Month: February 2026

SYDNEY Sweeney has told how her first bra inspired her new lingerie range.

The Housemaid actress, 28, revealed she was a 32DD at 12.

She told Cosmopolitan: “I remember going to the store to get my first wire bra.

“It was silk and the only bra I felt good in.

“I literally wore it to the point that it had holes in it.”

Her new SYRN range include bras up to size 42DDD.

Sydney said she still had her first bra, adding: “It has stood by my side my entire life.

“I want to make bras that stay with women.”

Sydney last week unveiled her SYRN range with a raunchy campaign.

Sweeney is said to be currently dating US music executive Scooter Braun, 44.

Milo Boyd explored M De Megève, a luxury hotel in the French Alps beloved by the mega-rich that rivals any White Lotus setting

White Lotus is making a comeback for a fourth season, this time heading to the Château de La Messardière – a genuine palace-turned-hotel nestled on 32 verdant acres of jasmine, cypress trees and parasol pines in France’s Saint-Tropez.

Whilst there’s no question that the programme will continue to captivate, excite and astonish on the Mediterranean, the show’s brilliant creator Mike White has overlooked a golden opportunity.

There exists a resort 300km to the north that presents a far more abundant tapestry of historical glamour and nouveau riche intrigue that forms the backbone of the HBO sensation, whilst also providing grounds for introducing a yodelling theme tune.

That destination is Megève and the particular hotel, the M De Megève. The compact ski resort is nestled 1,400 metres up the French Alps, beneath the shadow of Mont Blanc.

OPINION

Milo Boyd

OPINION

Milo Boyd

Although the village of 3,000 might be less renowned than Tignes or Val d’Isère, it remains cherished by the ultra-wealthy and French nobility.

Indeed, Megève’s exceptionally affluent origins trace back to the late 1910s when Noémie de Rothschild – weary of encountering German arms dealers in Switzerland’s Saint Moritz – resolved to place the tiny and rural settlement on the map.

In the 100 years since, dozens of ski lifts have emerged across 400 km of interconnected pistes; several Michelin-starred chefs have established themselves in Alpine life there; and luxury hotels matching those showcased in White Lotus have welcomed the global elite. This January, I managed to slip in amongst the international elite for a weekend at M De Megève, a five-star establishment that belongs to the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World club.

It is a truly enchanting destination.

Upon arrival, a porter swiftly collects your luggage and a beverage is offered as you’re escorted to the crackling fire in the entrance hall. A welcome pairing after travelling from London on Eurostar’s Snowtrain, despite the smooth and agreeable nature of the trip.

Drink finished and cases transported upstairs, it’s time to begin discovering.

The M De Megève comprises 42 rooms arranged around a lengthy reception space that opens into a bar area by the entrance, a bistro at the rear and a fondue restaurant to the side. Friendly staff, many of whom spend their winters grafting in the Alps before heading back to Cannes or Marseille for the summer season, are available to help, converse or simply beam a greeting.

In the intimate Grand Crus de Fondue, they’re prepared to provide some more particular guidance. “How do you like your cheese,” the hotel’s sommelier-style Cheese Chef enquired of my partner and I, before conjuring up a pot of bubbling, stomach-fillingly potent fondue that nearly floored us there at the table.

Who knows what would’ve occurred if we’d chosen the Champagne or pear cider base, rather than playing it safe with a classic white wine blend. Equally scrumptious and more traditional cuisine is offered at the bistro, where we feasted on extraordinary plates of French onion soup, mushroom risotto and sea bream, accompanied by a glass or two of Pommery Champagne.

M De Megève enjoys a special partnership with the Reims château, as it does with Clarins. Visitors are showered with complimentary face creams and balms from the premium French skincare brand, and pampered with its complete range down in the spa.

I genuinely question whether my masseuse, who left me floating on clouds and resolved a weeks-long bout of troublesome skin, was practising sorcery.

The enchantment persisted in the timber alpine lodge-style quarters, where drapes are controlled by a bedside button and the lavatories are delightfully interactive.

“Our Asian and Middle Eastern guests insist on it,” a staff member informed me.

White Lotus producer David Bernad recently dashed hopes of a ski season when he declared, “Mike does not like the cold”.

Fortunately for him, the M De Megève’s sauna, hammam and hot tub are sufficiently steamy to warm his joints and, naturally, provide enough ‘actors in swimsuits’ screen time to satisfy the fans.

Yet it is in a different type of suit that Megève’s visitors are at their finest.

Venture out onto the cobblestones of the village and you’ll discover high-fashion brands aplenty. We’re talking Dior, Hermès, Rolex. We’re talking an average month’s wage to kit out each of the piste posers in a white ski-suit, designer label of choice adorned in diamanté on the back. “Megève is a place to be seen,” a Canadian heir explained in the queue for a drag lift.

And he’s right. What’s so intriguing about the hotel is that, despite sitting just 100m from the Chamois lifts, many guests do not ski. Instead, they come to shop, to parade through the village on horse-drawn carriages, and to telecabin up in platform Uggs to a hillside grill flogging £200 steaks and £9 bottles of Evian.

I adore skiing. For the unmatched physical excitement it provides on days brimming with powder-fresh thrills and stunning panoramas.

And for the opportunity to glimpse into a contrasting realm. A realm of Brits debating whether they’d manage to expense a €5,000 club table whilst tucking into the previously mentioned steak; of an Alpine settlement that hosted Emily in Paris; of sharing ski lifts with multilingual families switching between Italian, French and English.

It represents a realm of sophistication and fascination, practically begging to be White Lotused.

Book it

Rooms can be reserved at en.mdemegeve.com from £479.

Eurostar Snow train tickets for the 2025/26 season start at £99 each way (£198 return) in Standard class, running weekly from Dec 20, 2025, to Apr 5, 2026, from London St Pancras to the French Alps via Lille. Visit eurostar.com/uk-en/train/ski-train.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic ended with a matchup between then-Angels teammates, Shohei Ohtani on the mound against Mike Trout. In a showdown between two MVPs, Ohtani struck out Trout on a 3-2 slider, giving Japan its third WBC championship.

There will not be similar dramatics for this edition. During DodgersFest on Saturday, manager Dave Roberts cleared up one key question heading into spring training and the tournament.

“[Ohtani’s] not gonna pitch in the WBC, but he will be ramping up his arm to get ready for the season,” he said, adding that the player made the call.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Roberts said. “I can’t even say I was relieved. Understanding what he did last year, understanding what he had to go through, to then how best to prepare himself for ’26 to do both, it just seemed like the right decision.”

Ohtani said in November he would participate in the WBC but did not signal at the time whether he would pitch. When Team Japan’s roster was announced Monday, manager Hirokazu Ibata did not say if Ohtani would pitch, only saying they would get a better sense in spring training.

While speaking with reporters before Roberts, Ohtani said he wasn’t sure if he would pitch during the tournament.

“In terms of the World Baseball Classic, I just have to see how my body feels, continue to feel the progression and see what happens so I’m gonna be fully prepared as a DH,” he said.

The expectation going into the season had been he would be able to pitch without restrictions from the start for the Dodgers.

“I’m not going to manage him differently as far as each outing,” Roberts said. “There’s certainly going to be extra time, it’s not a five-day, six-day rotation. So there’s going to be rest in between. But outside of that, it’s not going to be the two-inning, three-inning [start], he’s just going to be used as a normal pitcher.”

In the 2023 WBC, Ohtani won tournament most valuable player with a .435 batting average and 1.86 ERA, helping Japan to the title. Five months later, Ohtani was pulled from a start at Angel Stadium against the Cincinnati Reds for what ultimately was revealed to be a torn UCL.

Ohtani had his second career Tommy John surgery in September and did not return to pitching until last June with the Dodgers.

During his first year on the mound for the Dodgers, Ohtani finished the regular season with a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings. In the playoffs, Ohtani posted a 4.43 earned run average in 20.1 innings over four starts — including one in Game 4 of the NLCS in which he struck out 10 batters while hitting three home runs, a performance Roberts called “probably the greatest postseason performance of all time” and earned him the series MVP.

MLB players like Ohtani and Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto are expected to join Team Japan for exhibition games on March 2. Japan will open WBC play on March 6 against Taiwan.

Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki, who will be returning to the starting rotation after missing most of last year’s regular season because of a shoulder injury, said on Saturday that the Dodgers made him unavailable for the WBC. Sasaki was on Team Japan in 2023, starting two games — including a dramatic semifinal win over Mexico.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials must release Adrian Arias and his 5-year-old son, Liam, from detention, a federal district court judge ruled on Saturday.

U.S. District Court of Western Texas Judge Fred Biery Jr. on Saturday granted a writ of habeas corpus petition naming the father and son.

Biery likened his strongly worded ruling to placing a “judicial finger in the constitutional dike.”

The petitioners “seek nothing more than some modicum of due process and the rule of law,” Biery wrote.

“The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently, even if it requires traumatizing children,” he said.

“This court and others regularly send undocumented people to prison and orders them deported but do so by proper legal procedures,” Biery added.

He accused the federal officers of violating the Fourth Amendment via an unlawful search-and-seizure and said only judicial warrants enable them to arrest or detain people when there is no probable cause to do so.

“Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster,” he said.

“That is called the fox guarding the henhouse,” Biery said. “The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer.”

He ordered the federal government to release both from custody no later than Tuesday.

Former President Bill Clinton appointed Biery to the federal bench in 1993.

Federal officers arrested Adrian Arias and detained Liam while enforcing an administrative warrant for the father on Jan. 20 in the Greater Minneapolis area.

The two were transferred to a detention center in Texas, while awaiting deportation.

Liam’s mother, Erika Ramos, told media that she watched from a window as ICE officers detained her son and partner.

She said they led her son to the door and knocked while her son asked her to open the door, but she wouldn’t because she feared she would be arrested.

“When I didn’t open the door, they took Liam to the ICE van,” Ramos said, adding that she thought the officers were using her son as “bait.”

Ramos said she is pregnant and has another child, whom she feared leaving alone if she had opened the door and was arrested.

Homeland Security officials on Jan. 22 said the ICE officers wanted Ramos to open the door so that they could leave her son with her.

“Our officers made multiple attempts to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her that they would NOT take her into custody.

“She refused to accept custody of the child. The father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him.”

They said the officers’ primary concern was the child’s safety and welfare and that the father is from Ecuador and subject to deportation.

It was early in the morning, and Yakubu Buba stood in front of his house in Gamboru, northeastern Nigeria, looking towards the horizon. He was not waiting for a vehicle. He was waiting for cattle.

From across the Cameroon border, they came in low, patient herds, hooves lifting dust into the air. Yakubu breathed in deeply and smiled.  He enjoys the smell of fresh animal droppings, he says. “It replenishes the soul.”

The herds come daily. “About ten of them,” the 57-year-old estimates. “They are guided into Kasuwan Shanu, where they are loaded onto trucks bound for Maiduguri.”

That same morning, he, too, was headed to Maiduguri. A bean merchant since he was 17, Yakubu began travelling the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road in 1986, importing beans from Cameroon and selling them onward to traders at the Muna Market who supplied to markets across Nigeria.

Gamboru sits on the Nigerian-Cameroon border in the northeast. A few kilometres away is Ngala, which links Nigeria and Chad. Through these borders, traders export processed goods like flour into Cameroon and Chad, Yakubu says. And when crossing back, they would import beans, sesame, and groundnuts. Animals, in whole or in parts, like hides, are the most imported from these countries, he says.

At the Muna Motor Park in Maiduguri, where I met Yakubu, this pattern was once predictable. Vehicles arrived full and left fuller. Mustapha Hauwami, a 47-year-old driver who began plying the route in 1980, remembers when the park felt like a tide. “We transport traders and passengers to Gamboru and Dikwa daily,” he says. “Most of those coming from Gamboru are Chadian traders.” He drove twice a day, sometimes more.

The pattern got interrupted, slowly. Conflict came, and fear crept in. “It became too risky to travel,” Mustapha says. Checkpoints began to pop up, and movement became impossible without military escorts. “There are at least 20 checkpoints on the road,” Mustapha says. “Importing goods became difficult,” Yakubu adds.

Movements became restricted

The effects were uneven. While Maiduguri’s economy tightened under restricted access, border towns like Gamboru adapted in unexpected ways. Cut off from Maiduguri at the height of the Boko Haram conflict, traders there turned outward. “We relied entirely on Chad and Cameroon,” Yakubu recalls.

Over time, goods from Maiduguri began arriving again, but now as just one stream among many. “They became cheaper in Gamboru,” he said. “Goods were coming from both Maiduguri and the neighbouring countries.”

The movement did not stop. It rerouted. The road’s restriction reshaped the advantage, redistributing it. What Maiduguri lost in centrality, border towns gained in flexibility.

Elsewhere, the pattern repeated with variations. On the Maiduguri-Bama-Gwoza road, Muhammad Haruna remembers when nights were just nights. He began driving in 1981, commuting passengers to Bama, Gwoza, Pulka, Yola, and Mubi. “Driving to Bama took at least 40 minutes,” he recalls. “For Banki, Gwoza, and Kirawa, it was one hour and 30 minutes.” There were few checkpoints, he says. And these existed because of criminals. “And travelling to Mubi was three hours, while Yola was not more than five hours.” The roads were free, even at night. “On market days, as many as 200 fully loaded Gulf cars carried traders into these towns,” says Bamai Mustapha, Chairman of the Bama Park National Union of Road Transport Workers.

Here, too, the Boko Haram conflict affected the flow. Most of the roads became inaccessible, forcing drivers to take a long route passing through the forest into Dikwa, before reaching Bama, until it became totally impossible to travel. “After escaping abduction in 2015, I stopped driving,” Muhammad says. “I sold the car and went into trading.”

Some traders shifted focus to Yola, Muhammad says. They would import from Cameroon into Yola instead. “Others import to Jalingo.”

When calm slowly returned, the routes reopened, but with limited access. “In some of the towns, curfew starts early,” says Muhammad. “They close Bama and Konduga by 5 p.m.” “If you leave Maiduguri by 2 p.m. with Gwoza passengers, you must spend the night in Bama.”

Still, it is not totally safe. “There was a time we got stuck for about a week in Konduga, while going to Gwoza, waiting for military escorts,” Muhammad recalls.

There have been recurring attacks and abductions on these routes for about a decade. The Boko Haram terror group has turned to the kidnapping economy as one of its revenue windows. “The most dangerous route is between Gwoza and Limankara,” Muhammad reveals. “The terrorists would plant mines on the roads. You cannot follow the route without a military escort.”

Despite that, they must travel the route. “It leads into Cameroon. We often transport traders and goods imported from Cameroon through Banki, Kirawa, and Pulka into Maiduguri.” At least seven trucks filled with grains enter Maiduguri from Pulka daily, he says. “It used to be around 30.” “This is the same for Gwoza, Madagali, and other towns.” 

The goods coming in, especially grains and animals, are transported onwards to Lagos in southwestern Nigeria and other cities, Bamai says. “They pass the Maiduguri-Damaturu road.”

The fish stopped coming

The story is the same on the Maiduguri-Baga-Monguno road. This is the backbone of Maiduguri’s fish trade. Audu Gambo began plying this route in 1990, transporting passengers, including traders and farmers, to Baga daily. “Driving to Baga used to take only two hours and 30 minutes,” the 54-year-old recalls. “There were few customs and immigration checkpoints, and the roads were good,” he adds. This enabled him to make a full trip twice, he says, until the conflict interrupted this frequency.

“Travelling has become difficult and restricted,” Audu says. “The entrance to Baga closes at 2 p.m.” So, they must leave Maiduguri as early as 8 a.m. “There are at least 30 checkpoints before reaching Baga,” he says. “Most of the drivers here are from Baga. Those of us from Maiduguri rarely travel the route.”

This affected the city’s source of protein. “I stopped going to Baga in 2017,” Abubakar Mustapha, a fish trader, recalls. It was 10 a.m. when I met him at his stall at the Baga Road Fish Market. “If it were before [the insurgency], we would have finished trading by this time,” he says. The influx of fish into the market has reduced. “They were cheaper and in abundance in the past. We used to offload at least five trucks of fish daily in the market.”

When the insurgency peaked, Abubakar recalls, it became one truck in days, until it became too risky to travel. The road became totally inaccessible.

Then the focus shifted to neighbouring countries. “We began importing from Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,” Abubakar recalls. “Fish from Cameroon and Chad are imported through the Maiduguri-Gamboru road. Those from Niger are brought in through Geidam in Yobe State,” and are transported through the Maiduguri-Damaturu road. “At least four trucks from these countries are offloaded daily,” he estimates. However, transporting to Maiduguri became costly. “Each cartoon costs 4,000 to import,” he says. So, traders relocated to Hadejia and Yola. “More than 50 per cent left.”

In the past two years, however, there has been cautious improvement. The market’s population has increased as previously closed roads are now accessible, Abubakar says. “Some traders have returned and they can now directly import from Baga and Monguno. Yesterday, we offloaded four vans. And the day before, it was three. It doesn’t go below or beyond this number.”

Yet, consignments from neighbouring countries make up the majority. “Fishers cannot freely access the water from the shores of Baga and Monguno,” he says. The shore there is one of the strongholds of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terror group. To fish in the water, fishers must pay.

That afternoon, Yakubu Buba boarded a vehicle at the Muna Park back to Gamboru. His beans had been delivered. He has learned to accept delays as the new rules of the road. Still, he remembers it used to be free.

Demond Wilson, who was best known for playing Lamont Sanford, the son of Redd Foxx’s character on the 1970s TV show “Sanford and Son,” died in his sleep at his home in the Coachella Valley on Jan. 30. He was 79.

Wilson’s publicist, Mark Goldman, confirmed that he died from complications related to cancer.

“Demond was surrounded by love throughout his final days,” Goldman said in a statement. “A devoted father, actor, author, and minister, Demond lived a life rooted in faith, service, and compassion. Through his work on screen, his writing, and his ministry, he sought to uplift others and leave a meaningful impact on the communities he served.”

Demond Wilson attends the 2016 Chiller Theater Expo at the Parsippany Hilton in New Jersey on April 22, 2016.

(Bobby Bank / WireImage)

Grady Demond Wilson was born in Valdosta, Ga., on Oct. 13, 1946, and grew up in New York City. His mother, Laura, was a dietitian, and his father, Grady Wilson, was a tailor. Wilson learned tap dance and ballet and appeared on Broadway at just 4 years old. After serving in the Army from 1966 to 1968 in Vietnam, where he was wounded, he made his TV debut in 1971, playing a burglar alongside Cleavon Little in Norman Lear’s sitcom “All in the Family.” That role led to his casting in “Sanford and Son” in 1972, which was notable at the time for having a nearly all-Black cast.

Redd Foxx, left, broods next to Demond Wilson about one of the 3,000 pieces used on the “pleasantly junky” set of “Sanford and Son.”

(NBC)

Although “Sanford and Son” was his most famous role, Wilson also appeared in “Baby, I’m Back,” “The New Odd Couple” and “Girlfriends.” His last TV appearance was in “Eleanor’s Bench” in 2023.

Despite his success, Wilson left acting, sold his Bel-Air mansion and Rolls-Royce and became an interdenominational preacher in 1983.

The change was not surprising given his background. “I was raised a Catholic, was an altar boy, and at 14 I seriously considered becoming a priest,” Wilson told The Times in 1986. When he was 12, his appendix ruptured and he nearly died, leading him to promise to serve God as an adult. “I was always aware that God was the guiding force in my life,” he said.

Disillusioned with Hollywood, Wilson moved his wife and children to what he jokingly called a “respectable, Republican, upper-middle-class” neighborhood in Mission Viejo. He wanted his five children at the time to have “normal childhoods.” “We’ve left the rat race and false people behind,” he said.

Wilson was also an author. He published “The New Age Millennium: An Exposé of Symbols, Slogans and Hidden Agendas” in 1998, and his autobiography, “Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years,” in 2009. He also wrote 11 children’s books.

Wilson is survived by his wife, Cicely; his six children, Nicole, Melissa, Christopher, Demond Jr., Tabitha and Sarah; and his two grandchildren, Madison and Isabella.

After living in London for three years, I moved to a seaside town I’d only visited once before

Following months confined in lockdown with rowdy neighbours and eye-watering rent costs, I chose to swap London permanently for the coast. After roughly three years in the capital, I’d had enough of the noise, chaos and grime that greeted me virtually every day.

Prior to lockdown, the metropolis pulsed with energy. Eateries were heaving, pubs packed with punters, and my neighbourhood coffee spots teemed with commuters each morning.

The capital offered the ideal setting for late nights, sampling exotic dishes and catching up with mates.

Yet when lockdown struck, everything shifted. Like countless others, I became disenchanted with city life.

What had been a vibrant urban centre suddenly felt lifeless, and we found ourselves trapped indoors all day to dodge COVID-19, reports the Express.

Seeing friends or relatives became impossible, and apart from daily supermarket runs and strolls to the nearby park, venturing out was forbidden.

Lockdown prompted many to reassess what mattered most. While I’d previously relished pub crawls and all-nighters, I suddenly yearned for outdoor space, stunning seaside views and crisp air – three elements London sorely lacked.

Even when cafés and restaurants began reopening for takeaways, London’s allure remained elusive for me, prompting a radical choice: I relocated to a coastal town I’d only visited once before. Renting in London remains absurdly pricey, but when I swapped my one-bedroom flat in South East London for a property twice the size in the charming coastal town of Deal in Kent, I hadn’t anticipated pocketing an extra £275 each month.

And the savings didn’t stop there. I’m now situated near an Aldi, where costs are considerably cheaper than the small Sainsbury’s Local that sat at the end of my street in London.

I’d also escaped a draughty, detached Victorian property that had been badly split into flats, meaning my energy bills dropped surprisingly.

While I still pop into London occasionally to catch up with friends and go to events, there are three key reasons I’d never return to the capital:.

1. The cost

It can occasionally feel like simply breathing costs 10p per minute in London. Cash appeared to vanish from my bank account when I resided there, which made saving especially difficult.

Although I could have reined in spending on takeaway coffees, takeaways and dining out, that’s very much part and parcel of the London way of life. Heading out for a couple of drinks with friends could easily become a £100 evening once you factor in travel expenses.

I adored having countless restaurants on my doorstep in London; I’d never sampled Eritrean food before relocating there, for instance, but the variety was occasionally overwhelming. I found myself wanting to sample everything, which wasn’t always feasible when you had rent and bills to cover.

Something many don’t clock about London life is the expense of getting around. Before lockdown, I was fortunate to live relatively near my workplace, yet the daily commute still set me back roughly £10 – money that quickly mounted up.

These days, I’m mostly based at home, with the odd trip into the office. While local transport doesn’t match TfL’s standards, I barely use it except for medical appointments.

I’m now just minutes away from Deal’s shops, cafes and eateries on foot, which has slashed my spending considerably.

2. The noise

The sheer volume of London didn’t hit me until I’d left. That relentless background din becomes your new normal within days of arriving.

When I left, I was genuinely shocked by the silence. I’d grown used to the overground rattling past my back garden, distant sirens wailing, and the neighbours’ telly and chatter filtering through the walls.

Town centre living still brings occasional noise disturbance, but nothing like London’s levels. My biggest gripe now is aggressive seagulls screeching on the roof at dawn during the summer months.

3. The scenery

For me, coastal views are unbeatable. Growing up along Dorset’s shoreline means spotting that brilliant blue line on the horizon just feels right.

Don’t get me wrong, London boasts some stunning vistas. Perching atop Blythe Hill Fields in South London, gazing down at the park and some of the capital’s most recognisable buildings was among my favourite pastimes when I called it home.

Yet, after several years, I found myself yearning for seaside panoramas. I longed for the shore, the ocean and crisp air.

Regardless of how many green spaces I explored in London, the atmosphere always seemed dense and polluted.

Everyone warned I’d regret my choice to relocate to the coastline, but to this day, it ranks among the best decisions I’ve ever made. Don’t get me wrong, there are several drawbacks to seaside living; we’re inundated with holidaymakers during summer, there are fewer amenities, and everyone I know lives much further away, but I’d embrace all of that rather than residing in London.

An anonymous pitcher whose entire life changed with four innings is standing in a crowded Dodger Stadium bullpen in the middle of winter when he hears a voice from the stands.

“Will, thank you so much!” shouts a fan, and underneath his thick beard, the pitcher blushes.

“This is something I’ve never had before,” said Will Klein.

And this is ruining baseball?

On a crowded concourse in the middle of a Saturday morning two months before the start of the season, fans are chugging beers, scarfing Dodger dogs, and even doing a line dance.

The queue at the elevator is endless. The screams from the crowd are constant. Blake Snell is walking along one of the barriers giving every nearby fan — every one — a fist bump.

And this is ruining baseball?

The Dodgers officially opened their doors for the 2026 season Saturday, holding an annual Dodgerfest that has sent a clear message to a landscape of whiners.

This is what winning looks like.

This is why winning is worth it.

The baseball owners will likely lock out the players after this season in hopes of installing a salary cap that will curb the sort of spending that has fueled the Dodgers’ consecutive championships.

They don’t get it. In hoarding their revenue-sharing money, the owners don’t realize the benefits of reinvesting that money in the players and, by extension, the fans.

The Dodgers do that more often, and more effectively, than anyone.

The result Saturday was a mid-winter party that felt different than any of their previous bashes. Some years they spent this day apologizing for their playoff collapses. Last year they spent the afternoon tentatively talking about going back-to-back.

Fans pack into Dodger Stadium for Dodgerfest on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

This year the constraints were off, the party was on, and they all spoke freely of becoming the first time in National League history to win three consecutive World Series titles.

”I don’t mind the ‘three in the air’ as a carrot,” said manager Dave Roberts, adding, “There’s a challenge we’re not going to run from.”

And so the players showed up brandishing hope for this summer while sweetly admitting the emotion that still lingers from last fall.

Klein, who came out of nowhere to rescue the Dodgers with four scoreless innings in the marathon Game 3 of the World Series, was still pinching himself about being recognized in public.

“A guy told me I looked like me,” he said. “I said, ‘Thank you.’”

Then there was Miguel Rojas, finding deeper meaning in his ninth-inning homer that tied the World Series Game 7.

”The most important part is that everybody continues to say that is the best moment that they have in their life, the best moment of sports they watched,” said Rojas. “That makes me feel really good, because we were part of something bigger than just a home run.”

And Rojas said he hears that a lot.

“I waited 20 years in professional baseball to have that moment … something different happened to my life,” he said. “I’m walking around Rome, I’m seeing Dodger fans saying thank you for that home run. It’s crazy, it’s overwhelming.”

Equally overwhelmed was Freddie Freeman, who grew tearful on the stage when talking about hitting the winning homer in the 18th inning of the World Series Game 3 and the impact of winning two titles in his four years here.

“I’m home playing baseball in front of the best fans day in and day out,” he said. “I couldn’t even wrap my mind around coming back and signing here and being part of this. This has blown me away.”

Even the struggling players seemed thrilled to be here, Tanner Scott acting amazingly relaxed when asked for his 2026 goals.

“Not being as bad as last year,” he said. “I was terrible.”

OK, then.

Bottom line, on a midwinter day when most of this country’s major-league baseball stadiums were empty, Chavez Ravine was full of life and wonder and winning.

“Today we see a lot of fans and that really gets me going,” said Shohei Ohtani.

And this is ruining baseball?

“This organization is never ready to be done … they continue to add players, they continue to add talent, that is a good thing,” said Rojas. “We push ourselves … we believe we can always get better.”

Like he said, a good thing.

“I like winning,” said Klein. “People are always going to be jealous of teams that try to win when they feel like others aren’t. Everybody can go out and do the same thing.”

Spring is here, the haters are out, and the Dodgers are ready.

Seeing players here, seeing their energy, obviously seeing the energy of the fans, its certainly time,” said Roberts.

Three-peat, you’re up.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — A northeasterly storm has created blizzard conditions in the Carolinas and triggered state of emergency declarations in North and South Carolina and Georgia on Saturday.

The intensifying storm system is centered over the Atlantic Ocean and near the Carolinas and Georgia coastline after its central pressure dropped by up to 40 millibars over the past 24 hours.

Hurricane-force wind gusts of between 60 mph and 80 mph are contributing to blizzard conditions along the Outer Banks coastal plains areas, and more than 10,000 flights have been canceled through the weekend.

The Hampton Roads area of Virginia also is getting pummeled with wintry weather from the storm system, and the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 7 p.m. EST on Sunday for the commonwealth’s coastal areas and parts of North Carolina.

The winter storm is delivering the most snow in two decades to areas that rarely see significant amounts of snowfall.

Icy road conditions caused hundreds of collisions as of Saturday afternoon, and wave action from the storm’s strong winds and a high tide is threatening to damage or destroy homes along the coast.

The National Weather Service is forecasting between 5 and 9 inches of snowfall and sustained winds of between 33 and 41 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, along the coastal areas of the Carolinas and into neighboring areas in Virginia and northern Georgia.

The snowfall likely will end during the overnight hours, but northwest winds will remain strong, with sustained wind speeds of between 28 and 33 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph into Sunday afternoon.

Although windy, the clouds are predicted to clear during the afternoon hours.

NINETIES classic Cotton Eye Joe blasts out of the speakers as my kids Poppy, six, and Raffy, four, attempt their first ever ski tricks on the “Indian piste”, gliding past cartoon figures and over obstacles like they’ve been skiing for years.

In fact, it’s only their second day. 

And I’ve got Stacey Solomon to thank for this golden memory.

It’s been nine years since I last wore a pair of skis, but watching Stacey and her gang hitting the mountains in BBC1’s Stacey & Joe made me crave a family ski experience.

So we’re on a four-night break with Ski Weekends, in the buzzing French village of Les Gets.

Chalet Girl

Newly spruced-up Chalet Marjorie, with its alpine decor, makes for a brilliant base, just five minutes’ walk from the ski lifts and a 70-minute drive from Geneva airport.

COR BLIGHTY!

I went to English vineyard that feels more like France with cheese experiences

STREAK-FREE

Simple 29p trick to prevent winter sun from highlighting your streaky windows

With table football, a dinky hammam and a large hot tub, we have everything we need post-ski.

The kids share a bunk-bed room, husband Andy and I cosy up in a double, and there’s a piping-hot power shower for our aching muscles.

Each afternoon, showstopper cakes baked by sous-chef Emily welcome us home, while chef Markus rustles up an early kids’ tea, before presenting three courses of treats such as cheesy tartiflette, duck à l’orange and brioche pud for the grown-ups.

Conversation (and wine) flow between guests – this chalet sleeps up to 42 – and sharing stories of skiing triumphs and life’s adversities at the end of the day is special.

We hire boots and skis from Désiré Sport, just seconds from the gondola.

Staff here help the children each morning with huge smiles, and welcome us back each evening with mulled wine.

After two lessons with the lovely (and incredibly patient) Guglielmo, an Italian ski instructor from Maison Sport, the kids are confident enough to join us even higher up the mountain.

Riding the chairlift up above the clouds in prep to race down a stunning tree-lined run together, my heart swells with pride.

These children, who are usually first to complain back home that their legs are tired or that they’re cold, are lapping up every moment in this incredible landscape.

But while Les Gets is part of the mega Portes du Soleil ski area – home to more than 600km of pistes – we’re very happy to take things easy, grabbing cream-laden hot chocolates, £4.50, from Télébar du Mont Blanc, and spending afternoons enjoying the snow in so many other ways.

Sister Sledge

Handily, L’Aprèski Bar sits at the bottom of the slopes and serves up a stonkingly good soundtrack and cracking cocktails next to one of the resort’s sledging spots.

So, as Poppy and Raffy race each other down on sledges borrowed from the chalet, Andy and I toast them with an Aperol Spritz, £10.50 (Bellevue-lesgets.com).

Another afternoon, we stop by the 1.1km-long 4 Season Alpine Coaster, which can hit speeds of almost 25mph.

Opened less than two years ago, it’s ridiculously good fun and the kids beg to ride it again immediately.

Rides cost £8 per sledge (Lesgets.com).

Lungs full of alpine air and kids full of a new kind of confidence, we’ve all adored exploring the mountain and celebrating each other’s wins.

Give me family adventures in Mother Nature’s playground over a theme park any day.