History could be made at the Royal Courts of Justice next month.
uncertain
History → make → Justice
I hear the ex-wife of a Russian billionaire is demanding £150million for a new home and a staggering £441million maintenance fund in what would be Britain’s biggest divorce settlement.
asserted
what → hear → home
Natalia Potanina is seeking a total of £603million to cover her housing and living expenses as she pursues a multi-billion-pound claim against mining tycoon Vladimir Potanin.
uncertain
she → seek → Potanin
Natalia’s extraordinary demands have been disclosed in a new court judgment ahead of a 15-day trial in London in November.
asserted
demands → disclose → November
The former couple, who met as teenagers and were married for 30 years, have been locked in a bitter legal battle since divorcing in Russia in 2014.
asserted
who → meet → 2014
Potanin, 65, made his fortune following the collapse of the Soviet Union and controls a vast business empire which includes a major stake in mining giant Norilsk Nickel.
asserted
which → make → Nickel
One of Russia’s richest men, Forbes estimates his fortune at £22billion.
asserted
Forbes → estimate → 22billion
Natalia Potanina is seeking a total of £603million to cover her housing and living expenses as she pursues a multi-billion-pound claim against mining tycoon Vladimir Potanin
The figures were disclosed by Potanin’s lawyers, who argued that the demands were ‘totally out of proportion to any level of need under Russian law’.
uncertain
demands → seek → law
The pair have three children together, and Natalia has maintained that the breakdown of their marriage came as a devastating shock after her husband began another relationship.
asserted
husband → have → relationship
The Russian courts awarded her half the value of assets held directly by her former husband, but excluded much of his vast wealth held through companies and trusts.
asserted
courts → award → companies
The previous record for a settlement was the £554million that Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah, was awarded against Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2021.
asserted
Hussein → award → 2021
Author Nick Hornby, whose best-sellers include About A Boy and High Fidelity, struggles to overcome the distractions of the internet.
asserted
sellers → include → internet
‘I have a jigsaw on the go,’ he says.
asserted
he → have → go
‘They don’t take me out of the mental space in the same way that YouTube does or reading something online.’
asserted
YouTube → take → something
Sophie blasts health pills
BBC star Sophie Raworth has a news bulletin of her own.
asserted
Raworth → blast → own
The News at Ten presenter claims that much-hyped ‘wellness’ products are a waste of money
BBC star Sophie Raworth has a news bulletin of her own.
uncertain
Raworth → claim → own
The News at Ten presenter claims that much-hyped ‘wellness’ products are a waste of money.
uncertain
products → claim → money
‘There’s no point taking collagen – there’s no scientific evidence,’ says marathon runner Sophie.
asserted
Sophie → ’ → collagen
Endorsed by stars including Jennifer Aniston and Kim Kardashian, collagen has been hailed as a cure for all manner of ailments.
asserted
collagen → endorse → ailments
Speaking at Wimbledon BookFest in London, Sophie adds: ‘There’s no point in taking vitamins.
asserted
Sophie → speak → vitamins
The wellness industry is making huge amounts of money off people.
asserted
industry → make → people
Wellness takes a lot more effort than a pill.’
asserted
Wellness → take → pill
His start-up company was snapped up in a £4.7billion deal last year – the latest triumph in the stellar career of iPad designer Sir Jony Ive.
But the 59-year-old is still struggling to master the Cotswolds – in particular the manor house for which he paid £17million in 2023.
asserted
he → start → 2023
Two years after I disclosed that his plans for the Grade I-listed pile had been buried under a blizzard of local derision, he has received a dressing-down from Historic England.
asserted
he → disclose → England
His proposal to raise the manor’s boundary walls would, it says, ‘block the tantalising views into the landscaped drive and gardens that contribute to [its] setting and the character of the conservation area’.
asserted
that → raise → area
As for installing new entrance pillars, it would mean ‘losing the historic fabric within the [manor’s] setting’.
asserted
it → instal → setting
Meghan's a menace, growls Tory grandee
Tory grandee David Davis is unlikely to be among those who watched the Prince of Wales on The Graham Norton Show last night.
asserted
who → growl → Show
‘The monarchy should be a silent institution,’ the MP tells me at the launch party for Blades, a compelling book by the Mail’s Defence Editor Mark Nicol, at the Tower of London.
asserted
MP → tell → London
Davis points to how Queen Elizabeth maintained respect by avoiding sharing her views in public.
asserted
Elizabeth → point → public
Referring to King Charles and Princes William and Harry, he says: ‘Their father wasn’t silent, and his sons are following his example.’
asserted
sons → refer → example
Asked if he’s pleased Harry has returned from the US, Davis says: ‘No.
asserted
Davis → ask → US
His wife’s a menace.’
asserted
wife → ’ → ?
Duran Duran star John Taylor may have swapped the Hollywood Hills for rural Wiltshire, but he’s not ready to give up all his Californian creature comforts.
uncertain
he → swap → comforts
I hear the bassist, 66, is planning to create a state-of-the-art private gym at South Wraxall Manor, the 15th-century Grade I-listed home he shares with his wife, Juicy Couture co-founder Gela Nash-Taylor, 72.
asserted
he → hear → wife
Planning documents reveal that historic outbuildings would be transformed into what is described as a ‘home gymnasium suite’.
asserted
what → reveal → suite
Thrones star takes a hit on house sale
British actress Sophie Turner has put her four-bedroom house in London’s Little Venice on the market for £1.99million, £600,000 less than she paid for it in 2017
She made her name as noblewoman Sansa Stark in sex-and-dragons drama Game Of Thrones, but Sophie Turner is a loser in the game of homes.
asserted
Turner → take → homes
I hear that the actress, 30, has put her four-bedroom house in London’s Little Venice on the market for £1.99million, £600,000 less than she paid for it in 2017.
asserted
she → hear → 2017
She and American pop star Joe Jonas, who have two children, divorced in 2024.
asserted
who → have → 2024
This summer she sparked rumours that she had rekindled her romance with Viscount Cowdray’s son and heir, Peregrine Pearson, when the pair were spotted on holiday together.
asserted
pair → spark → holiday
The Aporia
