Month: March 2026

Slovenia heads to the polls on Sunday in a closely contested race between incumbent Prime Minister Robert Golob and right-wing former Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

Opinion polls currently suggest no clear winner between Golob’s Freedom Movement (GS) and Jansa’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), with the outcome likely to hinge on smaller parties and coalition-building.

Jansa has served three times as prime minister, between 2004-2008, 2012-2013 and 2020-2022.

Golob’s domestic agenda has been broadly reform-driven and welfare-focused, with a mix of social policy, green transition, and institutional reforms, something Jansa has promised to reverse by introducing tax breaks for businesses and cutting funding for welfare programs.

The election will also decide which direction the Alpine nation, which gained independence in 1991, will take on foreign policy, especially given the wildly divergent views on Israel and Palestine.

Slovenia’s government has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war; in contrast, Jansa is a staunch supporter of Israel.

Diverging views on Israel-Palestine

For a small nation – roughly the size of New Jersey in the United States – home to two million people, the Israel-Palestine conflict has played a significant role in its politics.

Slovenia’s current government has openly criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, even introducing a ban on imports of goods produced in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In May 2024, the country recognised Palestinian statehood, raising a Palestinian flag alongside the flags of Slovenia and the European Union in front of a government building in downtown Ljubljana.

In May 2025, Slovenia’s President Natasa Pirc Musar told the European Parliament that the EU needed to take stronger action against Israel, condemning “the genocide” in Gaza.

Later in the year, it banned far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country and became the first country in the EU to ban all weapons trade with Israel over its genocidal war on Gaza.

It has also backed Slovenian International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Beti Hohler, after she was sanctioned by the US for her role in issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a letter sent to the EU heads of state on March 13, Golob and Musar warned that Europe’s refusal to condemn the sanctions indicated that “concern for economic consequences has taken precedence over a principled defence of judicial independence and international justice … at a moment when armed conflicts rage, when international law is being violated, when the victims of the gravest crimes look to the ICC as their last hope for justice.”

Nika Kovac, a Slovenian sociologist and cofounder of the 8th of March Institute, a nongovernmental organisation focused on human rights, told Al Jazeera that support for Palestine is in part rooted in the fact that Slovenia is “a very young country”, which means “there is … solidarity with countries that want to be independent, and they cannot be.”

However, the country’s approach to Palestinian rights could shift if pro-Israel Jansa were to be elected.

Jansa has been a close ally to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and lambasted Slovenia’s decision to recognise the state of Palestine, with a statement from his party claiming it was tantamount to “supporting the terrorist organisation Hamas”.

Accusations of ‘foreign information manipulation’

In the lead-up to the election, a series of covertly recorded conversations was published online, featuring a Slovenian lobbyist, a lawyer, a former minister and a manager.

The videos purportedly show the individuals discussing ways to influence decision-makers in Golob’s coalition to expedite procedures and secure contracts.

On Tuesday, Golob accused “foreign services” of interfering in Slovenia’s elections, after a report by the 8th of March Institute and investigative journalists claimed that representatives of the Israeli private spy firm Black Cube had visited the country in December and Jansa’s headquarters in the weeks leading up to the leaks.

On Wednesday, Slovenia’s Intelligence and Security Agency confirmed the arrival of Black Cube representatives in Slovenia and presented a report on foreign interference in elections, which the agency’s director said was alleged to have been carried out at the behest of people in Slovenia.

The State Secretary for National and International Security in the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Vojko Volk, made a statement following the announcement, saying, “According to information available to date, representatives of Black Cube have stayed in Slovenia on four occasions over the past six months.”

On Thursday, Golob sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen notifying her of “alarming information regarding what appears to constitute a grave instance of foreign information manipulation and interference currently unfolding in the Republic of Slovenia”.

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Thursday that Golob “was the victim of clear-cut interference” by “third countries”.

“Today, in every election in Europe, there is interference that disrupts electoral processes,” Macron said.

Jansa has admitted to meeting with a Black Cube representative but denied any wrongdoing.

The winners of Jonathan Ross’ new Channel 4 reality series, Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, appeared on Friday’s Good Morning Britain

Channel 4 recently aired a new reality series that saw 18 people chained to someone who is their polar opposite for as long as they can manage, all in an effort to win a £100,000 prize.

Hosted by Jonathan Ross, Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, saw nine couples forced to spend their every moment together, bound by a pair of handcuffs.

They slept in the same bed, showered together and even used the toilet in close proximity with their new companion.

Earlier this week, viewers saw Staffordshire porn star Rob, 32, and West Sussex homemaker Charlie, 44, who is a self-professed prude, make it all the way to the end, winning the show and a suitcase bulging with £100,000.

Appearing on Friday’s Good Morning Britain, the duo spoke about their time on the show and winning the programme. As per the reality series, GMB decided to handcuff the duo together for their interview.

Host, Ranvir Singh, said: “I’m afraid we’ve handcuffed you again… to really, like, hammer home the point that you were handcuffed.”

Talking about how they got involved with the show and if they knew what it was about, Charlie admitted: “I didn’t find out for quite a while!

“They approached me, found me on TikTok, and said, ‘We’re casting for a social experiment. We’re bringing two opposing worlds together, and we think you’d be great.’

“So I said to the family, ‘I’ve just had this message, what do you think?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, you’d be great, mum, go for it!’ Then it was down the line, weeks down the line, they said the show was called Handcuffed.

“[I thought I was getting involved in] a social experiment to bring two different worlds together and see if they could work together. I knew it would be a challenge, but I didn’t realise…”

It was a similar story for Rob, who recalled: “I was reached out on Instagram and I was like, in 2025, for me, was a Yes Man year. I don’t know if you’ve seen the film Jim Carrey Yes Man.

“That year, for me, was just like, whatever comes at me, I’m going to say yes to it and I did. I thought, you know what, I don’t care what it is, I’m just going for it and that’s what I did.”

Talking about why they think they won the show, Rob said: “Respect! Respect and communication, I think they’re the two biggest things.”

To which Charlie added: “And kindness. Rob was really kind and thoughtful and made the whole thing easier from the first moment.”

Good Morning Britain continues on weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITV X.

When the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes each day—effectively ceased to function as a shipping corridor. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by warning off tanker traffic, and within days maritime transit had fallen to nearly zero. The consequences were immediate and severe: Brent crude has not dropped below the $100 threshold since March 13 and touched $119 on March 19 following Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield and retaliatory Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure in Qatar and the UAE. For Venezuela, a country sitting atop the world’s largest proven reserves but producing around 900,000 to one million barrels per day (a fraction of its historical capacity of over 3 million in the late 1990s) the disruption arrived at a peculiar moment. It was not a crisis of Venezuela’s making. But how Caracas responds to it may define the country’s energy trajectory for years to come.

On paper, the arithmetic is striking. Alejandro Grisanti, director of Ecoanalítica, estimates that Venezuela receives approximately $400 million in additional revenue for every extra dollar in the average crude price. This figure, at current price levels, represents a fiscal windfall without precedent in the post-Maduro transition. Venezuelan crude exports had already rebounded sharply in February to around 788,000 barrels per day (up from a depressed 383,000 bpd in January, when the post-Maduro-arrest disruption had frozen trade flows), with US refineries absorbing the majority of shipments directly through Chevron or energy intermediaries. Of course, production and exports are different things: Venezuela produces roughly one million bpd but consumes some 230,000 bpd domestically, meaning effective export capacity sits considerably below gross output.

The Hormuz disruption accelerated the export recovery dynamic: with Gulf supply stranded and Asian buyers scrambling for alternatives, Venezuelan crude became a more attractive proposition. Washington has responded in kind. On March 18, the US Treasury issued a broad license authorizing established American entities to conduct transactions with PDVSA directly, a landmark shift after years of near-total sanctions isolation, explicitly framed as a supply-side response to the Iran war. There are structural constraints baked into the relief: payments cannot flow directly to sanctioned Venezuelan entities but must pass through US-controlled accounts, and transactions involving Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or designated Chinese entities remain prohibited. The US will allow the oil trade, but it will control the cash flow.

The production ceiling, however, remains a formidable obstacle, and not merely a financial one. Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt produces extra-heavy crude with an API gravity typically in the 8–16° range and high sulfur content, which cannot simply be blended into a market substitute for the medium-sour grades displacing from the Persian Gulf. To reach export markets, Orinoco crude must either pass through an upgrader—facilities like Petropiar, which converts it to a synthetic crude of around 26° API—or be diluted with imported naphtha or lighter crude to create exportable blends like Merey. This means Venezuelan barrels serve a specific refinery profile: predominantly the cooking-capable refineries along the US Gulf Coast, which are well-suited to process heavy, sulfurous feedstocks. They are not a drop-in replacement for Middle Eastern crude, but a complementary supply for a defined segment of global refining capacity.

The US military backstop, the reformed hydrocarbon law, and now the broad PDVSA sanctions relief have together reduced the perception of expropriation risk and policy reversal that kept capital at bay for two decades.

ExxonMobil, whose assets were expropriated twice under chavismo, announced it would send an evaluation team to Venezuela within weeks, with Senior Vice President Jack Williams acknowledging the company’s heavy oil expertise from Canadian operations in Kearl and Cold Lake. The caveat was pointed: “Today it’s uninvestable,” CEO Darren Woods had said in January, and Williams’ more cautious optimism reflects the institutional memory of a company burned twice.

Chevron and PDVSA have meanwhile agreed on preliminary terms to expand Petropiar into the adjacent Ayacucho 8 block of the Orinoco Belt, while Shell is in advanced talks to develop the Carito and Pirital fields in eastern Monagas. These are among the few areas that produce the light and medium crude needed as diluent and blendstock for Venezuela’s heavy exports. Delcy Rodríguez has projected fresh oil investments of $1.4 billion for the year under the amended hydrocarbons law. These are meaningful steps. But a preliminary deal and a production ramp are different things. Rystad Energy estimates that simply holding production flat at around 1.1 million bpd requires $53 billion in upstream investment over 15 years, and getting to 2 million bpd by 2032 would demand $8–9 billion per year in sustained capital.

What has shifted—materially and quickly—is market sentiment about Venezuela as an investable destination, and the trajectory is meaningfully positive. Dozens of US hedge funds, asset managers, and energy investors are organizing trips to Caracas in the coming weeks: Signum Global Advisors is running a two-day conference in Venezuela from March 22–24 with 55 participants, roughly half of whom are bondholders who own or have recently purchased Venezuelan government and PDVSA debt (both in default since 2017).

Separate delegations invited by Trans-National Research and other groups are arriving, with agendas featuring meetings with Rodríguez and PDVSA CEO Héctor Obregón. The interest marks a sharp break from the isolation of the Maduro years. Country risk, while still elevated in absolute terms, has been repriced substantially since January: the US military backstop, the reformed hydrocarbon law, and now the broad PDVSA sanctions relief have together reduced the perception of expropriation risk and policy reversal that kept capital at bay for two decades.

Venezuela’s challenge is to use this window of geopolitical necessity to lock in investment commitments, debt restructuring negotiations, and production agreements that survive the normalization of oil markets.

What investors are now stress-testing is no longer whether Venezuela is open for business, but whether the legal and institutional architecture is durable enough to support long-horizon commitments. As analysts at Debatesiesa have noted in examining Venezuelan financial markets, sentiment can shift on headlines, but binding investment decisions require structural reforms and credible enforcement mechanisms. The framework is improving; the question is whether it improves fast enough, and on a stable enough trajectory, to convert this geopolitical moment into a genuine investment cycle.

The deeper question the Hormuz crisis forces is one of timing and durability. Oil prices are now trading above $110 per barrel and analysts at Wood Mackenzie and Rystad are no longer dismissing scenarios above $150 while the conflict shows no sign of imminent resolution, with Pete Hegseth signaling the “largest strike package yet” against Iran on March 19. The EIA, in its latest forecast issued prior to these newest escalations, projected Brent to remain above $95 through the next two months before falling below $80 in the third quarter of 2026 if supply flows gradually normalize. Whether that normalization materializes is the variable on which everything else depends. Venezuela’s challenge is not simply to capture today’s price premium, but to use this window of geopolitical necessity to lock in investment commitments, debt restructuring negotiations, and production agreements that survive the normalization of oil markets.

The country has rarely faced a more favorable confluence of factors: surging global demand for its barrels, a reformed legal framework for private investment, an unprecedented degree of US political and financial backing, and prices that make otherwise marginal projects viable. Whether Caracas—and the Rodríguez administration in particular—has the institutional bandwidth to convert a crisis into structural recovery, rather than another cycle of windfall and waste, is the defining question of Venezuela’s energy sector in 2026.

EGYPT has seen a fall in tourism due to the ongoing Iran conflict – despite it not being affected.

In response, tour operators are dropping prices of all-inclusive holidays – with some savings racking up to over £2,000.

Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Brits have been avoiding travelling to the surrounding countries, including Egypt.

Last week, On The Beach confirmed that they had experienced a drop in demand for popular holiday destinations including Egypt as well as Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

Despite this, its airspace remains open and the travel advice to popular tourist spots along the Red Sea coastline hasn’t differed from the being safe for travel.

What has changed, is that the price of all-inclusive holidays has plunged.

ALL IN

The CHEAPEST all-inclusive holidays in May half term – from £259pp and kids go free

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The ‘cheap luxury’ beach resorts under 4 hours from UK with breaks from £75pp

For families wanting to go on holiday in the coming months to enjoy Egypt‘s highs of 30C, there are some incredible deals out there.

Coming in at the lowest price is a deal with loveholidays which starts from £239 per person for an all-inclusive holiday for a family of four.

The 3-star New Badawia Resort in Sharm El Sheikh is slightly inland but still has a swimming pool for cooling off in the warm weather.

For those who want to explore the beach, one is just a seven-minute drive away.

Between April 22 – 29 loveholidays is offering an all-inclusive package including flights from London Gatwick from £956 – or £239 per person.

Another cheap offer is a seven-night all-inclusive stay at the Falcon Naama Star hotel in Sharm El Sheikh from as little as £265 per person.

This price is from On the Beach for a stay from April 22 to April 29 and includes return TUI flights from Manchester Airport.

easyJet Holidays has some impressive deals too.

An all-inclusive break at the Xperience St. George Homestay, in the coastal neighbourhood of Hadaba in Sharm El Sheikh, starts from £424 per person.

This includes flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport on May 11 and the return journey on May 28, 2026.

A TUI holiday has dropped by nearly 70 per cent, with a three-night all-inclusive stay next month at Sindbad Club just £347pp – down from £1017pp.

Or a family of four can have an all-inclusive stay across seven-nights at the Coral Sea Water World in Sharm El Sheikh for just £1,576 – or £525.46 per person (and down 60 per cent).

The trip with TUI from April 22 to April 29, 2026 is all-inclusive and includes return flights from Manchester Airport.

Brits unsure about booking holidays should remember that the package holidays are ATOL-protected – so if they get cancelled, you get all your money back.

For more on Egypt, here’s an affordable beach destination with 77p beers and cheap seaside resorts.

And hear more from one writer who found the “perfect Egyptian destination for families seeking adventure” from scaling pyramids to snorkelling and desert safari.

Our favourite Egypt holiday deals

If you click on a link in this box, we will earn affiliate revenue.

New Badawia Resort, Sharm el Sheikh

This hotel in popular resort Sharm el Sheikh has a large outdoor pool, waterpark and its own private beach area to cool off from the Egyptian sun. There’s traditional evening entertainment to bring the kids along to, and plenty to do in the local area like snorkelling and dipping into local bars and restaurants

BOOK HERE

Jaz Makadi Saraya Palms, Hurghada

With five swimming pools, six bars and six restaurants, you won’t get bored of this sprawling resort. The resort sits in the town centre of Makadi Bay, with plenty of dining and shopping options on your doorstep. The best part? Makadi Water World is just minutes from the hotel, famed for its 50 water slides and wave pool – and guests staying here get free entry.

BOOK HERE

Jaz Grand Marsa, Marsa Alam

The 4-star Jaz Grand Marsa has its own private beach with a coral reef, as well as five pools, three of which have sea views. The spacious grounds feature gardens and water fountains, plus tennis courts.

BOOK HERE

Coral Sea Water World, Sharm el Sheikh

This all-inclusive resort is built for families, with a huge entertainment programme and an on-site waterpark with 18 slides. You can expect a buffet that’s anything but repetitive, as the theme and food line-up change daily. If you can bring yourself to leave the all-inclusive waterpark-come-resort, there’s the King Tut Museum, plus the Red Sea is world-famous for snorkelling.

BOOK HERE

I’ve seen enough. It’s time to revise our expectations about the midterms.

For more than a year now, conventional wisdom has been that Democrats would take back the House — but not the Senate — in the November midterms.

That’s because this year’s Senate map would require Democrats to win numerous seats in red states.

In fact, if you had asked me a couple of months ago, I would have told you that, yes, Democrats have a shot at the Senate, but in the same way my teenage son has a shot at someday dating Sydney Sweeney. Which is to say, technically possible but cosmically unlikely.

But recent developments (such as President Trump’s plunging approval ratings on the economy) are encouraging me to revise my thinking.

I’m not alone. Independent journalist Chris Cillizza recently observed that for the first time ever, prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi showed Democrats with a narrow edge.

Now, prediction markets are not scientific. Neither, for that matter, is licking your finger and holding it up to the wind — but both have outperformed political polling at various times in the last couple of years.

The difference is that in prediction markets, people are wagering actual money, which tends to sharpen the mind in ways that answering a pollster’s call during dinner does not.

Of course, you probably haven’t heard much about this revised political outlook. That’s because nobody has any incentive to shout it from the rooftops.

Democrats don’t want to inflate expectations and risk turning a solid win into a perceived disappointment. Republicans, meanwhile, are not eager to advertise that their Senate majority is wobbling like a shopping cart with a bad wheel. And we pundits, chastened by having been burned, are reluctant to get too far out over our skis.

Even Cillizza still leans Republican on balance. But if I had to bet today — and I tend to define bet as “regret later” — I’d put my chips on the Democrats. Not because it’s a sure thing, but because almost every political and economic development seems to be trending in their direction.

History helps. The “out” party in the midterms usually does well. Current events help. Policies, including the war in Iran and rising gas prices, tend to sour voters on whoever’s in charge. And candidate quality helps. Voters do occasionally notice who’s actually on the ballot, and Democrats are serving up a semi-respectable offering.

Let’s pause to appreciate what’s at stake. Control of the Senate isn’t just about who gets the nicer office furniture. It determines judicial confirmations, including the possibility that Trump could fill a fourth Supreme Court vacancy (if one opens up in 2027 or 2028).

Now, it would be irresponsible of me to just drop this idea without delving into some logistical details.

For Democrats to flip the Senate, they need to net four seats. That means defending everything they already have while winning four more. The encouraging news (if you’re rooting for the Democrats) is that there are at least eight plausible opportunities for that to happen.

In North Carolina, incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is widely expected to win. In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins once again finds herself in a political knife fight — her natural habitat, though perhaps not her preferred one. She will face Maine’s current governor or a flamboyant and controversial oysterman. I’m not sure who’d be the tougher opponent.

Out in Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown benefits from the rare political skill of being a Democrat who still seems at home in Ohio.

The Democrat running in Alaska is a former member of Congress (and the first Alaska Native elected to Congress). And for the open seat in Iowa, Democrats seem likely to nominate a two-time Paralympic gold medalist who represents the reddest state house seat held by a Democrat.

Then there’s Texas, the perennial Democratic mirage — always shimmering on the horizon. But this year, it might come into clear view. James Talarico has emerged for Democrats, while Republicans are stuck choosing between scandal-plagued Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn — a process that currently resembles a family feud conducted with vicious attack ads.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska and Montana, Democrats aren’t even pretending to compete. Instead, they’re relying on independents who — like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King — would likely caucus with them.

In Nebraska, independent Dan Osborn already proved he can make it close: He lost in 2024 — a bad year to run against a Republican. And in Montana, the sudden announced retirement of Sen. Steve Daines has created an opening that didn’t exist five minutes ago (in political time).

Let’s not get carried away. The idea that Democrats could sweep all these races is still the kind of thing you say after your third drink. But winning half of them? That’s no longer fantasy. That’s … plausible. Maybe even more likely than not.

This isn’t a safe bet. It’s not even a comfortable one. But for the first time, it’s starting to look like smart money isn’t laughing at the idea anymore — it’s quietly sliding chips across the table.

Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”

A travel vlogger visited a stunning island nation in Southern Europe with a historic capital city he described as “one of the most beautiful places” he’s ever seen

A vlogger who enjoyed a trip to an English-speaking island boasting 20C warmth in April has hailed it as “one of the most beautiful places” he’s ever been to. Alex Daltz, a YouTuber on a quest to chronicle his worldwide travels “one vlog at a time”, recently visited a spectacular European nation merely three hours from the UK.

Starting off, Alex pointed his camera towards the stunning panorama from his hotel room balcony, featuring undulating hills and a peaceful expanse of water in the distance, set against brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies.

Switching to a street view, Alex disclosed he was in the ancient capital of Malta, the 16th-century city of Valletta. An island nation in Southern Europe, Malta is positioned south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea and north of the north African coastal country of Libya.

SkyScanner reports that the average flight duration from the UK is 3 hours and 16 minutes, with prices beginning at just £29 at the time of writing. TUI suggests travelling between April and October, with April temperatures varying from 15 to 20°C.

A fortified city and UNESCO World Heritage site, Valletta was designated Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2018. Alex swiftly highlighted the city’s cultural appeal, evidently captivated by its characteristic Baroque architecture.

Indeed, he described the capital as “beautiful” with a “chilled out touristy vibe”. He said: “We have just made it to Valletta. One of the most beautiful places I think I’ve ever been because it’s so, so medieval, the whole place.”

Alex added: “It’s literally like you’re walking through the 1500s. I already get like a chilled out touristy vibe already, and I’ve been here like five minutes.”

Venturing out to find water, Alex could be spotted outside St. John’s Co-Cathedral, a landmark that houses two masterpieces by the renowned Italian painter, Caravaggio, The Beheading of St John the Baptist and St Jerome Writing.

Alex displayed the bustling Valletta streets and subsequently found himself near Fort St Elmo – constructed in the Early Modern period – and the National War Museum, which provides visitors with 7,000 years of Maltese military history.

Among the museum’s highlights are the Gloster Sea Gladiator N5520 FAITH aircraft, Roosevelt’s Jeep “Husky”, and, as pointed out by Alex, the George Cross, the nation’s honour for gallantry during the Second World War.

Subsequently, Alex visited the city of Mdina, another breathtaking Maltese location that functioned as the country’s previous capital. Also referred to as the “Silent City”, inhabitants have resided in the area since before 4000BCE.

Throughout the centuries, the city has been controlled by Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and even the Normans. For Alex, who recorded himself as he wandered the honey-coloured streets, it was “astonishing” and “mind-blowing”.

Other Maltese highlights showcased by Alex included local catacombs and the Blue Lagoon, where the fortunate YouTuber experienced some of the “most blue water” he’s ever seen.

Luka scores 60, LeBron ties record

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: On the same night he tied Robert Parish for the NBA record in regular-season games played, ageless wonder LeBron James had a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Thursday’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. The 41-year-old playing in his 1,611th game helped the Lakers (45-25) win their season-best eighth consecutive game while star guard Luka Doncic poured in a season-best 60 points, including 20 points in the final quarter.

James became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, besting the mark he set last month.

“He’s a psycho,” coach JJ Redick said with affection, awe and respect.

James, Doncic and guard Austin Reaves were all questionable to play in their second game in as many nights. Doncic was dealing with right hip soreness and Reaves was battling a right forearm contusion after Wednesday’s physical win over Houston. James, who took a hard spill in the fourth quarter and banged his right elbow, was officially nursing left foot arthritis. Earlier this season, James characterized his ailments as being simply “old.”

But before Redick could even check on the status of his stars Thursday afternoon, he learned they already decided on their availability. The players huddled in the locker room after Wednesday’s game before the coaches entered and decided they would all play against Miami (38-32).

“When he said he was playing, I was like, I can’t let a 41-year-old play and I not play,” said Reaves, who battled through a bruise on his shooting wrist to finish with 18 points. “So [I] signed up to play and so did Luka and we went and grinded the win out.”

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Lakers box score

NBA standings

Clippers lose to Pelicans again

Trey Murphy III scored 27 points and the New Orleans Pelicans extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 105-99 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night.

Saddiq Bey had 20 points and Zion Williamson added 15 for the Pelicans, who swept the two-game set against the Clippers after a 124-109 win, also at home, on Wednesday night.

Dejounte Murray was held out to rest as part of his comeback from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He had 17 points and a season-high 11 assists Wednesday night in his ninth game since making his season debut last month.

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points, John Collins had 18 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 16 for the Clippers, who lost their fourth in a row.

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Clippers box score

NBA standings

Kings lose to Flyers

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

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Kings summary

NHL standings

USC reaches settlement

From Ryan Kartje: USC has settled a lawsuit with a former high-ranking athletic department official who alleged the university allowed former athletic director Mike Bohn to racially harass and discriminate against her, then fired her when she voiced concerns about Bohn’s behavior.

Joyce Bell Limbrick was the highest-ranking Black and female official in USC’s athletic department when she was fired by the university in September 2023, four months after Bohn resigned amid an internal investigation into his conduct and the culture of the department. Bell Limbrick filed suit early last year, accusing USC of wrongful termination.

That dispute was settled out of court this week. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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This day in sports history

1897 — Yale beats Penn 32-10 in New Haven, Conn., in the first men’s intercollegiate basketball game.

1918 — The Toronto Arenas (who would become the Maple Leafs) are the first NHL team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto’s Reg Noble scores two goals with an assist in the first period of a 5-3 win over Vancouver of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association.

1939 — In a game of unbeaten teams, Long Island U. defeats Loyola of Chicago 44-32 to win the National Invitation Tournament title.

1954 — In the first televised NCAA championship game, La Salle defeats Bradley 92-76 and sets a record for most points in the title game.

1965 — Gail Goodrich’s 42 points lead UCLA to a 91-80 victory over Michigan in the NCAA basketball championship.

1965 — St. John’s sends Joe Lapchick out a winner, as the Redmen beat Villanova 55-51 to win their fifth National Invitation Tournament championship.

1965 — Bill Bradley scores 58 points to lead Princeton to a 118-82 rout of Wichita State in the NCAA third-place game. UCLA beats Michigan 91-80 to win its second National championship.

1968 — Dave Bing of the Detroit Pistons finishes the season with a league-leading 27.1 average, becoming the first guard in 20 years to lead the NBA in scoring.

1969 — Less than two months after she becomes the first woman to ride in a pari-mutuel race in America, Diane Crump rides her first winner at Gulfstream Park.

1976 — Boston’s John Havlicek becomes the first NBA player to score more than 1,000 points per season for 14 consecutive years.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Tony Tubbs in the second round to retain his world heavyweight title in Tokyo.

2005 — Liz Johnson becomes the first woman to advance to the championship match of a Professional Bowlers Assn. tour event, but loses by 27 pins to Tommy Jones in the final of the PBA Banquet Open.

2005 — LeBron James, 20, becomes the youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game, when he scores 56 in the Cavaliers’ 105-98 loss to the Raptors.

2006 — Japan beats Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

2010 — Northern Iowa pulls off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas with a 69-67 win. Ali Farokhmanesh buries an open three-pointer with the shot clock still in the 30s to give the Panthers a four-point lead with 35 seconds left.

2014 — Bernard Tomic loses the shortest completed ATP match on record, lasting only 28 minutes at the Sony Open in his first tournament since having surgery on both hips. Ending a two-month layoff, Tomic wins just 13 points and loses to Jarkko Nieminen 6-0, 6-1. It’s the quickest match since the ATP started keeping such records in 1991.

2020 — After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

March 20 (UPI) — At least five people were injured Friday after a Delta Air Lines flight hit severe turbulence on its final approach to Sydney, Australia.

Delta told the BBC that Flight 41 from Los Angeles with 160 passengers and crew on board “encountered brief turbulence” as it landed at Sydney Airport, injuring four flight attendants.

The Airbus A350 touched down “safely and normally,” said a Delta spokesperson.

Three of the injured were taken to hospital by ambulance crews waiting on the tarmac after sustaining what paramedics determined were “musculoskeletal and lower back concerns.”

“I believe five were assessed; in total three were transported to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with minor injuries,” said Lisa Frow, manager of NSW Ambulance’s Mascot station.

Delta said none of those hurt were passengers, but Australian media listed two 71-year-olds, a 60-year-old-woman and a 37-year-old woman among the injured.

In July, more than two dozen passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 were hospitalized after it was buffeted by “significant turbulence” en route from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam.

The flight diverted and landed safely at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport with 25 passengers taken to area hospitals.

In June, five people were injured when an American Airlines Airbus A321 hit “unexpected turbulence on flight from Miami to Durham, N.C.

Three flight attendants and two passengers were taken to the hospital.

Passengers reported an unconscious man, a flight attendant with a broken arm and another burned by hot water from a drinks cart.

The American Airlines incident is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, as is standard for incidents where there are injuries.

In May 2024, one person died and 71 were injured, seven critically, aboard a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore that ran into unexpected extreme turbulence when it was at cruise altitude.

The flight deck declared an emergency, but landed the Boeing 777 safely at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Health officials determined that Briton, Geoff Kitchen, died of a suspected heart attack.

The incident prompted Singapore Airlines to revise its seat belt policy so that it would no longer provide hot beverage or meal service when the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated

While strong or severe turbulence — where disturbed air pitches an aircraft violently upward or downward, creating G-forces of up to 1.5 — is on the increase, it remains extremely rare, with only one in 7,000 flights affected.

However, experts warned that flying was likely to become rougher more often in the future due to climate change as temperature changes and shifting wind patterns impact atmospheric conditions.

There is no such thing as a day of rest for artist Kenny Scharf, not even Sunday. “I wake up super early. It’s still dark outside,” the Los Angeles native says.

Rising before the sun anchors his active day. “I always have to keep moving,” Scharf says. “Otherwise, I’ll get very depressed.”

An avid hiker and swimmer, Scharf, 67, also maintains a disciplined yoga practice and cycles daily from his Culver City home to his Inglewood studio. There almost everything serves as a canvas, including painted trash doubling as decor and the silkscreened couch on which he’s seated.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

“I don’t like to waste good paint and silkscreen ink. Why wash it? We apply it everywhere until we use it up,” Scharf says.

Scharf, who grew up in the Valley before making his way to New York City, first gained acclaim in the ‘80s East Village art scene alongside his friends and contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, his former roommate. The trio also befriended Andy Warhol, who predicted Scharf’s fame.

Renowned for his self-coined “pop surrealism,” Scharf often populates his bold, colorful work with grinning cartoon faces, elastic blobs, and sci-fi creatures floating through cosmic landscapes. Anxieties about overconsumption and environmental degradation lie beneath the playfulness.

Like their creator, Scharf’s works are always on the move, either rolling down the street on the cars he’s painted — featured in his recently published book “Karbombz!” — or traveling to forthcoming exhibitions in Wuhan, Tokyo and Paris.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

5:30 a.m.: Wake up and feed the cats.

My cats, Cutie and Socks — one’s a tabby and the other is a tuxedo cat — wake me up by mewing and walking on me. They’re like, “Hey, I’m hungry.” So I get up and crack open the cans. They like that disgusting, smelly canned food. And then they go out into the yard.

I got the cats because I went to New York for a show. I was gone for five days and I live next to a park, so there are a lot of animals. I came back and my entire house was overrun by mice. I was like, “What the hell am I gonna do? I need cats.” The mice are gone and now I have these cats. They’re so cute and so much fun. They take over my life.

6 a.m.: Detox

I make lemon and hot water. It’s a good way to start the day and clear out the toxins. Right now, I have a lot of citrus because Ed Ruscha’s studio is across the street from my house, and in the back of the studio he has a citrus farm. I go there, especially during this time of year, and get bags of citrus. It’s like a farm community in the middle of L.A. I love L.A. because you can surround yourself with trees and gardens and kind of pretend that you’re not living in a giant metropolitan area.

8:30 a.m.: Iyengar yoga

An Iyengar yoga instructor comes to my house. I find Iyengar is great for aging. You use ropes and gravity to hang and do different things, using your body weight so you can relax into the positions. I also have a swing to go upside down on. When people walk into my living room, they go, “What’s going on here?” because of the ropes on the wall.

In the summer, I’ll go to the beach in Venice and swim in the ocean. It’s wonderful when I’m out in the water. It’s cathartic and cleansing, and sometimes I see dolphins. I’ll go early in the morning before the crowds come.

11:30 a.m.: Mar Vista Farmers’ Market

It’s fun to go there with my daughter Zena, who’s a chef, and my grandkids. We stroll around and get food. All the food stands are delicious. I grew up here in L.A., so I’m into Mexican food. I don’t really want to eat American food. I’m not into hamburgers. I want all the stuff with the culture. I like hot and spicy.

I also buy apples and berries, whatever I can’t grow, because I grow my own food at home.

And I buy stuff from an Indian man who sells Chyawanprash, which is kind of a jam. It’s really concentrated and like an elixir. He also sells Shilajit, which almost looks like tar. You put a little bit under your tongue and it dissolves, and it’s got like every single mineral in it.

2 p.m.: Painting at the studio

I’m painting seven days a week, but I really love coming here on Sundays because nobody’s here and the phone doesn’t ring. Sometimes, my granddaughter, Lua, will come. She paints. Upstairs at the studio I have a little painting area with easels for my grandkids, but my grandson, Jet, isn’t that into painting. I do my work, and Lua’s up there keeping herself busy painting, and it’s great.

Kenny Scharf in his paint-splattered studio he bikes to every day.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

5 p.m.: Hike

The easiest one is right behind my house. It goes up to the top of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook where the [Culver City] Stairs go. It’s one of the best views in all of L.A. You can see from the airport to the ocean, downtown, Mount Baldy. You can see almost all the way to Palm Springs, Mount San Gorgonio. The view is amazing.

We also hike a lot in Kenneth Hahn [State Recreation Area].

My grandkids often like to go on a waterfall hike, so there are a couple in Malibu. There are also a couple over in the San Gabriel [Mountains]. We’ll get into the car and drive an hour and hike.

6:30 p.m.: Dinner at a restaurant

Zena, Lua and Jet live close to me, so we have dinner together at least three or four times a week. Because Zena’s a chef, we don’t go out to eat that often, but sometimes we go to a restaurant called Madre that I love. It’s on National [Boulevard]. The food is so good. They often have squash blossoms. They fry them and put a little cheese in them.

I also love Gjelina in Venice. Sometimes I take people from Europe there because it is quintessential California. All the food they make is from the farmers market, so you get a tomato salad with incredible tomatoes.

8 p.m.: Read

I just finished Patti Smith’s latest book, “Bread of Angels.” It’s beautiful. I love her. I saw her perform at Disney Hall recently, and she was selling this book. I actually saw her perform at the Santa Monica Civic [Auditorium] when I was 19. I’d been wanting to move to New York for a lot of reasons, but when I saw her performance, it was, “I’m moving there.” There was so much energy in her.

9 p.m.: Bedtime

Usually I’m in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. When I was young, I was very involved in nightlife. I was working in nightclubs, all of my friends were in nightclubs, so I lived that big time. But now I’m jaded. I don’t want to sound above it all, but I don’t see anything going on that I’m getting excited about the way it was. And I’m not a nostalgic person, so I choose not to go out. I’m happier getting a good night’s sleep.

The same hotel has been crowned the best of its kind for 11 consecutive years, thanks to its connectivity, innovation, technology and the unusual experiences it offers

A five-star stay at one of the world’s busiest hubs has been named the best airport hotel in the world for the 11th consecutive year.

Skytrax’s 2026 World Airport Awards are commonly referred to as the “Oscars of the airport industry,” and are based on the largest annual airport customer satisfaction surveys in the world, which gather feedback from travellers across more than 550 airports.

This year, the awards have crowned the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport in Singapore as the World’s Best Airport Hotel yet again this year, in a ceremony at PTE World in London.

Pushing the boundaries of what is expected of a stereotypical airport hotel – business-focused, strictly practical and visually simple – the hotel transports guests into the world of aviation in more ways than simply by giving them seamless access to terminals.

Crowne Plaza Chang has aviation-themed family suites designed in collaboration with Kiztopia. There, kids can make their trip even more exciting by playing with plane-inspired spaces and interactive features.

For those looking for special experiences without having to venture into cities, the Crowne Plaza Changi also offers a range of curated experiences, from hands-on cooking to cocktail sessions: all part of the hotel’s Crowne Plaza Social feature.

And if you just want to kick your feet up and rest for the entire time you’re there, you’re also in for a treat with the wellness-focused routines called Daily Rituals, which are designed to help guests recover from travel.

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But the hotel’s innovations don’t stop at interior design and experiences. It is the first hotel in Singapore to offer in-room NuCalm sleep technology in every room, making use of the patented neuroscience techniques for stress relief, better sleep, focus & recovery, and ensuring you wake up refreshed before or after that long flight.

If all of that wasn’t enough to justify its top spot on the ranking of best airport hotels, the Crowne’s location is another major highlight. It gives guests direct access to all of Singapore Changi Airport’s terminals and the impressive Jewel Changi Airport complex – so no need to stress about what time to catch the airport shuttle.

General manager Greg Gublani said: “We are deeply honoured to be named the World’s Best Airport Hotel by Skytrax for the 11th consecutive year. This remarkable milestone is a celebration of our incredible team and unwavering dedication to deliver True Hospitality every day. In addition to delivering unique experiences, our stays are designed to enrich guest journeys, bringing blended travel to life through curated experiences. – from Crowne Plaza Social, where guests engage in hands-on activities crafting fresh pastas and classic Negronis, to energising Daily Rituals that support well-being.”

Singapore Changi Airport itself once again topped the list of the world’s best airports for 2026, followed by Incheon International Airport in Seoul, Tokyo International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and Narita International Airport in Greater Tokyo.

This city has everything you need for a great week away, from a long sandy beach to plenty of shops and restaurants, plus family-friendly attractions for days out with the kids in May half term

The cheapest destination for a week in the sun has been revealed as budget-conscious Brits look for ways to get away in spring or summer for less.

The figures are based on pricing data for package holidays departing between June 1 and August 31 and were compiled by loveholidays, which offers affordable flight and hotel combinations.

A week at this coastal gem will set you back £230 per person on average, working out at a budget-friendly £33 a night, leading loveholidays to crown it the most affordable destination for a week away.

Moroccan coastal town Agadir took the top spot thanks to its cheap flight and hotel combinations, and generally inexpensive food, drink, and days out. The main draw of Agadir is its long coastline with golden sands and its clear blue waters have earned it Blue Flag status.

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Its beach stretches over five miles, and the sea can be choppy with strong currents, which has made it a popular surfing spot. If you want to swim, then there are some natural pools where you can take a dip when the tide comes in.

Along the beach is a lively promenade, lined with palm trees, and along here you’ll find a huge selection of places to eat, bars, souvenir shops, and places to hire surfboards and water equipment. Many hotels can also be found along this strip, allowing guests easy beach access during their stays.

You can also wander into the modern city centre for lots more restaurant options and a huge range of malls and shopping areas. Many visitors recommend the Marina Shopping Mall on the waterfront, which has international brands and lots of al fresco dining options.

It’s also worth visiting the Souk El Had market for bargains and an excellent way to test your haggling skills. Other than fixed price stores, everything in Morocco can be haggled, and with over 6,000 stalls and shops, you are bound to find something you like among the colourful rugs and textiles that hang from the walls.

Agadir’s centre was destroyed in an earthquake in the 1960s, so many of its historical sites are gone. However, La Médina d’Agadir gives you an idea of what the old city looked like, and it’s a faithful recreation of the traditional market. You’ll see stallholders weaving fabrics and painting ceramics outside their stalls, so you can see how these beautiful items are made. If you’d like to see more of Old Morocco, take a tour of Souss-Massa National Park which includes a visit to a traditional Berber village where people still live in beautiful clay houses.

Agadir is also a great option for May half-term, and with highs of 26C and dry weather, you can enjoy lots of beach and pool days. Take them for a day at Crocopark, a zoo that specialises in all things scaly, from crocodiles to snakes, and you can see these creatures basking in natural desert landscapes.

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Agadir Dolphin World is another place families will love. It has regular dolphin shows, and visitors can get up close to these friendly mammals.

If you prefer to book your flight and hotel separately, there are a few airlines to choose from. Ryanair offers flights from Birmingham, London-Stansted, and Leeds Bradford, where fares start from as little as £17 one way. Jet2 and easyJet also fly from several regional airports, and most flights take just under 4 hours.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

EASYJET has warned holidaymakers to book their summer break as soon as possible amid fears of huge price hikes.

The airline chief has said the cost of holidays during peak months is expected to surge due to the ongoing Iran conflict.

Kenton Jarvis, the chief executive of easyJet, has advised anyone wanting to go on a summer holiday to book one now before they get too expensive.

He told The Telegraph: “I think the message would be to book as soon as possible, because that will start feeding in at some stage.

“My expectation is that prices go up. The industry has no choice. We make about £7 a seat and if fuel goes up by £10 then you do something about that.

“You’re not going to take an extra £10 of costs and just sit there and do nothing.”

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At the moment, most UK airlines won’t be affected because of hedging – essentially a fixed price for oil – which is keeping prices stable.

Depending on the length of time that the Iran conflict continues and if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, there could be price hikes in the coming months.

This in turn will see airlines having to put up their fares for passengers.

Mr Jarvis said that he expects easyJet to be “good for three weeks.”

Meanwhile, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said that he doesn’t expect disruption as long as the ongoing conflict ends “in the next month or two.”

Unlike these airlines, US carriers aren’t hedged which has resulted in the rise in fare prices already.

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IAG) who owns British Airways, explained that fares across the North Atlantic are set to jump up.

Talking more on the issue, he said that due to the price increase of US airlines, “competitors at the other end will match the price increase. It’s the nature of the industry.”

Some airlines have already put the price of their fares up, or are preparing to.

AirAsia said it would temporarily raise ticket prices but said it would be revising fares at a later date.

Thai Airways said it expects tickets to go up by 10 – 15 per cent, while Qantas also said it would increase prices depending on the route.

And Scandinavian airline SAS has introduced a “temporary price adjustment”.

Air New Zealand has increased prices of its flights in response to rising fuel costs as well.

Domestic flights were going up by $10 (£4.37) one way, short haul by $20 (£8.74), and long haul $90 (£39.35).

For more on booking a summer holiday, here’s why you should head to Spain and Greece.

And here are six of the best holiday destinations to book for some quick Vitamin D including 28C Spanish islands.

If you’re checking into a hotel room, there’s one item I recommend you should always avoid, and I’m not talking about the kettle and mugs, but something else entirely

Tapping my keycard onto my hotel room door always leaves me filled with anticipation, excitiment and dread. Lurking behind that door, I know there will be an unwanted item waiting for me on arrival, and it’s something everyone should avoid.

Having previously worked as a hotel receptionist for several years, I gained a few useful insights into the hospitality industry and how it really unravels behind the scenes. From how upgrades really work and the hidden costs of the mini bar, to getting a cheaper rate and handling awkward guest requests, it was a very valuable experience.

Today, it helps me with my own trips, particularly after witnessing just how hotel rooms are cleaned. And let me tell you, those decorative pillows scattered on the bed and the perfectly placed bed throw are not what you want to see in your hotel room.

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From my years working in a hotel, I rarely, if ever, saw hotel decorative pillow covers, blankets, or bed throws washed. Perhaps they got a quick spritz of air freshener or a gentle dusting, but there they sat, still unwashed and covered in other guests’ germs and grime.

So now, without fail and on every room check-in, I will grab the decorative cushions and bedspread and toss them into a corner of the room, never to be handled again for the rest of my stay.

It’s not just in budget hotels that I take this course of action. Even if it’s a luxurious four-star hotel with rave reviews, I will avoid those pillows, throws and blankets like the plague. And if that wasn’t enough of a precaution, I will ensure I flip over the bed pillow that the decorative pillow was touching to avoid any cross-contamination.

While it might seem a little drastic and take me back to that time where anti-bac and toilet roll sold out in shops, I can’t shake the feeling of dirty pillows and throws in a hotel room that other people have used. Once you’ve worked at a hotel and witnessed the other side of hospitality, it opens your eyes for better, and for worse.

Yet, that’s not the only feature of a room I advised you to avoid. The mugs are also problematic. Now, I’m not saying this is the case at every hotel, but more often or not, the mugs are not thoroughly washed before the next guest’s arrival.

On more than one occasion, I’ve witnessed housekeepers rinsing the mugs out in the bathroom sink, wiping them with a cloth, and simply placing them back on the table. While it removes coffee or tea dregs, it doesn’t quite cut it for washing a mug used by guests repeatedly.

As part of my personal check-in routine, in addition to ditching pillows and throws, I’ll always boil the kettle to rinse the mugs and glassware out with hot water as a precaution. I’ll also use a little hand soap. I’m not going to be that guest who demands a fresh mug and glass just in case they haven’t been washed up; a simple home sterilisation is enough to put my mind at ease.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

SACRAMENTO — Californians have never been forced to choose between Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, two homegrown political darlings, during any election.

But if the state’s registered Democrats picked now, Newsom would trounce Harris as their party’s next nominee for president and have the edge over other Democratic contenders, according to a poll released Friday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.

Twenty-eight percent of the California Democrats who were surveyed selected the governor as their top choice in the 2028 presidential election. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) followed with 14% and former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg received 11%. Harris came in fourth, with only 9% of voters in her own state naming her as their preferred Democratic nominee.

“It’s quite a positive result for Newsom,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll. “He’s separated himself from the rest of the pack, and especially when you compare him to the other major Californian in the considerations, he’s three times as much as Kamala. That’s quite impressive.”

The political careers of the governor and former vice president have orbited each other but never crossed since Newsom was sworn in as San Francisco’s mayor and Harris as the city’s district attorney on the same day in 2004. Now the two Bay Area natives are both flirting with the 2028 presidential contest as they travel the country promoting their life stories on respective book tours.

It’s early days and neither politician has said they will or won’t launch official campaigns for the Oval Office. The possibility remains that Californians might finally see a matchup that the two Democrats have long avoided.

Newsom set his sights on the governor’s office in 2010 before dropping out and running for lieutenant governor, a largely powerless post in which he served in the shadow of Gov. Jerry Brown for eight years. Harris won election that year as California attorney general.

Harris’ and Newsom’s paths diverged again when she chose to run for U.S. Senate in a 2016 contest to replace former Sen. Barbara Boxer and he announced his candidacy for governor in the 2018 election.

When Harris jumped into the 2020 and 2024 races for the White House, Newsom said he wouldn’t run against her. He’s discredited the idea that the two politicians have some kind of a sibling rivalry and noted that their trajectories ran adjacent and never collided.

Newsom was asked again last month whether he would vie against Harris in a presidential contest. The governor said he hasn’t “gotten in the way of her ambition ever,” and he doesn’t imagine that he would in the future. His answer changed when he was pressed to respond specifically to the potential for 2028.

“That’s fate. I don’t, I don’t know,” Newsom said to CNN’s Dana Bash, throwing up his hands. “You know, you can only control what you can control.”

Newsom and Harris had greater support from Black and Latino voters than white and Asian American Democrats in the new poll. She performed well among Democrats younger than 30 compared with other age groups, while Newsom fared better with older Democrats. More women selected Newsom as their first or second choice than they did Harris.

Neither California heavyweight performed particularly great among Democratic voters in the Bay Area, which DiCamillo called a curious finding for two politicians from the region. Support was higher for Harris and Newsom in almost every other region of the state.

DiCamillo believes the presence of Ocasio-Cortez on the list probably pulled some support from Harris. California voters in other recent polls were also sour on a third presidential run by Harris.

An Institute of Governmental Studies poll in August gauged interest in the potential candidacy of Newsom and Harris. About 45% of the state’s registered voters said they were enthusiastic about Newsom running, compared with 36% for Harris. Almost two-third of voters in that survey, and half of Democrats, said Harris should not run for president again.

Although Newsom clearly beat the field of candidates in the most recent poll, DiCamillo said receiving support from a little more than a quarter of those surveyed in his own backyard isn’t exactly wonderful. The governor’s approval rating is also down.

The poll found that 48% of California registered voters say they approve of the job Newsom is doing, with the same share disapproving of his performance. That marks a drop from 51% approval the last time DiCamillo asked in August. Disapproval also climbed, by 5 percentage points.

Voters held positive opinions about Newsom’s participation in international conferences, which was described in the poll as the governor “offering an alternative to the policies being promoted by President Trump on issues like climate change and the economy.” The poll found 59% of statewide registered voters approve and 37% disapprove.

Cristina G. Mora, co-director of the poll, said the results suggest Newsom’s more aggressive stance with Trump seems to resonate in his own state.

“Though Californians may hold mixed views on his gubernatorial tenure, they overwhelmingly see him as the strongest counter to Trump and MAGA candidates,” Mora said. “Harris’s earlier presidential defeat, compounded by persistent voter biases against women and candidates of color, may also be shaping these early numbers.”

The Berkeley IGS/Times poll surveyed 5,019 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from March 9 to 14. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.