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Toronto’s veteran starter Max Scherzer came out of the game with the lead still 3-1 in the fifth inning, and the Dodgers rallied in the sixth when Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly scored Mookie Betts to reduce the deficit to one run.

Back came the Blue Jays, when Ernie Clement’s stolen base put him in position for Gimenez to drive him in with a right-field double.

As is common in a World Series game seven, both sides made frequent pitching changes, even turning to starting pitchers from earlier in the series.

Trey Yesavage, who had started games one and five for Toronto, gave up Muncy’s solo shot in the eighth, before Rojas’ last-gasp effort off Jeff Hoffman levelled the scores.

Toronto loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but failed to conjure a run, and the Dodgers did the same in the 10th as expectation mounted, but both sides fluffed their lines.

It was only the sixth time in history that a World Series game seven had gone to extra innings, and Smith’s homer put the Dodgers within sight of the title.

The Blue Jays were tantalisingly close to taking it to a 12th inning or even winning it with a walk-off, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ winning pitcher from games two and six, picked up another win in relief and was named as the series’ Most Valuable Player.

The rare move comes after mounting pressure to act over Andrew’s relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

King Charles III has stripped his brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicted him from his royal residence after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace said on Thursday the king “initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew”.

After the king’s rare move, Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and not as a prince, and he will move from his Royal Lodge residence into “private accommodation”.

It is almost unprecedented for a British prince or princess to be stripped of that title. It last happened in 1919, when Prince Ernest Augustus, who was a UK royal and also a prince of Hanover, had his British title removed for siding with Germany during World War I.

Demand had been growing on the palace to remove the prince from Royal Lodge after he surrendered his use of the title duke of York earlier this month over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose posthumous memoir hit bookstores last week.

But the king went even further to punish him for serious lapses of judgement by removing the title of prince that he had held since birth as a child of a monarch, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,” the palace said. “Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

Giuffre’s brother declared victory for his sister, who died in April at the age of 41.

“Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family, brought down a British prince with her truth and extraordinary courage,” her brother Skye Roberts said in a statement.

Andrew faced a new round of public opprobrium after emails emerged earlier this month showing he had remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted.

That news was followed by the publication of, Nobody’s Girl, by Giuffre, who alleged she had sex with Andrew when she was 17. The book detailed three alleged sexual encounters with Andrew, who she said acted as if he believed “having sex with me was his birthright”.

Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre’s claims, but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous November 2019 BBC interview in which he attempted to rebut her allegations.

Andrew paid millions in an out-of-court settlement in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil suit against him in New York. While he did not admit wrongdoing, he acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.

The move by the king means Andrew will no longer be a prince or be known as “his royal highness”, “duke of York”, “earl of Inverness” or “baron Killyleagh” – all titles he held until now. Also gone are honours that include Order of the Garter and status as knight grand cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

Andrew is expected to move to a property on the king’s Sandringham estate near the northeast coast and receive private financial support from his brother.

LONDON — He won’t call himself a duke anymore, but that is not enough for many of Prince Andrew’s critics.

Buckingham Palace and the British government were under pressure Monday to formally strip Prince Andrew of his princely title and sumptuous home after new revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After discussions with his elder brother King Charles III, Andrew agreed on Friday to stop using titles including Duke of York. It was the latest effort to insulate the monarchy from years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s suspicious business deals, inappropriate behavior and controversial friendships.

But he still technically holds the title of duke, bestowed by his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. And as the son of a monarch, he remains a prince.

Andrew’s statement relinquishing some of his royal titles came after emails emerged showing he had remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted, and days before publication of a posthumous memoir by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged she had sex with Andrew when she was 17.

Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, urged the king to go further and “remove the title of prince, too.

“He shouldn’t be able to call himself one,” Roberts told The Times of London newspaper.

Civil suit

Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre’s claims, but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous November 2019 BBC interview in which he attempted to rebut her allegations.

Many viewers saw an entitled prince who failed to show empathy for Epstein’s victims and offered unbelievable explanations for his friendship with the late sex offender.

Andrew paid millions in an out-of-court settlement in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil suit against him in New York.

While he didn’t admit wrongdoing, he acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking.

‘Angry and aghast’

Some opposition politicians said Andrew should formally be stripped of his dukedom through an act of Parliament.

Scottish National Party lawmaker Stephen Flynn said the government should use legislation to remove titles from both Andrew and Peter Mandelson, a member of the House of Lords who was fired as British ambassador to Washington in September over his past friendship with Epstein.

“The family of Virginia Giuffre, whose life was destroyed, are angry and aghast,” Flynn said. “The public across these isles are angry and aghast and they both deserve to know that some (members of Parliament) share their outrage.”

The government said it supported the palace’s decision over Andrew’s titles but should not act unilaterally. Under the U.K.’s constitutional monarchy, the crown does not interfere in politics and politicians stay clear of issues related to the royal family.

“Our thoughts have to be with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, those who suffered and continue to suffer because of the abuse that they experienced at his hands, but these are matters for the royal family,” Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC.

Some also want Andrew evicted from Royal Lodge, the 30-room mansion near Windsor Castle where he lives alongside his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who will no longer be known as the Duchess of York.

Questions have been raised about how Andrew pays for the house, which he rents on a long lease from the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties that is nominally owned, but not controlled, by the monarch.

Royals brace for more revelations

The palace is bracing for more embarrassing revelations, just as the king prepares for a state visit to the Vatican this week where he is due to pray beside Pope Leo XIV.

Giuffre’s book, “Nobody’s Girl,” is published on Tuesday and details three alleged sexual encounters with Andrew. She died by suicide in April at the age of 41.

In an extract published in advance, Giuffre says the prince acted as if he believed “having sex with me was his birthright.”

Giuffre also claims in the book that Andrew’s team tried “to hire internet trolls to hassle me.” She said that Andrew insisted the lawsuit settlement include a one-year gag order to prevent allegations from tarnishing the late queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

Meanwhile, London’s Metropolitan Police force says it is “actively looking into” media reports that Andrew in 2011 sought information to smear Giuffre by asking one of his police bodyguards to find out whether she had a criminal record.

Lawless writes for the Associated Press.

Oct. 17 (UPI) — Prince Andrew, facing scrutiny of his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Friday said he will relinquish his royal titles, including Duke of York, and end his membership of the Order of Garter.

Andrew, who made the announcement after meeting with his brother, King Charles III, will only retain the title of prince, which is required because he was born the son of a queen, Elizabeth II.

Andrew, 65, remains eighth in line to the throne. His other siblings are Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

The last time a duke title was taken away was more than 100 years ago, historian Anthony Seldon told BBC News TV. In 1919, Prince Charles Edward, who was one of Queen Victoria‘s grandsons, lost the title of Duke of Albany for fighting on the German side during World War I.

“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” Prince Andrew said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”

In 2019, he was stripped of his military titles and positions on several charities.

Andrew has denied accusations against him by Virginia Giuffre in a 2015 lawsuit, and has never been arrested in connection with the abuse allegations. They reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement in 2022.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me,” Andrew said on Friday. “As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Other members of the royal family were consulted during the discussions, including William, the Prince of Wales, and son of Charles, CNN reported.

“Things are simply not going away,” Robert Hardman, who has written a biography of KingCharles, told the BBC.

“Nothing really has changed constitutionally. What has changed is that he’s not going to use these titles.”

Andrew’s former wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, will be known as “Sarah Ferguson.”

Their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will not be affected by the decision.

Andrew will no longer attend any royal family’s Christmas events, a source told CNN, but will continue to reside at the Royal Lodge in Windsor in a private tenancy agreement.

Giuffre, who died on April 25 by suicide at 41, alleged Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with friends in 2001, including Andrew. She said Andrew was aware she was underage at 17.

Giuffre also said Andrew sexually abused her on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, his mansion in Manhattan and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.

The Guardian this week published extracts from the memoir of Giuffre. She claimed the prince “believed that having sex with me was his birthright.”

Andrew also faced scrutiny of his links to an alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo.

A tribunal hearing in December upheld an earlier decision to bar Yang from the British. It was revealed Yang was authorized to act on Andrew’s behalf during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in Britain.

GIRLS are aloud and making us proud!

OK, no more nostalgia about 1990s ‘Girl Power,’ but the times they are a-changing and then some.

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The Red Roses blossomed last weekend as the England women’s rugby team won the World Cup in front of a record 82,000 Twickenham full-house.

That came hot on the heels of our Lionesses’ back-to-back European Championships successes and proves that women’s sport is here to stay.

Rewind two or three decades and women, when mentioned in the same breath as football, was something approaching a dirty word. Just look at the history books.

In 1921 there were over 150 women’s football clubs playing games in front of 40,000-plus gates.

So what did the FA do? They banned it, saying it was “unsuitable for females.”

It only took nearly five decades for the FA to change their minds and growth in the women’s game in the 70s and 80s was slow.

In fact, the national team had to wait until 1998 to have its first full time coach, Hope Powell.

The 2012 London Olympics handed the women’s game a massive boost. TeamGB were watched by over 70,000 at Wembley against Brazil and footie for females was finally freed.

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Last year, an FA study revealed a 56 percent rise in the number of women and girls playing football in the previous four years.

The number of registered female football clubs has more than doubled in the last seven years and just look at crowds in the WSL.

Seven seasons ago the highest gate at any game was 2,648 for Chelsea against Manchester City. Last season it was nearly 57,000 for the North London derby.

A new sponsorship deal with Barclays is worth £15million a year and WSL clubs’ revenues soared 34 percent in 2023-24 alone. So from the grassroots all the way up, women’s football is on the up.

Thankfully, that kind of progress is being repeated in other sports and not just rugby, where there has been significant growth in recent years to the tune of a 60 percent rise in registered players since 2017.

What about cricket? Our girls took a pasting against the Aussies, but the World Cup is upon us with England aiming for a fifth title.

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In other sports, women do us proud. From netball’s Jade Clarke to tennis star Emma Raducanu, to athlete Keely Hodgkinson and world champion boxer Lauren Price… the list is long and shows just how women are flourishing.

Having said that, I was stunned to read that middle-distance runner Georgia Hunter Bell still worked full-time in tech sales just a few months before winning a bronze at last year’s Paris Olympics.

I cannot imagine a male elite athlete doing the same.

Georgia won silver at the World Championships last month and hopefully being a 24-7 athlete will help her go one better next time.

I’m obviously aware of the lack of female representation in the corridors of power within football and other sports, but I hope that is slowly changing.

Both the FA and PL chairs are women — Debbie Hewitt and Alison Brittain — and are doing a fine job.

Right now, though, I’d rather concentrate on the progress that has been made in a relatively short time.

The WSL is in rude health and will get bigger and better, underlining the fact that we, as a nation, are leading the way in the men’s and women’s game.

We should celebrate that because ‘girls just wanna have fun’.

Its campus and enrollment are tiny, but Marymount High is a giant in the world of high school volleyball and this year’s squad looks to have the talent to compete for a championship.

The Sailors took first place out of 64 teams at the prestigious Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, taking down rival Sierra Canyon, 21-25, 25-15, 25-12, in the final on Sept. 20. Senior hitter and Washington commit Sammy Destler was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Marymount did not drop a set en route to the Hawaiian Island Labor Day Classic title in Hilo in late August. Last weekend in Phoenix, the Sailors advanced to the championship match of the Platinum Division at the Nike Tournament of Champions Southwest, falling to reigning Southern Section Division 1 champion Mater Dei. The two programs could meet again in the CIF playoffs in November.

For those keeping score, that makes three finals and two titles at three tournaments in three different states over four weeks against the best competition in the nation — just the way head coach Cari Klein likes it.

Marymount High volleyball players, from left to right, Makenna Barnes, Sammy Destler and Elle Vandeweghe clap hands during a match.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“Winning Durango was huge … and very fun,” said Klein, who reached the 700-win plateau early this season, her 28th at the all-girls Catholic school with 350 students across the street from UCLA. “These last two years we’ve gotten better the second day. Then playing TOC right after is a tough turnaround. It’s a lot of travel and a lot of volleyball.”

Three Sailors joined Destler on the all-tournament team in Durango: senior setter Olivia Penske (committed to Georgetown), junior hitter Makenna Barnes (an early Northwestern commit who has pounded a team-best 217 kills) and junior middle/opposite hitter and Stanford beach commit Katelyn Oerlemans, who leads the team with 63 blocks.

The roster also features senior middle blocker and Southern Methodist commit Elle Vandeweghe, senior middle blocker Frankie Jones (Brown), senior outside hitter Presley Jones (Amherst), senior libero Declan Eastman (Rice) and senior opposite hitter Grace Jamison (Lafayette).

Marymount lost to Mater Dei in one of the best finals in tournament history (28-26 in the third set) at Durango one year ago.

Girls’ volleyball coach Cari Klein has racked up more than 700 wins during her 28 seasons at Marymount High.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“People don’t realize how few students we have or how academically-oriented it is,” Klein said. “Our girls have their books out in between every game. They’re studying on buses, on trains, in hallways … any chance they get to do schoolwork.”

Having played the sport herself (she was a state MVP at Irvine High in 1988 then an All-West Coast Conference hitter at Pepperdine), Klein demands a lot of her players, but she also tries to make the daily routine fun, worth getting up at the crack of dawn. Her motto is a hard practice makes an easy game.

Destler, who started playing for Klein’s Sunshine Volleyball Club when she was 8, takes that message to heart. After Marymount was dealt its first loss at Redondo Union on Sept 2, she stated: “We have practice at 5:45 a.m. tomorrow and I have to like it.”

The Sailors (29-3) are off to their best start since the 2021 team that finished 35-0, winning 92 of 100 sets in the process, and earned Klein PrepVolleyball.com national high school coach of the year honors.

Of the 20 players on varsity, eight are seniors and nine are juniors.

“This team is similar to the 2021 team,” Klein said. “What’s different is that those seniors four years ago were so hungry because they lost their junior year to COVID-19.”

Marymount’s longest drought between section finals appearances in Klein’s tenure is five seasons (2013 to 2017), so the team is about due. She also wants to add another player of the year to those she has already mentored — Haley Jorgensborg (2001); Stesha Selsky (2002 and 2003); Kelly Irvin (2005); Lauren Greskovics-Fuller (2011); and Elia Rubin (2021).

“There are nine or 10 teams in our section that could really give us a match,” said Klein, who has steered the Sailors to 10 Southern Section titles (including a record six in a row from 2001 to 2006), eight regional crowns and seven state championships since taking over the program in 1998. “Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Sierra Canyon, Newport Harbor, Santa Margarita, Redondo, Mira Costa, Harvard-Westlake, Mater Dei — all very hard to beat. And if you get to the next level, there are four San Diego schools that are really strong too. CIF is stacked.”

In addition to the postseason success, Marymount has won 24 league titles under Klein. To add to that total, it must beat Sierra Canyon, which defeated the Sailors three times last season. The first of the schools’ two Mission League meetings is Monday night in Chatsworth.

In one regard, a section title in 2025 would be sweeter than the others for Klein because she lost her home in the Palisades fire in January, as did some of her players. She has been living in Playa del Rey with her husband, former Palisades High quarterback Perry Klein.

“We’ve all had to deal with it already, but a lot of girls in the program have been affected and the younger club players as well,” she said. “It’s a pretty emotional year for Marymount.”

Strictly Come Dancing 2025 fans were quick to notice Dani Dyer was still in the opening titles for the BBC series’ launch show on Saturday, but Amber Davies was missing

Fans called it “awkward” as Strictly Come Dancing‘s opening titles left out one star, hours after they replaced Dani Dyer.

Following the sad news this week that Love Island‘s Dani had to pull out of the series due to an injury, the star still appeared in the series’ opening credits. But someone noticeably missing was her replacement, fellow Love Island star Amber Davies.

Amber was confirmed to be taking on the show just days before the live launch, but fans noticed she did not appear with her co-stars in the titles – while she was there for the live show. Taking to X, fans shared their reaction to the “awkward” mishap.

One fan said: “Dani Dyer still on the opening credits and no Amber Davies… slightly awkward.” Another agreed: “Okay so they didn’t have time to put Amber in the titles yet.”

A third fan said: “Didn’t manage to edit the titles in time!” Another said: “Dani Dyer in the titles still.”

READ MORE: Strictly fallout in full – two stars quit, one unhappy pro and controversies continueREAD MORE: Strictly confirms whether Dani Dyer’s replacement Amber Davies will perform in first live show

It comes after the news Dani had to pull out of the show days before the first live episode. She shared a sweet message for her Strictly co-stars ahead of Saturday’s episode after being forced to leave the show earlier this week due to an injury.

It was announced on Tuesday that the 29-year-old would no longer be able to compete on the show after a fall during rehearsals led to her fracturing her ankle. However, despite not being able to take part, Dani has sent a message of support to her co-stars.

Taking to her Instagram stories, the mum-of-three wrote: “Good luck to all the gorgeous cast starting there Strictly journey tonight. Can’t wait to watch you all, so proud & know how hard you’ve all been working.. see you all soon.”

The official Strictly Come Dancing Instagram page revealed the sad news of Dani’s exit as they captioned it: “Unfortunately due to an injury Dani Dyer is no longer able to compete in #Strictly 2025. She’ll be sorely missed and we wish her a speedy recovery.”

Dani said: “I had a fall on Friday in rehearsals and landed funny. I thought I had rolled my foot but it swelled up so badly over the weekend and after an MRI scan yesterday, it turns out I have fractured my ankle.

“Apparently doing the Quickstep on a fracture is not advisable and the doctors have said I am not allowed to dance, so I’ve had to pull out of the show.

“To say I’m heartbroken is the biggest understatement. I am so going to miss dancing with Nikita but will of course be watching closely and cheering all the couples on.”

Caudery won the pole vault with a first-time clearance of 4.45m, before pushing herself to equal her best performance of the year by going over at 4.85m.

The 25-year-old won world indoor gold in a breakout 2024 season, during which she broke the British record with a 4.92m jump, but failed to qualify for the Olympic final.

“I’ve just been finding my flow again and figuring a few things out, so I didn’t push it today, but it is really exciting to jump back over the 80s again and I’m hoping to attempt [the British record] soon,” Caudery said.

Nuttall sealed her place on the team by winning the women’s 5,000m in 15 minutes 46.90 seconds, having achieved the qualifying time before the championships.

But 19-year-old Innes FitzGerald, who achieved the qualifying standard in breaking the European Under-20 record in London last month, must wait to see if she is selected after finishing third behind India Weir.

Okoye confirmed his place in Tokyo by winning the men’s discus with a 65.93m throw, while Anna Purchase threw a championship record 72.96m to win the women’s hammer title – a distance within UK Athletics’ (UKA) consideration standard.

The program for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival came into sharper view with Monday’s announcement of the majority of titles for the event’s galas and special presentations section. Along with TIFF’s news, some of the larger fall festival and awards season is also beginning to take shape.

Toronto, long known as a powerful showcase for launching awards-hungry and commercially ambitious fall titles, has been seen as losing some of its strength in recent years to festivals in Cannes, Venice and Telluride. This year’s TIFF program, which marks its 50th edition, will be closely watched for how its titles are received not only at the festival itself, but in the months ahead.

Among the notable world premieres in Monday’s announcement are Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut “Good Fortune,” a comedy of identity-swapping and self-discovery starring Ansari and Seth Rogen with Keanu Reeves as an inept angel, and James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg” starring Russell Crowe as imprisoned Nazi Hermann Göring, with Rami Malek as the psychiatrist tasked with interviewing him.

Maude Apatow will make her feature directorial debut with “Poetic License,” starring her mother Leslie Mann alongside Andrew Barth Feldman and Cooper Hoffman. “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto will also make his feature directing bow with “Easy’s Waltz,” a drama of down-on-their-luck entertainers starring Vince Vaughn and Al Pacino.

TIFF will host the world premiere of Bobby Farrelly’s comedy “Driver’s Ed,” starring Kumail Nanjiani, Sam Nivola and Molly Shannon. Alex Winter directs and also appears in the comedy “Adulthood” alongside Josh Gad, Kaya Scodelario and Billie Lourd. David Mackenzie’s crime thriller “Fuze” stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Sam Worthington, Theo James and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Baz Luhrman will unveil “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” which utilizes previously unseen footage the director discovered while researching his 2022 film “Elvis.” The result is what Luhrman has described as “not specifically a documentary, nor a concert film.”

Saoirse Ronan stars in “Bad Apples,” which is premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

(Republic Pictures )

Other world premieres include Jonathan Etzler’s “Bad Apples,” starring Saoirse Ronan; David Michôd’s “Christy,” starring Sydney Sweeney as boxer Christy Martin; and Alice Winocour’s fashion world drama “Couture,” starring Angelina Jolie.

At this stage in the season, interpreting how a Toronto title is announced can give some clues as to where it may be popping up beforehand. “International Premiere” can mean a title is also first playing a week earlier at Telluride, while “North American Premiere” can mean something is playing first at Venice. “Canadian Premiere” means it is likely playing both Telluride and Venice (or already premiered at Cannes) before coming to Toronto.

The only title listed as an international premiere is Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

North American premieres likely headed to Venice include Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire,” starring Bill Skarsgård and Colman Domingo; Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi; Mark Jenkin’s “Rose of Nevada,” starring Calum Turner and George MacKay; Mona Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee,” starring Amanda Seyfried; and Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” starring Dwayne Johnson.

Canadian premieres include Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player” starring Colin Farrell; Jafar Panahi’s Cannes-winning “It Was Just an Accident”; Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless”; Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” which won best actor at Cannes for Wagner Moura; Daniel Roher’s “Tuner,” starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman; and Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve.

Michaela Coel, left, and Ian McKellen star in “The Christophers,” which is premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

(Department M / Butler & Sklar Production)

Toronto’s previously announced titles include the opening night selection “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary on the beloved Canadian-born actor, directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, as well as the world premiere of Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc film starring Daniel Craig, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.”

Other previously announced world premieres include Derek Cianfrance’s “Roofman,” starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst; Nicholas Hytner’s “The Choral,” starring Ralph Fiennes; Paul Greengrass’ “The Lost Bus,” starring Matthew McConaughey; Hikari’s “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser; Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” starring Tessa Thompson; Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers,” starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel; and Agnieszka Holland’s “Franz,” a biopic of Franz Kafka.

Other titles already announced for TIFF that will be premiering elsewhere include the Canadian premiere of Chloé Zhao’s highly anticipated “Hamnet,” starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley; and the North American premiere of Rebecca Zlotowski’s “A Private Life,” starring Jodie Foster, which premiered at Cannes.

More of the Toronto program will be announced in the coming days and weeks, including the Platform section for emerging voices and the popular Midnight Madness section. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 4 to 14.

Competing in the same stadium he trains at every day, Antrell Harris sought to defend his home turf Thursday at the City Section Track and Field Championships.

And did he ever.

The Birmingham senior won the boys 100 meters and went on to win the 200 meters about 90 minutes later. Harris won the 100 in 10.92 seconds and took the lead on the backstretch to win the 200 in 21.66, holding off Granada Hills’ Justin Hart by nine hundredths of a second.

“I especially wanted to win the 200 because it’s my best race and I had to prove it,” said Harris, who ran his personal best in that event (21.32) at the Simi Valley Invitational. “My goal for state is to make the second day.”

The boys 400 meters, one of the most anticipated races of the meet, proved to be one of the closest. Hart took the lead around the final turn and held off a late kick by Venice’s Nathan Santa Cruz to prevail by three hundredths of a second in 47.45.

“I had to keep pumping my arms and hold my form the last 50 meters,” Hart said. “I knew it would be a tough race. My goals for state would be 46.6 in the 400 and 21.10 or lower for the 200.”

Carson sprinter Christina Gray defended both of her titles in the 100 and 200 meters.

Carson’s Christina Gray, center, takes the lead in the 200-meter dash at the City Section Track and Field Championships at Birmingham High School on Thursday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“I was happy how I ran in both races,” the junior said after she finished in 12.07 in the 100 and 24.62 in the 200 while also running anchor on the Colts’ first-place 4×100 relay team. “Negative wind stopped me from getting PRs, especially in the 200 because it’s longer. I like the state meet and I’ve PR’d up there the last two years so hopefully I can do it again.”

GALA senior DeAuna Louis also repeated as champion in both the 100 hurdles (14.87) and 300 hurdles (46.12) after posting the fastest times in preliminaries.

“I’m definitely faster this year … my PR is 14.46 and I was going for the City record in the 100 but came up short,” said Louis, who is headed to Hampton University in Virginia for academics but plans to walk-on in track. “I was seventh in the 300 and 10th in the 100 at state last spring. My goal is to make the finals in both.”

Granada Hills’ Savannah Williams won the girls 400 in 57.22 and North Hollywood’s Ananya Balaraman won the 1,600 meters in 5 minutes 3.75 seconds and later took the lead in the last 40 meters to win the 800 in 2:16.90.

Santee’s Angeles Feliciano won the girls 3,200 in 11:25.75 and Charles Simon won the boys 3,200 in 9:38.77. Carson took the 4×400 girls race in 4:02.77 and Palisades (3:23.98) barely edged Granada Hills (3:24.15) in the boys’ race.

Venice’s Lawrence Kensinger wins the shot put with a throw of 55 feet on Thursday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Lawrence Kensinger won shot put with a throw of 55 feet on his second attempt. He has high hopes for the state meet in Clovis.

“I quit football to concentrate on shot,” he said. “I love this sport. It’s you versus you. If you make a mistake it’s on you, when you win that’s on you too.”

Kensinger was on the football team in ninth and 10th grade, playing defensive end as a freshman and defensive tackle as a sophomore.

“My goal at state is to make the second day,” added Kensinger, whose best throw was 55-9 at City prelims last year. “Sixty feet for my junior year would be a dream. That’s when you know you’re with the top dogs.”

Marshall’s Oleana Taalman Koch clears the bar at five feet, two inches to win the girls high jump on Thursday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Birmingham’s Mandell Anthony won the boys long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 9¾ inches and Marshall’s Oleana Taalman Koch cleared 5-2 to win the girls high jump.

Granada Hills swept the team titles, the girls ending Carson’s record streak of nine straight.

Longtime race starter Saul Pacheco was honored for working his 43rd City finals meet. A 1956 graduate of Banning, where he was a half-miler, and a 1961 UCLA graduate, he served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division from 1962-65 and was the track and field and offensive line coach at Carson for 25 years.

Birmingham’s Mandell Anthony wins the high jump on Thursday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)