FRIDAY’S RESULTS

CITY SECTION

Central League

Contreras 30, Roybal 12

Hollywood 39, Mendez 8

Maywood CES 44, Bernstein 40

Coliseum League

Crenshaw 18, Dorsey 14

King/Drew 30, Marquez 7

Eastern League

Bell 27, L.A. Roosevelt 0

South Gate 42, South East 32

East Valley League

Arleta 47, Fulton 15

Monroe 40, Grant 7

North Hollywood 35, San Fernando Arroyo 14

Sun Valley Poly 38, Verdugo Hills 20

Marine League

Carson 35, San Pedro 0

Wilmington Banning 35, Narbonne 32

Metro League

Dymally 18, L.A. Jordan 10

Locke 12, Hawkins 6

Northern League

Franklin 37, Lincoln 21

L.A. Marshall 54, L.A. Wilson 14

Southern League

Los Angeles 30, West Adams 0

Valley Mission League

Granada Hills Kennedy 43, San Fernando 7

Panorama 49, Van Nuys 7

Sylmar 56, Reseda 8

Western League

L.A. Hamilton 15, Venice 14

L.A. University 41, Westchester 0

Palisades 49, Fairfax 35

West Valley League

Birmingham 42, Chatsworth 0

Cleveland 37, Granada Hills 7

El Camino Real 28, Taft 7

Nonleague

Angelou 16, Fremont 14

Garfield 34, Eagle Rock 20

Stella 54, Sotomayor 26

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alliance League

South El Monte 20, Montebello 7

Alpha League

Mission Viejo 58, Los Alamitos 7

San Juan Hills 16, San Clemente 0

Yorba Linda 20, Edison 17

Angelus League

Cathedral 42, Paraclete 21

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 37, St. Paul 27

Baseline League

Rancho Cucamonga 41, Upland 0

Bay League

Inglewood 41, Leuzinger 0

Palos Verdes 28, Redondo Union 7

Big West League

Corona Centennial 41, Chaparral 27

Great Oak 31, Riverside King 21

Murrieta Valley 20, Murrieta Mesa 7

Boulder League

Crescenta Valley 28, Burbank Burroughs 7

San Marino 42, Gabrielino 0

South Pasadena d. Pasadena, forfeit

Bravo League

Crean Lutheran 31, Corona del Mar 17

Camino Real League

Mary Star of the Sea 57, St. Bernard 21

St. Monica 47, St. Genevieve 13

Channel League

Moorpark 37, Ventura 34

Rio Mesa 41, Thousand Oaks 7

Santa Barbara 13, Westlake 10

Citrus Coast League

Del Sol 21, Carpinteria 10

Grace 35, Nordhoff 14

Coastal 101 League

Agoura 49, Oxnard 12

Calabasas 55, Buena 10

Conference 12 League

El Monte Arroyo 62, Keppel 0

Mountain View 14, Rosemead 0

Cottonwood League

Riverside Notre Dame 30, Vasquez 7

Whittier Christian 18, Riverside Prep 14

Crest League

Arcadia 41, Glendale 38

Hoover 49, Temple City 14

Del Rey League

Crespi 48, Alemany 12

Salesian 21, St. Anthony 14

Delta League

El Modena at Dana Hills

Western 26, Laguna Beach 13

Desert Empire League

Palm Desert 30, Palm Springs 0

Desert Valley League

Yucca Valley 38, Coachella Valley 0

Foothill League

Hart 57, Canyon Country Canyon 0

Valencia 55, Golden Valley 6

West Ranch 14, Castaic 0

Gateway League

La Mirada 42, Warren 31

La Serna 42, Mayfair 14

Gold Coast League

Rio Hondo Prep 35, Brentwood 21

Golden League

Antelope Valley 52, Littlerock 0

Knight 21, Eastside 17

Lancaster 26, Highland 17

Hacienda League

Baldwin Park 35, Los Altos 22

Diamond Bar 23, Covina 22

West Covina 42, South Hills 21

Hub City League

Dominguez 47, Long Beach Cabrillo 7

Inland Valley League

Arlington 28, Lakeside 14

Heritage 49, Citrus Hill 36

Iota League

Garden Grove Pacifica 28, Marina 13

Ironwood League

Aquinas 49, Village Christian 7

Cerritos Valley Christian 55, Western Christian 50

Ivy League

Orange Vista 42, Rancho Christian 14

Vista del Lago 51, Riverside Poly 27

Kappa League

Portola at Anaheim Canyon, postponed

Lambda League

Fountain Valley 49, Placentia Valencia 14

Sonora 26, Woodbridge 13

Manzanita League

Anza Hamilton 39, Silver Valley 14

Marmonte League

Oaks Christian 14, Newbury Park 6

Oxnard Pacifica 24, St. Bonaventure 14

Mesquite League

Desert Christian Academy 47, Santa Rosa Academy 3

Metro League

El Rancho 25, Bell Gardens 0

Mid-Cities League

Bellflower 45, Norwalk 6

Paramount 63, California 3

Miramonte League

Pomona 21, Garey 7

Workman 31, Ganesha 21

Mission League

Bishop Amat 31, Loyola 10

Chaminade 21, Gardena Serra 7

Sierra Canyon 63, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 6

Mission Valley League

Mountain View 14, Rosemead 0

Mojave River League

Hesperia 30, Sultana 14

Oak Hills 54, Ridgecrest Burroughs 21

Montview League

Ontario 35, Azusa 6

Sierra Vista 13, La Puente 7

Moore League

Lakewood 46, Long Beach Jordan 0

Mountain Pass League

Granite Hills 14, San Jacinto 13

Mountain Valley League

La Sierra 57, Jurupa Valley 28

Rubidoux 42, San Bernardino 6

Ocean League

South Torrance 48, Hawthorne 0

Peninsula 42, Beverly Hills 21

Pioneer League

Culver City 54, Torrance 52

El Segundo 45, North Torrance 40

Santa Monica 42, West Torrance 7

Rio Vista League

Lynwood 21, Glenn 14

Pioneer 41, Firebaugh 20

San Andreas League

Colton 48, Rim of the World 17

Sierra League

Bonita 35, Charter Oak 32

Glendora 28, Colony 13

Northview at Ayala, postponed

Skyline League

Carter 21, Arroyo Valley 6

Sunbelt League

Hillcrest 49, Riverside North 28

Moreno Valley 51, Perris 8

Sunkist League

Grand Terrace at Jurupa Hills

Summit 36, Eisenhower 0

Sun Valley League

Desert Hot Springs 62, Banning 15

Twentynine Palms 43, Desert Mirage 20

Tango League

Westminster La Quinta 43, Century 13

Tri-County League

Fillmore 14, Dos Pueblos 0

Royal 21, San Marcos 14

Santa Paula 21, Hueneme 19

Trinity League

Mater Dei 52, Orange Lutheran 38

Santa Margarita 36, JSerra 12

St. John Bosco 54, Servite 7

Valle Vista League

Alta Loma 43, Chino 0

San Dimas 35, Claremont 10

Nonleague

Viewpoint 36, Maranatha 8

INTERSECTIONAL

Diego Rivera 45, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac 7

8-MAN

CITY SECTION

City League

Animo Robinson 20, New Designs University Park 8

New Designs Watts 42, USC Hybrid 6

Valley League

Valley Oaks CES 44, TEACH Tech 8

South L.A. College Prep 52, Sherman Oaks CES 8

SOUTHERN SECTION

Freelance League

Laguna Blanca 60, Malibu 32

Majestic League

Cornerstone Christian 51, Public Safety Academy 8

Nonleague

Faith Baptist 35, California School for the Deaf Riverside 6

Sage Hill 51, Thacher 34

Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon dismantled 80 ‘propaganda cells’ operating under new names at 30 universities.

The United States Department of Defense has designated Confucius Institutes, Chinese-funded cultural centres on university campuses, as a threat to US national security.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the move on Friday in a video posted on social media, saying the Pentagon added the organisations to its list of institutions that threaten national security.

Washington has long accused the centres of serving as Chinese propaganda tools and has taken steps to crack down on them.

Hegseth said Confucius Institutes had operated in disguise after being restricted by Congress, calling them “sleeper organisations”.

“It turns out that 80 new propaganda cells across 30 universities had popped up using different names and different charters, but with the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” he said.

In the video, Hegseth said that Chinese government-backed cultural programmes had infiltrated universities and reappeared in new guises despite congressional restrictions.

Over the past two months, the Pentagon has “systematically dismantled every single one of these organisations”, he said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads:

The interior of the launch control equipment room in the underground of the Oscar-1 Minuteman Missile Alert Facility on Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 18, 2020. The Oscar-01 MAF was constructed at Whiteman AFB in 1963 and determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) by Missouri SHPO in 1998. The facility consists of a one-story surface structure, assembled as a Launch Control Support Building (LCSB), and two sub-surface, re-enforced concrete encapsulated steel pods- a Launch Control Center (LCC) and Launch Control Equipment Building (LCEB). These two sub-surface wings are connected by a Tunnel Junction and accessed by an elevator. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Alexander W. Riedel)

PRIME DIRECTIVES:

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

NOEL Gallagher has revealed he had a cardboard cut-out of a Hollywood A-Lister pride of place in his living room.

The Oasis hitmaker admitted he had “never met anyone like” the fan-favourite screen star – so chose to display the life-sized image in his front window.

Noel, 59, made his confession. during an appearance on Amelia Dimoldenberg‘s Chicken Shop Date podcast – where he also spilled the beans on mending his feud with brother Liam.

As talk turned to the huge success of their Oasis reunion last year – where it’s believed they made a whopping £50million from the Live ’25 tour – Amelia referenced the fact former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola‘s cut-out appeared at each show.

She asked him: “Do you have any other cardboard cut outs of people or is it just Pep?”

Noel, who keeps the Pep cut-out in his recording studio when its not out on tour, replied: “I had one of Matthew McConaughey in my front window for a while actually”.

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Amelia replied: “Oh really?” to which he added: “I met him at a friends wedding.

“I had never met anyone like him so I bought a life sized cardboard cut out and put him in my front window for a month”.

Amelia, who is hosting her final series of the podcast, then joked: “You’re going to be doing that with me”.

He then quipped: “I’ve never seen one of you on Amazon, do they have them?” to which she mocked annoyance and said: “Yeah they’ve got them”.

Noel previously shed more light on the Beverly Hills wedding where he first met Interstellar actor Matthew.

It came when Oasis were on tour in South America with U2 and, talking of approaching the actor, Noel said to NME: “I said to him, ‘you don’t know me but I love you’.

“And he went ‘first of all, I wanna thank you for coming across here and spreading the good word.

Secondly, let’s get this couple married and we’re gonna stretch the ‘something’ out of this party.’

“And I was like, ‘you know what, mate me and you are gonna be friends forever now.’”

In her caption for their date, Amelia wrote: “Hello everyone ! I am so excited to share with you my date with THE legend himself Noel Gallagher. I think our energies match perfectly.

“He’s funny, humble and smells amazing (eau de poulet) See you in 16 years??! But before that 3 more dates left in the final series!”

One fan posted: “Ngl they got on so well that it just seemed like a regular conversation”.

A second added: “I’m going to need another 8 hours of footage of these two talking”.

Oasis recently announced a 38-date live tour next year, kicking off at Celtic Park in Glasgow on 21 May.

Meanwhile, last month Amelia told how her viral show would end after 12 years and the current season.

WHEN the temperature drops and the nights get darker, booking a holiday in to look forward to feels all the more important.

Luckily, if you know where to look, Britain is packed with brilliant holiday parks that actually get better in the winter months.

We’re talking massive, 30C indoor water worlds for warming up from the frost, to luxury log cabins and magical woodland light trails.

Plus, avoiding the peak summer rush means you can bag incredible deals for a fraction of the usual price, so here’s our winter holiday park favourites from a tiny £3.06pp per night.

Warmwell Holiday Park, Dorset

This cosy woodland holiday park in Dorset is made up of timber lodges only, with lakeside, hot tub and pet-friendly options sleeping up to eight people.

But don’t let the tranquil woodland setting fool you: Warmwell is packed with adrenaline. The park actually has its own 110m all-weather ski slope where you can ski, snowboard, or hurtle down in a rubber ring.

If you’d rather stay inside, the massive heated indoor pool has a thrilling, twisting water flume and a mini wave pool for little ones.

We found a three-night break in a superior lodge sleeping eight for £263, working out to £10.96pp per night.

Tattershall Lakes Country Park, Lincolnshire

While this action-packed holiday park is famous for its summer watersports, you’ll get a completely different experience in the winter.

This park puts on its very own ‘Winterfest‘, where from November 20 – December 20 you’ll find special events like candlelight concerts, kids house party events and the ‘Winterfest Spiegletent’ full of festive live entertainment.

There’s also the massive indoor pool and kids splash zone with slides for the kids, plus a luxurious spa and the cosy Tattershall Park Pub for Mum and Dad.

You can bag a four-night midweek break in a superior caravan sleeping eight from £168, or £5.25pp per night.

Sandy Balls Holiday Village, Hampshire

For a dose of woodland magic this winter, book in for a lodge retreat at Sandy Balls Holiday Village in Hampshire.

With The New Forest on your doorstep, you’ll have plenty of time for family bike rides, woodland alpaca walks or even strolling through the ‘Forest of Light’ festive display which arrives at the park in November.

Kids can head indoors to warm up with pottery painting or slime factory sessions, while grown-ups might prefer the evening’s Boombox Bingo, quiz or karaoke sessions.

We found a deal for a four night break in a luxury caravan sleeping six for £264, working out to £11pp per night.

Bluestone Wales, Pembrokeshire

Head to Pembrokeshire in Wales this winter to escape the cold and drizzle for a site with a giant, subtropical temperature waterpark.

Spend rainy afternoons in the Blue Lagoon Water Park, which is totally free for guests. There’s a wave machine, four waterslides, plus a relaxing lazy river and bubbling pools.

There’s plenty more weather-proof activities like an indoor zipline, climbing wall and a bear-making boutique.

We found a deal for a four-night break in a spacious wooden lodge for four for £540, working out to £33.75pp per night. Or if you want to book ahead for Jan or Feb, there’s an early bird offer on where you can save 10-20 per cent on 2027 breaks.

Seashore Holiday Park, Norfolk

If you love a winter beach break away from the crowds of the summer, you’ll love Great Yarmouth‘s only beachfront park: Seashore Holiday Park.

The flat, golden sands of Yarmouth are perfect for a winter stroll, before coming back to warm up in the heated indoor waterpark with two 11 metre flumes.

Once you’re done making a splash, you can retreat to a double-glazed, toasty heated caravan for a movie night.

We found a deal for a four night break in a saver caravan sleeping four for £49, working out to £3.06pp per night.

Finlake Resort & Spa, Devon

Finlake feels like a glamorous forest retreat with A-frame timber lodges with hot tubs, a woodland spa and sauna offering hot stone massages, and a glimmering fishing lake.

Kids will love the on-site waterpark Finlake Falls, which is heated to around 30C and packed with waterslides, fun sea scooters and a beach-like area with gentle waves for little ones.

Compared to somewhere like Center Parcs, where the cheapest seven-night lodge break we found this winter was £1,548 you’re getting much better value for money here.

At Finlake, you can bag a seven-night stay in a traditional, two-storey wooden lodge from £239 for the week.

Craig Tara, Ayrshire, Scotland

From the snow-dusted peaks of the Isle of Arran to the rugged clifftops of the Ayrshire coast, Scotland is beautiful in winter.

But it’s even better when you can retreat back to a cosy, centrally heated caravan or luxury lodge to thaw out.

Haven’s Craig Tara offers not only luxurious lodges and warm, affordable caravans, but one of the biggest heated indoor waterparks in Scotland, Splashaway Bay.

As for indoor activities, there’s also a giant indoor Airspace facility loaded with interactive darts, shuffleboard, and a climbing wall to wear the kids out.

You don’t even need to head out and brave the cold for dinner with an on-site Burger King, Papa Johns, and a sea-view restaurant just steps away.

We found a deal for a four night break in a saver caravan sleeping four for £49, working out to £3.06pp per night.

EDINBURG, Texas — Clad in pressed jeans and cowboy hats, dozens of riders on horseback and drivers in pickups kicked up dust along a dirt road in Edinburg, near the southern tip of Texas. They were there for a cabalgata, a traditional horse procession, with a political message: Send Tejano singer Bobby Pulido to Congress.

Some were lifelong Democrats. Others had voted for President Trump two years ago. But on this Saturday, they all rode for Pulido, a Democrat trying to flip a House seat Trump carried by 18 percentage points in 2024.

Among them was David Lopez, 54, astride his brown horse, Black Jack. He voted for Trump because he saw him as a good businessman. But now, Lopez says the president’s tariffs have hurt his truck and trailer repair shop in nearby McAllen, and business is down about 20% from last year.

“I am voting Democrats all the way. Trump is no longer doing a good job,” Lopez said. “We need to find a way to make it out of this together.”

Lopez is part of a shift rippling through Latino communities across the country. Two years after helping return Trump to the White House with a Republican-controlled Congress, Latino voters are souring on the party in power, fueled by frustration over rising costs and the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.

People cheer while listening to congressional candidate Bobby Pulido at an Oct. 16, 2026, rally in Mercedes, Texas.

In 2024, Trump won the support of 48% of Latino voters, expanding Republican gains with a group that has long leaned Democratic. Now, that support is cratering. The president’s approval rating among Latino registered voters has fallen to 24% from 38% at the start of his second term, polls show.

Among Latinos who voted for Trump, 65% say they plan to back Republicans on Nov. 3, while more than a third said they were ready to vote for a Democrat or were undecided, according to a Pew Research Center poll released this month.

More broadly, Latino voters favor Democrats in House races 51% to 24%, and those who sat out the 2024 election are leaning toward Democrats. Those shifts could help decide control of the House, in part because Republicans in Texas and Florida redrew their congressional maps betting that their 2024 gains among Latino voters would last through the midterms.

Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner and Democrat running for Texas’ 15th Congressional District, sings at the Bert Ogden Arena on Oct. 17, 2026, in Edinburg, Texas.

Nowhere is that test sharper than in the borderlands of the Rio Grande Valley, where voters say that Trump has failed to deliver on his economic promises and that his administration has gone too far on immigration enforcement, an issue they wanted addressed, but humanely.

In more than two dozen interviews in the Latino-majority region, voters say they are driven less by party loyalty and more by frustrations that they have been taken for granted, and want to elect politicians who take their votes seriously.

They say it has become harder to keep up with rising costs, including for the diesel that fuels their trucks and their weekly grocery runs. Builders say construction projects have ground to a halt as workers are detained or deported. And small-business owners say sales have dropped, either because customers are afraid to leave their homes or because tariffs have driven up their costs.

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2

1. Sebastian Guevara, 65, poses for a photo at a political rally on Oct. 16, 2026, in Mercedes, Texas. “Trump forgot about Latinos as soon as he won,” he said. 2. Luis Sustaita, 49, a mariachi musician who had voted Republican in previous years, says he will be voting for Bobby Pulido.

Nidia Olivarez, 48, and her husband, Arnulfo, 55, voted for Trump in 2024 but have grown frustrated with how he has handled the economy and immigration raids in their community. This year, they’re backing Pulido over GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz in Texas’ 15th Congressional District. But not because they’ve had a change of heart about the Democratic Party.

“We are only voting for Pulido, not other Democrats,” Olivarez said. The couple are still unsure whether they’ll support any Republicans.

For them, the vote is personal. They’ve long loved Pulido’s Tejano music and like that he’s a familiar figure in their community. They trust him, she said. They’re less sure about the Republicans at the top of the ticket: Ken Paxton, the Senate nominee running against Democrat James Talarico, and Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking reelection.

“We want to see who continues to show up in the area,” Olivarez said. “That matters to us.”

People cheer during Tejano singer Bobby Pulido’s last song “Desvelado” during a concert in October in Edinburg, Texas.

Latino voters in Texas are increasingly willing to consider candidate over party, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston.

“They are not just looking for what party to align with. They want to know that they can trust the person they’re voting for,” Rottinghaus said.

That dynamic will play a role in the competitive races for Texas’ 15th, 28th and 34th congressional districts and in the Senate seat, which has proved to be one of the most expensive and high-profile contests this year. In a sign of GOP concerns, Trump and Vice President JD Vance have repeatedly traveled to Texas this month to rally voters.

In recent weeks, Trump has brushed off polls that show him losing ground with Latino voters.

“I think we are doing great, I won Hispanics,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I’ve done more than any other Republican in history, I got tremendous Hispanics.”

In early October, Trump was asked about Latino voters who say they feel betrayed by his administration’s immigration and economic policies. His message to them was that “we have to do what we have to do,” in reference to his immigration crackdown.

1

2

3

1. People dance during Bobby Pulido’s concert. 2. A man rides his horse before a parade in support of Bobby Pulido on Oct. 17, 2026, in Edinburg, Texas. 3. Bobby Pulido, in brown vest and white cowboy hat, upper left, takes a photo with rallygoers after speaking on Oct. 16, 2026, in Mercedes, Texas.

Gloria Rodriguez, a social worker in Edinburg, has seen the impact the immigration raids have had on children. Since Trump returned to the White House, she has helped coordinate services for hundreds of kids whose parents or caregivers have been detained or deported. She worries many of them will develop post-traumatic stress disorders.

“Everything they are doing with immigration is too much,” said Rodriguez, 50, who is voting for Democrats down the ballot. Her 15-year-old daughter, Angelina, says she told her mother to vote for Democrats, in part because she is scared her friends will be deported.

Luis Sustaita, 49, a mariachi who owns a music store that sells instruments to school districts, is voting Democrat this year because he says he is disheartened by the values of the modern-day Republican Party.

“There are no old-school Republicans anymore. It is all MAGA,” said Sustaita, who lives in Weslaco. “They used to be about the people. Trump is all about himself and making himself rich.”

In South Texas, Republicans and Democrats alike are trying to court voters on a more personal level. It is about identity more than political affiliation in many ways.

In the majority-Latino 15th Congressional District, Pulido’s campaign slogan is “Not team red, not team blue — South Texas I am team you.” In an interview, Pulido added that his message to Latino voters is: “I hear you loud and clear, and I believe I share values with you.”

Rodrigo Pulido, 6, with his mother, Mariana Morales, cheers as his father, Bobby Pulido, sings the last song, “Desvelado,” during his concert at the Bert Ogden Arena on Oct. 17, 2026, in Edinburg, Texas.

De La Cruz, a former insurance agent and a staunch Trump ally, said Latinos are “tired of being taken for granted” and said Pulido “has some nice records, but he’s a product of the same corrupt system that got rich and made us poorer.”

“I grew up in South Texas watching the compadre system steal from us while our families struggled to get by,” De La Cruz said in a statement. “You work hard and want a little more for your family and safe communities. I cut your taxes, protected Social Security and Medicare, stood with Border Patrol agents, and I’m fighting every day to bring down gas and grocery prices.”

Whether that message will resonate with voters will be seen on Nov. 3.

Tina Treviño, 61, said she hopes “la raza” — a term used in the Mexican American community that is widely understood as “the people” — will deliver political change to Texas. She says the system is not working for Latinos, and believes Democrats will be able to bring that change.

“It’s about Chicano power,” Treviño said. “We need that more than ever.”

WXV Global Series

Canada (12) 31

Tries: Omokhuale, De Goede 3, Bauder Cons: De Goede 3

England (7) 22

Tries: Feaunati, Cokayne, Sing Cons: Harrison, Sing Pens: Harrison

England suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in a decade as Canada won 31-22 in the WXV Series in Ottawa.

The hosts ran in five tries to England’s three, including a hat-trick for captain Sophie de Goede, as they backed up last weekend’s 24-21 win in Toronto, which ended the Red Roses’ 41-match unbeaten streak, with another statement victory.

It completes a 2-0 series win for Canada after the two sides also shared a 26-26 draw in Exeter in September.

After losing multiple matches in a calendar year for the first time since 2016, world champions England head into their meeting with the USA in New Jersey next Friday (21:15 GMT) hoping to avoid three consecutive losses for the first time since 2013.

England made a promising start, Maddie Feaunati crashing over from close range inside 10 minutes, but Canada led 12-7 at the break.

Gabrielle Senft pounced on a bouncing ball and broke down the left wing with De Goede on her shoulder to score, only four minutes after Julia Omokhuale had brought the Maple Leafs level.

Zoe Harrison kicked a penalty early in the second half before England turned to their driving maul to overturn the deficit, Amy Cokayne walking in their second score.

However, De Goede restored her side’s lead three minutes later and completed her hat-trick just after the hour-mark, before Savannah Bauder danced down the left wing to put Canada out of sight.

Emma Sing added a consolation try for England in the 80th minute.

Taiz, Yemen – It was approaching 10:30am in the dialysis centre of the Republican Hospital in Taiz when a machine began filtering excess fluids, toxins and salts from the blood of Omar Mukhtar Hammoud.

The 16-year-old suffers from kidney failure and is one of 270 patients who regularly receive dialysis at the centre in the government-held city in southwest Yemen. But with essential medical supplies and fuel running critically low under the renewed Houthi siege, doctors fear they may soon be unable to provide the treatment that keeps their patients alive.

Dr Essam Mahyoub Dahan, the centre’s director, warned that a complete shutdown could happen within days.

“Because of the siege and the shortage of diesel and medical solutions, we have recently been forced to reduce dialysis sessions from four hours to just two and a half,” Dahan told Al Jazeera. “We know this is not adequate, but we have no choice if we are to keep the centre operating for as long as possible before it shuts down completely.”

Dahan said the centre’s remaining stocks of specialised dialysis solutions were also close to running out.

The supplies, which are expensive, are normally provided by the Yemeni Ministry of Health every three months. But the latest delivery which was due earlier this month  failed to arrive because of the Houthi siege on Taiz city. It began in the first week of October after Houthi advances in the Taiz countryside.

The city was previously under complete Houthi siege between 2015 and 2016, in the early years of Yemen’s ongoing war.

Across Taiz governorate, where battles are raging between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Iranian-allied Houthi fighters, the number of patients at risk is far greater.

In an October 12 statement, the governorate’s health office warned that the continued siege and obstruction of essential supplies could endanger the lives of 1,110 patients with kidney failure. They depend on dialysis services in the governorate’s hospitals, which collectively provide about 210 dialysis sessions a day.

International humanitarian and health organisations have issued similar warnings about the impact of the siege on the already fragile healthcare system in Taiz.

On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Houthis to immediately reopen vital roads into and around the city, warning that the closure of the main road between Taiz and the southern port city of Aden threatened hundreds of thousands of civilians with losing access to food, water and healthcare.

Fuel: A lifeline for hospitals

Taiz’s hospitals depend heavily on diesel-powered generators because much of the city’s electricity infrastructure was destroyed during the war that began 11 years ago and has not been restored.

The renewed Houthi siege has severely disrupted the entry of fuel, including the diesel needed to run hospital generators and lifesaving medical equipment.

Dr Shaheed al-Ameri, deputy director-general for technical affairs at the Republican Hospital, said the shortages have had a devastating impact on medical services.

“A very large part of this suffering is because of the shortage of diesel,” he told Al Jazeera. “We have no reserve diesel supplies. Our stocks ran out early in the siege and we are now buying it on the black market almost every day, at prices that have reached five times what they were before the siege.”

Al-Ameri warned that the longer the siege continues, the more prices will rise and the further medical services will deteriorate.

The hospital has already suspended operations in some departments, including essential units, he said.

“If this situation continues much longer, we fear we will reach a complete and comprehensive collapse of healthcare services,” he said.

The shortages are not confined to the Republican Hospital. On October 22, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that critical shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicines and medical supplies were threatening lifesaving healthcare throughout  Taiz governorate, with some hospital services already disrupted.

According to the WHO, 42 health facilities in Taiz city had reported severe shortages of essential supplies. Hospitals and ambulances require at least 156,000 litres of fuel a month to continue functioning.

The organisation also warned that diesel shortages threaten to disrupt oxygen production, water pumping, vaccine refrigeration and sanitation services, increasing the risks of disease outbreaks, particularly among displaced families and other vulnerable groups.

The United Nations has separately warned that the restrictions on supplies are bringing Taiz’s health system close to collapse and urged the Houthis to allow humanitarian assistance and essential goods to enter without obstruction.

Oxygen shortages deepen crisis

In its October 12 statement, Taiz’s health office warned that continued restrictions on fuel deliveries could lead to the shutdown of medical oxygen production plants, further endangering patients.

Taysir al-Samei, the health office’s media officer, said that would dramatically worsen the crisis.

“Many medical departments depend on oxygen, particularly operating theatres, inpatient wards, intensive care units and incubators for premature babies,” al-Samei said.

“Most hospitals have already suspended services in some units because of the shortage of diesel and the lack of necessary medical solutions, as well as shortages of medical staff who are struggling to get to work because of the lack of transport,” he added.

He warned that if conditions continued to deteriorate at the same pace, some hospitals could stop providing services in the coming days.

At the Republican Hospital, al-Ameri said that shortages were also affecting diagnostics and treatment. The availability of laboratory reagents had fallen to just 10 to 15 percent of previous levels, he said, while approximately half of the medicines normally available were now out of stock.

Prices for the remaining medicines had doubled, he said, placing them further out of reach for patients already struggling with Yemen’s worsening economic crisis.

The continued fighting and shelling around Taiz have increased the number of wounded people requiring emergency care – placing additional pressure on facilities already struggling with shortages of surgical supplies, anaesthetics and intravenous fluids.

Abdul Badi Abdulwuhab, 53, is another dialysis patient in the Republican Hospital, struggling to cope with the shorter dialysis sessions.

His voice was filled with desperation.

“Because of these measures, I suffer from weakness and I cannot bear the pain,” Abdul Badi told Al Jazeera. “Two and a half hours is not enough to remove all the fluids and toxins from my body.”

Dr Dahan said that the patient’s condition had deteriorated since his sessions were shortened.

“These measures are not effective for many patients,” Dahan said. “The only solution is to end the siege and return things to the way they were.”

To his supporters, he is known as “King Bibi”; but to his opponents, he is the king of security failures and corruption.

Disputes over names aside, what is not in question is that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has left his mark on the country’s institutions, politics and social attitudes during a decades-long career that has been defined by Israel’s lurch to the right.

As he seeks re-election in Israel’s October 27 polls, analysts say his most enduring domestic legacy may be the right-wing, militaristic opposition that he has helped create and now faces.

Born in 1949, Netanyahu entered Israel’s central political stage in the early 1990s by fuelling anger at possible peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria.

Israeli political leaders have accused him of leading incitement that motivated the 1995 assassination of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was leading negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization, by an ultranationalist Israeli. Netanyahu had led rallies in which participants depicted Rabin in a Nazi SS uniform and held signs of him in the crosshairs of a gun, while others shouted “traitor”.

The Likud Party leader denies any responsibility, but former security officials have said they warned Netanyahu before the assassination and asked him to dial down his rhetoric, only for him to refuse, according to Israeli media reports.

In 1996, Netanyahu’s populist tactics succeeded at the ballot box, making him Israel’s youngest prime minister. Netanyahu’s transactional leadership style gave prominence to extreme-right and religious parties that are now an indispensable part of his right-wing alliance.

Under him, religious courts have expanded powers, including over civil and business disputes. State institutions accommodate religious agendas and allocate record levels of funding to ultra-Orthodox schools and institutions.

Netanyahu inscribed his political ideology, especially on the identity of the state and the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, into law. In 2018, the Knesset passed the so-called Nation-State Basic Law, which states – among other things – that Israel is the exclusive state of the Jewish people and also makes advancing illegal settlements a national priority.

Human rights organisations in Israel petitioned the High Court to stop the legislation from going into effect, but the petition was rejected. International experts and rights groups cite this law, among others, as evidence of Israel committing the crime of apartheid in its treatment of Palestinians.

Netanyahu also re-engineered state institutions, including Israel’s security structures, appointing loyalists and political allies to senior positions. He also clashed with security chiefs that he deemed antagonistic. And in the aftermath of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu deflected blame and responsibility on the security establishment, prompting Ronen Bar, who was the Shin Bet chief in 2023, to sue him for defamation.

A major change to Israeli institutions that was spearheaded by Netanyahu during his 19 on-and-off years in power affected the judiciary, which is examining lingering corruption charges that could see him serve time in prison if he is convicted. Netanyahu, who is up against three separate cases of corruption filed in 2019, denies any wrongdoing.

Under his leadership, the Knesset adopted legislation that changed the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee to ensure greater political influence for the governing coalition.

Netanyahu called it “judicial reform” to stop what he often calls a “judicial dictatorship” ruling over elected officials.

Opponents called it a “coup” that sparked wide-scale protests: a push to curtail the independence of the High Court and give politicians influence over the courts and ministerial legal advisers.

In line with his efforts to subvert independent oversight, Netanyahu tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to fire the attorney general.

But he succeeded in dismissing the military’s advocate general for leaking a video of Israeli soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian detainee. The soldiers were also released and cleared of charges.

At the same time, Netanyahu is dogged by corruption cases dating back to 2019, which could see him serve time in prison if convicted

The prime minister, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Gaza, says his work is not over. He promises his supporters he will complete the overhaul of judicial review and press on with other highly controversial policies.

Netanyahu’s supporters and allies view him as a leader who delivers, and one who achieved what others could not. His opponents pledge to undo the damage Netanyahu caused over the past decades, pointing to corruption, social divisions and increasing international isolation as outcomes of his rule.

But undoing such formative changes, many of which are now law, may be easier said than done.

Michael Gray, who played the teenager who could turn into a superhero in the 1970s live-action Saturday morning children’s TV series “Shazam!,” has died. He was 75.

Gray died Oct. 16 from natural causes in Palm Desert, a representative for the actor announced Thursday. No other details were provided.

Based on the comic book superhero Captain Marvel, who first appeared in an issue of Whiz Comics in 1939, “Shazam!” aired for three seasons on CBS from 1974 to 1976. Gray starred as Billy Batson, a teenager who could transform into a grown-up superhero by saying the magic word “Shazam!” In his enhanced form, Captain Marvel possesses powers such as superhuman strength and speed, heightened intelligence and the ability to wield lightning. The character has since been renamed to Shazam.

“It was a lot of fun,” Gray said of the role in a 2012 interview with Fanboy Planet. “I didn’t know how much I would like it until years later when I found out how much of an influence my character was, and the show was, in people’s lives.

“There were such good moral values to the show,” he added. “I meet people 1792821573 who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me as a child. You helped me get through life.’ … I didn’t know the show had that much strength and power back then.”

Born Sept. 2, 1951, in Chicago, Gray grew up in Miami Beach before making his way out west to pursue a career in Hollywood. He would frequently grace the covers of teen pop magazines, including Tiger Beat, thanks at least in part to his manager Charles Laufer, the magazine’s publisher.

“The teen idol angle was orchestrated to some degree,” Gray said during a Q&A event in 2012, according to Comic Book Resources. “I was interviewing for ‘The Brian Keith Show’ with Warner Brothers, and they also owned a news company that produced a lot of magazines. They wanted me to be the next David Cassidy. I was on the front cover of ‘Tiger Beat’ and it worked.”

Among Gray’s earliest screen credits were appearances on shows such as “Room 222” (1969), “The Flying Nun” (1970) and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (1970). His first recurring role was on “The Little People,” also known as “The Brian Keith Show,” where he played a student doctor named Ronnie Collins. Gray also appeared in an episode of “The Brady Bunch” as Marcia’s boyfriend, Jeff.

Gray left acting not long after his run on “Shazam!” after feeling typecast in the roles that were offered to him. His later pursuits included work in children’s theater education and men’s fashion and owning a West Hollywood flower shop.

More recently, Gray’s legacy from “Shazam!” pulled him back into Hollywood. He voiced a version of himself as Sterling Archer’s childhood hero in four episodes of FX’s adult animated series “Archer” from 2015 to 2019. He also appeared in a cameo in the 2023 film “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” where he interacted with the latest incarnation of the superhero played by Zachary Levi.

Gray is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray; his stepchildren Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper; and son-in-law Lee Barker.

About 260 California billionaires would be subject to Proposition 40’s one-time 5% wealth tax according to the Forbes Real-Time billionaires list. Just 30 of those billionaires or their spouses, or 1 in 8, spent money opposing Proposition 40, the billionaire tax, according to a Times analysis of recent campaign filings.

Billionaires have individually contributed $293 million to oppose the tax measure and to support Proposition 41 and 42, which would nullify the billionaire tax if either receives more votes, according to a Times analysis. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, has given $102 million, more than a third of all billionaire money against the measure. But this is less than 1% of his estimated tax bill.

Several billionaires also contributed to the political action committee of the California Business Roundtable, which is spending to oppose Proposition 40 and support Proposition 43. Peter Thiel gave $3 million, Eric Schmidt gave nearly $2.6 million, Marco DeGeorge’s wife, Kim, gave $1.9 million, Chris Larsen gave $750,000 and Douglas Leone and his wife gave $500,000.

Proposition 40 would apply the tax to billionaires who were California residents on Jan. 1, 2026, and the taxable amount would be based on their net worth on Dec. 31. The tax is payable over five years.

Altogether, these individuals would owe at least $107 billion in taxes, according to an analysis by economists Jasper Boll, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. Their research was published in the National Bureau of Economic Research in August. Saez and Zucman are also architects of the tax proposal.

This amount is 5% of their combined estimated wealth by Forbes as of Oct. 16 and factors in a certain amount of tax avoidance and evasion. Spread across all 39 million Californians, the $107 billion would be roughly $2,700 per person. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that the median household net worth in California was $303,000 in 2023.

The four richest Californians — Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg — would owe 40% of the estimated taxes to be collected from the billionaire tax, according to a Times analysis. Their wealth largely comes from ownership of stock in extremely high-value technology companies.

Their net worth would increase 5% in about four months if their stock investments continues to grow as they have since December.

California billionaire wealth grew nearly threefold from 2022 to 2026, according to Times analysis of Forbes data collected by Boll and his colleagues, and much of that growth was not taxed. Billionaires’ taxable income is small compared with their wealth, because most of that wealth is invested in public stocks, and gains aren’t taxed until the stock is sold.

Page and Brin disclosed no taxable income in three of the years since 2019. Many others had similarly no publicly disclosed income. For that reason, Boll and his colleagues estimate that the Proposition 40 one-time tax would raise more than $100 billion, “with comparatively minor impacts on income tax revenue” from some billionaires leaving the state.

Based on Meta’s filings, the economists estimated that Zuckerberg’s taxable income was about $947 million in 2025, just 0.4% of his net worth.

Over the summer, Zuckerberg shared with Meta advisors his plans to relocate outside California to avoid the possibility of a significant reduction in his control over the company as a result of selling enough stock to fund a 5% tax. The advisors determined that Zuckerberg’s leadership presence at Meta headquarters was essential to the company’s success. On Wednesday, Meta announced the creation of new, nonvoting Class C common stock, which will allow Zuckerberg to sell the amount he needs to pay his potential tax bill while maintaining his voting power in exchange for his commitment to remain in the state for eight years.

Researchers at the Hoover Institution estimate the revenue to the state to be closer to $40 billion based on reports of billionaires’ residential purchases outside the state before and after Jan. 1 and their estimate of unannounced residency moves.

Chris Hoene, executive director at the California Budget and Policy Center, a nonpartisan group, said the residency question hinges on the amount of time spent living in the state. “Purchasing property in another location does not mean that they have changed their residency,” he said.

Ultimately, the state’s Franchise Tax Board, responsible for administering the tax, will have to assess residency. Hoene says this task is “easier for them to do than people realize.” The board will also calculate the amount of wealth subject to the tax using publicly available stock information and private assessments of personal property, such as artwork and jewelry. Real property, pensions and retirement accounts would be excluded.

Opponents of Proposition 40 are concerned that the threat of wealth taxes will lead to billionaires continuing to leave the state, resulting in a long-term decrease in state income tax revenue. Forbes recently reported that Brin registered to vote in Nevada last year. Peter Thiel disclosed Dec. 31 that he opened a new office in Miami; Florida has no wealth tax or income tax. But in July, he purchased a $130-million mansion in Bel-Air.

“The reality is the income tax loss can never get anywhere near the scale of what the wealth tax gain would be,” Hoene said.

Ninety percent of that gain would be spent on healthcare services to fill a gap in Medi-Cal from losses in federal funding that the measure’s authors estimate would total $190 billion over the next 10 years. Medi-Cal provides healthcare coverage for one-third of low-income Californians, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes a California-only tax and has instead called for a national wealth tax. Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, who are running to replace Newsom, have spoken out against the tax. Other opponents include the California Teachers Assn., the California Medical Assn., and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. Supporters include Service Employees International Union, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the California Democratic Party and the California Federation of Labor Unions AFL-CIO.

Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.

The Lakers appeared to be on their way to almost being whole Friday night when guard Collin Sexton returned to play for the first time this season. Then word came that key role player Jake LaRavia was out because of an ankle injury.

Still, the Lakers pressed on in their second game, a game against the crosstown rival Clippers, a game with meaning for both teams.

Though the Lakers were sloppy with the ball in the fourth quarter, having six players score in double figures helped them pull out a 125-117 win over the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena.

Austin Reaves led the way with 28 points and nine assists, but he had six turnovers. Luka Doncic had 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds, but he had 11 of the Lakers’ 21 turnovers.

Walker Kessler was a force again, scoring 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking six shots.

The Lakers led by 15 points in the second half after the score was tied at halftime, but kept turning the ball over and saw the lead sliced to six with three minutes and 18 seconds left on a basket by Darius Garland, who finished with 26 points.

But Kessler played big in the final few minutes, making two free throws and blocking a shot late in the game.

Kessler sopened the game with his defensive presence. He stole the basketball and took it the length of the court for a two-handed dunk in the first quarter.

Kessler blocked a shot by Derrick Jones Jr., leading to a three-pointer by Reaves for an 89-77 Lakers lead in the third quarter.

Kessler then went to work on the backboards, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring on a reverse layup while being fouled by Brook Lopez. Kessler flexed and yelled. He missed the free throw, but his basket had given the Lakers a 91-77 in the third quarter and it kept their momentum going.

Kessler kept up his fantastic play in the fourth quarter, challenging a shot on defense by Rui Hachimura and then running on the fast break to catch a lob from Reaves for a two-handed dunk and a 15-point Lakers lead.

It was also the return of Hachimura, who spent 3 ½-seasons with the Lakers before joining the Clippers this summer on a two-year, $28-million deal. The well-liked Hachimura was shown just how much when the Lakers played highlights from when he played with them.

Clippers forward Rui Hachimura, playing tight defense on Lakers guard Luka Doncic, returned to Crypto.com Arena where played for parts of three seasons. He had 16 points, six rebounds and two steals.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Hachimura had 12 points at the half, doing his part to help the Clippers stay at 64-64.

Before the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick spoke glowingly of how Hachimura played during the preseason for the Clippers.

“They’re running a lot of the same stuff for Rui that they ran for PG [Paul George] and at times Kawhi [Leonard],” Redick said. “He’s playing free and he’s playing ultra-aggressive right now.”

With three minutes and 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Sexton checked into the game, and his first play was a steal.

Sexton missed the first regular-season game and five exhibition games because of lower leg injury. He played 16 minutes and had five points and three steals.

Etc.

LaRavia didn’t play because of a sprained right ankle. LaRavia played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career. His goal was to play in all 82 this season, but he’s already missed his first game and might not be available to play until Sunday at Utah or Tuesday at home against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“We talked last week and mentioned that was one of his goals for the season. He had the same goal last year and he was able to do that,” Redick said. “Play through some stuff at times last year. Wanted to play. We talked to him this morning before shoot-around and I was going to try to give it a go and went to the treatment room and just it’s not there, but he’s hopeful he could be back Sunday, if not Tuesday.”

Prince WIlliam once dreamed about being a policeman before he turned his hand to DJing – but The Prince of Wales has been brutally honest about his talents during a surprise TV interview

Prince WIlliam has revealed his childhood dreams of becoming a DJ live on TV.

He joined Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham on The Graham Norton Show last night. During the episode William was asked whether he had wanted a different career growing up, other than becoming the future King, to which he surprised the audience by saying he had.

His dream role was once to be a policeman, and he even said he wanted to be a DJ. He said: “I did want to be a policeman when I was younger; I thought I could make a good policeman.” Graham interjected saying: “Well, you’re tall.” Then Robert chipped in: “There’s a bit more to it than that mate.”

Graham continued: “Well, you’d look good in the uniform and the hat.” Prince WIlliam added: “I wasn’t on the catwalk. Yeah, being a policeman I thought was quite cool and then I went through a phase of wanting to be a DJ – which didn’t go very well and I came up with a name, I was called DJ Xara with an ‘X’, it wasn’t good.”

Graham asked: “Did you DJ at school parties?” To which Prince William said: “No, I didn’t, I never got that good.”

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The audience is heard laughing along, prompting many royal fans to take to X to comment on the prince’s sense of humour, with many referring to William as “funny”.

One fan commented: “Prince William is articulate, funny and an intelligent decent man,” another added: “Prince William is pretty funny and bet he would look good in a police uniform.”

Another added: “I [red-heart emoji] seeing people realise just how charismatic and funny Prince William is, and that he has absolutely no problem laughing at himself. This clip of him on The Graham Norton Show is the perfect example of that. The poor man was absolutely red in the face from laughing so much.”

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It was less than a month before the Nov. 3 election when Los Angeles city attorney front-runner Marissa Roy realized she’d missed her lucky manicure.

A deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, she had scarcely slept since her team clinched its historic $17-billion settlement with Meta in August. She’d been canvassing hundreds of voters and sounding out scores of deputy city attorneys in her bid to transform the troubled office where she’d launched her career in 2017 into the “largest public interest law firm” in L.A.

Between filming TikTok spots and prepping for formal debates, Roy has been fine-tuning her plans to avenge exploited tenants and claw back stolen wages, tame runaway civil liability, protect victims of child abuse and domestic violence, and join other elected attorneys in lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Nails didn’t make the cut.

“There’s just been too much to do,” Roy said of the chrome gel ritual she inaugurated as a volunteer for Eunisses Hernandez in 2022.

Marissa Roy outside L.A. City Hall. “I wanted the slogan ‘let’s sue it’ — that was violently nixed,” she said of her campaign.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Seen one way, Roy’s talismanic manicure is an object lesson for her fiercest critics: all flash and no substance, evidence the 34-year-old lacks the “gravitas” to be among the state’s most powerful elected lawyers.

But like the iridescent glitter in her campaign-matched chrome polish, the meaning shifts with the viewer’s perspective.

To supporters on the city’s restive left and the clique of California city attorneys eager to add Roy to their group chat, it’s a winking show of solidarity burnished through years of knocking on doors for fellow up-and-coming progressives. It was metallic blue for Hernandez, silver for Ysabel Jurado and ultraviolet for her own historic primary upset in June. Her backers see fierce loyalty reflected in the polish, a ritual she started while hunting salon wage thieves to sue.

“I wanted the slogan ‘let’s sue it’ — that was violently nixed,” Roy said of her campaign.

With her Democratic Socialists of America sass, bright amethyst blazers and Bollywood needle drops on Instagram, the lifelong Angeleno cuts a stark contrast to her rival, Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney, 58, who leapfrogged to a second-place finish in the primaries amid a stoic, law-and-order campaign that sometimes slipped into Spencer Pratt-style dystopian imagery.

McKinney’s boosters point to his extraordinary biography — from penniless orphan to director of special prosecutions in the country’s largest district attorney’s office — and celebrated courtroom prowess as evidence he is better suited to handle the 120,000 violations referred to the city attorney for potential charges every year.

“John has the experience, stature, reputation, and gravitas to do the job and will be both effective and respected,” said former Los Angeles City Atty. Burt Pines. “I do not have the same confidence in her.”

Campaign materials for the Los Angeles city attorney candidate at a canvassing event in Silverlake.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

Roy’s allies counter that prosecuting misdemeanors is only a third of the city attorney’s job — and typically the less complex part. Whereas McKinney has never worked a civil case, Roy has managed multicity litigation and shares the credit for legal victories no attorney could secure alone. In the Meta case, Roy and her team had argued that the social media giant had intentionally designed its products to hook young children and repeatedly misled the public about known risks.

“She was one of the original four team members in California that stayed up until 2 a.m. filing the [Meta] complaint,” said California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. “She helped develop our legal strategy, particularly our deception theory, which was our core theory of legal liability for the case.”

Similarly, while McKinney’s camp paints a lawman of singular personal ability, Roy supporters describe her as brilliant, driven, and eager to lift the best and brightest around her.

“She is tenacious and works around the clock,” said San Francisco City Atty. David Chiu.

She’s also infamously bubbly: When a canvasser door-knocked 9th Circuit Judge Richard Paez, for whom Roy had clerked, he reportedly asked the volunteer to give her a hug.

“She has a natural enthusiasm about her that is infectious,” said Mark Ramos, chair of Los Angeles County Democratic Party. “She’s [always] shown up, and showing up matters.”

Which matters more — individual virtue or collaborative ingenuity — now in effect divides the race for the most abstruse job in local politics: Four of L.A’s former city attorneys have endorsed McKinney, while California’s current top elected lawyers have largely lined up behind Roy.

A head-to-head match with McKinney was not what Roy envisioned last year when she launched her campaign to unseat the incumbent city attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto. After charming L.A.’s major power brokers, she had hoped to win the primary outright and avoid a runoff so she could focus exclusively on the Meta trial in August.

“I had been planning for things to end in June,” she said.

Feldstein Soto was bogged down by scandal and soaring civil liability costs for the city. She also faced criticism for ducking challenges to President Trump’s policies, including the deployment of military troops to Los Angeles last year, a fight the city joined but did not lead.

By early spring, Roy had racked up endorsements from the state’s legal elites and leftist kingmaker Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). She earned the imprimatur of the city’s powerful Democratic clubs and its influential labor unions, while enjoying widespread support from a democratic socialist base.

Marissa Roy, left, candidate for Los Angeles city attorney, and Alyssa Acevedo, with Service Employees International Union canvass in Silverlake.

(Gary Coronado / For The Times)

L.A. voters want “the transformational leadership that they’re seeing in [New York Mayor Zohran] Mamdani, and also in Mayor [Daniel] Lurie in San Francisco,” said L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, a longtime friend of Roy’s and among her earliest endorsers. “Angelenos are increasingly impatient in wanting to see that change come to their city, too.”

Then, in April, Feldstein Soto slipped from unpopular to politically radioactive after hackers stole thousands of LAPD files from her office. That inspired a late-breaking police union endorsement and a surge of corporate cash for McKinney, boosting him to a second-place finish and knocking out Feldstein Soto in a historic rout.

McKinney touts the city attorney’s prosecutor role as a means to stem quality-of-life crimes and curb homelessness. Roy has promised to keep more Angelenos housed and protect their livelihoods through “affirmative litigation” — suits brought against slumlords and exploitative corporations under the state’s Unfair Competition Law.

“When you file these suits, you have complete discretion,” said Pines, the former city attorney who successfully lobbied the state to extend Los Angeles that power in 1977 and watched in dismay as Feldstein Soto left it to whither.

In recent years, affirmative litigation has become an essential tool for defending against punitive federal policy and recovering public funds, Pines and others said.

Seeing the San Francisco city attorney’s office sue to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage — a law that would have stymied her gay younger brother — inspired Roy to give up her elementary school dream of decoding ancient texts to pursue the law.

“Childhood Marissa spent recesses in the library buried in books about ancient Egypt,” Roy said. “It was San Francisco suing — that was when I began to become aware of the power of lawyers.”

Unlike her opponent, Roy grew up comfortably in Monrovia, largely shielded from the sacrifices her family made to afford her an elite education. The daughter of an Indian immigrant mother and a white American father, she graduated from Flintridge Prep and attended University of Southern California on scholarship.

While studying law at Yale, she interned in the affirmative litigation department in the San Francisco city attorney’s office — a program Chiu lauded as “an essential training ground for the next generation of government lawyers” in a recent law review article.

Roy and her supporters say those early experiences cemented her commitment to teamwork, which is central to the less glamorous, more costly side of the city attorney’s job: serving as general counsel for myriad city agencies and legal advisor to City Hall.

“There’s absolutely more collaboration and it’s more significant given the things we’re up against,” said San Diego City Atty. Heather Ferbert, a close ally of Roy’s.

John McKinney, a Los Angeles County prosecutor running against Marissa Roy to become L.A. city attorney, speaks during a news conference on May 5, 2026.

(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)

Ferbert and others pointed to a surge in lawsuits against municipalities over everything from sidewalk trip-and-falls to police misconduct — cases that can lead to seven- or eight-figure payouts.

“If it’s not extremely unusual, it doesn’t make it to the city attorney’s desk,” said Oakland City Atty. Ryan Richardson, who endorsed Roy.

As a deputy city attorney, Roy spearheaded a trio of major wage-theft suits just a month after she was admitted to the bar. Independent expenditure groups supporting McKinney spent more than $350,000 trying to strip her of that title because she was paid by a nonprofit — an common arrangement employed by government law offices across the U.S. — while the city attorney’s office itself gave her permission to use it, and lists her as such in its court filings.

McKinney has since sought to paint Roy as the second coming of George Gascón, the polarizing district attorney who was drubbed in 2024 — a move that assumes most voters are still thinking about Gascón, or are likely to see the graying “godfather of progressive prosecutors” in a raven-haired deputy attorney general.

“The only way you disprove that is by putting your head down and doing the work 10 times harder,” Roy said. “Voters are smarter than that. People in the coalition see these tactics and are tired of them too.”

Meghan Markle is “distressed” following reports that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr. found explicit material involving minors in their father’s possession.

On Thursday, British tabloid the Sun reported that Thomas Jr. claimed he’d found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornography images inside four large boxes at the Cebu, Philippines, home of his father, Thomas Markle Sr., and contacted authorities.

Meghan’s team issued a statement to The Times on Friday, writing that she was “deeply distressed” by the news.

“My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said.

“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she continued, adding, “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them.”

The Duchess of Sussex said that she trusted authorities were “doing the same for other families.”

“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”

Meghan’s relationship with her 82-year-old father has been the subject of media scrutiny since 2018, when she and Prince Harry tied the knot. Thomas Markle Sr. did not attend the wedding.

The Met Police told People that they are looking to confirm the passing of a letter in 2018. The FBI did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment, but told People that the agency is aware of the allegations, will investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law, and “will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities.”

Thomas Markle Sr. denied the accusations on Friday, calling them “bulls—” and “lies.” He told the Daily Mail that he was “shocked” and “hurt” by his son’s claims and that he “could never do” what he’s being accused of.

“It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of. … I have no idea why Tom is trying to destroy me with these lies.”

Thomas Markle Jr. did not immediately respond on Friday to The Times’ request for comment, and Thomas Markle Sr. could not be reached for comment.

The news comes shortly after Meghan and Prince Harry closed their California chapter and returned to England with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5.