WASHINGTON — Exercising for the first time the line-item veto authority that presidents have sought for more than a century, President Clinton on Monday struck three provisions from the sweeping tax and spending measures that he signed last week.

The historic action, which gave the president long-coveted control over Congress’ constitutionally enshrined power of the purse, provoked angry responses from some Republicans, but could save taxpayers $600 million over five years.

“The actions I take today will save the American people hundreds of millions of dollars . . . and send a signal that the Washington rules have changed for good,” Clinton said at an Oval Office ceremony. “From now on, presidents will be able to say ‘no’ to wasteful spending or tax loopholes, even as they say ‘yes’ to vital legislation. Special interests will not be able to play the old game of slipping a provision into a massive bill in the hope no one will notice.”

The Republican-led Congress passed the line-item veto authority–which for the first time allows a president to strike down a single legislative provision rather than an entire bill–early last year as a presidential weapon against wasteful spending, but it did not take effect until January. In June, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the veto on a technicality; another court challenge to the new executive authority is virtually certain.

Clinton deleted the following provisions from the two measures:

* A one-year tax haven for the easily portable profits that financial-services firms–like investment companies and brokerage houses–make in their foreign subsidiaries. Clinton argued that the provision was too broad and could allow the companies to inappropriately shelter dividend and interest income.

* A special-interest tax break allowing individuals to defer taxes on profits they make from selling food processing plants to farmers cooperatives, organizations owned by farmers. The president charged that although he wants to support efforts by small farmers to profit from the processing of their crops, the provision was drafted too broadly and could inordinately benefit large agribusinesses.

* An element in the spending measure that would have allowed one state, New York, to continue to tax health care providers to cover a portion of its costs for the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income, elderly and disabled Americans. The president struck this provision because it gave a break to one state while it immediately disadvantaged several others and had the potential to disadvantage all the other states.

Some Republican members of Congress assailed Clinton for vetoing provisions of the two measures that made up the so-called balanced-budget agreement, which was painstakingly negotiated between the White House and Congress over several months.

“Disappointment and surprise are the usual side effects of having been blindsided, and today’s line-item veto announcement is no exception,” said Christina Martin, spokeswoman for House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

But as longtime supporters of the line-item veto, other congressional Republicans chose muted responses to the first exercise of the authority.

“Everyone knows that I fought for years to give the line-item veto authority to the president of the United States,” Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said in a statement. “I’m a firm supporter of the process, and as part of that process, Congress now has a period of time to review the president’s cancellations and make the decision on whether to move to disapprove them.”

Despite the grumbling, White House officials said they do not expect Congress to actually vote to override the president’s first use of the line-item veto.

“Many Republicans have, along with the president, championed the line-item veto,” said Gene Sperling, who heads the president’s National Economic Council. “It would seem to make little sense for them to want to stake themselves out as opponents of the line-item veto.”

Some congressional supporters of the veto expressed concern that the president first aimed his veto pen at tax and entitlement spending measures in the carefully cobbled together tax and spending legislation rather than at the traditionally pork-laden appropriations bills scheduled to reach his desk this autumn.

“In his rush for expediency, I fear the president has risked the future of this important budget-cutting tool,” complained Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a big supporter of the line-item veto.

Supporters of the targeted veto believe that there is a stronger case for its use on spending items. Until 1974, when Congress stripped presidents of the power to “impound” money, presidents regularly refused to spend money that had been appropriated by Congress. Because there is no similar precedent for the excising of specific tax provisions, some supporters and experts believe that such an exercise of the new veto authority may be more vulnerable to court challenges.

Clinton and his advisors defended his decision to act now, although there was been some internal disagreement about whether to wait for the appropriations bills.

“I expect the most glaring examples to come up in the appropriations process,” Clinton told reporters. However, Clinton said he hopes his use of the veto now will discourage lawmakers from putting costly special-interest provisions into the spending bills in the first place.

It is just this deterrent effect that legal scholars argue makes the line-item veto provision ripe for constitutional challenge.

“By touting its efficacy as a deterrent, the president is underscoring the way it distorts the constitutional process,” said Laurence H. Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University.

Tribe is one of many legal and political scholars who believe that the line-item veto authority is unconstitutional and will likely be overturned by the Supreme Court as early as next summer. Several members of Congress have already challenged the new executive tool. In April, a federal district court judge found in their favor, ruling that the measure offset the balance of powers established in the Constitution. But the Supreme Court in June rejected the case on appeal, saying that the plaintiffs–six members of Congress–lacked standing.

But at least one of the parties aggrieved by Clinton’s vetoes is sure to sue and would have standing, experts predicted.

“In a society as litigious as ours, the idea that none of the aggrieved parties wanted to sue would be almost unimaginable,” Tribe said.

Clinton, a former teacher of constitutional law, argues that the line-item authority can withstand the constitutional challenge.

“As long as the legislature has the right to override the executive. . . . I do not believe it is an unconstitutional delegation of the legislature’s authority to the president,” he said.

Congress can override each of the president’s line-item vetoes with a two-thirds majority vote.

Clinton also noted that in 43 states, governors have some form of line-item veto authority. “It has been upheld in state after state [and] the provisions of most state constitutions are similar to the provisions of the federal Constitution in the general allocation of executive authority and legislative authority,” Clinton said.

The first president to ask Congress for line-item veto authority was Ulysses S. Grant in 1873. Other presidents who were big supporters of the power included Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan.

In recent decades, congressional Republicans, who were in the minority in the House for 40 years, were fervent advocates of the line-item veto authority.

“They were all anxious to have it to provide a Republican president with that kind of power against a Democratic Congress,” said Charles Jones, a political scientist from the University of Wisconsin. “It’s ironic that here a Democratic president gets to use it against a Republican Congress.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Stroke of the Pen

Wielding power sought by presidents for generations, President Clinton on Monday exercised the line-item veto:

VETOED ITEMS

* Medicaid spending provision benefiting New York state. SAVINGS: $200 million

* A special-interest tax break allowing individuals to defer taxes on profits they make from selling food processing plants to farmers cooperatives. SAVINGS: $98 million

* Deferral for financial services companies on taxes incurred by overseas subsidiaries. SAVINGS: $317 million

****

HOW IT WORKS

The law allows the president to veto new spending and some tax cuts, principally those aimed at fewer than 100 beneficiaries. Congress has 30 days to overturn the vetoes by a two-thirds majority vote in each house.

****

WHAT’S NEXT

* A court challenge is considered likely.

* More line-item vetoes are possible as appropriation bills begin arriving on Clinton’s desk.

“The actions . . . send a signal that the Washington rules have changed for good.”

–President Clinton

Bristol: Rees-Zammit; Heward, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ravouvou; Jordan, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Kloska, Rubiolo, Batley, S Grondona, Harding (capt), Mata.

Replacements: Thacker, Lahiff, Halliwell, Owen, B Grondona, Marmion, Worsley, Moroni.

Bordeaux: Buros; Penaud, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Page-Relo; Poirot, Lamothe (capt), Sadie, Palu, Coleman, Du Preez, Woki, Matiu.

Replacements: Sa, Boniface, Tameifuna, Cazeaux, Vergnes-Taillefer, Carbery, Janse van Rensburg, Rayasi.

WHEN you think of visiting London, Bromley might not be the first place in mind – but that’s all about to change.

Major musician David Bowie grew up in Bromley at 4 Plaistow Grove and that address is now set to become a major tourist attraction.

The singer’s childhood home, where he lived from age eight to 20, will be restored and open to the public in late 2027.

The Heritage of London Trust acquired the property, which is where Bowie wrote his smash hit Space Oddity.

And when it reopens to the public, the “two up, two down” railway workers’ cottage will be a space for creative and skills workshops for young people.

The layout will be exactly as it was when Bowie lived there.

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The focal point of the experience, though, will be Bowie’s bedroom, which will measure 2.74 metres by 3.04 metres.

It is rumoured that the project will cost around £1million.

Nearby is also the Edwardian ‘Bowie bandstand’, where he performed as a young musician in 1969.

Dr Nicola Stacey, director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “David Bowie was a proud Londoner.

“Even though his career took him all over the world, he always remembered where he came from and the community that supported him as he grew up.

“It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to tell his story and inspire a new generation of young people and it’s really important for the heritage of London to preserve this site.”

Caitlin Moran, journalist, broadcaster and author said: “The most exciting place for any fan to visit is their hero’s teenage bedroom – because that’s the cocoon where they built themselves.

“All the world-changing started there.

“The chance for us all to walk through a newly-opened door, and see the suburban launch-pad from which David Bowie almost literally took off into space is beyond thrilling.”

Bowie wasn’t the only famous artist to come out of Bromley though.

Actress Julie Andrews was also born in the borough and is known for Mary Poppins (1964) and being the lead role in The Sound of Music (1965).

Singer Pixie Lott was born in the borough back in 1991 and since has had three albums reach the top 10.

If you want to explore other spots in the area, there is also the Chislehurst Caves.

The caves were originally dug out for chalk, which was used in lime burning and brick-making.

They then first opened to the public in 1900 and guides told Victorians history about the Romans, Druids and Saxons.

Then, over the following century, the caves were used for numerous different purposes including munitions storage for the Woolwich Arsenal in the First World War, mushroom growing in the 1920s and 1930s, and then it became an underground town and the largest air-raid shelter outside of London.

After this and until the 1970s, the caves were used as a venue for dances and concerts.

Today, they are currently a tourist attraction and education centre.

Tickets must be purchased on arrival and cost £9.50 per person.

Bromley is also home to a number of hotels and cosy pubs, including The George which serves pub classics including steak pie for £19.75 and fish and chips also for £19.75.

And it is considered one of London’s greenest boroughs, with over 100 parks and open spaces.

For example, you could head to High Elms Country Park, which sprawls out across 100 hectares and features woodlands, a nature centre, gardens and walking trails.

Bromley was also named one of the most peaceful spots to live in England.

Property company Sell House Fast considered a number of factors such as low noise levels, minimal light pollution and limited environmental disruption.

It was found that Bromley has darker skies than the rest of London and some of the lowest greenhouse emissions in England.

David Bowie fans can also check out the 8,000-year-old UK caves where he and the Rolling Stones performed – each visit costs just £8.

Plus, ‘world’s strangest place’ is a UK adventure park that’s a cross between Alice and Wonderland and a David Bowie movie.

The UK decision to ban supporters of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from a match against Aston Villa last year sparked such intense backlash that the West Midlands Police Chief Craig Guildford has stepped down. A gov’t report concluded inaccuracies and ‘bias’ factored into the police’s decision to ban fans, even though they had acted violently in Amsterdam.

Following the season 2 finale of Landman, a title card tribute was shared to Judy Ann Prachyl.

Landman season two has just come to an end on Paramount Plus and the Taylor Sheridan series included plenty of twists for Billy Bob Thornton’s character, Tommy Norris.

As the series, which has already been renewed for a third season, drew to a close, a title card appeared in memory of Judy Ann Prachyl and fans are keen to find out more about her role in the show.

Judy died on December 18, 2025 and she was a self-confessed fan of the Yellowstone series and Sheridan himself.

She was described in the series as the “nursing home OG” and she was from Weatherford, Texas, like Sheridan and his Bosque Ranch.

In an obituary shared online, a special mention is made of Sheridan’s wife Nicole, suggesting she was personally connected to the family.

While she did not have an acting role in Landman, she holds a place in the hearts of Sheridan and his family, as well as the wider Texas community.

The online tribute shared how Judy retired from Weatherford Independent School District where she worked in administration.

She also worked as a volunteer at St Stephen Catholic Church and often took part in church events and services.

Judy was “known for her vibrant personality and beautiful smile” and the obituary said her “spirit will continue to inspire those she leaves behind, and her impact on her community will forever be felt”.

Referencing Sheridan’s wife, it went on to say: “The family would like to give a special heart-filled thanks to Nicole Sheridan, Traci Werne-Morrison and Johnny Holt for the love and care they had for Judy during the last few years.”

The Landman season two finale also highlighted some significant turning points for the characters, with Tommy turning his attention to a solo venture.

For fans of the series, the tribute to Judy offered a look into the personal side of the show’s creative process.

Even though Judy was not involved in the show in any way, the tribute clearly meant a great deal to Sheridan and his team.

The series will return to Paramount Plus with season three in the near future.

Landman airs on Paramount Plus

With Bill Clinton scheduled to occupy the White House in January, the two Democrats newly elected to Congress from San Diego County said Wednesday they will press for federal dollars to replace the thousands of defense jobs that have been lost in the area with civilian jobs.

San Diego City Councilman Bob Filner and Port Commissioner Lynn Schenk, both Democrats, were still basking in their Election Day victories, but they had already plotted out a similar agenda for their first 100 days in Washington.

“Simply put, it’s jobs,” Filner said. “San Diego needs jobs. Lynn and I have good connections in the party, and we hope to use them to bring jobs and business investment to San Diego.”

Schenk is the first woman elected to Congress from San Diego County.

The election of Filner and Schenk means the county’s congressional delegation will now be made up of two Democrats and three Republicans. The Republicans, all incumbents, were returned to Washington on Tuesday.

GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter got a wake-up call of sorts from the voters in the 52nd District. The seven-term congressman beat his Democratic challenger Janet M. Gastil by 10 percentage points, 52% to 42%. But in his last two elections Hunter trounced his opponents by winning 73% and 74% of the vote in 1990 and 1988, respectively.

Gastil ran an aggressive campaign against Hunter, constantly hammering him with television and radio ads that criticized him for the 407 overdrafts totaling $129,225 that he wrote on his U.S. House bank account.

Schenk, who won in the 49th District, and Filner, who won in the 50th District, said they would work to make sure that San Diego is not left out of Clinton’s $50-billion reinvestment plan for America’s cities.

San Diego’s defense and aerospace industries have been hard-hit, both by the recession and the downsizing of the military. About 7,000 jobs have been lost in these industries over the past three years.

“The defense industry is very important to San Diego,” Schenk said. “We cannot allow the President and Congress to wipe out the industry here and not replace it with meaningful jobs in the civilian sector. . . . San Diego is an area where we can look to environmental technology as a future job-producing base.”

“Economic conversion to get the defense industry to move to domestic production is a top priority,” Filner said. “But the No. 1 priority for me will be to get our shipbuilding industry moving. I believe that if we can get Nassco (National Steel & Shipbuilding Co.) moving in the double-hull tanker market, we can turn the economy around in San Diego.”

The Nassco shipyard, which is in Filner’s district, is the only privately owned shipyard left on the West Coast. The company relies almost exclusively on Navy repair and shipbuilding contracts, but Nassco executives said they hope to capture some of the double-hull market.

A new federal law requires U.S. oil tankers to be converted to double hulls beginning next year.

Filner’s margin of victory was almost 2 to 1, 57% to 29%, over his Republican challenger, Tony Valencia. That is larger than the 16% registration edge that Democrats have in the district.

Schenk’s victory was not as certain. She won in a district where Republicans have a 4% registration edge, 43% to 39%. Schenk trailed during the early returns but rebounded and won the race by 10 percentage points over GOP challenger Judy Jarvis.

Hunter was unavailable for comment Wednesday. Campaign officials said he had decided to travel throughout the district to thank voters who returned him to office.

A bitter Gastil said she had not ruled out another challenge to the ultra-conservative Hunter in 1994. The former La Mesa school board member and orchard owner was still smarting from what she said were Hunter’s “sleazy campaign tactics.”

Gastil complained that Hunter misled voters when he alleged in his campaign literature that she supported a 10-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax and that she favored eliminating the military. Hunter’s ads also labeled her as a liberal who would eliminate jobs.

“He sent out a mailer saying that I wanted to eliminate the military,” Gastil said. “That was the first time it hit me like a ton of bricks that the man was telling outright lies. . . . I saw in the final days of the campaign a man desperately lying to save his job.”

“It’s too early to have definitive plans, but offhand, I would say that I will definitely challenge him again in 1994,” she added.

They say “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so the photo of St. Francis standout golfer Jaden Soong and 7-foot-4 classmate Cherif Millogo might one day be worth thousands of dollars.

Soong, a sophomore, won the CIF state golf championship as a freshman. There’s little doubt he’s destined to be on the PGA Tour.

Jaden Soong celebrates after winning the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Saticoy Club in Somis in 2024.

(SCGA)

Millogo, a junior, is a rising basketball prospect. USC just offered him a scholarship.

Millogo used to play soccer, so there’s little doubt Soong could teach him to play golf — if he could find clubs long enough for him.

Basketball coach Todd Wolfson, who’s 6-8, might be able to loan him his.

“One day I wish to be as tall as Cherif and as good in golf as Jaden is,” Wolfson said.

Soong is playing in junior tournaments right now and probably won’t join his high school team until March.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

WHAT could be better than getting out of the cold and into a cosy pub, eating traditional British fare and supping a pint of locally brewed real ale?

It’s even better if you can walk out of the bar and into a room at the inn.

Here, Trisha Harbord selects ten fabulous UK pubs that offer a room and a hearty breakfast from as little as £99 a night.

PUNCH BOWL, CUMBRIA

THIS gorgeous inn, situated next to a quaint parish church in Crosthwaite, helped kick-start the gastro-pub scene in the Lakes 20 years ago.

Produce from the owner’s farm goes into traditional pub food. Overnight guests are treated to cream tea and a full Cumbrian breakfast. The nine boutique-style rooms have beamed ceilings and bathrooms with rainbow showers.

SEE: The nearby 13th century remains of Kendal castle. Get a ferry from Bowness to Hawkshead to visit the Beatrix Potter attraction.

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STAY: B&B from £145 a night. Offer until January 27 of a free night’s stay when booking two nights (excluding Saturdays). See the-punchbowl.co.uk.

FELIN FACH GRIFFIN, BRECON BEACONS

IT’S hard to think of getting away from it all in a pub – but the Felin Fach Griffin, near Hay-on-Wye, has limited mobile reception, no televisions in the bedrooms and only wi-fi in the bar.

Diners can choose to eat delicious food with produce from the kitchen garden in the cosy library, quirky tack room or Aga room.

Seven plush en-suite bedrooms in the former flour mill have views of the countryside or mountains.

SEE: The stars as it’s in the middle of the Brecon Beacons National Park, a dark sky reserve. Activities include golf, horse-riding and mountain biking.

STAY: B&B from £182.50 a night. See eatdrinksleep.ltd.uk.

BLIND BULL, PEAK DISTRICT

A Visit England winner, the Blind Bull was also awarded silver Pub of the Year 2025 – a category honouring pubs that make a significant contribution to tourism.

The restored 12th-century inn at Little Hucklow has a bar, a la carte menu, real ales, comfy chairs and open fires. New accommodation includes five luxury en-suite rooms and a cottage. Dogs are welcome too.

SEE: Castleton’s four famous caves and magnificent Chatsworth House, used in many TV productions in- cluding Peaky Blinders and The Crown.

STAY: Re-opens after annual leave on January 28. B&B from £130. See theblindbull.co.uk for more information.

THE CASTLE INN, DORSET

THERE is nothing like a thatched roof to signal cosiness. The Castle Inn in West Lulworth is one of the oldest pubs in Dorset, dating to 1660.

Have a pint of local ale while tucking into classic British food including beer-battered fish and chips. There are 12 boutique ensuite rooms with extra facilities including a mini-fridge and free toiletries.

The pub, which welcomes families and dogs, is the perfect base to explore the stunning Jurassic Coast.

SEE: Beautiful Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Lulworth Castle and the Fossil Forest. Lots of adventure including watersports.

STAY: B&B from £99. See butcombe.com/the-castle-inn-dorset.

THE BELL, EAST SUSSEX

BIRCH trees in the rooms, saxophones in the loos and a garden lodge named The House of Madness – they just love being quirky at The Bell in Ticehurst.

The pub dates back to 1560 and nearly 100 years later was licensed to lodge travellers at one penny a bed including food.

It’s still serving up wonderful pub grub and has won AA awards for culinary excellence. There are seven bedrooms, each with their own silver birch for decoration.

SEE: Bedgebury National Pinetum, which has the largest conifer collection in the world; Bewl water, a lake with watersports; and 14th-century Bodiam Castle.

STAY: B&B from £135 a night. See thebellinticehurst.com.

FITZHERBERT ARMS, STAFFS

THIS award-winning pub in Swynnerton has an extensive list of port.

Owners Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin have even named ten fabulous en-suite rooms – housed in a renovated 100-year-old farmhouse – after ports such as Malvedos and Bomfim.

A mouth-watering menu uses local produce to make classic British food including pies and fish and chips. Mary says: “It’s a proper pub with ales from within a 35-mile radius.”

SEE: The countryside on the dog-friendly pub’s three-and-a-half mile circular walk. Nearby attractions include World Of Wedgwood and Trentham Gardens.

STAY: B&B from £135 a night. See fitzherbertarms.co.uk.

INN AT WHITEWELL, LANCS

COMEDIANS Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon checked in to The Inn At Whitewell for their 2010 TV series The Trip.

The former 16th-century coaching house, which offers great views over the River Hodder, was the first stop on their gourmet tour of the North of England.

Head chef Jamie Cadman has a great reputation, and the pub has a selection of more than 400 wines. There are 26 individually-decorated rooms and a three-bedroom holiday home, all dog-friendly.

SEE: The fells and moorland on a walk from the front door, Clitheroe market and Clitheroe Castle.

STAY: B&B from £160. See innatwhitewell.com.

FLEECE INN, COTSWOLDS

BEST Country Pub at the 2025 Great British Pub Awards is just one of the many awards The Fleece Inn in the village of Bretforton has won.

Landlord Nigel Smith is happy to talk about the 600-year history of the one-time Tudor farmhouse over a pint of one of his real ales.

Enjoy some fantastic food and lively folk nights at the inn, which offers accommodation in the master’s bedroom, cottage or glamping in a caravan.

SEE: Nearby Honeybourne Pottery, National Trust Croome Park and take a 20-mile trip on the GWSR steam railway.

STAY: B&B from £100 a night. See thefleeceinn.co.uk.

LORD CREWE ARMS, NORTHUMBERLAND

Showcasing Northumberland’s producers and breweries, the 12th-century pub in the medieval village of Blanchland even has its own Lord Crewe Brew on tap in the vaulted Crypt Bar.

There’s also a local gin and whiskey.

Menus change throughout the year with lots of comfort food, and the Sunday lunch is regarded as one of the best in the North.

The pub is a great choice for family and friends’ gatherings as there are 26 individually- decorated rooms.

SEE: Stunning landscapes while exploring the North Pennines and Hadrian’s Wall.

STAY: B&B from £204. See lordcrewearmsblanchland.co.uk.

BASSET ARMS, CORNWALL

CHECKING in on the Cornish coast is a real treat. The Basset Arms in Portreath has just been refurbished so, even though it’s an 18th-century building, everything inside is shiny and new.

Cornish specialities such as West Coast mussels and crab are served along with locally brewed ales and spirits. And you can also enjoy a Cornish cream tea. The pub offers three ensuite rooms with Egyptian cotton bedding.

SEE: The golden sands of Carbis Bay Beach, the South West coastal path and travel on the super train journey from St Erth to St Ives.

STAY: B&B from £150. Special winter offer including a two-course dinner from £165. See bassetarms.co.uk

Jan. 16 (UPI) — The Trump administration, backed by a group of eastern-states’ governors, are planning to ask the PJM Interconnection electric grid operator to hold an auction to help boost the power supply strained by data centers and lower prices for consumers.

The emergency power auction would offer 15-year contracts for electricity generation from newly built power plants. Normally, auctions offer one-year contracts to energy companies. The proposed auction would be open to tech companies to help pay for their extra power use.

Trump also wants regulators to put a cap on the amount that existing power plants can charge.

The auction would be let the tech giants pay to fuel their energy-gobbling data centers that process data for artificial intelligence. The cost of electricity generation for data centers is driving up the price of power to consumers. The White House can’t mandate the auction.

PJM Interconnection is the power grid that serves 13 states and Washington, D.C. It serves 65 million people and includes northern Virginia, which is the largest data center market in the world. The money raised would help finance construction of new power plants.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and governors from the mid-Atlantic region are scheduled to announce an agreement Friday to lobby PJM to take these actions, a White House official told CNBC.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the administration is leading an unprecedented bi-partisan effort urging PJM to fix the energy subtraction failures of the past, prevent price increases and reduce the risk of blackouts,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.

In its most recent auction, PJM was 6 gigawatts short of its reliability requirement for 2027, CNBC said. Six gigawatts is equal to six large nuclear plants.

“Instead of a blackout happening every one in 10 years, we’re looking at something more often,” said Abe Silverman, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who served as general counsel for New Jersey’s public utility board.

Consumer rates are determined by state regulators, but also by the costs that utilities pay for energy from their plants or at auctions. Rates have risen because of the higher demand from AI and data centers.

The Syrian army is advancing towards Raqqa, the stronghold of the United States-trained, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after capturing the northern strategic city of Tabqa and its military airport on the Euphrates River in a lightning offensive.

Government forces captured the Euphrates Dam, also known as the Tabqa Dam, about 50km (31 miles) west of Raqqa city, after heavy fighting with SDF forces. Government forces are amassing heavy military equipment in Raqqa governorate, which has been under SDF control since 2015.

Fighting erupted between the army and SDF forces in Aleppo on January 6 after talks aimed at integrating the Kurdish fighters into Syria’s national army stalled. The two sides also clashed last month before a deadline for the SDF to lay down its heavy weapons and hand over control of areas in Aleppo to the national army.

So what’s the latest situation on the ground? Will the offensive by the Syrian army heighten the conflict in northern Syria?

What is the latest from Syria’s northeast?

On Sunday, the Syrian army took control of Tabqa, about 40km (24 miles) west of Raqqa. It also captured the Euphrates Dam, the largest in the country and adjacent to the strategic city, as well as the Freedom Dam, formerly known as the Baath Dam.

Government-allied groups said they have taken control of the Asayish headquarters, the security and police force in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in the town of Markada while tribal fighters allied with the government have taken control of several major oil- and gasfields in the northeast, including Jafra and Conoco located in Deir Az Zor province bordering Iraq.

The Syrian Petroleum Company said Syrian forces seized the Rasafa and Sufyan oilfields in Raqqa, which could now be returned to production, according to the Reuters news agency.

Syrian state media on Sunday accused the SDF of using drones in areas east of Deir Az Zor, another SDF stronghold in the northeast.

Video clips and live footage published on social media and verified by Al Jazeera show celebrations in the cities of Hajin and al-Shuhayl in the eastern countryside of Deir Az Zor after news of the withdrawal of the SDF from the area. The Deir Az Zor governorate has announced the closure of all public institutions for the safety of residents as fighting continues to rage.

Syrian Ministry of Interior spokesman Noureddine al-Baba told Al Jazeera that police have secured all areas captured by Syrian soldiers after the rapid territorial gains over the past few days.

On Saturday, the SDF withdrew from Deir Hafer and some surrounding villages in Aleppo governorate that are home to predominantly Arab populations, after which Syrian forces moved in, triggering celebrations. Deir Hafer is about 50km (30 miles) east of Aleppo city.

“It happened with the least amount of losses,” Hussein al-Khalaf, a resident of Deir Hafer, told Reuters. “There’s been enough blood in this country, Syria. We have sacrificed and lost enough. People are tired of it.”

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, affiliated with the SDF, on Saturday accused the Syrian government of violating a withdrawal agreement, saying it “attacked our forces on multiple fronts since yesterday morning”. The SDF also warned that the attacks on Raqqa might threaten security as the city hosts thousands of ISIL (ISIS) detainees.

The US-backed SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, was formed in 2015, nearly four years after the armed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began. Al-Assad remained in power until he was ousted in December 2024 by Syrian opposition fighters led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now interim president.

The US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, will meet SDF leader Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) and al-Sharaa on Sunday in Damascus, according to the Syrian Ministry of Information.

The renewed fighting has widened the rift between al-Sharaa’s government, which has pledged to reunify Syria after 14 years of war, and wary Kurdish authorities who distrust the new administration. On Friday al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the minority group official recognition.

How significant is the control of Raqqa?

Raqqa is an Arab-majority governorate in northern Syria and has some of the country’s largest oil- and gasfields.

Kurdish anxieties have been sharpened by sectarian bloodshed last year when almost 1,500 Alawites were killed by pro-government forces in western Syria and hundreds of Druze were killed in clashes in the south.

When the Syrian army seized these regions, Arab civilians took to the streets to celebrate.

“This indicated the social and demographic fragility of the SDF. Now the question is, will the SDF see this reality and agree to demands by Damascus to integrate into the Syrian state,” Omer Ozkizilcik from the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs said.

Omar Abu Layla, a Syrian affairs analyst, told Al Jazeera Barrack tried on several occasions to bring the SDF to the negotiating table with the authorities in Damascus but “they didn’t listen to him.”

Abu Layla said the central government made many overtures to the group but the SDF “wasted time”, assuming the authorities in Damascus were weak and allowing nearly a year to pass since an agreement in March that would have seen the SDF’s forces integrated into the regular army.

“What [we] are witnessing now in the region is the end of the SDF,” he argued.

What was the March agreement between the Syrian army and SDF?

On March 10, al-Sharaa reached an agreement with Abdi.

The agreement emphasised the unity of Syria and stipulated that “all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria” be merged “into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport and oil and gas fields”.

The agreement also included affirmation that the Kurdish people are integral to Syria and have a right to citizenship and guaranteed constitutional rights.

After a breakdown of this deal, heavy fighting between the SDF and Syrian army resumed in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods of Aleppo city last month. A US-brokered ceasefire took effect on January 10.

The SDF’s secular Kurdish leadership is linked to the Kurdish nationalist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which fought a decades-old rebellion against the Turkish state until last year. Although the PKK announced in May that it would lay down its arms and disband, it is still listed as a “terrorist” group by Turkiye, the European Union and the US.

Despite this, the US backed the SDF because it was an effective partner against ISIL, which the SDF and a US-led coalition defeated in northeastern Syria by 2019.

How has the US reacted?

Washington has urged the Syrian army to stop advancing into Kurdish-held territory.

Admiral Brad Cooper, who is in charge of US Central Command, which oversees the US military’s Middle East operations, wrote in a statement published on X that the Syrian army should “cease any offensive actions in areas” between Aleppo city and Tabqa.

Aleppo is roughly 160km (100 miles) west of Tabqa.

“Aggressively pursuing ISIS and relentlessly applying military pressure requires teamwork among Syrian partners in coordination with US and coalition forces,” Cooper said. “A Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors is essential to peace and stability across the region.”

William Laurence, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, and a former US diplomat, said “it’s going to be very difficult” for the US to resolve the political impasse between Syria’s government and the SDF.

“[US President Donald] Trump wants the quick fix, and he wants Tom Barrack to sort of wave a magic wand and get what he wants. But that’s not really how things work,” Laurence told Al Jazeera.

“Sustainable solutions rely on trust-building, and we’ve had very little of that.”

What has al-Sharaa said?

After fierce clashes earlier this month, al-Sharaa issued a decree on Friday formally recognising Kurdish as a “national language” and restoring citizenship to all Kurdish Syrians.

At least 22 people were killed and 173 wounded in Aleppo after fighting broke out there on January 6.

The decree for the first time grants Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of their Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric. It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it.

It also abolishes measures dating to a 1962 census in Hasakah province that stripped many Kurds of Syrian nationality and grants citizenship to all affected residents, including those previously registered as stateless.

The decree declares Newroz, the Kurdish New Year festival, a paid national holiday. It bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination, requires state institutions to adopt inclusive national messaging and sets penalties for incitement to ethnic strife.

Reacting to the decree, the Kurdish administration in Syria’s north and northeast said the decree was “a first step, however it does not satisfy the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people”.

It added that “rights are not protected by temporary decrees, but… through permanent constitutions that express the will of the people and all components” of a society.

The Madison, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, is the latest series in the Yellowstone franchise set to debut on Paramount Plus soon

Yellowstone devotees and Taylor Sheridan enthusiasts are buzzing with anticipation following the announcement of the official release date for his forthcoming drama The Madison.

The eagerly awaited TV series, which boasts major stars including Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, will stream on Paramount Plus and centres on the Clyburn family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.

The six-episode season is set to debut on March 14 and represents Sheridan’s most compact project yet, as his productions typically span eight or 10 episodes.

However, this won’t signal the end of the series, as a second season was reportedly commissioned even before the season one release date was announced.

According to Deadline, filming for The Madison’s second season was due to commence in September. The series has been billed as Sheridan’s most personal work to date, exploring themes of grief and human connection, reports Wales Online.

The ensemble cast also features Beau Garrett, Elle Chapman, Patrick J. Adams, Amiah Miller, Alaina Pollack, Ben Schnetzer, Kevin Zegers, Rebecca Spence, Danielle Vasinova and Matthew Fox.

Paramount unveiled some first-look images showcasing the cast in contemporary settings, including Pfeiffer as Stacy Clyburn and Garrett as Abigail Reese.

Fans flocked to X, formerly Twitter, to express their reactions to the latest news, with Luce commenting on one of the photos: “Beautiful shot. We’re ready and waiting for you, Pfeiffer.”

Reacting to a photograph of Ben Schnetzer portraying Sheriff Van Davis, one enthusiast commented on Deadline’s platform: “I will tune in for that sheriff alone!”.

This neo-Western drama marks the fifth instalment in the Yellowstone franchise, though it operates independently from the original Yellowstone series.

The project received the green light in May 2023 as an unnamed Yellowstone spin-off, with filming taking place across Montana between September and October 2024.

Sequences depicting New York City were shot in Dallas, before production relocated to Fort Worth, Texas. The second season concluded filming in North Texas during December 2025.

On 20 December, actress Elle Chapman confirmed via an Instagram story that production had finished, writing: “And that’s a wrap on season 2. Heart is full.”

Uncertainty remained regarding whether the upcoming episodes would constitute a second series, or simply serve as the latter half of the first season.

The Madison airs on Paramount Plus on March 14

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

WASHINGTON — “Abolish ICE.”

Democratic lawmakers and candidates for office around the country increasingly are returning to the phrase, popularized during the first Trump administration, as they react to this administration’s forceful immigration enforcement tactics.

The fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent this month in Minneapolis sparked immediate outrage among Democratic officials, who proposed a variety of oversight demands — including abolishing the agency — to rein in tactics they view as hostile and sometimes illegal.

Resurrecting the slogan is perhaps the riskiest approach. Republicans pounced on the opportunity to paint Democrats, especially those in vulnerable seats, as extremists.

An anti-ICE activist in an inflatable costume stands next to a person with a sign during a protest near Legacy Emanuel Hospital on Jan. 10 in Portland, Ore. The demonstration follows the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis as well as the shooting of two individuals in Portland on Jan. 8 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

(Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images)

“If their response is to dust off ‘defund ICE,’ we’re happy to take that fight any day of the week,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. The group has published dozens of press statements in recent weeks accusing Democrats of wanting to abolish ICE — even those who haven’t made direct statements using the phrase.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) amplified that message Wednesday, writing on social media that “When Democrats say they want to abolish or defund ICE, what they are really saying is they want to go back to the open borders policies of the Biden administration. The American people soundly rejected that idea in the 2024 election.”

The next day, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) introduced the “Abolish ICE Act,” stating that Good’s killing “proved that ICE is out of control and beyond reform.” The bill would rescind the agency’s “unobligated” funding and redirect other assets to its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

Many Democrats calling for an outright elimination of ICE come from the party’s progressive wing. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said in a television interview the agency should be abolished because actions taken by its agents are “racist” and “rogue.” Jack Schlossberg, who is running for a House seat in New York, said that “if Trump’s ICE is shooting and kidnapping people, then abolish it.”

Other prominent progressives have stopped short of saying the agency should be dismantled.

A pair of protesters set up signs memorializing people who have been arrested by ICE, or have died in the process, at a rally in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Sen. Alex Padilla, (D-Calif.) who last year was forcefully handcuffed and removed from a news conference hosted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, joined a protest in Washington to demand justice for Good, saying “It’s time to get ICE and CBP out,” referring to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“This is a moment where all of us have to be forceful to ensure that we are pushing back on what is an agency right now that is out of control,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said on social media. “We have to be loud and clear that ICE is not welcome in our communities.”

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) said Democrats seeking to abolish ICE “want to go back to the open borders policies of the Biden administration.”

(Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)

Others have eyed negotiations over the yearly Homeland Security budget as a leverage point to incorporate their demands, such as requiring federal agents to remove their masks and to turn on their body-worn cameras when on duty, as well as calling for agents who commit crimes on the job to be prosecuted. Seventy House Democrats, including at least 13 from California, backed a measure to impeach Noem.

Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Diego), who serves on the House Committee on Appropriations, said his focus is not on eliminating the agency, which he believes has an “important responsibility” but has been led astray by Noem.

He said Noem should be held to account for her actions through congressional oversight hearings, not impeachment — at least not while Republicans would be in control of the proceedings, since he believes House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) would make a “mockery” of them.

“I am going to use the appropriations process,” Levin said, adding that he would “continue to focus on the guardrails, regardless of the rhetoric.”

Chuck Rocha, a Democratic political strategist, said Republicans seized on the abolitionist rhetoric as a scare tactic to distract from the rising cost of living, which remains another top voter concern.

“They hope to distract [voters] by saying, ‘Sure, we’re going to get better on the economy — but these Democrats are still crazy,’” he said.

Dozens of Angelenos and D.C.-area organizers, along with local activists, rally in front of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. Democrats have for years struggled to put forward a unified vision on immigration — one of the top issues that won President Trump a return to the White House.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Democrats have for years struggled to put forward a unified vision on immigration — one of the top issues that won President Trump a return to the White House. Any deal to increase guardrails on Homeland Security faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Congress, leaving many proposals years away from the possibility of fruition. Even if Democrats manage to block the yearly funding bill, the agency still has tens of billions of dollars from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Still, the roving raids, violent clashes with protesters and detentions and deaths of U.S. citizens and immigrants alike increased the urgency many lawmakers feel to do something.

Two centrist groups released memos last week written by former Homeland Security officials under the Biden administration urging Democrats to avoid the polarizing language and instead channel their outrage into specific reforms.

“Every call to abolish ICE risks squandering one of the clearest opportunities in years to secure meaningful reform of immigration enforcement — while handing Republicans exactly the fight they want,” wrote the authors of one memo, from the Washington-based think tank Third Way.

“Advocating for abolishing ICE is tantamount to advocating for stopping enforcement of all of our immigration laws in the interior of the United States — a policy position that is both wrong on the merits and at odds with the American public on the issue,” wrote Blas Nuñez-Neto, a senior policy fellow at the new think tank the Searchlight Institute who previously was assistant Homeland Security secretary.

Roughly 46% of Americans said they support the idea of abolishing ICE, while 43% are opposed, according to a YouGov/Economist poll released last week.

Sarah Pierce, a former policy analyst at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who co-wrote the Third Way memo, said future polls might show less support for abolishing the agency, particularly if the question is framed as a choice among options including reforms such as banning agents from wearing masks or requiring use of body cameras.

“There’s no doubt there will be further tragedies and with each, the effort to take an extreme position like abolishing ICE increases,” she said.

Laura Hernandez, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, a California-based organization that advocates for the closure of detention centers, said the increase in lawmakers calling to abolish ICE is long overdue.

“We need lawmakers to use their power to stop militarized raids, to close detention centers and we need them to shut down ICE and CBP,” she said. “This violence that people are seeing on television is not new, it’s literally built into the DNA of DHS.”

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) introduced the “Abolish ICE Act.”

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

Cinthya Martinez, a UC Santa Cruz professor who has studied the movement to abolish ICE, noted that it stems from the movement to abolish prisons. The abolition part, she said, is watered down by mainstream politicians even as some liken immigration agents to modern-day slave patrols.

Martinez said the goal is about more than simply getting rid of one agency or redirecting its duties to another. She pointed out that alongside ICE agents have been Border Patrol, FBI and ATF agents.

“A lot of folks forget that prison abolition is to completely abolish carceral systems. It comes from a Black tradition that says prison is a continuation of slavery,” she said.

But Peter Markowitz, a law professor and co-director of the Immigration Justice Clinic at the Cardozo School of Law, said the movement to abolish ICE around 2018 among mainstream politicians was always about having effective and humane immigration enforcement, not about having none.

“But it fizzled because it didn’t have an answer to the policy question that follows: If not ICE, then what?” he said. “I hope we’re in a different position today.”

There are high school basketball players, and even parents, who cringe when a coach says, “You’re playing with the junior varsity.”

Yes, times have changed. The days of varsity programs using JV teams to build up their programs are largely gone. Freshmen with potential end up playing varsity. Others are put on frosh-sophomore teams trying to develop chemistry with other freshmen. The attitude of players and parents alike is: Playing JV isn’t cool.

But those looking to be developed and perhaps get better when their inevitable growth spurt kicks in are missing out on what JV basketball is really for — player development.

It seems to have worked out for three varsity standouts this season who started out on their school’s JV team: Drew Anderson of Santa Margarita, Pierce Thompson of Harvard-Westlake and Isaiah Williamson of Los Alamitos. Fortunately, a little patience by everyone involved gave them the time and opportunity to wait for their bodies to mature and the rest is history. All three will one day be playing college basketball.

Anderson was 6-foot-3 as a freshman. He had a growth spurt, and this season is listed at 6-9. He and his family embraced the idea of learning to play on JV. Now he’s committed to Oregon State and is starring on the No. 4-ranked team in the Southland as a senior.

“My parents were athletes in college,” Anderson said. “They knew with time I’d get better.”

Thompson was a JV guard his freshman year and unlikely to contribute on varsity with many guards ahead of him in the program. Under less pressure, he was a standout. This season as a junior, his defensive prowess and three-point shooting make him the next top Harvard-Westlake guard following in the footsteps of Trent Perry.

Williamson had the family background to play on varsity as a freshman. His brother, Issac, was a star guard for state champion Eastvale Roosevelt. But Los Alamitos was loaded with seniors on varsity, so the decision was made to be patient and have him play on the JV team. This season as a sophomore, he has blossomed into an outstanding prospect from the class of 2028. He’s a 6-4 left-hander who can score from a variety of spots on the court.

Sophomore Isaiah Williamson of Los Alamitos was a JV player last season.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

One program that still believes in using the JV team to develop its players is Harvard-Westlake and coach David Rebibo. He has five exceptional freshmen on a JV team this season that is 24-0. They have embraced their journey of preparing to play varsity next season.

Freshman Dekoda Ray has led Harvard-Westlake’s unbeaten JV basketball team.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Dekoda Ray, a 6-3 freshman guard, could play varsity for many programs, but he and his parents huddled and decided a year on JV would be good for his development.

“We felt we have to trust the process,” Ray said. “Don’t play your game like you’re playing JV’s. Play like you’re playing for something greater.”

Rebibo said “transparency” is the only way to communicate with parents and players.

“We want kids who want to be on varsity,” he said. “But there’s an understanding we have to do what’s in the best interest of their development and playing behind four senior guards doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to play. We’re very honest.”

The five freshmen on JV will be heard from in the coming years: Ray, 6-7 Nairobi Ebi, 6-5 Jackson Thomas, 6-1 Max Paquin and 6-5 Nathan Kashper. Most will move up to varsity for the playoffs and they practiced with the varsity in the fall.

Another program that believes in JV teams as a training ground is St. John Bosco and coach Matt Dunn.

“Proudly,” Dunn said.

He lets everyone know that 11 St. John Bosco players who have gone on to play college basketball started out on JV.

The JV team is an environment for learning. If you make a mistake, a coach isn’t going to immediately put you on the bench like they do on varsity. Also not every 14-year-old is ready socially to play with 19-year-olds on varsity.

Anderson reminds everyone in the end, it doesn’t matter what team you start out on as a freshman.

“The work you put in will always win,” he said.

Former Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth says Israel’s recognition of outposts as new settlements, including Homesh, in the occupied West Bank, is an illegal strategy to prevent a Palestinian state.

Gaza City, al-Mawasi, Bureij refugee camp and Rafah all come under Israeli
air attacks and gunfire.

Israeli forces have wounded several Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, firing on civilians and launching air and artillery attacks in the latest near-daily violations of the ceasefire in place since October, as its genocidal war on the besieged enclave continues unabated.

Medical sources told the Palestinian news agency Wafa that Israeli drone fire on Sunday injured civilians in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in southern Gaza City. In southern Gaza, two people, including a girl, were wounded by Israeli gunfire in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis.

Additional injuries were reported in areas from which Israeli forces were meant to have withdrawn under the ceasefire.

Medical staff at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in eastern Gaza City said three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire near Netzarim, south of the city. Witnesses told the Anadolu news agency that an Israeli drone opened fire on the group.

At Nasser Medical Complex, medics confirmed that two more Palestinians were injured by Israeli fire in al-Mawasi. In central Gaza, doctors at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said Israeli forces shot a Palestinian man in the head in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, describing his condition as serious.

The Israeli military also carried out air attacks on buildings in Rafah in the south while Israeli artillery shelled areas east of Jabalia in the north and the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Helicopter gunfire was reported near the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and Israeli naval forces fired towards the coast of Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The latest attacks were carried out as Hamas has welcomed the establishment of a 15-member technocratic committee of Palestinians that would operate under the overall supervision of a “board of peace” to be chaired by United States President Donald Trump.

The administrative body will be tasked with providing public services to the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, but it faces towering challenges and unanswered questions, including about its operations and financing and whether Israel will block its operations.

Palestinian officials said Israel has repeatedly violated the US-brokered ceasefire, killing more than 460 Palestinians and wounding over 1,200 since it came into effect on October 10.

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

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

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounded over 171,000, most of them women and children.

The assault has destroyed about 90 percent of civilian infrastructure with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at $50bn.

Coronation Street actress Tanisha Gorey shared with fans that she is engaged to her boyfriend Lucas Whelan in an Instagram post while on a romantic holiday

Coronation Street actress Tanisha Gorey has revealed that she is engaged to her boyfriend, Lucas Whelan. Taking to Instagram, Tanisha, who was left emotional after Lucas popped the question during their romantic holiday, shared a picture of her diamond ring on social media.

The actress has played Asha Alahan since 2009. Showing off her diamond sparkler, the 24 year old star told fans that she was “still crying”, after Lucas surprised her with the proposal. And it looks as though Lucas had everything prepared, as Tanisha also showed off a pink and white cake with a message on it that read “just engaged.”

Giving fans more of an insight into her special moment, she showed that Lucas had placed red and silver balloons in their hotel room, with one spelling out “I love you.” The ITV star captioned the post saying: “Brb still crying,” which was accompanied by a tear, ring and heart emoji.

READ MORE: Traitors star Claudia Winkleman’s eyeshadow stick drops to less than £10 ahead of NYE

Within moments of posting her message, her Weatherfield co-stars and friends rushed to the comment section. Vicky Myers, who plays DS Lisa Swain in the ITV soap, wrote: “Congratulations to you both. What fabulous news xxx.”

Andy Whyment also said: “Ah, amazing, congratulations to you both.” Former Corrie star and Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach added: “Eeeeekkkk congratulations.”

Meanwhil,e Cait Fitton penned: “Whattt???!! Omgggg I’m so happy for you both! Congrats to you and Lucas.” Since arriving on the cobbles, Tanisha has had a string of heavy-duty storylines to contend with.

Her latest was in October when her character attempted to commit suicide. Unbeknownst to her father, Dev, Asha had tried to overdose on pills but was fortunately found in the street and taken to the hospital, where she recovered.

At the time, Asha was seen explaining: “I just remember that after Mason died, and then Craig died, I just started spiralling. I started feeling really low, hollowed out like a ghost. I know it sounds daft…”

She continued to explain to her father: “I tried, Dad, I really tried to focus on the good, but nothing worked. And I just wanted it all to stop but I didn’t know how so…” In response, an emotional Dev said: “No, accidents happen, people make mistakes.”

But before Dev was able to continue, Asha jumped in to inform her dad that her attempt was not an accident. In fact, she had wanted to end her life. She went on to say: “But dad… it wasn’t an accident. I’m so sorry. I know that once I’d taken those pills, I shouldn’t have. I’m glad that it didn’t work, I’m glad that I’m here.”

In a heartbreaking seen witnessed by the show’s legaion of fans, Dev broke down in tears as he confided in his wife Bernie. He told her: “The drugs she’s taken… they think they might have caused some damage,” he said as he fell apart. I nearly lost her, didn’t I? I nearly lost my little girl and I didn’t see it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Tanisha stars alongside her on-screen twin brother Adam Hussain. And the pair recently posed for pictures at the Soap Awards over the weekend. The duo, along with their on-screen dad were nominated for the Best Family award.

Despite not winning the award, both Adam and Tanisha were all smiles as they posed alongside their partners. In one snap which Tanisha posted to her Instagram stories, she looked the picture of elegance in her thigh high split dress.

Meanwhile Lucas, was seen wearing a sophisticated blue suit. Tanisha captioned the post saying: “Date night.” And her co-stars and fans were quick with messages of congratulations over how good they looked together.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

You can also get return flights for the same price

Would-be holidaymakers can snap up Ryanair flights to a destination boasting highs of 21C in February for as little as £17. The no-frills carrier, famous for its budget-friendly approach, frequently offers cut-price deals during quieter periods.

With Britain’s weather still chilly, plenty of people will be dreaming about jetting off abroad for some much-needed sunshine. According to Ryanair’s website, travellers can secure a one-way ticket to Fuerteventura, Spain’s second largest Canary Island, from just £17 next month. The island, located roughly 60 miles from the African coast, enjoys temperatures reaching 21C in February.

It’s a firm favourite with British holidaymakers, renowned for its stunning beaches and pleasant climate all year round. Those flying from London Stansted to Fuerteventura can grab a basic Ryanair fare for £17 on various dates throughout next month. Depending on the chosen date, flights take off at 6.25am, 7.10am, 2.05pm, 2.10pm, 2.20pm, or 2.40pm, and there is no time difference between the UK and Fuerteventura.

Return journeys start from £17, with planes leaving at 11.15am, 12pm, 6.55pm or 7.30pm, depending on your selected date. Visit Fuerteventura describes the island as: “A paradise with over 150 km of beaches of white sand and turquoise waters, where you can discover vast natural landscapes and experience the open character of the local people.

“An island where you can practise a host of activities in optimal conditions.” For those considering a trip to the island, temperatures typically don’t drop below 13C in February.

For comparison, London’s temperatures around the same period usually hover between 4-10C.

California has billionaires on the brain.

Last week union activists, hoisting giant cutouts of money bags and a cigar-smoking boss, announced a proposal to raise Los Angeles city taxes on companies with “overpaid” chief executives.

They rallied in front of a symbol of the uber rich: the futuristic, steel-covered Tesla Diner owned by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.

Meanwhile, a “billionaire tax” proposal prompted some of the wealthiest Californians to consider fleeing the state, amid arguments that they would take their tax revenue — and the companies they run — with them, hurting the ordinary residents the proposal is designed to help.

The focus on taxing the richest of the rich comes amid a growing affordability crisis in California, home to the nation’s most expensive housing market and highest income tax.

More than 200 billionaires reside in California, more than any other state, according to a group of law and economics professors at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and the University of Missouri who helped draft the statewide billionaire tax proposal, which proponents are hoping to place on the November ballot.

And they are getting richer. The collective wealth of the state’s billionaires surged from $300 billion in 2011 to $2.2 trillion in October 2025, according to a December report by those professors. In Los Angeles, where the median sale price of $1 million puts home ownership out of reach for many residents, prominent billionaires include David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Magic Johnson.

One conspicuous billionaire is especially unpopular in California: President Trump, who, despite campaigning on bringing down the cost of living, recently called the word “affordability” a “con job” as he redecorated the White House in gold.

“In a deep blue state like California that has voted against Donald Trump by such large numbers in the last three elections, voters are even more predisposed to be suspicious of billionaires, because he’s now the person with whom they associate the status,” said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, UC Berkeley and Pepperdine.

The state and local tax-the-billionaires proposals, he said, are “about retribution,” much like last year’s Proposition 50, which temporarily redraws the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats as a counterweight to Trump’s efforts to increase Republican seats in Texas.

To get the statewide billionaire tax proposal on the November ballot, supporters need to collect nearly 875,000 signatures by June 24.

The measure would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on taxpayers and trusts with assets, such as businesses, art and intellectual property, valued at more than $1 billion. It would apply to billionaires who were residents of the state on Jan. 1, with the option of spreading the tax payment over five years.

Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, its main backer, said it will raise $100 billion. Most of those funds would be used for healthcare programs, with the remaining 10% going to food assistance and education programs, the union said.

Suzanne Jimenez, the union’s chief of staff, said Friday that “catastrophic” federal funding cuts stemming from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act will force hospitals to close, eliminate healthcare jobs and cause insurance premiums to spike, leaving senior citizens and veterans with limited access to services.

The California Budget & Policy Center estimates that as many as 3.4 million Californians could lose Medi-Cal coverage and rural hospitals could close unless a new funding source is found.

Jimenez called the proposal “a modest tax” that “affects few people.”

But Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to stop the billionaire tax, arguing that California can’t isolate itself from the other 49 states.

“We’re in a competitive environment. People have this simple luxury, particularly people of that status, they already have two or three homes outside the state,” Newsom said at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit last month. “It’s a simple issue. You’ve got to be pragmatic about it.”

The billionaire tax would temporarily increase revenues by tens of billions spread over several years, but if billionaires move away, the state could lose “hundreds of millions of dollars or more per year,” according to the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Some of California’s wealthiest say they are indeed heading for the exits.

Andy Fang, the billionaire co-founder of DoorDash, wrote on social media: “I love California. Born and raised there. But stupid wealth tax proposals like this make it irresponsible for me not to plan leaving the state.”

Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, announced in December that his investment firm opened a new Miami office. He donated $3 million that month to a political action committee connected to the California Business Roundtable, which is fighting the measure.

State records show that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have been cutting ties to California and moving business interests out of state.

Rick Caruso, the billionaire real estate developer who self-funded his losing 2022 L.A. mayoral campaign to the tune of more than $100 million, said in a statement that “the proposed 5% asset tax is a very bad policy. It will deliver nothing it promises and instead hurt California with lost jobs and hundreds of millions a year in lost revenue from existing income taxes.”

Ending months of speculation, Caruso announced Friday he will not challenge Mayor Karen Bass again, nor will he run for governor in a race that includes billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer.

In Los Angeles, supporters of the “Overpaid CEO Tax” announced outside the Tesla Diner that they must collect 140,000 signatures in the next 120 days to get the measure on the November ballot. The measure would raise taxes on companies whose CEOs make at least 50 times more than their median-paid employee. It would apply only to companies with 1,000 or more employees.

The Fair Games Coalition, a collection of labor groups including the Los Angeles teachers union, is sponsoring the measure, which would allocate 70% of the revenue to housing for working families, 20% to street and sidewalk repairs and 5% to after-school programs and access to fresh food.

Business groups have denounced it, saying it would drive companies out of the city.

“Luxury for a few, while those who cook, who clean, who build, who teach, who write — the people who make the city prosperous — are stretched to the breaking point,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of the airport and hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11, said at Musk’s diner, describing it as an avatar for an unjust L.A. economy.

A similar effort to increase taxes on companies with disproportionately paid CEOs is underway in San Francisco, where voters already approved a levy on such businesses in 2020.

On Friday, Doug Herman, a spokesperson for Bass’ reelection campaign, said she has “not taken a position” on the state or city wealth tax proposals. But at her campaign launch last month, Bass framed the mayoral race as “a choice between working people and the billionaire class who treat public office as their next vanity project.”

Jeremy Padawer, a toy industry executive and animated TV producer who lost his home in the Palisades fire, said the mayor’s framing of the race as a battle against billionaires feels contrived, especially given the intense criticism of her handling of the fire.

Power is as relevant as money, and Bass is “the most powerful person in the room,” said Padawer, who organized the “They Let Us Burn” rally on the one-year anniversary of the fire.

“I know a lot of billionaires,” Padawer said. “And I think that billionaires have a propensity to do a lot of good, but they also have the propensity to do a lot of bad.”

Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.

Pundits discussing Manchester United “can talk on the television” but “no-one says anything” to your face, according to defender Lisandro Martinez.

Martinez, 27, helped United to an impressive 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City on Saturday, shackling striker Erling Haaland as the Red Devils kept just their third Premier League clean sheet of a disappointing campaign.

After sacking Ruben Amorim and putting Under-18s boss Darren Fletcher in charge for two games, the result gave Michael Carrick a dream start as United’s new interim head coach.

Before the derby, Martinez was on the receiving end of jibes from former Red Devils midfielders Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes.

Butt said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast that Haaland would “pick Martinez up and run with him” and treat the Argentine like a “little toddler”, while Scholes suggested the Norway forward would “throw him in the net” after scoring.

Asked about Scholes’ comment, Martinez said: “Honestly, he can say whatever he wants. I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care.

“And I think for me, I respect the relations when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television, but when you see [them] here face to face, no-one says anything in your face.

“So for me, I don’t really care what they say. I just put the focus on my performance, the performance of the team and I give everything to this club until my last day.”

IF you’re looking for glitz and glamour, ditch the likes of Monaco or Nice – this is the town you need to visit.

With seaside casinos, newly renovated 4-star hotels and a royal history, it’s got everything you need for a holiday of luxury.

Biarritz sits on the Bay of Biscay and has always been known for its glamour, particularly as it was once the must-visit destination for royals.

Now, it still keeps its class, but also blends it with surf culture, spas and plenty of beautiful beaches.

The Times revealed that the town would soon have a “glitzy new reason” to visit – and that’s the renovation of the Hotel Maison Chiberta.

The 4-star hotel sits near the seafront and reopened after a huge renovation in 2025.

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Inside are 58 rooms and suites ranging from standard all the way up to the Chiberta Suite which is a private apartment.

It has plenty of food options, once restaurant serves Basque, Iberian and Latin American dishes.

Every Sunday, the hotel offers its guests to enjoy Brunch à la Braise which is cooked outside on a brazier.

It has a fully renovated spa too with a large heated indoor pool that looks over the golf course, as well as three treatment rooms, a sauna and steam room.

During the warmer weather there’s a large outdoor pool too surrounded by sunbeds and parasols.

The hotel doesn’t just offer comfy beds and great food, there are experiences too from surf school to an equestrian club, golf courses, tennis, nature workshops and even a treasure hunt.

Outside of the hotel, there’s plenty to see from The Grand Plage which is the main stretch of sand.

But there’s a total of six beaches lining the coastline.

The town often attracts surfers, and has even been named the surfing capital of Europe.

Another popular stop is the Casino Barrière Biarritz which is filled with slot machines, table games, roulette and blackjack.

In history, it was less about the games and more about the glamour.

The well-known seaside town was often visited by King Edward VII during his reign in the early 1900s.

He even took UK ministers to the city for meetings.

Other famous faces included fashion designer Coco Chanel, who lived in Biarritz, and Napoleon II often visited during the summer.

Another popular site is the 5-star Hotel du Palais which was originally the summer residence of Emperor Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugénie.

It officially opened as a grand hotel in 1893, after being converted from a casino in 1880.

And it’s still a hit with visitors and locals – earlier this year, Biarritz was named the best place to live in France.

The study was conducted by Le Journal du Dimanche and Biarritz was named the best, beating other well known French cities like Lyon and Paris.

For those who want to head further afield, Biarritz is one of the closest beach cities to Spain and San Sebastián is just a short drive away.

You can get a direct flight from London Stansted to Biarritz with Ryanair.

This town is the ‘Pearl of the Riviera’ – it has 300 days of sunshine and lemon festivals…

Located on the border between France and Italy, the seaside town of Menton has been dubbed the “Pearl of the Riviera” by holidaymakers.

Home to pastel-coloured buildings, quaint streets, a picturesque harbour and vast lemon groves, Menton is a picture perfect.

Before officially becoming part of France in 1860, Menton had been part of Sardinia and Monaco.

In the middle of the 19^th century, Menton broke away from Monaco after heavy tax impositions were imposed on its lemon trade, which was its main industry.

Every year, the town holds a lemon festival to celebrate the production of citrus fruits in the seaside town.

Menton is the last large town on the border with France and Italy, which means there several attractions geared towards tourists.

Travel Blogger Sophie wrote: “Menton is the pearl of France because of its sheer beauty.

“It’s the kind of destination that you’ll be thinking of for years to come after departure and is often touted by visitors as one of the towns that they would most like to return to along the French Riviera.”

For more on France, check out the epic French holiday resort you can get to by ferry with kids club and laid back vibes.

And if you’re tempted to up sticks and move abroad – here’s the place in France where you can still get cheap holiday homes according to one A Place in the Sun presenter.