Lives Less Ordinary José Mujica: Guerilla, president and occasional romantic
Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Louise Morris
Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer is in the rough. Could Cameron get him out?
US President Donald Trump is in Scotland to visit his golf courses and meet Sir Keir Starmer, despite the fact that our PM does not play golf. Perhaps David Cameron can help? The former Conservative prime minister teamed up with former Irish prime minister Enda Kenny in the Pro-Am Senior Open at Sunningdale with three-time golf major winner Padraig Harrington – and won. 'I am doing my bit for Anglo-Irish relations,' Cameron tells me, describing Kenny, 74, as 'a canny golfer – like Trump.' Cameron, 58, famously played golf with Barack Obama when the former US president visited the UK in 2016. Both have improved their handicaps since then. 'When I played Obama he was a 14 and I was a 21 – I've made it to 15 but he's gone all the way to six.' There is life after politics, at least on the golf course. Barry's friends Labour MP Barry Gardiner has proved to be an unlikely hit with GB News viewers due to his regular appearances on the channel. He tells me that so far he has been sent 'one tie, a key ring and a bottle opener' in the post from viewers, and even one proposal of marriage. He accepted the first three, and declined the fourth, which must be a relief to Mrs Gardiner, a noted poet. Gyles's toothpaste An update from the bathroom of Gyles Brandreth. 'I regard my bathroom mirror as my enemy, not my friend,' the 77-year-old TV presenter tells The Oldie magazine. 'That's why I tend not to have the lights full-on when I'm brushing my teeth. And that's why the other night I squeezed Voltarol instead of toothpaste on to my toothbrush. I know I must be getting older. I couldn't tell the difference.' Ministers' latitude It's a big festival weekend, not least the thousands who are attending Latitude in Suffolk. I hear one group of Labour ministers are hiring a house nearby so they can get to listen to the music and sleep in a comfortable bed each night. For the few, not the many. Brandon's healthy approach Actress Glynis Barber, 69, has an enthusiastic interest in wellbeing and anti-ageing; her actor husband Michael Brandon, 80, doesn't. The pair co-starred in 1980s cop TV series Dempsey & Makepeace. Barber says: 'He literally has no interest whatsoever. However, he has the benefit of living with me. So I have foisted organic food on him. I read boring articles on the benefits of a certain supplement or the latest findings of what fat does to the body. [But] he just glazes over, tries to listen and then literally falls asleep.' Arise Lord Norris? Former Conservative minister Steven Norris has led a 'frankly ridiculous life', his son Harry declared in an affectionate speech at a dinner to celebrate his father's 80th birthday this week. 'Not many people can say they've been shot at beside President Carter, taken the late Queen on her first Thames Clipper ride or been kissed by both Yasser Arafat and Hugh Grant,' said Harry. Norris Snr, who was also Tory candidate for London mayor in 2000 and 2004, has inexplicably never been rewarded with a peerage. He responded to Harry's speech by inviting his friends to his 90th birthday party in 10 years' time. Ozzy and Tony
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Venezuela oil company PDVSA readies return to work under previous US terms
July 25 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is getting ready to resume work at its joint ventures under terms similar to Biden-era licenses, once U.S. President Donald Trump reinstates authorizations for its partners to operate and export oil under swaps, company sources said. Washington is preparing new authorizations for key PDVSA partners, starting with U.S. major Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, to operate in the sanctioned nation. The permits are expected to mark a policy shift from a pressure strategy Washington adopted this year that led to oil license cancellations in March. The authorizations might not be made public this time, but Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, late on Thursday, hailed political work to keep Chevron in the country and said the company was involved in working groups to expand operations again. Since the U.S. first imposed energy sanctions in 2019, Venezuela has seen licenses come and go as part of political negotiations with different U.S. administrations. The OPEC country has stabilized production at around 1 million barrels per day in recent years, with exports mostly going to independent Chinese refiners. A separate secondary tariff announced by Washington this year on buyers of Venezuelan oil has not been enforced. If the licenses are granted again under terms allowing PDVSA's partners to contribute to procurement and contract payments, while importing and exporting oil through swaps, Venezuela could secure a much-needed revenue source. The authorizations would come after a prisoner swap between Venezuela and the U.S. this month. The U.S. State Department has said no money from Venezuelan exports will reach Maduro's coffers, but it remains unclear how that prohibition could be enforced. Historically, PDVSA has not allowed its partners' cargoes to depart without receiving mandatory royalties and tax payments. "The situation is not going to be different this time," a company source said, referring to PDVSA's preparations. PDVSA and Venezuela's Oil Ministry did not reply to requests for comment. Chevron said it conducts its business globally in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including the U.S. sanctions framework. PDVSA's previous arrangement with Chevron involved a three-leg swap, with the U.S. firm supplying diluents to PDVSA and the state company delivering oil cargoes for Chevron to export to the U.S. to get debt and dividends repaid, one of the sources explained. The arrangement with European companies, including Italy's Eni ( opens new tab, Spain's Repsol ( opens new tab and France's Maurel & Prom ( opens new tab was slightly different. Since debt owed to those firms was lower, the swaps were almost completely oil-for-fuel exchanges with a minimum amount of debt repaid, the source added. PDVSA sees no other mechanism to resume oil exports to the U.S. and Europe under the U.S. sanctions, the sources said. In April, PDVSA canceled oil cargoes it had assigned to Chevron after the companies could not agree on a payment solution. Washington's new approach to energy sanctions on Venezuela has again divided the country's opposition, with some leaders celebrating Chevron's return to full operations and others warning it could benefit Maduro.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Riverdance star Michael Flatley to seek Irish presidency nomination
After finding fame and fortune in Riverdance and other stage shows, Michael Flatley is to seek a new role: president of Ireland. The Irish American dancer and impresario planned to move back from Monaco to Ireland and would seek nomination in the upcoming election, a Dublin court heard on Friday. An affidavit submitted during a high court case in relation to a legal dispute over renovations at Flatley's mansion said the 67-year-old was 'to seek nominations to run for president of Ireland'. An election for the largely ceremonial post must take place in the 60 days before 11 November, when Michael D Higgins steps down after two terms, totalling 14 years. Flatley signalled a potential run in an RTÉ interview last week when he said Irish people were not 'happy right now' and lacked 'a true proper deep voice that speaks their language'. His barrister, Ronnie Hudson, confirmed that intention when he notified the court of a 'material change in circumstances' and said Flatley, who is an Irish citizen, would move back to Ireland within 14 days to seek a nomination. The affidavit emerged during the choreographer's ongoing legal action over renovation work at Castlehyde, his 18th-century estate near Fermoy, in County Cork. To be eligible to run for president, a candidate must be an Irish citizen and aged 35 or older. To get on the ballot, a candidate must be nominated either by at least 20 members of parliament or at least four local authorities. It is unclear if the Lord of the Dance star can muster such support. In April, the former mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor complained that the nomination rules could block his stated ambition to run. Two candidates have so far secured enough support to enter the race: Mairead McGuiness, a former journalist and EU commissioner, is the Fine Gael party nominee. Small leftwing parties have backed Catherine Connolly, a political independent and former mayor of Galway. The Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin parties have yet to nominate candidates. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion The Independent Ireland grouping, which has four parliamentary seats, said it was open to talking to Flatley and other possible candidates as long as they had a 'realistic chance' of mustering 16 other votes. Flatley has remained in the public eye since retiring as a dancer. Critics derided his 2022 spy thriller film, Backbird, as a vanity project. In 2023, he announced plans for a 'no holds barred' biopic series, titled Dancelord, that promised to show the 'epic sweep' of a life that has reached 'a plane beyond mere rock stardom'.
