President Donald Trump reacted to news of Dolly Parton’s death by claiming that the country music icon secretly “really liked me” and that her death feels like losing “a member of the family.”

“I knew her a little bit, she wasn’t a very political person,” he said in an interview with Glenn Beck on Wednesday, a day after the “Jolene” singer-songwriter’s death sent shockwaves around the world.

“She really liked me, I will tell you,” he went on, while claiming she never expressed this publicly because she didn’t want to lose some of her fanbase.

“She was of the opinion, the 50%, who needs to lose?” he said. “I don’t think it’s 50, I think it’s probably 20% of the fans, OK, not 50. But she was a great person, just a nice person. I liked her a lot.”

In her memory, Trump ordered the nation’s flags to be flown at half mast for one week, one of the longest periods of national mourning ever issued for a private citizen.

“There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” he proclaimed in a social media post.

Parton had refused to publicly wade into politics, including by sharing her feelings about Trump. The businesswoman and philanthropist reasoned she didn’t want to offend anyone and divide her fans. She’d instead let her music ― and actions ― speak for her, she said.

“I know whatever I say, people are going to listen, and they’re going to make more of it than maybe what I meant. So I have to be careful. Of course I have my opinion, but I’m not an opinionated person as a rule,” she told People in 2021.

Some of the issues she did address and supported included equality for the LGBTQ+ community, children’s education and literacy, and vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic — with her having helped fund Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The Trump administration, in contrast, has increasingly advocated against vaccinations, with Trump appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time anti-vaxxer, to oversee the nation’s health department, leading to a historic rise in measles cases and unsupported claims that the shots may be linked to autism.

Trump also revoked executive orders and actions that called for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ individuals in federal agencies and in schools. His administration also carried out targeted campaigns against transgender individuals in schools, athletics and in the military.

“I think everybody should be treated with respect,” Dolly told CNN in 2016 when asked about a contentious anti-LGBTQ “Bathroom Bill” in North Carolina that imposed rules on bathroom and changing facilities based on one’s gender at birth.

“I don’t judge people. I try not to get too caught up in the controversy of things. I hope that everybody gets a chance to be who and what they are. I just know if I have to pee, I’m going to pee. I don’t care where it’s going to be,” she went on.

That same year, before elected into his first term, Trump said he agreed with trans individuals being allowed to use the bathroom of their choice. After being sworn in, his administration ended federal protections for transgender students.

Nigel Farage could be blocked from ever becoming prime minister by the 43% of Brits “unhappy” with the idea of a Reform government, a survey has found.

The right-wing party is virtually neck-and-neck with Labour in the opinion polls, raising the prospect of Farage becoming prime minister at the next election.

But a report by anti-racism campaign group HOPE Not Hate has shown how tactical voting by nearly half the country could stop it from happening.

Based on polling by Focaldata, the report shows that there are more anti-Reform voters than supporters of the right-wing party.

Of the 43% who would be unhappy at Farage becoming PM, 69% would be prepared to vote tactically for whichever party is best-placed to stop a Reform candidate being elected in their constituency.

A constituency-level MRP projection by Survation found there are 95 “fragile Reform” seats across the country, where the party is three percentage points or less ahead of their nearest rival.

It also found there are 199 “anti-Reform jeopardy” seats where the party is currently projected to win only because opposition votes are split between two or more other parties.

Nick Lowles, chief executive at HOPE Not Hate, said: “Whether it’s the Burnham bounce or the Farage flop taking effect, Reform UK is doing worse in the polls now than they were last year.

“At the same time, millions of voters across Britain are ready to vote tactically against Reform.

“Even Reform enthusiasts like Tim Montgomerie are warning that Reform is only strong when its opposition is divided.

“Our research shows that Montgomerie is right to worry: Reform’s opposition can close ranks around election time.

“Our job is to guide anti-Reform voters to back a party that will deliver Reform defeat.”

Prominent Farage ally Tim Montgomerie was suspended from Reform last week after publicly criticising the party and its home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.

A parliamentary sleaze probe is currently looking into Farage over a £5 million donation from a crypto-billionaire he failed to declare to parliament when he became an MP in 2024.

The Reform leader triggered a by-election in his constituency of Clacton earlier this year amid the heightened scrutiny over his finances.

However, all the other major parties refused to stand a candidate, describing the contest as a “stunt”, and Farage was re-elected.

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Wes Streeting has claimed “people cannot cope” with a gay man being defence secretary.

He said he had “experienced more online homophobia in the last three weeks than I have in my entire life”.

Streeting became the first openly gay man to be appointed to the role after Andy Burnham became prime minister last month.

In an interview with Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the former health secretary said he had been inundated with abuse since taking up the role.

He said: “I have experienced more online homophobia in the last three weeks than I have in my entire life.

“An unbelievable volume, because people cannot cope with the idea that a gay person might lead the armed forces of the United Kingdom.”

He said his sexuality “has been almost entirely unremarked upon in the media” since becoming defence secretary.

“I think, ‘great, here we are in the third decade of the 21st century it doesn’t matter, brilliant’,” Streeting said. “But of course online it matters to a lot of people.

“And I am proud of the fact that in my lifetime we’ve gone from gay people not being able to serve in the military to a gay defence secretary.”

However, Streeting said he had also been congratulated by people in the Ministry of Defence for being a symbol of progress.

He said: “In my first week, someone in the MoD said to me: ‘As a gay man, I’m really proud that we have our first gay defence secretary – It means a lot to many of us who remember the bad old days.’ I was quite touched by that.”

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It’s hard to overstate the benefits of frequent walks. While this form of exercise may not feel as impactful as a high-intensity workout or distance run, walking actually does wonders for the body.

“Physically it will improve cardiovascular health by strengthening the heart, thereby helping circulation, lower blood pressure, helping in the prevention of heart disease and stroke,” Matthew Nolan, a chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City, told HuffPost.

“Mental health is also a great benefit to walking. The release of the endorphins while walking will help boost mood and overall mental state,” he added.

What’s more, daily walking can help build bone and muscle strength and improve joint health, said Nolan. In fact, people with chronic lower back pain and knee pain can benefit from a regular walking regimen, said Tyler Moldoff, a physical therapist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

“It’s really been exciting more recently seeing a lot of new research coming out about how something as simple as walking can really be an exceptional exercise, when done properly,” he said.

To Moldoff, “done properly” means getting 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. This equates to at least 30 minutes of walking, five days a week — and you should aim for 5,000 to 10,000 steps (or more) daily.

Once you hit these requirements, there are additional ways to get even more out of your exercise regimen. Below, experts share what you can do to challenge yourself while building up strength and endurance during your walks:

U.S. government guidelines note that adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, which can include brisk walking — but not walking at a snail’s pace.

Moldoff said the intensity of aerobic activity is typically measured in relation to your heart rate.

While it can be hard to know your exact heart rate during a walk, a good way to ensure you’re pushing yourself is to listen to a fast-paced song — starting at, say, 100 beats per minute — and then move to the music’s beat, Moldoff added.

“You can simply do a Google search or even on Spotify or Apple Music, look for different genres of songs that may be enjoyable for individuals at 100 beats per minute, and then trying to sync your cadence to the beat of the song,” he said.

“And if you’re following along [to a] song that is … 100 beats per minute, you can be sure that after a few minutes you’ll start to work up a little bit of a breath and you’ll be hitting that moderate intensity.”

If that tempo feels too slow for you, look up songs that are 110 or 120 beats per minute instead.

And as a bonus, music makes walking more enjoyable, Moldoff said.

If you’re not quite ready to maintain a fast walking pace for all 30-plus minutes of your walk, consider incorporating a faster pace at select times during your workout.

Nolan said that in Barry’s classes, instructors frequently do interval-based training, which you can try in your walk, too.

“You can do [this] at home by incorporating short bursts of fast walking or even jogging to increase intensity,” Nolan stated.

For example, you might start small with a 30-second jog or minute-long speed walk and increase the duration when your body feels ready.

“You could also walk with light weights or do some simple body weight exercises like squats, lunges or pushups during points of the walk to work different muscle groups,” Nolan said.

To start, simply plan your walk ahead of time and pick some designated places, such as your driveway or a local park, to do some body weight training. Writing out your workout in advance can also help you hold yourself accountable.

You might do five pushups, 15 crunches and a one-minute plank repeated three times, or whatever combination makes sense for you. Just be sure to switch up your strength workout to target different muscles in your exercise regimen.

You could also try walking with a weighted vest or a backpack filled with books for an added challenge, Moldoff said.

“Simply by doing that, you can help increase your metabolic rate, which improves your oxygen consumption, and that relates to a greater calorie burn,” he stated, adding that this can “strengthen the muscle groups of the leg.”

Walking on a path with hills is another way to boost your daily walk, Moldoff said.

Walking downhill has been shown to improve muscle strength in the lower extremities and reduce the stress that’s put on the cardiovascular system, he stated.

“So, interestingly enough, it will likely be less stressful on our breathing and our heart rate,” Moldoff noted. “It will make it more comfortable, but at the same time, you’re actually improving your muscle strength more effectively relative to simply level walking.”

Meanwhile, walking uphill can provide more of a challenge to your cardiovascular system, and some research suggests that it can benefit people with knee joint issues.

No matter what you do to up your walking regimen, it’s important to stay consistent, said Nolan.

“The benefits of walking are best realized with regular, consistent practice,” he said. “Aim for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.”

But it’s important to take days off when you need them and listen to your body for any signs of pain or discomfort, Nolan added.

It may take time to build up enough strength and endurance to incorporate these walking challenges, and that’s OK. As you commit to a regular walking regimen, the benefits will begin to emerge.

“Walking is a simple, accessible form of exercise that can truly open the door to a healthier lifestyle,” Nolan stated. “By incorporating these tips, you can maximize the benefits and enjoy daily walks even more.”

The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.

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Knee pain affects about a fifth of over-16s, and is more common the older we get.

Per the NHS, it can be caused by everything from strains and twists during exercise to conditions like osteoarthritis (knee osteoarthritis seems to be the most common form of the disease).

According to Dr Syed Nadeem Abbas, a surgeon and regenerative medicine expert from the Knee Pain Clinic, “most knee pain [among over-40s] comes down to wear and tear, and that’s still the most likely explanation.”

However, he says one type of knee pain should always be investigated.

“What tends to get missed is pain that doesn’t follow the usual rules, pain that’s worse at rest than at activity, or wakes someone up at night rather than settling,” the expert said.

“That’s the pattern I’d always want checked properly rather than put down to getting older, because catching anything unusual early makes a real difference to the outcome.”

Knee pain caused by osteoarthritis or overuse tends to ease off at rest, he added.

But issues that get worse at night might very rarely be caused by a bone tumour, he added – indeed the NHS said a possible symptom of bone cancer is if “pain or tenderness in a bone, particularly if it’s worse at night”.

Chondrosarcoma, the most common type of primary bone cancer, is known to affect adults over 40, the surgeon added.

Of course, these symptoms aren’t limited to your knee: common sites include the pelvis (hip), rib cage, arms, shoulder blades, and other parts of your leg.

It’s important to remember that primary bone cancer is very uncommon – about 550 people in the UK face it yearly.

Other conditions which can cause nighttime knee pain include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis,
• Gout,
• Tendonitis,
• Prepatellar bursitis,
• Osgood-Schlatter disease,
• Injury, per The Cleveland Clinic.

Dr Abbas added that even vitamin D deficiency might cause unexpected knee pain.

But as orthopaedic surgeon Dr Kim Stearns also told the clinic, “People with healthy knees usually don’t get pain at night. There’s typically a reason, and it can be caused by several conditions.”

Speak to your GP if you have concerns.

President Donald Trump posted a ranking of what he apparently believes are the greatest US presidents, and it’s no surprise where he ended up on the list.

The post, featuring portraits of 34 of the 45 individuals who have held the office, ranks them as “the greatest, great, near great, average, below average and failures.”

Trump, naturally, ranks himself as “the greatest” above such famed presidents as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom were listed in the “great” category.’

Other presidents in that category included Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson.

The “near great” category included Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams and James K. Polk.

The “average” category surprisingly included Bill Clinton, whom Trump has made a point of attacking over the years.

That category also included John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Madison, Martin Van Buren, William Howard Taft, Chester A. Arthur, William McKinley, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover, and Benjamin Harrison.

The “below average” category included John Tyler, Calvin Coolidge, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce.

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Trump’s list dubbed Barack Obama and Joe Biden as “failures” along with Jimmy Carter, Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding.

The list excluded William Henry Harrison, James A. Garfield (both of whom died shortly after taking office), Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Trump had posted the list along with a video from CNN’s Harry Enten, highlighting a poll showing Trump is more admired by Republicans than Lincoln and Reagan.

Miley Cyrus is paying her respects to her late godmother, fellow singer Dolly Parton.

The two performers collaborated numerous times over the years, beginning on the Disney series Hannah Montana, in which Dolly starred as Miley’s Aunt Dolly.

As the Flowers singer’s star continued to rise, she and the country superstar duetted together on multiple occasions, most recently on Dolly’s 2023 album Rockstar, on which they covered Miley’s chart-topping hit Wrecking Ball.

Following the news of Dolly’s death on Monday evening, the entertainment world has been paying tribute, with Miley sharing an emotional post about her Grammy-winning godmother on social media.

“The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share,” she admitted. “Our most sacred moments were private and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour and between our hearts.

“What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong. I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis.”

Miley wrote: “I will always love her and want to make her proud. My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply.

“We’re in this loss together and we will see her in all of the most beautiful things.”

Earlier in the week, Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus shared his own tribute, which read: “I have so many moments and memories with Dolly, it’s hard to know where to start. Like every little boy, I grew up loving Dolly Parton. She was a part of our lives, on our TVs, right in our living rooms.

“In 1992, I’ll never forget walking into her dressing room to apologise for all the tabloid stories which claimed I was having an affair with her. In true Dolly fashion, she just looked at me, winked and said, ‘Honey, this trash sells records!’.

“Dolly recently sent me a beautiful message, telling me she loved me with her whole heart. I will always love her in the same way ….. with my whole heart … and I always will.”

The Jolene singer’s team has confirmed that the beloved performer died on Monday at the age of 80, following what they described as a “brief battle with cancer”.

She is to be laid to rest in a small, private funeral attended by family, with fans being encouraged to donate to one of her many charity initiatives as a way of paying their respects.

Higher ups at Netflix are doing precious little to dispel rumours that Meghan Markle is currently in talks about a role in the upcoming third season of The Gentlemen.

Since then, there’ve been conflicting stories in the press about exactly what’s going on behind the scenes – with both Meghan and Netflix keeping schtum about the whole thing.

At the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday, Netflix’s head of scripted shows in the UK, Manda Levin, was asked directly about the rumours, to which she responded with a cryptic four-word response.

“All bets are off,” she said, declining to offer any more conversation than that (as reported by Deadline).

Before tying the knot with Prince Harry, Meghan made a name for herself as an actor, most notably playing Rachel Zane in the legal drama Suits.

Since leaving the show in 2018 to marry her now-husband, she’s not acted since, but is due to appear in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, making a cameo as herself.

The second season of The Gentlemen is set to premiere on Netflix next week, two years after the first debuted on the platform and became an instant hit with viewers and critics.

An official synopsis provided by Netflix has teased: “It’s been one year since Eddie and Susie joined forces to work together in Bobby’s criminal empire overseas. As they drive to expand their enterprise, the decisions Bobby is making seem to be increasingly unsound.

“Now, Eddie and Susie must decide whether to take action or risk losing it all, but unfettered ambition never ends well…”

The Gentlemen’s second outing arrives on Thursday 3 September.

Energy is not a luxury. It’s a fundamental necessity that we all need to stay safe and well.

Yet for too many people, an energy bill is a source of dread rather than simply a cost, and yesterday’s energy price cap announcement, pushing the average bill up by £60, will only deepen that anxiety.

As Colin, a member of Fair By Design’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel, explains: “All too often, people struggling financially are viewed as lazy or lacking ambition, but that’s far from the truth.

“Poverty, poor mental health and barriers to engaging with the workforce carry
significant social and financial costs.”

Colin is currently self-employed and works part time, as he has caring responsibilities for his elderly mum and his older brother. These caring responsibilities mean he cannot work full- time.

“For someone like me a social tariff would return the cost of unpaid care work,” he says. “A social tariff would mean I could keep the lights and heating on, and still have something left over.

“It isn’t simply financial assistance. Making my energy bills more affordable would provide me with dignity and recognition that we all have value.”

The Warm Home Discount is a good step towards an energy market that gives people like Colin breathing space. But at the moment it isn’t providing enough breathing space to make a real difference to people’s lives.

The discount currently provides households on means tested benefits with £150 off their energy bill each winter. But the average affordability gap for a household in fuel poverty is around £400.

That’s why we are calling on Burnham’s government to make the Warm Home Discount much more generous in October’s Budget.

The government must also recognise that some households need more help than others.

The Warm Home Discount does not apply to disabled households unless they are on means tested benefits. However, as a report we jointly commissioned last year showed, disabled households in receipt of disability benefits pay £97 more per year on energy than non-disabled households.

We are therefore asking for all disabled households to receive an extra £100.

Alongside this, we, and other consumer organisations, are urging the government to introduce a booster payment for eligible Warm Home Discount recipients who pay by standard credit.

Households on standard credit tariffs that are linked to the energy price cap
currently pay around £143 more per year for their energy than those who pay by direct debit. A booster payment would help to relieve this extra financial burden.

Ultimately, we need a system of energy bill support that is tiered according to income. This would mean that households on the very lowest incomes could receive support worth as much as £700 a year, while those closer to the eligibility threshold might receive a smaller discount, such as £100.

There is no single solution to fuel poverty. But by building on existing support and targeting help where it is most needed, the government can move closer to an energy system that gives everyone the opportunity to live with dignity.

As Colin says: “Society should judge itself on how it treats its poorest. Judgement erodes self-respect and our potential as people, whereas encouragement, trust and practical support are enablers. They help people to contribute more to society.

“Supporting people is not merely compassionate, it benefits everyone, and the potential for a social tariff gives me hope.”

Maria Booker is Head of Policy at Fair By Design.

Colin Saunders is a member of Fair By Design’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel.

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