wow88

wow88

The businessman was described as a “close confidante” of The Duke The Duke of York has said he “ceased all contact” with the businessman accused of being a Chinese spy when concerns were first raised about him. Andrew met the individual through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”, a statement from his office said. The businessman – known only as H6 – lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds. He brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after then-home secretary Suella Braverman said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023. H6 was described as a “close confidante” of The Duke. Judges were told that in a briefing for the home secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”. They also said that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which combined with his relationship with Andrew, 64, represented a threat to national security. A statement from Andrew’s office said: “The Duke of York followed advice from His Majesty’s Government and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.” At a hearing in July, the specialist tribunal heard that the businessman was told by an adviser to Andrew that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party in 2020. A letter referencing the birthday party from the adviser, Dominic Hampshire, was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021. In a ruling on Thursday, Mr Justice Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon, dismissed the challenge.

Strictly star embarrassed after accidentally appearing in underwear on TikTok

On , four NFL teams will play on the holiday for the fifth consecutive season, but this year the games will be streamed on Netflix. The event will also include a star-studded halftime show featuring , who made a playful dig at the streaming platform. Beyoncé will headline the second game on Christmas Day, where the Baltimore Ravens will face off against the Houston Texans. This game is a fitting backdrop for her most recent album, ' ,' a tribute to her Texas roots and a blend of country and R&B. The megastar took to social media to promote her upcoming performance with a clip, humorously poking fun at the streaming giant that recently experienced technical issues during the fight. In the 30-second video, Beyoncé is playing a banjo while the clip lags when focused on her face as she winks. The streaming giant, in response to the recent technical issues, has made significant efforts to optimize their technology and for the Christmas Day games. I’m sending you big joy and love on this Cowboy Christmas Eve ❤️ I’ll see y’all tomorrow, in my city HTX 🤟🏽🏈🪕🌵🎄 — BEYONCÉ (@Beyonce) The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET followed by the Baltimore Ravens taking on the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET. NFL viewers can subscribe to any Netflix plan to access Wednesday's doubleheader broadcast, starting with the "standard with ads" option for $6.99 per month, up to the "premium" plan at $22.99 per month. However, there are some exceptions to this. Fans who have the NFL’s premium subscription service, NFL+, can stream each game on their mobile devices using the NFL app. Beyoncé halftime show will take place during the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans game which will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Sportswatch Daily Listings

Mayor Fule looks back on 2024

Sportswatch Daily ListingsDuring the 37 th Awit Awards at the Music Museum last December 4, Parokya ni Edgar was conferred the Gawad ng Musikang Pilipino Award. Guitarist Gab Chee Kee first spoke thanking people followed by drummer Dindin Moreno who came on “in case (Gab) forgot to mention other people.” In Moreno’s short spiel, he recounted how Parokya ni Edgar was nominated for several awards during the 1996 edition held at the AFP Theater inside Camp Aguinaldo. But the band did not win anything. Two women behind them consoled them, “Huwag kayong susuko. Mananalo rin kayo.” Moreno offered the same advice to today’s young bands – “huwag kayong susuko.” I had left the Music Museum by the time Parokya ni Edgar received the deserved award. Learning about it, my heart swelled with pride. In the early 1990s, after the Eraserheads led the alternative band explosion in the country, every record company was in search of the next big thing. I was working for Universal Records at that time handling the company’s jazz and classical labels. It was rather surprising that my old boss, Ramon Chuaying, hired someone who loved rock music and all its sub-genres to handle jazz and classical music The manager who previously handled the position was asked to do something else. Chuaying had a radical idea – what if we hired someone who didn’t appreciate the music to market and sell it? If it didn’t work, then it was worth a try. If it did, then Chuaying was a genius. Me? I wanted to show the disbelievers that it would work. Of course, it was a gamble but I turned sales around by approaching jazz and classical as if I were promoting pop acts. Anyways, sales jumped when I took over. By late 1993, the person in charge of getting bands could not get anyone. My Ateneo batchmate and Cubao neighbor, Dominic Gamboa of the reggae band Tropical Depression, gave me a demo tape (recorded at Stephen Lu’s Loudhouse Productions), but UR bosses supposed that the only reggae people listened to is from Bob Marley and the Wailers. Much to my disappointment, they gave the thumbs down. Then Je Bautista, one year ahead of me at the Ateneo, bassist for Betrayed, fellow Rush and baseball fan, called me at home, and invited me to watch his band, “Put3ska.” “Ska sila,” Je said over the phone like magic words. We were both weaned on 2-Tone ska; that is all I needed to hear. So I went down to Malabon, loath as I was to go there. When I saw them, I was entranced. “Game,” I said to Je. Except my bosses were not impressed. “No one in the Philippines likes Mexican music,” was their reason. Sic, right? When we missed out on Color It Red, I was now upset. I was such a fan of the band. So I asked permission to sign some bands. After all, I was the one in the band scene. There were initially two bands I targeted from a list of seven bands. The first was Datu’s Tribe, followed by Parokya ni Edgar. Then came Fatal Posporos, Indio I, Sugar Hiccup, Sonnet 58, and Keltscross. Datu’s was easy to sign. The problem came after the first two songs they recorded, one of which was “Sarsa Platoon.” My bosses and the other manager look on with disdain. “No one listens to hard rock,” my boss yelled at me. “But we just sold 30,000 cds of Bon Jovi’s ‘Slippery When Wet.’” That’s different. I was rebutted, they are international stars. UR was willing to cut their early losses and run. For me to get Datu’s Tribe back on track, WLS and Triggerman. I called up Triggerman and placed the phone next to the speaker for him to listen to “Sarsa Platoon.” “Oo, pare,” enthused Milo (aka Triggerman), “Dalhin mo sila sa acoustic live show sa Sunday. Tugtog sila.” I called up their manager, Patrick Reidenbach, my Ateneo classmate who also owned Club Dredd, and informed him about the developments. When we performed on WLS that Sunday, the station was bombarded with calls about their upcoming recordings. I got a message on my pager about this live stunt as “preempting any marketing plans.” I was incensed. The chip on my shoulder was back. Anyways, Datu’s Tribe’s debut album went gold (20,000 units sold; we actually sold 22,000) as we proved their music – and Filipino hard rock would sell. And that was the first time Filipino hard rock sold that many units. Then came Paroka ni Edgar. Having struck out on Tropical Depression and Put3ska, Reidenbach called me at home (via the telephone because we never called them landlines back in the day). “Ricky,” Pat said, “Come over to Dredd because we have this band from Ateneo playing. And (our classmate) Ricky Santillan was managing them.” Ricky was invited by Patrick to have a look-see at the band at Dredd. “Maybe you can manage them so no one screws them over,” Ricky recalled Pat telling him. Those were the days when they covered Hagibis’ “Katawan” and dressed in dusters (Chito wearing a blue floral duster to go with boots). When I reunited with my old classmates, Ricky handed me his calling card which had the nickname “Rastaman”. Like me, we had gone into advertising. Tokayo stayed in the game when I got tired of clients calling me at home or paging me at midnight. When I saw them at Dredd, I fell in love with the band from the get-go. I saw them a few more times – not just at Dredd, but also 70s Bistro, at some shows in Ateneo and UP, that confirmed what I first felt. These guys had songs that would have crowds singing along as well as playable on radio, and they had magnetism and engaged the crowd. Plus, they kept the crowd in stitches. That is always a plus in my book. There was some affinity as well. Gab’s mom, Ching, was my English and homeroom teacher during fourth-year high school Ateneo. Mam Chee Kee was instrumental in getting me to take writing seriously. I remember that day when I brought Bella Tan for that Club Dredd audition. We left the office at Grace Park early to have an early dinner at her Talayan Village residence then got to Dredd (in her white Mercedes Benz) at exactly 6pm. Dredd opened early specifically for us. Just for the audition. Besides, the crowds did not arrive until past 8pm. It was just Bella, Ricky, my cousin John who lived with us then and asked if he could attend, and me. The band of course. They sang two songs – “Pangarap Ko Sa Buhay” – and Bella began giggling. That’s a good sign, I mused. By “Chikinini”, she was up and applauding. The third song that Tokayo and I lined up was “Nakaw ang Wallet Ko” but we never got there. The audition was over. Bella met with all and agreed to sign them. A day later, Bella met us managers at the office to discuss “the new signing”. While I was excited, my heart sank when the collective agreed to record only one song for a compilation. At that point, Datu’s Tribe hadn’t finished recording their debut, and we had nothing to show. I couldn’t hold back and reasoned that they had enough strong material for two whole albums. I pushed my luck, “If you don’t believe in them, I will take them to BMG.” “You can’t do that,” blurted out one manager. “I can,” I shot back. “We haven’t signed them anyways.” But I got what I wanted – a full album. I sat down with Santillan and the band to tell them what transpired. About two months later, now with other labels sniffing around Parokya’s shows, we signed the band. At the same time, some naysayers thought that novelty bands were not going to sell. If you look at the photo during that contract signing from the standing left, it’s Gab Chee Kee, Vinci Montaner, Chito Miranda, UR’s Jesse Saclo, me in the middle wearing a t-shirt of alt band the Youth, Dindin Moreno, Buwi Meneses, and Darius Semana. Seated are Ricky Santillan and Bella Tan. I was pretty pleased with myself. I shook hands with Tokayo and said, “Now, we prove people wrong.” Except a few weeks later, Santillan came over to the office for one of those early creative meetings for the upcoming recording, to inform us that he was moving to Singapore to join Bates Advertising in Jakarta. Ricky and Bella asked if I wanted to manage the band. I thought about it for a good 30 minutes and then declined. I had just gotten married and was on the family way. We didn’t have any house helpers and the prospect of being away on gigs as well as out-of-town shows was going to be a problem. At that time, Robert Javier was recommended by Ito Rapadas to produce their debut album. When I declined, he recommended Richard Tan, who was his manager with the Youth. Then Khangkhungkherrnitz , the debut album, was a massive hit. Barely a year later, the sophomore release, Buruguduystunstugudunstuy followed; once more a massive hit album. And Parokya was like a runaway freight train scoring one hit song, one hit album after another. The success of Parokya ni Edgar and Datu’s Tribe opened the door for other bands to join Universal Records – Kamikazee, Orange & Lemons, Sponge Cola, Rivermaya (for one album), and some others. Parokya? They were doing quite nicely for themselves. I remember after one US tour, I had coffee with Dindin somewhere in Maginhawa Street (he had some CDs for me as pasalubong) and he told me that since graduation, he never had a corporate job since the band paid well. When I met up with the band during a show at the Metrotent in October 2019 for what would be my first ever Parokya ni Edgar article, Chito sat next to me and showed me their schedule for the next three months. They were playing like every two or three nights. “Wow,” was all I could say. As we reminisced about the good old days, Chito asked me on the side if I ever regretted not managing them. My answer was this, “No. Not at all. Not once. In fact, I have followed you guys from afar and have been very happy for the band’s success.” Chito gave me a fist bump and a bro hug. When they received their Awit Award, like a proud distant relative, I cheered them as always from afar. Their sustained success is well-deserved and a product of their hard work. And my mind raced back to those early days at Club Dredd along Edsa. Image credits: Rick Olivares

The UK, Italy and Japan on Friday launched a joint venture to develop a supersonic next-generation fighter jet by 2035, replacing the Eurofighter Typhoon. Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co Ltd (JAIEC) will each hold a 33.3 percent share in the new venture, "marking a pivotal moment for the international aerospace and defense industry," they announced in a press release. JAIEC is a firm jointly funded by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies. "Today's agreement is a culmination of many months working together with our industry partners and is testament to the hard work of everyone involved in this strategically important program," said Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems Chief Executive. The venture will "bring together the significant strengths and expertise of the companies involved to create an innovative organization that will lead the way in developing a next generation combat air system, creating long-term, high value and skilled jobs across the partner nations for decades to come," he added. The three partners have agreed to form a new company under the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), a multinational initiative established by the UK, Japan and Italy in 2022 to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter to replace the Typhoon and Japanese F-2. The joint venture is expected to be established by the middle of 2025 and will undertake the design and development of the GCAP aircraft. It will subcontract the manufacturing and final assembly of the aircraft to BAE Systems, Leonardo, MHI and the wider supply chain. The aircraft is due to enter service in 2035, ahead of the competing European project FCAS -- led by Paris, Berlin and Madrid -- and is expected to be in service until 2070. The new company will be headquartered in the UK and its first CEO, whose name has not been announced, will be Italian. "The way might not always be simple and straightforward. However, I believe that through continuing the strong spirit of trilateral cooperation and collaboration... we will not only deliver the GCAP on time but also at a level that exceeds all of our expectations," said JAIEC president Kimito Nakae. The Italian defense ministry has already allocated 8.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion) to the program, Roberto Cingolani, the CEO of Leonardo, said in November, although the total budget of the project has yet to be revealed. Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto hailed the announcement as an "important step" and "a remarkable example of the strong international cooperation between our nations". GCAP aims to counter the threats posed by Russia and China and will merge two different aircraft program -- the UK and Italy's "Tempest" and Japan's "F-X". The objective is to develop a twin-engine stealth aircraft that could be operated with or without a crew, would boast features such as laser-directed weapons and a virtual cockpit and would be much harder to detect using radar and infrared. New technologies being explored for Tempest include the integration of AI and augmented reality and the ability to conduct missions alongside drones. Visiting the Farnborough Air Show in July, where a model of the aircraft was unveiled, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed "just how important a program this is" for the country. But Mike Schoellhorn, the CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, said in July that the competition between GCAP and FCAS was "not logical". Cingolani has not ruled out a possible rapprochement. "I'm not saying merging, maybe this is too much, but for sure some collaboration. It's too early to say, we're just at the beginning," he told AFP.DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An American citizen who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system was suddenly discovered Thursday outside Damascus after being released and handed over to rebel forces, Syria’s new authorities said. The political affairs office of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that led the lightning offensive to topple Assad’s government, said the group had secured the release of U.S. citizen Travis Timmerman. In interviews with media in Syria, Timmerman said he was imprisoned after crossing from Lebanon into Syria on a Christian pilgrimage. He appeared to be among the thousands of people released from Syria's sprawling military prisons this week after rebels reached Damascus, overthrowing Assad and ending his family’s 54-year rule. “We affirm our readiness to cooperate directly with the U.S. administration to complete the search for American citizens disappeared by the former Assad regime,” the group said, adding that a search was underway for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. As footage emerged online Thursday of Timmerman, looking disheveled and disoriented as rebels led him out of a family's home near Damascus, some initially mistook him for Tice. In the video, Timmerman could be seen lying on a mattress under a blanket. A group of men in the video said that he was being treated well and would be safely returned home. A Syrian family told The Associated Press they found Timmerman barefoot on a main road in the countryside of Damascus early on Thursday. He appeared cold and hungry so they brought him back to their home. “I fed him and called a doctor,” said Mosaed al-Rifai, the 68-year-old waste collector who first found Timmerman. Al-Rifai said it was hard to communicate because of the language barrier but it seemed Timmerman had been held by an internal security agency. A few hours after al-Rifai discovered him, rebels arrived at the family’s house to pick him up, he said. Mouaz Mostafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based nonprofit group, said he met Timmerman at the house and arranged for a car to take him to Damascus, where the new authorities gave the ex-detainee food and water and brought him clothes and shoes. Timmerman had lice in his long, unkempt hair, Mostafa said, and reported walking for 13 miles barefoot before being discovered. Timmerman — now recovering until the rebels can figure out how to hand him to U.S. authorities — was planning to get to Jordan after his release to obtain a new passport, Mostafa said. Earlier this year, a Missouri State Highway Patrol bulletin identified him as “Pete Travis Timmerman,” 29, and said he had gone missing in Hungary in early June. In late August, Hungarian police put out a missing persons announcement for “Travis Pete Timmerman,” saying he was last seen at a church in Hungary’s capital, Budapest. Authorities in Missouri and Hungary had shared photos of a young man who strongly resembles the ex-prisoner who identified himself as “Travis Timmerman" in interviews with international news outlets on Thursday. Missouri court records indicate Timmerman is from Urbana, Missouri, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Springfield in the southwestern part of the state. A graduation list from Missouri State University shows he earned his bachelor’s degree in finance in the spring of 2017. Timmerman’s mother, Stacey Collins Gardiner, told National Public Radio that he returned home to Urbana after working in Chicago for a couple of years. He then left for Budapest with the goal of writing about his Christian faith and helping people, she said. Timmerman had warned her, she added, that his travels might make communication difficult. After losing contact with him during his stay in Hungary, Gardiner later learned that her son had gone to Lebanon. On Thursday, she heard that he was found through the media. “I will hug him. ... And then I probably won’t let him go,” she said, laughing. “I’ll say, well, thank God you’re still alive. And I’m so happy. Our prayers came true." U.S. officials said they were working to confirm Timmerman's identity and provide the support. From Aqaba, Jordan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the White House was “working to bring him home, to bring him out of Syria” but declined further comment for privacy reasons. Timmerman, with a scraggly beard and grey sweatshirt, later spoke with the Al-Arabiya TV network, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle seven months ago before being detained and held in a cell alone. He said that he was treated well in detention, but could hear other young men being tortured. “It was OK. I was fed. I was watered. The one difficulty was that I couldn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to,” he said. He said he was only allowed to go three times a day. “I was not beaten and the guards treated me decently,” he added. Washington's top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, traveled to Lebanon earlier this week in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Tice. President Joe Biden has said his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged on Sunday that “we have no direct evidence” of his status. The case has frustrated U.S. intelligence officials for years. On Thursday, Blinken emphasized the administration’s work on Tice's case. “Every single day we are working to find him and to bring him home” Blinken said. "This is a priority for the United States.” Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus in August 2012 as the Syrian civil war intensified. A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men. He hasn't been heard from since. Assad's government had denied that it was holding him. ___ Follow the AP's Syria coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/syria The Associated Press