Archive July 25, 2025

Scotland beaten by Italy in World Cup warm-up

Images courtesy of Getty

Warm-up for the women’s rugby world cup between Italy and Scotland

Italy 34 (20)

Cons: Sillari 2 Pens: D’Inca 3, Vecchini, Muzzo, Rigoni

Scotland 29 (5)

Italy’s warm-up defeat in Parma continued Scotland’s difficult preparation for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Captain Rachel Malcolm earlier this week claimed that the tournament’s “very disruptive” build-up had put her side in an unfair position.

Head coach Bryan Easson will step down after the World Cup, which Malcom described as “a shock” and “upsetting,” while more than half the squad are uncertain about their contracts.

Unsurprisingly, Scotland started slowly in northern Italy before half-time, falling 15 points clear with Vittoria Vecchini and Aura Muzzo scoring the only goals of the contest.

Lana Skeldon of Bristol Bears scored Scotland’s only points of the opening period through a powerful rolling maul.

After the break, Easson’s side improved and scored three points on the conversion with the help of Evie Gallagher and Helen Nelson’s try in the corner.

However, D’Inca’s hat-trick was completed by Italian substitute Beatrice Rigoni, who had previously broken Scotland’s defensive line.

Gallagher crashed over for her second try, but the visitors were unable to cross again in the remaining time.

Line-ups

Italy: Granzotto, Muzzo, Sillari, Mannini, D’Inca, Stevanin, Stefan, Maris, Vecchini, Seye, Fedrighi, Duca, Sgorbini, Veronese, Giordano.

Scotland: Scott, Lloyd, Wills, Thomson, Thomson, Grant, Nelson, Bartlett, Skeldon, Clarke, Wassell, Ferrie, Malcolm, McLachlan, and Gallagher.

Replacements: Rollie, Ramsay, Cockburn, Donaldson, Stewart, Mattinson, and Martin.

related subjects

  • Scottish Rugby
  • Rugby Union

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Oasis fans discover new genius way of watching the sold-out shows for free

Fans of Oasis who couldn’t get tickets to their sold-out Manchester shows found a novel way to see the band instead, and even the Gallaghers were impressed.

Fans have found novel ways of seeing the sold-out Oasis gigs(Image: Getty Images)

Two Oasis fans who failed to get tickets to the band’s sold-out tour found a genius way to watch their homecoming gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park.

A clip of the male fans, who might have had a better view of the stage than the majority of the crowd, was posted to TikTok by @softgirlswhohikle, who posted a video to the platform. “Oasis has no tickets available” “Get the cherry picker out”! the phrase was in the title.

“At least they didn’t forget their bucket hats,” they added. The post quickly racked up more than 160,000 likes, with fans saying both Oasis and Liam Gallagher and brother Noel Gallagher reposted the short clip to their own social media accounts.

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And one commenter compared the outrageously high prices of the tickets, some of which reached £500, to “Cheaper to hire than paying for a ticket” and people were impressed with the Oasis fans’ efforts.

Another posted: “This is definitely maybe iconic.” A third asked: “Genius! Are they taking bookings? Asking for a friend.” A fourth joked: “That’s Bez and Shaun Ryder [from the Happy Mondays].” A fifth added: “Well done lads… I’m surprised the council didn’t try and put a fence around it!” While a sixth added: “Champagne Supernova in the SKYYYYYYYY!!!”

Oasis have already played five nights in their hometown of Manchester at Heaton Park following their reunion tour that began in Cardiff on Friday, July 4.

The first night of another five-night stretch, this one at London’s Wembley Stadium, will be tonight (Friday, July 25). The band last performed at Wembley on July 12, 2009 as part of their “Did Out Your Soul” Tour.

It became one of their final gigs before they sensationally split in Paris later on that year. But the venue doesn’t hold good memories for older brother Noel, 58, who previously tore into ‘our kid’ Liam, 52, over a previous performance.

He claimed that that was the band’s “worst ever” performance from a performance from 2000 as their “worst ever” It was a terrible two and a half hour performance on stage. Lam is able to hang his head shamelessly. It was terrible.

The band will make sure that the following five nights are memorable for all the right reasons, so the band will be pulling everything together. After their performances in London, they’ll then embark on international tour dates in Dublin and Edinburgh.

After a 16-year feud, so far Liam and Noel are holding it together on tour – and were even spotted holding hands on stage.

Although the brothers’ relationship seems to be in good shape right now, Liam recently revealed his biggest regret with the band. How does it feel to sing along with your brother once more, a fan asked him on social media? “As in the past”? You know what it means spiritually, Liam replied, “But I can’t help but think about all those wasted years, what a waste of precious time!”

Continue reading the article.

However, after their upcoming tour, will fans be able to see the once-warring brothers once more? Let’s see how this tour turns out and if we still fall in love with one another after it, Liam teased a fan.

READ MORE: Oasis have released new tickets for UK tour – how to buy yours if you missed out

US confirms it will destroy contraceptives previously designated as aid

Washington, DC – Protests from advocates and aid organizations erupted after the United States confirmed reports that it will destroy reproductive health supplies that had previously been designated as assistance.

The US Department of State stated on Friday that the decision was influenced by US laws that restrict aid to organizations that perform abortions or support them.

“Only a select few commodities have received disposal approval.” No condoms or HIV medications are being destroyed, according to a statement from the State Department.

Reproductive health advocates decried the US’s decision on Friday, accusing it of setting up “life-saving contraceptives” rather than giving them to aid organizations to distribute them in less developed nations.

The US decision was described as “cruel and ideologically driven,” according to a statement released by several advocacy groups, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Sensoa, and Countdown 2030 Europe.

The US government has rejected all options, according to the statement, which includes requests from international humanitarian organizations, governments, and global health organizations to purchase or redistribute these supplies.

They are instead choosing waste and extremist ideology over human rights, safety, and health, according to the report.

The organizations claimed they would provide “no cost to the US government” by transporting, repackaging, storing, and dispersing the supplies, but their proposal was rejected.

The supplies, which are expected to be destroyed in France, are worth $10 million, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.

The commodities, which were purchased under former President Joe Biden’s control, will cost $ 167, 000, according to a State Department spokesperson.

According to the US statement, President Donald Trump’s administration was able to cancel previously placed $34.1 million orders.

Trump has severely weakened US humanitarian aid efforts, cutting aid to various nations and groups around the world, and all but abolishing the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Trump has publicly stated that he is a staunch pro-choice since running for office in 2015 for the first time. The Republican president appointed three conservative justices to the US Supreme Court, who assisted in 2022’s overturning of the country’s constitutional right to abortion during his first term.

Critics around the world have criticized the decision to destroy reproductive health supplies rather than donate or even sell them.

The move, according to Micah Grzywkowski, the IPPF European Network’s regional director, demonstrates a “complete lack of basic empathy.”

When a government professes efficiency and reduces waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy life-saving supplies when the need has never been greater. This is unconscionable, according to Grzywkowski in a statement. “This isn’t just inefficient.

“This action seriously undermines global efforts for public health and restricts access to essential care, particularly for communities that are already facing significant barriers.”

Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu expressed her disgust with the Trump administration’s decision earlier this week.

Despite having years to go before it expires and having the UN ready to give birth control to women in need, Chu wrote in a social media post.

‘I’m part of British royal family after Queen’s secret marriage and love child’

According to a new documentary, Queen Victoria had a secret lovechild for her husband. A woman here speaks out about her descent from the royal family.

Queen Victoria with her loyal manservant John Brown, who she is believed to have had an affair with (Image: Bettmann Archive)

Queen Victoria and John Brown were not only secretly married, they had a love child, a new documentary will claim. Historian Dr Fern Riddell believes she has found proof that the monarch and her manservant were deeply in love – and that the Queen gave birth to her tenth child, a girl called Mary-Anne, whose father was John.

“I think Victoria and John had a crazy love,” She says, “I think I have some proof that they got married, and I really do think there’s a good chance they may have had a child together.”

“Big claims,” according to TV lawyer Rob Rinder, who appears in the documentary with a skeptical eye on her findings. If you’re correct, our understanding of history is altered.

READ MORE: Inside abandoned townhouse once home to the daughter of Queen Victoria

Dr Fern Riddell (left) with Angela Webb
Dr Fern Riddell (left) with Angela Webb, who believes she is related to Queen Victoria(Image: Channel 4)

Riddell reveals in her new book, Victoria’s Secret, that she has discovered a direct descendant of Minnesota-based, USA-based Mary-Anne _ Angela Webb. She was raised knowing all the tales about her family coming from an illegitimate branch of British royalty but never thought it could be proven. John Brown was her grandfather’s great uncle.

She shows off a basket of heirlooms in the Channel 4 programme and explains: “They were originally Queen Victoria and John Brown’s and have made their way to me. There are books, there’s jewellery, there’s documents.

Queen Victoria commissioned this brooch. It says March 29, 1896. It also has a back hair lock.

This is Victoria’s handwritten note. The royal seal is present. On the 27th, which would have been the anniversary of his passing, the recommendation is to place a wreath and flowers in the deceased’s bed.

Scotsman John Brown
Scotsman John Brown was the personal attendant to Queen Victoria for 34 years (Image: Getty Images)

Angela claims that John Brown was more than just a close friend of Queen Victoria’s in the story she grew up with. She claims that her family is descended from the child who was conceived as Mary-Anne, the child of Queen Victoria and John Brown, and that there was a romantic relationship.

Dr. Fern claims that the Brown family’s undiscovered secret archive proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the couple were lovers and that John’s brother Hugh was raising her daughter Jessie with his wife. The unborn couple relocated to New Zealand with the child, which helped prevent scandal.

But later it’s said that Queen Victoria begged them to return to Scotland with the child – and they did. In the film, Dr Fern says that the end of Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert had been an unhappy time. Victoria had struggled through her nine pregnancies and suffered from post-natal depression, plus symptoms including hallucinations that may have been mistaken for the madness that had afflicted King George.

She claims that the couple would have had to practice celibacy because doctors had warned against any additional pregnancies. She is therefore instructed to end any sexual relations with her husband in her late 30s. For her, it will be a real problem with their marriage.

Dr. Fern thinks that the queen had a strong sex desire from the beginning. She adored physical pleasure, and she was sensual. A young Victoria’s claim that she and Albert were riding in the rain and that he had “nothing under them,” which she had also underlined, was untrue.

Angela Webb (spotty jacket)- other two are Rob Rinder and Dr Fern Riddell
The new Channel 4 program is presented by Rob Rinder.

Fern says she understands why Victoria was drawn to John Brown at the time because he was attractive and shrewd. You can see why Queen Victoria is irresistibly drawn to him, she says.

The couple spent more time in Scotland at Balmoral, where John would have spent much of his time with Victoria, when their marriage becomes strained. According to Dr. Fern, “This gives a wounded Queen a chance to flirt with a powerful, seductive young man.”

The monarch wrote to John’s brother Hugh in 1886 to let him know how she felt about his brother, among other things, one that was discovered in the Brown family archive in 1886. It reads, “I held and took his dear kind hand.” No one loved him more than I did, I told him. No one loves you more than I, he replied, and neither do you.

In one Christmas card she tells her lover: “My lips may give a message better of Christmas love than even my letter.” And in case that wasn’t clear enough, another says: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.”

rob and angela
Next week, the bombshell program will be broadcast.

Rinder agrees this could only mean they had a “deep, meaningful and enduring” love affair. But the affair was hushed up, and so too was the pregnancy, Dr Fern believes, which happened when the Queen was in mourning over Prince Albert and out of public life.

She declares, “I think there was a surprise baby, spirited away to New Zealand,” and provides proof that Victoria and John were secretly married. Then, after Victoria and John made their first public appearance, they arranged to bring Hugh, Jessie, and Mary-Anne home.

When Dr. Fern contacted her with inquiries about her ancestry, Angela was “flabbergasted.” She wants to conduct a DNA test because she thinks she can “see” myself in pictures of Queen Victoria.

She claims, “I’d love to be able to demonstrate that their love story was truly beautiful.” It would be wonderful to be able to claim that John Brown was her second-greatest love because of this fact.

Continue reading the article.

However, the American admits, “I’m not sure how I’ll feel if it’s established that I am a descendant of Queen Victoria.”

  • Secret Marriage, Secret Child: Queen Victoria? on Channel 4 on Thursday, July 31 at 9 p.m.

READ MORE: ‘I had a spoon of Manuka Honey every day to help with hayfever – the results shocked me’