Wigan said Glenn Whelan and Graham Barrow will take charge of the first team on an interim basis while the club “will work quickly to identify and appoint” a new head coach.

The club also thanked Lowe for “his efforts and wishes him all the best for the future”.

Lowe previously won promotion from League Two with Bury and Plymouth and finished 13th, 12th and 10th in the Championship with Preston.

Having arrived at the club at the tail end of the 2024-25 season, Lowe guided Wigan to a 15th-placed finish in the table.

After winning against Northampton on the opening day of this season, Wigan’s form soon tailed off as they secured just three victories from 17 matches in all competitions between late August and late November.

Wigan’s next match is at home in the league against Reading on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) before they travel to face Premier League leaders Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday, 15 February (16:30).

Cricket’s global governing body hopes to persuade Pakistan to reverse decision to boycott India T20 World Cup fixtures.

The International Cricket Council is in talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board to resolve the boycott of its T20 World Cup 2026 fixture against India on February 15.

Any clash between archrivals India and Pakistan is one of the most lucrative in cricket, worth millions of dollars in broadcast, sponsoring and advertising revenue.

But the fixture was thrown into doubt after Pakistan’s government ordered the team not to play the match in Colombo.

The Pakistan Cricket Board reached out to the ICC after a formal communication from the cricket world body, a source close to the developments has told the AFP news agency.

The ICC was seeking a resolution through dialogue and not confrontation, the source added.

The 20-team tournament has been overshadowed by an acrimonious political build-up after Bangladesh, which refused to play in India, citing security concerns, was replaced by Scotland.

As a protest, Pakistan refused to face co-hosts India in their Group A fixture.

Pakistan, which edged out the Netherlands in the tournament opener on Saturday, will lose two points if they forfeit the match and also suffer a significant blow to their net run rate.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said this week that his team would travel to Colombo for the clash.

Pakistan and India have not played bilateral cricket for more than a decade, and meet only in global or regional tournaments.

Armed groups in Nigeria have killed more than 200 people in several attacks in recent days.

Meanwhile, all the Christian worshippers abducted from churches last month have been released.

How serious is Nigeria’s security situation – and what progress is being made?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

James Barnett – non-resident research fellow at the Hudson Institute, specialising in armed groups in Nigeria

Oluwole Ojewale – regional coordinator for West and Central Africa at the Institute for Security Studies

Melvin Foote – founder and president of Constituency for Africa, and a specialist on US-Africa policy

LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries, the pinnacle of a two-decade campus transformation, will officially open April 19.

That Sunday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will kick off two weeks of priority member access to the galleries, with general admission beginning May 4, the museum said Thursday. Online ticket reservations open Thursday to members.

The announcement comes nearly a decade after news broke of business magnate David Geffen’s record-high $150-million donation toward the construction of a new museum building to be designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Since the beginning, the Brutalist design has been polarizing — Angelenos have cheered or jeered the concrete vision.

The $720-million Geffen Galleries, which museum members got a first look at over the summer, will serve as the new home for LACMA’s permanent collection. It will display 2,500 to 3,000 objects at a time from its collection of approximately 170,000 objects. Stretching across Wilshire Boulevard, the structure houses 110,000 square feet in 90 exhibition galleries that will be organized thematically rather than by medium or chronology.

“The idea is for you to make your own path — not to speak at you, but to let you wander like you would through a park or a place,” LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan said in an interview with The Times. “That change in attitude, and how the building is built, is really exciting.”

Of the $720 million, Govan said, the majority came from private donors, with $125 million funded by L.A. County. Aside from paying off interest and principal, additional funds from a $875-million fundraising campaign will go toward public art, collection moving costs, office renovations and general landscaping.

The inaugural installation will use global bodies of water as an “organizing framework, emphasizing the cultural exchange, migration and commerce prevalent throughout the history of art,” LACMA said in a statement. Standout entries include Georges de La Tour’s “The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame” (c.1640), Vincent van Gogh’s “Tarascon Stagecoach” (1888) and Henri Matisse’s “La Gerbe” (1953). Art installation is currently in progress.

Guests tour the Geffen Galleries for an early preview on June 26, 2025.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The four buildings that the Geffen Galleries replaced were “all broken up into little, tiny pieces, and they were not well traveled,” Govan said. The new structure is meant to make LACMA’s eclectic permanent collection more accessible on one extra-long floor.

“It’s kind of a worldview,” the executive said. “It’s big enough that it can hold the world.”

While the new building does not boast more gallery space than its predecessors — a point of public contention — Govan said that was never the plan due to county size regulations. Instead, the complementary additions of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in 2008 and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion in 2010 added 100,000 square feet of gallery space. In all, the campus transformation brought LACMA’s total exhibition space from 130,000 square feet in 2007 to 220,000 square feet at present. (The Pavilion for Japanese Art, which has been undergoing a retrofit and renovation, is 10,000 square feet. It remains closed and will reopen at some point after the David Geffen Galleries.)

A guest tours one of the 90 galleries within the new space during a preview opening on June 26, 2025.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Along with complaints about the building’s size, the Geffen Galleries’ heavy use of concrete had been criticized as an impractical choice for hanging art. According to LACMA’s preparators, that’s not a problem given the right tools.

Among the building project’s donors were Tony Ressler, co-chair of the museum board of trustees, after whom the Geffen Galleries’ south wing will be named, the museum also announced Thursday. Willow Bay, a longtime board member, will join Ressler as board co-chair.

“LACMA is a global cultural force that brings millions of people together through the power of art, connecting communities across Los Angeles and around the world,” Bay said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful for Tony’s leadership and generosity, and honored to join him as co-chair at this transformative moment in LACMA’s history as we advance our mission of enhancing access to art and education.”

Bay and her husband, outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger, in 2018 made a “historic capital contribution” to support the preservation of Chris Burden’s “Urban Light,” which has become an iconic L.A. landmark. (Disney earlier this week named parks chief Josh D’Amaro as Iger’s successor.)

LACMA previously announced that the north wing of the Geffen Galleries would be named in honor of the late former board co-chair Elaine Wynn, who contributed $50 million toward the construction project.

As LACMA looks to the future, Govan said the museum isn’t ruling out future expansion. But any additions would be off the Wilshire campus, in areas such as South L.A and the Valley.

The idea is, Govan continued, “Let’s change the model. Let’s just put the wings, you know, the rest of the museum, in other places and strategically located.”

The new David Geffen Galleries building is part of LACMA’s ambitious expansion plans.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Expansion, he said, is important for an encyclopedic museum, responsible for chronicling art history across many genres, geographies and media.

“If you’re the Frick and you only collect things of a certain period, you don’t have to expand,” Govan said. “But if your job is to keep up with the practice of artists and the world being bigger and bigger in terms of what people recognize as art, then you have to keep expanding.”

For now, though, he’s content to create a “big, beautiful gathering place” for Los Angeles.

“I always refer to our plaza as the living room for Los Angeles,” Govan said. “So this idea of the public space was so important from the beginning, and you see how the campus integrates with this.”

Zumthor’s building design, which includes overhanging canopies, intentionally creates shade with outdoor events in mind, the executive explained. It’s all about diversity of experience.

“You can take your selfie at ‘Urban Light.’ You can go to the jazz concerts, go see dozens of masterpieces outdoors… you can go inside somewhere and really focus quietly on a single work of art,” Govan said. “I wanted the range of all those experiences in a package where you wanted to hang out for the day.”

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is running for mayor, shaking up the field of candidates one final time.

Raman said she will challenge Mayor Karen Bass, her onetime ally, campaigning on issues of housing and homelessness, transparency and “safety in our streets.”

In an interview, Raman called Bass “an icon” and someone she deeply admires. But she said the city needs a change agent to address its problems.

“I have deep respect for Mayor Bass. We’ve worked closely together on my biggest priorities and her biggest priorities, and there’s significant alignment there,” said Raman, who lives in Silver Lake. “But over the last few months in particular, I’ve really begun to feel like unless we have some big changes in how we do things in Los Angeles, that the things we count on are not going to function anymore.”

Saturday’s announcement — hours before the noon filing deadline for the June 2 primary election — capped a chaotic week in L.A. politics, with candidates and would-be candidates dropping in and out of the race to challenge Bass, who is seeking a second four-year term.

Raman would immediately pose a formidable challenge to Bass. She was the first council member to be elected with support from the Democratic Socialists of America, which scored an enormous victory last fall with the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Councilmember Nithya Raman jumps in the race for mayor, challenging former ally Karen Bass in the June primary.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

At the same time, Raman has deep ties to leaders in the YIMBY movement, who have pushed for the city to boost housing production by upzoning single-family neighborhoods and rewriting Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax, which applies to property sales of $5.3 million or more.

Raman’s eleventh-hour announcement caps what has been the most turbulent candidate filing period for an L.A. mayoral election in at least a generation. She launched her bid less than a day after another political heavyweight, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, decided against a run.

Until Raman’s surprise entry, the field had seemed to be clear of big-name challengers. Former L.A. schools superintendent Austin Beutner ended his campaign on Thursday, citing the death of his 22-year-old daughter. That same day, real estate developer Rick Caruso reaffirmed his decision not to run.

Bass campaign spokesperson Douglas Herman did not immediately provide comment.

Raman’s announcement comes as Bass continues to face sharp criticism over the city’s handling of the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Unlike some of the candidates, Raman has not publicly criticized Bass about the city’s preparation for, or response to, the disaster.

Bass, 72, faces more than two dozen opponents from across the political spectrum.

Reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a Republican, has received praise from an array of Trump supporters, including Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida. Pratt has focused heavily on the city’s handling of the fire, which destroyed his home.

Spencer Pratt poses for a portrait in Pacific Palisades.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Democratic socialist Rae Huang is running against the mayor from her political left. Huang has called for more public housing and for a reduction in the number of police officers, with the cost savings poured into other city services.

Brentwood tech entrepreneur Adam Miller, who has described himself as a lifelong Democrat, said the city is on a downward trajectory and needs stronger management. The 56-year-old nonprofit executive plans to tap his personal wealth to jump-start his campaign.

Also in the race is Asaad Alnajjar, an employee of the Bureau of Street Lighting who sits on the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. Alnajjar has already lent his campaign $80,000.

At City Hall, Raman’s entrance into the mayor’s race is a bombshell, particularly given her relationship with Bass.

Mayor Karen Bass addresses the crowd at the Shine LA event at Hansen Dam Recreation Area in Lake View Terrace, Calif., on Saturday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

In December 2022, not long after taking office, Bass launched her Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people indoors, in Raman’s district.

Two years later, while running for reelection, Raman prominently featured Bass on at least a dozen of her campaign mailers and door hangers. Raman’s campaign produced a video ad that heavily excerpted Bass’ remarks endorsing her at a Sherman Oaks get-out-the-vote rally.

Raman, whose district stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda, ultimately won reelection with 50.7% of the vote. In the years that followed, she continued to praise Bass’ leadership.

In November, while appearing at a DSA election night watch party for Mamdani, Raman told The Times that Bass is “the most progressive mayor we’ve ever had in L.A.”

Last month, Bass formally announced that she had secured Raman’s endorsement, featuring her in a list of a dozen San Fernando Valley political leaders who backed her reelection campaign.

Raman ran for office in 2020, promising to put in place stronger tenant protections and provide a more effective, humane approach to combating homelessness. On her campaign platform, she called for the transformation of the LAPD into a “much smaller, specialized armed force” — but never specified what exactly that would mean.

A woman takes a photo with her phone at the C. Erwin Piper Technical Center on Saturday.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Since then, the LAPD has lost about 1,300 officers — a decrease of about 13%. The City Council has put in place new eviction protections for tenants, while also capping the size of rent increases in the city’s “rent stabilized” apartments, which were mostly built before October 1978.

Raman does not face the same political risks as Horvath, who had already been running for reelection in her Westside and San Fernando Valley district. Horvath, had she run for mayor, would have had to forfeit her seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

If Raman loses, she would still hold her council seat, since she does not face reelection until 2028.

Under the constitution Italy cannot join the board because power would be wielded by one leader standing above other members, minister says.

Italy says it’s unable to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” owing to a “constitutional limit” marking the latest setback faced by the self-styled “international peace building body”.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the ANSA news agency on Saturday that conflicts between Italy’s constitution and the charter of the Board of Peace were “insurmountable from a legal standpoint”, but his country would always be “available to discuss peace initiatives”.

Italy joins a number of European countries – including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – that have not joined the controversial board, which was greenlit by the United Nations last year as a transitional governing body for post-war Gaza before expanding its remit in a sweeping charter that made no mention of the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Italy’s decision comes despite the close relationship between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Board of Peace chairman Trump amid growing concern that the global conflict mediator – launched in Davos, Switzerland last month as the US president made an aggressive play for Greenland – is designed to eclipse the United Nations.

Tajani pointed to Article 11 of the Italian constitution, which precludes the country from joining organisations unless there are “conditions of equality with other states”, which would not be the case under a charter that names Trump as veto-wielding chairman serving as the final authority on its interpretation.

However, speaking after a “very positive” meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance on the margins of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday, the foreign minister said Italy would be “ready to do our part in Gaza by training the police”.

Tajani’s comments came as the board, which has reportedly demanded members pay $1bn for a permanent seat, leading to criticism it would essentially be a “pay to play” version of the UN, tentatively prepares for its first meeting in Washington, DC, on February 19.

The gathering would come one day after a scheduled meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Saturday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a key Trump ally, said he would go to Washington for the first meeting of the board “in two weeks”.

Last month, Trump invited some 60 countries to join the board. At the time of reporting, its official website listed 26 countries that have joined, including Gaza mediators Qatar and Egypt.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed Trump’s plans last month, saying “The basic responsibility for international peace and security lies with UN, lies with the Security Council.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he hopes talks with the United States will resume soon, while US President Donald Trump pledged another round of negotiations next week following mediated discussions in Oman.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Iran’s missile programme was “never negotiable” in Friday’s talks, and warned Tehran would target US military bases in the Middle East if the US attacks Iranian territory.

He added that despite the negotiations in Muscat being indirect, “an opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation”. The talks were “a good start“, but he insisted “there is a long way to go to build trust”.

Iranians in the capital, Tehran, however, seemed less positive.

“In my opinion, like previous times, negotiations will end without results because both sides are sticking to their own positions and not willing to back down,” a woman who asked to remain anonymous told Al Jazeera.

Abdullah al-Shayji, a US foreign policy expert at Kuwait University, said he hopes for a new deal between the two foes but is not feeling optimistic.

“There is a strong position” from the US and “being provoked by” Israel to “clamp down on the Iranians because they feel that Iran is at its weakest point” so that it will be easy to extract concessions from it, especially after last month’s antigovernment demonstrations, al-Shayji said from the Al Jazeera Forum in Qatar’s capital Doha.

‘Inalienable right’

Despite calling the talks “very good” on Friday, Trump signed an executive order effective from Saturday that called for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries still doing business with Iran.

The US also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.

More than one-quarter of Iran’s trade is with China, including $18bn in imports and $14.5bn in exports in 2024, according to World Trade Organization data.

Nuclear enrichment is Iran’s “inalienable right and must continue”, Araghchi said, adding, “We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment. The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

Iran’s missile programme is non-negotiable because it relates to a “defence issue”, he said.

Washington has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for armed groups in the region – issues that Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.

Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of the negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.

“The Iranians are vehemently opposed to any concessions,” said al-Shayji, as is the US, which makes it extremely hard for countries leading mediation efforts to “get them closer together”.

Friday’s negotiations were the first since nuclear talks between Iran and the US collapsed last year following Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, which triggered a 12-day war.

Following widespread antigovernment protests in Iran last month, Trump ramped up threats against the country, deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East.

‘Peace through strength’

Trump’s lead negotiators in Oman, special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, visited the aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea on Saturday.

In a social media post, Witkoff said the aircraft carrier and its strike group are “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength.”

Witkoff said he spoke with the pilot who downed an Iranian drone that approached the carrier “without clear intent” on Tuesday.

“Proud to stand with the men and women who defend our interests, deter our adversaries, and show the world what American readiness and resolve look like, on watch every day,” said Witkoff.

While Trump has sought to use the aircraft carrier’s deployment as a means to exert pressure on Iran, al-Shayji said this cannot be a long-term strategy.

“He [Trump] can’t keep his forces at alert stage for too long. This would really discredit Trump’s administration regarding being very harsh and hard-liners on Iran,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Trump on Wednesday to discuss the Iran talks, his office said in a statement.

Netanyahu “believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis”, it said, referring to Iran’s allies in the region.

During the 12-day war, US warplanes bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

Araghchi expressed hope that Washington would refrain from “threats and pressure” so “the talks can continue”.

SHE is no stranger to steamy scenes, but Margot Robbie says new movie Wuthering Heights beats her previous films when it comes to passion on screen.

Out in time for Valentine’s Day, the adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel sees Margot as Cathy alongside Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.

And the 35-year-old star says it is much raunchier than the book’s romantic scenes, set on the sweeping Yorkshire moors.

She added: “They never really kissed in the book, but we kiss a lot. We kiss everywhere.

“And there’s so many times where he just picks me up and puts me in a tree, or picks me up with one hand.

“And I have to say, it is really nice, it makes you feel, ‘Oh I’m light as a feather, I’m a tiny little thing’.”

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I think a lot of men are going to turn to their partners and be like, ‘Am I Heathcliff to you or am I Edgar?’. And I don’t know if they want to hear the answer

Margot

Before landing the role, Margot had not read the novel but has now gone through it a “bunch of times” and thinks it’s “phenomenal”.

Film critics say the movie is a winner, too.

Directed by Emerald Fennell, it hits cinemas on Friday. February 13 has become known as Galentine’s Day and celebrates female friendships.

‘Start fights’

Margot said: “It’s a great Galentine’s movie. Going with a group of girlfriends and having a couple of drinks is going to be a fun night out, and then you could go with your partner.”

Bronte’s novel follows a love triangle between Cathy, wild Heathcliff and gentleman Edgar.

And Margot said with a laugh: “I did wonder if this film will start fights, because I do think a lot of men are going to turn to their partners afterwards and be like, ‘Am I Heathcliff to you or am I Edgar?’. And I don’t know if they want to hear the answer.”

Margot rose to fame on Neighbours in 2008, aged 17, as fiery teenager Donna Freedman.

Her Hollywood breakthrough came five years later opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Since then, she has starred in blockbuster films including as Harley Quinn in 2021’s The Suicide Squad and in the 2023 global smash Barbie.

Last month, polling company Ranker named the three-time Oscar nominee as the most beautiful woman in the world, but Margot says she remains insecure about her looks.

She told Wonderland magazine: “When I was playing Naomi in The Wolf Of Wall Street it was so high-tempo sexy. I was acutely aware that the line in the screenplay was ‘the hottest blonde ever’.

I lied for a long time about the nudity [in Wolf of Wall Street]. First, I said there was no nudity. Then I said there was nudity but it was a body
double

Margot

“I’m clearly not the hottest blonde ever. I was just terrified that people would see the movie and think, ‘Eugh! She’s not that great’.”

Margot also gets worried about her family seeing some of her more risque roles. When she had to strip for The Wolf Of Wall Street, she banned some of them from watching.

She said: “I lied for a long time about the nudity. First, I said there was no nudity. Then I said there was nudity, but it wasn’t me, that it was a body double with my head CGI’d on. Then I had to admit it was me.

“The grandparents flat out can’t see it. The rest of the family can watch at their own risk, but if we can’t have a relationship after that, it’s not my fault.”

Margot’s parents split up when she was five and she was raised on Australia’s Gold Coast with her physiotherapist mum Sarie. She has limited contact with her father Doug, a retired farmer and sugar cane tycoon.

The star says that acting seemed like an impossible dream and told Vogue Australia: “I got on Neighbours and I thought that was the biggest thing that was ever going to happen to me.

“Before that, the idea of being in Hollywood, I did think you had to be born into it or had to know someone in the industry.”

Now she speaks out to let young girls know that if you work hard anything is possible.

Margot said: “I just want to say to young people that success is not as far away as it seems. I didn’t know anyone in the industry; it can totally happen.

“You do have to work really hard, you have to work really, really, really hard, but if you want it badly enough, you can totally make it happen.”

Today, Margot lives in Los Angeles with her husband, English film ­producer Tom Ackerley, and their 16-month old son — who has not been named publicly.

Alongside Tom, Margot runs production company LuckyChap, the powerhouse firm behind Barbie, Saltburn and now Wuthering Heights.

And she says life at the top is a constant balancing act.

‘Rarely go on holidays’

Margot explained: “Having a business is stressful and time-consuming, but it’s incredibly rewarding. There are obviously a lot of times where I’ll have a meltdown and go, ‘I can’t do it any more’.

“You miss out on a lot of things, like you rarely go on holidays, you miss everyone’s weddings, everyone’s birthdays. I haven’t seen my best friends, my nephew.

“So there’s that side to it where it kind of hurts to sacrifice those things, but it’s also enormously satisfying to build something and be part of something.

“The biggest misconception about me is that people think I spend all my time sitting on a yacht or swanning around at fancy parties.”

Margot added to Elle Australia: “I still feel very Australian, so I don’t really feel like I’m in Hollywood at all.

“You only get a taste of Hollywood twice a year when you go to the Oscars or you go to do a press junket or a premiere or something.”

And of her happy place, she told Vogue: “Being on a film set is my favourite place, there’s nothing better.

“And I don’t care if I’ve got three lines in the film or if I’ve got one of the lead roles.

“I hope I look back and feel like I spent my time well.

“I don’t mind if the movies that I make aren’t massive successes, as long as I know I put in everything I could and I loved the people I was working with.

“I want to look back and know I had a lot of adventures, a lot of fun with good people.”

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was having a really bad week.

But then it turned into a pretty good week, and she must have breathed a sigh of relief.

Until the Saturday morning surprise.

I had to set fire to my scorecard, and to the column I had just drafted, which touched on all the expected big-name challengers who had bowed out of the mayoral race in the past several days: L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, billionaire businessman Rick Caruso (who forced a runoff with Bass the last time around), and former L.A. Unified schools chief Austin Beutner.

It was looking as though we wouldn’t get a badly needed, monthslong, toe-to-toe face-off about all that’s right and wrong in the sprawling metropolis of high hopes and low expectations. In a conversation I had with Loyola Marymount University’s Fernando Guerra, a decades-long observer of the local political scene, he made this observation about the dull political season that was shaping up:

“What is interesting to me is that no one from the establishment political class is running against [Bass] when she is clearly vulnerable.”

Vulnerable because of her handling of the Palisades fire and its aftermath.

Vulnerable because of limited progress on core issues such as homelessness, housing affordability and the shameful condition of streets, sidewalks and parks.

But then came Saturday morning, when, in an unexpected move, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman decided to step up, injecting a new element of drama into the race.

It was a surprise because Raman and Bass are not political enemies. In fact, they’ve largely been allies and have endorsed each other’s reelection bids.

So what was Raman thinking in signing up for a challenge in which she is clearly the underdog?

“I have deep respect for Mayor Bass. We’ve worked closely together on my biggest priorities and her biggest priorities, and there’s significant alignment there,” Raman told The Times. “But over the last few months in particular, I’ve really begun to feel like unless we have some big changes in how we do things in Los Angeles, that the things we count on are not going to function anymore.”

There’s more to it than that, in political terms. Raman is to the left of Bass and the traditional left in Los Angeles. She and three other council members supported by the Democratic Socialists of America have changed the conversation at City Hall, with more emphasis on social service, housing and labor issues, and less on traditional law enforcement.

Among their supporters are renters, immigrants, young adults, the underserved, and the frontline workers in the minimum-wage economy.

Raman’s candidacy — along with DSA candidates for other city offices — makes the election something of a referendum on the evolving center of political clout in L.A. It raises the question of whether the city is ready to blow things up and move further in the direction of New York City, which just elected as mayor the ultra-progressive Zohran Mamdani.

And for all of that, it also raises the question of whether progressives can both deliver on their promises and also balance a budget. No easy task, there.

As for Bass, you don’t get as far in politics as she has — from the state Legislature to Congress to City Hall — without sharp survival skills and without collecting friends you can count on, even when the road to reelection is filled with potholes.

And even when an ally comes after you.

“Wow, what a surprise,” Guerra said upon Raman’s entry into the race.

He considers her a formidable foe who was the first to prove “that the DSA can win in Los Angeles” and who brings several advantages to a campaign against Bass.

For one, she has a record of some success on homelessness in her district and was involved in that cause in the Silver Lake area before she was in public office, when she identified a startling lack of coordination and continuity. And by virtue of her age, 44, she’s aligned with younger voters hungry for change in political leadership.

It’s possible that with Raman in the race, and the nuts-and-bolts issues of governance now center stage, there will be slightly less emphasis on Bass’s handling and mishandling of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of properties, wiped out a vibrant community and killed 12 people.

When I said at the top of this column that Bass was having a really bad week, I was referring to the Palisades fire and the latest story from Times investigative reporters Alene Tchekmedyian and Paul Pringle. They had already established that the Los Angeles Fire Department had failed to pre-deploy adequately for the fire, and that it had failed to extinguish an earlier fire that later triggered the epic disaster.

The reporters had also established that the so-called “after-action” report on the fire had been altered to downplay failures by the department and the city, all of which was scandalous enough.

But on Wednesday, Tchekmedyian and Pringle reported that Bass was involved in the revisions despite her earlier denials. The mayor “wanted key findings about the LAFD’s actions removed or softened before the report was made public,” according to sources.

Bass vehemently denied the allegations and blasted The Times. But even before the latest story, Bass’s Palisades report card was one that a prudent person might have fed to the dog. She had left the country just before the fire despite warnings of potentially cataclysmic conditions. And multiple other missteps followed, including the botched hiring and early departure of a rebuilding czar.

Raman has not targeted Bass’ handling of the fire, and we’ll see if that changes. I don’t consider the response to the ICE raids to be a point of contention between Raman and Bass. One of the mayor’s strengths in office has been her defense of the city’s immigrants and her pushback against President Trump.

“Bass gets high marks resisting ICE,” Guerra said of polling and public opinion surveys he has either conducted or reviewed. “But on other issues, including homelessness, she does not do well.”

Two-thirds of voters in one poll said they would not back Bass in the June primary, Guerra said. But that poll did not offer an alternative to Bass, and now there is one.

Actually, several. The others include Brentwood tech entrepreneur Adam Miller, who’s got money to spend; reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, a Republican who lost his Palisades home and has been hammering the mayor; and minister/community organizer Rae Huang, a Democratic socialist.

Do they matter, given the odds against them and the entry of Raman into the race?

Yes, they might. Bass needs more than 50% of the June primary vote to win outright. But with Raman and the others grabbing varying percentages of the vote, a two-person November runoff is likely and the candidates will almost surely be Bass and Raman.

After a crazy week in L.A., allies are now foes.

And the race for mayor just got interesting.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

MILAN — Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue Saturday.

The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands highlighting the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Italy.

Police held off the demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink. By then, the larger peaceful protest, including students and families with small children, had dispersed.

Earlier, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about half a mile from the Olympic Village that’s housing about 1,500 athletes.

Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue. A heavy police presence guarded the entire route.

There was no indication that the protest and resulting road closure interfered with athletes’ transfers to their events, all on the outskirts of Milan.

The demonstration coincided with U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation that attended the opening ceremony Friday, during which Vance was booed.

He and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest that denounced the deployment of ICE agents to provide security for the U.S. delegation. ICE has drawn international condemnation for its role in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in U.S. cities, including the fatal shooting of two people in Minneapolis last month by ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents.

U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.

At the larger, peaceful demonstration, which police said numbered 10,000, people carried cardboard cutouts to represent trees felled to build the new bobsled run in Cortina d’Ampezzo. A group of dancers performed to beating drums. Music blasted from a truck leading the march, one a profanity-laced anti-ICE anthem.

“Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains,” read a banner by a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. Another group called the Assn. of Proletariat Excursionists organized the cutout trees.

“They bypassed the laws that usually are needed for major infrastructure projects, citing urgency for the Games,” said protester Guido Maffioli, who expressed concern that the private entity organizing the Games would eventually pass on debt to Italian taxpayers.

Homemade signs read “Get out of the Games: Genocide States, Fascist Police and Polluting Sponsors,” the final one a reference to fossil fuel companies that are sponsors of the Games. One woman carried an artificial tree on her back decorated with the sign: “Infernal Olympics.”

The demonstration followed another recently at which hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.

Like that protest, demonstrators Saturday said they were opposed to ICE agents’ presence, despite official statements that a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in U.S. diplomatic territory, and not operational on the streets.

Barry and Rosa write for the Associated Press.

Elaf fund will finance projects with buy-in from Saudi investors committing $2bn for two airports in Aleppo city.

Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a major investment package spanning aviation, energy, real estate and telecommunications as Damascus’s new leadership seeks to rebuild after a devastating 14-year civil war.

Syrian Investment Authority chief Talal al-Hilali announced a swath of deals on Saturday, including the development of a new international airport in Aleppo, the launch of a low-cost Syrian-Saudi airline, and a telecommunications project called SilkLink aimed at turning the country into a regional hub.

Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of Syria’s new leaders, who took power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with this latest deal marking the biggest investment since the United States lifted sanctions on the country in December.

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said the newly launched Elaf fund, which aims to finance large-scale projects with participation from Saudi private-sector investors, would commit $2bn (7.5 billion Saudi riyals) to develop two airports in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Rebuilding Syria’s economy

Abdulsalam Haykal, Syria’s minister of communications and information technology, said his country will see nearly $1bn in investment in the telecommunications sector, with plans to lay thousands of kilometres of cable to boost connectivity between Asia and Europe.

Saudi budget carrier Flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced they signed an agreement to establish a new airline called “Flynas Syria”, which would be 51 percent owned by the Syrian side and is slated to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Syria’s Ministry of Energy also signed a water agreement with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, which is known for running projects in power generation and desalinated water production plants in the Middle East and beyond.

Al-Hilali said the agreements targeted “vital sectors that impact people’s lives and form essential pillars for rebuilding the Syrian economy”.

Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, commended the Saudi-Syrian deal on X. “Strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure, and telecommunications will contribute meaningfully to Syria’s reconstruction efforts,” he said.

But Benjamin Feve, senior research analyst at Karam Shaar advisory, sounded a more cautious note, saying the deals mattered “far more as a political signal than as an economic game changer” in the short term.

The government has faced criticism over the past year for making broad development promises based on written pledges with foreign investors, many of which have yet to be converted into binding contracts.

One year into Donald Trump’s return to office, a wave of hardline actions – from volatile ICE raids to growing concern over political pressure on the media – has raised alarm about the expansion of the president’s power.

Then with US midterms approaching, attention is turning to whether there is any meaningful challenge to Republican grip on Congress.

So what happens next?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with journalist and author Chris Hedges about Trump’s second presidency and whether US democracy is on the decline.

Currently nominated for multiple Oscars, Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” traces how the immeasurable sorrow of losing a child fueled William Shakespeare to write “Hamlet” as a literary effigy to loss. That revered text, which has inspired countless adaptations (“The Lion King” among them), takes on a new form in the hands of Japanese animation master Mamoru Hosoda for his latest fantastical epic, “Scarlet.”

In a career of animated features with thematic heft and deep emotional impact, “Scarlet” may be the director’s most sobering and intense effort to date, not only given the severity of the violence on display, but because it advocates for the sometimes-impossible task of forgiving one’s foes, even when they show no remorse. Here, what’s at stake is one’s very soul. What remains is Hosoda’s investment in parent-child relationships, a recurring subject for him, always explored with compassion for both parties: the child in need of guidance and the parent struggling to be a beacon.

Gender-swapping the play, Hosoda once again centers a heroine (he seems to prefer female protagonists). The 16th century eponymous Danish princess (voiced by Mana Ashida) loses her father, King Amleth (Masachika Ichimura), to a gruesome betrayal. Her unscrupulous, power-hungry uncle Claudius (Kôji Yakusho) murders his own brother to become king. But in his final moments, as Scarlet watches, Amleth pleads a request she cannot hear. Avenging her fallen father — and finding out what he asked for before dying — becomes the young woman’s sole purpose going forward. Rage consumes her.

Hosoda’s body of work consists almost exclusively of movies that take place on two distinct planes, whether those be reality and a digital world (“Summer Wars,” “Belle”) or reality and a magical realm (“Mirai,” “The Boy and the Beast”). “Scarlet” is no different in that regard.

This time, however, he explores an afterlife with its own set of rules. Sensing Scarlet’s resolve to destroy him, Claudius poisons her. Scarlet wakes up in the Otherworld, an endless, arid landscape with an ocean for sky where a dragon roams. The deceased from the past and the present convene here. That’s how Scarlet and Hijiri (Masaki Okada), a paramedic from our present who refuses to believe he’s died, can exist in the same timeline. This purgatory essentially mirrors life: There’s conflict and suffering and if you die again here, you vanish into darkness forever. The goal is to ascend to the Infinite Land, a stand-in for heaven. But Scarlet cares not for eternal peace. She learns that Claudius is here and embarks on a trek to find him and kill him for good.

Hosoda doesn’t dwell on the differences between Scarlet and Hijiri’s realities back in the land of living. Instead, he zeroes in on their clashing worldviews. While Scarlet doesn’t think twice about slaughtering anyone who gets in her way, Hijiri protects life at all costs, so much that one can understand Scarlet’s frustration with him. After a brutal fight, for example, Hijiri bandages her enemies’ wounds with as much care as he does hers.

Multiple battles with Claudius’ henchmen pepper Scarlet and Hijiri’s journey, as does an encounter with the United Nations of this place: a group of wandering nomads from around the world who’ve come together for companionship. Even after death, Hosoda suggests, all people truly hope for is a shoulder to cry on and someone to share their burdens with.

For “Scarlet,” Hosoda ventures into uncharted aesthetic territory. When the narrative is in the Otherworld, fans will immediately notice the look differs from his previous creations. And that’s because Hosoda has opted for photorealistic, computer-generated animation in those sections. The early scenes in Scarlet’s time period are conceived using the more traditional hand-drawn technique.

Still, the characters in the Otherworld, created in CGI, retain qualities of hand-drawn animation, making one hyperaware of the relationship between the figure’s movement and the environment. The mix of visual approaches shocks the eye at first, though it comes to seem fitting.

If probed too closely, Hosoda’s high-concept interpretation of life after death may raise more questions than it can answer (have all of history’s villains been killed in the Otherworld?). But despite any narrative quibbles, the movie deserves praise for its genuine call for compassion. Scarlet’s final encounter with Claudius radiates with the complicated poignancy expected of real, difficult catharsis.

Admittedly, the film’s resolution feels naïve. Scarlet’s good intentions to end wars by way of sheer determination to do what’s right might prove insubstantial in practice. In that regard, “Scarlet” is the prayer of a director who fervently wants to believe in kindness (even for those who don’t deserve it) as the one true road to healing. That’s a tall order these days, especially in this country, but it’s hard to fault Hosoda for the sincere reminder of what could be.

NEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore funding to a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, ruling just as construction was set to shut down and amid reports that President Trump was withholding the money unless Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer saw to it that Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport were renamed in the president’s honor.

The administration had sought to pressure Schumer (D-N.Y.) to help get the facilities renamed for Trump in exchange for releasing the money to fund the massive infrastructure project, according to the New York Times, citing top administration officials.

The judge’s decision Friday came months after the administration announced it was halting $16 billion in support for the project, citing the then-government shutdown and what a top federal budget official said were concerns about unconstitutional spending around diversity, equity and inclusion principles.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas in Manhattan approved a request by New York and New Jersey for a temporary restraining order barring the administration from withholding the funds while the states seek a preliminary injunction that would keep the money flowing while their lawsuit plays out in court.

“The Court is also persuaded that Plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiffs have adequately shown that the public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project.”

The White House and the Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday night.

New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James called the ruling “a critical victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey.”

“I am grateful the court acted quickly to block this senseless funding freeze, which threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on,” James said in a statement. “The Hudson Tunnel Project is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the nation, and we will keep fighting to ensure construction can continue without unnecessary federal interference.”

The panel overseeing the project, the Gateway Development Commission, had said work would stop late Friday afternoon because of the federal funding freeze, resulting in the immediate loss of about 1,000 jobs as well as thousands of additional jobs in the future.

It was not immediately clear when work would resume. In a nighttime statement, the commission said: “As soon as funds are released, we will work quickly to restart site operations and get our workers back on the job.”

The new tunnel is meant to ease strain on an existing one that is more than 110 years old and connects New York and New Jersey for Amtrak and commuter trains, where delays can lead to backups up and down the East Coast.

New York and New Jersey sued over the funding pause this week, as did the Gateway Development Commission, moving to restore the Trump administration’s support.

The suspension was seen as a way for the Trump administration to put pressure on Schumer, whom the White House was blaming for a government shutdown last year. The shutdown was resolved a few weeks later.

Speaking to the media on Air Force One, Trump was asked about reports that he would unfreeze funding for the tunnel project if Schumer would agree to a plan to rename Penn Station in New York and Dulles International Airport in Virginia after the president.

“Chuck Schumer suggested that to me, about changing the name of Penn Station to Trump Station. Dulles airport is really separate,” Trump responded.

Schumer responded on social media: “Absolute lie. He knows it. Everyone knows it. Only one man can restart the project and he can restart it with the snap of his fingers.”

At a hearing in the states’ lawsuit earlier in Manhattan, Shankar Duraiswamy of the New Jersey attorney general’s office told the judge that the states need “urgent relief” because of the harm and costs that will occur if the project is stopped.

“There is literally a massive hole in the earth in North Bergen,” he said, referring to the New Jersey city and claiming that abandoning the sites, even temporarily, “would pose a substantial safety and public health threat.”

Duraiswamy said the problem with shutting down now is that even a short stoppage would cause longer delays because workers would be laid off and go off to other jobs and it would be hard to quickly remobilize if funding becomes available. And, he added, “any long-term suspension of funding could torpedo the project.”

Tara Schwartz, an assistant U.S. attorney arguing for the government, disagreed with the “parade of horribles” described by attorneys for the states.

She said that the states had not even made clear how long the sites could be maintained by the Gateway Development Commission. So the judge asked Duraiswamy, and he said they could maintain the sites for a few weeks and possibly a few months, but that the states would continue to suffer irreparable harm because trains would continue to run late because they rely on an outdated tunnel.

Izaguirre and Collins write for the Associated Press and reported from New York and Hartford, Conn.

MILAN — One short week after Lindsey Vonn crashed in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and tore her left anterior cruciate ligament, she was tearing down the hill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a light knee brace warping the fabric of her racing suit the only obvious sign of anything amiss. When she finished the training run Friday, clocking the third-fastest time for a U.S. woman on the day, she casually fist bumped an American teammate at the finish line.

She made the feat look effortless. Sports medicine experts can say it’s anything but.

“It’s atypical to be able to compete without an ACL, at anything, but especially at a high level like Lindsey Vonn’s going to compete at,” said Clint Soppe, a board certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai. “So this is very surprising news to me as well.”

The ACL, which connects the shin bone to the femur, is a main stabilizing force in the knee and protects the lower leg from sliding forward. Straight-line movement doesn’t stress the major knee ligament and some day-to-day tasks such as walking are easily accomplished without an ACL. But what Vonn is doing is far from normal.

“If you add cutting, pivoting, changing directions, in 95% of humans, you need an ACL to do that,” said Kevin Farmer, an orthopedic surgeon and professor at the University of Florida’s department of orthopedics and sports medicine. “She’s obviously fallen into that 5%.”

Farmer calls the rare group “copers.” They overcome the lack of an ACL by strengthening and engaging other muscles. It’s primarily the hamstrings and quadriceps, but everything, including the glutes, calves, hips and core, counts.

Vonn will have had just nine days between the Olympic downhill race and her injury when she stands at the start gate Sunday. But the 41-year-old has had her whole career to develop the type of strength and control necessary to carry her through the Games without an ACL. She’s already done it before.

Lindsey Vonn concentrates ahead of a downhill training run in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Friday.

(Marco Trovati / Associated Press)

Vonn skied on a torn right ACL for more than a month until withdrawing just before the 2014 Sochi Olympics. In 2019, she won a bronze medal at world championships without a lateral collateral ligament and three tibial fractures in her left knee. She said this week that the same knee feels better than it did during that bronze medal run.

“She’s dealt with knee injuries in this knee before, so she’s been able to develop mechanisms and strategies,” Farmer said. “She probably doesn’t even realize that, but just from years of practicing with a knee that’s not normal, her body has developed mechanisms of firing patterns that allow her knee to have some inherent stability that most people don’t have.”

For athletes who suffer major injuries for the first time, pain often prevents them from firing their muscles, said Jason Zaremski, a nonoperative musculoskeletal and sports medicine physician and clinical professor at the University of Florida’s department of physical medicine and rehabilitation. But Vonn, whose injury history is almost as long as her resume, looked calm during training, her coach Aksel Lund Svindal told reporters in Cortina on Saturday.

So even if she’s one ACL short, Vonn’s team knows she has more than enough of the intangibles to get her not only down the mountain, but into medal contention.

“Her mental strength,” Svindal told reporters in Cortina on Saturday. “I think that’s why she has won as much as she has.”

Vonn completed her second training run Saturday with the third-fastest time before training was suspended after 21 athletes. She was 0.37 second behind compatriot Breezy Johnson, who is intimately familiar with what Vonn is attempting.

Johnson, a medal contender for the United States who led the second training run at 1 minute and 37.91 seconds, attempted to ski in Cortina without an ACL in 2022. She had one successful training run, but crashed on the second one, sustaining further injuries that forced her to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics.

Johnson, like many, gasped when she saw Vonn’s knee buckle slightly on a jump during training Saturday. She said coming off jumps on this course are especially difficult.

“There are, I think, more athletes that ski without ACLs and with knee damage than maybe talk about it,” Johnson said at a news conference from Cortina. “… I think that people often are unwilling to talk about it because of judgment from the media and the outside.”

Critics say Vonn is taking a spot from a healthy teammate or that she simply refuses to give up the sport for good. But Vonn has already come to terms with the end of her career. She said she came out of retirement with a partially replaced right knee simply wanting an opportunity to put the perfect bow on her ski racing career at a course she especially loves.

The stage is different, but the sentiment is familiar to Zaremski. The doctor has worked with high school athletes who beg for a chance to play a final game after suffering a torn ACL. Through bracing, taping and treatment, sometimes there are temporary fixes for the biggest moments.

“If we’re trying to get a huge event like the Olympics, I would never put anything past [Vonn],” Zaremski said. “She’s an amazing, once-in-a-generation athlete.”

Feb. 7 (UPI) — Representatives for Ukraine and Russia might meet in the United States in February after U.S. officials suggested a non-binding June deadline to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the proposed June deadline on Saturday and said the United States has invited Russia and Ukraine to meet very soon.

“America proposed for the first time that the two negotiating teams — Ukraine and Russia — meet in the United States of America, probably in Miami, in a week,” Zelensky told the BBC and other news outlets.

“We confirmed our participation,” he added, but Russia has not responded to the offer or proposed June deadline.

“They say they want everything done by June, and they will do everything to end the war,” Zelensky said, as reported by CNN.

U.S. officials “want a clear schedule of events,” the Ukrainian president said. “If the Russians are really ready to end the war, then it is really important to set a deadline.”

Russian forces have continued their aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, which have caused power blackouts during the cold winter months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the entire Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.

Ukrainian forces hold about a fourth of the region, which bridged the gap between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian forces occupied in 2014.

U.S. and Russian officials have not commented on the proposed bilateral meeting in the United States, and Zelensky said talks between U.S. and Russian officials might lead to demands that he would reject.

“Ukraine will not support even potential agreements about [Ukraine] that are made without us,” he said.

If any peace agreement is made, it would have to be approved via a referendum in Ukraine, which could take several months to complete.

Princess Andre has shared that filming has wrapped on the second series of her ITV2 reality show The Princess Diaries, with the series expected to return in spring

Princess Andre has delivered a significant announcement regarding the future of her ITV2 reality programme. The 18-year-old followed in her famous parents’ footsteps by landing her own ITV series last summer.

The programme documented the teenager’s everyday life, though mum Katie Price was conspicuously missing after she was allegedly prohibited from appearing in any footage for the show. Dad Peter, however, featured prominently alongside her brother Junior.

Princess has now provided an exciting development on the programme, called The Princess Diaries, after it was confirmed for a second run following strong viewing figures.

The teenager has disclosed that production has concluded, with her final day on set taking place yesterday. She posted an image of the show’s clapperboard along with a backstage photograph of her recording her to-camera segments for the series.

Princess wrote: “Last day of filming.” The programme is anticipated to return to television screens during the spring months. Her announcement follows her parents releasing an unusual joint statement in which they detailed their commitment to cease making disparaging remarks about each other online.

Peter and Katie established a legal arrangement whereby both promised to end their public criticism of one another following numerous acrimonious public disputes – an uncommon ceasefire for the frequently feuding former couple.

The Sun learned that Katie had spent months declining Peter’s persistent efforts to broker peace. Sources suggest their children, Junior, 20, and Princess, 18, are the motivation behind her ultimate decision to accept her former husband’s An insider revealed: “Pete’s team have been begging Katie to end this for good for months.”

As far back as November, they were calling Katie and her family to try to end the row. “She was resolute, she wouldn’t make peace with him. It was the children who made her realise she needed to draw a line in the sand. Katie has done this for them.”

Taking to Instagram, they both posted: “Katie Price and Peter Andre have decided to close the door on the past and move forward into a new chapter with positivity and respect. We are both focused on creating a calm and supportive environment for our children.

“We have reached a mutual agreement, both legally and personally confirming that neither of us will speak negatively about the other going forward. This decision reflects a shared commitment to our family and stability.”

The statement continued: “We want to stand united for our children. We are hoping this is a start of a positive relationship. We ask for understanding and support from both the media and the public as we move ahead.”

The unusual move comes just after Katie exploded at her former husband on her weekly podcast, accusing him of keeping her away from their daughter Princess as she launched her own reality TV show and making her look like the ‘baddie’.

Peter hit back by saying he had tried to stay silent for ‘sixteen years’ to ignore ‘repeated lies from my ex-wife and her family’. “That ends today,” he fumed.

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WASHINGTON — Ever since a racist video was posted on President Trump’s social media account, the White House has offered shifting responses.

First it dismissed “fake outrage” by those denouncing it as racist, then it deleted the post and blamed a staff member.

Trump later told reporters Friday that “I didn’t make a mistake.” The Republican president claimed that before the video was posted, he did not see the part that depicted former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus was unsparing in her criticism when she spoke to the Associated Press.

“It’s very clear that there was an intent to harm people, to hurt people, with this video,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said.

The AP interviewed Clarke, who leads the group of more than 60 Black House and Senate members, hours after the video was deleted Friday.

Here is an interview transcript, edited for length and clarity.

What was your reaction when you saw that the post?

We’re dealing with a bigoted and racist regime. … Every week we are, as the American people, put in a position where we have to respond to something very cruel or something extremely off-putting that this administration does. It’s a part of their MO at this point.

Do you buy the White House explanation that this was an aide’s mistake?

They don’t tell the truth. If there wasn’t a climate, a toxic and racist climate within the White House, we wouldn’t see this type of behavior regardless of who it’s coming from…. Here we are, in the year 2026, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, the 100th anniversary of the commemoration of Black history, and this is what comes out of the White House on a Friday morning. It’s beneath all of us.

Has there been any contact between the White House and the Congressional Black Caucus on this? Could there be any good-faith exchange?

There has been no outreach from the White House. We certainly didn’t expect there to be. The outreach has to happen prior to these type of juvenile antics.

Republican criticism built more quickly Friday than it has during previous Trump controversies. What do you make of that?

It’s not lost on them, our communities that we represent, that elections are coming up. So it’s not lost on my colleagues, either. If they want to align themselves with this type of really profane imagery, this type of bigoted and racist attack on a former sitting president and his wife, they are throwing their lot in with an individual who has shown himself to be a disgrace.

It’s not common for President Trump to retract anything. What does that indicate to you that he did?

I think it’s more of a political expediency than it is any moral compass. … As my mother would say, “Too late. Mercy’s gone.”

What more do you hope to see from the White House about this?

My hope is that we can contain the harm that they’re doing. There are Black children who are listening to their president … seeing what he’s posting on Truth Social, [and] it will have an impact on how they view leadership of their own country. … I think that this administration has an opportunity to change course. They always do. We leave room for that. But, unfortunately, Donald Trump is hardwired this way.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

As a democracy, we have to stand up together against this type of racism, this type of bigotry, this kind of hatred that is coming from the president of the United States and those who surround him. … It’s very clear that there was an intent to harm people, to hurt people, with this video. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have stayed up for 12 hours.

Barrow and Zhang write for the Associated Press and reported from Atlanta and Washington, respectively.

MILAN — The U.S. women’s hockey team came into the Milan-Cortina Winter Games ranked No. 1 in the world. And two games into group play, it’s shown that ranking might be something of an understatement.

With Saturday’s 5-0 victory over No. 3 Finland, the unbeaten Americans have outscored their two opponents 10-1 and outshot them 91-25. The goals Saturday came from Alex Carpenter, Taylor Heise, Megan Keller, Hilary Knight and Abbey Murphy. Keller and Laila Edwards each had two assists.

In goal, Aerin Frankel faced just 11 shots in posting the first shutout of the Olympic tournament.

Just as in its opening win over No. 4 Czechia, the U.S. eased its way into the game before going ahead to stay late in the first period on a power-play goal from Carpenter. The score came seven seconds after Finland’s Susanna Tapani was sent off for hooking.

The Americans doubled the advantage 2½ minutes into the second period at the end of a beautiful passing sequence that saw Britta Curl feed Murphy, whose cross-crease pass found Heise on the doorstep for the easy goal.

Sixty-six seconds later Keller’s unassisted goal made it 3-0 and the rout was on.

Next came a power-play goal from Knight, her 14th in Olympic play, equaling Natalie Darwitz and Katie King for the most in team history. Murphy closed out the scoring, banging in a rebound at the right post with less than five minutes to play.

With 10 goals, the U.S. is tied with Sweden for most in the tournament while the Americans’ goal differential of plus-nine is the best. It was the 11th straight Olympic win for the U.S. over Finland, the bronze medalist four years ago.

Feb. 6 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed 50,000 points for the first time in its history as most blue-chip stocks gained during trading Friday.

The Dow set a new record of 50,115.67 after posting an average gain of 1,207 points and 2.4%, while 28 of 30 blue-chip stocks rose in value during the day’s trading.

The Dow’s record day caused it to post a 2.5% gain for the week.

NVIDIA led the charge with a 7.87% gain while closing at 185.41 after rising 13.53 in value, and Caterpillar posted a 7.04% gain after rising 47.74 in value and closing 726.2.

Investors credited the nation’s economy and significant corporate earnings with spurring the day’s gains after overcoming an emotionally driven selloff earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Emotional deleveraging selloffs, such as this week, are unnerving,” Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, told the news outlet.

Despite the earlier selloff, Hackett said the “macro and earnings environment remain encouraging.”

In addition to the Dow gains on Friday, investors spurred a 1.97% gain for the S&P 500, which rose 133.90 points and closed at 6,932.30.

The Nasdaq Composite also posted a significant gain by rising 2.18% and 490.63 points to close at 23,031.21 for the day.

Despite the gains on Friday, the S&P 500 was down a slight 0.1% and the Nasdaq 1.8% for the week.

Investments by tech firms in artificial intelligence generally fueled the day’s gains.

“We’re in a gold rush right now with AI,” Falcon Wealth Planning founder Gabriel Shahin told CNBC.

“You have the investment that Google is making, Nvidia is making, that Meta is making [and] that Amazon is making,” Shanin said. “There is money that will be deployed.”

He said investors are moving away from growth stocks and favoring those that provide value amid a “great recalibration.”