Julian Assange marking first anniversary of release from prison
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Daily Mirror
30-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi admits he worries about dying
EXCLUSIVE: Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi still has self-doubt despite huge success and continuing to sell out UK shows and also fears his own mortality Hard-living rocker Francis Rossi has admitted he is obsessed with his health and asks himself: "Will I last too much longer?" The Status Quo frontman has been open about his hellraising past, including a one-time cocaine addiction. But he said the fact that he is now 76 "gets to me most mornings". He explained: "My wife asks me when we have coffee at about 7ish, 7.30 am, she says, 'How are you today?'. I go, 'Well...' It's in the morning I get, 'What the f*** am I doing?' And how one's going to last too much longer. "And I can't get that out of my mind, whatever I do. I'll be alright as the day goes on. I'm going into the studio in a while. And then I look forward to the next meal, and that's it really." Francis confessed he suffers insecurity despite years as a rock star, waiting for things to go wrong and expecting the worst. He also told Hilary Jones on the Dr Hilary Show podcast that it still hurts if Status Quo are dissed or seen as a bit of a joke. Francis said: "I started practising quite diligently when I was about 38, and I have to do that every day, some form of it. "I've done vocal exercises already this morning, because although we've been off two weeks, we go back in September-ish, and I'm always paranoid about not being ready. "In fact, I'm dreaming at the moment of walking on and I don't have a guitar and I don't know what to say to the audience. I think that's the alternative to being a smug bastard really, I don't think, you know, 'I'm fine, they'll love me.' "And I've heard many people in my position or relative positions have that sort of approach, 'I'll be fine, they'll love me.' It's a showbizzy thing and whether that's their own facade, mine is sort of insecurity, I think so I will be doubly, doubly, doubly sure and expect things to go wrong. I always expect the worst. "My eldest son sent me a clip the other day, he said, 'You're being very guarded in some documentary.' I saw a clip of it, and I find it very difficult to watch. "But this person opened with the fact that, you know, 'You're seen as a joke, aren't you?' I said, 'Well, yeah.' So it's what I said to you, glass half full or half empty... people say, 'They're a bunch of d***heads, it's only three chords, they're not very good. Him and the blonde fella, they're funny, but they can't be real musicians or they wouldn't be that funny' and so on. "And so that goes in as much as you can try to be impervious to it, it goes in there. And so I figure it's better for me to view life from that point of view, anything from that is a plus." Francis formed Status Quo in 1976 and will celebrate a half century in music next year. And he revealed he still dreams of late band pal Rick Parfitt - who died aged 68 in 2016 - only to wake up and remember that they drifted apart before his death "for terrible reasons". He added: "A serious drinker like that, there are no one or two glasses of wine, and he just kept going and him and I just drifted more and more apart because of that. "We were so different by the time we were older. We were really, really, really close, fabulously close. And I dream sometimes about that time and then wake up and realise that we'd drifted somewhat for whatever reasons, terrible reasons.' Status Quo were among the rock elite in the UK, securing over 50 Top 40 singles and over 20 Top 10 albums. Guitarist Rick Parfitt died in hospital in Spain aged 68, in 2016. Parfitt's musical partnership with Rossi, which spanned five decades, made Status Quo one of British rock's most enduring acts. Quo found global success with hits including Rockin' All Over The World and Whatever You Want.
Reuters
26-06-2025
- Reuters
Pope Leo laments 'diabolical intensity' of Middle East conflicts
VATICAN CITY, June 26 (Reuters) - Pope Leo said on Thursday that conflicts in the Middle East were raging with an unprecedented "diabolical intensity" and appealed for greater respect for international law, in comments to Catholic bishops and aid agencies operating in the region. At a meeting in the Vatican, the pontiff said countries in the region were being "devastated by wars, plundered by special interests, and covered by a cloud of hatred that renders the air unbreathable and toxic." "Today, violent conflict seems to be raging... with a diabolical intensity previously unknown," he said, adding that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza was "tragic and inhumane". Leo, elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, appealed last month for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. He did not name Israel in his remarks on Thursday. The U.S.-born pope also did not directly address the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran that also saw the United States bomb suspected Iranian nuclear facilities but he called for countries to show better respect for international law. "It is truly distressing to see the principle of 'might makes right' prevailing in so many situations today, all for the sake of legitimising the pursuit of self-interest," he said. "It is troubling to see that the force of international law and humanitarian law seems no longer to be binding, replaced by the alleged right to coerce others," Leo added.
Glasgow Times
24-06-2025
- Glasgow Times
Julian Assange marking first anniversary of release from prison
His wife Stella said he is working on a project to slow the 'rush' towards war. In the early hours of June 24 last year Julian Assange was transported under custody in a high-security convoy from Belmarsh maximum security prison to Stansted Airport. Julian Assange was released from Belmarsh prison on June 24, 2024 (Assange family/PA) He had been imprisoned in Belmarsh for more than five years and was detained in the UK for 14 years. He flew on an Australian government jet under formal custody to US federal court in the tiny US overseas territory of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean, refuelling in Bangkok. On June 26, a plea hearing in Saipan formally secured his release, conditional on him immediately leaving the territory. Later that day he landed in his home country of Australia where he was reunited with his family. Julian Assange spent five years, largely in solitary confinement, fighting extradition (Assange family/PA) Mrs Assange said: 'We were in Europe for the opening of The Six Billion Dollar Man at Cannes, Pope Francis's funeral, and to try to understand where things are heading — politically and technologically. 'Julian has been working on something for several months now, and I hope it can help slow the rush toward war. 'Three hundred and sixty-five days have passed, but we are light years away from Belmarsh prison. 'To all the supporters who helped make this possible, there are no words to express how grateful we are to have Julian free.'
