Serbia and Ukraine have agreed to deepen economic cooperation, with both sides pledging to finalise a long-stalled free trade agreement by the end of the year as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic hosted his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Belgrade.

The commitment came on the final day of a two-day visit that concluded on Saturday, Zelenskyy’s first to Serbia since taking office in 2019. The two leaders have met several times previously, most recently in Kyiv on July 15.

Speaking at a joint news conference, Vucic said Serbia would support Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and maintain its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including territories seized by Russia since 2014.

Belgrade has, however, refused to impose sanctions on Russia, its longtime ally.

Ukraine, for its part, has not recognised Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Serbia considers Kosovo part of its territory.

“You have never heard a single bad word about our country, neither from Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor anyone else [in Ukraine], and I am extremely grateful to our Ukrainian friends for that,” Vucic said.

“Our cooperation is expanding and will become much bigger,” he told reporters, adding that Serbia would help rebuild Ukrainian cities damaged by Russia’s invasion.

Long-delayed free trade agreement

The proposed free trade agreement has been under discussion for more than two decades, with both countries now aiming to complete a deal by the end of the year.

The agreement is crucial to Serbia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization and is a prerequisite for its EU membership. Ukraine has blocked a deal since 2005 over quotas and tariffs affecting its agricultural sector.

Both leaders pointed to progress on the agreement as a sign of strengthening economic ties, alongside Serbian commitments to provide humanitarian aid and infrastructure and energy support to Ukraine this winter.

Zelenskyy said the two leaders had discussed joint infrastructure projects as well as cooperation on energy and food security before the winter, saying that “virtually not a single thermal power plant remains intact” in Ukraine because of Russian strikes.

He said Russian attacks had also damaged railway stations, hospitals, universities and civilian businesses, and thanked Serbia for preparing a new humanitarian aid package focused particularly on the medical and energy sectors.

“We are developing all formats of cooperation which can give our people … more resilience,” Zelenskyy said.

In a post on X on Saturday, Zelenskyy said he also discussed economic and logistics projects with Serbian Prime Minister Duro Macut, including the Danube Corridor and closer links between Ukraine, the Western Balkans and the EU.

Zelenskyy thanked Serbia for pledging 2 million euros ($2.3m) to support Ukraine’s energy sector.

The two countries also signed a memorandum on animal health and food safety, according to the Kyiv Post. The agreement was signed by Serbia’s Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic and Ukraine’s ambassador to Serbia, Oleksandr Lytvynenko.

Serbia balances EU ambitions and Russia ties

Vucic expressed doubts that either Serbia or Ukraine would secure rapid EU membership.

“I wish Ukraine every success, but this is not just a merit-based process,” he said, noting that the bloc has not admitted a new member since Croatia joined in 2013.

He also warned that he did not expect the war in Ukraine to end soon.

“I’m very afraid that we’re in for a very difficult winter – especially for Ukrainians,” Vucic said, according to the Kyiv Post.

Belgrade had condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but it has resisted joining Western sanctions against Moscow. Serbia also remains dependent on Russia for most of its gas.

At the same time, Serbia has sought to reduce some of its military dependence on Russia, including through an agreement to replace its ageing Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets with French Rafale aircraft.

The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Serbia of selling ammunition that ultimately reached Ukraine through intermediaries. Belgrade has denied supplying ammunition to Ukraine, but has said it sells ammunition to buyers around the world.

Vucic and Zelenskyy said military cooperation was not discussed during the visit.

Authorities warn residents to be prepared to leave their homes as fast-moving wildfires spread across western Canada.

The district of Summerland in British Columbia has issued evacuation orders, as powerful wildfires continue to sweep across western Canada.

A state of emergency was declared early on Saturday morning, with thousands displaced from their homes as the Bald Range wildfire continues to burn out of control.

“Summerland and Faulder and Peachland. Tonight our hearts are heavy as we watch the Bald Range wildfire. The firefighters and first responders are doing an incredible job and my heart is with them, as well as all the evacuees and volunteers,” Amelia Boultbee, a Canadian MP representing Penticton-Summerland, wrote in a social media post on Friday night.

The district is home to about 12,000 people, according to the 2021 census. On Saturday, local officials announced that the area had lost power due to the fire and instructed residents to boil water.

Saturday morning’s evacuation orders affect the Peachland watershed, the Brenda Mines area, Lower Princeton and its downtown core areas, according Emergency Info BC, a provincial government service.

All residents were asked to prepare to leave immediately.

Canada has faced a summer of large wildfires, with blazes tearing across provinces such as Ontario and Quebec.

Scientists have said that climate change has worsened wildfire conditions in recent decades, with areas across the globe experiencing periods of extreme drought and heat.

In recent months, Canada and the United States experienced a record-setting heat dome that helped exacerbate wildfire conditions by drying out vegetation.

To the south of British Columbia, the US state of Washington also experienced large wildfires this month, contributing to poor air quality across the region.

Firefighting teams from countries such as Mexico, Australia, France and New Zealand have all provided support to Canada. About 1,500 firefighters are currently deployed across British Columbia, which has issued 39 evacuation orders and 49 alerts.

British Columbia’s Premier David Eby said earlier this week that the western province has sufficient resources to deal with the fires and has additional firefighters and aircraft at its disposal.

“For those in the area, please keep following updates,” Eby said in a social media post on Friday night. “If asked to evacuate, go immediately. The conditions are changing extremely quickly.”

It has been revealed that Emmerdale star Lawrence Robb attended a dance school for years as he signs up for the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, returning in the autumn

The yearly debate on whether those with dance training should be allowed on Strictly Come Dancing is sure to be reignited now that it has been revealed that Lawrence Robb attended a dance school for two years.

Lawrence, who was the 12th celebrity announced for Strictly Come Dancing, is best known for playing McKenzie Boyd on Emmerdale, but from 2007-2009, he was a student at The Dance School of Scotland. Glasgow City Council shared a video message from the actor, 34, where he shared his dance experience.

In the message, he said: “I studied at Knightswood incorporating the Dance School of Scotland along with the musical theatre course back in 2007 and left in 2009.”

After adding that he then went to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he praised his dance teachers for the “care” they had for their students. “If it had not been for the nourishment and the care and the love that the teachers put into teaching us,” he said.

“I’ve made friends for life at that place, it is up there with the two best years of my life. It gave me a wonderful springboard into the world of musical theatre and it’s just a magical place to be. My experience there is what shaped me into the performer that I am today.”

As a musical theatre performer, Lawrence is thought to have had more professional dance experience than the average Strictly celebrity contestant. West End stars have often come under fire for taking part in the show – just last year, musical theatre star Amber Davies‘ involvement in the show was heavily criticised when she proved to be a strong contender for the glitterball.

Likewise, Layton Williams was criticised for taking part given his experience performing in the West End. Actors who did dance training whilst at drama school have also faced backlash, such as Danny Mac and Nigel Harman, as have those who have competed in dance competitions or worked as dancers in non-ballroom or latin styles, such as Lewis Cope and Tasha Ghouri.

Year after year, fans are split between those who feel that such celebrities are afforded an unfair advantage and those who say that Strictly would be boring without these dancers providing high-scoring performances.

Strictly stars have often hit back at backlash, stating that the celebrities with dance experience have no advantages as ballroom is a different style. Speaking about it to The Sun, professional dancer Lauren Oakley said: “It’s a completely different experience, my friend is ballet trained but she’s had to unlearn a lot of things in order to do Latin. It’s a completely different discipline and you have to almost it’s not a blank page, you have to unlearn it before you.”

Despite Lauren’s words, celebrities who have dance experience consistently score highly and make the final. For instance, just last year, the winner Karen Carney danced as a child, Amber Davies made the final and Lewis Cope was often topping the leaderboard.

This year, Lawrence is not he only Strictly celeb to take part with prior dance experience. Cach Mercer, who won Love Island last year, is trained in hip-hop and often teaches dance classes. Bethany Antonia is also a West End star who played Eurydice in Hadestown on stage.

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WASHINGTON — The Senate in an overnight vote Saturday approved a short-term measure to fund federal agencies into early December and avoid a potentially chaotic government shutdown during the middle of campaign season.

The late-summer action on a funding fix is unusual. Normally, Congress waits until the final days or hours of a funding deadline to pass short-term patches, but this time senators acted nearly two months before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The 90-6 vote showed lawmakers are still smarting from the two historic shutdowns in the last year and want to avoid another before voters go to the polls.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wanted the funding dealt with before senators went home for the next five weeks to focus on their reelection campaigns and other matters. It got caught up with other issues that pushed votes into the night, but the bill had broad bipartisan support. The House will also have to approve the measure when members return from their August recess before it can go to President Trump’s desk for his signature.

The bill generally funds the federal government at current levels through Dec. 11, but includes a variety of exceptions that senators negotiated with the White House.

Democrats secured language to ensure no money could be transferred to the Border Patrol. They also rejected the White House’s request of $1 billion for early work on a new “Trump-class” battleship that the administration announced Dec. 22.

“The only person who wants these golden ships is Donald Trump so he can slap his name on them,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

Hemp provision

The bill also includes language delaying a national ban on most intoxicating hemp products. That one-month delay prompted outrage from some Senate Republicans who say that too many such products are falling into the hands of unsuspecting children. The packaging of the products often relies on bright colors and intentionally mimics popular snack brands to attract consumers.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said that since 2017 there has been nearly a tenfold increase in cannabis-related emergency room visits by minors in his home state.

“This is a public health crisis that deserves this Senate’s immediate attention,” Budd said. “Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.”

But the hemp industry said the delay buys time for Congress to craft legislation that protects hemp farmers and businesses while also putting in place safeguards to protect children.

Trump himself has called Budd to discuss the issue, though the president did not specifically ask the senator to drop his effort, Budd’s spokesman said.

“Sen. Budd had a friendly phone call with President Trump discussing the legislative efforts regarding THC,” said spokesman Christian McMullen. He said the senator outlined his concerns about “any delay to closing the hemp loophole.”

Budd tried to strip the hemp delay from the bill, but the Senate turned aside his effort.

Trump rule on grants delayed

Democratic lawmakers, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), also got language in the bill that would block, for the duration of the funding patch, new regulations on federal grants. The regulations would require a senior political appointee to review grants before they are awarded to ensure, among other things, that they advance the president’s policy priorities. Democrats say it’s an effort to kill grants destined for Democratic-leaning states. The Trump administration recently admitted in a court filing denying clean-energy grants to California and other blue states based only on politics.

“They are not interested in making our tax dollars work better — they just want them to work for Donald Trump,” said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The White House Office of Management and Budget says its effort is about improving accountability to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted or misused. The issue is sure to be a topic of future negotiations on a full-year spending measure.

But Collins said the vast majority of the nearly 500,000 people and groups weighing in on the rule are opposed to it.

“I don’t think in my time that I’ve been privileged to serve in the Senate that I have ever seen a proposed rule generate that many negative comments,” Collins said.

Freking and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Jorge Messi, the father of soccer star and Argentina captain Lionel Messi, died Saturday at a hospital in the central Argentina city of Rosario. He was 68.

The Rosario-based Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys announced his death in a social media post that said he had undergone treatment in recent months for an unspecified illness. The post described him as “the pillar and the person who, with vision, rigor and affection, supported the career of the best player of all time, alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini.”

The South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, in a statement also offered its condolences “with respect and affection for Lionel.”

Lionel Messi led Argentina to a runner-up finish in this year’s World Cup. In the team’s first match, against Algeria, he was visibly emotional after scoring the first of his three goals. He said later that he wept for “a reason unrelated to sports.”

Inter Miami star Lionel Messi hugs his father, Jorge Messi, while his mother, Celia Cuccittini, looks on after a playoff match against Nashville SC in November 2025.

(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)

“I went through some difficult, complicated days,” he said. “I am grateful to the delegation, to all my teammates, because they were always by my side wishing me strength so that I would be OK.”

Media reports at the time outraged the Messi family, which days later released a statement confirming that “Jorge is experiencing a health issue,” without specifying the nature of his condition.

“A person’s health and the peace of mind of their loved ones should not be the subject of speculation or irresponsible media interest,” according to the statement, which also expressed “discomfort at the lack of sensitivity, respect and scruples with which some people have treated a strictly private and family matter.”

Jorge Messi was a chemical technician and worked as a steelworker. He played soccer as a midfielder and reached the youth ranks of Newell’s Old Boys but had to abandon the sport to complete his mandatory military service in Argentina.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi sits on the pitch after losing to Spain in the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

He played a fundamental role in his third son’s career, serving as his agent and managing his business affairs. He was the one who traveled with a young Messi to Barcelona in the early 2000s for the trial that would open the doors to La Masia, the Catalan club’s youth academy. Lionel Messi made his professional debut in 2005 and went on to win eight Ballon d’Or awards. He led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title.

“My dad was always by my side,” Lionel Messi said in a 2007 interview with Radio del Plata. “Sometimes I would lock myself in my room to cry when we arrived in Barcelona, or my dad would do the same without me seeing him, or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both OK, but we weren’t. My dad even asked me what I wanted to do when we were feeling down, if I wanted to stay or go back, and I wanted to stay, and he stayed with me.”

His father negotiated the contracts with Barça and later his transfers to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, while also managing the use of his famous son’s image rights and his numerous investments in real estate, hotels, and restaurants.

In 2016, father and son were convicted in the Spanish courts on tax evasion charges, but avoided prison because the sentence was less than two years.

Barreiro writes for the Associated Press.

I do not recall my first encounter with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) because I was just a baby. In the months after I was born, medics gave me my first vaccines in an UNRWA-run clinic. Since then, the agency has been present in almost every part of my life. It has become a core piece of my identity as a Palestinian refugee.

And so, as I read in the news statements by US officials that UNRWA needs to be banned from Gaza, as I hear that Israel is preparing to raid an UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem, which houses schools and clinics, or that the Israeli High Court is likely to reject an appeal against anti-UNRWA laws, my heart is aching.

I realise it is difficult for non-Palestinians to understand why the attacks on UNRWA are such an emotional issue for us. For the rest of the world, it is just another humanitarian body providing services in a conflict zone. But for us, UNRWA is so much more. Let me explain.

Fifty-two years before an UNRWA nurse gave me a measles shot in a medical facility in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, UNRWA employees approached my grandfather, Ahmed Abo Aisha, who was just six years old at that time.

It was 1950, a year after UNRWA was created by the UN to deal with a refugee disaster it played an active role in creating. Two years earlier, during the Nakba of 1948, my grandfather and his family had fled on foot from their hometown of Bir al-Sabea, as Zionist militias advanced. My great-grandfather, Ibrahim Abo Aisha, a well-known livestock merchant, thought they were coming back, so he locked up the home, leaving behind title deeds, birth certificates, all his livestock and possessions. As a result, the family had no documents to prove their existence.

“Imagine, Nour, I didn’t know my real date of birth. When UNRWA came, they designed a certificate for me and wrote in it a random date of birth so that I could live with a documented existence,” my grandfather told me recently.

Thanks to this document, my grandfather was able to obtain an official identity card issued by the Egyptians when he was 16.

But ensuring he had an identity document was by far not the only thing UNRWA did for my grandfather. It issued his family a “kart al-moun” – a family registration card – that would serve as the only legal and political proof of their refugee status. The card allowed them to benefit from the various services UNRWA gradually set up.

In the following months, UNRWA proceeded to build tent camps, accommodating hundreds of thousands of refugees who had been sleeping out in the open air.

Little by little, it transformed what was an expanse of desert land around the historical city of Gaza into refugee camps: from Jabalia and Shati in the north, through Nuseirat, Bureij, Maghazi, and Deir el-Balah in the centre, and on to Khan Younis and Rafah in the south. It supplied each camp with schools and clinics to create a community for refugees.

My grandfather was soon enrolled in a primary school run by UNRWA. When he had children of his own – including my father – he also enrolled them in an UNRWA school.

By the time our generation came of school age, UNRWA had built and was running nearly 200 schools across the Gaza Strip. I watched as my two older sisters started school and wanted so badly to go, as well. I used to take their blue and white uniforms and put them on, as they laughed at me.

When I turned five, it was finally my turn. I was ready for pre-school. My mom took me to get the necessary vaccinations at an UNRWA clinic. I remember walking into that building – everything painted in blue and white. I remember the blue window in front of which my mother lined up, holding the “kart al-moun”.

After the vaccination, we went to buy my school uniform. It was a dress with blue and white stripes. I vividly remember my overwhelming excitement when I wore it on my first morning at Al-Daraj Co-educational School B.

From day one, the teachers distributed notebooks, pens, and bags to us, all stamped with the same blue and white logo. We had a free nutritional meal every day during the school break. Every semester, we got cash assistance distributed inside the classrooms, which helped our parents cover the cost of school materials and uniforms.

As refugees, we were not allowed to enrol in the regular schools in Gaza, but that was no loss for us. UNRWA schools provided the best primary education in the Strip. It is where I started learning English; it is where I learned how to tell the world my Palestinian story.

UNRWA became the pillar of Palestinian education. It laid the foundation for Gaza to become one of the most literate places on Earth despite being under occupation and a debilitating siege.

UNRWA also provided us with free healthcare. We got regular free checkups at its clinics, free basic lab tests, and free medication for common and chronic diseases.

We also received guaranteed food assistance. Each refugee family was given a “kapona” (a coupon) every three months that could be exchanged for flour, rice, sugar, milk, lentils, and cooking oil.

UNRWA was also a source of job security for thousands of Palestinians who were employed in its various structures.

The omnipresence of UNRWA in almost all aspects of our daily refugee lives made it inevitably an integral part of our identity. My grandparents still keep their original kart al-moun as a document of belonging and proof of their rights. We still keep in our minds the first lessons in UNRWA schools where we learned about Palestine, patriotism and love for our homeland. UNRWA, as an institution, still keeps the memory of the crime the UN perpetrated against the Palestinian people by deciding to give away our land against our will.

By virtue of its existence, this body reminds the world daily of our existence as refugees, of the moral obligation it has to address our suffering and of the inalienable right we have to return. It is hard not to see how UNRWA and the Palestinian cause are two sides of the same coin.

And that is why Israel and its allies are fighting so hard to destroy it. Their efforts to dismantle this institution are really aimed at erasing the Palestinian refugee question. They want UNRWA gone and our right to return renounced. But we will not give them up. The world must not either.

In 1948, after the Nakba, some 200,000 Palestinians poured into Gaza. Today, 78 years later, there are 2 million of us displaced Palestinians. Back then, the international community decided that it needed to create a special body to deal with the huge refugee problem. Today, that body, UNRWA, is the only one that can help deal with the displacement and dispossession of almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip.

If the international community wants to cope with the disaster that Israel’s genocidal war has left behind in Gaza, it must support UNRWA and stop efforts to dismantle it. We, the Palestinians, for our part, will continue to fight for the survival of a body that has been an essential component of our human and political existence.

An opposition lawmaker threw eggs at acting Prime Minster Albin Kurti during a parliamentary session which was convened to constitute Kosovo’s parliament following a snap election held in June.

AMY Childs has broken her silence after taking time away from social media following a break-in at her £1.7million mansion.

The former Towie star, 36, addressed concerned fans after the terrifying incident last week.

Amy wrote: “I’ve taken some time away from social media recently, so thank you so much for all the lovely messages and for checking in on me. I’m absolutely fine, I promise!

“I’ve just been enjoying some time with my family, slowing down a little and, behind the scenes, I’m working on something SUPER exciting.

“I can’t wait to share it all with you very soon!”

Amy is mum to Polly, nine, Ritchie, seven, and three-year-old twins Billy and Amelia, whom she shares with her husband, Billy Delbosq, 42.

HOME HELL

Inside crime wave sweeping stars’ homes as insiders reveal Amy Childs’ U-turn

SPEAKING OUT

Amy Childs breaks silence on ‘devastating’ burglary after home was targeted

It comes after The Sun revealed that the former Towie star’s £1.7million Essex mansion had been “ransacked”.

The property is a stunning five-bedroom mansion complete with a cinema room.

The family had been enjoying a sunny holiday before returning to discover their home had been broken into.

A source told us on Tuesday: “Amy and her family returned from holiday to find that thieves had broken into her home and completely trashed the place.

“She’s absolutely heartbroken.

“She is just grateful that she and the kids were away when it happened, because it would have been terrifying if they had been there when the burglars came.

“She can’t even bear to think about that, but it’s still left her shaken.

“At the moment, she isn’t sure exactly what’s been taken as the place is totally wrecked and police have been there along with forensics.

“It’s a total nightmare and really freaked her out.”

A representative for Amy confirmed the burglary and said: “No one was hurt, which is the main thing. The police are all over it.”

During the Los Angeles mayoral primary, Spencer Pratt put out a video saying he was living in a trailer on the burned-out lot where his Pacific Palisades home once stood — a claim that was soon debunked by TMZ, which reported that he was actually staying at the Hotel Bel-Air.

While Pratt’s mayoral bid has come to a close, his campaign’s final spending on luxury hotels — including the Hotel Bel-Air — is now coming to light.

Pratt spent just under $71,000 on hotels for himself, his campaign staff and his fundraising operation, mostly at the Hotel Bel-Air and the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, according to recently released campaign finance filings in the mayoral race.

The former reality TV star has a history of lavish spending on hotels, according to his memoir, “The Guy You Loved to Hate,” where he recounts staying at the Four Seasons in Costa Rica for a month in 2010. He said the hotel stay was “bleeding him dry.”

The tens of thousands of dollars Pratt’s campaign spent on hotels represent just a fraction of the more than $3 million Pratt’s campaign spent overall, including hundreds of thousands to campaign strategy firms and more than $200,000 to the company Black Llama Inc. for billboards. Pratt had AI-designed billboards placed across the city.

Pratt also spent more than $180,000 on private security firm Delta Special Operations Corp., almost entirely in the final month before the June 3 primary.

Delta Special Operations charges $650 per day to provide a single security officer in Los Angeles, but also offers a higher level of “executive protection.” Pratt has said he faced threats during his candidacy.

Pratt placed third in the primary, behind Councilmember Nithya Raman and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who will square off in the Nov. 3 general election. Raman’s campaign reported spending about $1,000 on security, while Bass has security provided by the city.

Building out her support

Raman secured what could be one of her most significant endorsements of the entire election cycle this week, pulling in the support of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters.

The endorsement from the carpenters union marks a sharp turn for the labor group, which backed Bass in 2022. The union committed more than $2 million to independent expenditure groups supporting Bass’ candidacy in 2022, paying for television ads that ran in advance of the general election.

During the primary, Raman and independent group supporting her focused on ads on social media and streaming platforms, which are cheaper than traditional television ads.

“We will be matching the same energy and we’ll have same type of commitment as when we endorsed Bass. We don’t plan on holding back,” said Pete Rodriguez, the second general vice president of the international union.

Rodriguez said the union would spend significantly to support Raman, though he did not give a figure.

Bass has dominated labor endorsements throughout the campaign. She has secured more than two dozen endorsements from influential labor unions including the Police Protective League, which represents rank and file police officers in the LAPD, and SEIU 721, which represents public sector workers at the airport and in street services, among other departments. She also has the backing of the powerful Los Angeles Federation of Labor, a coalition of unions (Bass calls its leader, Yvonne Wheeler, “The Beyoncé of Labor”).

“Workers are overwhelmingly behind Karen Bass … because she delivers real results,” said the mayor’s campaign spokesperson, Alex Stack. “Results like building more affordable housing immediately to drive down rents, mortgages, and the cost of housing.”

Rodriguez said one major issue that caused the carpenters union to break with Bass was the mayor’s failure to include higher labor standards in the codified version of Executive Directive 1, which fast-tracked some affordable housing applications.

That law was passed by the council and Raman voted in favor of the law that codified the mayor’s directive.

Raman told The Times in a statement that she stood by her vote, but that she appreciated the union’s ability to work with legislators to enact legislation that “combines density with higher labor standards.”

The DSA endorsement …

Raman could get another key and much-discussed endorsement later this month.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is once again considering endorsing her for mayor. The endorsement would bring doorknockers for Raman and could bring more national attention to the race.

An internal petition shared with The Times is circulating in the group and needs just 50 signatures by Aug. 8 in order for the consideration of Raman to go to a vote. Raman would then need 60% of the vote at an Aug. 22 chapter meeting in order to win the endorsement.

“Nithya Raman is running an insurgent left-wing campaign for the mayor’s office against Karen Bass and L.A.’s unpopular status quo Democratic establishment,” the petition reads. “Will an insurgent Left seize control of our city government to build a Los Angeles for its working class? Or will the establishment fend off this insurgency and deepen its power?”

After jumping into the race on the last possible day in February, Raman was not endorsed by the left-wing organization in the primary. The group instead “recommended” her — a status that means the DSA wouldn’t actively campaign on her behalf but urged voters to cast their ballots for Raman.

Raman was endorsed by the group in both her council campaigns, but her late entry came after DSA had made its endorsements.

The group considered reopening its endorsement process for either Raman or Rae Huang — who like Raman is a member of the DSA — but ultimately decided to focus on other down ballot races in the primary.

DSA-LA declined to say whether the petition had gained the requisite number of signatures for a vote.

State of play

— LINEAGE LEGISLATION: Los Angeles city and county officials unveiled a slate of measures aimed at speeding recovery, increasing corporate accountability and expanding financial assistance for residents and businesses affected by the June fire at the Lineage cold food storage facility.

— PRICED OUT: Councilmember Curren Price’s motion to get his perjury and embezzlement case dropped was denied Friday by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Price’s lawyers maintain that he did not knowingly vote on city contracts for real estate developers that contracted with his wife. The judge argued there was “ample evidence, albeit circumstantial, that this was a scheme and not just happenstance.” The outgoing council member’s next court date is set for October.

— E-BIKES UNDER FIRE: The council’s Rules Committee passed a motion Tuesday that asks the city’s Department of Transportation to come up with ways to regulate e-bikes, including who can ride them and how. The measure next goes to the ways to regulate e-bikesPublic Safety Committee, then the full City Council.

— A NEW ERA: For the first time since 1963, Council District 9 in South Los Angeles will soon have a non-Black representative in the City Council. Estuardo Mazariegos and Jose Ugarte, who are facing each other in the Nov. 3 election to represent parts of downtown and South Los Angeles, are both immigrants from Latin America who arrived undocumented as children.

— OFF THE RAILS: Homelessness on Metro’s rail and bus system has dropped by 57% since 2024, the agency said this week.

— A ROSE AND A THORN: The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center will close April 1, and not be returned to its regular users until the fall of 2028, after the conclusion of the Olympic Games. The announcement came after The Times reported on the impending shutdown.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program went to the intersection of Alameda Street and E. 223rd Street in City Councilmember Tim McOsker’s district where it brought 22 people indoors.
• On the docket next week: The City Council will vote on whether to execute the Enhanced City Resources Master Agreement for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

The Inter Miami forward, 39, also became an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and won the Champions League four times with Barcelona, plus 10 La Liga titles in 17 seasons in their first team.

Jorge supported his local team Newell’s Old Boys and Lionel joined the club when he was seven years old.

The family relocated to Spain in February 2001 after Lionel was signed by Barca aged just 13, and although Messi’s mother and three siblings soon moved back to Rosario, his father stayed with him in Barcelona.

“Jorge was the pillar and the person who supported with vision, rigor and affection the career of the greatest player of all time alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini,” Newell’s Old Boys posted on X., external

“His constant companionship and behind-the-scenes leadership were essential in backing every step of Lionel, from his beginnings at Malvinas [youth academy] to the pinnacle of world football glory.

“Thank you for teaching him to love these colours.”

The club added that they “embrace with affection Celia, Lionel, Rodrigo, Matias and Maria Sol, and all their loved ones and close ones in this difficult moment”.

Barcelona thanked Jorge “for his commitment to our club, for entrusting us with the beginnings and the most glorious years of his son Leo’s football career”.

The Argentine Football Association said it “deeply mourns with sadness and sorrow the passing of Jorge Messi, father of our captain and emblem, Lionel Messi”.

It added: “From here, we stand in solidarity with the entire family during this difficult time and send the most heartfelt, warm and affectionate embrace.”

The Messi family responded after an Argentine television presenter falsely reported Jorge had died during Argentina’s opening game at this summer’s World Cup.

The presenter later resigned, while the family expressed their “deep discomfort with the lack of sensitivity, respect and discretion with which some people have treated what is strictly a private family matter”.

Aug. 8 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate confirmed Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump‘s former personal defense attorney, as U.S. attorney general early Saturday morning.

Two Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the confirmation. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., missed the vote.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., was a critical vote because he had raised concerns about Blanche. He, along with John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said they were uncomfortable with the politicization of the Department of Justice, as well as the controversial settlement between the president and the IRS in which Trump was given $1.8 billion fund to compensate people that he believed were victims of political prosecutions.

All three of them voted to confirm Blanche.

Cassidy said he chose to vote for Blanche because Trump might nominate someone worse.

“The choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche,” Politico reported Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”

The vote tally was 50-49 at 4:31 a.m. Saturday. The Senate then left for a five-week recess.

Blanche has been acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi from the position in April.

“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me to lead the Department of Justice as our great nation’s 88th Attorney General,” Blanche said in a post on X. “I am grateful to the Senate for staying late to complete this process.”

Not everyone supported Blanche’s nomination.

“The problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has never been able to shed his role as criminal defense lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can’t do it,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance the nomination. “He will never do what’s best for the American people. He will only do what’s best for Donald Trump, and you cannot leave someone like that as the nation’s No. 1 law enforcement official.”

“The biggest concern is whether he is now going to be emboldened to go even more gung-ho on Trump’s campaign of using the Justice Department for retribution,” former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson told NBC News in an interview before the confirmation. “There are no guardrails.”

“America is safer with Todd Blanche at the helm of the Justice Department,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a statement.

Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he disagrees.

“It was a grave mistake for the Senate to approve Todd Blanche as the next Attorney General,” he said in a post on X. “If there is ever a moment in history when we need an AG above reproach, who is dedicated to ending corruption, it is right now. This nation deserves an Attorney General who loves the Constitution more than he loves the President. Sadly, Todd Blanche is not that person.”

Gulf and Arab governments condemn Iran over missile strike on Emirati tanker.

The United Arab Emirates has accused Iran of striking a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) with a missile as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz, drawing swift condemnation from Gulf and Arab governments.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that the vessel was hit in the early hours of the morning while transiting the strategic waterway, a chokepoint for a large share of the world’s seaborne oil.

Abu Dhabi described the strike as an act of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and called on Tehran to halt the attacks and reopen the strait fully and unconditionally.

ADNOC confirmed one of its ships had been targeted by a missile while crossing the strait, according to the state news agency WAM. ADNOC did not provide details on any damage to the vessel or its exact location at the time of the attack.

The UAE ministry said using the waterway as a tool for pressure or economic blackmail threatened regional stability and global energy security.

The IRGC have previously threatened action against any vessels transiting the strait if they are linked to Tehran’s adversaries, or if they fail to comply with Iranian directives.

ADNOC said on Friday that it had been significantly affected by what it described as unprovoked attacks on its personnel and assets, while continuing to meet customer requirements in an “exceptionally challenging environment.”

The company said 15 of its vessels had been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the strait since the start of the conflict, including three this week, killing one crew member and injuring 20 others. ADNOC did not identify those responsible for the attacks in its Friday statement.

Regional governments condemn attack

Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed al-Budaiwi condemned the latest attack as a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation”, calling for international action to protect maritime navigation and reaffirming the bloc’s solidarity with the UAE.

Qatar also condemned the attack and rejected the use of the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip, calling for the waterway to be reopened without conditions. Doha’s foreign ministry warned that its continued closure threatened the interests of regional states and the global economy.

Saudi Arabia condemned the targeting of the tanker “in the strongest terms,” saying Iran’s continued attacks constituted a grave breach of international law and Resolution 2817. Riyadh held Tehran responsible for the consequences and demanded an immediate halt to the strikes.

Jordan also condemned the attack as a flagrant violation of international law, affirming its full support for the UAE.

The reported attack marks a sharp escalation in tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, where the UAE and its Gulf neighbours have pressed for the passage to remain open to international shipping.

MADONNA has paid an emotional tribute to William Orbit following his death aged 69.

The Grammy award-winning music producer – who died on July 23 but whose death was only announced on Friday – worked with the singer on her album Ray Of Light in 1998 – known as one of her most beloved musical projects.

Featuring hits such as Frozen and Nothing Really Matters, the record marked a change in style for the Queen of Pop, moving her into an electronica sound following previous albums of dance-pop and disco.

Taking to Instagram, Madonna shared a video of her winning a Grammy for the album, which she accepted with William next to her on the stage.

In the clip she admitted the record wouldn’t have been possible without him.

A montage then showed that era in her career, working with the producer, with the title track Ray Of Light accompanying it.

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She captioned the post: “Goodbye William Orbit – I had an epiphany when I met you and started working with you.

“I realized that music did not have to fit into categories or genres – so we created our own.

“You pressed a magic button inside of me and I fell into a galaxy of unrealized dreams.

“Your music gave me a magic carpet to fly on and I visited many places: Sad and Joyful, I sang in ways I’d never sung before – I used words without caring if they made sense or not.

“In many ways you were my Ray of Light -as was my daughter Lola who was born around this time – I was starting a new chapter, I was choosing another road to walk down – and you were right by my side with your crooked teeth and your genius way of hearing music.”

She went on: “The studio was often church like and I would sit in silence, waiting for your ideas to explode out of your keyboard or your guitar and then I would run with them… I miss those days.

“Only you could inspire me to write a song like Drowned World or Swim – you were so otherworldly, so singular.

“The years passed and I moved on to make music with other people, but I have never forgotten you or the magical time we spent together.

“Goodbye Billy Bubbles – I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you.”

William’s resume featured a plethora of musical icons – including Britney Spears, Pink, All Saints and Blur.

But Madonna was often considered the pinnacle, garnering him the most fame.

Having initially worked with her on singles Erotica and Justify My Love, Ray Of Light then followed, with the pair also collaborating on 1999 track Beautiful Stranger for the Austin Powers franchise.

Speaking previously about working with William, Madonna hailed him as a “complete madman genius”.

She told The Guardian: “I’d come to him with an idea of where I wanted to go musically, hum melodies or read lyrics, and then leave him alone in the laboratory.

“Sometimes he’d go in the direction I wanted and sometimes he’d swerve off somewhere else entirely.

“We’d end up with trance tracks that were eight minutes long and then keep adding and subtracting until we had real verses and choruses.”

The pop producer was hailed for his “friendship and kindness” in a touching statement on his social media.

It read: “It is with profound sadness that the family and friends of William Obit announce that he passed away at home on July 23. We are deeply saddened by his passing. He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music.”

Former West Ham United co-chairman David Sullivan has attended their Carabao Cup match against Portsmouth despite being advised he should stay away from home games at London Stadium.

Sullivan resigned from his position as co-chair of West Ham in June after seven women accused him of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour, allegations he categorically denies.

West Ham are in the opening round of the EFL Cup for the first time in 15 years following last season’s relegation from the Premier League.

The match against Portsmouth is the first the club have played since the allegations against Sullivan were reported.

A joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times revealed Sullivan has been banned from contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams for the past three years because of safeguarding concerns.

Despite resigning from his position as co-chairman in June, Sullivan remains the largest single shareholder at the club with a 38.8% stake.

A spokesperson for London Stadium on Monday told BBC News it had “recommended” to West Ham that Sullivan does not attend with concerns about fan unrest.

However, there did not appear to be any problems inside the stadium before and shortly after kick-off.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s authorities are weighing a finalised arrangement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, but top officials maintain that the strategic waterway’s full reopening will hinge on concessions from the United States.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday said the agreement with Oman was “very close”, but cautioned that a full reopening of the strait would depend on the US staying true to commitments given as part of a June memorandum of understanding (MoU) that were violated.

Iran has previously slammed the US for backing a southern Omani route in the waterway without coordination with Tehran, not halting Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, and refusing to unfreeze any of Iran’s money blocked abroad due to sanctions.

Separately on Saturday, Hossein Mohebbi, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), told state media the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “has its own specific mechanism and has nothing to do with the negotiations between Iran and Oman”.

He added the US will have no choice but to accede to “conditions” set by the Islamic republic to reopen the strategic strait, which Mohebbi said the IRGC views as not just an economic waterway, but a source of power tied to Iran’s geographical position that it intends to leverage.

The IRGC spokesman urged the administration of US President Donald Trump not to “interfere” in the talks with Oman, “which have nearly reached their conclusion”.

On Friday, the spokesperson for the national security commission of Iran’s hardline-dominated parliament also confirmed that the framework of an arrangement with Oman over the strait had been agreed upon, and a deal could be expected soon.

Hassan Qashqavi said the decision was pending a green light from “higher levels”.

In a televised interview, President Masoud Pezeshkian said he would “strongly defend” the MoU signed with the US in June and once again rejected speculation that he would abandon his office, despite claims by hardliners that he has used the threat of resignation as a way of combatting opponents who are against a diplomatic resolution with the US.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that a joint statement could be expected with Oman if a deal is reached to bring back some traffic to the strait, which has been mostly disrupted since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Iran and Oman have agreed on the coordinates of routes to be taken by vessels through the waterway as part of the arrangement. Inbound traffic is to pass through a northern lane through Iranian territorial waters, while outbound traffic will go through a southern lane in Omani waters, coordinated with Iran.

US media have said the interim agreement is envisaged for 60 days and can be extended. They have also reported on discussions concerning naval mine clearance from a central corridor that could be utilised in the future, the passage of military vessels and a potential coordinated fee system for passing vessels.

There are questions over what will happen with a US naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports and a drawback of US military assets, which Iran has said will be necessary on the way to fully reopening the strait, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes in peacetime.

Even more ambiguous are prospects of a broader long-term resolution that will also address the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, as well as years of harsh US sanctions over nuclear enrichment that have exacerbated economic shockwaves imposed against 90 million Iranians.

In the meantime, while military activity has significantly dropped across the region to give space to the Oman talks, tensions remain high and maritime security continues to dominate discussions.

The United Arab Emirates said a vessel belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was targeted by a missile while crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, but that there were no casualties.

In a statement, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said targeting commercial shipping and using the strait “as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy” by the IRGC “and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security”.

The Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen also continue to face off against Saudi Arabia and create disruptions for Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

On Friday, the Houthis launched a deadly attack on an area of Marib controlled by the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government, with the government announcing a military response on several fronts on Saturday.

The Yemeni group also struck southwestern Saudi Arabia’s Najran on Thursday, a day after claiming two separate attacks on Saudi oil tankers.

Traffic in both the Bab al-Mandeb and Hormuz straits was down to just a handful of vessels on Wednesday on the back of the latest escalations, but has relatively rebounded while still far from unobstructed pre-war levels. Some ships have resorted to turning off their transponders to avoid being detected.

Global energy markets have once again welcomed the increasing prospects of a diplomatic agreement that could positively affect the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude standing at about $83 per barrel at Friday’s close.

Markets inside Iran also reacted positively on Saturday, the first day of the working week in Iran, with the national currency strengthening to 1.85 million rials against the US dollar, slightly recovering from all-time lows of about 1.94 million reached last week.

The main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange also climbed by 112,000 points or just over 2 percent to reach 5.52 million, near an all-time high.

The Saudi, Pakistan, Turkiye defence pact faces mixed reactions, with some Iranian officials doubting its security guarantees. Iran and Oman agree on a Hormuz framework, while fighting in Yemen escalates between government forces and Houthis.
Al Jazeera’s @Mohammadfff_ reports.

AS she returns to the UK stage for the first time in years, we reveal how heartache has left its mark on Ariana Grande.

She is the quintessential pop princess.

But away from the bright lights of fame, Ariana Grande has had to overcome more serious challenges than any of her contemporaries.

And while it is Taylor Swift who is known for her defining “eras”, Ariana has done some major reinvention of her own.

As she arrives at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday for a 10-night stint of her The Eternal Sunshine Tour – her first in seven years – it will be a very different woman to the one who last performed in the capital.

An insider reveals: “Her tour might be called Eternal Sunshine, but there’s no doubt she’s battled some really dark days and dealt with more tragedy than most her age. Perhaps most impressively, she keeps going, whether it’s movies, music or her search for true love.”

Fresh from her gruelling two-movie Wicked filming schedule and press tour, which took over her life for the best part of three years, Ariana, 33, is back doing what her fans love most – being a pop star.

Her tour sold out in 15 minutes, with more than 2 million people trying to buy tickets when they were released in September.

Her big UK comeback coincides with a time of emotional turmoil for the star, though.

In June, following weeks of speculation, it was confirmed she had split from Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who played munchkin Boq alongside her “good” witch Glinda, after three years together.

While it was claimed they are still friends, those who know the singer have said there is “deep sadness” for Ariana surrounding the split.

The pair’s relationship had caused huge controversy after Ethan left his wife, childhood sweetheart Lilly Jay, for Ariana in 2023, shortly after the birth of the couple’s son.

He had fallen for her during filming, and the outcry threatened to overshadow promo for the first Wicked film.

“The whole thing was a major strain,” the source says. “Ariana has been desperate to put all of it behind her.”

The split was the latest blow for the star, who pursued fame from a young age.

Born in Florida in 1993 to parents Joan Grande and Edward Butera, she landed her first role in a Broadway show aged just 15.

Her major break came a year later, when she was cast as the bubbly Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon hit series Victorious, turning her into a household name.

But it was her extraordinary four-octave vocal range that truly set her apart from her contemporaries, and by her early 20s Ariana had made the leap from TV favourite to global superstar, topping charts around the world with singles such as Right There and The Way.

Meanwhile, her love life was rarely out of the headlines.

She enjoyed romances with rappers Big Sean and Mac Miller, not to mention her infamous engagement to comedian Pete Davidson (Ariana broke the internet when she commented that Pete had “big d**k energy”), as well as a short-lived marriage to luxury real-estate agent Dalton Gomez, which ended months before news emerged of her relationship with Ethan.

It was Mac Miller who supported her through one of the most difficult times of her life.

In May 2017, 22 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured when a terrorist attack took place at her Manchester Arena concert.

The bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack in the UK since the 2005 London bombings, and it deeply affected everyone who survived it – as well as those close to the victims.

Ariana developed PTSD in the aftermath, and then-boyfriend Mac dropped everything to help her through it.

A year later, however, further tragedy struck when the rapper, who by then had split from Ariana, died after an accidental drug overdose.

After so much grief in such a short space of time, the star revealed it was her music that helped her to cope.

“I was doing so much therapy, and I was dealing with PTSD and all different kinds of grief and depression and anxiety,” she told The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast, Awards Chatter.

“I was, of course, treating it very seriously, but having music be a part of that remedy was absolutely contributing to saving my life.”

While Ariana’s fans are delighted that she’s made a return to touring – and there are a lot, with 363 million followers on Instagram alone – her tour dates have not resulted in the celebration she may have hoped for.

Concerns have been raised about her dramatic weight loss in recent years, exacerbated by her return to the stage.

One commenter wrote: “Objectively speaking, Ariana Grande is dangerously underweight.” Another added: “She needs help.”

It’s undeniable that Ariana is much smaller than she once was.

The singer was forced to comment about her size when speculation reached fever pitch during Wicked promotional interviews.

Both she and co-star Cynthia Erivo were subjected to relentless chatter about their thinness.

During an interview to promote the first film, Ariana was asked how she copes with exacting beauty standards for women and the “overwhelming” pressure they feel to always look perfect.

It was a question that elicited an emotional response. Holding back tears, Ariana replied: ”Good question,” before describing the pressures of growing up famous.

“I’ve been doing this in front of the public and kind of been a specimen in a petri dish, really, since I was 16 or 17 years old, so I have heard it all. I’ve heard every version of it, of what’s wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons.”

She then went on to condemn the narrative, adding: “I think in today’s society, there is a comfortability that we shouldn’t have at all [with] commenting on others’ looks, appearance, what they think is going on behind the scenes or health or how they present themselves.

“There’s a comfortability that people have commenting on that, that I think is really dangerous – and I think it’s dangerous for all parties involved.”

Those who know Ariana best are understandably protective of the singer, who is repeatedly described as “sensitive” and “vulnerable” behind the scenes, but also praised for her incredible professional commitment.

She is said to be “laser-focused” when it comes to work. The various trials and tribulations life has thrown at her, they say, have left her “damaged, but determined to grow and make a difference with her music and performances”.

It was bagging the role of Glinda, says one insider, that changed the course of Ariana’s life forever.

“This is a role she had wanted to play since she was a child, and Ariana gave it everything. It pushed her on, and she’s never looked back – it definitely raised the bar when it came to her career. It took everything out of the cast, though, as they cared so much.”

Friends and co-stars of Ariana all say the same – that she is uniquely kind and loving.

The Sun’s Associate Bizarre Editor Howell Davies recalls meeting her in the aftermath of the Manchester bombings, and her One Love Manchester concert to honour those who’d lost their lives.

He says: “I had been a massive fan of Ariana for years and was meant to go to the Dangerous Woman Tour in London in 2017, which was cancelled after the Manchester bombing.

“A year later, she made a surprise performance at Coachella festival in Palm Springs. When I spotted her backstage with Mac, I told her how courageous I thought she had been. She was sweet and composed. It really felt like she had time for her fans and wanted to speak to me.”

It would be understandable if Ariana never wanted to sing again, but her return to pop has been important to her.

She told The New York Times: “There was something broken about my relationship to pop music that was healed recently through the time away.”

Now, she’s entering a new chapter – one she will certainly be hoping is less turbulent.

With the release of new album Petal, fans are enjoying her return to the pop princess we know and love – and with this latest tour, she’s giving everything to reconnect with them in person.

Music aside, Ariana is also taking on other exciting projects. She signed up for a comedy role in the latest Meet The Parents sequel Focker-In-Law, starring Robert De Niro (who sang her praises) and Ben Stiller, which is due for release in November.

And it looks like she’s already moving on from her break-up, after she was seen getting cosy with her ex-boyfriend, dancer Ricky Álvarez.

The pair, who dated for a year from 2015, were spotted having dinner in Texas together in June this year, and spent the Fourth of July together in Florida.

He also attended her New York concert date, and the insider says: “They are enjoying downtime together between shows.”

Ariana appeared to confirm the rekindling last month, while performing Thank U, Next in Brooklyn, after changing the lyrics to: “Wrote some songs about Ricky, we always find our way back,” and at another gig in Austin she sang: “He has still got her back”.

An insider says: “This is something of a ‘comfort rebound’ for Ariana, who is feeling vulnerable post her split from Ethan. Ricky definitely makes her feel safe. And more than anything, Ariana wants to be happy again. Settling down is what she has always been keen to do.”

There was, of course, set to be another string added to her bow, with her West End stage debut in London. Ariana and her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey were announced as the leads of Sunday In The Park With George, a musical by Pulitzer-Prize-winning Stephen Sondheim.

This was one of the most hotly anticipated theatre events of 2027 – but earlier this month Ariana pulled out, with the role now set to be recast.

In a statement, her team said: “Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.”

“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.

“This tour has been a beautiful experience for her.

“She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”

From the little girl in Florida who was musical-theatre-obsessed to the 33-year-old woman who has weathered storms with grace while working her behind off, Ariana has proven that she is a rare thing: a star who cares what people think of her.

A FAMILY day out can easily set you back over £100 for a family of four.

And with it being the summer holidays, just a few days out can quickly add up to the cost of a holiday abroad.

Instead of watching your wallet empty of cash, there are actually a number of ways to get free and cheap attraction tickets.

Here’s our round-up of the best options and what days out you can get for less:

Sun Club promotions

As a Sun Club member, you have access to loads of free and discounted days out across the UK.

Currently, these include free tickets to the races, 50% off Horrible Histories Live, savings on theatre tickets and 2-for-1 tickets to Diggerland theme parks.

Find out more about what’s on offer here.

LatestFreeStuff.co.uk

LatestFreeStuff.co.uk always has different offers on attractions.

Some you might need to snap up quick, while others might have more availability.

Current offers on the website include a free National Trust pass and free bike hire.

Previous offers have included free Eden Project tickets as well as discounts on major UK attractions.

Promotional supermarket packs

If you are in the supermarket, look out for promotional packs.

On items such as Cadbury‘s multi-packs, Kellogg’s cereal, Heinz products, Carex soap and Robinsons squash, you’ll often find offers to attractions in the UK.

For example, Kellogg’s cereal boxes often have 25 per cent off online advance entry tickets for up to two people to Merlin attractions including the London Eye and Legoland.

Cadbury’s, on the other hand, often has instant 2-for-1 vouchers for top UK attractions.

National Rail

If you are heading out on a day out, taking the train could save you both hassle and money, because National Rail offers 2-for-1 deals, a third off savings, and other discounts for attractions when you travel via train.

Attractions include 2-for-1 tickets on City Cruises, 20 per cent off Frameless and 50 per cent off Thinktank at the Birmingham Science Museum.

Tesco Clubcard

Tesco Clubcard members can convert their Clubcard points into Reward Partner vouchers.

These vouchers cover major UK theme parks including Alton Towers and Thorpe Park as well as English Heritage sites and a number of museums.

Octopus Energy

If you are an Octopus customer and are signed up to Octoplus, you can redeem your points for a free National Trust pass.

02 Priority

If you happen to be an O2 customer, make sure you have the O2 Priority app as it is full of offers and giveaways.

Currently through the app, you can get discounted tickets to Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical, free kids tickets to Jurassic Oceans at the Natural History Museum (with one adult ticket) and 20 per cent off tickets to Up at The O2.

MoneySuperMarket

If you sign up to a MoneySuperMarket account and allow it to check your credit score, you can get a free days out annual pass worth £180.

The pass includes top attractions such as London Zoo, English Heritage Sites and Go Ape parks – you can redeem one ticket each time you visit an attraction, per account.

Vodafone

Via Vodafone‘s VeryMe Rewards, you can get a Kids Pass which offers between 10 and 56 per cent off entry to attractions across the UK, including Alton Towers and Go Ape.

To get this reward, you’ll need to be a Vodafone Pay Monthly mobile customer or a qualifying Pay As You Go customer.

Vitality Health Insurance

If you get moving, Vitality Health Insurance will reward you with discounts to top Merlin attractions, such as Thorpe Park and Alton Towers.

You are able to redeem four tickets at 30 per cent off each month.

Welcome Break

Welcome Break operates 31 hotels across the UK’s motorway network – such as Days Inn and Ramada hotels – making them ideal stops to split up a journey.

But more than just the hotels, Welcome Break has 62 service stations across the country.

If you stop off at one or stay in one of the hotels, make sure to set up an account when you use their Wi-Fi as you’ll get Road Trip Rewards.

Each time you log in to the Wi-Fi at either a hotel or service station, you’ll gain a point.

These points then go towards entering you into different prize draws.

For every three visits, you’ll go into a draw to bag a Merlin attraction discount, for every five visits a £50 Welcome Break voucher, and with 10 visits a Merlin Gold Pass. For every 15 or more visits, you’ll get a chance to win a family weekend away.

Blue Light Discount

If you work in the NHS, emergency services, or armed forces, you can get a Blue Light Membership, costing £4.99 for two years (so just under £2.50 a year).

This membership can then get you loads of discounts on days out and attractions, including 15 per cent off entry to Alton Towers, 20 per cent off English Heritage sites, and 10 per cent off Eden Project tickets.

There are loads of attractions with discounts as part of the membership, including local and regional attractions.

National Lottery Week

In March each year, the National Lottery hosts The National Lottery Open Week, with loads of free or low-cost days out.

These include castles, museums, sports venues, galleries and theatres across the UK.

Local resident/postcode discounts

It is worth looking up which attractions are in your area, and whether they offer discounted entry for you as a local.

For example, The Eden Project offers a discounted Cornish Residents Pass.

Similarly, Kew Gardens offers a reduced entry fee for local residents and young people, and Tower Bridge offers £1 entry to Southwark residents.

The best way to find this out is to search ‘attractions near me with resident offer’ online, and Google should pick up your location and find the attractions near you providing a discount.

Groupon and Wowcher

Groupon and Wowcher are both great sites for getting cheaper days out for the family.

You can search for things near you to do, and depending on your location, these can include things like the Ninja Warrior UK experience, bus tours and circus shows.

Some current offers on Groupon include a session at The Snow Centre Hemel Hempstead for £20.49 instead of £37 per person.

Or with Wowcher, you could head to the UK’s biggest inflatable obstacle course for £20, instead of £27.82 per person.

Universal Credit

Lots of UK attractions will offer heavily discounted tickets – usually £1 or £2 each – for people and families receiving Universal Credit.

For example, you could head to Royal Palaces such as Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace for just £1.

THE biggest Legoland in the world has just celebrated its first birthday – and its MUCH bigger than the one in the UK.

The park in Shanghai is a whopping 318,000 square metres and it’s home to largest Lego figurine in the world.

Legoland Shanghai Resort is the only one in the country and in its first year of opening, saw two million visitors through its doors.

Aimed at families with children between 2-12 years old, the park has immersive experiences, eight themed zones and a Lego-themed hotel.

Legoland Shanghai makes an impression before visitors even enter the park thanks to its enormous Lego figure called Dada.

The figure is 26 metres tall and holds the record for the largest ever built.

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It sets the tone for the theme park which has 75 attractions overall.

They are set in amongst the eight lands: Brick Street, Bricktopia, Legoland Creative World, Lego City, Lego Ninjago, Lego Friends, Lego Castle, and Lego Monkie Kid.

Rides vary but the biggest and longest rollercoaster at Legoland Shanghai is the Big Lego Coaster.

The ride actually passes through the hands of the Dada figurine and has a top speed of 52.8mph.

One unique experience the world-first water-town boat tour, which takes them on a cruise through a Chinese water town built entirely from Lego bricks.

Another first for the brand at this resort is Legoland Creative World – which allows visitors to see the largest Lego Minifigure in history.

There are also a number of live shows at Brick Street and Bricktopia.

Another attraction is a jet-ski based Water Race Challenge, there’s also boat building competitions and a ‘Beach Party’.

In the Lego Castle land, guests are transported into a magical land with wizards and dragons.

Fans of the UK’s Legoland in Windsor will be familiar with the driving school where kids can complete a circuit in their very own car and get their driving licence.

If any visitors need help, they can communicate with the world’s first AI Brick Girl Minifigure that helps visitors explore the Creative World.

And amongst all the rides and models, guests can also interact with robotic minifigures.

Guests can talk to them and according to Blooloop, they ‘respond to you in real time’.

That’s not the only part that has it’s very own AI robot – there are more at the 250-room hotel.

Called Little O, the fully interactive astronaut-themed robot talks to guests, welcomes them at check-in, shares facts and performs dances.

Inside the hotel are themed rooms like Monkie Kid and Ninjago with character meet-ups and even pyjama dance parties.

When it’s time to eat, the park has six restaurants, for example, Bricks Restaurant offers Lego-themed dining from Brick House Burgers with buns in the shape of Lego bricks, Brick fries and Apple Fries with ice cream.

Of course, there are souvenirs are everywhere, visitors can build their own Minifigures, engrave their own bricks and buy Lego sets.

As for tickets, Legoland Shanghai offers day passes from ¥300 (£33.33) and has offers like half-price one-day child ticket from ¥175 (£19.44).

FROM the moment our family of five was picked up in a giant car that would not fit on a typical UK street, I knew the saying was true.

Everything really is bigger in America.

We had just arrived for an action-packed week of thrills at Universal Orlando Resort, known for its record-breaking rides that are both bigger and better than many in the world.

We’d chosen Universal’s own Loews Portofino Bay Hotel as our base.

It is geared up for the theme parks, with regular free coaches to Epic Universe and Volcano Bay and free water taxis running to Universal’s CityWalk shopping and entertainment complex every 15 minutes.

Stays also include early entry to the parks and free Express Passes for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (a huge perk) — although you have to buy your park tickets separately.

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Epic Universe, Universal’s newest park, only opened last year and has already gained a huge fan base.

Now that the hype has died down a little, it is a great time to visit Epic.

For us the queues were pretty manageable everywhere except for Super Nintendo World, a colourful and energetic land inspired by Super Mario and his pals.

My advice is to arrive early and head straight to get your fill of Mario, and then enjoy the rest of the park at your leisure.

To put this into perspective, queues for the Mine-Cart Madness ride can reach three hours, but it took us just 25 minutes.

Elsewhere, queues for The Stardust Racers rollercoaster, one of the most intense thrill rides in Orlando, were never more than ten minutes during our May break.

And Monsters Unchained: Frankenstein Experiment, one of the most brilliantly-executed themed rides I’ve ever been on, has some of the shortest queues.

Epic Universe is just one of four Florida theme parks under Universal’s umbrella and you’d be mad not to explore the others.

We spent most of our time at Universal Studios park and the Islands of Adventure, which is so vast we were still discovering new rides on our final day.

The most popular ride is Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, the ride that everybody rushes to from the moment the gates open.

There is some controversy here as Universal stopped accepting Express Passes on this ride from July 1.

The decision was made in hope that it would bring the two-hour queue time down.

While Hagrid’s heart-pumping attraction is certainly worth the long wait, Jurassic Park VelociCoaster was our favourite of the trip.

It reaches top speeds of 70mph and features the most insane turns that had us wobbling on our feet afterwards.

All those thrills require some down time, though. Luckily the parks are a delight to simply stroll around.

Universal Studios, in particular, will keep you mesmerised for hours, with highly-themed areas inspired by the streets of New York, San Francisco, Hollywood . . . and Springfield, home of the Simpsons.

Make sure to pop into Moe’s Tavern for a pint of Duff Beer.

If you aren’t staying at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, it’s probably worth forking out for an Express Pass — especially for those visiting for only a short period of time or during peak seasons such as the summer or school holidays.

Ours saved us buckets of time, allowing us to tackle more rides per day.

Express Pass holders won’t have to faff around with ticket scanners either. Many rides have been fitted with facial recognition technology now, which speeds up access at the turnstiles. It was an impressive touch that should become industry standard.

But that’s not where Universal Orlando Resort’s improvements end.

A brand new Fast & Furious rollercoaster is being built riverside, aiming to open in 2027, with construction work already under way.

It will be located next to our two favourite restaurants from the trip, the Hard Rock Cafe and the Chocolate Emporium, both of which serve delicious burgers.

The giant stack of ribs piled high in front of me at the Hard Rock reaffirmed my thoughts from the start of the trip.

Everything is bigger in America. And not just the cars and the food — but now the grin on my face.