announcement

Gogglebox returned once again on Friday night on Channel 4

Gogglebox stars Dave and Shirley Griffiths shared some huge news just minutes into Friday’s episode.

As the episode started, Dave was seen surprising Shirley by letting off a loud confetti cannon, leaving his wife shocked.

Shirley said: “What have you got there?” before adding after the confetti cannon went off: “You stupid cow! You d**k!”

This prompted a beaming Dave to declare: “Happy anniversary!” before kissing his wife. He continued: “We’ve got to celebrate, haven’t we, 50 years!”

To which a giggling Shirley pointed out: “I was going to say, you’ve covered the b****y dogs!” as their pet dogs were seen covered in the confetti.

It comes as the duo also celebrated the milestone on Instagram as they shared a throwback snap on their joint account, writing: “50years on November 15th I wed the lovely Shirley, Happy anniversary darling here’s to making more happy memories.”

Gogglebox also celebrated the anniversary as they posted on their own Instagram: “How it started… how it’s going” with yellow heart emojis.

They added: “Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary @dave_shirl_gogglebox #50years #Golden #Wedding #Anniversary #Gogglebox #FreshEveryFriday 9pm @channel4.”

The couple’s fans and Gogglebox viewers were quick to react to the lovely news and incredible milestone.

“Happy golden wedding anniversary you lovely pair,” commented Ellie Warner, whilst her sister Izzi contributed: “Congratulations both! Wishing you many more years of wedded bliss.”

Simon Minty wrote: “Hid your names and asked Jane to guess. Took a couple of clues and then she cried, ‘Jeepers!’ She guessed you first Shirl and I guessed you first Dave. A very happy anniversary to you both.”

Ex-Gogglebox star Mica Ven added: “Happy anniversary you beauties,” whilst Jenny Newby and Lee Riley joked: “Awhhhhhh Happy Anniversary to you lovely pair but who gets the medal.”

Meanwhile, one fan commented: “Happy anniversary to you both, may you share many more in the years to come,” whilst another viewer added: “Gorgeous!! Happy Anniversary to a beautiful couple.”

The Welsh couple, who first appeared on the Channel 4 programme back in 2015, have quickly secured themselves as fan favourites.

Gogglebox airs on Friday nights at 9pm on Channel 4.

PORTLAND, Maine — The Democratic primary to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was shaken up Wednesday by the decision of one candidate to drop out and join a different race with similarly high stakes.

In a move that could have implications for the closely divided U.S. House as well as the Senate, Jordan Wood, a onetime chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter, withdrew from the Senate race to instead seek the congressional seat representing Maine’s 2nd District, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden recently announced he will not seek another term.

That leaves Gov. Janet Mills, a party mainstay, and Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who has gained attention for his progressive views and provocative online posts, as the top Democratic challengers to Collins.

Wood’s announcement sets up a potential Democratic congressional primary in the key 2nd District with former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap. The leading Republican candidate for the House seat is former Gov. Paul LePage.

“After many conversations with my family and voters in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, I’ve decided to step up and to be the fighter for the district where I was born and raised,” Wood said in a statement Wednesday.

Maine’s upcoming 2nd District and Senate races are both highly competitive and could help shape the balance of power in Congress. Collins is the sole Republican senator in New England, and toppling her has long been a goal of the Democratic Party. Republicans, meanwhile, have prioritized winning back the 2nd District, where President Trump is popular.

Dunlap announced his bid for the 2nd District weeks before Golden’s announcement that he is vacating. Dunlap said in a statement Wednesday that Wood entering the race “doesn’t change our campaign or our commitment” and that he’s “in this to fight for the people of Maine.”

LePage served as governor from 2011 to 2019. He announced his bid for Congress months ago. Brent Littlefield, a LePage spokesperson, said in a statement that Wood is too liberal for the 2nd District.

“Mainers will pick a job creator, Paul LePage, who will grow the economy and push back on high prices,” Littlefield said.

Two other one-time Democratic candidates for the Senate seat, brewery owner Dan Kleban and former Air Force civilian contractor Daira Smith-Rodriguez, recently dropped out and endorsed Mills. A handful of other Democratic hopefuls remain, though only Mills and Platner are campaigning aggressively.

Whittle writes for the Associated Press.

Jet2 has announced that it is launching 26 new flights, meaning British passengers can fly out to destinations including Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife and Ibiza

Jet2 has announced it will launch 26 new flights to a whole host of sunny destinations across Europe

The budget airline has revealed plans to initiate flights and holidays from Gatwick Airport. The firm says it has secured slots for six aircraft “following the release of additional capacity” by the UK’s second busiest airport. Jet2 will station five Airbus A321neo aircraft at the West Sussex airport, with an additional aircraft positioned overseas. Its inaugural Gatwick flight is set to depart for Tenerife, Spain, on 26 March next year.

The airline – which recently went viral for its catchy adverts featuring Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand – will fly to a whole host of sunny destinations next spring and summer. They are:

• Fuerteventura
• Gran Canaria
• Lanzarote
• Tenerife
• Ibiza
• Majorca
• Menorca
• Alicante
• Girona
• Malaga
• Reus
• Faro (The Algarve)
• Antalya
• Corfu
• Crete (Heraklion)
• Kalamata
• Kefalonia
• Kos
• Halkidiki
• Preveza
• Rhodes
• Skiathos
• Zante
• Malta
• Naples
• Verona
• Paphos (Cyprus)
• Pula
• Bourgas (Bulgaria)

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Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2, said: “Today’s announcement represents an incredibly exciting moment for Jet2. For many years, our ambition has been to provide our differentiated, service-led, end-to-end product offering from London Gatwick, and we see this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate our growth from the UK’s largest beach and city leisure destination airport. We know all too well how much demand there is among customers and independent travel agents for us to operate our award-winning flights and holidays from London Gatwick, so it is fantastic to be able to share that we are here and ready to meet their travelling needs.”

Gatwick is set to become the 14th UK airport with a Jet2 base. Initially, the company will offer flights from Gatwick to 29 “sunshine destinations” in countries such as Spain, Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Italy. The airline confirmed that over 300 direct positions will be established in the Gatwick area, spanning pilots, cabin crew, engineering and ground operations roles, with several hundred additional indirect posts also being generated.

Gatwick chief executive Pierre-Hugues Schmit said: “We are thrilled to welcome Jet2 to London Gatwick, marking an exciting new chapter for the airport and our passengers. Jet2’s arrival brings even more choice and flexibility to passengers across the South East and beyond, strengthening London Gatwick’s vision to be the airport for everyone, whatever your journey.

“It is an exciting time for Jet2 to join London Gatwick following the recent Government approval for routine use of our northern runway, which will further expand connectivity and economic growth. We are committed to delivering exceptional service and we look forward to supporting Jet2’s growth and success here at London Gatwick.”

Jet2 is regularly voted one of, if not the, best airline in the UK. It was named Best Airline at the Routes Europe Awards in 2025 and won The Telegraph Travel Awards for Best Short-Haul Airline for the third year in a row, based on reader votes. It has also been recognized as the Most Reliable UK Airline by AirAdvisor and has been a Which? Recommended Provider for a decade, partly due to very low cancellation rates.

On her first day in office, Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness.

The declaration allowed the city to cut through red tape, including through no-bid contracts, and to start Inside Safe, Bass’ signature program focused on moving homeless people off the streets and into interim housing.

On Tuesday, nearly three years after she took the helm, and with homelessness trending down two years in a row for the first time in recent years, the mayor announced that she will lift the state of emergency on Nov. 18.

“We have begun a real shift in our city’s decades-long trend of rising homelessness,” Bass said in a memorandum to the City Council.

Still, the mayor said, there is much work to do.

“The crisis remains, and so does our urgency,” she said.

The mayor’s announcement followed months of City Council pushback on the lengthy duration of the state of emergency, which the council had initially approved.

Some council members argued that the state of emergency allowed the mayor’s office to operate out of public view and that contracts and leases should once again be presented before them with public testimony and a vote.

Councilmember Tim McOsker has been arguing for months that it was time to return to business as usual.

“Emergency powers are designed to allow the government to suspend rules and respond rapidly when the situation demands it, but at some point those powers must conclude,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

McOsker said the move will allow the council to “formalize” some of the programs started during the emergency, while incorporating more transparency.

Council members had been concerned that the state of emergency would end without first codifying Executive Directive 1, which expedites approvals for homeless shelters as well as for developments that are 100% affordable and was issued by Bass shortly after she took office.

On Oct. 28, the council voted for the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would enshrine the executive directive into law.

The mayor’s announcement follows positive reports about the state of homelessness in the city.

As of September, the mayor’s Inside Safe program had moved more than 5,000 people into interim housing since its inception at the end of 2022. Of those people, more than 1,243 have moved into permanent housing, while another 1,636 remained in interim housing.

This year, the number of homeless people living in shelters or on the streets of the city dropped 3.4%, according to the annual count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The number of unsheltered homeless people in the city dropped by an even steeper margin of 7.9%.

The count, however, has its detractors. A study by Rand found that the annual survey missed nearly a third of homeless people in Hollywood, Venice and Skid Row — primarily those sleeping without tents or vehicles.

In June, a federal judge decided not to put Los Angeles’ homelessness programs into receivership, while saying that the city had failed to meet some of the terms of a settlement agreement with the nonprofit LA Alliance for Human Rights.

Councilmember Nithya Raman, who chairs the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, said the end of the emergency does not mean the crisis is over.

“It only means that we must build fiscally sustainable systems that can respond effectively,” she said. “By transitioning from emergency measures to long-term, institutional frameworks, we’re ensuring consistent, accountable support for people experiencing homelessness.”

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.