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Bonnie Tyler now out of coma but remains in intensive care in Portugal | Music
Welsh pop star Bonnie Tyler is no longer in a coma but remains “very unwell” in intensive care at a hospital near her home in Faro, Portugal.
The 75-year-old singer received emergency intestinal surgery in May and was placed in an induced coma to aid her recovery.
A statement on her official website said that although her condition was improving and doctors remain confident she will recover, it was nonetheless a slow process.
All her remaining shows due to take place this summer have been cancelled, the statement said, but it is hoped some dates in the autumn could go ahead.
The update on her recovery came after the singer’s family had expressed distress over the “lurid and untrue rumours” circulating about her health.
“Bonnie is no longer in a coma but remains very unwell and in intensive care in hospital in Portugal. Although her condition is improving it is a slow process,” the statement said.
“Her doctors remain confident that she will make a good recovery but it is going to take time.
“As such we are sorry to tell everyone that we will be cancelling, or postponing until next year where possible, all of our remaining shows this summer.
“This will affect every current show until the end of August. At present we are still hopeful that our shows in the autumn will go ahead.”
The spokesperson apologised for “the disappointment that this will cause” and hoped fans would “understand and bear with us in these difficult circumstances”.
They added: “We would like to thank everyone for the huge outpouring of love and support from all over the world that we have received for Bonnie and want to tell you that she is aware of, and very grateful for, your good wishes.”
She had been due to perform at Sunshine festival in Worcester in August, as well as a number of European dates. She is also booked to perform at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on 17 December.
Tyler, who was born Gaynor Hopkins, won international fame in the 1980s with the release of her chart-topping single Total Eclipse of the Heart, which spent two weeks as UK No 1, and four weeks at the top of the US charts in 1983.
Her soulful husky voice helped make her songs instantly recognisable, with other hits including Holding Out For a Hero, It’s a Heartache and If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man).
Originally from Neath, in south Wales, she was discovered by a talent scout in Swansea, and her first single was released in 1976.
Tyler represented the UK in the 2013 Eurovision song contest in Malmö, Sweden, with the song Believe in Me, with which she finished in 19th place.
In 2023, she was made an MBE for services to music.
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Ancient 'Robin Hood' tree is dead, experts say
The Major Oak is thought to have stood for more than 1,000 years in the heart of Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest.
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World Cup 2026: England turn on the style; Fifa denies ticketless fans breached security – live | World Cup 2026
Key events
Shall we dip into the BTL comments … Well, why not? The first and third of these are about England: apologies in advance.
The defence is getting a lot of stick for those two goals, but in truth it was the failure of the midfield to get control that led to them. There were too many occasions when there were wide open spaces, loose passes, possession lost in dangerous areas. But the worst aspect was the passivity, the lack of serious pressing. England haven’t got great central defenders so midfield protection is vital.
One of the positive things about the first round of matches has been the refereeing, they’ve clearly decided to officiate with a light touch and it’s so much better for the game when they don’t blow up for every little bit of contact. Players have already realised they’re not getting free kicks by exaggerating every touch and they’re getting short shrift if they’re rolling about on the floor for no reason. Add in the fact that VAR isn’t trying to re-referee every game and I think they’ve got it pretty much spot on so far with their approach. Let’s hope it continues.
For a first game I thought England were fine. The fact we had some gears we could go through and some real power to bring off the bench bodes well. And it’s nice to see a bit of oomph after the years of Southgate tedium. Not sure Stones as first choice centrehalf is sustainable though – he’s not played all season and for all his silkiness I think will just be phased out for the more mobile Guehi.
Good too to see England’s two best players (Kane and Bellingham) actually looking fit and sharp. They were both shadows of themselves in the last tournament and if we’re going to do anything here we’ll need both with energy at the sharp end of the knock-outs.
There was more than a touch of “jibbing in” for England’s opener, if eyewitness reports of lax security and ticket checks are to be believed. And why shouldn’t they be?
Fifa has played down reports that ticketless England supporters were able to gain entry for the World Cup opener against Croatia after evading security checks at the Dallas Stadium.
An unspecified number of fans without tickets are said to have made their way into the ground despite a huge security operation being put in place at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington. Officials said that snipers were in place inside the stadium, with the Arlington police department deploying “highly trained personnel and specialised resources” at the venue.
But despite those measures and some fans having paid thousands of pounds for tickets, there were widespread reports of supporters without tickets gaining access.
The England midfielder Jude Bellingham believes playing with a “chip on my shoulder” will bring the best out of him at the World Cup.
Bellingham scored the vital third goal as Thomas Tuchel’s side opened their campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia in the Group L clash in Dallas.
There were uncertainty surrounding Bellingham’s inclusion in Tuchel’s squad for the tournament in North America after missing the September and October camps through injury.
That followed last summer’s international window which ended in Tuchel saying his mother found Bellingham’s behaviour “repulsive”, while his ability (or perceived lack thereof) to buy into Tuchel’s “brotherhood” has also come under scrutiny.
Bellingham was chosen ahead of his friend Morgan Rogers in the No 10 position, before switching to a deeper role, and made an early mark in the tournament.
“For me personally, it was nice to put some of the noise aside and just show my country and my teammates how committed I am to help us try to win football matches,” he told BBC Sport.
“It was a great team performance. Second half, we got things right, first half we got the intensity right, but not quite with the ball and second half we put it all together nicely.
“To contribute, to help my team and help my country is one of the biggest honours and regardless of the noise outside, that honour doesn’t change for me at all.
“It has been a tough season for me but I am feeling fresh and sharp and stronger.
“I have got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. That helps me a lot to find that focus early in the game and to find that intensity.
“I know that it’s part of being a footballer and I don’t hold a grudge against anyone who says bad things about me because sometimes I do deserve it.
“Today, it was nice to try to show people and remind people what I’m about.” PA Media
A fresh England line hot off the wires coming right up …
If by some bizarre chance you missed it, here’s a gallery of some of the best images from England 4-2 Croatia:
And here is reaction from Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Tommy Tuchel:

Jonathan Liew
I fell asleep at some point during the Netherlands v Japan game. It had been a hot and drowsy day by the shores of Lake Annecy, a square and heavy heat, where the sun and the driving and the food and the boxed wine gently squeeze all the life from your body, like air being pressed out of a juice carton.
I remember Virgil van Dijk angling a header into the far corner, and when I came to it was 2-1, and everyone was heading to bed, drunk on tiredness, drunk on life, drunk on drink.
Not all of my friends care for football in any case, and so the World Cup had become a kind of mood music, something to fill the silences in conversation. Through the long and meandering chat about home renovations and Andy Burnham, an indistinct French voice occasionally cut through from a different universe. Maeda. Gravenberch. The Low Countries tempted to attain the final for the first time since 2010. My French isn’t great. Someone prised open a bottle of Heineken. Bodies draped themselves over the couch, fingers scrolled through phones, the immaculate decadence of boredom.

Jacob Steinberg
When Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 the success was built on unflinching defensive rigour and midfield discipline. Five years on, though, Tuchel’s England displayed neither of those qualities during a dreadful first half in Dallas. They kept losing the ball in dangerous areas, struggled to maintain their shape without the ball and were rocking when Croatia stung them with a second equaliser just before half-time.
The vibe could hardly have been less convincing. Anthony Barry, Tuchel’s No 2, let rip in an interview with ITV, accusing England of doing all the wrong things, of playing with “a nervous energy”, of making everything “confused and complicated” against opponents well versed in making their craft and experience in midfield count.
Of course, England got away with it in the end, the response in the second half astonishing, Barry’s words no doubt delivered in even stronger terms by Tuchel in the dressing room. Yet while they won their opening game in Group L thanks to a moment of breathtaking power from Jude Bellingham and a late breakaway goal from Marcus Rashford, the overall display was far from good enough.
If you think everything in England’s garden is rosy after banging in four goals against Croatia, Jacob Steinberg has some news for you …
There really is quite a lot of football occurring.
Ghana celebrated a 1-0 win against Panama in Toronto, joining England atop Group L:
And in Group K, Jonathan Wilson witnessed Colombia beating Uzbekistan 3-1, down in Mexico City:
“Let’s have it off,” one excited England fan told Sky Sports News outside the stadium after England’s victory.
Doesn’t he mean “Let’s have it”?
I wish I could say I will be speaking from a position of authority on England’s win against Croatia, but I was on a plane, coming home from Spain.
Therefore, your emails, in which you tell me what happened, and offer your first-class analysis, are going to be particularly important this morning. Get involved.
Mexican military forces intercepted and brought down a drone that flew near the South Korea team’s training camp ahead of its World Cup match against Mexico, a federal official told the Associated Press.
Military forces used specialised equipment to detect an “unregistered drone” near the South Korean camp, prompting them to “neutralise” it, the Mexican federal agent said.
Preamble
England are quite good, it would seem, after their opening Group L 4-2 win against Croatia:
While the rest of the world waits for England to be bad – or at least suffer a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat against Argentina, or someone – their fans are certainly going to enjoy the next few weeks …
Let’s all talk about the World Cup!
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Voters in Scotland head to the polls for Westminster by-elections
Residents in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry are choosing new members of parliament.
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