Rod Stewart has opened up about his marriage to his second wife Rachel Hunter, and has claimed that she left him because she was “too young” when they tied the knot
Sir Rod Stewart says marriage split from Rachel Hunter ‘tore him to shreds’(Image: GETTY)
Sir Rod Stewart has candidly discussed the collapse of his marriage to his second wife, Rachel Hunter. The 80-year-old rock legend was first married to Alana Hamilton from 1979 to 1984, with whom he shares daughter Kimberly and son Sean. Following the end of this relationship, Rod tied the knot with ex-model Rachel, who was a whopping 26 years his junior.
When they said their vows, Rachel was just 21 and Rod was 45. A year later, they welcomed their daughter Renee, and son Liam followed soon after. It’s suggested that the ‘Maggie May’ singer met his current spouse, Penny Lancaster, merely a day after parting ways with Rachel in 1999.
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The split ‘tore him to shreds’(Image: GETTY)
Reminiscing about their initial encounter, he shared that Penny sought his autograph, which led him to ask her if she enjoyed dancing. “She was an incredible dancer, gorgeous, [and wearing] 6ft 4in heels,” he fondly remembered, during a chat with The Times.
Despite being instantly smitten with the Loose Women star, Rod confesses he was counselled to enjoy single life for a bit post his split from Rachel.
“There were six months between Rachel and Penny because my bass player, who had Penny’s number, wouldn’t give it to me,” he revealed to the newspaper.
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He is now married to Penny Lancaster(Image: GETTY)
“He said, ‘All you’re going to do now is s**g around’. And he was right, I had a splendid time in those six months.” Rod and Rachel officially ended their marriage in 2006, and a year later, he wed Penny, the mother of his two sons.
“Rachel left me because she was too young. My sister said I should never have married her in the first place, but it tore me to shreds,” he opened up.
Reflecting on his relationship with Penny, he added that she’s “got everything” he’s ever desired. Their union has now spanned 18 years, and the couple is still as close as ever. Last week, Penny showed her unwavering support as Rod took on the legends slot at Glastonbury’s iconic Pyramid stage.
Also showing their support were the couple’s sons Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 14, alongside Renee and Ruby, Rod’s daughter with ex-partner and model Kelly Emberg.
Before Rod’s performance at the music festival, he and Penny celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in grand fashion.
To commemorate the occasion, they took a trip on the opulent Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, retracing the romantic stops from their engagement, wedding, and honeymoon journey.
It was in Paris where Rod proposed to Penny, before they exchanged vows two years later in Portofino, Italy, which was then followed by an indulgent honeymoon on board a luxury yacht along the Italian coast.
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India’s first innings total of 587 was led by Hubman Gill, who scored a record-breaking 269 before the tourists took three wickets late in the second Test against England at Edgbaston.
After Gill’s 269-run innings, England lose top-order wickets.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” an enormous tax cut and spending package that is a pillar of President Donald Trump’s agenda, has been passed by the United States House of Representatives after nearly 29 hours of debate.
The lower house of the US Congress voted by a margin of 218 to 214 in favour of the bill on Thursday.
The bill was opposed by all 212 Democratic House members. Representatives from the Republican majority, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined them.
After the bill’s passage, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the top Republican, applauded his fellow party members.
“I backed this vision,” I said. I backed the organization. I believe in America”, Johnson said to applause.
Trump will now formally enact the bill before it reaches the White House. Before July 4, the country’s Independence Day, the Republican president had requested that the legislation be passed by his fellow party members.
As a result of the new legislation, the US will lift its debt ceiling — the amount the federal government is allowed to borrow — by $5 trillion.
Additionally, the bill strengthens Trump’s top priorities, immigration enforcement, by putting tens of billions of dollars into the country, as well as the tax cuts that he supported in his first term in office.
The bill reduced social initiatives like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which are administered by the government to low-income households, in order to cover those costs.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill will increase the number of people without health insurance by 17 million over the next 10 years.
Additionally, it was predicted that the US’s deficit, or the amount of money owed, would increase by about $3.3 trillion over the same time.
The bill was widely criticized by Democratic lawmakers as a massive redistribution of wealth between the poor and the wealthy, despite the fact that the wealthy will primarily gain from the tax cuts.
Republican supporters like Trump have countered that the bill will fuel growth and cut waste and fraud in the programmes like Medicaid.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” made its way through Congress’ chambers, but not everyone did. Some fiscal conservatives objected to the rise in the national debt, and there were several Republican holdouts who feared the effects of the Medicaid cuts on low-income and rural communities.
“FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE”, Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday night. “RIDICULOUS!! “! “
Even Trump’s erstwhile ally, billionaire Elon Musk, has publicly opposed the bill over provisions he described as “pork”.
On July 3, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivers a marathon speech [Handout via Reuters]
A speech that broke records
In the lead-up to Thursday’s vote, Democrats attempted to stall, with the stated aim of allowing voters more time to contact their local representatives in protest.
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spearheaded the effort by using the “magic minute,” which enables party leaders to speak from the House floor as long as they want.
Jeffries extended that right to an oath to Republicans in an hours-long petition to oppose what he characterized as Trump’s harmful policies. He started at around 4: 53am local time (8: 53 GMT) and ended past 1: 39pm (17: 39 GMT).
It took approximately eight hours and 44 minutes to deliver the longest speech ever delivered on the House floor.
Jeffries said to the House, “I’m here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people,” with his voice swaying at times throughout.
He directed his remarks to the speaker of the House, a leadership role occupied by Republican Mike Johnson.
“Independence Day may be Donald Trump’s deadline. That isn’t my deadline, Jeffries said. “You know why, Mr. Speaker? We don’t support Donald Trump. We serve the American people.
Jeffries warned that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — which he dubbed the “One Big Ugly Bill” — “hurts everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks”. He continued, “The legislation was simply reckless.”
He made a point of referring to the late Republican senator from Arizona, who had fought for Trump on the healthcare debate, by calling his colleagues across the aisle to show them “John McCain-level courage.”
McCain has often been cited as a symbol of bipartisanship in Congress, and Jeffries urged his Republican colleagues to reach across the aisle.
“We embraced the election of President Donald Trump and offered to collaborate with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible to improve the lives of the American people,” Jeffries said.
“But the way that House Republicans have gone is to go it alone and try to smear this One Big Ugly Bill, which is full of extreme right-wing policy priorities, down the throats of the American people,” said Speaker.
In a poll last week from Quinnipiac University, for example, just 29 percent of respondents indicated they were in favour of the legislation, while 55 percent were against it.
Later, Jeffries compared Trump’s resistance to the US’s revolutionary war era, saying, “We’re not here to bend the knee to any wannabe king.” Democrats swelled into cheers and chanted his name “Hakeem!” when he finally said he would give back the floor. Hakeem! “Hakeem” !
Republican leaders successfully swayed the bill’s passage, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Republicans rally in final stretch
The House had been in session overnight as part of a marathon session in order to get to Thursday’s vote.
However, Speaker Johnson himself spoke briefly to the House minutes before the dramatic vote, urging Republicans to show a united front.
He also took a jab at Jeffries’s record-breaking speech: “It takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the simple truth”.
“We’ve been waiting too long,” Some of us have literally been awake for days,” Johnson continued. “With this One Big Beautiful Bill, we are going to make this country stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before, and every American is going to benefit from that”.
He added that “our reforms will make programs like Medicaid stronger with our reforms.”
Two Republicans did not back away from their party caucus and cast a ballot against the “One Big Beautiful Bill” at the final hurdle.
One of the nay-votes, Representative Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania released a statement said he had previously voted to “strengthen Medicaid”. He claimed that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” had the exact opposite effect in the Senate.
The Senate amendments defied our standards, according to Fitzpatrick, despite the fact that the original House language was written in a way that protected our community.
“I believe in, and will always fight for, policies that are thoughtful, compassionate, and good for our community”.
Massie, by contrast, had always been a waiter. His contention on social media was the rising national debt.
“I voted No on final passage because it will significantly increase U. S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates”, he wrote.
a process that lasted for several months
Republicans have had to travel a long way to get to Thursday’s vote, which has already taken them months. The House first passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” on May 22, in another overnight vote.
The legislation was passed by the least narrow margins in that May vote, with 215 supporting and 214 opposing. At the time, Ohio’s representatives, Massie and Warren Davidson, and Maryland’s Andy Harris, both voted “present,” joined a unified Democratic front in opposing the bill. Two more Republicans missed the vote entirely.
The Senate was faced with yet another uphill battle as a result of that. 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and left-leaning independents make up the 100-seat chamber.
To avoid facing a Democratic filibuster, Republicans subjected the “One Big Beautiful Bill” to the Byrd Rule, which allows legislation to pass with a simple majority.
However, Republicans had to veto provisions that had no less than minimal budget impact or increased the deficit outside of a 10-year window in order to comply with the Byrd Rule.
The bill’s revised Senate version was a nail-biting vote, though. On July 1, after another all-nighter, the vote was 50 to 50, with three Republicans siding with the Democrats. The tie-breaker was cast by Vice President JD Vance to advance the legislation.
Democrats did, however, pull off a small symbolic victory by removing the final piece of legislation from the list of names: “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
It was the Senate’s version of the bill that the House voted on Thursday. Since supporting the bill, at least one Republican senator, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, has resentment toward it.
The people of Alaska are the ones who worry most, especially when the potential demise of our most underserved social safety net programs, such as Medicaid and SNAP benefits, are concerned, she wrote in a statement earlier this week.
“Let’s not kid ourselves. This process was terrible; it was a desperate attempt to meet an artificial deadline that had put the institution to the test.
Donald Trump claims that the economy will grow as a result of his extensive tax cuts. However, some claim that the bill will cause more money to be owed.
President Donald Trump’s signature policy bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” would lower taxes and largely benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Federal spending would be slashed, including those related to student loans, food stamps, and Medicaid, to pay for it. Supporters claim that the bill will create jobs and spur economic growth.
Millions of Americans would be paying the price, claim critics, including some Republicans. The bill’s non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that the debt will total an estimated $3.3 trillion over the course of ten years.
Why was the US tech industry’s digital tax eliminated in Canada?
China asserts that it should be involved in the selection process for Tibetan spiritual leaders.
Tibetan Buddhists will have a new spiritual leader, according to the Dalai Lama.
Attention has turned to the delicate subject of his successor as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate approaches 90 years old.
Each Dalai Lama is regarded as a “Living Buddha.” The current one fled to India in 1959 after a failed revolt against Tibetan Communists, and he claims his followers there might be able to find him again.
The Dalai Lama’s veto of his own reincarnation is supported by the United States, who Beijing views as separatist and insists it is a veto.
How will religion and regional politics be weighed against each other in the selection process?
What are the chances of having two Dalai Lamas if it doesn’t work?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Robbie Barnett is a professor at SOAS University of London and a writer and researcher on contemporary Tibetan-Chinese history and politics.
Andy Mok, Senior Researcher at the Center for China and Globalization, is a geopolitical analyst and researcher.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has assured Donald Trump that Moscow will continue to work toward eradicating the “root causes” of the Ukrainian conflict.
Russian President Yuri Ushakov said to reporters, “Russia will not back down,” despite the fact that Putin had also indicated in his one-hour phone call with Trump that he was “ready to seek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict.”
The Kremlin’s claim that it was forced to invade Ukraine in full-fledged form in 2022 to stop it from joining NATO and being used by the West as a launchpad to attack Russia is shorthand, supported in part by Trump, is known as “root causes,” but rejected by Kyiv and its allies.
The Pentagon reaffirmed that some deliveries of weapons to Kyiv, including precision-guided artillery and air defense missiles, would be stopped, prompting them to make the sixth phone call since Trump began his second term in January. Under President Joe Biden’s leadership, they were promised. Russia’s increased attacks on Ukraine have prompted the announcement.
According to the Kremlin aide, Trump and Putin did not discuss the halted weapons deliveries, saying that the US president had raised the issue of putting an end to the war quickly.
The two leaders agreed to continue speaking even though it was not discussed.
Trump has attempted to mediate the conflict in Ukraine, but he hasn’t made much progress. There was nothing in the Kremlin readout that suggested any change in Putin’s position, despite the fact that he has so far rejected Washington’s request for an unconditional ceasefire. The proposal was approved by Ukraine.
Ushakov argued that any peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv needed to take place even though Russia was ready to talk to the US.
In response to some indications that Moscow is attempting to avoid holding any peace negotiations in a trilateral format, he made the comment. Russian negotiators allegedly demanded US diplomats leave the room during an early-June meeting in Istanbul, according to Ukrainian officials.
The last time Putin and Trump spoke on were in mid-June, when Putin offered to serve as the media for the recent 12-day Iran-Israel conflict. Trump responded to Putin’s request by shifting Ukraine’s attention, saying, “No, I don’t need assistance with Iran.” I need assistance with you.
According to Ushakov, Putin stressed the need to resolve all “dissartions, and conflict situations” involving Iran during Thursday’s call.
Last month, the US launched a three-site bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Moscow deemed to be unprovoked and illegal.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, met with leaders of the European Union in Denmark earlier on Thursday, stressing the need to “strengthen our cooperation and coordination through the EU, NATO, and also in our direct relations.”
Trump has in essence resisted Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO militarily.
