Drivers lined up for free gas in Chicago as fuel prices surge, driven by the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupting global oil supplies, with some blaming President Donald Trump.

It is just one of the many upcoming projects the reality star has in the works

The makers behind hit dating show Love Island have teamed up with Kim Kardashian for their next reality series project which aims to be the ‘next Dance Moms’.

Having received a green light, the new show is expected to be streaming on Paramount Plus at some point later this year. Reality star Kim Kardashian will serve as executive producer for the new show

The title is a joint production between companies ITV America, which also produces Love Island USA, along with Kim Kardashian Productions and Paramount Sports Entertainment. Executive producers for ITV America are Mioshi Hill, Jordana Hochman, Jeremiah Smith and Tom Ciaccio. Natalie Ento also serves as an executive producer.

Named Team Moms, the series will launch viewers into the world of nationally competition youth baseball in the US. To do this, they will be granted exclusive access to the Legendary Prep Academy in Scottsdale.

Viewers will be immersed in what is Arizona’s first and only baseball prep school. The series follows the coaches, founders and a group of dynamic families.

Their respective teen sons who comprise the starting line-up for one of the most competitive youth baseball programs in the world. It is a feeder to Division 1 college scholarships, NIL deals and ultimately, fame and fortune in the MLB.

Willing to do whatever it takes for their children to excel at America’s favourite pastime, the intensity of the program is only paralleled by the fervour of its athlete’s parents, who will stop at nothing to ensure their kids make it to the big leagues.

It’s clear from the premise that the show hopes to be recreate the magic of Dance Moms which created such stars like Maddie Ziegler and JoJo Siwa.

This isn’t the only television project being produced by All’s Fair star Kim Kardashian. According to her IMDB page, she is also set to produce and star in the series Group Chat.

That is an upcoming drama about five glamorous LA women in their 40s who appear to live flawless lives, but their private group chat reveals the raw, messy reality beneath their polished facades..

She will also star in the series as well as Netflix comedy film The Fifth Wheel. She also has a Kardashians spin-off in the works called Calabasas Behind the Gates, which will focus on the exclusive, gated lives of the extended Kardashian-Jenner circle, including friends and neighbours.

Paramount hope that Team Moms will become another hit in its list of ongoing reality shows which also include Survivor, Big Brother, The Challenge and Making Love.

Team Moms is coming soon to Paramount+.

It was a risky move and Jonathan Torres knew it, but he did it anyway. He let an out-of-town guest stay with him in his room.

Torres, 40, had been living at the Highland Park Motel as part of Inside Safe, Mayor Karen Bass’ flagship program to combat homelessness. He and his neighbors, many of them from a downtown encampment, were told that visitors were not allowed.

Still, Torres kept having people over. After the third violation, he said, the facility kicked him out.

Jonathan Torres spent about two years in a city-leased motel in Highland Park. He told The Times he was kicked out of the facility in December.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s nobody’s fault but my own, but I just feel it’s unfair,” said Torres, who now lives in a tent in Chinatown. “In the real world, you’re allowed to have people come over. You have visitors. That’s part of keeping your sanity, you know?”

Los Angeles has spent more than $300 million on Inside Safe since Bass launched the program in December 2022, clearing scores of homeless encampments and moving about 5,800 people into interim housing — mostly hotels and motels. The goal was to get each of those people into permanent housing, typically taxpayer-funded apartments.

But even as the mayor’s initiative brings more people indoors, a growing number are winding up back on the street.

The longer the program exists, the greater the share of participants who have returned to “unsheltered” homelessness, according to monthly dashboards which were posted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA, and analyzed by The Times.

Jeremiah Flores, center, packs up his belongings during an Inside Safe operation in North Hollywood last month.

In 2023, at the program’s one-year mark, nearly 20% had returned to the street, according to numbers posted by LAHSA at the time.

Halfway into Bass’ four-year term, the figure had climbed above 30%.

In December, as the program finished its third year, about 40% of the people who had gone indoors — 2,300 of the 5,800 — were back on the street, according to LAHSA’s dashboard. That includes people who were kicked out of their housing or disappeared from the system altogether.

The growing exodus reflects the challenges Bass faces while trying to help some of the city’s neediest residents, many of whom struggle with mental health conditions, substance use issues or major physical ailments.

Workers with Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program clean up a homeless encampment along Hollywood Boulevard in 2024.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Bass, asked about the worrisome trend, said she believes that Inside Safe participants need more services to address those issues. She also said she suspects that the longer people stay, the more likely they are to violate the rules and face expulsion.

The goal of Inside Safe is to find permanent homes within 90 days, with a maximum stay of six months, according to the written agreement issued by the city to each participant.

At this point, the average stay is 362 days — just shy of a year, according to recent LAHSA figures.

Bass did not offer any definitive conclusions, saying the city now has outside researchers assessing the problem.

“It’s critically important that we look at the people who left, why they left [and] what do we need to do strengthen the interim housing that we have,” she said. “I have my opinions about it, but the opinions have to be based in science.”

Bass has staked much of her reelection campaign on her handling of the homelessness crisis, which she made a top priority as soon as she took office. She credits Inside Safe with producing a 17.5% drop in “unsheltered homelessness” — people living outdoors or in their vehicles — over a two-year span. That number fell from about 33,000 to nearly 27,000, according to the most recent homeless count.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares to leave a homeless encampment along the San Diego (405) Freeway in Van Nuys targeted by Inside Safe in July. “The homeless should never be living in these conditions,” she said.

By clearing encampments, Inside Safe also benefits the surrounding community, making sidewalks more accessible and reducing the number of encampment fires, Bass said.

UCLA Law School professor emeritus Gary Blasi, an expert on homelessness, said the program has become too expensive to justify the results — and is in need of “a thorough re-engineering.”

Blasi said there were never enough vouchers and low-cost apartments to provide permanent housing to Inside Safe participants in a timely way. As a result, the city has been paying for them to live in expensive motel rooms for long stretches, he said.

“Once they started having people in interim housing for nine months or a year, that should have rang some alarm bells, because that’s just not sustainable,” he said.

Last summer, the Inside Safe program cleared away a large homeless encampment next to the San Diego Freeway in Van Nuys. Some residents went to the Budget Inn in North Hills.

Inside Safe participants also face a wide array of rules. They are barred from leaving the premises for three consecutive days without prior approval. Alcohol and illegal drugs are prohibited in their rooms, which are inspected multiple times a day.

Participants also are frequently barred from bringing in outside food, to keep from attracting roaches, mice and other pests.

“The rules are dumb. They treat houseless people like children. They don’t give people agency,” said Paisley Mares, who lives in an RV in the San Fernando Valley and has several friends who took part in the program.

Executives with the nonprofit groups that run the Inside Safe facilities said the restrictions are needed to protect residents, keeping them on track to find permanent housing.

Violence, threats of violence and property damage are prohibited, and can result in immediate removal from the program. The ban on guests is designed to prevent people from being physically attacked, sexually assaulted or engaging in high-risk behavior, such as drug use, behind closed doors, those nonprofit leaders said.

“We are bringing people indoors, mostly from encampments, where drugs are often the trade of the street. There is also often physical violence. That’s the way people survive on the streets,” said John Maceri, chief executive officer of the nonprofit the People Concern, which runs two Inside Safe motels in Hollywood. “All of those behaviors don’t stop when people come into an Inside Safe setting.”

Executives at the People Concern estimate that 50% to 65% of the shelter clients they work with — not just for Inside Safe, but other homeless housing programs — have serious issues with drugs or alcohol. The number with serious mental health issues, particularly trauma, is also “very high,” they said.

Inside Safe providers acknowledged that motel rooms can be a huge adjustment, leaving people feeling lonely and isolated. They said they work closely with participants to improve their behavior — and turn to expulsion only as a last resort.

“My goal is never to exit anyone to the streets,” said Joseph Bradford III, chief executive officer of BARE Truth, which runs two Inside Safe motels on the Eastside. “I want to keep people inside until they find permanent housing.”

By now, Inside Safe operations are a well-oiled machine. Sanitation trucks roll up to encampments. Traffic officers cordon off the sidewalk with yellow tape. Encampment residents lug their bags onto a bus and head to their destinations.

Robert Martinez, 40, moved to a Budget Inn in North Hills last summer from an encampment near the 405 Freeway. He had been homeless for about five years and jobless even longer, he said.

Martinez, who used to work at a water filtration company, said the Inside Safe motel was better than the street. Still, he chafed at the rules. He wanted his children to visit, which was not permitted.

In November, after learning that a beloved uncle had died, Martinez left the motel for several days — and didn’t “want to be around anybody.”

When he returned, he said, program staffers informed him he’d been away more than 72 hours and would have to leave.

“I had 30 minutes to get my stuff,” said Martinez, who has been living on a sidewalk in Van Nuys.

Erica Y. Pena, left, and Jose Monteon at a homeless encampment in Van Nuys. Monteon told The Times he spent about two months in an Inside Safe motel last year.

(David Butow / For The Times)

Jose Monteon, 29, moved into the same motel as part of the same Inside Safe operation. He said he was kicked out two months later, after program managers accused him of fighting and making threats.

Monteon, who has spent some nights sleeping his car, denied getting physical. But he admitted expressing frustration over the theft of his bicycle and other possessions.

“Yes, I said some s—. But I never said it to a specific person,” he said. “I said ‘Whoever I find out is taking my s—, I’m going to stab their b— ass.’”

Monteon corrected himself. “My bad — poke. I didn’t say stab, I said poke.”

Ken Craft, whose nonprofit supervises the Budget Inn, declined to discuss specific cases. But he said his staff gives Inside Safe participants three chances — unless they have engaged in threats or violence — and tries to find another place for them to go.

“We’re trying to end homelessness, not have people recycle back to homelessness,” he said.

Even with its challenges, Inside Safe has been gradually moving a greater percentage of its residents into permanent housing, where they are no longer governed by such a wide array of rules.

In December, about one out of every four people who participated in Inside Safe since its inception was in permanent housing, according to that month’s LAHSA dashboard. Two years earlier, that figure was about 15%.

Once the program’s hotels, motels and other temporary lodging are factored in, about 55% were in some form of housing.

Bass said those facilities are a vast improvement over the street, providing bathrooms, heating, air conditioning, hot showers, three meals a day and doors that lock. The program is one of several reasons why Los Angeles County officials reported a double-digit reduction in the homeless mortality rate in 2024, she said.

“The value of the interim housing, number one, is to save lives,” Bass said.

Torres, the Inside Safe participant now in a tent in Chinatown, experienced the difference. He entered the program with a history of gastrointestinal issues and abdominal surgeries.

Jonathan Torres walks his dog in November. At the time, he was living in an Inside Safe motel in Highland Park.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“The whole time I had my housing, not once did I get sick or have to be hospitalized,” said Torres, who grew up in Redlands and Baldwin Park.

Torres said he was in the program for nearly two years. The longer he stayed, the more frustrated he grew over the wait for permanent housing.

In November, Torres told The Times he had received a notice stating that he had violated the motel’s prohibition on guests and was in danger of being expelled.

By then, he was worried about his health and his dog Waku, a Belgian Malinois/Akita mix. (The program allows “emotional support” animals.)

First To Serve, the nonprofit that supervises the hotel, did not respond to inquiries from The Times.

Even after the written notice, Torres struggled to comply with the rules. He said he allowed a woman from out of state to stay in his room for more than a week during last year’s rains.

The day after Christmas, he was back on the street.

In February, his dog was struck and killed by a car. Days later, sanitation workers cleared the encampment where he’d been living. Soon afterward, he was in the hospital, receiving treatment for a blockage in his bowels.

He eventually returned to Chinatown, setting up another tent. He’s been using meth, saying it helps with his medical issues.

For now, Torres has found some of the companionship he craved. In recent days, he’s been sharing his tent with his new girlfriend.

Deontay Wilder beats Derek Chisora with a split decision win after a dramatic heavyweight contest in what is expected to be Chisora’s final professional bout.

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A MAJOR airline has slashed the price of fares by 50% for summer as the Middle East war tumbles demand for long-haul flights.

Etihad is now offering some of the lowest ever prices seen for long-haul flights from the UK for May and June as it kicks off a price war with Gulf airlines.

Travellers can get return economy flights with the gulf airline from London to Sydney, via Abu Dhabi, from £688.

This is almost three times cheaper than flying to the Australian capital with British Airways (BA), via Singapore, on the same dates – which is £1,850 in economy.

The Foreign Office is currently advising against all but essential travel – which doesn’t include holidays – to the United Arab of Emirates amid the ongoing conflict.

But Etihad, which is the official airline of the UAE, appears to be gambling on hopes that the situation in the Middle East will have eased by next month.

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An Etihad insider told The Times, which analysed the airline’s prices: “As soon as travel picks up, we want to be back to flying planes 100 per cent full in all cabins, as we were before the conflict. These prices will help.”

The airline is also offering market-leading fares to other popular destinations from the UK, including the Maldives, Tokyo and Bangkok.

Brits can get return economy flights to the Maldives with the airline in May and June from £581 – compared with £3,380 with British Airways.

Flights to Singapore are form £391, but are £980 with BA.

Emirates and Qatar Airways, the other main Gulf airlines, have not cut their prices.

Demand for long-haul flights has plunged since the war in Iran first broke out at the end of February, with flights cancelled and the Foreign Office issuing “do not travel” warnings for countries in the Middle East.

Countries in Europe including Spain have seen demand rise, as Brits look for alternative destinations to travel to.

The UK Foreign Office states: “FCDO advises against all but essential travel to United Arab Emirates.

“Your travel insurance could be invalidated if you travel against advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).”

CCTV footage circulated online shows the moment that a military dog attacks a worshipper leaving a mosque during an Israeli raid on Tarqumiyah in the occupied West Bank.

United States President Donald Trump said early on Sunday that an American soldier who went missing in Iran after the downing of his F-15E jet has been rescued following what observers called a dramatic firefight between Iranian and US rescue forces.

The US and Iran were racing to find the airman for about two days, with Tehran calling on the public to hand over the soldier to the authorities in what appeared to be attempts to capture an American prisoner of war as the US-Israel war on Iran entered its 37th day.

That scenario would have delivered a significant win to Tehran amid the ongoing pummelling of its territory, and for Washington, a stunning blow, analysts say. It could have been the moment that parts of Trump’s support base, which has so far supported the war, started to rethink their stance, they say.

“It was a major test for the American military because they really don’t want to leave any of their servicemen behind enemy lines,” Amin Saikal, a professor of Middle East and Central Asian studies at the Australian National University, told Al Jazeera.

But this rescue “also really frees up President Trump to pursue whatever strategy he has in mind”, Saikal added, referencing Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz “before all Hell will reign down on them”. Trump has already threatened to bomb energy plants in Iran. Targeting of civilian infrastructure is seen as a violation of the laws of war.

At least 2,076 people have been killed, and 26,500 have been injured in Iran since February 28, when the US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and several other senior military and political leaders.

The conflict has since escalated into a regional war with Iran retaliating against Gulf countries hosting US military and commercial assets.

What happened to the missing airman?

The F-15E jet carrying two members was flying over southern Iran when it was shot down on Friday morning local time.

According to Tehran, the aircraft was shot down by Iran’s “new advanced air defence system”, which it said remained effective despite claims by the US that it had been destroyed.

It was the first time during the war, and the first time since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, that a US aircraft had been shot down.

Washington immediately launched a rescue mission. Although US forces rescued one crew member hours after the crash, the second pilot, believed to be a colonel-rank weapons system officer, was yet to be found.

At least one Black Hawk helicopter was hit in the initial rescue, but US officials said it managed to stay airborne.

Trump suggested that the US appeared to have the location of the airman and was tracking him as the rescue mission unfolded in an area with difficult, mountainous terrain that made physical recovery challenging.

An A-10 Warthog aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz around the same time as the F-15E, but its pilot was able to eject before the plane crashed and was subsequently rescued. Iranian media reported that this aircraft was also hit by Iran’s defence system.

How did Iran react?

Following the downing of the F-15E, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cordoned off some parts of the mountainous southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province because they believed the airman went down in the vicinity.

Iranian media also reported that parts of the southern Khuzestan region, an important energy hub, were being scrutinised. That region was the focus of heavy US-Israeli strikes on Saturday that killed at least five people and injured dozens.

Iranian authorities, in a rare move, called on the public on Friday to help find and capture the missing American soldier. State media reported that Tehran offered a $60,000 reward for the airman as clips on state TV repeatedly played footage showing the remnants of the downed US aircraft.

Nomadic tribes in the area, appearing to heed the calls, set about searching for the US airman. Footage from state media showed men carrying rifles and Iranian flags moving in between the mountains of the country’s southwest region.

Some successfully shot at two US Black Hawks that were part of the rescue mission, Iranian officials said. The BBC also verified footage appearing to show Iranian men firing their rifles at US helicopters.

Nomadic groups in Iran, and elsewhere, usually carry rifles to protect their cattle from wildlife and bandits.

The IRGC on Sunday claimed that Iranian forces destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during the operation to rescue the US pilot in southern Isfahan.

What did the US do to retrieve the soldier?

Early on Sunday morning, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that the missing soldier had been rescued in “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S History”.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue,” Trump said in his message.

The president revealed some details of the high-risk operation. He had ordered that dozens of aircraft carrying “lethal weapons” be sent in to retrieve the airman who had managed to evade Iranian forces for two days. All the while, the US was tracking the airman.

Although Trump did not reveal details of the firefight believed to have ensued when the US closed in on the airman and went to retrieve him, he confirmed that the officer “sustained injuries” and added that “he will be just fine”.

Al Jazeera’s John Hendren gathered that there was a “heavy firefight” as what was meant to be a “get-in and get-out” rescue operation dragged on.

While US forces had aimed to use the cover of night to conduct the rescue mission after closing in on the airman, enemy fire prolonged the mission into daylight, making it more dangerous.

“We’ve heard it described to us as a heavy firefight,” Hendren reported. “In the end, they managed to spirit that airman out of the country … and into safety, but it didn’t come without injuries, including injuries to that airman himself, but in the end, the US was allowed to avoid a situation where they would have a prisoner of war inside of Iran.”

Hendren added that the US had earlier started a disinformation campaign in Iran, according to officials, claiming the airman was already rescued, to jeopardise Iran’s search.

Iran has not yet confirmed the incident. Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the firefight appeared to have occurred in the Kohgiluyeh Boyer-Ahmad region, and that nine people have been reported killed in “strikes”, although it is unclear if it was related to the US rescue mission.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities said on Sunday morning that yet another US aircraft – a Lockheed C-130 Hercules – had been downed.

The US has not responded to those claims. At least one such aircraft was spotted flying low over southwest Iran, along with two smaller refuelling helicopters, during the rescue mission effort of the last 48 hours.

EMMA Watson has sparked mystery as she went to extreme lengths to avoid being pictured with a married star after a lavish dinner date in Hollywood.

The Harry Potter star recently confirmed her secret relationship with billionaire entrepreneur Gonzalo Hevia Baillares.

Just last month they were spotted passionately snogging at the airport after having jetted off on a romantic break.

But now, Emma was seen going to extreme lengths to avoid being papped with Jay Shetty, 38, according to The Mail‘s source.

Emma reportedly had dinner with the former monk and now lifestyle guru at a lavish LA restaurant last week.

The 35-year-old made her swift departure using a different exit to podcast host Jay, the source said.

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Taking their seemingly well-thought-out exit a step further, The Mail’s eagle-eyed onlooker told how the pair even “swapped cars,” in a bid to baffle the paps.

Outside the trendy spot, Jay, the British author of Think Like A Monk, was also seen looking after Emma’s dog, Sofia, in a display of manly chivalry.

In September last year, Emma, who is a PHD student at Oxford, appeared on Jay’s podcast, On Purpose With Jay Shetty.

The pair got into a deep conversation on Emma’s love life and she told how marriage is “a miracle,” and while she hopes it may one day happen to her, she doesn’t feel “entitled to it.”

Since the podcast aired, it seems Jay and Emma have struck up a close friendship – so why make a great escape?

It’s not the first time they have been spotted out on the town together, according to The Mail.

Little Women star Emma and celebrity life coach Jay were also seen arriving at Beyoncé and Jay Z‘s Oscar party.

Jay and his wife influencer Radhi Devlukia married in a traditional Hindu ceremony back in 2016.

Celebrating his wedding anniversary back in 2020, he said: “Your laugh is infectious, your dances are hilarious and your heart is so so deep.

“You’re my spiritual inspiration and guide in SO many ways! Thank you for being my wife and loving me!”

Meanwhile, actress Emma is thought to be loved up with her boyfriend Gonzalo.

They didn’t appear to care who saw them last month as she embraced the businessman as they walked through Mexico City airport.

Gonzalo, who is one of Mexico’s most eligible bachelors, is said to be taking his relationship with Emma very seriously – having already introduced her to his parents, a source told The Daily Mail.

Remember when our president attacked a female journalist for asking uncomfortable questions with a casual, sincere, “Quiet, piggy”?

That was five months ago, a lifetime in the chaos of the Trump administration, but it was a telling moment about how not just our president but those crafting his policy view women and their place in society. Hint: It’s not at the top.

While I have not a bit of pity or dismay that Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem — the former U.S. attorney general and the former secretary of Homeland Security, respectively — were given the ax by President Trump in recent days, it shouldn’t be lost that this is another “quiet, piggy” week in an administration that is increasingly openly hostile to women in power.

“I see a theme,” Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett wrote on social media. “He will throw the incompetent women under the bus a lot faster than the incompetent men.”

When democracies decay, and especially when movements like Christian nationalism rise, an erosion of women’s equality almost always comes first. Bondi and Noem are part of a U.S. erosion that should alarm us all, whatever your gender identity.

First, the obvious. Good riddance. Noem seemed to relish cruelty, and treated her job like a costume party, constantly mugging for cameras with guns and faux toughness as if the dismantling of lives and imprisoning even children was a game. Never mind the grift.

Bondi, meanwhile, always seemed like the football team’s third-favorite cheerleader, desperately vying for the attention of the jock-gods around her, even if it meant groveling for approval, even if it meant selling out all women with her ultimate censoring of the Epstein files.

But while Bondi and Noem were obviously incompetent, incompetence has never been a fire-able offense for Trump. Just ask Pete Hegseth, whose Thor fantasies are currently playing out in an all-to-real war. Or Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has dismantled American science while glorifying beef tallow and workouts in jeans. Don’t even get me started on Kash Patel.

It’s no accident that women at the top of Trump’s administration are being purged. They were useful in the first days of the regime, while power was still being consolidated and shimmers of diversity were helpful. But as the sexist and racist nature of the MAGA machine has gained mainstream acquiescence if not acceptance, the need to keep up the appearance of diversity is less and less.

Take, for example, the far-right attacks on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett after her pointed and skeptical questions recently on Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship.

“A woman as a mother is a precious gift, but a woman as a civil magistrate is the death of the nation,” wrote far-right pastor and increasingly popular anti-equality influencer Joel Webbon on social media.

This is the same Texas gentleman who went viral recently for proclaiming, “Women, shut up! Of course. It is literally an offense to God” for women to have influence in the governing of society.

He’s also part of a group of far-right religious leaders — including a pastor associated with Hegseth — who support ending women’s right to vote and replacing it with a single “household” vote cast by, you guessed it, men.

Bondi and Noem may be the most high-profile examples of how this misogyny is playing out in MAGA reality, but they aren’t the only women forced out of power by Trump and his cronies this year. It’s a push that is far more systematic and insidious than we are giving them credit for. Hegseth has all but wiped women out of the top ranks of the military — just recently personally knocking two women off a promotions list.

RFK Jr. and others, meanwhile, are busy pushing women out of science. The Washington Post pointed out that last year at this time, the feds purged women and people of color from the boards that review the science and research happening at the National Institutes of Health— 38 out of 43 experts that were fired were women and minorities.

A report out last month also found that all those attacks on universities last year, with the cutting of grants even in areas such as cancer research — disproportionately affected female scientists. Many of these female scientists, especially younger ones, will never recover from those quashed research projects and lost jobs in a field that demands results and published work, meaning we are looking at a generational loss of female scientific talent.

And let’s not forget Renee Nicole Good, shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis who, with as much casualness as Trump’s “quiet, piggy,” said “f—ing b—” after shooting her and walking away.

Bondi and Noem aren’t just unqualified villains shown the door. They are villainesses.

The Trump administration knows the difference, and so should we.

One of the hottest tickets for the events surrounding Super Bowl LX in February was a party thrown at the Cow Palace in San Francisco by Sports Illustrated, where attendees could hang with Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart and Travis Kelce.

The magazine’s logo and a team of models from its latest annual swimsuit issue were present at another pre-game bash at the Michelin three-star restaurant Quince.

Sports Illustrated journalists were getting requests from peers looking to score invites to the gatherings, which symbolized a turnaround at the 72-year-old title. Just two years earlier, many of its writers were told their jobs were being eliminated.

But Authentic Brands Group, the New York-based company that purchased Sports Illustrated in 2019 for $110 million, says the title is now thriving after reducing its reliance on advertising and circulation revenue. The privately held firm — which expects $38 billion in global retail sales this year, up from $35 billion in 2025 — does not break out the finances for its businesses but says SI is highly profitable after a rocky period. Less than half of SI’s revenue comes from its media business.

“It took us a little while and we had a couple of bumps along the way,” Daniel W. Dienst, executive vice chairman for Authentic, said in a recent interview from his New York office, where a photo of baseball legend Hank Aaron taken by acclaimed SI photographer Neil Leifer hangs on the wall behind his desk.

For decades, SI was where every sports journalist aspired to work, hoping to become the next Frank DeFord or Gary Smith, whose 32-year career at the magazine is highly revered. Cover images of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and other superstars are emblazoned in the memories of fans who eagerly awaited the title to arrive in the mail each week. For athletes and sports institutions, the cover remains a coveted honor.

“You go to LeBron James’ office in Akron, it’s got his 30 covers on the walls,” Dienst said. “You go to USC, they’ve got 21 covers with their athletes and coaches all over their athletic department.”

Now a monthly magazine, the flagship business of Sports Illustrated is no longer the first stop for fans looking for game analysis or profiles of athletes, many of whom have asserted greater control over their images through social media and podcasts.

Like other print magazines, SI has seen a sharp falloff in its circulation, currently at 400,000, down from 3 million in 2010. Authentic says SI has 52 million users a month on its web site and 21 million social media followers. ESPN had 229 million digital users in November.

But the famous SI name still resonates with generations of consumers and Authentic has sought ways to capitalize on it, from selling replica covers to opening branded resort hotels in Chicago and Nashville. International editions of the magazine have been launched in Germany, China and Mexico, with plans to launch in France and the U.K.

In January, Sports Illustrated launched its own free ad-supported streaming TV channel called SITV that features live shows with its journalists and includes films and shows from an archive stocked with documentaries and swimsuit issue specials going back decades.

The channel, which along with the other SI assets is managed by New York-based Minute Media, will also carry live sports coverage including college basketball. While Minute Media did not reveal early viewership figures, the company said the audience for the channel has grown 60% since its launch.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

(Clay Patrick McBride)

The streaming channel is a major media initiative for brand that has seen more activity in other sectors.

In 2023, Authentic put the SI name on Lunatix, a sputtering ticket marketplace. Now called Sports Illustrated Tickets, the business has signage deals with 13 venues around the world including a New Jersey-based stadium — the home of the New York Red Bulls soccer team. The service expects to generate $500 million in revenue this year.

Authentic also uses Sports Illustrated-sponsored events such as the ones held at the Super Bowl to entertain clients for its other businesses and makes tickets available to the public. SI will host an event for Authentic at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta this week and has a permanent high-end, track-side hospitality space at Churchill Downs in Kentucky called Club SI.

Authentic specializes in acquiring and investing in famous retail properties that have foundered. The firm has acquired such names as the outerwear retailer Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers and Reebok, and in January took a 51% share in the fashion brand Guess.

ABG enlists outside operators to run the brands. Those operators pay an ongoing license fee to ABG, which also takes a cut of the revenues.

That was the plan when Authentic bought Sports Illustrated from Meredith Corp., now known as People Inc.

After the purchase, Authentic entered a $15-million-a-year licensing agreement with Arena Group (at the time known as Maven) to run Sports Illustrated. A New York-based digital media company, Arena operated such well-known titles as Men’s Journal, Parade and TheStreet. But the partnership unraveled when Arena used AI for sponsored content on Sports Illustrated’s website, which sounded alarm bells at the esteemed publication.

Sports Illustrated’s 2026 Super Bowl party at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

(Sports Illustrated)

The Arena Group acknowledged it hired an outside firm to create product reviews that used fake bylines. The scandal coincided with the termination of its chief executive, Ross Levinsohn, who once held a leadership role at the Los Angeles Times.

The relationship with Authentic worsened when Arena’s majority owner, Manoj Bhargava, took over as interim chief executive. The founder of 5-Hour Energy, Bhargava tried to fire Sports Illustrated’s unionized editorial staff and renegotiate a lower licensing fee from Authentic. He also used the magazine’s editorial pages and website to promote his energy drink business.

The SI media business was unprofitable under Bhargava and Arena missed a payment to Authentic on its licensing deal. In March 2024, Arena announced it was shutting down the print edition of SI.

Around the same time, Authentic hired Minute Media, which runs the digital sites Fansided and Players’ Tribune, to take over Sports Illustrated. Bhargava didn’t go quietly; according to legal filings, he threatened to delete Sports Illustrated’s archive of intellectual property.

Authentic sued Arena for breaching the SI licensing agreement, which was settled. Many of the title’s laid-off journalists were rehired.

The experience with Arena was a harsh lesson for Authentic, which never had owned a media property before.

“The minute I make that phone call or anybody perceives that Authentic could control the newsroom, forget it, game over,” Dienst said, referencing Bhargava. “We had to move on.”

Minute Media has gotten high marks from the SI staff for its repair work on the media side of the business.

“It’s been a long time since we felt like we had an operator and support from the very top to not just grow what we’re doing day to day, but to grow what Sports Illustrated is going to look like 10 years down the road,” said Steve Cannella, editor in chief of Sports Illustrated.

SI’s union representing editorial employees praised Minute Media when it took over, and is close to agreeing on a new contract deal with the company.

Minute Media is aiming to expand the SI brand‘s reach across other media platforms to make up for the time lost under previous regimes.

“I’ve asked, ‘guys, what are all the things you wanted to do that you haven’t been able to do?’ ” said Minute Media President Rich Routman. “If we’re not trying new stuff, we’re failing.”

Some sports media types believe SI is largely a nostalgia play in a landscape where young fans go elsewhere for game highlights and turn to provocative hosts such as Pat McAfee on YouTube. But awareness goes beyond the audience of baby boomers and Gen Xers who grew up with the brand.

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, who leads the sports management program at George Washington University, recently conducted a study with her students on their media consumption habits. She said she was surprised to see high recognition of Sports Illustrated with the Gen Z crowd, and credits SI for Kids, the spin-off publication for younger readers launched in 1989.

“They would remember getting it in the mail, and it was the first thing that got them interested in sports,” Neirotti said. “There are a lot of positive memories that keep the brand alive.”

Dienst said the audience for SI has gotten younger under Authentic’s ownership. But he doesn’t disregard the oldsters who grew up with it.

“They’re very affluent and they’re super loyal,” he said.

Bahrain and the UAE also reported attacks resulting in fires, which were put out quickly.

Kuwait has said Iranian drone attacks damaged two power and water desalination plants and sparked a fire at an oil complex, without causing injuries.

Gulf countries have borne the brunt of Tehran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran since February 28.

Fatima Abbas Johar Hayat, a spokesperson for Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, said on Sunday the “criminal aggression” caused “serious material damage” overnight to the two plants and the outage of two electricity-generating units.

The attack is the latest to target civil infrastructure in Kuwait. Other drone attacks overnight caused a fire at the Shuwaikh Oil Sector Complex and “significant damage” to a government office complex.

Reporting from Kuwait City, Al Jazeera’s Malika Traina referred to the incident as “devastating news” because “water desalination here and across the Gulf is extremely important. In Kuwait, around 90 percent of the country’s drinking water comes from these plants”.

Alongside the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait has been at the “epicentre” of Iranian attacks over the past few days, said Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby, reporting from Doha, Qatar.

“The concern here in the region is that if President [Donald] Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, follow through on those threats to escalate attacks on Iran, the result may be that Tehran attacks similar facilities here in the Gulf,” said Gatenby.

Gulf patience is not ‘unlimited’

Bahrain also faced Iranian attacks on Sunday.

Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co said that several of its operational units were subjected to an attack by Iranian drones, while earlier in the day, the country’s national oil company, Bapco Energies, said an oil tank at one of its storage facilities was hit.

Both attacks caused a fire but were later brought under control and extinguished, Bahraini media reported.

No casualties were reported in either attacks, and damage from both was being assessed.

Earlier, Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior had reported on the Bapco Energies fire without specifying where the blaze had broken out.

The Interior Ministry has said civil defence crews “extinguished a fire in the facility” that broke out “as a result of the Iranian aggression”.

The announcement came an hour after Bahrain activated air raid sirens.

Authorities in neighbouring Abu Dhabi on Sunday also stated they responded to several fires that broke out at the Borouge petrochemical plant, caused by falling debris from an interception.

“Operations at the plant have been immediately suspended pending a damage assessment,” read a statement issued by Abu Dhabi Media Office.

No injuries have been reported so far, it added.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, intercepted missiles early on Sunday, the kingdom said.

“Iran has said that it is only really attacking US military bases and US assets in the region, but we know from what’s been happening over the past five weeks and from what Gulf leaders have been saying that they have very much been targeting civilian infrastructure and critical energy infrastructure in this region as well,” said Gatenby.

While Gulf countries have shown “incredible restraint” in the face of attacks over the past five weeks, it is not because they lack the ability to respond and, increasingly, countries are talking about the fact that their patience is not unlimited, said Gatenby.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been talking in the past week about its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, she said.

“The GCC countries continue to say their main priority is de-escalation and dialogue, but some others have been saying this defensive posture may have to change if they continue to be attacked,” said Gatenby.

Spectators have been told to stay away from Durham’s Riverside ground at Chester-le-Street after it was hit by Storm Dave overnight.

The start of the third day’s play in the County Championship Division Two match between Durham and Kent has been delayed.

A club statement said “damage has been caused within the venue” and fans have been advised to stay away.

The statement continued: “The club have been in discussions with the match officials and venue staff this morning and following the impact on the pitch and structures within the ground it is confirmed that play will not commence on time, and a further update will be provided in due course.

“The safety of all in attendance is our number one priority in any decisions we make.”

The extent of the damage at the Riverside, an international cricket venue, has not yet been disclosed.

Early in “The Drama,” things are still good between Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson). The young happy couple, about a week away from getting married, have enjoyed a whirlwind romance. As this dark comedy’s opening credits roll, they’re blissfully practicing their first dance, laughing and stumbling as they try to get their twirls and steps right.

But the scene’s highlight is the song that plays in the background, airy, gentle and simple. Spare guitar chords give way to a female voice that sounds unpolished but beautiful: “I want to lay with you/ In an open field/ Where yellow flowers are suns of Earth.”

For many viewers, this will be the first time they’ve ever heard “I Want to Lay With You,” one of the most gorgeous love songs of the 1970s. It’s also likely they’ll have no idea who the singer is. Her name is Shira Small, and in 1974, she recorded an incredible album, “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now,” when she was 17. She never recorded another — at least, not yet. Now nearly 70, Small may finally be getting her moment in the spotlight.

“I’m cracking up,” says Small over Zoom from her Cooperstown, N.Y., home, “because I had no idea whatsoever that that movie was coming out until my dear sister informed me via you.” Flashing a relaxed smile and sporting long gray hair, Small knows little about the controversial “The Drama,” an A24 film with a heavily guarded twist.

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in the movie “The Drama.”

(A24)

But it’s becoming a delightfully frequent occurrence that Small learns after the fact that her music is featured prominently in a movie or television show. “The record company does what they do and then they send me royalties and I get it in a statement,” she explains. “I had a song that HBO bought for ‘Pause With Sam Jay.’ They sent me an email that was not even to me — it was this interdepartmental thing. At the bottom, it said, ‘Oh, by the way, it airs tonight.’”

Jemma Burns, music supervisor for “The Drama,” had been a fan of Small’s album, thinking “I Want to Lay With You” would be perfect for this idyllic scene, right before Emma and Charlie’s relationship implodes over a disturbing revelation that turns their dream wedding into a nightmare.

“He was trying to set up the rom-com tone,” says Burns of the movie’s writer-director Kristoffer Borgli, “one that would contrast with the modernity of the setting and where the film goes. He wanted something that was from a bygone era, but also something that felt disarmingly charming. The two lead characters are very switched-on, fashionable, arty. So it felt like something they would’ve had in their record collection.”

The youngest of five siblings, Small always loved singing. But even as an adolescent growing up in Harlem, she felt like an old soul, her thoughts running deeper than the average kid’s.

“My focus was on not understanding war and hatred and bigotry,” she says. “I was seriously into trying to make love happen everywhere.”

Against the backdrop of the war in Vietnam and the Black Power movement, Small was well on her way to becoming a hippie, a transformation amplified by her enrollment in a private Quaker boarding academy, George School, in Newtown, Penn., on a full scholarship. When she arrived at George School, Small recalls, laughing, it was “very rich and very white. But I’ve always been a flotation device. I can walk around like I don’t have a clue about things.”

Shira Small, photographed in 1971 at George School in Newtown, Penn.

(Courtesy of Shira Small)

At George School, Small sported an Afro and smoked weed. She was drawn to theater and music, impressing music teacher and classical pianist Lars Clutterham, who saw she had talent. They worked on songs together, with Small coming up with the lyrics and vocal melodies. Every student had to complete a senior project, so Small proposed that hers be an album. Not long after, she and Clutterham drove to a Philadelphia studio for a one-day session.

The 10 songs on “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” — each recorded in only one take — mix folk, soul and jazz, radiating innocence. The arrangements, awash in old-school analog warmth, are straightforward: guitar or piano supplemented with drums, leaving plenty of space for Small’s lilting voice, which contains both idealism and, even as a teen, traces of real-life sorrow.

Her mother died while she was at George School, inspiring “My Life’s All Right,” a ballad about surviving tough times, which later appeared on the Sam Jay show. “Eternal Life” sprang out of her in one burst, celebrating the power of love to transcend life’s harsh realities. As for the movie’s “I Want to Lay With You,” it was about a boy Small liked. She just can’t remember who anymore.

“It was somebody who was just as much a friend as a person that I had a crush on,” she recalls. “I honestly felt that we could have a life together.”

Small laughs at her adolescent self. “Like I knew what it would be like to have a freaking life together! To be able to wake up with somebody and have a beautiful day and always make them smile.”

According to Small, George School’s parents and students raised money to pay for the album and 300 copies were produced. “It was a joyous time,” she recalls. “I was on my way — to somewhere!” After graduation, though, she struggled to find her footing, eventually graduating summa cum laude from the City University of New York with a theater degree. But then she chose pre-med, becoming a physician assistant.

“When I became pre-med, it was so hard for me that I was just tunnel-visioned,” explains Small about why she said goodbye to music. “I had to devote my whole self to it. It was so all-encompassing that I could think of nothing else.”

But there was another reason she walked away from music. From an early age, Small suffered debilitating stage fright. “It was so bad that it would twist my stomach into a knot,” she recalls. She gutted it out to do plays at George School and, later, record her album. After a while, though, “It just got to be too much.”

Still, didn’t she miss singing? “Constantly,” replies Small, who retired about five years ago from the medical profession. “I sang unconsciously a lot. My patients always picked up on it — they’d be like, ‘Every time you come in, you’re singing.’”

But although Small abandoned music, “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” never went away. In 2006, the Numero Group, an archival record label, put together a compilation, “Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From the Canyon,” devoted to under-the-radar female singers from the 1970s. Numero Group co-founder Ken Shipley made sure “Eternal Life” was included.

“I was the first person to ever reach out to Shira,” he says proudly in a separate phone interview. Shipley heard “Eternal Life” on a burned CD of femme-folk artists that was making the industry rounds at the turn of the millennium while he was putting together his “Wayfaring Strangers” lineup. “Shira was a top want for me.”

The Numero Group put “Eternal Life” on Spotify in 2013. But when the label released the full album digitally in 2022, “I don’t know that anybody really cared,” Shipley says. Undeterred, he reissued it on vinyl the following year. Maybe listeners just needed time.

“Music finds a way,” Shipley says. “Music’s like water. It’s going to get down the creek into the river into the ocean. It’s going to find its audience.”

Sure enough, strange serendipitous moments started happening for Small. A future bandmate’s ex had one of her songs on a playlist, having no idea it was Small. She recently started working part-time at a local opera house and one of the opera singers adored “Eternal Life,” unaware that Small was an employee.

And now, royalty checks arrive for the usage of her songs in films like “The Drama.” It still feels unreal to Small that her album generates revenue. “It was never for commercial purposes,” she says. “I can’t believe that I am collecting any royalties on that music and that it just keeps going and going.”

Small’s husband died in 2019 after 34 years of marriage. It sent her spiraling, but then something remarkable happened. “The day I came out of it, the music was gushing out of me so fast that I couldn’t keep up with it,” she says. “I had to walk around with a voice memo. I hadn’t spoken to Lars in more than a decade. I sent him all of these voice memos and he sent me a note: ‘Shira, you still got it.’”

In 2024, she released her first song in 50 years, “Why,” which lays out her fears for the world. Her voice is different, deeper, possessing a lifetime of experience that her teenage self couldn’t have possibly imagined. Small is now plotting out an album and has some shows lined up. Even better, she’s worked through her stage fright.

Eventually, she’ll perform her old songs, but she’s figuring out how to hit that higher register from her youth. “I’ve gone through decades of hormones and cigarettes and all the other things that I did that I’m happy I lived through,” she says, wryly.

“I still have a thing about yellow flowers in open fields,” she admits. “We have these huge sunflower fields here. The whole idea of being in such a beautiful place with yellow flowers that light up a great day is what popped into my head when I wrote that lyric.”

I ask her what she makes of that young woman she hears on “The Line of Time and the Plane of Now” today.

“I know her so well,” replies Small. “You know why? Because she’s still here. I am, at this point, everybody I’ve ever been ever, leading up to this moment.

“I still feel the same way about many things,” she continues. “I’m probably angrier now than I was when I was a child, but I still have this underlying thing about looking at a bigger picture to help me keep my lid on. When I think back on ‘Eternal Life’ and ‘My Life’s All Right,’ that music was born from my core. And my core does not have an age.”

Nikola Jokic outshone fellow Most Valuable Player contender Victor Wembanyama with a game-high 40 points as the Denver Nuggets ended the San Antonio Spurs’ 11-match winning streak.

Serb Jokic, a three-time winner of the NBA’s MVP award, starred as Denver recorded their eighth straight win with a 136-134 triumph in overtime.

Wembanyama led San Antonio with 34 points but the Frenchman’s team squandered a 107-96 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Both players are among the leading names to claim this season’s coveted individual award, given to the best performer during the regular season, and were full of praise for the other after the match.

Jokic said of Wembanyama to ESPN: “I think the first time I played against him, I told you guys he’s going to change the league. He’s going to change basketball.

“I still think that. And I think he has an opportunity, a chance to be the most unique basketball player to ever play the game.”

Reflecting on defeat, Wembanyama said: “I think it was an amazing game. One of the most fun games. I wish we could have closed it out.

“It was a real test against a team that’s playing for something right now. They’ve got the best offensive player in the world.”

Both teams have already clinched a place in the post-season play-offs, which begin on 18 April.

But while San Antonio are assured of a top-two seeding in the Western Conference – they trail reigning champions Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver’s final placing within the top six is still to be decided.

The Thunder can move closer to a third straight Western Conference title against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seeks back-to-back MVP crowns.

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic could be out of MVP contention after the NBA’s leading scorer was ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury on Friday.

TORONTO has long been a place of discovery and invention.

Insulin, for example, was discovered at the city’s university in 1921.

While the CN Tower was the world’s tallest building until 2009, when it was surpassed by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

Decades on, the city continues to impress with its newness.

It is gearing up to stage the country’s first World Cup match as Canada co-hosts the tournament alongside Mexico and the US.

There will be six games in Toronto — including Canada’s opening Group B match against Bosnia Herzegovina — and the region is prepared for an influx of visitors thanks to its Fan Festival with huge screens, music, art and food.

WAIL OF A TIME

I drove Irish Route 66 with deserted golden beaches and pirate-like islands

TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

WHY SHOULD I GO?

Toronto is one of the world’s most multicultural cities and you can experience a flavour of that at the Royal Ontario Museum.

If you are a sports fan but didn’t manage to bag World Cup tickets, head to the Rogers Centre to watch the Toronto Blue Jays.

Canada’s only Major League Baseball team, play in the shadow of the CN Tower.

Adrenaline junkies can walk the CN Tower’s EdgeWalk, 1,168ft in the air.

It’s not for the faint-hearted though, so if you have a fear of heights you may want to head to the observation deck instead.

STREETS MADE FOR WALKING?

Absolutely — make sure your footwear is sturdy.

But also pack your flip flops for a visit to the car-free Toronto Islands, home to gorgeous beaches and waters you can paddle in.

Ward’s Island Beach is the place to head for spectacular sunsets, while in the opposite direction is Hanlan’s Point, a nudist beach where shoes — and everything else — are optional.

ANYTHING FOR THE BUCKET LIST?

Niagara Falls hardly needs an introduction and it’s absolutely worth a visit.

The huge waterfall is jaw- droppingly magnificent and you can sail directly into its base on the Maid Of The Mist boat tour (adult tickets start from £22).

You will be provided with a poncho for the trip but it’s rather flimsy, so I’d recommend bringing your own waterproofs too.

WHERE SHOULD I EAT?

The 206-year-old St Lawrence Market is the best choice for those who can’t decide as it is home to 120 vendors flogging an abundance of seafood, meats and artisanal cheeses.

The peameal bacon sandwiches from Carousel Bakery are legendary.

If you are after dinner with a view — and motion sickness isn’t an issue for you — try the 360 Restaurant inside the CN Tower.

True to its name, the restaurant slowly revolves to give you a full panoramic view of Toronto.

It takes 72 minutes to complete the rotation so, unless you’re a speed-eater, you’ll get the full cityscape with your meal.

I FANCY A DRINK . . . 

King Street West in downtown Toronto is known for its thumping nightlife.

You may even spot a few A-listers, as Toronto International Film Festival holds its red carpets and premieres there.

For something a little less raucous, the Harbourfront area is lined with cool bars, many of which offer a skyline view of the Toronto Islands.

WHERE SHOULD I STAY?

The Chelsea Hotel is very well located.

From the airport, you can take the UP Express to Union Station, then jump on the subway and you arrive at the hotel in under ten minutes.

Moments from Sankofa Square (formerly Yonge-Dundas Square and Toronto’s answer to Piccadilly Circus) the hotel is in the heart of the action.

It’s Canada’s largest, with nearly 1,600 rooms spread across 26 floors.

Of course, Canada’s largest hotel isn’t short on entertainment, either.

The highlights include a rooftop terrace, two restaurants and a 130ft water slide in its family-friendly pool area.

Miami captain scored his team’s first goal after David Beckham said the Nu Stadium was a ‘dream come true’ for Miami.

Lionel Messi marked the opening of Inter Miami’s gleaming new stadium with a goal as the Major League Soccer (MLS) champions battled to a 2-2 draw against Austin FC.

Inter Miami’s co-owner, David Beckham, was among the star-studded crowd as the club’s 26,000-capacity Nu Stadium made its debut on Saturday, marking the end of a more-than-a-decade-long journey to find a permanent home.

“To see this stadium come to life, after years and years of trying to get this stadium up and running in Miami, is something that’s very special,” Beckham said shortly before kickoff.

“I came to America in the MLS 20 years ago, and I made a lot of promises. And 13 years ago, I made a lot of promises again, announcing I was coming to Miami.

“Today it’s just a dream come true for us.”

While the match kicked off in celebratory fashion, with Beckham joining billionaire Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas in a pre-game ribbon-cutting ceremony, Austin refused to follow the script.

The Texas club, who went into the game with only one win from five matches, stunned the home crowd after only six minutes, with Guilherme Biro nodding in a corner from Facundo Torres to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Messi, though, did not take long to open his account in his new surroundings.

Right-back Ian Fray burst down the flank and crossed for Messi, who equalised with a rare headed goal to make it 1-1 four minutes later.

Inter Miami dominated possession thereafter and carved out a string of chances, with Mateo Silvetti twice going close with a shot in the 34th minute before heading wide four minutes later.

But Austin’s dogged defence and speed on the counter continued to pose problems for the hosts, and they once again took the lead after 53 minutes.

Messi was dispossessed deep in the Austin half by Joseph Rosales, who released Myrto Uzuni, who in turn sent substitute Jayden Nelson clean through on goal to score.

With Miami increasingly desperate, coach Javier Mascherano sent on veteran striker Luis Suarez in the 73rd minute.

The Uruguayan duly delivered eight minutes later, prodding home from close range after a Messi corner was flicked on by German Berterame in the Austin defence.

Suarez thought he had scored a dramatic winner when he finished from close range after Messi’s free-kick came back off the woodwork, but it was ruled out for offside.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada Sadr’s supporters rallied across Baghdad and other cities on Saturday, protesting against the US-Israel war on Iran.

Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the regional tension, suffering attacks targeting both US interests and pro-Iranian factions within its territory.

In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, enormous crowds, including some women, filled the streets, brandishing Iraqi flags and shouting: “No, no to Israel” and “No, no to America”.

“What America and Israel are doing in their aggression against the countries of the region is not a war of a military nature, but a senseless war,” said Dhirgham Samir, a demonstrator in his 40s.

“Today’s demonstration is an expression of rejection of aggression, arrogance, and injustice throughout the world, not just in Iraq,” he told the AFP news agency, adding that “this is a senseless war, targeting civilians”.

The ongoing war has resulted in thousands of casualties throughout the region since it began.

Sadr had issued calls for peaceful demonstrations “to condemn the Zionist-American aggression and to establish peace in the region”.

Beneath Baghdad’s Freedom Monument, which honours Iraq’s independence declaration, protesters denounced what they characterised as US and Israeli meddling in regional matters.

“They violate the rights of all the peoples of the region first, and then the world,” Muslim leader Ali al-Fartousi told AFP. “Humanity must speak out against these people and stop them. The time has come for the entire world to stand united against global Zionist-American arrogance.”

Sadr commands a loyal following of millions within Iraq’s Shia majority and has consistently demonstrated his ability to mobilise large crowds. Though he has opposed various governments over the years, his influence extends into Iraqi ministries and official institutions through his representatives.

Tzruya “Suki” Lahav, a violinist and poet who played with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the mid 1970’s on some of the band’s most beloved LPs, has died. She was 74.

Yonatan Albalak, her son, posted on Facebook April 2 that his mother had been “gathered into infinity after a short and hard battle with the cursed disease” of cancer.

“She wrote songs that touched people’s hearts,” he wrote, describing her as “a special woman, smart, pure in heart and loving life. She was the best mom I could ever ask for.”

Lahav’s tenure with the group lasted only between 1974 and 1975, yet she contributed several standout moments to Springsteen’s catalog. She performed on “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” and its follow-up, the smash “Born to Run.” She played the famed violin intro to the classic single “Jungleland,” and performed the multi-tracked choir on “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” after a church vocal group failed to turn up for the session. She also played on a fan-favorite, widely-bootlegged cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Want You.”

She entered Springsteen’s camp after her husband, Louis Lahav, engineered on Springsteen’s 1972 debut album, “Greetings From Asbury Park.” Lahav told the Jerusalem Post in 2007 that she joined the group as “a young girl in a flowing white dress from Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar in the Upper Galilee, barely out of the army, barely married … I went from kibbutz harvest music to rocking with Bruce.”

She remained a major artist in Israel for decades after her tenure with Springsteen. She recorded with the Israeli rock band Tamuz, and wrote songs for prominent Israeli artists like Rita, including “Yemei Hatom” and “Shara Barkhovot.” She won the ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award and the Arik Einstein Prize there. In 1990, “Shara Barkhovot” was Israel’s submission to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Satisfied is perhaps the best word to describe how Norco High pitcher Coral Williams felt after tossing a three-hit shutout in the Gold Bracket championship game of the Michelle Carew Softball Classic.

Williams recorded five strikeouts, Angelina Gonzales hit a pair of home runs and the Cougars blanked Fullerton 7-0 to capture their sixth tournament title Saturday night at Peralta Park in Anaheim.

The finals showdown between teams ranked second and third in CalHiSports.com’s top 20 rankings was decided early. Kendra Nelson walked to begin the game, then Gonzales lined an inside pitch deep over the fence in left field to make it 2-0. Isabella Ray hit a solo shot to left in the fourth and in the fifth Gonzales unloaded on another homer to left to give Williams a four-run cushion that was more than she needed.

“It was the same pitch both times — I think they were trying to surprise me on the second one,” said Gonzales, who had three homers in five games. “If I didn’t get it done I knew the next player would do the job. We have each other’s backs.”

Williams, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Player of the Year last spring, was named the most valuable pitcher of the tournament after giving up only one unearned run in 24 innings. She threw a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in Wednesday’s victory over Millikan and tossed a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 2-1, 10-inning triumph over Anaheim Canyon on Friday.

“I felt confident in my preparation for this game and told myself to stay loose and don’t overthink,” Williams said. “I pitched around the zone a lot so they couldn’t do damage.”

The No. 3 Cougars (14-2) have allowed only two earned runs, and six total, while shutting out 13 opponents this season.

“I love playing behind Coral,” said Gonzales, the Cougars’ left fielder. “She makes my job easier.”

Utah Valley-bound Hayley Brock was a force at the plate for Fullerton (16-2) and singled her first time up against Williams. She was chosen most valuable player of the tournament after going 11 for 18 with four home runs, two doubles and 14 RBIs.

“It’s a great feeling to be named MVP, it just sucks coming up one win short,” said Brock, who was robbed of a second hit on a diving play at second base in the fourth inning. “That pitcher is so good. You want to attack her earlier in the count. You don’t want to get to two strikes with her.”

Norco’s Angelina Gonzales celebrates after hitting the first of two home runs against Fullerton in the Michelle Carew Softball Classic Gold Bracket championship at Peralta Park in Anaheim on April 4, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Williams admitted she was wary of Brock’s prowess at the plate.

“I just had to be smart with my pitches and trust my defense,” she said. “We all need to be loose tonight and not be as tense and uptight.”

Norco advanced to the finals by blanking Orange Lutheran 2-0. Peyton May scattered five hits over six innings, striking out eight batters. Sadie Burroughs belted a solo homer in the second and Savannah Gonzalez added an RBI double to center in the fifth as the Cougars prevailed in a rematch of their 2-1 victory in the Norco Showcase finale in Chino Hills in February.

Orange Lutheran’s Rylee Silva, who had 135 strikeouts as a freshman last spring, struck out five Cougars. She and the No. 7 Lancers (10-5), who edged Norco 1-0 in the semifinals last year before falling to Rosary Academy in the final, then lost to Ganesha 10-2 in Saturday’s third-place game.

Fullerton blasted five homers off of Ganesha ace Ava Phillips in its 9-4 semifinal triumph. Brock had a pair of two-run shots, Malaya Majam-Finch had a three-run home run and a solo and Andrea Montes added a solo homer as Fullerton won its ninth straight, a streak that began March 7 with a 3-2 upset over Norco at the Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Arizona. Katelynn Mathews threw a seven-hitter with a strikeout and improved to 11-0.

Phillips allowed only four hits and struck out seven in Ganesha’s 3-2 upset of Loomis Del Oro in the first round Wednesday, then the junior transfer from Rosary outdueled Marina ace Mia Valbuena in a 4-1 win for the Giants (10-3) on Friday.

Los Alamitos (12-8) shared fifth place in the Gold Bracket with Chula Vista Mater Dei, the 2025 SoCal Division I regional champion. After throwing back-to-back no-hitters versus Rio Mesa and Los Altos on Wednesday to lift the Vikings into the top bracket, Valbuena was not in the circle in the seventh-place game against Anaheim Canyon, but her twin sister Avi hit an RBI double to tie it 2-2 in the top of the seventh.

The Comanches (12-8) prevailed 4-3 on a single by Emma Lindauer that scored Bella Alcala for the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.

Santa Maria St. Joseph took an early 3-0 lead and hung on to defeat Los Altos 4-2 for the Silver Bracket title. Jasmine Campos and Aaliyah Zamano had RBI hits for the Conquerors, who fell to 14-8.

Brooke Lebsock had a grand slam and Janai Stover added a two-run homer as Riverside King (14-4) won the Bronze Bracket with an 11-0 victory over Modesto Central Catholic.

Lauryn Kim homered and Kayla Cisneros, Addy Everett and Lizzie Hobbs each had two hits in Millikan’s 7-6 triumph over San Diego Cathedral in the consolation final.

The tournament debuted as the Canyon Tournament of Champions in the mid-1980s. Following the passing of Michelle Carew, who died from a rare form of leukemia in 1996 at the age of 18, it was renamed in her memory. She was the daughter of Angels Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

ALONG the Essex coast are well-known seaside towns like Southend, Clacton-on-Sea, but most won’t have heard of Brightlingsea.

The seaside destination is visited far less than its neighbours, and is said to have one of the ‘best kept traditional high streets in the East of England‘.

During the summertime, Brightlingsea is much quieter than its neighbours where holidaymakers are more likely to flock to.

However, it’s shingle beach is recognisable thanks to its line of colourful beach huts on the promenade.

The Blue Flag beach is popular for paddling too and has excellent water quality.

On a clear day, holidaymakers can even see across to Mersea Island.

GO SEA IT

£9.50 holiday spot with shipwrecks, seals offshore & horseshoe-shaped waterfalls

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Best pubs, fish and chip shops and cafes in Sussex – by Sun readers & locals

One visitor wrote on Tripadvisor called it a “traditional beach without the noise.”

Another added: “Very unspoilt, family oriented, beautiful beach. Traditional town back in the 50’s.”

As well as a beach, Brightlingsea also has its own beachside lido, with tickets from £3.50 to £5.

There’s no date for the lido reopening for 2026 but last year it opened for the season in May.

Around the corner from Brightlingsea Beach is its harbour which in the summer has an influx of visitors by boat.

In the summer months, Brightlingsea can get as many as 2,500 visiting yachts in a single season and hundreds of local boats.

For anyone wanting to visit neighbouring islands, it’s here you can hop on a ferry to the likes of East Mersea and Point Clear.

Unlike other towns across the country, Brightlingsea’s high street is considered one of the ‘best kept traditional high streets’.

Rather than lots of typical chains, it’s dotted with independent shops.

Some sell records and plants like Roots & Grooves; others like Toggs is where you can pick up women’s clothes and handbags.

For another seaside stay – head up the coast to this pretty Norfolk town…

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Old Hunstanton, Norfolk
This town has some of the best beach walks beside striped limestone cliffs, a Victorian lighthouse and 13th century ruins. The beach has golden sands with rolling dunes and colourful beach huts, backed by a pretty pinewood forest. Stay at a beachfront hotel from £100 per room.

BOOK A STAY

There are also beauty salons as well as food shops like Joy Thai Spices and Bumbles greengrocers.

Little Boat Gifts is a sea-themed shop filled with lots of knickknacks and gifts while at River Colne Food Co. Deli there are lots of homemade treats like chocolate brownies and cinnamon rolls.

Opposite is Ye Olde Swan, which is a pub, bed and breakfast, and is one of the oldest buildings in the town dating back to the 1300s.

Another pub on the high street is The Brewers Arms and head to Winkies for takeaway fish and chips.

Minutes from the high street is the popular Rosebud Pub & Seafood Restaurant which is the top-rated spot to enjoy seafood in the town.

Here you can get an entire seafood platter for £26.

When it comes to where to stay, Brightlingsea has its own Hoseasons holiday park.

It has a choice of holiday caravans from the Bronze which has two bedrooms, an open lounge, kitchen and dining area.

In April, a stay for four in a Bronze caravan starts from £10 per person per night.

Here’s another pretty seaside town that’s one of the UK’s driest places…

Shoeburyness is a small town along the Essex coastline that’s one of the driest places in the country…

It has a lower annual rainfall average than the rest of the UK – not to mention it has two Blue Flag beaches and is just one hour away from London.

Thirteen minutes from Southend-on-Sea is the lesser-known coastal spot of Shoeburyness.

The town is home to around 22,000 people and is one of the driest places in the country.

Its position on the southeast coast means it gets less rainfall than other spots around the UK.

Shoeburyness records an average of between 526.78mm and 527mm of rain per year.

In comparison, the average annual rainfall for the entire UK is 1,163mm – Shoeburyness receives less than half of that.

So, it’s no wonder that lots of people flock to the town to visit its two Blue Flag beaches; Shoebury Common and Shoebury East Beach.

Shoebury Common is a sand and shingle beach that’s popular with families during the summer.

But it’s not just bucket and spade friendly, or for paddling, though. It’s also a popular place to launch boats and jet-skis, and is good for kitesurfing too.

Plus, here are 10 of the most affordable English seaside towns for Easter holidays with £1 rides, £2 pints & mega cheap hotels.

And here are our favourite old-fashioned English seaside resorts – with quaint promenades and retro beach huts.

Former WBC champion comes out on top in the closely-contested fight against his British opponent in London.

Former world champion Deontay Wilder sent Derek Chisora into retirement by edging their engaging yet chaotic heavyweight fight in London, United Kingdom.

The boxers, aged 40 and 42 respectively, threw hopeful knockout punches and barely jabbed. Both slipped and fell to the canvas frequently during the bout at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

Wilder got the only knockdown in the eighth round, sending Chisora through the ropes, but the American was deducted a point in the same round for pushing. Chisora was rattled, but Wilder did not press his advantage.

Wilder dominated the early rounds, and Chisora rallied late. The judges were split in their scoring: Wilder received scores of 115-111 and 115-113, and the third picked Chisora by 115-112.

Wilder said the fight was fun and suggested he didn’t want to knock out Chisora.

“Tonight, I looked out for him. I want him to live for his kids,” he told broadcaster DAZN. “It’s time for us to take care of each other.”

Chisora said in the build-up that the fight was to be his last, but the Londoner was reluctant to confirm it afterwards.

“I’m going to go home with the boss lady and see,” he told DAZN. “I’m going to go home and drop the kids, do the school run.”

It was the 50th fight for both in the professional ranks.

Wilder improved his record to 45-4-1. The WBC titleholder from 2015 to 2020 came to London having lost four of his last six fights.

Chisora’s record since 2007, when he turned pro a year before Wilder, dropped to 36-14. He lost his only two title shots against Vitali Klitschko in 2012 and Tyson Fury in 2022.

Iran claims another US aircraft involved in the rescue of the F-15 fighter pilot has been shot down.

The United States has rescued the second crew member of a US F-15 jet shot down, President Donald Trump confirms, as Iran claims another US aircraft involved in the rescue has been downed in the province of Isfahan.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday. “He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine.”

The airman, who Trump said held the rank of colonel, was the second member of a two-person crew of an F-15 that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences.

“This miraculous search and rescue operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave pilot yesterday, which we did not confirm because we did not want to jeopardise our second rescue operation.”

The rescue resolves a crisis for the White House with the war on Iran in its sixth week.

The first member of the crew had been rescued, triggering a high-stakes search for the remaining airman by both Iran and the US.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said there had been no confirmation or denial from the Iranians on the pilot’s rescue.

“Over the past 24 hours, we have witnessed continuous air strikes on the location where the fighter jet was downed,” he said.

Another plane down?

Separately on Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down a US aircraft that was looking for the missing officer in the southern province of Isfahan, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Fars posted a photo on its Telegram channel, showing thick smoke rising from a field, and said: “Trump’s desperate attempt to cover up a huge defeat.” Fars did not provide any details on the plane that was downed.

The high-stakes US rescue effort, which involved dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.

Before Trump’s confirmation, Al Jazeera’s Jon Hendren, reporting from Washington, DC, quoted a US official as saying that US forces had encircled and were moving in on the downed airman, who had managed to avoid Iranian units for about two days.

“And then a firefight broke out. This happened in daylight,” Hendren reported. “Generally, special operations troops would go in for a rescue operation like that, and they would try to extract someone very quickly in the darkness. This went on for hours, we were told.”

In a separate incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter crashed after being hit over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, officials said. The degree of any injuries among the aircraft crew remained unclear.

Still, Trump was triumphant.

“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a single American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again that we have achieved overwhelming air dominance and superiority over the Iranian skies,” he said in his statement.