AS SNOW turns to rain, the UK is once again experiencing a wet and windy spell, so what better place to head to with the kids than soft play?

Across the UK there are lots of indoor attractions featuring playgrounds and soft play.

They make the ideal wet day out as often, they include features for both younger and older children.

And pretty much every single one has that all important cafe for onlooking parents…

Woodlands Family Theme Park, Devon

Home to Devon‘s largest soft play, Woodlands theme park is a great spot for miserable weather.

Inside, visitors will find drop slides, ball pools, climbing tubes and obstacles.

Read more on travel inspo

ALL IN

I found the best value all inclusive London hotel… just £55pp with free food & booze

TRIP TIPS

I’ve visited Disney 55 times… mistakes parents make that ruin trips & waste money

The area is for children over 90cm tall.

Then there is also the Ice Palace, which is split into two sections – one for toddlers under 95cm and one for children up to 125cm.

In the Circus Drome Zone at Woodlands there is even more soft play with the Big Top Soft Play where there are stacking cubes, soft play blocks and interactive puzzlers for kids under 110cm.

In this zone there is a Circus Bouncy Castle too and the Acrobats Challenge with nets, rope swings, ball pools and slides for kids between 90cm and 140cm.

And finally, in the Toddler’s Village Zone, there is a Mermaids Ball Pool with slides.

An adult or child under 92cm costs £16.50 to enter and children under 92cm tall are free.

Play Factore, Manchester

Play Factore in Manchester claims to be the biggest indoor family entertainment arena in the UK.

Inside, visitors can head on the tallest standing indoor slide in the UK as well as head to a laser tag arena.

Kids can enjoy a bounce on the interactive ValoJump trampolines too and a zip wire.

In the Toddler Area, there are two floors of play designed for kids under the age of five.

It is safety gated as well so no running off moments occur.

Inside the Toddler Zone, there are tunnels, three different slides, soft play areas, an immersive interactive room, balance mats, touch screens and obstacles.

For older kids, between five-years-old and 16, there is a play frame, which is dubbed to be the largest in the UK.

Inside there is a network of tunnels, slides and obstacles including bubble balls and spider nets.

Sporty kids can head on the inbuilt football pitch or basketball court too.

Peak general admission varies depending on the age of a visitor.

For six to 11-month-olds, it costs £3.95 each and then for one to four-year-olds it is £12.95 each.

Kids aged between five and 16-year-old cost £17.95 each and parents cost £5.25 each.

Riverside Hub, Northampton

The Riverside Hub in Northampton has several different zones for visitors to explore.

For example, there are the Role Play Villages where kids can use their imagination to explore a make-believe world, with a cafe, shop, witches house and tooth fairy dentist.

For kids a little older and braver, there are a number of climbing activities including a beginner-friendly oak tree and a 10-metre beanstalk.

In the Toddlers at Riverside zone, there are a number of ball pits, activity walls and a gentle waterbed.

There’s a giant play frame as well with four levels featuring slides, games, themed zones and even a football pitch.

Ticket prices usually cost £7.50 per adult and children between one and three-year-old are £12 and finally, kids between four-year-old and 17, cost £15 each.

Travel writer Catherine Lofthouse said: “There’s so much to do here that it’s a struggle to fit it into the two and a half hours that each session is allocated.

“We could have happily spent the whole day and still have gone back for more.

“With three boys aged between five and 12, it can sometimes be difficult to find somewhere that has enough to keep all ages happy as the older two are getting a bit big for soft play, but that certainly wasn’t a problem here.

“Laser tag, crazy golf, two climbing poles, go-karts and even arcade machines all included in the price.

“There’s a mezzanine floor with extra seating that’s perfect for cheering your little climbers on as they get to the top.

“Downstairs, my sons really loved being able to take on the free arcade machines that would be pay per play elsewhere.

“And the go-karts were a big hit too, with short queue times despite how busy the venue was.”

Flip Out, various

There are several Flip Out locations across the UK – which means you likely have one near you.

These indoor adventure and trampoline parks feature interconnected trampolines, foam pits and stunt walls making them ideal for burning energy.

Some of the newer locations, such as Canary Wharf, also have other attractions such as laser quest, bumper cars and interactive football.

Keep an eye out for special events too, as sometimes there are After Dark DJ nights for teens and Mini Flippers sessions for kids under the age of five.

Travel writer Catherine Lofthouse headed to Flip Out Coventry with her three children.

She said: “Based in a former department store in a city centre shopping mall, you enter through a hall of mirrors and an arcade before exploring 13 attractions set over two floors of fun.

“With a ninja warrior course, laser tag, bumper cars and drift trikes, I hardly saw the older two while we were there.

“I think the dark space and graffiti vibe of the upper floor really appealed to my 11-year-old and 13-year-old, feeling a bit more grown-up than the bright lights and primary colours of soft plays aimed at younger children.

“But there was still lots to love for primary aged children here too.

“My six-year-old enjoyed the inflatables, roller rink and football zone.

“For little ones, there’s a dedicated toddler soft play next to the cafe area, so they can play in safety while tired parents have a rest nearby, hot drink in hand.”

Family tickets for two hours are normally £65 for four people or £80 for five.

The Playhive, North Yorkshire

The Playhive at Stockeld Park in North Yorkshire is one of the country’s largest indoor playgrounds – and claims to be one of the biggest in Europe.

While the attraction is not your typical soft play venue, it does features soft play elements.

For example, there is a Baby Bee Play Area for little ones under two-years-old that features soft play.

There is also a bouncy castle.

However, most of the other features are for older children such as the jungle-themed climbing walls.

The whole attraction is heavily themed too, so there are rocket walkways, spaceships, submarines and planes.

A 90-minute session starts from £13.50 or you can also purchase a ticket with access to the full Adventure Park, including outdoor attractions, from £23.50.

In other attraction news, England’s little-known theme park to get two new rides this year in massive multi-million pound expansion.

Plus, first look at the UK’s new Bluey rollercoaster – the first-of-its-kind in the world.

Donald Trump said the US needs “ownership” of Greenland to defend it from adversaries like China and Russia, but in lengthy comments at the World Economic Forum he said that he “won’t use force” to acquire the autonomous Danish territory.

It’s been more than six years since Ali Hassan Ali Bakhtiyan was released from a secret prison in eastern Yemen’s Hadramout Governorate, but he cannot forget the horrors he underwent during his more than two years in detention.

“It was a very bitter and extremely painful experience,” the 30-year-old man said, adding he was lodged inside the secret prison run by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and local Yemeni troops called the Hadrami Elite Forces (HEF) inside Hadramout’s Presidential Palace.

“They stripped me naked and used cold water. I was interrogated first by members of the Hadrami Elite Forces, then they handed me to the Emiratis officers,” Ali told Al Jazeera over the phone, saying he was detained twice – first in 2016 and then again in 2017.

The prison, Ali says, was not even suitable for animals. “Closed, dark rooms, hands tied and blindfolded. Twenty days went by without a chance to clean your body. They used physical and body torture, solitary confinement several times, beating many times,” Ali recalls.

The 30-year-old says he was first detained following a bomb blast in Hadramout. “I was falsely accused of being a member of the Islah Party,” he said, denying he was a member of the party, which is the main opposition party in Yemen. The country’s Muslim Brotherhood also falls under its umbrella.

“I do not have any affiliation with any political party. Even the interrogator later told me, ‘I have nothing against you, but the Emiratis wanted you,’” Ali said.

In 2019, he was transferred to the central prison in Hadramout and appeared before a judge, following which, he was released without charge.

UAE secret prisons

Ali’s case and many other prisoners have come under the spotlight again after Hadramout Governor Salem al-Khanbashi on Monday announced the discovery of “secret prisons at sites where UAE forces were stationed”.

The governor “expressed his regret at what was found inside the UAE bases and camps – especially in the vicinity of Rayyan International Airport – of equipment and contents unrelated to regular armies, including explosives, detonators and dangerous components usually used by terrorist groups, in addition to the discovery of secret prisons at those forces’ deployment sites,” according to the state-run Yemeni News Agency (SABA).

The UAE forces withdrew from Yemen on January 3 after Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) chairman Rashad al-Alimi annulled a joint defence agreement with Abu Dhabi and asked UAE forces to leave within 24 hours.

This came after the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces took control of Hadramout and al-Mahrah provinces in early December. The STC control of Hadramout, which borders Saudi Arabia, was seen as a national security threat by Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces bombed Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout, targeting what Riyadh said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment destined for the STC. Soon, government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, regained the two provinces in early January, triggering the collapse of the STC. The UAE denied supplying weapons to the southern separatists.

Deputy Governor of Hadramout al-Jilani told Al Jazeera that “four illegal detention sites” affiliated with UAE forces in the governorate had been “identified”.

“Such practices are a blatant violation of the Yemeni constitution, applicable laws, and all international and humanitarian charters and agreements that criminalise detention outside the judicial framework,” he said, adding that local authorities in the governorate will carry out comprehensive and transparent investigations and hear the testimonies of victims and witnesses to gather evidence to hold those responsible accountable.

In the meantime, the UAE’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement categorically denying the accusations, describing them as “false and misleading allegations and claims that are not based on any evidence or fact”.

“These allegations are attempts to mislead the public opinion and to defame the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates, the statement read.

Shocking scenes

The government’s National Commission to Investigate Alleged Violations of Human Rights (NCIAVHR) has been tasked with investigating the cases of torture in prisons. Officials from the body have visited prisons and are speaking with victims.

”The secret detention centres were in state institutions and service facilities, such as al-Rayyan Airport [in Mukalla], the Republican Palace, al-Dhabba Port, and the central prison known as ‘Al-Manoura Prison’,” committee member Ishraq Al-Maqtari told Al Jazeera, adding that Emirati forces had converted them into private, secret detention centres after adding some inhumane modifications.

“Most of the modifications included building very small, extremely narrow rooms unfit for human detention, some far from public life in the desert, and some of them were constructed underground,” she said.

Al-Maqtari further described that detention centres were built with “punitive specifications, such that a detainee could not stand in them even for short periods, let alone attempt to sit or sleep”.

“Some rooms were also used as presses for torture, where a person is held for very long periods, even though they are unfit to remain in for a few hours,” she told Al Jazeera.

Justice and accountability

Since the UAE forces withdrew, protests have been regularly held demanding disclosure of the fate of hundreds of abducted and forcibly disappeared people in UAE prisons, particularly in the interim capital, Aden.

The NCIAVHR has said it will head to other governorates where secret detention facilities have been reported, including in the Socotra Archipelago governorate, Aden, Lahj, Taiz and Al Hodeidah.

NCIAVHR member al-Maqtari, who has been meeting victims and their families, says “they demanded the need to hold accountable the bodies and individuals who detained and tortured them, along with restoring their dignity and compensating them for the horrific, inhumane torture and humiliations they were subjected to.”

MINNEAPOLIS — There was the pregnant woman who missed her medical checkup, afraid to visit a clinic during the Trump administration’s sweeping Minnesotaimmigration crackdown. A nurse found her at home, already in labor and just about to give birth.

There was the patient with kidney cancer who vanished without his medicine in immigration detention facilities. It took legal intervention for his medicine to be sent to him, though doctors are unsure if he’s been able to take it.

There was the diabetic afraid to pick up insulin, the patient with a treatable wound that festered and required a trip to the intensive care unit, and the hospital staffers — from Latin America, Somalia, Myanmar and elsewhere — too scared to come to work.

“Our places of healing are under siege,” Dr. Roli Dwivedi, past president of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, said Tuesday at a state Capitol news conference in St. Paul, where doctor after doctor told of patients suffering amid the clampdown.

For years, hospitals, schools and churches had been off-limits for immigration enforcement.

But a year ago, the Trump administration announced that federal immigration agencies could now make arrests in those facilities, ending a policy that had been in effect since 2011.

“I have been a practicing physician for more than 19 years here in Minnesota, and I have never seen this level of chaos and fear,” including at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, Dwivedi said.

The crackdown, which began late last year, surged to unprecedented levels in January when the Department of Homeland Security said it would send 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area in what it called the largest-ever immigration enforcement operation.

More than 3,000 people in the country illegally had been arrested during what it dubbed Operation Metro Surge, the government said in a Monday court filing.

“Our patients are missing,” with pregnant women missing out on key prenatal care, said Dr. Erin Stevens, legislative chair for the Minnesota section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Requests for home births have also increased significantly, “even among patients who have never previously considered this or for whom, it is not a safe option,” Stevens said.

The surge in the deeply liberal Twin Cities has set off clashes between activists and immigration officers, pitted city and state officials against the federal government, and left a mother of three dead, shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in what federal officials said was an act of self-defense but that local officials described as reckless and unnecessary.

The Trump administration and Minnesota officials have traded blame for the heightened tensions.

The latest flare-up came Sunday, when protesters disrupted a service at a St. Paul church because one of its pastors leads the local ICE field office. Some walked right up to the pulpit at the Cities Church, with others loudly chanting “ICE out.”

The U.S. Department of Justice said it has opened a civil rights investigation into the church protest.

Sullivan writes for the Associated Press.

In a season where freshmen have been making a huge impact in high school basketball, let’s not forget about the sophomores from the class of 2028.

Brady Sullivan, a sophomore at Oaks Christian, scored 28 points to lift the Lions (20-4, 5-1) past Calabasas 69-65 on Tuesday night in a battle for first place in the Marmonte League.

Tristan Cardoso scored 21 points for Calabasas (15-8, 3-3).

Mira Costa 53, Da Vinci 40: Paxx Bell finished with 16 points for Mira Costa (20-4, 4-1).

Redondo Union 90, Peninsula 24: Chace Holley and Devin Wright each scored 16 points for Redondo Union.

Brentwood 70, Viewpoint 51: Ethan Hill finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds and AJ Okoh had 20 points in the Gold Coast League victory.

Arcadia 76, Glendale 44: Noa Eteuati Edwards had 17 points to keep Arcadia unbeaten in the Pacific League.

Oak Park 63, Simi Valley 51: The Eagles improved to 5-0 in the Coastal Canyon League. Beau Prophete had 25 points and eight rebounds.

Crossroads 62, Campbell Hall 60: Evan Willis contributed 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Roadrunners.

Girls basketball

Sierra Canyon 75, Harvard-Westlake 25: The Trailblazers received 19 points from Jerzy Robinson. They have never lost a Mission League game.

THIS year’s top holiday destination has white sand beaches, beers for less than £2 and very cheap package holidays.

eurochange has predicted where Brits will be jetting off to in 2026 thanks to recent money transactions – and it’s the Dominican Republic.

The travel money provider found that transactions for the Dominican peso increased by 165 per cent in 2025.

Laura Evans Fisk, Head of Digital & Engagement at eurochange said: “As we’ve seen transactions for the Dominican peso surge this year ahead of any other currency, we can definitely expect to see the Dominican Republic at the top of travel bucket lists for UK tourists in 2026. 

“Whilst the Dominican Republic isn’t typically viewed as a budget destination, mid-range hotels are available from around £60 per night, and meals at authentic local restaurants tend to start from around £4.”

As for when’s best to visit the Dominican Republic, December to April is the dry season – this week, the island will see highs of 30C.

Read More on the Caribbean

NOT KIDDING

I took my daughter to the Caribbean for £150 — parents need to know my secret

HOLIDAY PRO

Where The Sun travel editors are going on their OWN holidays this summer

It may be busier but the weather will be hotter and dryer than the other months. 

Meanwhile, May to November is the off-season, when there’s likely to be more rain, but there will be fewer crowds.

Top places to visit include Punta Cana, a town on the eastern coast known for its stunning white-sand beaches and bright blue waters.

There’s also Santo Domingo, the island’s capital, where you’ll find plenty of bars – the average price of a local beer is 150DOP (£1.78).

Check out the restaurants there too where you can try local food like sancocho, tostones, and dulce de leche.

The average price of coffee in the Dominican Republic is £1.46 and a meal for two can be as little as £4, according to Wise.

Of course being on a Caribbean island, you have to head to the beaches.

And the Dominican Republic has two of the best in the world; Canto de la Playa and Bahia de las Aguilas.

Canto de la Playa is a secluded beach on Saona Island and Bahia de las Aguilas is almost five miles long and found on the southwestern coast.

Bavaro Beach was given a TripAdvisor Travellers‘ Choice Award for being one of the best beaches in the world in 2022.

Playa Dominicus in the south is one of the longest beaches in the country. It’s great for swimming and snorkelling so you can see all the marine life off the shore.

In the waters you’re likely to see vibrant coral reefs, tropical fish, sea turtles, stingrays – sometimes even sharks, dolphins and humpback whales.

In the north of the island is the Los Haitises National Park which is home to one of the Dominican Republic’s few remaining rainforests which was used as a filming location for Jurassic Park.

As for getting there, you can fly directly to the island British Airways and TUI began direct flights last year – the journey takes nine hours 25 minutes.

While you might think travelling to the Caribbean will be a huge cost – certain hotels and resorts are surprisingly affordable.

You can book a 14-night stay at the Hotel Capriccio Mare y Restaurante from £696.64pp with TUI.

The hotel has 25 airconditioned rooms, private bathroom with a shower, cable TV, a minibar, and complimentary toiletries.

Italian cuisine is served in the hotel’s restaurant – fresh bread, pasta, and ice cream are made in-house.

There’s a swimming pool and it’s within walking distance to the beach and Splash World Water park.

A 14-night stay for two leaving on January 27, 2026 with bed and breakfast costs £696.64pp – including flights from Manchester.

That works out at just £49.76pppn.

With loveholidays, you can stay at the whala!bavaro from £779pp or £111.28pppn.

The 4-star has bright rooms with an indoor and outdoor pool, spa, buffet-style restaurant and it’s just seconds from the beautiful Bavaro beach in Punta Cana.

The seven-night package for two is all-inclusive and includes flights from London Gatwick with British Airways leaving on September 16, 2026.

Another deal is for a seven-night stay at the Bahia Principe Grand Turquesa with On the Beach.

The 5-star rated hotel sits on the beachfront – it has a swimming pool surrounded by sun loungers, spa, fitness centre and evening entertainment.

You can book an all-inclusive stay from January 27, 2026 from £1,375pp.

One Sun writer checked into another all-inclusive hotel with in-room margarita stations…

Writer Giuli Graziano visited the Dominican Republic heading to Margaritaville Island Reserve all-inclusive resort…

If life gives you limes, make margaritas – as the slogan says on my in-room margarita station.

And it’s a motto I quickly adopt, pouring myself another freshly-blitzed cocktail before taking it out to sip on my balcony with views of the gentle waves below.

You wouldn’t expect anything less from the Margaritaville Island Reserve in the Dominican Republic.

But having my own personal cocktail station — where I can whip up fresh cocktails without even needing to change out of my pyjamas — was only the start of the fun at this beachfront resort.

Right on Juanillo Beach — in the sun-soaked region of Cap Cana, where the Caribbean’s turquoise waters meet pristine white sands — the 5* Margaritaville is a haven for holidaymakers who love an all-inclusive.

Plus, it’s just a breezy 15-minute drive from Punta Cana airport, which is welcome after the 12-hour flight from the UK.

When I wasn’t laid out in the sun, the private balcony in my Paradise room made for a peaceful escape.

And it was the perfect spot for watching the sun rise beyond the ocean at 4am or for tucking into a room service dinner while watching uninterrupted sea views.

You will need to tear yourself away from your balcony (and the 24-hour room service menu) if you want to bag the most bang for your buck though.

Outside of meal times, guests are given 2,000 “points” daily.

These are redeemable at the on-site corner shop, which sells everything from wine and spirits to locally made honey and traditional chocolate bars.

There are also proper iced coffees, sandwiches and desserts.

Then you have your in-room minibar — and that’s before you’ve even tackled the resort’s 15 bars, coffee houses and restaurants.

For more Caribbean holidays, check out this lesser-visited island with zip lines, lobster bars and volcano hiking.

And this is the safest Caribbean island with some of the world’s best beaches and ‘Flamingo Resort’.

The three journalists worked for a committee supervising Egyptian aid in Gaza and were documenting a newly set-up camp.

At least 11 Palestinians, including two children and three journalists, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn, with six others injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the ministry, told Al Jazeera that the photojournalists killed when their vehicle was struck on Wednesday worked for the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief, which supervises Egypt’s relief work in Gaza.

Anas Ghunaim, Abdul Ra’ouf and Shaath Mohammad Qeshta were documenting developments on the ground in central Gaza near the so-called Netzarim Corridor when they were hit in an Israeli strike, colleagues and medical officials told Al Jazeera. A fourth person was also killed in the attack, an Al Jazeera team on the ground reported.

Video footage circulating online showed their charred, bombed-out vehicle by the roadside, smoke still rising from the wreckage.

Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency that the journalists were filming a newly established displacement camp. He said the strike occurred about 5km (3 miles) from Israeli-controlled territory and that the vehicle was known to the Israeli military as belonging to the Egyptian committee.

Israeli Army Radio, citing an Israeli security source, said that the Israeli Air Force had targeted a vehicle in central Gaza, claiming that its occupants were using a drone to collect intelligence on army forces.

Three killed from single family

In a separate attack in central Gaza, three other Palestinians from a single family – including a child – were killed in eastern Deir el-Balah, sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Jazeera.

The victims were a father, his son and another relative, the sources said.

In southern Gaza, a 13-year-old was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers, an Al Jazeera team on the ground reported.

The Associated Press reported, quoting hospital staff, that the child was shot while collecting firewood in the eastern town of Bani Suheila.

In footage circulated online, the boy’s father could be seen weeping over his son’s body on a hospital bed.

A 32-year-old woman was shot and killed in a separate attack in the vicinity of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Al Jazeera team reported.

Two other Palestinians were killed in attacks in the north of the strip, the Wafa news agency reported.

Repeated ceasefire violations

Palestinian officials said Israel has repeatedly violated the United States-brokered ceasefire since it came into effect on October 10.

Israel continues to restrict the entry of food, medical aid and shelter materials into Gaza, where about 2.2 million people face acute humanitarian need in cold weather, barely shielded by flimsy tents.

Israel still has military control of large swaths of Gaza, including much of the south, east and north, according to Israeli military data, but, in effect, occupies the entire territory.

On the one-year anniversary of the start of his second term, US President Donald Trump spent 104 minutes in the White House press room listing his accomplishments.

Trump started the briefing by showing a stack of photos of people who had been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, the site of large-scale raids and counterprotests as well as the fatal shooting of an American citizen by an ICE agent.

Addressing a roomful of reporters, Trump proceeded to highlight policies he has put in place since taking office in January 2025. He sometimes stuck to the prepared text, but often digressed into related and unrelated issues, occasionally repeating remarks more than once.

Trump also took questions, many of which addressed foreign policy, including his efforts to acquire Greenland, his establishment of a “Board of Peace” to oversee reconstruction in Gaza, and the state of the government in Venezuela after the US abduction of its then-leader, Nicolas Maduro.

The press conference came a day before Trump’s scheduled departure to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Economy

On the economy, Trump said, “Everyone said, ‘Oh tariffs will cause inflation.’ We have no inflation. We have very little inflation.”

For Trump’s one-year anniversary, we looked at a wide range of price data for the past year and found that overall prices are still increasing, although some specific items, such as eggs and gasoline, have seen price declines.

Immigration

On immigration, Trump said his administration was prioritising deporting criminals. “We’re focused on the murderers, the drug dealers,” he said.

In his first year, Trump has deported somewhere between 300,000 to 600,000 people. The administration hasn’t published detailed deportation data so it’s unclear how many of those people had a criminal history.

But about 74 percent of the nearly 70,000 immigrants in immigration detention have no criminal convictions, according to reports carried in the US media.

Investments

During the briefing, Trump repeated some inaccurate claims he’s made in the past. He said the US has “secured a record-breaking $18 trillion in commitments for new investments”.

The White House website since mid-November has shown a figure of $9.6 trillion. In addition, experts have cautioned PolitiFact that some of the $9.6 trillion in pledges may not come to fruition and others are unrealistically large compared to the gross domestic product of the countries involved.

Gasoline prices

Trump also said gasoline is “at $1.99 in many states”. In the second week of January 2026, the average price per gallon nationally was $2.78, compared with $3.11 in January 2025.

No state has seen its average price fall below $2. The lowest average price in any state in mid-January was $2.34 per gallon, in Oklahoma.

Four states – Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming – had at least seven stations selling gasoline for less than $2 on January 20, according to the gas price app Gas Buddy, and a handful of other states had between one and four stations selling gasoline for under $2.

Jobs

Trump said that under his predecessor, Joe Biden, “one out of four jobs added was a government job.”

This is exaggerated. Over four years, the economy added more than 16 million jobs, of which about 1.8 million were federal, state or local government positions; that’s about 11 percent of the total.

During Biden’s final year in office, the economy added more than 2 million jobs overall, compared with 473,000 in 2025 under Trump.

Fentanyl overdoses

Trump said 300,000 people died last year because of fentanyl overdoses, but that’s far above the most recent federal data.

In the 12 months before August 2025, about 69,000 people in the US died from all types of drug overdoses, not just fentanyl, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Ending wars

Trump repeated his assertion that he’d “ended eight unendable wars in 10 months”, an exaggerated claim similar to one we rated Mostly False. He also said “no president’s probably ever settled one war,” which we rated False.

Richard Ricci was a handyman who was questioned by police over the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart.

Netflix has just released its latest true crime documentary, Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, which sees Elizabeth recall the harrowing events of her kidnapping more than two decades on.

Elizabeth was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the early hours of the morning on June 5, 2002. Her sister, Mary Katherine, watched in shock as Elizabeth was taken at knifepoint.

In the immediate aftermath, Elizabeth’s own family were investigated but nothing suspicious was found. Nine months after her disappearance, her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee, were finally caught and arrested.

While Mitchell was holding Elizabeth captive, another man was questioned by police – Richard Ricci. Ricci once worked in the Smart home as a handyman and had a criminal record unrelated to Elizabeth’s abduction.

He denied any involvement in the Smart case. During the investigation, Ricci was being held at the Utah State Prison in Draper for a parole violation unrelated to the case when he was found unconscious.

In August 2002, he died at the age of 48 after undergoing six hours of emergency surgery to correct a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. He had been complaining of a headache whilst in prison.

He was taken to the prison infirmary, then airlifted to hospital in Salt Lake City by helicopter. There was no indication of foul play according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

A couple of months before his death, Ricci’s wife Angela spoke to ABC News’ Good Morning America, telling viewers her husband had been “devastated” at the news of Elizabeth’s disappearance.

She had said: “He put his face in his hands. He knows that pain and he just felt that for Mr Smart. He knew the kids, he worked in the home, he spoke with them. He was devastated.”

Elizabeth’s father, Edward Smart, said he had not been aware of Ricci’s criminal record and Ricci had been referred to him by another contractor.

As for the convicted kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole after being found guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual activity.

He had been serving his sentence at the US Penitentiary in Indiana, but in October 2025 it was reported he had been moved. Mitchell, who is now 72 years old, was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution-Lewisburg in Pennsylvania.

In 2012 Elizabeth married Matthew Gilmour, a Scottish native whom she met while on a mission trip to Paris. She told Skip Intro: “Because he didn’t know anything [about] my past, he wasn’t afraid to tell me what he really thought.

“I appreciate that I’m not my past [with him]. I am just who I am right now, right here in the moment.” They have three children and still live in Utah.

Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is on Netflix

European lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to freeze the EU-US trade deal struck last summer, Euronews has learned, ratcheting up pressure on transatlantic relations after US President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on several European countries who reject his insistence that the US should take over Greenland.

The agreement was reached last year after weeks of trade tensions triggered by the aggressive tariff policy Trump rolled out following his return to power. While a political agreement was reached in the summer, the deal still required formal implementation by the European Parliament.

Lead MEPs handling the file met on Wednesday afternoon and decided to suspend the process, officially postponing a vote that had been scheduled for next week in the Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.

Tensions intensified after Trump said on social media he would impose a 10% tariff from February on Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom until “a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland”. The rate would rise to 25% by June should no agreement be reached.

MEPs view the threat as a breach of the EU-US deal, which already imposes 15% US tariffs on EU goods while committing the bloc to cut its own tariffs on US industrial imports to 0%.

Lawmakers had been preparing amendments to the deal in the coming days, with many already describing it as unbalanced in the US’s favour.

On Saturday, Bernd Lange, the German MEP who chairs the Parliament’s trade committee, said work on the agreement should be suspended – a position adopted the same day by leaders of the Parliament’s main political groups, the EPP, S&D and Renew.

EU leaders will meet on Thursday night to prepare the bloc’s response to Trump’s threats, which many see as a form of blackmail.

This is a developing story.

The gesture has been praised by the official supporters’ club (OSC) as there were limited calls from fans to be refunded.

Kevin Parker, representative of Manchester City’s OSC, said: “City fans will travel to the ends of the earth to support our team, and last night was no different in the arctic circle.

“Bodo is not an easy place to get to, and the sub zero temperatures made it a challenging evening on a number of levels for our fans.

“The City support has an incredible connection with the players on a matchday, and this gesture is yet another reminder of that relationship – it means a lot to us.

“We know that the players are disappointed with the defeat to Bodo, but with our next game at home on Saturday there’s a chance to get back to winning ways and our fans will be in full voice.”

City suffered one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history in being stunned by Glimt and now require victory in their final group-phase game against Galatasaray to ensure a top-eight finish.

Haaland called the result “embarrassing” and apologised to the travelling fans by telling TNT Sports: “Bodo played some incredible football and it was deserved.

“I don’t know what to say. What I can say is sorry.”

A woman has slammed a man for his ‘entitled’ behaviour on their flight – and it has prompted people to share their own stories about sitting next to rude passengers

A woman has criticised an “entitled” fellow passenger for their behaviour on a flight, although some people have dismissed it as a “non-issue”. She detailed her experience on a Delta flight where she had managed to bag an emergency exit seat with extra legroom.

However, another passenger seemed keen on encroaching into her additional space. Posting a photo on Reddit, she wrote: “The audacity. This is my poor (wo)man’s first class…”

The image depicted a man extending his legs into her footwell, compelling her to keep her legs folded and preventing her from enjoying the extra room. While some users felt there was ample space for both passengers, others condemned the man for “manspreading” without considering its effect on her.

One user remarked: “Is that the 27F seat? That’s the one I chose because I heard it’s the best seat, and now I’m worried I’ll have the same issue.”

Another user added: “This is such bizarre behaviour.

“If there were a seat there, he wouldn’t be stretching his leg and foot underneath it… or maybe he would. He probably would – who am I kidding.”

A third user shared their own experience: “My dad always gets this seat on Southwest (he’s six foot six inches), and the other day when we flew together, he had to tell the lady in front that the space was actually for his backpack, not her second carry-on that she refused to put overhead.

“He just said, ‘Excuse me, that’s my spot to put my bag,’ but she gave him such a nasty look.”

Another user said: “At least he still has socks and shoes on.

“My wife had to go full wife mode to stop us from getting kicked off a plane when some random stranger’s bare foot slid up and touched my arm while I was in a window seat.

“I just turned around and said, ‘No, no, no, no.’.”

Another savvy traveller offered some advice: “This is when I put my backpack at the edge of my floor space.

“He can’t put his foot in your space, and even though you lose some room, you can stretch your legs over your bag and take back the space. This has worked many times.”

Revealing her solution to the problem, the woman added: “I pulled my backpack up into the space to use as a leg rest so he had to move. Passive, but it worked – for now.”

Booking a trip abroad isn’t always cheap, but there are three savvy ways that could help you save up to £1,000 off your next holiday – and it’s just by making a few simple changes

Amid the gloomy British weather and sights set on the year ahead, many of us are turning our attention to booking our 2026 getaway. Happily, there are some savvy saving hacks worth noting that could help you save £1,000s on your next holiday, and it’s just by making three small changes.

Once transport, accommodation and spending money are taking into account, things add up. Luckily for us, TUI has outlined some vital saving hacks that help us save extra cash, whether that’s a European city break or a sun-soaked beach getaway.

To reveal the cheapest ways to book a holiday, First Choice, part of the TUI Group, analysed two years of booking data. From this, they discovered that making a booking with slightly unconventional travel details, as they called it ‘Wonky holidays’, makes a holiday considerably cheaper.

One of the major changes was to adjust the number of nights when staying abroad. Instead of defaulting to a 7 or 14-night stay, they recommend booking a 6, 8, 13 or 15-night stay.

First Choice found that travellers booking an odd-length stay, such as 5 or 11 nights, paid up to 13 per cent less per night than those choosing a standard duration. They also found that flying on a Tuesday or Thursday, rather than a Saturday, saved holidaymakers around £70 per person.

The travel group also suggests flying from the cheapest airport available, rather than the closest one. While it’s easier to head to our nearest airport, First Choice found that swapping departure or arrival airports revealed major savings, and in some cases more than £1,000 per passenger.

The findings, compiled in partnership with money-saving expert Jordan Cox, revealed that making these small, unconventional adjustments, such as staying an odd number of nights, flying midweek, or choosing an alternative airport, can help travellers save up to £1,100 per person.

For example, First Choice found that a 7-night stay at the four-star Constantinou Athena Beach Hotel in Paphos, Cyprus, with return flights from London Heathrow on Saturday, 25 July 2026, would cost someone £1,500 per person. However, swapping the flights to London Luton and departing a week before on Tuesday, 14 July, would get the exact same holiday for just £947 – a saving of £553 per person.

They also added that booking a getaway during the quieter months, like January, March, early April, or mid-September, was typically 16 per cent cheaper than peak summer travel. In addition, when booking off-peak times, First Choice said travellers can take advantage of extra deals that are typically available.

Money-saving expert, Jordan, said: “People work hard all year for their holiday, but too often they end up paying a premium simply by following the crowd. The First Choice research shows that being flexible, whether that’s travelling midweek, choosing a different airport, or avoiding the standard seven- or 14-night stay, can unlock significant savings, sometimes even enough to take two trips for the price of one.

“Even small differences in price add up, especially for families, and that extra money can make a real difference once you’re away. A little research and a willingness to embrace slightly ‘wonky’ choices can go a long way.”

Kevin Nelson, the managing director of First Choice, said: “People want incredible holidays, and confidence they’re getting great value. That’s why we created Wonky Holidays: to make it easier to find flexible trips that deliver better value without compromising on experience.”

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

IT’S almost time for the kids’ first break of the year and there are lots of theme parks and holiday resorts with special events for February half-term.

There’s entertainment for the whole family from becoming a pirate to wrestling and pop concerts – here’s the full list to add to your diary.

Alton Towers

Alton Towers in Stoke-on-Trent is going to sea this half-term as it undergoes a Pirate Takeover.

The pirates of Mutiny Bay are once again taking command of Alton Towers.

Entertainment includes Captain Finn’s Training Camp, The Pirates of Mutiny Bay: The Hunt for the Crown of T’Hulu, Pieces of Eight: Interactive Treasure Hunt and Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE.

Park day tickets are available from £18pp.

SUSSED OUT

Sun readers’ fave family spots in Sussex – top-rated beaches to pirate festivals

DIG IN

Bucket-and-spade county loved by Sun readers for traditional beaches & attractions

If you fancy a short-break over February half-term, these start from just £64pp.

Booking a Pirate Takeover short break includes a one-day theme park entry, pirate-themed hotel entertainment, one-day waterpark entry, 9 holes of extraordinary Golf, buffet breakfast and free parking.

Butlin’s

Across the three Butlin’s resorts, Skegness, Minehead and Bognor Regis is a plethora of half-term entertainment.

Headlining February breaks will be Maximum Pro Wrestling which is new for 2026.

There will be celebrity hosts including Peter Andre and Jeff Brazier, with meet and greets,

There’s also The Masked Singer Live on Stage as well as shows like Jack and the Beanstalk, the new Peppa’s Pig-Nic Party and the Theatre of Rock.

February half-term breaks start from £134pp.

Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor is back for half-term breaks and is entering the world of K-pop.

From February 14 to 23, 2026, the park will have live performances, interactive dance workshops, fancy dress competitions and colourful pop-up experiences.

At the end of the day will be a K-Pop concert along with a huge water show on the lake.

Day tickets start from £22.90, or buy a K-Pop Concert Only Ticket for £19.90.

Also open during half-term is the Jolly Buccaneer, Bounty Pirate Ship, Carousel, the 25 rides in Thomas Land and Drayton Manor’s 15-acre zoo.

Legoland

While Legoland isn’t necessarily having a ‘takeover’ this February half-term, it is bringing back Brick Days.

Along with it’s other 30 rides and attractions, guests can take part in exclusive brick building challenges, interactive workshops, and character Meet & Greets.

Day tickets for half-term Brick Days start from £32pp.

An overnight stay which includes one-day park entry and breakfast starts from £117pp.

Parkdean Resorts

Feb Fest is coming to Parkdean Resorts in time for half-term.

Expect a packed itinerary of exciting free indoor and outdoor activities, meet-and-greets with the kids’ favourite characters and live music.

There will be Paw Patrol-inspired activities, Milkshake! mornings, glow parties, famous faces with Reality Rocks and arts and crafts.

February half-term breaks start from £149pp.

For more family fun, check out the first look at the UK’s new Bluey rollercoaster – the first-of-its-kind in the world.

And check out England’s little-known theme park to get two new rides this year in massive multi-million pound expansion.

A BEAUTIFUL house sitting on an English lake has been named the best holiday rental to stay at this year.

Holiday rental franchise, Pass the Keys, has announced the winners of its Property of the Year 2026 Awards – and this holiday home has nabbed top spot.

The property on the website is called ‘stunning 5-bedroom lake house with a hot tub and views‘ has been named ‘Overall Property of the Year 2026’.

In their feedback, judges praised the pretty house for its “total wow factor” and described it as “a luxury leisure stay.”

The house is in the Cotswolds sitting on Minety Lake, with has five bedrooms, five bathrooms – sleeping up to 12 guests.

On the ground floor is an opening kitchen, living and dining space, as well as a private hot tub and access to the shared swimming pool.

FALL FOR IT

Why Sun readers love Wales – their favourite waterfalls & TV-famous castles

GO SEA IT

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

There’s also a cosy snug ideal for children to play in, or stream their favourite shows on the TV.

The living area has a plush orange sofa with squishy chairs and a wood burner.

Open the glass doors to step out onto the private deck with a hot tub, BBQ and jetty for paddleboarding or even a swim.

Thanks to its south facing position, each room and the deck outside is flooded with natural light.

Up on the first floor is one of the two super-king bedrooms which has an en-suite shower room and its own balcony overlooking the lake.

The first floor has another two king-size rooms, one with an en-suite and the other with access to the family bathroom.

If you’re booking a stay, make sure you get first pick of the bedrooms and head up to the second floor.

Described as the ‘jewel of the house’ the master bedroom has an enormous gable-end window with incredible lake views.

On the top floor is a children’s bedroom with a bunk bed that sleeps four, and a small double bed – not to mention it’s filled with toys.

You can pack everything but the kitchen sink as each room has built-in wardrobes too for multiple outfit changes.

There’s plenty of exploring to do as the house sits on the Lower Mill Estate, which is surrounded by a nature reserve that has even more lakes and rivers.

It has private woodlands too, which are ideal for walking, running and cycling if you’re after an activity holiday.

The estate also has amenities that anyone staying in the house can use too, including the two heated pools, a spa, steam room, sauna, gym, restaurant, and soft play.

If you fancy heading somewhere livelier, the market town of Cirencester is a 15-minute car drive away.

The town is often nicknamed the ‘Capital of the Cotswolds’ and has a huge market place as well as lots of independent shops.

Meanwhile, the Malt and Anchor was named one of the best fish and chip shops in the UK.

The holiday home is available to rent from £582 per night.

As the property sleeps 12 people this works out as £48.50 per person per night.

For more staycations, here are six deals across the UK from Cotswolds cottages to lakefront lodges.

And here’s the UK’s best holiday homes revealed – from a private island with a casino to a stunning cottage right on the beach.

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi urged US-led coalition to ‘bear responsibilities’ for securing facilities coming under gov’t control.

Syrian government forces have entered the vast Al-Hol camp housing thousands linked to ISIL (ISIS) after Kurdish forces who had been controlling the facility for years withdrew.

Armoured vehicles carrying troops moved into the camp, located in the desert region of Hasakeh province, on Wednesday. The peaceful transfer of control suggests that the four-day ceasefire between the government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced the previous day, appears to be running smoothly.

The transfer of control of the camp, which houses some 24,000 people – mostly women and children linked to ISIL – came after two weeks of fighting between the army and the SDF that was brought to a halt by Tuesday’s truce.

The fighting has seen the SDF, which played a major role in defeating ISIL in alliance with a United States-led international coalition, lose swathes of north and east Syria.

The Kurdish forces had controlled the territories during the chaos of Syria’s civil war, which ended in December 2024 with the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, which toppled al-Assad and is now replacing the SDF as the US’s key partner in the battle against ISIL, wants the Kurdish fighters to integrate into the Syrian state. That process may now get under way should the ceasefire hold.

Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, said in a statement on Tuesday that the SDF’s role as the primary anti-ISIL force had “largely expired” and that the government in Damascus is “both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities”.

Earlier this week, President al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had agreed that the Syrian state would take over responsibility for ISIL prisoners.

Abdi on Tuesday urged the US-led coalition to “bear its responsibilities in protecting facilities” holding ISIL members.

Largest ISIL camp

Al-Hol is the largest camp for people with links to ISIL, which was defeated in Syria in 2019.

The camp was established by Kurdish forces after they took control of swathes of Syria, with coalition backing.

Those held at al-Hol include about 14,500 Syrians and nearly 3,000 Iraqis.

Some 6,500 others, many of them loyal ISIL supporters who came from around the world to join the armed group, are separately held in a high-security section of the camp.

The SDF remains in control of the vast majority of more than a dozen prisons where some 9,000 members of ISIL have been held for years, according to The Associated Press.

The largest facility, holding about 4,500 ISIL-linked detainees, is the Gweiran Prison, located in the city of Hasakeh, which is still under full control of the SDF.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Interior Ministry said 120 ISIL members escaped from the Shaddadi prison in Hasakeh province.

The army accused the SDF of releasing ISIL detainees from the facility, while the Kurds said they lost control of the facility after an attack by Damascus.

Since then, many of the detainees who fled were captured by government troops who took control of the jail, state media reported.

Why Choose Our Mythic+ Boosting Team

If you want reliable, efficient progression, our Mythic+ team delivers. Top-tier players, verified metrics, clear communication—every run is engineered for predictable results. You’re not getting generic lifts; each boost is tailored to your goals, schedule, and preferred playstyle. Whether you’re chasing higher keys or refining execution, our mythic plus boost service ensures focused, performance-driven improvement from start to finish.

Expect concise pre-run briefings, role-specific assignments, and transparent pricing. Downtime drops. Predictability rises. When issues appear, we escalate and fix them fast—no vague promises. Composition optimization, cooldown management, and route discipline aren’t optional. They’re measured against KPIs. Completion times stabilize, objectives hit more consistently. You want progression treated like a performance metric? This is it.

How Our Runs Maximize Loot and Score

Safety, Account Integrity, and Scheduling

Pricing, Packages, and Custom Options

What to Expect During a Boost

Frequently Asked Questions

Do You Stream or Record Runs?

Can I Bring a Friend Who Isn’t Purchasing?

Are Refunds Available if a Key Fails?

Do You Offer Older Season Keys or Mount Runs?

What Languages Does Your Team Speak?

The Chase star Mark Labbett rushed to defend host Bradley Walsh after furious ITV viewers slammed a controversial ruling.

The Chase‘s Mark Labbett has defended host Bradley Walsh after a viewer branded a decision during the show “disgraceful”.

The quizzer, dubbed The Beast, features on the popular ITV programme alongside fellow Chasers Shaun Wallace, Anne Hegerty, Paul Sinha, Jenny Ryan and Darragh Ennis.

During yesterday’s repeat episode, Mark faced off against student Marsha and retired supply manager Ian, who had progressed to the final chase.

The pair were battling for a £45,000 prize pot, having answered 18 questions correctly. Under the show’s rules, the contestants can push Mark back by correctly answering questions he gets wrong.

During the round, both the Chaser and contestants were posed the question: “In the Bible, King David saw which beautiful woman bathing?”, reports the Express.

The Beast responded: “Jezebel,” which was incorrect.

Ian hesitated: “I can’t think of anything,” whilst Marsha interjected with “Helen”, as Ian simultaneously offered: “Bathsheba”.

Bradley explained: “Bathsheba is correct, however, Marsha without nomination looked at me and called the answer first, which was Helen.

“I have to accept the first answer and have to tell you that is wrong, we remain eight to catch.”

One viewer was left fuming, taking to X to complain: “Disgraceful making rules up on the spot. Brad.”

Another furious viewer wrote: “cheating b******s on #thechase. Both gave answers at the same time. So it should have been clarified which answer was to be taken. If Marsha hadnt been nominated as Walsh claimed, her answer should have been ignored.”

“Now that was just cruel! Rematch needs to happen,” someone else wrote, while another said: “Absolutely robbed.”

One viewer said: “Very very harsh – Brad should have asked the spokesperson to answer – ref Bathsheba … very unlucky.”

Another called it “gutting”, and several said the players were “robbed” after the “brutal” round.

Another added: “Brad should have taken Ian’s answer as he was the nominated player to give their answers to push backs. Or at least asked them which answer they wanted to offer.”

Another person defended Bradley’s comment, writing: “Marsha piped up with “Helen” when Brad asked for the final answer, fractionally quicker than Ian with “Bathsheba”. That’s why the answer wasn’t allowed. How I see it.”

Another claimed: “Technically, Marsha wasn’t the spokesperson so her Helen answer should have been overlooked.”

Mark later rushed to the defence of Bradley, saying it had never been his decision.

He wrote on X: “I can guarantee that the adjudicator made that call rather than Brad.”

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website

Mark has previously addressed the gameshow being “fixed”, remarking: “We do have people say, ‘They give you the answers though, right?’

“I always point out that we’re all international quizzers, I mean, Anne is a two-time work ladies champion.

“They think you can’t be that good and the answer is we are.”

The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

California has a problem. It’s not homelessness, a lack of housing or the state’s increasing unaffordability, all of which have been documented at length.

It’s truth decay.

If you believe that information is the taproot of knowledge and expanding personal vistas is key to learning, there’s a case to be made that the great Golden State — quietly, with scant notice — is growing more impoverished by the day.

In the last quarter of a century, a third of California newsrooms have closed.

Nearly 7 in 10 journalists have lost their jobs.

The relentlessly cruel economics of the news business, driven in good part by the voracious profiteering of monoliths such as Google and Facebook, has devastated the industry — including the newsroom that employs your friendly columnist — drastically shrinking its output and leaving California, like the rest of the country, vastly worse off.

There’s an information vacuum and that space is filling up with garbage.

Increasingly, the daily diet of “news” that the media serves up is being sourced from partisans, propagandists and self-interested promoters who falsely style themselves as prophets of the unvarnished truth.

(If you genuinely can’t differentiate between news and commentary, such as this, or between those making an honest attempt to present a fair, all-things-considered account of events versus someone shaving, eliding and shoehorning facts to fit a predetermined narrative, here’s a suggestion: Save time, skip the rest of this column and turn to the sports or comics pages.)

Not long ago, California took a baby step toward addressing this rampant decay.

Now, even that tiny effort is tottering.

In August 2024, the state and Google reached a deal to invest $175 million over five years in local journalism. It was a compromise of sorts, and a lopsided one at that. Lawmakers were pushing a measure, similar to those enacted in Australia and Canada, that would have forced tech giants to pay online publishers for the ransacking, er, use, of their journalistic content.

They can well afford it.

In just one year — 2018 — Google made $4.7 billion from the work of news outlets, according to the News Media Alliance, a trade organization. The company’s share of its agreement with California — $55 million — is barely a speck on its balance sheet; revenue for Alphabet, Google’s parent company, topped $102 billion in its most recent quarterly earnings report.

Google spent $11 million lobbying to kill the journalism-support legislation, but eventually agreed to kick in at least something. Facebook took an oppositional stance — greed and amorality apparently being endemic to its corporate culture — and threatened to remove news posts from its social media platforms if California forced the company to cough up for the news it used.

Gov. Gavin Newsom hailed the deal with Google, modest though it was, with characteristic grandiosity.

“This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California,” he said. “The deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists but helps rebuild a robust and dynamic California press corps for years to come, reinforcing the vital role of journalism in our democracy.”

The reality, however, has turned out quite differently.

In May 2025, Newsom slashed the state’s first-year commitment to the newsroom-subsidy program from $30 million to $10 million, citing budget constraints. (In the same budget year, California vastly expanded its film and TV tax credit, showing where the governor’s priorities lay.) Google then said it would match the state’s $10-million investment and no more.

But even that $20 million has yet to reach newsrooms. And going forward, the prospects for boosting California’s stretched-thin newsrooms look exceedingly dim.

In his most recent budget proposal, released this month, Newsom proposed precisely zero dollars for the so-called Newsroom Transformation Fund. Which means Google is on the hook for precisely zero dollars — though any contribution at all is subject to the company’s goodwill.

“The deal was never etched in paper and signed by any party — it was a handshake agreement in principle,” Erin Ivie, a spokesperson for Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, told CalMatters. (The Oakland Democrat was a key participant in negotiations with Google.)

“There was never any penalty or consequence built into the agreement,” Ivie said, “as the arrangement is voluntary, not coercive.”

Steve Glazer, a former Democratic state senator from Orinda, authored legislation that would have imposed an “extraction” fee on the major tech platforms, raising about $500 million a year that California news outlets could have used to hire local journalists. It passed the Senate in June 2024 on a two-thirds vote but was torpedoed as part of the compromise that resulted in the deal with Google.

Glazer, who left the Legislature in December 2024, has continued his fight to sustain local journalism, serving as a senior advisor to the group Rebuild Local News, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to do what its name suggests.

“A functioning democracy has independent news as [a foundation] for oversight and accountability,” Glazer said, noting the erasure of two-thirds of professional journalists in California in the last 25 years. “The ability of the public to get information, discern the facts and have reasoned opinions about who’s in charge and doing what is in serious jeopardy without a robust local news community.”

Forcing social media platforms to pay for the news and information they pilfer and monetize seems a quite modest and reasonable step. Not just to provide news publishers the equivalent of a fair and honest wage, but also to bolster our wobbling democracy by fostering an engaged and knowledgeable electorate.

It’s not too much to ask of lawmakers: Make California robustly informed again.

France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta has told Crystal Palace he wants to leave amid interest from other Premier League and European clubs.

Mateta has 18 months remaining on his current deal at Selhurst Park and as things stand he will not be signing an extension.

Italian giants Juventus have tried to sign the striker this month but have so far failed to reach Palace’s valuation, which is believed to be around £40m.

Aston Villa, who have been keen on Mateta for some time, have also shown interest in a move this month.

Speaking last week, Palace manager Oliver Glasner admitted the club are listening to offers for Mateta.

“There will be a price that Crystal Palace [accept], with 18 months left on his contract. We’d do the deal, if JP wants. If nobody pays that price, then he will stay,” said the Austrian.

Palace, who won the FA Cup in May, sold star midfielder Eberechi Eze to Arsenal in the summer and have lost captain Marc Guehi this January, after he joined Manchester City in a £20m deal.

Glasner, who announced last week that he will leave the club at the end of the season, launched a scathing attack on the Palace hierarchy following Saturday’s loss to Sunderland – claiming the team had been ‘abandoned’ by the club’s recruitment strategy.

Palace were knocked out of the FA Cup at non-league Macclesfield in one of the tournament’s greatest shocks earlier this month.

Hague-based agency for fighting international and organised crime says it has dealt ‘massive blow’ to narco traffickers.

European police have smashed a major network manufacturing synthetic drugs in illegal labs across several countries.

Polish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that investigators had seized more than 9.3 tonnes of narcotics and arrested more than 100 suspects in an operation targeting ⁠a criminal network centred in the Central European country and spanning the European Union.

The operation dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized about 1,000 tonnes of chemicals, imported legally from China and India, used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth, according to news agency AFP.

Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre, which coordinated police actions across borders, said the operation had dealt a “massive blow to organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking”.

“I’ve been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution,” he said.

The yearlong operation involved police from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Among those arrested were two suspected ringleaders, both from Poland, Kraag said.

Laboratories and drug production lines were located in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, which served as the logistical hub.

The majority of those arrested were from Poland, but Belgian and Dutch nationals are also thought to have been involved.

Suspicions were raised in 2024 when Polish police noticed a network importing vast quantities of chemicals from China and India.

Investigators discovered they were being repackaged, mislabelled and redistributed across the EU to the labs.

Kraag said the operation was part of a “supply-chain strategy” to choke off the synthetic drug industry at its source.

“These criminal groups, they don’t have their supply any more,” he said.