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Fans of Strictly Come Dancing were left 'crying' as they spotted a famous face in the audience after weeks of patiently waiting for her appearance. It was Musicals Week in the ballroom on Saturday night (November 30), but more importantly for the six remaining couples in the BBC One dance contest, it was also the quarter-final with the grand finale now just a mere few weeks away. Before Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman officially kicked off the latest live show, the show's gang of professional dancers entertained Strictly viewers watching from home as they took the dance floor with a Little Shop of Horrors-themed opening number. READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing pro deals Chris McCausland blow just before quarter final Once the hosts welcomed the judges - who took on the theme as they dressed their own chosen musical characters with Motsi Mabuse channelling a Dreamgirl, Shirley Ballas transforming into Miss Trunchbull, Craig Revel Horwood as the bearded lady from The Greatest Showman and Anton Du Beke who sported a technicolour dreamcoat - it was time for the celebrities and their professional dance partners to take to the floor. Kicking off the show was Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola, with the pair riding high after they danced what was described as the best Rumba of the series so far last weekend - and the pair did not disappoint tonight. They performed a high-energy Charleston to Popular from Wicked, with actress Sarah taking on the role of Glinda, which is currently being occupied by Ariana Grande in the new blockbuster film. Shirley told them "the lifts were flawless," while Anton Du Beke gushed: "That was abolsutely brilliant. It was so wonderful." Craig then concluded: "Prim characterisation, precise and well presented," before Sarah and Vito recieved 38 out of a possible 40 points - including two tens from Shirley and Anton. Miranda and Patricia in the audience But Strictly fans were distracted as they spotted Miranda Hart in the audience, Sarah's former Miranda co-star and friend who previously appeared in a VT with her pal and her ance partner earlier in the series. Miranda was also joined by her on-scree mother Patricia Hodge. And fans quickly flocked to social media. @beckyftcatty said: "Crying my miranda heart can't let's go Stevie and video that's was unreal #strictly." @joannalivelife commented: "Fabulous to see Miranda in the audience. I’m currently reading her new book which is so good #strictly." @sooflayed shouted: "PATRICIA AND MIRANDA OMG #strictly.2 @WriterofQueen echoed: "MIRANDA HART AND PATRICIA HODGE #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing." @mazzieover shared: "Miranda and penny im gonna cry #strictly." @slinehan1 added: "Miranda being in the crowd to watch Sarah makes me so emotional ngl. #Strictly."

NoneZion Elee, 5-star recruit from St. Frances, commits to Maryland football

Mikaela Shiffrin's bid for a milestone 100th alpine World Cup victory was on hold after the US superstar crashed out of the Killington giant slalom won by Sweden's Sara Hector on Saturday. Shiffrin, already the owner of the most World Cup victories in history, was poised to claim a once unimaginable century after topping the first-run times. She looked on course for the win when she crashed heavily in the second leg and Sweden's Olympic gold medaallist Hector emerged with the victory with a total of 1min 53.08sec. Shiffrin, whose mistake rounding a turn caused her to lose her balance and slide through a gate, lost one ski and careened into the catch-fencing. She was taken from the course on a sled, offering a wave to fans on her way. The extent of any possible injuries she might have suffered was not immediately known. "Mikaela took the sled down and is currently being evaluated," USA Ski & Snowboard said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. "More info to come, but take solace in the fact that she asked about her splits." Shiffrin, 29, already has 13 more World Cup wins than the most successful man, Ingemar Stenmark, and 17 more than the second woman, compatriot Lindsey Vonn. Needing three wins to hit 100 to start the season, she bagged her 98th and 99th career titles with back-to-back slalom wins in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria. That gave her a chance to complete her century in front of home fans in Killington, not far from where she attended Burke Mountain Academy as a youngster. Shiffrin -- who has won six slaloms at Killington but never a giant slalom -- was greeted by ecstatic cheers as she crossed the finish line of the first leg atop the times. She was 17-hundredths of a second ahead of Hector after the second sector of her second run. But her day ended not in celebration but in the 21st "Did Not Finish" in her 274 career starts. Vonn, who has just announced plans to come out of retirement, posted on social media: "Hope @MikaelaShiffrin is OK." Hector was delighted with her win, while sympathetic to Shiffrin. "I'm very happy, after going through a difficult period," she said. "Obviously, I'm very sad for Mikaela who was skiing so well. "I saw her fall. My heart goes out to her," she added. Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic finished second, 54-hundredths of a second behind Hector, and Switzerland's Camille Rast was third, 1.05 seconds back. The women are scheduled to race a slalom on Sunday. bbThe Surveyor General of the Federation, Abuduganiyu A. Adebomehin, has refuted the insinuation in some media outfits that his office sold a plot of land estimated at N16 billion, saying they did not sell any federal government land in Lagos State. Adebomehin, who addressed journalists in Abuja on the issue raised by an individual, explained that the same falsehood was peddled in 2022 and resurfaced this year to tarnish his image and that of the office. He also stated that in 2023, an individual took the matter to court and, in March of this year, the game plan started with the involvement of civil societies, adding that an investigation was carried out, but nothing came out, which means someone is interested in the SGOF. The Surveyor General declared: “Somebody is eyeing my position to the extent that he reported it to the Federal Civil Service Commission. We have no right or authority to offer government property for sale. We have a Presidential Committee on it.” According to him, there is a Land Use Allocation Committee, and they are responsible for sales, even though their office controls the largest land matters in the country. He mentioned issues of encroachment into federal government land in Kwara, Imo, and Kano states. RED ALSO : Lagos govt to upgrade Mazamaza Bridge for Blue Line Phase 2 project He further maintained that an investigation is ongoing, and the OSGOF has been explaining over and over again that they do not sell any government landed property because it does not fall within their schedule in the books. On his achievements, Adebomehin hinted that they have advanced in science and technology by opening the coast for training and retraining of staff on geospatial data, information, and management, as ICT has taken over all sectors. He therefore regretted that OSGOF was not involved in the Great Green Wall programme, stressing that many years ago, they offered advice concerning the Chad Basin, but it was not taken seriously. Currently, many families have lost their livelihood as a result of this. Talking about his foreign trips, he stated that all overseas engagements were approved by government organs, emphasizing that those using it to blackmail him and threaten his life are trying to dent his family name.

Preserving language through play: Pato Pato's Spanish immersion toys empower families of bilingual childrenChildren’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “Undoubtedly it’s a disappointing result for our party today,” Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Ongar, Dublin. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Green candidate in Waterford Marc O Cathasaigh said he would not be “in the shake-up” to retain his seat in that constituency, while junior minister Ossian Smyth looks at risk of losing his seat in Dun Laoghaire. Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.

Young men swung to the right for Trump after a campaign dominated by masculine appealsA 'very disappointed' Bruno Guimaraes claimed Newcastle were a 'mess' as they slumped to a 4-2 loss against Brentford. The fixture began in explosive fashion as both teams scored twice inside the opening 32 minutes. Brentford 's second goal was certainly from a Newcastle perspective, as Harvey Barnes carelessly passed the ball straight to Yoanne Wissa, who gleefully drove at the Magpies backline before firing past Nick Pope. Barnes atoned for his error by scoring the equaliser, but Newcastle could not match Brentford in the second half as goals from Nathan Collins and Kevin Schade wrapped up the three points. Collins' goal came from a free-kick lumped forward by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken while Sandro Tonali's soft turnover led to Schade's strike, underlining how easily the Magpies gave up goals. The loss was Newcastle's fifth of the season and extended their winless run to a fourth game as they sit 12th on the ladder. It also continued the Magpies' poor away form this term, having won on the road just twice. Speaking to Newcastle's in-house media team after the contest, Guimaraes opened on his frustrations at the defeat as Eddie Howe 's side slipped further away from the European spots. "First half, we have some good moments," Guimaraes said. "But the second [half], we became a mess. After the third goal, we lost our way, we lost control. We became a mess on the pitch. Very disappointed." Worryingly for Newcastle, the four goals shipped against Brentford made it seven goals conceded in two games after the club's pulsating 3-3 draw against Liverpool on Wednesday. Played in front of a raucous St. James' Park, Newcastle appeared to have turned a corner with an impressive performance against the league leaders. But the Bees brought out the worst in Howe's side, sparking serious questions about a defence that just two seasons ago conceded only 33 league goals across the entire campaign, eight more than they have this term after 15 games. However, Guimaraes does not believe it's a problem isolated just to the backline. "We have been conceding a lot this season," Guimaraes said. "We've got Champions League and we didn't concede as much as we have. "This is not a problem about just the defence. It's a problem for the midfield, a problem for the attack. It's the team's problem. "We have to stop this. But our season, being honest, has been very, very disappointing." Howe also pulled no punches in his assessment of his team's performance and bemoaned the string of individual errors that ultimately proved costly. "That's the frustration, because before that we looked tight at the back, the issues were at the other end of the pitch," Howe said. "Now we've scored five in two games and looked a really good attacking team, some of our attacking work was really strong today. "Lo and behold we then we go and concede seven in two games from nowhere really. It's difficult to work out because structurally we've been fine but there were a lot of individual errors today. "We've got work to do in a lot of different areas. There's a very good team in there, I've got no doubts, but we haven't shown it consistently enough, we haven't delivered it anywhere near enough for my liking. "A period of reflection and a period of work, then we'll try to fight back." Howe and his Newcastle side will hope to have found a solution to their defensive woes in time for their next fixture on December 14 as they host Leicester City .