Month: July 2026

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has been determined to bolster his wing-back options following Issa Kabore’s return to parent club Manchester City after his loan spell at the Stok Cae Ras last term.

Imray is yet to make a senior appearance for Palace, although he has gained plenty of experience at first-team level elsewhere.

Imray was immediately loaned back to Chelmsford City after securing a permanent switch to Selhurst Park in 2021.

He made 43 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals, during a season-long loan spell with Bromley in 2024-25.

Imray then spent the opening half of the 2025-26 campaign on loan at League One side Blackpool before joining Championship West Brom in January.

He featured 17 times in all competitions for the Baggies, including in a 2-2 draw with Wrexham at The Hawthorns in April.

Having made 13 first-team signings last summer on the back of securing automatic promotion from League One, Parkinson will not be making wholesale changes to his squad before the 2026-27 campaign.

However, a goalkeeper, a centre-back, a central midfielder and a forward are all potential additions alongside Imray.

SEOUL, July 27 (UPI) — South Korea’s Hana Financial Group said Friday it posted record earnings for the first half of this year, driven by its banking and brokerage businesses.

The Seoul-based financial conglomerate noted its net profit amounted to $1.6 billion during the first six months of 2026, up 4.4% from a year earlier. Its flagship subsidiary, Hana Bank, made the largest contribution, with a bottom line of $1.45 billion.

Non-banking affiliates also delivered robust results. Hana Securities, one of the country’s major brokerages, more than doubled its net income to $186 million year-on-year during the January-June period.

During the third quarter, Hana Financial said it would spend $171 million on share buybacks and cancellations, bringing the annual total to $478 million. It also plans to increase 2026 dividends payments by 26.5% from a year ago.

The company expects overall cash dividends for this year to reach $820 million, up more than 10% from 2025.

Hana Financial CFO Park Jong-moo said that the group would raise its target for return on equity, or ROE, to 12% from the previous goal of 10%. The group’s ROE stood at 10.62% in the first half.

ROE measures how efficiently a company generates profit from the shareholders’ equity. In other words, Hana Financial aims to earn 12 cents of yearly net profit for every dollar of shareholders’ equity.

“We will create a virtuous cycle in which higher ROE leads to greater shareholder returns and enhanced corporate value,” Park told an earnings call. “We have raised our ROE target to 12% and set our shareholder payout ratio at 50% or higher.”

Hana Financial shares rose 1.46% on the Seoul bourse Friday before falling 1.36% Monday.

YOU will soon be able to stay in luxury cabins right by a 17th century castle.

Crossbasket Castle, around 10 miles from Glasgow, is already home to a luxury castle – but new plans have revealed 12 additional cabins.

The cabins will be right on the banks of the River Calder, which is a short walk from the castle itself.

Each cabin can host up to four people, with a double bed and a sofa bed.

The cabins also have bathrooms found on the enclosed balconies, with freestanding copper bathtubs.

For breakfast, guests need to head to Foveran’s atrium, where they can grab a range of breakfast items including a breakfast grill, charcuterie and pastries.

Read more on travel inspo

PARK UP

Epic UK holiday parks with waterparks, theme parks & Spoons pubs from £3pp a night

CHEAP BREAKS

UK’s best 100 cheap stays – our pick of the top hotels, holiday parks and pubs

When it comes to grabbing something in the evening, guests can head to the hotel’s restaurant, Trocadero’s.

The cabins will welcome guests from the beginning of October, with a one-night stay including breakfast costing from £295.

In addition to the lodges, the hotel will also get a new spa – Four Angels Spa.

Due to open in the autumn, the spa will have four treatment rooms, ‘immersive experience showers’, a sauna, a steam room and heated loungers.

Products used in the spa will also be sourced locally, from the Isle of Harris.

Crossbasket Castle dates back to the 15th century and at one point was even owned by Charles Macintosh, the inventor of the raincoat.

It was then purchased by Alison and Steve Timoney in 2011, who spent £10million on restoring the castle for it to reopen in 2016 as a five-star hotel.

Alison Timoney, owner of Crossbasket Castle, said: “From the outset, our vision has been to create an experience that goes beyond traditional luxury hospitality.

“The introduction of the Four Angels Spa and Crossbasket Cabins further enhances our vision for the overall estate, offering guests a place to fully immerse themselves in the beauty of our surroundings whilst enjoying a moment of calmness and relaxation.”

Finding the perfect property in Cyprus can quickly become stressful. With thousands of listings to sort through, buyers may encounter outdated ads or unreliable agents. Choosing the right search platform can save both time and money. This ranking looks at which Cyprus real estate websites provide useful tools, current listings, and reliable support.

Top 5 Platforms for Property Search

1. MySpace

Source: https://myspace.com.cy/

2. FOX Smart Estate Agency

3. Bazaraki

4. Dom.com.cy

5. Index.cy

Ranking Criteria and the Winner

A Welsh crime drama series has been hailed as ‘thrilling’ and ‘addictive’ is available to stream now

A crime drama with a big twist has been added to ITVX and it’s perfect for your next binge.

Welsh series 35 Diwrnod started in 2014 and has gone down a storm with viewers, who have posted messages on social media admitting they are racing through its first four series. Its eagerly anticipated fifth run is now available on the platform, and its writer has said it’s a “compelling” watch.

Titled 35 Diwrnod: Parti Plu, or 35 Days: Hen Party, the new series – which stars Gwenllian Higginson and Geraint Todd – follows a couple who are preparing for their nuptials and have everything arranged for their special day. It follows the same pattern as previous seasons, with a body being discovered on the 35th day, then the action tracking back so viewers get to piece together what went on.

The show opens with a young couple preparing for their wedding day, but things quickly take a dark turn as in the first few minutes viewers get an ominous glimpse of what appears to be a woman in a wedding dress and veil floating face down in the sea.

Meanwhile, the groom is in the church looking anxious as he waits for his bride to appear.

Teasing some details on her website, writer Fflur Dafydd said: “We know from the outset that there has been a murder and we work back from there – as we do with every other series of 35.

“But despite the whodunnit element – I think with this particular series that the characters and their secrets become far more compelling.”

The series has proved a hit with audiences, with many saying they have been bingeing the episodes.

“I just finished bingeing all four seasons,” one person posted on IMDb.com as another said: “Last couple miniseries I watched have left me cold. This did not!

“Once you get into that different stories being told simultaneously it is a great binge!”

Someone else remarked: “This noir series, at least in the first season, almost becomes a black comedy in its over-the-top willingness to leave death and destruction everywhere. But I liked it. I binge-watched.”

Critics have also been impressed, with one reviewer calling it “gripping” and another saying it keeps you “on the edge of your seat”.

35 Diwrnod: Parti Plu is available on ITVX.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The unsuccessful 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns of publishing scion Steve Forbes may have faded from memory. But he will always have a special place at Manchester, N.H.-based WMUR, the only commercial TV station in the state that holds the first presidential primary.

The candidate spent nearly $6 million to buy time on the station — including half-hour blocks during which he took phone calls from viewers. The cash deluge led politically minded locals to refer to WMUR’s 68,000-square-foot headquarters adjacent to the city’s historic Amoskeag Mills as “the house that Steve Forbes built.”

The television business went through a major period of disruption in the two decades that followed, with the proliferation of cable channels and later streaming services. But WMUR’s status as the most influential local TV outlet in the country every four years has remained intact. Presidential aspirants descending on the state in the early pivotal contest fill hours of time on its local newscasts and public affairs programs — and spend millions on political ads.

Leading up to the Feb. 11 primary, candidates can regularly be seen in WMUR’s newsroom. Former Vice President Joe Biden and his entourage came through on a recent afternoon. He posed for selfies with staff members and stopped at the sports desk to lament over the playoff fate of his Philadelphia Eagles before being interviewed by WMUR political director Adam Sexton.

“They cover, pound for pound, probably more politics than any station in the country,” said Rick Klein, political director for ABC News. “There really isn’t anything else like it. They get access to candidates that frankly a lot of networks would dream of. The candidates make themselves available to WMUR because they know that people watch.”

The primary campaign also means national exposure for the station’s journalists. On Friday, Sexton, 39, and WMUR anchor Monica Hernandez, 34, joined ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir and correspondent Linsey Davis in questioning the candidates at the network’s Democratic primary debate. It was watched by 7.86 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Political advertising dollars for TV have grown in recent years even as more money goes into digital media. Research firm Advertising Analytics projects political ad spending on broadcast TV for the 2020 election cycle will hit $3.26 billion, up from $1.73 billion in 2016.

Most spending occurs closer to the general election in November. But WMUR, owned by the privately held New York media conglomerate Hearst, gets an early piece of the pie thanks to the political calendar and geography — big advantages when TV outlets are struggling to retain viewers and profits.

Manchester — a city of 111,000 people — is counted by Nielsen as part of the Boston TV market, but WMUR is the only station that reaches the entire state of New Hampshire. In a typical week, 56.2% of 468,730 television households watch the station at least once, according to Nielsen.

WMUR’s morning newscast from 6 to 7 often gets a 50% share of the TV audience in the six New Hampshire counties that also receive Boston stations, a staggering number in today’s fragmented market.

“They are insulated from some of the other trends in the TV business,” said Bill Hague, executive vice president for Magid, a media consulting firm that has worked with Hearst. “They’ve maximized the value of being a dominant TV station in the market. Coupled with increased political spending, they are on fire.”

WMUR also benefits from New Hampshire’s pride in having the first primary in the nation, which is looking even better in light of chaotic Democratic caucuses held in Iowa on Monday. A New Hampshire state law allows the primary date to be moved in order to keep it ahead of other states in the presidential cycle.

The distinction of having the influential primary has embedded WMUR in the nation’s political culture. Microphone flags with the station’s logo have turned up on fictional White House series such as “Veep” and “The West Wing.”

Candidates spend early and often on the station. WMUR took in nearly $40 million in presidential political ad revenue during the 2016 primary campaign, when both the Republican and Democratic parties were choosing nominees and 18 candidates were in the race.

The total revenue from the 2020 primary will be less, as President Trump does not have a formidable opponent from his party and only Democrats are buying ad time. Most candidates are not using money from political action committees, which spent heavily previously.

Nonetheless, in the weeks leading up to the primary, WMUR’s sales department frequently huddled to find ways to accommodate the intense demand for ad time. The station’s highest-priced ads of the primary season were on Friday’s debate and Sunday’s telecast of the Oscars, on which campaigns paid WMUR $10,000 per 30-second commercial, several times the rate it receives for many of the ABC network programs it runs in prime time.

Most of WMUR’s political ad time is sold on its local newscasts. The station has 4 1/2 hours of news a day, 10 hours on weekends and a long-running daily half-hour magazine show called “Chronicle,” which over 10 years on the air has done feature stories in all 221 towns and 13 cities in New Hampshire.

The station even has a local historian — 83-year-old Fritz Wetherbee — whose segments on the newscasts are assigned as homework for local schoolchildren.

“Local television news is still one of the most desired time periods to be in for any political candidate and any political action committee,” said Gerry McGavick, director of sales for WMUR, who also oversees political advertising for all of Hearst.

McGavick deals mostly with media-buying agencies based in Washington, D.C., but the campaigns also try to establish their own relationships with the station. Bags of Hawaiian macadamia nuts given out by Democratic candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s staffers during a recent visit were still circulating on the sales department’s floor.

While political ad dollars have long flowed into WMUR, Hearst invested in improving the local news after acquiring the station in 2001 for $185 million from Imes Corp., a family-owned outfit that lacked the resources of a large TV station ownership group.

Hearst owns 33 stations with annual revenues of $1.2 billion, making it the 11th-largest station group in the country, according to research firm BIA Advisory Services. Boosted by ad spending for congressional races, the stations had record revenue and profits in 2018, Hearst said. In a strong political year, WMUR ranks among its top 10 performers.

“The previous owners had a lot of shows that were filled with candle-making and stuff like that because they couldn’t afford to buy programming,” said Jeff Bartlett, a veteran TV news executive and general manager of WMUR.

Hearst acquired strong syndicated daytime shows for WMUR such as “Ellen,” which helps drive viewers into its afternoon and evening newscasts. The station beefed up its news coverage to serve highly politically engaged viewers who expect to see the candidates several times before they go to the polls.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg meets with New Hampshire voters on WMUR’s “Candidate Cafe.”

(Jim Stankiewicz)

The station has deep ties to the community. Many employees have worked there for decades, able to play on a big-time media stage while living in a bucolic state with no income or sales taxes. News director Alisha McDevitt is a 25-year veteran who joined the station when she was still a college senior. She now oversees a news department with more than 60 employees.

While New Hampshire residents can watch news on Boston stations, WMUR is where they will see reports on government meetings, snowstorms, fires, accidents and local charity events. During high school football season, there is a WMUR photographer at every game.

“The viewers see us every day,” said Hernandez, a San Diego native who joined the station in 2018. “We’re out there covering baseball games and ice pond hockey tournaments.”

Presidential campaigns recognize the connection WMUR’s journalists have with the viewers and gravitate to them in order to reach New Hampshire voters, who savor their role in the candidate selection process. Hernandez said she came to WMUR from a much larger station — WFAA in Dallas — because the primary offered an opportunity to cover national politics close up.

WMUR political director Adam Sexton and anchor Monica Hernandez prepare for the Democratic primary debate airing Friday on ABC.

(WMUR)

“We get advantages that other stations and the networks don’t get,” Bartlett said. “Sometimes you’ll be standing in a line with a bunch of other reporters and the candidate comes over to one of our guys and says, ‘Come on over for a sit-down.’ The other guys are not getting a sit-down. So that creates a little bit of tension, but it’s just a fact of life.”

The heated partisan rhetoric that saturates cable news does not show up in WMUR’s political coverage. There is no editorializing, commentary or even polling, which has largely been inaccurate in the state in recent primary campaigns as New Hampshire voters are last-minute deciders.

The station produced 25 hourlong town hall programs (Andrew Yang appeared on the first one back in February 2019), where studio audience members asked questions of the candidates. Fourteen hours of less formal exchanges between the candidates and voters for a series of segments called “Candidate Cafe” were shown on WMUR newscasts and social media platforms.

“We are presenting the facts, and people can draw their own conclusions from them,” McDevitt said. “We are very serious about that.”

WMUR was one of the earliest stations to expand online. The station’s website offers an extended version of its “Conversations With the Candidates” series for viewers who want to go deeper. The website has also become the base for New Hampshire political columnist John DiStaso, formerly of the New Hampshire Union Leader, who has covered the state for 35 years.

Dante Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, said WMUR understands that it has a symbiotic relationship with the primary — which he refers to as “the franchise.”

“WMUR benefits from the primary enormously, but they do go out of their way to provide a large amount of information,” he said. “Part of their job is to try to make sure that New Hampshire voters maintain their reputation as being well-educated active participants.”

THE detective series Bergerac has returned to screens and in turn has been showing off a beautiful island less than one hour away from the UK.

The series filmed in Jersey has been showcasing its Caribbean-like beaches and pretty capital, St Helier.

The reboot of the 80s detective series starring Damien Molony as Jim Bergerac actually returned last year.

But it’s set to reach a ‘wider audience’ having dropped all six episodes of the first series on BBC iPlayer a few days ago.

The island of Jersey, where the majority of scenes were filmed, is now expecting a surge in visitors.

Visit Jersey Chief Executive Tricia Warwick said: “The series has already impactfully raised Jersey’s profile as a visitor destination, and this new platform means even more viewers will discover our island’s stunning landscapes and unique locations for themselves.

PARK UP

Epic UK holiday parks with waterparks, theme parks & Spoons pubs from £3pp a night

HOL YES

Cheapest summer for holidays in YEARS – with August breaks still on sale for £188pp

“We look forward to warmly welcoming them to Jersey.”

The Channel Island is a true gem of a place and has previously even been named one of the world’s best islands by Conde Nast Traveller.

While it’s less than an hour from the UK, it feels worlds away, mostly thanks to its Caribbean-looking beaches.

Across its 130 miles of coastline are exotic spots from Beauport Beach, Portelet Bay to Plémont Bay.

Many beaches, like St Brelade’s Bay, are also lined with palm trees, which gives them a tropical feel.

The island’s capital, St Helier, is also home to Havre des Pas Bathing Pool, a tidal lido that fills up with seawater at high tide.

Not only is it a sought-after swim spot with some calling it a ‘good old-fashioned lido’, but it also has an open kitchen, dance floor, stage and a balcony that looks over the pool.

St Helier is also a prime spot for shopping at Royal Square, King Street and its indoor market on Halkett Street.

The first series of Bergerac which aired between 1981 and 1991 starring John Nettles was filmed in Jersey.

Head of Sun Travel (Digital) Caroline McGuire visited the island a few years ago. She said: “If I told you there’s an island an hour’s flight from the UK, with a Caribbean-like coastline, that gets summer quicker than England and you don’t need a passport – you’d think I was pulling your leg.

“But such a unicorn does exist in the English Channel: Jersey.

“When my family and I visited earlier this year, every beach was outstanding, the weather glorious, the food a fantastic hybrid of French and English tastes.”

Caroline headed to Plémont Beach in the north which had “clearest turquoise waters” but she also visited St Ouen’s Bay and Le Braye bistro which is right on the beachfront.

Other popular activities include dolphin-spotting boat rides and exploring its secret tunnels that were used in World War Two.

Luckily for Brits, Jersey is less than an hour away by plane.

The route departing from Southampton to Jersey Airport in Saint Peter takes 50-minutes.

For those who aren’t fussed about getting there quickly, another route to the island is by ferry.

Condor Ferries offers routes from Poole, and Portsmouth to St Helier which take between four and a half to 10 hours.

Chelsea are in advanced talks to sign Brighton striker Danny Welbeck.

The 35-year-old is keen on moving to Stamford Bridge and there is optimism from Chelsea‘s side that a deal can be concluded.

The Blues are looking for experience because of an acceptance that their model of signing young players needs a “tweak” – according to influential owner Behdad Eghbali in April – and Welbeck could be a good fit.

He scored a career-high 13 league goals in 37 games for Brighton last season, taking his tally to 51 goals in 201 matches since joining from Watford in 2020.

Brighton have declined to comment.

Welbeck signed a 12-month contract extension in March, with his current deal running until the end of the 2026-27 season.

There are questions over the futures of several Chelsea forwards, with Joao Pedro regarded as the club’s first-choice option.

Chelsea also have Liam Delap, Emmanuel Emegha, Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson on their books.

Guiu is understood to be available for either a permanent transfer or a loan move, with Chelsea valuing him at about £25m.

Jackson, who has returned to the club following a loan spell at Bayern Munich, was expected to remain at Stamford Bridge but is open to leaving amid interest from Aston Villa.

Delap was keen to establish himself under the new manager just a year after his £30m move from Ipswich, but he is increasingly expected to depart.

There is also uncertainty surrounding the future of Dutch striker Emegha, despite having only recently joined Chelsea from Strasbourg, a club within the same ownership group.

Chelsea have signed club-record £117m attacker Morgan Rogers, full-back Marco Palestra and are closing in on a move for centre-back Maxence Lacroix this summer.

July 27 (UPI) — New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was scheduled Monday to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a Royal Navy base training Ukrainian forces.

Ahead of the visit, the first of any foreign leader since he got the keys to No. 10 Downing Street on July 20, Burnham told the BBC that he fully supported Ukraine and Britain’s “unwavering — 100%” backing for its ally would continue.

Burnham said the fact Zelensky was his first international visitor “illustrates the strength of the relationship between the two nations,” vowing to emulate the personal commitment to Zelensky shown by his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

“My support for Ukraine is unwavering — it is 100%. And I will do what, in Ukraine, people think is the right thing that they need,” said Burnham.

“Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering. Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve a long-lasting and just peace for Ukraine,” he added.

He will use the visit to the naval base to announce a deal permitting Ukraine to mass-manufacture Stone Cloak electronic warfare technology, which is fitted to drones to make them invisible to air defense radar.

Downing Street said that after Ukraine begins using Stone Cloak, it will be incorporated into Britain’s next generation of long-range weapons, including from Project Brakestop, which is developing low-cost cruise missiles.

Burnham said Stone Cloak was “the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries.”

Burnham and Zelensky will also meet with more than 200 Ukrainian service members taking part in Exercise Sea Breeze, a maritime training deployment involving Ukraine and 14 other countries aimed at boosting warfighting capabilities and tactics to deal with mines in the Black Sea.

In a post on X, Zelensky thanked Britain, saying that Ukraine valued that it could “always count on Britain’s principled decisions, leadership, and support.”

Total British support to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 is $33.3 billion, $21.3 billion of it military assistance, figures put out by Downing Street show, with bipartisan consensus across the previous administrations of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

Starmer’s final act as prime minister was to visit with Zelensky in Kyiv on July 17, his last official day as leader of the Labour Party.

Months after the United Nations Security Council backed a comprehensive framework to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Israel’s security cabinet has approved a highly constrained pilot project to allow foreign security forces into a narrow pocket of the devastated territory.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that the so-called International Stabilization Force (ISF), part of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point “peace plan”, will include 200 members from countries such as Morocco and Uganda deploying to a designated “test” zone in the southern city of Rafah.

While international officials have welcomed the move, analysts describe the limited deployment as a calculated diplomatic gesture with little practical effect that comes as the US-backed peace process has largely stalled and as Israel’s deadly attacks continue.

Instead of a genuine transition towards peace, they argue, the move is a political manoeuvre designed to deflect US pressure ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week, while simultaneously entrenching the geographic fragmentation of the Gaza Strip.

“Netanyahu is going to Washington to say ‘no’ to the broader demands of withdrawal” from the Strip, says Wissam Afifa, a Gaza-based political analyst. “Instead, he is offering this alternative: ‘Take this small appetiser, take this minor achievement, and play within this highly restricted space.’”

Scaled-back forces and ‘rubber batons’

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the original plan anticipated the deployment of 500 Moroccan troops to a refugee camp in the city. The drastic reduction to just 200 troops may indicate that Israel’s political-security cabinet has decided to divide the deployment into even smaller, heavily controlled stages.

The force will operate in full coordination with the Israeli military. According to the Israeli news outlet Ynet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was the sole cabinet member to vote against the measure, arguing that the Palestinian group Hamas had failed to fulfill its commitment to disarm and insisting that “the solution in Gaza is to encourage migration”.

Israeli media also reported that the government maintains that the Israeli military will retain control of the “Yellow Line” – a unilaterally imposed boundary that effectively places up to 70 percent of the Gaza Strip under tight Israeli control – and that no withdrawal will take place until Hamas has fully disarmed.

The original framework endorsed by UNSC Resolution 2803 called for the deployment of an international force alongside a transitional Palestinian administration.

Earlier this month, Hamas announced it would dissolve its government in Gaza and hand over power to a new, Palestinian technocratic governing authority called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

Analysts said Hamas’s move was likely designed to apply pressure on Israel and demonstrate the group’s commitment to handing over governance and allowing the rebuilding of the territory.

The pilot programme also envisions the NCAG’s entry to oversee civil affairs in Gaza. Yet, according to Haaretz, the Palestinian police accompanying them will be stripped of firearms, permitted to carry only “rubber batons and tasers”.

Meanwhile, preparations on the ground appear to be moving forward to accommodate this new security architecture. Israeli Army Radio recently broadcast a video showing a military base under construction in the southern “Gaza envelope” near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing.

The station reported that the sprawling facility is being built specifically to host the incoming multinational forces before their deployment.

Despite the severe Israeli restrictions, Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for the Board of Peace, welcomed the Israeli cabinet’s decision, praising it as a “critical part of the agreed framework for stabilizing Gaza, supporting demilitarization, and enabling the transition to effective Palestinian transitional administration”.

A ‘sweetener’ for Washington

To understand the timing and motivation behind the decision, experts pointed to the diplomatic deadlock surrounding the US-brokered peace initiative. Trump’s plan envisioned a phased approach, bridged by the handover of Gaza to a technocratic committee. However, this framework has been stalled by Israel’s refusal to link a ceasefire to the broader political situation and its rejection of a phased withdrawal.

Afifa said the “failure” of the US administration’s flagship initiative had left it “embarrassed” as the project that was repeatedly highlighted by Trump “as a great achievement, resulted in zero”.

With Netanyahu heading to Washington, the Israeli prime minister desperately needed a deliverable, said Afifa. The cabinet’s decision, passed hastily via a telephone vote during a Knesset recess to avoid internal coalition fractures, provides exactly that, he added.

Mamoun Abu Amer, an expert on Israeli affairs, echoed this assessment. He viewed the rushed cabinet vote as an attempt to preempt US pressure and present an image of compliance to Trump, while fundamentally altering the agreement’s core terms to suit Israel’s long-term security strategy.

Abu Amer also said that Israel has effectively turned Resolution 2803 upside down through selective and highly conditional implementation.

“This is an inverted process,” said Abu Amer. The original text implied that the NCAG would enter Gaza, the ISF would deploy and the Israeli military would withdraw to new lines to allow for stabilisation. Instead, Israel is demanding unilateral disarmament first, while keeping the technocratic committee besieged within an Israeli security envelope.

Abu Amer also suggested the requirement for the Palestinian police force to only carry rubber batons and tasers reflects a premeditated Israeli strategy to strip the Palestinian administration of genuine law enforcement capabilities, reducing them to subcontractors managing municipal decay in a thoroughly devastated environment under a strict military occupation.

The NCAG itself appeared to reject this Israeli paradigm. In a recent statement, the committee declared it would only assume responsibility for Gaza after UNSC approval of the force’s deployment and, crucially, a full Israeli military withdrawal.

‘False witnesses’

The spatial realities of the Israeli plan reveal a strategy of deep fragmentation and long-term control, experts said, pointing to the cabinet’s decision to explicitly restrict the ISF and the technocrats to operating strictly outside the “Yellow Line”.

Afifa warned that transforming a small pocket of Rafah into an “experimental bubble” subverts the idea of Gaza as a single, contiguous territorial entity.

“This raises a massive question about the fate of two million people,” he said. “If this entire project is reduced to a few thousand individuals selected under Israeli criteria, it means a tacit agreement from the international community to leave two million Gazans hostage to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis while Israel claims to be implementing a peace plan.”

This also carries significant diplomatic risks for the participating nations. Israeli media reported the cabinet’s decision stipulated that ISF contributors must be nations that have peace agreements with Israel and do not pursue legal actions against it in international forums.

“It is not wise for an Arab country like Morocco to be a party to helping Netanyahu implement his political agenda,” said Abu Amer, urging participating nations to reject the altered Israeli formula and insist on a comprehensive withdrawal.

Failing to do so, he cautioned, would reduce foreign troops to mere security buffers, acting as “false witnesses” to the continuation of the occupation and the destruction of the Palestinian society.

CARLY Simon has announced her Parkinson’s disease and cancer diagnoses after her years-long absence from the public eye.

The 83-year-old singer opened up about her health battles in a statement on Monday.

“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” the You’re So Vain hitmaker told People.

“It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly. Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable,” she continued.

“Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.”

Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time, with tremors, stiffness, and balance issues being common symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Carly recalled when she first began experiencing symptoms after undergoing multiple surgeries.

“The problems began with arthritis in both knees and one hip. I eventually had all three joints replaced, out with the old and in with delicate bouquets of metal and plastic.

“After three replacement surgeries, I assumed my difficulty walking was simply an unfortunate and rather ironic part of the recovery process,” she said.

“But my mobility continued to worsen. I had trouble standing up from low chairs and deep couches without someone offering me an arm. Overstuffed furniture became my enemy.

“Once seated, I could feel as though I had been swallowed by the chair and might remain there permanently, like a guest who had badly overstayed her welcome.”

Carly added, “Eventually, there were periods when I could not walk without considerable help. My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.”

She said she began treatment shortly after and has been managing the symptoms with medication.

Carly went on to share that at the same time, she was also battling basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, on her face.

“The cancer was removed, but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public,” the music icon, who survived breast cancer after her diagnosis in 1997, admitted.

“I have always been more critical of my appearance than anyone else could possibly imagine (check out the irony of having written “You’re So Vain.”), and this gave my inner critic quite a lot of new material.

“Between my mobility issues, the Parkinson’s diagnosis, the surgery, and the emotional effects of it all, withdrawing from public view was the most palatable reaction.

“If a person is allowed to hibernate during both winter and summer, then I have become an all-season bear.”

Despite the everyday challenges of both illnesses, Carly vows to keep moving forward and focus on her music.

The Nobody Does It Better singer even has a new album on the way, which will be her first original full-length album since 2008.

“But I have not stopped living, and I have not stopped working.

“In the middle of all this, I began recording a new album, Comes in Waves. That still feels mysterious to me.”

She continued, “Music has always known when to arrive. It has rescued me more times that I can count. It is like a cat or dog that quietly appears beside you when it senses you are not quite yourself.”

“The album includes songs and fragments of songs that had been waiting for me, some for years.

“There were melodies, verses, and ideas written down and tucked away for some unknown future when I would have the time and attention to finish them.

“Apparently, that future is now,” Carly revealed.

She added that since her Parkinson’s diagnosis, she’s been “learning how to live with” the disease and is leaning on her family and friends for their support.

Carly also shared her gratitude for her fans, who influenced her decision to reveal her health issues after expressing concerns about her distance from the spotlight.

The musician has maintained her privacy in recent years, and hasn’t been seen in public since October 2019, when she visited SiriusXM Studios in New York City to promote her memoir, Touched by the Sun: My Friendship with Jackie.

She even skipped the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles in November 2022 after receiving the exclusive honor.

Sara Bareilles and Olivia Rodrigo honored the legendary songwriter with performances of her hits Nobody Does It Better and You’re So Vain at the ceremony.

SACRAMENTO — Last week, news broke that an artificial intelligence thingamajig broke free from the constraints of its maker, OpenAI, and committed what could be considered a string of white-collar felonies if it were human.

Because the AI thingamajig is in fact not human, the incident raised a big kerfuffle but is largely being treated as a giant oopsie we can learn from, without needing the pesky intervention of new rules or laws to stop it from happening again.

Such is the state of AI regulation in America right now.

California Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) would like to change that. Last week, he introduced the bipartisan Frontier Act with Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.). While the bill might not make either safety advocates or big tech companies entirely happy, it offers up the most comprehensive and strongest regulations of this dangerous industry that we’ve yet seen at the federal level.

Roman Yampolskiy, an AI expert and professor at University of Louisville, called the Frontier Act a “positive step because it acknowledges that frontier AI presents risks requiring dedicated oversight.”

Now, the challenge becomes passing it, and passing it in a meaningful, not-watered-down form — no easy task in a dysfunctional Congress driven by money and Donald Trump, and paralyzed by its own sycophancy to both.

If anyone has a shot, though, it’s Obernolte, who is that rarest of birds, a legislator who understands science, and his colleagues.

Obernolte represents Inland Empire areas around San Bernardino, but grew up in Fresno back in the era when the movie “War Games” was just hitting theaters.

Those of a certain age will remember how far-fetched it seemed when Matthew Broderick’s high school genius character accidentally breaks into a military AI system to play chess, but “Joshua,” the computer, takes it too far and tries to blow up the world. Now, of course, that just sounds like a regular Tuesday.

By the time he was in high school himself, Obernolte was giving that Broderick character a run for his money. An apparent computer savant, Obernolte was competing in artificial intelligence contests as a teenager, back when most of us were still playing Pong on Atari. Then he headed off to Caltech and then UCLA for advanced AI degrees. He said AI was his “first calling,” sparked when his father bought him an Apple II computer when he was 8.

He ended up dropping out of UCLA after getting his master’s because his side hustle making video games, including “NFL ’95,” turned out to be more lucrative than being a starving student. He ended up founding his own video game company, FarSight Studios, and building up a personal net worth close to $100 million.

Not bad for a kid from Fresno. In Congress, he has stuck close to the MAGA power base and was one of seven California legislators to vote against certifying the 2020 election results, a vote he took in his first days in office. He has been endorsed by Trump multiple times, and now sits on a bunch of committees and subcommittees of relevance.

For the past few years, he has pushed hard, if unsuccessfully, to create a framework for regulating AI, combining his deep understanding of the technology with his equal understanding of MAGA distaste for intervening in business.

Now, though, we’re in a moment, thanks to more than one big oopsie by technology companies. Just a few months ago, Anthropic and the Pentagon had their own tense encounter after Anthropic questioned how its AI was being used by the military. Huffy Pete Hegseth is still huffing over that one.

The public is increasingly skeptical of allowing the AI industry to govern itself, which is pushing legislators to rethink their hands-off approach, even as AI money pours like Niagara Falls into elections. Even Trump seems more inclined to consider it, signing an executive order recently that largely called for voluntary restraints on AI companies.

The introduction of the Frontier Act “shows how far the Overton window has shifted just in the past few months,” wrote Charlie Bullock, a senior research fellow with the nonpartisan Institute for Law & AI. “Not too long ago, a bipartisan bill this good and serious would have been a pipe dream. But things change quickly.”

Obernolte said the bill has been “a long time in the making,” but he hopes to package it with other legislation and is “cautiously optimistic” he can get something passed and signed by the end of the year.

As written now, the bill would allow the federal government to set minimum safety requirements and set up a framework for licensed, independent auditors to monitor compliance. That third party verification has been a key push by safety experts.

The bill would also give the government emergency powers to pause an AI model if it has a “present or impending catastrophic risk.”

It also borrows from state laws including California’s Proposition 53 that require some (not enough) transparency on the part of AI companies when things do go wrong.

To the consternation of some, the bill still contains curbs on what states can regulate on their own — basically carving out AI regulation as federal turf. This has been a huge sticking point in the fight over AI regulation because AI companies hate state laws and want them squashed. Their argument is that a patchwork of rules across states is too complicated.

“You don’t want to have 50 different state requirements for every single product that gets sold on a market, and that is particularly true of AI,” Obernolte told me.

To some extent that’s reasonable — but the problem so far has been that states such as California and New York have been the only level of government willing to try at regulation. California in particular has created some of the most comprehensive AI regulations to date and has about 30 pending bills on this issue this legislative season. The Frontier Act threads the needle on this by creating lanes where states can still pass their own laws — such as around consumer safety that would protect children or stop pornography.

But preventing catastrophic risk would largely be dependent on the federal oversight, which is great when the federal government is up to the task. Currently, we can’t even keep measles in check. So that’s a bit worrisome.

And Obernolte’s bill isn’t the only one vying for attention. Another Californian, Rep. Ted Lieu, introduced a bipartisan measure of his own with Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas). Dubbed the AI Kill Switch Act, it would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to shut down problematic models.

Yampolskiy, the Louisville professor, said that bill had promise as well, because it’s important for companies to have a way to “rapidly disable or contain systems that exhibit dangerous or unexpected behavior.”

But, he warns, that’s just one part of the “complete solution” we need. Regulation is going to require more than one law.

For Obernolte’s part, he’s shown a willingness to work on a practical solution, not just a political one. That alone is worthy of notice. The Frontier Act is a genuine attempt to govern a nascent industry that is too powerful and unpredictable to be left to its own devices.

“I’m hoping that this is we’ve landed somewhere that everyone can understand and be happy with,” Obernolte said. “AI is not something that needs to be a partisan issue, and I don’t think it should be.”

What else you should be reading

The must-read: How Jimothy the raccoon became the internet’s latest animal obsession
The California angle: Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
The L.A. Times Special: Mayor’s press team uses disappearing WhatsApp messages, avoiding scrutiny
Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria

—
Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

TRYING to fill the long school holidays without spending an absolute fortune can seem impossible.

However, the recently launched Great British Summer Savings scheme is offering loads of deals and discounts until September 1 – meaning family days out will cost a lot less at a whole host of attractions across the UK.

The temporary scheme is slashing VAT from 20 per cent to five per cent on family activities, children’s meals in restaurants, children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas and tickets for everyone for soft play, adventure centres, and theme parks.

And along with free local bus travel for kids aged between five and 15 this August, you can easily find an affordable day out.

With nearly 2,000 spots across the UK taking part in the scheme, we’ve found some of the best, with the biggest savings.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort

With wooden rollercoasters and dark water rides, there is something for everyone at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with an All You Can Ride eTicket costing £29 per person, instead of £60 on the gate.

You can also get an ‘Ultimate Ticket’, which includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Sandcastle Waterpark, The Blackpool Tower Eye, Blackpool Tower Dungeon and Madame Tussauds for £56.88, down from £65.

Savings: Up to £124 for a family of four

Zip World (various locations)

Across the eight different Zip World locations, families can now save money including ziplines and underground trampolines.

The biggest savings offered are on Velocity, which is the world’s fastest zip line. Instead of £124, tickets now cost £99 per person.

Savings: Up to £100 for a family of four

The Crystal Maze Experience, London or Manchester

Fans of the Crystal Maze TV show should try out the Crystal Maze Experience where you compete in a number of different challenges across an hour.

Tickets now cost £26.50 per person, instead of £39.50 – although you must get a minimum of three tickets per order, with one being a child (over nine).

Savings: Up to £52 for a family of four

Woodlands Adventure Park, Devon

Spread across 100 acres, Woodlands Family Theme Park is home to water coasters, rides, animals and a giant indoor soft play area.

If you book online in advance, tickets will cost just £20 instead of £29.15 per adult, and £15 instead of £21.45 per child.

Savings: Up to £31.20 per family of four

Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth

You can capture panoramic views from the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, right to the Isle of Wight.

An all-day adult ticket now costs £12 instead of £19.25, and an all-day child ticket costs £10 instead of £15.50 or a family of four ticket also now costs less – £40 instead of £68.50.

Savings: Up to £28.50 for a family of four

Go Ape (various locations)

Want to make the most of the sunshine? Go Ape has 37 sites across the UK, with up to 15 per cent off.

Tickets cost from £36.95 – prices may vary depending on location, and you need to use the code ‘VATSUMMER’.

Savings: Up to £26.96 for a family of four

Chaos Karts, Manchester

If you want to live out your Mario Kart dreams, then head to Chaos Karts in Manchester.

You can compete in immersive themed races with tickets now costing £21 per person, instead of £27 (though you must get a minimum of three tickets per order, with one being a child).

Savings: Up to £24 for a family of four

Drayton Manor, Staffordshire

Spread across 180 acres, Drayton Manor features four themed lands, including Thomas Land, Vikings, Adventure Cove and Frontier Falls and across these lands visitors can head on rides ideal for smaller children.

Day tickets cost from £39 instead of £45 per person.

Savings: Up to £24 for a family of four

Game of Thrones Studios Tour, Northern Ireland

Game of Thrones fans should head to the studio tour in Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Northern Ireland.

Tickets cost £23.50 per adult instead of £29.50, if you use the code ‘SUMMER’. Kids tickets then cost £4.80 each and youth (13 to 15-year-olds) cost £11.20 each.

Savings: Up to £24 for a family of four

Harry Potter Studio Tour, Watford

For Potterheads who haven’t been to the Warner Bros studio tour yet, now is the perfect time with five per cent off tickets.

Instead of £58.50 per adult, you now pay £51.19 and instead of £47 per child, it is now £41.13. The family offer, which used to be £188 per family of four, is now £164.52.

Savings: Up to £23.48 per family of four

Blenheim Palace

There are three different ticket types for Blenheim Palace but if you want the ultimate experience, opt for the palace, park, gardens and adventure play for £44.63 per adult (was £51) and £35.88 per child (was £41).

Alternatively, you could get a family ticket for £144.38, instead of £165.

Savings: Up to £20.62 for a family of four

Waterworld, Stoke-on-Trent

Waterworld is the UK’s number one indoor tropical aqua park with more than 30 rides and attractions, including a huge wave pool and the thrilling Thunderbolt trap-door slide.

Tickets now cost £20 per person over 1.1 metres tall, instead of £26 per person. Kids under 1.1 metres tall, cost £18 now instead of £22.

Savings: Up to £20 for a family of four

RockReef, Bournemouth

Found at the end of Bournemouth Pier, you can head to RockReef with 28 Clip ‘n Climb walls suitable for all ages and PierZip – which is the world’s first pier-to-shore zip wire.

A Clip ‘n Climb session now costs £15 per person, instead of £20.

Savings: Up to £20 for a family of four

Coronation Street Experience, Manchester

Corrie fans should use this summer to head to the world of Coronation Street in Manchester, where you can step onto the famous cobbles.

Guided tour tickets cost £35 instead of £40 per person.

Savings: Up to £20 for a family of four

Alton Towers, Stoke-on-Trent

You can enjoy Alton Towers‘ 40 rides and attractions for less now, as online tickets now cost £34.13 for a day pass instead of £39 (guests under 90cm still visit for free) when bought online in advance (you’d save £135.48 for a family of four compared to the original on the gate tickets).

You can save even more by getting the ‘twice the fun’ ticket that allows you into two theme parks for £34.13 until the last weekend of July, including Alton Towers, Legoland, Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park.

Saving: Up to £19.48 for a family of four

Chessington World of Adventures, Surrey

Just 12 miles from the capital, Chessington World of Adventures is home to more than 40 rides and 1,000 animals.

A day ticket online costs from £34.13, instead of £39 per person (you’d save £127.48 for a family of four compared to the original on the gate tickets).

Savings: Up to £19.48 for a family of four

Legoland, Windsor

Great for little kids and Lego fans alike, online tickets to Legoland now cost from £34.13 for a day pass instead of £39 and guests under 90cm still visit for free (you’d save £135.48 for a family of four compared to the original on the gate tickets).

The park has 11 themed lands, with more than 55 rides as well as live shows.

Saving: Up to £19.48 for a family of four

Thorpe Park, Chertsey

With over 25 rides and attractions including rollercoaster The Smiler, there’s loads to see and do at Thorpe Park, with online tickets instead costing £34.13 for a day pass instead of £39 (you’d save £127.48 for a family of four compared to the original on the gate tickets).

With the day pass, kids under 1.2 metres tall go for free still and all day tickets include a free return visit.

Saving: Up to £19.48 for a family of four

English Heritage properties (various locations)

All English Heritage properties across the country are taking part in the scheme.

This means you can get 12.5 per cent off the ticket price, which is automatically applied at check out.

Savings vary depending on the attraction you are heading to, but for example, if you went to Stonehenge, an adult ticket would cost from £23.65 and a child ticket would cost from £11.82.

This is instead of £27.20 per adult and £17.20 per child.

Saving: Up to £17.86 for a family of four

Paultons Park

Often dubbed the UK’s most affordable theme park, Paultons Park is now even cheaper to visit – and thanks to a new £12million themed world – Valgard: Realm of the Vikings – there could not be a more perfect time to visit.

Tickets were previously £46.75, and now cost from £43.

Savings: Up to £15 for a family of four

Warwick Castle, Warwickshire

History buffs can head to Warwick Castle, which is home to over 1,100 years of history and inside the castle, you will find immersive experiences as well as a bird show.

Online tickets cost £25.38 instead of £29 per person (you’d save £54.44 for a family of four compared to the original on the gate tickets).

Savings: Up to £14.48 for a family of four

Gulliver’s World (all four locations)

Gulliver’s World has four locations across the UK including Milton Keynes, Matlock Bath, Warrington and Rotherham.

Ticket prices vary per park, but you could get half-day tickets for as little as £13.75 per person. Day tickets cost from £22.50 per person, instead of £26 per person.

Savings: Up to £14 for a family of four

London Eye, London

One of London’s landmarks sat on the banks of the River Thames is suitable for all ages and offers great views of the city.

Tickets now cost £25.38 per adult instead of £29, and £22.75 per child, instead of £26.

Savings: Up to £13.74 for a family of four

Splashdown Quaywest, Paignton

Fancy cooling off in all this heat? Then you could head to the largest outdoor waterpark in the UK, with 18 slides.

A day ticket used to cost £31 per adult or £26 per child under the age of nine-years-old but now, day tickets cost £27.15 per adult and £22.75 per child.

Savings: Up to £13.50 for a family of four

Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool

Sandcastle Waterpark in Blackpool is the biggest indoor waterpark in the UK, with 18 slides and attractions as well as a spa.

Tickets cost from £22.31 instead of £25.50 per adult or child aged eight to 11 and £13.96 instead of £16.50 per child aged three to seven.

You can also get an ‘Ultimate Ticket’, which includes a range of attractions in the seaside resort.

This includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Sandcastle Waterpark, The Blackpool Tower Eye, Blackpool Tower Dungeon and Madame Tussauds for £56.88, down from £65.

Savings: Up to £12.76 for a family of four

Madame Tussauds, London

You can spend the day up close to 150 lifelike wax figures of celebs, royals and historical figures at Madame Tussauds in London.

Instead of £27, you’d now pay £23.63 per adult and instead of £24, you’d pay £21 per child.

Savings: Up to £12.74 for a family of four

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, Edinburgh

Located across five floors, you can visit Edinburgh‘s oldest visitor attraction with more than 100 interactive exhibits and the attraction even has panoramic rooftop views.

Adult tickets used to cost £24.95 and are now £21.85 per person, while children’s tickets used to cost £17.95 and are now £15.70 per person.

Savings: Up to £12.70 for a family of four

Kew Gardens, London

Sprawled across 326 acres, Kew Gardens features a myriad of different gardens to explore, including indoor gardens and there’s also a giant kids play area.

Tickets cost £21.85 per adult instead of £25, £1.75 per child under 16-years-old and £8.75 for those aged between 16 and 29-years-old.

Savings: Up to £12.60 for a family of four

Rugby Football Union, Twickenham

You could head to the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham, which is home to the world’s most prestigious collection of rugby memorabilia.

Family tickets have been reduced from £80 to £67.50 in the case of two adults and two children.

Savings: Up to £12.50 per family of four

Butlin’s (various locations)

Butlin’s has three resorts in the UK, all of which are taking part in the scheme.

Visitors can get reduced day visits during the school summer holidays, with access to the Splash Waterworld pools, unlimited fairground rides, all live shows on the Skyline Pavillion stage, playgrounds, soft play and paid-for activities.

Day visit tickets now cost £13.60 per child instead of £16 and £20.40 per adult, instead of £24.

Under two’s still go free.

Savings: Up to £12 for a family of four

Eden Project, Cornwall

Down in Cornwall, you could head to the Eden Project where you can explore the world’s largest indoor Rainforest.

Adult tickets cost from £31.06 instead of £35.50 and children’s tickets cost from £10.94, instead of £12.50.

Savings: Up to £12 for a family of four

Frameless, London

For something different, you could head to Frameless, which is the UK’s largest permanent immersive art destination with masterpieces including by Van Gogh and Monet.

Flexible adult tickets cost £31.06 instead of £35.50, and flexible child tickets cost £22.75 instead of £26 each. You can also get a family of four ticket for £19.69 per person, instead of £22.50.

Savings: Up to £11.24 for a family of four

Wake the Tiger, Bristol

You could head to an immersive ‘amazement park’ in Bristol, which meshes theatre with art and an immersive experience to make you feel as if you are in a different world.

Adult tickets cost £21.88 instead of £25 each and children’s tickets cost £17.50 instead of £20.

Savings: Up to £11.24 for a family of four

IWM Duxford

In Cambridge, you could head to IWM Duxford which is Britain’s largest aviation museum.

Adult tickets now cost £25 each instead of £28.60 and children’s tickets cost £10 instead of £11.40 each.

Savings: Up to £10 for a family of four

Flamingo Land, North Yorkshire

With over 40 rides, 140 species of animals and even a holiday park, you won’t be short of things to do at Flamingo Land Resort in North Yorkshire.

Tickets now cost £43.50 instead of £46 per person.

Savings: Up to £10 per family of four

Shrek’s Adventure, London

At Shrek’s Adventure in London, you can walk through an immersive experience with a 4D flying bus ride, mirror maze and 10 live shows.

Instead of £21 per adult, tickets cost £18.38 and for kids, tickets cost £14 instead of £16.

Savings: Up to £9.24 for a family of four

Cadbury World, Birmingham

If you are based in the north then you could head to Cadbury World for the day to find out about the history of the iconic chocolate brand – the self-guided tour features exhibits as well as a 4D cinema experience.

Tickets cost from £15.75 per person, instead of £18.

Savings: Up to £9 for a family of four

The Historic Dockyard Chatham

For Naval history fans, you could head to the Historic Dockyard Chatham and explore the ships, galleries and exhibitions – including Steve Backshall’s Awesome Oceans Family Trail.

Tickets for a family of four cost £70 instead of £79.

Savings: Up to £9 for a family of four

Techniquest, Cardiff

Techniquest is Wales‘ largest science discovery centre, spread across three floors with live shows and lab workshops.

Tickets used to cost £17 per adult and £15 per child, but are now £14.87 and £13.12 respectively.

Savings: Up to £8.02 for a family of four

The Big Sheep, North Devon

The Big Sheep family theme park in Bideford is home to both farm animals and rides, as well as live entertainment for when the weather isn’t great.

Tickets cost £14.95 per person instead of £16.95 and £6 instead of £8 per child under three-foot tall.

Savings: Up to £8 for a family of four

Europe’s lakes and mountains have seen a huge surge in summer tourism in recent years, as holidaymakers look for alternatives to the crowded coastal resorts of the Med. Whether it’s a walking holiday in the Tirol, a lakeside cabin stay in Scandinavia, or a spectacular train journey through the Alps, we’d love to hear about your favourite experiences.

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

Keep your tip to about 100 words

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words we will be judging for the competition.

We’re sorry, but for legal reasons you must be a UK resident to enter this competition.

The competition closes on Monday 3 August at 10am BST

Have a look at our past winners and other tips

Read the terms and conditions here

If you’re having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here.

BRITS heading to Spain in the next few weeks have been warned of upcoming strikes which could cause travel chaos.

Staff at Palma Airport are preparing strike action across the next two weeks.

There are multiple walkouts being held by different unions at the airport which start from today.

The first strikes are by those working in technical maintenance, ground equipment and airport infrastructure roles which will stage 24-hour walkouts.

These are being planned by three unions which start today until July 30.

Swissport, which is a leading company for airport ground services and air cargo handling, has also planned strike action starting on July 28 as well as August 1, 4 and 8.

PARK UP

Epic UK holiday parks with waterparks, theme parks & Spoons pubs from £3pp a night

HOL YES

Cheapest summer for holidays in YEARS – with August breaks still on sale for £188pp

On these days ground staff will walk out between 7am to 12pm, then again from 7pm to 10pm.

The airport has warned there to be major disruption tomorrow when a key pinch point is on Tuesday when both sets of workers will walk out at the same time.

Airlines affected by the Swissport ground handlers’ dispute include TUI.

But others could be affected too, as a statement from the airport said that “its impact will stretch beyond Swissport-handled airlines”.

Popular airlines taking Brits to the island include Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2.

The airport said: “Large-scale airport strikes can occasionally create a minor knock-on effect. If Swissport-served flights experience delays at the gates, it can sometimes lead to localised congestion on the tarmac or minor delays at security control.”

It continued: “That said, any disruption for non-Swissport passengers is expected to be minimal.”

The airport did then add that the impact for passengers is likely to be “longer waiting times” and delays due to “operational bottlenecks.”

But added that “widespread cancellations are unlikely”.

Delays are likely to be at check-in and bag drop locations before departure, as well as passengers boarding during the morning and evening.

On the strike, a TUI spokesperson said: “We are aware of planned industrial action affecting airline operators at Palma airport.

“At this stage, we do not anticipate any disruption to our customers. However, we are working closely with our local teams and airport partners to minimise any potential impact.

“As always, we will proactively update our guests if there are any changes to their itinerary. Customers should continue to check their flight details as usual before travelling.”

Meanwhile, Ryanair told Sun Travel that it will “operate as normal” with “no impact to operations”.

easyJet also said its flights will be operating as normal.

Palma Airport is one of Spain’s busiest during the summer season.

According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, the Majorca Hoteliers Federation has said that 2.2million Brits travelled to Majorca last year and this summer it will be even more.

With Entry/Exit System (EES) being implemented, it’s possible there could be longer queues due to registration for Brits too.

Flight compensation rules

A look at your rights if a flight is delayed or cancelled, when your entitled to compensation and if your travel insurance can cover the costs.

What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?

Under UK law, airlines have to provide compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.

If you’re flying to or from the UK, your airline must let you choose a refund or an alternative flight.

You will be able to get your money back for the part of your ticket that you haven’t used yet.

So if you booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket refunded.

But if travelling is essential, then your airline has to find you an alternative flight. This could even be with another airline.

When am I not entitled to compensation?

The airline doesn’t have to give you a refund if the flight was cancelled due to reasons beyond their control, such as extreme weather.

Disruptions caused by things like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control employee strikes or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation.

Some airlines may stretch the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” but you can challenge them through the aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Will my insurance cover me if my flight is cancelled?

If you can’t claim compensation directly through the airline, your travel insurance may refund you.

Policies vary so you should check the small print, but a delay of eight to 12 hours will normally mean you qualify for some money from your insurer.

Remember to get written confirmation of your delay from the airport as your insurer will need proof.

If your flight is cancelled entirely, you’re unlikely to be covered by your insurance.

Welcome to UCLA football season.

Yes, it’s July, but the Bruins are kicking off a preseason gauntlet leading up to coach Bob Chesney’s debut campaign.

First up, Times columnist Bill Plaschke offered his thoughts on Chesney’s ability to lead a UCLA renaissance.

We’ve heard Chesney’s emphasis on service and winning at life before applying the same relentless effort to football-related activities consistently since he was hired.

But Plaschke reported his philosophy has quickly forged deep roots in Westwood, where Chesney’s optimism fits in seamlessly at the school built on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. There’s also some very strong Ted Lasso energy brewing, which makes sense since the character is partially inspired by Wooden values.

Chesney has visited and cheered on every UCLA team, but he seems to have formed an especially strong bond with national champion women’s basketball coach Cori Close. Plaschke reported Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has also honored his promise to support the program, meeting with Chesney and bringing along Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax along for the visit.

The column is fascinating and worth your time.

We’ve heard from some UCLA fans were irritated about a potential Plaschke curse after he announced Chesney will make the Bruins winners, but its seems the Bruin faithful are just going to have get used to a growing bandwagon.

The UCLA hype should go national Wednesday, when quarterback Nico Iamaleava, defensive back Cole Martin and linebacker Samuel Omosigho join Chesney during Big Ten football media days.

It’s Chesney’s first chance to meet the national and regional media covering the Big Ten. He is naturally an exceptional public speaker and inevitably will be compared to his predecessor, who went viral for his difficulty the first time he stepped into the Big Ten spotlight.

It’s not a fair comparison, but Chesney is sure to score high marks despite a healthy amount of cynicism among Big Ten blue bloods and whispers throughout the league that UCLA’s high 2027 recruiting ranking is a bit inflated. Perhaps that’s the biggest compliment for UCLA, going from being ignored or laughed at to taking a few jabs over your glowing reviews.

Shortly after UCLA returns from media days, the team will kick off preseason camp. We’ll start to get a closer look at the Bruins’ offseason weight room progress and the team will work to prepare for a deceptively difficult opener at California, another long overlooked team with considerable hype entering the 2026 season.

Betts shines in Canada

Sienna Betts showed she’s ready to step into her older sister Lauren’s formidable shoes during a women’s basketball exhibition game against Canada.

The Bruins lost 69-55 to the Canadian national team Wednesday, but Sienna Betts looked like a formidable focal point of the UCLA attack.

She finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Betts got valuable but limited minutes last season as Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic dominated the paint for the national champions.

Canada and UCLA did not have their full rosters available for the tune-up, with Bruins Timea Gardiner, K.K. Bransford, Somto Okafor and Lina Jerkovic missing the game.

The excursion gave a heavily overhauled UCLA roster a chance to face different and formidable competition before setting off on sight-seeing adventures, a team bonding opportunity that likely will mean more to the coaching staff than the final score.

UCLA alums win AUSL title

Bruins alum Jadelyn Allchin won Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship MVP honors after helping lead her team to its second consecutive AUSL title.

UCLA softball great Lisa Fernandez is the Talons’ general manager. Her roster and the entire league is packed with former Bruins who are helping AUSL grow at a rapid rate.

Connor Dullinger offered a great look at the role the Bruins have played in the growth of pro softball and explains why Fernandez is thinking bigger, pushing for global gains so that softball can be a permanent fixture at the Olympics.

In case you missed it

UCLA softball has deep impact on Athletes Unlimited Softball League

Plaschke: Bob Chesney is going to do the impossible at UCLA — win

UCLA women embrace new players, tougher standards in bid to repeat as champs

UCLA Unlocked: Gabriela Jaquez makes smoothest transition to WNBA

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

After a difficult start to his international career in England, teen prodigy Sooryavanshi stepped up against Zimbabwe.

India’s teenage batting sensation ‌Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has shown remarkable maturity over the past six months, a quality ⁠that has enabled ⁠him to thrive in high-pressure matches after a rapid rise in cricket, India T20 coach VVS Laxman said.

Sooryavanshi smashed an 18-ball half-century in the opening ⁠T20 against Zimbabwe before scoring 81 on Sunday as India completed a 3-0 sweep of the hosts.

The 15-year-old, who was fast-tracked into international cricket following a breakthrough Indian Premier League ⁠season, was named the player of the series after scoring two half-centuries in the three-match contest.

“Very mature. That’s what I really appreciate about Vaibhav,” Laxman told reporters in Zimbabwe.

“With every experience and every match, he understands, assesses and gets better. He reviews every practice session, not just matches.

“His maturity, ‌understanding and awareness over the last six months have skyrocketed. That’s why he’s been able to handle tough situations and perform under pressure against the best players.”

Sooryavanshi’s success in Southern Africa came after a difficult start to his international career in England earlier this month.

The youngest player to represent India registered scores of 14, 13 and 15 in his first three T20 internationals before being left out of the fifth ⁠match.

Laxman, who has tracked Sooryavanshi’s progress from age-group cricket through ⁠the IPL and into the senior national side, said the teenager’s willingness to learn had been one of his greatest strengths, but managing his fitness remained an important area of development.

“The one area we want him ⁠to improve is his overall fitness,” Laxman said.

“He’s a very young boy. He himself wants to get better in every aspect ⁠of the game.

“Even today, when he got injured, he still wanted to stay on the field”, the coach added, referring to Sooryavanshi’s effort while ⁠attempting a diving catch running in from deep square leg.

“It was our physio who asked him to come off. That’s the eagerness and earnestness he has to contribute in ‌every possible way to the team.”

Laxman said he was not concerned by the left-hander’s struggles in England and backed him to build on his strong start to international cricket.

“I’m ‌sure ‌he will progress and break all the records at the international level. He’s got all the potential and ability to do that,” he added.

Wildfires are rampaging through vast areas of land in southwestern Europe, forcing France and Spain to evacuate more than 325,000 people from their homes.

Some of the worst fires in France since World War II come just weeks after record-breaking heatwaves scorched Europe. Authorities have deployed thousands of firefighters to battle the blazes.

On Sunday, France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, said about “115,000 hectares (284,171 acres) have burned in wildfires in France since the start of the year”. In Spain, 119,458 hectares (295,187 acres) of land have been burnt as of July 22 , according to data from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

More than 150,000 hectares have burned across Spain since January, said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – that’s six times the area destroyed during the same period last year.

Wildfires destroyed 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of land in Europe in 2025 – up from 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) in 2022, according to the United Nations.

What is the main cause of the wildfires and why are authorities struggling to contain them?

What has happened?

Since early July, wildfires have been burning across southern and western Europe, with France and Spain being the worst hit.

About 220,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in France, about 75,000 people in Spain, and around 30,000 others there ordered to shelter in place, according to authorities.

In Spain, a fast-moving wildfire in the Andalusia region killed at least 12 people on July 10 . By July 20 , the fires had spread hundreds of kilometres to the capital, Madrid. At least 10,000 people have been evacuated following wildfires in the central region of Madrid. On July 24 , Spanish authorities declared a national emergency, saying two major blazes were “out of control”.

Over the weekend, a separate blaze in Spain’s eastern Castellon province ravaged more than 4,300 hectares (10,625 acres), regional authorities said.

“The fire is out of control, it’s very difficult to extinguish from a technical standpoint, especially because of the adverse weather conditions that will continue throughout the day,” the regional leader of Valencia, Juanfran Perez, told reporters near the site.

The wildfire in Spain has now entered the Sierra de Espadan natural park, containing large forests of pine trees and cork oaks.

In France, the wildfires are among the country’s worst since World War II and have particularly ravaged the Cap Ferret peninsula, an exclusive holiday destination on France’s southern Atlantic coast about 70km (43 miles) from Bordeaux.

Reporting from Maubec, near Toulouse, Al Jazeera’s Nina Montagu-Smith said: “When I visited Arcachon, a seaside town just across the bay from Cap Ferret on Thursday last week, we could see the fires on the peninsula. Within hours, the sky had blackened and the smoke was thick over Arcachon town.”

“All trains from Arcachon were cancelled, apparently due to an ‘electrical fault’,” she added. “Fire engines were lining the A63 from Bordeaux towards Arcachon on Thursday evening as I drove eastwards to Libourne, which is 100km from the fires in the Gironde region,” she said.

Our correspondent noted that after the wind picked up on Thursday evening, smoke from the blaze reached Libourne, where ash was falling from the sky.

“We have since relocated further east in France towards Toulouse, where the sky is very grey and we could still smell the smoke on Sunday night,” she added.

The wildfires have now spread through areas surrounding Bordeaux, where firefighters were trying to prevent the flames from reaching the regional capital.

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said the fire was just 15km (nine miles) from entrances to the main city.

“We have a fire that is not under control and which is moving in the direction of the city area,” Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told France 2 TV on Sunday evening. “The overall situation is very unfavourable, we are in a situation that is unprecedented.”

So far, authorities have moved 197,000 people from areas around Bordeaux – including popular holiday spots which are generally crowded at this time of the year.

The Bordeaux region is famed for its vineyards and the ‌‌city is one of the main transport hubs for tourists visiting nearby holiday resorts on the Atlantic coast.

Cazenave said earlier on Sunday that there were no plans yet to evacuate Bordeaux, whose wider metropolitan area has a population of about 850,000. Nunez said authorities would continue to assess the situation calmly and realistically, and the government has warned against road or rail travel to the area.

The wildfires disrupted Sunday’s Tour de France finale in Paris, which organisers shortened from 133 to 89 kilometres (83 to 55 miles) after security forces originally assigned to the race were redeployed to fight the fires instead.

Why are these fires so bad?

Scientists are warning that pyrocumulonimbus clouds – unprecedented in southwest Europe – are forming.

According to the British Royal Meteorological Society, these are thunder clouds “created by intense heat from the Earth’s surface”. They can make conditions almost impossible for firefighters.

They are formed similarly to normal clouds, but “the intense heat that results in the vigorous updraft comes from fire, either large wildfires or volcanic eruptions”, the society said. It explained that there may be a burst of rain because of them but warned that this rain “can then carry embers from the fire, igniting spot fires away from the source. In some cases, dry lightning from these storms can strike without rain, further spreading the wildfire”.

A spokesman for France’s National Firefighters Federation of France (FNSPF) told the AFP news agency: “Lightning forms within the cloud, striking the embers on the ground and further fuelling the fire … It produces a low, rumbling sound. While this type of fire occurs regularly in Canada and Australia, it is unprecedented in France,” he said on Sunday.

“We have reached a point of ‘operational impossibility’ that requires us to accept the need for strategic retreat – to understand and acknowledge a natural force beyond our control,” he said.

“It calls for … knowing what can be done and, above all, what cannot. The situation on the ground is defensive rather than offensive; it is a war-like scenario where we are under constant bombardment and must get everyone to safety,” he added.

What are authorities doing now?

Spanish and French authorities say firefighters alone cannot fight the blaze and have appealed for international help.

On Sunday, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit areas in Avila, one of three central provinces affected by major blazes alongside Madrid and Toledo, where more than 45,000 hectares (111,000 acres) have burned.

“We have a window of opportunity this weekend to fight the wildfire and, therefore, to protect lives, protect population centres and, ultimately, to bring this very serious wildfire under control as far as possible,” he said.

Sanchez said his government will declare a civil protection emergency for the central provinces plagued by the wildfires on Tuesday, unlocking additional recovery funding.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X ⁠⁠on Saturday: “The fires which ⁠⁠are hitting our country have reached a level that has never been seen before”.

Lecornu called another government crisis meeting on Saturday for ministers to discuss the response to the emergency, the second such meeting in as many days.

French President Emmanuel Macron was holding a cabinet crisis meeting on Monday.

The European Union’s civil protection mechanism is monitoring the situation and has been assisting. Under the mechanism so far, Greece and Italy have sent firefighting aircraft to Spain, while Portugal has deployed more than 100 military personnel, along with equipment.

Two more aircraft will arrive “as soon as possible” from Turkey, the Spanish interior ministry added on X.

Why are these fires becoming so much harder to contain?

Wildfires have been a common occurrence in Europe in recent years, but authorities have increasingly been struggling to contain them.

Sanchez said the growing scale of the fires and their intensity, fuelled by increasingly extreme weather such as the heatwaves this summer, require policies grounded in climate science.

Eduardo Rojas, chairman of the Board at the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story programme on Sunday that there are multiple factors causing the wildfires which also need attention.

He said the fires in the wild lands of the country have occurred where the “urban interface is extraordinarily complex”. He noted that some areas were “built up in the 60s, 70s and 80s without a proper city plan and with lack of infrastructure, lack of water availability…and with a lack of knowledge of the neighbourhoods.” When a fire occurs, therefore, there is a “lack of knowledge” about how to deal with them.

“The fire in west Madrid is a kind of fire that doesn’t burn a huge area but creates a lot of hesitation,” he said.

“We also have farms where cereals are harvested and even [with] a small lightning [strike], the cereal can start to burn and at the end a big agricultural area ends up burning which is a big damage for farmers,” he noted.

“These kinds of fires need to be tackled in a totally different way because their cause and their environment and conditions are incomparable with one another,” he added.

Laurie Laybourn, executive director of Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, a non-partisan thinktank told Al Jazeera that governments across the continent are unable to cope with the pace at which climate change is occurring.

“All governments develop what are called reasonable worst-case scenarios to inform their planning and in many instances the events that we’re seeing are going beyond even those. So what that tells us is that the tools that we’ve got, the analysis that is informing government planning is a step behind how fast climate change and its supercharging of disasters is,” he said.

So is this all mainly because of climate change?

According to the European Forest Institute, a wildfire “is a chemical reaction of combustion, which requires a source of heat (lightning, an agricultural “burn” which escapes, or a spark originating in an electric line), oxygen and fuel (forests, shrubs or pastures) to get started.”

“Wildfire risks are increasing worldwide because of climate change and land use change,” the institute added in a July 9 report.

In a recent report, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe issued a warning about climate change, saying it is directly responsible for intensifying wildfires and their increasing frequency.

There are clear indications that climate change is “supercharging” incidents such as wildfires, Laybourn told Al Jazeera.

“Any disaster is very complex. The causes are multilayered, including how we build and how we use land…But climate change is supercharging the conditions that make us vulnerable to things like wildfires and that has been something that’s been predicted now for many decades and tragically becoming true in front of our eyes,” he said.

According to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change service, Europe is now the fastest warming continent on Earth, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since 1980.

Laybourn explained that this summer’s heatwaves were also caused by climate change.

He warned and stressed that governments need to prioritise tackling the issue.

“This should be a moment of profound alarm and reflection, particularly for governments.”

“More is more and less is a bore.” ― Iris Apfel

After spending decades collecting clean-lined Midcentury Modern furniture and accessories, stylist Wendi Weger felt it was time to give her Silver Lake apartment a playful update.

“Everything was brown,” Weger says as she sits on a plush sofa covered in pink and chartreuse striped Christian Lacroix fabric. “It looked like a UPS truck in here. I mean, look at me,” she adds, fluffing the ruffles of her Accidente Con Flores dress, her intricately manicured fingers decorated with colorful Zuni Toons rings. “That is not me.”

In this series, we spotlight L.A. rentals with style. From perfect gallery walls to temporary decor hacks, these renters get creative, even in small spaces. And Angelenos need the inspiration: Most are renters.

Indeed.

Weger, who grew up in Madison, Wis., studied cinema during graduate school at NYU and later moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood as a producer and stylist, is no minimalist. Always expressive, she describes her style as more akin to a “Victorian parlor meets hunting lodge.”

• Share via Close extra sharing options

So it’s no surprise that her one-bedroom apartment, in a Storybook-style fourplex built in 1922, is just as dramatic as she is.

Wendi Weger views her Silver Lake apartment as her creative studio. “I don’t mind a lot of frenetic activity,” she says.

A wall covered in hollyhock wallpaper from House of Hackney stands out in Weger’s bedroom, along with a handmade quilt signed by Grace Verburg that includes crochet, beadwork and hundreds of ribbon rosettes.

Weger thrives on “kinetic energy,” be it color, texture or a pair of bedazzled Italian loafers. In her bedroom, she mixes floral textiles and modern art with a quirky stepstool shaped like an ear of corn. In the dining room, vintage Doyle Lane ceramic beads dangle from a Mission-style wooden clock while designer handbags are draped over chairs and hat racks.

On her fireplace, an ornate gilded mirror from the 1940s she found at Sunbeam Vintage is flanked by porcelain figurines. A porcelain Capodimonte lamp nestled under vintage Japanese prints is described as “Rococo on acid.” Nearby, a handmade chandelier by artist Helen Stickler, decorated with vintage Swarovski crystals and beads, adds to what Weger describes as her “Candyland vibe.”

Weger twirls in a pink taffeta Batsheva dress. “My apartment is basically how I dress — like an Edwardian ghost in a prairie dress who wandered into a circus and decided to keep everything,” she says.

“That’s where I am right now,” she says about the apartment she has called home for 17 years. “I feel like I can finally play. I’m trying to bring in a candy theme without making it too grandma. At this point in my life, I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.”

Her friend, creative director Dana Sidell, says self-expression is central to how Weger lives her life. “Wendi has the unique ability to bring nostalgia, whimsy and individuality all together into maximalist style,” she says in an email.

In 2020, as the film industry slowed down because of COVID-19, Weger took a chance and opened the Curatorial Dept., a vintage and designer resale shop in Atwater Village. Popular with celebrities including Lake Bell, Nick Thune and politicians Nithya Raman and Laura Friedman, the store is known for Weger’s signature “clothing sculptures,” where she layers mannequins with dozens of pieces of clothing and accessories.

“Styling is my art,” she says. “To me, clothing is sculpture.”

A silk Gucci skirt hangs alongside artworks in Weger’s bedroom. “Whether it’s producing a film, building a boutique, styling a room or a mannequin, it’s about assemblage and synergy,” she says.

To demonstrate, Weger starts layering a mannequin in her bedroom, picking from racks of clothes, handbags, color-coordinated shoes and jewelry nearby. She layers an “I’m With Stupid” T-shirt over a dress shirt and Yohji Yamamoto linen pants, then keeps adding more. “It needs a ruffle,” she says, caught up in the process, before adding a frilly collar and glittering vintage brooch.

A bright blue first-place ribbon materializes and becomes the perfect accessory. “It’s not maximalist enough,” she says with a sigh.

Weger says her apartment reflects the way she dresses, with layers of art, vintage clothes and accessories, each with its own story. She jokes that it looks like one of her clothing sculptures has “exploded across a room.”

When asked if there’s such a thing as too much, she shakes her head with conviction.

1

2

1. Weger holds a pair of sparkling JVB X Nomasei ‘Nono’ loafers. 2. The hollyhock pattern from House of Hackney appears throughout Weger’s apartment, even on this fabric lampshade.

1

2

1. A Gucci cashmere bunny cape hangs like an artwork in the bedroom. 2. Doyle Lane ceramic beads hang on a wooden clock above a collection of $2 bills.

“I’ll wear a baby cup as jewelry,” she says, picking up a small silver cup from a cabinet to show her point. What’s one more charm on one of several necklaces already heavy with lockets and hearts?

Weger’s home decor follows the same idea. Some pieces, like a pink silk pleated Gucci skirt by Alessandro Michele, hang on her bedroom wall next to vintage artworks, including a framed cross stitch by a friend that reads “Live. Laugh. Toaster Bath.” Others are neatly arranged in her butler’s pantry. Clothing racks fill the hallway, living room and even her bedroom. “Clothing and handbags are art to me,” she says.

Then there’s the cashmere embroidered rabbit cape by Gucci, which she purchased secondhand.

“People chase me down on the street whenever I wear it and ask me where I got it,” she says. “To me, it’s art.”

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Humor is important to her too. In the living room, a blue resin coffee table shaped like a candy wrapper adds to the playful feel, along with vintage candy dishes.

“There’s a lot of absurdity and comedy here,” she says, pointing out the Spanish angels with guns, a series of artworks from the 1600s.

“There’s something about these Spanish archangels with weapons,” she says. “They look tough and unisex to me, with mild expressions, beautiful clothes, tights, ruffles and sleeves, plus a firearm. It’s a great symbol for being a warrior, especially as a small business owner.”

Nearly everything in her apartment is secondhand, from the vintage Audubon prints arranged salon-style in the living room to the Navajo rugs and David Shrigley print she found at a garage sale. Mixing old and new is important, she says, referring to the House of Hackney hollyhock pattern she recently added to the walls of the living room and bedrooms, as well as the dining room lampshade.

Handbags are draped over dining chairs.

Her place settings are also layered, including Weger’s grandmother’s Wedgwood china.

Her apartment is essentially her atelier, or as she calls it, “the creative engine behind” the Curatorial Dept. She often does intake for her store at her kitchen table, surrounded by needlepoint pillows made by her Great-Uncle Elliott, who was also an entrepreneur. “This is not cluttered to me,” she says. “This is just where everything gets sorted.”

“Wendi’s style has a touch of the harlequin to it — playful, theatrical and always ready for an occasion,” writer and former NYU classmate Josh Rothenberger says in an email. “Her world is a warm pastiche of vintage and bespoke, histories inherited and histories invented on the fly. Her furniture invites the kind of existential frolic that pairs best with Cuvée — only to remind us, hours later, that true beauty should never be too precious to dance on.”

Although Weger says she isn’t a “woo-woo person,” she believes her apartment and store came from asking the universe for what she wanted. “Tell people what you want,” she says. “Especially in L.A. People support you and help you reach your dreams. I said I wanted this apartment, and because of that, my friend thought of me when she was moving. The same thing happened with my shop. I was in a different industry when I told a shop owner friend I’d always wanted a shop, that I intended to have a shop, and she thought of me when hers became available.”

She’s already thinking about what she wants next: “I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know.”