Month: April 2026

A mum has shared the ‘best’ European City break to take kids on, with amazing attractions such as zoos and museums – and it’s only a two and a half hour flight away

A mum has shared the ‘best’ European City break she has ever taken with her child, and it’s not where you would expect. When it comes to parents taking children away on holiday with them, there are many things they need to think about before booking.

From how the family will travel to the destination, if they can be kept occupied while travelling and if attractions will keep them entertained for long enough, there is a lot to think about. But one woman who shares content on social media has shared the “best’ destination she has visited with her child, which kept her occupied every day.

Claire and Laura are identical twin mum’s who post UK based travel content on social media under the username @twinperspectives.

The family explained how they went to Stockholm in Sweden and were surprised at home good it was for children.

The mum said: “The best city break in the world for kids, hands down, is Stockholm. It’s pure wholesome loveliness and there is so much to do.

“Let’s start off with the Open Air Museum of Skansen, which is basically Sweden hundreds of years ago, but it is also so good for kids.

“There is a zoo. We were at the park 10 till 4pm so there is so much to do. It is so incredibly wholesome and of course plenty of sweets.

“Next up is the Vasa Museum, home to the world’s only preserved 17th century ship. There’s a great children’s trail to keep them entertained.

“This is a pretty mind-blowing museum and you have to go .Next up is the Unibacken Museum, tis is a world of immersive stories dedicated to Astrid Lindgren who wrote Pippi Longstocking.

“Make sure you take the train through the story lands, it is so detailed, my daughter loved this”

The mum then explained that families should keep an eye out for the different metro stations in Stockholm, with the city being known for its art in the metros.

The mum added that there were plenty of free things to do in the city, alongside paid for attractions.

She said: “Aside from paid activities, Stockholm’s playgrounds are another level compared to the UK. Vasa Park is the largest in the city, even comes with bikes and play accessories as well.

“Activities aside, the food is great for kids in Sweden. Obviously there’s meatballs and mashed potato and the famous fika.

“Getting around the city is super easy. All in all one of the easiest yet most exciting city breaks you can do with kids. Obviously it’s not budget friendly but I’d say the activities that are there are well worth the price tag.”

Other parents commented on the video to agree with the twins, with many sharing their own experiences of visiting Sweden.

One person said: “We have family in Sweden but I didn’t even think about revisiting Stockholm with our little ones! I know they’d love the Vasa museum and these are some great other suggestions too.”

A second said: “Ahhh, yes totally agree. The nature and play parks and museums make Sweden a great place for children and families. I’m often asked to put together itineraries for families visiting.”

The “Coachella of books” has arrived. The biggest literary event in the country, the L.A. Times Festival of Books, kicked off at USC this weekend. The 31st annual event features more than 500 authors, including Lionel Richie, Tina Knowles, Larry David, Pat Benatar, Amy Tan, Anne Lamott and more. Several of these talented individuals stopped by the L.A. Times photo studio to have their portraits taken between spirited panel discussions and book signings.

Here are some portrait highlights from the 2026 Festival of Books:

Lisa Rinna author of “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.”

Morgan Hutchinson and Brett Hutchinson.

Daniel Humme and Roda Ahmed.

Rachel Renee Russell, Presli Noelle James, Kim James, Nikki Russell and Cori James.

Chet’la Sebree 2026 finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in Poetry for her collection “Blue Opening.”

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.

There is anger directed at Rosenior, but many Chelsea supporters also point the finger at Eghbali, Boehly and the rest of the BlueCo ownership.

The latest protest saw supporters march from The Wolfpack Inn pub to Stamford Bridge before kick-off, having grown from a turnout of about 200 before the Brentford match to more than 500 before Saturday’s tie.

There were flares, banners and chants directed at the owners, as well as calls in support of former owner Abramovich.

Under the terms of the takeover agreement in 2022, the current ownership group cannot sell the club until at least 2032. However, there are signs they are willing to listen to some of the criticism, including calls to recruit more experienced players.

“We recognise we need balance. You tweak a model, you improve and you learn from mistakes,” Eghbali said. “We have a strong core, but we need to add experience to take the team to the next level and achieve consistency. That is not lost on us.”

However, failure to qualify for the Champions League would undermine any rebuild. Chelsea have already spent about £1.5bn on signings under the current ownership and, despite recouping approximately £750m in sales, they remain under financial scrutiny from Uefa, having faced fines for breaching their regulations.

The club has announced Premier League record pre-tax losses in its latest accounts and – without the additional revenue generated by Europe’s premier competition through broadcasting, sponsorship and ticket sales – questions remain over whether Chelsea can recruit effectively in the summer.

Before kick-off, Cole Palmer told TNT Sports: “If we’re not in the Champions League, everything changes.”

Asked about Palmer’s comments and the potential financial implications, Rosenior replied: “The honest answer is I don’t know. We’re still fighting and we’ll address that situation at the end of the season, whatever the situation is.”

Meanwhile, Enzo Fernandez’s agent, Javier Pastore, has said his client would view missing out on Champions League football as an issue, despite the midfielder’s two-match internal ban – imposed following comments linking him with a move to Real Madrid – coming to an end on Saturday.

While the protest movement has largely been driven by younger supporters, there are signs of apathy among older match-going fans. Boos were heard at full-time, with the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge growing quieter with each game.

April 18 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration is working with three bidders to develop artificial intelligence software to help air traffic controllers manage flights across the nation’s airspace.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discussed the effort during a media event on Friday, and said the goal is to help anticipate schedule conflicts and improve planning for bottlenecks at busy airports.

“This software, as they look at the flight paths, won’t see [potential issues] 15 minutes before it happens .. a controller will get a notice that they could change one of the airplane’s flight paths slightly and they can deconflict it an hour and a half or two hours before the conflict even happens,” Duffy said during a media event hosted by Semafor.

The program is aimed at fundamentally changing how airspace in the United States operates, The Air Current reported, and is a major part of the agency’s efforts at modernization and redesign.

The FAA has mounted an effort to see how AI can improve the functionality and safety of the country’s air traffic control systems, especially amid a growing shortage of controllers, at least partially because political debates that have hampered the agency’s funding.

The system that the FAA is looking to develop — called SMART, which stands for Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories — is part of a $32.5 billion modernization program that includes replacing hundreds of radars and growing its air controller staff, The Next Web reported.

Development of the new system, which follows a series of issues at airports across the country that have seen near-misses and actual crashes that have raised concerns among experts and travelers alike, is being bid on by the companies Palantir, Thales and Air Space Intelligence.

The system could begin to be operational some time later this year, with an update on progress expected from the Department of Transportation and FAA on April 21.

The smartest thing Trump can do for the United States is to adopt a “cake-sharing” strategy to cope with the arrival of a multipolar era. He wants to ensure that America still gets the largest slice of the cake, with its power base rooted in traditional energy—oil and natural gas.

This aligns well with “Cold War thinking.” From the perspective of oil reserves, the United States plus its friendly Gulf states accounts for about 55%–60% of the global total. If Venezuela—now under U.S. control—is added, the share rises to 72%–77%.

Spreading out the energy map, according to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Greenland holds approximately 39 billion barrels of oil equivalent (combining East and West Greenland). Cuba has 4–5 billion barrels.

Nigeria, a major oil-producing country in Africa, has 37 billion barrels of oil reserves. The Trump administration has threatened military action against it under the pretext of “persecuting Christians.”

Iran’s oil reserves stand at 2,086 billion barrels, accounting for 13.3% of the global total.

The regions Trump has singled out—Iran, Venezuela, Greenland, Cuba, and Nigeria—clearly show that he is deciding how to “share the cake” with China and Russia based on the traditional energy map.

Although reserves and actual output are two different things, for Trump this is irrelevant. What he puts on the negotiating table is merely a piece of paper for “bidding”—he doesn’t need to worry about minor details.

On the other side of the negotiating table, China’s chips are new energy and critical minerals. In the area of critical minerals, Iran, Venezuela, Greenland, Cuba, and Nigeria all possess rich potential, and all have varying degrees of investment and cooperation ties with China.

One reason Trump scorns “new energy” may be that, within his limited term, competing with China in the new energy field is simply impossible. In the traditional energy domain, however, the United States holds a significant advantage.

Successfully pocketing Venezuela has encouraged Trump to take risks in Iran. Originally, Trump wanted to approach Beijing for a major deal from the position of a traditional energy hegemon, but Iran’s fierce resistance has dampened his ambitions. The United States has been outmaneuvered by Iran, and Trump has postponed his visit to China.

Iranian President Pezeshkian publicly stated: “China is now also seen by the United States as its main enemy; we are just next in line. They want to take us down first, then deal with China.” Behind this statement lies the landscape of U.S.-China competition over energy and critical minerals.

It cannot be said that Trump is unrealistic—this “cake-sharing” strategy has its own rationality. Nor can it be said that Trump has overestimated America’s military strength, because he knows very well that the United States cannot even handle the Houthis, let alone Iran. One can only say that the success of the “decapitation operation” in Venezuela has inflated his sense of luck, and Israel has exploited this psychology to successfully lure Trump into risking involvement in Iran.

The United States and Israel jointly eliminated the appeasement faction in Tehran and greatly underestimated Iran’s counterattack capability. They wanted to control oil but ended up being controlled by Iran on oil export routes. This is a complete strategic failure, and its medium- to long-term damage to the United States far exceeds the energy sector.

We don’t even need to discuss the rise and fall of petrodollars versus petroyuan—just look at the new energy sector. This round of energy crisis has greatly heightened the global urgency for new energy development, and the countries and regions most urgently in need are precisely America’s allies worldwide, including the Gulf states.

America’s allies are mostly developed countries. They have long recognized that China is a superpower in new energy. Before the Iran war, the broader Western camp was developing new energy while trying to reduce dependence on Iran. Now, however, the sense of urgency has pushed these countries to rely even more deeply on China.

These countries and regions include France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, as well as India, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They are either industrially advanced or rapidly industrializing countries that heavily depend on stable energy supplies.

In the core area of the Iran war—the Gulf states—are also actively accelerating the development of new energy industries, with the solar industry as the key focus. China is the only source capable of providing cheap, high-quality equipment and products. After the war ends, Iran may also exchange oil for the components needed for new energy development with China, achieving economic diversification like the Gulf states and reducing reliance on oil exports.

China’s solar equipment originally suffered from overcapacity; now it stands to gain relief.

What revolves around the core issues of new energy is nothing more than industrial supply chains and critical minerals. In this regard, mainland China’s industrial strength needs no emphasis. In critical minerals, the Democratic Republic of the Congo—China’s deep cooperation partner—will see half of its cobalt mines belong to Chinese enterprises. Given that Congo holds the world’s largest cobalt reserves, China will possess an indisputable “cobalt dominance.” Cobalt is a key mineral for lithium-ion batteries.

In addition, graphite and tantalum are also dominated by China. Tantalum is a critical metal for capacitors, which are essential for stabilizing wind and solar power generation. Graphite is the anode material for lithium-ion batteries and an indispensable mineral for renewable energy storage systems and solar panel production.

Currently, renewable energy plus nuclear power accounts for 40% of global electricity generation, while fossil fuels still account for 60%. However, when looking at the global share of “capacity” (installed capacity) for renewable energy plus nuclear, it has already reached about 55%. Among this, renewable energy accounts for 49.4% and nuclear for about 5%.

“Capacity” refers to installed capacity—in plain terms, the theoretical maximum power generation. The actual global generation share of renewable energy is about 32%. The gap between theoretical and actual values exists because renewable energy generation is less stable than fossil fuels. Adding nuclear’s actual generation share (about 8%), the actual generation share of so-called low-carbon energy reaches 40% globally.

There is no doubt that the oil crisis will inevitably trigger a “green energy surge.” Looking ahead five years, the actual generation share of green energy will exceed 50%. Assuming nuclear can grow to 10% of actual generation and renewables grow by 8%, China’s additional revenue from the global renewable energy business in the next five years could reach the level of hundreds of billions of dollars.

From this perspective, China—which strongly supported green energy development from the very beginning of the climate agenda—did so not so much for carbon reduction as for industrial preparation in the name of energy security. Expanding the global new energy business is merely an added value.

Of course, the key technologies for manufacturing new energy equipment may be even more important than critical minerals. Last November, China imposed export controls on certain lithium batteries, key cathode and anode materials, and their manufacturing equipment and technologies. Given that China controls about 96% of global anode material production capacity and 85% of cathode material capacity, the impact of these export controls is enormous.

On April 15, according to Reuters, China has held preliminary consultations with solar panel production equipment suppliers and is considering restricting exports of the most advanced technologies and equipment to the United States. If true, Beijing is raising the stakes in new energy, waiting for Trump to come to the negotiating table in May.

Admittedly, Trump has no intention of developing new energy. However, considering that the Democrats may return to the White House in three years, Beijing is now blocking America’s path to new energy development, essentially laying the groundwork for U.S.-China competition three years from now.

If Trump’s energy strategy map on the table also included a new energy layer, he should realize that the setback in the Iran war has allowed the new energy domain to encroach upon the traditional energy domain, enabling China to expand its energy power without firing a single shot. As for critical minerals, the United States has made no outstanding progress—at least nothing sufficient for Trump to boast about.

Now, the “cake” being pushed in front of Xi Jinping is getting bigger and bigger. On the surface, Beijing has gained it effortlessly, but today’s harvest is mainly due to strategic 布局 made one step ahead. These layouts are often “low-profit” but highly effective investments, and new energy is merely one of them.

In an uncertain world, those who provide “certainty” win. Therefore, the winner of the Iran war is China—even if Beijing is extremely reluctant to admit it.

Tens of thousands of readers of all ages, from toddlers clutching picture books to longtime fans carrying armfuls of paperbacks, fanned out across the USC campus Saturday for the opening day of the 31st Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, packing panels and lining up to see favorite authors and celebrity guests.

It was too early to know how many people attended the first day of the event, billed as the country’s largest literary festival, though organizers said they expect between 150,000 and 155,000 attendees over the weekend. By late morning, the campus was already bustling, with strong turnout expected for appearances by author T.C. Boyle and actors Sarah Jessica Parker and David Duchovny, among others.

Founded in 1996 and spread across eight outdoor stages and 12 indoor venues, the festival has become a fixture on Los Angeles’ cultural calendar, bringing together more than 550 storytellers for panels, author interviews, book signings, performances and screenings spanning a wide range of genres, from children’s story times to cooking demonstrations.

This year’s lineup features a broad mix of writers, performers and public figures, including comedian Larry David, musician Lionel Richie, multihyphenate businesswoman (and Beyoncé’s mother) Tina Knowles, author and social critic Roxane Gay and scholar Reza Aslan.

Under sunny skies, actor and reality TV personality Lisa Rinna brought humor and a bit of bite to a 10:30 a.m. conversation on the festival’s main stage. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum released her second memoir, “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It,” in February, chronicling her time on the show and her recent turn on Season 4 of Peacock’s reality competition series “The Traitors.”

Reflecting on her approach to “Traitors,” Rinna said she wanted to strip away the conflict-driven persona she had cultivated on “Real Housewives” and present a more unfiltered version of herself. “I was like, ‘Self, listen. You’re gonna go in there and just be you. No housewife s—, none of that reactionary stuff.’ ”

In conversation with Times senior television writer Yvonne Villarreal, Rinna also spoke candidly about the loss of her mother, Lois Rinna, in 2021 and how her grief manifested in a feeling of rage while she was filming Season 12 of “Real Housewives.”

“It really took me by surprise,” she said. “And you have to give space for it because you can’t make it go away. … They always say time heals, but time makes everything just a little less intense.”

At a noon panel titled “Fire Escape: Wildfires and the Changing Geography of Southern California,” moderated by Times climate and energy reporter Blanca Begert, author and former wildland firefighter Jordan Thomas said the scale and frequency of California wildfires have shifted dramatically in recent decades.

“The vast majority of the largest wildfires in California’s recorded history have happened just in the past 20 years,” said Thomas, author of last year’s National Book Award finalist “When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World.” “While I was a hotshot, there were three of those fires burning simultaneously, including a million-acre fire — more than used to burn across the entire American West over the course of a decade.”

In the early afternoon, former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams spoke with moderator Leigh Haber about artificial intelligence and voter suppression in front of an enthusiastic, packed crowd at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.

Abrams’ latest Avery Keene novel, “Coded Justice,” came out last year and explores the role of artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry. AI has already become enmeshed in everyday life, she said, asking audience members to raise their hands if they had used TSA PreCheck or a streaming service.

“AI is a tool … but it is created by someone, it is programmed by someone, it is controlled by someone,” she said. “Regulation is not about slowing down progress. It is about asking questions and saying that in the absence of answers, we’re going to put on reasonable restraints that we can revisit.”

Abrams also revealed that her next book, the fourth in her Avery Keene thriller series, will focus on prediction markets.

“I write Avery Keene novels to tell stories about social justice, but I put it in a form that’s accessible to people who don’t think that they are social justice people,” Abrams said. “I want to meet people where they are, not where I want them to be.”

She also encouraged audience members to push back against voter suppression and defend democracy by volunteering at polling places — even in reliably blue districts — warning that she believes masked paramilitary groups will be allowed to patrol voting locations and target people of color in the upcoming midterm elections.

The festival kicked off Friday evening with the 46th Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony at Bovard Auditorium, emceed by Times columnist LZ Granderson, recognizing both emerging voices and established writers.

Winners were announced in 13 categories for works published last year. Find a full list of winners here.

Oakland-born novelist Amy Tan, whose work often explores identity and the Chinese American immigrant experience, received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, and the literary nonprofit We Need Diverse Books received the Innovator’s Award for its work promoting diversity in publishing.

Accepting her award, Tan, author of the 1989 bestseller “The Joy Luck Club,” said that as a birthright citizen, she had never questioned her place in the country until recent debates over citizenship and belonging led her to reconsider whether she is, in fact, a “political writer.”

“My birthright and that of millions of others is now being argued before the Supreme Court, and no matter what the outcome is, it’s been a kick in the gut to know that those in the highest echelons of government and those who support them believe that we don’t belong.”

Tan said that as an author, “I imagine the lives of the people I write about,” and that act of compassion “reflects our politics and our beliefs. And so yes, I am a political writer.”

Addressing the attendees, Times Executive Editor Terry Tang pointed to the breadth of the weekend’s programming as an opportunity for connection and discovery. “If you take in just a fraction of these events, it will expand your mind,” she said. “This weekend gives all of us a chance to celebrate a sense of unity, purpose and support.”

The festival runs through Sunday. More information, including a schedule of events, can be found on the festival’s website.

WASHINGTON — Amid the din of battle over the federal budget, President Clinton summoned Democratic congressional leaders to the White House last week and gave them an unexpectedly upbeat message: With a little discipline and a little luck, they might win this fight yet.

“The Republicans are very disciplined and very good,” Clinton warned his war council around the Cabinet Room’s long mahogany table, according to people who were present. “But we’re making headway.”

Congress’ drive to cut the budget this spring was launched by triumphant GOP leaders, confident that they had a mandate from voters to slash government programs and shrink the federal budget deficit to zero.

But after three months of rhetorical battle, Clinton believes that he has begun to turn the Republicans’ issue around–into a major political opportunity for himself.

The budget battle is “the centerpiece” of Clinton’s work this year, said White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta. “It will determine a lot about the priorities of the country; it will determine a lot about our economy in the future; it will determine a lot about the role of government.”

It will also determine a lot about how voters view Clinton as the election year of 1996 approaches. “It . . . will better define who the President of the United States is, and I think that’s helpful,” Panetta said in an interview.

Transforming budget-cutting from a liability into an asset would be a startling turnaround for a President whom Republicans succeeded in painting as a “tax-and-spend Democrat” only last year. But public opinion polls read raptly by White House aides suggest that the voters are moving Clinton’s way: An ABC News-Washington Post poll last week found that while respondents by a wide margin once trusted Congress over Clinton to deal with the deficit, the President has nearly closed the gap.

Clinton’s biting attacks on GOP plans to shrink Medicare, education and veterans programs have helped lift his approval rating in the poll to 51%, its highest level in a year.

White House strategists said they were not worried that the House Republicans passed their GOP budget plan last week, as was long expected. More important, they said, was that Clinton apparently succeeded with his threat to veto a GOP spending-cut bill, since the GOP leadership acknowledged that they probably wouldn’t have the votes to override a veto. It showed that the President can still make himself relevant.

Clinton is betting that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other GOP leaders overestimated the public’s desire for cutting government–especially once the public realizes that the savings would come not only from unpopular programs, such as welfare and foreign aid, but also from middle-class benefits.

Political strategists note that Clinton’s argument may attract some swing voters–especially white women older than 35, one of the President’s critical demographic targets. Making up more than one-fourth of the electorate, they largely voted for Clinton in 1992, abandoned the Democrats in 1994–and could be key to his prospects in 1996.

At the same time, Clinton and his aides believe that they must eventually seek a budget compromise with the Republicans–if only to avoid the charge that the President has become irrelevant to the process of shrinking the government, a goal most voters still want.

“Preserver of the Big Government status quo is not a place you can end up in a fight this big,” one presidential adviser said.

So Clinton, Panetta and other aides have devised a two-part strategy to try to stop the GOP juggernaut and turn the budget battle to their advantage.

The first phase has been to shift the topic away from the deficit, force the public to confront the kind of cuts the Republicans want and paint the GOP as heartless vandals who would loot Medicare and student loans to give tax cuts to the wealthy.

“Less government? That’s not the issue. The issue is: Do you want your kids to go to college?” Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich said.

If that tactic works, and Republicans retreat from their proposed spending and tax cuts, then the Administration wants to sit down and try to negotiate a compromise, a budget “that might be nobody’s first choice but that is really quite a good budget,” said Alice Rivlin, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

But Clinton doesn’t want to begin those negotiations until “his leverage is at a peak,” Panetta said, meaning the President wants to continue whipping up public opposition to GOP budget cuts and threatening to veto a budget he doesn’t like, at least for a while.

“The Republicans are beginning the budget triage, amputations and decapitations, and for the moment the Democrats are happy to sit in the surgical theater and watch the blood flow,” said Ross K. Baker, an expert on Congress at Rutgers University.

Already, however, Panetta and other Administration officials have begun sending signals to Capitol Hill about the kind of deal Clinton might eventually want to make.

“Yes, we want additional deficit reduction,” Panetta said. “But in order to engage, the Republicans have to back off these huge tax cuts, they have to recognize that any Medicare or Medicaid savings have to be done in the context of [health care] reform, and they have to be willing to protect education as a key investment.” Almost everything else is “on the table,” he said.

One key concession the White House has quietly offered: Clinton is willing to drop most or all of his proposed $500-per-child tax credit–the core of his long-promised “middle-class tax cut”–if Congress agrees to make college tuition tax-deductible.

Those early signals suggest to some members of Congress, including some worried liberal Democrats, that Clinton may be willing to give up quite a lot–except for his major concerns on Medicare, Medicaid and education–for the chance to claim a victory.

When bargaining can begin in earnest depends mostly on the GOP’s tolerance for pain. Aides say Clinton will stay on the attack for at least three weeks as Republicans pass their budget resolutions and begin making decisions on the discretionary portion of the budget.

But White House officials hope that the solid Republican line will begin to fracture as members of Congress read the mood of their constituents. Some in Congress predict a turning point could come as early as the Memorial Day recess, which begins Saturday, but others warn that it might be September before negotiations start.

The White House strategy is not assured of success, of course. At least three problems loom:

First, Clinton has succeeded only partially in changing the focus of the debate from deficits to middle-class benefits. By a wide margin, the public still says it wants a balanced federal budget, with no deficit. The President’s dirty little secret is that he doesn’t think a balanced budget can be achieved in the foreseeable future at reasonable cost.

In fact, the public is inconsistent on these issues. Large majorities say they want to balance the budget, but equally large majorities say they are opposed to significant cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, student loans and other education programs.

Second, Democrats aren’t entirely unified behind Clinton’s strategy, which is why the President spent much of his meeting in the Cabinet Room last week appealing for more discipline.

Some strains were already evident in the closed-door session, participants said. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) urged Clinton to give the Republicans no quarter, but Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said: “It’s not enough to complain; we need to say where we go from here.”

Third, and most important, the Republicans may not cooperate. “Democrats have no standing to say anything about what we are doing in the House and the Senate,” House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) said last week. Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) often disagree with each other, but they agree on one point: They don’t want Clinton to win credit for their hard work in fashioning a leaner federal budget. So they may be tempted to pass a budget bill of their own design and dare Clinton to veto it this fall.

That would lead to a messy confrontation that could require the federal government to halt routine operations until a solution is found.

“I don’t think anyone comes out a winner” in an impasse like that, Panetta said. “I don’t think the President wins; I don’t think Republicans or Democrats win.”

It took a first home defeat to Leeds since 1981 for the real moans to start.

The calmness previously viewed as an asset became a negative. Inaction was seen as conservative. All week the question has been asked, is Carrick up to the job?

Well, there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about this latest triumph.

But given only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of all the post-Sir Alex Ferguson bosses had experienced the feeling of winning at Stamford Bridge, style was a secondary element.

Chelsea may have hit the woodwork three times. They may have carried the more consistent threat. But Carrick’s team was the one that delivered.

“It was a game for a result,” he said. “And we managed to find it.”

There was more to it though. There was overcoming the adversity of knowing that on top of the three central defenders he knew would be missing (Matthijs de Ligt through injury and Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire due to suspension), Carrick then lost a fourth, Leny Yoro, to a training ground injury.

That came so late in the week his chosen pairing, Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven, could only prepare with walk-throughs.

“I love when you see players thrive in those moments,” said Carrick.

Heaven, 19, had not started a game under Carrick, having first been given his chance by Ruben Amorim and then his immediate replacement Darren Fletcher.

“Ayden has not played a lot of football recently, and to come into that environment is not something that you can take for granted,” said Carrick.

“We say the same things to young players all the time. Sometimes they look at you as if to say, ‘yeah, good one’ but in terms of training every day and looking after yourself and being ready ‘because you never know when that chance comes’, he probably wouldn’t have thought it would come at that moment.

“But he was there, he was prepared, and he took it in his stride magnificently well.”

April 18 (UPI) — The only life jacket worn by a person who survived the sinking of the Titanic ever put up for auction was sold for $906,000 on Saturday.

The jacket, which was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a passenger in first class who boarded lifeboat number 1, sold for nearly twice the roughly $473,000 it was expected to sell for., and reported.

The life jacket, sold during an auction that also included a handful of other Titanic artifacts, was sold by Henry Aldridge & Sons in Britain to the Titanic Museum and Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and Branson, Mo., auctioneer Andrew Aldredge told The BBC.

Aldridge said that the life jacket is the only one from a survivor that has been offered for auction since the ill-fated ship set sale 114 years ago.

“It reflects the ongoing interest and passion for the story of the Titanic, and its passengers and crew,” he said, calling the opportunity to buy it a “once in a lifetime opportunity for collectors.”

Francatelli, who at the time of the sinking was husband of Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff-Gorden, a Scottish landowner and the 5th Baronet of Halkin, was the sister of novelist Elinor Glyn, and herself a famous dress designer who ran several famous salons in London, Paris and New York, according to Aldridge & Sons’ auction listing.

Her survival has carries slight controversy because the lifeboat that her husband shepherded several people onto as the Titanic was going down – for reasons that remain the subject of questions – lowered from the ship with only 12 people aboard, despite having room for 40.

The Titanic Museum and Attraction, which The Independent also reported purchased the life jacket, has since March 2025 had on display five of the 14 known life jackets to have survived the sinking, it said.

Most recently, the life jacket has been on display not only at the Pigeon Forge museum, but also at Titanic Belfast, a museum in Ireland.

Army officials have shared new details about plans to launch extremely long-range drones from the service’s forthcoming ME-11B High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) surveillance and reconnaissance planes. With ranges of around 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) or more, the uncrewed aerial systems will help keep the Bombardier Global 6500 bizjet-based ME-11Bs as far away from enemy air defenses as possible. In this way, the Army expects to gain a penetrating aerial intelligence-gathering capability without the need for a very stealthy or otherwise highly exquisite and costly aircraft.

“There will be nothing in the world that we can’t touch with a combined range of HADES and what we can launch off of this thing,” Andrew Evans, Director of Strategy and Transformation with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, or G-2, told TWZ and other outlets today. “I don’t think anybody’s safe in the future from a sensing perspective.”

Evans comments came at a roundtable with several Army officials about HADES on the sidelines of the Army Aviation Association of America’s (AAAA) 2026 Warfighting Summit.

To take a step back quickly, the Army selected the Bombardier Global 6500-based bid from the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) as the winner of the HADES competition in 2024. Flight testing of the first ME-11B prototype is now slated to kick off this summer. The service is expecting to take formal delivery of that aircraft from SNC before the end of the year. Two other prototypes are currently in various stages of conversion.

Each HADES aircraft will have a built-in suite of sensors, as well as a robust array of communications systems to pass the data it collects along to other nodes in near-real-time. The Army says it is following an incremental approach to integrating systems with the initial trio of prototypes. The service is also using a modular open-systems approach to make it easier to add new and improved capabilities down the line.

Details about what sensors the baseline HADES configuration will have are limited, but we do know it will include a version of the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2B (ASARS-2B), something TWZ was first to report back in 2024. ASARS-2B was originally developed for the U.S. Air Force’s U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes, and it features synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) modes, as you can read more about here.

For more than a year now, the Army has also been talking about launching very long-range so-called “launched effects” from the HADES aircraft. This term is a catch-all used to describe drones configured designed to perform a wide variety of missions that can be deployed from aircraft (fixed wing and rotary; crewed and uncrewed) in flight, as well as platforms on the ground or at sea. The process of converting Global 6500s into ME-11Bs includes integrating four underwing pylons, which the aircraft will be able to use to launch drones and carry podded sensor systems.

At the roundtable today, Evans, the Director of Strategy and Transformation, offered a detailed explanation of how the Army arrived at this plan and what it expects to gain from the blend of capabilities in response to a question from our Jamie Hunter.

“So, someone’s going to eventually ask about survivability. It’s going to tie it all together in here,” Evan said. “We did the research. I’ll save you time on doing the research.”

“In 70 or 80 years, there would be 0.1% of the time when you wouldn’t be able to fly ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions] because you would be afraid of the threat, potentially, or the threat would be too high to fly,” he added. “That means that 99.9% of the time of a life of the system, it is a useful system for deterrence, for building pattern of life, target development, and so on and so forth. So we’re building a system that can be used for 99.9% of the useful life of the system.”

“So we’re, I think, wise in the approach, saying, all right, if there’s still that 0.1% of the time where you need to be resilient enough to survive in a situation, how do you do that? Well, how do you combine the best of both? Because there’s no one perfect solution, right?” he continued. “What’s really, really good for conflict is not very good for the 99% of the time you need it for campaigning [routine operations], and vice versa. So what we’ve determined strategically is that there’s a way to combine both of these things.”

This is where Evans says the air-launched drone capability comes in.

“We can have a useful asset for campaigning 99.9% of the time, but we can pair with it launch effects [for] when we aren’t going to put that capital system in harm’s way,” he said. “We’ve already engineered hard points into HADES to be able to receive these launch effects in the future. So once we mature the capabilities and determine which way forward we want – what type of launch effects, what type of performance we need out of these things – and we marry those two things up, now we have the best of both. We have something that’s supremely capable in campaigning and probably the best joint asset in the world at being able to do penetrative launch effects. And now you have a bit of a utopia.”

Furthermore, “we believe that in the role of HADES, there’s also an opportunity to be a bit of a quarterback of an ecosystem of sorts. So you can imagine how that might look,” Evans also noted. “That isn’t going to quarterback everybody’s assets, but the ones that have the most strategic importance and match that type of mission profile. There’s certainly a space for it to do that.”

In terms of the range of drones launched from HADES, the Army has put forward the 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) figure in the past. Speaking today, Evans alluded to even greater potential reach.

There are questions about the scale and scope of coverage that a single ME-11B will be able to achieve using “launched effects” type drones designed to be lower cost, and that will likely have a limited sensor payload. The concepts of operations the Army is putting forward for HADES point to a need for expendable designs, as well. These are drones that, in turn, are most effective when employed in large networked swarms to cover broad areas cooperatively. The ME-11B, at least as it is being presented now with its four underwing pylons, does not seem set to carry very large numbers of uncrewed aerial systems.

“This is important breakthrough technology. so I’m not going to reveal too much about what we’re discovering in this space,” Evans said. “But know that it’s going to change the game. It takes us from a sensing platform to a sensing and platform, and the ‘and,’ I’ll just let you use your imagination.”

Evans’ deliberately vague comments here might point to a broader airborne drone controller role in HADES future. ME-11B crews could potentially oversee larger and more capable drones, including Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) types now in development. CCAs or other heavier types would be able to carry bigger sensor suites and otherwise bring additional capabilities to the table, including the ability to provide close-in defense for HADES itself during missions.

Survivability has certainly been a hot topic of discussion around HADES since the Army first announced its intention to acquire a new fleet of business jet-based ISR aircraft. The service had highlighted growing concerns about the vulnerability of its now-retired fleets of turboprop ISR planes, which had provided key intelligence-gathering capacity globally for decades, tracing back to the Cold War. TWZ and others have repeatedly noted that these concerns are very real, especially in the context of a future high-end fight in the Pacific against China, but also apply to non-stealthy jets like the Global 6500.

For routine operations, the ME-11B does a major leap in capability over the turboprop ISR aircraft the Army previously operated, both in terms of its mission systems and its general performance. HADES can fly higher, faster, and farther, and do so while carrying a bigger sensor payload. Higher altitudes also offer greater fields of view for the aircraft’s sensors. The improved performance also translates to being able to get to and from operating areas more rapidly and the ability to remain on station longer. The underwing pylons will offer additional flexibility beyond the drone launch capability.

“The deployability of this platform, being able to fly 6,000 miles at 0.87 Mach, and go globally without the world will require the ability to rapidly change sensors,” Army Col. Joe Minor, the Capability Program Executive for Aviation within the office of the Program Acquisition Executive for Maneuver Air, also said at today’s roundtable at the AAAA conference. “With those hard points and cleared envelopes for pods, it gives us that ability to rapidly configure and update even more quickly than we could internally or within the canoe [fairing under the fuselage]. So those hard points being built in from the beginning is part of that [sic] building the right platform and air vehicle from the start, with the ability to integrate and evolve very quickly as you move forward.”

Using the Global 6500 as the underlying aircraft offers maintenance and other logistical benefits. This is an in-production aircraft with a significant global user base. This includes the U.S. Air Force, which operates a fleet of E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft based on this platform.

The Army says it has already been seeing an important boost in ISR capability with contractor-owned and operated ISR-configured business jets, including Global 6500-based types. The service has been utilizing those aircraft for eight years now as a transitional ‘bridge’ force to lead into the fielding of HADES.

Many of “our previous platforms were centered around the COIN [counterinsurgency] fight,” Army Col. Matt McGraw, head of the 116th Military Intelligence Brigade, the Army’s main aerial ISR unit, who was also at the roundtable today, said. “If you’re flying a platform operating full motion video [cameras], you’re tracking maybe one or two targets at most. A platform today, on these bridge aircraft with MTI and SAR, you’re tracking a couple 100 targets at the same time.”

There do continue to be significant questions about the true extent of what the Army’s ME-11Bs will be able to offer, in any context, given the expected size of the fleet. The Army currently plans to buy just six production HADES jets on top of the three prototypes. The service previously operated dozens of turboprop ISR aircraft.

“We work for the United States Army, on behalf of the United States Army. And so if the Army’s given direction to cap a fleet size based on budget pressure, and of the other things that we have to balance as an army – like, if the Army only built ISR [aircraft], we build 1,000 of these things,” Evans said at the roundtable today. “But we don’t. We build a lot of things. And ISR is an enabler to [the] ground lethality that we deliver.”

“The Army’s got a tremendous amount of budget pressure. The Army has a top line that’s not keeping pace with inflation,” he added. “And so until our top line increases to support the world’s premier land force, then we’re going to be capped inside programs like HADES.”

As it stands now, the Army certainly looks to be hoping that even the small fleet of HADES will be able to punch well above its weight, thanks in no small part to the ability to launch very long-range drones from relative safety deep in hostile territory.

Jamie Hunter contributed to this story.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The movie is beloved by viewers and critics with a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes

A historical post-war film has been hailed as “one of the most beautiful movies ever made.” This film follows a young Irish woman who is torn between two worlds in the 1950s. Critics and audiences alike have praised its emotional precision and timeless appeal.

Boasting an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, Brooklyn (2015) is the perfect weekend watch. It is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer. However, viewers only have 19 days left to catch the film.

In the 1950s, young Irishwoman Eilis Lace (played by Saoirse Ronan) leaves her small hometown for a new life in Brooklyn, drawn by the promise of opportunity in America.

Though she initially struggles with homesickness, she gradually adapts. Eilis eventually falls in love in Brooklyn, and embraces her independence.

However, a sudden family emergency calls her back to Ireland, where she becomes entangled once again in the life she left behind.

Caught between her past and her future, Eilis must choose between two countries and the very different lives each offers.

Reviews

“In short, Brooklyn is one of the very best films of the past decade and worth looking back on,” wrote Dave Giannini for InSession Film.

Giving the film a five out of five, Don Shanahan from Film Obsessive shared: “Brooklyn is a forthright, approachable, and esteemed historical drama where the dignity and honesty soar to heavenly heights to shine on the plights of love and independence.”

Audience members also raved about this film. One said: “Beautiful story. One of the best movies. Moving.” Another added: “Beautiful classic in every sense of the word. Outstanding performances. Atmospheric joy. Don’t miss it.”

A third wrote: “It’s a masterpiece, and profoundly moving, especially if you’re an immigrant yourself. The closing is one of the most beautiful romantic scenes ever. In my opinion.”

Lastly, someone said: ” One of the most beautiful movies ever made. Colours, music, and reticence punctuate throughout. I have watched the scene in the dining room of the church 7,351,212 times.

“The man sings, the actress recognises brilliance amidst shuffles and anonymity, and then the director cuts to her chaperone listening to a radio. So god**** brilliant.”

You can now watch Brooklyn on BBC iPlayer by clicking here.

When Joe Biden launched his campaign for the presidency in 2019, his economic proposals were relatively modest updates of the middle-class-oriented agenda he championed as vice president under Barack Obama. “It doesn’t require some fundamental shift,” he said, pushing against the sweeping proposals of rivals like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Then came the pandemic.

Today, Biden’s economic message, retooled to address current needs, has real urgency.

“We can’t wait,” he said last week. “There’s a lot of people who are in real, real trouble — a lot of people going to bed at night, staring at the ceiling wondering … if they’re going to be evicted.”

And Americans seem ready to spend to make things better. The huge $1.9-trillion pandemic relief bill Biden has proposed is wildly popular. A CBS News poll last week found that 79% of Americans want Congress to pass a bill as big as the one Biden proposed, including 61% of Republicans.

Biden isn’t stopping at pandemic relief. He’s also using the emergency to build support for the far broader program of economic reform he adopted midway through his campaign last year, including massive investments in manufacturing, technology, education and child care.

“We’re in a position to think big and move big,” he said.

He’s following the advice that Rahm Emanuel, then a member of Congress, offered during the financial crash of 2008: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

For Biden, that begins with the pandemic relief plan, a package that includes a $1,400 check for most adults, increased unemployment insurance, a child tax credit of up to $3,600 a year, $440 billion for state and local governments and $130 billion to help reopen schools.

And once that proposal is enacted, White House officials say, the president will turn to the broader, long-term economic proposals of his campaign, including a $400-billion “Buy American” plan to support manufacturing, $300 billion for research and development, more spending on clean energy and — if it doesn’t pass as part of the pandemic package — a $15 minimum wage.

It’s an ambitious agenda: a dramatic expansion of federal government spending to create jobs, especially in manufacturing and strategic technologies.

Biden’s economic populism is aimed, in part, at the same voters Donald Trump appealed to when he called for revitalizing American manufacturing and bringing jobs back home — but only in the sense that Biden, too, has promised to repair some of the damage wrought by the long decline in manufacturing jobs.

“A lot of white working-class voters thought we forgot them,” he said last year during a campaign tour of faded industrial towns in Pennsylvania. “I get them. I get their sense of being left behind.”

He’s kept a few of Trump’s policies, most notably the tough stance on trade with China. But the difference in the two populisms is illustrated by the predecessor each president chose as a model.

In Trump’s Oval Office, he hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the 19th century nationalist who warred with bankers on behalf of working-class white Americans but also supported slavery and pushed tens of thousands of Native Americans off their ancestral lands.

Biden replaced Jackson’s portrait with one of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Depression-era Democrat who enacted Social Security, vastly expanded the federal government and was reelected three times.

If Biden’s economic agenda were being proposed by full-throated progressives like Sanders or Warren, it might sound extreme to many voters. But his long record as a relatively centrist Democrat could insulate him from that hazard, much as FDR’s aristocratic background allowed him to tack left.

“Voters view him not as a radical, but as a get-things-done moderate,” Biden’s campaign pollster, John Anzalone, told me. “Voters are incredibly transactional right now. They want help and they want it quick.”

Republican opposition to both parts of Biden’s agenda — the short-term relief plan and the longer-term reforms — has been muted so far, mostly because GOP leaders have been too busy with family quarrels over Trump’s legacy to offer much of an alternative to the president’s plans.

That’s unlikely to last. There will be plenty for conservatives to oppose soon enough, beginning with the $15 minimum wage and those new big-government economic programs — not to mention the increase in corporate taxes Biden has proposed to help finance it all.

But as the president nears the end of his first month in office, it’s possible to imagine that by the end of 2021 he could be claiming credit for a rebounding economy and pressing ahead with his broader proposals. If he succeeds, the Biden presidency could be transformative in a way even his supporters didn’t expect.

Match of the Day pundits Ashely Williams and Joe Hart analyse Ayden Heaven’s performance against Chelsea after the young defender played a key role in Manchester United’s win alongside strong performances from other senior players.

MATCH REPORT: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United

Available to UK users only.

Manchester United strengthen grip on third spot in Premier League with 1-0 win that leaves Chelsea relying on favours.

Manchester United took a giant step towards ending a two-year exile from the Champions League as Matheus Cunha scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Chelsea.

United’s victory on Saturday opens up a 10-point gap between the Red Devils in third place and sixth-placed Chelsea, with only 15 points left to play for this season.

The top five in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League next season.

But a fourth consecutive league defeat leaves Chelsea’s chances of being back among Europe’s elite next season in tatters. It also piles pressure on manager Liam Rosenior, only three months into his reign.

Chelsea once again bemoaned the lack of a clinical striker as they failed to break down a makeshift United defence ravaged by injury and suspension.

United manager Michael Carrick was forced to name a backline featuring three full-backs and 19-year-old Ayden Heaven. But they held out to boost the former England midfielder’s case to get the job at Old Trafford beyond the end of this season.

Chelsea were missing their top scorer, Joao Pedro, through injury, and one-time United target Liam Delap failed to take his chance to shine up front.

Rosenior recalled Enzo Fernandez after the Argentinian was given a two-game suspension by the Blues for suggesting he would be open to a summer move to Real Madrid.

Fernandez started with a point to prove and came agonisingly close to the opener when he curled inches wide.

United looked rusty in a 2-1 defeat to Leeds on Monday, their first action for three and a half weeks.

But Carrick’s men repaired the damage done to their chances of returning to the Champions League next season.

Cunha provided a precise finish to open the scoring two minutes before the break from Bruno Fernandes’s 18th Premier League assist of the season.

Chelsea improved after the break but failed to prevent another damaging defeat, leaving Rosenior’s role in doubt heading into next season.

Delap crashed a header against the woodwork, and Noussair Mazraoui turned a dangerous cross onto his own bar, under pressure from Wesley Fofana.

Moises Caicedo, fresh from signing a new seven-year contract, also came close to rescuing a point for the hosts.

But the final whistle was met by a chorus of boos at full-time, with the Club World Cup winners looking resigned to Europa League football at best next term.

Top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says US naval blockade of Iran’s ports is ‘a clumsy and ignorant decision’.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC) says the Strait of Hormuz is closed and that any ship that attempts to pass through the waterway will be targeted, a dramatic reversal less than 24 hours after the critical shipping lane was reopened.

In a statement carried by Iran’s Student News Agency, the IRGC navy said on Saturday the strait will be closed until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports. It said the blockade was a violation of the ongoing ceasefire agreement in the US-Israel war on Iran.

“We warn that no vessel of any kind should move from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted,” it said.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and a senior negotiator in talks between Washington and Tehran on ending the war, said in a television interview that “the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic”.

“The Americans have been declaring a blockade for several days now. This is a clumsy and ignorant decision,” he added.

The reassertion of control came just hours after Iran had briefly reopened the strait, in line with a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Oil prices dropped on global markets after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the waterway was “completely open for all commercial vessels.”

More than a dozen commercial ships passed through the waterway before the IRGC reversed course.

Iranian gunboats reportedly fired on two commercial ships on Saturday, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). India’s Ministry of External Affairs also said that two Indian-flagged ships were involved in a “shooting incident” in the strait.

Some merchant vessels in the region received radio messages from the IRGC Navy, warning that no ships were being allowed through the strait.

US President Donald Trump said Tehran could not blackmail Washington by closing the waterway and warned that he would put an end to the ceasefire if a deal before its expiry on Wednesday is not reached. Trump added that the naval blockade would “remain in full force”.

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, meanwhile, said the navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.

‘Two competing blockades’

Al Jazeera correspondent Zein Basravi said that Iran and the US are back where they were the previous day.

“Less than 24 hours ago, world leaders were praising what they thought was a breakthrough in this conflict, hoping Iran was signalling a confidence-building measure by opening the Strait of Hormuz, potentially leading to a ceasefire deal and a permanent end to the war,” he said.

“As disappointed as people may be, this isn’t entirely surprising. What we’re seeing now is a return to square one,” he added, saying there are now “two competing blockades in place”.

Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said Iran was using the strait to send a message.

“It’s clear that Iran is dealing with a situation in which they are not sure what’s on the table. So the Strait of Hormuz is once again the only space for engagement, even if it’s a negative engagement. And it’s the space where they are sending and conveying messages to the Americans, showing their leverage,” he said.

FORGET boring beige hotels and predictable pillows.

Whether you’re lounging on a luxe boutique ship, sipping cocktails in a quirky hub, or waking up in a treehouse — these unique escapes are redefining city stays.

These super-cool stays in two of the UK’s capital cities are perfect weekenders, says Sub-Editor Milcah Fajardo.

Fingal, Edinburgh

THE PAD

Roll your suitcase along the Port of Leith, and you’ll soon find yourself at the red carpet to this five-star floating hotel.

From the art deco finishings to the grand ballroom, it exudes glamour.

But even after a £5million glow-up, the former Northern Lighthouse Board ship retains its history, preserved in the Engine Room and nautical details.

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands

TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

Luxury cabins feature super-king beds, tartan textiles and a balcony with dock views.

Plus, the jade-green bathroom with brass taps and rain shower is like something from my Pinterest board.

Meanwhile, The Lighthouse restaurant is award-winning for good reason.

Beneath the hammered gold ceiling, we dine on truffle scrambled eggs on toast, £15, and porridge brûlée, £9.50, for breakfast.

Dinner is superb, too, as we tuck into delicate duck ravioli with wild mushrooms, sage and parmesan foam, £15, beef cheek in a périgourdine sauce, £38, and creamy Basque cheesecake with honey ice cream, £11.

EXPLORE

Visit The Royal Yacht Britannia, a stone’s throw from Fingal.

The self-guided tour will take you from the Royals’ quarters and grand state dining room to life below deck for crew.

Entry is free for Fingal guests (Royalyachtbritannia.co.uk).

And you have to visit Edinburgh Castle, even if you skip gaping at the sparkling crown jewels and just hike up for the views.

Entry costs £21.50 (Edinburghcastle.scot).

For handmade souvenirs and local eats, Stockbridge Market is open every Sunday.

We defy you to resist the hog-roast buns with apple sauce, £10, or the haggis sausage rolls, £4 (Stockbridgemarket.com).

REFUEL

Leith eatery Barry Fish does seafood so well that it landed them a spot in the Michelin Guide.

The addictive fish pastrami, £14, and flaky sea trout in a buttery shrimp sauce, £25, won’t disappoint (Barryfish.co.uk).

Also nearby is Alby’s, where hot focaccia sarnies filled with gooey ‘nduja cauliflower cheese, £12.50, and succulent chicken pakora, spiced onions and lettuce, £13.50, are to die for (Albysleith.co.uk).

Tucked away in the centre is games bar Mortal Kocktail – sink a pint with a few rounds on the vintage pinball machines (@Mortalkocktail).

Or experience Scottish cuisine like no other at Badger & Co – sample exquisite Scotsman scallops topped with haggis, neeps and samphire, £14, juicy Highland wagyu burger, £22, and rich blackberry jam teacake, £9.50 (Badgerandco.com).

DON’T MISS

The Johnnie Walker Signature Experience, from £30, is as fascinating as it is boozy.

Learn about the founder and your own whisky palate, then head to the rooftop for a wee dram while gazing at the gorgeous skyline (Johnniewalker.com).

BOOK IT

Double cabins at Fingal cost from £317 B&B (Fingal.co.uk).

Moxy Belfast City, Belfast

THE PAD

Written across the mirror in pink are the words: “Welcome, Milcah. A good story starts here!”

And they’re not wrong.

Rooms at this central spot are minimalist, but come with huge waterfall showers, Lily O’Brien’s chocs and very handy rain macs.

Refreshing welcome cocktails of gin, elderflower and cranberry set the tone, as does the vibrant lobby, where industrial chic meets playful pop art.

Later, the Wake-Up Call, £11 – a poitín-spiked espresso martini – pairs well with loaded nachos, £10.50, and saucy barbecue wings, £9, in the bar.

Come morning, we find a buzzing breakfast service with a handful of fry-up options and a continental spread.

EXPLORE

Nearby, St George’s Market is home to stalls selling everything from vinyl and vintage wares to Cuban street food – make a beeline for Belfast Bap Co’s humongous bacon rolls, £9.

Next, ride the hop-on-hop-off bus, £19, to stop by the peaceful Botanic Gardens, learn all about the Troubles at Ulster Museum (Ulstermuseum.org), spot incredible street murals and take in the poignant Peace Walls (City-sightseeing.com).

Finally, at Thompson Dock you’ll find Titanic Distillers – the city’s first whisky distillery since Prohibition. Discover the craft and sample it on a one-hour tour, £25 (Titanicdistillers.com).

REFUEL

Hit the bustling Cathedral Quarter for excellent pubs.

Don’t miss Kelly’s Cellars – built in 1720, it is Belfast’s oldest pub, and you can expect lively traditional performances alongside your Guinness, £5.80 (Kellyscellars.co.uk).

Head upstairs at The Morning Star, a short stroll away, for treats including stout-and-treacle-braised beef with hispi cabbage, champ and bordelaise sauce, £24, in the classy dining room (Themorningstarbar.co.uk/the-lounge).

Finish your night in opulent townhouse bar Margot, sipping an indulgent Four Storeys cocktail – a mix of bourbon, amaro, cola syrup and chocolate bitters, £13 – in the snazzy leopard-print snug (Margotbelfast.com).

DON’T MISS

At Titanic Belfast, travel back in time to the ship’s construction and even listen to the last SOS messages from its crew – it’s both immersive and compelling.

Entry costs £24.95 (Titanicbelfast.com).

BOOK IT

Double rooms at Moxy Belfast City cost from £109 B&B (Marriott.com).

Meanwhile, Lifestyle Editor Catherine Bennion-Pedley found a tree-mendous family break in the capital of the north.

Treehouse Hotel, Manchester

THE PAD

After a stay with The Magic Faraway Tree vibes? Found!

This place is all stained-glass features, cascading foliage and cute birdhouses in the heart of the city.

Kids are given wooden tiles to illustrate, then add to the decor, while screening room Flix plays family films in the school hols.

At eatery Pip, Old Winchester gougères, £5, and Lancashire hotpot, £26, steal the show, as do the sherry-based cobblers, £11, while children will be suitably chuffed with home-made fish and chips, £9.

Come morning, roll out of bed for Derbyshire oatcakes with ham and eggs, before hitting shopping heaven on Market Street.

EXPLORE

From Squid Game to Paw Patrol, Immersive Gamebox in the Arndale Centre offers challenges to conquer as a team, and it’s quite a workout!

One-hour games cost from £28 per adult and £18 per child (Immersivegamebox.com).

Equally close is the Museum of Illusions, with its mind-bending displays and photo opps aplenty.

Entry costs £25.50 for adults, £21.50 for over-fives (Moimanchester.com).

Elsewhere, dive into a giant ballpit, crack the dazzling light maze and stand inside an actual bubble at Bubble Planet.

Tickets cost £16.90 per adult, £12.90 for over-threes (Bubble-planet.com).

REFUEL

Buzzy foodhall Mackie Mayor will please the whole crew – the barbecue burger at Mumma’s Fried Chicken, £12.50, and Pico’s Tacos’ frozen margaritas, £17 for two, are standouts (Mackie-mayor.co.uk).

Need a post-shop sugar hit?

Head to Haute Dolci Deansgate for pistachio-cream-smothered pancakes with raspberries and gelato, £12.50 (Hautedolci.co.uk).

Or scoff top-notch paccheri Genovese – large pasta tubes tossed in beef ragu – £16.90, and pizzas at Vincenzo Trattoria (Vincenzomanchester.co.uk).

DON’T MISS

Feel a piece of the moon, program an interplanetary rover and discover what the planets smell like at the Science And Industry Museum’s new Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos exhibition, £10 for over-fours (Scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk).

BOOK IT

Family stays at Treehouse Manchester cost from £190 B&B (Treehousehotels.com/manchester).

CRUZ Beckham has put on a loved-up display with his girlfriend Jackie Apostel in Florida after his cryptic post amid the family feud with his brother Brooklyn.

The singer, 21, put his recent family dramas to the back of his mind to enjoy some quality time with Jackie, 29.

She took to Instagram to share a sneak peek into their holiday with two sweet snaps.

In the first photo, she stood in front of a stunning backdrop of palm trees, blue skies and the stunning sea.

Jackie wore a backless black dress as she looked towards the camera for the sexy picture.

In the second photo, Cruz wrapped his arm around his other half as he planted a kiss on her cheek while closing his eyes.

READ MORE ON THE BECKHAM’S

ALWAYS BE THERE

Spice Girls mark Victoria Beckham’s birthday with sweet throwback photos

posh’s privilege

David Beckham playfully mocks ‘working class’ Victoria on her birthday

The musician opted to wear a yellow polo shirt tucked into some smart black trousers.

His mum Victoria commented: “So pretty,” with four red heart emojis.

The holiday snaps come after Cruz shared a post about his phone calls being ignored, just hours after Victoria broke her silence on the family feud with Brooklyn.

Posting to his Instagram stories, Cruz shared a screenshot from his phone of himself attempting to FaceTime someone, cropping out the contact name.

He cryptically said in the caption of the post: “I never get an answer…”

Cruz then added: “Anyway, new tour vlog is out @itsthebreakers check it, link in story’s“.

The aspiring musician didn’t divulge who never answers his calls, but it could have been a nod to his older brother Brooklyn, who has blocked him on social media.

Cruz is amongst the several family members who have been cut off by Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz.

Until now, the Beckham arm of the family have remained fairly silent on the row, choosing not to respond to Brooklyn’s lengthy statement.

But speaking for the first time on the row, Victoria was asked directly about her eldest son during a new interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The Spice Girls star said: “I think that we’ve always—we love our children so much.

“We’ve always tried to be the best parents that we can be. And you know, we’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children.

“And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it.”

Victoria did not refer to Brooklyn by name when asked about the rift but discussed how she had only ever tried to “protect and love our children”.

Brooklyn had previously suggested public image and Brand Beckham was the biggest priority to his mum and dad.

Victoria and David are understood to have been left devastated over the fall out and have even recently offered to meet with Brooklyn and his wife Nicola in the presence of lawyers and therapists in an attempt to rebuild the rift.

But with Brooklyn seemingly standing strong on his statement, the family are still yet to make any movements towards a reconciliation.

WASHINGTON — The House voted Friday to spend more than $41 billion on dams, highways, airports and various military and university projects.

In a rush to finish its work next week and avoid having to return after the November elections, House members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a transportation spending bill and another energy and water spending bill, together amounting to $33 billion.

Also passed by voice vote was an $8.4-billion appropriations bill for military construction projects, including $3.3 billion to build new housing for families of military personnel and nearly $1 billion as the second installment in closing more than 80 military bases over the next few years.

The bills were produced by House-Senate conference committees that reconciled versions passed earlier by each chamber.

Rep. Robert S. Walker (R-Pa.), a member of the House Science and Technology Committee, complained that members of Senate and House appropriations committees had included about $90 million in projects paid for by the Energy Department for home-state universities.

“Eight of those 10 projects happen to be in states or districts of people who happen to be on the conference committee,” he said. “We’re allocating money not based on anything other than who’s in the room divvying up the money.”

But his motion to eliminate the projects was defeated, 308 to 108, as the chairman and top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water subcommittee said all the projects are justified.

“There’s nothing unusual about this,” Rep. Tom Bevill (D-Ala.), the panel’s chairman, said. “We need more labs; we need more scientists; we need more emphasis put on these programs.”

Among the 10 recipients of the funds are research centers at the University of Alabama and the University of Indiana.

Among the projects hurt in the deficit-cutting effort was one of President Bush’s favorites–the proposed $8-billion super collider atom smasher in Texas.

Bush’s request of $318 million to begin construction of the giant particle accelerator had been approved earlier by both the House and the Senate. But it was slashed to $243 billion by their negotiators last week.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick says his side “won’t get carried away” in their pursuit of a Champions League place after they beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to open up a 10-point gap to sixth place.

MATCH REPORT: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United

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April 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday to accelerate research for some psychedelic drugs to treat mental health disorders.

Surrounded by podcaster Joe Rogan and veterans, the president signed the order that could lead to use of the psychedelics in controlled, therapeutic settings.

“We’re taking this decision, this decisive step, to confront one of the most urgent public health challenges facing our nation, the mental health crisis,” Trump said Saturday in the Oval Office.

“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump said.

The order directs the Food and Drug Administration to speed its review of new treatments. Trump said the order applies to certain drugs that are already in the “advanced stages of clinical trials.”

Rogan said he sent the president “some information” about the drugs after he heard about them on his podcast, The Hill reported.

“I sent him that information. The text message that came back: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.’ Literally that quick,” Rogan said.

Trump mentioned ibogaine, which has been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in other countries. He said the administration would be “opening the pathway” for the drug to be included in the Right to Try Act, which allows terminally ill patients to participate in clinical trials for treatments still under FDA review, The Hill reported. Trump signed that act into law in 2018.

“Under this new program in this administration, drugs can get approved in weeks, not a year or year plus, but in weeks, if they are in line with our national priorities,” FDA Commissioner Martin Makary said at the signing.

“This is an unmet public health need, and there are potentially promising treatments,” Makary said. “That’s why there’s a sense of urgency around this. That’s why we’re doing it now.”

In 2024, 471 U.S. service members died by suicide, and there were 1,515 attempts reported, according to the Pentagon’s Annual Report on Suicide in the Military.

Some of the drugs included are ibogaine; LSD; psilocybin; known as magic mushrooms; and MDMA, known as ecstasy. Trump added that the government had just committed $50 million in additional funding for ibogaine research, The Post reported.

“Federal prohibition of psychedelic medicine in America is over,” said W. Bryan Hubbard, an advocate for access to ibogaine, The Washington Post reported.

Kevin Sabet, who was a White House drug policy adviser over three presidential administrations, disagreed. He said the order will “send the wrong message” and encourages hasty, potentially dangerous research.

“People need to realize there is little to no evidence for most of these drugs and most of the conditions they claim to alleviate,” Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, wrote in a text message to The Post.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed the idea of using psychedelics to help with mental health conditions. On Saturday, he said officials owed it to veterans “to turn over every stone.”

“It’s disturbing to me and to the president that hundreds, in fact, thousands of veterans are having to travel to Mexico or other countries to experiment with interventions that hold great promise,” Kennedy said.