THERE are many vibrant seaside towns across the UK – but these ones have got some huge upgrades for next year.

VisitEngland has revealed what we can expect from big events to reopened hotels and brand new thrilling attractions.

Hull

Hull is set to be popular next year after the city was named one of ‘best places in the world to travel to in 2026’ by National Geographic.

This is mostly thanks to its ongoing project to conserve its maritime history.

Since 2020, the Maritime Museum has been undergoing a huge revamp worth £11million, but it will finally reopen to the public next year.

This has been part of a wider £27.5 million project to promote Hull’s maritime history which has gone into restoring the museum and ships.

CHRIMBO WIN

Enter these travel comps before Xmas to win £2k holidays, ski trips & spa stays

SNOW WAY

All the best Xmas days out under £10 including FREE ice skating & Santa’s grotto

The Hull Maritime Museum will reopen in spring 2026 with new exhibits which explore its 800 year history.

When it reopens, you can expect to see a ship model of maritime art and a 40-foot whale skeleton.

The city also has its own showbiz trail for tourists, a famous and very big minster as well as an interactive dinosaur museum.

Morecambe

The seaside town of Morecambe will be celebrating in 2026 as it will mark the 100th birthday of Eric Morecambe.

The comedian grew up in the town and he took his stage name from it and celebrations with a comedy extravaganza in his honour will start in May next year.

Meanwhile in January, Morecambe will host The Bay International Film Festival with live cinema screenings and awards.

One of the major focuses of the festival will be ‘Stories Beyond Borders’ – a competition to choose the best ‘visually captivating and thought-provoking short films from around the world’.

The festival will run from January 23 to February 1, 2026.

Blackpool

Of course Blackpool is renowned for its Pleasure Beach theme park and this year marks its 130th birthday.

Next year, the attraction is set to open its new Aviktas “gyro swing” ride: a giant spinning pendulum.

It will be first of its kind in the UK and will stand at 138 feet.

The ride will feature a giant spinning pendulum that will swing 120 degrees and seat 40 riders at a time.

Riders’ legs will dangle giving them the feeling of flying.

There are other swinging pendulum rides in the UK already, but Blackpool‘s will tower higher.

The town’s Royal Carlton Hotel will also be restored to its former glory in a multi-million pound refurbishment.

It sits on the beachfront and has been closed since last year for the upgrades which will be to all 40 rooms, as well as the bar and restaurant.

Folkestone

In the Kent coastal town of Folkestone, the heritage Leas Lift cliff railway will reopen in spring of 2026.

The Grade II listed funicular railway first opened in 1885 and is one of the only three remaining water-balanced cliff lifts in the UK.

It has been closed since 2017, but will reopen next year so locals and tourists will be able to ride between the seafront and promenade.

There will also be a new café and community space in the Lower Station, and experience fresh exhibitions telling the story of this unique piece of seaside heritage.

Southport

Southport is having a year of entertainment as the historic seaside town is hosting a year-long programme of circus, theatre, art and music performances.

In February the town will hold Lightport – an immersive light and sound installation which will cast rainbows across the town.

At the beginning of April will be Cristal Palace where the world-renowned French street theatre company Transe Express will bring its spectacular show Cristal Palace to Lord Street .

There’s a 15-metre-wide flying chandelier – and the street will transform into an open air ballroom with live music, aerial performances and dance.

The Big Top Festival will see the circus take over Southport and you can watch this happen in May 2026.

There will be juggling performances, performances on open-air stages, live music and workshops.

In October will be Books Alive! a literature festival with a twist as storytelling comes to life with live performances and author-led workshops.

It’s during half-term so children can go along and enjoy their favourite novels in real-time.

All events are completely free for locals and tourists to visit.

CRITTERS & JITTERS

Vogue & Spencer insist marriage is strong – why do pals think otherwise?

BLAZE HORROR

Hong Kong inferno kills at least 36 while trapped beg for help on social media

For more seaside towns – find out the favourites of the Sun Travel team that are less than 90 minutes from London with Banksy art and award-winning beaches.

And discover the English seaside town that’s better in autumn with London-worthy restaurants and new hotels.

Make sure to pack some patience in your carry-on.

This Thanksgiving holiday travel period is expected to be the busiest in 15 years, federal officials said, as Americans brush off the recent government shutdown that snarled air travel across the country.

All told, more than 360,000 flights will take to the skies this week through Dec. 1, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Traffic was expected to have peaked Tuesday, with more than 52,000 flights set to ferry flyers to their feasts.

The number of flights was expected to drop to only 25,611 on Thanksgiving Day before ticking back up for post-holiday travel. In a chart posted on X, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated that 16.9 million people would fly throughout this holiday week.

Los Angeles International Airport officials estimated that 2.5 million travelers would come through the airport from Nov. 20 through Monday. Sunday is expected to be the single busiest travel day, with more than 230,000 people making their way through the terminals.

“Thanksgiving is one of LAX’s most important travel periods with so many of our guests connecting with loved ones or setting out on holiday trips,” said Courtney Moore, deputy executive director of strategy, innovation and experience at Los Angeles World Airports. “We’ve spent the year preparing to welcome our guests with smoother experiences throughout the airport.”

The uptick in travel comes just weeks after the federal government shutdown, which forced the FAA to cut air traffic across the country to relieve air traffic controllers.

While travelers might still feel on edge over possible delays, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a news conference on Monday that they should “travel with confidence.”

“Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” Bedford said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”

Travelers are encouraged to pack light to get through security and arrive early to the airport to avoid travel stress.

While California will largely be warm and sunny through the holiday, weather delays could still impact airports in certain parts of the country, including the New York area, JFK/LGA/EWR; Philadelphia, PHL; Houston, IAH/HOU; Memphis, Tenn., MEM; and Dallas, DFW/DAL.

California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom recently convened a meeting that might rank among the top sweat-inducing nightmare scenarios for Silicon Valley’s tech bros — a group of the Golden State’s smartest, most powerful women brainstorming ways to regulate artificial intelligence.

Regulation is the last thing this particular California-dominated industry wants, and it’s spent a lot of cash at both the state and federal capitols to avoid it — including funding President Trump’s new ballroom. Regulation by a bunch of ladies, many mothers, with profit a distant second to our kids when it comes to concerns?

I’ll let you figure out how popular that is likely be with the Elon Musks, Peter Thiels and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world.

But as Siebel Newsom said, “If a platform reaches a child, it carries a responsibility to protect that child. Period. Our children’s safety can never be second to the bottom line.”

Agreed.

Siebel Newsom’s push for California to do more to regulate AI comes at the same time that Trump is threatening to stop states from overseeing the technology — and is ramping up a national effort that will open America’s coffers to AI moguls for decades to come.

Right now, the U.S. is facing its own nightmare scenario: the most powerful and world-changing technology we have seen in our lifetimes being developed and unleashed under almost no rules or restraints other than those chosen by the men who seek personal benefit from the outcome.

To put it simply, the plan right now seems to be that these tech barons will change the world as they see fit to make money for themselves, and we as taxpayers will pay them to do it.

“When decisions are mainly driven by power and profit instead of care and responsibility, we completely lose our way, and given the current alignment between tech titans and the federal administration, I believe we have lost our way,” Siebel Newsom said.

To recap what the way has been so far, Trump recently tried to sneak a 10-year ban on the ability of states to oversee the industry into his ridiculously named “Big Beautiful Bill,” but it was pulled out by a bipartisan group in the Senate — an early indicator of how inflammatory this issue is.

Faced with that unexpected blockade, Trump has threatened to sign a mysterious executive order crippling states’ ability to regulate AI and attempting to withhold funds from those that try.

Simultaneously, the most craven and cowardly among Republican congresspeople have suggested adding a 10-year ban to the upcoming defense policy bill that will almost certainly pass. Of course, Congress has also declined to move forward on any meaningful federal regulations itself, while technology CEOs including Trump frenemy Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Meta’s Zuckerberg and many others chum it up at fancy events inside the White House.

Which may be why this week, Trump announced the “Genesis Mission,” an executive order that seemingly will take the unimaginable vastness of government research efforts across disciplines and dump them into some kind of AI model that will “revolutionize the way scientific research is conducted.”

While I am sure that nothing could possibly go wrong in that scenario, that’s not actually the part that is immediately alarming. This is: The project will be overseen by Trump science and technology policy advisor Michael Kratsios, who holds no science or engineering degrees but was formerly a top executive for Thiel and former head of another AI company that works on warfare-related projects with the Pentagon.

Kratsios is considered one of the main reasons Trump has embraced the tech bros with such adoration in his second term. Genesis will almost certainly mean huge government contracts for these private-sector “partners,” fueling the AI boom (or bubble) with taxpayer dollars.

Siebel Newsom’s message in the face of all this is that we are not helpless — and California, as the home of many of these companies and the world’s fourth-largest economy in its own right, should have a say in how this technology advances, and make sure it does so in a way that benefits and protects us all.

“California is uniquely positioned to lead the effort in showing innovation and responsibility and how they can go hand in hand,” she said. “I’ve always believed that stronger guardrails are actually good for business over the long term. Safer tech means better outcomes for consumers and greater consumer trust and loyalty.”

But the pressure to cave under the might of these companies is intense, as Siebel Newsom’s husband knows.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent the last few years trying to thread the needle on state legislation that offers some sort of oversight while allowing for the innovation that rightly keeps California and the United States competitive on the global front. The tech industry has spent millions in lobbying, legal fights and pressure campaigns to water down even the most benign of efforts, even threatening to leave the state if rules are enacted.

Last year, the industry unsuccessfully tried to stop Senate Bill 53, landmark legislation signed by Newsom. It’s a basic transparency measure on “frontier” AI models that requires companies to have safety and security protocols and report known “catastrophic” risks, such as when these models show tendencies toward behavior that could kill more than 50 people — which they have, believe it or not.

But the industry was able to stop other efforts. Newsom vetoed both Senate Bill 7, which would have required employers to notify workers when using AI in hiring and promotions; and Assembly Bill 1064, which would have barred companion chatbot operators from making these AI systems available to minors if they couldn’t prove they wouldn’t do things like encourage kids to self-harm, which again, these chatbots have done.

Still, California (along with New York and a few other states) has pushed forward, and speaking at Siebel Newsom’s event, the governor said that last session, “we took a number of at-bats at this and we made tremendous progress.”

He promised more.

“We have agency. We can shape the future,” he said. “We have a unique responsibility as it relates to these tools of technology, because, well, this is the center of that universe.”

If Newsom does keep pushing forward, it will be in no small part because of Siebel Newsom, and women like her, who keep the counter-pressure on.

In fact, it was another powerful mom, First Lady Melania Trump, who forced the federal government into a tiny bit of action this year when she championed the “Take It Down Act”, which requires tech companies to quickly remove nonconsensual explicit images. I sincerely doubt her husband would have signed that particular bill without her urging.

So, if we are lucky, the efforts of women like Siebel Newsom may turn out to be the bit of powerful sanity needed to put a check on the world-domination fantasies of the broligarchy.

Because tech bros are not yet all-powerful, despite their best efforts, and certainly not yet immune to the power of moms.

The official head coach for Crenshaw High’s football team remains Robert Garrett even though he’s been barred from attending games on Los Angeles Unified School District property since Aug. 21, when he was placed on administrative leave.

His long-time assistant and Crenshaw grad, Terrence Whitehead, took over as interim coach the week before the opening game. He and assistants trained by Garrett since they were adolescents have the Cougars at 10-1 and playing for the City Section Open Division title against top-seeded Carson at 6 p.m. Saturday at L.A. Southwest College.

“I think he’s doing an outstanding job from where he’s been put,” Garrett said.

Garrett said it’s no surprise what Crenshaw has accomplished with 14 of 18 players returning from a team last season that lost by a single point in the opening round of the Division I playoffs to No. 1-seeded Eagle Rock. Add standout linebacker De’Andre Kirkpatrick to that group along with others and you have Crenshaw seeking its seventh City title.

“My thoughts are you win ballgames from January through July when you meet daily and go over fundamentals, skills and get bigger, stronger and faster. You win it in the weight room,” Garrett said.

Garrett said he has spoken to Whitehead weekly and seen games that were streamed. But he has no intention of attending Saturday’s game.

Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett has been on administrative leave since August.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

“I’ll be sitting in front of a TV watching USC versus UCLA,” he said.

Garrett praised Kirkpatrick, a transfer from eight-man power Animo Robinson who he met last spring and summer.

“He’s by far a Division I player,” he said of the 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior. “You can’t coach size. He has good attitude. Doesn’t cuss, doesn’t fuss and doesn’t hang out. It doesn’t come from me or anyone coaching him. All we can do is motivate him and encourage him to do better.”

To say Garrett is fed up with LAUSD is an understatement. There has been no celebration of the greatest achievement by a football coach in City Section history. Crenshaw’s 10 wins give him 300 career victories since 1988, which puts him in Hall of Fame territory.

“I’m going to coach somewhere, somehow,” he said. “I was born to coach. I’m a helluva coach. Nobody gave me that and nobody can take it away.”

Garrett said he has never been told what is being investigated the last four months.

“I’m going to coach again. I’m going to get out of the house real soon because I’m an American citizen,” he said.

He continues to receive full pay while staying home and waiting to be cleared. Once LAUSD starts an investigation, it can last more than a year. Former Huntington Park basketball coach Joe Reed returned this year after 14 months on administrative leave after a parental complaint.

“I haven’t been told anything,” Garrett said. “All I’ve been told is we’re investigating. It doesn’t matter what happens because whatever they tell me what they are investigating, they will find no wrongdoing whatsoever.”

Garrett is writing a book. He said he was the first from his Jefferson High graduating class of 1977 to earn a college degree. His mother was one of 18 siblings and each one had six or more kids. He graduated from Nebraska’s Concordia University in 1981 with a focus on teaching and has a Lutheran teaching certificate. He could be a pastor if he wanted to.

“I’m not a coach, I’m an educator,” he said. “I’m the first in my family to get a college degree. You don’t know what I’ve been through and what I’ve seen.”

He offered words of wisdom for Thanksgiving: “Always do thy duty, which is best, leave unto the Lord the rest.”

You’ve heard the line, “Win one for the Gipper.” Now it’s, “Win one for The G Man.”

The UN has documented nearly 3,000 settler attacks across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, driving communities from their land in what Palestinians say is a deliberate, violent campaign to displace them.

A Southeast Asian nation has leapt from 33rd place in 2018 to become the world’s most populous city, surpassing Tokyo and Dhaka with a staggering population of almost 42 million in 2025

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, has soared 32 places to become the world’s most populous city, with more than 40 million residents. The Southeast Asian metropolis has jumped from 33rd place in 2018 to the top spot in a new United Nations report ranking the world’s most populous cities.

Overtaking Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh (in second place with nearly 37 million people) and Tokyo, Japan (third with 33 million), Jakarta boasts an impressive population of almost 42 million in 2025. Intriguingly, all but one of the top ten cities are in Asia, with Cairo, the capital of Egypt, being the exception at seventh place.

The report also emphasises that more than half of the world’s 33 megacities (defined as having 10 million or more inhabitants) are located in Asia. The other cities making up the top ten include New Delhi, the capital of India (with 30.2 million), Shanghai, China (29.6m), Guangzhou, China (27.6m), Manila, Philippines (24.7m), Kolkata, India (22.5m), and Seoul, South Korea (22.5m), according to NBC News.

So where exactly is Jakarta?

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, a sprawling Southeast Asian nation nestled between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, made up of thousands of unique islands – reportedly more than 17,000 in total.

Indeed, Indonesia boasts so many islands that authorities have never managed to count them all or assign names to each one, according to the BBC. The capital, Jakarta, sits on Java, the world’s most populous island with an extraordinary 150 million inhabitants.

The Ring of Fire

Located between Sumatra to the east and the tourist hotspot of Bali to the west, Java is dotted with 129 active volcanoes across the Indonesian archipelago, according to Sky News.

Indonesia sits within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of volcanoes and areas of seismic activity that line the Pacific Ocean. Java’s Mount Semeru actually erupted just this month.

Life in the capital

A bustling metropolis in Java’s west, Jakarta is “sometimes overlooked” by visitors exploring the island’s stunning historical sites, according to Lonely Planet, but they’re “missing out”.

The travel guide praised the capital’s food scene and coffee, its museums, art galleries and historic quarter, describing it as offering “exciting” nightlife and some of the “best shopping” across Southeast Asia.

Highlights include Old Jakarta, featuring the cobblestone square of Taman Fatahillah, Merdeka Square, the Museum Nasional, Glodok (the city’s Chinatown), and more than 150 shopping malls.

What’s the weather like?

It also noted that the city suffers from congested roads and smog and is both hot and humid throughout the year. Average temperatures reportedly range from 23°C to 33°C.

What type of food can I expect?

The menu boasts traditional Indonesian dishes, such as the fried rice dish nasi goreng, alongside more localised meals — perhaps babi guling (a roast pig dish from Bali) or seafood inspired by the island of Sulawesi.

Migrationology notes two common types of street food: Warung (small restaurants) and Pedagang kaki lima (street vendors).

Other culinary delights spotlighted by the website include Nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk), a soup called Soto Betawi, Woku, Sop kaki kambing (a soup made with goat), and the grilled fish dish Ikan bakar.

FREDDY Brazier flashed a huge smile as he was spotted for the first time since splitting from his pregnant girlfriend.

The 21-year-old father-to-be dumped his girlfriend Holly Swinburn, who is carrying his first child, after the pair’s tumultuous on-and-off relationship ended in a row involving his dog.

Freddy appeared to put his fresh heartbreak behind him as he enjoyed a night out at Claridges Christmas party on Tuesday.

The model was seen wearing a grey shirt and trousers co-ord, and with what appeared to be a mink scarf around his neck.

He looked in good spirits as he was snapped heading into the venue.

Freddy is reported to have dumped Holly before she “tried to take his dog from him” in a row, the Daily Mail has revealed.

READ MORE ON FREDDY BRAZIER

SHOCK SPLIT

Freddy Brazier SPLITS from pregnant girlfriend a day after dad Jeff’s break up

HEALING JOURNEY

Freddy Brazier ‘tried to end it all’ in ‘manic episode’ two years ago

Sources close to Holly told the Daily Mail that Freddy is struggling with the idea of co-parenting with Holly.

A source told the outlet: “The pair have been arguing a lot recently.

“Having a baby so young is a lot to deal with. Both are quite flighty characters.”

They added how Freddy had feared he was not the father, but has since done a paternity test which confirmed that he is.

The couple revealed they were expecting a child together just last month.

The pair looked loved-up as they posed together at The Pride of Britain Awards at London’s Grosvenor Hotel when she debuted her bump on the red carpet.

The baby is due in the New Year.

The news of Freddy’s heartache comes just mere hours after his father Jeff Brazier was revealed to have split from wife Kate Dwyer after seven years.

Jeff, 46, whose Big Brother ex Jade Goody died of cancer in 2009, ditched his ring, as did PR guru Kate, 35.

Sources said they grew apart after “a year of hell” involving issues with Freddy.

At the weekend Jeff hinted his marriage was over in online posts.

He shared a snap of the view from his new home and wrote: “I’ve escaped back to the countryside.”

He spoke of “living in calm” and “a transitional time in all our lives”.

Yesterday he was not wearing his wedding ring as he reported for ITV’s Good Morning Britain from Reykjavik in Iceland.

A source said PR guru Kate moved out of the marital home three weeks ago and has returned to her apartment in Hackney.

She spent the weekend in Las Vegas for the US Grand Prix.

A source said of Jeff and Kate: “It’s been an incredibly stressful year for all of them.

“It’s been one thing after another.

“The pressure they’re under has exposed the weaknesses in their marriage and it’s become too much.

LAVALEY VIEW

Huge volcanic eruption sends ash 6 miles high & poisonous gas toward villages

TRAITORS CHAOS

Bombshell evidence that proves Traitors star ISN’T dad to Charlotte’s baby

“Kate has told friends she’s had enough.

“She left three weeks ago and is now living in an apartment in London.”

California voters are sharply divided along partisan lines over the Trump administration’s immigration raids this year in Los Angeles and across the nation, according to a new poll.

Just over half of the state’s registered voters oppose federal efforts to reduce undocumented immigration, and 61% are against deporting everyone in the nation who doesn’t have legal status, according to a recent poll by UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab released to The Times on Wednesday.

But there is an acute difference in opinions based on political leanings.

Nearly 80% of Democrats oppose reducing the number of people entering the United States illegally, and 90% are against deporting everyone in the country who is undocumented, according to the poll. Among Republicans, 5% are against reducing the entries and 10% don’t believe all undocumented immigrants should be forced to leave.

“The big thing that we find, not surprisingly, is that Democrats and Republicans look really different,” said political scientist Amy Lerman, director of UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab, who studies race, public opinion and political behavior. “On these perspectives, they fall pretty clearly along party lines. While there’s some variation within the parties by things like age and race, really, the big divide is between Democrats and Republicans.”

While there were some differences based on gender, age, income, geography and race, the results largely mirrored the partisan divide in the state, Lerman said.

One remarkable finding was that nearly a quarter of survey respondents personally knew or were acquainted with someone in their family or friend groups directly affected by the deportation efforts, Lerman said.

“That’s a really substantial proportion,” she said. “Similarly, the extent to which we see people reporting that people in their communities are concerned enough about deportation efforts that they’re not sending their kids to school, not shopping in local stores, not going to work,” not seeking medical care or attending church services.

The poll surveyed a sample of the state’s registered voters and did not include the sentiments of the most affected communities — unregistered voters or those who are ineligible to cast ballots because they are not citizens.

A little more than 23 million of California’s 39.5 million residents were registered to vote as of late October, according to the secretary of state’s office.

“So if we think about the California population generally, this is a really significant underestimate of the effects, even though we’re seeing really substantial effects on communities,” she said.

Earlier this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a series of raids in Los Angeles and surrounding communities that spiked in June, creating both fear and outrage in Latino communities. Despite opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other elected Democrats, the Trump administration also deployed the National Guard to the streets of the nation’s second-largest city to, federal officials said, protect federal immigration officials.

The months since have been chaotic, with masked, armed agents randomly pulling people — most of whom are Latino — off the streets and out of their workplaces and sending many to detention facilities, where some have died. Some deportees were flown to an El Salvador prison. Multiple lawsuits have been filed by state officials and civil rights groups.

In one notable local case, a federal district judge issued a ruling temporarily blocking federal agents from using racial profiling to carry out indiscriminate immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area. The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal and lifted that order, while the case moves forward.

More than 7,100 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the Los Angeles area by federal authorities since June 6, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

On Monday, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), Bass and other elected officials hosted a congressional hearing on the impact of immigration raids that have taken place across the country. Garcia, the top Democrat on the House’s oversight committee, also announced the creation of a tracker to document misconduct and abuse during ICE raids.

While Republican voters largely aligned with Trump’s actions on deportations, 16% said that they believed that the deportations will worsen the state’s economy.

Lerman said the university planned to study whether these numbers changed as the impacts on the economy are felt more greatly.

“If it continues to affect people, particularly, as we see really high rates of effects on the workforce, so construction, agriculture, all of the places where we’re as an economy really reliant [on immigrant labor], I can imagine some of these starting to shift even among Republicans,” she said.

Among Latinos, whose support of Trump grew in the 2024 election, there are multiple indications of growing dissatisfaction with the president, according to separate national polls.

Nearly eight in 10 Latinos said Trump’s policies have harmed their community, compared to 69% in 2019 during his first term, according to a national poll of adults in the United States released by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center on Monday. About 71% said the administration’s deportation efforts had gone too far, an increase from 56% in March. And it was the first time in the two decades that Pew has conducted its survey of Latino voters that the number of Latinos who said their standing in the United States had worsened increased, with more than two-thirds expressing the sentiment.

Another poll released earlier this month by Somos Votantes, a liberal group that urges Latino voters to support Democratic candidates, found that one-third of Latino voters who previously supported Trump rue their decision, according to a national poll.

Small business owner Brian Gavidia is among the Latino voters who supported Trump in November because of financial struggles.

“I was tired of struggling, I was tired of seeing my friends closing businesses,” the 30-year-old said. “When [President] Biden ran again I’m like, ‘I’m not going to vote for the same four years we just had’ … I was sad and I was heartbroken that our economy was failing and that’s the reason why I went that way.”

The East L.A. native, the son of immigrants from Colombia and El Salvador, said he wasn’t concerned about Trump’s immigration policies because the president promised to deport the “worst of the worst.”

He grew disgusted watching the raids that unfolded in Los Angeles earlier this year.

“They’re taking fruit vendors, day laborers, that’s the worst of the worst to you?” he remembered thinking.

Over a lunch of asada tortas and horchata in East L.A., Gavidia recounted being detained by Border Patrol agents in June while working at a Montebello tow yard. Agents shoved him against a metal gate, demanding to know what hospital he was born at after he said he was an American citizen, according to video of the incident.

After reviewing his ID, the agents eventually let Gavidia go. The Department of Homeland Security later claimed that Gavidia was detained for investigation for interference and released after being confirmed to be a U.S. citizen with no outstanding warrants. He is now a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and immigrant advocacy groups alleging racial profiling during immigration raids.

“At that moment, I was the criminal, at that moment I was the worst of the worst, which is crazy because I went to go see who they were getting — the worst of the worst like they said they were going to get,” Gavidia said. “But turns out when I got there, I was the worst of the worst.”

IF you’re looking for a winter getaway that really won’t break the bank, then look no further than this Bulgarian town.

The experts at hoppa analysed dozens of European locations to find the most budget-friendly depending on factors like cost of a hotel and possibly what matters most to Brits – the average price of a pint.

Coming in second place, but having the cheapest price of pints of all of them was Bansko in Bulgaria.

The town is two hours away from the capital of Sofia and is known for its ski resorts and a beautiful mountain landscape.

In the pretty Bulgarian destination, hoppa found the average cost of a pint to be just 90p.

Some of the highest rated bars include Pirin 75 which has been praised for its cocktails, and the Happy End Bar which one visitor described as a “cracking apres ski bar”.

STREET SMARTS

I visit New York 6 times a year – my expert budget guide including £1 pizzas

SNOW WAY

All the best Xmas days out under £10 including FREE ice skating & Santa’s grotto

Other affordable aspects include a stay in a 3-star hotel which averages out at £57.

Sun Travel found a five-night stay between December 15-20 at the Hotel Tanne in Bansko works out at just £47.60 per person per night.

The four-star hotel is found at the foot of the Pirin Mountains and is perfect for skiers as it’s 300 metres from the gondola lift.

Rooms have mountain views and guests can relax at the on-site spa centre which has a hot mineral water pool, salt room, herb sauna, an outdoor Japanese bath and a pool with hydro beds and water cannons.

There’s also a gym, café, Viennese lounge and piano bar.

If skiing is the type of holiday you’re after, then Bansko is a great option as it came in third in the Post Office Travel Money Ski Report 2025.

It’s even become cheaper and moved from sixth to third place after a 2.8 per cent drop in costs.

In the study, the average cost of a six-day ski pass and ski/boot hire for one person plus ski school (five-six half days), a range of drinks and lunch on the slopes cost £572.14 in Bansko.

Whereas in the likes of Cervinia, La Thuile and Sestriere in Italy all costs came in at over £700.

The most expensive was in Zermatt in Switzerland which came in at £1,345.76pp.

Away from the slopes, other popular activities in Bansko include trekking up Vihren, exploring Pirin Street, visiting the Neofit Rilski Museum and Velyanova House.

The one downside to Bansko is that it doesn’t have an airport.

However, the closest one is in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria where flights in December are as little as £16.

Certain places like Hotel Tanne will supply airport shuttles with journeys taking around two hours.

LAVALEY VIEW

Huge volcanic eruption sends ash 6 miles high & poisonous gas toward villages

TRAITORS CHAOS

Bombshell evidence that proves Traitors star ISN’T dad to Charlotte’s baby

For more European breaks on a budget, check out these five holidays that are cheaper than a UK train fare – with £2 prosecco and stunning beaches.

And find out our travel team’s favourite affordable Europe holidays including hidden islands, quiet beach towns and cheap cities.

Here are the best budget getaways in Europe…

Here’s the full list of the cheapest breaks in Europe from hoppa

1. Prague, Czech Republic
2. Bansko, Bulgaria
3. Sofia, Bulgaria
4. Budapest, Hungary
5. Tallinn, Estonia
6. Krakow, Poland
7. Tirana, Albania
8. Belgrade, Serbia
9. Bratislava, Slovakia
10. Vilnius, Lithuania

James Ryan has been handed a three-week suspension after the red card he was shown during Ireland’s 24-13 defeat by South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday was upheld by an independent disciplinary committee.

Second row Ryan’s yellow card for a high hit on Malcolm Marx in the early stages of the loss to the Springboks was subsequently upgraded to a 20-minute red card.

The independent committee determined that by applying World Rugby’s sanctioning provisions, a mid-range entry point of six weeks was appropriate.

That has been reduced to three weeks, however, in light of Ryan accepting the red card, his clean record and other mitigating factors.

The sanction could be further reduced to two weeks should Ryan complete World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme as a substitute for the final week of his suspension.

That option is aimed at modifying specific techniques and technical issues which contributed to the incidence of foul play.

As it stands, Ryan is ruled out of Leinster’s United Rugby Championship game against Dragons this weekend and the Investec Champions Cup matches at home to Harlequins on 6 December and away to Leicester Tigers on 12 December.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) — A new federal definition of hemp tucked into Congress’ recently passed spending bill has reopened the debate over legal cannabis and set up a year-long fight that could determine the future of hemp-derived CBD and THCA products — and thousands of small businesses behind them.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill, allowed hemp production and removed the plant from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s schedule of Controlled Substances.

But now, Congress has sharply moved to restrict the hemp industry after slipping new language into the latest continuing resolution that ended the 43-day government shutdown Nov. 13.

This change could redefine what counts as legal hemp and effectively outlaw many of the products that have fueled the sector’s rapid growth over the last seven years.

Jonathan Miller, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel, said this provision was introduced more than a year ago as part of the House appropriations bill. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then brought it to the Senate six months ago.

The controversial provision was then included in the House’s fiscal year 2026 Agriculture Appropriations draft. Lawmakers, including Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., publicly opposed the provision’s language, while Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. was a staunch leader pushing the provision through.

“Members of Congress were forced to choose between saving the hemp industry or reopening government, and there was just too much at stake. As a result, we lost this battle. The good news is it doesn’t go to effect for a year, so we’ve got over 350 days now to try to get it reversed and to replace it with a regulatory framework,” Miller said.

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable emphasized that once the legislation moved to the Senate, McConnell included a 365-day delay before the restrictions take effect. The grace period which runs to Nov. 13, 2026, is planned to give hemp businesses time to push Congress toward adopting a regulatory framework rather than an all-out ban.

Since 2018, manufacturers and retailers have taken advantage of what some describe as a “loophole” in federal hemp regulations to produce products containing hemp-derived CBD.

Under federal law, hemp is cannabis containing less than 0.3% THC by dry weight, the psychoactive compound that produces a “high.” Because this threshold is calculated on dry weight, companies have formulated products that technically comply but may deliver stronger effects.

This loophole helped expand the hemp industry, particularly cannabidiol, or CBD, a non‑psychoactive compound touted for therapeutic benefits.

A new congressional provision would redefine hemp to include all forms of THC — including THCA — within the 0.3% limit, and prohibit hemp‑derived CBD products manufactured for consumption in beverages, edibles, or vapes.

Lawmakers argue these products exploit the current definition while producing intoxicating effects.

Many tied to hemp production have responded with fears of a widespread economic blow to an industry worth $28.4 billion and employs a large number of Americans.

“There are 300,000 jobs affiliated with the industry. Those would go away. There’s $1.5 billion of state and local tax revenue that would go away. Many farmers would would lose their farms. Many small [companies] would lose their businesses,” Miller said.

“Many consumers, including veterans and seniors, who rely on these products for their health and wellness would lose access to them.”

“It’s a $28 billion market, which means there is a ton of demand for these products. If they’re made illegal, people will find a way to access them illegally, and which means there will be no safety protections and no regulatory regime,” he added.

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, one of the industry’s largest national coalitions, said the measure could ban “more than 95% of all hemp extract products.” While the law would continue the sales of products containing less than 0.4 mg. of total THC per container, the group says items that meet that threshold are “very rare.”

“If it goes through as is, the industry is over as we know it. Ninety-five percent of our products would be considered schedule one narcotics, akin to heroin, and the remaining 5% it would be impossible to produce because of the restrictions on extraction,” Miller said.

Conversely, supporters of including this provision in the continuing resolution that reopened the government believe closing the loophole was overdue, arguing that the hemp-derived intoxicating products are largely unregulated.

For example, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp praised Congress for moving to clarify federal intent. In a press release, it said the bill “carefully distinguishes between intoxicating and non-intoxicating products” and would, for the first time, provide federal recognition and protection for non-intoxicating hemp-derived items.

The policy shift will potentially cause conflict between federal and state governments. Several states have created their own regulatory frameworks for hemp-derived products, including testing, age limits and potency caps. These could be disrupted by the new federal standards.

“It’s difficult to say how state implementation of the new federal hemp policy will look across states. It will certainly differ based on the state policy environment and state priorities and goals,” Gillian Schauer said, executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association.

The association is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that helps regulate cannabis, marijuana and hemp across more than 45 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and a number of international governments.

“Ultimately, regulators are primarily implementers — they will implement what comes down from their state legislatures. Most of these policy implementation decisions will be made legislatively. With legislative sessions right around the corner in most states, those decisions may be made before we have any further federal guidance,” Schauer said.

Kentucky is one of the top producing hemp states, along with California, Colorado and Oregon. The two Kentucky senators are on opposite ends of viewpoint on the provision being added.

After the continuing resolution passed, McConnell released a statement saying, ​​”I am proud to have championed this language that keeps these products out of the hands of children, secures the future of regulated hemp businesses and keeps our promise to American farmers and law enforcement by clarifying the intention in the 2018 Farm Bill.”

“The language included in [the] bill preserves the legitimate hemp industry, while addressing the rise of intoxicating and synthetic THC products. Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications — such as seed, stock, fiber, grain oil — or used in drug trials, federally authorized research or research at an institution of higher education,” he added.

Countering that, Sen. Rand Paul said he opposed this provision. On the Senate floor before it passed, he said “The bill, as it now stands, overrides the regulatory frameworks of several states, cancels the collective decisions of hemp consumers and destroys the livelihoods of hemp farmers.”

He added: “Farmers’ costs have increased as the price of fertilizer and machinery have jumped, while prices for their crops, like soybean, corn and wheat, have declined. For many farmers, hemp has proved to be a lifeline, a new cash crop.”

In effect, the same language McConnell praised drew criticism from Paul, who argued it would wipe out existing markets and override state authority.

“The numbers put forward in this bill will eliminate 100% of the hemp products in our country. That amounts to an effective ban, because the limit is so low that the products intended to manage pain or anxiety will lose their effect,” Paul said.

“This bill will effectively preempt and nullify all state laws concerning hemp. Most of the things your states have regulated and made legal will be made illegal by this bill,”

Who: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
What: Matchday 5, League Phase, UEFA Champions League
Where: Emirates Stadium, North London, England, UK
When: Wednesday at 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

English Premier League leaders Arsenal host the German Bundesliga’s top-ranked team Bayern Munich in a heavyweight UEFA Champions League (UCL) matchup of the two frontrunning European mega clubs on Wednesday.

The sides are also ranked No 1 and No 2 in the current UCL standings, with both clubs protecting perfect records in the League Phase of the competition.

Here is all to know ahead of their top of the table clash at Emirates Stadium:

Who have Arsenal and Bayern Munich beaten so far in the UCL League Phase?

After four matchdays in the League Phase, Bayern Munich sits top of the standings with four wins and a maximum 12 points against Chelsea (3-0), Pafos (5-1), Club Brugge (4-0) and most recently, a victory over reigning UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) away in France on November 4.

Arsenal is second on the table, equal with their German rival on points (12) and goal difference (+11). Their four wins have come against Athletic Bilbao (2-0), Olympiacos (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Slavia Praha (3-0).

The only other team remaining in the competition with a perfect 4-0 record is Inter Milan.

Will Odegaard play against Bayern Munich?

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is a strong possibility to play against Bayern Munich in what would be his first match since injuring his knee in early October.

The Norwegian midfielder participated in training on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be in the squad.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed Odegaard is under consideration for Wednesday’s fixture.

“He [Odegaard] was very close for the previous game. We are hopeful that tomorrow [Wednesday] he can be in the squad as well.”

Where did Arsenal and Bayern Munich finish in last season’s Champions League?

The Gunners reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2008–09, upsetting Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (5-1 on aggregate) before losing to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign came to an end at the quarterfinal stage with a closely contested defeat to Inter Milan (4-3 on aggregate).

Form guide: last five matches

Arsenal: W-W-W-D-W (Premier League, most recent result last)

Bayern Munich: W-W-W-D-W (Bundesliga, most recent result last)

Head-to-head: Arsenal-Bayern Munich

The sides last played on April 17, 2024, with Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header handing Bayern Munich a 1-0 quarterfinal victory (3-2 on aggregate) over Arsenal in the Champions League, sending the Germans through to the last-four of the 2023-24 competition.

In total, the sides have played against each other 14 times, with Bayern dominating the historical matchup:

• Bayern Munich – 8 wins
• Arsenal – 3 wins
• Draws – 3

Arsenal’s team news

Arsenal will line up against Bayern without a recognised striker, with Kai Havertz (knee) and Viktor Gyokeres (hamstring) still rehabbing injuries.

Gabriel Jesus will also be held back from the Champions League fixture, although the Brazilian forward is back in full training after undergoing knee surgery.

“He is quite close, to be fair, and earlier than we expected,” Arteta said.

“In the next few days, he is going to have another step to make with a game that we are going to organise for him. After that, he is just going to be knocking on the door.

Arsenal’s possible starting XI

Raya (goalkeeper); Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Merino, Trossard

Bayern Munich’s team news

Kimmich, the player who buried Arsenal the last time they played back in 2024, was a question mark at the beginning of the week after sustaining a knock picked up during the FIFA international break, but is believed to be ready to play on Wednesday.

Explosive winger Luis Diaz is suspended for the Arsenal clash. The Colombian might be replaced by rising 17-year-old star Lennart Karl, who became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer when he started against Brugge on October 22.

Injured duo Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies will be unavailable for selection.

Bayern manager Vincent Kompany will again lead the line with English international Harry Kane, who returns to his home city of London for this fixture.

Bayern Munich’s possible starting XI:

Neuer (goalkeeper); Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Karl, Gnabry; Kane

At the Beijing premiere of “Zootopia 2” last week, Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jared Bush encountered a wall filled with letters from people throughout China, all writing about what the original 2016 animated movie meant to them.

They highlighted the optimism of rabbit cop Judy Hopps and how they wanted to emulate her sunny outlook. They cited the unlikely friendship between Judy and her partner in crime, a fox named Nick Wilde, as hope that they could find common ground with different family members. It was a display Bush didn’t see at any other premiere.

“It’s more than just a story,” said Bush, who wrote and directed “Zootopia 2,” directing alongside Byron Howard. “A lot of the time, these characters have helped people through difficult moments of their life. They have a lot of love for these characters.”

To this day, the original “Zootopia” ranks as China’s highest-grossing Hollywood animated film, with a total box office haul there of $236 million. Marketing ahead of the new film has included promotions with 10 brands, as well as displays throughout the country, including in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Beijing.

But over the years, the China market for U.S.-made films has changed dramatically, leading to questions about whether “Zootopia,” which heads to theaters Wednesday, and its loyal following can break through the more difficult landscape that American movies face there today.

Once seen as a major — and lucrative — destination for big Hollywood blockbusters, the country now has a more robust local film industry that’s pumping out strong competitors. The fraying geopolitical relationship between the U.S. and China also hasn’t helped, nor has the increasing trend of younger audiences watching short-form content on their phones.

“It’s important to the industry that both ‘Zootopia’ and ‘Avatar’ work,” said Andrew Cripps, head of theatrical distribution for Walt Disney Studios, referring to the upcoming James Cameron-directed “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” “The overall industry needs some success at year-end, and I think this would be a tremendous sign of confidence in the marketplace.”

China was once seen as a gold mine for certain films — namely, big studio movies — that could get approval from its government for release.

A decade ago, Hollywood movies would regularly haul in more than $100 million at the Chinese box office, with massive blockbusters like 2015’s “Furious 7” and 2014’s “Transformers: Age of Extinction” drawing north of $300 million each. Some films with softer domestic debuts could count on China to supersize their box-office returns, like 2016’s “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter,” which grossed nearly $160 million in China alone, but just $26.8 million in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2016, the domestic Chinese film business saw a significant slowdown in box-office growth. As a result, revenue from imported films — largely those from the U.S., such as Universal Pictures’ “Warcraft” and Disney-owned Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Civil War” — increased by 10.9%, said Ying Zhu, author of “Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World’s Largest Movie Market.”

Those foreign films accounted for 41.7% of the total market share at the time, up from 38.4% in 2015, she wrote in an email. To help boost year-end revenue, Chinese regulators even relaxed the so-called blackout on imported films during December, which was traditionally saved for local movies.

“Zootopia” opened in China to just $22 million at the box office, but momentum grew in subsequent weeks. Though a movie from the U.S. typically got a four-week run in China, Chinese regulators made an exception and added two extra weeks, said Bush, who co-directed and co-wrote the 2016 film.

“‘Zootopia’ was somewhat of a real surprise to us here in China,” he said on a video call from Beijing while on the film’s publicity tour. “We didn’t know that it was going to turn into this phenomenon here.”

Known in China as “Crazy Animal City,” the film’s dynamic between lead characters Nick and Judy and their imperfect but caring relationship appealed to Chinese audiences, as did Judy’s backstory of moving from a small town in the countryside to a major metropolis, Bush said. Animated films have also long been popular in the market.

After the film’s success, Disney built the “Zootopia”-themed land in Shanghai Disneyland, which opened in 2023 and is the only such land in any Disney park. The studio recently held the movie’s Shanghai premiere at the themed land, as crowds of fans (both there and in Beijing) dressed up as characters from the film, including lesser-known ones like Fru Fru the shrew and Officer Clauhauser, a pop culture-obsessed cheetah.

But since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, China has pulled back from its embrace of Hollywood films, particularly as its political relationship with the U.S. has chilled.

Earlier this year, China planned to reduce the number of Hollywood films it allows into the country, amid tariff tensions with the U.S. At the same time, China’s homegrown film industry has matured, leading to more locally-produced movies at the box office. A notable success was the animated hit “Ne Zha 2,” which raked in almost $2.2 billion worldwide, $1.8 billion of which was in China.

And similar to the U.S., the Chinese film market has also been dented by the growth of short-form content and increasing popularity of watching entertainment on phones and tablets, keeping theatergoers at home.

That’s all meant a less reliable haul for U.S. films. So far this year, the top-grossing American film in China was Universal’s “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which brought in $79 million — a far cry from the massive returns some U.S. movies once commanded. The last Disney film that was released in China and made more than $100 million was 2024’s “Alien: Romulus.”

But there are still niches that appeal to Chinese audiences, including family movies, big blockbusters laden with special effects and animated franchises. Cripps said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the film’s reception in China, because of the franchise recognition and the themed land in Shanghai.

“Given what’s happened over the last two to three years, it’s hard to get overly excited until you see some actual data,” he said. “But certainly, it feels good going into it.”

What Is Black Friday?

Black Friday refers to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It has become a day of special shopping deals and discounts, and is said to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

The sales figures from Black Friday are often considered a sign of the overall economic health of the country and a way for economists to measure the confidence of the average American when it comes to their discretionary spending. Lower Black Friday sales figures are sometimes taken as a harbinger of slower economic growth.

Understanding Black Friday

It’s common for retailers to offer special promotions online and in-store on Black Friday. Many open their doors during the pre-dawn hours on Black Friday to attract customers or even keep their operations going well into the night on Thanksgiving. It’s also become increasingly common for retailers to offer “Black Friday” deals well in advance of the actual day.

Really avid bargain hunters have been known to camp out overnight on Thanksgiving to secure a place in line at their favorite store; the most fanatical might even skip Thanksgiving dinner altogether and head to the open stores. The promotions typically continue through Sunday, and both brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers experience a surge in sales.

Black Friday and Retail Spending

Retailers may spend an entire year planning their Black Friday sales. They use the day as an opportunity to unload overstock inventory and offer doorbusters and discounts on seasonal items, such as holiday decorations and typical holiday gifts.

The doorbusters often include big-ticket items like TVs, smart devices, and other electronics, luring customers in the hope that, once inside, they will also purchase higher-margin goods. Black Friday advertisements are often so highly anticipated that retailers go to great lengths to ensure they don’t leak out publicly beforehand.

Competition among consumers for limited supplies of the hottest trending items has sometimes led to violence and injuries in the absence of adequate security. For example, on Black Friday in 1983, customers engaged in scuffles, fistfights, and stampedes in stores across the U.S. to buy Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, that year’s must-have toy, which was also believed to be in short supply. Appallingly, a worker at one big-box store was trampled to death on Black Friday in 2008, as throngs of shoppers pushed their way into the store the moment the doors opened.

The Surprising Origins of Black Friday

The concept of retailers throwing post-Turkey Day sales started long before the name “Black Friday” was coined. In an effort to kick off the holiday shopping season and attract hordes of shoppers, stores have promoted major deals the day after Thanksgiving for decades, banking on the fact that many businesses gave their employees that Friday off.

So why the name? Some say the day is called Black Friday as an homage to the term “black” referring to profitability, which stems from the old bookkeeping practice of recording profits in black ink and losses in red ink. The idea is that retail businesses can sell enough on this single Friday (and the ensuing weekend) to put themselves “in the black” for the year.

However, long before it started appearing in advertisements and commercials, the term was actually used by overworked Philadelphia police officers. In the 1950s, crowds of shoppers and visitors flooded the City of Brotherly Love the day after Thanksgiving. Not only did Philadelphia stores tout major sales and the unveiling of holiday decorations on this special day, but the city also hosted the Army-Navy football game on Saturday of the same weekend.

As a result, traffic cops were required to work 12-hour shifts to deal with the throngs of drivers and pedestrians, and they were not allowed to take the day off. Over time, the annoyed officers—using a descriptive that’s no longer acceptable—started to refer to this dreaded workday as Black Friday.

The term spread to store salespeople who used “Black Friday” to describe the long lines and general chaos they had to deal with on that day. It remained Philadelphia slang for a few decades, as well as spreading to a few nearby cities, such as Trenton, N.J.

Finally, in the mid-1990s—celebrating the positive connotation of black ink—”Black Friday” swept the nation and started to appear in print and TV ad campaigns across the United States.

The Evolution of Black Friday

Somewhere along the way, Black Friday made the giant leap from congested streets and crowded stores to fevered shoppers fighting over parking spaces and tussling over the latest must-have toy. When did Black Friday become the frenzied, over-the-top shopping event it is today?

That would be in the 2000s when Black Friday was officially designated the biggest shopping day of the year. Until then, that title had gone to the Saturday before Christmas. Yet, as more retailers started promoting “can’t miss” post-Thanksgiving sales, and the Black Friday discounts grew deeper and deeper, American consumers could no longer resist the pull of this big shopping day.

In 2011, Walmart announced that, instead of opening its doors on Friday morning, it would start sales on Thanksgiving evening. That started a frenzy among other big-box retailers, who quickly followed suit. Today, Black Friday is a longer event— essentially a Black Weekend.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 197 million consumers in the U.S. shopped during the 2024 five-day holiday weekend between Thanksgiving Day and the following Monday, down from more than 200 million the previous year. Each shopper spent an average of $235 on gifts during that period.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday

For online retailers, a similar tradition has arisen on the Monday following Thanksgiving—Cyber Monday. The idea is that consumers return to work after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend ready to start shopping—and on their employer’s time. Online retailers often herald their promotions well in advance of the actual day in order to compete against the Black Friday offerings at brick-and-mortar stores.

The Economic Significance of Black Friday

Some investors and stock analysts look at Black Friday numbers as a way to gauge the overall health of the entire retail industry. Others scoff at the notion that Black Friday has any real fourth-quarter predictability for the stock markets as a whole. Instead, they suggest that it only causes very short-term gains or losses.

However, in general, the stock market can be affected by people having extra days off for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It tends to see increased trading activity and higher returns the day before a holiday or a long weekend, a phenomenon known as the holiday effect or the weekend effect. Many traders look to capitalize on these seasonal bumps.

The Bottom Line

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, has long been viewed as the start of the holiday shopping season. Consumers seek out big discounts offered by retailers, while economists use overall sales figures as a measure of consumer confidence and the health of the economy.

In 1958, the Christmas on Euclid Avenue Committee, sponsored by the Assn. of Commerce and Industry (later renamed the Ontario Chamber of Commerce), embarked on holiday programs “that would bring back a traditional respect, and meaning for the celebration of Christmas,” including the construction of 12 illuminated scenes depicting the nativity and life of Jesus with life-sized wood figures carved by Mexican immigrant sculptor Rudolph Vargas.

Today, the holiday celebration includes a blend of old and the new, with the 12 historic nativity scenes, which visitors can experience through an online history, and more modern light shows such as the annual Holiday Light Parade, tree lighting ceremony and drone show at Ontario Town Square on Dec. 6, which includes cookie decorating and visits with Santa.

Date: The historic nativity scenes are on display from Nov. 27 through Jan. 1 along Euclid Avenue. The Holiday Light Parade & Tree Lighting is Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. A menorah procession is scheduled for Dec. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Ontario Town Square.

Admission: Free.

TUI is launching holidays to a beach city that was once the capital.

Zadar, in Croatia, was the former capital of Dalmatia, and is now a popular seaside city break.

And TUI has added Zadar to its city break programme, which will mean Brits can book hotel and flight packages with the tour operator.

The packages will include flights with easyJet and Ryanair, flying from nine airports.

This includes London Gatwick and Manchester as well as Birmingham and Edinburgh.

Trips on offer can range from three nights to 14 nights.

JET SET

TUI to launch more hotels in affordable exotic countries with no jet lag & £1 beers

HANNIBAL LECTURE

I visited 20C African capital that looks like Santorini with TUI flights

While Split and Dubrovnik are some of Croatia‘s busiest cities, Zadar is also worth a visit.

Not only does it often have highs of 28C in summer, but it is cheap too – beers can be found for around £2.30.

There is also the famous Sea Organ, which plays music powers by waves as well as light shows at night.

TUI has excursions such as waking tours or trips to the nearby National Parks.

TUI’s Commercial Director Chris Logan said: “We’re excited to introduce Zadar to our growing city break programme.

“It’s a destination that truly has it all, with a stunning coastline, rich history, and authentic Croatian culture around two and a half hours from the UK.

“Whether you’re exploring the Old Town, relaxing on nearby beaches or enjoying a sunset boat tour, Zadar is the perfect choice for customers looking for an alternative spot on the Adriatic Coastline.”

Some of the holidays on offer include five night and return flights from £520.

The Sun’s Alex Goss recently visited Zadar.

He said; “For our final meal, we headed to restaurant Kornat in Zadar, one of the best in the town that offers seafront Croatian dining at its finest, with black tie service and an impeccable local wine list.

“We had seabass roll stuffed with shrimp cream, tuna steak with a spinach and wasabi sauce and beef carpaccio with homemade dough cones stuffed with cottage cheese from the island of Pag.

Just make sure you’re not too hungover to tackle Zadar’s mind-bending Museum of Illusion the next day.”

Zadar is also a great spot for island hopping across Croatia.

CRITTERS & JITTERS

Vogue & Spencer insist marriage is strong – why do pals think otherwise?

BLAZE HORROR

Hundreds feared dead in Hong Kong inferno as three arrested for manslaughter

There is Silba, home to just 150 people were cars are banned.

It takes three hours by ferry to reach Silba from Zadar, with tickets costing £4.

Luka Doncic drilled a three-pointer right in front of the Clippers’ bench late in the first quarter and then glared at them, shaking his head as he ran back down court to play defense for the Lakers, just one of the many piercing stares he sent their way after delivering one of his three-point bombs.

It seems as if Doncic has his own personal rivalry against the Clippers and it just simply folded into the inter-city rivalry.

And once again, Doncic overwhelmed the Clippers in directing the Lakers to a 135-118 win Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

He came up one rebound shy of a triple-double, dropping 43 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. He was 14 for 28 from the field, seven for 12 from three-point range and eight for 11 from the free-throw line.

In leading the Lakers to their fifth straight win, Doncic now has recorded 39 double-double games of at least 40 points, which moved him past Anthony Davis for the fourth most among active players and tying Magic Johnson for the sixth most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker.

Doncic also tied Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for the most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker before the age of 27 since the NBA/ABA merger (five).

“I think we played a great game,” Doncic said. “I think they were getting a lot of shots, especially in the first half.”

Late in the fourth quarter, the game turned physical, and Doncic was in the middle of it.

Kris Dunn pushed Doncic in the back, and Doncic confronted Dunn, who then put the basketball in Doncic’s chest. Jaxson Hayes then stepped in and pushed Dunn.

In the end, Dunn was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game and Hayes was assessed a technical foul. Doncic shot a technical foul free throw with 3:33 left in the game.

“Of course, I appreciate it,” Doncic said about Hayes stepping in to help him. “I told him right away, ‘Thanks for having my back.’ And that says a lot about him. That says a lot about this team. Everybody has got each other’s back.”

Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers was called for a foul after knocking down Austin Reaves on this play.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Doncic scored 24 points against the Clippers in the first quarter alone, making his first five three-pointers before finishing the quarter five for eight from three, nine for 14 from the field, many of the baskets punctuated by a stare down at the Clippers’ bench.

By the half, Doncic had posted 32 points on 11-for-17 shooting and six for 10 on three-pointers and six assists.

Over the course of his career with the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic, who is averaging 12.5 free-throw attempts per game, has torn the Clippers apart.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, he had averaged 32.2 points per game over 20 games, his highest against any Western Conference foe. He had produced 7.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and shot 48% from the field, 36% from the three-point line.

When asked why he has performed so well against the Clippers, Doncic shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think we just met a lot of times in the playoffs. They beat me the first two times, so I don’t know what it is. I guess I like it.”

With Deandre Ayton (right knee contusion) out and Hayes starting in his place, Austin Reaves (31 points) and LeBron James (25), did their part to help the Lakers clinch Group B of the NBA cup with a 3-0 record.

The Lakers finish group play against the Dallas Mavericks here Friday night and the Clippers complete their group play against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Intuit Dome.

Etc.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said that Ayton got an MRI exam on his knee that “was clean other than just some swelling, a little bit of a bruise.” Ayton was injured in the first half against the Jazz Sunday. “Don’t think it’s going to be a long-term thing,” Redick said. “Hopefully it’s a game-to-game thing and he’s back at some point by the end of the week.”…The Lakers announced that they signed forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract and waived two-way center Christian Koloko. Timme has played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and posted averages of 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.5 minutes over six games. The 6-foot-10 Timme played his college basketball at Gonzaga.

Berlin, Germany – Organisers of a pro-Palestine conference are suing authorities in Berlin who shut the event down last April soon after it began.

They hope a panel of judges at the Berlin Administrative Court will rule that police acted unlawfully in cracking down on the Palestine Congress, a forum of solidarity activists and human rights experts who were gathering to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Germany’s alleged complicity.

The hearing begins on Wednesday.

The defendant, the State of Berlin, argues the police were right to act preemptively as they predicted criminal statements would be made at the conference, specifically incitement to hatred, dissemination of propaganda or use of symbols of unconstitutional and “terrorist” organisations.

The police justified this prediction in part on the basis that in a news conference held prior to the event, organisers allegedly did not distance themselves from the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

On the day in question, April 12, 2024, officers in riot gear descended in their hundreds on the venue usually used for wedding receptions and pulled the plug – cutting off the power to ensure that none of the planned speeches could be heard or broadcast via livestream.

“I’m not aware of any other instance where a conference was shut down without any crime having been committed,” Michael Ploese, the lawyer representing the conference organisers, told Al Jazeera.

He said that German law only allowed restrictions on gatherings in private rooms where there was  high probability that a criminal act would be committed, and that the right to freedom of expression usually took precedence.

Among the groups organising the conference was Juedische Stimme (Jewish Voice), a sister group of the US collective of the same name that organises Jewish peace activists who are critical of Israeli actions regarding Palestine.

“I saw it as a success that we had even been able to begin it at all, but I wasn’t expecting it all to end an hour later,” said Wieland Hoban, the chair of Juedische Stimme, who gave opening remarks at the conference.

Adding to the sense of repression, the British Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah, one of the main speakers, said officials at the airport in Berlin prevented him from continuing his journey and told him to return to the United Kingdom.

Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek left-wing economist and former minister of finance, posted online the speech he had planned to make. Like Abu Sittah, Varoufakis faced an entry ban after the furore. The Berlin Administrative Court later ruled that the ban on Abu Sittah’s political activity was unlawful.

Throughout Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, German police and security services have repeatedly claimed protests in support of those being bombarded are anti-Semitic or are to be interpreted as revering Hamas. Thousands of individual protesters have been arrested, and many planned demonstrations have been banned outright.

Germany is Israel’s biggest diplomatic supporter in Europe and enforces strict limits on speech that criticises or attacks Israel, with some arguing this is necessary because of Germany’s genocide of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

It is a justification that Wieland Hoban rejects, saying the laws are even used against Jewish people who speak up for Palestine.

“Even if you lost family in the Holocaust, you can still be lectured by some German about what you can say,” said Hoban. “Simply mentioning the Holocaust can get you accused of relativierung” – a word that is used to suggest someone is playing down the Holocaust by drawing comparisons to other, lesser, crimes against humanity.

Last month, a group of United  Nations experts said they were alarmed by the “pattern of police violence and apparent suppression of Palestine solidarity activism by Germany”.

If this week’s case goes in favour of the conference organisers, it will be a blow to Germany’s controversial stance.

Videos of police using force to shut down nonviolent protests for Gaza on the streets of German cities have coursed around the world.

But what marked the state’s intervention in the Palestine Congress apart was that it represented the silencing of an event consisting of talks and debates in an indoor venue – a sphere of political expression that lawyers had previously thought was off-limits for police repression.