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Why SoundHound AI Stock Skyrocketed 85% in NovemberPete Davidson's fame reached new heights after joining the cast of Saturday Night Live , but he claims that his pockets didn't get much bigger. The 31-year-old appeared in a New York Magazine Instagram Reel posted on Wednesday, December 4, in which he was asked, "What was your biggest splurge after your first 'SNL' paycheck?" The comedian repeated the question and then replied, "It's like three grand an episode." He later answered the original question about how he spent his first SNL paycheck, saying, "I think I got dinner." Fans of the NBC sketch comedy show took to Reddit to share their thoughts on the pay Davidson received. "$3,000 per episode seems way too low. Even 10 years ago you couldn't afford to independently live in Manhattan on 60K a year. Even 10 years ago you're paying like $40K a year in rent for a one-bed," wrote one fan. A second added, "Outside of Lorne and the senior staff, nobody's getting rich off of SNL. But if you play your cards right, you're getting rich AFTER SNL." Meanwhile, a third noted, "Pretty sure I've read somewhere it's just over 100k per year for newer cast. Which in NYC isn't a ton. Like you're not poor, but you're certainly not rich." Saturday Night Live has an average of 18 to 22 episodes per season, with one season per fiscal year. This means that if Davidson's numbers are correct, cast members appearing in every episode earn an average of $54,000 to $66,000, depending on the episode count. Davidson joined the cast of SNL in 2014 and stayed on for eight seasons before retiring in 2022. The comedian most recently made headlines after reports emerged in late November that he had checked into a rehabilitation center in Florida. All claims were dispelled when he was spotted at a Brooklyn Nets game with his mom after the rumors had spread.PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The United Nations raised the death toll of a recent massacre in which dozens of older people and Vodou religious leaders were killed by a gang in Haiti, and called on officials to bring the perpetrators to justice. The U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti said in a report published on Monday that between Dec. 6 and 11 more than 207 people were killed by the Wharf Jeremie gang. The gang took people from their homes and from a place of worship, interrogated them and then executed them with bullets and machetes. Earlier this month, human rights groups in Haiti had estimated that more than 100 people were killed in the massacre, but the new U.N. investigation doubles the number of victims. “We cannot pretend that nothing happened” said María Isabel Salvador, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Haiti. “I call on the Haitian justice system to thoroughly investigate these horrific crimes and arrest and punish the perpetrators, as well as those who support them," she said in a statement. Human rights groups in Haiti said the massacre began after the son of Micanor Altès, the leader of the Wharf Jeremie gang, died from an illness. The Cooperative for Peace and Development, a human rights group, said that according to information circulating in the community, Altès accused people in the neighborhood of causing his son’s illness. “He decided to cruelly punish all elderly people and (Vodou) practitioners who, in his imagination, would be capable of casting a bad spell on his son,” the group said in a statement released shortly after news of the massacre emerged. In Monday's report, the United Nations said that people were tracked down in their homes and in a place of worship by Altès’ gang, where they were first interrogated and then taken to an execution site. The United Nations said that the gang tried to erase evidence of the killings by burning bodies, or by dismembering them and throwing them into the sea. The massacre is the latest humanitarian tragedy in Haiti, where gang violence has intensified since the nation’s president was killed in a 2021 coup attempt . Haiti has struggled to organize an election that will fill the power vacuum and restore democratic rule. The Caribbean nation is currently governed by a transitional council that includes representatives from the business community, civil society and political parties, but its government has no control over many areas of the capital city, and gangs are constantly fighting over ports, highways and neighborhoods. According to the United Nations, more than 5,350 people have been killed in Haiti’s gang wars this year. The Haitian government acknowledged the massacre against older people in a statement issued earlier this month, and promised to persecute those responsible for this act of “unspeakable carnage.” The Associated Press
Martensville-Warman Early Years Family Resource Centre opensPresident-elect Donald Trump's team is discussing pursuing direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping a fresh diplomatic push can lower the risks of armed conflict, according to two people familiar with the matter. Several in Trump's team now see a direct approach from Trump, to build on a relationship that already exists, as most likely to break the ice with Kim, years after the two traded insults and what Trump called "beautiful" letters in an unprecedented diplomatic effort during his first term in office, the people said. The policy discussions are fluid and no final decisions have been made by the president-elect, the sources said. Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment. What reciprocation Kim will offer Trump is unclear. The North Koreans ignored four years of outreach by U.S. President Joe Biden to start talks with no pre-conditions, and Kim is emboldened by an expanded missile arsenal and a much closer relationship with Russia. "We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States," Kim said last week in a speech at a Pyongyang military exhibition, according to state media. During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump held three meetings with Kim, in Singapore, Hanoi, and at the Korean border, the first time a sitting U.S. president had set foot in the country. Their diplomacy yielded no concrete results, even as Trump described their talks as falling "in love." The U.S. called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, while Kim demanded full sanctions relief, then issued new threats. It was not clear what result a new diplomatic effort would yield. An initial Trump goal would be to reestablish basic engagement but further policy aims or a precise timetable have not been set, the people said. And the issue may take a backseat to more pressing foreign policy concerns in the Middle East and Ukraine, according to one person briefed on the transition's thinking. North Korean state media have not yet publicly mentioned the re-election of Trump, and Kim said this month that the United States was ramping up tension and provocations, raising the risks of nuclear war. Trump and some of his allies left office with the impression that the direct approach was Washington's best shot at influencing behavior north of the demilitarized zone, which has divided the Korean Peninsula for seven decades. The countries' war was never technically ended even as the guns fell silent. On Friday, Trump named one of the people who implemented that initial North Korea strategy, former State Department official Alex Wong, as his deputy national security adviser. "As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un," Trump said in a statement. Tensions Rise Trump inherits an increasingly tense situation with Kim when he returns to the White House in January, as he did in 2017, an atmosphere allies expect the incoming president to confront head-on. "My experience with President Trump is he's much more likely to be open to direct engagement," said U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty, a Trump ally, in an interview with Reuters earlier this year. "I'm optimistic that we can see an improvement in the relationship and perhaps a different posture adopted by Kim Jong Un if that dialogue were reopened again." Washington has a dossier of concerns over the country's expanding nuclear weapons and missile program, its increasingly hostile rhetoric to South Korea and its close collaboration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These topics are expected to feature in Biden administration transition briefings for Trump aides, according to a U.S. official. The Trump team has yet to sign transition agreements, which could limit the scope of some of these briefings. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Particularly concerning to Washington are the prospects of increased sharing of nuclear or missile technology between Russia and North Korea and the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia to help in the war with Ukraine. Reuters reported on Monday that North Korea is expanding a key weapons manufacturing complex that assembles a type of short-range missile used by Russia in Ukraine, citing researchers at a U.S.-based think tank who examined satellite images. U.S. officials said those factors raise the risk of a conflict between multiple nuclear armed nations in Europe or Asia, including the United States and its allies, which include South Korea and Japan. American troops are deployed throughout the region to deter North Korea, and Trump has insisted that U.S. allies share more of the cost for those deployments. In his final meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month in Peru, Biden asked for Beijing to use its leverage to reel in North Korea. Opportunity for China and the U.S. to work together may be limited as Trump vows vast tariffs on Chinese goods and stacks his inner circle with China hardliners, such as Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser. Trump said last month the two countries would have had "a nuclear war with millions of people killed," but that he had stopped it, thanks to his ties with the North's leader. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
Rust Left Off Team USA, No New Penguins Names on Team Canada
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that no matter how hard detractors tried to starve the State of funds, his administration will continue to provide social services and infrastructure projects to the people. The Governor said, his determination remains to make the people happy with the mantra of “Rivers First”, which is why he will not politicise projects’ delivery. Fubara spoke when he inaugurated the reconstructed 11.8 kilometres of Okehi-Umuola-Eberi Link Road, along Okehi-Omuma Road, in Etche Local Government Area on Wednesday. He stated that the 14 days that have been set aside in December 2024 will be used to showcase the landmark projects undertaken by his administration to prove that it has remained focused. These set of projects, he said, are definitely going to transform the socio-economic status of communities in the benefitting Local Government Areas in the State. He said, “But, today, we are starting to showcase what we have done in those months when people were asking what are we doing? Where is the fund? “I am happy to say here, that I stand to be challenged, this administration has not borrowed to execute projects. The only money we borrowed was the one we used for the Ring Road project, and everybody is aware of it. “Go and bring any paper. Go to the Debt Management Office and check if we have asked for anything. We don’t need it. What is important is the little we are getting, we are applying it rightly.” Fubara asserted that everybody is also aware that his administration has paid the N85,000 new minimum wage he promised Rivers civil servants, which is more than the N70,000 national minimum wage. This, he said, further affirms the commitment and love of his administration to Rivers people, who have continued to stand by his government with unalloyed support. Fubara, however, acknowledged how tough it has been amidst the political crisis, to provide a climate of peace and security to Rivers people, which has been achieved on a continuous basis. He said, “Even when we are struggling to meet the basic needs of government, which is protecting the lives of the people, their property and providing services; even when they are working to make sure that we can’t provide services, that we have to stave, we are determined to make sure that our people are happy. “And we said, whatever it will cost us, we must make sure that we did this. So, I am happy the contractor didn’t disappoint us. I am also happy that the communities, both in Etche and Omuma, gave us the needed support.” Fubara said the Okehi-Umuola-Eberi Link Road is a major access route, and cannot be left in deplorable condition, adding that the Umuakali-Eberi-Omodu Road on the other end has already been earmarked for commissioning. He noted, “We were here about five months ago when we came to inspect the extent of the job that was ongoing in Omuma. “I stand to be challenged, Omuma for more than eight years had not witnessed any project. It was in our administration that we awarded the Umuakali-Eberi road. “The road was almost completed when we came. So, we said, how can we be going to commission a project and the access road is bad? “So, I said we must, no matter what it will cost us, ensure that the access road to Omuma is properly fixed so that when we go to Omuma to commission that project, it will be an easy and smooth drive.”
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Championship leaders Leeds United have explored the conditions of a potential deal for Real Salt Lake's MLS Young Player of the Year Diego Luna. The 21-year-old attacker, who can operate from the left flank or as a No.10, scored nine goals and registered eight assists in 36 appearances in all competitions this season. Luna has previously attracted interest from Belgium, Italy, Holland and Spain but his stock is now higher than ever following an eye-catching MLS campaign in which he recorded the best numbers of his young career. Leeds have been keeping a watchful eye over his development and have been tracking the progress of 'Moon Boy' for many months, according to sources. While no deal is thought to be imminent at this stage, the Whites are understood to have shown the strongest interest to date, however, face competition from a number of European clubs for the starlet's signature. Luna's current contract with Real Salt Lake runs until December 2026 and does not contain a release clause. His estimated market value earlier this summer was in the region of $4million (£3m) but has since risen, due to his fine performances. In recent years, the prodigy made visits to the likes of Anderlecht and Vitoria S.C. in Portugal in anticipation that he would eventually seal a career-changing switch across the Atlantic. The skilful playmaker, who has been capped once by the USMNT, made headlines after he declined an 'alternate spot' in the United States squad for the Paris Olympics in July. Luna is believed to have felt aggrieved that he was not named in the squad and was instead invited to be listed as a reserve in the event of a withdrawal. Since then, Luna has told ESPN that he remains open to the prospect of potentially switching international allegiances to Mexico, who he qualifies to represent through his parents. He played 77 minutes for the USMNT senior side in January during a 1-0 friendly defeat to Slovenia, prior to Mauricio Pochettino's appointment. Real Salt Lake owner David Blitzer is also a general partner at Crystal Palace , a limited partner at FC Augsburg and also owns Spanish club AD Alcorcon, Belgian outfit Beveren and Danish side Brondby - so is well-connected in Europe. In August, RSL sold Colombian winger Carlos Andres Gomez to Stade Rennes in France for a reported initial fee of £8.3m and the MLS could use those figures as a yardstick during future negotiations. Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . SAINT PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kendall Blue and Nolan Minessale had 22 points each in St. Thomas’ 88-81 victory over Montana on Saturday. Miles Barnstable had 17 points for the Tommies (7-4). Malik Moore led the Grizzlies (6-4) with 30 points. Money Williams added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for Montana. Jensen Bradtke had 11 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Wow! This is the cheapest OLED monitor deal we've ever seen
Israeli forces will not immediately withdraw from Lebanon when the ceasefire deal goes into effect, a US senior administration official said Tuesday, but must do so within 60 days under the terms of the agreement, CNN reported. “They will not withdraw, but a 60-day period will start in which the Lebanese military and security forces will begin their deployment towards the south. This is a process that cannot happen overnight or in several days, and therefore there is this period to prevent any vacuums from being formed, where, as the Lebanese military deploys and reaches the South, the Israeli military will withdraw,” the official told reporters. The official did not provide a clear answer about Israel’s right to respond militarily to violations of the ceasefire and whether the Israeli government could unilaterally choose to do so. They noted both Israel and Lebanon “retain the right of self-defense in accordance with international law.” With regard to the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from the south of Lebanon, the official said there is “an agreed upon map that is roughly north of the Litani (River) line, although it deviates some and goes further north than the Litani in certain areas.” The Lebanese military will be “authorized and instructed” by the Lebanese government to take position in the south and ensure that Hezbollah both moves north and that all of their heavy weaponry is removed. The Lebanese military “will also be patrolling the area and ensuring that if there’s any remaining infrastructure or remaining weaponry, that it is removed and that no such infrastructure can be rebuilt again in that area,” the official said. Many residents in the north of Israel – large numbers of whom have been evacuated from their homes – are angry about this ceasefire deal, according to BBC reports. Shelly, an English teacher in Shlomi says a ceasefire was “irresponsible and hasty political decision” after Netanyahu’s announcement. Rona Valency, evacuated from kibbutz Kfar Giladi on 8 October last year, told me she wanted to go home, and that a ceasefire was needed. From Kfar Giladi there are clear views of the Lebanese village of Odaisseh just across the valley. “The only thing I can hope for is that Hezbollah will not infiltrate these villages and build a new network,” Rona told me. “Apart from completely erasing these villages, and having no people there, there is no real physical thing that can make me feel safe. It’s just, you know, hope.” Her husband, Onn, said the key to security lay, not in the terms of the ceasefire agreement, but in people “understand[ing] again, where we live; understand[ing] some things that a lot of us forgot”. He said he didn’t trust the Lebanese army, nor the Americans, to restore security along the border. “I trust only our army,” he said. “I think if the army won’t be there, it will be very, very hard to get the citizens back.”
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‘The bombshell of all bombshells’ — I’m A Celeb viewers react as Maura Higgins hits the junkyard(Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk has been using his social media platform X to go to bat for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks and promote his own preferred candidates, advocating for choices he views as change agents who will help remake the U.S. government. In several high-profile cases, however, Musk backed people who either lost out on the roles or withdrew from consideration, suggesting some early limits to the Republican mega donor's influence even as he has emerged as one of Trump's most powerful allies. Musk, who has 206 million followers on X, posted or reposted about Trump's cabinet picks more than 70 times between Nov. 7 and Nov. 20, a Reuters review found. Though the posts represented just a fraction of his more than 2,000 posts during that period, Musk in many cases used them to give attention to Trump's most controversial choices, including former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for U.S. intelligence chief and environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the top U.S. health agency. Musk most enthusiastically rallied support for Matt Gaetz, the former congressman Trump initially tapped to be his attorney general. In the days following Gaetz's Nov. 13 nomination, Musk posted 37 times about Gaetz or his wife Ginger, mostly in positive terms. That was far more than his posts about Trump's other appointments. Gaetz backed out of consideration on Nov. 21, saying his candidacy had become a distraction for Trump amid allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug abuse. He has denied wrongdoing. For Trump's Treasury secretary, Musk pushed for Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, whom Musk dismissed as "a business-as-usual choice." Bessent got the job anyway. And in a separate fight over Senate leadership, Musk's endorsed candidate also came up short. One Trump ally said those misses showed the limitations of Musk's sway. Musk's reach on X "doesn’t mean he’s an effective advocate for his positions or chosen cabinet members," the Trump ally said. "He's still learning how to operate in politics." Spokespeople for X and Musk did not respond to Reuters requests for comment for this story. Musk, who owns X and rocket company SpaceX and is chief executive of the electric car company Tesla Inc., poured at least $119 million into getting Trump elected and has been a near-constant fixture at Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, since his election victory earlier this month. The two men attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in New York and a SpaceX launch in Texas, and Musk traveled with Trump to Washington for his meeting with President Joe Biden. On Saturday, Musk reposted a photo that showed him sitting with Trump, Lutnick and Republican Senator Joni Ernst at Mar-a-Lago, where they were discussing cabinet nominees, according to the caption. "Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again. Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency," said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team. Musk's close proximity to Trump has prompted some hand-wringing and complaints from the transition team, who were not accustomed to him being around so much, according to two sources close to Trump staff. Amid increased scrutiny of his unusual role, Musk wrote in a post on X on Nov. 20 that while he had offered his opinion on some candidates, he was not in charge. "Many selections occur without my knowledge and decisions are 100% that of the President," Musk said. EFFICIENCY AND EMOJIS Musk's political posts on X far outnumbered those he used to promote his three businesses, the Reuters review found. He frequently mocks liberals and posts about government waste and Trump's newly created government efficiency panel, which the president-elect tapped Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead. Musk's typical posts consist either of an emoji or a short response to other posts. "Exactly," he wrote on Nov. 14, in response to a post noting that Trump's cabinet picks were "young outsiders" who "skipped the line." He responded with “Awesome” and a smile emoji on Nov. 13 to a post that said: “They put Tulsi Gabbard on a terror watchlist. Now she’s Director of National Intelligence. The biggest ‘F you’ to the Deep State Swamp.” On Nov. 16, as questions swirled about who Trump would pick for his Treasury secretary, Musk wrote on X that Bessent was "a business-as-usual choice," while Lutnick would "actually enact change." Musk also lobbied against Bessent internally, two sources close to Trump said. His efforts fell flat. On Nov. 22, Trump tapped Bessent for the job. Earlier in the month, Musk threw his support behind Republican Senator Rick Scott for Senate majority leader. Trump chose not to weigh in, and Scott ultimately lost to Senator John Thune for the position. One source close to Musk was struck by Musk's willingness to stick with Trump even after he’s been “shut down a couple of times” by the president-elect. "That’s very rare for a billionaire," the source said. "In general when they don’t get what they want, they walk away." The source said Musk was committed to Trump's government efficiency efforts. "He's really focused on the goal," the source said. Another test of Musk's influence lies ahead. Since the election, he has posted six times in support of Trump loyalist Kash Patel running the FBI. Patel, who served on Trump's National Security Council during his first term, has promised to go after politicians and journalists perceived to be enemies of Trump. Musk's X posts make clear that he sees Patel as the best option for change and reform. On Nov. 14, Musk posted a “100%” emoji in response to a clip of Patel saying that he would shut down the FBI’s headquarters on day one of Trump's new administration and reopen it as a “Deep State Museum,” with the caption “Make him FBI director.” (Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Ned Parker; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)
SINGAPORE: The sun is just peeking through on a Friday morning when I speak to Raymond Webster. It's also after midnight in the United Kingdom, where he lives, but Webster assures me his bedtime is late. After all, this isn’t your average 70-year-old. The Englishman is an avid mountain climber and passionate about driving. When not doing either of those things, he competes in the professional badminton circuit against others more than half his age. Since entering his first Badminton World Federation event in 2016, he's mostly hovered around the 800 mark in the men's rankings, and played close to 60 singles matches. He has lost all of them. Webster's recent matches include a 3-21, 8-21 defeat to 23-year-old Bruneian Kan Kah Kit in November; and a lopsided 3-21, 1-21 loss to 29-year-old compatriot Ngan Heng Lin in September. Webster loved every minute of these contests. To understand what drives him in his badminton exploits, one has to wind the clock back about five decades. "WILD EXPERIENCES" Webster’s foray into the sport began in his 20s, when he joined coaching sessions by top English player Ray Stevens. “Ray has a magnetic personality and fire for the sport that would set anyone's ambitions alight,” Webster told CNA. Though he was regularly "pummelled" by Stevens, badminton started to appeal to him for its "pure dynamics and the way the game flowed from surges of all-out intensity to moments of fine control”. It was during one of these sessions when "the lights came on" and Webster thought he could excel at the sport. "With a score of 11-15, it was the closest that I'd ever come to beating a champion," recalled the Englishman. "After the session, Ray asked me: 'How did you play like that?' Responding, I (said I) don't know. But years later I found out and fully understand that it stems from fight or flight. I have been in flow state several times on court." Webster next planned to head to China to play badminton, but this fell through. After scouring badminton magazines for contacts, he set off "with some trepidation" on his first trip abroad and travelled through the Americas for about four weeks. He still remembers his first event - a "dog fight" where he won with a third set score of 17-16 - as well as what it was like to play breathless at an altitude of 2,200m at the Mexican Open. Webster then spent five years in South Africa, working and playing provincial badminton. When he finally returned home, most of his former sparring partners had moved on to playing at the top level. Around this time, he picked up a recurring stomach injury and had to eventually forgo the sport he so loved. "Every time I moved, it was like I had glass inside me or wire mesh," he recalled. "I lost the ability to be active." At 42, Webster went back to university and eventually landed an engineering job in the semiconductor industry. It meant he could travel the world and pursue his other hobby of mountain climbing. "Despite carrying a lot of pain, I climbed solo most weekends for 11 years," he said, adding that he was at his fittest at 50 years old "with the cardio power of a husky dog". "Although the wild experiences I had climbing in winter were a tremendous high, I longed to play badminton again ... (but) I thought I would never be able to." STEPPING INTO A "SECOND LIFE" Then came the toughest years of Webster's life, which started when he was made redundant at his job. He tried to play badminton again but it was too painful to do so, due to his old injury that seemed like it had no way to heal. "There seemed no hope and I hit a brick wall and without the job and the mountains and with the gremlin of stress ... I was in a deep mental well, depressed beyond function," he said. "And that is a horrible place to be." "I had no way out but to dig my way up. It's all I could do basically. A ll I knew at that time was to just do something physical so I would get on my bike and ride till I was tired." At the same time, he continued trying ways to regain what he called his "competitive mobility", while battling through the pain of the injury. Eventually, what helped was yoga. "With persistence, I became more flexible than when I was a teenager," said Webster. He slowly took to the badminton courts at his local club and before he knew it, at age 62, he was playing at his first BWF event. "The world of badminton had changed in every aspect, and walking onto a show court was like a time warp," said Webster. "Looking back I had been playing in black-and-white TV, and now stepped into full-colour HD. It was simply awesome." In the years since, Webster has often been on the end of lopsided scorelines. "When I first entered the tour, I had aims of more success, but it's a strong tide to swim against when I never played as a junior," he said. "A couple of times I had to play with flu or migraine and suffer the consequences. But I accept it. "It's akin to climbing those big mountains again, when bad weather beat me back, and I went up again for a fifth attempt in total adversity, scaring myself to the point of my feet trembling me off the ice footholds that I cut, and pushing beyond where I could not reverse." Still, there have been memorable moments. There was the first time he won a game on the BWF circuit, when he beat the Netherlands' Rakesh Sharma 23-21 before losing 26-28, 15-21. It was 2022 and his opponent was 34 years old then. "Being out on a badminton court when my opponents are generally 40 to 50 years younger, people tell me that is a victory," said Webster. "When I have performed well and the umpire says: 'respect', I feel too that I am playing for them, since most of them are former players and they too must stay engaged with the 'addiction'. "There're so many people that wish they were on court playing because they either were badminton players or want to be a badminton player. But for many reasons they can't play ... I feel like that I'm fulfilling their desire." With his story garnering some attention online, fans have requested wefies and spare shirts while others ask how he's maintained his mobility to play a sport that can be tough on the body. "Much of that is because my whole family were incredibly active. I never stopped moving as a kid, I climbed trees, cycled thousands of miles a year, 200 miles in a day and went climbing most weekends," he said. "It made me tough and durable (and) my thought processes have not changed or aged in any way." LIKE OPENING A GIFT On the BWF tour, players accumulate points by playing in and winning matches. Those with more points automatically enter the main draw of tournaments. Players like Webster need to compete in the qualifiers to make it to the main draw. "For myself, I am not aiming for ranking, just to maintain enough points to stay on the ladder and climb sometimes," he said. Getting to each tournament is the culmination of "a lot of organising" for the Englishman. "Sometimes I've played three events in succession and loaded the car with three sets of gear, flown back to the airport, changed all the gear, and off on the next adventure. It's a real buzz." None of this comes cheap, though. Travelling the world to compete requires money - and Webster has been digging into his savings to finance his passion. "I ask for second meals on the plane so I don't have to buy a dinner in a restaurant. And I try and bum an entry into an airport lounge and eat well," he added. "But I'm running on the sheer effort that I put into my career, it paid well and just enough to have kept me on the circuit for a few years." There've even been times when he spent nights in his car or in the airport. But when he finally gets on court, it's like "waiting for a gift and then opening it", said Webster. That sheer joy keeps him going. "I accept the low scores and nobody's expecting me to win. But what is one of the greatest motivations - apart from that I enjoy being in that environment, and I enjoy my body able to rally and move pretty well - is (having) people encourage me," he said. "My family, just siblings now, love what I engage myself in, and since I picked myself up and battled my way back from rock bottom and years of pain, it has opened new doors. "It's my second life and I aim to never stop. Or I'll drop." It's not about just taking part either: Webster is adamant that he can improve. Next year, he plans to head to the mountains to build up his lung power, before competing in a series of tournaments. "I know I have the inherent skills, but not the consistency. That will come with the right enabler," he said. Soon after our interview, Webster tells me he's mulling over competing at the Korea Masters. Initially, it seems as if the 30-hour journey to Iksan city might be too much of a disincentive. But when I check the results a couple of days later, I spot a familiar name. Webster made it to Korea after all. “When people ask my age, I reply 'I stopped counting at 21',” he said. “If age enters my head, I throw it out. I am not going to slow down.”
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