Toni Laites and Cach Mercer were announced as winners by presenter Maya Jama during Monday’s live final.
The pair won the public vote and £50,000 (KSh. 8.5M) prize money, ahead of second-placed finalists Shakira Khan and Harry Cooksley.
Yasmin Pettet and Jamie Rhodes finished in third place, while Angel Swift and Ty Isherwood finished in fourth.
Toni Laites became Love Island UK’s first American contestant when she entered the Villa this summer.
“Thank you to the UK,” she screamed after winning with partner Cach Mercer.
As soon as the episode finished, we spoke to self-confessed Love Island “super-fans” Harriet and Georgia.
“I’m absolutely thrilled. I’m not gonna lie, it’s like Christmas Day,” says Harriet.
“They so deserved it. It feels like the international Love Island family coming together to celebrate our Toni.”
“100% the right couple won,” Georgia added.
“I feel like it was a close call but they definitely deserved it.”
Toni and Cach’s Love Island journey was not without its difficulties. Earlier in the series, Toni chose to couple with one of the other boys, Harrison, rather than Cach.
After the re-coupling, Cach cried and was consoled by friend and fellow Islander Ty, something Georgia says was a key moment in the series.
“I think where the season was going, almost questioning how genuine a lot of the couples were, it was really nice to see raw emotion coming from someone who was feeling real feelings,” she says.
“Especially it coming from a man, because I think we just don’t see that enough. We don’t see men showing their raw emotion.
“I think it’s one of those things that should be celebrated.”
Couple Dejon Noel-Williams and Meg Moore narrowly missed out on the final after they were dramatically dumped during Sunday’s Episode.
Former Islanders returned to the villa and voted them the least compatible remaining couple.
Love Island’s popularity has risen this year, thanks to the success of the US version of the show and a jump in social media interest.
ITV said this series was on track to be the biggest since Series 9 in January 2023.
It figures from TikTok show 1 million people have followed Love Island’s official account this year.
Earlier on Monday, ITV bosses announced Love Island All Stars – where previous fan-favourite islanders return to the villa – would get a third series.
They said it would air early next year and take place over six weeks in South Africa.
Almost one in three people in the Gaza Strip are going for days without eating, the UN’s food aid programme has warned.
“Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement.
Warnings of starvation in Gaza have intensified this week. Nine more people died of malnutrition on Friday, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry – bringing the total such deaths since the war began to 122.
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies into Gaza, says there is no restriction on aid getting into the territory and blames Hamas for any malnutrition.
On Friday, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested the UK would play a role in dropping aid into Gaza by air after more than a third of MPs signed a letter calling on the government to recognise a Palestinian state.
This came after an Israeli security official had said that airdrops of aid into Gaza could be allowed in the coming days – something aid agencies have previously cautioned is an inefficient way to get supplies into Gaza.
“News that Israel will allow countries to airdrop aid into Gaza has come far too late – but we will do everything we can to get aid in via this route,” Sir Starmer wrote in The Mirror.
Sir Keir also said the UK was “urgently accelerating efforts” to evacuate children who need critical medical assistance to the UK for treatment.
While local media reported the United Arab Emirates and Jordan would carry out the latest drops, a senior Jordanian official told the BBC that its military was yet to receive permission from Israel to do so.
The UN has described the move as a “distraction to inaction” by the Israeli government.
The move came amid mounting international concern about humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
On Friday, Germany, France and the UK called on Israel to “immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid” into the territory.
In a joint statement, they called for an immediate end to the “humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza,” and to the war itself, adding that Israel must “uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law”.
“Withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable,” read the statement
The UN Secretary General António Guterres said he could not “explain the level of indifference and inaction we see by too many in the international community – the lack of compassion, the lack of truth, the lack of humanity”.
Addressing the Amnesty International global assembly, he said more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed while trying to access food since 27 May – when the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing supplies as an alternative to the UN-led system.
Sean “Diddy” Combs once beat ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura so badly she needed stiches on her forehead, the music mogul’s former stylist has testified at his trial.
Deonte Nash, who styled both Mr Combs and Ms Ventura, told the court there were times when he witnessed his boss attacking his then-girlfriend and others.
He also testified he saw Mr Combs threaten to release sex tapes of Ms Ventura in drug-fuelled “freak-offs” with male prostitutes.
The testimony came as it emerged Ms Ventura had given birth to her third child, a son, with her fitness instructor husband. Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr Nash was one of three witnesses to take the stand on Wednesday in the third week of the trial.
Stylist Deonte Nash
He said several times he did not want to be in court – he was summoned to testify through a subpoena.
A close friend of Ms Ventura, Mr Nash said he saw her almost every day while working as her stylist.
He told the jury he witnessed Mr Combs abusing Ms Ventura on several occasions.
Asked what names Mr Combs would call Ms Ventura, Mr Nash said he would refer to her as “slut” and “ho”, among other derogatory terms.
The stylist told the court Ms Ventura had confided in him that she did not want to participate in the sex parties.
In one incident, Mr Nash testified that Mr Combs showed up at Ms Ventura’s Los Angeles apartment while she was asleep on a sofa.
Mr Combs shouted at her and grabbed her by the hair and started beating her, the court heard.
Mr Nash testified that he and Ms Ventura and an assistant to Mr Combs, named in court only as “Mia”, tried to run into a bedroom and close the door, but Mr Combs managed to get in.
The hip-hop mogul continued beating Ms Ventura until she hit her head on a bedframe and was bleeding profusely, the court heard.
Mr Nash said he and “Mia” tried to stop Mr Combs by jumping on his back.
The stylist also said he tried to call emergency services, but Mr Combs told him a member of his security would take Ms Ventura to a plastic surgeon for treatment.
Mr Nash said he saw her on a video call the next day with stitches in her eyebrow.
Having started as an intern with Mr Combs’ record label Bad Boy, Mr Nash said he became a stylist when he met Ms Ventura in 2008 and still remains close friends with her.
When a defence attorney asked about the last time they spoke, he said: “Yesterday after she had the baby.”
Mr Nash also insisted the defence lawyer refer to Ms Ventura as “Mrs Fine”, since she was married to personal trainer Alex Fine in 2019.
Ms Ventura, who testified for four days during the first week of trial, was heavily pregnant while on the stand. Media reports said she had given birth in a New York hospital on Tuesday.
Mr Nash said he also advised the R&B singer what outfits she should wear while testifying.
The jury also heard testimony on Wednesday from a Los Angeles Police Department officer and a Los Angeles Fire Department official who testified about conflicts between Mr Combs and rapper Kid Cudi, who took the stand last week. His legal name is Scott Mescudi.
Arson investigator Lance Jimenez told the court about being called to examine Mr Mescudi’s Porsche that had just been set on fire in his driveway.
The court saw more photos of the burnt Porsche and a bottle of petrol that Mr Jimenez said was a makeshift Molotov cocktail used to set fire to the car.
Mr Jimenez said fingerprints were recovered from the crime scene, some that had a partial match to a woman whose identity is unknown.
Mr Jimenez said he put other prints in an envelope and sent them to the LAPD, but they were destroyed without his permission the same year.
Prosecutors asked him if this was unusual, which led to an objection from Mr Combs’ attorneys, who argued that prosecutors were trying to claim that “someone in the room” was responsible for the destruction of evidence.
Mr Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, asked the judge to declare a mistrial based on what he called “outrageous” questioning. The request was denied, but the jury was instructed to disregard the testimony.
Mr Nash is scheduled to return to the stand on Thursday, followed by Mr Combs’ former personal assistant, “Mia”. Her testimony is expected to take up most of the next two days of trial, prosecutors said.
Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White is set to be released in cinemas next week, marking the latest efforts by the film studio to revive a beloved old classic.
But the film, which stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, has faced several issues throughout its production.
The movie is being released amid a debate about how the seven dwarfs are represented on screen, while Zegler has made headlines for critical comments about the original 1937 film.
The European premiere was held on Wednesday at a castle in Northern Spain, instead of a more traditional and high-profile location such as London’s Leicester Square.
Dwarfism debate
The debate around the film began making headlines in January 2022, when Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, an actor with Dwarfism, described the decision to retell the story of “seven dwarfs living in a cave” as “backward”.
Disney has used computer-generated dwarfs in the remake and said it would “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”.
But this week, other actors with Dwarfism have said they would have liked the opportunity to play the roles.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, performer Choon Tan said the decision to use CGI was “absolutely absurd and discriminating in a sense”.
“There really is nothing wrong casting someone with dwarfism as a dwarf in any given opportunity,” he said.
“As long as we are treated equally and with respect, we’re usually more than happy to take on any acting roles that are suitable for us,” he added.
Another performer, Blake Johnston, told the newspaper that “we have plenty of dwarf actors out there who are dying for roles like this”.
He also said he believed Disney had “succumb to peer pressure on political correctness, which has now given top dwarf actors less work”.
Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, criticised the film in 2022 during an interview with podcaster Marc Maron.
“I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” he said, referring to Colombian-American actress Zegler.
“You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”
The actor had previously spoken about the representation of dwarfism, saying it was “bad writing” to make it a “dominant character trait”.
In a statement released after Dinklage’s comments, Disney said they were “taking a different approach with these seven characters” and had made their decision to use CGI after “consulting with members of the dwarf community”.
Pared-down premiere
The film’s European premiere took place on Wednesday at a remote castle in Spain, which was the inspiration behind the castle in the 1937 original animated film.
Zegler performed a rendition of original song “Waiting On a Wish” at the event on Wednesday evening in Segrovia, north-West of Madrid.
Most media outlets were not invited to the medieval castle, and Zegler instead performed to a relatively small crowd.
The Los Angeles premiere, meanwhile, will be reportedly smaller than usual for a film of this magnitude, with the stars only expected to pose for photographs and speak to Disney’s in-house crews.
News journalists have not been invited to attend the red carpet and therefore will not have the opportunity to interview the film’s cast and creatives.
However, the cast are taking part in a few select sit-down interviews with some outlets as part of a press junket which is taking place this week.
Other controversie
The debate about the seven dwarfs is not the only controversy which has surrounded the film, which has reportedly cost £217m to make.
Early in the film’s production, there was controversy around Disney’s decision to cast Zegler, a Latina actress, in the role of a character deemed to have skin “as white as snow”.
It was part of a drive by Disney to cast a more diverse range of actors to play updated versions of some classic characters.
Halle Bailey, a black actress, was cast in another recent Disney live-action movie, The Little Mermaid. Both actresses faced abuse online after their casting was announced.
Zegler also made headlines after she made critical comments about some elements of the previous animated film.
“The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,” Zegler said in 2022. “There’s a big focus [in the original] on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! So we didn’t do that this time.”
Zegler also called the original film “extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power,” adding: “People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it’s like, yeah, it is – because it needed that.”
Elsewhere, fans have speculated that there may have been a behind-the-scenes rift between Zegler and Gadot, who plays the wicked stepmother, because the actresses have opposing views on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Zegler has publicly taken a pro-Palestine stance, whilst Gadot is Israeli and served in the country’s army for two years.
However, others have said rumours of a rift are misguided, noting Gadot and Zegler have appeared publicly together on several occasions, including when they jointly presented an award at last week’s Oscars.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the latest in a long line of classic animated Disney stories which have been remade as live-action films.
Other recent live-action remakes the studio has produced include Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Dumbo and The Jungle Book.
Claims against actor Nicolas Cage have been dismissed from a civil lawsuit that was recently filed by his ex-girlfriend over an alleged assault by their son.
Christina Fulton sued 34-year-old Weston Cage for assault and battery last month and accused Cage of negligence, claiming the star had failed to prevent their son’s alleged behaviour.
However, the claims against the Oscar winner have now been removed from the lawsuit, according to US media.
When the action was filed in February, the actor’s lawyers called them “frivolous”, saying: “Mr Cage does not control Weston’s behaviour in any manner and is not responsible for Weston’s alleged assault of his mother.”
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Weston Cage’s lawyer said the case was not surprising given what he described as Ms Fulton’s past history of litigation against family members, and appeared to be “nothing short of a money grab and call for attention”.
Ms Fulton’s proceedings against Weston Cage are still going ahead.
She has accused him of of attacking her in a “manic rage” without provocation in April 2024, leaving her with concussion, neck and throat injuries, dental and abdominal trauma, and PTSD.
Weston Cage was arrested last June and charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Ms Fulton, 57, alleged that Nicolas Cage was aware of their son’s “long history of mental and psychological disorder” and previous alleged acts of “violent assault and battery”, but continued to enable such behaviour by providing financial support.
Somali security forces have ended a deadly 24-hour siege by Islamist fighters who stormed a popular hotel in the central city of Beledweyne, authorities said.
The attack by al-Shabab began with a car bomb exploding, followed by gunmen entering the hotel, leading to intense clashes with security forces.
“The attackers have been neutralised. Some detonated themselves while others were killed by police forces,” Omar Osman Calasow, the mayor of Beledweyne district, told the BBC.
The mayor said seven people had been killed in the attack but witnesses said the death toll could be higher.
The raid at the Qahira Hotel took place as politicians, security officials and traditional elders were meeting to discuss plans for an offensive against al-Shabab in central Somalia.
Police officer Ali Mahad told AFP news agency that most of those in attendance had been rescued.
A federal lawmaker from Beledweyne, Dahir Amin Jesow, told the BBC that about seven gunmen had attacked the hotel.
It is unclear how many people have been wounded, but the lawmaker said they were trying to organise planes to fly victims to Mogadishu for treatment.
Parts of the hotel were reduced to rubble as government forces and gunmen exchanged fire, shopkeeper Ali Suleiman, who witnessed the attack, told the Reuters news agency.
“We first heard a huge blast followed by gunfire, then another blast was heard,” he said.
Calasow said the 24-hour siege ended on Wednesday morning, leaving “significant damage”.
“Among those killed in the attack were military officers, traditional elders, and soldiers,” Calasow added.
Al-Shabab said it had killed 20 people, including government officials and leaders of a pro-government clan militia.
The federal government said it was still investigating and has not commented on the reported killing of the officials.
In a statement, Ali Abdullahi Hussein, the president of Hirshabelle state, praised the security forces for their bravery in neutralising the extremist militants.
“Let us unite to complete the elimination of these brutal extremists,” Hussein added.
Beledweyne is about 335km (208 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu, and is a strategic location in the campaign against al-Shabab.
The Somali forces, alongside African Union peacekeepers, continue to wage a campaign against the militants, which remain a big threat despite the ongoing military operations.
British rapper and internet personality Yung Filly has pleaded not guilty to multiple sexual assault charges in Western Australia.
The star, whose real name is Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, appeared before Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Court documents revealed he pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, one of strangulation and four counts of sexual penetration without consent.
He will appear before the state’s higher district court on 13 June.
The rapper and YouTuber has been on bail since October 2024 after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in his hotel room after he performed at a venue in Hillarys, a coastal suburb of Perth.
The attack is alleged to have taken place on Saturday, 28 September.
He is best known for his work with the YouTube collective Beta Squad and has presented shows on BBC Three.
Barrientos was in Australia touring his music at the time of the alleged offences.
He has also appeared in the UK on Soccer Aid on ITV and The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4.
He also won a Mobo Award for best media personality in 2021.
Uganda has deployed special forces to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to help President Salva Kiir to “secure it”, Uganda’s military chief Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has said.
The move comes as tensions escalate between Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, raising fears that their fragile peace deal could collapse and a conflict could resume.
Gen Kainerugaba did not give reasons for the deployment to the neighbouring state but said that any move against Kiir “is a declaration of war against Uganda”.
“We shall protect the entire territory of South Sudan like it was our own,” he added on the social media platform X.
South Sudan’s government has not yet commented on the deployment.
Concern about the security situation in South Sudan has been mounting, with the US on Saturday ordering the evacuation of all its non-emergency staff from the country.
Last week, the deputy chief of the army and two ministers – all allies of Machar – were arrested by the security forces, which an opposition spokesman called a “grave violation” of the peace deal.
One of the ministers has since been released.
The arrests followed clashes in the Upper Nile state between government forces and a militia known as the White Army.
It had fought alongside Machar during the civil war that broke out in 2013 following a power struggle between him and Kiir.
It led to heavy fighting in Juba, with Kiir accusing Machar of plotting a coup.
Machar denied the allegation, but South Sudan then plunged into a civil war that killed more than 400,000 people.
A 2018 power-sharing agreement between the two stopped the fighting, but key elements of the deal have not been implemented – including a new constitution, an election and the reunification of armed groups into a single army.
Dolly Parton has released a new song in honour of her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died earlier this week.
The legendary country artist released the song titled, ‘If You Hadn’t Been There’, in an Instagram post on Friday.
“I fell in love with Carl Dean when I was 18 years old,” Parton wrote. “We have spent 60 precious and meaningful years together. Like all great love stories, they never end. They live on in memory and song. He will always be the star of my life story, and I dedicate this song to him.”
The pair were together for six decades before he died on Monday aged 82.
Her voice trembles as she sings the new song, “If you hadn’t been there / Where would I be? / Without your trust, love, and belief”.
“You made me drеam / More than I dared,” she continues. “And I wouldn’t be hеre / If you hadn’t been there.”
The cover of the track includes an old photo showing Parton with her arms wrapped around Dean.
Parton, 79, expressed her gratitude for fans’ support after her husband’s death.
“This is a love note to family, friends, and fans,” she wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl. I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me. He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”
The singer, known for songs such as 9-5 and Jolene, met Dean outside a laundromat the first day she arrived in Nashville as an 18-year-old aspiring singer.
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton said when recalling their first meeting.
“He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Two years later, in 1966, the pair married.
They lived a private life – Dean was rarely seen in public – and did not have children together.
King Charles III is launching a personal playlist of music that lifts his spirits and brings back important memories, including Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue and Grace Jones.
He was photographed at Buckingham Palace for the music project, the King’s Music Room, with an “on air” sign on the desk of the royal DJ.
A video trailer shows the band for the changing of the guard outside the palace playing Bob Marley’s Could You Be Loved, in a project to celebrate music from Commonwealth countries.
“So this is what I particularly wanted to share – songs which have brought me joy,” the King said.
“Throughout my life, music has meant a great deal to me,” the King says in the video launching the project, which is a partnership with Apple Music.
“I know that is also the case for so many others.
“It has that remarkable ability to bring happy memories flooding back from the deepest recesses of our memory, to comfort us in times of sadness, and to take us to distant places.
“But perhaps, above all, it can lift our spirits to such a degree, and all the more so when it brings us together in celebration.
“In other words, it brings us joy.”
The full choice of tracks, with more royal commentary, will be published on Monday, for Commonwealth Day.
As well as as reggae from Marley and dance music from Minogue, there are expected to be contributions from Nigerian-American singer-songwriter Davido and British singer-songwriter Raye.
Marley’s message
The King saw Raye at a concert at a Christmas market at the former Battersea Power Station, where Apple has its London headquarters.
The project is intended to be a different approach to Commonwealth Day, which sees the Royal Family gathering for a service in Westminster Abbey.
It will reflect the King’s musical interests through his life, ranging from 1930s crooners to Afrobeat stars.
He is also expected to share anecdotes about some of the artists and reveals why the songs help form the soundtrack to his life.
“This seemed such an interesting and innovative way to celebrate this year’s Commonwealth Day,” the King said.
He has a longstanding interest in Marley and has visited the singer’s former home in Jamaica, which has been turned into a museum.
And outside the palace windows, the band played Marley’s message: “Don’t let them change ya, oh! Or even rearrange ya! Oh, no!”
