bitter

POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE — For nearly 60 years, warring camps have battled one another for the soul of a wind-swept peninsula with breathtaking hills, rugged cliffs, granite outcroppings, oak forests and wide expanses of pasture land and beach.

Jutting off the coastline like an upside-down ice skate, the Point Reyes National Seashore is separated from the mainland by the San Andreas fault, which runs like a skate’s blade edge separating the Pacific and North American plates. The peninsula covers about 110 square miles — roughly five times the size of Manhattan.

Elephant seals and sea lions bark and breed on its sandy coves. Whales and sharks breach and hunt in the waters beyond the thick kelp forests that tickle its edges. And in its forests and on its grasslands, tule elk and mule deer graze, while bobcats and coyotes hunt for rabbits and mountain beavers.

But the peninsula 20 miles north of San Francisco also has been home to agriculture since the 1800s and is the site of one of the state’s fiercest land disputes — one that, contrary to the usual red-versus-blue scenario, pits Northern California liberals against other Northern California liberals.

On one side: beef ranchers and dairy operators who advocate sustainable and organic food and land practices; they note the seashore was established, in part, to preserve their way of life.

On the other: environmentalists who say the taxpayer-funded park is no place for commercial farming, and that the seashore should protect its rare and diverse wildlife and welcome the visitors who bicycle, hike and camp on its beaches, oak forests and grasslands.

For seven weeks last year, it seemed the interminable battle over the seashore had finally come to an end.

The family dog guards poultry at Niman family farm at the Point Reyes National Seashore.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

In January 2025, a settlement was announced with the National Park Service laying out how the park would function going forward. Natural landscapes and wildlife would take priority over agriculture. Eleven of 13 historic ranching families would leave and be made whole for their losses.

While no one involved really loved the deal or got everything they wanted, many were satisfied, said Jeff Miller, senior conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental groups involved in the settlement. “The ranchers walked away with a few million dollars and the tule elk get to stay.”

Then this year, the two remaining ranch and dairy families sued. The goal: to upend the deal announced in the waning days of the Biden administration.

The Trump administration, with its pro-meat, pro-cattle agenda, is taking notice.

Since 1962, when the seashore was established, there have been grumblings. The ranchers said the park service saddled them with excessive rules and regulations. The environmentalists said the ranchers brought in invasive plants with their feed, and that cattle fouled the soil and waterways.

But nearly everyone agrees that it was in 2012 when things really began to boil over. That year, the park service moved to shut down a local oyster farm, whose lease was expiring. In his decision to shut it down, Ken Salazar, then secretary of the Interior, promised the ranchers they could remain.

“These working ranches are a vibrant and compatible part of Point Reyes National Seashore,” he wrote in a memorandum, “and both now and in the future represent an important contribution to the Point Reyes’ superlative natural and cultural resources.”

But four years later, environmentalists sued the park service. They argued the cows had degraded the seashore with manure pollution and soil erosion, harming the native wildlife. The iconic tule elk, some of which were fenced in on the northern part of the peninsula to keep them from competing for grassland with cows, were dying off.

The environmentalists demanded the park service establish a new management plan.

They won. But the new plan, issued in 2021, favored the ranchers, extending them 20-year leases, and allowed for the killing of elk if they interfered with cattle.

A tule elk calf is seen with its herd along the Tomales Point Trail, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Once again, the environmentalists — the Resource Renewal Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project — sued.

That’s what led to the settlement and the departure of the 11 ranch families and their workers. Each family is believed to have received between $2.5 million and $3 million, but exact amounts have not been divulged because of a nondisclosure agreement.

The 17,000 acres they vacated would be dedicated to conservation and ecological restoration — with a few cattle remaining to feast on invasive species.

But the two litigious families that did not join the settlement — the Evanses and the Nimans — have a different vision.

David Evans, who declined to be formally interviewed, told The Times while moving cattle in the seashore on his ATV that he hadn’t known anything about the settlement. The Evans clan has been running cattle on the peninsula for 150 years.

The other family, headed by Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman, came to their land comparatively recently.

Born in Minnesota, Bill Niman found himself in Bolinas in 1969, where he befriended lefty intellectuals who were critical of factory farming. In 1978, he and Orville Schell — who later became the dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism — bought land and co-founded the Niman-Schell Ranch. They dedicated their business to raising pigs, and then cattle, in a humane and environmentally sound way.

Niman said he and Schell also wanted to preserve the land from developers and “wealthy people from the Central Valley,” who were moving to the area to build second homes, golf courses and four-lane highways.

In 1984, Niman and Schell sold their 206 acres to the National Park Service for $1.3 million and the promise that they could stay on the property until Niman, Schell or Niman’s older sister all died. They’re now at ages 81, 86 and 90.

Schell did not respond to a request for comment.

“Orville and I concluded that mortals should not own land like this,” Niman said. “It belongs in the hands of the people, because it’s too valuable to cut up and develop.”

The business, which Schell left in 1997, flourished: Alice Waters, at Chez Panisse, bought pork exclusively from Niman, as did Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. In 2009, he merged his company into Natural Food Holdings, which was later bought by Perdue Farms.

Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman sued the federal government to upend a settlement that paid other ranchers and dairy owners to leave Point Reyes National Seashore.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

In 2007, Niman and Hahn Niman started BN Ranch, specializing in organic, grass-fed beef and heritage turkeys. The company, which was bought by Blue Apron in 2017, has operations across the world. Niman later founded Bill Niman Farm LP, which raises grass-fed cows and chickens.

On a recent afternoon, sitting on the back porch of the Bolinas ranch house that Niman built, with a view of the Pacific in the distance, Niman and Hahn Niman — who is 22 years his junior — spoke about their decision to file the lawsuit, which argues the park service was negligent in its rule making.

The Nimans say the seashore’s founders explicitly included agriculture in their vision of the park. They noted that, according to the original charter, Congress could not take the land without the consent of landowners “so long as it remains in its natural state, or is used exclusively for ranching and dairying purposes.”

Hahn Niman also noted, at least five times over two interviews, that Point Reyes is a “seashore” and not a “park,” and therefore doesn’t have as many rules governing preservation. For instance, you can drive an off-road vehicle at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, but off-roading in Yosemite could land you in jail.

The Nimans hope that, should they win or settle, farmers and ranchers would again be allowed in the seashore. Their vision: a test kitchen of sorts that models how farming can, and should, be done.

“We’re really talking about a kind of agrarian model and a use of land that basically keeps this land in its natural state, where agriculture is practiced in harmony with wildlife and nature’s cycles,” said Hahn Niman, who wrote three books, including “Righteous Porkchop” about her work in the early 2000s as an environmental attorney for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance.

The view from Chimney Rock at Point Reyes National Seashore, which covers about 110 square miles and includes a variety of habitats.

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

Elephant seals gather below Chimney Rock in Point Reyes.

(Christie Hemm Klok / For The Times)

Hahn Niman said she has spoken with Kennedy about the park, and he supports agriculture in the seashore. She added that Albert Straus, a private equity-backed organic dairy processor in Petaluma, also reached out to Kennedy.

“Straus made efforts to involve [Kennedy], because he was really trying to get help anywhere … and he knew Bobby and I had this connection,” Hahn Niman said. It was Straus who believed legal action might keep agriculture on the peninsula and suggested the Nimans consult an attorney.

According to media reports, Kennedy directly reached out to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. The Department of Health and Human Services, which Kennedy heads, did not respond to requests for comment on Kennedy’s involvement.

The more important contacts, Bill Niman said, have been political appointees in the Interior Department, including Karen Budd-Falen, the agency’s No. 3, who built her legal career advocating for western ranchers, and Brenda Younkin, a senior advisor to the Bureau of Land Management who worked closely with western ranchers on federal livestock grazing issues.

“We were able to have deep and meaningful conversations because the two people that are on the point of this effort, Karen and Brenda, they understand ranching, pastoral relationships, and how to manage government lands in the best of ways,” he said.

Early this spring, a town hall was held at an elementary school at Point Reyes Station. Hundreds of people crammed into the school gym that April evening, and the debate over Point Reyes agitated into a low boil.

There was no agenda or presentation. Instead, the park service, Nature Conservancy, the Nimans’ and Evanses’ lawyers, a representative from the Coast Miwok tribe — the people who lived on the land before the ranchers — and about a dozen other interest groups handed out pamphlets, answered questions and displayed maps at folding tables ringing the hall.

It was hard to hear above the din. Apple Watches around the room warned of “dangerous” noise conditions.

Foodies and farmers railed against the settlement, saying the park’s new plan would destroy the food scene in west Marin County and kneecap the already struggling agrarian community.

“These aren’t factory farms. This is real amazing quality local food,” said Bronte Edwards, a Sonoma County-based sheep farmer. And she made this observation, Edwards said, “as a liberal-facing queer person that believes in climate science.”

Settlement critics noted that the pact meant that ranch employees, many of them Latinos with moderate incomes, lost their homes along with the ranch owners.

They also complained that the settlement was negotiated in secret among the park service, environmental groups and ranch families.

A male tule elk is seen along the Tomales Point Trail, part of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

“It was all hush-hush,” said Stephanie Moreda-Arend, an ag-aligned podcaster.

Others at the town hall, however, expressed fury that the two remaining ranching families were now trying to upend the deal.

“I understand people have been here a long time. People fear change. I understand that feeling,” said Center for Biological Diversity’s Miller. But the settlement, he added, is done. The seashore is “not their property.”

As residents, activists, farmers and journalists squeezed and jostled through the crowd, holding court in one corner was Budd-Falen, the high-ranking official with the Interior Department.

Budd-Falen, a rancher from Wyoming, has stated publicly that grazing regulations are her passion and that she aims to increase the number of grazing allotments handed out to western ranchers on BLM land, and to no longer declare areas as critical habitat for endangered species.

Though she described the settlement as a done deal, she obliquely suggested changes might still be afoot. “How is it managed from this point forward?” she said of the pact. “You can’t create a good management idea unless you talk to the citizens and see what people want.”

She did not answer questions about the Nimans’ and Evanses’ suit, but when asked why she came to the gathering, she said, “I started hearing about the controversy. Then I started making calls to lands [the Bureau of Land Management] and then to the park service and saying, ‘You know, there’s lots of grumbling, what is going on?’

“And they told me, and I was like, ‘Oh, this sounds like an interesting project, something that we ought to be involved in, and really listen to these locals. And how can I help?’”

Backing the remaining ranchers in Point Reyes and their organic beef, cheese and butter is consistent with an administration that places the commercial cattle industry at the center of its public lands agenda and meat at the center of nutrition policy.

But local politicians and parties to the settlement say scrapping the Biden-era pact would require years of federal review and public engagement. Even if the ranchers have some political pull right now, incarnating their vision within the seashore “would be really difficult,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael).

“They would have to change the law” that established the park and the park system, Huffman said, or “find many millions in funding to subsidize” a new process or management plan that would take on the Nimans’ and Evanses’ vision of model farm.

Given the administration’s zeal to push legal boundaries, especially when confronting perceived enemies — such as California environmentalists — he said, “You don’t want to put anything past them.”

Theresa Harlan, a Coast Miwok descendant who runs the Alliance for Felix Cove — an area in the park where her family had a home until ranchers kicked them out in the 1950s — said the effort to upend the settlement “is just opening up the wound” that had finally started to heal.

Rancher Bill Niman walks along his property at his ranch in Bolinas, Calif.

(Josh Edelson / For The Times)

Now that the cattle are gone, she’s seeing all kinds of native plants, such as coastal strawberries, Yerba Buena Blue-eyed grass and the Douglas iris with their stunning lavender petals. Some of them she hadn’t seen since she was a child.

Ken Boulay, the CEO of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, said it’s time to move forward and imagine what the park could be like without cattle and private ranches.

He noted the peninsula had once been home to animals such as pronghorn, sea otter, North American porcupine, Humboldt marten, gray wolf, American black bear, grizzlies, northern fur seal and Steller sea lion.

And it could be again — well maybe not the grizzlies or wolves. His organization is already restoring native plants and rebuilding natural waterways in parts of the peninsula.

“It’s time to stop thinking about cheese and yogurt,” he said.

Niman, driving his Rivian across the golden, wind-swept fields, said he has some concerns with the way Trump is dealing with foreign policy, immigrants and some broader environmental issues. But the administration “gets it” when it comes to Point Reyes and public lands.

And he’s heard they’re going to do something about it soon.

Newsreaders in bitter row as ITV star Charlene White accuses BBC’s Jan Leeming of ‘disrespect’

Charlene White has hit back after veteran newsreader Jan Leeming described her presenting style as ‘condescending’, sparking a bizarre social media row.

The 46-year-old is regularly seen on both Loose Women and ITV News, however, former BBC News host Jan, 84, suggested that she didn’t “hack it” on the latter, and wasn’t as good as co-star Mary Nightingale.

Taking to Twitter earlier today, she penned: “Wish ITV’s Charlene would stop addressing us as if we were children. She has such a condescending style.

“Don’t know whether or not she is a an excellent journalist but don’t think she hacks it as a newsreader. It may look an easy job but not all are as good as @nightingaleitv [sic].”

Hitting back, Charlene quoted Jan’s tweet and added: “Very surprising to see a presenter I admired as a kid deciding to slate me on social media.

“In an industry where women, especially black women, have had to work incredibly hard to get ahead, this type of disrespect from a fellow female journo feels like s’thing from a bygone era.”

In response, the broadcaster added: “I said I didn’t know how good you are as a journalist but I find your delivery condescending. It has nothing to do with colour.

“Actually I believe it is far easier these days for BAME people to get ahead in all walks of life. It was only an opinion and my apologies to you.”

While the ITV panellist has yet to reply, many were quick to lash out at Jan’s post, branding her most recent comments ‘brain dead’.

“Double down Jan – this is a brain dead response. Assume you don’t have PR these days,” one said, as another agreed: “Jan you haven’t been a newsreader for 30yrs or more and styles have changed making this randomly b****y comment just makes you look bitter, very nasty.”

A commenter said: “OMG, Jan. No. Should have started with that “apology” and left it there rather than bury it under some truly questionable takes. Just a guess that @CharleneWhite is much more of an expert in the experiences of Black women in the industry than you. This is really disappointing.”

As an unimpressed fan added: “Actually I believe it is far easier these days for BAME people to get ahead in all walks of life.” Looooooooooooooool? [sic].”

Charlene has been a staple of our screens for decades, and began her broadcast career at BBC, with stints at BBC News, Look East and 5Live. In 2008, she made the move to ITN and worked at ITV News and GMTV.

In April 2014, she became the first Black woman to present ITV News At Ten, and went on to become a regular on Loose Women, following Andrea McLean’s exit.

She previously spoke to the Mirror about how important it is to champion diversity in society, and particularly at work.

“I talk a lot about diversity because I believe, working in broadcasting and the media, what happens in front of the camera and behind the camera should reflect society,” she told us.

“All views matter, all opinions matter. That’s the only way the industry can survive.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

OLYMPIC hero Adam Ramsay-Peaty wants to reconcile with his estranged family following their bitter bust-up.

Adam, 31, who is married to telly chef Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly, 26, said: “For me, as a Christian, there has to be forgiveness.”

He added, however, that he needs to feel his family have “improved as people” before they can make up.

The fall-out started in 2024 after a row over engagement party invites.

Adam’s mum Caroline, his brothers and aunt were then barred from his and Holly’s December wedding.

The tearful star blamed the feud in part for his poor performance in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which end today.

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Triple Olympic champion Adam got two individual bronzes and a silver in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.

He told The Guardian: “It’s hard because I know how hard I’ve worked.

“I know the s**t I’ve been through, which is no fault of my own. It does take a toll.”

Holly, expecting her first child with Adam, who has a son from a previous relationship, said online: “It’s not been an easy journey . . . we will keep going, through the good and the bad together.”

Adam vowed to get back to his best for the 2028 LA Olympics and to shake off his Commonwealth Games experience “very quickly”.

Meanwhile, Caroline, 60, from Uttoxeter, Staffs, said she will “always support” her son “from afar”.

KATIE Price and Peter Andre could be set to come face-to-face for the first time in 16 years.

The warring exes have not been in the same room since their divorce in 2009 but there is now a plan to reunite them for the very first time.

And it could all be down to daughter Princess Andre.

The budding star confirmed on her reality show, The Princess Diaries, that she has a plan for them to come face-to-face later this year.

Princess is planning a huge launch event for her cosmetics company and is planning to invite both her parents to attend the bash.

Confirming her plan on her show, Princess told Katie of what she was planning to do.

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Princess said to her: “For my official launch, I will probably just invite close family and friends.”

Katie went quiet as she replied: “Yeah… I mean, I still haven’t met up with your dad face-to-face yet.

“It is weird, isn’t it?”

Princess agreed before adding: “But everything happens for a reason1”

Katie then appeared to take a swipe at Peter and their split as she added: “Does it?

“I think some things could have been avoided but it is what it is and you just move on.”

Princess nevously smiled after her mum’s comments before the conversation drew to a quick close.

Later on, Princess told brother Junior of her latest plan.

Before their chat, Princess told the camera: “It is so important for me that for my official launch, I have as many friends and family there as possible.”

She then said to Junior and his girlfriend: “Mum and Dad are in a truce now so I am just gonna invite Mum and Dad and whoever wants to come, comes.

“It might be quite awkward though.”

Junior appeared unconvinced by the plan as he replied: “Yeah, their first time in a room?

“When I used to perform, I never invited mum and dad to one show so it could be good and they’ve got a truce.

“And it is about you and supporting you so yeah, I love that.”

July 22 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party leadership race has descended into an increasingly bitter dispute over allegations that members of a controversial religious group may be attempting to influence the party’s Aug. 17 national convention.

The dispute began after former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, a candidate for party leader, raised the possibility that the Shincheonji Church of Jesus was intervening in the election.

Shincheonji is a South Korean religious movement whose alleged political activities have become the subject of a national investigation. The church has denied allegations that it directed members to join political parties or interfere in elections.

Kim’s claims have revived questions about why proposed legislation authorizing a special counsel investigation into Shincheonji was abandoned while rival candidate Jung Chung-rae was serving as Democratic Party leader.

The controversy has escalated beyond the original allegations. Jung has denied wrongdoing and threatened legal action, while his allies have demanded that Kim produce evidence, apologize or withdraw from the race.

Party members have warned that the dispute could deepen factional divisions and make it difficult to reunify the party after the convention.

The conflict is increasingly being viewed as a proxy battle between supporters of President Lee Jae Myung and those aligned with Jung.

Kim is generally associated with the party faction loyal to Lee. Jung, a former party leader, has developed his own base among rank-and-file members, and several senior party figures have publicly rallied behind him.

“The essence of this convention is to defeat an alliance of anti-Lee forces, divisive elements and Shincheonji,” Kim said Tuesday. “We must also examine, one by one, why the Shincheonji special counsel investigation did not proceed.”

Kim did not identify Jung by name. His remarks, however, were widely interpreted as criticism of Jung because proposed special counsel investigations into Shincheonji and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification were abandoned during Jung’s tenure as party leader.

Rep. Lee Geon-tae, an ally of President Lee, reinforced Kim’s allegation in a social media post.

“It appears difficult to dismiss Shincheonji’s alleged intervention in the party convention as mere speculation,” Lee said. “We need to determine why the special counsel legislation was halted.”

Jung denied the allegations and said he would take legal action against the dissemination of false information.

Rep. Moon Jeong-bok, a Supreme Council member aligned with Jung, challenged Kim during a party leadership meeting Wednesday.

“What evidence supports the claim of a secret alliance with Shincheonji, and why is this allegation being used to place the party in danger?” Moon said. “He said he has evidence, so he must disclose it and accept responsibility.”

Reps. Choi Min-hee, Lee Sung-yoon and Han Min-soo, who are running for seats on the party’s Supreme Council and are considered Jung allies, issued a similar demand at a news conference.

They said Kim should apologize and withdraw his candidacy if he could not substantiate the allegation.

“He is portraying the Democratic Party as though it were violating the constitutional separation of religion and politics to gain an advantage in the election,” they said.

Some party officials said Kim’s accusation could backfire because Jung’s supporters may interpret it as an attempt to associate all of them with Shincheonji.

“It could be understood as linking every party member who supports Jung to Shincheonji,” a Democratic Party official said. “That could provoke voters and create even greater barriers between groups of supporters.”

Party members said the larger concern was that the fight could undermine unity long after the leadership election ends.

The repeated allegations, threats of lawsuits and demands for candidates to withdraw have pushed debate over party policies and future priorities into the background, they said.

“A certain level of conflict was expected before the convention, but the candidates are now crossing lines that should not be crossed,” another Democratic Party official said.

“The candidates and party leadership must prevent further division so these wounds do not remain after the primary is over.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260723010008191

HELEN Flanagan has shrugged off any over-sharing memoir doubts – and dazzled in a sexy corset.

The former Coronation Street actress posted a video on social media flashing the flesh in a frilly black and cream number.

The soap star wore her long hair half-up half-down in curls, with flat colour-coordinated sandals.

The 35-year-old model wrote alongside the footage: “Can’t not wear flights I’d die,” she added with a laughing emoji.

Posing in the mirror of a swanky venue, she flashed her toned pins in the revealing getup.

It comes after the former Rosie Webster actress admitted she may have revealed a little too much in her recent autobiography.

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After penning the explosive tell-all book – Head & Heart: Break-ups, Breakdowns and Being Rosie – the reality TV star spoke about the reason for opening up.

She admitted she was ‘maybe too honest’ in the book but had no regrets in sharing her mental health journey.

The panto star – who has just appeared on Celebrity Ex On The Beach – recently told celeb interviewer Lewis Nicholls her mindset for a future relationship.

“My next relationship I have I think will be my husband, because I won’t be wasting my time, really.”

On keeping it to herself, she predicted: “I think it will be the real thing. I will choose to protect it and I will keep that private.

“I will probably say who that person is, but I will want to protect it. I will want to keep it private.

“I’ll want to keep it really special, because I kind of feel like everybody’s always got something to say.”

The single mum has just moved out of her former family home she shared with ex Scott Sinclair.

Helen parted ways from her long-term fiancé in 2022 after 13 years together.

The model shares three children with footballer Scott – Matilda, 10, and Delilah, seven, and five-year-old son Charlie.

Earlier this year, Helen was forced out of her £1million family home by Scott as they never married and the house near Bolton is solely in his name.

The Celebs Go Dating star previously slammed Scott for leaving her skint and having a lack of involvement in their kids’ lives.

Helen was recently busy working abroad as she filmed Celebrity Ex On The Beach.

However, the bombshell admitted she felt ‘old’ while filming the MTV dating show after her splits from exes Scott and Robbie Talbot.

She was voted off after just four episodes when her co-stars were forced to send someone home.

After her split from Scott, Helen was linked to David Haye in 2023.

MAURA Higgins has sparked an unexpected Dancing With The Stars feud as she took sides after a pro dancer’s bitter split from his ex-girlfriend.

The 35-year-old landed the biggest job in American telly back in April after her successful stint on The US Traitors.

Maura was snapped up for the job, which is the US equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, as she continues to crack the showbiz scene out there.

In a recent interview, the reality star confessed the pro dancer she really doesn’t want to be paired with.

While she would love have Mark Ballas or Val Chmerkovskiy as her partner there’s one man that it seems would really hit a nerve.

Maura said: “To be honest, I’m okay to have anyone else – I just don’t want [Gleb Savchenko]. That’s the main thing for me, you know?”

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The TV personality and model assured fans she wasn’t trying to be “mean” but was simply sticking up for her good pal Brooks Nader.

“It’s just because I get on with [Brooks], and that’s that. I’m on Brooks’ side. I’m a loyalist, okay,” she added.

Actress Brooks, 29, “really fell” for Gleb while they were competing on the show together back in 2024.

The Russian dancer, 42, has gained a reputation for being a “playboy” over the years after being linked to his partners from previous seasons.

Brooks and Gleb had quite the messy break up just seven months after their romance begun.

Reality star Brooks accused Gleb of cheating and he denied all of those allegations.

During Episode 3 of Alex Cooper‘s Unwell Winter Games earlier this year, Gleb called the Sports Illustrated model “crazy.”

He even made brutal comments about their sex life.

Maura and Brooks appear to have struck up a friendship after meeting at events over in America.

The girls posed for snaps together at a Vanity Fair party back in March and it seems they have only grown closer.

Former Love Island star Maura has proved she has Brooks’ back as she risked sparking a huge feud.

The celebrities’ pro dancer partners will be announced later this year.

Dancing With The Stars is set to kick of following it’s usual schedule in the Autumn.

Trainspotters jostled on platform 2 as sunshine lit up the polished olive-green carriages of the 11:07 from Warszawa Główna (Warsaw main station) to Poznań. As I was readying to board, a man, sporting bow tie and braces, zipped past me, making it to the steps first. Excitement was palpable. But then this was no ordinary train, but rather an event. A throwback in time.

The Polish parliament had declared 2026 as the Year of Polish Railways, and there is a double jubilee under way: the 25th anniversary of the long-distance operator PKP Intercity and the centenary of Polish state railways. To celebrate, a series of retro rail journeys called Nieśpieszny (“Unhurried”) has been launched.

Every weekend over the spring and summer (at least until the end of August, with more departures likely), a fully refurbished train from the 1980s, with livery matching the era, departs from a different region in Poland, from the mountainous south to the Baltic coast in the north. When my friend Mariusz mentioned this to me, knowing that I take an annual railway trip to his country, I jumped at the chance, booking my ticket to Poznań the day they went on sale.

On board, settling into a marmalade-coloured six-seater compartment furnished with armchair-like seats, I sensed a sociable air; after all, nobody was commuting or in a rush. Our “unhurried” journey would take about five hours compared with just over two on a faster service.

Ready for an early lunch, I stowed my bag and headed off, following the smell of fried sausages to the dining car. The WARS catering company has been feeding passengers on Polish trains since 1948, and our menus and plates for this journey were pleasingly vintage. Having ordered, I squeezed on to a stool next to fellow passenger Anita and her son – who I later worked out was the concert pianist Jan Lisiecki – visiting from Calgary, but with family roots in Gdańsk. “In the 1980s, trains were packed. You’d even have people standing in the toilet. This is nothing,” Anita said.

Tucking into fried eggs, potatoes speckled with dill and a cool cup of kefir, I thought how easy it would be to dismiss the thought of communist-era food, such as we were served, but it was freshly cooked and excellent. I asked another man at our shared table about his soup. “This is flaki, made with tripe,” he said, taking a spoonful.

The landscape we trundled through – wind turbines, Scots pine forests and cabbage fields – was unremarkable. It was the train itself, and its handsome interior, for which we had all signed up. That, and the novelty. Even the windows opened fully, as they once did, allowing us to poke our heads out.

Getting to know Poland by train has provided umpteen enjoyable experiences over the years. I’ve crossed the country by rail, from the industrial but fast-changing city of Katowice in the south to the Baltic port city of Gdynia in the far north, but there is still so much more I want to see: Lublin in the east for its underground brewery and Zakopane for its access to hiking in the Tatra Mountains. I know the trains will get me there. Now, with my phone battery thoroughly dead – in keeping with the theme, there were no obvious sockets to be found – I recalled some highlights.

Sometimes in Poland, the pleasure is all about the railway station itself. Neogothic and completed in 1857, Wrocław Główny, for example, with its stained glass, neon signs from the 1950s and wood-panelled ticket counters, is worth a visit alone.

Joy also comes from stopping somewhere purely because doing so works with certain routes and timetables. That was the case when I visited Toruń in north-central Poland. After disembarking the train, and crossing a bridge by foot over the Vistula River, a gloriously panoramic view of the medieval old town began to open up. Shortly after, I wandered into a small museum dedicated to the city’s globetrotting son, Tony Halik, a celebrated adventurer and reporter. Old photographs showed him driving his Jeep from Argentina to Alaska between 1957 and 1961.

The next day on that previous trip, after taking the train from Toruń north to Gdańsk Główny – another photogenic station with its clock tower and copper-clad turrets – I switched trains again for a 20-minute hop to Sopot, a small resort city on the Baltic Sea. A walk by sea buckthorn bushes took me to Bar Przystań and its famous fisherman’s soup featuring halibut, salmon and herbs. It was there, too, I bought my first jagodzianka, Poland’s famous blueberry-filled bun, the taste of summer and very delicious, before boarding the train to Katowice.

Back on the current retro train, and with just 45 minutes to go before our arrival at Poznań, I returned once more to the lively dining car. The queue was just as long as before but the staff were friendly as ever. The apple pie was generously fruity. As I winced at sipping the harsh grainy coffee, my neighbour said: “That’s the old, traditional stuff – still the only coffee my grandma drinks.” Another nod to the past, and thus forgivable.

I was not keen for the journey to end, but eagerly anticipating my return to Poznań. A train had delivered me to the city a couple of years ago, when I had fallen for its general buzz and energy, its Palm House – one of Europe’s biggest greenhouses – and the atmospheric milk bar Pod Arkadami, but I had run out of time for the Croissant Museum. A trademark of the city, Poznań’s St Martin’s croissants, AKA rogale świętomarcińskie, are iced and have a white poppy seed filling, and the museum has baking classes.

Our unhurried train contrasts sharply with the rapid development of modern rail services in Poland. To keep up with demand, disused carriages are being revamped and others are being sourced from abroad. Plus, in February, Poland won the 2026 Rail Champion award in Brussels for its contribution to the development of rail transport in Europe. When the future is this promising, surely there is nothing wrong with indulging in some good-natured nostalgia, bitter coffee and all.

Nieśpieszny journeys cost from £20. Koleo, a mobile app and website, is useful for navigating Poland’s railway system

BAKERSFIELD — The southern Central Valley is home to one of California’s few remaining congressional battlegrounds, where Democrats are itching to oust longtime Republican incumbent Rep. David Valadao.

Last year’s voter-approved Proposition 50 redrew the lines of this Latino-majority district slightly in Democrats’ favor. Two top Democratic candidates are battling over who is the best choice to face Valadao (R-Hanford) in November.

Valadao is particularly vulnerable after he voted last year to cut Medicaid spending, a critical resource for many in this poor, rural area. Two-thirds of residents in the district are enrolled in the federally funded low-income health insurance program, and more than 60,000 are expected to lose coverage when work requirements and other federal rules take effect next year.

Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on March 17.

(Tom Williams/Getty Images)

National Democratic infighting has overshadowed a classic moderate vs. progressive primary race since House Democrats’ campaign arm threw its support behind one candidate, Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), over Randy Villegas, a school board trustee backed by progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The race was already tense when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Bains, a family doctor and two-term assemblywoman, to its “Red to Blue” program, which provides staff and fundraising support to Democrats running against vulnerable Republican incumbents. Local party leaders said they had received assurances from national Democrats that they would stay out of the race, which further angered Villegas and his supporters.

“This is another example as to why people’s faith in the Democratic Party and party leadership is at an all-time low,” Villegas said in an interview with The Times. “In many ways, it’s a badge of honor to not be the insider candidate and to say that I’m actually going to fight for community members here and not D.C. elites.”

DCCC chair, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, cited Bains’ background as a family doctor and her track record in the Legislature fighting to expand access to healthcare.

Randy Villegas, running for California’s 22nd Congressional District, said his campaign manager wants him to take frequent selfies for their social media while walking neighborhoods in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“We only weigh in on primaries when we feel that one candidate stands out as the strongest possible nominee to ensure that we win in the general election,” DelBene said in a recent interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “This is a district that has been devastated by cuts to healthcare, a large Medicaid population, so she’s an incredible candidate and definitely can speak to the issues needed on health care.”

For Democrats, the outcome of the primary could have national significance. With President Trump’s popularity at a low point nationwide — and especially in California — the party hopes to win enough seats in the 2026 election to oust the Republicans from power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Valadao, who was first elected to Congress in 2012, has been a perpetual target for Democrats, who have held a sizable registration advantage in his district. A moderate Republican, Valadao had emphasized his support for immigration reform, a departure from his party. Still, Democrats ousted Valadao in the blue wave of 2018, only for him to win back the seat in 2020 and remain in office ever since.

Both Villegas and Bains promote themselves as the Democrats’ best option to topple Valadao once again.

Villegas, the son of Mexican immigrants, is endorsed by the House Hispanic and progressive caucuses and has painted Bains as a corporate-backed candidate who would bend to special interests.

Jasmeet Bains, running for California’s 22nd Congressional District, speaks with Mary Jimenez during a campaign canvassing walk in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“We can’t just offer that we’re not Trump. The Democratic Party actually needs to stand for something,” he said. “To me that means fighting for universal healthcare, universal childhood education, banning members of Congress from trading stocks, getting rid of corporate PAC money. Those things may make Democratic leadership uncomfortable, and I’m OK with that.”

Bains is campaigning on her experience as a physician in a region known for its poor environmental and health outcomes. After medical school, she returned to Kern County, where she completed her residency and continued working at clinics that primarily serve low-income patients in the region.

She decided to run for the seat after Valadao voted in favor of H.R. 1, the Republican spending bill Trump signed into law last year that cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding to pay for tax cuts, which Bains described as a “betrayal.”

“In the Valley, your word is your bond,” she said in a phone interview as she drove the 250-mile journey from her district to the state Capitol in Sacramento. “In the beginning he kept telling everyone that he wasn’t going to vote for it, and I took him for his word.”

Jasmeet Bains brings 8-month-old, Chiquita, as she campaign walks a neighborhood in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Bains is the daughter of Indian immigrants and was the first South Asian woman elected to the California Legislature. She continues to work weekend shifts at a clinic in Delano.

“I thought the healthcare disparities of people losing their private insurance and having to transfer to Medicaid” was bad, Bains said. “With the trillion dollars cut from Medicaid federally, I’m now in a position where I’m transferring my patients from Medicaid to nothing. The problem in the Valley for healthcare has gotten worse and worse and worse.”

It’s the reason labor unions including SEIU Local 521, which represents workers in public, nonprofit and healthcare sectors in Kern and other counties around the state, are backing Bains.

“Within my own union, the members that I represent in Kern County, in certain ZIP Codes they have a 15-year less life expectancy than my union members living in Monterey County, which is a very similar community” with rural agricultural interests, said Riko Mendez, the union’s chief elected officer.

He said Bains understands the region’s unique health challenges and has used her perch in the Legislature to address them, including pushing for funding to research and treat valley fever, an infection caused by fungal spores in the region’s soils.

“We think her experience, her profile, her message is one that we agree with, and that has the best chance of winning in the runoff against Valadao,” he said.

Bains’ time commitments in Sacramento and working at the clinic leave her little time for a traditional campaign knocking doors and showing up to community events. Some voters backing Villegas have noticed.

Randy Villegas takes a phone call in the shade while walking neighborhoods in Bakersfield.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“For us, showing up is one of the most important things, and he’s the only candidate who has been doing that consistently,” 18-year-old Vanessa Orozco Romero said after a recent candidate forum in Bakersfield. Though nearly a dozen candidates for various offices were invited, Villegas and two other Democrats running for legislative seats were the only ones to attend.

Orozco Romero called the DCCC’s decision to back Bains “stupid and morally not OK,” especially since neither of the candidates earned enough delegate support to win the state party endorsement earlier this year.

Bains and Villegas have similar backgrounds as children of immigrants who grew up in the southern Central Valley. Though they both went on to earn high-level degrees, each is adamant about staying in Kern County to improve life for its residents.

The district is anchored in the eastern side of Bakersfield, home to California’s once-thriving oil fields, and stretches northward toward Fresno to include swaths of agricultural lands and small farming towns.

While there are more than twice as many registered Democrats in the district as Republicans, Democratic candidates often underperform in the Central Valley and independent voters play a crucial role picking winning candidates. Even under the new Proposition 50 lines that favor Democrats, President Trump would have beat former Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 2 points.

Though nearly two-thirds of voters in the district are Latino, turnout is usually low among Spanish-speaking voters who are often discouraged by negative attack ads, Democratic activists said.

Save for the 2018 midterms during Trump’s first term, Valadao, a dairy farmer, has frustrated Democrats by continually winning over enough independents to hold onto the seat. Though the three candidates are competing in an open primary, Valadao is expected to advance to the general election as a longtime incumbent and the only Republican on the ballot.

“As he does in every primary election, Congressman Valadao is working hard to earn the vote of all Democrats, Independents, and Republicans,” Robert Jones, a consultant for Valadao’s campaign, wrote in an email. “We trust that the voters of the Central Valley will send the two best candidates to the general election in November.”

HELEN Flanagan has been enjoying a holiday in Newquay with her kids as she put the bitter rows with her ex Scott behind her after moving out of her ex’s home.

Helen parted ways from her long-term fiancé in 2022 after 13 years together – and she’s been open about how it wasn’t always plain sailing.

Helen was spotted with her kids in Newquay after having dinner at the Harbour Side Fish & Grill Restaurant overlooking the harbour.

The former Coronation Street star looked as stunning as ever in a pair of black shorts, low cut vest and sliders as she enjoyed the sunshine with her young children.

Helen is mum to daughters Delilah, seven, and Matilda, ten, as well as five-year-old son Charlie, who she shares with ex-partner Scott Sinclair.

In the snaps, she can also be seen with her lovely mother Julia, who Helen recently revealed still does all her washing – and even organises her kids’ schedules too.

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Helen is down in Newquay, Cornwall to be interviewed for the Lewis Nicholls Life Stories Show.

Earlier this year, Helen was forced out of her £1million family home by Scott as they never married and the house near Bolton is solely in his name.

The house looked bare, ready for the family to move out, just days after Helen and Scott were snapped moving their belongings into a van.

Back in January, a friend of Helen’s said: “Scott pays for the house and all the bills and he’s decided a six-bedroom place is way too big for Helen on her own with the kids.

“But Helen doesn’t want to move and is digging her heels in.

“She loves the place, the kids are settled at the local school and her mum and dad live around the corner.”

“Scott wants to buy Helen a four-bedroom home. He’s even offered to put it in her name but wants to stop the maintenance payments.

“The relationship has completely broken down. They no longer communicate — everything goes through her parents.”

Last year we reported the house was put on sale for £1.5million before being reduced to £995,000.