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BBC The Repair Shop expert speechless after guest details ‘guilt’ for ruining item

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Daily Mirror

The Repair Shop expert Will Kirk couldn’t believe how one guest had accidentally ruined a sports jersey.

The Repair Shop star quickly realised the mistake.

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On the BBC show, viewers saw Lloyd Richards enter the barn with his wife, Karen, as they had a very important item with them to get fixed.

Placing it down on the bench, The Repair Shop guest explained that the sports shirt had once belonged to his dad, Bryan Richards.

Admitting his ‘greatest regret’ was never getting to see him play, he told experts Will Kirk and textile conservator Rebecca Bissonnet more about his achievements, reports Wales Online.

Originally, his dad started off by representing Neath Rugby Club before making the move to Swansea, where he eventually became captain.

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His father also earned Barbarian honours and claimed his one and only Welsh cap against France in 1960.

Explaining his position as a fly-half, Lloyd shared that now those in that position wear the number 10, however his dad was the last Welsh international to play with the number six.

In a poignant moment, Lloyd revealed his father had died away in 2023 at the age of 91, underlining just how much the shirt now meant to the family.

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Recounting the shirt’s unfortunate fate, his wife Karen admitted that prior to having it framed, she had popped it in the washing machine.

Confessing she ‘forgot’ it was from the 1960s, the colour had run from the main part of the shirt to the collar, which she had tried to fix herself.

Realising that the state of the shirt was due to Karen, Will was speechless as his mouth dropped open.

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Learning that she’d used bleach to try and fix it, Will asked This is actually you?’

Karen was then emotional, reflecting on the mistake, admitting she felt ‘mortified’ and highlighting her ‘incredible guilt’ ever since.

Stating how hard Bryan had worked to get the jersey, she wanted the experts to be able to get it looking how it had originally by brining back the vibrancy of the red.

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Ultimately, Rebecca successfully restored the jersey when the couple returned to the barn shortly afterwards. Both were overwhelmed with emotion as Karen broke down in tears, describing their work as ‘amazing.’

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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Former Nickelodeon child star Christy Knowings dies aged 46

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Former Nickelodeon child star Christy Knowings dies aged 46

Former Nickelodeon star Christy Knowings has died at 46.

Knowings was hospitalized after an asthma attack that reportedly left her with brain damage. She was placed on life support and died Tuesday, as TMZ first reported.

She joined All That in late 1997 along with Leon Frierson and Danny Tamberelli. They starred in a cast that included Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, and Nickelodeon breakout star Amanda Bynes.

Knowings’ standout characters during her time on the sketch comedy show included news anchor Brenda Stone whose lucky pen had been stolen and Jessica the valley girl whose catchphrase was “whateverrr.”

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Her other Nickelodeon appearances included the Rosie O’Donnell sketch comedy pilot And Now This! and the game show Figure It Out.

Christy Knowings has died aged 46
Christy Knowings has died aged 46 (Instagram)

Knowings also appeared in three episodes of Sesame Street alongside her brother Chris Knowings, singing a duet about what it’s like to be a twin.

As a singer, she released her song “To the World” in 2020, calling it a “hauntingly gritty folk single” in a post shared on X.

In 2022, Knowings voiced her support for Bynes amid her fight to end her conservatorship.

“Awesome! I was able to push my schedule around, and I WILL be joining my fellow @AllThatOfficial cast member @leeboytv tomorrow! We will be there in support of our All That fam, @amandabynes as she takes this head on,” she wrote in a post on X.

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Just weeks before her death, Knowings shared on Instagram that she was to be honored by Black Beat Magazine.

Knowings became known for several sketch characters during her time on ‘All That’
Knowings became known for several sketch characters during her time on ‘All That’ (Nickelodeon)

“Honored to be featured as a Special Guest during the Black Beat Magazine Relaunch & BET Weekend Celebration. Looking forward to celebrating culture, music, and entertainment. See you June 28!” she wrote in the caption.

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That post is now filled with condolences from fans.

“You made lasting memories for many of our childhoods. Appreciate the laughs when I was young. God bless your family,” one fan commented while another wrote, “R.I.P. Thank you for being apart of my childhood!!”

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Rapid-fire earthquakes strike ‘America’s most dangerous fault line’ in California

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Four minor earthquakes have struck the California Bay Area on August 13

California has been struck by a series of rapid earthquakes erupting right along what experts call ‘America’s most dangerous’ fault line.

The first earthquake struck right in the heart of California’s Bay Area at 11.30am ET (8.30am local).

The US Geological Survey (USGS) initially measured it as a magnitude 4.1 earthquake just 14 miles from San Francisco. That measurement was quickly downgraded to a magnitude 3.8 tremor.

That quake was followed by three more tremors less than an hour later, striking in rapid succession between 12.07 and 12.38pm ET.

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Those aftershocks were measured at magnitude 3.0, 2.8 and 1.7, respectively.

The San Francisco-Bay Area is home to nearly eight million people. Thousands of people reported feeling the initial earthquake, with some reports coming in from as far away as Sacramento, roughly 75 miles east of San Francisco.

The earthquake swarm took place right along one of California’s most concerning seismic regions – the Hayward Fault.

The Hayward is a 74-mile-long fault line that is part of the massive San Andreas fault system. Like the more famous San Andreas, the Hayward is capable of producing a devastating earthquake stronger than 7.0 in magnitude and is considered extremely overdue for a major seismic event.

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Four minor earthquakes have struck the California Bay Area on August 13

USGS scientists have previously warned that an earthquake stronger than magnitude 6.7 has a 95 percent chance of striking near the Bay Area (Pictured) by 2043

USGS scientists have previously warned that an earthquake stronger than magnitude 6.7 has a 95 percent chance of striking near the Bay Area (Pictured) by 2043 

Thursday’s earthquakes produced relatively light shaking throughout the Bay Area, according to USGS.

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However, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train service in the area was stopped during the event and is now running with delays of up to 20 minutes throughout the rail system. No injuries have been reported.

The last time a major earthquake erupted along the Hayward was 158 years ago in 1868, but scientists have calculated that this fault typically ruptures every 95 to 183 years.

A team from California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said in a statement: ‘The fault is overdue for an earthquake that could cause extensive damage to such a dense population zone.’

An analysis by the University of California, Berkeley determined the Hayward fault has a 33 percent chance of rupturing and producing a major magnitude 6.7 earthquake or greater by 2043.

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Researchers at USGS have previously warned that there was a 72 percent chance of such a disaster striking the Bay Area in the next two decades, along the Hayward or another major fault in the area.

In recent days, however, geophysicist Stefan Burns has predicted that a major seismic event that devastates parts of California may be only months away.

Burns said during a YouTube livestream that the US West Coast was now firmly ‘in the crosshairs’ after multiple magnitude 7.0 earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia this summer.

The first, a magnitude 3.8 quake, was reported by thousands of residents from Sacramento to San Francisco

The first, a magnitude 3.8 quake, was reported by thousands of residents from Sacramento to San Francisco

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The scientist explained that energy released during the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Colombia’s San Jose Del Palmar earthquake on August 10 would not stay local.

Those seismic waves and stress changes travel through the Earth and can ‘load’ geological faults thousands of miles away with more pressure that will eventually cause more earthquakes.

Burns warned that the next six to 12 months would be a critical time, especially in California, as many mega earthquakes throughout recent history have occurred within months of each other.

‘It’s that six [month] to one year time frame that we’re worried about and if we get kind of past that then maybe we can start to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief,’ Burns said on Monday.

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‘But because we’ve been seeing so much activity in Northern California, it’s hard to rule out Northern California. So really all of California is problematic right now.’

According to ABC7, Thursday’s initial quake struck right under the Oakland Zoo, which sent chimps and parrots in a frenzy.

The zoo’s CEO, Nik Dehejia, said animals often feel low-frequency vibrations, such as minor earthquakes, even when humans do not.

This causes them to ‘vocalize,’ meaning the animals send out warnings of potential danger through sound.

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Experts say there WAS a real risk of assassination for Trump, with Turkey one of the most dangerous locations for Donald and ‘unthinkable’ consequences possible

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Catering trucks are parked at Air Force One on the tarmac as the motorcade carrying President Donald Trump arrives on the tarmac to depart following the NATO summit

Military experts have told the Daily Mail that there was a real risk of assassination for Donald Trump following Israeli intel that the Islamic Republic had planned to kill the US president in Turkey last month.

New details have emerged about how Trump was smuggled off Air Force One and into an inconspicuous catering truck in a covert plane-swap on July 8, after fears emerged about an imminent assassination attempt.

The extraordinary operation, following the Nato summit in Ankara, was in response to an Israeli tip-off about an Iranian plot to kill him.

Now, it has been revealed that the CIA were sceptical about the reports of threats against Trump’s life, dubbing the intel ‘Israeli-derived, not US-generated, and viewed as low confidence’.

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Nevertheless, the elaborate plan enacted by the Secret Service in Ankara was done out of an abundance of caution.

While US intelligence officials questioned the credibility of the threat, military experts have since said that there is a credible chance that the Iranians might stage an assassination attempt against the US president.

‘The Islamic Republic has been working on plans reaching varying levels of development to assassinate Trump since 2018 in Trump’s first presidency. So this establishes that it is indeed possible,’ said Jonathan Hackett, a retired US Marine Corps interrogator, counterintelligence agent and special operations capabilities specialist.

‘Now the question is really: is it probable? The gap between possible and probable can be quite wide, but perhaps not as wide in this case as others. A successful operation would require a permissive environment and perhaps collaboration from the inside.’

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Catering trucks are parked at Air Force One on the tarmac as the motorcade carrying President Donald Trump arrives on the tarmac to depart following the NATO summit

In a clandestine manoeuvre, Trump was smuggled off Air Force One and into an inconspicuous catering truck in a covert plane-swap on July 8, following the NATO summit in Ankara

In a clandestine manoeuvre, Trump was smuggled off Air Force One and into an inconspicuous catering truck in a covert plane-swap on July 8, following the NATO summit in Ankara 

Despite the CIA being sceptical about the reports of threats against Trump’s life, the Secret Service made a decisive decision.

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‘The Secret Service has had three near misses with this president, so they’re not taking any chances,’ an official told the Washington Post

‘They did what they had to do.’ 

The New York Times reported that US officials were also alarmed to discover that Iranians knew where ​Trump was staying in Ankara, including the exact floor of his hotel

Trump was bundled off the presidential jumbo jet – which he had been filmed boarding moments earlier – and shoved into the tight metal confines of the waiting food cart just before takeoff.

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The mission was carried out unbeknownst to journalists and even some White House staffers who believed they were still on the same plane as the president. 

Instead, he was secretly flown out of Turkey on a separate military jet following news of the Iranian threat to fire a missile at Air Force One.

Inside that cramped catering truck also sat Trump’s most trusted inner circle: executive assistant Natalie Harp, described by a source as the president’s ‘connective tissue’, and director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta.

Another report has indicated that White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino rounded out a three-person team who accompanied Trump on the covert escape.

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All within 60 seconds, the group had entered the food and beverages container at the side of Air Force One and were lowered back on to the tarmac. 

They then sped across to a waiting C-32A military jet and were hoisted inside.

Left behind on Air Force One were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, top adviser Stephen Miller, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Ambassador Monica Crowley, who took off on a three-hour and 45-minute flight to RAF Mildenhall in the UK. 

According to Hackett, besides Iraq, Turkey is arguably the most permissive environment for high-level Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Qods Force activity. 

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‘This has only become more so now that Hakan Fidan, the former director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation, is now foreign minister,’ he said.

‘Fidan has had a close relationship with the IRGC since the early 1990s. Now that relationship can operate in the open, since he is foreign minister, instead of in the shadows when he was formerly in the intelligence community. 

‘So the environment is permissive and there are people at high levels in Turkish government who would at the very least be sympathetic to such an operation.’ 

Ex-Army intelligence officer Philip Ingram told the Daily Mail that an ‘assassination attempt is distinctly possible’.

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‘Hence even if the specific intelligence is not assessed as credible – the overall threat is there.’

In the event of an assassination attempt, he said the ‘implications would be unthinkable’.

‘Any response would be diplomatic – maybe sanctions and likely a large conventional military response,’ he said.

‘Nuclear will always be off the table, unless we are in a MAD [Mutually Assured Destruction] scenario.’

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Tehran has not officially commented on the allegations of an Iranian plot to kill the US president, or on the airplane switch.

But Iran’s state media has mocked Trump after new details emerged about his secret aircraft switch, saying it showed just how nervous he is about the Islamic Republic’s power.

‘Again, Trump, with his new scandal, has become the top subject in the US ‌media these days. A scandal stemming from fear of Iran’s military power, a power that caused Trump, last month, while returning from Turkey, to secretly switch his plane,’ said a presenter on state television, adding that the episode has become a source of ‘humiliation’ for Trump. 

Billboards and murals around Tehran take aim at the US president and Israel, showing images from Trump lying in a coffin to drowning in the sea

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Meanwhile, the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last month pledged vengeance for the death of his father and predecessor, who was killed on the first day of the war. 

Iran’s embassy in South Africa said in a post ⁠on X that Trump ‘will be hidden in a trash can before long’. 

It was accompanied by a meme picture of Trump inside a catering box full of food.

That X account often goes viral for the social media memes it shares, which Iranian state media have reported. It is listed on the official website page of the embassy.

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‘As the president has said, he has faced numerous threats on his life, including ones from Iran, and every measure is taken to ensure his safety,’ a US official said in a statement to The Post.

The official, like the other sources cited in the outlet’s report, spoke on condition of anonymity.

‘The United States Secret Service’s core mission is protecting the president, which they achieved,’ the source added. 

But some US officials believe this was not an isolated incident.

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They pointed to what they described as Israel sharing the warning not only to protect Trump, but also to influence his political decisions. 

Officials suggested that such efforts could ultimately shape how the US approaches Iran, Turkey and other countries across the Middle East.

While Israel sees Iran as its most immediate threat, it also considers Turkey a medium- to long-term danger and is increasingly uneasy about the growing closeness between Washington and Ankara, according to the current official. 

That relationship has been strengthened by Mr Trump’s personal rapport with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

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The former official told The Post that the warning ‘fit a broader pattern’ of Israeli intelligence reporting that some US officials believe is designed as much to shape presidential decision-making as to inform it. 

Despite being briefed on the Israeli threat intelligence and the Secret Service’s elaborate deception plan, Rubio still boarded the legacy Air Force One, which the source said presumably would have been an Iranian target.

Another US official familiar with security talks questioned how serious the threat really was, pointing to the tens of thousands of Turkish security personnel deployed for last month’s Nato summit.

Democrats have meanwhile pressed the administration to provide more details about the extraordinary deception operation. 

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‘I am very curious about the extent to which the Israeli-provided intelligence was not only credible but independently verifiable,’ Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) told The Post. 

‘I have no doubt that Iran would like to see the president gone, but this all seems a little fantastical,’ he added.

Iran's embassy in South Africa said in ‌a post ⁠on X that Trump 'will be hidden in a trash can before long'

Iran’s embassy in South Africa said in ‌a post ⁠on X that Trump ‘will be hidden in a trash can before long’

An Iranian woman walks next to an anti-US billboard at the Enghelab square in central Tehran, Iran, August 13

An Iranian woman walks next to an anti-US billboard at the Enghelab square in central Tehran, Iran, August 13

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In 2024, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s IRGC to assassinate Trump, ​then US president-elect. 

Tehran denied those accusations in September ⁠2024. 

‘Iranian hardliners, who have been talking about taking revenge for the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader on February 28, as well as some other senior political and military officials in Iran are basking in the fact that the United States was so ​afraid and concerned about President Trump’s safety and security,’ said Ali Vaez, deputy programme director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International ⁠Crisis Group.

Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source, who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal.

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During a podcast on Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, commentator Alireza Majidi recounted a 2018 visit by ⁠Trump to ​the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq, a country where Iran enjoys support from armed groups. 

Trump himself described the extraordinary security measures he had to go through on that trip. 

‘If you had seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever anywhere. Pitch ​black. I have never seen anything like it,’ CNN quoted Trump as speaking to reporters at the base in Iraq.

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West London shops face closure as council increases rent by over 100%

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West London shops face closure as council increases rent by over 100%

Traders say their rent review was supposed to take place between one and three years ago. Now, all shops are facing not only an exponential increase to their rent, but this rent is set to be backdated to when the rent review was supposed to be undertaken – despite, according to traders, it being the council who opted not to conduct the rent reviews when they were due.

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Cambridgeshire racer determined to make late father proud at Paracanoe World Championships

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Cambridgeshire Live

A Cambridgeshire canoe racer is competing for her late father and grandfather as she tries to make her family proud on the global stage this month.

Lindsay Thorpe, 33, from Chatteris, will compete for Great Britain at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships later this month. She will take to the water in Poznan in competition, from 26-30 August, and the event will be another marker before the LA 2028 Paralympics.

Thorpe revealed that she lost her grandfather Cecil Cutting, and her father Mark Cutting in the space of six weeks. Her father lost his battle with cancer aged 62 on the day of her selection race for the World Championships.

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“My dad was my biggest cheerleader, so I’m still finding my feet when it comes to pre-race pep talks. It’s given me extra motivation to go in his honour,” Thorpe said. “It’s my story, they are part of my story. It’s always going to be connected. There’s the side that wants to give it a mile, but we are all humans. We all have personal lives and our reasons why. As time passes, it might not be as strong, but this year I will pride myself in doing well for them.”

She is part of a team which includes reigning Paris champions Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw, as well as 2024 silver medallists Hope Gordon and Jack Eyers. Perhaps with a new take on life after suffering personal loss, Thorpe wanted to make the most of another opportunity to wear the flag on her vest and represent not only her country but her family.

She said: “My goal is to make the A final, in the top nine athletes. The atmosphere is going to be big and exciting. The fact I’ve got the opportunity to go out there and give it my all is a blessing. I’m lucky that I have some of the fastest on the globe as my national competition.

“I’ve been in the sport 10 years now, and every time that the announcement comes out, I get goosebumps. You don’t know what’s going to happen next with sport.”

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Paddle UK is the national governing body for canoeing, kayaking and all other paddle sports. For more information, visit https://paddleuk.org.uk/

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Kanye West asks to delay trial over employee allegedly fired for refusing to cut dreads

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Kanye West asks to delay trial over employee allegedly fired for refusing to cut dreads

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, is seeking to postpone a trial in a lawsuit filed by a former security guard at his Donda Academy, asking a judge to move the start from this fall to next spring over claims the plaintiff has stalled on giving a deposition.

Benjamin Deshon Provo filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the rapper in April 2024.

Provo alleges that Ye, now 49, reprimanded him over his dreadlocks, worn in observance of his Muslim faith. Provo worked at Donda Academy and for Yeezy, Ye’s apparel company.

Provo worked at Donda Academy and for Yeezy, Ye's apparel company
Provo worked at Donda Academy and for Yeezy, Ye’s apparel company (Ian West/PA)

“Kanye and members of his management team subjected Provo and other Black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts,” according to the suit, which further alleges that Ye often screamed at the plaintiff.

The lawsuit alleges that Provo was ultimately fired for failing to follow Ye’s hair edict.

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On Wednesday, Ye’s lawyers filed court papers asking Judge Brock T. Hammond to reset the scheduled start of trial from Oct. 12 to May 17, 2027, or to another date convenient to the court and available to Provo.

“Despite months of repeated requests from defendants, plaintiff Benjamin Deshon Provo has refused to sit for deposition and his counsel had refused to offer any dates for his deposition…,” Ye’s attorneys contend in their court papers.

Provo’s deposition testimony is “essential to the fair determination of this action,” Ye’s attorneys state in their court papers.

After producing several people for deposition and responding to hundreds of written discovery requests, Ye’s side sought Provo’s deposition and was repeatedly stymied, Ye’s attorneys further contend in their court papers.

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In his suit, Provo alleges that members of the rapper’s management team required Provo to choose between “critical aspects of his self-identity and financial stability.”

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Last month, Ye appealed a jury’s $140,000 award to handyman Tony Saxon, who accused him of underpaying him for renovation work at his Malibu mansion.

Saxon’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed the pair had a 2021 agreement for $20,000 per week but that he received only one payment and an additional $100,000 for construction costs. Judge Brock Hammond upheld the March 11 verdict.

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York school achieves record number of top A-level grades

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York school achieves record number of top A-level grades

All Saints RC School was among the most successful schools for results this year in York.

Almost half of the Year 13 cohort achieved three A* to B grades, earning them spots at the most prestigious universities in the UK.


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Head teacher Sharon Keelan-Beardsley said: “We could not be prouder of our students.

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“These results are a wonderful reflection of their hard work, determination and ambition, supported by the dedication of our staff and the strong partnership between school and families.”

Katie Wrenn achieved an A*, A*, A, and will go on to study Ecology and Wildlife at the University of CumbriaKatie Wrenn achieved an A*, A*, A, and will go on to study Ecology and Wildlife at the University of Cumbria (Image: Newsquest)

Among the high achievers was head boy Charlie King, who was accepted to study law at the University of York after achieving an AAB in English Language, English Literature and Geography.

Charlie said he will be hoping to pursue family law after his job at a local primary school, where he works as a play worker.

He said: “I really want to help families after spending time at the school, and I want to specialise in family law.”

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Climate activist and student Katie Wrenn said she would be attending the University of Cumbria to study Ecology and Wildlife.

The hard-working teen earned an A*, A* and A in Biology, Geography and RE, and will be taking a gap year, volunteering at a Methodist Church to help connect people with faith and nature.

Proud parents. Sid Burne will head to University of Liverpool to study politics and sociologyProud parents. Sid Burne will head to University of Liverpool to study politics and sociology (Image: Newsquest)

Sid Burne collected his results with his parents at school.

He sailed through A-levels in politics, business and PPT and was allocated his spot on the politics and sociology course at the University of Liverpool.

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Another student Isaac Morris will take up a place at Princeton University, in the USA, following his gap year, after he represented Great Britain at Under-23 level in rowing – finishing eighth in the World Championships.

Head teacher Ms Keelan-Beardsley said: “A significant number of students achieved As or A* across the board and several achieved three or more A* in all their chosen subjects including Hope Fomekong Zome, Owen Fryer, Monty Parmiter, Oliwia Rosciszewska, Florence Slezak and Ava Thomas-Richards.

“A number of our young people have overcome challenges to achieve superb results, making their success all the more inspiring.

“Whilst academic achievement is important, we are equally proud of the confident, compassionate young people our students have become.

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“The country needs a workforce that is flexible, resilient and innovative, and our young people possess these qualities in abundance.

“All Saints students leave us with far more than outstanding exam results; they take with them strong values, a commitment to making a positive difference and the ambition to succeed in whatever path they choose.

“We wish them every happiness and success for the future.”

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Lewes train derailment latest: 11 injured as three carriages tip over in east Sussex with ‘major incident’ declared

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Lewes train derailment latest: 11 injured as three carriages tip over in east Sussex with ‘major incident’ declared
Passenger describes moment train derailed near Lewes

At least 11 people have been injured after a train was derailed between Haywards Heath and Lewes in Sussex, with police declaring a “major incident”.

Two people were seriously injured while nine others sustained wounds after three carriages derailed onto their side at 3.54pm on Thursday, leaving a number of people trapped. They have now been safely evacuated, British Transport Police has said.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by the incident which involved a Southern Railway train travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith said: “We’ve declared a major incident and a significant emergency service response is ongoing at the scene” as police, ambulance, fire services and engineers remain on scene.

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The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has also deployed a team to establish what happened.

James MacCleary, the MP for Lewes, wrote in a Facebook post: “I am aware of very concerning reports of a train crash in the Lewes area this afternoon.

“This is clearly a very serious and developing incident, and my thoughts are with everyone affected.”

Have you witnessed the crash or have pictures from the scene? Email bryony.gooch.ind@independent.co.uk

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Passenger describes incident as ‘completely terrifying’

Fire engines, ambulances and police have been stationed along Landport Road in Lewes, East Sussex, where a community centre is hosting passengers from the derailed train.

Yana Ludwig, who was travelling alone on the train from London to Lewes, told reporters the experience as “completely terrifying”.

“There was a banging. Everything just went topsy turvy,” the 56-year-old from the United States said.

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“It seemed like a really long time but it probably was 10 seconds of that before the carriage actually fell on the side.”

She described being propped up over the top of another passenger.

She added: “I’m pretty banged up.”

The graduate student thinks it was 20 minutes before the emergency services arrived, adding it seemed like a difficult place for them to reach.

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She said everyone in the train was checking their fellow passengers were OK, adding: “These moments everybody kind of pulls together.”

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 19:25

More than 10 people injured in derailment

Police have confirmed that at least two people have sustained serious injuries and a further nine patients have sustained less serious injuries.

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Patients have been assessed and treated at the scene, with some transported to local hospitals, British Transport Police have said.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 19:10

Breaking: Major incident declared after three carriages derailed

A major incident has been declared after three carriages of the train derailed onto their side, leaving a number of people trapped. They have now been safely evacuated, British Transport Police has said.

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Officers are continuing to respond to a train derailment close to Lewes station in Sussex, following reports around 3.44pm on Thursday.

At this time, the police believe that two people have sustained serious injuries and a further nine patients have sustained less serious injuries. Patients have been assessed and treated at the scene, with some transported to local hospitals.

Officers are continuing to respond at the scene alongside colleagues from Sussex Police and the local Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services.

The incident involved a Southern train travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne.

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Assistant chief constable Ian Drummond-Smith said: “We’ve declared a major incident and a significant emergency service response is ongoing at the scene, but all passengers on the train have now been safely evacuated from the service.

“Our thoughts are of course with everyone affected, and I’d like to reassure the public that we’re supporting the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to establish exactly what’s happened. We’ll provide further information as soon as we are able”.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 19:09

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Gatwick travellers warned to add at least 150 minutes to journey

Travellers hoping to reach Gatwick Airport have been advised to add at least an extra 150 minutes to their journey to ensure they meet flight connections.

It comes after Southern Rail advised travellers to add 90 minutes hours ago.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 19:05

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Disruption to continue until ‘at least the end of the day’, Southern Rail says

Major disruption from the Lewes derailment is expected to continue until at least the end of the day today, Southern Rail has said.

Earlier this evening they said disruption would last until 10pm.

“Southern are advising that you do not travel.

“If you are already on a train, your journey will take longer than usual.

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“No trains can run between Lewes and Haywards Heath.

“Trains between Brighton, Lewes and Eastbourne / Seaford are mostly cancelled.

“Please talk to station staff, look at the information boards or check your journey planner for the most recent information.”

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 19:03

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What is rail buckling and is that what has happened here?

Tracks can “buckle” when the steel rails expand and start to curve in the heat.

Rails in direct sunlight can be up to 20C hotter than the air temperature, according to Network Rail.

While most of the network can operate when track temperatures reach up to 46C, roughly equivalent to an air temperature of around 30C, rails have been recorded at temperatures as high as 51C.

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It remains unclear whether the bends in the track are from buckling or from where the train was derailed for other reasons. RAIB is currently investigating the matter.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 18:55

Rail Accident Investigation Branch deployed to investigate

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has deployed a team to the scene of the derailment to begin gathering evidence.

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Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 18:45

Passenger reports seeing people with head injuries

A passenger who was on board the derailed train has said as he managed to exit the train, he saw a number of people injured.

“There were a number of people sat in ambulances that had had bad head injuries, and there was visible signs of blood on their heads and, you know, down their clothing.”

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The Department for Transport told the BBC there are no serious injuries or fatalities.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 18:40

Carriage ‘jumped vertically upwards’, says passenger

A passenger who managed to exit the derailed train has said the carriage “jumped vertically upwards” as it derailed.

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Speaking to the BBC, the man said: “We felt the train speeding up and starting to rock, and at that point we knew something was very strange, and then our carriage actually jumped vertically upwards, and we could tell there was a derailment.”

“The emergency brakes then went on the train and everything got thrown forward, and only then when we turned around did we see that the whole back of the train, literally where we were sat, was open.

“There was smoke and dust pouring into the carriage, and we could then see that the outside fifth carriage had gone on its side, and I just assumed there’d been a decoupling further up the track where we were, you know, a train detachment.

“But actually the three other carriages that we started with had slid all the way down the embankment on their side into the lower field, and there were a number of air ambulances that flew in to support critically injured people.”

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Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 18:38

Analysis: Damage to track as likely to be caused by train derailment as a buckle

As photos appear to show a bend in the tracks where the derailment took place, many people are looking to understand what could have caused them to bend.

Railway engineer Gareth Dennis has told The Independent that “The damage here is as likely to be caused by the train as it derailed down the embankment, so very difficult to confirm a buckle with the available evidence.”

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The Independent has contacted Network Rail to understand more about the bend in the tracks.

Bryony Gooch13 August 2026 18:30

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Outstanding A-level results at Portsmouth Grammar

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Outstanding A-level results at Portsmouth Grammar

The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) is celebrating an outstanding set of A Level results, with its impressive pupils achieving the strongest ever A* grade performance in the school’s history and the second highest proportion of A*-A grades since 1997. With over 27% of grades awarded at the very highest level, this surpasses last year’s record haul of 25% A* grades, as well as increasing the A*-A percentage to over 61%.

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BRYONY GORDON: Brad Pitt is a sad old man and I pity him. Here’s why

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Brad Pitt is a self-described problem drinker, but says he can now have 'a few glasses' of wine if he is 'professional about it'. Bryony Gordon warns, 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic'...

As a middle-aged woman with a pulse, it’s not often I look at Brad Pitt and experience a crushing sense of disappointment.

But this week, I encountered this curious sensation as I read the interview he did with Esquire magazine, in which he revealed that after seven years of sobriety, he has started drinking again.

‘I got back off the wagon,’ he told the magazine. ‘In a more restrained manner. I got overconfident a couple of times went, Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities.’

The journalist then asked the single most dangerous question you can pose to someone who’s had to quit drinking because of a problematic relationship with alcohol: can you now have a glass of wine?

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Oh, sure, it might seem totally innocent if you’re the kind of human who can pour a small amount of rosé out of a bottle then put it back in the fridge door for the rest of the week. But Pitt is clearly not that, admitting that he attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, his divorce from Angelina Jolie prompting him to quit the booze in late 2016.

Pitt is, by his own admission, a problem drinker, and asking a problem drinker if they can have the odd glass of wine is a bit like asking someone with a nut allergy if they can occasionally treat themselves to a Snickers bar.

Brad Pitt is a self-described problem drinker, but says he can now have ‘a few glasses’ of wine if he is ‘professional about it’. Bryony Gordon warns, ‘Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic’…

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But to be fair to the interviewer, Pitt also seems to have misunderstood the nature of sobriety and alcoholism.

‘Well … I can have a few [glasses of wine],’ he told the interviewer. ‘But I can’t have a lot. I have to be professional about it.’

And in just a few deluded sentences, I went from fancying Brad Pitt to pitying him. Because in my experience, once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Being able to abstain from booze for long periods of time doesn’t prove you can drink responsibly, or ‘professionally’, as Pitt refers to it – it just proves that you can’t drink. And in saying otherwise, Pitt is doing some of the most terrible acting of his career.

Perhaps I’m being uncharitable. Maybe Pitt really has pulled off the almost impossible, and taught himself to moderate his alcohol intake after finding himself in a situation where things got so bad, he was forced to remove his ‘drinking privileges’ (his own words).

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But in my nine years of sobriety, I’ve not yet met anyone who’s succeeded in doing this.

However, I have seen plenty of people who have relapsed, and tried to convince themselves (and everyone around them) that they’ve got things under control, but they usually crawl back to sobriety with their tail between their legs some time later – if they’re very lucky. Many never make it back, living out their lives in alcoholic misery and squalor.

And this is why I’m so disappointed by 62-year-old Pitt’s public pronouncement. Because he must know, deep down in his soul, how unhelpful such declarations are to a community where denial and delusion aren’t just pitiful – in many cases, they can be deadly.

I know too many alcoholics who have lost everything in their attempts to drink like a normal person. I imagine that, given Pitt has been to a few AA meetings, he has encountered these people too. What message is he now sending out to a world which already misunderstands addiction and alcoholism?

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Angelina Jolie filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Pitt threw alcohol over her and their children while on a private jet. Reports say she ¿is not surprised¿ her ex-husband is drinking again

Angelina Jolie filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Pitt threw alcohol over her and their children while on a private jet. Reports say she ‘is not surprised’ her ex-husband is drinking again

When I was in active addiction, I used to see those ‘drink responsibly’ signs on the back of wine bottles and wonder what was wrong with me. I was an alcoholic, of course, but the shame attached to that word was so big I went out of my way to prove it didn’t apply to me. It was only after a series of increasingly dangerous scrapes that I realised it was going to be much easier to simply accept I was one and that I was lucky to be alive by this point.

One of the things you learn, when you finally come to terms with your alcoholism, is that drinking nothing is genuinely easier than trying to only have one or two. Alcohol lights me up like a Christmas tree – once I start, I don’t stop.

There is a truth we all learn, in recovery: that for us, one drink is too many, a thousand is never enough. And this is why I don’t believe a word that Pitt said in his Esquire interview.

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After their break-up, Angelina Jolie filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Pitt threw alcohol over her and their children while on a private jet. Though the actor vehemently denies these claims, not a single one of their six children is said to speak to Pitt now, with several of them recently filing to legally remove his surname from theirs.

Reports say Jolie ‘is not surprised’ her ex-husband is drinking again, and suddenly you realise this is not some superficial drama, but a situation involving children that is kind of tragic. Because take away the Hollywood gloss and the magazine covers, and the truth is that Brad Pitt isn’t actually anyone special. He’s just a sad old man in the grip of a relapse.

When perimenopause meets pregnancy… 

The world is so unused to seeing women’s bodies that when Anne Hathaway shows off her pregnancy bump, social media starts saying it’s fake. 

Anne Hathaway, 43, looked stunning as she showed off her baby bump in Los Angeles this week

Anne Hathaway, 43, looked stunning as she showed off her baby bump in Los Angeles this week

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I personally love that the 43-year-old actress is displaying her ‘geriatric’ pregnancy for all to see. She clearly couldn’t give a damn what anyone thinks – which is exactly what you’d expect when perimenopause meets pregnancy!

Time you quit social media, Jan

Jan Leeming has got into a spot of bother again after criticising the presenting skills of ITV News’ Charlene White. ‘She has such a condescending style,’ wrote Leeming on X, apparently without irony. 

Her remarks come just months after she used the social media site to complain about children being allowed in restaurants. In fact, she seems to spend most of her time online whingeing. 

Jane Leeming has now quit X, after receiving abuse for comments she made about ITV News presenter Charlene White

Jane Leeming has now quit X, after receiving abuse for comments she made about ITV News presenter Charlene White

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She’s now quit X for a few days due to ‘vile abuse’ she’s received after her Charlene comments. Maybe stay off it for good, Jan. As the old adage goes: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Why I’m glad I never vaped

Angela Rayner has admitted she can’t quit vaping, as she launches a crackdown on e-cigarette shops. I’m glad I got off cigarettes cold turkey, instead of vaping. Every time I see someone sucking on a piece of bright pink plastic, I realise I narrowly escaped swapping one nasty habit for an even more addictive – not to mention embarrassing – one.

loved watching the eclipse on holiday with friends in Cornwall, where there was almost 95 per cent coverage. We adults were enchanted, the children less so – they complained it took too long and didn’t look as good as it did in the clips they’d watched on YouTube. Honestly: the youth of today!

No wonder Cornwall hates all these tourists 

I wasn’t surprised to read about the couple who caused almost £5,000 worth of damage breaking the safety barriers of a Cornish campsite. 

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The pair were trying to leave in their VW van at 2am to pick up their teenage children from a nearby festival, despite campsite rules explicitly stating the accommodation would be locked just before midnight to keep campers safe. 

Sadly, their entitled behaviour is par for the course down here. In the past few days, I’ve seen families playing loud music and having giant barbecues on the beach, as well as people refusing to clean up after their dogs. No wonder the locals are sick of tourists.

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