hole

The burst of energy was likely triggered when an unusually large star wandered too close to the black hole.

Scientists have documented the most energetic flare ever observed emanating from a supermassive black hole, a cataclysmic event that briefly shone with the light of 10 trillion suns.

The new findings were published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Astronomy, with astronomer Matthew Graham of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) leading the study.

The phenomenal burst of energy was likely triggered when an unusually large star wandered too close to the black hole and was violently shredded and swallowed.

“However it happened, the star wandered close enough to the supermassive black hole that it was ‘spaghettified’ – that is, stretched out to become long and thin, due to the gravity of the supermassive black hole strengthening as you get very close to it. That material then spiralled around the supermassive black hole as it fell in,” said astronomer and study co-author KE Saavik Ford.

The supermassive black hole was unleashed by a black hole roughly 300 million times the mass of the sun residing inside a faraway galaxy, about 11 billion light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

The star, estimated to be between 30 and 200 times the mass of the sun, was turned into a stream of gas that heated up and shined intensely as it spiralled into oblivion.

Almost every large galaxy, including our Milky Way, has a supermassive black hole at its centre. But scientists still aren’t sure how they form.

First spotted in 2018 by the Palomar Observatory, operated by the Caltech, the flare took about three months to reach its peak brightness, becoming roughly 30 times more luminous than any previously recorded event of its kind. It is still ongoing, but diminishing in luminosity, with the entire process expected to take about 11 years to complete.

Because of how far away the black hole is located, observing the flash gives scientists a rare glimpse into the universe’s early epoch. Studying these immense, distant black holes helps researchers better understand how they form, how they influence their local stellar neighbourhoods, and the fundamental interactions that shaped the cosmos we know today.

Comedian Becky Robinson’s life has turned into the most insanely fun reality show. One minute she’s screaming into a closet mirror, feeling defeated back in her parents’ house, and a few viral moments later, she’s on The Members Only tour, zipping around country clubs in Oakleys with her tricked-out Streetrod Golf Cart, “sauvi B,” and a sun visor clamped on her blond bob like it’s couture. Her bestie Trish is one call away, her kids Macabee and Dashiell are wrecking the house, her husband Scott isn’t listening (shocker), but her fans-turned-friends, the “Gieurlz,” are. Welcome to the world of the Entitled Housewife. No fancy membership required here because none of it is real, but it’s all so real.

Every story, and character, has a beginning and before she was taking rides on custom carts, she was riding an emotional roller coaster during the pandemic. “So during the pandemic I was with my sister, and she was working at an ER,” says Robinson. “She was in the trenches trying to help people and coming home and you know, might die, and I was terrified because she was coming home from work every day and — who knows? I grew up around Portland, so I had packed up my wigs to go there in case I was going to have a proper ‘Menty-B’ [mental breakdown]. Then even she was like, why don’t you go to mom and dad’s and try to find some form of happiness. So many people were depressed during that time, but I didn’t realize how much I needed to perform.”

While she was stuck at a low point, her parents were somehow in peak vacation mode. “My dad was like, ‘Golf is all we have! You know, we’re golfing all day,’” Becky says, impersonating her father. “He was wearing a golf glove on both hands, kind of like COVID protection, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing my part, you know, I’m not wearing a mask, but I got a golf glove on both hands!’”

Becky Robinson takes the stage as the Entitled Housewife

(Megan Rego)

Her mom shared the same sentiment — not for double-fisting gloves — but she too needed to live. “My mom has kind of been through it health-wise, and so she was like, ‘I don’t want to be locked down. I want to go to happy hour with the gieurlz.’ I just sat there and watched them like, you guys are out of your f— minds. Then one day they left the house, and I just felt inspired. So I put a wig on.”

Robinson went into her parents’ closet and dressed herself in a polo, a skort and a visor. “I put on the Oakleys and the Air Pods and the second I looked in the mirror, I just started improvising. She was like, SCOTT! DASHIELL! MACABEE! [My character] had this element of, she could get frustrated very fast.”

That day, in her parents’ closet, Robinson turned lemons into hard lemonade, and with a visor high on her head like a regal crown, a new version of herself emerged — an entitled one. “I improvised for, like, five hours in character. It might have been a manic episode, I don’t know, but I just remember when the whole thing was assembled that day and I started filming, it was making me laugh and I was like, maybe it’ll make someone else laugh too.”

Initially, she hadn’t planned on posting videos of her in character on TikTok but considering how much she was making herself laugh, it was only a matter of time.

“When I made the first , I was like, ‘I can’t post this. It’s dark times and I’m going to look like such a fool for trying to be funny.’ But then I took an edible and showed my sister to see if it made her laugh because I figured she’s experiencing it every day, in the middle of it, and she told me to post it.”

The debut video of Entitled Housewife got millions of views on social media. As it would turn out, other people needed to laugh at the exact same time. “All these celebrities started messaging me and then Chris Pratt DM’d me and is like, ‘If you make a movie with these characters, I have to be Scott!’”

Robinson’s parents weren’t quite as enthusiastic when she showed them her content for the first time. “I think my dad walked out and my mom was like, ‘You know, Beck, this hits a little close to home.’ She was actually pissed at first because I used the real name of my dad’s country club, and it was so vulgar, so she was worried about him getting kicked out.”

Fast forward to now, and many of these types of golf clubs have booked her for shows and actually pay for her to be vulgar. “So they love it now!,” Robinson said. “People come up to my dad in the store like, ‘Are you Entitled’s dad?!’ He definitely loves the perks because he’s a huge golfer.”

“Some people really think I’m this 50-year-old golf lady with kids, and I think a lot of people think that I started when my character started,” Robinson said.

(Megan Rego)

With her family on board and fans worldwide cheering her on, she’s taking off the wig and going back to her stand-up, but with a touch of Entitlement. Shot at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, her debut comedy special, “Becky Robinson: Entitled,” comes out Friday exclusively on her website and shines a massive spotlight on the fact that Robinson has never needed to lean on props to be funny.

“We’re definitely excited to be releasing on our own platform with entire creative control. The team I work with is so bad ass and they’re really the reason it was all brought to life. I wanted something to give to the fans, and I wanted them to be able to watch it without ads. I want them to see how much they lift me up, so I’m excited to get to release this exactly the way we want it. You know, it’s a little longer than an hour, which streamers don’t like, but the Gieurlz will.”

Robinson has been doing stand-up for 13 years, and that experience shows the second she hits any stage (or bar top). In “Entitled,” you see her stand-up carries the same raw, fearless charge that made her Entitled Housewife sketches a phenomenon. Similar, yet clearly distinct, the two share a flair for the dramatic and an energy that feels almost superhuman. “People are always asking, is it drugs? IS IT?,” Robinson laughs. “In the last couple of years, I got this trainer who is like, ‘You gotta treat this like you’re a professional athlete, OK, because that’s what you’re doing up there!’ For a while, I never listened because we were having fun and it’s just stand-up! And for the first couple of years of touring I would have some drinks and stuff, but now, we’re playing at a level where there are acrobatics involved and cues and high kicks and all these things where injury is very possible. Still, though, when I go out there, I just can’t give them anything less than 200%. Then when I get home, I sleep for 24 hours and then, I’m a person again.”

Should there still be any confusion about Robinson versus Entitled Housewife, in addition to her special, she also released a 30-minute documentary that goes behind the scenes of “Becky Robinson: Entitled.” Also available on her website, Robinson couldn’t be more grateful for her Gieurlz who make this world of hers possible, even if some of them think she’s a bit “seasoned.”

“It took me a while to realize that people see videos and just buy tickets, and that they didn’t even know I was this person who’s done stand-up for 13 years,” says Robinson. “Some people really think I’m this 50-year-old golf lady with kids, and I think a lot of people think that I started when my character started. I feel my funniest when I’m doing characters, and I love that people come out dressed like Entitled, but now more and more people are saying they came for the character, and now they like my stand-up too. You love to hear that so that’s been really great!”

“I wanted something to give to the fans,” Robinson said about her new special. “I want them to see how much they lift me up, so I’m excited to get to release this exactly the way we want it.”

(Tara Johnson)

In no way does that signal the end of the fun with Entitled. This fall, Robinson is taking her skort-wearing alter ego global with her very own golf tournament. From Nov. 6 to Nov. 9, “She Gone Golfing: The Entitled Housewife Tulum Classic” hits the PGA Riviera Maya, Mexico’s No.1-ranked course, with PXG backing the madness. It’s a full-blown Gieurlz escape with golf by day, and karaoke-fueled chaos by night in Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

“This trip is probably gonna take years off my life, but we’re gonna turn it up in Mexico, baby! Let’s get international! We’re gonna get that tequila flowing!” Though the idea of being a golfer may have started out as a joke for Robinson, she’s now become fully addicted to the sport.

“It’s such a fun game and it can relax you when you’re just out there waxing those balls! I really want to introduce more people to it so this will be a fun way to do that. The only reason I’m able to do all of these things is because of the fans coming to see the show, buying the merch, and showing up in the visors. They really are the best!”

MANCHESTER UNITED are weighing up a cash-spinning mid-season friendly in Saudi Arabia.

A trip to the Middle East could reunite the Red Devils with Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Old Trafford on bitter terms to join Al-Nassr in 2022.

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United are holding early-stage talks with stakeholders while looking into possible dates and opponents.

But a face-off with CR7 would be the most lucrative prospect at a time when they’re crying out for funds.

United could stage midweek friendlies this season after failing to qualify for any European competition.

Losing May’s Europa League final to Tottenham meant a £100million reward fell by the wayside.

And with roughly £750m worth of debt weighing on Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s shoulders, United are being forced to get creative.

Their schedule thinned out even more with defeat to Grimsby Town in round two of the Carabao Cup.

SunSport exclusively revealed last month that AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Lazio and Sevilla – four big clubs who missed out on Europe – have also been scouted out as potential friendly opponents.

United’s new plan comes after they scrapped the idea of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, which could have earned them millions.

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And Ruben Amorim could be sold on a trip to the Middle East if it doubles up as a warm weather training camp in the winter months.

Ratcliffe has sacked up to 450 United employees as part of his ruthless efforts to get finances back on track.

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But he insists the issue had to be tackled head-on, telling the BBC in March: “We can’t put our head in the sand.

“We have to deal with the problem. And it’s a big problem, not a small problem.

“We are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans.”

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — No. 1 in the world is 0-2 at this Ryder Cup, and Scottie Scheffler had the worst first day by a top-ranked player since Tiger Woods.

Scheffler lost again in foursomes — and as always in that format at the Ryder Cup, lost badly — in the morning with Russell Henley, then went back out with U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun for a loss in fourballs in the afternoon.

By himself, Scheffler is winning more often than anyone in golf. But his teams were behind nearly throughout both his matches Friday, and with Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, their two biggest stars, both going 0-2, the Americans trailed Europe 5½ to 2½ overall.

Scheffler finally seemed to find his game late in the afternoon match, with three birdies in the final four holes of the match. But he didn’t have any until the 13th hole as Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka built a comfortable lead, and the European duo went on to a 3-and-2 victory.

“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities,” Scheffler said. “It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end.”

He fell to 0-4-2 in his last six Ryder Cup matches, becoming the first No. 1 player in the world to go 0-2 on the opening day since Woods in 2002. Woods also did that in 1999; Ian Woosnam in 1991 is the only other top-ranked player to do it.

Scheffler and Henley were defeated 5 and 3 by Europe’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Åberg in the morning, Scheffler’s third blowout loss in three career foursome matches in the Ryder Cup.

Two years after being left in tears when Åberg and Viktor Hovland routed Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9 and 7 in Rome in the shortest foursomes match in Ryder Cup history, Scheffler watched Fitzpatrick and Åberg make seven birdies in 15 holes.

Scheffler has trailed by at least four holes in all three of his Ryder Cup foursomes matches.

“We just didn’t hole enough putts early,” Scheffler said. “We had some chances. I think the putts just didn’t fall.”

The afternoon match seemed to swing when one of his didn’t on No. 8.

He and Spaun were 1 down and Scheffler hit his tee shot on the par three to about eight feet. Rahm made his putt from about twice as long and Scheffler missed, turning the Americans’ hopes of evening the match into a 2-up lead for Europe.

Rahm and Straka would never let the U.S. back into it, making five birdies in the final six holes.

“The guys just really turned it on on the back nine, but it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to,” Scheffler said. “But overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”

Scheffler has won six times this year, four more than anyone else on the PGA Tour, with two major championships. He has played himself back into tournaments after slow starts before, and maybe his performance on the final few holes gives him some momentum going into Saturday.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley sent Scheffler and Henley out second, after DeChambeau and Justin Thomas. While the leadoff duo was the high-profile match of the morning, the one after might’ve appeared to be the best U.S. team.

Henley is No. 3 in the world ranking, and he and Scheffler went 2-1 together last year in the Presidents Cup in Montreal.

Scheffler pumped his fist after rolling in a birdie putt on No. 2 to quickly tie the match after Fitzpatrick and Åberg had won the opener, but there wouldn’t be much more to celebrate for the Americans. The Europeans ran off three straight birdies to win Nos. 4-6 to build a 3-up lead that ballooned to 5 up, and won it when the U.S. made bogey on No. 15.

“They played great, gave themselves a lot of chances and just was a little sloppy,” Henley said. “Didn’t make the putts I needed to and didn’t really keep the momentum going with the ball-striking on the back nine, either. Hung in there as best I could, but they played great.”

Scheffler also lost 4 and 3 with Sam Burns against Rahm and Tyrell Hatton in his other foursomes match in 2023, when he went 0-2-2. He didn’t play in either match in his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, when he went 2-0-1.

Mahoney writes for the Associated Press.

In the vast catalog of relationship science research, very little focuses on the second date — or at least beyond what it takes to land one.

There are ample studies about first dates and initial attraction, which are often conducted in speed dating-style experiments. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some researchers devote their entire careers to studying long-term relationship trajectories. But few delineations are made among the dates that make up the period between meet-cute and making it official.

Even under a pop-culture dating framework, which assigns some value to early dating milestones including the third date and the three-month mark, Date No. 2 falls to the wayside.

Yet the second date is psychologically significant, because it marks most daters’ first venture past “initial clearance,” said Bree Jenkins, a licensed marriage and family therapist and dating coach based in Los Angeles.

Instructions for a first date are clear: Introduce yourselves and decide whether you’re compatible. This “meet and greet,” as Jenkins called it, most often happens over coffee or drinks.

“The second date is different, because you have some level of psychological reassurance that the other person is interested,” Jenkins said. “So some of the anxiety comes down, and I think it’s a little bit easier for people to be more intentional about how they want to connect.”

The Times spoke with relationship scientists and dating coaches to determine what types of second-date activities might foster that early sense of connection, which ideally snowballs into successive dates.

Their insights distilled to the following criteria:

Keep it affordable

Money puts the pressure on, and the goal of a second date should be to take the pressure off.

Duana Welch, a dating and relationship coach and author of “Love Factually: 10 Proven Steps From I Wish to I Do,” said that when someone spends heavily on their date, “research shows that a lot of times, there’s a sexual expectation that’s implied or actually real.”

Such a dynamic can hinder daters’ ability to effectively gauge their compatibility, “so take that expectation away from it,” Welch said. “Do something that’s pretty simple and pretty low cost.”

In other words, don’t be stingy, she said, but focus on being generous with your time and compliments rather than with your money.

Get active, but don’t cut the conversation

General second-date advice suggests incorporating an activity as a divergence from the first date-style, sit-down conversation. Relationship scientists agreed but issued a caveat: Make sure you can still talk.

Paul Eastwick, a psychology professor at UC Davis specializing in the science of relationships, said that whereas in the past people might have interacted 10 or 20 times before they went on a first date, with the advent of online dating, “the archetype that people often have is, ‘I met you on the first date.’”

In that paradigm, a follow-up date is still ripe for introductory conversation, which can’t easily occur in many default second-date settings like a movie theater. Instead, Eastwick recommended a cooking class or immersive show — “something that permits interaction, but you’re also doing this third thing.”

Welch recommended a bike ride or museum stroll, as “people sometimes open up more where they don’t feel like they have to look right at each other.”

Lean into novelty

Lastly, the suggestion to try something new may seem like a cliché, but it’s also scientifically legitimate.

“Anytime that you have a novel experience, especially if it’s enjoyable, you’re going to release more dopamine,” Jenkins, the dating coach, said. “It gives people a way to connect and feel more positive emotion behind the connection.”

With all that in mind, here is a list of second-date ideas in L.A. that relationship experts can get behind.

ATLANTA — Tommy Fleetwood of England ended a summer of heartache with the richest prize on the PGA Tour, winning the Tour Championship on Sunday for his first tour title to capture the FedEx Cup and its $10-million reward.

Fleetwood got plenty of help at the start when Patrick Cantlay began bogey-double bogey and could never catch up. Scottie Scheffler hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds and still was a threat until a tee shot into the water ended his hopes on the 15th.

Through it all, Fleetwood held his nerve. He closed with a two-under 68 for a three-shot victory over Cantlay (71) and Russell Henley (69).

“I’ve been a PGA Tour winner for a long time, it’s just always been in my mind,” Fleetwood said. “A lot of close calls, but I’ve always enjoyed the challenge.”

His first PGA Tour victory came with two trophies — the FedEx Cup and the “Calamity Jane” replica putter for the Tour Championship.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was within one shot of the lead on the front nine but wound up with a 70 to tie for seventh. He said he was “dead tired,” and now has to decide whether to use one of his six captain’s picks on himself. He announces his picks Wednesday.

“The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I’ll know I made the right decision,” he said. “Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild.”

But this day, this moment, belonged to Fleetwood, enormously popular around the world for coping with so many close calls with a refreshing perspective and joy for those who beat him.

An eight-time winner around the world, no stranger to big stages at the Ryder Cup or his silver medal at the Olympics last summer, Fleetwood was constantly reminded about his failure to win on golf’s strongest circuit.

He saw a one-shot lead turn into a one-shot loss at the Travelers when he took three putts from the front of the green and Bradley made birdie. Fleetwood let a two-shot lead with three holes left get away from him at the FedEx St. Jude Championship to start the postseason.

For all the hurt, he never lost hope.

“Tomorrow might be my time, it might not,” he said Saturday evening before his third try going into the final round with no one in front of him. “But I’ll still have a great time doing it.”

It was his time, and he had a blast.

Thousands of fans surrounded the 18th green at East Lake to watch the 34-year-old from England, all of them chanting, “Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!” Justin Rose, who rallied past him to win two weeks ago, and Shane Lowry stuck around to share in his big moment.

Fleetwood removed his cap when he tapped in for par, looked to the cloudy sky and let those long locks flow as he let out a yell.

Finally, Fleetwood.

“This wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been,” Fleetwood said with a smile. “I feel like I’ve had a great attitude throughout it all. … I’m so happy I got it done.”

He started the final round tied for the lead with Cantlay, the FedEx Cup champion from 2021 searching for his first win in three years. Cantlay made bogey on the first, three-putted for double bogey on the second and suddenly was four behind.

Cantlay never went away, however, and a two-shot swing on the 10th — Fleetwood made bogey from the left rough, Cantlay made a five-foot birdie — narrowed the gap to one shot. The next three holes were pivotal.

Cantlay failed to get on the green from a bunker on the par-three 11th and made bogey. Fleetwood birdied the next two holes with wedges to the six-foot range, and Cantlay could only match one of them.

The last big hurdle was the 218-yard 15th to a peninsula green, where Fleetwood went in the water Saturday and made double bogey. This time he managed a bogey and didn’t miss a step the rest of the way in finishing at 18-under 262.

Cantlay was two back with three to play when he missed the 16th fairway and made bogey.

“It’s always good to have a chance on Sunday and to be right there. I’ve been there plenty of times, and any time you get in that spot, it’s a real pleasure,” he said.

Henley went 13 straight holes without a birdie and couldn’t put any serious pressure on him.

Scheffler’s start was even more shocking. His tee shot went left and disappeared under a fence, out-of-bounds. Then, he got up-and-down from 201 yards to salvage a bogey. He ran off three birdies in four holes to finish the turn, making a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-three ninth.

But he missed a five-foot birdie on the 10th, and his hopes ended with a five-iron that went into the water on the 15th for double bogey. He closed with a 68.

There’s no doubting the best this year. Scheffler won five times, including two majors. He finished the season with 21 consecutive rounds in the 60s, and he has gone five straight months finishing no worse than fifth. He was trying to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion.

“I battled all week to give myself a chance. I wasn’t as sharp as I would have hoped to have,” Scheffler said. “I had a good first round, but outside of that didn’t really play my best the first few days. Still gave myself a shot. Just needed a few better swings.”

Cameron Young also lingered for much of the final round and shot 66 to tie for fourth with Scheffler and Corey Conners (62), strengthening his bid to make his first Ryder Cup team before home fans in New York.

Data by YCharts.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.40%) slipped 25.6 points, or 0.4%, to 6,370.17 on Thursday, marking its fifth straight daily decline. Losses were broad, with weakness across technology and cyclical sectors, as investors grew cautious ahead of key central bank commentary.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.34%) also moved lower, dropping 72 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 21,100.31. Tech stocks continued to face pressure amid uncertainty over how the Federal Reserve will balance slowing labor market signals with still-sticky inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.34%) joined the decline, falling 152.81 points, or 0.3%, to 44,785.50. Financials and industrials slipped alongside technology, leaving all three major benchmarks in negative territory.

Looking ahead, attention is squarely on the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak on Friday. Markets are searching for clarity on whether policymakers will move toward easing or maintain a cautious stance given the mixed economic backdrop. Powell’s remarks could prove pivotal in shaping expectations for the September meeting and the broader trajectory of rates.

Market data sourced from Google Finance and Yahoo! Finance on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025.

EXCLUSIVE: BBC bosses are bringing back the game show Hole In The Wall after a successful pilot and have drafted in This Morning star Alison Hammond to present the reboot

BBC game show Hole In The Wall will be returning for a new series fronted by Alison Hammond. The Beeb has given it the green light after a successful pilot, we can reveal. Previously hosted by Dale Winton, with Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke later taking over, Alison has been drafted in to present the reboot. It originally aired from 2008 to 2009 and featured celebrities trying to fit through moving wall cut-outs to avoid being pushed into a pool of water. This Morning and Great British Bake Off star Alison, 50, impressed in the pilot. A source said: “Alison made a splash in the pilot so it was a no-brainer for bosses. “It’s the perfect fit for her. It’s fun, exciting and doesn’t take itself too seriously – just like Alison.”

It will be filmed later this year and air in 2026. Hole In The Wall is based on a Japanese format and sees shiny lycra-clad celebrities try to squeeze through odd-shaped holes in a moving wall. The wall is activated by the presenter shouting: “Bring on the wall!” Each week, two teams of television personalities competed for £10,000 in prize money to be donated to their chosen charity. It’s the latest telly job for in demand star Alison. She became the new face of For the Love of Dogs following the death of Paul O’Grady and currently presents ITV ’s This Morning on a Friday with co-host Dermot O’Leary. She is also a team captain on Rob Beckett’s Smart TV for Sky. Alison is fast becoming the BBC’s golden girl with a number of shows on the channel. Earlier this year her new travel series: Florida Unpacked, went out on BBC Two. It saw her travel the US state with son Aidan, 20. She also fronted her own celebrity interview show, Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend, which saw her get under the skin of well known names like Lenny Henry, Little Mix ’s Perrie Edwards and Spice Girl Mel B.

This comes after Alison and her son Aidan made their debut on Celebrity Gogglebox last week, a few months after he revealed some heartbreaking details about his childhood. The 20-year-old DJ recalled he used to run away from home and seek solace at his nan’s house when things at home with his mum Alison, 50, got too much.

Alison and her ex-partner – Noureddine Boufaied, a taxi driver from Manchester – separated in 2014, when Aidan was nine, and the youngster spent most of his time living with his telly star mum in Birmingham. The mother-and-son duo now enjoy a close bond – and have worked together on BBC travelogue Alison Hammond ’s Florida Unpacked and now Channel 4 ’s Celebrity Gogglebox.

Earlier this year, Aidan revealed how much he and his mum benefited from having his maternal grandma, Maria, living close by, especially when things were difficult at home.

“She had a house pretty much opposite us, so we could literally leave and run across the road,” he said. “So when my mum was doing my head in, I’d just go to my nan’s.”

A few weeks after her death, Alison wrote a moving tribute on her Instagram page, which said, “Thank you, Mummy, for giving me the strength to move forward in the knowledge that you’re OK and with God in Heaven now. I will always remember you and try and make you proud. I love you, Mum.”

Aidan described himself, his mum and his nan as “a little trio”, and said they “were very close all the time”. While Alison is now loved-up with Russian massage therapist David Putman, some 20 years her junior, she has previously admitted she felt like she had “failed” when she broke up with Aidan’s father.

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OAKMONT, Pa. — J.J. Spaun is still new enough to the U.S. Open, and a newcomer to the brute that is Oakmont, that he was prepared for anything Thursday. He wound up with a clean card and a one-shot lead on an opening day that delivered just about everything.

Scottie Scheffler had more bogeys in one round than he had the entire tournament when he won the Memorial. He shot a 73, his highest start ever in a U.S. Open, four shots worse than when he made his Open debut at Oakmont as a 19-year-old at Texas.

Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the U.S. Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-five fourth. He finished with a triple bogey.

Bryson DeChambeau was 39 yards from the hole at the par-five 12th and took four shots from the rough to get to the green.

Si Woo Kim shot a 68 and had no idea how.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” Kim said. “Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me.”

Through it all, Spaun played a steady hand in only his second U.S. Open. He played bogey-free and finished with 10 straight pars for a four-under 66 on America’s toughest course hosting the major known as the toughest test in golf.

He matched the low opening round in U.S. Opens at Oakmont — Andrew Landry also shot 66 the last time here in 2016 — and it was no mystery. Good putting never fails at any U.S. Open, and Spaun holed five par putts ranging from 7 feet to 16 feet to go along with four birdies.

“I didn’t really feel like I’m going to show a bogey-free round 4 under. I didn’t really know what to expect especially since I’ve never played here,” said Spaun, playing in only his second U.S. Open. “But yeah, maybe sometimes not having expectations is the best thing, so I’ll take it.”

Oakmont lived up to its reputation with a scoring average of about 74.6 despite a course still relatively soft from rain and moderate wind that didn’t stick around for long.

And oh, that rough.

Just ask Rory McIlroy, although he chose not to speak for the fifth straight competitive round at a major since his Masters victory. He had to hack out three times on the fourth hole to get it back to the fairway, and then he holed a 30-foot putt for a most unlikely bogey. He shot 74.

“Even for a guy like me, I can’t get out of it some of the times, depending on the lie,” DeChambeau said after a 73. “It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf.”

The start of the round included Maxwell Moldovan holing out for eagle on the 484-yard opening hole. Toward the end, Tony Finau hit an approach just over the green, off a sprinkler head and into the grandstand, his Titleist marked by green paint of the sprinkler. He saved par.

When the first round ended more than 13 hours after it started, only 10 players managed to break par. That’s one fewer than the opening round in 2016.

Scheffler, the heavy favorite as the No. 1 player in the world who had won three of his last four tournaments by a combined 17 shots, made a 6-foot birdie putt on his second hole. Then he found the Church Pew bunkers on the third and fourth holes, made bogey on both and was never under the rest of the day.

“I made some silly mistakes out there, but at the same time, I made some key putts and some good momentum saves in my round,” Scheffler said. “But overall just need to be a little sharper.“

Spaun, who started his round by chipping in from ankle-deep rough just right of the 10th green, was walking down the 18th fairway when a spectator looked at the group’s scoreboard and said, “J.J. Spaun. He’s four under?”

The emphasis was on the number, not the name.

But some of the names were surprising, starting with Spaun. He lost in a playoff at The Players Championship to McIlroy that helped move him to No. 25 in the world, meaning he didn’t have to go through U.S. Open qualifying for the first time.

Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who contended at Royal Troon last summer, had six birdies in a round of 67.

And perhaps Brooks Koepka can count as a surprise because the five-time major champion has not contended in a major since winning the PGA Championship in 2023, and he missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship this year.

He looked like the Koepka of old, muscling way around Oakmont, limiting mistakes and closing with two birdies for a 68 that left him in a group with the South Korea duo of Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im.

“It’s nice to put a good round together. It’s been a while,” Koepka said. “It’s been so far off … but now it’s starting to click. Unfortunately, we’re about halfway through the season, so that’s not ideal, but we’re learning.”

Another shot back at 69 was a group that included two-time major champion Jon Rahm, who went 11 holes before making a birdie, and followed that with an eagle.

“I played some incredible golf to shoot one under, which we don’t usually say, right?” Rahm said.

The course allowed plenty of birdies, plenty of excitement, and doled out plenty of punishment.

McIlroy also was bogey-free, at least on his opening nine. Then he three-putted for bogey on No. 1 and wound up with a 41 on the front nine for a 74. Sam Burns was one shot out of the lead until playing the last four holes in five over for a 72 that felt a lot worse.

Spaun was not immune from this. He just made everything, particularly five par putts from seven feet or longer.

“I think today was one of my best maybe putting days I’ve had maybe all year,” Spaun said. “Converting those putts … that’s huge for momentum and keeping a round going, and that’s kind of what happens here at U.S. Opens.”

Spaun wouldn’t know that from experience. This is only his second U.S. Open, and his ninth major since his first one in 2018. He didn’t have to qualify, moving to No. 25 in the world on the strength of his playoff loss to McIlroy at The Players Championship.

“I haven’t played in too many,” Spaun said “I knew it was going to be tough. I did my best just to grind through it all.”

It was every bit of a grind, from the rough and on the fast greens. Three more days.

Ferguson writes for the Associated Press.

Southern California is where golf prodigies Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay first began to receive attention as youths, and 14-year-old Jaden Soong, a member of the Class of 2028 at St. Francis High in La Canada, is on the same path.

On Tuesday, he mastered Poppy Hills Country Club, shooting a nine-under-par 62 to win the CIF state championship in Pebble Beach. He had no bogies, seven birdies and an eagle. He’s believed to be the youngest to win a CIF individual golf title. PGA winners Cantlay (Servite) and Rickie Fowler (Murrieta Valley) are former winners of the event.

It’s just another achievement for someone who came close to qualifying for the U.S. Open as a 13-year-old in 2023.

Soong only earned a chance to play on Tuesday by winning two playoffs to receive the invite as an at-large competitor. He said he hadn’t played Poppy Hills since he was 7 or 8 but got a round in before Tuesday’s competition.

He had two birdies and an eagle on the front nine. Then came birdies on No. 10 and No. 11 to go to six under par. He and Evan Liu of Torrey Pines started to pull away from the rest of the field on the par-71 course. Liu was in the clubhouse at seven under after making a birdie on No. 18 to finish with a 64, with Soong at six under with six holes to play.

Soong tied Liu at seven under with a birdie on No. 14, a 369-yard par-four hole. Then he went to eight under with a birdie on the par-three No. 17.

He hit a perfect drive on No. 18, a 503-yard par-five hole and had a 13-foot putt for an eagle before settling for a tap in birdie.

Soong loves pressure and showed his comfort level throughout a round to remember.

Stevenson High in Monterey won the team title.

CLEVELAND — The Dodgers got five good innings out of Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday. Then they let it go to waste in a five-run eighth inning.

Despite leading most of the day at Progressive Field, seeking to end their East Coast road trip with a three-game sweep against the Cleveland Guardians, the Dodgers instead lost 7-4 after an eighth-inning meltdown.

It was three ground ball singles, one walk to load the bases and one mighty Angel Martínez swing that changed the game.

Leading 4-2 entering the eighth, Dodgers left-hander Tanner Scott took the mound for his second inning of work, manager Dave Roberts asking for an up-and-down outing out of his recently up-and-down closer.

Scott’s appearance had started well, striking out Gavirel Arias to escape a jam in the seventh inning.

But, in what was charged as already his fifth blown save of the season, he failed to limit damage as a threat began to brew.

Jhonkensy Noel led off the frame with a ground ball up the middle, after second baseman Kiké Hernández got to it in the hole but had no chance to make a throw. Will Wilson followed that with a spinning ball up the third base line, its awkward hop off the edge of the infield grass tripping up Max Muncy for another infield single.

Scott only hurt his own cause from there, walking Daniel Schneemann in a left-on-left matchup to load the bases.

And though he fanned Austin Hedges for the first out of the inning, Nolan Jones hit a one-out bouncer that found a hole through the left side of a shifted infield. Two runs came around to score. A lead the Dodgers had held since the fourth inning had suddenly evaporated.

The final blow came in the next at-bat, when left-hander Alex Vesia entered the game and quickly fell behind 2-and-0 to Martínez. Vesia tried to get back in the count with a fastball up in the zone. Martínez instead delivered a knockout blow, belting a three-run homer to left to complete the Guardians’ five-run rally.

The ending meant that Kershaw, who gave up just one run in five innings despite generating only three strikeouts, was left with a no-decision — and that the Dodgers had to settle for only a 3-3 record on this New York-Cleveland road trip, stumbling to another frustrating loss during a stretch of the season that has recently been full of them.

Whatever Canon King of Venice High had done earlier this season — he had six home runs — his performance on Tuesday night in the City Section Open Division semifinal game against Sylmar at Cal State Northridge earned him a lofty place few others have attained.

He was five for five with three RBIs and scored the winning run in the eighth inning of a 9-8 victory.

“It felt amazing,” he said. “My approach all day, get on base.”

He repeatedly looked for holes in Sylmar’s defense and sent the ball wherever they existed. It was an amazing display of bat discipline and knowledge. He had a single in the first inning, a two-run single in the second, a single in the fourth, a single in the sixth and a run-scoring double in the eighth.

Now he gets to play in the Open Division final against El Camino Real at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dodger Stadium. He’s committed to Cal State San Marcos and is a three-time Western League MVP.

“Best hitter in the City in my time doing this,” Westchester coach Joshua Saperstein said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The strongest field of the majors gave way to a few surprises Thursday in the PGA Championship, starting with Jhonattan Vegas charging into the lead with a seven-under 64 and the top 10 players in the world nowhere to be found among the top 10 at Quail Hollow.

A long day filled with sunshine and mud balls ended with Vegas in the penultimate group playing the best golf hardly anyone saw.

A briefly energized crowd had mostly left when Vegas blazed his way to the finish with five birdies on his last six holes, ending with an 18-footer on No. 8 and a 25-footer on the rugged ninth.

It was Vegas’ best score in 45 rounds playing the majors. The Venezuelan has never finished in the top 20 in a major and hadn’t qualified for this one in three years.

He had a two-shot lead over Ryan Gerard, the PGA Tour rookie who grew up in North Carolina and was the only other player to reach 7 under until bogeys on his last two holes. He was joined at 66 by Cam Davis of Australia.

The biggest crowds belonged to the top three in the world, and it wasn’t nearly as inspiring as four of the last five majors they have combined to win.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy didn’t make birdie over his last 12 holes and had nothing to say about that after a three-over 74 sent him straight to the range.

Scottie Scheffler and defending PGA champion Xander Schauffele had plenty to say about mud balls on tee shots, particularly on the 16th hole that sent both to double bogey. Scheffler at least holed two shots from off the green — one for birdie, one for eagle — and he finished with a 6-iron from 215 yards to three feet on No. 9 that sent him to a 69.

“I did a good job battling and keeping a level head out there during a day which there was definitely some challenging aspects to the course,” Scheffler said. “Did a good job posting a number on a day where I didn’t have my best stuff.”

For the first time in at least 30 years, the top 10 scores after the opening round of a major did not include anyone from the top 10 in the world ranking.

In their places were Vegas, who only got his game back in order last year when he won in Minnesota, and a host of other surprises.

Alex Smalley, the first alternate who found out about 15 hours before he teed off that he had a spot in the field, rolled in a 70-foot eagle putt on his way to a 67. Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who qualified by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic, also was at 67.

They were joined by a large group that included Luke Donald, the 47-year-old Ryder Cup captain for Europe who was the only player without a bogey on his card. The U.S. captain, Keegan Bradley, was another shot behind.

“It’s always fun, bogey-free in a major championship on a course that you wouldn’t have thought would be ideal for me,” said Donald, who is only in the field because of a PGA of America tradition to invite active Ryder Cup captains.

Considering the champions the majors have produced in recent years, this leaderboard more closely resembled the Myrtle Beach Classic. None of the top eight players have won a major, nor have they ever seriously contended.

Gerard looked comfortable playing before a home crowd. He made a tough par on the rugged ninth hole, then ran off four straight birdies on the back nine, and was seven under for the round after holing a 60-footer for eagle on the par-five 15th.

Davis had seven birdies and narrowly missed a 10-foot par putt on his last hole for the lead. Not bad for someone who recently ended a stretch of five straight missed cuts and hasn’t had a top 10 since early February.

“It’s just constantly trying to go back to things that have worked, trying to keep the head in a place where you’re not feeling like you’re banging your head against the wall all the time,” Davis said. “It’s letting it organically come — good processes, good routines, all those little one percenters add up to good golf eventually.”

The others at 67 were Stephan Jaeger and Aaron Rai, who both became first-time PGA Tour winners last year.

Scheffler at 69 had the best score of anyone from the top 10 in the world.

McIlroy, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, came into this PGA Championship believing that thrill-a-hole Masters title last month that gave him the career Grand Slam would be the highlight of his career no matter what he does from here.

A sloppy round, particularly off the tee, wasn’t going to change that. It was no less surprising to see him struggle at Quail Hollow, posting his highest round since a 76 in the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship in 2018.

Schauffele wound up with a 72 in his bid to go back-to-back in the PGA Championship.

Jordan Spieth likely will have to wait until next year at Aronimink to try for the career Grand Slam. The three-time major champion, lacking only the Wanamaker Trophy for his major collection, ran off three straight bogeys early on the back nine and shot 76.

Ferguson writes for the Associated Press.