“IT’S on your left,” I hear someone say, muffled through the water.

I spin round and barely a foot away is a beautiful greenback turtle, lazily coming up for air next to me.

Normally this would have been the highlight of my holiday.

But it was just one of the amazing, up-close animal experiences on my trip along the lesser-visited south of Costa Rica.

Despite its small size, the country holds half a million different species.

And some of the very best are found at Corcovado, the largest of Costa Rica’s 30 National Parks.

WAIL OF A TIME

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

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

To embrace the true jungle life, I spent the night at the Wilderness Lodge, a 30-room hotel tucked into the forest with huts overlooking the ocean.

It was an adventure from the start, having to take two boats and a “limo” (a tractor with a LIMO 1 plate) to get there.

My treehouse room attracted animals aplenty, with barking howler monkeys becoming my natural alarm clock.

And on one late night walk back from the bar, I was greeted by herds of wild coatis and cheeky spider monkey babies, blinking at me through the branches.

The hotel hosts guided walks through the National Park, with guides very much recommended.

A few minutes into the tour, I was greeted by the smell of wine. Did I have one too many at the bar last night?

Thankfully not — the smell was in fact from the fermented jobo lining the path, a small pitted fruit thrown to the ground by monkeys wanting them for their leaves.

The discarded fruit also attracts another animal, which is why we bumped into a young tapir greedily gobbling them up.

With its bear-like ears, long trunk and squeaks, I wondered why there hasn’t been a Disney film about one yet.

Mind you, this was before I was told how dangerous they can be, should one decide to charge at you.

Having failed to spot some of the other much-anticipated animals in the park, such as sloths and pumas, the cooling ocean was calling my name.

I ditched my hiking boots for a life vest, and headed to nearby Isla del Caño, a biological reserve.

Leaping straight into the water, I felt like an explorer discovering a luscious island for the first time, snorkelling without a soul in sight.

I spent what felt like hours exploring the waters, watching turtles and bright blue fish nibbling the coral.

It was as we started to return to land that we spotted a mum and baby humpback whale in the distance.

We waited in bated silence as their fins broke the surface, wanting to see them leap out of the water.

Moments went by before the huge creature backflipped, showing off her stripy underbelly to our happy cries.

Almost as if she had been shy before, she continued leaping for us until my driver said we had to continue our journey back to the hotel.

But my ecstasy turned into fear that same night.

The jungle quickly reminded me how terrifying nature could be, woken at 4am by a ferocious thunderstorm that made my bed rattle.

Wandering over to breakfast bleary-eyed and wobbly-legged just a few hours later, I expected staff to be just as concerned.

But no — all I heard was “Pura Vida,” the way locals say hello, as well as meaning ‘way of life’.

Dolphins and whales

Safe to say that night was enough for me, and I needed some quieter time outside of the jungle.

Further down the coast is Kunken Lodge — an eight-villa boutique hotel overlooking the Golfo Dulce.

The gulf is often dubbed an animal nursery, where dolphins and whales come to have their babies.

And the hotel was a much calmer affair, the loud sounds of the forest replaced with silence, bar a few cawing birds.

After all that animal hunting, I was extremely glad for my massive portions of Costa Rican breakfast every day.

Plates of gallo pinto — rice and beans — alongside eggs and tortillas were always chased by fresh mango and watermelon.

And, of course, a steaming hot fresh cup of coffee from locally brewed beans.

As a caffeine enthusiast, I could hardly resist a trip to a local coffee farm.

Some of the best is found in San Vito, a town near the border of Panama with an Italian influence.

The coffee farm I visited even supplies the famous Illy instant coffee to Italy, as well as my daily cup while in the area.

I thought I would wind away my afternoon drinking cup after cup while relaxing outside.

Yet I found myself persuaded to visit a local ranch, testing out their new horse trekking tours before getting soaked climbing a waterfall.

“That’s the good thing about Costa Rica — everything is unexpected,” my guide Juan Carlos (nicknamed JC) told me later.

As I boarded my tiny plane, waving goodbye to the locals after trekking a jungle, being left fearing for my life during a thunderstorm and nearly trampled by a tapir, it was clear.

JC couldn’t be more right.

Protesters have taken to the streets in Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, after a United States Border Patrol agent killed a US citizen, heightening tensions in a city already shaken by a deadly shooting just weeks earlier of a mother of three.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara told reporters that a 37-year-old man, a Minneapolis resident, died in hospital on Saturday after being shot multiple times.

Family members identified him as Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse who had previously protested against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city.

After the shooting, an angry crowd gathered, and protesters clashed with federal officers, who wielded batons and deployed flashbang grenades.

The Minnesota National Guard was assisting local police at the direction of Governor Tim Walz, officials said. Guard troops were sent to the site of the shooting and to a federal building where officers have been facing off with demonstrators on a daily basis.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers had been conducting an operation and fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when they tried to disarm him.

In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon afterwards, Pretti is seen holding a mobile phone, but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

Pretti was shot about 1 mile (1.6km) from the spot where an ICE officer killed 37-year-old Renee Good on January 7, which led to widespread protests.

Family members have identified Alex Jeffrey Pretti as the person who was shot dead by federal agents in the United States during an immigration raid in Minneapolis, the largest city in the state of Minnesota.

The shooting of Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen, came as the city continues to mourn the death of another American, Renee Good, who was killed earlier this month when a federal agent fired into her vehicle.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned Pretti’s killing as part of a “campaign of organised brutality”, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged the Trump administration to end its immigration crackdown there.

The Department of Homeland Security, however, characterised the incident as an attack, saying a Border Patrol agent fired in self-defence after a man approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

Witnesses and Pretti’s family reject that claim, while bystander videos from the scene also appear to contradict the account.

Here’s what we know about Pretti and the circumstances of his death.

What happened in Minneapolis?

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters Pretti had attacked agents during the shooting, while federal officials posted an image of the gun they say the victim was carrying at the time of the shooting.

“He wasn’t there to ‌peacefully protest. He was there to perpetuate violence,” Noem said at a news conference.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commander, Gregory Bovino, said Pretti wanted to do “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement”, while Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, described the victim as “a would-be assassin”.

But bystander videos verified by the Reuters news agency showed Pretti, holding a mobile phone in his hand, not a gun, as he ⁠tries to help other protesters who have been pushed to the ground by agents.

As the videos begin, Pretti can be seen filming as a federal agent pushes away one woman and shoves another ​to the ground. Pretti moves between the agent and the women, then raises his left arm to shield himself as the agent pepper-sprays him.

Several agents then take ‍hold of Pretti – who struggles with them – and force him onto his hands and knees. As the agents pin down Pretti, someone shouts what sounds like a warning about the presence of a gun. Video footage then appears to show one of the agents removing a gun from Pretti and stepping away from the group with it.

Moments later, an officer points his handgun at Pretti’s back and fires four shots at him in quick succession. Several more shots ‍are then heard as another agent also appears to fire at Pretti.

The agents initially all back away from Pretti’s body on the road. Some agents then seem to offer medical assistance to Pretti as he lies on the ground, as other agents keep bystanders back.

Meanwhile, two witnesses who immediately filed sworn statements before the US District Court of Minnesota said Pretti did not brandish a gun during the incident. According to the court documents, one of the witnesses, a doctor, said Pretti sustained at least three gunshot wounds in his back.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara later said Pretti was a lawful gun owner with no criminal record other than traffic violations.

Who was Alex Pretti?

Anguished family members described Pretti as a compassionate and dedicated healthcare worker who had been angered by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Pretti was working as an intensive care nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis at the time of his death.

“We are heartbroken, but also very angry. Alex was a kind soul who cared deeply for his family and friends, and also the American veterans who he cared for as an ICU nurse,” his parents, Michael and Susan Pretti, said in a statement released to the media.

Michael Pretti told The Associated Press news agency that his son “was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and had taken part in the protests against the immigration raids.

“He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests,” the elder Pretti said.

The family told the AP that Pretti studied at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment. They said he worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

In their statement, the family lambasted the Trump administration’s claim that their son had attacked the officers who shot him. “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” they said.

The family added that videos showed Pretti was not holding a gun when federal agents tackled him, but holding his phone with one hand and using the other to shield a woman who was being pepper-sprayed.

“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they said.

Meanwhile, the federal employees’ labour union AFGE said it was “deeply stricken by this tragedy” while its president, Everett Kelley, paid tribute to Pretti, saying he “dedicated his life to serving American veterans”.

“This tragedy did not happen in a vacuum. It is the direct result of an administration that has chosen reckless policy, inflammatory rhetoric, and manufactured crisis over responsible leadership and de-escalation,” Kelley said.

The American Nurses Association also said it was “deeply disturbed and saddened” by the killing, and called for a “full, unencumbered investigation” into the case. Pretti’s colleague, Dr Dmitri Drekonja, told ABC News that it was “galling and enraging” to hear the way federal officials were portraying the victim.

What’s driving the tensions in Minneapolis?

Under Trump, the Republican administration launched immigration crackdowns last year, targeting Democrat-led states and cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, saying the militarised operations were necessary to remove criminals from the US.

The crackdown in Minneapolis is the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, according to officials, with some 3,000 agents deployed. The operation began in November, with officials tying it in part to allegations of fraud involving residents of Somali origin.

In addition to the deaths of Pretti and Good, the surge has also pitted city and state officials against the federal government and prompted daily clashes between activists and immigration officers. Amid the tensions, children are skipping school or learning remotely, families are avoiding religious services and many businesses, especially in immigrant neighbourhoods, have closed temporarily, according to media reports.

Pretti is at least the sixth person to die during ICE enforcement efforts since last year, the AP reported, and the incident was one of at least five shootings in January involving federal agents conducting anti-immigration operations, according to Reuters.

At least six people have also died in ICE detention centres since the start of 2026, following at least 30 deaths in its custody last year, a two-decade high.

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who likes developing long-term relationships with TV shows.

For many, that show is ABC’s popular police procedural “The Rookie,” which returned for its eighth season earlier this month and brought some international intrigue to its routine, high-stakes Los Angeles police work. Eric Winter, who stars as Tim Bradford, stopped by Guest Spot to discuss his character’s career and personal growth.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, our viewing recommendations are two shows that feature some cool and determined women: One centers on an expert interrogator, the other on a group of menopausal women in Northern England who form a punk band. Don’t they sound like the perfect companions for a chill weekend?

ICYMI

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“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” lead the field of 2026 Oscar nominees with 16 and 13 nominations each, respectively.

(Photo illustration by Avery Fox / Los Angeles Times; Photos from A24; Focus Features; Getty; Netflix; Victor Juca; Warner Bros. Pictures)

2026 Oscar nominations: The complete list of nominees: The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced this week, with “Sinners” leading the field with 16 total nominations.

The 10 movies we’re most excited to see at the Sundance Film Festival: For its final edition in Park City, Utah, the preeminent indie showcase promises a slate of features that, to judge from prior years, should get audiences talking.

How ‘Heated Rivalry’ became a joyful community: ‘It gave us a reason to dance’: The hit TV series about a queer hockey romance has spurred fans to create dance parties and show-themed merch.

‘Waiting to Exhale’ to ‘Set It Off’: At these Black film screenings, the soundtrack reigns: From ‘Waiting to Exhale,’ ‘Boomerang’ and ‘The Wood,’ this L.A. event celebrates classic Black films and the iconic soundtracks that help bring them to life.

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Kyra Sedgwick in an episode of “The Closer.”

(DANNY FELD/WB/ TNT)

“The Closer” (Netflix)

Kyra Sedgwick stars as LAPD deputy chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in this immensely satisfying procedural-plus, which originally ran on TNT from 2005 to 2012 — ah, the great age of basic cable — and has recently arrived in its seven-season, 109-episode entirety on Netflix. Brenda, a sugarcoated, CIA-trained Southerner with a sweet tooth, has a “history”with nattily attired boss Will Pope (J.K. Simmons), and a talent for interrogation rivaled only by Andre Braugher‘s Frank Pembleton on “Homicide: Life on the Street” — though she’s more likely to catch flies with honey before she drops them in vinegar. (“Thank you, thank you so much” is her catch phrase). Like Helen Mirren‘s DCI Jane Tennison on “Prime Suspect,” an oblique influence, she has to face down the skepticism of the mostly male crew she’s been imported to run, and run them she will. (“Candice Renoir” fans will recognize that show as something of a “Closer” remake.) The cases are more focused on human behavior than clever methods of murder, and though dark and often sad in that regard, the show is also quite funny and lit in the the sunshine of the city, which it shows off to great effect. As FBI special agent Fritz Howard, Jon Tenney brings romantic heat and ironic commentary. — Robert Lloyd

Yvonne Vaux (Amelia Bullmore), from left, Kitty Eckersley (Rosalie Craig) and Holly Gaskell (Tamsin Greig) in “Riot Women.”

(Helen Williams/Britbox)

“Riot Women” (Britbox)

Sally Wainwright (“Happy Valley,” “Last Tango in Halifax”) is one of the best writers working in television today and her “Riot Women” is further, and completely delightful, proof. Five women staring down various midlife crises, including, but not limited to, menopause, decide to form a rock band, a move normally reserved for their male counterparts. It begins as a lark — Jess (Lorraine Ashbourne) wants to put together an act for a fundraiser at her grandkids’ school — and quickly becomes a lifeline, particularly for Beth (Joanna Scanlan), a divorced teacher who feels she has become so invisible that there’s no point in living anymore. Jess also wrangles in Holly (Tamsin Greig), who, having just retired from the police force, isn’t sure what to do next, and Holly’s sister Yvonne (Amelia Bullmore), a disenchanted midwife. But it’s Beth who pushes the group to take the band seriously, and make it punk; when she finds the very troubled and equally talented Kitty (Rosalie Craig) singing in a bar, the mission is clear. “Riot Women” is not going to be just a fundraising cover band; it’s going to become a voice and source of power for women conditioned to believe that their value comes from what they can give others and that, after a certain age, that value radically diminishes. The cast is perfection and Wainwright’s sharp writing is, as always, hilarious, clear-eyed and heartbreaking. “Riot Women” is aspirational, inspirational and absolutely fabulous. — Mary McNamara

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Eric Winter as Tim Bradford in “The Rookie.”

(Mike Taing/Disney)

As it settles into its eighth season — after a long hiatus — “The Rookie” (airing Tuesdays on ABC, next-day streaming on Hulu) isn’t skimping on the set of challenges it’s throwing at the team within the fictional Mid-Wilshire Division of the LAPD. But that hasn’t curtailed the career and personal achievements for Tim Bradford (played by Eric Winter). The formerly rigid, no-nonsense, out-in-the-trenches officer has transitioned into a watch commander trying to find work-life balance now that his relationship with colleague Lucy Chen is back on and they are living together. Winter stopped by Screen Gab to talk about how his character has evolved as a leader, what he’s watching and more. — Yvonne Villarreal

This season, Tim takes over for Grey as watch commander. At this stage in playing the character, what’s been your favorite part of watching him take on something new and settle into that role? Is there an ambition you have as an actor, or have for Tim as a character, that you still want to achieve?

It’s always fun for me to see Tim uncomfortable, which has happened a lot. He knows how to lead but this is a different scope and also dealing with a bit more of the politics in this position. He loves being in the action and impacting the streets so it’ll be fun to explore how he can still do that while also managing a desk job. As an actor, there is still so much I would love to accomplish in this industry. I am always wanting to get out of my comfort zone and explore different characters and it is the same for Tim. I love learning more about his past and finding ways for him to grow as a character which keeps the job fun after so many years.

A slow-burn romance is a favorite TV trope for many viewers. Tim and Lucy are back together this season and living together. We often hear from writers about whether fan reaction informs their writing. But as a performer, what’s it like on the other side — the fan anticipation, the intensity of that and figuring out when to lean into it? And what intrigues you about where Tim and Lucy are headed for the rest of the season?

It’s great to have so much incredible support for characters but definitely as an actor, there is a balance of when to lean in. This ship has taken on a mind of its own worldwide and with that, a lot of people can’t separate the characters from our personal reality, which comes with the territory though. The fans are anchors to the show’s success, and we always appreciate their commitment to our storytelling. This relationship was completely fan-driven and once the writers jumped in on it, they just elevated the storytelling to make it what it is today. It’s always interesting to see what they have in store next, to give the fans what they want while also keeping everyone guessing.

I’m intrigued to gauge the fan reaction to what our creator is building to and how we end the season. It will be great to see how Tim has grown and how he will manage this new setup and diving into some family time.

My colleague recently wrote about “The Rookie” being a surprise hit with teenagers. What’s the show you were obsessed with as a teen?

The youth support has been incredible. I love it! I was obsessed with shows like “Growing Pains,” “[The] Cosby Show,” “Who’s the Boss” and “Different Stokes.” They are all such great family comedies.

We know how active you are on TikTok. Please give me a sampling of what your algorithm is feeding you.

My algorithm is all over the map. I get a lot of trends because that’s what I post, but also history stuff, aliens and stand-up comedian clips. That’s what I listen to at the gym now.

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

I often share comedy clips and also strange UFO/ancient phenomenon. I get so wrapped up in theories and want to get my wife’s opinion as well as friends.

What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again? (Please explain.)

I was excited to wrap up “Stranger Things” [Netflix] and now [I’m] obsessed with “Severance” [Apple TV]. My big comfort watch on the regular is documentaries. I am always looking for something in that space — sometimes true crime, but I love sports and history stuff too. Just watched a great one recently on AI called “The Thinking Game” [Prime Video].

The Lakers trailed by 15 points with seven minutes and 41 seconds remaining, but overturned the deficit to secure a third win in four games.

LeBron James scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, while Max Christie top scored for Dallas with 24 points.

“I think the biggest thing this year, he’s just more comfortable,” said James about Doncic., external

“Understanding the system, understanding the city, the city embracing him. Understanding it’s his team, and we’re all rallying around him.

“Obviously we know it’s emotional, a big game, to come back and play your former team. He showed who he is tonight.”

The result leaves the Lakers fifth in the Western Conference, while the Mavericks are 12th.

Elsewhere, Kevin Huerter made a three-pointer just before the buzzer to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 114-111, while Bam Adebayo scored 26 points as the Miami Heat thrashed the Utah Jazz 147-116.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ home game against the Golden State Warriors was postponed until Sunday following federal immigration officers shooting and killing a man in Minneapolis.

“The decision was made to prioritise the safety and security of the Minneapolis community,” said an NBA statement.

BALLYGALLY Castle is celebrating its 400th anniversary – and this charming castle hotel is full of surprises.

The 4-star hotel was originally built as a castle back in 1625 by Scottish laird James Shaw.

Now it’s the only 17th Century building still used as a residence in Northern Ireland today.

From Game of Thrones Afternoon Tea to braving a swim in the Irish Sea, I explored everything Ballygally Castle Hotel has to offer.

Where is Ballygally Castle Hotel?

Ballgally Castle Hotel is in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The hotel is only a 40-minute drive from Belfast.

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County Antrim is known for its stunning Causeway Coast and Glens, meaning that there is plenty to explore right on your doorstep.

Ballygally itself is a picturesque seaside town with a sweeping sandy beach and rugged coastline.

What is the hotel like?

Ballygally Castle hotel is half historic charm, half modern luxury.

The exterior has been refurbished, but still holds many of the castle‘s original features.

Inside, the decor feels luxurious yet warm and welcoming.

Comfortable sofas by a cozy fireplace invite you to sit down and warm up, whilst the bar and lounge area offers stunning sea views.

There are plenty of quirky castle features inside the hotel, such as the original front door from 1625 decorated with the Shaw family coat of arms.

You can even visit the hotel’s Ghost Room, said to be haunted by Lady Isabella Shaw.

She is said to wander the hotel corridors at night, and many of the hotel staff have reported creepy happenings.

Game of Thrones fans will be pleased to notice that the door to the Garden Restaurant is No. 9 to the Door of Thrones series.

The ornate door is carved from trees that fell from a storm in the Dark Hedges, the iconic forest that appears in the popular program.

The ‘Doors of Thrones’ appear across Northern Ireland, giving fans a trail to explore on their visit.

You can even grab a Door of Thrones passport from the hotel to collect stamps along your journey.

Outside, the hotel boasts beautifully-kept gardens and a tranquil trout stream, where you can admire the exterior of the castle.

What are the rooms like?

There are 54 rooms to choose from at Ballygally Castle Hotel.

History fans can choose to stay in the Tower Rooms, the oldest hotel bedrooms in Northern Ireland.

Whilst those wanting something a little more luxurious can opt for the Coastal Deluxe Rooms or Antrim Suite.

I stayed in a Coastal Deluxe Room, a spacious option with calming views of Ballygally Bay.

On a clear day, you can even see the coastline of Scotland on the horizon.

The room comes with a roomy bathtub, robes, slippers, ESPA toiletries and tea and coffee amenities.

Plus the king bed with its cloud mattress and large flatscreen TV opposite made it very easy to unwind.

Superior Rooms start at £150 per night on a B&B basis.

What is there to eat and drink there?

The Garden Restaurant offers views of the castle gardens, elegant chandeliers and even a knight in armour to transport you back in time.

Here you can enjoy A La Carte dining, with mains including a local catch of the day and a delicious seafood chowder.

I opted for the slow cooked Irish beef with traditional colcannon mash, a tender dish that melted in the mouth.

I finished my evening meal with the “Taste the Island Cheese Slate” – a selection of local cheeses which paired well with a glass of house red.

With delicious options in both the Garden Restaurant and the Lounge, there’s no need to stray from the hotel to find good food.

The buffet-style breakfast at Ballygally Castle doesn’t disappoint either.

There is plenty of choice, with a variety of locally-sourced ingredients.

I particularly enjoyed the local pork sausages, potato bread and porridge served with a dash of Irish whiskey.

And if you’re here as a Game of Thrones fan, you’ve got to try the themed Afternoon Tea experience.

At £36 per person, you can enjoy sandwiches with treats such as Hodor’s pulled beef brioche and Dothraki trifle with mini dragon’s egg.

What is there to do?

There is plenty to see and do around Ballygally Castle Hotel, most of which involves exploring the nearby stunning scenery.

The castle is the perfect base to explore the Causeway Coastal Route, 115 mile journey through Northern Ireland’s breathtaking coastline.

Drive 40 minutes North to reach a beautiful National Nature Reserve, Glenariff Forest Park.

Here you can tackle a number of forest trails, or simply sit at Glenariff Teahouse to soak in the spectacular views.

I recommend wandering the “waterfall walk”, a 3km circular trail leading you past a number of enchanting waterfalls.

There are also a number of Game of Thrones filming locations to visit, including Carnlough Harbour and Cushendun Caves.

And if the Giant’s Causeway is on your bucket list, you can reach the landmark in just over an hour’s drive.

Back at the hotel, sea-swimmers can enjoy a “Sea Dip and Hot Sip”.

Guests who book this package are welcomed from their sea swim with a dry robe, hot water bottle and flask of warming hot chocolate.

This package includes your overnight stay and breakfast in the morning, and starts at £155 per person.

Is the hotel family friendly?

Ballgally Castle Hotel is family friendly, offering dedicated Family rooms and a children’s menu in both restaurants.

Is there access for guests with disabilities?

Ballygally Castle Hotel is accessible throughout its grounds.

It also offers two fully accessible bedrooms with wet rooms, as well as rooms with walk-in shower facilities.

Be sure to mention any specific requests when booking.

One horrified passenger witnessed strict enforcement of Ryanair’s cabin bag rules at Birmingham Airport, with 12 passengers forced to pay £46 while boarding after bringing the wrong sort of suitcase

A woman thought everything was going swimmingly as she “breezed through” airport security, on her way to have some fun in the sun.

Then things took an unfortunate turn, with no fewer than 12 passengers forced to pay £46 while boarding, all because they’d taken the wrong sort of suitcase.

According to journalist Emily Chaplin, who was flying out from Birmingham Airport, she was travelling with Ryanair as she had done multiple times before, while noting she’d “never witnessed such strict enforcement of this rule”.

While a number of Emily’s passengers ended up having a glum start to their holidays, their all too common blunder could have been easily avoided. In a piece originally penned for Birmingham Live, here’s what Emily saw, including her advice on how you too can dodge a frustrating fine…

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“We breezed through security at Birmingham Airport in a mere 45 minutes, which felt like a godsend on a May Bank Holiday Monday, especially after hearing tales of three-hour queues and passengers missing their flights. It seemed as though the travel Gods were smiling upon us, promising a seamless journey to sunny Tenerife – or so we believed.

“Our gate number had just flashed up on the board, prompting us to leave Wetherspoons immediately to grab some sun cream and a drink from Boots along the way. Upon reaching our gate, we were met with a lengthy queue, and it quickly became apparent why progress was so sluggish.

“A secondary mini queue was forming behind a blue metal box at the passport check desk, where a woman was frantically attempting to stuff her overflowing backpack into the top section of the crate. My heart dropped.

“It seemed every other passenger was being pulled aside to verify if their bag complied with the size restrictions stipulated in their booking. I was well aware of Ryanair’s stringent luggage limits – I’d even purchased a perfectly-sized backpack from Amazon to avoid shelling out extra for an upgrade, and spent considerable time rolling my clothes to fit five days’ worth into it.

“Despite having flown with Ryanair numerous times before, I’d never witnessed such strict enforcement of this rule. The lady in front of us presented her passport and boarding pass to the desk attendant, who then asked her to fit her clearly oversized suitcase into the measuring box sideways. It was a futile attempt.

“You’ll have to pay £46 to bring the bag on board,” the Ryanair employee informed her. “But I was allowed this last time I flew with Ryanair,” the passenger argued back. “It’s just Ryanair policy,” the staff member retorted, her monotone voice indicating she’d probably repeated the same line countless times that day.

“Next in line, I nervously handed over my passport and removed my bulging backpack from my shoulder for inspection. Doubts crept in as I questioned whether it would still measure up to the required 40x20x25cm, especially after packing that extra beach dress. She gave it a quick glance and let us through. Relief washed over me.

“In the ensuing 15 minutes before we were permitted to board, we observed numerous others having their luggage measured. A total of 12 (yes, we kept count) had to cough up additional fees when their bags failed to meet the size requirements. One woman, burdened with an overstuffed backpack, resorted to removing clothes from her bag and layering them onto her outfit to reduce its weight. Her strategy worked, and she was allowed to proceed without any extra charges.

“Another group donning ‘Girls’ Trip – Tenerife 2024′ t-shirts tried to dispute the fee. From our eavesdropping, it appeared they had added the baggage option to their return flight but overlooked it for the outbound one. They ended up having to fork out the money nonetheless. I sympathised with them. A simple blunder had made a significant hole in their holiday budget and cast a shadow over the start of their journey – though nothing that a few Proseccos on the plane couldn’t remedy.

“I’m uncertain if Ryanair is tightening its luggage regulations universally, or if my encounter was an isolated incident, but it’s something to bear in mind if you’re planning to fly soon. It starts from £6 to add a larger cabin bag and upgrade to Priority Boarding when booking, so if you find packing light a challenge, it might be worth considering to save yourself a cool 40 quid.”

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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Package deals, with their offer of sun, sea and all you can eat buffets were beloved by bargain loving Brits in the 1970s and ‘80s. Now they’re back with a bang for 2026, with more holidaymakers than ever choosing package breaks.

Package holidays are back! And truly en vogue. Sean Tipton, of the Association of British Travel Agents, says: “Packages are cool again, especially among younger travellers, There’s a big difference between the package holidays of the past and today, though. There’s a lot more flexibility in terms of length of stay and destination. You can get a package to trek through the Andes now if you want. That cheap and cheerful reputation is just a snobby attitude. If you adopt it then you’re missing out.”

Latest ABTA figures covering late 2024 to early 2025 found 62% of those travelling abroad chose a package deal, with 18-24-year-olds making up key markets. Despite the cost of living crisis, more people went on holiday during the last 12 months than in the previous year – a trend that’s expected to continue, with package deals front and centre, according to ABTA research.

READ MORE: We went on an epic family road trip to France and holidays won’t be the same again

Sean explains: “Package deals are about value for money, security and convenience. “You get so much more protection if you book a package. Your contract is with the tour operator, so if something goes wrong, it’s their responsibility to sort it out. I think when the internet came along people thought, ‘oh, we can do it ourselves, book separate flights and hotels and it will be cheaper.’ But that wasn’t necessarily true.”

“Then when things went wrong and they didn’t have the security of a package deal – for instance when Covid struck and people couldn’t get their money back, people paused for thought.” Nostalgia also plays a part, with Brightsun Travel, founded in the 1980s, saying more travellers yearn for holidays from a bygone era.

In a survey of 2,000 people, 20% missed postcards and film cameras, as well as physical guidebooks. Booking online was also highlighted as a negative. Mala Schneider, Head of Global Marketing at Brightsun Travel, says: “We’re surrounded by connected technology, so it’s hard to believe there was a time when you had to wait weeks for your holiday photos to be developed, or take a phrase book with you to be understood.

“There was a lot of fun to be had, though, living adventures and experiences in the moment, without worrying about missing something or capturing the day to digital perfection.” Martin Oliver, 75, a retired marine engineer and author, originally from Coventry, waxes lyrical about his 1970 package holiday with a group of mate.

He says: “We flew out of Birmingham Airport to Palma, Majorca. Flying was more comfortable back then – no security checks, more legroom, and fewer delays. But there was also a lingering smell of cigarettes, as smoking was allowed for passengers seated towards the rear of the plane. It is hard to believe now.”

And they landed in a different world. He says: “It was the first time in our lives we’d ordered a bottle of wine with a meal in a restaurant.” They also tried garlic and enjoyed siestas. Martin, who wrote a book about growing up in the 1960s called Happy Jack, says they “‘didn’t know what to do” with the olive oil on the table.

He’d only ever used it “warm for earache.” He adds: “One of the lads mentioned an item next to his toilet with a sprinkler in it for washing his feet and swimming trunks. Of course it was a bidet!”

Spain is still the top selling package destination, although Morocco and Egypt offer good value. Jo Rhodes, Senior Researcher at Which? Travel says: “Candyfloss, crazy golf and holiday camps were for decades the standard ingredients of our summer holidays. “Affordable package deals to destinations such as Majorca were on offer from the 1950s. But we were still more likely to spend a fortnight in Britain. Brits made just 4.5m trips abroad in 1950.”

Those figures had virtually doubled by 1970 – although just one in three of us had been overseas. But the travel market was growing. The basic cost of a flight was expensive, but the cost of the rest of the holiday was affordable.

Historically, Mediterranean spots like Greece and Spain were the most popular for one or two week package deals, although the more adventurous headed to Rhodes and Corfu, as well as the as-yet-undeveloped Algarve. Jo says: “Booking a package is still the best way to protect your next holiday abroad. The ATOL scheme ensures you won’t be left out of pocket, or worse, stranded if your holiday company goes bust.”

Travel agent Richard Slater, 57, who runs Henbury Travel based in Macclesfield, says business has increased five fold in recent years. He says: “I’d say 95% of those holidays are package deals. I think we’ve come full circle. Lots of people were going online to book their holiday – now they come to us. We’re like a human search engine and they value our expertise.”

READ MORE: We banned screens during our family trip away and the change was staggering

Justin Gaethje survived a ‌five-round war with a relentless Paddy Pimblett to claim the interim UFC lightweight ‌ championship by unanimous decision in a bloody and bruising fight in Las Vegas.

The experienced American’s win put an end to Pimblett’s nine-fight winning run at the UFC 324 main event on Saturday, but Gaethje paid tribute to the Liverpool fighter’s durability ⁠and heart.

“Now that Scouser does not get knocked down,” he said after judges scored the ‌ fight 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46, which saw MMA’s rising star walk away with his head held high.

“He is very dangerous, got great timing… young ‌ kid, dangerous kid. I had to steal his momentum and his confidence,” Gaethje said.

Pimblett struck first in the opening round but the tide quickly turned when Gaethje cracked him with a heavy left-handed punch. The American followed ‌ him to the ⁠mat with punishing ground strikes before the Briton scrambled back to his feet.

A right hand dropped Pimblett to the canvas again in the second and he was lucky to survive the round as Gaethje pounded away until the horn sounded.

However, despite bleeding from the nose and cuts to his face, Pimblett strung together some clean flurries in the third round that had Gaethje wobbling, with the round ‌ briefly paused after a low blow had the 37-year-old American grimacing.

The ‌fourth round swung back in Gaethje’s favour after he absorbed some early pressure, repeatedly finding his target with heavy right hands.

The roaring crowd were on their feet as the final round began and an early slip ‌from Gaethje opened the door for Pimblett, who unloaded a barrage of punches.

Gaethje answered in trademark fashion with a booming right ‌hand and both fighters pushed hard for the finish, ⁠with Pimblett closing with a strong final burst.

Pimblett showed grace in defeat.

“I know how tough I am, I don’t need to prove it to anyone. I wanted to leave with that belt, but there’s no other man ‌I’d rather lose to than ‘The Highlight’,” Pimblett said.

“Gaethje is someone I’ve loved watching growing up, watching the UFC. It shows why he’s a legend right there. I thought 48-47 was ‌ a fair scorecard.

“You live and you learn. I’m 31. I’ll be back better, it’s as simple as that. You haven’t seen the last of me.”

Gaethje’s win gave ‌ him his second career interim ‌ lightweight championship and sets up an undisputed title fight against Ilia Topuria, who stepped away last November amidst mounting personal issues but is expected to return at some point in 2026.

The loss was Pimblett’s first in UFC since joining from his native England, snapping a nine-fight winning streak and dropping him to 23-4-0 in his career.

Sean O’Malley, one of ‌ UFC’s biggest stars, ⁠ended a two-fight losing skid in the co-main event with a controversial unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong of China.

Meanwhile, Waldo Cortes-Acosta of the Dominican Republic defeated Derrick Lewis by knockout at 3:14 in the second round. ‌

In women’s fights, Natalia Silva of Brazil defeated Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision in a potential flyweight title eliminator, ‌although the controversial outcome was met with unanimous dismay from a Vegas crowd that clearly believed Namajunas did enough to pull off the upset against Silva.

The performance marks Silva’s 14th straight victory and her eighth ‌consecutive in the flyweight division to improve her overall record to 20-5-1. More importantly, it may ⁠line her up for a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko later this year.

The opening fight of the main card saw heavily favoured Brazilian fighter Jean Silva rebound from his loss against Diego Lopes in September, defeating England’s Arnold Allen in a slugfest that was decided in the third round on two of three official scorecards.

Dominick Cruz, a two-time Bantamweight champion and the division’s inaugural belt holder, was announced as the first member of UFC’s 2026 Hall of Fame class at the conclusion of the prelim show. Cruz will be inducted into the “Modern Era Wing”, which honours fighters who debuted after the first sanctioned UFC event under unified rules was held on November 17, 2000.

Although the goal of “Saturday Night Live” week after week is comedy (“Allegedly!” yells a heckler from the back row), not all guests hosts show up just to prove they can be hilarious.

Instead, some do the show to not only promote their latest project, but to introduce additional parts of themselves to what may be the biggest audience they’ve had to date.

That felt like the case with Teyana Taylor, who was nominated this week for a lead actress Oscar for “One Battle After Another” after walking away with a Golden Globe earlier this month. In her first time hosting “SNL,” the goal seemed less to make her the funniest host than to show people who only know her from the Paul Thomas Anderson film that she’s incredibly talented in more ways than just acting.

After a charming monologue that included her young children, Taylor sang with cast member Kenan Thompson in an airport terminal sketch featuring Shrimp ‘n’ Grits, two gate agents who make their flight delay announcements as R&B songs. Sure, cast member James Austin Johnson may have come in and stolen the sketch as a pilot who’s been drinking, but it was the first indication that Taylor could hold her own vocally with the longest-running cast member in “SNL” history, Thompson.

Later in the show, she dazzled in a dance performance as a surprisingly limber 87-year-old grandpa who’s brought to life by Earth, Wind & Fire songs at his grandson’s wedding. She co-hosted a news panel show in which the two Black hosts (Taylor and Thompson) wordlessly hum judgment on opinions spouted by their white panelists (Mikey Day and Chloe Fineman) and played her “One Battle” character Perfidia Beverly Hills in a pitch-perfect Mattel toy commercial parody.

Taylor played smaller supporting parts such as sideline reporter Lisa Salters in an NFL report that turns into an extended promo for a lesbian culinary show called “Quefs.” “Queer Chefs?” Sportscasters Troy Aikman (Andrew Dismukes) and Joe Buck (Johnson) were afraid to guess. She also portrayed a confused contestant who is there to make friends on a “Survivor”/”Traitors”-style reality competition show and a student in a confidence class taught by a wreck of a teacher (a fantastic Ashley Padilla).

Was Taylor the funniest host “SNL” has had this season? Not by a long shot. But she proved to be one of the most multi-talented.

Musical guests Geese performed “Au Pays du Cocaine” and “Trinidad.” Please Don’t Destroy’s Martin Herlihy wrote and directed a short film that closed the episode about techniques to get someone to break up with you.

In what may have been a missed opportunity, “SNL” wasn’t able to pivot on short notice to address the day’s biggest national news in its cold open: the killing of an ICU nurse by federal agents in Minneapolis. The incident was alluded to on “Weekend Update,” and egregiously missing from a news panel sketch that specifically talked about incidents in Minneapolis. Instead, perhaps to the show’s detriment, it was another week of Johnson’s President Trump impression, this time as host of the Trumps, an award show for the president and members of his administration. There were jokes at the expense of J.D. Vance (Jeremy Culhane) and Kristi Noem (Padilla); for the former it was a dig on his sexuality while Noem was honored for sucking up to Trump before the president stole her award, Kanye West-style. Mike Myers returned as twitchy, unfunny Elon Musk, there to introduce a memorial segment and accompanying song eulogizing the things the Trump administration has taken down including the East Wing, D.E.I., civil rights and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Taylor’s monologue focused on the other interests and pursuits she has apart from acting in Oscar-nominated films, like directing and going to culinary school. She showed a clip of herself dancing in MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16,” a real thing that happened in her life, and mentioned winning “The Masked Singer” (also true). But the monologue ended with Taylor discussing being a mother and how her big moment at the Golden Globes was undercut by her kids playing on their phones during her speech. Cut to her kids in the “SNL” audience, looking at their phones. Any parent could relate.

Best sketch of the night: This could be better than Mattel’s ‘Boogie Nights’ playsets

You may think that the only movie kids care about at the Academy Awards this year is “KPop Demon Hunters,” but according to this ad from Mattel, it’s toys based on “One Battle After Another” that they really want. The movie’s main characters get action figures with accessories like a battle robe for Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Bob and a pregnant belly add-on for Taylor’s. The parents in the ad (Padilla and Mikey Day) don’t love their kids acting out the lives of toys with names like Junglepussy or reenacting a motel sex scene between Taylor and Sean Penn’s characters. Great conclusion to the piece: the promise of toys based on other Anderson films including “There Will Be Blood.” “I’ve abandoned my boy!” a kid cries, a clever shoutout to an all-but-forgotten Bill Hader sketch.

Also good: Grandpa Jackson probably dances so well because he has no bones

Wedding sketches are a staple on “SNL,” but there probably has never been a guest host who danced the hell out of one the way Taylor did as Grandpa Jackson, who takes to the dance floor to celebrate the bride and groom (Padilla and Kam Patterson). Even with the sketch threatening to go off the rails as Taylor’s bald cap started peeling off, she never missed a step and her dance moves were astonishing. Johnson appeared as a sort-of doctor to help the grandfather after he finally collapses to put a nice capper on the basic, but very effective sketch.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: That’s a wrap for ‘cap’

New featured cast member Culhane debuted on “Update” as Mr. On Blast, a roasting commentator with very light roasts and a lot of body language. But it was Marcello Hernández who won the week with helpful translations of Gen Z expressions including “chopped,” “fahhh” and “glo-up.” Hernández teased “Update” co-host Colin Jost for being out of the loop, declaring terms such as “cap” dead the moment Jost used them (with a gravestone for emphasis). As Hernández explained, Gen Z slang is just Black slang adopted by young people before it gets used by white people. “Once Elon Musk says it, it’s dead,” he declared.

This charming village is now a suburb of a much bigger town in Scotland, where Robert Burns was born and inspired his famous poem ‘Tam o’ Shanter’

This wasn’t merely the birthplace of Robert Burns but also served as inspiration for one of his most celebrated works, attracting devotees to the region annually.

Alloway formerly existed as a picturesque village near Scotland’s west coast and was home to the legendary writer Robert Burns. The poet enjoys worldwide acclaim for his works and is honoured annually on Burns Night, yet it all started amongst these tranquil, meandering lanes.

Perhaps his most renowned work, Tam o’ Shanter, draws heavily from his birthplace and mentions the local church and mediaeval bridge, which now serve as attractions for visitors. The poem, dating from 1790, tells of a character whose drunken ways lead him on a horseback journey home one tempestuous night where he encounters witches and warlocks ‘dancing with the devil’.

His father, William Burnes, is actually buried at the Auld Kirk church, which features prominently in the poem. After dark, to generate an unsettling atmosphere and spectral ambience for visitors, the church is illuminated with green lighting.

As we mark Burns Night once more on January 25, numerous Scots and admirers of Burns’ work honour his legacy by visiting Alloway.

Though no longer a village, the location is now a suburb of a considerably larger town, Ayr, which has effectively absorbed this beautiful area.

Fortunately, the village has managed to preserve some of Burns’ heritage, as the cottage where he resided has been maintained and remains under National Trust protection.

Next to the home stands a museum, devoted entirely to displaying his early manuscripts and works for admirers to glimpse.

Also located within the village is a poignant 19th-century memorial, commemorating Burns, which stands at the village’s base, beside the church he referenced in his poetry.

It was crafted by Thomas Hamilton and now serves as a stopping point for numerous tourists seeking photographs.

In 1935, the charming little village of Alloway was merged with the Royal Burgh of Ayr, transforming the village into an official suburb rather than an independent location.

It boasts a total population of approximately 46,982 and has made several attempts to secure city status for Ayr.

A recent visitor to Alloway posted their experience on TripAdvisor: “These church remains are so atmospheric and enchanting. Often you can find yourself alone there and have a real good look at all the gravestones. You can see where Burns got his inspiration for part of the setting of Tom O Shanter.”

Meanwhile, another guest said: “Even though I have lived most of my life in Burns Country and live less than 20 minutes away, this was the first time I have visited the museum and cottage. Really enjoyed the experience, especially the museum displays, but the real highlight was the cottage. Big shout out to the guide, very friendly and informative.”

The picturesque Lancashire village is a hidden gem boasting a Grade II*-listed church and River Yarrow winding through cobbled streets

A charming little village close to Chorley has drawn comparisons to the picturesque tourist hotspots in the Cotswolds and boasts a rich historical heritage.

When Spring arrives, Croston bursts into life with hundreds of vibrant yellow daffodils, transforming the area with colourful blooms set against its thatched cottages.

In William Wordsworth’s birthplace, the River Yarrow meanders through cobblestone lanes, lined with planters brimming with bright pink flowers along its banks.

The town’s bridge appears on the English National Heritage List – with ‘1682’ etched into its parapet, suggesting it’s a 17th century structure connecting both riverbanks.

Located just 20 minutes’ drive from Preston, Croston offers an ideal destination for a day trip. The parish church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, holds Grade II* listed status and features stunning red sandstone construction topped with stone tiles, reports Lancs Live.

A Trip Advisor user said: “It’s a lovely 15th Century church which is the focal point of the village. There’s a quaint cobbled street leading up to it and the River Yarrow runs behind it.”

Strolling through the fairytale-like streets, you’ll discover one of Croston’s favourite dining spots – Out Lane Social.

One diner particularly praised Outlane Social’s steak offering. Daniel awarded the establishment five stars, saying: “Had a steak at Outlane Social in Croston and it was absolutely outstanding. Hands down the best steak I’ve had in a long time.

“The staff were genuinely lovely, the food was spot-on, and the whole experience was brilliant from start to finish. A fantastic restaurant – highly recommended.”

Croston’s heritage stretches back to the 7th century when St Aidan established a settlement along the River Yarrow. Historical records suggest that during the thirteenth century, Edward I authorised an annual fair to take place on the village green.

According to Visit Lancashire, Croston translates to “Town of the Cross”, a name derived from a cross brought to Northern England by Celtic missionaries.

This ancient Celtic cross has since vanished, believed to have been lost during Thomas Cromwell’s era. A replacement cross was erected in the village in 1950.

Historical maps even indicate the possible existence of a basic wooden fortress in Croston. The village is twinned with the French commune of Azay le Rideau, and the original Croston Hall, constructed by the De Trafford family, was knocked down in the 1960s.

A modern country house now stands on the same site.

For those wanting to explore Croston’s natural beauty, Lancashire Ramblers suggests a five-mile walk offering views of two rivers. The route begins at the village green, passes through the church grounds along New Lane, and circles the village outskirts.

Displaced mothers are forced into gruelling manual labour to feed families as new data confirm Sudan has surpassed COVID-19 records for school closures.

In the displacement camps of Ad-Damazin in southeastern Sudan’s Blue Nile State, the war is reshaping social norms and introducing new realities that are forcing Sudanese women into manual labour to survive.

Rasha is a displaced mother. She has ignored old boundaries and perceptions of what a man’s work is and started working as a woodcutter to feed her children.

“Carpentry is hard, … but the axe has become an extension of my hand,” Rasha told Al Jazeera Arabic. “There are no choices left.”

Her story is not unique. Thousands of Sudanese women have become their families’ sole breadwinners and work under harsh conditions. Rasha’s earnings after a day of back-breaking labour under the sun are often enough to buy only a packet of biscuits.

She spends the money on food and soap. “You want soap. You want to wash,” she said. “As for clothes, we have given up hope on that.”

The nearly three-year war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has had a catastrophic impact on the country and its people.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 30 million people from a population of 46.8 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.

The population is facing acute food shortages and a nutrition crisis, especially in the Darfur and Kordofan regions in western and central Sudan. At the same time, disease outbreaks are worsening the situation.

Moreover, Sudan is dealing with the world’s largest displacement crisis with an estimated 13.6 million people forced from their homes by the fighting.

Worse than the pandemic

The war has also destroyed many aspects of life in Sudan, and it is now threatening the future of generations to come.

Save the Children released a damning report on Thursday confirming that Sudan is enduring one of the longest school closures in the world, surpassing even the worst shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the new analysis released before the International Day of Education on Saturday:

• More than eight million, or nearly half of Sudan’s school-age children, have missed about 484 days of learning since the war began in April 2023.
• This duration is 10 percent longer than the school closures during the pandemic in the Philippines, which was the last country to resume face-to-face learning.
• Unlike during the pandemic, remote learning is impossible for most Sudanese children, leaving them vulnerable to recruitment into armed groups and sexual exploitation.

‘Total breakdown’ in conflict zones

The data reveal a system on the brink of collapse, particularly in conflict hotspots.

In North Darfur State, only 3 percent of its more than 1,100 schools remain open. The situation is similarly dire in the states of South Darfur (13 percent operational) and West Kordofan (15 percent).

“Education is not a luxury. … It is a lifeline,” Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children, said after a visit to Sudan. “If we fail to invest in education today, we risk condemning an entire generation to a future defined by conflict rather than by opportunity.”

Adding to the crisis, many teachers have gone unpaid for months, forcing them to abandon their posts, while countless schools have been bombed or turned into shelters.

Siege and famine conditions

The collapse of education is mirrored by the collapse of food supplies. As aid funding dries up – a reality confirmed by Blue Nile Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Qisma Abdel Karim – famine is setting in.

OCHA reported this week that:

• At least 2,000 families are cut off from aid in North Darfur due to intense fighting.
• “Famine conditions” have been confirmed in the besieged city of Kadugli in South Kordofan.
• Significant gaps remain in the provision of aid as the UN has appealed for $2.9bn to fund its humanitarian response in Sudan this year.

‘Equal in misery’

Those statistics translate into hard reality on the ground.

“The war does not distinguish between a child, a woman or an elderly man,” Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Taher Almardi said, reporting from Ad-Damazin. “Everyone is equal in misery.”

For Rasha and mothers like her, the choice is stark: break traditional norms and toil for a pittance or succumb to hunger.

From pro-Palestine protests in Ireland and jubilant celebrations in Dakar following Senegal’s African Cup of Nations football victory to demonstrations supporting the abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and United States President Donald Trump’s signing ceremony for his Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, as tensions soar back in the US state of Minnesota over another deadly shooting by a federal agent, here is a look at the week in photos.

Described by film fans as a ‘slow burn’ and a hidden gem, this highly praised thriller stars Emile Hirsch, John Cusack, Déborah François and Molly McCann

A gritty Western starring John Cusack is ‘blowing viewers away’ with its ‘slow burn’, and it’s airing tonight (Sunday, January 25) on Film4.

Never Grow Old, released in 2019, is directed by Ivan Kavanagh. and stars Emile Hirsch, John Cusack, Déborah François and Molly McCann. The film is a gritty Western telling the story of an Irish undertaker, Patrick Tate (Emile Hirsch), living in a frontier town corrupted by outlaw Dutch Albert (John Cusack) and his gang. As the death toll skyrockets, Patrick profits from burying the dead but faces a moral crisis and threats to his family, forcing him to choose between blood money and survival in a violent world without law or religion.

The film has been praised as being a hidden gem by fans on film ratings website Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds an 86 per cent score. One review posted: “Slow burn, with plenty of understated tension. Not an action western, more of an underplayed character drama with some brutally honest killing. Very good movie!”

Another posted: “Whoa, acting blew me away. And I’m not usually one who notices THAT particular part of a film. Yeah, the story might be a trope in some ways, but the performances and mood are worthwhile.”

“Perfect feel to this 1850s’ period movie. I enjoyed it very much! A+,” said a third.

A fourth added: “Never Grow Old is a slow-burn type of western that utilises its rich subtext and visual symbolism to create a thought-provoking narrative and look into the bleak western frontier life.”

“A great plot, great actors, and a massive dose of spine-chilling action, in other words, a great movie,” said a fifth.

Another shared: “Dark, brooding and bleak would be the best 3 words to describe this film…and I use them as compliments! The dialogue between Cusack and Hirsch boils with so much tension…all leading up to a conclusion that honestly left me speechless.”

One review praised the film as it said: “I enjoyed this movie. Everything from the sets to the costumes and the demeanour of it was right on point. Every shot was spot on with the overall look.

“Emile Hirsch and John Cusack do well with the material, and it seems rooted down into its genre. But it didn’t depict what a 1850s’ settlement would be. The flags were not like that since it was before the Civil War. That I suppose is its main drawback, but it was well told and didn’t have too much violence and was a relief with some fresh air about it. Good movie and worth a look at.”

Another shared their view: “Damn good piece of filmmaking. My mother’s aunt’s brother’s nephew’s wife’s cousin was on the California trail and said this was a very accurate picture. She said Cusack did an amazing job; he looks just like Dutch Albert and got all his mannerisms down. She also said Hirsch did a great job, too, and looks just like Patrick Tate and got him down pat, too.

“Very accurate performances, almost like they knew the men. She said the story was how it happened and corroborates everything. They even filmed on location where it happened and made it look exactly like it was. Great job!

“The story is a bit dark, so be in the mood. The tension and the storytelling are great, though. Overall, it’s a great movie to watch.”

Never Grow Old airs tonight (Sunday, January 25) on Film4 at 11.40pm.

ST. LOUIS — Trevor Moore scored the deciding goal in the shootout and had a goal in regulation in his first game since being activated off injured reserve to help the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Saturday night.

Alex Laferriere, Taylor Ward and Brian Dumoulin also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves for the Kings, who have not lost in regulation in five games.

Jordan Kyrou scored twice, Brayden Schenn and Dalibor Dvorsky added one goal each, and Joel Hofer made 24 saves for St. Louis, which has lost four consecutive games for the first time since the opening month of the season.

Moore, who missed 11 games because of an upper-body injury, scored in the fourth round of the shootout. Then Kuemper denied Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud to help the Kings improve to 8-13 in overtime games and shootouts.

Kyrou scored his second goal of the game with Hofer pulled to tie the score 4-4 with 2:10 remaining in regulation.

Brandt Clarke fired a shot from the point and Moore swatted the rebound past Hofer for his sixth goal of the season with 8:26 remaining in the third period. The Blues challenged the goal for offside, but a video review determined the Kings remained onside.

Laferriere scored with 9:42 remaining in the second period to tie the score 3-3 just 1:32 after Kyrou beat Kuemper on a wraparound shot to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead.

Schenn scored on a power play 6:30 into the second period to tie the score 2-2.

Dvorsky scored just 1:03 after Dumoulin logged his first goal of the season 1:11 into the second period.

The Blues announced that 6,848 fans attended the game even though St. Louis was under a winter storm warning.

Up next for the Kings: at Columbus on Monday night.

Fun and games in Montenegro

Playfulness is at the heart of the Art and Play holiday, based on a farm outside the Bay of Kotor. A family-friendly retreat designed to reignite joy and reconnect with the inner child, it’s one for solo travellers and couples as well as parents with kids. There are creative sessions on everything from dance to painting, as well as time to enjoy the farm – feeding the animals, collecting eggs or helping harvest vegetables for farm-fresh meals. Excursions include hikes to hidden beaches, kayaking and trips to Kotor and Budva, but there’s time to chill by the pool too; evenings are for board games, music and campfires. Accommodation ranges from camping and glamping to cabins, a treehouse and restored farmhouse.
Seven days from £695, children 5-12 £350, under-fives free, includes brunch, dinner and snacks, 3 May and 23 August, responsibletravel.com

Get creative in Greece

The blackout arrives as the government has encouraged citizens to be ready for a ‘disaster’ lasting up to five days.

Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, has faced a widespread power outage after strong winds triggered a transmission problem, the state utility said, as the Arctic island contends with the fallout from the crisis fuelled by United States President Donald Trump’s territorial designs.

At about 10:30pm on Saturday (00:30 GMT, Sunday), social media users began reporting a sudden blackout that occurred at the same time, Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq reported.

The utility company posted on Facebook that gusty winds at the main Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant had caused “a line error on our transmission line” and that they were working to restore power with an emergency plant.

Water supplies were also affected in some areas, Sermitsiaq reported, as well as internet connectivity.

Power had been restored to 75 percent of the city’s population of about 20,000 by 3:30am on Sunday (5:30 GMT), the utility said in an update, calling on people to be conservative in their use of electrical devices as the utility continued to reboot.

The outage came on the heels of the government releasing a brochure with details about disaster preparedness that encouraged Greenlanders to store sufficient drinking water, food, medicine, warm clothing and alternative communication devices to last at least five days.

The government emphasised that the guidance was not an expression that a crisis was imminent. But Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, has been thrust into the geopolitical spotlight for weeks amid United States President Donald Trump’s escalating threats to seize the island.

Trump appeared to partly back off at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, claiming he had ruled out taking Greenland by force. He and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had agreed on a “long-term” framework for a future deal involving Greenland and the Arctic region, the president said.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said much of the supposed deal was murky, including whether Trump would seek control of territory near US military bases, as some reports suggested.

“I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,” Nielsen said.

“But sovereignty is a red line,” he added.

WARNING: This report contains references to suicide.

Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett suffered heartbreak against Justin Gaethje in his quest to claim a UFC interim title as he lost on points to the American in Las Vegas.

Pimblett, 31, was as brave as he was bloodied through five action-packed rounds that had both men swinging at the final bell.

Gaethje rolled back the years for a vintage performance, forcing Pimblett to raise his game to a new level and fight fire with fire.

Both men raised their arms at the end, but the judges rightly gave 37-year-old Gaethje the victory on all three scorecards.

“Paddy is right; Scousers do not get knocked out,” Gaethje said.

“My coach was definitely upset at me after the first round, but I just love this so much, it’s really hard to control myself sometimes.

“I knew I had to put him on his back foot, he is very dangerous and has great timing. I had to steal his momentum and confidence.”

With victory, Gaethje claimed the interim lightweight title for the second time and will now face absent champion Ilia Topuria once he returns from a personal hiatus.

Pimblett applauded Gaethje as the scorecards were read out, taking the fourth loss of his career with grace.

The Briton was the favourite going into the contest and showed incredible resilience and heart, but could not control the storm of Gaethje overall.

“I wanted to be walking away with that belt. I know how tough I am and I don’t need to prove that to anyone,” Pimblett said.

“I think 48-47 was a fair scorecard. I won’t lie, he hit me with a body shot in the first round and it got me. I thought I was winning the round up to that point.

“You live and you learn; I’m 31, I will be back better.”

Pimblett also used his post-fight interview to shine a light on mental health issues as he has done before in his career.

“In a few of my post-fight interviews before, I’ve mentioned men killing themselves; two lads who I know have killed themselves over the last few months,” Pimblett said.

“Men, speak up, don’t bottle your feelings up.”

There are many different approaches to making a tour film that captures the life of musicians on the road. Perhaps you focus on the highs of performance or the boredom of traveling, the anonymous backstage rooms and endless planes, buses and hotel rooms. But what if you made all of that seem really fun?

Directed by Tamra Davis, “The Best Summer,” which debuts at Sundance tonight in the Midnight section, is rooted in a box of videotapes that the filmmaker found early last year while evacuating from the fires near her longtime family home in Malibu. Though they are now separated, Davis still shares the compound with Michael Diamond, better known as Mike D of the group Beastie Boys. On those tapes was footage Davis shot in late 1995 and early 1996 as the band toured through Australia and Asia, sharing bills with the likes of Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Beck, Rancid, the Amps and Bikini Kill.

“I just always had a camera in my hands,” Davis, 64, said in an interview conducted earlier this week. “I identify as a filmmaker. This is normal for me to have a camera in my hand. People don’t think twice about it. It’s so unobtrusive.”

A few days before Davis would drive to Park City, Utah, with her friend, neighbor and co-producer Shelby Meade, the two were sitting on the backyard patio of Davis’ Malibu home (it survived the fires just fine) as a couple of dogs ran around the yard. When she spots a hawk flying overhead, Davis calls for one of her two sons to be sure to round up the few chickens roaming around.

“The Best Summer” brings a blast of ’90s nostalgia to the festival. Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon are both expected to attend the screening as well.

A throughline for the movie is Davis and Hanna interviewing members of the bands, asking them a standard series of questions including their favorite color, what they’re reading and what their personal motto is before Hanna gets into trickier concepts about performance and persona, seemingly figuring those things out for herself in real time.

“With Mike, I filmed so much — every time I went out on the road with them,” says Davis. “So I had tons of Beastie Boys stuff. I didn’t know I had all of that other stuff. I filmed Foo Fighters and Beck and Pavement, I didn’t know I filmed any of that. I looked at it and I see, oh my gosh, I’m so diligent: Oh, I better get Pavement. Check.”

At the time of the tour, Davis had recently finished directing “Billy Madison,” which launched the movie career of Adam Sandler. Having made music videos for countless bands, including many on the tour, Davis had also directed Drew Barrymore in the 1992 noir remake “Guncrazy” and Chris Rock in the rap mockumentary “CB4.” She would go on to direct Dave Chappelle in “Half Baked” and Britney Spears in “Crossroads,” as well as work extensively on documentaries, including “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child,” which played Sundance in 2010.

Mike D, left, MCA and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys as seen in the documentary “The Best Summer,” premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

(Tamra Davis)

At the time of the Australian tour in “The Best Summer,” Davis and Diamond were newly married and there is a honeymoon vibe of sunny sweetness to the proceedings. The bands play for sprawling crowds in between lots of playful hangout time.

It was though manager John Silva, who works with a number of the bands in the movie, that Davis was able to start the process of getting permissions and untangling the tricky issues of music rights. She had to show each individual band the movie in order to get their approval.

“The only people I wanted notes from was the bands,” Davis says. “I work all the time with Netflix, Paramount, whatever, like all those things. I can’t get that note and then translate it to the band. But if Adam [Horovitz of the Beastie Boys] had a note or if Kim [Gordon of Sonic Youth] had a note, I would do those notes. And I felt so proud to do their note and be like, ‘Done, you’ve got that.’ That’s why I wanted to make sure it was self-funded because I could control it like that. It could just be between me and the artist. It’s just me doing the end credits.”

Working with editor Jessica Hernandez, Davis wanted to keep the loose feel of the original footage, including how she often would shoot entire songs in a single take, her camera moving from one musician to the next as one might naturally look at them from the audience. The raw sound comes from the built-in microphone on her camera. Some additional post-production work had to be done on the interview footage, but the audio of the concert footage is, for the most part, she says, unaltered.

“It’s like watching a memory,” said Davis. “And for me especially, to watch it again was like a ‘Black Mirror’ episode of going back and somebody being like: This is what it looked like from your point of view at this time. That was your experience.”

It’s something Davis has heard from other band members after showing them the film. “Adam said it felt like I reached into his brain and pulled out that memory,” she says. “He didn’t realize there was somebody filming it. So to him he was like: How did you know that memory existed in my head?”

Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, Tamra Davis and Alfredo Ortiz in the documentary “The Best Summer.”

(Mike Diamond)

Davis had previously put Hanna in the Sonic Youth video for their 1994 song “Bull in the Heather” as well as in a short film called “No Alternative Girls,” so the two already knew each other. But they latched onto each other during the tour, taking on the informal project of the interviews and collecting candid and revealing moments with Gordon, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus and others.

“It became like that friendship that you have at summer camp,” says Davis. “[Hanna] goes, I was so glad that you and I had that same energy where we were just these girls going into people’s dressing rooms, ‘OK, we’re here to interview you.’ We were just bored. We were trying to get something to do.”

It was Diamond who suggested to Davis that the end credits should say “Starring Kathleen Hanna” for the outsized role she has in the film. Another highlight of “The Best Summer” is when Hanna interviews Horovitz. The two would marry in 2006, and their moments together in the film have the energy of a rom-com meet-cute.

“She’s so bossy and she’s really forward,” said Davis. “And I’m pretty bossy too, but she’s just like, ‘Look, this is how it’s gonna go.’ And just her questions are so good. When I started to really put it together, I loved all of that. I think before I showed it to her, I texted her a couple times and I was like, ‘Kathleen, I’m making this movie and you’re all over it.’ And she was like, ‘Am I going to be embarrassed?’ And I’m like, ‘No, you’re going to love this.’”

Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth, as seen in the documentary “The Best Summer.”

(Tamra Davis)

One thing that jumps out watching the concert footage is the lack of cell phones, how the ubiquitous screens that one sees nowadays in the audience at shows did not yet exist.

“I think there’s an authenticity about it,” Davis says. “When I look at my female performers and the artists in this film, I love how they present themselves and how equal they seem with the men. I just feel that open acceptance of everybody. I know that my kids really like that world. When you see a whole video and they’re not cutting, there’s authenticity in that. Now we never have that experience of what that’s like, to have that connection with the band — and they’re connected to you as well.”

With a few possible feature film projects percolating, Davis has been at work on a memoir, currently scheduled to come out next year, that includes anecdotes of when she went to Italy as a teenager and found herself watching Federico Fellini shoot “City of Women” or hustled her way into shadowing Francis Ford Coppola as he made 1981’s “One From the Heart.”

As a woman working as a director in Hollywood in the 1990s, there were not a lot of choices presented to Davis and she often felt she had to make the most of whatever was available.

“Sometimes people are like, oh my God, it’s amazing you got to direct ‘Billy Madison,’ you got to direct Chris Rock in ‘CB4’ or ‘Half-Baked’ with Dave Chappelle. That’s what I was offered,” she recalls. “These were unknown comedians. They’d never done a feature film. As a girl, that’s what you get what’s offered. But then how do you turn that into something special? I thought those guys were the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. So I direct like a fan.”

It’s a statement of purpose that’s guided Davis even as she’s ping-ponged between a huge amount of TV work, from “P-Valley” to the TV version of “High School Musical.”

“I become the best viewer for that show,” she says. “And so it’s not me imposing my style on them. It’s me appreciating how much I love that, what I’m seeing in front of me. And trying to get that best version across.”

Revisiting the ’90s while making “The Best Summer” has been a positive experience for Davis, one she hopes will resonate with others as well, not simply as a fun tour doc revisiting a very specific time, but also as a reminder the things can be small, personal and handmade.

“I’m think it’s exciting for young filmmakers to see that there’s a film in the festival that’s shot by one person,” she says. “It makes you feel like you don’t need to have a gigantic everything to make a movie. One person can make a film. I feel like that’s inspiring.

“And then I’m also excited as a woman of age that you can get a film into Sundance, that your career is not over,” she adds. “I always felt like, ‘Oh, you’re too young.’ Then it’s, ‘You’re too old.’ It was never the right time for me. But I felt like it was my time, so you just had to keep doing it.”

SACRAMENTO -In his first public appearance since returning from China last week, Gov. Jerry Brown spoke to a group of crime victims on the Capitol steps, and shared some of his own recent experiences with the state’s criminal element.

Brown said he has been the victim of two recent burglary attempts, one at his home in Oakland last year and one at his downtown Sacramento loft just a few days ago.

Speaking to a crowd of about 200 people carrying pictures of murdered family members on a warm, sunny Sacramento day, Brown said a man was apprehended “on my balcony trying to break in. Luckily I wasn’t home.”

In remarks to reporters later, the governor gave more details. “A guy got up to the roof, got on to the balcony and was trying to break in and one of my neighbors called the police,” he said. “He was arrested and I think he’s out on his own recognizance.

The Sacramento Police Department reported an incident at 9:35 p.m. Sunday night on Brown’s block when witnesses “called in a suspicious subject. Officers arrived, contacted and identified the subject. He was later arrested for prowling.”

In a separate incident, Brown recalled, “about a year ago, my wife was alone and three gentlemen show up about 1 [a.m.] trying to break in. The California Highway Patrol “came to the scene and held them for 40 minutes and they said they were looking to buy real estate in the neighborhood.”

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anthony.york@latimes.com

@anthonyyorklat