blue

The pope is visiting Turkiye until Sunday on his first overseas trip as pontiff, which also includes a visit to Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV has visited Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque on the third day of his trip to Turkiye, his first known visit as leader of the Catholic Church to a Muslim place of worship.

The first US pope bowed slightly before entering the mosque early on Saturday and was led on a tour of the expansive complex, able to hold 10,000 worshippers, by its imam and the mufti of Istanbul.

Leo, walking in white socks, smiled during the 20-minute visit and joked with one of his guides, the mosque’s lead muezzin – the official who leads the daily calls to prayer.

“He wanted to see the mosque, he wanted to feel the atmosphere of the mosque, and he was very pleased,” Askin Tunca, the Blue Mosque’s muezzin who calls the faithful to prayer, told reporters.

Tunca said after the mosque visit that he asked Leo during the tour if he wished to pray for a moment, but the pope said he preferred to just visit the mosque.

The Vatican said in a statement immediately after the visit that Leo undertook the tour “in a spirit of reflection and listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer”.

While Leo did not appear to pray during the tour, he did joke with Tunca. As the group was leaving the building, the pope noticed he was being guided out a door that is usually an entryway, where a sign says: “No exit.”

“It says no exit,” Leo said, smiling. Tunca responded: “You don’t have to go out, you can stay here.”

The pope is visiting Turkiye until Sunday on his first overseas trip as pontiff, which also includes a visit to Lebanon.

Leo, a relative unknown on the world stage before becoming pope in May, is being closely watched as he makes his first speeches overseas and interacts for the first time with people outside mainly Catholic Italy.

The Blue Mosque is officially named for Sultan Ahmed I, leader of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617, who oversaw its construction. It is decorated with thousands of blue ceramic tiles, the basis of its popular name.

Unlike his predecessors, Leo did not visit the nearby Hagia Sophia, the legendary sixth-century basilica built during the Byzantine Empire, which was converted into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire, then became a museum under Turkiye’s newly established republic.

But in 2020, the UNESCO World Heritage site was converted back into a mosque in a move that drew international condemnation, including from the late Pope Francis who said he was “very saddened”.

The Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo, visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque as part of his four-day trip to Turkiye. Officially called the Sultanahmet Mosque, it was built in the sixth century and has great significance to both Christians and Muslims.

Hugh Jackman never thought he’d be a karaoke guy. But then Neil Diamond happened.

Starring opposite Kate Hudson in the Christmas Day release “Song Sung Blue,” the 57-year-old Australian actor portrays not the legendary Grammy winner and shaggy-haired sex symbol, but rather a Neil Diamond “interpreter,” the real-life Mike Sardina, who, with his wife and stage partner, Claire (Hudson), found unexpected success with a tribute band in mid-1990s Milwaukee.

It was this film that recently brought the “Greatest Showman” star to Diamond’s Colorado ranch, where the two participated in a singing session that convinced Jackman to buy his own karaoke machine.

The only guide you need for holiday entertainment.

“Normally, I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do that,’” says Jackman, over Zoom from a New York hotel room, as if he’s confessing a mortal sin. “But I did karaoke with Neil, and I’m like, ‘All right, now I’m in.’”

What did they sing? Diamond soloed on “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Misérables,” paying tribute to Jackman’s musical theater bona fides, before the two duetted on Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and, of course, Diamond’s own “Sweet Caroline.” The good times never seemed so good.

It was a hang session so epic that Hudson, joining the call, seems green with an envy that matches her sweater. “I can’t believe I missed this karaoke party,” she says. “I have a whole karaoke setup at my house with a microphone and everything. I feel very left out.”

Thankfully, when it came to making “Song Sung Blue,” it didn’t seem so lonely for her. Based on Greg Kohs’ 2008 documentary of the same name, the film is as much Claire’s tale as it is Mike’s, following the real couple’s love story set to the tune of Diamond’s extensive songbook. At the height of their success, which included playing with Pearl Jam at Eddie Vedder’s request, the Sardinas became local celebrities, billed as the duo “Lightning & Thunder.”

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in the movie “Song Sung Blue.”

(Focus Features)

A Vietnam vet and mechanic with a dream of entertaining, Sardina seems a role tailor-made for Jackman, who can go from Wolverine to Broadway in a single season. “Song Sung Blue” writer-director Craig Brewer, who first saw the documentary at a small film festival in Memphis, Tenn., never envisioned anyone but Jackman as the insatiable Wisconsinite.

“It was always Hugh because there’s not anybody else out there who could understand the wild showmanship that Mike Sardina had,” says Brewer, calling from his Memphis home. “He’s doing two layers of a character. He’s playing this working-class guy that loves to entertain any way he can. If he’s got to wear sequined shirts, he’s going to. He’s going to give you everything he has.”

The role presented a puzzle for Jackman, despite having played career impresarios like pop idol Peter Allen and P.T. Barnum. “I had to lose Hugh Jackman to be Mike,” says the actor, relaxed in an umber-colored button-down shirt. “How does Mike find himself within his love of Neil? It took me a second to find him and lose my shtick, because I’m a performer too.”

Ultimately, the solution wasn’t his Neil Diamond impersonation, though Brewer encouraged Jackman to make a meal of that. “You can lay a little bit more butter on it,” the director remembers telling him.

Instead, Jackman’s breakthrough came via deep self-identification.

“His dream was always huge but this was not how he thought it was going to go,” Jackman says. “It was that ‘one plus one equals three’ thing where, all of a sudden, they found themselves being the next big thing.” Similarly, Jackman never intended to become a movie star synonymous with musical theater. He’d never even sung before a post-university audition changed the course of his life.

“One of the hardest things to do is fake chemistry,” Kate Hudson says. “You can’t do that. You have to actually fall in love with each other and find the chemical connection.”

(Victoria Will / For The Times)

Hudson is a less-obvious casting choice. Though she’s made a career playing rom-com heroines, with “Song Sung Blue,” she’s already generating awards buzz for her turn as a guileless Midwestern mom miles away from the glittering women Hudson typically portrays, and one with her fair share of trauma. She has to go to some dark places, channeling Claire’s depression, addiction to painkillers and more — but despite her penchant for playing more carefree women, Hudson says she wasn’t intimidated by the role’s meatier aspects.

“When you grow up with storytellers,” she says, referencing her actor parents Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, “you forget the camera’s there. You’re not thinking about anything glamorous. You’re looking at the role and what it needs. It’s what you long for as a performer. It allows you to almost leave your body.”

For Hudson, the opportunity also dovetailed with a new act in her own life as a recording artist. Even though she released her debut album “Glorious” only last year, Hudson has long identified as a singer-songwriter. “I was always so scared of it,” she confesses of her fear of going public about her songwriting. “But the studio is where I’m very happy. I’ve been in the studio since I was 19, but I just never shared my music because I was too scared to put it out.”

It was a discovery Jackman made while they were recording their vocal tracks for the film. “I said, ‘You’re a musician,’” he recalls, Hudson beaming at him. “You were so relaxed and in your home.”

“I’ve always had a lot of cheerleaders for me to do music,” Hudson replies, sheepishly.

Some might see it as a full circle moment for Hudson, who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as the groupie Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s 2000 rock memoir “Almost Famous.” It was such a formative experience that Hudson still remains close with Crowe. She tells me she’s reading his new book, “The Uncool,” to prepare to interview him on his tour.

But no matter how much Penny Lane has shaped her life, Hudson doesn’t see a through line from her to Claire. Instead, she draws a line between fandom and musicianship, specifically the distinction between those who chase the high of being in the room or backstage living the lifestyle, and those who have a song they have a visceral need to share.

“With Claire, it needs to come out,” she continues. “It doesn’t matter where or what we’re doing or how we’re doing it — we just need to do it. That is also how I feel about music.”

The real-life Claire Sardina and her two children (played by Ella Anderson and Hudson Hensley on-screen) threw their full support behind “Song Sung Blue.” But Hudson’s instinct was to build her own version of Claire without too much outside influence. “You want to make a choice in a film because it’s the right choice for the character, not because you’re trying to mimic something,” says Hudson.

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in the movie “Song Sung Blue.”

(Focus Features)

That need to avoid mimicry and feel the moment was particularly crucial for the film’s heartbreaking second act, in which Claire is hit by a car in her front yard and loses a leg, plunging into self-loathing, depression, body dysmorphia and addiction. Hudson had to do extensive physical work to prepare to authentically represent Claire’s lived experience. “Movement is a huge part of what actors do,” she says. “There’s the emotional part but the physicality is like rebalancing your brain.”

In addition to watching YouTube videos of amputees and speaking with those in the disabled community, Hudson got useful advice from another screen legend — her dad.

“Kurt said that Claire is like Rocky,” she says, referring to the iconic character’s grit and determination to go the distance. “The part that really got my dad emotional was that she just wanted to figure out how to get on her feet.”

Jackman marvels at the bravery and skill of Hudson’s performance, noting that she even captured something the real Claire told him off-camera.

“Claire said, ‘The thing is Mike was a leg guy,’” he remembers. “Kate played that so well. That feeling of shame about: Is my partner attracted to me anymore? I found that incredibly moving.”

Hudson welcomed the challenge, but she did worry about one thing outside her control. For “Song Sung Blue” to work, the actors playing Claire and Mike need to be in perfect alignment: one the words, the other the tune.

“One of the hardest things to do is fake chemistry,” Hudson says. “You can’t do that. You have to actually fall in love with each other and find the chemical connection. That was my biggest anxiety.”

Jackman shared this concern. “I remember the first day after our table reading, you said, ‘This movie works if we work,’” he reminds her.

They needn’t have worried. “They were a net for each other as the other one was up on a tightrope,” Brewer says. “It was incredibly inspiring for the crew to see that kinship and respect.”

Their mutual generosity is evident in the way Jackman checks in with Hudson after each anecdote during our interview, confirming she has nothing to add or correct. Though this is their first film together, their repartee is so easy and warm it’s hard to believe they haven’t co-starred in at least a dozen movies.

“It felt easy to just inhabit these characters,” Jackman says. “The word that comes to me is trust. All of the scenes, particularly in that darker period, we could just live in that — the frustration, the paranoia, the anger, the loss, the fear. Every take felt really very different. I felt very free.”

Hudson agrees, adding with a giggle, “I told Hugh, ‘I’m really tactile. Just tell me if I make you uncomfortable. I’m going to kiss you all the time.’”

It helps that Hudson and Jackman are naturally sunny, curious people, celebrities who’ve never cared for the sound of being alone. “We like to connect with people,” Hudson says. “There’s no internal process that removes us. We’re both community people. We like to be in the circus. When we’re on set, we sit on set. There’s no separation of crew and cast. It’s very rare that you work with someone who is like that.”

Ultimately, that openness allowed Hudson and Jackman to approach Claire and Mike with honesty, essential for a film that’s a fullhearted paean to dreamers at their highest and lowest.

“Eddie Vedder told me something that moved me so much,” Jackman says, a note of emotion in his voice. “He goes, ‘Some might say these people led small lives. Their dreams were so huge and perhaps, naive. But dreams are so powerful that 30 years later, it’s come true.’”

From playing Milwaukee dive bars to becoming the subjects of a major motion picture, the Sardinas have far exceeded even their own expectations. To quote another beloved Diamond tune, it’s enough to make anyone a believer.

IF you fancy some celeb spotting in the UK, there is one peninsula you need to head to.

Sandbanks in Dorset is known for being home to lots of celebrities and having very impressive beachside homes especially along Panorama Road.

The average price of a property on Sandbanks is just under £1million – the most expensive home is around £15 million.

Luckily, you don’t have to live in Sandbanks to visit as the nearest neighbourhood is in Poole, Dorset.

Sandbanks Beach is highly regarded having been dubbed by some as “Britain’s Best Beach” and “The jewel in the crown of the English Coastline”.

Sandbanks has won the Blue Flag award 38 times, which is every year since the scheme began in 1987.

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Not only that, but according to Tripadvisor, Sandbanks was the ‘world’s most sustainable beach’ for 2024.

The beaches were measured by a sustainable data partner along with Tripadvisor traveller reviews – winners stand out for their commitments to sustainability including transport options, waste disposal and water quality.

The area is home to former England manager Harry Redknapp and his wife, Sandra.

You might have seen their home on TV when the pair made an appearance on Celebrity Gogglebox.

Their son, Jamie Redknapp even named his clothing brand ‘Sandbanks’ after the area.

Other famous residents who have lived, or live, in Sandbanks include Celia Sawyer, J.R.R Tolkien, John Lennon and Liam Gallagher.

Chef Rick Stein is the name behind one of Sandbanks’ most famous restaurants on the Peninsula – Rick Stein, Sandbanks Restaurant and Bar.

The restaurant has celebrated 50 years and here you can enjoy fresh fish dishes from caviar to tuna sashimi, lobster thermidor and crab linguine.

Along the coast from Rick Stein is Lazy Jacks Restaurant and Bar which is known as being a relaxed eatery with waterside views.

Here you can enjoy sea bass, ribeye steaks, fish and chips, pizzas with various toppings, burgers along with Sunday roast choices.

Another popular spot is CAFF, which is a café along the front which serves homemade cakes, huge milkshakes, Full English breakfasts and hot dogs.

For staying in Sandbanks, there are various options from Haven Hotel, to Sandbanks Hotel, to holiday rental apartments.

To get to Sandbanks, you can walk across from the mainland.

The nearest coastal towns are Poole, which is 17 minutes away, or a 15-minute drive from Bournemouth.

From the neighbourhood, visitors can hop aboard the Sandbanks Ferry goes between Sandbanks and Shell Bay beach on Studland.

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For more in Dorset, check out the English village that is Britain’s prettiest with quiet beaches and huge castles.

Plus, how to enjoy a south coast staycation in Poole without having to hit the beach.

WITH a bright blue flowing river, mountains and a huge canyon, you might think this spot is in America at first glance.

But no, this beautiful place is not in Arizona, instead it’s in one of the prettiest French regions, and Brits rarely travel to it.

You’ll find this spot in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, which is one of the six departments in the Provence region.

The department is home to ‘Europe‘s Grand Canyon’ called Gorges du Verdon in France, which is a huge limestone gorge carved by the very blue Verdon River.

The Gorges du Verdon is 15 miles long, up to 700 meters deep, and between 6 and 100 meters wide at the bottom.

While it’s a great place to get pictures, there’s even more you can do there, from hiking to climbing, and watersports.

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The river begins near the town of Castellane, and ends at the Lake of Esparron.

To see more of the natural beauty, and particularly wildlife, head to the Verdon National Park where there are vultures, eagles and falcons.

There are also wolves, chamois (a type of goat-antelope), roe deer, wild boar, and ibex, as well as reptiles, bats, fish and scorpions.

The Sun’s Brittany Vonow explored France in a campervan earlier this year where she discovered the incredible canyon along the way.

She said: “One highlight was a visit to the Verdon Gorge, a river canyon close to the region of Quinson, filled with deep turquoise water.

“We filled up on a quick lunch from our gas stove — two minute noodles with some tinned veg mixed in — before hiking the stunning mountains bordering the water.”

Brittany continued: “Our “cooee” calls echo around the rock faces and at that moment, it feels like we are the only people left in the world. A short drive west of here took us to Sainte Croix Verdon, home to a huge lake with waters as turquoise as the Verdon Gorge.

“With each turn, southern France shows off its jaw-dropping vistas, from rolling lavender fields to gorgeous gorges that make way for towering snow-capped mountains and picturesque French towns nestled in between.”

The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence also has mountains with ski resorts in the north, with many in the Verdon valley.

The department is also famous for its lavender fields, especially the Plateau de Valensole – to see them in bloom, visit from late June to mid-July.

The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department of France has no main airport and so it’s not as visited as some of its neighbours nearer the coast like Marseille and Nice.

These cities are the ones that Brits will have to fly to, and then drive into the department from.

Both Marseille and Nice are around two and a half hours away from the Verdon Gorge by car.

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For more in France, here’s an underrated city that has a ‘bit of everything’ with picturesque beaches and new cheap hotels.

Also in France is the world’s most beautiful village – with classic car tours & fairytale lavender fields.

Video shows damage to Afghanistan’s shrine of Mazar-i-Sharif, also known as The Blue Mosque, after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Officials in the area say at least seven people have been killed and 150 injured.

Toronto’s veteran starter Max Scherzer came out of the game with the lead still 3-1 in the fifth inning, and the Dodgers rallied in the sixth when Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly scored Mookie Betts to reduce the deficit to one run.

Back came the Blue Jays, when Ernie Clement’s stolen base put him in position for Gimenez to drive him in with a right-field double.

As is common in a World Series game seven, both sides made frequent pitching changes, even turning to starting pitchers from earlier in the series.

Trey Yesavage, who had started games one and five for Toronto, gave up Muncy’s solo shot in the eighth, before Rojas’ last-gasp effort off Jeff Hoffman levelled the scores.

Toronto loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but failed to conjure a run, and the Dodgers did the same in the 10th as expectation mounted, but both sides fluffed their lines.

It was only the sixth time in history that a World Series game seven had gone to extra innings, and Smith’s homer put the Dodgers within sight of the title.

The Blue Jays were tantalisingly close to taking it to a 12th inning or even winning it with a walk-off, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ winning pitcher from games two and six, picked up another win in relief and was named as the series’ Most Valuable Player.

Will Smith’s 11th-inning home run allows LA Dodgers to win Game 7 against Toronto Blue Jays and record seventh World Series title in franchise history.

Will Smith homered in the 11th inning after Miguel Rojas connected for a tying drive in the ninth, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in Game 7 on Saturday night to become the first team in a quarter century to win consecutive Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series titles.

Los Angeles overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees, and the first from the National League since the 1975 and ’76 Cincinnati Reds.

Smith hit a 2-0 slider off Shane Bieber into the Blue Jays’ bullpen, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 96 pitches in the Dodgers’ win on Friday, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and pitched 2 2/3 innings for his third win of the Series.

He gave up a leadoff double in the 11th to Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who was sacrificed to third. Addison Barger walked, and Alejandro Kirk grounded to shortstop Mookie Betts, who started a title-winning 6-4-3 double play.

Dodgers rally to win Game 7

With their ninth title and third in six years, the Dodgers made an argument for their 2020s teams to be considered a dynasty. Dave Roberts, their manager since 2016, boosted the probability that he will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.

Bo Bichette put Toronto ahead in the third with a three-run homer off two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who was pitching on three days’ rest after taking the loss in Game 3.

Los Angeles closed to 3-2 on sacrifice flies from Teoscar Hernandez in the fourth off Max Scherzer and Tommy Edman in the sixth against Chris Bassitt.

Andres Gimenez restored Toronto’s two-run lead with an RBI double in the sixth off Tyler Glasnow, who relieved after getting the final three outs on three pitches to save Game 6 on Friday.

Max Muncy’s eighth-inning homer off star rookie Trey Yesavage cut the Dodgers’ deficit to one run, and Rojas, inserted into the lineup in Game 6 to provide some energy, homered on a full-count slider from Jeff Hoffman.

Toronto put two on with one out in the bottom half against Blake Snell, and Los Angeles turned to Yamamoto.

He hit Alejandro Kirk on a hand with a pitch, loading the bases and prompting the Dodgers to play the infield in and the outfield shallow. Daulton Varsho grounded to second, where Rojas stumbled but managed to throw home for a force-out as catcher Smith kept his foot on the plate.

Ernie Clement then flied out to Andy Pages, who made a jumping, backhand catch on the centre-field warning track as he crashed into left fielder Kike Hernandez.

Seranthony Dominguez walked Mookie Betts with one out in the 10th, and Muncy singled for his third hit. Hernandez walked, loading the bases. Pages grounded to shortstop, where Gimenez threw home for a force-out. First baseman Guerrero then threw to pitcher Seranthony Dominguez covering first, just beating Hernandez in a call upheld in a video review.

The epic night matched the Marlins’ 3-2 win over Cleveland in 1997 as the second-longest Series Game 7, behind only the Washington Senators’ 4-3 victory against the New York Giants in 1924.