The budget airline has confirmed it’ll be cutting the number of aircraft from one of its city bases by five, and its schedule will have two million fewer seats to a popular city break destination as of winter 2026

Ryanair has slashed the number of seats from its schedule for a city break destination that’s famous for its Christmas market and historic sites, as well as being a major business hub.

The decision was made in response to the country’s decision to raise aviation taxes, with Ryanair releasing a strongly-worded statement to announce they would be cutting two million seats from two of the capital’s airports.

The Federal Government of Belgium announced plans to raise the country’s aviation tax from €5 (about £4.20) to €7 (about £6) as of January 2027. This was erroneously described by Ryanair in a statement as a “250% increase since 2025.”

As a result, the budget carrier plans to cut five aircraft from its base at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, and reduce capacity by two million seats overall from Belgium’s Charleroi and Zaventem airports. The reductions will be applied to the winter 2026 and summer 2027 schedule.

Brussels is not the first destination to see a cut in the number of Ryanair seats this year. Earlier this year it announced reductions in services to Spain and Portugal, with smaller regional airports the most affected.

Valladolid and Jerez saw cuts to their services, while scrapped routes included Asturias and Vigo. A service to Tenerife North was also scrapped as a result of a dispute over airport fee hikes, leaving the airport with no alternative direct UK routes. Ryanair also closed its two aircraft base at Santiago de Compostela which reduced capacity.

As a result over one million seats were taken from the winter 2025 routes, and 1.2 million cut from the summer 2026 schedule. Another cut was to a Portugal service, with Ryanair cutting six routes to and from the Azores, an emerging tourist destination. It was estimated the cuts affected around 400,000 passengers.

At the time, Ryanair blamed this cutback on growing airport charges set by Portuguese authorities and environmental taxes linked to the EU Emissions Trading System. John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport, the islands’ main airport, now only has a single seasonal UK route from London Heathrow operated by British Airways.

Speaking about the cuts in Belgium, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said in a statement: “It’s absurd that the Federal Govt have decided to increase Belgium’s aviation tax by 250% from Jan ’27, especially when competing EU countries, like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, regional Italy, and Albania are abolishing aviation taxes to grow traffic, tourism and jobs.

“We warned Prime Minister De Wever that increasing Belgium’s aviation tax would result in traffic cuts, but he failed to listen. As a result, Ryanair will now remove 5 aircraft from our Charleroi base and 2m seats from our Brussels schedules (Charleroi and Zaventem) for Winter ’26/Summer ’27 and relocate to more competitive economies.”

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

So what is the project Codina sees at West Ham?

Guarino, who led Juventus to four successive Serie A titles, took over from Rehanne Skinner at West Ham midway through last season.

She stated in January that “step by step” they would improve their style of play, but it was clear that organisation and a focus on defensive stability was the priority.

But that could change this season.

“Honestly, I think that we’re going to see a West Ham that the fans will be proud of, and that’s the main thing for me,” said Codina.

“It will be a recognisable West Ham – a team that can play football, and that will try to have the ball as much as possible.

“With Rita, you could see their main characteristic was to defend, but I think that this season we’re going to try to improve on the ball.”

Codina says she already feels at home, having begun pre-season training this week, but it helps that she is still living in London.

The centre-back moved to England in 2023 after nine years at Barcelona, where she progressed from the club’s academy and into the first team.

Now she wants to give back to the community and is already giving up her time to help West Ham’s foundation work with young children in east London.

“I’m enjoying the life here. I love to learn new cultures. London has something special. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible,” said Codina.

“Football gives me this opportunity and I’m going to try to use it as good as possible.

“I tell [the children] that it’s not only about winning. It’s not only about going to WSL. It’s not only playing for the national team. It’s all the other things.”

July 23 (UPI) — Three firefighters were killed, two in France and one in Italy, and 12,000 people were forced to evacuate as wildfires continued to ravage areas of southern France, Italy and Spain.

Almost 6,000 acres have been burnt in the area west of Bordeaux, where 10,000 people were ordered to flee amid a ban on internal combustion and electric engines and road closures, the Gironde regional government said Thursday.

Authorities said 500 firefighters were tackling the blaze, which was moving southwestwards after breaking out in Saumo, a small town 20 miles northwest of Bordeaux, on Wednesday and that firefighting aircraft were en route to the scene.

No injuries had been recorded.

The two French firefighters died Tuesday as they battled to bring a separate blaze under control in a suburb of Bordeaux.

Var, a department on the Cote d’Azur between Marseille and Nice, was also badly affected, with thousands of acres burnt. Residents evacuated there were allowed to return to their homes Thursday to assess damage on strict instructions to restrict movement and activities because of the risk the fire could flare up again, amid windy conditions.

Meteo-France red alerts for forest fires were in place across several other departments in southern France on Thursday.

In Italy, a firefighter was killed and another was injured Wednesday battling a major fire on Sicily.

Sicilian Civil Protection chief Salvo Cocina said the wildfire in San Cataldo, in the southwest of the island, was one of 10 major incidents that had triggered the evacuation of residents, as a precaution.

About 6,000 firefighters, forestry officers and civil protection personnel were deployed in the operation.

The regional government said the most critical fires were in Casaboli, Bivona, Alimena, San Cataldo, Galati Mamertino districts and certain areas of the Madonie Park and Syracuse areas.

Footage online, shot by the Spanish Civil Guard, shows officers going door-to-door telling residents to leave as a major wildfire raged southwest of Madrid, between Almorox and Villa del Prado.

It comes after a huge wildfire to the north of the capital in Guadalajara province that broke out on July 16 razed almost 80,000 acres and a deadly forest fire in southeastern Almeria province that killed at least 11 people on July 10.

Across European Union countries, wildfires have burnt more than 628,000 acres so far in 2026, European Forest Fires Information System figures show — although the figure was below the 668,000 acres burnt in the same period in 2025.

Indian authorities release the two men after years in prison although both remain under tight court-imposed restrictions.

Indian authorities have released prominent Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj on bail after years in prison on “terrorism” financing charges although both remain under tight court-imposed restrictions.

The two men walked free from a New Delhi jail late on Wednesday, their relatives said, as India’s National Investigation Agency seeks to overturn their bail – the latest chapter in what rights groups call New Delhi’s sweeping crackdown on activists, journalists and dissidents in India-administered Kashmir since 2019 when it scrapped the region’s autonomy, granted under the Indian Constitution.

Parvez, programme coordinator for the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was arrested in 2021 by the National Investigation Agency at his home in Srinagar.

Mehraj, a freelance journalist who worked with the same rights group as a researcher, was arrested in 2023.

Both face charges of “funding terrorism” and “propagation of secessionist agenda” under India’s stringent “antiterrorism” laws, which in effect allow authorities to hold people without trial indefinitely.

The National Investigation Agency accuses the two of using the JKCCS to fund militant-linked activities and promote a separatist agenda. Both men deny the allegations.

A lower court granted them bail last week, but the agency appealed. The Delhi High Court refused on Tuesday to suspend the release order although it imposed tougher restrictions on the men’s movements and activities while it hears the appeal.

Under their bail conditions, the two must arrange their own stay in the capital, where they are facing trial, and cannot travel to Kashmir, according to a court document seen by the news agency AFP. Proceedings in the case will continue in the coming weeks.

Human rights violations

The JKCCS has for decades documented alleged rights violations by Indian government forces in Kashmir, including torture and unlawful killings, and has drawn attention to thousands of unmarked graves in border areas suspected of holding victims of “enforced disappearances”.

International rights groups, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have consistently called for the men’s release, saying they were jailed for their work.

In 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Parvez’s arrest was an “act of reprisal for his human rights work, and an attempt to silence him and Kashmiri civil society as a whole”.

After their release, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture said the two were arrested on “trumped-up charges” and called on Indian authorities to drop the case, describing the proceedings as politically motivated.

Journalists in Indian-administered Kashmir say they have faced harassment and arrests since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government annulled the region’s partial autonomy.

From 2019 to 2023, more than 3,600 people were arrested there under “antiterrorism” laws, more than half of whom remain in prison, according to government figures.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the territory in full.

Rebel groups have fought the Indian government since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians.

Is the Trump administration actually stealing from Venezuelans?

The Financial Times estimated the “likely value” of Venezuela’s oil revenues since January, when those income streams (not only from oil and gas, but also from gold and other minerals) came under the direct control and supervision of the US government. Using data from Kpler and Argus Media, the newspaper put the figure at $13 billion. 

Let’s assume that one figure is accurate or at least comes close to the real number. The key question here, which neither the United States nor Venezuelan authorities have bothered to answer, is how much of that has been trickling back to the Venezuelan economy.

American officials, in press conferences and hearings, have given remarks about how the revenue repatriation framework is supposed to work under the current arrangement. There was a temporary framework immediately after the gringo takeover (the famous Qatar fund we reported in January). Now, it allegedly works like this:

1) Oil revenues flow into accounts managed by the US Treasury. Crude buyers, such as India and Spain, route payments into US-controlled “Foreign Government Deposit Funds.” 

2) Secretary of State Marco Rubio (empowered by Executive Order 14373) provides instructions to the Treasury for disbursements to Venezuelan entities, particularly the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV).

3) The funds land in BCV accounts.

4) One chunk of that pays pensions, public workers’ salaries, the military and the police apparatus, i.e. the basic components of the State.

5) Another part of those dollars is channelled to the domestic banking system through a select group of private banks—here’s where things start to get tricky. Rather than holding competitive auctions or floating currency rates on a free market, the BCV distributes capped quotas of dollars to these banks at the strictly controlled official exchange rate.

6) At the final stage, from commercial banks to the private sectors, the transaction is a direct cash sale: to purchase dollars, Venezuelan companies must have the full equivalent in bolivars ready in their accounts. Banks immediately debit the buyer’s bolivar account at the day’s official rate and credit the equivalent dollars into the company’s local foreign-currency account. It works as a rationing mechanism, since major corporations (e.g. those in key sectors like food and medicine) are prioritized, and smaller companies acquire USD on a first-come, first-served basis through online banking platforms until daily dollar quotas run out.

Good. So now we know how the repatriation framework is supposed to work.

Let’s go back to the $13 billion figure, and the stage of the sequence connecting the US Treasury and the BCV. The US calls itself de facto custodian of Venezuelan money (remember EO14373 speaks of the “Custodial Nature of United States Possession”), so it should showcase full transparency over those transactions and demand accountability from the Delcy Rodríguez government. How much money has the US disbursed? Has it published anything about those disbursements? What about the Delcy government?

The fundamental question is not only how much revenue the US and the Rodríguez administration are processing, but who ultimately benefits from these flows and whether they contribute to genuine economic recovery.

Here’s where the news is worse. Washington has not disclosed anything concrete. What we know is limited to what US officials tell journalists (mainly foreign correspondents) off the record, which is very vague, and very little. Most recently, a “senior US official” told reporter Stephania Taladrid (who wrote this 11-pager about Maria Corina Machado) that the Trump administration “authorized the disbursement of more than six billion dollars to Rodríguez’s government.” Officials had given some accounts of the amounts disbursed in the first days of the arrangement. For instance, Rubio mentioned that $300m were disbursed through the Qatari fund during a Senate hearing in late January. In early February, an anonymous US official confirmed that Venezuela received its first $500 million post-Maduro. That was the first full disbursement, the last one that the US addressed, though without offering any form of paper trail.

You could say things are equally opaque on Delcy’s front, with the caveat that we are used to this defining feature of the chavista regime. I should add something else about the US-Venezuela framework explained above: according to public statements from American officials, Caracas should submit monthly budget requests to the US, so Rubio can keep authorizing cash transfers with peace of mind. The State Department (through Western Hemisphere chief diplomat Michael Kozak, who is playing an important role in Venezuelan politics) said in April that the accounting firm KPMG was hired to produce quarterly audits of how Venezuelan oil revenues are being spent. He also claimed that, by then, $3 billion had been “moved through” to Venezuela.

Three months later, those reports do not exist. Or are not public at least. It seems that our friend El Kenedi was right when he warned Venezuela will never show you the money, but that’s the Viceroy’s fault, not just Delcy’s.

The Financial Times, which ran the story that ignited the controversy, is playing an interesting role in shaping the conversation about the value of Venezuelan assets and liabilities. Right before the devastating earthquakes, an FT scoop said the Delcy government would reveal a $240 billion debt pile (“much higher than expected”). The latest article might not paint the full picture (as a New York Times reporter suggests) but it’s perhaps the first major broadsheet to lambast Trump for his irresponsible (and misleading) remarks, and his team for the lack of transparency over the handling of Venezuelan money. This issue is nothing new, although the recent catastrophe makes full disclosure much more urgent. Other prominent figures and organizations had raised their voice before the quakes.

On June 2, Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann wrote a column in Project Syndicate titled “The Rape of Venezuela” where he addresses this issue and others, including the politics of the looming debt restructuring and the lack of a democratic recovery. In it, he accuses the Trump White House of viewing Venezuela not as a democratic reconstruction project, but as a strategic hydrocarbon asset in the service of American power. A day later, the Council on Foreign Relations (a leading liberal-leaning US think tank) broke down how US control of Venezuelan oil remains murky. That has served as a valuable source for much of the stuff we mention here.

Going back to yesterday’s story, it quotes Venezuelan economist Alejandro Grisanti noting clear indications of large dollar inflows over the past few months. While Grisanti had initially expected economic growth to accelerate in the fourth quarter of this year, he noted that the recent earthquake is now likely to push that recovery back into the middle of next year.

These “indications of large dollar inflows” provide a clear clue as to how the Delcy Rodríguez administration is spending the oil revenues disbursed by the US Treasury. The BCV continues to deploy significant foreign currency reserves to artificially stabilize the official exchange rate. As Juan Comella observed in May, Rodríguez’s monetary policy differs little from that of the Maduro regime. Grisanti and Ecoanalítica remain sharp critics of this interventionist model, the very mechanism that wrecked Venezuela’s economy in the first place by turning privileged access to official-rate dollars into a primary driver of systemic corruption and economic inefficiency.

In an April report, Ecoanalítica criticized the rigid framework governing the domestic private sector’s acquisition of foreign exchange. Only entities with foreign bank accounts (which can be cleared through the SWIFT network) can buy dollars from the select group of major Venezuelan banks, effectively excluding emerging firms and SMEs. Consequently, local businesses receiving US dollars often cannot execute international transactions (such as paying overseas vendors) because they lack the proper banking infrastructure or because their local financial institutions lack correspondent banks abroad. Furthermore, the report highlights that retail accounts held by natural persons capture 20-30% of total FX allocations. This reflects the classic playbook of rewarding cronies while perpetuating market distortions: privileged individuals purchase dollars cheaply at the official BCV rate and immediately offload them on the parallel market at a premium.

We may not know the exact figures, but funds are trickling through the system. The fundamental question is not only how much revenue the US and the Rodríguez administration are processing, but who ultimately benefits from these flows and whether they contribute to genuine economic recovery.

HOLIDAYMAKERS have revealed the one thing a staycation must have – a pub nearby.

A poll of 2,000 adults who have holidayed in the UK found 61 per cent consider a drinking establishment to be essential for the perfect break upon these shores.

Ideally it should offer traditional pub grub (67 per cent), a cosy interior (60 per cent) and a beer garden with scenic views (60 per cent).

Local ales (37 per cent), a roaring fire (36 per cent) and live music or entertainment (30 per cent) are also desirable – as is being dog friendly (26 per cent).

And 42 per cent prefer a ‘proper local’ over a more touristy option.

The research was commissioned by cottages.com, which has partnered with broadcaster and countryside champion Clare Balding to launch its Pub Walk Collection.

It includes a hand-picked selection of pub walks, including some beautiful lesser-known routes, helping Brits to find their sense of exploration.

Clare said: “A proper pub walk is a much-loved British tradition. For me, the perfect route is four to six miles with dramatic scenery, ending at a great local pub.

“It’s fantastic to see that our appetite for adventure has grown and we want to help people discover the lesser-known corners of the UK that make a staycation truly special.

“Some of the most memorable parts of a break can come from taking a different turn, chatting to locals and discovering places which aren’t on every itinerary.”

The study also found 46 per cent think people’s sense of adventure has increased significantly over the past 10 years, while 51 per cent would rather discover lesser-known destinations than visit famous tourist hotspots.

Further to this, 32 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds prefer hidden gems over famous destinations, compared to 69 per cent of over-55s.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) would actively seek out places which haven’t become overrun with tourists, while an additional 46 per cent would look for hidden gems when planning where to holiday in the UK.

When asked about the top holiday priorities, value for money ranked highest with 49 per cent, followed by good weather (34 per cent), being easy to get to (31 per cent), great local walks (28 per cent) and peaceful, crowd-free surroundings (28 per cent).

As many as 70 per cent said peace and relaxation matter more than how a destination looks on social media when choosing where to go.

However, 34 per cent had visited a restaurant, beach or landmark specifically because they saw it on social media, according to OnePoll.com figures.

A spokesperson for cottages.com, which has a collection to help travellers discover some of Britain’s best pub walk routes, including trying out some lesser-known trails, added: “Britain’s best holidays aren’t always about travelling further, they’re about discovering more.

“Whether it’s finding a beautiful new walking route, stumbling across a fantastic village pub or exploring somewhere you’ve never visited before, those moments are often what people remember most.

“Our research shows people are looking for experiences that feel authentic and help them connect with the places they’re visiting.”

A MUM was left devastated after her family were forced to miss a “holiday of a lifetime” because of a common passport mistake.

Victoria Vigors, from Kent, had spent £6,500 on a two-week holiday to Egypt with her whole family.

However, the 41-year-old was left horrified after they arrived at London Gatwick, only to be stopped at the gate along with her 15-year-old son Riley and nine-year-old daughter Roxie.

When staff scanned their boarding passes at the gate, they discovered Roxie’s passport did not have the required period of validity remaining for travel to Egypt.

This was because her passport technically expired on January 4, 2027, but with Egypt requiring at least six months left on them, it meant it wasn’t valid.

Victoria told creatorzine.com: “My stomach dropped and I felt like i’d been kicked in the stomach.”

PASS IT ON

Turkey passport rule Brits need to know about or risk being BANNED from flight

CLUED UP

ALL of the new rules you need to be aware of when travelling this summer

“The kids crumpled and I burst into tears. I begged the staff but there was nothing they could do.

“We had to be escorted back to get our luggage off the flight – It was so embarrassing.”

She said not only were the kids devastated, but that Roxie thought it was her fault.

She continued: “I wasn’t aware of the rules. For people like me who don’t always travel and it’s the first time with my children, I wasn’t to know.

“I would have thought when I put her passport details in to check in that would tell me it wasn’t valid.

“That would be a simple system to install so save this agony and heartbreak.”

The family are now trying to get an emergency passport to try and enjoy the last few days of the trip they’ve paid for, as they were unable to get a refund.

She added: “I’d been saving up for two years.

“We were incredibly excited as we’d never had a two-week holiday abroad together or been to a resort like this.

“It was going to be the holiday of a lifetime.”

An EasyJet spokesperson said: “Unfortunately Ms Vigors and her daughter were unable to fly as her daughter’s passport did not meet passport validity rules.

“We remind customers during booking, check-in and by email before they travel to ensure they are aware of the travel documentation requirements for their trip, and it is customers’ responsibility to ensure they have valid documentation for travel.”

It’s not the only country with strict rules, as Turkey requires Brits to have at least 150 days left, which is around five months.

So we’ve explained two other passport rules you need to be aware of this summer.

When a pitcher purposely throws high and inside, the batter has four choices.

He can stare down the pitcher. He can charge the mound. He can get revenge by walloping the next pitch for a hit.

Or he can ignore the intimidation tactic and continue as if nothing happened.

The last choice is the wimp’s way out, since the batter will lose his teammates’ respect, while opposing pitchers will consider him a pushover and fire more brushback pitches at him.

Ever since the Dodgers visited the White House last spring to commemorate their 2024 World Series win, President Trump has launched a barrage of metaphorical fastballs trying to hurt Los Angeles — in the courts, in speeches and on social media, but especially via his deportation deluge that’s starting to simmer again.

So how have the Boys in Blue responded in defense of the metropolis they wear on their jerseys and the community that has sustained them for nearly 70 years, making Dem Bums one of the most valuable franchises in baseball?

They’re scheduled to visit the White House today so Trump can use them as a photo op and bask in their 2025 championship.

That’s like staying in the dugout during a bench-clearing brawl after a pitcher plonks a batter, then offering the offender a handshake the next inning.

Winning back-to-back titles and blazing through this season has brought Angelenos much-needed happiness during a terrible stretch for the city — but winning is what the Dodgers are supposed to do. They’re also supposed to do more.

This is the team of pioneers like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax, Glenn Burke and Fernando Valenzuela. The squad whose mythology insists it’s a franchise apart from the rest of professional sports because the Dodger Way is kinder, braver and more willing to take moral risks that transcend baseball and make society better.

And yet manager Dave Roberts told Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin in February that he would gladly accept another White House invitation “to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Well, thank God the Dodgers broke baseball’s longstanding tradition of segregation long before Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!

Manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during a 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Most of the Blue Crew fans I know — who are mostly Trump haters, by the way — roll their eyes every time a wokoso member of Dodger Nation complains about the team’s White House visits or the failure of players, coaches and executives to speak out more forcefully against Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign. Politics have no place in baseball, my friends and family members will say.

But standing up for L.A. by snubbing Trump or calling out his war against us isn’t political at all.

Angelenos need a champion on the Dodgers to say what needs to be said: The City of Angels is wonderful, and Trump is wrong to target it. If you can’t stand up for the simple belief that we don’t deserve to be Trump’s personal piñata, then you have no place playing for the Dodgers.

Only two players have announced they’re not going to the White House: superstar Mookie Betts and fan favorite Kiké Hernández. The latter, a native of Puerto Rico, endeared himself to the Dodger faithful last year during the height of the immigration raids with an Instagram post that read, “I cannot tolerate watching our community continue to be violated, attacked, abused and separated. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and their human rights.”

This time around, Hernández told the Times that he’s not going so he can focus on a rehabilitation stint in the minors. When pressed by reporter Maddie Lee, he said, “I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”

Nice way to rhetorically strike out, Kiké.

Betts, meanwhile, said he wants to spend time with his newborn child — as legitimate a reason as any. But then he sat down for a short interview with Fox News.

“I don’t know why the world sees athletes as political figures or these people that can make change,” Betts said. The future Hall of Famer, who like Roberts owes a lot to Robinson for paving the way for him and other Black players, hemmed and hawed as if he didn’t quite believe what he was saying.

Dodgers past and present haven’t been averse to political stands — they just usually happen to be of the conservative variety.

After his retirement, Robinson campaigned for Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 presidential bid but left the GOP eight years later, accusing Nixon of “prostituting himself to the bigots in the South” to win the presidency.

Other Dodger legends, from former owner Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey to Tommy Lasorda, were proud, vocal Republicans as well. Reliever Blake Treinen pitched in a game with “Charlie Kirk” written on his hat after the assassination of the far-right commentator — you know, the guy who lambasted L.A.’s response to Trump’s immigration hammer as “open rebellion to American sovereignty and authority … in a corrupt blue city.”

Treinen — who skipped the Dodgers’ 2021 White House visit when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office — was at it again this year when he and teammate Alex Call declined to wear Pride Night-themed caps, choosing instead to play with the standard-issue one. They followed the example of Dodgers titan Clayton Kershaw, who wore a Pride cap last year but adorned it with a verse from the Book of Genesis commandeered by MAGA Christians to accuse LGBT+ people of appropriating rainbow colors to celebrate their supposedly wicked ways.

Dodgers management didn’t browbeat Treinen and Call, and that’s fine — ballplayers should be entitled to share their personal thoughts, however noxious. I even understand why the team might want to ham it up with Trump this week — that’s what multimillionaires seem to want to do these days, after all.

Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19, 2025.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

What offends me most is that Dodgers owner Mark Walter knows what Trump is doing to L.A. is wrong, even if he’ll never publicly say anything.

Last June, the team announced that it had prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering the Dodger Stadium parking lot — the feds denied that this happened. The Dodgers also announced they would donate $1.1 million to nonprofits to assist people affected by the immigration raids — a response to community disgust about video of federal agents in front of a Dodger Stadium gate with people who had been detained at a nearby Home Depot.

Soon after, the Dodgers were hit with a federal civil rights complaint, filed by a legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, accusing them of discrimination because of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year, Walter’s investment firm rid itself of all shares in GEO Group, which runs immigrant detention centers on behalf of the federal government.

Yet now, the Dodgers are going to the White House.

Enjoy the trip, fellas. Hey, maybe one of you will shake Trump’s hand and tell him that multicultural, immigrant, Dodgers-blue Los Angeles is all right.

Hey, maybe the Angels will win the pennant.

Dalton Rushing snaps nine-game hitless streak

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing fought to end his skid.

He held up on a curveball from Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola that clipped the bottom of the strike zone. He fouled off a changeup. And he stayed disciplined as Nola tried to get him to chase a fastball up and two breaking balls in the dirt.

In a full count, Rushing fouled off another changeup. And then, finally, Nola made a mistake.

Rushing hammered the grooved fastball to left-center field, just shy of the Citizens Bank Park concourse.

“It’s pretty obvious I’ve been fighting recently,” Rushing said after the game. “The more you try in this game to fight out of a hole, the deeper you dig yourself in a hole. So I think that’s what it’s been recently. And today it was, obviously, you get a good start to the day, and it’s kind of uphill. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was anything different. I just trusted myself today.”

It was the Dodgers’ first run during a 9-5 win and Rushing’s first hit in more than two weeks. Over the course of nine hitless games, he went 0-for-19.

Rushing has been the Dodgers’ starting catcher since early June, when Will Smith was first sidelined with a neck injury. And the Dodgers will continue to rely on him, with Smith out indefinitely.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

MORE DODGERS:

‘It looked good.’ Dodgers encouraged by Shohei Ohtani bullpen session after knee injury

Angels fall to Cards in series finale

Hunter Dobbins scattered six hits over six innings, JJ Wetherholt hit a home run in the sixth and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 1-0 victory over the Angels on Wednesday at Angel Stadium.

Dobbins, recalled from triple-A Memphis for Wednesday’s start, struck out five and walked none to help St. Louis snap a four-game losing streak and end the Angels’ three-game win streak.

Luis Gastelum threw a scoreless seventh, George Soriano had a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Riley O’Brien struck out Oswald Peraza with an 80-mph sweeper and Josh Lowe with a 98-mph sinker with two on in the ninth for his 26th save.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

New baseball team courts Asian fans in Irvine

From Bill Shaikin: Would he get his own song?

Lars Nootbaar grew up in Southern California, playing for USC and attending games at Dodger Stadium. His mother is from Japan, so he played with Shohei Ohtani on Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In Japan, fans come up with a song for each player and sing it happily and relentlessly. Nootbaar played in the major leagues, not in the Japanese league, so he was not sure he would get a song until he came up to bat.

“I don’t know how everybody in the stadium knew how to do it,” the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said Wednesday at Angel Stadium. “Everybody was chanting it. It was pretty awesome.”

In Japan, baseball games are nine innings of songs and chants, drums and noise sticks. No excessively caffeinated in-game hosts. No scolding video commands to make some noise. The joyful sounds are organic, and they come from the fans.

Nootbaar attended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s last game in Japan and absolutely raved about the energy in the stadium. Does he believe that kind of fan experience would translate to an American ballpark?

“I don’t see why not,” Nootbaar said. “It would probably have to start small, but it would be cool to integrate that.”

We’re starting small, and soon. A minor league team plans to launch in Irvine next year, and the entrepreneur behind it is pitching it as a way to provide fans with a taste of Asian baseball.

“We’re going to really lean into some of the innovation in fan experience that you’ve seen in Korea and Japan,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners.

Continue reading here

Sparks fall to Mercury in final game before all-star break

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Sparks and Mercury teetered and tottered, but Phoenix pulled away late to hand Los Angeles an 86-82 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in the two teams’ final game before a much-needed All-Star break.

With the game tied at 60 entering the fourth quarter, Phoenix scored consecutive baskets and never relinquished its advantage. Forward Alyssa Thomas dominated with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists and three steals, while guard Kahleah Copper poured in 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting to lead the Mercury precisely as Sparks coach Lynne Roberts expected.

“Players like [Thomas] and [Copper] … can both take over games,” Roberts said before the game. “Last time we played them, Copper had 41 … she is an absolute talent. I think they run good stuff. I like what [Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts] does.”

Continue reading here

Sparks-Mercury box

WNBA standings

Son scores again in LAFC win over Real Salt Lake

Son Heung-min scored a goal for the second consecutive game, Denis Bouanga added a goal, and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Hugo Lloris, who leads MLS with nine shutouts this season, had six saves for LAFC (9-5-3).

Continue reading here

MLS standings

Galaxy fall to sizzling St. Louis City

Lukas MacNaughton and Marcel Hartel scored four minutes apart late in the first half to break open St. Louis City’s 3-1 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Simon Becher scored in the second half after Galaxy defender Emiro Garcés was sent off in the 49th minute with his second yellow card, and St. Louis cruised to its third straight win.

St. Louis, which is unbeaten in six straight since early May, also leapfrogged the Galaxy into the Western Conference’s playoff positions with this victory.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1907 — Australasia beats British Isles 3-2 to win the Davis Cup held at Wimbledon. Australasia wins its first David Cup and ends the four-year reign of the British Isles.

1921 — At the annual Harvard-Yale vs. Cambridge-Oxford meet at Harvard Stadium, Harvard’s Edward Gourdin becomes the first to long jump 25 feet. Harvard lists Gourdin’s jump as 25 feet, 3 inches, but the official listing in U.S. Track and Field is 25-2.

1960 — Betsy Rawls becomes the first woman to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title four times.

1966 — John Pennel pole vaults 17 feet, 6 1/4 inches for the world record in a meet at Los Angeles. It’s the eighth of nine world records he set in the event in his career and his first since 1963.

1976 — The last NFL All-Star game is held and is shortened when thunderstorms hit Chicago. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the All-Stars 24-0.

1978 — Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship for the second straight year.

1989 — Mark Calcavecchia wins the British Open, edging Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a three-man playoff. Calcavecchia, the first American to win the Open in five years, birdies three of the four holes in the playoff.

1989 — Greg Lemond wins his second Tour de France with the closest finish ever, edging Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. Lemond starts the day 50 seconds behind Fignon and wins the final stage, a 15-mile race against the clock from Versailles to Paris, in 26:57. Fignon finishes the stage 58 seconds slower.

1995 — John Daly wins the British Open at St. Andrews by four strokes in a four-hole playoff with Italy’s Costantino Rocca. Rocca forces the playoff by sinking a 65-foot putt on the 18th hole.

1995 — Miguel Indurain of Spain wins his record fifth consecutive Tour de France. Indurain joins Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as the other five-time winners.

2000 — Tiger Woods, at 24, becomes the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam with a record-breaking performance in the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Woods closes with a 3-under 69 for a 19-under 269 total, the lowest score in relation to par at a major championship.

2000 — 87th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified).

2006 — Tiger Woods, one month after missing the cut for the first time in a major, becomes the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.

2006 — Floyd Landis, pedaling with an injured hip, cruises to victory in the Tour de France, keeping cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitches the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay.

2012 — Penn State is all but leveled by penalties handed down by the NCAA for its handling of the allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA imposes an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award.

2017 — British cyclist Chris Froome wins his fourth Tour de France.

2019 — Nike’s Jordan Brand signs 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson to richest multiyear sponsorship deal for a rookie in history; estimated 7 years for $75 million.

2021 — The Opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games takes place after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 — The Cleveland Indians announce the team will be re-named the Guardians.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1925 — Lou Gehrig hit the first of his major league record 23 grand slam homers as the New York Yankees posted an 11-7 triumph over the Washington Senators.

1930 — Pie Traynor won both ends of a doubleheader for the Pittsburgh Pirates with home runs. In the first game, Traynor homered in the ninth and in the second game, he connected in the 13th.

1944 — Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the New York Giants. Nicholson hit a home run in the opener, which the Cubs won 7-4. He hit three straight in the second game, but the Giants won 12-10. In that game, Nicholson was walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

1955 — Bob Cerv and Elston Howard of the New York Yankess hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs to force extra innings against Kansas City. The Athletics won 8-7 in the 11th inning on Hector Lopez’s RBI-single. Trailing 7-5 entering the top of the ninth, Cerv batted for pitcher Tommy Byrne and homered of Alex Kellner. Tom Gorman replaced Kellner and Howard, hitting for Irv Noren, tied the game.

1964 — Bert Campaneris of Kansas City hit two home runs in his first major league game. He homered on the first pitch off Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and then connected again in the seventh to lift the Athletics to a 4-3 win.

1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.

1985 — Oddibe McDowell became the first player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

2000 — Ryan Klesko hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th to lift San Diego over Colorado 6-4.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson’s on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter — the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas.

2011 — The Red Sox extend Seattle’s losing streak to 14 games, tied for the longest in team history, with a 3 – 1 win at Fenway Park which is also Terry Francona’s 1000th as Sox manager. Josh Beckett is the winner.

2014 — Padres OF Cameron Maybin is handed a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines; he is the first major leaguer suspended for PED use this season.

2016 — Trevor Story hit two home runs to set an NL rookie record for shortstops and Colorado beat Atlanta 8-4. Story had four hits including his 25th and 26th homers to pass his mentor, Troy Tulowitzki, who had 24 for the Rockies in 2007. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox set the major league record for shortstops with 30 in 1997.

2020 — CommissionerRob Manfred springs a surprise on everyone as he announces a modified postseason format for this year only. There will be eight teams participating from each league: the two teams with the best records in each division, and the ones with the two next best records in the league. The teams will be seeded one to eight. The Wild Card Game will be replaced by a preliminary round with all teams participating, played in best-of-three format, with all games played in the better-ranked team’s ballpark.

2021 — Cleveland baseball team announced the team will be called the Guardians beginning in 2022.

2023 — In Cooperstown, NY, Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen are inducted into the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

July 23 (UPI) — A group of non-governmental organizations shared with world leaders a plan for the reconstruction of Gaza with an estimated cost of $71.4 billion, according to a report released Thursday.

Oxfam, an international coalition of non-governmental organizations, said in its report that the cost to rebuild Gaza is seven times the cost of every other reconstruction effort there over the past 20 years.

The report, “Building Gaza Anew,” shares a “blueprint” of what that construction will look like. It draws from the analyses of World Bank, European Union and United Nations assessments following military offensives by Israel in Gaza in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2021.

The U.N., EU and World Bank’s Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment for the Gaza Strip published in April estimates that the region has suffered about $57.9 billion in damage and economic losses. It will require $71.4 billion for recovery and reconstruction over the course of the next decade.

“Gaza has never been allowed to finish rebuilding,” Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International executive director, said in a statement. “A decade after Israel’s 2014 offensive on Gaza, families were still waiting for homes that never came, and then the bombs returned. This is not fate. It is Israel’s illegal occupation and blockade, and the impunity producing the same result, war after war. Every government that funds the rubble but never the reckoning is complicit in it.”

Oxfam called on the U.N. General Assembly and President Donald Trump‘s Board of Peace to lead a charge in funding reconstruction.

The press release from Oxfam said more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and another 173,000 have been injured. About 1.9 million people have been displaced by the Israeli military.

While the cost of reconstruction lays out the costs associated with rebuilding infrastructure, buildings and homes, the Oxfam report said human development in Gaza has been set back 77 years. This stems from the destruction of institutions of health, education, religion and culture.

“Nearly all schools are destroyed or damaged, universities levelled, thousands of teachers, professors and researchers have been killed, and libraries and archives of Palestinian history lost,” the report said.

“What was destroyed in Gaza was not merely steel and concrete,” Mohammad Skaik, Gaza program manager for PalTrade, said in a statement. “Israel eradicated an entire social and economic world, built up over generations, and only Palestinians can rebuild it.”

The non-governmental organizations have set out a five-year framework for reconstruction “underpinned by rights-based principles and a single national vision linking Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.” They argue that models for reconstruction “imposed from the outside will fail.”

In February 2025, President Donald Trump proposed the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust. The plan proposes further displacing the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip through voluntary relocation to neighboring countries while the United States takes over the strip. The U.S. government would then govern over the strip for 10 years, developing the region with outside investments.

After blowback from leaders in the Middle East, Trump walked back his proposal, referring to it as a recommendation.

“Reconstruction is not only a humanitarian task; it is a political one,” Misyef Jamil, senior researcher at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, said in a statement. “A plan designed in foreign capitals, however well-funded, would be a cosmetic exercise — simply another form of control over Palestinian land and lives. Our consultations across Gaza carried one unmistakable message: nothing about our future without us.”

Two thirds of Brits consider a nearby pub essential for the perfect staycation – with a cosy interior, traditional pub grub and a scenic beer garden topping the wishlist

A survey of 2,000 adults who have taken holidays in the UK revealed 61% regard a pub as vital for the ideal getaway. Preferably it should serve traditional pub food, feature a cosy interior

and a beer garden with scenic views. Local ales, a roaring fire and live music or entertainment are also desirable – as is being dog friendly. And 42% prefer a ‘proper local’ over a more touristy option.

The study was commissioned by cottages.com, which has teamed up with broadcaster and countryside champion Clare Balding to launch its Pub Walk Collection.

The collection features a carefully curated selection of pub walks, including lesser-known routes. Clare said: “A proper pub walk is a much-loved British tradition. For me, the perfect route is four to six miles with dramatic scenery, ending at a great local pub.

“It’s fantastic to see that our appetite for adventure has grown and we want to help people discover the lesser-known corners of the UK that make a staycation truly special.

“Some of the most memorable parts of a break can come from taking a different turn, chatting to locals and discovering places which aren’t on every itinerary.”

The research revealed that 46% of people believe their sense of adventure has grown considerably over the last 10 years, while 51% would prefer to uncover lesser-known destinations rather than flock to well-known tourist hotspots.

Furthermore, 32% of 18 to 34-year-olds favour what might be described as a ‘hidden gem’ over popular destinations – with nearly a quarter actively seeking out places that haven’t been swamped by tourists.

When questioned about their top holiday priorities, value for money came out on top with 49%, followed by good weather (34%), ease of travel (31%), great local walks (28%) and peaceful, crowd-free surroundings (28%).

As many as 70% said peace and relaxation matter more than how a destination looks on social media when choosing where to go.

However, 34% had visited a restaurant, beach or landmark specifically because they saw it on social media, according to OnePoll.com figures.

A spokesperson for cottages.com, which features a collection to help holidaymakers uncover some of Britain’s finest pub walk routes, including exploring some less well-known trails, added: “Britain’s best holidays aren’t always about travelling further, they’re about discovering more.

“Whether it’s finding a beautiful new walking route, stumbling across a fantastic village pub or exploring somewhere you’ve never visited before, those moments are often what people remember most.

“Our research shows people are looking for experiences that feel authentic and help them connect with the places they’re visiting.”

TOP 9 PUB WALK COLLECTION ROUTES:.

1. Peak District – e.g. Bamford Edge, Goyt Valley Heritage Walk, Youlgreave: Land of the Druids.
2. Yorkshire (Dales or Moors) – e.g. Settle: to the top and round, Richmond and Easby Abbey, The Coast Path & Larpool Viaduct.
3. Lake District – e.g. Walla Crag and Derwentwater, Cockermouth to Papcastle and the River Derwent, Kendal to Sizergh Castle.
4. Northumberland – e.g. Corbridge, Tyne River and hills, Morpeth and the River Wansbeck, Castles and Kippers, Embleton Bay.
5. Wales and Welsh Borders – e.g. Conwy Valley views, Wintour’s Leap, Mumbles and Langland Bay.
6. Cornwall – e.g. Boscastle Discovery, Looe to Polperro and back, Kynance Cove and Lizard Point.
7. Scottish Borders – e.g. Kelso Abbey and the Teviot, Melrose and the Eildon Hill.
8. Scottish Highlands – e.g. Pitlochry, Killiecrankie and the River Garry, Fort William and Inverlochy Castle.
9. Norfolk – Aldborough Three Churches, Salthouse and Cley Marches, Norfolk Broads Waterways and Woodlands.

England and Australia will not play Tests in the north of England after Old Trafford and Headingley not chosen to host.

There will be no Ashes matches in the north of England next year, when Australia arrive for Test cricket’s oldest rivalry.

Headingley in Leeds and Manchester’s Old Trafford have both staged some of the most dramatic clashes in the long history of Ashes cricket.

Don Bradman, arguably cricket’s greatest batsman, scored two triple centuries at Headingley in the 1930s.

Both grounds played host to remarkable individual feats by England hero Ian Botham during the 1981 Ashes series.

Headingley was also the venue for a remarkable unbeaten century by England’s Ben Stokes in a one-wicket win during the 2019 series.

But both venues have been left off the schedule for the 2027 Ashes – a decision criticised by new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, then the mayor of Greater Manchester – when it was announced in 2023.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Thursday the exact fixture list for next year’s Ashes, with all five matches limited to the Midlands and south of England.

Hampshire’s Rose Bowl, near Southampton, will stage its first Ashes Test from July 21 – the fourth of the series.

It will become the 10th ground in the United Kingdom to stage a men’s Ashes Test.

The series will start at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on June 18, with Lord’s – as is traditional – staging the second Test on June 30 and Edgbaston in Birmingham the third on July 8.

The Ashes will conclude at the Oval in south London with the July 29-August 2 Test.

Old Trafford and Headingley are both set to stage Ashes Tests in 2031.

Australia triumphed 4-1 on home soil during the 2025-26 Ashes. The last Ashes series in England ended in a 2-2 draw in 2023.

England’s last Ashes series success was a 3-2 home victory in 2015.

They are also due to play a one-off Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s from May 28.

The 2027 World Test Championship final will be held at the Oval starting on June 9, the second time the venue has hosted the title match.

“The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove,” a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Festival, relocates the comedy to a Southern California beach town in the 1950s. The surf’s up, a chocolate-covered-banana stand is hopping and a washed-up Elvis-like rock star named Johnny Falstaff is trailing chaos.

Those merry wives aren’t actually all that merry about the state of their marriages. Margaret Page (Sonya Cooke) has lost all patience with her grinning, gadabout husband, George (Evan Lugo), who floats through life as though it were as lighthearted an affair as “Beach Blanket Bingo.” Margaret’s best friend, Alice Ford (Sarah Hentges), has more serious problems with her jealous husband, Frank (Abel Garcia), who suspects infidelity whenever she leaves the house.

When Falstaff (Wyn Moreno), motivated by avarice and a mania for cuckolding, comes a-wooing, sending identical letters to Margaret and Alice, the wives grow merrier as they set a trap for their shameless suitor, whose uncontrolled appetites make him an easy mark.

Margaret and Alice are the forerunners of Lucy and Ethel, and Shakespeare’s comedy, written expressly to entertain, gives us a sense of what an Elizabethan-era situation comedy might look like. The Falstaff of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is not the complex figure of the “Henry IV” plays. (The late scholar Harold Bloom, a Falstaff fanboy, called this version of the character “pseudo-Falstaff, “ and considered “Merry Wives” to be, along with “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Shakespeare’s “slightest” comedies.)

Sonya Cooke (Margaret Page) and Sarah Hentges (Alice Ford) in “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove.”

(Jesus Lopez Vargas)

Revivals of “Merry Wives” are not all that frequent. I’ve seen Verdi’s “Falstaff,” which heavily relies on Shakespeare’s plot for the opera, more times than I’ve seen the play. But Margaret and Alice’s quick-witted machinations provide the basis for a merry outing at the theater.

When the possessive and paranoid Frank Ford runs into Margaret as she’s scurrying to meet his wife, Alice, he pointedly remarks, “I think, if your husbands were dead, you two would marry.” To which she replies in savvy screwball fashion worthy of Carole Lombard: “Be sure of that — two other husbands.”

I have a soft spot for “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” The refreshing sight of the women teaming up against Falstaff never fails to amuse. And I appreciate the frank and forgiving light the play sheds on long-term marriage.

But swaths of the comedy are antiquated. And the language has a dashed off quality in places, suggesting there’s some truth to the legend that Shakespeare wrote the play at the request of Queen Elizabeth, who was said to be so charmed by Falstaff that she wanted a sequel depicting Sir John in love.

Falstaff isn’t exactly in love in Shakespeare’s comedy. And he definitely isn’t motivated by pure romance in this adaptation, written by New Swan founding artistic and producing director Eli Simon and Anna Fitzgerald, with music by Zachary Dietz. As in all things, Falstaff is led by his belly, a gargantuan metaphor for his gluttonous nature.

Megan January (Nym), Wyn Moreno (Johnny Falstaff) and Sam Schneider (Pistol) in “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove.”

(Jesus Lopez Vargas)

The pastiche score, indebted to the pop charts of the 1950s, isn’t allowed to dominate. As modern musicals go, this is a low-key affair. The comedy is still the thing in this frolicsome outdoor production, which takes place in the charming ambiance of the festival’s portable, mini-Elizabethan venue.

The cast is principally composed of UC Irvine students, past and present, with a few guest artists in the mix. Under Simon’s direction, the presentation is smooth and professional, though the ensemble reflects different levels of experience.

My general note is particular to the genre: Comedy works best when exaggeration arises the way it does in nature, as a fact of personality rather than as a calculated theatrical effect.

Certain members of the cast push the humor a little too vociferously. How much funnier Shakespeare’s motley crew can be when we’re allowed to discover the variety of eccentricity and ludicrousness on display for ourselves.

Falstaff’s girth is worked into the comic mayhem, but the character should be more than a sight gag. Moreno tries to preserve a measure of dignity while wearing a jumpsuit from Elvis’ Las Vegas era. But the sight gag nature of the characterization is overworked.

Garcia’s Ford seems not just jealous but borderline apoplectic. (Garcia is more nuanced when Ford is operating in disguise to suss out Falstaff’s true intentions.) As Doctor Cayo, one of the risible suitors for Anne Page (Marilyn Alonzo), Heriberto Cruz Jr. delivers a flailing, full-body performance that practically holds the audience hostage for laughs.

Evan Lugo (George Page), top left, Sonya Cooke (Margaret Page), top right, Zane Caputo (Abraham Slender), from bottom left, Zach Trent (Skateboard Fenton) and Heriberto Cruz Jr. (Doctor Cayo) in “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove.”

(Elijah Waller)

Robert Shallow (Greg Ungar) does what he can to promote Abraham Slender (Zane Caputo, appropriately zoned out), his socially inept nephew, as a prospective husband for Anne. But neither gentleman is what anyone would call efficacious. In truth, both performers seem more at home as members of the Banana Splits Band, the quirky onstage combo that ushers in the show’s retro beat.

In a nicely balanced performance, Alejandra Villanueva’s Mistress Quickly, the play’s go-between and overseer of mischief, embodies the free and easy spirit of Simon’s production. Lugo’s George has a simple affability that’s infectious. And Alonzo’s Anne and Zach Trent’s Skateboard Fenton, the young lovers swerving around parental obstacles, are a delightful throwback to those gaga California kids from the age of “Gidget.”

Cooke’s Margaret and Hentges’ Alice remain, as they should, defiantly in charge. The adaptation delves more into their marital melancholy, but I felt I understood them better in Shakespeare’s original, which recognizes the power of suggestion and interpretive restraint.

Yet “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove” succeeds in extending a warm communal embrace to its audience, which is the ultimate aim of this mischievous and kind-hearted comedy.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday, holding steady as it waits to see how much of a lingering energy shock from the Middle East conflict will feed through into eurozone inflation.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The ECB’s governing council held the deposit facility rate at 2.25%, with the main refinancing rate staying at 2.4% and the marginal lending facility at 2.65%.

Monetary policy for the eurozone is set through these three key interest rates, with the deposit facility rate serving as the main benchmark.

“The outlook for energy prices, while highly volatile, currently stands close to the baseline of the June Eurosystem staff projections and well above the levels recorded prior to the conflict in the Middle East,” the central bank’s statement read.

“Uncertainty remains high and the full inflationary impact of the energy shock has yet to play out. The Governing Council is therefore closely monitoring the intensity and duration of the shock, as well as its indirect and second-round effects,” it added.

The decision follows confirmation last week that eurozone inflation eased to 2.8% in June from May’s 3.2%, the first decline this year, with core price growth slowing to 2.4%.

The pause comes just six weeks after the ECB raised rates for the first time in nearly three years, responding to a war-driven energy shock that had pushed inflation to its highest since September 2023.

ECB President Christine Lagarde has been careful to keep the door open.

At the central bank’s Sintra forum, Lagarde insisted June’s move was not an “insurance hike” but a response to a genuine inflation problem, with projections showing a return to the 2% target only in late 2027, and only if monetary policy tightened further.

Lagarde also refused to pre-commit to a path, saying “forward guidance is not currently in the cards.”

July is not a forecasting round and economists at ING, for example, had argued the bank would prefer to wait for September’s fresh projections, when they see a second hike as the more realistic outcome.

The complication is that the shock behind June’s hike is back.

Oil neared $120 a barrel in March before sliding to around $72 after an interim peace agreement at the end of June, but the truce has frayed badly this month, with the US and Iran exchanging fresh strikes, attacks on tankers and renewed sanctions pushing Brent back above $90 a barrel.

A prolonged rise in energy prices would feed through to household bills and headline inflation in the second half of the year, precisely the second-round effects central bankers currently fear.

The ECB and its peers

As the chart shows, Frankfurt tightened from previously being far below its peers.

The Federal Reserve’s target range sits at 3.50% to 3.75% and the Bank of England’s rate at 3.75%, while the Swiss National Bank is parked at zero.

Both of the ECB’s larger counterparts decide again next week.

The Fed announces next Wednesday, with futures markets assigning roughly an 89% probability to a hold, according to CME’s FedWatch tool, after June’s unanimous decision and projections signalling no cuts this year.

The Bank of England follows the next day, on 30 July, with new forecasts in tow and economists overwhelmingly expect a hold at 3.75%, although a Reuters poll found nearly 40% see at least one hike before year-end, after two policymakers voted for an increase to 4% in June.

For now, the ECB is the only major Western central bank to have actually raised rates in this cycle.

A NEW attraction is opening in the capital in less than two months and it will feel like you are stepping into a very famous video game.

Arcade Arena London will open in September with immersive gaming experiences including Mario Kart-style racing.

Known as Chaos Karts, visitors will be able to race through futuristic landscapes where they will have to steer around obstacles as well as collect weapons.

It’s more than just racing around a track in a go-kart – the walls and floors will feature an immersive world and teams compete to get the highest score.

In addition to Chaos Karts, there will be two other immersive experiences.

Alien Invasion will be exclusive to the London venue (with the other venue in Manchester).

Read more on travel inspo

FILLER FOUL

Unknown side effects of anti-wrinkle jabs & filler… from bad sex to blindness

CHEAP BREAKS

UK’s best 100 cheap stays – our pick of the top hotels, holiday parks and pubs

In this game, you will join the Cosmic Cadets and head on a mission to save Earth while keeping an eye out for alien druids.

And there will also be Pac Man Live Experience, where visitors play as Pac Man themselves in a giant glowing maze.

As you venture around the maze, you’ll have to collect power pellets and try and escape the ghosts.

Between the different games, players will also be able to grab a bite to eat and a drink in the bar area.

Tickets for each experience cost from £30 per person, or you can do all three experiences from £65 per person.

If you don’t want to wait until September, you could head to their venue in Manchester where Pac Man Live Experience and Chaos Karts cost £27 each, per person – thanks to the Great British Summer Savings scheme.

Or you can get family tickets, where you must purchase at least one adult and one child – costing £21.50 and £18 respectively.

In 1936, there were no video games keeping children inside. Most households didn’t have televisions.

Amid concern that kids playing in the streets would get hit by cars, Los Angeles made it a misdemeanor to play baseball, basketball, soccer or any other ball game on a street or sidewalk.

Nearly a century later, when kids spend half as much time outside as their parents did, City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield wants to cut the obscure law from the books.

Blumenfield, who authored a motion to start the process, called the law, along with its punishments of a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail, “uncommonly silly.”

It’s illegal for a parent to play catch on the sidewalk with a child in front of their home, said Blumenfield, who represents the southwest San Fernando Valley. Nor can a group of children kick a soccer ball on a quiet residential street without violating the law.

The law also prohibits throwing a “stone, pellet, bullet, arrow or any other missile, in, over, across, along or upon any street or sidewalk or in any public park.” It prohibits playing ball games in public parks, except on designated courts or fields.

“Let kids play,” said Olsen Ebright, who is on the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council. “Why in God’s name would we be having the city try to curb playing soccer or throwing a football? “

The benefits of exercising on public land, when done safely and under supervision, outweigh the risks of injury or property damage, such as a baseball going through a neighbor’s window, Ebright said.

Blumenfield’s motion, introduced last August, was supported unanimously by the City Council in a January vote, for which only Blumenfield was absent, as well as by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council. For it to move forward, the city attorney’s office needs to draft language codifying the change.

Blumenfield’s staff unearthed the 1936 law while researching public rights of way, said Kristine Cajulis, a communications deputy for the council member. Cajulis said she is unaware of anyone who has been penalized under the law.

One instance of enforcement occurred in 2006, when a former city council field deputy reported her Sherman Oaks neighbors for having basketball hoops near their curbs, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

In addition to the anti-ball playing ordinance, the neighbors were accused of violating an ordinance prohibiting structures on sidewalks or grassy strips next to curbs.

Nate Brogin had set up a basketball hoop that drew neighborhood kids for pickup games and helped his then-18-year-old son lose 30 pounds.

Brogin, who said at the time that the law was akin to fascism, fought the city, unsuccessfully. He said he never paid his fine — he doesn’t remember how much it was — but he eventually pulled the hoop down.

“That’s a long time to let something so backwards go on,” Brogin, now 77, said of the law.

In newspaper stories from the 1930s, local officials warned parents to keep their children from playing in the streets to avoid being struck by cars.

Children should be allowed play in vacant yards or empty spaces but should not be permitted “to risk injury by playing their games in the path of moving vehicles,” said George Hjelte, then-superintendent of Los Angeles playgrounds, in a Feb. 3, 1936 Daily Breeze article.

In today’s L.A., the road safety groups Streets For All and Streets Are For Everyone see Blumenfield’s proposal as a positive step. Safety starts with drivers paying attention to people in the streets, whether biking, walking or playing, they said.

Some drivers in Los Angeles believe the road belongs to them, said Michael Schneider, founder and chief executive of Streets For All.

“Changing that takes a lot more than repealing a law,” he said.

Kids still play in the streets in Brogin’s Sherman Oaks neighborhood. He said that fewer than 10 cars pass through in a typical hour, and drivers stop for children to pause their games and move out of the way — just as he did when he was a boy.

“It’s a great social exercise,” Brogin said. “I don’t see any negative to it.”

This move for Bamba underlines a marked shift in transfer strategy for Newcastle.

It is certainly hard to imagine the club spending £55m on a 29-year-old again like they did when they signed forward Yoane Wissa from Brentford last summer.

Instead, Newcastle have targeted players aged 20 and under on the continent this time around.

Bamba, like Steur, Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Toure, will need time to adapt to the physicality and intensity of the Premier League.

It is worth stressing Bamba has made only 12 competitive starts in all competitions for Monaco.

But Newcastle have to take calculated risks this summer before such talents become potentially out of reach.

Just like Newcastle‘s £23m move for Steur, negotiations were carried out discreetly by all parties involved.

News that an agreement had been reached arrived only when Bamba was on his way to Tyneside.

Further reinforcements are needed, but Newcastle are set to complete their fourth signing of the summer.

By contrast, at this stage of a particularly turbulent window a year ago, the club had brought in only Anthony Elanga.

Israeli police barred Palestinian worshippers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque as more than 2,300 right-wing Israelis entered the compound under police protection during Tisha B’Av. Palestinian officials say the incursions aim to undermine the site’s longstanding status quo.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran will continue to ‘pay the price’ for what he said was the failure to stick to agreements, telling reporters that President Trump’s policy is ‘a head for an eye’.

This ‘spectacular’ beach on a beautiful European island has often been labelled as the most unusual in the world, with its otherworldly scenes compared to those found on the moon

One of the world’s most unusual beaches is often compared to the Moon.

There are some spectacular beaches all around the world, from the sugar-white sands along Florida’s Emerald Coast to the glistening turquoise waters in the Maldives encircling their signature overwater villas. Yet, there’s one shore that is frequently labelled the most unusual in the world, and it’s just hours from the UK.

Resembling the otherworldly scenes of the Moon rather than at a typical sandy or pebbly shore on the Med, Sarakiniko Beach is truly remarkable. Found on the beautiful Greek island of Milos, the beach is strikingly formed of bone-white volcanic rock that has been naturally carved by the Aegean Sea and northern winds.

The unique rock formations are smooth and curved, with many serving as diving boards for visitors to jump or dive into the crystal-clear turquoise waters that engulf the volcanic terrain. Cliff diving and jumping are major activities at Sarakiniko Beach, with many also swimming through its natural caves and snorkelling in its azure waters.

Visitors can also lounge on its smooth, white surface, and have often cited its outer-space characteristics. One holidaymaker shared on TripAdvisor: “You have to visit to take a swim, jump from a higher or lower rock into the sea or just take a sun-bath. Great place that looks like the moon.”

A second commented: “Spectacular, a totally different place, I had never seen anything similar. Lovely. A shame that time did not accompany us because we would have loved to have had a snack and take a bath in this romantic place. It is like reaching a moonscape but with white stones.”

“This place looked like we were on another planet. So beautiful and unique a beach,” a third noted. While a fourth added: “Very nice beach with very clear waters. It stands out from all the beaches due to the white rocks… worth a visit.”

Despite its striking scenes, visitors have been warned about the sea anemones that lurk on the rocks in the water, which can cause painful skin reactions. However, it hasn’t deterred people from jumping in its pristine waters or marvelling at the moon-like scenes of this incredible shoreline in Greece.

Sarakiniko Beach is conveniently located about a 10-minute drive from the main port town of Adamas on Milos island, in the Cyclades group of the Aegean Sea. It’s also easily accessible from the island’s capital, Plaka, within a 10-minute drive, and just a 15-minute drive from the charming fishing village of Pollonia.

The best way to reach Milos is to catch a direct flight from London to Athens, which takes less than four hours, then a quick 45-minute flight from the Greek capital to Milos. Ferries are also available from Athens to Milos, with the quickest journey around two and a half hours, although this can significantly increase depending on the weather, so a flight might be the best option.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

JO Whiley was left in tears as she recalled how she told her sister with a learning disability that their dad was dying.

The BBC Radio 2 host, 60, shared the sad news that her beloved father Martin had passed away as she shared a gushing tribute to him on Instagram yesterday (23 July 2026).

During the latest episode of Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball, which was released yesterday, the pair discussed Jo’s dad’s ill health following on from his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2025.

TV presenter Jo opened up about they navigated explaining what was going on to her sister Frances, 53 – who has a rare chromosomal disorder called Cri du chat syndrome – during the last few moments of his life.

Frances also has learning difficulties and diabetes.

Opening up about how she dealt with the tough time, Jo said: “Frances has been extraordinary and she completely understands what is going on, she knows that he’s not going to get better, she just keeps saying ‘Not going to die?’ and instead of sugar coating it you just have to say ‘Well, he is not going to come home’.

STAR’S PAIN

BBC Radio 2 host Jo Whiley left heartbroken as she reveals her dad has died

JO’S REGRET

Jo Whiley apologises to Fearne Cotton after ‘bleak time’ over paedo ex arrest

“And she kind of pauses and she’s like ‘Okay, where is he going?’

“And my mum is a really, really devout Christian and she says ‘Well, he’s going to Jesus and that’s where we all go.’

“Frances is like ‘Okay, how old is he?’ He’s 86, ’87?’ And we’re like ‘No, he is not going to be 87’ and she thinks about it and she’s like ‘Okay’.

“She’s just been so tender with him, it’s been beautiful to watch, I’ve talked about her accepting grief before and coming to terms with things.”

“And then there was this really lovely moment when she was leaving the other day, and it was when he was on the cusp of consciousness and she was going ‘Say my name, say my name!’ And he actually said the word Frances.”

An emotional Zoe simply replied: “Oh wow.”

Holding the tears in, Jo continued: “It was lovely. It was really good.”

But getting overwhelmed by her emotion, wiping the tears from her face, she said: “And she keeps saying ‘Daddy said my name!’

“It couldn’t have been better.’

Many fans rushed to the comments section on YouTube where the podcast can be watched to share the love.

One wrote: “Sending you love and strength Jo we are all holding you in our heart xx.”

Another added: “So very sad for the loss of your dear Dad Jo, sending you love & strength xx.”

“Arh Jo, woke up to see the news that your dad had died and then watched this episode. So sorry lovely, such a hard time for you all. Big love and hugs,” a third said.

On Thursday Jo took to Instagram to share a slew of sweet snaps and short clips of her dad.

In the carousel of memories, Jo could be seen cuddling her dad in one heartwarming photo.

Other snaps showed him at family parties enjoying himself, while one throwback pic also saw the star when she was younger with her father.

Jo then penned an emotional tribute, which started with: “My lovely Dad died today.

“He was the kindest man, who lived solely to make others happy. He was supremely selfless and loved nothing more than caring for others and making people laugh.”

Jo talked about the “challenges” Martin faced in his own childhood, before meeting her mum and “finally knowing what love is”.

She also thanked her dad for giving her, her “love of music”.

Jo ended the sweet tribute with: “We’re going to miss you so very much. You absolute legend.”