TV bosses of Celebrity Traitors are in fear of leaks of the line-up being exposed they have no taken extra steps to avoid this happening ahead of the upcoming series
23:14, 09 May 2026Updated 23:14, 09 May 2026
Celeb Traitors bosses are keeping show secrets under wraps(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)
TV bosses of Celebrity Traitors are taking no chances when it comes to keeping secrets of the show for the upcoming series under wraps.
According to reports, bosses at Studio Lambert have now put locks on the doors of the editing suite. But that’s not all. Bosses have also “banned” staff from talking about the nature of the BBC programme outside of the studio building.
A TV insider reportedly said: “They’re saying it’s become like The Masked Singer set-up, which is shrouded in secrecy with sealed production rooms.”
The source added to The Sun: “Only a few people are allowed in and out.”
This comes after it was reported that Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston had signed up for the show but was forced to pull out at the last minute.
Earlier this month, a few names were confirmed for the second series. This included Love Island host Maya Jama, Hollywood actor Richard E. Grant, Jerry Hall, presenter and comedian Romesh Ranganathan and EastEnders star Ross Kemp.
The stars were spotted heading to the Scottish castle.
The celebrities will donate their winnings of £100,000 to their chosen charities. Filming is underway but the show will not air until later this year.
Tom, who is best known for his roles in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, has been vocal about his love for the show. According to The Sun, his film commitments did not allow him to commit to the reality TV game show.
He recently said in an interview on BBC Radio 2: “I mean the celebrity one would be amazing. I think the whole show, the format is just the most ingenious thing, isn’t it? It’s completely compulsive. Maybe the best television I’ve ever seen.”
He added: “I’d like to be a faithful because then you can play detective, right? And you know that your conscience is clean and your heart is pure, and you’re just watching and trying to figure people out.”
Host Claudia Winkleman recently revealed that she has been told on how to spot a traitor in the mix. In an exclusive chat with The Mirror she said: “Stephen said at the last round table ‘Shall we just look at who is tired?’ because if you are a Traitor you go to bed later than everyone else.”
She added: “At that point, Jonathan’s face was slumped, Alan was yawning and Cat was asleep. And someone went: ‘No, no. You have to come at it from a different way.’ I was like ‘He has just said it’.”
These fees are legally required, and few people are exempt from paying up
13:37, 09 May 2026Updated 13:38, 09 May 2026
People going to popular tourist spots in Europe will have to budget for these ‘taxes’(Image: gece33 via Getty Images)
Holidaymakers planning a trip abroad in 2026 should ensure they set aside funds for an additional levy that visitors are anticipated to pay when travelling to parts of Europe. Certain popular cities could hit travellers with an extra €16 per night during their stay.
Dozens of destinations across the globe already impose a ‘tourist tax’ to help maintain the areas that both residents and visitors enjoy. These charges are typically applied on a nightly per-person basis, or as a percentage of the overall accommodation costs.
Such taxes are generally settled at check-in or checkout directly with the accommodation provider. The majority of tourists are legally required to pay these charges (children and those with disabilities are ordinarily exempt) or risk having their hotel reservations cancelled.
Consumer group Which? has recently published a summary of sought-after holiday destinations that people commonly flock to throughout the summer months. Some opt for short city breaks, while others may spend longer periods at holiday resorts, but most will need to factor in an arrival tax when budgeting.
Spain and Portugal have charges ranging from €2 to €25, while certain locations in France could levy up to €16 per night at some accommodation providers. Italy remains a firm favourite for those seeking a quick city break, yet hotels in some areas could charge as much as €10 per night, reports the Mirror.
Popular EU cities and what they charge in tourist taxes: From July 2026, tourists visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, will be required to pay a levy of “5% of the cost of the accommodation of [the] first five nights’ stay”. Wales is set to follow in 2027 with a charge of £1.30 “per night” in areas where local councils opt to bring it in.
While it’s not officially classed as a ‘tourist tax’, UK visitors will need to fork out a £17 visa fee from late 2026 to enter 30 European countries. This would come on top of any local tourist levies.
The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is a compulsory digital travel authorisation launching in late 2026 for visa-exempt nationals (including UK, US, Canada, Australia) visiting 30 European countries. The ETIAS is a one-off, separate payment needed to enter the Schengen Area of Europe. Once purchased, it remains valid for three years. The countries that will require this ‘e-visa’ include:
Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch and will be replaced by repeats
16:41, 06 May 2026Updated 16:41, 06 May 2026
Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch
Graham Norton’s ITV series The Neighbourhood has been pulled from its primetime slot less than a fortnight since its launch. The presenter, 63, is front and centre on the broadcaster’s new gameshow format in which real-life households have gathered in a purpose-built neighbourhood to be in with a chance of winning a £250,000 cash prize.
There were clearly high hopes for the series as it premiered in between both segments of the explosive I’m A Celebrity…South Africa final on April 24, and has been airing at 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays ever since, where it has managed to pull in just half a million viewers.
But now, new schedules have revealed that, going forward, the programme will air at 10.45pm which takes it away from the coveted slot it was initially given, implying that it has not lived up to expectations in terms of viewing figures.
This Thursday, viewers tuning in at 9pm will instead see a repeat of Davina McCall’s Long Lost Family, and an episode of Beat The Chasers: Celebrity Special, which was initially aired in 2021, will be shown instead. A spokesperson for ITV confirmed the schedule shift as they said said: “The full box set of The Neighbourhood is now available to stream on ITVX. Additionally, the show will continue to air in an evening slot on ITV.”
But sources have claimed that whilst the broadcaster pulled out all the stops to make the programme into a hit, it just hasn’t gone that way in the end. An insider told The Sun: “They threw everything at The Neighbourhood to make it a big success, but it’s ended up a bit of a damp squib.”
The six households competing are The Bradons, The Kandolas & Samra, The Lozman-Sturrocks, The Pescuds, The Scouse Haus and The Uni Boys. Challenges put every neighbour to the limit as they try and eliminate one another without becoming unpopular enough to get the axe themselves.
Opening up on his first reaction when he saw the entirety of the set, Graham said: “Arriving in Derbyshire and seeing the set, I’d seen pictures but I didn’t quite understand the scale of it. It really is like being on a movie set, except it’s 360 – everywhere you look, it’s real.
“The art department did an extraordinary job of building up that town square where we do the removals, the pub, the cafe, the interiors of the houses. It really took my breath away!
“It made it even more exciting. I thought – this is serious! We’re making a big show. Then add on top of that, what Derbyshire does when the drone goes up and we see the Neighbourhood and the nature and the rest of it, it’s so beautiful, those big driving shots. It’s just gorgeous.
BAFTA award-winning broadcaster Graham continued: “One of the loveliest things about the show is seeing households who would never meet in real life, not only meeting but forming proper bonds of friendship. There are a few moments in the show that really do bring a tear to my eye because it’s just so genuine, so lovely and properly heartwarming.
“It’s such an odd word to describe a show like this but it’s properly wholesome. There’s something about the bright colours, being out in the countryside and the genuine bonds that you see created.”
SACRAMENTO — One of Gavin Newsom’s top goals as he winds down his final year as California governor is to leave the state with a balanced budget.
After years of the state spending more money than it brings in, it’s Newsom’s last opportunity to fix a chronic deficit or dump the problem on the next governor.
How far he goes to solve the state’s structural spending imbalance will define his legacy as a steward of trillions in taxpayer dollars. As a potential candidate for president in 2028, he could also have a political incentive to do as little as possible.
“Any cuts you make are going to cause people to scream,” said Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist. “Any increases in taxes are going to cause people to scream and in terms of what’s best for a presidential run, it would be nice if people weren’t screaming.”
As California’s 40th governor, Newsom expanded publicly funded healthcare to income-eligible undocumented immigrants, increased state-subsidized child-care slots and provided free meals for schoolchildren among a wishlist of progressive wins since he took office in 2019.
His achievements have helped struggling Californians live in an increasingly unaffordable state and given him bona fides to tout to voters if he launches a bid for the White House.
But the state could never afford to pay for existing services and the new programs that Newsom and Democratic lawmakers enacted, according to an analysis of ongoing state spending since before the pandemic released by the Legislative Analyst’s Office last week.
Spending from the state’s principal operating fund has grown about $100 billion since Newsom’s first full fiscal year in office in 2019-20, mostly due to the growing cost of existing programs that he inherited. State spending has outpaced California’s strong revenue growth by about 10%, creating a perennial budget shortfall — a structural deficit — that Newsom and the Democratic-led Legislature solve with largely temporary fixes each year.
Instead of making across-the-board program cuts or raising taxes to align spending with revenue, Democrats have tapped into reserves designed to preserve social services for the state’s most disadvantaged communities during economic downturns.
While the California economy remains stable and state revenue has increased, Newsom and lawmakers have taken $12.2 billion from the rainy day fund. Democrats have borrowed $28 billion more from other state funds to cover their spending in recent years, according to the LAO.
“Taken together, these trends raise serious concerns about the state’s fiscal sustainability,” Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek wrote in a review of Newsom’s January budget proposal.
Fiscal watchdogs have warned that the spending trends will leave California in a precarious position if the stock market tanks and tax receipts bottom out.
Personal income taxes are driving higher-than-expected revenue now, which analysts attribute to an artificial intelligence boom on Wall Street, and suggest the state could have no deficit in the upcoming year. In January, the Newsom administration anticipated significant operating deficits in the years ahead: $27 billion in 2027-28, $22 billion in 2028-29 and $23 billion in 2029-30.
“This issue is really whether they’re going to take seriously the structural deficit that is several years in the making now, where the spending has outpaced revenue, and to address that, they’re going to either have to make some fairly deep cuts or raise revenue and or both,” said former state Controller Betty Yee, who worked as a budget aide under Gov. Gray Davis and recently dropped her own campaign for governor. “But they have to be real. I think resorting to these one-time solutions has really exacerbated the problem.”
H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the California Department of Finance, said the governor is looking to solve the budget problem with more than a temporary fix.
“Although he is still finalizing his proposal that he’ll put forth to the Legislature, as he has said, he wants those solutions to be durable, and he wants them to have an impact beyond a single fiscal year,” Palmer said.
To stabilize California’s budget, Democrats will probably have to raise taxes or fees to generate new revenue and cut programs, according to the LAO. At least 40 cents for every dollar in revenue is dedicated to education under the state Constitution, requiring policymakers to find between $30 billion and $60 billion annually in additional revenue to cover projected shortfalls in 2027-28 and beyond if relying on new taxes alone.
President Trump’s cuts to healthcare are adding to the problem.
HR 1 will add $1.4 billion in state costs to the general fund. Newsom’s January budget proposal did not include a plan to help millions of low-income Californians who are expected to lose access to healthcare under the federal cuts.
To temper those cuts in California, other groups proposed a new tax on billionaires that appears poised to qualify for the November ballot.
Spearheaded by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the initiative would apply a one-time 5% tax on taxpayers with assets exceeding $1 billion. If approved by voters, the tax would generate roughly $100 billion, which would fund healthcare programs.
The measure has divided unions and Democrats at the state Capitol.
Newsom has criticized the initiative, citing concerns that increasing taxes on the wealthy will have the opposite intended effect and drive the highest earners out of California. Under a progressive tax structure, the state budget is dependent on income taxes paid by the ultra-rich on earnings largely from capital gains.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, have already purchased residences in Florida, along with others looking to escape the tax if it goes through in November. Billionaires launched their own ballot measure campaign to undercut the tax proposal.
State lawmakers are also considering avenues to raise revenue, which include repealing a “water’s edge” tax break. Under the change, multinational companies would no longer be allowed to shield the income of their foreign subsidiaries from state taxes. California loses about $3 billion in revenue from the tax break each year.
In its budget plan released in April, the state Senate proposed a new fee on the largest corporations in the state to provide $5 billion to $8 billion annually for Medi-Cal.
The upper house said 42% of Medi-Cal enrollees are full-time workers who are not enrolled in their company’s healthcare plan because their wages are low enough to qualify for state-subsidized healthcare. As a result, corporations aren’t paying for healthcare for many of their employees and instead taxpayers are picking up the bill through Medi-Cal.
SEIU California, the powerful state union council representing over 700,000 workers, endorsed the plan. The union said Trump’s tax policy will reduce corporate taxes by $900 billion, while 3 million Californians lose healthcare.
“In this urgent moment, California’s workers need to see our leaders show us what they’re made of,” said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California. “The Senate is showing the courage to demand corporations pay their fair share, rather than making working people pay with their lives.”
The change is being described as a more politically palatable “fee” and not a tax.
“We explored multiple revenue options, and this was the one that felt more narrow, it felt more focused, and it also felt like it was directly going for the subsidy that’s being lost because of the Trump HR 1 cuts,” said Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Goleta), who leads the upper house of the Legislature.
Limón said her caucus believes it’s important to address potential revenue streams because of the depth of federal healthcare reductions.
“If we don’t address the structural deficit, we are looking at severe cuts,” she said. “You are looking at people without health insurance. You are looking at hospitals closing down. You are looking at medical providers not being able to take more patients. You are looking at our emergency rooms over capacity, with not enough medical providers. I mean, you’re looking at a place that’s really, really, really difficult, and we feel like we have to, at least, look at what are viable options that are conditional on these cuts coming.”
Newsom has not commented publicly on the Senate’s plan. As governor, he’s been reluctant to embrace new taxes and fees.
Newsom could reject all the proposals for new taxes or fees and continue what he’s done before: take advantage of higher-than-expected tax collections, shift funds around, delay program implementation and borrow money to knock the deficit down to zero, or forecast a surplus, for his last budget year that begins July 1.
If he doesn’t take on California’s larger budget imbalance, then the problem would be the next governor’s to solve. A stock market crash, or economic recession, could force his successor to make drastic cuts across the board with limited reserves to support programs.
Kicking the can again would cement Newsom’s fiscal legacy as a governor who championed bold headline-making policies that bolstered the safety net for low-income Californians, but who failed to provide a solution to pay for his agenda.
“Not only has he not come up with a plan, he has pretended we don’t need one,” said Patrick Murphy, a professor of public affairs at the University of San Francisco.
Newsom’s interest in running for president could seemingly discourage him from slashing the budget and raising attention to the state’s financial woes, Sragow said. Newsom is setting himself up as a potential front-runner for his party. He has said he remains undecided about officially launching a 2028 campaign.
As a Democrat from California, his opponents would automatically label him as financially irresponsible and tax-happy. Calling out the massive budget problem on the horizon, raising taxes and making painful cuts will give them ammunition.
“There’s a long list of things that he’s going to be charged with, and this is likely to be one more,” Sragow said. “But I guess the question is, is he going to be charged with a political misdemeanor or a political felony?”
Former state Sen. Steve Glazer said Newsom is standing on political quicksand either way. State budget projections are based on assumptions about the future that often don’t bear out, leaving his choices exposed to criticism that he went too far, didn’t do enough, and everything in between.
“Whatever the governor decides to do in his May revise and in his final budget, it’s fraught with political risks, because it can be manipulated so easily by all sides,” Glazer said.
If Newsom ignores the spending problem, his successor could blame him for California’s financial woes when they take office in January and provide their own outlook of the state’s fiscal future. At the time, Newsom could be trying to convince America to make him the nation’s next president.
Murphy said Newsom has championed major policies and been reluctant to back off them later when revenue doesn’t pencil out.
In terms of spending, he’s governed similarly to the men who led California before him, with the exception of Jerry Brown, who cut programs to reduce a deficit he inherited in his second stint in the governor’s office and left Newsom with a surplus.
“It’s not all that different than most of the governors have done, which is finding it very hard to say no and finding it very hard to take on a tough choice of going to the ballot to ask for more money or raise taxes,” Murphy said.
Deukmejian left a budget disaster for his successor, Gov. Pete Wilson. Deukmejian publicly claimed he passed a balanced budget in his final year and blamed an economic downturn for the problems Wilson encountered.
When Wilson announced a record $13-billion budget deficit early in his first year in office in 1991, he said the Persian Gulf War, an economic downturn and natural disasters added to a structural deficit in the budget.
The Legislature and Deukmejian, Wilson said, had “papered over” the problem.
WASHINGTON, Apri; 29 (UPI) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alternated between championing a proposed massive increase to defense spending and fielding attacks from Democratic lawmakers during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
It marked the secretary’s first appearance before lawmakers since the start of a war that has roiled the global economy and decimated Iran’s military.
Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Pentagon’s comptroller, Jules Hurst III. They entered the hearing room past protesters’ chants of “arrest Hegseth” and yells of “war criminal.” The secretary appeared unfazed.
“We’re rebuilding a military that the American people can be proud of — one that instills nothing less than unrelenting fear in our adversaries.” Hegseth said in his opening statement.
Hegseth’s testimony was intended to serve as a defense of the White House’s petition to Congress for $1.5 trillion in defense spending for 2027, a 44%t increase from the 2026 budget.
It’s an increase that, by itself, would be more than the total defense spending of any other nation, according to recently released figures. The spending level exceeds that spent on the Reagan-era military buildup and would be only overshadowed by levels seen during World War II.
The spending boom would come at the cost of domestic programs and at a time when federal tax revenue is set to take a $4.5 trillion hit over the next 10 years, mostly from tax cuts codified in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.
But rather than question Hegseth on the specifics of the budget proposal, many Democratic members grilled him about the war in Iran, recent firings of senior leaders in the Pentagon and lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Pacific and Caribbean oceans.
In one heated exchange, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., delivered a sharp critique of the war in Iran when questioning the defense secretary, calling it a “blunder” in which the United States had expended much to gain little.
Garamendi said it would take years for the U.S. and global economies to recover. The war has hiked average unleaded gas prices in the country to more than $4.20 a gallon and inflation to its highest level in nearly two years.
“Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from Day 1,” Garamendi said. “The strategy has been an astounding example of incompetence.”
Hegseth counterattacked. With his voice raised, he accused the congressman of “handing propaganda to our enemies.”
“I hope you appreciate how reckless it is,” Hegseth said of Garamendi’s description of the two-month-long war as a quagmire. “Shame on you.”
Hurst, the comptroller, told lawmakers the Iran war has cost the Pentagon $25 billion. Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., responded that was the first time he had been given a cost figure, despite repeated inquiries to the department.
In March, the Pentagon reportedly petitioned Congress for an additional $200 billion to replace stocks from the war and prepare for future operations, should they be ordered. When asked about it at the time, Hegseth indicated the report’s veracity.
“That number could move, obviously,” Hegseth said then. “It takes money to kill bad guys.”
Hegseth’s central defense of the war during the hearing was arguing that it served to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Republican members echoed his contention.
Iran maintains uranium supplies that could eventually be used to build a nuclear weapon if it were to be further enriched. But since the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, Iran has made “no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a written statement to Congress in March.
“What is it worth to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?” Hegseth asked rhetorically in Wednesday’s hearing.
A defense budget unprecedented in modern times
The Pentagon’s budget request is composed of $1.1 trillion in base discretionary funding and an additional $350 billion in mandatory spending.
The mandatory funds, which are earmarked mostly for munitions and the expansion of the defense industry, would go through the budget reconciliation process and therefore would be shielded from a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
The expansion of America’s defense industrial base — the network of private manufacturers that supply the Pentagon — is a central facet of the proposed budget.
“President Trump inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of ‘America Last’ policies,” Hegseth said. “Under the leadership of President Trump, our builder-in-chief, we are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base on a war-time footing.”
Another of the administration’s top defense funding priorities, as reflected in the budget document, is the procurement of munitions.
“Critical munitions are vital to the administration’s priorities to defend the homeland and deter potential aggression after years of neglect by the previous administration,” the White House wrote in a recent budget justification. Limited munitions stockpiles and the United States’ inability to quickly produce them have long troubled U.S. war planners.
While the Trump administration has pushed to expand munitions stockpiles, it has also expended massive amounts of scarce ordnance in the Middle East in recent months.
An April analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the U.S. military has expended more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Iran war from an estimated prewar inventory of 3,100.
Key U.S. capabilities like the Patriot and THAAD air defense systems have also seen stockpiles dwindle by about half since the start of the war, according to the report.
“We’re fighting wars”
The administration’s request for the massive infusion of cash comes as Trump has said that federal spending on healthcare and social programs should take a back seat to “military protection.”
In its proposed budget, the White House moved to cut non-defense discretionary spending by 10%. The spending category comprises public health, scientific research and scores of other domestic programs, but excludes mandatory programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
In a speech at a private Easter luncheon, Trump said spending on childcare, Medicare and Medicaid should be left to the states, while the federal government should be focused solely on national defense.
“We’re fighting wars,” Trump said.
The sentiment runs contrary to Trump’s long-held foundational critique of his predecessors — that money spent on foreign wars from Iraq, to Afghanistan, to Ukraine, should have been used to benefit Americans at home.
An industry group representing budget airlines such as Frontier has asked the Department of Transportation to create a $2.5 billion pool of money to help its member airlines because the price of jet fuel has nearly doubled since February, endangering their ability to stay in business. File Photo by CJ Gunther/EPA-EFE
April 27 (UPI) — An industry group that represents budget airlines has reached out to the Department of Transportation about creating a $2.5 billion pool to help keep them in business as the price of jet fuel remains high.
The Association of Value Airlines — which represents Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country — said Monday that it has approached the Trump administration about the pool because an 88% increase in the cost of jet fuel is endangering their ability to do business, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported.
Spirit Airlines itself has been negotiating a possible $500 million bailout from the federal government after warning that it is running out of cash that is separate from the AVA request.
Airlines worldwide started raising fees in March after the United States and Israel started the war in Iran, which led the country to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in response and has caused the price of gas and oil to increase significantly.
Fuel expenses account for about 30% of airline operating costs and even a sustained $1 increase in per barrel of oil can increase those costs by millions of dollars.
“Since February, jet fuel prices have increased by nearly 100% and are placing significant financial pressure on value airlines,” the industry group said in a statement.
It also said that the “liquidity pool” would be used “exclusively” to offset fuel costs that are expected to stay above $4 per gallon in North America for the rest of the year.
The AVA also has approached Congress about waiting a 7.5% excise tax and $5.30 per-segment fee that airlines pay the government for each passenger they transport for the same reason it asked the administration for the emergency pool.
President Donald Trump acknowledged last week that Spirit has been in conversation with his administration for a bailout as it has struggled to exit its second bankruptcy filing in a year.
Trump said that the discussions are ongoing, but that he would like to help keep Spirit in business because competition is good for consumers and he is concerned about job losses should it go out of business.
Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The low-cost airline is cancelling flights in May and June due to soaring aviation fuel prices linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East
Robert Rowlands Deputy editor, money and lifestyle, content hub and Maria Ortega
16:19, 27 Apr 2026
The airline is cutting back flights due to pressures on jet fuel prices(Image: Sjo via Getty Images)
An airline that operates routes to and from the UK is axing flights in May and June because of surging fuel costs. Transavia, the budget airline owned by the Air France-KLM group, is scrapping scheduled services for May and June to cut expenses as aviation fuel prices soar due to the Middle East conflict.
The Air France-KLM group’s low-cost arm will change its timetable for May and June to streamline costs amid rocketing fuel prices linked to the Middle East war, a spokesperson confirmed to AFP. The airline operates from London Stansted to Rotterdam several times a week, and is used by tourists who fly to Schiphol airport in the Netherlands before going on to other European destinations with Transavia.
“Due to the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East and its impact on aviation fuel prices, Transavia France is adapting its flight schedule and is forced to cancel several flights scheduled for May and June 2026,” the carrier, which runs medium-distance routes, stated.
The cancellations represent “less than 2% of the flight schedule for the May-June period,” a spokesperson informed AFP. Transavia said “customers affected by a cancellation are notified individually by SMS and email.” Details of which routes are affected have not been disclosed so far.
They can then “benefit, according to their choice, from a free rescheduling, a voucher, or a full refund of their ticket.” Additionally, “for the majority of cancelled flights, a rescheduling solution within 24 hours is offered,” the airline states.
Europe normally gets half of its fuel from Gulf nations. However, since the start of the war between the United States and Iran in late February, the Strait of Hormuz has been shut down by Tehran.
In Brussels, European Commissioner Dan Jorgensen warned that the EU was “approaching very rapidly” a potential supply crisis, raising concerns about a summer characterised by “higher airfares and cancellations.” Airlines including Transavia have already begun raising ticket prices, with increases averaging approximately 10 euros per return journey, according to the carrier’s spokesperson speaking to AFP.
Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones warned on Sunday that the ongoing conflict is likely to push up costs for energy, food and flight tickets in the coming months, with potential disruptions to energy supplies affecting production rather than causing empty supermarket shelves.
“You’re going to see prices go up a bit as a consequence of what Donald Trump has done in the Middle East,” he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. “That’s probably going to come online not just in the next few weeks, but the next few months. There’s going to be a long tail from this.”
When pressed on how long elevated prices could last, he indicated it would be roughly eight months after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and tensions in the region begin to ease. “I think our best guess is eight-plus months from the point of resolution that you’ll see economic impacts coming through the system,” the minister said.
Last week, German airline Lufthansa said it would cut 20,000 European short-haul flights over the summer. It blamed the price of jet fuel.
An industry expert told travel journalist Simon Calder on his podcast last week that he expected more flights to be cut by airlines. Ted Wake, managing director of Kirker Holidays, said: “I think Lufthansa has got a very comprehensive schedule. Twenty thousand flights isn’t a drop in the ocean but it’s a relatively small number if you look at the overall picture.
“I think other airlines within the UK market will be doing something similar.”
AN AIRLINE that recently axed flights has warned Brits to expect more cancellations in the future.
Earlier this month, Norse Atlantic axed all its flights from London Gatwick to Los Angeles in America due to rising fuel prices.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
Norse Airways is warning travellers of more flight cancellations due to rising fuel costsCredit: Getty
And now the airline has warned of even more cancellations.
Eivind Roald, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways, said to BBC Newsnight: “From our side we will continue flying from London Gatwick and from Athens and Rome this summer, we don’t have any plans to cancel more flights.
“When it comes to our competitors, I can’t really say, I assume you will see more cancellations coming, we often see it coming in short haul flights in Europe.
He also said that travellers “will see that things will be changed” including some companies’ “existence”.
The CEO then added that he was confident jet fuel prices would fall in six to nine months time.
Even though the airline hasn’t announced more cancellations yet, the London Gatwick to Los Angeles route was only introudced by the airline in 2023.
And at that time, it operated seven flights per week from London Gatwick to Los Angeles.
The route was due to re-start next month, but instead will be cancelled for the entire season until October.
As a result, Norse will only have four long-haul routes this summer, including London Gatwick to New York and London Gatwick to Orlando.
A number of other airlines have also made the decision to cancel some flights or increase prices.
For example, earlier this month KLM said it was axing 160 flights across Europe over the next month due to the fuel crisis.
Despite the airline not yet having a shortage of fuel, the cancellations will impact flights travelling to and from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.
Lufthansa also announced that its subsidiary airline CityLine is stopping all operations due to both the Iran War and recent strike action.
The airline would fly to Frankfurt and Munich from the UK.
As for long haul flights, Virgin Atlantic had raised the price of flights.
Those now travelling in economy have to pay an extra £50, those in premium economy have to pay an extra £180 and those in business class will need to pay an additional £360.
OFF the coast of Spain are a group of islands that many say feels like the Caribbean, but for a fraction of the coast.
The archipelago called the Cíes Islands are made up of three islands; Monte Agudo, O Faro and San Martiño.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
The Cies Islands is an archipelago made up of three islandsCredit: GettyPlaya de Rodas on Faro Island is the 18th most beautiful beach in the worldCredit: Alamy
Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.
The islands are completely car free, and are described as being ‘Caribbean-like’ but on a camping budget.
Monteagudois the largest and northernmost of the three Cíes Islands which can be reached by ferry from Vigo.
This is where visitors will find one of the world’s best beaches called Playa de Rodas, or Rodas Beach.
Coming in at 18th in the world, the beach has ‘soft white sand and clear, calm waters’ – much like those in the Caribbean.
Visitors agree with one calling it a “natural paradise” and another agreed that it is “absolutely beautiful, pale sand crystal clear water.”
Others have said it’s the perfect place to swim with small fish that appear in the shallow water.
But there are warnings of the sea being cold as it is in the Atlantic as opposed to the warmer Caribbean Sea.
The coast is popular for snorkelling with lots of lobsters, crabs and sometimes bottlenose dolphins even being spotted too.
The sandbar across Playa de Rodas is what connects Monteagudo to its neighbour, Faro island.
Meanwhile, San Martiño can only be reached by private boat or on kayak tours – it’s a wild island so the top activities here are swimming and birdwatching.
For more on Spain, here are some of our favourite holiday spots…
*If you click on a link in this box, we will earn affiliate revenue.
Hotel Best Punta Dorada, Salou
The Spanish resort is a popular destination near PortAventura World, a theme park with over 40 attractions and huge rollercoasters. It’s also close to sandy beaches like Platja de Llevant, and the scenic Camí de Ronda coastal walk.The hotel itself has an outdoor swimming pool to enjoy, as well as two bars along with evening entertainment and shows.
With its palm tree-lined pool and Mediterranean backdrop, it’s a miracle this Majorca resort is so affordable. Expect a classic family holiday feel – where days revolve around soaking up the Spanish sunshine, chilling by the spacious pool and sipping on frozen cocktails. Set away from the busier resorts, it’s a good option if you’re after a more out-of-the-way escape.
The Magic Aqua Rock Gardens Hotel is African-themed and less than a mile from the beach. It has two outdoor pools, including a children’s freshwater pool with a waterfall and a tipping water bucket for the little ones. There’s also an aquapark with slides, and a kids club for both younger children and teens.
For a calmer side of Ibiza, this hillside resort has two pools, a kids’ splash zone, and an all-inclusive buffet with a poolside bar. It’s a 10-minute walk from Cala Llonga’s shallow turquoise bay, offering a scenic, family-friendly base away from the island’s main party zone.
April 23 (UPI) — Senate Republicans were up all night voting, eventually adopting a budget reconciliation package Thursday morning to prepare to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate plans to fund the department without Democrats’ help. The resolution was adopted at around 3:30 a.m. EDT Thursday by a vote of 50-48 after about six hours.
The only Republicans to vote against the resolution were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky. The bill now goes to the House. If the House adopts the resolution, the final funding bill can be written and voted on by Congress.
They are following a deadline of June 1 set by President Donald Trump.
“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-N.D.
Thune told fellow senators to keep the package narrow to ensure speedy passage.
Since the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, both shot and killed by DHS officers, Democrats have refused to support funding the department without reforms. The department has been shut down since Feb, 14, though Trump told the department to use emergency funds to pay essential workers.
Republicans are hoping to fund the department through 2029 at a cost of between $70 and $80 billion.
The late-night vote-a-rama included votes about amendments that could be added to the resolution. Two Republican Senators who are vulnerable in the November elections — Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska — broke ranks on some amendments.
Collins and Sullivan voted for amendments to lower health care costs, to reverse last year’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts and to tackle insurance companies that delay or deny medical care. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., joined with Collins and Sullivan on the latter.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also sponsored an amendment that would tell the budget committee chair to help cut prescription drug prices by half. Hawley, Collins and Sullivan supported Sanders on it. Sanders said his amendment would codify ensuring that Americans wouldn’t pay more for prescriptions than Canadians or Europeans.
The amendments wouldn’t have the power to force Republicans’ hands, but they would make Republicans go on record about their views of these items.
“This reconciliation, or this budget act, will show who’s on whose side, and clearly if Republicans vote against our amendments, they’re not on the side of the American people,” Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox and Friends on Tuesday that the department will run out of money for salaries next month.
“I’ve got one payroll left, and there is no more emergency funds so the president can’t do another executive order because there’s no more money there,” The Hill reported he said.
The resolution does not include the SAVE America Act, the voter security bill that Trump and other Republicans have pushed for. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sponsored an amendment to add similar restrictions, but it failed 48-50. Collins, Murkowski, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-S.C., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against it.
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a press conference at Department of Justice Headquarters on Tuesday. The Trump Administration announced charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, which the government alleges funneled over $3 million toward white supremacist and extremists groups. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
WASHINGTON — Amid the din of battle over the federal budget, President Clinton summoned Democratic congressional leaders to the White House last week and gave them an unexpectedly upbeat message: With a little discipline and a little luck, they might win this fight yet.
“The Republicans are very disciplined and very good,” Clinton warned his war council around the Cabinet Room’s long mahogany table, according to people who were present. “But we’re making headway.”
Congress’ drive to cut the budget this spring was launched by triumphant GOP leaders, confident that they had a mandate from voters to slash government programs and shrink the federal budget deficit to zero.
But after three months of rhetorical battle, Clinton believes that he has begun to turn the Republicans’ issue around–into a major political opportunity for himself.
The budget battle is “the centerpiece” of Clinton’s work this year, said White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta. “It will determine a lot about the priorities of the country; it will determine a lot about our economy in the future; it will determine a lot about the role of government.”
It will also determine a lot about how voters view Clinton as the election year of 1996 approaches. “It . . . will better define who the President of the United States is, and I think that’s helpful,” Panetta said in an interview.
Transforming budget-cutting from a liability into an asset would be a startling turnaround for a President whom Republicans succeeded in painting as a “tax-and-spend Democrat” only last year. But public opinion polls read raptly by White House aides suggest that the voters are moving Clinton’s way: An ABC News-Washington Post poll last week found that while respondents by a wide margin once trusted Congress over Clinton to deal with the deficit, the President has nearly closed the gap.
Clinton’s biting attacks on GOP plans to shrink Medicare, education and veterans programs have helped lift his approval rating in the poll to 51%, its highest level in a year.
White House strategists said they were not worried that the House Republicans passed their GOP budget plan last week, as was long expected. More important, they said, was that Clinton apparently succeeded with his threat to veto a GOP spending-cut bill, since the GOP leadership acknowledged that they probably wouldn’t have the votes to override a veto. It showed that the President can still make himself relevant.
Clinton is betting that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and other GOP leaders overestimated the public’s desire for cutting government–especially once the public realizes that the savings would come not only from unpopular programs, such as welfare and foreign aid, but also from middle-class benefits.
Political strategists note that Clinton’s argument may attract some swing voters–especially white women older than 35, one of the President’s critical demographic targets. Making up more than one-fourth of the electorate, they largely voted for Clinton in 1992, abandoned the Democrats in 1994–and could be key to his prospects in 1996.
At the same time, Clinton and his aides believe that they must eventually seek a budget compromise with the Republicans–if only to avoid the charge that the President has become irrelevant to the process of shrinking the government, a goal most voters still want.
“Preserver of the Big Government status quo is not a place you can end up in a fight this big,” one presidential adviser said.
So Clinton, Panetta and other aides have devised a two-part strategy to try to stop the GOP juggernaut and turn the budget battle to their advantage.
The first phase has been to shift the topic away from the deficit, force the public to confront the kind of cuts the Republicans want and paint the GOP as heartless vandals who would loot Medicare and student loans to give tax cuts to the wealthy.
“Less government? That’s not the issue. The issue is: Do you want your kids to go to college?” Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich said.
If that tactic works, and Republicans retreat from their proposed spending and tax cuts, then the Administration wants to sit down and try to negotiate a compromise, a budget “that might be nobody’s first choice but that is really quite a good budget,” said Alice Rivlin, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
But Clinton doesn’t want to begin those negotiations until “his leverage is at a peak,” Panetta said, meaning the President wants to continue whipping up public opposition to GOP budget cuts and threatening to veto a budget he doesn’t like, at least for a while.
“The Republicans are beginning the budget triage, amputations and decapitations, and for the moment the Democrats are happy to sit in the surgical theater and watch the blood flow,” said Ross K. Baker, an expert on Congress at Rutgers University.
Already, however, Panetta and other Administration officials have begun sending signals to Capitol Hill about the kind of deal Clinton might eventually want to make.
“Yes, we want additional deficit reduction,” Panetta said. “But in order to engage, the Republicans have to back off these huge tax cuts, they have to recognize that any Medicare or Medicaid savings have to be done in the context of [health care] reform, and they have to be willing to protect education as a key investment.” Almost everything else is “on the table,” he said.
One key concession the White House has quietly offered: Clinton is willing to drop most or all of his proposed $500-per-child tax credit–the core of his long-promised “middle-class tax cut”–if Congress agrees to make college tuition tax-deductible.
Those early signals suggest to some members of Congress, including some worried liberal Democrats, that Clinton may be willing to give up quite a lot–except for his major concerns on Medicare, Medicaid and education–for the chance to claim a victory.
When bargaining can begin in earnest depends mostly on the GOP’s tolerance for pain. Aides say Clinton will stay on the attack for at least three weeks as Republicans pass their budget resolutions and begin making decisions on the discretionary portion of the budget.
But White House officials hope that the solid Republican line will begin to fracture as members of Congress read the mood of their constituents. Some in Congress predict a turning point could come as early as the Memorial Day recess, which begins Saturday, but others warn that it might be September before negotiations start.
The White House strategy is not assured of success, of course. At least three problems loom:
First, Clinton has succeeded only partially in changing the focus of the debate from deficits to middle-class benefits. By a wide margin, the public still says it wants a balanced federal budget, with no deficit. The President’s dirty little secret is that he doesn’t think a balanced budget can be achieved in the foreseeable future at reasonable cost.
In fact, the public is inconsistent on these issues. Large majorities say they want to balance the budget, but equally large majorities say they are opposed to significant cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, student loans and other education programs.
Second, Democrats aren’t entirely unified behind Clinton’s strategy, which is why the President spent much of his meeting in the Cabinet Room last week appealing for more discipline.
Some strains were already evident in the closed-door session, participants said. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) urged Clinton to give the Republicans no quarter, but Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said: “It’s not enough to complain; we need to say where we go from here.”
Third, and most important, the Republicans may not cooperate. “Democrats have no standing to say anything about what we are doing in the House and the Senate,” House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) said last week. Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) often disagree with each other, but they agree on one point: They don’t want Clinton to win credit for their hard work in fashioning a leaner federal budget. So they may be tempted to pass a budget bill of their own design and dare Clinton to veto it this fall.
That would lead to a messy confrontation that could require the federal government to halt routine operations until a solution is found.
“I don’t think anyone comes out a winner” in an impasse like that, Panetta said. “I don’t think the President wins; I don’t think Republicans or Democrats win.”
Bombs are in and art is out as the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 budget requests $1.5 trillion in defense spending (up 44% from last year), while again attempting to snuff out the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The budget proposal released earlier this month calls for just enough money to permanently wind down the operations of each agency: $29 million for the NEA (down from $207 million); $38 million for the NEH (down from $207 million); and $6 million for the IMLS (down from $291.8 million).
Congress has the final say about whether or not these cuts actually get made, and Sept. 30 is the deadline to pass next year’s budget. (Failure to do so could result in yet another government shutdown.) It’s worth remembering that Trump tried to defund these organizations last year and was thwarted by Congress. But the administration did successfully choke off funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which ceased operations in January.
It’s hard to know how this renewed threat to agencies that collectively support thousands of arts programs and initiatives across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., will play out, especially because the only constant in this administration is its mercurial temperament. Plus, Congress doesn’t have a great track record of keeping Trump in check (see Venezuela, Iran, the White House East Wing, the Kennedy Center, etc.). The ongoing war in Iran, which pundits warn could last until the midterms, may also impact how Congress decides to vote.
In times of conflict and chaos, we need the arts — a sentiment so obvious it normally goes without saying. But this moment somehow feels different. There were many alarming moves that Trump wanted to make during his first term that the so-called adults in the room allegedly kept him from achieving. Those adults are gone and he is now surrounded with enablers. This means the unthinkable is now possible — as we have seen time and again over the past 15 months.
In a country without the NEA, NEH and IMLS, hundreds of small local arts groups would likely cease to exist entirely — and with them, the community, education and enlightenment that underpin our increasingly fragile, fractured society. We can close our eyes until it happens, or we can start urgently ringing the alarm bells. I vote for the latter. Here’s a link to get you started.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt banging a gong. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
Dispatch: mots take on AI at Flux Festival
A participant experiences “The Pledge,” part of artist duo mots’ acclaimed “AI & Me” series, on view April 25 at Blum Gallery, Culver City, as part of Flux Festival.
(mots / Daniela Nedovescu and Octavian Mot)
Artist duo mots is staging one of its exploratory AI-centered exhibits — “The Pledge” — at the upcoming Flux Festival at Bloom Gallery in Culver City (April 24 and 25). Last year, mots received quite a bit of attention for its U.S. premiere of “AI & Me,” part of Tribeca Festival’s Immersive Program. That piece, according to mots website, “dives into the weird dynamics between humans and artificial intelligence,” by placing people in a confessional style booth while AI tells them exactly what it thinks of them.
“The Pledge” takes that concept further by inviting participants to stand on a stage while AI-generates a statement about them— one that is solely based on appearance. The person then must decide whether to read the AI feedback aloud into a microphone or leave. If you decide to share, you become part of the permanent video installation.
In this moment of deep AI anxiety, the mots’ work is tapping into more than just a playful back and forth between man and machine.
“On one hand, we’re thrilled to see people lining up to interact with the pieces we build; on the other, we’re trying to gather the courage to destroy them and stop this madness before it’s too late,” the mots write on their website.
— Jessica Gelt
Dispatch: Monster Party
The adult-centric interactive melodrama “Monster Party,” at Rita House through April 25.
(Clint Keller)
“Monster Party” starts with a moment of ecstasy. Then the adult-centric interactive play gets demented — a bit demonic, even. We meet characters shrouded in mystery. Guests at a cocktail party, there’s a writer working on a book about supernatural creatures, a vacuum salesman with a closely guarded secret, a repressed religious fanatic and more. None of them can remember how or why they ended up at this soiree, hosted by the confidently cryptic Baroness, a character who clearly delights in creating sin and madness. We’ll soon find out this isn’t an event for the lucky.
But that’s not just what makes “Monster Party” special. Remounted after a short theatrical run in 2024, the work from immersive creator Matt Dorado intermixes the personal and political. Lurid, humorous and sexy, “Monster Party” is also a scathing critique of how political systems can drive one mad.
Set during the Lavender Scare, the anti-communist purge of LGBTQ+ people from the U.S. government in the 1950s, “Monster Party” opens with camp and then descends into very real horrors of life in the United States. You’ll drink, play parlor games and gradually uncover one dark skeleton after another.
The intimate production is limited to 50 guests per showing, and cocktails are included in the $159.45 ticket. Come ready to socialize.
8 p.m. Thursdays and Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, through April 26. Rita House, 5971 W. 3rd Street monsterpartyshow.com
— Todd Martens
You’re reading Essential Arts
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings of L.A.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY Chaya Czernowin Monday Evening Concerts presents the U.S. premiere of the Harvard-based Israeli composer’s “Poetica,” which she describes as “a journey of one into themselves,” performed by percussionist Steven Schick and the percussion ensemble Red Fish Blue Fish. 8 p.m. Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. mondayeveningconcerts.org
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot O.C. theater companies the Wayward Artist and Larking House team up for Stephen Adly Guirgis’ bold, darkly comedic courtroom drama set in Purgatory. Directed by Lizzy McCabe. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and April 23-35. Irvine United Congregational Church, 4915 Alton Pkwy., Irvine. thewaywardartist.org
Harry Fonseca “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Coyote,” an exhibition of more than 30 paintings, prints and works on paper, follows the path of the late Native artist’s alter-ego, the Trickster Coyote, an exploration of his own identity and a means of challenging existing narratives. Also being exhibited is “Sedej Tuulémisé (Blood Relations),” featuring paintings by emerging artist Deerstine Suehead. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through July 3. PDC Design Galleries, 750 N San Vicente, West Hollywood. pacificdesigncenter.com
Ryan Bancroft will conduct the L.A. Phil this weekend at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
Shostakovich & Sibelius Ryan Bancroft conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic with cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing one of her specialties, Shostakovich’s “Second Cello Concerto.” 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Liu Xiaodong For the work presented in the exhibition “Host,” the figurative painter trained his eye on a Detroit tattoo artist with a penchant for medieval battle recreations. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturday, through June 13. Lisson, 1037 N. Sycamore Ave., L.A. lissongallery.com
SATURDAY Back to Oz MUSE/IQUE salutes a truly American fairy tale through music with pieces from “The Wonderful Wizard,” “The Wiz,” and “Wicked,” performed by Carmen Cusack, LaVance Colley, Nathan Granner, DC6 Singers Collective and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra. 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and April 24; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. April 25; and 2:30 p.m. April 26. Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. muse-ique.com
Colored People’s Time: A History Play From Civil War to civil rights, Leslie Lee’s drama, directed by Ben Guillory, examines the lives of Black Americans through a century of struggle. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays, through May 17. Los Angeles Theatre Center, Theatre Four, 514 S. Spring St., downtown L.A. therobeytheatrecompany.org
The Expanding Field: MOCA’s Collection from the 1940s to 1970s Works by Mark Rothko, Luchita Hurtado, Piet Mondrian, On Kawara, Robert Rauschenberg, Betye Saar, Anne Truitt and others illustrate the breadth of the museum’s holdings. Saturday through Sept. 20. Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. moca.org
Falstaff Craig Colclough stars in LA Opera’s production of the energetic Verdi comedy about two wives turning the tables on an unwanted suitor in merry olde England. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. April 26; 7:30 p.m. April 30, May 2 and 6; 2 p.m. May 10. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org
Steven Culp and Joey Stromberg in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
For Want of a Horse Olivia Dufault’s comedy about an unusual love triangle involving a horse opens Echo Theater Company’s 2026 season. Directed by Elana Luo. Opening night, 8 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays; 8 p.m. Mondays, through May 25. Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. echotheatercompany.com
Hear Now Music Festival A chamber concert doubleheader (separate admissions): The matinee features Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble and HEX performing Hugh Levick’s “No Pasaran” for brass quintet; Ania Vu’s “Small Tenderness” for vocal ensemble and string quartet; Liviu Marinescu’s “String Quartet No. 1”; Bryan Chiu’s “Anthology” for piano and horn; and Tom Flaherty’s, “Recess” for string quartet. Lyris Quartet and Brightwork Ensemble return for the evening show with mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell, and the music of Peter Knell, “Canciones de Agua” for mezzo-soprano and violin; Sean Heim, “there is no such thing as time” for mixed ensemble; Vera Ivanova’s “The Firebird’s Feather,” for flute solo; and Jordan Nelson’s “Join” for string quartet. Chamber Concert 1, 3 p.m. (2 p.m. preview); Chamber Concert 2, 8 p.m. (7 p.m. preview). First Lutheran Church of Venice, 815 Venice Blvd. hearnowmusicfestival.com
Claudia Keep In the exhibition “Water, Water, Everywhere,” the painter finds fascinating details in the life-giving liquid and all its forms, including rivers, ocean waves, clouds and afternoon coffee. Opening reception, 4-6 p.m. Saturday; the exhibition runs through May 30. Parker Gallery, 6700 Melrose Ave., L.A. parkergallery.com
Kinship & Community: Selections from the Texas African American Photography Archive The exhibition, a collaboration between Art + Practice and the California African American Museum, shares the work of Black photographers who documented life in the urban neighborhoods and rural villages of eastern Texas from 1944 to 1984. Saturday evening, exhibition curator and NYU professor Nicole R. Fleetwood and Getty Research Institute curator LeRonn P. Brooks will discuss the exhibition and the volatile time of great change that it captures. The exhibition opening is 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and runs through Sept. 5. Art + Practice exhibitions space, 3401 W. 43rd Pl. L.A. Conversation, 6-7:30 p.m. Saturday. Art + Practice programs space, 4334 Degnan Blvd., L.A. artandpractice.org
Majestic Tango Directed and produced by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo, this program features 13 dancers and six musicians using music, movement and storytelling to convey the passionate energy of Buenos Aires. 8 p.m. Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr. thebarclay.org
Richard Mayhew, “West Bay,” 2004 Oil on canvas 36” x 48’.
Richard Mayhew “Understory” surveys the artist’s work created between 1960 and 2023, when he saw his expressive landscapes as “an artistic reclamation of the land stolen from his Black, Shinnecock, and Cherokee-Lumbee ancestors.” Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Saturday; exhibition runs through May 30. Karma, 7351 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. karmakarma.org
Natural HERstory Drag performance meets real science in this 30-minute STEAM musical, developed by Drag Arts Lab and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and designed to engage elementary-aged learners. 11 a.m. Annenberg Community Beachhouse, 415 Pacific Coast Hwy., Santa Monica. eventbrite.com
Parsons Dance David Parsons’ New York City-based troupe marks its 40th anniversary with a program set to the music of Milton Nascimento; Giancarlo De Trizio; Champion, Four Set & Skrillex (featuring Naisha); Miles Davis; Sheila Chandra; and Yusuf/Cat Stevens 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. BroadStage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. broadstage.org
The Storyteller of East LA The Latino Theater Co. has the world premiere of Evelina Fernández’s magical realist drama about a 90-year-old woman with dementia and the challenges faced by her family and caregivers. Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 17. Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S Spring St., downtown L.A. latinotheaterco.org
Verdi in España The Verdi Chorus performs sequences from the composer’s operas “Don Carlo,” “Il Trovatore,” “La Traviata” and “Ernani,” alongside Bizet’s “Carmen” and selections from Spanish composers Catán, Granados, Giménez, Torroba and De Falla. 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday. First Presbyterian Church, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. verdichorus.org
SUNDAY Mozart’s Requiem Grant Gershon conducts the Los Angeles Master Chorale in Mozart’s final masterpiece, plus the West Coast premiere of Fanny Mendelssohn’s “Oratorio on Scenes from the Bible.” 7 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. lamasterchorale.org
TUESDAY Yuja Wang and Mahler Chamber Orchestra The celebrated pianist continues her long-standing collaboration with MCO for a program featuring works by Segei Prokofiev and Alexander Tzfasman. 8 p.m. Tuesday. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Dr., Palm Desert; 8 p.m. Wednesday. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa; 7 p.m. Thursday. Granada Theatre, 1214 State St, Santa Barbara; 8 p.m. April 25. The Saroya, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge. mahlerchamber.com
WEDNESDAY Khorus Harmonia Katey Sagal and Kurt Sutter are producing ten performances of this choral concert to benefit the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and The Wounded Warrior Project. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 4 p.m. Sundays, through May 2. Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. onstage411.com
This Ends Badly The theater collective Frank’s presents an evening of short plays by Frank Demma, Marlane Meyer, John Pellech, John Pollono, Benjamin Weissman and Sharon Yablon. 8 p.m. Wednesdays, through May 13. Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. echotheatercompany.ludus.com
Arts anywhere
New and recent releases of arts-related media.
The British Museum in London.
(Kin Cheung / Associated Press)
British Museum As excitement builds for the opening of the new Geffen Galleries at LACMA on Sunday (for priority members; May 4 for the general public), one’s appetite may be whetted to visit other museums. Why not start in London with the British Museum? The sprightly 273-year-old institution boasts a collection of eight million works and draws more than six million visitors each year. But there’s no need for a plane ticket or a Tardis to see it. Google Arts & Culture offers virtual tours that allow you to wander the halls and grounds for free (and it won’t rain!). artsandculture.google.com
Philip Glass
Two opportunities to see the work of one of the finest American composers will soon be available with the click of a button or a tap of a screen. First up is “The Complete Philip Glass Piano Etudes featuring 10 Pianists” (which was performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2024) streaming live from the 3,500-seat Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. 4:30 p.m. Saturday and on demand through April 28. youtube.com
Six days later, the Paris Opera offers its current, sold-out production of “Satyagraha,” Glass’ revelatory, triptych portrait of Gandhi. Directed by choreographers Bobbi Jean Smith and Or Schraiber, with a cast including Anthony Roth Costanzo and Davóne Tines — all four members of AMOC*, American Modern Opera Company — the show will be presented live on the Paris Opera Play streaming platform (for $14) at 10:30 a.m. April 24. POP’s live broadcasts are typically available on demand for 30 days following transmission. play.operadeparis.fr
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Pooya Mohseni, from left, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat in “English” by Sanaz Toossi at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
(Joan Marcus)
With the U.S. at war with Iran, “This is an important moment to experience ‘English,’ Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, set in an English-language classroom outside of Tehran in 2008,” writes Times theater critic Charles McNulty. “The play, now having its L.A. premiere at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, reminds us of the lives — the hopes, the dreams, the sorrows — on the other side of the headlines.”
It’s been an anxious journey for Bob Baker Marionette Theater since 2019 when it was forced out of its downtown home of 55 years. After a lengthy search, the nonprofit signed a 10-year lease for a former cinema-turned-Korean Church in Highland Park. With that, however, came the accompanying stress of being renters in L.A. But good news has arrived: the beloved theater “has entered into an agreement to purchase its [current] home at the corner of York Boulevard and North Avenue 50,” reports Times features columnist Todd Martens.
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is a major expansion of the California Science Center.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
California Science Center has completed construction on its new $450-million Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center, which houses the Endeavor shuttle. Staff writer Malia Mendez headed onsite to get the scoop on the, “sleek 20-story, 200,000-square-foot new building rising over Exposition Park,” nearly doubling the museum’s exhibition space.
Architecture writer Sam Lubell put together a fascinating Q&A with Peter Zumthor in which the Geffen Galleries’ architect addresses a number of ongoing criticisms about his creation, including its loss of square-footage.
In case you missed it: Pop singer Pink has will host the 79th Tony Awards. “The award ceremony returns to New York City’s Radio City Music Hall on June 7, with nominations announced May 5,” writes Times reporting fellow Iris Kwok.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
It’s been a decade since the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts began awarding Infinite Expansion Grants to local contemporary arts organizations. The money has always mattered, but means even more during a time of great uncertainly about federal support for the arts (as I wrote in my newsletter intro). This year’s round of grantees was just announced, with nine L.A. contemporary arts groups sharing $400,000 in support. These groups, a news release says, “exemplify risk-taking, critical inquiry, and community engagement,” and include Art in the Park Community Cultural Programs; Color Compton; Cal State University, Northridge Foundation on behalf of CSUN Art Galleries; Barnsdall Art Park Foundation on behalf of Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG); Los Angeles Performance Practice; Monday Evening Concerts; Clockshop; Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA); and the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation.
Big change is coming to the Soraya and California State University, Northridge. Artistic and Executive Director Thor Steingraber, is leaving his position after 12 years to become president and chief executive at Vivo Performing Arts in Boston. The Soraya has also announced Steingraber‘s replacement: Chad Hilligus. Hilligus arrives at CSUN from the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto where he served as chief executive and curated more than 100 multidisciplinary live performances.
And another leadership shakeup has come to the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which announced that its current president and chief executive, Scott Altman, will step down on June 5 to become executive director of Miami City Ballet. Master Chorale board member William Tully will serve as interim president while the group launches a national search for a replacement.
When the heads of three Los Angeles Unified School District unions stood side by side at City Hall to announce their new contracts after nearly going on strike hours earlier, one of them looked out of place.
Max Arias was decked out in a purple letterman’s cardigan emblazoned with “99,” for Service Employees International Union Local 99. United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz wore a tie-dyed T-shirt that read “Solidarity LA.”
And then there was Maria Nichols, who looked like the school principal she once was.
Shiny black shoes. Black slacks. Light makeup. Tight smile. The only flash of color was her green V-neck union T-shirt, the logo peeking out of a black blazer.
Arias and Myart-Cruz gave impassioned speeches hailing the last-minute deals, which still need to be approved by union members and the school board. Nichols, who leads the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters Local 2010, started with a joke about her mere year and 10 months as a union leader.
“I’m the new kid on the block,” the 60-year-old said. “But we made a commitment. It’s not about equality, it’s about equity. … We are all better today for our collective work.”
AALA’s tentative contract calls for raises of more than 11% for the LAUSD’s 3,000 principals, assistant principals and middle managers — a lower percentage increase than SEIU’s 24% and UTLA’s 14%. But the contract also secured a 40-hour week with flex time off for extra hours, addressing long-standing complaints about grueling schedules.
On top of all that, Nichols has led her members into a new era.
“For a long time, principals have been perceived” as a class apart from other school employees, Arias said at the City Hall news conference Tuesday.
Not only are they many workers’ bosses, but with median salaries of $160,139 for elementary schools and $174,628 for higher grades, they make a lot more money. When UTLA went on strike in 2019, AALA stayed on the job.
This time, AALA and the other two unions vowed to all go on strike together if any one of them failed to get a contract.
“So them coming in,” Arias continued, “really shows our members that it is important to start figuring out how we work in solidarity.”
Nichols “called us and said, ‘I know that you guys have already been rolling, but I want to join in,’” Myart-Cruz added. “Having the leadership to be able to articulate that message to her administrators is a great thing. Solidarity is a great thing, but we now have unity.”
“I may be the new kid on the block,” Nichols told me afterward with a grin, “but I’ve been fighting for better schools for 42 years.”
We met a few days later at AALA’s Echo Park office.
“Excuse the mess,” Nichols cracked as we walked to her corner suite. She now wore a bright red pantsuit, union pins on her lapel. Hundreds of signs reading “Enough is Enough” leaned upside down against desks and cabinets. Chips, water and other snacks were piled inside collapsible carts.
“This was all going to be used for the strike,” she said. “You know what they say — expect the best but prepare for the worst.”
AALA /Teamsters 2010 President Maria Nichols hugs UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz during a news conference announcing a tentative agreement between LAUSD and the unions representing teachers, principals and workers at City Hall in Los Angeles on April 14, 2026. Above them is SEIU Local 99 President Max Arias.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A breakfast of blueberries and yogurt sat untouched as Nichols recounted her life story. She moved to Los Angeles at age 5 from her native Peru to join parents who left after a military coup. A star volleyball setter at Fairfax High, she gave up a University of Arizona scholarship her freshman year after breaking her wrist and finding it “too hard to watch the games and not be involved.”
Back home, she joined LAUSD as a bilingual teacher’s assistant while pursuing a degree in physical therapy at Cal State Northridge. Thanks to a succession of bosses she called “angels,” she stayed in public education. She worked in San Fernando Valley elementary schools as an assistant, a teacher and an assistant principal before a decade-long run as principal at Vena Avenue Elementary in Arleta, which was designated a California Distinguished School during her tenure.
That led to a promotion as a regional director for Valley schools, a job she loved despite the difficulties of shrinking budgets and enrollment. Nichols credited then-LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner with granting autonomy to principals in the district.
“We were all administrators from the field that had served time in this district and gone up the ranks,” she said. “That disappeared with [current Supt. Alberto] Carvalho. Gone. Gone.”
She pointed to a flow chart on the wall, titled “Ready for the World,” that Carvalho’s team distributed after he arrived in 2022. He brought in his own people instead of empowering existing administrators, she said.
“It’s a great plan,” Nichols said with no sarcasm while reading its goals aloud. “Because that is what we want. But we don’t invest in staff because we have a shortage. … We can’t have joy and wellness if your people are drying on the vine because they’re exhausted.”
Friction between principals and teachers over budgets and educational strategies increased. Frustrated, Nichols attended her first AALA meeting about two years ago.
“There were like 20 people there. And I thought, ‘This is it? This is where we are?’” she recalled.
Some principals urged her to run against the union’s incumbent president. One of them was Kathie Galan-Jaramillo, whom Nichols had hired to lead Sylmar Leadership Academy.
“Our union was very small, and it was very difficult for us to stand for what we believe in,” Galan-Jaramillo said. “But Maria knew all of the things and hurdles that we [administrators] had to do and go through, and the expectations.”
To prepare for negotiating a new contract, Nichols studied the existing one.
“It was so weak. The language was so antiquated,” she remembered thinking, especially when it came to making sure members weren’t being overworked. “And then I looked at UTLA’s contract and I said, ‘Holy crap. No wonder they get everything.’”
At the end of 2024, 85% of AALA members approved a Nichols-backed merger with Teamsters 2010, which represents higher education workers in California, to shore up their resources and try a different, tougher mindset.
“She has what’s lacking among many leaders — she has the judgment and humility to say, ‘I have things to learn and I’m up to it,’” said Teamsters 2010 Secretary-Treasurer Jason Rabinowitz, who sat with Nichols in contract negotiations. “And she’s a learner and quick study. That’s not always easy to do, because labor leaders have ego.”
After contract talks hit an impasse in February, Nichols reached out to Arias and Myart-Cruz to share research and strategy. They sold her on a united front. But initially, not all AALA members embraced the move, with some questioning why the union would still strike after getting a new contract.
“I was getting a lot of push back from members — ‘But if we get a TA [temporary agreement], why would we strike?” Nichols said. “But it wasn’t about the TA anymore. It was about the coalition. It was about sticking together. It was about power and unity. … My folks were not used to that.”
Nichols expects that AALA members will ratify the agreement.
“We’ll be done, and in May, we [Arias and Myart-Cruz] will go out and have some dinner, and, you know, adult beverages,” she said with a loud laugh.
Maria Nichols, head of the LAUSD principals union, AALA/Teamsters 2010, at her AALA office in Echo Park.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Then comes what she describes as the new alliance’s “heavy lies the crown” moment.
LAUSD plans to bankroll the contracts with money from Sacramento that may or may not come through, even as it plans to cut more than 600 jobs and school enrollment keeps dropping. SEIU’s new contract includes extra hours for members — who include custodians, bus drivers and cafeteria workers — so they can qualify for health benefits, Nichols pointed out.
“They deserve it,” she said, citing her respect for them because her father was a dishwasher and her mother cleaned houses. “But that impact of health benefits, it’s going to be directed at school budgets. OK, great. We got all of these wins, but how is that going to impact our budget at schools? Where’s the money going to come from?”
But these were issues for another day.
The conference room table was now covered in stacks of the same green T-shirt Nichols had worn at City Hall.
“We were going to give them out during the strike,” she said as her staff busied for a flurry of meetings. “But we’ll still give them out. We’ve got a job to do.”
BRITS wishing to travel to a major American city have been dealt a blow as a budget airline announced it is grounding all flights to the destination.
Norse Atlantic is axing its flights from London Gatwick to Los Angeles.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
Norse Atlantic has cancelled its flights between London Gatwick and Los AngelesCredit: Alamy
The decision comes as the Iran War continues to impact fuel prices.
Norse only introduced the route between the UK and American city back in June 2023 and at that time operated seven flights per week from London Gatwick to Los Angeles.
The airline had planned to operate six flights per week for the peak summer months.
However, the flight route – due to start next month – will be cancelled for the entire season until October.
And it isn’t just Brits that will impacted as the airline is also stopping its routes to Los Angeles from Rome in Italy and Paris Charles de Gaulle in France.
The announcement means that Norse will only have four long-haul routes this summer, including London Gatwick to New York and London Gatwick to Orlando.
According to Travel Gossip, a spokesperson said: “Due to the continued increase in fuel constraint risks, fuel prices, and the resulting impact on our operating costs, we have had to make the difficult decision to suspend our LAX operations this summer, May to October.
“All affected customers will be proactively notified by Norse Atlantic Airways today where contact details are available.
“We sincerely apologise, but as a consequence of this fuel crisis, it is our responsibility to ensure we make this decision to maintain a sustainable airline for our passengers and colleagues.”
The news follows a number of other airlines making decisions to axe flights and increase fare prices as a result of the ongoing fuel crisis caused by the Iran war.
Yesterday, KLM announced that they were axing 160 flights across Europe over the next month due to the fuel crisis.
These include services to and from London.
The cancellations will impact flights travelling to and from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.
However, the airline has said that they currently do not have a shortage of jet fuel.
A KLM spokesperson said: “Passengers affected by these changes will be rebooked onto the next available flight.
The news follows a number of airlines axing flights due to the ongoing fuel crisis caused by the Iran WarCredit: Alamy
“As these are destinations KLM serves multiple times a day, such as London and Düsseldorf, travellers can usually be accommodated quickly.
“KLM expects a busy May holiday period and is making sure passengers can travel to their holiday destinations as planned.”
This week, Lufthansa also announced that its subsidiary airline CityLine is to cease operations due to both the Iran war and ongoing strike action.
The airline – which operates some flights to and from the UK including Frankfurt and Munich – will be grounding 27 aircraft from April 18.
Lufthansa’s main airline will be grounding four Airbus jets and two Boeing jets for good, by the end of the summer as well.
The testimony from Russell Vought jump-starts the White House’s push to increase defense spending to nearly $1.5 trillion in the next budget year, up from nearly $1 trillion this year, while cutting health research, heating assistance and scores of other domestic programs by about 10% overall. Such cuts do not cover mandatory spending, which includes such programs as Social Security and Medicare.
The debate over Trump’s proposal underscored the sharp divide that will shape some of the most significant policy debates going into a midterm election that will give voters the ultimate say on the direction of the country.
“For the industrial base to double or triple and build more facilities, not just add shifts, it requires multiyear agreements to purchase into the future,” Vought told lawmakers. “That cost has to be booked in this first year.”
The White House is calling for about $1.1 trillion for defense through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval. An additional $350 billion would come through a separate bill that Republicans can accomplish on their own, through party-line majority votes.
Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democratic member of the committee, said he believes in a strong national defense. But he said the idea of increasing defense by more than 40% while cutting programs that people need shows that the Republican administration’s priorities are “out of whack.”
The committee chairman, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), predicted the hearing would be more “amped up” than usual, and that proved to be true, beginning with his opening statement focused on criticizing Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Arrington said he did not know of any president in his lifetime who “inherited such a complete and utter mess as President Trump did in January of last year.”
Since then, Arrington said, Trump has secured the border, cut taxes and constrained nondefense spending.
It was the beginning of several back-and-forths at the hearing.
“You know how bad this economy is when we hear Joe Biden being invoked, we hear trans people being invoked. I was waiting for Jimmy Carter to be blamed next,” Boyle said in response to Arrington’s opening remarks.
Boyle said consumer confidence is plummeting under Trump and noted a gas station he passed in Philadelphia recently was selling gas at $4.11 a gallon versus less than $3 a gallon some six weeks ago because of Trump’s “war of choice in Iran.”
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) called the proposed defense spending increase shocking.
“We’ve never in the history of this country seen spending like this, paid for by slashing healthcare, education and housing,” Balint said. “Mr. Vought, yes or no, is $350 billion for the war in Iran lowering costs for Americans?”
“It is certainly not defunding child care. We fully fund child care in this budget,” Vought said, not directly answering the question.
Balint went on to incorporate Trump’s “America first” mantra in her questioning.
She said that $350 billion could pay for an enhanced health insurance tax credit for 10 years and that her constituents are asking how the country can continue to spend money on wars and not find a solution to helping people afford healthcare.
Vought said the president has made clear he was not going to let Iran have nuclear weapons, missiles and a navy that affect U.S. national security.
“He is doing what is necessary to keep us safe, while at the same time trying to pursue diplomacy so that we can get out of wars and lower those costs over time,” Vought said.
Vought said it was unclear how much the administration would seek to fund the war during the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30. That money would be part of an emergency supplemental spending bill and would be on top of the funds the White House is seeking to boost defense spending next year.
“Would it be more than $50 billion?” asked Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).
“We’re still working on it,” Vought said. “I don’t have a ballpark for you.”
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday faced federal lawmakers for the first time since September as he sought to defend a more than 12% proposed cut to his department’s budget and dodge arrows from angry Democrats along the way.
In his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, kicking off an expected sprint of seven budget hearings he’ll attend across congressional committees and subcommittees over the next week, Kennedy emphasized the administration’s work to reform dietary guidelines and crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.
Republicans on the committee praised Kennedy as a “breath of fresh air” and asked him to promote his department’s recent actions. Democrats, who have been furious over Kennedy’s sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, largely had a different agenda.
They needled Kennedy on what they viewed as the Trump administration’s hypocrisy on fraud, demanded to know why he was cutting budgets for various programs and slammed his efforts to pull back vaccine recommendations and messaging, which they said have caused unnecessary deaths.
Kennedy fired back, often raising his voice as he accused the Democrats of misrepresenting his work and past statements.
Here are three standout moments from Thursday’s hearing:
A standoff over measles
One heated exchange early in the hearing came between Kennedy and Rep. Linda Sanchez. The California Democrat decried recent measles outbreaks across the U.S. and asked Kennedy to answer for the fact that under his leadership, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulled back public health messaging supporting vaccination.
“As a mother, this horrifies me,” Sanchez said. “Did President Trump approve your decision to end CDC’s pro-vaccine public messaging campaign?”
Kennedy repeatedly refused to answer, saying first he wanted to respond to the “misstatements that you’ve made” and later praising the Trump administration’s record on preventing measles, although protections against the disease have eroded in some parts of the country as vaccination rates have dropped.
“That’s not answering my question,” Sanchez said as the two talked over each other.
But Sanchez also got Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before he entered politics, to acknowledge that a 6-year-old who died of measles last year in West Texas could have potentially been saved with vaccination.
“Do you agree with the majority of doctors that the measles vaccine could have saved that child’s life in Texas?” she asked.
“It’s possible, certainly,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. denies talking about Black children being ‘re-parented’
A fight erupted between Kennedy and Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama, when Kennedy vehemently denied making remarks he’d said in 2024.
The comments dated back to when Kennedy was a presidential candidate. On the “High Level Conversations” podcast last July, he said, “Psychiatric drugs — which every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence, and those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get re-parented to live in a community where there’ll be no cellphones, no screens, you’ll actually have to talk to people.”
“Have you ever re-parented, or parented, I should say, a Black child?” Sewell asked, as her staff held up a poster featuring an abbreviated version of the quote.
“I don’t even know what that phrase means,” Kennedy said. “I’m not going to answer something I didn’t say.”
“You’re making stuff up,” he later claimed.
A recording of the podcast shows he made the comments during a conversation about free rehabilitation facilities he was proposing opening at the time in rural areas around the country.
Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Kennedy before joining the administration was referring to spaces where young people facing alienation, mental health challenges and despair could get re-parented, which she said was a psychotherapy term for “developing the emotional regulation, discipline, boundaries, and self-worth that may not have been established in childhood.”
For Kennedy and his former party, civility is the exception
Kennedy spent most of his life as a Democrat, the scion of one of the nation’s most famous political families. Both Republicans and Democrats during the hearing began their remarks by expressing their admiration of Kennedy’s relatives, among them former President John F. Kennedy.
But again and again throughout Thursday’s hearing, the fraying of bonds between Kennedy and his former party was on full display as spiteful comments were passed back and forth.
The Health secretary grew defensive and visibly agitated. He repeatedly criticized Democratic lawmakers for not giving him a word in edgewise.
“They’ve all shut me up,” Kennedy said at one point. “They give a little speech that they can go and market, you know, for fundraising, and they don’t allow me to answer the question.”
On a few rare occasions, the exchanges were civil. One representative, Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, used humor to make that happen.
“I promise to give you easy, comfortable questions if you don’t yell at me and hurt my feelings,” she told Kennedy. He promised he wouldn’t.
L.A. County officials want to put $2.7 million toward beefing up the team of people investigating fraud within a deluge of recent sex abuse lawsuits, suggesting a broadening probe at the district attorney’s office.
The funding allocation, part of the county’s $48.8-billion budget proposal unveiled Monday, would bring on 10 new people to the small team prosecuting alleged fraud within the county’s historic $4-billion sex abuse settlement. L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced the probe last November following a Times investigation that found nine people who said they were paid to sue.
The county has agreed to pay billions to settle more than 11,000 claims of sex abuse in juvenile halls and foster homes, a flood of lawsuits spurred by a 2020 law changing the statute of limitations. Since those settlements, more than 5,000 new lawsuits have been filed with an average of 150 new claims coming in per month, according to the county, raising the prospect of future costly payouts.
Acting Chief Executive Joseph Nicchitta said Monday the new filings would continue to be an “anchor” around the county’s finances.
“It is something that’s going to weigh on us going forward,” he said at a news conference announcing the new spending plan.
Hochman said in a statement that the investigation was a priority for his office and the money would be used to “pursue every credible lead and hold fraudsters accountable.”
“It is our pledge to the real survivors of childhood sexual abuse that we will root out and prosecute those who manufactured false claims and profited or tried to profit from those lies,” Hochman said. “As for those who filed fraudulent claims of sex abuse, the time is growing short for you to turn yourselves in before you are arrested, prosecuted and punished.”
Nicchitta made a pitch for legislative change, noting the county was looking to Sacramento to “eliminate loopholes allowing abusive practices by attorneys that inject weak and potentially fraudulent claims into settlement pools.”
“These reforms that we are seeking are anti-fraud,” said Nicchitta. “They are not anti-survivor.”
The payouts are yet another cloud looming over the budget proposal, along with rising labor costs and federal funding cuts. The recommended budget represents a 7% decrease in spending compared to the current plan.
But Nicchitta said Monday it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with the county managing to stave off layoffs and program cuts.
The upcoming budget proposal, he said, represented the calm before the next big wave of potential rollbacks.
“Remember, we’re in the eye of the hurricane,” he said.
The budget forecast was notably rosier than last year’s, in which the county was saddled with $2 billion in new wildfire costs and had made the first round of slashes to finance the sex abuse payouts. The county froze hiring at the time and made most departments shrink their budgets by 3%.
Those cuts, Nicchitta said, went deep enough that they can avoid major slashes this upcoming fiscal year, though he warned the fallout from the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will soon wreak fresh havoc on the county’s finances. Health officials say they expect more than $2 billion to be cut from the budget for health services over the next three years.
Costs from wildfire will also continue to weigh on the county’s coffers. Officials say the federal government has yet to respond to a February request for rebuilding aid. Nicchitta said he was “optimistic” the money would soon be made available.
Growth from property taxes has given the county a small new pot of funds, which will be used largely to pay for increased salaries for county workers. An additional $12 million will go to public defenders, who say they’re buckling under untenably heavy caseloads, while the Office of Emergency Management will get roughly $10 million to add 44 positions, according to the proposal.
The office, which is responsible for coordinating during emergencies, was under scrutiny following the alert failures of the Eaton fire, and officials had promised in the aftermath to revamp the small office.
The supervisors will be briefed on the budget plan Tuesday.
Libya shows it is ‘capable of overcoming its differences’ with rare budget deal, central bank says.
Published On 11 Apr 202611 Apr 2026
Libya’s rival legislative bodies have approved a unified state budget for the first time in more than a decade, in a rare moment of cooperation in a country fractured by years of conflict.
The Central Bank of Libya confirmed on Saturday that both chambers had endorsed the budget, describing the move as a step towards restoring financial stability after prolonged division.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Governor Naji Issa said the agreement showed the country could overcome internal rifts.
“This is a clear declaration that Libya is capable of overcoming its differences when a unified vision for its future is forged,” he said during a signing ceremony in Tripoli.
Libya has remained split since the 2014 civil war, which created rival administrations in the east and west. The last time the country operated under a single national budget was in 2013.
The deal brings together the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) and the Tripoli-based High Council of State, two institutions that have long competed for authority.
Representatives from both sides signed the agreement in the capital, where the internationally recognised Government of National Unity is based under Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
Despite the breakthrough, political divisions remain entrenched. In the east, forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar maintain control over large parts of the country, including key oil-producing regions.
His self-styled Libyan National Army dominates major export terminals along the northeastern coast, as well as significant oil fields in the south and southeast.
The timing of the agreement underscores Libya’s growing importance in global energy markets. Demand for its crude has increased amid disruptions linked to the Israel-US war on Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Libya’s geographic position offers a critical advantage. Oil shipments from its ports reach European refineries quickly and avoid the risks associated with Gulf routes, including military escorts and high insurance costs.
Its light, sweet crude also meets the needs of European refiners facing ongoing supply challenges.
Previous attempts to stabilise Libya’s energy sector have relied on informal arrangements rather than institutional agreements. In 2022, during another period of energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine, key figures from rival factions struck a deal to keep oil flowing.
The new budget agreement signals a shift towards more formal cooperation, even as Libya’s political fragmentation persists.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The rollout of the Trump administration’s defense budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year is underway, with approximately $1.5 trillion in total funding being requested. This is a whopping $445 billionabove what the U.S. military has received for the current fiscal cycle. That is a more than 40 percent year-over-year increase, which includes major planned boosts for aircraft, munitions, missile defense, shipbuilding, and other programs.
The US Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation fighter, renders of which are seen here and at the top of this story, is one of the big winners in the proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year. USAF
“The Budget builds upon the historic $1 trillion overall Defense topline for 2026,” according to an OMB fact sheet. “The mandatory funding protects key priorities such as providing flexibility in maturing technology for delivery and allowing for acquisition approaches for portfolios of capabilities that broaden opportunities for new entrants.”
It should be noted that the Pentagon has yet to release more granular documents for its Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, which often contain important additional context and nuance.
Still, there are already many significant takeaways about the proposed defense budget for the next fiscal cycle, which we will dive into below.
Aircraft
Renderings that Northrop Grumman (left) and Boeing (right) have released of their competing F/A-XX designs. Northrop Grumman/Boeing
The latest budget request includes major Air Force funding related to Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, including nearly $1 billion in procurement money to actually begin buying them.
There is also $822 million in a separate procurement line for “Collaborative Combat Aircraft Mods,” terminology that typically refers to planned upgrades and other work on tangential capabilities.
The proposed budget includes almost $1.4 billion more for continued CCA research and development, as well.
Pictures of the YFQ-42A (at top) and YFQ-44A (at bottom) undergoing flight testing. GA-ASI/USAF courtesy photo
The budget documents appear to show a year-over-year cut of more than $4.2 billion to the B-21 Raider bomber procurement account, but the reasons for this are unclear. How many B-21s the Air Force has ordered to date and what the current estimated unit cost of the aircraft is are unknown. In February, the Air Force announced plans to accelerate B-21 production, which may be further bolstered by the opening of a second production line, and said its target fleet size of at least 100 bombers remained unchanged.
The Fiscal Year 2027 request for additional research and development funding through the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) program account is largely unchanged from last year ($2.86 billion compared to $2.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2026).
B-21 Takeoff and Landing
A view of the F-35 production line. Lockheed Martin
The Air Force is also seeking funding for another 24 F-15EX Eagle II fighters, but there are no details as yet about whether there may be any new changes to the planned total fleet size for those aircraft.
There are no requested funds for research and development or procurement related to the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft for the Air Force. Congress blocked a plan the Pentagon and the Air Force put forward last year to cancel the E-7 program and purchase more of the E-2D Hawkeye radar planes flown by the Navy in the interim, ahead of the fielding of future space-based capabilities, as you can read more about here.
A rendering depicting an E-7 Wedgetail in US Air Force service. USAF
A previous budget line for the Air Force’s Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS) effort, which has been exploring stealthy tankers and other future aerial refueling capabilities, is notably closed out in the Fiscal Year 2027 proposal. Just over $13 million is included in what appears to be a new line for Advanced Tanker Systems, though how this relates to prior work on NGAS is unclear.
The Army is seeking $2.14 billion for continued research and development of its new MV-75A tiltrotor, also known as the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), a roughly $610 million year-over-year increase. The Army is currently rushing the type into operation on a very truncated timeline.
A rendering of a pair of MV-75A tiltrotors. Bell
Munitions
The LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program’s engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) budget is cut by around $300 million in the new proposed spending plan. As of February, Sentinel was still in the midst of a years-long restructuring effort after suffering huge cost overruns and delays.
A rendering of an LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM. Northrop Grumman
The Air Force and Navy are collectively asking for nearly $2.94 billion in procurement funds for new AIM-260 air-to-air missiles, also known as Joint Advanced Tactical Missiles (JATM), up from $894 million in Fiscal Year 2026. This is a sign the missile is entering full production.
The service is also requesting $452 million to procure AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapons (ARRW), on top of just over $362 million received last year. ARRW is another hypersonic weapon that the Air Force had previously said it planned to cancel amid an initially checked test record.
A live AGM-183A missile under the wing of a B-52 bomber ahead of a test. USAF
The proposed defense budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year includes notable increases in the procurement of various other missiles and munitions already in service.
The Army is notably seeking funding to boost year-over-year purchases of Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles from 108 to 1,134. PrSM made its combat debut in recent operations against Iran.
A PrSM missile is seen here being fired at an Iranian target during Operation Epic Fury. CENTCOM
Shipbuilding
The Navy is requesting approximately $65.8 billion to procure 34 ships in Fiscal Year 2027. This is the largest shipbuilding budget, when adjusted for inflation, since 1962, according to USNI News.
This includes 18 so-called “Battle Force” ships, as well as 16 other vessels. In Navy parlance, the Battle Force refers collectively to the service’s fleets of aircraft carriers, submarines, major surface combatants, and amphibious warfare ships, as well as combat logistics vessels and some other types of auxiliaries.
On the surface warfare front, funds for an Arleigh Burke class destroyer and the first new FF(X) frigate are included in the proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year.
A rendering of the Navy’s future FF(X) frigate. USNThe Navy’s Medium Landing Ships will be based on the LST-100 from Dutch shipbuilder Damen, a rendering of which is seen here. DamenA rendering of the Trump class battleship. USN
Golden Dome and the push toward space
The Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal includes $17.5 billion in new funding for the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. Golden Dome is a very large effort with many different components, including planned new sensor architectures and space-based interceptors. The Missile Defense Agency has already established a contracting mechanism with a pool of more than 1,000 vendors to support work related to Golden Dome.
Lockheed Martin
The Space Force is a bigger winner in the new budget proposal, overall, with its topline rising nearly 80 percent, year-over-year, from $40 billion to $71.2 billion.
The Space Force’s 2027 Fiscal Year budget request includes a new procurement line for Space-Based Air Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) capability, for which the service is seeking more than $7 billion.
Space-based AMTI and GMTI sensor systems are chief among the surveillance capabilities the U.S. military wants to increasingly push into orbit, as you can read more about here. Historically, AMTI and GMTI coverage has been provided by aircraft, and space-based developments factor directly into the aforementioned discussion about the future of the E-7 Wedgetail.
There is also an all-new procurement line item requesting $1.56 billion for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications (SATCOM).
It should be stressed here that the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request is just that. Members of Congress routinely intercede to add or remove funding for different programs, and it typically takes months for an annual defense spending plan to be passed and signed into law, and then even more time for money to be appropriated to pay for it. In addition, this latest proposed defense budget relies heavily on legislators signing off on additional funds through the reconciliation process.
The Trump administration is expected to also make a separate request for billions more in supplemental funding related to operations against Iran, including to restock key munitions. Officials originally expected to seek $200 billion for that purpose, but more recent reports say that figure could now be down to between $80 and $100 billion.
As already noted, our understanding just of different aspects of the defense budget proposal for the 2027 Fiscal Year itself will evolve in the coming weeks as more granular details are released.
Still, the $1.5 trillion defense spending plan the Trump administration has put forward already sets an important tone as it seeks to substantially increase funding for a host of key programs. At the same time, its unprecedented size could present challenges to getting it approved.
WHITE sand beaches, enormous castles, and peaceful canals – no I’m not describing France or Spain or Portugal as you can find all of this in the UK without spending much money.
Sometimes we Brits don’t appreciate what we have on our doorstep, and let’s face it, exploring the country can be costly – but here are some truly bucket list spots that you can see on a budget.
Sign up for the Travel newsletter
Thank you!
You can see lots of what the UK has to offer on a budget – like walking along the coastCredit: AlamyThe new coastal path makes exploring paths around the seaside easy to navigateCredit: Alamy
Richard Madden has been exploring the country on foot, by rail, road even boat for his new book Great British Journeys – and has given Sun Travel an insight into his favourite finds.
Richard says: “Obviously travelling on a budget depends where you start from – but walking, whether it’s on the coast or in the countryside is free.”
By foot
He started by saying: “I was brought up around the Lizard Peninsula, and here are some incredible places to walk to, like Kynance Cove.
“In Sussex, my most favourite walk is along Seven Sisters which is spectacular with Cuckmere Haven, where the estuary meets the sea.
On the fastest services, the full length of the journey takes around 1hr38 and one-way tickets can cost as little as £7.70.
Richard says: “That whole line is beautiful with coastal views and castles.
“You don’t even have to do the whole thing – just go on a couple of stops like to Alnmouth, or go further up and you’ll pass Dunstanburgh Castle.”
On the full stretch of the line, passengers will also see the Tyne Bridge, Lindisfarne Castle, the Edinburgh skyline and Firth of Forth.
Further south, another popular route is onboard the Bluebell Line which is just around the corner from National Trust‘s Sheffield Park.
Tickets for adults to board the heritage steam train start from £27 and when you book, check for children’s rates which are just £1 with their ‘kids for a quid’ offer.
The West Highland Line, also dubbed the ‘Hogwarts Express‘ is another incredibly scenic journey.
However if you’re on more of a budget but still want to get the views, hop on a public service line instead.
A ticket from Fort William to Mallaig which crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct, typically starts around £9.20.
You can cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct on a train for under £10Credit: Alamy
When exploring the UK – why not check into some of our favourite hotels?
*If you click on a link in this box, we will earn affiliate revenue
Margate House, Kent
This stylish boutique hotel is in a seaside townhouse, a short walk from Margate’s coolest bars and restaurants. Decked out with plush velvet sofas, flickering candles and striking independent art, inside feels like a warm welcome home. Rooms are stunning, especially the ones that give you a glimpse of the sea.
The Alan looks extremely grand, built into a beautiful Grade II listed building. Spread across six floors, with 137 rooms, each one looks like a fancy design magazine. From the concrete coffee tables to the pink plastered walls, the industrial-inspired designs perfectly replicate the history of the city.
This historic hotel has welcomed the likes of Charles Dickens and Lillie Langtry through its doors. Rooms have richly-patterned carpets with super soft bed linen and premium toiletries in the bathroom. Go for a superior room for extra goodies including bathrobes and snack boxes.
This Cambridge hotel is in the ideal spot, within walking distance to bars, shops and hotspots like the university colleges and Parker’s Piece. The inside couldn’t be prettier, with huge stained glass windows, grand chandeliers, and rooms with enormous clawfoot bath tubs.
Waterways and canal boating are a fun way to see the countryCredit: Alamy
By Boat
To explore the country, most of us will hop into the car, but Britain is so well connected through its waterways.
Richard is no stranger to canal boating and reveals some of his favourite journeys to do around the country.
He says: “The Shropshire Union Canal is one I’ve done on quite a few occasions.
“That one goes to Cheshire, and you get these fantastic views of the Roman walls, so it’s a particularly good one.
“Another that I’ve done quite a few times is the River Wye, on the border of Wales.
“It’s Wordsworth country and it’s got incredibly beautiful surroundings in that area like Tintern Abbey which go past on the water.
“To make it better, there are lots of pubs along riversides, so you can moor up and go in.”
One very famous waterways spot is the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, where you’ll find the Bingley Five Rise Locks.
Renting a 6-berth narrowboat for a week generally costs between £900 and £1,500.
If you split that between a group of six, it can work out as little as £21pppn – but this varies depending on the season.
Richard also has some top tips for those planning a staycation or day trip around the UK to reduce the costs.
He says: “My key tip is to work it all out beforehand – the further you book in advance, the cheaper things will be.
“Go through your options as well, like how you’ll travel there and if it’s cheaper to take the bus, or if it’s worth going by train than by car.
“You can consider options like camping to keep costs down, but I would say it’s only worth doing that if you enjoy it – don’t if you’re not going to have a good time.
“There are so many different landscapes in the UK and generally, you don’t have to go far to see them.”
Great British Journeys by Richard Madden (National Trust Books, £14.99) is out on April 9.
Richard has travelled across the country finding some gems that you can see on a budgetCredit: Richard Madden
SACRAMENTO — Attempting to force a state budget agreement, California Controller Kathleen Connell said Monday she is considering withholding lawmakers’ salaries, and cannot pay 35,000 state employees if the Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson fail to approve a budget by Saturday’s constitutional deadline.
Without a budget, Connell said, she also will have no choice but to delay payments of some Medi-Cal bills, such as prescriptions, for elderly people–a step that would add pressure on lawmakers to approve a spending plan.
Under the state Constitution, California must have a new budget by the July 1 start of the 1995-1996 fiscal year. But Wilson and the Legislature remain far apart and seem to be in no rush to approve a budget.
In recent years, it has become common for the deadline to pass without a budget. In 1992, the state went more than 60 days without a budget, leading state government to pay its employees and vendors with IOUs.
Connell, who is in her first year in office and who issues the checks for the state, said California has the cash to pay its bills. However, without agreement on a budget measure authorizing state spending in the new fiscal year, Connell said she will have no choice but to delay paying vendors, some medical bills for the elderly, the blind and the disabled, and as many as 35,000 state employees, including management officials.
“I don’t think any taxpayer is going to be sympathetic to the idea that we have the cash but are not paying our bills,” said Connell, a Democrat.
Connell last week suggested that she would withhold lawmakers’ pay starting July 1 if they had not approved a budget by the deadline. But she softened her position after concluding that there may be a constitutional requirement that she issue their checks. However, Connell said she is still studying the question.
“I’m raising a moral issue here,” Connell said after a speech in Sacramento. “If there are [state] employees who are not going to be paid because we have partisan politics dominating the Legislature, then there has to be a question of who else should accept responsibility.”
In the Legislature, the Senate-Assembly budget conference committee met Monday afternoon. But Wilson and top legislative leaders have not scheduled budget talks to resolve differences.
Wilson has proposed a $56-billion budget that includes deep welfare cuts and requires 10% increases in state college and university tuition. Wilson also is pushing for a 15% income tax cut over three years–an idea opposed by many Democrats.
“We fully expect to have a budget in the month of July,” Wilson spokesman Paul Kranhold said. “We are hopeful that the Legislature will forward us a budget by Saturday, or soon afterward.”
The amount separating Democrats and Republicans is relatively small–$1.8 billion–compared to other years of the Wilson Administration, when the gap between Wilson’s proposals and what the Legislature proposed ranged from $5 billion to $14 billion. But rancor is so dividing the Assembly this year that partisans in the budget fight have yet to take the first steps toward a solution.
“It can happen by Saturday,” said Assembly Republican Leader Jim Brulte. “There is no reason that it couldn’t or shouldn’t happen by Saturday. But I don’t know if it will.”
Past court orders require that, even without a budget, the state pay to keep schools open and issue checks to welfare recipients. The state also will continue to meet its bond debt and pension payments, Connell said.
But starting Saturday, Connell said, the state will not pay vendors who perform various services for the state, or deliver goods to state prisons and state hospitals. Without a budget, she said, state agencies that lease space will be unable to pay rent and cannot pay utility bills. Payments for services such as nursing home care or food deliveries to prisons would be delayed until a budget is approved.
“The effect of having no budget begins immediately. It begins on July 1, and the damage will grow with each day,” Connell said.
If the state goes without a budget through July, the missed payments would total at least $360 million for Medi-Cal and state assistance to counties to operate trial courts. The total for employees was not known.
Unlike 1992, the last time there was a lengthy budget deadlock, the state cannot use IOUs to pay its workers who fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
A federal judge, acting on a lawsuit brought by state employees, ruled last year that the state acted illegally in 1992 by issuing the IOUs, and that roughly 120,000 workers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid even if there is no budget.
But between 33,000 and 35,000 state workers are not covered by the act, raising the possibility that they will not be paid on time for work done after July 1.
The employees whose pay is in jeopardy include Wilson’s political appointees, and heads of departments and middle-level managers. Professionals such as deputy attorneys general and state physicians and dentists also may have their paychecks delayed. An aide to Connell said the controller’s office is reviewing the law to determine whether judges and other judicial officials can be paid.
The first state employees to miss a paycheck would be in the Department of Transportation, where 50 management employees would miss July 15 paychecks for work done after July 1.
Gov. Pete Wilson has criticized the commission’s findings, and Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Feinstein have urged the President to throw out the panel’s work entirely. Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento), whose district includes the threatened Air Force base, wants Clinton to send the report back and ask the commission to redraft it without the McClellan closure recommendation.
