Ryanair wins major court row over how passengers get compensation over flight delays
A court in Germany has ruled in favour of Ryanair and issued a series of rulings against claims company Flightright, prohibiting the firm from claiming customers encounter “hurdles” when contacting the airline’s customer service
Ryanair has won a won a key court battle against a claims company that passengers turn to get compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.
The firm called Flightright encouraged flyers to use their services when taking any sort of action against the low cost airline. But now a court in Germany has ruled in favour of Ryanair and issued a series of rulings against Flightright. The court has legally prohibited Flightright from claiming that customers encounter “hurdles” when contacting the airline’s customer service.
Experts said this ruling marks a significant point in the dispute between the Irish low-cost carrier and companies specialising in enforcing compensation claims under EU Regulation 261.
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Earlier this week the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in the German city if Hamburg banned Flightright from telling passengers to ignore Ryanair entirely. Judges also ordered the company to admit it always puts a 14 percent “lawyer surcharge” on top of its advertised fee.
A huge £210,000 fine will hit every future breach of the ruling. Ryanair accused Flightright of misleading advertising and profiting from the misery of delayed travellers.
The airline says platforms like Flightright routinely take up to a whopping 40 percent of a €250 EU compensation payout meant for passengers. Ryanair’s marketing chief Dara Brady welcomed the verdict and told passengers to cut out greedy middlemen.
He said customers who go direct will receive 100 percent of their payout under EU Regulation 261.
He claimed Ryanair offered “a simple, transparent system that avoids rip-off fees”. EU rules promise €250 for delays on flights up to 1,500 kilometres and a tasty €600 for longer flights delayed more than three hours.
The verdict piled onto a list of previous legal defeats suffered by Flightright. Claims companies are controversial because they cherry-pick “easy wins” they can cash in on. They collect hefty commissions for filing paperwork while posing as consumer champions.
Industry insiders say Ryanair is less complicated than many rivals when it comes to issuing refunds. Ryanair is using this to humiliate companies that portray it as hostile to customers.
Travellers who refuse to deal with airlines directly can use Germany’s free arbitration service, which claims 80 to 90 percent success without fees. The ruling exposes the claims-industry model as a profit hunt fuelled by delay payouts, not public service.
On Flightright’s website, it claimed: “No one enjoys flight delays, but it’s important to know that you have rights! If your flight began in the EU, or landed in the EU with a European airline, you could be eligible to claim up to £520, depending on flight distance and delay length, no matter the ticket cost.
“The only conditions are that the airline must be responsible for the cause of the delay, and you must have reached the final airport in your trip with a delay of at least three hours.
Jet2 to offer holiday park packages with Eurocamp for the first time
JET2 has teamed up with Eurocamp to launch holiday park packages for the first time.
The new holiday park deals with Jet2holidays will launch from summer 2026.
Eurocamp – the UK’s leading European outdoor family holiday specialist – has parks across France, Italy and Croatia.
Each package includes return flights with Jet2 as well as 22kg baggage, 10kg carry-on baggage, car hire and accommodation.
In total, 32 parks have been chosen with locations ranging from pretty beaches to beautiful mountains and lakes.
The destinations can be found in the Paris area, South of France, Dordogne, Provence, Roussillon and Languedoc in France, Sardinia and Lake Garda in Italy and the Istrian Coast and Dalmatia Coast in Croatia.
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You can leave the towels and bed linen at home too, as they are also included.
There will be a range of two and three bed mobile homes to book and each site will also have entertainment and activities.
Whilst the sites do differ, a lot of them do have pools and outdoor activities to choose from.
There are also different levels of accommodation to choose depending on your budget.
The most affordable is the Classic option, which are self-catered homes on the lower end of the price scale.
However the most popular option is Comfort, one level up from this.
Or you can splash out on Premium, Premium Exclusive, Ultimate or Ultimate Plus.
These all have extras such as free WiFi, larger living areas and outdoor spaces, or private hot tubs.
Jet2 boss Steve Heapy the launch was to offer “unforgettable outdoor holidays across Europe with Jet2holidays”.
He added: “We know just how popular Eurocamp is, and we are very confident that its appeal, together with the perks of a Jet2holidays package, will mean that this new proposition is a huge success.”
Ross Matthews, chief marketing officer at Eurocamp: “For this launch, we have curated a selection of 32 standout locations from our wider European network, chosen for their quality, location and strong alignment with Jet2holidays’ routes, pairing our premium outdoor accommodation with Jet2holidays’ award-winning service and flight network.
“Together, we are introducing an exciting new way for UK holidaymakers to discover Europe’s most beautiful regions.”
Eurocamp has 400 parks in total across a number of European destinations including France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
It’s latest expansion included 16 new sites across France.
Most of the parks tend to be self-catering and families can participate in a number of activities such as swimming, sports and games.
In other holiday park news, there’s a UK holiday park that’s a ‘better value Center Parcs’ with Christmassy Blue Lagoon and kid elf uniforms.
Plus, Center Parcs confirms opening date for newest UK holiday resort – its first in nearly 15 years.
India’s Modi Holds Third Call With Trump Since US Tariff Increase
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Charlotte Church reveals she STINKS as she admits she doesn’t wear deodorant
CHARLOTTE Church has confessed she ‘stinks’ after shunning deodorant and even admitted she no longer shaves.
The frank confession from Charlotte, 39, came during an appearance on the Walking The Dog podcast.
When host Emily Dean commented on how “lovely” she smelt, Celebrity Traitors star Charlotte was caught off guard.
She candidly said: “Do I? That’s surprising. I never smell nice.
“I don’t wear any deodorant or anything, so I generally stink. I don’t shave anymore. I don’t shave anything.”
The former classical music singer went on to explain her reasons for shunning the product and revealed she loves showing off her hairy legs.
She said: “I stopped shaving probably about 18 months ago, maybe even longer than that, maybe two years.
“And I stopped wearing deodorant… I just started thinking, do you know what? This underarm area, there’s so many receptors there, lymph and all sorts of stuff going on there.
“I’m just not sure about sticking all of this chemical stuff in these pores, because your skin is so… you know, it’s the largest organ in the body.
On the subject of shaving, Charlotte continued: “Each to their own.
“Do you know what I mean? Crack on and have a lovely time and do whatever feels good – dye it, shave it, whatever – but for me I’m just like ‘Nah!’
“I sort of love it, I love the contradiction of it. So I love wearing dresses, beautiful dresses, with my really hairy legs and heels and nails. It’s so confusing for people.”
It’s Charlotte’s latest very honest confession, after she said Alison Hammond “p***** her off” during an appearance on This Morning.
She spoke about the moment on Elizabeth Day’s podcast after clips from her appearance went viral on social media.
During the segment, Charlotte was invited on to This Morning to lead a five-minute sound bath session.
However, unfortunately for Charlotte, Alison found it all a bit too much and found herself laughing and cringing through the entire segment as Charlotte did her best to carry on.
When asked by Elizabeth if she was left “bothered” by Alison’s reaction to her doing a sound bath, Charlotte said: “Oh, that p****d me right off.
“That p****d me right off.”
Elizabeth then added: “Yeah. I felt for you.”
Charlotte continued: “I’ve met Alison Hammond a number of times and she’s a wonderful woman.”
In a further candid confession, Charlotte added: “That really did actually touch quite a deep wound for me.
“I was like, ‘ugh I really like you, Alison, but f*** you’.”
Jet2 launches Eurocamp package holidays with flights and car hire included
Jet2 has partnered with Eurocamp to offer package holidays to European holiday parks in France, Italy and Croatia, allowing families to easily book their flights, accommodation, and car hire in one
Jet2 has unveiled a partnership with Eurocamp, a leading European holiday park provider, allowing travellers to book package holidays with accommodation in select parks across France, Croatia, and Italy for summer 2026.
Those booking through Jet2 can opt for a variety of mobile homes for their stay, bundled into a convenient package alongside a Jet2 flight. These package holidays come with bed linen, flights with 22kg checked baggage and a 10kg hand luggage allowance, ATOL protection, and the assistance of a Eurocamp representative throughout the stay.
A standout feature of Jet2’s Eurocamp packages is the inclusion of car hire at your destination, eliminating the need for coach transfers and providing an easy means to explore during your holiday. The price of your package holiday typically includes basic car hire, but you can choose to upgrade at checkout if you wish, and there are a few different providers to choose from.
Eurocamp accommodations are tailored for families, offering a selection of self-contained units from the Classic range of mobile homes to upgraded properties boasting private terraces and garden furniture, reports the Express.
Options include two- and three-bedroom mobile homes, ensuring parents have ample space and privacy when travelling with children. Amenities include well-equipped kitchens, BBQs, WiFi, and air conditioning, depending on the chosen package.
For those seeking a touch of luxury, the highest grades of accommodation offer extras such as hotel-quality mattresses and hot tubs, guaranteeing a truly relaxing getaway.
Since Eurocamp accommodations come equipped with kitchen facilities, they can prove more budget-friendly than hotel stays. Nevertheless, if you fancy dining out, most parks feature on-site restaurants, takeaways, and other options for dining close to your mobile home.
There’s a wide selection of Eurocamps available, many boasting direct beach access or proximity to lakes and stunning mountain views. So, regardless of your chosen location, there’s typically loads to discover in the surrounding area.
Jet2 will be providing park packages across several French regions including the Dordogne and Provence areas, Lake Garda and Sardinia in Italy, plus Croatia’s Istrian Coast and Dalmatia Coast – all favourite spots for family getaways.
Within each park, you’ll discover numerous daytime activities, featuring energetic kids’ clubs and evening entertainment ranging from live performances to mini-discos. Eurocamp sites also boast swimming pools, with some having multiple pools, whilst larger parks may include waterslides and additional exciting outdoor amenities.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, commented: “The launch gives customers the opportunity to enjoy unforgettable outdoor holidays across Europe with Jet2holidays, including all the benefits of booking an award-winning package holiday with the UK’s largest tour operator.
“We know just how popular Eurocamp is, and we are very confident that its appeal, together with the perks of a Jet2holidays package, will mean that this new proposition is a huge success.”
Learn more about Jet2’s Eurocamp holidays and book online for summer 2026.
Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the U.S.
MIAMI — President Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy split more than 5,000 children from their families at the Mexico border during his first term, when images of babies and toddlers taken from the arms of mothers sparked global condemnation.
Seven years later, families are being separated but in a much different way. With illegal border crossings at their lowest levels in seven decades, a push for mass deportations is dividing families of mixed legal status inside the U.S.
Federal officials and their local law enforcement partners are detaining tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants. Detainees are moved repeatedly, then deported, or held in poor conditions for weeks or months before asking to go home.
The federal government was holding an average of more than 66,000 people in November, the highest on record.
During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border and authorities struggled to find children in a vast shelter system because government computer systems weren’t linked. Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention. Or, they choose to have their children remain in the U.S. after an adult is deported, many after years or decades here.
The Trump administration and its anti-immigration backers see “unprecedented success” and Trump’s top border adviser Tom Homan told reporters in April that “we’re going to keep doing it, full speed ahead.”
Three families separated by migration enforcement in recent months told The Associated Press that their dreams of better, freer lives had clashed with Washington’s new immigration policy and their existence is anguished without knowing if they will see their loved ones again.
For them, migration marked the possible start of permanent separation between parents and children, the source of deep pain and uncertainty.
A family divided between Florida and Venezuela
Antonio Laverde left Venezuela for the U.S. in 2022 and crossed the border illegally, then requested asylum.
He got a work permit and a driver’s license and worked as an Uber driver in Miami, sharing homes with other immigrants so he could send money to relatives in Venezuela and Florida.
Laverde’s wife Jakelin Pasedo and their sons followed him from Venezuela to Miami in December 2024. Pasedo focused on caring for her sons while her husband earned enough to support the family. Pasedo and the kids got refugee status but Laverde, 39, never obtained it and as he left for work one early June morning, he was arrested by federal agents.
Pasedo says it was a case of mistaken identity by agents hunting for a suspect in their shared housing. In the end, she and her children, then 3 and 5, remember the agents cuffing Laverde at gunpoint.
“They got sick with fever, crying for their father, asking for him,” Pasedo said.
Laverde was held at Broward Transitional Center, a detention facility in Pompano Beach, Fla. In September, after three months detention, he asked to return to Venezuela.
Pasedo, 39, however, has no plans to go back. She fears she could be arrested or kidnapped for criticizing the socialist government and belonging to the political opposition.
She works cleaning offices and, despite all the obstacles, hopes to reunify with her husband someday in the U.S.
They followed the law
Yaoska’s husband was a political activist in Nicaragua, a country tight in the grasp of autocratic married co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
She remembers her husband getting death threats and being beaten by police when he refused to participate in a pro-government march.
Yaoska only used her first name and requested anonymity for her husband to protect him from the Nicaraguan government.
The couple fled Nicaragua for the U.S. with their 10-year-old son in 2022, crossing the border and getting immigration parole. Settling down in Miami, they applied for asylum and had a second son, who has U.S. citizenship. Yaoska is now five months pregnant with their third child.
In late August, Yaoska, 32, went to an appointment at the South Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her family accompanied her. Her husband, 35, was detained and failed his credible fear interview, according to a court document.
Yaoska was released under 24-hour supervision by a GPS watch that she cannot remove. Her husband was deported to Nicaragua after three months at the Krome Detention Center, the United States’ oldest immigration detention facility and one with a long history of abuse.
Yaoska now shares family news with her husband by phone. The children are struggling without their father, she said.
“It’s so hard to see my children like this. They arrested him right in front of them,” Yaoska said, her voice trembling.
They don’t want to eat and are often sick. The youngest wakes up at night asking for him.
“I’m afraid in Nicaragua,” she said. “But I’m scared here too.”
Yaoska said her work authorization is valid until 2028 but the future is frightening and uncertain.
“I’ve applied to several job agencies, but nobody calls me back,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”
He was detained by local police, then deported
Edgar left Guatemala more than two decades ago. Working construction, he started a family in South Florida with Amavilia, a fellow undocumented Guatemalan migrant.
The arrival of their son brought them joy.
“He was so happy with the baby — he loved him,” said Amavilia, 31. “He told me he was going to see him grow up and walk.”
But within a few days, Edgar was detained on a 2016 warrant for driving without a license in Homestead, the small agricultural city where he lived in South Florida.
She and her husband declined to provide their last names because they are worried about repercussion from U.S. immigration officials.
Amavilia expected his release within 48 hours. Instead, Edgar, who declined to be interviewed, was turned over to immigration officials and moved to Krome.
“I fell into despair. I didn’t know what to do,” Amavilia said. “I can’t go.”
Edgar, 45, was deported to Guatemala on June 8.
After Edgar’s detention, Amavilia couldn’t pay the $950 rent for the two-bedroom apartment she shares with another immigrant. For the first three months, she received donations from immigration advocates.
Today, breastfeeding and caring for two children, she wakes up at 3 a.m. to cook lunches she sells for $10 each.
She walks with her son in a stroller to take her daughter to school, then spends afternoons selling homemade ice cream and chocolate-covered bananas door to door with her two children.
Amavilia crossed the border in September 2023 and did not seek asylum or any type of legal status. She said her daughter grows anxious around police. She urges her to stay calm, smile and walk with confidence.
“I’m afraid to go out, but I always go out entrusting myself to God,” she said. “Every time I return home, I feel happy and grateful.”
Salomon writes for the Associated Press.
Ryan Wintle: Cardiff City will not be ‘bullied’ by League One teams
Wintle is enjoying Cardiff’s new brand of football under Barry-Murphy, particularly as he is back in the first-team picture after time on the periphery.
The 28-year-old spent last season on loan at Millwall, but has started 15 of Cardiff’s 18 League One games in this campaign.
Wintle also captained the team in the win over Huddersfield earlier this month, wearing the armband for the first time since the 2023-24 season in the Championship.
“I’m loving it. With this manager, everyone has to be ready,” he added.
“You’ve got to make sure you’re playing well to keep your shirt. If you don’t, you’ll be out because we’ve got players sat on the bench that probably should play every week as well.”
Barry-Murphy has shown he is willing to rotate his players and bench senior figures such as Republic of Ireland forward Robinson, England international defender Calum Chambers and Perry Ng, who was voted Cardiff’s player of the year in the Championship.
All three have demonstrated they have a role to play, however, and the former Manchester City Under-21s coach has so far been vindicated with the faith he has shown in younger players.
“I think if we didn’t have Bri as the manager, there would be a bit of unknown, uncertainty in players, especially the older players, you think, ‘Oh, can we do it?’,” Wintle said.
“Myself and Perry have played League One and League Two for a few years when we were younger and we know it’s not easy. You can get bullied and eaten up but, with this manager, the way we play, it gives everyone freedom and you feel like you can’t get it wrong.
“So for me and for the young lads, it’s brilliant. Everyone knows their role and you feel like you go out there and you know exactly what’s going to happen.”
Bulgarian government resigns after mass protests | Politics News
PM Zhelyazkov says cabinet stepping down before parliament had been due to hold no-confidence vote.
Published On 11 Dec 2025
Bulgaria’s government has resigned following weeks of street protests against its economic policies and its perceived failure to tackle corruption.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov announced the resignation of his cabinet in a televised statement on Thursday, minutes before parliament had been due to vote on a no-confidence motion.
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The resignation comes weeks before Bulgaria is due to join the eurozone on January 1.
“Our coalition met, we discussed the current situation, the challenges we face and the decisions we must responsibly make,” Zhelyazkov said, announcing the government’s decision to step down.
“Our desire is to be at the level that society expects,” he said. “Power stems from the voice of the people.”
Mass protests
Thousands of Bulgarians rallied on Wednesday evening in Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities across the Black Sea nation, the latest in a series of rolling demonstrations that have underlined public frustration with corruption and the failure of successive governments to root it out.
Last week, Zhelyazkov’s government withdrew its 2026 budget plan, the first drafted in euros, due to the protests.
Opposition parties and other organisations said they were protesting plans to hike social security contributions and taxes on dividends to finance higher state spending.
Despite the government’s retreat over the budget plan, the protests have continued unabated in a country that has held seven national elections in the past four years – most recently in October 2024 – amid deep political and social divisions.
President Rumen Radev also called on the government earlier this week to resign. In a message to lawmakers on his Facebook page on Thursday, Radev said: “Between the voice of the people and the fear of the mafia. Listen to the public squares!”
Radev, who has limited powers under the Bulgarian constitution, will now ask the parties in parliament to try to form a new government. If they are unable to do so, as seems likely, he will put together an interim administration to run the country until new elections can be held.
‘Most beautiful’ city has best Christmas market and is perfect for cold months
The city is home to one of the UK’s best Christmas markets with tourists regularly visiting each year to try the food and mulled wine
The enchanting city of Bath was recently crowned the world’s most beautiful during autumn, but its charm doesn’t fade with the seasons. According to consumer watchdog Which?, it also hosts one of Britain’s top Christmas markets.
The market is a winter wonderland complete with an ice rink and countless stalls to peruse. Most stallholders hail from the South West, showcasing a wide variety of goods – from garden decorations to handcrafted wooden furniture.
Shoppers can find everything from cosy knitwear to fragrances and even gifts for their pets.
Of course, no Christmas market would be complete without a feast of food, and Bath’s market doesn’t disappoint.
Visitors will be spoilt for choice with regional delicacies, festive flapjacks and more on offer, reports the Express.
But it’s not just the market that’s won accolades. Bath has been named the UK’s most picturesque city in autumn and winter by travel experts at Premier Inn.
The historic city has outshone global competitors like Chicago and Cape Town to take the top spot in worldwide beauty rankings.
Bath Abbey, rated the top local attraction by Tripadvisor, has been a sacred site for over a millennium.
Tripadvisor users have heaped praise on the abbey, with one visitor noting: “A beautiful and peaceful space to spend time.”
Another visitor shared their enthusiasm: “Visited more than once. So much to see and appreciate the history and architectural beauty.”
Whilst some tourists express frustration at being unable to swim in the Roman Baths themselves, the attraction comes alive through its captivating displays.
Amongst the intriguing artefacts housed at the Baths is a remarkable collection of curse tablets, where angry Romans etched their complaints seeking revenge from the gods before throwing them into Minerva’s Spring.
Although the ancient Baths remain closed for bathing, the Thermae Bath Spa provides adults with an indulgent spa retreat using the city’s naturally warm, mineral-enriched waters.
For anyone seeking a welcoming café, Bath features numerous comfortable venues, offering the opportunity to sample the famous ‘Bath Bun’, a sweet pastry topped with fruit and crystallised sugar.
Bath is celebrated for its impressive range of beautiful architecture, a characteristic that has secured the city’s position as a designated UNESCO site.
Tourists might spot recognisable locations throughout the city from hit programmes including Bridgerton, Poldark and The Sixth Commandment.
Futuristic ‘flying taxi’ service could launch by 2029 – but there’s one big obstacle
A British company has unveiled plans for a new ‘flying taxi’ service that would whisk passengers to the airport in a matter of minutes, but there are still some regulatory hurdles to overcome
A British firm has revealed bold plans for a ‘flying taxi’ service that will transport passengers to airports, with this cutting-edge travel option expected to cost no more than an Uber.
Vertical Aerospace claims its electric Valo aircraft, engineered to reach speeds of up to 150mph across distances of up to 100 miles, could provide swift and effective city-to-airport links, enabling travellers to bypass airport traffic jams. For instance, a journey from Canary Wharf to Heathrow Airport would take just 12 minutes by aircraft versus an hour by road.
The firm, which recently conducted flight trials at Cotswolds Airport, is now targeting airline-standard safety approval by 2028 before launching commercial operations in early 2029.
Vertical Aerospace has released images of its prototype aircraft, which it claims delivers a luxurious experience for up to six passengers, featuring ample baggage capacity. Pictures of the aircraft reveal a sleek, contemporary design with an interior boasting comfortable seating and big windows, reports the Express.
Despite the aircraft’s high-end appearance, the company intends to provide an affordable and accessible service. A spokesman confirmed: “Ultimately, the potential is for this aircraft to be a similar cost as hiring an Uber.”
Vertical has also announced its proposed route network at launch, which would initially link Cambridge and Oxford -Bicester with the capital as well as Heathrow and Gatwick Airport. Aside from airport transfers, the firm suggests these innovative aircraft could be used for emergency medical services, cargo delivery, and even defence operations.
Vertical confirmed plans to build seven aircraft in the UK for testing with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
In a statement, Vertical announced approximately 1,500 pre-orders for Valo. The company projected that manufacturing these aircraft could generate 2,000 skilled jobs in the UK by 2035.
Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace, stated: “Electric flight will transform how cities move, and London is one of the best places in the world to prove it. With Skyports and Bristow, we have the aircraft, infrastructure and operational strength to lead this market. These plans show the commercial potential of services we aim to see operating following regulatory approval in 2028 and we look forward to bringing them to life with our partners.”
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However, gaining CAA approval could pose a challenge for these futuristic vehicles. At present, the CAA is conducting a consultation on vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft to ensure their safe operation within the UK.
The consultation commenced last month and will continue until the end of January 2026, inviting interested parties to share their views. This process will help establish safety standards for pilot licenses, aircraft, and landing sites, ensuring the proper regulation of VTOLs.
Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
Venezuela’s Machado taunts Maduro government after dramatic exit to Oslo | Nicolas Maduro News
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado has declared that authorities in her home country would have attempted everything possible to prevent her journey to Norway, after she emerged publicly for the first time in nearly a year.
Machado greeted supporters from an Oslo hotel balcony in the early hours of Thursday following a high-risk exit from Venezuela, where she had been in hiding since January.
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The journey, which purportedly included navigating 10 military checkpoints and crossing the Caribbean by fishing vessel, brought her to the Norwegian capital to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.
During a news conference at Norway’s parliament, the 58-year-old right-wing opposition figure delivered sharp criticism of President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, asserting that the government deploys national resources to suppress its population.
When questioned about an oil tanker seized by Washington on Wednesday, she argued this demonstrated how the regime operates. Asked whether she would support a United States invasion, Machado claimed Venezuela had already been invaded by Russian and Iranian agents alongside drug cartels.
“This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas,” she said, standing alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
“What sustains the regime is a very powerful and strongly funded repression system. Where do those funds come from? Well, from drug trafficking, from the black market of oil, from arms trafficking and from human trafficking. We need to cut those flows.”
The trip reunited her with family members she had not seen in almost two years, including her daughter, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf at Wednesday’s ceremony.
Aligned with Trump
The political leader has welcomed international sanctions and US military intervention in Venezuela, a move her critics say harkens back to a dark past.
The US has a long history of interference in the region, particularly in the 1980s, when it propped up repressive right-wing governments through coups, and funded paramilitary groups across Latin America that were responsible for mass killings, forced disappearances and other grave human rights abuses.
Venezuelan authorities cited Machado’s support for sanctions and US intervention when they barred her from running for office in last year’s presidential election, where she had intended to challenge Maduro. Machado has accused Venezuela’s president of stealing the July 2024 election, which was criticised by international observers.
Praising the Trump administration’s approach, Machado said the president’s actions had been “decisive to reach the point where we are right now, in which the regime is weaker than ever.”
She insisted she would return home but did not say when. “I’m going back to Venezuela regardless of when Maduro goes out. He’s going out, but the moment will be determined by when I’m finished doing the things that I came out to do,” she told reporters.
Her escape comes as tensions between Washington and Caracas have intensified sharply. The Trump administration has positioned major naval forces in the Caribbean and conducted strikes against alleged drug vessels since September. The US seized what Trump called a “very large” oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, on Wednesday.
Machado has aligned herself with right-wing hawks close to Trump who argue that Maduro has links to criminal gangs that pose a direct threat to US national security, despite doubts raised by the US intelligence community.
The Trump administration has ordered more than 20 military strikes in recent months against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and off Latin America’s Pacific coast, killing more than 80 people.
Human rights groups, some US Democrats, and several Latin American countries have condemned the attacks as unlawful extrajudicial killings of civilians.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Machado’s two-month escape operation involved wearing a disguise and departing from a coastal fishing village on a wooden boat bound for Curacao before boarding a private aircraft to Norway.
US forces were alerted to avoid striking the vessel, the WSJ reported, as they had one with similar boats in recent months. Machado confirmed receiving assistance from Washington during her escape.
Maduro, in power since 2013 following the death of Hugo Chavez, says Trump is pushing for regime change in the country to access Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. He has pledged to resist such attempts.
A United Nations report released on Thursday accused Venezuela’s security forces of crimes against humanity over more than a decade.
Venezuelan Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello said Machado left the country “without drama” but provided no details.
Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI, licenses Mickey Mouse to Sora AI platform
Walt Disney Co. agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and license iconic characters like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella to Sora, OpenAI’s short-form, artificial intelligence video platform.
As part of the three-year licensing pact, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing from a library of more than 200 animated and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, according to a statement from Disney on Thursday. The deal doesn’t cover any talent likenesses or voices.
At the same time, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its tools to build new products and experiences and deploying ChatGPT for its employees.
“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said in the statement.
Hollywood studios have been reluctant to get into business with an AI company, wary of how it might use their data and of angering the labor unions with which they work every day. But OpenAI has been talking to the industry’s largest studios, including Disney, Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., about the creative and commercial potential of Sora, Bloomberg News has previously reported.
The AI developer unveiled a new version of Sora in September as a standalone social app, available by invitation. As with the original Sora, released last December, users can generate short clips in response to text prompts, but the new app allows people to see videos created by others. Beyond that, users can create a realistic-looking AI avatar and voice of themselves, which can be inserted into videos made with the app by the user or their friends, with the avatar owner’s permission.
Schuetz writes for Bloomberg.
Oregon senator mounts a one-man crusade to reform filibuster
To say the U.S. Senate has grown dysfunctional is like suggesting water is wet or the nighttime sky is dark.
The institution that fancies itself “the world’s greatest deliberative body” is supposed to serve as a cooling saucer that tempers the more hotheaded House, applying weight and wisdom as it addresses the Great Issues of Our Time. Instead, it’s devolved into an unsightly mess of gridlock and partisan hackery.
Part of that is owing to the filibuster, one of the Senate’s most distinctive features, which over roughly the last decade has been abused and misused to a point it’s become, in the words of congressional scholar Norman J. Ornstein, a singular “weapon of mass obstruction.”
Democrat Jeff Merkley, the junior U.S. senator from Oregon, has spent years on a mostly one-man crusade aimed at reforming the filibuster and restoring a bit of sunlight and self-discipline to the chamber.
In 2022, Merkley and his allies came within two votes of modifying the filibuster for voting rights legislation. He continues scouring for support for a broader overhaul.
“This is essential for people to see what their representatives are debating and then have the opportunity to weigh in,” said Merkley, speaking from the Capitol after a vote on the Senate floor.
“Without the public being able to see the obstruction,” he said, “they [can’t] really respond to it.”
What follows is a discussion of congressional process, but before your eyes glaze over, you should understand that process is what determines the way many things are accomplished — or not — in Washington, D.C.
The filibuster, which has changed over time, involves how long senators are allowed to speak on the Senate floor. Unlike the House, which has rules limiting debate, the Senate has no restrictions, unless a vote is taken to specifically end discussion and bring a matter to resolution. More on that in a moment.
In the broadest sense, the filibuster is a way to protect the interests of a minority of senators, as well as their constituents, by allowing a small but determined number of lawmakers — or even a lone member — to prevent a vote by commanding the floor and talking nonstop.
Perhaps the most famous, and certainly the most romanticized, version of a filibuster took place in the film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” The fictitious Sen. Jefferson Smith, played by James Stewart, talks to the point of exhausted collapse as a way of garnering national notice and exposing political corruption.
The filibustering James Stewart received an Oscar nomination for lead actor for his portrayal of Sen. Jefferson Smith in the 1939 classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
(From the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
In the Frank Capra classic, the good guy wins. (It’s Hollywood, after all.) In real life, the filibuster has often been used for less noble purpose, most notably the decades-long thwarting of civil rights legislation.
A filibuster used to be a rare thing, its power holstered for all but the most important issues. But in recent years that’s changed, drastically. The filibuster — or, rather, the threat of a filibuster — has become almost routine.
In part, that’s because of how easy it’s become to gum up the Senate.
Members no longer need to hold the floor and talk nonstop, testing not just the power of their argument but their physical mettle and bladder control. These days it’s enough for a lawmaker to simply state their intention to filibuster. Typically, legislation is then laid aside as the Senate moves on to other business.
That pain-free approach has changed the very nature of the filibuster, Ornstein said, and transformed how the Senate operates, much to its detriment.
The burden is “supposed to be on the minority to really put itself … on the line to generate a larger debate” — a la the fictive Jefferson Smith — “and hope during the course of it that they can turn opinions around,” said Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “What’s happened is the burden has shifted to the majority [to break a filibuster], which is a bastardization of what the filibuster is supposed to be about.”
It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, by invoking cloture, to use Senate terminology. That means the passage of legislation now effectively requires a supermajority of the 100-member Senate. (There are workarounds, which, for instance, allowed President Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill to pass on a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaker.)
The filibuster gives outsized power to the minority.
To offer but two examples, there is strong public support for universal background checks for gun buyers and greater transparency in campaign finance. Both issues have majority backing in the Senate. No matter. Legislation to achieve each has repeatedly been filibustered to death.
That’s where Merkley would step in.
He would not eliminate the filibuster, a prerogative jealously guarded by members of both parties. (In a rare show of independence, Republican senators rejected President Trump’s call to scrap the filibuster to end the recent government shutdown.)
Rather, Merkley would eliminate what’s come to be called “the silent filibuster” and force lawmakers to actually take the floor and publicly press their case until they prevail, give up or physically give out. “My reform is based on the premise that the minority should have a voice,” he said, “but not a veto.”
Forcing senators to stand and deliver would make it more difficult to filibuster, ending its promiscuous overuse, Merkley suggested, and — ideally— engaging the public in a way privately messaging fellow senators — I dissent! — does not.
“Because it’s so visible publicly,” Merkley said, “the American citizens get to weigh in, and there’s consequences. They may frame you as a hero for your obstruction, or a bum, and that has a reflection in the next election.”
The power to repair itself rests entirely within the Senate, where lawmakers set their own rules and can change them as they see fit. (Nice work, if you can get it.)
The filibuster has been tweaked before. In 1917, senators adopted the rule allowing cloture if a two-thirds majority voted to end debate. In 1975, the Senate reduced that number to three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 members.
More recently, Democrats changed the rules to prevent filibustering most presidential nominations. Republicans extended that to include Supreme Court nominees.
Reforming the filibuster is hardly a cure-all. The Senate has debased itself by ceding much of its authority and becoming little more than an arm of the Trump White House. Fixing that requires more than a procedural overhaul.
But forcing lawmakers to stand their ground, argue their case and seek to rally voters instead of lifting a pinkie and grinding the Senate to a halt? That’s something worth talking about.
Dodgers Dugout: We’ve been down this ‘big reliever signed’ road before
Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Looks like the Dodgers found a new closer for Christmas.
The new closer
Well, the Dodgers did what many did not expect: give another long-term, big-money deal to a closer. They have agreed to a deal with former Mets closer Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69-million deal. There will be $4.5 million deferred each year and the value of the contract as tabulated for luxury tax purposes will be $21 million per year. It’s a record for annual value for a reliever, breaking the record held by….. Díaz.
Díaz was considered by most to be the top reliever on the market. Last season with the Mets, he was 6-3 with a 1.63 ERA and 28 saves. In 66.1 innings, he gave up 37 hits and walked 21 while striking out 98. He turns 32 in March. He had three blown saves and allowed six of 15 inherited runners to score.
If there is a red flag here, it is that his fastball velocity has dropped from an average of 99 mph in 2023 to 97 mph last season. Which is still pretty fast of course.
You’ll forgive me for not doing somersaults over the deal yet. It could turn out to be an amazing signing. However, as we saw last season with Tanner Scott, relievers are like a box of chocolates: You never know what you are going to get. Díaz has a much better record of success than Scott did. But we’ve seen over the last few seasons what can happen with a signing (Scott, Kirby Yates), decline in form (Blake Treinen) or injuries (Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol).
But the Dodgers did need bullpen help, and they signed the best reliever on the market, so it’s hard to find fault in that.
You can read more on the signing in this story by Jack Harris.
And an analysis, which includes discussion of a possible salary cap, from Bill Shaikin here.
Fernando misses the Hall
The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee for the Baseball Hall of Fame met Sunday. It was a 16-member committee, and there were eight candidates to consider: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela.
The only person elected: Kent, wh was named on 14 ballots (you had to be on 12 for election).
The others:
Nine votes
Carlos Delgado
Six
Don Mattingly
Dale Murphy
Fewer than five
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Gary Sheffield
Fernando Valenzuela
The committee made a big mistake in not electing Fernando, and really embarrassed itself by not giving him even five votes.
When you look at the numbers, Fernando is at best a borderline candidate. He won a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award, but won only 173 games in his career.
However, when you consider what he meant for the sport in addition to his accomplishments as a player, he qualifies. The three players who created more baseball fans than any other are Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Fernando. The fact the Dodgers have a massive Latino following can be traced back to Fernando. He created fans in other cities. He opened MLB to an almost entirely untapped market.
But, some people look only at the numbers. Fernando should be in the Hall. So should Maury Wills. Unfortunately, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that either will make it.
And congratulation to Jeff Kent, who played for the Dodgers but will go into the Hall as a Giant. So, not that big of a congratulations. His election enhances the candidacy of another former Dodger: Chase Utley.
New book
Last week I told you about a new book by Ross Porter, the longtime Dodger announcer who used to do the “Ask Ross Porter” feature in this newsletter. The book, “The Ross Porter Chronicles — Volume 1: The Dodger Years,” is a compendium of interviews he has done over the years with Dodgers, including Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Sandy Koufax.
Reaction was overwhelming, and as a result, they sold out of signed books. However, if you still want a signed copy to give to someone as a Christmas present (it would make a great gift for a Dodger fan), you have an alternative. You can order the book at Amazon. Make sure you have it shipped to you before Dec. 21. Ross will be signing books in person on Dec. 21 from 1-3 p.m. at Northridge Sports & Memorabilia, 9514 Reseda Blvd,, Unit 14.
Anyone who buys the book on Amazon can bring it to the signing, and Ross will sign it for free. He’ll also sign any Dodger items you bring.
It’s a great chance for you to meet a Dodger icon. Ross is 87. The icons from our Dodger childhood won’t be there forever. If you have a chance to go out there, I highly recommend it.
In case you missed it
Analysis: Could Dodgers’ Edwin Díaz signing portend more big moves later this offseason?
Starz picks up drama on gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter
Shaikin: Dodgers signing of Edwin Díaz shows they aren’t going to worry about a potential salary cap
Dodgers and Edwin Díaz agree to terms in blockbuster move to shore up bullpen
Former Dodgers, Giants slugger and noted curmudgeon Jeff Kent voted into the Hall of Fame
Fernando Valenzuela falls short of induction into National Baseball Hall of Fame
Metro votes to approve Dodger Stadium gondola project despite protests
And finally
Fernando Valenzuela pitches a no-hitter. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Mexico to begin levying up to 50% tariffs on China, others
Dec. 11 (UPI) — Mexico’s congress has approved charging up to 50% tariffs on Chinese imports Wednesday.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed the tariffs in September and said they are a way to boost domestic production. But others, like China, have said it’s a way to align with President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring other countries to distance themselves from China.
Mexico’s congress approved the tariffs Wednesday, and Sheinbaum is expected to sign the bill. The law would create up to 50% tariffs on China and any other country with which Mexico doesn’t have a trade agreement, including Thailand, India and Indonesia. The tariffs would take effect Jan. 1 and will include more than 1,400 products, like cars, metals, appliances and clothing.
After the United States, China is Mexico’s second-largest exporter. The United States sold $334 billion to Mexico last year, and China sold $130 billion in goods, The New York Times reported. China buys little from Mexico, which is another reason for the tariffs, Sheinbaum has said.
The Chinese government has warned Mexico to “think twice” about imposing the levies, saying it would harm China and other countries. It said the move was made “under coercion to constrain China,” alluding to Trump’s pressure.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Thursday that the tariffs would “substantially harm” the country and others. It said for Mexico to “correct its erroneous practices of unilateralism and protectionism as soon as possible,” The Times reported.
Mexico is in talks with Trump, trying to reduce tariffs. The United States imposes 50% tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum. Trump has threatened to add more to the tariffs for several reasons, including synthetic fentanyl and water rights from the Rio Grande.
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‘Act of piracy’ or law: Can the US legally seize a Venezuelan tanker? | Donald Trump News
United States President Donald Trump has said that the US has seized a sanctioned oil tanker close to the coast of Venezuela, in a move that has caused oil prices to spike and further escalates tensions with Caracas.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” Trump said on Wednesday.
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The Venezuelan government called the move an act of “international piracy”, and “blatant theft”.
This comes as the US expands its military operations in the region, where it has been carrying out air strikes on at least 21 suspected drug-trafficking vessels since September. The Trump administration has provided no evidence that these boats were carrying drugs, however.
Here is what we know about the seizure of the Venezuelan tanker:
What happened?
The US said it intercepted and seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking the first operation of its kind in years.
The last comparable US military seizure of a foreign tanker occurred in 2014, when US Navy SEALs boarded the Morning Glory off Cyprus as Libyan rebels attempted to sell stolen crude oil.
The Trump administration did not identify the vessel or disclose the precise location of the operation.
However, Bloomberg reported that officials had described the ship as a “stateless vessel” and said it had been docked in Venezuela.
Soon after announcing the latest operation on Wednesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi released a video showing two helicopters approaching a vessel and armed personnel in camouflage rappelling onto its deck.
“Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi said.
She added that “for multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil-shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations”.
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025
Experts said the method of boarding demonstrated in the video is standard practice for US forces.
“The Navy, Coast Guard and special forces all have special training for this kind of mission, called visit, board, search, and seizure – or VBSS,” Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Al Jazeera.
“It is routine, especially for the Coast Guard. The government said it was a Coast Guard force doing the seizure, though the helicopter looks like a Navy SH-60S.”
Which vessel was seized?
According to a Reuters report, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified the crude carrier Skipper as the vessel seized early Wednesday off Venezuela’s coast.
MarineTraffic lists the Skipper as a very large crude carrier measuring 333m (1,093 feet) in length and 60m (197 feet) in width.
The tanker was sanctioned in 2022 for allegedly helping to transport oil for the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, and Iran’s Quds Force.
The Skipper departed Venezuela’s main oil terminal at Jose between December 4 and 5 after loading about 1.8 million barrels of Merey crude, a heavy, high-sulphur blend produced in Venezuela.
“I assume we’re going to keep the oil,” President Trump said on Wednesday.
Before the seizure, the tanker had transferred roughly 200,000 barrels near Curacao to the Panama-flagged Neptune 6, which was headed for Cuba, according to satellite data analysed by TankerTrackers.com.
According to shipping data from Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the vessel also transported Venezuelan crude to Asia in 2021 and 2022.
Where did the seizure take place?
The US said it seized the oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.
US officials have said the action occurred near Venezuelan territorial waters, though they have not provided precise coordinates.
MarineTraffic data shows the vessel’s tracker still located in the Caribbean.
Is the US action legal?
Cancian noted that “seizing sanctioned items is common inside a country’s own territory. It is unusual in international waters”.
He added: “Russia has hundreds of sanctioned tankers sailing today, but they have not been boarded.”
Experts say it is unclear whether the seizure was legal, partly because many details about it have not been made public.
Still, the US could make use of various arguments to justify the seizure if needs be.
One is that the boat is regarded as stateless. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ships need “a nationality”.
The government of Guyana, Venezuela’s neighbour, said the Skipper was “falsely flying the Guyana flag”, adding that it is not registered in the country.
If a vessel flies a flag it is not registered under, or refuses to show any flag at all, states have the “right of visit”, allowing their officials to stop and inspect the ship on the high seas – essentially meaning international waters.
If doubts about a ship’s nationality remain after checking its documents, a more extensive search can follow.
In previous enforcement actions against sanctioned ships, the US has seized not the ship itself but the oil on board. In 2020, it confiscated fuel from four tankers allegedly carrying Iranian oil to Venezuela.
US law also allows the Coast Guard, which carried out this operation, to conduct searches and seizures on the high seas in order to enforce US laws, stating that it “may make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the high seas” to prevent and suppress violations.
But some legal experts argue that the US has overstepped, as it “has no jurisdiction to enforce unilateral sanctions on non-US persons outside its territory”, according to Francisco Rodriguez, a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
Rodriguez said the US is relying on maritime rules for stateless vessels “as an entryway to justify enforcing US sanctions outside of US territory”.
“To the extent that the US is able to continue to do so, it could significantly increase the cost of doing business with Venezuela and precipitate a deepening of the country’s economic recession,” he warned in a CEPR article.
The US has no jurisdiction to enforce unilateral sanctions on non-US persons outside its territory. The seizure of ships in international waters to extraterritorially enforce US sanctions is a dangerous precedent and a violation of international law.
— Francisco Rodríguez (@frrodriguezc) December 10, 2025
How has Venezuela responded to the seizure?
Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry stated that “the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been exposed”.
“It is not migration, it is not drug trafficking, it is not democracy, it is not human rights – it was always about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” the statement said.
The ministry described the incident as an “act of piracy.”
The government added that it will appeal to “all” international bodies to denounce the incident and vowed to defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with “absolute determination”.
“Venezuela will not allow any foreign power to attempt to take from the Venezuelan people what belongs to them by historical and constitutional right,” it said.
What are the potential consequences for Venezuela’s oil exports?
Experts say the seizure could produce short-term uncertainty for Venezuelan oil exports, largely because “this has been the first time [the United States has]… seized a shipment of Venezuelan oil”, Carlos Eduardo Pina, a Venezuelan political scientist, told Al Jazeera.
That may make shippers hesitate, though the broader impact is limited, Pina said, since “the US allows the Chevron company to continue extracting Venezuelan oil”, and US group Chevron holds a special waiver permitting it to produce and export crude despite wider sanctions.
Chevron, which operates joint ventures with PDVSA, said its operations in Venezuela remain normal and continue without disruption.
The US oil major, which is currently responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the US, increased shipments last month to 150,000 barrels per day (bopd), up from 128,000 bpd in October.
Inside Venezuela, Pina warned the move could spark financial panic, however: “It could instil fear, trigger a currency run… and worsen the humanitarian crisis.”
How will this affect US-Venezuela relations?
Diplomatically, Pina said he views the action as a political message to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, noting its timing – “the same day that [opposition leader] Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Prize” – and calling it “a gesture of strength… to remind that [the US is present in the Latin American region].”
Maduro has long argued that the Trump administration’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific are not, in fact, aimed at preventing drug running, but are part of a plan to effect regime change in Venezuela. Trump has authorised CIA operations in Venezuela and has given conflicting messages about whether he would consider a land invasion.
Analysts see this latest action as part of a broader strategy to pressure the Maduro government.
“This is certainly an escalation designed to put additional pressure on the Maduro regime, causing it to fracture internally or convincing Maduro to leave,” said Cancian.
“It is part of a series of US actions such as sending the Ford to the Caribbean, authorising the CIA to move against the Maduro regime, and conducting flybys with bombers and, recently, F-18s.”
Cancian added that the broader meaning of the operation depends on what comes next.
“The purpose also depends on whether the US seizes additional tankers,” he said. “In that case, this looks like a blockade of Venezuela. Because Venezuela depends so heavily on oil revenue, it could not withstand such a blockade for long.”
John Torode and Lisa Faulkner issue update after his Celebrity MasterChef axe
Outgoing Celebrity MasterChef presenter John Torode and his wife Lisa Faulkner have issued a career update
Celebrity chefs John Torode and Lisa Faulkner have revealed exciting news for their devoted followers, announcing the launch of their very own YouTube channel straight from their home kitchen.
In an introduction filmed at their residence, John – who can currently be seen in his final-ever series of Celebrity MasterChef – welcomed viewers: “Welcome to our new YouTube channel, and to our home kitchen.”
Lisa added: “This is in our home, we are cooking all our recipes from home, in our kitchen – which is great, because we know where everything is – and we really hope you’re going to join us to see our family favourites.”
He teased a diverse menu, promising “celebratory food, food from all round the world, whether it be spaghetti with a tomato sauce, Korean fried chicken and a sticky sauce to go with it, all the way through to scones and jam and cream.”
His ITV presenter wife continued: “Yes, lovely puddings. You will get proper family favourites, old-fashioned things that just remind us of our childhood, and new and exciting food.”
Offering reassurance to aspiring home cooks, the couple guaranteed: “We promise you that every single recipe we make, if you follow it, it will work every single time.”
John clarified: “You know that because we test them, we try them and we cook them at home. If they don’t work, they don’t make the channel,” reports the Express.
Lisa confirmed their commitment, revealing: “We’ll be dropping new recipes every single week and we’ll be cooking them here so you can see that they work.”
In a heartwarming moment between the couple, John celebrated Lisa’s contribution to their culinary venture “as a mum cook”, whilst she returned the compliment with equal enthusiasm.
Lisa beamed: “We’ve got the old monsieur chef here who’s so brilliant at what he does.
“You’ve been a chef for years and years, you’ve had restaurants, there is nothing you don’t know about food and nothing you don’t like about food. All of your knowledge is coming to this channel.”
The duo wrapped up their message with an appeal to viewers, urging them: “Please subscribe and don’t forget to hit the bell icon – that’s it!”
Celebrity MasterChef is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
Forget Mykonos and Santorini – TUI says these four less-popular Greek islands are set to be huge in 2026
BRITS are ditching popular Greek spots for less-visited parts of the country for better value holidays, says TUI.
According to new data, Brits are heading to quieter spots in Greece including Samos, Preveza, Kefalonia and Halkidiki.
TUI is dubbing this surge in bookings to lesser-visited islands as the ‘Hidden Greece Revolution’.
Here are the ones you need to know about.
Samos
Samos is leading this change with bookings up by a staggering 118 per cent year-on-year.
TUI believes this is in part due to the extra weekly TUI flight from London Gatwick Airport.
Read more on travel inspo
Samos is known for relaxing beaches, serene water and traditional tavernas, like Welcome Bar Restaurant, a TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award for 2025, where tourists can grab fresh seafood dishes including grilled cod and octopus.
One popular thing to see on the island is the monuments of Kings’, Priests and other significant figures.
And there are two UNESCO monuments on the island, including the ancient city of Pythagoreion and the ancient Temple of Hera, Heraion of Samos.
The island is also a great spot for keen hikers, with mountains, caves and ravines to explore.
For example, you could head to Mount Kerkis, which stands 1400 metres above sea level.
If hiking isn’t your thing though, there is plenty more to explore on Samos including the town, where you’ll find neoclassical buildings.
The island has several beaches too, including Tsamadou Beach, which is lined with pine trees and features clear water.
Alternatively, head to Kokkari Beach, which is located in a charming village.
A meal on Samos is likely to set you back around €10 (£8.76) and a beer around €4 (£3.50).
Preveza
Meanwhile, Preveza has also seen an increase in bookings, up 10 per cent.
It is the ideal destination for reaching Lefkada, meaning travellers can experience two destinations in one trip.
Preveza is located at the edge of the Amvrakikos Gulf and features a number of ancient sites as well as stunning landscapes.
In the Old Town, visitors can explore the historic port and get lost in a number of narrow, cobbled alleys that lead away from the harbour, with several traditional buildings too.
One key spot worth discovering is Saitan Bazar, which is a historic lane featuring tiny independent shops and cafes, that are covered in vines and known for having lively atmospheres.
For beaches, there is plenty of choice too, including Monolithi – which is one of Europe‘s longest sandy beaches, stretching between 13.5 and 15.5 miles long.
One recent visitor said: “Monolithi Beach is a long, beautiful, and mostly empty beach – perfect for those who enjoy peace and quiet by the sea.
“There is plenty of space to relax without crowds, as well as lots of natural shade near the parking area.”
A meal in Preveza is likely to set you back around €8 (£7.01) and a beer around €3 (£2.63).
Kefalonia
Kefalonia has seen growth, especially with couples and families visiting.
Caroline McGuire, The Sun’s Head of Travel – Digital, said: “I visited Kefalonia on a family holiday a few years ago, after looking for the ideal Greek island for a trip with a three year old.
“The island in the Ionian Sea — a Hollywood star in its own right thanks to the 2001 film version of Louis de Bernieres wartime novel — ticked all the boxes and boasts what is often claimed as Greece’s best beach.
“We spent a week on the island in mid-May and enjoyed everything it had to offer — without spending too much money.
“Our timing (outside of school holidays) meant we were one of the few tourist groups on the island.
“The weather was still perfect though. The average is highs of 21C in May and the same in October.
“There were no crowds, either. Looking out at Myrtos beach, which is regularly named one of Greece’s top five, it felt like we were being let in on a great secret.”
A meal on Kefalonia is likely to set you back around €13.50 (£11.82) and a beer around €4.25 (£3.81).
Halkidiki
In Halkidiki, another island seeing a boom, there are more stunning beaches, as well as secluded coves.
An amazing spot to explore is Mount Athos, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important centres of Orthodox monasticism.
It is known as the ‘Holy Mountain’ and is home to 20 historic monasteries, including ones that date back over 1,000 years.
In this region you can expect a meal at an inexpensive restaurant to set you back around €7 (£6.13) and a beer around €2.75 (£2.41).
Commercial director at TUI UK & Ireland, Chris Logan said: “What we are seeing is Brits exploring Greece in a whole new way.
“These picturesque islands offer incredible beaches, amazing food and fantastic value without the crowds allowing people the chance to truly relax and indulge.
“The demand shows travellers are ready to go beyond the classics and discover Greece’s hidden gems and TUI makes it simple, with flights, transfers, hotels and 24/7 support all sorted.”
For other places worth visiting in Greece, there is an island with 70 beaches that experts warn you should see before it gets too popular.
Plus, Wizz Air to launch six new routes with cheap flights to Greek islands and the capital of wine.
A Times investigation finds fraud, theft at California’s county fairs
FERNDALE, Calif. — Like many of California’s fairs, the one in Humboldt County is a cherished local institution, beloved for its junk food, adorable baby animals and exhibits of local arts and crafts. Rock star chef Guy Fieri, who grew up in town, even turns up to host the chili cook-off.
But along with its Ferris wheels and funnel cakes, the Humboldt County event shares something darker in common with a number of California’s 77 local fairs: It has been racked with fraud and mismanagement.
The fair’s former bookkeeper is due in federal court early next year after pleading guilty to stealing $430,000 from the fair, according to documents filed in federal court. Police had arrested her after catching up with her at a local casino.
Humboldt is hardly an outlier. A Los Angeles Times investigation has found that one-third of the state’s 77 fairs — hallowed celebrations of the state’s agrarian tradition — have been plagued by an array of problems. Workers from at least four fairs have been prosecuted in the last few years for theft, bribery or embezzlement, with more than $1 million stolen, according to a Times review of criminal court filings. State auditors have accused officials at dozens of other fairs of misspending millions more, according to a Times review. Ventura suffered a cash heist, Santa Clara a kickback scheme, and across much of California, public funds have been spent in violation of state rules, including on prime rib steaks and fancy wines while once-proud fairgrounds crumble into disrepair.
A great horned owl performs for visitors during the raptor show at the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Drawing on thousands of pages of court filings, audits and public records from more than three dozen counties, along with scores of interviews, The Times identified at least 25 fairs where prosecutors, state auditors or government officials have accused employees in the last decade of misusing taxpayer money, pressuring businesses for bribes or treating public resources as their own. At still more fairs, officials have been called out in government reports or lawsuits for glaring failures of good governance.
Collectively, the fairs bring in more than $400 million a year in revenue, and many fairgoers see them as priceless cultural events honoring California‘s agricultural heritage and their local communities.
But despite their crucial role, The Times found that the state and county leaders overseeing these fairs have often failed to step in — even when problems are glaring or have been denounced by auditors or judges. The state department of Food and Agriculture oversees 52 of the local fairs through district agricultural associations. An additional 22, plus the state fair and two citrus fairs, are in the state’s “network of fairs,” meaning they receive some state funding but are overseen by local governments and nonprofits.
“There needs to be more accountability,” said John Moot, a San Diego lawyer who represented a carnival company that has sued both the San Diego and Orange County fairs — both of which are overseen by the state.
Last year that carnival company, Talley Amusements, was paid $500,000 by the San Diego County Fair to settle a lawsuit that alleged fair officials had engaged in bid-rigging when they went to hand out a multimillion-dollar contract to run rides and games on the midway. A San Diego County judge wrote that the evidence he reviewed “supports an inference of ‘favoritism,’ fraud’ and ‘corruption’ as to the award of public contracts, although no such definitive findings are made herein.”
Local newspapers called on the state to do something. When asked about the case, California officials said only that they continue “to review the circumstances of this case to determine whether further guidance or compliance measures are warranted.”
State officials also took a tolerant stance toward problems that the California state auditor uncovered. In 2019, an audit found that top officials at the Kern County Fair and in the state had allowed “gross mismanagement to continue unchecked for years.” The audit revealed as well that the Kern district agricultural association’s board of directors, appointed by the governor, had feasted on lobster dinners and fine wines paid by fair funds but failed to provide effective oversight. Kern fair officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
County leaders and local nonprofits have not always been better stewards. Some have failed to notice or take action as fair officials stole money or allowed fairgrounds to fall into debt or disrepair — even when grand juries warned there were problems.
“Not surprised,” said David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University who is well-versed in local fairs. “There are generations of farmers and generations of networks of neighbors, friends and family members [who run these fairs]. They help each other. How business is done is insular. It’s not open or transparent.” At the same time, he said, “fairs are big money.” Put all those things together, he said, and the conditions are ripe for mismanagement and corruption.
Although many county fairs operate without incident, scandals sometimes erupt from the most mundane of matters.
Last year, Shasta County agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a 9-year-old girl and her family after sheriff’s deputies seized her goat. The girl had raised the goat, a floppy eared brown and white guy known as Cedar, as part of the fair’s agricultural program, then changed her mind about watching a beloved animal turn into meat. But fair officials refused to allow her to back out; instead the county dispatched deputies across Northern California in pursuit of the animal, which was eventually butchered.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said “the state recognizes the challenges facing some of California’s fairgrounds and takes concerns about governance and accountability very seriously.”
In a separate statement, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said that “the difficulties uncovered at some fairs” should not overshadow their larger contributions. “These institutions serve as vital community hubs that play a key role in emergency response, as they support local economies.”
Fairgrounds are becoming increasingly important in the state’s disaster planning. During many of California’s recent wildfires, local fairgrounds have served as staging areas for firefighters and other emergency responders. Displaced animals find refuge there. They’ve also served as crucial evacuation centers — about 600 people, for example, lived at the Butte County fairgrounds in Chico for months after the 2018 Camp fire. Fairgrounds have become so essential to disaster response that the state has recently awarded tens of millions of dollars to upgrade facilities such as showers and kitchens that could be used for evacuees.
Yet in many counties, fairgrounds are in a state of disrepair. The Times identified more than a dozen that are plagued by leaky roofs, corroded and unsafe electrical systems, faulty plumbing, dangerously dilapidated grandstands and other unsafe conditions. This is partly because of mismanagement, but also because state funding for fairs has declined in recent years. Fair finances have also been hard hit by the declining popularity of horse racing.
“I think back to how full the fair used to be,” said Jeannie Fulton, gesturing to Humboldt’s half-empty fairgrounds during the August celebration.
“County fairs are still really valuable, but they are mismanaged in a lot of ways. We all see the grounds just deteriorating,” added Fulton, who runs the Humboldt County Farm Bureau. “They need to be run better.”
Mindy Romero, director of USC’s Center for Inclusive Democracy, said fair management may not be the most pressing issue facing state leaders but “there should be some accountability … these people are in charge of large amounts of money, and public trust and public resources.”
A judge, left, tries to decide which Boer goat has the best qualities and features during the Boer goat competition with 4-H club members, right, at the Humboldt County Fair.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
County fairs are “supposed to be a place where everybody can come together, family and friends and you bring the kids … it’s these rituals and communities that we really need to take care of. If a community hears that their local fair is stealing it can make [people] even more distrustful of government,” she said.
‘Capricious abuse of power’
California’s first fair was held in 1854, in what is now downtown San Francisco. It was so popular that the idea quickly spread, to Humboldt County in 1861, to San Diego in 1880 and to Orange County in 1890. (Los Angeles didn’t get in on the tradition until 1922.)
In 1887, the state Legislature, anxious to harness and regulate the explosion of fairs, created district agricultural associations, mini state agencies that manage the fairgrounds in each county and are run by boards appointed by the governor.
California is a dramatically different place than it was in 1887, but the governance structure of fairs largely remains. The 52 district agricultural associations each put on a fair, guided by boards appointed by the governor.
The 25 other fairs in the state’s network of fairs follow a similar program. The goal is for fairs to pay for themselves through admission prices, contracts with vendors and other sources of revenue, but they also receive state funding. District agricultural associations get about $2.6 million a year from the state’s general fund; an additional $5 million from sales tax revenue at the fairs is handed out each year to all 77 fairs in the network.
Each of the fairs strives to reflect its particular community. In Nevada County, the rides and food vendors set up beneath towering pine trees, and a central attraction this year was a model-train exhibit showcasing the historic derailment of circus cars. The Los Angeles County Fair, one of the state’s biggest, is known for its preposterous combination of junk food: deep-fried Oreos and pickles; corn wrapped in Cheetos; chicken sandwiches with funnel cake buns. The Calaveras County Fair features a frog-jumping contest, a nod to Mark Twain’s famous short story.
In small rural counties, said Jeff Griffiths, an Inyo County supervisor who is president of the California State Assn. of Counties, the fairgrounds serve as a “social and cultural hub” for the community all year.
“They are our event space,” he said. “We don’t have SoFi Stadium. Concerts, car shows, dances, on and on, they all happen at the fairgrounds.”
Lavish expenditures have for decades been part of the mix. A 1986 state audit blasted the entire fair system, detailing state funds spent on parties, meals and expensive custom belt buckles, along with other misuses of state funds. These include improper contracting — a problem that continues to plague many fairs.
Five years ago, Ventura Flores was pleased when the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds hired his firm — 4 Diamond Security — to provide security as public health officials ramped up a massive COVID-19 testing and eventually vaccination operation at the fairgrounds. It was the middle of the pandemic, and 4 Diamond had little other work.
A performer with Animal Cracker Conspiracy high-fives Ryder Lang, 7, next to his friend Abigail Fielding, 6, both from San José, after entering the Santa Clara County Fair in San José.
(Nhat V. Meyer / Bay Area News Group)
When he got the job, however, the fair’s event’s director, Obdulia Banuelos-Esparza, informed Flores that he would have to slip her cash in secret if he wanted to keep his contract, according to a statement of probable cause produced by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.
After he refused, Flores said, Banuelos-Esparza began to complain about the work his guards were doing, accusing them of shirking their duties and sleeping on the job. Flores said he doubted the accusations but also feared he would lose the job if he didn’t pay, according to the statement of probable cause.
Flores, who did not respond to emails and calls from The Times, told investigators that he began giving Banuelos-Esparza between $2,500 and $4,000 a month, continuing for more than a year until sometime in the fall of 2021, when he said he stopped paying her. Then fair officials, who had told him they would be renewing 4 Diamond’s contract for another six months, instead terminated it, according to the statement of probable cause.
The Santa Clara County district attorney began investigating the scheme in 2023, following a whistleblower complaint. In 2024, after reviewing Banuelos’ bank records, the district attorney charged her with extortion and bribery, issuing a statement that the fairgrounds should be “where our community goes for fairs, festivals, and fun. Not felonies.”
Banuelos pleaded no contest to commercial bribery this summer, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County district attorney, and will pay restitution and serve felony probation, but avoided jail time. Reached by phone, she declined to comment.
There had long been warning signs: A 2019 Santa Clara County grand jury report uncovered “financial reports lacking in accuracy and transparency, violations of local bingo regulations, questionable tax reporting practices” and other problems. The grand jury also called out “a relaxed level of scrutiny and oversight” by the county.
After Banuelos’ conviction, the district attorney released another statement, declaring the midway now “free of corruption.”
“Ride the Ferris wheel, see the farm animals, eat the food and have fun knowing our fair is safe,” he said.
Santa Clara’s fair is not the only one that has strayed from accepted contracting rules. State audits in recent years have called out more than a dozen fairs, including those in Santa Barbara and Turlock, for violating state policies by handing out money without signed agreements or competitive bidding.
In Fresno, officials required some vendors doing business with the Big Fresno Fair to also make donations to a foundation associated with the fair, according to a 2022 state audit. The foundation then purchased more than $21,000 in gift cards that it gifted to fair employees, along with more than $68,000, according to the audit.
In a statement, fair officials said that the fair and its board of directors “took the findings of the audit very seriously” and made corrective actions that satisfied the state. The statement added that the fair plays a vital role in the community: in addition to the fair itself, the fairgrounds host 250 events each year and are used during fires and other emergencies.
In San Diego, after Talley Amusements filed its 2022 lawsuit alleging bid-rigging, several fair officials testified in sworn depositions that Talley had actually won the bid, but that a top fair official had pressured them to change the scores to award the contract to a different company. One fair official also testified that she had shredded the original scoring documents.
Fair officials, however, admitted no wrongdoing, with a spokesperson in 2023 calling the allegations of bid-rigging “hogwash.” In a counterclaim filed in San Diego Superior Court, the fair accused Talley of submitting “a sham bid” that might have compromised public safety. In a statement, fair officials said that they agreed to settle the suit only because it was cheaper to do so than litigating it in court.
An ‘inside job’ safe heist
Every year, local fairs in California handle millions of dollars in cash — sometimes without the most basic of safeguards.
In the summer of 2022, a man working at the Ventura County Fair gave some accomplices a hot tip: A safe in the fair’s office was packed with more than half a million dollars in cash.
Alexander Piceno, who worked at the Ventura County Fair, was arrested and charged and pleaded guilty — along with three burglars — to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
(Ventura County District Attorney’s office)
On the night of Aug. 10, Alexander Piceno, 30, who worked for a company processing cash for the fair, left the front door to the state’s 31st District Agricultural Assn. unlocked. He also left instructions on how to open the office safe, according to prosecutors. Two burglars walked in, loaded up $572,000 in paper bills (which weighed upward of 50 pounds), and jumped in a car headed back to Los Angeles.
Police quickly realized they were dealing with an inside job, and four conspirators including Piceno were later arrested and charged, and pleaded guilty to felonies, according to the district attorney. Most of the money, however, was never recovered; prosecutors said they seized $6,100 and a used pickup truck purchased with proceeds from the crime.
The Times, reviewing state audits, grand jury reports, lawsuits and criminal filings, found allegations of theft or inappropriate use of public resources at more than a dozen fairs, including those in San Joaquin, Monterey, Yolo, Inyo, Fresno and Tulare counties.
In Orange County, according to a 2018 state audit, officials at the 32nd District Agricultural Assn. caught an employee embezzling more than $9,000 in ticket sales but failed to report the crime to the state as required. The audit also noted that fair officials had spent more than $220,000 on catering without explaining a clear business purpose. In a statement, fair officials said that “issues cited” in the audit “have been addressed” and “new policies are in place regarding meals.” The statement added that all audits since have been “free of any issues.”
September 2022 photo of fairgoers on the opening day of the Tulare County Fair.
(Ari Plachta / Sacramento Bee)
In several cases, including in Stanislaus County, public money went for fancy meals for the board members who are supposed to be watching over the fair’s operations. State audits sometime read like restaurant menus, with references to prime rib, salmon, ribeye steak and fine wine. It is one of many perks board members enjoy, which also often include free tickets for themselves and friends to concerts, dinners and the fair itself.
State auditors also found plenty of gifts to staff, including bowling nights and credit card charges (with and without required receipts) for flowers, gift cards and even clothes.
One employee at the Stanislaus fair spent thousands of dollars on clothes, which he told state auditors he bought for himself and members of the maintenance staff to wear during fair events. But the audit also found that other members of the maintenance staff members “do not recall receiving these items.”
‘The fair got off scot-free’
September 2017 photo of turkeys competing in a race during the annual Kern County Fair in Bakersfield.
(Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images)
In Kern County, the state’s 15th Agricultural Assn. has put on a fair every year since 1916, except for two years during the Great Depression and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Held in Bakersfield, in the heart of California’s farm belt, the fair has an operating budget of about $10 million and welcomes around 350,000 people each year, according to officials.
To pull it off, the fair has a permanent staff of about 20, and hires about 500 temporary employees during the season. But investigators from the state auditor’s office found that some of these workers appeared far from wholly committed to their fair duties.
In a 2019 audit, investigators found that several employees maintained second jobs — which they performed not in their spare time, but while clocked into their posts at the fair. “Several witnesses told us that Employee A and the other employees left work for almost the entire day nearly every day for weeks or even months at a time,” the audit said.
The fair’s board of directors and chief executive had their own issues, auditors found, among them a taste for expensive dinners and bottles of fine Cabernet, paid for with fair credit cards despite rules against it. In addition, auditors found that at least one of the dinners, which included six board members gabbing together across a table, may have violated the state’s open meeting law that forbids a quorum of a governing body without public notice. Over a three-year period, the audit found, the Kern County fair “spent $132,584 on credit card purchases for which [it] had no supporting receipts.”
Auditors reserved some of their harshest criticisms for the lack of oversight by state officials that they said had allowed all of these “improper governmental activities.”
The audit reported that the department’s Fairs and Expositions branch did not conduct a single compliance audit of the more than 50 fairs under its purview from 2011 to 2017.
The audit generated a series of outraged headlines in newspapers around the state, many of them focused on the fine food and wine that board members and the CEO, Michael Olcott, had feasted upon. Olcott did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The audit’s release did not bring about many substantive changes in the leadership at the Kern County Fair. Six years later, the CEO remains in his post, as do most of the board members who oversaw the fair back then. In a statement, state officials said they “worked with the fair’s leadership to implement corrective measures, including stronger financial controls, enhanced segregation of duties, and updated board and staff training on state contracting and accounting policies.” Officials also said they continue to “monitor the fair’s progress through periodic reviews and ongoing technical assistance.”
After the audit, the Kern County district attorney opened a case against the fair’s maintenance supervisor, accusing him of recycling scrap metal from the fair and pocketing the proceeds. The case is set to go to trial next year. The maintenance supervisor, Joe Hebert, maintains his innocence. He said that he is being scapegoated.
“Recycling scrap metal was part of my job and I had permission to do it,” Hebert said. “I could walk away and plead to a misdemeanor and I’m not going to do it,” he said.
Mark Salvaggio, a former Bakersfield City Council member who served on the Kern County fair board for several years ending in 2014, said he was outraged at the outcome of the audit. “The fair got off scot-free,” he said.
After the state auditor released its Kern County report, the California Department of Food and Agriculture threw its own auditing team into high gear. The division has released more than 15 audits since 2020 — after years of doing few or none.
A series of blistering reports have been issued, followed in some cases by radical changes in personnel.
In a statement, officials said they are “committed to ensuring transparency and accountability at California’s fairs.” Officials noted that audits check for compliance with state policies, and that the oversight program has been reestablished after being “drastically reduced” because of funding cuts during the Great Recession.
But some local officials say the audits, although they may be exposing examples of misspending, sometimes unfairly tarnish fair officials who often struggle to run vital community events with little training in government accounting and contracting rules.
“This is a very unique business that isn’t found anywhere else in state government,” said Corey Oakley, the CEO of the Napa Valley Expo. “We have live animals, corn dogs, flowers, drag queens, horse racing, tractors, destruction Derby …”
Griffiths of the California Assn. of Counties said he thinks the state should either fully fund fairs and “make them viable, or they should turn them over to local communities so we can run them.”
“They have to follow state requirements, but there is none of the benefit of state funding that comes with that,” he said. Meanwhile, he added, “the deferred maintenance on these things is outrageous. They’re falling apart.”
‘I pray we can keep this alive’
Bella Gantt uses her feet as she performs her blindfolded archery show for visitors at the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale. Gantt is the only person in the world who performs a blindfolded archery show using her feet.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
In Humboldt, where the fair is in the state’s network of fairs but not directly overseen by the state, Fair Board President Andy Titus said he is desperate to make sure his local fair survives. His is the oldest continuously operating festival in the state but is reeling from the double blow of embezzlement and the loss of horse racing. The fairgrounds are also in tough shape; in 2023 the fair had to perform emergency repairs to make its grandstands safe enough for people to sit in them.
“I’ve loved this fair since I was a little kid,” said Titus, a local dairy farmer who said he grew up showing animals at the fair and now helps his children do the same. “I pray we can keep this alive.”
The fairgrounds sprawl across a flat coastal plain near the Victorian-era town of Ferndale. A few miles away, the cliffs of California’s Lost Coast rise up and white-capped waves pound into miles of empty beach. In a county with more trees than people, many residents say their yearly visits to the fair help them gather as a community in a part of California known for its isolation.
Nina Tafarella stole more than $430,000 from the Humboldt County Fair, according to a federal criminal complaint, and has pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges.
(Humboldt County Sheriff )
But the beloved fair has not been well-run for some time, according to federal district court records in San Francisco. At the beginning of 2021, it was in “total chaos,” as one manager would describe to an FBI agent.
The organization was 15 years behind on auditing its books, and the state was threatening to cut off its funding. The fair also lacked a bookkeeper, a secretary and other assistance. Even the office itself was in disarray, with “approximately a year worth of backlogged mail and files on the floor,” an interim manager would later tell the FBI, according to an agent’s report of his interview with her filed in federal court.
The manager turned to Craigslist for a bookkeeper who could help make sense of the disorder, and found Nina Tafarella.
At this point in her life, Tafarella was recovering from an addiction to prescription painkillers, was drinking heavily and was in a state of stress and occasional seeming mania, according to a sentencing memo her attorney filed in federal court. She was also deep in the grips of a compulsive gambling problem, which got so bad that she started lying to her friends about how much time she was spending at casinos.
But she was cheerful and helpful and she was charging only about $35 to $40 an hour for her time, far less than a certified public accountant might have cost the fair. She was hired.
Fair officials did not check her references. If they had done a thorough background check, they might have learned that Tafarella had been accused of embezzling money from two previous businesses in Southern California where she worked as a bookkeeper. She had been fired, according to an account her own attorney filed in federal court, but the police and local district attorney had declined to file charges.
Tafarella was a friendly face in the office, bringing in coffee some days. But she also had some quirks: Her co-workers noticed that she did not reliably show up for work and she was “frequently observed at the casino” up the road from the fair office, according to an account her lawyer filed in federal court.
She was also using the fair’s financial software for her own gain. She created fake employee names — very similar to actual employees but often with the addition of the middle initial “J” — and began cutting huge checks to these fictional people, with the funds going right into accounts she controlled.
It all came crashing down at a nearby dance studio. Tafarella had also worked there and had stolen a little more than $20,000. But unlike the fair, the owner of the studio noticed and filed a police report.
After learning of that on Nov. 8, 2022, the fair called in an outside financial expert, who took a quick look at the books and discovered the ghost payroll scheme. Fair officials shut down Tafarella’s access to their bank accounts and by Nov. 15, when Tafarella was next due at work, an FBI agent was at the fair offices.
She did not show up. A short time later, a fair board member went up to the local Bear River Casino and found Tafarella at the gaming tables, according to a report from an FBI agent filed in federal court.
She was arrested and later pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud.
“Everybody was shocked,” Titus said. “She was always very friendly when you saw her.”
In filings to the judge overseeing her sentencing, Tafarella said she has now stopped drinking and gambling and that it “makes me sick” to think about what she has done. Still, in asking for a reduced sentence, her lawyer also argued that if the fair had been better run, it might have been able to protect itself from Tafarella’s schemes.
“Remarkably, the fair association’s own witnesses admitted that the Board was not financially savvy and had little to no idea about the state of the fair’s finances,” Tafarella’s lawyer wrote. Instead, “they solely entrusted Ms. Tafarella, who was suffering from visibly anxious, drinking too much, acting erratically, and reliably to be found at the casino, with the fair association’s finances.”
Titus, whose job at the fair is volunteer, said he has been working almost around the clock ever since to try to save the operation, which saw smaller crowds this year, partly because the lack of horse racing.
“It’s sad,” said Robin Eckerfield, a 72-year-old educator from Fortuna, who said she goes to the fair every year to sample the food, look at the crafts and catch up with old friends. She couldn’t help but notice the reduced offerings this year, a result of the fair’s dire circumstances.
The crowds were small enough that even on the day of the famous chili cook-off, celebrity chef Fieri could walk through the fair mostly unmobbed.
Fieri, who said he got his start as a chef with a pretzel cart at the fairgrounds as a kid, said he returns whenever he can to support it.
While handing out the trophies, Fieri delivered an impassioned speech to the paltry but enthusiastic crowd about the importance of supporting the annual event.
“We all love the fair,” he told the small crowd. “This is our fair. We have to keep it going. We have to keep it alive.”
Mohamed Salah: Has Liverpool boss Arne Slot thrown Egypt forward under bus??
Salah has the selfish streak and pride that is the preserve of all the greats – as was seen when then Manchester United manager Erik ten Haag, a Dutch countryman of Slot, dropped Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of his second spell at Old Trafford in November 2022.
Ronaldo’s response was to give an interview to Piers Morgan on TalkTV in which he complained, as Salah has effectively done now, that he was “betrayed by the club”.
Manchester United and Ronaldo agreed, within days, to cancel his contract.
Salah’s contract will not be cancelled.
Liverpool would, if they sold, demand a sizeable fee for a global figure who signed a new two-year contract in May, but such is the Egyptian’s strength of feeling, reconciliation looks difficult.
It remains to be seen whether Salah will even get the farewell he hinted at when Liverpool play Brighton on Saturday before he heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations.
So does the evidence support Salah’s assertion that “it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame” and that “someone doesn’t want me in the club”?
Salah has been a shadow of his old self this season. For the first time, someone who looked at the peak of his physical and footballing powers last season has started to look his age.
The contrast in numbers is stark and unflattering.
He was the inspiration as Liverpool won a 20th title last season, scoring 34 goals in 50 starts in all competitions. This term he has made 16 starts, scoring only five times.
Salah’s ability to do defensive dirty work was also called into question, with Chelsea‘s Marc Cucurella suggesting they targeted Liverpool‘s right flank in their 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge in October because he was “always ready to attack”.
Not a problem when Salah is providing a regular supply of goals, but brought into sharp relief when they dry up.
Salah, however, feels he is right to flag up he has hardly been Liverpool‘s only problem this season.
Sweden’s push for an ex-IKEA CEO to lead UNHCR signals a new refugee order | Refugees
On October 14, the Swedish government announced it was nominating the CEO of IKEA, Jesper Brodin, as its candidate for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Less than a month later, as the current high commissioner, Filippo Grandi, approached the end of his mandate, Brodin resigned from his position at the Swedish furniture giant, which he had led for eight years. In January 2026, the office of the UN secretary-general is expected to present a preferred candidate to the General Assembly for what former UNHCR head of research Jeff Crisp has called a “pro forma election”. Can the former chief of an iconic multinational company become the world’s highest authority on refugees — and what will it mean if he does?
In interviews, Jesper Brodin often refers to a small pamphlet by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, titled The Testament of a Furniture Dealer, as outlining the values that inspire his way of doing business: innovation, sustainability and collective effort over individualism. Does the UNHCR need to learn lessons from a “furniture dealer”? The question matters because Brodin’s appeal is often framed in terms of corporate values, yet it remains unclear how — or whether — these translate into the protection of refugees. Whether Brodin has any chance of making it to the Geneva post or not, the question is worth asking, for the role of IKEA as a donor and operational partner of the UNHCR is significant and is likely to grow.
While humanitarianism and business have historically been companions, particularly since the end of the Cold War, this is the first time a business leader has been proposed to head the UN refugee agency. The nomination comes at a time when the UNHCR faces a dramatic cash crunch, and when political pressures and anti-refugee sentiment are increasing globally. Many scholars and practitioners believe the future of the global refugee regime itself may be at stake. Understanding the implications of Sweden’s choice, then, requires examining how corporate humanitarianism now shapes refugee protection.
Many were taken aback by the nomination. Yet the move by Sweden is anything but surprising. Over the past three decades, corporations have taken on increased responsibility for responding to humanitarian crises, while traditional organisations compete for a rapidly diminishing pool of resources. Research on the commodification of compassion has shown how, increasingly, “doing good” and “doing well” have become one and the same. This kind of “brand aid” involved both promoting commercial brands (from Toms shoes to Starbucks) through their involvement in humanitarian causes, and turning aid itself into a branded activity — something most effectively done through corporate partnerships. It began around two decades ago but has now become the dominant model of humanitarian engagement. As one major humanitarian donor in Kinshasa told us, “It’s now all about collaborations between the private sector, businesses and philanthropists.” Indeed, when the desire to help becomes something you can sell, corporations such as IKEA can profit from involvement in global helping that builds their ethical branding. But can the UNHCR profit from being led by IKEA’s CEO? The question goes to the heart of a growing unease about the direction of the refugee regime.
We see three main problems here. First, UNHCR is caught between contradictory demands from donor states in the Global North and hosting states in the South. Brodin and IKEA’s brand of feel-good capitalism cannot reconcile these fundamental tensions over sovereignty. Jesper Brodin has been lauded as a businessman and touts his credibility as a leader and negotiator. “Trump likes people in the business world,” we are told. However, the challenges to the agency’s protection mandate require a vision that goes well beyond the smiling face of compassionate capitalism. While formally remaining the guardian of the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR has been operating in what scholars such as Bhupinder Chimni have described as an “erosion” of the international refugee regime — a long-term weakening of asylum norms and burden-sharing commitments. Donor governments in the Global North have used their limited support for UNHCR’s humanitarian activities in the Global South as a way to deflect attention from the disregard for refugee rights within their own borders. How will Brodin fare in navigating these competing pressures — from containment agendas in the Global North to protection obligations that lie at the heart of UNHCR’s mandate?
Second, Brodin often mentions his experience as a supply chain manager in a company that has put logistical innovation at the core of its business strategy as an important asset for the job. Indeed, this aligns with UNHCR’s current focus on renewing its own supply chain strategy. He also talks about “bringing the values and the assets of refugees to the business community,” a phrase he uses to refer to refugees’ skills and labour potential. However, this endeavour has proved far more complex than he makes it sound. Almost 10 years after IKEA’s first attempt to integrate refugees into its own supply chains in Jordan, the number of people the programme involves remains small, and refugees in the country still face significant barriers to work and social security.
A study we published in 2021 highlighted that a focus on refugee logistics actually meant working towards integrating displaced people into global supply chains rather than providing them with material support or infrastructure. Whether for business or for disaster relief, logistics depend on networks of infrastructure and rules that only function through ongoing negotiation with governments.
Finally, the contradictions of IKEA’s corporate and foundation ownership structure — what makes it work well as a business — embody the paradox of mixing public needs for refugee protection with private objectives for profit. The IKEA Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, has been working with UNHCR since 2010, supporting its operations in 16 countries. The UN agency defines the collaboration as “transformative”, highlighting how it has become a model for all its partnerships with the private sector. Moreover, the nomination comes at a time when major donor states, including the US, the United Kingdom and Germany, are slashing their budgets. In this geopolitical context, Sweden, while facing its own economic challenges, may well be seeking to stake its position as one of the last remaining humanitarian powers in the Western world. Brodin’s bid draws on Sweden’s perceived reputation for frugality and sustainability.
However, there is an unspoken yet fundamental contradiction between Brodin’s promise to address UNHCR’s crisis by “holding the purse strings” and the position of IKEA within global economic structures that have contributed to the humanitarian funding crisis in the first place. In 2017, following calls from EU parliamentary groups, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the Netherlands — where the company is headquartered — for its tax treatment of Inter IKEA, one of the two groups operating the IKEA business. The company’s ownership structure, which benefits its commercial operations, may also reduce its tax burden, thereby reducing contributions to public finances. Here, as in many other cases, big business promises to fix global inequality it has helped create.
In the present global climate of hostility to migrants and refugees, Brodin and IKEA’s brand of feel-good capitalism risks further hollowing out UNHCR’s protection mandate, reducing humanitarianism to a matter of well-managed supply chains. The stakes are high: when humanitarian priorities are shaped by corporate logic, core protections — from asylum access to basic assistance — risk being eroded. What benefits a business organisation does not necessarily serve the rights or needs of refugees.
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.