My uniform fits snugly. Hair is brushed, shoes polished – but it’s certainly not the best of starts.

‘Can you tell me where the nearest ladies’ washroom is, please?’ asks an American guest.

‘I’m awfully sorry, but I can’t.’

Thierry Altuna, the French cruise manager (Terry to the Anglophones), takes me to one side as we line up for the Captain’s welcome speech.

‘You have your badge on the wrong way,’ he says. ‘It should always be on the right-hand lapel of your jacket.’

I move to make the switch but the magnet on the inside of my shirt – which holds the badge in place – falls and ends up somewhere near the top of my trousers. Retrieving it will require a partial striptease.

So, badgeless, I stand next to Thierry and listen to the Captain as he thanks all 107 guests for choosing Uniworld at the start of this luxurious Rhone river cruise from Arles, in the south of France, to Lyon, on board the 135-metre S.S. Catherine, named after the actress Catherine Deneuve.

Sportingly, but with understandable apprehension, Uniworld has agreed to let me join the crew for what can best be described as work experience.

There are 51 other crew and we’re an international bunch, including 13 from Bulgaria, 11 from Romania, nine from France and just one from the UK. Two, if you count me.

Thierry then takes over from the Captain, holding the microphone like a seasoned pro – and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt about cruise managers, it’s that they love an audience.

Thierry asks all those from America to raise their hands (43 of them); then wants to know how many are from Britain (27 in total), and so on.

After which, he waxes lyrical for 30 minutes about the various excursions, during which a smartly dressed passenger with a bouffant perm sidles up to me and whispers: ‘He never mentioned Ireland, and there are five of us here, you know.’

‘Thanks for that, I’ll have a word,’ I tell her. This formidable woman turns out to be Eleanor Walsh, a widow from Dublin, who is here with four other widows, three of them in their 80s.

By day two I refer to this gang as the ‘Frightening Five’, because they prove to be the most demanding passengers on the ship. Or as the hotel manager, Alexandru Marinescu, puts it more tactfully: ‘They are the ladies who need special attention.’

First, Mrs Walsh complains to me that the walk from the airport terminal at Marseilles to the coach was far too long in the 42c heat; and, second, that bottles of water should have been given to everyone upon boarding the coach.

I report this back to Alexandru the next morning at the daily heads of department meeting and he jots it down in a notebook.

Also in his book goes a note about a particular guest from the U.S. He’s been seen at the front desk naked from the waist up.

‘He must be asked politely not to do this again,’ says Alexandru – although it’s not entirely clear who will do the asking. Mind you, topless from Texas is a novice compared with Jan and Bush Hanna from Knoxville, Tennessee.

It’s the couple’s 14th Uniworld trip and it comes as they are about to celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary.

As I replenish the Hannas’ glasses with water one evening, I ask them what they make of the political situation in America. ‘Let’s not mess about – we’re for Trump,’ says Mr Hanna.

‘Would you back him if he is running the country from prison?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Do you not think he’s brought politics into disrepute?’

‘No, sir.’

There’s been one other complaint during the first 24 hours. Apparently, the restaurant staff have not been coming round with wine fast enough.

I’m particularly mindful of this because, this evening, I shall be assisting the sommelier during the Gala Dinner.

But, first, I am on morning duty at the front desk with Adriana, from Croatia. I like her telephone manner and copy every word, just substituting my name for hers.

‘Thank you for calling the front desk. My name is Mark. How can I best assist you today, Mrs Rosenberg?’

I know it’s Mrs Rosenberg because her cabin number flashes up on one of three screens hidden from view. It’s just a matter of matching the name to the number.

She wants one breakfast tea, one yoghurt, one slice of brown toast and one poached egg delivered as soon as possible.

‘Within 30 minutes, Mrs Rosenberg. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.’

There’s a strict hierarchy on cruise ships. The Captain is the big boss, of course, and on the S.S. Catherine we all answer to Captain Pascal Rech.

He’s been sailing on the Rhone river all his working life and this is his 18th year with Uniworld.

‘Every day is different and I never get bored,’ says Pascal, 55, who met his wife on a river cruise ship when she was working as a pastry chef.

I join him in what’s called ‘the wheelhouse’ (similar to the bridge of an ocean cruise ship) as we leave Avignon and head upstream in the direction of Viviers.

Amid all the technology and flashing lights there’s a sign that reads: ‘Work like a captain, play like a pirate.’

Second most senior in the pecking order is hotel manager Alexandru, 45, who is married with a 15-year-old daughter. He’s in charge of everything on board apart from piloting the ship.

I’m particularly grateful to him because he makes sure that my shift in the kitchen, working with ten chefs and three washer-uppers, with little room to move about, lasts no longer than is absolutely necessary.

I would also struggle to toil for long in the laundry room, where I am tasked with ironing guests’ clothes (bed linen is changed every three days) while simultaneously mopping my brow.

Uniworld has a fleet of 17 ships worldwide. The company is privately owned by the South African Tollman family, which also has in its portfolio the Red Carnation group of hotels.

Guests on this trip are paying anything from £3,000 to £8,000 per person for eight nights, all-inclusive, with as much alcohol as they want at any time of day or night. The long corridors display more than 460 works of art, including original paintings by Richard Scott and signed lithographs by Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso. But the pièce de résistance is the Murano glass horse in the lobby, which was specially commissioned and cost £200,000.

Crew are billeted on the lower deck, two per cabin – unless you are a department head in charge of a team, which warrants a single room – all with their own ensuite shower rooms.

Before the Gala Dinner, the captain asks me to line up at the door to the lounge and greet guests as they file in. I clink glasses with a few of them, which seems a little forward but I notice Pascal does it in a refined sort of way. Follow the leader.

Then I report to the Bulgarian sommelier, Nedko Nikolov, who places a white napkin over my left arm and says I should hold a bottle each of the red and the white wine in my left hand, before pouring with my right.

‘The labels must be clearly visible to the guests and never let the bottle touch the glass,’ he tells me.

All goes well until I reach a table where a group of Australians are seated.

‘Could you tell me the name of the vineyard where the white wine comes from?’ says a burly man who seems to be the leader of this group. ‘I need to get back to you on that,’ I tell him.

‘I think you should know,’ he says.

I seek out Nedko, who comes up with the name, and I return with it to the Aussie.

‘You’ve spilt a couple of drops on the table,’ he says.

The correct response to this would be to apologise and dab the drops with my napkin. I master the dabbing but not the apology.

‘You’re just smarting because the England football team knocked your lot out at the Women’s World Cup,’ I tell him.

It must be a sackable offence to speak to a guest in such a manner, but I move on quickly and there are no repercussions.

A highlight of the cruise is ‘Seventies Night’. Several guests have brought with them flower-power shirts and T-shirts; some of the men wear wigs in the style of John Lennon.

The ‘Frightening Five’ take to the dance floor with gusto – and then Alexandru suggests that I should join them. ‘You have my permission,’ he says. ‘But don’t go mad.’

Working on a cruise ship is hard work. But there’s also a lot of camaraderie and you pass through some wonderful scenery. The level of service from the crew has been exemplary.

Uniworld’s motto is: ‘You deserve the best.’ I can’t honestly claim that I have been the best, but I’ve got away with it – and stood no nonsense from a bellicose Australian, who may or may not report my insolence to the Captain.

Mark Ronson and Grace Gummer hold hands while taking their baby daughter for a walk in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood

By Sam Joseph Semon For Dailymail.com

Published: 02:50 EDT, 18 September 2023 | Updated: 02:50 EDT, 18 September 2023

Mark Ruffalo celebrates his ‘best friend’ and wife Sunrise Coigney’s 51st birthday with sweet note: ‘So happy we found each other’

By Sharon Mai For Dailymail.Com

Published: 20:41 EDT, 17 September 2023 | Updated: 20:48 EDT, 17 September 2023

The inaugural boss of NASA‘s newly-created UFO research division has been named as a former meteorologist and liaison to the Pentagon.

Mark McInerney will become the US space agency’s director of research into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known as unidentified flying objects.

NASA officials initially refused to reveal McInerney’s identity amid fears he would be harassed, before later backtracking on the decision.

Speaking about the new UFO boss following the release of the agency’s highly-anticipated study into more than 800 UAP sightings, NASA’s associate administrator Nicola Fox told reporters: ‘They have been working there a while now, during the study, to help be a point of contact.’

But when directly asked whether she could name the official, Fox replied: ‘We will not give his name out.’

All changed hours later, however, when NASA sent out a press release that included McInerney’s name and revealed he previously worked as the agency’s liaison to the Pentagon.

There has been no explanation as to why McInerney’s identity was revealed when NASA initially declined to do so.

However, it emerged at last night’s briefing that several members of the independent study group had received threats, hate mail and been ridiculed on social media.  

Some were even apparently told to stay away from researching UFOs because it could damage their scientific credibility. 

‘That’s in part why we are not splashing the name of our new director out there, because science needs to be free,’ Dan Evans, the NASA official in charge of the study, originally said.

‘Some of [the incidents] rose to actual threats.’

The newly-formed UFO research division will continue studying UAPs, even though the space agency yesterday ruled out that aliens were to blame for some 800 such sightings over almost three decades.

These are defined as objects ‘that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective’. 

In a landmark report commissioned by NASA last year and published on Thursday, an independent panel of 16 experts stressed that there was ‘no reason to conclude’ that any of the sightings they analysed were extraterrestrial in origin. 

However, the team did warn that mysterious flying objects were a ‘self-evident’ threat to American airspace. 

Even though they poured cold water on the extraterrestrial hypothesis, NASA’s experts did not deny the possibility of a ‘potential unknown alien technology operating in Earth’s atmosphere.’ 

Their 33-page report called for NASA to utilise its technological might to continue studying UFOs because many cases remain unsolved — and researchers still have no idea what some of these sightings are.

NASA chief Bill Nelson announced that a new director for UFO research would help implement the panel’s recommendations. 

Following a news briefing setting out the findings, he said: ‘I want to thank the independent study team for providing insight on how NASA can better study and analyse UAP in the future. 

‘NASA’s new Director of UAP Research will develop and oversee the implementation of NASA’s scientific vision for UAP research, including using NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyse UAP and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies. 

‘NASA will do this work transparently for the benefit of humanity.’

McInerney’s new role will see him ‘centralise communications, resources, and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP’, NASA said.

‘He also will leverage NASA’s expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and space-based observation tools to support and enhance the broader government initiative on UAP,’ the space agency added.

Since 1996, McInerney has worked in various positions, spending time at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Hurricane Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NASA advisory panel’s new report analysed hundreds of potential UFO sightings, albeit with a budget of just $100,000 (£80,500) and just nine months to conduct their work.

The panel noted that, to date, most UAPs are recorded with sensors and other equipment intended for nonscientific purposes, under accidental or ‘serendipitous’ circumstances that are far from ideal.

Evidence from nearly all UFO cases, in other words, was not collected with enough scientific rigour for experts to reach reliable conclusions in the panel’s view.  

‘Coupled with incomplete data archiving and curation,’ the NASA panel wrote, ‘this means that the origin of numerous UAP [UFOs] remain uncertain.’

They concluded that in their scientific view, the bar for proof of extraterrestrial visitors to our planet must be kept high. 

‘In the search for life beyond Earth, extraterrestrial life itself must be the hypothesis of last resort,’ the panel wrote, ‘the answer we turn to only after ruling out all other possibilities.’ 

‘As Sherlock Holmes said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth”.’ 

Back in May, NASA’s independent study team shared their preliminary observations — that up to 98 per cent of reported UAP sightings can be explained away.

Just 2 to 5 percent are considered ‘possibly really anomalous’, the panel added, but a lack of high-quality data is hampering researchers’ ability to apply ‘rigorous scientific scrutiny’ to the mystery-solving. 

NASA’s study is separate from the Pentagon’s investigation into UAPs, which saw US lawmakers hear first-hand accounts of UFO sightings from former members of the military earlier this year.

That Pentagon study, led by the Defense Department’s new All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and directed by Pentagon physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, has received 350 reports of UFOs in the past two years. 

Almost half, or precisely 171 of those UFO cases, remain unexplained. 

Although their is cross-collaboration, the US space agency’s panel is focused on the civilian, unclassified side of this effort, while AARO leads the charge on examining UAPs in coordination with the intelligence and military communities.

It’s been just over a month since Meta released its newest social media app, Threads, and the initial hype surrounding the launch has long since died down. 

An impressive 70 million people downloaded Threads in the two days after its July 5 launch – a figure that reached 150 million within a week.

However, the amount of people actually using the app each day plummeted from 49 million on July 7 to just nine million at the start of August, according to Similarweb. 

The next few months could be key for Mark Zuckerberg‘s company Meta if it seriously wants to compete with Elon Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter), which has more than 250 million daily active users. 

MailOnline spoke to experts to find out what changes the Threads app needs to stop it from being consigned to the great graveyard in the sky of embarrassing tech failures.

Threads – which is closely linked to the Instagram app – lets users share text posts up to 500 characters in length, as well as links, photos and five-minute videos. 

While Instagram is primarily used for photos and video clips, Threads is for ‘sharing text updates and joining public conversations’, according to Meta. 

1. Making separate feeds the default 

When you open Threads, a news feed shows a mishmash of posts from people you follow and algorithmically-boosted posts from random accounts that you don’t follow. 

This means you have to scroll through tens of posts from accounts you don’t follow before you can see posts from your friends and family. 

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, confirmed that a feed only with posts from people you follow is available by tapping the home icon twice – but the default setting shows all of them clumped together.  

Meta might want to give posts from people you follow more prominence, according to James Bore, tech analyst and consultant at Bores Group, who says a focus on algorithmically-boosted posts can be ‘infuriating’. 

‘I don’t want random posts, or sponsored posts popping up and bugging me,’ Bore told MailOnline. 

‘Particularly when they’re supposedly “targeted” based on whatever profile they think they’ve built for me.’ 

Bore said Threads needs an ‘intuitive’ way to show the two types of posts, but not by copying what Twitter has done with its ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ tabs. 

‘Twitter made For You the focus rather than following which was infuriating,’ he said. 

‘It doesn’t maintain your preference – it’ll always default back to For You and there’s no indication when you’ve looked down the page even a little on which you’re on.’ 

Social media consultant Rhea Freeman said combining popular posts with personal posts might be part of Meta’s growth strategy for Threads.

‘It could help show people who are on the app and perhaps encourage additional follows and interaction of Threads that seem likely to get engagement,’ she told MailOnline.

‘I feel like this definitely expands our experience beyond that of our own community and allows us to see and experience new things.’

2. Hashtags 

Another big feature that’s missing from Threads is the ability to search with hashtags.

Threads does have a search function – discernable by a magnifying glass at the bottom of the app – but it’s for finding other users. 

‘Hashtag search is such a great way to connect people looking for specific things or wanting to chat around a theme or event,’ Freeman told MailOnline. 

‘At the moment, it is hard to find specific conversations beyond those suggested or those created by people you follow.

‘If you’re looking to grow your network, find new people with shared interests or just expand your reach by engaging with related conversations, that’s really hard to do.’

3. Direct messaging 

Another issue for many users could be the lack of direct messaging (DMs), as found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which lets two users talk to each other privately. 

‘For me, if search and DMs are released, X would have a real challenge on its hands,’ said Freeman. 

4. Desktop version 

Among the other key issues needing a fix is that Threads is only available for smartphones – both Android and iPhones – but not for desktop, unlike Twitter. 

Instagram is of course mobile-focused too, but moving into desktop as well could help draw users who like to check Twitter at their work desk. 

Threads for desktop does indeed seem to be one of the features in the works.  

In response to a Threads post saying ‘Ok desktop web version next PLEASE’, Mosseri replied, ‘We’re working on it’. 

5. Ability to delete the app 

Meta has also caused controversy by making it impossible to delete Threads without deleting Instagram too. 

Although a Threads profile can be temporarily deactivated, permanently deleting it requires sacrificing Instagram as well because both platforms are intertwined.

When the Threads app is downloaded, people don’t even need to choose a username; instead Threads just pulls this from your Instagram account. 

The fact it’s so easy to set up an account on Threads may partly explain why sign-ups exploded when it was released. 

In several other ways there’s integration between Threads and Instagram, such as the ability to share a Thread to your Instagram Stories. 

Users can also use the Threads icon on Instagram (and the Instagram icon on Threads) to jump between the two apps with a single tap. 

This integration between the two is ‘huge’, according to Freeman, and could be explored further by Meta in the near future. 

‘Instagram is a beast of platform with well over 2 billion monthly active users, so there’s already a big audience to promote Threads to, who can utilise Threads as part of their Instagram experience rather than being something as a standalone.’  

Certainly, Threads is limited in terms of functionality, especially when compared with X, but this may have been a deliberate ploy on Meta’s part. 

Releasing Threads as a bare bones version before drip-feeding new features that improve the user experience will add a wave of publicity each time they arrive. 

So, is Threads salvageable? 

Ultimately, Meta will have to find ways of taking users away from Twitter without simply copying it outright. 

‘Threads is still so young, and new functionality is being rolled out all the time, so I don’t think it’ll be long before we see these and more features to make our Threads usage easier,’ said Freeman. 

Bore, meanwhile, thinks Threads might not be ‘salvageable’ for Meta following the serious dip in daily active users. 

‘Active users plummeting is hardly surprising – it’s happened with every single “Twitter killer” so far,’ he said. 

‘There’s a burst of users, burst of activity, but not enough interaction and momentum to hit critical mass before people head back. 

‘By following Twitter they’re not going to outdo it. 

‘Either they need a killer differentiator, or to keep it on life support for long enough to build momentum, which is expensive and a huge risk.’ 

Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg is ON! X billionaire claims Italian officials have AGREED to hold fight at ‘epic location’ in Rome

• Previous reports had suggested Dana White’s UFC may be managing the fight 
• Musk made sure to mention Gladiator in one of his earlier tweets Friday morning 
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

By Patrick Djordjevic For Dailymail.Com

Published: 08:25 EDT, 11 August 2023 | Updated: 08:44 EDT, 11 August 2023

Animal masks in hand, the King and Queen led the festivities at a conservation charity ball tonight. 

Charles, 74, and Camilla, 75, appeared in great spirits at the party at Lancaster House to mark the 20th anniversary of wildlife conservation charity Elephant Family, which was established in 2003 by Her Majesty’s late brother Mark Shand.

This year’s annual Animal Ball is a celebration of indigenous communities, hosted by the Elephant Family in partnership with the British Asian Trust. 

At the London event, the King and Queen, dressed in a custom Anna Valentine, presented two Elephant Family awards – the Mark Shand Award and the Tara Award – to recognise contributions to protecting Asian wildlife. 

On arrival in the garden at Lancaster House, Their Majesties were met by Ruth Ganesh, co-founder of the Elephant Family, and Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the British Asian Trust. 

Many well-heeled guests joined the royal couple at the glitzy event, including  Christian Louboutin, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sir Brian May, his wife Anita Dobson, Donna Air, Keely Hawes, Emma Weymouth and Gwendoline Christie.

The garden at Lancaster House was decorated with the charity’s Lanterna Elephant sculptures, which were part of the ‘Co-Existence’ exhibition across the Royal Parks in 2021. 

Amongst the Lanterna Elephant sculptures, the King and Queen met the night’s award winners, which included members of the Adivasi tribal community from the Nilgiri Mountains, India. 

The community received the Elephant Family’s Mark Shand Award for 2023 from the Queen. The King and Queen also met Oscar-winning Indian documentary-maker, Kartiki Gonsalves, who received the newly created Tara Award from His Majesty. 

The Tara Award is named after Mark Shand’s elephant, who first inspired the establishment of the Elephant Family. 

After meeting the charity’s supporters and performers at the Animal Ball, the King and Queen proceeded to a marquee for the award presentations. 

During the presentation, Their Majesties listened to a series of musical performances from the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and singer-songwriter Tom Odell.

The King urged people to ‘pay attention’ to indigenous communities ‘before it’s too late’ during an impromptu speech after presenting a conservation award at the ball.

He said: ‘I think it’s over 35 years ago now that I tried to see if I could set up a project to collate as much of the indigenous knowledge and wisdom as possible throughout the world. But in those days, nobody wanted to know.

‘But now if I may say so, it is absolutely critical that we turn to all that indigenous knowledge and wisdom as the only way really of restoring the balance and harmony that is so badly needed in this world if we are going to save the planet.

‘So it’s up to all of us to pay attention to that knowledge and that wisdom before it’s too late.’

The King told a star-studded audience of around 300 guests: ‘Both my wife and I [are] so very proud to be able to present both these awards particularly, if I may say so, it transpires that today is actually Mark Shand’s birthday.

‘And he would have been so thrilled to know that Elephant Family had managed to get its 20th anniversary.’

On what would have been Mark Shand’s 72 birthday, the monarch had presented Oscar-winning Indian filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves with the Tara Award – named after the elephant which inspired him to set up the charity in 2003.

Her documentary film The Elephant Whisperers won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in February – the first Indian-produced film to win the accolade.

This year’s colourful event, which was jointly hosted by Elephant Family and the British Asian Trust, drew a line up of famous faces including Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, Keeley Hawes, Matthew Macfadyen, Jilly Cooper, Christian Louboutin, Emma Weymouth and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadim Zahawi.

The King and Queen also met former Towie star Gemma Collins, who is a supporter of Elephant Family.

The Queen looked elegant in a blue embroidered tunic top with blue palazzo chiffon trousers by Anna Valentine and diamond earrings by Van Cleef and Arpels. 

She and the King were presented with Shola masks by renowned Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, carved from sholapith, a sustainable type of cork grown in the marshlands of Bengal.

The royal couple posed for photographs surrounded by lifesize elephant sculptures made from Lantana, an invasive weed that impacts human and animal habitats in India, and which were part of the charity’s 2021 Co-Existence exhibition across the Royal Parks.

Some of the 125 elephant sculptures from its 2021 exhibition are now permanently displayed in the gardens of their Majesties’ private homes at Highgrove and Raymill – and two are owned by Gemma Collins.

‘They are absolutely beautiful,’ she told the Queen. ‘What I love about them is the way the eyes move with you in the garden.’

Her Majesty complimented the TV star on her eye-catching headwear – a headband with a shiny cherry and caterpillar on top.

‘I’m just so happy to be here and share this evening with you,’ Gemma told her.

Turning to the King, Gemma said: ‘You really are King of the planet and we love you for what you do for the animals. Please keep getting that message out there, it means so much.’

The King and Queen have long supported the Elephant Family, from visiting the charity’s projects whilst on overseas visits as The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, to supporting initiatives such as The Big Egg Hunt and the CoExistence campaign, which saw 125 life-size elephant sculptures displayed in London’s Royal Parks throughout summer 2021. 

Some of the Lanterna Elephant sculptures that formed part of the exhibition now live permanently in the gardens at Highgrove and Raymill.

Elephant Family is a wildlife conservation charity committed to building landscapes that support coexistence between humans and wildlife. 

The charity supports a wide range of projects that find ways for humans and animals to live closer together – from securing a network of wildlife corridors which act as bridges between islands of forests, to relocating busy highways that slice through primary forest. 

The organisation was founded in 2003 by the late Mark Shand, who died in 2014. He was deeply passionate about protecting and supporting elephants and Asian wildlife.

In 2020, Elephant Family joined forces with the British Asian Trust in a new philanthropic partnership dedicated to supporting Asia’s wildlife. 

The alliance brings together the best minds in conservation, management and philanthropy to respond urgently to the growing human-wildlife conflict crisis and the loss of habitat threatening Asia’s elephants, big cats and the rural communities who live alongside them. 

By combining expertise, the charities are accelerating their response and scale their impact on both. 

As The Prince of Wales, The King founded the British Asian Trust in 2007 alongside British Asian business leaders. The charity works to reduce poverty and disadvantage for communities in South Asia. 

This includes work in areas of anti-trafficking, education, livelihoods, mental health and conservation. 

Speaking after her meeting with the King and Queen, Gemma said: ‘It is an absolute honour to be here this evening. To actually get the royal invitation from the King and the Queen to personally meet me and to be recognised for my love of animals and conservation.

‘And King Charles is the king of the planet. All the youngsters need to know that if we do not start looking after animals and having respect for animals and stopping this abhorrent cruelty that is going on on a daily basis, they will not be able to show their children animals in the future, they will become extinct.

‘In this decade, there should not be anyone that shows any cruelty to another living being and this is why King Charles and Camilla are close to my heart. And I’m just so fascinated with all the good work that they do for conservation.

‘Her [Camilla’s] brother Mark Shand… what he did was insane. And I just find with a lot of youngsters today, it’s not about TikTok, come off TikTok, come off of Instagram. Let’s get connected with the animals and let’s all coexist. Let’s get a grip and save these beautiful creatures that give us so much enjoyment.

‘And King Charles and Camilla… I’m really hoping… I’m looking to make a documentary to make the youngsters aware. I’m really hoping they’ll get on board. I mean, me and King Charles and Camilla on Safari would be amazing.

‘We would have so much fun and you know, it doesn’t matter what background [you’re from] and this is why I love King Charles and Camilla… because they literally have taken me close to them. To invite me here has just meant so much to me.

‘I’ve got two of the elephants in my garden. And do you know what, I wake up every morning and they give me so much joy. And it’s just a message we need to get out there for once and for all.

‘We are not to kill or hurt our animals. We are to support them and be the voice for them and that’s why the King and Queen are way up there for me.

‘He’s King of the Planet. These occasions, yes they are for well-to-do people, but it goes beyond that. Everyone can show compassion to an animal.

‘People are not getting the message. It’s not about eyelashes, hair, what car you’re driving, if you’ve got a Rolex watch, that is so boring. 

‘What have you done today to help an animal? What have you done to minimise your carbon footprint for the planet? What message if you’ve given to someone today? It’s all got lost, it’s all gone crazy. People have got to take it back and get serious because… a lot of these animals aren’t going to be around much longer.’

She said of the King: ‘He’s got such personality. And he really can resonate with them and if we get all these youngsters behind it, big amazing things can happen.’

Port Adelaide‘s only AFL premiership coach Mark Williams has used his Hall of Fame induction to issue an emotional call to fight racism in the sport – and explained what led to one of the most iconic images in Power history.

In a passionate and wide-ranging speech at Melbourne‘s Crown Casino, the life-long football champion ended the function in stirring style.

Joking he was given the hard task of following iconic broadcaster Bruce McAvaney, Williams need not have worried as he delivered a memorable acceptance speech.

The 64-year-old said he remained in football, currently at Melbourne, due to his love of working with people from all backgrounds.

‘The Aboriginal people, I absolutely love. I really admire the AFL for talking and standing up for the ‘Yes’ vote for the Voice,’ Williams said.

‘I am saying we have to do the right thing and understand how bloody hard it is for the Aboriginal players to make their way in the AFL.

‘We need to support them and understand them.

‘When we get them there, make sure we give them opportunity and then absolutely demand the best from them and expect the best.’

Williams used the 2004 grand final when he coached Port to their sole premiership as an example of First Nations players starring on the biggest stage.

Byron Pickett won the Norm Smith Medal, while fellow Indigenous Power teammates Gavin Wanganeen, Peter Burgoyne and Shaun Burgoyne also played key roles in Port’s 40-point victory over the all-conquering Brisbane Lions.

‘I want them to be best on ground, not just making up the numbers,’ Williams said.

‘On grand final day, that’s what we saw when Port Adelaide won.’

The iconic image from Port’s breakthrough AFL premiership was Williams’ mock tie-choking gesture after the siren.

Williams reflected on just how tough things were for him and his family at that time in his life.

‘We were getting a lot of flack, it was hard living in Adelaide. Walking down the streets, my family was getting bullied and abused,’ he said.

‘People see the pulling of the tie and try and understand it. (But) If you walked a mile in my shoes or theirs (my family), you would understand how difficult it was.

‘To everyone’s credit, the Port Adelaide players, staff and board — everyone stuck together really closely. We worked on it and worked on it and kept going and kept believing in ourselves and finally got there.’

Three-time Geelong premiership heroes Jimmy Bartel and Corey Enright have become the latest Cats legends to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

The pair both ended their playing careers at the end of the 2016 season following Geelong’s preliminary-final loss to the Sydney Swans.

Despite ending their time with the Cats on a low, Bartel and Enright played a central role in an extraordinary period of success for the regional Victorian club.

The dynamic duo starred in Geelong’s 2007 premiership, the club’s first in 44 years, before being part of further grand-final success in 2009 and 2011.

A courageous midfielder, Bartel was awarded the 2007 Brownlow Medal and took out the Norm Smith Medal for his best-on-ground performance in the 2011 grand-final win over Collingwood.

Now a respected media analyst and a GWS board member, Bartel finished his career with 305 games and 202 goals.

Enright remains one of the greatest defenders in modern AFL history, named All-Australian six times, including in his final season.

Geelong should continue to dominate the Hall of Fame intake in coming years with fellow premiership greats such as Gary Ablett Jnr, Steve Johnson, Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins almost certain to be included when they become eligible.

One of Bartel and Enright’s former adversaries, Sam Mitchell, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame after a stellar four-premiership career for Hawthorn, followed by a one-season stint at West Coast.

Mitchell skippered the Hawks’ 2008 grand-final victory over Geelong, before handing the captaincy reins over to Luke Hodge ahead of the 2011 season.

Hawthorn added to their premiership cabinet with a 2013-15 flag three-peat.

Mitchell was retrospectively crowned a joint winner of the 2012 Brownlow Medal after Essendon’s Jobe Watson gave up his award following the Bombers’ supplements saga.

Now coaching Hawthorn after taking over from his long-time mentor Alastair Clarkson at the end of 2021, Mitchell finished with 329 games and is a five-time Hawks best-and-fairest winner.

Port Adelaide’s only AFL premiership coach Mark Williams received a belated induction, 13 years after he stepped away from the Power.

Williams enjoyed an illustrious playing career in the SANFL with Port Adelaide, before taking his talents to the VFL/AFL at Collingwood and Brisbane.

AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder confirmed St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt had accepted an invitation into the Hall of Fame.

However, the former Saints captain is living in the United States with his family this year and will be officially inducted when he returns to Australia.

2023 AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn, West Coast)

Jimmy Bartel (Geelong)

Corey Enright (Geelong)

Michael Aish (Norwood, SANFL)

Tom Leahy (West Adelaide, North Adelaide SANFL)

Bruce McAvaney (broadcaster)

Mark Williams (Port Adelaide as player and coach, Collingwood, Brisbane)

In a clash for the ages between two of the world’s richest tech titans, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have vowed to throw it down in a cage fight in Las Vegas.

While Musk is by far the richer of the two and is both heavier and taller than his Meta counterpart, Zuckerberg poses a serious threat, thanks to his keen passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The Facebook founder posted on his Instagram Stories asking Musk to ‘send me the location’ after Musk tweeted on Wednesday night bragging that he was ‘up for a cage match if he is’.

In response to an article by The Verge about the proposed fight between the two tech giants, Musk responded to the location by tweeting: ‘Vegas Octagon’. 

The Octagon is the official competition mat and fenced-in design for Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fights. 

The social media taunts – fittingly delivered on the respective platforms owned by the billionaires – set the stage for a Silicon Valley rumble that would dwarf the magnitude of the string of celebrity bouts that have been big hits in Las Vegas. 

Analyzing both Musk and Zuckerberg across a more unorthodox tale of the tape, DailyMail.com sizes up the contest between the two.

Age, height and weight differences 

With Musk 12 years his senior, Zuckerberg would hope to be able to run rings round the Tesla chief.

Coming in at 5’7′ and weighing around 70kg, Zuckerberg is the lighter and more nimble of the two and has previously fought and won in jiu-jitsu matches. 

Zuckerberg recently picked up two medals in a jiu-jitsu tournament and has said in the past that his diet is more vegetarian based. 

He shared: ‘This year I’ve basically become a vegetarian since the only meat I’m eating is from animals I’ve killed myself.’

His go-to food is reportedly grilled chicken, which he eats for its high protein content. 

On an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Musk has openly talked about his fitness regime and said: ‘The older I get, the harder [it is] to stay lean, that’s for sure.’

After word of the fight spread on social media, Musk tweeted: ‘I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.’

Musk does have both height and weight on his side, with Total Shape estimating the billionaire weighs around 81kg and stands at 5’11’. 

When it comes to his diet, he has claims he starts his day with octopus, a bowl of ice cream, eight oatmeal biscuits, and a donut. “I’d rather eat tasty food and live a shorter life,” he said. 

With age on his side and the fact he already competes in fights, Zuckerberg remains favorite to outfight the more senior tech giant in Musk.  

Disciplines  

A keen martial artist, Zuckerberg has shared pictures of himself winning Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments onto his Instagram page.

Zuckerberg had competed and won medals at the BJJ Tour competition in Woodside, California, in May. 

He wrote: ‘Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team.’ 

The Meta CEO walked away with a gold medal in the Nogi Master 1 White Belt Feather Weight Division and the Silver medal in the Gi Master 2 White Belt Feather Weight Division. 

Previously, comedian, UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan hailed Zuckerberg as being a ‘f**king savage’ over his contest wins. 

On his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said he had trained Kyokushin karate, taekwondo, judo and ‘Brazilian jiu-jitsu briefly’ throughout his life. 

Musk has also shared a photo of himself fighting a sumo wrestler in the past.

After word of the fight spread on social media, Musk tweeted: ‘I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.’ 

Based on this metric, Zuckerberg again remains a clear winner in the bout.  

Net worth

Boasting a net worth well over double that of Zuckerberg, Musk is proving to be seemingly untouchable as the world’s richest man.

The Twitter CEO reclaimed the crown as the world’s richest person, knocking the boss of luxury goods giant LVMH Bernard Arnault off the top spot earlier this month.

Deriving most of his wealth from shares in Tesla, a rise in the value of the electric car company earlier this month keeps him firmly ahead of Zuckerberg who places 9 spots behind Musk – making Musk victorious over his octagon rival.

Meta vs Twitter

Musk took over control of the social media giant last year and so far has experienced highs and lows of running the site which boasts around 353 million annual users.

So far, he has dealt with a staffing crisis after 3,700 workers where laid off within a few days of him being appointed CEO. 

They found out when they were unable to log in to their emails and work computers. Musk defended the layoffs saying he had no choice when the company was losing $4m a day.

As members of staff were cut, so too were the first users of the site who started to leave in droves.

Last month, an evaluation of the social media site showed that the company had hemorrhaged value, losing one-third of its worth since he took over. 

On the other hand, Meta, which includes sites including Facebook and Instagram, boasts global monthly users totaling over 3.7 billion – much more than Twitter levels.

While Meta, previously known as Facebook, suffered a large stock plummet when it was first announced and went through a tricky transition, it has remained a powerhouse of social media. 

On this front, Zuckerberg, who is largely responsible for the growth of social media with his site Facebook, is a clear winner. 

Companies  

Zuckerberg’s Meta is considered one of the world’s most valuable companies and is among the top ten largest publicly traded corporations in the United States.

With over 77,000 employees as of March this year and assets totally $185 billion, it is considered one of the Big Five American tech companies alongside Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.

Last year Musk muscled his way into the world of social media with his acquisition of Twitter.

Aside from this he has dabbled in space exploration with his company SpaceX and has a firm grip on the electric car market with the widely popular Tesla car company.

With more companies spread across a wider range of topics like space exploration, tunnel construction with The Boring Company, and neurotech with Neuralink – DailyMail.com gives the companies round to Musk.

Verdict 

With Zuckerberg winning on three out of five aspects, DailyMail.com declares the Meta CEO as the likely winner should the fight be given the go ahead. 

A keen martial artist that keeps himself in top shape, Zuckerberg should have no issue in flexing his experience on Musk, who admits to not having a regimented workout regime.

Fitness site Total Shape also estimates that, should the two men meet in the octagon, Zuckerberg would come out on top. 

A spokesperson for the site said: ‘Placing both titans in a cage, Mark Zuckerberg would have the edge of agility and endurance needed to take Musk down, given Musk isn’t able to forcefully strike him earlier on in the fight.

‘When it comes down the ideal body type and general endurance and skill for cage fighting, Mark Zuckerberg would have the upper hand. 

‘With a high protein, health infused diet and demonstrative skills in mixed martial arts – he would most likely win.’

Mark Zuckerberg could launch his own rival platform to Twitter in the coming months, all part of his masterplan to capitalize off the chaos and user dissatisfaction under Elon Musk’s leadership.

Coding began at Facebook’s parent company Meta this past January on the new social app, codenamed Project 92, as Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox told a companywide meeting earlier this month. 

And big name celebrities are already in talks to commit their posts to the platform, including broadcasting legend Oprah Winfrey and Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama — a curious choice, coming in the wake of the Buddhist icon’s bizarre ‘suck my tongue’ incident this past spring. 

‘We’ve been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run,’ Cox told Meta employees, lobbing a thinly veiled criticism at Musk’s Twitter operations. 

The dig elicited cheers from Meta’s assembled staff, according to The Verge. 

The rich, the famous and the influential, Cox said, are desperate for a new platform ‘that they believe that they can trust and rely upon for distribution.’ 

Reports suggest that the new app’s public-facing name could become ‘Threads’ and that it will feature a continuous scroll of text, just like Twitter, along with buttons akin to both the Like and Retweet functions. 

Threads will also hew closer to Twitter’s original 180-character limit, offering a slightly longer, but still short 500-character limit per post. As one social media industry inside put it, Threads will look ‘remarkably similar to Twitter.’

Many ordinary Twitter users, as well as the platform’s large community of scientific experts, academics and even former NASA astronauts, have also sought out alternatives in recent months.

Mastodon — a free, decentralized and open-source microblogging platform — has increasingly become a haven for scientists hoping for more level-headed conversations between themselves.

‘I have been much more active there than I have been on Twitter,’ astronomer Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency told Science late last year, following his own move to Mastodon. 

Many have described the platform as a more democratic alternative than Twitter, because Mastodon’s decentralized structure means that no single person, company or sever has full control of its operations.

Last November, Mastodon reported over 70,000 new sign-ups on a single Friday, in direct response to Musk’s finalized $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

‘If it becomes too toxic and abusive,’ Emory University virologist Boghuma Titanji also told Science amid Twitter’s raucous transition, ‘I will leave to preserve my well-being and consider other platforms.’

Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez vowed to jump from the platform as well, amid Musk’s plans to convert ‘blue check’ verification into a pay-to-play scheme, although Hernandez nevertheless remains an active tweeter to date. 

But Musk has also received praise by those, like Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Senator John Kennedy on Capitol Hill, who see the billionaire as a champion of free speech for reinvigorating First Amendment rights on the platform.

Musk, Senator Kennedy said last December, had taken a ‘very courageous stand on the First Amendment’ since acquiring Twitter. ‘He’s tough as a pine knot.’

‘Project 92,’ which Cox explicitly described as ‘our response to Twitter,’ will integrate with Instagram’s current account system, allowing Instagram users to automatically transfer their followers and user information straight to the new microblogging site.

It will also integrate with Mastodon, and other decentralized platforms that use the same ActivityPub API system as Mastodon, Cox said. 

The design of the app, according to social media consultant Matt Navarra, ‘looks remarkably similar to Twitter,’ or really old Twitter, as Musk’s version continues to experiment with everything from longer posts, to newsletters, to exclusive live broadcasts. 

Navarra, who claimed internal knowledge of Meta’s plans, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Meta’s Twitter-killer could launch as soon as ‘the end of the month or beginning of next month.’

‘They have been onboarding people for a little while,’ Navarra said. ‘I know for a fact they’ve been talking to a British celebrity, and some US big name stars.’

That said, the only name disclosed by Meta’s chief product officer Cox as a lock for their new platform was the Minneapolis, Minnesota-native music producer DJ Slime, who Cox boasted had committed to using the app. 

Cox told company employees that Meta’s goal for ‘Project 92’ was to make an app that emphasized ‘safety, ease of use, reliability’ to ensure that creators had a ‘stable place to build and grow their audiences.’  

Meta, Cox said, will be making the app public ‘as soon as we can.’