Month: October 2026

Natasha Whitley has saved a huge amount compared to the costs people expect to pay

A budget traveller who has been to the Maldives four times has revealed how she spent less than £350 on one trip.

Natasha Whitley, 30, first travelled to the country in April 2024 with friend Kara, 26, for five days and tried out two islands – Thulusdhoo and Dhiffushi. Staying in cheap accommodation costing just £60 per night and a local ferry costing them just £1 to get from the airport, Natasha “loved it”.

Since then Natasha started her own business for solo travellers, Say Yes Adventures, and returned to the Maldives a further three times as part of group trips. Her most recent visit in February 2026 saw her travel solo on a new island – Fulidhoo – for three nights.

She flew from Gatwick Airport with her flights costing £800 – but it cost just £2.50 for the three-and-a-half-hour ferry trip from Malé to Fulidhoo. She stayed at a hotel costing £260 for three nights, she explored the local island and tried out local food like Maldivian fish curry while there. After paying £29 for a speedboat back from Malé, she continued on to stay at an all-inclusive resort called Niva Kuramathi Maldives – which she says was “not affordable at all but interesting to see the contrast”.

Love of travel

Natasha, a content creator from Bournemouth, Dorset, said: “I’ve always loved travel and I was lucky my parents were interested in travel. They met while travelling in the 80s, so it’s always been a part of my life and story.

“I’m a pharmacist and I worked for four years and took a career break, which was meant to be eight months – it was a big round-the-world trip to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Central America all on a budget.

“I quit my pharmacy job for a content creation summer job. I met my friend Kara the following year and put the feels out there to see if she wanted to come to the Maldives with me.

“There’s not much online about the Maldives on a budget – people know it as somewhere super expensive and a honeymoon destination. In terms of budget I think we said we’d spend around £100 per day on accommodation and activities.

“We spent less than that and spent £420 over the five or six days. You see all the resorts across from you on the local islands, which is crazy because people are paying thousands and you’re spending a fraction of the price in the same waters. Staying on local islands has saved me a lot of money.”

2026 trip

In February 2026, Natasha headed out on her fourth trip to Fulidhoo.

She said: “In the Maldives my favourite food is the Maldivian fish curry, which is usually five dollars. From that island you can do snorkelling trips and watch wild stringrays and nurse sharks from the jetty at night.

“You can snorkel off the beach as well. If you’re nervous about solo travelling just start small, don’t think big because a big six-month trip can be quite overwhelming. The best way to start is to join a group trip because you travel solo, but as soon as you arrive you’re in a group of people, so you get a bit of both”.

In total, Natasha has spent more than 100 nights in the Maldives over the last two years, which would have cost her more than £45,000. You can follow Natasha’s adventures on @travelsbytash and find out more about her group travel company Say Yes Adventures at sayyesadventures.com.

Costs for Natasha’s trip to Fulidhoo

Accommodation: £261 for 3 nights, including breakfast

Transport: £2.50 for local ferry, £30 for speedboat

Food: £7 to £10 per meal

Total cost: £344.50

Example costs for a trip to a resort

Accommodation: £2,482 for 3 nights in an overwater bungalow with private pool and full-board

Transport: £127 return speedboat from Malé

Food: £47, including shrimp pad-Thai at à-la-carte restaurant

Activities: £91, snorkelling with manta rays

Total cost: £2,747

Oct. 14, 2026 10:49 AM PT

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook’s lawyers say that a committee set up by the White House last week to investigate an accusation against her is “demonstrably biased,” though they did not close the door on the possibility that she would appear before the panel.

Lawyer Abbe Lowell also said in a letter Tuesday that Cook would not be able to participate in a hearing Nov. 5 because she “will be executing her official duties as Governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe.”

The earliest that Cook could appear before a “committee of inquiry” that the White House set up last Friday would be after the Fed’s policy meeting Dec. 8-9, the letter said. The letter was sent to William Scharf, a counsel to President Trump.

Lowell’s comments are the latest turn in the Trump administration’s extended efforts to fire Cook from her position as one of seven members of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump has accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud in 2021, before she joined the board, a claim she has denied. No criminal charges have been filed.

No president has fired a Fed governor before, a reflection of the Fed’s traditional independence from politics. Yet Trump, who has repeatedly demanded that the central bank lower its key interest rate, has taken numerous steps that economists say have threatened that independence. The Justice Department earlier this year sought to investigate then-Chair Jerome Powell over brief testimony he had given about an extensive building renovation, though a judge threw out subpoenas in the case and it was later dropped.

Cook was appointed by former President Biden and is the first Black woman on the Fed’s board.

Trump first tried to fire Cook in August 2025, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year she could remain in her position while litigation continued. The court also suggested, in a footnote to the ruling, that Trump could try again to fire her if the administration provided her adequate notice and an opportunity to respond. The committee of inquiry announced by the White House last Friday is an effort to meet those conditions.

Under the law governing the Fed, the president can only fire a Fed governor “for cause,” but the Supreme Court didn’t address whether Cook’s actions met that standard. The committee of inquiry will ultimately recommend whether there is cause to fire Cook, a White House memo last week said.

Lowell also said in the Tuesday letter that “we have significant concerns regarding the objectivity and fitness of the committee for its assigned purpose.”

One of its three members, Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to Trump, has already said the president has “cause” to fire Cook, the letter noted. The other two members — Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Andrea Rich — are also Trump appointees.

“A hearing with demonstrably biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear schedule for the disclosure of any additional evidence – with no explanation for why it was not previously produced – is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence,” Lowell’s letter said.

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press.

Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min both contributed to all three goals for LAFC in a 3-1 victory over Austin FC on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.

Neither team found the net until Bouanga took a pass from Son seven minutes into the second half and scored to give LAFC (12-9-9) the lead.

Austin’s Brandon Vázquez scored for the second time this season, using an assist from Myrto Uzuni, to knot the score in the 66th minute.

Bouanga answered the following minute with his 17th netter off another assist from Son, his league-leading 15th of the season, and LAFC went back in front 2-1.

Bouanga returned the favor when he notched his eighth assist on Son’s sixth goal of the season in the 72nd minute for a two-score advantage. Jacob Shaffelburg picked up his career-high fifth assist.

Hugo Lloris totaled three saves for LAFC, which is 2-2-3 since the start of September.

Brad Stuver stopped 10 shots, one off his career high, for Austin (7-11-11), which has lost two straight following an eight-match unbeaten streak.

LAFC improved to 9-3-3 at home, while Austin dropped to 3-8-4 on the road.

The clubs played to a scoreless draw in Austin to close out March.

The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday amid an uncertain global outlook shaped by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The meetings are being held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, taking place in the Thai capital from October 12 to October 18.

Here are some of the key details about the meetings:

What are the G20, the IMF and the World Bank?

The G20 is an economic forum comprising 19 large economies, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the European Union and the African Union.

The grouping has an annually rotating presidency, currently held by the US.

Together, the G20 countries account for about 85 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and three-quarters of global trade.

The G20 was established in 1999 as a forum for finance ministers and central bank governors to address shared economic concerns in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis, before expanding into a broader forum for national leaders.

The IMF, based in Washington, DC, is an international financial institution that promotes international cooperation on monetary policy, trade and economic growth.

Its membership includes all but a handful of the world’s sovereign states, including North Korea, Cuba, the Vatican City and Monaco.

The World Bank, also based in Washington, DC, primarily serves as a provider of loans and grants to developing countries. It has 189 member countries.

The IMF and the World Bank were created at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference in the US, convened by the Allied Powers to establish the contours of the post-World War II international financial order.

Who will be attending the meetings?

Most finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 will be in Bangkok, along with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be a notable absence from the gatherings, as the top economic official of the world’s biggest economy and G20 chair.

US officials have cited “domestic engagements” for Bessent’s decision to skip the events, at which Washington will be represented by Deputy Secretary Francis Brooke and Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne.

The G20 meeting, one of several gatherings of the group’s finance ministers each year, will help shape the agenda for the headline leaders’ summit in Miami, Florida, taking place on December 14-15.

What is on the agenda?

The economic fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran is expected to dominate discussions.

Attacks across the Middle East have upended economic activity across the region, while disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has driven a surge in energy prices worldwide.

Crude oil prices have exceeded $100 a barrel for much of the past eight months, placing a strain on government coffers and household budgets, particularly in the Gulf region and the rest of Asia.

In advance of the meeting, Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers MP said he would use the discussions to call for an end to the conflicts in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz “because that’s what the global economy desperately needs”.

“The war in the Middle East is having a devastating economic impact and is pushing up fuel prices, inflation and interest rates around the world,” Chalmers said in a statement.

Other issues likely to feature on the agenda include the ballooning debt levels of many countries, which exceed 100 percent of GDP in the US, Canada, Japan, Italy and France.

In a speech on Wednesday, Georgieva warned that mounting debt posed a threat to the global economy and that there was no “magic” formula that would allow governments to avoid tax hikes or spending cuts.

G20 members will also bring more specific individual concerns to the table based on their economic and geopolitical priorities.

The US, for example, has repeatedly expressed concern about “global imbalances”, a veiled reference to China’s state-driven industrial model that has allowed Chinese exporters to flood overseas markets with cheap goods.

US President Donald Trump has long claimed that China’s large trade surplus, which stood at a cumulative $938bn in September, proves that international trade is stacked against US manufacturers.

In a statement addressed to the IMF on Wednesday, Bessent called for action to address mismatched trade balances.

“This especially includes strengthening its analysis and engagement on the role non-market policies and practices and exchange rates play in driving external imbalances,” Bessent said.

“Policymakers around the world are having difficult discussions about how to sustain market-based systems amid distortionary policies from some economies that skew competition and hurt employment.”

Divisions and competing interests cloud the prospects for coordination, however.

At the last meeting of G20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, US, held on August 31 and September 1, member countries failed to issue a joint communique after China objected to language to do with trade.

The U.S. Army now has at least five named programs seeking new anti-air interceptors of various tiers to collectively address everything from advanced hypersonic missiles to small weaponized drones. In the process, an important central theme is emerging: the service’s days of fielding air defense systems that can only use one type of interceptor look to be increasingly over. For the U.S. military, the impacts from the war with Iran have made clear that diversifying munitions stockpiles and supplier bases is no longer just valuable, it is critical.

Army Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires, highlighted this growing trend yesterday during a panel discussion at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual convention, at which TWZ has been in attendance.

To provide some immediate context, with the exception of Patriot, the main ground-based air defense systems in Army inventory today are fielded with just one type of interceptor. In the case of Patriot, the service’s procurement of new interceptors had also been increasingly limited to just one type, the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE). Production of the preceding PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) missile ended in 2023. Just earlier this year, the Army placed its first order in decades for new PAC-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) missiles, an older interceptor design for Patriot that has remained in production primarily for U.S. allies and partners.

Separately, the Army is in the process of fielding Enduring Shield, a new middle-tier air defense system designed to handle multiple interceptor types. However, the service is currently only acquiring AIM-9X Sidewinders to load into them. We will come back to this later on.

“We have the capabilities we need to have to fight and win, but it’s our job to ensure that victory is achievable in the future inside of any dynamic environment scenario fight we might find ourselves in,” Lt. Gen. Lozano said yesterday. “So, it’s incumbent upon Mr. Ingraham [Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Brent Ingraham] and I to continue to be creative and looking at, well, should we buy GEM-Ts because they’re being produced?”

“GEM-Ts are a really good missile in the battlespace within they operate. I mean, they’re being employed today by air defense brigades around the world,” he continued. “So if we have the opportunity, it’s probably something we should take advantage of, and we’re looking at doing that.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions about even more interceptors. From a PAC-3 MSE perspective, our goal has always been to get to 2,000 [per year],” he added. “Why we’re running programs like LCI [Low Cost Interceptor], and NGSRI [Next-Generation Short-Range Interceptor], and NGCM [Next-Generation C-UAS Missile], and Second Interceptor, is because I think the easy button answer is just buy more of a great missile. We’re going to buy more [PAC-3 MSEs], but when we start talking about overall missile output, we start looking at numbers like is it 4,000, is it 6,000, is it 8,000, we’re looking at a diverse set of capabilities.”

The LCI program is seeking a lower-cost and lower-tier interceptor for Patriot with a unit price of no more than $1 million. PAC-3 MSE’s average unit cost has been around $4 million in recent years.

NGSRI is the Army’s program to find a replacement for the venerable Stinger. The new missiles have to be compatible with existing vehicle-based and man-portable launchers.

The Army is working to field a new counter-drone interceptor through NGCM. Those missiles will be integrated into launchers the service has now for the Coyote interceptor.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense proves counter-UAS effectiveness against enemy drones

The Second Interceptor effort is for Enduring Shield, which is also known as the Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 (IFPC Inc 2). The main goal there is to provide increased capability against incoming cruise missiles compared to the AIM-9X.

There is also the Army’s Future Interceptor effort, which also came up separately at the panel yesterday, and is also for Patriot. Unlike LCI, the aim here is to acquire a new interceptor with improved capabilities against hypersonic missiles and other upper-tier threats.

Historically, Army programs like these would eventually result in the selection of a single winning missile design. Lozano’s remarks yesterday point to the service increasingly taking a very different approach.

On “second interceptor, obviously, we just moved into phase two of that program. We’ve got Lockheed Martin competing with Boeing, who was teamed with Anduril,” Lozano said. “But we wanted to turn up the heat on that program. I constantly get frustrated when a funding profile emerges over the FYDP [the Future Years Defense Program], and then magically we lay in a five-year program.”

“I’m like, no, I actually need that capability now,” he continued. “So, have we thought maybe what if we ran a 24-month program or a 36-month program, right? And so, in that vein, what we have decided to do is, while those two companies continue to compete, we’re going to create a shoot-off opportunity in [the] fourth quarter [of Fiscal Year 20]27, and I want to run an in-parallel, what I call an in-stride competition.”

“We just held an industry day, and we basically just said, hey, if there’s any other company who didn’t make the first cut in the phase one, but, oh, by the way, who continued to invest in the IFPC Second Interceptor capability, we’d love for you to come out to the range,” he added. “We’ll give you range time, we’ll present targets, and we’ll allow you to recompete with an opportunity to get back into the program folder.”

The Army is doing the exact same thing with NGSRI, where Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been competing face-to-face. That program is also now planning to hold a new shoot-off that will be open to other vendors in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2027.

There are signs the Army is moving in a similar direction with NGCM, where it previously selected AeroVironment to supply its Freedom Eagle-1 (FE-1) interceptor. The service put out a request for information seeking new NGCM options in August, with a goal of holding an initial evaluation again in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2027. A deeper operational assessment could then follow in Fiscal Year 2028.

Freedom Eagle-1, the Next-Gen CUAS Missile

To reiterate, on top of all this, the Army is also now pursuing at least two new interceptor options for Patriot.

“We have to address the threat, and we need to address the threat in a complementary way, meaning we need to fight on a cost curve that’s affordable for the U.S. Army to maintain and sustain that warfighting capability abroad,” Lozano stressed yesterday.

This gets to the crux of the matter. It is not at all a new observation that just having a stockpile of any particular munition on day one of a conflict is not enough, especially if the fight becomes drawn out. There needs to be sufficient depth to those stocks at the start and the ability to readily replenish them in line with expenditures. The war with Iran, compounded by other crises in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, has made clear that these core truths apply to all armed forces, even the U.S. military.

Lower-cost munitions are part of the solution, but they also need to be producible at scale on reasonable timelines. The lead time for higher-end munitions today is often measured in months, if not years. Furthermore, being locked into a single vendor has been shown to not just be undesirable, but a potential national security risk in an actual conflict. Lozano’s remarks yesterday, and how the Army is now pursuing new anti-air interceptors, reflect larger trends, not just in the acquisition of larger volumes of munitions overall, but also from a broader array of total suppliers.

There has also been a push across the U.S. military to bring in new and non-traditional firms, including in partnership with established prime contractors. An example of this is the Boeing/Anduril team-up for Second Interceptor. This was also underscored by new framework agreements the Pentagon announced back in May regarding the planned purchase of thousands of lower-cost cruise missiles.

With regard to the LCI program, specifically, Lozano highlighted an additional aspect of all of this yesterday.

LCI has “a unique twist to it because we’re looking for companies who have all-up rounds, but I’m also asking for companies to come in at the component level,” he explained. “We typically don’t do that, right? There’s a lot of risk in managing components and generating all-up round systems. But we’re also looking for weapon system integrators, because I want to be able to create two or three teams who can compete with the all-up round guys to see if we can generate some momentum behind the fact that we need to thicken our inventory with low-cost, affordable munitions.”

The U.S. Navy is now pursuing a roughly similar approach with its Naval Modular Missile (NMM) program. NMM envisions an entirely new family of sea-launched surface-to-air missiles that offer very different capabilities, but that all feature certain common components, as you can read more about here.

The Army is also eyeing a new family of launcher vehicles, as well as containerized options, all capable of firing various types of surface-to-air and surface-to-surface munitions. Autonomy is also an important aspect of what is aptly dubbed the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher (CAML) program.

It is also important to note here that the underlying aim is not to eliminate more exquisite munitions, or the capabilities that they offer, but to create a more affordable, complementary mix of options.

“What I would say is we’re solely focused on delivering on the programs we are executing now,” Lozano said in closing at the end of the panel yesterday. “We have to deliver, and if we deliver on that wide variety of capability, then we can increase and ramp that capacity. And that would be my wish list, that we have enough resources and we achieve programmatic success in the way that we’re planning to, so we can deliver in mass.”

All signs point to the diversity in munitions that Lozano is talking about here being particularly pronounced in future Army air defense capabilities full of systems firing multiple types of interceptors.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

ACTRESS Hilary Swank is pregnant with her third child more than three years after welcoming her twins.

Swank, 52, announced her pregnancy on social media on Wednesday, sharing a creative video of glowing stick figures with a tiny baby attached to the belly of one of their bodies.

The video displayed three glowing stick figures, which appear to represent Swank’s husband Philip Schneider and their twins Aya and Ohm, dancing to Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Moments later, a fourth member joins the party, however, this stick figure has a baby attached, which suggests Swank’s pregnancy.

Swank captioned the post, “A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December,” hinting that she is due in the winter.

Swank and Schneider welcomed their twins in April 2023, nearly five years after tying the knot at an outdoor ceremony at the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California, in August 2018.

The Oscar-winning actress announced her first pregnancy during an interview on Good Morning America in October 2022.

Swank gushed at the thought of becoming a mom, saying, “This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time and my next thing is I’m gonna be a mom.”

She then teased, “And not just of one but of two.

“It’s such a blessing. It’s a total miracle. It’s unbelievable.”

Swank made the decision to freeze her eggs at 37, not yet sure whether she wished to be pregnant someday.

She then used these eggs a decade later, and opened up to Women’s Health magazine about how it felt to become a mother at the age of 48.

The star shared: “I would have had kids earlier. I’m not saying I actively waited until 47. But that was a magical time in my life, when it all culminated. It was the right time for myriad reasons.

“I’m a very different parent than I would’ve been, even in my early 40s, I’m much more patient. I’m much more understanding. I am much more, I think, interested in a different way than I would’ve been.

“I’m really interested in their brains. I am fascinated about what makes them tick. And I have my career that’s already established, so I’m not divided. I’m able to really sink in and be present with them and be a hands-on parent.”

Swank also graced the cover of Women’s Health magazine to flaunt her post-baby body in a series of sexy bathing suits.

The then 50-year old ooze confidence in the stunning snaps, flashing her enviable figure.

Her stomach looked super flat and toned despite carrying twins, and her smile beamed from underneath a blue sun visor.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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In the early hours of 2 June 1953, guests at the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel in the heart of Eryri (Snowdonia) were woken from their sleep by the sound of footsteps running down the corridor outside their rooms. The commotion was followed by gleeful shouting and the sound of champagne corks popping. A late-night telephone call to the hotel’s owner had moments earlier confirmed that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had successfully summited Mount Everest. It had taken two days for the news to travel from the Himalayas to London. Serendipitously, news of the historic achievement coincided with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II later that day.

In the days and weeks that followed, the two mountaineers were feted across the front pages of newspapers around the world. Posing awkwardly for the cameras, their beaming smiles shone out of frost-burnt faces. In the decades that followed, Tenzing Norgay’s role in the expedition was increasingly marginalised – he was a Sherpa, indigenous to the area, and the load-carrying guide, while Hillary firmly planted his ice axe in the history books.

A new film, set for release this week on Apple TV, aims to set that record straight. Tenzing, starring Genden Phuntsok and Tom Hiddleston, tracks Tenzing Norgay’s life from a young boy growing up in the Khumbu Valley to his rise as one of the most accomplished climbers within the Sherpa community, and his eventual recruitment to the 1953 British expedition to Mount Everest (known locally as Chomolungma) led by Colonel John Hunt.

The film opened the Zurich film festival last month, where its director, Australian film-maker Jennifer Peedom, told audiences: “It’s often reduced to a familiar shorthand: Hillary conquered Everest, assisted by a Sherpa. But Tenzing had more experience on Everest than anyone else on that 1953 expedition. He wasn’t just helping another man achieve his dream. He had his own dream.”

In the spring of 1952, a full year before the British expedition, Tenzing, alongside Swiss climber Raymond Lambert, came agonisingly close to reaching the summit – less than 250 metres stood between them and glory. After a storm-lashed night on the south-east ridge, and with little oxygen, they were forced to retreat, albeit having set a new altitude record.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Hunt, having been assigned by the Joint Himalayan Committee to assemble a team of climbers, set up base camp at the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel at the foot of the Llanberis Pass. It was here they would practise their technical climbing skills and test the state-of-the-art equipment that had been designed specifically for this adventure, in particular the closed-circuit oxygen tanks that would be critical in keeping them alive in the “death zone” above 8,000m. The teams spent weeks on Yr Wyddfa’s (Snowdon) notorious Crib Goch ridge and on Yr Lliwedd mountain, testing the revolutionary new high-altitude boots that would replace the old leather and hobnail ones, which offered little to no protection from the freezing temperatures of Everest.

Artefacts from those pioneering days can be seen at the hotel today. A glass cabinet contains some of the summit team’s original equipment and mementoes: goggles, an ice axe, a ledger of Sherpas’ fingerprints as most could not read or write, a compass and a battered tin mug. Little has changed in the 73 years since Christopher Briggs woke his guests with those glasses of champagne. The Pen-Y-Gwryd is a time capsule; it remains in family hands, now run by Briggs’s grandsons, Nick and Rupert Pullee, who are determined to maintain the hotel’s legacy and the traditions that have made it a beloved destination for those with a penchant for adventure and late-night conversations in front of roaring fires.

“My grandfather was originally from Scarborough,” Nick says. “He was a chemist, but his shop was bombed during the war, so [in 1947] he persuaded a friend to lend him the money to buy a hotel in Wales. The building had been used to home children during the blitz and had fallen into terrible disrepair, but he somehow managed to turn it into a success.”

Briggs also started the Snowdon Club, where guests under the age of 16 who have successfully climbed the mountain take part in a small ceremony in which they are quizzed on their mountain knowledge. Those who answer correctly get to drink (lemonade) from Hillary’s pewter tankard and are awarded a sterling silver ice-axe brooch, with their name added to a book of members – a ritual that still happens today.

The Smoke Room serves as the residents’ bar, a tiny wood-panelled snug whose walls are adorned with photos of the Everest team, with Tenzing featuring prominently. In one, he’s perched in the bar drinking tea with George Band, the youngest climber on the 1953 expedition. In another, he’s on a rocky outcrop of Tryfan, another famous Snowdonia peak, with team leader Hunt.

“I was only a toddler when Tenzing last visited the hotel,” says Nick. “I remember he was incredibly kind and was constantly smiling. He used to give Rupert and myself piggybacks up the stairs. He was great friends with my grandfather, who visited him in Nepal often.”

Built in 1810 on the bedrock that makes up the Glyderau range, the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel is also the original starting point of the Pyg track, one of the most iconic routes to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, and today guests can walk directly from the hotel’s door to the path that snakes upwards towards Pen y Pass. The timeless interior of the hotel is devoid of TV screens or piped music, and the only concession to the 21st century appears to be the wifi.

This summer’s endless heatwaves saw sun-scorched hillwalkers cool their limbs in the natural outdoor pool in the grounds of the hotel. Fed by mountain streams, it offers unparalleled views of the hills and sweeping valley towards the mountain village of Capel Curig. The addition of an outdoor sauna and the popularity of cold-water swimming mean it’s now a year-round proposition.

The 20 rooms are all named evocatively after local peaks: Pen yr Ole Wen, Elidir Fawr, Crib Goch, Y Garn. Each is as cosy as one would expect from a rain-lashed mountain hotel: softly lit and with comfy mattresses wrapped in vintage Welsh wool blankets. In the labyrinthine corridors upstairs, you’ll discover bathrooms with Victorian roll-top tubs and Heath Robinson-esque showers. The bathroom doors are adorned with illustrations in the style of Aubrey Beardsley, and photos and artworks capturing the surrounding landscape and its mountaineering history adorn virtually every wall.

Dining at the Pen-Y-Gwryd is an event in itself: mealtimes are announced by the banging of a gong, the dining room is an unapologetic whirlwind of Axminster and silverware, and the menu features roast Welsh lamb and Welsh steak and ale pies, sticky toffee puddings or rhubarb crumble – everything you’ll need to replenish after a long mountain trek.

The ceiling of the Everest Room in the public bar has been signed by pretty much every big-name mountaineer of the past 100 years, and each corner of the building appears to have a story and artefact attached. It’s this authenticity that Nick believes gives the hotel its charm.

“I think our greatest attraction may be that things remain unchanged,” says Nick. “We have a lot of regular guests from all over the world, and for many people the opportunity to step back from the world in the wilds of Snowdonia is extremely enticing. It’s something we aim to protect and cherish.”

Rooms at the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel range from £114 to £172 B&B; three-course dinner £49. Tenzing is on Apple TV from 16 October

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, celebrated the 20-year anniversary of landmark climate legislation he signed while in office alongside Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.

“California is the perfect example of what can be done when people work together and when we don’t look at this as a Republican or as a Democratic issue,” Schwarzenegger said at an economic conference in Long Beach, noting that Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act had significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions while creating more than a half a million clean-energy jobs.

“This is the message that is so important for the world,” he said, because the state’s policies have become a model for other states and nations.

Newsom noted that the state had met “audacious” goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, touting 39,000 megawatts of clean energy that have been installed in the last seven years, 23,000 megawatts of battery storage created, and that no flex alert has been issued in the state in four years.

“So we’re not in the goal-setting business; we’re in the how business,” he said.

He added that the clean energy transition is “the most critical national security issue in the United States of America,” with economic and supply chain leadership at stake as China surpasses the U.S. in electric vehicles, clean-energy manufacturing and the deployment of renewables.

The state already met the climate change legislation’s ambitious target — returning emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — four years ahead of schedule. However, recent analyses indicate California is not on track to meet its future targets of cutting emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2045.

The legislation paved the way for the creation of California’s nation-leading carbon market, cap-and-invest, which launched in 2013. The Legislature extended cap-and-invest’s life to 2045 last year, and the state is now initiating the process of linking its market with Washington state.

The event as well as a luncheon the prior day in Santa Monica were rare displays of bipartisan unity at a time of heightened political polarization in the United States. Schwarzenegger and Newsom piled praise upon each other during the Wednesday afternoon discussion, hugging at the end.

At the luncheon, former Gov. Gray Davis, whom Schwarzenegger ousted from office in the 2003 recall election, as well as billionaire hedge-fund founder turned environmental warrior Tom Steyer, who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, were among the Democrats in attendance, as well as former state Assembly Speaker Fabien Nunez and former state Sen. Fran Pavley, who were both pivotal in the passage of the climate-change legislation.

In addition to remarks highlighting the foundation of some of the nation’s bedrock environmental policies, such as former GOP President Richard Nixon creating the Environmental Protection Agency and signing the Endangered Species Act, there were moments of levity.

Schwarzenegger said he told fellow Republicans “f— you” when they balked at him naming Susan Kennedy, a Democrat, as his chief of staff, he said Tuesday.

During a breakout session at the Wednesday conference, he referenced his former wife, Maria Shriver, a scion of the Kennedy family, as he described his desire to hear from people on both sides of the aisle.

“So I had Democrats in my administration, and of course the Republican Party went nuts,” he said. “I didn’t care because, to me, I thought I wanted to hear what the Democrats were thinking. Plus, I was sleeping with one every night anyway.”

The three players have arrived at Welford Road at contrasting times during their careers.

Wainwright is the new kid on the block despite, having played 70 internationals in a nine-year Wales career that includes a Grand Slam title and two Six Nations triumphs. He has also played at two World Cups.

Wainwright moved to Leicester after almost a decade at Dragons to join a growing influx of Wales’ top players in England.

Wales captains Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan have joined Gloucester, with Louis Rees-Zammit, Dafydd Jenkins, Tomos Williams, Nicky Smith, Rhys Carre, Archie Griffin, Tomas Francis and Christ Tshiunza among those also playing in the Prem.

Wainwright is in a lift-share with Reffell and fly-half Billy Searle.

“Reff is keeping keeping me company in the morning, so he’s doing a good job of helping me settle in,” said Wainwright.

“He has helped introduce me to everyone and it felt a bit like it was a first day at school.

“I was nervous but everyone’s been welcoming and I feel I have settled in.”

Wainwright made an instant impression with his team-mates on his debut after setting up Wales wing Gabriel Hamer-Webb with a try-scoring pass against Saracens.

“He moves like a back and hits like a forward,” said Hamer-Webb.

“He has this engine on him that just does not stop and that’s part of the Leicester Tigers DNA.

“He’s also got that soft touch that you saw when he assisted me against Saracens with that great pass.

“I have seen him play before but to be on the same pitch as him and see how he moves, he is phenomenal.”

Wainwright has also become a firm fans’ favourite, as indicated by an incident after the away victory at Newcastle.

“I saw some of the fans and there’s a few that had the headbands and wigs on and I had a photo,” said Wainwright.

“One of them just snuck me a packet of Welsh cakes to take home on the bus. That was a nice touch.”

The 29-year-old still has a fondness for his home city having opened a cafe in Newport.

He has also taken on a director of coaching role at his boyhood club Whiteheads RFC, despite living in a Leicestershire village almost three hours away.

Wainwright deserved his move after being such a loyal servant, playing in a Dragons side that was not used to winning. There were 33 victories, 97 defeats and eight draws in his 138 matches.

Leicester are preparing for the start of the Champions Cup matches away in Pau on Sunday, with Wainwright having never played in the top-tier competition.

He missed the only two Champions Cup games that Dragons played while he was at Rodney Parade, which came back in 2020.

Now, one of Wales’ elite back rowers is finally set to grace Europe’s elite tournament.

At least 350 Palestinian children currently face “harsh conditions” in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.

In a report released on Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing “harsh conditions” in Israeli prisons.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the report said.

The organisation said information regarding the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear, given the thousands of missing persons in the besieged Gaza Strip, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance.

The group said Israel’s policy of detention without charges or a release date constitutes “an additional violation and crime that leaves children facing the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability”.

Cases of Palestinian children in prison

The report described Israeli practices that begin with “intimidation and arrest” and extend to “torture, starvation and denial of healthcare”.

The group highlighted the case of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies, a contagious skin infestation, while he was detained in Ofer Prison, where rights groups have long documented abuses. He suffered severe infections, underwent heart surgery and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition. He subsequently had one of his legs amputated.

The organisation also highlighted the case of 17-year-old Walid Ahmed, who died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo Prison. In December, an Israeli judge halted the investigation into his death, stating that although there was evidence of starvation, no definitive cause of death had been established.

American children in Israeli prisons

Ahmed was imprisoned in Megiddo with his friend Mohammed Ibrahim, a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was released after months of advocacy from US-based organisations and appeals from high-ranking lawmakers.

Mohammed Ibrahim was not the only young American held in Israeli prison without charge – Israeli forces reportedly took Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi from his West Bank home in a late-night raid in June. He turned 18 in detention, and authorities subsequently moved him from a youth holding area into an adult section at Ofer Prison.

Similarly, Israeli forces arrested 16-year-old Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, also an American, in July. Although he was set for release in August after his family secured bail, Israeli authorities abruptly reversed the decision to free him.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society called for “real international action” to ensure the release of arbitrarily detained children, enforce investigations and end torture, starvation and the denial of treatment in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces have detained more than 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, and thousands more in Gaza, since Israel’s genocidal war began in October 2023.

Amy Dowden has teased her comeback to Strictly Come Dancing after it was confirmed she would be replacing injured Delta Goodrem, who is unable to dance this week

Amy Dowden has teased her comeback to Strictly Come Dancing as she’s set to replace injured Delta Goodrem.

Singer Delta has been forced to miss this year’s Icons Week after breaking her rib. She has been forced to pull out of the show this week and will get a bye to the following week as per the rules.

It has been confirmed that Amy will dance with Kai. Vogue Williams said on Lorraine today: “It’s good to see her back, but she’s going to be dancing with Kai, and supposedly to Dolly Parton’s Jolene. I mean, that’s going to be so good.”

Now, footage has emerged of Amy – who was first out the competition with Chris Appleton – reacting to the group dance. “I really think this Icon’s Week is going to be phenomenal,” she said as the group prepared to dance to a Madonna number.

Today, Delta shared an update on her own health. Taking to social media, she wrote: “Just wanted to come on here and say a big Thank you to everyone who has sent messages and wrote lovely comments the last couple of days, I see them all.

“Not the start to the week I’d hoped for but your support has meant the world. Also special big thank you to my amazing dance partner @kaiwidd who I will miss dancing with this weekend but I am so beyond grateful for his guidance and friendship through it all.. as well as the wonderful Strictly team!!”

To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.

Delta had previously said she was “absolutely gutted” to be out the show for the week, and hoped she’d be back the following week. She told fans: “I’ve been loving every second of this experience, so having to sit this one out is heartbreaking – especially after the high of Saturday night.

“I cannot tell you how much I love being a part of this magical show. I’m going to focus on resting and recovering, and hopefully I’ll be back on that dancefloor very soon. Thank you so much to everyone for all the love and support. It’s so appreciated. I’ll be cheering everyone on from the sidelines this week!”

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PHOENIX — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to toss out $122,000 in legal costs that lawyers for former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake were ordered to pay for false and misleading statements they made in a lawsuit that sought to require a hand-count of all ballots in the 2022 midterm elections.

The nation’s highest court on Tuesday denied a request from Andrew D. Parker, an attorney who represented Lake in the lawsuit, to review a lower-court decision over the legal costs arising from the unsuccessful litigation.

The lawsuit by Lake and state lawmaker Mark Finchem sought to ban electronic tabulation devices. It was dismissed by a judge who found Lake and Finchem lacked standing to sue and that their lawsuit was filed too close to the election.

In 2022, Lake lost the governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and Finchem was defeated in the secretary of state’s race by Democrat Andrian Fontes. Both Republicans had promoted the narrative that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.

Maricopa County had sought sanctions against Lake, Finchem and their lawyers, alleging they broke a court rule by making unfounded allegations and by not conducting the necessary research before filing the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge John Tuchi later concluded the lawsuit’s claims lacked an adequate basis in fact, that the standard inquiry attorneys must make before pressing litigation hadn’t been done and that the lawyers acted recklessly in seeking a court order based on frivolous claims.

The requirement to pay the legal fees applies to the lawyers who pressed the lawsuit, not to Lake and Finchem.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected appeals over the lawsuit’s dismissal and the awarding of the legal fees.

The Associated Press left phone and email messages Tuesday for Parker, whose firm is based in Minneapolis.

Earlier this year, Parker asked the Supreme Court to throw out the requirement to pay Maricopa County’s legal fees in the case, arguing such sanctions would deter attorneys from bringing aggressive or novel legal claims.

Maricopa County said lawyers for Lake and Finchem had disregarded a letter that identified false allegations they had made in their lawsuit and relied on some of those claims in a later court filing. The county’s attorneys said those who brought the lawsuit failed to present evidence to support their allegations and falsely alleged that Arizona didn’t use paper ballots and that its electronic voting systems hadn’t been subjected to expert analysis.

Billeaud writes for the Associated Press.

The quiet crowd had come alive. The quiet pitcher had become unhittable. The quiet catcher had loudly blasted a ball that sent Chavez Ravine into tremors.

In the sixth inning Wednesday night, with their pursuit of history on the line against those pesky Milwaukee Brewers, the somnolent Dodgers had finally come to life.

Moments later, they were dead again.

The Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell yells after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning off Blake Snell in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

And they will remain so next spring.

After an inspiring, two-run rally authored by a bases-loaded double from Will Smith, Dodgers starter Blake Snell allowed back-to-back homers to Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell to open the seventh and eventually close out the Dodgers’ season in a 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

It’s not over, but it is. The Dodgers aren’t done, but they’re so done.

The chase for a third consecutive World Series championship is historically and essentially and practically kaput. Their pursuit of a three-peat has been smothered by the Brewers’ own version of a three-peat, and nearly all hope is lost.

The Dodgers now trail the Brewers three-games-to-none in this best-of-seven series, a virtually impossible mountain to scale, achieved only once in major-league history.

Yes, Dave Roberts stole the base that spurred the Boston Red Sox to work out of a similar hole against the New York Yankees in 2004, but he’s no longer on the field and any of that inspiration has long since vanished.

“I don’t know if some of those guys even know I played,” said Roberts before the game..

They could have used some of his fire Wednesday in a game played against a background of apathetic embarrassment.

Namely, it wasn’t a sellout. How can an NLCS game in the most perpetually crowded baseball stadium in America not sell out?

The huge swaths of empty seats were perhaps a sign that, after watching their team slog through two losses in Milwaukee, Dodger nation had already given up. The 50,708 fans who did show up made lots of noise, but it was too late to reverse the optics of a team abandoned.

Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández reacts after taking a strike in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Not surprisingly, there were several standing ovations given to injured star Shohei Ohtani, who the Dodgers considered benching before allowing him to talk his way into staying in the lineup. Also not surprisingly, Ohtani did little to reward his devotees, He hit a soft flyout, he was hit by a pitch, he drew a walk to help fuel the Dodgers sixth-inning rally and he singled after the Brewers had taken a three-run lead. No heroics. No hard hits. No chance.

The injury-plagued season of Ohtani will end with the Dodgers surely realizing that they should have taken control of his situation instead of empowering him to dictate the terms of his participation. They shouldn’t have let him keep playing hurt, but they did because they didn’t want to upset him, and it was the team that ended up paying the price.

All this negativity swirling around Dodger Stadium Wednesday night and, to think, the Dodgers were just moments from saving themselves.

Snell was brilliant for six innings, allowing just a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio.

The Dodgers then set him up for a victory by taking advantage of a terrible decision by Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

Entering the sixth inning Brewers starter Robert Gasser had allowed just three singles in five shutout innings and had thrown just 72 pitches. Yet he was stunningly pulled by Murphy in favor of heavily used Abner Uribe.

Sure enough, Uribe threw eight balls in his next nine pitches to walk Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker. After Max Muncy struck out, Ohtani drew a five-pitch walk in one of his best plate appearances this month.

Up stepped Smith, who entered the game with one hit in his previous 25 postseason plate appearances. But this night was going to be different, as it was hours after Will Smith’s wife, Cara, announced the birth of their third child.

Oh baby! Dad powered a two-run double off the left-center field fence to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Snell took the mound in the seventh having retired the previous 14 Brewers and looking strong. But he had not pitched this deep all season. And the Chourio home run was the first he had allowed this season.

Should Roberts have pulled him? You decide. Snell opened the seventh by walking Andrew Vaughn and losing an 11-pitch duel to Bauers, who won the battle with a two-run homer. Two pitches later, Garrett Mitchell took Snell deep to almost exactly the same right-center field spot to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead they never lost.

Snell was gone, but it was too late and too much. The weary and distracted Dodgers never again showed much energy on a night when Dodger Stadium did its best.

There was Keith Williams Jr. hitting all the high notes — and even higher — during his usual incredible national anthem.

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

There was past Brewers playoff nemesis Chris Taylor chanting, “It’s time for Dodger baseball!.”

Late in the game, there was even unofficial Dodger emcee Ice Cube on the video board saying “We ain’t backing down to no one.”

The hardest part of all this is that Cube is wrong. The Milwaukee Brewers are a good team but make no mistake.

Blessed with an opportunity to step up and make history, the Dodgers backed down.

Soon to be knocked out.

The President’s ally says conservatives “cannot give an inch” in Latin America as he accepts an award in Washington.

Argentine President Javier Milei has urged his ally, US President Donald Trump, to come out of the United States midterm elections in a stronger position, calling the vote important for the West as a whole.

Milei made the appeal on Wednesday at a Hispanic Heritage gala in Washington, where a Hispanic association gave him an award, ahead of November’s vote.

Conservatives, he said, “cannot give an inch in our reconquest of the hemisphere”, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Milei flew into the US capital on Wednesday for meetings with investors and the gala. He is due to address the US Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Milei’s lifeline

Trump firmly backed Milei a year ago, when his government also faced crucial legislative elections. He has called Milei his “favorite president”.

That backing, together with a currency swap agreement with the US Treasury, helped Milei to success in those polls, analysts have argued.

The centrepiece of the package, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, was a $20bn swap with Argentina’s central bank, in which the US exchanged dollars for pesos. The swap came shortly after Milei’s party lost a key provincial election.

Trump made clear at the time that the support hinged on a Milei victory. “I’m with this man because his philosophy is correct,” he said ahead of a White House lunch with the Argentine leader. “If he wins, we’re staying with him. And if he doesn’t win, we’re gone.”

Trump also warned that the US would not be “generous” if Milei lost. The remarks unsettled Argentine markets, with the main stock index giving up earlier gains and falling about 2 percent, The Associated Press reported.

The package drew criticism in the US. Democratic lawmakers accused Trump of prioritising a foreign bailout while the US government was shut down.

The White House is defending its new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, as she faces scrutiny over her legal credentials.

President Donald Trump described Zacharia as an attorney when announcing her appointment last week and she has referred to herself as a lawyer.

But when she was asked on Tuesday by a reporter in which state she had passed the bar exam required to be an attorney in the US, she said standing alongside the president: “When I moved to China.”

She does not appear to be registered to the bar in any state where she has lived. White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia is “uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people”.

Responding to questions about her credentials, Zacharia said in a statement this week: “I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

On Wednesday, a watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability, filed a complaint with the California State Bar Association.

They are seeking an investigation into whether Zacharia “repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practise law without a licence to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime”.

The 42-year-old political strategist graduated from law school at Pepperdine University in California in 2011, the university confirmed.

A law degree is not a licence to practise law in the US.

The new White House press secretary told the New York Times on Wednesday that when she first began appearing on cable news, she had asked Pepperdine how she should identify herself.

She said she was advised by the university president that she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.

Zacharia took the bar exam in California after graduating from law school but did not pass, according to the Wall Street Journal. California’s bar exam is widely regarded as one of the hardest in the US to pass.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter told the outlet that Zacharia took the exam around the same time that she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her husband-to-be.

R&B icon Stephanie Mills revealed she had an unresolved beef with “Mother Monster” Lady Gaga.

During Wednesday’s episode of “The Jason Lee Show,” the Grammy-winning “Wiz” star didn’t hold back when she explained what went down between her and Gaga and how the experience left a sour taste in her mouth.

“I feel like Lady Gaga is a culture vulture,” Mills said. “Can I tell you something. … I don’t even know if I should say it now.”

But Mills went on and said it anyway.

She said she was approached by her former manager a few years ago and asked to fly to New York, where Lady Gaga was doing a fashion shoot. Mills’ megahit “Home” was Gaga’s favorite song, according to the manager, who asked Mills, “Would you come and surprise her and sing?”

“At first I said no,” Mills continued. “Why would I do that? And I was talked into it. Never let somebody talk you into something.

“I went,” Mills said. “She had a little black dog there, and all the other people, and so I sang for her. She didn’t smile. She didn’t do anything. She looked at me like I had two heads.”

Mills said she finished singing “Home,” and the stars took photos, but before she left, Gaga’s team stopped her at the elevator and insisted she delete the pictures. “And they did not let us leave until they saw every picture being deleted,” she said. “Very disrespectful.”

The Broadway star further explained that she thought Gaga was a culture vulture because she was managed by a Black man, Troy Carter, who also worked with John Legend, Eve, Nelly, Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth. Carter is widely credited with ushering the “Born This Way” singer into superstardom in the aughts.

“I know who I am. I did it. I sang a song for her. I had admiration for her. I don’t any longer,” Mills said.

“I give everybody grace, and I’ve learned throughout the years to take my temperature down and not react but show them who I am later. … It’s like you don’t have to always react, but sooner or later you’ll get your chance to say, ‘Do you remember?’”

She followed the statement by looking straight into the camera and addressing Gaga, “I hope you watch, and I hope you remember what you did. And I feel like you owe me an apology.”

Reps for Gaga did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment, but the star — as well as many other musicians and actors — has a history of nixing photographs.

In the Los Angeles mayoral debate Tuesday night, I was reminded of two things.

First, as I’ve said before, it’s no surprise that roughly one-third of likely voters remain undecided with less than three weeks to go until election day.

Second, there is one key difference between the two candidates: We know who Mayor Karen Bass is, but we don’t yet know who Councilmember Nithya Raman is, even though she’s been leading in most polls.

Those two points are connected. I think a majority of voters want a change at City Hall because of the marginal progress on homelessness, the erosion of basic services and the bad decisions before and after the Palisades disaster, among a host of other issues.

But they’re not sure what they’d be getting in Raman.

Why not?

If you haven’t already seen the story a few days ago by The Times’ longtime City Hall reporting ace, Dave Zahniser, you need to check it out right here.

The headline neatly sums it up:

“L.A. mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has strong opinions. But they often change.”

Raman has flip-flopped so many times, it’s as if she’s having a political identity crisis, which is not a great selling point for a candidate.

She endorsed Bass, an ally, for reelection and then abruptly and surprisingly announced that she was running against her.

She rose to power as a darling of the Democratic Socialists of America and vowed to defund the police, only to later support an LAPD budget increase.

She embraced the so-called mansion tax, then said it needed an overhaul.

She supported and helped fund Bass’ signature homelessness initiative, Inside Safe, and now has turned against it.

“That’s the real wild card,” said Sara Sadhwani, assistant professor of politics at Pomona College. “She has flip-flopped so extensively on policy that it’s unclear which version of her values we would get.”

Look, it’s not uncommon for a candidate of the left, or the right, to move toward the center to broaden support. And there’s nothing wrong with learning on the job and evolving. It’s all too rare, in fact.

The problem for Raman is that in somersaulting around on core issues, she’s alienating some of the people she would need as allies in order to be an effective mayor.

They might come around, because in the city’s shared system of power, there are times when the City Council and mayor need to paddle in the same direction in order to get anywhere. But among the 15 City Council members, 13 have endorsed Bass, and that support includes even the DSA wing of the council.

I like the idea of a rebel as L.A. mayor, but the job is hard enough with City Council allies. Without them, Raman could be cooked. And it’s not as if she’d have an easy time winning support for much of anything from the powerful public employee unions and traditional business interests, which are for the most part aligned with Bass, for better and for worse.

Both candidates had their moments in the debate, although I gave the edge to Bass. During The Times’ live chat, I said I think L.A. really needs a leadership change, and I think Raman did not prove that she’s the answer.

It’s probably the second-most important political job in the state, in one of the great cities of the world, and along with the ducking and punching, I wanted more love, more poetry, more unbridled passion and a contagious sense of possibility.

And please, all you Spencer Pratt toadies, don’t send me your whiny little notes about how he was the guy all along. Identifying some of the obvious problems is easy enough. (I do it all the time.) Having a plan is another matter, and that’s why I never ran for mayor, and why Pratt faded out of the picture.

So what next, as the final three weeks of the campaign play out?

If I were Raman, who is 45, I’d go heavy on touting the work she’s done on eviction protections and capping rent hikes, because nailing down younger voters could give her the keys to the throne. On homelessness, she knows the issue better than most, has detailed what’s wrong with the Bass program, has made headway in her own district, and has laid out a plan to speed up progress and efficiency citywide.

But her best argument is that City Hall and the entrenched political establishment need a major shake-up, because the machine is now a jalopy.

“We cannot afford another four years of decline, of mismanagement, of excuses,” Raman said in the debate.

As for Bass, 73, you can’t count her out just yet because she’s a fighter, and she’s better at campaigning than at being mayor. She also is likely to benefit from the fact that older voters — who are most likely to go to the polls — favor her by a huge margin.

“You are not ready for prime time,” Bass told her former ally during the debate, and Bass also hammered Raman for taking “different positions on different days of the week.”

In 2005, Mayor Jim Hahn became the first L.A. mayor to lose a reelection bid in more than three decades, falling to Antonio Villaraigosa. It was a rout, at 58% for Villaraigosa to 41% for Hahn.

I don’t see a rout this time.

The question for Los Angeles is this:

Have you had enough of the mayor you know, and are you ready to roll the dice on someone you don’t?

steve.lopez@latimes.com

Fish was thrust into the action for his first minutes of the season against the Hornets after Dylan Lawlor went down clutching at his hamstring.

Wales international Lawlor had only just returned from his own injury, and was making his second start of the campaign before being forced off after 29 minutes.

Fish has been recovering from hernia surgery, and feels he has more to go before declaring himself fully fit, although he is in a much better place than he was.

“It’s never nice to get injured, especially as we came back for pre-season. In effect, I’ve not really had a pre-season. I’m almost playing catch-up at the minute,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve got a long way to go, but it was nice to get out there on Tuesday night and get some minutes into my legs.

“My injury, you can’t help that. It is what it is. I got over it, and I feel like I’m in a good place now, and I’m ready to help the team.”

Cardiff established a 5-0 lead with five minutes of Tuesday’s game remaining – only to concede a late Watford consolation shortly after.

“I was disappointed,” admitted Fish.

“At that stage in the game, of course, we could have done better. We were all hoping for the clean sheet, but it was nice to get three points.”

Cardiff are yet to keep a clean sheet since winning promotion back to the Championship and face a tough challenge when they head to second-place Middlesbrough on Saturday, October 17 (12:30 BST).

Like Cardiff, Kim Hellberg’s side rank among the best performers for shots on goal and touches in the opposition box.

After a trip to Teesside, the Bluebirds face further tests against Birmingham and relegated trio Wolves, West Ham and Burnley.

Fish is not looking too far ahead. Instead, he wants his side to lay down a marker by becoming the first away side to win at the Riverside this season.

“The games we have got coming up are tough. Every game of football that you play in this league is tough. We will just take it game by game,” he said.

“[Watford] was a good start, and hopefully we can pick up another win in Middlesbrough on Saturday.”

Nairobi, Kenya – Kenya’s response to an imported Ebola case has demonstrated its ability to mobilise a national response in the capital.

But a suspected case in the northeastern county of Wajir has raised a critical question: whether the country’s preparedness measures can protect communities far from major hospitals, laboratories and transport hubs.

The suspected case in Wajir tested negative, according to county officials, easing fears of wider transmission. Yet the incident highlighted the importance of local health facilities being able to recognise suspected infections, isolate patients safely and communicate reliable information to residents.

For communities near Kenya’s borders, preparedness requires more than screening travellers at airports and official crossings.

It also depends on trained health workers, appropriate protective equipment, functioning isolation facilities and clear referral procedures. Residents must know where to seek care and how to respond when health authorities raise the alarm.

Wajir’s readiness under scrutiny

Garad Saney Mohamed, communications director for Wajir county, told Al Jazeera that the county had established an isolation centre in Wajir town and formed a rapid response team to strengthen its preparedness.

He said the county was also using radio campaigns, community health promoters, school health programmes and posters to raise awareness about Ebola. A preparedness plan and budget had been put in place, he added.

However, the county did not provide details on the isolation centre’s capacity, the number of health workers trained specifically in Ebola response or the budget allocated to these efforts. Without that information, it is difficult to assess whether the county has the personnel and resources needed to manage suspected infections safely or respond to a wider outbreak.

The suspected case involved a 20-year-old man who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda before reaching his home in Wajir on September 20. He was assessed at Habaswein Subcounty Hospital in Wajir South after presenting with a severe febrile illness.

His sample tested negative for Ebola, according to county officials. He was to remain under observation while receiving medical care.

The case prompted precautionary action, but it does not establish whether Wajir’s wider preparedness systems would be sufficient during an outbreak. That would depend on factors including the availability of protective equipment, staff trained in infection prevention and control, safe sample transport and reliable links between local facilities and designated testing laboratories.

Wajir’s proximity to Somalia, which lies 110km (70 miles) to the east, and the movement of people and goods across the border make surveillance and public communication particularly important. Screening at formal entry points remains essential, but it cannot replace the ability of local health facilities and community health workers to recognise warning signs and guide people towards appropriate care.

National screening, local challenges

Kenya’s national response intensified after an Ebola case was linked to a Kenyan travelling from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda. The patient arrived in Nairobi on October 3, was diagnosed with Bundibugyo virus of the disease and died on October 5, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Kenya notified the WHO on October 6.

The patient had fallen ill while living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and travelled by road to Kampala before flying to Nairobi. Laboratory tests at the National Virology Reference Laboratory and the Kenya Medical Research Institute confirmed the infection, according to the Ministry of Health.

On October 14, Kenya confirmed a second case of Bundibugyo virus disease involving a 39-year-old man who was a close family member of the first patient. He was already in quarantine and under daily monitoring when he developed symptoms, including fever, fatigue and joint pains, on October 13.

Laboratory tests confirmed the infection, and he was transferred to a designated treatment centre for supportive care. The Ministry of Health said the two cases were linked and there was no evidence of transmission in the wider community.

Authorities subsequently intensified surveillance at points of entry, contact tracing and public communication. The negative test result in Wajir underscored the importance of investigating suspected infections promptly and using laboratory testing to establish whether the virus is present.

As of October 6, Kenya had screened 652,584 travellers, tested 267 samples and trained 4,971 healthcare workers in Ebola prevention and management, according to the Ministry of Health.

By October 12, the WHO reported that more than 665,000 travellers had been screened and 127 contacts had been listed, with 94 in quarantine. Five laboratories had been designated to test for the disease, and nearly 5,000 health workers had received training.

These figures demonstrate the scale of the national response. But the number of travellers screened or health workers trained does not, on its own, establish how effectively those resources are distributed or whether individual counties can manage suspected infections.

For Wajir, the key questions concern the readiness of local facilities, the availability of trained personnel and protective equipment, and the speed with which samples can be transported for testing. The county has outlined the measures it has taken, but the available information does not provide a complete picture of its operational capacity.

Preparedness means more than the numbers

Health workers need to recognise suspected cases, follow infection-prevention protocols, collect and transport samples safely, and refer patients without exposing others. Facilities must also have appropriate protective equipment and clear procedures for managing suspected infections.

The WHO reported that Kenya’s national preparedness score rose from 66 percent in May to 82 percent in July. The assessment covered measures including surveillance, laboratory testing, isolation and treatment facilities, and trained response teams.

The improvement suggests that preparedness measures had advanced before the imported case was confirmed. However, a national score cannot establish whether every county has the equipment, staffing and referral arrangements needed to respond effectively. Assessments of local capacity are essential to identifying gaps that national figures may not reveal.

The Kenya Red Cross has also supported preparedness and public awareness efforts. Dr Paul Olale, a representative of the organisation, told Al Jazeera about a preparedness assessment. However, the basis of the separate figure attributed to the organisation was not established in the information available for this report, making it difficult to determine what it measured or whether it identified county-level weaknesses.

The organisation has highlighted the need to counter misinformation. During an outbreak, rumours can leave people uncertain about symptoms, how the virus spreads and whether they should seek medical attention.

For residents, information needs to be practical. People should know where to seek care, how to report a suspected illness and what to do while awaiting medical advice. Communication must also address stigma and reassure people that reporting a suspected illness can help protect their families and communities.

Community health promoters, local radio stations, schools and trusted community leaders can help deliver information in languages and formats residents understand. But awareness campaigns are most effective when they are consistent and backed by health services capable of responding promptly to concerns.

Wajir’s experience illustrates why Kenya’s Ebola preparedness must be measured not only by national screening figures and training totals, but also by the ability of individual counties to respond safely when a suspected case emerges.

An isolation centre, a rapid response team and public awareness campaigns are important components of an effective response. Their existence alone, however, does not establish whether facilities have adequate equipment, staff can follow established protocols or residents can access reliable information when they need it.

Kenya has demonstrated its ability to mobilise a national response, expand screening and undertake laboratory testing. The challenge is ensuring that these measures translate into effective protection beyond major transport hubs, including in remote communities where access to healthcare and timely information may be more difficult.

Dr Mary Muthoni, Kenya’s principal secretary for public health and professional standards, underscored the importance of protecting frontline staff in remarks delivered on behalf of Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, according to a WHO statement released on October 12.

“No health worker in this country should be asked to attend to a suspected Ebola case without the right protective equipment.”