Generations of Palestinians have worked the terraced hillsides of the West Bank farming village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem

George Russell was confirmed as Lewis Hamilton’s new team-mate at Mercedes on this day in 2021. The much-anticipated announcement came after Valtteri Bottas sealed a move to Alfa Romeo for 2022. English driver Russell, then 23, earned the switch to the Silver Arrows after three impressive campaigns with Williams. Commenting on his blockbuster transfer, Russell said: “It’s a special day for me personally and professionally. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely buzzing. It’s a huge opportunity and one I want to grab with both hands. “But I’m under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge; it’s going to be a steep learning curve. “I want to do my new team-mates proud. Of course, one of those new team-mates is in my opinion the greatest driver of all time. “I’ve looked up to Lewis since I was in go-karts and the opportunity to learn from someone who has become a role model both on and off track can only benefit me as a driver, a professional, and a human being.” In a message posted on Instagram, seven-time world champion Hamilton said: “I want to take a moment to welcome George Russell to the team. “I remember meeting him when he was young, dreaming of one day being a Formula One driver. I’d only just reached my own dream of becoming an F1 driver, so I know what this day means and how it will feel for him. “He is a great example to all the kids out there that dreams do come true when you chase them wholeheartedly. “Through hard work he has rightly earned his spot on our team. I look forward to seeing him grow as a driver with this great team and working with him to raise Mercedes higher. See you next year.” In his first season with Mercedes, Russell landed his maiden victory at the penultimate round in Brazil. He also outscored Hamilton. Ahead of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced Russell, 25, will continue to partner Hamilton, 38, at Mercedes until at least the end of 2025. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz gets goosebumps after landing pole for Italian Grand Prix Carlos Sainz’s pace in practice gives Ferrari fans hope for Italian Grand Prix How Max Verstappen equalled Sebastien Vettel’s record for consecutive race wins

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Lewis Hamilton’s representative touched base with Red Bull about the prospect of the seven-time F1 world champion partnering Max Verstappen – while the Brit also reportedly held talks with Ferrari. Hamilton, who has won six of his seven world titles at Mercedes, signed a new two-year contract with the Silver Arrows in September in a deal that will take him to the end of the 2025 season. Yet the 38-year-old, amid nearly two years without a race victory, put out feelers about leaving Toto Wolff’s team earlier this year – as revealed by Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “We have had several conversations over the years about Lewis joining,” Horner told the Daily Mail. “They have reached out a few times. Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest. “He met John Elkann [Ferrari chairman] too. I think there were serious talks. It was around Monaco [in May]. There were definitely conversations, perhaps with Vasseur [Ferrari team principal] too. But certainly with Elkann. “But I can’t see Max and Lewis working out together. The dynamic wouldn’t be right. We are 100% happy with what we have.” The report adds that Hamilton’s representative is likely to be either his New York-based manager Penni Thow or his father Anthony. Hamilton was heavily linked with Ferrari earlier in the season but put all speculation to bed when he penned a new £50m-a-year extension with Mercedes, a rise of approximately £10m. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell also signed a new deal until the end of 2025. “We have never been hungrier to win,” Hamilton said, after the contract was confirmed in August. “We have learnt from every success but also every setback. “We dream every day of being the best and we have dedicated the past decade together to achieving that goal.” Hamilton has not won since December 2021, in Saudi Arabia. A week later, he lost the 2021 world championship to Verstappen on the final lap in controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi. Mercedes have just won one race since, with George Russell’s first F1 victory in Brazil last year, while Hamilton has had 15 podiums since 2021 without a victory. Read More Guenther Steiner to produce new hit ‘workplace comedy’ show F1 Juniors broadcast an admirable idea – but all kids want to be is grown up Mick Schumacher returns to racing with Alpine in 2024 Lando Norris posts update from hospital after Las Vegas crash Las Vegas Grand Prix dazzles on debut with usual dose of Max Verstappen reality Lando Norris explained issues with Las Vegas circuit before crashing at Grand Prix

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With a trio of indictments looming overhead, Donald Trump took time to assure his voters that he was focused on what really matters heading into 2024 — his shower's water pressure. During the keynote speech of a GOP dinner in South Carolina on Saturday, Mr Trump told the crowd that modern water pressures just weren't getting the job done. Though Mr Trump has proven in past speeches that he does not need segues — preferring instead to crash from topic to topic without regard for logic or causality — he did lead into his shower rant, sort of, by complaining about regulations. “You know I have this gorgeous head of hair – when I take a shower, I want water to pour down on me. When you go into these new homes with showers, the water drips down slowly, slowly,” Mr Trump told the diners. It is unclear where Mr Trump — whose two main domiciles are a luxury golf resort in Florida and a gilded skyscraper in Manhattan, both of which he owns — is experiencing these shower troubles. “You have suds, beautiful nice wonderful suds, a lot of money, Procter & Gamble, all that crap that they sell they say is good, probably costs ’em about two cents and they sell it for $10," Mr Trump said. "It takes you 10 minutes to wash your hair. You know what you do? You just stay in the shower about 10 times longer than you would have, it’s the same, you probably use more water. I broke all that up.” It's not the first time Mr Trump has complained about his bathroom activities being disrupted by water conservation efforts. In 2019 he made the telling-on-himself admission that Americans had to flush their toilets "10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once," blaming water regulating standards for his apparent need to flush a dozen times per use. “You turn on the faucet and you don’t get any water. They take a shower and water comes dripping out. Just dripping out, very quietly dripping out,” he said at the time. “People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once.” The water issue was one of the few things Mr Trump did while in office that aligned with his early campaign promises; he directed the Department of Energy to ease up water conservation standards for showerheads. The former president may have changed the rules, but it didn't really change the way products were manufactured. Nearly all commercially available showerheads during his presidency adhered to the previous standards. Joe Biden reversed the measure following Mr Trump's presidency. Perhaps the most baffling element of Mr Trump's water gripes is his insistence that easing up regulations would actually save water. “[Americans] end up using more water. So [the] EPA is looking at that very strongly at my suggestion,” Mr Trump said in 2019. And later in 2019: “You go into a new building or a new house or a new home and they have standards only you don’t get water. You can’t wash your hands practically, there’s so little water comes out of the faucet. And the end result is you leave the faucet on and it takes you much longer to wash your hands,” Mr Trump said. He then told his supporters that his administration would be "looking at" the concept of "rain" and "opening that up." It is unclear what he was talking about, but here is what he said. “There may be some areas where we’ll go the other route – desert areas – but for the most part you have many states where they have so much water – it comes down, it’s called rain. They don’t know what to do with it,” he said, laughing at what presumably was a joke. “So we’re going to be looking at opening up that I believe. And we’re looking at changing the standards very soon.” Read More Trump attacks ‘delusional’ Pence over key role in election indictment: ‘Gone to the dark side’ Trump demands Judge Tanya Chutkan be removed from election case after ruling against him DoJ requests protective order after Trump threatens revenge in Truth Social post Trump attacks ‘delusional’ Pence over key role in election indictment Trump demands Judge Tanya Chutkan be removed from election case Vivek Ramaswamy's Hindu faith is front and center in his GOP presidential campaign

Pricing for the average new car continues to rise, with the latest reports pegging the average new vehicle transaction price around $48,000