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De Beers plans to stockpile unsold diamonds after the world’s biggest producer responded to plunging prices by allowing

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HSBC Holdings Plc will retain Sherard Cowper-Coles, the public affairs executive who apologized for criticizing the UK’s stance

When you’ve knocked out the “scariest man in the UFC”, what is there left to fear? Some may offer ‘nothing’ as a valid answer. Some may say ‘Jon Jones’, arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time. Either way, Tom Aspinall, who was so honest about being scared ahead of UFC 295, believes his fear is his “superpower”. So, maybe fear will inspire Aspinall to a career-defining victory over Jones, or maybe the Briton will realise he doesn’t need to fear the icon at all. Days before UFC 295 – days before his date with destiny at combat sports’ Mecca, Madison Square Garden – Aspinall had this to say of his clash with Sergei Pavlovich: “I’m pretty scared. He’s a scary, intimidating guy.” But? “I do my best work scared. Fear is something I have a really good relationship with. It gives me a superpower – the more scared I am, the better I do in the fight.” And with the interim heavyweight title on the line, and just two weeks’ preparation behind him, Aspinall could not have done better than he did on Saturday. Even when the Wigan fighter was caught clean with a left hook in the opening moments of the co-main event, he stayed calm. Perhaps surviving that shot meant Aspinall’s fear dissipated, or perhaps being tagged like that only augmented his fear. The beauty is that, for Aspinall, either outcome keeps him dangerous, and Pavlovich would find out just how dangerous in the seconds that followed. Aspinall was out of range, surely. But in the blink of an eye, he wasn’t. Closing distance with a spitfire one-two – as only he can – Aspinall had Pavlovich shaking and wobbling, before a short left hook and right hand felled the Russian for good. The hammer fists, all three of them, were to make sure of something that was already certain: Aspinall had ascended, as Britain’s third UFC champion. Then he descended, joining Pavlovich on the canvas, burying his head to hide the tears. “I can’t even tell you, it’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks,” he said in the cage, moments later. “Oh, my God. I just want to say to everyone at home: Listen, if you ever get the chance to do something, and you’re scared to do it, you should f***ing definitely do it, because there’s a chance it’s gonna pay off. He’s a big, scary guy. I’ve never been as scared in my life as fighting this guy, but I’ve got a lot of power, too. And I believe in myself, I really believe in myself. I’ve worked so hard over the years.” Aspinall’s hard work has yielded results as terrifying as Pavlovich and the Russian’s own statistics. The Briton is now 7-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming as the result of an injury 15 seconds into a fight, and his victories all coming in the first and second rounds. Meanwhile, Pavlovich entered his bout with Aspinall with a 6-1 UFC record and all wins via first-round finish; in other words, Aspinall was right to harbour a little fear. Now, however, Aspinall may just be the most fearsome fighter in the division, especially with Jones absent. Aspinall’s clash with Pavlovich came together on two weeks’ notice when the heavyweight champion suffered an injury that derailed his planned title defence against Stipe Miocic – and which is set to keep the former light-heavyweight king out of the ring for up to a year. Still, the UFC’s plan seems to be to reorganise the bout, despite the facts that: Jones may be 37 by the time he returns, Miocic could be 42 by then, and the latter has not fought since he was brutally knocked out by Francis Ngannou in March 2021. Furthermore, Jones’s heavyweight title win over Ciryl Gane in March marked his first fight in three years. Age and activity are working against the Americans, as is apathy; in the aftermath of UFC 295, fans have expressed disinterest in that ‘legacy’ fight, preferring the prospect of a unification bout between Jones and Aspinall. Naturally. Miocic may be the greatest heavyweight of all time, but few were giving him a chance against Jones. While both men have been inactive and ageing, Miocic is the older and less active of the two, and Jones at least impressed with his rapid submission of Gane this year. But to debate how Jones vs Miocic would play out feels very ‘March 2023’. The greater question is how Jones vs Aspinall would play out, and for all of Jones’s feats and accomplishments over the years, the reality is that he would be facing the quickest heavyweight in the sport, who also hits harder than any of the American’s previous opponents, and who is only approaching his prime at 30 years old. Furthermore, Aspinall has the kind of well-rounded skillset that might just enable him to neutralise Jones – or even get the better of him – in any grappling exchanges. Of course, the situation is further complicated by the fact that Aspinall may not want to sit out until Jones returns, while the UFC will also be keen to keep the Briton active. It may mean that Aspinall has to defend the interim title, a rarity in the UFC. That could make for intriguing an match-up between the 30-year-old and Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida or even Curtis Blaydes, who picked up a technical win over Aspinall when the latter sustained his knee injury at UFC London in July 2022. At this point, the hope is that all roads lead to Jones vs Aspinall – one of the biggest fights in the history of British MMA. Aspinall has nothing to fear, but then again: A little fear goes a long way for the interim heavyweight champion. Read More Tom Aspinall ‘wants to fight Jon Jones’ next after claiming UFC interim title Tom Aspinall becomes Britain’s third UFC champion with first-round KO of Pavlovich Tom Aspinall admits he’s ‘scared’ ahead of UFC title fight Tom Aspinall makes UFC 295 vow ahead of Sergei Pavlovich fight UFC 295 LIVE results: Aspinall knocks out Pavlovich before Pereira stops Prochazka When will Conor McGregor return to the UFC?

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker welcomed their first baby together after the birth of their son on 4 November. 44-year-old Kardashian gave birth in Los Angeles and reportedly has a strict “invite-only” policy in place for people wanting to meet her newborn. Since his arrival, Blink 182 drummer Barker has shared clips from the hospital on his TikTok, revealing that he was practising drumming along to the baby’s heartbeat. Barker shared a 1 minute and 13-second long video on TikTok, captioned, “Practicing to my babies heartbeat”. In the video, he played on a snare drum practice pad next to Kourtney while in the background, his baby’s heartbeat could be heard coming from a nearby monitor. The clip has been viewed over 990,000 times and in the comments, people were baffled by his decision to bring drumming equipment to a medical facility and were equally in awe of Kardashian’s patience. @travisbarker Practicing to my babies heartbeat ? One person commented: “He had to BRING that to the doctor’s office.” Another wrote: “I love Travis, but this would seriously test my patience.” “She’s a better woman than me,” someone else added. One TikToker added: “This is too much.” Fortunately for Barker, it appeared Kardashian herself was filming the clip, so she can’t have minded too much. The birth of the couple’s baby boy came days after Barker revealed in a podcast that his name was going to be “Rocky”. Speaking on the One Life One Chance podcast, the drummer was talking about upcoming work when he let slip: “There's a benefit for Hawaii that we were going to do, but it’s the week that Rocky’s due.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

JLS's Aston Merrygold is known for his famous backflip move when performing on stage with his bandmates, but fans were reminded how dangerous the stunt can be when it went wrong and he took a tumble recently. While on stage at Sheffield's Utilita Arena for the band's final show of their 2023 tour, Merrygold could be seen with his fellow bandmates, Marvin Humes, JB Gill and Ortisé Williams as he stood on an extra step to gain some height and momentum for the signature move. However, he appeared to misjudge the flip as he instead slipped causing him to fall and land on his back. Though proving his professionalism, Merrygold immediately styled it out with a backwards floor roll and got up to join his bandmates again to continue the choreography as the band sang their song 'Hottest Girl in the World'. Since then, Merrygold has been getting roasted on social media with people dubbing him as "Aston Merryfold" and "Aston Merryold" while fans have praised how he recovered like a pro but were concerned about whether he was hurt from the tumble. One person wrote: "In 15 years, I have never seen him fall over." "He could have really damaged his spine - hope he’s ok," another person said. Someone else added: "The way he just got up and continued absolute pro, I'd of been sitting there thinking what just happened, could have been so much worse." "Mistakes/accidents happen sometimes it’s normal!!! He did well to continue, I would have died inside/ walked off he’s amazing. Hope he’s ok," a fourth person commented. @sabs1951 Aston Merrygold back flip fail at convert. Aston falls on stage #fyp #foryou #mrslegge #sabs1951 #mmmilyc #jls #concert #fall #fail #follow #astonmerrygold #viralvideo #backflip #omg #pov Well, it appears Merrygold is feeling okay after his fall as he has since taken to TikTok to joke about the failed flip. The on-screen text read "Them: 'Aston, my friend said you fell last night'," as the JLS band member mimed the following audio from the 2015 film Legend. "Right listen, when you see him next, you tell him from me... F**k Charlie, f**k his brother, yeah. "And f**k that fat Georgie Cornell that hangs out with him. F**k your face. And f**k the f**king lot of you as well, what you think of that, eh?" In the caption, Merrygold added: "Their [sic] always here for the down FALL. Ast - 843, 274. Backflip - 1." @astonmerrygold Their always here for the down FALL ?? Ast - 843,274 backflip - 1 In the comments section, fans applauded Merrygold for jesting about the failed stunt and also asked how's feeling after hitting the deck. One fan asked: "How’s your back and neck though bro?" to which Merrygold replied: "No lies I feel good, not sure how." "This made me laugh," another person wrote. Someone else added: "Taking the heat off JB for the Merry Christmas memes."backflip "This is the best comeback," a fourth person replied. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will likely have trouble accessing about half of Italy’s share of

The international break could hardly have been better timed for Newcastle with the rigours of competing on multiple fronts having taken a devastating toll on their playing resources. On Saturday, the Magpies arrived at Bournemouth without 11 senior players as a result of injury and suspension. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the issues facing a club which has enjoyed a swift rise under its new owners amid stiff opposition on and off the pitch. How extensive are Newcastle’s selection problems? Very. Head coach Eddie Howe was unable to call upon Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Matt Targett, Javier Manquillo, Elliot Anderson, Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson through injury, as well as suspended duo Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, at the Vitality Stadium. The Magpies then saw Miguel Almiron added to the list when he limped off after just 31 minutes. Burn, Barnes and Anderson are facing months on the sidelines, while £55million summer signing Tonali will not be able to play again until August next year after admitting breaches of betting regulations. How much toll have the injuries taken on the pitch? Until last week, very little, but chickens have started to come home to roost. Howe, who favours a high-pressing game, gambled on leaving Almiron and the in-form Anthony Gordon out of his starting line-up for Tuesday night’s Champions League trip to Borussia Dortmund in the hope they would be able to come off the bench and affect the game late on. In the event, he was forced to introduce them at half-time with Dortmund already leading, and his side was unable to stave off a 2-0 defeat. So depleted were Newcastle’s resources on the south coast four days later that 17-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley was handed a first Premier League start, while 18-year-old striker Ben Parkinson was used as a substitute and Alex Murphy, 19, and Amadou Diallo, 20, were also named on the bench. However, tired legs and minds contributed to a second successive 2-0 loss. What lies ahead? If the opening three months of the season have been gruelling, the final two months of 2023 promise to be no less taxing. The Magpies head for Paris St Germain on November 28 and entertain AC Milan on December 13 knowing they may have to win both games to keep alive their first Champions League campaign for 20 years, and having accounted for both Manchester clubs in the Carabao Cup, now travel to Chelsea in the quarter-finals next month. In addition, they face league clashes with improving Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham before they head for Liverpool on New Year’s Day as they attempt to fight their way to another top-four finish. Will they attempt to address the situation in January? They were always likely to bolster their squad during the winter transfer window, but Tonali’s unexpected absence has made that imperative. However, they also remain short in central defence and attacking roles and all three areas are likely to be focuses. How might their options be limited? The club was close to its Financial Fair Play limit at the end of its summer spending spree and sporting director Dan Ashworth has indicated a “creative” approach may be needed, and that could mean loan deals with options to buy. In addition, Premier League shareholders will later this month vote on a proposal to ban loan deals between ‘associated clubs’ – those whose owners hold stakes in other clubs – on an interim basis. Newcastle are 80 per cent-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which also has controlling interests in Saudi Pro League clubs Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal. Agreement would prevent the Magpies from pursuing a long-held interest in Al-Hilal’s former Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, with whom they have been linked repeatedly in recent weeks. Is there a need for perspective? There is. The club sat just one place off the foot of the table when Howe replaced Steve Bruce at the helm in November 2021. They finished fourth last season to secure a place at European football’s top table for the first time in two decades and also reached the Carabao Cup final. They currently lie fourth in Champions League Group F, but have a mathematical chance of making the knockout stage, and are seventh in the Premier League table with another domestic cup run well under way. Read More Ben Davies keen to prove doubters wrong as Wales target another major tournament Britain’s Katie Boulter eager to build on her successful season in 2024 On this day in 2006: Gold Cup winning Desert Orchid dies at the age of 27 The sporting weekend in pictures Football to bid farewell to Sir Bobby Charlton on Monday San Francisco 49ers return to winning ways against Jacksonville Jaguars

Spain’s Pedro Sanchez will seek a new term as prime minister in a confidence vote in parliament this