THINGS have taken a turn since the flaming Café Brûlot cocktail at lunch. 

I’m now a jumble of Mardi Gras sequins and feathers, and there is a giant eagle mascot lying at my feet.  

An hour earlier, the waitress at Antoine’s, in New Orleans, had ignited a punch bowl of the brandy-and-citrus coffee then ladled it on to our tablecloth in a fiery spectacle.  

Established in 1840, the French-Creole restaurant still has old-world charm, with chandeliers, wooden beams, and a jazz band roaming the tables at its Sunday Brunch.  

It had set us up nicely for the nearby Mardi Gras Museum Of Costumes And Culture, where curator Carl Mack encouraged us to play dress-up in the warehouse-sized closet.  

So here I am, in a sparkly purple gown, 5ft-wide shoulder collar, and a precariously balanced headdress. Another member of the tour has pulled on a bird of prey mask.  

SUN UP

Spanish city with 3,000 hours of sunshine a year is 3 hours away & pints are £2.17

BELLE VILLE

Pretty French city with wine tours and lively old town getting new UK flights

We are in the Louisiana port city several weeks too early for its world-famous annual carnival, which starts in January and culminates on Fat Tuesday (“Mardi Gras” in French), the last day of street parades, colourful floats and letting loose before Lent — but the myriad museums and year-round party atmosphere have given us a taste of it. 

Our railway journey across America’s Deep South had started several days earlier in a city that has ruffled a few technicolour feathers with its claim that it is the “birthplace of Mardi Gras”.  

Mobile, in Alabama, says it hosted the very first celebration in the US, in 1703 — some 15 years before New Orleans was founded.  

As with any “healthy sibling rivalry”, though, “if either city was in trouble, we’d have each other’s back”, Mobile historian Cart Blackwell insisted.  

It is just as well, because the country’s national rail carrier, Amtrak, has reconnected the two Gulf Coast destinations after 20 years with its twice-daily Mardi Gras Service. 

It takes 3hr 45min from Mobile to New Orleans — or Nola as the locals call it — with stops in Mississippi cities Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay Saint Louis.  

The dramatic 233km stretch across rivers, lakes and marshland has been a resounding hit with residents and tourists who, like us, have no desire to tackle interstate traffic.  

Train fares start from £11 for coach class, the seats and footwell are generous in size, and most of the main attractions in each city are within walking distance.  

Southern comfort food 

Blackwell, the curator at Mobile’s Carnival Museum, stresses its Mardi Gras is more family-friendly than New Orleans’, but is hopeful the trains’ early-morning and evening departure times will allow revellers to attend parades in both cities on the same day.  

After admiring the regalia from mystic societies’ former kings and queens, including intricately hand-sewn robes with trains weighing up to 50lb, we boarded Gulf Coast Tour’s white vintage-style streetcar. 

Tour highlights included the awesome USS Alabama battleship and fighter plane pavilion and neighbourhoods of charming Creole cottages and Colonial and Greek Revival houses.

The city is fast-becoming a foodie haven, and downtown’s Dauphin Street is the main entertainment and restaurant hub.  

Think streets lined with Forrest Gump’s childhood home, all in varying sizes and pastel tones, with wraparound porches, shuttered windows and swing chairs.  

The book about a loveable Alabama man, later adapted into the hit 1994 film, was written by Winston Groom, who lived for much of his life in Mobile.  

The city is fast-becoming a foodie haven, and downtown’s Dauphin Street is the main entertainment and restaurant hub.  

Stops on Bienville Bites’ walking tour served historical anecdotes and Southern comfort food including hickory-smoked Conecuh sausage, pecan bread pudding and oysters “fried, stewed and nude”.  

At the bustling 87-year-old Wintzell’s Oyster Bar, there are diner-style brown leather booths and walls covered in thousands of multicoloured plaques with more of the founder’s witty sayings.  

“Y’all should try” its sampler of 16 fresh Gulf oysters smothered in rich toppings like jalapenos, bacon and cheddar. 

For beer and meat-lovers, the family-run Callaghan’s Social Club has won awards for its juicy burgers (from £7.50).

A favourite with locals for 80 years, the dive bar has walls draped in neon lights and littered with family portraits, Irish memorabilia and pictures of local legends who have performed there.  

The city drew worldwide attention in 2019 after archeologists working the Mobile River, found the burned wreckage of the last- known slave ship to land in America.

The Clotilda transported 110 captured West Africans to Mobile Bay in 1860 — 52 years after the US had outlawed importation of slaves. It was then sunk to hide the evidence.  

At the Africatown Heritage House, a ten-minute taxi ride away, a deeply moving exhibition tells some of the individuals’ stories through written accounts and artefacts. 

It is a sobering reminder that much of the economy of the Deep South once relied on slavery.

Back downtown, we stayed at The Admiral, a quirky Versailles-inspired hotel, which has rooms decorated in a Mardi Gras colour palette of purple (justice) and gold (power).

It’s a five-minute walk to the station for our sunrise departure to Biloxi, once known as the “seafood capital of the world”. 

Its past can be explored at the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum but to see the trade first-hand, we strolled along the Small Craft Harbour, where shrimp boats with recognisable outriggers and nets are moored, and pelicans perch on pilings.  

We then dived into tasty shrimp-and-crabmeat gumbo (a heavily seasoned stew) for just £6 at Mary Mahoney’s. Built in 1737, it is one of the oldest houses in the US, and even Elvis Presley once dropped by.  

One of the main draws to Biloxi is its big-name hotels and casinos, but Mississippi is most famous for founding the Blues. So an evening at actor Morgan Freeman’s  Ground Zero Blues Club is a must for live music. 

And, for a hotel oozing Southern charm, the White House, dating back to the 1890s, has white-stucco pillars and views of the Mississippi Sound. Less than an hour on the train and we were in Bay Saint Louis, which has a vibrant small-town vibe.

Tourist-heavy Bourbon Street provided blocks of hedonism, though we preferred the jazz and brass bands on Frenchman Street.

The seafront main strip has boutiques, antique stores, lively late-night wooden watering holes painted lime green and yellow that wouldn’t look out of place in the Caribbean, and The Pearl hotel, which is modern with spacious rooms overlooking the marina. 

Paddle-wheel steamboat 

We embraced the slow pace in the day — golf buggies are the vehicle of choice — and joined athleisure-wearing locals at the Mockingbird Cafe, the place to be. 

Bay Saint Louis also boasts a cultural gem — the 100 Men D.B.A Hall where blues and jazz greats including BB King and Etta James have played.  

Our final stop, New Orleans, proved to be a glorious assault on the senses.  

Tourist-heavy Bourbon Street provided blocks of hedonism, though we preferred the jazz and brass bands on Frenchman Street.

Strolling along the banks of the Mississippi, we took in the sight of a cruising paddle-wheel steamboat, one of the last of its kind, and spent hours wandering the French Quarter’s beautiful brick townhouses with floral wrought-iron balconies.  

For a behind-the-scenes look at carnival we toured Mardi Gras World to see floats and the artists who build and paint them.

And there was time for a more sobering trip, to the vast National WWII Museum.

There we saw a Higgins vessel, a shallow-water bayou boat built in Nola, that was instrumental in the D-Day landings.  

And confirming why it is frequently-named the “best food city in the world,” we indulged in beignets (powdered-sugar doughnuts), Po’boys (crusty bread filled with slow-cooked roast beef), and, given its close proximity to swampland, alligator (yes, tastes like spicy chicken). 

It has never been easier to navigate the party-loving Deep South, so make tracks for Amtrak’s Mardi Gras Service. 

The long-simmering fight between some of L.A.’s best-known billboard attorneys and Uber, one of their most frequent targets, is poised to spill out of the courtroom and onto the November ballot.

The ride-share giant is gathering signatures for an initiative that, if passed by voters, would cap how much attorneys can earn in vehicle collision cases. The company pledges the change will give victims a larger cut of their settlement money, alleging predatory attorneys are inflating medical bills to increase their own profits.

Lawyers claim it will decimate their lucrative niche — car crash lawsuits in the automobile haven that is California — and ultimately leave thousands of people with small or challenging cases unable to sue because they can’t find an attorney.

This fight, lawyers say, is existential.

Attorneys from Sweet James and Jacoby & Meyers — the names and faces of which will be imprinted in the minds of most California drivers — have given almost $1 million to a committee opposing the ballot measure, according to campaign filings. Dozens of other deep-pocketed attorneys have joined, raising an impressive war chest already surpassing $46 million.

“Uber knows darn well what they’ve done,” said Nicholas Rowley, among those leading the opposition. “This law is designed to wipe out ordinary working people’s ability to get representation.”

Attorneys have condemned the fee cap as a Trojan horse meant to trick voters into wrecking the delicate math behind personal injury lawsuits. Currently, personal injury attorneys typically take 33% to 40% of a client’s payout. That is enough, they say, for them to earn a living and risk taking cases on a contingency fee basis — meaning, if they lose, they don’t get paid.

Uber’s proposal would cap attorney fees for car crash cases at 25% and require extra costs — filing fees, depositions, experts — to be calculated before the fee split rather than coming out of the client’s portion.

The two sides have conflicting views of who would be expected to pay for medical fees, which often drain a significant portion of an injured client’s payout. Attorneys said in order to guarantee clients get 75% of the money, lawyers will have to foot the bill for these medical costs, opening the possibility they would walk away with nothing. Uber said the question of who covers medical costs is “not contemplated by the measure” andit expects clients would pay.

The measure would tightly limit what medical expenses can be claimed and curb most damages to rates based on insurance. A doctor-led political action committee opposing the measure has raised more than $4 million, according to campaign finance records, arguing it will prevent Californians from getting treatment.

Uber said in a statement that nothing in the measure prevents car accident victims from securing doctors and lawyers. Instead, the company said, the measure is aimed at tackling a perennial problem in California’s legal system: attorneys pushing car crash victims into expensive surgeries in order to fatten their fees. The only Californians impacted, Uber claims, will be “shady billboard lawyers whose business model relies on abusing auto accident victims for their own personal gain.”

“Californians deserve a system that prioritizes victims over billboard lawyers,” said Adam Blinick, Uber’s head of public policy. “Capping attorney fees, banning kickbacks, and ending inflated medical billing are common-sense reforms that will protect auto accident victims and lower costs, and we’re confident voters will agree.”

Uber has poured fuel on the fire with federal racketeering lawsuits targeting both Downtown LA Law Group, or DTLA, and Jacob Emrani, two prominent personal injury law offices in Southern California. The lawsuits allege the attorneys had “side agreements” with certain doctors to inflate medical bills for unnecessary procedures to get a larger payout.

In an Instagram post, DTLA called the lawsuit a “calculated attempt by a billion-dollar corporation” to suppress legitimate claims. An attorney representing Emrani called it meritless and part of a campaign “to shut the courthouse doors to victims injured by Uber drivers.”

Gearing up for a fight, Consumer Attorneys of California, a powerful trial lawyer trade group, is pushing three ballot measures of its own, including one seeking to increase legal liability for ride-share companies if a passenger is sexually assaulted by a driver and the other aiming to nullify the fee-capping measure if it passes. Billboards have sprung up across Los Angeles reminding Californians that Uber is the subject of a string of recent New York Times investigations into sexual assault by drivers.

The company said it has invested billions in keeping riders safe and has “done more than any other company to confront” sexual violence.

Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group that sponsored some of the billboards and receives funding from trial attorneys, put out a “consumer alert” branding the fee cap as a “license to kill” measure, claiming it would ultimately pave the way for Uber to move forward with robotaxis without worrying about getting sued. Uber said this was “flat-out untrue” and the measure has nothing to do with autonomous vehicles.

The push by Uber comes at a tense point for California’s legal bar. The Times reported this fall on private investors looking to bankroll California sex abuse cases, and separate allegations of fraudulent lawsuits and unethical conduct by Downtown LA Law Group, a firm known for car crash lawsuits that played a prominent role in L.A. County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement.

DTLA has denied all wrongdoing and said it operates “with unwavering integrity, prioritizing client welfare.”

Some attorneys worry about how voters will perceive their industry when it’s time to cast ballots.

“I’ll tell you straight up, we could do a better job policing ourselves,” said Rowley, who said he believed the State Bar had historically been weak on California lawyers. “It creates a situation where Uber can do what it’s doing.”

The exterior of Downtown LA Law Group at 601 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Calls for reform within California’s legal community have gained momentum in recent months.

Joseph Nicchitta, the county’s interim chief executive officer, called on the State Bar to implement “badly needed ethical reforms” that would make big personal injury cases less profitable for lawyers. Attorney and business advocacy groups have made public pleas to keep private equity out of the state’s legal landscape, worrying it fuels frivolous lawsuits. Gov. Gavin Newsom has similarly expressed unease.

“Our legal system is meant to provide justice, transparency, and accountability — not a business model that uses survivors of abuse or trauma as a revenue stream,” said a spokesperson for the governor. “California can — and must — hold two truths at the same time: standing unequivocally with survivors and victims, while also demanding integrity within the law firms and other businesses that work within our legal system.”

Californians unhappy with problem law firms already have a way to ding them without the ballot measure, Uber’s opponents argue. A new law went into effect Jan. 1 giving private citizens the right to sue an attorney for unethical practices. Many such practices are already illegal but seldom prosecuted. That includes advertising containing false promises and using third parties to solicit clients.

The Times reported this fall that nine plaintiffs represented by Downtown LA Law Group were paid by recruiters to sue the county for sex abuse in juvenile halls, four of whom said they were told to make up claims. The firm has denied paying anyone to file lawsuits.

“This is exactly why we wrote the bill,” said Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), a lawyer who oversees the Senate Judiciary Committee, in response to The Times Dec. 31 story on the firm. “I expect that someone will take it upon themselves to actually enforce that law.”

We are in the thick of the NFL playoffs, which also means teams that need a new head coach are busy shopping. And this year, there are a lot of shoppers, after more than 25% of teams said “thank you and goodbye” to the guy they started the season with.

Most of the coaches were fired. Most of them didn’t make the playoffs this year. Most of them didn’t even finish .500. None of that describes Mike Tomlin.

After leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to the team’s 25th division title — eight because of him — he decided to step down after 19 years on the job. Upon hearing the news, the Athletic reported, players became very emotional, including future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was said to be in tears. The players’ response is consistent with Tomlin’s decades-long reputation in the league as a great mentor and friend.

Unfortunately, because we’re all trapped in this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately meets rage-bait world, there is this narrative out there that Tomlin is not an all-time great coach. In fact, some Steelers fans online and former NFL players on podcasts are suggesting he was mediocre because the team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since President Obama’s first month in office. About a third of the league’s teams have won a championship since Tomlin. For the fanbase for teams like the Cleveland Browns or the Arizona Cardinals, a Super Bowl in any year would be enough. However, the Steelers faithful have a different history and higher expectations.

I get it.

That is still no reason to disrespect one of the greatest coaches in league history as he walks out the door. Recency bias typically comes with a dash of amnesia. Sprinkle in the pace of the modern news cycle and the algorithms’ insatiable hunger for outrage, and you can see why people are tempted to say negative things about someone who has never had a losing season. That achievement is not perfection, which is commonly the bar set on social media by naysayers in search of clicks, but it is unequivocal excellence. No other NFL coach with his number of years in charge can make such a claim. That is also true in the NBA, the MLB and the NHL.

The only quarterback the Steelers drafted in the first round during his era, Kenny Pickett in 2022, is currently on his fourth team. For perspective, Brock Purdy, the current San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback, was available. That’s not meant to be a dig at the Steelers front office. Every team has its hits and misses during the NFL draft. That’s just to remind you of Pittsburgh’s decadelong carousel under center. As coach, Tomlin has more seasons using three different starting quarterbacks than he does finishing the year 8-8.

There’s no medal or ring for never having a losing season. However, that accomplishment should always come with respect. Because winning an NFL game has never been easy.

For perspective, in 2022, while the Steelers were busy not drafting a franchise quarterback, former Rams coach Dick Vermeil was inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 15 years, Vermeil had seven losing seasons. Like Tomlin, he has one Super Bowl ring. Vermeil, who was famous for turning teams around in three seasons, left the game with a .525 win percentage. After two decades, Tomlin won 63% of his games, which ranks in the top 10 all time and is the best in Steelers history.

To question if he’s an all-time great isn’t just counterintuitive.

It’s disrespectful. And for what? To generate some content between playoff games? An irrational need to be a contrarian?

There’s more to Tomlin’s story that is being underdiscussed. Less than 2% of all K-12 teachers are Black men. The percentage of Black head football coaches in the top division has never been more than 15. Chances are Tomlin is the first Black man many of his players have ever witnessed be in charge. There have been stretches in which he was the only Black NFL head coach and thus the first person journalists reached out to when it’s time to talk about the Rooney Rule. He’s carried that unspoken responsibility, that invisible weight, quietly for 19 years.

And he did so without ever ending the season having lost more than he won.

Instead of asking if Tomlin is an all-time great, the conversation in the sports world should be focused on how great Tomlin is.

YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow

What does it say about global diplomacy that, in the same month when the West patted itself on the back for a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank endured the highest number of settler attacks ever recorded?

In keeping with the past two years, the international community is condemning violence in principle, while granting Israel total impunity in practice. A response that is timid, hollow and all too predictable.

In October 2025, the United Nations documented more than 260 settler attacks in the West Bank, resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage. Vehicles were torched, Palestinian agricultural workers assaulted, and olive trees burned, at the height of the harvest season. The violence is relentless, and the world’s timid response rings hollow.

But this is hardly unprecedented. Since October 2023, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 1,040 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 229 children, according to the UN. Violence is unfolding alongside mass displacement. In early 2025, an estimated 40,000 people were forcibly displaced by the Israeli army’s “Iron Wall” Operation in the northern West Bank, the largest single displacement in the West Bank since 1967.

It was then that I managed to enter the occupied West Bank, along with fellow British MP Andrew George and a staff member of our host, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians. On one of our trips, we travelled from Jerusalem to the northern town of Tulkarem; it was a drive that should have taken roughly 50 minutes, but it stretched to more than three hours. Israeli checkpoints along the way made it impossible to guarantee passage, and we were forced to take an unconventional route.

When we arrived in Tulkarem, we met with youth leaders who described how Israeli bulldozers destroyed their roads and infrastructure. Everywhere we drove, we saw roads clearly damaged, some partially repaired, and others still piles of rubble. Since January 2025, as part of “Iron Wall”, the Israeli army has forcibly expelled the residents of two refugee camps in the area, Tulkarem and Nur Shams.

We visited a six-bedroom property housing about 50 refugees displaced from the refugee camps. The house had been repeatedly raided by Israeli authorities, and the bullet-riddled wall bore testimony to their visits. A 17-year-old refugee living in the house showed us wounds from a military dog, recounting how Israeli forces had thrown him into a ditch and set the dog on him. He complained he couldn’t even watch TV any more, pointing to the smashed television. The horrifying and the mundane all in one sentence.

Given the UN’s log of settler attacks in October, it is evident the situation has grown even more acute since my visit to the West Bank in April. Violence continues unchecked, and our government is taking no robust action to stop it.

Critics will argue that I’m conflating Israeli army violence with settler violence. The truth is that the two are inseparable. I saw this everywhere I went. From the rolling hills of Masafer Yatta to the bustling streets of Jerusalem, settlers swaggered around with their rifles, taunting and intimidating Palestinians, all under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers.

In one particularly intense moment, Israeli soldiers stood literally shoulder-to-shoulder with settlers. Both armed, both wearing camouflaged armoured vests with the Israeli flag adorned on them. A visual manifestation of how blurred these lines are.

My mind returned to these countless anecdotes last month, when I read about the extent of Israel’s impunity, which was laid bare in Jenin, with the extrajudicial executions of two Palestinians, al-Muntasir Abdullah, 26, and Youssef Asasa, 37. Despite the depravity of this act, not to mention the clear violations of international law, the UK government, once again, offered only hollow words of “concern”, sending the implicit message that Israel can continue to kill Palestinians without consequences.

Of course, these individual acts of violence do not occur in isolation; they are part of a larger plan. In August 2025, Israel approved the illegal E1 settlement expansion, authorising more than 3,000 new settlement units to be built. For decades, the international community has recognised the E1 as a red line, because construction there would divide the West Bank, obstructing the connection between Ramallah, occupied East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. But again, the UK government responded with nothing more than empty words.

Herein lies the paradox. We are told that the UK garners supposed “influence”, but only on the condition that we promise never to exercise it. What results is a dystopian pantomime, a circus of excuses. If we do not use our influence to stop the most despicable acts of violence against the Palestinian people, then what is it all for?

And let’s be absolutely clear: When it comes to Palestinians, there is a brazen disregard for the most fundamental human right, the right to life. We are witnessing livelihoods being destroyed. Forced displacement. Illegal settlement expansion. Extrajudicial killings. International law is clear: Collective punishment, settlement construction on occupied land, and extrajudicial killings are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The entire occupation is illegal, as laid out by the International Court of Justice. So, where, exactly, is our government’s red line?

The UK government no doubt wants the world to move on. Mired by its complicity in the Gaza genocide, it surely views the “ceasefire” as an opportunity to deflect calls for action. Instead of weak statements of “concern”, the UK government should be pursuing a full suspension of arms sales to Israel, laying sanctions on Israeli ministers for their role in supporting an illegal occupation, supporting domestic and international accountability mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court, and pushing for prosecutions of British citizens serving in the Israeli army.

Whether they live in Gaza, the West Bank or Israel, Palestinian lives are not expendable. I have seen the suffering, injuries, and displacement with my own eyes in Tulkarem, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Masafer Yatta. I saw an apartheid system that punishes and terrorises Palestinians daily. Justice demands more than words. It demands action. And it demands it now!

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Novak Djokovic says he does not think the upcoming Australian Open is “now or never” for his hopes of winning a standalone all-time record 25th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic, 38, has been tied on 24 major victories with Australia’s Margaret Court since his last triumph at the 2023 US Open.

Unsurprisingly, the Serb has showed signs of decline in recent years, yet still managed to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams last year.

Given he is a record 10-time men’s champion in Melbourne, and has had plenty of recovery time going into the first major of the season, the consensus is that the Australian Open represents his best chance of landing the elusive record-breaking title.

“There has been a lot of talk about the 25th, but I try to focus myself on what I have achieved, not what I’m possibly achieving,” Djokovic, who is seeded fourth at Melbourne Park, said.

“I hope it comes to that [winning 25], but 24 is also not a bad number. I have to appreciate that and remind myself of the amazing career I had.”

Djokovic has never made a secret of his desire to achieve even more history, but is now attempting to release some of the “unnecessary” pressure he places on himself to surpass Court.

He starts his latest bid against Spain’s Pedro Martinez in Monday’s night session on Rod Laver Arena.

“I don’t think it’s needed for me to really go far in terms of make-it-or-break-it or a now-or-never type of mentality,” said Djokovic, who is aiming to become the oldest Grand Slam men’s champion in the Open Era.

“Neither does that allow me to excel and perform my best.”

A FORMER Nickelodeon star has been killed in a horror hit-and-run in New York City.

Kianna Underwood, 33, was dragged under a car after it struck her in Brooklyn early on Friday morning.

She was crossing Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville neighbourhood when a black Ford SUV hit her.

Kianna – who appeared in comedy sketch show All That in 2005 – was pulled under the car for around a block.

The driver fled as she lay motionless in the road, the New York Post reports.

Kianna was pronounced dead at the scene after being found with “severe trauma” at the intersection of Osborn Street and Pitkin Avenue.

HARD SELL

Gene Hackman’s $6.25m home where his & wife’s bodies found on the market

No arrests have been made.

As well as starring in several episodes of Nickelodeon’s All That, Kianna also lent her voice to animated series Little Bill.

The child star also appeared in indie film The 24-Hour Woman in 1999, and provided voiceovers for animated TV movie Santa, Baby in 2001.

Off screen, Kianna spent time on the stage – playing little Inez during the first national tour of Hairspray.

One of Kianna’s relatives, Anthony Underwood, shared the tragic news of her death on Facebook.

He wrote: “Please give me and my family time to process this. Thank you.”

It comes after another child star was killed after he was hit by a car while stepping off a school bus.

Nikodem Marecki, 11, was run over moments after exiting the vehicle near Kraków, Poland.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and an air ambulance helicopter transferred him to hospital on November 26.

Nikodem starred in the multi-award winning Polish war drama White Courage, released last year.

Director Marcin Koszałka called it a “terrible, great loss”, adding: “He was very talented and the world was opening up to him.”

The calendar says winter, but the struggle to find spaces at summer campsites has already begun — especially at California state park system’s most popular campgrounds, where most booking begins six months ahead of a camper’s arrival date.

And this year, the rules are different.

In a bid to cope with that demand, reduce no-shows and open more campsites to more people, state parks officials have tightened policies on reservation changes and cancellation, while boosting penalties for no-shows. The new restrictions take effect on reservations beginning July 1, which became available for booking on Jan. 1.

Among the restrictions:

• Campers making campsite cancellations can get their site fees refunded if they cancel at least seven days ahead of their arrival date. After that, they will be required to pay a penalty matching the cost of the first night. No-show campers (and those who fail to cancel at least 48 hours ahead of check-in time) will forfeit all fees paid.
• If a would-be camper fails to shows up for their reservation three times in the same calendar year, that camper is to be banned from placing reservations for one year.
• No matter when a reservation is canceled, the system’s $8.25 reservation fee and $8.25 cancellation fee are nonrefundable.
• Over the last year, the state parks system has also adopted a lottery-style drawing system for select campsites at Malibu Creek, Morro Bay and McArthur-Burney Falls state park units. Travelers can apply to join the lottery up to eight months ahead.

With these measures in place, parks officials say, they hope more campsites can be rebooked after campers’ initial plans change.

Parks officials said campers with reservations who need to cancel should call their destination park at the number listed on their confirmation email. In most cases, the state parks website says, “canceled sites will become available for booking in the reservation system at 8 a.m. the day following the cancellation.” A state parks spokesman said the agency had no current statistics on no-shows.

Statewide, California’s campground system continues to open most campsites for online reservations at 8 a.m., six months ahead of the stay, on a rolling basis. (In other words, at 8 a.m. Aug. 3 the state will start taking reservations for stays on the night of Feb. 3.)

On line, most travelers use the informational site parks.ca.gov and the booking site reservecalifornia.com. Telephone reservations are still possible at (800) 444-PARK (7275). Reservation modifications are possible until 48 hours before arrival time.

Despite the high demand at many park units — especially those on the coast — statewide statistics seem to suggest a visitation slump in recent years. By the parks department’s accounting, California’s 280 state parks units attracted about 84 million total visitors in the year that ended June 30, 2023. That was a 9.9% dip from the year before.

Among people camping, the decrease was even steeper. The state’s tally of about 5.9 million “overnight users” of campgrounds in 2022-23 was a drop of 24% from the year before.

Here are the 10 most popular state park campgrounds based on 2025 summer occupancy, according to park officials.

Rookie Beckett Sennecke had two assists and then scored in the shootout, sending the Ducks to a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Mason McTavish ended it with a third-round shootout goal for the Ducks, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit for their second straight victory after a nine-game skid.

Tim Washe scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Strome got his first goal in a month for the Ducks when Southern California’s two NHL teams opened a back-to-back, home-and-home chapter of the rivalry by going to their second shootout of the season. Lukas Dostal made 26 saves.

Joel Armia had a goal and an assist in his return from a five-game injury absence for the Kings, who have lost five of six.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots, but the Canadian Olympian couldn’t stop the famously deliberate shootout style of McTavish, one of the NHL’s most successful shootout scorers.

Quinton Byfield put the Kings ahead on their first shot on goal 98 seconds after the opening faceoff, beating Dostal for his ninth goal off a rush set up by Armia.

Neither team mounted a consistent offensive attack for two periods, but Armia made it 2-0 for the Kings midway through the second with a one-timer off a backhand pass from Andre Lee.

Strome answered 39 seconds later, putting a shot past a screen from Sennecke for his second goal in 22 games.

Less than three minutes after that, Washe alertly located a rebound off the boards and beat Kuemper from a sharp angle for his inaugural goal in his sixth NHL game. The 24-year-old undrafted forward won an NCAA title last spring with Western Michigan.

The Ducks played without their top two scorers because of injury. Leo Carlsson had treatment earlier in the day on a thigh injury that could endanger his participation in the Olympics, while Troy Terry (upper body) went on injured reserve before missing his fourth straight game.

The Kings were without captain Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore and Corey Perry.

The Syrian military says it is advancing to secure territories formerly controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo governorate.

On Saturday, government troops entered Deir Hafer, approximately 50km (30 miles) east of Aleppo city, following the SDF’s announcement of a planned withdrawal from their strongholds beginning early in the morning.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani) announced via X on Friday that the group would pull back from contact lines east of Aleppo at 7am local time (04:00 GMT) on Saturday and relocate its forces to areas east of the Euphrates River, responding to requests from allied nations and mediators.

Syria’s Ministry of Defence expressed support for the SDF’s withdrawal decision, stating it would monitor the complete implementation, including the removal of fighters and equipment, before deploying Syrian military forces to assert state authority in the vacated regions.

Previously, Syrian military officials reported they had initiated shelling operations against bases belonging to a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and against former regime elements allied with the SDF in Deir Hafer.

The United States, which aims to establish lasting peace in Syria to enhance broader Middle East stability and prevent ISIL (ISIS) resurgence, has encouraged both parties to avoid confrontation and resume negotiations, according to Syrian officials and diplomatic sources.

Both sides participated in extensive talks throughout last year, working towards integrating Kurdish-administered military and civilian institutions into Syrian state structures by the end of 2025, with both repeatedly emphasising their preference for diplomatic solutions.

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan, talk of “humanitarian ceasefires” has become a recurring political refrain, invoked whenever the humanitarian catastrophe reaches its peak. However, the ceasefire being proposed today comes in a different and dangerous context. It follows the committing of genocide and ethnic cleansing by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in the city of el-Fasher in Darfur – one of the most horrific humanitarian crimes in Sudan’s modern history, and indeed in the history of humanity.

El-Fasher, once a symbol of diversity and coexistence, has been turned into a devastated city emptied of its population. In the aftermath of this major crime, the international community has once again returned to proposing a “humanitarian ceasefire” as an option. This calls for a careful political reading that does not stop at moral slogans, but instead unpacks the motives and potential consequences – especially with regard to Sudan’s geographic, social, and political unity.

A path to peace or a gateway to disintegration?

In popular culture, there is a saying: “If you see a poor man eating chicken, then either the poor man is sick or the chicken is sick.” This proverb captures the essence of the legitimate political suspicion regarding the timing of this ceasefire.

Truces for humanitarian purposes, in principle, are meant to alleviate civilian suffering and may pave the way towards ending conflicts. In the case of Sudan, however, what raises alarm is that this ceasefire was proposed after the catastrophe occurred, not before it – after the RSF categorically rejected any humanitarian commitments, including the protection of hospitals and the securing of safe corridors for civilians to flee.

Humanitarian organisations have been operating in most regions of Sudan, including Darfur, despite security complexities and in the absence of a legal, signed ceasefire. This makes the question unavoidable: Why push for a ceasefire now? And in whose interest is this ceasefire being proposed at this particular moment?

This contradiction opens the door to suspicion that the objective goes beyond humanitarian concerns, extending instead to reshaping the political and geographic reality of the country.

Ceasefires in historical experience

Modern history is full of examples where humanitarian ceasefires transformed from de-escalation tools to preludes to fragmentation and secession. In Western Sahara, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and South Sudan, ceasefires were not always bridges to peace; more often, they were transitional stages towards the division of states and the erosion of sovereignty.

In the Sudanese context, specifically, Operation Lifeline Sudan launched by the UN in 1989 stands as a stark example of how humanitarian action was employed as a political entry point, eventually culminating in the secession of South Sudan through a referendum that followed a long process of normalising division.

The current situation, however, is far more dangerous and complex. It does not involve a government negotiating with a political movement holding national demands, but rather an unprecedented scenario in which two parties both claim to represent “the government” within a single state: The legitimate government of Sudan, on the one hand, and the RSF, seeking to establish a parallel entity, on the other.

The trap of disguised political recognition

Negotiation between “two governments” within one state is not only unprecedented in Sudan; it represents a grave political trap aimed at extracting recognition of a de facto force under a ceasefire umbrella.

The mere act of joint signing grants the rebel party parity and legitimacy, fundamentally contradicting the immense sacrifices made by the Sudanese people in defence of the state’s unity and sovereignty.

This path constitutes a direct violation of the core principles for which martyrs fell and women were widowed:

First, the principle of unity: The RSF has violated it by importing foreign elements and mercenaries, exploiting external support to impose forced demographic changes, and attempting to reshape Sudan according to agendas that bear no relation to the national will.

Second, the principle of unified government and constitutional legitimacy: The pursuit of a “parallel government” directly undermines this principle. It deals a blow to the foundations upon which the state has stood since independence, and opens the door to political chaos and institutional fragmentation.

Third, the unity of the military institution: The RSF violates it by receiving weapons and combat equipment from foreign states, and relying on looting and self-financing, completely contradicting any talk of security reform or the building of a unified national army. In practice, it lays the groundwork for multiple armies within a single state.

The ambiguity of negotiations and the absence of transparency

Concern deepens with the total lack of transparency surrounding the truce process. Why are negotiations conducted behind closed doors? Why are the Sudanese people excluded from knowing what is being agreed on in their name? How can foreign states negotiate on behalf of a people bleeding under war and displacement? Who has more right to oversee peace efforts than the people themselves? Are there priorities greater than commanding an ongoing war in which everyone is involved?

More alarming still is that the party “holding the pen” in the political process is the same party “holding the gun”, practising killing and ethnic cleansing – an ethical and political paradox that cannot be accepted.

A comprehensive reading of events suggests that this ceasefire is more likely to be an entry point for dismantling the Sudanese state than a bridge to saving it. It may lead to the entrenchment of division: Zones of influence, multiple armies, different currencies, parallel central banks, competing foreign ministries, and conflicting passports – a state without a state, and sovereignty without sovereignty.

This is a contagious disease that, sooner or later, will infect everyone along the coast, the river’s mouth and its source alike.

Between humanitarian duty and national vigilance

No one disputes the priority of improving humanitarian conditions and protecting civilians. Yet the ceasefire being pushed today may carry temporary stability at the cost of a devastating strategic price: The erosion of Sudan’s unity.

National duty demands the highest levels of vigilance and caution, lest the ceasefire turn into a political trap, pushing the project of state disintegration. While we should fully acknowledge that the crisis has deep, accumulated historical roots, we should remember that history does not forgive those who squander their homeland, nor does it absolve those who trade national sovereignty for foreign dictates.

Hope remains pinned on the awareness of the Sudanese people and their ability to unite in confronting this decisive moment, in defence of one homeland, one army, and one state – one that rejects partition and guardianship, accepting only the will of its people through a system and framework that do not involve seizure by force or the imposition of reality at gunpoint.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Cersei chose violence. Rhaenyra commandeered dragons. But the protagonist of HBO’s new “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”? Don’t expect vengeful wildfire or shouts of “Dracarys!” Wanna-be knight Dunk is earnest, gentle and enjoys sleeping under the stars.

There are no magic spells, dragons or major wars in Dunk’s (Peter Claffey) timeline, which is set about 100 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” and roughly seven decades after 2022’s spinoff, “House of the Dragon.” But there’s still mud. Lots of mud, mixed with blood and guts, because what’s Westeros if not a queasy swill of muck and bodily fluids? Here’s to consistency between series.

But there’s a problem. It turns out that sitting through scenes replete with diarrhea, snot, vomit and bashed brains isn’t all that tolerable without the payoff of royal feuds, sociopathic personalities, supernatural phenomenon and above all, a story that promises to go somewhere bigger.

Based on the “Tales of Dunk and Egg,” novellas by author George R.R. Martin (he wrote “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the novel series that inspired “Game of Thrones”), “Knight,” premiering Sunday, takes a humble road into the realm, basing its story around a simple, low-born wanderer who dreams of becoming a knight.

His story unfolds over six episodes that take place over the course of a few days, which is quite a switch from the vast timelines of “Game of Thrones ” and “House of the Dragon’s” debut seasons. The tighter scope and folksy approach — from a score with more spare acoustic guitar than sweeping orchestral numbers and an abundance of drab peasant rags over plush regal garb — is refreshing, at first.

Dunk, a.k.a. Ser Duncan the Tall, is a strapping but awkward young man with little confidence and few skills. We meet him upon the natural death of his mentor and adoptive parent, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb). The old man was a hedge knight, meaning he wandered about Westeros renting out his protective services to monied houses and, occasionally, those in need. One such charity case was young Dunk, whom the older knight saved from a thief’s knife before taking on the boy as his squire.

Now on his own, Dunk aspires to become a hedge knight too. On his way to prove himself at a jousting tournament, he meets a clever, bald-headed boy who calls himself Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The child is as smart and cunning as Dunk is thick and guileless. They repeat history when the child becomes the wanna-be knight’s squire, and together they prepare for a match that Dunk is wholly unsuited to win.

Created by Ira Parker, in conjunction with Martin (“Game of Thrones” co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had no involvement), “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is a David and Goliath story, with a somewhat predictable outcome.

Granted, nothing will ever be as grandiose, addictive and surprising as the fantasy universe that brought us White Walkers, the Red Queen and the Faceless Man, but to pull out the magical realism, then fill the gaps with Dunk’s sincerity and honor-above-skill ethos is not a winning strategy.

One of the more successful aspects of the series is the performance of Ansell as Egg. The boy squire shines bright in the otherwise drab surrounds of the tourney campgrounds. His wits and ingenuity versus the knights’ brutality and violence is a worthy match.

Nevertheless, the bloodiest forms of combat decide the day at the tourney, be it by mace, battle ax or bludgeon. The gore throughout this drama is on par with some of the more violent and ferocious scenes from previous HBO series set in Martin’s world. But without the possibility of a story that rises above Dunk’s slog on the ground, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” stays stuck in the mud.

AFTER an indulgent Christmas, “no carbs before Marbs” was a non-starter (or indeed dessert) for me. 

A winter trip to the Costa del Sol resort might be without the beach clubs, but it is also minus the crowds and it’s usually still mild at around 16C, with six hours of sunshine daily. 

Despite Marbella’s reputation as a party town, this is the perfect time for a girly weekend away. 

The main attraction is the beautiful Old Town, where stark white buildings are brightened up with luminous Aperol Spritz signs and luscious green plants climb the walls. 

Uneven cobbled streets tempt you to explore at every corner – and that meant we stumbled across bar after bar, full of locals. 

There was Vinacoteca Castillejos, a simple bottle shop lined with walls of wine and a very friendly owner who let us sample a selection of his favourites. 

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And, tucked down an inconspicuous alley, La Tienda proved to be another cosy affair with exposed brick walls and high-top tables. 

Thank goodness for my sommelier-trained companion, who never failed to find us the best vino blanco for just £5 a glass.

And to soak up the drinks, you can head to one of the many restaurants. Taberna La Niña del Pisto was my favourite – but blink and you’ll miss it. 

We pushed through ornate iron gates to squeeze on to a table at the bar in the ­cavern-like room. 

Plates and plates of tapas followed — the richest ratatouille topped with egg; the creamiest ham croquettes; the freshest sheep’s cheese. 

With a bill totalling just £40 (including a bottle of local wine), we almost questioned if they had forgotten half of our order. 

Shopping in Marbella is a laid-back affair in winter too, and we enjoyed browsing quiet shops for colourful dresses and woven hats. 

A trip to the beach club is out of the question — these don’t open until April at the earliest. 

Yet instead of selfie-taking celebs on the sands, you’ll spot brave surfers attempting to catch the waves. 

Relaxing on the beach was skipped in favour of exploring the city’s beautiful gardens. 

One of the most spectacular is Parque de la Alameda, where the towering trees and tropical plants make you feel like you are a world away from Spain. 

But, of course, a trip to Marbella is nothing without a quick bit of ­window-yacht-shopping at Puerto Banos marina. 

“Not quite to my taste, that one,” my friend said, pointing at a black boat double the size of the rest. 

Music-themed massage 

If you’re splashing out a few million on a floating bit of metal, she’s entitled to be a little fussy.

Just down the road is the Hard Rock Hotel, which let us live the rock star life on more of a budget. 

I could hardly resist asking for my own guitar to be sent to the room — one of the other amenities on offer in the hotel. 

Opened in 2022, it isn’t as sprawling as the brand’s other hotels — just two restaurants and two pools — but that makes it a lot more manageable to get around too. 

Being out of season did come with some downsides, with the specialty restaurant and pool closed. 

But stays are a fraction of the usual price. Rooms drop to as little as £171 in the winter months, compared to highs of £395 in summer.

We spent mornings doing yoga, easing into the day with light stretches and the smell of sandalwood incense. 

Lazy starts were practically encouraged at the hotel, with breakfast running until 11am. 

And what is a music-themed hotel without a music-themed massage? 

A visit to the hotel’s Rock Spa is certainly a unique experience, and I spent a relaxed hour below a hanging ­pendant light-cum-speaker, playing lo-fi tunes that vibrated my bed to the beat. 

And, of course, there is the Memorabilia tour where I learned about all the pieces on display throughout the hotel, from Beyoncé’s tour jacket to Blondie’s signed guitar. 

I could hardly resist asking for my own guitar to be sent to the room — one of the other amenities on offer in the hotel. 

Any dreams of becoming a pop star died quickly, however.  

My friend’s cackles drowned out the sound of my fingers clumsily plucking at the strings, resulting in a garbled, broken noise. 

But after a weekend of wine and laughter, Marbella is just as Marb- ellous in the winter as in summer. 

I certainly felt the warmth after a bottle of two-euro wine, at least . . .  

New Rangers winger Skov Olsen says fans can expect him to “go for it” and hopes to end the season lifting trophies.

The Denmark international has signed on loan from Wolfsburg until the end of the campaign, with Rangers holding the option to make the move permanent in the summer.

Skov Olsen, 26, has made only 10 appearances for the Bundesliga side since his summer move from Club Brugge.

He excelled in Belgium, scoring 49 goals and providing 30 assists in 124 games and Skov Olsen told BBC Sport Scotland he hopes to show fans he can recapture that form at Ibrox.

“Hopefully I can bring extra strength to the front, to both score and create for the team,” he said.

“I think they can expect I will try to break through, [going] inside and outside. Shoot and set up my mates. Just go, even [if I] lose the ball – go again.

“That’s what they can expect – I will try and go for it.

“It’s a very interesting time. But we have to take one game at a time and win the next one in front of us. Hopefully at the end of the season we’ll lift trophies.”

Skov Olsen played at Nordsjaelland in Denmark and with Bologna in Serie A before his move to Club Brugge.

He added he spoke to various people about the club, including some current Rangers players who he played with in his homeland.

“I know some of the guys from Nordsjaelland back in the day. [Oliver] Antman, the new signing Tochi [Chukwuani], and Dio [Mohamed Diomande].

“I know the guys a bit so it was very lovely to see them after some years.

“I spoke through a friend with Antman who came in the summer, obviously Tochi has just arrived, other than that I spoke to some other people about the club who only had good things to say.”

Army says its forces are working to remove mines and other war remnants as they continue advancement.

After repeated clashes and a fatal shooting, the injunction bars federal ​agents from detaining or retaliating against peaceful protesters.

A ‌federal judge in Minnesota has ordered the United States’ immigration agents ‍deployed ‍to the state to curb some of the tactics they have used against observers and protesters of their enforcement actions.

Tensions over the deployment have mounted in Minnesota since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a 37-year-old mother of three, Renee Nicole Good, behind the wheel of her car earlier this month.

Good was taking part in one of numerous neighborhood patrols organised by local activists to track and monitor ICE activities.

On Friday, US District Judge Kate Menendez’s court injunction barred federal ​agents from retaliating against individuals engaged in peaceful, unobstructive protest ‍activity.

Officers were explicitly prohibited from arresting or detaining people protesting peacefully or engaged in orderly observations, if there was no reasonable suspicion that they had committed a crime ‍or were ⁠interfering with law enforcement.

The ruling also bans federal agents from using pepper spray, tear gas or other crowd-control munitions against peaceful demonstrators or bystanders observing and recording the immigration enforcement operations.

The US ‌Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was given 72 hours to bring its operation in Minneapolis into compliance.

The court ruling hands a victory to activists in Minneapolis, the state’s most populous ⁠city, two weeks after the Trump administration announced the deployment of 2,000 immigration agents to ​the area.

Their numbers have since grown to nearly 3,000, dwarfing the ranks of the local police. The DHS calls it the largest operation of its kind in the country’s history.

Crowds of protesters across Minneapolis have clashed with the immigration officers, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants, with some officers responding with violence.

Amid the escalating dispute between Trump and local state and city leaders, the president threatened on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act, allowing him to deploy the military to police the protests.

“If I needed it, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the move.

The Insurrection Act allows a president to sidestep the 19th-century Posse Comitatus Act, which removes the military from regular civil law enforcement, to suppress “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence” and deploy soldiers on US soil “as he considers necessary”.

Harry Blitzstein, the tireless L.A. painter who ran the Blitzstein Museum of Art on Fairfax Avenue, has died. He was 87. His death was confirmed on Instagram by his daughter, Andrea Blitzstein, who wrote, “He was an artist who truly loved what he did and continued creating until the very end.”

Blitzstein was a true Los Angeles character and a beloved member of the neighborhood, having opened his storefront museum across from Canter’s Deli three decades ago to exclusively show his own art. The space quickly gained a reputation for being a welcoming, colorful venue that held a particular fascination for young artists inspired by Blitzstein’s pure joy for the act of creation, critics and sales be damned.

In interviews, Blitzstein often noted that the difficulties of getting gallery shows, and the disappointments that often followed, led him to open the space, which he stocked with an ever-growing hodge-podge of his surreal, imaginative, sometimes dark, often playful, paintings.

“Cuteness exaggerated to the point that it becomes savagely funny and horror so overwhelming it explodes with hysterical laughter are the order of the day here,” reads an 1986 L.A. Times review of a 25-year retrospective of Blitzstein’s work. “Blitzstein blends the unbridled dementia of Ralph L. Steadman, the evil fleshiness of Hieronymous Bosch and the anarchistic intelligence of Bunuel in his sendups of art history classics and the American way.”

Harry Blitzstein was born in 1938 at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and raised in Boyle Heights, where his father operated a shoe store called Fair Shoes. In the mid-1950s, Bitzstein’s dad moved the shop to the same Fairfax storefront that Blitztein later used for his museum. After graduating from Los Angeles High School, Blitzstein attended UCLA for a year, before transferring to Pomona College. He later earned an MFA at Claremont Graduate School.

He soon began painting in earnest.

“I had 9 wonderful one-man shows in Los Angeles and finally opened up my own gallery on Fairfax Avenue 32 years ago,” Blitzstein said in a 2023 interview in Voyage L.A. magazine. “I have been painting for approximately 70 years and would like to go for another year or two.”

Blitzstein did just that.

“There’s LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and this is my little museum,” Blitzstein said in a short film made in August by Josh Polon and Philip Hodges, for the “Life in a Day” documentary. “I’ve been painting for over 50 years, still trying to receive a recognition that I have not achieved … all I have to do is put on Bob Dylan and get the rhythm going, and the paint going, and the tears are rolling. You’re feeling and you just start painting.”

Andrea Blitzstein announced that she will be at the Blitzstein Museum of Art (428 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A., at 4 p.m. Saturday to share memories, laughter and tears with friends and fans.

I’m arts editor Jessica Gelt reminding myself that creating art is a lifelong pursuit and should never be inhibited by a lack of traditional success. The true measure of success is the work itself — and your love for it. Blitzstein’s life and work prove that.

On our radar

Debbie Allen will participate in “Dancing in the Light: Healing With the Arts” on Sunday.

(Debbie Allen Dance Academy)

“Dancing in the Light: Healing With the Arts”
In support of those affected by last year’s fires and other members of the community, Debbie Allen, DADA Master teachers and world-class choreographers offer this free, daylong dance class in a variety of genres. Register online in advance; all abilities and levels of experience, ages 9 and up, are welcome.
1-5 p.m. Sunday. Debbie Allen Dance Academy, 1850 S. Manhattan Place, Los Angeles. debbieallendanceacademy.wufoo.com

“North Wall” by Norman Zammitt, 1976. Acrylic on canvas. 96 1/4 by 168 1/8 inches.

(Heather Rasmussen / © Estate of Norman Zammitt and Karma)

Norman Zammitt
The underappreciated Southland artist, who died in 2007, was known for his mural-size paintings and exacting use of color. The exhibition “A Degree of Light” focuses on two of his most important bodies of work, a series of laminated-acrylic pole sculptures and the abstract Band Paintings, which reflect his use of mathematical, formal and spiritual inquiries, then-groundbreaking industrial and computer technologies, and embrace of the poetics of experience.
Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through Feb. 14. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. karmakarma.org

Eddie Izzard in “The Tragedy of Hamlet.”

(Carol Rosegg)

Izzard: The Tragedy of Hamlet
As one might expect from such a singular performer, this is not your usual take on Shakespeare’s notorious Danish prince. Adapted by Mark Izzard and directed by Selina Cadell, this solo performance entails the comic Eddie Izzard playing 23 characters, ranging from gravedigger to royalty, putting her years of marathon training to a true test.
7 p.m. Thursday and Jan. 29; 8 p.m. Jan. 23-24, Jan. 30-31; 3 p.m. Jan. 25. The Montalban Theatre 1615 Vine St. eddieizzardhamlet.com

The week ahead: A curated calendar

SATURDAY
Lunar New Year at the Wallis
It’s the Year of the Horse — energetic, free-spirited and intelligent. Celebrate it with two events: the free Family Fest, featuring immersive arts and crafts, traditional foods and performances and presentations by Qing Wei Lion and Dragon Dance Cultural Troupe, Cold Tofu Improv Comedy Troupe, East Wind Foundation, Gamin Music, Beverly Hills Public Library, City of Beverly Hills Community Services Department, and DJ Moni Vargas; and Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s production of “The Great Race,” the story of the Chinese Zodiac, written and directed by Reiko Ho (two ticketed performances at the Lovelace Studio Theatre, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.)
11 a.m.-2 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

A Grand Baroque Salon
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is joined by harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï, violinists Margaret Batjer and Josefina Vergara and flutist Sandy Hughes for a program featuring J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto, No. 5,” plus works by Rameau, LeClair and C.P.O. Bach (Johann Sebastain’s son).
7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Huntington, Rothenberg Hall, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org

Scott Dunn conducts the Scott Dunn Orchestra in rehearsal. The group performs Saturday night at the Wallis.

(Kevin Parry)

Monsters, Murders, Spies and Space
The Scott Dunn Orchestra fêtes “Those Fabulous Films of the Seventies,” performing memorable scores by Lalo Schifrin, Miklós Rósza, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch, David Shire, Richard Rodney Bennett, Johnny Mandel, Nino Rota and John Williams.
7:30 p.m. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

Busoni Piano Concerto
Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and pianist Igor Levit team up with the L.A. Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale for this mammoth piece in five movements requiring more than 100 musicians.
8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

The Peking Acrobats will perform at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach on Saturday.

(Tom Meinhold Photography)

The Peking Acrobats
The internationally renowned troupe performs daring feats of balance, strength, grace and contortion.
Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. Carpenter Center, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach. carpenterarts.org

Goodfellas
Producer Irwin Winkler and co-screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi join the American Cinematheque for a 35th anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, the latter of whom won an Oscar for supporting actor for his role as gangster Tommy DeVito. 7 p.m. Saturday. Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. americancinematheque.com

MONDAY

Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart,” screening Jan. 26 at the Academy Museum.

(Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Wild at Heart and Weird on Top: A Tribute to David Lynch
The Academy Museum marks the one-year anniversary of the visionary filmmaker’s death with a five-film series highlighted by appearances from actors Kyle MacLachlan (“Blue Velvet”) and Laura Dern (“Inland Empire” and “Wild at Heart”).
“Blue Velvet,” 7:30 p.m. Monday; “Lost Highway,” 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23; “Mulholland Drive,” 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24; “Inland Empire,” 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25; “Wild at Heart,” 7:30 p.m. Jan.26. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

THURSDAY
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Windy City ensemble’s director emeritus Riccardo Solti conducts the group in a repertoire that includes Brahms, Ravel, Stravinsky, Hindemith and Johann Strauss Jr. on a two-week western states tour that includes Southern California stops:
7:30 p.m. Wednesday at McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Soraya, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23. at the Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara; and 8 p.m. Jan. 24 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 300 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. cso.org

More Miracles
The Actors’ Gang presents original one-act plays: “Nun Fight” by Willa Fossum; “16 Summers” by Ayindé Howell; and “In Recovery” by Mary Eileen O’Donnell.
8 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays, through Feb. 21; 8 p.m. Jan. 23; 2 p.m. Jan. 25, Feb. 8 and 15. The Actors’ Gang, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City. theactorsgang.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Theater seats.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Report cards for L.A. theaters’ artistic directors
Times theater critic Charles McNulty took the start of a new year as an opportunity to assess the accomplishments of the artistic leaders of three of the city’s most influential theater companies: Center Theatre Group’s Snehal Desai; Geffen Playhouse’s Tarell Alvin McCraney; and Pasadena Playhouse’s Danny Feldman. Spoiler alert: Nobody scored lower that a B, which speaks to the strength of theater in L.A., but McNulty did issue some advice and gentle criticism that could help inform the group’s decision-making moving forward. “Theaters across America are holding on for dear life, so it might not seem fair to evaluate the artistic records of these leaders when the primary goal right now is survival. But there are better and worse ways of staying alive. And a reckoning with trade-offs can help clarify the values driving decision-making,” McNulty writes.

People enjoy the newly reopened Noah’s Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

(Dania Maxwell/For The Times)

Two-by-two
I had the pleasure of taking my daughter to the Skirball Cultural Center to try out its newly renovated Noah’s Ark exhibit, as well as its new Bloom Garden. The 18-year-old exhibit just reopened after closing down for three months for updates that included theatrical lighting, new interactive components such as a giant olive tree and an ancillary garden filled with edible fruit trees and herbs. “The goal is not to change the story, but to bring forward a chapter that’s always been there — that moment after the storm, when the work begins,” said Rachel Stark, vice president of education and family programs at the Skirball.

Tina Packer

(Shakespeare & Company)

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come …
Tina Packer, the founding artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, has died. She was 87. Packer was born in 1938 in Wolverhampton, England, and raised in Nottingham. She trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and later worked as an associate artist at the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as appearing in a variety of TV shows including “David Copperfield” and “Doctor Who.” Packer moved to the Berkshires in Massachusetts, where in 1978 she co-founded Shakespeare & Company with fellow actor, director and writer Dennis Krausnick — whom she would later marry. The celebrated acting teacher Kristin Linklater, and a number of other theater artists also helped establish the company, which claimed Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Mass., as its first venue.

Call it an art tariff
The Louvre, which has had a string of bad luck lately, including news of severely deteriorating infrastructure and a notorious broad-daylight heist, has announced that it is raising ticket prices for non-EU visitors by 45% — charging 32 euros instead of 22 euros with the goal of boosting much-needed revenue. (Hopefully, it’s still free the first Friday of the month after 6 p.m., except in July and August.)

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

The Times just released this fun, informative and engrossing list of the 101 best Los Angeles movies. Did we miss something? Please let us know!

OUR Spotlight On column gives you the lowdown on what to see and do in popular holiday spots and off-the-beaten-track destinations.

This week we’re shining a light on the charming seaside village of Winterton-on-Sea.

While it offers year-round appeal, from bracing winter walks to long summer days on miles of golden sand, with the Norfolk Broads right on the doorstep.

And from October through January, thousands of grey seal pups and their mothers take over the beach during the annual breeding season, creating an unforgettable spectacle.

MUST SEE / DO

At any time of year, the golden expanse of Winterton beach is unmissable, backed by what is widely regarded as the best sand dunes in Norfolk.

And for dog lovers, the beach is even more special, being pooch-friendly all year round.

ON THE UP

Inside the £40million overhaul of the UK’s ‘Golden Mile’ seaside town

FISH AND KIPS

I visited the English seaside town that still has enough to do on rainy days

Boasting one of the largest grey seal colonies in the UK, visitors can see seals at any time during the year.

But it is during the winter months that the area literally comes alive with groups of pups and their mothers stretching out along the sands with around 3500 born every year along the 5-mile stretch of coast from Waxham to Winterton.

BEST VIEW

Keen walkers will enjoy the stunning views and wildlife offered by the Norfolk Coast Path from Winterton to Horsey Gap.

Use the designated viewing platforms for breathtaking views that don’t disturb the seals.

Friendly volunteer wardens are on hand to give guidance and information and ensure the wellbeing of this incredible seal population.

Take the opportunity to stop at the aptly named Seal View Cafe for refreshments.

HIDDEN GEM

Discover one of Britain’s best preserved Roman monuments only a short 20-minute drive from Winterton-on-Sea.

The 3rd Century ‘Saxon Shore’ fort at Burgh Castle, which is now a haven for wildlife haven, was built as part of the Roman network of coastal defences, and three of its imposing stone walls remain, almost to their original height.

RATED RESTAURANT

Indulge yourself at Michelin-recommended The Swan at Ingham, headed up by Norfolk born Chef Patron Daniel Smith who previously worked under Michel Roux Jr. at Le Gavroche in London.

Relaxed and cosy, the 14th century-coaching inn offers a locally inspired award-winning menu.

BEST PUB

Tuck into delicious home cooked meals at friendly traditional Norfolk pub the Fisherman’s Return.

The freehouse, which has been serving customers since the 17th century, is just a stone’s throw from the beach and welcomes dogs.

COTTAGE PICK

Winterton Cottages has a great selection of self-catering options.

The Cranny is a traditional thatched Norfolk double roundhouse.

This pretty two bedroomed property is all on one level and has a fantastic location in the centre of the village – yet is only five minutes walk from the beach.

A three-night weekend stay starts at £573. Modern ‘upside down’ house, Eva’s Lookout boasts a spacious open plan living area upstairs, making the most of the fabulous view over Winterton Valley and out towards the sea.

There’s direct access the beach and it is walking distance from the Fisherman’s Return, shops and Poppy’s tea rooms.

A three-night weekend stay starts at £975. See wintertoncottages.co.uk. 

The Mirror meets Ali Porteous, star of the new series of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, who lives one mile south of the equator on the remote island of Bulago in Uganda

Living on a remote island in Uganda’s section of Lake Victoria, just one mile south of the equator and up to three hours from the mainland on a public canoe, might not be everyone’s cup of tea but for 66-year-old British-born Ali Porteous, it’s paradise on earth. A former television camerawoman from Chichester in West Sussex, Ali swapped a career filming the wars of the 1980s in Afghanistan, Peru and Sri Lanka for a life on Bulago island, where she has now lived for 27 years, after discovering the island on a boat trip.

Life’s priorities change living on an island, Ali explains, “Watching the full moon rise as the sun sets takes precedence over everything. I’m happy to live quite frugally, growing my own fruit and veg where I can. I’m mostly vegetarian but eat like a queen thanks to ‘the pearl of Africa’s’ lush abundance. We grow the juiciest pineapples I’ve ever tasted and the best and biggest avocados,” says Ali, who stars in episode one of the new series of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, which begins this Thursday on Channel 5.

READ MORE: Ben Fogle bombshell surprises fans as the TV presenter considers a future in politics

“I live off very little money. We run everything on solar and don’t have heating bills. When I go to the mainland, I still drive a 1996 Rav4 car too old to have airbags! Most of my clothes come from a wonderful second-hand shop on the mainland where I can buy beautiful silk and designer clothes that the owner brings all the way from Hollywood.”

Ali shares her life with an eclectic bunch of animals. Her horse Tufani, which means storm in Swahili, came to the island at four months old and is now best friends with Donkey, who was dumped on the beach. Wanting to introduce hardy animals, she brought two camels from North Kenya called Rumi and No 9, who climatised happily to island life and produced a son called Minimus.

Ali’s love for dogs knows no bounds so she has always nurtured a multi-generational pack of little dogs, mixing Dachshund with Jack Russell and Pomeranian to make feisty companions. There’s Mama Huche, Maximus and puppy Spoticus. But sadly living out on the island, tragedy does strike.

“I’ve lost dogs to crocodiles and snakes. Just a few months ago, three of Max’s grown-up pups attacked a big forest cobra and were dead within the hour. It was horrific, I tried to save them by picking up and throwing the snake into the lake but it was too late. Dogs are instinctive hunters so every day when we are out walking, I have to be ready for the dogs to catch the scent of something, most often a monitor lizard. If they catch one, I try to save the lizard by picking it up by its shoulders and hips and throwing it into the lake or a nearby tree. My main motivation for doing this, besides saving the animal, is to save the dogs as these lizards have salmonella in their saliva, which can be fatal.”

And it’s not just Ali’s animals that are in danger. “If I get sick or injured there are no medical facilities on the island so help seems far away. A boat ride away but the crossing can be difficult in bad weather. And this is getting worse each year with global warming’s unpredictable and frightening storms. I always used to ride my horse bareback, but now with ageing bones, I have to be cautious and ride with a saddle because I don’t want to fall off and break my back and be paralysed.”

Born in 1959, Ali was a rebellious child who never settled in school but buckled down to earn a degree in media studies, where she picked up a camera for the first time. A life-changing commission came from BBC 2 Newsnight to film an Afghan Mujahideen/Russian prisoner exchange, which took her to the frontlines of Afghanistan and launched her career as a war camerawoman.

“I ended up filming deep in the mountains in Bin Laden’s secret hideaway. A Russian bomb landed quite near me but didn’t explode so once the explosive had been removed, I decided to take the shell home with me on a British Airways flight, who were more than happy to transport the souvenir.” The shell now forms the base of a table in her island garden.

In 1985, disguised as a travel agent and smuggled through Kampala roadblocks, Ali embedded with the National Resistance guerilla Army to report a silent genocide than would kill a million Ugandans. It was then that Ali’s love affair with this country began, which made her return the following year for Uganda’s liberation. Although three months pregnant with her son, Oliver, she felt compelled to get back, to witness and film this new beginning.

Ali and her partner Robin raised two children – Oliver and Phoebe – in the English countryside, in between her trips to war zones. But by the early-90s, disillusioned with making documentaries in the UK, she returned to Uganda to work for President Yoweri Museveni as a media/PR adviser.

“These were exciting times to be working in Uganda with the constitution being written and the first democratic elections taking place so I tried to split my time between the UK and Uganda, working for the President and trying to look after my children but such a schism took its toll and my relationship with Robin couldn’t survive,” remembers Ali.

When Ali’s contract ended with the President, she had to decide her future, to return to the UK or to stay. “I borrowed a little sailing boat to take a last trip out on Lake Victoria with my longtime reporter friend and we came across Bulago island. Maybe we should buy it, I whimsically suggested and we did. We bought a 49-year lease on this 500 acre island for $16,000, with a plan to develop Uganda’s first marine eco resort.”

So, Ali as a newly single parent, moved to the island, taking her children with her, Oliver was nine and Phoebe was five years old. To begin with, the children went to school in Kampala but later they boarded at Pembroke Prep school in Gilgil, Kenya, which required a regular nine hour school run to visit and bring them back for holidays.

“There was nothing here when we came – just bush, bush, bush.… We lived in British army tents for about three years and had to learn how to build and run a lodge on an island. We made the bricks from termite hills and built the resort with no machinery and of course, without mains electricity so everything runs on solar power.”

Ali saved Bulago from destruction. “When I first arrived in 1997, the island’s forests were being destroyed for charcoal and timber, the flora for commercial farming and the fauna and fish were fighting extinction. There were only a handful of people living on the island but they were being terrorised by the illegal fishermen so we started working on how to protect the local communities and conserve their fishery.”

But in 2009 everything was put on hold as Ali nearly lost everything she had built when her friend and business partner made decisions without her and ultimately the lodge was sold without her consent.

“There was a court order against me going to the lodge. So, I rented a one-bedroom unit in Kampala and worked at an international school to pay the rent. I lived off dates and coffee. The lodge was mostly knocked down and the island returned to bush. It took Ali 10 years of legal battles to win back her island home. “I was so broken by it all. I lost my faith and trust in mankind. But I think I’m on the road to recovery which is why I love to live out here. Every day I wake with a smile, feeling so happy.”

And since then, she’s been more determined than ever to make Bulago thrive. To make enough money to develop the island into a protected eco resort, she sold plots of land to like-minded people for them to build houses and it has worked because the island is conserved while the neighbouring islands are deforested and destroyed. Bulago now has a thriving community of about 150 residents, who mainly live in the fishing village and are employed by the island lodge and private houses.

“I’ve fought long and hard to protect the lake around the island, by campaigning for a Lacustrine Protected Area, which for the last 10 years has been successfully secured by the Government and I’m proud to have made that happen. I’ve been able to help the local communities too, many of whom are living well below the poverty line. At least now they can make some money from responsible fishing and farming.”

Next on her list is to encourage marine tourism to support this community conservation. “We’ve built essential infrastructure – a harbour, lakewall, jetties and a beautiful boat to provide essential access so tourists and local people can travel to the Koome archipelago and enjoy this amazing wilderness. Future plans include establishing Uganda’s first National Marine Park and partnering with an eco-hospitality investor to commence the sustainable development of the remaining southeastern section of Bulago into a conserved and beautiful eco wilderness resort.

Ali’s son Oliver, a “tech genius” now 39 and living in Estonia and her daughter Phoebe, an artist passionately trying to fight climate change, 35, and living in Chang Mai, Thailand, are both planning to their mum this year to celebrate Oli’s 40th birthday in style.

Despite living alone, many miles from friends and family, Ali says she doesn’t get lonely. Far from it. “I don’t know if you’ve heard Jane Fonda’s description of life in three acts? I’ve entered my “Third Act” (60s to death) and loving every minute. There is a delicious sense of liberation, no longer burdened with the trappings of being a woman, hormones disappearing fast, along with the need to take care of everyone. She calls it self-actualising, becoming a more complete and honest version of myself, which has given me the chance to pursue and realize my dreams for the island and the lake. I feel happier now here in the wild than I’ve ever been in my life.”

*Ben Fogle: New Lives in The Wild launches Thursday 15 January 2026 on 5 and is then on catch-up. For an island getaway or a magical stay at Ali’s guest house, one mile south of the Equator, visit oneminutesouth.com

READ MORE: Pride of Britain hero double amputee plants Mirror flag in Antarctica as he makes history

Reporting from Washington — More than two years into the Trump presidency, California has embraced its role as chief antagonist — already suing the administration more times than Texas took President Obama to court during eight years in office.

It’s having an effect.

California’s lawsuits have targeted the administration’s policies on immigration, healthcare and education. But nowhere has the legal battle had a greater impact than on President Trump’s agenda of dismantling Obama-era environmental and public health regulations.

In its rush to delay, repeal and rewrite rules it considers unduly burdensome to industry, the administration has experienced significant setbacks in court. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in cases concerning air pollution, pesticides and the royalties that the government receives from companies that extract oil, gas and coal from public land.

California says it has filed 49 lawsuits against the administration over a variety of issues. Of those, at least 24 are challenges to policies put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department and other agencies responsible for setting energy and fuel efficiency standards for products such as ceiling fans and cars.

The state has prevailed so far in 15 of the environmental regulatory suits it filed or joined. That includes 10 that have been decided and five instances in which the Trump administration backed down before a judge could make a decision, clearing the way for regulations in areas such as worker safety and polluting diesel-engine trucks that the administration had previously contested.

The state’s tally also includes one case in which the outcome was mixed. A federal judge ruled that the administration had to consider damage to the environment before lifting an Obama-era moratorium on coal sales on public land. But the court did not go as far as California had wanted by halting sales entirely.

The Trump administration is appealing several of those decisions. The other nine of the state’s environmental cases are still pending.

The administration’s early losses stem from a variety of problems, including moving too quickly to change regulations, ignoring procedural rules and failing to present evidence to support its position, according to California officials and legal experts.

“When you’ve got these environmental rules, so much of it is underpinned by the science,” California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in an interview. “And it so often is the case that the Trump administration can’t produce the science.”

Becerra said he has noticed the administration is slowing the pace of its rollbacks amid the state and environmental groups’ repeated legal successes.

“Like any fighter, you get to the point where you become punch drunk from all the blows,” he said. “We’ve had a great number of victories in our environmental lawsuits against the Trump administration, and after a while when you get punched so much and the blows land, you do slow down.”

Legal experts said they couldn’t recall agencies under any recent president having such a low success rate in court. An analysis of litigation over the administration’s regulatory rollbacks done by the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law found that judges have ruled against it in 37 out of 39 cases.

“Every administration has its ups and downs in the courts,” said Sean Hecht, an expert on environmental law at UCLA’s School of Law. “Still, it’s safe to say, the Trump administration has done particularly badly.”

The Justice Department, which is tasked with defending Trump’s deregulatory push in court, disputed California’s characterization of the legal battle. In a statement, it noted that it has bested California twice in court.

Both cases involved lawsuits filed by the federal government. One successfully challenged a state law giving the California State Lands Commission the first right of refusal when Washington decides to sell federal land. Another case involved the federal government’s ability to recover damages from a wildfire that tore through a national forest.

“Isolating issues involving losses, some of which are at the district court level and many of which involved cases that later choices of the administration mooted out, does not begin to tell the whole story,” wrote Assistant Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Bossert Clark.

A common problem judges have cited is that agencies under the Trump administration have violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which was enacted in 1946.

“They do have the sloppiness and the bad lawyering. The failure to follow simple rules,” said Bethany Davis Noll, litigation director for the Institute for Policy Integrity. But Noll said agencies’ repeated violations of procedural rules only partially explain the losses.

As the administration moved past its initial strategy of delaying the implementation of Obama administration policies and into the next phase of attempting to overhaul them, it has run into a different obstacle: It is legally required to provide reasons for changing course.

“They have this big substantive problem where the rules are justified and they aren’t giving us a good reason for abandoning them,” Noll said. “An agency that wants to turn its back on that has a really tough job.”

In late March, a federal judge in Northern California struck down the administration’s repeal of a rule aimed at increasing oil and gas companies’ royalty payments. Called the valuation rule, it was an Obama administration initiative aimed at changing how companies value sales of fossil fuels extracted from federal and tribal land.

The “repeal of the Valuation Rule was effectuated in a wholly improper manner,” wrote U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown in a decision finding that the Interior Department had failed to justify the policy change.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco in April put up a new roadblock to the administration’s plans to reverse an Obama-era decision to ban chlorpyrifos, a popular pesticide suspected of harming infants’ brain development. The court gave the EPA 90 days to act on environmentalists’ demands for a complete prohibition.

On Monday, a California federal judge declared that Trump’s EPA had violated the Clean Air Act by failing to enforce rules limiting methane emissions from landfills and ordered the agency to comply with its “long-overdue” duties.

And there’s promise of more: Becerra has threatened to sue if the president goes forward with plans to take away the state’s unique authority to set its own, stricter air pollution standards for vehicles — something the state has been empowered to do since the enactment of the Clean Air Act in 1970.

Hit with defeat after defeat in the courts, the administration has responded by delaying some of its plans.

Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt told the Wall Street Journal last month that a judge’s recent decision blocking offshore drilling in the Arctic had caused him to pause a controversial plan to open most of the United States’ coastal waters to oil and gas exploration.

The EPA, which had planned to release its final proposal to freeze Obama-era vehicle fuel economy standards in March, has postponed that announcement until later this year. And though the administration has proposed scaling back regulations under the Clean Water Act and the Clean Power Plan, it has yet to finalize any of these changes.

Agencies have blamed some of the delays on lost work time during the partial government shutdown. But Noll said she suspects they are struggling to come up with justifications that can survive a legal challenge.

Many of the cases California and other states have brought against the administration are only beginning to make their way through the courts, and environmentalists’ victories could be reversed on appeal. Republicans have confirmed dozens of Trump-appointed judges to federal appeals courts who might be more supportive of the administration’s positions.

Becerra said that regardless of who sits on the bench, California will continue to challenge Trump’s policies. “We are on them immediately,” he said.

The latest from Washington »

More stories from Anna M. Phillips »

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

CITY SECTION

AMIT 41, Discovery 17

Angelou 70, West Adams 50

Bell 37, Huntington Park 35

Bernstein 77, Mendez 31

Central City Value 61, Annenberg 49

CHAMPS 66, Bert Corona 38

Cleveland 78, El Camino Real 49

Community Charter 52, Lakeview Charter 39

Downtown Magnets 39, Orthopaedic 28

East College Prep 52, Esperanza College 39

Fairfax 60, LA Hamilton 35

Garfield 45, LA Roosevelt 40

Granada Hills 69, Taft 67

Granada Hills Kennedy 59, Canoga Park 36

Harbor Teacher 63, Port of LA 42

Hawkins 56.Locke 24

Jefferson 72, Diego Rivera 29

LA Marshall 75, LA Wilson 63

Lincoln 60, Franklin 37

Marquez 67, Maywood CES 18

Monroe 71, Chavez 55

MSCP 82, Foshay 57

Palisades 92, Westchester 54

Rancho Dominguez 78, Gardena 56

RFK Community 91, Belmont 24

San Fernando 100, Reseda 25

San Pedro 61, Wilmington Banning 34

SOCES 95, VAAS 21

Sotomayor 47, Maywood Academy 40

Stern 58, Gertz-Ressler 55

Sun Valley Magnet 57, MSAR 31

Torres 49, Elizabeth 42

USC Hybrid 39, South LA College 25

Venice 57, LA University 49

View Park 71, Dymally 14

SOUTHERN SECTION

Agoura 59, Calabasas 58

Anaheim 67, Century 13

Apple Valley 82, Sultana 48

Azusa 64, Garey 43

Beckman 68, Mission Viejo 64

Bishop Montgomery 51, Bishop Amat 47

Buckley 69, Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 65

California 54, Santa Fe 48

California Lutheran 63, Hesperia Christian 51

CAMS 51, HMSA 46

Cathedral City 55, Desert Mirage 46

Citrus Hill 53, Vista del Lago 43

Coastal Christian 72, Maricopa 44

Corona Centennial 89, Corona 52

Crossorads Christian 58, Bethel Christian 38

Cypress 71, Santa Ana Foothill 54

Diamond Bar 69, Claremont 63

Downey 70, Lynwood 30

Duarte 55, Baldwin Park 47

Eastvale Roosevelt 100, Norco 34

Excelsior Charter 81, ACE 62

Fontana 55, Jurupa Hills 45

Gabrielino 65, El Monte 21

Grace 66, Nordhoff 42

Heritage 62, Canyon Springs 52

Heritage Christian 80, Cerritos Valley Christian 39

Hesperia 53, Oak Hills 49

Highland 57, Quartz Hill 48

Hueneme 48, SLOCA 42

Indian Springs 79, Miller 47

Indio 50, Twentynine Palms 48

Irvine University 46, Woodbridge 44

Keppel 67, Bell Gardens 39

La Canada 70, Monrovia 47

La Habra 57, Anaheim Canyon 54

La Mirada 68, Gahr 50

La Salle 50, Paraclete 40

La Serna 63, Whittier 36

Loara 79, Santa Ana Valley 48

Long Beach Cabrillo 73, Long Beach Wilson 67

Los Alamitos 71, Edison 63

Los Amigos 50, Western 46

Mesrobian 52, Waverly 16

Millikan 61, Long Beach Poly 51

Moreno Valley 49, Valley View 45

North Torrance 58, Torrance 42

Northview 49, Covina 33

Oak Park 59, Camarillo 44

Oaks Christian 54, Westlake 43

Orange Lutheran 84, Servite 73

Orange Vista 63, Liberty 55

Oxnard Pacifica 59, Rio Mesa 58

Pacific 50, Entrepreneur 49

Palmdale 68, Lancaster 60

Paloma Valley 53, Lakeside 38

Paramount 50, Norwalk 49

Pasadena Poly 58, Flintridge Prep 41

Patriot 67, Jurupa Valley 55

Portola 89, Laguna Beach 57

Ramona 84, Rubidoux 53

Rancho Alamitos 45, Orange 42

Redondo Union 85, Mira Costa 51

Rosemead 59, Pasadena Marshall 33

Sage Hill 75, St. Margaret’s 67

Santa Margarita 70, JSerra 67

Savanna 50, Garden Grove Santiago 43

Sierra Vista 56, Nogales 37

Silver Valley 66, Big Bear 60

Simi Valley 71, Royal 56

South Torrance 58, El Segundo 52

St. Bonaventure 55, Foothill Tech 46

Summit Leadership 67, Lakeview Leadership 54

Temple City 65, South Pasadena 50

Trinity Classical Academy 70, PACS 58

Troy 75, Esperanza 73

Villa Park 60, Sunny Hills 45

Walnut 71, Glendora 62

Warren 89, Firebaugh 58

Westminster La Quinta 64, Saddleback 60

Woodcrest Christian 66, Xavier Prep 55

INTERSECTIONAL

CSDR 53, Indianapolis Indiana School for the Deaf 19

East College Prep 52, Esperanza College 39

Legacy Christian Academy 86, Highland Hall 28

Loma Linda Academy 71, River Springs Charter 21

Mayfair 53, Washington 50

More 64, St. Monica Academy 46

St. John Bosco 57, Springfield (Mo.) Kickapoo 48

Trona 42, Lee Vining 31

GIRLS

CITY SECTION

AMIT 31, Discovery 23

Bell 32, Huntington Park 20

Bernstein 40, Mendez 12

Birmingham 80, Chatsworth 30

Central City Value 34, Annenberg 13

Cleveland 58, El Camino Real 46

Community Charter 25, Lakeview Charter 24

Crenshaw 66, GALA 26

Diego Rivera 49, Jefferson 19

Eagle Rock 67, Bravo 13

East College Prep 51, Esperanza College 21

Gardena 51, Rancho Dominguez 4

Garfield 58, LA Roosevelt 15

Granada Hills 60, Taft 12

Granada Hills Kennedy 69, Canoga Park 10

Grant 44, Verdugo Hills 30

Hawkins 56, Locke 24

King/Drew 104, Fremont 0

LA Marshall 46, LA Wilson 40

Larchmont Charter 49, Stella 3

Marquez 52, Maywood CES 43

Maywood Academy 46, Sotomayor 34

MSCP 40, Foshay 30

Orthopaedic 42, Downtown Magnets 19

Rancho Dominguez 51, Gardena 4

San Pedro 69, Wilmington Banning 40

Sotomayor 47, Maywood Academy 40

South East 64, South Gate 18

Sun Valley Magnet 37, MSAR 34

Sylmar 71, Panorama 31

Torres 55, Elizabeth 7

USC Hybrid 44, South LA College Prep 9

USC-MAE 40, Aspire Ollin 11

West Adams 33, Angelou 17

Westchester 60, Palisades 55

SOUTHERN SECTION

Agoura 43, Calabasas 37

Aliso Niguel 56, Mission Viejo 28

Anaheim Canyon 33, El Dorado 30

Apple Valley 61, Sultana 21

Bonita 43, Ayala 35

Canyon Country Canyon 72, Hart 16

Cerritos 65, Oxford Academy 43

Claremont 60, Diamond Bar 38

Coachella Valley 39, Yucca Valley 31

Corona Centennial 86, Corona 22

Corona Santiago 37, Riverside King 32

Culver City 71, Hawthorne 12

Cypress 49, Santa Ana Foothill 39

Eastvale Roosevelt 70, Norco 19

EF Academy 23, Webb 21

El Modena 53, La Habra 26

Esperanza 49, Villa Park 43

Fillmore 49, Carpinteria 41

Flintridge Prep 67, Rio Hondo Prep 20

Gabrielino 56, El Monte 20

Glendora 56, Walnut 32

Hacienda Heights Wilson 52, West Covina 49

Heritage Christian 53, Cerritos Valley Christian 29

Hesperia Christian 49, Linfield Christian 38

Indian Springs 50, Miller 20

Irvine 57, Irvine University 5

Kaiser 37, Santa Rosa Academy 34

Keppel 62, Bell Gardens 23

La Canada 93, Monrovia 21

Lakeview Leadership 32, Summit Leadership 31

Lakewood 34, Long Beach Jordan 29

La Puente 29, Workman 23

La Quinta 46, Desert Chapel 21

La Serna 65, Whittier 44

Legacy Christian 47, Buckley 45

Leuzinger 61, Santa Monica 32

Liberty 47, Lakeside 32

Long Beach Wilson 57, Long Beach Cabrillo 15

Los Amigos 35, Westminster La Quints 27

Lynwood 77, Downey 23

Marlborough 76, Louisville 25

Nogales 50, Sierra Vista 48

Northview 42, Covina 35

Northwood 42, Woodbridge 31

Norwalk 47, Mayfair 32

Notre Dame Academy 62, New Roads 32

Oak Hills 67, Hesperia 37

Oak Park 76, Camarillo 18

Oaks Christian 73, Westlake 44

Orange 54, Rancho Alamitos 33

Palm Springs 27, Immaculate Heart 23

Palos Verdes 62, Torrance 33

Pasadena Poly 70, Chadwick 30

Patriot 51, Jurupa Valley 41

Portola 72, Laguna Beach 28

Ramona 62, Rubidoux 9

Redondo Union 69, Mira Costa 34

Ridgecrest Burroughs 36, Serrano 33

Riverside Poly 74, Perris 15

Riverside Prep 54, AAE 38

Rosary Academy 61, St. Margaret’s 55

Rosemead 57, Pasadena Marshall 15

Royal 67, Simi Valley 55

Saddleback 38, Western 29

Samueli Academy 54, Vista Meridian 11

San Dimas 47, Los Altos 39

San Marino 45, Blair 10

Santa Ana Valley 68, Garden Grove Santiago 6

Santa Clarita Christian 44, Palmdale Aerospace 21

Saugus 61, Castaic 19

Savanna 54, Loara 41

Schurr 65, Montebello 33

Silver Valley 75, Big Bear 29

South Pasadena 47, Temple City 33

Thousand Oaks 61, Newbury Park 31

Troy 36, Sunny Hills 29

Twentynine Palms 53, Indio 13

University Prep 45, CIMSA 29

Village Christian 57, Whittier Christian 19

Vista del Lago 39, Citrus Hill 32

Warren 59, Firebaugh 2

Western Christian 49, Lucerne Valley 23

Westridge 34, Mayfield 13

Whitney 61, Pioneer 52

Xavier Prep 52, Woodcrest Christian 43

INTERSECTIONAL

Bishop McNamara (Md.) 57, Ontario Christian 55

CSDR 46, Maryland School for the Deaf 25

Loma Linda Academy 50, River Springs Charter 3

Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) 70, Sierra Canyon 60

Torrential rains have devastated communities from Mozambique to South Africa, displacing hundreds of thousands.

Torrential rains have killed more than 100 people across Southern Africa, forcing mass evacuations and rescue operations as authorities warn that more destructive weather may still be to come.

Weeks of heavy rainfall have battered South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, overwhelming rivers and infrastructure and leaving entire communities cut off. Weather services across the region have issued further alerts, raising fears of additional flooding.

In South Africa, officials said on Friday that flooding in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga had killed at least 30 people.

Army helicopters have been deployed to rescue residents trapped on rooftops and in trees as swollen rivers swept through towns and villages. Security personnel were also evacuated from a border checkpoint with Zimbabwe after floodwaters surrounded the area.

President Cyril Ramaphosa toured affected parts of Limpopo on Thursday, saying the province had received about 400mm (16 inches) of rain in less than a week. In one district, he said, “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the earth.”

Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba said more than 1,000 homes had been damaged across the province. “It’s so terrible,” she said.

Hundreds of thousands displaced

In neighbouring Zimbabwe, the government’s disaster management agency reported at least 70 deaths since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 homes destroyed, and schools, roads and bridges collapsing under the force of the floods.

Mozambique has been the hardest hit. Its disaster management authorities said 103 people had died during an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. The figure includes deaths caused by flooding, lightning strikes, infrastructure collapse and a cholera outbreak linked to contaminated water supplies.

More than 200,000 people have been affected nationwide, with thousands of homes damaged and tens of thousands facing evacuation, according to the World Food Programme. The agency warned that flooding has submerged more than 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of crops, deepening food shortages for small-scale farmers in a country already struggling with poverty and repeated cyclones.

The United States Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven Southern African countries, possibly linked to the La Nina phenomenon, which often brings heavier rainfall to the region.

South Africa’s Kruger National Park has also been hit, with about 600 tourists and staff evacuated from flood-affected camps. Park authorities said no deaths or injuries had been reported, but large areas remain inaccessible after rivers burst their banks.

Southern Africa has endured a series of extreme weather events in recent years, from deadly cyclones to severe droughts, exposing the region’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters and fragile infrastructure.

Reports Trump administration is investigating top Democrats in Minnesota come as violent ICE crackdown continues.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has said he will “not be intimidated” amid reports the Trump administration has launched an investigation over comments he made while trying to curb violent immigration raids in the city.

Multiple media outlets reported on Friday that the United States Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into Frey, as well as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was also the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2024, for impeding federal law enforcement through public statements.

The investigation was first reported by CBS News, although it was not immediately publicly confirmed by the Justice Department.

“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey said in a post on X, responding to the reports of an investigation.

“I will not be intimidated. My focus remains where it’s always been: keeping our city safe,” Frey wrote.

Walz responded indirectly to the reports that he was also being investigated, saying in a statement: “Weaponising the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.

“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly,” Walz added.

US senators Kelly, from Arizona, and Slotkin, from Michigan, are under investigation by the Trump administration after appearing with other Democratic lawmakers in a video urging members of the military to resist “illegal orders” given by their superiors.

The administration has also launched a criminal investigation of Powell, a first for a sitting Federal Reserve chair.

The reported investigation of Frey and Walz came as further details were revealed on Friday of the shooting death of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good by Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross last week.

Fire department records showed that paramedics found the victim unresponsive in her car, with four apparent gunshot wounds, including one to her head and two to her chest.

Emergency responders tried to revive her, both at the scene and in the ambulance en route to the hospital. She was pronounced dead less than an hour after being shot.

The Trump administration has claimed that the ICE agent who shot Good, and has not been charged over the killing, was acting in self-defence.

Top Trump officials, including US Vice President JD Vance and White House adviser Stephen Miller, have said that ICE officers have “absolute immunity” for their actions.