Aussies are being warned to check their mobile and wearable payment devices or risk being unable to purchase items this New Year’s Eve.
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60,000k Aussies could be without eftpos this New Year’s Eve
Congo ferry tragedy leaves 38 dead, over 100 missing
There are fears more than 100 people could have died in the Congo after an overloaded ferry full of people returning home for Christmas capsized.
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Sara Tendulkar Turns Mermaid On Lizard Island, Flaunts Stunning Figure
Sara Tendulkar shared photos from her vacation in Australia. Let's take a look at her mermaid vibes in the water.
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Penny Lancaster reveals reason she plucked up courage to call out bullying by TV’s Gregg Wallace
PENNY Lancaster says hubby Sir Rod Stewart gave her the courage to call out bullying by TV’s Gregg Wallace.
She said other women have also been in touch to share their experiences with the shamed host of MasterChef.
In an online post Sir Rod, 79, called Wallace a “tubby, bald-headed, bully” for his treatment of Penny, 53, on the celebrity version of the BBC cooking show in 2021.
Loose Women’s Penny said: “Obviously it didn’t surprise me that my husband had done that and it didn’t surprise me about the incidents that Gregg Wallace has been accused of.”
Asked if she would not have felt confident speaking up without rocker Sir Rod’s support, Penny said: “Exactly, yeah. That is why you so often hear historical cases and people kind of question why it takes someone so long to come forward.
“It is that bravery of: ‘Maybe I am the only one? Maybe I won’t be taken seriously?’ Then suddenly you have the backing and support of other people and you feel like you are going to be listened to.”
Speaking about other women reaching out to her, she said: “In and around that conversation, yeah.
“I know a lot of people in the industry and it hasn’t really been a surprise to anyone.
“It is just a shame that so many women feel like they can’t reach out at the time because they don’t feel supported – so hopefully this will have more of a mark on the industry to protect and safeguard.”
Wallace, 60, is suspended over claims of sexual misconduct, which he denies.
Emotional Gareth Southgate reveals song he played on repeat after deciding to quit as England boss
GARETH Southgate played Adele’s Someone Like You on repeat after deciding to quit as England boss.
It is one of eight tracks the 54-year-old chooses on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs this morning.
He tells host Lauren Laverne: “I kept playing it towards the end of the last Euros because I knew I was going to be leaving.
“Even if I hear it today, it relates to my relationship with England and their relationship to me and how I feel about it all.”
Host Lauren Laverne said: “So leaving someone who is once in a lifetime behind?”
Gareth responded: “Yeah and they have got to move on and you wish them the best and there are regrets but there are actually memories that were made and there were so many lines within it they really resonate with me.”
Its lyrics include: “Never mind, I’ll find someone like you; I wish nothing but the best for you, too; Don’t forget me, I beg; I remember you said; Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.”
Gareth thanked Adele for her support during the Euros in 2020 during ITV’s An Audience with Adele at the London Palladium in 2021.
It comes as The Sun on Sunday revealed last week that Gareth will get a knighthood in the New Year Honours List.
He will follow in the footsteps of Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey in being knighted for services to sport after steering the men’s footie side to two Euro finals.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel takes over as England head coach on January 1.
Fresh blow to Marcus Rashford as Man Utd ace is DUMPED by girlfriend who is set to go on Love Island All Stars
MARCUS Rashford’s Love Islander girlfriend has dumped him — ahead of her speedy return to the villa in the new year.
The Sun on Sunday last month revealed the Man Utd star, 25, had gone on dates with Grace Jackson, also 25, who was on this year’s series of the ITV show.
A source revealed: “Grace realised that Marcus wasn’t serious about her and has unfollowed him on Instagram.
“She realised there was no future so she has decided to cut ties.
“When the opportunity arose to take part in Love Island All Stars this winter Grace jumped at the chance, she is still young in her career and is keen to maximise the exposure to help with her modelling work and net campaign deals.
“If she finds love on the show that’s a bonus, especially since she didn’t meet a suitable match in the summer.
“As far as she is concerned it’s Marcus’ loss, she is putting her best foot forward and can’t wait to enjoy some winter sun in gloomy January.”
Marcus had previously been in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart Lucia Loi before they split last year.
In August, former shop worker Grace, who has amassed 594,000 followers on Instagram since leaving the villa, landed a six-figure deal with fashion and shoe brand EGO.
An ITV spokeswoman said: “Any names suggested are speculation until our line-up is officially announced.”
Marcus, who has won 60 senior international caps for England, was dropped from the Manchester derby facing bitter rivals City last weekend and hinted last week that he is ready to leave Old Trafford.
Speaking at a visit to his old primary school, Button Lane, in Manchester, to hand out Christmas presents, he said: “I think I’m ready for a new challenge.”
Chloe Madeley breaks silence about being groped by rugby legend just yards from then husband James Haskell
CHLOE Madeley has spoken for the first time about being groped by a rugby star, revealing: “He grabbed my a*se”.
The Sun on Sunday revealed last month how it happened as she was in a DJ booth with her then-husband James Haskell.
He wrote about it in a book he co-wrote — saying one player propositioned Chloe while his “supposedly squeaky clean” team-mate touched her bum.
Speaking exclusively to our Fabulous magazine, Chloe, 37, said: “I don’t want to belittle anyone else’s awful experiences at the hands of disgusting men and I would never want to be insensitive.
“But this incident was such a non-event for me.
“Everybody had been drinking for multiple hours. It happened so quickly and I was like, ‘OK, some guy just grabbed my arse’.
“I told James about it on the way home. He was really good and asked how I felt. I said, ‘Hmm, everyone was drunk,’ and I honestly never thought about it again until he wrote the book.”
But fitness trainer Chloe, who split from England rugby star James in 2023 after nearly ten years together, added: “I don’t think it’s OK for men to touch women or say inappropriate things thinking it’s ‘banter’.
“But it was one of those situations where I didn’t feel threatened and no trauma had been inflicted.
“It was just a thing that happened. In that particular environment, it wasn’t particularly surprising.
“I was hesitant to come out and say that. Either I lie and pretend it was soul-destroying or tell the truth and look insensitive, which I’m not trying to.”
The new Wallace & Gromit? It’s like a Robert De Niro thriller….with penguins, says creator Nick Park
WALLACE & Gromit master-mind Nick Park describes his new film as “Cape Fear with penguins” – and only created it so he could share a fun joke about artificial intelligence.
His much-loved animation movie series about the loveable Plasticine pair makes an eagerly awaited Christmas Day return on BBC One after a 16-year hiatus.
Sixth film Vengeance Most Fowl will include fun nods to 1991 psychological thriller Cape Fear, starring Robert De Niro, as well as the release from captivity of a former Wallace & Gromit penguin baddie now hell-bent on revenge.
But Nick, 66, reveals the inspiration for his festive comeback — featuring eccentric inventor Wallace’s latest creation, AI-generated robotic gnome Norbot — began with a two-word gag.
The whole film beganwith a joke…the AI robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying ‘AI, lad!’ to him
Creator Nick Parker
He explained: “I’ve got too many ideas, although the idea for this one came about accidentally.
“It often starts with a joke, a doodle or a sketch — and this time was no different. Creating an AI-generated robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying, ‘AI, lad!’ and we built the whole film around that.”
It is 35 years since his movie saga’s first instalment, 1989 short Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out, and Nick added of the latest film:
“It is also a kind of love letter to the fans and to the legacy of Wallace and Gromit.”
Viewers will see Wallace and Norbot become prime suspects for a crimewave and, while Wallace pleads his innocence, it is up to his loyal beagle Gromit to battle their dastardly penguin nemesis Feathers McGraw.
Eureka moment
Feathers, confined behind zoo bars for 30 years after Wallace and Gromit turned him over to police in the 1993 Oscar-winning short Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, is now free and plotting to settle a score with the popular pair.
Nick revealed Feathers — another of his Plasticine figures, who disguises himself as a chicken by wearing a red rubber glove on his head — was brought back in a eureka moment as the film’s creative aces brainstormed for a new storyline.
He said: “It sounds crazy, but it was a lightning strike — there was Feathers McGraw on the shelf. We had a wonderfully motivated villain, someone who was put away by Wallace and Gromit. So it became like Cape Fear with penguins.”
“I could never find a good reason or context to bring Feathers back before.”
Nick added: “He’s been in the zoo plotting his revenge for years — that’s what made him such a good villain. There’s a real personal edge to it.
“You’ve got to love your villains, otherwise you can’t tell their story.
“Feathers is that silent, cold, sinister character. I guess it’s the art of minimalism and nuance, and achieving a lot by doing very little.
“You just believe in what he’s thinking, that he’s a totally alive, sinister, enigmatic, mysterious villain.
“Feathers is perfect for what we needed, he answers all the story problems. That’s what we’ve played on big-time with this film.”
Nick also tells how he wanted to bring to kids his own childhood experience of being thrilled watching TV shows such as Doctor Who while hiding nervously behind the sofa.
But he added: “Feathers is a fun villain. We never go to very dark places — it’s cartoon level. I used to love being scared as a child, watching Doctor Who while hiding behind the sofa, so this film is a bit scary but hopefully in a way that’s fun.”
No character has ever died in the Wallace & Gromit films.
Nick said: “We have thought about killing characters off but I try not to go there, so there’s always a chance of redemption.” And the genius movie-maker does not shy away from the issues of the day, including AI.
Nick said of his introduction of Norbot: “Wallace and Gromit are still quaintly old-fashioned, with the modern thread of up-to-date tech, but they won’t get totally up to date, ever.
“If it’s got any kind of serious message it’s really just a question of, ‘Is technology actually taking something away from our human experience or is it enhancing?’.”
Following a hugely successful promotional tour of the US, globally renowned Nick has returned home to Preston, Lancs, where he was born to a seamstress mum and architectural photographer dad.
He insists he has never forgotten his roots nor been seduced by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
Nick said: “I never thought playing with Plasticine would lead to going to Tinseltown.”
And he added of his animation characters: “I sometimes have to pinch myself when I hear people on TV reeling off their names, thinking, ‘I just thought of those as a stupid idea as a student, but now they’re like a household name and people quote them all the time’. The warmth for these characters is incredible.”
Nick will watch the Christmas Day special at home with his family in Preston, over a glass of wine and a hot mince pie with cream — like so many of us.
He said: “It’s very much part of my Christmas tradition. I’ll be with my wife and stepson, and we’ll be sitting down to watch it. After that, I’ll have a long lie down.”
He cannot wait to see on screen the results of an 18-month labour of love for him and a team that includes 35 animators.
He said: “People often say, ‘You must need a lot of patience for animation’ . . . which is true.
‘Sad loss of Peter’
“If we had a good week, we’d film about a minute of the film.
“I always think it’s more your loved ones and your friends that need the patience, because they kind of lose you for a while.”
He added of the sure-fire ratings sensation: “Watching when it’s going out live, you feel like you’re watching along with everyone else.
“It’s important, going back to the days when we all watched the same things on telly and talked about them. Wallace & Gromit appeals to such an age range. Grandparents and children can watch it together. I love the idea that it brings families together.”
But it will not be the only TV he will look out for this Christmas.
Nick said: “I’ll also be watching Gavin & Stacey, Doctor Who, and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — one of my favourite programmes, as I love the banter.”
Poignantly, the new film will also feature the new voice of cheese-loving Wallace, Ben Whitehead, as he replaces veteran actor Peter Sallis who died in 2017 aged 96.
Peter had played the role since Nick wrote to him while a student in 1983, and the star agreed to work on A Grand Day Out in return for a £50 charity donation. He went on to appear in all the other Wallace & Gromit films — The Wrong Trousers, 1995’s A Close Shave, 2005’s The Curse of The Were-Rabbit and 2008’s A Matter Of Loaf And Death, as well as video games and ads.
But when Peter’s eyesight began to make it hard to read his words, he sometimes asked Ben to step in.
Nick said: “We’ve been so blessed, since the sad loss of Peter, that the character can live on. It’s very much a tribute — and his were very big shoes to step into.
“We’ve known Ben for years — he started off playing a background villager in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, and we discovered he could do a fantastic mimic of Wallace.”
He added of filming the latest movie: “Ben is so attentive to the way Peter did everything, so it was the most eerie feeling, as he would start chatting in character, just the way Peter did.
“He’d studied him so much and has it down to a tee. I wonder if audiences will tell the difference.”
Nick also hopes fans will enjoy new creations including Norbot, voiced by Reece Shearsmith.
Nick also persuaded Peter Kay to reprise the part he played in Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, as PC Albert Mackintosh.
Laughing, Nick said of Peter’s screen character, “He’s been promoted, he’s Chief Inspector now,” and added: “Peter has been brilliant He’s a comic legend and to have him say yes is such an honour.”
The film also features cameos from Philomena Cunk comic Diane Morgan and Sir Lenny Henry, and Nick said: “At the end of the day I just want to entertain people, make people laugh and to feel they’ve had a really great time with the characters.”
So can we also expect another film after Vengeance Most Fowl? Well, Nick has no plans to call time.
He said: “If you’ve got that creative impulse you can’t just put your feet up.
“You want to keep trying new things, and Wallace and Gromit keep offering new opportunities so I’ve got no intention of retiring just yet.”
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is on Christmas Day at 6.10pm, BBC One
I cried for weeks after Emmerdale axe but then something unexpected happened, reveals Daisy Campbell
EMMERDALE star Daisy Campbell was so devastated at being axed from the soap that she begged bosses to kill off her character.
But it has led to love blossoming with her secret boyfriend this Christmas.
Talking about her new fella for the first time, 21-year-old Daisy says her beau Nick is the silver lining to leaving the ITV drama after 13 years.
She wept for weeks and hid her exit as beauty salon worker Amelia Spencer from most of her cast-mates.
Behind the scenes, love developed as Nick consoled her.
Daisy, who departed on screen on Friday, now believes “everything happens for a reason” and the couple are going on a trip to New York to kick-start 2025.
She said: “It’s been quite a year. I was always so focused on my career.
“Finding love just happens when you don’t expect it. I first met Nick at school — he was a couple of years above me.
“It’s been a tough year. But now this has come out of the blue and I couldn’t be happier.”
Nick, a facilities manager, joined Daisy in drinking champagne at her home this week as the final scenes as Amelia aired and they will spend Christmas together.
She said: “It wasn’t my decision to leave the show but I’ve become a big believer in things happening for a reason.”
Daisy joined Emmerdale when she was seven and has been involved in some huge storylines, including becoming a teen mum following a drunken romp with Samson Dingle, played by Sam Hall.
Sam, 20, left the soap in August, which Daisy said blindsided her.
She added: “I didn’t see it coming. Then I got an email for me to go upstairs for a meeting.
“My heart just sank, I thought this doesn’t sound very good.” One of the producers then broke the news that they felt her long-serving character had come to the end of the road.
Daisy was so upset she begged bosses to close the door on her ever returning.
She said: “I asked to be killed off. But that’s not what they wanted to do, and of course I respected that.”
Viewers watched this week as her character decided to leave the Dales with daughter Esther.
Daisy said: “Now I’m glad the door has been left open because who knows what might happen.”
And while she is now at peace with her exit, for two months Daisy told only three close cast members — Katie Hill (Sarah Sugden), Rosie Bentham (Gabby Thomas) and Jack Downham (Noah Dingle), revealing that she was too heartbroken to share the news with anyone else.
She said: “I couldn’t really speak about it. It was really hard.”
Daisy did grab some mementos of her time on the show from the set.
She said: “I took all my costumes with me and make-up, along with my tabard from the salon.”
And now she is looking to the future, and does not rule out switching soaps as other stars have done.
Those include Emmerdale’s Claire King, who enjoyed a stint in Corrie before returning as Kim Tate, EastEnders favourite Gillian Taylforth, who played Sandy Roscoe in Hollyoaks before Kathy Beale came back from the dead, and Hollyoaks actress Nikki Sanderson, who swapped the famous Lancs cobbles for Hollyoaks.
Daisy said: “I now firmly believe 2025 is a new beginning — and that’s exciting.”
Fury as 1,000 sex offenders LET OFF after agreeing to take courses under measures first proposed by Labour
NEARLY 1,000 sex offenders were spared prosecution if they signed up for therapy, went to a library or joined educational courses last year, under measures first proposed by David Lammy.
Shock figures show police forces across England and Wales used the controversial Outcome 22 to take no further action on 992 reported offences over the 12 months to March.
The provision, which was brought in to tackle low-level crime by young, first-time offenders, allows cops to halt proceedings if an accused person agrees to take courses to “prevent reoffending”.
But we can reveal the disposal tool is being applied to a string of vile crimes, including grooming, flashing, sexual assault and rape, up to four times as often as in 2020.
Last night, the statistics sparked calls for the Government to stop using Outcome 22 over fears the soft-touch punishments make a mockery of law and order.
Former Met detective Peter Bleksley said: “With each and every agreement, a victim is cheated of seeing justice in court. There is no way this tool should be used for sex offences — let alone this often.”
Last year’s total for England and Wales is more than triple the 278 sex offences disposed of using the measure in the scheme’s first year, after it was introduced in 2019 by the Home Office.
It is just 200 shy of the record 1,167 disposals for sex offenders set in 2022.
And for some serious crimes, including sexual assault on a girl under 13, the rate of Outcome 22 resolutions has quadrupled — from 23 to 104 — in just four years.
Accused predators who agree to join diversionary courses do not get a criminal record as they need not formally admit to an offence.
Outcome 22 was introduced by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who adopted recommendations made by Labour MP David Lammy in a 2017 report about the treatment of minorities in the justice system.
Mr Lammy, now Labour’s Foreign Secretary, suggested cops could delay charges and instead focus on the rehabilitation of suspects before they had to enter a plea.
Last year’s offenders included 87 alleged rapists and 58 accused flashers, who were all reported to police and faced probes.
But instead of them being charged, cops instead gave them the option to take “educational” courses to discourage reoffending.
Examples of so-called diversionary measures given in a booklet issued by the National Police Chiefs’ Council include watching films about the impact of offences on victims.
It also says offenders can channel their energy from crime into “something else, such as sports, arts or libraries”.
Our figures show at least 206 victims — 133 girls and 73 boys — were under the age of 13.
That includes 14 alleged crooks probed on suspicion of sexually assaulting girls under 13 in Nottinghamshire, who were then let off by the county’s police force.
Victims under 13
And Greater Manchester police issued 24 disposals to suspects probed over alleged sexual activity with children under the age of consent.
In Merseyside, 13 accused were put on courses after being investigated for grooming — the most for any force in the country.
Across all sex offences, Essex police used the most diversionary measures, doling out 101 — including nine for alleged rapes.
The intervention tactic is mostly used with teenagers who have committed minor offences, such as petty theft or cannabis possession.
But it has increasingly been used for serious crimes, including sex offences and violent beatings — sparking fears police are failing to properly prosecute offenders.
It was also used 499 times for allegations of having a bladed weapon, 72 times for gun crimes and 4,000 times for assault causing an injury last year.
‘Far too much power’
For all offences, Outcome 22 was applied 24,300 times — 153 per cent higher than the 9,600 given in the scheme’s first year.
Mr Bleksley fumed that cops using diversionary resolutions for sex offences may be abusing their power.
He said: “This measure is overused and, in some cases, abused to prevent people being sent where they should be going — prison — because there is no capacity.
“It’s giving police far too much power. Their job is to gather evidence, arrest people and put cases together for the CPS. They should not be judge, jury and executioner which, essentially, this allows them to do. The punishments must fit the crime.”
Former Tory frontbench MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke called on Labour to reverse the changes proposed by one of Keir Starmer’s most senior Cabinet ministers.
He said: “This is cheating victims, justice and making a mockery of law and order.
“At the very minimum, you would expect these people to be put on the sex offenders’ register if they have admitted to an offence. That can be done at a magistrates’ court.
“We need to crack down so that we don’t have a load of offenders running around the streets who are known to the police, because they’ve been dealt with this way but aren’t registered sex offenders.”
Dr Alison Heydari, NPCC lead for Out Of Court Resolutions, said: “Community resolutions and other out-of-court resolutions are only used in a small number of sexual offence cases. They may be typically applied where children share inappropriate images or in cases of sex between under-age children.
“We have made it clear that out- of-court resolutions are not to be used in serious cases. Officers take into consideration all circumstances of a case, with victims’ wishes at the centre of the decision-making.”
SO WHAT IS OUTCOME 22?
THE little-known Outcome 22 allows police forces to let offenders carry out a rehabilitation activity in return for any future charges being dropped.
Crooks must undertake a diversionary, educational or intervention course as a form of punishment – though they avoid getting a criminal record and don’t have to admit any offence.
It was introduced in 2019 to divert more first-time, petty offenders away from clogged-up courts.
A guide issued to police forces states it may be used in “low-level sexual offences, where education is provided as a result of the investigation but no formal outcome is given”.
Examples of “interventions” that offenders can receive include family support and housing, drug or benefits help.
And so-called “diversionary” measures include criminals’ energy being put into “sports or libraries” instead of offending.
An Outcome 22 disposal is only recorded after an offender has completed their activity.
Absconders, meanwhile, can be re-arrested and face full criminal proceedings.
OFFENCES BREAKDOWN
OFFENCES ‘IGNORED’ BY OUTCOME 22
- Sexual activity with a child under 16: 220
- Sexual assault on a female child under 13: 104
- Rape: 87
- Sexual grooming: 50
- Flashing: 58
- Abuse of children through sexual exploitation: 6
- Causing sexual activity without consent: 5
FORCES WHO USED IT THE MOST FOR SEX OFFENDERS
- Essex: 101
- Leicestershire: 87
- Gtr Manchester: 75
- Merseyside: 70
- West York: 69