Big

They were two killings that rocked the rap world.

In 1996, Tupac Shakur was gunned down off the Las Vegas Strip. Then, less than a year later, Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls or the Notorious B.I.G., was killed in a drive-by shooting in front of the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard.

The two killings have long been tied together in popular culture.

Now, a detective says the investigation into Wallace’s death helped lead police to the suspect on trial in Las Vegas in Shakur’s slaying.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a onetime Compton gang member, is accused of orchestrating the Sept. 7, 1996, killing of Shakur. Prosecutors say the killing was rooted in a war between Southside Crips-Burris Street, led by Davis, and Mob Piru, a gang long associated with Death Row Records. Shakur was closely affiliated with the record company.

Authorities say Davis was in the car with his nephew, who grabbed the murder weapon and fired the fatal bullet.

On Wednesday, former LAPD Homicide Det. Daryn Dupree said Davis set out his role in Shakur’s killing in detail in 2008 to a joint LAPD federal task force that was formed to investigate Wallace’s murder.

To force Davis’ cooperation, Dupree said investigators gathered evidence that Davis, now 63, had sold a large quantity of PCP through his home, exposing him to a potential life sentence and leaving his family open to charges.

The task force questioned Davis about a car he owned that was similar to the one used in Wallace’s L.A. killing. Davis was given a proffer agreement, according to Dupree, meaning he agreed to provide information in exchange for possible benefit.

Davis said he knew about the Smalls shooting and then indicated, “we did the other one,” Dupree testified. That statement, he said, shifted investigators’ focus to the Shakur killing.

“We were talking about Christopher Wallace,” Dupree said. “We didn’t ask him any questions about Tupac. He offered that on his own.”

In a second interview, Dupree testified Davis stated that his nephew Orlando Anderson had been jumped, spurring Davis and cohorts on a hunt for revenge against Shakur.

The attack on Anderson occurred at a Mike Tyson fight earlier on the night of Sept. 7 in Las Vegas, according to Clark County prosecutors. Earlier in the trial, video was shown of Shakur’s entourage attacking Anderson, allegedly in retaliation over a chain that Anderson had previously stolen.

“They went looking for Tupac, Suge and anybody who was involved basically in the beatdown of Mr. Anderson,” Dupree said. Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight was in the car with Shakur the night he was killed.

When they found Shakur, the former detective testified, Davis “had the gun at first, but they came up on the passenger side,” where Knight was seated, “so he could not shoot across the driver. So he handed a gun to Dre in the back seat.” Deandre “Big Dre” Smith was among those in the white Cadillac in addition to Davis and Anderson.

“Davis said Deandre Smith was afraid to shoot,” Dupree testified, so “Anderson grabbed the gun and shot across Mr. Smith into Mr. Knight’s car.”

Davis told the task force they used a .40-caliber handgun, according to testimony.

Prosecutors said they would begin playing all five hours of the interviews to jurors on Thursday.

Dupree said Davis was signed up as a confidential informant in March 2009. He said Las Vegas police were not aware of the secret conversations at the time.

Dupree testified that Davis told investigators that former rapper and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs had been involved in targeting Shakur and Knight through East Coast drug dealer Eric “Von Zip” Martin.

He testified that Davis pledged to rekindle his relationship with Martin to gather evidence. But Martin had cancer, and that was not possible, Dupree said. Martin died in 2012.

Combs was never connected to the Shakur case and has denied ever being involved. Others have questioned Davis’ credibility on this and other points.

The Times in 2008 published a story suggesting a Combs link to Shakur’s killing. But it later retracted the story, saying it was based on documents that appeared to have been forged.

Prosecutors in Davis’ trial say the motive was straight revenge for the beating of Anderson, and that Martin allegedly gave Davis a gun. But they have made no allegations against Combs, who has long denied any role or connection to Shakur’s killing.

Michael Sanft, Davis’ defense attorney, told jurors in opening statements there would be no evidence linking his client to the shooting. Sanft noted that previous investigations did not take his client’s statements seriously because they were not credible. The defense attorney, in an unusual move, repeatedly undermined his own client’s credibility, saying Davis’ memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” where he talks about the Shakur killing, was a work of fiction for money and his client wasn’t in Las Vegas.

Under cross-examination, Dupree said Davis faced a life sentence in the PCP case and that his wife and family were in jeopardy because of it, so he needed to help authorities.

He said that LAPD Det. Greg Kading, the task force leader, left the department after investigating the Shakur and Smalls cases and published a book in 2011 that revealed Davis’ interview.

Dupree said the task force was trying to determine if money was really offered to kill Shakur. He said they were trying to build a racketeering case. “This is trying to solidify that Death Row Records was built on narcotics and Bad Boy Records.”

Dupree said he personally did not doubt Davis when he talked about Anderson killing Shakur.

“I knew he loved his nephew.”

For all the notoriety of the rapper killings, neither has yet led to convictions.

Wallace was leaving a music industry party at the Petersen Automotive Museum on March 9, 1997, sitting in the front passenger seat of a Chevrolet Suburban, when his killer pulled up alongside in a dark Chevy Impala.

As the SUV idled at a stoplight, the gunman opened fire, hitting the 24-year-old four times. He was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m.

From the beginning, police said they struggled to get leads and cooperation.

As The Times reported back in 1997, “although more than 1,000 people were said to be at the party, police said they had few eyewitnesses and even fewer solid leads … Detectives said they are investigating whether Wallace’s death is linked to bicoastal tensions within the rap world, but had nothing solid to go on.”

Despite many theories and a long LAPD investigation, the case remains unsolved.

There have been numerous books, documentaries and civil litigation that make allegations, but police said they could never build a case.

In 2017, an LAPD detective told The Times: “The shooter is most likely dead. You cannot ask him who paid him.”

The brand new series hosted by Steph McGovern follows amateur art dealers putting their skills to the test

BBC Two’s brand new series has been plunged into chaos as contestants clash on air.

Former BBC Breakfast host Steph McGovern has returned to television screens for the hit BBC series that is set to rival The Apprentice.

The Big Deal with Steph McGovern follows seven trainee art dealers from around the UK who are putting their creativity, negotiating and profit making skills to the test as they battle it out to win a piece of art worth a staggering amount.

Airing new episodes every Thursday at 8pm on BBC Two, tonight’s instalment (Thursday, August 20) follows the six remaining amateur pairs who are split into two teams and challenged to sell contemporary art to furnish multi million pound homes.

A synopsis read: “Host Steph McGovern and series mentor Cordelia de Freitas are joined by Peter Staunton, an award-winning luxury interior designer who is on hand to tell the dealers about his clients’ tastes, as well as sharing tips and tricks when it comes to investing in art for the home.”

The dealers had a limited time to hunt for the best works before pitching their ideas directly to the homeowners – those with the lowest amount of commission would face elimination.

And it wasn’t long before tensions started to rise as the show was plunged into chaos. The teams were split into two larger groups, with opinions regularly clashing between Daisy and Darren.

Later, series mentor and art dealer Cordelia de Freitas and Peter Staunton, award-winning luxury interior designer met up with the teams to see what art work they had bought.

Despite a brief of a bronze sculpture, Daisy and Rebecca returned with two blue pieces as Cordelia said “talk about that” when it came to discussing the artist.

However, Daisy replied: “But guys, we’re not pitching to you right now”, as Cordelia added: “We’re here to help.” Daisy went on to say: “No, no it’s been a long day trust me, we can turn it on tomorrow.”

Speaking to cameras, team member Darren admitted: “Would I have picked those blue whatever they were? No absolutely not.”

Darren and Graham and Daisy and Rebecca clashed again later on the show when they butted heads choosing a sculpture design to pitch.

When Darren said they would get to the story behind their chosen design, Rebecca hit back: “Is there much point if we’re not going to pitch it”, to which Daisy stated: “Mum just leave it.”

Clashing on their opinions, the group continued to talk over one another as their co-stars looking on from the sidelines, Deborah and Rebeckah, told cameras: “I had to clock out because I found it distasteful and I’m not here to disgrace myself so I wanted to step out of it.”

Also speaking to producers, Darren said: “There’s definitely a divide there but again, this comes down to personality and taste. We’re not always going to like what other people like and they aren’t going to like what we like.”

The Big Deal with Steph McGovern airs every Thursday at 8pm on BBC Two

Ninth and final in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake kicker.

Gabriel Goroyan, a senior kicker at Westlake High with a 4.77 grade-point average, revealed stunning news during an interview.

“I’m OK with being normal,” he said.

That goes against everything previously known about kickers. They’re almost always surfer dudes with the fearless spirit of a pole vaulter and the willingness to experiment. If anyone were going to volunteer for a mission to Mars, it would be a kicker.

“I would like to think I’m not one of the weirder personalities,” Goroyan said.

He is like most kickers — a former soccer player. He began in eighth grade when he was still playing soccer but beginning to like kicking.

At a camp, when he made a 54-yard field goal in a competition, that’s the moment he realized, “I can do this.”

“I started taking it more serious,” he said. “I was hungry for that No. 1 spot.”

He enters his senior season as No. 1 at his position in the Southland and committed to Stanford. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder makes booming kickoffs, was 50 of 51 on PATs last season and made seven field goals. He also averaged 40.3 yards on punts. He kicks balls with his left foot, which requires long snappers to make an adjustment and change blocking schemes because most kickers use their right foot.

He’s never received a grade other than A on his report card at Westlake. His father is Armenian and his mother Bulgarian. He has an 8 handicap in golf and can drive a ball 300 yards from the tee, so if you need a ringer for a charity tournament, Goroyan will play the role.

He has figured out the mental requirements needed to deal with the highs and lows of being a kicker.

“A lot of it is staying calm and not getting too hyped up and too energized,” he said. “l feel a good kicker is able to come back from a miss and a lot of it is being yourself. You have to know not to overthink things and be able to go back to your normal mental state and not get trapped in a cycle of you’re not good enough. A lot of it is trusting yourself.”

He stands on the sideline waiting for his moment. You’ll never see him asking coach Rick Clausen to put him in for a field goal.

“I let them tell me,” he said.

It’s all about preparation and routine. His soccer background has provided him the tools to succeed.

“Train like a sprinter,” he said. ”That’s where the leg speed comes from. It’s not about having to squat 500 pounds but more being able to run and have fast legs. That’s where the power comes.”

As for dealing with pressure, Goroyan said camp competitions such as “last man standing,” where you have to make a kick to stay in the competition, provides preparation for a game-winning field-goal attempt that he has yet to experience.

He’s already demonstrated that he’s different — otherwise known as normal. When he made that 54-yard field goal, the longest of his career, in eighth grade, he did not scream.

“I gave a quiet clap and ran to get my ball,” he said.

Kickers to watch

Noah Ahari, Chino Hills, 6-2, 155, Sr. Made nine of 10 field goals last season

Peter Batsaras, Cypress, 5-10, 170, Sr. A summer of success sets the stage for big senior season

Ayden Brannum, Fontana, 6-3, 190, Sr. Averaged 48 yards on punts and made 47-yard field goal

Colin Elia, Temecula Valley, 6-0, 160, Sr. Made 10 of 11 field goals as a junior

Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake, 5-11, 180, Sr. Stanford commit has worked relentlessly on mastering his technique

Jackson Hauducoeur, Upland, 5-6, 140, Sr. All-CIF kicker made eight of 10 field goals

Ethan Miller, San Clemente, 6-2, 175, Jr. Made nine fields, cool under pressure

Jerry Shifman, Mater Dei, 5-10, 165, Jr. Had nine field goals, with a long of 43 yards

Carter Sobel, Sierra Canyon, 5-9, 160, Sr. Strong on kickoffs and made nine field goals

Caleb Sylvia, Mission Viejo, 5-10, 190, Sr. Had 49-yard field goal last season

Lawrence Shankland is “too good not to score regularly” and is sure to have a “big influence” at Rangers whether or not he starts games, insists manager Derek McInnes.

Shankland has scored once in five outings since his move to Ibrox and the captain was used as a substitute on Sunday as Rangers beat St Mirren 5-1 for their first win of the season.

The 31-year-old Scotland striker hit 22 goals for Hearts last term working under McInnes.

“When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it,” said McInnes.

“He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown that over a period of time in the Premiership.

“Sometimes people can over emphasise these things. For me, it is a case of letting him play his natural game.

“The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless. I have no doubt he will do well here.”

McInnes chose to start with Ryan Naderi in the Premier Sports Cup victory over St Mirren and the German opened the scoring, while Nico Raskin was skipper.

“I said that when I spoke to Lawrence,” added McInnes. “Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that. He is not going to stamp his feet about it. Having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy.

“You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that.”

Shankland is one of 11 new signings at Rangers and the search is on for another centre forward since Youssef Chermiti is a long-term absentee.

“The priority is at the top end of the pitch,” said McInnes. “Number nines are normally more difficult ones to do, and it wasn’t an area we were looking at before Youseff’s injury.

“We’re hoping we can land on the one that we want and hopefully we can bring them here quickly.”

The interim government is still upset that the coverage of the disaster’s aftermath showed its faults in plain sight. So, it was answered by a manufactured lie. The State media system released a short “documentary” titled “Autopsy of a Lie”, claiming that the negligence in the official response to the June 24^th earthquakes is just a false narrative pushed by the media. 

In a fact-checking analysis to debunk it, Cazadores de Fake News reports the interim government is fishing to isolate quotes from the UN and the US officers as proof that the international community praised a State response “that existed, but was perceived by large parts of the affected population as insufficient.”

The propaganda effort to turn around the domestic and global backlash on the State’s reaction to the earthquakes merged with the officially-launched “reconstruction phase,” with both the Venezuela Reborn Plan and the accompanying economic assistance in the form of credits. However, the regime is not only trying to save its face, but using the earthquakes as a subject to focus attention on how they want to be seen, and remove it from where they don’t want eyes. 

The disaster made its entrance into the dialogue talks between delegations of the 2015 National Assembly (picked by the Trump administration) and the interim government: when announcing the start of the first round of talks on August 1st, “attention to the double earthquake” was not only put on the agenda, but placed at the top. “Strengthening of democracy” and “political rights and guarantees”, the issues that many see as the core reason for this process in the first place, were put as second and third, respectively.

On August 12, the first round of talks ended with a couple of agreements: the first one was a joint effort to recover the gold reserves held by the UK in the Bank of England for the quake’s recovery. This one seems like a confirmation of what Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said back on July 30, that one of the main positions of the government’s delegation during the dialogue talks was the lifting of most of the economic sanctions still in place.

“These are not times for polarization to insist; these are not times for miserly exploitation, these are times to lend a hand. And we’ll see that the biggest comfort to the pain that afflicts our souls is the rebirth,” Jorge Rodríguez said on July 24.

The second one was the beginning of a process that could eventually lead to the renovation of the Venezuelan Supreme Court (TSJ), seen as the first concrete step toward establishing a new electoral authority in the near future, a major achievement that cannot be underestimated. 

The introduction of the seismic disaster in the talks’ agenda might signal to the chavista base that the regime is controlling the matter, and looking to compensate for any other concessions made. 

On the other hand, what happened on June 24 could serve as a plausible pretext to avoid necessary reforms or flexibilize restrictions that Venezuelans have struggled with for many years is understandable for some, as economist Ricardo Hausmann told last month to Forbes Centroamérica:

“What happened in Venezuela is a human and economic tragedy… But the biggest risk is that the earthquake could become an excuse to continue depriving Venezuelans of their rights.”

This brings another aspect to consider: the open use of the tragedy for political messaging.

It’s normal that in times when a nation suffers some sort of calamity, that a response by those in power is to rally around national unity in times of crisis. This also happened in Venezuela after June 24, with both Delcy and Jorge Rodriguez repeatedly making public calls in that regard.

For example, Jorge Rodriguez said on July 24 in commemoration of the quakes’ first month: “These are not times for polarization to insist; these are not times for miserly exploitation, these are times to lend a hand. And we’ll see that the biggest comfort to the pain that afflicts our souls is the rebirth.” The use of the last word isn’t casual, as it was already in use for several weeks in State media and came a couple of weeks before the actual reconstruction plan was introduced.

But given the precedents when chavismo used this kind of messaging before, this is likely less targeted to the overall citizenry at large and instead focused on holding their internal coalition together. This has worked well with the higher echelons of power structures but for certain parts of the larger chavista movement, this message rings hollow in the wake of the cozy relation between the regime and the Trump administration. And they’re making themselves noticed.

They’re already doing that with the most pressing issue in most parts of the country: the electric crisis, which in the last week saw an increase in both the length of blackouts and the power bill.

On June 28, a group of former chavista officials (including former Vice-President Elias Jaua) signed a document titled “Declaration of Maracay” under the name Voices For National Independence, demanding the defense of national sovereignty and the Constitution, in response to “the situation of tutelage the country currently faces. The text called for a “wider national unity”. Early this month, there was a public demonstration in Caracas echoing those very same points.

After a month and half since the disaster, the interim government remains committed to navigating the next few months by using it as a narrative device that could help them weather the surging amount of problems ahead but exposing at length some of its previous failures. At the moment, they’re already doing that with the most pressing issue in most parts of the country: the electric crisis, which in the last week saw an increase in both the length of blackouts and the power bill.

The governors of Aragua and Carabobo pointed at the damage caused by the June 24 quakes to the electricity generation system as one of the reasons behind it. Diosdado Cabello made the same talking point a few days later, while also blaming the Súper Niño event.

As the State is adjusting the effects of the disaster into other issues, public opinion is putting the magnifying glass on its handling of the doublet earthquake. Neighboring Colombia recently suffered a terrible seismic event of its own, but comparisons between how the two nations and their respective governments responded soon started to appear.

WASHINGTON — President Trump says vandals are to blame for large swaths of dead grass on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial — in the spot where he had a stage built and hosted crowds for his July 4 celebration.

Trump made the accusation in a social media post on Sunday without saying why he believes it’s the work of vandals instead of trampled turf from the Independence Day festivities. The Republican president posted a photo showing a once-grassy area by the World War II Memorial, now patchy and brown across much of the sprawling turf.

“Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” Trump said on his social media website.

“Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” he added.

Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for damage to his renovation projects in the nation’s capital, often without evidence and sometimes despite opposing accounts from his officials. He lashed out at U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro this month after her office concluded that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of poor construction and not the work of vandals, as Trump claimed.

Authorities on Friday announced an arrest in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial, after the words “Clean hands dirty $” were found painted on the monument and bubbles filled a fountain. Pirro said felony charges were being brought against Melissa L. Farris, who was in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment.

A woman identified on her Facebook page as Melissa Lovewell on Thursday posted a video in which she is seen taking cans of spray paint from her bag and then painting the monument. “I will wait here to be arrested for spraying our veterans’ fountain,” she says. “It was me. I’m doing it. It’s on camera.”

The woman was identified by her Kentucky driver’s license as Melissa L. Farris of Elizabethtown, an arrest warrant says.

Charging documents in that case make no mention of the grassy area Trump is highlighting in his new claims. Authorities said Farris had been arrested previously for camping on federal property a few blocks from the World War II Memorial, but not the area cited by Trump.

That stretch of lawn is instead where a large stage was built and crowds gathered to hear from Trump and watch fireworks at a July 4 event celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Trump claimed without providing evidence that more than 400,000 people attended the event before a storm hit the area and delayed his remarks.

Photos from the time, taken by a streaming webcam atop the Washington Monument, show a large bandstand and seating areas covering nearly the entire lawn that Trump now says has been vandalized. Associated Press photos from the days that followed showed workers removing the structures, revealing brown, damaged grass underneath.

On Aug. 1, Trump posted a different photo of the same area that appears to show the numbers “86 47” — which federal officials have said constitutes a threat against Trump, the 47th president — emblazoned into the grass. He cited it as evidence refuting Pirro’s conclusion, calling it “a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass.”

“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he wrote.

Those numbers are not visible in the photo Trump posted to social media on Sunday.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an “on-the-ground evaluation.”

The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say that it is marring a pristine environmental area and that the region’s rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers.

Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, which is tasked with building the wall, announced on X that he was visiting Texas to do an evaluation.

“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” Scott said.

Congress gave the Trump administration $46 billion last summer to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has been racing ahead and waiving numerous regulations in an effort to swiftly build the wall.

Scott has said that he expects that they will build the first layer of the wall by the end of next year.

But they have run into fierce opposition in Texas especially when it comes to construction in and near Big Bend National Park and a state park to the west.

Santana writes for the Associated Press.

Jac Caglianone homered and drove in five runs on a three-hit night, Michael Massey also homered and had three hits and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 7-6 on Friday to snap a four-game losing streak.

John Schreiber, Nate Pearson and Steven Cruz threw scoreless relief innings for the Royals, with Cruz finishing for his fourth save.

Nolan Schanuel had two hits and four RBIs for the Angels (48-75). They had won three straight.

After Josh Lowe’s solo homer off Alex Lange (2-7) gave the Angels a 6-5 lead in the sixth, Kansas City (50-73) scored twice off Tayler Saucedo (0-1) in the seventh to make it 7-6.

Caglianone is batting .438 (21 for 48) with five homers and 18 RBIs during a 12-game hitting streak. In the ninth, he took second on an error and scored on Massey’s two-out RBI single to finish the scoring.

Caglianone’s two-run homer — his 22nd of the season — off left-hander Sammy Peralta gave Kansas City a 5-4 lead in the fifth.

Royals starter Seth Lugo gave up five runs and seven hits in 4⅔ innings.

Up next: Royals RHP Randy Dobnak (2-1, 2.00 ERA) was set to oppose Angels LHP Reid Detmers (3-8, 4.00 ERA) on Saturday night.

For almost 40 years, a stamp of approval from Oprah Winfrey has been the ultimate status symbol, and a near-guarantee of commercial success — just ask Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil.

Winfrey’s talk show launched in 1986 and became a sensation. The talk show raked in Daytime Emmy awards, and the host’s sway with the audience was undeniable. Winfrey’s influence was, and still is, so potent that marketing pros called the boost in sales following an endorsement “the Oprah Effect.” Books have shot to the top of bestseller lists, brands such as Spanx and Ugg have become household names and multiple television personalities have been launched, including two controversial health professionals whose endorsements from Winfrey haven’t exactly aged well for some fans.

During a recent interview with the Television Academy’s Emmy Magazine, Winfrey addressed her ties with the conservative TV personalities, saying “People criticize me for Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, because of their politics or their views.”

In the ’90s, Phil McGraw was a licensed psychologist who co-founded a trial consulting firm and was hired to help Winfrey when she was sued in Texas for questioning the safety of beef on her show amid a mad cow disease epidemic happening in the U.K. According to disgruntled cattlemen, the “Oprah Effect” doesn’t just have the power to boost sales, it can drop them too.

Winfrey won the case in 1998, and was so impressed by McGraw that she invited him onto her show and he subsequently landed a weekly segment. A few years later, he launched his own talk show with Winfrey’s backing.

“Dr. Phil, he was so practical, so down to earth, so real. And he would ride in the car with me every morning on the way to trial, where I’m literally sitting on trial for six weeks. I felt that he was so instrumental in helping me. I thought, ‘Oh, you could help a lot of people. You should come on my show,’” she told the outlet.

Dr. Oz came into the fold, Winfrey said, by way of introduction from her best friend, fellow television personality and news anchor Gayle King.

“He explained practical things like colon cancer and bowel movements,” Winfrey told Emmy Magazine. “I thought he had the language for explaining medical things in a way that was helpful to me. I thought it would be helpful to many other people. And that is how they ended up on the show.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz made his debut on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2004, and in the next few years he made more than 60 appearances, offering health advice to viewers. In 2009, he followed in Dr. Phil’s footsteps and launched his own talk show, with Winfrey’s production company backing the venture.

In recent years, Dr. Phil has aligned himself with MAGA, and in October 2024 he spoke at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden presidential campaign rally. Last year, he embedded with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during raids, including in Chicago, where he and his crew taped arrests.

In 2020, when Dr. Phil celebrated a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he thanked Winfrey in his speech, saying she has mentored him and moved him forward in life. “No doubt about it… You cannot understand the power of the O factor,” he said. “There would be no Dr. Phil without Oprah, so blame her if you’re going to blame somebody.”

Similarly, Dr. Oz aligned himself with the MAGA and Make America Healthy Again movements. He ran for senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 with an endorsement from Trump. After losing, he joined the Trump administration as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Since McGraw and Oz became vocal allies of the Trump administration, news stories involving them have spawned a thread of replies and reposts with comments pointing the finger at Winfrey for platforming the men many moons ago.

“Oprah spun off Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and gave oxygen to Suzanne Somers’ and Jenny McCarthy’s toxic messages. Her impact on the public discourse around medical advice was pretty uniformly terrible. I am not a fan,” reads one post on X.

“If it weren’t for Oprah, this quack Dr. Phil would be a nobody. Oprah has a lot to answer for,” reads another.

And, “Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz are the two worst things Oprah ever foisted on the public.”

Winfrey may have platformed the men decades ago, but her stance is clear today: “Everybody has their own path in life, and it has not one thing to do with me, and I don’t have one thing to do with them. At the time, the reason and intention behind me giving them their breaks was I thought they had valuable information to share that had been meaningful to me.”

The Trump administration has moved heavy-duty construction equipment into Big Bend National Park and started work on a border security project despite bipartisan concern about damage to the environmentally sensitive area of west Texas.

Bulldozers and other machinery appeared last week in the remote park, which sits about 300 miles southeast of El Paso and includes one of the least crossed stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued the Biden and Trump administrations seeking to halt border-wall construction.

Jordahl said he and other activists watching the work have seen bulldozers plowing through vegetation “clearing a path for the barriers, the wall or whatever is going in.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection “is building an access road, improving existing roads, installing detection technology and placing vehicle barriers in limited, strategic locations,” Commissioner Rodney Scott, the agency’s top official, said in an email Thursday. “We are securing this park to protect its legacy — keeping it safe, secure, and pristine so American families can enjoy the beauty of our country, free from fear of cartel activity.”

The Trump administration is moving ahead with the project over the objections of not just environmental activists and others opposed to the crackdown on immigration, but also local residents, many of them Republicans who otherwise support President Trump, as well as retiring GOP Sen. John Cornyn. They note that the rugged terrain — mostly desert with steep ravines and scrubland covered in creosote bushes and prickly pear cactus — serves as a natural barrier from anyone trying to cross from Mexico, making the infrastructure unnecessary.

They say the construction and equipment will mar the landscape and imperil the animals who live in the park, including javelinas, ringtails, mountain lions and desert bighorn sheep.

In June, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin formally waived all environmental laws and reviews that could otherwise slow any work in the park.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office has said he supports using every tool available to help deter illegal immigration, including deploying technology in rugged and isolated areas such as Big Bend.

Trump has long pledged to build a wall along all of the roughly 2,000-mile U.S. border with Mexico, though Customs and Border Protection has repeatedly said it wouldn’t build his preferred 30-foot barrier in the environmentally sensitive park.

Earlier this year, the administration issued a $1.7-billion contract for the project in Big Bend. The vehicle barriers set to be installed are typically 5-foot steel posts set a few feet apart and intended to block cars or trucks from crossing.

The park is part of the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector, which has for decades been one of the least crossed areas along the whole of the border. In June, agents there made 148 arrests. Since Oct. 1, the start of the government’s fiscal year, agents have made 1,509 arrests, about 1.5% of all apprehensions along the Mexican border, according to Customs and Border Patrol arrest data.

Brandon Herrera, the GOP candidate for a House district that includes the park, met with White House and Department of Homeland Security officials in March to pitch a less-invasive “alternative solution.”

In a letter this month, Cornyn asked Mullin to meet with local officials who have voiced concerns over the project, citing complaints about its effect on the region’s natural beauty, wildlife, cultural sites and economy. Cornyn wrote that his “constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States.”

James Talarico, a Democratic state representative running to succeed Cornyn in the U.S. Senate, echoed the Republican’s concerns and called the project irresponsible spending.

“This monument to corruption represents wasteful, irresponsible government spending that no Texan asked for, enriching wealthy contractors without making Texans one bit safer,” he said.

Texas’ Big Bend region relies on tourism as an economic driver, with more than 568,000 visitors to the national park in 2025. Local businesses in Terlingua, a small gateway town west of the park, have revolted against the proposed wall, with workers at one restaurant wearing shirts that read “No Al Muro” — No to the Wall.

Caldwell and Lovinger write for Bloomberg.

First La Liga match: Alaves v Getafe, Saturday 15 August, 18:30 (BST)

Jose Mourinho returning to Real Madrid 13 years after his first spell as manager ended was a reunion nobody saw coming.

Many expected Real to dominate La Liga and the Champions League when they signed Kylian Mbappe in 2024, and while he has impressed, the team as a whole has not gelled.

Last season Real looked like two teams on the same pitch – a group of four superstar attackers, and a fragile defensive unit left vulnerable to counter-attacks.

New signings Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries and Bernardo Silva should help shore things up, while Yan Diomande could provide even more excitement in the final third.

Vinicius Junior has also recently agreed a new deal after being linked with Arsenal.

Some suggest a veteran Mourinho has had his day – can he manage the egos of Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius after his previous time in charge at the Bernabeu ended following dressing room disquiet, and does the Special One still possess the tactical acumen to seriously challenge Barcelona?

Hansi Flick’s side were not as formidable last season as in 2024-25, but a squad full of Spanish World Cup winners are still favourites to win a third consecutive league title.

Replacing the goals of Robert Lewandowski will not be easy, but reinforcements have arrived in the shape of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.

As usual, Atletico Madrid will look to muscle their way into the top two, with Villarreal and Real Betis heading up the best of the rest.

After fighting their way up from the third tier, Malaga will look to avoid the drop with a budget but tightknit squad – they have been under judicial administration since 2020.

There will be tears in Valencia as Los Che play their final campaign at the iconic Mestalla stadium, but who knows if Uefa Conference League runners-up Rayo Vallecano will be able to play any home games at all.

The regional government of Madrid has stripped the club of its license to host matches at its rented Vallecas stadium due to the dilapidated state of the facilities.

The holiday park operator changed its accommodation grading over a year ago, and has clarified how this will affect customers, but some have taken to social media to voice their disappointment

Parkdean has changed the way it grades its accommodation and it has left some customers ‘disappointed’, while others have been left confused by the update.

A number of guests have taken to the Parkdean Resorts Complaint Group on Facebook and shared their experience of booking accommodation with the holiday park operator.

Parkdean’s website explains that its grading system is now based on the size of the accommodation, rather than quality or age, so Bronze, Silver, and Gold run from smallest to largest. There are also ‘Premium’ options in each of these grades.

But some customers have claimed that this is different to how other holiday parks grade their accommodation, which could make it confusing. A member of the Facebook group claimed: “Gold caravans were always more luxurious than silver or bronze and this was reflected in the higher price. This new pricing system is not only confusing but very disappointing if you think you are paying for gold quality and end up with bronze instead.”

A spokesperson for Parkdean Resorts, said: “Guests consistently tell us how much they enjoy staying at our holiday parks, and we’re proud to maintain a strong TripAdvisor rating of 4.2 from more than 12,000 reviews.

“Our accommodation categorisation system was introduced over a year ago to help guests find the holiday experience that best suits their needs. As explained on our website, accommodation is categorised by size rather than quality or age, with premium options available across each size category, offering enhanced features and higher-specification fixtures and fittings.

“All of our accommodation is maintained to high standards, and we remain committed to providing every guest with a great holiday experience.”

But some holidaymakers in the Facebook group are still claiming to be left unhappy with their accommodation. One claimed they “booked a gold van” but felt “very disappointed” at what they felt “can be described as a silver van at best”, alleging that staff on site told them “that the grading system has changed and there is nothing they can do”,

Another claimed they had “booked a gold premium caravan and at best it was a bronze” at Sandy Bay Northumberland. They alleged that when they asked a member of staff they were told “pictures are only for illustration only and the status as in bronze, silver gold or gold premium is on the size of the caravan and not the spec”.

There are other holiday park operators that do grade their accommodation based on facilities rather than size. For example, Haven offers six caravan grades, from Saver to Signature Gold, and while some grades such as Bronze and Silver are around the same size, the latter offers extra features such as an outdoor deck.

Park Holidays also offers four core tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, with bronze described as an “affordable option” while “platinum caravans are crafted to the highest standards and include private decking, en-suite facilities and premium finishes.” There’s no mention of sizing on its website.

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