A convicted felon has been arrested in connection with sparking one of the devastating wildfires that has already destroyed over 700 buildings and forced at least 67,000 evacuations in Washington State. 

Aaron F Farinacci, 37, was arrested without incident and booked on suspicion of arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, one of three blazes that has already become one of the most destructive in the state’s history.

Farinacci pled guilty to manslaughter in 2012 after he killed his father in a fight in 2010, Fox News reported at the time.

He was initially charged with first-degree murder in the case before having the charge dismissed, KHQ reported.  

Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam mentioned his criminal history and that he’d been asked about ‘arson-related behavior’ in the past.

At around 10am Saturday, a witness said he’d seen a man kneeling near the fire, staring into the trees, before he ‘stood up and looked very nervous’ and then walked away, County Sheriff John Nowels said. 

He was initially detained and questioned later that day but was ultimately released.

By Sunday, however, detectives had been able to to link him to the fire and according to Nowels, ‘determined that the origin of the fire was indeed exactly where the witnesses had seen Mr. Farinacci kneeling in the grass.’

Over 67,000 people have been displaced in Washington state as wildfires erupted across a dry landscape this weekend and into Monday

Spokane County authorities detained Farinacci with the help of a SWAT team after getting a warrant for his arrest Monday. Police said he had waterproof matches and a butane lighter on him. 

He is being held on $1 million bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. 

Multiple wildfires erupted across a dry landscape in Washington state this weekend and continued on Monday as more than thousands remain displaced from the blaze.

The fires in the Spokane area – the state’s second largest city – were among dozens across the Western US, stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. 

Prior to the arson charge, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson had called it ‘likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane’s history.’ 

At least 390 square miles has burned across Washington, with a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Natural Resources saying they have not been contained. 

Body camera footage posted by Spokane Firefighters showed the blazes and the resulting smoke roaring in the middle of a highway as they attempted to tamp down the fire. 

About 700 buildings had been destroyed – a number that was expected to climb – and some 67,000 people were under evacuation orders. The cause was under investigation. 

They fires in the Spokane area – the state’s second largest city – were among dozens across the Western US, stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them

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Other footage of the fire aftermath showed scores of homes burned to the ground, with only their brick fireplaces and foundations remaining, while other houses nearby escaped practically unscathed. 

Calmer winds and lower temperatures arrived to help firefighters, but it was expected to be hot and dry again by midweek. 

The state’s entire congressional delegation asked President Donald Trump to approve an expedited emergency declaration.

‘Hundreds of people have completely lost their homes and farms, and many are prohibited from returning to their homes or neighborhoods as crews continue to extinguish smoldering embers,’ they said in a statement.

In one Spokane neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. 

Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.

Cpl. Mark Gregory, a spokesperson for the Spokane County Sheriff´s Office, said the county initially received nearly 300 reports of missing people, but by Monday they had cleared all but 14. 

Authorities are attempting to make contact with those 14 people whom they have failed to reach by cell phone but are not yet presumed missing, Sheriff John Nowels told a press conference Monday.

Miriam Sim, 76, reacts while talking about her neighborhood largely burning to the ground after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane

Spokane Firefighters give their view of battling the uncontained blazes

A view of a burned neighborhood in the Old Trails Fire

A handout photo made available by the Spokane Valley Fire Department shows the Fairview Fire northeast of Spokane

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Mayor Lisa Brown said authorities were combing the city block by block to assess damages and potential reignition, and couldn’t tell people yet when they could return home.

‘It could be weeks, depending on where your home and property is,’ she said.

‘I think from a historical standpoint, this is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane’s history,’ Washington Governor Bob Ferguson added.

Ferguson declared a state of emergency on August 1, citing drought conditions that have stretched four consecutive years, unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbating record-setting wildfires.

Those outstanding reports more likely represented people who had not been in contact since evacuating than people who were truly missing or in danger, authorities said.

Authorities warned people not to fly drones near the burned areas, saying it could force them to delay aerial firefighting operations.

Officials said Sunday that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital. Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.

Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.

An American flag stands at a burned structure in a residential area of Westgate after a wildfire

Aaren Hartley, 8, uses a shovel to sift through the remains of his grandparents’ home after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane

Three members of the Spokane Fire Department sit on a curb in front of burned out residential homes in the Balboa neighborhood

A charred vehicle and structures on N. Westgate Pl. are in ruins due to the wildfire

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A lightning-caused fire that has burned over 530 square miles of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon continued to grow Monday. 

The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.

In central Utah, a blaze quadrupled in size over the weekend to nearly 109 square miles by Monday afternoon. 

More than 100 cattle have been killed, according to law enforcement.

Heavy winds helped flames jump containment lines, but forward progression was slowed toward Fillmore, a town of about 2,600 people and the seat of Millard County, officials said. 

Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town’s southern portion, and inmates at the county jail were transferred.

In Spokane, about 400 people were staying at city’s main convention center, which was turned into a shelter, officials said.

Spokane Public Schools opened a free emergency drop-in camp for children on Monday. Trials at the county court were pushed to Aug. 10.

The Spokane fires follow ‘one of the warmest winters on record for eastern Washington,’ which led to a severe snow drought

Mandatory evacuations were ordered Sunday evening for the town’s southern portion, and inmates at the county jail were transferred

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A firefighter works to put out a fire at a home as a wildfire burns in Spokane County

The remains of a home destroyed by a wildfire in the Spokane area

Several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane.

The Spokane fires follow ‘one of the warmest winters on record for eastern Washington,’ which led to a severe snow drought, said Daniel Swain, a climatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

‘This is a recurring pattern we’re seeing now over and over and over again, starting in the second decade of the 21st century, and now continuing essentially every year,’ he told an online briefing.

He pointed to the devastating fires in Los Angeles last year, major fires in Spain and France this year and in Hawaii in 2023.

The head of Washington’s Department of Natural Resources, David Upthegrove, said the fires in Spokane were among 16 major blazes burning throughout the state of Washington, covering 262,000 acres.

‘This is an extraordinary fire season,’ he said.

An outage map published by local utility Avista showed over 6,445 customers were without power due to the fires as of early Monday.

The biggest of the three fires burning in Spokane, the Old Trails fire, jumped the Spokane River on Saturday afternoon and crossed into the city proper.

We’re all familiar with the idea that you should walk at least 10,000 steps per day. But, as we all know by now, that figure is a load of old waffle.

It was hugely popularised ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, having originated from a pedometer marketing campaign. The reason? The Japanese symbol for 10,000 looked a little bit like someone on a walk.

Still, in 2026, many of us (myself included, to be fair) are obsessing over reaching this gold-standard number, constantly tracking either our fitness watches or our iPhones to see if we’re hitting the mark.

And for good reason, too. One 2019 YouGov study found almost half (45%) of UK adults are sedentary for at least six hours each day, while 46% of working adults walk for less than an hour each working day.

You might prefer to get your walks in all in one go, heading out for an hour each time to be done with it, or you might split it up into bite-sized chunks.

But how many minutes do we need to be walking each day to boost our health? Metro chatted to the experts to find out.

How many minutes you need to walk per day

Walking has proven benefits for health, including improving flexibility, boosting the immune system, and reducing type 2 diabetes risk. What’s more, it can strengthen muscles, improve sleep, and boost mood.

So, if you’re physically able to do so, it’s important to incorporate it into your daily movement.

As Scott Harrison, personal trainer and founder of The Six Pack Revolution, tells Metro, it’s optimal to walk for at east 30 minutes each day.

He describes this golden half-hour as a ‘realistic sweet spot’ that’s vastly achievable for most of us, even when working full-time.

‘It’s long enough for most people to raise their heart rate, improve circulation, and stimulate muscle growth and metabolism while taking part in some meaningful physical activity,’ he says.

‘If you tell people they need to exercise for an hour, many won’t start at all. 30 minutes removes that barrier while still delivering significant health benefits when done consistently.

‘The best exercise is the one you’re actually going to do.’

Scott also recommends adding intervals, which involve walking for one minute at a quick pace, and then the same amount at a slower pace.

He suggests: ‘The most important message is that something is better than nothing.

‘Even 10 to 15 minutes a day is worthwhile, and increasing gradually towards 30 minutes is a realistic and achievable goal for most people.’

Chartered personal trainer and nutritionist Joseph Webb also backs this benchmark to help people towards their weekly exercise goals.

The UK chief medical officers’ guidelines recommend adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise each week, of which walking can form a part.

‘The recommendation to stay active remains important throughout adulthood, but as we get older, maintaining muscle strength, balance and mobility becomes increasingly important too,’ Joseph tells Metro.

‘Walking remains one of the best forms of exercise at any age, but I’d encourage older adults to combine regular walking with strength and balance exercises at least twice a week to help maintain independence and reduce the risk of falls.’

On the upside, walking doesn’t involve any special equipment, and you don’t need to fork out for a gym membership.

But what it does achieve is improved cardiovascular fitness and circulation, and it’s a simple way for us to get up and move around.

Joseph says: ‘Could you do one long walk at the weekend instead? Absolutely, and it all contributes towards your weekly activity. 

‘However, if your goal is to support both your physical and mental wellbeing, I’d much rather see someone walk for 20 to 30 minutes most days than save it all for one day each week.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk

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Rain is finally on the way for parts of the UK after record-breaking heat and drought, but areas of the country which need relief the most will remain dry.

July was southern England’s driest month ever recorded, with the whole of Wales and half of England plunged into drought.

Yesterday marked the 20th day of 2026 when 32C or higher was recorded in the UK, exceeding the previous record of 19 days set in 1995, the Met Office said.

And although outbreaks of rain are expected today in Northern Ireland, Scotland, western England and Wales, the Met Office has forecast a dry day for much of the Midlands, the east and south-east of England with warm sunshine and high humidity.

Temperatures are expected to decrease gradually in the second half of the week, and there is some more unsettled weather forecast for parts of the UK, including a yellow warning for thunderstorms in Northern Ireland.

But the South East will continue to see little in the way of desperately needed rain, the Met Office has warned.

Farming leaders have warned that this year is one of the ‘most severe droughts many farmers and growers have lived through’.

They’ve been dealing with poor yields, struggling to access water for fruit and vegetables, and livestock keepers are using winter feed for their animals.

In July, 19 counties across England recorded effectively no rainfall – 1mm or less – across the whole of the month, the Met Office figures show.

The summer of extreme weather has seen two record-breaking heatwaves, in May and June, that led to more than 2,800 excess deaths, and two more heatwaves in July which have fuelled drought and wildfires.

In the latest heat spike, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has amber heat health alerts in place for the East Midlands, East of England, South East and London until Wednesday morning.

There are also yellow heat health alerts for the North West, South West, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and The Humber.

The latest high temperatures could put extra pressure on the NHS, with more vulnerable people likely to require medical treatment.

Firefighters remained at the scene of a heathland blaze in Dunwich, Suffolk, on Monday, and crews declared a major incident as they tackled a huge wildfire in the Rhondda valley in South Wales.

Drone footage showed blackened ground and smoke billowing metres into the air over the valley, where South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) said the fire had affected 150 hectares of land, including forest, scrubland and vegetation.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple shared a similar thought when the return of Ted Lasso was announced.

Both Waddingham and Jones appeared in the first three seasons of the hugely popular Apple TV series: Waddingham as Rebecca, the imposing owner of the fictional British soccer club AFC Richmond, and Temple as Keeley Jones, a model-turned-powerful PR executive and Rebecca’s close friend.

But despite their roles in the show’s success — including Waddingham’s 2021 Emmy Award win — neither was sure they’d be asked back for the latest season.

Waddingham told The Hollywood Reporter that upon learning of season four, she wondered: “Am I in it?”

And Temple told the publication she asked her agents the same question: “I was like, ‘Oh, do you think they want me?’”

Turns out that both women were asked back for season four, which follows Jason Sudeikis’s Ted as he returns to coach AFC Richmond’s women’s soccer team.

The feel-good comedy-drama, starring Jason Sudeikis as an American football coach hired to manage a Premier League soccer team, debuted in 2022 to widespread critical acclaim. It won back-to-back Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022. It originally concluded in 2023 with its third season, which proved divisive among fans, with some accusing the show of losing its way.

A surprise fourth-season revival was then announced in March 2025.

Waddingham and Temple will reunite with Sudeikis, Jeremy Swift and Brett Goldstein for season four, alongside a handful of new cast members, including Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds, Faye Marsay, Abbie Hern, Jude Mack, Aisling Sharkey and Rex Hayes.

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Waddingham told The Hollywood Reporter that she and Temple became unofficial mentors to the slew of women brought in to play the new soccer teammates.

“I was teasing them, like, ‘Just wait till you see your face on a great big billboard,” Waddingham said. “Like, you f***ing wait!”

However, given the show’s new premise, many of the cast members who portrayed the stars of Ted’s male soccer team will not return.

Recently speaking about the “very difficult” phone calls he had with each individual actor to explain their absence in the new season, Sudeikis said he did so because he “didn’t want them to hear it on the internet.”

“And because I love those guys and we all went through something together,” the We’re the Millers star explained to The Hollywood Reporter.

Ted Lasso season four premieres August 5 on Apple TV+.

Hello, and welcome to WalesOnline’s live blog for Tuesday, August 4. We’ll be bringing you all of the latest news from across Wales – whether you’re on the move, at home or at work – as well as the latest traffic and travel.

We’ll also be keeping you informed of major news stories from the UK and overseas.

Contribute to the live blog by posting your comments below, or tweet us @WalesOnline to share the news that’s breaking in your area. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.

June 7 2026 was a historic day for musical vampires. The stage adaptation of The Lost Boys won four Tony awards and the third season of the TV show Interview with the Vampire, now retitled The Vampire Lestat, premiered on AMC in the US (it arrived on BBC Two in the UK on July 28). In the new season of the show, the French nobleman vampire Lestat is now a rockstar, and the series features original songs and extended musical scenes.

Lestat (played by Sam Reid) carries a legacy rooted in melodrama, opera, alternative music and musical theatre. But while musical vampires were hugely popular on the 19th-century stage (see Heinrich Marschner’s 1828 opera Der Vampyr), the modern musical vampire has been somewhat cursed.

From 2002-05, the musicals Dance of the Vampires, Dracula and Lestat all opened on New York’s Broadway – and all three were epic flops.

While the vampire musical has found success internationally, it’s never had a moment in the sun (or rather, out of the sun) on Broadway. But where Lestat (2005) killed off the vampire musical, TV’s Lestat is resurrecting it. The series has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and The Lost Boys is one of the hottest tickets on Broadway. Here’s what they’re doing right – and where their predecessors went wrong.

Dance of the Vampires

Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires, 1997) was a smash hit in Vienna before the show travelled to Broadway in 2002. The lavish original production featured a grand gothic castle, thrilling power-ballad music by Jim Steinman and a brooding lead vampire, Count von Krolock.

It also involved some problematic politics and a culturally specific sense of humour. With these challenges, Broadway’s production team couldn’t agree on a direction. While some wanted to remain faithful to the original, others wanted to appeal to American audiences with a “Mel Brooks-ish” comedy. With the latter coming to fruition, Austria’s grand romantic spectacle became pure slapstick.

To its credit, the production did offer some narrative improvements, but the Broadway revamp misses something crucial: a balance between the serious and the camp. While the original featured plenty of humour, crucially, Krolock remained the “straight man”. When Broadway’s vampire became a clown, the tapestry fell apart. It lost the gothic wonder and emotional integrity that made Tanz a great musical.

The Lost Boys

As Lestat says in episode two of the new series, “facts are irrelevant – feels are everything”. “Feels”, after all, are the fundamental principle of both vampires and musicals. Both are certainly known for their passion. On a more base level, both create visceral effects through their excessive spectacles. The “feeling” evoked by horror (and live musicals) is immediate, an experience Linda Williams relates to “body genres”.

Historically, excessive “feeling” and surface appeal have been shunned by critics of the gothic for lacking substance or moral meaning. But defenders of the gothic like Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick argue that surface affect and its associated “feels” are valuable in themselves. And just as this principle applies to the gothic, it is also true for musical theatre.

The megamusical – a term that describes large-scale shows such as Les Misérables and Cats – runs on spectacle. Mesmerising scenery and technical innovation are paramount. The centrepiece of The Lost Boys is its flying vampires (something Dracula also had, although the rest of the show failed to match the whimsy).

The Lost Boys looks and feels like an 80s megamusical, retaining that grandeur that was fatally cut from Dance of the Vampires. Its Tony wins for performance and design, and losses for writing, suggest its focus on style over substance – but rather than indicating failure, this seems to be the subgenre’s recipe for success.

Dracula

Dracula is a successful musical in Europe and Asia, but like many vampires, it had a difficult conception. The Broadway production suffered from static blocking, gratuitous female nudity, and, according to critics, “soberly eschew[ed] any temptations to campy indulgence”.

Dracula himself showed no emotion. Actor Tom Hewitt, who had previously starred in Rocky Horror, clearly had a camp vampire bursting to get out, but the production demanded constraint. It was a musical made for the straight male gaze.

The show was later revised in Switzerland, Austria, and South Korea. It gradually borrowed elements from the camp masterpiece Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), from Eiko Ishioka’s costume design to the iconic bleeding cross scene.

Mina’s Seduction was re-blocked into a romantic scene where Mina has more control of the situation. The female nudity was removed, but Dracula was framed as a Twilight-esque heartthrob. The sexual dynamics were transformed: this was now a Dracula for the female gaze. And since women are the primary demographic of musical theatre, and of popular vampire media, this gradual shift directly correlated with its gradual success.

The Vampire Lestat

If vampires are soulless, it stands to reason that they’re not naturally musical. The vampires in the multi-Oscar-winning film Sinners (2025) are attracted to blues music because it is alive and human: everything they’re not.

Some vampires might not be able to sing at all: Stoker’s Dracula praises the sound of the wolves (“what music they make!”) but doesn’t sing with them. In musicals, characters must sing truthfully about their feelings. So how do soulless demons function in this world? To be a successful musical vampire, they must be a failed vampire.

Incidentally, Lestat’s albums are called The Failures. Music has “opened up the batch oven” and his feelings are out of control. He’s an inexhaustible vessel of love and pain: he cries, screams, and sings, expressing feelings he’s not supposed to express. After all the enduring vampires tend to do, Lestat is thriving – and inspiring others – in the cathartic communion of live music.

Broadway’s The Lost Boys also gives its vampires a reason to sing by making the gang a rock band. However, Broadway’s Lestat did not focus on his rockstar era but rather condensed his life story. It missed the opportunity to explore the character’s love of music, to use the musical format to explore Lestat’s identity. In The Vampire Lestat, music is integrated into the show’s structure. It’s the very thing that unravels and reveals the vampire.

There’s a specific intersection where the vampire’s appeal meets the musical’s, and while this intersection was a mystery for Broadway producers of the 2000s, it’s being nailed now. The curse is finally over – and now that the singing vampires have been invited in, who knows what they’ll do next.

Ariana Grande‘s new music video for Petal has sparked concern from fans after it showcased her alarmingly thin frame. 

The video follows an aspiring performer named Pepper, who undergoes several personality and image overhauls in response to negative feedback from casting bosses. 

After several failed auditions, Pepper eventually snaps and slays the bosses with a chainsaw after they brand her ‘inauthentic’ and claim to have preferred her as she was at the start. 

In a twist, it’s then revealed Pepper is in fact a famous movie star who was filming the story of an actress who is driven to madness by rejection and critique.  

The striking video is a social commentary on Ariana’s complicated relationship with fame and the scrutiny she’s faced over the years, with Ariana doubling down on this point when she announced a break from the limelight after ‘endless, ongoing public scrutiny’. 

Yet Ariana, who is a self-confessed horror film fanatic, also paid homage to a number of film scenes and characters, notably those including women who have been driven to madness while trying to live up to impossible standards. 

So what are the symbolic moments in Petal? The Daily Mail reveals all. 

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All the symbolism in Ariana Grande’s Petal as she pays homage to women driven to madness by impossible standards in dark music video (right, Sissy Spacek in 1976’s Carrie)

Pepper’s Hollywood star and The Substance references 

Petal opens on a blank star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame that has cracked slightly allowing a single daisy to grow. 

With each failed audition the flower begins to wilt, until the end when Pepper leaves the movie studios as an accomplished actress, when the flower is restored to full health. 

The scene mirrors that of The Substance, in which Demi Moore stars as ageing actress Elisabeth Sparkle, who injects herself with a cell-replicating substance that helps her create a younger, better version of herself, after being shut out of Hollywood. 

Elisabeth’s star becomes dirtier and disregarded as time goes on in a metaphor for how her career fades with age. 

There is another reference to The Substance in Petal, when Pepper responds to a casting advert to try and crack Hollywood, much like when Elisabeth’s alter-ego Sue responds to an advert to become ‘the next Elisabeth Sparkle’. 

Meanwhile, the cruel casting bosses in Petal resemble ruthless agent Harvey (Dennis Quaid) in the body horror film. 

Petal opens on a blank star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame that has cracked slightly allowing a single daisy to grow, much like Elisabeth Sparkle’s abandoned star in The Substance 

There is another reference to The Substance in Petal, when Pepper responds to a casting advert to try and crack Hollywood

The cruel casting bosses in Petal resemble ruthless agent Harvey in the body horror film

While Ariana has not commented publicly on The Substance she has spoken in depth about the focus of image in Hollywood. 

She told Vogue in 2023: ‘Being exposed to so many voices at a young age, and especially when people have things to say about your appearance at a young age, it’s really hard to know what’s worth hearing or not. When you’re 17, you don’t really know that yet.’ 

Ariana went on to confess she had a ‘ton’  of lip filler and Botox over the years, tearing up as she recalled: ‘I stopped in 2018 because I felt too much. 

‘I just felt like hiding, you know? Didn’t expect to get emotional. 

‘For a long time, beauty was about hiding for me, and now I feel like maybe it’s not. Ever since I stopped getting fillers and Botox, I know for me, it was just like, “Oh, I just want to see my well-earned cry lines and smile lines.”

‘I hope my smile lines get deeper and deeper and I laugh more and more. Ageing can be such a beautiful thing. Now, might I get a facelift in 10 years? Might, yeah! 

‘These are just thoughts that I feel like we should be able to discuss when we’re talking about beauty secrets. F*** it, let’s lay it all out there.’

Pepper becomes Grease’s ‘sexy Sandy’ 

At the start of Petal, Pepper arrives for her audition in a modest yellow top and white midi skirt, reminiscent of Olivia Newton John’s first look as Sandy in Grease

After receiving the feedback that she’s ‘homely, boring and nothing special’, Pepper transforms into ‘sexy Sandy’ channeling the character’s bad girl transformation

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At the start of Petal, Pepper arrives for her audition in a modest yellow top and white midi skirt, reminiscent of Olivia Newton John’s first look as Sandy in Grease. 

Yet after receiving the feedback that she’s ‘homely, boring and nothing special’, Pepper transforms into ‘sexy Sandy’ channeling the character’s bad girl transformation in a black Bardot top and skintight trousers. 

In Grease, Sandy opted to change despite Danny insisting he’d ditch his biker persona and become a jock to be with her, and many fans have since insisted it’s sexist that she was the one who had to change.

For years it’s been claimed that Grease promotes a sexist representation of women but the argument gained speed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which increased awareness of the representation of women in media. 

Many noted that Sandy shouldn’t have felt the need to change her image from the so-called ‘girl-next-door’, despite the film heavily implying she and Danny would never be together if she’d kept her look and demeanour the same. 

Olivia later hit back at these claims, saying: ‘It’s a movie. It’s a story from the 50s where things were different.’

Pepper snaps like Pearl 

Petal appears to be heavily influenced by Pearl, which stars Mia Goth (right) as a young woman on the brink of madness who pursues stardom to escape her monotonous life 

Several scenes in Petal mirror Pearl, such as the lines of young women waiting to audition for roles, the manic eyes of a performer desperate to please, and of course the killing scenes 

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Petal appears to be heavily influenced by Pearl, which stars Mia Goth as a young woman on the brink of madness who pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery, isolation and lovelessness of life on her parents’ farm.

In Pearl, the titular character tries in vain to make it as a star before giving into her murderous tendencies and going on a rampant killing spree. 

Several scenes in Petal mirror Pearl, such as the lines of young women waiting to audition for roles, the manic eyes of a performer desperate to please, and of course the killing scenes. 

The death scene itself also pays tribute to Kill Bill in a homage to Uma Thurman’s complicated antiheroine The Bride. 

While as Pepper emerges covered in blood there is a striking resemblance to Sissy Spacek in Carrie, a teenager who is driven to murder after being mercilessly bullied by her peers and abused by her mother. 

Ariana has previously expressed her love of the 1976 horror film, saying it influenced a sketch she starred in on Saturday Night Live earlier this year. 

The skit reimagined Macaulay Culkin’s Home Alone as Kevin pulling off murderous pranks rather than playful ones, with SNL’s film unit director Mike Diva revealing Ariana said: ‘I want as much blood as possible. I wanna look like Carrie at the end of this thing!’ 

The death scene itself also pays tribute to Kill Bill in a homage to Uma Thurman’s complicated antiheroine The Bride (right) 

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As Pepper emerges covered in blood there is a striking resemblance to Sissy Spacek in Carrie, a teenager who is driven to murder after being mercilessly bullied by her peers

Ariana previously revealed that Petal allowed her to tap into her ‘unfiltered rage’. 

She told Apple Music: ‘It pulls from many different parts of myself and yet, at the same time, it is very experimental and different for me.

‘I wrote from a place that I don’t usually, which was like an unfiltered rage that I think we all feel sometimes.

‘I usually am too shy to tap into that. This time, I didn’t filter as much as I usually do. I usually do a lot of rewrites and make things a little kinder. This time, I didn’t.’ 

She also described Petal as being ‘full of life’ and ‘growing through the cracks of something cold and hard and challenging’. 

Ariana added: ‘It’s a little feral. It’s definitely from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before. This kind of just feels like, “F**k it.”‘ 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush is attempting a political comeback Tuesday in a Missouri Democratic primary that tests evolving views on American-Israeli relations, just two years after the progressive “Squad” member was ousted by voters in favor of Wesley Bell.

The rematch in a heavily Democratic St. Louis district is one of several consequential primaries. In western Missouri, Republicans are picking a candidate to try to unseat Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver in a dramatically reshaped district that is part of President Donald Trump’s attempt to retain a slim House majority in the midterms.

In northern Missouri, Republicans are choosing a potential successor to retiring Rep. Sam Graves, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Meanwhile, Missouri voters are deciding a pair of unique ballot measures backed by the Republican-led Legislature. One would require all citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to pass in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts instead of by a simple statewide majority — a high standard used by no other state. The other would direct lawmakers to repeal the state’s individual income tax while authorizing a state sales tax expansion.

St. Louis primary pits Israel critic against supporter

The contest between Bush and Bell tests how much the Democratic Party has shifted over the past two years.

The deep-pocketed American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbies for U.S. support of Israel, spent millions to help oust Bush in 2024 after she criticized Israel’s response in Gaza to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Bell is again supported by AIPAC.

But public opinions of Israel have since shifted, particularly among Democrats. A recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 58% of Democrats now say the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israelis, up from 45% in an AP-NORC poll from January 2024.

This year’s primary also could test the growing clout of democratic socialists, who have traveled from across the country to help campaign for Bush.

Bush and Bell both honed their leadership skills in Ferguson amid the racial unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in 2014. Bell won election to the Ferguson City Council the next year, then defeated a seven-term St. Louis County prosecutor in the 2018 Democratic primary.

Bush, a protest leader, defeated longtime Rep. William Lacy Clay in the 2020 Democratic primary. She served two terms before being defeated by Bell.

Kansas City primary is part of GOP redistricting plan

Missouri was the second Republican state, after Texas, to respond to Trump’s call last year to redraw congressional districts to the GOP’s advantage ahead of the midterms. The revamped map stretches Cleaver’s previous Kansas City district eastward into rural central Missouri, giving the new 5th District a Republican tilt.

Cleaver is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. A six-person Republican primary features state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Marine veteran and founding member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction that has challenged the legislature’s GOP leadership. Brattin now has the backing of some of Missouri’s top Republicans, including Gov. Mike Kehoe.

His main advertising competitor has been Taylor Burks, a Navy officer who previously served as Boone County clerk, which oversees elections in the home county of the University of Missouri.

Retirement creates an opening for a Republican-held seat

Graves, who has represented rural northern Missouri for a quarter century, set off a political scramble when he announced in late March that he wasn’t seeking reelection. He endorsed conservative talk radio host Chris Stigall, who once worked for Graves.

The five-person Republican field in the GOP-leaning 6th District also features Kansas City Council member Nathan Willett. The recent redistricting added more northern Kansas City neighborhoods to the sprawling district. The Democratic primary has three candidates.

Ballot item seeks to raise the bar for amendments

A constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by Republican state lawmakers would make it harder for citizen-initiated amendments to win voter approval. The measure comes after voters narrowly passed several controversial citizen initiatives, including ones enshrining abortion rights into the state constitution, legalizing recreational marijuana, allowing sports betting and expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income adults.

None of those would have passed under the proposed requirement that citizen-initiated amendments win majority approval in every congressional district. Under Amendment 4, constitutional amendments proposed by the Legislature would still need just a statewide majority.

Proposal asks voters whether to ax the income tax

Amendment 5 would direct the Legislature to gradually eliminate the individual income tax as state revenue grows. It also would allow lawmakers to raise revenue by expanding the sales tax to “any goods and services” — giving them five years to decide which sales to tax without needing further voter approval.

The Missouri measure marks the first time since the modern income tax began over a century ago that a U.S. state legislature has asked voters whether to eliminate the tax. Alaska is the only state so far to impose a general individual income tax and then repeal it, doing so in 1980 by a legislative vote.

Massachusetts voters rejected income tax eliminations in 2002 and 2008 that were initiated by citizens, not lawmakers.

WARNING: Distressing content Claire Alex took her own life just four days after she told police about the 11 months of abuse she endured from Kathryn White

A jealous, controlling woman waged a campaign of psychological and physical abuse on her girlfriend, leading her to take her own life just days after she told police.

Kathryn White. and Claire Alex met on Tinder in August 2021 but the troubled relationship came to an end in July 2022, when an argument resulted in White grabbing Ms Alex by the neck and pinning her to a wall. She threatened to kill herself, took the victim’s phone so she could not call for help, and threw her to the floor.

Claire finally gathered the courage to to tell police she had “completely lost herself” and felt “broken” after 11 months of torment from White. Four days later, she killed herself.

White, 41, of Mayfield Mews in Crewe, denied controlling and coercive behaviour, but was found guilty following a trial. She appeared back in court today, Friday July 31, for sentence.

The judge White’s behaviour amounted to “a prolonged and persistent campaign of psychological and physical abuse.” On one occasion the court heard White threatened to stab Ms Alex. On another occasion, she slapped her outside her workplace after a colleague hugged her, Liverpool Echo reports.

Rosemary Proctor, defending White, said the former army officer had depression, anxiety and ADHD, and had suffered sexual trauma in the past. She said: “It’s clear from the character references she can be compassionate, she can be generous, she can be a good friend, a good sister, a good daughter, even a good girlfriend. There are many who can say she had made a positive impact on their lives.”

While Prosecutor Ember Jade Wong said: “She would control what she did, who she spoke to, and would monitor her in various different ways. Perhaps the most significant form of isolation in this case was from friends and family, including her own children.”

The judge concluded: “I have watched your behaviour throughout the trial. I’m satisfied, even allowing for your mental health difficulties, you demonstrated a cold, collected attitude with absolutely no remorse, shame or empathy.

“Your behaviour demonstrated attempts by you to control the way evidence was given. You made flippant and jokey remarks which could not have been more inappropriate, which shows a complete lack of understanding of the impact of your offending.”

He sentenced White to three years and six months in prison.

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk. If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk.

A forest fire in the south of France has revealed a cache of 400 historic shells and munitions in the village of Le Porge, according to local authorities.

Blasts, initially thought to be exploding gas cylinders, may have been World War Two explosives detonated by the heat of the fires, the local fire commander told local media.

More than 100 explosions were heard on the second night of the fire, Mayor Martial Zaninetti told French news outlet France Info, likening it to “the sound of war”.

Demining operations have now seen most residents return to their homes, however the mayor has said certain areas are still off-limits. More than 180 houses in the area were destroyed by the wildfire.

“There were ammunition depots buried in land within our municipality, but we didn’t know it, and they exploded”, Zaninetti told France Info.

He described them going “to the right, to the left” and that there was “even one that went through a house”.