The Mayon Volcano has erupted, spewing a cloud of ash and debris across Bicol, in the Philippines. Emergency services have issued alerts to nearby towns. The 2,462-metre (8,007-foot) volcano is the country’s most active.
Here comes Bob Chesney’s rebuild. And Iamaleava’s redemption. An exceptional head coach and an exciting quarterback, with the wind at their backs, racing toward a relatively breezy schedule?
USC defensive tackle Carlon Jones grabs UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava during a game on Nov. 29.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Sky’s the limit, man.
Watch them dip and dance and make defenders miss all the way to New York. Watch the cautionary tale about the perils of the transfer portal turn into a fairy-tale comeback.
No, that’s not me building castles in the sky.
Consider the unprecedented heights to which Chesney took tiny James Madison, and think of the places he can go with a junior QB whose trajectory had him headed toward Heisman Trophy hopefuldom before turbulence hit.
Iamaleava arrived in Knoxville, Tenn., with more hype than any quarterback since Peyton Manning. The 6-foot-6 Long Beach native, with an outside hitter’s rocket arm and the gazelle-like gait, was considered the nation’s No. 2 overall recruit out of Warren High in Downey. As a redshirt freshman in 2024, he won 10 games and led the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff.
Heisman buzz was building. Until it wasn’t, deadened last spring by the contract dispute that was debated ‘round the college football world. There was disagreement between Iamaleava’s camp and Tennessee — which was reportedly paying him more than $2 million per season, less than the going rate for some comparable quarterbacks and more than the Bruins reportedly offered.
UCLA — 3-9 last season and with only two bowl appearances in eight years — isn’t anyone’s idea of a shortcut back to glory. But there is this: The Bruins seem really to have Ted Lasso’d a certain energy these days. A can-do frequency. Joy and positivity are in.
UCLA coach Bob Chesney leads the Bruins through their first spring football practice at Spaulding Field on April 2.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Alysa Liu, the figure-skating psychology-student Olympic champion? She said there’s a new golden rule: Am I having a good time?
And mercy, the No. 6-ranked softball team — whose silly postgame interviews have gone viral — is having a record-smashing season.
Now we also have Chesney extra-cheesing out here, showing up with free pizzas at fraternities, outreach to get the bros out to the Bruins’ spring game Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
But how does Iamaleava fit into this bright motif?
Perfectly, actually. When I asked him last year what he was telling his teammates after head coach DeShaun Foster was fired three weeks into the season, sky falling, wheels falling off, Iamaleava smiled his easy smile: “Man, just keep the belief.”
If that reads like a cliché, imagine the coolest guy in school saying it, and meaning it.
Iamaleava has a Long Beach lean, laid back and comfortable in his skin. He’s super-tight with his seven siblings, and super-proud of their Samoan heritage. And even though he and his younger brother Madden, a backup UCLA quarterback, were always “the toughest dudes on the field,” former Warren coach Kevin Pearson said, “they are the nicest, sweetest off of it.”
But wasn’t Nico the villain? The bad guy? That disloyal, greedy kid at the center of college football’s first apparent holdout?
The criticism was so loud — and so wrong, Pearson said — it had the man stressing. “It made my stomach hurt,” he said, “what people were saying about Nico.”
Pan out and Nico is a face in a crowd. For example, of the top 600 football prospects in the class of 2021, more than 60% of them transferred at least once, and 42 of the top 50 quarterbacks changed schools, according to the Athletic.
And he was about the only thing that was good about last season’s Bruins.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava passes the ball during an upset of Penn State at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 4.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
He was their leading passer and rusher. Of UCLA’s 24 touchdowns, he accounted for 17, including five in the Bruins’ 42-37 victory over No. 7 Penn State, which earned him a slew of national weekly honors, including Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.
But the Bruins won only three games. The whole season was a hot mess, though you wouldn’t have known it, talking to Nico.
He seemed to get it. Not like he understood the assignment of rehabilitating his image, but with the sincerity of someone who appreciates what’s actually hard.
You might remember, his mom, Leinna, was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was 14.
“She definitely opened my eyes, just as a young kid growing up,” said Iamaleava, noting that she is OK now, busy traveling all over the country with his younger volleyball-playing sisters.
“She got diagnosed my freshman year and it was just kind of time to grow up and take care of the little ones. That changed my mindset and my perspective on life. Life’s short, you know? And we’re very blessed to be here and wake up every day.”
Nico could have been defensive in the face of criticism and failure, but he never was. Could have disappeared after defeats as some quarterbacks have, but he didn’t.
His mantra: “That’s on me, man.” Even when it wasn’t.
Despite everything, he was overly accountable, gracious under pressure, upbeat.
“Think about what he had to go through last year,” Chesney said. “He got the preseason, had a couple weeks with the guys, then he got into season, had a couple weeks with the guys, and then all hell broke loose, right?
UCLA offensive linemen Garrett Digiorgio, left, and Sam Yoon, right, help quarterback Nico Iamaleava up after he ran for extra yards against Penn State at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 4.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“To be able to stick with it and stay through that, you’re just probably trying to keep your head above water. And a lot of our conversations are about that, ‘Hey, this is different this time around.’”
Way different. Chesney has revamped UCLA’s roster with 40-plus transfers, including several key contributors from the JMU team that made the College Football Playoff.
And then there’s Nico, looking like everybody’s big brother at spring practices, smack-talking and celebrating the guys, as engaged as Chesney but easier to spot because his golden helmet glistens above everyone else’s.
“We did a leadership vote,” Chesney said, “and it was undeniable, [Nico] was the No. 1 vote on this entire team to be the leader. And I wanted to just share that with him and make sure he didn’t have to wonder, ‘Do these guys respect me?’ They do. And not only by the position you play, but by the way you play it. By the way you handle it off the field.”
By smiling through it all, even in the immediate aftermath of the Bruins’ loss to New Mexico, their third loss in as many weeks, when it looked like UCLA might not win all season.
“This is a game that as a little kid you loved to play,” Nico said that night. “A lot of [us] are treating this like a job. We gotta get back to having fun.”
And now that Nico and the new-look Bruins have that kite in the air, watch them run with it.
GAIL Porter has slammed Katie Price online for all to see, claiming she cruelly mocked her hair loss.
The 90s pin-up, 55, lost her hair as a result of alopecia, which she developed in 2005.
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Gail Porter has slammed Katie Price over on InstagramCredit: GettyShe claimed that Katie made a remark about her being prettier when she had hair before alopeciaCredit: Rex
Now Gail has claimed that Katie made a horrible remark about her in the past when introducing her to one of her boyfriends.
Taking to the comments section of an Instagram post by Sky TV showing the trailer for Katie’s upcoming tell-all documentary, Katie: Nothing to Hide, Gail made a direct comment about the star.
Referring to Katie, Gail claimed: “The person who introduced me to one of her boyfriends and said ‘this is Gail. She used to be pretty when she had hair… Google her. Thanks.’”
The comment has amassed nearly 100 likes to date as well as a flood of replies from other Instagram users.
Gail made the comment on the trailer of Katie’s upcoming documentary, posted by Sky on InstagramCredit: AlamyIt’s set to come out as a four-part series during the summerCredit: Instagram/@skytv
One response said: “Whhhhhat?!,” in clear shock.
A second reads: “That must have been awful for you. I hope you’re okay x.”
A third person added: “So sorry she said that! You are beautiful.”
Gail was a model in the late 90s, most known for her pin-up content in “lad-mags” such as FHM.
This was the same decade when Katie launched her glamour modelling career under the pseudonym of Jordan.
She regularly starred in the pages of magazines and newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Star, FHM, Loaded, and Playboy.
The four-part docu-series promises it will have “intimate access” to the model and theminiseries will go “beyond the headlines”, with Sky already promising that it will be absolutely “jaw-dropping”.
Speaking about the production Arron Fellows, co-founder and creative director at Mindhouse, said: “Katie’s 30 years in the spotlight have been truly extraordinary.
“This series doesn’t shy away from – in Katie’s own words – ’the good, the bad and the ugly’; and this is an unexpected re-appraisal of a woman many people feel they have already figured out.
“The team have spoken to a range of contributors who have crossed paths with Katie at different junctures of her life – through the ups, the downs and everything in between.
“In doing so have crafted a series that is as jaw-dropping and unpredictable as it is tender and surprising. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
The series is set to air on Sky and streaming service NOW sometime this summer.
After spending her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky, the two-time All Star has been traded to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, the teams announced Monday morning. Atlanta also receives the option to swap second-round picks with Chicago in 2028.
“An Angel’s DREAM,” Reese posted on X. “ATL WHAT UP?!”
Reese was already a star before coming to the WNBA after helping Louisiana State win the national championship over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in 2023 and leading the Tigers back to the Elite Eight the following year.
Selected by Chicago with the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, Reese finished as runner-up to Clark in rookie-of-the-year voting and led the league in rebounds per game in each of her first two seasons. Overall, she has averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds a game.
The Sky have gone 23-61 and missed the playoffs both seasons since drafting Reese. On Sept. 3, the Chicago Tribune published quotes from the star player that indicated her frustration with the team’s inability to build a winning roster and an inclination to leave if the organization isn’t able to get it right.
“I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me,” Reese told the Tribune.
After the Sky’s 88-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun that night, Reese told reporters she had apologized to her teammates about the article.
“I think the language is taken out of context,” she said, “and I really didn’t intentionally mean to put down my teammates, because they’ve been through this with me throughout the whole year. They’ve busted their ass, just how I bust my ass, they showed up for me through thick and thin, and in the locker room when nobody could see anything.”
Reese did not play for Chicago again. She was suspended half a game for her comments, which were deemed “detrimental to the team,” served a separate mandatory one-game suspension by the WNBA for receiving eight technical fouls during the season and missed the final three games of the season with what was listed as a back injury.
The Sky said in a statement Monday that the “trade is designed to achieve roster balance and represents a great opportunity for all parties.”
“Angel has achieved many record-breaking milestones in her first two years in the WNBA and has been a competitive force for the Sky,” the team wrote. “We are thankful for her many important contributions to this league and this game, and we know she will continue to have a big impact on the court and beyond.”
Reese joins an Atlanta team that went 30-14 and finished first in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs. The roster includes Allisha Gray, who finished fourth in the MVP voting last season, as well as sixth player of the year Naz Hillmon and All-Star Brionna Jones.
“Angel is a dynamic talent and a perfect fit for what we are building in Atlanta,” Dream general manager Dan Padover said in a statement. “She has already proven herself as one of the most impactful players in the league, and her competitiveness, production and drive to win align seamlessly with our vision. This is an exciting moment for our organization and our fans.”
Newsreader Jayne Secker suffered from a bout of hiccups whilst presenting the 4pm bulletin on Sky News Today
20:02, 02 Apr 2026Updated 20:09, 02 Apr 2026
Sky News presenter Jayne Secker suffers from hiccups in 4pm bulletin
Sky News presenter Jayne Secker suffered from a bout of hiccups whilst presenting the 4pm bulletin on Thursday. The newsreader, 53, was back in her usual slot on the live TV channel but as she began addressing the nation, she was befallen by a case of the hiccups, and couldn’t stop.
Jayne has appeared on Sky News Today since 2014, and initially appeared alongside Colin Brazier, and has been employed by the broadcaster since 2002.
Many viewers may be unaware that she is the daughter of the late Tyne Tees anchor Kathy Secker. Jayne’s media career began on home turf, editing student newspapers and securing an internship at BBC Radio Newcastle, before becoming a BBC trainee after graduating from the University of Stirling.
The Bedlington-born star, who was the first person to interview astronaut Tim Peake live from space, has a famous lineage; her mother Kathy joined ITV in 1976 and became well-known for presenting shows like Lookaround, the Birthday Spot, and the daily North East Tonight bulletins, as well as her own series Kathy and Co.
Kathy also made waves on radio, hosting her own show on BBC Radio Newcastle on Sunday afternoons, with her last broadcast airing just two weeks before her death in December 2015 at the age of 70.
Kathy, the founder of the renowned Grace House charity in Sunderland, a cause that Jayne proudly patronises, died at her home in Newcastle after she failed to turn up to a planned day out with friends.
BBC Newcastle, for whom she was still presenting a weekly show, confirmed the sad news on Twitter, now known as X, at the time. Paying tribute to Kathy, they wrote: “Some very sad news. Kathy Secker, one on our longest serving presenters, has died. She’ll be hugely missed.
“Kathy’s passing comes as a huge shock. Our thoughts are with her family. We’ll have a tribute on Sunday @ 2pm.” During her tenure at Sky News, Jayne spent a decade as a foreign correspondent, often reporting from conflict zones such as the Middle East, before joining their long-running rolling news programme.
Liverpool could not play on the Monday because of the Champions League, so Sky Sports could swap the games.
Everton‘s game is on a Monday, but it was not picked for a Monday. So it may not count as part of the Monday allocation.
Sky Sports says the process involves so many bodies, including clubs and the police, that much of the decision-making is taken out of their hands.
The order of first, second and third-choice picks between Sky and TNT Sports can also have an influence.
It is clear that the five-appearance maximum is a just loose limit.
Supporters will simply see their club has been picked six, seven or eight times.
Manchester United will almost certainly be in Europe next season, so will join the band of clubs largely shielded from the Friday-Monday package.
But with at least eight Premier League clubs set to be in Europe, the issue is not going to go away.
If Tottenham stay in the Premier League they will go to the top of the list for Friday and Monday selection, given they have a large fan base and are viewed as a glamourous club.
Everton fans say the scenario is “damaging supporter accessibility, matchday experience, and long-term engagement”.
