TUCKED away in the mountains of Malaga is a tiny village that was abandoned for five decades.

El Acebuchal was only rediscovered in the late 90s and brought back to life.

The little white-washed village was once used by travelling merchants for hundreds of years as a place to meet and transport goods between the Costa del Sol and Granada.

The village was small and home to around 200 people.

But in 1949, the village was officially closed by the Spanish leader at the time, Francisco Franco.

He believed that those who lived there opposed his regime, so he sent officials in to disperse the village residents.

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It remained a ghost town until 1998 when Antonio Sanchez or ‘El Zumbo’, who once had ancestors in the village, moved there.

He and his family began to rebuild houses where everything was restored by hand.

The village didn’t even have running water or electricity until 2003.

Now, the village has around 30 homes, a chapel and restaurant called Bar El Acebuchal which is actually run by Antonio Sanchez himself.

It’s slightly off the beaten track according to diners, but well-worth it for the food.

Lots of the homes are holiday rentals – there’s also a B&B in the village called ‘The Lost Village el Acebuchal’ which is highly-rated on Tripadvisor.

It has just three rooms along with a roof terrace, seasonal outdoor pool and there are even spa services.

One visitor described it as “a 1950s movie scene” and another described it as a “hideaway”.

The village isn’t overly modern with limited phone signal.

A popular hiking route is between Acebuchal and Frigiliana which stretches on for about eight miles.

Frigiliana is another place to add to the list, as it is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Spain.

It has white-washed buildings, bright blue accents, terracotta tiled rooftops and mosaic streets.

The steep paths are lined with colourful plant pots full of greenery with blooming flowers like the classic Mediterranean pink bougainvillea.

The town was built on top of a hill so it has incredible views of the Costa del Sol and Mediterranean Sea.

Reporting from Sacramento — A war between a healthcare union and the dialysis industry it wants to organize has morphed into one of the most expensive ballot measure campaigns in California history.

Proposition 8, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, would shrink the profits of hundreds of dialysis clinics across California. If enacted by voters, the measure would require clinics to provide rebates to insurers and pay a penalty to the state on business revenues that exceed 115% of certain costs to deliver care.

A coalition led by DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, the two companies that control a combined 72% of the dialysis market in California, has given $110 million to a campaign to beat the measure — contributing to the most money raised for such a campaign in state history.

Opponents view Proposition 8 as an existential threat to the dialysis industry and its patients, and say the 95,000-member SEIU-UHW is using the ballot measure to deliver an ultimatum to its foes: Acquiesce to the union’s demands or pay for an expensive campaign.

“Proposition 8 puts California patients at risk in an effort to force unionization of employees,” DaVita Chief Executive Kent Thiry said in a statement. “There is an established and accepted process for employees to vote a union up or down. Instead of following that process, SEIU-UHW is pursuing a dangerous initiative that puts patients at grave risk.”

Thiry’s group warns that dialysis clinics may open for fewer hours, or would shutter altogether if the measure becomes law.

Dave Regan, head of SEIU-UHW, says his union wants to rein in a dialysis industry he says is “predatory.” The union has raised $18.8 million for the Proposition 8 campaign.

DaVita and Fresenius reported billions in operating income last year and have been accused by critics of various tactics to increase profitability, such as steering patients to private insurance or not giving employees enough time to adequately clean stations.

DaVita has been ordered to pay damages and settled lawsuits for more than $1 billion in the last five years, including $253.5 million in damages awarded in June to the families of two patients who died of cardiac arrest after receiving care at its California clinics. The company has said it would appeal that decision.

“The reason Prop. 8 is on the ballot is because they have a terrible business model and they’re gouging patients and insurers,” Regan said.

After years of expensive squabbles in the Capitol, Regan traveled to Denver, home to DaVita headquarters, to meet with Thiry for the first time on the eve of the June deadline to withdraw ballot initiatives this year.

Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), the leader of a moderate bloc of Democrats in the Legislature, acted as intermediary. Gray said he spent weeks trying to bring the two sides together in hopes of breaking a stalemate and finding common ground.

But the eleventh-hour conversation over dinner came too late to negotiate a cease-fire and call off the proposal.

Regan initially described the visit as a “social meeting” he attended at Gray’s request. He later said the timing was coincidental and he never intended to strike a deal with Thiry to pull Proposition 8 from the ballot.

“Nothing consequential even came up,” Regan said. “Nothing was proposed. There was no kind of an agreement of any sort and it was a social discussion.”

Thiry said it “was definitely not a social meeting,” but declined to elaborate.

Now voters are left to decide the fate of the 80,000 patients who receive dialysis treatment at nearly 600 licensed clinics each month in California, according to figures from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

SEIU-UHW argues its measure will provide an incentive to dialysis companies so they invest more money into patient care. Under the measure, clinics could keep more of their profits if they increase costs for care.

Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the opposition campaign, said the industry believes that voter approval of Proposition 8 would force most clinics in California to operate in the red.

“You can’t keep doing that week after week, month after month, year after year,” she said. “This is going to devastate the clinics in California and, by extension, all the patients.”

An analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor, said reducing revenues would make for-profit clinics “less profitable or could even be unprofitable.”

Proposition 8 excludes the salaries of managerial staff and some overhead charges from the cost calculation for patient care, which would further reduce profits.

“This to me is classic labor trying to, not just regulate a business, but affect how they operate,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican political consultant who is not involved in the Proposition 8 campaign.

Scrutiny of dialysis clinics sparked a legislative proposal to establish staff-to-patient ratios in the industry for the first time. The bill, sponsored by SEIU-UHW, stalled in the state Legislature last year.

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed another bill this year aimed to halt an alleged dialysis industry practice of encouraging patients to sign up for private insurance and funneling money to nonprofits to help patients pay off premiums. Dialysis corporations make most of their profits off group or individual insurance plans, which are billed much more than Medi-Cal or Medicare for the same services.

“Right now they have every financial incentive to keep staffing and other direct patient services at a bare minimum because then they reap every dollar in profit margin,” Regan said.

SEIU-UHW has a history of turning to the ballot amid labor disputes.

Regan called off a pair of ballot initiatives in 2012 to limit charges for care at private hospitals and require nonprofits to spend at least 5% of revenues on charity care after the California Hospital Assn. agreed to a partnership that could help the union’s organizing efforts.

The partnership soured and the union filed two measures the next year to limit prices for care at private hospitals and executive salaries at nonprofit hospitals.

The union pulled the initiatives back in 2014 as part of a new agreement with the hospitals to campaign together to raise Medi-Cal reimbursement rates in exchange for an easier path to organizing thousands of potential union members, among other provisions.

A Sacramento judge shot down another SEIU-UHW ballot initiative to cap hospital executive pay in 2016. That same year, the union pushed a ballot initiative to increase pay for workers, which helped spark a legislative deal to raise California’s minimum wage.

This year alone, the union filed 11 ballot initiatives in California — seven at the local level and four statewide initiatives. Most of the initiatives failed to qualify or the union abandoned its effort.

One of the local measures would have placed revenue caps on the Watsonville Community Hospital. The union withdrew the initiative after it reached a collective bargaining agreement with the hospital, said Duane Dauner, the former chief executive of the California Hospital Assn. and a leader of the campaigns against the local initiatives. The hospital also agreed to form a committee to monitor and control pricing, said Sean Wherley, a spokesman for SEIU-UHW.

SEIU-UHW also sponsored five local initiatives in cities with Stanford Health Care community clinics. Measure F in Palo Alto and Measure U in Livermore, the only two to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot, would limit the amount of money hospitals can charge for patient care. Stanford claims the union pushed the measures to pressure its hospitals to make it easier to unionize.

Wherley said the union is not organizing at Stanford’s healthcare facilities.

“He thinks initiatives are the solutions to bypass ordinary labor relations activity and tries to literally force the hospitals, doctors, dentists and others into unionization or he will proceed,” Dauner said of Regan.

Gray, the state legislator, pointed to several state policy battles this year, including a ban on soda taxes and a deal on consumer privacy protections, as examples of other special interests using the ballot as leverage.

“I support direct democracy, but I certainly think the initiative process, by everybody, has been used in ways that certainly weren’t intended,” Gray said.

Regan said SEIU-UHW didn’t qualify Proposition 8 to pressure the dialysis industry to strike a deal. He said the union wants to improve healthcare, and ballot initiatives are an effective way to make important policy changes.

He pointed to 17 minimum wage and Medicaid expansion initiatives the union supported in other states since 2016 that he said were not linked to organizing efforts.

“Most of the stuff that we do is in pursuit of the common good, whether it’s the minimum wage or Medicaid expansion,” Regan said. “The dialysis industry should be required to do more than criticize the union because they don’t want to talk about their business models or profits.”

Get the latest California politics news »

taryn.luna@latimes.com

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The team changes suggested the home side would be favourites, but not the scale of the one-sided encounter that followed.

Middlesex recalled Roland-Jones for Jack Nelson, while Glamorgan gave debuts to two seamers – 18 year old academy product Tom Edwards and Aussie Connor O’Riordan, who has been on an extended second team trial.

Both teams have five players at the Hundred, but Glamorgan also chose to rest the overworked Timm van der Gugten as well as veterans Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke, with Zain ul Hassan on paternity leave, teenage prodigy Tom Norton missing at least most of the competition with a back issue, Jamie McIlroy suffering a minor niggle, and Billy Root not selected.

Sharma was quickly into his stride having Callum Nicholls adjudged lbw, but with Byrom getting the ball away for six fours, Glamorgan got to 44 before they fell apart, losing wickets in six consecutive overs.

Sharma had Henry Hurle (10) caught by keeper Joe Cracknell, Jack Hope-Bell caught to mid-off and Will Smale given lbw.

Meanwhile Roland-Jones induced Byrom (29) and Dan Douthwaite to edge to slip, Sam Robson snaffling two smart grabs, while Alex Horton feathered a catch behind.

Roland-Jones bowled his 10 over allocation straight through, while Sharma was replaced after seven by Cornwell, who wrapped up the last three while Cracknell finished with four catches.

The difficult bounce did not excuse the extent of Glamorgan’s struggles against an accurate seam attack.

With 20 coming off a nervous first over from O’Riordan, Josh de Caires got Middlesex off to a flyer.

Captain Andy Gorvin took himself off after just two overs just to give Edwards a bowl, but the 50 came up in just six overs as De Caires and Nathan Fernandes were able to attack with freedom.

Fernandes (14) drove Edwards to mid-on to give the youngster a first senior wicket, and a second quickly followed when Sam Robson was caught behind.

But De Caires (45 not out off 30) hit the winning run off the first ball of the 10th over to complete the rout.

Middlesex next travel to Worcester on Friday 31 July.

Glamorgan are set to come up against former England captain Ben Stokes at Durham on Wednesday, with further away fixtures against Derbyshire and Hampshire to follow as they try to rebuild confidence.

July 25 (UPI) — India’s education minister resigned Saturday amid a scandal that led hundreds of thousands of young people and students to the streets in one of the country’s largest protests.

Demonstrations began in New Delhi in early June, after it came to light that answers to one of the country’s most prestigious college-entrance exams, taken by millions of students, had been leaked.

At least a dozen students died by suicide after the government announced they would have to retake the exam.

The protests, organized by the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party, swelled to hundreds of thousands of people across the nation early this week, forcing the hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government.

“This is one of the most historic days for our country,” one protester, Rochelle Cope, told The Guardian. “For the first time in 12 years, someone from the government has been held accountable for wrongdoing. And it wasn’t political parties that did this — it was the people.”

The education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, said in his resignation letter “the events of the past ten days have saddened me deeply.”

“During this period, individuals holding responsible positions also tried to mislead many students and create obstacles, which caused me deep anguish,” he said in a statement.

Pressure began to grow this week after police brutally cracked down against protesters, using tear gas and batons to clear them out.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he would raise the issue in India’s parliament, holding Home Minister Amit Shah “directly responsible for the violence inflicted.”

“He authorized the firing on our students, authorized the use of lethal weapons, and authorized the use of pellet guns against them,” Gandhi told the BBC. “That’s a fundamental issue.”

Modi’s government announced late Saturday that the education ministry would be assigned to Pralhad Joshi, who’s already the minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, as well as new and renewable energy.

Following the education minister’s resignation, leaders for the protests instructed the crowd to disperse.

“All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully,” Saurav Das, a spokesperson for the Cockroach Janata, told reporters.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Ahmed al-Sharaa discusses regional security, Lebanon’s crisis and domestic challenges.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has revealed that Damascus is actively working to reach a security agreement with Israel with the participation of several countries.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Al Jazeera’s Al Muqabala programme, the full interview, to be broadcast at 19:00 GMT, al-Sharaa said he hopes the deal with Israel could serve as a gateway to a comprehensive peace.

He also assured that such an agreement would not compromise Syria’s right to the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel has illegally occupied since 1973.

He said Syria is avoiding any clashes with Israel, and that a security arrangement could pave the way for a broader and more comprehensive resolution to the crisis.

It comes after repeated Israeli incursions and strikes in southern Syria, since al-Sharaa came to power in December 2024 following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Lebanon’s crisis and regional fears

Al-Sharaa also confirmed that Syria has no intention of launching any military intervention into neighbouring Lebanon, despite repeated rumours on the issue.

Instead, his government is currently discussing ways for Lebanese authorities to help the country overcome its current crisis and steer it towards safety.

Southern Lebanon is currently being occupied by Israel, amid months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. The Lebanese state is seeking to reclaim these occupied territories and have a monopoly on all weapons in the country.

Furthermore, he declared Damascus’s firm support for restricting weapons and containing decisions of war and peace exclusively to the Lebanese state.

Al-Sharaa stressed that addressing the Lebanese crisis requires more than just a security approach but a comprehensive solution tackling a range of issues.

Any descent into chaos in Lebanon would have direct and immediate repercussions on Syria, and the potential expansion of the US-Israel war on Iran in the region would lead to a severe regional fall-out, he warned.

Sanctions, the SDF and missing persons

On domestic and economic fronts, al-Sharaa argued that merely lifting the economic sanctions imposed on his country by the US and other countries would not be effective unless Syria was also removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Addressing the internal agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab armed groups that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria, the president acknowledged a delay in its implementation.

However, he affirmed that the government remains fully committed to the agreement and continues to bet on its ultimate success.

Al-Sharaa also announced that Syrian authorities have established a special committee to manage the issue of people missing during Syria’s war, between 2011 and 2024.

The UN estimates that around 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared during the war, while Syria’s National Commission on Missing Persons believes as many as 300,000 Syrians could be missing.

Al-Sharaa said the committee will operate strictly according to international standards, working in close cooperation with countries that possess specialised expertise in this field.

A piece of iconic Los Angeles architecture and one of pop culture’s most recognizable exteriors is on display as the Pasadena home featured as Wayne Manor in TV’s original “Batman” hits the market this month for $32 million — less than a year after it was last sold.

The seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom Jacobean Tudor Revival home on 5 acres of gated land was built in 1928 by the L.A.-based architectural firm Morgan, Walls & Clements. This is the same firm responsible for some of L.A.’s most fantastical and beloved architectural creations including the Wiltern, El Capitan and Mayan theaters. It’s located at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena, in a lush, wooded area above the Arroyo Seco near the Rose Bowl.

The home, which features a stately mahogany main staircase and a genuine butler’s pantry worthy of Alfred Pennyworth, was made famous by the “Batman” TV series, which originally aired on ABC from 1966-68. During that time a man named Norman Preston van Valkenburgh lived there with his family. Film crews shot at the home for three days in 1966, but only external shots ended up being used as stock footage for Wayne Manor.

Over the years fans began to confuse the mansion with another nearby estate — the work of one of the city’s most prominent Africa American architects Paul R. Williams . The home, which The Times cheekily called an “imposter” in a 1989 article, burned down in 2005 while being renovated by its owner, Michael Hammer, grandson of the late oil tycoon Armand Hammer. At that time, crowds of “Batman” fans gathered before the smoldering ashes lamenting the loss only to discover they had the wrong house.

If the real Wayne Manor sells for its $32 million asking price it will break its own record for a residential sale in Pasadena. That record was set only last year when the current owner bought it for $20.5 million.

It will take just one super fan with Bruce Wayne-deep pockets to snap up this dreamy estate. Spoiler alert: There is no Bat Cave, but there is a pickleball court, a resort-style pool, a private theater and an Architectural Digest pedigree.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt counting the money in my swear jar and dreaming big. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Jeff LeBeau, left, and Tim Cummings in the West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s “Grangeville” at the Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center, directed by John Perrin Flynn.

(John Perrin Flynn)

Grangeville
The West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s two-hander about a pair of estranged brothers concludes its acclaimed run at the Ruskin next weekend. In his review, Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote that the playwright “turns his characters inside out in a play that powerfully illuminates a subject that has rarely been treated onstage with such unflinching honesty and sensitivity: How does one integrate a past that took everything to escape?”
8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 2. Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. app.arts-people.com

Sounds of LA County
Country music in Sylmar and Quartz Hill; disco, soul and R&B in South L.A.; regional Mexican music in Florence-Graham and La Puente; deep house, Afrobeats, hip-hop and funk in East Compton; global acoustic in Willowbrook; and live salsa in East L.A. are this week’s offerings in the free summer series from LA County Parks and Nextfest LA. The program continues through August.
6-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Thursday. Check website for exact days and locations. soundsoflacounty.com

SATURDAY

Joe Hisaishi presents Music Future
Coming off three nights at the Hollywood Bowl, the Japanese composer moves to a more intimate setting to celebrate the work of contemporary composers, including Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner and Max Richter, with the LA Phil New Music Group.
8 p.m. The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East theford.com

The Hour of the Star
Brazilian actor Bruna Fachetti stars in the world premiere of a stage adaptation of the novella by Clarice Lispector about an impoverished woman dreaming of a better life in Rio de Janeiro. The limited, five-performance engagement was conceived and will be directed by Alex Tietre from the English translation by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Lispector biographer Benjamin Moser.
7 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Thursday, July 31 and Aug. 1. The Broadwater Black Box Theatre, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. eventbrite.com

SUNDAY

Boris Brejcha performs during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival .

(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Coachella)

Boris Brejcha with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
The masked German DJ makes his global orchestral debut. The techno DJ duo Frieder & Jakob open the show. Be prepared to dance.
7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

Murder on the Orient Express
Sidney Lumet’s 1974 version of the Agatha Christie mystery, adapted by Paul Dehn, earned six Oscar nominations. Alfred Finney, nominated for leading actor, stars as the meticulous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigating a killing aboard the famous train. Also starring Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam and Ingrid Bergman, who won the Oscar for supporting actress. Part of the Oscar Sundays series.
2 p.m. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

TUESDAY

Rhapsody in Blue & Shostakovich
Marin Alsop conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Anna Clyne’s “Masquerade,” Gershwin’s soaring American classic (with pianist Conrad Tao) and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.
8 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

THURSDAY

Peter Finch in ‘Network.’

(TCM)

Network
“I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” shouts Peter Finch as news anchor Howard Beale in this 1976 satire directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paddy Chayefsky. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning four: leading actor, posthumously, for Finch, leading actress for Faye Dunaway, supporting actress for Beatrice Straight, and original screenplay. Fifty years later, it feels as prescient as ever.
2 p.m. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org

Arts anywhere

André De Shields, left, Reeve Carney, center, and the cast of Hadestown perform onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.

(Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)

Hadestown: The Musical
The hit Broadway show, winner of eight Tonys and a Grammy, comes to movie theaters for a special five-day engagement. “The show travels to the underworld and back again with liquified grace,” wrote Times theater critic Charles McNulty. “Unfurling like a dream, ‘Hadestown’ speaks most eloquently through its sultry jazz score.” With Reeve Carney as Orpheus André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Patrick Page as Hades.
Friday through Wednesday, theaters everywhere. bleeckerstreetmedia.com

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

The Hollywood Bowl during a summer concert.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The Hollywood Bowl recently debuted its biggest sound system upgrade in decades (featuring AI-powered vocal isolation and immersive, surround-sound), and Times classical music critic Mark Swed weighed in on why audiences should be careful of what they wish for. Still, the jury is out: “It is far too soon to say what ways the fabulous new Bowl sound system, which happens to be AI-endowed, might become friend and/or foe. In the first two L.A. Phil classical concerts, the white speakers brought out wonders and caused problems. But the minimal Bowl rehearsal time allows little opportunity to fine-tune,” Swed writes.

Swed also attended a showing of two of Yoko Ono’s famous performance pieces at REDCAT (in collaboration with the Broad, which is currently showing a major Ono retrospective). Titled “Sky Piece” and “Cut Piece” the music-driven works featured compositions by Ono’s friend and collaborator John Cage (Swed writes about the pair’s complicated relationship in New York during the 1960s). Swed also extols “Cut Piece” as performed bythe artist known as MPA, who sat stoically as the audience lined up to cut patches of her clothing off piece by piece.

Sean Luc Rogers and James Tupper in “F— Strangers” at the Echo Theater Company.

(Cooper Bates)

Times theater critic Charles McNulty headed to Echo Theater Company to see playwright Erik Patterson’s “F— Strangers,” directed by Echo Theater Company founding artistic director Chris Fields. McNulty found the show, which features scene after scene of intimate encounters, “intriguing and frustrating in equal measure.”

“It’s over 8 feet tall, nearly 11 feet wide and travels by 53-foot semitrailer. It’s covered in more than 20,000 beads and weighs almost 1 ton — or about 2,000 pounds,” writes The Times’ Eloise Rollins-Fife in her charming profile of “Gillian,” the chandelier featured in “Phantom of the Opera’s” current North American tour.” “And eight times a week, it’s dropped atop the heads of people who pay for the privilege — just a few feet short of actually hitting anyone.” “Phantom” is currently playing the Hollywood Pantages Theatre before it moves on to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.

Kihun Yoon, Michael J. Hawk, Nicholas Brownlee and Salmir Pirgu, from left, perform during an L.A. Opera dress rehearsal for Barrie Kosky’s “La Bohéme” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sept. 12, 2019.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Bernard A. Greenberg, a founding board member and former chairman of L.A. Opera, has died at 95. Throughout his life Greenberg was a devoted opera fan and a champion of establishing a dedicated opera company in the city, which ultimately led to the 1986 creation of L.A. Opera. As a philanthropist, civic leader and arts advocate, Greenberg dedicated more than seven decades to steering L.A. Opera and creating the renowned company that it is today. He served on the board of directors for 40 years and held almost every major leadership position during that time. He and his wife, Lenore, also founded the Bernard A. and Lenore S. Greenberg Opera Fund — an endowment that continues to support some of the company’s most vital work.

“If anyone could be called the founder of LA Opera, it is Bernie Greenberg,” said Keith R. Leonard, Jr., Chairman of LA Opera’s Board of Directors in a statement about Greenberg’s death. “For more than 70 years, he devoted his extraordinary wisdom, leadership and generosity to building this company into the institution that serves our audiences today. Bernie believed deeply that opera could enrich lives and strengthen our community, and he worked tirelessly to make that vision a reality. His legacy is woven into every chapter of our history, and all of us at LA Opera are profoundly grateful for his friendship, his guidance and his unwavering commitment to this company.”

IAMA Theatre Company has announced its 2026-2027 season, including three world premieres, as well as its ninth New Works Festival, featuring a variety of new plays by fresh talent. The season kicks off with “Bobby Robotowitz” by Matt Schatz and directed by Casey Stangl, which will be performed from Oct. 15-Nov. 23 in two secret venues — one on the Westside in October and one on the Eastside in November. (When you buy a ticket you find out the location.) The season will end with IAMA’s first collaboration with Geffen Playhouse: the world premiere of “Closing Costs” by Grace McLeod, which was originally developed during IAMA’s 2024-2025 Emerging Playwrights Lab. For the full season lineup, and to buy tickets, click here.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

This adventurous family of four is raffling off their $2 million home just outside of London in order to travel the world. I tip my hat to them because this is something I would think of doing but never actually do. Instead, I think I’ll buy a ticket or two.

JUST like her 54-year-old mum, my daughter Lola likes the finer things in life.

So instead of backpacking around Europe like a Gen-Z, 20-year-old Lola and I ticked off four countries and six cities on a week’s river cruise down the Danube.

Tempted by Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, we chose Viking’s Danube Waltz itinerary — an eight-day cruise along the Danube River.

Flying in to Munich, we wind through Lower Bavaria to our ship docked in Passau — and Lola grins as she boards Viking Vilhjalm.

With its smart and comfortable cabins, two restaurants and airy lounge bar, it’s a far cry from the backpacker hostels that she’s used to.

Our first day is spent in Passau — an historic Bavarian city, where the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet.

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Pottering around the Old Town, all cobblestone streets, Baroque architecture and cute German cafes, we stop by St Stephan’s Cathedral, a huge white and green onion-domed church — so my girl can inform Instagram.

Back on board, and dinner is a sociable affair — the conversation oiled by the included wine and beer.

We dine with a group of Americans — Vicky and Jay, a lovely couple from Montana, and Dillon and Robert from Georgia, who are celebrating Robert’s 40th birthday on the ship.

The food on board is so good, and plentiful, that I just wish I’d packed more elasticated clothes.

Each morning on the al-fresco Aquavit Terrace, we breakfast like queens — eggs Benedict, buttermilk pancakes with fresh berries, smoked salmon.

And there’s a view of a new port each day.

We always make it back to the ship in time for the excellent three-course lunch, too. With wine, of course.

Dinner is the most formal affair, served on the lower deck in the restaurant.

A Classics menu, featuring dishes like ribeye steak, poached salmon and roast chicken, is available every night but the chef also prepares a Regional Specialities menu that changes to reflect the country we’re in.

I particularly enjoy the Austrian evening.

To a backing track of oompah music, staff dressed in gingham shirts welcome us with shots of schnapps before serving platters of cured meats, cheeses and pickles, followed by roast pork, schnitzel and spaetzle.

I roll back to the cabin that night.

While Lola is by far the youngest guest, it doesn’t stop her making friends.

Docking in Linz, I’m enjoying a glass of wine in the lounge, listening to Peter, the resident pianist, work through his Smooth FM setlist, when Lola appears with a glint in her eye.

“I’ve made friends at the bar and we’re hitting the town,” she announces.

Little encouragement is needed as I join her and new friends, Pam, Nick and Kate, also from the US, in the bars of Hauptplatz, the main square.

In the Pink Panther bar, Lola chats to local girls who introduce us to strawberry schnapps — a Linz favourite.

It’s a slow start the next morning, but we drag ourselves out to explore more of Austria’s third-largest city.

We take the vintage tram up to Postlingberg, the local mountain, to be greeted by panoramic views across the city.

We stumble across Linz Grottenbahn, a kitsch grotto inspired by Grimm’s fairytales, which opened in 1906.

Inside, a dragon train trundles through fairy-lit caves past dioramas of gnomes and taxidermy animals.

Despite our ages, it’s a real highlight of our cruise.

Back on board, and cruise life suits us. Over breakfast, we check out the Viking Daily — the newsletter detailing the day’s programme.

Our next stop is Krems, in the scenic Wachau Valley — Austria’s wine region.

We visit Gottweig Abbey, a Baroque wonder overlooking the river, where Lola (remembering her A level in History of Art) is mesmerised by the ceiling fresco of Emperor Charles VI as Apollo — by Paul Troger, Austria’s Michelangelo.

Vienna is another favourite port of call — and on the Viking walking tour of Ringstrasse, we learn about the naughty antics of Klimt and “Sisi” — Empress Elisabeth of Vienna, who bathed in milk and got a tattoo aged 51.

After dinner, we attend a classical music concert in a Viennese music hall, where Lola falls in love with the music of Mozart and Strauss.

I had feared my girl might get bored — but docking daily in a different port, she thrives on the variety.

Our next stop is Bratislava — the small and charming capital of Slovakia.

We dock moments from the Old Town, near the UFO Bridge, and tick off Bratislava Castle, Michael’s Gate and Hlavne Namestie Square.

Lola loves the Baroque architecture and cute shops which, under a blissful blue sky, feature heavily on her Instagram feed.

Our final stop is Budapest, Hungary’s buzzy capital.

Our coach tour captures the highlights — Buda Castle, the vast Hungarian Parliament and St Stephen’s Basilica — but we decide to ditch the walking tour to see the Shoes on the Danube Bank.

This haunting art installation of dozens of iron shoes is a memorial to Hungarian Jews lost in the Holocaust.

Before we return to the ship for our last dinner, I take Lola for a beer at Szimpla Kert — the first of Budapest’s ruin bars, created since the Noughties from abandoned or derelict buildings.

As we sit around an old Trabant car-turned-table in a graffiti-strewn courtyard, I look at my gorgeous girl — grinning and in her element — and decide that our mum-and-daughter river cruise has been a rip-roaring success.

SAN FRANCISCO — Every election produces a campaign strategist whose victory bestows upon them, for at least a little while, the unofficial title of reigning political genius.

James Carville, Karl Rove, David Axelrod and Stephen K. Bannon have all worn the crown.

For many years, and many election cycles, California’s reigning political genius was Clint Reilly.

In an age before the internet, before social media, before the cable-TV chat shows and before Carville and the like, Reilly came as close to celebrity as a political operative possibly could. He was the subject of fear, admiration, contempt, envy and lengthy newspaper and magazine treatments.

His cherry-red Jaguar, Italian suits, designer eyewear and seaside mansion made Reilly an influencer before there even was such a thing. (A connoisseur of the finer things, he served visitors coffee in bone china when they called on his San Francisco office.)

“It used to be that political consultants and political mechanics were something that only a handful of people thought about,” said Eric Jaye, one of generations of campaign strategists who were trained or inspired — directly or indirectly — by Reilly. “Clint was the original star consultant who made news himself and shaped the political discussion.”

Reilly, a working-class product of Oakland who crossed the Bay and scaled the heights of San Francisco business, culture and politics, died earlier this month at age 79.

For someone who never held political office — a 1999 bid for San Francisco mayor was a notable flop — Reilly wielded considerable influence.

A list of the many Democrats he helped elect — among them Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer — reads like a scroll of modern California history. At one time, the sitting mayors of both San Francisco and Los Angeles were clients of Reilly.

He wasn’t flawless as an election strategist. Like any political operative, he had his share of defeats.

Reilly’s particular genius lay in the methodology — vertical integration — he brought to campaigns. Typically, one consultant would handle television advertising, another direct mail, another polling, another big-picture strategy, and so on.

“Everything was in-house with Clint and, at least in San Francisco, he was the first to do that,” said Jerry Roberts, who was a scruffy reporter for the city’s alt-weekly when he met a shaggy-haired Reilly more than 50 years ago. At the time, campaigns were a sideline for Reilly, who supported himself selling doodads and other salvaged wares in a movable flea market he operated on Fisherman’s Wharf.

“It was a smart business model,” said Roberts, who went on to lead two major California newspapers.

It made Reilly very rich.

In 1988, he managed what, at the time, was the most expensive political campaign in California history, a $64-million effort by the insurance industry to beat back a Ralph Nader-inspired reform initiative. Reilly lost, but his firm cleared at least $6 million on that contest alone — or about $17 million in today’s dollars.

“So that’s where our premiums went,” one guest observed with a low whistle as he arrived at the state-of-the art headquarters Reilly built not long after the Proposition 103 campaign. (Naturally, he threw an open house; for all his affluence, Reilly never did entirely shake the proletariat chip on his shoulder.)

A onetime seminarian — he left three years shy of being ordained a Catholic priest — Reilly was no saint.

He was hot-tempered, profane and egotistical. He embraced the nickname “Satan,” which a former client affixed after Reilly went to work for an archrival, as a reflection of his reputation for intimidation and mastery of the political dark arts.

In one fit of pique, Reilly took the unheard step of firing a client — Feinstein — via faxed press release because, he said, the former San Francisco mayor lacked the requisite fire to run for governor. The two eventually reconciled, though Feinstein stuck with members of the team that replaced Reilly and helped guide her to successive terms in the U.S. Senate.

If Reilly was at times overbearing — and known for being the kind of hellacious boss who gave employees night sweats — he was also generous and a genuine bleeding heart.

Before his career took off, Reilly volunteered for the United Farm Workers and lived an ascetic life, sheltering in church halls, as he ministered to the poor. Once he established his high-end consulting firm, Reilly retained his political staffers at no small expense, even during the lull between campaigns, rather than hiring and firing them as seasonal workers, which was the norm.

After leaving professional campaign consulting in the mid-1990s, and making a substantial fortune in real estate, Reilly gave prolifically to various charities and assorted civic caucuses. He started a charitable foundation of his own, Bay Scholars, which helps poor and underserved youth attend Catholic high schools throughout the area.

In 1987, when Reilly arguably resided at the height of his power and influence, he took on Pelosi as a client.

She was running for a rare open congressional seat in San Francisco and, though well known in political circles as a prodigious Democratic fundraiser and high-level activist, Pelosi was a blank slate to many voters. Reilly came up with a slogan that played on Pelosi’s Washington connections and many important friendships: “A voice that will be heard.”

More than that, he made a key tactical decision in the waning days of the campaign.

Pelosi was one of 14 candidates, several of them well-known Democratic officeholders. Ignoring Pelosi’s objections, Reilly sent out a mail piece to the city’s vastly outnumbered Republicans suggesting that a Democrat was bound to win the congressional seat and arguing that Pelosi was the best — or, at least, not the worst — of the bunch.

On election day, Pelosi lost the Democratic vote to Harry Britt, who succeeded Harvey Milk on the Board of Supervisors after Milk’s assassination. Still, Pelosi prevailed, by less than 4,000 votes out of nearly 108,000 cast. The winning margin was her Republican support.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Some people don’t need an introduction.

Joe Torre, for one.

You know him. Baseball icon. Hall of Famer. The only big leaguer with 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager, he steered the New York Yankees to four World Series championships — and the Dodgers to consecutive National League West crowns and NLCS appearances in 2008 and 2009.

So you’re well-versed on Torre’s baseball bonafides, but you might not be aware of the most meaningful part of his legacy: He’s spent the past 24 years helping people who actually would need to be introduced to him.

Kids who are too young to know Torre the player, manager, color commentator — but who can, unfortunately, relate with what he went through when he was their age. Kids who, like him, are growing up afraid and anxious because of domestic violence at home, and who need what Torre didn’t have — somewhere safe to go to for help.

Since 2002, Torre and his wife, Ali, have been behind the expanding the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. Across the nation, they’ve set up safe spaces in schools, specialized classrooms that feel more like living rooms and that are manned by professional counselors trained in domestic violence intervention.

San Francisco Giants assistant manager Ron Washington hugs Joe Torre before a game at Dodger Stadium on May 14.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

They’re at schools in New York, Cincinnati, Tahiti and in L.A., at Bellflower Middle/High School and John Adams Middle School, John H. Glenn High and McKinley Elementary School, Palisades Charter High, Santa Monica High, Waite Middle School and Washington Preparatory High.

And they’re open to all, whether you’re a kid experiencing violence or you want to be able to help peers who are.

This past year, the foundation says it reached more than 28,000 students. And since it began, more than 425,000 young people, families, schools, and communities.

These Safe at Home spaces are all named “Margaret’s Place,” in honor of Joe’s mom, who was for years the victim of his father’s violent ire.

“It’s a tough subject to talk about,” Joe Torre said. “But you can’t run away from it.”

He did, though. He’s 85 now, but until he was 54, Torre didn’t reveal that baseball had been his refuge when he was growing up. He didn’t tell anyone that when he was a kid, if he saw his dad’s car in front of his house, Joe would go to a friend’s house and wait until he left for his job as a New York police detective. Joe didn’t share memories like he would later, of seeing his big sister, armed with a knife, standing between their mother and their father, who was going for his pistol.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Joe Torre poses swinging a bat prior to a game in 1971.

(Dave Pickoff / Associated Press)

He didn’t recognize what those traumatic experiences he’d tried to bury did to him, not until he started to talk about them.

“I thought I was born with this shyness and this nervousness,” Torre said before a Dodgers game in May, when the club introduced him and Ali and players and coaches wore T-shirts during batting practice that read: “Everyone deserves to be safe at home.”

“During my playing career,” Torre continued, “if we lost a game and I didn’t get any hits, I’d beat myself up. I was fortunate, I had a good career, but there was always something missing. I really probably could have enjoyed it a lot more than I did.”

That didn’t change until 1995, when he started talking about the domestic violence he experienced. He was surprised, he said, to find himself sharing his story, opening up for the first time at a “Life Success” seminar in Cincinnati, Ali’s hometown.

“Ali, she says, ‘You want to go to this Life Success symposium with me?’” Joe said. “And she’s eight months pregnant with our daughter and I’m not about to say no to anything she asks me to go. So we go in and they separate you, and they put you in groups of six strangers — and I’d just been named manager of the Yankees, so I’m very self-conscious.

“But after a day or so, you’re in it, you know? And then we went home and I called my sisters and asked them questions. Because they always tried to protect me, so I had to drag it out of them … ‘Did dad hit mom?’

“The biggest thing for me was knowing that my dad bringing fear down on the home was what caused my feelings that I was embarrassed to have. Once I went through that, I was able to go deeper.”

Yankees manager Joe Torre bumps fists with catcher Jorge Posada after a win in April 2004.

(Brian Kersey / Associated Press)

Speaking about what was previously unspeakable helped him cope with his trauma. He said it made him a more empathetic manager and a more confident man. It also made him want to speak out publicly and to encourage others to do the same, to break the cycle of silence.

So they’re getting the word out at — where else? — ballparks. There was the stop at Dodger Stadium in May, and before that, in 2025, seven major league teams had activations at games, as did 63 minor league clubs who hosted a “Safe At Home Awareness Game.”

Because often we do need an introduction, to connect kids with people who can keep them safe, who can assure them they’re not the only ones in their position.

“He’s talked about this many times: If he had access to a program like Margaret’s Place, he wouldn’t have felt like he had to carry this burden alone,” said Rose Robles, the foundation’s senior director of programs. “That was one thing he’s really stressed, he felt he was the only one that was going through this.

“And he would have had some options, some choices for how to respond to what he was experiencing and how to understand it. One thing that we say is that violence thrives in silence, and that is basically what he was experiencing.”

Forty-four percent of the kids Margaret’s Place counselors helped in 2024-25 were dealing with some form of violence at home. Twenty-seven percent have experienced some form of relationship or dating violence. They also help kids who’ve been exposed to community violence or other traumatic events, or who are grieving a traumatic loss.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre pauses for a moment while answering questions in August 2010.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

At Bellflower Middle and High School, Principal Jessica Cummings said a Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week and parent workshops focused on fostering healthy relationships increased awareness on her campus.

“We are grateful,” she wrote in an email, “for this partnership and the positive impact it has had.”

Of the students surveyed after receiving services, Safe at Home indicated that 99% reported feeling safer and 93% said they used the tools they learned in counseling.

Torre has absorbed decades of anecdotal feedback too — the knowing nods he sees in the crowd when he’s talked to groups of kids about this, the cameraman who slipped him $20 to put toward the foundation, the interviewer who shared his account of having grown up in a violent household.

“Anyone can become a victim,” Ali Torre said, “Our goal is to intervene and prevent. There are little boys we can have conversations with: ‘You don’t have to repeat the cycle.’ To little girls, ‘There’s an option for you…’

“And Joe has opened a lot of doors for us.”

When you think of Joe Torre, it’s as a former Dodgers skipper. A nine-time All-Star and the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player.

You should also think of him as a champion of children who now know that they aren’t alone, and that they have people who will go to bat for them.

Iran says it has halted ‘retaliatory operations’ in the Gulf but warns that if the US continues its attacks, the conflict will expand across the region. Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia had a message for the US ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington.

Israel is intensifying its crackdown on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after an attack by Israeli settlers resulted in the deaths of six people. Author and activist Phyllis Bennis says we’re seeing an ‘increase in direct war crimes’ with no accountability.

Aitch has released a brand new documentary and it can be streamed today

Manchester rapper Aitch has shared his heartwarming relationship with his family as he embarks on his toughest challenge yet.

Aitch: Don’t be afraid has today (Sunday, July 26) been released on Netflix as it chronicles the rapper’s journey up Africa’s highest peak with friends and family. Aitch has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the Down’s Syndrome Association in honour of his sister Gracie.

An official synopsis reads: “Inspired by his sister, rapper Aitch scales Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for people with Down syndrome and to fight for greater inclusivity.”

Already, Netflix subscribers are tuning in as one person wrote on social media: “Defo be watching @OfficialAitch netflix documentary! Such a great guy.”

Another replied: “Can’t wait to see this. Congratulations team!” As the brand new documentary airs, here’s all you need to know about Aitch’s sisters as well as the star’s incredible net worth.

Aitch’s relationship with his sisters

Aitch, whose real name is Harrison Armstrong, has an inspiring bond with his younger sisters Hattie and Gracie, often stating he makes music to support them. With a strong bond with both of his siblings, he has a publicly documented relationship with one sister, Gracie, who has Down syndrome.

In the brand new release, Aitch shares his special relationship with Gracie as he tells the cameras: “It’s just the best relationship ever. If there’s a blueprint of what a human should be, it probably is her.

“She couldn’t love the people around her more if she tried, she smothers you with love.”

Hattie and Gracie are non identical twins, but equally have a loving bond with their older brother, who worships everything they do.

Previously speaking at the Pride of Britain, the star said his sisters were his personal heroes, before paying special tribute to Gracie who he said was an “absolute soldier”.

Previously appearing on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here last year, he held pictures of his younger siblings near his camp bed as he said his sisters were his “whole heart”.

In one episode, speaking about Gracie he told his campmates: “She’s the GOAT honestly. There’s not one person that’s ever met her that’s said a bad word.”

In his 2022 song My G, featuring Ed Sheeran, there was a touching tribute to Gracie as all profits went to the DSA, which Aitch is also an ambassador for.

The star often takes to social media to share heart-warming videos, with fans loving his close bond with his siblings.

Just recently, teasing the new documentary, Aitch wrote on Instagram: “GRACIE, THIS IS FOR YOU AND THE OTHER 40,000 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU DONT BE AFRAID! 26/07/26 @netflixuk.”

The support came pouring in as one person replied: “GRACIE WE LOVE YOU”, as another echoed: “You’re an inspiration . Your sisters are so lucky to have such an amazing big brother.”

Aitch’s net worth

Aitch’s net worth was estimated to be around £3.5million in 2025, which has been accumulated through his skyrocketing career as a rapper.

However, Heat’s 2025 Rich List, as reported by Bauer Media, Aitch found himself number 9 with an estimated £14.4m.

Aitch: Don’t be afraid can be streamed on Netflix now

WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s most influential member prior to his retirement, has watched quietly for eight years as a new conservative majority took charge.

He was troubled by partisan gerrymandering, but a year after he stepped down, a 5-4 ruling closed the federal courts to challenges to state voting maps that allow one party to rig the elections in its favor.

Though he believed abortion was a moral wrong, he cast the crucial vote in 1992 to uphold Roe vs. Wade and the principle that a woman, not the government, had the right to decide on ending an early pregnancy.

Four years ago, that decision was overturned on a 5-4 vote.

While Kennedy has refrained from commenting on the current court or President Trump, he has written a memoir that tells his life story and explains the reasoning behind the major decisions of his era.

It has become common for the justices to write books, but they steer clear of writing about the work of the court. Kennedy’s book, “Life, Law & Liberty,” is, like the justice, the exception to that rule.

An Irish Catholic from Sacramento and a Reagan Republican, Kennedy had a generally conservative voting record over 30 years on the high court. But he had a distinct view of liberty and justice.

“The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times,” he wrote in 2015.

Kennedy rejected the “rigid” view that the Constitution’s promises of liberty and equal protection of the law, as well as the protection against cruel and unusual punishment, were limited to their “original” meaning in the Bill of Rights of 1791 or the 14th Amendment of 1868.

After all, slavery and segregation were legal for much of American history, and women were not protected from discrimination by the promise of “equal protection” in the 14th Amendment.

Kennedy remained open to new rights and liberties. The goal, he wrote, was “a decent society in which the Constitution and the rule of law treat all with dignity and equality.”

He was the justice who made the difference in several areas of law, none more significant than in LGBTQ+ rights.

He wrote the court’s four major rulings rejecting discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2015, he spoke for the 5-4 majority to uphold same-sex marriages nationwide.

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” he wrote. “Many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted. And hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples.”

They “ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right,” he concluded in Obergefell vs. Hodges.

He also believed that teenagers who commit crimes are not as culpable as adults. He wrote a court opinion in 2005 ending executions for murderers who were under age 18 at the time of their crime.

Five years later, he wrote the court’s opinion holding it was cruel and unusual punishment for judges to impose a sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole for a teenager’s crime that did not involve homicide. In the case before the court, a Florida teen was given a life term for committing an armed robbery and a home burglary prior to his 18th birthday.

Kennedy marked his 90th birthday on Thursday and says his favorite topic of conversation is not the nine justices but his nine grandchildren. He still goes to the court some days and says he is worried by the tone in Washington and around the country.

“It is too partisan and confrontational,” he said in a recent interview with The Times. “I’m concerned that the divisiveness may be reflected at the court.”

Democracy requires “reasoned and respectful debate,” he said, not personal attacks and name calling.

Kennedy may be the last justice of his kind, said Washington University law professor Daniel Epps, a former Kennedy clerk.

“I don’t think we’ll see another justice who is so ideologically unpredictable and who votes against his party of appointment in some of the hugest cases in our lifetimes,” he said. Kennedy emerged from “an appointments process that was less polarized, where there were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and a Senate filibuster, which all made it possible for moderates to be appointed.”

While Kennedy describes himself at times as a small-town lawyer from Sacramento, he knew the two California governors, both Republicans, who reshaped the Supreme Court.

Kennedy’s father was a friend of Gov. Earl Warren, and young Tony played with Warren’s children. He also worked as a young page in the state Capitol when Warren was governor.

He was a high school senior in 1954 when Warren, the new chief justice, spoke for a unanimous court to strike down racial segregation in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education.

He and his father agreed the ruling was long overdue. It also provided an early lesson in how justices can uphold the fundamental principles of the Constitution despite intense opposition in much of the nation.

He said he later learned a second lesson. The Brown decision was “a historic step forward” but it “just a beginning” in the fight against entrenched racial injustice.

In writing the same-sex marriage case, Kennedy cited Warren’s opinion in the 1967 case of Loving vs. Virginia which struck down the bans on interracial marriages in 16 states.

As as young lawyer, Kennedy worked on special projects for Gov. Ronald Reagan and admired him greatly. He was just 38 years old when, at Reagan’s behest, he was appointed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

As president a decade later, Reagan had appointed Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court and elevated William Rehnquist to be the chief justice. But his third nominee — Judge Robert Bork — was voted down as too conservative by the Senate.

Reagan invited Kennedy to the White House and offered him the nomination. Kennedy recalled telling Reagan that he and his wife Mary were happy in Sacramento where all their friends and family lived. We don’t know anyone in Washington, he said.

President Reagan gestures toward Judge Anthony M. Kennedy’s family after nominating Kennedy to the Supreme Court in 1987.

(Dennis Cook / Associated Press)

In his best imitation of Reagan’s voice, he recounted the president’s response: “You know me. And you know Nancy.”

Kennedy accepted the nomination and was confirmed in February 1988 by a 97-0 vote, the last justice to win unanimous approval from the Senate.

His three decades on the court were shaped in part by his relationship with Scalia.

Kennedy and his wife bought a house in the same northern Virginia neighborhood where Scalia lived. In their early years on the court, they appeared to be friends and allies.

They broadly supported freedom of speech. To the surprise of many, they cast the deciding votes in 1989 to rule that the 1st Amendment protects the right to burn an American flag in protest.

A year later, Kennedy and Scalia dissented vehemently when the court ruled the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and its corporate supporters could be barred from advertising their support for state candidates.

The decision triggered a decades-long dispute that ended with the Citizens United ruling in 2010. Kennedy spoke for a 5-4 conservative majority to rule that corporations, unions and other groups were free to spend money independently to oppose or support candidates.

But when the court was closely split in major cases, Kennedy was likely to be in majority while Scalia wrote scathing and increasingly personal dissents.

“I would hide my head in a bag,” Scalia wrote in dissent in the same-sex marriage case, rather than join an opinion “couched in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic.”

Kennedy was put off by a different jab. Scalia said the justices do not represent the full country. For example, the court lacks a “genuine Westerner (California does not count),” he wrote.

Since Scalia’s death, his influence has grown especially with the younger generation of conservatives.

Two of Trump’s appointees — Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh — were clerks for Kennedy in 1993, but they are far more likely to cite Scalia and his views on interpreting laws or the Constitution. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s third appointee, was a clerk for Scalia.

While Kennedy did not respond to Scalia’s harsh dissents, they hung over their last year together on the court.

One day in early February of 2016, Scalia stopped by Kennedy’s office to talk.

“Nino said he had come to regret deeply the tone of his Obergefell dissent and its personal references. He apologized for being intemperate,” Kennedy wrote. “Neither of us is big on hugging, but we hugged, both of us smiling.”

They agreed to get together for dinner with their wives when he returned from a hunting trip to Texas.

A week later, Scalia’s wife Maureen called to tell them of his death.

“Nino and I spent 28 years on the court together,” Kennedy wrote. “We sometimes agreed and sometimes disagreed, but I respected him and miss him very much.”

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix were initially scheduled for April but were called off in March as a result of the war launched by the US/Israel against Iran.

F1 is keen to host at least 21 races, because any less than that would activate contractual clauses that could see the sport have to pay rights fees back to broadcasters and may also mean the same for teams with sponsorship budgets.

The arrangement between Bahrain and Malaysia was heavily influenced by Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

The Bahrain race has been Prince Salman’s pet project since it made its debut in 2024. Bahrain’s sovereign investment fund is also the owner of the McLaren F1 team.

F1 president and chief executive officer Stefano Domenicali said: “We are delighted to confirm that Malaysia will host the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2026. Once again, the sport has demonstrated its ability to adapt, find solutions, and deliver, creating an exciting moment for everyone who follows Formula 1.

“I would like to express our sincere thanks to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, as well as their respective governments for making this extraordinary outcome possible through their vision, commitment, and decisive action.”

Sepang, which last hosted a race in 2017 and made its debut on the F1 calendar in 1999, is a popular track with fans and Domenicali added: “Malaysia is an incredible country, and Sepang holds a special place in Formula 1 history. It will provide a spectacular setting for racing and an unforgettable experience for fans at the circuit and watching around the world.”

July 25 (UPI) — The Department of Agriculture on Friday lifted a ban on cattle imports from Mexico that had been in place to contain the spread of a parasite threatening U.S. livestock.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Douglas, Ariz., would be the first port of entry to be open on Aug. 24.

All cattle imports from Mexico were halted by the Biden administration in November 2024, when the first cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm were detected in the south of the country.

“The closure of the Southern ports of entry for the last year has been a tough but necessary action to control the spread of NWS in Mexico and protect the American livestock industry,” Rollins said in a statement.

But closing the border came at a cost, Rollins said, causing “a significant economic challenge to various sectors of our industries in Texas.”

“There is no doubt that closing the ports last May caused higher prices in beef,” the agriculture secretary told reporters last month. “We’re obviously very focused on affordability, but the president agreed when we briefed him that we had to keep our livestock producers as safe as possible with this outbreak moving through Mexico.”

Despite border closures, there have been multiple cases of New World screwworm detected in the United States.

Anduril’s YFQ-44 Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) caught the attention of aircraft trackers yesterday evening when it appeared to leave its developmental home at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville and flew alongside its Learjet chase aircraft west. The pilotless ‘fighter’ would end up recovering at America’s central hub for uncrewed aircraft operations, Creech Air Force Base in southern Nevada, home of the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-170 Sentinel. It is the first time that we know of that Fury has been hosted at Creech. TWZ has now found out what Fury will be doing there and what it will soon be joined by.

The USAF’s CCA program is really picking up steam, with both of the Increment One down-select aircraft – Anduril’s YFQ-44 Fury and General Atomics’ YFQ-42 Dark Merlin – having been chosen for production. Now, the next step in their ongoing development is imminent. Both types will be hosted by Creech for an exercise that will test the CCAs’ ability to operate from austere locales with minimal logistical footprint, and often on the move from location to location, under the USAF’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) combat doctrine. This operational concept was baked into the CCA requirements from the get-go, which you can read all about here.

A USAF spokesperson responded to our inquiry about Fury’s arrival at Creech with the following statement:

“From July 20-24, 2026, the Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Experimental Operations Unit (EOU) is conducting an Agile Combat Employment (ACE) exercise at Creech AFB, Nevada. Military operators are leading end-to-end ground and flight operations for both the YFQ-42 and YFQ-44 to build tactical concepts, test lean sustainment, and refine Air Force-led human-machine teaming alongside observers from the Royal Netherlands Air Force.“

“CCA testing is taking place at a combination of government-owned and contractor-owned facilities. Testing is occurring at sites that allow us to evaluate CCA performance in realistic operational scenarios. Further details are protected for operational security.“

The CCA EOU was stood up exactly for these kinds of trials. The unit is working to blaze a path for the service to operationalize its CCA ambitions, and its personnel certainly have their work cut out for them. Some of the biggest concerns surrounding the CCA concept have more to do with logistics, maintenance, integration with the manned fighter force, and above all else, building trust, than with how they will shoot down other aircraft. This exercise is clearly aimed at reducing risks in these areas and adding clarity to what pages will be needed in the USAF’s future CCA playbook.

The timing is especially relevant, too. The EOU just got done with testing the same ACE concepts in the Pacific with Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat CCA as part of Exercise Valiant Shield. This should provide a good baseline to compare with the capabilities of the YFQ-44 and YFQ-42.

A similar exercise happened at Edwards Air Force Base in California in April of this year, but, at the time, just the YFQ-44 Fury could attend. The Dark Merlin had an accident and was in a stand-down period while the cause was understood and resolved. Dark Merlin has been back in the air for some time now, and the USAF placed a huge vote of confidence in both designs with their decision to move them into production.

It’s also worth noting that the Fury that flew to Creech AFB, serial number 25-1003, was the same one that recently made history as the first American CCA to fire an air-to-air missile.

New test footage: first missile shot from YFQ-44A.

YFQ-44A executed an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike against a simulated target.

The test, executed out of @EdwardsAFB, represents an important step in turning CCA into an operational capability. pic.twitter.com/70cRIs6uXJ

— Anduril Industries (@anduriltech) July 15, 2026

There is a remarkably large amount of pressure on the CCA program, overall. Much is being bet on this technology as a way to help provide the USAF’s aging force with a tactical edge and to furnish the combat mass needed to confront a near-peer opponent on their own turf – China. And this adversary is moving ahead with its own loyal wingman efforts at what appears to be a rapid pace.

Regardless, there is still much to learn about actually employing CCAs in a true end-to-end combat context, and this appears to be what this latest exercise at America’s premier drone base is all about.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

Netflix has just released a trailer for a brand new period drama, but some are not impressed

Netflix trailer for a remake of a “brilliant” Sam Neill film has left some fans fearing the worst.

Sumptuous six-part period drama My Brilliant Career will be launching globally on Netflix next month and takes its cue from Australian author Miles Franklin’s 1901 classic novel of the same name, reports the Express.

The autobiographical book follows Sybylla (played by Philippa Northeast) as she rails against her family’s wishes to marry and instead pursues her dreams of becoming a published author.

My Brilliant Career also stars Pride and Prejudice icon Anna Chancellor, Genevieve O’Reilly from Andor, and Slow Horses actor Christopher Chung.

Netflix recently shared a trailer from the tongue-in-cheek show that sees Sybylla pushing back against society as she daydreams, writes and spends time with the swoon-worthy Harry (Chung).

The new adaptation comes after the beloved 1979 film version of My Brilliant Career starring Judy Davis as Sybylla and Sam Neill as Harry.

Many fans of the 1979 movie shared their thoughts about the forthcoming iteration of My Brilliant Career on YouTube.

One person said: “Nice try Netflix, but the original movie version with a young Judy Davis portrayed this brilliant novel written in 1901 Australia with way more authentic adolescent sass and much less millennial pop star angst.”

A second wrote: “I’m scared this new one will butcher a beloved story, like ’Anne with an E’ did for me.”

A third commented: “Nothing beats Julie Davis and Sam Neill. I wish that remakes would stop being made unless you’re going to adhere to the original story.”

However, others hit back at the detractors as one person noted: “The original will always have its place. This is just another take on it. Like all the other classic remakes. You don’t need to watch it if it’s not your cup of tea.”

Someone else said: “This series going adding more details that Miles Franklin wrote [sic].”

A third wrote: “I look forward to this. I so enjoyed the ’79 version with Judy Davis…this looks to be just as entertaining. ”

A fourth compared it to many other costume dramas: “This is like if they combined every single period piece into one movie it’s got little women, pride and prejudice, Bridgerton etc. I don’t know how they managed to fit every single trope into one.”

Yet another added: “Looks great. Loved the 1979 adaptation and not gonna miss this one.”

My Brilliant Career has been adapted numerous times, with the 1979 movie only being the first one.

The story was also adapted for the stage in a 2020 play and later turned into a musical in 2024.

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Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan.

This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Stranger Things and The Last of Us.

Netflix’s TV series is just another retelling of the well-loved story of following one’s heart over the strict rules of society.

Treasured star Neill died aged 78 from pneumonia on July 16. His career spanned back to the 1970s and some of his biggest roles include Jurassic Park, Peaky Blinders, ITV’s Tutankhamun, and Event Horizon, among many others.

My Brilliant Career will be released on Netflix on August 13

This important question can easily cost holidaymakers extra cash

People going on holiday this summer should know this simple money mistake to avoid as it could needlessly cost you more without realising. The ‘rule’ to remember is very simple, according to money and travel experts.

Travel specialist Kate Donnelly (@Thedonelleyedit) claims that all British people heading abroad this summer should remember one important thing that could result in hidden fees when on holiday. She said that we all have the option to avoid these, even if the choice seems clear and convenient.

She said: “When you are abroad, you should always pay in the local currency. Whether that’s euros or dollars, depending on where you are, and you should never select the option of paying in Great British Pound (GBP).”

Why does it matter what you choose?

Whether you’re buying a meal or using a cash machine, you should always have the option to pay in local currency instead of DCC. Nobody should choose on your behalf.

Kate confirmed: “When you’re abroad, and you choose to pay in pounds, you are allowing the ATM or the shop to do the exchange. Within this, there will also be a conversion charge, which is notoriously a really poor rate, meaning you will end up paying significantly more if you pay in the local currency.

“It’s your bank or the card provider that does the exchange. Even if they add on a transaction fee, you are still going to be getting a better rate if you choose to pay in pounds.”

Choosing dynamic currency conversion (DCC) means the amount is converted from the local currency to pounds at the point of sale. But, “DCC usually costs you more”, according to HSBC.

The bank said: “You might choose DCC and pay in pounds because it’s a currency you’re more familiar with. It could give you a better understanding of how much you’re spending. But there are extra fees, and the exchange rate is usually higher.”

Kate added: “The best thing to do when going on holiday is to invest in a fee-free card, such as a Monzo or a Starling. They add no transaction fees, and they also offer the best exchange rate.”

Martin Lewis previously appeared on ITV’s This Morning to talk about this exact issue. He said that the best thing to do, wherever you are in the world, is to pay in local currency to avoid inflated fees.

SACRAMENTO — As the architect of a one-time tax on California billionaires, Dave Regan says he’s pushing the measure to raise $100 billion to protect low-income patients, workers and hospitals from President Trump’s cuts to healthcare.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in June to pull the measure off the ballot, however, revealed another possible goal, according to two sources familiar with the talks who requested anonymity to share details of the discussions with The Times.

Regan, the president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, asked for union contracts with two hospitals in San Diego and Fresno and a clinic in Imperial County, among a list of sweeping demands to grow his union, in exchange for rescinding the measure, the sources said.

The union leader denied that he asked for concessions for his union in exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, calling the allegations “categorically false.”

“We are trying to solve a problem,” Regan said. “The problem is to prevent a catastrophe in California’s healthcare system. We put forward a proposal. Nobody else has offered a solution, and none of what you are referencing happened.”

The talks failed to result in a deal and the measure will appear as Proposition 40 on the November ballot, leaving California voters to decide pivotal tax policy that has roiled the Democratic Party and opponents worry could ultimately reduce revenue for the state budget.

The terms Regan allegedly laid out raise the question of whether he intended for the billionaire tax to go on the ballot, or if it was designed as a leverage play to expand his union, which represents more than 120,000 workers and is among the largest healthcare unions in the nation.

Regan, who has been elected to five consecutive terms as union president since 2011, has a record of launching ballot initiatives at the state and local level to use as leverage for union expansion and to thwart his political opponents.

His foes say that this year he went too far.

“It’s no secret in Sacramento that the ballot initiative has been used this way by UHW as a weapon,” said Francisco Silva, president of the California Primary Care Assn., which represents community clinics. “They’ve been very vocal about it and we think it’s a bigger risk to the safety net than any benefit that it brings.”

Known as a stubborn negotiator and a brash personality, Regan has filed multiple ballot initiatives against the healthcare industry.

His opponents say his strategy centers on launching initiatives that would hurt employers, which forces them to come to the table to negotiate. Regan’s union then requests union contracts or other concessions that could pave the way for a collective bargaining agreement. If employers resist, the initiative advances to the ballot. Voters consistently reject his measures, but companies still spend millions of dollars campaigning against them.

Over the years, Regan has proposed multiple measures that would have limited charges and executive salaries at hospitals and dropped the initiatives after landing temporary deals with the California Hospital Assn. that could help his union’s organizing efforts.

This year, UHW agreed to call off an initiative to again cap compensation for hospital leaders, and the hospital association rescinded its dueling proposal to require the union to seek approval from its members to spend more than $1 million on a statewide ballot measure campaign.

Regan led and lost measures against the dialysis industry in 2018, 2020 and 2022 as he struggled to force dialysis companies to recognize his union and negotiate a contract.

Silva accused Regan of using the same playbook in negotiations around another measure on the November ballot, Proposition 44, which would restrict spending at nonprofit community health clinics.

Regan drafted Proposition 44 to require that community clinics spend 90% of revenue on patient services, which he said ensures that money is aligned with the mission of the health centers. But Silva said the measure dramatically reduces funding for other essential services in the community care model, such as community outreach, education, overhead costs, technology and medical equipment investments, and programs that bring people living on the streets into the healthcare system.

About 70% of the patients community clinics serve are insured through Medi-Cal, and the rest are either on Medicare or uninsured, with a small portion on private insurance, Silva said. The measure would result in layoffs and clinics being forced to close, and ultimately reduce access to care for low-income Californians, he said.

“One of the things that stands out that really highlights the abuse of the ballot initiative process in this instance is that the substance of what’s on the ballot has nothing to do with what he wants to negotiate with us,” Silva said. “The request was to guarantee 25,000 workers, or else.”

Regan also denied that he asked the clinics to support his unionization efforts in exchange for dropping Proposition 44.

“We wanted to construct a relationship with the clinic association that prioritized appropriate funding of the community clinics in California, including restoring the healthcare cuts that were introduced by the ‘One Big [Beautiful] Bill,’” Regan said. “It was a strategic relationship where we’re working in a mutually cooperative way to properly fund the healthcare system to respect workers, and they were not interested in that.”

Regan’s opponents say his strategy runs afoul of the purpose of direct democracy and pushes the bounds of legality.

During negotiations on the billionaire tax, essentially put the onus on Newsom to force unrelated private hospitals and clinics to unionize their employees, the sources said.

Despite a desire to call off the tax measure, Newsom’s office couldn’t provide guarantees to satisfy Regan’s demands, according to those sources.

California legislators changed state law in 2014 to provide more flexibility around initiative negotiations and to allow proponents to pull measures off the ballot after they gather enough signatures and qualify for the election, said Mary-Beth Moylan, an associate professor of law at McGeorge School of Law.

State law also prohibits a proponent of an initiative from bargaining for money or a thing of value in exchange for abandoning their measure, which hasn’t been tested in court, she said.

“I think the intention behind the law allowing the ballot measures to be negotiated off was that the negotiation would be for the Legislature to do the thing that you’re bringing about in the measure,” Moylan said. “It is not to use it as leverage for obtaining something else.”

Regan’s wealth measure retroactively applies a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires who were residing in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.

He and advocates of his proposal cast it as a solution to the healthcare cuts from the Trump administration. It comes as the progressive message on wealth inequality has gained support in California and beyond.

“What’s remarkable about the situation is that everyone — the governor, the Legislature, the healthcare industry — everyone agrees that the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill is going to result in 3.5 million people losing healthcare coverage, 150,000 frontline healthcare workers losing their jobs, community clinics and hospitals closing, and all of us who buy or receive our healthcare through job-based insurance are spending more on premiums, deductibles, and copays because the legislation defunded healthcare and in return gave yet another round of huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans,” Regan said. “That’s why we have put Proposition 40 forward.”

Newsom contends that Regan’s solution won’t work.

Instead of paying more California taxes, billionaires would simply pick up and move to another state with a lower tax rate before the start of the year, the governor warned. The state budget is dependent on income taxes the rich pay on stock market and similar profits.

A report from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University estimated that the tax would generate only $40 billion, not the $100 billion proponents claim, largely because of an expected exodus of billionaires. Overall, the tax would result in an estimated loss for the state of $24.7 billion, with the permanent decline in future income tax revenue due to billionaire migration eclipsing any gains from the one-time levy, according to the report.

Regan rejected the findings of the report and cast doubt on the amount of taxes that billionaires actually pay in California.

Newsom sought to negotiate with Regan to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot before the beginning of the year. At the time, Regan said he wanted an extra $20 billion for healthcare in 2027-28, which is beyond Newsom’s time in office and not something the outgoing governor could promise, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

Regan said he never asked for $20 billion in funding for healthcare to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot. He said he was open to hearing alternative solutions that never came.

“But did we ever make a proposal, or did we ever receive a proposal for something different?” Regan said. “The answer is no.”

In the spring, Newsom began working to form a coalition against the initiative that includes Planned Parenthood, doctors and firefighters while billionaires launched a series of counterproposals.

In an unusual split within labor, major unions such as the California Teachers Assn. and the State Building and Construction Trades Council oppose the measure. Teamsters California and AFSCME California joined Regan. The SEIU California State Council and California Federation of Labor Unions have yet to take positions.

Under California law, proponents had until June 25 to rescind measures that earned enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Negotiations picked up again to remove the measure from the ballot shortly before the deadline. Two sources said Regan’s demands changed and allegedly had nothing to do with raising money to offset federal healthcare cuts.

Sources said Regan said he wanted union contracts with two private hospitals and a health clinic, an organizing neutrality agreement with healthcare clinics statewide, recognition of his union from dialysis clinics and for billionaires to remove measures they launched in response to his tax.

Newsom’s office said they couldn’t force private companies to do anything. The governor’s aides offered an alternative plan to dedicate around $7 billion over several years to healthcare funding in California, which didn’t move Regan.

“There were no negotiations,” Regan said about the billionaire tax.

Days before the deadline to pull the wealth tax measure from the ballot, UHW announced an offer to reduce the billionaire tax from 5% to 2% of net worth that the union said Newsom rejected. Sources said the compromise was first offered in a press release and did not reflect any serious negotiation.

Regan set a goal to add 25,000 new members by this year and has so far added around 8,000, according to the union’s website.

In exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, sources said one of Regan’s demands was for Newsom’s office to get involved with battles for union contracts at hospitals in Fresno and San Diego and a clinic in the Imperial Valley.

The union is tied up in labor disputes over recent attempts to unionize facilities in two of those places — Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and Innercare, a community clinic in El Centro.

The dialysis industry became a ballot target for Regan three election cycles in a row as he attempted to unionize its workers.

The battle is on pause after dialysis companies agreed to not oppose a $25 minimum wage increase for healthcare workers and UHW agreed to not target the industry in legislation or ballot measures through the end of this year, but the fight turned DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care into major political donors in state campaigns.

California’s billionaire class is also increasing its presence in state politics.

Billionaires pushed two measures on the November ballot that seek to neutralize the billionaire tax and block new taxes on personal property and assets and require audits of new programs funded with special taxes.

The billionaire tax has also become a national rallying cry for the political left, drawing the high-profile support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others who are fed up with wealth inequality. Opponents of Proposition 40 have questioned whether any of the solutions Regan proposed would have been enough for him to remove the measure from the ballot and avoid the wrath of progressives who backed the tax.

Sacramento political observers say the unintended consequences of Regan’s tax measure are already reshaping California politics.

“When he did the billionaire tax, all these people who never engaged in politics finally woke up,” said Jim DeBoo, a Democratic consultant and former chief of staff to Newsom. “And they aren’t going away.”

The measure is causing a rift within the SEIU California State Council, an umbrella organization that represents more than 700,000 workers from all SEIU unions including UHW.

The billionaire tax only benefits healthcare. SEIU, which also represents workers in the public sector, nursing homes, child care and other service industries, has become a target of California’s wealthiest new political players despite most of its union members gaining nothing from the measure.

Billionaires and their companies, including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, venture capitalist Tim Draper, Google and Meta have spent nearly $30 million on a successful campaign to oppose SEIU-backed progressive candidates or boost moderate Democrats in legislative races. The same donors spent only $50,000 on independent expenditures in legislative races in the entire 2024 election cycle.

Shaudi Fulp, a political strategist working with Larsen and Draper, said a new governor and lawmakers present an opportunity to build fresh governing coalitions around issues that matter most to Californians.

“California is entering a unique moment of transition,” Fulp said.

The billionaires’ strategy is whittling away at SEIU’s influence in the state Legislature, where the state council has historically used its endorsements and army of volunteers to boost progressive candidates aligned with their cause. Moderates backed by billionaires beat nearly every SEIU-endorsed candidate in more than a dozen races in the June primary, with record spending knocking union candidates out of the top two in places such as Bakersfield and Orange County.

The SEIU California State Council declined to comment for this story.

The battle over the billionaire tax is also expected to become the most expensive ballot measure campaign of the election cycle, if not ever. The opposition is poised to exponentially outspend UHW.

“Look, the only thing that stands down a bully is when you punch him in the face,” said Brandon Castillo, a political consultant who has represented healthcare providers against UHW on more than a dozen initiatives. “You can’t sit back and continue to take punches or nothing will change.”

Staff writer Nicole Nixon contributed to this report.

Former players have backed ground-breaking new research into the impact of concussion in women’s rugby.

Repeated blows to the head have been found to affect women differently to men, with female athletes more susceptible to concussion and reporting longer recovery times.

Symptoms can also vary, with men more likely to experience amnesia, while a proportionately greater number of women report prolonged headaches, mental fatigue and difficulty concentrating.

But despite the findings, rugby’s concussion guidelines are still largely based solely on the men’s game – something ex-internationals say needs to change.

Cardiff University’s medical engineering team is now aiming to create the first head impact assessment protocol designed specifically for female athletes.

The study followed 30 players from the university’s women’s rugby team, using specialised mouthguards, cognitive tests and MRI imaging.

Researchers hope to gather enough data by the end of the year to determine whether new guidelines can be set.

“The female brain is different from the male brain and women’s rugby is different from male rugby, so if we were only to use the same safety threshold as we do for men, that would seem inconsistent with the evidence that we understand so far,” said lead researcher Peter Theobald.

July 25 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s latest round of sweeping tariffs was hit with a lawsuit on Friday, just hours after going into effect.

Two small businesses challenged the newest levies, which apply 10% to 12.5% tariffs to more than 80 countries, justified under a provision to prevent goods made with forced labor from being imported.

The lawsuit was filed by a spice company in New York, Burlap and Barrel, and a California watch store, Collective Horology.

They are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a legal nonprofit that won a Supreme Court case against the president’s previous round of tariffs.

Since the loss in court earlier this year, Trump has explored other legal authorities to support his tariffs and bypass congressional approval.

“Forced labor is morally indefensible, but an important objective does not give the government permission to ignore the law,” said Sara Albrecht, CEO of the Liberty Justice Center, in a statement. “The administration allowed one global tariff to expire and immediately replaced it with another under a different statute. Changing the statute doesn’t change the law. Every tariff authority has limits, and every administration must respect them.”

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said the U.S. Trade Representative “failed to provide a reasoned, record-based explanation for its determinations.”

“This is the third time the administration has attempted to impose its global tariff policy without following the statutory limits,” said Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at the Liberty Justice Center, in a statement.

“Section 301 is a targeted, country-specific and practice-specific remedial authority,” Schwab added. “It is not a freestanding authorization to tax substantially all imports from substantially all countries at preestablished rates.”