Paramount’s $78-billion bid for Warner includes Kushner backing
Paramount is refusing to accept defeat in the Warner Bros. Discovery auction, launching a $78-billion hostile takeover of its rival Monday after being spurned last week in the bidding.
The move comes four days after Warner’s board unanimously selected Netflix as the winner.
Paramount has beefed up its offer with backing from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia, a Chinese firm and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners, according to a Monday regulatory filing.
The presence of a member of the president’s family in a proposed corporate takeover, which includes news channel CNN and the historic Warner Bros. properties, immediately complicates an already fraught regulatory picture.
Last week, Netflix had offered $72 billion — or $27.75 a share — for a big chunk of the company: Warner Bros. film and television studios, which hold the rights to Batman, Bugs Bunny and Harry Potter, the expansive lot in Burbank and HBO and HBO Max. Additionally, Netflix would take on more than $10 billion in Warner Bros. debt for a total deal value of $82.7 billion.
Paramount, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison’s family, had entered the final week of the auction with a $25 a share, all-cash offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people involved in the auction who were not authorized to comment. In the final hours, Paramount upped its offer to $30 per share — but still came away empty-handed.
Paramount confirmed Monday that it submitted its $30-per-share offer just a few hours before Netflix was announced as the winner.
“We never heard back,” Paramount Chairman and Chief Executive David Ellison told CNBC on Monday morning. “We’re really here to finish what we started.”
Despite the decision by Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery to pursue a deal, Paramount is directly appealing to shareholders to vote on their offer in what is commonly known as a hostile takeover.
Historically, hostile takeover bids are difficult to pull off, but there have been some notable exceptions, including Elon Musk’s $44-billion acquisition of the company formerly known as Twitter in 2022. Two decades ago, Comcast failed in a hostile takeover bid for Walt Disney Co.
Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday that its board would “carefully review and consider Paramount Skydance’s offer in accordance with the terms of Warner Bros. Discovery’s agreement with Netflix.”
Warner’s board remains supportive of Netflix’s bid, the company said. Shareholders will receive recommendations from the Warner board within 10 business days. The company has long wanted the auction to be wrapped up by Christmas.
“Warner Bros. Discovery stockholders are advised not to take any action at this time with respect to Paramount Skydance’s proposal,” the company said in a statement.
Paramount began its pursuit of Warner in mid-September. It is now bypassing Warner’s board, management and bankers and appealing directly to shareholders in a hostile takeover effort. In a statement, Paramount said its bid was a “superior alternative” to Netflix’s, which will face a rigorous and lengthy antitrust review.
Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos said Paramount’s move was “entirely expected.”
“We have a deal done and we are incredibly happy with the deal,” Sarandos said at a UBS conference, adding that he believes Netflix’s takeover of the historic company would be great for shareholders, consumers and Hollywood workers. “We’re superconfident we’re going to get it across the line and finish.”
Already, the biggest weakness in Netflix’s deal was concern that the tech company may not be able to win regulatory approval. The company has more than 300 million streaming subscribers worldwide, and adding HBO Max would more than double the number of subscribers for competing video-on-demand subscription services.
In a statement, Paramount called Netflix’s offer “inferior,” one that would expose Warner shareholders “to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome.” Paramount has long counted on its warm relationship with President Trump to smooth the regulatory process, at least in the U.S.
Warner Bros. Discovery continues to believe that Netflix submitted the best offer.
Netflix is not buying Warner’s basic cable channels, including CNN, TBS, Food Network and TLC, and Warner figures it can spin off those assets into a separate company, Discovery Global, that would be worth about $3 to $4 a share.
When adding the Discovery Global value with Netflix’s price of $27.75 a share, Warner believes that its shareholders will come away with more than $31 a share for the company — more than what Paramount has offered.
Netflix offered a cash and stock deal. On Friday, the company said it would take a year to 18 months to gain the necessary regulatory approvals. Paramount is banking on investors being concerned about a possible regulatory fallout with the Netflix deal.
“Look, we’re sitting on Wall Street, where cash is still king,” Ellison told CNBC. “We are offering shareholders $17.6 billion more cash than the deal that they currently have signed up on Netflix. We believe when [Warner shareholders] see what is currently in our offer, that that’s what they’ll vote for.”
Since mid-September, Paramount has submitted six bids for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Trump said Sunday that Netflix’s deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the streaming service’s combined market share. Trump said he “would be involved” in his administration’s decision whether to approve any deal.
Paramount said its $30 per share, all-cash offer represents a 139% premium to Warner’s $12.54 stock price on Sept. 10, the day before Paramount’s pursuit was leaked in the media. With the absorption of Warner’s cable channels and its heavy debt load, the Paramount deal would have an enterprise value of $108.4 billion.
That’s roughly what AT&T paid to buy the company, then called Time Warner Inc., in 2018 after spending nearly two years fighting in court with the first Trump administration.
A federal judge finally cleared the way for AT&T’s takeover, but after three years the phone company wanted to flee Hollywood and made a deal with Discovery’s David Zaslav, allowing his smaller company to take over in 2022.
“The Trump card is the best card Paramount-Skydance has but it could backfire in multiple directions,” New Street Research media analyst Blair Levin said Monday in a note to investors. “As they say in Hollywood, ‘stay tuned.’”
Warner and Netflix could claim that Trump’s Justice Department, if it seeks to intervene, was trying to squash their deal simply because of politics. The inclusion of Kushner in the deal also could open the door to conflict-of-interest arguments.
“Courts, and the public, in the past, have regarded Presidential involvement in antitrust challenges as problematic,” Levin wrote in his note.
Paramount’s 11th-hour offer for Warner contained “opaque” details about its financing, a person involved in the auction who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Times over the weekend. The fuzzy nature of Paramount’s backers gave the Warner board pause in contrast to the Netflix offer, which spelled out its financing, the person said.
In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, Paramount disclosed that Larry Ellison’s family has provided an $11.8-billion commitment. An additional $24 billion would come from three sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The controversial Chinese tech firm Tencent would provide an additional $1 billion, Paramount said. It said RedBird Capital Partners, an investor in Paramount, and Kushner’s Affinity Partners would also provide an undisclosed level of debt financing.
When asked about his son-in-law’s involvement in the Paramount bid, Trump told reporters at the White House: “I don’t know. I’ve never spoken with him about that. He’s really trying to work on Gaza.”
Should Paramount prevail, it would confront a heavy debt load that would bring more layoffs in an industry already reeling from downsizing. “As with Netflix, Paramount’s expected hostile bid for WBD raises significant concerns for our members and the industry,” a spokesperson for the Directors Guild of America said in a statement.
Just like with the AT&T deal for Time Warner, the Trump administration may not have the final say. If the U.S. Justice Department sues to block the Netflix deal, the matter will go before a federal judge.
However, Paramount hired Trump’s former antitrust regulator — Makan Delrahim — in the hope of steering a successful regulatory review. Delrahim joined Paramount in October as its chief legal officer.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” David Ellison said in a statement. “We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction.”
Paramount’s tender offer is set to expire Jan. 8, 2026, unless it’s extended.
Shares of Warner Bros. jumped 4.4% on Monday to $27.23. Paramount gained 9% to $14.57 a share while Netflix lost 3.4% to $96.79.
Times staff writers Wendy Lee and Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
The King is back as Lakers hold off the 76ers
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LeBron James needed to send this message.
He still sits on his throne.
The Lakers superstar scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help the Lakers (17-6) nab two wins out of a difficult three-game trip.
Philadelphia (13-10) crawled back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and tied the score with 1:28 remaining on a shot by Joel Embiid. James answered with the fadeaway three-pointer over Quentin Grimes to put the Lakers up by three with 1:11 left. He all but iced the game with a 20-foot fadeaway shot over Grimes with 27.3 seconds remaining.
Running back up the court, James held both hands low to the ground in a “too small” signal. He placed an imaginary crown on his head. He soaked in the roars from the crowd and punctuated it with his signature silencer celebration.
“That was vintage Bron,” said Luka Doncic, who finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists after a two-game absence for the birth of his second child. “We’re happy he was there to save us.”
James played in his 1,015th win, passing Robert Parish for the second most in NBA history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with 1,074. The Lakers won for the first time in Philadelphia since Dec. 16, 2016.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: There was no time for players and fans to send Rams coach Sean McVay get-well-soon cards.
A day after deciding not to travel with the team for fear of spreading stomach-flu symptoms, McVay arrived Sunday morning.
McVay fist-bumped players during warmups at State Farm Stadium, his trademark gelled hair spikes in full effect. And he looked none the worse for the wear while roaming the sideline sockless and calling plays against the Arizona Cardinals.
McVay and his players were feeling good after the Rams routed the Cardinals, 45-17.
Matthew Stafford passed for three touchdowns, Puka Nacua caught two touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career, and Blake Corum rushed for a career-high 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams bounced back from a loss to the Carolina Panthers and improved to 10-3, reclaiming the top spot in the NFC.
FERNANDO DOES NOT MAKE HALL OF FAME
From Jack Harris: Fernando Valenzuela was once more denied induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fourteen months removed from his death at the age of 63 in October 2024, and 27 years removed from the end of a pitching career measured by more than just wins, losses and ERA, Valenzuela failed to be elected for the 2026 Hall of Fame class by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee — a 16-person group that once every three years considers players from the 1980s or later who had not been elected to the Hall through the traditional media vote.
Needing 12 votes from that committee to attain Hall of Fame status, Valenzuela instead came up short by receiving fewer than five.
Because Valenzuela didn’t receive five votes, he will be ineligible to be back on the Contemporary Era Committee’s ballot in 2028. The next time the committee could review his case won’t be until 2031.
Until then, his name will remain among the most notable snubs from Hall of Fame induction.
Former Dodgers slugger and noted curmudgeon Jeff Kent voted into the Hall of Fame
From Ryan Kartje: For the 11th straight season and fourth time under coach Lincoln Riley, USC finished its season on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff field.
But it will get to finish this football season with a first.
USC will face Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30, a source not authorized to discuss the matchup publicly confirmed to The Times. The Trojans never have spent the bowl season in San Antonio, where the Alamo Bowl has been played since 1993.
Their opponent comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the Horned Frogs finished the regular season 8-4 in a tie for fifth in the Big 12. The Alamo Bowl gets first selection of Big 12 teams and could have chosen Brigham Young, which lost in the Big 12 title game and, like USC, finished within one win of the playoff field. But the bowl presumably passed on the Cougars because they took part in the game last season.
USC BASKETBALL
From Ryan Kartje: Jazzy Davidson glanced at the basket with less than two minutes left in USC’s Big Ten opener and in a split-second’s time considered her options. Nearly nothing had fallen from three-point range for the Trojans. It took 25 minutes Sunday just to see one three-pointer drop, and the Trojans had made only two.
But the mere threat of the freshman pulling up from range, even on a night defined by defensive struggle, was enough to give Davidson the sliver of space she needed. After pausing she raced past her defender and toward the basket, lifting for a finger roll that propelled USC past Washington in a 59-50 victory.
The win wasn’t just a significant statement for USC ahead of its heavyweight battle with No. 1 Connecticut next Saturday. It was also a major mile marker for Lindsay Gottlieb, who became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.
USC-NOTRE DAME RIVALRY
From Bill Plaschke: The ongoing discussions about continuing the expired USC-Notre Dame football rivalry should begin with one basic truth.
Notre Dame needs USC more than USC needs Notre Dame.
The Irish are reeling today after they were stunningly left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff, but they never would have been part of the playoff conversation without a win over Holiday Bowl-bound USC.
The 10-2 Irish lost their first two games of the season before embarking on their usual cupcake schedule.
Somewhere in the muck of forgettable games against the likes of Boise State and Boston College and Navy, they needed a marquee win.
USC showed up in October and gave them the opportunity for that marquee win. Every year USC shows up in the middle of the season and gives them a chance at collecting that marquee win.
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Antony Solorzano: Any time UCLA built a significant lead in the first half, Oregon tried to slow the the Bruins’ momentum with a timeout. The first call came after a UCLA built a 10-point advantage in the first quarter, with the second timeout after UCLA pulled ahead by 19 points.
It didn’t work — the Bruins remained in control of the game.
The No. 4 UCLA women’s basketball team (9-1) earned an 80-59 win over Oregon (10-1) during their Big Ten opener at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.
UCLA WATER POLO
Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored with one second remaining to cap a four-goal fourth quarter, and UCLA rallied to beat USC 11-10 to win the men’s water polo championship Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center.
It was the 14th championship for the second-seeded and defending champion Bruins (27-2), winning back-to-back titles for the fifth time.
USC (23-4), the top seed, was aiming for its 11th title — all since 1998 — in a tournament that began in 1969. The Trojans won six in a row from 2008 to 2013.
DUCKS
Leo Carlsson scored two goals and rookie Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ 7-1 victory over the road-weary Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Jacob Trouba, Mason McTavish, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who have won three of four. The Ducks took charge with a four-goal second period that featured a franchise-record 27 shots on Chicago’s net, capped by Carlsson’s 15th goal on a fluttering deflection for a 5-0 lead.
Ville Husso made 19 saves for the Ducks, who beat Chicago for the first time in three tries this season. Ryan Strome, Cutter Gauthier and Chris Kreider had two assists apiece.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1940 — The Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the most one-sided victory in NFL Championship play.
1942 — Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy. Sinkwich ends his career holding the Southeastern Conference record for total offense with 2,399 yards.
1948 — Southern Methodist junior Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. Walker over three years scores 303 points, including 40 touchdowns and 60 points after touchdowns.
1961 — Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points and grabs 43 rebounds in a 151-147 triple overtime loss to the Lakers. Elgin Baylor leads the Lakers with 63 points.
1963 — Cookie Gilchrist of the Buffalo Bills sets an AFL record with 243 yards rushing and ties a league record with five touchdowns in a 45-14 rout of the New York Jets.
1977 — Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.
1987 — Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first NHL goaltender to shoot a puck into the opposing goal in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
2000 — Shaquille O’Neal sets an NBA record by going 0-for-11 from the free-throw line as the SuperSonics beat the Lakers 103-95. He broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record, who went 0-for-10 for Philadelphia against Detroit on Nov. 4, 1960. O’Neal had 26 points and 16 rebounds.
2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon sets an NFL record with his 10th 300-yard game of the season, throwing for 328 yards in the Raider 27-7 win over San Diego and breaking a tie with Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.
2007 — Florida quarterback Tim Tebow becomes the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He beats out Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons.
2011 — Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agrees to a $254-million, 10-year contract with the Angels on the final day of baseball’s winter meetings. Pujols’ contract is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, following Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season.
2011 — The NBA and players union reach financial agreement to end a 161-day lockout, shortening the season by 16 games.
2012 — Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize after a record-breaking debut. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finishes a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein is third in the voting.
2013 — Zach Johnson rallies from four shots behind with eight holes to play and beats Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in golf, at the World Challenge. Johnson holes out from a drop area for par on the last hole to force a playoff and wins when Woods misses a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole.
2013 — Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old from New Zealand, rallies to win her first title as a professional. Ko, making her second pro start, wins the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu. She won four pro events as an amateur, taking the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years.
2018 — Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, wins Heisman Trophy.
2022 — American basketball star Brittany Griner is released by Russian authorities in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; Griner detained on drug smuggling charges since February 2022.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett launches U.S. Senate bid in Texas
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 19, 2024. On Monday, Crockett announced she was launching a U.S. Senate bid in Texas and would vacate the 30th Congressional District seat she has held since 2023. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 8 (UPI) — Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat and fierce Trump critic, announced Monday she was launching a high-stakes U.S. Senate campaign in Texas, the same day Democratic primary opponent Colin Allred dropped out.
Crockett, who filed just hours before the deadline, will face Democratic Rep. James Talarico of Austin in the March 3rd primary, as she tries to turn incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn‘s seat from red to blue.
“For too long, Texas has elected senators who have defended politics as usual and protected the status quo, while Texans have paid the price,” Crockett said on her website. “We’ve had senators who have pushed the American Dream further and further out of reach.”
“I’m running for the U.S. Senate because I believe Texas deserves a senator who will be an independent voice for all 30 million Texans — not a rubber stamp or party line vote for Donald Trump.”
Crockett’s primary opponent Talarico on Monday welcomed her to the race after Allred dropped out.
“We’re building a movement in Texas — fueled by record-breaking grassroots fundraising and 10,000 volunteers who are putting in the work to defeat the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over our state,” Talarico said. “Our movement is rooted in unity over division — so we welcome Congresswoman Crockett into this race.”
Rep. Allred of Dallas decided Monday not to run in the U.S. Senate primary and opted instead to run for the newly-drawn 33rd Congressional District in Dallas County after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the redrawn map, which favors Republicans, could be used in the 2026 election.
In a statement, Allred admitted Crockett played a part in his decision to drop out.
“In the past few days, I’ve come to believe that a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff would prevent the Democratic party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers Paxton, Cornyn or Hunt,” Allred said earlier Monday.
The winner of the Democratic Senate primary will face one of three Republican primary opponents in the midterm elections, Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
On Monday, Paxton commented in a post on X saying, “everyone knows Crockett will be soundly defeated,” as he also focused on Cornyn’s campaign spending and lower standing in the polls.
Paxton has been vocal about Texas’ redrawn district map and the order’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last month, he predicted the Supreme Court would “uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting,” after he criticized partisan gerrymandering in Democratic-led states, including California, Illinois and New York.
Texas Republicans have not lost a statewide office in more than three decades. Crockett’s decision to run for the Senate also opens up the 30th Congressional District seat she has held since 2023.
Violeta Chamorro, Nicaragua
President-elect of Nicaragua Violeta Chamorro makes victory signs after attending Sunday service in Houston on March 11, 1990. Chamorro was the first woman elected president of Nicaragua and the first female president in the Americas. She led the country from 1990 to 1997 following the end of the Contra War. Photo by George Wong/UPI | License Photo
Lokacin Da Mai Taimakonta Ya Bace
Lokacin Da Mai Taimakonta Ya Bace | RSS.com
Saurara a: Apple Podcast | Spotify | RSS
Ka gudu don ceton rayuwarka lokacin da Boko Haram suka kai hari a garinku a Adamawa, arewa maso gabashin Najeriya. Da ka dawo, sai ka tarar da makwabci ya fara gina gida a kan filin ka.
Lokacin da ka nuna rashin amincewa, ya ba wa jami’ai cin hanci kuma ya kore ka, yana cewa ba ka da wani da zai gaji gidan. Ɗanka, wanda shi ne babban mai kula da kai, ya ɓace a lokacin yaƙin, kuma har yanzu ba ka ji labarinsa ba.
Wanne ciwo ne yafi nauyi: jimamin rasa wanda kake kauna da ba ka san ko yana raye ba ko kuma wahalhalun rayuwar yau da kullum da suka biyo bayan rasa mai kula da kai? Duk hanyoyin, sakamakon suna da matuƙar nauyi. To, ta yaya za ka jure wa baƙin ciki, talauci, da rashin adalci duka a lokaci guda?
Mai Gabatarwa: Rukayya Saeed
Marubuciya: Sabiqah Bello
Muryoyin Shiri: Sabiqah Bello
Fassara: Rukayya Saeed
Edita: Aliyu Dahiru
Furodusa: Al-amin Umar
Babban Furodusa: Anthony Asemota
Babban Mashiryi: Ahmad Salkida
The content narrates the harrowing experience of a person from Adamawa, northeastern Nigeria, affected by a Boko Haram attack. Upon returning from fleeing to save his life, he finds his land usurped by a neighbor who bribed officials to take ownership, claiming the person had no heirs. Adding to the turmoil, the person’s son, a primary caretaker, has been missing since the conflict, leaving doubts about his fate.
The discussion emphasizes the profound grief from losing loved ones, combined with the struggle to survive daily life challenges and injustices. It raises questions about coping with sadness, poverty, and injustice simultaneously, highlighting the psychological and emotional burden on those affected.
Hollyoaks Christmas boxset release date revealed and fans don’t have long to wait
Hollyoaks have announced that fans will be able to binge-watch four Christmas episodes at once as the Channel 4’s annual festive boxset returns once again this month
Hollyoaks‘ annual gift to fans is back this Christmas.
It’s been revealed that four special festive episodes will be available to stream on Channel 4 on Monday, December 22 from 6am.
This Christmas, Hollyoaks invites viewers to get festive with four of its most iconic families.
The festive episodes will follow Christmas Day from start to finish, focussing on one family at a time; the Hutchinsons, the Lomaxes, the Clarks/Maaliks and the McQueens.
Jack and Pearl, alongside the Osbornes, are the uniting thread throughout all four episodes.
Pearl takes it upon herself to revive the Christmas magic in the village, but she remains blissfully unaware that Jack is carrying a surprise of his own.
The Christmas boxset follows a triumphant few months for the Channel 4 continuing drama, as the 30th anniversary week in October delivered the show’s strongest performance in years.
Spoilers have confirmed there’s festive cheer at the Hutchinsons this Christmas but an unexpected present sends the day into turmoil. Meanwhile, Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna) is suited and booted with a special mission under his sleeve to make the day extra special.
Dee Dee Hutchinson (Chloe Atkinson) hides a gift and Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher) tries to put on the perfect Christmas, grateful Tony Hutchinson’s (Nick Pickard) there to celebrate with them, but a troubled Ant Hutchinson (Brook Debio( continues to cause tension in the household.
Forced to pull his weight and set the table, Ant stumbles across a burner phone which he pockets in secret. An excited Eva Hutchinson (Aubrey Burgess) sneaks a peak in a present under the tree and Dee Dee is left horrified. Ant also reveals a secret that leads to many questions.
There’s Christmas magic at the McQueens, but for Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) the sparkle has faded.
Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) turns up in full Santa costume to help spread cheer but things don’t go to plan and a knock on the door grants Theresa McQueen’s (Jorgie Porter) festive wish.
It’s frosty between Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi) and Donny Clark (Louis Emerick) this Christmas but will the festive cheer bring the family closer together or will Donny’s recent escapades be exposed?
It’s the first Christmas without Peri (Ruby O’Donnell) at the Lomaxes but Leela (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) is determined to give her children and Lucas Hay (Oscar Curtis) the best day she can which includes extending an olive branch to Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson).
Meanwhile, watching the carollers perform in the village, Pearl Anderson (Dawn Hope) has something she wants to get off her chest.
Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 from 7am
My budget winter sun break was amazing value – but one thing was 1/10
Sam Teesdale jetted off to Malta for a winter break, staying at the AX Odycy hotel. He went to check out the island’s reputation at great for catching the winter rays
The small island country of Malta, found between Italy and North Africa, has long been regarded as one of the best places to get away for some winter sun.
With affordable flights, a flight time of around three hours, and close ties to Britain, it’s no wonder that it’s ranked number one on easyJet’s top winter getaways for 2025. But, there are, of course, wins and trade-offs with winter holidays.
Yes, the crowds on a winter getaway are a fraction of what they are in the high-season, but then again, so are the temperatures. It’s a mixed bag. Which is why I set off to stay at the all-inclusive AX Odycy hotel, to see whether a winter getaway was worth the hassle and cash.
The weather
With December looming on the horizon, the weather was understandably up and down. There were rainbows, downpours, thunderstorms, sea winds of 50mph and also, some moments of glorious sunshine.
So, while it was most definitely a climatological smorgasbord, Malta was undoubtedly warmer than Blighty. As is always the case with holidays, the final day, which was spent in the airport, saw completely clear skies and a lovely temperature of 20 degrees. Such is life.
Sunbathing
Sunbathing is indeed possible in the late November Malta sun, weather permitting, but whether you’ll see the all-important tan lines appear is a different question. Temperatures reached a cool high of 17 degrees, but, coupled with some fairly relentless winds and sporadic rain bursts, it made for some of the less balmy sun-worshipping experiences I’ve had in my life.
However, it is most definitely warmer and more enjoyable than braving the UK’s measly end-of-November highs of five degrees. So, yes, sunbathing is possible. You will just have to wrap up warm.
Swimming in (unheated) hotel pools
For this, I will have to assign a 1/10 on the enjoyment scale. Although the AX Odycy was blessed to have a lovely heated indoor pool, this was not the case for the numerous rooftop pools. It’s humbling when the brut served at breakfast is warmer than the outdoor pool water. I naively thought that as a hardy Lincolnshire-native, I could firm a quick dip in 15-degree water. So I put my nervous system’s cold shock response to good use, and after some undignified guttural breathing, I decided that swimming was not on the agenda in winter.
Hot tubs
The hot tubs at AX were brilliant, with no notes to report. After a while, it does essentially feel like you’re sitting in a big bowl of human soup, but still, anything is a blessing after the Arctic plunge of the non-heated pools. Opportunities were scarce to have the jacuzzi to yourself, with fellow Brits understandably hogging the coveted warmth of the hot tubs.
Sitting at the ‘beach’
‘Beach’ may be a bit of a misnomer as the beaches near the hotel consisted mainly of jagged limestone. The water was not much warmer than the rooftop pools, so yes, while you can sit at the beach, it most certainly won’t live up to the Euro-summer images you probably had in mind.
Visiting tourist sites
Now, this is an often-overlooked but important factor in winter getaways. I had the distinct sense both in the hotel and out and about that the crowds were a fraction of the size normally seen in high season. My visit to Disney film-set-turned-living-museum, Popeye Village was a similar experience, and I was able to roam unabated by the throngs of tourists one normally encounters on a typical high-season holiday.
Dining
Dining both in and outside of the resort was notably different from a summer holiday. Although I had never visited before, AX Odycy had a quieter atmosphere and dining was similarly subdued.
The hotel was not empty by any stretch, and it still enjoyed a good number of guests, but there were no notable instances of queues and lots of room and time to dine leisurely without the constant barging and overstimulation normally expected at an all-inclusive.
Prices
Finally, the prices. As it was low season and during term time, the prices were incredibly good value. Popeye Village cost just £13 to spend all day there, with minigolf and popcorn included, while AX Odycy’s stunning Junior Suite, complete with private wraparound balcony, came in at £750 per person.
The holiday offered great bang for my buck, so it’s no wonder Malta has become such a popular destination for Brits looking to warm their cockles over the winter months.
Book it
Lastminute.com offers convenient, great-value package deals. Its January Sale starts at the end of December. A six-night stay for two adults in the 4* AX ODYCY in Qawra, Malta from 12 to 18 January costs from £199 per person, with flights from Manchester included.
Tuesday 9 December Battle of Ayacucho in Peru
Considered in Peru and neighbouring countries as the end of the battle for independence from the crown of Spain, the Battle of Ayacucho is remembered as the decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence, which secured Peruvian nationhood and ensured the same for the other emerging South American states.
This battle took place on the morning of the 9th December 1824 on a high plateau near Ayacucho, Peru. The name Ayacucho comes from the indigenous Quechua word meaning ‘corner of the dead’.
The Spanish royalist army numbering over 9000 soldiers was commanded by native Frenchman Jose de Canterac and had 10 times as many artillery pieces as their foe. The revolutionary forces, which were made up of Peruvians as well as Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentinians, and Chileans numbered about 6000 and were under the leadership of de Sucre.
It was noted that just before the battle, many officers and troops crossed over to embrace their friends and brothers in the opposing battle lines. Sucre opened the attack with an unexpected cavalry charge led by Colombian José María Córdoba, and in a short time the royalist army had been routed, resulting in almost 2,000 fatalities. The battle which lasted approximately four hours ended with the defeat of the royalists while the losses of the patriot army amounted to 310 fatalities and 709 wounded.
During the fighting, the Spanish viceroy José de la Serna e Hinojosa and his generals were taken prisoner which resulted in immediate calls for talks and terms of surrender. The terms of surrender stipulated that all Spanish forces be withdrawn from both Peru and Charcas (Bolivia); the last of them departed from Callao, the port of Lima, in January 1826.
Wimbledon train disruption recap after lines between Surrey and London reopen following incident
Train services between Surrey and London were disrupted by an emergency incident and all power to the track needed to be switched off in the affected area, causing major delays.
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Supreme Court sounds ready to give Trump power to oust officials of independent agencies
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservatives sounded ready on Monday to overrule Congress and give President Trump more power to fire officials at independent agencies and commissions.
The justices heard arguments on whether Trump could fire Rebecca Slaughter, one of two Democratic appointees on the five-member Federal Trade Commission.
The case poses a clash between Congress’ power to structure the government versus the president’s “executive power.”
A ruling for Trump portends a historic shift in the federal government — away from bipartisan experts and toward more partisan control by the president.
Trump’s Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the court should overturn a 1935 decision that upheld independent agencies. The decision “was grievously wrong when decided. It must be overruled,” he told the court.
The court’s three liberals strongly argued against what they called a “radical change” in American government.
If the president is free to fire the leaders of independent agencies, they said, the longstanding civil service laws could be struck down as well.
It would put “massive, uncontrolled and unchecked power in the hands of the president,” Justice Elena Kagan said.
But the six conservatives said they were concerned that these agencies were exercising “executive power” that is reserved to the president.
It was not clear, however, whether the court will rule broadly to cover all independent agencies or focus narrowly on the FTC and other similar commissions.
For most of American history, Congress has created independent boards and commissions to carry out specific missions, each led by a board of experts who were appointed with a fixed term.
But the court’s current conservative majority has contended these commissions and boards are unconstitutional if their officials cannot be fired at will by a new president.
Past presidents had signed those measures into law, and a unanimous Supreme Court upheld them 90 years ago in a case called Humphrey’s Executor vs. U.S.
In creating such bodies, Congress often was responding to the problems of a new era.
The Interstate Commerce Commission was created in 1887 to regulate railroad rates. The FTC, the focus of the court case, was created in 1914 to investigate corporate monopolies. The year before, the Federal Reserve Board was established to supervise banks, prevent panics and regulate the money supply.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress created the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the stock market and the National Labor Relations Board to resolve labor disputes.
Decades later, Congress focused on safety. The National Transportation Safety Board was created to investigate aviation accidents, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission investigates products that may pose a danger. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission protects the public from nuclear hazards.
Typically, Congress gave the appointees, a mix of Republicans and Democrats, a fixed term and said they could be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
Slaughter was first appointed by Trump to a Democratic seat and was reappointed by President Biden in 2023 for a seven-year term.
But conservatives often long derided these agencies and commissions as an out-of-control “administrative state,” and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said he believes their independence from direct presidential control is unconstitutional.
“The President’s power to remove — and thus supervise — those who wield executive power on his behalf follows from the text” of the Constitution, he wrote last year in his opinion, which declared for the first time that a president has immunity from being prosecuted later for crimes while in office.
Roberts spoke for a 6-3 majority in setting out an extremely broad view of presidential power while limiting the authority of Congress.
The Constitution in Article I says Congress “shall have the power…to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution…all other powers vested” in the U.S. government. Article II says, “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.”
The current court majority believes that the president’s executive power prevails over the power of Congress to set limits by law.
“Congress lacks authority to control the President’s ‘unrestricted power of removal’ with respect to executive officers of the United States,” Roberts wrote last year in Trump vs. United States.
Four months later, Trump won reelection and moved quickly to fire a series of Democratic appointees who had fixed terms set by Congress. Slaughter, along with several other fired appointees, sued, citing the law and her fixed term. They won before federal district judges and the U.S. Court of Appeals.
But Trump’s lawyers filed emergency appeals at the Supreme Court, and the justices, by 6-3 votes, sided with the president and against the fired officials.
In September, the court said it would hear arguments in the case of Trump vs. Slaughter to decide on whether to overturn the Humphrey’s Executor decision.
At the time, conservatives applauded the move. “For far too long, Humphrey’s Executor has allowed unaccountable agencies like the FTC to wield executive power without meaningful oversight,” said Cory Andrews, general counsel for the Washington Legal Foundation.
In defense of the 1935 decision, law professors noted the court said that these independent boards were not purely executive agencies, but also had legislative and judicial duties, like adopting regulations or resolving labor disputes.
During Monday’s argument, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the principle of “democratic accountability” called for deferring to Congress, not the president.
“Congress decided that some matters should be handled by nonpartisan experts. They said expertise matters with respect to the economy and transportation. So having the president come in and fire all the scientists and the doctors and the economists and the PhDs and replacing them with loyalists is actually is not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States,” she said.
But that argument gained no traction with Roberts and the conservatives. They said the president is elected and has the executive authority to control federal agencies.
The only apparent doubt involved the Federal Reserve Board, whose independence is prized by business. The Chamber of Commerce said the court should overrule the 1935 decision, but carve out an exception for the Federal Reserve.
Trump’s lawyer grudgingly agreed. If “an exception to the removal power exists,” he wrote in his brief in the Slaughter case, it should be “an agency-specific anomaly” limited to the Federal Reserve.
Wolves 1-4 Man Utd: Are Reds on the up or is a bad result around the corner?
In the one-step forward, one-step back world Manchester United are living in just now, they took a stride in the right direction against Wolves at Molineux.
Whether it is significant or not remains to be seen.
After all, the big win at Crystal Palace nine days ago was followed by a dire draw against third-bottom West Ham.
Before that, a three-match winning run was followed by three games without a win, culminating in a home defeat by an Everton side reduced to 10 men after less than 15 minutes.
Monday night’s 4-1 drubbing of a hapless Wolves was United’s biggest win of the season, equalling a four-goal haul Ruben Amorim’s side have not bettered in the Premier League since he came to the club 13 months ago.
United had 27 shots, their most in a Premier League game under the Portuguese manager. They have now led in games for longer this season than they did in the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
Yet Amorim felt compelled to add a caveat, making reference to Wolves’ lack of points on the pitch and mutinous atmosphere off it.
“This is a specific case,” he said. “We faced a team that is really, really struggling.
“You can sense it in every situation of the game.
“This moment for Wolves is really hard, as a team and as a club. We took advantage of that.”
It is why Amorim felt United were in danger of blowing a significant chance to climb into the top six and on the coattails of the sides in contention for Champions League qualification.
New Wolves boss Rob Edwards felt his side played the way he wanted in the final 15 minutes of the opening period. That included scoring their first goal in 540 minutes through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
It wasn’t the script Amorim envisaged. Certainly not one he wanted on a night when Sir Jim Ratcliffe had come to watch and was pictured in animated conversation with director of football Jason Wilcox in the directors’ box.
He told his players this before he left to sit in the visitors’ dugout alone with his thoughts before United re-appeared for the start of the second half.
“We should have finished that half in the different way,” he said. “At half-time, they understood we have everything to win the game.
“If you need to be really distracted, when you look at Everton, that was three points. We could have had two more points against West Ham. Look at the table. Look at the environment. Look at everything.
“We needed to win the second half. It didn’t matter the result.”
Analysing the game for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher praised the performance but said: “We make the assumption there is a bad result around the corner.”
He is not on his own with that opinion. United have still kept only one clean sheet in the Premier League, against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October. Are they on one defeat in nine, or two wins in six?
After failing to take opportunities to go second, twice, and fifth, they are now sixth. If results go their way, they could be fourth once they have played Bournemouth on 15 December. Equally they could be back in the bottom half of the table.
Andoni Iraola’s men have taken two points from their past six games but they have won 3-0 on each of their past two visits to Old Trafford.
Nothing is for certain at Manchester United these days it seems, and that includes the availability of their players.
Amorim had thought Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt would be available for Monday’s game after missing the West Ham match with a minor injury. He was wrong. Now the manager says he can’t be sure when De Ligt will be fit.
United remain in talks with the respective national associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, which Amorim says is a “good sign” but says he “doesn’t know” if Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo will be cleared to play against Bournemouth before they leave for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
“Let’s wait for the middle of the week,” said Amorim.
Asked what moving into sixth place means, he added: “Nothing. It’s always the same feeling. We should have more points. But that’s in the past, let’s focus on the future.”
US tariffs ruin education dreams for children in India’s diamond hub | Unemployment
Surat, India – In 2018, Alpesh Bhai enrolled his three-year-old daughter in an English-language private school in Surat. This was something he never imagined possible while growing up in his village in the Indian state of Gujarat, where his family survived on small fields of fennel, castor and cumin, with their earnings barely enough to cover basic needs.
He had studied in a public school, where, he recalled, “teachers were a rarity, and English almost didn’t exist”.
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“Maybe if I knew English, I would have been some government worker. Who knows?”, he said, referring to the dream of a majority of Indians, as government jobs come with tenure and benefits.
His finances improved once he joined the diamond cutting industry in Surat, a city perched along India’s Arabian Sea coast, where nearly 80 percent of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished. Monthly earnings of 35,000 rupees ($390) for the first time brought Alpesh a sense of stability, and with it, the means to give his children the education he never had.
“I was determined that at least my children would get the kind of private education I was deprived of,” he said.
But that dream did not last. The first disruption to business came with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The sanctions on Russia hurt supply chains, as India sourced at least a third of its raw diamonds from Russia, leading to layoffs.
Alpesh’s earnings fell to 18,000 rupees ($200) a month, then to 20,000 rupees ($222). Soon, the 25,000 rupees ($280) annual school fee became unmanageable. By the time his older daughter reached grade three, just as his younger child started school, the pressure became impossible.
Earlier this year, he pulled both children out of private school and enrolled them in a nearby public one. A few months later, when new United States tariffs deepened the crisis as demand slumped further, his polishing unit laid off 60 percent of its workers, Alpesh among them.
“Seems like I’ve come back to where I started,” he said.
Surat, India’s diamond hub, employs more than 600,000 workers, and hosts 15 large polishing units with annual sales exceeding $100m. For decades, Surat’s diamond‑polishing industry has offered migrant workers from rural Gujarat, many with little or no education, higher incomes, in some cases up to 100,000 rupees ($1,112) a month, and a path out of agrarian hardship.
But recent shocks have exposed the fragility of that ladder, with close to 400,000 workers having faced layoffs, pay cuts, or reduced hours.
Even before Russia’s war on Ukraine began in February 2022, Surat’s diamond industry faced multiple challenges: disrupted supplies from African mines, weakening demand in key Western markets, and inconsistent exports to China, the second-largest customer. With the onset of the war, India’s exports of cut and polished diamonds in the financial year ending on March 31, 2024, fell by 27.6 percent, with sharp declines in its top markets – the US, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
The 50 percent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump have worsened the downturn.
Alpesh now works loading and unloading textile consignments for about 12,000 rupees ($133) a month, barely enough to cover food and rent.
“If I had kept them in the private school, I don’t know how I would have survived,” Alpesh said. “People here have killed themselves over debts and school fees. When you don’t have enough to eat, how will you think of teaching your children well?”
His daughters are still adjusting. “They sometimes tell me, ‘Pupa, the studies aren’t as good now’. I tell them we’ll put them back in the private school soon, but I don’t know when that will happen.”
‘An exodus’
Some workers have returned to their villages, as many migrant families in Surat can no longer afford rent or find alternative work.
Shyam Patel, 35, was among them. When exports slowed and US tariffs hit in August, the polishing unit where he worked shut down. With no other work available, he returned to his village in the Banaskantha district the following month.
“What other option was there?” he said. “In the city, there’s rent to pay even when there’s no work.”
He now works as a daily-wage labourer in cotton fields in his village. His son, who was in the final year of high school, dropped out after four months of the new academic session.
“We’ll put him back in school next year,” Shyam said. “The government school said they can’t take new students in the middle of the term. Till then, he helps me in the fields.”
Across the city, the disruption is evident in government data. More than 600 students left school mid-session last year as their parents lost work or returned to their villages, mostly in Saurashtra and north Gujarat.
“Most migrants come to Surat to settle – the city has entire [neighbourhoods] and housing clusters built for diamond workers,” said Bhavesh Tank, vice president of the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat. “An exodus in the middle of the year is unprecedented, and the drop in school enrolment suggests many are not coming back soon.”
The union estimates that about 50,000 workers have left Surat over the past 12 to 14 months.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist group allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been closely observing the diamond industry crisis in Surat.
“The number of dropouts has reached a point where even government schools are struggling to take in new students, said Purvesh Togadia, a VHP representative in the city. “The poor quality of education is making the transition even more disheartening for families.”
The poor quality of education in public schools is well established. In 2024, only 23.4 percent of grade three students could read at a grade two level, compared with 35.5 percent in private schools. By grade 5, the gap persisted – 44.8 percent in government schools versus 59.3 percent in private ones.
Kishor Bhamre, director at Pratham, an organisation working on children’s rights across education and labour, said the setback is not just academic but psychological.
“Children moving from private to government schools lose the environment they grew up in – their friends, familiar teachers, and a sense of community. For many, it also means shifting from an urban to a rural setting, which makes the adjustment even harder and affects their learning,” he said.
Al Jazeera reached out to the Surat Municipal Corporation and the state’s education minister for comment, but did not receive a response.
Limited help
The Diamond Workers Union has repeatedly appealed to the state government to provide an economic relief package and revise salaries in line with inflation. The union has also urged authorities to address the equally pressing situation of the growing number of school dropouts among workers’ children.
The Gujarat government in May introduced a special assistance package for affected diamond workers – a rare move in the industry.
Under the scheme, the state government committed to paying for one year of school fees for diamond polishers’ children, up to 13,500 rupees ($150) annually. To qualify, workers must have been unemployed for the past year and have at least three years of experience in a diamond factory. The fees will be paid directly to the schools.
The government received nearly 90,000 requests from diamond workers across Gujarat, including about 74,000 from Surat alone. After a slow start – it had provided assistance to only 170 children by July – officials reported disbursing 82.8 million rupees ($921,000) towards school fees for 6,368 children of jobless diamond workers in Surat by mid-September.
But about 26,000 applicants were rejected, reportedly due to “improper details mentioned” in the forms, leading to frustration and anger among workers. In the past few days, nearly 1,000 diamond polishers have filed applications with the local government, demanding to know who rejected their forms and on what grounds, and alleging opacity in the process.
The scheme’s rigid eligibility criteria have also excluded workers.
“The scheme only covers those who have completely lost their jobs, but it leaves out many who are facing partial cuts or reduced work,” said Tank. “They’re struggling just as much and need support equally.”
Tank added that education remains one of the most common concerns among workers reaching out to the union’s suicide prevention helpline, which was set up by the Diamond Workers Union after Surat had already recorded at least 71 suicides among diamond workers by November 2024. It has received more than 5,000 calls so far.
Divyaben Makwana, 40, lost her 22-year-old son, Kewalbhai, who had been working as a diamond polisher for three years. On June 14, he died by suicide.
Kewalbhai had been under immense mental stress after losing his job in the diamond market, his mother told Al Jazeera.
“He was earning around 20,000 rupees ($220) a month, and when even that collapsed,” he took his life, she said. “We took him to the hospital and did everything we could. I borrowed 500,000 rupees ($5,560) from relatives and friends, but we couldn’t save him. Now, I don’t have a son – only a loan.”
She lives in Surat with her husband, who has been unable to work due to prolonged illness, and their younger son, Karmdeep, 18. With no means to return to their village in Saurashtra, Divyaben has begun working as a domestic worker to make ends meet. Karmdeep dropped out after grade 11, and now attends a local coaching centre, where he is learning diamond faceting while looking for work.
“Education has become so expensive,” Divyaben said. “At least with coaching, he’ll learn a skill. By the time the market recovers, if he’s trained as a craftsman, maybe we’ll be able to repay some of our debts.”
She paused, her voice low. “I don’t know if education, whether taken on loan or given free, can really change our fate. Our only hope is still the diamond.”
If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, these organisations may be able to help.
You can access the Diamond Workers Union helpline at +91-92395 00009.
Congress Wants To Know If The C-130 Hercules Could Be The USAF’s New ‘Doomsday Plane’
Congress is looking to press the U.S. Air Force to provide details of its place to maintain the Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) capability — better known as Looking Glass — including the possibility of hosting it on a platform based on the Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 cargo plane. The ABNCP mission involves the relaying of orders to Air Force nuclear-capable bombers and silo-based Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Currently, it is fulfilled by the Navy’s E-6B Mercury fleet, which supports both ABNCP and the broadly similar Take Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) mission, which relays orders to Navy Ohio class nuclear ballistic missile submarines. Between them, aircraft fulfilling these two missions are commonly called ‘Doomsday planes.’
As it now stands, the Boeing 707-based E-6B is slated to be replaced by the E-130J aircraft, which Northrop Grumman will modify from C-130J-30s. A rendering of an E-130J appears at the top of this story.
It is important to note here that the current plan is for the E-130J to supplant the E-6B only when it comes to the TACAMO mission. How the Air Force will continue to meet its Looking Glass mission requirements is not entirely clear, though its future fleet of Boeing 747-based E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) might help meet those needs, at least to a degree. The E-4C — and the E-4B Nightwatch aircraft it is set to replace — are also ‘doomsday planes,’ but are configured to act as much more robust flying command centers than the E-6Bs.
The latest version of the defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2026 Fiscal Year, was released late yesterday by the House Armed Services Committee. The draft legislation reflects the results of extensive negotiations with its Senate counterparts. Different versions of the Fiscal Year 2026 NDAA from the House and Senate had to be aligned before it could be put to a vote, which could happen as early as this week.
The draft legislation includes a section outlining a “limitation on availability of funds pending [a] report on acquisition strategy for [the] Airborne Command Post Capability.”
The report appears to be required with a degree of urgency.
Under the relevant section of the proposed legislation, the House Armed Services Committee says that the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force will be permitted to spend only 80 percent of the allocated funds for travel expenses in fiscal year 2026, with the remainder withheld until the report is submitted. This is an unusual measure, but it does happen from time to time, and is an indicator of how forceful Congress is being on this.
As for the concerns about the future of the ABNCP, the questions that the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force (together with the Commander of the United States Strategic Command) needs to answer are twofold.
First, the draft bill seeks information on the potential for expanding production of the C-130J-30 Super Hercules “to provide additional airframes to preserve the Airborne Command Post capability.” The C-130J-30 subvariant, which is in common use around the globe, has a longer fuselage than the baseline type.
This indicates that, in the future, the ABNCP mission may be handled by specially modified C-130J aircraft, mirroring the Navy’s approach with the E-130J.
Second, NDAA calls for “an outline of the future relationship of the Airborne Command Post capability with the Secondary Launch Platform–Airborne effort.”
Secondary Launch Capability is the name for the command-and-control architecture that is planned to replace the existing Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS), currently installed onboard the E-6B. ALCS was tested on an E-4B Nightwatch aircraft, but the decision was ultimately made not to install it on these aircraft.
ALCS provides a survivable alternate capability for launching the Minuteman III, connecting the E-6Bs with the missile fields as well as with the United States Strategic Command, Vandenberg Space Force Base, Hill Air Force Base, and other key nodes. In the future, the Secondary Launch Capability will also carry out this mission for the Minuteman III’s replacement, the LGM-35A Sentinel.
When the Secondary Launch Platform–Airborne (SLP-A) entered development, back in 2020, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center told Aviation Week that the aircraft that will host the system “has not been determined at this time.” The spokeswoman added: “The SLP-A will be adaptable and modular to accommodate future airborne platform(s).”
The inclusion of these questions in the latest version of the defense policy bill is indicative of the fact that, so far, there has been no public description of a detailed plan for ABNCP after the E-6.
It is unclear when the E-130J might begin to enter service. In the past, Navy budget documents have laid out plans to order three of the aircraft in Fiscal Year 2027 and six more in Fiscal Year 2028.
It’s also worth noting that, earlier this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) called into question the viability of using the C-130J as the basis for the Navy’s new TACAMO plane, something you can read about here.
Also of note here is the fact that, before the E-6 entered service, the Navy operated EC-130Q TACAMO aircraft based on the older C-130H variant of the Hercules. Those aircraft were not configured to perform the Looking Glass mission. It was only the arrival of upgraded E-6Bs in the 1990s that led to the consolidation of those two mission sets on a single aircraft.
Previously, it had appeared that the future of the Looking Glass mission might lie in other aircraft, like the Boeing 747-based E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) jets that the Air Force is now in the process of acquiring. The fact that five airframes have been earmarked for the E-4C program, compared to the four E-4Bs that they will replace, was taken by some as evidence that the new aircraft would take on an expanded role, including Looking Glass. The fleet of E-4Cs could also be expanded to as many as ten aircraft, as well. Having E-4Cs take on some of the Looking Glass mission could still turn out to be the case, perhaps augmenting a fleet of specially adapted and far more efficient C-130s. With much of the development working being already paid for by the Navy for its very similar and nuclear-hardened EC-130, the USAF could piggyback onto that effort with its Looking Glass variant.
Either way, it’s certainly significant that there is now serious thought being given to migrating the ABNCP mission onto a C-130-based platform, especially with the Hercules never having hosted it in the past.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Amy Winehouse’s pals ‘concealed’ selling star’s possessions for £730k at memorabilia auctions after death, dad claims
TWO pals of Amy Winehouse “concealed” the fact they made money at two auctions of her memorabilia that raised almost £1million, her dad Mitch said yesterday.
The star’s bloodied ballet pumps, a card from Adele and Mark Ronson and a Fendi bracelet were among 155 lots.
Mitch, 75, the administrator of his daughter’s estate, claims stylist Naomi Parry and Amy’s best pal Catriona Gourlay owe more than £730,000.
He claims Amy’s pals “deliberately concealed” they were making money from items sold in the auctions, which he believed were to raise funds solely for Amy’s estate and charity.
He alleges the disputed items were “owned by the estate” when sold and is seeking damages.
Court documents show a first auction in November 2021 made about £941,000 before a second sale in May 2023 raised around £21,500.
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Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay, both 41, deny wrongfully acquiring the personal mementos, insisting they were gifts from Amy or they had lent them to the singer.
The retired taxi driver took the stand yesterday on Monday afternoon when the four-day trial into his civil claim opened at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.
He accepted there were “quite a lot of examples” of Amy gifting items and she may have hidden others due to his vocal concerns about how much she was giving away.
He agreed Amy was generous but when they told him they were “parting with a few things” it “drastically downplayed the true position”.
Mr Winehouse, wearing a navy suit, added: “I’m sure there were times when Amy gifted them items.
“It was characteristic of Amy.
“I assume as they were so close that Amy would have given them some things but 150 items, I just can’t believe it.”
Both deny wrongfully acquiring the mementos, claiming they were gifts or lent to Amy.
The items included a £20,000 watch Amy gave to a friend’s mum after a show in Birmingham and a guitar to teen musician and goddaughter Dionne Bromfield.
She also allowed childhood friend Juliette Ashby to live rent free in East Finchley and “inadvertently” gave pal Tyler James £50,000 when she misheard him ask for £15,000.
Her kindness was also highlighted by famous pals including Kelly Osbourne and Sadie Frost, who both recalled Amy giving clothes to Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay.
Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter Kelly said she also received clothes from Amy, adding in a written statement: “This is quite common amongst close female friends.”
Dracula actress Sadie remembered Amy giving her an “expensive designer dress by Fendi”.
She added: “I think she probably did so as she felt bad about not returning various items that I had lent to her over time.”
Mr Winehouse believed all 834 total items being sold from a London storage unit were on behalf of the Amy Winehouse estate.
It was marketed as a “single owner” auction by Amy’s family to benefit her foundation and didn’t mention other sellers.
Mr Winehouse discovered the defendants were selling items when his wife Jane spotted “a few handwritten notes and photographs”.
He believed they were donating the items to help raise money for the Foundation and wouldn’t pocket the proceeds.
He claims the defendants and the auction house “were making concerted efforts to conceal their claims to ownership” of the 155 disputed items.
Mitch’s skeleton argument included messages between Ms Parry and auctioneer Mr Julian where they talk about how Mr Winehouse “thinks he owns” a dress.
He claims Ms Parry sold 60 items for £675,567 and Ms Gourlay sold 95 items for £253,527.
An article in The Sun was also highlighted where Amy donated bin bags full of £20,000 worth of designer dresses to a charity shop in March 2011.
Ms Parry was friends with Amy before working freelance as her self-employed stylist by “providing clothes and often helping her dress for occasions”.
Beth Grossman KC, for Ms Parry, said: “Ms Parry’s case is that on some occasions she loaned items to Amy and on other occasions Amy gifted items to her.”
Mr Winehouse accepts Ms Parry had lent Amy one of the originally contested items, a Karen Millen dress, as it was a birthday present from her mum.
Ms Grossman claimed Amy had allowed Ms Parry to keep some dresses in return for designing £1,000 custom-made pieces for the singer’s 2010 collaboration with Fred Perry.
Ms Gourlay worked at vintage clothes shop Rockit and bonded with Amy aged 19 in 2002 over their “shared love of fashion”.
She lived with the singer at Jeffreys Place, Camden, between 2004 and 05 before being nextdoor neighbours in Hackney Wick from 2007 to 08.
Ted Loveday, representing Ms Gourlay, claimed their “close interactions included swapping and sharing items”.
Amy’s brother Alex, his wife Riva and Mr Winehouse’s second wife Jane, managing trustee and co-founder of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, are due to give evidence.
Darren Julien, founder of Julien’s Auctions which sold the items in LA’s Beverly Hills, will be cross-examined via video link from California, US.
Valerie hitmaker Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning aged 27 at her flat in Camden, North London, in 2011.
The High Court civil trial goes on.
The exciting new hotels, attractions and festivals coming to the UK’s seaside towns and cities next year
MEASURING more than 19,000 miles, Britain’s beautiful coastline has a host of attractions and reasons to visit.
Nigel Thompson unveils our pick of what’s happening around our shoreline next year, with options for every traveller’s budget.
Scarborough leads the way for 2026 as the “Queen of the Yorkshire Coast”, celebrating its 400th anniversary as a spa resort.
ANNIVERSARIES
SCARBOROUGH’S journey to becoming the nation’s first seaside spa resort began in 1626, with the accidental discovery of mineral waters.
Mrs Thomasin Farrer noticed natural springs bubbling beneath a cliff.
These were subsequently said to cure minor ailments.
Celebrations throughout next year to mark the centenary include heritage and art installations and a 10-day festival in mid-July.
Across the Pennines, Morecambe is marking what would have been comic legend Eric Morecambe’s 100th birthday (May 14).
The town he was born in, and named himself after, will offer a series of events and activities that are sure to bring some sunshine!
Italianate village Portmeirion in North Wales will celebrate the centenary of its completion with events, exhibitions and tours.
Most read in Best of British
It’s also 60 years since cult TV series The Prisoner — which starred Patrick McGoohan as a former secret agent dubbed Number Six — was filmed at Portmeirion.
There will be a convention weekend on April 24-26, featuring parades, human chess and immersive experiences.
Fans will surely want to stay in hotel room number six!
The Jurassic Coast will be even more roar-some as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Unesco listing.
Highlights along the 95-mile geological route in Dorset and East Devon include dinosaur fossil hunting in Lyme Regis, picture perfect Durdle Door and the 180billion pebbles that make up Chesil Beach.
WALKING
NEXT year will see the completion of the King Charles III England Coast Path. At 2,795 miles it will be the world’s longest continuous coastal trail.
The newest 42-mile section now links the Scottish border to Lincolnshire and a summer celebratory event will be announced.
Other coastal walking celebrations include Dorset’s WALX Festival (September 17-20) with Jurassic Coast hikes and workshops and the Isle of Wight’s Spring and Autumn Walking Festivals (May 9-17 and October 3-11), focussing on its landscape, wildlife and heritage.
ACCOMMODATION
BLACKPOOL’S Royal Carlton Hotel is getting a multi-million-pound makeover.
The 38-room art deco property, between Central and South Pier, will reopen in the spring and feature a new pergola with extensive greenery.
The luxury Kithmore Hotel in “home of golf” St Andrews, Fife, will debut in the summer with a major transformation.
The former Ardgowan Hotel will have 44 rooms, a bar/restaurant and an expanded terrace.
A mixed-use cultural, creative attraction with a 31-room hotel is under construction at Old College on the promenade at Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
The restoration project is due to finish by the end of 2026.
FOOD
FOOD lovers have a busy calendar starting with value-focused Whitby Restaurant Week (March 2-8), Yorkshire produce at Filey Food Festival (April 4-5) and street eats at Southsea Food Festival (July 4-5).
Isle of Wight Garlic Festival runs from August 15-16 and Essex foodies will flock to the Maldon Food & Drink Festival (August 29-30).
CULTURE
HULL Maritime Museum will reopen in the summer after a £27.5million restoration.
New exhibits covering 800 years of history will range from ship models and seafaring art to a 40ft whale skeleton.
Redcar, on the North Yorkshire coast, will welcome a £25million multi-purpose cultural and family entertainment venue near the Esplanade.
The Edge in Cumbria, on Whitehaven harbour, is a unique new building. It has a cafe and bar area and there are 16 en-suite bedrooms.
A £12million development will transform Isle of Barra Distillery in the Outer Hebrides with a visitor centre and café.
Due to open in October, you can try out seaweed botanicals and honey vodka.
FESTIVALS
THE south coast of England has a variety of events for next year, including kites massing for Let’s Go Fly in Dorchester on June 6, Portsmouth’s Country on the Coast Festival on April 17-19 and hydrofoil competitors speeding across the water at the World E-Foiling “iQFOiL” Championships in Weymouth and Portland from September 21-26.
NATURE
WORLD Saltmarsh Day will be held at WWT Steart Marshes in Somerset on June 11, aimed at connecting people with coastal nature via new audio trails, community art and viewing platforms.
In Hampshire, the Southsea Coastal Scheme will double the size of the shingle beach between the Pyramids and Eastney for 2026, to enhance the visitor experience and bolster climate resilience, helping to reduce local flooding.
More info at englandscoast.com/en, visitscotland.com, visitwales.com
D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith will step down, mayor says
WASHINGTON — Pamela Smith, who was catapulted into national attention after President Trump moved to federalize Washington’s police force and who worked to confront rising violence in the nation’s capital, is stepping down as the city’s police chief, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday.
Smith, appointed in 2023, had been brought in to stabilize a department facing staffing shortages and a city shaken by post-pandemic crime. But her tenure unfolded amid a fierce battle over authority, as Trump asserted federal control over the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed National Guard troops and federal agents alongside the city’s officers.
In announcing her resignation, Bowser praised Smith for “stepping up” at a moment of “significant urgency,” crediting her with helping drive down violent crime, cutting homicides to an eight-year low and launching major policing initiatives, including a Real-Time Crime Center and new technology upgrades.
“Chief Smith got all of this done while navigating unprecedented challenges and attacks on our city’s autonomy,” Bowser said.
The mayor did not say why Smith is leaving. She also did not announce who would take over the department or whether the change in leadership might affect the city’s broader public-safety strategy at a moment when Washington continues to recover from historic levels of violence.
The announcement comes after Bowser said she would not seek a fourth term. Smith and Bowser have been under tremendous pressure from constituents over the police force’s performance during the federal law enforcement intervention.
In a statement, Smith said she was confident the police force “is in a strong position and that the great work will continue” and that the role has been both a challenge and a reward.
“I am proud of the accomplishments we achieved together, and I thank the residents of this city for their trust and partnership,” Smith said. “While my aspiration has always been to see zero percent crime, we are not there yet. Nonetheless, we have made tremendous progress, and there remains important work ahead.”
Smith, a longtime federal law enforcement official and former head of the U.S. Park Police, assumed command during one of Washington’s most volatile years in nearly two decades, as homicides surged, carjackings hit record highs and frustration mounted among residents and lawmakers.
The spike in 2023 violence prompted congressional hearings and led city leaders to expand police authority, including authorizing drug-free zones in areas with persistent crime. Lawmakers also rewrote parts of the city’s criminal code in an effort to stem the rise in violent offenses.
The city began to see improvement in early 2024. Overall crime fell by about 17% in the first 10 weeks, a drop Smith attributed to the new law and to targeted deployments in neighborhoods experiencing repeated trouble. She also imposed temporary youth curfew zones in parts of the district.
Pointing to the city’s crime, Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the police force and sent in hundreds of National Guard troops. Trump has hailed the operation as a resounding success that has brought down crime, although rates already were on the decline.
The backstory on the search that made Bob Chesney a Bruin
The eight remaining candidates met with UCLA’s search committee on Zoom, each answering the same set of questions.
When those conversations ended, Martin Jarmond, the athletic director who was presiding over the Bruins’ quest to find their next great football coach, asked everyone on the committee to prioritize which candidates needed to be seen in person.
Everyone’s list included the same name: Bob Chesney.
The James Madison coach had already wowed the committee by then, according to multiple people with knowledge of the search who spoke with The Times on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process.
Chesney’s experience building programs into winners, established track record of success at multiple levels, ability to develop talent and appreciation for everything UCLA had to offer were all selling points that made him an attractive candidate early in a search lasting 2½ months.
Along the way, Chesney and the six-person committee nurtured a relationship based on shared values and mutual respect, according to those familiar with the process, making him feel prioritized when other potential suitors emerged as part of a coaching carousel that threatened to spin out of control as new openings materialized seemingly by the day.
After Jarmond and Erin Adkins, the executive senior associate athletic director who was also part of the search committee, flew to see Chesney last month in Virginia, the coach and his suitors came to the same conclusion — they were a perfect match. Chesney agreed to become the Bruins’ new coach on Dec. 1, accepting a five-year deal.
On Tuesday morning on campus inside the Luskin Center, UCLA will introduce a coach whose hiring might be the coup of the carousel.
“We owe UCLA students, alumni, supporters and fans a football program built to succeed in the modern age of college sports, and hiring coach Chesney will do just that,” search committee member Bob Myers said. “We not only believe in him as a head coach, but also as a person. His character and values were a huge factor in our decision. Coach Chesney exudes all the qualities you want in someone charged with leading our student-athletes at UCLA.”
The buzz around Chesney only intensified Sunday when James Madison was selected for the College Football Playoff, dramatically increasing his profile. UCLA has agreed to allow Chesney to coach the 12th-seeded Dukes (12-1) through a CFP run that starts Dec. 20 when they face fifth-seeded Oregon (11-1) at Autzen Stadium, the Bruins undoubtedly getting free air time during the TNT broadcast when their new coach is mentioned. The committee was firmly behind Chesney participating in the playoff, celebrating his team’s selection.
The process leading to Chesney’s hiring started as most coaching searches do, with a firing. The dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster on Sept. 14 after an 0-3 start — giving him a 5-10 record over a little more than one season — left the Bruins with a need to recalibrate their approach in picking a successor.
Martin Jarmond
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Jarmond identified three principal guidelines for the search while meeting with UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk. There needed to be alignment among everyone involved in the process about what they wanted in their new coach, ample investment to allow that coach to compete in the Big Ten and nationally, and ultimately the identification of a strong leader who embodied the school’s core values.
Jarmond was open to any candidate, including NFL coaches and college coordinators, but eventually came to prioritize sitting head coaches who had gone through the recent transformative changes in college sports involving the transfer portal, roster management and the name, image and likeness space. There was also a strong preference for someone who had experience turning around a program, building it into a sustained winner.
A search committee that included Jarmond, Adkins, Myers, sports executive Casey Wasserman, Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters and former Bruins linebacker Eric Kendricks cast a wide net, starting with a list of 40 possible candidates. The committee gathered preliminary background information on those coaches and met regularly via phone calls and in person, with Peters often joining via Zoom because he was based on the East Coast.
Peters offered intelligence based on his extensive network of NFL personnel who regularly visited college campuses and observed coaches. Myers and Wasserman provided insights based on their vast experience as top-level sports executives. Kendricks, who has spent a decade playing in the NFL, queried candidates on playing style, practice habits, accountability measures and coaching philosophy.
As the committee continued to gather information and assess possible fit, it halved the list of candidates to 20, then narrowed it further to 12 and then eight, which included seven sitting college head coaches and one college coordinator. After the round of Zoom calls, the committee identified six candidates it wanted to remain in contention. Jarmond and Adkins flew to see four candidates in person, keeping two others in the running for possible future meetings.
After every interview and in-person meeting, the committee members always asked themselves the same things: Did this candidate possess the qualities they were seeking and could he fulfill their vision for winning?
Chesney, 48, kept checking every box from early in the process. On his Zoom with the committee, Chesney detailed his plan for winning with the Bruins and gave examples of experiences at other schools that revealed his appreciation for what it took to succeed at a highly rigorous academic institution. His resume was just as impressive as his answers.
Chesney’s 132-51 record included success at the Division III, Division II, Football Championship Subdivision and Football Bowl Subdivision levels. Part of that success included dramatic turnarounds. Assumption, which had gone 3-7 under previous coach Corey Bailey in 2012, enjoyed a steady rise under Chesney, going from 6-5 in Year 1 to 7-4 in Year 2 to 11-2 in Year 3.
It was a similar story at Holy Cross, which had gone 4-7 the year before Chesney’s arrival. By Chesney’s second season, the Crusaders started a four-year run of making the FCS playoffs, reaching a quarterfinal in 2022.
While coach Curt Cignetti already had James Madison rolling, the Dukes going 11-2 and reaching the Armed Forces Bowl in 2023, Chesney has now managed in only two years to take the program somewhere his predecessor couldn’t — the CFP.
It’s that sort of sustained success that left UCLA’s search committee with no qualms about Chesney not having won at the Power Four level. Given Chesney’s track record, the committee believed that all he needed to win big at college football’s highest level was an opportunity.
UCLA plans to support its new coach with enhanced resources, making a significant commitment to grow its assistant coach salary pool alongside additional investment in front-office, recruiting and strength and conditioning personnel as well as a restructured NIL operation.
Jarmond and Adkins flew to Virginia on Sunday so that they could accompany Chesney on his flight to Southern California on Monday ahead of his introduction a day later. Chesney will return to James Madison on Wednesday, continuing preparations to take his team somewhere the Bruins hope he can lead them.
Feeling like winners already, the Bruins are about to unveil the coach who seems to have all the answers..
A brand-new NIL
Chesney is going to have some new resources at his disposal.
As part of an aggressive restructuring, UCLA has transitioned its name, image and likeness efforts for football to the same third-party media and branding agency that handles the school’s other teams.
Champion of Westwood will assist Chesney in an effort to elevate his team’s NIL endeavors in the same way it has for men’s basketball — through its Men of Westwood arm — as well as women’s basketball, softball and other teams on campus.
Working with NIL agency Article 41, which has staff on campus to help athletes build their brands through content creation and social media strategies, Champion of Westwood is striving to create new opportunities for football players as part of an all-inclusive approach.
“Everyone is committed to being very symbiotic on this, which I think will lead to success,” said Ken Graiwer, the UCLA alumnus who runs Champion of Westwood. “Supporting NIL is supporting the program.”
As part of a new subscriber model in which payments can be made on a one-time or recurring basis, Champion of Westwood is offering benefits such as exclusive merchandise and player video updates directly from the locker room after a game.
Among its corporate sponsors, Champion of Westwood has partnered with Paige, the same apparel company that outfitted Dodgers stars Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
“They were looking for the next generation of top athletes,” Graiwer said of Paige identifying UCLA as a client. “These are the great kinds of things that we’re doing.”
Champion of Westwood has also assembled a new advisory board that includes former UCLA quarterback Cory Paus, mega donor Michael Price and other heavyweights in the financial and entertainment sectors who can help facilitate introductions between players and individuals or companies interested in engaging them for NIL deals.
Olympic sport of the week: Men’s water polo
The UCLA men’s water polo team after winning the national championship.
(UCLA Athletics)
It was the sort of ending the cross-town rivalry deserved.
In another back-and-forth battle, Frederico Jucá Carsalade made sure the UCLA men’s water polo team came out on top with a goal as time expired Sunday at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center, lifting the Bruins to an 11-10 victory over USC in the national championship game.
USC’s Jack Martin had tied the score with 2:03 left before Carsalade’s goal gave UCLA its 125th NCAA title in school history and its second consecutive championship in men’s water polo. Carsalade finished with two goals and Ryder Dodd scored three, including back-to-back goals that pushed the Bruins into a 10-9 lead before the Trojans rallied.
It was payback after USC had won two of the three previous meetings between the teams this season. The victory gave UCLA coach Adam Wright his 10th NCAA title with the Bruins — six as head coach of the men’s water polo team, two as a player for the Bruins, one as head coach of the women’s water polo team and another as an assistant coach with the women’s team.
Opinion time
What is your level of happiness with the Bob Chesney hire?
Ecstatic, couldn’t be happier
Guardedly optimistic
In wait-and-see mode
This is the best they could do?
Click here to vote in our survey.
Poll results
We asked, “How optimistic are you for UCLA football in 2026?”
After 612 votes, the results:
They will qualify for a lower-tier bowl game, 47.1%
They will show some fight, but struggle to a losing record, 23.5%
It’s going to be another long season, 14.6%
They will make a quality bowl game, 10.7%
The Bruins will be in College Football Playoff contention, 4.1%
In case you missed it
Lauren Betts helps No. 3 UCLA pummel Oregon in Big Ten opener
Here are 15 reasons why UCLA should not abandon the Rose Bowl
Eric Dailey Jr. goes from zero to hero, powering UCLA to victory over Oregon
UCLA got its new football coach in Bob Chesney, but who will be coming with him?
‘That’s Bernie Madoff level’: UCLA’s Mick Cronin says agent greed drives player movement
Kroenke Sports and SoFi Stadium are new defendants in Rose Bowl lawsuit against UCLA
UCLA and USC football transfer portal tracker: Who’s in and who’s out?
Mixed results for UCLA on early signing day
How UCLA football salvaged its recruiting class, giving Bob Chesney an early boost
Have something Bruin?
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at ben.bolch@latimes.com, and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
U.S. border agents confiscate 30K Tramadol pills
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday it seized a case of Tramadol pain pills with an estimated street value at $150,000.
On Thursday, Cincinnati CBP officers seized a shipment that contained some 30,000 Tramadol tablets. Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Dec. 8 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday it seized a case of Tramadol pain pills with an estimated street value at $150,000.
On Thursday, Cincinnati CBP officers seized a shipment that contained some 30,000 Tramadol tablets, officials said.
The Tramadol pain killer a schedule IV substance under the Controlled Substance Act due to its potential for abuse.
“Most people hear about CBP seizing narcotics shipments,” said Director of Field Operations LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Chicago Field Office.
“However, shipments of illegal prescription pills are very dangerous too,” Sutton-Burked said in a statement.
CBP agents routinely screen international passengers and cargo at ports of entry nationwide for narcotics, weapons and other U.S.-prohibited items.
A shipment from Barbados bound for St. Kitts-Nevis was intercepted and inspected for clearance in the United States.
Officers discovered small boxes inside containing 30 push pill tabs each totaling 30,000 tablets of 50mg Tramadol.
CBP’s Chicago field director confirmed the pills were “not regulated by the FDA.”
Tramadol is a prescribed medication to relieve moderate to nearly severe pain and, similar to opioid analgesics, it works by altering the brain’s perception of pain.
It’s frequently abused in narcotic addiction, chronic pain patients and healthcare professionals.
Federal officials urged international buyers to verify purchases and ensure imports comply with all state and U.S. regulations.
Putin’s Push for a BRICS Currency: Pragmatism Over Ideology
Several important agreements were signed during the India visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin (December 4-5, 2025). Apart from the bilateral dimension of the visit — where several agreements were signed — both sides sought to strengthen their partnership under the umbrella of the UN and other multilateral platforms including G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS. Putin and Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi held talks on a wide range of issues during the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit held at New Delhi.
A joint statement issued after the summit, while referring to BRICS+, stated that both sides:
“.. further committed themselves to promote cooperation in the expanded BRICS under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, cultural, and people-to-people cooperation. They reaffirmed their commitment to the BRICS spirit of mutual respect and understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, openness, inclusiveness, collaboration, and consensus. Russia pledged its full support for India’s upcoming BRICS Chairmanship in 2026.”
BRICS Common currency and trade in local currencies
One of the aspects that was discussed during Putin’s visit was the issue of a common BRICS currency and trade in local currencies between BRICS members. Intra-BRICS trade has grown in recent years with the entry of new members—Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran in 2024 and Indonesia in 2025. If one were to look at intra-BRICS trade in local currencies, this too has witnessed a significant rise. 90% of bilateral trade between Russia and China is in local currencies, while a significant percentage of trade between India and Russia—estimated at well over 90%—is in local currencies. BRICS member states have been pushing a common payment platform for giving a push to trade. This issue was high on the agenda at the 2024 BRICS Summit held at Kazan, Russia, as well as the 2025 BRICS Summit held at Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). While speaking at the 2024 BRICS Summit, Putin had said:
“The dollar is being used as a weapon. We really see that this is so. I think that this is a big mistake by those who do this.”
While trade in local currencies is essential to circumvent sanctions and several countries are seeking to diversify economic relations, the idea of a common currency has been rejected by most BRICS members, including Russia. During his India visit, Putin while highlighting the need for increasing bilateral trade — including in local currencies — said that the organisation needed to be cautious as far as the idea of a common BRICS currency was concerned. In a media interview the Russian President said:
“There is no need for haste. And if there is no hurry, then you will avoid many grave mistakes.”
He underscored the need to learn lessons from the Eurozone, saying that countries cannot be forced to follow a “common system” if structures are not aligned.
India which will be chairing the BRICS Presidency, in 2026, has taken a nuanced position. While pushing for trade in local currencies and pitching for other BRICS countries to adopt the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), it has categorically distanced itself on more than one occasion from the idea of a common BRICS currency. Apart from the economic factors for the same, there is a clear geopolitical reason – India is sceptical about sharing a currency with China.
BRICS, De-dollarisation, sanctions and the US Dollar
It is important to understand that a changing geopolitical situation, especially economic sanctions, has propelled several countries to trade in local currencies, but this does not mean that all of them are doing it with the objective of undermining the US dollar. Those who believe that the US Dollar will be threatened by trade in local currencies – including the US President Donald Trump – need to adopt a more nuanced approach vis-à-vis the growing trade in local currencies between developing countries – especially members of BRICS. Recently, American investor and the author of ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Robert Kiyosaki while commenting on the announcement of a Gold currency by BRICS in a post on X highlighted the need for investors to move away from the US Dollar and explore alternatives such as cryptocurrencies and precious metals. In his post, he wrote, “…Bye Bye US Dollar…”
In conclusion, the idea of a BRICS common currency is unfeasible, while trade in non-dollar currencies is likely to grow due to sanctions imposed upon Russia. Countries are looking to reduce their dependence upon the US Dollar, but this phenomenon is extremely complex and cannot be viewed from simplistic binaries as has been mentioned earlier.
Netflix shares drop after Paramount launches hostile takeover bid
Netflix shares dipped Monday after Paramount announced a hostile takeover bid, fueling worries on Wall Street that the streaming giant may not be able to pull off its audacious acquisition.
Netflix stock closed down nearly 3.5% to $96.79 a share after Paramount moved to take its case directly to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders, offering $30 a share in a deal valued at $78 billion for the whole company. Last week, Netflix said it reached an agreement with WBD to buy its film and TV studios, Burbank lot, HBO and HBO Max for $27.75 a share, a $72-billion offer. Netflix would also take on more than $10 billion in Warner Bros. debt, for a deal value of $82.7 billion.
On Monday, analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak, CEO of Pivotal Research Group, downgraded his rating on Netflix stock from buy to hold, citing concerns that Paramount’s bid could increase the price Netflix could pay for the WBD assets. Regulatory issues may also change the terms of the deal, such as Netflix giving up HBO to a rival, Wlodarczak said. “The question is, what modifications might they have to make?” he said.
Wlodarczak also questioned Netflix’s engagement levels with customers, which is key to retaining subscribers on the platform. He said that “this very expensive deal” highlights Netflix’s concern that short-form entertainment on platforms like TikTok and YouTube are attracting younger consumers.
YouTube — once known as a place for amateur user-generated videos — has become an entertainment powerhouse, encapsulating the largest percentage of streaming on U.S. TVs, according to Nielsen. In October, YouTube represented 12.9% of U.S. TV viewing time, compared to Netflix’s 8%.
Netflix said its customer engagement “remains healthy,” noting in a shareholder letter in October that it grew its engagement in the U.S. and U.K. by 15% and 22%, from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2025, citing data from Nielsen and Barb, which tracks viewership.
Equity research publisher MoffettNathanson analysts said questions have been building about Netflix’s engagement growth, adding that even though Netflix’s share of total TV time started to grow in the second half of the year, “YouTube’s share gains have overshadowed most of the other streaming platforms.”
“There’s issues with Netflix engagement, sort of flatlining,” Wlodarczak said. “You get a lot better content, it should help with your engagement. … Is this a signal they’re really starting to get worried about engagement, and they’re out doing this deal because younger people are just spending increasing amounts of time not sitting there watching hour-long shows?”
Netflix declined to comment on Wlodarczak’s report.
On Friday in a call with investors, Netflix executives emphasized that their business is healthy and growing. They pointed out how sci-fi hit show “Stranger Things” was very popular with younger audiences, as well as series like the drama “Outer Banks” and movies including “KPop Demon Hunters.”
“We had record engagement previous quarter,” said Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos on the Friday call. “We’re happy with our outlook for the ongoing organic growth and engagement … Our core fundamentals are strong. This gives us a very unique opportunity to accelerate an already very successful model.”
Whether the deal will go through remains an open question, as Netflix would not make the acquisition until 12 to 18 months from now, after Warner Bros. Discovery separates its company, spinning off its cable channels into a new publicly traded company.
Wedbush Securities analysts, who have an outperform rating on the stock, said in a note on Monday that they are skeptical that the deal will pass regulatory scrutiny.
“Ultimately, we think the DOJ will reject a deal without concessions on pricing and industry standards,” the analysts wrote.
On Monday, Netflix executives said they were confident the deal would go through. Co-Chief Executive Greg Peters pointed out that Netflix still represents a smaller share of U.S. TV viewing in the U.S. compared to YouTube, even if it were to combine with Warner Bros. Discover, citing Nielsen data.
“We think there’s a strong fundamental case here for why regulators should approve this deal,” he said.
Wlodarczak said he believes there are benefits to Netflix acquiring the Warner Bros. Discovery assets. The Los Gatos, Calif., streamer would gain access to characters including Batman and Harry Potter.
It also prevents rivals like Paramount from getting bigger.
“They’re starting to get large enough to build a credible threat to Netflix,” Wlodarczak said. “So by buying this thing … it’s going to be really difficult to get as large and have as much scale as Netflix.”
Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
12 FBI agents fired for kneeling during racial justice protest sue to get their jobs back
WASHINGTON — Twelve former FBI agents fired after kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington sued Monday to get their jobs back, saying their action had been intended to de-escalate a volatile situation and was not meant as a political gesture.
The agents say in their lawsuit that they were fired in September by Director Kash Patel because they were perceived as not being politically affiliated with President Trump. But they say their decision to take a knee on June 4, 2020, days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, has been misinterpreted as political expression.
The lawsuit says the agents were assigned to patrol the nation’s capital during a period of civil unrest prompted by Floyd’s death. Lacking protective gear or extensive training in crowd control, the agents became outnumbered by hostile crowds they encountered and decided to kneel to the ground in hopes of defusing the tension, the lawsuit said. The tactic worked, the lawsuit asserts — the crowds dispersed, no shots were fired and the agents “saved American lives” that day.
“Plaintiffs were performing their duties as FBI Special Agents, employing reasonable de-escalation to prevent a potentially deadly confrontation with American citizens: a Washington Massacre that could have rivaled the Boston Massacre in 1770,” the lawsuit says.
The FBI declined to comment Monday.
The lawsuit in federal court in Washington represents the latest court challenge to a personnel purge that has roiled the FBI, targeting both top-ranking supervisors and line agents, as Patel has worked to reshape the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. Besides the kneeling agents, other employees pushed out in recent months have worked on investigations involving Trump or his allies and in one case displayed an LGBTQ+ flag in his workspace.
After photographs emerged of the agents taking a knee, the FBI conducted an internal review, with the then-deputy director determining that the agents had no political motive and should not be punished. The Justice Department inspector general reached a similar conclusion and faulted the department for having put the agents in a precarious situation that day, the lawsuit says.
It was only after Patel took over the bureau in February that the FBI took a different posture.
Multiple kneeling agents were removed from supervisory positions last spring and a fresh disciplinary inquiry was launched that resulted in the agents being interviewed about their actions. That internal process was still pending when the agents in September received terse letters telling them they were being terminated because of “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of government.”
“Defendants dismissed Plaintiffs in a partisan effort to retaliate against FBI employees that they perceived to be sympathetic to President Trump’s political opponents,” the lawsuit states. “And Defendants acted summarily to avoid creating any further administrative record that would reveal their actions as vindictive and unjustified.”
The plaintiffs are among 22 agents from different squads across Washington who were deployed to downtown D.C. on June 4, 2020, to demonstrate a visible law enforcement process during a time of protests in the nation’s capital and across the country.
The lawsuit asserts that the agents were thrust into a chaotic scene, saying that a crowd recognized them as being from the FBI and “intentionally” pushed toward them, becoming “increasingly agitated” and shouting and gesturing toward them. Some in the crowd began chanting “take a knee,” a gesture that at that point was widely recognized as a sign of solidarity with Floyd, who was pinned to the pavement by police with a knee on his neck.
The agents closest to the crowd were the first to kneel. After the crowd’s attention turned to the other agents who remained standing, the other FBI employees followed suit, taking a knee in recognition that it was the “most tactically sound means to prevent violence and to maintain order.” The crowd moved on.
“Plaintiffs demonstrated tactical intelligence in choosing between deadly force — the only force available to them as a practical matter, given their lack of adequate crowd control equipment — and a less-than-lethal response that would save lives and keep order,” the lawsuit says. “The Special Agents selected the option that prevented casualties while maintaining their law enforcement mission. Each Plaintiff kneeled for apolitical tactical reasons to defuse a volatile situation, not as an expressive political act.”
In addition to seeking reinstatement, the lawsuit also asks for a court judgment declaring the firings as unconstitutional, backpay and other monetary damages and an expungement of personnel files related to the terminations.
Tucker writes for the Associated Press.
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Trump White House announces $12B farm aid package
Dec. 8 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday a $12 billion dollar aid package to help American farmers hit hard by inflation, tariffs and China’s trade war to “provide much needed certainty” for next year’s crops.
Trump unveiled the aid package with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at a White House roundtable, where they were joined by farmers in soybean, corn, rice, cattle, potatoes, sorghum and the cotton industry.
“I’m delighted to announce this afternoon that the United States will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs … We’re going to use that money to provide $12 billion in economic assistance to American Farmers,” Trump said.
“This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year’s harvest to market and look ahead to next year’s crops, and it’ll help them continue their efforts to lower food prices for American families,” Trump added.
Rollins said farmers can begin applying for the one-time funding within the next few weeks. The money will be distributed before Feb. 28.
A White House spokesperson said Monday’s rollout reflected Trump’s “commitment to helping our farmers, who will have the support they need.”
“We are going to create this bridge because, again, agriculture is all about the future, you’ve got to start financing for planting next year, when things will be very good,” Bessent said Sunday.
Monday’s aid announcement is the latest effort to help U.S. farmers negatively affected by the president’s tariff policies and other factors, such as a drop in crop prices. Farmers lost billions of dollars in sales after China stopped buying U.S. soybeans in May to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs.
The White House said last month that China plans to buy at least 12 million metric tons of soybeans, sorghum and “other farm products” before the end of the year, after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached a preliminary trade agreement in October.
“Since my successful meeting in South Korea with President Xi, purchases have been made, and soybeans are being exported out of the United States to China as we speak,” Trump told Monday’s roundtable.
The Agriculture Department confirmed last week a half million more metric tons of soybeans, sorghum and wheat were being shipped to Chinese shores.
Last month, the American Farm Bureau Federation issued a warning that aid was “urgently needed” as the money needed to grow crops exceeded farming revenues and farm bankruptcies were starting to rise.
Monday’s package sets aside $11 billion in one-off checks for crop producers under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmer Bridge Assistance initiative, while another $1 billion is reserved for commodities that fall outside that program’s coverage.
“President Trump is helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade,” stated White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.
Rollins revealed last week that the federal government was planning to issue the bridge payments to farmers.
“What you’ve been able to do is open those markets up and again, move toward an era where our farmers are not so reliant on government checks, but have the markets to sell their product,” Rollins said. “Having said that, we do have a bridge payment we’ll be announcing with you next week, as we’re still trying to recover from the Biden years.”
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, accused Trump of taking credit for fixing his own mess.
“Trump’s tariffs are hammering our farmers, making it more expensive to grow food and pushing farmers into bankruptcy,” Schumer said. “Farmers need markets to sell to — not a consolation prize for the ones he wrecked.”
On Monday, Iowa cattle and soybean farmer Cordt Holub told Trump he appreciated the bridge payments, saying, “it’s Christmas early for farmers.”