Connect with us

NewsBeat

How does the BBC report on extreme weather?

Published

on

How does the BBC report on extreme weather?
Chris Page

BBC News Ireland correspondent

On 23 January, reporting from Westport where Éowyn would make landfall

News stories about extreme weather affect millions of lives – and that is reflected in huge audiences.

Advertisement

For journalists – they are challenging to cover.

We have the task of putting out information and conveying the seriousness of the situation to the public – and also taking steps to keep ourselves safe.

Red warnings indicate there is a danger to life – and the authorities do not take lightly the decision to issue the alert.

Assessing the risk is part and parcel of our approach to these stories.

Advertisement

Camera operator Niall Gallagher and I went to Westport on the Atlantic coast of Ireland ahead of the red warning coming into force.

We knew in advance that some of the strongest winds in the UK and Ireland would be felt on the western seaboard.

During the hours of the highest level of alert – it was clearly too dangerous to go out into the open.

The sight and sound of debris crashing onto the ground bore testament to the risk that the national weather service, Met Éireann, and emergency services have been speaking about.

Advertisement

So we set up for live broadcasting in a tunnel, connecting our hotel car park to the street.

It meant we can have a good look at the scenes outside, and get an idea of how ferocious the gales were – while remaining sheltered.

This enabled us to film pictures which sufficiently put across the savagery of the storm, without taking a major safety risk.

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock A fallen tree blown over in the wind during storm Eowyn in Donegal Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland 24 January 2025. The tree has fallen near a white van and two terraced houses, and has lifted the tarmac from the road with it.EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

This tree narrowly missed two houses in Belfast as winds of more than 90mph were recorded in Northern Ireland

After the red warning expired, we made the decision to head out again – to survey the damage, talk more to local people, and assess the scale of the clear-up which communities were facing.

Advertisement

Covering the most intense storm to hit the island of Ireland in many years is a team effort – and we are always reliant on our colleagues in BBC Northern Ireland, who have been gathering material from numerous towns, cities and villages.

BBCNI’s headquarters at Broadcasting House in Belfast switched to a back-up electricity generator as the busy lunchtime news period approached.

It was a plan to enable the programmes to stay on air, if the wave of power cuts reached the building.

Whether you are in a newsroom or “on the ground” – having a plan B (and often a C and D) is often valuable.

Advertisement

It’s never more important than when covering bad weather.

If the pattern of recent times continues, we’ll be doing it more frequently in the coming years.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

NewsBeat

Nail-biting finale brings series to dramatic end

Published

on

Nail-biting finale brings series to dramatic end
Steven McIntosh

Entertainment reporter

BBC Claudia Winkleman stood in front of the Traitors castle steps with metal basket fires behind herBBC

Warning: This article reveals the outcome of The Traitors.

The third series of The Traitors has been won after a nail-biting conclusion.

The finale saw faithfuls Francesca Rowan-Plowden, Alexander Dragonetti, Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown go up against traitor Charlotte Berman.

Advertisement

After weeks of challenges, murders, roundtables and banishments, the final prize fund stood at £94,600 after the last challenge of the series.

Ex-soldier Leanne and project manager Jake were the final two and split the money after revealing they were both faithfuls.

Leanne squealed and thanked Jake “for not letting me down”.

Jake said: “I feel like my body feels like it’s going to collapse but I’m just so happy.”

Advertisement

The final roundtable was different from previous years in that players who were banished did not reveal whether or not they were a traitor or a faithful as they left.

That meant the remaining contestants had to rely solely on their instincts about whether or not there were any traitors left in the game.

A late twist this year saw Francesca become “the seer”, a power that enabled her to find out the true status of one other contestant.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, the last remaining traitor, Francesca chose her, and was able to find out her fellow player was not the faithful she had assumed.

Advertisement
Francesca and Charlotte on The Traitors

A late twist gave Francesca (left) the power to learn Charlotte (right) was a traitor

The finale comes after a phenomenally successful series for the BBC, which has been watched by an audience of more than nine million, a figure which will rise as more viewers catch up.

That places this series above the previous two and makes The Traitors one of the biggest hits currently on British television.

As in previous years, several of this year’s contestants attracted devoted followings online as the series progressed, with Linda in particular being one of the breakout social media stars.

Her delightfully appalling acting prompted hundreds of gifs and memes on social platforms in recent weeks.

Advertisement

Other stars of the series have included the impressively cunning traitor Minah, the extremely polite Alexander, the intuitive Fozia, and, of course, converted traitor Charlotte and her fake Welsh accent.

Linda on The Traitors

Traitor Linda’s delightfully appalling acting made her a social media hero

The third season has had a notably different narrative arc to the previous two.

In the first season, three faithful contestants won after rooting out the last remaining traitor, Wilf, during the finale. In the second series, original traitor Harry made it to the final, and won.

The third season is different in that none of the original traitors selected in the first episode made it to the end.

Advertisement

The differing routes of each series suggest the show’s format has the potential to last for several more years, as each finale has kept viewers guessing and been hard to predict.

However, the contestants are becoming increasingly aware of the way the show is produced, speculating on the decisions being made behind the scenes.

For example, one of this year’s faithfuls, Elen, correctly speculated in an early episode that there would be more female traitors this year, following a male-heavy line-up last year.

As players become progressively more savvy, producers will have to keep making changes to make sure the show remains fresh and unpredictable, keeping players on their toes.

Advertisement

A celebrity version of The Traitors will air later this year, giving the format another new spin. It has not yet been confirmed who will take part.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

UK ticket holder scoops £83m EuroMillions jackpot

Published

on

UK ticket holder scoops £83m EuroMillions jackpot

A UK ticket-holder has won Friday’s £83 million EuroMillions jackpot, National Lottery operator Allwyn said.

They matched all five main numbers and two lucky stars to take home the entire jackpot.

The winning numbers were 02, 11, 19, 30, 49. The winning lucky stars were 03 and 08.

If claimed, the ticket-holder will decide whether to go public once they receive the money.

Advertisement

Unless they announce the news, there will be no information on where the winner bought the ticket, or whether they entered the draw as an individual or part of a syndicate.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: “Amazing, what a fantastic night for a single UK ticket-holder who has scooped tonight’s £83 million EuroMillions jackpot.

“This lucky winner represents the first UK EuroMillions jackpot win of 2025, what a way to start the year.

“Players are urged to check their tickets and to give us a call if they think they are tonight’s lucky winner.”

Advertisement

Last month, a UK ticket-holder received £177m after winning the jackpot in November. That was the third biggest ever National Lottery pay-out.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Luke Littler: World champion sets up Michael van Gerwen rematch at Dutch Masters

Published

on

Luke Littler: World champion sets up Michael van Gerwen rematch at Dutch Masters

Earlier, there was a major upset as world number one Luke Humphries was beaten 6-3 by home hero Jermaine Wattimena, ranked 35th.

After going 2-0 down, Dutchman Wattimena won five successive legs while throwing some sensational darts in averaging 98.86, more than seven points higher than Humphries – before holding his nerve and his throw to spark wild celebrations.

Wattimena will face world number four Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, after the Englishman beat Richard Veenstra 6-3 in the opening match of the night.

The partisan crowd in Den Bosch had plenty to enjoy with seven of the eight first round matches featuring Dutch players.

Advertisement

And they were also thrilled as Raymond van Barneveld rolled back the years to stun Chris Dobey in an 11-leg thriller.

The 57-year-old was visibly emotional after taking out a 144 checkout in the final leg to beat Dobey 6-5, after the Englishman had missed a match dart.

This was one of numerous exciting games on Friday evening, and followed top seed Stephen Bunting narrowly seeing off Dutch hope Gian van Veen in another 11-leg battle.

Bunting is ranked first at this tournament after winning the Bahrain Masters last weekend, but the Liverpudlian was forced to a deciding leg by van Veen.

Advertisement

He held his nerve in the final set to beat the world youth champion 6-5 and proceed to the last eight where he will face van Barneveld.

The home fans were also delighted by home favourite Kevin Doets cruising to a 6-1 win over world number 11 Nathan Aspinall.

Doets will next play second seed Gerwyn Price, who comfortably beat Danny Noppert 6-2.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Reform UK chairman explains party’s ‘historic breaking of the stranglehold’ after topping poll in shock development

Published

on

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has hailed a “historic breaking of the stranglehold” of Britain’s two main political parties after his party topped a national poll for the first time.

Speaking on GB News, Yusuf said the British public had grown “sick and tired after 14 years of Tory disaster, of incompetence, duplicity and corruption”.


He criticised the Conservative government’s record on immigration, healthcare and infrastructure, claiming they had “built no infrastructure, no hospitals” whilst energy bills “went through the roof because of their crazy net zero policies”.

The Reform chairman accused Labour of taking “all of the appalling things the Tories did and pour[ing] gasoline on it”.

Advertisement
Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf

Zia Yusuf has heralded Reform UK’s success

GB NEWS

A Find Out Now poll published on Friday showed Reform UK leading with 26 per cent of voter support, ahead of the Conservatives on 23 per cent and Labour trailing in third place on 22 per cent.

Advertisement

The Liberal Democrats polled at 12 per cent, with the Greens on 10 per cent.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Nigel FarageNigel FaragePA

The survey of 2,380 UK adults was conducted on January 22.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage celebrated the results on social media, writing: “Reform LEADS for the first time in a national opinion poll. This is just the beginning.”

The milestone comes after two consecutive polls had previously put Reform UK in joint first place.

Advertisement

Find Out Now said Reform UK’s surge was driven by “retaining almost all of their 2024 GE support” – far more than any other party.

Matt Goodwin and Zia Yusuf

Zia Yusuf joined Matt Goodwin on GB News

GB NEWS

Advertisement

The pollster noted the party had won over a fifth of 2024 Conservative voters.

Most significantly, Reform UK captured nearly half (46 per cent) of people who didn’t vote in 2024 but now say they would “definitely vote”.

“Although new Reform UK voters are twice as likely to come from the Conservatives than from Labour, their single-largest source of new supporters is people who didn’t vote in 2024,” Find Out Now added.

A separate Ipsos UK poll found confidence in the UK’s direction had fallen to near pre-election levels, with 62 per cent saying the country was heading in the wrong direction.

Advertisement

The survey revealed widespread dissatisfaction with political leaders, with 52 oer cent viewing Prime Minister Starmer unfavourably and 50 per cent holding negative views of Labour.

Farage emerged as the leader with “the most distinct brand”, according to Ipsos director Gideon Skinner, particularly in “understanding the problems facing Britain”.

However, the Reform UK leader faces his own challenges, with 51 per cent viewing him unfavourably – almost double the 26 per cent who view him positively.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Premiership: Harlequins 22-19 Northampton Saints – Cassius Cleaves’ late try seals win

Published

on

Premiership: Harlequins 22-19 Northampton Saints - Cassius Cleaves' late try seals win

Harlequins: Green; David, Joseph, Waghorn, Cleaves; J Evans, Care; Jones, Walker, Kerrod, Launchbury, Lewies, Kenningham, W Evans, Chisholm.

Replacements: Riley, Els, Lewis, Herbst, Lawday, Porter, Benson, Halfpenny.

Northampton: Ramm; Litchfield, Savala, Hutchinson, Seabrook; Makepeace-Cubitt, McParland; Haffar, Walker, Davison, Mayavanua, Lockett, Kemeny, Pearson, Augustus.

Replacements: Wright, West, Green, Prowse, Hunter-Hill, Scott-Young, James, Glister.

Advertisement

Referee: Luke Pearce.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Our foreign aid spend is totally bonkers and represents a betrayal of British people

Published

on

President Donald Trump, has just paused US foreign aid for 90 days.

Should the UK do the same?


Well, 64 per cent of Brits, nearly two-thirds of people, think we should reduce our foreign aid budget, according to a new poll by YouGov, prioritising very real public concerns.

Our government appears to prioritise international commitments over the domestic needs of our own people.

Advertisement
Matt Goodwin

Matt Goodwin questioned if Britain is spending too much on foreign aid on GB News

GB NEWS

In 2023, the UK’s foreign aid budget reached a whopping £15.3 billion, with £4.3 billion of this sum allocated to domestic refugee programs. A significant increase of £583 million from 2022.

Advertisement

However, concerns have emerged about the allocation of funds to certain recipient countries and the potential misuse of aid.

Donald TrumpDonald TrumpREUTERS

Consider just some of these numbers. Of this £15.3 billion, we sent over £115 million to Afghanistan. They’re a country run by the Taliban which means funds could be used to inadvertently support rebuilding efforts under Taliban control.

Somalia received £98 million, a country which has a history of UK aid falling into the hands of al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab while Somalians here in Britain are also among the most likely to be given social housing, also paid for by the taxpayer

Pakistan was sent £69 million, and is forecast to get £133 million this year, a country who had SOME nationals implicated as key figures in the rape gangs scandal

Advertisement

£58 million was sent to Bangladesh, a country who undermined UK’s efforts to strip citizenship from Shamima Begum, a British-born woman who entered Syria to join the Islamic State at the age of 15 in 2015 – who was eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship.

And lastly, Kenya was sent £48 million – a country where human rights campaigners continue to seek reparations for colonial era grievances.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group revealed in 2024, that £536.4 million is being spent on ten active funding programmes focused on supporting farmers and farming communities abroad while here in Britain we just smashed family farms that have been operating for generations to save some £500 million

In other words we are sending £15 BILLION overseas while taking winter fuel payments off of British pensioners to save £1.5 billion annually.

Advertisement

I think this is totally bonkers, and represents a betrayal of British people.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Prevent under review after failing to stop Southport killer, who else did they miss?

Published

on

Prevent under review after failing to stop Southport killer, who else did they miss?

With the country still reeling from the details that emerged in the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, troubling questions continue to emerge over the many opportunities missed to stop him.

The 18-year-old travelled to a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop at The Hart Space on 29 July last year, before unleashing 15 minutes of horror with a kitchen knife upon defenceless children.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all lost their lives, while 10 others were seriously injured.

The killer, who had a twisted obsession with violence, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years.

Advertisement
Left to right, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar (Merseyside Police/PA)

Left to right, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar (Merseyside Police/PA) (PA Media)

It has emerged there were multiple warning signs that the teenager was plotting an act of evil, with his concerned teachers making referrals to the government’s flagship anti-terror programme Prevent in the years before the attack.

He was referred three times between 2019 and 2021 specifically over concerns about his interest in violence.

They included:

Advertisement
  • In December 2019, he was referred after making comments about a mass shooting
  • In February 2021, a fellow pupil raised concerns after Rudakubana posted images of Colonel Gaddafi on Instagram
  • In April 2021, a teacher raised concerns after noticing he was reading about the 2017 London Bridge attack, in which eight people were killed

Despite the three referrals over Rudakubana, concerns about him were never escalated up the chain, meaning he was not put under enhanced monitoring.

Following his arrest in July, an urgent Prevent review was carried out over the summer which found that while there was evidence he had an obsession with violence, his case was not escalated as he did not appear to fit the mould of a potential extremist.

Ali Harbi Ali was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey for the murder of Sir David (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Ali Harbi Ali was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey for the murder of Sir David (Metropolitan Police/PA) (PA Media)

This is not the first time Prevent has been unable to catch a killer before they embarked on a murderous rampage, prompting a fresh wave of criticism for the government scheme.

Ali Harbi Ali murdered Southend MP Sir David Amess at a constituency surgery in 2021 and is currently serving a whole-life term in prison.

Advertisement

As a teenager, Ali had been referred to Prevent and engaged with the counter-radicalisation programme between 2014 and 2015 but was left unchecked after just one meeting.

He later boasted to the Old Bailey: “I just knew to nod my head and say yes and they would leave me alone afterwards and they did.”

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain ahead of Rudakubana’s sentencing, his daughter Katie Amess said Prevent was not “foiling any terrorist attacks, it is allowing people to commit these crimes”.

Jake Davison’s mother contacted Prevent over concerns for her son

Advertisement
Jake Davison’s mother contacted Prevent over concerns for her son (PA)

She added: “I have been pushing and pushing and pushing for an inquiry from the Conservative government and from, now, the Labour Government.

“I tried to take the Government to court, I tried to take the police to court, and every door that I knock on is slammed in my face. Nobody wants to take accountability, nobody wants to delve into what happened and try and figure out how we can stop it.”

Other killers who had been referred to Prevent but went on to carry out heinous acts also include Plymouth gunman Jake Davison, who murdered five people including a three-year-old girl.

The apprentice crane operator first killed his mother Maxine, who had previously referred him to the scehem in November 2016 after becoming concerned about his behaviour. Despite information that he had a fixation with firearms being passed on to a government representative, the official did not feel it met the criteria for a formal referral.

Advertisement

In August 2021, the 22-year-old shot his mother at their family home before walking the streets and killing four others with his shotgun before taking his own life.

Another killer who appeared to slip through the net was Khairi Saadallah, who went on to stab three men in Reading’s Forbury Gardens on 20 June 2020.

Reading terror attacker Khairi Saadallah was known to Prevent and MI5 (Thames Valley Police/PA)

Reading terror attacker Khairi Saadallah was known to Prevent and MI5 (Thames Valley Police/PA) (PA Media)

Concerns had been raised to community mental health teams, probation officers and Prevent that Saadallah could carry out a London Bridge-style attack due to his extremist views.

Advertisement

He was the subject of dozens of intelligence reports which showed a pattern of violence and references to extremism, and had a string of previous convictions which led to repeated periods in prison from 2015 onwards.

Despite being referred to Prevent four times, he was never taken on a case. He was also “triaged” four times by MI5 between 2017 and 2019 over intelligence he wanted to return to Libya to join ISIS but they assessed he was at “low or no risk” of committing terror offences.

Following Rudakubana’s guilty pleas on Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a review of the Prevent programme to be led by the former terror watchdog, Lord David Anderson KC.

Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper said Lord Anderson will start work “immediately”, adding: “His first task will be to conduct a thorough review of the Prevent history in this case to identify what changes are needed to make sure serious cases are not missed, particularly when there is mixed and unclear ideology.”

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Home Office will look at the thresholds used for Prevent referrals to see how violent behaviour can be “urgently” addressed.

It comes after officials in the department spent the summer investigating Rudakubana’s Prevent referrals and found, “given his age and complex needs”, they should not have been closed.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

The Traitors UK: Twists, turns and betrayals

Published

on

Yasmin Rufo

Entertainment reporter

Watch: The Traitors series three’s most iconic moments

Devious betrayals, shock twists and mortifying fails, this season of The Traitors UK has had it all.

Advertisement

The format-breaking twists began in episode one when the group had to choose three contestants to get off the train to the castle and potentially face leaving the game before it even began.

And the chaos didn’t end there, with daily missions that pitted the group against each other, tears at almost every roundtable and constant eye rolling.

While we ponder what will fill the void left in our weeknight evenings, here’s a look back at the 13 most memorable moments of epic treachery.

Everything about Linda

Advertisement
BBC/Studio Lambert Linda on The TraitorsBBC/Studio Lambert

Linda was the queen of series three

From the moment Linda risked whiplash by turning her head so quickly when Claudia said the word “traitors”, she became the darling of series three.

The retired opera singer channelled her GCSE drama skills to hide her true traitor identity – and even earned herself a central London billboard.

“Oh my god, who the hell is not going to come back?” she asked unconvincingly one breakfast as they waited to see who had been murdered.

Linda’s fiery side began to emerge during the narrowboat challenge, in which the contestants jabbed at each other for their poor rowing skills.

Advertisement

At the roundtable that followed, Linda told Anna witheringly: “You don’t need to be a sailor to know how to tie a rope, sorry.”

But all good things must come to an end, and, by episode seven, the rest of the pack had caught up with faithful Jake, who suspected Linda “from day one”.

Charlotte’s Welsh accent

BBC / Studio Lambert Charlottre reading a bookBBC / Studio Lambert

Charlotte maintained a fake Welsh accent throughout the series

Studies have found the Welsh accent to be the most trustworthy and while that didn’t help Welsh native Elen who was banished second, it certainly came in handy for Charlotte.

Advertisement

“I’m not actually from Wales,” the 33-year-old Londoner privately admitted to the camera in episode one, as she dropped her fake accent.

“I’ve been putting on a Welsh accent because my mum’s from Wales, it’s one of the most trustworthy accents.”

While her fake persona has served her well, it was a hilariously pointless plot twist, and, by the end, her two accents had begun to blur into each other anyway.

Alexander being Alexander

Advertisement
BBC/Studio Lambert Alexander lying in a bush on The TraitorsBBC/Studio Lambert

Remember ladies, Alexander is single

Move over Mark Darcy, there’s a new handsome, charming and slightly bumbling man in town: Alexander.

From falling into a flower bush while playing badminton to opera-singing “Sperbu Yur Wur Wur” – which now lives rent free in my mind – Alexander wins the award for nicest contestant, and, thanks to Claudia, we now know that he’s also single.

After he (literally) did most of the heavy lifting during one of the challenges, the nation gave an audible gasp when fellow faithful Joe claimed Alexander’s tiredness was “an act”.

Kasim’s eye twinkle

Advertisement
BBC/Studio Lambert Kasim at the roundtable on The TraitorsBBC/Studio Lambert

A twinkle in his eye? Kaz won fans among viewers for his warm personality

It was heart-breaking to see loveable doctor Kas ostracised by his fellow contestants in the day before his banishment.

At the roundtable, he hit back at Jake for his illogical theory that Kas must be a traitor because he saves lives during the day and therefore, must kill at night.

“You’re basically calling me Harold Shipman or something!” he replied, in what became one of the most viral moments of the series.

Kas (sort of) got his revenge with his exit speech, as he made the others think he was about to admit to being a traitor before pivoting to the truth.

Advertisement

“Joe, who would have thought you’d caught me based on a twinkle in the eye?” he said before revealing he was, in fact, a faithful.

Spelling troubles

BBC/Studio Lambert Alexander holding blackboard with Mina written on it BBC/Studio Lambert

Alexander corrected the spelling of Minah’s name after she pointed it out

Roundtables are full of treachery, tears and… shocking spelling.

One of the worst cases this series has to be Keith spelling Nathan as “Nather” – but the name people struggled with most was Minah’s.

Advertisement

The traitor (rightfully) wasn’t having any of it and death-stared Anna when she wrote “Meina” on her chalkboard.

She finally broke the apparent code of silence about the cast’s awful spelling when she told Alexander there was a ‘h’ at the end of her name – right before being banished.

Charlotte’s betrayals

BBC / Studio Lambert Charlotte and FreddieBBC / Studio Lambert

Charlotte recruited Freddie as a traitor but had plans to backstab him

Who would’ve thought lovely “Welsh” Charlotte would turn out to be a smiling evil mastermind and betray not one, but two fellow traitors.

Advertisement

First, it was poor Minah. Much to the original traitor’s surprise, Charlotte turned on her at the roundtable – after Minah had spent the whole day telling the cameras she totally trusted her fellow traitor to have her back.

If that wasn’t enough, Charlotte then chose to recruit faithful Freddie and encouraged him to murder Leanne, despite knowing she had the shield.

A cunning move and one that helped her achieve her aim of getting him banished, but perhaps she schemed too hard as Freddie chose to write her name on his card at the roundtable, casting doubts over her true identity.

Sister vs sister

Advertisement
BBC / Listen Entertainment Ltd Armani and Maia BBC / Listen Entertainment Ltd

Maia said she was 60% sure her sister was a traitor

There’s nothing like a bit of family drama (remember Diane and Ross?) and when Armani and Maia revealed they were sisters, viewers knew they were in for a treat.

Armani quickly established herself as the leader of the pack and was even brazen enough to advise her fellow traitors to be bolshier.

But her bold personality quickly came under fire and her fate was sealed by sister Maia who told the roundtable she was 60% sure Armani was a traitor – then voted her out.

Unfortunately for Maia, the remaining traitors chose to kill her off that same night.

Advertisement

Fozia’s home truths

BBC/Studio Lambert Linda and Minah handing paper to Fozia BBC/Studio Lambert

Fozia’s sixth sense was telling her from the start that Linda was a traitor

From the moment Fozia reappeared in the game, she had it in for Linda and (rightly) suspected her of being one of the traitors.

When her suspicions were confirmed during a face-to-face murder by Linda and Minah, she sassily told Linda: “You’re not going to last. Get a good night’s sleep tonight because you’re going next.”

Linda, with equal sass, replied: “Get over it”.

Advertisement

A perfect interaction between the two queens of season three.

Suspended in cages

BBC/Studio Lambert Alexander, Fozia and Jack in cages BBC/Studio Lambert

The group chose to save Fozia and Alexander in one of the missions

A rail replacement service is always bad news… But not this time.

It was when viewers were shown a mysterious carriage marked “rail replacement” that they began to suspect the three faithfuls who sacrificed themselves in episode one might be returning.

Advertisement

The next episode, Alexander, Fozia and Jack appeared in cages suspended above the forest and fellow contestants could choose to save two of them.

Unfortunately for Jack, his plea to stay – “I’m a gardener from Yorkshire and I’m 6’5 so I’d be good in the missions” – wasn’t convincing enough and he was banished from the game forever.

Freddie’s steamy shower

BBC/Studio Lambert Freddie BBC/Studio Lambert

A five-second video of Freddie topless in the shower sent the internet into a frenzy

Among this year’s melodramatic cutaways to contestants supposedly in their hotel rooms was a clip of Charlotte reading a “Learn Welsh” book, priest Lisa praying and Keith practising his martial arts.

Advertisement

But the one that stood out to many viewers was Freddie taking a shower.

The topless video of the 20-year-old sent the internet into a frenzy and of all the thirsty comments on social media, our favourite was a comparison to Peter Andre in the video for Mysterious Girl.

The click/clique turns on Tyler

BBC / Studio Lambert Tyler on The TraitorsBBC / Studio Lambert

Tyler wasn’t all smiles at the roundtable when his clique turned on him

Who knew that central to this year’s show would be the pronunciation of the word clique?

Advertisement

But regardless of how it’s said, the clique – made up of Leanne, Leon, Tyler and Livi – soon turned on their own in an attempt to distance themselves from their supposedly traitorous friendship group.

Ultimately, it was Tyler who was thrown to the wolves at the roundtable in an ambush subtly triggered by scheming Minah.

Lisa’s secret

BBC / Studio Lambert Lisa on The TraitorsBBC / Studio Lambert

Lisa revealed a secret about her identity and it wasn’t as dramatic as she thought it was going to be

Contestants have a habit of concealing what they think are beneficial professions (think actress Maddy in series one).

Advertisement

This year, Lisa chose to conceal the fact she was a priest but revealed her true identity halfway through the series as a way of proving she was faithful, claiming her calling meant she couldn’t lie or deceive.

Not only did everyone seem pretty unfazed by this announcement, the traitors also later chose to murder Lisa, knowing her pureness of heart meant she’d never be banished.

A lose-lose for Lisa, unfortunately.

The powerful seer

Advertisement
BBC / Studio Lambert Francesca and Charlotte BBC / Studio Lambert

Francesca chose to use her powers of the seer to see Charlotte’s true identity

The mega twist this year was the introduction of the seer – a powerful ability never seen on the show before, which allowed one contestant to find out whether another player was a traitor or a faithful.

With a bit of help from Alexander, Francesca collected the most gold in the challenge and was awarded the power.

And with great power came great responsibility, and unfortunately for Charlotte, Francesca inadvertently chose to find out the true identity of the one remaining traitor.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Storm Eowyn live: Snow and ice warning as 100mph winds cause travel chaos with more than a million without power

Published

on

Storm Eowyn live: Snow and ice warning as 100mph winds cause travel chaos with more than a million without power

The first Storm Eowyn-related death has been recorded in Ireland after a tree fell on a man’s car

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Tens of thousands protest in Slovakia against PM Fico

Published

on

Tens of thousands protest in Slovakia against PM Fico
Rob Cameron

Prague correspondent

EPA An evening protest in Bratislava, where several demonstrators with their backs to the camera give victory salutes and one holds up a rose. They face a much larger group of protesters behind barriers holding banners and Slovakian and Ukrainian flagsEPA

The protest seemed much larger than the last such demonstration two weeks ago

Tens of thousands of people throughout Slovakia are demonstrating against the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, defying his warnings that provocateurs linked to the liberal opposition would use the protests to bring about a coup.

Rallies are being held in some 25 Slovak towns and cities, the latest in a series of protests against his populist-nationalist coalition.

Advertisement

Protesters are angry at what they say is Fico undermining the country’s institutions, culture and position in the EU and Nato, especially his increasing attacks on Ukraine and rapprochement with Moscow.

Fico denies opposition claims he wants to take Slovakia out of the EU and Nato, saying his country’s membership in both institutions was not in question.

EPA Robert Fico, wearing a blue checked suit and blue tie, gestures with his left hand as he holds a press conference on 21 January. Slovak and EU flags stand in the backgroundEPA

Robert Fico accuses the opposition of plotting a coup

Local newspaper Dennik N estimated that some 100,000 people across Slovakia attended the protests, with at least 40,000 in the capital alone.

Some 10,000 were reported to have taken to the streets of Banska Bystrica, a city of 75,000.

Advertisement

On Thursday, 15,000 demonstrated in Slovakia’s second city, Kosice, to avoid a clash with a separate event being held there this evening.

There were no reports of violence or disorder, contrary to Fico’s warnings this week that provocateurs would encourage demonstrators to attack public buildings, causing a police reaction leading to bigger protests.

Earlier on Friday Fico told reporters police would shortly begin deporting several foreign “instructors” he claimed were in Slovakia to help the opposition try to topple his government.

On Wednesday he called a meeting of the government’s security council, saying the intelligence services had concrete proof that a group of foreign provocateurs who were involved in the recent protests in Georgia and in 2014 in Ukraine were active in Slovakia.

Advertisement

Slovakia’s domestic intelligence service, the SIS, has confirmed the claims, but has given few details. The opposition has little faith in the SIS, as it is run by the son of an MP in Fico’s Smer party.

Fico said a “large-scale” cyber attack that hit the country’s health insurer on Friday was a textbook model “of how to liquidate a disobedient government which has unorthodox views on certain things” – a reference to his opposition to arming Ukraine and his efforts to mend relations with Moscow.

He said such activities were being carried out “by representatives of the opposition, NGOs organised from abroad, foreign instructors and the media.”

Dennik N later reported the incident was actually a phishing attempt, not a cyber attack, and not particularly large in scale.

Advertisement

Slovak officials have claimed a previous cyber attack against the country’s land registry could have come from Ukraine. Kyiv has flatly denied the accusation.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025 WordupNews