The BET Awards delivered surprise performances and stunned viewers with the list of winners, but the whole event exploded after Keri Hilson caught fans off-guard with her shocking move. The annual awards night celebrates the talent of Black artists and other minorities in the field of music, film, sports, and philanthropy. This year’s host is comedian […]
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CRITICS have slammed the decision to award Sadiq Khan a knighthood as a “reward for failure”.
The controversial London Mayor, 54, sparked fury after he was knighted by King Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace earlier today.
Sir Sadiq, who has been Mayor of the capital since 2016, received the honour for political and public service.
Posting on social media after the ceremony, the former Labour MP for Tooting said: “The London promise. If you work hard, and get a helping hand, you can achieve anything.
“Immensely proud to receive a knighthood from His Majesty The King today.
“Growing up on a council estate in Tooting, I never could have imagined that I’d one day receive this great honour while serving as the Mayor of London.
“It’s a truly humbling moment for myself and my family, and one that I hope inspires others to believe in the incredible opportunities that our great capital offers.
‘I’ll forever be honoured to serve the city that I love – and will continue to do all I can to build a fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London for everyone.”
But Tories have hit back against the decision, claiming that the former Labour MP for Tooting has not done enough to tackle violent crime in London.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp fumed that Londoners would be “furious his track record of failure is being rewarded”.
SUN Racing tackles Wednesday’s action confident of success.
Back a horse by clicking their odds below.
LONGSHOT
LAMBOURNGHINI (5.15 Yarmouth)
She showed promise when second on handicap debut at Ripon last time and sees out this mile trip nicely. She can figure in this modest company.
EACH-WAY THIEF
IT’S LIFE (2.30 Lingfield)
She ran on strongly to be beaten a neck on slow sand here last time and is handicapped for another big run.
SYDNEY SEABREEZE (3.30 Lingfield)
He looks to be working up to a win and was a close second here on the all-weather last time out.
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A COIN-collecting expert has said Brits could be sitting a goldmine of old currency.
TikToker CoinCollectingWizard highlighted three coins – one of which is still in active circulation – which could collectively be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The first, the 1933 penny, is one of the UK’s rarest coins and is worth well over £100,000.
The exact number minted is unknown, but it is believed only six or seven 1933 pennies were ever made, as that year the Royal Mint decided there were enough pennies in circulation.
However, it was tradition for the monarch to put a set of new coins underneath the foundations of any important new buildings.
That meant a handful were struck for ceremonial purposes.
The coin’s rarity attracted the attention of criminals and in August 1970 thieves raided the coins buried beneath the foundation stone of the Church of St Cross, Middleton, near Leeds.
That prompted the bishop of nearby St Mary’s Church in Kirkstall to have the coins under his church dug up to be sold.
The third and final penny is buried somewhere under Senate House at the University of London in Bloomsbury.
At auction the 1933 pennies have sold for over £100,000.
Neil Paisley, managing director of AH Baldwin & Sons, told the YouTuber Tom Scott that one sold in 2016 for a hammer price of approximately £140,000.
The penny’s value has also frequently led to counterfeit attempts, with people attempting to change the 5s to 3s on the more common 1935 penny.
The Coin Collecting Wizard said: “Be careful, many fakes are out there. If you think you’ve got one, get it authenticated.”
The second coin mentioned by the TikTok coin enthusiast is the 1905 half crown.
Only 166,008 were minted, which puts their value between £450 and £10,000 depending on condition
The coin is made of silver and features a portrait view of King Edward VII on one side and a shield on the other.
While few members of the public are likely to have a 1905 half crown buried in the bottom of the wallet or down the back of the sofa, the third coin is one the average person is much more likely to run into.
The most valuable coin of all-time
The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle – $18.9 million. The current record for the world’s most expensive coin. It is illegal to own. The only publicly traded example sold for $18.9 million in 2021.
The rarest coin of all-time
The 1343 Edward III Florin – also known as the “Double Leopard”, it was minted during King Edward III’s reign in medieval England and only three examples are known to exist today.
The two pence coin was introduced in the UK in 1971. It was printed with the words ‘NEW PENCE’ on it until 1982, when it was changed to ‘TWO PENCE’.
However in 1983 a number of coins were accidentally issued with the previous ‘NEW PENCE’ wording.
Those 1983 two pences pieces with the ‘new’ markings are now worth upwards of £1,000.
It comes after a rare 50p coin with iconic childhood character was sold on eBay for 14 times its face value.
A Peter Rabbit coin fetched nearly £2,500 recently.
CAROL McGiffin has blasted Loose Women again as she revealed its strict wardrobe rules – and slammed ITV bosses amid budget cuts.
The broadcaster, 65, officially left the ITV Daytime show in 2023 following a contract dispute.
While she’s still pals with her former co-stars, she hasn’t got many good things to say about the higher ups.
Taking a swipe at her former employers, Carol wrote in her Best magazine column: “If those in charge had spent less time obsessing over wardrobe policy and allowed presenters to be themselves, allowing them to say what they think rather than what they wanted them to think, they might not be losing 200+ jobs.”
She went on: “TV bosses, in my experience, love telling their ‘on-screen talent’ what to wear, as well as what to say.
“I did Loose Women for almost 20 years and the mandated dress codes used to exhaust me.”
Carol, who first appeared on the series in 2000 before she quit in 2023, said one fleeting rule they enforced was a ban on bare arms being shown on screen.
She said: “We went from wearing our own clothes to being bought stuff to adhere to ludicrous wardrobe policies like ‘no arms on show’ …
“Presumably because our ageing biceps were morphing into bingo wings which the (male) boss at the time had decided were offensive.
“Another female(!) boss once ordered all the women to wear high heels as well.
“I always loathed being ‘dressed’ or ‘styled’ as they preferred to call it.
“You always had to be coordinated up to the eyeballs in nice slacks, wrap dresses or boiler suits.”
She continued: “It used to make me shudder, nearly as much as the insane amount of waste on unimaginable amounts of clothes that had mostly only been worn once.”
Carol sparked a feud with bosses when she left the show, making multiple rebukes including slamming the series for “shoving woke news down viewers’ throats”.
It comes as ITV announced redundancies across its Daytime TV shows.
More than 220 jobs will be lost as part of the shake-up — almost half of the 450 employed on the four flagship shows GMB, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women.
The reshuffle comes amid a desperate cost-cutting drive at the broadcaster, and follows changes already made to its soaps.
THE BEST playground games of all time are hide and seek, tag – and skipping ropes.
A study of 2,000 adults explored dozens of kids’ crazes from previous years and revealed which ones have stood the test of time.
Classics like marbles, British Bulldog, conkers and ‘What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?’ all appear in the top 10.
While other popular games include football cards, yo-yos, ‘Cat’s Cradle’ and hopscotch.
Gillian McMahon, executive director of international charity Right To Play UK, which strives to transform the lives of millions of children every year through play, said: “Playground games are loved across the UK and many have remained kids’ favourites for generations.
“But for many children around the world, the opportunity to play is out of reach.
“Play is a deep-rooted part of childhood in the UK – however, millions of children globally are unable to claim this basic right.
“Extreme challenges such as conflict, poverty, child labour and early marriage are depriving many vulnerable children of the childhood they deserve.”
The research went on to find 55 per cent spent time outside playing games every single day, when they were at school.
And 90 per cent believe these in-person interactions were helpful when it came to making friends.
With nearly three quarters (72 per cent) regarding these play sessions with pals as some of their fondest childhood memories.
Other beloved games included Duck, Duck, Goose, Swingball and Top Trumps.
But while 17 per cent of Gen Z loved Stuck in the Mud, only two per cent of Baby Boomers played it – preferring Cat’s Cradle or Elastics.
Younger respondents were also far more likely to be fans of ‘The Floor is Lava’ than any other age group, according to the OnePoll figures.
The research was released to coincide with International Day of Play, taking place on 11 June.
This annual UN-recognised day raises awareness about the vital importance of play for children and highlights play as a fundamental right.
The study showed nearly two-thirds of adults (63 per cent) were unaware that play is recognised as a basic right for children under international law.
However, 67 per cent believe every child should have a right to play, with physical exercise, making friends and building social skills such as empathy and cooperation seen as among the main benefits.
Gillian McMahon added: “Every child should have access to the life-changing benefits of play. It is essential to children’s learning, development and well-being.
“Yet, many children are denied the chance to just be kids.
“We are working to change this situation. Through our global programmes, we are reaching more than 4.7 million vulnerable children each year in some of the most difficult places on earth.
“Using the power of play, we are helping children to stay in school, resist exploitation, overcome prejudice and heal from the trauma of war and displacement.”