Month: July 2025

Bursa governor’s office says 1,765 people have been evacuated as more than 1,900 firefighters battle the flames.

Wildfires that have engulfed Turkiye for weeks have surrounded the country’s fourth-largest city, causing more than 1,700 people to flee their homes and leaving one firefighter dead.

Fires in the forested mountains surrounding Bursa in northwest Turkiye spread rapidly overnight on Sunday, causing a red glow over the city.

Dozens of severe wildfires have hit the country since late June, with the government declaring two western provinces, Izmir and Bilecik, disaster areas on Friday.

Bursa governor’s office said in a statement on Sunday that 1,765 people had been safely evacuated from villages to the northeast as more than 1,900 firefighters battled the flames. Authorities said 500 rescue workers were also on the ground.

The highway linking Bursa to the capital, Ankara, was closed as surrounding forests burned.

A firefighter died from a heart attack while on the job, the city’s mayor, Mustafa Bozbey, said in a statement, adding that the flames had scorched 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) around the city.

Orhan Saribal, an opposition parliamentarian for the province, described the scene as “an apocalypse”.

Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said fire crews across the country battled 84 separate blazes on Saturday. The country’s northwest was under the greatest threat, including Karabuk, where wildfires have burned since Tuesday, he said.

Unusually high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds have been fuelling the wildfires.

The General Directorate of Meteorology said Turkiye recorded its highest ever temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southeastern Sirnak province on Friday. The highest temperatures for July were seen in 132 other locations, it said.

The previous national record was set on August 15, 2023 in Saricakaya, Eskisehir, at 49.5C (121.1F), the Anadolu news agency reported.

At least 14 people have died in recent weeks, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed on Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir in western Turkiye.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late on Saturday that prosecutors had investigated fires in 33 provinces since June 26, and that legal action had been taken against 97 suspects.

Months after stopping all supplies from entering Gaza, Israel has airdropped a few aid cartons and allowed some trucks to enter the Strip, following immense international pressure. Israel says it’s also begun 10-hour pauses in fighting in three locations ‘for humanitarian purposes’, but continuing attacks killed more than 50 Palestinians on Sunday.

Pat Sharp, best known as being the host of the 90s children’s show Fun House was dramatically axed from his radio show after making a crude joke to a woman live on stage

Radio DJ and Fun House host Pat Sharp was axed from his radio show after making a ‘humiliating’ joke that saw him lose his job. The TV legend, best known for being the face of the 90’s childrens show fun house, presented his segment on Greatest Hits Radio from 2019.

However the 63-year-old had made a joke to a woman live on stage at an awards show where he reportedly jibed about “getting on your t**ts” and handed her a T-shirt with his face on it, according to Daily Mail. The T-shirt had an old photo of Pat with his classic mullet hairdo and the caption: ‘Pat Sharp – AS SEEN ON FUN HOUSE – LOOKING SHARP SINCE 1982’.

But the joke backfired after she took to social media afterwards in 2023, and said she fel “violated” in front of around 400 colleagues and friends. She noted: “I was in complete shock and hadn’t really processed what happened. Today I am struggling with it – I feel sad, dirty and, frankly, violated.”

READ MORE: Pat Sharp’s Fun House twin unrecognisable pulling pints in her local Wetherspoons

This led to the radio DJ being dramatically taken off air as Greatest Hits Radio announced that his contract was due to expire at the end of the month and they had made the decision not to renew. They added that he would not return to the show with “immediate effect”.

A spokesperson for Bauer, which owns Greatest Hits Radio, said: “Due to the introduction of new weekend programming, a decision had already been made not to renew Pat’s contract which comes to an end later this month. However with this issue now having been brought to our attention, we have agreed with Pat that he will not return to the station with immediate effect.”

In a statement issued to The Sun, Pat said: “I made a joke on stage which was not well received. I upset one individual in particular and for that I am truly sorry. I apologised at the event to anyone who was offended and I have apologised to the individual personally too.”

Other than Greatest Hits, Pat has previously hosted programmes on Radio 1, Capital FM, Smooth Radio and Heart, as well as presented some episodes of music TV show Top Of The Pops in the 1980s. Since the incident, Pat has stayed under the radar but has been keeping fans updated with his life on Instagram. He posts snapshots of him with his grandchildren and some throwback pictures of him in his heyday.

In one Instagram video, the grandad shared dozens of images of his grandchildren having fun in the pool, playing games and roaming the park in a post captioned ‘Grandkids galore’. When he wasn’t spending time with the grandkids, Pat appeared to be taking some time away at Windermere in the Lake District in July and enjoying trips to the beach in Watergate Bay in Cornwall with his wife Monica.

Earlier this month Pat was advertising an 80s tribute gig Ultimate 80’s Reloaded in Torquay with himself alongside another DJ Max Corderoy. Sharing tickets to book on his Facebook page, the event described itself as “non-stop nostalgia” with “a pulsating mix of 80’s hits”.

Earlier this year, Pat took part in a handful of other gigs – including Music in the Park in Leyland, Lancashire, in May, and at Butlin’s Big Weekenders and Lets Rock Leeds retro festival, both in May.

An earlier version of this story was published in September 2023.

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READ MORE: 71-year-old ‘looks forward’ to anti-ageing treatment that’s like a ‘£221 spa facial’

An ex-pat who swapped Dublin for the Costa del Sol has revealed why she’s never looked back

An expatriate has shared how her life took a complete turn for the better after she relocated to Spain, where she enjoys beers for as little as €1.70.

Tori Clinton, who has spent the past two years living overseas, says the cultural shift has had an enormously positive impact on her life. The 30 year old even confessed that the Spanish approach to alcohol has entirely transformed her outlook.

Tori, originally from Dublin and now residing in Malaga, visits her local pub daily to bask in the sun with a “cheeky caña”. This small beer costs just €1.70 at Tori’s preferred spots, while a pint is only €2.50.

In contrast, the average price of a pint in her former local pub is a staggering €7.30.

The 30 year old freelancer believes that having the occasional drink instead of binge drinking, and embracing a culture where work isn’t everything, has enabled her to “become the best version” of herself, reports Dublin Live.

“I was miserable back home. I look back and wonder how I survived so long in my past life,” Tori told Luxury Travel Daily.

“It is so normal to do things on evenings after work, not just go home like back home and watch EastEnders. “Going to my local is my favourite time of the day – it’s time for me to catch up on some life admin and work, but also check in with myself and journal my thoughts. “I mean, who doesn’t want to be sat out in the evening sun with a cheeky caña, thinking ‘how is this my life?’ “In Spain, there is no binge drinking, and you never see people super drunk or messy.

“They sip their alcohol and pace themselves. “Being Irish, our favourite thing to say is ‘should we get another?

‘ when in fact there is no need for that other drink. “This is something you would never hear people here say, and it has taken time to shift to this mindset. “Everything feels so much cheaper as the prices are so different in comparison to Ireland and England.

“When I go back there to visit family, it can be quite a shock – even when getting a coffee.”

Tori quit her job and travelled to Malaga, a place she often visited as a child with her family, in 2023. And after falling in love with her new life, she decided to settle down in the Spanish coastal city.

She added: “Work and career are a lower priority here – it’s all about living and enjoying, rather than chasing work pressures. “There are, however, some cultural aspects that have been hard to grasp and still grind my gears.

“As everything is slower paced here, so too is paperwork and getting things done without over complicating everything, but look – we can’t have it all

“It can also be like being on a rollercoaster with your emotions as you’re trying to build a life and a home in a country where you’re not fluent in their language”

United States President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold crunch talks with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland after weeks of intense trade talks between the two sides as Brussels aims to ink a deal with Washington to avoid a transatlantic trade war.

Von der Leyen, the European Commission president, will meet with the US president at his Turnberry golf club in Scotland on Sunday. European ministers are hoping the meeting will result in a deal to avoid the 30 percent tariffs that Trump has threatened on EU goods.

According to people involved in the talks, European negotiators are aiming for tariffs to be set at 15 percent. Trump told reporters on Friday that the bloc “want[s] to make a deal very badly”.

On July 12, Trump threatened to impose the 30 percent tariffs if no agreement could be secured by his deadline, which expires on Friday. That would come on top of the 25 percent tariffs on cars and car parts and 50 percent levies on steel and aluminium already in place.

The EU, Washington’s biggest trading partner, has been a frequent target of Trump’s escalating trade rhetoric with the president accusing the bloc of “ripping off” the US.

In 2024, EU exports to the US totalled 532 billion euros ($603bn). Pharmaceuticals, car parts and industrial chemicals were among the largest exports, according to EU data.

Will the Trump-von der Leyen meeting achieve a breakthrough and end the uncertainty in transatlantic trade ties?

What are the main differences between the two sides?

The US president told reporters at Turnberry on Friday that there are “20 sticking points”.

When asked what they were, he said: “Well, I don’t want to tell you what the sticking points are.”

At the same time, he described von der Leyen as a “highly respected woman” and predicted their meeting on Sunday would be “good”, rating the chances of a deal as “50-50”.

On the European side, it is understood that a growing number of EU countries are calling for Brussels to push ahead with an already prepared retaliatory tariffs package on 90 billion euros ($109bn) of US goods, including car parts and bourbon, if talks break down.

The two sides, which traded 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) in goods and services  in 2023, have been negotiating since April 9 when Trump paused what he calls his “reciprocal” tariffs, which he placed on nearly all countries.

During that time, the US has been charging a flat 10 percent levy on all EU products as well as 25 percent on cars and 50 percent on steel and aluminium.

This month, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said: “We have to protect the EU economy, and we need to go for these rebalancing measures.”

Still, the bloc is understood to be rife with disagreement over  trade policies with the US. While Germany has urged a quick deal to safeguard its industries, other EU members, particularly France, have insisted EU negotiators must not cave in to an asymmetrical deal that favours the US.

On Saturday, von der Leyen spokesperson Paula Pinho said: “Intensive negotiations at technical and political [level] have been ongoing between the EU and US. Leaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.”

What have the US and EU traded with each other?

In 2024, the US-EU goods trade reached nearly $1 trillion, making the EU the single largest trading partner of the US.

In total, the US bought $235.6bn more in goods than it sold to the 27 countries that make up the EU. On the other hand, the US earned a surplus on services trade with the EU.

The US mainly bought pharmaceutical products from the EU as well as mechanical appliances, cars and other nonrailway vehicles – totalling roughly $606bn.

The US exported fuel, pharmaceutical products, machinery and aircraft to the EU to the tune of $370bn.

Why have they struggled to ink a deal so far?

Like all the nations the US runs a trade deficit with, Trump has long accused the EU of swindling his country and is determined that Brussels adopt measures to lower its goods trade surplus with the US.

Washington has repeatedly raised concerns over Europe’s value-added tax as well as its regulations on food exports and IT services. Trump has argued that these controls act as nontariff trade barriers.

Indeed, Sefcovic recently told the Financial Times that he wants to reduce the US-EU trade deficit by buying more US gas, weapons and farm products.

And while European leaders want the lowest tariffs possible, they “also want to be respected as the partners that we are”, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.

On July 14, meanwhile, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels that “we should prepare to be ready to use all the tools”.

He added: “If you want peace, you have to prepare for war.” Negotiators in Scotland are hoping it doesn’t come to that.

This month, Oxford Economics, an economic forecasting consultancy, estimated that a 30 percent tariff could push the EU “to the edge of recession”.

Countermeasures from the EU would also hit certain US industries hard. European tariffs could reduce US farmers’ and auto workers’ incomes, which are key Trump constituencies.

A senior State Department official who was fired as a speechwriter during President Trump’s first term and has a history of racially charged, incendiary statements has been appointed to lead the embattled U.S. Institute of Peace.

The move to install Darren Beattie as the institute’s new acting president is seen as the latest step in the administration’s efforts to dismantle the organization, which was founded as an independent, nonprofit think tank. It is funded by Congress to promote peace and prevent and end conflicts across the globe. The battle is currently being played out in court.

Beattie, who currently serves as the undersecretary for public diplomacy at the State Department and will continue in that role, was fired during Trump’s first term after CNN reported that he had spoken at a 2016 conference attended by white nationalists. He defended the speech he delivered as containing nothing objectionable.

A former academic who taught at Duke University, Beattie also founded a right-wing website that shared conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and he has a long history of posting inflammatory statements on social media.

“Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” he wrote in October 2024. “Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”

A State Department official confirmed Beattie’s appointment by the Institute of Peace board of directors, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. “We look forward to seeing him advance President Trump’s America First agenda in this new role,” they said in a statement.

The institute has been embroiled in turmoil since Trump moved to dismantle it shortly after taking office as part of his broader effort to shrink the size of the federal government and eliminate independent agencies.

Trump issued an executive order in February that targeted the organization and three other agencies for closure. The first attempt by the White House team known as the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly under the command of tech billionaire Elon Musk, to take over its headquarters led to a dramatic standoff.

Members of Musk’s group returned days later with the FBI and Washington Metropolitan Police to help them gain entry.

The administration fired most of the institute’s board, followed by the mass firing of nearly all of its 300 employees, in what they called “the Friday night massacre.”

The institute and many of its board members sued the Trump administration in March, seeking to prevent their removal and to prevent DOGE from taking over the institute’s operations. DOGE transferred administrative oversight of the organization’s headquarters and assets to the General Services Administration that weekend.

District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell overturned those actions in May, concluding that Trump was outside his authority in firing the board and its acting president and that, therefore, all subsequent actions were also moot.

Her ruling allowed the institute to regain control of its headquarters in a rare victory for the agencies and organizations that have been caught up in the Trump administration’s downsizing. The employees were rehired, although many did not return to work because of the complexity of restarting operations.

They received termination orders — for the second time — after an appeals court stayed Howell’s order.

Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the U.S. Institute of Peace’s request for a hearing of the full court to lift the stay of a three-judge panel in June. That stay led to the organization turning its headquarters back over to the Trump administration.

In a statement, George Foote, former counsel for the institute, said Beattie’s appointment “flies in the face of the values at the core of USIP’s work and America’s commitment to working respectfully with international partners.” He also called it “illegal under Judge Howell’s May 19 decision.”

“We are committed to defending that decision against the government’s appeal. We are confident that we will succeed on the merits of our case, and we look forward to USIP resuming its essential work in Washington, D.C., and in conflict zones around the world,” he said.

Fields and Colvin write for the Associated Press.

BOSTON — The Dodgers had MLB strikeout leader Garrett Crochet on the ropes early Saturday night, after Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández each homered within the game’s first three at-bats.

But, in what became a frustrating 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Crochet bobbed and weaved around every knockout blow the Dodgers tried to land.

“I thought we played hard. I thought we competed,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He made pitches when he needed to.”

Indeed, in a game that was decided on the margins — through high-leverage at-bats and two-strike battles and risky decisions that backfired on the basepaths — Crochet was just a little bit better than Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, using his heavy fastball and premium all-around stuff to wiggle out of trouble in a way his aging 37-year-old counterpart couldn’t.

While Crochet limited damage over the rest of his six-inning start, striking out 10 batters to prevent each of the eight other Dodgers who reached base from scoring, Kershaw faltered when his back was up against the wall, yielding the lead in a three-run second inning before exiting after another run in the fifth.

“Obviously, when you’re facing a guy like Crochet, there’s not gonna be a ton of runs,” said Kershaw, who once invoked such fear from opponents but now has to grind with gradually diminished stuff. “Our guys did a good job getting a lead there early and really having good at-bats. Just frustrating not to be able to hold it.”

Making his first career regular-season start at Fenway Park (he had only previously pitched here in the 2018 World Series), Kershaw appeared to be battling his mechanics from the start. He delivered a first-pitch strike to only five of the first 14 batters. Even worse, he couldn’t put guys away on two-strike counts.

It culminated in the three-run second inning from the Red Sox (56-50). Trevor Story worked a leadoff walk. Carlos Narváez belted a double off the Green Monster. And, on a night he had two triples and a double, Jarren Duran laced a line drive to center that got over Andy Pages’ head to plate two runs (Duran would later score on a sacrifice fly).

All three batters did their damage with two strikes.

“Needed to figure it out a little bit better,” Kershaw said of the second inning. “The last few innings [after that], I actually felt pretty good with everything. Just couldn’t make the adjustment that second inning. And that’s what cost us.”

Kershaw eventually settled down. He rediscovered his command in the third, working around a pair of singles with a double-play grounder and strikeout of Story. He found the kind of rhythm that has keyed his surprisingly strong 18th season from there, retiring seven consecutive batters to work his way into the fifth inning.

But with two outs in the fifth, Red Sox slugger Alex Bregman outlasted Kershaw in another two-strike battle, bouncing a single through the infield on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Then, rookie star Roman Anthony drove him home with a double off the Monster.

Kershaw’s night ended there, with four runs (tying the second-most earned runs he has allowed this season) and only two strikeouts over 4⅔ innings raising his season earned-run average to 3.62.

“Could have been a super frustrating day,” Kershaw said. “Now it’s only mildly frustrating — just that that’s still in there, I can still get people out. It’s just that second inning got to me.”

Crochet, meanwhile, never wavered after the Dodgers (61-44) did their early damage.

“When you’re facing guys like Crochet, you don’t get so many good pitches to hit,” Hernández said. “The ones that you do, you just have to put it in play and hopefully you can get good contact, do some damage, like we did in the first inning. After that, he was throwing the ball very good. He didn’t miss many pitches in the strike zone.”

The Dodgers, in an effort to manufacture extra offense, didn’t help their own cause on the bases, either.

After the first-inning home runs, another rally fizzled when Freddie Freeman was thrown out trying to go from first to third base on a Pages single that was initially booted by Duran in left field.

The Dodgers challenged the call, with Roberts applauding Freeman’s aggressiveness from the dugout, but the out was upheld. Tommy Edman lined out to end the inning an at-bat later.

“I thought that was a good play, I liked that,” Roberts said of Freeman’s decision. “He’s got to make a perfect throw to get Freddie right there. But in a first and third [situation] with a two-run lead, if we get into a situational spot right there, it could’ve been a different game.”

Instead, the rest of the night was more of the same.

The Dodgers had two other innings end with outs on the bases. Hernández was caught stealing for the final out of the fifth (on a close play the Dodgers were unable to review after burning their challenge earlier, but one Hernández was told likely would’ve been upheld). Will Smith was gunned down trying to turn a single into a double in the seventh, after Crochet’s exit.

“If you try to play it straight and try to collect a bunch of hits, it’s just not going to happen,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ game plan on the bases. “We had a chance early and then he started bearing down and the velocity ticked up. Then hits were harder to come by.”

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani examines his bat before striking out in the fourth inning Saturday.

(Steven Senne / Associated Press)

And if that wasn’t enough, Ohtani squandered several more chances in deflating sequences at the plate.

Despite extending his National League lead with his 38th home run to start the game, the slugger also moved into the top-five of the NL in strikeouts with three in each of his remaining at-bats Saturday, finishing with 124 on the season.

In both the second and fourth, No. 9 hitter Hyeseong Kim managed to single off Crochet (surprising results given Kim’s recent struggles, which Roberts said have been magnified by a recent shoulder injury). But both times, Ohtani followed with inning-ending Ks, chasing out of the zone on a fastball up and a cutter that was well away.

The Dodgers, nonetheless, gave themselves one last chance against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate after a two-out walk from Esteury Ruiz.

The batter representing that tying run: Mookie Betts, who was out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after spending the week back home in Nashville following a death in his family, but arrived at the ballpark shortly after first pitch to be available to pinch-hit.

His number was called with the game on the line, in what marked just his second trip back to Fenway Park since being traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in 2020.

Alas, the former MVP brought a night of missed chances to a frustratingly fitting conclusion, getting rung up on a called third strike to set up a series rubber match Sunday.

July 26 (UPI) — An impeachment proceeding against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte can’t proceed due to a constitutional limit on the annual number of impeachments, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled.

The Philippine Constitution bans multiple impeachment proceedings in a given year, so Duterte could not be impeached until February, the nation’s Supreme Court announced on Friday, the BBC reported.

The ruling does not prevent Duterte’s impeachment, but it delays it until an impeachment proceeding would not violate the Philippine Constitution.

“It is not our duty to favor any political result,” the court said in its ruling. “Ours is to ensure that politics are framed within the rule of just law.”

The court said it is prepared to address the claims against Duterte “at the proper time and before the appropriate forum.”

Lawmakers in the Philippine Parliament’s lower house in February voted to impeach Duterte for allegedly misusing taxpayer dollars and threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

It was the fourth impeachment case received by the lower chamber from December to February, one of which was transferred to the Senate.

Duterte is the daughter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and formerly was a close political ally of Marcos. She is considered to be a viable candidate for the nation’s presidency during the 2028 election cycle after she and Marcos had a political fallout.

Duterte and Marcos in 2022 formed what they called the “Uniteam,” which temporarily united two of the nation’s most powerful political families. After the pair secured wins in the May 2022 elections, the Uniteam began to fray.

Duterte’s father called Marcos a “drug addict,” and Duterte in November said she ensured the president would be killed if she were killed first.

The elder Duterte afterward was extradited to the Hague to be tried for alleged crimes against humanity due the deaths of thousands arising from his administration’s war on drugs.

Rodrigo Duterte was president for six years from June 2016 to June 2022.

Sara Duterte says the accusations against her are politically motivated, although many supporting her impeachment note that 12 of the nation’s 15 Supreme Court justices were appointed by her father.

In Shambat al-Aradi, a tight-knit neighbourhood in Khartoum North once known for its vibrant community gatherings and spirited music festivals, two childhood friends have suffered through confinement and injustice at the hands of one of Sudan’s warring sides.

Khalid al-Sadiq, a 43-year-old family doctor, and one of his best friends, a 40-year-old musician who once lit up the stage of the nearby Khedr Bashir Theatre, were inseparable before the war.

But when the civil war broke out in April 2023 and fighting tore through their city, both men, born and raised near that beloved theatre, were swept into a campaign of arbitrary arrests conducted by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The friends were detained separately and tortured in different ways, but their experiences nonetheless mirrored one another – until they emerged, physically altered, emotionally broken and forever bound by survival.

Imprisonment and ransom

Al-Sadiq’s ordeal began in August 2023 when RSF forces raided Shambat and arbitrarily arrested him and countless other men.

He was crowded into a bathroom in a house that the RSF had looted along with seven other people and was kept there for days.

“We were only let out to eat, then forced back in,” he explained.

During his first days of interrogation, al-Sadiq was tortured repeatedly by the RSF to pressure him for a ransom.

They crushed his fingers, one at a time, using pliers. At one point, to scare him, they fired at the ground near him, sending shrapnel flying into his abdomen and causing heavy bleeding.

After three days, the men were lined up by their captors.

“They tried to negotiate with us, demanding 3 million Sudanese pounds [about $1,000] per person,” al-Sadiq recalled.

Three men were released after handing over everything they had, including a rickshaw and all their cash. Al-Sadiq and the other remaining prisoners were moved to a smaller cell – an even more cramped toilet tucked beneath a staircase.

“There was no ventilation. There were insects everywhere,” he said. They had to alternate sleeping – two could just about lie down while two stood.

A few kilometres away, al-Sadiq’s friend, the musician, who asked to remain anonymous, had also been arrested and held at the Paratrooper Military Camp in Khartoum North, which the RSF captured in the first months of the war with Sudan’s military.

That would not be the only time the musician was taken because the RSF had been told that his family were distantly related to former President Omar al-Bashir.

“They said I’m a ‘remnant of the regime’ because of that relation to him even though I was never part of the regime. I was against it,” he said, adding that he had protested against al-Bashir.

Months into the war, his family’s Shambat home was raided by the RSF and his younger brother was shot in the leg. To keep everybody safe, the musician quickly evacuated his family to Umm al-Qura in Gezira state, then went home to collect their belongings. That was when he was arrested.

During his time at the military camp, he told Al Jazeera, the RSF fighters would tie him and other prisoners up and lay them facedown on the ground in the yard. Then they would beat them with a “sout al-anag” whip, a Sudanese leather whip traditionally made of hippo skin.

The flogging lasted a long time, he added, and it was not an isolated incident. It happened to him several times.

In interrogations, RSF personnel fixated on his alleged affiliation with al-Bashir, branding him with slurs like “Koz”, meaning a political Islamist remnant of al-Bashir’s regime, and subjecting him to verbal and physical abuse.

He was held for about a month, then released to return to a home that had been looted.

He would be detained at least five more times.

“Most of the detentions were based on people informing on each other, sometimes for personal benefit, sometimes under torture,” al-Sadiq said.

“RSF commanders even brag about having a list of Bashir regime or SAF [Sudan armed forces] supporters for every area.”

Forced labour

While he was held by the RSF, the musician told Al Jazeera, he and others were forced to perform manual labour that the fighters did not want to do.

“They used to take us out in the morning to dig graves,” he said. “I dug over 30 graves myself.”

The graves were around the detention camp and seemed to be for the prisoners who died from torture, illness or starvation.

While he could not estimate how many people were buried in those pits, he described the site where he was forced to dig, saying it already had many pits that had been used before.

Meanwhile, al-Sadiq was blindfolded, bound and bundled into a van and taken to an RSF detention facility in the al-Riyadh neighbourhood.

The compound had five zones: a mosque repurposed into a prison, a section for women, an area holding army soldiers captured in battle, another for those who surrendered and an underground chamber called “Guantanamo” – the site of systematic torture.

Al-Sadiq tried to help the people he was imprisoned with, treating them with whatever they could scavenge and appealing to the RSF to take the dangerously sick prisoners to a hospital.

But the RSF usually ignored the pleas, and al-Sadiq still remembers one patient, Saber, whom the fighters kept shackled even as his health faded fast.

“I kept asking that he be transferred to a hospital,” al-Sadiq said. “He died.”

Some prisoners did receive treatment, though, and the RSF kept a group of imprisoned doctors in a separate room furnished with beds and medical equipment.

There, they were told to treat injured RSF fighters or prisoners the RSF wanted to keep alive, either to keep torturing them for information or because they thought they could get big ransoms for them.

Al-Sadiq chose not to go with the other doctors and decided to cooperate less with the RSF, keeping to himself and staying with the other prisoners.

Conditions were inhumane in the cell he chose to remain in.

“The total water we received daily – for drinking, ablution, everything – was six small cups,” al-Sadiq said, adding that food was scarce and “insects, rats and lice lived with us. I lost 35kg [77lb].”

Their captors did give him some medical supplies, however, when they needed him to treat someone, and they were a lifeline for everyone around him.

The prisoners were so desperate that he sometimes shared IV glucose drips he got from the RSF so detainees could drink them for some hydration.

The only other sources of food were the small “payments” of sugar, milk or dates that the RSF would give to prisoners who they forced to do manual labour like loading or unloading trucks.

Al-Sadiq did not speak of having been forced to dig graves for fellow prisoners or of having heard of other prisoners doing that.

For the musician, however, graves became a constant reality, even during the periods when he was able to go back home to Shambat.

He helped bury about 20 neighbours who died either from crossfire or starvation and had to be buried anywhere but in the cemeteries.

The RSF blocked access to the cemeteries without explaining why to the people who wanted to lay their loved ones to rest.

In fact at first, the RSF prohibited all burials, then relented and allowed some burials as long as they were not in the cemeteries.

So the musician and others would dig graves for people in Shambat Stadium’s Rabta Field and near the Khedr Bashir Theatre.

He said many people who were afraid to leave their homes at all ended up burying their loved ones in their yards or in any nearby plots they could furtively access.

The friends’ ordeals lasted into the winter when al-Sadiq found himself released and the RSF stopped coming around to arrest the musician.

Neither man knows why.

Both al-Sadiq and the musician told Al Jazeera they remain haunted by what they endured.

The torment, they said, didn’t end with their release; it followed them, embedding itself in their thoughts, a shadow they fear will darken the rest of their lives.

On March 26, the SAF announced it had recaptured Khartoum. Now, the two men have returned to their neighbourhood, where they feel a greater sense of safety.

Having been detained and tortured by the RSF, they believe they’re unlikely to be viewed by the SAF as collaborators – offering them, at least, a fragile sense of safety.

Frankie Muniz may be the only actor who has been nominated for an Emmy award and driven in a NASCAR event at Daytona. But if Muniz had been old enough to get a driver’s license before he moved to Hollywood, there may never have been a “Malcolm in the Middle.”

“When I’m in that race car and I put my visor down and I drive out of that pit lane, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” he said. “That’s what I’m supposed to do and that’s what I’m doing.”

And acting?

“I don’t feel like I’m a good actor,” he said. “I know I can act. But when I look at good acting, I go ‘dang, I could never do that’.”

That’s not true, of course. Muniz, who started acting when he was 12, has been credited in 26 films and 37 TV shows, including the title role in “Malcolm in the Middle,” which earned him two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nod during its seven-year run on Fox.

But acting was a profession. Racing is a passion.

“Excitement and all the emotions. That’s what I love about racing,” he said. “The highs are so high and the lows are unbelievably low. It’s awesome.”

Muniz placed 28th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday. He is 23rd among the 64 drivers listed in the series points standings, with his one top-10 finish coming in the season opener at Daytona.

Muniz, 39, isn’t the first actor to try racing. Paul Newman was a four-time SCCA national champion who finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979 while Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Can’t Buy Me Love”) has driven sports cars at Le Mans and in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, in addition to other series.

Frankie Muniz qualifies at Daytona International Speedway in February.

(Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)

But driving isn’t a side hustle for Muniz, who last October signed with North Carolina-based Reaume Brothers Racing to be the full-time driver of the team’s No. 33 Ford in the truck series. Muniz also raced twice last year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“When I originally started racing, I was kind of at the height of my [acting] career. I had tons of offers to do movies and shows and all that,” said Muniz, who made his stock-car debut in the fall of 2021 in Bakersfield, then accepted an offer to drive full time in the ARCA Menards Series in 2023. “Very easily could have stayed in that business. But I wanted to give racing a try. And to compete at the top level, you have to put in the time and effort that professional race car drivers are doing, right? You can’t do it halfway.”

Muniz was into racing before he even thought about acting. Growing up in North Carolina, he remembers waking early on the weekend to watch IndyCar and NASCAR races on TV. No one else in his family shared his interest in motorsports, so when his parents divorced shortly after Muniz was discovered acting in a talent show at age 8, his mother moved to Burbank, where he made his film debut alongside Louis Gossett Jr. in 1997’s “To Dance With Olivia.”

Two years later he was cast as the gifted middle child of a dysfunctional working-class family in the successful sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle.” Motorsports continued to tug at him so after running in a few celebrity events, Muniz twice put his acting career on hold to race, first in 2007 — shortly after “Malcolm” ended after seven seasons and 151 episodes — when he started a three-season run in the open-wheel Atlantic Championship series.

Still, Muniz, who lives with his wife Paige and 4-year-old son Mauz in Scottsdale, Ariz., is dogged by criticism he is little more than a weekend warrior who is using his substantial Hollywood reputation and earnings to live out his racing fantasies.

“I don’t spend any of my money going racing,” he said. “I made a promise to my wife that I would not do that. So I can kill that rumor right there.”

But those whispers persist partly because Muniz hasn’t completely cut ties with acting. Because the truck series doesn’t run every weekend, racing 25 times between Valentine’s Day and Halloween, Muniz had time to tape a “Malcolm in the Middle” reunion miniseries that is scheduled to air on Disney+ in December.

He has also appeared in two other TV projects and two films since turning to racing full time. But his focus, he insists, is on driving.

“If I wanted to go racing for fun,” he said, “I would not be racing in the truck series. I’d be racing at my local track or I’d be racing some SCCA club events. I want to be one of the top drivers there are. I want to make it as high up in NASCAR as I can. And I’m doing everything I can to do that.”

Fame outside of racing can be a double-edged sword in the high-cost world of NASCAR. It can open doors to a ride and sponsorships others can’t get, but it can also cause jealousy in the garage, with drivers crediting that fame and not talent for a rival’s success. And Muniz isn’t the only rookie driver who has had to deal with that.

Toni Breidinger, who finished 27th in Friday’s race and is one place and eight points ahead of Muniz in the season standings with nine races left, is a model who has posed for Victoria’s Secret and been featured in the pages of Glamour, GQ and Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition. She’s also a good driver who has been going fast on a racetrack far longer than she’s been walking slowly down a catwalk.

Toni Breidinger prepares for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday.

(Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

“I was definitely a racer before anything. That was definitely my passion,” said Breidinger, who started driving go-karts in Northern California when she was 9. “I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do modeling to help support that passion. But at the end of the day, I definitely consider myself a racer. That’s what I grew up doing and that’s the career I’ve always wanted do to.”

Still, she sees the two pursuits as being complementary. When Breidinger appears on a red carpet, as she did before this month’s ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, it helps her modeling career while at the same time giving the sponsors of her racing team — which includes 818 Tequila, Dave & Buster’s and the fashion brand Coach — added value.

“It’s all part of the business. It all goes back into my racing,” said Breidinger, 26, who is of German and Lebanese descent. “The side hustles, I like to call them. I don’t think that takes away from me being a race car driver.”

Breidinger, who won the USAC western asphalt midget series title as a teenager, raced in the ARCA Menards Series for five years before stepping up to truck series in 2021, making NASCAR history in 2023 when she finished 15th in her first race, the best-ever debut by a female driver. That helped her land a full-time ride this season with Tricon Garage, Toyota’s flagship team in the truck series.

Like Muniz, Breidinger sees the truck series, the third tier of NASCAR’s national racing series, as a steppingstone to a seat in a Cup car.

“I want to climb the national ladder. That’s what I’m here to do,” she said. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have long-term plans and long-term goals. I’m a very competitive person, especially with myself.”

Kyle Larson, who climbed to the top of that ladder, running his first NASCAR national series race in a truck in 2012, then winning the 2021 Cup championship nine years later, said the path he took — and the one Muniz and Breidinger are following — is a well-worn one.

“Anybody racing in any of the three series has talent and ability enough to be there,” he said.

Funding, Larson said, and not talent and ability, often determines how fast a driver can make that climb and that might be a problem for Muniz since Josh Reaume, the owner of the small three-truck team Muniz drives for, has complained about the price of racing. It can cost more than $3.5 million a year to field one competitive truck in the 25-race series — and that cost is rising, threatening to price many out of the sport.

But having drivers like Muniz and Breidinger in NASCAR will help everyone in the series, Larson said, because it will bring in fans and sponsors that might not have been attracted to the sport otherwise.

“I just hope that he can get into a situation someday where you can really see his talent from being in a car or a truck that is better equipped to go run towards the front,” Larson said of Muniz. “You want to see him succeed because if he does succeed, it’s only going to do good things for our sport.”

And if it works out the way Muniz hopes, perhaps he’ll someday be the answer to another trivia question: Name the NASCAR champion who once worked in Hollywood.

The hunger that has been building among Gaza’s more than two million Palestinians has passed a tipping point and is accelerating deaths, aid workers and health staff say.

Not only Palestinian children – usually the most vulnerable – are falling victim to Israel’s blockade since March, but also adults.

The United Nations’ World Food Programme says nearly 100,000 women and children urgently need treatment for malnutrition, and almost a third of people in Gaza are “not eating for days”. Medical workers say they have run out of many key treatments and medicines.

The World Health Organization reports a sharp rise in malnutrition and disease, with a large proportion of Gaza’s residents now starving.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says a quarter of all young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its clinics in Gaza last week were malnourished, blaming Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon”.

British Airways flight BA1410 from London Heathrow to Belfast declared a mid-air emergency and was forced to divert to Manchester Airport

A British Airways service bound for Belfast had to make an unexpected detour when the pilots issued an emergency alert.

The BA1410 flight took off from London Heathrow at 08:05 BST on July 26, but around half an hour into the journey, the crew triggered a 7700 emergency code, as reported by AirLive.

The aircraft then entered a holding pattern before being directed to Manchester Airport due to what was believed to be a potential depressurisation problem.

Emergency services were on standby as the Airbus A319, with a capacity of up to 130 passengers, touched down.

Sources indicate that the diversion resulted from a technical glitch in a sensor device, with passengers forced to disembark for thorough inspections by British Airways technicians.

An alternative plane was subsequently arranged, allowing travellers to resume their trips after approximately a three-hour delay.

Matthew Hall, the managing director of airport transfers app hoppa, has previously noted that compensation entitlements typically hinge on whether the disruption stems from airline faults, such as mechanical defects or staff shortages.

Hall remarked, “Since leaving the EU, UK flights are still covered by a similar law that protects passenger’s rights when faced with travel delays.”, reports Belfast Live.

This protection extends to departures from UK airports, arrivals at UK airports on EU or UK carriers, departures from EAA airports, or arrivals in the EU on UK airlines.

“If your flight is a non-UK flight that is part of a connection to a UK flight, then you can still claim if you are delayed for more than three hours, you booked the flights as a single booking, and the delay is the airlines fault,” Hall elaborates.

By law, cancellations with less than 14 days notice entitle you to compensation, depending on the length of the flight route. “With short-haul flights (<1,500km, i.e. Manchester to Dublin) you could be entitled to £220 if arriving at your final destination more than two hours after originally planned, reduced to £110 if arriving within two hours of schedule and announced with more than seven days’ notice,” Hall explains.

This increases to £350 for medium-haul flights (1,500-3,500km i.e. Leeds Bradford to Tenerife South) if you arrive at your final destination more than three hours after originally planned, according to Hall.

“Although, this can be reduced to £175 if arriving within three hours of schedule and announced with more than seven days’ notice,” Hall adds.

Since the start of President Trump’s second term, the Department of Homeland Security’s social media team has published a stream of content worthy of a meme-slinging basement dweller on 4chan.

Grainy, distorted mug shots of immigrants. Links to butt-kissing Fox News stories about MAGA anything. Whiny slams against politicians who call out la migra for treating the Constitution like a pee pad. Paeans to “heritage” and “homeland” worthy of Goebbels. A Thomas Kinkade painting of 1950s-era white picket fence suburbia straight out of “Leave It to Beaver,” with the caption “Protect the Homeland.”

All of this is gag-inducing, but it has a purpose — it’s revealing the racist id of this administration in real time, in case anyone was still doubtful.

In June, DHS shared a poster, originally created by the white-power scene, of a grim-faced Uncle Sam urging Americans to “report all foreign invaders” by calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On July 14, the DHS X account featured a painting of a young white couple cradling a baby in a covered wagon on the Great Plains with the caption, “Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.”

When my colleague Hailey Branson-Potts asked about the pioneer painting and the Trump administration’s trollish social media strategy, a White House spokesperson asked her to “explain how deporting illegal aliens is racist,” adding that haters should “stay mad.”

Now, behold the latest DHS salvo: a July 23 X post of a 19th century painting by John Gast titled “American Progress.”

A blond white woman robed in — yep — white, with a gold star just above her forehead, floats in the center. She holds a book in her right hand and a loop of telegraph wire that her left hand trails across poles. Below her on the right side are miners, hunters, farmers, loggers, a stagecoach and trains. They rush westward, illuminated by puffy clouds and the soft glow of dawn.

The angelic woman is Columbia, the historic female personification of the United States. She seems to be guiding everyone forward, toward Native Americans — bare breasted women, headdress-bedecked warriors — who are fleeing in terror along with a herd of bison and a bear with its mouth agape. It’s too late, though: Covered wagon trains and a teamster wielding a whip have already encroached on their land.

The white settlers are literally in the light-bathed side of the painting, while the Native Americans are shrouded in the dusky, murky side.

It ain’t subtle, folks!

“A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending,” DHS wrote as a caption for “American Progress” — a mantra you may soon find printed on the $20 bill, the way this administration is going.

Gast finished his painting in 1872, when the U.S. was in the last stages of conquest. The Civil War was done. White Americans were moving into the Southwest in large numbers, dispossessing the Mexican Americans who had been there for generations through the courts, squatting or outright murder. The Army was ramping up to defeat Native Americans once and for all. In the eyes of politicians, a new menace was emerging from the Pacific: mass Asian migration, especially Chinese.

Scholars have long interpreted Gast’s infamous work as an allegory about Manifest Destiny — that the U.S. had a God-given right to seize as much of the American continent as it could. John L. O’Sullivan, the newspaperman who coined the term in 1845, openly tied this country’s expansion to white supremacy, expressing the hope that pushing Black people into Latin America, a region “already of mixed and confused blood,” would lead to “the ultimate disappearance of the negro race from our borders.”

O’Sullivan also salivated at the idea of California leaving “imbecile and distracted” Mexico and joining the U.S., adding, “The Anglo-Saxon foot is already on its borders. Already the advance guard of the irresistible army of Anglo-Saxon emigration has begun to pour down upon it, armed with the plough and the rifle.”

This is the heritage the Trump administration thinks is worth promoting.

Vice President JD Vance, center, speaks next to officials including, from left to right, HUD Regional Administrator William Spencer, U.S. Atty. for the Central District of California Bill Essayli, FBI Los Angeles Asst. Director Akil Davis, U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino and ICE Field Office Director Ernie Santacruz at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles in June.

(Jae C. Hong / AP)

Administration officials act shocked and offended when critics accuse them of racism, but the Trump base knows exactly what’s going on.

“This is our country, and we can’t let the radical left make us ashamed of our heritage,” one X user commented on the “American Progress” post. “Manifest Destiny was an amazing thing!”

“It’s time to re-conquer the land,” another wrote.

DHS seems to be vibing with the Heritage American movement, now bleeding into the conservative mainstream from its far-right beginnings. Its adherents maintain that Americans whose ancestors have been here for generations are more deserving of this nation’s riches than those whose families came over within living memory. Our values, proponents say, shouldn’t be based on antiquated concepts like liberty and equality but rather, the customs and traditions established by Anglo Protestants before mass immigration forever changed this country’s demographics.

In other words, if you’re white, you’re all right. If you’re brown or anything else, you’re probably not down.

Our own vice president, JD Vance, is espousing this pendejada. In a speech to the Claremont Institute earlier this month, Vance outlined his vision of what an American is.

“America is not just an idea,” Vance told the crowd. “We’re a particular place, with a particular people, and a particular set of beliefs and way of life.”

Weird — I learned in high school that people come here not because of how Americans live, but because they have the freedom to live however they want.

“If you stop importing millions of foreigners,” the vice president continued, “you allow social cohesion to form naturally.”

All those Southern and Eastern Europeans who came at the turn of the 20th century seem to have assimilated just fine, even as Appalachia’s Scots-Irish — Vance’s claimed ethnic affiliation — are, by his own admission, still a tribe apart after centuries of living here.

Trump, Vance added, is “ensur[ing] that the people we serve have a better life in the country their grandparents built.” I guess that excludes me, since my Mexican grandparents settled here in the autumn of their lives.

The irony of elevating so-called Heritage Americans is that many in Trumpworld would seem to be excluded.

First Lady Melania Trump was born in what’s now Slovenia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the child of Cuban immigrants. Vance’s wife’s parents came here from India. The Jewish immigrant ancestor of Trump’s deportation mastermind, Stephen Miller, wouldn’t be allowed in these days, after arriving at Ellis Island from czarist Russia with $8 to his name. Even Gast and O’Sullivan wouldn’t count as Heritage Americans by the strictest definition, since the former was Prussian and the latter was the son of Irish and English immigrants.

But that’s the evil genius of MAGA. Trump has proclaimed that he welcomes anyone, regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation (except for trans people), into his movement, as long as they’re committed to owning the libs.

Americans are so myopic about their own history, if not downright ignorant, that some minorities think they’re being welcomed into the Heritage Americans fold by Vance and his ilk. No wonder a record number of voters of color, especially Latinos, jumped on the Trump train in 2024.

“American Progress” might as well replace red hats as the ultimate MAGA symbol. To them, it’s not a shameful artifact; it’s a road map for Americans hell-bent on turning back the clock to the era of eradication.

Like I said, not a subtle message at all — if your eyes aren’t shut.

Wiegman is also ruthless.

She dropped former England captain Steph Houghton in 2022, and told goalkeeper Mary Earps she would not be the number one for Euro 2025.

Her honesty is appreciated by many, but not all.

“Sarina has always been direct, she always says it how it is, whether you like it or not, and it’s something you have to take on the chin,” said midfielder Georgia Stanway.

“Get the people around you that you need and if she gives you some negative feedback then you know that the rest of the staff are going to help you to fix it.”

Kirby went from being a starter in 2022, to the fringes of the squad before she was told she would not make the cut for 2025.

The Brighton midfielder announced her international retirement early as a result but says Wiegman learned quickly what style of feedback people could handle.

“If it’s not right for the team, she will be direct with you, regardless of what you are feeling,” said Kirby.

“But she gets to know you, so you have that respect for her when you do have to have that difficult conversation. You know that it’s not personal, it’s just she needs more from you or she needs you to do more for the team.

“She is just consistent with everyone, regardless of whether you’ve got 80 caps or five. Everyone is treated the same.”

White says they had regular one-to-one conversations when Wiegman first took over and they often discussed analysis on Zoom away from camp.

“She visits clubs as well, and has communication with club managers. She’ll always pick up the phone to you no matter what time it is,” added White.

“She’s so approachable. Yes, she is the manager, but she is a human being. She wants what is best for you.”

Bardsley’s injuries meant she had to retire before making an appearance under Wiegman but she had regular contact throughout her attempted comeback.

The ex-goalkeeper was given a six-week deadline to return to play and when it was clear she wouldn’t make it, she called Wiegman, who was “very empathetic”.

“She is really emotionally intelligent and could feel I was disappointed. It probably made her selection headache a lot easier but she said lots of nice things about my career. I was just grateful,” said Bardsley.

“I would have loved to have played under her. She took the time to have a chat and I really appreciated that because she didn’t have to do that.”

But Houghton did not feel she was given the same treatment and has been critical of Wiegman’s approach to her.

Writing in her book, Houghton said she felt Wiegman was “pretty brutal” in how she communicated that she would not be part of her squad for the 2023 World Cup.

“We were told we would know the final World Cup squad on Tuesday,” Houghton wrote.

“On the Monday, I had an appearance at St George’s Park for Nike. When I went back to the changing room, I had a missed call from Sarina. She didn’t know I was there, so when I told her, she asked me to go and meet her in the canteen, where she told me she wasn’t taking me.

“I found myself wondering if this would have been a face-to-face conversation if I hadn’t already been at St George’s Park. Sarina told me that I probably wouldn’t play for England while she was in charge.

“She obviously made her mind up, which is fine and I’ve got to respect that. The problem was more that I think she’d intended to have this conversation over the phone, and she knew she was going to tell me I wasn’t in her plans at all. I thought that called for a face-to-face conversation given the career I’d had.”

It is often named as one of the prettiest seaside towns in the UK and is a popular tourist spot – but there’s one major reason why I won’t be returning with my family

Before I begin, I must clarify that I don’t usually criticise seaside towns. Coming from New Brighton in Merseyside, I’m well aware of the challenges faced by Northern coastal towns.

However, during our family’s UK staycation last summer, we embarked on a mini tour of Yorkshire and, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed it. But there was one location that I believe is overrated – Robin Hood’s Bay.

It consistently ranks as one of the top seaside towns to visit and features prominently in lists of the most picturesque coastal towns.

Granted, the old fishing village is charming, but having visited once, I doubt I’ll return as a tourist, and here’s why.

The beach. Living right next to a stunning golden sand beach has perhaps spoiled me, making our trip to Robin Hood’s Bay somewhat underwhelming, reports the Express.

While we adored the journey down the town’s winding streets, brimming with boutique shops, ice cream parlours and quaint cafes, the beach itself fell short of my expectations.

The sand seemed drab and muddy, flies were abundant, and there was an unpleasant sewage odour in the air on the day of our visit.

However, it is dog-friendly if you wish to bring your furry friend along.

After settling in for the morning, my husband and eldest son ventured off to explore the nearby rock pools, which they found intriguing but not unique.

The bay wasn’t overly crowded when we visited, though there’s been chatter about the surge in tourists to Robin Hood’s Bay in recent years. This influx has reportedly become a strain and is driving up property prices.

After a day at the beach, you’re faced with the daunting climb back uphill to the car park – though we did pause for fish and chips on our way, which was a treat.

Robin Hood’s Bay town is charming, picture-perfect in spots, with friendly and welcoming locals. However, for families, I believe there are superior beaches elsewhere.

That being said, I can envision a couple relishing a romantic staycation here, with plenty of dining options after strolling hand-in-hand through the cobblestone streets.

While I likely won’t be returning, I reckon some might adore exploring this Instagram-worthy town as an ideal way to spend an afternoon.

Many of the cottages fall within the conservation area, meaning they’ve retained their original charm.

There’s also a museum where you can delve into the town’s history, and regular ‘ghost walks’ are on offer.

For more information on activities, parking and tide times, click here.

The BBC’s hit children show The Broom Cupboard saw the birth of many iconic presenters – now Josie D’Arby’s career has taken a surprising turn away from the cameras

In a tiny, cramped booth nestled away in the BBC studios, a whole host of famous TV presenters kicked off their careers.

Children’s TV show The Broom Cupboard began in 1985, replacing the shaky voiceover and still slides linking CBBC shows with real-life presenters.

Despite its practical beginnings it soon became a hit in itself, with the likes of Phillip Schofield, Debbie Flint and Zoe Ball all forging their famous TV personalities on the show.

Iconic characters Edd the Duck, Otis the Aardvark and Gordon the Gopher even joined in on the fun, with letters and drawings from viewers plastered across the walls of the tiny studio room.

Many of the programme’s stars look completely different these days, with brand new careers – and Josie D’Arby is no exception.

After her stint in The Broom Cupboard, Josie went on to become an award-winning presenter, becoming a well-known face on the likes of Songs of Praise, Top of the Pops, Inside Out and Cardiff Singer of The World.

In 1999, the 52-year-old star from Newport, Wales, became the youngest British woman to have her own chat show, titled Josie, on Channel 5.

Josie’s media ambitions didn’t stop there and she soon pivoted to acting, where she starred as Alisha Adams in Holby City and made guest appearances in Casualty and Doctor Who.

She’s even tried her hand as a quiz show contestant, appearing on Richard Osman’s House of Games and Pointless in 2022.

More recently, Josie ditched the cameras for a career that’s worlds away from presenting. The star has been pursuing her artistic talent, even showcasing her painting in a show at the Newport Museum Art Gallery in 2023.

The BBC star started to take art more seriously after winning a televised art competition, South Wales Argus reports. The painting was called Less, which Josie said was “about how little it can take to make people happy.”

“Art is for everyone and I am happy if my piece is just a tiny little reminder that public galleries can be a space and a time to press pause, and enjoy a lovely space if you’re in the city,” she explained.

Before her TV career took off, Josie was said to be in a relationship with Hollywood actor Gerard Butler – known for iconic roles in 300, Law Abiding Citizen and London Has Fallen. The pair apparently briefly dated in 2005.

And Gerard isn’t her only celebrity flame, as Josie reportedly went on a date with actor Joseph Fiennes – the brother of Harry Potter legend Ralph Fiennes – in 2006.

Josie isn’t the only Broom Cupboard presenter who took a different career path. Andy Crane, 61, has been brightening up people’s days on Greatest Hits Radio since 2019 and he looks very different from his days on the CBBC show.

He is now residing in the picturesque location of Lake District. Andy, who was born in the seaside town of Morecambe, Lancashire, presents three hours of the best songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s on Greatest Hits Radio, including The Top 10 at 10 and Midnight Music Marathon.

Before hitting the radiowaves, Andy also presented children’s show, Motormouth, for ITV on Saturdays. He also featured on What’s Up Doc? and Challenge TV.