Alan Carr won The Celebrity Traitors in a tense series finale on Thursday and, overcome with emotion, the comedian told viewers: “I am and have always been a traitor”
But his own career is now set to change, with The Celebrity Traitors thought to act as a springboard for more success. An insider has even said Alan is being considered for Strictly, as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are set to leave. They added: “He has got to be up there with the BBC to get a huge new role… Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, Strictly.”
And a BBC source said: “Alan has always been a star – but it’s amazing what a month in a Scottish castle can do to elevate your career. He’s ours now.”
The Mirror had reported how chatter linked Alan to one of the Strictly vacancies, but now his triumph in the Scottish castle is said to have firmed his bid to take the Saturday night gig. The presenter had been praised for “super competitive streak” and charisma during his time on The Celebrity Traitors, which began at the start of October.
A source on The Celebrity Traitors said “people just love Alan”. The BBC believes viewers “loved him and [think] he has been the star of the Traitors,” one insider told the Daily Mail.
Alan, snubbed for a potential role as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent in 2023, was hoping for nothing more than a bit of a giggle when he signed up for the BBC show. He got off to a difficult start as fellow traitor Jonathan Ross worried Alan, born in Weymouth, Dorset, might give himself away.
But Alan showed the resilience and courage to thrive and eventually beat former England rugby star Joe Marler and his fellow Traitor Cat Burns. Bursting into tears when he was declared the winner, the comedian said: “I am and have always been a traitor… I’m so sorry, it’s been tearing me apart.” He told host Claudia Winkleman: “All that lying, all that treachery was worth it, wasn’t it?”
Nick Mohammed covered his mouth in shock when Alan revealed the other traitors. The Ted Lasso star said: “Not Joe!” He added: “Alan Carr. He played an absolute blinder.” Alan said: “What a rollercoaster, how did this happen? I was awful at lying and had a terrible poker face and here I am, the winner.”
Dean Herrington said he has been let go as football coach at St. Francis after five seasons during which his teams won three league championships and made two Southern Section finals.
The team went 2-8 this season and failed to make the playoffs in a season in which there were numerous injuries at the quarterback position. St. Francis ended the regular season with a stunning 28-21 win over Cathedral.
Herrington also enjoyed success as head coach at Bishop Alemany and Paraclete. He said Wednesday night, “It was shocking but maybe a good parting of ways.” The school told him there were concerns about culture and morale issues.
Herrington should be quick to pick up offers from other high schools and junior colleges. He has been known for developing top quarterbacks.
He took over at St. Francis for his good friend and former Hart player, the late Jim Bonds.
Published on 28/10/2025 – 16:58 GMT+1 •Updated
16:59
Apple’s stock reached new heights on Tuesday, trading above $269 a share and pushing the company’s market capitalisation to a record $4 trillion (€3.4tr). That followed stronger-than-expected demand for its latest iPhone 17.
The Cupertino-based technology giant therefore joins the elite club with Nvidia and Microsoft, which both surpassed the same valuation earlier this year.
Nvidia, the semiconductor powerhouse, became the first company in history to hit the $4tn milestone in July 2025. News of soaring AI investments and the firm’s strong profit outlook have continued to lift its share price since then, now approaching $4.7tn (€4tn).
The so-called Magnificent Seven, the seven largest publicly traded technology companies in the world, have been cashing in on the AI boom this year, with tech share prices rising accordingly. Since January, Apple shares are up more than 18%, Nvidia’s nearly 40%, and Microsoft’s close to 30%.
However, Apple has mostly stayed out of the race to invest billions in AI projects. Current market enthusiasm for the iPhone maker’s stock instead stems from the successful launch of its updated iPhone range, along with signs of easing trade and tariff pressures.
According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone 17 series has outsold the iPhone 16 range by 14% during its first ten days on sale in China and the United States.
Five members of the Magnificent Seven, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, are reporting earnings this week. They will need to demonstrate strong growth and justify the massive spending currently underway in artificial intelligence, amid growing concerns that the sector may be forming a bubble reminiscent of the dot-com boom that burst in 2000.
According to Kate Leaman, chief market analyst at AvaTrade:”Markets move on leadership, and right now, the leadership of Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple is inseparable from the risk appetite of investors worldwide.”
She noted that more than 40% of S&P 500 gains this year have come via these giants.
“But with that concentration comes fragility,” she added, saying that even as revenues climb, the commentary provided by executives “will critically frame how far and how confidently the market can chase the AI story into 2026”.
Richard Tunnicliffe’s 3,713 votes saw Labour drop to third amid a 27% swing away from the party in one of its strongholds
In a matter of moments, more than 100 years of history came crashing down for Labour as the results were read out.
For Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle, his victory – at the 14th time of asking – must feel like it has been a long time coming.
This could be the sign that voters see his party as a viable alternative to Labour, with next May’s Welsh Parliament election on the horizon.
The Labour stronghold has been breached and Plaid has stormed it.
For Reform, who had such high expectations, there are lessons to be learned.
Despite surging across the UK, they fell short in this big test.
Their ambition to be the biggest party after next year’s Welsh Parliament election has taken a knock.
There will be questions about how effective the party is at getting their supporters out to vote, as the party had been banking on a high turnout being good for them.
The turnout was 50.43% – higher than any previous Senedd election.
For Labour, this was an awful result.
If their 11% vote share is mirrored across Wales next May, under the new proportional voting system, they could be facing a wipe out.
Mark Lewis/BBC
Rhun ap Iorwerth’s Plaid Cymru has breached Welsh Labour’s stronghold
Before the vote, one source told me about the concept of a good defeat – something the party could work off.
This was not it.
The party’s MSs meet this morning to start the difficult conversation of how to turn this round.
One Labour source has suggested to me that the party will need a “retail offer” – something stand-out – that will grab voters’ attention.
“People are desperate for material improvement to their lives,” the source said.
“We can talk about improvements and we can talk about legacy issues like free prescriptions but there needs to be a big sell on something new.”
The deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies said the party needed a “compelling story”.
Matthew Horwood
Llyr Powell was predicted to be a contender for victory in the by-election
Another source said that First Minister Eluned Morgan needs to try to differentiate herself even further from her UK colleagues.
She has tried this with her concept of the Red Welsh Way, but has also spoken of a partnership in power.
Welsh Labour and UK Labour working together has its benefits, but it was never going to be easy.
Voters in Caerphilly have not bought the idea that two Labour governments working together is better for Wales.
Next May, the entire Welsh electorate could deliver the same verdict.
For now, whatever happens, Caerphilly has written itself into the pages of Welsh political history.
We are about to find out if this result is an eye-opening anomaly or a genuinely new chapter.
Anthony Frias II will suffer a setback, like those scary months when the UCLA running back was stuck in transfer portal limbo, unsure if his college career was over, and he’ll hear those familiar words.
It’s part of the movie.
He’ll strain in anonymity, police repeatedly coming to the door of his home at 2:30 a.m. because neighbors kept complaining about the sound of weights slamming onto the floor of the garage after another sweaty deadlift, and here comes his father’s favorite phrase again.
UCLA running back Anthony Frias II’s family gathers for a photo in front of the Rose Bowl before cheering for him and the Bruins.
(The Frias family)
It’s part of the movie.
Then there’s moments like last weekend, when something happens that makes this whole improbable journey feel like it’s just getting started, like there’s so much left to do and so many people to inspire for the kid from a tiny town in the San Joaquin Valley who once had no college scholarship offers.
Having been made a bigger part of the offensive game plan against Maryland, Frias bolted for his first career touchdown run. Later, with the Bruins needing to reach field-goal range in the game’s final moments, he chugged ahead for 35 yards, dragging defenders with him to set up the winning score.
When Frias emerged from the tunnel inside the Rose Bowl afterward to reconnect with his family, having starred inside the stadium where he once stood as a teenager with a sign proclaiming that he would play there one day, it was only a matter of time before he heard that refrain once more.
“Every time something happens, he mentions it,” the namesake son said of his father, “and it gives me a little bit more belief each time that he’s right.”
For many years, the genre of Anthony Frias II’s story seemed uncertain.
Would it be a hero’s tale? A drama about unfulfilled dreams?
The only sure thing was the conviction of the boy and his father who believed their journey would take them well beyond the confines of Le Grand, Calif., population 1,592.
Little Anthony wanted to play football so badly growing up that after suffering a hairline fracture in his knee that was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season, he made his own rehabilitation plan.
He was only 9.
Setting his alarm for 5:30 in the morning, he’d wake his father and they would go for a 1½-mile run to a relative’s home for workouts before running back. With his team on the verge of its championship game, Anthony needed a doctor’s clearance to return ahead of schedule.
One morning, he took a crumpled piece of paper to his mom in bed. When she awoke unexpectedly, he ran away nervously. Sabrina Frias looked at the paper, which outlined his recovery and mentioned that he had been waiting for this moment his whole life.
Anthony Frias II was in high school when he stood in front of the Rose Bowl while holding up a sign that read, “One day I will play here!” and featured the Stanford logo. He realized his dream of playing in the Rose Bowl, although it was for UCLA.
(The Frias family)
Anthony left his fate in his mother’s hands, asking her to make a choice — circle the “Yes” he had written alongside a happy face or the “No” alongside a sad face.
Her heart breaking at the thought of denying her son, she circled “Yes.” Anthony went on to score every point in his team’s 20-19 victory.
By the time he was 13, Anthony had modeled his playing style after Christian McCaffrey, the dynamic Stanford running back who was making a strong push for the Heisman Trophy. That made the Christmas present he received that year — tickets to see Stanford play Iowa in the Rose Bowl — an all-time favorite.
Before the game, Anthony’s father painted a giant red “S” on his son’s bare chest. Together, they made a sign that Anthony held above his head while standing outside the stadium. It read, “One day I will play here!”
Looking back, Anthony said the sign was mostly his father’s idea.
“He just knew,” Anthony said, “that I was gonna be so special.”
Few shared that belief when Anthony was coming out of high school.
Starring for Turlock High, which was not known for producing high-level college prospects, wasn’t enough to draw interest beyond a few Division II schools. What was the recruiters’ biggest hang up?
“When they looked at him,” Anthony’s father said of someone who now stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 225 pounds, “he wasn’t the guy they wanted.”
Enrolling at Modesto Junior College, Anthony quickly rose from fourth-stringer to featured tailback during the 2021 season, topping 100 yards rushing three times and leading all California junior college players with 17 rushing touchdowns.
It was enough to earn him a scholarship offer at Kansas State.
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II catches the ball during a game against Tulane on Sept. 17, 2022, in Manhattan, Kan.
(Colin E Braley / Associated Press)
Buried on the depth chart, he redshirted during his first season with the Wildcats. The next season, playing mostly on special teams, Anthony rarely got more than a carry or two in any game. As confident as he was in his ability, it was impossible to keep out the doubt.
He forged ahead, bolstered by his religious faith and conversations with the father who also happened to be his therapist and best friend, telling him not to worry, that things would eventually pay off.
“You know, we talk it through, I’m there for him all the time,” the elder Frias said. “I’ve been there through the tears, I’ve been there through the needing to hold my son, through the questioning, ‘What more can I do, dad?’ But he never faltered, never quit.”
He did seek a new football home.
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II carries the ball while running into the Central Florida defense on Sept. 23, 2023, in Manhattan, Kan.
(Travis Heying / Associated Press)
Before Kansas State played its bowl game at the end of the 2023 season, Frias entered the transfer portal. Then he waited. And waited. Months went by without a new offer to play elsewhere.
“Nobody was coming, nobody was calling, there was a moment where we were just like, ‘Man, what are we going to do?’” Anthony’s father said. “We just prayed and had faith, like it’s going to work out, don’t worry.”
Sure enough, the new coaching staff at Arizona, which had pursued Anthony when it was at San José State, offered a spot as a preferred walk-on. That meant Anthony was going to have to take out student loans and pay for his own apartment in Tucson.
About a week before he was scheduled to move in, Anthony received a call from Marcus Thomas, UCLA’s running backs coach. How would you like to become a Bruin? Anthony told him that he’d need to be more than a preferred walk-on because otherwise he was just going to go to Arizona.
Less than five minutes later, UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy called. The team agreed to cover his tuition and living expenses through name, image and likeness funds, even though he wouldn’t be on scholarship.
Done.
When Anthony giddily walked into the Rose Bowl for the first time as a player, during a practice before the 2024 season opener, he FaceTimed his parents, even going over to the seat where he and his father had watched that Rose Bowl game.
“That,” Anthony said, “was like the first full-circle moment that I had.”
Anthony’s first season as a Bruin largely mirrored his final season as a Wildcat. There was a lot of special teams work and only a few carries before an expanded role in the season finale against Fresno State.
Entering what’s likely to be his final college season, the redshirt senior earned a scholarship but no guarantee of emerging from the shadows.
As usual, his father wore his son’s No. 22 jersey last weekend when he settled into his seat in the family section inside the Rose Bowl, never imagining the name on the back would be one of the most talked about inside the stadium.
When Anthony took a handoff early in the second quarter, cutting one way and then the other before breaking a tackle on the way to a 55-yard touchdown run, his every movement was accompanied by his father’s voice in the stands.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, oh dang, oh dang!’ ” the elder Frias said. “And then I stand up, like, ‘Oh!’ and I see that [defender] chase him and I’m like, ‘Come on, Ant, turn it up!’ and then he beats the guy out to score the touchdown and I just went crazy.”
With fellow running backs Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas later sidelined by injuries, Anthony Frias got a few more carries. His last one, on the game’s final offensive play, captured the essence of someone who refused to quit.
Running away from one defender who tried to grab him by the shoulders, he spun away from another before finally getting dragged down at the five-yard line to set up the winning field goal on the next play.
“Just all the pain, all the suffering, all the longing, all the workouts, all the late nights, all the no-love, no-opportunity, that run signified the release of that,” his father said. “And when he came out of there, he let out his roar. He was like, ‘I won’t be denied any more.’ ”
In one game and only four carries, Anthony had piled up 97 rushing yards — exceeding the 91 yards he had tallied in the three previous seasons combined.
“He made the most of the situation,” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said. “He made critical plays — I mean, we’re not just talking he got some first down or something, he made critical, impact, explosive plays that changed that game and for that to happen for him, it couldn’t have happened to a better person.”
Later, emerging from the tunnel leading to the same spot outside the Rose Bowl where he had held that sign over his head almost a decade earlier, Anthony flashed a smile that his father had never seen before when he reached a jubilant throng of family and friends.
“It just was all the years of the grinding and the behind-the-scenes stuff that I’ve been going through,” Anthony said, “and you know, getting opportunities here and there doing different things and showing that I could do more.”
Everyone shouting his name, waiting their turn for a hug, the only thing missing was a climactic score and rolling credits.
Two-time Paralympic champion Stephen Bate secured a golden finish to his 12-year career by winning the men’s tandem individual pursuit title at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro.
Bate and pilot Christopher Latham achieved victory by catching Italian rivals Lorenzo Bernard and pilot Paolo Toto in an impressive display.
It ensured Bate ended his career as a five-time world champion across road and track events, and a five-time Paralympic medallist.
It was in Rio nine years ago where he and then-pilot Adam Duggleby achieved a golden Paralympic double in the individual pursuit and road time trial events.
Partnered by Latham on his return to the Brazilian capital, with whom he won individual pursuit silver at his final Paralympic Games in Paris last summer, Bate signed off in style on another hugely successful day for the British team.
That was one of three gold medals won by the British team on Saturday, as 21-year-old Archie Atkinson regained the men’s C4 10km scratch race title.
Elizabeth Jordan and pilot Dannielle Khan also triumphed, retaining their women’s B 1km time trial title.
Finlay Graham made it three medals in as many days as he clinched silver in the men’s C3 elimination race.
There was also silver for Kadeena Cox in the women’s C4 Sprint Race.
Those successes took GB’s tally to seven golds, five silver and five bronze medals overall.
Summoned last minute by the president of the United States, the world’s most powerful leaders dropped their schedules to fly to Egypt on Monday, where they idled on a stage awaiting Donald Trump’s grand entrance.
They were there to celebrate a significant U.S. diplomatic achievement that has ended hostilities in Gaza after two brutal years of war. But really, they were there for Trump, who took a victory lap for brokering what he called the “greatest deal of them all.”
“Together we’ve achieved what everyone said was impossible, but at long last, we have peace in the Middle East,” Trump told gathered presidents, sheikhs, prime ministers and emirs, arriving in Egypt after addressing the Knesset in Israel. “Nobody thought it could ever get there, and now we’re there.”
“Now, the rebuilding begins — the rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part,” Trump said. “I think we’ve done a lot of the hardest part, because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anybody in the world.”
The achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza has earned Trump praise from across the political aisle and from U.S. friends and foes around the world, securing an elusive peace that officials hope will endure long enough to provide space for a wider settlement of Mideast tensions.
Trump’s negotiation of the Abraham Accords in his first term, which saw his administration secure diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, were a nonpartisan success embraced by the succeeding Biden administration. But it was the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the overwhelming response from Israel that followed, that interrupted efforts by President Biden and his team to build on their success.
The Trump administration now hopes to get talks of expanding the Abraham Accords back on track, eyeing new deals between Israel and Lebanon, Syria, and most of all, Saudi Arabia, effectively ending Israel’s isolation from the Arab world.
Yet, while the current Gaza war appears to be over, the greater Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains.
Trump’s diplomatic success halted the deadliest and most destructive war between Israelis and Palestinians in history, making the achievement all the more notable. Yet the record of the conflict shows a pattern of cyclical violence that flares when similar ceasefires are followed by periods of global neglect.
The first phase of Trump’s peace plan saw Israeli defense forces withdraw from half of Gazan territory, followed by the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7 in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
The next phase — Hamas’ disarmament and Gaza’s reconstruction — may not in fact be “the easiest part,” experts say.
“Phase two depends on Trump keeping everyone’s feet to the fire,” said Dennis Ross, a veteran diplomat on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who served in the George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations.
“Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction are tied together,” he added. “The Saudis and Emiratis won’t invest the big sums Trump talked about without it. Otherwise they know this will happen again.”
While the Israeli government voted to approve the conditions of the hostage release, neither side has agreed to later stages of Trump’s plan, which would see Hamas militants granted amnesty for disarming and vowing to remain outside of Palestinian governance going forward.
An apolitical, technocratic council would assume governing responsibilities for an interim period, with an international body, chaired by Trump, overseeing reconstruction of a territory that has seen 90% of its structures destroyed.
President Trump speaks during a summit of world leaders Monday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
(Amr Nabil / Associated Press)
The document, in other words, is not just a concession of defeat by Hamas, but a full and complete surrender that few in the Middle East believe the group will ultimately accept. While Hamas could technically cease to exist, the Muslim Brotherhood — a sprawling political movement throughout the region from which Hamas was born — could end up reviving the group in another form.
In Israel, the success of the next stage — as well as a long-delayed internal investigation into the government failures that led to Oct. 7 — will likely dominate the next election, which could be called for any time next year.
Netanyahu’s domestic polling fluctuated dramatically over the course of the war, and both flanks of Israeli society, from the moderate left to the far right, are expected to exploit the country’s growing war fatigue under his leadership for their own political gain.
Netanyahu’s instinct has been to run to the right in every Israeli election this past decade. But catering to a voting bloc fueling Israel’s settler enterprise in the West Bank — long the more peaceful Palestinian territory, governed by an historically weak Palestinian Authority — runs the risk of spawning another crisis that could quickly upend Trump’s peace effort.
And crises in the West Bank have prompted the resumption of war in Gaza before.
“Israelis will fear Hamas would dominate a Palestinian state, and that is why disarmament of Hamas and reform of the PA are so important. Having Saudi leaders reach out to Israeli public would help,” Ross said.
“The creeping annexation in the West Bank must stop,” Ross added. “The expansion of settlements must stop, and the violence of extremist settlers must stop.”
In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, Netanyahu faced broad criticism for a yearslong strategy of disempowering the Palestinian Authority to Hamas’ benefit, preferring a conflict he knew Israel could win over a peace Israel could not control.
So the true fate of Trump’s peace plan may ultimately come down to the type of peace Netanyahu chooses to pursue in the heat of an election year.
“You are committed to this peace,” Netanyahu said Monday, standing alongside Trump in the Knesset. The Israeli prime minister added: “I am committed to this peace.”
SAN JOSE — Matt Mahan didn’t set out to be a scold and pain in Gavin Newsom’s backside.
He doesn’t mean to sound like a wrathful Republican when he criticizes one-party rule in Sacramento. Or a disgruntled independent when he assails a Democratic establishment that’s become, as he sees it, “a club of insiders who take care of each other” and mostly go along to get along.
Maybe because that’s “my diagnosis of it,” said the 42-year-old San José mayor, “I have tried very consciously to not fall into that trap of just wanting to be liked.”
He is, Mahan insists, a Democrat to his core, his roots sunk deep in the loamy soil of working-class Watsonville, where, over the mountains and light years from Silicon Valley, he grew up the son of a mail carrier and a high school teacher.
“We have become so caught up in our own rhetoric of helping the little guy that we’ve stopped actually checking to make sure that we are doing that,” Mahan said over lunch at a cantina downtown.
Results, he said, are what matter. Not good intentions.
And certainly not the performative pugilism that some, including the hyper-online Newsom, pass off as leadership. “A sugar high,” Mahan called it.
“I think a lot of Democrats are frustrated and feel powerless, and so that rhetoric has this cathartic effect,” he said. “But I don’t know that it actually, over time, moves us toward success, and I mean not just success in society, but even political success, because ultimately, if you’re not offering solutions, I think you can have a hard time getting to a majority position.”
Mahan comes by his outsider status naturally.
In high school, he rode the bus four hours a day — from Watsonville to San José and back again — to attend a college prep academy on a work-study scholarship. (“My golden ticket,” he called it.) He worked on the grounds crew to help pay his way, and continued on to Harvard, where his dorm mates included Mark Zuckerberg. (The two hung out in college and still talk occasionally.)
After a year in Bolivia, helping family farmers, and a stint teaching middle school, Mahan co-founded a social media company that focused on civic engagement and raising money for nonprofits. He was elected to the San José City Council in 2020. Even before his first term was completed, Mahan launched an upstart bid for mayor.
The front-runner was a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, a former San José vice mayor and longtime civic leader. Waging a nothing-to-lose campaign — “we had no endorsements, we had much less money” — Mahan knocked on thousands of doors. He asked voters what they had on their minds.
The experience impressed two things upon Mahan: a need for accountability and the importance of voters’ lived experience, as opposed to vague promises, abstract notions and politically fashionable statements.
“I think ultimately political success and policy success comes from offering better ideas and demonstrating impact,” Mahan said, sounding very much like the technocrat he calls himself.
Mahan won the mayor’s race — narrowly, in a major upset — and was reelected two years later in a November 2024 landslide. (The year Mahan was elected, San José voted to shift its mayoral contest to correspond with presidential balloting, which cut his first term in half.)
Soon enough, Mahan found himself at odds with some major Democratic constituencies, including powerful labor unions, which pushed back over wages and a return-to-office policy, and homeless advocates who bristled at Mahan’s focus on short-term housing and threat to arrest homeless people who refused multiple offers of shelter.
While the mockery and memes may feel good as snickering payback and certainly stoke the Democratic base — boosting Newsom’s presidential hopes — Mahan suggested they are ultimately counterproductive.
“If we don’t have a politics of solutions and making people’s lives better, I just don’t know where we end up,” he said, as his enchiladas sat cooling before him. “It’s politics practiced in bad faith, where we just … tell people things that test well because they sound nice, and then we just blame the other side for being evil, incompetent, corrupt. … It’s just a race to the bottom.”
He took particular issue with Newsom’s taunting reaction after Bed Bath & Beyond recently announced it won’t open or operate new stores in California.
It wasn’t “a reasoned argument,” Mahan wrote in a scathing opinion piece in the San Francisco Standard. The tart headline: “How about less time breaking the internet and more time fixing California?”
“‘Breaking the internet’ doesn’t solve real-world problems — quite the opposite,” Mahan wrote. “More often than not, it’s just political theater that serves to excuse inaction and ineffective policies.”
He elaborated over lunch.
“You have an employer who’s pointing out real issues that everybody else who’s watching thinks are real issues. Talking about business climate, cost of doing business, public safety issues, retail theft, untreated addiction and mental illness,” Mahan said.
“When we start turning on constituents because we don’t agree with their ideology, or attacking Trump is more important than actually solving problems or listening to the criticism … I think we’re heading down a dangerous road.”
Inevitably, there’s the question: To what end all this poking of thumbs in his fellow Democrats’ eyes?
Mahan has drawn wide notice, in particular from the more pragmatic wing of the party. His back-to-basics approach has yielded some measurable success. A recent study called San José the safest major city in the country and, while the overall homeless population grew slightly, there’s been progress moving people off the streets into city shelters.
He considered plunging into the race for governor, but the timing wasn’t right. Mahan has two small children and a wife who’s flourishing in her career as an educator. Besides, Mahan said, he’s quite content being mayor of California’s third-most populous city.
“I have a wonderful marriage,” Mahan said. “I have two wonderful kids. I loved working in the private sector. I’ve got a lot of great friends. I’m doing this because I genuinely want to make our city better, and I love the job. But it’s not who I am, and I can separate myself from the job.”
That grounding and perspective, so different from those politicians oozing ambition from every pore, may be Mahan’s best commendation for higher office.
Leonardo DiCaprio can still draw audiences to movie theaters.
His latest film, “One Battle After Another,” landed in the top spot at the box office this weekend, hauling in $22.4 million in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, the film made $48.5 million in its opening weekend. Industry analyst estimates had pegged the film’s debut at $20 million to $25 million, though some had predicted $30 million or more. Studio sources expected the film to bring in $20 million in its domestic opening.
Written and directed by auteur filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” tells the story of a one-time revolutionary, played by DiCaprio, who must band together with old friends and community members to rescue his daughter from a former enemy. The film, which is loosely based on a Thomas Pynchon novel, also stars Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall. Its budget was $130 million.
“One Battle After Another” had strong interest from Hollywood cinephiles, but there were questions about whether it would connect with more casual moviegoers, particularly since early marketing was more ambiguous about its genre. In addition, adult dramas have not performed at the box office as they did before the pandemic, as older audiences have been slower to return to theaters. Fans of DiCaprio, who may have followed his career since his turn in 1997’s “Titanic,” fall into that group.
But the film notched a solid 98% approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and has benefited from buzz about its awards potential.
“One Battle After Another” marks the latest win for Warner Bros. The studio has had a string of success at the theaters starting with April’s “A Minecraft Movie,” which has grossed a total of $957 million. That streak continued with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” James Gunn’s “Superman,” Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” and the latest installments of franchises like “The Conjuring” and “Final Destination.” It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the studio and its film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who earlier this year were reportedly on the hot seat for under-performing films.
At that time, “One Battle After Another” was seen as an especially risky bet for De Luca and Abdy, but the success of the rest of the year’s lineup has reduced the pressure on this film, said Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of site Box Office Theory.
“They’re in an envious position right now because they don’t need this movie to over-perform,” he said. “‘One Battle After Another’ is a little bit of a cherry on top.”
“Gabby’s Dollhouse” came in second place at the box office this weekend, grossing $13.5 million. “Demon Slayer,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and “The Strangers: Chapter 2” rounded out the top five.
Former Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire ‘knew when to stop’ doing Happy Valley despite its major success, according to the show’s creator Sally Wainwright
19:42, 28 Sep 2025Updated 19:42, 28 Sep 2025
Sarah Lancashire ‘knew when to stop’ doing Happy Valley despite its major success, according to the show’s creator (Image: BBC/Lookout Point/Matt Squire)
Sarah Lancashire ‘knew when to stop’ doing Happy Valley despite its major success. The actress, 60, starred as Catherine Cawood in Sally Wainwright’s hit drama over the course of three series that were filmed over a decade, and even helped write its final episode, which pulled in almost 10 million viewers.
Despite the show’s incredible popularity, creator Sally, 62, insisted that a short run had always been agreed upon. She told The Sunday Times: “Sarah’s good at knowing when to stop and when to say no. There were a couple of things in the script that she wanted to question, and it was a good process.”
However, fans of the programme need not be disappointed as seasoned television writer Sally explained that she and Sarah, who won a BAFTA for her portrayal of policewoman Catherine, are already working on a new project together, insisting that they are ‘still friends’ and the character is ‘still there’ in their minds.
As well as Happy Valley, Sally is also the creator of several other hit series such as Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack. She started out writing episodes of radio soap The Archers before going on to work on Coronation Street, which turned Sarah into a household name when she was cast as barmaid Raquel Wolstenhume, in the late 1990s.
Following the advice of late TV writer Kay Mellor, she went on to create At Home With The Braithwaites, which starred Amanda Redman as a woman who had won the lottery but tried to keep it all a secret from her dysfunctional family. Reflecting on those early days of her career writing episodes of the long-running ITV soap, Sally admitted that she worked with some ‘fabulously clever’ people at the time.
She said: “The Coronation Street storyline meetings were amazing. There were some fabulously clever story-makers. Dialogue comes easily, characters come easily, but story is relentlessly hard. I have to just really bash it out. With Happy Valley, I do pride myself on the last episode being just as good as the first episode.”
The scriptwriter previously admitted that she got ‘bored’ of writing for the soaps because of how all the stories had become so similar, and acknowledged that viewing habits have changed dramatically in recent years as streaming services have become the norm.
“I think one of the reasons I got bored of the soaps (is that) all the stories got a bit samey,” she admitted. Referencing the amount of choice TV viewers now have, Sally added: “There is so much content, it is increasingly easy for people to turn over.”
She explained: “You’ve got to be captivating your audience moment by moment… its seems increasingly important.” Discussing her time on Corrie, Sally revealed that she did not initially have the ‘confidence’ to contribute to storylines at Coronation Street.
Sally said she was ‘in awe’ of everyone who worked in the writer’s room when she joined, which had two women within its 15-writer team at the time. Wainwright recalled that it was a time when writers would go to the pub at lunch which she said would mean the afternoon could be a ‘bloodbath’
She added: “It wasn’t a nasty atmosphere, it was very lively and often fun.” Wainwright revealed that writing is how she can ‘make sense of the wppr;d’. In a discussion with broadcaster Adrian Chiles, she reflected on how she began writing as a child with her sister creating strip cartoons and plays.
“It’s just a childhood habit that has continued,” Sally explained. “I make sense of the world by writing about it. I also love the idea of writing dialogue, creating characters, I love the idea of making people say things, I love the actors and love the whole process of drama.”
Much had been written about the frosty welcome Europe’s players could expect from the local fans, but after what American player Collin Morikawa called a “tame” opening to the week, he hoped for “absolute chaos” on Friday.
There were glimpses of that as the final two matches of the day went down the 18th and the home support tried to will their players over the line.
But Europe claimed 1½ points from those two rubbers to end a scintillating day three points ahead.
“It’s been a great day for Europe,” was McIlroy’s verdict, despite him missing a 12-footer to win the final match out on the course.
US captain Keegan Bradley was keen to put a positive spin on his side securing a half point in that match. “That was big,” he said.
“We’ve only played 28% of the points. This is first quarter. We’ve still got three quarters to go. I’ve got a lot of faith in my boys.”
The American fans’ faith will be tested on Saturday though.
Thousands had excitedly scurried through the entrance gates before sunrise to claim a spot in the huge 5,000-capacity grandstand on the first tee. They were left trudging away from the 18th in dismay as the sun set over the Long Island course.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who won two majors in 2025, finished a chastening day winless, as did their talisman Bryson DeChambeau.
Europe’s Jon Rahm was the common denominator. The Spaniard, a wildcard pick, repaid the faith shown in him by captain Donald by leading from the front in both sessions and delivering two points.
After the morning atmosphere had been stifled by European blue dominating the scoreboard – with their three points all being won by big margins in the space of 11 minutes – the afternoon matches were livelier both inside and outside the ropes.
But frustration boiled over for a few home fans, who turned on Scheffler during his afternoon defeat alongside US Open champion JJ Spaun. “Come on Scottie show up,” said one, while another shouted: “You’re the world number one, show us what you can do.”
The European players were also targeted with McIlroy appearing to react and make a gesture towards the spectators as he walked off the 11th green.
Donald said he was unaware of the incident, but added: “I was proud of the guys, how they handled the situation, a tough environment.”
The Dodgers are not the norm in baseball. For the majority of teams in the major leagues, the last week of the regular season is the last week until spring training.
As the Angels played out their final week, the Angel Stadium store featured a “Thank You Fans” sale, with up to 50% off caps, T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, even authentic Mike Trout jerseys.
Inside the clubhouse, the reminders for players had the feel of the final week of school: return your team-issued iPad; order your gloves for next season; take your exit physical.
As the Dodgers play out their final week of the regular season, on the road, the Dodger Stadium store is stocking up on blue “October Baseball” T-shirts, the same ones the players wore last week, when they clinched a postseason spot.
On Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the National League West, again. On Tuesday, the Dodgers will make their 13th consecutive postseason appearance, one shy of the major league record. Only once in those 13 seasons did the Dodgers fail to win the NL West: in 2021, when they won 106 games and the San Francisco Giants won 107.
For the Angels and their decorated closer, and for 17 other teams, Tuesday will be the second day of the offseason. That is the norm in baseball, at least outside Chavez Ravine, the Bronx, and recently Milwaukee.
Kenley Jansen played October baseball for the Dodgers from 2013-21, and for the Atlanta Braves in 2022.
In 2023, the first time in 11 years Jansen did not appear in the postseason, his family alerted him that the Dodgers’ playoff opener was on television, with good friend Clayton Kershaw pitching.
Jansen had no interest in watching.
“I’m like, guys, I’m not on the Dodgers anymore,’ ” he said this week at Angel Stadium.
He wanted to be around his family. His friends and family members wanted to be around him, which they assumed meant around baseball.
“I get it,” he said. “I still feel like I’m going to get those calls: Did you watch that game?”
He appreciates how difficult it is to get to the playoffs. In his first two full seasons, the Dodgers vs. the rest of the league at Dodger Stadium was a sideshow to the main event: Frank McCourt vs. Major League Baseball in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
“We went from the bankrupt Dodgers to getting into the playoffs every year,” Jansen said. “I think it was the core group, the leadership that we had, plus the front office and the ownership wanting to win a championship every year. They make it competitive.
“They’ve got to keep that train going.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, celebrates with teammates in the locker room after the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to clinch the NL West division title.
(Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
In Anaheim, for the first time in 50 years, the Angels are bound for a second consecutive last-place finish. Their last postseason appearance: 11 years ago. Their last winning record: 10 years ago.
This playoff drought included the stretch in which Trout and Shohei Ohtani played together. The Dodgers are more — much more — than Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
“For me, on the other side now, I see how hard it is to get in the playoffs,” Jansen said. “It’s not easy. You’ve got to have depth — not only here in the big leagues, but depth in the system — to give yourself a chance to win the division.”
Jansen has a 2.64 ERA this season, and he has converted 28 of 29 save opportunities. He hasn’t given up a hit in more than a month.
But the Angels didn’t sell at the trade deadline, declaring they were in serious contention without buying any serious upgrades.
Dodgers fans should take it from Jansen: Don’t take this golden era for granted. Take a few days to appreciate it. On Wednesday, Jansen said, he’ll start his offseason workouts.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers will start the playoffs, trying to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years. The percentages are not in their favor: As of Thursday, Baseball Prospectus gives the Dodgers a 9.6% chance to win the World Series, a smaller chance than the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
The Angels have been so bad for so long that a division championship would be cause for great celebration. The Dodgers have been so good for so long that nothing but a World Series championship would suffice.
And so, on Tuesday, the days of gratitude can end, and Dodgers fans can resume reflexively criticizing their manager and grimacing about whether they can trust anyone in their bullpen.
ROME — Acclaimed Italian actor Claudia Cardinale, who starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and ’70s, has died, AFP reported Tuesday. She was 87.
She starred in more than 100 films and made-for-television productions, but she was best known for embodying youthful purity in Federico Fellini’s “8½,” in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in 1963.
Cardinale also won praise for her role as Angelica Sedara in Luchino Visconti’s award-winning screen adaption of the historical novel “The Leopard” that same year and a reformed prostitute in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western “Once Upon a Time in the West” in 1968.
She died in Nemours, France, surrounded by her children, her agent Laurent Savry told AFP. Savry and his agency did not immediately return emailed requests for comment from the Associated Press.
Cardinale began her movie career at the age of 17 after winning a beauty contest in Tunisia, where she was born of Sicilian parents who had emigrated to North Africa. The contest brought her to the Venice Film Festival, where she came to the attention of the Italian movie industry.
Before entering the beauty contest, she had expected to become a schoolteacher.
“The fact I’m making movies is just an accident,” Cardinale recalled while accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002. “When they asked me, ‘Do you want to be in the movies?’ I said no, and they insisted for six months.”
Her success came in the wake of Sophia Loren’s international stardom, and she was touted as Italy’s answer to Brigitte Bardot. Although never achieving the level of success of the French actor, she nonetheless was considered a star and worked with the leading directors in Europe and Hollywood.
“They gave me everything,” Cardinale said. “It’s marvelous to live so many lives. I’ve been living more than 150 lives, totally different women.”
One of her earliest roles was as a black-clad Sicilian girl in the 1958 comedy classic “Big Deal on Madonna Street.” It was produced by Franco Cristaldi, who managed Cardinale’s early career and to whom she was married from 1966 to 1975.
The sensuous brunette with enormous eyes was often cast as a hot-blooded woman. As she had a deep voice and spoke Italian with a heavy French accent, her voice was dubbed in her early movies.
Her career in Hollywood brought only partial success because she was not interested in giving up European film. Nonetheless, she achieved some fame by teaming with Rock Hudson in the 1965 comedy thriller “Blindfold” and another comedy, “Don’t Make Waves,” with Tony Curtis two years later.
Cardinale herself considered the 1966 “The Professionals,” directed by Richard Brooks, as the best of her Hollywood films, where she starred alongside Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin.
In a 2002 interview with the Guardian, she explained that the Hollywood studio “wanted me to sign a contract of exclusivity, and I refused. Because I’m a European actress and I was going there for movies.”
“And I had a big opportunity with Richard Brooks, ‘The Professionals,’ which is really a magnificent movie,” she said. “For me, ‘The Professionals’ is the best I did in Hollywood.”
Among her industry prizes was a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement that she received at the Venice Film Festival nearly 40 years after her initial appearance onscreen.
In 2000, Cardinale was named a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the defense of women’s rights.
She had two children. One with Cristaldi and a second with her later companion, Italian director Pasquale Squitieri.
Simpson, the principal writer of this obituary, is a former Associated Press writer.
Karen Carney is one of the famous faces trying her luck on the dance floor on this year’s edition of Strictly but she is best known for being one of England’s Lionesses
17:00, 20 Sep 2025Updated 17:15, 20 Sep 2025
She will be joining the likes of Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Geordie Shore legend Vicky Pattison and Neighbours star Stefan Dennis, amongst a host of others (Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Karen Carney is one of the famous faces trying her luck on the dance floor on this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing. She will be joining the likes of Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Geordie Shore legend Vicky Pattison and Neighbours star Stefan Dennis, amongst a host of others
But life wasn’t always so easy for the Lioness, 38, who became the second most capped England player with 144 appearances before the record was beaten by I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star Jill Scott. Since her days on the pitch, she has carved out a successful presenting career and has been seen on TNT Sports, and Sky Sports, covering major sporting events.
However, the sports star was born in Birmingham and once shunned the idea of riches that a career in sports can bring. She said: “I’m from Birmingham: my mum works at Sainsbury’s, my dad is a fire-fighter. We keep it real. We know who we are. I don’t need a Bentley; I don’t need a Rolex!”
The footballer came from humble beginnings and once shunned the idea of riches that a career in sports can bring(Image: Getty Images)
What’s more, Karen did have to put up with some bullying when she was at school in a time when girls weren’t encouraged to play football. She previously told Startups Magazine: ” I think when I first started playing, I was the only girl and got bullied for it. It wasn’t really the norm to play, as historically it’s for boys and men. }”
So, at 11 when I told my mum “I’m going to play for England,” we didn’t know that there was an England women’s team at the time or if there was a team where I could try and play. All I knew is I just fell in love with it.”
Karen enjoyed a record-breaking career on the pitch, but confirmed earlier this year that she had in fact retired for good. The sports star, who was nicknamed ‘the wizard’ during play, held an Ask Me Anything session on social media and confirmed: “It has meant retiring the boots completely. I have come out and played Soccer Aid the last couple of times, but unfortunately, I don’t really play anymore.”
Despite this, Karen is still a keen advocate for health and fitness, and nearly seven years ago, she adopted a vegan diet. She previously explained: “When I turned vegan in 2018 and noticed the positive change immediately both in my health and performance on the football pitch when playing for both club and country.
The star recently retired from football and is swapping her trainers for dancing shoes (Image: Getty Images)
“The perception of the plant-based diet is that you will miss out on certain foods, but thankfully, Violife means I never miss out on my cheesy favourites like pizza and cheese on toast!”
Prior to breaking into football, Karen attended Loughborough University in Sports and Exercise Science, where she studied Physiology and Sports Psychology. With regards to her personal life, she is notoriously private and has never disclosed whether she has a special someone on the scene.
It’s not yet known who Karen’s Strictly partner will be, but the Lioness star has been given odds of 12/1 when it comes to winning the whole competition and walking off with the Glitterball Trophy.
On joining the show, Karen said: ““It really is a dream come true to be a part of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line up. I’m such a huge fan of the show and I can’t believe I’m finally getting the chance to take part. I’m so excited to meet everyone and get dancing!”
Sept. 19 (UPI) — Russia launched nearly 90 drones at Ukraine overnight, most of which were “neutralized,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said Friday morning, after having claimed an “important success” in its counteroffensive in southeastern Donetsk.
The Kremlin targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and other targets in the regions of Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, wounding at least two people in Dnipro, while recovery efforts were underway in Kyiv where public transport infrastructure was damaged.
“Once again, the Russians strike civilians at a time when the entire world — and above all the United States — is calling for peace,” he said on X. “We hear President [Donald] Trump’s position on ending the killings, and we have agreed to all the proposals to unblock diplomacy. But it seems his position is not being heard in Russia.”
The attack comes as Trump, who campaigned on ending the Ukraine war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, has been pushing for a cease-fire.
During a press conference in Britain on Thursday, Trump acknowledged to reporters that he thought ending the Ukraine war would be the “easiest” of the ongoing conflicts due to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“He’s let me down. He’s really let me down,” he said, while vowing that he will end the war.
Zelensky has been saying that Putin is not interested in a cease-fire, despite what the Russian leader says, citing the nightly drone attacks on his country.
He said in lieu of Russian seriousness about an end to the war, Ukraine must implement “everything that strengthens us,” including the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, a mechanism launched this year to support Kyiv’s military needs.
“Decisive action is needed so that Russia ultimately agrees to diplomacy as well,” he said.
On Wednesday night, Zelensky claimed “an important success” in the Donetsk theater, where Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive.
He announced that since the start of the offensive, the date for which isn’t clear, Ukraine has captured 160 square kilometers while clearing 170 square kilometers of Russian troops.
“Any group of occupiers attempting to enter this area is being destroyed by our guys,” he said in his nightly address.
Stephen Graham has revealed that a follow-up to Adolescence is in the works following the Emmy Award-winning success of the Netflix hit but cannot say much right now
Stephen Graham has revealed that a follow-up to Adolescence is in the works.(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
Stephen picked up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the ceremony, whilst Owen Cooper, 15, who played teenager Jamie, received the gong for Outstanding Supporting Actor.
Filming for each episode of the drama series was carried out in one continuous take, and Stephen, who is also known for his roles in This Is England and Peaky Blinders, has revealed that another project that would follow the same sort of production method is potentially on the way, but has to be ‘tight-lipped’ about it at the moment.
Stephen said: “Right now we are having talks and discussions about finding another story. I think we have to be tight-lipped at the moment.” He went on to tell the Daily Mail: “And we’re all talking at the moment. The same concept with the idea of doing something in one take.”
The programme examines so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, which has led to misogyny online and bullying using social media.
Adolescence has prompted a national conversation around online safety, with Graham and co-creator Jack Thorne accepting an invitation to a parliamentary meeting on the subject by Labour MP Josh MacAlister.
Speaking to Parliament’s Women And Equalities Committee (WEC) during an evidence session, Thorne spoke about being subjected to “personal criticism or even abuse” since it began streaming.
The Netflix series received critical acclaim when it was released earlier this year (Image: AP)
He said: “You know that I’m a bald, skinny, weird-looking man, and some people have made something of the fact that I’m a bald, skinny, weird-looking man, and saying these things and that somehow my masculinity is the reason why I’ve questioned other people’s masculinity.
“Well, if you look at how Stephen Graham looks, he looks more male than anyone else on the planet, I think, and so we’re a combination of things and we work together on it all.
“So, yes, my looks have been put under the microscope a little bit by it all, but I’m absolutely comfortable with those questions being answered, and that’s the thing, when I talk about boys feeling that they need to look a certain way.”
Stephen picked up Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the ceremony, whilst Owen Cooper, 15, who played teenager Jamie, received the gong for Outstanding Supporting Actor(Image: Variety via Getty Images)
He said the comments about his appearance were a symptom of the issues the show is highlighting. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also praised the show, urging Parliament and schools to watch it, and saying he had watched the show with his own children.
During an edition of Prime Minister’s Questions in March, Sir Keir said: “This violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online, is a real problem, it’s abhorrent, and we have to tackle it.”
The show also received plaudits for the way it was filmed in a one-shot format, which sees each of the four episodes filmed in a single shot. Speaking about the show ahead of its release, Cooper, who beat Scott Jacoby’s long-held record for the youngest male Emmy winner, said he got the role after sending in a tape.
Talking about the impact the show had on him in February, Cooper said: “One week before filming, it was my last day in school before I was off for six weeks and at the final assembly my head of year told the whole school something like, ‘Owen is going on a journey and making this show for Netflix…’, and I was like, ‘oh my God’.
“So it went from two or three people knowing to suddenly the whole year knowing about it, and everyone coming up to me and asking about it. It was a bit weird but everyone is fine with it.”
At the Emmys, co-star Erin Doherty, who plays psychologist Briony Ariston, won best supporting actress in a limited series, dedicating the award to her older sister while Graham picked up the award for lead actor in a limited series.
Doherty, 33, also worked with Graham in Disney+’s A Thousand Blows, where she played Mary Carr, the leader of a crime syndicate called the Forty Elephants and she has also played the Princess Royal in The Crown.
Adolescence recently scooped two gongs at this year’s National Television Awards (NTAs), including the new drama award and best drama performance for Cooper.
Callum Walsh knows what it means to earn a living with his hands. Before throwing hooks and jabs in the ring, he spent his days lifting cargo on fishing boats in the port of Cobh, under the cold Atlantic wind in his native Ireland.
He was only 16, but he already understood hard work. Today, at 24, he continues to work just as hard, although his stage has changed — now he does it under the bright lights of a boxing ring.
On Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) will have the night he always dreamed of.
He will fight on the co-main event of a card headlined by Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford, a huge platform for his young career, and it will be broadcast on Netflix, where he will risk his undefeated record in a 10-round super welterweight bout against another hungry youngster, Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs), heir to the surname of a former world champion.
Ireland’s Callum Walsh punches Scotland’s Dean Sutherland during a super welterweight boxing match on March 16 in New York.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Far from trying to forget his days on the docks, Walsh is grateful for them.
“Training is tough, yes, but I enjoy it. It’s much better than getting up at dawn to go to the port,” Walsh said with a smile.
The work ethic he displayed as a loader on fishing boats also helped establish Walsh as one of the most promising prospects in world boxing.
The Irish southpaw has fought three times at Madison Square Garden and filled Dublin’s 3Arena last year. His aggressive and fast style sets him apart, with a volume of punches that rarely diminishes and a courage that leads him to exchange blows without backing down.
“I’ll be opening up to a much wider fan base. There will be a lot of people watching the fight,” said Walsh, who wants people to be satisfied with the contest, unlike the last Netflix show in which Jake Paul disappointed millions of viewers by having a very limited opponent, 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
“I want to show them what real boxing is all about. There will be a lot of people watching for the first time, and I want them to become fans,” said Walsh, an admirer of his compatriot, Conor McGregor, a UFC star.
Walsh is training at Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under the watchful eye of Freddie Roach. There, the Irishman is combining his solid amateur foundation of more than 150 fights with the legendary trainer’s offensive style.
“I couldn’t have chosen a better teacher,” Walsh said.
On the other side of the ring, Walsh will face Vargas, a southpaw with a powerful punch who made his debut in 2020 but already boasts 17 victories — 15 of them by knockout. However, the odds in Las Vegas favor the Irishman.
“I don’t care about Las Vegas. Las Vegas loses all the time,” Vargas Jr. said on “The PorterWay Podcast” when asked about not being favored.
Undefeated junior middleweight boxers Callum Walsh, left, and Fernando Vargas Jr., right, face off while UFC’s Dana White looks on during a news conference at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
(Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
The fight will not only be a duel between undefeated fighters. It will also be a huge showcase. The powerful boxing promoter and organizer of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight, Turki Al-Sheikh, will be watching Walsh closely, as will UFC president Dana White, who has shared a growing interest in boxing.
“The lights can’t shine any brighter than that night,” warned Tom Loeffler, Walsh’s promoter.
But Walsh says he doesn’t feel any pressure. Not from the stage, nor from protecting his perfect record.
“Everyone can lose at some point. The important thing is to face real fights and give the public what they want,” Walsh said. At 24, he knows he still has a long way to go.
The story of the young man who left the boats for the ring will have a new chapter this Saturday in Las Vegas. It will be up to his fists to impress the world and confirm that he is no longer a prospect, but a reality.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It was another week of scandal in high school football. And also games with top performances. It’s an interesting balancing act for sportswriters.
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Scandal widens
There’s continuing fallout from an Archdiocese of Los Angeles investigation that self-reported violations by Bishop Montgomery’s football program to the Southern Section, resulting in the school ending its varsity season after playing one game and forfeiting another. Now the rest of the season will be forfeits as the school investigates its 24 transfer students.
President Patrick Lee has been placed on administrative leave, according to a parent who says faculty were told of the decision. The Archdiocese has declined to confirm, saying it doesn’t comment on personnel matters. Most interesting is that Lee was brought in last school year as Bishop Montgomery’s first president. Also faculty members have been directed not to speak to the media. The school’s principal resigned from her role as president of the Camino-Del Rey Athletic Assn.
The school is trying to play a junior varsity schedule while allowing eligible varsity players to participate, but that’s unlikely to gain traction. Hart canceled this week’s JV game with Bishop Montgomery, not wanting to subject its regular JV players that include freshmen to a game against possible varsity players out of concern for player safety.
The Southern Section has to decide whether eligible Bishop Montgomery varsity players can transfer and be eligible immediately since the school dropped its varsity program.
The Southern Section has continued its crackdown of transfer students who submitted inaccurate paperwork. Long Beach Millikan had to forfeit two games for using ineligible players and most of its transfer students are now listed under review on the Southern Section transfer web page. One of those players who didn’t play Friday after previously being cleared was quarterback Ashton Pannell, who transferred from Loyola after previously attending St. John Bosco. Other schools are also dealing with issues involving transfer students.
The Archdiocese held a scheduled meeting with principals and athletic directors. The Catholic schools chief indicated changes are coming on how to handle transfer students within Archdiocese high schools.
Remember, under CIF rules, you have to move physically with the entire family unit to be eligible immediately. Otherwise you get a one-time sit-out period transfer status that lasts for a portion of the season. Schools confirm the transfers through paperwork requirements. The Southern Section appears to be using AI technology to catch students using addresses that had previously been used. That can result in a violation of bylaw 202, which prohibits providing false information. It also is a violation to receive inducements to transfer, such as housing, known as bylaw 510, undue influence.
One good thing is the early season attention on ineligible players can prevent numerous forfeits at the end of the football season that could prevent a school from entering the playoffs because of an anonymous tip.
Marine League coaches who forfeited to Narbonne last season alleging money payments feel vindicated after a booster confirmed during a podcast that he paid parents to transfer their sons to Narbonne. Here’s a report.
Madden Williams of St. John Bosco prepares to make a game-tying 51-yard touchdown catch against St. Frances.
(Craig Weston)
It was the Madden Williams show in Bellflower. He made two spectacular catches in the fourth quarter to rally St. John Bosco to a 21-14 victory over Baltimore St. Frances. Here’s the report.
Los Alamitos improved to 4-0 with a 41-21 win over Gardena Serra. There’s no doubt no coach has done a finer job in the first month of the season than Ray Fenton.
Mission Viejo exposed the weakness in Northern California football, routing one its top teams, Folsom, 53-14. Folsom and De La Salle are considered the top Northern California teams in contention for a CIF state championship Open Division bowl spot. San Mateo Serra comes to town to play St. John Bosco on Friday.
Jason Miller, the Leuzinger coach who used to coach in Northern California, was asked to explain the downward trajectory.
“Lots of traditional football families have moved out of the Bay Area, replaced by tech families,” he said. “Black and white families with generations of football players have found the Bay Area unaffordable. Interest has lacked in college football as well. East Palo Alto and West Oakland were once treasure chests of athletes that have been watered down by gentrification.”
Bishop Amat came up with an upset win over Valencia behind a game-winning 79-yard touchdown run from Ryan Salcedo. Here’s the report.
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds.
(James Carbone)
Quarterback Brady Edmunds of Huntington Beach had a big game in win over Western. Here’s the report.
Hamilton coach Elijah Asante poses next to campus mural of Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The City Section’s top teams continue to struggle in nonleague games against Southern Section opponents, but the strategy is designed to prepare them for league play. Birmingham lost to Moorpark, Carson lost to Palos Verdes and San Pedro lost to Great Oak.
Meanwhile, Palisades and Granada Hills engaged in a passing vs. running scoring marathon before Palisades prevailed 59-44 behind 387 yards passing and six touchdowns from quarterback Jack Thomas.
Robert Garrett, the longtime coach at Crenshaw, continues to be on administrative leave. The Cougars suffered their first team in falling to Hamilton 23-6. Jacob Riley of Hamilton had three interceptions. Here’s the report.
Garfield got its first win for new coach Patrick Vargas over La Palma Kennedy. All-City running back Ceasar Reyes rushed for 172 yards and had 12 solo tackles on defense.
Verbum Dei President Father Travis Russell finally got around to putting up a photo of the new Pope.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Verbum Dei is preparing to play its first football game later this month after dropping its varsity season last year for lack of players. It’s a re-start with a new coach and the backing of an energized school president who carries around a tool box acting like a handy man for any and all problems.
The Stillwell volleyball family. Sophomore Lucy (left), father Tom, a former UCLA All-American, and senior Maya. The daughters play at Harvad-Westlake.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Tom Stillwell won three NCAA titles playing volleyball for UCLA. Now he has two daughters playing for Harvard-Westlake. He’s enjoying life as a Girl Dad. Here’s the report.
Four-year starter Abby Zimmerman has led Redondo Union girls volleyball.
(Steve Galluzzo)
What a week it was for Redondo Union volleyball with wins over previously unbeaten Marrymount and powerful Mater Dei. Here’s the report from the Marymount victory.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a home match against Sierra Canyon on Tuesday.
Venice handed Palisades its first defeat in winning its own tournament championship. Gaia Adeseun-Williams and Samantha Lortie was named co-tournament MVPs from Venice.
JSerra is 11-0 and continuing to look like one of the best flag football teams in the Southern Section. The Lions began the El Toro tournament with shutout wins over Classical Academy of San Diego and Edison.
Freshmen receivers Tessa Russell and Ava Irwin continue to be impact players.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team produced two convincing victories to start the El Toro Girls Flag Football Tournament on Saturday at El Toro High School in Lake Forest.
The Lions opened with a 35-0 triumph over Classical Academy of San Diego.
Infielder Trevor Deack of Orange Lutheran has committed to Utah Tech. . . .
Pitcher Damian Catano of Arcadia has committed to St. Mary’s. . . .
A refurbished outside basketball court at Crenshaw High was dedicated Saturday and painted in the school’s colors. . . .
Sophomore point guard Josh Lowery has transferred to Sierra Canyon. . . .
Swimmer Tori Yamamura of Valencia has committed to Missouri. . . .
Bishop Alemany baseball has picked up Mikey Martinez from Crespi. He was a starting infielder and top relief pitcher as a sophomore for the Mission League champions. Also senior pitcher Jaden Lee, the younger brother of UCLA pitcher Justin Lee, has left Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for Alemany. . . .
Casey Patterson is the new boys volleyball coach at Newbury Park . . . .
The stadium fields at Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake will be receiving refurbishment beginning Dec. 1, forcing soccer teams to seek alternative sites. . . .
Long Beach Millikan has forfeited wins over Las Vegas Foothill and Newbury Park for using ineligible players.
From the archives: Ty Dieffenbach
Former Agoura quarterback Ty Dieffenbach
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Agoura quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, who originally signed with and spent two years at Pittsburgh, made his debut for Cal Poly last week and passed for 263 yards and ran for 69 yards in a win over San Diego. He accounted for three touchdowns and was named the Big Sky player of the week. On Saturday, things didn’t go as well in a 63-9 loss to Utah. He passed for 82 yards.
TY Dieffenbach already making headlines!
263 passing yards, 69 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in his Mustang debut has earned him Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors! 👏 💥#RideHighpic.twitter.com/OZemxKMUwx
From Burlisononbasketball, a story on top girls basketball players making an impression at a local camp.
From Communityforwardredlands, a story on the return of Hall of Fame football coach Dick Bruich.
From SFGate.com, a story on the rapid growth of girls flag football.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the soccer Thompson sisters gaining money and attention.
From the Los Angeles Times, an excerpt from a book on Newbury Park’s cross-country success.
Tweets you might have missed
Remember four Marine League coaches last season forfeited to Narbonne trying to get an investigation under way. “We got treated so horribly trying to stand up for something that was right,” former Banning coach Raymond Grajeda said. He was proven right.
The coaching opening that should draw lots of applicants is Harvard-Westlake flag football coach. Coming in winter or spring. Imagine the players who could join. There’s a Thompson soccer sister arriving next year as a freshman.
Everyone is lawyering up in this latest high school football scandal. Whether it leads to reform or the usual “it’s just one program” remains to be seen. At a minimum, the CIF needs to do a better job educating the general public about its rules and penalties.
Two famous Sherman Oaks Notre Dame alumni showed up to Notre Dame-St. Francis football game last night. Former NFL defensive lineman Travis Johnson, who works for the Texans, and TCU basketball coach Jamie Dixon. Travis is known to talk a little bit more than Jamie.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Lord Allen has today taken over as BHA Chairman, and, according to racing’s leaders, he will take the sport to a new era of prosperity.
1
Lord Allen is the man in charge of racing in Britain – and two issues above all others demand addressing now he is officially in the role
The celebrations have already started.
Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst said: “The appointment of Lord Charles Allen as chair of the BHA is great news for the sport.
“Charles will bring the kind of authority and leadership that racing has been crying out for.”
Will he? Do you believe that? Evidence for this is what?
Firstly, don’t get me wrong here. I want Charles Allen to be the special one. And if he can do it working the odd day here and there then fair play.
But how could Hurst possibly know if what she says is factual or not? Basically it’s just words.
It’s just what people say when someone takes over a job of supposed authority.
Indeed, we haven’t only heard it before, we have heard it time and time and time and time again.
What was said about former BHA chief executive Julie Harrington on her arrival at BHA?
Well, chair Annamarie Phelps enthused: “This is a vital leadership role for the organisation and British racing.
“Julie’s hands-on knowledge of horseracing, coupled with her governance and business experience, make her the ideal person to carry on with the task of restoring sustainable prosperity after the Covid crisis.
“We’ve got the right person, for the right job, at the right time.”
Really? Laughable.
How about Nick Rust, another BHA chief executive?
BHA Chairman Steve Harman said: “I am delighted that Nick Rust is able to join us early in the New Year. I know he will do a great job.”
And then there was chief executive Paul Bittar.
Paul Roy, another Chairman of the British Horseracing Authority, said: “Paul Bittar is a racing enthusiast through and through.
“He combines keen management and financial skills with love for the sport and a well-informed understanding of the challenges that British Racing must overcome at this time.
“After a prolonged and painstaking search, the selection team was unanimous in putting him forward for the job.”
I’m not slagging these people. It’s up to you to decide whether racing has thrived under their tenure.
The point I’m making is the quotes are all the same. More Messiahs than George Frideric Handel!
And I like Handel.
Anyone who has worked in racing for a reasonable period, knows exactly how difficult it is to change its format and its funding mechanism.
They would also know it’s a nigh on impossible task to unite the different factions.
Let’s face it, most are in it for themselves. Few truly care if horse racing is thriving 50 years after their death.
So the Messiah is here. Just like the Messiahs before him. Let’s hope Lord Allen sparks a vibrant racing future.
He has the chance to do so instantly and can start with two things.
Sorting the expected Racing Tax and getting to grips with the nonsensical affordability checks.
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware.org.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chases their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
Dragons’ Den star Alessandro Savelli left the popular show empty-handed but ended up being worth £40million with his pasta company
22:53, 24 Aug 2025Updated 22:53, 24 Aug 2025
Dragons’ Den star called ‘delusional disaster’ now worth £40million(Image: BBC)
Dragons’ Den star Alessandro Savelli left the show empty-handed but ended up being worth £40million. The star co-founded and is the CEO of the popular Pasta Evangelists – a fresh pasta brand which originally started as letter box posted food kits.
Following his appearance on the show, Alessandro’s company is set to open 100 new restaurants across the UK in the next few years, including in the Midlands, Scotland and in the south of England. In a recent chat with The Grocer, the CEO discussed the brand’s plans to expand.
He said they’re pumping £30million into new restaurants. “The demand for our fresh, beautifully cooked artisan pasta is growing,” he explained.
The star co-founded and is the CEO of the popular Pasta Evangelists (Image: BBC)
“Our intention is to become the UK’s fastest-growing, casual dining hot spot and the hottest place to eat for pasta lovers of all ages.”
He continued: “The hospitality industry is going through tough times at the moment, but we are confident that our business model is robust and dynamic.
“And the proof of this is we have already bucked the trend with the confirmed opening of five more restaurants in the space of three months, and more to come.”
Alessandro and his business partner Finn Lagun took part in the show in 2018 asking for a £75,000 investment for a 2.5 per cent cut of the company. Their pitch was rejected, with Jenny Campbell saying Finn was ‘delusional’ and ‘a disaster’.
Anshu Ahuja also failed to get the Dragons to invest(Image: BBC)
There were many people who were rejected on Dragons’ Den, including Anshu Ahuja – who entered the Den in an episode that aired, hoping to seek £100,000 for 3 percent of her business, DabbaDrop.
The founder and her business partner had built up their sustainable takeaway business, inspired by the dabbawala system of Mumbai, in 2018, and had valued the business at more than £3,000,000 just a few years later.
The entrepreneur was looking for investment from the likes of Peter Jones, Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman, Deborah Meaden, and Steven Bartlett to help upscale DabbaDrop and encourage its growth outside of London.
However, despite her inspirational ethics behind the sustainable product, and the fact that DabbaDrop had turned over more than £800,000 in its latest year, Anshu failed to convince the Dragons to invest.
Speaking about the show, she said: “We had done quite a lot of work going into Dragons’ Den and our own fundraising round, so the £4million valuation was independently valued, based on our £850,000 revenue and a lifetime value of the 1,500 subscribers at that point of nearly £400 per subscriber. At that point, we also had a 1,000-person waiting list, which is currently, even before airing, standing at 4,000 people.”
Anshu knew it was a “risk” to go on national TV and pitch her business, but was willing to take the leap as the team was fundraising for DabbaDrop at the time of being approached for the show.
They’d already received interest from more than 2,000 investors, had reached millions of views on an Instagram reel, and pledged more than £1,000,000.
