Fake News - Donald Trump appears to have falsely implied he has Taylor Swift's endorsement, posting fake images on social media of the singer and her fans supporting him. The Republican presidential candidate posted the message "I accept!" alongside the images, which were taken from other social media accounts. Many appear to have been created using artificial intelligence. The post sparked a backlash among Swift's fans who accused Trump of spreading misinformation. The singer has not endorsed a candidate in the 2024 election but backed the Democrats in 2020 and criticised Trump while he was president.
Giving Back - An East Sussex music festival is helping people through the cost-of-living crisis by launching a 'pay what you can afford' scheme. Boundary Brighton said the scheme comes "as a ‘thank you’ for seven years of support and in recognition of those hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis". The festival has allocated 1,000 tickets to the campaign until 21 August for as little as £10. A quarter of each ticket sale will be donated to the festival charity partner, Starr Trust, which helps empower young people in the region.
Boundary Brighton said it was aiming to give back to the community, in particular to 18 - 24-year-olds who were "forced to cut back on going out" due to the cost of living. NHS staff are also being recognised as the festival has partnered with Tickets For Good, which provides free and heavily discounted tickets to NHS staff, students, and contractors. The line-up for the event on 28 September includes Wilkinson, Shy FX, Songer, K Motionz and more.
Crowd Surges - Cornwall Council has launched a public protection investigation after crowd surges at a music festival left a number of people with injuries. The organisers of the Boardmasters festival in Newquay said seven people were reported to have been taken to hospital following the incident on Friday night.
A spokesperson for the local authority said its public protection service was investigating the incident and the council "cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing". The organisers of the festival said "experienced pit management and security teams" had been "in place across the festival".
Northern Light - Politicians and developers have said they are certain the funding will be found to turn Liverpool's famed Littlewoods building into a film studio complex dubbed ‘the Hollywood of the North’.
The art deco-style building was the headquarters of the Littlewoods Football Pools in the 1930s, and 3,000 employees worked there. It closed in 1994 when the popularity of the pools dwindled. On a visit to the site on Edge Lane, just outside the city centre, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said he would be asking the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to back the project, which he said would create 3,000 jobs and bring millions of pounds to the Merseyside economy.
Wasted Potential - Campaign for the Arts has unveiled new research showing arts subjects now account for the smallest proportion of A-level entries since 2010. It has prompted the charity’s director, Jack Gamble, to call for "urgent action" and halt a decline in creative education. Gamble warned that the continuing fall in A-level uptake represented "wasted potential", particularly in students from lower income backgrounds, as well as "a real problem for the cultural sector’s audiences".
In The Courts - A Missouri woman is accused of trying to defraud Elvis Presley's family of millions of dollars and steal the family's ownership interest in Graceland, the singer’s family home. Lisa Jeanine Findley, who used a variety of aliases, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Findley was federally charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and was expected to appear in court Friday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison. Elvis bought Graceland mansion in 1957 and lived there until he died two decades later.
Pie Time - Ed Sheeran paid a visit to Ipswich Town on Saturday ahead of the team's first match since promotion back to the Premier League. He handed out pies and autographs to Tractor Boys' fans at Portman Road before the Liverpool game. Suffolk-boy Sheeran recently bought a minority stake in the club and sponsors the team's shirts. Ipswich lost 0-2.
(Jim Evans)
