American Lindy Duncan was left “completely shocked” after winning her first LPGA Tour title at the 222nd time of asking.
The 35-year-old started Sunday’s final round of The Annika with a one-shot lead and two late birdies saw her claim victory.
Duncan, who joined the tour in 2014, had only enjoyed one top-10 finish this season.
But her three-under-par 67 saw her finish on 16 under at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, two shots clear of her nearest challenger, South Korea’s Choi Hye-jin .
“I got so many people to thank that believed in me when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep playing or if I was good enough to keep playing,” Duncan said followng her win.
“To be here, I’m just completely shocked.”
Duncan was tied for the lead with Choi with two holes left to play before her late heroics.
“Coming into today I kind of thought, ‘No matter what happens I learned a huge lesson,’ and hopefully I can take that forward with me,” Duncan said.
“I just put so much pressure on myself because I really want to do well. Sometimes you just over try, and I think I’ve done that a lot. This week I finally let that go a little bit.”
The win also saw her qualify as one of the 60 players at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship by jumping from 74 to 34 in the standings for the season-long points race.
World number one Nelly Korda, who finished seventh, will be aiming to win her second season title next week.
England’s Lottie Woad – another player in the field for next week’s finale – was two shots further back but it was enough to secure a top-10 spot.
DP World Tour Championship second-round leaderboard
-5 T Hatton (Eng), R McIlroy (NI); -4 K Reitan (Nor), J Luiten (Ned); -3 M Lindberg (Swe), F Schott (Ger), V Perez (Fra); -2 J Schaper (SA), J Rahm (Spa), D Puig (Spa)
Selected others: -1 E Chacarra (Spa); E A Scott (Aus), C Hill (Sco); +3 T Fleetwood (Eng); +6 A Rai (Eng); +8 P Reed (US)
Rory McIlroy is tied for the lead at the halfway mark of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship as he chases a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title.
The six-time major winner followed a three-under opening 69 with an up-and-down 70 to join England’s Tyrrell Hatton at the top at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
Hatton mixed five birdies and two bogeys to shoot 69, while overnight leader Joost Luiten carded a 73 to lie one shot back alongside Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan.
McIlroy, who is guaranteed to equal Colin Montgomerie’s record haul of eight season-long crowns with victory this week, sits four shots ahead of Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra.
The Spaniard, who won three times earlier this season to lead the standings entering this week, birdied his final two holes to finish one under.
“I think it’s been a bit eye-opening to see the scoring the first two days,” said world number two McIlroy.
“I don’t think the wind is supposed to be as up over the weekend, so the scoring might be a little bit better.
“As I said, the scoring this week, because of this course set-up, just isn’t as good as in previous years. I’ve been coming back to the golf course for 15 plus years, and you just associate this course with pretty low scoring.
“And then when it’s not, you just have to reframe what is a good score. Anything in the 60s, it seems, this week is a good score.”
SHE may have been murdered on The Celebrity Traitors by best friend Alan Carr, but Paloma Faith is back and very much alive.
The singer has announced that her seventh studio album, In Full Colour, will drop on March 5 before she embarks on a huge UK tour.
Paloma Faith has announced her seventh studio album, In Full ColourSource: SuppliedThe singer reveals her album, out on March 5, shows her at her happiestSource: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Wal
The record is Paloma’s first since 2024’s The Glorification Of Sadness – an album all about the breakdown of her relationship with artist Leyman Lahcine, dad of her first two children.
While that record showed the singer at her most broken, she insists In Full Colour is her at her happiest.
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Paloma, who appeared on last year’s Celebrity Traitors, said: “This album is intentionally optimistic. In a world that can feel hopeless, this album is joy as protest. Humanity can win.”
But self-doubt creeps into the lead single, Gone, which is out today and has a Seventies soul sound.
In late October, two non-Equity touring musicals opened on the same night at two of L.A.’s largest theaters: “Tommy” at the Hollywood Pantages and “The Music Man” at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson. The shows — which operate outside of the Actors’ Equity Assn., the union that represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and managers nationwide — reignited a contentious debate about whether a major regional nonprofit like CTG should host nonunion shows.
Critics questioned whether these productions threaten CTG’s artistic mission and if Angelenos should pay top dollar for nonunion shows. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what should matter more, a theater’s bottom line or its core values? The underlying implication in much of the criticism was that non-Equity shows are subpar and that hosting them implies a tacit acceptance of the mistreatment of actors.
Savannah Stevenson, who plays Mrs. Paroo in the national tour of “The Music Man,” would like to banish those concerns.
“We should completely dispel the notion that because we’re a non-Equity tour, we’re somehow put through the wringer,” Stevenson said during a phone interview from the Airbnb she was sharing with three cast members. It was a few hours before curtain during the final days of the show’s nearly two-week run in downtown L.A., before it departed for the Capitol Theatre in Yakima, Wash.
Touring small towns like Yakima is a big part of why non-Equity shows exist. The tours began popping up in the 1990s after the rise of the Broadway megamusical, to bring shows to places that would otherwise go without. Before its arrival in L.A., “The Music Man” was in Senatobia, Miss., with a population of about 8,500. A major union show like “The Lion King” will never stop in Senatobia, but the people there can enjoy a bit of River City thanks to Stevenson and the rest of “The Music Man” cast.
“The biggest difference in my mind is, frankly, the schedule. As a non-Equity tour, we do significantly more one-nighters or short engagements,” Stevenson said. “But we also all knew that when we signed up for it. And that is what allows us to share this particular piece of musical theater and musical theater history with such a wide swath of the country.”
Many professional actors choose to remain non-Equity for a variety of reasons, Stevenson said. Jobs are more plentiful for non-Equity actors, she noted, especially if you make a living working at regional houses outside of major cities, which often book only a handful of Equity actors per show. Stevenson recently shared a dressing room and top billing with an Equity actor in a Connecticut show — and other than the fact that the Equity actor was paid more, their treatment was the same, she said.
“We worked side by side every single day, had equally large parts, and I don’t think that anyone coming to that show would have said, ‘Oh, well, gosh, the Equity girl was the real standout in that show,’” Stevenson said gamely.
Elizabeth D’Aiuto, left, Addie Jaymes and Savannah Stevenson in the touring production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”
(Marshall Meadows)
Stevenson spoke in the wake of a review by Times theater critic Charles McNulty, which called “The Music Man” a “community-theater-level production,” and slammed CTG for “damaging its stature as a nonprofit theater leader by offering such an important showcase to this second-tier touring production.”
The public reception for “The Music Man” was quite warmer. The show ranked above “Amélie, A New Musical,” “Latin History for Morons” and “Paranormal Activity” in audience surveys, according to CTG, and late last week it was on track to outsell “Parade,” “Life of Pi” and “Paranormal Activity.” CTG’s Artistic Director Snehal Desai said each year fans ask for a classic musical and this season only two such shows were on tour: “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man.” The former (an Equity tour) went to the Pantages, which is run by the for-profit Nederlander organization. That left the latter available to CTG.
The uproar resulting from the non-Equity “The Music Man’s” arrival at the Ahmanson ties directly into the ongoing — and at times overheated — conversation about the future of the American nonprofit theater movement that erupted in late July when the Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis announced his intention to step down after 23 years, declaring the movement “over” and “not coming back.” Since then, theater leaders, including Desai, have been casting around for a brand new way of building a sustainable future. In Desai’s case, that meant attempting to stay in the black — a course of action that is not always looked upon kindly.
Equity vs. non-Equity
The decision to book non-Equity shows was less about saving money than it was about the Tetris-like planning required to keep the Ahmanson gainfully booked, Desai said. The cost of hosting an Equity versus a non-Equity show is about the same for CTG. Non-Equity shows get paid a flat-rate guarantee that is less than what Equity shows seek, but that’s just one piece of the pie, Desai said. CTG also must factor in overhead and local labor costs, production and marketing expenses, and more. This year there are 25 touring Equity shows and 24 non-Equity shows (a number that has stayed fairly steady for the last eight years, with the exception of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Equity tours shut down completely). More than 20 available Equity shows went to the Pantages — along with at least five non-Equity shows. This left only a few Equity shows for CTG to choose from, and Desai had to make sure those fit into the schedule.
Aliya Grace in the North American tour of “Boop!,” which is coming next year to the Ahmanson Theatre.
(Matthew Murphy)
This season will see three non-Equity shows: “Clue,” “The Music Man” and Boop!,” which is the rare show to go straight from Broadway to a non-Equity tour.
“The three [non-Equity shows] that we programmed were what was available to us,” Desai said, adding that the shows came from producers CTG had worked with before so he was confident that “they’re maintaining a certain quality. That they’re taking care of the companies. That they’re adhering to standards.”
Daniel Sher, the president of Big League Productions, which is producing “The Music Man” tour, said the organization does its best to follow union rules that are “reasonable.” Big League has produced mostly non-Equity touring shows for about 35 years, and Sher noted that the show’s crew is union, so the production adheres to many union rules by proxy. The Ahmanson is a union house, with its own union crew — so those rules also apply. Sher wishes he could provide health insurance for his actors, but that is cost-prohibitive, so he gives a small health stipend instead.
“I think there’s just a lot of non-Equity work now,” Sher said. “So it’s kind of like it’s a natural market force. As long as there remains this kind of vast amount of work, there are actors who will choose to remain non-Equity.”
Broadway hits will almost always start as Equity tours, he said, but once they stop being money-making juggernauts, they often go nonunion by necessity. That’s the case with “The Music Man,” he said, noting that a show of its size and scope would be financially impossible to stage as an Equity tour in the current marketplace. He would love for the union to consider allowing a mix of union and nonunion actors on national tours — like it does for regional theaters: “There’s a world where the producers and Equity could try to find a way, but the economics just have to work.”
Stevenson’s goal is to keep performing. She was an Equity member at the beginning of her career, then took 18 years off to practice law before returning to acting — this time without an Equity card.
“Whether you are a presenter or a producer or an actor or a member of the crew, or an audience member, we are all aligned around the notion of ensuring that the theater industry does not continue to contract in the way that it has, particularly since the pandemic,” she said. “So if we can ensure that we’re keeping a variety of shows alive and reaching more corners of the country, then we have to make room for both Equity and non-Equity tours.”
The 2025 North American tour of “Clue,” which played at the Ahmanson Theatre during a non-Equity tour.
(Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
Even Actors’ Equity has changed its approach to non-Equity shows. In 2001 the union picketed a previous non-Equity tour of “The Music Man” and in 2014 it ran an ad campaign urging theatergoers to “Ask if it’s Equity,” before buying tickets. That campaign, along with more demanding rules around how an actor could join the union, were scrapped in 2023 out of concern for “small ‘e’ equity and justice, and who should have the decision to join the union,” said Actors’ Equity Assn. sopkesperson David Levy.
Prior rules relied on the employer to decide whether an actor was worthy of joining the union, “and we wanted to put that power back in the hands of the actual members themselves,” Levy said. Actors’ Equity currently has an “open access” policy that allows anyone who has worked in any kind of professional theater in the U.S. to join.
“The quality of the talent in these tours is not any less than the quality of talent on any union stage,” Levy said. “What’s at issue is how that talent is treated, how they’re paid, what the workplace safety rules are, what accommodations they’re given as they travel, whether they get appropriate rest time.”
While the union would prefer that every theater show operate under an Equity contract, it’s aware that this may not be financially feasible in all situations, Levy said, noting that nonunion shows might be the only viable option for smaller towns across the country without rich and diverse theater ecosystems.
“We would never want to deprive those audiences of having that transformational opportunity of seeing singers and dancers and actors and musicians do their thing,” Levy said, adding that L.A., unlike less populous cities, doesn’t have a dearth of theater offerings. “Now, in a perfect world, that job would come with both standardized wages and work rules and benefits, as well as the safety guarantees of a union contract.” He paused, “We do not live in a perfect world.”
The future of nonprofit theater
CTG came perilously close to financially bottoming out in 2023 when it closed the Mark Taper Forum for almost a year and a half. This happened just before Desai took over from Michael Ritchie as the third artistic director in CTG’s history, arriving just in time to pick up the pieces following the COVID-19 pandemic. When CTG finally reopened its theater doors after an astonishing 56 weeks, its staff was decimated, tickets sales had plunged and the cost of putting on productions had skyrocketed. CTG’s staffing still remains more than 20% down from its pre-pandemic high, although its subscriptions are on the rise — up 226% over last year.
“We used to talk to donors about how CTG valued union-only productions, even though they are more expensive, because CTG valued more than just the bottom-line,” former CTG board chair Kiki Ramos Gindler wrote on Facebook in response to McNulty’s review. “Unlike the Nederlander Organization, a for-profit theatre business keenly focused on profits. … The mission is to support our community, not to find ways to keep from going out of business. If this is a path to staying in business, it’s a wrong path and maybe time to take a final bow rather than completely throw away core values.” (Nederlander declined a request for comment on the issue.)
In late September the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, which was founded at the Kennedy Center in 2001 and supports arts groups nationwide, hosted a nearly two-hour Zoom forum called “Is the American Nonprofit Theater Movement Over?” About 17 major theater leaders spoke on the call that had 800 participants, including Eustis and Desai, all seeking to examine what elements of “a historical model for producing and presenting nonprofit theater in America” have ended, and which remain relevant.
Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum in 2019, four years before it was temporarily closed due to a financial crisis.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“When I first became an artistic director, there were two words that I had never heard before that became my mantra for years: cash flow. These days, a lot of my conversations seem to be focused on three words: minding the gap,” Desai said. “There are so many gaps confronting our field right now. There is the gap between what a production costs and the revenue it can generate. The gap between the impact of the work we make and the value we assign it. The gap between the origin stories of our institutions and the communities we serve. And perhaps, most importantly, there is the gap between the models we inherited and the world we actually live in.”
For CTG, that means keeping the 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theatre booked with revenue-generating shows in order to afford to continue producing work the company does at the Taper and at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. “Phantom of the Opera” ran for 4½ years straight at the Ahmanson from 1989 to 1993, a commercial success that enabled a golden age at CTG under founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson that included the 1992 premiere of Tony Kushner’s groundbreaking two-part play “Angels in America.”
The Ahmanson needs to be that commercial vehicle again, if CTG is to continue pushing artistic boundaries, Desai said. CTG-produced shows are always Equity, while major touring shows arriving at the Ahmanson sometimes aren’t.
“When a show doesn’t meet its goal, it is a huge swing. It is millions of dollars. And so we have to be super careful about what we’re programming,” Desai said. “And I’m also trying to take care of the audience that I’m building in line with the artistic vision.”
-23 J Rahm (Spa); –21 T Hatton (Eng); -19 R McIlroy (NI); -17 F Laporta (Ita); -16 B Wiesberger (Aut), A Ayora (Spa), D Puig (Spa); -15 J Schaper (SA)
Selected others:-14 N Kimsey (Eng), M Jordan (Eng); -13 S Bairstow (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng), A Sullivan (Eng); -12 E Ferguson (Sco); -11 E Chacarra (Spa); -10 A Rai (Eng); -9 M Wallace (Eng); -4 P Reed (US)
Jon Rahm fired a final-round 67 to clinch a two-shot victory over England’s Tyrrell Hatton at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
It was a first victory for the two-time major winner since he announced his departure from LIV Golf, and a first win at a DP World Tour event in four years.
The Spaniard, in his first tournament since the birth of his fourth child last month, produced six birdies with just one dropped shot on Sunday to finish clear of Hatton with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy another two strokes further back.
“It means a lot. It’s been quite a while to play well in the DP World Tour,” Rahm told Sky Sports.
“Except a shot on 17, as far as I’m concerned, I played a pretty flawless back nine. It was really solid, never in danger of making a bogey except that one hole.
“After everything that has gone on, some poor play and some battles mentally with a lot of noise, to come back out after a bit of a break and a new addition to the family, it’s pretty special.”
Having finished at the very bottom of the leaderboard at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in his last appearance, Rahm joked that going “last to first” was especially pleasing.
For McIlroy, his third-placed finish was enough to ensure he goes into next week’s season-finale at the DP World Tour Championship sitting second in the Race To Dubai standings as he seeks a record-equalling eighth win.
The 37-year-old, who was given a two-shot penalty in his first round, leapfrogged American Patrick Reed and now trails only Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra in his bid to match Colin Montgomerie’s eight season-long titles.
Despite starting the week outside the top 50, Rahm’s victory ensured he remained in the hunt too should he be able to go back-to-back in Dubai.
FANCY zooming across the streets of London taking in the Christmas lights like Kristen Scott Thomas? We’ve got just the ticket (literally).
But don’t worry, you won’t have to sit in one of the tuk tuks – instead, you’ll be getting the best view from the top of an open top bus.
With this offer, you can check out the amazing London lights just like Kristin Scott ThomasSource: PARather than a tuk tuk you can see them from high above the ground on an open top busSource: The Original Tour
Save 20% on The Original Tour’s Christmas Lights London Bus Tour + Thames sightseeing cruise included. Use code: FESTIVELONDON
You’ll cruise underneath the magical displays, avoiding the shopping crowds and get incredible views of London along the way.
What’s even better news is that The Original Tour has cut the price of its Christmas Lights Tour tickets by 20 per cent.
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If you click hereand enter the code FESTIVELONDON at checkout, adult tickets drop from £36 down to just £28.80.
Children’s tickets will drop from £22 to £17.60, and infants under two travel free.
The tour kicks off on Coventry Street, where you’ll climb aboard one of the Christmas-themed double-decker buses and hunker down in a seat on the upper deck.
The bus will head past illuminated London spots while a tour guide sprinkles joy telling festive facts and jokes along the way.
From the top deck, you’ll be able to see the golden angels of Regent Street and the beautiful canopy across Oxford Street.
While Oxford Street has been recently pedestrianised, you’ll still be able to go down a section of it by Marble Arch.
For anyone who loves window shopping, gaze upon the shopfronts of stores in Bond Street, and take in the buzz of Piccadilly Circus from the comfort of the top deck.
Get your cameras at the ready for when you cruise past Trafalgar Square as it’s home to a huge Christmas tree, gifted to the UK from Norway.
Phones at the ready, there’s lots to take pictures of on the tourSource: The Original Tour
Whether you’re after a family outing, a date night under the twinkling lights or a solo day to yourself, the tour is suitable for everyone.
It lasts up to 90 minutes and will run from November 14 to January 3.
There are lots of times to choose from too with the first bus departing at 4:30pm and the last at 9pm.
Make sure to wrap up warm, and why not pick up a hot chocolate to stay cosy onboard?
There’s more…
If you buy a Christmas Tour ticket, it includes a daytime River Thames cruise too.
So you can have a full sightseeing day in London, one from the road, and another from the water.
Feel free to bring snacks and hot drinks onboard tooSource: The Original Tour
Cruises start at four points in London; Westminster Pier, Tower Pier, Greenwich Pier, or the London Eye Pier, so there’s flexibility in how you plan the day.
Along the Thames River cruise you’ll lots of London landmarks including Big Ben and the London Eye.
If you still haven’t had your city fix, the ticket allows for SIX free self-guided walking tours.
Whether you want to walk in the footsteps of Harry Potter or learn the spooky secrets of Jack the Ripper, you can listen to them all on The Original Tour’s partner app at your leisure.
You’ll be able to explore the city for under £30 – and at Christmas, every saving helps.
The FESTIVELONDON code is valid to use right now through to January 3, 2027, so now’s the time to lock in your dates.
Save 20% on The Original Tour’s Christmas Lights London Bus Tour + Thames sightseeing cruise included. Use code: FESTIVELONDON
The Original Christmas Lights Tour: what you get
What’s included in The Original Christmas Lights Tour offer?
The Original London Christmas Lights Bus Tour Adults tickets: £36 £28.80 Children’s tickets: £22 £17.60
Take in all the best of London’s Christmas lights displays on one dazzling bus tour.
Thames River cruiseincluded
Soak up famous London sights like Big Ben and the London Eye from the water, learning all about London’s history with guided commentary.
Six self-guided audio tours of London
Buying a Christmas bus tour ticket will also give you access to six audio walking tours, which you can listen to on The Original Tour app.
Begin at any of the listed stop points – these clever tours are GPS-triggered, and the tour will activate when you’re close to a point of interest.
Best of London – The essential London experience, hitting all the landmarks you simply cannot miss.
The Wizard’s Walk – A tour through the real London locations that brought the world of Harry Potter to life.
Towers and Bridges – From the Tower of London to The Shard, a walk through the city’s most striking skyline.
Jack the Ripper – A walk through Whitechapel, retracing the story of London’s most infamous unsolved case.
Parks and Palaces – Royal parks, grand residences, and open spaces at the heart of the city.
Kensington Gardens – A peaceful walk through one of London’s most elegant and historic green spaces.
FESTIVELONDON expires on 03/01/2027 11:59pm (BST).
Terms and Conditions: The offer is available from 12 October 2026 until 3 January 2027, with tours running daily from 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The discount applies to adult and child tickets only, excludes family tickets and cannot be combined with other offers. Blackout dates apply and are from 21 December 2026 to 30 December 2026. Blackout dates are dates during which promotional offers cannot be used. More information can be found on the website at theoriginaltour.com.
The American, who won the award in 2024, is one victory away from qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Asked about potentially entering the Hall of Fame, Korda said in June: “I think it’s an amazing accomplishment and it would be one of the best achievements of my career for sure.”
The four-time major winner opened the 2026 LPGA Tour season with a six-tournament stretch where she either won or finished as the runner-up, to open a healthy lead in the points race.
South Korea’s Haeran Ryu also won two majors this year but withdrew from last week’s tournament in Malaysia because of injury.
And with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul not entering The Annika next week in Florida, Korda secured the award with three tournaments remaining.
IT’S Monday lunchtime on London’s Old Bond Street and I’ve been invited to Dolce & Gabbana to hang out with the legend that is Sir Rod Stewart.
As the doors swing open, he walks in with two pairs of trousers under his arm and chirps in his trademark Cockney twang, “They’re too long in the leg”, before adding: “And a bottle of perfume for the lady, please.”
Sir Rod Stewart in Vegas last year for his residency at The Colosseum at Caesars PalaceSource: Denise TruscelloRod, second left, in 1974 with his group the Faces, who would sink drinks before gigsSource: Getty
With me looking like a ropey Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Rod escorts me upstairs and a beautifully gift-wrapped, £280 perfume bottle is handed to me en-route.
Turning his attention to a £3,800 silver sequinned jacket, Rod laments: “It’s lovely, but it’s far too heavy for the stage.”
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Then, he ushers me to a posh sofa to discuss his last hoorah.
The Final Encore will mark Rod’s retirement from touring after six decades on the road.
Two extra dates have been added to the almost sold-out UK run thanks to the phenomenal demand for tickets.
Set lists are still being finalised, but fans can expect a spectacular trip down memory lane, with hits from Rod’s incredible back catalogue of 11 No1 albums — which include 25 Top Ten hits.
“At 81, it’s quite remarkable,” he says of the ticket sales for his farewell tour.
“I can’t jump around like I used to when I was 32. But I think the audience knows that, vocally, I’m better now than I’ve ever been.
“A few of the big voices have gone. Paul McCartney’s has gone a bit. I treat my voice like the crown jewels. Pavarotti said, ‘I’m a prisoner of my voice’, and you are. You wake up, you say, ‘Oh, I’ve got an itch. I’m f***ed. I’ve got to cancel’. I’m totally paranoid about runny noses now. “Now, when I go out, I wear white gloves like Michael Jackson. He did it to stop him catching colds and flu.”
Rod puts his remarkable good health down to a strict exercise regime which sees him training like an athlete — and getting lots of sleep.
“When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you don’t even warm up,” Rod laughs.
“You drink whatever you want, do the drugs, get on the stage.
“In the old days, we used to get p***d as farts with [band] FACES. Now, when I go on, I’m absolutely sober, then I’ll have a rum and Coke after the third song or so.
“Plus, I have an hour’s workout before I go on — stretching, cycling, stationary bike, massaging, warming up the voice, just getting yourself in the zone.
“It is like being an athlete.”
Of his regime at home, Rod adds: “Three times a week, I cycle for a mile, lots of uphill stuff, and I do a load of swimming.
“Frank Sinatra told me about that. He said, ‘If you just do underwater swimming as much as you can, holding your breath till you want to burst, because then your lungs will get bigger. And they’ll get used to you holding your breath and singing’.”
Rod with Penny at last month’s Sinatra charity gala in LondonSource: GettySinatra told Rod: ‘If you just do underwater swimming as much as you can, holding your breath till you want to burst, because then your lungs will get bigger’Source: Corbis – Getty
Rod’s pipes, I can attest, are back on top form after a scary incident this summer in Utah.
At an amphitheatre 4,300ft above sea level, Rod needed oxygen after almost fainting on stage.
Keen to reassure his fans he’s now fine, the Maggie May singer explains: “I had a bout of illness, which was bad luck. I’d just had bronchitis at the same time as I was playing above altitude. I was in a right state.
“The geezer who worked for me didn’t tell me. I said, ‘Are we above sea level?’. He said, ‘Nah, of course we’re not’.
“So, I ran out and did three fast songs. All of a sudden, I was like, I couldn’t breathe. I got through the show, but it was painful.
“If I’m performing above altitude, you go out and do a mid-tempo one and a slow one, then do a fast one. Not three off the bounce, jumping about.”
Rod, with his electric blonde hair and bronzed skin, could pass for a man 20 years younger.
A decade after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he is still all-clear from the disease.
Grinning, he says of his health tests: “My PSA levels are at 0.02. You’ve got to keep an eye on it.”
But cackling, he adds of the old-style check for prostate problems: “Finger up the bum, no harm done. That’s what most men don’t like. The old finger up the bum. But just get on with it.”
Like any good musician, Rod has his vices and cannot resist a drink . . . even if his wife Penny Lancaster warns him off it.
“I wish I could curb my drinking, but I love wine with an evening meal,”
Rod says: ‘I’ve got a great chef and I can’t drink water with a good meal’Source: GettyRod said: ‘Penny says, ‘You must cut back, darling’. I only have a couple of glasses. But then sometimes, I’ll get on the Apple Martinis and I can really knock those back’Source: Getty
Rod explains. “I’ve got a great chef and I can’t drink water with a good meal.
“Penny says, ‘You must cut back, darling’. I only have a couple of glasses. But then, sometimes, I’ll get on the apple martinis and I can really knock those back.
“I have these conversations with my kids. I stress to them that I can have a drink, you know, because it’s show business, I drink whenever I want. Not that I drink a lot. But, you know, one of my sons goes out and gets all pd on a Sunday night and he’s got to go to school the next morning.”
Laughing, he adds: “I’ve let the cat out of the bag there, haven’t I? There’s only one going to school.”
The Final Encore will kick off its UK leg in Glasgow on April 29 at the OVO Hydro, after Rod turned down a farewell gig at his beloved Celtic Park in the city.
“It would have been just, like, 90 minutes and I’d say goodbye,” he explains. “I thought, ‘If I can have it for three nights, I can really get into it and indulge myself in it’.”
By next summer, Rod’s touring days will be over — but he says that, inspired by artists such as Adele, he is planning smaller, residency-style shows in future.
“I made the album [Swing Fever in 2024] with Jools Holland, which got to No1 and, when I do my last show, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve talked to Jools.
“I don’t know if he wants to do it with me, because I think he’s afraid of losing his identity. If he doesn’t, I’ll form my own big band. I’d like to do the London Palladium for a few nights, then maybe the Albert Hall.”
Rod’s fans also have a top-secret documentary to look forward to next year, after the star confessed he’s just done a tell-all interview with his old foe, Sir Elton John.
The pair, who are now good pals, traded comedy barbs over the years, with Rod admitting to me he was miles better at football than Elton when they trained together at Watford FC.
“I nearly signed for Brentford,” Rod says proudly. “I only finished playing when I was 68.
Rod with Sir Elton JohnSource: GettyRod with his sons Alastair, Liam and AidanSource: instagram
“But Elton, I was miles better than him when we trained together. The documentary we’ve done should be out at the beginning of the year. At the end . . . he kissed me on the lips. And we caught it on film.”
Rod added of Elton’s kids Zachary, 15, and Elijah, 13: “His boys are wonderful. I don’t know whether they were putting it on for me, but they came in from school and went, ‘Daddy, Daddy, oh, Mr Stewart, we are so glad to meet you, Mr Stewart’. They are so well spoken.”
Looking back at his six-decade career, Rod knows it won’t be easy to retire from touring.
He says: “Carly Simon found it stressful going on stage. I don’t. I am absolutely raring to go out there. I absolutely love it.”
Stepping back will, however, give Rod more time to focus on Penny and his one other true love — his model train set.
Covering 156 square metres and featuring a 275-metre track that runs through a city landscape, it has kept Rod busy for decades.
“I want to open it to the public and give the money to charity,” he explains.
“I think I’ll be able to get permission. I would like to share it with the world.”
Politics is another keen passion of Rod’s, although he admits he’s more likely to keep his views to himself these days for fear of being misunderstood.
One subject we speak passionately about, however, is the plight of the people of Ukraine — who Rod has publicly supported since Russia invaded in 2022.
“I just hope it’s not too late for Ukraine,” he says.
“They’re going into winter now, and this could be the turning point. It’s scary.
“They’re bombing the fuel and water supplies. Putin is a b*****d.”
Another topic of contention is US president Donald Trump, who Rod has no time for.
“I stand by what I told Kind Charles,” he says.
“I said, ‘Trump’s a pig’. I could tell the King wanted to laugh.”
Rod will, undoubtedly, use his Final Encore shows to urge fans to champion all that’s good in the world — despite still coming to terms with his own global impact.
“I haven’t twisted anybody’s arm or threatened to kill them if they don’t give me money,” he tells me.
“I’ve earned it off my own back.
“I want to thank my public for this. They’ve given me the most glorious, unimaginable lifestyle.
“When I was at school, I never dreamed that when I started singing, it would end up like this.
The Pussycat Dolls are in advanced talks to headline their first British festivalCredit: GettyIt comes off the back of their PCD Forever tourCredit: Getty
It comes off the back of their PCD Forever tour, which ended last night with a huge show in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A source said: “Hoopla bosses have approached The Pussycat Dolls about headlining Hoopla and talks are ongoing.
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“Everyone is hopeful they can make the deal work as it would be huge to have them performing.
“Their comeback tour went down a storm in the UK and the festival bosses would love to have them come back to play again.
The trio have been approached to perform at Mighty Hoopla next summerCredit: GettyThe band finished up their run of seven UK shows at London’s O2 Arena on October 13Credit: Getty
“It would be the first time the group will have headlined a festival stage too so it would be a massive coup for Hoopla if they can pull it off.
“As ever, there are always so many moving parts when festivals are booking major acts but everyone is hoping The Pussycat Dolls will agree.”
Nicole, 48, Ashley, 45, and Kimberly, 44, finished up their run of seven UK shows at London’s O2 Arena on October 13.
The Sun first revealed the group were reuniting for a tour back in February.
It came 21 years after they first burst onto the music scene with their hit single Don’t Cha.
They had a subsequent seven Top Ten tunes including Stickwitu, Beep, Buttons, When I Grow Up and Jai Ho, followed by another Top 40 hit with React in 2019.
Mighty Hoopla is taking place at London’s Brockwell Park across June 5 and 6 next year.
Lily Allen and Scissor Sisters headlined this summer’s event, with acts including Cheryl Tweedy, Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Jade and Nelly Furtado all performing previously.
Peer inside the open hatch of the space shuttle Endeavour, and you’ll see a few things: a ladder from the mid-deck to the flight deck (horizontal, since the orbiter is in vertical launch position); pads used to crawl into the hatch and prevent damage to its seal; and small patches of blue Velcro to secure pens, clipboards or procedural notes, so they don’t float away.
Astronaut John Daniel “Danny” Olivas remembers his crews storing tortillas near the blue Velcro. There’s a cold plate there to keep the avionics system cool, and they’d stash the tortillas nearby so they’d stay fresher for longer (“We didn’t have a refrigerator on the space shuttle”). Tortillas, as it turns out, have a long and storied history in space, first brought there in 1985 by payload specialist Rodolfo Neri Vela, the first Mexican astronaut. (Neri Vela requested that they be included in his food supply, and they solved the serious problem of floating crumbs.)
A close-up view of the crew hatch, mid-deck and flight deck of the space shuttle Endeavour. The hatch provided astronauts with access to the crew compartment before launch and after landing, while serving as a sealed barrier during spaceflight. The cockpit contains the flight instruments, displays and controls used to operate the spacecraft during missions in Earth‘s orbit.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
There’s something fitting about the tortilla anecdote in multicultural L.A., home to the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center — the $450-million, 200,000-square-foot expansion to the California Science Center — which now houses Endeavour. On Nov. 13, when the center opens to the public, it will become the only place in the world to see a complete space shuttle system with an orbiter that has actually seen flight (25 missions). That space shuttle system, or “shuttle stack,” includes the orbiter (the part of the shuttle that holds the crew and cargo); a solid rocket booster on either side; and an orange external fuel tank. The entire crew from the Endeavour’s last mission in 2011 plans to attend the center’s opening.
Space shuttles (there have only been five in the U.S., plus one prototype) stand apart for myriad reasons, chief among them are the sheer number of their astronauts, 355, as well as their diversity.
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Astronaut Danny Olivas explains the space shuttle program’s significance and what it means for Endeavour to return to launch position in Southern California.
“Because the space shuttle program came forth, we started seeing people: the first female astronaut, the first African American astronaut, first African American female astronaut, the first Hispanic astronaut,” Olivas said on a recent tour of the new gallery. “So the space shuttle program, to me, is near and dear because it ushered in a level of diversity that represented what America was all about. And what makes her [Endeavour] special, being here in Southern California, is that this is the place she was born. All the space shuttles were born here. This is the heart of the aerospace industry.”
Olivas didn’t fly on the Endeavour, but he did fly two missions, one on the shuttle Atlantis and one on Discovery, for a total of almost 28 days. He ventured into outer space itself (“extravehicular activity”) on both missions, for a total of more than 34 hours. Plus, he and Endeavour go way back.
The Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery built a nearly 200-foot-tall space to display Endeavour’s orbiter in a vertical launch configuration, flanked by its external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
NASA selected Olivas as an astronaut candidate in 1998, and invited him and the other candidates to Edwards Air Force Base, in the Mojave Desert’s Antelope Valley about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The Endeavour was being refurbished there, and he had the opportunity to go inside the crew module — the flight deck, the mid-deck and the airlock — all now visible in the new gallery.
The Endeavour was Olivas’ first encounter with any space shuttle, and he studied the spacecraft closely in the wake of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident. In many ways, he’s been inside the Endeavour much more personally than if he had flown on it. All of this is to say that he’s the perfect guide for today’s mission — getting to know this particular spacecraft.
“As an astronaut, you don’t get to share with the public all that space is,” Olivas said. “During the space shuttle program, the closest you could get to the space shuttle was three miles away,” as a civilian. “But this is an opportunity for space enthusiasts to get an up-close-and-personal look at the things that we had the privilege and honor to fly. … It’s nice to share this with the American people, because, ultimately, this is their ship.”
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, left, and astronaut Danny Olivas on the 115-foot Shuttle Descent Slide, designed to simulate the descent of a shuttle returning to Earth. “It was no more than a flying brick,” Olivas said. “You had no engines, you had no motors to come home. Unlike the jet engines that you have when you land at LAX, you got nothing.”
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
It’s been a long journey through time and space for the Endeavour to reach Exposition Park. The Times’ visit to the new gallery in early October happened to mark 15 years to the day since NASA transferred the title and ownership of the shuttle (yes, like a car) to the California Science Center, to the tune of a $1,980,674,785 valuation. (This was largely a donation, although the Science Center did pay for its transportation.)
“The most rewarding thing is watching the people that come through, of all ages, from little kids to senior citizens,” said Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center. “Everybody is absolutely thrilled, and I think the sense of awe and wonder that we wanted to create really works.”
A worker inspects the base of one of the solid rocket boosters beneath the space shuttle. During launch, two explosives embedded in the “hold-down nuts” here would detonate, splitting them in half and releasing the shuttle stack from the bolts that held it to the launchpad.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
You may remember the orbiter itself or the 154-foot orange fuel tank parading slowly through L.A.’s streets to reach their new home, in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Their voyages were iconic: The former piggybacked atop a Boeing 747, past the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory, before landing at LAX. The latter traversed the Panama Canal on a tugboat named the Shannon Dann, which rescued four fishermen off the coast of Baja California, tangerine behemoth and all.
That external tank, also known as an ET, was like a gas tank for the Endeavour. This one, ET-94, is the last flight-qualified external tank in existence. When full, it contains 1,629,577 pounds of propellants, as well as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, both of which are extremely cold materials.
In the heat and humidity of Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, that meant the shuttle stack would start to drip like a water bottle on a muggy day. “I equate it to the way a thoroughbred would be when you loaded them into a starting gate,” Olivas said. “The cryogenic material would cause the metal to creak and moan due to thermal contraction and thermal expansion. You hear all the hissing of the vent lines, and you hear all the support equipment essentially running to get ready for the launch, and it really came to life. That’s the one thing that you’re missing here.”
Astronaut Danny Olivas shows off the wide-open payload bay of the space shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle’s large cargo bay carried satellites, scientific instruments and other payloads into orbit and helped support missions to construct the International Space Station.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
That visceral hissing is basically the only thing not present at the Oschin Center. This shuttle stack sits in flight configuration, almost exactly as it would look on the cusp of liftoff, besides the yellow torque tubes lining the orbiter’s white shell like external ribs. Inside the Science Center, Endeavour’s payload bay doors are cracked wide open, like a car’s lifted hood — but they were built for space, not Earth’s gravity. Here, without the support of those yellow bars, the doors could warp or crumple.
You could get lost in the grandeur of the rocket boosters, full of solid rocket propellant like a firework, or the steampunk bell curve of the main engines, which shoot the spacecraft to more than 17,000 miles per hour in orbit. But each and every piece is incredibly important, as are the teams of people who made them. “There’s no insignificant or small part about space exploration,” Olivas said. “Every single thing has a role to play.”
The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry because of a piece of foam that the astronaut estimates might have weighed about as much as a Styrofoam container. In 1986, the Challenger exploded during launch because of a tiny rubber O-ring. Olivas himself hung off the end of Atlantis’ robotic arm (the Endeavour has one too) to close a 4-inch hole in the heat-shielding thermal blanket with a medical stapler (the flight surgeon’s idea).
Astronaut Danny Olivas watches a historical montage about the space shuttle program. Unlike previous spacecraft, “the space shuttle was essentially built to be a work platform,” he said, “so not only did it get astronauts into space, but once it got into space, it was reconfigured from a rocket ship or spaceship into an on-orbit work platform.”
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Nothing like that had ever happened before; there was no planned repair — so they innovated. Building a space shuttle (or fixing one) is a testament to what humanity can do when we put our minds to it, Olivas said. We can achieve that which has never even been imagined.
“You take this beautiful bird, and you dock to the space station, a colony that’s been formed in space, and was built since the first element was launched in 1998,” Olivas said. “Human beings have lived in space since the year 2000. It’s an oasis that we, as human beings, built.”
Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, when the spacecraft reaches orbital speed, the main engines cut off (this is called MECO). Just like that, everything’s floating. This particular astronaut turned to look at the bright blue planet below and thought: “When we work together, we can accomplish phenomenal things.” But we choose to focus on the things that make us different, he said. And in doing so, we find conflict.
“But yet, the 99.9999% of you, me, all of us here, we’re all the same,” Olivas said. “We all want the same thing: a happy, healthy life. From space, you look down at the Earth — the only border that you see is between the ocean and the land.”
Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ tour ended with a sold-out show in London. It brought together artists and activists calling for an end to suffering in Gaza, after Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour following pro-Palestinian remarks.
I can’t tell you exactly what time Phoebe Bridgers started her concert Friday night or exactly what time it ended. I’m reluctant to say which of her band members was dressed as a crocodile since I can’t check my memory against a photo.
Most regretfully, I can’t report the precise words Bridgers used to describe her difficult relationship with her late father as she introduced her song “Still Standing” — though I can say her language so quieted the thousands of people inside Inglewood’s Intuit Dome that it almost felt like you could hear her thinking.
The first of three hometown shows on Bridgers’ Lost Tour, Friday’s gig was a phone-free experience: As you walked into the arena, you surrendered your device to a venue employee, who locked it in a fabric pouch that would put you beyond the reach of the digital world, including your clock and your camera and your voice recorder, until you walked back out.
In her lengthy preamble to “Still Standing” — it’s a chilling highlight from the singer’s latest album, “Lost Weekend,” about how abuse can shape ideas of love — Bridgers thanked her fans for going along with the no-phones policy, which she framed as a necessary condition for performing such intimate material.
Had phones been allowed, she added, this very moment “would have been a TikTok video with someone who doesn’t like my face commenting on it.” (A quote that sharp I could easily remember.)
Widely expected to land multiple nominations for February’s Grammy Awards, “Lost Weekend” — which in addition to Bridgers’ dad’s death addresses the flowering of her romantic relationship with the comedian Bo Burnham — complements all the emotional bloodletting with a biting sense of humor. Friday’s show opened, as the album does, with “The Outside,” which ushers the listener into her dad’s funeral this way: “Crying in a suit and tie / But you should see the other guy / One more time for old time’s sake / I’ll watch him get carried away.”
At Intuit, after she brought out Billie Eilish to join her for her song “Savior Complex” — guaranteed Instagram content in any other circumstance — Bridgers said, “You don’t have your phones,” then added a literal “ha-ha.”
It’s anyone’s guess whether Bridgers would’ve been able to muster the deep feelings she put across Friday if she hadn’t banned the handheld computers whose bluish glow has become a ubiquitous feature of the concert landscape. For all her vulnerability on “Lost Weekend,” she remains a pro who’s been performing since she was a teenager; my suspicion is that she probably would’ve found a way to get there.
What I know is that she did get there: Wearing a Peter Pan costume the night before Halloween, Bridgers sang folky ballads like “Kill Me” and “The Governor’s Waltz” with a tenderness that belied a pretty tough view of her experiences over the last few years; relatively rowdy rock songs like “Bobby” and “Lost Boys,” meanwhile, crackled with an energy bordering on the ecstatic.
The show took place across a pair of stages: one beneath an illuminated dome that resembled either a spaceship or an old-fashioned greenhouse, the other a smaller circle positioned near the middle of the arena floor. Bridgers and her musicians (who’d dressed up as Tinker Bell and John and other Pan-related characters) moved a couple of times between the two, which was about it as elaborate as the production got.
Beyond Eilish, Bridgers welcomed the indie-pop band Muna, which did its song “Silk Chiffon,” and her younger brother, Jackson, who sang a vocal part in “I Can’t Wait” performed on the new album by Geese’s Cameron Winter. At the beginning of “Lost Weekend’s” title track, Bridgers had to futz with her keyboard when it didn’t do what she wanted.
“Of course, this happens at home,” she said.
In the audience, the lack of phones provided for a level of attention you could practically feel, never less so than in “As Above,” which she did after “Still Standing” and for which she centered herself alone at the base of a cone of light.
“I thought about my mom driving herself to the hospital,” she sang, green felt hat perched on her head, daring us not to turn away.
“THIS pub is considered one of the most haunted in the UK.”
My guide points to the first floor of the Ten Bells in East London’s Whitechapel – one of many stops on my unique small group Jack the Ripper walking tour.
London’s Jack the Ripper walking tour is a two-hour experience that is London’s fastest growing attractionCredit: GettyThe Ten Bells pub in East London’s Whitechapel is one of many stops on the tourCredit: Getty
Several of the Rippers’ victims were thought to have drunk here before being brutally murdered in 1888 and, despite almost 140 years having passed, the morbid fascination lives on.
Why such intrigue? It’s because the killer was never caught, making this one of the biggest unsolved whodunnits of all time.
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So popular has this two-hour experience become that its operator, Empire Tours, has recently announced that it’s their No. 1 attraction.
Who could have predicted the Ripper giving the royals a run for their money?
Be warned, though, this tour is not for the faint-hearted. The notorious serial killer is believed to have struck five times, butchering his victims’ bodies on nearly each occasion – and you’ll learn all the gory details.
Storytelling brings everything to life, discussing the who’s, how’s and where’s of each murder as we visit the crime scenes.
There are seven of us in total (group sizes are kept small), and when the guide shows images of the Ripper’s mutilated bodies, we gasp and gawp at the graphic horror.
The notorious serial killer is believed to have struck five times, butchering his victims’ bodies on nearly each occasionCredit: GettyStorytelling brings everything to life, discussing the who’s, how’s and where’s of each murder as we visit the crime scenesCredit: Getty
It’s an important reminder that, while much of this story is now cloaked in lore, these shocking murders were horrifyingly real. As we walk from Brick Lane to Spitalfields and the Square Mile, we also get a glimpse into Victorian society.
There were no equal rights for women back then and the Ripper’s victims were all female sex workers, alcoholics and vulnerable.
How did he get away with it? He dragged them all into dark alleys with no street lighting. No witnesses; nothing ever seen.
Newspapers at the time published what were likely hoax ‘Catch Me If You Can’ letters, written in blood and signed by someone purporting to be ‘Jack the Ripper’ – that’s how the name caught on. And more than a century later we’re still talking about him.
Aanand Mohapatra, from Empire Tours, says: “It’s a story that everyone has heard of and its sense of mystique makes people want to dive deeper.”
It’s not all blood and gore, however. Go on a Sunday and you’ll find Petticoat Lane’s market (open since the 1600s) in full swing.
You’ll see a less touristy side of the capital, too.
Where Whitechapel was once the poorest part of town, it’s now multicultural, vibey and trending.
For proper, spooky feels, however, this experience is best enjoyed in the dark.
And if ghosts and ghouls are your thing, then Halloween is the ideal time.
As well as seeing some of the UK’s most haunted pubs, you can try solving one of the world’s most enduring mysteries. If you dare . . .
GO: Jack the Ripper Walking Group Tour
GO: The two-hour Jack the Ripper Walking Group Tour runs every day and costs from £19pp.
Use the promo code SUN5 for a special £5 discount per paying guest. See empire-tp.com.
A tearful Harriet Dart said it “means the world” to qualify for her maiden WTA Tour singles final after battling past Chinese wildcard Sun Xinran in three sets at the Guangzhou Open.
The 30-year-old qualifier recovered from failing to serve out the first set to save multiple match points in the second before closing out a 5-7 7-6 (6-1) 6-0 victory in a little under two and a half hours.
Dart, who made her WTA Tour debut in Eastbourne in 2015, was playing in just her second tour-level singles semi-final, having previously reached the last four at the 2024 Transylvania Open.
The British number five will face fourth seed Lilli Tagger or Kaitlin Quevedo in Sunday’s final, knowing victory will secure her return to the top 100 in the WTA rankings. She has already climbed 14 places to 101st in the live standings.
“It’s been a really long journey. I’ve wanted it so much, so badly – sometimes too much. To finally be here means the world,” said Dart.
“I found it tough out there. It was a rollercoaster. Playing in this part of the competition, more nerves and more feelings come out. I was really battling with myself.
“I’m proud of the second set and was able to turn it quickly.”
Trailing 3-0 in the first set after hitting a double fault on break point in her opening service game, Dart fought back to lead 5-4, dictating points from the baseline during a run of four consecutive service games.
She was visibly frustrated after hitting another two double faults as she served for the set.
Reigning US Open junior champion Sun, 16, made no such mistake, holding to 15 before breaking Dart for a third time to clinch the opener.
Dart twice had her nose in front in the second set, breaking Sun in the first and fifth games, but was immediately broken back on both occasions.
However, she held her nerve as she was twice required to serve to stay in the match before storming through the tie-break 7-1, silencing the crowd she had repeatedly complained to the chair umpire about in the process.
With her opponent struggling emotionally and physically, including receiving a medical timeout for treatment on her left leg, Dart cruised through the decider without dropping a game, winning 28 of the 41 points.
GLASTONBURY fans reckon they’ve uncovered a major clue about a surprise headliner for next year’s festival.Credit: GettyRock legends U2 announced the UK and European dates of their massive new world tour yesterday, and eagle-eyed fans have already spotted a suspicious gap in their schedule.Credit: Getty
The Irish superstars, fronted by Bono, will perform at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 18 and 19, 2027.
But their next scheduled concert isn’t until June 30, when they head to Berlin’s Olympiastadion in Germany.
Meanwhile, speculation is already mounting over who will top the bill at Glastonbury 2027, with Harry Styles being on the wish listCredit: GettySam Fender is also rumoured to be performing at the festival when it returns next yearCredit: Getty
Taking to Reddit, one fan wrote: “I’ve just seen they are performing in London 18th and 19th June, then off to Germany on 30th. Maybe just a gap to add more shows or a glasto gap?”
Another replied: “Was literally about to post this.” A third insisted: “There’s no way they wouldn’t headline. They could do the secret pyramid set on the Saturday (the Foo Fighters / Pulp set).”
Their newly announced Greatest Show On Earth World Tour will take the band across Europe, with stops including Stockholm, Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Milan.
“We’ll play our November shows and then take our first break in 50 years.
“Thank you for all your support!”
One fan commented: “The hardest working band in rock!”
Another said: “Take your well deserved break from touring & enjoy some free time for yourselves. You are forever MY Band.”
Taking to Instagram. the group shared a statement informing their fans of this updateCredit: Instagram/cheaptrickThe group confirmed their decision was not due to health reasonsCredit: Getty
A third wrote: “Get some great rest. Its all good.
“Hope you have a wonderful break. Take care.”
A fourth shared: “Enjoy your well deserved break and time with your families.
“Looking forward to future shows!”
Throughout Cheap Trick’s history, they have released 21 studio albums, eight live albums and 20 compilation albums.
The rock group also have four extended plays, and 66 singles to their name.
Here’s everything to know about the UK dates and how you can get tickets.
Credit: AP
When are U2’s 2027 UK concerts?
So far the group has announced two UK stadium gigs:
18 June – London, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
19 June – London, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
U2’s full European dates
April 26 STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Strawberry Arena April 28 STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Strawberry Arena May 05 PARIS, France – Stade de France May 08 PARIS, France – Stade de France May 27 LISBON, Portugal – Estadio da Luz June 05 AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA June 06 AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA June 18 LONDON, UK – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium June 19 LONDON, UK – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium June 30 BERLIN, Germany – Olympiastadion July 05 MILAN, Italy – Stadio San Siro July 06 MILAN, Italy – Stadio San Siro
How to get tickets for the U2’s UK dates?
The Ticketmaster presale is taking place on Thursday, November 5 from 10am till 10pm. During the presale, you’ll be able to purchase up to 4 tickets per show.
In order to be part of the presale you must sign up via the Ticketmaster U2 presale page before 22.59 on Sunday, November 1.
Protecting this region from climate change is a theme of the King’s trip and was the focus of his visit to the Bonefish Pond National Park. The site was once a rubbish dump but has been redeveloped and now protects 1,235 acres of mangroves.
The King walked along a new boardwalk through the wetlands to see the conservation work being done to protect this vulnerable, low lying island from climate change.
He met students carrying out field work in the wetland waters asking them about their exams and ambitions to be marine biologists.
“We’ve so been looking forward to this,” said Joanne Smith, president of the Bahamas National Trust Council.
“We want more Bahamians to get involved in our national parks so they can use it to better themselves… we are so pleased to have the King here, this is really significant for us.”
Then it was on to the Junkanoo, where the King could be seen dancing alongside attendees dressed in feathered headdresses and bright costumes.
The history of the Junkanoo is not clear but it’s believed it emerged out of the slave trade when enslaved men and women were given time off to mark Christmas.
A small protest near the parade, which had activists holding placards with the words “Pay us what you owe us”,was moved on by the police.
The small group of protesters were from the Bahamas National Reparations Committee.
The King acknowledged the “great suffering of the past” when he first arrived in the Bahamas, as he faced calls for slavery reparations.
Noelle Nicholls, chair of the reparations committee, said :”We are demanding an apology for those crimes, and reparations for the harm that was done.”
Nicholls said the protesters’ presence “amidst the pomp and pageantry of the celebrations… are for us also a sombre occasion, because this is the King returning in a way that has still not atoned for the sins of the past.”
The King has confirmed that Commonwealth leaders will discuss the legacy of slavery at a major summit in Antigua next week.
The United Kingdom’s King Charles lll is travelling to the Bahamas on Tuesday, where he will begin a nine-day tour of the Caribbean.
The tour will take him to the Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda, where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from November 1-4.
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This comes as demands for reparations over Britain’s notorious role in the slave trade grow louder, and as the monarchy faces questions about its future in the region.
So what is the significance of this tour? And what does the Caribbean want?
Here’s what we know.
What’s on the itinerary?
King Charles will visit three countries in nine days.
His tour begins on Tuesday with the archipelagic country of the Bahamas, where he will be staying for three days.
Then he will make his way to Guyana, a former British colony that had more than 100,000 slaves when the trade was abolished in 1807.
After two days in Guyana, where he is expected to meet the president and elected leaders of Amerindian villages, he will head to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The meeting, from November 1-4, is expected to include discussions about the environment and trade and development, although the question of British reparations for slavery is also likely to feature.
What do the countries King Charles is visiting want?
Government officials in the Bahamas and in Antigua and Barbuda – both of which are part of the British Commonwealth with King Charles as their ultimate head of state – have signalled that they want to become republics. Guyana gained independence from the UK in 1966, and has a president as its head of state.
Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said in an interview with ITV News that while Charles “rightfully” recognised slavery as the “darkest days in human history” during a visit to Barbados in 2021 when he was still the prince of Wales, an apology should be his next step.
“You exploited the region. You destroyed lives. You created underdevelopment,” Ali said, in a reference to the lingering legacy of the British Empire and the slave trade.
In 2023, a Lord Ashcroft Poll revealed that 51 percent of surveyed respondents in the Bahamas wanted to become a republic, while 27 percent preferred to retain the British monarchy as head of state.
Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, was critical of the king ahead of his arrival. “Why do we still have a king? What does this person really represent to us? Why is he coming and how will that benefit us?” she asked.
King Charles III holds an audience with Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali at Buckingham Palace in London, England, on January 27, 2026 [File: Aaron Chown/Getty Images]
What do other countries in the Caribbean say about slavery?
Jamaica, which is not on the itinerary for this trip by King Charles, made its stance clear in September, when it filed a $10bn slavery reparations petition in London, addressing it to the king.
That was the first time a British Commonwealth state has taken legal action pursuing “the cause of reparatory justice”, as the Jamaican delegation called it.
The petition is due to be heard by a UK privy council in March next year. The UK has, so far, refused to formally apologise or pay reparations for slavery.
Also in September, Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretary-General Carla Barnett said reparations are “fundamentally about justice”.
“It is about recognition, accountability and transformation, and about building a just and equitable future for the descendants of those who, as the chattel of colonial owners, endured untold suffering, loss of life and freedom,” she said.
The transatlantic slave trade was recently declared the “gravest crime against humanity” in a United Nations resolution in March this year.
The last time a British royal visited Jamaica was when Prince William and Kate Middleton, then the duke and duchess of Cambridge, toured the island in 2022 during their Caribbean Platinum Jubilee tour.
The more memorable moment of the trip was when the couple was pictured shaking hands with Jamaican children with a fence separating them, which many criticised for being “tone-deaf”.
Duke of Cambridge Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge Catherine shake hands with children during a visit to Trench Town in Kingston, Jamaica in 2022 [Chris Jackson/Getty Images]
What’s likely to happen at the Commonwealth meeting?
The meeting in Antigua and Barbuda is expected to cover climate resilience as well as trade and development.
Leaders and representatives of 56 Commonwealth countries will be attending. Many want an apology for slavery from the king, but Buckingham Palace recently announced that will not be happening.
“The visit programme will…not shy away from ‘the darkest days of our past’, as his majesty has described them, but – in keeping with the wishes of our host nations – it will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country,” a palace spokesperson said in a statement.
The palace added that it is “important” to acknowledge the “creative” ways that Charles has tried to right “enduring inequalities”.
The chair of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, said the royal family and the UK government had failed to recognise the demands of those wanting reparations.
“I think it would be wrong to think that we can continue with platitudes. You’ve got ‘atrocity’, ‘deep regret’, ‘sorrow’, and now they’re going to say ‘darkest days’,” she said. “I think the king needs to realise that people wouldn’t keep raising it if what he was doing was anywhere near enough.
“You can tell that the Commonwealth means something to the monarchy, and I’m sure he would not want to be the monarch under which it crumbles.”
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