“After two weeks in Cleveland, Nick Faldo, and his wife, Lindsay, are on their way home following a successful, scheduled preventative open-heart surgery to repair his enlarged aorta, performed by world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Lars Svensson at The Cleveland Clinic.
“Nick is now looking ahead to returning to his golf course design work and to the Masters Week in Augusta, GA, where he will be celebrating ‘Six back in ’96’.
“Home never felt so good.”
Faldo was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1997 and was named PGA player of the year in 1990.
He spent a total of 97 weeks ranked as world number one.
Philadelphia’s star receiver did have plenty to say to Coach Nick Sirianni — and vice-versa — during a sideline spat late in the second quarter of the game that eventually marked an end to the Eagles’ attempt at defending their Super Bowl title from last season.
Massive winds blew through Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field throughout the game, possibly contributing to a rough outing for Brown, who caught three of the seven passes for 25 yards and tied a career high with two dropped passes.
One of those drops came on 3rd-and-9 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half. Brown had created some separation from 49ers cornerback Renardo Green deep along the right sideline, but the pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts bounced off the receiver’s fingers.
Brown was slow to get off the field following the play, prompting Sirianni to run yelling down the sideline and eventually confront the three-time Pro Bowl selection face-to-face. The men appeared to exchange words for a few seconds before being separated by Eagles chief security officer Dom DiSandro. Brown went on to remove his helmet and yell more in Sirianni’s direction.
While Brown did not speak to reporters after the 23-19 loss, Sirianni downplayed the incident during his postgame news conference.
“I was trying to get him off the field because we were about to punt, and that was really it,” Siranni said. “I love A.J. I think he knows how I feel about him. I have a special relationship with him. We probably went through every emotion you can possibly have together.
“We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve yelled at each other. We’re both emotional. I was trying to get him off the field — you know, that happens in this game.”
Brown’s other drop came on a third-and-5 from the Philadelphia 40 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Eagles trailing by four. Brown was open over the middle for what could have been an easy first down, but the pass again bounced off his hands. Philadelphia converted the fourth down on a pass to tight end Dallas Goedert, but the last-gasp drive eventually stalled at the San Francisco 21.
Sirianni said of Brown: “He’s got the best hands I’ve ever seen, you know, the way he catches the ball, the amount of different types of catches that he’s made. When you get as many targets as he does, you’re going to have some drops. Not ever using it as an excuse, but the ball moves differently in the wind.
“I thought Jalen did a good job of cutting the wind a lot of times. But, yeah, we had some uncharacteristic drops. I think the one that [Brown] had, we overcame it the very next play with Dallas, but I know [Brown will] beat himself up on that. And I know A.J. — he’ll catch 9,000 balls with the one drop that he had.”
Brown got off to a slow start this season and wasn’t shy about voicing his frustrations. His production increased as the year went on, and Brown finished the season with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.
Overall, the Eagles’ offense declined under first-year coordinator Kevin Patullo, dropping from seventh in scoring and eighth in yards last year to 19th in scoring and 24th in yards this season. Asked Sunday about Patullo’s overall performance, Sirianni said there “will be time to evaluate everybody’s performance.”
“Right now, I feel for all our guys in the locker room, all the players, all the coaches, the front office, everybody that works so hard, the fans that come out and support us, Mr. [team owner Jeffrey] Lurie. I feel for all of us, all of them, and there’ll be time to evaluate everything coming up.”
Alan Jackson steps down as lawyer for Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his mother and father in December.
Published On 7 Jan 20267 Jan 2026
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The high-profile lawyer representing Nick Reiner, who allegedly killed his father, director Rob Reiner, and mother Michele Singer Reiner in December, has resigned.
The announcement that lawyer Alan Jackson would step down from the case means that the younger Reiner will, at least for the time being, be represented by a public defender provided by the state.
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During a news conference on Wednesday, Jackson did not provide a reason for his departure, instead citing the legal and ethical reasons he could not provide more details.
“Circumstances beyond our control and, more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control have dictated that, sadly, it’s made it impossible to continue our representation of Nick,” Jackson said.
He added that, after weeks of investigation, “what we’ve learned, and you can take this to the bank, is that pursuant to the laws of this state, pursuant to the law of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that.”
Jackson did not elaborate.
The lawyer had first appeared in court to represent the 32-year-old suspect just days after Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead on December 14 in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California.
The cause of death was determined to be “multiple sharp force injuries”, another term for stab wounds.
Jackson, whose past clients include producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey, did not explain how he was hired or who hired him after Nick Reiner was arrested for the killings.
On Wednesday, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene took over Nick Reiner’s defence in the case.
That came as the defendant, standing behind glass in a custody area of the courtroom and wearing brown jail garb and with his hair shaved, briefly appeared in a Los Angeles court, where he was meant to be arraigned and enter a plea to two charges of first-degree murder.
Instead, the arraignment was postponed to February 23.
“The Public Defender’s Office recognises what an unimaginable tragedy this is for the Reiner family and the Los Angeles community,” Deputy Los Angeles Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said in a statement following the hearing.
“Our hearts go out to the Reiner family as they navigate this difficult time. We ask for your patience and compassion as the case moves through the legal process.”
Rob Reiner’s killing resonated across the world, reflecting the global impact of his films, which included the coming-of-age drama Stand By Me, the courtroom thriller A Few Good Men and the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.
Rob and Nick Reiner had previously worked together on a film, Being Charlie, which was partially based on the younger Reiner’s struggles with drug addiction and mental health.
The DIY SOS team stepped in to help a youth club in East Yorkshire on Tuesday
DIY SOS star Nick Knowles fought back tears as he unveiled the “most challenging” build on Tuesday (December 30).
The latest episode of the hit BBC programme saw Nick and the team step in to help a youth club that had lost its home in the town of Beverley, East Yorkshire.
The Cherry Tree Community Centre once gave local children a safe place to meet up and find support, but when the pandemic hit, the building was turned into a food hub for families, leaving the kids out in the cold.
With another harsh winter on the way, Nick, designer Gabrielle Blackman and the DIY SOS regulars enlisted the help of local tradespeople to construct a new, purpose-built youth centre on the edge of the park. They were joined by Gladiators stars Jodie Ounsley, Tom Wilson, Lystus Ebosele and Jamie Christian-Johal – aka Fury, Hammer, Cyclone and Giant.
Just before the build began, Nick fought back tears as he shared the importance of the project, after growing up on an estate himself.
“I grew up in a place like this. The kind of places that people say, ‘Oh, don’t bother building anything nice there, it will just get destroyed,'” he said.
“You have to build stuff in tough places, you have to make a difference,” Nick continued, before pausing as he became emotional.
The crowd began clapping, before Nick said: “I didn’t expect it to get me. You will make this happen, you will change the futures of young people round here with what we’re about to do.”
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Nick Smith Jr. placed his newest souvenir nonchalantly underneath the press conference table. This game ball will likely go to his mother.
Smith earned it Sunday with a starring performance off the bench while filling in for the injured Reaves. The 21-year-old guard on a two-way contract scored 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting with three rebounds and one assist. He made five three-pointers, including his first four from beyond the arc while starting seven-for-seven from the field.
With Reaves sidelined for at least a month with a grade two strain in his left calf, Smith will be in line for more consistent minutes, Redick said before the game. Especially with fellow guard Gabe Vincent missing his fourth game because of a back injury Sunday, the Lakers need Smith’s ball handling and shiftiness alongside James and Doncic.
But to offset the loss of their second-leading scorer, the Lakers are most desperate for Smith’s scoring.
“It’s why we wanted him on the Lakers and part of our program, because we knew he could score,” Redick said. “I like when he’s aggressive. … If he could just do him within our structure, a lot of times, good things happen.”
Smith has already flashed his scoring potential in big moments. The former first-round draft pick who signed with the Lakers a day before training camp started rescued the team with 25 points in Portland in a game without James, Doncic or Reaves. He had 12 points in 14 minutes off the bench against Toronto when the Lakers survived thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Rui Hachimura.
“We trust him,” Redick said before the game.
After getting waived by the Charlotte Hornets, Smith recognized that he hasn’t had this level of trust from a coaching staff “in a long time.” To have it “means everything,” he added.
“It’s a different stage, you know, where I came from, and I understand that,” Smith said. “So I just want to make sure I’m ready. … I’m just blessed to be here, just have the opportunity just to even play with the Lakers and stuff like that, even be in the league. A lot of guys where I’m from would, like, love to be in this situation.”
Four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka showed flashes of the emotion she demonstrates in competitive matches, bearing a mischievous grin when she won points.
“I felt great. I think I put up a great fight. He was struggling, he got really tired,” Sabalenka said afterwards.
“I think it was a great level, I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net, drop shots. I really enjoyed the show. Next time when I play him, I already know the tactics, his strengths and weaknesses, and it will be a better match for sure.
“I love to challenge myself and I’d love to play again.”
Critics had questioned Kyrgios’ suitability as the male protagonist in the match, given he admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend in 2021 and has made a series of comments which have been considered misogynistic.
The Australian, who was ranked 13th in the world at his peak, played with an air of insouciance throughout. His movement was limited as he worked to shorten points where possible.
He will be delighted to have secured victory in little over an hour as he looks to build fitness for what he hopes will be a fuller return to the ATP Tour in 2026.
The pair, whose friendship appears genuine and was demonstrated by their japes throughout the match, shared an affable embrace at the net.
“Honestly, it was a really tough match, she is a hell of a player and such a great champion,” said Kyrgios.
“I didn’t really know what to expect. Whatever role I was to play, it was just another great opportunity to go out here.”
PROSECUTORS at the helm of the murder case against Nick Reiner have a chance to pull a “historically uncommon” move if they pursue the death penalty, an attorney has warned.
Nick Reiner pictured at the premiere of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on September 9Credit: APMichele Singer Reiner and Rob Reiner attend The Wolf Of Wall Street premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City in December 2013Credit: GettyNick Reiner, wearing a blue anti-suicide vest, made his first court appearance on December 17 days after he allegedly killed his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer ReinerCredit: Reuters
A plea was not entered, as defense attorney Alan Jackson told the judge that the case against Nick was premature.
Eric Faddis, a criminal defense attorney based in Colorado, believes Nick’s legal team is teeing up for an insanity defense down the road, which he suspects they could have a hard time trying to prove.
“In order to prove that, how that works is that the defense would have to prove it’s more likely than not that [Nick] Reiner had a mental disease or defect, which caused him to not know the difference between right or wrong or to not understand the nature of his conduct,” Faddis, who is not associated with the case, told The U.S. Sun.
“So, that’s a high bar. It’s not like in the movies where people get off on insanity regularly. Prevailing on a not guilty by reason of insanity defense is uncommon. But it’s still certainly possible.”
Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia some time before he allegedly slaughtered his parents, according to TMZ.
The troubled middle child of Reiner, 78, and Singer, 68, was reportedly being treated by a psychiatrist for his condition, but in the month before the murders, Nick’s behavior became “alarming” as doctors switched his medication.
Weeks before the murders, Nick’s prescription was changed, making him “erratic and dangerous,” TMZ reported.
Nick had been open about his struggles with drug addiction, and admitted in a 2016 interview with People that he had been to rehab dozens of times since he was 15 years old.
Faddis said the claims of Nick’s reported mental health disorder could be “supportive of a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.”
“Doesn’t mean he’ll win, but it sounds like they’re compiling evidence in support of that defense,” he added.
UNCOMMON PURSUIT
Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he has not decided whether his office will pursue the death penalty against Nick.
However, Faddis said with Hochman at the helm, it would not be surprising if the district attorney sought to sentence Nick to death.
“It’s hard to say. Historically, Los Angeles has not been the most death penalty-friendly county,” Faddis said.
“It’s not something they pursue commonly, as compared to like Utah or something like that.
“But, with Nathan Hochman at the helm, you know, he has made some unexpected moves on different cases, including the Menendez brothers’ case that he was on.
“There was sort of this social movement to try and get the Menendez brothers released. And I think a lot of people thought perhaps Hochman would go along with that, but he didn’t.”
“So, if he did pursue the death penalty in this case, it would be historically uncommon, but not totally unexpected just based on how Hochman has made decisions in other cases.”
Rob Reiner and his son Nick pictured together at the 2015 Toronto International Film FestivalCredit: SplashThe Reiner family from front to back: Jake Reiner, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner, Rob Reiner, and Nick ReinerCredit: Instagram/michelereinerAn aerial view of Rob Reiner’s home in Brentwood in Los AngelesCredit: EPA
HOLLYWOOD NIGHTMARE
Reiner and Singer died minutes after they were allegedly brutally attacked by their son, according to their death certificates.
The iconic filmmaker’s time of death was recorded as 3:45 pm on December 14, while his wife’s was noted as 3:46 pm.
The grisly scene at Reiner’s Brentwood home was only uncovered after a massage therapist arrived at the couple’s front gate for a scheduled appointment on the afternoon of December 14, according to The New York Times.
After the therapist received no answer at the front gate, she decided to call the couple’s daughter, Romy, who reportedly lived in the area.
When Romy, 27, arrived and entered her parents’ home, she stumbled upon the gruesome scene and reportedly came across her father’s body first.
Reiner and Singer were found in their bed with their throats slashed and could have been asleep when they were murdered, the Daily Mail reported.
When Los Angeles police arrived at the scene at around 3:30 pm, Romy told authorities that her brother Nick lived in their parents’ home.
However, authorities were unable to locate Nick on the property.
Nick was eventually arrested at around 9:15 pm near Exposition Park, about 14 miles from where his parents were found dead, Alan Hamilton, the deputy police chief at the LAPD, said.
Moments later, after exiting the gas station, the video captured three police cruisers swarming Nick at a nearby sidewalk.
Nick was seen raising his hands and surrendering to police as multiple officers approached him and took him into custody.
Timeline of Rob and Michele Reiner’s death
Rob Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.
Timeline:
December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents’ bodies.
Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and was being held on $4 million bail, which was later revoked.
December 16, 2025: Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman formally charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder.
Hochman said his office would consider the death penalty in Nick’s case.
Nick’s scheduled court appearance on December 16 was postponed due to what his attorney said was a procedural issue.
December 17, 2025: Nick Reiner briefly appeared in court. A plea was not entered.
December 23, 2025: The death certificates of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner disclosed that the couple died of multiple sharp force injuries caused with “a knife, by another.”
Cynics have wondered exactly what the point of the event is.
Sabalenka and Kyrgios insist it is to attract a different audience to the sport, with an emphasis on fun, entertainment and celebrity culture.
“There are question marks – and that scares people,” Kyrgios said.
“For us, it is exciting and gives us that thrill. I think events like this need to happen more in the tennis world.”
The event, being held at the 17,000-seater Coca-Cola Arena, is on track to be sold out.
Tickets range from about £100 in the upper tier stands to upwards of £600 on courtside benches.
“Sport and entertainment is the same thing – people come to watch sport for the unknown, that’s why it is not played on paper,” Kyrgios said.
“Whether it’s good or bad, they want to remember something they are going to see in everyday life.”
Billie Jean King, who beat Bobby Riggs in the second Battle of the Sexes match in 1973, hopes it will be a “great” match but says it is “not the same” as her era-defining event.
King’s victory over former Wimbledon champion Riggs – a 55-year-old self-proclaimed chauvinist – was a landmark moment in the fight for gender equality and laid the path for equal pay at the top of the game.
“Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not,” King told BBC Sport.
Following a $1-billion-grossing, Oscar-winning smash could have left writer and director Jared Bush and director Byron Howard feeling like rabbits in the headlights, but they seem to have outfoxed the challenge. “Zootopia 2” has already stampeded past $1 billion to surpass its predecessor, and the awards nominations have just begun slithering in. But how did the sequel survive such high expectations, stay as socially relevant as the original and navigate the peril of too many cooks in the kitchen?
“Animation’s a team sport,” says Howard, referring to the sheer number of people who worked on the film over five years. “It’s 700 in the crew, but in this building, it’s about 1,000 and another 300 in Vancouver. So it’s everyone’s collective ideas, saying, ‘Here’s where we can do better.’ So everyone has skin in the game and they all want these movies to be great. It’s an emotional investment.”
The creative team screened “Zootopia 2” for all of Disney Animation multiple times in various stages of development. A feedback system enabled every employee to respond.
Bush says Disney regularly seeks internal reactions after screenings, “but we asked way more direct questions for this one, like at an audience preview. Then we shared that feedback, unfiltered, with the entire building. That allowed people to see that their feedback mattered because you could actually see ideas that came in [manifest] from screening to screening.”
Bush and Howard acknowledge that having that many collaborators keeps the inspiration flowing but also allows fragments of the colossal group brain to sneak into the film unnoticed. Even they aren’t sure where all the in-jokes are planted.
A “story jam” — reminiscent of a TV writers room — was just one of many avenues for collaboration in the making of “Zootopia 2.”
(Disney)
Like its predecessor, the sequel is packed with movie references and animal puns — “A Moose Bouche”; “Gnu Jersey” — and the directors are quick to spread the credit (or blame). “ ‘A Moose Bouche’ — we’ve gotten emails about that one,” says Howard. “Cory Loftis, our production designer, came up with it.”
There’s a “Star Wars” cantina bit, a soupçon of James Bond in the score at a fancy gala and dashes of Steven Spielberg in the camerawork. It’s easy to spot “Ratatouille” when an animal chef is revealed to have a rat under its hat, but Bush asserts there’s a second reference in that moment — the animal declaring “I knew it!” isn’t just any raccoon, but “Raccacoonie” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” That character is itself a “Ratatouille” reference (and, Bush points out, “EEAAO’s” Oscar-winning supporting actor Ke Huy Quan voices “Zootopia 2’s” lead snake, Gary). So it’s a reference coupled with another reference to another film’s reference to the first reference. Whew.
Those Easter eggs, including an extended callback to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” — the realization of which they credit to animator Louaye Moulayess, a “Shining” superfan — speak to a willingness to cater to audiences beyond kids. Presumably, most children attending “Zootopia 2” haven’t watched Kubrick’s film. That’s a shoutout to the grown-ups for bringing the kids and, hopefully, discussing the historical practice of redlining with them after the show.
Byron Howard, left, and Jared Bush.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The first “Zootopia” was not notable just for funny talking animals but also the fact that the funny animals were talking about bigotry and stereotyping. Perceptive viewers may have noticed a mammalian bias in the original — there were no reptiles to be found in its near-perfect society. It turns out they were discriminated against as a class and denied their rightful place as residents, as we learn in “Zootopia 2.” Bush said that concept fit right in with “continuing this discussion about how we as human beings have a hard time looking past each other’s differences.”
Howard says the diversity-as-strength theme plays out not just in grand terms but also in the dynamic between the two protagonists, Judy (a rabbit, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick (a fox, voiced by Jason Bateman): “Nick and Judy are such different, contrast[ing] characters that are really stronger [together] because of those differences, and that speaks to something we really value, which is differences between each other as a working pair,” he gestures to Bush and himself. “We continue to thrive in that way.”
Howard agrees with the comparison of him and Bush to conductors of a giant orchestra, listening for notes being played just right. He thinks of composer Michael Giacchino “onstage with those virtuosos at their respective instruments; we work with masters all around us, so we have a lot of trust in them.”
However, he admits with all those voices, “Writers have a tough time here because we scrutinize these movies and redo them over and over and over again. Jared is a great example of someone who thrives in this environment.”
Bush, explaining he came from the culture of TV sitcoms and all their constant revisions in writers rooms, says, “We have this amazing luxury of being able to rewrite and rethink and absorb these better ideas over years. It is an extreme luxury.
“There’s nothing else like this in Hollywood that I’ve seen — that level of deep collaboration and iteration. There’s no place I’m ever going to be that I will love as much as this.”
