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HSBC remained bullish on global equities, saying concerns around AI, rates, and geopolitics were increasingly reflected in market prices while fundamentals continue to improve.
“We remain comfortably bullish on global equities,” Alastair Pinder, HSBC’s head of EM and global equity strategy, and Pankaj
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where we are just deep enough into USC’s fall football camp to ask the same question we ask every year around this time:
Might this be the year that Lincoln Riley actually fields a good defense at USC?
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Under D’Anton Lynn, the Trojans had unequivocally improved on that side of the ball. Lynn took the disaster that was USC’s defense under Alex Grinch and turned it into a respectable outfit, albeit one with limitations. There was no dominant, or even consistent, pass rusher. The run defense was regularly run over by good teams. And too often, in the biggest moments, there were mental lapses or self-inflicted mistakes on the back end of Lynn’s defense.
At the time, he pointed to the team’s youth as the problem.
“This team is more talented, but they’re just young,” Lynn said last November. “It’s just guys who haven’t played before. There are certain mistakes you have to live through.”
Almost a year later, USC has a new defensive coordinator. And kind of the same problem.
There are two things I think we can safely assume about this defense, compared to its 2025 counterpart: That Gary Patterson, as a newly minted College Football Hall of Famer, should be a significant upgrade from Lynn. And that the influx of five-star talent on USC’s defense should be too.
Because the hard truth, from the past four seasons, is that the Trojans just haven’t had enough talent on defense. Say what you will about the defensive coaching — and it has ranged from above average to horrendous during Riley’s tenure — but outside of Tuli Tuipulotu, who was only with Riley in 2022, USC just hasn’t had any true difference-makers capable of blowing up drives or taking over games on that end.
That’s beginning to change. The 2025 class had one defensive player I believe to be truly special in defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart, plus a couple others who have flashed some potential, such as defensive back Alex Graham and defensive tackle Floyd Boucard.
The 2026 class could be a different animal, if early reviews are to be believed. Five-star Luke Wafle already looks the part of a dominant defensive end and doesn’t have much standing in his way if he decides to take over this season. Elbert “Rock” Hill should be a starting cornerback in short order, either this season or next, and guys such as linebacker Talanoa Ili and defensive tackles Tomuhini Topui and Jaimeon Winfield look like future starters too.
But are any of those players poised to make a difference this season? They may have to, if USC has any hope of taking a real step forward on that side of the ball.
Otherwise, the Trojans are going to need some other defenders to make the leap in their second or third seasons, guys such as linebacker Desman Stephens or defensive linemen Jide Abasiri and Kameryn Crawford who have the potential but have never delivered on it consistently. They’re also going to need the secondary to stay healthy and top corners Jontez Williams and Chasen Johnson to live up to their billing from the portal.
But while all that might seem like reason to believe USC’s defense won’t be better in 2026, I actually think there are more such reasons than in recent years.
The front is clearly deeper, and if Wafle and Stewart can break through, USC could have two difference-makers along the defensive line for the first time in years. The secondary has two possible shutdown corners for the first time too.
The main cause for concern comes at linebacker, where USC still doesn’t have much in the way of high-level options. But if Stephens and Jadyn Walker can stand up better against the run in their third seasons, which Patterson seems convinced they can do, then those long standing problems could be at least somewhat mitigated this season.
The truth is there’s no real way of knowing how USC’s defense will look when it rolls out later this month. Patterson hasn’t coached since 2021. He has told us on several occasions that his defense will look different, blending concepts from other schools he observed and from USC’s previous defense.
But on paper, at least, the potential is at least there for Patterson to put together the best defense Riley has had as USC’s coach, complete with difference-makers in the defensive front and defensive backfield. Which, when paired with a top-10 offense, could be a pretty powerful thing.
The USC Bloom Football Performance Center.
(Allen Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s extremely … functional. I know that’s not the sexiest answer. But it’s not the sexiest building.
And I mean that as a compliment!
It’s clear how much the design reflects the input of Riley and his staff, as well as others who understand what USC has been dealing with for years at the John McKay Center. Eighty percent of that facility was underground. So it’s notable when you see the natural light pouring in through the atrium from the ground floor or the 30-foot garage doors opening from the weight room to the practice field.
Amenities such as pickleball courts or infrared saunas or sensory deprivation tanks are cool, but I was more impressed by the heavy emphasis put on player recovery. Which was something else that Riley trumpeted in talking with reporters after our tour. The players themselves said that their favorite part so far was the zero-gravity recliners at their lockers.
The most impressive part, to me, is how everything withing Bloom feels so big, even as space had for so long been seen as a major problem on USC’s campus. For years, administrators told me and other reporters that they’d never be able to build a new facility on campus. But Bloom checked in at three floors and 163,000-square feet and at no point does any of it feel cramped.
In fact, there’s extra space in the building. Designed for the program to have room to grow.
“My goal with this building,” Riley said Thursday, “is I hope 50 years from now, when I’m really, really, really old, that whoever is in this thing, it’s still one of the top facilities and still is the home of USC football and still gives this program every possible advantage it could.”
Fifth-year senior Kilian O’Connor went down with a non-contact injury last Wednesday, ending his season and presumably his tenure with the Trojans. On an emotional level, it’s a tough pill for the team to swallow.
“[He’s] certainly one of the leaders and kind of heartbeats of this program,” Riley said Thursday of the former walk-on.
But from a football standpoint, the offensive line is one of the few places where USC may actually be able to weather a loss such as O’Connor. It’s possible that he might not have started the whole season at center, anyway.
With O’Connor out, Tobias Raymond, who took reps at center in the spring, could shift there full time. That would open up another spot at guard, where the best combination of Alani Noa, Hayden Treter, Breck Kolojay or even Justin Tauanuu could fit in.
There are options. Which is not a luxury USC has at a lot of other positions. It has offensive line coach Zach Hanson to thank for that.
—USC transfer center Eric Reibe is out for the foreseeable future after foot surgery. A Trojan transfer with high expectations got hurt before playing a single game at USC? You don’t say? Once again, USC starts a season stricken with the worst injury luck. It wasn’t clear yet this week how long Reibe will be out, but I expect it’ll be a while. The Trojans have already been in the mix for former Villanova center Duke Brennan, who got an extra, fifth year of eligibility after the NCAA changed its rules, and they could go after others if he goes elsewhere. USC only has one other true center on the roster, freshman Darius Ratliff. And while he — and his brother — are very talented, the ideal trajectory for both would’ve been to bring them along slowly behind more established players.
—Alani Noa was away from the team last bowl season “to deal with some personal stuff” at home. But the Trojans incumbent starting guard said last week that “there was never a question whether I was going to play at USC” and that the staff was totally supportive at the time. Whether Noa is able to return his starting spot at guard may be another story. As noted above, he’ll have a lot of worthy competition.
—Lincoln Riley has offered a quarterback from the 2028 class. Riley doesn’t usually offer more than one, meaning his choice for 2028 is Lone Star (Texas) High dual threat Trey Wright. Wright is 5 foot 11, 180 pounds as a sophomore and already has offers from the likes of Oregon, Oklahoma and Michigan, among several others.
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in a scene from “The Drama.”
(A24)
Robert Pattinson is on a truly epic run this year, and after recommending one of his films last week (“The Odyssey”), I’m bringing us back to the Pattinson well this week with a very, very different movie and very, very different role for the long-ago Twilight vampire.
“The Drama” stars Pattinson and Zendaya as a couple on the verge of getting married, who decide, one night, to confess with their two closest friends the worst thing they’d done in their lives. One of their answers, let’s just say, isn’t received all that well. And what follows is a cringy, funny, tense, propulsive roller coaster that’s definitely worth your time. Especially since it’s now available on HBO Max.
USC’s Gary Patterson out to prove college football hasn’t passed him by
From napkin sketch to crown jewel: Inside USC’s ‘magical’ football training center
New NCAA eligibility rules should help USC — and its No. 1 freshman class — flourish
USC, Notre Dame rivalry series renewed with key detail Trojans would not compromise
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hunter Biden has told the BBC he is “the most privileged person there is” after receiving a presidential pardon from his father, former US President Joe Biden, acknowledging it was not a good choice for America or his father’s legacy.
In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Newsnight, Hunter Biden defended the controversial pardon, reflected on his father’s declining health, ruled out seeking elected office and spoke about helping others recover from addiction.
Asked about the 2024 pardon, he said he understood the criticism but noted: “What would you have thought of my dad if he did not do that for me.”
“It’s something that is easily criticised and for good reason,” he added.
“It’s not fair… All I know is that I’m grateful that he did it for me,” he said, acknowledging the pardon was “not good” for the American people, the Constitution – or his father’s legacy.
He argued to the BBC that his father ultimately acted out of concern that he would become a target under Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
“I was the only one in the world that could have gotten what I got from the only person in the world who could give it, my father.”
Hunter Biden also insisted he and his father had never discussed the possibility of a pardon before it was granted.
“There is no way that you can have those kinds of discussions that would not become public,” he said.
President Biden granted his son a full and unconditional pardon in December 2024, despite repeatedly saying beforehand that he would not use the powers of the presidency to intervene in his son’s legal cases. In announcing the decision, the former president said his son had been “selectively and unfairly prosecuted”.
The pardon covered his son’s federal gun conviction, a tax case he’d pled guilty to and any federal offences committed between 2014 and 2024.
WHILE some people are concentrating on the summer holidays – now is actually the perfect time to book a break for shoulder season.
The months from September to November are a time for bargains, great weather (in some cases up to 28C) and fewer tourists.
Of course these are more suited to families or couples, as you will have to be travelling outside of the school holidays.
But here are some of the best we’ve rounded up, from Greece to Spain.
The island of Santorini is known for bringing in hoards of tourists during the summer – there are even queues to take pictures but shoulder season sees much fewer tourists.
Stay at the Villa Livadaros which is a family-owned guesthouse in the quaint village of Karterados.
Each room comes with a balcony or terrace and there’s a shared pool for guests too.
A seven-night stay here from London Gatwick to Santorini from October 14-21 starts from £259pp.
Antalya is full of families during the summer holidays, and massively quietens down in shoulder season.
Most of the major waterparks are open until the end of October too as temperatures can be as high as 26C.
Holidaymakers can have a seven-night break between October 5-12 at the Club Bayar Hotel from just £239pp – and it’s all-inclusive too.
It has a full-service spa, private beach access with modern rooms – it includes return flights to London Gatwick.
Another destination known for scorching summer weather and lots of tourists in peak season is the Amalfi Coast.
But if you wait until October, there are some great deals to be had and temperatures are much milder.
A seven-night stay at the Grand Hotel Moon Valley with return flights Manchester Airport to Naples from October 13-20 starts from £375pp.
It includes bed and breakfast in an Annexe Room, the hotel also has a sun terrace and a swim up bar.
If you want to escape for winter sun, a holiday to Tunisia is a great option as even in October it has highs of up to 28C.
Mahdia is a peaceful coastal city with beaches on the Mediterranean Sea.
The three-star hotel El Mouradi Cap Mahdia sits directly on its own sandy beach with outdoor swimming pools and on-site restaurants.
A seven-night stay here with return flights from London Southend to Enfidha-Hammet from October 12-19 starts from £279pp – and this is all-inclusive too.
Spain might not have the high summer temperatures, but it’s still sunny and certainly less busy.
You can stay on the coastal resort town of Malgrat de Mar in Catalonia which has over two miles of Blue Flag beaches.
htop Planamar is a pretty hotel close to the sandy shores with sea views and it has an outdoor swimming pool too.
A seven-night stay here with return flights from London Southend to Barcelona start from September 30 – October 5 starts from £235pp with half-board.
Croatia has beautiful beaches and Old Towns all of which can be explored in mild 20C temperatures during shoulder season.
The Villas Arausana & Antonina is a pretty spot right on the beach with terraces and sunloungers looking over the coast.
It also has an outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, bar and cafe.
A seven-night stay here with return flights from London Stansted to Zadar start from September 29 – October 6 starts from £325pp.
Prices correct at the time of publication
You can’t keep a beloved news team down, even after more than a decade since being yanked off the air in a move that stunned fans and local TV newsrooms.
For almost 20 years, KTTV Fox 11’s “Good Day L.A.” was hosted by Steve Edwards, Dorothy Lucey and Jillian Barberie, becoming a dominant fixture in the fiercely competitive morning show arena. The show’s popularity for a time outdistanced network morning shows and crosstown rivals “The KTLA Morning News.”
The trio’s freewheeling banter spiced with humorous mayhem and mischief enchanted legions of viewers while bringing freshness to the familiar formula of news, weather and sports. The distinct personalities meshed effortlessly — veteran newsman Edwards, relentlessly upbeat co-host Lucey and fiery weather reporter Barberie, who injected the proceedings with outrageous, at times crass comments along with declarations that “my breasts are real.”
An undercurrent of friction brought an edge to the breezy vibe, with Edwards often acting as the awkward buffer between Lucey and Barberie, who did little to disguise their dislike of each other. Barberie would go on to bash Lucey on Howard Stern’s radio show, calling her “very Christian and Bible-thumpy.” Lucey was frequently distraught by Barberie’s “mean.”
But that winning combination was broken up starting in May 2012, when Lucey was fired as part of a show revamp. Barberie was let go four months later after declining a demotion. And after continuing with other co-hosts, Edwards vanished from the show in December 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment, but there was never an official explanation from him or management about the reason for his departure. The exits sparked a wave of protests from viewers and celebrities, including Suzanne Somers, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell of “American Idol.”
Dorothy Lucey, left, Steve Edwards and Jillian Barberie in 2001 on the set of Fox 11’s “Good Day L.A.”
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
But good days have returned for the former “Good Day L.A.” hosts. More than a decade after being let go, Edwards, Lucey and Barberie are fired up about their new venture.
The trio has reunited for “So Unanchored,” a weekly podcast fueled by spontaneous riffs on their years together, pop culture and their deep friendship. As they did on “Good Day L.A.,” they consistently interrupt one another and the chatter careens from one topic to the next without a breath. Complete sentences are rare.
“We have not missed a beat,” Edwards said as he, Lucey and Barberie relaxed in an office lounge after a recent taping. “It’s the most effortless thing. It makes us very happy when we get together. There’s an endorphin thing going on.”
“And we like each other more,” added Lucey.
They will tape a special live episode Wednesday at 11 a.m.. New episodes usually appear on Fridays.
The shattering of the “Good Day L.A.” team was particularly traumatic for Barberie, the breakout star of the trio. In addition to getting divorced after the Fox 11 job, she was later sideswiped by financial woes and a devastating health scare.
“I lost my job, got divorced and got cancer all at the same time,” said Barberie, her voice cracking as she sat near Edwards and Lucey in the lounge. “The fact that these two were a constant in my life during those 12 years when I was going through all those things is everything. I’m so grateful.”
Of course, there are major differences from their previous collaboration. While “Good Day L.A.” was broadcast at Fox 11’s massive West Los Angeles studio, “So Unanchored” is a no-frills affair staged at a Canoga Park office park.
The hosts sit in a small office, backed by nondescript office furniture and a framed poster of the vintage “Please Stand By” image broadcast by stations when there were technical difficulties.
Lucey, left, Edwards and Barberie in the Canoga Park office where they tape their podcast, “So Unanchored.”
(Annie Noelker/For The Times)
On their initial podcast, Barberie made it clear that there is no love lost when it comes to her former employer.
“I don’t want anything associated with that show,” she said. “Let’s start fresh, man. They used us and they treated us like s— at the end. Who needs them? Goodbye!”
The other major shift is the relationship between Lucey and Barberie.
“Dorothy and I love each other now,” Barberie said on one episode.
Lucey: “We do. Because the last time you saw us, we really didn’t like each other.”
Barberie: “And Steve has never been happier.”
Edwards: “You two are like sisters. You used to be like brothers — Cain and Abel.”
Barberie: “And then something happened between the three of us that got her and I close, and then I got cancer. She took me to all of my surgeries and took care of me. I’m telling you, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Lucey: “We still hate Steve, though.”
Barberie: “We have that in common.”
The burying of the hatchet is a great relief for Edwards, who was troubled by the tension between his colleagues during their time on “Good Day L.A.”
Barberie pressed Edwards on their first podcast: “Be honest, Steve. Did you like it when we didn’t get along?”
Edwards: “Sometimes it would get ugly and my stomach would turn.”
On “So Unanchored,” Barberie has revived her loose cannon role in their dynamic, raw and unfiltered. She will tear up, and moments later throw her head back with an explosive laugh that bounces off the studio walls.
She detailed her wild lifestyle during her TV days: “From 34 to 40, I was single, had five TV jobs, partied like a rock star, dated anyone I wanted and made a s—load of money.”
Though she eventually landed a talk show on KABC-AM 790 after leaving Fox 11, hard times hit in 2019 as she tried to make ends meet while raising two children as a divorced mom battling cancer.
“When I lost everything, I literally collapsed on my money manager’s table. I was bald and I started crying,” she said.
She listed her ranch-style Tarzana home, which was featured in “MTV Cribs,” for $2.5 million in 2021. She currently rents “a beautiful little apartment way out in Thousand Oaks. I love it and my life is quieter.”
Barberie was more explicit on the podcast: “I haven’t dated in 10 years. I have no tinglies down there. I’m dead from the waist down. I don’t want to date. I don’t want a man, an ape beside me at night if I’m having a hot flash. I have no nipples. I have no desire to cook, sit and talk with you. I don’t care.”
Edwards: “So you’re saying there’s a chance.”
Since leaving “Good Day L.A.,” Barberie, left, and Lucey have developed a close friendship. Edwards, standing center, said, “You two are like sisters. You used to be like brothers — Cain and Abel.”
(Annie Noelker / For The Times)
Scott Sternberg, whose production company produces “So Unanchored,” said “Good Day L.A.” was a clear standout on the morning show spectrum.
“There was something different about ‘Good Day L.A.’ from the other shows,” Sternberg said in a phone interview. “Their personalities were all different, but they could finish each other’s sentences and were not afraid to say what they wanted to say. I felt if I could bring them back together, there would be a huge audience who remembered them fondly.”
Asked to define the magic of their chemistry, Edwards said it was not instantaneous.
“At the time, there were five morning shows, including the network,” he said. “It took years for our thing to happen, but when it did, it happened big. We could do no wrong for 10 years. The ratings were crazy good. There was a run for many years when we were No. 1. We made them a lot of money.”
He continued: “Success is based on the relationship between the people on the show and the audience. Once that is established, it doesn’t matter if the show is good or bad that day. I was going through a lot with these two [Lucey and Barberie], and the audience was doing it with us. But the suits don’t care about that.”
The first indication that the show was in trouble came in 2017, when a new management team initiated a revamp of the morning show.
Lucey wrote at the time in her blog “God and Gossip” that her new boss told her that her voice, which has a trace of raspiness, “made his eyes bleed. Not the crusty yucky pink eye. New guy was saying when I spoke I made his eyes bleed. I have read that can happen after you vomit. Now I could almost see my husband saying something like that to me … But from a new boss…”
But station executives did not express regrets about dismissing Lucey, saying in a statement after her ouster: “The revitalization of ‘Good Day L.A.’ has been refreshing.”
Months later, Barberie was approached about taking a reduced role as a field reporter. She turned it down. Edwards’ departure caused a bigger stir because it was so abrupt. KTTV would say only that he was no longer employed by the station.
“Fox never issued a statement, and I never issued a statement,” Edwards said. “Obviously there was not agreement on what happened.”
As they prepared to leave the lounge, the three hugged each other warmly and said they were looking forward to getting together the following week.
“There is one word for us being back together,” Barberie said. “Home.”
Perched in our glass-fronted eyrie, 300 metres out to sea, we watch a murmuration of starlings rise and fall and swoop around us. When the show is over, we turn our attention to the food. I have a bespoke vegan menu based on the best early summer ingredients: jersey royals, asparagus, strawberries. My boyfriend orders off the weekly changing à la carte: slow-cooked beef dumplings followed by butter-poached halibut.
We are at Ebb, a restaurant at the end of the pier in Worthing, West Sussex, which opened in May. Its art-deco design and fine-dining dishes are a far cry from the fish-and-chip shops and ice-cream parlours more commonly found on seaside piers. But traditionalists need not despair: downstairs at Perch on the Pier, fish and chips – as well as tofish (tofu) and chips – are always on the menu, with a knickerbocker glory to round things off in fine retro style.
Worthing pier, which opened in 1862, is one of Britain’s surviving 19th-century pleasure piers. “The seaside piers around the coast of Britain stand as a powerful reminder of the achievements of Victorian engineers and entrepreneurs,” says the National Piers Society website. “However, of the 100 piers that once graced our coastline, only half survive, and several of these face an uncertain future.” The society campaigns to preserve the piers for everyone’s enjoyment, and has saved several that were at risk of demolition.
Worthing may well be the foodiest pier in the UK, but they all have their charms. Here are 10 well worth a stroll out to sea.
Bangor’s 458-metre (1,500ft) pier stretches out halfway across the Menai Strait, backdropped by the Eryri mountain range (Snowdonia). To coincide with its 130th anniversary this year, the Pier Master’s House at the entrance has been turned into a holiday let (from £140 a night, sleeps six). The pavilion at the far end is now a cafe, and the smaller Victorian kiosks dotted along the pier house independent businesses selling gifts, artworks and local food. There is a programme of weekend events over the summer, from busking and children’s fun days to a dog parade.
Bournemouth pier (first opened 1856, current structure 1880) boasts the world’s first pier-to-shore zip wire, a 250-metre dual line starting from the end-of-the-pier tower. As well as the PierZip, it has RockReef, an indoor climbing centre with 28 climbing walls, an aerial obstacle course, a vertical slide, a “leap of faith” and caving tunnels. The pier is the best place to watch Bournemouth’s Friday fireworks (10pm, until 28 August), and there is regular live music at its Key West restaurant (until 28 August). The town’s other pier, Boscombe (opened 1889), is next to free bouldering obstacles and slacklines, and near the beach volleyball courts.
Britannia pier won the coveted 2026 Pier of the Year award, taking over from last year’s winner Llandudno, and beating runners-up Herne Bay and Swanage. The 250-metre pier was built in 1858, but as with many of the original Victorian piers, it has been damaged, demolished, rebuilt (in 1901), burned down and reconstructed over the years. The current owners bought it in 2022 and have spent £2.2m restoring and upgrading it. Its attractions include a theatre, fun fair, arcades, fish and chip shop, pub and nightclub. Holidaymakers can also visit the town’s Wellington pier, further south along the seafront, which opened in 1853 and has a bowling alley, arcade and ice-cream parlour.
While Penarth pier dates back to 1894, as a landing jetty for the steamships in the Bristol Channel, its art-deco pavilion wasn’t built until 1929. This former dancehall has recently been restored and is now a cinema and arts centre, with year-round film screenings, art exhibitions, live music, workshops and talks. Coming up this month is a jazz brunch, a drawing workshop, and a knitting and crocheting social, alongside summer blockbusters The Odyssey and Minions & Monsters. There is a cafe in the pavilion, and a coffee shop, ice-cream parlour and chippy elsewhere on the pier.
Roker pier is distinctive for its red-and-white striped granite lighthouse, completed in 1903. After extensive restoration, and closures due to storm damage, pier and lighthouse are now open for guided tours (£14 adults/£10 children, to 27 August). Visitors walk the length of an underground tunnel to reach the lighthouse – the route the keeper used in bad weather – then climb to the top to take in the views. For post-tour refreshments, the pier’s former toilet block is now a gin bar, Tin of Sardines, with brunch and tapas menus served on the terrace in the summer.
England’s only Grade I-listed pier opened in 1869 to receive paddle steamer passengers from Devon and Wales. It is made from discarded wrought iron railway lines shaped into eight arches, nearly 15 metres high. In 1980, during a campaign to save it from demolition, the then poet laureate John Betjeman described it as “the most beautiful pier in England”. “Clevedon without its pier would be like a diamond with a flaw,” he said. The pier was duly saved, and now its Victorian pagoda is a cafe, its toll house is a museum and gift shop, and there is a modern restaurant, the Glass Box. The sea view from the porthole room is streamed live 24/7.
The oldest pier in Wales (1865) was designed by Eugenius Birch, a renowned seaside architect best-known for Brighton’s now-ruined West pier. Today, Royal pier is billed as “the number one destination for competitive socialising in Aberystwyth”, with three bars and a nightclub. There is a host of activities in the Billiard Bar, including shuffleboard, augmented-reality darts, footpool and interactive mini golf; the Upstairs Bar has seven pool tables; and the Inn on the Pier is a restored Victorian boozer, with stained glass and custom tiles. DJs play chill-out tunes in the pier garden over the summer, and the Pressure Nightclub is open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Blackpool is the proud home of three piers: Blackpool North (1863), Blackpool Central (1868) and Blackpool South (1893). The Grade II-listed north pier is the oldest surviving Birch pier, and has an art-deco theatre, a two-tier carousel, bars and an arcade. It was sold in June and is open until at least the end of the year before a promised £10m refurbishment. The central pier has Blackpool’s Big Wheel, a funfair and a show bar with live performances. The south pier has a more high-octane funfair, with a rollercoaster, a freefalling swing and a reverse bungee ride, and is next to Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach for more adrenaline-fuelled fun. Its many food and drink options include the Gin House and a loaded jacket potato stand.
Gravesend’s pier opened on the Thames in 1834, and is the oldest surviving cast-iron pier in the world. It was once a hub for steam packets to London – more than 3 million passengers used it between 1835 and 1842 – and today there are still occasional summer sailings to the capital with Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. Just by the entrance to the pier is the ancient Three Daws pub, which was licensed in 1565 as the Three Cornish Choughs and renamed in 1745. This old smugglers’ haunt, which has three underground tunnels, now hosts a summer beer and music festival (7-9 August) and an Oktoberfest (18 September).
The Isle of Wight once had an incredible 11 piers, and four still survive: Ryde (the second-longest in the UK, after Southend-on-Sea in Essex), Sandown, Totland (for sale) and Yarmouth. Sandown (1879) is a particular paradise for families, whatever the weather. There is the Aztec-themed Lost World indoor crazy golf, with lighting and sound effects; the Magic Island indoor adventure play area; and Superbowl 10-pin bowling. The end of the pier has rides such as dodgems and teacups (Easter to September only); there is a cafe, ice-cream kiosk and burger bar; and Scruffy Jacks bar shows live sport.
Channel 5 viewers were qick to compare Benidorm Is Murder to another beloved crime drama(Image: CHANNEL 5)
Actor John Hannah fronts a new Channel 5 crime series perfect for The Good Ship Murder fans.
Benidorm Is Murder is a six-part series which kicked off this week. On Thursday night (July 30) viewers tuned in to watch the first episode as they saw John’s character Dennis, a retired detective, hire a new staff member.
Unbeknowst to him, Rosa (Carolina Bécquer) is a true-crime obsessed barmaid who is eager to help when a murder unfolds closeby.
When a member from a Take That tribute band is found dead in a hotel pool, the police spring into action. However, Rosa doesn’t think they’ve got the right person and sets out to solve the case with Dennis.
Viewers were quick to comment on the new series, with many comparing it to Channel 5’s Good Ship Murder, reports the Express.
One person said: “#benidormismurder Is a carbon copy of #Thegoodshipmurder but I’ll persist with it!!”
Another replied, saying: “I love #TheGoodShipMurder so yeah #BenidormisMurder is worth sticking with.”
Sadly, not everyone was overjoyed with the opening episode as one viewer commented: “Thought I’d give #BenidormIsMurder a go, Take That, John Hannah….good mix! But no, it’s terrible! Sorry!”
While another added: “Another clichéd drama from #ch5. Predictable story, formulaic structure, poor script and poor acting. Just not interesting enough. Not for me.”
This week, John Hannah appeard on The One Show to speak about the new six-part series, although quickly took a cheeky swipe at the pay he got for the show. He said: “Some great guests come in. In fact, we shot the third episode first. We shot that in Gran Canaria, actually.
“The first episode was an Irish hen party, half a dozen terrific Irish actresses turned up and Trevor. A bunch of Irish actors turned up, and they all knew each other a bit.
“It was October, cold back here [the UK], a good script, two weeks in the sun, having a laugh, they all knew each other, so there was a great bond there, a great chemistry there.
“Simon and I were talking at the end of that episode, we were like, ‘Wow, they’ve set the bar really high. There’s something about a good script, a bit of sunshine, regardless of the pay… which wasn’t the best, but anyway it doesn’t matter.”
While everyone laughed at the cheeky jibe, another guest on the programme joked that he shouldn’t mention money.
John replied: “No, let’s not because we’re not doing it for the money, right? Of course not. It was brilliant, everyone came out. We were all getting paid….a bit.”
Benidorm Is Murder is available to watch on My5.
More than 1,150 cases have been referred to the National Crime Agency (NCA)’s Cyber Choices scheme in the last eight years – nearly 600 of those were in the last three years.
Authorities warn teenage hacking groups are playing an increasingly prominent role in serious cyber-attacks.
Young, English-speaking hackers have been linked to attacks on major organisations including Transport for London (TfL) and MGM Grand in 2024, and Marks and Spencer and the Co-op in 2025.
Individuals are also being increasingly targeted in hacks for their cryptocurrency holdings.
“It certainly has become more of a problem,” said Paul Foster, who leads cyber prevention work at the NCA.
“Certainly English-speaking, western world individuals that we know are now more active in cyber-crime.”
He said young people were engaged with online activity and devices at increasingly young ages exposing them to criminal communities and influences.
Police say many young offenders do not initially set out to become criminals.
Instead, they often begin by experimenting with technology, testing systems or trying to bypass restrictions before becoming drawn into online communities where hacking is encouraged.
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskymet Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral, with the two leaders discussing ways for Ukraine to produce its own powerful weapons and “other ideas that could help” in its ongoing war against Russia.
The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems — a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks.
In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelenskythanked Trump for the “good meeting” and the Republican administration’s efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war, which began more than four years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” said Zelensky, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham, a close ally. “We also spoke about diplomacy — it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the meeting.
Trump welcomed Zelenskyto the White House as the Ukrainian leader traveled to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas and other exports.
In a Fox News Channel interview on Tuesday, Trump recalled Graham’s hawkishness and said the Republican South Carolina senator’s support for Ukraine never wavered. Trump said Graham had suggested it was time to make a deal with Iran but had no similar suggestion for the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Ukraine, he’s very militant about,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” “I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you.”
“It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?” Loomer said during an interview with The Associated Press. “Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”
Kim writes for the Associated Press.
Downton Abbey is available to watch on ITVX. (Image: ITV)
It’s never been a better time to be a period drama fan. Between a whole spate of Jane Austen adaptations (a new Sense and Sensibility film and Netflix’s upcoming Pride and Prejudice show), The Other Bennet Sister delighting audiences with its fresh take, to the upcoming second series of the Outlander prequel, it’s an embarrassment of riches.
But for some period drama fans, it’s worth looking back at the masterpiece dramas that led the way. For many, Upstairs, Downstairs is the one to beat. This generational saga about an upper class family and their servants will ring a bell, but it predates Downton Abbey by half a century.
The shows share a similar premise — an upper class family, their domestic staff, and storylines featuring both — and even same overarching time period, so if you haven’t heard of Upstairs, Downstairs, you can know what to reasonably expect.
Viewers are passionate about the one they prefer. Ever since Julian Fellowes’ crown jewel debuted in 2010 and concluded 15 years later, discussions and debates abound over the years.
Some have gone so far as to brand Downton a “rip off”. As one viewer proclaimed on Reddit: “I like Downton Abbey better, but Upstairs, Downstairs is the better show. Julian Fellowes blatantly copied a few things from UD [Upstairs/Downstairs].”
To which another responded: “I’m watching upstairs downstairs right now and I’ve already been like ‘wait that was in DA’. What stood out immediately is the daughter being politically active but then the gay footman who has a relationship with the baron. Alfred and Thomas have very similar timelines right now. Only on episode 6 but seeing SO many similarities”
A third said: “Julian Fellowes ripped off 65% of the UD characters’ names and plots for Downton.”
Yet another period drama enthusiast defended both: “They are very different shows from very different eras (70s vs 2010s). I loved Upstairs/Downstairs when it aired. I love DA. I don’t think a show from 40 years ago should be compared to a modern one.”
Interestingly, BBC rebooted Upstairs, Downstairs in 2010, the same year as Downton Abbey. It received mixed reviews and only lasted two series.
The Guardian was equivocal in its review: “Downton Abbey v Upstairs Downstairs – who won? Downton Abbey, of course.
“Here’s the problem. Downton Abbey completely changed the way we watch period drama. Fellowes brought all the tight, witty scripting of a Hollywood adaptation to an original story, topped off with a gigantic, knowingly camp wink that delighted jaded viewers.”
The reviewer, however, didn’t mention where Downton Abbey stood against the original 1970s masterpiece.
Upstairs, Downstairs (1970-1975) is available to watch on ITVX. The 2010 reboot is playing on U, a free streaming platform.
Susanna Reid confirmed she was taking a break from Good Morning Britain after presenting with Ed Balls (Image: ITV)
Susanna Reid has confirmed she will be off-air for several weeks.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, who hosts the ITV daytime show alongside the likes of Richard Madeley and Ed Balls, fronts the programme from Monday to Wednesday.
However, she’s now revealed she won’t be back on screens for a while, with replacements stepping in.
Susanna confirmed that she’d be taking her annual summer break in a message on social media.
Alongside a snap of her in the Good Morning Britain studio wearing comfy slippers, she wrote: “SHOES OFF, OUT OF OFFICE ON! Time for my summer break – but also time to say goodbye to our wonderful Director @stuearl who has been the champion of this programme for a decade. Thank you for everything Stuart.”
Susanna went on: “@edballs and I will be back September 1st after our travels. THANK YOU to our amazing viewers for watching and for contacting us and sharing your views – never a “waste of time” being on this brilliant programme and thanks to everyone on Team.”
Susanna’s ‘waste of time’ comment appeared to reference a moment from the programme on Wednesday, July 22, after an interview with Robert Jenrick.
In an awkward aside, the Reform MP could be heard saying, “Well that was a waste of time” after his interview with Susanna and Ed.
After making light of the moment with her message on social media, Susanna was showered with support, while her co-stars also paid tribute to their colleague.
Kate Garraway wrote: “We’ll miss you both @susannareid100 @edballs and @stuearl – we’ll miss you so much – good luck with your next adventure!!!”
Strictly’s La Voix said: “Pyjamas for me and slippers for you! It’s contagious causal glamour!”
One follower meanwhile commented: “We will miss you. Enjoy your holiday,” as another added: “Love the slippers! Have a fab break, see you in September.”
Another echoed: “Aww going to miss you,, but have a lovely break with your family and friends.”
Susanna’s announcement comes after she took a break from the show earlier this year, teasing a “special project”.
After an extended programme that ran into Lorraine Kelly’s usual ITV slot to provide commentary after Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation speech, Susanna confirmed after the show ended that she was taking a break.
She teased on social media: “BREAKING! At 9.30 this morning the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer RESIGNED as Prime Minister live @gmb. ANOTHER resignation at Number 10 in the last DECADE after Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak.
“I’m on a special project and will be back @gmb on Monday 6th July, the week that nominations for a new leader open. See you then @itv.”
One person replied: “You will be missed Susanna.” Another said: “Oh it’s never the same when you’re not there!”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.
Ryker Wixom is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior tight end for Saugus High. It was his idea to organize a food drive on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon in the school parking lot, encouraging anyone and everyone to bring canned goods to help out his community. He’s pretty strong, so he’s capable of lifting lots of canned goods, but he’ll have the whole football team on hand for support.
The Santa Clarita Food Pantry is scheduled to send out a truck to load the donated goods.
“I feel we need to make our mark in the community and help out,” Wixom said of his project. “Food drives have been going on for a long time. I feel it’s a great way to help out our community.”
With the support of coach Jason Bornn, the team will set up tables in the parking lot for people to donate and drop off items. Rather than playing in a passing tournament on the eve of official practice beginning on Monday, Wixom and his teammates are choosing to do something that will help others.
Isn’t that what playing high school sports is supposed to be about — learning lessons as a team that will prepare you for adulthood.
Paul Lambert believes former club Celtic are “nowhere near good enough” without further recruitment – but has guarded against “panic”.
Striker Camilo Duran is the sole summer arrival so far for the Scottish champions, while midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed a new contract after a short-term deal last term.
But forward Kelechi Iheanacho and former left-back loanee Marcelo Saracchi, who had been linked with returns, will not be back in Glasgow this season.
Iheanacho has joined Bursaspor as a free agent, while Saracchi bade farewell to Celtic fans on social media and said he and his agent “did absolutely everything within our power to make a return to Glasgow happen”.
Furthermore, German centre-half Maik Nawrocki has been sold to Lens.
“The squad’s not strong enough,” Lambert told BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound.
“I’ve seen Celtic, they’re nowhere near good enough at this moment in time, nowhere near it. Everybody recognises it.
“They’ll compete, but I don’t think they’re strong enough to go and win it [the league] again at this moment in time. The problems were there last season, so they’re not going to change again this season.
“The squad was very, very limited on what it was last season. They won’t get away with that again – the manager knows it.”
IF YOU are looking for your next European city break, then look no further as the best spots on the continent have been announced.
From popular Spanish spots to Italian hidden gems, the best 15 cities in Europe have been named – though it is bad news for the UK that didn’t feature on the list at all.
Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards are decided by readers’ votes and this year over 661,000 people took part.
Coming out on top is Florence in Italy, scoring 89.48 out of 100.
Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey, who has previously visited the city, said: “There is no better place to go for art lovers, with Florence being home to famous works from Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
“You can also dine like a king, with slices of pizza for €1.50 (£1.29) and pasta dishes from €5 (£4.29).
Read more on travel inspo
“All of the major attractions are a short walk from each other although if you really need a break, you can book an electric golf-buggy eco-tour that traverses the narrow roads.
“Something unusual to keep an eye out for is Florence’s wine windows – ordering a glass of vino through a tiny hole in the wall was created as a way to socially distance during the plague in the 17th century.”
Then in second place is Prague, in the Czech Republic – nicknamed ‘jewel in the crown of Europe’ – scoring 88.89 out of 100.
One Sun reporter who previously visited the city said: “Prague may be best known for its beer, but hillside winery Vini ní Altan is a great option.
“There are great views from inside the intricately carved wooden gazebo, and children can burn off some energy in the vine-strewn park below.
“Prague boasts the largest castle in the world — effectively a small town on top of a hill.
Rounding out the top three is Salzburg in Austria, scoring 88.31 out of 100.
The Sun’s Laura Purkess said: “Salzburg, the home of Mozart and The Sound of Music, sits in Austria’s beautiful Eastern Alps.
“While most of us associate the Alps with snow- caps and skiing, this city makes an ideal summer holiday destination — and it’s affordable.
“If you’re a keen hiker, it’s relatively easy to get from the city centre into the mountains which are filled with stunning, tree-lined trails that take anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours to complete.
“Hardcore fans of The Sound of Music should swap the free walking tour for a proper guided one of the film sets that takes you to locations beyond the city centre, including Church Mondsee, where Maria wed the Baron.”
Porto, Portugal and Ljubljana, Slovenia – nicknamed the ‘green jewel of Europe’ – then followed to round out the top five.
Two spots in Spain featured on the list with Seville in 10th and Madrid in 13th.
Seville is the capital of Spain’s Andalusia region and is known for its Moorish architecture as well as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
As for the Spanish capital, Madrid, you can head to a number of museums and Royal Palaces.
Two spots in Italy also featured on this list with Rome in seventh, and for a lesser-known Italian spot, head to Siena which featured in 14th.
The medieval city found in Tuscany, boasts a UNESCO-listed historic centre, where you can head to Piazza del Campo – the main square – and Duomo di Siena – a cathedral with black-and-white marble.
And places like Funchal – nicknamed the Hawaii of Europe – snuck into the top 20.
LOU Teasdale has split with footballer Andy Carroll for a third time – and for her sake, I hope this time it’s for good.
To me Andy is a classic Peter Pan, a man seemingly devoid of the ability to grow up and stop partying like he’s a single twenty-something.
We saw it in the run up to his marriage to the lovely Billi Mucklow back in 2022, when he made a buffoon of himself by passing out topless in bed with two women in Dubai, and now it seems history is repeating itself.
I watched him sidling up to two rather attractive women at Glastonbury last year and although it might have just been a flirt – who doesn’t get turned on by The Prodigy? – it was enough to get the red flags waving in my mind.
If you feel like this is the nineteenth time Andy and Lou have split over the past year, you’re a little way off but not totally incorrect.
They’ve been more on and off than my laptop over the past 12 months so I am hoping, if only for Lou’s sake, that this is the final time.
If she was one of my mates, I’d be staging an intervention because enough is enough.
This time around, insiders have said it’s Lou who has kicked Andy to the kerb, after he flew off on a boozy holiday to Ibiza, despite supposedly promising her he wouldn’t touch drink to save their relationship.
Lou, a respected make-up artist, has now wiped Andy from her social media.
But why she stood by him time and time again is what I cannot understand. They first started dating back in the autumn 2024 and on social media, naturally, it all seemed rather rosy.
Andy had only been single for a short time, following the end of his ill-fated marriage to Billi, the mother of his three youngest children.
But from the outside, all appeared to be well. And, long had been forgotten the scandal that had engulfed the lead up to their wedding back in 2022.
To recap, and if you don’t remember, Andy ended up landing himself in hot water after getting so drunk at his stag do in Dubai that he ended up topless and in bed with two women – who took photographs of him and shared them with pals.
I reported on the story at the time as I knew people close to Billi.
The former reality star was so humiliated by the footballer she almost called off the wedding.
Nothing happened between Andy and the women who partied with him in Dubai, but her friends confessed to me at the time that they were begging her not to marry him.
But their pleas fell on deaf ears and the pair looked genuinely happy in their wedding pictures in the summer of that year.
But fast-forward two years and they announced they were divorcing.
I rang one of her pals after hearing of his latest split with Lou and they made a pertinent point.
“Marrying Andy was something Billi did for love but it was never going to work out,” a friend admits.
“We told her not to go through with it but everything was in place for the wedding, calling it off would have been a nightmare.
“She did love him deep down and wanted to move past it though.
“Andy might not have cheated in Dubai but he was as drunk as a skunk and topless in bed with two women.
“What does it say about your future husband that he’s going to put himself in this position?”
Well, quite.
Not long after his split from Billi was revealed by The Sun, it emerged Andy had started dating Lou.
There was no crossover between the relationship and on the outside, things between Andy – who has two older children from a previous relationship – and Lou seemed happy.
Their Instagram accounts were full of snaps of them together in France, where Andy had been playing for fourth tier club Bordeaux.
But less than a year into their relationship, it all started to get a bit messy.
Lou, who is sober and has been for over a decade, appeared to have no issue with the fact Andy drank alcohol and the pair made it work.
But last summer, things came to a head in Mykonos – with Andy being quizzed by the police twice after two very public rows last June.
The first incident, at the Nikolus Tavern, was so shocking, a restaurant worker went on the record and told us Andy was “very drunk and furious” with Lou.
He added: “He was using very bad words. It was improper behaviour. The woman looked very upset.”
After speaking to police, Andy was allowed to return to Lou but just hours later alarmed staff called cops again after reports of damage to their £500-a-room at a posh hotel.
Andy was taken to a station for questioning but was released without being arrested. Despite the two incidents, Lou stuck by Andy and their relationship continued.
For eight more weeks, the pair went back to posting loved-up selfies online, until out of the blue – Andy’s pals confessed he had dumped Lou last August.
And thus the madness started.
A friend close to Andy was less than charming about their relationship when they told us about the break-up and said: “Andy got sick of Lou’s demands and her influencer lifestyle.
“She’s always posting on social media and he hates that. He told her it was over this week. He’s single now.”
Days later, Andy then confessed he’d “made a mistake” and they got together again.
But fast forward a few weeks and they split up once more.
This time was after a “make or break” holiday, with a friend saying: “They’ve tried to make it work, but they’re just too different.”
Bizarrely, even after all of this – they ended up patching things up – but unsurprisingly it’s now over again.
That relationship, which has become a very tedious version of Groundhog Day, should, in my opinion, end for good now.
And Lou, I implore you not to take Andy back.
There are only so many times someone can drag you down before something has got to give.
I had the misfortune of standing next to the Dagenham and Redbridge player at Glasto last summer as I watched The Prodigy and he got very friendly with two women during the set.
Lou had been on-site with Andy that weekend but by this point had retreated to the Babington House for a well-earned rest from the stench of the long-drops at Worthy Farm.
Being honest, I can’t work out what annoyed me more – having a colleague poke me repeatedly because Andy was all over these women while my favourite song Smack My B**** Up was playing or the fact he had the gall to act like a single man when he was in what appeared to be a loving relationship.
I’m not saying anything happened with those women, or that his actions went beyond a flirt and someone to lean on late at night.
But when a man truly loves a woman, he doesn’t give another one a second look, let alone put his arms around them when his missus’ back is turned.
We’ve all been the woman, or man, that forgives stupidity because we love. But as the old saying goes, once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.
Don’t let him make a mug of you, Lou.
One version of the story was released in 2019(Image: Publicity Picture)
Tracking down a new TV series to watch isn’t always straightforward. It largely comes down to your preferred genre, but thanks to streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, there tends to be a fresh release practically every week.
Now viewers are claiming this drama series is so brilliant they’re watching it from beginning to end, then starting it all over again. Someone took to Reddit pleading for a TV show that is ’10/10 from start to finish’. They said: “Like a show where every single season is perfect and there are literally zero skippable episodes. For me it’s honestly Stranger Things, the vibe and the soundtrack just never get old. I’m actually rewatching it right now these days to be honest. What show is an absolute masterpiece in your opinion? Looking for something new to binge watch.”
While plenty of suggestions were put forward, scores of people couldn’t help but rave about Chernobyl.
When somebody brought up the drama series, one viewer chimed in: “Couldn’t agree more. It’s in my top 10 and possibly the greatest ever.” Another added: “Literally came here to say exactly this.”
A third person posted: “Watched it a few days ago – I binged the entire mini-series in one go and the only thing I could think when it finished was ‘Freaking AWESOME series… I want to watch it again’.”
Chernobyl is a historical drama TV mini-series which revolves around the disaster of 1986. First launched in 2019, this version, which has been labelled the “greatest TV shows of all time” on numerous occasions, boasts a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an impressive 9.3 out of 10 stars on IMDb.
Upon its release, it garnered widespread critical praise for its performances, historical accuracy, atmosphere, tone, screenplay, cinematography, and musical score.
This year meanwhile, Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown arrived as a TV mini-series featuring survivors speaking publicly for the very first time.
It chronicles the nuclear power plant catastrophe, the Soviet cover-up and present-day consequences as it interweaves with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The 2019 series, starring Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, and Emily Watson, is available to stream on NOW TV. In April, the multi-BAFTA winning production was made free-to-air on Sky Mix and Sky Atlantic to commemorate 40 years since the disaster.
Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown, released in 2026, can be streamed on Disney Plus. Further series exploring the disaster are also available, including the documentary What Happened on Chernobyl, which can be found on BBC iPlayer.
Advertised as “from the world of ‘Legally Blonde,’” the new Prime Video series “Elle” revisits that film’s heroine, Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree), as a 16-year-old high school student, suddenly transported from Beverly Hills to Seattle after her plastic surgeon father (Tom Everett Scott) botches a nose job and has to lie low.
Set in 1995, six years before the events of the first “Legally Blonde” film, with Seattle still living through the long tail of first-wave grunge — Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell are mentioned almost in a single breath — it shares with the big-screen mothership only its indomitable protagonist, who loves pink and her Chihuahua, Bruiser. (The dog gets its own origin story: It was “rescued” from the Spellings, as in Aaron, who found that its “earth tones” didn’t match “their new color palette.”)
There’s a passing reference to the lawyer Elle might (and does) become, and surely some things I missed, but if you’ve never seen “Legally Blonde,” you will not be at any particular disadvantage. (Possibly you will be at a disadvantage if you have seen it.) Bruiser aside, nothing that happens here affects what happens there. Don’t think twice, or even once, about canon. This is something else entirely.
What that is is a high school comedy, which is to say it’s full of familiar characters swept up in teenage drama. And because this is an eight-episode series and not a two-hour movie, relationships will shift more than once. Indeed, they will not be done shifting by the season’s end; a second is clearly in the producers’ sights.
The series is a fish out of water story as Elle moves from Beverly Hills to Seattle. From left, Kimberly (Chandler Kinney), Liz (Gabrielle Policano), Elle (Lexi Minetree), Miles (Jacob Moskovitz) and Dustin (Zac Looker).
(Kimberley French / Prime Video)
Floating into her new school on a bubble of positivity that will stubbornly refuse to burst, Elle is a spot of color in a sea of black and plaid. (There’s a joke that all the cliques — “jocks, D&D nerds, stoners, kids with parents with Microsoft money, kids with parents with Boeing money” — dress exactly alike.) Her surface mistaken for her substance, she’s mocked by Kimberley (Chandler Kinney), the Mean Queen Bee in a reversal of the usual dynamic; it’s the supposedly deep, authentic characters looking down on the privileged, seemingly shallow one. (Not understanding that Bikini Kill is a band, Elle will offer, “Bikini Kill? I know bikinis … that kill.”) Introducing herself to the skeptical Liz (Gabrielle Policano), who makes music and works in a record store, she says, “I like iced coffee, the month of July and when people dress kind of tennis-y, even when they don’t play tennis.”
At the same time, Elle will quickly bond with Shannon (Danielle Chand), the school’s self-appointed one-woman welcoming committee, and Miles (Jacob Moskovitz), a central-casting nice guy who literally collides with her, as is traditional. (His jacket is blue denim to set him apart.) Socially aware quasi-outsider Dustin (Zac Looker) will take a second longer to sway. Inevitably, all will fall before her goodness, her school spirit and her No Doubt karaoke, though her good intentions will have unintended consequences as well, and she’ll have things to learn — it’s a fish out of water story in which the water will change the fish, and the fish the water. In a late-season plotline, in order to give them something to think about than one another, they’ll become a Scooby Gang (with explicit references to “The Breakfast Club”), investigating adult shenanigans. Well, we love a Scooby Gang.
Chief among the grown-ups is Elle’s equally blond mother, Eva (June Diane Raphael), who will become involved in the mayoral campaign of (the late) James Van Der Beek’s Dean Wilson. At school, there are prickly Principal Anderson (Matt Oberg) and Donna (Amy Pietz, nice to see her), his good-hearted secretary, a champion of needy teens and, it will be revealed, Liz’s mother. It feels wrong to saddle the lovable Scott, as Elle’s father, Wyatt, with a fugitive-from-malpractice plot, such as it is — they had to get the family out of Beverly Hills somehow — and just as his character is lying low, so does he disappear, sadly, a little into the scenery. He does get a nice line about meeting someone named Mike McCready, the Pearl Jam guitarist, in a coffee shop and maybe getting together to play, and a chance to lead partygoers in Oasis’ “Wonderwall.”
Minetree is an apt choice to play a younger Reese Witherspoon (an executive producer), with a dash of “Clueless” Alicia Silverstone stirred in, and the younger cast is likable across the board. Written by Laura Kittrell, “Elle” is lightweight, often obvious and oddly, refreshingly innocent — Elle is waiting for “a perfect first kiss from a perfect guy” — both for the genre and the setting. (As Robyn Hitchcock sang of Seattle in “Viva! Sea-Tac,” “They’ve got the best computers and coffee and smack.”) In a way, it feels like a show made for those who already want what it’s selling, but that’s not me, and I had a perfectly fine time.
Hayley Anderson Screen Time TV Reporter
09:06, 30 Jun 2026
Reuben Owen Life in the Dales is almost over once again – but there’s a silver lining.
Spreading his wings away from his family’s original Channel 5 show Our Yorkshire Farm, eldest son Reuben Owen takes centre stage in his own series Life in the Dales.
The ambitious 22-year-old entrepreneur has been continuing to tackle building up their plant machinery and groundwork business with help from his friends and girlfriend Jess.
Season 3’s ninth episode and grand finale airs tonight, Tuesday, June 30, spelling the end of the popular docu-series with no confirmation of a fourth outing just yet. However, fans of the young Yorkshire farmer will be thrilled by its Channel 5 replacement on TV schedules next week.
Series 3 might be ending but next Tuesday, July 7, fans are going to be treated to a repeat episode from Reuben Owen Life in the Dales Season 2.
The instalment that’s taking up the primetime slot at 8pm will be episode seven where Reuben celebrates his 21st birthday with a vintage tractor journey. His girlfriend Jess also organises a cute surprise of balloons and a cake which is secretly transported under his best friend Tommy McWhirter’s tractor engine.
As of yet though, it isn’t clear if this is just a one-off repeat of Life in the Dales or if Channel 5 is going to continue airing episodes every Tuesday.
But before fans step back in time, there is the Season 3 finale to get excited about. The official synopsis for tonight’s episode reads: “With lambing season well underway, Reuben and Jess race to stock-proof the fences at Brough Castle Farm before more than 300 newborn lambs arrive in the fields.
“However, when Reuben challenges Jess’s dad Dave to a battle of man versus machine, Jess is left caught in the middle.
“Capper and Sonny attempt to breathe life back into a vintage tractor, but getting it to run proves tricky.”
Reuben Owen Life in the Dales is available to watch on Channel 5.
Charlotte Hawkins fronted Jeremy Vine on Monday morning(Image: CHANNEL 5)
A Good Morning Britain star has shared a career update with her followers online.
Popular ITV presenter Charlotte Hawkins has moved channels as she’s been fronting Jeremy Vine’s show on Channel 5 – and fans have been rushing to comment following her debut.
Charlotte, who has been a regular face on Good Morning Britain since it launched in 2014, confirmed she’d be filling in for Jeremy on her social media last Friday (June 26) after she’d guest-hosted Matt Allwright’s show on the channel.
Now, the 51-year-old has been showered with support after fronting Jeremy’s show for the first time on Monday (June 29) as she shared a snap of herself in the studio alongside Joanna Jarjue and Mike Parry.
One person commented: “You looked amazing. Good job done.” Someone else added: “It went very well, very natural.”
Another fan wrote: “This works for you, good job.” While on X, one viewer shared: ” #Jeremyvine Oh Charlotte’s swapped the sofa on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to the Channel 5 desk and chair #ThisMorning #Gmb “
While someone else commented: “Great seeing @CharlotteHawkns on @JeremyVineOn5 this morning #Jeremyvine .”
Opening the show on Monday, Charlotte commented: “I’m Charlotte Hawkins, sitting in for Jeremy while he enjoys a holiday!”
Charlotte confirmed that she’d be back on the programme on Tuesday (June 30). During Monday’s episode she welcomed back Mike Parry to the panel after his recent treatment for skin cancer.
When asked how he’s doing, he replied: “I feel very well, thank you. I can’t thank The Royal Marsden Hospital enough for what they did for me last week.
“It was five consecutive days, a blast of radiation, once a day, a serious blast and then other procedures.
“But, I feel good at the end of it, I feel mentally very well. I know I was in the hands of some of the best people in the world.”
He also shared a warning to viewers as he highlighted the importance of keeping out of the sun following his diagnosis.
Mike added: “can I say to everybody, please, please, take the greatest precaution against that big yellow ball in the sky, the sun. It will get you; you have a chance to stop it.”
The Jeremy Vine show airs every weekday on Channel 5 from 9:15am.
The BBC aired an episode of The Good Life in tribute to the iconic actress(Image: BBC)
BBC viewers have been left “heartbroken” as they paid tribute to an iconic actress.
In a change to scheduled programming, the broadcaster made the decision to honour Dame Penelope Keith with a classic episode of The Good Life on Monday, June 29.
Dame Penelope, star of the 1970s British sitcom, died aged 86, with her family releasing a statement.
They said she “died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey”.
As fans mourned the To the Manor Born actress and friends paid tribute, the BBC confirmed the Margo Leadbetter actress would be remembered with the episode airing on BBC Two.
From the third series of The Good Life, it followed war breaking out between the Goods and the Leadbetters, “proving there is nothing like a good fight over the fence to cement relationships”.
Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy said: “All of us at BBC Comedy are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dame Penelope Keith. She was one of the defining figures of British television comedy.
“Her iconic performance as Margo in The Good Life remains one of the nation’s most beloved sitcom roles and continues to delight audiences today.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and all of those who had the privilege of working with her.”
Watching the repeat episode, one person wrote on X: “Just watched #TheGoodLife on bbc as a tribute to Penelope Keith. Still very good!”
Another said: “Lovely to watch #thegoodlife. it brings back memories of when I was a kid. RIP Penelope Keith.”
A third wrote: “Genuinely had something in my eye as soon as the theme tune came on #TheGoodLife #DamePenelopeKeith Thank you BBC2.”
Someone else said: “I’m indulging in some pre-dinner #TheGoodLife on #BBCTwo in honour of #PenelopeKeith RIP.”
Paying their respects, one person said: “I am shocked and now, heartbroken. … Absolutely love this lady. I’ve watched #TheGoodLife so many times, over the years and it just becomes even more funny each time I watch it – seeing/hearing something that I’ve missed previously… I think another “binge-watch” of “The Good Life” is now due. In honour of the beloved #DamePenelopeKeith.”
Someone else wrote: “Pleasing to see BBC 2 scheduling an episode of The Good Life at 7 this evening, by way of tribute to the wonderfully talented Penelope Keith. Hopefully there will be more in the coming weeks. A Penelope Keith night on BBC 4?”
The statement from Dame Penelope’s family read: “We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey where she had lived for more than 50 years.
“The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”
The Good Life is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
THIS summer’s celebrity trend isn’t a snatched waistline or even a peachy backside.
It’s the ‘11-line abs’ – a pair of razor sharp lines running down the stomach.
A host of stars, including Jodie Comer, Zendaya and Maura Higgins, have been proudly proving the magic number is 11 by flaunting their honed stomachs.
It’s an enviable look that screams gruelling hours at the gym and super-low body fat.
Until now, the number 11 was something women dreaded as it referred to the pair of lines that form between the eyebrows through frowning.
Now, however, 11 has become the ultimate badge of fitness — 11-line abs are created by the natural gap between the six-pack muscles (rectus abdominis) and the abdomen’s side muscles (obliques).
While it may have once been tacky to show off your naked waist, this year people are exhibiting their defined midriffs everywhere — not just at the beach or the gym but on the red carpet, too.
Earlier this month, actress Jodie Comer looked sensational at a star-studded bash as she flashed her sculpted midriff in a black dress.
But if you think achieving this physique is as simple as jumping on fat jabs, you need to think again — it’s down to exercise and good nutrition, according to women’s fitness expert Shakira Akabusi.
“There isn’t a single magic exercise to achieve visible abs,” says mum-of-four Shakira.
“But a great set of core exercises are planks, dead bugs, hanging knee raises and bicycles. Compound exercises like squats and deadlifts are also great.”
Although Shakira recommends a well-rounded diet, she says “a modest calorie deficit” is necessary to reduce body fat.
She adds: “Your abdominal muscles sit beneath a fat layer, so visible definition relies on overall body composition as well as building muscle.”
The expert emphasised that aesthetics and health shouldn’t be confused.
“Visible ab definition is not a marker of health, and is down to many factors including genetics, hormones, body fat distribution, nutrition and even lighting.
“So, don’t be fooled by social media posts.”
The film comes from legendary director Edgar Wright(Image: Courtesy of Paramount Plus)
A gripping thriller based on a popular novel has finally landed on streaming and viewers are calling it a ‘masterpiece’.
The action-packed movie, adapted from a novel by Stephen King, hit cinemas last year and is tailor-made for fans of nail-biting franchises such as Mission: Impossible or Fast and Furious.
Its IMDb synopsis reads: “A man joins a game show in which contestants, allowed to flee anywhere in the world, are pursued by ‘hunters’ hired to kill them.”
The film was helmed by legendary director Edgar Wright, celebrated for cult favourites such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Baby Driver.
The Running Man is the most recent 2025 adaptation of King’s iconic novel, with Glen Powell taking on the lead role of Ben Richards – a part previously made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 original.
The supporting cast boasts an impressive line-up including Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones and Martin Herlihy, reports the Express.
The film currently holds a 61% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 6.4 rating on IMDb, with legions of fans applauding this fresh take on the dystopian tale.
Now available on Paramount Plus, the streaming platform has teased: “The Running Man is a fun, unhinged deadly game show where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward.”
Over on IMDb, one enthusiast awarded the film a perfect 10/10, declaring: “Let me put it this way. I saw it at a matinee this afternoon and now I’m going back with my husband. I’m not a Glen Powell fan but I do live Edgar Wright movies and this one delivers. Don’t go see it if you want to relax!
“I read the Stephen King novel years and years ago and saw the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie years ago as well, so i can’t tell you how it compares, but this one stands on its own as the best action movie of the year… and maybe the decade…so far.”
A second viewer hailed the film as a ‘masterpiece of literary adaptation’, remarking: “Hands down the best adaptation of King’s work. You can literally watch the movie and turn pages. Powell’s Richards jumps out of the book.
“The ending got the Hollywood treatment, but still accomplished the same goal. I waited 34 years for a faithful version of this, and now we have it. The casting feels like they all read the novel.”
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Another cinema-goer commented: “One of the best movies of the year. After being trailer after trailer at the cinema for what seems the whole year, I was fearing this would be a total flop.
“I need not have worried because this is an action packed, well scripted remake of the original. Everyone is cast perfectly and all performances are great. It keeps you guessing throughout the movie and the twists and turns keep it going. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth a visit.”
One further viewer chipped in: “It was perfect. Edgar Wright nailed I.T. on this expensive movie. The action, everything. A lot better than the 1987. It follows the book. Glen Powell did a great Job on playing the character Ben Richards.”
They even drew comparisons to other beloved action franchises, adding: “This film feels like a big mix of Fast and Furious and Mission: Impossible. I love the chase scenes.”
Over on Rotten Tomatoes, one enthusiastic viewer gushed: “Excellent film! Glen Powell did great with his character, Ben Richards.”
“Fresh! Intensely gripping all the way through. Great acting on all parts,” another remarked, while a further viewer noted: “Loved this. Im 100% certain that Stephen King will be so happy with this version of his brilliant book. Great all round really enjoyable watch.”
Not everybody was won over, however, with one person writing: “A real disappointment, falling flat both as social commentary and as an action movie.”
Another disgruntled viewer complained: “The first one was way better. Loved the satire and Richard Dawson, who was a game show host in real life, as the host in the original. Tired of remakes with all the social commentary without improving the whole movie.”
The Running Man is available to stream on Paramount Plus now.
