WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche is blurring traditional boundaries between politics and federal law enforcement with recent speeches at political events that mark a sharp departure from norms meant to protect the Justice Department from the appearance of partisan bias.
Blanche took the stage this week at an event for a Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina days after speaking at a GOP midterm convention, where he praised Trump and touted the administration’s tough-on-crime approach.
Blanche’s participation at the rallies has drawn scrutiny from critics who say it threatens to undermine public faith in law enforcement decisions that are supposed to be made free of political interference. It has added to critics’ concerns about Blanche’s loyalty to Trump and White House influence on Justice Department matters against the backdrop of investigations into numerous perceived foes of the president.
“It lends credence to the arguments that the Justice Department is hopelessly politicized,” said Richard Painter, who was a White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. “And that’s not where we want to be right now.”
Blanche has brushed aside norms
Attorneys general have typically stayed away from political rallies and at arm’s length from the White House to prevent the appearance of law enforcement interference in elections and to protect the perception of impartiality in prosecutions.
Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, has brushed aside such norms and fiercely defended the president’s interests in the department, which brought two criminal cases against Trump under President Joe Biden. Blanche has rejected allegations that the Trump administration has politicized the agency and accusations that the White House is improperly involved in department matters.
Blanche has used his speeches at the rallies to promote the administration’s efforts to bring down violent crime, illegal border crossings and drug trafficking as Republicans put their tough-on-crime policies at the center of the midterm elections. In another unusual move, he held a press briefing at the White House this week, fielding questions from reporters on a host of matters including the Iran war.
At an event Wednesday in North Carolina for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley, Blanche told the crowd, “More of your family, more of your friends, more of your community members, more of your loved ones are safer than they were just two years ago.”
“And that’s President Trump and Vice President Vance delivering on a promise that they made to you,” said Blanche, calling Trump “the greatest president of our generation.” His speech also veered into topics outside his law enforcement portfolio such as the stock market, inflation and wage growth.
Blanche says he is not endorsing candidates at political events
The Justice Department said Blanche’s appearances at political events are made in his personal capacity, and noted that his speeches have addressed the administration’s efforts broadly but do not get into agency policies or official business.
“His appearances are reviewed and cleared by the Department’s ethics officials,” spokesperson Kiersten Pels said in an email Thursday. “Travel expenses are reimbursed by the Attorney General in accordance with federal law, regulations, and policies.”
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Blanche dismissed criticism about his appearance at a Long Island event where Trump sought to boost Republican candidates in closely contested races.
The watchdog group Public Citizen filed a complaint accusing Blanche of violating a law that limits political activity by government workers by participating in that event alongside Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I will always say yes to speak when the president of the United States asks me to,” Blanche told the AP last month. “I was there purely thanking cops, law enforcement, for doing their jobs. The idea that that’s turned into somehow criticism is laughable.” Blanche said he was not endorsing political candidates but instead “talking about the great work that President Trump is doing.”
Federal law and Justice Department policy limit political activity
The Hatch Act prohibits government officials from using their official positions to influence elections. That includes supporting candidates while acting in their official capacities. Watchdog groups have long complained that the law isn’t a strong deterrent and enforcement has been inadequate and uneven.
The Justice Department under Biden in 2022 tightened its restrictions on employees’ attendance at political events after then-Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins attended a fundraiser that featured first lady Jill Biden. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was fired by Trump in April, later rescinded those restrictions.
Rollins’ attendance at the fundraiser sparked an outcry from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who sought an investigation and wrote a letter asserting that U.S. attorneys are supposed to act as nonpartisan law enforcement officials rather than as partisan politicians. Rollins resigned in 2023 after the Justice Department’s internal watchdog accused her of broad misconduct.
Before those changes, longstanding department policy had allowed political appointees — who are hired under presidential administrations rather than making long careers at the agency — to attend political events in their personal capacities if they participated “passively” and obtained prior approval.
Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, barred their attendance at fundraisers and other campaign events altogether, saying it was necessary to ensure that politics “both in fact and appearance” won’t affect how the law is enforced or inquiries are carried out.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Thirteen division titles in 14 seasons, and in the year they didn’t win, they had 106 victories. We don’t have a lot to complain about.
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Division titles and Ryan Ward
—The Dodgers won the division title again, clinching it Thursday with their win over the Reds. Remember the olden days of yesteryear when winning the division was a huge deal? Now it is blasé. Dodgers fans live in a time where they have an embarrassment of riches,
Let’s look at how many NL West titles each team has won since divisional play began in 1969:
Dodgers, 24 San Francisco, 9 Cincinnati, 7 Arizona, 5 Atlanta, 5 San Diego, 5 Houston, 2
There was no official winner in 1994, which was ended by a labor dispute.
I guess I’m feeling extra nostalgic today, but I remember growing up the Dodgers’ biggest divisional rival was the Cincinnati Reds, who moved to the Central division in 1994 and have since won a grand total of zero division titles.
If we narrow NL West titles since 2000, we get:
Dodgers, 16 San Francisco, 5 Arizona, 4 San Diego, 2
Poor Colorado.
—The Dodgers made room for pitcher Kris Bubic on the 40-man roster by designating outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment. Ward has been a favorite of newsletter readers for a couple of seasons now, but he really had no place on the team anymore. He’s too old (28) to really be a prospect and his best triple-A season came in his third season at that level. His numbers declined in triple-A this season (you can see his numbers here).
He’s not great defensively, and the team already has corner outfielders who aren’t great defensively. They passed him over for Josue De Paula when they needed someone to fill in for Shohei Ohtani, and there are several outfielders in the system who are considered better than Ward.
In all likelihood, another team will pick him up and give him more playing time in the majors, something he wasn’t going to get with the Dodgers. Hopefully we see him next season in the “There names seem familiar” section of this newsletter.
Evidence of Dave Roberts’ growth
One of the knocks on Dave Roberts has always been his poor postseason managing. But his postseason managing has dramatically improved the last few seasons, and I’m not just saying that because they won the last two World Series. His decisions appear to not always be guided by analytics, like they are during the regular season. And it appears Roberts has indeed learned some things during his tenure. He recently appeared on the 6-1-1 podcast, hosted by former major leaguers Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, and had this to say:
“When you’re talking about winning 11 games in October, I couldn’t believe more that it’s about people, and players you can bet on,” Roberts said. “The heartbeat that the analytics doesn’t line up with. I think that early on, my mistake was I continued to use that same method of the regular season in the postseason….
He also had high praise for two of his players.
“Mookie has said to me, ‘Doc, we wouldn’t have won the World Series if it wasn’t for Shohei and Yamamoto. And his point was, the discipline that they had every single day, how they worked with intention every single day … it raised the level even higher for our guys.”
Forgotten Dodger: Pete Reiser
Pete Reiser in 1941.
(Associated Press)
Pete Reiser never met an outfield fence he didn’t like crashing into and it may have cost him a Hall of Fame career.
Harold Patrick Reiser was born on March 17, 1919, in St. Louis. He loved westerns and as a child often walked around wearing a cowboy hat and carrying toy guns, so people started calling him Pistol Pete, which stuck with him throughout his baseball career.
After playing in 58 games with the Dodgers in 1940, Reiser came into his own in 1941 when he hit a league-leading .343 to go with 117 runs, 39 doubles, 17 triples, 14 homers and 76 RBIs. He also played great defense in center. That got him second place in NL MVP voting behind teammate Dolph Camilli (Reiser should have won). Reiser led the league in nine categories.
He followed that by hitting .310 with 33 doubles and 10 homers in 1942, leading the league with 20 steals and making his second straight All-Star team. However, on July 18 of that year, he crashed full speed into the center-field fence, which was made of concrete, while chasing a fly ball. He ended up with a separated shoulder and fractured skull. In those days though, you didn’t let little things like a fractured skull slow you down. He returned to the lineup a week later, but he wasn’t the same. He hit .244 the rest of the season.
He then enlisted in the Army and spent three years there. In 1944, after a long march in below-zero weather, Reiser was diagnosed with pneumonia. The Army decided to put him in Fort Riley, Kan., so he could play for the camp’s baseball team. With Reiser on the team, they were virtually unbeatable and Reiser was given his own room and excused from all other duties.
Reiser returned to the majors in 1946 and broke his leg while stealing second. He crashed into the fence in St. Louis and missed some time. But he still led the league with 34 steals, though his batting average dropped to .277.
In 1947, he was chasing another fly ball when he crashed into the wall face first. This caused another fractured skull. He was given the Last Rites by a priest in the hospital before making a miraculous recovery. He ended up playing 110 games that season.
He was a bench player the following season, as he had put on a little weight and had been slowed tremendously by his numerous injuries. The Dodgers traded him to the Boston Braves after the season for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick.
By unofficial count, Reiser’s injuries over the years included four fracture skulls, multiple dislocated shoulders, two broken ankles, torn ligaments in both knees and and two beanings. He was carried off the field on a stretcher eleven times—five times when he was unconscious.
He retired after the 1952 season and came back to the Dodger organization as a roving minor-league hitting instructor. He joined Walter Alston’s coaching staff in L.A. in 1960 and helped tutor Maury Wills on how to steal bases. In an interview with this newsletter a few years ago, Wills made sure to give praise to Reiser as being a big part of his 104-steal season.
Reiser had a heart attack in 1965, went on to coach for other teams. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day throughout his adult life and died of emphysema in Palm Springs in 1981. He was only 62.
The postseason race
Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. Milwaukee and the Dodgers have clinched division titles.
Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.
These names seem familiar
How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:
Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Kremlin calls UK’s support for Ukraine an endorsement of ‘terrorism’ after recent escalation of weapons supplies.
Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026
Russia has stepped up pressure on Ukraine’s allies, summoning Britain’s top diplomat in Moscow over arms shipments to Kyiv and seizing Russian assets of several Western firms.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Britain’s charge d’affairs, Danae Dholakia, on Friday, issuing a formal protest over the UK’s “further increase” in weapons to Ukraine.
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“London is placing itself in the position of an accomplice to the bloody atrocities committed by the Kyiv regime, which can only be characterised as terrorism and war crimes,” the ministry said in a statement.
Britain has maintained its support for Ukraine and says it will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Kyiv and will provide whatever military equipment it needs, saying just last month that it will share classified weapons information.
Moscow’s move comes the day after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia might be preparing to launch hybrid drone and missile strikes against countries that support Ukraine, including Poland. He said that such attacks would be framed as accidental, with the intention of weakening NATO states’ resolve to invoke collective defence provisions in the event of an attack on one of its countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the threat posed by Russia’s shadow operations was growing across Europe and that Moscow had targeted France with hybrid attacks in the past few weeks.
“The Russian hybrid threat against Europeans and against France has intensified,” he said after a meeting with French political leaders.
France’s interior minister had met regional prefects to step up “vigilance in response to the Russian hybrid attacks”, Macron said, adding that he had ordered “the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure” and the “most sensitive” defence industry and technology sites against drone and cyber-attacks.
Moscow seizes French, Swiss firms
As Russia steps up pressure on Ukraine’s political allies, it is also targeting Western companies.
Moscow has ordered the seizure of Russian businesses and assets of Swiss food giant Nestle and three French firms: retailer Auchan, DIY chain Lemana Pro (formerly Leroy Merlin) and logistics firm FM Logistics.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree late on Thursday that changed the firms’ Russian operations to a new entity, LEV Management, which is managed by a Russian Ministry of Interior general, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe.
Nestle said it was still “assessing” the situation and its options but it remains “committed to taking all necessary steps to protect its rights”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that one of the reasons behind the decision was because Nestle and Auchan are companies from “unfriendly” countries.
Their assets are only under “temporary administration” and that no decisions have been taken as of yet, Peskov added.
Overnight Russian strikes hit multiple regions in Ukraine, sparking several fires across the country, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to host the inaugural Carpathian Eight summit of several European countries.
They include Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Serbia, with the European Union also set to discuss regional cooperation.
Hungary and Slovakia have refused to send Kyiv direct military assistance in the past, though Poland and Romania remain staunch allies.
OUR Spotlight On column gives you the lowdown on what to see and do in some of your favourite holiday hotspots – as well as some lesserknown gems.
This week we shine a light on a Turkish delight: Istanbul’s Karaköy neighbourhood, set on Istanbul’s European side and once a centre of trade, culture and maritime activity.
Skip the main crowds of Istanbul for the neighbourhood of KarakoyCredit: GettyIt is one of the best places to see Galata TowerCredit: Getty
Today its heritage architecture sits alongside contemporary galleries, independent boutiques, cafés and restaurants.
With the Bosphorus waterfront on its doorstep, it’s an ideal base for discovering the city’s many layers.
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Known as Istanbul’s coolest neighbourhood, The Sun’s Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey, who visited, said it felt like a “trendy pocket of an otherwise busy, but beautiful city”.
For trainspotters, it’s also home to Karaköy station which features the historic Tünel – the second-oldest underground railway in the world.
Start at Galataport, Karaköy’s transformed waterfront district stretching along the Bosphorus.
Once part of Istanbul’s historic working port, the promenade is now home to restaurants, shops and cultural spaces, including Istanbul Modern, with views across the water towards the historic peninsula.
From here, wander into Karaköy’s backstreets before climbing towards neighbouring Galata, where cobbled lanes and historic buildings lead to the landmark Galata Tower.
HIDDEN GEM
Tucked between Karaköy and Galata, the Kamondo Stairs are one of the neighbourhood’s most distinctive architectural details.
Built by the influential Kamondo banking family in the 19th century, the sweeping stone staircase curves elegantly between the old banking streets, creating one of Istanbul’s most photogenic corners.
Their unusual design makes them easy to miss among the surrounding historic buildings, but they’re well worth seeking out while exploring the area on foot.
Karakoy is where you’ll find younger crowdsCredit: Alamy
BEST VIEW
For one of Istanbul’s most popular panoramas, head up to Galata Tower.
From its elevated position above Karaköy, visitors are rewarded with sweeping views across the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and historic peninsula, taking in the domes and minarets of the Old City and ferries crossing between the European and Asian sides.
Time a visit for late afternoon to watch the city begin to glow below.
RATED RESTAURANT
For street food heaven, head to Mumhane Street.
Mehmet Usta’s fish wraps are a local favourite – mackerel grilled over open coals spiced with pomegrante molasses, sumac and herbs and rolled tightly in thin flatbread.
For a sit-down delight, head to Karakoy Lokantasi for Turkish home-style dishes and traditional mezes including slow-cooked lamb.
The Kamondo Stairs in Banker Street are best visited early in the morning to avoid the crowdsCredit: GettyGrilled fish wraps are a must tooCredit: Alamy
BEST BAR
Unter on Mumhane street was one of the original venues that helped transform the Karakoy district.
By day, it’s a buzzing cafe, by night it transforms into a vibrant neighbourhood bar for craft cocktails and wine.
For more rooftop views, head to The Bank Hotel’s Roof Bar on Bankalar Street for sunset drinks.
HOTEL PICK
Hovagimyan Hotel & Suites is a boutique bolthole in the heart of Karaköy, housed within a landmark building.
Meticulously restored, each of the 20 suites is individually furnished with Art Nouveau and Art Deco antiques.
Each also comes with a fully-equipped kitchen.
Moments from the Bosphorus waterfront and Galata Tower, head to The Penthouse, the top-floor bar for the best panoramic views.
Rooms from £213per night in September. See hovagimyan.com.
Ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo named in Portugal squad to face Norway and Denmark.
Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo has been included in new Portugal manager Jorge Jesus’s first 25-man squad for the defending champions’ upcoming four Nations League matches.
In August, Ronaldo fuelled speculation about his retirement plans after saying the coming year would probably be the last of his playing career.
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The 41-year-old Portugal captain is one of the most decorated players in football history, having won major trophies with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and current club Al Nassr since making his senior debut for Sporting in 2002.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, was unable to add a World Cup title to his list of honours after Portugal were knocked out in the last 16 by eventual champions Spain, leaving the sport’s biggest prize absent from his trophy cabinet.
Ronaldo confirmed in July that the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup would be his last in that competition, but he was unwilling to make a hasty call on his international future.
“His performance is what matters. The past doesn’t count,” Jesus told a news conference on Friday.
“In this squad, there are 13 players who have worked with me. I don’t have a set core, so within this group, there were several players who were important for this squad.
“Cris is a player like any other. If he performs, he plays; if not, he doesn’t. He has a different status – he has five Ballon d’Or awards – but does that factor into my decisions? No. However, the fact that he is different is.”
Jesus will make his debut as Portugal manager against Wales at home on September 24. Portugal then travel to face Norway and Denmark on September 27 and October 1 respectively, before hosting Norway on October 4.
Portugal appointed the 72-year-old former Al Nassr boss in July, days after Spaniard Roberto Martinez stepped down following the country’s World Cup exit.
Portugal’s Nations League squad
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), Rui Silva (Sporting), Samuel Soares (Benfica)
Defenders: Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Nuno Tavares (Lazio), Nuno Mendes (Paris St Germain), Renato Veiga (Villarreal), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Tomas Araujo (Benfica)
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Joao Palhinha (Benfica), Joao Neves (Paris St Germain), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal), Vitinha (Paris St Germain), Bernardo Silva (Real Madrid)
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr), Fabio Silva (Borussia Dortmund), Francisco Trincao (Al-Ahli), Francisco Conceicao (Juventus), Goncalo Ramos (AC Milan), Joao Felix (Al-Nassr), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Rafael Leao (Galatasaray)
Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor has been a Weatherfield icon for more than 40 years
Met Gala: Phoebe Dynevor stuns in custom Victoria Beckham gown
Coronation Street legend Sally Dynevor is not the only actress in her family, and Netflix fans are sure to recognise her eldest daughter.
In 1986, Sally, 63, burst onto screens as Sally Seddon on the long-running ITV soap. She was first seen waiting for a bus when Kevin Webster (played by Michael Le Vell) drove past in his van and accidentally splashed her with water.
Initially, Sally was only supposed to appear on Corrie for a short stint, but she soon became the mechanic’s girlfriend and grew into the funny busybody fans know and love today.
Sally and Kevin welcomed two daughters into the world, but their romance didn’t stand the test of time, and Sally eventually found love with Joe Metcalfe (Joe Duttine).
Away from the ITV soap, life is much simpler for the actress, as she has been married to her screenwriter husband, Tim Dynevor, since 1995.
Happy couple Sally and Tim share three children: daughters Phoebe, 31, and Hattie, 22, and son Sam, 29. Both of the girls have followed in their footsteps and are enjoying careers in television.
Hattie stars on the BBC drama Waterloo Road, playing Libby Guthrie, the daughter of history teacher Neil (Neil Fitzmaurice), and has so far appeared in series 13 – 17.
She also appeared in the recently released gripping Netflix series Legends as Arabella, which also stars Steve Coogan and Tom Burke.
Who is Phoebe Dynevor?
Phoebe launched an acting career on the BBC drama Waterloo Road, playing Siobhan Mailey between 2009 and 2020.
She went on to land the role on the Netflix series Bridgerton, playing Daphne, the wife of Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, played by Regé-Jean Page, between 2020 and 2022.
She has since starred in a long list of popular television shows, including The Musketeers, Dickensian, Snatch, and Ten Percent. Away from the small screen, Pheobe has starred in the movies The Colour Room, Inheritance, and Thrash.
Phoebe recently married actor and producer Cameron Fuller at a chateau located in Provence, France. Her husband is the son of producer Brad Fuller, who specialises in horror films, including The Purge franchise and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
On-screen, Cameron, 32, has appeared in shows such as The Last Ship, Insecure, Into the Dark, and The Goldbergs.
He has also worked as a producer on numerous films, including The Astronaut, Dead Sea, and The Girl in the Woods.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday (September 17), the new Mrs. Fuller shared two photographs from the big day, including a black-and-white picture of her and her new husband kissing under a floral-adorned wooden arch. “Married my best friend,” she sweetly captioned the post.
Proud mum Sally was quick to respond, as she gushed in the comments section of her daughter’s post: “Best weekend of our life. Beautiful Phoebe and Cameron. Love you both so much.” Sister Hattie also shared: “The best weekend ever.”
SACRAMENTO — The California Primary Care Assn. and five clinics filed a civil lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and its president, Dave Regan, of racketeering and using ballot initiatives to “shake down” community health centers.
The association alleges that Regan and his union orchestrated a “multi-year campaign of coercion, threats, and economic pressure” to “extort” what the lawsuit describes as “valuable property rights” and “labor-organizing terms” from CPCA and the health centers the association represents in California, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Times.
The suit says Regan pushed Proposition 44, which if approved by voters in November will restrict spending at nonprofit community health clinics, as political leverage against the industry. Regan then offered to call off the measure if CPCA agreed to support the union’s efforts to unionize 25,000 industry workers, the lawsuit states.
In the complaint, CPCA estimates that 25,000 new union members would generate $2.37 million in monthly revenue from dues paid to UHW.
“This is about Dave Regan and UHW in particular adopting a strategy to create harmful legislation and harmful ballot initiatives to force people to the table to negotiate favorable agreements that will benefit them financially and then when those agreements don’t go through, they allow these initiatives to go through to create punishment for the organizations that can’t come to terms, and then they keep coming back, over and over and over again,” said Brandon Thornock, chief executive of plaintiff Shasta Community Health, echoing claims in the lawsuit.
“It’s a complete waste of resources and it’s amoral.”
A spokesperson for UHW did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. In an interview in July, Regan denied asking the clinics to support his unionization efforts in exchange for dropping Proposition 44.
“We wanted to construct a relationship with the clinic association that prioritized appropriate funding of the community clinics in California, including restoring the healthcare cuts that were introduced by the ‘One Big [Beautiful] Bill,’” Regan said previously. “It was a strategic relationship where we’re working in a mutually cooperative way to properly fund the healthcare system to respect workers, and they were not interested in that.”
Regan is a powerful figure in California politics who has a history of using the ballot box to try to force the healthcare industry to unionize. The union leader has come under scrutiny this year over claims about his extreme political tactics, intimidating behavior toward and threats against women, and an allegation of assault more than 15 years ago, all of which he denies.
Regan is also the architect of California’s billionaire tax, a proposal on the November ballot to apply a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires that has splintered labor and divided Democrats.
The CPCA lawsuit, in the federal court in the Eastern District of California, alleges that Regan’s political tactics are not designed to win initiatives, “but to subjugate and terrify.”
The union, the lawsuit states, has filed dozens of punitive ballot measures in California “targeting hospitals and dialysis providers with the implied threat or directly stated purpose of coercing health care providers into acquiescing to their union organizing or bargaining demands.” UHW has spent over $216 million, the suit says, on measures to “harm patients, destroy services, and drive providers out of business.” The vast majority of the UHW-backed measures have been withdrawn, usually after the industry agrees to concessions, the suit states.
“No other singular entity or individual has engaged in such widespread corruption of California’s initiative process,” the suit states.
Proposition 44 requires that community clinics spend 90% of revenue on patient services, which Regan has said ensures that money is aligned with the mission of the health centers.
CPCA and health centers say restricting the funding would dramatically reduce money for other essential services and leave some clinics at risk of closing their doors.
The CPCA lawsuit alleges that Regan’s demands on Proposition 44 were sent in an email in January from a legislative staff member on behalf of the union. The offer, presented as a joint submission from UHW and two union affiliates, included a requirement that community health centers “hold elections for at least 5,000 employees in each of five years the agreement would be in effect, resulting in elections for 25,000 employees over the five-year period.”
The complaint says the email also disclosed that UHW said it would drop the initiative if CPCA agreed to the terms.
“The e-mail unambiguously shows that UHW and the Union Affiliates — bullied and instructed by Regan — agreed and intended to participate in an endeavor to abuse the ballot initiative process to extract valuable labor concessions from CPCA and CHCs, in violation of federal and state law,” the complaint states.
Negotiations to withdraw the measure fell apart on June 24, the day before the deadline to rescind initiatives from the statewide ballot.
The lawsuit alleges that the union offered a new deal that same day.
“UHW would withdraw the Clinic Penalty Initiative if, in exchange, CPCA reversed its opposition to UHW’s billionaires’ wealth tax initiative and took the funds it raised to oppose the Clinic Penalty Initiative and instead used that money to assist UHW in passing its wealth tax,” the lawsuit alleges. “The next morning, Regan, through an intermediary, offered the same ‘deal.’ CPCA refused to entertain such discussions.”
The lawsuit states that California’s community health centers served 6.7 million people in 2025 and 67% are enrolled in Medi-Cal, state subsidized healthcare coverage for low-income Californians. In many rural areas, health centers are sometimes the only source of primary care.
Thornock said Shasta Community Health has patients who travel more than an hour to get care and provides a program that transports them to health facilities. Under Proposition 44, the program would not be considered patient services.
“It was designed to create for us what becomes an existential crisis in many cases,” he said.
The CPCA lawsuit states that Regan and the union began seeking to extort unionization from nonprofit hospitals through ballot measures in 2011 and used the same strategy to try to grow their membership among dialysis center workers beginning in 2017. In early 2022, they began targeting CPCA and health centers through legislation, the lawsuit stated.
The suit also alleges that Regan and UHW are in violation of a California law that prohibits a proponent of a ballot initiative from seeking, soliciting, bargaining for, or obtaining any money or a thing of value from any person or entity for abandoning or preventing an initiative from moving forward.
A week before the lawsuit became public, The Times reported that independent investigators hired by SEIU found in a report that Regan had tried to “extort” an SEIU state council endorsement of the billionaire tax from other California union leaders. An outside law firm that investigated internal charges against Regan found that he suggested to David Huerta, then president of SEIU California, that the state council could be investigated for “governance issues” if the council did not endorse the billionaire tax on the November ballot. The state council later voted to remain neutral on the measure.
The law firm’s investigation, which was paid for by Service Employees International Union, substantiated an allegation that Regan threatened Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, over the council’s position on the ballot measure. The SEIU probe found an allegation that Regan also assaulted one of Orr’s predecessors in the job, Courtni Pugh, in 2009, to be credible.
A second investigation conducted by an outside law firm hired by SEIU California found sufficient evidence to substantiate a complaint that Regan bullied Jessica Bartholow, the council’s government relations director.
In interviews with investigators hired by the union and with The Times, Regan admitted to swearing at a staff member for SEIU California and adamantly denied bullying, threatening and assaulting women or seeking to force the state council to back his measure.
Regan remains in his job and alleges that he’s being unfairly targeted over his advocacy for the billionaire tax. SEIU, the national umbrella organization that represents local SEIU affiliates, has not taken any disciplinary action against him while an internal administrative review process moves forward.
Sources involved in negotiations over the billionaire tax said Regan also asked for concessions to grow his union in exchange for rescinding the measure from the ballot this year, which The Times previously reported.
Regan’s list of demands included union contracts with two private hospitals and a health clinic, an organizing neutrality agreement with healthcare clinics statewide, recognition of his union from dialysis clinics and for billionaires to remove measures they launched in response to his tax, according to two sources familiar with the talks who were granted anonymity to share details of the discussions.
The union leader called the allegation “categorically false” and denied that he asked for concessions for his union in exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot.
Iraola’s preference is to name the team on the morning of the game and he saves the post-match debrief with his players for the day after the match.
There is a sense of pragmatism with his media interactions, too, after a situation where his comments to LFC TV following a pre-season friendly against Monaco were widely reported.
Iraola conceded Liverpool had run out of steam after 30 minutes and did not have the energy levels at the time to play with the intensity that he wants. It wasn’t meant to be a dig at his players – rather an admittance that they were working on building that intensity up.
But there is a realisation that at a club like Liverpool, every word you say can end up shared across social media and taken in a different way than you meant. That said, Iraola comes across as calm in his news conferences and open to discussion.
It is very much a case of Iraola adapting to the club as much as the other way round.
One of the main reasons they went for Iraola was his ability to develop young talent and the average age of Liverpool‘s players in the Premier League this season is 25.3 – only five teams have a lower average.
Youngsters like Rio Ngumoha, 18, Trey Nyoni, 19, and Koumas, 20, all started against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and all three will play bigger roles this season than last.
Intensity is a buzzword under Iraola and that is a non-negotiable but he is already aware that, with such a brutal schedule, Liverpool will need to find ways to adapt and occasionally win games with a set-piece or an individual moment of brilliance.
Going into this weekend, they have made the most sprints in the Premier League but looked flat against Fulham last weekend in a goalless draw, less than 72 hours after beating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Sunday’s game against Bournemouth will be a fourth in 12 days and, after the international break, Liverpool have a spell of four games in 10 days. Between 11 October and 7 November, they will play nine times.
Iraola would no doubt have had a smile seeing Bournemouth win on their Europa League bow against Real Sociedad on Thursday, in the Basque region where he grew up.
Perhaps he will have a moment on the flight down from Liverpool on Saturday to think about how far he has come.
Liverpool haven’t exactly had a dream start under Iraola but they are yet to lose. Becoming a team that is hard to beat is undoubtedly a step in the right direction after 12 league losses last term, but as vice-captain Alisson said last week, draws aren’t good enough for Liverpool.
And Iraola, who is unbeaten in the Premier League since January across his two clubs, knows that a win on familiar territory on Sunday would be the perfect way to head into the international break.
Hans-Joachim Watzke, one of German football’s vice presidents, adds to list calling for Gianni Infantino’s resignation.
Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026
Gianni Infantino must leave the FIFA presidency “no ifs or buts”, according to Hans-Joachim Watzke, one of the vice presidents of the German Football Association (DFB), as he spoke at a festival dedicated to artificial intelligence in Berlin.
The DFB was one of the few federations not to sign a letter of support for Infantino’s re-election as FIFA president in six months’ time.
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“He has to go, no ifs or buts,” declared Watzke, who said late on Thursday that three points in particular counted against the Swiss.
The first was the FIFA Peace Prize, launched by Infantino and awarded in December 2025 to US President Donald Trump, to whom Infantino is close, during the draw for the 2026 World Cup.
Infantino “created this prize himself, and he decided on it himself,” said Watzke.
“You can’t just invent something on your own and then announce it, it’s madness,” said Watzke.
Watzke also condemned the controversial handling of the Folarin Balogun red card during this year’s World Cup, which was hosted in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The American forward was sent off in the last 32 but his automatic one-match suspension was lifted after a phone call from Trump to Infantino.
“It can’t be that when someone gets sent off, the head of state calls the FIFA president, and, remarkably, the whole thing is immediately overturned. That’s madness,” said Watzke.
The third issue was the project, unveiled on July 28 and dropped four days later, to create a commercial company that would have been open to private investors and became a focal point of the rebellion against Infantino.
“It’s completely insane,” said Watzke. “Nobody knew about it, his vice presidents in FIFA knew nothing, the Council knew nothing.”
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said earlier in the week in an interview with RTL/ntv television that it was also time for Infantino to depart.
“The relationship of trust with Gianni Infantino, under this FIFA leadership, has of course been completely shattered,” he said.
“It’s important that this Infantino system comes to an end.”
For now, Infantino is the only candidate for the FIFA presidency in the election scheduled for March 18, 2027, with candidacies open until November 18.
A HUGE expansion at a major American airport that was supposed to open this year has been pushed back to 2027.
New York‘s John F. Kennedy International Airport in America is currently undergoing one of its biggest-ever transformations costing £7.1billion.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, America, is undergoing a massive £14.2billion transformationCredit: Port Authority BuildsThis includes the replacement of Terminal OneCredit: Port Authority Builds
The centre of the project is the New Terminal One, which was expected to open before the end of this year but has now been pushed back to the first quarter of 2027.
The airport has confirmed that testing is needed before the terminal opens to passengers.
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Once open, the terminal – which will have replaced the old one – will have 13 gates plus a temporary gate in its first phase of opening.
When the first phase is complete, the airport will move on to the second phase, which includes demolishing the former terminal.
The second phase will also add nine gates, making a total of 23 gates at the completed terminal – 22 of which will be for wide-bodied planes commonly used for long-haul, international flights.
The 241,548sqm terminal will be the largest at the airport and inside there will be 27,871sqm of shops, restaurants and six lounges.
One of those lounges is Air France‘s largest lounge outside Paris, spread across two floors.
Inside the lounge, there will be seating for up to 400 travellers, with different dining areas celebrating French food and a bar with French wines and Champagnes.
The new terminal was meant to open before the end of this year but has now been pushed backCredit: Port Authority BuildsOnce it does open, it will have 23 gates – 22 of which will be for long-haul flightsCredit: Port Authority BuildsOther terminals at the airport, including Terminal 8 (pictured) are undergoing upgrades as wellCredit: Port Authority Builds
Other spaces inside the terminal will include an “indoor green space” and “family-friendly amenities”.
And travellers will be able to spot a variety of public art installations too.
Airlines that will feature at the New Terminal One include Air France, KLM, Etihad Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, EVA Air, Turkish Airlines, Air New Zealand, Air China and Philippine Airlines.
The project forms part of an even larger £14.2billion transformation at the airport, where there will also be a new Terminal 6 and upgrades at three other terminals.
Airlines at Terminal 6 are expected to include JetBlue, United Airlines and other Star Alliance carriers.
At Terminal 4, there will be 10 new gates and an expanded check-in and arrival area.
Terminal 8 will then undergo a £300million upgrade, including adding new gates and transforming the retail spaces.
New York is a popular destination among British travellers, with around one million Brits heading to the city each year.
Flights between the UK and New York typically take between seven and eight hours and cost from £380 return.
THE SUMMER holidays are in the rearview mirror now, so it’s likely you’re already daydreaming about next year’s getaway.
As for where to book, these spots have been revealed as the trending destinations for 2027 including one place in Europe with tropical-looking beaches, and another country with highs of 30C even in winter.
One of the country’s tipped to be popular next year is called ‘Europe’s Maldives’Credit: AlamyEgypt has been increasing in popularity and this will continue into next yearCredit: Getty
Advantage Travel Partnership, a UK-based consortium of independent travel businesses has said Albania as the destination to watch for 2027.
The country is much lesser-visited by Brits than the likes of France, Spain and Greece – but it has so much to offer, including beautiful beaches and hot summers.
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One spot along the Albanian Riviera called Ksamil is regularly labelled the ‘Maldives of Europe,’ for its stunning coastline.
The village is in the south of Albania very close to Corfu – in fact on a clear day you can see across to the island.
Ksamil has white-sand beaches, turquoise waters, and offshore islands that you can swim to from the mainland, giving it similar attributes to the Maldives.
The easiest way to get to Ksamil is actually to fly into Corfu Airport and take a quick ferry crossing across.
Another spot in Albania that is loved by singer Dua Lipa is the seaside village, Dhermi, which in the summertime is called a ‘bustling seaside paradise’.
It has pebbled beaches, beach clubs, a historic old town, and one of the biggest attractions is Pirates’ Cave.
Albania during the spring sits around the mid-20s, and during summertime can be over 30C.
There are direct flights from London Heathrow, Stansted and Luton to the country’s capital, Tirana, which start from £30.
Ksamil has been called Europe’s Maldives thanks to its white-sand beaches and clear watersCredit: Alamy Stock Photo
Visitors to Albania have been steadily rising, previous statistics reveal that tourists visiting Albania nearly doubled from 6.4million in 2019 to 11.7million in 2024.
Other places that the data revealed are on the up next year include Egypt, an affordable winter sun hotspot.
The country and particularly Red Sea resorts attract Brits in the later part of the year thanks to its high temperatures.
In October, Egypt can still bask on the beach in 30C heat – meanwhile the UK’s average is around 10C.
Marsa Alam is one of the quieter spots that’s gaining popularityCredit: AlamyHong Kong could be set to welcome more British travellers next yearCredit: Getty
He named Sharm El Sheikh as a popular spot for couples with its blend of relaxation, vibrant nightlife, and world‑class reefs.
Hurghada is a spot that’s “especially popular with families thanks to its impressive all‑inclusive offering, shallow beaches, and brilliant snorkelling”.
Nearby Marsa Alam is also gaining in popularity thanks to its “pristine beaches, exceptional diving, and a more laid‑back atmosphere”.
There are plenty of direct flights to Egypt from the UK, particularly in the winter months, with an average flight time of just over five hours.
Two other on-the-rise destinations for 2027 include Hong Kong and Vietnam.
Further afield, Vietnam is another country that’s set to ‘trend’ in 2027Credit: Getty ImagesHeading to Vietnam make sure to stop by unique Train StreetCredit: Alamy
James said: “From the moment I touched down in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, I knew my trip would be unforgettable.
“The city doesn’t just welcome you — it wraps you in its embrace with the hum of motorbikes, the aroma of street food, and a culture so vibrant you can’t help but fall in love.
“My favourite memories of Hanoi, however, were on Train Street. This narrow alley is famed for its railway, which runs straight through the centre, so close to the tiny cafés flanking the street that you can feel the rush of air when the carriages whoosh past.”
Outside of the capital, one popular activity is kayaking along Ha Long Bay which has emerald waters and is surrounded by towering limestone cliffs.
No one will be disappointed by the food and drink scene in Vietnam, James enjoyed Huda beer, crispy fried spring rolls, and a stir-fried rice noodle dish for less than £8.
PROPER pubs have propped up British life for centuries – safe, soothing sanctuaries from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Some call them ‘spit and sawdust’ boozers, others call them ‘Old Man’ pubs.
Ben McFarland (left) has travelled the UK searching for the best pubs as part of the Thinking Drinkers (pictured) – here are some of his favouritesCredit: Thinking Drinkers
But you get the idea – no fuss. No frills.
They don’t complicate or change things. Just a quiet well-kept pint, a vacant stare into the middle distance, a nice chat and that comforting feeling that everything will probably be alright.
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In a proper pub there’s no piped ‘muzak’, no Sky Sports swooshing at you, no cutlery or cloths on the tables, and absolutely no QR codes.
There might be a dog. There should be a piano. If there’s a dog playing a piano, that’s even better.
And once you’re in, there should be no real reason to ever leave.
I make up half of Thinking Drinkers, and we have searched high and low for the best boozers around, so here are my top 10 Proper Pubs that every passionate pub-goer should visit:
The Oxford Bar, Edinburgh
The Oxford in Edinburgh, Scotland is simple but cosyCredit: Alamy
Edinburgh is packed with decent locals. But few do proper, no-nonsense pub quite like The Oxford, a favourite of crime writer Ian Rankin and his hard-boiled detective Inspector Rebus.
There’s none of the tartan tat or tourist rubbish here. Just a solid mix of locals, writers and drinkers, all rubbing along nicely.
Grab a stool, order a beer or a whisky, and settle in. It’s exactly what a pub should be.
A pint here is likely to set you back between £4.50 and £6, and there’s plenty of things to do nearby including the National Galleries of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle.
Southampton Arms, North London
The Southampton Arms is a pretty cheap spot for LondonCredit: Alamy
A sign outside proudly declares “Ale. Cider. Meat” – and that’s exactly what you get at this cracking Kentish Town boozer.
The 16 taps pour only beer and cider from genuinely independent producers – but don’t panic, this is not a Gen Z hipster hangout or a pub for beer bores who won’t stop talking to you about hops.
Inside you’ll find tables, chairs, a piano and plates of meat (and cheese). There’s no Wi-Fi and no bookings.
A pint here costs from £4.97, which is definitely a welcome price in London – and nearby, make sure to visitHampsteadd Heath for a nice autumnal walk.
The Dyffryn Arms, Wales
Dyffryn Arms is known as ‘Bessie’s’ after the landladyCredit: Alamy
Perched on the edge of the Preseli Hills, this place is absurdly old-fashioned and basic.
Known simply as ‘Bessie’s’, after its legendary landlady, it’s less a pub and more a tiny front room.
Ring the bell, the hatch opens, and you’re served one beer and one beer only — Bass.
Inside there are a few chairs, a couple of tables and a portrait of a youthful Queen Elizabeth.
Outside, just a bench. The locals chat in Welsh. There’s no toilet. Yet somehow, it’s perfect.
A pint here will set you back between £4 and £5.50, and in the surrounding are, a head off on a riverside walk or take a short drive to the coastal town of Fishguard.
Birch Hall Inn, North Yorkshire
The Birch Hall Inn at Beck Hole has an old school sweet shop in the middleCredit: Alamy
Tiny but brilliant, this white-washed North York Moors pub is officially the smallest in Yorkshire — and yet huge in character.
The boozer is split into two very basic rooms with a proper old-school sweet shop between them.
Hikers and holidaymakers rub elbows here over a range of well-kept ales, pork pies, pickles, stotties and the pub’s famous “beer cake”.
A pint here will cost you between £4 and £5.50, and in the surrounding area, take a walk to Beck Hole – a pretty village with woodland walks to small ponds and waterfalls.
Wenlock Arms, East London
The Wenlock Arms in London sits right by the Regent’s Canal TowpathCredit: Alamy
While all the streets around it were getting levelled by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, The Wenlock Arms wasn’t having any of it – the bombs didn’t dare touch it.
And, from the looks of things, neither has anyone else.
Built in 1836, this unwaveringly traditional East End institution has a reassuringly retro feel with some of the best beer the British isles has to offer.
A pint at this watering hole usually costs between £4.50 and £5.80, and if you are looking for something else to do in the area, head for a wander along the Regent’s Canal Towpath.
The Evening Star, Brighton
Right by the train station, you can head to The Evening Star in BrightonCredit: Alamy
Just a one-minute walk from Brighton train station, this cosy city centre local is a theme pub…
The theme is sitting down and drinking really nice beer.
Dating back to 1854, there’s not much here beyond some chairs, some tables and a small bar serving a range of really good independent ales, ciders and lagers.
The cheapest pint here will cost you £4.80 (Burning Sky – Plateau), and nearby there’s the Brighton Toy and Model Museum or you can walk to the beach.
Peveril Of the Peak, Manchester
Peveril of the Peak is a brightly-coloured historic tiled pubCredit: Alamy
Peveril of the Peak was once used as a brothel by American soldiers during the Second World War.
It sits defiantly wedged amid modern office blocks and new-fangled flats, with a classic green-tiled exterior.
As for the inside, the historic triangular tavern is perhaps the most beautiful looking boozer in Manchester complete with darts, pool and a jukebox.
A pint at this watering hole will set you back between £5.50 and £6.80, and Manchester Art Gallery is nearby if you are looking for something else to do in the area.
The Bell Inn, Aldworth
At The Bell Inn you will find a massive oak fireplace ideal for cold and wet daysCredit: Alamy
Low- beamed with a massive oak fireplace and a flagstone floor worn by generations of thirsty walkers, this cracking 16t-centuryy country pub is a terrific time-warp of a place.
The beer garden bursts into a perfectly English oasis of calm in the summer, but in the winter, the boozer oozes with cosy charm.
The beers are served spot-on and the food is simple yet superb – warm crusty rolls stuffed with ham, ox tongue, cheddar, stilton or crab, with little pots of mustard and chutney on the side.
You can get a pint and a roll for less than £15.
Fat Cat, Sheffield
The Fat Cat in Sheffield is right by a museum all about steelmaking in the cityCredit: Alamy
Once you’ve sat down here, you’ll struggle to leave this delightful, unpretentious ‘drinker’.
It is just one of several superb pubs to be discovered in the Steel City.
Cosy and carpeted, it’s like stepping into someone’s living room – albeit a living room that serves a great range of real ales from a handsome looking wooden bar.
A pint at the Fat Cat costs from around £4.20, and for somewhere to head after, just across the road is the Kelham Island Museu, m which showcases the steelmaking history of the city.
Free Trade Inn, Newcastle
The Free Trade Inn in Newcastle has a free jukebox insideCredit: Alamy
Boasting beautiful views over Newcastle and across the River Tyne, perched halfway up a hill, this quirky yet canny, frills-free boozer oozes charisma.
It has friendly folk behind the bar, a free jukebox and quality ‘craft’ ales.
You can grab pizza at the boozer too for around a tenner.
A pint here will cost you from £4.50, and nearby, make sure to head on the Victoria Tunnels Tour – this underground 19th-century wagonway has had several lives as a route for coal wagons and then laterana air-raid shelter during World War II.
AS the days get shorter and the temperature drops, there’s nothing like a relaxing autumn staycation to break up the long wait until Christmas.
But finding a weekend away that doesn’t cost a fortune can be a challenge – especially with the summer holidays having already taken a chunk out of our bank accounts.
From murder mystery weekends to rural spa retreats, these are our favourite Wowcher autumn breaksCredit: Wowcher
Wowcher has just slashed the prices on a huge range of autumn mini breaks, with UK holiday deals starting from £34.50 per person.
From Peak District spa breaks, to 18th-century manor houses, to staying inside a full-on castle, here’s our top pick of affordable Wowcher staycations this autumn.
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Halloween murder mystery break for 2 – £78pp
Pick from a range of hotels across the UK for the murder mystery break dealCredit: Wowcher
Is there anything more perfect for spooky season than a Halloween-themed murder mystery break?
This offer includes an overnight hotel stay with breakfast, a three-course dinner, and of course, a fully immersive story where you’re part of the action.
The murder mystery breaks take place all over the UK, and you can pick from hotels in London, Norfolk, the Midlands, Scotland, Yorkshire and more.
The Halloween Murder Mystery break deal is on sale for £78pp, saving 29% off full-price.
Book a Halloween murder mystery break for 2 for £78pp
4* Peak District Countryside Spa Stay for 2 – £89
The cosy Three Horseshoes Inn has stylish rooms inside and a glam spa attachedCredit: Wowcher
An overnight escape with breakfast, spa access, and the stunning Peaks on your doorstep. What’s not to love?
Stay overnight at the Three Horseshoes Country Inn & Spa, a cosy, traditional red-brick hotel which hides modern and stylish rooms inside.
The on-site Mill Wheel Spa has a unique stone bath for a healing soak, plus mud chambers, a sauna and treatments such as bespoke facials catered to your skin type.
A stay here with Wowcher costs £89 for two people, working out to £44.50 each.
Book a 4* Peak District Countryside Spa Stay for 2 for £89
Castle stay with breakfast and dining experience – £129
Save up to 51% on this medieval-style castle break in CheshireCredit: Wowcher
Bag a fairytale-like autumn break with this stay in a medieval-style castle surrounded by misty woodlands.
Peckforton Castle in Cheshire is a Grade I-listed Victorian country house designed to look exactly like a castle, containing 48 unique bedrooms and two restaurants.
Peckforton has plenty of history hidden within its walls for you to explore. It was built in the mid 19th century for a wealthy family, and has its own dry moat, towers, gatehouse and a porthcullis.
This stay costs £129 for two and includes dinner, bed and breakfast, and saves you up to 51% when compared to booking direct.
Book a castle stay with breakfast plus a dining experience for £129
Gulliver’s Resort stay and play package – £169 (£42.25pp)
Gulliver’s Resorts are putting on children’s events for Halloween including a Spooky Dance PartyCredit: Alamy
Join in the fun of the ‘Fright Fiesta’ at Gulliver’s this October with a short break at Gulliver’s Warrington.
The festival-style event sees a street parade take to the theme park, as well as costume character meet and greets and a ‘Spooky Dance Party’.
Families can also hop aboard the Trick or Treat train that chugs around the park, or enter a spooky Ghost House full of live action scares.
The deal includes an overnight stay at the park for up to four people, plus park entry on your arrival day for £169 (£42.25pp).
Book a Gulliver’s Resort stay and play package for £169 (£42.25pp)
North Wales retreat for two with Prosecco – £69
This stay at The Hanmer Arms in North Wales only costs £34.50ppCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
This mini break at Welsh countryside inn The Hanmer Arms comes with breakfast and Prosecco, making for a cosy overnight retreat.
This hotel is in Hanmer, North Wales, a quiet and pretty village with a medieval church and a vast glacial lake nearby.
The hotel itself is a 19th century Georgian inn and pub, serving local ales and generous portions at the Sunday carvery.
The offer costs £69 for two, working out at £34.50pp and saving you 45% off booking direct.
Book an overnight stay for two with Prosecco at The Hanmer Arms for £69
Shropshire manor house spa break for two – £99
This package includes an overnight stay, dinner, breakfast and use of the spa for under £50ppCredit: Wowcher
This Shropshire spa break deal is on sale for £99, which is the lowest rate this break has ever reached on Wowcher.
With this deal, you and a loved one can sit down to a fancy dinner, make use of the hotel spa facilities, retire up to a cosy room and come back downstairs for a Full English breakfast in the morning.
The 4* Albrighton Hall Hotel & Spa is an 18th-century manor with 15 acres of gardens, so you’ll have plenty of landscaped grounds to roam during your stay.
This overnight spa hotel break costs £99 for two people, working out to £49.50pp.
Book a Shropshire manor house spa break for two for £99
WOMEN have reminded their boyfriends, husbands and male family members that they can see who they follow on Instagram and have no intention of pretending they cannot.
The warning has shattered men’s collective belief that tapping ‘Follow’ on the account of an attractive stranger was a private act nobody would ever discover, much less judge.
28-year-old Jess, not her real name, said: “It’s sweet how naive they are. Imagining we don’t go straight to their follower list once we find their accounts. I’ve done it from the car park after first dates.
“And it’s all there – Only Fans models, ‘fitness’ videos clearly designed only to give your wrist a workout and obvious AI scam bots with names like ‘Big Tits Zilla’ and ‘Legs Daily’.
“They always say ‘I don’t know her’. Of course they don’t. She’s a porn star living in LA and they’ve hardly left Doncaster. But they seem to think liking all her posts is the first step to a sexual relationship.
“It’s not like we’re hacking into the Pentagon, boys, there’s an actual search button. We’re also looking for exes, anyone a bit young for you, friends you’d clearly bang given the chance and any sudden, suspicious interest in women’s sports.
“Why don’t they understand the whole world can see when you comment under a thirst trap with ‘yummy’? I haven’t been able to look at Grandad the same way since.”
Husband Anthony, not his real name, aged 39, said: “Jess’s is a massive hypocrite. She claims she’s following my ex for ‘fashion tips’.”
A teenager who piloted a dinghy carrying a then-record 165 migrants across the English Channel to the UK has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison.
Chan Mathok Atak, 19, from South Sudan, admitted endangering others during a sea crossing on 23 July.
Prosecutors at Canterbury Crown Court said Atak created a risk of death or serious personal injury to others on board the boat.
At the time, the so-called “mega dinghy” set a record for the largest number of migrants brought over on a small boat in recent years. That figure has since been surpassed with 230 people on board a vessel in August.
At Canterbury Crown Court on Friday,Judge Sarah Counsell said the offence was so serious “only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified”.
She warned Atak that as a foreign national he was liable in principle to automatic deportation once he completed his sentence.
James Harrison, prosecuting, told the court the boat Atak was piloting was 12.8ft (3.9m) wide and 46.9ft (14.3m) long, a similar length to a standard bus.
The boat had travelled between Calais and the UK and was deflating when it was picked up by border force vessels.
The dinghy, which had 31 children on board with the youngest aged 14, had two outboard engines but one was not working, the court heard.
Four days before they’re set to play the first-ever concert by their new band, Dhani Harrison and Nigel Godrich sit down to enjoy a post-rehearsal libation in the parking lot of a North Hollywood practice space.
“Is there an opener?” asks Godrich, who holds a bottle of fancy root beer. Harrison, who’s clutching a Sapporo, grabs his friend’s drink and neatly pops the top off using his own bottle.
“I went to Brown,” he says with a little smile. “That’s what they teach you in the Ivy League.”
Harrison, 48, is the son of the late Beatles legend George Harrison; long before college, he got a priceless musical education from his father, whose final solo album — 2002’s Grammy-winning “Brainwashed” — Dhani helped complete after George’s death in 2001. Godrich, 55, made his name working in the studio with Radiohead on game-changing records like “OK Computer” and “Kid A”; he’s also produced for Beck, Paul McCartney and Roger Waters and played with Thom Yorke and Flea in Atoms for Peace.
Now the two have teamed up in Dragonflies, a spacey and atmospheric art-rock duo with a self-titled debut album due Friday from Dark Horse Records, the label George Harrison founded in 1974 and Dhani Harrison relaunched in 2020. This weekend, Harrison and Godrich will celebrate the LP’s release with two shows at Hollywood Forever’s Masonic Lodge, where they’ll be joined by guitarist Nick Valensi (of the Strokes) and drummer Joey Waronker (who’s played with Beck, R.E.M. and Oasis).
Asked how exactly the group came together, Godrich and Harrison look at each other across a picnic table and shrug. “The real reason we did it was as a vehicle to hang out,” Godrich says of the two, who’ve been pals since both were living in Los Angeles in the early 2000s and who both found themselves back home in England a few years ago.
Yet “Dragonflies” has plenty to offer the rest of us: Built around Harrison’s high, sighing vocals, the music moves with a funky rhythmic propulsion rooted in Godrich’s signature tape loops; lush string arrangements by David Campbell (also known as Beck’s dad) add a touch of slightly spooked romance to songs about nature and friendship.
Harrison describes the band’s sound as “a bit creaky” and compares it to the feeling of being out on the water. “I always thought that’s a cool place to start — like you’re on a sinking ship,” he says.
Godrich laughs and adds, “Well, I hope not.”
For Harrison, working with Godrich provided a kind of full-circle moment nearly two decades after he caught one of Atoms for Peace’s first gigs at downtown L.A.’s Orpheum Theatre in 2009.
“I remember it made me want to quit music,” he says, which draws a frown from his bandmate.
“That’s not a great review,” Godrich says.
“No, that concert blew me away,” Harrison replies. “I went home and I was like, Oh, they’ve already done all the things I want to do. So I just went and sulked for a few days.”
Dragonflies began after Harrison returned to England, where he’d grown up on his father’s Friar Park estate, following the death of his grandmother, who famously raised George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, in Hawthorne. “I was still here basically to be around her,” says the musician, who formed the bands Thenewno2 and Fistful of Mercy while in L.A. “When she passed, that was the last of my grandparents. My mom was living in England, and so I just thought, Well, time to go.”
Harrison sought out Godrich for help on his 2023 solo album, “Innerstanding”; later, he lent the producer one of his dad’s old tape machines — “They did ‘Shankar Family & Friends’ on it,” he points out — which led to a series of casual jam sessions at Godrich’s studio in London’s Brixton neighborhood.
“It was like, ‘Hey, you want to get some Japanese food and make some tape loops?’” Harrison recalls.
Godrich notes proudly that “the way the record was made was completely mechanical,” meaning nothing was programmed on a computer but instead recorded “live on the fly” using older equipment.
“Fortunately, we both own a ridiculous amount of analog gear,” Harrison adds. “Because we’re nerds.”
“I’m not a nerd,” Godrich says. “I hate gear chat.”
“That’s true,” Harrison says. “He doesn’t nerd out about that stuff — I’m the nerd. He won’t even let me use six Kaoss Pads onstage.”
What’s a Kaoss Pad?
“You don’t want to know,” Godrich replies.
Gearhead or no, the producer was adamant that Dragonflies not rely on prerecorded backing tracks when it starts playing live.
“No computers were harmed in the making of this show,” Harrison says — thus the extra players.
(Brian Feinzimer / For The Times)
Waronker is an old friend of Godrich’s who played drums in Atoms for Peace and on Beck’s “Sea Change” and “Morning Phase” (not to mention Beck’s brand-new “Ride Lonesome,” which Godrich mixed); the producer has known Valensi since he “didn’t work with the Strokes,” as he puts it, in 2003, when Godrich tried a couple of sessions with the New York garage-rock band before deciding it wasn’t a good fit.
Godrich says he plays bass in the live group because it’s easy. But also: “Bass is such an important part of the sound that if somebody else was doing it, they would never do it the same as me, and it would annoy me.”
Top three bass players of all time, according to Dragonflies?
“McCartney’s good, isn’t he?” Godrich asks.
“Les Claypool,” says Harrison. “I’m a huge Primus fan.”
“I like David J from Bauhaus,” Godrich says. “He’s an incredibly innovative bass player — always did very interesting things. Stylistically, he’s someone that I probably copy a lot from. It’s just the root notes, but whoever’s in control of the root notes is in control of everything.”
“It really is a power move to be the bass player,” Harrison says.
“I don’t want to be at the front — that’s not my thing,” says Godrich. “I don’t want to be the guy.”
Does Harrison?
“It takes me a while to get warmed up,” he says. “I don’t really look at people when I’m playing a show. I’m not sure if that means I’m mildly spectoral. I took the test, actually — I scored highest in my old band. I know a lot of neurodivergent people who perform.” He shrugs. “Sometimes you don’t get to choose if you’re the guy, but you’re the guy.”
In addition to his father, one of Dhani’s mentors was George’s friend and latter-day creative partner Jeff Lynne, who for all his musical genius has never seemed particularly comfortable onstage.
“He’s brilliant at what he does, but you talk about in-ear monitors or the sound onstage or the lighting or something, and it’s over,” Harrison says. “It’s too much input. That’s why Jeff wears the Spider-Man goggles,” he adds, referring to the ELO frontman’s ever-present aviator shades. “He has too much Spider-Sense. My dad was the same way. He definitely was like, ‘Look at him — don’t look at me!’”
After Dragonflies’ Hollywood Forever shows, Godrich and Harrison have dates scheduled in Europe for November and hope to play more in the future, depending on when Godrich finishes a couple of records he’s producing. (To give a sense of the stress he’s under, he mimes putting a gun to his head.) The duo already has enough material for a second album too.
How much time does Harrison intend to dedicate to the project?
“As much as I can, really,” he says. “How much do you want to hang out with your mate? I got bored of being Dhani Harrison anyway — I like being Dragonflies now.”
Sam Catling lived the dream by ditching a supermarket job for a supposedly fun role as a cruise ship entertainer. He opens up about his day to day life on a cruise ship, the long hours he worked, and how much he took home each month
Sam Catling landed the dream job despite never working on a ship before(Image: Sam Catling)
Working on a cruise ship is the kind of job everyone fantasises about now and again. And when Sam Catling was just 18, he landed what many people would consider a dream role – a cruise ship entertainer.
Sam, now 38, now shares his memories of his time at sea, as well as interviewing others from across the maritime industry in his podcast Deck Tales, and he’s even written a book, Seems Like Smooth Sailing, that gives an unflinching account of what it’s like to work at sea for months on end.
He jokingly refers to himself as a former ‘trolley wally’ and says his CV consisted of a paper round and a job collecting trollies at Asda when family members suggested he’d be a great cruise ship entertainer. His mum and granny had just come back from a cruise and had chatted to onboard entertainers about how they got into the role, before suggesting the idea to the outgoing Sam.
He spoke about how he managed to land the role, despite his lack of previous boating experience: “I used to get The Stage magazine delivered to my newsagent on a weekly basis, and I kept looking through the ads, and eventually I saw one that said ‘now receiving applications for entertainment hosts’ so I applied.
“The first question was ‘What previous experience do you have working in entertainment?’, and eventually I wrote ‘Ive had extensive experience pushing trolleys around Asda car park for the past two years’.”
With a drama GCSE and a few workshops under his belt, Sam soon found himself in Gibraltar on a boat that was in dry dock, attending two weeks of rehearsals as the ship was refurbished. In addition to entertainers such as himself, who did events from game shows to karaoke, there were a show team with West End-style performers who Sam said were a “triple threat” with dancing, singing, and acting skills.
The job was gruelling, with Sam revealing he worked seven days a week. Visits home were extremely rare, crew stayed on the ship the duration of their contracts, which for Sam’s first cruise was six months. The days were long too, with Sam admitting he became “quite the social drinker” due to his schedules requiring him to sit down and socialise with guests.
His shifts would often finish past midnight, and he’d head to the crew bar after work until 2am, before getting up at 7am to face the next day. Sam said he became skilled at power napping: “Between your different activities that you’d host I was down in my cabin having a power nap. If I had an indoor cabin I’d just close the door and you were in pitch black darkness, so it was really easy to just have a 30 minute nap.” But he admitted: “You wouldn’t know what time of day it was because you’re cutting out all the sunlight.”
His accommodation was included, as was food and expenses, and Sam said: “You’re not paying rent, your food’s taken care of, you’ve no heating and electric and gas bills and all of that stuff. It’s all taken care of, which is nice! You don’t have to worry about all those things. But then you are spending money when you go ashore, you know, going to eat out, because after a couple of weeks of being on board you are sick of the food.”
Sam revealed that, when he worked on ships around 2006, he was taking home about £1,200 to £1,300 a month from working seven days a week. Accommodation was shared, and Sam said only managers and the top talent such as the main singers in the shows would get their own cabins.
Despite this salary being representative of a job over 20 years ago, cruise ships don’t pay much more now. According to career site prospects.ac.uk, which advises students on employment routes, those with little experience shouldn’t expect big money for their long hours: “Entry-level cruise ship jobs, such as hospitality, housekeeping, retail, or waiting staff positions, typically pay around £1,000 to £1,500 per month, often with accommodation and meals included.”
But it claims that experienced crew can get decent salaries at sea: “With experience and progression into specialist or management roles, salaries can rise to between £2,000 and £4,000 per month. Senior officers, entertainment managers, engineers, and technical staff may earn considerably more.”
Sam worked on cruise ships for four years, and nowadays he runs his podcast, which he describes as his “passion” with over 60 episodes available, as well as taking on handyman jobs and occasionally working as a TV extra.
“I want to continue doing this until I’m an old man, because there’s 70% of the planet that’s covered in ocean, so I don’t think I’m going to run out of guests anytime soon. The podcast started with just being a platform for cruise ship crew, but now it’s something else. It’s cargo ship captains, I’ve spoken to a pirate, I’ve had a deep sea salvage scuba diver and tugboat captains.”
He added: “I just really wanted to drill down into something unique and authentic, and within a specific niche that people might not know about; the stories at sea that most people don’t hear. The public might not have an interest in ships, but people are still people, and the stories that happen at sea are there for everyone to hear about.”
From Maddie Lee: Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.
He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.
“It’s not something that I ever take for granted,” Muncy said after the Dodgers clinched the division Thursday with an 8-2 win against the Reds. “This moment is as special as it gets. You get to pop bottles with the boys, celebrating. This is a long season.”
Sheets of plastic had been place in the Great American Ball Park visiting clubhouse since the day before, attached to the ceiling with binder clips and folded up above the lockers, ready to be unfurled after the game for the Dodgers’ celebration.
With their victory Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West division for the 13th time in 14 years. It was never much of a contest. The Dodgers maintained their division lead at nine games even after the Padres beat the Rockies Thursday afternoon.
“What’s funny is Los Angeles has always been looked at, as far as sports, a Laker town,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “I don’t know, I think we might have market share now in Los Angeles.”
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Will they have Aaron Donald for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants?
“We’ll see how this week goes,” coach Sean McVay said Thursday before practice.
The Rams are coming off an embarrassing 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
McVay said the Rams have moved forward from the loss to the 49ers.
“It’s almost like you try and do the ‘Men in Black’ thing,” McVay said, referencing the movie franchise, “where you say all right, ‘hey I don’t remember what happened.’ That was so long ago. We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere. That will get taken out of context.”
Drew Doughty was named captain of the Kings on Wednesday, inheriting the leadership position left vacant by Anze Kopitar‘s retirement.
Doughty is the 15th captain in team history. He served as an alternate captain since 2016-17, when Kopitar replaced Dustin Brown as captain.
The 36-year-old Doughty is the franchise leader among defensemen in numerous categories, including goals, assists, points and games played and was a key piece in their Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014. He will start preparations for his 19th NHL season when the Kings open training camp on Thursday.
“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said in a statement released by the team.
From Ryan Kartje: On Oct. 20, 1928, the William & Mary Indians and Catholic University of Washington Cardinals met under the lights at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Va. Just a year earlier, in 1927, the two football programs made history, taking part in the first night college football game played on the East Coast. Thousands had come to watch that night and marvel at the temporary lights illuminating the field.
Their rematch, by comparison, was largely lost to history. William & Mary used “a thrilling avalanche of forward passes” and “set their teeth grimly to stage a gigantic comeback” in the third quarter, according to a Newport News story at the time. But Catholic blocked the final extra-point attempt and prevailed 13-12.
The significance of their 1928 meeting, nearly a century later, really had nothing to do with the result. In fact, it wouldn’t be fully understood until much later, when the great-grandson of two men on opposite sides of that matchup emerged as one of college football’s most promising freshmen.
Best the Wafles can tell after sifting through family documents last year, Ferris Wafle had just begun playing at William & Mary in 1928, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He’d taken a year off college, to work, before William & Mary recruited him. He’d wrestled for the Indians in addition to his playing football.
Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning, and Wade Meckler followed with a RBI single to give the Angels a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
Minnesota rookie Walker Jenkins hit a two-out, two-run homer in top of the ninth for a 3-3 tie, and the Twins (71-82) took a 4-3 lead in the 10th on Brooks Lee’s RBI single.
Kody Clemens’ sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, but Angels left-hander Blake Weiman (1-1) got Josh Bell to pop to second and, after intentionally walking pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, struck out Royce Lewis to end the inning.
Automatic runner Jose Siri took third on pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom’s fly to left to open the bottom of the 10th. Zach Neto walked, Trout singled off Yoendrys Gomez (2-4) for a 4-4 tie, and Meckler singled off left-hander Kody Funderburk for the win.
Paige Bueckers scored 19 points, Jessica Shepard had her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.
Dallas (25-16) tied the franchise record for wins in a season set by the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock (25-9). The Wings have three games remaining in the regular season.
1899 — The Cincinnati Open begins. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city and is now known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women’s Open.
1938 — The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0. Left end Dick Plasman tackles Arnie Herber in the end zone in the fourth quarter for the win.
1946 — Joe Louis knocks out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1960 — Goose Gonsoulin intercepts four passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.
1965 — In his first collegiate game, quarterback Billy Stevens of Texas-El Paso gains 483 total yards in a 61-15 rout of North Texas State. Receiver Chuck Hughes has 349 of those yards.
1966 — Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas throws four touchdown passes in 38-23 win at Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as NFL’s career leader with 212; finishes career with 290 TD passes.
1967 — U.S. yacht Intrepid beats the Australian yacht Dame Pattie in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.
1977 — U.S. yacht Courageous beats the challenger Australia in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.
1982 — In a rare father-son matchup, coach Jack Elway leads San Jose State to its second consecutive upset of quarterback John Elway and Stanford 35-31 in Palo Alto, Calif. John Elway completes 24-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, throws for 285 yards, three touchdowns and scores on a three-yard keeper for the win after a Cardinal fumble. Stanford reaches the Spartans’ 26-yard line, but Elway gets sacked on four consecutive plays to end the game.
2005 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre joins Dan Marino and John Elway with 50,000 yards passing and also breaks Elway’s single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left of a 26-24 loss to Cleveland at Lambeau Field.
2011 — At 16, Lexi Thompson becomes the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event. The 16-year-old Floridian closes with a 2-under 70 to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Thompson shatters the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.
2011 — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sets an NFL rookie record by throwing for 432 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Newton, who tied the record by throwing for 422 yards in last week’s loss at Arizona, completes 28 of 46 passes with one touchdown in the 30-23 loss to the Packers. Newton’s 854 yards passing is also the most yards for a player in his first two games.
2013 — American Jordan Burroughs earns another wrestling world title. Burroughs, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, extends his undefeated streak to 65 matches with a 4-0 victory over Iran’s Ezzatollah Akbarizarinkolaei in the 163-pound category at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1903 — Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.
1908 — Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.
1930 — New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings.
1954 — The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.
1963 — The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds — 5-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.
1968 — Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals.
1980 — Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.
1984 — The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.
1984 — Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
1985 — Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.
1987 — Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.
1996 — Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0.
2003 — Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.
2006 — The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.
2011 — Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
2012 — Dusty Baker managed his 3,000th game, guiding the Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.
2020 — Garrett Crochet becomes the first player in over a decade to go straight to the majors when the No. 11 pick from the 2020 amateur draft makes his maiden appearance pitching in relief for the White Sox against the Reds. After working out at the Sox’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, IL since being signed, he impresses by striking two of three batter he faces and regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
World Cup winners Spain choose Cueta to announce Nations League squad in solidarity with migration crisis in region.
Published On 18 Sep 202618 Sep 2026
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente announced his Nations League squad from Ceuta on Friday in a show of support for the Spanish city in northern Africa that has become the centre of a migration crisis.
For his first squad announcement since Spain won the World Cup in July, De la Fuente revealed his list in a video featuring him in Ceuta accompanied by residents of the Spanish exclave. More than 70,000 people stormed across the border in late July from Morocco, with more than 100 dying in the chaos. Most quickly returned, but a few thousand remain in the city of just over 80,000.
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De la Fuente did not directly mention the border crossing or its impact, but did say: “This is Ceuta, this is Spain.” It echoed the rise in sentiment in Spain that Ceuta – a territory that until the mass crossing was mostly an afterthought for most mainland Spaniards – needs to be supported.
Spain opens the Nations League against England at Wembley Stadium on September 26 , when its players will wear two stars on their shirts for the first time since winning their second world title.
After visiting London, Spain will host Croatia on September 29 and the Czech Republic on October 3 , before visiting Croatia on October 6 .
De la Fuente kept his World Cup squad mostly intact.
Inter Milan goalkeeper Josep Martinez replaces Barcelona’s Joan Garcia, who is out with a minor knee issue. Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen is in for Marcos Llorente, who retired from international football. Fermin Lopez replaces fellow Barcelona midfielder Gavi, while Espanyol striker Roberto Fernandez got his first call-up, replacing Borja Iglesias.
Ceuta is one of two Spanish territories on the north African coast along with Melilla. Ceuta has been in Spanish possession since 1580. Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers all live there in relative harmony behind a border fence that many migrants from across Africa attempt to cross or swim around for a better life in Europe.
A Real Madrid supporters’ group has demanded a public apology from their star striker Kylian Mbappe and two of his teammates after the trio declined to fully wear a T-shirt in support of the people of Ceuta.
Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Ibrahima Konate wore a tribute shirt along with the rest of the squad ahead of Madrid’s 3-2 win at Elche on Tuesday in La Liga, although theirs were partially rolled up to cover the message.
Spain’s Nations League squad:
Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), David Raya (Arsenal), Josep Martínez (Inter Milan)
Defenders: Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona), Eric Garcia (Barcelona), Marc Pubill (Atletico Madrid), Alejandro Grimaldo (Atletico Madrid), Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid), Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid), Pedro Porro (Tottenham).
Midfielders: Rodri Hernandez (Barcelona), Pedri Gonzalez (Barcelona), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona), Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Fabian Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Baena (Atletico Madrid).
Forwards: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Ferran Torres (Paris Saint-Germain), Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Victor Munoz (Liverpool), Roberto Fernandez (Espanyol).
The proposed deal, worth an estimated total cost of $24.3 billion, was announced as the Kingdom is in the midst of a fierce fight against the Houthi rebels of Yemen. It marks a major policy shift, with Washington previously being unwilling to export the advanced stealth fighters to Arab states and will likely serve as a reminder at a very challenging time for the Saudis of the unique security capabilities that only the U.S. can provide them.
In addition to the jets, which will be conventional takeoff and landing variants, Saudi Arabia has requested 49 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines, support and other items.
Despite concerns from Israel that providing Saudi Arabia with the advanced fighters will tip the balance of power in the region, the proposed sale of this equipment and support “will not alter the military balance in the region,” the State Department noted.
The United States has a requirement to maintain Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge, which essentially guarantees that Israel will be prioritized for advanced U.S. weapons ahead of Arab states in the region. Among these advanced weapons, the stealthy F-35 is highly prominent.
You can read our past feature about the wide-ranging impacts of an F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia here.
Israeli Air Force F-35i fighters. (Israeli Air Force)
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region,” the State Department wrote. “The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to deter current and future threats by strengthening its homeland defense, and improving interoperability with U.S. forces, and other regional and NATO forces. The proposed sale will also augment Saudi Arabia’s operational aircraft and enhance its air-to-air, and air-to-ground self-defense capability. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment and services into its armed forces.”
In November, “President Trump approved a major defense sale package, including future F-35 deliveries, which strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base and ensures Saudi Arabia continues to buy American,” according to the White House.
Trump has pushed for closer ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia and wants the Kingdom to join the Abraham Accords initiative. This is a set of agreements that establish normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and different Arab states. Doing so would be a major breakthrough, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and others.
A Saudi F-35 deal was also discussed under the Biden administration, as part of a broader deal that sought to normalize the Kingdom’s relations with Israel.
KATIE Price has plugged a questionable weight-loss jab – that’s ‘not intended for human use’.
The former glamour model, 48, is championing the injectable which is not approved in the UK.
Katie Price has come under fire for plugging the weight loss jabCredit: GettyShe has left fans shocked after flogging the debatable drugCredit: x.com/@KatiePrice
She wrote on X: “Guys, I have started my peptide journey with @supreme_cbd and this is a great offer to start on! £40. Wow that’s brilliant.”
Katie continued: “I’m loving these peptides.”
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She then added a discount code, confirming, “If you want to lose weight.”
A second worried user pointed out: “Commented this on the post but surprisingly got nothing back, so I’ll try with you… ‘not for human consumption?’”
Another bemused fan queried: “Why would you be on a peptides, there’s f*** all on you?”
Tesamorelin is legal to possess in the UK for scientific research but it is not authorised for human consumption in the UK.
It is legal to buy, possess and sell tesamorelin in the UK strictly for in-vitro laboratory research and scientific investigation.
However, it is not a licensed human medicine in the UK and is not approved by the MHRA for clinical use.
It cannot legally be marketed, sold or labelled for human consumption, therapeutic treatment or veterinary applications and is licensed in the US for people with HIV-associated lipodystrophy.
The mum-of-five recently shared a health update on son Harvey as he continues his fat jab journey.
The star has been open about her weight loss over the past yearCredit: GettyThe controversial injections Katie is backing are ‘not for human consumption’Credit: x.com/@KatiePrice
She previously shared her concerns over her 24-year-old son’s health after revealing he weighs 30st.
Harvey, who lives with Prader Willi Syndrome, blindness and autism, started taking fat jab Mounjaro earlier this month.
Katie revealed that Harvey’s BMI is double that of someone classed as obese – and also recently said on her podcast that he had been taking fat jab Mounjaro for nearly a month.
The final straw came when she discovered a crypto account he claimed contained £37m had just £2.20 in it.
Meanwhile, Lee said that he hasn’t “pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes” nor has he “thrown Katie under the bus”.
The 7 fat jab mistakes stopping you losing weight
WHILE weight loss jabs have been hailed as a breakthrough in helping tackle Britain’s obesity crisis, some users say they’re missing out on their waist-shrinking powers – and it could be down to some simple mistakes…
POOR PENMANSHIP
Many people don’t correctly use the injection pen, according to Ana Carolina Goncalves, a pharmacist at Pharmica in Holborn, London.
Make sure to prime your weight loss pen correctly, as per the instructions. If nothing comes out, try again, and if it still doesn’t work, switch the needle or ask a pharmacist for help.
It’s also recommended to rotate injection sites between the abdomen, thigh and upper arm to avoid small lumps of fat under the skin.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
Make sure you’re using the jabs on the most effective day of your schedule.
For example, taking the jab right before a takeaway or party won’t stop you from indulging, says Jason Murphy, head of pharmacy and weight loss expert at Chemist4U.
Weight loss injections need time to build up in your system, so if you’re planning for a heavier weekend, inject your dose mid-week.
MAKING A MEAL OF IT
You may not feel the urge to overeat at mealtimes due to the jabs. But skipping meals altogether can backfire, says Dr David Huang, director of clinical innovation at weight loss service Voy.
If a person is extremely malnourished, their body goes into emergency conservation mode, where their metabolism slows down.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
A key mistake using weight loss jabs is not eating the right foods.
As well as cutting out sugary drinks and alcohol, Dr Vishal Aggarwal, Healthium Clinics recommends focusing on your protein intake.
DE-HYDRATION STATIONS
Dehydration is a common side effect of weight loss injections. But it’s important to stay hydrated in order for your body to function properly.
Dr Crystal Wyllie, GP at Asda Online Doctor, says hydration supports metabolism, digestion, and can reduce side effects like headaches, nausea and constipation.
MOVE IT, MOVE IT
It can be easy to see the jabs as a quick fix, but stopping exercising altogether is a mistake, says Mital Thakrar, a pharmacist from Well Pharmacy.
Exercise helps maintain muscle mass and help shape the body as you lose weight, which may be crucial if you’re experiencing excess skin.
QUIT IT
While there’s the tendency to ditch the jabs as soon as you reach your desired weight, stopping them too soon can cause rapid regain.
Mr Thakrar recommends building habits like healthier eating during treatment for sustaining results.
Nestle (NSRGY) is reviewing its options after Russia placed the Swiss food company’s local operations under temporary state administration, adding to mounting pressure on Western businesses that still hold assets in the country.
