hes

Rescue teams from seven countries are inching towards a man who survived the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days ago.

Emergency workers located security guard Hernán Gil on Saturday beneath the ruins of a multi-storey car park in Catia La Mar, but have only been able to make visual contact with him in the last hours.

Despite being buried under nine-metre-deep, highly unstable rubble, rescuers say that Gil, who is in his 40s, is “in good spirits” and cheering them on.

His wife has described his survival as “a miracle”. Almost 2,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes which hit Venezuela on 24 June, and tens of thousands are still missing.

Hundreds of rescuers have been working against the clock to free Gil since he was located more than 100 hours ago.

Teams from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States are on the ground trying to free him.

Chilean firefighter Exequiel Gallardo said that he was “hopeful that we can do the rescue within the next few more hours”.

He told the BBC at the scene that there were still technical challenges they needed to overcome, including breaking a concrete slab to allow them to extract Gil.

“I have been a rescue worker for 22 years, and this is without doubt the most complex and technically difficult which I’ve had to tackle,” he said.

Parts of the access ducts rescuers built to reach him have collapsed several times, highlighting the dangers the work poses to the rescuers as well as Gil.

Overnight, the search teams were finally able to establish visual contact with Gil.

In footage recorded by a small camera inserted into the rubble where Gil is trapped, a Chilean firefighter can be heard asking Gil to turn his head towards the camera.

One of his eyes is bloodshot and he is wearing a face mask, which rescuers had earlier passed to him through a small hole to protect him from the dust and debris created by their efforts to free him.

The firefighter also asks him to don goggles to protect his eyes as rescuers continue to carefully dig away at the rubble surrounding him.

METALLICA roadies were forced to intervene when a fan jumped on stage at the heavy metal band’s gig in Glasgow.  

The US-based group are currently on their M72 World Tour and performed to 56,000 fans at Hampden Park last week.  

But one Metallica fan ended up missing most of the show as he was apprehended by security when he jumped on stage before the concert started. 

A tense clip posted on social media showed the animated concert-goer aggressively refusing instructions to get down. 

In the end one of the security team was to shove the man from the stage with him being caught by another roadie. 

In a separate clip the troublemaker was escorted from the venue by police as fans rushed to comment on the shock events. 

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One wrote: “How to waste your night in one easy swoop.”

And someone else said: “Money well spent [eye-roll emoji].”

It comes after The Sun revealed Metallica are thrashing out a deal to land a huge residency at Las Vegas music venue the Sphere.

A source said earlier this year: “Metallica having a residency at the Sphere is all anyone is talking about on the Strip.

“They have been to see the bosses and met all the tech team to talk through and plan out a show in principle.

“The contracts are still to be signed but we were told they are 90 per cent there. Metallica will bring a different feel to a show there and there is a lot of excitement from bosses at the Sphere about what this could look like.”

June 29 (UPI) — As Speaker of the House Mike Johnson prepared to send a bipartisan, landmark housing affordability bill to President Donald Trump‘s desk on Monday, the president told reporters that he remains undecided on whether to sign it.

Trump called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” so unimportant,” CNN reported. One week ago, the president abruptly canceled the originally planned signing of the housing bill, which the Senate and House passed by overwhelming margins.

“When I look at the (housing) bill, it’s a bill,” Trump said to reporters Monday, The Hill reported. “When I look at the SAVE America Act, it’s about saving America.”

The housing bill is “a yawn,” the president said. “To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, everything is a big yawn.”

The housing bill’s provisions include measures that encourage renovating older homes, encourage communities to build more housing through funding and grant programs, cut some red-tape issues around building housing and effectively ban private equity from buying up single-family homes.

When canceling the original signing of the bill, Trump said he wouldn’t sign it until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to prove their citizenship before they register to vote

Critics say the controversial act could disenfranchise millions of Americans, and Republicans have said that they don’t have the votes to pass it.

Trump acknowledged this Monday, The Hill reported, saying the SAVE America Act is “probably not going to happen because we have four Republican senators, maybe five, that just won’t vote for it. It’s crazy.”

The president said that the housing bill’s bipartisan backing was part of his issue with it.

“It’s very bipartisan — that means the Democrats like it,”he said. “They’re getting things that I wouldn’t necessarily agree to.”

Speaker Johnson, a Republican, said Sunday that he believed Trump would sign the housing bill after it was sent to him, “because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

If Trump does not sign the bill, it could still go into effect. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a bill will become law automatically if a president does not take action for 10 days, as long as Congress is in session.

Trump could also veto the bill. If that happens, Congress has the power to override the veto by passing the act by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

Before her death in 1993, Mabel McKay — one of the last living dreamers of the Pomo Indian people — shared a prophecy while driving through the Sonoma hills. One day, this paradise would burn.

“Everything is going to go dry. Everything will burn. That’s my latest vision,” she said, gesturing to the idyllic landscape.

Startled, writer Greg Sarris asked what could be done to stop it.

“You live the best way you know how,” McKay replied.

Since her passing, Sonoma County experienced the most destructive wildfires in California history in 2017, only for another, more destructive fire to surpass it a year later. “She always used to say, ‘Whether you believe it or not, it’s true,’” Sarris recalls.

McKay and her visions are the inspiration behind Sarris’ latest work. His first novel in 28 years, “The Last Human Bear,” is loosely based on the spiritual leader McKay, whose wisdom and companionship served as a refuge to Sarris during a tumultuous childhood in Sonoma County.

A reluctant casino mogul

On a Monday morning in California, Sarris sits in his sleek office at the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in Rohnert Park. Sarris, 74, has served as chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria for more than 30 years. In his office, diplomas and academic certificates crowd the walls. A framed poster for the 2023 film “Joan Baez: I Am a Noise” hangs nearby — she’s a close friend. Behind him, an American flag ripples in the distance outside the window, blurred by the summer heat.

Just up the road sits a multibillion-dollar tribe-owned casino, Graton Resort & Casino — a project the writer oversees. “I had never been in a casino. I have a PhD in modern thought and literature from Stanford,” says Sarris.

How does an accomplished author find himself at the helm of a multibillion-dollar casino enterprise? It’s a question that still puzzles Sarris. “I told them if we can raise our people and become a platform for social justice and environmental stewardship to benefit Indian and non-Indian alike, I’ll do it.”

Before his stint as a reluctant casino mogul, Sarris was a prolific author and university professor at UCLA and Sonoma State. In 2023, he was appointed a regent of the University of California by Gavin Newsom. Over the course of his career, he published six books, and his novel “Grand Avenue” became an HBO original film in 1996.

California’s Native history: revisited

From early in his career, Sarris wanted to depict Indians as he knew them, rather than as Hollywood depicted them. “We’ve been erased by Hollywood, because the idea of Indians has always been Plains Indians or Southwest,” Sarris explains. “It’s easier for Americans to access Buffalo Bill.”

Greg Sarris’ new novel “The Last Human Bear.”

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

“California Indians have always been left out of the picture,” says Sarris.

“The Last Human Bear” is Sarris’ latest attempt to revive the legacy of California’s Native history. The novel follows Mary Hatcher, a Pomo Indian in Sonoma County, from Prohibition through the 21st century. It’s told in the first person through Hatcher’s compelling voice as she narrates the horror and heartbreak of her lifetime over the course of a century, echoing William Faulkner’s literary style, which influenced Sarris.

“I’m curious why you want to know about me,” reads the first line. The novel unfolds like an oral storytelling tradition, driven by a voice that Sarris painstakingly crafted, evoking his conversation with McKay. “The voice comes. I have to call it, almost like a spirit,” says Sarris. “I wanted it to feel like an oral story.”

Hatcher — a Pomo shape-shifter who dodges prejudice by passing as Mexican in the novel — is a thorny protagonist, often cunning, scheming and unforgiving. “An American Indian woman is as richly complicated as anybody else. I wanted to show this rich and complicated character who’s negotiated a history that she’s showing you,” says Sarris.

Acclaimed Northern California writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, who has authored 17 books and is a friend of Sarris’, says that she was fascinated by his ability to evoke so many aspects of female life in “The Last Human Bear.” Solnit was especially moved by Sarris’ rendering of California’s tragic history. “It’s shocking, given how rich California’s Indigenous cultures were — 99 different language groups, mythologies, belief systems and linguistic traditions. Every North American Indigenous language family is represented in California. It’s weird how this history has been erased, and how horrific what happened was.”

Climate change and ongoing ecological disasters have made Indigenous perspectives more vital than ever, the author argues. “I think Indigenous people have been hugely influential in giving us a point of view in which we were never separate from nature,” she says. According to Solnit, Sarris’ novels are part of a broader resurgence of interest in Native culture.

In the early chapters of the “The Last Human Bear,” the protagonist gets a job on a ranch by posing as Mexican, since Indians were forbidden from working as housekeepers. What follows is a tale of tension, deception and a forbidden love that sours, reminiscent of Brontë novels.

Sarris hopes that the novel illuminates an uncomfortable history of Sonoma County that remains largely invisible, looming beneath the soil of wine country. The novel offers “a history of this county that a lot of people haven’t seen,” says Sarris.

“There were more Indian people right where we’re sitting per capita than anywhere else in the entire New World outside Mexico City, which was the Aztec capital,” says Sarris. “The genocide was so horrendous.”

Identity, revenge and a search for home are themes that arise throughout the novel — subjects Sarris knows well in his own life.

Greg Sarris feeds chickens at an organic farm across the street from Graton Resort & Casino, which he heads, in Rhonert Park.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Uncovering a hidden Native heritage

In 1952, Sarris’ teenage mother gave him up for adoption, her family hoping to evade the embarrassment of their Jewish daughter becoming pregnant by a Native American Filipino man. Sarris grew up in a white family in Santa Rosa alongside three siblings. His adopted father, George Sarris, became abusive, causing Greg to flee the house with his adopted mother’s blessing. “God bless her. She let me go out and live on ranches and run with other people to get away from him.”

It was in these formative years that Greg became acquainted with Native American people in Santa Rosa, always feeling a mysterious pull toward them. It was these years that also shaped his sensibility as a writer. “I was a lost kid on the streets, so I was always paying attention to everyone, listening, and people would tell me stories.”

Native Americans lived on the fringe of town, often practicing healing ceremonies that were frowned upon by white Catholic families in the suburbs Sarris explains. “When I was 15, I met Mabel McKay, who I wrote the book about. I knew she did some of those strange things that I heard about, but I liked her,” he says. “I had no idea that I was related to these people. I thought I was a mixed-blood Mexican or Spanish.”

At age 30, Sarris uncovered the identities of his birth parents and learned of his Native heritage. He learned his birth mother was buried in a pauper’s grave at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Santa Rosa, with “nothing to mark her grave but an upside-down horseshoe that has her name in it.” In the opening pages of the novel, a dedication to her: Bunny Hartman.

Excitedly, Sarris presented proof of his Indian heritage to McKay, his trusted confidant. “I thought it was a big deal that I had Indian blood,” says Sarris. He showed McKay a photo of his father, which she met with indifference. Naturally, Sarris was disappointed. “She told me something later: ‘You’re never any more Indian than your experience.’”

A lifelong outsider

Questions surrounding the legitimacy of Sarris’ heritage haunted him for decades and ultimately informed the novel. Being adopted by a white family, only to be shunned by the Native community, perpetuated his lifelong feeling of being an outsider. “I keep thinking maybe I just got in with this group of people and my Indian relatives so that I would feel rejected again,” he says. “We gravitate towards what we know as home emotionally.”

“I didn’t grow up on a reservation. I’m fair-skinned,” he says. “Being adopted, it feeds into that feeling of not being good enough,” he says, adding: “Illegitimacy is a medicine in the end.”

In the Native American literary community, Sarris has often felt excluded from discourse. When in doubt, he reminds himself of his involvement with the tribe. “Who among them have done this much for their people?” he asks. “Who among them has given this much time and sacrificed a writing career for their people?”

Jane Fonda, the two-time Academy Award-winning actress and activist, struck up a friendship with Sarris through a shared cause. “We met during the campaign to secure health and safety setbacks that would finally prevent oil wells from being drilled within 3,200 feet of a community. Greg and the federated tribes helped us win that fight against Big Oil,” Fonda explained in an email.

“I can tell from his books and my time with him that he embodies indigenous wisdom and beliefs,” Fonda says. “I see Greg Sarris as a man who embodies the best of two worlds — the mercantile culture of Western civilization and the indigenous world that knows we are part of nature and interdependent with it. It’s a rare and valuable combination.”

Greg Sarris, who holds a PhD in literature from Stanford, inside the casino he works for to help fund his tribe’s future.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Inside the polarizing casino kingdom

The Graton Resort & Casino, launched by Sarris over 12 years ago, now plays a vital role in supporting the Pomo Indian community. “I promised early on: roof over everyone’s head, an insurance policy in every pocket and a college degree paid for,” he says. “We give $2.5 million a year in perpetuity to the University of California, so that all California Indians can go to the University of California tuition-free.” The casino has funded theater programs, youth writing intensives and revenue sharing with neighboring tribes.

On the car ride to the casino, Sarris is riffing on his friendship with Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart, who bought Sarris a quarter horse as a gift. In the casino, Sarris eagerly greets his employees with a friendliness that betrays his repeated insistence that he’s a reclusive writer. He points out blown-glass flower sculptures, an embellishment he once saw at the Four Seasons in Paris. He walks past the baccarat room, where he hosts high rollers from Beijing, whom he boasts, “play $100,000 in a hand.”

Early on, news of the casino’s construction caused waves of controversy across Sonoma County — some of which resulted in death threats against Sarris’ life. Concerns that a casino would invite debauchery into the county circulated, which Sarris points out is ironic for a community predicated on wine: “Beyond whether gambling is right or wrong, what is implicit is their privilege and elitism,” says Sarris. “People were getting scared because these brown people, who were the poorest in Sonoma County, are suddenly going to have power.”

Admittedly, Sarris says their newfound wealth has not been without repercussions in the tribe. “People who have been traumatized with generational poverty are the most vulnerable to the lure of materialism,” he says.

When time catches up

In the final chapters of “The Human Bear,” the protagonist, at the end of her life, recalls: “Human Bears often like to even the score before they die.” Revenge is futile, she concludes. “If I was going to avenge our people, I would have to poison nearabout all of history.”

Sarris recalls a similar epiphany he had speaking with McKay. He explains Pomo Indians believed that each action had a consequence. “Ethnographers always said we’re a culture predicated on black magic and fear. No, we were cultures predicated on profound respect for the complexity of all life,” says Sarris.

Then, white men came and seemingly bent the laws of natural order. “The Kashaya Pomo word for white people was ‘miracles’, because they came in and killed everything and did all these things. Nothing could come back to them,” says Sarris.

He explained to McKay that he thought of the white man’s fate differently. “Look, there’s no water. There’s no air. Everything’s poison,” he says, gesturing around him to this vast, broken world. “It’s all come back. It just took time.”

Connors is a culture journalist from Sonoma County. She covers books, food, entertainment and offbeat Los Angeles. She’s currently at work on a book of essays about tourism in all its forms.

JOEL CORRY is on the brink of his biggest collaboration yet, after striking up a bond with Jennifer Lopez.

He’s worked with, and remixed songs from, some of the biggest names on the planet, including Charli XCX, Raye and Sir Elton John.

But Joel caught J-Lo’s attention in December after remixing her 2005 single Get Right, before he remixed her David Guetta collaboration Save Me Tonight in March.

And after flying Bizarre’s Jack out to Ibiza to join him for a mad 24 hours on the party island, Joel says he’s working on getting a studio date with her.

“I’m still in touch with J-Lo and her team, and we’re trying to work on new music together,” Joel says.

“I could definitely see that happening.

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“She loves dance music and doing a remix for Get Right for her last year was an honour.

“It was amazing to meet her and build that friendship.

“I look forward to her doing more of that.”

Of his close friend David, Joel adds: “I talk to him all the time.

“I am playing with him in a few weeks at Ushuaïa.

“He books me back every year to support him at Ushuaïa.

“He’s the best.

“He’s the King of Ibiza.”

Before he nails down his time with J-Lo, Joel has another project up his sleeve — and we did not see it coming.

He has recorded a track with Aleksandr Orlov, the animated aristocratic Russian meerkat who has been fronting ads with his “simples” catchphrase for Compare the Market since 2009.

Together they’re launching a bid for No1 with Simples featuring Scrufizzer [Joel Corry Remix].

Joel says with a laugh: “Listen, you know I’m the king of the summer bangers.

“And for Aleksandr the meerkat, it’s always been his dream to have a summer banger.

“So I’m just helping him out.

“Aleksandr for No1.”

Joel has big ambitions for his animated pal too, and is hoping ITV calls him up for a performance in the Love Island villa, three years after he played there with Becky Hill.

“I’ve done Love Island but we need to get the meerkat on Love Island,” Joel says.

“He would clean up in the villa, wouldn’t he?

“I’d love to go back and, this time, we’ll bring Aleksandr.”

During Jack’s whirlwind trip to Ibiza, he joined Joel in the DJ booth for his set at Wayne Lineker’s infamous O Beach, where he premiered Simples live.

He was accompanied by his girlfriend Coco Lodge, who found fame on series eight of Love Island, the same year he performed.

While he kept tight-lipped as to whether a proposal is on the cards, Joel has his heart set on Ibiza for the big day.

He says: “I’ve always said if I was ever gonna get married, Ibiza would be the place to do it.

“It has a special place in my heart.

“The first time I came here was when I was in my early twenties, and I’ve been back every year since.

“I’ve had residencies here for the last few years, and this is definitely my happy place.

“I think it’d be a perfect place to get married.”

While I’m sure Joel’s brother will be his best man, I wouldn’t put it past Aleksandr to wangle himself a role as ring bearer if all goes well with their track.

GREG James has confirmed his Radio 1 show return and revealed that he’s ‘exhausted’ as he shared an update on his dad’s recent open heart surgeries.

The radio star, 40, was missing from the Radio 1 Breakfast, which airs weekdays from 7am to 10:30am, on Wednesday and Thursday (18 June 2026).

Greg took to his Instagram story this morning to reveal the heart-breaking reason why – and admitted that he’s “in no fit state” because his father Alan Milward has undergone heart surgery.

Then this afternoon, he decided to give his 1.3m followers on the social media platform an update.

Sharing a selfie from a sauna, Greg wrote: “Hello from the sauna! I felt daft updating on all of this but because it was such a loud part of the comic relief challenge, I feel like it’s nice to be honest about it all.

“Just to say, my dad is responsive, just about conscious and being looked after amazingly.

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“Obviously, after two open heart surgeries in three months, he’s not out of the woods by a long way, but we’re hopeful he’ll be fixed and we can all just get on with life.

“Which is what I’m gonna try and do.

“I won’t keep updating on here about it all as quite frankly, we’re all exhausted by it and it’s going to be a long road to recovery.”

He then went on to share exactly when he’ll be back on the radio – and fans don’t have long to wait.

Greg continued: “I’ve wanted to make sure my mum is OK so it’s been nice to spend loads of time with her and my big sis, but I’m back to the show tomorrow and I can’t wait.

“Thank you again for the most amazing load of messages.

“It’s genuinely very comforting.”

It comes after Greg told fans yesterday: “Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all). 

“But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features. 

“All being well, back on tomorrow morning.”

However Greg later revealed Alan’s surgery took “much longer” than they’d expected so he would be taking another day off. 

He said: “What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU. 

“Surgery was much longer than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad. 

“Real talk, surgery went ok but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday. 

“Plus, I’m in no fit state to be on the radio. I mean, look at me, I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs. Thank you for your lovely messages.”

In March Greg had to cancel his show and rush home after Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He later opened up about his dad’s struggles during his 1,000km tandem bike ride for Red Nose Day.

Undertaking the mammoth task just a week after Alan’s stroke, Greg got emotional talking about the man he calls “Big Al”.

He said: “I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much.

“Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.”

GREG James has revealed the heartbreaking reason he’s been missing from his Radio 1 show for two days saying he’s “in no fit state” to be on air. 

The 40-year-old was absent from his Radio 1 Breakfast show on Wednesday and also missed Thursday’s edition. 

Greg took to social media to tell fans he’s been supporting his family while his father Alan Milward undergoes heart surgery. 

Writing on Instagram, the presenter said: “Hello from my mum’s garden! I wasn’t on the breakfast show today as my dad was in for another go at heart surgery (it’s been a wild few months and I didn’t want to bore you with it all). 

“But here we are. Back to square one. Waiting for news and staying distracted and keeping calm by making water features. 

“All being well, back on tomorrow morning.”

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However Greg later revealed Alan’s surgery took “much longer” than they’d expected so he would be taking another day off. 

He said: “What a great day! An absolute hoot in ICU. 

“Surgery was much longer than everyone hoped. Big up my mum and my big sis. And the surgeons. And the NHS. What a gang. We’ve all gone mad. 

“Real talk, surgery went ok but he’s far from out of the woods so I’m gonna take it easy tomorrow and hopefully back on Friday. 

“Plus, I’m in no fit state to be on the radio. I mean, look at me, I’m posting photos from intensive care ffs. Thank you for your lovely messages.”

In March Greg had to cancel his show and rush home after Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He later opened up about his dad’s struggles during his 1,000km tandem bike ride for Red Nose Day.

Undertaking the mammoth task just a week after Alan’s stroke, Greg got emotional talking about the man he calls “Big Al”.

He said: “I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much.

“Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.”

TEDDY SWIMS says he is glad he was 30 years old before achieving global success – otherwise he could have gone off the rails.

The US star, whose single Lose Control sent his profile rocketing in 2023, said he doesn’t understand how younger stars like Benson Boone have coped with their early fame.

Teddy explained: “He’s crushing it at, like, 23. If they would have gave me that at 23, I would have sent that straight up my nose.

“Thank God it happened to me at the time it did and I’m capable of understanding this and taking it seriously.

“I’d have probably been so terrible about it. I’d have spun out immediately if I’d been given that at such a young age.”

Since then though, Teddy’s had further hits with The Door and Bad Dreams, but doesn’t let success get to his head.

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He said: “I try not to hang up my diamond or platinum records in my house, because I feel like I’ll just be looking at them and be like, ‘My best days are behind me,’ or something.

“So I try just to keep my head down and keep rocking.”

Asked if they’re in storage, he confessed: “A lot of them I’ve given to my family on Christmas. It saves me a little money there too.

“You know, my aunt’s got The Door gold record from a year ago.”

A real beauty spot, Maya

MAYA JAMA is clearly feline fine as she turns up the heat in a skimpy leopard-print mini dress.

The Love Island host sizzled as she fronted the dating show’s ITV2 spin-off Aftersun in the slinky number.

Maya, who previously dated grime star Stormzy, split from her Manchester City footballer boyfriend Ruben Dias in April after 18 months together.

But she clearly isn’t moping around, and has been on holiday in Ibiza, where she flaunted her curves in a tiny bikini.

Maya said of the break-up: “I’m an all-or-nothing girl, I don’t casually date, so yes, I will love loudly or not at all – and if it ends, it ends. I decided a long time ago not to base my life decisions on public opinions.”

Sounds like she’s got the dating game sussed.

JACK WHITEHALL has apologised to Becky Hill for calling her a “Wetherspoons Whitney”, claiming the pair “had a chuckle” about his dig – despite her writing diss track Daddy’s Range Rover about him.

I revealed last month how Becky has penned the song all about him making her the butt of a joke while he hosted the 2024 Brits.

Jack says: “I think my biggest surprise is it’s taken so long for some- one to write a diss track about me. I apologised when I saw her.”

Becky doesn’t sound like she sees the funny side, however – blasting the “privately educated nepo baby”.

Jesy’s hol of a look

LITTLE MIX singer Jesy Nelson celebrated her 35th birthday pondering what is coming next for her.

Holidaying with friends, she mused: “Whatever will chapter 35 bring?”

Well, it is unlikely to bring a reunion with her estranged former bandmates.

Jesy was not a guest at Perrie Edwards’ wedding to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Portugal over the weekend, after Perrie said Jesy made her “blood boil” by claiming she felt unsupported during a mental health crisis.

Whatever comes next, it’s going to be a page-turner.

LEAH LETS LOOSE IN IBIZA

ENGLAND women’s football captain Leah Williamson made the most of her break from the game by enjoying a wild girls’ trip to Ibiza.

I’m told the Arsenal player let her hair down at the White Isle’s most legendary club Pikes last week.

Then on Friday night she let loose at Calvin Harris’ residency at superclub Ushuaia, where she partied with pals and her model girlfriend Elle Smith.

One onlooker told me: “Leah was ­having a great time doing shots with her mates – she was really ­living her best life.”

A calf injury meant she was ruled out of the last Lionesses squad, and it sounds like she is still feeling the effects as Leah wasn’t dancing as much as her mates.

But I reckon a blow-out in Ibiza might be just what she needs before getting her head back in the game.

FRESH off a collaboration with Ed Sheeran, Martin Garrix has teamed up with Madonna.

The Dutch DJ debuted Bizarre, one of the tracks from Madge’s highly anticipated Confessions II album, during a New York party.

From the clip I’ve heard, it sounds like an absolute beast.

ASTON: MY BOY’S READY TO HAVE BITE AT POP STARDOM

JLS star Aston Merrygold reckons he could have the next Justin Bieber on his hands in the form of his talented eldest son.

He revealed that eight-year-old Grayson Jax is already showing serious star potential.

The Beat Again singer said: “My oldest is full-on – he’s ready, he wants to do everything. He’s so much better than I ever was. Little Justin Bieber on the way.”

While fans wait to see if another Merrygold is about to hit the charts, Aston is juggling life as a musician with being a hands-on dad to his three children and setting a good example.

The singer has teamed up with Bupa Dental Care to launch the kids’ story and audiobook The ­Dentist’s Apprentice, aimed at ­helping youngsters overcome fears over check-ups on their teeth.

Aston said: “The whole premise is about trying to get rid of dental anxiety that young people have.

“Having all that pent-up anxious energy is not healthy for anyone. The dentist is about check-ups, it’s about prevention.”

Aston will soon be back on the road with JLS for their UK tour.

They are playing eight more shows, ending in Derby on August 29.

THE Ibiza Final Boss piqued the interest of the masses after he was spotted boozing it up on the party isle last August.

While most Ibiza goers like to indulge in the lifestyle Jack Kay found viral fame for his trancelike dance moves and good old-fashioned bowl haircut.

He was spotted vibing in multiple clubs on the island last summer and fans became obsessed with how well summed up the clientele.

Jack, 26, who was seen donning a vest, shades, and a blingy chain, was famed for perfectly round trim, which became the subject of thousands of comments.

The former builder has now opened up on the hefty amount he’s insured his hair for – and it’s seven figures.

He claimed: “Obviously it’s my USP so I have been looking to get it insured and I’ve insured it for a million pound.”

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Celebs often get parts of their bodies insured if it’s a huge money maker for them.

While the Ibiza Final Boss’ life turned on its head over night, he told The Sun he’s not worried about “staying relevant.”

For influencers and viral internet stars overnight fame doesn’t usually last long with some desperate to stay in the spotlight.

But Jack, from Newcastle, would be “happy,” if it all ended tomorrow.

Jack said: “I’m not worried about staying relevant.

“I’ve signed a multi-fight deal, my agents got big things happening for us like end of this year starting next year as well. So I’m not worried about that.

“Even if it all ends tomorrow, which it won’t but if it was I’m happy with that I’ve made a killing do you know what I mean I’ve smashed it.”

He acknowledged that his time in the public eye won’t last forever but he’ll certainly be making the most of it two stepping across Ibiza this summer.

Jack added: “Listen nothing lasts forever does it so you’ve just gotta strike while the iron’s hot and make the most of it.”

Ahead of his first Misfits boxing match on Saturday he told us he’s spent two months clean and sober in preparation.

He said: “It’s been what, seven, eight weeks now. I’m itching for one [a drink]!”

Jack will return to the Spanish island – where it all began – later this year and he’s insisted he will be “well looked after,” by club owners.

“Places will offer free drinks, free tables, they offer me free hotels and stuff, yeah. That’s a bit of a privilege, being me now,” he admitted.

His stardom is not over yet as it was revealed earlier this year that he’ll be part of the cast for the upcoming season of Celebrity SAS.

THE SIDEMEN’S Josh Bradley has revealed he’s set to become a dad for the first time as his wife is expecting a baby boy.

The streamer took to Instagram to share a series of sweet snaps and captioned them: “Mum and Dad for real this time.”

In the snaps, Josh and his wife Freya Nightingale brimmed with happiness as they shared their joyous news with their followers.

After smashing a pink and blue gender reveal cake, the delighted couple shared they were having a baby boy.

The happy pair also posted a sweet image of their baby scan to their family and fans.

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “Announcement & gender reveal in one. YUPPPPP love you both so muuuuchhhh. Coolest parents.”

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Another said: “Yes!!! Congrats!!!”

A third added: “Amazing news.”

A fourth wrote: “Oh my god!!! Huge congratulations to you both. This is the most amazing news.”

While a fifth said: “KSI left and now Josh and Freya are having a baby, the good news can’t stop coming.”

The Sidemen appeared to take a sideswipe at KSI after he announced he was splitting from the YouTubers last week.

In bombshell news the Britain’s Got Talent judge revealed he had recorded his last video with his mates and was flying solo.

The Sidemen put up a long post on their social media which seemed to criticise the way in which KSI did it.

They wrote: “Ideally, we would have loved the opportunity to give JJ the send off he deserved, a proper farewell video, time for everyone to process it, and a chance to celebrate everything we’ve built together.

“Unfortunately JJ released the news before we had agreed on a mutual way of letting our audience know.”

In the video KSI posted he said: “This is honestly the hardest video I’ve ever had to make in my life.

“I’ve gone back and forth on this decision for a very long time. I’ve spent months trying to figure out what the right thing to do is.

“But after a lot of thought, I’ve decided that I’m no longer be doing sidemen videos. Today, 31st of May, will be my final Sidemen video.”

LEE Andrews’ lies, mistruths and mystery disappearance have captivated the nation following his flash wedding to Katie Price in January.

Accusations of fraud, gaslighting and emotional abuse have been levelled at him by ex-partners in recent months, all of who fell under his smooth-talking spell and promises of a happy future and financial riches.

Back in March, I became the first newspaper journalist to interview Lee following his emergence as Katie’s new man.

I held out little hope of it taking place when my initial request via WhatsApp was met with weeks of silence.

But then, out of the blue, Lee replied that he was keen to chat and to quash the ‘lies’ that had been spread about him.

I believe he was either that confident in his powers of persuasion that he could brazenly talk himself out of the numerous question marks around his lavish lifestyle and career, or that he viewed me as a useful idiot who could be hoodwinked into washing his tarnished reputation — perhaps a combination of the two.

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We set a date to talk the following week, but when the time came Lee revealed he was struggling with illness and would need to reschedule.

The interview was then postponed twice more with Lee still under the weather and, at this stage, it felt like I was being strung along, destined for the same fate as the Good Morning Britain producers who tried to land him for a TV interview months later.

To my surprise, he eventually made it onto the Zoom call on Friday, March 26, speaking from inside a Dubai branch of Caffé Nero.

Tanned and with salt and pepper stubble, he wore a baseball cap and T-shirt and sounded like someone coping with the last remnants of a cold.

I found him to be amiable, relaxed and open to being grilled on subjects that I thought would make him uneasy.

Off the bat I asked if he was a fantasist and compulsive liar, which he dismissed with a chuckle, telling me the claims were “comical and spin”.

For over an hour we went through everything from his dodgy CV, which he claimed was the result of errors from an unnamed personal assistant, his desire to start a family with Katie and plans for a lavish second wedding, his ability to speak multiple languages (with some muddling examples) as well as serious allegations from his ex-partners, which Lee likened to “barking dogs”.

There was also lots of business talk, full of wordy jargon that I can only assume was designed to impress and baffle someone not au fait with the workings of a cutting edge tech firm.

At the end of it all, we thanked each other and said our goodbyes.

The following day, the story ran in the paper with the humorous tag line: “I don’t really like liars myself. I do everything with honesty (just don’t look too closely at his CV).”

It was perfectly befitting of the ridiculousness of the story at the time, before even more ludicrous claims came to light including Lee’s attempt to buy Chelsea Football Club and boasts about being an international arms dealer.

But I expected Lee might not see it the same way I did and the next day I was proved right when he messaged me to say: “I don’t appreciate the pictures your edit team have used or the way the article has been written.”

I politely explained that we had a duty to examine the various claims against him, that a light touch of light humour was to be expected and that there was no malice in the framing.

His follow up surprised me.

Rather than pushing back, or at least further pleading his innocence on the accusations about his wealth and past relationships, Lee reiterated that his biggest issue was with his looks.

He simply said: “I don’t like the photo at all.”

The photos in question were a selection of unedited grabs from the Zoom call, a fair reflection on Lee through the course of the interview.

What struck me at the time, and even more so now in light of his disappearance and ghosting of wife Katie, is how his visual portrayal seemingly mattered more than any harm caused to others by his actions.

It’s no secret, Lee is fixated on his appearance; his numerous photoshopped pics have gone viral time and again.

The pictures we used took that editing power away from him and the reality appeared to hurt.

In other videos on social media he can be heard referencing his looks, from his hair to his chiselled body, and commenting about filters — or the lack thereof — to ‘prove’ he’s not fake.

He also took great pains to portray himself as a wealthy businessman with links to Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, years after his sustainable vehicle company was quietly dissolved, which he continues to insist isn’t the case.

Further interactions between us saw him insist others simply couldn’t understand the workings of his complex world.

Optics are king with Lee and it seems he’s willing to let real feelings fall by the wayside as long as he is presented as the handsome, wealthy success story he’s so desperate to be — a mindset that could have heartbreaking consequences for Katie.

A TIKTOK rapper has shocked fans when he revealed he is the son of a huge 90s boyband star.

The cheeky lad didn’t hold back as he roasted his famous father for his “s*** music” as he poked fun at him at one of his gigs.

The rising TikTok star in question is Phoenix JD, who is the son of James ‘Spike’ Dawbarn, 51, from 90s’ boyband, 911.

In a new post this week, the young rapper shared a video from backstage at one of his dad’s gigs.

In the clip, Phoenix was seen mocking his dad as he rehearsed with 911 bandmates Lee Brennan, 52, and Jimmy Constable, 54, who are supporting Blue on their tour.

Addressing his followers, Spike’s cheeky son said: “There’s their little soundcheck. I don’t know why they need to do a soundcheck, still sound s**t!”

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“But yeah, and then this is them on stage. There’s me dad on the right.”

Poking fun at Spike, he said: “Thankfully, I don’t get my musical ability from him, you know, I’ve got a bit about me.

“I hope he doesn’t see this now. He’ll kill me.

“But hey, this is him at 51 still trying to do back flips – and nearly decked it.

“I would’ve flipping loved it if he decked it.”

Phoenix also added he only went to the gig “to see Blue”.

Fans of 911 from back in the day went wild for the video, with one joking: “Oi your dad was a legend to us fossils!!”

Another quipped: “Lmfao! The way your roasting your dad! I’ll have you know 14-year-old me loved your dad’s band!”

This fan said: “I was obsessed with 911 still love them now! You’ve got your dad’s humour!”

Meanwhile, along with Lee and Jimmy, Phoenix’s dad Spike had a huge amount of fame in the 90s.

The band formed in 1995 when Jimmy met Spike whilst working as a dancer on the show The Hitman and Her.

The trio sold out arenas thanks to their hits like Bootyshakin’ and A Little Bit More.

Spike previously looked back on his time in the trio and joked that he was “treated like Harry Potter at the Dursley’s house”.

Appearing on the BBC’s Boyband Forever doc, the star spoke about his bizarre living arrangements when the band were in their heyday.

“Jimmy got one bedroom, Lee got another bedroom and I was in the cupboard like Harry Potter,” he explained.

“On a mattress, in a cupboard. It’s literally where you’d just throw a load of coats in there.”

“And I just didn’t care to be honest, I wasn’t bothered,” he laughed.

In their early days, the band would tour schools across the country and perform for students.

“I used to come in, press play, do your singing and dancing routines, do your bit then load yourself back in the van and go to the next school,” he said.

I’VE been reporting on the darker side of Katie Price’s husband Lee Andrews since she married him back in January – and now believe his “kidnapping” is simply another brazen storyline he’s written to try and hoodwink her further.

And now it’s all unravelling faster than he could have imagined, with Katie finally admitting she is giving up on searching for him because (spoiler alert) she’s realised it’s all a massive lie.

For four months, I have been unravelling Andrews’ web of untruths – and it would be correct to say he absolutely loathes me now.

From day one, I have refused to let his lies get in the way of reporting the truth.

Every time a woman shared her story with me, he berated them and claimed he’d never heard of them – despite me having evidence to the contrary.

Those close to Katie have since sent vile messages to his ex, Alana Percival, who has gone through more with Andrews than I think anyone will ever know.

If she chooses one day to share the rest of her story, I would urge you to listen to her. I did, and it made me feel physically sick.

Andrews threatened that he had lodged criminal charges against me in Dubai, which would see me arrested if I ever landed in the country and said he was suing me for defamation, which, comically, he spelt “deformation”.

Andrews then bragged he was going to get me sacked before messaging me on social media with a meme calling me a “c**t.”

I replied, “Likewise,” because he really is.

Now Katie has finally admitted she’s given up on “searching” for her husband, and I know it is because she’s finally realised this entire “kidnapping” scenario is just another part of Andrews’ elaborate lies.

Over the past few days, I have taken numerous calls from people all over the world who wanted to share their experiences of Andrews.

People have claimed to me that Andrews owes millions to businesses from failed schemes and warned there are more women who willingly handed over cash to receive nothing in return.

The “kidnapping” scenario is worthy of a Hollywood film script.

But it’s not unusual for wrong ‘uns who, after realising the jig is up, introduce an elaborate narrative to try and distance themselves from the chaos they’ve left in their wake.

In my opinion, the events of the past seven days are all a narrative being spun by Andrews to be parroted out by Katie, whose friends insist has nothing to do with his lies.

Now she’s reached the end of her patience.

“Katie knows something isn’t right about this scenario deep down,” a friend told me.

“Lee was active on WhatsApp two days after he told her he was going missing. She has heard nothing and has just been ghosted.

“She was so panicked at the start, but now it’s become a drain on her. The people around her have warned that this isn’t normal and that it all seems a bit suspect.”

In my opinion, Andrews has been laying the groundwork for his exit from Katie’s life for some time.

Some weeks ago, a contact of mine was gossiping about Andrews and his seemingly endless stream of fibs – including that he’d boasted to Katie he was an international arms dealer.

I’d never heard that porker before, and I laughed as I regaled a story his ex-fiancee, Alana, who bravely spoke out to warn Katie off Andrews back in January, had told me about Andrews telling her he had worked for MI5.

Much like his now-debunked claims from his fictional CV, including that he worked for the Labour Party and was the Director of Philanthropy at the King’s Trust, I laughed it off and forgot about it.

But after seeing the messages Andrews sent Katie, where he claimed he had been kidnapped and taken to a “black site”, to me, it suddenly all started to make sense.

In my opinion, Andrews’ MO is twisting narratives in a bid to make out he is something he plainly isn’t.

Suggesting to Katie and others that he works in a more than shady industry as an arms dealer to me suggests he was laying the foundations that he worked in a dangerous underworld.

So when Andrews suddenly walked off the face of the earth on Thursday after telling Katie he had been arrested and was being taken to a “black site” – the name given to clandestine state-operated detention centres – naturally, she would believe it.

My esteemed boss Clemmie Moodie persuaded Katie to share the final desperate texts she received from Andrews in The Sun newspaper – and to me, his messages bear all the hallmarks of a man trying to pen a story with a better twist than some of Agatha Christie’s greatest works.

“Katie was basically told by Lee that he was involved in all sorts of business, and not all of it was savoury,” my contact explained.

“He told her he was an international arms dealer. It was something he openly boasted about.

“Lee made her think he had his fingers in all sorts of pies.

“So when he spun her a story about being kidnapped, she fell for it. Because, as far as Katie is concerned, this is the kind of world Lee has connections with and operates in.

“Now with everything that is coming out, she’s realising she may have been played for a fool.”

Far from being kidnapped, I firmly believe Andrews is now simply hiding out in Dubai – a country he cannot leave because, as Katie herself confirmed, he has a travel ban… even though Andrews went on to deny it.

Clemmie’s work uncovering his scam first hand, and the pressure piled upon him by the thousands of people invested in this story, has backed Andrews into a corner..

He initially managed to shrug off the criticism.

But after he publicly humiliated Katie live on Good Morning Britain, and she publicly turned on him for the first time, I believe Andrews realised he had entered uncharted waters and knew it was time to get out.

Katie has not heard from Andrews since the early hours of Thursday morning, when the live location he shared with her on WhatsApp turned off – along with, it seems, the phone he used to contact her.

But I know Andrews uses multiple phones, and we know he was online and using one of them on Saturday evening.

Today, an even wilder twist – with Andrews going back on Instagram to follow another woman – adds to my theory.

Andrews had an escape route planned. And now he’s out – he’s moving on to someone else.

This man is in hiding, and he will stay there for as long as it is physically possible.

I’m not sure even Andrews, who probably could get a PhD in deception, could lie himself out of this one.

LOVE Island’s Ty Isherwood has revealed he has undergone a hair transplant.

The reality star, 24, who rose to fame on the show last year, took to Instagram following the surgery to show his bandaged head.

Filming himself the day after undergoing the procedure, Ty admitted that despite covering it well, hair loss is something that has impacted his confidence for years.

Dressed in a grey hoodie and bandaged up, Ty told the camera: “For me, this has been something that has played in the back of my mind for a long time now.

“I’ve managed to keep it under wraps pretty well, I’ve always had a fringe since I was younger and It has always hidden it.

“I noticed it started slowly receding when I was about 19/20 and it has slowly gone back ever since.”

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Ty, who is in a relationship with Love Island co-star Angel Swift after meeting on the show, said he had been taking hair growth medication such as Minoxidil for the last three years.

But in search of a long term solution, he opted to undergo the transplant for his hairline.

Admitting it all went fairly smooth, Ty continued: “The transplant itself took about 6 and a half hours, it was completely pain free.

“The only thing I didn’t like was the local anesthetic in the donor at the back. I’m not gonna sugarcoat that, it wasn’t very nice. But, once you’re over that, the rest of it was fine.

“For men, I think that losing your hair is a tough pill to swallow. For me, it was, I think it has affected my confidence for a couple of years. I’ve not been able to go about my day without actually thinking what my hair looks like.”

Urging his male followers to take the plunge if they are considering a transplant, Ty then said: “I wish I’d had it done sooner, I think it’d have put my mind at ease. I just feel so much more relieved now it’s done.”

Posting the clip to his 159K followers, Ty thanked Manchester-based clinic KSL for carrying out the transplant on him.

His girlfriend and Love Island co-star Angel took to the comment section to show her support as she wrote: “Proud of you my handsome boy”.

Other show alumni such as Wil Anderson, Giorgio Russo and Harry Cooksley also supported Ty in the comments.

Angel went along with Ty for the procedure, with the reality star revealing the couple were up at 6AM to drive to the clinic together.

A NOUGHTIES pop star has hinted he’s quitting fame after 25 years in the spotlight as furiously ranted online.

The 42-year-old took to his Instagram to share some hard truths about the industry and told how he’d rather live a simpler live.

Lee Ryan, a star of the 90s boyband Blue, explained that he’s “been through hell and back” and said he now “hates the public eye.”

The singer found fame in the early 2000s after the band achieved massive success with their debut album All Rise in 2001.

Blue, who have three UK Number 1 Platinum-selling albums, are still going strong, with tours lined up for the rest of this year and next.

Alongside Antony Costa, Duncan James and Simon Webbe, Lee has been taking to the stage but it seems he’s not entirely happy.

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He posted a picture of himself singing at a concert on Instagram and captioned it with the statement: “As much as I love my career I’ve had for 25 years singing in Blue, sometimes I just want to go home to be a husband and father to my baby’s.

“There’s no place I feel more at peace than with them. This industry sucks you in and spits you out the other end… I’ve been through hell and back in the public eye and I actually hate it now.”

Lee continued: “I don’t like the fame part of this job anymore, it’s fake and quite toxic. People use you and abuse you and use your success as a weapon.”

“Don’t get me wrong I love singing and being creative making music and seeing the fans at shows,” said Lee.

“The rest I could leave behind and never step foot into that space again happily… I have no interest in the industry bs anymore…. Rather be home being a dad and a husband x”

Fans took to the comments to support Lee while some felt annoyed that they had brought tickets and could see he “didn’t want to do it anymore.”

One fan wrote: “I love blue, I still do. But at the concert I feel like I could see that you don’t really want it anymore. It‘s sad because people pay money to see the absolute best of you…”

Another fan said: “Thank you for carrying on and bless us with your beautiful voice. There is no place like home and I am sure your family is forever proud of you.”

A third fan added: “You would be missed, your voice, stage presence and banter is truly in a small minority BUT you have to do what’s best for you.”

Lee’s wife Verity also rushed to support her man. She said: “You get to do both!!! Be a pop star and come back to reality and live on the farm in the sunshine!!! We love you Mr, keep going nearly home time xxx”

The couple, who married in Gibraltar in 2022, share four children together.

Blue took a hiatus in 2004 but later reformed with the original bandmembers in 2011.

JUNIOR Andre has revealed he’s working on new music after talks to sign a huge new six-figure deal to team up with sister Princess for an exciting new project. 

Today The Sun told how Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, have sparked a bidding war amongst broadcasters desperate to work with them on their own podcast following the huge success of her ITV2 reality show. 

Now Junior, who released debut single Slide in 2022, has told fans he’s working on new tracks. 

He took to Instagram to share a clip of him in the car and said: “Just finished the gym, on my way to the studio now.

“I’m excited to make another banger, you lot just wait. I feel good.” 

Junior enjoyed huge success with his debut after Slide hit number one on the UK iTunes pop chart in 2022.

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We told how Junior and Princess, the children of Katie Price and Peter Andre, are still deciding to who sign with after the huge interest in them. 

A source exclusively told The Sun: “Princess and Junior are set to host their own podcast together. 

“There was a huge bidding war and they’re still deciding who to sign with.

“It’s worth six figures and everyone is really excited about it. 

“They really impressed a lot of podcast bosses on Princess’s TV show and during TV appearances, it’ll actually be their first time hosting together.”

Fans were obsessed with Princess and Junior’s dynamic on her reality show The Princess Diaries and it appears bosses are keen to replicate this on the podcast.

ITV2‘s The Princess Diaries follows Princess as she navigates social media influence, her personal branding and the challenges of being raised in the public eye while trying to trying to maintain a normal teenage life.

WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, citing concerns about his privacy and a lack of passion for political combat, on Wednesday proclaimed that he would not run for President in 1996.

For the first time, Powell declared that he was a Republican. And he seemed clearly to leave open the possibility of seeking political office in the future. But he categorically ruled out accepting the vice presidential nomination next year.

In a dramatic afternoon press conference in suburban Washington, Powell, 58, said that entering the political arena “requires a calling that I do not yet hear. And for me to pretend otherwise would not be honest to myself, it would not be honest to the American people.”

“And therefore I cannot go forward,” he said. “I will not be a candidate for President or for any other elective office in 1996.”

Powell’s wife, Alma, stood at his side as he ended months of suspense about his political intentions and disappointed millions of potential supporters. His adult children, Michael, Linda and Annemarie, looked on in the packed hotel ballroom where Powell delivered his fateful verdict.

“I have spent long hours talking with my wife and children, the most important people in my life, about the impact an entry into political life would have on us,” Powell said. “It would require sacrifices and changes in our lives that would be difficult for us to make at this time.”

With the September publication of his best-selling memoirs, “My American Journey,” Powell had become a four-star American icon, the repository of the hopes of millions who dreamed that he could bind up the nation’s racial and political wounds.

But in the end, that task proved too great even for the charismatic general, who braved unfriendly fire in Vietnam and survived the ordeals of bureaucratic combat in four presidential administrations.

Powell said Wednesday he hoped he could help restore civility to American political dialogue and a “sense of shame in our society.” He also said he hoped to bring blacks back into the party by broadening the GOP’s appeal and humanizing its attempts to reform social welfare programs.

“While we’re sending out block grants, while we’re dismantling programs that have not completely satisfied everything we hoped of them, we have to concern ourselves about those who may be cut loose, and we have to be prepared to help them,” Powell said. Over the past months, “I didn’t sense there was enough consideration of that.”

“I will continue to speak out forcefully in the future on the issues of the day, as I have been doing in recent weeks,” Powell said. “I believe I can help the party of Lincoln move once again close to the spirit of Lincoln.”

But–for now–he said he would do so from outside the realm of electoral politics.

Powell largely came to his decision over the weekend and formalized it in a meeting Monday night with two of his closest friends, former Pentagon official Richard L. Armitage and former White House Chief of Staff Kenneth M. Duberstein. With a third aide, retired Col. Bill Smullen, joining in by phone, the three men sat in Powell’s formal office on the ground floor of his McLean, Va., mansion, a room dominated by his Medal of Freedom and three framed photographs of the presidents he has served–Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Alma Powell joined the group about halfway through the 2 1/2-hour meeting, Armitage said in an interview Wednesday.

“By then, the decision was primarily made,” Armitage said. “Over these past weeks, he was up and down, he agonized. He’d go out and meet with crowds and they’d fire him up. Then he’d get back home and wonder, ‘Do I have the necessary fire in the stomach to be worthy of support of these people?’ And he found he did not,” Armitage said.

As it became clear that Powell would not run, the meeting moved quickly to a discussion of the logistics of the announcement. The four discussed various drafts of a statement, then decided that Powell should speak solely in his own words. On Wednesday afternoon, he did just that, speaking largely without reference to the note cards he had carried with him.

He had looked “deep into my own soul” before deciding not to run, Powell said, and had found that he could not summon up the “commitment and passion” he felt every day in his 35 years as a soldier.

Powell also pointedly refused to endorse any of the Republican candidates, or even the party’s eventual nominee. He answered a curt “yes” to the question of whether there were candidates in the current crop of GOP hopefuls who were unacceptable to him.

A close friend said later that Powell was referring specifically to Patrick J. Buchanan, who has harshly criticized Powell’s stands on social issues.

Powell’s decision reopens a presidential contest that had been largely frozen for the last two months as he flirted with running.

Within an hour of Powell’s announcement, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said that the former general’s withdrawal made it more likely that he would enter the race. Gingrich said he would think about it over the next several weeks and make a decision after the current federal budget deliberations are finished but before the Dec. 15 deadline for entering New Hampshire’s primary.

Powell’s withdrawal was particularly welcome news at the White House and at the headquarters of GOP presidential front-runner Sen. Bob Dole. In a statement, Dole praised Powell’s “outstanding character and leadership” and expressed pleasure that he had joined the Republican Party.

At the White House, aides showed unusual discipline in not admitting that they felt a huge sense of relief at not having to face Clinton’s worst nightmare–a black, centrist, Republican military hero–in the general election next year.

“Everyone wants some hook to say there was a sigh of relief at the White House–but you’ll have to do it on your own,” said White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry.

He added that Clinton “understands the decision to run for President of the United States is one of the most difficult decisions any human can make. He respects the general and respects the general’s right to make that decision.”

Powell met with the press for 40 minutes at the Ramada Plaza hotel in Alexandria, Va., a few miles down the George Washington Parkway from the Pentagon, where Powell made history by becoming the first African American and youngest chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

His appearance was marked by the good humor, military carriage and unshakable poise he displayed in private meetings with presidents, kings and prime ministers and in public briefings on the American military operations he directed.

He expressed gratitude to the thousands of citizens who urged him to run. “It says more about America than it says about me. In one generation, we have moved from denying a black man service at a lunch counter to elevating one to the highest military office in the nation and to being a serious contender for the presidency,” he said.

Powell drew laughs when asked whether his wife shared his enthusiasm for the Republican Party. “Next!” he boomed. He also fended off a question about whether he had been bothered by published reports that his wife was under treatment for depression.

“It is not a family secret,” he said. “It is very easily controlled with proper medication, just as my blood pressure is sometimes under control with proper medication.”

For her part, Alma Powell made clear her concerns about her husband’s safety should he become a candidate. She and the general denied that fears of assassination were a factor in his decision not to run, but the final call was not made until Monday night, the day slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was buried in Jerusalem.

Had he been elected, Powell said, his priorities in office would have been: “Show leadership. Be a conciliator. Move the government forward toward less government. . . . Try to inspire people. And try to restore a sense of family, restore a sense of shame in our society, help bring more civility into our society.”

Powell said he regretted the disappointment he caused those who enthusiastically promoted his candidacy.

“I am deeply, deeply appreciative of that support, I’m deeply appreciative of the time and talent and energy you put into it. I’m sorry I disappointed you, but I hope you will see that in the next phase of my life I will continue to serve the country in a way that will justify the kind of inspiration and enthusiasm and support you sent my way this time around,” Powell said, addressing the several dozen supporters who attended the press conference and millions more watching on television.

He said he understood the “down and dirty” of American politics and said they were a proper test of a potential leader. He said he was not afraid of that “test of fire,” but that he was not yet ready to face it.

Among those watching on television were about half a dozen disheartened volunteers at the draft-Powell headquarters in the Crenshaw district in Los Angeles. The group, which had just opened the office last week, vowed to launch an effort to change Powell’s mind. Through letters, phone calls and other means, they hope to persuade the retired general “to report for duty as a candidate for the presidency,” said Powell backer Ron Weekly.

Times staff writers Sam Fulwood III in Washington and Erin Texeira in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

* LOCAL REACTION: General’s Orange County kin pleased with his decision. A17

A 23-year-old who says he has visited every country in the world

A man who has visited every country in the world has named the one he believes is the “most annoying”. Luca Pferdmenges might only be 23 years old but he has already travelled to every country in the world.

The German national has amassed a staggering 2.9 million followers on social media as he shares his globe-trotting adventures with his fans. But he has now named the countries he believes are “overrated”.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “Egypt, France, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, most of the Caribbean Lesser Antilles. They’re often very touristy and often don’t have much besides pretty beaches.”

He went on to claim that the Caribbean is “super-overrated” before claiming one African nation was annoying. He added: “Egypt is the most annoying country for tourists in my opinion.”

Luca explained that a number of the Baltic countries were “underrated” along with the likes of Uzbekistan, Myanmar, and most of the countries in Latin America. He says the nations people “forget exist” are often “way more exciting and more affordable” than classic destinations.

He described Bhutan and Myanmar as “really unknown” and “some of the prettiest countries in the world”. Many of Luca’s fans on his thegermantravelguy channel were left annoyed by his assessment of Egypt, claiming he “must have visited the wrong places”.

The keen traveller was also asked which European nation he believes is the most dangerous. He went on to say that Belgium feels “super unsafe” at night, branding the country as “pretty ugly” and “grey”.

He also named Paris, London and Frankfurt as destinations he believes are more dangerous. Luca also urges holidaymakers to avoid countries such as France, Italy, and Greece.

This he explains is because there are “40 other countries worth being explored” across Europe. He added: “It’s surprising how little recognition places such as Montenegro or Slovenia get. They are some of the most beautiful countries in the world – and cheap – but nobody visits them.”

When asked to pick his favourite country, Luca says he doesn’t have just one, but instead has nine top travel destinations. They were Mexico, Brazil, Israel, Spain, Bhutan, UK, the UAE, Portugal and Austria.

He however says Lisbon in Portugal is his favourite city in Europe. In a video on TikTok, Luca said: “It’s honestly so gorgeous.

“I honestly love Lisbon, I was thinking of moving here at some point but not at the moment.

“I love coming back here and trying all of the vegan Portuguese food like vegan pastel de nata. It’s one of my favorite cities, maybe my favourite city in Europe, Lisbon, it’s gorgeous and has everything you need.”

DAVID Beckham has shrugged off estranged son Brooklyn’s snub once again after celebrating his birthday with family. 

The former footballer, who has turned 51, enjoyed his day being ‘blessed’ and ‘spoiled’ by loved ones, despite being dealt another blow from Brooklyn and his daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz.

Taking to his Instagram, David shared two sweet snaps of him as a child and him present day smiling as he blew out his birthday candles. 

He added the caption: “I feel very lucky & blessed to have had a very special day today being spoilt by my wife, kids , family and friends from the moment I opened my eyes till now.

“And I just want to say thank you and I love you all so much @victoriabeckham & my beautiful family thank you (heart emoji).”

On the star’s birthday, David was met with a barrage of birthday shoutouts from the Beckham clan.

READ MORE ON THE BECKHAMS

bday bust up

Brooklyn Beckham snubs David’s birthday as Cruz’s girl brands him ‘best dad’

GOLDEN BOY

David Beckham poses in tiny speedos as Victoria shares gushing birthday tribute

Former Spice Girl Victoria led the birthday shoutouts for her husband and gushed over him by sharing a series of unseen private snaps including David on a boat in only a pair of tiny red shorts.

In the caption, the fashion designer penned: “You are our world, our everything. We love you so much!!!

“Happy birthday to the best husband, daddy, son, brother, and friend.”

Brooklyn’s brothers, Romeo and Cruz, also praised their dad by sharing photos of their younger selves with David. 

Cruz wished his father a happy birthday with Romeo penning the message: “Happy birthday dad love u so much. Thank u for everything you do.”

Eldest son Brooklyn chose to remain silent for the second year in a row, which comes as no surprise considering he and wife Nicola’s major fallout with the rest of his family.

Earlier this year Brooklyn had launched a nuclear attack on his family stating that he did “not want to reconcile” with his them, and accused his parents of “controlling” the narrative.

Last month Victoria broke her silence on her long-running feud with Brooklyn.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal magazine, Victoria did not refer to Brooklyn by name when asked about the rift but discussed how she had only ever tried to “protect and love our children”.

The Spice Girls star said: “I think that we’ve always—we love our children so much. 

“We’ve always tried to be the best parents that we can be. And you know, we’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children.

“And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it.”

ZAYN Malik shared a heartfelt statement with fans after cancelling 22 gigs following his shock hospitalisation.

The former One Direction star revealed he is now back at home and recovering from his mystery illness – but his world tour dates have taken a hit.

The singer has been forced to cancel the entire US leg of his KONNAKOL tour, as well as some UK performances.

In an Instagram story today, he wrote: “To my fans : Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and more importantly, your love, prayers and well wishes for my health.

“I’ve felt it, and it’s meant the world. I’ve been at home recovering and I’m doing well and will be better and stronger than before.

“I’ve had to take another look at my schedule for the months ahead and reduce the number of shows on the KONNAKOL Tour.

STEPPING BACK

Zayn Malik cancels two UK gigs after hospitalisation and Louis punch-up

TAKING SIDES

Niall Horan throws support behind Louis after it’s revealed Zayn punched him

“I want to make sure I still get out and see as many of you as I possibly can. I’m really looking forward to playing these shows for you, and I hope to see the rest of you around the world very soon.”

The cause of Zayn’s hospitalisation is not yet known, but in a previous statement, he thanked his cardiologist, which suggests it could be to do with his heart and or blood vessels.

Alongside a photo of him in a hospital bed, he wrote: “To my fans – thank you to all of you for your love and support now and always.

“[It’s] been a long week and am still unexpectedly recovering. Heartbroken that I can’t see you all this week, I wouldn’t be in the place I am today without you guys and am so thankful for your understanding.

“Thank you to the incredible hospital staff or Drs, nurses, cardiologists, management, admin, and everyone who has helped along the way and continue to. You are all legends! Big big love xxx z.”

The health scare came amid the revelation from The Sun that Zayn had punched his close pal and former band member Louis Tomlinson as they found themselves in a vicious row whilst filming for their new Netflix documentary.

Louis and Zayn were joining forces to film a three-part road trip docuseries for the streaming service, which has since been axed.

Sources told The Sun their astonishing on-set row was triggered by a remark from Zayn about Louis’ mum Johannah Deakin, who died of leukaemia in 2016.

The Sun understands Louis and Zayn have not spoken since the incident six months ago.

The Zion Phelps story is going to be told over and over at Loyola High to show students what can happen when someone discovers potential and decides to take a chance to bring it out.

In his first year running track after bragging during the football season that he was the fastest student at Loyola, Phelps proved on Thursday he’s also the fastest 100-meter runner in the Mission League by winning in a school-record time of 10.49 seconds at the Mission League finals at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

“I’m beyond grateful,” he said after embracing Loyola coach Sharaud Moore.

A junior defensive back, Phelps let Moore bring out his track talent, and now he has options in track and football.

Loyola’s Ejam Johannes offers the “shoosh” sign after anchoring the winning 4×100 relay team. He also won the Mission League 400 and 200 titles.

(Craig Weston)

Another Loyola athlete stepping forward in preparation for next weekend’s Southern Section Division 1 prelims was Ejam Yohannes. He ran anchor leg for the 4×100-meter relay team that beat Notre Dame for the first time in three years with a time of 40.75. At the finish, he put a finger over his lips and gave a “shoosh” sign. He also won the 400 meters in 47.05 and the 200 meters in 20.85, the fourth-best wind legal time in the state this year.

Notre Dame’s JJ Harel qualified in three events — going 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, 22-5¼ in the long jump and also qualifying in the triple jump.

The strangest moment of the day came in the Mission League 100 girls’ final. Nalia Keyes of Chaminade and Maya Rios of Bishop Alemany tied for first place, each finishing with a time of 12.46.

“It’s weird,” Rios said of her first ever race tie.

In the Marmonte League final, Demare Dezeurn of Westlake ran the 100 meters in 10.39 seconds to outduel Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.50) and Kingston Celifie of Calabasas (10.56). Dezeurn played football for Palisades in the fall after transferring from Bishop Alemany last season.

Baseball

Sylmar 10, Kennedy 0: Rickee Luevano hit a grand slam for Sylmar.

Westlake 10, Newbury Park 3: Dylan Lee homered and Holden Backus had two hits and three RBIs.

Bishop Amat 3, La Serna 2: Ray Castro threw six innings and also had an RBI single.

Temecula Valley 3, Vista Murrieta 1: Grayson Martin gave up one hit and struck out seven in six innings.

Oaks Christian 17, Calabasas 8: Ryan Sheffer hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs.

Softball

Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Cypress 1: Jenna Valladares had an RBI triple and Shay Kletke threw a complete game.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 16, Louisville 0: Jackie Morales had three hits and six RBIs.

Harvard-Westlake 14, Chaminade 11: It was a wild Mission League game that ended on a walk-off grand slam by Kale’a Tindal in the bottom of the ninth inning. Chaminade scored five runs in the seventh to tie the score 9-9. Both teams scored runs in the eighth to make it 10-10. Chaminade took an 11-10 lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Siena Greenlinger. Tindal finished with four hits and four RBIs. Dylan Fischer had a home run, two doubles, a single and four RBIs.

Murrieta Mesa 8, Great Oak 0: Tatum Wolff threw six innings, striking out 10 and walking none. She also hit a home run.

JURASSIC Park star Sam Neill has revealed he’s cancer-free after having pioneering treatment to fight the disease.

The 78-year-old was diagnosed with stage three blood cancer in 2022 while promoting Jurassic World Dominion.

In a new interview, he said he was “on the way out” when his chemotherapy stopped working.

“I was at a loss, and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously,” he explained.

But thanks to pioneering Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, the cost of which, on average, is £280,000 per patient in the UK , there is no longer any trace of the disease in his body.

Sam told 7 News in his native Australia: “I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing. I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”

He first revealed he was having the immunotherapy in September 2023 and had been in remission for 12 months.

The treatment is personalised to the patient and genetically modifies their own T-cells to fight and destroy cancer cells.

The actor said he is now looking forward to returning to the big screen.

Stoic Sam previously said he wasn’t afraid of dying after being diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma — a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“I’m not in any way frightened of dying,” he told Australian Story. “That doesn’t worry me. It’s never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed.”

Sam announced his cancer battle in the first chapter of his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?

He wrote: “The thing is, I’m crook. Possibly dying.”

The acting stalwart, who was born in Northern Ireland but grew up in New Zealand, is best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in the dinosaur franchise, beginning in 1993.

His successful movie and television career spans five decades and includes varied roles from The Piano, to The Zookeeper and even Peaky Blinders.

He has two biological children — Tim and Elena — from his marriage to makeup artist Noriko Watanabe.

The couple were married for nearly 30 years, before divorcing in 2017.