Jalen Brunson is steering clear of any animosity.

The New York Knicks star and NBA champion stepped up to defend sports analyst Monica McNutt after she inadvertently criticized Taylor Swift during a hot mic incident.

During McNutt’s interview with the NBA Finals 2026 MVP following his team’s remarkable victory in San Antonio on Saturday, Brunson took the microphone to address the Swiftie community, which had been targeting the ESPN analyst online.

Romeo Beckham has publicly criticized his brother Brooklyn for suggesting that their family’s visit to his Los Angeles home with their sister Harper was staged.

Harper, who is 14, was photographed looking disappointed as she approached Brooklyn’s Beverly Hills residence alone, only to leave shortly thereafter.

Following this incident, Brooklyn’s inner circle accused the Beckhams of manipulating Harper’s visit to their advantage, labeling her as a “pawn” in family dynamics.

Supporters of David and Victoria Beckham have strongly refuted these claims, denouncing them as unfair allegations against the young and innocent Harper from their estranged son, Brooklyn, who is 27.

In a show of solidarity, 23-year-old Romeo took to Instagram, calling Harper his “favorite person ever” and sharing a heartfelt selfie with his younger sister.

He flashed a smile while wearing a Brazil jacket from his own label Intra, cuddled up next to his beloved sibling who was pulling a playful expression. 

Romeo Beckham has taken a swipe at his brother Brooklyn after he accused the family of ‘choreographing’ their sister Harper’s visit to his Los Angeles mansion 

The family spat emerged after Harper was photographed arriving at his £14million Los Angeles home on Friday afternoon, reportedly carrying a handwritten letter for her older brother.

However, representatives for Brooklyn and Nicola insisted the circumstances surrounding the visit raised serious questions.

They told the Daily Mail: ‘[The fact] that photographers were in place as the letter was hand delivered says it all – this was choreographed for the cameras.’

In response friends close to Victoria and David have said: ‘It is incredibly sad that this horrible accusation is being levelled at an innocent young girl who just desperately misses her brother. 

‘Nothing needed to be said at all so to invent this nasty accusation is really unnecessary.’

They have also claimed that Brooklyn hasn’t accepted any contact from Harper or his grandparents since the falling out.

It later emerged that Brooklyn, 27, was not even in California at the time.

Instead the aspiring chef and media personality shared an Instagram story showing himself out for a run in New York City, making it clear that he was on the opposite side of the country when his younger sister arrived at his front door.

Harper had been in LA, alongside her brothers Romeo and Cruz, to watch their father be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 

The aspiring chef and media personality shared an Instagram story showing himself out for a run in New York City, making it clear that he was on the opposite side of the country when his younger sister arrived at his front door

Harper had been in LA, alongside her brothers Romeo and Cruz, to watch their father be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

David’s new plaque has taken pride of place at the centre of Hollywood Boulevard, just over five miles from Brooklyn’s home.

The former England captain appeared determined to avoid discussing the family fallout during interviews ahead of the ceremony.

Asked what toll months of headlines surrounding the feud had taken on him, he replied: ‘To be honest, I’m sorry to stop you there, but that’s a private matter. That’s the one thing that I don’t want to talk about.’

The Beckhams have been embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious dispute with Brooklyn and Nicola for months, with relations said to have deteriorated dramatically after the couple failed to attend David’s 50th birthday celebrations in May 2025.

In January, Brooklyn released a scathing six-page statement denouncing his parents.

He announced he had cut ties with his family – declaring he was no longer part of ‘Brand Beckham’ and insisting his parents and their other children are ‘performative’.

Shortly before Christmas last year, Brooklyn blocked his parents on Instagram, while Brooklyn and Nicola’s lawyers later wrote to the Beckhams’ legal team requesting that all communication be conducted through legal representatives.

Brooklyn also claimed David and Victoria had controlled him for much of his life, attempted to drive a wedge between him and Nicola and left him embarrassed when his mother danced ‘inappropriately’ with him during the first dance at his wedding.

The images, which the Daily Mail has chosen not to publish, show Harper crestfallen as she approached the Beverly Hills property before leaving just moments later 

Victoria has previously spoken about the challenges of parenting older children while under intense scrutiny.

Speaking about all four of her children, she said: ‘Being a parent of young adult children and adult children, gosh, I mean, it’s very different from having little children.

‘I think that we’re trying to do the best we can,’ she said, adding that the negative press in recent months had not affected her fashion and beauty empire.

‘I think that ultimately people are buying my product because the product is really good. I don’t think they’re buying my eyeliner just because it’s me.’

Recent research published in Nature Metabolism reveals a concerning link between the supplement glucosamine and increased mortality in those with Alzheimer’s disease. The study, conducted by my team and me, shows that individuals with Alzheimer’s who consumed glucosamine had a 25% higher chance of dying within five years compared to non-users.

Glucosamine, commonly marketed as an over-the-counter treatment for joint pain and arthritis, boasts a user base of over 40 million Americans annually. Despite its popularity, these findings suggest potential risks for certain individuals.

Moreover, our study indicates that glucosamine may also negatively impact individuals with mild cognitive impairment, an early stage of dementia. Those in this group who took the supplement were 25% more likely to advance to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

Our research relied on anonymized medical data from the University of Florida Health system. We scrutinized records of 24,000 dementia patients and 41,000 individuals with mild cognitive impairment, comparing outcomes between those who used glucosamine and those who did not.

To delve deeper into these effects, we experimented with mice genetically modified to exhibit Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. Our findings revealed that inhibiting the enzyme responsible for producing sugars like glucosamine alleviated dementia symptoms in these mice. Conversely, administering glucosamine exacerbated memory loss, while healthy mice showed no significant response to the supplement.

Why it matters

The Food and Drug Administration classifies glucosamine as a dietary supplement, not a prescription drug. As a result, anyone can buy it over the counter without seeing a doctor.

Glucosamine is an amino sugar. Composed of glucose and an amino acid called glutamine, these molecules are used by the body to build new cells. Because glucosamine is not considered an essential nutrient, glucosamine deficiency is not a recognized condition. However, people take the supplement based on anecdotal reports that it improves joint health, especially in the knees.

For more than a decade, my team and I at the University of Florida have studied how the brain uses and processes sugar and what goes wrong with that chemistry in people who have Alzheimer’s disease.

A lesser-known problem associated with Alzheimer’s disease is that brain cells and proteins build up extra sugar coatings. Brain cells and proteins normally carry short chains of sugar on their surface called N-glycans. These sugars guide a newly made protein into its three-dimensional shape and help it attach to other proteins it works with.

But in people with Alzheimer’s disease, the chains pile up where they don’t belong. The proteins underneath them start to fail, leading to memory loss and cell death. This condition is called hyperglycosylation.

Given that about 7.2 million Americans ages 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease, we estimated that many were also taking glucosamine for joint health. We hypothesized that this sugar amine may be contributing to cognitive decline.

Earlier studies have linked glucosamine supplements to a lower dementia risk in cognitively healthy adults. Our findings do not contradict those reports but qualify them. While glucosamine appears safe and potentially protective for a healthy brain, it may be harmful for a brain that is already experiencing cognitive decline.

What still isn’t known

Since our study was based on patient records rather than a controlled experiment in people, it cannot show that glucosamine causes faster cognitive decline – only that there’s an association.

Answering this question would require a study that randomly administers glucosamine to some patients and not to others. But if glucosamine may increase the risk of dementia, giving patients glucosamine would be unethical.

In addition, we do not yet know whether the apparent harm glucosamine has on the brains of people with memory problems depends on the dose, the brand of the supplement, or on how long people take it. We also do not know whether this finding applies to other forms of dementia.

What’s next

One way to test whether glucosamine directly causes cognitive decline would be a clinical trial on patients who took glucosamine and then discontinued it. About 8% of dementia patients in our database fall into that category. We hope to follow them for several years to see whether stopping the supplement slows their cognitive decline.

We are also screening compounds that block the N-glycan molecule and reduces the buildup of sugars on brain cells to see whether this might slow or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally, we plan to explore whether other supplements that the body breaks down in similar ways to glucosamine carry comparable risks for brains experiencing cognitive decline.

This article is part six in a series exploring the challenges facing the NATO alliance.

Germany is committing to bolster its military strength within NATO. Berlin’s ambassador to Washington has revealed to News Media that the nation is prepared to take on a more significant role in ensuring European security, particularly after years during which the United States has shouldered much of the alliance’s military commitments.

In an exclusive discussion with News Media, German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld declared, “Germany is stepping up — we heard the call!”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed his ambition for the country’s armed forces to become Europe’s most formidable conventional military. Ambassador Hanefeld confirmed that Berlin’s latest military strategy aligns with this objective.

Germany’s pledge to enhance its military capabilities within NATO is a sign of its readiness to assume a larger responsibility in the realm of European security, as highlighted by Berlin’s ambassador to Washington in a statement to News Media.