Public murals are among the best ways to honor our heroes, which is why dozens of murals of civil rights icon Cesar Chavez dot California’s landscape. Those images are now deeply upsetting after shocking revelations published in a recent New York Times investigation that allege Chavez sexually abused girls as young as 12 and raped his fellow labor organizer Dolores Huerta.
According to the nonprofit Travel Santa Ana, the Chavez mural, created in 2008 to commemorate the launch day of the city’s KaBoom playground and Jerome Community Learning Garden, is “one of 30 murals around California that was commissioned by a project commemorating Cesar Chavez, initiated by Maria Shriver and former LA Mayor [Antonio] Villaraigosa.”
That’s 30 from a single project — the total number would be impossible to count. It’s hard to overstate the prominence of Chavez’s legacy in California, where his name and likeness are ubiquitous on the sides of bodegas, in parks, on street signs, on schools and memorialized in statues. He was considered a man of the people, which is why murals, created in unassuming local spaces, seemed especially fitting.
It’s now up to the public that revered him and is now grappling with the pain of his misdeeds to decide what should become of his painted image. California lawmakers announced their intention to rename the upcoming Cesar Chavez holiday “Farmworkers Day,” and that idea could be extended to murals of Chavez. These artworks could be remade to instead celebrate the achievements of the many people — especially the women and girls — who marched and fought for the labor movement.
I expect changes to these murals will come swiftly. A statue of Chavez at Fresno State has already been covered and will soon be removed. Maybe it can be melted down to create something new and uplifting. We can paint over the past, but we should never forget.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, looking forward to gazing at a mural of Huerta in the very near future.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY Brokentalkers Through music and dance, the Dublin-based theater company presents “Bellow,” the story of Irish accordionist Danny O’Mahony as he revisits key moments when mentorship, mastery of the craft and preservation of the art form influenced his path. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu
Piano recital with Gilles Vonsattel, solo Camerata Pacifica presents the third program of “Beethoven 32,” a three-year Beethoven cycle in which principal pianist Vonsattel performs all 32 of the composer’s piano sonatas. 7 p.m. Friday. Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Rd., Santa Barbara. 8 p.m. Sunday. The Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. cameratapacifica.org
Sex, Lies and Harold Pinter Two of the playwright’s darkly comic one-acts, “Party Time” and “The Lover,” are paired. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays, through April 26. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
SATURDAY And the Beat Goes On The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles performs American classics from R&B, Motown, gospel and musical theater with Emmy Award-winning host and GMCLA alum Melvin Robert and soprano Nicole Heaston. 8 p.m. Saturday; 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills. GMCLA.org
Cirque Kalabanté’s Afrique en Cirque A celebration of African culture featuring acrobatics accompanied live Afro Jazz, percussion and kora. 8 p.m. Saturday. Carpenter Performing Arts Center, CSULB, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. carpenterarts.org; 3 p.m. Sunday. The Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge. thesoraya.org
Artist Todd Gray has a show at Perrotin.
(Kyungmi Shin)
Todd Gray A solo exhibition of the artist’s photosculptures, “Portals,” continues his interest in the effects of colonization, the built environment and the natural world. Gray will be in conversation with LACMA chief executive Michael Govan on Tuesday. Opening reception, 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday; conversation, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; exhibition continues through May 30. Perrotin Los Angeles, 5036 W Pico Blvd. perrotin.com
Convergence: Contemporary Artists of Armenian Descent More than 20 artists, in work ranging from abstraction to conceptual installations, interrogate the complexities of their cultural identities. Through Aug. 9. Forest Lawn Museum, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale. museum.forestlawn.com
Esther Chung and Ins Choi in “Kim’s Convenience” at the Ahmanson.
(Dahlia Katz)
Kim’s Convenience Playwright Ins Choi stars in this production of his award-winning comedy drama, about a Korean family-run corner store in Toronto, that inspired the TV series. Directed by Weyni Mengesha. Through April 19. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Avenue, downtown L.A. centertheatregroup.org
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ singalong Bop to the beat of this year’s two-time Oscar-winner — animated feature and original song — at this special Academy screening. 11 a.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Miss Velma in the City of Angels In the “Religion and Ritual” section of the ongoing Art of the West exhibition, this new installation features a custom-made dress worn by the charismatic co-founder of the Universal World Church in Los Angeles. Opens Friday. The Autry, 4700 Western Heritage Way. Griffith Park. theautry.org
Ok, Olympia, Let’s Go! Apollo Dukakis wrote and performs the one-act play “You and Me” alongside Kandis Chappell in a multimedia celebration of his sister, the late Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis. Playwright and filmmaker Graham Barnard hosts with special invited guests. 8 p.m. Saturday. 3 p.m. Sunday. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com
Song Of The North Hamid Rahmanian created this multimedia production using shadow puppetry and projected animation to reimagine the Persian epic “Shahnameh” about a fierce heroine and her quest to save her beloved. 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and March 28 to 29; 7 p.m. Saturday and March 29. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave. pasadenaplayhouse.org
The exhibition “Turner & Constable” at the Tate in London is featured in a new documentary on the two British painters.
Turner & Constable Laemmle’s “Culture Vulture” series presents this documentary on two of Britain’s finest artists — J.M.W. Turner and John Constable — their rivalry as very different landscape painters and the current exhibition at the Tate in London. Directed by David Bickerstaff. 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. Monday. Laemmle Glendale, 207 N. Maryland Ave.; Laemmle Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino; Laemmle Monica Film Center, 1332 2nd St. laemmle.com
Vertigo in Concert Sarah Hicks conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing the Bernard Herrmann score for Alfred Hitchcock’s classical psychological thriller live to screen. 8 p.m. Saturday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
SUNDAY Network The American Cinematheque presents screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky’s prescient 1976 media satire for its 50th anniversary and in tribute to actor Robert Duvall. 7 p.m. Sunday. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. americancinematheque.com
Yefim Bronfman The pianist performs selections from Schumann, Brahms, Debussy and Beethoven. Rescheduled from Feb. 11. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Geoff Elliott in “Death of a Salesman” at A Noise Within.
(Daniel Reichert)
Death of a Salesman A Noise Within co-artistic director Geoff Elliott steps into the shoes of Arthur Miller’s beleaguered working man. Through April 19. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. anoisewithin.org
Ebell + LA Festival: Powered by Women A free celebration of art, activism and community spirit featuring performances, classes and crafts. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Ebell of Los Angeles, 741 S. Lucerne Blvd. ebellofla.org
Akinsanya Kambon: The Hero Avenges A conversation between the sculptor known for his work inspired by the Black diaspora, African histories and mythologies, and Hammer curator Pablo José Ramírez, plus the premiere of a new eponymous documentary directed by Gabriel Noguez and Sean Rowry and a book signing of the monograph “Akinsanya Kambon: The Hero Avenges.” 2 p.m. Sunday. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. hammer.ucla.edu
MONDAY Lang Lang Plays Beethoven The piano virtuoso joins the Pacific Symphony for performances of Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” and Egmont Overture, plus Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony, “From the New World.” 8 p.m. Monday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. pacificsymphony.org
TUESDAY Gerald Barry’s ‘Salome’ Thomas Adès conducts the L.A. Phil in the U.S. premiere of Barry’s new opera, based on the Oscar Wilde play. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.laphil.com
WEDNESDAY Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The illustrious troupe performs two alternating programs as part of its exclusive multiyear Southern California residency under the leadership of new Artist Director Alicia Graf Mack. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to March 28; 2 p.m. March 28 to 29. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. musiccenter.org
THURSDAY Level Up! A trans tween feels like she can only be herself in her virtual world in the Latino Theater Company’s world premiere of a resonant, family-friendly play by Gabriel Rivas Gómez. Directed by Fidel Gómez. Previews through April 3. Opens April 4 and runs through May 3. Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. latinotheaterco.org
Arts Anywhere
BroadwayHD Don’t get out to the theater as much as you’d like? This decade-old streaming service could be a viable supplement to your live theater habit. It offers a nice variety of shows from Broadway and the West End, off-Broadway, plays, musicals and virtually anything in between. BroadwayHD: $20 per month or $200 per year.
“Future Relic: Failures, Disasters, Detours, and How I Made a Career as an Artist” by Daniel Arsham.
(Simon & Schuster)
Future Relic: Failures, Disasters, Detours, and How I Made a Career as an Artist Part memoir, part how-to, contemporary artist Daniel Arsham’s new book shares pragmatic advice on things like how to get a gallery, why you need a great lawyer, how to run a creative business and the importance of building a network of successful people. Bursting onto the scene more than 20 years ago with a bold vision across multiple mediums and accruing an eclectic list of big-name collaborators, including Merce Cunningham, Pharrell Williams, Pokémon, Tiffany & Co. and Cleveland Cavaliers, he quickly found both critical and commercial success. In a 2014 review of the artist’s work, Times contributor Sharon Mizota wrote, “Daniel Arsham’s casts of everyday or recently obsolete objects in sand, volcanic ash or various kinds of rock are like premature fossils, or perhaps eerie premonitions of ruin to come.” At a time when everything in the world is starting to feel obsolete, including us, “Future Relic” could find a place on the bookshelves of many would-be creatives. (Think of it as a companion to Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.”). Authors Equity: 320 pp. $30.
Out of Vienna The acclaimed Berlin-based chamber ensemble Leonkoro Quartet, formed in 2019, has released its stellar debut recording after winning a string of prestigious awards across Europe. An exploration of early 20th-century modernism in the Austrian capital, the album features compositions by Alban Berg, Anton Webern and Erwin Schulhoff. Alpha Classics: Available on CD ($19) or download ($9.25).
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Spring is here, and with it many arts and culture entertainment choices.
McNulty has been extra busy lately and has delivered a series of reviews. Harry Potter fans will enjoy his take on Daniel Radcliffe in Broadway’s “Every Brilliant Thing,” which McNulty calls “an ingenious and touching solo performance piece written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe on the subject of suicide — or more precisely, on the ordinary joys that militate against such a drastic step.”
McNulty also dropped in on the Geffen Playhouse to catch “Dragon Mama,” the second installment in a trilogy written and performed by Sara Porkalob about her Filipina American family. “To be frank, I wasn’t sure I was up for a trilogy on Porkalob’s family history. But after ‘Dragon Mama,’ I can hardly wait for ‘Dragon Baby,’ the third and final segment,” McNulty writes.
Pierre Adeli and Adam J. Jefferis in “The Adding Machine.”
(Bob Turton Photography)
Finally, McNulty checks in with the Actors’ Gang, which is running a production of Elmer Rice’s 1923 expressionist satire, “The Adding Machine.” The story, about “an accountant drone aptly named Mr. Zero who, after losing his job to an adding machine, kills his boss and is sentenced to death,” shares uncomfortable modern-day parallels with the threat to workers currently posed by AI, McNulty writes.
Classical music critic Mark Swed got the scoop on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new season — its first without revered music director Gustavo Dudamel. “For the first time in 64 years, the L.A. Phil will be without a music director, and with no one in waiting in the wings. But you may barely notice. In little more than three months, Dudamel, although newly installed as music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic, will be saying hello once again to his old band at Walt Disney Concert Hall for two weeks of Beethoven,” Swed writes.
Workers install the Francis Bacon 1969 “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” oil painting in the David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
I got to watch workers hang a $142.5-million Francis Bacon triptych on the walls of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries. The paintings were gifted to the museum by its late trustee, Elaine Wynn. LACMA’s director, Michael Govan, said that part of her interest in supporting the new building was because she wanted the paintings to eventually belong to the public.
Dance writer Steven Vargas penned an interesting profile of choreographer Jacob Jonas and how his battle with Stage 4 lymphoma deepened his connection to his craft.
The news from the Kennedy Center does not stop coming. Late last week, we learned that President Trump had replaced Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell, who presided over the unfolding chaos at the center for a little over a year, with Matt Floca, the vice president of facilities operations at the center. This week, the Trump-appointed board voted to officially close the venue for two years. Trump had already announced his intentions, so the vote amounted to little more than a rubber stamp.
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Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts — better known as the Soraya — on the campus of Cal State Northridge.
(The Soraya)
The Soraya announced its 2026-27 season, which includes six major debuts: singer and actress Audra McDonald, the Grammy Award-winning Snarky Puppy ensemble, Emmet Cohen’s jazz trio, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the National Symphony Orchestra (which will be roving in the wake of the Kennedy Center closure) and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Also arriving at the Soraya, according to a note from its publicist, “Domingo Hindoyan leads the LA Phil and soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the world premiere of a new, LA Phil-commissioned song cycle from Miguel Farias. Farias’ incandescent new work is paired with Barber’s ‘Medea’s Dance of Vengeance’ and Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony.”
The first-ever museum survey of the legendary Chicana artist Ofelia Esparza (“Ofelia Esparza: A Retropective “) at Vincent Price Art Museum has been extended through May — now you have no excuse to not get yourself out to see it.
Bihar Divas is an annual celebration that marks the foundation day of the east Indian state of Bihar.
Bihar was an important region for Buddhists, with many stupas and pillars erected by the Great Emperor Ashoka as a tribute to the Buddha. The National symbol which adorns Indian currency, the Four-Headed Lion was erected atop an Ashokan Pillar that once stood in Bihar. Bihar can also claim the oldest Hindu temple of India still in use at Mundeswari, which dates back to 625 CE.
Following the Battle of Buxar in October 1764, the British East India Company defeated the Mughal Empire and obtained the rights to administer, and collect revenue or tax for Bihar, Bengal and Odisha.
On March 22nd 1912, Bihar state was carved out from the Bengal Presidency of British India. Orissa also became a state as part of this break-up.
The celebration officially began in 2011 and since then it has become a state festival full of fervour and festivity depicting the image and spirit of Bihar.
Gala functions will be organised across the State. Cultural extravaganzas are being organised at a panchayat (town and village) level to involve people’s participation in large numbers.
To commemorate Bihar’s Foundation Day, the State Government of Bihar organises Bihar Utsav, a fortnight-long cultural festival that showcases art, culture, and heritage from Bihar at Dilli Haat in Delhi.
Los Angeles County’s chief executive officer Fesia Davenport, who has been on medical leave since October, has announced that she will resign next month.
In a LinkedIn post, Davenport said she was leaving county service to “focus on my health and wellness.”
A notice to the Board of Supervisors provided to The Times Saturday said she had decided to step down April 16 “based primarily on hereditary and ongoing health issues initially uncovered late last year, the risks of which have become clearer based on more recent medical testing and consultation with my doctors.”
She said the “extraordinary amount of time and energy” required of the chief executive played into her decision.
“Although I originally assumed that I would be able to return to my post, I now know that I would be unable to do the job as it deserves to be done while also prioritizing my health,” she told the supervisors.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement Saturday saying, “I’m disappointed by Fesia Davenport’s decision to step down. Her dedication and accomplishments over nearly three decades have left a lasting impact on Los Angeles County.”
Davenport, who was appointed to the county’s top job in 2021, received an undisclosed $2-million settlement last summer to compensate for damage to her “professional reputation” from Measure G, a voter-approved ballot measure that will soon eliminate her position.
In a July 8 letter, released by the county counsel in October through a public record request, Davenport said she sought $2 million in damages for “reputational harm, embarrassment, and physical, emotional and mental distress caused by the Measure G.”
Under Measure G, which voters approved in 2024, the county chief executive, who manages the county government and oversees its budget, will be elected by voters instead of appointed by the board. The elected county executive will be in place by 2028.
Measure G “has had, and will continue to have, an unprecedented impact on my professional reputation, health, career, income, and retirement,” Davenport wrote to county counsel Dawyn Harrison. She said it had “irrevocably changed my life, my professional career, economic outlook, and plans for the future.”
At the time the payout was disclosed, Davenport had begun a medical leave, saying at the time she expected to be back to work early this year.
A lengthy email to her staff, posted on LAist, which first disclosed her resignation, said the unspecified “health crisis” has affected three of her siblings and posed risks to her that “have become clearer based on more recent medical testing and consultation with my doctors.”
Her brother Raymond died in 2018 after “experiencing a sudden health crisis,” she said. Last year, two more of her sisters survived the same health crisis, but one will now require 24-hour care for the rest of her life, she said.
“Although I am not out of the woods yet, I am thankful to the Board for granting me the space to focus on my health and to arm myself with the knowledge I needed to make informed decisions,” she wrote.
The office of chief executive issued a statement Saturday saying chief operating officer Joe Nicchitta will continue serving as acting chief executive officer while Davenport remains on medical leave.
“We appreciate Fesia’s nearly three decades of service to Los Angeles County and all that she has accomplished on behalf of its residents and communities,” the statement said.
Davenport listed a number of accomplishments in her letter to the board, including setting up five new departments maintaining the county’s credit rating when other jurisdictions were being downgraded and “balancing the budget while developing a financing plan to compensate sexual assault victims — the largest settlement of its kind in American history.”
That payout has now come under scrutiny after a Times investigation found that some plaintiffs had been paid to join the class-action lawsuit.
Lakers star LeBron James played in his 1,612th NBA regular-season game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, surpassing Robert Parish’s mark of 1,611 games.
ORLANDO — Appearing in his 1,612th NBA regular-season game Saturday, LeBron James claimed the league’s all-time record for games played, passing Hall of Famer Robert Parish.
The 41-year-old James started for the Lakers against the Orlando Magic on Thursday with the Lakers currently on a season-best eight-game winning streak. James is averaging 21.3 points and 6.9 assists per game this season.
With the Lakers (45-25) surging up the Western Conference standings to third place during this winning streak, James has averaged 20.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists on 64.6% shooting from the field during the last five games.
Already playing his record 23rd NBA season, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer has also moved up to first in all-time field goals made, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this month.
“He’s got to be insane,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said when James tied Parish’s record Thursday against the Miami Heat. “Can’t be normal. Things going on in his brain to do it so well at such a high level, there’s nothing left to prove, but he finds something to continue to motivate him.
“It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s a beautiful thing to have him as one of the leaders of this team, because if there’s anybody in the world that could take games off, mentally not be there in a film session, practice, whatever it might be, it couldn’t be him, and that’s not how he’s wired.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticised what he called the return of a colonial approach towards developing nations during a summit in Colombia.
But while Lula did not mention United States President Donald Trump in his remarks, he gestured at actions undertaken by the Trump administration, including the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the fuel blockade in Cuba.
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“It’s not possible for someone to think that they own other countries,” Lula said, in an apparent reference to US policy.
“What are they doing with Cuba now? What did they do with Venezuela? Is that democratic?”
Lula delivered his remarks at Saturday’s summit for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which featured a high-level forum with delegates from Africa.
He told delegates that their countries had already experienced being plundered for gold, silver, diamonds and minerals.
“After taking everything we had, now they want to own the critical minerals and rare earths that we have,” Lula said, without specifying who “they” might be. “They want to colonise us again.”
The left-wing Brazilian president also criticised the ongoing war launched by the US and Israel against Iran.
He drew a parallel between that conflict, which began on February 28, and the US-led Iraq war, which began in 2003 on the pretext of eliminating “weapons of mass destruction”.
“Iran has been invaded under the pretext that Iran was building a nuclear bomb,” Lula said, before pivoting to the US campaign in Iraq, which resulted in the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
“Where are Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons?” Lula asked. “Where are they? Who found them?”
A history of intervention
Washington’s history of intervention in Latin America goes back more than 200 years to when then-President James Monroe claimed the hemisphere as part of the US sphere of influence.
While large-scale, overt US involvement in the region mostly petered out after the Cold War, Trump has rekindled the legacy.
Since assuming office last year, Trump has launched boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports, and gotten involved in electoral politics in Honduras and Argentina.
Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods last year, citing the trial against the country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, as a motive. The US has also shown keen interest in Brazil’s rare earth deposits.
Then, on January 3, US forces abducted and imprisoned Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, flying him to New York to face drug and weapons charges.
While such actions have thrilled right-wing leaders across the continent, they have raised fears among left-wing politicians, who have voiced grave concerns over what they see as US bullying.
“We cannot allow anyone to interfere and violate the territorial integrity of each country,” Lula said Saturday.
Frustration with the UN
Lula, who has said he will run for a fourth, nonconsecutive term in Brazil’s upcoming October elections, also criticised the United Nations for its inability to stop multiple conflicts around the world.
“What we are witnessing is the total and absolute failure of the United Nations,” he said, pointing to the situations in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran.
He called, once again, for reform of the UN Security Council, which is mandated with ensuring international peace and security. But it has failed to stop major conflicts because of the veto power of its five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
There have been decades of efforts to reform the Security Council. But they have all been unsuccessful.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whom the US Drug Enforcement Administration has designated a “priority target”, echoed Lula’s condemnation of the UN.
The body “is acting in impotence, and that is not what it was created for. It was created after World War II precisely to prevent wars. And yet, what we have today is war,” Petro said at the summit.
But the world needs the UN to provide climate solutions and curb global warming, Petro said.
“The more serious humanity’s problems become, the fewer tools we have for collective action. And that path leads only to barbarism.”
Relatively few presidents and prime ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean attended the summit in Colombia, a sign of the continent’s deep divisions.
Those present included the presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Burundi and Colombia, as well as the prime ministers of Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, along with deputy ministers, foreign ministers and ambassadors.
Gladiators host Bradley Walsh left his son in hysterics when he was ambushed by a Gladiator live on air, who proved the presenter most definitely doesn’t have ‘nerves of steel’
BBC Gladiators grinds to a halt as Bradley Walsh screams when he’s ambushed live on air(Image: BBC)
Bradley Walsh screamed live on air during BBC’s Gladiators, forcing the game show to abruptly halt as he lost his cool thanks to an ambush. The Chase host was presenting the second semi-final of the endurance show with his son Barney when he was taken by complete surprise by Gladiator Fury.
Host Bradley had just been telling the audience how he has “nerves of steel”, when he was blindsided by the competitor. Bradley said: “This next event, our contenders need nerves of steel. Like me.”
Playing along in the scripted exchange, Barney exclaimed: “You, nerves of steel?” Bradley doubled down, saying: “I don’t get rattled by anything. Nothing phases me Barnes.”
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But immediately proving Bradley wrong, Gladiator Fury could be seen creeping up behind him, before bursting a balloon right next to him. Bradley screamed out in fear, before saying: “Next…” in a bid to compose himself while looking visibly shaken.
Barney and Fury both belly-laughed as they watched the usually calm TV star get himself together. “You didn’t tell me about that did you,” he laughed as he turned to the Gladiator – clearly still shaken but being a good sport about the prank.
Barney found the whole thing hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing as he attempted to bring the programme back to order. He continued: “Time for the next event,” before high-fiving the athlete.
Moving on from Bradley’s scare, the show cut to The Wall, which saw female semi-finalist and firefighter Millie take on the Gladiator Sabre. But unfortunately for Millie, she was unsuccessful, failing in just 20 seconds.
Emily was up next, as she went head-to-head with Comet, coming out on top as she won in 33 seconds. The same event saw the men both losing to the Gladiators – Shaun took on Hammer, and Josh was up against Nitro. Shaun lasted for 28 seconds, with Josh doing marginally better, coming in at 32 seconds.
Emily eventually emerged victorious overall, meaning she bagged a place in the final, which will air on Saturday, March 28. She will be joined by the first semi-finalist Naomi, with both women hoping to win the competition.
It comes after last week, Bradley was shocked again and the audience booed when he was sternly ordered to “be quiet” by the referee. The presenter was questioning the rules of one of the challenges on the BBC show, when ref Mark Clattenburg snapped: “Be quiet!” Unimpressed, the fans started booing as Mark wagged his finger at the TV star.
The clash took place during last Saturday’s semi-final (March 14), as contenders Mo and Finn went up against the Gladiators in a bid to secure a spot in the final of the current series. Mo was marked down for dropping a ball during the Collision game, telling Bradley afterwards that he thought he should have got the point anyway. “I think I got disqualified with one point. I should have been allowed that,” he said.
Turning to Mark, Bradley asked if he could clarify the situation, saying: “Please explain what’s going on there, please?” The ref replied: “You’ve dropped the ball on the bridge. That’s against the rules.”
Looking puzzled, Bradley wondered if there could be a loophole, asking: “There’s a case to be said that if you drop the ball and then you regain it and catch it? I mean, seriously.”
However, pointing his finger at him, the ref snapped: “Bradley, be quiet! The rules are the rules,” he went on as the crowd erupted into a chorus of loud boos. Smirking at the audience, Bradley muttered about Mark: “He’s got out of the wrong side of the bed today.”
In search of the perfect reset, Deputy Editor Ellie O’Mahoney and Art Director Laura Cunningham both tried different adults-only retreats.
The spiritual getaway with Kim Kardashian’s psychic in St Lucia proved magical for Ellie, while Ibiza offered the perfect couple time for Laura and her husband.
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LUCIA SELF
St Lucia is a Caribbean island paradiseCredit: Alan CopsonDine with your feet in the sand at Malabar Beach ClubCredit: Mikael Lamber
FLYING into the Caribbean island paradise of St Lucia, I can see why it’s been chosen as the destination for a psychic retreat.
The mystical double mountains of the Pitons loom out of the mist, and I wonder what I’m going to discover about myself.
I’ve signed up to a four-day Spiritual Awakening retreat at adults-only, all-inclusive resort StolenTime, a sister property to St Lucia’s famous wellness resort, the BodyHoliday.
Set on the island’s longest white-sand beach, on its north-west coast and within seven acres of beautiful tropical gardens, StolenTime has 100 guest rooms and my veranda suite offers the most unreal view over the palm trees.
The bed is absolutely gigantic and one of the comfiest I’ve ever tried, plus there’s a super-spacious bathtub, too.
As I sit on the love seat on the huge veranda, I gaze at the sky-blue sea while tropical birds chirrup, and it strikes me that this is my idea of total heaven.
READING THE ROOM
After waking early and making the most of my jet lag by heading straight to the beach to jump into the bath-warm sea, it’s time for the group’s first session.
The retreat is run by Jayne Wallace, one of the UK’s leading psychics, who has performed readings for both Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, at home, no less.
Workshops include aura drawings and how to connect with crystalsCredit: francescoridolfi.comHead to the beach to jump into the bath-warm sea
She’s far from your stereotypical woo-woo type – 6ft tall with a Cockney London accent, she’s straight-talking, and our group of six are all champing at the bit for a personal reading from her.
But first up is a workshop on flower psychometry, AKA flower readings. We each pick a flower and give it to a partner, who then has to describe what the bloom tells us about the picker.
It’s obviously not the most scientific process, but after a stressful few months, it is incredibly restorative staring at petals and trying to find out more about my fellow travellers.
Other workshops include aura drawings, how to connect with crystals and, my favourite, moon manifestation, which involves writing down our heart’s desires, then lighting bits of paper and sending them skywards in lanterns.
We cackle as the lanterns don’t quite do what we want them to. I’m pleased to say, my personal reading with Jayne was worth the wait in the end.
And while I’m not going to divulge all the juicy details, there were a few things she got spot-on, including how wonderful my daughter is! Her readings also really seemed to comfort other members of the group.
JURASSIC JAUNTS
When we’re not tuning into our psychic selves, the hotel offers everything for the stressed-out soul – from yoga and Pilates to water-skiing, pickleball and archery.
There are two swimming pools and a lazy river, and each morning I head to the beach to grab fresh coconut water straight from the source, before digging into pastries, freshly made omelettes and delicious papaya at the buffet breakfast.
There are two swimming pools and a lazy riverCredit: Supplied by hotel PRThe bed was absolutely giganticCredit: ALEX LUKEY
Come dinner, I dine with my feet in the sand at Malabar Beach Club and feast on treats like jerk pork rillettes with prunes and pancetta, and chips, of course!
Puds include roasted cashew nut tart with amaretto and beetroot ice cream, which sounds odd, but is divine.
On the last day, we take a four-hour boat trip, £56 per person, to spy the Pitons – think Jurassic Park views – and snorkel in coves. I gasp as I see a squid swim among the coral and coloured shoals of fish.
Later, we head to StolenTime’s champagne bar for a final toast. As I sit on a swing chair suspended from a 150-year-old samaan tree, its huge branches adorned with fairy lights, it feels as if I’ve found magic.
MORE THAN ALL WHITE
As the sky turns golden, we paddle into an atmospheric coastal cave, and I can’t help but mouth “wow” to my husband Barney, before promptly toppling off my paddleboard and splashing into the warm waters of the Med.
We’re on a two-hour guided sunset tour from our dreamy digs, the adults-only retreat of Cala San Miguel in northern Ibiza.
Cala San Miguel in northern IbizaCredit: SuppliedThe resort offers a host of complimentary wellbeing activitiesCredit: Supplied
Just hours in, we’re already feeling more zen than we have in months – as two exhausted parents of three children under 10, we’re enjoying some much-needed couple time here.
The resort offers a host of complimentary wellbeing activities, including painting, guided hikes and mornings of yoga and sound healing.
Succumbing to the sound of gentle bongs and rain sticks make for the perfect start to any day.
The decor is all soft linens and natural wood tones, and a short stroll through lush gardens brings us to the private sandy beach – we spend our days flitting between here, the three pools and the seven eateries.
For lunch, poolside bar Calido serves up Asian-fusion dishes, such as crispy prawns with kimchi sauce, £16.
By night, its terrace transforms into La Savina, with succulent roasted poussin, £28, that we pair with sangria, £14 a glass.
The decor is all soft linens and natural wood tonesCredit: Supplied
But high above the bay sits Italian restaurant Da’mar, which wins for its stunning views and its gorgeously garlicky fettuccine puttanesca, £21.
Our favourite afternoons are spent at the Beach House right on the sand, tucking into fried squid, £21, creamy omelette with the freshest of red prawns, £19.50, and huge cuttlefish paella served straight from the pan, £28.
On our last evening, as we sink into a massive bean bag for a movie night under the stars, there’s the bonus soundtrack of waves lapping the shore, and we’re already planning our return.
B&B stays at Cala San Miguel Ibiza Resort cost from £193 per night (Calasanmiguelresort.com).
FYI
All-inclusive stays at StolenTime cost from £430 per night. The next Psychic Sisters StolenTime retreat is planned for August 2026 (Stolentime.com/psychicsisters).
One day at an Idaho hospital, half the newborns Dr. Tom Patterson saw didn’t get the vitamin K shots that have been given to babies for decades to prevent potentially deadly bleeding. On another recent day, more than a quarter didn’t get the shot. Their parents wouldn’t allow it.
“When you look at a child who’s innocent and vulnerable — and a simple intervention that’s been done since 1961 is refused — knowing that baby’s going out into the world is super worrisome to me,” said Patterson, who’s been a pediatrician for nearly three decades.
Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine preventive care for babies.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates for that vaccination at birth dropped in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are refusing the eye medication.
“I do think these families care deeply about their infants,” said Dr. Kelly Wade, a Philadelphia neonatologist. “But I hear from families that it’s hard to make decisions right now because they’re hearing conflicting information.”
Innumerable social media posts question doctors’ advice on safe and effective measures like vitamin K and eye ointment. And the Trump administration has repeatedly undermined established science. A federal advisory committee whose members were appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a leading anti-vaccine activist before joining the administration — voted to end the long-standing recommendation to immunize all babies against hepatitis B right after birth. On Monday a federal judge temporarily blocked all decisions made by the reconfigured committee.
One common thread that ties together anti-vaccine views and growing sentiments against other protective measures for newborns is the fallacy that natural is always better than artificial, said Dr. David Hill, a Seattle pediatrician and researcher.
“Nature will allow 1 in 5 human infants to die in the first year of life,” Hill said, “which is why generations of scientists and doctors have worked to bring that number way, way down.”
Vitamin K’s importance
Babies are born with low levels of vitamin K, leaving them vulnerable because their intestines can’t produce enough until they start eating solid foods at around 6 months old.
“Vitamin K is important for helping the blood clot and preventing dangerous bleeding in babies, like bleeding into the brain,” said Dr. Kristan Scott of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, lead author of the JAMA study.
Before injections became routine, up to about 1 in 60 babies suffered vitamin K deficiency bleeding, which can also affect the gastrointestinal tract. Today the condition is rare, but research shows that newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop severe bleeding than those who do.
Hill has seen what can happen.
“I cared for a toddler whose parents had chosen that risk,” the Seattle doctor said. The child essentially had a stroke as a newborn and wound up with severe developmental delays and ongoing seizures.
At a February meeting of the Idaho chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, doctors said they knew of eight deaths from vitamin K deficiency bleeding in the state over the preceding 13 months, said Patterson, who is president of the chapter.
Infections prevented by other newborn measures can also have grave consequences. Erythromycin eye ointment protects against gonorrhea that can be contracted during birth and potentially cause blindness if untreated. The hepatitis B vaccine prevents a disease that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis.
Even if a pregnant woman is tested for gonorrhea and hepatitis B, no test is perfect, and she may get infected after testing, said Dr. Susan Sirota, a pediatrician in Highland Park, Ill. Either way, she risks passing the infection to her child.
Why are parents refusing routine care?
Parents give many reasons for turning down preventive measures, including fear that they might cause problems and not wanting newborns to feel pain.
“Some will just say they want more of a natural birth philosophy,” said Dr. Steven Abelowitz, founder of Ocean Pediatrics, which has three clinics in Orange County. “Then there’s a ton of misinformation. … There are outside influences, friends, celebrities, nonprofessionals and political agendas.”
Abelowitz practices in an area of the county with about an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats.
“There’s more mistrust from the conservative side, but there’s plenty on the more liberal side as well,” he said, “It’s across-the-board mistrust.”
Social media provides ample fuel, spreading myths and pushing unregulated vitamin K drops that doctors warn babies can’t absorb well.
Doctors in numerous states say parents refusing vitamin K shots often also decline other measures. Sirota, in Illinois, encountered a family that refused a heel stick to monitor glucose for a baby at high risk for having potentially life-threatening low blood sugar.
Care refusals aren’t a new phenomenon. Wade, in Philadelphia, said she’s seen them for 20 years. But until recently, they were rare.
Twelve years ago, Dana Morrison, now a Minnesota doula, declined the vitamin K shot for her newborn son, giving him oral drops instead.
“It came from a space of really wanting to protect the bonding time with my baby,” she said. “I was trying to eliminate more pokes.”
Her daughter’s birth a couple of years later was less straightforward, leaving the infant with a bruised leg. Morrison got the vitamin K shot for her.
Knowing what she does now, Morrison said, she would have gotten it for her son, too.
Efforts to persuade
Doctors hope to change minds, one parent at a time. And that begins with respect.
“If I walk into the room with judgment, we are going to have a really useless conversation,” Hill said. “Every parent I serve wants the best for their children.”
When parents question the need for the vitamin K shot, Dr. Heather Felton tries to address their specific concerns. She explains why it’s given and the risks of not getting it. Most families decide to get it, said Felton, who has seen no uptick in refusals.
“It really helps that you can take that time and really listen and be able to provide some education,” said Felton, a pediatrician at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Ky.
In Idaho, Patterson sometimes finds himself clearing up misconceptions. Some parents will agree to a vitamin K shot when they find out it’s not a vaccine, for example.
These conversations can take time, especially since the parents doctors see in hospitals usually aren’t people they know through their practices.
But doctors are happy to invest that time if it might save babies.
“I end every discussion with parents with this: ‘Please understand at the end of the day, I’m passionate about this because I have the best interest of children in my mind and heart,’” Patterson said. “I understand this is a hot topic, and I don’t want to disrespect anybody. But at the same time, I’m desperately saddened that we’re losing babies for no reason.”
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is enjoying an incredible season, having scored 47 goals in all competitions for the German side, and will lead the line for England in North America.
The question is who acts as his deputy?
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the joint top-scoring English player alongside Danny Welbeck on 10 goals before the latter got his double and he has been called up to Tuchel’s squad.
The Leeds striker had an impressive run of form with seven goals in six games towards the end of 2025 but went into Saturday’s game against Brentford on the back of one goal in his previous eight games.
Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke was also called up but he has just three Premier League goals this season and is working his way back from a long injury lay-off.
Both have the profile to replace Kane but don’t have the form that Welbeck finds himself in.
“Welbeck is very unfortunate not to get the call-up,” Rooney added. “He’s 35 years of age but is showing no signs of slowing down.
“I think it was probably between him and [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin so he’s just missed out – but he’s having a fantastic season.”
Match of the day pundit Alan Shearer added:“He can count himself really unlucky he’s not in the squad considering the form he is in and the number of goals.
“Solanke has got three goals, Calvert-Lewin has got two in the last 12. I think he’s really unlucky not to be in that 35-man squad.”
Despite his omission, Hurzeler believes Tuchel will make the right call when it comes to naming his England World Cup squad.
“England have a really good German coach and he will make the right decisions,” he said.
He said it is vital to judge Welbeck on his importance “beside the pitch” and in creating “group togetherness”, adding: “That can be crucial for a World Cup.”
An Iranian missile has struck the southern Israeli cities of Dimona, home to the country’s main nuclear facility, and nearby Arad, wounding dozens of people and causing significant damage, in one of the most dramatic escalations since the US-Israel war on Iran began.
Iranian state television quickly reframed Saturday’s strikes as a “response” to what it said was a strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment complex earlier in the day, marking a stark new phase of tit-for-tat targeting in the conflict, now in its fourth week.
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Nearly 100 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel’s emergency services, including a 10-year-old boy who paramedics said was in critical condition with multiple shrapnel wounds. Seven others are also in critical condition.
An Israeli military spokesman said Israel’s air defence systems activated during the attacks, but failed to intercept some of the missiles, even though they were not “special or unfamiliar”.
The country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the attacks which wounded nearly 100 people, called it a “difficult” evening for Israel, and again vowed to continue attacking Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had received no indication of damage to the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center at Dimona itself, and that no abnormal radiation levels had been detected in the area.
The nuclear watchdog said it was closely monitoring the situation, with Director General Rafael Grossi urging that “maximum military restraint should be observed, in particular in the vicinity of nuclear facilities”.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said that three separate impact sites had been identified across Dimona, with one three-storey building having completely collapsed and several fires breaking out.
Witness footage verified by Al Jazeera, which is banned from operating inside Israel, showed a missile striking the city, followed by a large explosion.
Arad, another town near the nuclear facility, was also directly attacked, Israel’s firefighting service said in a statement, with extensive damage reported in the city centre.
“In both Dimona and Arad, interceptors were launched that failed to hit the threats, resulting in two direct hits by ballistic missiles with warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms”, firefighters said.
School in the surrounding Ramat Negev Regional Council was cancelled for the following day.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military announced it had struck a research and development facility at Tehran’s Malek Ashtar University, which it said had been used to develop components for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The military said it “will not allow the Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons”.
Iran said that the US and Israel had targeted its Natanz enrichment complex that morning, though it reported no radioactive leakage.
An unnamed Israeli official, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, denied that Israel was responsible for the Natanz strike, but the Israeli army has not released a full statement on the matter.
Dimona has been at the heart of Israel’s nuclear programme since its research centre, built in secret with French assistance, opened there in 1958.
Eye-for-an-eye approach
Israel is believed to have developed nuclear weapons by the late 1960s. Its policy of deliberate ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying their existence, was part of a deal quietly struck with Washington, which judged that an open declaration would risk triggering a regional arms race.
Abas Aslani, a senior fellow at the Centre for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, told Al Jazeera that Iran has been pursuing an eye-for-an-eye approach designed to re-establish deterrence.
“Tehran wants to reduce the gap between words and actions,” he said, adding that Iran’s goal was to make its threats credible enough to underpin a new long-term security arrangement, not to simply force a ceasefire, but establish deterrence.
The attacks came as the broader war grinds through its fourth week.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Iran since the US and Israeli strikes began on February 28, including more than 200 children.
Iran has retaliated across the region, launching what it described as its 70th wave of attacks on Saturday, targeting Israeli and US military positions, as millions of Iranians marked the Persian New Year, Newroz, and Eid al-Fitr under the shadow of war.
The move follows a drone strike on the Red Sea port of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main oil export outlet, after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
Published On 21 Mar 202621 Mar 2026
Saudi Arabia has given Iran’s military attache and embassy staff 24 hours to leave the kingdom due to “repeated Iranian attacks” on its territory.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that it had declared personae non gratae the “military attache of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Kingdom, the assistant military attache and three members of the mission staff”.
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The move comes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has seen Tehran target Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours hosting US military assets with increasingly damaging retaliatory attacks on civilian hubs and energy facilities, unleashing chaos across the region and roiling global energy markets.
Saudi Arabia, which holds the world’s second-largest proven crude oil reserves, has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the war, the vast majority of which have been intercepted, authorities have said.
Among the attacks, energy facilities in the east of Saudi Arabia have been repeatedly targeted, as well as the capital, Riyadh, where the US Embassy was hit by two drones earlier this month.
On Thursday, oil loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu were disrupted after a drone fell on the nearby Aramco-Exxon refinery, SAMREF.
The port is the only export outlet for Saudi Arabia after Iran effectively blocked tanker traffic leaving the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz.
Saturday’s statement came after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said earlier in the week that trust in Iran had been “shattered”, asserting his country’s right to defend itself.
The foreign minister said that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states had “very significant capacities and capabilities that they could bring to bear should they choose to do so”.
Saudi Arabia’s relations with Iran have historically been rocky, but the two countries embarked on a Beijing-brokered rapprochement three years ago.
On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said that continued Iranian attacks would lead to further escalation and have “significant consequences” for current and future relations.
The statement followed Qatar’s decision on Wednesday to declare the Iranian Embassy’s military and security attaches in Doha as personae non gratae, along with their staff.
NEVER mind the spotlight – it seems Harry Styles prefers a different type of glow when he is not on stage.
I have been told that the fitness-obsessed pop star has splashed out £20,000 on an infrared sauna for his North London home.
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Fitness-obsessed Harry Styles is following in the footsteps of Ronaldo with his latest purchaseCredit: ErotemeThe former One Direction star has splashed out £20,000 on an infrared sauna for his North London homeCredit: Getty
The Watermelon Sugar singer is following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ellie Goulding and Lady Gaga in snapping up the very latest wellness status symbol.
A source said: “Harry is incredibly health-conscious these days.
“He loves running and needs to be on top of his health during his upcoming tour. He’ll be able to use the sauna in between shows to help repair his muscles.
“He loves running now and it’s the perfect antidote to training.”
The high-tech light therapy helps reduce pain, blood pressure and inflammation, as well as burning calories.
Harry will grace the May cover of fitness mag Runner’s World and completed the Berlin Marathon in under three hours last September.
He told the mag: “During my early days in One Direction, we spent so much time inside hotels and venues that there are countries I’ve been to that I didn’t really experience.
“So when I travel now, it’s about committing to going outdoors to see some stuff, whether that’s running or walking. You experience places in a whole different way.”
A source said: “Madonna prefers to work in the evening, so the crew filmed late into the night to make the shoot happen.”
Our sister column Biz revealed how Madonna, right, spent four days and nights holed up at Black Island Studios in West London to film the X-rated music video.
It will accompany the first single from the new album, which will be a sequel to her 2005 record Confessions On A Dancefloor.
And I have heard whispers that Madonna has also recorded a track for The Devil Wears Prada 2 film.
A source said: “Madonna’s hit song Vogue was used in the trailer and the film is set to be a massive hit.”
The comedy – which stars Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep – is out on May 1.
Judge Amanda Holden pressed her golden buzzer last night for the group, who were founded by Jezza.
Simon said: “He has a responsibility to be there. Mind you, can he even sing?”
Robbie comes undone
ROBBIE WILLIAMS is in the best shape of his life after losing weight.
Even so, the Come Undone hitmaker, who is 52, has revealed he has been struck by a host of physical issues.
He told radio station Gold: “There’s always something going on for the middle-aged man. We used to be elasticated silly putty, and now we are frozen silly putty that just snaps.
“I did my groin in by sitting down. I did that for the first time this year – sat on a testicle.
“I put my back out by turning around – turning around! You know, what you are supposed to do as a human.”
The star added: “I’ve got arthritis in my facet joints in the base of my spine and I’ve got two discs that are popping out – one in the neck, one in the lumbar.”
Robbie is heading to Dusseldorf in June for the next leg of his Britpop world tour.
I hope there’s a good physio on the bus.
Aitch Surrey not sorry
I’m A Celeb star Aitch has splashed out on a six-bedroom mansion in SurreyCredit: Splash
I can reveal that the I’m A Celeb star has splashed out on a plush six-bedroom mansion in Camberley, Surrey, for £1.6million.
A source said: “This house is a dream come true for Aitch and shows how hard he works.”
Aitch recently shared a glimpse of his new garden to his 2.9million Instagram fans, captioned: “Go step closer to that goal cos why not.”
The move comes after proud Northerner Aitch revealed that his second album 4 was inspired by his Manchester postcode M40.
Speaking last year, he said: “Since we were kids, when we used to take pictures, we always used to throw fours up.”
Lily furs night show in West End
Lily Allen was spotted in specs and a fur-trimmed coat as she left the London PalladiumCredit: Splash
LILY ALLEN looks like she’s raided the costume department in specs and a fur-trimmed coat as she leaves the London Palladium in London’s West End following the Friday night performance of her latest album.
An onlooker revealed she headed into a cab with her fella, writer and artist Jonah Freud.
The singer has won rave reviews for the tour, where she performs her fifth album West End Girl in its entirety each night.
A source said: “Fans have been blown away by her career-defining work.
“She’s on the best form and is loving being back on stage.”
Caught Live: Don’t myth out on hit
Former X Factor star Rachel Adedeji stars as Persephone in Hadestown at the Lyric TheatreCredit: Getty
THIS odyssey through the underworld, led by former X Factor contestant Rachel Adedeji, offers a spellbinding love story.
Rachel shines as Persephone, delivering a vocally rich performance, while leads Bethany Antonia and Marley Fenton stand out.
After a storming run on Broadway, this tragedy remains compelling and haunting as ever.
The musical blends two ancient Greek mythic love stories – Orpheus and Eurydice, and King Hades and his wife Persephone.
Eurydice travels to Hadestown after being convinced by Hades that she will have a better life.
Desperate to keep her safe, her lover Orpheus follows her to bring her back to the living world.
Dancing On Ice pro Vanessa Bauer, actress Mia McKenna-Bruce, Vanessa Feltz and actor Mark Bonnar attended the gala night.
Dancing On Ice pro Vanessa Bauer was among the celebs who attended the show’s gala nightCredit: Getty
NEW YORK — In a strongly worded decision this week, a federal judge ordered that the Voice of America — an international broadcaster with the mission to provide news for countries around the world that was largely shut down for the last year by the Trump administration — come roaring back to life.
Whether or not that actually happens is uncertain.
The government filed notice Thursday to appeal U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s order two days earlier to put hundreds of VOA employees who have been on paid leave the last year back to work. Lamberth had ruled on March 7 that Kari Lake, President Trump’s choice to oversee the bureaucratic parent U.S. Agency for Global Media, didn’t have the authority to reduce VOA to a skeleton.
The Voice of America was established as a news source in World War II, beaming reports to many countries that had no tradition of a free press. Before Trump took office again last year, Voice of America was operating in 49 different languages, heard by an estimated 362 million people.
Trump’s team contended that government-run news sources, which also include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were an example of bloated government and that it wanted news reporting more favorable to the current administration. With a greatly reduced staff, VOA currently operates in Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea and in countries with a large population of Kurds.
Lamberth, in his decision, said Lake had “repeatedly thumbed her nose” at laws mandating VOA’s operation.
Time to turn the page at VOA?
VOA director Michael Abramowitz said legislators in both parties understand the need for a strong operation and have set aside enough funding for the job to be done. “It is time for all parties to come together and work to rebuild and strengthen the agency,” he said.
Don’t expect that to happen soon. “President Trump was elected to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse across the administration, including the Voice of America — and efforts to improve efficiency at USAGM have been a tremendous success,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “This will not be the final say on the matter.”
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA’s White House bureau chief and a plaintiff in the lawsuit to bring it back, said that “restoring the physical infrastructure is going to take a lot of money and some time, but it can be done. What is more difficult is recovering from the trauma that our newsroom has gone through.”
It’s an open question whether the administration wants a real news organization or a mouthpiece, said David Ensor, a former Voice of America director between 2010 and 2014. “We don’t know — maybe no one does at the moment — what the future holds,” he said.
The administration’s efforts over the last year to bolster friendly outlets and fight coverage that displeases Trump offer a clue, even though Congress has required that Voice of America be an objective and unbiased news source. This week it was announced that Christopher Wallace, an executive at the far-right network Newsmax who had previously spent 15 years at Fox News Channel, will be the new deputy director at VOA. Abramowitz didn’t know he was getting a new deputy until it was announced.
Widakuswara wouldn’t comment on what Wallace’s appointment might mean. “I’m not going to pass judgment before seeing his work,” she said.
While Lamberth ordered more than a thousand employees on leave to go back to work, it’s not clear how many of them moved on to other jobs or retired in the last year. The judge also said he did not have the authority to bring back hundreds of independent contractors who were terminated.
One employee who left is Steve Herman, a former White House bureau chief and national correspondent at VOA and now executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi. Despite the court decisions, he questions whether the Trump administration would oversee a return to what the organization used to be.
“I’m a bit of a pessimist,” Herman said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult.”
An administration loath to admit defeat
Besides fighting to shut it down, Trump is loath to admit defeat. The White House recently nominated Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of State for public diplomacy, to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, putting it more firmly within the administration’s control. Her nomination requires Senate approval.
“Is Marco Rubio’s State Department going to allow objective journalism in 49 languages?” Herman asked. “I don’t think so. I would want that to happen, but that’s a fairy tale.”
In the budget bill passed in February, Congress set aside $200 million for Voice of America’s operation. While that represents about a 25% cut in the agency’s previous appropriation, it sent a bipartisan message of support, said Kate Neeper, VOA’s director of strategy and performance evaluation. Besides being a plaintiff with Widakuswara in the lawsuit to restore the agency, she has helped some of her colleagues deal with some of their own problems over the past year, including immigration issues.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for going back to work,” she said. “People are eager to show up on Monday.”
The hunger for information from Voice of America in Iran when he was director was a clear example of what the organization meant, Ensor said. Surveys showed that between a quarter and a third of Iran’s households tuned in to VOA once a week, primarily on satellite television. Occasionally the government would crack down and confiscate satellite dishes, but Iranians could usually quickly find replacements, he said.
“I believe in Voice of America as a news organization and as a voice of America,” Ensor said. “It was important, and it can be again.”
Roma full-back Wesley Franca has emerged as a target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea keen on Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga while striker Marcus Rashford faces uncertain future at Barcelona.
Arsenal have stepped up their search for a right-back with Roma’s 22-year-old Brazilian Wesley Franca a potential target. (Teamtalk), external
Liverpool are ahead of Chelsea in the race to sign 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, with the Reds holding talks with the France international’s representatives on two occasions. (Caught Offside), external
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick says he does not know what will happen with England striker Marcus Rashford, with the club having an option to turn the 28-year-old’s season-long loan from Manchester United into a permanent move for £26m. (Manchester Evening News), external
Barcelona and Brazil winger Raphinha, 29, has ruled out leaving the Nou Camp before the end of the 2026-27 season despite interest from Saudi Arabia. (Sport – in Spanish), external
Fulham‘s bid to sign 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven and United States striker Ricardo Pepi has been put on hold despite the player completing a medical. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Barcelona and Real Madrid may be interested in Norway striker Erling Haaland but Manchester City have no intention of letting the 25-year-old leave this summer. (Football Insider), external
Juventus are assessing the possibility of signing 33-year-old Germany defender Antonio Rudiger, whose contract with Real Madrid runs out in the summer. (Tuttosport – in Italian), external
Atletico Madrid have made an offer of £30m plus £4m in add-ons for Atalanta midfielder Ederson, 26, as they prepare for the summer transfer window. (Football Italia), external
Day of intense hardship as mothers mourn children lost in war and children face day without their mothers.
While much of the Middle East celebrated Mother’s Day with flowers and gifts this weekend, in Gaza, the occasion served as a painful reminder of precious lives lost.
Sitting in her tent in Gaza City on Saturday, Em Rami Dawwas remembered the three sons she lost in Israeli attacks, two of whose bodies are still being withheld by the authorities.
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“I miss my sons on Mother’s Day. They used to bring me gifts, flowers, sweets, and ask me about my needs. They were the light of my life,” she said, sitting among boxes filled with their clothes, which she cannot bring herself to throw away.
Palestinian children have borne the brunt of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza that began in October 2023, with UNICEF estimating in October last year that 64,000 children have been killed and wounded in Israeli attacks.
Reporting from among the tents in Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Dawwas kept the photos of her sons under her pillow, looking at them every day, “as if holding on will keep their memory alive”.
Many mothers spend the day in graveyards, sitting in the only place they can feel close to their dead children, said Khoudary.
‘I just wanted to make her happy’
Maram Ahmed faced a second Mother’s Day without her mother, who she lost in an Israeli air attack that killed her entire family. Her mother was her closest friend, said Khoudary.
“On Mother’s Day, even if I didn’t have money, I would buy my mum a gift from my allowance, even if it was for less than a dollar. I just wanted to make her happy,” said the 14-year-old, sitting in her sparse tent.
“I feel so sad when I see other children with their mothers, but I don’t show it,” she said.
A report published by rights group Amnesty International this month highlighted the “brutal price” women and girls have paid during the war, which started in October 2023. Two years later, Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed to a fragile “ceasefire” that the former has repeatedly violated.
“Amid Israel’s deliberate imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, Palestinian women face compounded and life-threatening consequences,” said the report.
It cited ongoing mass displacement, the collapse of reproductive, maternal and neonatal healthcare, the interruption of treatment for chronic illness, heightened exposure to disease and unsafe and undignified living conditions faced by women, as well as “profound physical and mental harm”.
Since the October 2025 “ceasefire”, Israeli attacks have killed more than 650 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to recent figures from the Ministry of Health.
Overall, Israeli attacks have killed more than 72,000 people since the start of the war.
The head of US Central Command says forces have struck Iranian coastal missile sites and infrastructure, degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington vows to continue targeting its regional military capabilities.
DESPITE winning dream roles, Anya Taylor-Joy admits her real wish is to retreat from Hollywood and live on a farm.
The 29-year-old is one of the world’s best-known actresses but has spent years feeling nervous on the red carpet, struggled to watch her award-winning performances and now wants calm.
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Anya Taylor-Joy in jewels at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party earlier this monthCredit: SplashAnya and her musician husband Malcolm McRaeCredit: Getty
She voices love interest Princess Peach in the new Super Mario Galaxy movie, which is released on April 1.
Princess Peach is the main female character and head of state of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Anya said: “I was so touched by how strong she is and how cool. The fact that’s going to be a role model kids can have nowadays is unbelievable. I left feeling very inspired by her.”
Anya knows all too well that life can be difficult as a child.
She was born in Florida, then lived in Argentina for five years where she rode horses in the idyllic countryside.
Her African-Spanish mum, a psychologist, and Scottish-Argentine dad, who raced powerboats, then moved the family to London when she was six — and things became dramatically different.
Anya was bullied, “locked in lockers, barred from classrooms, not invited to things” and did not speak English.
Watching films helped her navigate through the traumas.
She told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: “I’ve never been good at being cool, this is why I didn’t get along well with people in school.
“If I like something, I love it and it just pours out of me.
“But if I was sad, like if my hamster died, my parents could put me in front of a movie and I would feel better at the end of it.
“I could get lost in something like that.”
It was her love of movies that eventually helped her learn English.
Anya voices Mario’s love interest Princess Peach in the Super Mario GalaxyCredit: AP
She says: “I learned English when I was eight. I stuck it out for two years in London, refusing to speak English because I wanted to go home. Then eventually I was like, ‘I have no friends, this is going to be a needed skill’.”
Anya told her parents she was going to be an actress.
But first, after being “picked up” outside Harrods, she became a model at 16.
She was recruited by Sarah Doukas, boss of Storm model agency, who had discovered Kate Moss.
But at first Anya thought she was a stalker.
She said: “It was absurd. A black car comes up, starts chasing me. I pick up my dog, start running and a head comes out of the window and they say, ‘If you stop, you won’t regret it,’ and I stop.
“It was the head of a modelling agency. I don’t encourage other people to do this.
“I had no idea what I was doing, but luckily it worked out and my parents came with me the next day to the modelling agency.”
Her parents always supported her. Anya said: “They’d had six kids, so were like, ‘Oh, just do whatever you’re going to do’.
“I’m so grateful for the approach my parents have had because I did some pretty ballsy things in my teenage years and luckily they paid off, but they were always supportive.”
She did many auditions before getting her breakthrough role at 19 in film The Witch.
Anya said: “I thought that audition went so badly. I truly thought I had messed that up massively because I had a huge panic attack before I went into it, and luckily that really worked for the scene.”
It was then that Anya found where she truly belonged.
She said: “Going into work every single day felt like such a joy.
“I could breathe because I’d found a place where I was doing something I loved, with people who didn’t think I was a psychopath. And I could have fun with it. I loved every second of making that movie.”
She found it “mind blowing” that The Witch was a hit and forced herself to watch the performance.
Anya said: “It’s like getting hit by a bus. I personally don’t agree with not watching your films, it’s not all about you. It’s a whole bunch of other people who have done a lot of work and different departments that you have to go and support, because they deserve it and you love them. So I have to watch it.
“But the first time, I always feel I’ve let people down and I’m always like, ‘Oh, I messed it up’.
“Then I process it and the second time I watch it, it’s slightly more palatable and I’m able to lose myself a bit more.
“By the third time I’m just like, ‘OK, whatever’. You just have to get over yourself and applaud the people you care about that worked with you.”
She went on to roles in horror film Last Night In Soho, black comedy The Menu and the apocalyptic film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Anya said she works “very hard, very gratefully hard” because she feels lucky to do a job she feels passionate about.
But it is not always easy. Despite her modelling background, Anya struggles with the limelight.
She said: “When I first started doing red carpets, I couldn’t handle the notion of being pretty.
Anya as chess champ Beth Harmon in The Queen’s GambitCredit: AlamyAnya loved films from a young ageCredit: Instagram/@anyataylorjoy
“I was like, ‘I don’t do that’. I am a scummy, mud-caked ferret and striving for anything different felt disingenuous and scary.”
She has even been known to dress up “like an East Berlin spy” at times so nobody recognises her.
Now she is trying to make time for some balance in her life.
She said: “I’ve been living on film sets for five years and, occasionally, I think it would be nice to find out what Anya would do with three months if she wasn’t playing another person.
“So I’m trying to be more careful with my time there.
“You spend 18 hours a day thinking, behaving and breathing as another human being. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to figure out what it is that you like.”
And the person she wants to spend it with is her husband, US musician Malcolm McRae, who she married in 2021.
The couple split their time between homes in the Hollywood Hills and London.
She said: “I’ve finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me, reading. We’re basically 80 years old and seven at the same time, and it works really well.
“When you are together, you are really valuing the time you have. Everyday, mundane activities are so full of joy.
“I love going to the petrol station with him and filling up the car and going to get breakfast.”
But right now, her focus is all on Princess Peach.
Anya told US Today: “She wants to find out where she comes from and is on a quest for adventure and prioritising herself a little bit more.”
Princess Peach sounds very much like the actress playing her.
President Trump frequently contradicts himself, sometimes in the same speech, social media post or even sentence. On Friday, he sent a torrent of mixed signals about the Iran war that raise more questions about the direction of the conflict and his administration’s strategy.
Within a few hours, Trump said he was considering winding down the war, his administration confirmed it was sending more troops to the Middle East and, in an effort to lessen the economic influence on global energy markets, the United States lifted sanctions on some Iranian oil for the first time in decades — relieving some of the pressure that Washington traditionally has used as leverage.
The confusing combination of actions deepens a sense among Trump’s critics that there is no clear, long-term strategy for the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran. Now in its fourth week, the war remains on an unpredictable path and a credible endgame is unclear as the global economy is being roiled.
‘Winding down’ the war
After another rough day in the financial markets, Trump said Friday afternoon on his social media network: “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”
Trump contended that the U.S. has adequately degraded Iranian naval, missile and industrial capacity and prevented Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The president then suggested the U.S. could pull out of the conflict without stabilizing the Strait of Hormuz, the channel through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply travels. The strait has been ravaged by Iranian missile, drone and mine attacks during the war.
“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!” Trump wrote. But, in another contradiction, he said the U.S. would help if asked, “but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated.”
While oil that traverses the strait is usually bound for Asia and other places rather than North America, the chaos still affects the United States. Oil is bought and sold globally, so a shortage in oil for Asian countries leads to bidding up prices on oil sold to companies in America too.
That fact, coupled with an Israeli strike on Iran’s gas fields and an Iranian retaliation that crippled a major terminal to ship liquefied natural gas from Qatar, helped tank U.S. equity markets Friday, with the S&P dropping 1.5%. There also was a sharp increase in U.S. fuel prices.
More troops to the war zone
Even as Trump said the U.S. was close to winding down the war, his administration announced it was sending three more warships to the Middle East with about 2,500 additional Marines. It was the second time in a week that the administration said it was deploying more forces to the war zone. The military says some 50,000 are supporting the war effort.
Trump has often said he has ruled out sending in ground troops, but not always, and his administration has hinted at a possible deployment of special forces or similar units.
The Marines being sent to the region are an expeditionary unit designed for quick amphibious landings, but their deployment does not mean a ground invasion is certain. Analysts have suggested the presence of U.S. forces on the ground may be needed to ultimately secure the strait.
The surge in troops came just a day after news emerged that the Pentagon was seeking an additional $200 billion from Congress to fund the war. That extraordinarily high figure does not suggest that the war was winding down.
Lifting some sanctions on Iran
The administration said it would lift sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil, provided it was already at sea as of Friday. The move was an attempt to help lower skyrocketing energy prices by allowing freer sale of oil that Iran has let pass through the strait. It also extends a financial lifeline to the Iranian government that Trump is targeting.
His administration has tried other methods to lower oil prices. It has tapped the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and lifted sanctions on some Russian oil. Yet Brent crude remained at $112 per barrel Friday, and analysts say oil prices are likely to remain high for months regardless of the next steps in the war.
The Iranian oil eventually would have reached another country, but now the United States and its allies can bid on it as well, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X.
“At present, sanctioned Iranian oil is being hoarded by China on the cheap,” Bessent wrote. “By temporarily unlocking this existing supply for the world, the United States will quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets, expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.”
While 140 million barrels may seem like a lot, that is only a couple of days’ worth of oil on the global market.
Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a U.S. fuel-tracking service, said he does not expect the temporary suspension to have a major influence on gas prices. The de facto closure of the strait has a much greater effect, he said. “Prices will likely still continue to rise so long as the Strait remains silent,” De Haan said.
And the contradictions in the position were obvious in Bessent’s post announcing the move, which labeled Iran “the head of the snake for global terrorism.” He said the administration would take steps to prevent Tehran from cashing in on the sales, but it was unclear how that would be done.
Even among some Republicans, the contradictions triggered rare public skepticism.
“Bombing Iran with one hand and buying Iran oil with the other,” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X on Saturday.
Riccardi writes for the Associated Press. AP business writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Ann Arbor, Mich., contributed to this report.
Taylor, 35, hit .186 with a .256 on-base percentage, two homers, 12 RBIs and two steals in a combined 58 games with the Dodgers and Angels last season.
He batted .248 with a .327 on-base percentage, 110 homers and 443 RBIs during a 12-year career. Taylor made the NL All-Star team while playing for the Dodgers in 2021.
Strickland, 37, went 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA and one save in 19 relief appearances for the Angels last season. He has a 26-25 record with a 3.39 ERA and 30 saves in 499 career major league appearances, all in relief.
March 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump threatened to send U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to airports to cover for the Transportation Security Administration unless Democrats agree to Republican funding plans for the Department of Homeland Security.
On Truth Social, the president posted: “If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before! The Fascist Democrats will never protect America, but the Republicans will.”
In an earlier post, he said ICE agents at airports “will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota.”
Former acting ICE Director John Sandweg told The Washington Post that the threat is being used as a punishment.
“This is again an example, it seems to me, of the president seeking to utilize ICE in a way that achieves political goals, almost as a punishment,” Sandweg said. “The operations, to me, don’t seem to be designed to focus on public safety.”
The DHS, which includes TSA, shut down on Feb. 14 because Congress couldn’t agree on a funding bill for the department. Democrats don’t want to fund it until guardrails are put on the agency, and Republicans haven’t agreed to Democrats’ demands.
Because of this, TSA workers have been working without pay for more than a month. Some are quitting or taking days off work, creating long lines at airports.
Earlier on Saturday, billionaire Elon Musk offered to pay the TSA salaries during the shutdown.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk said on X. Axios reported that based on TSA’s headcount, it would cost him more than $40 million per week. The White House didn’t respond to Musk’s offer.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Saturday told Republicans to support a Democratic bill to fund TSA. He said airport delays have reached a “boiling point.”
“If you want TSA workers to get paid, then vote yes,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement that Trump should focus on his own party.
“Surely, the next thing people want after waiting hours in long TSA lines is to get wrongfully detained by ICE,” she said. “Here’s an idea: instead of sidelining TSA agents and sending ICE to harass travelers, the president should tell Republicans to stop blocking our bill to pay TSA.”
Gaza City – In front of a toy stall in Gaza City’s central al-Rimal market, Rania al-Saudi stands with her two young daughters, looking bewildered at the unusually high prices of toys.
Al-Saudi had promised her daughters she would buy them two dolls to celebrate Eid, but the exorbitant toy prices mean she simply can’t afford them.
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Her elder daughter, six-year-old Razan, didn’t understand her mother’s worried expressions as Rania asked the vendor for the price of each toy. With every price, Rania gasped and said, “Oh my God, it’s so expensive… this used to be much cheaper.”
Faced with her daughter’s insistence, Rania pleaded with the vendor to lower the prices, but he apologised, saying he could not because getting hold of toys to sell was incredibly difficult, considering Israeli restrictions on importing items into Gaza.
Rania was not alone. Other parents and children repeatedly came to the vendor’s stall to ask about toys, but not one of them made a purchase. In Gaza’s current war-driven economic crisis, the prices are simply unaffordable.
Rania, 43, is originally from Shujayea in eastern Gaza, but has been displaced by the war to the west of the city. She told Al Jazeera that she came looking for toys in an attempt to put smiles on her daughters’ faces before the holiday, but her wish was not fulfilled.
“The prices are extremely high, and the vendors tell us that toys have not entered Gaza since the start of the war. But what did our children do to deserve this?”
Rania recalled the many toys her daughters had in their home before it was destroyed, and how she used to make sure they had toys for every occasion and every holiday.
“Eid holidays are for children’s joy, and children are happy with toys and entertainment. But our children are deprived of everything.”
While speaking to Al Jazeera, Rania tried to calm her daughter Lulwa, who had begun to cry after realising from her mother’s words that she would not get the doll she wanted.
“This doll used to cost no more than 15 shekels ($5) before the war; now it costs 60 shekels ($20),” she said to Al Jazeera, frustrated. “This is something I cannot afford. Everything is expensive and overpriced.”
Rania’s voice grew heavier as she explained that she was unable to even buy new Eid clothes for her daughters – a tradition across the Muslim world – due to the high prices.
“My daughters will not be happy this Eid. I wanted to compensate by getting them dolls, but even that is impossible.”
Toys have been in short supply during the war, which began in October 2023, with bombing and displacement meaning that most children either had their toys destroyed, lost, or left behind. Rania says that her children have been bored, and have had to develop their own ways of playing.
“All the children in the camp face the same situation, so they spend their time playing simple street games like hopscotch, hide-and-seek, or drawing in the sand,” she said.
“But my daughters always wished for a doll. I once tried to make one for them, but they didn’t like it.”
Israel restricts the entry of many non-essential goods into Gaza, including toys [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
Rising prices and market impact
Toy sellers say they are not to blame for the high prices.
Anwar al-Huwaity has been in the business for 20 years. He told Al Jazeera that his stall is still operating despite Israel’s devastation of Gaza, but that business has become extremely difficult.
“Before the war, toys were widely available,” Anwar said. “Today, we go from one trader to another, searching. Sometimes we find toys with someone who had them stored, but they sell it at a very high price, up to three times its normal price.”
He added that most toys that now reach Gaza do not enter through official crossings, but in limited quantities via unofficial routes, making them very difficult to obtain.
The cost of bringing toys into Gaza has become extremely high. Anwar said some middlemen demand up to 12,000 shekels ($3,870) for a small shipment, and if it is confiscated or destroyed, the loss falls entirely on the trader.
“We buy merchandise at high prices, so we have to sell it at high prices as well,” Anwar said apologetically.
Anwar said that toys were now up to 300 percent more expensive compared to pre-war prices. The holiday season, the main income generator for toy sellers, used to bring in between $6,500 and $10,000, he explained. Now, he’d be lucky to sell $1,000 of stock – and most of that is bulk sales to other traders, rather than regular customers.
Anwar may be a businessman, but he shared that the hardest part of his job was seeing children ask for toys that their parents cannot afford.
“Many parents can’t buy toys due to the economic situation. People are barely able to secure food,” he said.
Anwar’s job has gone from providing children joy, to seeing them disappointed.
“I have started hating my workday because I know the prices are exorbitant, and when the children and families see the toys, they get upset, especially during the holidays.”
“People come to buy toys and beg me to lower the price,” he said. “They say, ‘This child is an orphan, that child is an orphan … his parents were killed in the war’. It feels like all children in Gaza have become orphans.”
Toy sellers say they are forced to pass on high prices to customers [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
Restrictions on recreational goods during the Gaza war
Since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023, trade has been heavily restricted due to the closure of commercial crossings by Israel, especially Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the main entry point for goods into Gaza from Israel.
Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in 2023, and again for several months in 2025, leading to the declaration of a famine in northern Gaza.
Conditions have improved since a “ceasefire” was declared in October, but Israel is continuing regular strikes – and continuing to heavily restrict the entry of non-essential commercial goods, including toys and recreational materials.
Although no official law or declaration explicitly bans toys from entering Gaza, administrative and security restrictions, combined with the prioritisation of humanitarian goods, have effectively made entry of these items almost impossible.
The United Nations has noted that restrictions on commercial goods, including toys, have affected the availability of both essential and non-essential goods in Gaza.
Near Anwar’s toy stall is another run by Ahmed Ziara. The 24-year-old has been selling toys for several years, but the war has forced him to periodically stop trading.
“Before the war, I worked in major toy exhibitions,” Ahmed explained. “Now toys rarely enter, and we often have to smuggle them, sometimes hidden inside clothes or other goods.”
Ahmed confirmed that most of the toys he acquires are old stock already in Gaza, sold at high prices due to scarcity.
He mentioned that popular Eid holiday toys, which were once inexpensive, now cost triple or even quadruple their previous prices: a small toy car that sold for 40 shekels ($13) last year now costs 150 shekels ($48), a small ball that once cost 3 shekels ($1) is now 30 shekels ($10), building blocks are nearly unavailable, and dolls cost more than 70 shekels ($22.50).
“Buying from traders is hard, and selling is hard due to the economic situation,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera.
“Sometimes I have to sell below the expected price just to clear stock, but most of the time we must raise prices due to high costs and difficulty obtaining toys.”
“If conditions improve and toys are allowed in normally, prices will return to normal, and children and families will be able to enjoy the holiday as before,” he said.
“This work is not easy,” he added, contemplating. “Sometimes I sit alone and tell myself what I am doing is unfair because prices are extremely high. But despite everything, we love to bring joy to children, even for a short time.”
