Foreign
Trump names Gibson, Stallone and Voight Hollywood ambassadors
US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed three film stars to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood.
“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
All three celebrity figures have recently been associated with Trump and his election campaign. It is unclear what their roles will involve.
In a statement, Gibson, 69, said he received the news “at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised.
“Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give and help and insight I can.”
Gibson, who recently lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires, added: “Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?”
The Braveheart and Mad Max star had publicly endorsed Trump in a video released shortly before November’s election. He also criticised Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was Trump’s Democratic rival in the presidential race.
Stallone, 78, best known for playing the titular character in the Rocky franchise, introduced Trump at Mar-a-Lago for his post-election victory speech.
He compared the president-elect to America’s first leader, calling him the “second George Washington”.
“Without him, you can imagine what the world would look like?” he said.
He added that Washington – who was president from 1789 to 1797 – didn’t realise he would change the world when he defended his country.
Voight, 86, who starred in Midnight Cowboy and Pearl Harbor, is a long-time supporter of Trump and has called him the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.
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It’s been a difficult few years for Hollywood with the Covid pandemic, multiple labour strikes, and competition with streaming services.
Lucas Shaw, a long-time Hollywood analyst, does not believe the new envoys can do much to help the struggling industry.
“He [Trump] sees them as allies, and he can use them to talk about change in Hollywood, but I don’t imagine you’re going to have John Voight and Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson trying to figure out how to restore the cable bundle, or make streaming more profitable, or figure out how to make China import more Hollywood movies,” he said.
Trump’s relationship with Hollywood has been fraught with tension and controversy.
The entertainment industry was partly responsible for bringing Trump back to prominence with his reality show, The Apprentice, as it bolstered his image as a savvy businessman, Mr Shaw told the BBC.
Trump’s ascent to the White House changed the dynamic, putting him at odds with the politics of much of the industry.
“Hollywood tends to donate to and support Democrats more than Republicans, and so it serves as an effective industry for him to criticise,” said Mr Shaw.
It is also easy to “portray as these rich fat cats who don’t have your interests in mind”.
In August 2019, during his first term, Trump criticised the film industry as “racist” and accused it of creating “very dangerous” movies.
His comments stemmed from controversy ahead of the release of the film The Hunt, an action-horror about a group of elites who hunt people for sport.
Speaking outside the White House, he said that Hollywood was doing a “tremendous disservice to the country” by producing content that incites violence and division.
The following year, Trump took aim at the Academy Awards for selecting South Korean film Parasite as best picture.
He questioned how a foreign film could win the top honour and suggested it was undeserving.
Trump’s stance on immigration, climate change, and social justice has drawn sharp criticism from major celebrities, and he has faced the ire of stars like Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro.
Some of his policies have also targeted Hollywood, including a push to end tax breaks for film production in certain states.
The announcement of his special ambassadors for Hollywood comes just four days before his inauguration in Washington DC on 20 January.
Los Angeles – the heart of the entertainment industry – is currently struggling to contain deadly wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and left many businesses struggling to recover.
Damages are estimated at approximately $250bn (£204bn).
A Cessna 550 Citation Bravo carrying Brazilian singer Rey Vaqueiro and seven other people has overrun the runway while landing at Parelhas Airport in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
The aircraft, with registration PP-WMO, was involved in the incident during the early hours of Sunday, September 13, according to aviation news platform FL360aero, which reported the incident in a post on X.
The aircraft reportedly ran beyond the runway while landing at the airport and subsequently caught fire, with both engines said to have been engulfed in flames.
Firefighters battled the blaze for approximately five hours before it was brought under control.
All eight people on board, comprising six passengers and two crew members, reportedly evacuated the aircraft.
Some of the occupants were said to have sustained minor injuries, while no serious injuries were reported.
The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by Brazil’s Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA).
The incident involved a Cessna 550 Citation Bravo, a business jet commonly used for private and charter flights.
More flights are expected to be delayed in the United Kingdom (UK) after a technical problem with the country’s air traffic control system led to more than 2,000 cancellations.
A total of 291 flights were cancelled on Wednesday after 1,750 were cancelled on Tuesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by the disruption.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK’s air traffic control provider, blamed the disruption on a technical glitch. Its chief executive, Martin Rolfe, apologised and said a full investigation would be carried out.
He admitted that resolving the problem had taken “longer than hoped”.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the outage as “unacceptable”, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe to explain what happened.
The disruption affected several major UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. Airports in Ireland also reported disruption.
At Heathrow, departures were initially paused on Tuesday before operations resumed and then faced further disruption later in the day.
Heathrow said its operations were recovering on Wednesday but warned passengers of further delays because aircraft and crew needed to be repositioned.
Gatwick also said flights had resumed but warned that it would take time for operations to return fully to normal.
Passengers have been advised to check directly with their airlines before travelling to airports. Heathrow said passengers should only travel if they have a confirmed flight.
The technical fault affected NATS’ flight data processing system. Rolfe said it was not the same system that failed during a major disruption in 2023.
However, the latest incident is the third technical problem experienced by NATS in three years. A computer shutdown in 2023 caused widespread disruption affecting around 700,000 passengers, while another outage in 2025 resulted in about 150 cancellations.
Airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air have called for changes to NATS. Wizz Air UK managing director Yvonne Moynihan said the company needed to consider whether NATS was “fit for purpose”.
Despite the disruption, Rolfe defended the UK’s air traffic control system, saying it remained one of the best in the world.
However, former NATS air traffic control manager Doug Maclean said repeated failures were undermining the system’s reputation.
Even though the technical issue has been resolved, passengers are expected to face further disruption because of the backlog of flights, aircraft and crew.
NATS said it was working to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.
(BBC News)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be working royals allowed to carry out official engagements now they have returned to the UK, a letter sent on behalf of King Charles spells out.
The letter is intended to clarify the status of Prince Harry and Meghan, who moved back from California with children Archie and Lilibet last month.
They will still not be able to use titles of “His and Her Royal Highness”, and remain “private citizens”, says the letter sent on behalf of the King by the Lord Chamberlain, a top Palace official.
It comes as Prince Harry appears to have been pictured for the first time since his return, with a photo on social media showing him at a London TV and podcast studio.
The King’s letter has been sent to Prince Harry’s team, government departments, military officials and Lord Lieutenants, according to Palace sources.
Lord Lieutenants, who are the monarch’s local representatives, and government staff are often involved in royal visits and engagements.
This letter makes clear that any engagements carried out by the Sussexes will be in a private capacity and they will not be representing the Royal Family.
It seems to be something of a shot across the bows, making clear that any Prince Harry and Meghan visits should not be treated as royal engagements.
This comes ahead of what are likely to be public appearances by the Sussexes this autumn, as they settle in the UK and support their charities.
The couple have kept a low profile, but the first picture of Prince Harry since coming back to the UK appears to have been posted on the social media account of Tower Bridge Studios in London.
The message from the King emphasises that the position agreed in 2020 when the Sussexes left the UK – the so-called Sandringham Agreement – is still in place.
This ruled out any “half-in and half-out” status, so Harry and Meghan could not pursue their own commercial interests while continuing to be working royals.
“It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” the letter says.
The letter sent on behalf of the King makes it clear that this remains the case.
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” it adds.
The King’s message says that any questions from organisations about the reception to be given to the Sussexes, “particularly where recourse to public funds may be required, should be directed to Buckingham Palace”.
Prince Harry and Meghan faced an acrimonious departure from the UK in 2020, which they chronicled in their Netflix documentary.
They established their financial independence in California, including Prince Harry writing a best-selling memoir Spare and Meghan creating an online food range, As Ever.
This summer the couple made a surprise return to the UK, where their children will be going to school.
It’s expected that Prince Harry will be supporting his charities, including the Invictus Games, which are due to be held in Birmingham next year.
There have been reports that Meghan is considering a return to acting.
Disputes about Prince Harry and Meghan’s security in the UK remain unresolved and the letter spells out: “Any operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant police authorities.”
Prince Harry has complained about a lack of adequate police protection in the UK, but the Palace says that has to be addressed by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee – known as Ravec – which decides security for royals and public figures.
Palace sources have suggested it was better to make the Lord Chamberlain’s letter public, in a spirit of transparency, rather than risk it emerging in leaks.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s representatives have been contacted for a response.
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