girls

DUA Lipa has shown off her incredible figure as she shared a slew of bikini snaps from a girls trip abroad this week.

The singer has been spending the last few days in Portofino on a girls’ trip to celebrate her pals’ engagement.

And sharing pictures from the getaway, Dua showed off her toned torso as she posed in a striped colourful bikini.

In the carousel of snaps, the singer lay on a sunbed while smoldering to the camera.

She also shared selfies with her pals as they soaked up the sun at the five-star Splendido, A Belmond Hotel.

The trip comes after she tied the knot with Callum Turner over the summer in a stunning Italian wedding.

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The smitten couple legally tied the knot at Old Marylebone Town Hall. 

They later celebrated their wedding with a huge three-day celebration in Italy, attended by stars including Elton John, Charlie XCX and Mark Ronson. 

And Callum spoke out on the nuptials for the first time this week, telling Esquire of the first legal ceremony: “It was amazing, and it was… it was the most beautiful day of my life.”

He added that it’s a “weird feeling” that so many people across the world are talking about them getting married. 

Callum said: “We went to the park yesterday, and everyone who walked past said, ‘Congratulations’. It was pretty surreal.”

On the subject of having children, he continued: “Obviously, yeah, I’m 36. I’d like to have a family and raise some kids.”

Mater Dei and Sierra Canyon have been the two best high school girls’ volleyball teams in the Southland the last several years and the likelihood is high that they will meet in the Southern Section Division 1 finals for a third consecutive season.

Mater Dei won the state Open Division championship in November, led by four seniors now suiting up for NCAA Division I programs — setter Sam Capinpin at Cal State Bakersfield, libero Lizzy Robinson at Oregon and middle blocker Addison Coady and outside hitter Layli Ostovar (the 2025 Gatorade California player of the year) at USC.

The Monarchs won the Queen’s Court Invitational (the last preseason warmup tournament) in Irvine at the start of the month and boast one of their deepest rosters in coach Dan O’Dell’s 14 seasons thanks to five elite transfers: senior opposite hitter Katherine Nowak from JSerra; junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Sienna Cicero from Orange Lutheran; junior middle blocker Reagan Williams from Sunny Hills; junior outside hitter Janiah Burrage from Rancho Christian and senior middle hitter (and Long Beach State commit) Saaliyah Brown from Etiwanda, all of whom are eager to contribute once the mandatory sit-out period ends Sept. 13.

Sierra Canyon senior Kendall Omoruyi, right, is one of the top middle blockers in the country.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

In a matchup of reigning state champions, Mater Dei prevailed in five sets over Harvard-Westlake in its Aug. 11 season opener, and it was no surprise that UCLA-bound senior hitter Westley Matavao made her presence felt with 16 kills, 19 digs and six aces. California commit Emma Kingston added 13 kills and three blocks as setting duties were shared by senior Kalea Lee (24 assists) and junior Riley Stringer (20 assists).

“It’s great to start out playing a team that’s just as competitive as us — it’s good prep for what we can expect all season,” said Matavao, who recorded 405 kills, 177 digs, 37 aces and 32 blocks a year ago. “This teaches us to not be laid back, to keep our foot on the gas. I think we’re better than last season because we have more versatility.”

Making an immediate influence was freshman Jimin Seung, who ended the first point of the season with a kill and finished with 10. On a team with 11 seniors, Seung is fitting right in with a fearless attitude and competitive drive.

“It was nerve-racking, but knowing our team is one, the nervousness turns to confidence,” Seung said. “I came to Mater Dei because it’s the place that felt most like home and I wanted to grow in my religion. I’ve only known Westley a few weeks and she’s already like a big sister to me. She’s a senior and I’m a freshman, but we have a lot in common because we play the same position.”

Mater Dei coach Dan O’Dell guided the Monarchs to the CIF State Open Division championship in 2025.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Though Mater Dei has superior depth, Sierra Canyon has a more experienced starting lineup — a nucleus of All-Americans consisting of Missouri-bound setter Lucky Fasavalu, Nebraska-bound middle Kendall Omoruyi and a trio of outside hitters in Eva Jeffries (Tennessee), Hanna McGinest (Texas Tech) and McKenna McIntosh (USC).

Filling the last rotation spot will be Isabella Torres-Wallace from ICL Academy; fellow sophomore middle Cassie Smith and junior Raneighla Gonzalez, who transferred from Heritage Christian last year but got hurt and played in only two sets. The top back row options for coach Stefanie Wigfall, who will likely pass the 400-win mark this season, are senior Olive Shum and Mira Costa transfer Blake Gurney.

Sierra Canyon, which beat Mater Dei to win its second section title in four years last fall, finished fifth at Queen’s Court without Fasavalu, Omoruyi and McGinest, who led the team a year ago with a combined 469 kills, 265 digs, 29 blocks and 28 aces. The Trailblazers beat Kahuku (Hawaii), Mira Costa, JSerra, San Juan Hills, Palos Verdes, Harvard-Westlake and Cornerstone Christian (San Antonio) to reach the finals of the Ann Kang Invitational in Honolulu. They then rallied past host Iolani, 18-25, 25-11, 15-9, in Saturday’s championship match to win the prestigious tournament for the first time.

Lucky Fasavalu helped lead Sierra Canyon to the Southern Section Division 1 title in 2025.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Division I state champion Harvard-Westlake got 12 kills each from sophomore Brooke Cotter and Boston College-bound Ruby Sampson and 11 from Princeton commit Sophia Cotter against Mater Dei. Last year the Wolverines finished third in the Mission League behind Sierra Canyon and Marymount, which has lost five Division I players to graduation — Sammy Destler (Washington), Elle Vandeweghe (Southern Methodist), Declan Eastman (Rice), Olivia Penske (Georgetown) and Frankie Jones (Brown) — but brings back Northwestern commit Makenna Barnes, setter/hitter Leighton Devereux and Katelyn Oerlemans, a middle/opposite hitter committed to Stanford for beach volleyball.

Challenging Mater Dei in the Trinity League will be Santa Margarita, which won the Southern Section Division 2 title last year behind player of the year Ireland Real, a Texas commit who pounded more than 400 kills and had 150 digs.

Mira Costa will be led by senior captains Brynn Barry (libero), Lerin Rosenthal (setter, opposite) and Allyn Hilt (outside hitter) but will have to overcome the loss of setter Milly McGee (USC) and hitters Audrey Flanagan (Wisconsin) and Simone Roslon. Bay League rival Redondo Union is in a similar circumstance, having to replace hitter Abby Zimmerman (Cal), twins Avery and Addi Junk (Florida State) and middle blocker Taylor Boice (UC Irvine). Cypress graduated CIF-SS Division 3 player of the year Isabella Faro.

Defending champion Palisades and Taft, which lost to the Dolphins in the Open Division semifinals last fall, are the preseason favorites in the City Section.

Matavao relished a chance to face her cousin Fasavalu (the CIF-SS Division 1 player of the year) in the finals again: “I think there’s a good chance we’ll see them again.”

Teams to watch: Mater Dei, Sierra Canyon, Marymount, Harvard-Westlake, JSerra, Santa Margarita, San Juan Hills, Mira Costa, Redondo Union, Newport Harbor, Los Alamitos, Long Beach Poly, Temecula Valley, Crean Lutheran, West Ranch.

“The Wrong Girls” is the right comedy if you want to unplug your brain and laugh. The first punchline doesn’t even have words. It’s just two stoner roommates, Frankie (Kristen Stewart) and Molly (Alia Shawkat), ripping a mega-hit and coughing at each other. Finally, they speak in unison: “Jinx.”

Frankie, a Stanford dropout, engineered the living room’s impressive “bong-a-tron.” Molly, a wannabe chef, bakes brownies spiked with pot and blue cheese. (We’re assured they‘re delicious.) These screw-ups share everything: a taste in thrift store cat paintings, a chillaxed attitude toward overdue bills and a comfy inertia that’s kept them both stunted, frustrating Molly’s boyfriend Josh (a likable Zack Fox). In turn, possessive Frankie thinks Josh is a buzzkill.

Soon, the insular twosome will share a mind, too, thanks to a telepathic drug they ingest like idiots, not that they have any gray matter to spare. That’s not entirely fair. The friends aren’t dumb; they’ve just been baked for so long that acting dumb is a habit. (Don’t worry, writer-director Dylan Meyer won’t force them to sober up.)

The plot is confidently stupid. A criminal courier (LaKeith Stanfield) mistakes Frankie for her more successful doppelganger Francis (also played by Stewart), saddling her with a briefcase that a trio of dangerous Danes are determined to steal back. Thus, our heroes must peel themselves off from the couch and go on the run with their resentful felines Dio and GG bouncing along in backpacks.

Voiced by Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani, the pets have opinions their owners don’t want to hear. “I’m pretty sure they’re the ones who gave us fleas,” GG sneers. I like those comics and live with two annoying Maine Coons. Nevertheless, these cats are too chatty.

Meyer is a screenwriter-turned-filmmaker who met Stewart on the set of the underseen 2015 comic thriller “American Ultra.” In the years since, she has also become Stewart’s wife. That’s important only because “Wrong Girls” has the pinpoint silliness of soulmates who spend a lot of time goofing around at home. Meyer wrote the script a decade ago about her friendship with producer Maggie McLean, but no doubt she knows better than anyone how much the smart and sensible-projecting Stewart delights in acting the fool.

The jokes are as flawlessly tailored to Stewart as Chanel couture, be they zany schemes, spacey freak-outs or the sly middle finger Stewart flashes with her 818-tattooed knuckles while her character suffers a jerk (Tony Hale). And they custom-fit Shawkat’s mellower Molly, who trots behind in Frankie’s wake of destruction. The sci-fi twist in the script turns their relationship into a send-up of co-dependence. Their insular bond can’t last forever — can it?

Meyer subverts a couple tropes, embraces others. Comedy capers like this usually deflate in the third act when their pleasures get punctured by unfunny gunfire. The movie sees that trap coming and dodges it by the skin of its teeth. Nimbly, it manages to be both a pacifist film and a subversive one with no faith in the system as it stands. Characters deliver jabs at “Jeff Bozos” and the Epstein class while slyly revealing you shouldn’t trust their takes, either. Frankie invents a new nonsensical insult, calling Molly’s boyfriend Josh “such a customer.” Sure, whatever that means!

“The Wrong Girls” shares its own hive mind with David Wain’s also-good “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” released earlier this summer. Both are star-studded, hyper-L.A. chase comedies that treat their central contrivances as nothing more than scaffolding for the scenes that actually count. Who cares what happens to the Danes’ precious briefcase? We just want to see Frankie and Molly melt down upon learning that their favorite all-you-can-eat lunch spot is closing due to uncertainty in the buffet sector (a eulogy for the real-life Souplantation, whose absence remains deeply felt).

Even within the tenuous reality of the movie, Frankie and Molly aren’t focused on saving their own necks, especially after their clairvoyant powers kick in and the friends realize they can communicate with closed mouths. As lab-coated figures played by Kate McKinnon and Geena Davis attempt to deliver exposition, the pals drown them out chit-chatting about drivel. The stars know it takes skill to act dumb. Christina Applegate described it best: About her portrayal of hair metal bimbo Kelly Bundy in “Married … with Children,” Applegate said, “In her own mind, she’s a genius.”

The film is just wonky enough to wonder if some beats got chopped out of it, like a go-nowhere running joke about how Hale’s front door won’t close or an aside about how Stewart’s Frankie once Jerry-rigged an escape parachute, which cinematographer Todd Banhazl seems to be reminding us of when he lingers on a shot of an awkward shindig’s helium décor. Banhazl does pull off one of the few inventive psychedelic sequences I’ve seen in a while. (To see another, go stream the giddy new campus comedy “Pizza Movie.”)

Or maybe “The Wrong Girls” is simply making an artistic statement about the joy of sloppiness. Here, to be chaotic and colorful is a badge of honor. Just compare the girls’ cluttered digs with their pursuers’ sterile white suits. In that same spirit of excess, there’s an extra scene in the end credits that goes over like a lead balloon. No one in my theater chuckled. But I respected it anyway for insisting on these jokers’ right to remain an unapologetic mess.

UNSEEN pictures from inside the hotel where Liam Payne died have revealed more details on the singer’s tragic final hours.

Haunting images show the One Direction star, 31, speaking to two call girls in the hotel lobby before leading them to his room as well as staff bringing him up chilled buckets of booze.

The troubled singer died after falling 46ft from his third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024.

Cops launched a probe into the tragedy – and collected CCTV footage and witness statements from call girls Aldana Serrano and Lucila Goitea.

The police dossier of more than 3,000 documents and photographs, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, gave a chilling glimpse into the One Direction star’s final hours.

Pictures show Liam swinging around a pole during an alleged booze-and-drugs fuelled bender the night before he fell from the balcony.

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Other photos from the day of his death show hotel workers delivering booze – believed to be champagne and whisky – to his room in buckets.

Further pics show two sex workers in reception before they are greeted by Liam and ushered towards his room.

Call girls Aldana Serrano and Lucila Goitea – who had consensual sex with Payne on the day of his death – told police the boy band star serenaded them with his own songs – before asking them for cocaine.

They also claimed the singer, who was worth £21m, argued with them over paying the agreed $5,000 (£3,700) fee for them to turn up at the hotel because he had no cash.

The star had been left alone in Buenos Aires after his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and friend Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores both left the country.

The pair claimed he had been completely sober for the two weeks he spent with them – but in their absence the star quickly spiralled.

Receipts reveal the One Direction star ordered $600,000 worth of whisky to his room on the day of his death.

Family members seemed to know the singer’s fragile state of mind – and gave devastating accounts to police following his death.

Heartbroken father Geoff Payne told prosecutors his son was “not in control with what he did”, adding: “He was not Liam”.

Group chat messages in the police dossier show hotel staff were concerned about Liam’s “aggressive” behaviour.

In a “Reception” WhatsApp chat, hotel manager Gilda Martin wrote: “This person is going to be very intense throughout his stay.

“It’s important that we tell him ‘no’, always kindly and with excuses.”

A person replied: “Will do whatever we can.”

And when a waitress called Adri was summoned to deliver five bottles of whisky to Room 301, she was warned: “Take security with you.”

A receipt dated the day of his death reveal the One Direction star spent more than $600,000 on bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky.

Payne, who had a history of addiction, allegedly begged reception staff for drugs.

A toxicology report taken after his death revealed that the star had cocaine, alcohol and the powerful sedative Klonopin in his system at the time of the fatal fall.

Hotel worker Ezequiel Pereyra, 22, and waiter Braian Paiz, 26, have since been charged with supplying drugs to the singer.

They spent months in jail but were later released on bail. They deny the charges.

The Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa

Lifestyle Editor Catherine Bennion-Pedley and her family found a knockout pool and fab food in the north-west.

SITTING among the fragrant herbs and lush veg of the Chef’s Garden, our lunch table is laden with local produce.

To get a real taste of a country, you can’t beat a cooking class, and this one, £40 per person, is a proper treat.

Chef Vishal helps us to whip up an array of seasonal, plant-based dishes, chargrilling aubergine and throwing together tantalising salads, including one using okra.

Even our kids, Poppy, seven, and Raffy, five, are tucking in, despite usually removing any sign of a green leaf from their plate.

As his final winning move, Vishal gets us to caramelise bananas for pud, using rich brown sugar from the isle and a portable stove top.

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The Westin prides itself on its wellness offerings, and is certainly nailing its Eat Well pillar.

There are five restaurants – our favourite is Fusion, serving up Japanese cuisine, including mouth-watering sushi we all devour.

Indian offering Kangan also makes for a memorable meal with highlights such as crispy lentil and rice dumplings with mint chutney and a taste explosion of a Goan fish curry.

Meanwhile, Seasonal Tastes’ buffet is brimming with choices, often with live musicians performing, too.

We spend most of our days at the main pool, which is so huge there’s ample room for both water aerobics classes and family ball games, plus there’s a giant poolside chessboard.

While there are undoubtedly resorts with more impressive beaches on the island – volcanic rock outcrops dot the coves here – on the largest stretch we make use of the free kayaks, plus we spot plenty of sea creatures while rockpooling.

Well worth a trip out is our visit to L’Aventure du Sucre, set in an historic sugar factory a 15-minute drive away.

We take a walk through the island’s fascinating history, from the Dutch settlement here in the 17th century right up to the current day, and learn about the importance of both the indigo and sugarcane crops.

The kids follow a quiz trail – a tube of sugar is the prize at the end – and we all dig in at the jam and sugar tasting stations.

Then, after sampling rums, we splurge on a bottle of Lazy Dodo, £26, and lychee jam, £6, as mementoes. Adult entry costs £19, kids over six cost £9.50 (Aventuredusucre.com).

Back at the hotel’s Heavenly Spa, nestled within tropical gardens, I feel much more flexible after a 60-minute signature massage, £80, and later, husband Andy joins therapist Selvi for a private yoga class on the jetty with just the sound of waves lapping beneath them, £56.

An hour later, he returns more serene than I’ve seen him in months. No wonder we meet so many returning guests – and one tips us off about a fire show on the beach that evening.

The spectacular tricks performed to an atmospheric soundtrack leave us in awe. A bit like Mauritius itself.

British Airways Holidays offers a seven-night family stay at five-star The Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa from £4,439 half-board, with flights (Ba.com/mauritius).

Veranda Paul et Virginie Hotel & Spa

Assistant Editor Kelly Allen and friends checked into an adults-only gem on the island’s north-east coast.

LOOKING out from the hotel’s scenic Poudre d’Or bar with its views of the infinity pool and, further out, the pristine sands and ombre water of the idyllic Grand Gaube Lagoon, it takes no time for the stresses of life to dissipate with a welcome rum punch in hand.

This place has just 81 rooms, so it feels intimate and is particularly popular with couples.

There’s a standard buffet with an excellent tropical fruit selection at the Isle de France eatery, but it’s à la carte restaurant Le Saint Géran, sitting at the end of the pier, that really wows.

One night, we tuck into a feast of Mauritian-style cod with satini pomme de terre, a local delicacy.

It’s essentially “potato chutney” of mashed potato, crispy fried red onions, dried red chillies, garlic and oil.

It goes without saying that I also have to leave room for the impressive smoky banana flambé.

The activities schedule is packed, too, with seafront sega classes – the traditional dance of the island – as well as rum mixing and Creole cookery classes.

Learning to make farata (Mauritian roti) from scratch using plain flour, salt and a splash of oil is so easy I’m convinced I’ll be recreating it at home.

It’s also ideal for soaking up the plethora of cocktails on offer, including a top-notch dark & stormy, before I retreat for a nap back at my room, which is rustic with a quaint thatched roof that feels like something from a different time.

One morning, we leave the serenity of our sunloungers to visit the Pamplemousses district, 20 minutes’ drive away, where we wander through Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens.

As well as an array of tropical plants, including giant lily pads, white lotuses and a medicinal spice garden, there is so much wildlife to spot, from fruit bats to deer, but my favourites are the giant tortoises.

Entry costs £4.75 per adult (Ssrbg.govmu.org).

Grand Baie, a famously lively area of restaurants and bars, is also nearby, and I pick up souvenirs of a cute shell hair clip and a bracelet in the bustling Bazar de Grand Baie.

As they say in Creole, for a dose of sun and plenty of rum, this place is ”bon bagay” – great stuff!

Stays for two at Veranda Paul Et Virginie Hotel & Spa cost from £243 per night all-inclusive (Veranda-resorts.com).

Return flights from the UK to Mauritius cost from £575.

LOVE Island winners Julia Majchrzak and Lorenzo Alessi have kissed and made up on a night out with their fellow villa friends.

The ITV2 dating show winners came to blows after he was clocked fawning over other female’s sexy pics on social media.

The champions were joined on a night out at London’s 100 Shoreditch.

Former Casa bombshell Julia looked stunning in an all-black dress made up of mesh and lace panelling.

With her hair slicked back, she looked every inch a TV star as she smooched her man.

Lorenzo looked slick in an open shirt with a blazer and slacks.

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Joining them for the reunion night were ex islanders Ellie Chadwick and Finley Maddock.

Ellie looked summer ready in a short yellow outfit with a feather bottom as she held hands with her fella.

It comes after the couple were grilled about the online drama on Capital XTRA.

Julia, 26, admitted she found his online wandering eye ‘not funny’ and was ’embarrassed’ by his behaviour.

She told the hosts: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online.

“He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”

It comes after a clip of the couple’s appearance on This Morning went viral last week, with fans left unconvinced by their relationship.

Joining Josie Gibson and Paddy McGuinness in the studio, Lorenzo and Julia were quizzed about their future plans.

But an unimpressed Julia grilled Lorenzo over why he had failed to organise a date and had barely seen her since they won Love Island together.

Viewers also claimed Lorenzo appeared distracted by former flame Jasmine, who was sitting just inches away with Kavan.

The 2026 matchmaking show champ, who scooped his share of a £50K cash prize during the final, has finally removed his profile from Hinge.

Also at the event were Priya and Aidan – who were dumped from the villa days before the final.

The reunion saw familiar faces return including pretty-in-pink Lola Deal and Seán Fitzgerald, Mica Harris and Samraj Toor, and hand-holding singletons Charleen Murphy and Martha Rothwell.

Julia and Lorenzo beat runners-up Jasmine Muller and Kavan Murphy, and third place stars Angelista Gunda and Simba Kudyiwa.

LIAM Payne allegedly flew into a drink and drug-fuelled fit of rage in his tragic final hours, according to sex workers who spent the day with the One Direction star.

The troubled singer died after falling 46ft from his third-floor hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024.

Sworn statements from call girls Aldana Serrano and Lucila Goitea were taken hours after the tragic fall.

Now the documents, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, detail harrowing accounts suggesting the singer was on a path to destruction that day.

The pair say they were called to the CasaSur Palermo Hotel by Liam, 31, on the morning before he died and had consensual sex with him.

But they claim that the singer, who was worth £21m, became frustrated when it became difficult to pay for an agreed $5,000 (£3,700) fee as he had no cash.

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He allegedly smashed his £30,000 gold Rolex telling them he could “get ten of those,” before punching the hotel room TV three times.

After calming down, he is said to have fallen to his knees and asked the women to stay, claiming that “money didn’t make him happy”.

They say that Liam drunkenly serenaded them with his own songs before asking them for cocaine.

A toxicology report taken after his death revealed that the star had cocaine, alcohol and the powerful sedative Klonopin in his system at the time of the fatal fall.

Hotel worker Ezequiel Pereyra, 22, and waiter Braian Paiz, 26, have been charged with supplying the drugs and are awaiting trial.

They spent months in jail but were later released on bail. They deny the charges.

The singer, who had a history of addiction, arrived in the Argentine capital 16 days earlier to wait for his US visa renewal.

He spent the first two weeks of the trip with girlfriend Kate Cassidy and Argentinian businessman Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, 38, and was said to be sober for the entire fortnight.

After Kate returned to Miami on October 14 and Roger also left, Liam is believed to have fallen off the wagon.

He was told to leave the plush five-star Park Hyatt after trashing his room and launching into an alleged drink-fuelled tirade at the staff.

Liam then checked into the more modest, four-star CasaSur Palermo, where he reportedly called the two sex workers.

The women, who investigators treated as key witnesses, alleged Liam contacted one of them via WhatsApp after finding her profile online.

According to their statements, he sent photos of himself in bed at the hotel and a video to prove his identity after one of the women struggled to believe she was speaking to the One Direction star.

They say they arrived at the hotel around 11.30am where they showed their IDs to the front desk before being sent up to Liam’s room.

They said there was a communication barrier as the star only spoke English and they only spoke Spanish, so they relied on a translation app.

They claimed he initially tried to pay by international bank transfer, but they were unable to receive the money.

One woman said: “During our time there, we had sex with him, which was consensual sex, only once, and he wore protection.”

After spending around two hours in the room, the pair said they again asked to be paid the agreed $5,000 (£3,700).

Liam instead offered them his £30,000 gold Rolex, according to the statements.

One woman said: “We told him we only wanted money so he took it and smashed it. He told us he didn’t care about the money.

“And then he broke the TV, he punched it. He made us understand that he could smash everything because he knew he could pay for it.”

The women claimed they decided to leave, but Liam followed them downstairs into the hotel lobby, where they told staff he had smashed the television and refused to pay them.

While waiting in the lobby, they claimed Liam repeatedly paced around the hotel before returning to his room and then coming back downstairs.

The pair later returned briefly to collect belongings they had accidentally left behind.

One recalled: “He apologised for giving us a bad time.”

The women claimed they left shortly before 4pm and where Liam continued to act erratically.

Liam fell to his death at 5.07pm.

Aldana and Lucila only learned of Liam’s death after returning home and scrolling on social media, before police arrived later that evening to take their sworn statements.

It is unclear if they ever received the money.

The medal ceremony was just under an hour later.

Morris had heard her victories played out for GB with a different anthem but she looked to be overcome when celebrating this one with the Welsh national song.

No time to immediately reflect on what she had just achieved though.

There was a quick chance for a picture with the Welsh flag and then off it was to the next task.

The scratch race started just 10 minutes later where Morris lined up with Welsh team-mates Megan Barker and Carys Lloyd.

It looked like they had concocted an almost perfect plan, with Barker going off a few laps out and Morris driving through to finish second behind Australian winner Georgia Baker.

A gold and a silver all in one day. Or so we thought.

Morris had already done some interviews celebrating this fact before she was given the message in the media mixed zone about her demotion.

Morris had been relegated for entering the sprinter’s lane when her New Zealand opponent was already there, and Scottish cyclist Erin Boothman was promoted to bronze.

Morris returned to do a couple more interviews, ironically, while the scratch closing ceremony was going on.

Morris reflected on her golden moment.

“It was just a dream,” said Morris. “We get that opportunity once every four years, so for it to come together tonight was amazing.

“I have my family and friends in the crowd and the support team from Welsh Cycling were also there.

“I’m going to carry that with me forever, it’s amazing.”

Morris seemed unaware of her dominance in the race.

“It was only when I crossed the line I knew I’d won the race,” said Morris.

“I focused on my ride and tried to execute it well and really leave it all out on the track.”

It had been a day of mixed emotions and, when asked to sum up her feelings about the scratch race, Morris was whisked off so we will have to wait for that verdict.

So, disappointment to finish the day but that should not take away from her pursuit domination and golden moment.

Morris is a world champion for a reason and she proved why.

Wales cycling have two special world-class talents in Finucane and Morris.

JOHANNESBURG — Oprah Winfrey says she will close the school for underprivileged girls she set up in South Africa two decades ago at the end of next year.

Winfrey opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007 after being inspired by conversations with former South African President Nelson Mandela about the transformative power of educating girls. He was among the guests at the school’s opening ceremony.

Winfrey’s charitable foundation ran and funded the school, but it was always part of the agreement that the academy campus near Johannesburg be ultimately handed over to the provincial education department, the academy said.

“The dream was never simply to build a school,” Winfrey said in a statement issued by the academy on Wednesday. “It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.”

The academy said Winfrey’s commitment to educating South African girls would continue through an expanded national scholarship program supporting academically talented girls at leading schools across the country.

More than 500 girls have graduated from the academy and some have attended top universities in South Africa, the United States and Europe, according to the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation.

The Gauteng provincial government will take over the 52-acre academy campus, which has 21 classrooms, six science and computer laboratories, a 10,000-volume library and a 600-seat theater. It did not immediately say what the plans for the property were.

Gauteng Provincial Minister for Education Lebogang Maile said those currently enrolled in the school will be able to complete their education with uninterrupted financial support.

The academy drew international attention shortly after opening in 2007 when several students accused a dormitory matron of physically and sexually abusing them.

Winfrey traveled to South Africa to meet with students and parents, publicly apologized, and commissioned an independent investigation.

The matron was acquitted of criminal charges in 2010.

Gumede writes for the Associated Press.

Jared Leto faces allegations of criminal sexual conduct by several women who allege the sexual incidents with the musician and Oscar-winning actor occurred when he was in his 30s and 40s and they were teenagers.

In a BBC documentary titled “Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret,” multiple women spoke about their experiences with the “House of Gucci” star and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman, detailing allegations of inappropriate text messages, sexual assault and statutory rape from 2002 to 2016. Among the allegations, one woman said she was 17 years old when Leto sexually assaulted her in a motel bathroom. Another woman alleges Leto continued to sexually pursue her in Los Angeles despite knowing she was 17 years old, younger than the age of consent in California.

Leto, in a statement shared with The Times on Wednesday, denied the allegations raised by the BBC documentary: “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life,” he said. “These claims are absolutely and categorically false.”

Journalist and documentarian Jessica Sartenaer said in the segment published Wednesday that the BBC began its investigation into allegations against Leto after noting an Instagram story from a prominent DJ based in Los Angeles. In a since-expired Instagram story, DJ Allie Teilz, resurfaced a 2012 Facebook post in which she accused Leto of trying to “force himself” onto her backstage at a concert. Teilz captioned her repost: “Jared Leto was a creep then..still a creep now, going on 15+ years of being Hollywood’s most persistent predator,” according to the BBC documentary.

Numerous social media users reportedly responded to Teilz’s posts with their own claims about Leto’s alleged predatory behavior, many noting they were subject to Leto’s misconduct when they were teens. A woman identified as “Etta” told the BBC she was 14 when Leto approached her outside of a modeling agency and invited her to an Oscars party. Etta provided email correspondences to the outlet and said the “Morbius” actor encouraged her to stay in contact via text after the invite. Text messages turned into phone calls and conversations about her modeling career quickly turned sexual, according to the documentary. Leto allegedly asked Etta about her virginity, her kinks and sexual capabilities.

Etta said in the documentary that Leto’s legal team allegedly contacted her and urged her to sign a nondisclosure agreement about her relationship with the actor, though she never did.

The documentary portrays Leto as a celebrity who leveraged his fame to connect with young fans and control them. The woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by Leto at age 17 in a motel bathroom told the BBC she met Leto in 2002 at a mall in Las Vegas. Leto would have been in his early 30s at the time. He invited her to meet him at a nearby motel. She waited in the room while he stepped into the shower, but he eventually called her over and began kissing her, according to the BBC. The woman, identified as “Isabelle,” accused Leto of forcing her hand to his genitals and using her hand to masturbate. Isabelle pulled away and moved to leave the room, but Leto allegedly looked outside the motel room for any potential bystanders before letting her out, she recalled to the BBC.

The BBC also published allegations by “Clara,” the woman who said Leto knowingly had sex with her when she was 17 — he was 34 at the time — at his house in California. Clara said she connected with Leto after his associate requested her phone number. She and her friend were invited to spend time with the band at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, where the age of consent of California became a topic of conversation. Leto, who allegedly shrugged off the conversation, invited Clara and her friend back to his home and told the friend to wait in another room while he had sex with Clara. Clara visited Leto’s home a total of three or four times, according to the BBC. She also alleged that Leto often requested that she call him “daddy” and that she pretend to be a little girl.

Leto in 2013 allegedly invited another woman, named Alex, to his band’s concert at London’s O2 and to an after-party. She was 19 at the time but told Leto she was younger out of a need to protect herself, the BBC reported. Leto allegedly replied: “Age is just a number, and anyway, we’re in Europe.” Alex alleges Leto threatened to sexually assault her in a hotel room later that evening.

The BBC also spoke to men who who worked closely with Leto’s band, Thirty Seconds to Mars. One man said Leto was often texting girls to invite them to spend time with the band. Leto also allegedly asserted control by ignoring the girls he invited and speaking to them rudely. The man also recalled that Leto took one fan, who was dropped off by her parents, “off to the bedroom.” Afterward, she called her parents to pick her up.

Leto has long faced quiet scrutiny for his alleged behavior with women and girls. In 2005 the New York Post published a story accusing the actor of “aggressively pursuing many” teen models. Last year Air Mail published accusations against Leto of impropriety by nine women, though he denied those claims at the time.

Still, the actor-musician has moved on from those allegations seemingly unscathed. Leto, who won his Oscar in 2014 for “Dallas Buyers Club,” most recently appeared in “Masters of the Universe” and is set to tour with his band next year.

A transcript from an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by former JSerra girls’ basketball coach Chyanne Butler indicates the school could be facing a Southern Section investigation for CIF rules violations.

“We are aware of the transcripts and the trial,” Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said Friday.

JSerra has “no comment” while the case continues, a school spokesman said.

Butler alleged employment discrimination after being dismissed in January of 2025. A jury trial earlier this year resulted in a hung jury over an allegation of gender discrimination and a new trial is scheduled for Aug. 24 in Orange County Superior Court with Judge David O Carter presiding. Allegations of race discrimination and a sexual harassment claim against an assistant coach were dismissed.

JSerra has not self-reported any CIF violations even though in the first trial, an assistant coach testified under oath about recruiting a player from another school and then providing family expenses including “medical insurance, medical bills, groceries, toiletries, incidentals, basketball shoes.”

That would be a violation of CIF rules.

The Southern Section usually sends allegations of rules violations back to the school to investigate.

Butler is represented by attorney Tim Lawson, who deposed JSerra officials.

CONCORD, N.H. — Two transgender girls who were the first to challenge President Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” have withdrawn their lawsuit in New Hampshire based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld state bans on transgender athletes in girls’ sports and their own personal hardships, their lawyer said.

“This case was always about two courageous young girls who simply wanted the same opportunities as their peers to participate in school life,” their lawyer, Chris Erchull of GLAD Law, said in a statement Thursday. “Their willingness to stand up to extraordinary hostility made clear the human cost of laws that target transgender youth.”

The teenagers, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, took on Trump’s executive order last year, amending their 2024 complaint against New Hampshire’s law on banning transgender girls from school sports. A federal judge had granted a court order allowing them to play as the case proceeded.

For Tirrell, it meant being able to keep playing on her high school girls’ soccer team. For Turmelle, it was having a chance to try out for different sports.

Both sides agreed to pause the case and wait for a ruling from the Supreme Court as it considered similar state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school and college athletic teams in Idaho and West Virginia. Last month, the court upheld the laws. It also said that barring transgender girls and women doesn’t run afoul of the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

One teen and her family decided to move from New Hampshire

Turmelle and her family moved out of New Hampshire last summer following proposed legislation against transgender people. One measure signed into law by Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte last year prohibits medical professionals from providing puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy to new transgender patients under age 18.

“Though there may be a carve-out for people already receiving gender-affirming care, that is way too close a call for us to risk staying,” Turmelle’s mother, Amy Manzetti, wrote in an op-ed piece at the time. “Other New Hampshire laws also seek to erase her.”

Most Republican-controlled states in the past five years have adopted laws or policies limiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and limiting which school bathrooms transgender people can use, as well as sports restrictions. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that about 3% of youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender.

“The challenges with relocation are significant and burdensome — this includes having to find new employment, buying and selling homes, packing and moving possessions, integrating kids with a new school system, losing access to longstanding family and friends, and potential loss of income,” Corinne Goodwin, the executive director of Eastern PA Trans Equality Project in Pennsylvania, said in an email.

“But these families do so because they love their kids and know that supporting them with the care and opportunities they need is critical to their long-term success and happiness.”

The other teen gave up playing soccer at high school

Tirrell, 17, began her junior year last fall on the girls’ junior varsity soccer team. Things were fine at first, and each time she scored a goal, she got a round of ice cream from her parents. But a few weeks into the season, she decided to stop playing.

“With all of the political stuff going on, soccer wasn’t just about the game anymore,” her mother, Sara Tirrell, told The Associated Press in an interview.

It became more about preparing for the possibility of conflict.

“Were there any local Facebook groups where they were sort of agitating about potential protests and how do we prepare, and what are we walking into, and we never kind of knew,” she said. “We were on a lot of pins and needles, especially after the previous season.”

She was referring to a controversy at an away game where two dads from an opposing team were banned from school grounds for wearing pink wristbands marked “XX” to represent female chromosomes. They sued the school district and a judge ruled against them. They have appealed their case.

Last fall, there was an increased presence of school administrators at the games and bus drivers pulled in closer to the field so the students weren’t in the parking lot, she said.

“Parker didn’t talk about it a lot, but I think she could see that stress for everybody — for her, for her teammates, for her coaches,” Sara Tirrell said. “She felt kind of bad about pulling them all into that circus again. And so she ultimately said, ‘This isn’t fun anymore and I don’t want to do it.’”

Parker’s father described the atmosphere as “palpable tension.”

Even playing on her own turf, “there would typically be a couple of police officers at the home games where there weren’t previously,” Zach Tirrell said.

In the past, Parker also played soccer in a recreation league and could still do so.

“But I think it all kind of still sort of weighs on her,” her mother said. “It’s the same group of kids that she plays with who, honestly, have been very supportive and love to have her on the team and have expressed that to her many times over. But I think she still has that worry in her brain around, ‘What are other people going to say and do if I show up at a game?’”

Parker’s parents hope she’ll return to playing soccer some day. In the meantime, “she plans to be around and use her voice to continue standing up to discrimination,” her mother said. “In some ways she’s had to grow up a lot faster than some of her peers.”

McCormack writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, N.J., contributed to this report.

IT HAS been 30 years since the Spice Girls dropped their debut single Wannabe and kickstarted one of the most remarkable pop juggernauts of all time.

But while they once defined girl power for a generation, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Melanie C are now more divided than ever before – with their long-hoped-for reunion concert a distant dream.

With the bandmates at each other’s throats, this week’s anniversary celebrations have amounted to little more than a few posts on Instagram and a show from Emma Bunton on Heart Radio – despite promoters initially planning a tour for the group to mark the occasion.

And the reunion pleasantries didn’t last long, after Mel B appeared to have blocked Geri Horner on Instagram.

The pair clashed in 2022, after Mel B claimed Geri lied about her age, with the pair unfollowing each other on social media.

And now fans have claimed Scary Spice has blocked her former bandmate, after Geri was unable to properly tag her in a post marking the anniversary of their 1996 breakthrough track.

Geri shared a photograph of the band, also made up of Victoria Beckham, Mel C and Emma Bunton, with the caption: “30 years of Wannabe…Thank you to my beautiful Spice sisters.”

All of Geri’s tags for her bandmates registered, apart from Mel B’s – which happens when a user has been blocked.

The Sun can also reveal that dates were looked at for a global jaunt for 2026, although the plans never got off the ground.

And now it is looking increasingly likely that we may never see the Spice Girls on stage together again.

To make matters worse, Mel C confirmed this week that the group’s relationship with their former manager Simon Fuller is over, which puts paid to the ambitious plans he had for their legacy.

We revealed last April that Geri had flown to Miami to meet with Simon about exciting ideas for the group, in the hope he could persuade the reluctant star to return to the fold.

The following month it was revealed that he was shopping around the idea of a Spice Girls digital avatar show, much like ABBA Voyage, which could take place in London or Las Vegas.

However, that is now believed to have been put on ice as divisions over the direction of their legacy deepen.

And a Netflix drama about the group, which was to be scripted by Bad Boys writer Jack Rooke, has also been shelved.

The most reluctant to return has long been Victoria, having declined the opportunity to take part in their sold out, 13-date stadium tour in 2019.

They last performed as a five-piece at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony.

Geri has said she is only prepared for a reunion if it includes all five girls. And now it is Ginger Spice who, like Posh, is reluctant for anything else.

She has retreated from public life and is said to be anxious at the prospect of returning to the stage. That isn’t helped by her strained relationship with Mel B, who has also washed her hands of future plans.

Mel, whose 50th birthday party last year was only attended by Emma and Mel C, said of a reunion tour: “I can tell you it’s not happening. If it does, it’ll be a shock to me, let’s put it that way.

“You can’t be nagging everyone to go on tour if they don’t want to. I laid that to rest when I turned 50.”

And on previously-discussed plans for a documentary, she pointedly added: “I think we’ve all been asked and were all thinking about it at some point.

“But it has to be done in the right way, and it has to be honest – and not everybody wants to be honest.”

In October, Geri, Mel C and Emma attended Victoria’s Netflix series launch, and in January, they were all at Emma’s 50th party, although Mel B was absent from both.

Geri and Mel B were once extremely close, but Ginger Spice said it was “hurtful” when Mel claimed in 2019, weeks before their reunion tour, that they had once had a sexual relationship.

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast this week, Mel C admitted the pair’s friendship was often volatile and impacted the group – as it still seems to be doing, 30 years later.

She explained: “Like any group of people there’s a dynamic, and what was difficult for us was that Melanie [B] and Geri were really great mates, but if they had a fallout, it would affect everybody.

“I think because they were both so outspoken and, myself, Emma, and Victoria, I don’t know, we didn’t have as much airtime as the other two girls.

“I don’t mean that in a thingy [public] sense. I mean, like, just in the room. So that would cause issues sometimes.

“If it wasn’t for Geri and Melanie being the way that they are, we wouldn’t have been as successful as we were.”

While Victoria, Geri and Mel B look increasingly reticent, it is Sport Spice Mel C who has become the most loose-lipped of them all – taking over from Scary Spice.

In 2022, Emma said of Mel B: “If we want anything to be kept a secret we don’t tell her.”

But in the last year, it has been Mel C raising fans’ hopes, only for them to be dashed.

She gave several interviews where she teased a tour could happen, and said that exciting plans were in motion for their 30th anniversary.

Even this week, on the prospect of marking it, she teased: “We want to. Everything’s in discussion. But it’s a really positive time for us.”

She then conceded: “There’s nothing in the works, so it’s obviously not going to be anything in time for the anniversary. But we are discussing lots of great opportunities.”

She also claimed the group have won back the rights to their 1997 movie Spice World and that they are in talks to get it on streaming services.

However, sources close to the group insisted no talks are currently taking place.

So while fans may be streaming their hits, buying re-released vinyl or forking out for new merch from their online shop, the dream of seeing all five back together again is something of a pipe dream.

In 2024, Victoria said of their 30th anniversary: “It would be lovely for us to do something to celebrate [the 30th anniversary] – a dinner or a lunch – and reminisce. But yes, it will not be any more than that.”

Judging by the state of relations right now, even that would be a surprise.

Two 13-year-old girls have been seriously injured and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an incident at a school in Upper Bavaria, Germany.

Police said a major operation was under way in the area of Welfen-Gymnasium secondary school in the small town of Schongau.

The suspect was carrying a knife as well as a firearm, police said, and they believe they acted alone.

Neither of the girls are in life-threatening condition, but the number of other people involved and the severity of their injuries are currently being clarified, police added.

A police spokeswoman had earlier told AFP news agency it was unclear what weapon had been used in the attack, and declined to confirm reports of a knife attack.

The identity of the suspect is not known and it is unclear if they had links to the school.

The police spokeswoman added the force believe the incident to be a “rampage”.

A contact point for relatives and parents of students has been set up at a fire station in the town.

According to its website, the school was founded in 1887 and had initially been almost exclusively a girls’ school. It has been mixed gender for the last 40 years.

Eala played tennis as a youngster with her brother and grandfather, telling BBC TV she “still can’t keep up” with her older brother, even now.

She first rose to prominence in 2022, when she was on the cover of Vogue in her home country after becoming the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam title with her US Open triumph.

She rose to wider notice after her 2025 Miami Open breakthrough – which ironically began with another victory over Swiatek.

Aged 19 and ranked outside the top 100, Eala took out Grand Slam champions Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to reach the semi-finals.

Since then, she has reached the world’s top 30, claimed two titles on the second-tier WTA 125 tournaments and finished runner-up at Eastbourne last year.

In the build-up to this year’s Wimbledon, she beat world number two Elena Rybakina and eighth-ranked Elina Svitolina in Berlin, and also teamed up with Venus Williams in doubles.

Her success has meant her popularity sky-rocketed. Queues snake around the Grand Slam grounds when she is scheduled on an outside court, while viewing parties are held for her matches back home.

That brings with it a pressure both good and bad. If Eala’s wins are celebrated as a point of national pride in the Philippines, then her losses are also felt deeply.

It was a situation that got on top of her at the Australian Open, where she was overwhelmed by the amount of people who simply queued to watch her practice.

“I try to be as authentic as I can. I believe in being genuine,” Eala said.

“Although I’m very grateful and very welcoming of all the support that I get, me, my team and my family are the ones who have been putting in the hours.

“We’re the ones who are here at the courts 12 hours in a row. We’re the ones who wake up early, who come back home late.

“I think that work ethic is really what keeps me grounded.”

WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho that forbid transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams.

In a 6-3 decision, the court said the federal Title IX law envisioned separate teams for girls and boys based on their biological sex at birth.

“Separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable,” wrote Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. “Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition.”

Kavanaugh, who has coached girls’ teams for many years, said 27 states have adopted laws prohibiting transgender athletes on girls’ teams.

But his opinion does not say states such as California must change their laws that forbid schools from discriminating based on gender. Instead, he stressed states are free to make their own decision.

“Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” Kavanaugh said.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented in part. She said the state should have considered transgender students on a case-by-case basis to decide whether they had an unfair advantage. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented as well.

The court’s decision is likely to bolster the Trump administration’s drive to pressure states, schools and universities that permit transgender athletes to compete on girls’ and women’s sports teams.

Because the Education Department provides federal funds to these states and schools, it can require them to comply with Title IX.

The sole plaintiff in the court case was Becky Pepper-Jackson. Now 15, she has carried on a lonely legal fight to compete on her school’s track team in Bridgeport, W.Va.

Designated male at birth, she says she is the only transgender girl competing in her state and has been the target of complaints and protests.

Her case drew strong reactions on both sides of the issue.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey hailed Tuesday’s decision as “one of the most important victories for women’s athletics” since the passage of Title IX in 1972.

“We defended a simple principle most Americans instinctively understand — that women’s sports exist to provide women and girls a fair opportunity to compete and succeed,” he said.

Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, said “it is self-evident that males and females are biologically different, and the U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed this truth. It is fundamentally unfair for a male who feels like a female to demand that biological categories be ignored to accommodate his desire to compete among females.”

Joshua Block, the ACLU attorney who argued the case, called it “a heartbreaking ruling for our clients and transgender girls like them who’ve asked for nothing more than the same opportunities afforded to their peers,” he said.

“The reality is that the equality of transgender women and girls takes nothing away from, and in fact promotes, the equality of all women and girls.”

“This ruling is deeply harmful for transgender women and girls who only asked for the ability to participate in sports with their peers,” said Sasha Buchert, senior attorney with Lambda Legal. “Countless studies have demonstrated the myriad benefits that come with participation in team sports.”

The sports career of Becky Pepper-Jackson reflects some of the difficulty of the issue.

In sixth grade, she participated in cross country and described herself as slow. She “routinely placed near the back of the pack,” her attorneys told the court.

Her court appeals focused on a wish to participate in sports, not to win. But upon reaching high school, she has been winning.

In 2024, she “placed in the top three in every track event in which B.P.J. competed, winning most,” the state’s attorneys said. In the spring of 2025, “focusing on strength events, B.P.J. bumped female competitors out of the state tournament, then placed third in the state in discus and eighth in shot put while competing against much older female athletes,” they told the court.

Her ACLU attorney explained she has been winning in the shot put and discus “through hard work and practice,” not because of an advantage based on biology.

He said she “received puberty-delaying medication and gender-affirming estrogen that allowed her to undergo a hormonal puberty typical of a girl.”

Australian national Simon Peter Carman has been charged with murder after the body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was found inside a suitcase. CCTV footage appears to show the pair entering a hotel together and Carman leaving hours later with only a suitcase.

The blush of first love inside the glow of new friendship is where “Girls Like Girls” works its easygoing charms, but also an affecting sadness. You’d never mistake multihyphenate pop star Hayley Kiyoko’s directorial debut for a groundbreaking queer romance, but sometimes the best summer vibes require only a breezy intoxicant, something made of all the funny feelings, a few of the deeper ones and a lot of heart.

That also describes Kiyoko’s shepherding of her hit 2015 track “Girls Like Girls,” a hooky LGBTQ+ anthem that went from viral music video (which she co-directed) to bestselling YA novel and finally this feature adaptation, written with Chloe Okuno and Stefanie Scott (the original video’s star). “Girls Like Girls” may be conventionally imagined, but there’s an admirable focus on unadorned warmth in Kiyoko’s storytelling: She likes her girls and cares enough to want us to like them, too.

We’re dropped in picturesque rural Oregon, where we find bike-riding new kid in town Coley (appealing newcomer Maya da Costa), who happens upon an energetic crowd of peers at a local diner, then gets asked to join them for a lake excursion (“We don’t bite”) by confident and friendly Sonya (Myra Molloy). When Coley, a shy, watchful sort, gets thrown in the water by obnoxious Trenton (Levon Hawke), she tries to leave, but not before Sonya softens the blow by insisting on a “proper hang” and the exchange of AOL usernames. (Because, oh, yeah, it’s 2006, giving us a refreshingly nostalgic break from the tyranny of smartphones.)

Anyway, SonyeahXOXO and RollieColey87 take quickly to their obvious spark, initially sublimating that deeper attraction through scenes of laughter, teasing, the rush from shoplifted alcohol, bed-sharing and lots of deep gazing. But they also lean into a connection marked by honesty and vulnerability, particularly Coley’s grief over losing her mom and not feeling connected to her widowed dad (Zach Braff). With Sonja Tyspin’s cinematography imbuing an innocent, sensual curiosity, Kiyoko sweetly conveys the awkward thrill of fledgling emotions. One scene in particular, in which Coley explores Sonya’s room, touching everything, hums with the strange excitement of being a specially invited new confidante.

But the day after the pair’s unspoken attraction becomes physical — a scene deftly stretched to “Kiss already!” limits — a confusing tension enters the chat, triggering a tailspin of self-doubt in Coley. A lesser film might have pivoted toward assuring us of a happy makeup, but “Girls Like Girls,” which stays centered in Coley’s POV, understands that at the crux of her pain is an untended self-acceptance that must be addressed first. Da Costa realizes that journey with unforced naturalism, as if the camera just happened to be there to capture it. (Molloy betrays a more studied star wattage, but she’s nevertheless a solid other half.)

Mostly, “Girls Like Girls” wins us over with a singular type of first-film assuredness: a familiar story presented as the most personal reveal ever. If you can’t remember what it was like to try to tiptoe while swooning, your heart barely able to stay in your chest, you were never a teenager.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has come to an end on BBC and Netflix, but there are plenty of loose ends to tie up in a potential third season

Pip Fitz-Amobi has one final mystery left to unravel.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder made its eagerly anticipated return this week for a second thrilling season, adapted from the bestselling novels by Holly Jackson.

On this occasion, Pip Fitz-Amobi (played by Emma Myers) investigates the disturbing disappearance of Jamie Reynolds (Eden H Davies), the elder brother of her friend Connor (Jude Morgan-Collie).

Elsewhere, Max Hastings (Henry Ashton) stands trial for drugging and assaulting female classmates, yet proceedings are thrown into disarray when Jamie surfaces before crucial evidence can be presented.

Now that another compelling six-part series has concluded with a breathtaking cliffhanger, we examine all the loose ends that a potential third season would need to resolve, reports Bristol Live.

**Warning – this article contains major spoilers for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder season 2 and minor spoilers from the third book, As Good As Dead.**

Will Charlie and Flora face justice?

By the conclusion of Pip’s second investigation, the truth behind Jamie’s disappearance is revealed to be her neighbour Charlie Green (Jack Rowan), who had been hunting for Child Brunswick — the son of a notorious child killer who had lured his sister to her death.

Child Brunswick had been assigned a fresh identity under a witness protection scheme, and is unmasked as security guard Stanley Forbes (Misia Butler). Stanley meets his end in the finale at Charlie’s hands, who subsequently flees alongside his wife Flora (Anna Brindle).

By the season’s conclusion, audiences might question whether police eventually apprehend them. The third instalment in Jackson’s series, As Good As Dead, offers some resolution to this, though the adaptation may potentially pursue an alternative direction.

When will Max Hastings get taking down?

Pip finds herself incensed at the close of the second series when predator Max evades punishment, despite testimony from his victim Becca Bell (Carla Woodcock), after he attributed his offences to murder victim Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), who couldn’t refute the accusations.

In the final episode, Pip conducts a funeral for Stanley and endures harassment from Max, who appears to have acquired a new girlfriend. She’s additionally enraged by graffiti daubed on a neighbouring structure stating “Child killer burn in hell Child Brunswick”, presumably created by Max or his associates.

Max cannot face retrial, but has Pip devised a plan to bring about his downfall? Again, this matter is explored in As Good As Dead and will presumably feature in the third series.

Who is Pip’s stalker?

Season two featured Pip receiving threatening communications from an unidentified stalker, which could represent further provocations from her adversary Max or potentially sinister warnings from another danger concealed in the darkness.

In the finale, her bedroom suffers an intrusion and she discovers repeated instances of the message “Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?” on her laptop.

This enigma provides the foundation for Jackson’s third instalment in the series, so everything will be unveiled should A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder progress.

Will Lauren and Robin split up?

A significant departure from the novels in season two involves the arrival of Max’s cousin, Robin Hastings (Freddie England), who starts a relationship with Pip’s friend Lauren (Yali Topol Margalith).

In the penultimate episode of season two, Lauren is last spotted at a family meal with Robin, Max, and their relatives, suggesting they remain together by the finale.

Nevertheless, in Jackson’s books, Lauren actually starts seeing a character named Ant Lowe, who hasn’t featured in the television adaptation. Fans may consequently witness her romance with Robin take a somewhat different trajectory in the third season.

What’s season three’s storyline?

Fans eager to discover what unfolds next are urged to read the third and concluding book in the series, As Good As Dead.

For non-readers, here’s a brief synopsis, according to HarperCollins: “Pip Fitz-Amobi is haunted by the way her last investigation ended. Soon she’ll be leaving for Cambridge University but then another case finds her… and this time it’s all about Pip.

“Pip is used to online death threats, but there’s one that catches her eye, someone who keeps asking: who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? And it’s not just online. Pip has a stalker who knows where she lives. The police refuse to act and then Pip finds connections between her stalker and a local serial killer.

“The killer has been in prison for six years, but Pip suspects that the wrong man is behind bars. As the deadly game plays out, Pip realises that everything in Little Kilton is finally coming full circle. If Pip doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears…”

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder season 2 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

At least 16 students were killed and dozens injured after a fire tore through the dormitory of a girls’ boarding school in Kenya’s Rift Valley early Thursday. Panicked parents gathered outside the school searching for their children hours after the blaze was extinguished.

May 28 (UPI) — At least 16 students were killed and 74 were injured after fire tore through a girls’ boarding school in Kenya in the early hours of Thursday.

The blaze broke out as students were sleeping, engulfing the dorm block at the school in Gilgil, 77 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi, police and the Kenya Red Cross said.

A rescue and recovery operation was still underway amid efforts to account for all the students who were in the accommodation building — thought to be about 220.

“It is a sad and distressing situation. As we speak, our officers are combing the area because some students fled in shock and fear during the night,” said police commander Masoud Mwinyi.

Mwinyi said the police department had launched an investigation and that criminal investigators and forensics officers had been dispatched to the scene.

A parent told Kenya’s NTV News that most of the students in the hospital had been injured as they tried to escape by jumping from the upper level of the dorm block because one of the doors was closed.

President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto extended their condolences to the victims’ families and friends, as well as teachers and staff at the school.

“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters in the tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil. No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope, and dreams for the future. As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy,” Ruto wrote on X.

Education Secretary Julius Ogamba ordered the immediate closure of the school but urged the public and media to refrain from speculating on the cause of the fire until the investigation was complete.

Ogamba said the Education Ministry was in the midst of a health and safety code audit of schools that had already seen the shuttering of almost 350 boarding schools that did not meet government standards.

The crackdown was launched 18 months ago in the wake of the deaths of 21 people in a blaze in a dorm of the Hillside Endarasha Academy, a boarding school in Nyeri, 100 miles north of Nairobi, in September 2024.

The country’s boarding schools have a poor safety record with a series of deadly blazes blamed on overcrowding and breaches of basic safety measures such as keeping exits clear and windows and exits unlocked.

Some have been deliberately set, with the finger pointed at students disaffected by tough discipline regimes and living conditions.

Responding to a parliamentary committee’s request in 2021 for school arson data, the Ministry of Education reported 126 arson attacks in the first 11 months of 2020 alone.