Month: July 2026

EUROSTAR is warning of delays across Europe due to an incident on a track, with some services already cancelled.

Trains heading to and from Europe are experiencing delays and cancellations “due to emergency services attending an incident near the tracks in Lille Europe”.

Cancelled trains include:

• 3:31pm service from London to Paris
• 5:56pm service from Brussels to London, via Lille
• 6:04pm service from London to Amsterdam, stopping at Brussels, Rotterdam and Lille
• 6:40pm service from Amsterdam to London, stopping at Brussels, Rotterdam and Lille
• 7:01pm service from London to Paris
• 8:02pm service from Paris to London

There are also a number of delays to services including the 2:42pm, 3:12pm, 4:12pm, 4:40pm and 5:12pm services from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras.

A service from London St Pancras to Paris at 2:31pm was also delayed.

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Services from Brussels to London have also been impacted including the 2:52pm and 3:52pm services.

The Eurostar website currently states: “We expect our trains between London and Lille/Brussels/Rotterdam/Amsterdam to be subject to severe delays on 07/07/2026 due to emergency services attending an incident near the tracks in Lille Europe.”

The operator is advising that if passengers would prefer to rearrange their plans, then you can change your ticket for free.

It comes as services still face disruptions following from an incident in the Netherlands last week where there was a major fire at Rotterdam Centraal.

At the time, Eurostar commented: “We’re very sorry that, due to a fire near station Rotterdam Centraal, train services across the Netherlands are currently severely disrupted and extremely limited.

“As a result, our trains are subject to significant delays and cancellations, and we’re unfortunately unable to offer alternative travel options.

“This situation will continue until 3rd July 2026. We recommend that you do not attempt to travel to or from the Netherlands until 3rd July. Instead, please cancel your journey or postpone it to a later date.”

Sun Travel has contacted Eurostar for further comment.

A SCULPTURE of David Brent has been unveiled – at a Premier Inn in Slough.

The clay creation of Ricky Gervais’ most iconic character marks 25 years since The Office UK first hit British TV screens.

Commissioned by Premier Inn, it is positioned inside its Slough Trading Estate hotel – the exact location of the original exterior shots used for ‘Wernham Hogg’ in the series’ opening credits.

The beloved TV show followed the fortunes of character David Brent from his life as a regional manager in a paper office to life on the road as a travelling salesman.

It was unveiled by Brent impersonator Tim Oliver, who re-enacted the pose as well as some of the character’s signature dance moves, which helped make Berkshire-born writer Gervais internationally famous.

The bust – which took 120 hours to put together and weighs seven kilograms – will be a permanent installation at the site.

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A spokesperson for the hotel chain said: “The exact site of the world’s most famous office, Wernham Hogg, is now one of our hotels and so we’re thrilled to unveil this brilliant tribute to mark its place in British comedy history.

“Ricky’s iconic character truly put Slough on the map, and it’s only fitting to honour him with this memorable statue, which we hope will be particularly popular with some of the millions of business travellers who stay with us each year.

“Whilst the building itself is totally transformed – our guests are more likely to be interested in pillows than photocopiers – eagle-eyed fans will certainly spot the similarity in the footprint of the site.”

The hotel company also commissioned research of 2,000 adults which found David Brent’s unforgettable Comic Relief dance topped a list of favourite moments from the show.

It picked up 26 per cent of the vote from Office fans and was followed by Dawn returning to the Christmas party to kiss Tim in the denouement of the festive special (15 per cent).

More than one in 10 (13 per cent), meanwhile, selected Tim’s prank from the very first episode, encasing desk mate and nemesis Gareth’s stapler in lurid yellow jelly.

It emerged 72 per cent of respondents who watched the show consider it a nostalgic snapshot of what working life was like in the early 2000s.

Although 68 per cent are glad they don’t work in an environment like Wernham Hogg – the fictional working home of David Brent.

Elements of working life people believe have changed for the better include flexible working hours (39 per cent), improved office technology (28 per cent) and the business attire (27 per cent).

A fifth (20 per cent) cited an increased focus on wellbeing, and 16 per cent a greater diversity in teams, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

The spokesperson for Premier Inn said: “From tech to business attire, office life has changed drastically in the 25 years since the show aired but what hasn’t changed is the need for business travellers to know what they’re getting with a great night’s sleep in a comfortable room ready to face the day – no matter how embarrassing their boss is.”

The study also saw Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, creators of The Office, named the best comedy writing duo of the 21st century (16 per cent).

They narrowly pipped James Corden and Ruth Jones, writers of Gavin & Stacey (15 per cent), and Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders (12 per cent).

Whether you covet a golden statuette of your own or just want to see your favorite show sweep its categories, it’s time to start gearing up for the 2026 Emmy Awards.

The best way to stay in the know is to follow nominations as they’re revealed in real time Wednesday. It may have been a somewhat underwhelming year for television, but there are still a number of standout series to root for and races with the potential to surprise us.

Will Jean Smart win her fifth straight Emmy for “Hacks”? Will “Widow’s Bay” shoot to the top of the nominations list despite its late-season arrival? And which streamer will dominate the ceremony?

Read our predictions here, and find everything you need to know about this year’s nominations below.

When will Emmy nominations be announced?

Nominations for the 78th Emmys will be announced live Wednesday starting at 8:30 a.m. Pacific./11:30 a.m. Eastern. Emmy winners Liza Colón-Zayas (“The Bear”) and Jeff Hiller (“Somebody Somewhere”) will do the honors, along with Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego.

How can I watch?

You can livestream the announcement on the Television Academy’s website or Youtube channel. If social media is more your speed, you can also stream it on Facebook, TikTok or Instagram.

Who are the predicted nominees?

“Pluribus” and “The Pitt” are expected to lead in overall nominations, with the latter poised to shine in the acting categories.

Other top drama series likely to score a nomination include “Task,” “Paradise,” “Slow Horses” and “The Diplomat.”

In the comedy field, “Hacks” is once again considered the frontrunner on the heels of its fifth and final season. “Shrinking,” “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear” and “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” are also strong contenders.

Among limited series, nominations are probable for “Beef,” “Half Man,” “DTF St. Louis” and “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.”

This year’s awards will honor programming that aired between June 2025 and May 2026, meaning summer releases are not eligible. Neither are foreign productions, which means the Canadian hockey romance “Heated Rivalry” is off the table.

When is the actual awards show?

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place Sept. 14 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. It will air live on NBC and stream on Peacock.

No host has been named yet. In January, the Television Academy announced that this year’s ceremony will include the first new major prize in almost 20 years: the Legacy Award, which will be “presented to television programs that have made a ‘profound and lasting impact’ on audiences and remain relevant to society, culture and the industry.”

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, honoring artistic and technical achievements,  will be held Sept. 5 and 6.

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where it’s been a, uh, busy week.

Over a short seven days, the Lakers confronted their past, welcomed their present and got a glimpse at their future. Starting with LeBron James officially filing for divorce last Tuesday, the Lakers transformed into almost a completely new team overnight.

But did they turn into a better team?

Hello to a new era

The relationship was characterized by passive aggression, cryptic tweets and small slights that added up to a big, if not inevitable, breakup. After such a complicated tenure, at least LeBron James’ Lakers career ended with clarity.

By informing the team before free agency started that he would not be returning next season, James offered a clean break when both sides needed it. The 41-year-old, who is still the best unrestricted free agent on the market, will keep the rest of the league hostage. The Lakers can move forward in peace.

They didn’t take long to find their rebound star.

The Lakers went all-in to get center Walker Kessler. Not just with the four-year, $130-million contract — which is longer than many of the other deals signed this month — but with the draft capital. When a simple offer sheet wouldn’t have been enough to pry the restricted free agent away from Utah, the Lakers threw in two first-round picks (2031, 2033) and two first-round swaps (2028, 2030). They don’t control their own first-round pick until 2032, meaning there aren’t many exit ramps if things go wrong.

But, on the other hand, what if they go right?

Kessler, 24, is seen as a “perfect” fit for the Luka Doncic-Austin Reaves Lakers, a league source told my colleague Broderick Turner. He’s an elite rim protector, averaging 2.4 blocks per game in his four-year NBA career. He led the NBA in offensive rebounds in 2024-25 and ranked fourth in rebounding rate, according to Basketball Reference.

He’s what Doncic asked for.

The concern might be more about an unproven track record. He only played five games last season because of a shoulder injury. He finished third in rookie of the year voting in 2023 but has only one full-time starting season. Even then, he played only 58 games in 2024-25.

It’s a big bet for a player who hasn’t even approached an All-Star conversation.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

Six of the Lakers’ top nine players from last season are gone. The Lakers started reloading their draft assets by trading Deandre Ayton on Friday, shipping the big man to Washington for Jaden Hardy and second-round draft picks in 2031 and 2032. Hardy, like new free agent addition Quentin Grimes, is another Doncic teammate from Dallas.

With Ayton’s departure, the Lakers are on the hunt for a backup center. They have two remaining roster spots and are still in the mix to add a two-way wing defender. Rookie Cameron Carr is showing in summer league that he could be an immediate three-point threat. He has some work to do in the weight room and needs more reps to be ready on the defensive end to fill the three-and-D responsibility Rui Hachimura held.

Hachimura was the last of the Lakers’ unrestricted free agents to settle on a new home. The 6-foot-8 forward was a valuable asset to the Lakers and maybe wasn’t appreciated enough for his willingness to accept different roles, even moving to the bench briefly during an important contract year.

Hachimura, who made about $18 million last season, got looks from across the league but agreed to a two-year, $28-million deal with the Clippers on Monday.

Even for some NBA players, moving is prohibitively inconvenient.

Goodbye to the old

Outsiders looked at James’ initial move to the Lakers as something that went beyond basketball reasons. Perhaps the breakup was the same way.

Doncic, Reaves and James could have been as competitive as any trio in the league, evidenced by the short, successful glimpses we saw last season. The basketball could have been beautiful.

But if James would have played out his career with the Lakers, there always would have been an awkward pall over the final years. This relationship wasn’t serving either party anymore. He was right that it was simply time to move on.

On paper, he leaves behind a historic chapter of an unparalleled career. Already a Hall of Famer before he came to L.A., James won the Lakers’ 17th NBA championship, ending a 10-year title drought for the franchise. He broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record while wearing a Lakers jersey in front of a sold-out Lakers crowd.

In the hearts of Lakers fans, the legacy is complicated. Fans never got to create the everlasting joyful memories we saw at the Knicks championship parade or, if you’ve been watching soccer, in this month’s FIFA World Cup. Perhaps the Lakers faithful will never forgive him for his role in the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade that set the organization back for years. James, for all his personal accolades and cultural influence, still stands no chance against the spirit of Kobe Bryant, especially after Bryant’s shocking death in 2020.

The comparisons were unrelenting. But James never shied away from them.

“Truly a honor to wear the [purple and gold],” James wrote on Twitter with purple and yellow heart emojis, responding to a kind statement from Lakers governor Jeanie Buss. “… Hope I made a few proud during my stint.”

Most breakups are hard. The end of this relationship, at least, is a rare instance when you can smile both because it’s over and because it happened.

Poll results

Last week, we asked which unrestricted free agent would you most like to keep. Ultimately, no one gets their wish; all have signed elsewhere. There were 39 total votes, with several submitting two names, but for the sake of this count, I only took each ballot’s first choice.

Here are the results:

Rui Hachimura: 23

Marcus Smart: 9

Luke Kennard: 5

Jaxson Hayes: 1

“Marcus Hachimura”: 1

New question

Last week’s poll didn’t have a particularly long shelf life. The first wave of free agency swept up almost all the available Lakers players within hours. This new question could fuel debate to outlast all of our natural lives: Would you like to see the Lakers retire LeBron James’ jersey? Slide into my inbox (thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com) to vote!

—Yes

—No

Favorite thing I ate this week

The special combination bánh mì (bánh mì đặc biệt) from San Francisco’s L&G Vietnamese Sandwich.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

When I was young(er), my parents went grocery shopping at the Vietnamese store Saturday mornings, and on his way out the door, my dad would poke his head into my room and ask simply, “One or two?” He was asking how many Vietnamese sandwiches I wanted for lunch.

Bánh mì remains my ultimate comfort food, and I liked the special combination bánh mì (bánh mì đặc biệt) from San Francisco’s L&G Vietnamese Sandwich so much that I went twice in three days. It had all the right Vietnamese cold cuts with the perfect pate and mayo ratio, and for an $11.50 deal, I even risk the caffeine-fueled heart palpitations to add a Vietnamese iced coffee.

In case you missed it

Lakers lose Rui Hachimura, who signs two-year deal with the Clippers

Lakers’ Adou Thiero hoping to learn and lead with Cameron Carr this summer

Cameron Carr makes a strong first impression in Lakers’ summer league opener

Lakers trading Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy, draft picks

Lakers announce summer league schedule, roster

Lakers get their new center. How Walker Kessler, three free agents fit with Luka Doncic

Lakers’ top defender Marcus Smart agrees to deal with Rockets

News Analysis: LeBron James won’t return to the Lakers. Now what?

Luke Kennard leaves Lakers for two-year deal with Phoenix Suns

Plaschke: LeBron James got out before Lakers could throw him out

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!

July 7 (UPI) — A group of more than 1,200 former Justice Department employees signed a letter asking senators to reject the nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general.

Justice Connection, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Justice Department civil servants, sent the letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Signees argue that Blanche’s only goal as attorney general is to show loyalty to President Donald Trump, displaying political bias in an apolitical department.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to consider Blanche’s nomination is scheduled for July 15 and 16.

“Since his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche has shown time and again that his guiding star is fealty to the president, not the Constitution,” Stacey Young, executive director and founder of Justice Connection, said in a statement.

“That fealty led to the purge of thousands of experienced career employees, a loss that will have a generational impact on the Justice Department’s ability to carry out its mission and maintain credibility with the courts and the American people.”

The letter highlights Blanche’s management of the department, his role in mishandling the congressionally ordered release of the investigation files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and support for Trump’s plan to pay Jan. 6 rioters and other allies.

Under Blanche, more than 16,000 employees have left the Justice Department, Justice Connection says, including more than one quarter of its attorneys. Signatories include civil servants who worked under Republican and Democratic administrations.

Blanche was nominated by Trump to succeed former Attorney General Pam Bondi last month.

“The consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country,” the letter reads. “They’ve meant that much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done well — leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.”

Two Palestinian mothers believe a viral image of a bound Gaza detainee shows their missing son, leaving them desperate for answers. Israel acknowledges the photo is real but has not revealed the man’s identity.

NICK Knowles’ wife Katie has revealed that she’s been suffering with pain every day for ‘almost two decades’.

The brave star shared the news after undergoing surgery to remove parts of her reproductive system.

Katie posted an emotional video online where she’s hugging a loved one while sitting down in tears at home post-surgery.

Penned in the post’s caption, Katie shared a health update and rejoiced that the decades worth of pain she’s been feeling should now be gone.

She said: “I’ve made some videos from hospital and after my op, and I think I’m ready to share them.

“The ovaries. The endo. The adhesions. The organs that had stuck together. The prolapses. The bits of my body that have caused me pain for nearly two decades. All gone!

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“5 and a 1/2 hours in surgery. Mr Raafat has been amazing. He is the first surgeon who has ever made me feel truly heard and understood, and I’ve been through a fair few. Around 10, I think. He understood how draining, exhausting and painful this has all been, and he’s confident this should improve my quality of life. I am so grateful for that.

“Hopefully this is the last big recovery. Hopefully this is the start of life without that pain.”

Katie continued to share how she’s still in immense pain as she’s recovering from the operation, and it’s difficult to go through even though it’s temporary.

She explained: “I know this pain is short-lived. I know the scars, the stitches, the bleeding, the gas pain, the swelling, the injections, the cannulas, the bruises and all the awful hospital bits are temporary.

“But temporary doesn’t mean easy. It is brutal. My body feels completely battered.”

Katie finished the post off by sharing just how much endometriosis has impacted her life and how as much as she feels grateful now to go forward with less pain in the future, she still feels ‘heartbroken’.

Katie concluded: “Endometriosis and adenomyosis have taken so much from me. They’ve taken years. They’ve taken energy. They’ve taken confidence. They’ve taken plans. They’ve taken parts of my body. They’ve taken versions of me I’ll never get back.

“I wish I could go back and tell younger me she wasn’t weak. She wasn’t making it up. She deserved better. So yes, I’m relieved and grateful. I really am. But I’m also heartbroken.”

Fans reading the emotional caption left their well wishes in the post’s comments section, with one user saying: “You are so incredibly strong, please remember that. Sending so much love.”

A second shared: “Sorry you have been through all of this. I wish you a speedy recovery.”

A third added: “Much love to you and your family.”

Katie is the wife of TV presenter Nick, who has hosted shows including Who Dares Wins, DIY SOS and Break The Safe.

The health update comes two months after Katie opened up about her father sexually assaulting her for “years” as she grew up.

WASHINGTON — While President Bush floats above the fray, White House strategists are laying the groundwork for his reelection effort, targeting key states and working to undermine the Democrats hoping to run against him in 2004.

The hub of activity is the Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill, stocked with key members of the Bush team and fashioned to serve as the president’s reelection operation in all but name. The idea, say those familiar with the arrangement, is to distance Bush and the White House from overt politicking as long as possible, without ceding ground in a race expected to be hard-fought and probably close.

The war in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks “changed Bush’s presidency … and made him a commander in chief,” said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant and former top staffer at GOP headquarters. “That gives Bush a huge advantage over his Democratic opponents, and this White House will work to keep him in that seat as long as possible.”

“By becoming ‘candidate’ Bush, you put yourself on the same level as ‘candidate’ Kerry,” Reed added, referring to Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, one of the nine Democrats competing for the party’s nomination. “Evolving from a candidate to president is a big step, and you never want to go backward.”

Bush’s top political aides declined to be interviewed for this article, and the White House has actively discouraged other Republican operatives from talking about the president’s reelection plans; most of those willing to discuss Bush’s strategy and the planning quietly underway would not do so for attribution.

“There is no campaign,” said Jim Dyke, chief spokesman for the Republican National Committee, where all major decisions flow from the White House and the president’s chief political aide, Karl Rove.

But others suggest that the Bush campaign never let up after the 2000 election, despite efforts to portray the White House as paying little attention to politics. “It’s the campaign that never turns off,” said a Western GOP operative, who participates in one of several weekly strategy calls that originate at party headquarters and tie in dozens of GOP operatives across the country. “They’ve been at it ever since they’ve been inaugurated.”

Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire GOP strategist and leading Bush hand in that key state, said he had breakfast with Rove within 10 days of Bush’s swearing-in and has regularly talked strategy with him since.

The reelection effort has picked up even more in recent weeks after Bush told aides to proceed with planning for 2004 — provided they don’t expect his active involvement soon.

But even before that signal came from the top, Rove — a lover of history — and others in the White House began plotting the 2004 strategy, starting with research into past reelection campaigns. Special care was given to study the failed effort of Bush’s father, down to his day-to-day schedule in 1992 and the timing of campaign media statements, according to one Republican. But the working model for this Bush’s reelection bid has been adapted from the last two presidents to win second terms: Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Bill Clinton.

Reagan, who was personally popular in the way Bush is today, stayed out of the political mix until well into his reelection year. Clinton, in turn, amassed a huge financial advantage over his opponent and used that to begin a springtime advertising campaign that pounded the GOP nominee, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, before Dole had the means to adequately respond.

Bush is expected to enjoy a similar financial edge and emulate Reagan and Clinton by standing aside while aides launch an aggressive assault on whomever the Democrats nominate. That candidate should emerge sometime around March; the White House hope is that he or she too will lack the financial resources to effectively respond until the Democratic National Convention in July — by which time it may be too late.

A consultant who has worked closely alongside Rove described his operating style this way: “In your face. Offense, offense, offense. Attack, attack, attack.

“They want to do whatever they can to put banana peels under every single Democrat running” even before it is clear which of them Bush will face, the GOP strategist said. “Whoever [the Democrats] nominate, they want him weakened by the time he gets through the process.”

Many of those who served with Rove in Bush’s first presidential campaign are expected to reprise their roles, including pollster Matthew Dowd, media advisor Mark McKinnon and finance director Jack Oliver, who now serves as deputy chairman and day-to-day overseer of the Republican National Committee. Ken Mehlman, the White House political director, is likely to serve as campaign manager, and Karen Hughes, Bush’s closest advisor-without-portfolio, will also play a key role, perhaps out of a satellite campaign office in Austin, Texas. Marc Racicot, chairman of the RNC, may assume the same role and title at Bush’s reelection committee.

Along with deciding those personnel matters, White House strategists have conducted a painstaking review of the electoral college map, with an eye toward tailoring Bush’s travels to states that would allow him to shore up his skimpy 2000 electoral college margin. At the top of the list of states Bush lost and now plans to target are Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to party insiders.

As for the campaign’s treasury, in 2000, Bush raised more than $100 million, a record, to capture the GOP nomination in a crowded field. With the ceiling for individual contributions now doubled, to $2,000, and Bush enjoying the advantages of incumbency, he could easily top that amount in 2004. However, it is unclear how much Bush intends to raise; a White House strategist dismissed reports of a $200-million to $250-million budget as wildly speculative, but declined to offer another figure. Regardless, the president is expected to easily raise whatever sum he needs, allowing him to put off fund-raising for at least a few more months, as he would like.

A delay also fits into the White House strategy of keeping Bush out of the political back-and-forth as long as possible by taking trips that are billed as presidential in nature even though they carry political weight too — trips like the ones he has recently taken to Missouri, Ohio and Michigan, states vital to his reelection. (It also means that taxpayers pick up the tab instead of Bush’s reelection committee.) Even when Bush starts campaign travel closer to the end of the year, it will be limited largely to a handful of select states, such as early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire, and will be tailored to appear “presidential” rather than blatantly political in nature, a White House advisor said.

That leaves the RNC to function, for now, as the reelection campaign in absentia, building support in key states, tending to the party’s big donors as well as grass-roots activists and, perhaps most important, harrying the nine Democratic candidates.

To that end, RNC researchers have compiled dossiers on all the party’s hopefuls and distributed them to reporters under such provocative headlines as, “Who is John Edwards? An unaccomplished liberal in moderate clothing and a friend to his fellow personal injury trial lawyers.”

The purpose, explained one party communications strategist, “is to get journalists to run a whole series of stories that build upon each other” until finally a negative image “takes root” — the way former Vice President Al Gore came to be depicted in the 2000 campaign as a serial exaggerator.

Democrats have a similar research and message-dissemination operation at their headquarters just a few blocks away from the Republicans. But even party insiders acknowledge that the Democrats lack the resources and discipline that make GOP efforts so effective.

“Republicans have, since the 1960s, been building and using the RNC to make it an active and aggressive campaign tool with investments in databases, in direct mail, in phone banks, in Internet technology,” said Jenny Backus, a recently departed Democratic Party spokeswoman in Washington. Although Democrats have made significant strides over the last two years, she said, they haven’t caught up.

Also, Democrats lack the powerful echo chamber created by a wealth of sympathetic media outlets that can turn a set of “talking points” sent from GOP headquarters into a story that dominates the political news for days. “You put a message out and if the traditional media don’t cover it, talk radio and the cable [television] people will,” said Don Fierce, who helped run the RNC through the mid-1990s. “There’s much more amplification than there used to be.”

A good illustration is the recent flap over Kerry’s quip calling for “regime change” in the 2004 election. Within 24 hours, a media account of Kerry’s remark had been dispatched as part of the RNC’s regular Thursday e-mail briefing to 350,000 party activists. The party’s congressional leaders condemned Kerry, the story made national headlines and the Massachusetts senator was forced to repeatedly respond to reporters’ questions about his comment.

Then, for good measure, Kerry was assailed by military veterans in each of the next several states he visited; their quotes were corralled by GOP leaders and passed on to reporters in Arizona, South Carolina and California, keeping the story alive and helping shape local news coverage.

“Message repetition is pretty fundamental,” said a California GOP strategist who has worked closely with the White House . “It’s basic stuff that doesn’t always get done right. And this group is very, very good at it.”

Continuing my summer observations looking back at memorable moments in covering high school sports since 1976, you can’t find a better, more beloved action-packed night than Feb. 24, 2017, at USC’s Galen Center when you got to see two great high school basketball games for the price of one in the Southern Section Open Division semifinals.

Anyone who was there remembers the long lines to get in, the sold-out crowd and drama involving Sierra Canyon against Bishop Montgomery and Mater Dei against Chino Hills.

Enjoy the memories from the video looking back.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Appeals court rules the far-right leader ineligible to hold public office for 45 months.

A French appeals court has opened the door for far right leader Marine Le Pen to potentially run in the 2027 presidential election but said she must wear an electronic tag.

A Paris appeals court on Tuesday ruled Le Pen guilty of misusing public funds but reduced the ban on her holding elected office to 45 months, with 30 suspended.

She must now decide whether campaigning in 2027 with a monitoring bracelet as part of her sentence to be served at home is possible.

A lower court last year sentenced Le Pen, 57, to a five-year ban from public office and two years in prison over a fake jobs scam at the European Parliament.

The three-time presidential candidate hopes to run in the race to replace outgoing centrist President Emmanuel Macron in 2027.

Le Pen has said that if the sentence prevented her from campaigning, she would hand the reins over to her 30-year-old lieutenant, Jordan Bardella, leader of their National Rally (RN) party.

More to come…

Daniel Green, a TV chef who appears on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and QVC, boarded a British Airways flight from Miami Airport to London Heathrow, when a flight attendant delivered an unwelcome message

A dad was left ‘extremely embarrassed’ after he was told to move from his seat and his wife was threatened with being kicked off the plane.

Daniel Green climbed aboard the British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Miami on June 30, looking forward to the nine-hour flight.

Two days before, the TV chef had splashed out, paying £1,900 to upgrade himself, his wife and his daughter from Club World to First Class.

“We upgraded specifically to ensure a comfortable journey for our 13-year-old daughter, who suffers from significant anxiety and travel sickness,” explained Daniel, who regularly appears on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and QVC.

Do you have an airline issue you’d like us to look into? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

However, after boarding, the family was told that one of the seats in the row in front of them had a recliner fault.

“We were then told that passengers from Row 3 would be moved into our Row 4 First Class seats, resulting in us being displaced from the seats we had paid for,” the dad continued.

“My wife was approached by ground staff while I was briefly away from my seat and told that she must move or accept deplaning. As a result, we were effectively forced into a situation where my wife remained in First Class with our daughter, while I was moved alone into Club World after take-off.

“She was told she could either move to Club or deplane, which felt like a very aggressive way for the situation to be handled, especially as my wife was not being confrontational in any way. She had not said or refused that she would move, so I am totally surprised that he said deplaning was an option.”

According to Daniel, they were not offered alternative seats in First Class or given any warning, despite the plane having been ready on the tarmac for several hours before take-off.

It wasn’t being moved that left Daniel embarrassed, however.

“During the process, a cabin service director also referred to us as being “on an upgrade” in front of other passengers, which was incorrect and deeply embarrassing. We had paid in full for First Class seats only two days earlier,” he said.

“The situation left our family separated, and our daughter experienced significant distress during the flight. What was intended to be a special family journey was instead one of discomfort, embarrassment, and disappointment.

“I believe the handling of this situation raises broader questions about customer service standards, particularly when passengers pay for premium cabins and travel with children.”

He added: “The main issue for us was the way the ground handling of the situation was managed, which felt dismissive and unnecessarily harsh. My wife ultimately remained in her seat, but the experience was very distressing at the time.”

A spokesperson for BA said: “We are sorry for our customer’s experience, and we are in contact to make things right.”

After the Mirror contacted BA, Daniel received an apology and was offered a refund on the upgrade as well as the £220 extra he spent to choose specific seats.

HARRY Styles’ rarely-seen sister told him “I’m so proud of you” as she joined him on-stage for an emotional speech during his final Wembley gig.

The Sign of The Times singer’s Wembley residency began on June 12 and ended on July 4 after a string of successful shows.

During his last gig yesterday, his sister Gemma took to the stage to pay tribute to her brother.

She said: “This is the last place I thought I’d be! But my little brother is about to finish a record breaking 12 nights at Wembley.

“I don’t think of you like this in day to day life. I think of you as a brother, as an uncle, a best friend.

“The community that’s been formed around you is just indescribable, thank you to everyone been here with you over the past 12 nights and last 16 years.

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“Since I left you over the wall over there. I was like ‘are you gonna be okay, small person’ and now we’re here.

“I’m so proud of you and not just proud because you’ve done things like this, which nobody does.

“I’m proud of who you are and who you allow other people to be.

“The impact you’ve made on so many not least on us who get to love you and what a privilege that is.

“Thank you for being you.”

Gemma then asked the audience to help her congratulate Harry on his historic 12 night event as the siblings warmly embraced each other.

It comes after Harry stunned fans by the sweet tribute he made to his ex Taylor Swift at his Wembley gig last night.

The former One Direction star, who dated Taylor in 2012, was on stage in London last night when he crooned a song about his ex on her wedding day to Travis Kelce.

Harry sang the song Two Ghosts, which is widely believed to be about Taylor, after NOT performing it at any of his prior Together Together gigs at Wembley stadium.

Reacting to Harry’s seemingly brazen tribute, one person said on X: “TWO GHOSTS WHILE TAYLOR IS GETTING MARRIED IS CRAZY.”

“COMPLETELY CRAZY! Harry pulling a chorus of ‘Two Ghosts’ with the fans today at #TogetherTogetherLondon,” said a second.

“ON TAYLOR’S WEDDING DAY he isn’t innocent,” penned a third.

Harry last crooned the song on June 16 when he performed an orchestral rendition of the track at the Meltdown Festival in London.

But fans were still left taken aback by it being included in his Together Together gigs, as it has not been part of any setlist on this specific run of shows before.

Harry was invited to the wedding, as was his partner Zoe Kravitz.

The reason Harry was not at the wedding, was not because of any lingering bad blood between the exes – because they’re actually on good terms – but because he is currently on his Together, Together tour.

Taylor is now an officially married woman after her nuptials to Travis Kelce on Friday night.

And Harry is smitten with Zoe, who is good pals with Taylor.

THE rollout of a new visa system for Brits entering Europe is set to be delayed AGAIN.

First announced in 2016, the new ETIAS will be required by all UK travellers visiting countries in the EU.

Similar to the ESTA required to visit America, it will be a ‘visa-waiver’ that lasts three years, or until the passport expires.

However, the introduction of the scheme has faced years of delays – and is likely to be be delayed even further.

This is due to the chaos of the EES system that launched in April, requiring lengthy biometric checks from all non-EU visitors.

Not only has this led to queues as long as five hours, but hundreds of passengers have even missed their flights.

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And this is before the busy peak period, with fears of a “complete collapse of the system” during the summer holidays, according to the head of Europe’s airport trade body.

In response, the launch of ETIAS is now expected to be pushed back to 2027.

According to the FT, EU-Lisa – in charge of the ETIAS rollout – has expressed concerns over it being ready to go this year.

One person said they needed to “clean up EES” before they thought of launching it.

Initially thought to launch back in June, a confirmed launch date is expected to be discussed again in September.

When it does start, all travellers aged 18-70 will have to pay €20 (£18) for the ETIAS.

Anyone outside of this age bracket still need to apply, but will get it free of charge.

Applications will only take a couple of minutes to complete, but it may take up to 30 days to be approved.

Hundreds of easyJet and Ryanair flights have been hit by delays today following an issue at the National Air Traffic Services, with 30,000 Ryanair passengers said to be impacted

Hundreds of UK flights have been delayed due to an issue at the UK’s air traffic control (ATC).

There was widespread disruption across UK airspace this morning after an issue at the Met Office meant the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) didn’t receive weather information.

As a result, Ryanair saw 155 of its flights delayed, impacting almost 30,000 passengers, with delays of up to three hours. EasyJet was hit harder, with 253 flights delayed – 13% of its total number of planned departures today.

“A Met Office technical issue overnight meant that we were not receiving vital weather information into our NATS systems this morning. Accurate weather information is vital for air traffic controllers and pilots in managing flights safely,” a spokesperson for NATs said

“As a result, some air traffic restrictions were put in place early this morning and these have now been removed. We continue to work with the Met Office, who are working to fully resolve the problem.”

The Met Office has been contacted for comment.

“Nearly three years after NATS catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, UK passengers are once again being delayed because NATS’ systems have failed,” Ryanair Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, said.

“Today’s outage delayed 155 Ryanair flights and disrupted almost 30,000 Ryanair passengers. Families travelling on holiday, people travelling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS’ failure.”

Back in August 2023, a technical problem experienced by NATS saw very significant delays and cancellations across the UK. An outage resulted in hundreds of flights being delayed or canceled. In some cases, passengers waited several days for alternative flights. More than 700,000 passengers suffered cancellations and delays.

An investigation into the incident found that an engineer was unable to correct the fault from home, and so arrived at work more than three hours after the incident began in a bid to fix it.

A single flight from Los Angeles to Paris triggered the failure at 8.30am BST on Monday 28 August, the Civil Aviation Authority previously said. The air traffic control system had been confused by a duplicate code – DVL – which represents both Deauville in France and Devil’s Lake in North Dakota, USA.

Despite the engineer’s best efforts to resolve the problem on site, he was unable to do so. The system was eventually restored at 2.30pm after its manufacturer, Frequentis Comsoft, found the fault.

Following an independent review, Jeff Halliwell, Chair of the Independent Review Panel, said: “The incident on 28 August 2023 represented a major failure on the part of the air traffic control system, which caused considerable distress to over 700,000 aviation passengers, and resulted in substantial costs to airlines and airports. Our report sets out a number of recommendations aimed at improving NATS’ operations and, even more importantly, ways in which the aviation sector as a whole should work together more closely to ensure that, if something like this does ever happen again, passengers are better looked after.”

Rob Bishton, Chief Executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, added: “This final report gets to the heart of what went wrong in August 2023 and sets out a number of recommendations that are sector-wide in their scope. It is vital that we learn the lessons from any major incident such as this. I would personally like to thank the Panel for all of their efforts in producing a thorough and wide-ranging report, that will help improve the UK’s aviation system for the future.”