Month: April 2026

It was my first time hiking through Tilden Regional Park, a 2,079-acre wooded hilly expanse near Berkeley, and I was looking for one very specific thing: a small red, white and blue rounded triangular trail marker with a tiny map of the United States.

I’d already struck out twice, parking at the wrong trailheads, and I was really hoping the third time would be the charm. I trudged up the Upper Big Springs Trail, a wide dirt path lined with fragrant eucalyptus, pine trees and California bay laurels and, peeking out of the invasive grasses, California poppies and orange bush monkey flower.

I crested a hill after about two-thirds of a mile, and there I saw a sign, both literal and metaphorical, on a small brown post letting me know I was exactly where I needed to be. I was officially hiking along the American Discovery Trail, a contiguous 6,800-mile coast-to-coast nonmotorized route of multiuse trails that runs from Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware.

The American Discovery Trail sign in Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

“The ADT is all about connections — people to people, community to community, urban areas to wilderness,” according to a website outlining its history. “… The ADT connects five National Scenic, 12 National Historic, and 34 National Recreational Trails; passes through urban centers like Cincinnati and San Francisco; leads to 14 National Parks and 16 National Forests” and visits thousands of historic, cultural and natural sites.

I’m excited to share not only about the joy that can be found along this route, but also how you can join a relay in July across America along the trail. I certainly plan to!

I’d never heard of the American Discovery Trail until last week when I attended the California Trails & Greenways conference in San Ramon. There, I met with American Discovery Trail co-founder John Fazel and John Mercurio, the trail’s California coordinator, to learn more.

The idea to create a coast-to-coast trail was born out of a 1980-81 hike across America called “HikaNation,” where several members of the American Hiking Society trekked more than 4,000 miles across the country. That adventure inspired Backpacker magazine and the American Hiking Society in 1989 to start developing the American Discovery Trail.

A view of the San Francisco Bay from the Seaview Trail in Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley. The route is a part of the American Discovery Trail.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Organizers contacted trail experts in 13 states, including Fazel in California. In 1990, three people headed out to test the route, an adventure they documented in “American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast-to-coast Recreational Trail” (Mountaineer Books).

Then, in 1991, the American Hiking Society hired a national coordinator to work with volunteer state coordinators to develop the route, and in 1996, trail advocates formed the American Discovery Trail Society to ensure their dreams became a reality.

“It’s an opportunity to get to know America up close and personal and not as a flyover,” said Fazel, who grew up in Iowa.

The San Pablo Reservior as seen from Tilden Regional Park near Berkeley.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Most people don’t complete the trail in one trip, Fazel said, as it takes months to finish and requires participants to leave the East Coast around February to ensure that enough snow has melted by the time they reach the mountains in Colorado and California.

Although the trail has existed for several years, Fazel and Mercurio admit that they don’t know exactly how much of the route is a recreational trail, sidewalk or roadway. That’s in part because it’s a technically complicated task to complete, especially for a mostly volunteer group. But it’s also because the route is ever-evolving (which is actually exciting).

“Since we got involved, small towns, counties, even states are funding millions of dollars to build trails in their area, and when they see a national trail goes across the country, they want to connect to it, and when they do, where it is on back roads, we can move it off,” Fazel said. “And it happens.”

A labyrinth in Tilden Regional Park along the American Discovery Trail.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times )

In California, the only place hikers are on pavement for a significant amount of time is from the Antioch Bridge north to Sacramento as they travel through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Fazel said.

Mercurio said he is working with local officials to try to move the trail from this narrow roadway onto an old railroad track that’s owned by the state.

“It’s been sitting there vacant for many, many years,” Mercurio said. “Now, they should know that there’s this national trail, this coast-to-coast trail, [that] is interested in utilizing that to provide a safe way for us to make our way across the delta.”

Unlike the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail and other multistate routes, the American Discovery Trail is not federally designated under existing law.

The National Park Service studied the American Discovery Trail in the mid-’90s and acknowledged that the American Discovery Trail doesn’t fit neatly into any of the existing categories outlined in the National Trails System Act, Mercurio said. The agency mapped out three options for Congress to consider, including creating a new category for discovery trails, he said.

A lush tree canopy along the Seaview Trail, part of the American Discovery Trail, in Tilden Regional Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Trail advocates have been pushing Congress for more than 25 years to create such a category. They came close in 2021 when U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) introduced such legislation that garnered 63 co-sponsors.

“We had people on the House resources committee who were far right and killed it,” Fazel said, adding the trail has otherwise garnered bipartisan support for decades in states it passes through.

There was a mix of suspicion and concern that the recognition of the trail would lead to eminent domain and requests for federal money, neither of which the trail’s organizers want, Fazel and Mercurio said.

“The thing is, we don’t build any trail at all,” Mercurio said. “All we do is route onto stuff that’s already there, and our presence influences local jurisdictions to create trail that would be good for our route. But they’re in this anti-federal feeling, so they just knee-jerk don’t want to support it.”

The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Tilden Regional Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

The duo remains optimistic that their trail will get national recognition. In the interim, they’ve got other big plans.

On July 1, as long as everything goes according to plan, the American Discovery Trail Society will launch its “America 250 Relay,” aiming to cross the Golden Gate Bridge by July 4 and ending in Delaware at the Atlantic Ocean on Thanksgiving Day.

Anyone can join to traverse the trail in a people- or horse-powered way. Participants will carry a copy of the Declaration of Independence in a celebration of America and the outdoors. (I’ve already texted two best friends to entice them to do part of the relay with me!)

A flax-leaved blue pimpernel in Tilden Regional Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

In a time of rising authoritarianism across the globe, it’s important we seek both joy and connection, focusing less on what we’re fed by algorithms and more on our shared humanity. I know that sounds fairly Pollyanna, but especially as a transgender American who constantly worries about whether I can safely visit my family in the Midwest, where lawmakers are seemingly seeking to outlaw my existence, I do actually mean it.

As I neared the end of the trail, a golden Labrador retriever greeted me, and after lots of head scratches, I met the dog’s owner. He and I started chatting, and soon realized that, although we belonged to different generations, we had both grown up as farm kids.

He started to tell me the story of when his dad ran himself over with a tractor.

“My dad ran himself over with a tractor too!” I said. “Did your dad start the tractor from the ground even though he’d told you a million times as a kid not to?”

“No, but he did try to get off and get back on a moving tractor,” he said, which my new friend’s father had repeatedly told him not to do.

I didn’t expect to discuss tractors and hay bales with a stranger in the East Bay, but I found that these experiences are a part of what the American Discovery Trail provides.

3 things to do

A human and canine guest travel along a previous CicLAvia event route.

(CicLAvia Los Angeles)

1. Wander the car-free streets of West L.A.
CicLAvia, an L.A. nonprofit, will host a free three-mile, car-free open streets event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through West L.A. The event marks the 65th open streets event the organization has held around L.A., but it’s the first time that one has been held in West L.A. The route includes portions of Santa Monica and Westwood boulevards. Attendees are invited to traverse the route in any people-powered device, although there are certain restrictions on e-bikes. Learn more at ciclavia.org.

2. Prop up the pollinators in Castaic
TreePeople will host Pollinator Palooza from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Castaic Lake. Volunteers will plant milkweed and restore habitat. The event will also feature plant giveaways, an environmental resource fair and a pollinator-themed fashion show. Learn more at treepeople.org.

3. Orient yourself in Irvine
Save Orange Hills and Naturalist For You will host a hike, yoga and meditation event from 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday at Irvine Regional Park. After a short warm-up hike, guests will take part in an all-levels yoga session. Tickets are $17.85, but no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Register at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

San Joaquin River Parkway, currently operated by the San Joaquin River Conservancy, would join various properties into an 874-acre state park, expanding recreation opportunities and greater access along the river. The park would complement nearby Millerton Lake State Recreation Area.

(California State Parks)

California could soon see the development of three new state parks in the Central Valley. State officials announced the proposed parks on Wednesday, which are Feather River Park in Yuba County, San Joaquin River Parkway near Fresno and Dust Bowl Camp in Bakersfield, Times staff writer Hayley Smith wrote. State officials also aim to expand three existing parks in Mendocino County, Nevada County and San Mateo County. “California’s state parks are nothing short of iconic — with locations like Big Sur, Southern California beaches, and the world’s tallest trees — but our state has even more to offer,” said Wade Crowfoot, California’s natural resources secretary.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Hikers and trail builders have until April 30 to complete the California Trails Survey, which state officials will use to help shape how nonmotorized recreational trails are developed in the state — and how officials use millions from Prop 4, often called the “climate bond” because its money is supposed to be spent to combat climate change. The survey includes two portions, one for trail users and another for trail builders and advocates. If you fit both categories, you are invited to complete both portions. Early data, released at a trails conference I attended last week, suggested that white hikers were overrepresented in the results, so please spread the word, especially to BIPOC hiking organizations in your area!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham Hotspur and Ghana)

Kudus is awaiting further assessment on a quad injury that could require surgery. Ghana risk losing their key creative figure if recovery takes longer than expected. His availability remains uncertain as crucial decisions loom. The Ghana international has been out for more than three months after limping out of Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Sunderland on 4 January.

Eder Militao (Real Madrid and Brazil)

Militao has been ruled out for the rest of Real Madrid’s season after suffering a hamstring tear. The 28-year-old centre-back is targeting a return for the World Cup, but Brazil’s medical staff are cautious given his recent history of muscle injuries.

Reece James (Chelsea and England)

England defender James is once again dealing with hamstring issues while sidelined at Chelsea. Having missed the past two major tournaments, his hopes depend on avoiding further setbacks. The 26-year-old sustained the injury in a 1-0 Premier League defeat by Newcastle in March. Any delay in recovery would put his place in serious doubt.

Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich and Canada)

Canada’s talisman is once again struggling with the recurring muscle issues that have plagued his recent seasons at Bayern Munich. His explosive pace is central to Canada’s threat, but his body seems to be pushing back at the worst possible moment. If he is not fully fit, Canada’s chances take a massive hit.

April 23 (UPI) — Two passenger trains crashed head-on in Denmark on Thursday leaving 18 injured, five of them critically, law enforcement officials said.

The trains collided at 6:29 a.m. CEST, traveling on a line that connects Hillerød and Kagerup in the North Zealand region of northeast Denmark. Hillerød is about 19 miles from Copenhagen. There were 37 people aboard. North Zealand police said the trains were traveling fast, but the exact speed wasn’t known.

No cause of the crash has been determined, said Tim Ole Simonsen of the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department, but he told Danish TV that all the injured were taken to the hospital by either ambulance or air.

“I am deeply shaken and shocked, and my thoughts are with all those involved,” Gribskov Mayor Trine Egetved posted on Facebook. “The local track is used by many Gribskov citizens, employees and pupils. Emergency services are working at full pressure, and we are trying from the central team to get an overview of what has happened more accurately and make sure that everyone gets the help they need.”

Fire and rescue service leader Christoffer Buhl Martekilde told reporters, “The two trains collided head-on, causing large damage to them and sending broken glass flying everywhere.”

North Zealand Police Inspector Morten Pedersen said his agency will work with Denmark’s Accident Investigation Board to find out what happened, the BBC reported.

Klaus Jensen, accident board manager, told TV2 that investigators were exploring “all hypotheses,” including “a failure in the signalling system or whether there may have been a failure due to human factors,” the BBC reported.

Several train staff were injured, said Claus Pedersson, safety director at Lokaltog, the Danish railway company, to Danish broadcaster DR.

He said the crash was “one of the worst we can imagine in the railway industry.”

“We see accidents like this happen from time to time, and the most important thing is that we learn from it,” Pedersson said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that she was “very moved by the terrible train accident on the Gribskov line this morning.” She told TV2, “Several people are in a critical condition. My thoughts go out to the injured, their relatives and everyone affected by the accident.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he offered help for the incident response, but Danish police declined the offer.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the Strait of Hormuz closure will hit crop yields, UNDP chief warns.

The Iran war will push more than 30 million people back into poverty, with the knock-on effects of the conflict likely to increase food insecurity in the coming months, the United Nations has warned.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the ongoing blocking of cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has already lowered agricultural productivity and will hit crop yields later this year, the UN’s development chief said on Thursday.

“Even if the war would stop tomorrow, those effects, you already have them, and they will be pushing back more than 30 million people into poverty,” said Alexander De Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He also warned of other fallouts of the United States-Israeli war on Iran, including energy shortages and falling remittances.

Much of the world’s fertiliser is produced in the Middle East, and one-third of global supplies passes through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the US are jostling for control.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait could lead to a global food “catastrophe”.

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt are among the countries most at risk, according to the FAO.

“Food insecurity will be at its peak level in a few months – and there is not much that you can do about it,” De Croo said.

Straining humanitarian efforts

The knock-on effects of the Iran conflict have already wiped out 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), according to De Croo, who noted, “Things that take decades to build up, it takes eight weeks of war to destroy them.”

De Croo, the former prime minister of Belgium, also warned that the Middle East crisis is straining humanitarian efforts in other parts of the world, with the sector already facing funding cuts.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which began on February 28, have also choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises.

“We will have to say to certain people, really sorry, but we can’t help you,” De Croo said. “People who would be surviving on help will not have this, and will be pushed into even greater vulnerability.”

BBC Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox, who has just landed the biggest job on the station, has been married to husband Ben Cyzer, with whom she shares two children, since 2013

Newly announced BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter Sara Cox has always been open about her home life, previously sharing a “depressing” revelation about her marriage to husband Ben Cyzer.

The broadcaster, who is set to replace Scott Mills on the nation’s biggest radio show, struck up a relationship with advertising boss Ben back in 2006, a year following the breakdown of her first marriage.

The BBC Radio 2 host tied the knot with Ben in 2013, and together they’re parents to daughter Renee and son Isaac. She’s also mum to Lola from her earlier marriage to DJ Jon Carter.

Yet Sara, aged 51, has disclosed a nightly struggle she endures with Ben. Speaking on her Teen Commandments podcast, which she co-hosts with Clare Hamilton, Sara revealed that Ben’s snoring regularly drives her to escape to another bedroom.

She explained: “This is my issue that I’ve got with Ben in the night if I wake up, just him breathing is annoying. Not during the day, I just mean any slight noises.”

“You know on a wildlife documentary when they have a shot of an animal that’s on high alert for a predator? I feel like I’ve got that heaving in the middle of the night, I can just hear the tiniest [noise]…it’s just so magnified in the middle of the night.

“I think there’s a bit of anxiety in there. I remember in my twenties if I woke up at like half one, I probably wouldn’t have been in bed at half one, but if I woke up in the middle of the night and it was like 3am, in my twenties I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got loads of time to sleep, amazing’. Now I’m 50 I go, ‘F**k, it’s three, I’m not going to sleep, I’m never going to get back to sleep again’.

“So I need to tap into that twenties energy of thinking, ‘I’ve got loads of time to sleep’.”

When questioned about managing her partner Ben’s nocturnal disturbances, Sara Cox revealed: “I nudge him, he’s really patient, he’s great about it, and then we just keep sleeping in separate rooms, which is a bit depressing.”

Sara has just revealed how “ecstatic” she feels to take the reins of the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, after its former host, Scott Mills, was axed from the role last month.

“There are not enough adjectives to really sum up how I’m feeling about being trusted with such an iconic show but let’s start with ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed,” she shared.

The star, who currently hosts Radio 2’s weekday Teatime show and will begin fronting the Breakfast Show in the summer, added: “It’s been a dream to host the Breakfast Show since I joined Radio 2 and it feels like a bit of a full circle for me.

“I’ve had the most glorious seven years of my career on teatime so thank you to my brilliant Teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at Breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests. I honestly can’t wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever.”

Tarek William Saab, one of the key figures in the repressive apparatus that oppresses Venezuelan society, is dismissed as prosecutor general, but a family friend who has spent years denying Maduro’s atrocities on the international stage is appointed in his place. Vladimir Padrino, under investigation for systematic human rights violations, is replaced by Gustavo González López, also under investigation for systematic human rights violations. They pass an amnesty law, but primarily to grant amnesty to themselves. Over 700 political prisoners are released, but another 473 remain in prison, and those who are released do not always enjoy full freedom.

The institutional reforms of Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez generate headlines abroad that portray them, to those who don’t pay attention to the details, as the moderates The New York Times described them as shortly before the military incursion of January 3rd. The economic reforms, on the other hand, provide arguments, or rather content, for the Trump administration to claim on its social media accounts that it is succeeding in reshaping Venezuela, when on the ground the population observes their living conditions—the blackouts, the inflation, the widespread vulnerability—and concludes that they remain the same as when Maduro was dancing calmly over our dead.

Yes, there are some reasons for optimism, especially regarding the economic transition, but the transition to democracy doesn’t seem to be happening yet. The dictator was removed in a helicopter, but the dictatorship remains.

So far, all of this fits into a metaphor that has been cited countless times in decades of opinion pieces in Venezuela: the Rodríguezes are changing everything so that nothing changes. I grew up reading that cliché in the press, before chavismo burst onto the scene, guns blazing, in our history. “They’re like the Leopard, they change everything so that nothing changes.” In a country that has seen so many supposed reinventions, so many revolutions promising a clean slate to simply replace one set of power with another without solving any of the nation’s structural problems, that cliché has been uttered in relation to many governments and many leaders. But where does it come from, and what does it originally mean?

The cunning of the opportunist

Giuseppe Tomasi, Prince of Lampedusa, was a Sicilian aristocrat who seemed like a character from a novel: he failed as a soldier, he couldn’t prevent his family’s ruin, he saw his palace destroyed by Allies bombs during World War II, and in reality, he was only good for reading and learning languages. He published very little during his lifetime, and spent more than twenty years writing a novel that was published a year after his death in 1957. The book, which was a great success from the start, was titled Il Gattopardo (The Leopard in the English translations), after the cheetah that appears on the coat of arms of its protagonist: Don Fabrizio, the Prince of Salina.

The world is full of Tancredis like Jorge, Venezuela has never lacked them. Juan Vicente Gómez also promised change when he overthrew his crony Cipriano Castro, remaining in power for 27 years.

The character, like his creator, was the last of a line. He was a landowner whose noble titles and privileges depended on the existence of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as the Spanish dominion of southern Italy was called in 1860. When, that year, Garibaldi’s troops invaded Sicily, in the process that would eventually produce the Italy we know today, Don Fabrizio found that everything he stood for was in danger. Sicily would cease to be Spanish and merge into the new Kingdom of Italy, and he would lose his place at the pinnacle of that feudal society, dominated by a few through the mere will of a foreign sovereign. Don Fabrizio, who had dedicated his life to preserving what he had inherited, saw no way to stop the transformations that were approaching like a tsunami at the gates of his palace, crowned by wrought-iron leopards. But his favorite nephew, Tancredi, an ambitious climber who married the daughter of an uneducated nouveau riche and joined Garibaldi’s Redshirt revolution without hesitation, showed him what had to be done: “If we want everything to stay the same, we have to change everything.”

The fate of the cynics

Il Gattopardo is an exquisite work, a great historical novel that brings together all the virtues of the genre: the ability to transport you to an era and dissect it; the pleasure of escaping to a beautiful palace in the golden hills of Sicily, beside a turquoise sea; details like the pasta timbale and granitas served at a fully set table. All of that is in Luchino Visconti’s magnificent 1963 film version, starring Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon, and in the superb miniseries—in which all the actors are Italian—on Netflix.

But what immortalized it was that line from Tancredi. Because of its power to synthesize what many people, in many different historical contexts, have done time and again: move from the old order to the new, disguised as reformers, to avoid losing their privileges by securing a place in the emerging elite. Changing everything so that nothing changes is the strategy of those who must pretend to be the future and not the past, because they would pay a heavy price if they didn’t. It’s the roadmap of those who, like Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez, have prepared themselves to take advantage of an external factor that destabilizes the order of their world—Garibaldi’s landing, the arrival of the Marines—and reorganize that world to their advantage.

Perhaps Jorge Rodríguez read Lampedusa back when he frequented bookstores and wrote fiction like the story that won the El Nacional literary contest. Perhaps he saw Visconti’s film. Perhaps he doesn’t even know this story: the world is full of Tancredis like him, and Venezuela has never lacked them. Juan Vicente Gómez also promised change when he overthrew his crony Cipriano Castro, remaining in power for 27 years at the head of a dictatorship that had a very good relationship with foreign oil companies.

In the novel, however, Tancredi meets a bad end: he loses an eye, fails in his ambition to seize power, pays for the mistake of underestimating the Mafia father-in-law with whom he became involved, and for overestimating his own talents. The prince, as expected, disappears along with the world he represented. Italy in the 1860s changed in many ways, and left other things as they were. When you truly read that immortal book left to us by that sad, solitary Sicilian prince, you understand how cynics work to appropriate historical changes, but you also realize that no one, not even those who seem most powerful, can control these.

England and Leicestershire leg-spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed is joining Delhi Capitals for the remainder of this year’s Indian Premier League campaign.

The 21-year-old, who has played 27 internationals for England across all formats, will leave immediately for his first taste of the IPL and will be away until at least the end of the group stages of the competition on 24 May.

Delhi are currently fifth in the standings, having won three and lost three of their six games so far.

Ahmed, who will earn £60,000, will miss the Foxes’ next four County Championship matches and at least their first two group games in the T20 Blast.

“We’re absolutely delighted for Rehan and incredibly proud as a club to see him earn this opportunity,” Leicestershire director of cricket Claude Henderson said.

“It’s a real testament to the hard work of everyone within our academy and pathway system, and exactly what we strive for.

“We’re excited to watch him go and express himself, and we’ll be right behind him every step of the way before welcoming him back to Leicester.”

Ahmed has taken six wickets and scored 56 runs across the Foxes’ first two red-ball matches this season on the club’s return to the first division of the County Championship.

Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but that the international forward should be fit to represent his country at this summer’s World Cup.

The 18-year-old striker helped Spain to the Euro 2024 title, while also lifting La Liga with Barca last season.

His club side are well on the way to defending that title, with a nine-point lead over Real Madrid, although they will have to do so now without their iconic starlet.

Al Jazeera Sport looks at how Yamal’s injury grabbed global headlines after their football game on Wednesday, and what the road to World Cup 2026 may now look like for the Catalan.

What happened to Lamine Yamal?

Barcelona were looking to re-establish their nine-point advantage over Real when they played Celta Vigo on Wednesday, April 22.

With the deadlock yet to be broken, Yamal won a penalty for his side – which he scored.

In the immediate aftermath of striking the ball, however, he crumpled to the ground in pain and was quickly substituted.

The strike would prove enough to score a 1-0 win for Barca, but it has come at some cost.

What is Lamine Yamal’s injury?

Rumours swirled into Thursday morning that Yamal’s participation at this summer’s World Cup for Spain could be in doubt.

The early exit from Barca’s win suggested the injury would be serious enough to keep him out for at least a couple of weeks.

The Catalan club, however, confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the injury was to his hamstring and that he would no longer play any part in the club’s defence of their title with six games to play as a result.

How bad is Lamine Yamal’s injury?

“The tests carried out have confirmed that first-team player Lamine Yamal has a hamstring injury in his left leg (biceps femoris muscle),” read Barcelona’s statement, which was first posted on social media platform X.

Such injuries are grouped into three grades: minor, moderate or severe strain/tear.

The recovery periods range from one week to six months.

“The player will follow a conservative treatment plan. Lamine Yamal will miss ‌the remainder of the season, and he is expected to be available for the World Cup,” Barcelona’s statement concluded.

Given the Spanish season runs for another four weeks, until May 24, it is likely that Yamal has at very least a moderate strain.

Such an injury ranges from a four-to-six-week recovery.

Will Lamine Yamal be fit for Spain’s World Cup opener?

What Barcelona’s statement on Thursday did not reveal was just how long the recovery period is expected to be, as the World Cup is set to begin on June 11, when Mexico face South Africa in the first match.

Spain’s first game is being played four days later, against Cape Verde. They then face Saudi Arabia on June 21, before completing the initial group phase with what could be a crunch game against Uruguay on June 27.

Whether Yamal is risked for the opening match on June 15, only seven-and-a-half weeks after he sustained the injury, remains to be seen.

The final game of the group stages is just over nine weeks from the now infamous penalty kick against Celta. That is more than week clear of the longest expected recovery time for a moderate strain.

Why is Lamine Yamal so important to Spain?

Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England.

While he was only 16 years of age at the time, his speed and guile on the ball marked him as one of the hottest properties in global football.

His stock rose dramatically with a memorable curled effort from outside the box – now his trademark effort – against France in the semifinals.

Despite his young age, Yamal has already scored six goals in total for Spain in 25 international appearances.

Has Lamine Yamal given an update following his injury?

“This injury is keeping me off the pitch just when I wanted to be there ⁠the most, and it hurts more than I can put into words,” Yamal wrote on his social media ⁠accounts on Thursday.

“It hurts not to be able to fight ⁠alongside my teammates, not to be able to help when the team needs me … But I’ll be there, even if it’s from the sidelines, supporting, cheering and pushing them on just ‌like one of the lads.

“This isn’t the end, it’s just a break. I’ll come back stronger, more determined than ever, and next season will be ‌better.”

How well did Lamine Yamal do for Barcelona this season?

A year after the Euro 2024 triumph, Yamal lifted the La Liga title for the first time when he helped his native Barcelona pip Real Madrid in a closely fought affair that saw just four points separating the sides in the end.

Yamal scored 18 goals that season, including three in the last four games of the La Liga season.

His penalty against Celta was his 24th goal of this season for Barcelona, which ends for him with his side still having six further games to play.

This article examines the First Day of Summer in Iceland, a public holiday rooted in the ancient Norse calendar which partitioned the year into only two seasons. Celebrated on the first Thursday following April 11th, the occasion marks the beginning of the month of Harpa and is historically linked to the start of the new year. Traditional folklore suggests that a freezing temperature the night before the holiday predicts a prosperous and warm season ahead. The text also highlights cultural quirks, such as the historical practice of measuring the age of people and livestock by the number of winters they have survived. Though modern climate conditions may not mirror typical summer weather in April, the festival remains a significan … 

Canada on Wednesday announced $5 million in funding for international efforts aimed at identifying and eliminating chemical weapons remaining in Syria, Anadolu reports.

“Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced Canada’s contribution of $5 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) through Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program,” the Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.

Noting that the OPCW will use the contribution to verify the scope of Syria’s former chemical weapons program, the readout added that the funding will also be used to investigate past uses of such weapons, and prepare for the safe destruction of remaining stockpiles, in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The statement said the work is considered critical to “Syria’s long-term stability,” advancing accountability and reducing the risk to civilians of any future chemical weapons use.

“This contribution is part of Canada’s long-standing support to the OPCW to uphold the global ban on chemical weapons and strengthen international accountability,” it added.

The Saturday soccer show, which looks ahead to the day’s games, is to end following a drop in ratings

Alex Scott has issued a statement after BBC bosses blew the final whistle on Football Focus after a run of 52 years. The presenter, 41, said: “I always knew this would be my last season on the show, which the BBC were aware of too. My intention was to move quietly into the next chapter, but sometimes things change.”

The show, hosted by Alex Scott, was first broadcast in 1974. The decision is said to be based on “changing audience behaviours”, with fans increasingly consuming football content in different ways.

She said: “To have been part of it has been incredibly special, and I’m so grateful and proud of the eight years I’ve been involved , including the five years I’ve had the honour of presenting it.

“It has been such an important part of my life, working with some of the very best people in the business, both on screen and behind the scenes. I’ve loved so much of it, the conversations, the laughter, and sharing so many big moments with you, the audience. Thank you for being part of it.”

It comes as the Corporation battles with its finances, with the BBC saying “it is appropriate to respond to this as difficult decisions are made around how the licence fee is spent”.

In an age of content creators and social media, many football fans are no longer tuning in to the BBC1 show.

But BBC Sport chiefs insisted the decision to end the show at the end of the current season was not a reflection on the performance of Scott, who took over in 2021 after Dan Walker’s 12-year stint.

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport said: “Alex Scott is one of our finest presenters, is hugely popular across the men and women’s game and is a big part of our present and future.

“She will remain at the heart of our sports output across both the Men’s World Cup this year and the Women’s World Cup in 2027, as well as continuing her lead role on the Women’s Super League and BBC Sport Personality of the Year. We are also working on a very exciting new project with her – more to come on that soon.”

He added: “Football Focus has been a hugely important programme in the history of BBC Sport and has played a key role in telling the stories of the game for generations of viewers. This decision was made before last week’s wider BBC savings announcement, reflecting the continued shift in how audiences engage with football and our commitment to evolving how we deliver content to reach fans wherever they are.”

But Alex, who will be the last presenter of the long-running BBC stalwart, is said to have been left feeling “bruised” over the BBC’s inquests into its declining performance. The BBC has not published viewing figures but the audience had dropped off significantly from 849,000 in 2019 to 564,000 by 2023.

Walker predicted the end of the show back in 2023, when he said: “It’s hard to see Football Focus struggling… I hope it stays part of the TV landscape.”

Published on 23/04/2026 – 17:09 GMT+2•Updated
17:41

French liberal MEP Christophe Grudler told Euronews the Commission’s proposed European preference, once adopted, covering public procurement in strategic sectors such as clean tech, cars and energy-intensive industries (aluminium and steel) should be limited to a core group of non-EU countries.

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The “Made in Europe” provisions of the so-called “Industrial Accelerator Act” have triggered a fierce political battle between supporters, led by Germany and Nordic countries, of a broad definition including “like-minded” partners, and those, led by France, pushing for a narrower approach.

In its proposal unveiled on 4 March, the Commission leaned towards the broader interpretation.

“The Commission’s option is very poor. It reflects a completely outdated view of trade policy,” Grudler said, adding, “When the Americans introduced the Buy American Act, they didn’t worry about whether it would strain ties with Europe. At some point, we need to stop being naive.”

The MEP is set to be one of the lead negotiators on the proposed new rulesin the European Parliament as talks begin shortly.

The European preference aims to counter foreign competition, notably from the US and China. The Commission proposes excluding non-EU countries depending on how open they are to the EU taking part in their procurement markets as well as existing trade agreements.

Geography should prevail, Grudler said

But Grudler argues geography should be the guiding principle, limiting “Made in Europe” to countries closest to the EU — first and foremost the European Economic Area: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Switzerland could also be “a good candidate”, he said.

“Switzerland has had a public procurement agreement since 1989. It is a bilateral agreement stating that all European companies have access to the Swiss public procurement market, and that all Swiss companies have access to the European public procurement market. It is therefore a rather good candidate.”

The UK could also be considered to some extent, but “conditions will need to be examined” following Brexit, he added. “There is also a point where Europe has to make sure it comes out financially ahead.”

He wants the law to send “a strong signal” to investors backing key EU industries, “particularly energy-intensive sectors and clean technologies.”

“It is another step in Europe’s resilience against unfair competition from other continents.”

However China has voiced strong opposition to the Commission proposal, seen in Beijing as restricting its access to EU procurement and investment.

“This legislation is Europe standing firm for its strategic industries,” Grudler said.

“China has overcapacities in cars or in steel. They are relying on the naivety of Europeans to do business, to generate double-digit growth again, and then to invest in research and development and get ahead on everything, all the while cheating through direct subsidies to destroy our industries.”

WASHINGTON — Many of the groups that helped elect Donald Trump as president again are deeply unhappy with his performance, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Trump’s return to the presidency was fueled by a wide-ranging coalition that built on his loyal base of supporters. Now that Trump has been in the White House for more than a year, the survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that many key groups — including Hispanic adults, younger adults and men — are increasingly dissatisfied with his presidency.

The poll was conducted from April 16 through Monday, as oil prices fluctuated and Americans spent more at the gas pump.

It’s a particularly bad moment for Trump, a Republican whose economic approval slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher. But AP-NORC polls show that discontent has been building among critical segments of the population over the past year.

Trump’s overall approval among Hispanic adults has fallen 16 percentage points since March 2025, and his support has declined by 9 percentage points among men.

And while Trump’s base is still largely behind him — most Republicans approve of his performance — there are signs that his second term may not be living up to their expectations.

Here’s what polling shows about Trump’s current status with four important groups:

Hispanic adults

Hispanic Americans have grown increasingly discontented with Trump over the past year.

About one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how he’s handling the presidency in the new poll, down from about 4 in 10 in March 2025.

That decline has been visible since late last year — suggesting that it’s not just the war in Iran or recent spikes in gas prices that are leaving this group unhappy.

Trump’s restrictive immigration approach may be playing a role. Only about one-quarter of Hispanics approve of his handling of immigration, down from 36% at the beginning of his term.

His immigration tactics appear to be particularly unpopular among younger Hispanics — a group with which he made gains in 2024. Only 18% of younger Hispanic adults approve of his performance on immigration, compared with 40% of Americans overall.

There is also broad discontent about the state of the U.S. economy among Hispanics. Only about one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how Trump is handling that issue, and about 2 in 10 say they approve of his approach to the cost of living. Few Hispanic adults, about 2 in 10, describe the nation’s economy as “good.”

Young adults

Trump’s overall approval with Americans under age 45 has slid over the past year, falling from 39% in March 2025 to 28% in the latest poll.

Younger women have a particularly dim view of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Only about 2 in 10 women under age 45 approve of how Trump is handling the economy, including only 7% of younger Hispanic women who approve of his economic approach. More young men, about 3 in 10, approve of him on this issue.

Trump’s struggles among young adults extend to other groups, too. Only about one-third of white adults under age 45 approve of his overall performance, compared with 45% of white adults age 45 or older.

A downtick among men

Trump made broad appeals to men throughout his 2024 campaign, and most male voters backed Trump in the presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris. In particular, he made slight but significant gains with Black and Hispanic men, who were drawn by his vows to revitalize the economy.

Since he reentered office, though, American men have become slightly less likely to approve of his performance, declining from 47% at the start of his second term to 38% in the most recent poll.

There are signs that Black men, in particular, aren’t seeing Trump’s economic promises pan out. Black men are more likely than white or Hispanic men to disapprove of Trump’s approach to the presidency, as well as his approach to the economy, the cost of living and Iran. Only about 1 in 10 Black men say they approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living, and roughly 2 in 10 approve of how he’s handling the economy.

Hispanic men, too, have a relatively dim view of Trump’s overall performance. About 3 in 10 approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, regardless of their age. That support is stronger among white men, with about half approving of Trump.

While young Republicans are frustrated, MAGA still backs Trump

Trump has benefited from Republicans’ loyalty for years, but there are recent signs of frustration even within his base.

Roughly two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance. That is down slightly from 82% near the start of his second term and is generally in line with the GOP low point from his first term.

But only about half of Republicans overall approve of Trump’s approach to the cost of living, and a majority of Republicans under age 45 disapprove of him on that issue.

Trump is still buoyed by the support of his MAGA base, even as he faces backlash from conservative media figures on some of his recent actions in Iran.

About 9 in 10 MAGA Republicans — those who consider themselves supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement — approve of Trump’s job performance, and a similar share approve of his handling of Iran.

It’s a good sign for Trump that his most robust supporters are still in his corner, but not all Republicans identify with MAGA. About half of Republicans, 54%, say they consider themselves MAGA supporters.

Among non-MAGA Republicans, Trump’s approval is much lower, at 44%.

Sanders and Thomson-Deveaux write for the Associated Press. The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

Angel City Football Club announced on Thursday the expansion of its “Immigrant City Football Club” campaign, unveiling a limited-edition apparel collection featuring the slogan “Los Angeles is for Everyone” written in 13 languages representing the city’s diverse communities.

The T-shirt and cap, available in the club’s colors, feature languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, Yoruba, and Zapotec — the latter representing one of the city’s largest indigenous migrant communities, originating from Oaxaca, Mexico.

“Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and that diversity is our strength,” said Chris Fajardo, Angel City FC’s vice president of community relations, in a statement. “This campaign is more than a t-shirt. It’s about showing up for our community, celebrating our differences, and making it clear that everyone belongs here.”

The back of the jersey, written in 13 languages, including Zapotec.

(Angel City)

The products are available on the Angel City online store and will be available at the club’s store at BMO Stadium beginning May 2, during the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month commemorative match against the Utah Royals.

Proceeds from the sale of the merchandise will be donated to the International Institute of Los Angeles (IILA), a nonprofit organization that provides immigration legal assistance, refugee support and essential services for immigrant integration in the city.

The initiative expands on the original campaign launched last year, when the club distributed the first T-shirt in solidarity with Los Angeles’ immigrant communities facing uncertainty in the city due to immigration raids. During the raids, many Los Angeles teams, including the Dodgers and the Galaxy, were criticized for their silence, despite having a large Latino fan base.

Last year, 10,000 T-shirts were printed. They were worn by players as they arrived at the stadium, while Angel City coach Alexander Straus and his coaching staff also wore them on the bench, and one of the team’s investors, singer Becky G, spoke to fans in the stadium in support of immigrants before the game.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

April 23 (UPI) — As tensions simmer across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan is quietly accelerating a shift toward drone-centric defense.

The nation is betting that swarms of low-cost, domestically produced systems can help offset the numerical and industrial advantages of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy and its expanding network of maritime auxiliaries.

This approach reflects a broader recalibration in Taipei — a move away from expensive, vulnerable platforms toward distributed, resilient and scalable capabilities designed to complicate any attempt at invasion or blockade.

At its core lies a simple calculation. In a high-intensity Indo-Pacific conflict, quantity, adaptability and survivability may matter more than traditional firepower.

From platforms to swarms

Taiwan’s embrace of drones is rooted in the concept of asymmetric warfare. Rather than matching China ship-for-ship or missile-for-missile, Taipei is investing in systems that can be mass-produced, dispersed and rapidly replaced.

“It’s not really about ‘swarms’ yet — it’s about mass. Large volumes of drones used in salvos to overwhelm defenses and increase the probability of a successful strike,” said Molly Campbell, analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C.

Government plans call for the procurement of up to 200,000 drones over the coming decade, spanning aerial, maritime and hybrid platforms in what officials describe as a whole-of-society approach to resilience.

These include a broad mix of air (UAV), surface (USV) and underwater (UUV) drones, designed to operate in contested littoral environments.

The objective is clear: saturate defenses, disrupt amphibious operations and raise the cost of any Chinese military action.

“What Taiwan is trying to do is shift from heavy, high-end defense platforms to a more dispersed and resilient model,” Simona Alba Grano, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told UPI.

In Taiwan’s case, where the goal is not to defeat China outright, but to make any invasion “extremely costly and uncertain,” such systems fit squarely within a broader denial strategy.

Lessons from Ukraine — with limits

Taiwan’s drone push has been influenced by Ukraine’s battlefield innovations, where low-cost unmanned systems have reshaped modern warfare.

Ukraine’s use of maritime drones in the Black Sea, striking high-value naval targets with relatively inexpensive systems, provides a compelling reference point. It has also highlighted the importance of rapid iteration, short development cycles and close integration between operators and industry.

Taiwanese companies have begun engaging with this ecosystem, supplying components and spare parts to Ukrainian operators and seeking to gain exposure to combat-driven innovation.

Yet, the analogy has limits.

The Taiwan Strait presents a far more demanding operational environment as it is wider, more exposed and subject to extreme weather conditions. Systems must operate over longer distances, carry heavier payloads and withstand harsher maritime conditions.

At the same time, Ukraine’s drone ecosystem is shaped by continuous battlefield validation, giving its manufacturers a level of operational credibility that remains difficult to replicate elsewhere.

Advances in unmanned systems, including long-range platforms and “mothership” concepts, also are eroding the Taiwan Strait’s traditional role as a natural buffer, increasing the tempo of gray-zone interactions.

Ukraine has demonstrated what is possible. Taiwan must now determine what is adaptable to its own operational environment.

Industrial ambition meets resistance

Taiwan’s challenge is no longer strategic clarity, but execution on the ground. The gap between planning and implementation, particularly in scaling capabilities and coordinating across agencies, now defines the island’s defense posture.

“Ukraine’s drone production is on a completely different scale. It’s nowhere near comparable to what Taiwan is currently able to produce, ” Campbell said.

Authorities have signaled openness to integrating foreign expertise, pursuing joint production and accelerating domestic manufacturing. Yet, progress has been uneven.

Industry insiders point to reluctance among local manufacturers to share market opportunities within a rapidly expanding defense budget. This has constrained collaboration both domestically and internationally, slowing efforts to build a more integrated ecosystem.

This dynamic is particularly visible in Taiwan’s interactions with Ukraine. Despite Kyiv’s operational experience and willingness to cooperate, Taiwanese firms have at times resisted incorporating Ukrainian know-how into their platforms, limiting co-development opportunities.

At the same time, Taiwanese companies have sought to market their own systems abroad, often with limited success in operationally mature environments. The result is a mismatch between industrial ambition and battlefield credibility in a highly competitive, experience-driven sector.

The fragmentation of Taiwan’s drone ecosystem comes at a critical moment, when speed, scale and integration are essential.

Cutting the China supply chain

Another pillar of Taiwan’s strategy is reducing reliance on Chinese components, long a structural vulnerability in the global drone industry.

“Taiwan is making a concerted effort to eliminate Chinese components from its drone supply chain to reduce dependence and mitigate security risks, said Ava Shen, an analyst at the Eurasia Group.

Taipei is working with international partners, particularly the United States, to develop a secure, China-free supply chain for unmanned systems. This effort is now backed by policy initiatives in Washington, where bipartisan legislation seeks to expand joint drone production and strengthen industrial resilience between the two partners.

The objective is not only to secure supply chains, but also to align production ecosystems in ways that enhance interoperability and long-term sustainability.

However, decoupling comes with trade-offs. Eliminating Chinese components increases production costs, extends timelines and complicates scaling. These constraints risk slowing deployment at a moment when speed is critical.

Meanwhile, China continues to expand its own unmanned capabilities, including drone swarms, electronic warfare systems and the conversion of legacy platforms into remotely operated assets. The scale of its industrial base and the integration of civilian and military sectors present a formidable challenge.

If Taiwan’s approach emphasizes agility and innovation, China’s rests on mass, coordination and systemic depth.

Southeast Asia as regional test bed

Beyond Taiwan, Southeast Asia, particularly along the South China Sea littoral, is emerging as a practical testing ground for unmanned systems.

The United States has expanded drone support to regional partners, providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms such as the ScanEagle, RQ-20 Puma and Skydio X10 UAVs to countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. These systems are primarily used to enhance maritime awareness in contested areas.

The Philippines, under sustained pressure from Beijing, has become a focal point. The United States has deployed MQ-9A Reaper for extended surveillance missions and introduced maritime drones, such as the Devil Ray T-38.

Together, these deployments are turning parts of Southeast Asia into a real-world environment for testing unmanned concepts short of conflict, particularly in maritime surveillance and denial.

China has also deployed uncrewed surface vehicles such as the Sea Wing and Wave Glider types, many of which have been lost or recovered by fishermen and coast guards, in the South China Sea as well as in the Java Sea, highlighting both the spread and the fragility of these systems in contested waters.

Deterrence, escalation and uncertainty

Drones offer Taiwan a pathway to strengthen deterrence by denial, increasing the cost, complexity and uncertainty of any military action. But they also introduce new risks.

The proliferation of low-cost systems may lower the threshold for escalation, especially in ambiguous encounters involving coast guard or maritime militia vessels. What begins as signaling or harassment could escalate more rapidly in an environment saturated with autonomous or semi-autonomous platforms.

Moreover, drone networks depend heavily on communications, data links and supply chains – all of which are vulnerable to disruption through cyber operations or electronic warfare.

Race against time

For Taiwan, the shift toward drone-centric defense is both an opportunity and a race against time.

Drones offer a scalable and cost-effective means of offsetting China’s advantages. But success depends on overcoming internal fragmentation, accelerating production and adapting technologies to local operational realities.

The central question is no longer whether drones will shape the balance in the Taiwan Strait, but whether Taiwan can scale and integrate them fast enough to make deterrence credible.

As China continues to refine its own capabilities, the balance in the Strait may increasingly hinge on a simple but decisive factor: which side can deploy, adapt and sustain unmanned systems at scale.

THE WEATHER is warming up and what better way to enjoy it then heading to an upgraded lido?

The UK is home to over 150 outdoor swimming pools, so there are more than enough to choose from no matter where you are in the country.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

But there are a number of lidos that are reopening this year with major upgrades – or even new ones opening for the first time.

Here’s a rundown of the refreshed spots with new heated pools, cafes and splash parks.

Portishead Open Air Pool

Sitting not too far from the British Channel coast, Portishead Open Air Lido reopened this week following a major £1.3million makeover.

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The project included refurbishing the pool and the cafe, as well as upgrading the changing rooms.

The pool itself is 33metres long and there is a separate toddler pool as well.

Sea Lanes Canary Wharf

Last year, Canary Wharf in London announced plans for an Olympic-sized open-water lido with sauna pods and a clubhouse.

In total, the pool will have six lanes and stretch 50metres long, with a fixed depth of 1.3metres.

The new lido will float in the Eden Dock area of Canary Wharf.

The Sea Lanes lido is set to open this summer and will be open all year round.

Valentines Lido

Valentines Lido in Illford is set to open later this year.

The brand new £4million heated lido will have a huge pool, kids’ splash park and spa zone.

In addition to the 25metre-long, six-lane pool, there will be a gym too.

Other facilities planned for the site include a cafe, gym, dance and exercise studio, meeting room and a picnic area.

Unity Beach holiday park, Brean

Unity Beach holiday park in Brean will launch a £10.2million expansion this year with a new lido that will be surrounded by private cabanas and an outdoor dining area as well.

Open to non-guests as well, a new indoor splash pad will also replace the baby pool, for kids to play in.

The park is also planning to open a trampoline park, bandstand, boardwalk, landscaped gardens and a dog agility area.

Hilsea Lido

Hilsea Lido in Portsmouth is currently undergoing a £7.75million refurb, having been closed since 2022.

The lido is planning to reopen on May 2 and will feature an upgraded pool, new changing rooms, benches, tables and a fountain.

In total, the pool will be 67metres long and 2.6metres deep.

For those wanting a snack or drink while visiting, there will also be a food and drink pop up on site.

Saltdean Lido

Saltdean Lido in Brighton is planning to refresh its cafe and restaurant.

The upgraded restaurant and cafe will feature dishes made with local produce and will reopen as the Reading Room at Saltdean Lido on May 1.

If you are looking for a lido near you, two women who have been to every one in the country have shared their favourite pools for kid-free swims.

Plus, here are the six cleanest beaches in the UK where you can safely swim in the sea this summer.

BRITS have been stuck in huge three hour queues in Spain in recent weeks due to new European entry rules, EES.

But new border rules are set to make it much easier for thousands of holidaymakers.

Whilst Spain hasn’t followed Greece which has temporarily lifted biometric checks , airports are set to help relieve the horrendous waits.

The Spanish airport authority AENA has instructed staff to assist the most vulnerable passengers including families with young children and people with disabilities.

According to reports in the Spanish press, they will allow anyone in these groups to go straight through to passport control if the wait for the new biometric machines is more than 25 minutes.

Brits have been reporting waits for hours because the queues are so long with hundreds of frustrated passengers in them.

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Many have missed their flights because they could not check in on time, with suitcases unloaded and planes taking off without them.

Greece says it isn’t prepared to put up with the situation caused by the new European Union rules and has temporarily suspended biometric checks.

The airports of Palma in Majorca, Málaga, Alicante, Madrid and Barcelona have all confirmed their technology is working properly.

However, they also admit that the volume of passengers at busy times outweighed the capacity, often happening when a number of UK flights land at the same time.

Airport staff have been told to divert families and passengers with reduced mobility to the traditional passport stamping queues if they have to wait 25 minutes at biometrics.

They can also stagger flight arrivals in consultation with AENA’s flight arrival team.

The measures are being described as an adjustment not a suspension.

It’s not just Spain, as there are lots of other airports that have seen massive queues.

Schipol in Amsterdam as well as Faro and Lisbon in Portugal have all seen holidaymakers left stuck at security with a huge backlog of people.

The new travel rules require all non-EU nationals to register their biometrics instead of having their passport stamped at border control.

And our travel expert gave two of her top tips on how to avoid the EES chaos.

WHAT’S the story in Balamory, wouldn’t you like to know?

The much-loved BBC children’s TV series Balamory has returned to our screens after more than 20 years – and you can visit the real like town in the UK.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

The multicoloured houses from the town actually exist in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.

While the row of colourful houses are privately owned, many reports mention how the locals are happy for visitors to take pictures of their kids in front of the houses.

For example, in the BBC TV series, Suzie Sweets lives in the pink house and Edie McCredie lives in the yellow house.

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But there’s so much more to do in Tobermory, if you are visiting.

Around the harbour you can explore a number of shops including a locally-made soap shop and The Isle of Mull museum which is free to enter and explores the history of the island.

Near to the harbour you can also head to the Tobermory Distillery for a tour, costing £19.50 per person.

It lasts around an hour and during that time you’ll learn about the whisky that has been made on site since 1798 as well as trying two whiskies.

Children can attend too, but need to be over 12 years old and accompanied by an adult.

Perhaps a more family-friendly option though is to head to the chocolate shop Tobermory Chocolate, which has been run by the same family since 1991.

Inside, visitors can peruse milk, white and dark chocolates that are all handmade on site.

There’s also a cafe and children’s chocolate workshops that you can take part in.

According to the chocolate shop , you can often see otters, porpoises and dolphins in the harbour too.

From the harbour, walk along the pier, where about 270metres from the end, there is a Spanish Armada ship that sank after an explosion in 1588 and now sits under about 10 metres of mud.

The ship is even rumoured to still have a loaf of golden treasure on it…

Make sure to also pick up a locally-made ice cream from the shop on the pier too.

If you want to spot more of the local wildlife, then you can hop on a boat trip with Sea Life Mull, where you could see minke whales, basking sharks, dolphins and seals.

The tour costs £80 per person and lasts up to four hours, during which time you’ll see Mull, Ardnamurch and the Isle of Coll.

Though, if you prefer to stay on dry land then head off on an Otter Watching walk with Magic Mull, which is a three mile walk, where you’ll learn about the island’s otter population.

The activity costs £90 per person but it does include lunch, as well as afternoon tea at the end of the walk.

There are a number of places to stay in and around the town as well such as Carnaburg Guest House or The Tobermory Hotel, which both sit at the edge of the harbour.

Or you could opt to stay at Tobermory Campsite, which costs just £14 per night to pitch a tent at or you could opt for a Shepherds Hut, costing from £50 per night.

Outside of the town, there are several places worth exploring across the island.

For example, Aros Park is ideal for families as it has play trail, waterfalls and a nine-hole Disc Golf course that is free to use.

To get your dose of pretty beaches there are plenty to choose from including Calgary Beach, which boasts white sand.

One recent visitor said: “Reminiscent of a tropical paradise with its sweeping white shell sands and clear, turquoise water, the beach offers a vast expanse for dogs to run, play, and explore.

“The bay is wonderfully isolated, backed by beautiful sand dunes and coastal grassland, which means plenty of variety for walks.”

And if you fancy staying near the beach, you can stay at the small campsite at the edge of the beach.

It is completely free to camp there, though donations are welcome and there are basic toilet facilities as well.

If you are a keen hiker, the island is full of walks too, where you can see local wildlife, historic stone rows and lochs such as Loch Frisa.

To get to the Isle of Mull, you can get the ferry from Oban, which takes between 45 minutes and an hour.

The ferry costs £4.90 per adult and £2.45 per child, per way.

For more places to go where TV shows have been filmed, here are six holiday homes from TV shows and films that you can stay at in the UK.

Plus, there’s an English coastal town that tourists are flocking to after popular UK TV show is filmed there.

JERSEY Shore star Snooki has confessed that she’s putting off life-saving surgery because she’s scared.

At the start of the year, Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi revealed her stage 1 cervical cancer diagnosis to the world.

The MTV reality star, 38, believes she could have avoided the diagnosis had she gone to her recommended follow up visits to the doctor.

But despite saying she had regrets over “just keep putting it off” about her prior appointments, she is now putting off life-saving surgery.

Her doctor recommends that Nicole should undergo a hysterectomy to avoid the possibility of the cancer’s return.

“No, we’re not putting off any more appointments,” Nicole said.

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But she later added: “They’re already yelling at me to schedule the hysterectomy, which I didn’t. I’m traveling.”

Lara then pressed: “I know but this is your life,” adding how she is a mom to three beautiful kids.

“Well, I’m not going to lie, I’m scared,” the reality star added.

“I know, and I understand that. But you know what’s going to be more scary? If you don’t do it,” Lara urged.

“If you get this hysterectomy, do the doctors feel like you will be way ahead of the curve?” Lara asked.

Snooki replied: “Yes.”

Nicole recently underwent a PET scan where the results thankfully showed the cancer has not spread, though the surgery is highly encouraged to ensure the cancer does not return.

Elsewhere in the interview, Snooki opened up about the moment she found out about her devastating diagnosis.

“I was terrified. I was terribly crying in my car. Like, what am I going to do?” she recalled.

“I have three kids. I got to do my will. I haven’t done my will yet.”

Snooki first told fans about her health scare in an emotional video posted online in January.

At the time, she urged her followers to take their gynecological health seriously, and get all the necessary appointments done.

She noted that she was trying to get caught up on all hers, adding that several recent pap smears came back irregular in recent years.

Nicole said this raised concern with her doctors, who urged her to undergo a colposcopy to retrieve samples from her cervix for biopsy.

“That hurt. It wasn’t a great experience,” she said.

She then shared that the results of the colposcopy were “not great,” adding that her doctor “found cancerous cells on the top of my cervix.”

He urged her to get a biopsy to see if the cancerous cells spread, telling her the results of that would determine the next steps.

Nicole admitted at the time that she had avoided visiting the doctor because she did not want to deal with “pain” or “stress” caused by different procedures.

She admitted, however, that doctors visits are necessary, and encouraged her followers to take it seriously.

Snooki got emotional in the clip as the reality hit her.

“Obviously, I’m done having kids,” Nicole said through tears.

“But like as a woman, the thought of getting a hysterectomy is just sad, and it’s scary…the thought of getting the hysterectomy and then not being able to have kids, I think that’s what’s killing me,” she confessed.

Published on
23/04/2026 – 16:10 GMT+2

Météo-France has initiated an inquiry to determine whether the meteorological infrastructure managed by them was targeted by individuals seeking to influence prediction markets.

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This development follows reports of highly unusual temperature spikes that triggered significant financial payouts on the blockchain-based site Polymarket, where users place wagers on real-world events.

Investigators are examining if the integrity of the national weather network was breached through physical or digital interference, as the precision of the winning bets suggests the actors involved may have had direct control over the reported data.

Online rumors, which remain unverified for the time being, claim the temperature reading was manipulated by someone using a hair dryer to generate a higher temperature.

Polymarket reportedly settles Paris temperature bets on a single Météo-France sensor sitting near the Charles de Gaulle airport perimeter.

On 6 April, the reading from the sensor abruptly rose 4°C in twelve minutes, crossing the 22°C threshold despite data from other sources showing different figures.

A user on Polymarket aggressively bet on readings above 21°C on that specific day, even though the consensus was lower at 18°C, and profited almost €30,000.

A second similar anomaly occurred on 19 April leading to suspicions that the sensor was tampered with.

Météo-France announced that it has filed a complaint with the Roissy air transport gendarmerie brigade “for [the] alteration of the operation of an automated data processing system,” after an analysis of sensor data.

Polymarket suspended its reliance on the compromised weather data source for Paris, shifting its resolution metric from the sensor in Charles de Gaulle airport to the one in Paris-Le Bourget airport.

However, it did not cancel the contracts or refund the bets, leaving the resolved contracts final, even though on previous occasions it has suspended the resolution of certain bets until further clarification on the rules and circumstances.

Decentralised ‘oracles’ and prediction markets

This incident has reignited the debate over the reliability of the “oracles” that feed data to prediction markets in order to settle bets.

In decentralised finance, an oracle is the mechanism that feeds external, real-world information into a smart contract to determine a financial outcome.

Polymarket relies on these feeds to settle its contracts, often pulling data directly from official government websites. If the primary source of that data is corrupted, the betting market lacks any internal mechanism to verify the truth.

Additionally, the decentralised nature of these platforms makes it difficult to freeze assets even if an investigation identifies the individuals behind suspicious trades.

This is the latest case that highlights a new frontier of white-collar crime, where the manipulation of the physical world is used to exploit the vulnerabilities of automated prediction markets in order to win bets on real-world events.

Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery cleared a major hurdle Thursday as Warner stockholders overwhelmingly embraced the $111-billion deal.

Approval was expected. Paramount Chairman David Ellison’s proposal would pay Warner investors $31 a share — four times the price of the company’s stock a year ago. Warner Bros. officials did not disclose the precise vote count during the nine-minute special shareholder meeting beyond saying the merger “received sufficient votes and has overwhelmingly passed.”

Paramount offered the generous premium to compete with, and ultimately triumph over, Netflix, which withdrew from the auction in late February after Ellison’s father, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, agreed to guarantee the financing of his son’s deal.

The merger would create a new Hollywood behemoth by giving Paramount, which owns CBS and the Melrose Avenue film studio, such valuable assets as HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network and Warner Bros.’ film and television studios in Burbank. Warner controls beloved TV shows, franchises and movies, including “Casablanca,” Harry Potter, D.C. Comics, “Game of Thrones,” “Euphoria,” “The Pitt,” and “Rooster.”

“Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, building on our successful equity and debt syndications and progress across regulatory approvals,” Paramount said Thursday in a statement. “We look forward to closing the transaction in the coming months and realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company that better serves both the creative community and consumers.”

Paramount now must secure regulatory approvals in the U.S. and abroad. Ellison, who is poised to honor President Trump with a dinner Thursday evening in Washington, hopes to complete the deal by late summer.

Shareholders, however, made known their disdain for Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav’s proposed golden parachute, which could swell to $887 million, depending on when the transaction closes. His cash, stock and options would be valued at more than $550 million. Warner board members also agreed to pay his tax bill, which could approach $330 million, should the merger be completed by year’s end.

Shareholders, in a non-binding vote, voted against Zaslav’s package.

Paramount’s deal has encountered significant opposition in Hollywood and beyond.

More than 4,000 filmmakers, actors and industry workers, including Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, J.J. Abrams and Kristen Stewart have signed an open letter asking California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and other regulators to block the deal.

Opponents fear the consolidation would be lead to massive layoffs and diminish the quality of programming that Warner Bros., CNN and HBO are known for. Hollywood has sustained thousands of layoffs over the last six years; the film production economy hasn’t recovered from shutdowns during the 2023 labor strikes.

“This is already an incredibly consolidated industry where writers have seen merger after merger leave fewer and fewer companies in control of what our members can get paid to write,” Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West, said Wednesday during a press briefing organized by Free Press and other progressive groups that oppose the merger.

“A combined Warner Bros. and Paramount would create a media behemoth with tremendous leverage to reduce content, to raise prices, to increase control of production, to suppress member compensation, worsen working conditions and silence the voices of our members,” Mulroney said.

Trump has long agitated for changes at CNN, and few expect his Justice Department to block the transaction. Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the sentiment. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network the better,” Hegseth told reporters in March.

It’s unclear whether Bonta or other state attorney generals will file a lawsuit to try to stop the deal. Bonta previously told The Times that his office is reviewing the consolidation.

“This deal can get blocked. I personally think it will get blocked — or undone,” Alvaro Bedoya, former Federal Trade Commission member who now serves as a senior adviser to the American Economic Liberties Project, told reporters Wednesday. He pointed to other proposed mergers that unraveled due to fierce opposition, including the proposed combinations of grocery giants Kroger and Albertson’s.

David Ellison has promised to keep HBO entact and the Paramount and Warner Bros. movie studios humming. He promised cinema owners last week that a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would release 30 movies into theaters each year.

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers,” Paramount said in a statement to push back on the opposition. The company would have the power to “bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale — while strengthening competition by ensuring multiple scaled players are investing in creative talent.”

To finance the Warner takeover, Ellison’s billionaire father, Larry Ellison, has agreed to guarantee the $45.7 billion in equity needed. Bank of America, Citibank and Apollo Global have agreed to provide Paramount with more than $54 billion in debt financing.

Paramount has enlisted a former Trump administration official, lawyer Makan Delrahim, who served as Trump’s antitrust chief during the president’s first term.

In a confident move, Delrahim filed to win the Justice Department’s blessing in December — even though Paramount didn’t have an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s board at the time. In February, a key deadline for the Justice Department to raise issues with Paramount’s proposed Warner takeover passed without comment from the Trump regulators.