challenge

On the walls of one of the hospitality lounges at the Affidea Stadium there are pictures of Ulster’s storied history.

The two that stand out contain teams celebrating silverware.

The European Cup win in 1999 remains the most famous day for the Irish province.

The other was the Celtic League triumph in 2006, but there has not been an addition to the honours board at Ravenhill for 20 years now.

Ulster have an opportunity to change that as they face Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao on Friday.

Richie Murphy’s side head into the game off the back of a disappointing end to their United Rugby Championship campaign, as they finished just outside the play-off places in ninth.

But the slate was wiped clean after a review on Monday and, for head coach Richie Murphy, the chance to win a trophy and join the heroes of years gone by on the walls of the Nine Counties lounge is something “we want to embrace”.

“We want to try and achieve what they’ve achieved,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“You know, the guys don’t shy away from the task that’s in hand, but also the dream of coming back here with a trophy in the early hours of Saturday morning. You know, that’s, you know, You can’t just dream. You’ve got to have a plan.

“You’ve got to make sure you work really hard in order to prepare to be at your best. And that’s what we’re going at.

“The guys are looking around and seeing the history on the walls, and they’d love to be a part of that history.”

Things took an emotional turn on ITV’s This Morning as Olly Murs admitted he’s ‘petrified’ ahead of his mammoth charity challenge

Olly Murs shared his fears before taking on the Soccer Aid UNICEF marathon.

Emotions were running high during the latest instalment of ITV’s This Morning, as 41-year-old singer Olly was interviewed before he set off on a five-day, 400km endurance challenge. Into The Unknown will see Olly travelling from Manchester’s Old Trafford to London Stadium, covering over 400km by running, rowing, and also cycling.

Appearing via video link from Old Trafford, Olly spoke to Jake Quickenden about the mammoth ordeal he has ahead of him. As This Morning presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley watched from the studio, Olly said: “I’m petrified, I am scared. I’m nervous, I’m excited.

“It’s here now. I’ve done the ten weeks of training, you know there’s so many people behind the cameras. There are lovely people here who have come down to see me.”

When asked which activity he’s most scared to do, Olly confessed that the idea of rowing solo is making him feel nervous.

Later in the chat, a video was shown to viewers explaining why the former Voice judge was chosen for the challenge, which aims to raise money for children affected by the war in Ukraine.

After seeing the footage, Olly fought back tears. He said: “It makes me feel really emotional actually and it makes me more determined to get out and raise as much money as you can,” he added: “All we want to do is keep our kids safe and imagine doing that with a war going on.”

Olly will run, row and cycle from Manchester’s Old Trafford, the birthplace of Soccer Aid, all the way to London Stadium in Stratford, which will host this year’s landmark match.

The gruelling five-day challenge will push him to his limits, with each stage bringing fresh physical and mental demands. From steep climbs and difficult terrain to daunting stretches on the water, it’s set to be one of the toughest tests he’s ever faced.

To add to the pressure, Olly won’t discover the route for each day until just before he begins, with the details revealed live on national radio.

With no chance to prepare ahead of time, every stage will come with a new surprise.

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.

TV star Bradley Walsh faces one of his fears in the latest episode of ITV’s Breaking Dad

Bradley Walsh pleads “I don’t want to” as he confronts his well-known fear of heights in the latest instalment of Breaking Dad.

The ITV programme follows The Chase presenter and his son Barney as they journey to various destinations, taking on a series of daunting challenges. Now in its seventh series, the pair have ventured Down Under to discover Australia, and in the forthcoming episode Bradley tackles a zipline high above the Blue Mountains while Barney urges him on.

In a preview clip, Bradley appears visibly terrified, gripping his rope tightly and breathing heavily, reports the Express.

“I really, really tell you, guys, I really don’t want to do this,” muttered the star, who has a well documented fear of heights.

“Dad, you can do it!” exclaims Barney, but the TV star insisted: “No, I can’t. I don’t want to do it Barns. Please don’t. Please don’t do none of that for me.”

“Well, you can do it, you can,” urged Barney, who is known for hosting TV hit Gladiators alongside his famous dad.

But Bradley said: “What did I just tell him? Didn’t I just tell him?”

“I really don’t want to, though,” he went on. “I really don’t want to do it.”

Nevertheless, he pressed ahead, beginning to edge his hands along the ropes while murmuring: “Please, God.”

With Barney shouting encouragement, yelling “you got it”, Bradley gradually made his way along the rope before reaching solid ground on the opposite side.

Yet when questioned about how he felt after completing the challenge, he appeared to let slip a swear word, confessing: “Awful.”

“You smashed it, you smashed it,” Barney insisted as an exhausted-looking Bradley caught his breath.

Breaking Dad first launched in 2019 and it is now in its seventh series.

The show’s latest run kicked off earlier in May, with the opening episode following the father and son duo as they touched down in Sydney. The pair took in iconic landmarks including Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, before braving a thrilling aerobatic flight and a nerve-shredding ride on an extreme, high-altitude cable car.

Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad airs on Friday May 8 at 7.30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

NEW YORK — Maine just sent a blunt message to the Democratic Party’s national leaders.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills was forced to abandon her U.S. Senate campaign last week, unable to generate sufficient fundraising or enthusiasm to compete against Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who has never served in elected office. The announcement marked a stinging defeat for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who recruited Mills to lead the party’s decades-long quest to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The swift eclipse of a two-term governor by a political neophyte highlighted a stark reality that has begun to take hold at a pivotal moment — Democratic voters are rejecting their party’s establishment and embracing new risks, even as their confidence grows that a blue wave is coming in November’s midterm elections.

Sometimes Democratic voters seem almost as angry at their own party’s aging, entrenched leadership as they are at President Trump.

“Rank-and-file Democrats don’t want the Democratic Party as we know it,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the Democratic resistance group Indivisible. “Rank-and-file Democrats want fighters.”

Local chapters of the group Indivisible, as well as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and other leaders from the party’s progressive wing had already lined up behind Platner, who is now almost certain to be the Democratic nominee in one of the party’s best Senate pickup opportunities in the nation.

Platner on Friday said he would continue to speak out against his party’s leadership, including Schumer (D-N.Y.), although he acknowledged that the two spoke privately the night before.

“The fact that we’ve been able to do all of this without the help of the establishment, it puts us in such an amazing position,” Platner said on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.” “My criticisms of the party leadership, my criticisms of the party, they have not changed, and I’ve been very vocal about that since the beginning. But we will absolutely take the help that we can get.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are giddy — and some moderate Democratic strategists are worried — that the anti-establishment shift may undermine the Democratic Party’s effort to win back control of Congress in November.

“Chuck Schumer has officially lost the first battle in his proxy war with Bernie Sanders,” said Bernadette Breslin, spokesperson for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm. “As Sanders hits the campaign trail to prop up progressives in messy Democrat primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, Schumer’s chances of getting his preferred candidates through look grim.”

Beyond Maine

Maine is far from alone.

Prominent anti-establishment clashes are playing out in high-profile Senate races in Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa, along with House races in several states.

Sanders, the country’s highest-profile democratic socialist, continues to promote Platner and other critics of the Democratic Party’s national leadership. The Vermont senator planned to campaign over the weekend in Detroit with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in a three-way Senate primary against Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

“There’s a desire to turn the page on the old guard,” Sanders’ political advisor Faiz Shakir said. “It’s not even just the Democratic electorate. There’s a populist mood in this country. You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

Indeed, McMorrow is actively working to remind voters that she would not support Schumer as Democrats’ Senate leader if given the chance.

“Frankly, I was the first person in this country to say no,” McMorrow said in a video she posted Thursday on social media. “It is a different moment. This is no longer a Republican Party we’re dealing with, it is a MAGA party that has been taken over by Trump loyalists. … You need to respond in a very different way.”

Veteran Democratic strategists like Lis Smith, who works with candidates across the country, tied the anti-establishment shift to the party’s painful losses in 2024, after President Biden abandoned his reelection bid and Vice President Kamala Harris went on to lose to Trump.

“After 2024, voters are sick of the gerontocracy, sick of the status quo, and Chuck Schumer has completely misread that,” Smith said.

Moderates are worried

Privately, Schumer’s allies downplay the impact of the anti-establishment backlash.

The Democratic leader’s preferred Senate picks in North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska haven’t faced the same challenges as Mills did in Maine. The four states represent the party’s most likely path to a majority in the chamber, which has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats.

Mills is the oldest of the candidates and, at 78, would have been the oldest freshman senator in history. She promised to serve one term if elected. Platner is 41.

Schumer’s team is unwilling to make any apologies for backing Mills over Platner.

“Leader Schumer’s North Star is taking back the Senate,” Schumer spokesperson Allison Biasotti said. “When no one thought a Senate majority was possible just a year ago, he made it a reality by recruiting great candidates across the country and laying out an agenda for lower costs and better lives for Americans.”

Some in the Democratic Party’s moderate wing are worried.

Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way, said that Platner’s emergence in Maine “without a doubt” will make it harder for Democrats to defeat Collins in November. He warns that it could be the same elsewhere if Democratic primary voters rally behind anti-establishment candidates.

“Our message is if you would like to beat Donald Trump’s Republicans, you better nominate people who can win,” Bennett said.

Peoples writes for the Associated Press.

Tiatia has been the architect of the upturn.

Normally his public persona is somebody who does not give much away but during the quarter-final win against Zebre in Italy, you saw a rare public image of him leading the celebrations.

“The huddle is a personal thing and it was great it was captured on screen, I was so proud of the players,” said Tiatia.

Former Wales fly-half James Hook played with Tiatia at Ospreys. Hook described him as “an animal on the field and your nan’s favourite off it”.

“You don’t see everything of me, maybe you see some of the little bits,” said Tiatia.

“What I give you is what I give you. When I’m watching the game I’m not overly emotional but people who know me, know the true me.”

Tiatia is in his first full season as head coach and believes getting to know the players has been a key component of any turnaround.

“One of the biggest things is around care for one another,” said Tiatia.

“Players and staff understanding each other on a deeper level, not just surface level, actually bone-deep.

“Understanding it’s people first and then understanding the player. That’s been a big shift, not just trying to get the best out of them but also having players take responsibility.”

Tiatia was asked what he meant by bone-deep. His answer was illuminating.

“Surface level is knowing people by face and respectfully saying hello,” said Tiatia.

“On a deeper level, I will introduce myself to you and tell you where I’m from.

“I’m from Wellington. I’m Samoan. My first language is English, it was Samoan, I speak Japanese. I speak a little Italian.

“I’m a learner, I’m an introvert, I’m a trained extrovert. When I’m stressed I’ll be quiet.

“When I will be quiet, I’m thinking about my family first and foremost.

“I was taught from my parents very early on that gratitude is one of the biggest strengths. You understand what you have and you’re grateful for it.

“Those are things I would share at a bone-deep level. We then have a deeper understanding about each other, about our morals and values.

“Also the mistakes I’ve made as a young person is something I can now relate to with the group.

“I don’t want the players to make the same mistakes and they’re becoming the best version of themselves. So it’s not just coaching. It’s holistic growth.”

Katy Young Yaroslavsky is running for L.A. City Council District 5.

(Campaign of Katy Young Yaroslavsky for City Council)

Yaroslavsky, 45, was named the council’s budget committee chair at the beginning of last year, a job that carries immense influence over city spending and that requires her to balance lofty political expectations with fiscal reality.

Yaroslavsky began her career as a land use attorney and lobbyist and later worked as a top aide to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for more than six years. She is the daughter-in-law of former Fifth District City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky, who later served on the county board of supervisors.

“We need people in office who are interested in problem solving, not focused on gotcha politics. Who are not super ideological but are just really there to solve problems. And that’s what I’m there for,” Yaroslavsky said.

Henry Mantel is running for L.A. City Council District 5.

(Handout from Matt Mantel)

Mantel, 33, has worked on a handful of political campaigns, according to his campaign website, including Carolyn Ramsay’s unsuccessful campaign for the 4th District council seat in 2015. Mantel graduated from the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento in 2020. As a lawyer, he says he has represented tenants in disputes with landlords, including contesting evictions.

“The extent of the crisis really weighed on me, and watching the City Council continue to refuse to do nothing was just unbearable,” Mantel said.

Morgan Oyler is running for L.A. City Council District 5.

( Cory Aycock)

Oyler, 42, is a longtime accountant for Haus of Portraiture, a fine art portrait studio in Santa Monica. He was born and raised in L.A., attending high school in Santa Monica, and returned to live in Westwood about a decade ago. He sought election to the Washington statehouse in 2010 and 2012, running as a Republican and losing both times. He says he became a Democrat a decade ago, after becoming uneasy with President Trump’s influence on the GOP.

Oyler felt compelled to run because he sees Yaroslavsky’s policies as a barrier to sustainable housing growth.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former FBI Director James Comey appeared in court on Wednesday, kick-starting a criminal case against him that legal experts say presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the Justice Department to win.

Comey, who didn’t enter a plea, was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of making threats against President Trump related to a photograph he posted on social media last year of seashells arranged in the numbers “86 47.” The Justice Department contends those numbers amounted to a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey has said he assumed the numbers reflected a political message, not a call to violence against the Republican president, and removed the post as soon as he saw some people were interpreting it that way.

The indictment is the second against Comey, a longtime adversary of Trump dating back to his time as FBI director, over the past year. The first one, on unrelated false-statement and obstruction charges, was tossed out by a judge last year. Now prosecutors pursuing the threats case face their own challenge of proving that Comey intended to communicate a true threat or at least recklessly discounted the possibility that the statement could be understood as a threat.

The indictment accuses Comey of acting “knowingly and willfully,” but its sparse language offers no support for that assertion. Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche declined to elaborate at a news conference on what evidence of intent the government has. But broad 1st Amendment protections for free speech, Supreme Court precedent and Comey’s public statements indicating that he did not intend to convey a threat will likely impose a tall burden for the government.

“Here, ‘86’ is ambiguous — it doesn’t necessarily threaten violence and the fact that it was the FBI Director posting this openly and notoriously on a public social media site suggests that he didn’t intend to convey a threat of violence,” John Keller, a former senior Justice Department official who led a task force to prosecute violent threats against election workers, wrote in a text message.

The case was charged in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the location of the beach where Comey has said he found the shells. He is set to make his first court appearance Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Va., the state where he lives.

What the law says on threats

The Supreme Court has held that statements are not protected by the 1st Amendment if they meet the legal threshold of a “true threat.”

That requires prosecutors to prove, at a minimum, that a defendant recklessly disregarded the risk that a statement could be perceived as threatening violence. In a 2023 Supreme Court case, the majority held that prosecutors have to show that the “defendant had some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements.”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has found that hyperbolic political speech is protected. In a 1969 case, the justices held that a Vietnam War protester did not make a knowing and willful threat against the president when he remarked that “If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J,” referring to President Lyndon B. Johnson. The court noted that laughter in the crowd when the protester made the statement, among other things, showed it wasn’t a serious threat of violence.

Regarding the current case, Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by the Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to.” It notes: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”

Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

What the government will try to prove

John Fishwick, a former U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, said the government will likely try to prove that Comey should have known better as a former FBI director.

“I think they’re going to try to circumstantially say that you were head of the FBI, you knew what these terms meant and you said them out to the whole world as a threat to the president,” Fishwick said, though he noted that such an argument would be challenging in light of Comey’s obvious 1st Amendment defenses.

Comey was voluntarily interviewed by the Secret Service last year, and the fact that he was not charged with making a false statement suggests that prosecutors do not have evidence that he lied to agents, Fishwick said.

Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor, wrote in an opinion piece published Tuesday that “despite being one of Comey’s longest critics, the indictment raises troubling free speech issues. In the end, it must be the Constitution, not Comey, that drives the analysis and this indictment is unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny.”

“If it did,” he added, “it would allow the government to criminalize a huge swath of political speech in the United States.”

Tucker, Richer and Kunzelman write for the Associated Press. Kunzelman reported from Alexandria, Va.

The decades-old football book craze will comprise 980 unique stickers, including 68 ‘special’ ones in a 112-page ​album.

For generations of ‌football fans, no World Cup would be complete without the thrill of opening ⁠a packet of ⁠Panini stickers and discovering Zico, Franz Beckenbauer, Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi staring back.

Since Italian company Panini’s first sticker collection at the 1970 World Cup ⁠in Mexico, trying, and usually failing, to complete the set has been an obsession for young fans around the globe, with playground swapping mandatory.

This year’s World Cup in ⁠the United States, Canada and Mexico will present the biggest challenge yet, though, and will require a considerable amount of pocket money.

With 48 nations heading for the tournament in June and July – the largest edition ever – 980 unique stickers, including 68 “special” ones, will be required to ‌fill the 112-page album that will be available from Thursday.

Individual packets of seven stickers retail at 1.25 pounds ($1.69) in the United Kingdom, meaning that even with impossibly perfect luck and no duplicates, 140 packets would be required, costing 175 pounds.

Statistically, however, more than 1,000 packets may be required to acquire every player in the album, meaning an outlay in the region of 1,000 pounds ($1,351).

Panini’s biggest-ever collection was launched at a ⁠special event at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, with former England players ⁠David James, John Barnes and Gary Cahill reliving their sticker-hunting days.

“As someone who grew up collecting Panini stickers, swapping with friends in the playground and trying to complete the album every tournament, the album has always ⁠marked the real start of a World Cup for me!” former Chelsea defender Cahill said.

“Seeing myself in the collection during my ⁠playing days was a surreal and proud moment, and ⁠a reminder of how these stickers become part of the story of every World Cup.”

Panini say they will be hosting a live “swap shop” in May around the UK, giving collectors the chance to find their must-have players while a “Sticker ‌Box” will travel up and down the country, giving away sticker packets and albums.

When the dust has settled on the World Cup, it might also be prudent to store ‌duplicates ‌in the loft as there is a burgeoning market in vintage stickers.

In 2021, a 1979 Panini sticker of Maradona, then aged 19, sold for 470,000 pounds (about $556,000 at the time) at auction.

OLLY MURS is taking a leap into the unknown on a brutal 250-mile challenge for Unicef’s Soccer Aid.

In an exclusive chat with Bizarre, the singer revealed he will run, row and cycle from Manchester United’s Old Trafford to West Ham’s London Stadium across five punishing days for Olly Murs: Into The Unknown.

He admitted that a life-changing trip to Romania had given the challenge a whole new meaning.

The Troublemaker star travelled to Eastern Europe to see the charity’s work first-hand, and was moved after meeting mum-of-one Oksana, who escaped Ukraine after Russia invaded and is now living in a Unicef facility in Romania.

“Her baby was only seven months old,” Olly said. “Coming here in the middle of a war on her own, no family, no friends.

“The story was tough to listen to.

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“The fact that eight weeks later, her house (in Ukraine) got bombed, it’s terrifying, isn’t it?

“It kind of puts things into perspective.”

The trip clearly hit home for Olly, who has a daughter, Madison, and baby son, Albert, with wife Amelia.

He explained: “All I want to do is keep my baby safe and keep the (children) healthy and happy, and that’s the same for every parent around the world.”

While the cause is inspiring, the 250 miles sounds absolutely brutal.

In a harsh twist, Olly won’t know exactly what he’ll be facing each day.

He revealed: “It does scare me because it’s really hard when you’re preparing for something when you don’t know the distances.”

Even his birthday is being sacrificed to the cause.

Olly laughed: “The 11th of May is when I start it — my birthday week.

“I’ll be celebrating my birthday whilst running or cycling or rowing somewhere.”

Olly, who has undergone four knee operations, is worried about what impact the arduous challenge will have on his joints.

He added: “I don’t know how my knee’s going to cope. It’s definitely going to have an effect on my body, and my knees.

“But I’m confident that I’m fit enough to do it.”

Away from the graft of preparing for his charity challenge, Olly says his home life has become his priority, with music temporarily on the back burner.

“I’ve really enjoyed just being at home and not singing any more,” he explained.

“I’m just singing and entertaining my kids.

“I posted a video the other day of me singing to my kids some of my songs and Maddie kept saying ‘No.’

“It’s a tough crowd at home.”

Olly is now hoping he’ll have an easier time on the pitch at Soccer Aid on May 31, when he will line up as part of the England squad alongside
Wayne Rooney, Tom Hiddleston, Gk Barry, Jill Scott, Angry Ginge and with SoccerAid founder Robbie Williams as coach.

The Soccer Aid World XI features ex-players Jordi Alba of Spain and Italy’s
Leonardo Bonucci, with the team being coached by Olympian Usain Bolt.

Ulster have received a boost with the news that Tom O’Toole, Nick Timoney and Jude Postlethwaite will be available after injury for Saturday’s European Challenge Cup semi-final against Exeter Chiefs at Affidea Stadium (17:30 BST).

Timoney returns after recovering from a hip injury, while O’Toole and Postlethwaite are at head coach Richie Murphy’s disposal after overcoming hand problems.

A squad update issued by Ulster Rugby on Monday confirmed that the trio have “all reintegrated fully into team training and are available for selection”.

Meanwhile, decisions on whether Angus Bell (foot), James Hume (neck) and Bryn Ward (shoulder) will be fit enough for selection for the encounter with the English Premiership side will be made later in the week.

All three have resumed elements of team training.

Callum Reid and Ben Carson will be unavailable for the last-four game as a result of foot and calf injuries respectively.

Both players sustained their injuries during Saturday’s 41-14 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat by Munster in Limerick.

Eric O’Sullivan suffered a back injury during the match and will have his fitness monitored during the week.

Ulster are aiming to secure their first silverware for 20 years and the winner of their semi-final will face the winner of Sunday’s second semi-final between Montpellier and the Dragons in the final in Bilbao on 22 May.

Heyerde “Seko” López is a Venezuelan artist and activist with experience in plastic arts, screen printing, photography, graphic design, and audiovisual production. For 13 years he has been a member of Fundación Nativa Crea, a grassroots organization from Guarenas, on the outskirts of Caracas, dedicated to social work and advancing popular power.

What is Fundación Nativa Crea and what does it do?

Fundación Nativa Crea is a sociocultural organization dedicated to bringing together communes, social movements, and individuals in the town of Guarenas. We organize a variety of activities in our territory, ranging from rescuing abandoned spaces and painting murals to offering free workshops on screen printing, music, theater, and circus in local communities and schools.

Nativa is also dedicated to grassroots communication through social media. We’re always doing digital and graphic design and recording in the community to make visible what people are doing. We work to forge the identity of our barrio, our working-class areas, and our communities, so that people can be the protagonists of the revolution we’re building and the path we’re traveling together.

We’re located in Plaza Bolívar in Guarenas, right next to City Hall, because we had the chance to speak with President Chávez and decided to occupy that space, which was a Corpoelec [state electricity company] substation that had been abandoned for 15 years. At the time, we identified 37 abandoned spaces in Guarenas, but that one stood out as the most visible and strategic. We surveyed the area, and the project was born.

How is Nativa’s work organized in practice, and how does it integrate with the local community and the people’s power organizations?

There are six of us now, but we coordinate with other people in the territory and in other parts of the country. We have a set of goals and an action plan. Each person takes on tasks based on their strengths. We have six production units, two of which are currently operational: the auto repair shop, where we fix cars and motorcycles, and the screen printing and communications workshop, where we make T-shirts. We have a brand called “Contestatarixs” to market prints of iconic figures and world-renowned fighters. The other four units are a cultural café that we will soon reopen, a community bakery, a recording studio, and a greenhouse. In fact, we plan to establish a greenhouse in every community council.

In total, there are 15 community councils in our territory, which make up the General José Félix Ribas Commune. Our organization belongs to the Pueblo Arriba Communal Council. In our sector, we’re going to start with a medicinal garden, as well as tomato and onion seeds, and coffee and cacao seedlings, to later coordinate with local farmers. We’re also considering a partnership to grow barley in the nearby campesino settlements and produce craft beer. Why not have a Venezuelan communal beer?

You mentioned the bakery and the café that closed down. What obstacles did they face?

The bakery and the café closed down due to the economic difficulties resulting from the US sanctions. For example, when wheat imports were restricted, it became very difficult for us to acquire the raw materials. Previously, it had been subsidized. Although we were part of a bakery coalition with other grassroots organizations, and we held numerous meetings and coordinated efforts with the government to defend community bakeries, it was not possible to maintain our operations. In Venezuela, wheat is controlled by the owners of the silos. We fought a tough battle between 2014 and 2017, but that coalition practically fell apart, and now only the large, capitalist bakeries remain. But we are creating the conditions to revive this productive unit. We want to build a communal economy. We are going to start creating the conditions, now with more criteria and the lessons learned over these years. After all these battles, I believe we have the necessary experience.

What are the main challenges Nativa has faced over the years?

The main challenge is staying true to our identity as a left-wing organization in the face of the imperialist blockade. Nativa Crea started out as a clothing brand and is now a social organization running a headquarters of 542 square meters. But the hardest part is sustaining ourselves over time. It’s one thing to have an idea, to design a project, and quite another to sustain it –to preserve the ideology, retain the members, and create conditions so that it’s a space where people aren’t exploited and can have free time to organize alongside the pueblo. 

We also knew that, as we asserted ourselves, we would deal some blows to the bourgeois state. Not all mayors, governors, or institutional leaders will want to relinquish their share of power and accept the consolidation of popular power or the communal state. In practice, we have seen that things are not as beautiful as they are in theory. Rather, they are riddled with contradictions. But we have the spirit to fight and move forward. Today, what we do is join forces with different organizations, communal councils, etc., to keep the project moving forward and to help them identify with it. Nativa has always been a space where people can meet, hold workshops, organize politically, and so on.

What would you highlight as Nativa’s main achievements over the years?

Our main achievement has been bringing together different people, from different communes, and ensuring that everyone understands we’re all fighting for the same cause: building the communal state. 

I believe our task is to demonstrate that popular power is the way forward. For example, eight years ago, using the surplus generated by the bakery, we were able to build a sports court. So, we showed that economic activity can take place under decent working conditions, serve the community, and generate a surplus to contribute to the territory where we live. Therefore, if we have productive units –which is what we insist on in the commune –we will be able to achieve autonomy, we will be able to make decisions in the territory, and we will be able to develop what the barrio needs.

Nativa, and you in particular, place a lot of emphasis on the cultural front, especially on graphic design. What is the vision behind this?

Through graphic arts, we shape our identity. Ever since we started creating prints, painting murals, taking photographs, and producing audiovisual works, we’ve always sought to reclaim Venezuelan identity. Not the identity sold to us about barrios in mainstream culture –the glorification of crime or the idea that people dress and speak a certain way. Every town has its identity, every city has its identity, every territory has its identity. So, through the arts, we try to capture that, what we experience, and in this way, people begin to recognize themselves, know where they come from, and also to appreciate things that are nationally, locally, and indigenously produced. It gives new value to their experiences, to what they consume, read, and so on.

You recently hosted an international brigade from Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). What was that exchange like, and how can that feedback help strengthen grassroots organizing?

The MST brought a large group that split into seven brigades spread across different parts of the country. We were assigned one as the representative from the central capital region. This experience has been very important, because we see that our brothers and sisters in Brazil are fighting for the same cause as us: against capitalism and imperialism, and for the unity of the Latin American peoples.

The Landless Workers’ Movement has been raising that banner of struggle –the fight for land and the construction of campesino settlements –for over 40 years. They have very advanced methods, and they are masters of organization and planning. In fact, they are advising us on the various productive units. They believe that we, Venezuelans, need to focus more on planning, sticking to schedules, fulfilling responsibilities, etc. The exchange has helped our communards hear the perspective of comrades from outside, with their experience and organizational skills. They have shared their insights with 10 communes here in Guarenas and are also getting to know the local projects that have been approved through popular consultations.

As someone with many years of experience in grassroots organizing, how do you view the relationship between constituted power (institutions) and constituent power? What is working, and what needs to change?

Chávez, and also our professor Manuel Sulbarán, always told us that we, the working-class people, are the only ones capable of bringing about change and progress in our own country through popular power. So, popular power must continue to develop these methods and strengthen our communes, making them active and productive, and demanding that the state or institutions transfer the responsibilities we can assume and the resources we need. 

For example, in the General José Félix Ribas Commune, the project that won last year’s consultation was focused on the youth to build a soccer field. There was a group pushing for it, but the US $10,000 allocated for the project wasn’t enough. That caused a lot of discontent and led some to think that popular consultations were useless. These are the issues we need to debate and politicize. We explained to them in an assembly that this is a megaproject that cannot be done with just $10,000, so it must be conceived in several phases. We have to keep our spirits up and continue participating.

The soccer field has been a good topic for debate and reflection, because it is also true that the commune has many priorities that are more important than a soccer field. Everything is needed, and sports play a fundamental role, but for example, if the sewer system is damaged, the community will likely prioritize fixing that. That’s why we need to plan and see which projects are proposed through which channels. If we do a better job of categorizing projects by scale and setting timelines, we’ll be able to strengthen our commune. 

But, to answer the question, institutions need to work with us, the pueblo, and understand the priorities of each territory. Perhaps it’s not best for the commune to choose building a sports field because that should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Sports. This ends up giving the commune a responsibility that it should not have to assume, or that it is not in a position to take on. Nor should we be taking on the project of repairing a school when we have a Ministry of Education and a Ministry of Public Works. Obviously, our communards will dedicate themselves to anything that improves the community’s life, but why should the commune burn its only chance to access funding for popular power on unfeasible projects that should, moreover, be the responsibility of the institutions? So we must also demand that those holding constituted power –the government and institutions –fulfill their responsibilities, so that we, as an organized people, can move forward with ours. Another challenge we face is that some people confuse the tasks of the party [PSUV] with the exercise of popular power, and as a result, they sometimes end up dragging the commune into areas that are not its responsibility.

Finally, how does Nativa interpret the current political situation, and what role should the organized people play?

January 3 was a grave moment, a call for reflection, just as the 2002 coup had been, when the people took to the streets to make history. The lesson is the same: the people must understand that only popular power will allow us to overcome this onslaught by the capitalist economic system and imperialist attacks.

Today we must organize ourselves once again, win over all those people who were fighting, or who are fighting out there but scattered. We have to unify the struggles, as President Chávez said at the time: it is very important that we know who we are, what we want to build, in order to move forward in consolidating the Bolivarian Revolution. And beyond Venezuela, we must understand ourselves as a bloc with our neighboring countries. 

For the youth, it is important not to abandon the banners of anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggle and to create our own methods. The past centuries’ revolutionary struggles of Germany and France will not apply here. It is not enough for us to simply “follow the ideas of Lenin, Mao, Che, or Fidel,” although we must certainly read and study them. Chávez put it very clearly: we are going to give birth to the 21st-century revolution; we are going to create it. We’ve only been at this for 20 years, developing different theoretical and political aspects, with different participants sometimes on different wavelengths. But we all know that we have a right to an anti-imperialist revolution that defends life on the planet.

MasterChef was back with the first quarter-final of series 22 on Thursday night

MasterChef fans were left scratching their heads over Thursday night’s quarter-final challenge.

Series 22 sees celebrated chef Anna Haugh and restaurant critic Grace Dent take over from Gregg Wallace and John Torode as judges. The pair will test 48 of the country’s best amateur cooks with an array of spectacular challenges.

On Thursday’s first quarter-final of series 22, the first challenge saw the amateur home cooks tasked with creating pancakes, making the most of the fresh produce on offer.

However, it was the second challenge that left viewers baffled. During the episode, legendary food critic Jay Rayner joined the show as a special guest as he set a task for the cooks.

Jay, 59, said: “The challenge I’ve set you sounds very simple. I’ve asked you to make a salad. But we do not want a limp bowl of lettuce, we want structure, texture, we want a killer dressing… something that will rock us back on our feet.” The chefs were then given 90 minutes to create their salads.

However, viewers were left baffled over the salad challenge taking to Twitter, now X, to share their thoughts. One person said: “#masterchef A salad …, a salad, are you for real” to which another account put: “Salad? Or a mix of things #MasterChef.”

Elsewhere, another fan referenced The Simpsons as they joked: “#Masterchef You don’t win friends with salad, you don’t win friends with salad…”

Another baffled viewer simply commented: “A salad?! #MasterChef” while a different fan quipped: “No good story ever started with ‘I was having a salad and then'”.

Following the challenge, Jhané and Sabina left Anna, Grace and Jay blown away with their incredible salads. Jhané opted for a Thai-inspired salad with grilled pork, pork skin, sugar snap peas, lettuce, mint, fennel and thai basil. Jhané served it with deep fried rice paper and a lime sesame dressing, which was praised for being a ‘clever’ presentation.

Guest Jay was left delighted as he gushed: “This is exactly what I was hoping for when I set the salad challenge!”

Meanwhile, Sabina also impressed with her ‘harmony salad’, which was spiced black pea falafel, gem lettuce, carrot, pomegranate, salted chicken skin, beetroot quail eggs, puffed rice and curry leaves. It was served with a confit garlic and mustard oil dressing. Jay praised the salad for being “amazing”.

After all the contestants had shown off their creations, Jay admitted: “It was a tough challenge asking them to make a salad, some of them embraced it brilliantly!”

At the end of the show, it was revealed that Jhané and Sabina had sailed through to the next round, they were joined by fellow contestant Jim.

MasterChef season 22 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat and the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, was once a leading voice for Democrats on issues related to farm aid policy and food aid for consumers and a prominent Black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. But he faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health, enduring a primary challenge in 2024 and facing another one at the time of his death.

Democrats on Capitol Hill praised the longtime lawmaker.

“The news of Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Ag Committee,” Jeffries said. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

News of Scott’s death came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill. The Black Caucus’ chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, told lawmakers at the outset of the meeting, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Many lawmakers in the room, some of whom had served with Scott for decades, were shocked and saddened by the news.

Scott’s death slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority going into the thick of this midterm election year.

The congressman was not especially active on the campaign trail in 2026. But he had been dismissive of pressure to retire.

“Thank God I’m in good health, moving and doing the people’s work,” Scott said in 2024.

David Albert Scott was born in rural Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, in the era of Jim Crow segregation. He graduated from Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest historically Black college campuses — and in office he was an outspoken advocate for federal support of HBCUs. Scott also earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

He was already a veteran state lawmaker in Georgia before being elected to Congress in 2002.

Barrow, Brown and Amy write for the Associated Press. Brown reported from Washington.

April 14 (Asia Today) — Circle is stepping up efforts to expand its stablecoin footprint in South Korea, aiming to challenge the dominance of Tether through a dual strategy focused on trading and payments.

Tether currently accounts for more than 80% of stablecoin transactions in South Korea and over 60% globally, according to industry data. Circle’s USD Coin, or USD Coin, holds a much smaller share in Korea, at around 10%.

Industry officials said Circle recently met with major South Korean exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb and Coinone, to expand USDC trading and improve accessibility. The move is aimed at securing liquidity in one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire visited South Korea this week and signed agreements with local exchanges and fintech firms to promote stablecoin adoption.

With Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, Circle is working on initiatives focused on regulatory compliance, transparency and user education. With Bithumb, the companies agreed to explore integration of multi-chain digital asset infrastructure and stablecoin technologies. Promotions such as fee discounts and airdrops are also being used to boost USDC trading on platforms like Coinone.

Beyond exchange trading, Circle is also expanding its payment infrastructure. The company is promoting its proprietary network to support real-world payments and cross-border transfers, including partnerships with South Korean fintech firm Hecto Financial.

Analysts say this reflects a broader strategy to compete with Tether not only in trading volume but also in real-world financial use cases.

USDC is backed by cash and U.S. Treasury assets and publishes regular disclosures, a structure that has made it attractive to financial institutions. It also operates across multiple blockchain networks, offering flexibility in transaction speed and fees.

Data suggests USDC has gained traction in payments and transfers. According to industry estimates, its on-chain transaction volume reached about $17 trillion last year, exceeding Tether’s roughly $12.9 trillion, indicating stronger usage in real-world transactions rather than exchange trading.

Experts say competition between the two stablecoins is shifting from market share to function.

“Stablecoin competition is no longer about issuance volume but about use cases,” said Gautam Chughani of CoinShares, adding that USDC is expanding rapidly in payments and institutional finance.

Analysts say Tether is likely to maintain its strength in trading liquidity, while USDC could gain ground through integration with the broader financial system.

Circle said it does not plan to issue a Korean won-pegged stablecoin directly, signaling instead that it may participate as a technology provider in a future bank-led consortium structure.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260415010004432