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

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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 »

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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.

The TV doctor wants people to try a method that can also help with weight loss

A Channel 4 documentary has revealed a simple habit that could help you lose weight and reduce your risk of diabetes. The change can be easy to make, and in fact, you may unknowingly be doing it already.

Doctor Rangan Chatterjee, a best-selling author and former NHS doctor, has recommended adopting a simple ’12-hour’ eating window. This lifestyle and diet change was suggested on the Channel 4 programme, Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor.

On the show, the doctor explained that people wanting to improve their health should eat “all the food that you are going to consume in any given day within a 12-hour time period.” The approach not only helps curb snacking but may also boost fat burning, lower the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and much more.

The doctor said: “Let’s say you finish consuming your final meal of the day at 7pm. For the next four hours, you are utilising the fuel that you just ate in that last meal, especially glucose.

“After four hours, and while you are sleeping, your body runs on glycogen stored in your liver. But here’s the thing, once you get to about 10 hours or so after your last meal, those glycogen stores are pretty much depleted, and you’re likely to be burning fat.

“Being able to switch up using these different energy sources is called metabolic flexibility – a key indicator in life expectancy. Studies show that time-restricted eating can help you burn fat and lose weight, improve your sleep, improve your digestion, improve immune system function and reduce your risk of getting diseases like type 2 diabetes.”

The late Doctor Michael Mosley, in an episode of his Just One Thing podcast on BBC Radio 4, also advocated for this approach, once saying: “If you want to lose a bit of weight and improve your metabolic health, change your meal times.

“That means having breakfast a bit later and your evening meal a bit earlier. It’s also known as time-restricted eating, and I would recommend you start by trying to eat all your meals within a 12-hour window.”

In addition to these experts, a study published in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition noted that time-restricted eating (TRE) “represents a promising dietary intervention for adults with overweight and obesity.”

It further shared its findings, having noted this approach “can induce significant weight loss and improve cardiometabolic parameters (e.g., blood glucose and lipid profiles) in the short to medium term.”

Is intermittent fasting healthy?

As for the question of whether intermittent fasting is healthy, experts at Bupa explained: “The idea behind intermittent fasting is that it gives your body a break from digesting food. This can potentially lead you to have less calories than if you were eating more regularly.

“Also, eating less often can have positive effects on your blood sugar levels, which can be useful if you have prediabetes or type two diabetes.”

The report further explained that this type of fasting can initiate a process known as autophagy, where the body eliminates damaged cells. This occurs when the body isn’t preoccupied with digestion, and there’s some evidence suggesting that autophagy may lower the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, although further research is required.

Bupa also highlighted other potential benefits such as enhanced gut health, improved sleep quality, and reduced cardiovascular risk factors like decreased blood pressure and inflammation markers, which are associated with numerous chronic diseases. These findings align with Dr Chatterjee’s assertions.

Will you try this new 12-hour rule? Maybe you do it already. Let us know in the comments what you think.

The town sits on the western banks of Lough Derg and offers stunning lake views, historic buildings including St Flannan’s Cathedral, and a top-rated inflatable water park

Whether it’s the stunning lake vistas that captivate you or the historic structures nestled on its shores, this charming town provides the perfect retreat from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Lough Derg, a freshwater lake in the River Shannon, cradles the town of Killaloe on its western banks, located in County Clare. Its position offers an idyllic backdrop for peace and serenity, with many opting to use the lake for swimming, sports, boat trips or even a leisurely stroll along the water’s edge.

One visitor, clearly taken by the lake, shared on TripAdvisor: “I guarantee you will not be disappointed with your visit to Lough Derg, even if you just sit in the car at the viewpoint it will have been worth the drive. The views and the scenery are so spectacular it will take your breath away.”

For those eager to dive right into the water, Killaloe boasts the country’s largest inflatable water park, situated along the picturesque lake. It happens to be the top-rated attraction in the area, perfect for families looking to enjoy the outdoors in a more exhilarating way.

Come rain or shine, families can put on a wetsuit and buoyancy aid and exhaust themselves for up to 50 minutes as they slip and slide into the beautiful lake. Many visitors who’ve participated can’t resist singing its praises on TripAdvisor.

One person shared: “We brought our 9 and 7-year-olds, and they absolutely loved it. Great fun had by all. Will definitely be returning next summer.”

Another visitor wrote: “Great fun for all ages! Everybody had a blast, and it was a really good way to have some good fun with the family. Would definitely go again.”

Beyond the entertainment, the region boasts a rich historical heritage, with fascinating stories told through its striking architecture.

This was once the stronghold of Brian Ború, Ireland’s last high king, whose mighty fortress dominated the town that served as the nation’s capital millennia ago.

Visitors can explore the site of Brian Boru’s Fort, where his palace once commanded the landscape, and discover more about his legacy at the purpose-built Brian Boru Heritage Centre.

Sharing this historic landscape is the magnificent St Flannan’s Cathedral, which stretches back to the 12th century and continues to draw tourists to the region.

The cathedral blends Romanesque and Gothic design features with distinctive carvings and Ogham stones, whilst also containing the final resting place of Muircheartaigh, the last O’Brien High King.

The building has benefited from substantial funding for conservation work, which has helped preserve and protect its splendour and significance as a Church of Ireland monument.

Stretching over the water, linking Killaloe with Ballina in County Tipperary, stands the Killaloe Bridge. This impressive 13-arch stone structure is thought to have been built around 1650, crafted from rubble limestone.

The structure remains protected, but it has undergone various modifications over the years, including an added memorial for four Irish Republican Army members who were sadly gunned down on the bridge in 1920.

Tourists will also notice a commemorative plaque marking the partial reconstruction of the bridge in the 1800s.

The stunning village is steeped in Roman history with fascinating bath house ruins, an award-winning pub, and a museum packed with ancient Roman artefacts.

There’s a ‘Roman village’ nestled in the heart of rural Lancashire that remains a hidden gem, teeming with historical ruins and delightful attractions.

Boasting a Roman museum, well-preserved remnants of a Roman Bath House, three historic churches, a Millennium Sculpture Garden and artist’s studio, an award-winning pub, a beautiful playground and a plethora of Roman artefacts scattered throughout – it’s safe to say this ancient riverside village offers plenty to explore.

Tucked away in the bend of the River Ribble, this medieval village is situated roughly halfway between Clitheroe and Preston in the ceremonial county of Lancashire. The name Ribchester translates to ‘fort beside the Ribble’, aptly reflecting the village’s rich Roman history.

The Romans referred to Ribchester as Brematennacum, given that the village was constructed on the site of a Roman fort named Bremetennacum Veteranorum.

Spanning approximately six acres, a significant portion of the Roman fort’s remains are currently buried beneath the village’s old church and its churchyard.

It was around the early 70s AD when the first known Roman fort was established in Ribchester, forming part of the network of defensive forts being constructed across northern Britannia during that period, reports Lancs Live.

The renowned Roman Bath House, built around 100 AD, catered to the needs of cavalry soldiers and locals alike until it fell out of use around 225 AD. Today, it remains a significant attraction, along with the Roman Granaries discovered in the village.

Like many other Lancashire villages, Ribchester experienced substantial growth due to the cotton industry in the 17th and 18th centuries, and numerous weavers’ cottages can still be seen scattered throughout this charming hamlet.

Other noteworthy structures in modern-day Ribchester include the 13th-century Church of Saint Wilfrid and the Village Hall, both of which are situated where the fort’s main buildings were believed to have been.

Another major Roman highlight in Ribchester is its esteemed Roman Museum, which was recently expanded and houses several important artefacts from that era.

Numerous archaeological excavations and extensive digs in Ribchester over the years have resulted in the unearthing of thousands of significant Roman artefacts, including coins, pottery, and jewellery.

Award-winning pub minutes away from Roman ruins

Just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Roman ruins is the award-winning pub, The White Bull.

This iconic listed property, built in 1707 and located in Ribchester’s old centre, has won the prestigious Bib Gourmand Award in the Michelin Guide 2008 and received multiple Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards over the years.

It’s located opposite authentic weavers’ cottages and sits within easy reach of multiple Roman sites, the historic church, the River Ribble’s banks, and the Ribble Way walking route. The Roman Bath House is positioned directly beyond the wall of their delightful garden space.

The White Bull in Ribchester is quite possibly one of Britain’s most photographed pubs, thanks to its distinctive ‘White Bull’ wooden sculpture mounted above the ‘Pillared’ frontage.

This characteristic was introduced when the premises functioned as a courtroom complete with a detention cell for local offenders.

The pillars, thought to be of Roman origin and part of ‘The Temple of Minerva’, a worship site during Roman times, were allegedly discovered in the river.

In 2019, The White Bull received an extensive renovation, with the principal objective of preserving all its historic features. Offering classic British cuisine with a modern edge using locally sourced produce, The White Bull has impressed visitors, with one diner saying on Tripadvisor: “Fabulous tasty lunch in front of a roaring fire today. Perfect on a cold frosty day.”

Another satisfied customer said: “It was our first time there but definitely not the last. From the beginning to the finish, it was first class. The welcoming staff, the food and the atmosphere were like a fine dining experience. The food plating and taste was out of this world. Good selection of beers! We will definitely be back again, definitely.”

We checked into this quaint pubs-with-rooms in the picturesque Surrey Hills, now famed for its incredible cuisine as well as its cosy setting

In the heart of leafy Surrey Hills, The Merry Harriers, a 16th century village inn, offers a boutique stay along with hearty seasonal cooking. The warmth from the roaring fire was most appreciated on a blustery winter’s day, and walking into the cosy ambiance of the bar area, we could see why this place attracts so many visitors as well as locals, and is listed as one of The Good Food Guide’s 100 best pubs of 2025.

The food at The Merry Harriers

Eating in a snug room off the main dining area, lit with candles and decorated with homely furnishings, felt intimate and relaxed, like we were dining in someone’s front room. The menu consists of seasonal dishes using local produce. To begin, we opted for the sensational chicken liver parfait with plum ketchup, while for mains we devoured the pub’s version of bangers and mash, and the venison fillet served with neeps, buttered kale and fine beans.

It would have been rude not to try one of the tempting desserts on offer, so we went for the Jamaican ginger sticky toffee pudding, which was dripping with whisky toffee sauce and was both rich and warming.

Breakfast brought yet more treats, including Jacks chilli scrambled eggs served on fresh sourdough. We were let in on the secret to what makes the eggs so special. We won’t spoil the surprise, but we’ll definitely be trying it at home.

The rooms at The Merry Harriers

There are three different room types – inn rooms, garden rooms and shepherd huts (fire pits included) – to accommodate everyone from solo travellers to family groups. Up a staircase from the bar, our room was full of thoughtful touches, such as the radio quietly playing when we first walked in to carry on the cosy atmosphere from below. With idyllic views of the surrounding area, we were sure of a peaceful night’s sleep.

The local area

Despite being just 30 minutes from London, The Merry Harriers feels like true country living and it’s only a short drive from stunning National Trust locations such as Oakhurst Cottage and Hydon’s Ball and Heath. We had a mooch around the charming market town of Godalming, with buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries. Now packed with independent coffee shops and cafés as well as popular high street stores, it was perfect for exploring on a rainy day.

How much does it cost to stay at The Merry Harriers?

Rooms at The Merry Harriers start from £160 per night. Garden rooms and shepherd huts are dog-friendly but require a ‘pet charge’ when booking.

Just six miles from Sheffield, this charming South Yorkshire village hides the story of one of Britain’s deadliest Victorian floods that claimed 250 lives in 1864

Nestled in South Yorkshire lies the quaint village of Low Bradfield, a stone’s throw from the bustling city of Sheffield and the stunning vistas of the Peak District, making it an ideal spot for a getaway or day trip.

Situated just over six miles from Sheffield’s city centre in the Loxley Valley, Low Bradfield entices visitors with its appealing rural charm. It serves as the perfect escape for those seeking respite from urban life, boasting a fascinating history and numerous tranquil walking routes. Shadowed by the Agden Reservoir, Low Bradfield is twinned with High Bradfield, its sister village perched at a higher altitude merely half a mile away. The two delightful villages are connected by a steep lane, offering scenic views along the journey.

However, unlike its neighbour, Low Bradfield has a somewhat darker past, having been largely obliterated by a devastating flood. In 1864, the Dale Dike Reservoir’s dam wall ruptured, unleashing what is believed to be over 700 million gallons of water onto the valley.

This extraordinary burst claimed the lives of more than 250 people in the valley and swept away numerous buildings in the area. Fortunately, only one death was recorded in the village itself, as residents heeded warnings and evacuated in time.

However, their corn mill, blacksmiths, schoolrooms, and other structures did not survive the destruction, including the schoolmaster’s house and a farmhouse.

Meanwhile, High Bradfield boasts historical features that have remained unchanged for centuries beyond imagination.

At the village’s edge stands a man-made conical mound, approximately 10.5 metres tall, officially designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Although its exact origins remain a mystery, with experts suggesting it could be an ancient Saxon fortification.

Low Bradfield continues to be a charming destination today, notwithstanding its tragic past, with the village centred around an attractive local cricket ground, complemented by excellent pub and shop options.

Particularly noteworthy is The Plough Inn, now rebranded as the Bradfield Plough, a welcoming traditional venue featuring a crackling fire, oak beams and original exposed brickwork.

A recent visitor said on TripAdvisor: “The bar offers a great selection of ales, and the country atmosphere is so inviting. The staff were super chatty and friendly, making the experience even better. I’d definitely recommend booking ahead since it’s a popular spot. Highly recommend!”.

However, the village’s most photographed locations must be its stunning bridges, spanning the beautiful stream that flows through the village centre.

There’s Smithy Bridge, situated near a picnic spot, alongside Mill Lee Road Bridge. These structures serve as important landmarks for enthusiastic ramblers in the region and offer picturesque vistas of the Yorkshire Valley.

The village attracts numerous walkers who follow various paths, either along the river, towards its source or on longer treks to the Agden Reservoir.

Alternatively, eager adventurers often embark on the Great Sheffield Flood Walk, gaining insight into the valley’s history as they traverse through Low Bradfield and across the woodland and moors.

A MAJOR railway line will experience significant disruption this weekend as engineering work is carried out.

Parts of the route, which serves one of the busiest airports in the UK, will be out of service until Monday, 19 January.

Network Rail has confirmed plans to carry out essential improvements to the railway between Brighton, Gatwick Airport, and East Croydon on Saturday, 17 January and Sunday, 18 January.

This marks the second consecutive weekend of maintenance works on this route, with more closures scheduled for Saturday, 24 January and Sunday, 25 January.

The essential engineering works will continue over the next few months, taking place on selected weekends until Sunday, 10 May.

Additional engineering works have been confirmed for Sunday, 1 February, Saturday, 21 February, Sunday, 22 March, and Sunday, 10 May.

RAIL BOOST

New railway line linking 2 cities given will go ahead after HS2 leg axed

ON TRACK

New railway line linking two massive UK cities is set to be announced tomorrow

Network Rail has advised passengers to plan their journeys in advance, with buses set to replace the service on the effected dates.

These buses will serve Brighton Main Line stops between Gatwick Airport and Purley / East Croydon, as well as the branch lines between Reigate and Redhill, and between Redhill and Tonbridge. 

In addition, a train service will run between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria using a diversionary route, calling at Clapham Junction. 

“The busy Brighton main line is among the most complex and congested routes in the country, with the infrastructure being some of the oldest and most intensively used,” said Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director.

“Because of this, we need to carry out this work to try to prevent delays to passenger journeys.”

The stretch of railway serves the Southern, Thameslink, and Gatwick Express services.

Key improvements to the route will include track renewal, a new electric conductor rail, earthworks, drainage repairs, bridge maintenance, and addition of road-rail access points.

Passengers are advised to check the Southern Railway website for the latest travel advice.

NEW YORK — Nearly a year into his second term, President Trump’s work on the economy hasn’t lived up to the expectations of many people in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC survey.

The poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a significant gap between the economic leadership Americans remembered from Trump’s first term and what they’ve gotten so far as he creates a stunning level of turmoil at home and abroad.

Just 16% of Republicans say Trump has helped “a lot” in addressing the cost of living, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.

At the same time, Republicans are overwhelmingly supportive of the president’s leadership on immigration — even if some don’t like his tactics.

John Candela, 64, who lives in New Rochelle, N.Y., said the cost of living hasn’t improved for his family — his salary and bills remain the same as before.

“Still paying $5 for Oreos,” he said. But he’s willing to be patient: “I would expect it to be different by the time his four years are up.”

The poll reveals signs of weakness among consumers on the economy, especially Trump’s core campaign promise to reduce costs. Inflation has cooled somewhat, but prices on many goods are higher than when the Republican president took office last January.

There is little sign overall, though, that the Republican base is abandoning Trump. The vast majority of Republicans, about eight in 10, approve of his job performance, compared with four in 10 for adults overall.

“I don’t like the man as a human being. I don’t like his brashness. I don’t like his roughness. I don’t like how he types out his texts all capital as if he’s yelling at everybody. But what I approve of is what he is doing to try and get the country on track,” Candela said.

Trump not improving costs, most Republicans say

On various economic factors, Trump has yet to convince many of his supporters that he’s changing things for the better.

Only about four in 10 Republicans overall say Trump has helped address the cost of living at least “a little” in his second term, while 79% said he helped address the issue that much in his first term, based on the 2024 poll. Just over half of Republicans in the new poll say Trump has helped create jobs in his second term; 85% said the same about his first term, including 62% who said he helped “a lot.”

Only 26% of Republicans in the January survey say he’s helped “a lot” on job creation in his second term.

And on healthcare, about one-third of Republicans say Trump has helped address costs at least “a little,” while 53% in the April 2024 poll said he helped reduce healthcare costs that much during his first term. Federal healthcare subsidies for more than 20 million Americans expired Jan. 1, resulting in healthcare costs doubling or even tripling for many families.

In the town of Waxahachie, Texas, south of Dallas, 28-year-old three-time Trump voter Ryan James Hughes, a children’s pastor, doesn’t see an improvement in his family’s financial situation. He said the medical bills haven’t declined.

But, he said, “I’m not looking to the government to secure my financial future.”

Immigration is a strength among the Trump base despite controversy

The new poll underscores that Republicans are largely getting what they want on immigration, even as some report concerns about the federal immigration agents who have flooded U.S. cities at Trump’s direction.

About eight in 10 Republicans say Trump has helped at least “a little” on immigration and border security in his second term. That’s similar to the share in the April 2024 poll that saw a positive effect from Trump’s leadership on immigration and border security during his first term.

Most Republicans say Trump has struck the right balance when it comes to deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, and about one-third think he hasn’t gone far enough.

But Trump’s approval on immigration has also slipped among Republicans over the last year, falling from 88% in March to 76% in the new poll.

Kevin Kellenbarger, 69, a three-time Trump voter who retired from a printing company, said his Christian faith led him to the Republican Party. The Lancaster, Ohio, resident thinks the president’s immigration crackdown is necessary, though he expressed dissatisfaction at the recent killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.

“I don’t like anybody getting killed, but it wasn’t Trump’s fault,” Kellenbarger said, adding that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, “let millions of people in. They have to be taken out.”

Several Republicans said in interviews they thought the aggressive tactics seen recently in Minneapolis went too far, suggesting that Trump should focus more on immigrants with criminal backgrounds as he promised during the campaign.

Overall, just 38% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s leadership on immigration, while 61% disapprove.

“These families that are being separated and they’re just here to try to live the American dream,” said Republican Liz Gonzalez, 40, the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a self-employed rancher and farmer from Palestine, Texas.

At the same time, Gonzalez said, she doesn’t think people opposed to the crackdown should be interfering at all. “I think if they just let (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), you know, like the patrol people, do their jobs, then they would see it’s not — it doesn’t have to be chaos,” she said.

More Republicans see the country improving than their personal lives

About two-thirds of Republicans say the country as a whole is “much” or “somewhat” better off than before Trump took office, but only about half say this about themselves and their family.

The broad sense that the country is moving in the right direction may be counteracting Republican dissatisfaction with the state of the economy.

Phyllis Gilpin, a 62-year-old Republican from Boonville, Mo., praised Trump’s ability to “really listen to people.” But she doesn’t love his personality.

“He is very arrogant,” she said, expressing frustration about his name-calling. But she said the divisive politics go both ways: “I really, honestly, just wish that we could all just not be Democrat or Republican — just come together.”

Peoples, Catalini, Bedayn and Thomson-Deveaux write for the Associated Press. Catalini reported from Trenton, N.J., Bedayn reported from Denver and Thomson-DeVeaux reported from Washington. The AP-NORC poll of 1,203 adults was conducted Jan. 8-11 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. The poll included interviews with 404 Republicans, and the margin of sampling error for Republicans overall is plus or minus 6 percentage points.

Rob Staton: Bears

There’s just a bit of magic about the Bears at the moment and the Rams have not played their best football in weeks. Soldier Field will be rocking and I think Chicago make it to the NFC Championship.

Mike White: Rams

The Chicago Bears’ renaissance has been nothing short of remarkable and Ben Johnson deserves a tonne of credit for it. As does Caleb Williams who’s defied a lot of the (justified) rookie season critics in his second year.

That said, this is a Rams team that many have been crowning as the champions-elect for weeks and not without good reason. Whether it’s offensive guru Sean McVay, the experience and MVP qualities of Matthew Stafford or the magic hands of Puka Nacua, they have all the ingredients for another Super Bowl run. The predicted Arctic conditions might be somewhat of a leveller but still taking the Rams by four.

Phil McGeoghan: Rams

I am such a fan of Sean McVay. His mind, the way it works, his gameplans, also his humour. His willingness to be open. All these things matter in football.

Because of his personality and how he is with the players, he admires his guys. He doesn’t pretend Davante Adams isn’t one of the best to ever do it. He doesn’t pretend he’s not in awe of Matthew Stafford when he makes one of his no-look throws. That stuff really builds culture.

That’s why they’ve won Super Bowls, that’s why people don’t leave there unless they get promoted and get better jobs, because McVay is such a good man and he’s a brilliant, brilliant offensive mind so I’m picking Sean McVay and the Rams for those reasons.

Paul Higham: Bears

Only four quarterbacks have thrown for 140-plus yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a play-off win in the past 20 years – and two of them collide at Soldier Field.

So this genuinely could be decided by whether Matthew Stafford or Caleb Williams, who have combined for 29 fourth-quarter touchdowns this season, has the ball last after both earned thrilling late wins last week.

Williams has been doing it all season though, and watching last week even when they were well behind it seemed inevitable the Bears would come roaring back to win. It just gives you a funny feeling that they’ve got something special rolling in the Windy City.

Jan. 16 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a challenge to geofence warrants filed by a man who was convicted of robbing a bank in 2019.

Okello Chatrie was convicted of robbing $195,000 from a Virginia bank on May 20, 2019, after investigators used location-tracking data from Google to identify him.

Google provided a geofence that records and stores location data within a certain radius of the bank that Chatrie robbed at gunpoint.

A detective obtained three warrants for related geofence data, which Google provided after receiving the respective warrants.

The geofence data tracked the movements of the cellphone carried by Chatrie when he robbed the bank and afterward and recorded the respective longitudes and latitudes of the phone’s location at different times.

Chatrie challenged the use of the geofence data in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, saying it violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure and violated his reasonable expectation of privacy.

The location data was a key piece of evidence against him, but Chatrie said he did not voluntarily provide the information to investigators, and they had no probable cause to seek a warrant for the geofence data.

The Fourth Circuit in April ruled against Chatrie, saying he voluntarily provided the location data to Google, which in turn provided it to law enforcement when presented with warrants to do so.

An earlier ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in a separate case reached an opposite conclusion, saying geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment, but the evidence presented is still valid because law enforcement in that case acted in good faith.

While both appellate court rulings ultimately reach the same conclusion that the evidence is valid in the respective cases, the matter of whether or not geofence warrants are constitutional remains to be decided.

The Supreme Court justices agreed to render a decision during the current session that ends in the fall.

The Traitors’ Fiona Hughes opens up about her time in the castle, working with Claudia Winkleman, being the first Secret Traitor, and her cunning plan to get everyone drunk

The first ever Secret Traitor, Fiona Hughes, has reflected on her experience in the castle and shared some behind the scenes secrets.

Fiona, 62, has reflected on her experience in the castle, becoming the show’s first ever Secret Traitor, collaborating with Claudia Winkleman, and earning the affectionate title of “hun”.

“I found it surreal really,” she recalled. “That I was there and on the train. I mean, that’s just magical in itself. Then when you get into the castle and it’s exactly as you see it on the television. It was wonderful. It’s awe, you just cannot speak because you’re in awe of everything.”

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During the fourth episode of the current series, viewers discovered that Fiona was concealed beneath the infamous crimson cloak. Reflecting on the twist, she confessed: “To be given the privilege of being selected as having the red cloak was wondrous, but I did feel as well that there came a lot of responsibility with it and a lot of power which went to my head,” reports Wales Online.

Explaining her strategy, she added: “But all the names I was sending up to the turret were names of people in that very brief introduction that we had. I thought they were people who came across to me as being, as looking and behaving like the most faithful people on earth that nobody would question.

“So that’s how their names ended up going on the list, and I was only hoping that when the names went up to the turret that the other traitors would be able to read my theory of why those names should be considered. I didn’t know whether or not they were, because the feedback was going up the turret, not coming down.

“Then of course, when Hugo was voted off, I lost my cloak, and so I had to go in to meet Rachel and Stephen. I was really excited about that, but I was also mindful that they’d had the opportunity to gel and so I was going in fresh and could be considered a bit of a thorn.

“You know they say twos company, threes a crowd, and I was going into an already formed relationship. I felt that I wasn’t welcome there, and that Rachel would be able to get me at some point. So because I had that feeling, hence that resulted in my firing the gun and spectacularly missing.”

Viewers were gutted when Fiona was banished following a tense roundtable, though she certainly made her exit memorable. In what ranks among the most explosive moments in The Traitors‘ history, Fiona turned against fellow traitor Rachel, accusing her of “fibbing” about information she’d supposedly heard from previously banished contestant Amanda.

Despite her exit, the Swansea woman stands by her choice to betray Rachel. She explained: “You want to do the best that you can and so I think I did.

“I fired a shot too early at Rachel, but I knew she’s such a fantastic player and that it was my only opportunity and I had to go for it then because I would have been banished and I wanted to do it on my terms and not be somebody’s pawn. So my cunning little plan did spectacularly backfire.

“I know it came out of the blue, and it was the only opportunity that I could see, well, the only one that had landed on my lap, and I thought, ‘shall I run with this or shall I not?'”

“Then I thought ‘no, I’ve got to do it now because I would have been pushed under the bus in the following episode or the episode after’. So, when I asked Rachel to come and have a little word with me, a little one-to-one, which I would do with anybody.”

She explained her approach: “Then I asked her, ‘are you fibbing?’ It’s a gentler word than lying, isn’t it? That doesn’t sound so nice, it’s much nicer to say, are you fibbing?”

Behind the scenes, she deployed a clever tactic that didn’t make the final edit. Whilst others unwound with drinks following tense roundtables, the former traitor remained sober and alert, instead devising a shrewd strategy to ply her competitors with alcohol.

She explained her strategy: “I wanted to get them drunk. Well, if they drink it they might wake up with a hangover and be a bit loose-lipped and I’d be able to manipulate them and I could glean some information from them. But I don’t think that worked. Another cunning ploy that failed.”

Fiona revealed what it was like working alongside The Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman. She gushed: “Claudia, well, what can you say about Claudia? I mean, there’s an icon now, isn’t there? She is lovely. She is such a sweet person. I mean I love her mother, Eve Pollard. I love Eve Pollard.

“So, you know, the fact that Claudia is her daughter, Claudia’s going to be marvellous because Eve Pollard has been my heroine for so many years, since the 80s and everything she’s done since, you now? So to get to meet Claudia and know that she’s a spawn of Eve Pollard, that was great.

“But she is so lovely, and the way that she dresses is beautiful. I mean, you literally could put a black bag on that woman and she would look spectacular.”

Since appearing on the series, Fiona has been showered with praise and affectionately dubbed a “hun” by viewers – though she admits the term initially baffled her.

She chuckled: “Well, I thought hun meant honey, like, you know, in America. Where you say ‘honey, I’m home’, I thought it was that. When I spoke with my husband and said, ‘oh, on the radio today, they said I was a hun’, and I said,’ isn’t that lovely’. He said to me, ‘what’s that mean?’ and I said, ‘honey.'”

“But when I did a Google, oh my goodness, the explanation, I still don’t know what it really means, but I’ll take it.

“I just think people have been so gracious and kind and I really mean that. Swansea people are anyway, and Welsh people are, you know, we are full of heart and goodness. Even people in Ireland, Scotland and England have been really gracious and kind to me, and I think that sums up the country as a whole. You know, we are a United Kingdom and we tend to support one another, which is lovely, isn’t it.”

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My favourite memory of Akyaka? The second evening of our most recent visit: the beach floodlit by the last embers of a flaming sunset, the mountains that stand sentry around the town softening into deep purple hues. Before our eyes, all was transformed: sunloungers stacked away, waiters whisking back and forth with tables, menus and small rechargeable lamps. A little further along, in one of the bar areas on the beach, a trio of Turkish women, their hair in shades of pepper and smoke, sat with their toes in the sand, happily knitting. I recalled other beaches in Turkey, where oligarchs and influencers preen and pose, and thought – yes, this is exactly where I want to be.

Akyaka – a small town, huddled on the eastern end of blue-washed Gökova Bay – is an old friend of mine. Thirty years ago, working as a holiday rep, I visited on a weekly basis, popping in to see the handful of clients who were staying at simple pansiyons (small B&Bs) in the town. Back then … well, actually, back then it wasn’t that different from today, which is something that can’t be said about many of the Turkish villages and small resorts I knew in the mid-1990s.

Of course, Akyaka has changed to some degree: more houses and hotels, the beach has been extended, and it’s now a major kitesurfing destination (more on that later), but it’s still got a lovely slow-paced, slightly ramshackle, properly authentic feel.

Part of that, I think, is due to its status as one of Turkey’s “slow towns”; a concept that focuses on preserving local traditions and culture, promoting quality of life and generally swerving all the worst excesses of tourist development. The town’s vibe is also partly the legacy of the Turkish poet and architect Nail Çakirhan, who retired there in 1971 and built a house that blended traditional Ottoman design with local materials. Others followed his lead, revitalising local crafts, most notably carpentry, and by the 1990s, the architectural standards established by Çakirhan were brought in for most new properties. The result is streets lined with elegant houses, their wood-carved balconies spilling over with bougainvillea, and not a modern, glass-walled box in sight.

It wasn’t until 2022 that I went back to Akyaka for a proper visit, with my husband, Mark – and promptly fell in love. The lack of big all-inclusive or sprawling resort hotels means it’s still mostly the preserve of Turkish tourists, who come for the fish restaurants that flank the banks of the sparkling Azmak River, to hike the paths that weave their way through the Akyaka orman (forest) that rises up from the western end of the beach, or simply to sit and knit their way through the day on the beach.

Since then, we have always stayed at the İskelem Otel, on the other side of the pine forest, a few minutes’ drive out of town. It’s one of three little hotels set on a small bay that opens out on to the gulf, and we were unsure at first; disappointed to find sunloungers on a wooden jetty and a lawned area, rather than a beach. But the warm, if surprised (“English? You are … English?”), welcome from Müjgan, İskelem’s charming receptionist, the glorious views from our bedroom, and the swift delivery of ice-cold Efes beer soon allayed any concerns. At night, the İskelem pulls a similar trick to Akyaka’s beach: sunloungers are swapped for linen-clad tables flickering with candlelight for dinner on the jetty surrounded by the sea.

And what dinners we’ve eaten: sea bream, crispy-skinned and tangy with lemon and salt; spiced Adana kebabs, the lamb smooth and dense; silky aubergine; yoghurt thick with garlic; and baklava that sticks to our fingertips and sends us to bed buzzing with sugar and honey and sticky pistachio filling. In the mornings, the gluttony continues, with more than a dozen dishes brought to the table: crispy börek (filo rolls) filled with feta cheese; neat piles of scarlet tomatoes and leafy parsley; honey; jams; omelette still sizzling from the pan. I tell myself a ferocious hour of paddleboarding will work it off, while Mark, who usually has a more taxing morning planned, tucks in with gusto.

For Mark, all of Akyaka’s beauty is trumped by the fact that it’s also one of the Med’s leading watersports destinations. The thermic winds that blow across the gulf from May to November rise in the late morning every day, regular as clockwork, always onshore, usually between 15 to 18 knots (all key factors, apparently). About 10 minutes’ drive out of town, Akçapinar Beach billows with branded kite-surf flags. By early afternoon, the sky is filled with dozens of brightly coloured canvas crescents whisking through the breeze, pulling tiny figures along in their wake. The shallow, sandy beach makes it a great spot for first-timers, whether kiting or wing-foiling.

Beyond the town and its blustery beach, there is much to explore: Göcek, with its gulets (wooden vessels) and sleek, sailing-hub vibe; the still, blue waters of Lake Köyceğiz, flanked by forests of sweetgums, perfect for a gentle, shady walk; and on Thursdays, Muğla market, the best in the region, which involves a breathtaking drive of switchbacks and hairpin bends up into the mountains. It is a world away from the knock-off handbags and “cheaper than M&S” patter that characterises more touristy markets.

Finding these authentic experiences is, for me, a key part of holidaying in Turkey these days. The truth is, the country is changing; what used to be a come-one, come-all summer sun destination has morphed into something far more fractured: part playground for the super-rich, with Maldivian-style luxury resorts that top £1,000 a night; part one-stop shop for health tourists seeking anything from hair transplants to gleaming veneers; part all-inclusive ghetto, with sprawling resorts where most guests never venture beyond the lobby. Hyperinflation and President Erdoğan’s economic policies mean prices are constantly increasing – and these are inevitably passed on to visitors, meaning Turkey is no longer the budget destination it once was.

But the good news is there are still places, like Akyaka, that refuse to be pigeonholed into those categories. And if you find a resort that mainly caters to a domestic clientele, you’ll find more reasonable prices. One of our favourite places to eat is the Azmak Çorba Salonu, where fresh-baked pide (Turkish pizza), sizzling grilled chicken and a parsley salad, tangy with sumac, costs about £30 for two.

If you’re looking for late-night cocktail bars, Michelin-esque restaurants or swanky spa resorts – and there are plenty of all three in Turkey these days – Akyaka won’t be for you. It’s not polished or glitzy, but my goodness, it’s beautiful. It’s Turkish coffee and simit (Turkish bagels) for breakfast, eaten while flicking through the Daily Sabah (an English-language newspaper); it’s backgammon on the jetty in the lazy hours of the afternoon; and it’s iced glasses of Efes as the sun dips and Gökova Bay glows iridescent blue and silver. Akyaka is the kind of place that makes me think – why would I go anywhere else in Turkey? Who knows, I might even take up knitting.

Rooms at the İskelem cost from £105-£260 B&B. In town, the beachfront Yücelen has traditional Ottoman design (doubles from £95 B&B). Rates correct at the time of going to press

For years, stablecoins have been marketed as crypto’s potential bridge to normal, everyday payments — or at least what most people consider to be normal.

In 2025, they seemed to have made the jump from a promising prospect to a tool increasingly used by institutions, banks, and even previous crypto non-believers.

Total transaction volumes for stablecoins surged by 72% last year, reaching a massive $33tr (€28tr), according to data from Artemis Analytics.

Stablecoins are crypto assets designed to maintain a stable value by pegging their worth to a real-world asset such as the US dollar. Essentially, they represent a digital copy of a circulating currency.

Since cryptocurrencies are not typically controlled by regular banking institutions and their circulation is not regulated by the monetary policies of governments, monetary institutions were reluctant to use them in their transactions.

Unlike other crypto assets, stablecoins aim to maintain a fixed value relative to a government-issued currency and are backed by that currency, as well as other reserves like treasury bills, to guarantee the token can be redeemed on a 1:1 basis.

Over 90% of stablecoins in circulation today are pegged to the US dollar. The two largest are Tether’s USDT, with a market cap of $186bn (€160bn), and Circle’s USDC, with a market cap of $75bn (€65bn). In 2025, Circle facilitated $18.3tr (€15.7tr) worth of transactions, while USDT racked up $13.3tr (€11.4tr) in transaction volume.

Back in October, a report by a16z, a California-based venture capital firm, also attempted to measure organic stablecoin payments in 2025. The fund concluded that on an adjusted basis, stablecoins had done at least $9tr (€7.7tr) in “real” user payments. This value indicates an 87% increase from 2024 and the report states “it is more than five times PayPal’s throughput and more than half of Visa’s”.

As financial institutions turn their attention to stablecoins, key institutions like the International Monetary Fund are advocating for cooperation among economic blocs to build an international framework for the sector.

However, the current approach to stablecoin issuance and regulation differs significantly among governments in the EU, US, China, and other parts of the world.

What are CBDCs?

Besides stablecoins that are issued and supported by private entities and reserves, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have emerged.

These are also digital versions of government-issued currencies, backed by the issuing central bank. However, they do not use decentralised blockchain technology in their core transaction system.

According to McKinsey, cash still accounts for 46% of payments worldwide as of 2025, but non-digital transactions are declining, particularly in developed countries with greater digital infrastructure and financial inclusion.

Governments and central banks understand these changing payment trends, and in many countries, CBDCs offer a viable solution.

China launched its digital yuan (e-CNY) as part of a pilot project in 2019 and the roll-out has since expanded.

As for the EU, the European Central Bank is currently working on a digital euro. In October 2025, the ECB announced that the preparation phase had concluded.

The President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, stated that “we have done our work, we have carried the water, but it’s now for the European Council and certainly later on for the European Parliament to identify whether the Commission’s proposal is satisfactory”.

The Eurosystem is aiming for a first issuance in 2029.

Trump’s stablecoin strategy

Under the Trump administration, the US has taken the exact opposite approach to CBDCs, in favour of stablecoins.

In his first week in office, back in January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order “prohibiting agencies from undertaking any action to establish, issue or promote CBDCs in the US or abroad”.

This cleared the way for USDT, USDC, and all other privately issued US dollar stablecoins to continue to dominate the market without having to compete with an “official” version.

In July 2025, Trump also signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins.

Among other provisions, the law requires stablecoin issuers to maintain full reserve backing of their token, on a 1:1 basis, with liquid assets such as US dollars, treasury bills, and bonds.

For the Trump administration, if a US dollar stablecoin issuer is successful, that means they will progressively increase their supply, which requires them to constantly purchase US debt for their reserves.

Stablecoin regulation in the EU

In China, the introduction of the digital yuan also meant the explicit prohibition of stablecoins in the mainland.

However, in the EU, the looming launch of the digital euro has not translated into stablecoin bans.

For now, stablecoin adoption is growing in Europe and stablecoin issuers, together with other crypto firms, have a compliance framework under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

By July of this year, the transition period ends for securing a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) licence, required to operate legally.

The France-based multinational payments provider, Ingenico, announced a partnership with WalletConnect, a protocol that connects crypto wallets with applications, enabling stablecoin payments at scale.

Through a new payment solution called WalletConnect Pay, merchants can accept USDC and EURC, among other stablecoins, using existing Ingenico payment terminals.

WalletConnect’s CEO, Jess Houlgrave, told Euronews that “MiCA is not perfect, nor is it the end-state of crypto regulation in the EU, but some regulatory clarity is better than none”.

Additionally, the CEO underlined that uniform enforcement is important to stop “regulatory shopping” between different jurisdictions, where crypto firms simply choose the version of the rules that suits them best.

Euronews also spoke with the general counsel of Crossmint, Miguel Zapatero. The company provides stablecoin infrastructure for businesses.

With a key base in Spain, Crossmint secured a MiCA licence with the Spanish regulator (CNMV) this week. When asked about the procedure, the general Zapatero said that “the barriers to entry are difficult and costly for small businesses, as the requirements are the same for a major bank or a crypto startup”.

Zapatero added that “once you acquire a CASP licence, businesses trust you more, and other regulators around the world tend to expedite their own procedures with you, as the MiCA is one of the most strict crypto regulations globally”.

These statements echo the EU’s touted doctrine of “regulating by example”, although the risk of overcomplexity looms — threatening to stifle innovation.

WASHINGTON — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Friday she’s confident of her country’s eventual transition to democracy after the U.S. military ousted former President Nicolás Maduro.

But when pressed, she took pains to avoid giving any details on her plans to return home or any timetable for elections in Venezuela.

Her remarks reflect how President Trump’s endorsement of a Maduro loyalist to lead Venezuela for now has frozen out the nation’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning crusader for democracy. Still, Machado has looked to get closer to Trump, presenting her Nobel medal to him a day earlier at the White House.

As Machado was meeting with Trump, CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Venezuela to meet with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, further confirmation that Maduro’s longtime second in command was the woman the White House preferred to see managing Venezuela for now.

Speaking to reporters at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, Machado said she was “profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition” to democracy that would also transform Venezuela’s self-proclaimed socialist government long hostile to the U.S. into a strong U.S. ally.

She rejected the notion that Trump chose to work with Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, over her opposition movement, whose candidate was widely believed to have won the 2024 presidential election.

“This has nothing to do with a tension or decision between Delcy Rodríguez and myself,” she said. But she stopped short of elaborating, instead pivoting to vague assertions about her movement’s popular mandate and the government’s dismal human rights record.

In apparent deference to Trump, she provided almost no details Friday about what they discussed or even what she thought the U.S. should do in Venezuela.

“I think I don’t need to urge the president on specific things,” she said.

Machado traveled to Washington looking to rekindle the support for democracy in Venezuela that Trump showed during his first administration. She presented him with the prize she won last year, praising him for what she said was his commitment to Venezuela’s freedom. The Nobel Institute has been clear, however, that the prize cannot be shared or transferred.

Trump, who has actively campaigned to be awarded the prize, said Machado left the medal for him to keep. “And by the way, I think she’s a very fine woman,” he said. “And we’ll be talking again.”

But her efforts have so far done little to alter the Trump administration’s perception that Rodríguez is best prepared to stabilize the South American nation.

Trump has pressed ahead with plans for American oil companies to revive Venezuela’s crumbling energy infrastructure and is exploring the possibility of reopening the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, which he closed during his first administration.

Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado crisscrossed Venezuela ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, rallying millions of voters looking to end 25 years of single party rule. When she was barred from the race, a previously unknown former diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez, replaced her on the ballot. But election officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary.

Machado, revered by millions in Venezuela, went into hiding but vowed to continue fighting until democracy was restored. She reemerged months later to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, the first time in more than a decade that she had left Venezuela.

Goodman and Debre write for the Associated Press. Debre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. AP writer Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.

As the clock ticked down late in the fourth quarter with the outcome long decided, Redondo Union senior guard Devin Wright caught a pass off the backboard from teammate Chace Holley in midair and stuffed it through the hoop two-handed — the exclamation point to an emphatic 85-51 victory over archival Mira Costa on Friday night.

Wright finished with a game-high 23 points — most of them on layups while cutting to the basket — small forward SJ Madison scored 19, Holley had 17 and Chris Sanders added 16 as the Sea Hawks, ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times, stayed unbeaten in the Bay League and sent a message to their competition.

Redondo Union’s SJ Madison shoots a jumper during an 85-51 win over Mira Costa on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“We knew this was a big game and I had to be there for my team,” Wright said after scoring 18 points in the last two quarters. “We saw early they couldn’t contain us so we were getting open looks and hitting them.”

Madison and Mira Costa forward Paxx Bell traded baskets throughout a fast-paced first quarter, which ended with the host Sea Hawks up 20-18. They extended the lead to seven by halftime and used a 23-7 run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

“Chace is a big weapon, but we’re all weapons,” Wright said. “If they double-team him it leaves someone else open. We all took our turns.”

Bell led the 19th-ranked Mustangs (18-4, 3-1) with 15 points while senior shooting guard Luke Lowell and junior wing Strax Dragicevic each added 12.

The teams shared the league title last winter, each winning on the opponents’ home floor. On Friday, the Sea Hawks (18-3, 4-0) showed they have the skill and talent to claim the title outright.

“We didn’t like splitting league with them last year,” Wright said. “So this year it’s all ours — and we’re taking it.”

Mira Costa’s Paxx Bell scores on a layup over Redondo Union’s Chace Holley in the first half on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Redondo Union beat Mira Costa 72-66 in the CIF state Division I regional semifinals last season before losing to Sierra Canyon in the next round — falling one win shy of the state finals. The Sea Hawks failed to advance out of pool play in the Southern Section Open Division playoffs while Mira Costa fell to Los Alamitos in the Southern Section Division 1 final. However, that was then and this is now.

The teams meet again to wrap up Bay League play Feb. 3 in Manhattan Beach.