daughter

Our present podcast era has bred a new generation of interlocutors from the public sphere, veteran interviewees turned journalists. Harper Simon is among the many pro musicians who have taken on the role of insatiably curious interrogator. The singer-songwriter, who is the son of Paul Simon, has made four solo albums and toured the country both as a solo artist and sideman, but it wasn’t until he was tapped by music manager Michael Lustig in 2016 to host an internet series called “Talk Show” that Simon found his new avocation.

The cream of Simon’s interviews have now been collected in “Thinking Out Loud,” which is published by L..A. imprint Hat & Beard Press. I chatted with Simon about the art of the interview, Pink Floyd and Ed Snowden.

✍️ Author Chat

I have found that people who have been interviewed a lot are good at interviewing others. They know how to avoid the banal and obvious questions.

I’m not a trained journalist, so the conversations were closer to what Andy Warhol’s “Interview” magazine used to be. More of a casual back-and-forth, rather than me trying to ask questions or having someone promote their product. So the book is really a combination of folks that I’ve known my whole life and others that I just asked to interview.

Interviewing public figures can be a very stilted experience. And then you wind up not getting much of anything.

Interviews with journalists are a funny thing. There is always this weird, uncomfortable hierarchical relationship, where the journalist might feel superior, or the subject feels that way. It creates this strange imbalance. The journalist might feel the need to wrest some hot information from the subject, or find some aha moment and then the subject gets their guard up. I feel like the interviews in my book are very relaxed. You’re going to get some truth, even if it’s a modest truth. There were some interviews I left out of the book because the subjects seemed too media trained or too guarded.

Some of your interviewees, like Eric Idle and Buck Henry, are people you’ve known your entire life, having grown up with your dad in that kind of very stimulating artistic milieu. Does that help or hurt?

I think I might get better material from folks like that. There’s a warmth there, but I’m also a huge fan of their work, so I want to hear about Eric Idle’s work with Monty Python, or Buck Henry hosting “Saturday Night Live.” There are still plenty of stories that I’ve never heard.

Harper Simon, the artist and son of Paul Simon, has released three solo albums and toured the country. His latest project is a collection of interviews.

(Demme)

Someone like Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has been interviewed hundreds of times in his career. What is there left to ask?

It’s kind of like my father, where the legacy is so familiar and well-known, what is there left to be said? What is there left to say about “Dark Side of The Moon”? But it turned out to be a really good interview. He had some great things to say about [Pink Floyd founder] Syd Barrett, how Gilmour felt like the other members had behaved callously towards him at times. He also speaks with great warmth about his own family.

Harry Dean Stanton is in the book, and I have to empathize. He was by far the most difficult interview subject I’ve ever had to deal with. A man of few words.

It’s funny, because I wound up doing some projects with Harry Dean, like this big tribute event to help raise money for Vidiots in Eagle Rock, but even after all of that, we didn’t get any closer. He was a very hard person to know.

You interviewed James Woolsey, and you guys were definitely not on the same page, but the tone remains civil. Don’t you think it’s important to have a reasoned discourse with someone you don’t agree with politically?

Absolutely, but that was one that definitely became contentious at times. James Woolsey had been the former head of the CIA under Clinton. So I came into the interview feeling very outgunned. I’m not a trained political journalist. But somehow I had gotten it in my head that I was Abbie Hoffman and he was J. Edgar Hoover or something. This was 10 years ago, and Edward Snowden was the big story in the news. So I led with that, and Jim Woolsey, being a good CIA man with very strong convictions, felt that Snowden was a traitor. But then he said he would like to see him hung by his neck, which felt aggressive. Then things really went off the rails when we somehow got locked into a discussion about Israel and Palestine. I remember him saying to me, “You’re just parroting the talking points of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Now I found those words echoing in my thoughts when I listen to some people discuss the current situation. I respected him and enjoyed the conversation but it was intense. I thought I held my own reasonably well but he was a tough guy to get in the ring with.

(This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

📰 The Week(s) in Books

“‘Second Skin’ is more sociological than sexy; more anthropological than animalistic,” writes Meredith Maran.

(Los Angeles Times illustration; book jacket from Catapult)

Meredith Maran thinks Anastasiia Fedorova’s book “Second Skin” does a great job of busting open the taboo of what is commonly regarded as deviant sexual desire. The book “advocates for a person’s right to like what they like and to get it consensually,” writes Maran.

Victoria Lancaster has a chat with Emily Nemens about her new novel “Clutch” and the challenges of writing about midlife among a clutch of close female friends. “I was cognizant of balance and understanding the lazy-Susan of it,” says Nemens. “Making sure I was spinning all the way around the table and touching each piece in each storyline.”

Two new novels about game-changing women in history — Janet Rich Edwards’ “Canticle” and Paula McLain’s “Skylark” — find favor with Bethanne Patrick. What these books “get right about their very different heroines and time periods is that change doesn’t happen overnight. … [But] change can and does happen, one determined woman at a time.”

Finally, on the occasion of the new screen adaptation of “Wuthering Heights,” six authors weigh in on their love of Emily Brontë’s enduring romance novel.

📖 Bookstore Faves

Skylight Books on Vermont is a staple of the Los Feliz literati.

(Joel Barhamand/For the Times)

Let us praise Skylight Books, which for over 30 years has remained a pillar of its Los Feliz community, with the main shop and the arts annex just a few doors away from each other on Vermont Boulevard. Store manager Mary Wiliams tells us what her customers are sweeping off the shelves right now.

What is selling right now?

“Vigil” by George Saunders is our biggest seller right now. Aside from that, it seems like great recent fiction in paperback is dominating the bestseller list — “Rejection” by Tony Tulathimutte, “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” by Haruki Murakami, “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar, and “All Fours” by Miranda July all are books that keep on selling really well for us, month after month.

Do you sell more fiction than nonfiction, or is it a tie?

We sell a good amount of both, but fiction is the bigger seller. Especially literary fiction, which is our bread and butter. On the nonfiction front, “Everything Now” by Rosecrans Baldwin is a perennial bestseller out of our Regional section — it’s a great collection of essays about Los Angeles. And everything Patti Smith touches turns to gold, so her book “Bread of Angels” is also a hit here.

Your arts annex is unlike anything else in L.A. I suppose there is still a market for cool periodicals and expensive art books that the internet hasn’t knocked out?

Our goal with the annex is for it to be a place of discoverability — where you can find the weird cool art book, comic or magazine you didn’t know you needed. We hope even our customers who are well-versed in art books find something new every visit. A fair amount of what we carry isn’t widely available online in the U.S., so when we put it on our website in our Annex Picks section and advertise it in our newsletter, we get orders from around the country.

Skylight Books in Los Angeles is located at 1818 North Vermont Ave.

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)

Eric Dane said he first shut down emotionally at just 7 years old, when navigating his father’s sudden death from a gunshot wound in a bathroom at his family’s home.

It wasn’t until his diagnosis with ALS decades later that the seasoned actor felt his own spirit return, Dane said in an interview released Friday on Netflix. The actor died Thursday at 53 following a public battle with the disease. The nearly hour-long interview, filmed in November, is part of the docuseries “Famous Last Words,” which features posthumous interviews with notable figures — the first centered on conservationist Jane Goodall and released two days after her death.

The actor spoke candidly about his debilitating disease, saying it “made me a little bit softer, a little bit more open.” The intimate conversation was conducted by television producer Brad Falchuk, who executive produces “Famous Last Words.”

“All I’m left with is me,” Dane said. “It’s kind of a f— up way of realizing that you were enough the whole time, when everything gets taken away and all you have left is this person.”

In the episode, Dane’s speech is noticeably slurred, and he sits in a motorized wheelchair while speaking to Falchuk. He’s thoughtful and responsive throughout as he reflects on his life and career, which spanned more than three decades.

“I didn’t think this was gonna be the end of the road for me. This was never part of the story I created for myself,” Dane said.

The actor described himself as a complainer during the interview, adding that he’s “always historically been the guy that would b— and moan on his way to doing anything, but my spirit has been surprisingly pretty buoyant throughout this journey.”

A final message to his daughters

Dane stared straight into the camera in the last few minutes of the Netflix special, his voice wavering when tears welled up in his eyes. He directed his parting words to his two daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, sharing four lessons he’s learned from ALS.

“Billie and Georgia, you are my heart. You are my everything. Good night. I love you. Those are my last words,” Dane said.

Dane married Rebecca Gayheart, the mother of his children, in 2004 and the couple separated in 2017, though the divorce was never finalized. They maintained a friendship after their separation, though, and Dane said he had “never fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca.”

Dane said he spent most of his life “wallowing and worrying in self-pity, shame and doubt.” But with ALS, he was “forced to stay in the present,” he said, which he encouraged his daughters to do.

Eric Dane, left, in conversation with Brad Falchuk on “Famous Last Words.”

(Courtesy of Netflix)

“I don’t want to be anywhere else. The past contains regrets. The future remains unknown, so you have to live now,” Dane said. “The present is all you have. Treasure it. Cherish every moment.”

Dane also encouraged his daughters to fall in love, not just with people, but with something “that makes you want to get up in the morning,” he said. For Dane, that love was acting, which “eventually got me through my darkest hours, my darkest days, my darkest year,” he said.

The actor, who was open about his struggles with addiction, had been sober for nine years before slipping back into drug and alcohol use during a writer’s strike that halted “Grey’s Anatomy” production in 2007.

Dane told his daughters they inherited his resilience and urged them to “fight with every ounce of your being, and with dignity.”

Dane added: “This disease is slowly taking my body, but it will never take my spirit.”

ALS diagnosis brought peace

Aside from throwing a few punches to people who “deserved it,” Dane said he had no crazy confessions to make as the interview came to a close.

“I’ve never murdered anyone, Brad,” the actor joked to Falchuk.

The actor assured he lived a life full of fun, whether healthy or unhealthy. His fruitful career took off with his role as Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan in “Grey’s Anatomy.” The gig started as a one-time guest role but “ignited a fan hysteria so intense,” Falchuk said, that the show was rewritten to make Dane a leading man.

Dane further cemented his legacy when he portrayed Cal Jacobs in “Euphoria,” a complicated character who leads a double life, which Dane said he related to. “I know what it’s like to not have my inside match my outside,” he said, referencing his long-standing battle with drugs and alcohol addiction.

His ALS diagnosis freed him from a constant state of self-judgment, Dane said, and helped him realize that he was always “absolutely more than enough.”

“I hope I’ve demonstrated that you can face anything. You can face the end of your days, you can face hell, with dignity,” he said.

Not only is Betye Saar a living legend, but the prolific L.A. artist continues to add to her impressive oeuvre day by day.

She’s been creating powerful, thought-provoking artwork since the ’60s and her pieces have been shown at the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and LACMA, as well as museums and galleries around the world.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

As her centennial birthday approaches this July, Saar shows no signs of slowing down. She still routinely creates art and continues to garner headlines and accolades. Last year, she was honored with the distinction of “Icon Artist” at the Art Basel Awards. During the upcoming Frieze Los Angeles art festival, which opens Feb. 26, she will be the subject of the photography installation “Betye Saar Altered Polaroids.” And this May, “Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar” will debut at Roberts Projects, the gallery that represents her. The exhibition will feature pieces from her early career as a costume and jewelry designer.

Though she’s skilled at painting and photography, she’s most widely known for assemblage, the art of juxtaposing miscellaneous items to form a single cohesive work. Her dioramas, sculptures and large-scale multimedia installations explore the legacy of American slavery, confront racial injustice and celebrate the strength and resiliency of African American women.

“I work with found objects that had another purpose before they came to my hands,” Saar says while seated at a patio table in her succulent-filled tiered garden. “The hardest part of it is going to a flea market, secondhand stores, an estate sale or even just going behind a store to see what people throw away.”

Over the years, she’s traveled by plane, train and automobile in search of usable materials. Meanwhile, admirers, colleagues and gallery workers have sent her curios from New Mexico, Tennessee, New England and beyond. Her daughters — artists Alison and Lezley, and writer Tracye, their mother’s studio director — also stay on the lookout for objects that might catch her eye.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I have quite a collection,” she says.

Indeed, Saar’s multi-level home studio in Laurel Canyon is bursting with dozens of old empty picture frames, discarded window panes, wooden chests, antique chairs and vintage clocks. But there’s always room for more.

Her idea of a perfect Sunday includes foraging for new items (or old ones, as the case may be) to use in her daily art practice. And she’d return to her roots to do it.

“Pasadena is my hometown and I still have a few relatives that live there,” she says.

While visiting her old stomping grounds, she’d embark on a multi-stop shopping spree and wander through a longtime favorite San Gabriel Valley attraction (where her work just so happens to be on display).

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

10 a.m.: Search for hidden treasures

Pasadena Community College Flea Market is something that’s part of “the hunt.” Alison usually drives, sometimes Tracye. Some people are there early to get the deals; we’re not like that anymore. I like to look around and sometimes I find interesting fabrics, scarves to wear and strange-shaped succulents for my garden. I hardly ever find really good antiquing things there, because those are at antique stores and they’re usually pretty pricey. But I bought an old, rusty metal birdcage the seller said was from France. I like rusty stuff for my art. I also found an indigo blue kimono to wear at an art event later this year.

1 p.m.: Replenish with Thai food

I’d go down Fair Oaks Avenue — there’s some secondhand stores. Usually, it’s nothing I can use, but I still can’t say no. I have to go see for myself. Then, lunch at Saladang Garden. I always order chicken sate and the green papaya salad. Last time I went, we tried the Thai corn fritter which was really good and crispy. If food is too spicy, I can’t eat it. But somebody in my party would always have something spicy and I can have a spoonful to add to mine.

2:30 p.m.: More shopping

I am attracted to all the odd things at Gold Bug. Notepads and trinkets, curious vintage-y things with animals or interesting patterns, strange candles. Sometimes I surprise myself by buying something. They have a mixture of things that — whether it’s for the color, or the texture — I feel that I can recycle and fit into an art object that I’m making.

3:30 p.m.: Visit a childhood haunt (with a side of more shopping)

I really like the Huntington’s gardens. I remember the first time I went there was with my mother and a friend of hers, and we walked around. All the paths were dirt, you know, they hadn’t even gotten around to paving it yet. But I just fell in love with it. And I really like their gift shop.

6 p.m.: Head west for a culinary classic

If I go someplace to eat for lunch, I usually have leftovers to warm up. Nothing wrong with leftovers — if you liked it the first time, you’ll like it again! But if I had to go out to dinner, the Apple Pan. I would go there in the ’80s with my daughters. I like their sandwiches, or the hickory burger with cheese, and there’s good French fries.

8 p.m.: Tuck into some wind-down watching

Before bed, I like to watch the news because, otherwise, I don’t know what’s going on. I also like a lot of shows on PBS. “Finding Your Roots,” or dramas like “Sister Boniface Mysteries” and “Call the Midwife,” which has been going on forever!

GORDON Ramsay is seen fighting back tears during his daughter Holly Ramsay’s engagement party in scenes from his new Netflix show.

The emotional moment came just hours before a bitter family fallout broke out between Holly’s now-husband Adam Peaty’s parents and the Ramsay clan.

In the six-part series, Being Gordon Ramsay, swimming champ Adam and his fiancée Holly are seen throwing a lavish bash with Adam’s mum Caroline in attendance.

Holly and Adam’s engagement party is caught on film – with both the Ramsay and Peaty families in attendance.

During the evening, Holly thanks her fiancé Adam for his constant love and support.

And while she gives the speech, Gordon is seen holding back tears while watching on with his wife Tana.

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Elsewhere during the evening, Gordon was filmed saying: “The most important family is the one you create and she [Holly] comes from an incredible family so its now her time to create her own family. It is quite a moment.”

The party marked one of the last times that the Ramsay family were with the Peaty clan before their public feud imploded.

Despite Gordon having a close relationship with his son-in-law, Adam’s parents have publicly blasted the family after they weren’t invited to Holly’s hen do and were later uninvited to the wedding.

Holly’s mum Tana and close family friend Victoria Beckham were invited on the hen do, but Caroline was left off the guest list.

The family have since been in a war of words during their very bitter feud.

Gordon addressed the fallout for the first time earlier this month ahead of his Netflix show launching, saying: “It’s just upsetting.

“It’s all self-inflicted from their side, because we’ve done nothing – none of what you’ve read: no rudeness, no ignorance – we welcomed them.”

He added to the MailOnline: “We sent a chauffeur-driven car for them to come to the engagement party and treated them like royalty.

“So to get that barrage of press was very hurtful. Tana took it very seriously.”

All episodes of Being Gordon Ramsay are available now on Netflix.

The cause of death for Victoria Jones, the daughter of Hollywood legend Tommy Lee Jones, has been revealed a month and a half after she was found dead in a hotel in San Francisco on New Year’s Day.

The San Francisco medical examiner released a report Tuesday ruling her death accidental, the result of the toxic effects of cocaine. The 34-year-old was discovered dead at the Fairmont San Francisco in the early hours of Jan. 1.

San Francisco police responded to a call at 3:14 a.m. regarding a report of a deceased person at the hotel. Officers met with medics at the scene who declared an adult female dead.

Jones briefly pursued acting, making a cameo alongside her father in “Men in Black II” (2002) and later appearing in “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” (2005), which was directed by her father. She later largely remained out of the spotlight and struggled with substance abuse.

In August 2023, her father petitioned that she be placed under temporary conservatorship, according to Marin County court records.

At the time of the filing, she was under a 14-day involuntary psychiatric hold at a hospital in the community of Greenbrae, and her father wanted her to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility, according to a copy of the petition acquired by the San Francisco Chronicle.

“The proposed conservatee needs to recover and work towards sobriety,” the petition stated. “For these reasons, the proposed conservatee will suffer irreparable harm if her residence is not changed from a hospital to a rehab facility.”

Margaret Caron Schmierer was granted temporary conservatorship over Jones in August 2023. Jones retained an attorney and fought the conservatorship.

Then, in December 2023, Tommy Lee Jones filed a petition for the convervatorship to be terminated, which was granted, court records show.

In 2025, Jones was arrested twice in Napa County.

She was charged with three misdemeanor counts — being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of a narcotic and obstruction of a peace officer — from an incident on April 26. She was later charged with misdemeanor domestic battery from an incident on June 13, court records show. She pleaded not guilty to all charges and the cases remained open at the time of her death.

Jones was the daughter of Tommy Lee and ex-wife Kimberlea Cloughley. She is also survived by her older brother, Austin Jones.

Tommy Lee Jones is known for his Academy Award-winning role as U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard in “The Fugitive” (1993) alongside other iconic roles such as Agent K in “Men in Black” (1997) and as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in “No Country for Old Men” (2007).

Staff writer Tracy Brown contributed to this report

THE cause of death of Victoria Jones, the daughter of Hollywood legend Tommy Lee Jones, has been revealed after more than a month.

The 34-year-old was tragically found dead at a luxury San Francisco hotel in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Officials have now confirmed the former child star died from a cocaine overdose.

A harrowing 911 call came in to emergency services at 2:52am on January 1 saying a woman had suffered a suspected overdose.

Staff thought Jones had been drinking when they found her lying on the ground on the 14th floor of the ritzy Fairmont hotel.

She was spotted by a guest who thought she “might be drunk”, a source told The Daily Mail.

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Paramedics rushed to save her, but desperate attempts to revive her failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The initial investigation ruled out foul play and stated that there were no signs of drugs around the body.

Today, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in San Francisco announced that Victoria’s death was due to the “toxic effects of cocaine” and ruled it an accident.

Victoria Kafka Jones was the daughter of the actor Tommy and his ex-wife Kimberlea Cloughley, who divorced in 1996.

Her heartbroken family spoke out the day following her death, saying: “We appreciate all of the kind words, thoughts, and prayers.

“Please respect our privacy during this difficult time. Thank you.”

Victoria acted as a child, appearing in Men in Black II and later The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. 

She also made a one-episode appearance on One Tree Hill.

Although she stepped away from acting, Victoria still appeared with her father at public events.

In the year before her death, Victoria was arrested at least twice, court records show.

A police report was made in April last year by her husband, Navek Ceja, 44, who alleged she had been taking cocaine, the Daily Mail reports.

He claimed his wife had been using the drug over a 48 hour period while staying at his family’s luxury winery in Napa.

Cops arrived at the scene and said Jones was talking quickly and “was fighting with her body movements”.

She tried to fight away the officers and claimed the 911 call was a mistake, the report adds.

Jones later admitted to using cocaine and was taken to a local jail where officers found a white powder inside her coat.

She was charged with being under the influence of drugs, resisting arrest and possessing a controlled substance.

Two months later, Jones and Ceja reportedly got into a heated fight at the Carneros Resort and Spa in Sonoma.

Ceja, 44, told police that they got into an argument after he confronted her about her drug and alcohol use.

Jones allegedly slapped Ceja around the face twice.

Police were called and Jones was arrested and taken back to the Napa County Jail where she was charged with a misdemeanour domestic violence charge.

Both of the cases were never resolved with Jones due to be in court on the domestic violence count on January 20.

To age is to find one’s appreciation for life’s daily joys sharpen, especially as more inconvenient realities assert themselves. Lifelong Tangier resident Maria Angeles (Carmen Maura), part of the bustling Moroccan city’s entrenched Spanish community, is one such grateful senior. We see her at the beginning of “Calle Málaga” in a state of smiling contentment, walking her neighborhood streets and being greeted by vendors.

What she surely isn’t expecting, however, as she buys food and makes croquetas in preparation for an eagerly awaited visit from her daughter from Madrid, is that this trip will threaten all she holds dear. That’s because Clara (Marta Etura), a divorced mom struggling to pay the bills, arrives with the news that she’s selling the grand old apartment her widowed mother has lived in for 40 years. Won’t it be nicer for Maria to live with her in Spain and be closer to her grandchildren? Or at the very least be taken care of locally in Spanish-specialized assisted living?

The look on Maura’s face — this celebrated actor’s most well-honed tool — suggests a range of emotions regarding forced elderhood or grannydom that are far less accommodating.

How Maria handles her imminent uprooting is at the core of Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s third feature, her follow-up to the similarly sensitive family drama “The Blue Caftan.” “Calle Málaga,” written with Touzani’s husband Nabil Ayouch, is not a passive narrative, though, merely content with the internalized ache of acceptance. It is to some extent an emotional heist film and protest tale in delicate harmony, in that after initially agreeing to be placed in that Tangier senior center while her possessions are boxed up or sold, Maria schemes to steal her life back from under her absent daughter’s nose.

If you don’t look too closely at the details of Touzani’s charming scenario — which requires that a lot of things to fall into place, if enjoyably so — the movie becomes a sweet and spicy counternarrative to stories about aging that patronize their protagonists. (Another noteworthy example was last year’s rapturous American indie “Familiar Touch.”) Maria essentially becomes a crafty squatter in her own up-for-sale apartment, reclaiming some items from a hard-nosed but increasingly understanding antiques dealer (a well-cast Ahmed Boulane) and engineering a clever way to earn money with the help of friendly neighborhood kids who adore her. Her gambit even opens the door for unexpected romance, giving her frequent chats with Josefa (María Alfonsa Rosso), a childhood friend, an increasingly eye-opening frankness.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Maura, her almond-shaped eyes as powerfully suggestive as ever, conveying Maria’s rejuvenated spirit and sensuality with as much magnetism. Touzani, an unfussy, patient director with a fondness for the simplicity of human interaction, implicitly trusts her star to carry the film’s effervescence and complexity, although you may wish the filmmaking was a little less straightforward.

There is, after all, a reckoning for Maria’s situation we can’t help but keep in the back of our mind. Because our first brief glimpse of Clara is a sympathetic one — as opposed to conveniently antagonistic — we know “Calle Málaga” won’t settle for a tidy resolution. And it doesn’t, save leaving us with a view of Maria’s bid for freedom that, like the rose petal that is one of Touzani’s go-to visuals, beautifies the air whether still connected to the roots or separated and strewn like so much that’s fragile in life.

North Korea appears to have entered the stage of designating leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter Ju-ae as the successor, the spy agency was quoted as saying by lawmakers Thursday, marking a stepped-up assessment from its earlier evaluation of her as the “most likely successor.”

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) cited signs of Ju-ae expressing her views on certain state policies as one of the grounds for its latest assessment during a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, Reps. Park Sun-won and Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.

“As Kim Ju-ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor,” Lee said.

Lee said the latest assessment marked a step forward from the agency’s previous views when it described Ju-ae as being “trained” to become a successor, to now assessing her as being at the stage of “successor designation.”

The NIS also said it will keep close tabs on whether she attends the North’s key party congress late this month.

In January 2024, the NIS assessed Ju-ae, believed to be born in 2013, as the North’s “most likely successor” in its first evaluation of her possible succession in the reclusive regime.

Earlier in January, Ju-ae paid tribute at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the Kim family’s mausoleum, for the first time, together with her parents amid growing speculation about her potential succession.

If Ju-ae appears at the party congress or is awarded with an official title at the event, speculation about her being groomed as Kim’s successor will likely gain traction.

Meanwhile, on talks between the United States and North Korea, the NIS noted, “There is a possibility that North Korea could respond to dialogue with the U.S. if certain conditions are met.

“North Korea has expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. over the South Korea-U.S. fact sheet or the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula, but it has not ruled out the possibility of talks with the U.S. and has refrained from criticizing President Donald Trump,” the spy agency said.

The NIS also noted that the North has refrained from firing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) apparently to avoid provoking Trump, who is sensitive to such missile launches.

Around 10,000 North Korean combat troops and 1,000 engineer troops are currently deployed in the front-line Kursk region of Russia to support Moscow’s war with Ukraine, the spy agency said, with an estimated 6,000 North Korean soldiers killed or injured.

Some 1,100 combat and engineer troops that returned to the North last December could be dispatched again, it added.

“Despite suffering 6,000 casualties, the North Korean military has achieved the results of acquiring modern combat tactics and data in the battlefield, as well as upgrading its weapons systems with technical assistance from Russia,” the NIS said.

The agency also noted that Pyongyang has established a new department on unmanned aerial vehicles and is accelerating efforts to set up a system capable of developing and mass-producing drones.

As for inter-Korean relations, the NIS said North Korea is continuing to maintain its rhetoric of defining the two Koreas as “two hostile states,” adding that it has recently given guidelines to its officials and overseas missions to avoid engagement with South Korea.

On North Korea’s ties with China, the agency said they have “not gained momentum yet.”

“Although trade between North Korea and China reached US$3 billion last year, the highest in six years, this is only half the level before the imposition of sanctions,” it said.

Meanwhile, the intelligence committee discussed the issue of repatriating two North Korean soldiers held by Ukrainian forces.

The government is making every effort to assist their defection to South Korea as they have expressed their willingness to defect to the South, the NIS said.

Little is known about Kim’s daughter, Ju Ae, who made her first public appearance in 2022 but appears set to be her father’s successor.

South Korea’s spy agency believes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to designate his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his successor, increasing the agency’s earlier assessment of the teenager being the “most likely successor”.

The National Intelligence Service in Seoul informed legislators of the news during a closed-door briefing on Thursday, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency. Their intelligence agency’s findings were later shared with the media by South Korean politicians Park Seon-won and Lee Seong-gwon.

“Kim Ju Ae’s presence continues to be highlighted at events such as the recent Armed Forces Day ceremony and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and there are even signs that she is expressing opinions on some policies,” Lee told reporters, according to Yonhap.

“We believe that she has now entered the succession selection stage,” Lee said.

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun is considered one of the most important places in North Korea as the final resting place of the country’s Great Leader Kim Il Sung and his son Dear Leader Kim Jong Il – the current Kim’s grandfather and father, and Ju Ae’s great-grandfather and grandfather.

Yonhap reports that if Ju Ae attends or receives a title at the ruling Workers’ Party congress later this month, a key political event that analysts believe will see major policy goals unveiled, speculation about her path to succession will “gain traction”.

Very little is known about Kim’s daughter, including her official age, though she is believed to still be in her teens.

Her first public appearance was in 2022 at the test launch of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile, and she has been photographed alongside her father at numerous events across the country since then.

In January, she was photographed by Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency attending the test launch of a large-calibre multiple-rocket launch system alongside her father.

She also travelled by armour-plated train with her father to Beijing in September to attend a military parade marking 80 years since Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, where she would have mixed with both Chinese and Russian leaders.

Seoul’s spy agency also said that Kim is currently directing the development of a large submarine ‌that is likely capable of carrying up to 10 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and which may be designed to be powered by a ‌nuclear ‌reactor, according to the politicians Park and Lee.

It’s all in the family for El Camino Real soccer.

The head coach for the defending City Section Open Division champion boys soccer team is Ian Kogan, whose daughter, Jordyn, is a top defender for the El Camino Real girls team.

In two seasons, Kogan and girls coach Eric Choi will be talking even more, because arriving in the fall 2027 will be Jordyn’s sister, Peyton, and Choi’s daughter, Leighton.

“I can’t wait,” Choi said.

Both teams found out their City Section playoff seedings on Monday. The boys team is seeded No. 1. The girls team is seeded No. 3 behind Cleveland.

Here’s the link to pairings.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

This Morning presenter Ben Shephard will host ITV’s new reality show The Summit

ITV’s new reality show The Summit is sent to air in just a few hours as a number of contestants including a I’m A Celebrity star’s daughter take on major challenges.

The Summit, hosted by This Morning presenter Ben Shephard, will see a group of people attempt to reach the peak of one of New Zealand’s biggest mountains.

Ben will join 13 non-celebrity contestants, and they will head out on an epic 100-kilometre journey across a wild, mountainous landscape.

Their goal is to climb 8,500ft to the Summit of a distant mountain to win a share of a cash prize of up to £200,000, with the format already a hit in Australia.

The programme was originally thought to be debuting on UK screens in 2025, but according to TVZone, the launch date was pushed back to 2026 due to scheduling.

The Summit kicks off tonight (February 10) on ITV1 at 9pm. The following episode will air at the same time the following night on Wednesday (February 11.)

Episode three will air on Wednesday, February 18, marking the move away from two episodes a week.

However, from here The Summit will air on consecutive Tuesdays leading up to the series finale on Tuesday, March 17.

The Summit’s full line-up

I’m A Celebrity’s Gillian McKeith’s daughter Afton is among the many contestants who has signed up for a new ITV reality show.

The pageant and fitness coach, 24, who competed to be named Miss England last year, will take part in the reality show.

Speaking about why she wanted to take on the big challenge, Afton revealed: “I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, ground myself and take on a new adventure in order to grow as an individual.”

The star said her biggest strengths is her leadership skills and my ability to strategise however her weakness is “lack of hygiene” as she admitted it was a major “concern”.

• Charlett – 38-year-old Pole Fitness Instructor from Wiltshire
• Jenny – 46-year-old Sales and Marketing Manager from Peterborough
• Dockers – 36-year-old Senior Construction Manager from Hull
• Tara: 31-year-old Social Media Influencer from Manchester
• Tyra: 24-year-old England Football Scout from London
• Warren – 52-year-old Ordained Minister and former Gladiator from London
• Patrick – 24-year-old Content Creator from Milton Keynes
• Miranda – 50-year-old Publican from Northampton
• Colleen – 48-year-old Ex-Steel Worker from Port Talbot
• Drew – 32-year-old Project Manager from North London
• Thomas – 29-year-old Tour Guide from Winchester
• Sean – 25-year-old Customer Service Advisor from Liverpool
• Joel – 35-year-old Mentor/Coach from Loughborough

The Summit airs tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX

**For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website**

Snoop Dogg‘s daughter Cori Broadus and her fiancé Wayne “Duece” Polk bid a final farewell to their baby girl, less than a year after welcoming her into the world.

Broadus and Polk celebrated the life of their infant daughter, Codi, over the weekend in a memorial attended by family and friends. On Sunday, Broadus shared various scenes from her baby’s funeral to her Instagram page, including pictures from the church reception, of loved ones wearing matching “Codi’s Crew” outfits and of the infant’s casket in the ground with flowers and a teddy bear laying atop.

“Part of me went with you,” Broadus captioned her Instagram carousel. “My girl for life.”

In a video from the memorial, Broadus mourned her daughter’s short life and all the moments they could have shared in a moving eulogy. Broadus lamented being unable to see her baby girl take her first steps, bring her to her first day of school and support her through the highs and heartbreaks of life together.

Broadus, with Polk by her side, said “I don’t understand why this happened.”

“I’m trusting God, but that doesn’t mean it makes sense to me. Some days I wonder if this world was just too cruel for someone as pure as you,” she continued. “Other days, I wonder how I’m supposed to live in a world without you in my arms.”

Broadus, 26, and Polk became parents to baby Codi last February. The baby girl arrived prematurely, after Broadus’ 25-week pregnancy. The happy mom at the time detailed her emotional pregnancy journey, which she said included “blaming myself because I wasn’t able to give her all that she needed.” Broadus said she praised God for supporting her and making her daughter’s birth possible.

Broadus had detailed her infant’s health issues in December, describing her daughter in a poem as a “miracle wrapped in tubes and tape” with “lungs trying to catch up to the life inside her.” The Choc Factory Co. makeup executive said she felt guilty that her daughter might also suffer from lupus, an autoimmune condition she was diagnosed with in childhood. In her poem, Broadus said she was hopeful her daughter would live a healthy life beyond the hospital walls of the NICU.

In January, Broadus revealed that her baby girl was back home in her arms and shared photo and video to Instagram. Weeks later, she announced she “lost the love of my life.”

Broadus said in her eulogy that amid her mourning she feels relief that her daughter is at rest.

“I find comfort knowing you have your angel wings now, knowing you are home, safe.”

STACEY Solomon has shared an insight into her daughter Belle’s third birthday celebrations.

Marking her youngest’s special day, mum-of-five Stacey, 36, pulled out all of the stops with plenty of sweet treats and decorations.

Hosting a home party for the youngster, there was a three-tiered pink castle birthday cake, a mini donut wall, a stacked fruit cake, an afternoon tea spread of fancies and smaller cakes and a selection of sweet and savoury snacks.

Belle, who Stacey shares with husband Joe Swash, also had a giant balloon in the shape of the number 3, a giant teddy bear balloon and a number of pastel decorations.

Sharing pictures from the celebrations, Stacey gushed on her Instagram page: “Birthday Belle. And just like that our littlest pickle is THREE. Time is a thief.

“Happy birthday darling girl. The most confident, hilarious, sweet, strong, happy little pickle. “

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She continued: “The smallest but definitely the most mighty! If you ever wondered who the boss of pickle cottage is, she’s right here.

“To the moon and back beautiful Belle. And here’s to 3 years of me not being pregnant”.

Following the celebrations, Stacey’s husband Joe took Belle and her sister Rose, four, on a day out to further mark the big day.

Alongside their youngest girls, Stacey and Joe are parents to six-year-old son Rex.

Their blended family of six also includes Stacey’s sons Zach and Leighton, from previous relationships, and Joe’s son Harry, whom he shares with ex Emma Sophocleous.

Stacey and Joe gave fans a much closer look into family life last year with their eponymous TV show, a fly-on-the-wall look into their family life with their five kids. 

The series followed Stacey as she battled being a mum with her busy working life.

It also highlighted the spats Joe and Stacey have, which didn’t go unnoticed with fans. 

And following its popularity, the show is set to return for a third series, which is thought to air in late 2026.

It’s not known whether filming has begun yet, or whether fans will get to see milestones such as Belle’s birthday in the upcoming episodes.

With his six-volume magnum opus “My Struggle,” Karl Ove Knausgaard became one of Europe’s most acclaimed contemporary novelists.

At once epic and intimate in scope, the books used the raw material of Knausgaard’s life to answer questions about male identity, the obligations of fatherhood and marriage, and what it takes to become a serious artist. In his new novel, “The School of Night,” Knausgaard further explores the mysteries of artistic greatness, using as his template Christopher Marlowe’s 16th century play “Doctor Faustus.” Knausgaard sets his story in mid-1980s London, where two aspiring photographers named Kristian and Hans try to find their footing in the art world.

I spoke to the Norwegian writer about the devil, photography and Radiohead.

✍️ Author Chat

Your novel’s plot and characters are based on Christopher Marlowe’s 16th century play “Doctor Faustus,” which is about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. Was this something you’ve been thinking about for a while?

I read Thomas Mann’s novel “Doctor Faustus” when I was 19 and it made a big impression on me. It’s been with me ever since then. The devil theme has hovered over some novels I’ve written, so it remained, and then I wanted to set this novel in London, where I now live, and where Marlowe was murdered. I wanted all of this in the background, but I didn’t know how to use it. That came during the writing.

The two young artists in “The School of Night” are photographers, an art form that has long been associated with the occult and summoning the unseen world. One thinks of the spirit photography trend of the 19th century in England.

I wrote about the first photograph in the novel, shot by Daguerre in 1848. I have it on my wall in my office. It’s a Paris street, which I find very unsettling and spooky, because even though it’s daytime there are no people on the street because the exposure was too slow to capture them. There’s just this lone figure, in the center of the frame who looks like the devil. I find it intriguing that the devil might have been present when the first photograph was taken.

Karl Ove Knausgaard, one of Europe’s most acclaimed contemporary novelists, sets his newest novel, “The School of Night,” in mid-1980s London.

(Solve Sundsbo for D2)

I think one of the reasons for the enduring appeal of the Faust legend is, if given the chance, most people would sell their souls for success, especially artists.

I think you’re right. And it is also a way of explaining something that is really mysterious, how a kind of normal, maybe even mediocre person could achieve something great overnight. When I was 19, I could have cut off my left arm to just have a book published. And when I wrote “My Struggle,” I was so frustrated in my writing, I was willing to go to extremes, to just make something happen. And then I didn’t think much about that when I wrote “The School of Night.” But it’s all kind of obvious to me afterwards that I use that feeling of doing something I really shouldn’t, and I could have stopped, but I still did it.

To your point: Kristian, your protagonist, has an artistic breakthrough when he photographs a dead cat that he has boiled. I guess my question is: A boiled cat?

Oh, that’s just due to the way I write. I never know what’s going to happen in a book. He’s starting to think about inner structures that keep up life somehow. And then, he thinks, how could he take photos of that? Well, maybe a cat. And then you have to practically get a cat. And then it’s like 25 pages of me describing how to boil a cat. I never planned it, you know.

Do you not outline your novels beforehand?

No, never, I’ve never done that. I do really try to be present and see what happens there. And then there will always be consequences of the choices you make, and that will eventually be the novel. And in this case, the character is different from me, so his choices will be different, and that creates a different trajectory, really.

Your characters are music obsessives in ways that only men in their 20s can be: curating their record collections, and so on.

When I was young, music really meant almost everything to me. When I was 15, I went to a local newspaper and asked to review records for them. And I had my own radio show. I’m not obsessed anymore, but I did see Radiohead at the O2 Arena recently. They are the last band I really wanted to see, and it was absolutely fantastic. I had tears running down my cheeks.

(This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

📰 The Week(s) in Books

George Saunders’ new novel might be the dark humor read you need right now, writes Robert Allen Papinchak.

(Los Angeles Times photo illustration; cover from Riverhead Books)

George Saunders has published a new novel called “Vigil,” and Robert Allen Papinchak is besotted by it, calling it a “virtuoso achievement, an immersive experience for the reader.”

Nathan Smith had a Zoom chat with author Martha Ackmann about her new Dolly Parton biography, “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool,” and got the lowdown on how Parton’s fixation with over-the-top wigs began. “Her promotions man happened to be dating an actress who had a big part in the television series ‘Mr. Ed,’ ” Ackmann tells Smith. “This actress took her around, showed her L.A. and they went to the Max Factor store and tried on wigs.”

In an excerpt from this new book, “Football,” Chuck Klosterman makes a case for America’s favorite sport as best viewed in the privacy of our living rooms. “It’s not just that you can see a game better when you watch it on television,” he writes. “Television is the only way you can see it at all.”

Finally, Bethanne Patrick gives us the lowdown on the must-read books of February.

📖 Bookstore Faves

Fear not, grown-ups: Our kids are not digital zombies just yet. In fact, children’s bookstores are thriving in Los Angeles. Children’s Book World is the largest independent bookstore of its kind in the city, with over 80,000 titles for sale. The store is a wonderland of printed matter for kids, with readings, book clubs and even musical performances. I spoke with the store’s manager Brien Lopez to get the lowdown on what our kids are reading.

What’s selling right now?

T.Z. Layton’s “The Academy” series, which is about a global soccer competition for tweens, is one of our best sellers. This series has lots of boys who were not avid readers becoming strong fiction readers because they are about a subject they love and they are really fun reads.

What kind of YA books are popular right now?

For our particular store we sell lots of sunshine romance particularly targeted to new teens like Lynn Painter’s books, as well as both mysteries and suspense thrillers like Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ “Inheritance Games” series. Dystopian sci fi is also popular, like Soyoung Park’s “Snowglobe” duology.

Who are the popular authors?

We just had a 2,000-person event with Dav Pilkey for his new “Dog Man” book and how he gets kids excited about books and reading just can’t be underestimated. We also had big events with beloved authors Katherine Applegate, Stuart Gibbs and Max Brallier. Middle grade fiction and graphic novels are very popular at our store.

Are kids still interested in books, despite all the distractions in their lives?

Kids definitely are interested in books if they are allowed to read about subjects they enjoy and books they love. The moment you tell a child there is a good book versus a bad book to read you have stopped that kid’s reading journey in its tracks. Let kids read the books they love and they will do it for a lifetime.

Children’s Book World in Los Angeles is located at 10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd.

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)

Former Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner said Thursday that he is dropping out of the race for mayor, citing the recent death of his 22-year-old daughter.

Beutner, one of several candidates seeking to oust Mayor Karen Bass in the June 2 primary, made his announcement a month after the death of Emily Beutner, the youngest of his four children.

“My family has experienced the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter Emily. She was a magical person, the light of our lives. We are still in mourning,” Beutner said in a statement. “A successful campaign, and more importantly the job of Mayor, requires someone who is committed 24/7 to the job. Family has always come first for me. That is where I need to be at this time.”

Beutner’s daughter died Jan. 6 at a hospital, according to officials with the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office, which has not yet determined a cause.

The announcement comes as the lineup of candidates is still in flux, with Saturday’s filing deadline fast approaching.

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has been weighing a run, as has Maryam Zar, founder of the Palisades Recovery Coalition. Real estate developer Rick Caruso, who lost to Bass in 2022, is once again considering a mayoral bid — even though he publicly ruled that out last month — after The Times reported Wednesday that Bass was involved in watering down an after-action report on the Palisades fire.

Bass’ team said the mayor did not make changes to the report, saying “there is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire.”

Bass, who is seeking a second four-year term, already faces challenges from reality television star Spencer Pratt, a Republican who lost his home in the Palisades fire; Rae Huang, a community organizer who is also a democratic socialist; and Adam Miller, a tech entrepreneur and nonprofit executive.

If Bass secures more than 50% of the vote, she will win outright, avoiding a November runoff.

Beutner, who entered the contest in October, spent much of his campaign denouncing Bass’ handling of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead. The fire severely damaged Beutner’s home in Pacific Palisades and completely destroyed the residence of Beutner’s mother-in-law.

During the early months of his campaign, Beutner also criticized the mayor for hiking the fees that the city charges for trash pickup, sewer maintenance and other basic services.

In his statement withdrawing from the race, Beutner continued to highlight some of the problems he discussed during his campaign.

“Los Angeles is a special place, but every day it’s becoming less affordable, less safe and a more difficult place to live,” he said. “To solve these problems, new ideas are needed along with leadership capable of implementing them.”

Beutner’s daughter, a student at Loyola Marymount University, was found last month by the side of a highway in Palmdale in a “state of medical distress,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She later died at a hospital.

After that, Beutner largely disappeared from the public eye, canceling more than a dozen campaign events and asking the public for privacy.

THE Brooklyn family drama seems to have spilled over into another famous clan.

Brooklyn Beckham made headlines last month with a bombshell statement saying he would never reconcile with his parents, David and Victoria Beckham.

He blamed a range of issues, but singled out Victoria for allegedly dancing inappropriately with him at his 2022 wedding to American actress, Nicola Peltz.

Now it seems Anaïs Gallagher – the daughter of Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher – has caught some strays in the family saga.

Brooklyn has blocked his entire family on social media, and reportedly blocked his close friend Anaïs as well.

Fans speculated, “Did Brooklyn block you as well?”.

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She shared a cryptic post online that showed screenshot of a message exchange between her and a friend.

The text stated: “Mate have you seen BLANK story.”

To which Anaïs replied: “No I’m blocked. Please show me.”

She had blacked out the name of the person they were talking about, but it did not stop fans asking if it was Brooklyn.

One person commented on her post: “Did Brooklyn Beckham block you as well?”

Anaïs seemed to confirm her fans’ suspicions when she liked one of the comments about being blocked that read, “the ‘no I’m blocked’ is so real.”

The famous nepo babies grew close while studying at the Fine Arts College in London, and were even rumoured to be dating.

They had grown apart in recent years, but Anaïs did attend Brooklyn and Nicola’s 2022 nuptials.

However, earlier that same year she slammed his photography book, What I See, despite attending its launch event in 2017.

She posted, “I genuinely find this book offensive,” under a TikTok mocking Brooklyn’s What I See photography book, but it is not known if she meant the comment in jest.

Even though she was at their wedding in 2022, she was not in attendance when Brooklyn and Nicola renewed their vows last year.

Brooklyn explained why they renewed their vows in his scathing statement against his family.

“We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment,” he wrote.

This week, Brooklyn and Nicola ignored their ongoing family spat pictured kissing in front of the LA skyline.

In new snaps shared to Brooklyn’s Instagram, the couple could be seen sitting on a chair together kissing in front of a floor-to-ceiling glass window with the Los Angeles skyline behind them.

He captioned one black and white snap “My girl x”, while a colour shot saw them sitting with their limbs entwined on the chair as they both wore shades indoors.

PHIL COLLINS’ daughter Lily has paid a sweet tribute to him on his 75th birthday after the star revealed he has a 24-hour live-in nurse.

The Emily in Paris star, 36, took to Instagram to share a series of pictures to commemorate the special occasion.

In the first snap, the father and daughter duo are seen smiling for the camera, while in another photo, polaroids of the pair are seen laid out onto the floor.

In the third picture, a baby Lily is seen being held by her suave looking dad in the sweet throwback.

Alongside them, she penned: “Yesterday dad turned 75 and I feel so grateful to have celebrated together.

“For all you’ve accomplished, all the joy you’ve brought so many all over the world for ALL these years, all the lessons we’ve learned, all the memories we’ve shared, and all the new ones to come, thank you.

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“I count myself so lucky to have hugged you, laughed with you, reminisced with you on such a monumental day.

“Proud is an understatement. Love you to the moon and back again…”

Her followers and fans of the iconic singer flocked to the comments section as one gushed: “Your dad’s music has brought so much joy to my life and fans worldwide.”

Another person wrote: “Love this @lilyjcollins – and such a great pic of you two!!”

While a third added: “Glad you could celebrate such a special birthday together.”

The Netflix star’s tribute to her dad comes after he gave a major health update following health woes in recent years.

He revealed that he now has a 24-hour live-in nurse after five knee surgeries and his kidneys also “packing up”.

During a conversation with Zoe Ball for Eras – In Conversation for BBC Two, the hitmaker divulged: “Yeah, it’s an ongoing thing. You know I have a 24-hour live-in nurse to make sure I take my medication as I should do. 

“I’ve had challenges with my knee, I had everything that could go wrong with me, did go wrong with me.

“I got COVID in hospital – my kidneys started to back up, you know, everything that started that could, all seemed to converge at the same time.

“I had five operations on my knee now – I’ve got a knee that works and I can walk, albeit with assistance, you know, crutches or whatever.”

But despite his ongoing health issues, the musician is keeping optimistic about the future.

He told the presenter: “The things that are ahead for me would be, apart from just being back to being totally mobile and healthy, is go in there and have a fiddle about and see if there’s more music ’cause you know, you tend to sort of feel, that’s it, I’ve done that.

“But you’ve gotta start doing it to see if you can do it. Otherwise you don’t do it. So that is something on my horizon.”

Phil’s music career started in 1970 when he became the drummer for Genesis.

While remaining with the band, he also had a solo career in the 1980s which included hits such as Against All Odds and Two Hearts.

SNOOP Dogg’s 11-month-old granddaughter has tragically died – as daughter Cori Broadus says ‘I lost the love of my life’.

Cori revealed the news that her daughter Codi Dreaux died on Monday, just 20 days after her release from the NICU.

Cori had welcomed Codi – her first child with photographer fiance Wayne Duece – in February last year.

But Codi was born three months prematurely, and spent the first months of her life in the NICU before being discharged at the beginning of January.

Cori, 26, had excitedly announced “She’s home” on January 6 in an Instagram post, but now she has shared the devastating news that Cori has passed away.

She posted a black and white picture of her holding her baby daughter as she looked down and smiled at her.

Alongside it she wrote: “Monday, I lost the love of my life. My Codi.”

She also reshared her post about Codi coming home and wrote: “20 days later?! dawg im sick.”

Wayne also shared a post to his Instagram Stories on Saturday, which showed Codi gazing up at him as he cradled her.

He wrote: “I been the saddest since u left me Codi Dreaux. But I know u at peace. Daddy will always love you.”

Meanwhile, one of Codi’s nurses also shared a heartbreaking post, which Cori reposted.

It showed a black and white video of a crib and mobile hanging over it, with the caption: “I been sad for 6 days straight. Being a nurse has its ups and downs and this is the biggest down I ever experienced.

“It was such a pleasure being mybabygirls nurse. I gave her one last bath told her I loved her and didn’t even know I was getting her ready for Heaven.”

Cori is the youngest of Snoop’s three daughters with his wife of 28 years, Shante Broadus.

She was diagnosed with Lupus when she was six, and suffered a stroke in early 2024, which made her pregnancy high risk.

She gave birth to Codi when she was just 25 weeks along, but when Codi was six months old and in the NICU, she told Us Weekly her baby girl was “feisty”.

She said: “Codi just has so much character. The doctors and nurses always tell me: ‘Your baby got her mind. She’s smart. She’s alert.

“‘She knows what’s going on. She can hear. She can see. Yeah, the circumstances are not what you thought they would be, but it could be worse.’

“That girl is just a sweet little firecracker.”

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Austin Beutner’s daughter was found by the side of a highway in Palmdale the night she died, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

A passerby alerted authorities to a woman in a “state of medical distress” shortly after midnight Jan. 6 near Sierra Highway and Technology Drive, said Lt. Michael Modica of the sheriff’s homicide bureau.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene to assist paramedics, who treated Emily Beutner, 22, at the scene, Modica said. He could not say how long Beutner had been by the road, which is surrounded by empty fields.

She was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives have assumed control of the death investigation. Modica said this is typical when a young person is found in such a situation and should not be taken as an indication of the cause of death, which will be determined by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

Jeff Millman, a spokesperson for Austin Beutner, declined to comment.

Viridiana Aguilar, a spokesperson for the medical examiner, said earlier this month that her agency had not yet made a determination on the cause of death and had requested additional testing.

“Due to the ongoing death investigation, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner cannot disclose what testing and/or studies were requested,” Aguilar said. “Deferred cases can take a few months before a cause of death is determined.”

The medical examiner’s website indicates that Emily Beutner died at a hospital and does not list a cause or manner of death.

Beutner, a student at Loyola Marymount University, was the youngest of four children and the only daughter.

Her father, a former Los Angeles Unified school superintendent, is among the challengers seeking to unseat Mayor Karen Bass in the June 2 primary. Others include TV star Spencer Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, and Rae Huang, a community organizer and housing advocate.

Austin Beutner has sharply criticized Bass’ handling of the fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead. His own home was seriously damaged in the fire, forcing him to live elsewhere for the past year, and his mother-in-law’s home was destroyed.

Over the course of his career, Beutner did a stint as former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s “jobs czar.” He also spent roughly a year as publisher and chief executive of The Times.

Beutner has not publicly campaigned since Jan. 5, the day before his daughter’s death.

“My family has experienced the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter. We ask for privacy and your prayers at this time,” Beutner said earlier this month.

The young cast member steals the show according to fans

One of the cast members of a new hit Netflix series is a former social media star making her professional screen debut on the show.

Six-part comedy series Free Bert is one of the most watched shows on the platform since it released. According to the synopsis provided by the streamer, Bert Kreischer, shirtless comedian, party legend, perpetual wildcard, finds himself in uncharted territory when his daughters are accepted to an elite Beverly Hills private school. When his unbridled antics turn his family into outcasts, he decides to “put on a shirt” and stifle his true nature to better fit in.

While it doesn’t have enough critic reviews to warrant a Rotten Tomatoes score, fans have sung its praises online. Many sharing their thoughts have singled out the performances from the younger members of the cast.

One person posted: “It’s very funny, very watchable and very good. The cast is outstanding, especially the girls playing his daughters.”

But who is Ava Ryan who plays the eldest daughter? And how old is she? Here’s everything you need to know.

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How old is Free Bert star Ava Ryan?

Ava Ryan is one of the breakout stars of Free Bert. She plays one of the on-screen daughters of Bert Kreischer.

The character is very much based on the comedian’s real life eldest child Georgia. Ava makes her professional screen debut with the role.

While Bert’s real children are now aged 19 and 21 respectfully, the series portrays them as High School age. According to the website Famous Birthdays, Ava Ryan was born February 21, 2010 and is 15 years old.

She is a social media star who has appeared in posts and videos alongside her mother since she was a baby. Her mum shared clips of Ava on Instagram, Vine, Facebook and YouTube. One of their most popular posts was a video of Ava saying “I smell like beef” which gained millions of views.

Now a teenager with her own account, Ava boasts more than 1 million followers on her own Instagram account. Her on-screen mother played by comedian Arden Myrin recently shared a tribute to Ava on social media.

She said: “Have you watched Free Bert yet on Netflix? I love these girls so much. Lilou Lang and Ava Ryan both had their first professional acting jobs on this show and they hit it out of the park. And more importantly, they are as funny and kind and warm as they are talented. It was a joy getting to work with them. Ava and Lilou feel like my family even though they are just my TV family.”

Free Bert is streaming on Netflix.