Jordan and Ray Bath took a risk by leaving behind their lives in Basildon, Essex, to start again in Majorca, Spain, where their children, six and four, are adapting to a completley new culture

A couple who swapped Essex for Majorca say they won’t be returning after noticing big change to their family. Jordan and Ray Bath lived in England for their entire lives until they sold their house and business and moved their young children, aged six and four, to the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands.

They have now been residing in the family-friendly seaside town of Pollensa for 10 weeks and have documented their journey on YouTube.

Their lifestyles are now radically different to back home in Basildon, Essex — and they spoke exclusively to us about how they were settling in.

Ray, 37, told us: “It has been nearly 11 weeks now and we have not missed anything about the UK. We are flying back to participate in the London Marathon but it is only a five-day trip and after that we don’t know when we will be back in the UK again.”

Jordan, 32, meanwhile added: “We are very content, very happy, and it is like, ‘Why didn’t we do this sooner?’ I’m so glad we did the jump when we did. We hope we can give our kids the quality of life that we are striving for.”

Why Majorca

Jordan has been holidaying in Majorca since her childhood before she started going with Ray when they met 14 years ago.

They fell in love with it and as for why they moved there, which has long been a dream, Ray said: “I would say personally, I have always wrestled with the idea of retiring and then moving into the sunset to the beach. But actually, the biggest struggle for me was, why do I have to wait until I am 65? Why can’t we do it now? Why can’t we do it while I’ve got the energy?”

Jordan also explained that the sad death of Ray’s dad made them realise how short life actually was, and that the perfect time might never come.

And giving further insight into why they relocated so far from home, she added: “We moved here for a better quality of life, it’s not a tax benefit, not a way of us earning more money.

“We lived in Essex, which is such a rat race. I cannot emphasise enough how I am still trying to get used to it myself. But it is a slower pace of life, the children are the priority, like our children go into school and the teachers hug them and kiss them good morning.”

Agreeing, Ray replied: “Life just feels less heavy, doesn’t it?”

Jordan and Ray have been personal trainers for 15 years and they now offer one to one coaching experiences through their online Viva Endure business.

One of the biggest challenges of living in Majorca was the “obscene” cost of renting or buying properties. However, Ray said that it was also an opportunity for them to attract clientele with potentially bigger budgets.

Huge lifestyle benefit

And while working online has allowed them to move abroad, they said their day-to-day lives now look totally different.

They said they are still in the transition and sometimes have “pinch ourselves moments” where they realise it is not just a holiday and they actually live on the gloriously sunny island with stunning beaches.

They are based in the Old Town where everything is within walking distance from their home — including where their children go to school, the kids’ sports clubs and the supermarket.

The family rent a spacious four-bedroom townhouse, which has two balconies and four bathrooms, in Puerto Pollensa.

As for how the kids were adapting, Jordan said: “They are absolutely loving it. My mum and dad came out here in Easter and said do they want to come back to the UK and they were like ‘no!’”

Giving further insight into how active their lifestyles were now, Ray added: “In the UK we always struggled to get them out on their bikes. It was just dark, dull, grey and we lived too far to the park and it just wasn’t conducive to getting out on their bikes.

“Maybe I am just making excuses, but here, we chucked them both on their bikes and just rode, and within three days we were riding to and from school with them, the four of us, and it was amazing and now we ride our bikes to school every day.”

They also explained that kids tended to stay younger for longer in Majorca, where active play was encouraged, as opposed to staying in and being on devices scrolling TikTok and YouTube.

Asked for the biggest contrast to the UK, Ray said: “It is very simple for me. The lifestyle out here forces you to be more present. It forces you to be present and slow down.”

On a separate point, he said their last monthly electricity bill in the UK cost £272, compared to in Majorca where they just paid €150 (approximately £131).

Challenges

As well as the high cost of property as previously mentioned, the most obvious challenge has been settling into an island where there are two official languages, Spanish and Catalan.

Jordan and Ray have been having Spanish classes twice a week whereas their children are now in a state school so they can be immersed into the dialect.

Their kids are learning to speak the Majorcan dialect of Catalan while also picking up Spanish from their classmates.

Schools also operate differently, because rather than ending after 3pm, classes finish at 1pm, meaning Jordan and Ray have a smaller window to complete their own work.

And giving an insight, Jordan said: “The biggest challenge for me is making sure our kids, especially our eldest who is six, has settled into school.

“She is such a confident little girl and in the UK she was really confident and the first to put her hands up and friends with everyone so I suppose she has gone from like a big fish in a small pond to the smallest fish in the biggest pond where there is a language barrier.

“I know that this transition will be hard at first and she won’t remember it in years to come but it has only been 10 weeks and it has been so much more smoother now. We have been to kids parties, she does tennis, she does football after school and she has got a great little friendship group.”

She added: “It is just getting used to a slightly different routine. The days are just longer, in the UK the kids used to go to bed around 7pm but out there they go to bed at like 8.30pm. It is just because of that culture which is amazing but it is getting used to it.”

Jordan said children come alive at night time and that it was common to see them out on scooters and bikes in the evening where they also dance around the square.

She said the town was family oriented and that while the pace was slower to Essex, it was a smaller bubble full of love, especially for little ones.

The couple are now on a three-year visa, which they can then renew for a further two years before applying for full-time residency after five years.

And asked how long they will stay out in Spain, Ray concluded: “I can’t see any reason why I personally would want to return to the UK — and Jordan is shaking her head so she is the same.

“So how long term is it? Forever.”

April 13 (Asia Today) — South Korean police have referred nearly 2,000 suspects to prosecutors following a nine-month crackdown on corruption involving public officials, illegal kickbacks and safety violations.

The National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency said Monday that 1,997 people were referred for prosecution between July 1 and March 31, including 56 who were detained.

The probe targeted three main areas: corruption by public officials, unfair business practices and safety-related violations.

Among those referred, 548 were public officials, with 17 taken into custody.

Bribery accounted for the largest share, with 322 suspects referred and 31 detained. Authorities also referred 410 suspects in kickback cases, 507 for financial irregularities, 513 for substandard construction and 52 for hiring-related corruption.

Police said the investigation focused on systemic corruption across government offices and industrial sectors and will expand to include locally entrenched corruption networks.

In one case, police referred nine people, including the head of a Seoul branch of a postal workers’ union, on charges of misusing union funds for an election campaign and overseas travel expenses. The union leader was detained.

In another case, three local council members in Gangwon Province were referred for allegedly offering or receiving money and gifts during an internal vote to elect a council chair. One was detained.

Authorities also uncovered corruption in the medical sector. Police in Busan referred 31 individuals, including a doctor and medical device company officials, for allegedly receiving about 165 million won (about $123,000) in exchange for supply contracts. Two were detained.

Police said they will continue investigating 1,699 suspects tied to unresolved cases and have launched a separate crackdown on local corruption since early last month.

An official from the national investigation body said strong enforcement efforts must be accompanied by public reporting to effectively root out corruption.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260413010003875

Slow-moving Sinlaku is weakening as it heads towards Guam, but it will still dangerous conditions to the region.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku is closing in on the remote Mariana Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, where the massive storm system is due to bring destructive winds and heavy rains.

Sinlaku, which formed on April 9, is the strongest storm of 2026, so far, and saw sustained winds of 278 km/hour (173 mph) on Monday, according to The Associated Press (AP) news agency.

The super storm was approximately 68 nautical miles (126km) southeast of the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands at about midday on Tuesday local time (02:00 GMT), and is moving at a slow pace of about 14 km/hour (9 mph), according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning System.

While Sinlaku appears to be weakening and could pass by the Northern Mariana Islands with the strength of a Category 4 or Category 5 storm, it still remains extremely dangerous, according to Guam’s Office of Civil Defence, with warnings of widespread rain and flooding along with destructive winds that could cause power outages.

It appears Guam will avoid a direct hit from Sinlaku, the Civil Defence Office said, although the island will still encounter high winds of up to 64 to 80 km/hour (40 to 50 mph) and gusts of up to 105 km/hour (65 mph)

“Guam remains under both a tropical storm warning and a typhoon watch. While the threat of typhoon-force winds has significantly diminished for Guam, this remains a serious weather event,” the office said, warning that storm conditions will continue into Wednesday.

The office also warned the island’s 170,000 residents to stay out of the water, as dangerous sea conditions are expected to last until Thursday.

Before turning towards Guam and the Northern Marianas, the storm left significant damage to the outer islands and atolls of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service in Guam, told the AP.

As the Mariana Islands prepare for the impact of Sinlaku, Australia this week pledged $1.75 million in assistance to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the wake of the recent Tropical Cyclone Maila.

The storm ripped through the region over the weekend with the strength of a Category 5 storm, triggering floods and landslides that killed at least 11 people, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement that authorities are still assessing the damage.

“Reports are still coming in and are scattered, but we will make sure we reach every place, every island, and every community that has been affected,” he said.

A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones that develop in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, where Earth’s most intense storms usually form.

REALITY TV’s Kendall Jenner bagged another famous bloke — reportedly snogging Wuthering Heights’ Jacob Elordi at a festival.

The Kardashians star was at Coachella in California on Saturday night to watch pal Justin Bieber headline the show.

Kendall, 30, and Jacob, 28, were “all over each other,” at the after party, according to gossip site Deuxmoi.

But there are no photos or video of them together at the bash.

One fan wrote online: “They’re so equally hot, honestly good for them.”

They are thought to have been pals for several years and were snapped together in 2022.

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Kendall, who wore a white tank top to the event, could be following in her sister Kylie Jenner’s footsteps.

She has been dating another actor, Dune star Timothee Chalamet, for the past three years.

They were also at Coachella, as was Kendall and Kylie’s half-sister Kim Kardashian and her F1 driver beau Lewis Hamilton.

Kendall was in a relationship with US basketball player Devin Booker from 2020 to 2022, then had a romance with rapper Bad Bunny from 2023 to 2024.

Jacob split from his girlfriend of four years, YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli, last October.

He previously dated model Kaia Gerber.

WASHINGTON — President Trump was propelled into office in large part by support from evangelicals and Catholics, at times framing his political rise in divine terms.

But that relationship is now fraying, and, in some corners of the Catholic Church, breaking, after Trump spent the weekend maligning Pope Leo XIV — “Leo is WEAK on Crime” — and circulating a widely condemned social media post depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

Leo, meanwhile, on Monday repeated his calls for an end of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran. “I have no fear of neither the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” Leo told reporters. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Trump had lashed out at the pontiff in a Truth Social post on Sunday night and repeated those criticisms Monday. “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo,” he said. “He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He’s a man that doesn’t think we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world.”

The tirade drew swift backlash from Catholic leaders and rank-and-file believers alike, who have increasingly withdrawn support from the president since he and Israel launched attacks on Iran, according to recent polls.

Also fueling backlash was the artificial-intelligence-generated image of Trump, in a white robe and a red stole, placing his hand on the forehead of a man in a hospital bed. Trump confirmed he had posted the image but insisted he thought it portrayed him as a doctor, not Jesus healing the sick.

That’s not how many people viewed it.

“In the Christian faith, this is considered blasphemy: depicting yourself as Christ, elevating yourself to the level of Christ,” conservative commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin said on “The View.” “Our faith is bigger than our politics. That is one thing that will always trump politics for people who are practicing in their faith. He clearly doesn’t understand that.”

The Rev. Thomas Reese, who also works as an analyst at Religious News Service, called Trump’s AI-generated image “an absolute disaster and blasphemous,” adding that it appeared to unsettle even some of the president’s religious supporters. The post was later removed from Truth Social.

More broadly, Reese said the war itself, and the way it has been framed, is colliding with core church teaching.

“To invoke God for a war of choice is just wrong,” he said, noting that Catholic leaders have increasingly emphasized diplomacy and reconciliation over military action.

“The Catholics who voted for him feel betrayed,” Reese said. “I think they’re beginning to say, ‘This is not what we voted for,’ especially when you tie the war to higher gasoline prices, higher food prices.”

In his Truth Social post, Trump also took some credit for Leo’s election as pontiff last year after the death of Pope Francis, writing that Leo was chosen “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

Tensions had been simmering between the two leaders for months, but boiled over after Trump issued a threat to use the U.S. military to wipe out all of Iranian civilization.

At a peace vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, Leo said that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the war that has left thousands dead. Though he did not name Trump, the pope has repeatedly cautioned against invoking religion to justify violence.

Many Trump supporters have claimed he had a divine mandate, and Trump himself has repeatedly asserted that God saved him in the July 2024 assassination attempt so that he could lead the United States.

His administration has undertaken extraordinary efforts to infuse Christianity into government functions — establishing a White House Faith Office and holding prayer services at the Pentagon and the Labor Department.

After Iran shot down a U.S. fighter jet on April 3, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared the rescue of one of the aviators to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection: “Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing.”

A military watchdog group last month said it had received more than 200 complaints from U.S. service members reporting that military commanders were telling troops that the Iran war was part of a divine plan by God to trigger Armageddon. A group of Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into whether military operations were being guided by “end-times prophecy.”

Catholics rallied for Trump in 2024, when 55% of voting Catholics cast their ballots for Trump, clocking in at 12 points higher than his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

But he’s steadily lost their support since the onset of the war, according to new bipartisan polling. Some 52% of Catholics say they disapprove of the president’s job performance, according to one survey by Republican pollster Shaw & Co. Research and Democratic pollster Beacon Research. Another 23% say they strongly approve of the job he is doing and another 25% somewhat approve.

Consisting of about a quarter of the U.S. population, the Catholic voting bloc has long been regarded as the bellwether demographic, having historically chosen the winner of the popular vote in nearly every presidential election for the last 50 years.

Since ascending to the throne of St. Peter, Leo has frequently clashed with the administration on issues ranging from immigration to foreign policy, emphasizing humanitarian concerns and diplomacy over force.

That attitude appears to be resonating in the pews. Reese, the commentator and priest, pointed to growing frustration among Catholic voters, including some who backed Trump in 2024 expecting an end to prolonged Middle East conflicts.

Reflecting on church history, he said: “The papacy survived Attila the Hun. They survived Napoleon, they survived Mussolini and they survived Hitler. They will survive Trump.”

In AD 452, when Attila the Hun sacked city after city in his conquest of the known world, it was the Catholic Church, not the Roman military, that met him in a show of diplomacy. The pontiff of the time, who persuaded Attila to turn his army back and spare Rome, was called Pope Leo I.

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a former Korean American congresswoman as the United States’ top envoy to South Korea, a presidential nomination document showed Monday.

Trump tapped Michelle Park Steel, a former two-term Republican lawmaker from California, as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea — a post that has been left vacant since former Ambassador Philip Goldberg left South Korea in January last year.

The nomination came as Seoul and Washington face a series of joint tasks, including “modernizing” the bilateral alliance, addressing trade and investment issues, and cooperating on regional and global challenges, including North Korean threats and the Middle East conflict.

If confirmed by the Senate, Steel is expected to help enhance communication between the two allies following more than a yearlong vacancy in the ambassadorial post.

After Goldberg left the post, Joseph Yun, former special representative for North Korea policy, served as acting ambassador, followed by Kevin Kim, former deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Steel, if confirmed, would become the second Korean American to serve as U.S. ambassador to South Korea, following former Ambassador Sung Kim, who served in Seoul as ambassador from 2011-2014.

Since Trump took office in January last year, Steel has frequently been bandied about as one of the strongest candidates for the ambassador post. She has reportedly gained strong support from former and current Republican grandees, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson.

During Trump’s first term, she served as part of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

She was first elected to the House in 2020 and then reelected in 2022. She lost to her Democratic rival by a small margin in the 2024 general election.

In a social media post ahead of the 2024 vote, Trump gave Steel his “complete and total” endorsement, casting her as one of the “strongest congresswomen” in the country and an “America First Patriot whose family bravely fled Communism.”

During her time in Congress, she was active in pushing for legislation to address the issue of Korean Americans who have been separated from their relatives in North Korea in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War.

She previously served as a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the California State Board of Equalization.

Her husband is Shawn Steel, an attorney who served as the California Republican Party chairman from 2001 to 2003. He has been the Republican National Committeeman from California since 2008.

Born in Seoul in June 1955, Steel is known to have grown up and studied in South Korea, Japan and the U.S. She speaks fluent Korean.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and an MBA from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

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Latest attack brings death toll from US strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean to at least 170 since September.

The ⁠United States military has ⁠carried out another attack on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people, in the latest deadly strike by US forces on boats that Washington alleges have links to Latin American drug trafficking cartels.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is responsible for Washington’s military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, confirmed the attack in a post on social media late on Monday, claiming to have killed two “male narco-terrorists”, without providing any evidence.

SOUTHCOM claimed that, based on intelligence reports, the boat was “⁠transiting along known narco-trafficking routes ⁠in the ⁠Eastern Pacific” and was targeted with “a lethal kinetic strike” on the orders of US Commander General Francis L Donovan.

A grainy video clip released with the statement shows a stationary boat with outboard engines and what appear to be floats from fishing nets nearby. The boat comes under attack from the air and explodes into flames.

The attack marked the second day in a row that SOUTHCOM announced a deadly strike on boats in the Pacific. On Sunday, the US military said it blew up two boats in the eastern Pacific a day earlier, killing five people and leaving one survivor. It was not immediately clear what happened to the person who survived the attack, though SOUTHCOM said the US coastguard was notified.

With the attack on Monday, the US military has now killed at least 170 people in dozens of strikes on vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean Ocean since September.

International law experts, human rights groups and regional governments have accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of carrying out extrajudicial killings in international waters, which have likely targeted civilians, often fishing crews, who do not pose an immediate threat to the US.

The Trump administration claims that such attacks are part of its war on drug trafficking cartels in Latin America, but has provided no solid evidence that any of the vessels targeted since last year have been involved in drug trafficking.

A NEW Euphoria feud has emerged as Zendaya’s “tension” with a show star has been revealed – and it’s not with Sydney Sweeney.

This comes as insiders told the Daily Mail Zendaya has a rocky relationship with the actress, who apparently flirted with her man Tom Holland on set.

But now, it seems Zendaya, 29, has clashed with another member of the Euphoria team.

Eager fans have long questioned why the new series of the show has taken so long to air – but it seems the real reasons have finally surfaced.

The creator of the HBO series, Sam Levinson, recently told fans the delay between season two and three was a result of strikes, the in-demand cast and finding the right way to pay tribute to Eric Dane and Angus Cloud.

However, a source told Vanity Fair the delay between series sparked serious tension behind the scenes, creating a rift between Sam and Zendaya.

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Zendaya flashes side-boob and shows off new tattoo tribute to Tom Holland

Vanity Fair’s source claimed the once close collaborators grew apart and Zendaya was less involved with development of the third season.

While she had an executive producer credit for the first two seasons, she doesn’t have an EP credit for this new instalment.

Euphoria, set in the fictional town of East Highland, California, follows high schoolers, who struggle with the strains of love, loss, sex, and addiction.

The new series premiering today, is set five years later with the group of friends, now adults, grappling with faith, the possibility of redemption, and the problem of evil.

Another source told Vanity Fair that while actress Zendaya doesn’t have an EP credit, she has been vital the show’s development and has approved storylines.

The source said: “Zendaya had an incredibly demanding shooting schedule in 2025 and has several major projects that release this year so she was unable to commit to serving as an executive producer this season.” 

Just last week at the HBO show’s premiere Spider Man star Zendaya was seen seemingly dodging being snapped with Sam on the red carpet.

In the video posted to TikTok, Zendaya was spotted dashing off with her team after Sam asked her to pose for a picture.

The stunning star, who plays Rue Bennett on the series, looked incredible as she flashed some serious side-boob in a daring floor-length black gown.

Her dress featured extreme cut-outs down the side to expose both her back and the side of her chest.

As she made her way inside the venue to celebrate the show’s release, eagle-eyed onlookers also spied the star’s brand new tattoo tribute to her partner Tom.

Zendaya had a small “t” tattooed just above her ribcage.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by federal officers that was captured on video as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday.

Ramsey County Atty. John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they will pursue information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao in January. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bashed open the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There’s not a dispute over that,” Fletcher said. “There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around.”

He continued: “Is that good law enforcement, to take an American citizen out of their home and drive them around aimlessly, trying to determine what they can tell them?’”

Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has refused so far to cooperate with other state and local investigations into the killings by federal officers of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Choi said they’re trying to determine whether any crimes were committed that they could prosecute under state or federal law.

“This is not about, any type of predetermined agenda other than to seek the truth and to investigate the facts,” he said.

Agents eventually realized Thao was a longtime U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said in an interview with the Associated Press in January. They returned him to his home after a couple of hours.

Homeland Security later said ICE officers had been seeking two convicted sex offenders. Thao told the AP he had never seen the two men before and that they did not live with him.

Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns, and neighbors screaming at more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone.

The state and the chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to gain access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of around 3,000 federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.

Minnesota and Hennepin County have also appealed to the public to share information about federal officers’ potentially illegal activities, given the refusal by federal authorities to provide evidence.

The Trump administration has suggested Minnesota officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate those cases. State and county prosecutors say they need to conduct their own inquiries because they don’t trust the federal government.

The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing, and two officers have been placed on leave, but the agency said a similar federal probe was not warranted in Good’s death.

Vancleave and Karnowski write for the Associated Press. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick says Lisandro Martinez’s red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair was a “shocking decision” during a 2-1 defeat by Leeds United.

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Apryl, who has 42,500 followers on Instagram, where she is known as aprylwanders, listed three popular UK destinations she wouldn’t go back to – and three alternatives people should visit instead

You don’t have to travel to an exotic foreign destination to see some absolutely stunning sights, with so many amazing things to see right here in the UK. But one travel influencer has said some of UK’s best-known tourist sites might not be all they’re cracked up to be – and suggested some lesser-known alternatives that are just as good, if not better.

Apryl, who has 42,500 followers on Instagram, where she is known as aprylwanders, listed three popular UK destinations she wouldn’t go back to – and three alternatives people should visit instead.

Writing in the description of her post she said: “Unpopular opinion… some of England’s most famous spots aren’t actually the best ones. These are just based on my experience, and what I’d do differently if I planned my trip again.” She added: “England is full of beautiful places… but I’ve realised there’s almost always a better, quieter alternative.”

The first place she said she’d skip? Stonehenge. The prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain is famous around the world and attracts more than one million visitors every year, drawn by the mystery of what exactly it was built for.

Apryl, from Manchester, said: “Looks iconic, but disappointing in person.” She added visitors “can’t get close”, tours and tickets are expensive, and there is “always a crowd”.

Instead, she recommended visitors should travel just 25 miles north to Avebury, home to the world’s largest stone circle. Apryl said the site is “older than Stonehenge”, and visitors can walk among the stones. She added it’s free to visit, and there are “no crowds”.

The second place Apryl said she’d avoid is the Cotswolds village of Bourton-on-the-Water. The chocolate box village is known around the world for its iconic architecture and beautiful Gloucestershire surroundings.

Apryl said: “Charming, but can feel overcrowded.” She added it’s the “busiest spot in the Cotswolds” and is “very touristy” and “hard to enjoy at slower pace”.

Instead, she suggested visitors to the Cotswolds should instead pay a visit to the nearby villages of Upper and Lower Slaughter. She described the villages as “quieter” and “just as scenic”. She added visitors can enjoy “a relaxing walk”.

Apryl’s third suggested location to skip is the stunning Seven Sisters and Beach Head cliffs in East Sussex, part of the iconic White Cliffs of Dover. Specifying the destination should be avoided in the spring, she warned it features “longer hikes than people expect”. She also said it is “very weather dependent” and “not the easiest to access”.

Instead, she suggested sightseers should travel just up the coast a little to the Birling Gap. She said this alternative offers views of the same cliffs, is “easier [to] access”, doesn’t require a hike, and is “just as stunning”. Writing in the post’s description, she added she would still recommend the Seven Sisters lighthouse walk “in calmer weather”.

People had a range of views in the comments. One said: “I thought Stonehenge was super cool!! Yes it’s crowded and you can’t walk up to them normally, but I thought the audio guide was really interesting and the museum and all the information was really cool, so I loved it!

“Also I did Seven Sisters both ways! Parked at Birling Gap and then walked to the lighthouse along the cliffs and loved it! I thought that’s what you were meant to do to reach it??”

Another said: “I loved Stonehenge. Yes there were a lot of people but honestly it never felt crowded. So awe inspiring.”

Another had an alternative suggestion. “I suggest you don’t skip these spots,” they said. “Just go off season. We had Bourton on the water to ourselves in December.”

Police in New York have arrested around 100 anti-war protesters who were staging a sit-in outside the offices of Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, demanding an end to US weapons sales to Israel. The demonstration comes as Senator Bernie Sanders pushes to block more than $600m worth of bombs bound for Israel’s military.

A 20-year-old Texan faces potential life imprisonment after an arson attack on Sam Altman’s San Francisco residence.

Authorities in the United States have charged a 20-year-old Texas man with attempted murder and arson after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Daniel Moreno-Gama faces two counts of attempted murder and nine other charges following last week’s arson attack on Altman’s residence in San Francisco, District Attorney of San Francisco Brooke Jenkins said on Monday.

“We interpret this behaviour for just what it is: An attempt on Mr Altman’s life and an extreme danger to those around him and those who work for his company,” Jenkins said at a news conference.

“As the DA, my office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”

Moreno-Gama is also separately facing federal charges of attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Moreno-Gama faces the possibility of life in prison under the charges.

Moreno-Gama, from Houston, Texas, was captured on a security camera hurling an incendiary device at Altman’s home shortly after 3:30am local time on Friday, according to an FBI affidavit.

The suspect then travelled to OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters, where he struck the building’s glass doors with a chair and stated his intention to “burn it down and kill anyone inside”, according to the affidavit filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California.

After arresting Moreno-Gama at the scene, police recovered incendiary devices, a container of kerosene, a lighter, and a document espousing opposition to artificial intelligence and tech executives, including Altman, according to the affidavit.

The document recovered at the scene stated that Moreno-Gama had killed or attempted to kill Altman, and that he “must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message”, according to the filing.

Altman, whose company’s release of ChatGPT in 2022 marked a watershed in the rollout of AI, has become a lightning rod for heated discussion about the potential risks and benefits of the rapidly advancing technology.

In a blog post after Friday’s arson attack, Altman said that while much criticism of the tech industry was driven by sincere concerns about the “incredibly high stakes” of AI, it was time to turn down the heat of the public debate.

“While we have that debate, we should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally,” Altman said.

In her news conference, Jenkins criticised what she described as “incendiary rhetoric” about the potential impact of AI on society.

“In no way should we be at the point where a man could have lost his life over differences of opinion and concerns,” she said.

BBC Morning Live expert Laura Pomfret has highlighted the top six easy access ISA accounts as savers face the ‘last chance’ to use the full tax-free allowance

A BBC finance expert has outlined which ISA accounts people should be considering as a ‘fresh start’ gets underway. With the new financial year having kicked off on 6 April, savers have the opportunity to make use of cash ISA accounts for up to £20,000 of tax-free savings — and crucially, it’s the final year before this allowance is reduced.

Appearing on BBC Morning Live, finance expert Laura Pomfret explained what people should be doing and highlighted which accounts are currently offering the most competitive interest rates.

She said: “It is a fresh start and there’s an opportunity to make the most of your money and we’re going to start with cash is because the ISA limit resets every year and we’ve got £20,000 per person that we can utilize within cash ISA, stocks and shares is lifetime is a little bit different, but it’s a way of growing your savings tax-free because you know saving is a really good thing and you do make interest on it but if it’s outside of an ISA you will have to pay tax on that interest.”

Those with savings held outside of ISAs remain liable for tax. Ms Pomfret further explained: “Most people get a personal savings allowance per year so if you’re a basic rate taxpayer you can earn £1,000 outside of an ISA tax free it drops to £500 when you are a higher rate taxpayer but basically this is why we should use our ISA allowance first because you can put £20,000 in and not have to worry about any interest that you make you don’t have to pay tax on it.”

Those with ISAs are set to face a significant change from 7th April 2027. She explained: “This is the last tax year before the allowance for a cash ISA drops to £12,000. So this is the last year that you get £20,000 that you can put into a cash ISA, and then going forward from 6th of April next year, 2027, it drops to £12,000, apart from if you’re 65 or over, you can save into a cash ISA, and you get the other allowance. So it’s important to maximise that this year while you can.”

Host Helen Skelton asked: “If you are in a position that you can save money, where should you put it right now?”

According to the BBC expert, there are six accounts worth considering for ‘easy access’ savings. She stated: “Easy access is where you can get it in and out usually without penalty, but you can have a look at the terms and conditions and these are some of the best. So, first up, we’ve got Trading 212 with a 4.6% interest rate.”

“It drops after the first year. Now, to be clear, that is an investment platform as well, but they do have a cash ISA that you can use, and they’ve got a 4.6%. You’ve then got, for example, Virgin Money with a 4.15%. You are limited to two withdrawals per year on that. So, it’s classed as an easy access, but there are some limits to withdrawals.

“So, Bank of Ireland UK 4.06%. The rate drops after a year with that one. It’s like a you know in a new rate, and then interest is paid annually. Leeds Building Society of 4.05%. You have to pay in a minimum of £1,000 to get that one. Um, Yorkshire Building Society, 4.05%, withdraw as often as you want. And then Tesco Bank, for example, 4.02%, the rate drops after a year. With that one, you can do it over the phone. The rest are all online or using the app. But these are just examples. These rates change quickly.”

Top ISA easy access accounts highlighted

• Trading 212 4.6%
• Virgin Money 4.15%
• Bank of Ireland UK 4.06%
• Leeds Building Society 4.05%
• Yorkshire Building Society 4.05%
• Tesco Bank 4.02%

She explained that, generally, individuals should check comparison websites for terms and conditions, with at least 4% interest being the crucial figure.

She continued: “You may get higher if you go for a fixed, but this is where your money can be fixed and locked away for one, two, three years. So this is about choosing what’s right for you.

“If you can afford to put some away and not need access to it, you might beat that rate with a fixed one. And obviously, as I said earlier, there’s also stocks and shares is you could look at a lifetime is if you fit the criteria, but ultimately getting it in tax wrapper is a great thing to do so that you can you know grow your interest tax-free.”

WASHINGTON — California Rep. Eric Swalwell resigned his congressional seat on Monday under intense pressure from lawmakers of both parties after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, including a former staffer who alleged rape.

Swalwell, a Dublin Democrat who suspended his campaign for California governor on Sunday, said in a statement that he was stepping down from the House, where he has served since 2013, and planned to continue fighting what he called “serious, false” allegations made against him.

“However, I must take responsibility and ownership of the mistakes I did make,” Swalwell wrote without specifying which mistakes those were.

His resignation came hours after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against him and as lawmakers from both parties threatened to expel him from the House if he did not leave his post. He said he was aware of the expulsion efforts underway and said that it was “wrong” to expel a member of Congress “without due process, within days of an allegation being made.”

“But it is also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” he said.

Asked about replacing Swalwell, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement that it is “reviewing the matter. Once the seat is officially vacant, our office will make an official announcement.”

The allegations, detailed in reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN last week, drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with lawmakers from both parties calling the accusations “disgusting” and demanding that he either resign or be removed from office.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) intended to lead the charge to expel Swalwell. In an interview Monday, Luna said she planned to file a motion as early as Tuesday on the grounds that he violated House rules over an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate. A House floor vote could have been held as early as Wednesday, she said.

Following Swalwell’s resignation, Luna said the Northern California lawmaker did “the right thing.” But she took issue with him saying that the allegations were not grounds for expulsion, noting that he was under criminal investigation.

In New York, the Manhattan district attorney’s office opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations against Swalwell by a former staffer and issued a statement over the weekend that urged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.”

After the sexual allegations came to light, Democrats called on Swalwell to resign, but when it comes to expulsion, they said they would not move against Swalwell alone. They were also pushing to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who last month admitted to a sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide.

Late Monday, Gonzales said he too was stepping down. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,” he wrote on X.

The push to get Swalwell expelled had gained traction even among his friends.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote on X on Monday that Swalwell should be kicked out of Congress, saying he “trusted someone who I believed was a friend, but is now clear that he is not the person I thought I knew.” Gallego said the woman “deserves to be believed, to be supported, and to see justice served.”

Had Swalwell been expelled, it would have been the first such removal in congressional history on the grounds of sexual misconduct, and among the rare instances in the House’s 237-year history in which members ousted one of their own.

Only six members have been expelled from the House. Three were fighting for the Confederacy, two were convicted of bribery and one was the fraudster George Santos, whose sentence was later commuted by President Trump.

Now that Swalwell has resigned, he is still eligible for his pension and for a number of other perks extended to other former members, including the ability to enter the House floor and access to the congressional gym.

Swalwell said Monday that he is working with his staff to “ensure they are able, in my absence, to serve the needs of the good people of the 14th congressional district.”

While many of Swalwell’s staffers have already quit, remaining staffers not involved in constituent services would lose their jobs and receive no severance pay.

Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute, which is focused on congressional reform, argues that the practice is unfair.

“I think the House owes them a duty for what they’ve had to go through,” Schuman said.

Longtime ethics expert Meredith McGehee said that members have been reluctant to expel their colleagues in recent years because of the razor-thin majorities in the House, but that not doing so hurts the credibility of the institution.

“It’s really important at this moment that the House act to expel these men who have been seriously and credibly accused of wrongdoing,” said McGehee, a former executive director of the ethics watchdog Issue One. “To allow either one of them to stay in office and serve out their term would be a farce.”

The Swalwell scandal could still prompt an ever larger surge of expulsion calls. Some lawmakers called for two additional members to be swept into any expulsion vote: Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), who has been accused of sexual assault, and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), who was indicted on charges that she laundered $5 million of federal disaster money and used it to fund a political campaign.

“Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled,” Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) wrote on X on Monday. “Americans deserve better and Congress must hold our members accountable.”

Any expulsion would require a two-thirds majority vote, or 290 of 435 votes if every House member participates. The Senate would not be required to concur with the House vote to make the expulsion effective, but it remains to be seen whether the House could meet the two-thirds threshold.

Times staff writer Melody Gutierrez in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Leeds went into the fixture having not scored in any of their past four league games. They had not netted with any of their past 64 shots.

But five minutes was all it took for Switzerland winger Okafor to net the opener with a smart first-time finish – Leeds‘ first league goal in 51 days.

He then doubled their lead in the 29th minute when his effort took a deflection off Leny Yoro on its way past Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

“To every player, every staff member that is with us, it’s a big compliment because we were fighting to the end and we deserved the three points,” Okafor told Sky Sports after helping end his club’s six-game winless league run.

Leeds will hope the victory will be the wind in their sails as they look to add to their points tally when hosting bottom side Wolves on Saturday, 18 April (15:00 BST).

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, their top scorer with 10 goals, said as much after the game.

“It’s important we don’t read too much into the external noise and continue to focus on what’s in front of us,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s easy to come here and make history, but it doesn’t matter come the end of the season when the points tallies are in. That’s all we’re focused on.

“One game after another – making sure that we stay in the Premier League.”

His manager Farke echoed Calvert-Lewin’s sentiments.

“We have to stay humble,” he said. “We are not perfect. We are not the finished, end product. We are on a good path, on the way to achieving something really positive this season.”

After the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on 26 April, they will face fellow relegation candidates Burnley, Tottenham and West Ham in their final four games of the season.

April 13 (Asia Today) — Middle Eastern nations are accelerating efforts to secure missile defense systems, with growing demand for South Korean interceptors as regional threats intensify.

Countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are seeking faster deliveries of South Korea’s Cheongung-II system, also known as M-SAM, following recent large-scale missile attacks linked to Iran.

Industry officials said Gulf states have made urgent inquiries to LIG Nex1 and affiliates of Hanwha Group about expediting delivery schedules.

The Cheongung-II system is produced by LIG Nex1 as the prime contractor, with Hanwha Aerospace manufacturing launchers and Hanwha Systems providing radar components.

A report by The Wall Street Journal said Gulf countries are increasingly looking beyond U.S. suppliers and viewing South Korea as a key alternative source of missile defense systems.

The United Arab Emirates signed a contract worth about $3.5 billion in 2022 for multiple Cheongung-II batteries, while Saudi Arabia reached a $3.2 billion deal in 2024, according to the report.

At the same time, Israel is ramping up production of its Arrow missile defense system as interceptor stockpiles are strained by repeated attacks.

According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, Israel Aerospace Industries has begun accelerating production to several times normal levels after facing sustained missile and drone attacks from Iran and Houthi forces in Yemen.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said strengthening missile defense capabilities is critical to national security, as concerns grow over potential shortages of interceptor missiles.

Analysts warn the situation highlights a broader challenge for countries facing missile threats, including South Korea.

Experts say a large-scale barrage using low-cost missiles or artillery could quickly deplete high-cost interceptors, underscoring the need for larger stockpiles and more cost-effective defense systems.

A senior South Korean defense industry official said the country should expand reserves of key systems such as Cheongung-II and long-range surface-to-air missiles, while maintaining a balance between exports and domestic needs.

There are also growing calls to accelerate development of next-generation systems, including laser-based air defense technologies designed to reduce interception costs.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260413010003773

Naim Qassem says planned talks in Washington, DC, are a ploy to pressure Hezbollah into laying down its weapons.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has rejected an upcoming meeting between the Lebanese government and Israel in the United States, calling such efforts “futile” as Israeli forces intensify their attacks on Lebanon.

In a televised speech on Monday, Qassem called on the government to take “a historic and heroic stance” by not attending the planned talks.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the US are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.

Qassem said the talks are a ploy to pressure Hezbollah into laying down its weapons.

“Israel clearly states that the goal of these negotiations is to disarm Hezbollah, as [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu repeatedly states. So, how can you go to negotiations whose objective is already clear?” Qassem said.

“We will not rest, stop or surrender. Instead, we will let the battlefield speak for itself,” he added.

Israel intensified its war on Lebanon in early March following a salvo of rockets launched by Hezbollah. A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group had ostensibly been in effect since November 2024, but Israel continued carrying out near-daily deadly attacks.

Hezbollah said its March 2 attack was retaliation for the US and Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two days earlier, on the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Since then, Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south have killed at least 2,055 people, including 165 children and 87 medical workers. More than 6,500 others have been wounded, while some 1.2 million have been forced from their homes.

Lebanese authorities insist the priority is to secure a ceasefire, but Israel has said it wants to open formal peace negotiations with Lebanon. It has placed Hezbollah’s disarmament as a priority, with no mention of a ceasefire or withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon.

“We want the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations,” Netanyahu said on Saturday.

Qassem said the planned talks “require a Lebanese consensus to shift our approach from non-negotiation to direct negotiations”, calling them a “free concession” to Israel and the US.

His speech came after hundreds of people in the capital, Beirut, protested on Friday and Saturday against the planned talks. Demonstrators accused Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of betraying the Lebanese people by holding direct talks with Israel, while it continues its bombing campaign and expands its invasion.

The Israeli military on Monday said its forces had completely surrounded the key southern town of Bint Jbeil, while Hezbollah continued to claim attacks against Israeli forces there.

Qassem said that northern Israeli localities “will not be safe, even if the Israelis were to enter any area of Lebanon”. He also accused Beirut of “backstabbing” his group by declaring Hezbollah’s military activities illegal at the start of the war.

“Israel and the US clearly said they want to strengthen the Lebanese army to disarm and fight Hezbollah … but the army cannot do that,” Qassem added.

Phil Collins, Luther Vandross, Oasis, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, Sade, Wu-Tang Clan, Joy Division and New Order will join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year at its annual induction ceremony, the organization announced Monday evening. The news was revealed on “American Idol” by Lionel Richie, a judge on the TV talent show who was himself inducted into the hall in 2022.

The 2026 class of inductees — set to be welcomed Nov. 14 in a ceremony at the Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles — represents a broad array of styles and genres, including hip-hop, R&B, Britpop, heavy metal and post-punk. Yet the group contains only two women: the Nigerian-British soul singer Sade and New Order’s Gillian Gilbert; that result is likely to attract criticism after years in which organizers have sought to diversify the hall’s ranks along race and gender lines.

Three of the new members — voted in by a group of more than 1,200 musicians, executives, historians and journalists — are joining the hall after being nominated for the first time: Vandross, the R&B star whose voice was prominently sampled in Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning “Luther”; Wu-Tang Clan, the boisterous rap group that recently undertook what it called a farewell tour; and Collins, who’s getting in as a solo act after being inducted as a member of Genesis in 2010. (An act becomes eligible for induction 25 years after the release of its first commercial recording.) The remaining inductees had all been previously nominated.

Artists nominated for the 2026 class who didn’t make the cut include Mariah Carey, Shakira, Lauryn Hill, Melissa Etheridge, INXS, New Edition, Pink, the Black Crowes and the late Jeff Buckley.

Several other musicians will be honored at November’s ceremony. Celia Cruz, Fela Kuti, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Gram Parsons will receive the hall’s Early Influence Award, while the Musical Excellence Award will go to Linda Creed, Arif Mardin, Jimmy Miller and Rick Rubin. The television impresario Ed Sullivan is to be honored with the Ahmet Ertegun Award, a commendation for non-performers named after the late Atlantic Records co-founder who started the Rock Hall with Rolling Stone magazine’s Jann Wenner in the mid-1980s. These are posthumous honors for a number of recipients, including Vandross, Cruz, Kuti, Parsons, Creed, Mardin, Miller and Sullivan.

The 2026 ceremony in L.A. will be filmed and shown in December on ABC and Disney+. Organizers said 2027’s event will take place at the hall’s home in Cleveland.

L.A. County officials want to put $2.7 million toward beefing up the team of people investigating fraud within a deluge of recent sex abuse lawsuits, suggesting a broadening probe at the district attorney’s office.

The funding allocation, part of the county’s $48.8-billion budget proposal unveiled Monday, would bring on 10 new people to the small team prosecuting alleged fraud within the county’s historic $4-billion sex abuse settlement. L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced the probe last November following a Times investigation that found nine people who said they were paid to sue.

The county has agreed to pay billions to settle more than 11,000 claims of sex abuse in juvenile halls and foster homes, a flood of lawsuits spurred by a 2020 law changing the statute of limitations. Since those settlements, more than 5,000 new lawsuits have been filed with an average of 150 new claims coming in per month, according to the county, raising the prospect of future costly payouts.

Acting Chief Executive Joseph Nicchitta said Monday the new filings would continue to be an “anchor” around the county’s finances.

“It is something that’s going to weigh on us going forward,” he said at a news conference announcing the new spending plan.

Hochman said in a statement that the investigation was a priority for his office and the money would be used to “pursue every credible lead and hold fraudsters accountable.”

“It is our pledge to the real survivors of childhood sexual abuse that we will root out and prosecute those who manufactured false claims and profited or tried to profit from those lies,” Hochman said. “As for those who filed fraudulent claims of sex abuse, the time is growing short for you to turn yourselves in before you are arrested, prosecuted and punished.”

Nicchitta made a pitch for legislative change, noting the county was looking to Sacramento to “eliminate loopholes allowing abusive practices by attorneys that inject weak and potentially fraudulent claims into settlement pools.”

The push by the county to change the law has been hotly criticized by some advocates who accuse government officials of trampling on victims’ rights.

“These reforms that we are seeking are anti-fraud,” said Nicchitta. “They are not anti-survivor.”

The payouts are yet another cloud looming over the budget proposal, along with rising labor costs and federal funding cuts. The recommended budget represents a 7% decrease in spending compared to the current plan.

But Nicchitta said Monday it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with the county managing to stave off layoffs and program cuts.

The upcoming budget proposal, he said, represented the calm before the next big wave of potential rollbacks.

“Remember, we’re in the eye of the hurricane,” he said.

The budget forecast was notably rosier than last year’s, in which the county was saddled with $2 billion in new wildfire costs and had made the first round of slashes to finance the sex abuse payouts. The county froze hiring at the time and made most departments shrink their budgets by 3%.

Those cuts, Nicchitta said, went deep enough that they can avoid major slashes this upcoming fiscal year, though he warned the fallout from the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will soon wreak fresh havoc on the county’s finances. Health officials say they expect more than $2 billion to be cut from the budget for health services over the next three years.

Costs from wildfire will also continue to weigh on the county’s coffers. Officials say the federal government has yet to respond to a February request for rebuilding aid. Nicchitta said he was “optimistic” the money would soon be made available.

Growth from property taxes has given the county a small new pot of funds, which will be used largely to pay for increased salaries for county workers. An additional $12 million will go to public defenders, who say they’re buckling under untenably heavy caseloads, while the Office of Emergency Management will get roughly $10 million to add 44 positions, according to the proposal.

The office, which is responsible for coordinating during emergencies, was under scrutiny following the alert failures of the Eaton fire, and officials had promised in the aftermath to revamp the small office.

The supervisors will be briefed on the budget plan Tuesday.