Justin Verlander turned 42 years old on Thursday, which for many athletes, would signal that a turbulent season lies ahead. A 5.48 ERA in 17 starts in 2024 seemingly supports that notion. Though, the three-time Cy Young and 2011 MVP is not ready to slow down. As he gets set for his 20th MLB campaign, […]
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The 2025 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is upon us, and after the inaugural season of the next UCL format, we are finally in a familiar spot with the Round of 16 draw and the bracket going forward. So, who takes home the biggest prize in European football this year? Here are our Champions […]
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LULU is preparing to launch a new podcast as the iconic music star revealed it has been a “long time coming”.
The singer-songwriter, 76, has shared tasters of her conversations on the upcoming series.
In her Turning Points podcast, she said she has always “wondered what makes people tick” after more than six decades in the music industry.
Among the celebrities she will speak to are Succession star Brian Cox, pop legend Boy George, and Four Weddings and a Funeral actress Dame Kristin Scott Thomas.
She will also chat to Saltburn and Withnail and I actor Richard E. Grant, US singer John Legend, and American TV personality Michelle Visage.
Lulu said she has been “interviewed up the wazoo” for decades and has been asked the “same old things”.
She added that she wants to “go deeper” and “unpick the seams” of their lives and careers.
On her Instagram page earlier today, she wrote: “It’s been a long time coming but I’m thrilled to say that my new podcast is ready to drop.”
Her post has attracted dozens of encouraging comment from her fans.
One wrote: “Aww so excited for this Lulu.”
Another commented: “Sounds very cool, to hear about the person behind the art and learn about their journey.”
A third said: “Wow.”
The first episode will be available to listen to on Wednesday.
TO millions of Only Fools And Horses fans, Del Boy and Rodney’s Uncle Albert was the Royal Navy’s unlucky Jonah.
Captain Birdseye lookalike Albert Gladstone Trotter, played by Buster Merryfield, served on seven ships in World War Two — all of which sank.
Uncle Albert came into the show in the fourth series as a replacement for Del and Rodney’s beloved Grandad — but he was not dreamt up from nowhere by creator John Sullivan.
The Sun can reveal he was based on a real-life naval hero who survived after three of the ships he served on during the war all sank, with the loss of many lives.
Petty Officer Cook Thomas Henry Ward, known as Harry, who won the Distinguished Service Medal for saving the life of an officer at Dunkirk, has been unmasked as the inspiration behind Uncle Albert.
Albert is even seen borrowing his catchphrase, “During the war . . .”, to start his service stories.
Harry’s sister, Doreen Simson, who will be part of this year’s celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, told The Sun: “Uncle Albert was based on my brother.
“After the war, Harry joined the BBC and worked with John Sullivan, who created all of his characters from real people.
“Harry told John all about his exploits in the war and how three ships he was on went down. Two of them sank in the Arctic.
“Our parents were told he was dead, presumed drowned, but later I watched him come down the street, large as life, with his kit bag over his shoulder, just like Uncle Albert.”
Harry, the eldest of seven children brought up in West London, was born in 1920 — the same year as the fictitious Albert Trotter.
As a child, Harry taught himself to swim in the Grand Union Canal — a skill that would later save his life.
Just like Uncle Albert, Harry was 17 when he joined the Royal Navy. By May 1940, he was serving as a cook aboard the minesweeper HMS Gossamer.
Harry’s ship was sent as part of the Operation Dynamo flotilla to help evacuate 338,000 British troops stranded at Dunkirk.
The Gossamer made six trips to the shore and rescued more than 3,000 men.
During the chaos off the French coast, Harry’s ship came alongside destroyer HMS Wakeful, which had picked up 640 soldiers before being hit by two torpedoes fired from a German E-boat.
The stricken ship split in two and the bow sank immediately. Only four soldiers and 25 crew survived.
Military records show that the crew of HMS Gossamer rescued a handful of survivors.
Harry bravely saved the life of a Lieutenant Commander who was drowning, for which he received the Distinguished Service Medal from King George VI at the palace.
Doreen, 87, of Crawley, West Sussex, says: “Somehow or other, Harry got a ribbon from the hat of one of the sailors from HMS Wakeful, which he always kept, and now I’ve got it.”
Two years later, HMS Gossamer was on the Arctic convoy routes protecting ships taking supplies to the Russians against enemy U-boats.
On June 24, 1942, the minesweeper was moored at the Kola inlet in northern Russia when she was sunk by a bomb during a German air attack.
Three officers were killed and 12 ratings were reported missing. Twenty crew members survived but suffered wounds.
The ship carrying those survivors was also attacked and sank. By this time, Harry had switched to another minesweeper, HMS Leda, on the Arctic convoy.
But at 5.30am on September 20, 1942, Harry was preparing breakfasts when two torpedoes fired from a 435 U-boat scored direct hits.
Harry was posted missing. But after the war was over, I saw him coming across the road carrying his kit bag. We all thought he’d been lost at sea.
Doreen Simson, Harry’s sister
A column of smoke shot out of her funnel and the ship began to sink.
It took an hour and a half for the Leda to go under. All 86 crew, including Harry, got off by jumping into the water, though six would later die of hypothermia.
Doreen says: “When the Leda sank, apparently Harry swam over to a merchant ship and later that sank as well. His nickname was Jonah.
“On the next boat he got to, they joked, ‘Don’t come on our ship, find somewhere else’.”
The War Office sent a telegram to his mother, Nellie, a BBC cleaner, and dad Harry, a fish seller at Harrods, informing them that their eldest son had been posted as missing.
By then, Doreen, who was four, and her nine-year-old brother Dennis, had been evacuated from London during the Blitz to live with families in Wales.
She says: “Harry was posted missing. But after the war was over, I saw him coming across the road carrying his kit bag.
“We all thought he’d been lost at sea. He said he lived because he was a strong swimmer.”
After surviving two Arctic sinkings, Harry served on a number of other ships.
He stayed on after the war ended and served 18 months aboard the fleet aircraft carrier HMS Ocean in the Mediterranean.
Harry was onboard when two British ships were sunk off Corfu in 1946, sparking the 50-year Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Petty Officer Ward finally left the Royal Navy in 1948 and, just like Uncle Albert, he was demobbed with a chest full of medals for service to King and country.
He was married to Agnes, who died in 1969 aged 46. They had no children and Harry never remarried.
When Doreen quizzed him about his life in the Navy, Harry, who died aged 90 in 2011, told her she was “being nosy”.
After working as a painter and decorator, he landed a job at the new BBC Television Centre in White City, just down the road from his flat.
Until he was nearly 70, Harry created scenery for BBC shows, including Z-Cars and The Citadel.
In the bar of the BBC club, with a pint of Guinness and a tot of rum, he would regale his workmates with stories that began: “When I was in the war . . . ” One of those listening was John Sullivan, who worked at the time shifting props in the comedy department.
It was only when Harry died that we found out that John Sullivan had based Uncle Albert on our brother.
Plumber’s son John then turned his hand to writing sitcoms, creating Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends, which Harry worked on.
His biggest hit, Only Fools And Horses, began in 1981, starring David Jason as Del Trotter, Nicholas Lyndhurst as his brother Rodney and Lennard Pearce as Grandad.
When Lennard died in 1984, Sullivan had to urgently come up with an old member of the Trotter family who could share their flat in Nelson Mandela House.
Retired florist Doreen says: “It was only when Harry died that we found out that John had based Uncle Albert on our brother. It made sense, because John based most of his characters on people he knew.
“The famous crashing chandelier scene happened to his own father.
“Boycie was someone he’d met working in the car trade, and Del Boy was based on the market traders he saw growing up in South London as a kid.
“It’s something you do when you work with someone, you talk and talk.
“And John obviously knew all Harry’s war stories.”
When widower Harry became ill in later life, Doreen and her sisters often visited him.
She says: “One day he put his head under the blankets and said, ‘Get away, get away. None of you have got any idea what it’s like seeing your friends dying in burning oil’.
“You see, he got no counselling whatsoever. It’s just so sad.”
At Harry’s funeral, his BBC colleagues told Doreen they knew all about his past and revealed: ‘You do know Harry was Uncle Albert?’
“Harry never said anything to us. So they told me to get in touch with John and he will authenticate it.
“Sadly, a few weeks later, John died, too [of pneumonia, aged 64], and I never got to speak to him.”
But in a moving tribute at his funeral, Harry’s workmates said: “Petty Officer Ward endured cold and desperate times.
“The Leda, Gossamer and Wakeful. Before he could sort out his bunk, all of them fired on, all of them sunk.”
ON May 8, the 80th anniversary of VE Day – when war in Europe ended – Doreen will be appearing on stage at the Royal Albert Hall.
She will be talking about her family and life as an evacuee after she was sent, aged four, from London to the seaside village of Borth, near Aberystwyth, with her older brother Dennis.
Doreen recalls: “My mum said that Dennis had to look after me. At Borth station I was left crying because a man took my brother and his friend Georgie West off to a farm.
“I was left on my own and then this lady said, ‘I’ll take this little girl’.
“I went into a house where these people had strange voices, not Welsh but posh accents.”
Jean Sharpe, the wife of a wealthy Midlands factory owner, lived there with her mother and two daughters.
Doreen says: “She used to take me down the country lanes and tell me the names of wild flowers.
“My evacuation shaped my life. I became a florist for over 60 years, a job I absolutely loved.”
HE has seen off Russian terror organisations, survived explosions, dodged 4,000 bullets and narrowly avoided having his privates lopped off with a laser beam.
But now James Bond faces his biggest threat to date — surviving Jeff Bezos’s franchise-crunching business colossus after his Amazon MGM Studios took “creative control” of the famous spy series.
Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother Michael G Wilson, the movies’ producers for the past 30 years, are stepping away from novelist Ian Fleming’s legendary franchise.
But many 007 fans fear for its future under Amazon — which they worry will dilute the franchise with a flood of poor-quality spin-offs and merchandise.
Their concern follows an alleged stand-off between Barbara and the global business giant — with an insider who has met Barbara multiple times suspecting the duo have now “cut their losses” because they “can’t work amicably” with Amazon.
They told The Sun: “Ultimately, it’s a bad day for Bond. The siblings have always been very protective of Bond’s image and would never have wanted it diluted or exploited like Amazon hopes to do.
“This is absolutely terrible news. I don’t have high hopes. Amazon will want to exploit the name without putting in real quality, and the first thing to emerge will likely be a terrible TV series.”
And as we report on Page 3 today, there are already rumours of a spin-off for 007’s faithful secretary Moneypenny, starring Florence Pugh, along with possible projects for other big MI6 characters, an animated series and straight-to-streaming flicks.
Such is the esteem in which Bond is held that only one person could escort Her Majesty the Queen to the 2012 Olympics.
And threats to water down the legacy are likely to have grated with Barbara, 64, who insiders claimed had planned to “hold Bond hostage from Amazon for as long as she sees fit”, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Tensions were first aired publicly in December, when it was reported that Barbara told pals that Amazon studio bosses were “f***ing idiots” and she was insulted by their description of Bond as “content”.
This could have rung the death knell for the partnership, which began in 2021 when Amazon bought MGM Studios for £6.7billion to acquire the rights for its crown jewel 007, alongside the Rocky, Legally Blonde and RoboCop films.
At the time, heads at the £1.8trillion online retail and streaming behemoth were confident they could win over Barbara and Michael and convince them to expand the 007 universe, inspired by Marvel’s masses of superhero flicks.
But cracks soon began to emerge in the partnership, with Michael, 83, allegedly complaining to pals about struggling to land meetings with anyone above Level Six — six floors below the Amazon chief.
Amazon disputed this, claiming he had met senior leaders. Then in November, while receiving an honorary Academy Award, Barbara notably thanked many people in her acceptance speech but did not mention Amazon.
She said Bond gave her “the greatest life imaginable” but also complained the film industry was “playing it safe” and during “times of crisis like this”, they needed “brave” film- makers.
But many fear a Bond rebranding will mean the end of the gun-toting, gadget-filled bonkbusters of the past and see the so-called “worst-case scenario” — a female Bond.
That was a major no-no for Barbara, who insisted 007 must be a man and saw casting him as being as serious as choosing a husband.
Perhaps in an ironic move and to spit in the face of the legendary producer, within hours of the announcement of the duo’s departure, Amazon boss Bezos flippantly posted: “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?”
And while Amazon has money to throw at projects, its track record with legendary franchises has been far from stellar.
Despite spending a reported $1billion on Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power — the most expensive TV series to date — it has been called “all spectacle, no substance”.
Only 37 per cent of Americans completed the first season, with fans labelling it “so bad it’s hilarious”, “God-tier garbage” and “crap that keeps getting worse”.
A similar fate befell the first Bond spin-off, the game show 007: Road To A Million, which has been compared to a “knockoff” version of BBC’s Race Across The World.
The audience reportedly plummeted in the first six minutes of the show and its host, Succession star Brian Cox. And Disney’s numerous Star Wars reboots have faced similar lukewarm reviews.
While Barbara and Michael will remain co-owners of the Bond franchise, it is unclear how heavily their presence will be felt in future projects.
Matthew Field, vice president of the Ian Fleming Foundation, said: “It would be stupid not to lean into them for advice.
“No one on the planet understands Bond better than them — they probably know him better than Ian Fleming did. If Amazon puts the wrong people in control it will go badly wrong.
“They need a producer like James Gunn, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC, who can see, live and breathe the character. It needs a new lease of life.”
Matthew predicts many TV projects ahead, including a period Bond, plus young, animated and spin-off Bonds following Moneypenny, M and Q, and straight-to-streaming Bond films alongside the “tentpole theatrical releases”.
Swedish mega-fan Gunnar James Bond Schafer, who legally changed his name to the character’s in 2007, said: “I’m ped off. This was Broccoli and Wilson’s child and you don’t sell your children or abandon them, even when things get tough.
“Now the legacy risks being lost forever. I believe Amazon will cater to the US market now. They will probably cast an American Bond and won’t give a s*** about Europe.”
In a statement on Thursday, Barbara — whose father Albert “Cubby” Broccoli co-founded Bond production company Eon — described working on the franchise as an “honour” and said she would commit her time to “other projects”, hinting she is now leaving 007 in Amazon’s hands.
She added: “My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father.”
Daniel Craig, the most recent Bond, whose final film after five outings was No Time To Die in 2021, said his “respect, admiration and love” for Barbara and Michael “remains constant and undiminished”.
At last year’s Oscars, when Barbara and Michael won the Thalberg Memorial Award, one of the industry’s highest accolades and a crowning glory moment for them, Daniel praised them for standing their ground.
He spoke of admiring their “integrity in holding on to your singular vision”, despite many people and organisations trying to “put their own footprint on Bond”.
But now with Barbara and Michael no longer at the 007 helm, it is feared the legacy could be tarnished with a tsunami of feeble spin-offs, merchandise and even theme park attractions.
While Bond has overcome metal-toothed brutes, sex-strangling seductresses and hordes of henchmen, it may be billionaire Bezos who proves the villain that finally kills off Britain’s most famous fictional spy.
By TOM BRYDEN
SPECULATION is wild over who is likely to replace Daniel Craig as 007 – and who will fill the director’s chair for the franchise’s next instalment.
White Lotus star Theo James is bookie’s favourite to be the next Bond, according to William Hill. But the actor, who is of Greek descent, has previously said he thinks there are “better people for [the] job”.
And he claimed his mates tease him by calling him “Bondopoulos, the Greek Bond”.
His 6/4 odds could be down to his standout role in last year’s Netflix hit The Gentlemen – amid rumours the series’ director Guy Ritchie could direct Bond’s next outing.
Second in the running to order Martinis shaken, not stirred, is Happy Valley star James Norton, with odds of 2/1.
He will be working with Ritchie this year on another project.
And third favourite on the bookie’s list, with odds of 5/2, is new kid on the block Harris Dickinson.
The Babygirl actor’s career has been skyrocketing in recent years and some think he could provide the fresh face Amazon is after.
Meanwhile, director Danny Boyle could also be back in the running after having failed to get his previous 007 script over the line due to creative differences in 2018.
But with Barbara Broccoli out of the way, it’s anyone’s guess if Amazon might give Boyle a second chance to bring a bit of Trainspotting-style grit and realism to the suave spy thrillers.
PIERS Morgan has been hounded by his own Baby Reindeer stalker after interviewing the Netflix show’s “real-life” Martha.
Felicity Jane Lowde bombarded the TV host with wild accusations of harassment and dishonesty in an apparent bid for a big payout.
Furious Piers last night hit back, saying: “What she was trying to accuse me of was absurd, complete fantasy.”
TV star and journalist Piers, 59, was forced to defend himself in the courts against Felicity Jane Lowde’s crazed conspiracies — and hopes that by speaking out today “this despicable piece of work will finally be stopped”.
Lowde has filed 64 cases against celebrities in the past year, including the bizarre claim that Piers hijacked her brother’s identity.
His ordeal began after he interviewed Fiona Harvey, believed to be the real-life inspiration for a fictional stalker in Netflix hit Baby Reindeer.
The May 2024 interview reached millions worldwide — but put dad-of-four Piers in Lowde’s crosshairs.
Lowde had previously been jailed for six months in 2007 for stalking Rachel North, a survivor of the July 7, 2005 London bombings.
Piers had never met or had contact with Lowde when, last September she filed a Central London county court judgment against him and his Insider Productions Ltd.
In an apparent bid to force Piers into a hefty payout, she accused him of “abuse, harassment, fraud, and dishonesty”.
She claimed Piers “worked with insalubrious associates on a campaign involving stealing my creative work and family history to promote himself as a member of my family”.
This included hijacking her brother’s identity, she claimed.
Lowde claimed wildly: “He is promoting himself as a lost aristocrat to compensate for his humiliations on the world stage after his campaign of stalking and harassment of Harry and Meghan.”
Bizarrely, Lowde accused Piers of being sexually obsessed with toilets.
Piers told The Sun: “It’s absurd, complete fantasy stuff and just ramblings.
“I didn’t want to have to defend it but you have to after being contacted by the court.
“Otherwise it goes through the court process and you can get a judgment against you or your company — which is what she was trying to do.”
Last month Piers won his firm’s case against Lowde.
The one against him personally was thrown out too after he defended it online.
She will now have to pay him £6,000 in damages. But he said: “I’ve no expectation of seeing any of that money, nor is anybody else.
“She is a harasser, a bit like Baby Reindeer’s.”
This is a convicted stalker who harassed a terror-attack survivor. It’s hard to think of anything more despicable.
Piers Morgan
“This could happen to anyone — whether they’re in the public eye or not — at a huge personal cost.”
In his witness statement to the court, Piers revealed that comedians, TV stars and campaigners have also taken action against her.
Others she’s said to have targeted include Harry Potter author JK Rowling. JK declined to comment.
Piers, no stranger to death threats for his fiery views, added: “For anyone in the public eye who gets these kinds of harassing letters, it’s always a bit unsettling.
“You never quite know whether the person is a threat or not.
“Obviously I don’t want to run the risk of an actual threat so you need to be careful with people like this because they’ve clearly got something wrong with them.
“This is a convicted stalker who harassed a terror-attack survivor. It’s hard to think of anything more despicable.
“I’ve got security, but you can’t live like a hermit and let that stuff get in your head.”
She’s abusing the court process quite skillfully, exposing a kind of weakness in the system.
Piers Morgan
Piers is now calling on the courts to prevent her carrying on these endless cases.
He said she can pursue them by using ‘fee remission” often granted based on the applicant’s financial circumstances.
Piers added: “It means the cost to her issuing the claims is effectively nothing.
“The same can’t be said for all the defendants who have to go through the court process then end up paying the costs.
“She’s abusing the court process quite skillfully, exposing a kind of weakness in the system.
“(But) if someone’s doing this so many times to so many people and it’s obvious it’s all bull****, why are they allowing her to do it?
“It’s highly likely the collective expenditure defending ourselves against a total fantasist who’s deliberately abusing the court system is a six-figure sum.”
He questioned would authorities take Lowde’s actions more seriously if she were a man, adding: “The fact she’s targeting so many well-known people suggests she probably isn’t a threat — she just likes being incredibly annoying.
“But she’s still clearly a disturbed, unhinged human being.
“It does makes me wonder if it would be taken more seriously if she was a man targeting a woman.
“I do think there’s a bit of a double standard there.”
Piers’s blockbuster interview with Ms Harvey followed the success of Baby Reindeer, whose creator Richard Gadd also stars as Donny, a character stalked by a fictional woman, Martha Scott (played by Jessica Gunning).
Ms Harvey has launched a £135million lawsuit against Netflix claiming the series falsely depicted her as a convicted criminal who spent time in prison for stalking. Netflix strongly denies this.
In her hour-long chat with Piers, Ms Harvey confirmed she had known Mr Gadd when he worked at London pubs.
But she denied that she had acted like Martha, who sends Mr Gadd’s character 41,000 emails.
THERE have been defining moments in Old Firm history over the last 40 years.
The arrivals of David Holmes, Graeme Souness, David Murray and Walter Smith were revolutionary for Rangers in the 1980s.
Across the city, Fergus McCann saved Celtic in the 1990s, while Martin O’Neill took control after Dick Advocaat’s golden spell.
Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan won titles, before the late, great Walter’s return revived Rangers, but since 2012 Celtic have been dominant.
Fast forward to the present day and Rangers fans will hope that could all change again.
They have an American Dream after it emerged the San Francisco 49ers are part of a takeover bid.
These supporters have every right to be excited. Make no mistake, this takeover could be transformative for Rangers and could again change the landscape of Scottish football.
Paraag Marathe and his consortium are serious people.
They are shrewd businessmen who know how to run a sports club and succeed at it.
The 49ers Enterprises wing has made a huge impact at Leeds United and it doesn’t shock me that Rangers are on their radar.
Right now, an MLS football franchise would probably set you back the best part of $250million, maybe more.
Marathe and Co could find themselves turning Rangers around for about half that sum.
For a world-famous club of that size, with a global fanbase, that is an incredible deal.
There is a lot of work ahead but they will be driven by the ambition to make Rangers Scotland’s dominant team again.
We sometimes play down the appeal of our two main clubs. Trust me, Rangers and Celtic are as big as any in Britain.
Marathe and his consortium members only need to look at the reaction generated by their interest to see that.
I didn’t think it was possible, but it appears fans of certain clubs have become even more obsessed with Rangers than they were before.
The consortium have a long-term plan of making Rangers a modern, fully-functioning club.
Some will disagree, but I feel they can also have short-term success with relatively small investment in the current squad.
As the San Francisco 49ers pursue potential investment in Rangers, SunSport looks at who own the biggest blocks of shares at Ibrox
Dave King 12.96%
Borita Investments & Perron Investment (owned by directors Julian Wolhardt and John Halsted) 12.69%
Douglas Park 11.54%
George Taylor 10.22%
Stuart Gibson 9.53%
John Bennett 7.11%
Let’s be honest, Rangers have been a basket case off the pitch for years — but they still managed to win the league in 2021 and reach the Europa League final in 2022.
In fact, they should also have won the Premiership last season but for a late collapse.
Celtic are strong. They are a well-oiled machine on and off the pitch and will add quality again in the summer. But the on-field gap can be bridged quickly in Scottish football.
Ange Postecoglou showed that in his first year when he arrived to a shambles at Celtic Park in 2021. They had finished 24 points behind Rangers the previous season and lost half a team that summer.
But he still managed to win the league with some good recruitment and coaching.
I don’t buy into this idea that Rangers can’t properly compete for the title next season.
They beat Celtic 3-0 last time out and some would say they should have won the Premier Sports Cup final.
With the right signings and management, they can become more consistent against the rest.
Do that and then the destination of the title comes down to the games with Celtic.
Long-term, the US investors have key areas to improve, with a profitable player-trading model top of the list.
They will see the success Celtic have had on that front and replicating that is crucial for Rangers moving forward.
That requires smart signings and the right management — which brings us to Philippe Clement’s future.
Patrick Stewart backed him to a point in his Rangers TV interview this week but was careful with his words.
He pointed to Europa League progress, but domestic consistency always has to come first.
Clement is hanging on at the moment but, for me, is nearing the end of his Rangers tenure.
I didn’t think it was possible, but it appears fans of certain clubs have become even more obsessed with Rangers than they were before.
Kris Boyd
A sporting director will be appointed and it sounded like he will make the big football decisions — not Stewart.
If that is the case, it would amaze me if the new American owners kept the Belgian on.
They have clearly done their due diligence as the real reason for Stewart’s “root-and-branch review” became clear. Given the long-standing links between Marathe and Sportsology, who carried out the review, that was clearly a smokescreen.
I have huge respect and sympathy for many of the shareholders who will possibly sell up in the coming weeks.
They’ve spent millions trying to get Rangers back to the top and only ever had the best interests of the club at heart.
Unfortunately, they trusted the wrong people with their money and were let down by years of mismanagement.
Ultimately, the shareholders have been forced to look for outside investment and that has led to the takeover.
Stewart this week warned supporters that things could be “tough” for a while and you can understand why.
Major financial decisions — like sacking Clement — will have to be parked, no matter how far they fall behind Celtic.
But there is a lot for Rangers supporters to be excited about, starting with Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
The Special One is coming to town and, while the Turks are strong, they are beatable.
Jose Mourinho will add the glamour to an attractive tie and you would never write him off.
After all, I’m pretty sure he won his last competitive game against an Old Firm team back in 2003…
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
A WOMAN has showed off her impressive haul from a mystery returns box, which she splashed out £80 on.
Vlogger Roxi Gibbs showed off the epic goodies inside, which included a stunning dupe for a £195 Marc Jacobs bag.
The savvy shopper purchased the unseen box from an online website called Buyers Hub, and said she had “no idea what to expect.”
She posted a video of her unboxing to her Youtube account, @Roxxsaurus, where she regularly updates her 4.5 million subscribers on her life.
Inside the “ginormous” box, Roxi found loads of clothes and accessories – including a black oversized coat, multiple gymwear sets and a pair of faux suede knee-high boots.
But the real star of the show was an incredible dupe for a designer handbag – which the YouTuber said “looks so real.”
The Mini Tote dupe was black with white edging and the Marc Jacobs logo across the front.
Roxi squealed as she unwrapped the item, telling viewers: “No way! Are you kidding? It’s a tote bag, I love these!”
Holding the bag up to the camera and giving it a closer inspection, she said: “I really was not expecting a really decent item in here that I would actually like.
“Of course it’s not the real one but it looks so real to me so I am really happy with it.”
Checking the bag over for any signs of damage or reasons for its return, she said she could find “literally nothing wrong with it” and said she was “so pleased.”
The bag was an extremely convincing replica of a £195 tote by Marc Jacobs.
And although Roxi said she knew her dupe probably cost “maybe £10 or £15 at most” she was overjoyed with her find.
Debating whether her mystery box was worth the £80 she’d spent on it, Roxi said: “I have got to say comparing this TikTok mystery box in comparison to other places like Royal Mail or Amazon returns, this one was definitely way more, like, trendy and up my street.”
And despite not all the clothes being to her taste or in her size, she said she felt that the box had been “worth it” as she was sure she was going to get “lots of use” out of her new bag.
Viewers in the comments couldn’t believe her incredible find.
“Wow, I think you really lucked out in this box!” said one user.
“This haul was a total success,” agreed another.
“This was an amazing box, most of what you got was so good!” said somebody else.
“What a fantastic box! Everything looked great on you! Love the tote bag!” praised another person.
“The tote bag was cute!” someone else agreed.
Fashion Editor Clemmie Fieldsend says it’s time fashion snobs stopped looking down their noses at affordable versions of designer buys.
Bargain US supermarket Walmart became a social media sensation when its £60 dupe of Hermès’ Birkin bag, dubbed the Wirkin, went viral.
Influencer @styledbykristi gushed: “Eighty dollars (£60), you can pretend that you got a Birkin. I mean, everyone will probably know it’s not, because who the hell has the money to spend on the real Birkin? Not me.”
Me neither. And why bother? I would never spend that on a designer bag (although if someone wants to buy one for me, that’s a different story).
Plus, if I splashed that much, I’d feel I was being ripped off…
We’ve all been told how the leading brands use the finest leather, thread, dyes and craftsmanship in the world.
But all that is inflated by fashion houses to create the desired illusion of exclusivity.
Just last year, Dior came under investigation for paying £44 to assemble a bag that sells for £2,000.
So while you might think you are paying for top-level craftsmanship carried out by a true artisan, chances are the poorly paid workers are not seeing any of your hard-earned cash.
Dupes — not to be mistaken for knock-offs that copy everything from the logo to the inside label — are a more practical and all-round sensible way to go.
I bought my first when I was 18. It lasted me four years and only broke after I wore it in the shower.
And these days, British high streets have plenty of dupes. In the past three years, Marks & Spencer, H&M and Mango have all seen huge spikes in sales thanks to their canny copies. They use the same viral, must-have marketing tactics that pricey brands have.
Fashion folk will tell you that you are making an investment and buying a “heritage piece” and will turn their noses up at a high street equivalent. But we’ve been wearing looks inspired by catwalk designers for decades.
If we can buy a bag that’s the spitting image of the pricier version, but doesn’t mean you have to remortgage, why not?
WEATHER maps have revealed where lightning has been striking Scotland over the past few days amid warnings of thunderstorms and heavy rain.
The UK was battered by lightning strikes yesterday with stormy weather striking various parts of Scotland.
The Met Office have issued a range of yellow weather warnings, coming into force on Friday morning across large parts of the country.
2,255 lightning strikes were recorded by The Met Office in the past 48 hours.
A detailed map -which can be found on their website – shows the exact locations each strike landed across the country.
The forecaster previously warned of heavy rain, and roaring 70mph winds, as they put three yellow warnings for wind in place, and two for rain.
Some weather warnings remain in place for Sunday, with a poor weekend of weather ahead.
In a post to X, the weather agency shared an interactive map detailing the forecast for the coming weekend.
It said: “Wet and windy to kick off Friday.
“Heavy pulses of rain will be accompanied by gales around coasts and hills.”
Ferry services from Dumfries and Galloway have already been cancelled with warnings of stormy weather in place.
Services between Cairnryan and Northern Ireland also failed to run on Friday.
A spokesperson said: “Those booked on to any of the affected sailings are advised not to travel to the area due to the impending weather warning and delays are expected.”
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mike Silverstone said: “On Friday, south and west Wales, south-west Scotland and eastern parts of Northern Ireland will see the strongest winds, possibly around 70mph on exposed coasts and around 60mph more widely within the warning areas.
Today:
Rain, heavy at times, clearing eastwards, and replaced by sunny spells and scattered showers.
Windy with coastal gales, especially in the northwest with a risk of severe gales.
Milder than of late, although tempered somewhat by the windy conditions.
Tonight:
Any rain becoming confined to southeast England, with further heavy showers and strong winds in the northwest.
Dry elsewhere with clear spells, and remaining frost free.
Saturday:
A bright start for many with sunny spells and showers, mainly in the north and west.
Cloudier in the southeast to start with rain slowly clearing eastwards.
Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:
Wet and windy on Sunday with gales for many.
Drier on Monday and Tuesday with sunny spells and showers, these locally heavy and slow to clear at times. Mild.
“Rain is an additional hazard, with 30-40mm likely in parts of Scotland over a six-hour period, and up to around 70mm possible over higher ground within the warning areas.
“The underlying factor in the shift in the UK’s weather is our transition from a cold easterly regime to more of a westerly regime.
“While this pushes away the colder air that has been affecting us, it also reintroduces Atlantic weather systems and the potential for areas of low pressure to influence the UK’s weather.”
AN incredible moment on One Question saw a pair of contestants win £100,000 following a huge gamble.
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the Channel 4 quiz returned for its long-awaited second series earlier this month.
Father and daughter David and Emily, from Chorley in Lancashire, competed in tonight’s episode.
One Question’s format sees contestants attempt to answer a single question for an eye-watering jackpot.
Contestants are usually given 16 possible answers – but David and Emily made a bold move.
They were asked “What is Smith?” – but believed they knew the correct answer before they’d seen all 16 options.
Claudia declared: “This has never happened before in One Question history.
“If you are right, you win £100,000…”
Although the father-daughter team seemed confident, it all became too much for presenter Claudia.
She exclaimed: “I can’t cope. I’m sorry I can’t leave. You are amazing.”
The Traitors host continued: “I’m sorry I don’t know why I want to cry, this is ridiculous…”, as she got up on her chair.
Incredible scenes saw their risk pay off – as the contestants scooped the huge jackpot.
Afterwards, Claudia praised Emily by saying: “That has never happened before.
“Your brain served you well. And you know what else did? Your Dad.
“He just sat next to you and said, ‘I’ve got your back. Go for it.’
“That’s life-changing money. That’s a lot of money. And you did that in under six minutes.”
She then joked: “What I need you to glean from this is you two need to play more quizzes.”
Meanwhile, David revealed he was feeling “fairly calm” after the huge win.
He added: “It’s not sank in. It hasn’t sank in at all yet. I’ll probably break down crying.”
David then burst into tears as daughter Emily wrapped her arms around him.
Visibly emotional, he then told how happy he was for his daughter.
Claudia said: “I’m happy for her, I’m happy for you. You can get more tattoos if you want.”
To which David replied: “I’ll hope to get shot of them!”
The pair’s triumphant victory follows Claudia previously hinting at a big win on One Question.
Holiday (1992–1996): Claudia started her TV career as a travel show presenter, delivering segments from exotic locations.
Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (2004–2010): Although she worked on a few shows between Holiday and Strictly, Claudia really came into her own as a presenter on this spin-off, where she could be seen offering behind-the-scenes gossip and interviewing contestants. She hosted It Takes Two from its inception until Zoe Ball took over from her in 2011.
Strictly Come Dancing (2014–present): After Sir Bruce Forsyth left the BBC show due to health concerns, Claudia joined Tess Daly as a co-host of the main show. This is one of the jobs Claudia is best known for.
Film 2010 (2010–2016): Claudia succeeded Jonathan Ross as the host of the BBC’s flagship film review show in 2010. She was praised by The Guardian for being a “passionate and engaging advocate of cinema” in this role.
The Great British Sewing Bee (2013–2016): Claudia brought her wit to the crafting competition for three years.
The Traitors (2022-present): Claudia’s dark hair and resting mysterious face have become synonymous with this hit reality show. Despite her attempts to leave after the first series in case future seasons flopped, BBC bosses were determined to keep her on, so it seems unlikely she’ll stop heading up the show anytime soon.
She teased: “Obviously I can’t give you any details, but I did cry.
“I don’t really cry because I’m over 50, wearing too much fake tan and too much eyeliner, but it was a proper moment.
“It was a proper moment for everyone in the studio and that’s when you know it’s good.”
One Question airs on Channel 4.
