Dolly Parton‘s nephew Bryan Seaver has issued a withering response to her manager Danny Nozell in their escalating legal battle over her estate.

Nozell, who managed Parton for over 20 years, took out a temporary restraining order against Seaver, who served as the singer’s security chief and was entrusted by her to announce the news of her death last month.

In legal documents reviewed by TMZ, Nozell claimed Seaver demanded money from him and began ‘invoking his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence’ while doing so.

Seaver was claimed to have called himself a ‘killer’ and to have told Nozell: ‘All I do is warfare…everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.’

Now, however, Seaver has poured scorn on the ‘spurious’ restraining order, which he dismissed as ‘simply a publicity stunt,’ in a statement to People.

‘Dolly called me her killer,’ Seaver insisted. ‘It was a joke we used around her camp. I was her “baby boy ninja” and Danny Nozell took that text out of context to somehow imagine that I was threatening him. He’s always called me The Killer.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Bryan Seaver, Danny Nozell and Nozell’s attorney Timothy L Warnock for comment.

Parton, pictured in 2019 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, died last month at the age of 80 after a brief and secret cancer battle

Nozell filed for the restraining order under Parton’s company She’s Alive, LLC and noted in his legal documents that he had fired Seaver from his security role.

According to legal documents reviewed by TMZ, Seaver told Nozell: ‘Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I’m going to f*** everyone. I am about to become the hand of retribution for my entire family.’

Another communication Seaver sent to Nozell, according to the filing, read: ‘All I do is warfare … everyone needs to be worried about what I might do.’

Seaver allegedly told Nozell he was planning on setting ‘up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnership and telling the violations these people have done on us,’ per the court filing, TMZ reported.

Nozell requested that the court order Seaver to remain a minimum of 1,000 feet from Parton’s office and to refrain from contacting Parton’s businesses or affiliates, according to the report.

In response to the restraining order request, Seaver told TMZ on Tuesday: ‘I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer.

‘However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by.’

Bryan said that the texts included in the filing had been published out of context to make it look like he was trying to be intimidating, which wasn’t the case.

‘I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster,’ Bryan told the outlet. ‘A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.’

Nozell said in documents viewed by TMZ that Seaver demanded money from him and invoked ‘his self-proclaimed military-contractor experience, access to weapons, and capacity for violence.’ Nozell said he fired Seaver on September 15; Parton seen in 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee

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Seaver said that one remark – in which he said he was going to ‘rat f***’ an organization whose name was redacted from the report – was ‘about people that have done bad to Dolly in business.’ 

He added: ‘Those comments were about specific, horrible business partners that have done wrong to her and I stand by that.’

Seaver last week received a notice reviewed by TMZ that he and his security organizations, which provided protection for Parton’s Nashville home, museum and a warehouse, were being replaced by another company.

Insiders told the outlet that they believed Parton’s manager Nozell and Pinnacle Bank were responsible for the decision to terminate him and his employees.

A new security team was deployed to the locations previously overseen by Seaver’s companies on Wednesday after the termination notice was issued, according to the report.

Sources close to Seaver said that he and his associates had been ‘dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions’ carried out in the wake of Parton’s passing.

‘We remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith,’ Seaver’s camp told TMZ.

They told the outlet that they believed the actions had been taken ‘with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much.’

Nozell (R) requested that the court order Seaver to remain a minimum of 1,000 feet from Parton’s office and to refrain from contacting Parton’s businesses or affiliates, according to the report; Above, Parton and Nozell in LA in 2022 

According to TMZ, the notice issued to Seaver indicated that the DP Dean Trust had been overseeing Parton’s business and properties in the wake of her passing.

Seaver retains a personal interest in her trust moving forward, according to the report.

Seaver, whose mother Cassie is Parton’s sister, had been appointed by the late Jolene singer to reveal her death in a public statement.

Following Parton’s August 25 passing following a battle with cancer, Seaver had been seen in a clip in which he revealed the sad news.

‘Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [late husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens,’ Seaver said in the emotional clip.

In the clip, Seaver noted that his father Larry had held the security position before him.

He said that he had been her security head for the past ‘two decades,’ and had been working for her over the past four decades. 

‘I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s,’ Seaver said. ‘Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible.

Seaver told TMZ on Tuesday: ‘I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer. However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by’; Above, Parton in Las Vegas in 2022 

‘Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent. By her example, we believed that anything was possible.’

He added: ‘She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history. My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you.’

Parton has been well-remembered in the weeks since her passing, during which she received an expansive tribute at the Primetime Emmy Awards last week, which featured Reba McEntire and Sally Field.

Nashville International Airport is set to be renamed in Parton’s memory following a vote from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners weeks back.

Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is moving closer to freedom just as an explosive new documentary thrusts her extraordinary downfall back into the spotlight.

The convicted fraudster, whose husband admits in the film that he once wondered whether she might be ‘scamming’ him, is set to leave federal prison next August and move into a Texas halfway house.

The bombshell development comes weeks before the release of You Can See Everything, which offers an intimate look at Holmes’ final days at home before she surrendered to serve her 11-year sentence.

Holmes, 42, has reportedly been approved for transfer from the minimum-security federal prison where she has been locked up since May 2023 to a community correction center near Austin.

She is scheduled to move to the Austin Transitional Center in Del Valle on August 23, 2027, according to an update from the Department of Justice’s Victim Notification System obtained by ABC News.

The move would mark a dramatic change in circumstances for the former Silicon Valley superstar, who was once hailed as a visionary entrepreneur before her blood-testing empire spectacularly collapsed.

Instead of remaining at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, Holmes would serve the final stretch of her sentence in a supervised facility designed to help federal inmates transition back into everyday life.

The Austin Transitional Center is a privately operated, 460-bed community corrections facility about seven miles southeast of downtown Austin.

Holmes has been behind bars at the Federal Prison Camp Bryan since May 2023

The Austin Transitional Center is a privately run, 460-bed community corrections facility about seven miles southeast of downtown Austin

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ABC News reported that Holmes is expected to live in Austin following her eventual release and will be supervised by the United States Probation Office.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons would not confirm Holmes’ reported transfer, stating that it ‘does not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including release plans.’

‘Additionally, per BOP policy, specific designation information cannot be released until after an individual arrives at their designated institution,’ a spokesperson said in a statement.

Holmes is currently serving her sentence at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, the minimum-security women’s facility where convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is also incarcerated.

Holmes was convicted in 2022 on four counts of fraud and conspiracy connected to Theranos investors.

She was also ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution alongside former Theranos executive and ex-boyfriend Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani.

Her sentence has since been shortened, including after a federal judge reduced it by 12 months in March following changes to federal sentencing guidelines affecting certain first-time, non-violent offenders.

Holmes has also sought an early release from prison, including asking President Donald Trump for clemency.

Her latest step toward life outside prison comes as Holmes is suddenly back in the public eye thanks to You Can See Everything, a documentary scheduled for release on October 16.

Holmes’ husband Billy Evans, right, admits he once feared she could be ‘scamming’ him 

Nathan Fielder spent 34 days with Elizabeth Holmes and her husband Billy Evans who has stood by her throughout her fraud conviction and upcoming incarceration

In the film, Holmes’ husband admits he was worried that his fraudster wife could be scamming him.

Director Nathan Fielder moved in with Holmes and followed her with a film crew for 34 days while she prepared to serve her 11-year prison sentence.

In 2022, Holmes pled guilty to four counts of fraud after it was discovered that her biotech company, Theranos, was misleading its investors about its technology. 

Theranos claimed it could conduct hundreds of blood tests using only a single drop of blood obtained through a finger prick, causing the company’s value to skyrocket to $9 billion, but a series of Wall Street Journal articles exposed the fraud. 

A trailer for the highly-anticipated You Can See Everything features several dramatized glimpses into the private home life of the convicted fraudster and her husband Billy Evans, heir to the billion-dollar Evans Hotel Group.

Holmes and Evans met in 2017, two years after The Wall Street Journal published their expose. The couple has since welcomed two children, a son and a daughter, in the last five years. 

Holmes’s husband believes he fell in love with her before he learned she was behind the Theranos fraud, he revealed in a conversation with Fielder. 

‘I fell in love in that first conversation,’ he stated.

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of the disgraced biotech company Theranos, 42, welcomed a film crew into her home 34 days before she was sent to prison

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Holmes is currently being held at a minimum security prison in Bryan, Texas, while Evans is in San Diego with their two children

When Fielder asked him if he was ever suspicious that his wife was after his family’s fortune, Evans furrowed his brow in confusion. 

‘100%, but what was she going to gain from me?’ he said. 

‘Isn’t your family rich…?’ Fielder responded. 

Evans deflected with a generalization: ‘There’s a lot of different levels of wealth,’ he said before the video cuts off. 

Evans assured Fielder that he has never been suspicious of Holmes lying to him in a one-on-one conversation shown in the trailer.  

The trailer features silent footage of the couple jogging along a foggy beach together, holding hands in their kitchen, and holding one of their two young children while sitting on the rainbow-colored floor of a playroom inside their beachfront home in San Diego, California. 

The aforementioned shot was instinctively filmed through the bars of a crib, which cast a blurry grid over Holmes, foreshadowing what’s to come as she prepares for her incarceration. 

‘I still have this weird feeling that there are some things I’m not seeing,’ Fielder says to Holmes, his face directly confronting hers as the trailer comes to its dramatic climax. 

‘I don’t have anything to hide,’ Holmes said, staring deeply into Fielder’s eyes, inches away from his looming gaze. 

Skywatchers looking up after sunset may have noticed the Moon appearing larger and brighter in recent nights.

The phase gets its name from the increasing amount of the Moon’s surface lit up by the Sun. During this stage, the bright section continues to grow until the Moon reaches its fully illuminated state.

It acts as a countdown to the full moon, with the lunar surface becoming increasingly bright night after night. The Harvest Moon, also known as the Corn Moon, is set to peak on Saturday, September 26.

The names reflect the important role the lunar event once played during the harvest season

Astronomy enthusiasts say the waxing gibbous period is one of the best times to observe details on the Moon’s surface through binoculars or a telescope, thanks to the contrast created by sunlight striking its craters and mountains.

And the stunning phenomenon is certainly catching the eye of locals, with Bolton Camera Clubs taking some stunning shots of it, including Clare Halsall who commented: “It’s stunning out there right now.”

Can you contest or appeal a speeding fine if the camera or van was not visible? This is what the guidelines, laws and experts say.

Receiving a fine (officially known as a fixed penalty notice (FPN)) for speeding is never a nice experience. It may be even more frustrating when you didn’t realise you were doing it or didn’t realised you’d passed a speed camera. As such, many people might immediately begin thinking about how they can contest or appeal the fine and get it overturned.

One reason people believe they may be able to get speeding fines overturned is because the speed camera was hidden, or that there were no signs warning drivers it was there. In fact, one company director, who also claimed to be a former barrister, took to a legal forum to say exactly that. Claiming to have been pictured doing 61mph in a 50mph area of a dual carriageway, they wrote: “In my opinion this camera was hidden as it was under the bridge in the shadows. I only saw the van as I passed by. I believe there are Department of Transport guidelines that all speed cameras have to be clearly visible.”

This is everything you need to know about your legal rights if you are caught by a hidden speed camera.

What does the law say about speed cameras?

The Road Traffic Act 1991, Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 and the Highways Act 1980, taken together, allow evidence collected on camera to be used in proceedings for a speeding offence. They in fact allow for evidence generated by speed and traffic light cameras to serve as the sole evidence against an offender and the resulting issuing of a fixed penalty.

What is the penalty for speeding?

The minimum penalty for speeding is a £100 fine and three penalty points added to your licence. There are three categories of speeding based on seriousness and this also affects the amount you may be asked to pay and the number of points you may get. You may be able to avoid the points and opt for a speed awareness course if it is offered to you but your eligibility for the course depends on which police force is dealing with your offence. You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of three years. Unlike with some parking fines, a speeding fine does not give you the option of paying a smaller amount if you pay the fine quickly.

Do speed cameras have to be visible?

You may think that if speed cameras are not visible, or there were no signs warning you were about to pass a camera, you might be able to appeal the fine. But you’d be wrong. However, it’s not surprising there’s confusion around the issue because government guidelines do in fact refer to the visibility of speed cameras.

They say speed cameras (including those in vehicles) “should be clearly visible from the driver’s viewpoint”. They also say signs warning of speed cameras should be visible.

Department for Transport guidance issued in 2007 says “fixed speed camera housings… should be coloured yellow” and that vehicles housing cameras “should be liveried and clearly identifiable as an enforcement vehicle”. It even says: “On every occasion before commencing enforcement at camera site, the enforcement officer should check that the conspicuity guidance is met.”

However, the crucial thing to be aware of here is that these are just guidelines and are not legally enforceable requirements. Indeed, in 2015 Humberside Police disguised speed cameras in tractors and other farm vehicles to catch motorcyclists and drivers travelling “at very high speed” on rural roads in East Yorkshire. While the plan attracted criticism, the National Police Chiefs Council said: “While speed enforcement will usually be conducted overtly to add to the deterrent effect, sometimes less overt tactics will be required to address specific problem which are causing casualties.”

Can I appeal a speeding fine?

You can appeal a speeding fine but your grounds for succeeding are very narrow and a hidden sign is not among them — “prosecutors have heard every excuse under the sun for speeding,” says the RAC. Possible grounds you have for disputing a speeding fine are:

• a technicality: there are missing or incorrect details provided on the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP), or there were incorrect, absent or obscured road signs
• you weren’t driving the vehicle (but, crucially, you know who was and can identify them)
• you weren’t speeding (and you can prove it)
• mistaken vehicle identity: it was not you driving or your vehicle involved
• camera was faulty: all enforcement cameras are calibrated in accordance with manufacturers and Home Office guidelines. and you would have a legal defence against a speeding penalty if you could prove the equipment was faulty. Drivers can request the calibration certificate for the specific camera or radar gun used.

You can appeal the fine by filling out the correct section on the NIP within 28 days but if the police do not accept your appeal you will have to go to court to contest the conviction and if this happens things may still not go your away and you could end up with an even bigger fine.

The popular supermarket chain has announced a partnership with InPost, the UK’s leading parcel locker provider.

This means up to 700 Asda stores will have an InPost locker installed across the UK.

InPost Lockers brought to up to 700 Asda stores

Millions of Asda customers will now have a convenient way to send, collect, and return parcels while shopping.

The partnership is part of Asda’s continued investment into bringing services to customers that will make their lives easier and improve the convenience of shopping in-store.

The InPost lockers will be placed at a range of Asda’s stores including superstores, supermarkets, and Express stores and will provide customers the chance to collect and return parcels at a time that is best for them.

Asda wants to work on the growing demand for out-of-home delivery solutions, as customers are looking for more flexibility and control over when and where they send and get parcels delivered.

Joseph Sutton, Director – Express, Fuel & Wholesale, said, “Our unmatched mix of services is a key part of what sets Asda apart, and we know customers increasingly value the convenience of being able to tick off multiple tasks in a single trip.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with InPost to bring parcel lockers to up to 700 locations nationwide.

“This rollout gives customers a fast and flexible way to collect and return parcels, seamlessly fitting around their weekly shop and making everyday life a little easier.”

InPost currently already has more than 16,000 lockers across the UK to match the shift towards out-of-home delivery.

Paul Selvey, Network Director at InPost UK, commented, “This is a major milestone for InPost in the UK.

“Partnerships with household-name retailers like Asda are central to our ambition to make out-of-home delivery as easy and accessible as possible for consumers across the country.

“Asda’s scale and nationwide footprint give us a significant opportunity to bring InPost Lockers closer to millions more people.

“Partnerships like this are helping change the way people think about parcel delivery and making lockers an increasingly established part of the UK delivery landscape.”

Do you think InPost Lockers are more convenient than home delivery services? Let us know in the comments.

In the wake of the US Screen Actors Guild strike over AI protections and UK musicians’ silent album to protest proposed changes to copyright law, more than a dozen AI-produced tracks have emerged on the Billboard charts since 2022.

While AI music has gone viral across social media platforms like TikTok through novelty covers that use AI to change songs from one genre to another, achieving chart presence introduces a level of industry and cultural legitimacy that aligns with longstanding markers of music industry success.

What’s surprising, though, is where these tracks are succeeding. My research into YouTube discussions of AI music, explored in a chapter of a new book called Media Imaginaries, found a recurring view that AI was seen as acceptable in “generic” Top 40 pop because this music was already perceived as formulaic and lacking in human creativity. Yet Christian, gospel and country music are where AI-generated tracks have achieved some of their greatest chart successes.

This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry – and celebrate the wins, too.

These songs are not created through AI technologies as tools in the collaborative production process; they are generated through text-to-music platforms such as Suno and Udio, where users input prompts to output complete musical tracks, including vocals and lyrics. Besides Xania Monet – currently the most successful AI gospel and R&B artist – the people behind these prompts often remain purposely unknown, with avatars taking on the role of creator.

How storytelling music succeeds

The success of these AI artists is closely connected to what these genres ask music to do. Christian, gospel and country music often tell stories that connect listeners’ everyday experiences to shared beliefs and values, through expressions of faith, accounts of struggle, or ideas of family, community and belonging.

The charting AI artists reproduce these familiar conventions. AI Christian artist Solomon Ray, for example, presents songs centred around worship, interpretations of the Bible and Christian theology. His persona is constructed around a familiar form of Christian masculinity that demonstrates vulnerability through yielding to a Godly presence.

Similarly, AI country artists appearing in the charts draw on recognisable forms of rural masculinity, positioning a “lone wolf” ruggedness in natural and farmland environments, as seen in Walk My Walk by Breaking Rust.

The human brains behind Xania Monet is Telisha “Nikki” Jones, who writes the lyrics and uses generative tools to create the singer’s voice and appearance.

Jones describes Monet as “an extension of me”: the experiences expressed in the lyrics are her own, even though the performer is an AI creation. Monet’s image is aligned with industry expectations of beauty, showing how AI can be used to present personal stories through an idealised celebrity persona.

These AI performers are not disrupting the conventions of their genres, which may be why audiences have been more willing to accept them. While much criticism of AI music focuses on the loss of human creativity, these genres have always placed significant emphasis on the message a song communicates and the community it creates.

It’s the message, not the medium

For much of popular music history, the singer has been central to how audiences understand and relate to songs. Lyrics take on meaning as listeners connect them to the perceived experiences of the person performing them. This helps explain why celebrity culture is so central to contemporary music: fans follow artists’ lives and develop a strong sense of personal connection, even without knowing them. Taylor Swift’s Swifties and the South Korean pop group BTS’s fans, known as Army, are prominent examples.

These new AI artists disrupt this relationship between embodiment and authorship. Their identities exist primarily to deliver the music rather than to become celebrities in their own right. Virtual personas provide a visual identity, but the emotional connection comes from the song itself and the values and familiarity it represents.

Without the messiness of human experience, these AI artists are less vulnerable to the controversies that affect human celebrities. They meet audience expectations and present a consistent version of the worldview they have been designed to represent.

Currently, this is can be seen in music that offers traditional constructions of gender alongside particular cultural and religious values, such as Breaking Rust’s rugged cowboy masculinity and Solomon Ray’s Christian messages of devotion.

AI-generated artists are finding success in genres where affirming listeners’ beliefs may matter more than who made the music or whether it offers something new. These first successful AI artists are not necessarily replacing the celebrity musician, but they are potentially changing the ideological role that musicians play.

In my current research exploring YouTube comments on charting AI artist videos, I am finding that many listeners continue to describe AI-generated songs as emotionally meaningful even after discovering they are not human-made. What matters is not who made the music, but what it offers the listener for their own emotional wellbeing and enjoyment. Ultimately, does it matter if music is produced by AI if someone has an emotional connection to it?

This does not make concerns around copyright or the environmental costs of generative AI any less important. The early success of AI-generated artists suggests that acceptance depends partly on what audiences want from music in the first place. Where listeners value a song because it reflects shared beliefs, provides emotional reassurance, or reinforces ideology, the identity of the creator becomes less important than the message.

If audiences increasingly care less about who wrote a song than whether it expresses the values they want affirmed, then AI may be changing what we think musicians are for. These personas can deliver a consistent message without a personal life that might contradict or jeopardise it.

But the absence of a human performer does not mean the absence of human choices. Someone still decides which stories are told, what the artist looks like, and whose values they represent. The question then not only becomes whether AI music can move us, but who gets to shape the beliefs and identities it invites us to share.

The Planning Inspectorate has upheld City of York Council’s decision to block plans to convert Victoria Vaults, in Nunnery Lane, into a café.

Cllr Pete Kilbane, the council’s Labour culture spokesperson, said the ruling was great news not only for Victoria Vaults but for all live music venues in York.

But Nabeel Hanif, the developer behind the plans, said the ruling keep the building empty not bring it back into use.

The ruling comes after a planning inspector heard the developer’s appeal on Tuesday, August 25.

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Mr Hanif said his plans to convert the venue, which closed in December 2024, into a café would keep it open for public use.

The developer claimed the decision was inconsistent with others made on similar plans and he also took issue with Cllr Kilbane’s objections.

He also appealed over the council not deciding on a separate but related application to convert the Nunnery Lane venue into three homes.

But the inspector upheld the council’s decision to block the café plans, ruling the conversion would see an important cultural facility and cultural venue lost without justification.

They added the decision was in line with the council’s policies and any benefits that the conversion would bring did not outweigh the loss of the venue.

City of York Council’s refusal of plans to convert Victoria Vaults into a café was upheld following an appeal (Image: LDRS)

Victoria Vaults hosted Bez from The Happy Mondays, Blondie drummer Clem Burke, goth discos, poetry readings and several other rock, pop and reggae acts prior to closing in December 2024.

Planning documents stated it closed after losing considerable sums of money and a £25,000-a-year lease is currently being marketed by Barry Crux.

It was granted Asset for Community Value (ACV) status in August.

ACV status gives eligible groups the chance to come forward with bids to buy it if its owner decides to sell it.

Nick Love, of York CAMRA, told August’s council hearing there was an overwhelming case to list Victoria Vaults as an ACV due to it furthering social wellbeing and cultural interests.

But Mr Hanif said the venue had been de-listed as an ACV in November 2025 and no offers to buy the building had been made before he purchased it.

Cllr Katie Lomas, the council’s Labour finance spokesperson who approved the ACV bid, said interest shown in taking the venue on showed there was a realistic prospect of it being brought back into use.

Speaking following the appeal ruling, Cllr Kilbane said it confirmed the protections given to cultural and community spaces under the council’s Local Plan.

The councillor, of Micklegate ward which is home to the venue, said: “This ruling is great news not just for the future of the Victoria Vaults but for all music venues in York.

“Given this confidence it is a great time to invest in our local venues, and we look forward to the Victoria Vaults moving on from its current sorry state and once again playing a key role in York’s music scene.”

Developer Mr Hanif said the ruling was not the decision he wanted.

The developer said: “The Victoria Vaults closed in December 2024 after more than £100,000 of public grants failed to keep it open.

“In the 21 months since, nobody has put a viable, funded proposal on the table to run it as a pub, and the council’s own officers recorded in May that no viable interest had emerged.

“Refusing every alternative use put forward does not bring the building back to life, it keeps it empty.”

Pork can be a tricky meat to cook, but one chef has shared a simple pre-cooking step to ensure you get juicy pork chops with perfectly crispy skin every time

Pork can be absolutely delicious when prepared properly, but getting the meat just right without it becoming overdone, parched or tough can be challenging. It’s the type of meat where one misstep can spoil the entire dish.

To help home cooks prepare the best pork chop imaginable, with succulent meat and crackling skin, one chef has shared the additional step that everyone ought to incorporate into their cooking method – and it couldn’t be simpler. Chef Charles Kim, better known as Chef Fatty on TikTok, shared his advice on how to prepare outstanding pork, reports the Express.

In a video posted in July, Chef Fatty revealed: “Did you know the perfect pork chop is actually pink in the middle?”

He clarified that many people make a mistake when preparing pork, noting that the goal of achieving white meat is actually incorrect. White meat indicates that the pork has been overcooked and becomes “rubbery and dry”.

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The chef added, “Just like steak, pork is safe at 145°F (62°C). Go any higher, and it turns chewy.”

So how can you achieve the ideal cook on a pork chop while ensuring the skin stays crispy?

All of this preparation can be completed in advance, meaning it won’t extend your cooking time.

How to cook juicy pork

First, you’ll need to dry-brine the pork. Ensure the pork is completely dry, with no excess moisture.

Next, season both sides of the chop with salt. Allow the pork chops to rest in the fridge for one hour or overnight.

Chef Fatty said: “When salt hits the meat, it draws out water, creating a salty brine on the surface. Then the meat soaks that back in, making the proteins hold on to the water when it cooks.

“Then when you leave it in the fridge, the dry air sucks more moisture off the surface, making it easier for browning.”

For thinner pork chops, you can either grill or pan-fry until the internal temperature reaches 145F in the centre. With thicker cuts, use the reverse sear method by placing them in an oven or air fryer at 300°F (approximately 148°C) until they reach 130°F (54°C), then finish off in the pan.

Applying salt to pork skin helps achieve crispiness by drawing moisture out through osmosis. The key to excellent crackling is ensuring the skin is dry; moist skin will steam during cooking and remain soft, whereas dry skin will bubble, puff up, and become crunchy under high heat.

The food experts at Good Food are in agreement. If you’re finding it difficult to get crispy crackling, you might not be using sufficient salt.

Good Food explained: “Use the full amount specified in the recipe to cover the pork belly rind when dry brining, as this is what causes the crackling to puff up and become crispy when the salt reacts with the fat. You can mix it with some oil to help it coat the pork if you need to. Rub it into the skin really well, including into the scored grooves.”

Another possibility is that the pork skin hasn’t been dried adequately. To address this, ensure the pork is thoroughly dry by patting it with kitchen roll to remove any excess moisture.

The specialists at Good Food also highlighted that scoring the pork’s skin, which can be done easily with a sharp knife, makes a difference.

Chris Wakelin says he is feeling the benefit of a ‘massively unfair advantage’ as a top 16 player in the current snooker landscape.

The 34-year-old is firmly inside that elite group at number 12 in the world, havign won last season’s Scottish Open and produced a string of other good runs in ranking events.

It is a great time to be in the top 16 as many tournaments have moved to tiered draws, meaning lower-ranked players have to qualify to join the top stars at the main venues of events.

That set-up sees lots of matches being played behind-closed-doors at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena for the lesser lights of the tour as they attempt to earn their spots alongside the brightest stars.

Over the last week-and-a-half there have been qualifiers for the Northern Ireland Open, International Championship in Nanjing and Scottish Open, all held at the Mattioli, meaning that if you’ve had a bad few days then your calendar looks pretty bare in the coming weeks.

Wakelin does not have to deal with many of these qualifiers, but did have to play a match to reach the main stage of the International Championship and he feels he is in too privileged a position to avoid as he avoids that fate more often than not.

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‘It’s something that needs to be addressed for sure,’ Wakelin told Metro. ‘From my perspective it’s a massively unfair advantage, being in the top 16 and not having to go to these qualifiers. It’s not the most lively of places, a little bit soulless and playing in front of nobody.

‘I understand why they have to do things in that manner, but for the guys that are having to go to qualifiers and they’re never actually seeing the inside of a proper venue, it’s not really the dream a lot of people had when they turned professional, to play in front of nobody.’

With the tiered system, top players can win one match at the venue and earn more money – and therefore ranking points – than their opponent has for winning multiple matches to get there.

This has long been the case in some tournaments, most notably the World Championship, but Wakelin feels it is not a fair system to be used across the tour.

‘We all know qualifying is an important part of progressing in the sport, but being in the 16 is such a massive advantage at the moment,’ he said. ‘I’ve only won four or five matches so far this season, while there’s players that have won 10, maybe 15 matches that still haven’t got the same number of ranking points that I’ve accrued.

‘It’s a nice position to be in from my point of view, but I don’t think it’s fair on the other players that are trying to make progress up the rankings.’

Wakelin spent over a decade on tour before cracking the top 16, so even though he doesn’t think it warrants the rewards he is now enjoying, he knows just how much work it takes to get there.

‘I’ve served my apprenticeship. I did 10 years of not really achieving a great deal,’ he said. ‘To be in this position now, I feel very, very fortunate.

‘There’s a lot of players that graft their whole careers and don’t manage to get into the top 16 and for me only a couple of years ago it seemed impossible.

‘But look at the points that you need over two years to get into the top 16. It’s a massive challenge. If you’re in the top 16 you’ve won some big matches, you’ve gone deep in a lot of tournaments.’

At next week’s Shenzhen Open, Wakelin takes on a player who has been in rampant form in the qualifiers, Liam Davies.

The 20-year-old from Wales is in the situation Wakelin has described, winning a huge amount of matches compared to his higher-ranked rivals, but without receiving the same rewards.

As Davies beat Long Zehuang in Scottish Open qualifying on Wednesday, he picked up his 19th win of the season in ranking events. Wakelin has won eight but sits ahead of him on the one-year ranking list.

Wakelin says the youngster may even go in as favourite when they meet in China, given the amount of games he has been winning.

‘He’s a smashing lad, smashing talent,’ said Wakelin. ‘He’s got the potential now to go deep in pretty much every tournament he plays in and good luck to the kid.

‘I want to see these guys doing well, I’m a big advocate of the youngsters from this side of the world. They’re learning how to win matches against people that have been doing it since before they were born.

‘The likes of Liam, Liam [Pullen], Liam [Graham] and Stan [Moody]. Antek [Kowalski] and [Iulian] Boiko, they’re all making their way up.

‘Last season I think Liam Davies struggled to really find his feet, but I’m buzzing for him now that he has done.

‘If anything, I’d say he probably goes into the match in Shenzhen as favourite because he’s done really well in recent tournaments. Obviously found himself comfortable in these big arenas and big tournaments and I’m sure it’ll be a good game, whoever wins.’

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Cops and paramedics raced to the road in the early evening of Wednesday (September 23) after witnesses reported a car crash

Police have issued a statement after emergency services descended on a busy Edinburgh street on Wednesday evening.

Paramedics and cops raced to Salamander Street in Leith at 6:35pm on Wednesday (September 23). Images of the incident showed a huge emergency service presence surrounding a red car near a junction of the road.

Eyewitnesses said they believed someone was being treated by paramedics. One said: “There is an ongoing incident at Salamander Street. It looked like someone was getting treatment.

“I initially thought it was an RTA but also there was multiple police. Four ambulances have passed me, five more police cars and also a fire engine so I’m not sure what’s happened but it seems serious.”

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Hours later, cops have confirmed they responded to a car crash — and multiple road closures are still in place.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland’s Edinburgh division said: “Salamander Street is closed following a collision which happened around 6.35pm on Wednesday, 23 September.

“Closures are in place from Salamander Place, Bath Road, Elbe Street, Baltic Street and Constitution Street. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.”

Salamander Street is very close to Leith’s docks, the suburb’s main park, Leith Links.