A food delivery driver from northeastern China, whose whirlwind marriage to an American teacher captivated social media, has announced their divorce.
Liu Hao, 28, from Liaoning province, met Hannah Harris, 31, an English teacher from Alabama, in November 2024 after delivering food to her flat.
Charmed by Liu, who greeted her in the lift with the simple English phrase “Hello, I love you,” Harris soon bonded with him over their shared love of food, sport and pets.
The relationship progressed rapidly. Liu proposed at an underground station in January last year, and the couple married two months later.
Their union drew widespread praise on Chinese social media, particularly because Harris set aside traditional marriage customs and asked for neither a flat, a car nor a bride price.
I was First Secretary at the British Embassy in Warsaw 1994-98. While that was a long time ago, I knew personally many of the people at the heart of the current crisis, such as Donald Tusk and Radek Sikorski.
…Ukraine is central to this. Simply put, the nationalist right has had its fill of Zelensky, whereas Tusk is a devotee of the von der Leyen/Kallas/Merz war-hawk line.
For British people, Ukraine is another “far-away country of which we know nothing”. To Poles it is a neighbour, of which they know a very great deal indeed. Poland probably houses more Ukrainian refugees than any other state, both in absolute numbers and per capita. Part of the antipathy from the nationalist right is anti-immigrant resentment.
But Ukraine really is an extremely corrupt state, and the Poles understand this very well. Poles contribute to the vast sums which the EU has poured into the Zelensky regime, and Poles also have a close-up view of Ukrainian regime-aligned figures in supercars buying top-end properties. Ukrainians are the largest foreign buyers of Polish real estate. This is simply true.
Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski ended up on the Civic Coalition side of the equation, because his primary loyalty is, and always was, to NATO, as befits a member of the Bullingdon Club and husband of crazed Russophobe Anne Applebaum.
A combination of events in Ukraine and the advent of President Nawrocki have caused a shift of the nationalist right to a much more sceptical position on Ukraine. Nawrocki is of a younger generation of politician – he is 43 and was only 15 when I left Poland. But his entire professional career prior to becoming President was connected to World War II commemoration.
Zelensky had been given Poland’s highest award. The Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki cancelled the award and made Zelensky return it, due to Ukrainian official commemoration of Nazi-allied figures and units who had participated in the massacres of Poles during World War II. Other senior Ukrainians also returned their Polish decorations. That is a pretty startling diplomatic split, hugely under-reported in the West.
…What does appear highly probable is that the European Commission had advance notice of the coup, because the speed with which they jumped in to support Tusk and Pietrowska’s takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal was remarkable, given the complexity of the situation. Personally I cannot see any argument whatsoever that Pietrowska’s action was legal.
This is a reasonable overview from someone with personal experience in Poland and a foreign perspective. It’s worth reading, but for me lacks any sense that Poland today appears to be central to a hardening of the EU and its provocations of Russia. The excerpt I posted is but a small piece of the full essay. ABN
A Colombian businesswoman who is accused of killing two girls with poisoned raspberries ‘tricked’ the children into thinking they were a free gift, a court has heard.
Ines de Bedout, 14, and her friend Emilia Forero, 13, died days after eating chocolate-covered raspberries laced with the highly toxic metal thallium, known as the ‘silent killer’, in April last year.
Zulma Guzman Castro, who is wanted in Colombia accused of murdering the two girls, was discovered to be hiding in Britain after she was seen drinking from a Buxton water bottle during a TV interview.
The 55-year-old is currently battling against extradition back to Colombia at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Ms de Bedout was the daughter of Guzman’s former lover, Juan de Bedout, and her friend was visiting for a sleepover when the deadly delivery arrived.
She allegedly carried out the poisonings as an ‘act of vengeance’ following a failed affair with Mr de Bedout.
Ines de Bedout, 14, and 13-year-old Emilia Forero (pictured) died days after eating the poisoned raspberries in April last year
Poison is a common weapon, often used against victims who trust the poisoner. I have myself been poisoned and am highly aware of how easy it is to do and how unsuspecting I was. The purported motive in this case is vengeance for ‘a failed affair’. Poison is also used to disable but not kill. Parasites and social climbers use it that way. For me, imagining the mindset of a poisoner is deeply revolting. ABN
Tonight, the introduction of martial law is planned – an extraordinary event in Poland. This state grants enormous powers to the government, including censorship of the internet and platforms like X.
Jacek Karnowski, a Polish journalist, just said live on television: according to his sources, at midnight tonight, a state of emergency or martial law is to be introduced. The goal is to pacify the protests and “freeze” society.
One of the reasons for introducing the state is an imagined threat from Kaliningrad as a pretext, although experts say there is no real threat.
If I don’t post anything on X tomorrow, it means Poland has plunged back into darkness like in the 1980s.
The UK and France will jointly lead Exercise Koalicja from 9 to 22 November, the first major exercise for the Multinational Force Ukraine, with 2,800 troops on land, in the air and at sea.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said the UK is “stepping up” to prepare for peace in Ukraine, as hundreds of British troops and RAF jets prepare to join forces from 11 nations for a major exercise in Poland this month.
The UK and France will jointly lead Exercise Koalicja, the first major exercise run by the Multinational Force Ukraine, the military arm of the Coalition of the Willing. Running from 9 to 22 November, it will test how to move, protect and supply a force that would help rebuild Ukraine’s armed forces once the fighting ends.
Now we know why the coup in Poland happened when it did and who is backing it. This is conspicuous ramp-up to wholesale war with Russia, WW3. Add Trump’s rumored plan to nuke Iran for Bibi and that’s the lay of the land right now. ABN
Ukraine will need to import over 8 million migrants from developing countries to overcome a looming “demographic crisis,” a leading employment sector specialist has said.
Vasily Voskoboinik, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Companies for International Employment, told the country’s state television on Saturday there was an urgent need for labor migration from countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, India, North Africa and Central Asia.
Vasily Voskoboinik told the country’s state television on Saturday there was an urgent need for labor migration from countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, India, North Africa and Central Asia. Photo by Sean Gallup, Ghaith Abdul Ahad/Getty Images
He said: “According to estimates by the International Organization for Migration and the International Labour Organization, we will need 8.2 million workers. This is a huge problem facing our country.
“We have a demographic catastrophe. Either we encourage our women to have more children, which would take 18–20 years to reflect in the labor market, or we must realistically seek labor migration from other countries.”
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year, but will still sell weapons to its close Middle East ally.
Speaking as US voters headed to the polls for midterm elections that will decide who controls Congress, Trump did not provide details and it was not immediately clear which funding he meant. He also did not explain how the funding would be stopped at the end of the year, given that the Memorandum of Understanding that provides $3.8 billion in US military aid to Israel each year does not expire until September 2028.
