years

Hollyoaks star Haiesha Mistry, who played Yasmine Maalik on the Channel 4 show from 2017 until 2024, has landed a completely different kind of job two years after quitting the soap

Hollyoaks star Haiesha Mistry has landed a “normal job” two years after quitting the soap. The actress, 32, played Yasmine Maalik on the Channel 4 show from 2017 until 2024 and was part of several major storylines, even winning the British Soap Award for Best Single Episode in 2018 when her character was involved in a group self-harm plot.

But now, Haiesha has taken to social media to reveal that she has now found employment in a secondary school, although she did not go into too much detail about her new role.

Alongside a mirror selfie taken during the heatwave, she wrote on Instagram: “Spent the last 2 days working in a high school during the hottest days of the year.”

As part of her departure storyline, Yasmine decided to accept a new job in Canada, leaving the village and her husband Tom Cunningham behind after months of drama. Yazz had been talking to someone online unaware it was Tom pretending to be ‘Gordon’. He was gutted when he realised she had no idea it was him, and the pair clashed.

Tom then cheated on Yazz with his ex and her best pal Peri Lomax, while Yazz also kissed another character. But the biggest betrayal came when she was offered a huge job in Canada and Tom sabotaged it, or at least tried to.

Not wanting to lose her, Tom emailed the potential employer and pretended to be Yazz. He declined the job opportunity and did not tell his wife what he had done.

Yazz found out via the employer though, and confronted Tom during the vow renewal where she announced she wanted a divorce. She then confirmed to her loved ones that she planned to take the job and leave for Canada.

In sad scenes, the character said her goodbyes to her mother Misbah and her friends and family. She then had a final goodbye with Tom as they made amends, with Yazz getting into a taxi and starting her new life away from the village.

Hollyoaks marked Haiesha’s on-screen acting debut and whilst she took a break from the soap in 2021 to shoot the short film Mug, she has not appeared in any other television projects since she left completely.

When her exit scenes aired, Haiesha reflected on her time on the programme with an emotional Instagram post.

She said: “That’s a wrap. 2017-2024 7 years of Yazz Maalik/Yazz Cunningham complete! Yazz you have been my pride and joy for the last 7 years. You’ve taught me so, so much. I will never forget your sass! Especially in the last 2 episodes!

“Unmatched at every level! To the iconic beehive, all the creative hairstyles or the outfits that screamed sass, especially that ‘big bird’ yellow fluffy jacket! “Our make-up and costume ladies will know, the way I would go, ‘OH HERE SHE IS, YAZZ IS HERE’, you brought so much life and served looks every damn time!

“I’ve had so many incredible storylines over the years. Whether it’s the car crash stunt, school explosion, the tunnel of terror, the self-harm storyline, Yazz’s deafness, the historical rape or the ectopic pregnancy storyline to name a few. “Being on the show has taught me how important it is to tell stories and represent, especially that BROWN GIRL REPRESENTATION!

“To the Hollyoaks fans, the best there is. Thank you for loving and hating on Yazz. When I got those reactions, I knew I was doing my job right. It’s been a pleasure to keep you entertained. “Being part of the Hollyoaks family is something I will cherish forever but as the saying goes, all good things have to come to an end. Peace out Yazz.”

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The 250th anniversary of America’s liberation from a king kicked off with a campaign-style rally on the National Mall by President Trump, whose face already stares down from banners fluttering from federal buildings across the nation’s capital.

The images illustrate how the president has dominated daily life since returning to power, evoking more the style of a monarch than the leader of the world’s oldest democracy. But more than anything, it is how he has wielded that power that has led to comparisons of an imperial reign.

Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has nominated one of his personal lawyers to serve as attorney general, ordered the Department of Justice to pursue his political enemies, deployed the U.S. Marines to the nation’s second largest city and leveraged the presidency to enrich himself and his family.

He has demanded that comedians who mock him be fired, has slapped his name on the Kennedy Center, has pushed to seize control of elections, has filed lawsuits against news organizations whose coverage he disliked and has sued his own government seeking $10 billion in taxpayer money.

Trump also is the only convicted felon to hold the presidency, and a separate felony indictment over his attempts to keep himself in power after losing the 2020 election was dismissed only after he was reelected four years later despite those facts.

With the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding approaching, Trump’s own celebrations have overshadowed the bipartisan, congressionally authorized commission that was supposed to coordinate events commemorating the moment. He plans to return to the National Mall on July Fourth for what he calls a “Trump rally.”

The president’s actions have led to comparisons with King George III, the British monarch whose rule inspired the American Revolution. It is a parallel Trump rejects.

“I’m not a king,” he told CBS’ “60 Minutes” earlier this year. “If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you.”

A different view of the presidency

There is a long American political traditional of opponents reviling presidents as kings. But Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian, said the label fits differently on Trump.

“It’s more about how he imagines who is he and what the presidency is,” Zelizer said. “We’re celebrating founding principles, and that was a driving issue — fears of how a centralized power can be corrupted. And here we are again.”

When King Charles III visited Trump this year, the official White House X account posted an image of the two men with the caption “Two Kings.” At the start of his second term, Trump declared he had ended a New York City transportation program and posted: “LONG LIVE THE KING.” The posts also seemed to indicate a willingness to leverage the label and the reaction it provokes in his critics.

The main resistance movement in Trump’s second term has adopted the slogan “No Kings.” Ezra Levin of the group Indivisible said activists were thinking ahead to 2026 and the America 250 celebration when they chose the label.

“It looks like the same kind of tyranny we were rebelling against 250 years ago, the type of domination of Americans by a secret police force that’s murdering people in the streets like in Minneapolis this year and in Boston in 1770,” Levin said, referring to demonstrations against the administration’s immigration crackdown that led to the fatal shootings of two protesters this year by federal officers.

When asked for comment, the White House referred to Trump’s statements about his use of executive power. The president has weighed in multiple times defending his maximalist approach.

During his first term, he referred to Article II of the Constitution when he told participants in a youth summit, “I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” while declaring that it “gives me all of these rights at a level nobody has ever seen before.” He told the New York Times in an interview this year that the only check on his global power was “my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Yet he also has said that portrayals of his approach as authoritarian were wrong: “I’m not a dictator,” he told reporters last year. In response to a question about whether he was concentrating power in the presidency, Trump told Time in an interview last year, “I don’t think so. I think I’m using it properly, and I’m also using it as per my election.”

Supreme Court has sided with him

With a deferential, Republican-controlled Congress, courts have become the last check on Trump. The president has harshly criticized judges who have ruled against him, and his administration has sometimes defied their orders.

Yet his quest to expand presidential power has been aided by the conservative majority — including three of his appointees — on the U.S. Supreme Court, which has sided with Trump numerous times after lower court rulings hampered him.

In the middle of his 2024 campaign, the high court ruled that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. The decision derailed multiple investigations stemming from Trump’s first term, including the one focused on his attempts to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Trump has argued the courts cannot constrain the president on key issues, including his claims that he has the ability to fire members of independent agencies. The most notorious example was in 2024, when a judge asked during the immunity case whether a president could be prosecuted for ordering the assassination of a political rival. Trump’s lawyer, D. John Sauer, answered with a “qualified yes.”

Sauer is now solicitor general, the administration official who oversees arguments before the high court. He has continued to insist that courts cannot review presidential acts.

“Once the president has made a determination … at that point, there’s no work for the reviewing court to do,” Sauer said during Supreme Court arguments in a case over whether Trump could fire Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor.

But the Supreme Court has allowed Cook to remain on the board while it considers the case. The majority also slapped down his global tariffs, finding that only Congress had the authority to impose them.

Such rulings demonstrate that presidential power does have its limits, according to John Yoo, a conservative law professor at UC Berkeley who served in the George W. Bush administration.

“The presidency today, even when colored by President Trump’s worst excesses, is not a monarchy,” he said.

Direct financial enrichment

Trump was the richest man to ever become president. During his first term, he was criticized for owning properties where foreign dignitaries and others hoping to curry his favor spent lavishly. The conflicts of interest have escalated in his second term.

Trump launched cryptocurrencies before and after returning to office. By conservative estimates, one has pulled in $320 million this year alone, while another sold $550 million worth of tokens. A third received a $2-billion investment from a foreign wealth fund.

Trump took a new step earlier this year, filing a private $10-billion lawsuit against the IRS for the leak of his tax returns during his first term. His Department of Justice directed the IRS to settle the litigation to create a $1.776-billion fund to pay damages to people who claimed the federal government unfairly prosecuted them.

The administration pulled back the settlement amid an outcry from congressional Democrats and some Republicans. But Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump who is now acting attorney general, said at least one provision remains — a ban on the IRS auditing Trump.

Zelizer said Trump’s financial entanglements might be the most monarchical part of his administration.

“We have not seen a person who has a business operation of this scale and scope benefiting directly from the decisions he makes,” Zelizer said.

Targeting political rivals

The Justice Department’s role in the IRS lawsuit is one example of how Trump has decreed that executive branch employees should act as agents of his will.

In breaching what is supposed to be a firewall between the White House and Justice Department, Trump has demanded that federal prosecutors target his foes. In one social media post last year, he called out by name Pam Bondi, who was attorney general at the time, in pushing her to prosecute several of his political opponents: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Trump wrote.

Indictments followed shortly after, including against former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James. The charges against both eventually were dismissed, but the department under Blanche filed new charges against Comey.

The pursuit is not limited to Trump enemies of the past.

For his 80th birthday this month, the president hosted a fight held by UFC — a company he invested in — on the White House lawn. The event was broadcast on a network owned by the son of one of the president’s major donors. The spectacle drew a rebuke from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a persistent critic and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

“The White House was built to serve the American people. Tonight it was used to promote a company the President owns stock in, sell subscriptions, promote corporate sponsors, push Trump crypto, and enrich the President and his family,” Newsom wrote on X. “The founders warned us about kings enriching themselves from public office.”

Days later, Newsom disclosed that Trump’s Department of Justice was investigating him and his wife.

Riccardi writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.

COURTENEY Cox has split from her Snow Patrol partner Johnny McDaid.

The Friends star’s decade-long relationship with the musician quietly ended last year, it has been reported.

The pair – who were engaged – met in 2013 after being introduced through their mutual friend, pop star Ed Sheeran.

In recent years they had been splitting their time between the US and the UK, which led them to live “different lives” before the break up.

A friend told The Mail on Sunday: “Johnny speaks incredibly highly of Courteney.

“They had a very deep relationship and they remain extremely amicable. They are great friends and care about each other very much.”

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They former couple were last photographed together at the US Open in September.

In the month before, they were spotted on a double date in Malibu, California, Jennifer Aniston and her boyfriend Jim Curtis.

The insider added: “This was not an ugly split.

“They had simply reached a point where they were living different lives.”

Johnny is believed to be in the early stages of a new relationship.

Courteney shares a daughter, Coco, with her ex-husband and Scream co-star David Arquette.

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to seven years in prison for taking expensive gifts in return for job appointments and business favors.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence to Kim, the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, after she was indicted on charges of accepting bribes for mediation, including over 100 million won (US$64,750) worth of jewelry in exchange for a government job for a son-in-law of a construction company chairman.

In total, she was charged with taking approximately 300 million won worth of gifts, and the court found her guilty on all counts.

“The defendant disregarded the social responsibilities associated with the position of first lady and used it merely as a means to pursue her private interests,” presiding judge Cho Sun-pyo said during the hearing, which was televised live.

Kim was indicted in December on charges of receiving a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and other jewelry from the construction company chairman between March and May 2022; a golden turtle ornament in April 2022 from Lee Bae-yong, former head of the National Education Commission, in exchange for her appointment; a Dior bag worth 5.4 million won from a pastor the same year; and a Vacheron Constantin watch from another businessperson in September 2022.

In February 2023, she was accused of receiving a painting by renowned artist Lee Ufan from a former prosecutor in return for her help in securing him a nomination for an election.

The exchanges mostly took place during the period her husband was in office from May 2022 until his ouster in April 2025.

The judge said Kim sought to evade responsibility for her crimes by returning some of the gifts once an investigation got under way or arguing she had purchased them herself.

“This shows that she was fully aware of the illegality of her actions but tried to conceal it,” he said.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team, which had demanded a 7 1/2-year prison term, welcomed the ruling. Kim’s lawyers said they would appeal.

The court also sentenced the construction company chairman to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, the businessperson who gifted the watch to a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years, and the pastor to a fine of 8 million won.

The former first lady has already been sentenced by an appeals court to four years in prison in a separate corruption case.

She is also set to stand trial over her alleged involvement in a case where members of the Unification Church were reportedly forced to join the now main opposition People Power Party ahead of the 2022 presidential election in an attempt to influence the outcome of the party primary to pick its presidential candidate, which her husband Yoon won.

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AN ICONIC music festival will host its final line-up this summer – after more than 18 years of hosting performers.

This marks a blow for residents as the county’s biggest festival comes to an end.

Nottingham’s Splendour festival will run for a final weekend next month, as the festival is set to be closed permanently.

The decision comes after organisers said they faced challenges within the current festival market, and have struggled to manage “the cost of staging events”.

Launched in 2008, Nottinghamshire’s biggest festival hosted a number of well-known performers throughout its run, including the likes of Noel Gallagher and Calvin Harris.

It regularly drew in crowds of up to 25,000, and had expanded into a two-day event in 2022.

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Now, the final show will take place from July 18 to 19 in Wollaton Park, with The Wombats, Primal Scream and Snow Patrol performing as headline acts.

George Akins, DHP Family managing director, said: “Like many independent festivals, Splendour has had to navigate a very different landscape in recent years, with the cost of staging events rising sharply at the same time as household budgets have come under pressure and the festival market has become much more crowded.

“After a lot of careful thought, we feel the right thing to do is to make this year a proper celebration of everything Splendour has meant to Nottingham and give it the send-off it deserves.”

Local artists, including Nottingham act Jake Bugg, had often used Splendour as a springboard for their careers.

To mark the final edition, organisers launched a two-for-one ticket offer on general admission day tickets.

Akins added: “Thanks to everyone for your loyalty and support over the years, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

NEW wave icon Gary Numan has opened up about getting together with his superfan wife – and how it might be ‘illegal’ now.

The Cars singer, 68 – who has been married to Gemma O’Neill, 58, for nearly three decades – met his future spouse in an unconventional way.

The singer first ran into superfan Gemma at an event when he was a 22-year-old artist and she was a young admirer.

Six years later, he posed for a picture with the then 18-year-old and knew to pen it straight to “Gemma”.

Following the sudden loss of O’Neill’s mum, the familiar fan vanished from the crowd at his gigs.

Worried about her, Numan managed to get her number through his fan club to ring her up and make sure she was ok.

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“I used the fan club to get her phone number.

“That’s how I attracted her, which I think is illegal now,” he told The Times.

The star continued: “I rang her up and said, ‘Hello, it’s me,’ and she put the phone down – she thought it was somebody playing a cruel trick.”

He called again and was made to prove his identity.

Numan invited her along for a drive for a radio interview – where they had their first date.

He said: “I took her to a Little Chef because I’m very down to earth.

“I don’t do all that flash, rich man, pop star stuff.”

Gary and Gemma didn’t start their relationship until she was in her twenties.

In 1997, Gary married superfan Gemma from Sidcup and they share three daughters; Raven, 23, Persia, 21, and 19-year-old Echo.

His daughter Persia also added vocals to his song My Name Is Ruin.

Numan revealed that Gemma once told a career advisor: “I won’t need a job. I’m going to marry Gary Numan.”

Gary previously said of their relationship: “This is going to sound corny, given that it’s 30 years and four days since our first date, but I miss her even when she’s in a different part of the house.

“She’s everything I am not – which is most things, really.”

The singer, songwriter – who has an estimated net worth of around £5.5 million – toured last year to celebrate the 45th anniversary of his seminal album Telekon.

Sadly, he suffered the traumatic loss of his beloved younger brother John just after his show in Leeds – which he called the ‘worst news of my life’.

A LOW-COST airline with cheap long-haul flights is returning to the UK after more than a decade.

AirAsia X, a Malaysian airline, used to operate budget long-haul flights from Kuala Lumpur to London but the service stopped in 2012.

However, the airline has confirmed it will relaunch flights from London Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur via Bahrain.

Flights will be on an Airbus A330-300, which with AirAsia X holds between 285 and 377 passengers.

The stopover in Bahrain helps to keep costs low, as does flying from London Gatwick as opposed to London Heathrow.

Travelling from Kuala Lumpur, flights will leave late at night before stopping in Bahrain for two hours and then arriving into London Gatwick at around 7:30am the next morning.

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The route was due to launch tomorrow, however that date has been postponed by two months due to the conflict in the Middle East.

Flights will now launch on August 27, operating four times a week until November 2, where flights will then take place daily, according to Air Traveler Club.

The airline has also confirmed that tickets will be getting cheaper as fuel costs ease.

Pierre-Hugues Schmit, Chief Executive, London Gatwick previously said: “The arrival of AirAsia X and flights to Kuala Lumpur is fantastic news for London Gatwick passengers.

“The new daily service will provide excellent opportunities to visit the city or onward connectivity across the region – ideal for holidaymakers, businesses and the many British‑Malaysian families who will now have even better options for visiting friends and relatives.”

Bo Lingam, Group Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia X added: “Our return to London marks a significant milestone for AirAsia X and we’re excited to commence our operations at London Gatwick this June.”

Two years after deadly Gen Z protests forced Kenya’s government to withdraw a tax bill, lawmakers have approved another controversial package of financial measures. President William Ruto’s administration says it is needed to raise $770 million ahead of the 2027 elections.
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The 2004 drama balances comedy with timely social commentary

Netflix fans are completely hooked on a gritty sports drama that came out over 22 years ago.

The streaming giant’s most-watched charts are currently dominated by recent releases, including hit romcom Voicemails for Isabelle and chilling documentary Maternal Instinct.

But UK viewers are also streaming 2004 sports drama The Football Factory, which is no surprise considering all eyes are on the FIFA World Cup.

Directed by Nick Love, the film is presently sitting at Number 9 on the trending list. It focuses on a devoted Chelsea football hooligan called Tommy Johnson (played by Danny Dyer).

Tommy and his friends spend their days drinking, womanising, using drugs and “occasionally kicking the f*** out of someone”.

But the sports fan is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle when one of his football-fuelled fights leads to serious consequences.

Adapted from John King’s 1997 novel, the story touches on important themes such as young men’s search for belonging, as well as their frustration with unfair socio-economic systems. It also offers insight into escapism through drug and alcohol abuse.

While Dyer is the face of this film, he is joined by other recognisable stars. One of his most notable co-stars is Tamer Hassan, who Love Island fans will know as recent All Stars contestant Belle Hassan’s dad.

He plays Fred, a Milwall hooligan and arch enemy of the Chelsea club.

Fans have been raving about the noughties drama for years. “One of the best football films,” said one Rotten Tomatoes user.

Someone else praised: “10/10 – Brilliant film! Easily in my top 5 favourite movies. A must see for football fans.”

While another said: “One of the best English films you will ever see for sure, got everything in it! now this is funny and gripping!”

Yet another film fanatic shared their verdict on IMDb: “It’s top drawer entertainment and better than most of the garbage that fills your DVD store. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes realistic and gritty films, and doesn’t mind occasional stomach turning violence.”

And a final moviegoer insisted: “I can honestly say this is by far the best British film I’ve ever seen.”

The Football Factory is now on Netflix

Both Austin Reaves and the Lakers have always stated their desire to continue their relationship that started when he was an undrafted prospect five years ago.

They will.

Reaves intends to re-sign with the Lakers for a maximum deal of four years and $185-million, people not authorized to speak on the matter confirmed to The Times on Wednesday.

Reaves opted out of his deal that was to pay him $14.8 million next season and would have become one of the top free agents on the market.

Instead, he will sign the richest contract in NBA history for an undrafted player. The deal also includes a player option for the final season in 2029-30.

Reaves’ representatives and the Lakers began working together on a deal in recent days when teams were able to negotiate with their own free agents at the conclusion of the NBA Finals.

Reaves, 28, will earn about $46 million per season, starting with making $41.3 million in the first year.

After the Lakers lost in the second round of the playoffs to Oklahoma City, Reaves had this to say when asked about his future and returning to the Lakers.

“I’ve been around for five years and y’all I would say, but I don’t think about (it) much,” Reaves said. “I take life day by day and I’m just blessed to have an opportunity to play for this organization, play a kid’s game. I make good money. But like I said, I don’t think about what I’m really going to do in the future, just day-by-day.”

The Lakers, on the other hand, made it clear that they wanted Reaves back.

The Lakers were aware that several teams, including Brooklyn and Detroit, had expressed interest in Reaves, and L.A. didn’t want to let him get away, making sure they didn’t by agreeing to a deal to keep him.

During his exit interview with the media last month, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka spoke about Reaves.

“He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the purple and gold. As you know, there’s rules and timing to all of that but I think both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”

Reaves averaged career highs in points (23.3) and rebounds (4.7) last season, and 5.5 assists.

But he appeared in a career-low 51 games, a calf and oblique injuries keeping him out of games.

He missed the last five regular-season games with the oblique injury suffered on April 2 at Oklahoma City and the first four first-round playoff games against the Rockets. But he worked hard to return in the last two postseason games against the Rockets and the four against the Thunder.

In those six playoff games, Reaves averaged 20.0 points, 5.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds and shot 40.7% from the field, 25.7% from three-point range.

“That’s the beautiful thing about basketball is there’s always opportunities and areas that you can continue to grow,” Reaves said during his exit interview. “You’re never going to be complete in the full game. So, I’ll take some time off, get back in the gym and continue to get better.”

The number of babies born in South Korea shot up 18 percent in April from a year earlier, reaching the highest level in seven years, government data showed Wednesday.

A total of 24,521 babies were born in April, up from 20,787 a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marked the highest figure for any April since 26,104 babies were recorded in 2019.

Over the January-April period, the total number of births came to 99,534, also the highest in seven years, up a sharp 15.5 percent from a year earlier.

The number of births grew at a record rate for both April and the January-April period.

The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose by 0.13 from a year earlier to 0.93 in April.

The number of newborns has been on an upward trend since July 2024.

Experts attribute the recent growth to an increase in the number of marriages, along with a more positive perception of childbirth.

The rate still remains well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

The number of marriages in April rose 9 percent from a year earlier to 20,622. It was also the highest figure since 22,844 was recorded in April 2016.

The number of divorces, meanwhile, rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier to 7,829.

The data showed the number of deaths fell 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 28,405, resulting in a natural population decline of 3,884.

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ROCK legend Jack White is heading for divorce court after wife Olivia Jean made explosive claims about their whirlwind marriage in newly filed legal documents. 

Singer-songwriter Olivia accused her rocker husband of “inappropriate marital conduct” in the shocking divorce filing.  

The docs were submitted on June 3, with Olivia marking that same date as the couple’s official split after three years of marriage, TMZ first reported.

In the petition, she claimed Jack’s alleged behavior made “further cohabitation unsafe and improper,” though no additional details were outlined.

Olivia is also seeking spousal support, saying she relies on Jack financially to cover her bills, and has asked that she remain on his life insurance policy as the divorce moves forward.

The breakup marks the end of a wild relationship that played out as dramatically as it began.

Jack, 50, and Olivia, 36, infamously got engaged and married onstage in April 2022 during one of his concerts at Detroit’s Masonic Temple – in front of a stunned and confused crowd. 

The spontaneous ceremony came after the pair performed The White Stripes hit Hotel Yorba together, with Jack dropping to one knee mid-show before a minister walked onstage moments later.

Their relationship had a long history far before the wedding bells rang.

Olivia, who signed to Jack’s Third Man Records in 2009, first met him through the music industry. 

She fronted gothic garage-rock band The Black Belles and later built a solo career while remaining close to Jack professionally. 

The pair kept much of their romance under wraps, with Olivia later revealing they were friends for years before becoming a couple.

As for Jack’s personal life, the split adds another chapter to his famously complicated romantic history.

The rocker was first married to Meg White from 1996 to 2000 – and famously took her last name, which he still uses professionally. 

Even after divorcing, the pair continued performing together in The White Stripes and publicly maintained for years that they were siblings rather than ex-spouses.

He later married model and singer Karen Elson in 2005. 

Their split in 2011 appeared amicable – so much so they threw a “divorce party” to celebrate the end of their marriage. 

The exes share two children together: Scarlett and Henry.

Known for fiercely guarding his private life, the typically recluse Jack has rarely spoken publicly about his relationships, often insisting his music should speak louder than his personal drama.

Jack has not yet spoken out about Olivia’s claims but if his past is any indicator, he may once again let the music do the talking.

A FRIEND of Brooklyn Beckham has spoken out on his heartbreaking fallout with his famous parents – and revealed hopes that the feud will be resolved.

The Beckham feud has been rumbling on for over a year now, largely punctuated by a bombshell statement Brooklyn posted to his Instagram story.

The tell-all statement took the internet by storm, calling out David and Victoria for their ‘performative’ and ‘controlling’ behaviour.

But Brooklyn’s pal DJ Fat Tony (real name Tony Marnoch) believes that an olive branch is still yet to come, and has faith that all will be well with the Beckham clan again.

Speaking to Closer magazine, Tony shared: “I hope that they do sort it out, I really do, for all of their sakes.

“I think they will – of course they will. Like all family feuds, there comes a point where you think, ‘Well, what is this about?’

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“But it’s not for me to say, ‘She was wrong, he was right.’ It’s not my business.”

Tony also shared how he tried to correct the misinterpretation of what happened at Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz‘s wedding.

The duo claimed Victoria was dancing inappropriately and grinding on him during the big day, causing humiliation.

But Tony said: “Brooklyn is a friend of mine, and so is Nicola. I went on This Morning to change the narrative.

“The word ‘inappropriate’ was misused. Everyone thought that Victoria was slut-dropping – there was no slut-dropping.

“I wasn’t on there to take down the Beckhams. No one needs to do that. It’s a family and it’s a really sad situation.”

His comments come amid Brooklyn’s fresh frustrations with his parents after they posted photos of him in commemoration of Father’s Day.

Brooklyn has previously instructed his parents not to post photos of him anymore or to tag him in pictures.

But this request has been broken multiple times, leading to Brooklyn blocking his family online.

He found out about the Father’s Day snaps through friends and the media.

His wife Nicola also appeared to take a swipe back, sharing a cryptic quote to her Instagram story that read:  “I am in love with this sentence: “Forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach.””

Julie Hayden and Gail Gregory, the self-proclaimed ‘dementia rebels’, appeared on This Morning to share their experiences of living with dementia and challenge misconceptions about the condition

Two women determined to challenge the stigma surrounding dementia have shared their personal journeys living with the condition.

Julie Hayden and Gail Gregory, the self-proclaimed ‘dementia rebels,’ featured on Tuesday’s This Morning to mark Alzheimer’s Society’s Forget Me Not month.

Chatting to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley, Gail, from Lancashire, disclosed she had received her diagnosis in 2019 aged 54, and was informed at the time she only had six to seven years to live.

“I was running my own business, and we’d noticed changes with my personality,” she explained. “I had an embroidery business like teddy bears and clothing, and we put personalised messages on, and I was taking a lot of information in which I wasn’t retaining. So when people were placing orders, I was having trouble retaining information, so I was making mistakes, which we put down to stress at the beginning because we had just moved.

“As you do, you put things off, and you think it’s going to get better, but it doesn’t get better, it goes worse, and so other things start to creep in,” reports Lancs Live.

Eventually, Gail chose to consult a medical professional and described the assessments she underwent at the doctor’s that proved challenging, such as drawing a clock face, “getting the numbers muddled up,” and attempting to recall an address.

Reflecting on that moment, she said: “You realise there’s something wrong. It’s then that it’s reality, that there’s something wrong. But what, you don’t know.

“Nobody tells you it’s going to be dementia, and you don’t imagine it’s going to be dementia, especially not at the age of 54.

“This is where the perception is wrong. Everybody expects it to be an older person in their later years, what they don’t expect is that people younger than me have been diagnosed, there are even children diagnosed.

“It’s that perception we need to change, because it’s not the end of life, it’s the beginning of a new one.”

Julie also revealed how she had been suffering from “life-changing” symptoms for more than five years when she was diagnosed, but was dismissed by the doctors.

She was told she was depressed and going through menopause, and it took Julie more than five years for a diagnosis.

Julie and Gail are now both supporting other people with dementia, particularly younger people, and fighting back against the stigma of people living with the condition.

As she urged for more training and information to support doctors, Julie said, “I can’t tell you what it’s like to live with cancer and go through the treatments because I’ve never been there. Nobody can tell you what it’s like to live with dementia unless they’ve actually lived with it.”

She added, “I had huge surprises as to what it was like, compared to how I thought it was going to be like when I got my own.”

Sharing her gratitude for the support they’ve both received from friends, family and those spreading awareness, Gail read: “A diagnosis of dementia, it can change many things but it should never, ever change our worth.

“We don’t need pity, and we don’t need to be pushed aside, because we need understanding and support and the opportunity to continue to live our lives with purpose, dignity, and connection.”

She added, “When I got my diagnosis, they said to me I would have six to seven years to live. I’m in those years now, and I’m still going, and what people should be saying to us is, go outside and live your life. Do the things that you want to do because that’s what life’s about at the end of the day, it’s about living.”

She continued: “I’m very grateful for dementia, because dementia has made me calm down. It’s made me appreciate the things that we have, like nature and things like that; it’s been wonderful. We get so many opportunities that we wouldn’t even dream of having, like coming here today, it’s wonderful.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.

For more information, visit https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/

Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has been banned for four years for refusing an anti-doping test last year.

Vondrousova, 26, was charged by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) after denying a doping control officer entry to her home to conduct the test in December 2025.

The Czech player said in April she feared for her safety when the officer called and said they failed to follow “protocol”.

But a tribunal determined Vondrousova, who became the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon women’s singles title in 2023, provided “no compelling justification” for refusing a test.

Vondrousova’s suspension will end on 21 June 2030.

More to follow.

A NOUGHTIES pop star looks unrecognisable 23 years after his controversial hit, as he braved the rain at a UK festival.

This US singer, now 54, shot to fame in a quirky Detroit rock band – but can you guess who he is?

The star in question is Dick Valentine, who is known for the band Electric Six, which he founded with friends from high school.

The band launched into the spotlight in the early noughties, and were known for their controversial song Gay Bar.

The tune was released in June 2003, and lead singer Dick, who’s real name is Tyler Spencer, has now revealed how he came up with the song.

Speaking in the rain at Download Festival, he told the Academy Music Group: “The real story, I was in a rock and roll bar. Okay, and so there’s ambient noise, there are people talking, there are drinks clinking.

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“In the background, on the jukebox, right, you’re hearing the song that they’re playing in the jukebox, but you can’t quite make out the lyrics.

“The song on the jukebox was Girl You Want by Devo, where the lyrics are, ‘She’s just a girl, just a girl, girl you want.’

“Those are the lyrics, those are the actual lyrics.”

Continuing with his story, Dick said: “But I thought he was saying, ‘She’s just a girl, just a girl in a gay bar.’

“And so I started singing that, and my friend was like, ‘No, no, no, what are you singing?’

“So then I’ve got this lyric now about a girl in a gay bar, right, I’ve got this, and it hasn’t been used, so now this is mine.

“So that was the genesis of it. It was just a misheard lyric in a pub, and it worked out really well for me!”

When Gay Bar was released over twenty years ago, the track certainly caused a stir.

While the song and music video got a lot of airplay the lyrics mentioning the Iraq war, which was ongoing at the time, were edited because they were perceived to have been offensive at the time.

Meanwhile, Electric Six shot to fame with their first single, Danger! High Voltage, which soared to No. 2 in the UK charts.

Along with Dick, the original line-up included Cory Martin on drums, Anthony Selph on lead guitar, Joe Frezza on rhythm guitar, and Steve Nawara on bass.

Over the years the band has experienced various changes in members, but Dick has always remained at the helm.

Electric Six continue to perform, and are currently on tour right now in the UK.

IT’S been five years since Britney Spears was released from her conservatorship following the Free Britney campaign, but insiders say the pop superstar is more lost than ever. 

In recent months alone Britney, 44, has been arrested for a DUI and faced accusations of bizarre behaviour including making barking sounds at a restaurant and brandishing a knife. 

It’s a far cry from the 16-year-old who took over the world in 1998 with her debut single Baby One More Time, which catapulted her to instant worldwide fame. 

She should be living life on her own terms after 14 years under the heavy surveillance of her dad Jamie Spears. But The Sun understands that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

An insider said: “Some people close to Britney can’t help wondering whether she’s actually happier now than she was then.

“The sad reality is that she seems incredibly isolated. She spends most of her time at home and her world has become smaller and smaller over the years. 

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“Those around her would love to see her thriving, but instead they worry she’s become increasingly detached from everyone else.”

In 2023, Britney split from her third husband Sam Asghari – less than a year after tying the knot – and we’re told the break-up had a huge impact on the mum-of-two.

She shares Sean Preston, 20, and Jayden James, 19, with ex-husband Kevin  Federline and has struggled with a strained relationship with her sons for years. 

Our source said: “The divorce hit her hard and she hasn’t appeared to find the stability or companionship she craves and desperately needs. 

“Her relationship with her sons has also been a source of sadness over the years, and those closest to her know how much that weighs on her.

“People are worried rather than reassured, especially when they see her on social media. The videos and posts leave people concerned and scratching their heads, it looks like we’re seeing someone who is still struggling.”

Despite being one of the best-selling music artists of all time, Britney left fans gutted in 2022 when she insisted she’ll “probably never perform again”. 

She said on social media at the time: “I’m pretty traumatized for life and yes I’m p****d as f**k and no I probably won’t perform again just because I’m stubborn and I will make my point.”

And it’s the lack of ambition for performing – something she once thrived on – that has pals seriously concerned and wondering what she’ll do with her life if she doesn’t return to the stage. 

“The overwhelming feeling among those who care about her is sadness,” our insider said. “Nobody is questioning her right to live life on her own terms, but there are fears that she’s still searching for happiness and hasn’t found the peace that everyone hoped freedom would bring. 

“They look at Britney and see a woman who appears deeply lonely, increasingly disconnected and still trying to find her place in the world all these years later.”

WHILE theme parks across the UK are opening back up for the summer, a popular attraction in Japan remains shut after two decades.

The once popular Wild West land closed its gates for the last time in 2007, remaining frozen in time ever since.

Located in Nikko, around two hours drive from Tokyo, Western Village was once home to a bustling arcade and entertainment park, designed to resemble the American Frontier.

However, the once-buzzing family establishment is now only visited by urban explorers.

The park first opened its doors in 1973 as a small attraction called Kinugawa Family Ranch, offering guests a range of outdoor activities including fishing and horse riding.

Just two years later, the site was rebranded as Western Village, attracting tourists from all over the world with its impressive recreating of a 19th Century frontier town.

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The attraction included an old-timey bank, barber shop, sheriff’s office and general store, as well as arcades and animatronic displays.

Live stunt shows also took place at the park, with actors reenacting gunfights between cowboys and outlaws.

There was also a train that took visitors around the park which was often subject to a staged robbery by the park’s resident outlaws.

In 1995, the park added a £20million replica of Mount Rushmore, which measured one-third of the real thing and was even carved into the landscape.

Despite the park’s initial success, it eventually began to lose out to larger, better located competitors such as Universal Studios Japan and Tokyo Disneyland.

In 2007, Western Village shut its doors for the last time, with many sections remaining untouched in the years since.

From arcade machines and eerie animatronics covered in dust to bottles still sitting on tables, the entire park has a creepy abandoned feel to it.

The park has remained a source of fascination for those visiting the area, particularly urban explorers.

According to the website Offbeat Japan, the replica Rushmore is still attracting visitors in 2026.

The outlet reported that tourists “have to come back to check it isn’t a hallucination”, adding that what remains of the park is “now being demolished little by little”.

The classic Chicano film “Zoot Suit” is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year in style.

The Golden Globe-nominated movie, featuring a lead performance by Edward James Olmos, was based on a stage play penned by legendary screenwriter and director Luis Valdez, who drew inspiration from a pamphlet about the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the riots that it sparked.

On Thursday it was announced that the flick will be screened at The Ford amphitheater on July 8 to honor its notable benchmark and enduring legacy. The special screening will include a conversation with Valdez, Olmos and actor-educator Cristina Frías, who will discuss the movie’s production, influence and place in the L.A. film canon.

“‘Zoot Suit’ changed the way our stories could be seen on screen,” Olmos said in a statement. “It gave voice to a history that many people had never been taught and showed the beauty, strength and complexity of the Chicano experience. Forty-five years later, the film continues to inspire because it is about more than one moment in time. It is about identity, dignity and the responsibility we have to remember where we come from.”

The screening will also feature a vintage car show put on by the Pachuco Car Club, which will showcase the rides reminiscent of the time period shown in the movie.

In June 1943, L.A. was engulfed in the lawlessness and violence that became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. The name is misleading because it suggests that the zoot suiters — the young Mexican, Black and Filipino men and boys who wore the flamboyant outfits — were the perpetrators.

In fact, they were the victims.

The attacks by servicemen and white Angelenos on zoot suiters, derided as “gamin dandies” in The Times, were driven by prejudice and the anti-immigrant attitudes of the era. The roots of the unrest can be traced to events that occurred more than a year earlier — such as the incarceration of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor, as well as the murder of a young man, which was later known as the Sleepy Lagoon murder case.

In his 1981 review of the film, The Times’ former film critic Kevin Thomas praised Valdez’s direction and the strength of the cast.

“Valdez has captured well many of the elements of the era that contributed to the fate of the Sleepy Lagoon defendants — the sensationalist press, the feverish patriotism of wartime and the rampant bigotry directed at all minorities,” Thomas wrote. “At the same time, Valdez makes clear that various people outside the Mexican-American community helped in the struggle to mount an appeal for the Sleepy Lagoon defendants. And he questions the entire validity of the switch-bladed, cynical pachuco mystique as [Daniel Valdez’s] Henry comes to realize that El Pachuco [Olmos] is at once his best friend — and worst enemy.”

The original 1979 Broadway run of the “Zoot Suit” play catapulted Olmos to the national stage and led to him getting a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a play.

“It was a monumental moment in time, and we captured lightning in a bottle,” Olmos told The Times in 2023. “Not only did it change the course of Latinos in theater but it touched the very soul of the culture. It was catching the voice of the pachuco.”

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie will be back at the box office this weekend, delivering what could be the biggest film debut of the year.

Analysts expect the fifth installment of Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story” franchise will pull in at least $150 million in the U.S. and Canada, with some predicting as much as $175 million — either of which would set a franchise record, topping the nearly $121-million opening of 2019’s “Toy Story 4.”

A strong showing for “Toy Story 5” will further fuel a recovery of the box office this year from the post-pandemic doldrums.

Domestic ticket sales are up over last year, and Roth Capital Partners forecasts the second quarter will climb 6.5% to $2.8 billion — a post-pandemic high.

“Toy Story 5” is the first of several family tentpoles this summer, ahead of Universal and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” and Disney’s live-action “Moana.”

“Right now we’re on pace for the best opening of the year,” said Daniel Loria, editorial director at Box Office Co. “This is a performer.”

The timing also is fortuitous for Walt Disney Co. at a moment when its other once-reliable franchises such as “Star Wars” and Marvel have faltered. The recent “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” dropped sharply at the domestic box office after its late-May opening, bested by low-budget horror films “Backrooms” and “Obsession.”

“People love these characters from ‘Toy Story,’ ” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore. “It’s just as appealing as ever.”

Indeed, across four films and 30 years, “Toy Story” has grossed more than $3 billion worldwide. It is the most-watched franchise on Disney+, with more than 2 billion hours streamed. Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie have spawned 19 theme park rides, four themed lands, two hotels and roughly $1 billion a year in global retail sales.

The production budget for “Toy Story 5” is about $150 million to $200 million. A crew of about 300 people worked on the film at Pixar’s Emeryville, Calif., headquarters.

For Pixar, the reliance on “Toy Story” reflects a shift away from originals that used to be its lifeblood.

February’s “Hoppers” managed a respectable $372 million worldwide, but the surer money now comes from sequels.

“Inside Out 2” grossed nearly $1.7 billion in 2024, and both “Toy Story 4” and “Toy Story 3” crossed $1 billion globally.

Still, the franchise label is no guarantee: The 2022 spin-off “Lightyear” stalled at $226 million worldwide after straying from the formula, recasting Buzz as an actual sci-fi hero — voiced by Chris Evans rather than Tim Allen — and sidelining Woody and the rest of the gang.

“Toy Story 5” stays closer to home but wades into new territory: the explosion of tech in everyday life. The toys must contend with Lilypad, a tablet that captures the attention of their owner, Bonnie — a premise that grew out of a tech-toy character originally written for “Toy Story 4” and scrapped for time. Disney is betting the underlying tension is universal.

“What parent hasn’t had anxiety over tech versus toys with their kids?” said Andrew Cripps, head of theatrical distribution for Walt Disney Studios.

Disney is betting that this universal concern will drive audiences to the film.

The fifth installment also arrives with an unusually high-wattage assist: Taylor Swift wrote and performed an original song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” and made a surprise appearance at last week’s premiere, performing it after the credits before joining longtime franchise composer Randy Newman for “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”

“It means the world to me to be a small part of the universe of these films,” Swift told the crowd.

The expected blockbuster opening for “Toy Story 5” would be a full-circle moment for the long-standing franchise; Pixar animators in 1995 hadn’t even considered the possibility of a sequel while working on the first “Toy Story.”

“There was so much learned on that first film, specifically our iterative process,” Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter said in a phone call last week from Madrid, shortly before the film’s Spain premiere. “A lot of things that we discovered having worked on that film have just continued to inform every movie that we make.”

“Toy Story” revolutionized the movie business as the first computer-animated feature film. But its enduring appeal was in the bonds between the characters, Docter said.

Docter, who supervised animators and helped with character design and writing on the original “Toy Story,” added: “It certainly had some new technology, but it was really up to the story and characters to carry the audience.”

The franchise’s longevity is also due to its ability to capture generations of fans.

“Having parents now that say, ‘I grew up with “Toy Story,” and now I’m showing my kids,’ has been really gratifying,” Docter said.

The abandoned village was once home to 2,000 people who worked at the nearby Quarry – but in 1927, they were all relocated to a brand new village, leaving their old home to be reclaimed by nature

An entire village was created after all 2,000 of its residents were forced to up sticks and relocate. All that remains of what was once a bustling community are buildings completely reclaimed by nature, smothered in moss and vegetation.

The deserted village of Talysarn, nestled in the Nantlle Valley of Gwynedd, North Wales, is a former settlement that has been slowly swallowed up by the earth as the years have passed. It was once home to workers and industrial buildings serving the nearby Dorothea Quarry slate mine.

Throughout the 19th century, these mines provided a vital source of income for thousands of people across Wales, but as the quarries expanded, the village was forced to grow alongside them. Eventually, when 1927 arrived, the decision was taken to move thousands of residents to a brand new village built from scratch.

By the 1840s, production at Dorothea had climbed to a remarkable 5,000 tonnes annually, but output would soon soar even higher. By the 1870s, that figure had surged to more than 17,000 tonnes — well over three times what had been produced just 30 years earlier.

Despite the quarry’s seemingly promising future, it was plagued by severe flooding problems. This was tragically highlighted in 1884, when several men lost their lives after the pit was overwhelmed by water while they were working on site.

In response, the river was realigned and deepened to better manage the flow, and while this resolved the issue temporarily, it would go on to cause further problems further down the line. To combat the problem, a Cornish beam engine was constructed on the site to replace the waterwheels, and it still stands there to this day.

Indeed, this is one of the abandoned village’s most impressive sights — a towering structure with its original machinery still intact.

Another focal point of the old village is its 18th-century hall, which has remained untouched since 1946 and now stands as an ivy-covered building, heavily daubed with graffiti, its brickwork slowly crumbling away.

The abandoned village as a whole has become a hugely popular destination for avid explorers and walkers eager to unearth its secrets and snap an eerie photograph of the overgrown ruins. Today, the site sits within the UNESCO Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales and is protected as a piece of history, frozen in time.

Wild Guide Wales author Daniel Start wrote about what remains of the site, likening the ruins to a Welsh Angkor Wat. He said: “Only the baboons are missing. It’s a vast, wild site with many fascinating, overgrown ruins, including a Cornish beam engine and the overgrown remains of the chapel at Plas Talysarn.”

The quarry finally closed in 1970 and has since flooded, creating a lake reportedly exceeding 100m in depth in certain areas. This too forms part of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales World Heritage Site.

One visitor left spellbound by the village’s remnants is photographer Tony Harnett, who runs the website Gems of Snowdonia. He previously told WalesOnline: “I’d seen photos of Plas Talysarn and knew it was an interesting place, but I thought that’s all there was.

“When I went there, I did not expect to find so many other old buildings in the area. Some I just stumbled across, others I could see in the distance but didn’t have time to visit.

“I arrived late in the day, for the golden hour for photography, so I only had two hours there. But I could easily have stayed for the whole day, there’s so much to explore.”

MUSIC icon Jon Bon Jovi has revealed that he’s “fully recovered” four years after having vocal surgery to fix a damaged cord.

The Livin’ on a Prayer hitmaker, 64, previously said he would quit music if his singing continued to struggle after a vocal injury.

But now the singer has shared that after four years of vocal coaching and exercising his voice, he has “fully recovered”.

Bon Jovi said: “It was longer than I’d ever expected, but it had to be right. We never lost faith.”

He told People: “I’d often joked and said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose was my finger. I never did anything to hurt the cords; I didn’t have any excesses. I’m a trained vocalist. I’ve practiced the craft.

“So when a doctor had to explain to me that one of the cords was literally atrophying, it was confusing.”

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He praised keyboardist David Bryan, percussionist Everett Bradley, bassist Hugh McDonald, guitarist John Shanks, drummer Tico Torres and guitarist Phil X for standing by his side during his recovery.

“They never doubted [me] and never looked for work or decided to retire,” Bon Jovi said.

“The sacrifices that each one of them have made to be there for me is on a whole another level.”

The musician previously said that he would retire from music if his voice never recovered.

In 2024, he shared: “If the singing is not great, if I can’t be the guy I was, I’m done.

“And I’m good with that.”

Bon Jovi added: “There is a big difference between being in a studio and going out on the road.

“We have just recorded a new album. I sing in vocal therapy every day.

“But I want to perform for 2½ hours a night, four nights a week — and put it this way, I don’t ever need to be the fat Elvis.”