problem when they ignore you’. Fair enough, I thought. To enjoy the rewards of success, I also had to accept the scrutiny that sometimes came with it.”

Horner admits Beverley’s death last summer was tough on their daughter. “As it became obvious that the end was drawing closer, I talked through the situation with Olivia. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

“For the past few years, her mum had been in and out of hospital, and she was growing weaker.

“There was no getting away from what was coming. It all seemed so unfair. I had only recently turned fifty and was lucky enough to still have both my mother and father. I felt upset Olivia wouldn’t have the same experience.

“No little girl should have to go through this, I thought. I wanted to do everything that I could to help.

“But I couldn’t do the one thing she needed most of all. I couldn’t save her mum.”

• Drive by Christian Horner is published on Thursday by Penguin Random House.

The work will take four months and see the airport shut over the festive period with local authorities and business owners urging the for the dates of the work to be changed

A Greek airport will close for four months as major runway upgrades are completed.

Chios Island National Airport in Greece will close between November 15, 2026 and March 15, 2027 for the work to take place.

The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority say the project will extend the runway to 1,799 metres to accommodate larger aircraft ahead of the 2027 tourist season.

The work will see all commercial flights canceled. Emergency operations, including medical evacuations and search and rescue flights, however, will continue using helicopters operating from the parking apron.

As well as extending the runway to the north, the upgrades will also see an overall improvement of the airport’s operational infrastructure.

Originally the work was expected to take five months but it is now scheduled to only take four.

The plans have been strongly objected to by local authorities and business leaders, who see the winter closure as ‘economic strangulation’ for the small island.

They have come up with an alternative timeline that allows the airport to remain open during the Christmas and New Year Holiday.

The mayor of Chios, Giannis Malafis, said it was crucial the island’s airport remained open during the festive period.

He insisted that any decision on the future of the project should be taken in consultation with local bodies and Chios society.

Island representatives are still seeking clear answers on the duration of the shutdown and how this is expected to impact the local economy.

The contractor has pledged to make every effort to speed up the works, with the aim of getting the project done by 28 February.

However, this does not make any difference to the holiday season that is creating concerns for locals.

The HCAA notes that its goal is to limit the runway closure to the shortest possible period.

CLEVELAND — Drew Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings for his second postseason win, Tampa Bay’s offense kept on constant pressure and the Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.

The Rays will try to capture their third AL pennant and first since 2020 on Monday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Since the ALCS expanded to seven games in 1985, road teams winning Game 5 for a 3-2 lead have won the series four of five times.

Game 7 if needed would be Tuesday, and the World Series starts Friday at NL champion Milwaukee.

Cleveland has not won an ALCS when trailing 3-2.

Tampa Bay scored single runs in each of the first three innings, the first two off Parker Messick and the third against Tim Herrin.

Rasmussen shut down the Guardians’ offense after allowing two runs over six innings in the opener. After Chase DeLauter’s two-out single in the first, the 31-year-old right-hander retired nine straight batters and allowed only one other baserunner through the sixth.

Rasmussen gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six. He is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three postseason starts, striking out 23 and walking three.

Cam Booser and Tyler Wells worked the eighth, with Wells striking out José Ramírez to strand a runner.

Bryan Baker came in for the ninth and converted his 35th straight save chance, his fifth of this postseason. Jo Adell was on second base when Travis Bazzana hit a game-ending groundout.

Steven Kwan had two of Cleveland’s five hits and made two fine defensive plays: He threw out Taylor Walls trying to score from second base on Jonathan Aranda’s fourth-inning single to left and made a leaping catch at the center-field wall on Victor Mesa Jr.’s eighth-inning drive, saving a run.

Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter reached base in the first four innings — scoring in the first three frames — and six times overall. Rays’ leadoff batters have reached in 10 of 14 innings dating to Saturday.

Yandy Díaz had three hits while Aranda and Liam Hicks both had two hits and drove in a run.

Díaz scored on a bases-loaded walk by Messick to Jonny DeLuca in the first inning. Díaz led off with a line-drive double over center fielder Petey Halpin that rolled to the wall.

Aranda’s single drove in Ben Williamson for a 2-0 lead in the second, and Hicks looped a curveball from Herrin to center to score Chandler Simpson in the third.

Cleveland finally threatened in the seventh when Kwan and Ramírez singled to put runners at the corners and DeLauter grounded an RBI single between first and second.

Messick had the shortest outing of his big league career and didn’t make it past the third inning for the second time in four postseason starts. The 25-year-old left-hander went two innings and allowed two runs, five hits and three walks over two innings, throwing just 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.

Reedy writes for the Associated Press.

Kenyan health authorities say latest patient was likely exposed to the country’s first Ebola case.

Kenyan health authorities say an eighth Ebola case has been detected, bringing the total number of known infections in the East African nation to eight.

Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth told Kenya’s Citizen TV that of the 38 people tested on Sunday, one had returned a positive result.

“He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker. He developed fever, headache and muscle pain,” he said.

Amoth said the man, who worked as a patient attendant cleaning utensils and linens, was likely exposed to Kenya’s first Ebola case, discovered earlier this month.

He developed symptoms on Saturday, was quarantined and tested for the virus, a Ministry of Health source said.

The ministry reported four new cases on Saturday, three of whom were health workers who treated the country’s first Ebola patient, a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Nairobi and died at a Nairobi hospital on October 5.

In a post on X, the ministry said the fourth person was related to the deceased patient.

Kenya has been on heightened alert, as the Ebola outbreak has spilled across the border from the DRC. The current outbreak is of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment.

The DRC has recorded at least 9,400 cases, including more than 4,500 deaths, in the deadliest outbreak in the country’s history, which started in May.

Ituri province in eastern DRC remains the disease’s epicentre, accounting for almost three quarters of confirmed cases, according to the government’s most recent data. It announced on Sunday that the virus has reached an eighth province, North Ubangi.

State-run news agency ACP reported on Sunday that authorities in North Kivu province, where the World Health Organization said substantial transmission continues, are introducing a one-week ban from Monday on people entering the province from Ituri in an effort to slow the spread.

Other measures set to be introduced include restrictions on passenger numbers in cars and on motorbikes and suspension of large public gatherings.

Neighbouring Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported from the DRC, and two deaths, before it was declared Ebola-free in August.

Alexander Lovera is a founding member and spokesperson of the El Sur Existe Commune in Valencia, Carabobo State. A former student leader and participant of the MBR-200 revolutionary movement, he now focuses on urban planning and social property enterprises. In this interview, Lovera discusses the El Sur Existe communal project, its productive initiatives, and the relationship with state institutions.

How did the El Sur Existe Commune come about?

We began in 2011 as a political organizing collective called the Complejo Deportivo Recreativo del Sur, made up of 11 people.

Through that collective, we sought to secure spaces within the facilities of the Valencia National Racetrack in Carabobo State, creating recreational and cultural spaces for the communities, and it was there that we began to organize activities and envision the El Sur Existe Commune. The racetrack is next to the Santa Inés neighborhood, where all the communal councils in the area come together. Another community, Ciudad Plaza, also joined the commune.

Then, in 2013, we launched the El Sur Existe communal property enterprise (EPSDC), which serves as the umbrella organization for all the initiatives we have established in the area.

In 2015, we formally created the commune, which brought together 22 community councils covering the Ciudad Plaza and Santa Inés communities and several surrounding rural settlements. Subsequently, the territory was divided into other communes; today we have 14 communal councils.

The El Sur Existe Commune has been known for its focus on productive initiatives, such as the textile workshop and the animal feed plant. What is the history of these projects?

The textile workshop was born out of surplus from our first company, El Sur Existe. We purchased various types of sewing machines and began making school uniforms, both within the commune and in collaboration with nearby communities.

We started with 5,000 uniforms per school term. This initiative gave us the momentum to develop other ventures. Within the commune, with support from the Ministry of Communes, we managed to reclaim a space that had been abandoned. There, we created a communal market to sell products from local producers, as well as goods from agreements with companies nationalized by the government, such as Fama de América [coffee], Aceites Diana [cooking oil], and Lácteos Los Andes [dairy].

Long before the CLAPs [subsidized food program] began, we had a similar system that we called “the clock.” It worked like this: every week, a different communal council was in charge of distributing all the products available at the communal store. Later on, the management of all those state-owned companies changed, and we were no longer able to purchase their products.

In that same space, we opened a store, which we called La Tienda de Papel, where we distributed school supplies: notebooks, books, exam papers, and pencils. We also sold our school uniforms.

Starting in 2017, other projects began to take shape, such as the slaughterhouse, which arose from an agreement between the commune and a private entrepreneur. This project benefits local producers who cannot access the municipal slaughterhouse, as it is complicated to transport the cattle there.

We went on to establish the “Cárnicos El Sur Existe” Family Production Unit to process the cattle. We were able to set up a space within the slaughterhouse equipped with machines for cutting, grinding, and packaging. We also began producing sausages, ground beef for hamburgers, and other vacuum-sealed cuts. These products were distributed through the communal food market and during special events organized by the communal councils.

We then noticed that some byproducts, such as blood, bones, and fat, were left over in the slaughterhouse, and we realized they could serve as raw materials for producing animal feed. Thus, together with local producers, in 2021 we established the Aba El Auyamal social property firm, dedicated to the production of balanced animal feed.

What is the current status of these ventures? How have they dealt with problems such as shortages of raw materials and supplies, as well as the electricity crisis?

The projects have had their ups and downs, but they are still going strong. To summarize, the EPSDC El Sur Existe, which serves as the umbrella organization for all the projects, is currently still operating in our commune.

The textile factory is still active, with its fair share of obstacles, because the raw materials for making uniforms are expensive, and when sold on the market, the clothes end up being more expensive than imported ones. This is an issue that needs to be addressed at the government level, because small textile businesses cannot compete.

The slaughterhouse continues to operate, although the family production unit has scaled back its operations due to electrical problems. Three main freezers, the cold storage room containing all the vacuum-packed meat, and the engine were damaged by electrical surges. We are finding ways to replace the equipment so we can resume operations. We hope the electricity problem improves somewhat this year, because it has been severe in Carabobo State.

For now, the animal feed plant is processing only raw materials, because the prices of other components like corn, soybeans, and protein concentrates have risen sharply; the final product ends up being too expensive and harder to sell.

On the other hand, the Venezuelan food market is increasingly controlled by large agribusiness corporations. Even so, we’ve managed to source some items from local producers, who are also our main customers for animal feed. In addition, we have other projects, such as raising chickens and pigs, and we distribute eggs and meat through our communal store.

These projects have faced setbacks, but we’ve tried to keep them going using our own resources. The economic situation has been difficult, and exchange rate instability also affects us.

Through our enterprises, we’ve also tried to support many local entrepreneurs. These ventures have also served as spaces for political interactions, where delegations come to learn from our experiences so they can replicate them in other territories.

We have recently established ties with the University of the Communes (UNACOM) and its communal production communities to offer classes in these spaces. Here in the territory, we are offering classes in business administration and veterinary medicine, and we will soon begin offering training in food production. All students will participate in these production units. We have served as a model within the territory and will continue to drive this process forward so that the government recognizes these productive initiatives and gives them greater support.

The El Sur Existe Commune developed self-government mechanisms for the direct management of public services in coordination with the mayor’s office. What can you tell us about these initiatives?

From the El Sur Existe Commune, the political coordination team sought to form community brigades in the area. Many comrades joined this effort.

In 2019, there was a nationwide surge in the formation of Communal Brigades (BRICOM) to carry out or support work in areas such as electricity and plumbing. We attempted to establish the BRICOM through the Ministry of Communes, making it a legal entity, but that is where the process began to stall.

Through the BRICOMs, we carried out various projects in the area. We supported the communal councils on projects related to wastewater, drinking water, and electricity. We also carried out various electricity-related projects in the agricultural communal councils. However, there came a point when the mayor’s office and the regional government realized that we were occupying a space they had previously managed.

We were unable to make further progress through the ministry. We wanted to establish socially owned enterprises so that the municipal and regional governments, using the resources allocated to them, could contract these enterprises to work within the territory. But this touched on vested interests: certain political groups that controlled those contracts did not allow the project to move forward.

Later on, the BRICOMs ceased to function. Then there was another initiative called BRICOMILES, with brigades that included the military, but they never actually came into existence. In Carabobo State, this was a ploy to give the impression that the communal councils participated in the projects carried out by the mayor’s office or the governor’s office, when in fact almost all of them were executed by companies linked to those very same government institutions.

Building a commune in an urban setting like Valencia, Carabobo State, means fighting against the individualistic logic of capitalism, compounded by migration and the impact of the country’s economic crisis. How is the commune responding to the challenge of incorporating new generations?

Engaging in politics here, in Carabobo State, primarily within the municipality of Valencia, is very challenging. This is in part because the communal project has not yet been embraced by government institutions. The mayor’s office and the governor’s office are not closely aligned with popular power.

Although on all television and radio shows, government officials claim to work with popular power, reality tells a different story. These institutions lack the political will to fully support the commune.

Despite everything, we have pressed forward with the communal process. We, the communards, are driven by conviction and the idealism of our Comandante Chávez. We strive to ensure that our territories, be they urban or rural, since our commune includes both, develop with the goal of making the commune economically self-sustaining over time.

Regarding the process of engaging young people, we prioritize culture in the territory. We try to involve the youth in cultural activities, music, modeling, and educational programs. In the commune, we’re offering courses in more practical fields such as hairdressing, baking, cosmetics, and safe operation of motorcycle taxis.

Of course, we start by recruiting the youth and then provide them with political orientation. Engaging in politics in the midst of the crisis has been difficult, and even worse since January 3. Since that US attack and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, the political landscape has changed drastically across the board.

Valencia is a stronghold where individualism and unbridled capitalism prevail. Even so, we’re working to spread the commune’s philosophy, including through sports. It’s been another way to reach young people, and we’ve had good results.

From a big-picture perspective, how do you interpret the current relationship between Venezuela and the United States? How have issues such as the oil agreement with the Trump administration been addressed within the commune?

From my perspective, the way to describe Venezuela’s relationship with the United States right now is that the country has entered an era of tutelage. The national government argues that it is a win-win relationship, where the United States needs our resources and we also need its support to exploit them.

We must remember that for many years, our country suffered from US sanctions which caused a great deal of damage. People want to regain the quality of life they once had. Perhaps the Venezuelan economy can rebound if these agreements with the US and multinational corporations create a large number of jobs, which in turn generate other benefits.

Politically, our challenge is to deepen the revolution economically and socially within our territory. But unfortunately we haven’t really discussed national-scale issues, such as the oil agreement, here in the commune. In areas like Carabobo State, other needs take priority on the agenda, such as electricity and public services.

The third and final episode of Jimmy McGovern’s prison anthology drama Time has had BBC viewers saying the same thing

Jimmy McGovern’s gripping drama Time has ended.

The third and final series reached its conclusion on BBC One on Sunday, October 18 and it seems fans were left more than impressed with the episode and the series as a whole starring David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran.

Set inside a Young Offenders Institution (HMYOI Alderwick) it follows the intersecting lives of staff and teenage inmates. A synopsis for the final episode read: “The possibility of romance and an opportunity at work makes Bailey (Tennant) question his choices, and he turns to Marie-Louise (Finneran) in a moment of need.

“She receives the sign she has been waiting for, but debates whether she is able to take a risk. Meanwhile, new evidence complicates loyalties between Peter and his friends, driving tensions higher, and James confronts his fears.”

After the credits rolled, viewers were rushing to X, formerly Twitter, to have their say. One said: “What a programme #Time is that is exceptionally well written by Jimmy McGovern and Sam Bailey. It leaves you with so much to think about.”

A second added: “Time was just spellbounding – the writing, the acting, everything. What drama should be.” Another commented: “Really enjoyed that #Time on @BBCOne with the fabulous #DavidTennant @SFinneranTV.”

A fourth posted: “#Time on @BBC, all three episodes – outstanding and brilliant drama. Possibly the best series of all three.” Agreeing to the post, one responded: “I’d have to agree. @ #Time was astoundingly good. Those young actors – all of them but especially the actor playing Peter. The writing. Just brilliant, emotionally draining but worth it. And glad some good endings.”

Time first began in 2021 and has featured the likes of Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey. McGovern explained that while the first series focused on a male prison and the second series was based on a female prison, he knew he wanted to focus on young offenders next, but didn’t have a story.

That was until he found a real-life story in his research about a mother going to see her son in a Young Offenders Institution, whom she hadn’t seen for years.

Speaking to RadioTimes about the series ending he said: “There’s very little altruism involved with these stories. I do them because I love doing them, although I think this will be the last time. I have said that many a time before, though, because these are also stories I feel bound to tell.”

Ahead of the series launch, Tennant, who plays Bobby Bailey, said of taking on the role: “Initially, you go, ‘It’s a Jimmy McGovern script, I’ve never worked with him, he’s the guv’nor and this is an opportunity I can’t pass up.’

“Then you read the script and what Jimmy and [co-writer] Sam Bailey have created is just so human and accessible. I was a huge admirer of the first two series; prison is such a fertile ground for storytelling, because it’s such an extreme situation, pushing that human experience to the limits.

“So, while these aren’t necessarily the easiest stories, they’re the best stories and exactly the kind of characters you want to have a go at.”

Meanwhile Finneran, who plays the returning character of Marie-Louise O’Dell, said of coming back for series 3: “Who doesn’t want to work on a McGovern script? They’re raw, but written with real heart and care, so it was a pretty big yes. I’m thrilled to bits.”

Time is available to stream on BBC iPlayer