BBC Sport quiz: Who am I? Guess The Hundred star cricketer No 5
Welcome to our special cricket edition of our Who am I? game.
The rules are simple. Each day of The Hundred there’s a new cricketer taking part in the tournament who we want you to guess in as few attempts as possible.
After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. Guess the answer after as few clues as possible to score more points.
Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.
So take part and return for more tomorrow.
Today’s player and clues set by BBC Sport’s Joe Rindl.
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Born too soon: Premature babies fight for survival in Gaza | Gaza News
Noor Salem, 30, stands beside an incubator at a neonatal intensive care unit in central Gaza, where her baby, Yazan Al-Khalidi, lies attached to tubes and monitors.
She watches his tiny body behind a sheet of quartz glass, tracking his meagre breathing and the slightest movement he makes.
Yazan was born eight months into Noor’s pregnancy, his body appearing bluish in the first moments of life.
This required immediate transfer to the neonatal intensive care unit at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, after it became apparent that Yazan was born with breathing issues.
Instead of being able to hold her baby in the first moments after his birth, Noor is now forced to sit by the incubator and wait for Yazan’s condition to improve.
Yazan is Noor’s second child, having lost her first baby shortly after birth during the famine in Gaza in 2025, brought about by Israel’s ongoing genocide in the enclave.
During her pregnancy with Yazan, she endured shortages of basic necessities and a constant fear of losing another child.
![Yazan Al-Khalidi, born in the eighth month of pregnancy. After birth, he experienced breathing difficulties. [Eman Abu Zayed/Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_6439-1784903726.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
“I was afraid throughout my pregnancy because I had already lost my baby before. I was afraid I would go through the same pain again,” she said.
“When he was born, and I saw that he was not moving or crying like other babies, I felt terrified. I did not know what would happen to him. All I wanted was for him to survive.”
Noor waits for daily updates from doctors, hoping Yazan will overcome his health difficulties and return to her arms.
Rising premature births in Gaza
There has been a sharp increase in premature births and underweight newborns, as well as stillbirths and birth defects, since the genocide in Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
UNICEF has repeatedly warned about a crisis in premature births in Gaza, with one in every five newborns requiring intensive neonatal or thermal care. Maternal malnutrition, prolonged psychological stress and declining prenatal care services have all had an impact on both mother and child.
Dr Afnan Abu Hasaballah, an obstetrician and gynecologist working with UNRWA and Al-Awda Health Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp, has personally witnessed the impact of this on the health of pregnant women and newborns.
She says many pregnant women arrive at hospitals suffering from severe stress and exhaustion after repeated displacement, deprivation of essential goods and bombings.
“Constant fear, repeated displacement, lack of food and clean water, and limited access to prenatal care all increased the risk of premature birth,” she says.
The Israeli siege on Gaza is also leading to severe malnutrition, and one of the main issues affecting both expectant mothers and their fetuses, leading to more premature births and low birthweights for newborns and requiring intensive care.
Inadequate nutrition also increases the risk of anemia, exhaustion for expectant mothers, pregnancy complications and restricted fetal growth.
“Many pregnant women during the war were unable to access sufficient or balanced food, and this directly affected the health of mothers and newborns,” Dr Abu Hasaballah says.
Pressure on Gaza health services
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is the only hospital with a neonatal unit in the whole of central Gaza, serving thousands of expectant mothers and causing immense pressure on overstretched health workers.
“We were working under enormous pressure, with shortages of incubators, ventilators, medications and basic supplies, in addition to repeated power and fuel shortages, which posed a direct threat to babies inside the incubators,” Dr Abu Hasaballah says.
Premature babies require continuous monitoring, oxygen, respiratory support, proper nutrition and treatment, something that health workers with their limited resources and time are not always able to provide.
“When these resources become unavailable, the risk of serious complications increases, including breathing difficulties, low body temperature, infections and low blood sugar,” Dr Abu Hasaballah says.
“Unfortunately, we may lose babies who could have survived if they had received basic care.”
The separation of mothers from their babies shortly after their birth is one of the hardest experiences for mothers to endure. This abrupt separation causes immense anxiety for both mothers and babies, with the most common question doctors at neonatal units are asked is whether their children will survive. Doctors and nurses do what they can to reassure the mothers and save the children.
“Instead of holding their baby and celebrating, mothers see them transferred directly to the incubator or intensive care unit. Their fear is doubled because the war has affected everything, from medical equipment and supplies to electricity shortages and overcrowding in hospitals,” says Dr Abu Hasaballah.
“We continued working day and night without sleep, and we did everything we could to save every child, but in many cases, the babies’ needs were greater than the resources available.”
![Akram Abu Jiab, head of Qutoof Al-Khair Foundation, which supports pregnant women and newborns by providing vitamins and nutritional supplements for mothers, as well as medicines and medical supplies for children. [Eman Abu Zayed/ Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_7404-1784903732.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
New challenges for mothers
Once the parents and babies are discharged, a new struggle for families begins amid a landscape where a mother’s health has been impacted by deprivations and stresses of the war. Essential baby care items, such as sterilisation kits and baby formula, are absent or unaffordable.
“Many families have lost everything because of displacement, leaving mothers without baby clothes, diapers, blankets, formula or clean water,” Dr Abu Hasaballah says.
In Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, Qutoof Al-Khair Foundation supports pregnant women and newborns by providing vitamins, nutritional supplements, medicines and essential medical supplies.
Akram Abu Jiab, head of the foundation, says his staff is dealing with growing demand for their services among pregnant women and new mothers who are unable to access enough food and healthcare to sustain their babies’ health.
“Premature babies require special care and continuous medical follow-up even after being discharged from incubators,” he says.
“However, many families are facing significant challenges in securing the basic medical and nutritional needs of their children.”
Despite the foundation’s efforts to reach as many mothers and children as possible, their efforts can only go so far.
“The scale of needs far exceeds the available resources. The gap between needs and support continues to grow every day,” he says.
“Behind every baby born in Gaza is a mother trying to protect her child under exceptional circumstances. Supporting mothers and children at this stage is not a luxury; it is a necessity to protect the lives of the next generation.”
On the move – football’s youngest journeymen
After beginning his professional career with Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 16, highly rated Croatian midfielder Alen Halilovic earned a permanent move to Barcelona, where he spent two years before joining Hamburg for a further two seasons.
During his time at the Nou Camp, he played primarily for Barcelona B before spending the 2015–16 season on loan at Sporting Gijon.
After joining Hamburg in 2016, he was loaned out to La Liga side Las Palmas during the 2017–18 campaign.
In 2018, shortly after his 22nd birthday, he signed for AC Milan, the sixth club of his career – while Italy became the fourth different country in which he had played.
The midfielder later had spells with Birmingham City and Reading. He now plays for Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands.
Tom Holland pukes on ‘Hot Ones’ during spicy ‘Odyssey’ interview
Tom Holland is officially the first “Hot Ones” guest to really spill his guts during a spicy interview.
During a Thursday appearance on the popular talk show — where guests answer questions while eating chicken wings with increasingly spicy sauces — the actor struggled to keep his composure.
Host Sean Evans cranked up the heat with each burning question to Holland and fellow actor Jon Bernthal, his co-star in not one but two of the biggest cinematic events of the summer, “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” While Holland began the interview with an eloquent discussion of his two blockbuster films, Evans’ lineup of 10 hot sauces, each hotter than the one before, had the “Uncharted” star on the verge of blacking out.
After Holland bit into his chicken wing slathered with the second sauce — Hot Bergine, a roasted eggplant and tomato sauce with a 3/10 heat level — the actor described his first day on the set of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”
“I wanted to get a bit of a jump on how Chris likes to work and just watch from afar,” he said, noting that he wasn’t filming any scenes that day, but watched his colleagues working from the beach. “I arrived at the beach, and I could not see a single crew member. You just see miles and miles of ships and extras and warriors and horses, and you’re asking yourself, ‘Where is the crew?’”
“So then they asked me to walk down this beach, and every 10 minutes you’d hear ‘Rolling!’ and I’d have to lie down and hide behind these dunes. And I kept asking myself, where are they rolling? I can’t see the crew anywhere. Then eventually I got down to where Matt [Damon] was and his men, and it really felt at that moment like we were a part of something that had never been done before.”
By sauce No. 4 — Chickpotle, a creamy chickpea sauce with smoky chipotle and ghost pepper with a 4/10 heat level — Holland and Bernthal were loosening up and trading barbs. Holland discussed how speaking in an American accent (rather than his native British) is almost like having a disguise, which makes his job as an actor easier.
“But I would love to explore some more British accents because you know, as an island, we have some of the most interesting, unique, and fun accents,” he told Evans. “I think there’s more accents in Britain than any other country.”
Bernthal, visibly uncomfortable from the heat of his own chicken wing, quipped, “Why does it always got to come to competition … I would go out on a on a limb to say there are more accents in America than there are in Britain.”
Holland said he would “drink a shot of that hottest hot sauce” to prove he’s right. After some quick fact checking, “Hot Ones” production confirmed that Holland was correct — among English-speaking countries, anyway.
By hot sauce No. 10 — The Last Dab: Thermageddon, described as a slow-building superhot sauce forged with Pepper X, Apollo, Carolina Reaper and Scorpion peppers, ranked at a heat level of 11/10 — the two actors had completely lost their composure and appeared nearly drunk on hot sauce.
Eyes red, cheeks tear-stained and foreheads pouring sweat, the two squirmed in their seats and Bernthal said he was going to be sick. Still, the “Odyssey” star appeared to have made it through without spewing any body fluids.
Then Holland got up to snap a photo with Bernthal and Evans and barfed on the floor. While the actor may have been embarrassed, Bernthal cheered and Evans crowned him the first guest to lose his lunch.
Last year, Evans told The Times that the interview format, with its squirm-inducing sauces, was a tactic to turn what might otherwise be a typical press tour interview into something raw and real.
“On ‘Hot Ones’ you have those moments of people who are struggling, who are vulnerable, who are in a borderline state of panic. You have emotions that are real, and all of these things are so hard to get to in a traditional interview setting,” he said. “The fact that we can create these moments, and then combine it with this thoughtful career-spanning interview, all of those elements working together, it just gives you a unique look at the celebrity guests … What we’re doing is knocking them off of that pedestal down to a level that everyone can relate to. It’s very human.”
Angels’ late comeback falls short in walk-off loss to Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers homered in his first at-bat and hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 7-6 victory over the Angels on Friday night.
Casey Schmitt also homered and Luis Arraez had two hits to help the Giants end a five-game losing streak. They rallied after blowing leads of 5-1 and 6-4.
Bryce Eldridge doubled, walked and scored twice while Drew Gilbert added two hits for the Giants.
Vaughn Grissom had two hits for the Angels, including a tying two-run home run in the eighth inning.
Pinch-runner Jesus Rodriguez began the 10th at second base and advanced to third on Arraez’s soft single to left. After Heliot Ramos grounded out, Bryce Eldridge walked before Devers hit a deep fly to left off Chase Silseth (3-2) that bounced on the warning track and landed in the stands.
Devers’ winning hit came moments after the Giants got a big defensive play out of center fielder Grant McCrary in the top of the 10th.
McCrary, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, caught Wade Meckler’s fly ball in the top of the ninth then made a strong throw to third to get Grissom for an inning-ending double play.
Caleb Kilian (3-6) retired three batters for the victory.
San Francisco’s walk-off win came after the Giants bullpen spoiled Logan Webb’s chance at winning for the first time in nearly a month. Webb allowed four runs and six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
Devers got San Francisco (43-60) going with an opposite field two-run home run in the first inning. Schmitt added a three-run blast in the third after the Angels (41-63) issued a two-out intentional walk to Devers.
Both home runs came against Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez.
Up next: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.33 ERA) was set to face Angels RHP Ryan Johnson (2-4, 6.10) on Saturday.
Trump: ‘I’m running for a fourth term as President of the United States’ | Donald Trump
During the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, US President Donald Trump joked about running for a fourth term, despite the Constitution barring it. The event, which celebrates press freedom and honours journalism, came three months after the first was cancelled by a shooting.
Published On 25 Jul 2026
Evidence Of Ukraine Using Dutch Ruta Block 1 Cruise Missiles Emerges
Russian military bloggers have published what appears to be the first imagery showing the remains of a Ukrainian-operated Ruta Block 1 low-cost cruise missile following an operational strike. The weapon is another addition to an increasingly diverse arsenal that can hold targets even deep inside Russia at risk.
Photos that began circulating on Russian Telegram channels show wreckage consistent with the Dutch-produced Ruta Block 1. While the exact location and target of the strike remain unclear, the images represent the first publicly available evidence that the new long-range weapon has entered combat use.

The recovered debris includes fuselage sections, internal components, and part of the missile’s tailfin assembly. Although the imagery has not been independently verified, the remains appear consistent with the known design characteristics of the Ruta Block 1. The possibility cannot be ruled out entirely that the wreckage represents a previously undisclosed Ukrainian cruise missile design with broadly similar characteristics. Russian military bloggers claimed air defenses intercepted the missile, though that cannot currently be independently verified.

Footage purportedly showing a Ruta Block 1 missile flying toward its target has also appeared.
The Ruta Block 1 is a product of the Netherlands-based Destinus company, founded by the Russian exile Mikhail Kokorich. Earlier reporting indicated that the Block 1 was already being manufactured in the Netherlands and had been delivered to Ukraine since at least 2024.
Last month, then-Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov announced that the Netherlands was paying for approximately 700 cruise missiles for Ukraine — almost certainly referring to the Ruta Block 1 — as part of a wider package worth more than $500 million.
According to the manufacturer, the Ruta Block 1 has a range of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) and carries a payload of 150 kilograms (330 pounds).

The missile is ground-launched via a booster, then flies to its target at low altitude, using a combination of inertial, satellite, and visual navigation systems, providing resilience also in GPS-contested environments. The weapon is intended to strike high-value fixed targets and features pre-programmed terminal guidance.
Unlike larger and more expensive cruise missiles, Ruta has been presented as a mass-producible weapon optimized for deep strikes against military infrastructure. The missile is designed around affordability and production scale, enabling Ukraine to conduct sustained long-range precision attacks while reducing reliance on scarce, more exquisite Western-supplied weapons. The Block 1 also comes with the major advantage that its turbojet engine is also manufactured by Destinus, so the company doesn’t rely on the United States for this part.
Engine No. 1000: Destinus reaches industrial-scale turbojet production in Europe
Ukraine has generally remained silent regarding operational use of many of its newest indigenous strike systems until well after they have entered service. Confirmation of the introduction of other long-range weapons often came first from Russian photographs of intercepted missiles or strike aftermath before official acknowledgment from Kyiv.
For Ukraine, the Ruta Block 1 forms part of a broader effort to diversify its expanding arsenal of deep-strike capabilities, alongside long-range drones, indigenous cruise missiles, as well as missile-drone hybrids. As production ramps up, these systems are playing an increasingly important role in sustained attacks against Russian energy infrastructure, as well as command centers, logistics hubs, airbases, ammunition depots, and defense-industrial facilities far behind the front lines. Ukraine is currently ramping up its long-range strikes on all fronts and doing major damage.
Destinus is also working on additional members of the Ruta family.
Earlier this year, the company presented the Ruta Block 2, which increases the missile’s range to over 800 kilometers (around 500 miles) and boosts its payload capacity to 250 kilograms (550 pounds).
Ruta B2 Flight Test | European Canister-Compatible Cruise Missile | Destinus
Meanwhile, the Ruta Block 3 will have a range of 2,000 kilometers (around 1,200 miles) with a 550-kilogram payload. Block 3 is expected to enter flight testing in 2027 and is also suitable for air launch.
As well as bolstering the Ukrainian arsenal, the Ruta Block 3 has relevance for European nations looking to build up their long-range conventional strike capabilities.
Ruta B3 and the Future of European Deep Strike
Russia’s extensive use of ground-launched missiles in Ukraine, along with its deployment of long-range weapons in Kaliningrad, has highlighted the deficiencies in Europe’s deep-strike capabilities as NATO seeks to strengthen conventional deterrence against Moscow. The Block 3 could be part of the answer to emerging requirements, including the European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA), which involves France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and which seeks to bring new systems into service in the 2030s.
Destinus is also working to expand its production capacity, including through a joint venture with Rheinmetall that will make use of that company’s manufacturing facilities in Germany.
Overall, the Ruta series is part of a wider trend toward lower-cost, highly producible cruise missiles, something also evidenced in the United States. Examples of these include CoAspire’s Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile-Extended Range (RAACM-ER), which you can read more about here, and the Family of Affordable Mass Missiles-Beyond Adversary’s Reach (FAMM-BAR) effort, which is seeking lower-cost designs with maximum ranges of 1,000 nautical miles or more.
Whether this particular missile reached its intended target or was intercepted remains unknown. What is clear, however, is that we have the strongest evidence to date that the Ruta Block 1 has transitioned from an announced development program into an operational weapon being employed against Russian targets.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Hollyoaks’ Jamie Lomas putting off wedding after engagement 3 years ago
EXCLUSIVE Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas, who has played villain Warren Fox for two decades, explains why he’s in no rush to get married
It’s been 20 years since Jamie Lomas debuted as Hollyoaks bad boy Warren Fox.
But the 51 year old has no plans to leave the villain behind anytime soon, telling us, “I just love it. I’ll take one day at a time, really. It’s exciting times on the show and we’ve got some great stories coming.I’m excited to see where it goes. Hopefully they don’t kill me off again! They can’t get rid of me.”
Jamie’s character was killed off back in 2009. In true soap fashion, Warren returned from the dead a year later having faked his death. He has since left the show a handful of times, with Warren often forced to go on the run from the law after committing some very dark crimes, including murder, kidnapping and drug dealing.
But the actor says he’s keen to stick around this time, after welcoming his daughter Bella with his fiancée Jess Bell in 2024. “Bella is two now,” Jamie says. “I got offered a couple of gigs going on tour last year, and I turned them down because I don’t want to be away from home.
“I think you realise as you get older, that time with your kids is precious. They’re only small for so long. Getting a chance to do it again at my age now, you realise how quickly time goes, and you just want to cherish those moments as much as possible. She’s so funny, Bella, and I’m really enjoying it.”
Jamie is also a dad to daughter Polly, 15, who he shares with ex-wife Kym Marsh, and son Billy, 20, from a previous relationship. Jamie says daughter Bella adores Polly, and that Polly is a great big sister. “Bella is great,” he says. “She’s beautiful, and very special.
“Polly helps with her, and Bella adores Polly. Bella comes home from nursery and shouts up the stairs for Polly. She’s so cute. She’s the best in the morning. She woke up the other morning, and she’s into Toy Story at the moment.
“She goes, ‘Woody, Buzz,’ and then opens her eyes and says, ‘Dadda?’, she was having a little dream.” Jamie has been engaged to his partner Jess since 2023. While the couple do plan on getting married at some point, Jamie reveals they are holding off on the big day so that Bella can be a part of it.
“We said that we are going to wait until she’s old enough,” he says. “We definitely will get married but we want Bella to be a little bit older to enjoy it.” Family time is just one of the ways Jamie switches off after hours of playing villain Warren.
With Warren’s kill count recently rising to 10, he says his fitness helps him to unwind after his heavy storylines. I play golf. I like to go around the golf course for five hours, although my missus is not too happy about that.
“I don’t think about anything when I’m on the golf course. It’s very relaxing. I love boxing as well. I go boxing twice a week, that’s my release. I go to the gym too, that’s how I spend my spare time. That and spending time with my kids, my family and my partner.
“It’s quite difficult to switch off sometimes, but I try to switch off as soon as I leave the set.” There isn’t much Warren hasn’t done on the show. From burying bodies, to being sent to prison and even needing a liver transplant, he’s been very busy for the past two decades.
Jamie does hope bosses will line yet more evil storylines for his villainous character. “I would love for him to go on a real rampage and start doing armed robberies,” he says. “Maybe he can get addicted to drugs or something, although he’s so anti-drugs because of what happened to his sister Katy. The writers do such a good job.” After taking some time out in 2024 following the birth of his daughter Bella, Warren jumped at the chance to return for the soap’s 30th anniversary last year. On what brings him back every time, Jamie explains, “It’s always nice to put his mask back on.
“It’s like coming back and starting again really. You’re starting with a blank canvas, and it was such an explosive ending the last time. There was a lot of unfinished business for him, so it was nice to come back and see what was in store.”
After so long on the show, Jamie says the cast have become family to him. He tells us, “I can’t believe it’s 20 years. I’d left for five years and went and did EastEnders, and numerous other things as well, but it’s just perfect.
“We’re like a family, but we actually are. My really close friends are Nick Pickard, Ashley Taylor Dawson and Jimmy McKenna. I’ve worked with them for years, and we’ll go and have a game of golf. We used to go out partying, but now we play golf.
“I can remember starting Hollyoaks like it was yesterday. We had such a good time, back in the day. I get to work with Jennifer Metcalfe a lot now, who plays Warren’s partner Mercedes McQueen. I’ve known her since the day I started her, and we both started around about the same time, so we often talk about stories from back in the day, and then have a laugh about it, and how times have changed.”
Hollyoaks is available to stream on Channel 4’s streaming service now, while it also airs Mondays to Wednesdays on E4 at 7PM. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.
Everyone should visit beautiful French city at least once – it’s not Paris or Nice
EXCLUSIVE: From the moment I landed in Toulouse, I immediately understood why it is affectionately known as La Ville Rose, the pink city. Everywhere I looked, whether down narrow side streets or along the main thoroughfares, warm terracotta buildings caught the sunlight
I grew up in England, specifically Norfolk, a rural county in the east that is alarmingly flat and, if we are being honest, quite dull aesthetically. It has its charm, of course, and is often cited as one of the more desirable places to live in the country, but it rarely prepares you for visual spectacle. So when I recently jetted off to the south of France, to a city I had barely heard of before, I wasn’t expecting to find one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. From the moment I landed in Toulouse, I immediately understood why it is affectionately known as La Ville Rose, the pink city. Everywhere I looked, whether down narrow side streets or along the main thoroughfares, warm terracotta buildings caught the sunlight.
Depending on the time of day, the brickwork shifted beautifully between dusty pink, burnt orange, and soft gold. It felt like a city alive, glowing beneath the southern French sun.
The beauty here isn’t loud or demanding; it reveals itself slowly.
You find it in quiet courtyards hidden behind ornate doorways, along the banks of the Garonne River where the pink facades shimmer in the water, and in the intricate details of wrought iron balconies that have watched over the streets for centuries. I have to admit, I am not usually one to obsess over architecture when I travel. This isn’t born out of ignorance, but rather the largely uniform nature of the places I’ve previously visited. Toulouse, however, brought out the architect in me. For centuries, this city prospered because of pastel, a humble plant whose leaves produced one of Europe’s most prized blue dyes. Often called the region’s “blue gold,” pastel brought enormous wealth to Toulouse during the Renaissance, funding the elegant merchant houses that still stand today. I had read a bit about this history before arriving, but staring at a laptop screen is a completely different experience from holding that history in your own hands. To truly understand it, I attended a workshop led by a local woman whose passion for the craft was impossible not to admire. Rather than simply demonstrating the process, she invited me to participate. She explained how generations of artisans had transformed the green leaves into a vibrant natural dye, preserving techniques passed down through centuries.
When my turn came, I was incredibly nervous because I am as cack-handed as they come. But with a plain white cloth in front of me, I gave it a go. I folded, twisted, and bound the fabric with elastic bands, creating patterns without knowing what the final result would look like. It felt a bit like making tie-dye back in school, though this was slower, quieter, and far more intentional. Every fold felt like a crucial creative decision, even though I was largely winging it. The most mesmerizing moment came when I submerged the fabric in the dye bath. Instead of emerging blue, the cloth came out a surprising shade of yellow-green. As I lifted it into the air, the guide simply smiled and told me to wait. Like magic, oxygen began to work, transforming the dye before my eyes from green to the deep, iconic pastel blue the city is famous for. That afternoon changed how I looked at Toulouse. Suddenly, I began noticing blue everywhere: in boutique windows selling naturally dyed scarves, in handmade ceramics, on painted window shutters, and in the stories proudly shared by local artisans. The famous pink architecture and the city’s blue heritage no longer felt like separate identities, but rather two complementary colors that have shaped Toulouse’s soul for centuries.
Travel often encourages us to merely collect photographs, but the experiences that stay with us are the ones that ask us to participate. The pastel workshop gave me a deeper connection to this place than any museum or monument could have offered. When I think back to Toulouse now, I don’t just remember the blue-stained fingertips or the quiet satisfaction of watching my fabric transform in the air. I also remember wandering through those glowing streets, the warm terracotta facades catching the evening light and giving the city its unmistakable character. Together, the rosy architecture and the centuries-old pastel heritage tell the story of a city shaped by color, craftsmanship, and creativity. Toulouse didn’t just feel like a place to visit; it was an experience where every shade and handmade creation left a lasting impression long after you returned home.
Book it
Book a room at the Hotel Le Granda Balcon for from £172 per night Direct flights from London Heathrow or London Stansted Airport to Toulouse start from £39 The AHPY dyeing workshop costs £47 Toulouse is accessible via a Eurostar service to Paris, followed by a high-speed TGV connection to Toulouse. A one-way journey from London to Toulouse with Eurostar and TGV start from £80pp.
BBC Sport quiz: Who am I? Guess Premier League footballer #5
Welcome to our Who am I? game.
The rules are simple. Each day there’s a new footballer and the challenge is to guess who they are in as few attempts as possible.
After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. Guess the answer after as few clues as possible to score more points.
Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.
So take part and return for more tomorrow.
Today’s player and clues set by BBC Sport’s Flora Snelson
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Poker, fraud and Spider-Man: Prominent lawyer gets 6 years in prison

July 24 (UPI) — A prominent Supreme Court litigator in Maryland has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for tax evasion and mortgage fraud, prosecutors said Friday.
Thomas Goldstein, who argued some 40 cases in front of the nation’s highest court, was found guilty of eight felonies in a February trial.
Prosecutors say Goldstein, an avid poker player, funneled millions from his law firm to cover gambling debts — and lied to IRS agents to hide them.
“His motivation was singular: pure, unrelenting greed,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “Whether funneling gambling income through offshore bank accounts, shaving millions off his true law firm income, or lying to his lenders, Goldstein’s crimes always sought to advance and maintain his exorbitant lifestyle, replete with Bentleys, globe-trotting vacations, and a $200,000 watch.”
Goldstein also submitted fraudulent mortgage applications to two lenders, omitting “millions of dollars of liabilities, including more than $14 million he owed for poker-related debts, as well as taxes he owed the IRS,” officials said.
He was approved for a $1.98 million mortgage.
Goldstein, 56, cofounded the widely-popular SCOTUSblog, which follows the Supreme Court.
His trial featured an appearance by Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire, who testified Goldstein assisted him in recovering a gambling debt from a billionaire.
Goldstein was ordered to serve six years in prison, five years probation and pay more than $3.1 million in restitution.
“Thomas Goldstein built a distinguished legal career arguing that the rule of law matters,” said Kelly O. Hayes, the U.S. attorney in Maryland, in a statement. “Yet, as the evidence at trial showed, he repeatedly chose to violate that very principle for his own financial benefit.”
Firefighters battle fire after fertiliser explosion in England | Crime
A fertiliser explosion at a farm in Essex triggered a major incident. Dozens of firefighters worked to contain the large industrial fire and protect nearby homes.
Published On 25 Jul 2026
Coronation Street airs huge twist in murder plot but fans point out ‘problem’
Coronation Street’s Sarah Platt confessed to police that she killed Theo Silverton – but has claimed that it was in self-defence and viewers have spotted a “problem” ahead of a potential twist
Coronation Street’s Sarah Platt confessed to police that she killed Theo Silverton – but has claimed that it was in self-defence. The legendary soap character, who has been played by Tina O’Brien since 1999, beat the scaffolder over the head and sent him tumbling from the builder’s yard roof earlier this year.
It all came just moments after Theo whole load of derogatory remarks towards her but the pair were already enemies because she knew that he had subjected her best friend Todd Grimshaw to horrific abuse during their relationship.
Viewers will know that, on that fateful night, Sarah, who is currently dating DC Kit Green, called her ex-boyfriend Gary for help before heading home and being hit on the head and knocked out cold by the mysterious Jodie Ramsey .
In the weeks after Sarah confessed to Kit, he has been doing everything he can to try to get her off the hook and pin the blame on Gary, but she is currently in prison and has been charged with murder.
On Friday night’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap, Sarah was interviewed by DS Lisa Swain, who usually locks innocent people up, and she didn’t quite believe her story.
Sarah told her: “I barely remember calling Gary. He answered the phone. And I realised how crazy I was being. OK, fine, I did – I wanted to tell him what I’d done. And then the second… that I heard his voice. I realised that I couldn’t let him get involved and ask for his help!” Sarah then tried to explain the phone call, to no avail, and Lisa was very interested to know what she did with the murder weapon – which Gary disposed of – and the factory supervisor simply claimed she couldn’t remember.
Over in the Rovers, Lisa and Kit sat having a casual chat about the murder investigation and she told him that Sarah clearly didn’t think much of him if she called her ex-boyfriend rather than him. Whilst on the phone in her cell, Sarah told Kit that she couldn’t possibly bring Gary into it – much to her partner’s frustration.
It was then that Sarah attempted to split up with Kit on the phone, for his sake, but he was having none of it. She said to him: “Just look after Harry and Bethany for me,” but when Kit mentioned Jodie, Sarah was quick to warn him that she is a “dangerous” woman and he needs to keep away from her.
The scenes certainly sparked a reaction amongst fans, with some theorising that Sarah didn’t actually kill Theo after all.
One fan wrote on X: “Sarah’s finally told someone about Jodie being the person who hit her on the head that night. So, now Kit knows, I’m wondering if he will frame Jodie as Theo’s real killer? But, Sarah having the nerve to call Jodie dangerous, while on remand for murder, is peak irony”
Another said: “I think Sarah didn’t kill Theo. I think he was battered whey he lay unconscious… possibly by his son? I also feel the story of the life insurance is going somewhere.”
In response, a third said: “It would mean overturning the autopsy report, which stated Theo was dead before he fell. Corrie have hade a problem there, if they wanted a second killer. Otherwise, I would also go with Millie or Miles. And, I would like Todd to get the life insurance back. He’s earned it!”
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.
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Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games: Duncan Scott overcomes pressure and Tom Dean to give Scotland golden start
Scott was not being caught, though. Not tonight. Not here. Not with his Scotland kit on and his team looking to him to spark their Games.
A Games which he has backed vocally since Glasgow salvaged it from the wreckage of Victoria’s aborted bid.
Almost exactly 12 years after he won his first Commonwealth medal in this very building, he was taking his 14th in his fourth Games. And it was going to be gold.
“I don’t usually feel the expectation, but that one I probably did,” he told BBC Sport Scotland. “Simply because it’s day one and I love representing Scotland and you want to try and get the whole team off to a good start.
“I think there was a bigger picture of trying to get good momentum for the crowd involvement for the rest of the week, and the team as well. So I felt that expectation, but it’s nothing I couldn’t deal with.”
You got the sense there was little that could have discomfited the Alloa native – a momentary loss of his accreditation apart – and even a post-race visit to the drugs testers wasn’t going to trouble him.
Scott’s got the weekend off now – he’s an old boy among the swimming set, after all – but he’s more than done his bit to set Glasgow 2026 off on the right note.
Funerals held for four Palestinians killed in deadly West Bank shooting | Occupied West Bank
Overnight funerals were held for four Palestinians killed near Nablus. Palestinian officials blame Israeli settlers and soldiers for attacking areas in the occupied West Bank, while Israel said the violence began after an attack on Israeli civilians.
Published On 25 Jul 2026
More Of The UK’s Stealth Fighter Demonstrator Revealed In New Images
When BAE Systems unveiled the first rendering of the United Kingdom’s Combat Air Flying Demonstrator last year, it finally gave us a look at the test aircraft that will spearhead development of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), at the center of which is the stealthy Tempest fighter. Now, new images, as well as a scale model, provide more details and a better idea of its scale.
The company has released its clearest official photograph yet of the demonstrator under construction. Seen at the top of this story, it shows the fuselage of the jet being built at the BAE Systems facility in Samlesbury. Meanwhile, the wings and fins are being built at Warton, from where the aircraft is due to fly before the end of 2027.

In aerospace, a demonstrator (or technology demonstrator) is an aircraft built primarily to prove technologies, manufacturing methods, aerodynamic concepts, and systems integration, rather than to become an operational weapon system. As a precursor to a prototype that would more closely represent a final configuration, they are nearly always smaller, simpler designs that leverage off-the-shelf components wherever possible to get them into the air faster and to prove core concepts and/or a package of concepts. The last such known fighter demonstrator in this class built in the United Kingdom was the British Aerospace EAP that first flew in 1986 and proved the concept for the Typhoon that followed it.
The Combat Air Flying Demonstrator will inform the sixth-generation Tempest fighter, which is being developed for the air forces of the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan, for service in the 2040s and beyond. Canada also recently joined the program as an observer, and there are reports that Germany might also be considering coming on board.
A model of the Combat Air Flying Demonstrator presented at the Farnborough International Airshow in England earlier this week:
The new scale model confirms that the twin-engine aircraft has outward-canted twin fins and no horizontal tails. Another major difference that we know about relates to the powerplant. The Combat Air Flying Demonstrator will use the same EJ200 turbofans as the Typhoon. The production Tempest will feature an all-new powerplant that is now under development. Nevertheless, officials have said that the demonstrator will have fighter-style handling, despite its size and lack of thrust compared to the Tempest.
Overall, the demonstrator aircraft has some similarities to the F-35 (except the horizontal tails), including forward-swept intakes that are a DSI design and a prominent ‘chine’ on the forward fuselage. The center fuselage section is notably long and broad, something carried over, but to a lesser degree, from Tempest renderings and models.

The inboard leading edge of the wing is slightly cranked, there is some forward sweep on the trailing edge, and the wingtips are severely cropped. The result is something of a modified cropped-delta wing, very different to the lambda wing that appeared on the very first Tempest concept and closer to the large-area delta that appears on later Tempest concepts. As for the demo jet’s tailfins, these are simpler than those on the latest Tempest mockup, being trapezoidal rather than having five ‘sides’.
The canopy also appears to offer limited rearward visibility. The underside of the fuselage almost has area-ruled, hour-glass-like contours.
The factory-floor photograph includes technicians, assembly tooling, work platforms, and production fixtures that immediately provide useful reference points. Even allowing for perspective effects, the demonstrator’s center fuselage appears broad and deep.
Looking down the spine of the aircraft, the width of the centerbody is especially striking. The absence of skin panels exposes a substantial internal space, which accommodates low-observable serpentine intakes, while the distance between the outer mold line on each side further hints at the generous internal volume available inside the aircraft.

Of course, perspective can exaggerate proportions, and this remains a technology demonstrator rather than the final operational GCAP fighter, let alone a Tempest prototype. The aircraft that eventually enters service in the mid-2030s will undoubtedly differ in various respects.

Air Commodore Martin Lowe, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program director at the U.K. Ministry of Defense, has stressed this exact reality. He highlights that the Combat Air Flying Demonstrator is not a Tempest prototype, particularly not “in terms of shape or size.” The final configuration of the Tempest has yet to be settled, but it will surely be bigger and more complex than the demonstrator. A new, full-size mockup of the Tempest was also presented at the Farnborough International Airshow in England this week.

While the Combat Air Flying Demonstrator has a definite F-35 ‘look,’ the latest Tempest mockup owes more to the F-22 Raptor. In fact, in at least one recent render, seen below, it appears like a wider, squatter F-22, suggesting an even more generous internal capacity.

As TWZ previously reported, the future combat aircraft is being designed around “really extreme range” and a payload approximately double that of the F-35A. Just in terms of internal and external ordnance, for the F-35A, this equates to more than 18,000 pounds, according to the manufacturer. This would suggest the Tempest’s internal payload will be around 10,000 pounds compared to the F-35A’s 5,000 pounds.

Those requirements point toward a substantially larger aircraft with dramatically greater internal volume than today’s fighters. They also reflect similar concerns that have driven the development of the U.S. Air Force’s Boeing F-47 under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.
Range is heavily dictated by fuel load, which the Tempest will carry internally to preserve its stealth qualities. At the same time, carrying significantly more — and larger — internal weapons than current fighters demands larger weapons bays. Sixth-generation aircraft are also expected to require unprecedented electrical power generation and cooling capacity to support advanced sensors, electronic warfare suites, communications systems, onboard computing, and potentially future capabilities such as directed-energy weapons.

Previous renderings gave us an idea of the shape of Britain’s future stealth fighter demonstrator. However, the new model and photos from the production line provide useful new detail of the Combat Air Flying Demonstrator, including a better appreciation of its scale. Ultimately, once the Tempest appears, it will likely be an even bigger and more impressive aircraft.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Jon Bon Jovi cuts ‘Forever’ tour show short: ‘I’ve got to cool it’
Jon Bon Jovi’s “Forever” tour stop was cut short after the singer said he needed to cool it.
Nearing the end of his nine-show residency at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, the 64-year-old rock icon apologized to fans when he had to pull the plug nearly an hour early.
Just before launching into “Livin’ on a Prayer,” he told the audience in a raspy voice, “I am the most grateful man in the world right now because I know I’m letting you down, and it’s not like me to do that. I feel f— great, but I’m gonna do one more song. I’m gonna need your help. I might have to cool it because I’m f— hurt.”
He performed the 1986 megahit, with the audience belting the chorus in his place toward the end. Bon Jovi then said, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. Stay tuned.”
“I’ve got to cool it,” he continued. “It’s just not going to get any better. Don’t throw away your ticket stubs. I’m gonna figure something out, OK? Just hold onto it, we’ll figure out how to reschedule.”
Bon Jovi embraced his band mates in a group hug before heading off stage.
Representatives for the “Bad Medicine” rocker told The Times that the concert ran for 90 minutes before ending.
“Jon Bon Jovi spoke from stage and told fans he has been battling a sinus infection, which led to the show’s early ending,” the statement continued. “As part of the Bon Jovi residency at Madison Square Garden, Jon has said numerous times that it has been a joy to return to live shows for the band.”
Bon Jovi’s “Forever” tour is the first since the namesake frontman had surgery to repair a vocal cord injury in 2022.
The tour kicked off July 7 at the New York City venue and then will head overseas for a series of international stadium dates, including stops at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Aug. 28, Croke Park in Dublin on Aug. 30, and a three-night stand at Wembley Stadium in London on Sept. 4, 6 and 9.
In 2024, Bon Jovi spoke on a Hulu panel in support of his docuseries “Thank You, Goodnight” and revealed that one of his vocal cords was “atrophying.”
“I pride myself on having been a true vocalist,” the musician said. “I’ve sung with Pavarotti. I know how to sing. I’ve studied the craft for 40 years. I’m not a stylist who just barks and howls. I know how to sing.”
“So when God was taking away my ability, and I couldn’t understand why — I jokingly have said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose is my finger — you know, so there’s no reason for any of this,” he added.
The same year, he told The Times that his voice was a “work in progress.”
“I’m an athlete coming back from an injury — Kobe Bryant with his Achilles torn off. Before I got on the plane this morning, I was at vocal therapy. The goal is 2½ hours a night, four nights a week,” he said.
In June, he told People that he was fully recovered. “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”
McCain faces question of fitness to serve, physically
WASHINGTON — As he exited the stairs of his “Straight Talk Express” campaign bus on a chilly March day in Iowa, Sen. John McCain carefully took one step at a time, his left hand gripping a rail and his right knee looking stiff.
A bum knee isn’t surprising in a 70-year-old man — particularly one whose right leg was shattered about four decades ago when his jet fighter was shot down over North Vietnam.
But his wooden movements, along with his age and appearance, are creating an impression about McCain’s health that could be a liability for the Arizona Republican as he tries to persuade Americans to elect him president.
McCain brings to the campaign a body and mind with some heavy wear and tear, including a couple of bouts of cancer and the effects of years of torture. If elected, he would be the oldest person in history to enter the White House, and if he served two terms he would leave office an octogenarian.
Other presidential contenders have health issues, including Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s two brain aneurysms in 1988, Rudolph W. Giuliani’s prostate cancer in 2000 and former Sen. Fred Thompson’s lymphoma. But they are all younger and haven’t experienced McCain’s physical and mental agonies.
Voters should not worry, the senator’s staff says. He passed a recent health exam with flying colors, they say, the results of which will be publicly released in coming weeks.
“We all have trouble keeping up with him,” said Eileen McMenamin, communications director in McCain’s Senate office.
Indeed, when life spans are lengthening and people in their 80s are running companies and marathons, McCain’s age in itself shouldn’t be an issue, some experts say.
“Don’t give me that age business,” said Dr. James E. Birren, a prolific medical author known as the father of gerontology, who still lectures at USC at age 89. “If the task requires speed, then you want the younger person. But if it requires wisdom, you want somebody old.”
But McCain’s health, much like his politics, is a complex matter.
McCain has twice developed melanoma, a potentially deadly form of skin cancer. He had four surgeries between 1993 and 2002: two to remove melanomas, one to remove skin lesions and one to treat an enlarged prostate.
When doctors removed a melanoma from his left temple in 2000, they did exploratory surgery to look for cancer in his lymph nodes, leaving a buildup of scar tissue — a big lump — on his left jaw. So far, McCain has rejected his staff’s suggestions to have it removed by cosmetic surgery. To prevent a recurrence of the melanoma, McCain slathers himself with sunscreen whenever he ventures out.
“John looks pale, but he has to stay out of the sun,” said James McGovern, a longtime friend and a campaign fundraiser, who asserts McCain has more than enough stamina to be president.
McCain, whose staff did not make him available to be interviewed for this article, described his health as excellent Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
‘Looks count’
Critics have a tougher assessment of how the public perceives him.
“What does in McCain is the fact that he looks old,” said Loren Thompson, an expert on military affairs at the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank in Arlington, Va. “Looks count, and McCain looks terrible.”
A recent Roper poll found that 30% of registered voters had “some reservations” or were “very uncomfortable” about the fact that McCain would be the oldest president elected to a first term.
McCain does not regularly run, lift weights or go to a gym, and he smoked cigarettes until age 45, his staff said. But he is not a couch potato. McCain, who regularly hikes near his home in northern Arizona, marched across the Grand Canyon last year from rim to rim, a task equal to climbing and descending the Empire State Building more than three times in just a few days.
“He jokes that it almost killed him,” spokesman Tucker Bounds said.
McCain can also point to good genes, at least on his mother’s side. Roberta McCain is 95. With her twin sister, she traveled around Europe last year about the time McCain was slogging across the Grand Canyon. On the other hand, McCain’s father, a Navy admiral, died of a heart attack at 70, and his grandfather, another Navy admiral, died at 61.
The melanoma that McCain suffered was probably related to a genetic predisposition and sunburns he may have sustained as a young man, medical experts say.
The cancer has no implications for his general health, and the fact that it did not spread into his lymph nodes is a good sign, said Dr. Jeffrey Weber, associate director at USC’s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
A person who has one melanoma is at greater risk to have another, adds Dr. Antoni Ribas, a melanoma expert and associate professor at UCLA, but that is considered a manageable risk. Like others with his condition, McCain is checked every three months for new signs of problems.
“The majority of people are cured with surgery, if [it is] detected early,” Ribas said.
Scarred by war
McCain’s war experience sets him apart. No president has endured the tribulations McCain faced in 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war, said Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin. Judging from interviews with medical experts and with fellow prisoners in North Vietnam, and from McCain’s own writings, those dark days left many scars.
George “Bud” Day, a Medal of Honor recipient, vividly remembers the day McCain’s broken body was brought by guards through the door of Hoa Lo prison, the infamous Hanoi Hilton.
“He had been starved,” Day said. “He was emaciated and weighed around 100 pounds. He had lost a third of his body weight. He had a fracture of his right knee that had been unskillfully repaired, as well as multiple fractures of his right arm. His left shoulder was dislocated and he had been bayoneted in the left leg. And he was filthy. You could smell him a quarter-block away.
“I expected he would die before morning,” Day continued. “I thought the Vietnamese had dropped him off with us so he would die with us and they would be able to blame his death on us. About 40% of the prisoners had some kind of a broken limb or combination of broken limbs or skull fractures. I would say John was in the top 2% of the worst-injured in the system.”
To this day, McCain can barely lift his arms above his head. At the 2000 Republican convention, President Bush tried to hoist joined hands with McCain over their heads, leaving the senator grimacing, recalls Mark Salter, a senior advisor to his campaign: “He is stiff.”
Of his leg injury, McCain acknowledged years later in his acclaimed autobiography, “When I am tired or when the weather is inclement, my knee stiffens in pain and I pick up a trace of my old limp.”
Questions about McCain’s temperament also have dogged him for years. His personal style is often combative, and some who have run afoul of him in government say he is vindictive; Newsweek magazine once dubbed him “Senator Hothead.” By most accounts, it’s a personality that predates his wartime experience.
The incarceration, the broken bones, the beatings and years of starvation have left little lasting damage, McCain’s staff says.
McCain released extensive medical records when he sought the presidency in 2000, including reports of his periodic examinations at the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies at the Naval Operational Medicine Institute in Pensacola, Fla. Those reports indicated that McCain was in generally good health and did not suffer any psychological illness.
Dr. Bob Hain, director of the study program, said McCain was examined almost every year until 1994, when he stopped returning to the voluntary program.
“The people who were captured in the mid-’60s underwent very serious torture,” Hain said. “The people who underwent that certainly have significant orthopedic problems as a result.”
But Hain added that the men generally remained in good physical and emotional health.
“These people are very unusual, very gregarious, very outgoing as a majority,” Hain said. “There are some people who have some problems. As far as I know, John McCain is not one of them.”
Change in outlook
McCain spent extended periods in solitary confinement, a punishment that many considered worse than the physical beatings and limb-stretching tortures the men endured, said Mary Schantag, who with her husband runs www.pownetwork.org, a history of the 660 Vietnam War POWs who came home and others who did not.
“It seems impossible to have no scarring, given the isolation, the torment,” Schantag said. “To be totally alone for months and months, whether it touches you or not, it is going to shape how you see the rest of your life.”
During the experience, McCain’s outlook darkened considerably. After a particularly brutal period of beatings, McCain attempted to take his life several times. And when his communist captors finally beat a political confession out of him, McCain was left an emotional wreck.
“I was ashamed,” McCain wrote in his book “Faith of My Fathers.”
“I felt faithless and couldn’t control my despair. I shook, as if my disgrace were a fever. I kept imagining that they would release my confession to embarrass my father. All my pride was lost and I doubted I would ever stand up to any man again. Nothing could save me. No one would ever look upon me again with anything but pity or contempt.”
Some of the men had a difficult time recovering from such despair. Fellow prisoner Day, for example, contrasts himself with McCain, who he says benefited from an “outgoing, gregarious, sunny personality.”
“I have trouble laughing at a lot of things that I used to think were pretty funny,” Day said. “It was because so many bad things happened with such regularity that I got thinking that horror and underlying bad motives were the theme and not the exception. But John did extremely well.”
ralph.vartabedian@ latimes.com
Dallas rookie Azzi Fudd wins WNBA All-Star 3-point contest
CHICAGO — Azzi Fudd had no idea she was the first rookie to win the WNBA All-Star three-point contest. She put forth a stellar effort in the championship round to do it.
Fudd, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by Dallas, scored 30 points in the finals to top Portland’s Bridget Carleton.
“I was shocked, that’s crazy to be the first is definitely an honor,” Fudd said of being the first rookie to win.
Fudd’s 30-point effort was tied for the second-most ever, equaling Sabrina Ionescu and Allie Quigley’s total. Ionescu holds the record, scoring 37 points in 2023.
Fudd hit her first six shots in the finals to get into rhythm. Carleton, from the expansion Fire, had 29 points in the opening round, but struggled in the finals, scoring 19 points.
Fresh off her victory, Fudd issued a playful request for a rematch with Golden State Warriors guard StephenCurry. The two had a 3-point competition when Fudd went to his camp when she was in high school.
“I mean Steph if you’re listening, I’m asking for a rematch,” Fudd said.
The three-point competition capped off the Friday night festivities. Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and high schooler Jezelle Banks led team Washington to the Shooting Stars championship to tip off the action. The trio scored 31 points to edge Seattle’s three in the finals, with Banks hitting two of the 4-point shots from just inside halfcourt to put the team over the top.
“She carried. She carried,” Austin said of Banks. “You could just tell in her energy, like as soon as we started, like it was confidence and I think that showed in how she hit those tough shots.”
In the three-point competition, Carleton had a stellar first-round, scoring 29 points. She hit 13 of her first 16 shots. Fudd also had a great opening round, scoring 24 points. She made four of her final five shots. That carried over to the finals.
Carleton’s hot shooting in the opening round brought the crowd, which included Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Dwyane Wade and Sheryl Swoopes, to its feet.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd competes in the WNBA All-Star three-point shooting contest Friday.
(Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)
Other players in the three-point contest were Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, who scored 20 points, Golden State’s Janelle Salaun, who had 19 points; Toronto’s Marina Mabrey, who had 18 and Minnesota’s Natisha Heideman, who had 17.
In the Shooting Stars competition, Seattle had 24 points to finish as runner-up after missing all of the team’s four-point shots.
This was the first year that the contest was conducted. A skills competition was done in previous All-Star weekends. The format was a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams had 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition featured shots ranging from a layup to the 4-pointer.
Washington had the highest score in the preliminary round, posting 35 points. Once again, Banks hit four-point shots to help her team reach the championship round.
Seattle’s squad needed to beat the 20 points that the Detroit/Dallas team put up to advance to the finals. High schooler Tatianna Griffin hit two of the 4-point shots to help Seattle reach the finals. Minnesota finished in fourth with 19 points with a team of Courtney Williams, Rebbekah Brunson and Ryan Carter.
Detroit/Dallas had former Shock great Deanna Nolan, Wings All-Star Jessica Shepard and high schooler Morghan Reckley.
The new CBA gave Fudd $20,000 for winning the 3-point contest and each participant received $10,000. That’s about eight-times last season’s prize money.
Each shooting stars winner received $15,000. Each competitor, not including the high school players, will receive $7,500. Last year, the winners of the skills contest each received $2,575 from the WNBA.
In addition Aflac, like it has the past two years, gave extra money to the winners. Fudd took home $40,000 for winning the three-point contest. Carleton received $30,000 for finishing second and Howard got $15,000 for placing third.
Team Washington got $40,000 from Aflac with Seattle receiving $32,500 and Dallas $12,500.
Feinberg writes for the Associated Press.
‘The show must go on’: Trump returns to rescheduled White House press gala | Donald Trump News
United States President Donald Trump returned to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, three months after a gunman upended the event.
“As I said three months ago, the show must go on,” Trump said at the start of his speech on Friday, after a lengthy awards ceremony, during which several journalists, including CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, spoke.
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The annual – and perennially controversial – event had originally been held in April, but it was swiftly derailed after a gunman attempted to storm the proceedings in an alleged effort to assassinate Trump.
“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better and the third time will be better yet,” Trump quipped, before raising his hands at the crowd and saying, “I’m only kidding.”
The US president is limited to two terms by the Constitution, but Trump has been facetiously floating the idea of running for a third time.
The rescheduled dinner took place in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, with a guest list of 700 people, much smaller compared with April’s botched gathering.
“It was an assault on our democracy itself; it was a very serious situation,” Trump said of the alleged assassination attempt.
He lauded some of his aides, including Pete Hegseth, Steve Miller and Tom Holman, for showing “bravery” during the incident.
“They were standing on tables, when most of you were under the tables,” he said.
Alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen had stormed a security gate at the gala venue, the Washington Hilton, armed with guns and knives. He was accused by prosecutors of shooting and injuring a Secret Service officer before he was stopped.
Allen is facing federal charges of attempting to assassinate the president.
“Many people yelled, ‘Get down. Get down,’ which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking,” Trump said on Friday.
As journalists in attendance forced a muted laugh, Trump added: “She’s the only one who knew what that meant.”
Trump later used the event to rebuke political opponents, presenting his attacks as jokes. He called Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom “newscum”, questioned Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s intelligence, and pretended that someone in the audience was calling Illinois Governor JB Pritzker a “fat pig” to appear that he was not uttering the insult himself.
The US president also called top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer “Palestinian” as an insult.
Earlier in the evening, Trump entered the ballroom to polite applause.
“This is the largest gathering of people with Trump derangement syndrome,” he said, referring to journalists.
The US president has had a historically caustic relationship with the dinner, but this year, he touted the celebration this year, calling it a “very good thing” and a “HOT ticket”.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News, which was acquired by pro-Israel investor David Ellison last year, thanked Trump for his support, and for showing up for the second time in three months.
“Tonight our message is this: We are back,” she said. “We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word.”
Trump’s enthused attendance represented a sea change from his first term, beginning in 2017, when the newly elected president declared the soiree “dead” and declined to attend over the next four years.
Beyond Trump, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has long been a lightning rod for criticism among media professionals, with some journalists arguing that reporters should not be chummy with the politicians they cover. Calls for the dinner to be abandoned entirely only grew after the April incident.
Trump orders Smithsonian to post warnings about ‘inaccurate’ US history
President Donald Trump has ordered signs to be placed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, to caution visitors about exhibits his administration views as “inaccurate”.
The order directs the Department of Interior to issue the warnings, and also to direct people about where they can find “accurate information regarding America’s history”.
The Trump administration has often accused the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest research museum, as well as other academic organisations of harbouring an anti-American bias.
The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
The order on Friday – titled Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution – accuses museum leadership of not doing enough to celebrate America’s founders on the country’s 250th anniversary of independence, which took place on 4 July.
It says the museum’s leadership team “views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society”.
An accompanying White House statement, external also accused the museum of veering “toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans”.
Democrats who oversee the Smithsonian condemned the order.
“This EO is a clear political overreach, driven by an ideological agenda to rewrite American history,” congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, wrote on X.
“Our Smithsonian institutions do not belong to the President, but to the American people and so does our nation’s history.”
The executive order comes just days after Smithsonian director Anthea Hartig was grilled by Republican lawmakers in two congressional hearings, where the museum was accused of being “infected by a woke ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents”.
Earlier this month, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a scathing report, claiming that the museum “erases our heritage”.
Trump has set out to radically reshape American culture, which he says has been contaminated by “woke” left-wing ideology.
He has signed several orders that are intended to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes from the federal government – some of which led to legal challenges.
In March, he issued a separate order against the Smithsonian, directing it to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology”.
The Smithsonian is largely funded by the federal government. Its museums offer free entry to some 15 to 30 million visitors each year. It operates 21 museums in Washington, Virginia and New York.
They include the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the American Art Museum, the National Zoo and more than a dozen others.
Granite Harbour fans ‘immediately spot’ reunion between iconic BBC drama stars
Minutes into the new series of Granite Harbour, viewers were left thrilled after spotting two stars reuniting.
BBC viewers have been left rejoicing as an iconic duo reunited 20 years later.
Granite Harbour returned for a third series on Friday, July 24, starring Romario Simpson as DC Davis Lindo and Hannah Donaldson as DS Lara ‘Bart’ Bartlett.
Alongside them, the Aberdeen drama saw Dawn Steele reprising her role as DCI Cora Macmillan.
The actress is perhaps best known for her role as Lexie Macdonald in Monarch of the Glen, which ran for seven series between 2000 and 2005.
The comedy drama followed young restaurateur Archie MacDonald attempting to restore his childhood home in the Scottish highlands.
Loosely based on Compton Mackenzie’s Highland Novels, Dawn starred alongside Alastair Mackenzie, Richard Briers and Susan Hampshire, and Alastair has now joined her in Granite Harbour.
The actor is playing Richard Loughty in the crime drama, an affable and highly-regarded landowner who appears to be remarkably generous to those around him, including the local traveller community residing on his property.
But cracks soon begin to form as his apparent charm falls aside and the truth emerges.
Alastair teased, regarding his new role: “Cracks begin to appear in this charming veneer of his when sketchy things start happening on his estate and, without giving to much away, things go from bad to worse for him. Maybe there’s more to him than meets the eye.”
Monarch of the Glen fans were thrilled to see the duo reunite, with one writing: “How cool is it to see Alastair Mackenzie and Dawn Steele reunited in #GraniteHarbour . Absolutely love that #MonarchoftheGlen.”
Another said: “Watching the first episode of the new series #GraniteHarbour and immediately spot the Monarch of the Glen reunion between Alastair MacKenzie and Dawn Steele.”
Ahead of the new season of Granite Harbour, Shetland actress Dawn said: “Cora faces a personal health scare, and I loved having the chance to show a more vulnerable side to her. At the same time, she’s under immense pressure to solve the case while also dealing with the SPIS investigation into Malik’s dismissal from last series.”
The new series follows the Major Investigations Team focused on a complicated murder investigation after bodies are found, as they discover long-buried secrets that could divide communities.
Granite Harbour is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
























