Emotional McIlroy ends ‘dream year’ with the award he wanted all along

Rory McIlroy ended the “year dreams are made of” by adding the Sports Personality of the Year award to his memorable triumphs at the Masters and Ryder Cup after being voted winner of the prestigious BBC prize for the first time.

The 36-year-old Northern Irishman topped the public vote ahead of England rugby star Ellie Kildunne, who sparkled as the Red Roses won the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and newly crowned F1 world champion Lando Norris, who was third.

McIlroy is just the third golfer to be named Sports Personality of the Year and the first since Sir Nick Faldo in 1989. It comes after McIlroy became just the sixth man to complete golf’s career grand slam by winning the Masters in April, as well as leading Europe’s charge to an away Ryder Cup victory against a ferociously hostile United States crowd in September.

To add to McIlroy’s night, Europe’s Ryder Cup team also won the public vote for Team of the Year, ahead of the Red Roses and the Lionesses, who defended their European crown in Switzerland to become the first England football team to win a major tournament on foreign soil.

“First of all, I’d just like to congratulate all the other finalists here tonight,” McIlroy said as he accepted the award that previously eluded him in 2014 when he won back-to-back majors at the Open and PGA Championship but finished runner-up to Lewis Hamilton.

“What you’ve all done this year and over the course of your careers, I know how much hard work and dedication it takes. It’s a pleasure just to be in this room along with so many dedicated people.

“2025 has been the year that my dreams came true from Augusta to the Ryder Cup and everything else in between. It really has been the year that dreams are made of.

“Thank you to the public for voting me as your Sports Personality of the Year. Thank you to my family, my mum and dad. They sacrificed so much for me and I obviously wouldn’t be here without them. My wife, Erica. My daughter, Poppy. They are what holds me together, my rocks. They couldn’t be here tonight, they’re back in America but I can’t wait but to get back to see them tomorrow and celebrate this with them as well. So thank you for all your support, everything that you’ve done for me over the years.”

World darts champion Luke Littler and Lionesses stars Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton were also nominated for the main award and it was something of a surprise that neither England player made it into the top three of the public vote after their Euro 2025 victory. Beth Mead and Mary Earps had previously won the Sports Personality of the Year after a successful summer for the team.

There was some recognition for the Lionesses, though, with Sarina Wiegman named Coach of the Year for the second time ahead of Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and Andy Farrell, the head coach of the British & Irish Lions, while breakout England striker Michelle Agyemang, 19, beat Littler to the Young Sports Personality of the Year.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Sweden’s pole vault king Mondo Duplantis made it back-to-back World Sport Star of the Year awards.

But the night belonged to McIlroy, who became emotional earlier in the ceremony following a segment that paid tribute to Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe, the fathers of two of the three girls killed in last year’s Southport stabbing attack. Mr Aguiar, the father of Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Mr Stancombe, the father of Elsie Dot Stancombe, were the recipients of the Helen Rollason Award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity after completing the London Marathon to honour the lives of their daughters.

McIlroy was asked by BBC presenter Clare Balding how being a father has changed how he views his achievements and welled up as he thought about his young daughter Poppy, who was at Augusta as he won the Masters for the first time.

A visibly moved McIlroy paused and said: “I think as being a father of a little girl, seeing Alice’s and Elsie’s dad up there tonight – they are two absolute heroes.”

McIlroy finished his acceptance speech by revealing how much the Sports Personality of the Year award meant to him. The 36-year-old had previously called the event a “popularity contest” and revealed he forgot he had been nominated when he last made the shortlist in 2023. McIlroy also appeared to accept that he would never win the award if he did not do it this year – and made sure he was in Salford for the ceremony to boost his chances.

“I remember growing up, looking forward to this night, watching it on TV, seeing who’s going to win, it was always a big part of the run-up to Christmas,” McIlroy said. “So I’m just very honoured to get my hands on this trophy behind me and hopefully I can challenge to get it again next year! But thank you everyone. It truly is an honour.”

‘Breakthrough’ hailed at EU talks on frozen Russian assets

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk says the EU has made a breakthrough on using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort at a key EU summit in Brussels.

Speaking to reporters in the Belgian capital, Mr Tusk said the EU will look at a type of reparation loan which would be based on the £185bn frozen assets.

Earlier, he warned that the EU must choose between “money today or blood tomorrow” as they met to vote on the proposal. The assets may be used to secure a reparations loan for Ukraine but Belgium, where they are stored, has shared concerns about the plan’s legality.

Russia has previously hit out at the scheme as “theft”.

“Now we have a simple choice – either money today or blood tomorrow,” Tusk said on Wednesday. “And I am not talking about Ukraine only I am talking about Europe. This is our decision to make and only ours.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky attended the summit in person and called on Ukraine‘s allies to show a united front against Russia.

Starmer says he wouldn’t let someone talk to his daughter the way Trump spoke to reporter

Sir Keir Starmer has said he would not let someone talk to his daughter in the way US president Donald Trump spoke to a reporter.

Speaking on Loose Women, Myleene Klass said: “One of our closest allies, shall we say, recently used language ‘quiet piggy’.

“Would you allow for someone to speak to your daughter, your wife, your colleagues in the way that President Trump spoke to a female journalist?”

Sir Keir responded: “No, I wouldn’t, I absolutely wouldn’t, I would call it out. But I would also say part of the stuff we’re doing with teenagers is talking about behaviours they might not think are problematic but in fact are.”

The comment is a rare public criticism of the US president by the UK prime minister, who has previously gone out of his way to avoid attacking Mr Trump.

Mr Trump had made the offensive remark on board Air Force One last month to reporter Catherine Lucey when she tried to ask him a question relating to Epstein before the US president started to wave a finger in her face.

The slapdown of the US president came as Sir Keir was launching his government’s new strategy on tackling violence against women and girls today, with £20m going to help teachers in all secondary schools in England deal with misogyny and promote healthy relationships.

The strategy specifically aims to take on toxic masculine role models and has named the misogynist social media influencer Andrew Tate, who has previously been praised by Nigel Farage and had discussions with Mr Trump’s son, Barron.

The prime minister, asked about his worst experiences, cited a moment that “really broke my heart” on the day of Labour’s election victory last year.

He said: “We had the exit poll… and it said, Labour’s got a landslide victory. I was with my team and my family. I jumped up and punched the air as I would if Arsenal had just scored a fantastic goal.

“And my little girl, then 13, burst into tears and was inconsolable. And that ripped through me, these two emotions, totally through my body.”

The one occasion Sir Keir has publicly chastised the US president was when he met him at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland and defended London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.

Previously, the White House has vigorously defended the US president over the “piggy” comment to the journalist.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “He calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information.”

England trail Australia by 85 runs after first innings of third Test

England have shown plenty of fight on the third day of the third Ashes Test in Adelaide, though captain Ben Stokes has been removed for 83 to leave Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer to salvage what they can.

The tourists entered the day on the brink of officially losing the Ashes as they faced a huge deficit, with tensions beginning to rise in camp as they trailed Australia by 158 runs with two wickets remaining at the end of day two.

However, while the hosts took control of the Test after being dismissed for 371 runs in the morning of day two, a first Test 50 for Archer and 83 for

Captain Ben Stokes (45*) and Jofra Archer (30*) ended the day with a gutsy unbeaten partnership of 45, despite the pair having a heated exchange earlier in the day as England wilted in the heat, and both batters will try to help the under-fire visitors cut the gap as much as possible.

Ollie Pope has also come under fire, with pundit Graeme Swann ripping into his “awful dismissal” and the lack of fight from England’s top order could lead to serious recriminations if they go on to lose this match and thus the series.

Follow updates from day three of the third Ashes Test below:

Coldplay kiss cam HR manager reveals she no longer speaks to CEO

Kristin Cabot, the former human resources executive who became a viral sensation after being caught sharing an intimate moment with her boss on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, has finally broken her silence on the incident.

Cabot and Astronomer CEO Andy Byron were caught on video leaping out of each other’s arms after they were featured on a kiss cam at the July 16 concert. The original TikTok video of the incident gained more than 100 million views within days.

Cabot, 53, has now given a wide-ranging interview to The New York Times, detailing the aftermath of the viral incident and how her outlook has evolved over the past six months. She recalled feeling “so embarrassed and so horrified” after realizing what had happened.

“I’m the head of HR and he’s the CEO. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad,” she said.

The incident ultimately led to both of them resigning from their roles at Astronomer. They kept in touch at first but, in September, they agreed that “speaking with each other was going to make it too hard for everyone to move on and heal,” Cabot told the Times. Their contact has been minimal since.

Cabot recalled how her “big feelings” for Byron grew at work. She had a “crush” on him, but they were “not an item,” she told the Times. “I didn’t really get too carried away because he’s my boss,” she said.

They also shared their first and only kiss at the concert, Cabot explained.

The viral video showed the pair embracing, with Byron’s arms wrapped around Cabot’s waist from behind. Once they realized they were on the kiss cam, they flew out of each other’s arms. Cabot covered her face with her hands, while Bryon crouched down, out of the camera’s view.

After seeing themselves on the kiss cam, Cabot recalled going back to the bar with Byron. “We both just sat there with our heads in our hands, like, ‘What just happened?’” she told the Times.

Cabot said she was separated from her second husband, Andrew Cabot, who also happened to be at the show, at the time and that they were undergoing divorce settlement negotiations. He already confirmed this in September, with his spokesperson telling People that “their decision to divorce was already underway prior to that evening.”

In the weeks and months that followed, Cabot said she received dozens of death threats, and even some messages that indicated the sender knew about her daily habits.

Cabot recalled one frightening message: “I know you shop at Market Basket and I’m coming for you.” At another point, her kids overheard her playing one of the concerning messages out loud. These messages started to affect her family.

“They were already in really bad shape, and that’s when the wheels fell off the cart,” she told the Times. “Because my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die.”

Cabot, who started as Astronomer’s chief people officer in 2024, also explained that people started to accuse her of “sleeping around” to propel her career. Cabot has worked since age 13 and prioritized her financial independence, she told the Times. In 2018, when Cabot divorced her first husband and he was unemployed, she even supported her family on her own.

“I supported my family entirely on my own, and I was able to keep my kids in incredibly fantastic schools and live in a comfy, warm house. I have never been more proud of anything in my entire life,” she said.

Cabot hopes that she can show her kids that ”you can make mistakes, you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.”

“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay,” she said.

The Independent has contacted Astronomer for comment.

Pit-Smoked and Bourbon-Soaked: how to eat in Kentucky like a pro

What’s a drop of Bourbon or a foot tapping beat without the perfect dish to accompany them? There’s more to the Bluegrass State than whiskey and music alone. Though those things are important. Vital actually.

In Kentucky, the good times come served with a side of soul-enriching food, from fine dining, to time-honed traditions passed down through generations. A combination of Southern know-how, bountiful farmland and top-notch ingredients, plus modern culinary talent combine to make Kentucky a truly world-class culinary destination.

So get your fingers sticky with the sweet tang of BBQ, find the ultimate comfort food at a ma and pop shop on the roadside, or pull up a chair beneath a crisp linen tablecloth. It’s all here. Let us guide you to the top spots.

Louisville

Home of the world-famous Kentucky Derby, and with deep roots in the world of whiskey making, Louisville is a place where tradition is respected. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t reinterpreted, reinvented, and well, shaken up.

Kentucky’s largest metropolis, which straddles the slow running waters of the Ohio River, was built on whiskey. But as the new food hub of the South, it’s writing a new, distinctly delicious chapter.

‘New Southern Cuisine’, that’s the term coined for this new spirit of reverent playfulness where chefs across the city are putting new unique twists on traditional Southern fare from Hot Browns to Benedictine.

At 610 Magnolia, in the heart of Old Louisville, for chef and owner Edward Lee that means seasonal, multi-course menus that combine surprising global flavours into locally-inspired, often Bourbon laced dishes. Think seared scallops with kimchi or a sweet pea risotto with rock shrimp and magnolia.

Jack Fry’s is an institution. Behind its shutter board and mullioned window exterior, live jazz accompanies Southern flavours prepared with classic French techniques since 1933. Where once bootlegging occurred in a backroom, today spicy fried oysters, Bourbon braised short ribs, and peach cheesecakes laden the tables.

Don’t Miss:

Walk the distilleries and tasting rooms of Whiskey Row. This is mandatory. The imposing cast iron and red brick facades of Main Street once fronted the offices and warehouses for the burgeoning Bourbon barons. Today, they’re a playground for whiskey enthusiasts with exclusive bottlings, tastings and more to explore.

Follow Whiskey Row – and the Urban Bourbon Trail – across multiple blocks, and you’ll find NuLu (New Louisville). The East Market District of downtown draws an artsy crowd hang out to its neighbourhood murals, street art, galleries, and innovative eateries from Biscuit Belly to Royal Hot Chicken.

Lexington and the Bluegrass region

Combine fine dining with authentic Bluegrass charm in Lexington and beyond, where a visit to the world famous Keeneland Rack Track isn’t all about the horses. Yes, Lexington is a race horse capital, but sometimes the food is the main event.

Arrive purposefully hungry, and get amongst the smell of turf, saddle leather and smoked meats as jockeys, trainers and spectators alike head to the Track Kitchen. A morning staple and one of the city’s best-kept secrets, its home-style food feels like a hug. But careful, pace yourself.

Trackside concession stalls, only open during the races, beckon with their many culinary delights. From Keeneland’s signature Bourbon Bread Pudding to Kentucky Beer Cheese and the refreshing Keeneland Breeze cocktail, the food and drink here are as much a part of the experience as the races themselves. Classic Southern comfort meets local flair.

Don’t Miss:

Head out to the countryside, where the morning mist sits low on the pastures of Thoroughbred farms. Culinary star, Chef Ouita Michel may have just pioneered farm-to-table dining over the past 15-plus years. With all that high-quality produce in abundance surrounding Lexington, it just made sense to make the most of it.

Visit all eight of Ouita’s famous restaurants – or just a few – on a culinary tour. Honeywood at Fritz Farm is all about the locally-grown specialities, from sweet potato beignets to duck-fat basted New York strip. Meanwhile, Smithtown Seafood is a quintessential taste of the south with wild-caught fried catfish, fresh-shucked oysters and blackened catfish.

Owensboro

Breathe in the sweet smell of smoke and molasses. When you catch the scent of a true pit master at work, you follow it.

In Owensboro, Kentucky’s undisputed BBQ capital, a passion for flavour and a dedication to time-honed techniques, means you’re in for a treat.

In this city located on the south side of a deep bend in the Ohio River, BBQ is more than just a dish, it’s a tradition. With a history dating back to the 1830s, the area has developed its own unique style of pit BBQ, where vinegar-based sauces are mopped over the meat during a lengthy smoking process. Think tangy, tender, and melt-in-the-mouth.

Sure you’ll find chicken, beef, et al. But with sheep historically more plentiful, the main event here is mutton. Burgoo who? Look out for local dish Burgoo, a stew similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, most often served with a generous wedge of cornbread. Well, this is Kentucky.

Don’t get us wrong. BBQ is a year-round way of life with secrets passed down generations. Head to the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, where smoked meat has been slung since the 1950s. Or Old Hickory BBQ, where the grills have been firing since 1918.

But once a year Owensboro becomes the global BBQ capital. At the International Bar-B-Q Festival, BBQ and Barrels, held every second weekend in May, 80,000 assemble for two days of BBQ heaven, while teams fiercely compete over secret recipes and sizzling coals.

Don’t Miss:

What goes better with a smoked slice, than the twang of strings? Owensboro is the Bluegrass world capital too. Stop by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum – the only international museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history and culture of this soulful, uniquely American genre.

Warning as EU entry-exit system causing ‘three-hour waits’ at airports

The EU digital border scheme is causing three-hour waits at passport control as officials struggle with a 70 per cent increase in the time taken for border checks, says the group representing Europe’s airports.

Airports Council International (ACI) in Brussels is calling for an urgent review of the entry-exit system (EES), which began to be rolled out across Europe in October. During the six-month introduction, third-country nationals such as British travellers continue to have their passports examined and stamped by frontier staff. But in addition, the EES requires fingerprints to be registered and a facial biometric to be taken. Many airports have had kiosks installed for that purpose.

At present, only one in 10 travellers is required to undergo digital registration. By 9 January 2026, the percentage is due to be raised to 35 per cent.

But Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI in Europe, warned: “Significant discomfort is already being inflicted upon travellers, and airport operations impacted with the current threshold for registering third-country nationals set at only 10 per cent.

Read more: I am travelling to the EU. What has changed with the entry-exit system?

“Unless all the operational issues we are raising today are fully resolved within the coming weeks, increasing this registration threshold to 35 per cent as of 9 January – as required by the EES implementation calendar – will inevitably result in much more severe congestion and systemic disruption for airports and airlines.

“This will possibly involve serious safety hazards.”

“The EES cannot be about mayhem for travellers and chaos at our airports.”

ACI says the worst impact is being felt at airports in France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

The group is calling for the rollout schedule – which is due to be complete by 9 April 2026 – to be moderated. It highlights several operational issues with the deployment of the EES:

The Independent has asked the European Commission for comment.

Dr Nick Brown, a data scientist who has studied the entry-exit system in detail, told The Independent: “The airports have had a long time to prepare, including an extra year (compared to the initial launch) during which they already had the kiosks and could have run any number of simulations and tests with volunteers.”

Read more: Simon Calder tests the new EU entry-exit system – the questions, scans and fingerprints demanded at the border

Misogynistic abuse is a ‘national emergency’ – and it starts online

The government is right. For far too long, violence against women and girls has not been treated with the seriousness it deserves. That has long been a scandal – but if anything, the situation is deteriorating further.

Over more than a century, emancipation, breakthroughs in equal rights, changes to abortion laws, generally more enlightened opinions, and, lately, the MeToo movement have in fact camouflaged a persistent problem and encouraged complacency. There is no room for that any longer.

Now, with the sheer tide of vile material online and increasing signs of toxic masculinity perverting the behaviour of today’s boys and young men, there is more than ever a need for concerted action across all public authorities to deal with such violence that does occur – but also to support parents and teachers, on the front line of this struggle, to prevent dangerous attitudes and habits becoming entrenched from an early age.

No one believes this task will be easy, but Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister and no stranger herself to misogynistic abuse, is right to declare it a “national emergency”. She and her colleagues appear determined to treat the challenge with the same seriousness and techniques that have been deployed, with some success, against terrorism. The government’s aim, to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years or so, is rightly ambitious.

The focus on the prevention of the radicalisation of boys and adolescents is especially encouraging. This is where the trouble starts: online, where the attitudes of self-consciously macho individuals can badly influence young minds.

The task is to assist teachers and parents in preventing boys and men from becoming abusers in the first place. That means dealing with micro-aggressions against females as well as a rising scale of abusive behaviour – the taking or manipulation of images, in effect for sexual gratification and blackmail, “banter” that is anything but, harassment and, eventually, outright aggression and assaults.

Any tendencies towards these behaviours are aggravated by online material, such as violent pornography, and a resurgence in the portrayal of women as inferior beings – virtual domestic slaves and sexual objects.

One relatively new phenomenon, for example, is the use of “nudification” software tools, which enable users to strip clothes and produce intimate images without the consent of those falsely depicted. The government is to ban these, but much more needs to be done to control the tech giants who make so much money out of pushing hatred and violence.

The Online Safety Act, passed in 2023, is already out of date, as users, including digitally savvy young people, find ways to evade the safeguards. The police will be able to monitor domestic abusers, to help prevent reoffending, by using the same powers that they have to track down child sex abusers.

No grooming gang should be able to operate freely any more than a terrorist cell would be – and the security services should be deployed to help the police arrest such perpetrators and remove them from the community. The rights of women and girls, whether victims or potential victims, have to be put before any other.

Such is the speed of this cat-and-mouse game that the law needs to be reinforced on an annual basis, just to keep up with new technology and the endless ingenuity of criminals. It will certainly be interesting to see what success Australia has in its social media ban for under-16s.

Resources are always scarce, but it’s also right that, within tight spending constraints, more money is being found to deal with such abuse that does occur, despite renewed efforts to prevent it. Some £1bn is to be devoted to victims’ welfare, with half of that to be spent on providing safe housing for victims of abuse as they escape their abusers (such as the safe havens provided by The Independent’s successful Brick by Brick campaign earlier this year).

Relatively modest, inexpensive reforms can also make a big difference. The new specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force will ensure that cases aren’t neglected and counter any misogynistic tendencies in the constabularies (something that was so sickeningly highlighted in the murder of Sarah Everard). Fast-tracking rape cases through more specialist courts will improve conviction rates by making the agonies of victims that much shorter to bear.

There is so much work to do in pushing back violence against women and girls, and what Labour calls “our landmark mission” to cut it in half is extremely daunting. But that is no reason not to take the next steps, and all the more reason to empower parents, carers and teachers to do what they know needs to be done. This is a progressive cause in every sense of the term.