Month: July 2026

MAREN Morris managed to dodge questions about her friend Taylor Swift’s wedding on live TV just hours before the pop superstar is scheduled to tie the knot.

The country singer performed on Today Friday morning in front of a packed crowd in the sweltering NYC heat as part of the morning show’s summer concert series.

After performing her hits Hard Liquor and Soft Rock and 80s Mercedes early Friday, Today’s Craig Melvin dropped a Taylor wedding question on Maren, taking her by surprise.

“It was reported yesterday by Variety that you are going to the wedding. What do you get as a gift for someone like that? Do you get a juicer?” Craig asked, as Maren nervously played with her hair and stuttered.

“I don’t know, what do you get? That would be a hard person to buy for,” she said uncomfortably.

“I’m so happy for them. This is such an incredible thing. I think she has such a close tie to New York.

Swiftly Wed

Who is performing at Taylor Swift’s wedding? Line-up rumours at MSG

“And yeah…I’m so excited for them to celebrate their love. It’s so cool.

“There’s a lot going on this weekend. I’m happy to be here during this frenzy.”

According to Variety, Maren is attending the festivities on Friday evening, alongside fellow country stars Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini.

Taylor and Maren have been friends for years, and the latter even made a guest appearance on the pop superstar’s Eras tour in 2023.

The massive reception is expected to kick off later in the afternoon on Friday at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with other big-name guests including Zoe Kravitz, Adam Sandler, Sabrina Carpenter and Graham Norton.

As The U.S. Sun first reported, Gigi Hadid and Selena Gomez are expected to be bridesmaids, and both have been spotted out and about in NYC this week.

Last night, Taylor and Travis’ close friends and family members attended the rehearsal dinner, and emerged from the venue with little black boxes.

The boxes had a TT – the couple’s initials – on the outside.

Diogo Jota was with Portugal in spirit on the eve of the one-year anniversary of his death.

After the team’s dramatic 2-1 win over Croatia on Thursday in a World Cup knockout game, Portugal’s players posed for a group photo in the middle of the field at Toronto Stadium. Team captain Cristiano Ronaldo stood front and center, looking serious amid many beaming teammates and holding up a red No. 21 jersey in Jota’s honor.

Ronaldo then put on the shirt and became emotional as he slowly walked across the field acknowledging the cheers from the crowd.

“It’s a special day, for our Jota, who is up there illuminating us,” Ronaldo later told Portugal’s Sport TV. “We know he’s present with us and it only made sense to win today to honor him in the best way.”

Ronaldo posted the team photo on X and wrote: “We won for ourselves, for Diogo, and for Portugal!!! LET’S GO!!!!”

The 41-year-old superstar tied the game at 1-1 on a penalty kick in the 68th minute, and teammate Goncalo Ramos headed in the eventual game-winner during stoppage time More drama was to follow, however, as an apparent Croatian goal disallowed for offside just before the final whistle.

After the intense finish, Ramos spoke of his late teammate.

“We think about him every day,” Ramos told Fox Sports of Jota. “It’s even more special to win this game in this day. And he gives us strength every day and for every game.”

Jota’s image was shown on the big screen during the playing of Portugal’s national anthem before the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo, left, celebrates with Portugal teammate Diogo Jota during a Euro 2020 qualifying match in Luxembourg in November 2019.

(Francisco Seco / Associated Press)

Some Portugal fans rose to their feet during the 21st minute (in honor of Jota’s jersey number), unveiling a banner featuring the beloved player’s image and releasing balloons that featured his jersey number.

Just after midnight July 3, 2025, Jota and his brother, André Silva, died in a single-car crash, near Zamora, Spain. Jota was 28, and Silva was 25. A player known as a clinical finisher, Jota played nearly 50 games for Portugal. He made the 2022 World Cup squad but was unable to play because of injury.

Jota also played for Liverpool FC, scoring 65 goals in 182 games for the Reds. On Wednesday, the team unveiled a memorial dedicated to “Jota and Silva at its Anfield Stadium. The monument, designed by sculptor Emma Rodgers, is named “Forever 20,” in honor of Jota’s Liverpool jersey number.

“Today, as every day, we remember Diogo Jota and André Silva, who tragically passed away one year ago,” the team wrote Friday on X. “Through immeasurable loss and incalculable pain, the impact they made and the legacies they left behind — not only within the footballing world, but in the hearts and minds of so many around the world — has shone through over the last 12 months.

“All of our love, support, thoughts and prayers continue to be with Diogo and André’s families, friends and all those whose lives were touched by them. Forever in our hearts, forever our number 20.”

July 3 (UPI) — The 2026 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest introduced this year’s slate of competitors, including 17-time champion Joey Chestnut, at a weigh-in ceremony Friday.

The Friday ceremony at the flagship Nathan’s Famous location in Coney Island, Brooklyn, introduced the 14 men and 10 women who will compete to see who can eat the most hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes at Saturday’s annual Fourth of July contest.

Chestnut, a 17-time champion and the current holder of the coveted Mustard Belt, predicted he will emerge victorious again this year.

“I’m hungry, and I’m going to dominate,” Chestnut, who downed 70.5 hot dogs in last year’s contest, said at the weigh-in.

Miki Sudo, the reigning women’s champion with 11 titles to her name, also predicted a repeat of her 2025 performance, where she finished 33 hot dogs and buns.

“It’s hot, but I’m bringing the heat,” she said. “I was born for this.”

The field of competitors this year features eaters from across the United States, as well as eaters from Britain, Australia and the Czech Republic.

NASA-affiliated aircraft, including F-5 Tiger IIs jets, will kick off roughly seven hours of flyovers above Washington, D.C., to mark the Fourth of July. Today, NASA also officially unveiled an F-15D Eagle and an F/A-18B Hornet jet wearing new star-spangled paint schemes as part of larger celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. The aerial showcase over the nation’s capital tomorrow will also see wave after wave of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters from across the U.S. military, as well as foreign air forces. It is set to be an unprecedented aerial review, unlike anything seen in recent decades.

A full flyover schedule is available on the website of the Freedom 250 organization, the primary organizer of various 250th anniversary celebrations. A more truncated flyover program has already come and gone today. The full aerial review is set to start tomorrow at 1:14 PM ET with a “NASA F-5 Flyover,” followed immediately by a “NASA Fleet Review.”

The NASA “Freedom 250” F-5 team consists of four privately owned aircraft, including one that belongs to its current administrator, Jared Isaacman. They have already been taking part in various airshows and other events since April. Three of the F-5s, wearing their special 250th anniversary schemes, touched down at Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington, D.C., on June 30.

As noted, NASA has also now unveiled the F-15D and F/A-18B with their special 250th anniversary liveries, as seen at the top of this story and below. Those jets could be part of the larger NASA Fleet Review.

Spotters in Spokane, Washington, had first caught sight of these jets yesterday. Based on the assignment of its civilian N-number registration code in May of this year, the F-15D appears to be one of two ex-Oregon Air National Guard jets that NASA acquired in January.

What other NASA aircraft might make an appearance is unclear. Last week, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, did share pictures of T-38, WB-57F, and Gulfstream V aircraft with Freedom 250 emblems painted on their fuselages, but it is unknown whether they will be part of the Fourth of July event.

NASA’s fleets do include a broad selection of other aircraft, including other Gulfstream business jet models and a variant of the U-2 spy plane called the ER-2. Earlier this year, NASA also took delivery of a new Boeing 777. Whether any of its experimental X-planes, such as the highly unusual-looking X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology test aircraft that may help pave the way for a new era of commercial supersonic flight, might join the flyovers remains to be seen.

U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft will follow the NASA flyovers, per the Freedom 250 website, but no specific aircraft types are mentioned. Today, the Coast Guard operates a mix of MH-65 Dolphin and MH-60T helicopters, as well as HC-130J, C-27J, HC-144, C-37, and now C-39 fixed-wing aircraft. C-39 is the designation given to new Gulfstream 700 VIP jets, the first of which was delivered in January. The Coast Guard is in the process of acquiring a second one of these aircraft, which will supplement, if not eventually supplant, its C-37s, which are based on older Gulfstream types, as you can read more about here.

The U.S. Army’s Golden Knights and the U.S. Navy’s Leap Frogs, both of which are parachute demonstration teams, are set to follow the Coast Guard portion of the aerial review. Whether they will jump from different aircraft or the same one, and what type of aircraft will be utilized, are unknown. The Army has aircraft dedicated to supporting the Golden Knights, including Dash-8-based C-147As and UV-18C Twin Otters.

2026 B-Roll Package

Leap Frogs 2021

The parachute demonstrations are to be followed by a review of Army helicopters, which could include a mixture of AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook, and UH-72 Lakota types. Special Operations MH-60Ms, MH-47Gs, and AH/MH-6 Little Birds from the famed 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the “Nightstalkers,” might also take part. The Army also has several VH-60 Black Hawks specially configured for VIP transport missions, known as “gold tops” because of their distinctive black-and-gold paint jobs, based in the broader Washington, D.C. area, that could be included in the flovers.

Waves of U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy aircraft – in that order – will come after the Army helicopters pass by.

The Air Force’s three waves are broken down into “heavies,” aircraft from Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), and fighters. We know from the schedule that a “Tri-Bomber Formation” made up of a B-2, B-1, and B-52 will come later in the day, but the “heavies” mentioned here also sound likely to include a mix of cargo aircraft and aerial refueling tankers. Executive transport types might also make an appearance at this point in the festivities. The new VC-25B “Bridge” aircraft, which made its maiden flight in the Air Force One role this week in taking President Donald Trump on a trip to North Dakota, is explicitly set to be part of the larger aerial review.

The main components of AFSOC’s fleets today are AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker transports, CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, and new OA-1K Skyraider II light attack planes. We may well see examples of all of the Air Force’s current tactical jet fleets – F-22 Raptors, F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, F-15E Strike Eagles, F-15EX Eagle IIs, F-16C/D Vipers, and A-10 Warthogs – in the “fighter” wave.

An “Executive Rotary Wing Airlift” flyover will come in between the Air Force and Marine Corps waves. The Marines are the most prominent operators of aircraft in this category, being responsible for the VH-92, VH-60, and VH-3 presidential helicopters, also commonly known as Marine Ones, as well as a fleet of MV-22 Ospreys used for executive airlift missions. The Army’s aforementioned “gold top” Black Hawks, as well as the Air Force’s UH-1N Twin Hueys based at Andrews Air Force Base, are in this “executive” category, as well.

The waves of other Marine and then Navy rotary wing and fixed-wing aircraft will follow. As with the Air Force waves, it seems likely that we will see a broad swath of types that these services currently fly. On the fixed wing side, this could include F-35B and C Joint Strike Fighters, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, F/A-18C/D Legacy Hornets, and KC-130J Hercules tanker-transports. On the rotary-wing front, there are MV-22 and CMV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, as well as its AH-1Z Viper, UH-1Y Venom, CH-53E Super Stallion, CH-53K King Stallion, and MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters.

It should be noted here that there are heavy restrictions on how and when uncrewed aircraft, even ones belonging to the U.S. military, can fly within the U.S. national airspace. This makes it very unlikely that drones from any of the services will be part of the aerial procession.

Flights by the Navy’s Blue Angels and its separate Super Hornet demonstration team, as well as the Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey demonstration team, are next in the program. The Blue Angels have various signature maneuvers, some of which they might be able to incorporate into their flyover.

Blue Angels Air Show 2026

Per the Freedom 250 website, the Navy and Marine Corps demonstration teams will be followed by another review of Air Force fighters, then the Tri-Bomber formation mentioned before. The Navy’s F-35C demonstration team will go next, and then the Air Force’s Thunderbirds.

Like the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds have several signature maneuvers, and a “Delta Break” (more commonly referred to as a “Delta Burst”) is explicitly on the schedule. This entails the Thunderbirds’ F-16s flying in a delta formation before breaking outward, giving the appearance of a starburst in the sky. Smoke trails from the jets during the maneuver, adding to the effect, as seen in the video below.

USAF Thunderbirds “Delta Burst”

An “Air Force One Flyover” is sandwiched between the Thunderbirds’ initial flyby and the Delta Burst per the schedule on the Freedom 250 website. Whether this will feature anything besides the new VC-25B “Bridge” aircraft remains to be seen. That plane is set to lead a “HUGE 1” flyover, the composition of which is unclear.

A “U.S. Stealth Airpower Flyover,” which would include the B-2, F-22, and F-35, comes next in the program. The F-22 Raptor demonstration team has its own specific slot in the schedule, capped off with a flyby in afterburner. The sun will still be setting at 7:53 PM ET when it is set to occur, but the visual should still be impressive. There will also be a B-1 bomber flyover with the afterburners at 8:07 PM ET.

The entire aerial review program ends with another “HUGE 1” flyover, a “Twilight Jump” by the Golden Knights, and then finally a “Night Pass” by the B-1 in afterburner at 10:36 PM ET, by which time the sun will have fully set for the day. A B-1 made a similar flight over Washington, D.C., as part of the UFC America 250 event at the White House back on June 14.

The roar of a B-1B Lancer assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, over Washington, D.C., tonight. 🇺🇸

As America approaches its #Freedom250 anniversary, military flyovers remain a powerful tradition—honoring the past, celebrating the present and inspiring… pic.twitter.com/dyBPAA5A7y

— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) June 15, 2026

There has been and continues to be much speculation about potential surprise appearances during the hours-long procession of U.S. military aircraft. The Air Force insists that the new B-21 Raider will not make an appearance. We also asked about whether a drone commonly and unofficially known as the “RQ-180,” or any of the demonstrators used in the Next Generation Air Domain (NGAD) program that birthed the F-47 sixth-generation fighter, might take part. We were flatly told no in response.

There is also set to be at least some degree of participation by foreign air forces, none of which is explicitly mentioned in the schedule on the Freedom 250 website.

“The national aerobatic display team of the United Arab Emirates, ‘Al Fursan,’ has arrived in the United States of America to take part in the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America,” the UAE’s Ministry of Defense notably wrote in an official post on X this morning, per a machine translation of the original Arabic. “The team will join the official air show on July 4th, flying side by side with the Blue Angels team and squadrons of the U.S. Air Force, in an extraordinary scene that embodies the depth of bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America, while reflecting the shared values and enduring partnership that unite the two nations.”

This is especially notable given that the Al Fursan team currently flies Chinese Hongdu L-15 jet trainers, as seen in the video below. This looks to be the debut appearance of any Chinese-made military aircraft in the United States.

وصول فريق الاستعراضات الجوية “فرسان الإمارات” إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية للمشاركة في احتفالات ذكرى الاستقلال الـ250

وصول فريق الاستعراضات الجوية الوطني لدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة “فرسان الإمارات” إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، للمشاركة في احتفالات الذكرى الـ250… pic.twitter.com/x0o3YQcdVH

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) July 3, 2026

The French Patrouille de France aerobatic team, which flies Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets, has already flown over Washington, D.C., and New York City in the past two weeks as part of larger celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. The French have dubbed this the “Liberté 250” tour, which they say also celebrates their historic relationship with the United States since its founding.

Arlington. Mount Vernon. Washington.

Aujourd’hui, la mission #Liberté250 a rendu hommage à quelques-uns des lieux les plus emblématiques de la mémoire américaine.

Un parcours symbolique pour célébrer près de 250 ans d’amitié entre la France et les États-Unis. 🇫🇷🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/TKsVI7waqE

— Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (@Armee_de_lair) June 22, 2026

As mentioned, tomorrow’s flyovers look set to be completely unlike anything seen in years. It will be a far larger gathering of aircraft than what was present at the parade marking the 250th Birthday of the U.S. Army last year. It will dwarf even what was put together to mark the Centennial of Naval Aviation in 2011.

Just from what’s on the public schedule, Washington, D.C., is set to see an unprecedented aerial extravaganza to mark this year’s Fourth of July.

Special thanks to Tom Riley for sharing his picture of the NASA F/A-18B and F-15D in Spokane with us.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

MAYA Jama has revealed she risked being arrested in Ibiza after she accidentally took something from a bar without paying for it.

The Love Island host, 31, shared a new vlog on her YouTube channel as her hairdresser got her ready for a photoshoot to be a cover girl on a magazine.

Her hairstylist divulged: “We were in Ibiza and the bar was closing and we were walking back to the hotel, but we took our glasses and then the Spanish lady, she was chasing us down the road.”

Maya added: “So we came and gave them back! Otherwise we would get arrested!”

The hairdresser expressed: “We’d get arrested in Ibiza and that’s not what we want.”

Maya told the camera: “They weren’t even proper glass cups, they were plastic.”

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He continued: “We couldn’t take them and we didn’t know that at the time and then she was chasing us down the road.”

“It was quite funny but I’m glad we snapped out of it or else we would have got arrested for stealing plastic cups,” The Masked Singer star said.

“It wouldn’t even be worth it, we weren’t even doing anything cool.”

Her revelation comes after she headed into the Love Island villa to host the Casa Amor recoupling.

She turned heads in an incredible plunging black dress as she entered the villa for a second time this week.

Maya left fans applauding as she sided with a heartbroken Jasmine when Kavan came back to the villa with Charleen on his arm.

When Jasmine saw Kavan, who she was in a couple with, walk back into the main villa with the stunning Irish influencer – she was left taken aback and quite frankly, fuming.

After she processed the information, Jasmine asked Kavan if he had slept in bed with girls during Casa.

She also asked him if he’d kissed any girls outside of challenges.

His brother Aidan was quick to butt in, saying how he thinks this is a conversation for them to have in private.

“I’m allowed to speak to him. That’s who I was in a couple with,” Jasmine snapped at Aidan.

“Yeah, Aidan, let them two speak,” Maya then added in a stern voice.

Reacting to Maya’s hilarious snap back at Aidan, one person penned: “The fact even Maya’s sick of Aidan acting like the spokesperson.”

“Maya Jama is so real telling Aidan to let Jasmine and her couple speak. That’s a REAL ASS HOST,” said a second.

A mother has been left stranded with her two-year-old daughter after a new passport rule that was ‘quietly introduced’ prevented them from flying back to the UK

A new passport rule left a mum and her two-year-old daughter stranded abroad with no way of getting home.

Tegan van der Merwe, 25, and her toddler were refused permission to fly back to the UK, despite living in Britain for more than two decades. Now they’re trapped in Mallorca and fear they could be there for weeks.

She said: “It’s a terrifying situation to be in with a young child – we’re not safe here. We had to find the cheapest place to stay next to a strip of drunk people because we are completely stranded.”

The mum, from Manchester, had travelled to Palma de Mallorca for a five-day holiday with her daughter. But she said they were stopped at immigration because they both travel on Dutch passports, despite her holding settled status and her daughter automatically qualifying for British citizenship after being born in the UK.

She said they were later told the problem stemmed from a rule introduced in February requiring British dual citizens to prove their right to live in the UK before travelling. Under the changes, travellers can no longer rely on a foreign passport alone and must instead carry a valid British passport or a Certificate of Entitlement.

Left with no way home, Tegan and her daughter were advised to visit the British Consulate in Palma. They have since been forced to leave their hotel and move into a cheaper self-catering apartment close to a busy strip near Magaluf left with no way home.

Tegan travelled to the consulate on Monday, catching buses before walking for more than an hour in the heat with her daughter. But she claimed she was met with a hostile response when she arrived.

She told the Daily Mail: “The consulate wouldn’t even open the door. I was told to speak to someone over the phone and put a Spanish address to get documents to apply for a British passport sent to me.

“We were also told we had to get photocopies of everything – which meant walking even further and getting buses to try and find a post office or library which had a printer.”

Tegan said she then paid 60 euros to send off the forms and feared she could now be stranded in Spain for up to six weeks while waiting for the passports to be processed. She now has little money left after spending much of it on the holiday, and is unable to earn an income while stuck overseas.

She said: “She has her ups and downs throughout the day, we’re just trying to make it as normal as we can for her. I’m just worrying about where the money is coming from, stressing about everything, and worrying that ultimately we could end up on the street if we don’t get help.”

The ordeal has also left Tegan facing problems back in the UK. She said she has been forced to hand in notice on the home she rents in Manchester because she cannot work while stranded abroad, and now expects to move in with her mother once they are eventually able to return.

The experience has left Tegan wanting to “renounce” both her and her daughter’s British citizenship after feeling completely “abandoned by the Government”.

She added: “I don’t want to live in the country anymore, the way we have been treated. It’s like we are criminals – why can a two-year-old not re-enter the country and at least be held and questioned there? It’s terrible.”

Novak Djokovic beats Arthur Rinderknech in four sets to go level with Roger Federer for most men’s singles wins at SW19, as the seventh seed progresses into the fourth round.

READ MORE: Djokovic fights off Rinderknech to claim more history

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July 3 (UPI) — Authorities in Pennsylvania’s Berks County declared a mass casualty incident when more than 100 people waiting to see a train were treated for heat-related symptoms.

A crowd of thousands gathered Thursday afternoon at the Reading & Blue Mountain Railroad Outer Station in Muhlenberg Township to glimpse Big Boy, the world’s largest steam-powered locomotive, which is currently on tour for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

The train’s arrival was delayed for more than an hour as local temperatures climbed to 106 degrees.

Berks County 911 started to receive 911 calls about 1:30 p.m., and ambulances and firefighters from surrounding counties were summoned to assist.

More than 100 people were treated for heat-related maladies, and 45 of those were transported to local hospitals. One patient went into cardiac arrest, but was resuscitated before being transported to hospital.

Officials said children and the elderly made up the majority of those affected.

Big Boy rolled through the station around 2:30 p.m., before continuing on toward Philadelphia.

Heavy monsoon rains have inundated parts of Mumbai, India’s financial capital, causing widespread flooding, traffic congestion and disruption to daily life. The India Meteorological Department has forecast more heavy rainfall through the weekend.

KATIE Price has made a rare sentimental remark about ex-husband Peter Andre in her new Sky documentary.

The reality TV star, 48, shared a sweet comment about ex Peter and how shy he used to make her feel in her latest series, Katie Price: Nothing To Hide.

In the documentary, Katie is sitting down watching her old I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! footage — the show on which she met Peter.

She then opened up about just how much she felt for Peter, calling him her “Prince”.

Katie said: “If I like someone like I liked him, I go all shy. I can’t look at them, and I go all like giddy. It’s pathetic, but that’s what I was like.

“You could see we were into each other and it is so cute to look at. By the end of it I was smitten with him.

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“Meeting Pete and being with Pete were the best times of my life, without a doubt.

“I had my prince, I knew I would be with him forever.”

Katie and Peter met in 2004 and started dating shortly after their time on I’m A Celeb ended.

They got engaged later that same year and tied the knot in 2005.

They went on to have two children, Princess and Junior, before divorcing in 2009.

Earlier this year, Katie married for the fourth time, tying the knot with self-proclaimed millionaire Lee Andrews.

The pair’s whirlwind wedding came after just a week of speaking online.

Recently Katie and Lee reunited after Lee was imprisoned in Dubai under accusations of fraud.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued an urgent travel warning to Brits heading to Portugal this summer

Brits heading to Portugal are facing an urgent travel alert this summer. The warning, issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), comes amid devastating wildfires sweeping through parts of the European nation.

More than 1,000 firefighters are tackling the blazes just north of Porto. Euronews reports that authorities have declared a red heat alert across the country, a firm favourite with British holidaymakers. Approximately 2.5 million Brits travel to the country annually.

An extreme high temperature warning has been put in place by the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, covering Porto and regions to the north and east of the coastal city. In all, 12 of the nation’s 18 districts are on alert, from Thursday 2 July until at least Saturday 4 July, with a ‘persistent spell of extremely high temperatures, both daytime highs and overnight lows’.

The remaining six regions are under orange alert, heightening the wildfire threat. This has triggered a warning from the FCDO. It says: “There is a high risk of wildfires during the summer season from April to October.”

It continues: “There is an increased risk of wildfires from April to October when the weather is hot and dry. Wildfires can start anywhere in Portugal.

“Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The Portuguese authorities may evacuate areas and close roads for safety reasons.”

You should: “Starting a fire, even if it is by accident, is illegal and you could get a fine or a prison sentence. For information about active wildfires and forecasts, visit the Portuguese Met Office website for information on Portugal and Madeira.”

The Minister of Internal Administration has suggested the possibility of deliberate criminal activity behind the widespread blaze, which broke out overnight.

“Night-time does not usually provide conditions for ignitions to occur, and yet there were two ignitions at around 02:00–03:00 in the morning,” said Luís Neves, speaking to journalists in Torres Novas. He added that ‘everything indicates that there was, in fact, human involvement, criminal behaviour’.

It was my great fortune to be in Mexico City for the first few weeks of this tournament. Here, I’m sharing some tip on my experience to help out any of you lucky enough to be heading to Mexico City for England’s Last-16 game.

England are set to play Mexico at the world-famous Azteca Stadium, one of the most iconic locations in the history of the World Cup. Few places in the world can rival Mexico City for the passion of its fans.

You feel it on the streets even hours before a game. The music, the singing, the drinking, it all builds up and erupts for every goal and at the final whistle, as fans spray crazy foam in every direction.

The street parties after the game are nothing like what we have here. Even a run-of-the-mill group game brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets to celebrate for hours on end earlier in this tournament. Think you’ve seen crazy parties after England wins back home? Think again.

It was my great fortune to be in Mexico City for the first few weeks of this tournament. Here, I’m sharing some tip on my experience to help out any of you lucky enough to be heading to Mexico City for England’s Last-16 game.

Where to watch the game?

Tickets are going to be hard to come by, so if you’re just in the city to absorb the atmosphere- and it’ll be some atmosphere – you’ll need to know where to head.

Word of warning – whatever the weather, you may want to pack a waterproof of some kind as the Mexicans love to spray crazy foam before, during and after games. You will get wet.

The fan zone

The Zocalo is the main square in the heart of Mexico City’s historic centre. It’s on a scale that has to be seen to be believed, dwarfing anything we have in England. The enormous screen stands in front of the city’s cathedral, providing a dramatic backdrop for the game. Mexican fans will flock to the square early though, so if you’re planning on going you should try to get there long before kickoff.

One word of warning though – no alcohol is sold in this fan zone. There is beer, but it’s all 0.0%. If you’re wanting to have a few drinks during the game then you’ll need to find somewhere else to watch.

Angel of Independence

El Angel is historically where locals head to celebrate Mexican victories. And they head there in numbers. Originally there were no big screens at the site, but such is its popularity that they were installed for the Ecuador Last-32 game. It led to an estimated 1.4 million people partying at the site on the night of the match. In terms of food and drink, you’ll be relying largely on street food stands and people selling beers out of cool boxes. There’s very little in the way of toilet provision, so many revellers try to find a secluded spot on the street to relieve themselves.

There’s also very little in the way of crowd management and crushes are common (as experienced by this writer). After the Ecuador match, four people were killed due to suffocation.

Bars

Mexico City has no shortage of bars, cantinas and restaurants, all with TVs to watch the game (many of which are very new and suspiciously still have their original wrapping on). Local fans will be out in numbers on Sunday though, so like the Zocalo you’ll want to find yourself a bar early.

Fans may want to try The Dog House, an English pub in the Roma district. It’s not a large place, though, so getting there early would be advised. Just around the corner is La Cervecería de Barrio, which attracts a large crowd. I was there for Mexico-Ecuador and the atmosphere was electric, with a mariachi band paying a visit before kickoff. McCarthy’s Irish Pub in Roma is a cavernous place with plenty of TVs. It’s also located near Mercado Roma, a food hall that has TVs and a number of places to grab some Mexican food. These bars are all located in the Roma Norte area, which is nearby El Angel where most Mexicans will head to after the match.

Pinche Gringo BBQ Warehouse is also popular with tourists and expats in the area.

Calle Regina in the historic centre is lined with plenty of bars, all of which have TVs showing the game.

Partying after the match

Angel of Independence

El Angel is the main place to head after the game is over. You’ll see the craziness of Mexico firsthand. There’ll be fireworks, people being thrown in the air. Plenty of music, lots of dancing andeven more singing. If you want to be a star, try to learn the words to the folk song Cielito Lindo. The key line is “¡Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores!” which translates to “Sing and don’t cry”.

Crowds will be huge here though, particularly after the game. Crushes are common.

Clubs and bars

Head down to either Roma Norte or Zona Rosa for after-game drinks. They’re conveniently located just by El Angel, so make a good place to head if the crowds there get too busy. Calle Genovia in Zona Rosa is pedestrianised and has plenty of bars and clubs to go to. In Roma, Departamento is popular with locals and tourists alike, but you won’t be short of other options in the area.

Tourist trips

The canals of Xochimilco are a fun way to spend a couple of hours. There’s a real party atmosphere on a weekend, with boats playing music, sharing drinks, hiring mariachi bands and generally having a good time. Hire a boat and your captain will take you on a tour of the ancient canals. Mariachi bands cost about 300 pesos per song. You can book tours that will provide food and drink, or simply turn up on your own and buy a bag of cans from a local shop. A taxi to Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas will take about an hour from the city centre.

The pyramids of Teotihuacan. The ancient pre-Aztec pyramids are around an hour’s drive out of town and a must-see of any trip to Mexico City. The temple complex is huge, with the Sun Temple dominating the local skyline. As with the canals, you can either book a tour or head there under your own steam. Local buses are available, or if you’re in a group you can split the cost of a cab. Entry is around 100 pesos per person.

WASHINGTON — Festivities commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence from Great Britain kick into higher gear across the United States on Friday as celebrations are balanced with efforts to stay safe as much of the country bakes under extreme heat.

President Trump will travel to South Dakota to deliver a speech and watch fireworks at Mt. Rushmore. And in a novel twist, there will be a ball drop in New York City’s Times Square at midnight to usher in the July Fourth holiday with much the same revelry that is typically reserved for New Year’s Eve.

The activity culminates in the main event Saturday, when fireworks will erupt in communities across the U.S., along with backyard cookouts and block parties. Trump will deliver another speech at the National Mall in Washington before what is being billed as a historically massive fireworks show.

But for all the celebrations, there are also serious safety considerations as potentially record heat grips much of the Midwest and East Coast. Officials have warned those celebrating the holiday to stay hydrated and take air-conditioned breaks as needed.

The heat has already affected some of the programming surrounding the holiday. In Washington, organizers of the Capitol Fourth concert banned the public from attending a Thursday rehearsal because of the heat.

The concert Friday, a staple of Washington’s Independence Day traditions, is on, but the gates will open to the public later than usual, at 7 p.m. EDT, an hour before the show. Organizers of celebrations in Washington on Saturday said they were adding water stations along with cooling resources and medical support.

From Boston to Norristown, Penn., and Gettysburg National Military Park, plans were shifting to accommodate the soaring temperatures. Amtrak canceled some trains in the Northeast due to excessive heat that could affect the tracks.

The holiday is unfolding at a unique time in the U.S. The anniversary has served as an opportunity for the country to reflect on its history while also reminding it of the political polarization of the moment.

Even the celebrations themselves have not quite escaped the divide.

Freedom 250, an organization aligned with the White House, has come to rival America250, a bipartisan group founded by Congress a decade ago. Freedom 250 has organized much of the activity in Washington, including the Great American State Fair, which has gained attention for the relatively small crowds it has attracted. America250 is behind the ball drops unfolding in many cities, including New York, and will host a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults feel “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary, according to an April survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly 3 in 10 said “excited” describes their emotions.

Sloan writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Michael Casey in Cambridge, Mass., and Calvin Woodward in Washington contributed to this report.

LeRoy Irvin, a cornerback and special teams player who made two Pro Bowls with the Rams in the 1980s, has died, the team said Thursday. He was 68.

Irvin holds the Rams record for most non-offensive touchdowns (11 — five interception returns, four punt returns, one fumble recovery return and one blocked field goal return). He also is tied with Janoris Jenkins and Ed Meador for most pick-sixes in team history.

“We mourn the loss of Rams Legend LeRoy Irvin,” the team wrote on social media. “We extend our condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.”

No further details were provided. Freelance sports journalist Eric Geller reported that Irvin died Wednesday after a long battle with throat cancer.

Born Sept. 15, 1957 in Fort Dix, N.J., Irvin played running back at Glenn Hills High School in Augusta, Ga. He told Sports Collectors Daily in 2023 that he patterned his running style after O.J. Simpson’s.

“That parlayed into my pro career,” Irvin said. “When I moved to defensive back in college, I always prided myself on being a great runner, which led to me being a great punt returner.”

As a senior at Kansas in 1979, Irvin led the Big Eight Conference with 27 punt returns for 321 yards and two touchdowns. He also intercepted five passes that season. In four years with the Jayhawks, Irvin had 42 punt returns for 454 yards and two touchdowns to go with 10 interceptions.

Selected by the Rams in the third round of the 1980 draft, Irvin played in L.A. for 10 seasons before spending his final season with the Detroit Lions in 1990.

In an NFL record that still stands, Irvin recorded 207 punt return yards during a 37-35 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 11, 1981. Two of his six punt returns that day went for touchdowns, of 75 and 84 yards.

Irvin finished his career with 35 interceptions for 676 yards, and 147 punt returns for 1,457 yards. After retirement, he worked as a coach, broadcaster and businessman.

“Devastated to hear about the passing of my brother, teammate, and Rams legend Leroy Irvin,” his former Rams teammate and business partner Eric Dickerson wrote on Instagram.

“Leroy wasn’t just a lockdown corner and a fierce competitor on the field; he was a true friend and a great man who always brought incredible energy. Rest in peace, my brother. Sending my thoughts and prayers to the Irvin family and all of Rams Nation.”

Back and forth over defence spending comes as NATO leaders set to meet in Ankara next week.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has defended his country’s NATO defence spending, shortly after US President Donald Trump re-upped his criticism of alliance members.

The statement on Friday came as NATO leaders were set to meet next week in Ankara. Trump has decried defence spending by members of the bloc throughout his political career, calling the balance of spending “ridiculous” and “one-sided” in his latest Truth Social posts on the issue earlier this week.

In one post, Trump said Germany’s spending was “MUCH ⁠LOWER” between 2014 and 2025 than the US or other NATO allies, which he again called “Ridiculous!”

When asked about the comment, Merz said Germany would double its defence budget within four years.

“This is the greatest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defence capabilities. In this respect, we have ‌no reason to shy away from anyone,” Merz said.

“We will state this, with all due modesty, and we are doing so as the European Union’s largest member state, bearing a responsibility within Europe,” he said.

US and European ties have been strained throughout Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021 and his current term, which began in January 2025.

However, while largely dismissive of the president during his first four years in office, several European leaders have sought a more amenable approach to the president this time around.

At the behest of the US, NATO leaders agreed to spend 3.5 percent of their countries’ GDP on core defence items, such as weapons and troops, ⁠by 2035, an increase of the previous goal set by the bloc of 2 percent of its GDP.

However, relations have since frayed over several issues, including Trump’s pledges to take control of the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Denmark is a member of NATO.

The US-Israeli war in Iran has also proven to be a major wedge, with Trump launching the conflict without consulting European allies who have dealt with the fallout of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump had repeatedly condemned European allies for not joining the war effort.

Merz, meanwhile, roiled the president by saying in April the US had been “humiliated” by Iran. Trump, in turn, said the US would withdraw 5,000 troops currently stationed in Germany.

Speaking on Friday, Merz said Germany was ahead of schedule to reach its NATO commitments.

“We will reach the 3.5 percent benchmark set in The Hague as early as 2029,” he told reporters, “well ahead of the agreed deadline”.

The venerable C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft made its final flight to an aircraft carrier, a U.S. Navy official confirmed to TWZ. This final trap, which took place last week aboard the USS Nimitz, marks the end of nearly 60 years of providing logistics services to America’s flattops. That role has now been completely turned over to the Navy’s fleet of CMV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the official told us, marking the end of an era in naval aviation.

On June 25, Greyhounds belonging to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 made the last arrested landing and catapult launch from a carrier, the official added. Though the Greyhounds won’t land on carriers anymore, they will still be flying until later this year when they are anticipated to be fully retired, barring any major contingencies.

You can read more about what it was like to fly a Greyhound in our deep-dive interview with a former pilot here.

Janes was the first to report the last carrier mission of the Greyhound.

“Vice Admiral Doug Perry, commander of both the Joint Force Command Norfolk and the US 2nd Fleet, joined Nimitz as the ship travelled north from Mayport, Florida, toward New York City,” the publication stated. “Adm. Perry and several reporters, including Janes, boarded the Greyhounds as the C-2s were catapulted off Nimitz at about 1800 local time, marking the aircraft’s final expected COD takeoff.”

Greyhounds were aboard the Nimitz along with the T-1 demonstrator for the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker program and a number of Super Hornets, all of which are taking part in a large multinational exercise associated with America’s 250th birthday. The C-2s on the other hand didn’t linger around.

The Greyhound, a derivative of the Navy’s E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft, first entered service in the late 1960s and replaced the piston-engined C-1 Trader in the COD role.

“The original C-2A aircraft were overhauled to extend their operational life in 1973,” the U.S. Naval Academy noted. “In 1984, a contract was awarded for 39 new C-2A aircraft to replace the earlier airframes. Dubbed the Reprocured C-2A due to the similarity to the original aircraft, the new C-2A includes substantial airframe and avionic systems improvements. All the older C-2As were phased out in 1987, and the last of the new models was delivered in 1990.”

Greyhound’s replacement, the CMV-22B, was declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2021. While the Program of Record has 48 CMV-22Bs projected, the Navy currently plans to procure only 44 aircraft.

As we noted in previous coverage, the advent of the Ospreys was seen as a “game-changer” by senior Navy officials.

“With distributed maritime ops, longer ranges, distances between multi-carrier operations, distances from land-based areas, and the ability for the CMV-22B to plop down on unimproved spaces, it proved to be a game-changer for us on deployment,” Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, then-commander of Naval Air Forces (NAVAIR) and Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said during a 2022 Maritime Security Dialogue event.

From our past story:

“Powered by two Rolls-Royce Liberty AE1107C engines, each delivering 6,200 shaft horsepower, the Osprey has a range of about 1,150 nautical miles with a 6,000-pound internal payload, Whitesell noted at the time. It’s also capable of aerial refueling, while the C-2 is not.

By comparison, the Greyhound, powered by two Allison T56-A-425 turboprop engines each delivering 4,600 shaft horsepower, has a range of about 1,000 nautical miles.

Then there was the issue of being able to land on an aircraft carrier at night.

Whitesell said the CMV-22B can do that, while the Navy has been ‘reticent in the past’ to allow Greyhounds to do night carrier landings ‘based on the avionics in that platform.’”

There are various other advantages and disadvantages of each platform. For instance, the C-2 is pressurized and can fly at higher altitudes, over weather, while the CMV-22 is not and flies at lower altitudes.

While the Navy was moving to retire the Greyhounds, the Ospreys encountered a number of problems. Key among them was a three-month-long grounding of virtually all Osprey tiltrotors worldwide following the fatal crash of a U.S. Air Force CV-22B off the coast of Japan in 2023.

The 2023 CV-22 crash “was definitely a wake-up call for many of us who are anticipating transitioning from the C-2 to the CMV-22,” Rear Adm. Douglas ‘V8’ Verissimo, then commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic (AIRLANT), said bluntly last year. “The C-2 crews, with some venerable old aircraft, stepped up and took care of business. An unexpected surge in the requirement to maintain carrier onboard delivery [COD] to our aircraft carriers going forward.”

In the wake of that incident, there were flight restrictions placed on the Ospreys that limited the range they could fly, which impacted their COD role. However, after mechanical fixes were made, the Navy began lifting those restrictions in January, a Navy official told us.

“For security reasons, the specific thresholds, numbers of aircraft affected, and details of added controls are not releasable,” the official added.

There have also been relatively damning reports about the CMV-22’s ability to do the COD mission from the Pentagon’s own testing force, nonetheless the C-2’s final retirement has drawn closer.

Regardless of how the CMV-22Bs are still restricted, the Navy apparently feels confident enough in the Osprey to move the C-2A Greyhound one step closer to retirement. At the same time, there can be no doubt that while the Navy gains new capabilities with the Osprey, it loses others with the C-2. Beyond that, the workhorse nature of the C-2 is a known and proven quantity, while the CMV-22 is still having its teething issues.

No matter the aircraft, COD is a ‘no-fail’ mission that enables the entire carrier strike group. With that in mind, the CMV-22 will have some big flight boots to finally fill alone once the C-2 leaves the service later this year.

UPDATE 12:15 PM Tuesday June 30 –

The Navy provided updated information about the procurement of CMV-22B Ospreys. The service is now expected to obtain up to 53.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

A-LIST stars from around the world will be crowding into Madison Square Garden today to see Taylor Swift’s marriage.

The extravagant event is set to welcome around 1,000 guests as the 14-time Grammy award winner ties the knot with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. But who will perform at the wedding?

Which megastars are rumored to take to the MSG stage?

With the number of stars in attendance, there certainly isn’t a shortage of possibilities as to who might be performing at the wedding.

Unfortunately, the Hollywood couple have reportedly enforced a strict no phones policy and required guests to sign strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent word going around on the event.

But thanks to a handful of leaks, we aren’t left completely in the dark as to who may take the stage at MSG.

Country legend Tim McGraw is among the names widely believed to be performing, with the bride having named her debut 2006 single after him.

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Fleetwood Mac star Stevie Nicks is a confirmed guest for the wedding of the most-streamed female artist in history, but rumors will tell you that she’ll be more than just another attendee – but rather that the 78-year-old is set to perform.

Ed Sheeran is another name potentially playing some live tunes as Swift herself said in a radio interview: “It would be hard to keep him from it, I think! If there’s a stage, you know that he’ll be on it.”

Will the bride sing to Travis?

Fans have been keen to jump on social media websites like TikTok, Reddit, and X to leave their opinion on whether Taylor will perform for her newlywed.

And the general consensus seems to be that she most certainly will! With the main question being what song she will perform for him.

In fact, some Swifties believe that the ultimate wedding present would be a brand new song made especially for the occasion.

That of course, for someone with the talent of Taylor Swift, shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

There is logic behind the theory too, with fans pointing towards the fact the 36-year-old has written songs for nearly every major chapter of her life.

If not an entirely new, unreleased song, fans predict that she will perform a mashup of the songs she has already written about Kelce during the Eras Tour, for example; ‘Lover’, ‘The Alchemy’ and ‘So High School’.

Moving away from her husband though, supporters of the singer-songwriter also have suggested the possibility of Taylor dueting with Tim McGraw.

SUN Hols from £9.50 are back, with thousands more bargain breaks being released next week.

If you’re still looking to book an affordable holiday to look forward to with the family, then you’re in luck.

We’ve rounded up 9 of the top UK Hols from £9.50 resorts receiving NEW breaks to book from next week – and it turns out they are some of the most popular holiday parks among Sun readers.

BUT… if you want early access to be one of the first to bag a booking, then join Sun Club for £1.99 a month, or £12 for the year, as Sun Club members get priority access when booking.

Hols from £9.50 are set to be restocked on Wednesday, July 8, with thousands of new holidays available.

But if you want to book them earlier than anyone else, you should sign up to Sun Club for £1.99 per month, or £12 for the year.

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Sun Club members get access to the holidays from midnight on Tuesday, July 7, so will get the first pick of holidays.

Once you’re a member, go to the Sun Club Offers hub and find Hols From £9.50.

Follow the link from the offers page, and you can book your break from midnight on Tuesday, July 7.

Lighthouse Leisure

Two minutes’ walk from the beach and the picturesque lighthouse that gives this holiday park its name, Lighthouse Leisure is a well-located holiday park.

This family resort is in Dumfries, Scotland, a beautiful market town which sits on the Anglo-Scottish border.

Nearby family days out include meeting the animals at Dalscone Farm Fun, visiting impressive castles like Century Caerlaverock, and learning about the famous Scottish writer at the Robert Burns House.

The holiday park itself however has plenty to do, like an outdoor play park which kids love to climb and an entertainment lounge and bar that grown-ups love to retire to in the evenings.

And with family discos, bingo, karaoke nights and more, you’ll be sure to make some lasting family memories on holiday here.

Seal Bay Resort

Seal Bay was the number 1 most popular park with £9.50 holidaymakers last year, and you can still book a holiday there in time for this Easter.

With so many activities for families of all ages, it’s easy to see why this resort is such a big hit.

Kids can have a go on the park’s surfing simulator, tackle the climbing wall, or try their hand at digital darts, axe throwing and archery.

This resort sits smack-bang on the beachfront of Selsey, and accommodation includes everything from simple seaside caravans to luxurious glamping or beachfront pods.

All stays come with access to swimming pools and the resort’s top-rated entertainment, so there’s no need to fork out on extra passes.

Nearby there’s plenty of family attractions like the Harbour Park amusements and the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum.

Hayling Island Holiday Park

Just east of Portsmouth, Hayling Island is packed with family activities and golden beaches to explore.

At Hayling Island Holiday Park, kids will love the on-site splash park, arcades and adventure playground.

Plus activities like a Wipeout inflatable course, disc golf and ‘Tough Mutter’ dog agility course are hard to find elsewhere!

The park comes alive at sunset with evening entertainment, which ranges from Glow Show DJ Battles to Freddie Fever, a celebration of the band Queen.

End the night by heading back to a luxury caravan with your own hot tub, and you’ve done holiday parks right.

Parkdean Resorts Landguard

Landguard is a tranquil town surrounded by forest and golden beaches, and this holiday park has direct access to its shores.

Parkdean Resorts Landguard offers touring and camping, as well as caravans and cosy wooden lodges that are a perfect fit for the woodland surroundings.

Entertainment here is of a high-standard, with Parkdean classics like the Krew animal characters hosting meet and greets, as well as unique options like slime and squishy toy-making.

Landguard is also only a stone’s throw from Parkdean Lower Hyde, and guests can enjoy double the fun and double the facilities between both parks.

Parkdean Resorts Naze Marine

Walton-on-the-Naze is a charming countryside town by the sea, with a soft sand beach, seafront gardensa and a vintage pier to stroll.

The relaxing town is also only a few minutes’ drive to Frinton-on-Sea, another old-fashioned seaside town with plenty of walking routes waiting to be explored.

Parkdean Resorts Naze Marine is the ideal base to explore both areas, with cosy caravans that make the perfect retreat after a day out exploring.

Plus the on-site entertainment is well worth a visit here, with PAW Patrol Mighty Missions and Milkshake! mornings being just two of the exciting kids’ shows on offer.

Billing Aquadrome Holiday Park

Billing Aqudrome in Northamptonshire is 235 acres of non-stop activities that kids will love.

Kids can get off their devices and in touch with nature with survival skills, den building, pond dipping, or by hopping on a paddle board or pedalo.

Plus there’s loads of other unique activities like BMX rides, dance classes and alpaca feeding.

Evening entertainment includes is all-singing and all-dancing, with fun extras like silent discos and a large outdoor amphitheatre with performances.

If you want to make the most of the nature, choose to stay in a cosy lakeside pod, or even bring your own tent to get back to basics.

And when it comes to food and drinks, there’s plenty kids will love, like the Bak’D & Swirls dessert shop and Smash’d Town burger restaurant. There’s also healthier options like grazing boards available, too.

Parkdean Resorts Valley Farm

Parkdean Resorts Valley Farm has plenty to do, including both an indoor and outdoor pool, kid-friendly evening shows and lively bingo nights.

This fuss-free resort has caravans and lodges that are fully equipped with everything you’ll need for a stay, plus there’s accessible and dog-friendly options, too.

This holiday park is just 10 minutes’ walk from Clacton-on-Sea, the ideal seaside town for a family holiday.

Here you can jump on fairground rides, eat fish and chips by the sea, or test your luck on arcade games on the pier or at Clacton Pavilion.

Parkdean Resorts Lower Hyde

Lower Hyde Holiday Park combines some of the very best in entertainment with a top location and plenty of food and drink options.

Sit down for a bite to eat at the family-friendly Barnhouse Bar and Restaurant, or grab a snack from the ever-popular Scoops ice cream parlour or Thunderbird Chicken shack.

Nearby you can pop into the cafes and shops of Sandown, or explore the beaches and coves of the rugged coastline.

This park is also close to the scenic town of Shanklin, where thatched-roof cottages line the picturesque old town.

Guests at Parkdean Lower Hyde can also use the facilities of the nearby Parkdean Landguard Holiday Park.

Parkdean Resorts Thorness Bay

Sat on the north coast of the Isle of Wight, Parkdean Resorts Thorness Bay is a top pick for those who love beautiful natural landscapes.

The park sits within woodlands overlooking the sea, with plenty of coastal trails and walks on your doorstep.

But this peaceful location isn’t short on exciting things to do – here kids can enjoy zipping down the slide into the heated indoor swimming pool, or burn off some energy at the adventure playground or the sports courts.

There’s delicious dinner options at the Fish and Chippery, and top entertainment and cocktails at the Regatta View Showbar.

And you can end the night by catching some z’s in a comfy chalet, lodge or safari tent.

HOLIDAYMAKERS heading to Spain this summer have been warned to avoid 14 popular beaches.

Environmental organisation Ecologistas en Acción has published its annual report highlighting the areas of Spain‘s coast with the biggest issues.

The report awards ‘Black Flags’ for either pollution or for poor management.

Of the 48 flags awarded, 14 were awarded to beaches – mostly due to pollution problems.

One beach that was awarded a Black Flag is Playa de Maro for pollution, in Malaga.

The popular 500-metre-long beach is known for its dramatic cliffs and underwater caves and was previously said to be of the best beaches on the Costa del Sol.

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In Granada, Playa de la Charca, Salobreña was awarded a Black Flag for pollution and Playa de Los Berengueles, Almuñécar was awarded a Black Flag for poor management.

Over in Alicante, the coastal neighbourhoods of Albufereta and Cap de l’Horta both gained Black Flags for pollution and La Almadrava beach gained one for poor management.

Valencia also has a number of coastal spots that were called out including its coastline for pollution and the surroundings of the Port of València and Sagunto for poor management.

In the popular city of Barcelona, the Beach of the Sant Adrià del Besòs was awarded a Black Flag for pollution.

The stretch of coastline features golden sand and is often less crowded than the main beaches by Barcelona city.

Over in the Canary Islands, the town of El Puertito de Adeje was awarded a Black Flag for poor management, as was Las Teresitas Beach.

On Gran Canaria, the coastline of Telde was also given a Black Flag, as was the coast of Lanzarote due to cruise tourism.

If you are heading to the Balearics, then avoid the town of Port of Pollenca in Majorca and in Menorca, avoid Torrente de Cala Galdana – which is a ravine with a beach.

Other beach destinations that gained a Black Flag include:

• Playa Central de Isla Cristina in Huelva
• Playa de Quitapellejos, Almeria
• Levante beaches of Punta Entinas-Sabinar, Almeria
• Playa de As Catedrais, Lugo
• La Ribera de Cabanes beach, Castellón
• Surrach beach, Benicarló, Castellón
• Playa de la Paella, Torredembarra, Tarragona
• Basorda Cove, Basque Country

A MASSIVE new theme park just for kids has opened this week.

Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas officially opened on July 1 and is home to seven different worlds all themed around popular TV and film characters.

The entire American theme park has been built with kids aged 3-8 in mind, with the lands featuring Jurassic World, Trolls, Puss in Boots and Gabby’s Dollhouse.

Inside are a number of interactive and immersive experiences as well, such as a Trolls dance party and a Puss in Boots-themed puppet show.

Across the park there are loads of different attractions including rollercoasters, swing rides, a lazy river ride and even a splash park ideal for the warm Texan weather.

For example, you can head on Barnacle Bus, where you will see Bikini Bottom from SpongeBob SquarePants, including SpongeBob’s pet Gary the Snail.

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If you are a fan of Jurassic World, you can head on the Cretaceous Coaster to find Baby Bumpy, the curious Ankylosaurus who has gone missing.

The roller coaster ride features many twists and turns as well as peaks and valleys as you try and spot Baby Bumpy.

For something a little calmer, there’s Shrek and Fiona’s Happily Ogre After ride which takes you on a gentle journey through Shrek and Fiona’s swamp and even the dragon’s castle.

For kids needing some time to calm down from all the excitement, there are also sensory gardens.

And of course, they can meet their favourite characters as well.

When it comes to finding a spot to grab a bite to eat, there is a choice of 10 restaurants and cafes at the theme park.

SpongeBob fans can head to Goofy Goober’s for burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and giant ice cream sundaes.

Alternatively, you could drop into the Jurassic World Canteen complete with dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.

The park has its very own hotel too, which can be found close to the entrance.

Inside, the hotel boasts 300 rooms and suites, and if that was’’t enough, it has three restaurants and its own pool too.

And if you stay at the hotel, you’ll get early access to the park before the general public can enter.

There are different tickets available for the theme park including one-day tickets costing from $54.99 (£40.98).

There’s then also two-day admission tickets costing from $73.99 (£55.15) (though, this pass must be used in two consecutive days).

Or you could opt for an annual pass, which costs $129.99 (£96.88).

For nearly six months, Delcy Rodríguez’s interim government has tried to project a different image: less ideological, more administrative; less revolutionary, more technocratic. The earthquakes became the first real test of whether that transformation ran deeper than economic policy. It didn’t. Faced with the country’s worst humanitarian disaster in decades, the Venezuelan state reverted almost instinctively to the habits it had spent 25 years learning.

The earthquake handed Delcy Rodríguez something politics rarely does: a chance, however limited, to soften public perceptions of her government. Nobody expected it to prevent the earthquake or even manage it flawlessly. The bar was much lower than that. Venezuelans expected a government that communicated at least somewhat honestly, remained visible, welcomed help wherever it came from, and, above all, stayed out of the way of those trying to help. Instead, many of its decisions seemed almost designed to produce the opposite effect, leaving an already angry public even angrier.

For the crucial first hours after the earthquake, Venezuelan civil society largely filled the vacuum left by the state. By the time the government moved to reclaim the space it had forfeited, the nature of its response had become clear. The emphasis was no longer on expanding the rescue effort, but on reasserting control over it. The government’s administrative response had been slow. Its political reflexes were anything but that.

Why?

The obvious explanation is incompetence. Of which there was certainly plenty. But incompetence alone cannot explain why a government whose political identity has been built on the appearance of public support repeatedly embraced decisions that seemed to generate even greater public anger. Something deeper appears to have been at work.

Responding to earthquakes requires a very particular kind of approach. Unlike ordinary governance, disaster response cannot be centralized for long. Every collapsed building becomes its own command center. Every neighborhood develops different priorities. Every rescue team faces different engineering challenges. Governments do not succeed because they directly coordinate thousands of decisions. They succeed because they remove obstacles that allow thousands of other people to make good decisions simultaneously.

As civil society increasingly assumed functions the state could not perform, it also threatened to accumulate visibility, legitimacy, and influence outside government control.

During normal times, governments can afford to centralize decisions and insist that major initiatives pass through official channels. Earthquakes punish those instincts. Rescue operations cannot wait for permission, and civil society and the private sector suddenly become indispensable partners in the state’s response. The democratic governments (like the one overseeing Venezuela’s “transition”) that perform best recognize this early, spending the first critical hours empowering society rather than attempting to direct every aspect of the response themselves. For twenty-five years, chavismo taught its institutions almost the opposite lessons.

The government could not lead the humanitarian response with the effectiveness the moment demanded. Society therefore began leading significant parts of it instead. Volunteers organized rescue brigades. Churches became shelters. Journalists became emergency information networks. Engineers inspected damaged buildings. Diaspora organizations coordinated donations. Foreign rescue teams rapidly became the public face of many rescue operations. None of this was unusual. This is how major disasters are managed around the world.

What was unusual was the kind of state confronting the disaster.

Every major political crisis reinforced the same institutional lesson: autonomous organization reduced the state’s control over society. Independent organization was rarely viewed as something to harness, but was something to supervise. NGOs are suspected of serving foreign interests, until proven innocent. Independent journalists and universities are seen as political adversaries. Neighborhood networks are just three doritos away from becoming opposition structures. Enemies abound in the schizophrenic chavista view of societal organization. Because for a chavista state that has banked its continuous survival on complete, centralized control, such a degree of civil organization represents an extinction level threat.

Those lessons make sense for a political system primarily concerned with its own survival. They become profoundly maladaptive during natural disasters. Thus, the humanitarian response itself gradually became part of the government’s problem. As civil society increasingly assumed functions the state could not perform, it also threatened to accumulate visibility, legitimacy, and influence outside government control. Administratively, this strengthened Venezuela’s response. Politically, it displaced the government from the center of its own national emergency. Most democratic governments would welcome that trade-off. 

What authoritarian systems find difficult to tolerate is not civilian participation itself, but civilian participation they neither direct nor control. The rescue volunteers were not political activists. The churches distributing food were not organizing protests. The programmers building databases of missing persons were not preparing electoral campaigns. Yet institutions do not respond only to intentions; they respond to patterns. For a security apparatus that had spent years dismantling decentralized civic networks, from the humanitarian aid operation of 2019 to the comanditos of 2024, the potential may have mattered more than the differences.

Search-and-rescue operations have become increasingly militarized, with rescue crews at the Tahití building reportedly prevented by the military from reaching survivors for hours.

Seen through that lens, what initially looked like a series of political blunders begins to look more like institutional habit. Faced with a humanitarian emergency it lacked the capacity to fully manage, the government fell back on the institutions it trusted most: those responsible for regulating information, supervising autonomous actors, and maintaining political control. Much of the administrative state had long ceased to be valued primarily for its capacity to govern, functioning instead as an instrument of patronage and political management, while the coercive apparatus remained the regime’s principal institutional investment.

Faced with the limitations of both its own incompetence and the state it had spent decades constructing, havismo has increasingly resorted to the tactics with which it is most familiar. Survivors who expressed their anger at the government’s lackluster response, such as Wilmer Cruz, have reportedly been arrested. Search-and-rescue operations have become increasingly militarized, with rescue crews at the Tahití building (Caraballeda, La Guaira) reportedly prevented by the military from reaching survivors for hours. Intelligence agencies such as the DGCIM have been deployed to intimidate the families of victims, while, as the Sky News Trump 100 podcast reported, authorities have obstructed reporting from Caracas.

For months, the debate surrounding Venezuela’s transition has centered on whether chavismo was truly changing or merely adapting. The earthquake suggests the answer is both. Markets can be liberalized. Diplomatic priorities can shift. Revolutionary rhetoric can soften. Institutional instincts are far more resistant to change because they are built over decades of incentives, routines, promotions, and crises.

The earthquake did not create those instincts. It merely forced the government into a situation where it could no longer avoid relying on them.

Every state becomes good at what it repeatedly practices. The chavista regime spent twenty-five years investing in political control rather than disaster response; in supervising society rather than empowering it; in preserving power rather than preparing for catastrophe. When the country’s greatest humanitarian emergency in decades arrived, society responded with the institutions it had built to save lives. The state responded with the institutions it had built to preserve power. The earthquake did not force the Venezuelan state to choose between control and effective governance. That choice had been made long before the ground began to shake.

The ground has been lying derelict for more than a decade.

The redevelopment has faced many years of setbacks and delays, and questions have continued over funding for the project amid increasing construction costs.

In 2011 the Northern Ireland Executive originally set aside £62.5m for the stadium.

Earlier this year, a draft multi-year budget published by Finance Minister John O’Dowd proposed an inflationary increase to more than £100m.

But the Sinn Féin minister’s budget proposals had not been agreed by other ministers in the Executive.

The GAA has previously said a reported estimate of around £270m was closer to the assumptions it was working on.

Among other bumps in the road was the matter of Euro 2028.

The UK government announced in 2024 that the estimated cost of rebuilding Casement Park had risen to more than £400m, confirming that it would not be providing funding to redevelop the stadium in time for the tournament.

In order to be ready for the tournament, Casement Park needed to be rebuilt by the summer of 2027.

Trying to cater for soccer, as well as GAA, has increased costs further, as UEFA requires a higher specification of stadium to be used in its tournaments.

However, the GAA will be hoping that even though the government has said it will not be funding a Euro 2028-compliant stadium, it may still contribute to the redevelopment whenever it happens.

The Irish government has already pledged more than £40m.