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Liam Gallagher and John Squire have achieved their first number one album with their eponymous debut collaboration, Liam Gallagher & John Squire.

The former Oasis frontman and The Stone Roses guitarist – both Manchester rock royalty – outsold their closest competition three-to-one, according to the Official Charts.

They also topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart, which made up 45% of their sales.

Their record was the most-purchased album of the week in the UK’s independent record shops, claiming number one on the Official Record Store Chart, too.

Gallagher and Squire told the Official Charts: “Thanks to everybody that went out and bought this, it means a lot!”

Gallagher now has a total of 14 official number one albums, across a career spanning three decades.

As a member of Oasis, he achieved eight chart-toppers: Definitely Maybe (1994), (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995), Be Here Now (1997), Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (2000), Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don’t Believe The Truth (2005), Dig Out Your Soul (2008) and hits compilation Time Flies… 1994-2009 (2010).

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Oasis famously split up in 2009, minutes before a headline show in Paris, with rumours of a physical altercation involving a guitar.

While brothers Liam and Noel have been feuding ever since, rumours of them getting back together are never far from the headlines.

Liam and Noel Gallagher at the Oasis Knebworth gigs. Pic: Times Newspapers/Shutterstock

Oasis at the Knebworth Festival, Britain - Aug 1996
Liam and Noel Gallagher

Aug 1996
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Liam and Noel at Knebworth in 1996. Pic: Times Newspapers/Shutterstock

Gallagher achieved a further five number one albums after leaving Oasis: As You Were (2017), Why Me? Why Not. (2019), live recording MTV Unplugged (2020), C’mon You Know and Knebworth 22 (both in 2022).

His band Beady Eye, which disbanded in 2014, earned two top five LPs: 2011’s Different Gear, Still Speeding and 2013 release BE.

Meanwhile, Noel went his own way with the band High Flying Birds, achieving four number one albums to date: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (2011), Chasing Yesterday (2015), Who Built The Moon (2017) and Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 (2021).

Noel’s last LP Council Skies peaked at number two on the Official Albums Chart.

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For Squire, his collaboration with Gallagher marks his first-ever UK number one album.

Squire’s previous UK chart best came courtesy of Do It Yourself, the sole album from his 1996-1999 project The Seahorses, which peaked at number two on its release in 1997, and went on to spend 49 weeks in the chart.

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Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

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Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.

The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.

Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.

Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
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Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights

The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.

It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.

The full track list is:

1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.

Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.

The cover of Taylor Swift's newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
Image:
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records

The back cover of Taylor Swift's 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: 	Republic Records
Image:
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records

‘The hardest-working star in pop’

The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.

That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.

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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.

Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.

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Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

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Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.

A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.

Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.

The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.

Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.

He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.

Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.

Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.

Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.

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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.

Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.

Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.

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TV presenter Jay Blades appears in court charged with two counts of rape

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TV presenter Jay Blades appears in court charged with two counts of rape

TV presenter Jay Blades has appeared in court charged with two counts of rape.

The 55-year-old appeared via video link at Telford Magistrates’ Court and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth at the six-minute hearing on Wednesday.

Blades, from Claverley in Shropshire, was granted conditional bail to appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court on 10 September.

He was not required to enter pleas during his first appearance.

The presenter found fame on the furniture restoration programme The Repair Shop after he started presenting in 2017.

A furniture restorer, he was the face of the popular BBC show that featured people having their treasured objects repaired and rejuvenated until he stepped back from presenting the programme last year.

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Blades was also the presenter of the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020 and took part in Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off, and Comic Relief.

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